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More than 83 tons of raw pork, beef, and goat products tied to a Georgia distributor have been recalled nationwide after federal officials said the meat was shipped with fake USDA inspection marks and without required federal inspection.
Georgia Meat Recall: What To Know
Star Meat Delivery Inc., based in Lucama, North Carolina, is recalling about 167,639 pounds of products produced on various dates before Sept. 22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a Sept. 22 announcement.
The agency classified the recall as Class I, its highest risk level, and said the amount could grow as the investigation continues.
The products were vacuum-sealed, packed in cardboard boxes, and shipped to A&D Foods, a Georgia distributor, for delivery to retail stores and restaurants across the country. FSIS said the packages carried a false mark of inspection with the establishment number “EST. 1363,” which does not have a federal grant of inspection.
Some consumer packages may not show that number, because stores may have covered original labeling with their own price and handling stickers. Any product bearing “EST. 1363” should be treated as misbranded and unsafe to eat, the agency said.
Items subject to the recall include goat cuts, sliced ribeye, beef chuck, oxtail, short ribs, shanks, ground pork, pork chorizo, pork chops, pork feet, rib pieces, Boston butt, menudo mix, and pork hocks, among others, sold in bulk under the A&D Foods label.
FSIS said the problem was found during routine surveillance. No illnesses or injuries have been confirmed. Officials warned that meat produced without inspection can carry undeclared allergens, harmful bacteria, or other contaminants. Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not eat, sell, or serve the products and should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
Star Meat Delivery disputed the characterization of the stamps as falsified. In a Facebook statement, the company said “EST. 1363” was “legitimately reserved” during its USDA application to process and package meat for the Georgia distributor, and that the meat came from a USDA-inspected supplier.
The company said approval is still pending, that no other products it sells are part of the recall, and that it is cooperating with authorities. USDA did not immediately respond to that statement, according to AtlantaFi.com.
A spokesperson for A&D Foods told reporters that the company coordinated with USDA and notified customers after learning of the recall. “The safety and the integrity of the products we distribute are among our highest priorities,” the spokesperson said, adding that no illnesses or adverse health events have been reported in connection with the products.
It is not clear whether anyone has been arrested or charged. Consumers with questions can contact Star Meat Delivery at 252-239-0610 or starmeatdelivery@gmail.com, or the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-674-6854. Product labels and the recall notice are posted on the FSIS website.
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A viral video making the rounds this week shows a Black woman confronting a seatmate mid-flight after she says she read racist text messages on his phone.
The clip, originally posted to TikTok in May 2023 by travel creator Taila Rouse, has circulated again years later.
Viral Video: Woman on Flight From Atlanta Confronts Passenger Over Racist Texts
Rouse was on a roughly four-hour flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Atlanta. In the video, overlaid text reads “POV: You decided to confront the racist sitting next to you on your flight.” Speaking toward the man beside her, she says she was not going to say anything but decided she wanted him to feel as uncomfortable as she did. She tells him she saw his text messages and thinks he is disgusting.
When he asks which messages, she replies that he knows exactly what she is talking about and that she will not repeat the contents aloud so others do not have to hear them. She adds that she saw him and finds him disgusting. Later in the exchange he says he is sorry; she responds that she wants him to feel the discomfort she feels sitting next to him.
In accompanying posts at the time, Rouse said she glanced over and saw the words “big black woman” (other reports of the same clips quote a message reading “huge black woman”). She said she continued reading and saw an exchange with family members about the “woes” of sitting next to Black and gay people, plus a comment hoping airlines would keep raising prices to “weed out these people.”
One reported message referred to someone named Ryan sitting next to a “huge black woman.” Rouse wrote that if the passenger was bold enough to text those remarks in the middle seat, she would be bold enough to address him. She also shared a short clip or image of the messages. Contemporary coverage in outlets including Newsweek, the Miami Herald, and AeroTime described the TikTok as receiving millions of views within days.
The man is not identified in the video or the original posts, and the airline was not named by Rouse in the widely circulated clips (some secondary reports described it as a Delta flight). No public response from the passenger or the airline appears in the contemporaneous accounts. Replies to the recent X post largely praise the confrontation and describe the messages as evidence of open racism; a smaller number question the decision to film and confront a seatmate over private texts.
The episode is one of several mid-flight confrontations over phone screens that spread on social media in 2023. It rests on Rouse’s account of what she read and her decision to record the exchange rather than involve crew.
