A man being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer has been charged with three counts of statutory rape in North Carolina, according to court documents.
Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamantes, 29, was charged with two counts of statutory rape in November with a child between 13 and 15 years old and a third count last month, according to a release from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina.
His arrest came after reports of child sexual assault in July 2024 to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and in September 2025 to the Asheville Police Department.
Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamantes has been charged with three counts of statutory rape. (Google Maps; Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office)
“We are very thankful for the partnership with the Asheville Police Department during this case and the tedious work and collaboration of the investigators to reach this result,” Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office District 2 Captain Chris Stockton said in a statement.
“These cases demonstrate the power community partnerships play in resolving problems for citizens of Buncombe County. Our hearts go out to those whose lives have been forever changed by these events and hope that the effort of these passionate investigators opens a door to healing.”
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. (Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office)
Juarez-Talamantes communicated with his alleged victims through Snapchat, according to the Asheville Citizen Times, prompting the sheriff’s department to seek a search warrant for his Snapchat handle, his address and his DNA.
One of the alleged victims told police that after meeting with Juarez-Talamantes in his car, they went back to his house, where he kissed the child and attempted to “take it further,” according to the Citizen Times.
ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior June 2, 2022.(Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
The Google Midlothian Data Center in Texas, Nov. 14, 2025.
Ron Jenkins | Getty Images
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to spend nearly $700 billion combined this year to fuel their AI build-outs.
For investors who love cash above all else, some warning signs may be flashing.
With the heart of tech earnings season wrapping up this week, Wall Street has a clearer picture of how the artificial intelligence race is poised to accelerate in 2026. The four hyperscalers are now projected to increase capital expenditures by more than 60% from the historic levels reached in 2025, as they load up on high-priced chips, build new mammoth facilities and buy the networking technology to connect it all.
Getting to those kinds of numbers is going to require sacrifice in the form of free cash flow. Last year, the four biggest U.S. internet companies generated a combined $200 billion in free cash flow, down from $237 billion in 2024.
The more dramatic drop appears to be ahead, as companies invest heavily up front, promising future returns on investment. That means margin pressures, less cash generation in the near term and the potential need to further tap the equity and debt markets. Alphabet held a $25 billion bond sale in November, and its long-term debt quadrupled in 2025 to $46.5 billion.
Amazon, which on Thursday said it expects to spend $200 billion this year, is now looking at negative free cash flow of almost $17 billion in 2026, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, while Bank of America analysts see a deficit of $28 billion. In a filing with the SEC on Friday, Amazon let investors know that it may seek to raise equity and debt as its build-out continues.
Despite beating on revenue for the quarter, Amazon saw its stock sink almost 6% on Friday, bringing its drop for the year to 9%. Microsoft is down 17%, the most in the group, while Alphabet and Meta are up slightly.
While Amazon laid out the most aggressive spending plan among the megacaps, Alphabet wasn’t far behind. The company, which is investing in its cloud infrastructure business as well as its Gemini models, sees up to $185 billion in capex this year. Morgan Stanley managing director Brian Nowak told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” that he’s projecting even more spend in coming years, with Alphabet shelling out up to $250 billion in 2027.
Pivotal Research projects Alphabet’s free cash flow to plummet almost 90% this year to $8.2 billion from $73.3 billion in 2025. Analysts at Mizuho wrote in a report that bearish investors may look at the potential doubling of capex this year as “leaving limited FCF in 2026 with uncertain” return on investment.
Still, the analysts remain bullish and all kept their buy recommendations on the respective stocks. Longbow Asset Management CEO Jake Dollarhide is right there with them. He counts Amazon as the biggest holding in his portfolio, followed by Alphabet at fourth and Microsoft ninth.
“If you’re going to pour all this money into AI, it’s going to reduce your free cash flow,” Dollarhide said. “Do they have to go to the debt markets or short-term financing to find the optimal mix of equity and debt? Yeah. That’s why CEOs and CFOs are paid what they’re paid.”
‘Somewhat shocking’
Analysts at Barclays now see a drop of almost 90% in Meta’s free cash flow, after the social media company said last week that capex this year will reach as high as $135 billion. They kept their overweight rating even as they forecast an even tougher cash position the next two years.
“We are now modeling negative FCF for ’27 and ’28, which is somewhat shocking to us but likely what we eventually see for all companies in the AI infrastructure arms race,” the analysts wrote in a note after earnings.
When Meta CFO Susan Li was asked on the earnings call about capital allocation and the company’s plans for future buybacks, she responded that the “highest order priority is investing our resources to position ourselves as a leader in AI.”
At Microsoft, where capex is going up but at a slower rate than at its tech peers, Barclays estimates that free cash flow will slide by 28% this year before popping back up in 2027.
Representatives from Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta declined to comment.
