News
Milo Yiannopoulos loses funding, forced to lay off staffers
cryptocurrency billionaire Matthew Mello’s unexpected death caused layoffs


Milo Yiannopoulos (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Milo Yiannopoulos has laid off staffers of his media company Milo Entertainment Inc. after unexpectedly losing funding, according to a report from Politico.
A source told Politico “He fired everybody” from Milo Entertainment Inc., a subset of Milo Worldwide LLC. Yiannopoulos started the media venture after resigning as editor from Breitbart in 2017.
GOP donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer were the original financial backers of the venture but severed ties last year. Cryptocurrency billionaire Matthew Mello planned to fund the company but after dying of a drug overdose on April 16 funding became uncertain.
Politico reports the staff was let go and a source claims,“People are very, very furious.”
Journalist Chadwick Moore was reportedly let go but continued to spend time with Yiannopoulos unaware of the situation.
“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. I’m just an editor. I got paid today and the work continues,” Moore wrote in an email to Politico.
CEO Alexander Macris, who was also laid off from the company, had to deliver the news to Moore. According to Politico, Yiannopoulos was meant to inform Moore.
Yiannopoulos told Politico that Moore and Macris were let go because the cost of their health care was too high but they remain compensated through other Yiannopulos ventures.
“The video component of my daily show was stopped recently as the cost wasn’t justifiable,” Yiannopoulos says. “Show is now audio only. There were two layoffs as a result. But nothing has changed elsewhere or at Dangerous.com.”
Federal Government
Garcia writes to HHS Secretary about the dismantling of HIV programs in Trump’s second term
Out congressman was elected top Democrat on House Oversight on June 24

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter on Thursday to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers about the Trump-Vance administration’s “systematic” elimination of programs to fight HIV in the U.S. and around the world.
Also signed by Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the letter requests information about cuts to federal support for HIV research, including vaccine development efforts, the shuttering of the HIV prevention division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the defunding of programs providing HIV treatment and prevention services since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The lawmakers requested responses by or before the end of July.
“It is shameful that HHS Secretary RFK Jr. and the Trump Administration are working to dismantle our HIV research, care, and prevention programs aimed at eradicating the disease across the world,” Garcia said. “This decision is absolutely reckless and puts millions of lives at risk. Oversight Democrats refuse to let Secretary Kennedy’s reliance on conspiracy theories and misinformation threaten the health and safety of our public health.”
“The Trump Administration’s reckless decision to gut HIV prevention and research programs is not only scientifically indefensible—it’s morally unconscionable. These cuts jeopardize the health of millions, both at home and abroad, and reverse decades of bipartisan progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Krishnamoorthi said. “We’re demanding answers because the American people, and the global community, deserve better than politically motivated neglect of public health.”
Echoing warnings from HIV and public health experts, the congressmen in their letter stressed that backsliding in efforts to fight the disease at home and abroad come just as advancements in treatment and prevention have finally put some of the most ambitious goals to end the epidemic within reach.
The letter suggests that Kennedy’s embrace of misinformation about HIV might explain, to some extent, his dismantling of programs to end the epidemic at home and abroad, specifically, pointing to the secretary’s history of challenging the overwhelming and longstanding scientific and medical consensus about the causal relationship between HIV and AIDS.
The congressmen also detailed many of the real-world consequences of health policy concerning HIV in Trump’s second term. For example, they note experts anticipate there will be millions of excess new HIV infections and hundreds of thousands of excess HIV-related deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa in just one year.
The letter also warns that “President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for domestic HIV program calls for a $1.5 billion reduction in funding,” which “could lead to more than 143,000 additional HIV cases in the United States within five years and about 127,000 additional deaths from HIV and AIDS-related causes.”
Garcia’s leadership of Oversight Dems will be closely watched
If Democrats recapture a majority of seats in the House next year, Garcia becomes chair of the committee and has access to far more powerful tools to exercise oversight — like the authority to issue subpoenas (unilaterally or by majority vote) compelling witnesses to testify or requiring officials to turn over documents.
Leadership positions, especially coveted spots leading the most powerful committees in Congress, are typically awarded based on seniority. When the House Democratic caucus elected Garcia on June 24, it marked the first first time in more than a century that a second-term member was selected for the role.
During his brief time in Washington, the congressman, who is openly gay and formerly served as mayor of Long Beach, has emerged as arguably one of the strongest communicators in the House Democratic caucus and one of his party’s most vocal critics of the second Trump administration.
Thursday’s letter, which comes less than a month after his election as ranking member, may signal how Garcia will approach fact finding missions and investigations, or where he will focus the committee’s work, under the vastly expanded powers that might be available to him after the midterms.
Obituary
Cassandra Mary Ake-Duvall, 36, passed away on July 2, 2025.
Cassandra’s enthusiasm for discovering diverse cultures and acquiring new languages inspired her to move to DC.