Final Word
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The Atlanta Braves ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ season Thursday night at Truist Park, winning the decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series 6-2 behind three home runs and a patchwork pitching staff that held a late rally in check.
Michael Harris II supplied the decisive blow in the first inning. After Aaron Nola walked Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson with one out, Harris lined a 2-0 sinker to right-center for a three-run homer—roughly 387 feet—that put Atlanta ahead 3-0.
We interviewed fans at a local sports bar, STATS downtown, who said the Braves are the team to beat. “The MLB better be ready,” said Brad Conley. “The Braves are bringing the pennant home.”
Braves Beat Phillies in Game 3 Wild Card, Advance in MLB Playoffs
The swing was immediate redemption: Harris had grounded into two double plays in Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss that forced the winner-take-all game.
Ozzie Albies added a two-run shot in the fourth, a 419-foot drive to right-center off Zack Wheeler after Austin Riley walked, stretching the lead to 5-0. Olson finished the power display with a solo home run in the seventh, measured at 416 feet to center off Jonathan Bowlan. Every Atlanta run came on a home run.
The Braves’ pitching plan was improvised and effective. Left-hander Ray Kerr, making his postseason debut and only his fourth career start, opened and threw 3⅓ scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. Grant Holmes followed with two innings and one run to earn the win.
Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd bridged to Chris Sale, who entered on one day of rest after throwing 6⅓ innings and striking out nine in Tuesday’s Game 1 victory. Sale retired the final four batters, striking out Bryce Harper to end the eighth and closing the ninth.
Philadelphia managed only six hits. Nola was pulled after 1⅔ innings and three runs. Wheeler, who had clinched the wild-card berth with a win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, worked four innings in relief and allowed two runs.
The Phillies scored once in the sixth on an Alec Bohm groundout that plated Kyle Schwarber, and once in the eighth when Derek Hill tripled and scored on a Trea Turner sacrifice fly. The final was 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 41,731.
The series victory is Atlanta’s first postseason series win since the 2021 World Series and the club’s first playoff series win against Philadelphia, which had eliminated the Braves in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS.
It also ended a six-game losing streak in elimination games that dated to the 2018 NLDS against the Dodgers, and marked the Braves’ first winner-take-all postseason win since Game 7 of the 1996 NLCS. Atlanta (94-68) advances to a best-of-five Division Series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning Saturday. Philadelphia (88-74) is finished for 2026.
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On a February Saturday in 2024, State Farm Arena was doing what downtown Atlanta does best: filling up, lighting up, and hosting an NBA night.
Eric Schmitt, Jack Smith Spar Over Atlanta Hawks Game
The Hawks were home against the Golden State Warriors. The city that had already become the backdrop for one of the most closely watched election cases in the country was, that evening, just a basketball town.
Atlanta Was the Scene of the Crime That Never HappenedTwo years later, that same Atlanta night walked into a Senate hearing room and nearly became a perjury case.
The Atlanta theory
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., spent part of Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing trying to place former special counsel Jack Smith in Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024. The timing was the point. The day before, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade had publicly addressed their relationship — a scandal that had already scrambled Atlanta’s Trump election-interference case. Schmitt’s suggestion was that Smith’s presence at a Hawks game would put him in the city at a politically charged moment, close enough to imply coordination.
Schmitt asked Smith whether he had gone to the Warriors-Hawks game in Atlanta. Smith said no. He said he did not recall being in Atlanta during his time as special counsel, except perhaps connecting through the airport. He said he had not met Willis.
Then came the trap.
Schmitt said he had text messages from Smith’s team placing him at a Warriors-Hawks game in Atlanta that night. A poster board went up, then quickly came down. Schmitt told Smith he would give him a second “so you don’t perjure yourself,” then declared that Smith already had. Later in the exchange he called Smith a “dirtbag.”
For a few minutes, Atlanta was the alleged meeting place of two prosecutions.
The city that wasn’t there
Atlanta’s role in the Trump cases is real. Fulton County’s indictment was filed here. The hearings, the recusal fights, the local politics — all of that happened in this city. State Farm Arena sits a short ride from the courthouse world that defined that chapter. It is easy to see why a senator looking for a Georgia connection would reach for a Hawks ticket stub.
The problem was the ticket.
