The younger country music sensation and girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel is fending off accusations regarding how she secured a prominent performance opportunity.

Alexis Wilkins, 27, has countered allegations that she landed her role as a ‘feature performer’ for the grand opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall due to her connections with the President and her relationship with Patel, who is nearly two decades older than her.

This week, Wilkins was officially confirmed as a performer. She dismissed allegations that taxpayer dollars were funding her involvement, filling a gap left by the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 after its concert roster fell apart.

“I was invited to perform this anthem of my own merit, just as I have done in numerous places throughout my career,” Wilkins stated on social media, addressing her critics. “I am not receiving payment for this esteemed opportunity.”

Earlier this year, the event stirred significant controversy when nearly all initially booked musical acts withdrew from the lineup organized by Freedom 250.

Within days of the original lineup being announced, including stars like Bret Michaels, The Commodores, Martina McBride and more, nearly all withdrew from the fair. 

Many of the performers dropped out because of Freedom 250’s ties to the Trump administration. The group has worked on various initiatives to celebrate the nation’s birthday.

President Donald Trump, seeing the many cancellations, announced that he would step in and deliver remarks at the opening ceremony for the Great American State Fair. 

‘I get to sing the national anthem on the opening of our nation’s 250th birthday, and that in and of itself, no matter the administration, should be really a universal honor,’ Wilkins told the Daily Mail. ‘So I’m really looking forward to doing it, of course, very honored that I was asked.’

In a defiant tone, the 27-year-old country music singer said she’s been going after those who sow rumors about her. 

‘I am happy to correct the narrative when it gets completely off the rails,’ she said in a phone call. 

‘I have been a country music artist for years now. I have had a successful career in both music and commentary/strategy. People don’t get to negate that for clicks or headlines.’

Wilkins and Patel have frequently been in the news during Trump’s second term. 

Namely, the two have been reported to use Patel’s government-provided jet to travel around together, which the FBI has defended, noting the director must fly on the jet due to security precautions. 

Online critics have also baselessly accused Wilkins of being a ‘honeypot,’ to which she has responded with lawsuits. 

Kyle M Seraphin is one of the many online voices who has pushed a ‘honey pot’ Israeli spy narrative about Wilkins. She has since sued Seraphin for $5 million, claiming defamation.

Speaking previously to the Daily Mail, she denied the allegations, noting how, during two of the three years she’s been dating Patel, he was not the FBI boss. 

As for the 19-year age gap between her and Patel, it’s not uncommon in Trump’s orbit.  

‘There are a lot of people in this administration with age differences. There are a lot of people out there with age differences,’ she said previously.

A flyover is planned for the Wednesday evening kickoff ceremony for the fair. 

It is expected to include F-16s, F-35As and America’s iconic long-range stealth bomber used recently against Iran, the B-2 Spirit. 

Singer of the Trump rally anthem ‘God Bless the USA, ‘ Lee Greenwood, and opera singer Christopher Macchio are also expected to perform on Wednesday evening. 

The fair will last until July 10 and feature a booth from all 50 US states and six territories. These pavilions will offer food and souvenirs ranging from Texas barbecue to Alaskan ice carvings and a Hawaiian hula hooping area.

There is also a 110-foot Ferris Wheel on the National Mall adorned with lights for the two-week spectacle.  

In a tragic case, the family of a young girl who fell victim to a sexual assault at age 12 by a stranger she encountered on Snapchat is taking action against its parent company, Snap, as well as the attacker, with a lawsuit in Missouri state court.

The legal complaint, submitted on Wednesday, argues that the social media giant has neglected to deactivate hazardous functions within its application and has failed to adequately inform parents of potential risks associated with its platform.

The document reveals that the girl started using Snapchat in 2021 when she was 11 years old, unbeknownst to her parents.

Although Snapchat mandates users be at least 13, the lawsuit highlights that the girl doesn’t recall the birth date she used and indicates that children were aware they could easily sidestep the age restriction.

Roughly a year into her use of Snapchat, the suit alleges that the app suggested her, along with teenage girls from local high schools, as friend options to defendant Gabriel Joel Valentin-Rios, an adult with whom they had no prior personal connection.

It did not warn the children that connecting to strangers might be dangerous.

After the girl and Valentin-Rios connected, Valentin-Rios began sending her unsolicited nude photographs, the lawsuit says.

The girl “did not want these photographs and, at first, did not reciprocate but Snapchat’s product design made it impossible for (her) to avoid such explicit content,” it says.

