Carlee Russell, Jamie Foxx, And Tony Bennett

In today’s mashup, 3 names are in the news: Carlee Russell, Jamie Foxx, and Tony Bennett.

Current Events :
Let’s take an in-depth look at the individual stories:

CARLEE RUSSELL

News and social media sites have been buzzing over the saga involving Carlee Russell.  

According to reports, the 25-year-old Alabama resident said she was driving along the highway on the evening of July 13th when she saw a lone toddler walking along the side of the road. She called 911 and spoke to authorities while following the “baby boy in a diaper.” And then, she just disappeared.

The boyfriend and family of Carlee Russell staged a frantic search for her, believing she was kidnapped and “fighting for her life.” However, she miraculously showed up days later on the doorstep of her parent’s home unharmed and with a sketchy explanation.

Carlee Russell claimed she was kidnapped and forced to strip naked before escaping her kidnappers. However, police and the court of public opinion quickly began finding holes in her story that just didn’t add up.

“To think that a toddler, barefoot, that could be 3 or 4 years old is going to travel 6 football fields without getting on the roadway, without crying… it’s very hard for me to understand,” Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis said. He added that an exhaustive investigation involving the Secret Service and FBI failed to find any trace of a missing toddler.

“Carlee’s 911 call remains the only report of a child on the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through the area at that time. We don’t see anyone on the interstate other than her car, and then someone getting out of her driver’s side.

“It’s a lot of work. It is a little frustrating to think that all this has been done and we can’t find anything out.”

Disbelief in Russell’s story was fueled by suspicious internet searches made by her in the days leading up to her disappearance. For example, a forensic analysis of her phone and computer discovered that she looked up information about the 2008 Liam Neeson movie Taken, Amber Alerts, booking a bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville, as well as “how to take money from a register without being caught.”

“I do think it’s highly unusual the day that someone gets kidnapped the day that 7, 8 hours before that they are searching the internet googling the movie Taken about an abduction,” Chief Derzis said. “I find that very strange.”

As if all that wasn’t enough, the boyfriend of Carlee Russell has since deleted all photos and references of her from his social media pages. He has also gone silent and is no longer defending her story in the press.

JAMIE FOXX

After becoming seriously ill from an undisclosed “medical emergency” back in April, actor Jamie Foxx has finally chosen to speak publicly about an ordeal he says took him “to hell and back.”

The Oscar and Grammy-winning star became ill while filming a movie in Atlanta. He was hospitalized for several months and was apparently near death at one point. His family opted not to share details of his illness with the public, which caused fans to question the silence and assume the worst.

“I just didn’t want you to see me like that, man,” Foxx said during a 3-minute video posted last Friday on Instagram. “I wanted you to see me laughing, having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie, television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.

“It’s been tough but now I got my legs under me,” the actor said of his miraculous recovery while choking back tears. “I just wanted to jump on the internet and let you know I’m on my way back.” 

TONY BENNETT

The world has lost a musical giant.

Anthony Dominick Benedetto — better known to the world as Tony Bennett — passed away on Friday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Mr. Bennett enjoyed a career that spanned more than 7 decades and included over 150 songs, including the hits “The Good Life” and his signature tune “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.” Although Bennett became famous for singing classic American pop songs written by Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and others, he enjoyed a career comeback after teaming up with Lady Gaga and recording albums in 2014 and 2021, as well as touring alongside her in 2015.  

Interestingly, Tony Bennett was more than just a crooner. He participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in 1965 and joined Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their fight for civil rights equality.

Tony Bennett passed away peacefully at his home in New York City. He was 96.

OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
Carlee Russell, Jamie Foxx, and Tony Bennett in the news.