Smith, after finally getting a look at the texts, said the game in his memory was not the Atlanta Hawks. It was the Iowa Hawkeyes. The date lined up. The sport lined up. The nickname was close enough to cause the wreck. The city did not. He recalled going to a University of Maryland women’s basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing, with the U.S. Marshals Service along. That game was in College Park, Maryland, not downtown Atlanta. Iowa beat Maryland 93-85. Clark scored 38 points with 12 assists in a sold-out XFINITY Center.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., made the correction in the room: people should have their facts straight before calling someone a dirtbag, and they should not get the teams wrong. The Hawks were in Atlanta. The Hawkeyes were in Maryland. Same calendar day. Different league, different mascot spelling, different state.
Why Atlanta still sits at the center
The mix-up only works as a story because Atlanta already occupies the map. Schmitt was not fishing in a random city. He was trying to stitch Smith’s federal work to Willis’s local case, and the Hawks — Atlanta’s NBA team, playing in Atlanta’s downtown arena — looked like the perfect cover story for a trip to Georgia. The texts apparently mentioned “Hawks.” Someone saw an arena graphic. The city filled itself in.
That is how Atlanta functions in national politics now: as both a real legal venue and a convenient stage. When Washington needs a Southern conspiracy, it often reaches for this city first. On Tuesday, the city was asked to play host to a meeting that the witness said never happened and that the calendar, once checked, put 600 miles away.
Smith denied the Atlanta trip. Schmitt claimed a bust. Smith, vexed, named the other birds. The Senate had its phenomenal moment. Atlanta kept the Hawks, and not the special counsel, on Feb. 3, 2024.
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The family of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells and civil rights attorney Ben Crump held a news conference Tuesday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, just outside Atlanta, after a Mississippi grand jury declined to bring criminal charges in the teenager’s death.
On Monday, a Jackson County grand jury unanimously returned a “no true bill,” finding no probable cause to indict anyone in connection with Wells’ death.
Ben Crump, Family Speak on Nolan Wells Grand Jury Findings
The panel reviewed testimony from more than 40 witnesses, physical and digital evidence, GPS and cellphone data, videos, and reports. It concluded there was “no credible evidence” of criminal conduct by anyone who traveled with Wells to or from Horn Island on July 4, 2026, and “absolutely no evidence” that the death or disappearance was racially motivated. The grand jury said the position, condition, time of discovery, and location of Wells’ body were consistent with drowning.
Wells, a Black student-athlete and wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College from Ocean Springs, went by boat with friends to Horn Island, a remote barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, to celebrate the Fourth of July. Friends said he chose to stay behind. He was reported missing that night. His body was found in the water near the island on the morning of July 6 by a National Park Service ranger. Both the Mississippi State Chief Medical Examiner and an independent forensic pathologist hired by the family, Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, ruled the cause and manner of death undetermined.
Drowning was not ruled out and was described as a diagnosis of exclusion. Non-fatal bruising was documented on the back of Wells’ head; an independent exam also noted traces of blood and blunt-force injuries to the head and back. Toxicology showed no drugs in his system.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, told those gathered that she could not understand how the panel reached a drowning conclusion given autopsy findings that included trauma to his body. “How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies?” she asked. She said the family learned of the grand jury’s decision only minutes before Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath posted a video announcing it. “Last night was a reminder that our son’s life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect the public,” Wonsley said through tears. “Nolan is loved. He is cherished. He is honored. And he did not deserve to have his life taken away so suddenly.”
Crump said the family would continue seeking answers. “The district attorney called the state’s investigation exhaustive,” he said. “Was it exhaustive? Or were they just exhausted? Because an exhaustive investigation should lead to the truth of what happened to Nolan Xavier Wells.” He argued that drowning should not be certified until other causes, including blunt-force trauma to the back of Wells’ head and body, are ruled out. “Common sense tells you that this child did not just drown.” Crump and others again asked the U.S. Department of Justice to open an independent investigation, noting that Horn Island is federally maintained. They also called for release of the full investigation file and the state medical examiner’s complete autopsy report.
He called for Mississippi to keep the investigation open, release the full state autopsy report, and for the U.S. Department of Justice to step in if state officials do not pursue the case further. The family also released the full independent autopsy report. Rev. Al Sharpton echoed the call for continued scrutiny, saying a “no true bill is not an answer.”
The case drew national attention and online speculation after photos circulated of Wells with white friends on the trip. Authorities and the grand jury rejected claims of racial motivation or foul play. The DA’s office has said Wells’ friends loved him, that he chose to stay on the island, and that there is no evidence contradicting that account. Some of the friends’ attorneys have described them as completely innocent and noted they faced threats amid public rumors.
