Scooter Braun paid an effusive tribute to girlfriend Sydney Sweeney as the actress celebrated her 29th birthday on Saturday.

The 45-year-old billionaire music mogul shared a video of the Euphoria star and himself enjoying a romantic slow dance beneath the stars, with an Italian castle providing a dramatic backdrop.

Set to Mitski’s love song My Love Mine All Mine, the clip shows Braun dipping Sweeney before appearing to kiss her on the lips.

In his caption, Braun praised Sweeney for teaching him the meaning of a “true partnership” while listing the qualities he loves most about her.

“Happy birthday to the woman who is the exception to every rule. The person who surprised me and showed me how life with true partnership can be lived,” he wrote.

“You make me smile harder, laugh louder, adventure more, and dream bigger. You’ve made the ordinary feel exciting and the future feel like something I can’t wait to get to. A giggle can change an entire day.”

Braun went on: “And I love how corny we can be together, because nothing else matters. There are a million things I could say, but the ones that matter most are just for you.”

“Happy birthday Syd. Many more celebrations ahead. I love you,” Braun concluded.

Sweeney notably “liked” her boyfriend’s post, which has drawn more than 700 comments from fans as well as the couple’s celebrity friends.

Sweeney has been romantically linked to Braun since September 2025 following her split from longtime fiance Jonathan Davino.

It began months after they met at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Venice wedding in June of last year. 

Both Sweeney and Braun heavily feature one another on social media, with the blonde recently posting a photo of herself and the mogul dressed as Wonder Woman and Superman, respectively.

Earlier this month, Sweeney was spotted bonding with Braun’s three children – Jagger Joseph, 11; Levi Magnus, nine; and Hart Violet, seven – who he shares with his ex-wife, Yael Cohen.

Braun had been linked to the health activist beginning in 2013, and they tied the knot the following year, before welcoming Jagger in 2015.

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Their second son, Levi, was born the following year, and their daughter Hart followed in 2018. 

But in 2021 their marriage came crashing down when Braun filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2022.

Braun’s birthday shout-out to Sweeney comes amid reports that Sweeney’s media mogul boyfriend Scooter Braun has become an influence on her career.

According to Puck News, Braun was a factor in Sweeney’s recent decision to sign with Hollywood power player Kevin Huvane at CAA.

Braun set Sweeney up for dinner with Huvane without her other management knowing, which led to her signing with him over rival agents that had been ‘clamoring for a similar sit-down’ with her.

The bold career move came around the same time that Sweeney, 28, split from her longtime publicity team at ImPRint PR after a decade.

Both sides were reportedly happy to move on, with the ImPRint team growing ‘frustrated’ that Sweeney was no longer listening to their advice.

Puck points out that when ImPRint sent Sweeney to Variety’s Power of Women event last year in a bid to get her taken more seriously as an awards-worthy actress, she showed up in a sheer silver gown that highlighted her 32DD cleavage. 

It’s currently unclear if Braun, who previously managed Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato, has any say in Sweeney’s current PR strategy or wardrobe choices.

The Daily Mail contacted Braun, ImPRint, and Sweeney for comment at the time but did not receive a response.

UCLA coach Bob Chesney again went with his familiar all-black look Saturday, a wardrobe choice that has become part of his game-day routine.

San Diego State, meanwhile, absorbed the consequences.

Days after the Aztecs’ coach jabbed at UCLA as a program with “all their polos, all their khakis, all their resources,” San Diego State was decisively reminded of the gap between the two teams on the field.

It was not an immediate runaway for the Bruins, who stumbled through a scoreless first half before finally finding enough rhythm on offense.

But a resilient defensive effort and a game-changing surge from running back Wayne Knight helped UCLA pull away for a 28-10 win over San Diego State at the Rose Bowl.

Knight powered in three second-half touchdowns, highlighted by a 7-yard score with seven minutes remaining. He bounced outside, found open space and reached the end zone untouched.

That run gave UCLA a two-possession advantage. Soon after, Bruins linebacker Jalen Woods intercepted a pass deep in Aztecs territory, effectively ending any hopes of a comeback. UCLA running back Jaivian Thomas later spun across the goal line on a 2-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-3.