A big advantage the tech industry’s most-valuable companies have over high-flying AI upstarts like OpenAI and Anthropic is that they’ve accumulated a massive cash pile in recent years. As of the end of the latest quarter, the four leaders had a total of over $420 billion in cash and equivalents.
Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a report on Thursday about Alphabet that the company’s infrastructure build-out is creating a “meaningful moat.” It’s a sentiment shared broadly by industry executives and experts who view AI as a generational opportunity with revenue reaching will into the trillions.
Businesses today are testing and building new AI agents to handle all sorts of tasks, including developing applications with just a few text prompts. All of that advancement requires hefty amounts of compute, which the cloud providers say is creating insatiable demand for their technology.
“Between what’s happening in business and enterprise — they are all building on these AI companies Google, Meta, Amazon,” Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman told CNBC in an interview “These are core technologies.”
Morgan Stanley’s Nowak said Alphabet is “seeing a lot of signal on return when it comes to Google Cloud, return on Google search and YouTube.” And Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on his company’s earnings call that growth at Amazon Web Services was “the fastest we’ve seen in 13 quarters.”
But plenty of unknowns remain, and some skeptics worry that a slipup at OpenAI, which has announced over $1.4 trillion in AI deals, could lead to a market contagion because so much of the AI industry’s growth prospects are tied to the ChatGPT creator.
“The truth is, we’re at the dawn of a new technology shift and it’s really hard to know the sustainability of top line,” Michael Nathanson, co-founder of equity research firm MoffettNathanson, told CNBC. “We’re entering new times and predicting the top line has gotten a lot harder. There’s a ton of surprising going on.”
— CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa, Jordan Novet, Annie Palmer and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.
The sheriff leading the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie acknowledged that missteps were made in the case’s early hours, including removing crime scene tape and delaying requests for assistance from outside law enforcement agencies.
According to reporting from The Arizona Republic, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said his department released Guthrie’s home as a crime scene too soon, only to return days later to recover additional evidence. Nanos acknowledged that, in hindsight, the scene should have remained secured longer and that other agencies could have been called in earlier.
Fox News Digital also obtained a statement indicating that the pilot of the county’s high-tech search aircraft had been disciplined following a dispute with Nanos and reassigned to street patrol, according to local law enforcement sources. As a result, the aircraft’s takeoff was delayed for several hours after Guthrie was reported missing around midday Sunday, the sources said.
“Three hours in a search for a vulnerable adult is an eternity,” a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News Digital.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, left, speaks at a news conference with FBI special agent in charge and assistant special agent in charge during a briefing at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on Border Patrol-involved shooting, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz.(Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
The Pima County Deputies Organization criticized the decision to reassign the pilot, telling Fox News Digital that it opposed the move at the time because it left a critical law enforcement asset understaffed.
According to the deputy organization, the pilot personally appealed the decision to Sheriff Chris Nanos but was reassigned to patrol anyway. The group said the move reflected what it described as a broader pattern of leadership decisions, citing another instance in which the department’s most experienced Search and Rescue deputy was transferred to patrol late last year without a replacement.
The deputy organization said those staffing decisions left key units short-handed during what became one of the highest-profile searches in the sheriff’s department’s history and during one of the busiest times of year for Search and Rescue operations.
Nanos said investigators believed they had completed processing the scene at the time, but later determined that conclusion was premature.
Authorities believe Guthrie — the mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — was forcibly taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona, though no suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified. Nanos said Thursday that investigators are continuing to pursue all leads.
“Everybody is still a suspect in our eyes,” Nanos said.
Investigators outlined a timeline of events during a news conference Thursday, saying Guthrie was dropped off at her home around 9:48 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, after having dinner with family.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31, 2026. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)
Authorities said the home’s doorbell camera disconnected from the security system at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. About 25 minutes later, software detected movement near the home, but no video footage was captured. At 2:28 a.m., Guthrie’s pacemaker application disconnected from her phone, which was later found inside the residence.
Nanos confirmed that blood discovered on the front porch was tested and that DNA analysis showed it belonged to Guthrie.
The FBI has since joined the investigation and is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery. Federal authorities said they are vetting ransom notes connected to the case and confirmed that at least one person has been arrested in connection with what investigators described as an “impostor ransom demand.”
The front of Nancy Guthrie’s house after the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, who went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 4, 2026. (Rebecca Noble/Reuters)
Nanos said the case has evolved into a possible kidnapping and that multiple agencies are now sharing information and resources. He added that it does not matter which agency is leading the investigation, saying the priority remains locating Guthrie.
Guthrie’s son, Camron Guthrie, made a new video appeal Thursday directed at whoever may be holding his mother, urging them to contact the family.
“We haven’t heard anything directly,” he said. “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you.”