The Tuesday Atlanta event is expected to feature Crump, the Wells family, and members of their legal team. They plan to reiterate demands for transparency, continued investigation, and federal review. The Congressional Black Caucus had previously requested DOJ and FBI involvement. As of the scheduled start time, no further details from the press conference itself were immediately available. The family has maintained throughout that they seek a full accounting of how Wells died after going out with friends and not returning.
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TUCKER, Ga. — An Atlanta singer is accused of slapping a woman from the stage during a concert, an incident captured on video that the woman says left her with two black eyes and that her attorney says will be the basis of a lawsuit.
Shamika Boyd says she was at Lonsdale Performing Arts Theater in Tucker to watch her daughter, DJ Jada Boyd, when Atlanta artist Sky Whatley reached down from the stage and struck her across the head. Video circulating from the show appears to show the blow, which Boyd and witnesses say could be heard over the concert music.
Music Artist Sky Whatley Slaps Woman: Why?
“When he hit me, I was devastated. He had no reason to hit me. I did nothing to him. He was in no harm, no threat,” Boyd said.
Boyd said Sky Whatley then flipped her off and said something along the lines of, “F U… this is for the real men.”
Jada Boyd said she did not know her mother had been hit until after the show and wants accountability.
The performance was part of an awards-and-concert event in Tucker. Reports also described a tense exchange near the stage before the slap, including claims that Boyd was trying to get a DJ’s attention and that words were exchanged beforehand. Those accounts have not been independently confirmed in later interviews, and Boyd has maintained she posed no threat.
Boyd’s attorney, Shannon Render, said the family intends to sue for medical bills, travel expenses, lost work and recovery costs. “It’s not appropriate for you to enter a venue and then be assaulted and then have to carry the burden of your medical expenses,” Render said.
A police report has been filed. Boyd and her attorney said they have not been able to reach Whatley.
Also, Whatley’s Instagram account seems to have been made private, his Facebook account was deactivated, and an email sent through his Linktree has not gotten a response, according to local media.
Whatley has not issued a public comment on the allegations. No arrest has been publicly confirmed.
The case remains an accusation at this stage. Video of the strike has fueled online debate about what happened immediately before the slap, but Boyd says the blow was unprovoked and that she is seeking both criminal and civil remedies.
Fortunately, there are other ways and venues to enjoy live music in Atlanta. Our Atlanta Live Music Guide lets you know every week and each fun-filled weekend who’s playing and where.
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A video circulating on social media has drawn attention to a heated exchange between a customer and an employee at a CAVA restaurant in Decatur, prompting a public service announcement about professionalism in customer service and calls to avoid harassment of those involved.
The post, posted by user Hollyhoodjojo (jojo.hollyhood), features footage from inside the restaurant that shows an employee going back and forth with a customer.
Things get disrespectful pretty quick in the video.
Video Shows Confrontation Between Customer, CAVA Employee in Decatur
Accompanying the video, is on-screen text reading “BEWARE OF ABUSIVE EMPLOYEE AT CAVA DECATUR!” It shows a male team member in a CAVA uniform and blue headwrap standing behind the counter during the interaction. The poster’s caption frames the clip as an example of customer service crossing into a hostile environment.
“If you’re having an issue with your order, asking a question, or making a reasonable complaint, you should be able to speak with an employee without feeling threatened, disrespected, or intimidated. And employees deserve respect too,” the caption states. It notes the incident occurred at a Decatur CAVA location and urges management to review the situation while emphasizing that both customers and staff should handle problems professionally.
Comments on the post reflect divided opinions. Several users defended the employee, describing him as composed and previously known for good service. One commenter wrote that “the customer is usually wrong” and that the worker “held his composure better than most especially when someone came to his job to antagonize him.” Others noted the employee appeared to be a young worker and cautioned against treating fast-food or fast-casual staff poorly.
Some remarks suggested the customer continued requesting food after the argument, while others raised concerns about food handling during tense interactions. A few comments identified the location as the North Decatur area restaurant.
CAVA operates a location at 2501 Blackmon Drive in Decatur. No official statement from the company or local authorities regarding this specific incident was immediately available, and the video does not appear to have been widely covered by traditional news outlets at the time of posting.
