The cause of death for voice actor Peter Cullen, who played the role of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has been revealed. A death certificate, obtained by TMZ, said Cullen died at his Los Angeles home on Aug. 26 following a cardiac arrest due to respiratory arrest. The underlying cause for the 85-year-old’s death was listed as malignant neoplasm of the lower lobe of the lungs. Cullen is best known for playing the deep-voiced hero Optimus Prime in the original 1984 Transformers, as well as in multiple Hollywood films and spin-offs between 2007 and 2023. His other iconic roles include the depressive donkey Eeyore in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as providing the distinct clicking noises made by the Predator in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. Cullen was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards in 2023, following his decades-long career voicing animated characters. In a statement following his death, Cullen’s family asked fans to honor his “remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty, and always remember ‘be strong enough to be gentle.’”

Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Cassandra Wilson has died at 70. The acclaimed songwriter, known for her deep, smoky voice, is regarded as one of the genre’s most influential modern vocalists. She died on Tuesday morning; no cause of death was provided. Her representatives said in a statement to jazz radio station WBGO: “Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager.” Wilson was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1955, and started playing piano as a child and later learned guitar. She moved to New York in the early 1980s and became part of the city’s jazz scene. Over her career, Wilson shared the stage with legends such as Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. She also wrote the acclaimed albums Blue Light ’Til Dawn (1993) and New Moon Daughter (1995). The latter became a major commercial success, earning Wilson a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and selling more than 400,000 copies. Wilson won two Grammy Awards and received many other honors. In 2022, she was named an NEA Jazz Master, one of the highest honors in American jazz. “Cassandra Wilson carried the sound, spirit, and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music reached,” Jackson Mayor John Horhn said.

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Gloria Steinem, the pioneering journalist and feminist activist, has died at the age of 92. Her death was confirmed via a statement on her Instagram page, although no cause was given. “Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves,” the post said. Steinem was a feminist activist her entire life, including serving as an honorary co-chair and delivering a powerful speech at the massive Women’s March against Donald Trump following his first inauguration in 2017. Steinem was recognized as one of the leading figures of the second-wave feminism movement of the late 1960s, whose gender equality activism resulted in widespread change such as legalizing abortion and allowing women to apply for credit cards without a man’s signature. Steinem was also a fearless reporter, including co-founding the feminist magazine Ms. and going undercover as a Playboy Bunny to expose the horrific working conditions of women at the New York Playboy Club. Her decades-long activism earned her the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, as well as the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Steinem’s memoir, An Unexpected Life, is set for release on Sept. 22.

A mountain adventure planned with artificial intelligence ended with a rescue after three hikers found themselves stranded. The college students told the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department they relied on Google Gemini to map their route and decide what supplies they needed. But the AI-assisted plan badly underestimated the challenge that Mount Shasta in California posed. Expecting the ascent to take about eight hours, the men didn’t bring enough food, water, or emergency equipment, with the climb ultimately taking twice as long. Their problems worsened on the descent when they became disoriented and lost their way. One hiker also suffered a knee injury, leaving the group unable to continue safely without help. Rescuers were eventually called in and brought all three red-faced men off the mountain.

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Disney star Carla Jeffery, best known for her role as Bree in the hit Zombies franchise, has died at 33. Jeffery’s death was announced by her manager, Carla Alexander, in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Carla Jeffery, who passed away on September 1, 2026, at just 33 years old,” Alexander wrote. A cause of death has not been disclosed, but Alexander told KTLA that more information would be released in the coming days. Jeffery was only 12 years old when she made her screen debut in Mo’Nique’s 2006 film Phat Girlz. The next year, she began a 10-episode run on Curb Your Enthusiasm over the show’s sixth and seventh seasons. Beginning in 2011, Jeffery had recurring roles in Disney Channel shows including Good Luck Charlie, Shake It Up! and Best Friends Whenever. She went on to star as one of the central characters in Disney’s Zombies musical trilogy beginning in 2018. The Daily Beast has reached out to Jeffery’s representative for comment.

