It's not unusual for college teams to invite former NFL stars to their spring games to serve as honorary captains. But to invite one who never took a snap for the school? That's new.

But that's what Michigan football is doing, as former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will serve as an honorary captain at Saturday's Maize and Blue Spring Game, the school announced via Twitter on Wednesday.
Colin Kaepernick is named the honorary captain for the Michigan football spring game, which takes place Saturday, April 2, 2022.

The school tweeted out photos of Kaepernick at Michigan's practice facility with the caption:

"Football Family.

"Excited to share the field with our honorary captain for Saturday's Maize and Blue Spring Game, @Kaepernick7 #GoBlue"

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/03/30/colin-kaepernick-honorary-captain-michigan-football/7226330001/

Reality-TV star and failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner can now add paid political pundit to her résumé. Fox News announced Thursday that the network has hired the former Olympic champion as an on-air contributor. Jenner will make her first appearance on Sean Hannity’s show Thursday evening. “Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. “She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.” Scott touting Fox’s hiring of a “trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community” comes as the network’s hosts and commentators have blasted Disney for pushing what it calls a “progressive LGBT agenda” to “sexualize our children.” Jenner, who came out as transgender in 2015, added in her own statement: “I am humbled by this unique opportunity to speak directly to Fox News Media’s millions of viewers about a range of issues that are important to the American people.” Jenner has been a Fox News fixture over the years, largely to promote her Quixotic run for California governor or to rail against trans women competing in female sports.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/caitlyn-jenner-officially-joins-fox-news-as-contributor

The Shonda Rhimes-led spinoff series will follow the origin stories of Queen Charlotte, Violet Bridgerton, and Lady Danbury.

Crack open the snuff and fluff up your wigs: Netflix has found its young Queen Charlotte for the upcoming Bridgerton prequel series.

British actress India Amarteifio—known for her TV roles in Line of Duty, The Tunnel, Doctor Who, and Sex Education—has been chosen to play the young version of Golda Rosheuvel’s formidable ruler. (That’s right, the Sex Education to Bridgerton pipeline continues after Simone Ashley’s turn as Kate Sharma in Season 2.)

Rosheuvel will appear in the series alongside fellow Bridgerton stars Adjoa Andoh (Lady Agatha Danbury) and Ruth Gemmell (Lady Violet Bridgerton). Lady Danbury, the town’s best matchmaker, will also be featured in her younger years, played by Arsema Thomas.

The prequel series has yet to be titled, but it’s essentially Queen Charlotte’s origin story, with (hopefully) sex and romance galore. Wonder why the queen is so tired of all the scandal with Lady Whistledown, especially when it comes to criticism over her leadership? This spinoff will shine a light on the uptight royal’s crucial courting with King George. After sparking controversy as an unlikely couple, the pair create a societal shift responsible for the Ton we see in Bridgerton’s first two seasons.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bridgerton-spinoff-finds-its-young-queen-charlotte-and-king-george

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith broke film academy's code of conduct, was asked but refused to leave Academy Awards, Oscars organization says.

A new statement from The Academy says they have initiated disciplinary proceedings against Will Smith for violating their standards of conduct and he faces "suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted.”

NEW: McCarthy says he met with Cawthorn over his recent comments about members participating in orgies and doing cocaine.

McCarthy tells me & others he told Cawthorn: “he's lost my trust is gonna have to earn it back. And I laid out to everything that I find is unbecoming”

McCarthy tells me “there very well could be” more action he takes against Cawthorn beyond his stern warning and tense meeting

McCarthy: “This is unacceptable. There's no evidence to this. Um, He changes what he tells and that's not becoming of a Congressman he left. He did not tell the truth … that’s unacceptable”

"The Constitution gives you the age when you can serve in Congress. But when you're in Congress, you should respect the institution and you should focus on the work that you should do,” McCarthy said

More McCarthy: "In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Then when he comes in he tells me, he says he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away."

In the cable news morning show battle for ratings, CNN’s New Day posted a rare win over MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which has long been the second-highest rating morning show.

While Fox News’ Fox & Friends remained dominant in the 6-9 a.m. hours, New Day with John Berman and Brianna Keilar beat out Morning Joe in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic for the first time since October 2017. In March, New Day pulled in 159,00 demo viewers to Morning Joe’s 110,000.

New Day grew its audience in the demo by 10% while MSNBC was down a full 34 percent in March, compared to March 2021. In terms of total viewers, Morning Joe still topped New Day but was down 25 percent, while CNN was up 12 percent compared to last year.

In the first quarter of 2022, Morning Joe beat New Day in terms of total viewers with an average of 813,000 viewers, compared to 471,000. In the demo, however, New Day’s strong growth in March pushed the CNN morning show to top MSNBC for the quarter with 99,000 to 97,000 viewers – respectively.

https://www.mediaite.com/daily-ratings/cnns-new-day-beat-msnbcs-morning-joe-in-the-demo-for-the-first-time-since-2017/