The clip has fueled broader online discussion about the challenges of customer-facing work, expectations of service workers, and the rapid spread of workplace videos on social media. The original poster stressed that the goal was to highlight the need for de-escalation rather than to target individuals.
Here Are The Best New Restaurants In Atlanta
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O’Charley’s is shutting down nearly all of its remaining company-owned restaurants, ending a 55-year run that began in Nashville.
On Wednesday, September 9, 2026, employees at locations across Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, and other states confirmed that corporate-owned restaurants would close for good at 8 p.m., or earlier if they sold out of food.
The company has not issued a public statement. Its social media accounts have been taken down, and requests for comment from news outlets have gone unanswered.
O’Charley’s Closing Down Nationwide
The Nashville-based casual dining chain, known for Southern comfort food, fresh rolls, chicken tenders, and honey mustard dressing, once operated nearly 250 restaurants. By early 2026 it was down to about 44–52 locations. A 2023 wave of closures cut roughly 17% of the portfolio as the company tried to preserve cash and shift toward a lighter operating model. Same-store sales later fell by double digits, and more stores closed in July 2026.
Charles “Sonny” Watkins opened the first O’Charley’s in 1971 on 21st Avenue South near Vanderbilt University. He sold the business in 1984 to David Watchel, a former Shoney’s executive, who expanded it into a regional chain. At its peak in the 2000s it was a familiar presence across the South and Midwest. Cannae Holdings later became the majority owner.
Not every location is vanishing on the same timeline. Reports indicate most corporate restaurants closed Wednesday night. A small number of franchised spots, including one in Niles, Ohio, said they would try to stay open as long as possible, with possible permanent closure later in September or early October. In Knoxville, the West Hills location posted a closed sign, while employees at another Knoxville restaurant and the Alcoa location said they had not been told to shut down. Underground Chuck’s, a related concept, is also closing.
The abrupt end has hit employees and regulars hard. Former staff described years of memories built around after-work meals, family dinners, and the restaurant’s familiar Southern hospitality. “I have friends who have said that they’ve been crying, they can’t sleep because so many memories built there over the years, and it’s hard to see it go,” one former employee told local media.
O’Charley’s decline followed a path common in casual dining: rising costs, changing customer habits after the pandemic, and intense competition. The 2023 closures were framed as a reset. That reset did not hold. By 2025 the portfolio had shrunk further and sales were down sharply.
For many customers in Tennessee and neighboring states, the chain was more than a restaurant. It was a neighborhood fixture. Wednesday night’s closings close that chapter for most of the remaining company stores, even if a handful of franchise locations linger a little longer. The company that started as one Nashville restaurant in 1971 is, for practical purposes, finished.
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Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, used the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington to reject tired stereotypes about her generation and issue a challenge instead.
Speaking on August 28, 2026, the 18-year-old activist told the crowd that Gen Z is not apathetic. It is overwhelmed by how much it cares.
“I think my generation cares so much that sometimes we don’t know what to do with all of it,” she said. “The question is whether we will turn that caring into courage, whether we will turn our anxiety into action.”
Yolanda Renee King: ‘Don’t Tell Me My Generation Doesn’t Care’
The line landed as both diagnosis and assignment. King framed her generation’s political moment not as a failure of interest but as a test of conversion: from feeling to doing.
Who She Is
Born May 25, 2008, in Atlanta to Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King never met her grandparents. She has spent most of her life in their shadow and, increasingly, in her own light. She first spoke nationally at age 9 at the 2018 March for Our Lives rally, invoking her grandfather’s dream while calling for an end to gun violence.
She has since written a children’s book, We Dream a World, spoken at the United Nations, protested for voting rights outside the White House, and helped launch the family’s Realize the Dream service initiative. She recently graduated from Atlanta International School and is headed to Columbia University.
Her 2026 March on Washington remarks continued a consistent theme: the dream was never finished, and remembrance is not enough. “You were asking us to continue,” she said of her grandfather. “So we will. We will pick up the baton. We will restore the dream.”
The Stereotypes She Refused
King listed the familiar complaints about Gen Z: distracted, glued to phones, short attention spans, too sensitive, cynical, uncaring. She rejected them outright.
Her generation, she argued, has grown up watching school shootings in real time and practicing active-shooter drills before they could spell “democracy.” They lived through a pandemic. They watched George Floyd call out for his mother. They have seen wars and suffering unfold on the screens they carry in their pockets. They inherited a planet in crisis, watched hatred amplified by algorithms, and seen rights previous generations fought to secure come under attack.