As part of its Snap Maps feature, the app also provided Valentin-Rios with the girl’s home address without her knowledge, according to the lawsuit.

Valentin-Rios then groomed the girl, convincing her that he was a 17-year-old local high school boy, not a 25-year-old man.

Eventually he got her to meet him in person and raped her.

Valentin-Rios pleaded guilty to statutory rape and is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence in Missouri.

The lawsuit claims Snapchat knew that Valentin-Rios had multiple accounts — even though it is against the app’s policies — including one he used to lure teen girls.

“We care deeply about the safety and well-being of all Snapchatters, and our teams have worked for years to build safeguards, launch safety tutorials, partner with experts, and work with law enforcement to help prevent the misuse of our platform,” Snap said in a statement.

The girl has been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and depression, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs seek unspecified damages and are asking the court to compel Snap to stop practices that harm children.

“This assault did not happen in a vacuum — it happened because Snapchat’s product design made it easy for a predator to reach and manipulate an unsuspecting child,” said Matthew Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which brought the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs. “Snap executives have long known that their features create a perfect environment for predators to exploit children, yet they have repeatedly failed to make the platform safe.”

This is not the first such lawsuit against Snap. New Mexico sued the company in 2024, saying the platform’s design features foster sextortion, sexual abuse and unwanted contact from adults to minors.

According to the lawsuit, Snap was well aware, but failed to warn parents, young users and the public that “sextortion was a rampant, ‘massive,’ and ‘incredibly concerning issue’ on Snapchat.” A judge denied the company’s motion to dismiss last year.

There are also individual lawsuits pending against the company, including one in Vermont on behalf of two 12-year-old girls who were sexually assaulted by an adult they met on Snapchat.

In a shocking incident that has raised food safety concerns, three employees at a Wendy’s in South Carolina were taken into custody. The staff members are accused of retrieving discarded food from the trash and contaminating it with spit before serving it to a dissatisfied customer who had voiced complaints about her original order.

The individuals in question, Aaliyah Shuntai Sanders, 23, Trinity Lashell Rice, 19, and Shadela Crystal Holley, now face serious legal repercussions. They have been charged with tampering with a human drug product or food item for their actions at the Union location of Wendy’s.

Fox Carolinas relayed that the arrests were carried out separately over the span of several days between June 16 and June 22, bringing each suspect into custody.

The troubling episode unfolded on May 31 when a patron, after using the drive-thru, discovered a problem with her meal. She subsequently asked for a refund. Although the staff initially collected the complained-about food, they later offered to prepare a fresh order. The customer chose to accept this gesture and left the premises, unaware of what had transpired.

While driving, the customer received a phone call from someone at the restaurant who informed her that an employee had pulled her food from a trash can and spat on it.

Upon checking the meal, the woman realized the “new” order was actually the same food from her initial order.

She immediately contacted the police to report the incident. The victim also called the store to speak with the restaurant manager, who confirmed he had spoken with the staff and verified the allegations. The manager noted that all three employees involved had been written up.

News Media has reached out to the fast-food chain for comment.

All eyes are turning toward pop sensation Taylor Swift as the countdown to her much-discussed wedding with Travis Kelce intensifies.

Speculation swirls around a potential ceremony at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden on July 3. Meanwhile, discussions about whether former close friend Blake Lively will be in attendance are keeping fans and critics buzzing.

The spotlight recently shifted to whispers of a bachelorette party that reportedly occurred at her beachfront mansion in Rhode Island over the weekend.

This celebration coincided—perhaps by chance—with another glamorous bachelorette gathering.

This time, it was for Gabbriette Bechtel, the Instagram model engaged to Swift’s notorious ex-boyfriend, musician Matty Healy.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for social media to speculate that the dueling bachelorettes were yet another dig at Swift from the 28-year-old Bechtel, who started dating The 1975 front man just months after his controversial fling with Swift came to an end.

After all, Swift’s devoted legion of fans have often cited Bechtel’s cryptic social media postings as evidence of an alleged one-sided feud with the singer.

But according to a source who spoke to the Daily Mail, Swifties shouldn’t sharpen their pitchforks just yet.

‘It’s a total coincidence the parties were the same weekend,’ an insider told the Daily Mail. ‘Matty and Taylor were more of a hookup, so I don’t think anyone is thinking much of the other.’