Through two games, UCLA has already produced 10 rushing touchdowns — more than its total of eight for the entire previous season. Knight led the Bruins’ ground attack Saturday with 97 yards on 13 carries and now has six rushing scores this season.

The Bruins also reinforced one of Chesney’s preferred college football mantras: the halftime score means very little.

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One week after scoring 21 fourth-quarter points to separate from Cal, UCLA once again delivered its strongest work late, closing out San Diego State (0-2) with another imposing finish.

The Bruins rolled up 365 total yards of offense to the Aztecs’ 189 while improving to 2-0 for the first time since 2023. UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 14 of 22 passes for 151 yards and an interception while also rushing for 57 yards.

This was a victory that came in unconventional fashion.

With Iamaleava having more success running the ball than throwing it, his team drove deep into San Diego State territory on its first drive of the third quarter. Knight finally put UCLA on the scoreboard when he ran for an 8-yard touchdown, slipping a tackle near the goal line.

What preceded that was far less pleasing for Bruins fans.

A scoreless, bizarre first half ended in fitting fashion — with Iamaleava shaking off a defender only to throw a shaky pass across his body that fell incomplete. After Iamaleava took a knee on the next play to run out the clock, there were a few boos inside the Rose Bowl.

Bad throws and poor decisions were an unfortunate theme for Iamaleava in the game’s early going.

Just when it looked as if the Bruins might finally break through, facing a third-and-goal at San Diego State’s 2-yard line early in the second quarter, Iamaleava threw a pass across his body that was intercepted in the end zone.

Later, when UCLA faced a fourth-and-7 at the Aztecs’ 36-yard line, Iamaleava was sacked, leading to a turnover on downs.

But the scoreboard wouldn’t stay stuck on zeroes for much longer, the Bruins once again showing themselves to be a second-half team.

Former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick has accused two high-profile Black former players of abandoning colleagues who protested during the league’s national anthem controversy nearly a decade ago.

Kaepernick, now 38 and still a free agent, also said white NFL players largely failed to engage with the police brutality and racism that drove him and other Black athletes to kneel during the anthem. In an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, he acknowledged receiving support from certain white stars while he remained unsigned, but said that backing did not extend to the central cause behind his protest.

“Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady came out and supported me, saying that I shouldn’t be blackballed, and I should be on an NFL team,” Kaepernick said while discussing his new book about the controversy. “So there was support in that regard in very select instances. But around the topic of police killing Black folks and trying to address the systemic issues? Very limited.”

His criticism, however, was not limited to white players.

Kaepernick told Remnick that he believes the NFL Players Coalition, an organization formed around social justice and racial equality initiatives, was used by the league to weaken the anthem demonstrations led by him, former San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid and other players.

“I mean, there were players in the NFL that joined forces with the NFL, in the Players Coalition,” Kaepernick said, before naming two Black stars who led the group. “Those were efforts that were led by Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin, and sold the protest out, or attempted to. Very real conversations that were had there. I mean, I would say, largely, NFL players—I don’t think they collectively responded. I do think there was a missed opportunity there.”

The Daily Mail said it requested comment from Jenkins and Boldin, who are both retired, along with representatives for the Players Coalition.

The Players Coalition remains active, though it faced an early split shortly after it was created. Reid, Michael Thomas and Russell Okung left the organization amid internal disputes.

And that was just one group working to stop the protests, according to Kaepernick.  

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‘I had players who came back and were, like, “Oh, I talked to my agent about it,” or “I talked to my family about it,”‘ Kaepernick told Remnick. ‘We had players across the league – I remember one. Playing this back is a little bit of a mind-blowing conversation. I had one player who came back and was, like, “My owner told me that I can’t protest.”

‘And that was an unfathomable sentence to me.’

Kaepernick did credit some teammates and other players for stepping up: ‘I had great people by my side. I mean, whether it’s Eric Reid or Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson.’

The protests continued after Kaepernick’s tenure in San Francisco came to an end in March of 2017 before the demonstrations died out in 2021.  

He has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, when he ignited a nationwide free-speech debate with the protests. And although Kaepernick has been in contact with a few interested teams, the quarterback who once guided the 49ers to the Super Bowl has remained a free agent.