“So don’t tell me my generation doesn’t care,” she said. “We care.”
The overflow of feeling is the point. Constant exposure to crisis can produce paralysis as easily as passion. King’s question is whether that intensity becomes organizing.
From Caring to Courage
She stacked the conversions she wants her peers to make: caring into courage, anxiety into action, outrage into organizing, posts into purpose, followers into fellow citizens, a generation into a movement. “Get set because we have work to do,” she said.
The work she named was specific: protect the right to vote; refuse to treat gun violence as normal; confront racism, antisemitism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, “and every ideology that tries to convince us that some human beings matter more than others.”
The speech echoed earlier remarks. At 12 she told a 2020 march that her generation would be defined by action, not apathy. At 14 she wrote that she did not want to walk into school afraid. The 2026 address was the same voice, older, more fluent in the gap between digital witnessing and civic power.
Why the Message Resonates
Gen Z did not invent political anxiety. It inherited a media environment that makes every atrocity immediate and a political system that often feels unresponsive. King did not romanticize that condition. She named it as the raw material of a movement—if her generation chooses to use it.
Her family history supplies both inspiration and warning. Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he delivered “I Have a Dream” and 39 when he was assassinated. Freedom, her grandmother Coretta Scott King often said, is never really won; it is earned in every generation. Yolanda has repeated that line for years. The 2026 speech was her generation’s reply: we know the work is unfinished, and we are here.
The test she posed is not whether young people feel enough. It is whether they will organize the feeling—whether anxiety becomes action, and caring becomes courage.
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Sidney “Starr” Favors, a reality TV personality known for appearances on Love & Hip Hop: New York, Baddies ATL, and Atlanta Plastic, was denied bond on August 25, 2026, in Fulton County, Georgia, and will remain in custody while facing serious child sex offense charges.
Favors, 37 (legal name Sidney Favors), faces felony charges of sexual battery against a child under 16, aggravated child molestation, and sodomy. The charges stem from an alleged incident on or around August 2, 2026, at an Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel on International Boulevard in Hapeville, near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Sidney Starr Child Molestation Case: What To Know
Police responded after the family of a 13-year-old boy reported the alleged assault. She was arrested at the hotel and booked into Fulton County Jail, where she has been held without bond.
According to details presented in court and arrest warrants, prosecutors allege Favors engaged in sexual contact with the minor, including performing oral sex, in her hotel room. Investigators testified that Favors acknowledged engaging in sexual contact with a person she referred to as “Larry,” who was identified as the minor.
READ: Sidney Starr arrested in Hapeville on charges involving minor
She reportedly told Hapeville detectives that the individual entered an elevator with her, went to her room, claimed to be 18, and that the contact was consensual. Defense counsel has also indicated the child approached her. These remain allegations; Favors has not been convicted.
At the bond hearing on Tuesday, August 25, the alleged victim’s mother addressed the court (in a statement or impact remarks). She described her son needing intensive therapy and experiencing profound emotional and psychological effects, stating variations of: at an age when he should feel safe, innocent, and protected, he is forced to cope with trauma no child should endure. She asked the judge to deny bond.
Prosecutors, including arguments citing the seriousness (“heinousness”) of the alleged crimes, opposed bond. They pointed to Favors’ residence in Chicago and limited ties to the Atlanta area as creating a significant flight risk, potential danger to others, and the risk that her television career and large social media following (reported around hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers) could enable witness intimidation or interference with the case.
Defense attorneys argued for bond, noting Favors has essentially no criminal history beyond minor traffic matters, has never failed to appear in court, cooperated with investigators, gave consistent statements, and has a “good nature” along with some ties to Georgia. They contended she is not a flight risk.
The judge acknowledged the lack of significant prior criminal history but sided with the prosecution’s concerns regarding flight risk, danger, and potential interference. Favors was ordered to remain in custody without bond at Fulton County Jail as the case proceeds (it had been on a pre-indictment calendar). She has been represented by court-appointed counsel after indicating indigency and was reportedly held in a special unit for vulnerable LGBTQ+ inmates.
Favors, a transgender model and Chicago native, built a public profile through reality television and social media. The case remains in the early stages in Fulton County Superior Court. As with all criminal matters, the charges are allegations only, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Further proceedings, including possible grand jury action or preliminary hearings, will determine the next steps.