Bechtel, herself the former lead singer of punk rock band Nasty Cherry, celebrated her engagement to Healy, 37, with a private flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Friday.

The model, wearing a vintage white Chanel skirt suit, kicked off festivities by being playfully handcuffed and carried onto the private jet by a tattooed policeman impersonator.

She and pals were then treated to a performance by an Elvis Presley impersonator, before attending Dita Von Teese’s residency at the Voltaire at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.

As for Swift, 36, her rumored bachelorette party reportedly took place at her $18 million mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.

According to TMZ, guests were seen gathering at Swift’s 11,000-square-foot home early last week, with a massive security detail reportedly on hand. 

By Saturday, talk was that an entourage of several SUVs had been spotted leaving Swift’s mansion. That evening, a massive fireworks display fired off from nearby Ocean House, a famous Rhode Island wedding venue.

Still, our source maintains that the timing of the two bachelorette parties was purely a coincidence and has nothing to do with rumors of a feud.

‘The two ladies celebrating their bachelorette parties would have nothing to do with one another and a complete coincidence,’ the insider said.

‘Taylor and Matty were never even that serious,’ they added.

Indeed, Swift’s whirlwind ‘casual’ romance with the British rocker fizzled out just as quickly as it began.

In May 2023, Swift sparked dating rumors with Healy just one month after it was revealed that her long-term relationship with British actor, Joe Alwyn, had ended.

While her split from Alwyn after more than six years caught many fans by surprise, her rumored fling with Healy was much less of a bombshell.

Perhaps that is because Swift and Healy have continually sparked romance rumors over the last decade, ever since she attended a 1975 concert in November 2014.

The pair publicly brushed off the dating speculation over the years, though they did collaborate on Swift’s 2022 album Midnights and performed onstage together in January 2023. 

Fans also believe that Swift has long hinted at her years-long crush on Healy in her music, despite dating other men at the time.

But it seemed the pair had taken their platonic relationship to the next level, as they were photographed holding hands and spending date nights out in New York City throughout much of May that year. Healy also attended a string of Swift’s concerts early on in her record-breaking Eras Tour.

However, the couple soon found themselves swept up in controversy after a number of resurfaced comments made by Healy ignited fury among Swift’s protective fanbase.

In February 2023, Healy made a racially insensitive comment about the rapper Ice Spice, who just so happened to be featured on the remix of Swift’s 2022 single Karma around the same time. On stage, he also performed what looked like a Nazi salute while giving a shoutout to none other than Swift’s sworn enemy, Kanye West.

Following the backlash, it was reported in June 2023 that their ‘casual’ romance had simply ‘ran its course’ and there was ‘no drama’ between Swift and Healy.

But Swift wasn’t single for long, as she reportedly began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, 36, by September that year – and the rest is history.

While the singer has happily moved on with her NFL star fiancé, who popped the question in August 2025 after two years of dating, it would appear that much of her ill-fated romance with Healy still weighs heavily on her mind.

It is believed that Swift’s 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department is heavily inspired by her relationship with Healy, including the tracks ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ ‘Down Bad,’ ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,’ and ‘Fresh Out The Slammer.’

Throughout the album, Swift describes an intense, ‘cosmic’ relationship and having strong romantic feelings with someone from her past while dating someone else. She appears to address criticisms from fans on songs like ‘I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)’ and ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ in which she convinces herself that she can change the ways of a ‘wild boy.’

She also rips into a romantic partner for leading her on in ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,’ and seemingly made a reference to Bechtel later on in the album when she sings about a man ‘having kids with some internet starlet’ in the future.

When asked about his reaction to The Tortured Poets Department at the time, Healy told paparazzi he hadn’t ‘really listened to that much of it’ but he was ‘sure it’s good.’

However, it would appear that Swift isn’t the only one to throw subtle shade, whether that be in her lyrics or online.

Back in October 2024, fans were convinced Bechtel took a swipe at Swift when a video showed the model talking through her makeup looks and preferences, including her particular distaste for a red lip.

In the video, Bechtel spoke disparagingly about the makeup trends she used to wear, which included ‘winged eyeliner’ and a ‘red lip’ – two bold looks the Eras Tour hitmaker is known for. 

In August that year, fans also believed that Bechtel appeared to mock the singer’s songwriting skills.

Ahead of the release of Swift’s 2025 album, The Life of a Showgirl, she commented on a video from Saturday Night Life comedian Veronika Slowikowska, in which she imagined what some of the song titles on Swift’s upcoming album might sound like, including the song ‘Actually Romantic’.