‘I had had a visit with the Seattle Seahawks,’ Kaepernick told Remnick. ‘They brought me in. They did not do a workout with me because, they said, “We already know you’re a starter.” What they asked me was everything about my political beliefs, the protests, and then ultimately said, “We’re not going to offer you to play on the Seahawks.”‘

These days, Kaepernick refuses to watch the NFL, saying the league is still ‘actively blackballing’ him a decade after his controversial protests.

‘I’m not gonna support an organization that one, is actively blackballing me, but two, has targeted my brothers who have been protesting as part of this as well,’ Kaepernick recently told NBC News in an interview. ‘I watch college football.’

The NFL has denied blackballing Kaepernick and Reid, who both reached confidential settlements with the league in 2019 over allegations of collusion. Kaepernick has since gone through a few NFL tryouts without being welcomed back into the league.

Ben Shelton will face more than Alexander Zverev when he steps onto the court for Sunday’s U.S. Open final. The American is chasing an end to a 23-year Grand Slam title drought for U.S. men, a 51-year wait for a Black American man to win a major, and his own losing history against his opponent at Flushing Meadows.

The numbers are daunting, and together they paint a difficult picture.

Yet Shelton has not been intimidated by the stakes.

“For me, this whole tournament now at this point has been uncharted territory,” Shelton said. “I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys that I’ve never beaten before. I’m just excited to put it all out on the line. Yes, I can think about how cool this moment is and what I’m playing for.

“At the end of the day, I’m here in New York, hanging out with my team, with my homies, playing a little tennis. And I’ve been able to downplay the moment pretty well.”

There is plenty for the 22-year-old to absorb after his breakthrough run to a first Grand Slam final. Shelton is the first Black American man to reach a major final since MaliVai Washington made Wimbledon’s championship match in 1996, and the first to do so at the U.S. Open since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

Still, simply reaching the final is not where Shelton wants the story to end.

A victory would snap a run of 90 consecutive majors without an American men’s champion. It would also make Shelton the first U.S. man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open, while ending the wait for a Black American male major champion that has stood since Ashe won Wimbledon in 1975.

For Shelton, those layers of history have not appeared to create added pressure.

Growing more composed both on the court and away from it, Shelton enters the U.S. Open final with a perfect 4-0 record in title matches this year.

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“Don’t want to jinx him here, but if you look at his record throughout his career, he’s played well on Sundays,” Shelton’s father/coach Bryan said. “That’s where he wants to be. He feels like he’s going to play his best tennis at the end of [tournaments]. So, glad he has a chance at the U.S. Open.” 

This tournament is a different test from the ATP Masters 1000 Canada, Stuttgart, Munich and Dallas. And the top-seeded Zverev is a different challenge. But Shelton is in a good headspace coming into their meeting. 

“I think I handle these big situations I have in my career pretty well. I feel that confidence and belief take over,” Shelton said. “The nerves are always there. It’s something you’ve got to lean into. The nerves are as much there in the first round for me as in the semifinals, and I’m sure the finals will be the same. It’s something you’ve got to be able to overcome. 

“But for me, I’m having fun. I’m playing against the No. 1 seed, Grand Slam final, playing against a Grand Slam champion trying to get my first. It’s a lot of reasons that this is an enjoyable moment for me and knowing I can leave it all out there on the court and push myself to the absolute limit in every way and see what I can do is an exciting, exciting thought.” 

Shelton is 0-5 against his veteran foe. But the big-hitting lefty has Zverev’s attention. 

“Ben is a big, powerful guy,” Zverev said. “Massive serve, massive groundstrokes. Everything he does is just big.” 

The head-to-head history bodes ill for Shelton. The Floridian won the opening set of their first meeting back in 2024 but hasn’t taken one since. 

But after being winless against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz, Shelton beat both in this tourney. After having lost to Frances Tiafoe here two years ago, Shelton beat him in the semifinals to get to Sunday. 

“Problem-solving has been the name of the game here,” Shelton said. “I was 0-1 against Stef, 0-3 against Carlos. [Tiafoe] beat me the last time we played on this court. It’s been a lot of uphill battle, so I’m fully ready for the challenge to problem-solve. 

“I’m a different player. I have so many more tools. I feel like I know my identity, am comfortable in my own skin, and I know what it takes for me to be playing top-level tennis. … So, I’m looking forward to the challenge, being able to problem-solve on Sunday. I know what I’m up against, and I’m also the most confident I’ve ever been in my game.”