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The legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show actor Tim Curry died of coronary artery disease, documents from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reveal. He died at the age of 80 late at night on August 25 in his Los Angeles home. The documents also list a history of stroke and kidney cancer as having contributed to the star’s death. No medical operations were performed for either his coronary artery disease, kidney cancer or history of stroke, the records show. Curry survived a major stroke in 2012 that caused paralysis in the left side of his body and short-term memory loss. The medical emergency left the star unable to speak for weeks and he spent the rest of his life using a wheelchair for mobility. Curry subsequently started focusing mainly on voiceover projects, withdrawing from public life and acting. “I don’t fear death,” the beloved actor told CBS Sunday Morning in October 2025. “I try to avoid it as I think we all do. But I suspect that in the end I will welcome it.”

The Real Housewives of New York star Carole Radziwill said she had been totally in the dark about her ex-friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes with Jeffrey Epstein. At a preview event for Season 16, Radziwill called Maxwell a “horrible person,” even though she is mentioned as a friend of hers in the Epstein files. “Obviously, I didn’t know anything as no one, you know, 20 years ago would have known anything,” Radziwill said. She told Cohen that it was hard for her to swallow that Maxwell, a “friend at some point,” “was a horrible, horrible person doing horrible things.” Radziwill hinted that her connection to Maxwell will be covered in the upcoming season. “It’s not something I shy away from because I think, really, it’s important to talk about and be transparent about,” she said about her name being in the files. “I just think it’s an opportunity to talk about it. There’s real victims and survivors that were brave enough to stand up to these very powerful people.”

Donald Trump’s administration has been admonished for what insiders called an “embarrassing” and “pitiful” disaster response. Nepal and China are reeling after a huge mudslide devastated mountain valleys in the Himalayas. Believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, it has killed at least 1,000 people and left more than 4,000 missing. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, which has seen around 85 Americans go missing, the U.S. State Department gave just $500,0000 in aid. That number has now been upped to around $3.6 million, which will be used to feed 10,000 affected homes. Some critics say it still falls short. A former USAID disaster response team director, Mark Ward, called the response “embarrassing for the United States and a bit of a slap at Nepal.” The Brookings Institution’s George Ingram agreed. “I was embarrassed for America,” the former House foreign affairs committee staffer said, calling the initial offering of half a million “pitiful.” Trump took a hammer to USAID upon his return to the White House, and what was left was absorbed by Marco Rubio’s State Department. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and State Department for comment.

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Billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is “very happy” with the casting of Ink, a new movie about the rise of his British tabloid The Sun, his daughter said. Murdoch’s second-eldest daughter, Elizabeth, told Guy Pearce, who is playing him in the film, that he was pleased with the casting choice. “I had some messaging with Elizabeth [Murdoch], his daughter, and she said ‘Dad’s very happy that you are playing him.’ But he hadn’t seen the film at that point,” Pearce said. Sinners’ Jack O’Connell plays editor Larry Lamb, while The Crown actress Claire Foy co-stars as a female executive at The Sun. The film is adapted from James Graham’s stage play, which Murdoch attended. “He came to see the play twice,” Graham recalled. Murdoch, however, did not share his reaction to the play. “He’s very good at not giving anything away which I think is one of his secrets,” Graham said. The film is slated to be released in theaters on Dec. 11 before going out on Netflix on Jan. 8.

A doorbell camera captured the moment a congressional staffer was struck by lightning as he walked to his car. The shocking footage shows Thomas Fahmy, who works for the Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, being struck on his foot as he walks while holding an umbrella. The video shows him fall after the strike, get back up, then walk to his neighbor’s home to take shelter until an ambulance arrived. Miraculously, Fahmy survived the strike without suffering burns—though he said he felt tingling, numbness, a burning sensation, and severe pain in both of his feet. Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island in Congress, expressed relief in a statement that Fahmy, who lives and works on Staten Island in Malliotakis’ local office, survived the strike. For his part, Fahmy said he spent one night in the hospital and, after being discharged, went to buy a Mega Millions lottery ticket.