Her career was in international development
She was born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 23, 1988, to Laura and DuWain Ake.
From an early age, she displayed an insatiable curiosity about the world and its people, a trait that would define her entire life’s journey.
Cassandra’s passion for exploring different cultures and learning new languages led her to DC at 18 years old to pursue an education at American University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations with minors in Arabic and Spanish. She continued her education at Georgetown University, earning a Master’s degree in International Development Policy, preparing herself to make the meaningful impact she so deeply desired.
Her academic achievements were just the beginning of a life devoted to serving people across cultures. Cassandra lived and worked abroad in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Argentina, Lebanon, and Jordan, immersing herself in each community she encountered.
In 2017, Cassandra began her career in international development, work that became central to her mission of creating positive change in the world. She spent her final years as a MEL Technical Advisor for The Palladium Group in Washington, D.C., where she helped evaluate and improve USAID projects worldwide. She was passionate about ensuring that development programs truly served the communities they were designed to help, always asking the hard questions about effectiveness and impact.
Cassandra’s commitment to community extended beyond her personal circles. For many years, she volunteered at the Rainbow History Project in DC, where she collected oral histories from her queer elders. She understood that preserving these stories was vital work, ensuring that the wisdom and experiences of those who came before would not be lost. Through this work, she became a keeper of memories and a bridge between generations.
Cassandra is survived by her wife, Courtney Duvall; parents, Laura (Whelan) Ake and DuWain Ake; sister, Rachel Ake; mother-in-law, Aundra Brown; grandfather, James Whelan; and a plethora of cousins, aunts, and uncles.
The family requests donations to The Trevor Project or World Central Kitchen in her honor.
She was put to rest at Bestgate Memorial Park in Annapolis, Maryland, and David’s Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
Delaware
Delaware church to protest Rehoboth restaurant’s drag brunch
Broad community support, counter protest mobilized for Goolee’s Grille

Delaware LGBTQ advocates are organizing a counter-protest in response to a planned protest against a drag brunch in Rehoboth Beach on July 20.
Members of St. Ann’s Church in Bethany Beach announced plans to protest a Sunday drag brunch hosted at Goolee’s Grille, a gay-owned restaurant in Rehoboth Beach. In the church newsletter, they described the action as a “peaceful and Legal Rosary Rally in Protest and Reparation for Goolee’s Grille Rehoboth Beach hosting ‘Drag Brunch’ to normalize transgender and variants.”
The counter-protest will begin at 11:15 a.m. outside the restaurant and is organized by a coalition of local organizations including Sussex Pride, Indivisible Delaware, Speak Out Against Hate, CAMP Rehoboth, Rehoboth Beach Pride, and the Delaware Anti-Violence Project.
“The rally is aimed at showcasing the overwhelming support for Goolee’s Grill, a beloved small business that has stood as a beacon of diversity and acceptance in the Rehoboth Beach community,” read a press release from Sussex Pride.
The Rehoboth Beach Pride festival takes place the day before on July 19.
“As we celebrate Rehoboth Beach Pride, all LGBTQ+ people, but particularly LGBTQ+ youth, should know that there are many faith communities here that love and accept us exactly as we are,” said David Mariner, executive director of Sussex Pride. “These members of St. Ann’s Church of Bethany do not speak for everyone.”
Goolee’s hosts drag brunches every third Sunday of the month. This week’s show is sold out, though the gift shop will be open. The restaurant opened in 2004 in Ocean City before moving to Rehoboth in 2014.
“As a perpetual student of Jesus Christ, my faith has always taught me to love my neighbor, offer myself to the stranger, and reach out to those living on the fringe,” said Rev. Shelley D. McDade, Rector of the Parish of All Saints’ Church & St. George’s Chapel. “Thank you, Goolee’s, for continually serving up an authentic dish of love, acceptance and fun.”
-
Obituary3 hours ago
Cassandra Mary Ake-Duvall, 36, passed away on July 2, 2025.
-
District of Columbia23 hours ago
Trans woman attacked, beaten near Lincoln Memorial
-
Delaware8 hours ago
Delaware church to protest Rehoboth restaurant’s drag brunch
-
Real Estate4 days ago
Big changes ahead: D.C. housing policy is finally shifting