Inspiration for the movie ‘White Boy Rick’ files suit

DETROIT — A Detroit-area man whose decades in prison for drug dealing and work as an informant inspired the movie “White Boy Rick” filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking $100 million, claiming he was coerced into assisting police while just a helpless teenager.

Richard Wershe Jr., 52, served roughly 30 years in prison in Michigan before his release in 2017, followed by a few more years in a Florida prison for an unrelated crime.

Wershe’s lawsuit in federal court in Detroit alleges that his troubles in the 1980s were related to the pressures of pleasing local police and federal agents who used him as an informant, repeatedly sent him into drug dens and abandoned him when he got in legal trouble.

“The justice system hasn’t been fair to me over the last 33 years,” Wershe said. “This needed to be done. The truth absolutely needed to be told. … Everything that we say will be backed up by documents and FBI agents.”

Wershe’s life was the basis of the 2018 film “White Boy Rick,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt.

Miss Universe event will be held in Israel

NEW YORK — Miss Universe is heading to Israel for its 70th competition.

The Miss Universe Organization announced Tuesday that the pageant will be held this December in the southern resort city of Eilat.

Steve Harvey will once again return as host.

The three-hour event will broadcast live on Fox in the U.S. and also in 180 countries and territories across the globe. It will end with the current Miss Universe, Mexico’s Andrea Meza, crowning her successor.

Meza, a former software engineer, has advocated for women’s rights and is also encouraging people to get the vaccine from COVID-19. Soon after she was named Miss Universe, Meza invited the media to cover her first vaccination shot in New York.

Singer Halsey announces birth of first child

Halsey has something new to sing about: motherhood.

The pop star announced on Instagram on Monday that she has given birth to her first child. The 26-year-old posted black-and-white photos of her holding her baby next to her boyfriend, screenwriter Alev Aydin.

The singer wrote that their baby was born July 14 and is named Ender Ridley Aydin.

“Gratitude. For the most ‘rare’ and euphoric birth. Powered by love,” Halsey wrote on her post.