In the comments section, Bechtel appeared to praise the comedian’s skit and wrote below the video, ‘Babe record actually romantic please.’

Bechtel’s comment seemed innocent enough, but rumors of their alleged feud were ignited even further as fans theorized that ‘Actually Romantic’ was about Bechtel’s friend, Charli XCX – who reportedly introduced Bechtel to Healy, seeing as she’s married to The 1975 drummer George Daniel.

For those who don’t know, the song ‘Everything Is Romantic’ off of Charli’s 2024 album, Brat, is widely believed to be about how insecure Charli felt around Swift when she was dating Healy.

In ‘Actually Romantic,’ Swift appeared to respond to the British pop star, 33, by calling all the attention ‘actually sweet’ and referenced Charli’s reaction to their breakup.

Even Healy’s famous mother Denise Welch chimed in during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, in which she shockingly told the audience that ‘being [Swift’s] mother-in-law is a role that I am glad that I lost.’

Welch, 68, also defended her son’s ‘gorgeous’ and ‘amazing’ fiancée Bechtel, as she declared her son has ‘moved on’ from his brief tryst with Swift.

However, Healy’s mother simply brushed off speculation about a dueling bachelorette weekend to our insider.

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Swift and Healy for comment.

In June 2024, Bechtel confirmed her engagement to the 1975 singer after nine months of dating. 

On Instagram, she shared a photo of her gothic engagement ring, which featured a black gem surrounded by pave diamonds around the stone and band. She captioned the post, ‘MARRYING THE 1975 IS VERY BRAT.’

Meanwhile, Kelce proposed to Swift in August 2025 at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, after two years of dating. 

The singer announced their engagement on Instagram, sharing a picture of their rose garden proposal and captioning the post, ‘Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.’

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Swift and Kelce were planning on having their wedding at the massive Madison Square Garden arena, located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

At the time, a separate source told Daily Mail the couple are expected to tie the knot on Friday, July 3, as they’ve decided to ’embrace the spectacle’ of a giant wedding.

The iconic -venue is best known for concerts and professional sports, and can hold up to 22,000 people. However, it is unclear just how many people will be invited to witness Swift and Kelce tie the knot.

Insiders previously suggested that guests won’t know the location of the wedding until the morning of July 3. 

The star-studded guests believed to be on the guest list include Swift’s pal Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid and her boyfriend Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Lena Dunham and Zoe Kravitz.

Kelce’s football coach, Andy Reid, 68, has already confirmed he will be attending. Also expected to be there are Kelce’s brother Jason Kelce, his teammate Patrick Mahomes and Mahomes’ wife Brittany.

When asked about socialism’s advantage during recent New York primaries, Delaware Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester chose not to directly address its perceived benefits.

During a Wednesday morning segment on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Blunt Rochester was queried about the primary election outcomes, in which three socialist contenders not only clinched victories but also unseated two current lawmakers.

Blunt Rochester opted not to discuss its potential implications on the Democratic Party’s direction; instead, she highlighted the overall success of the elections.

“First and foremost, seeing such unprecedented engagement from the populace is a positive development, especially as we mark this nation’s 250th anniversary,” Blunt Rochester remarked. “We aim to encourage participation. Regarding Democrats, and my efforts towards securing a majority, it’s clear that political strategies are inherently local.”

She elaborated on the diverse strategies employed by Democratic candidates based on their locales, noting that Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola is running on a platform centered around “fish, family, and freedom.”

“Fish might not work in New York, or it might not work in North Carolina, but that works there. And so for us, the most important thing is that we hear the people. We want to be known that we’re listening to them and that we’re fighting for them. And again, it might look different in different places across the country, but we do believe that people are concerned about this economy and the cost of things. And so we’re going to continue to fight for them. So to me, it’s a win-win,” Blunt Rochester said.

“Where has socialism ever worked, senator?” CNBC host Joe Kernen asked.

“Is that another question or is that for the next interview?” Blunt Rochester responded.

Kernen repeated his question, to which Blunt Rochester replied, “Well, when you have me come back on we can talk about all the races across the country.”

Kernen then acknowledged that the remark was a “rhetorical question that I was answering myself” and thanked her for her time.

Fox News Digital reached out to Blunt Rochester’s office for comment.

New York candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier each campaigned on a socialist economic agenda, anti-Israel posture and opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Before the election, they were endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.