Authorities have not released additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Koch contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security.
Nina Dobrev shares funny post about ‘new man’ on social media
Nina Dobrev is having a bit of fun with her love life following her split from Shaun White, joking that she’s already found a “new man”, even if he’s not quite what fans might expect.
The 37-year-old actress shared a playful update on Instagram on Thursday, February 5, posting a photo of herself crouched on the floor and hugging a Doberman named Winston.
Alongside the image, Dobrev wrote, “The new man in my life,” before adding, “Officially off the market. Sorry boys.”
The original post, shared by Tara Garlinghouse, was captioned, “A love affair @nina & Winston.”
In the photo, the Vampire Diaries star is seen kissing the dog while dressed casually in a loose black top and a headband.
Source: Instagram/ninadobrev
She later shared another clip on social media showing her and Winston locked in a light-hearted game of tug-of-war, leaning into the joke even further.
The light-hearted posts come months after Dobrev’s split from former fiancé Shaun White in September 2025.
At the time, Us Weekly reported that the actress was “devastated” by the breakup.
A source said the pair, who had been together for five years, were figuring out the next steps for the home they shared, which they had been renovating together.
That same month, an insider shut down rumours surrounding the split, explaining that there was no infidelity or disagreement about starting a family.
According to the source, both Dobrev and White wanted children, and there was no situation where “one wanted [a family] more than the other.”
Nina Dobrev throws shade on broken engagement to Shaun White
Dobrev and White first sparked romance rumours in February 2020 after sharing similar photos from a trip to South Africa.
Multiple outlets confirmed their relationship a couple of months later, and they made things Instagram official soon after.
In 2021, White spoke about about how they managed long distance, explaining that they made a real effort to prioritise time together.
“You just make it work,” he said at the time, adding that making time for each other was key. He also credited Dobrev’s organisation, saying she always found a way to make things happen.
The couple announced their engagement in October 2024, with White pulling off an elaborate surprise by pretending they were attending a dinner hosted by Anna Wintour.
Instead, he led Dobrev into a room filled with roses and proposed with a pear-shaped diamond ring. Sharing the moment online, she wrote, “RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé.”
Now, with Winston by her side, Dobrev appears to be embracing a lighter chapter, one that’s all about humour, healing and a very loyal four-legged companion.
Timothy Busfield has been formally indicted on four counts of child sexual abuse in New Mexico, weeks after his initial arrest and release from custody.
The 68-year-old actor and director was indicted by a grand jury on Friday, according to court records. The charges stem from allegations that Busfield inappropriately touched a 7-year-old boy on the set of The Cleaning Lady, a Fox television series on which he worked as a director.
Busfield has repeatedly denied all allegations against him.
Busfield surrendered to authorities in Albuquerque on January 13 after an arrest warrant was issued in the case. During a court hearing one week later, prosecutors from the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office sought to keep him jailed while awaiting trial.
A judge denied that request, allowing Busfield to be released as the case proceeded toward a grand jury review.
Prosecutors said they planned to seek an indictment, which was later secured. Busfield is expected to return to court for arraignment and enter a plea, with the case handled by the Special Victims Unit.
Busfield’s legal team has pushed back strongly against the charges, arguing that the allegations were motivated by retaliation rather than misconduct. His attorneys claim the parents of the alleged victim pursued legal action after their children were removed from the television production.
The investigation remains ongoing, and no trial date has yet been set. Busfield has not entered a plea at this stage, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Bianca Censori reveals major family plans with Kanye West
Bianca Censori has spoken publicly for the first time about her future with husband Kanye West, revealing that the couple have discussed the idea of having children together, even if the timing remains uncertain.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Censori shared that growing their family is something they’ve thought about, while acknowledging that there is no clear plan in place.
Reflecting on the uncertainty, she asked, “When is it ever the right time for kids?” Censori is already a stepmother to West’s four children, Psalm, Chicago, Saint and North, whom he shares with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
She also suggested that parenthood could mean a major lifestyle shift for the couple.
If they do welcome a child together, Censori said they have considered leaving Los Angeles, largely due to West’s discomfort with paparazzi culture.
She explained that the intense attention during a recent trip to Disneyland with the children left them frustrated by how closely everything was documented.
Kanye West spotted having fun at Disneyland with Bianca Censori
“My husband and I speak about it,” she said, explaining that West struggles with the idea of children being photographed.
“He has a real issue with LA because of that idea that they can photograph kids.”
While Censori’s comments point to hopes for the future, they come amid reports of strain in her marriage.
A source recently told PEOPLE that the relationship has been under pressure and that Censori had attempted to leave before West sought professional help.
According to the source, “Bianca had been very unhappy in their marriage for a while and tried to get out a number of times.”
West has since addressed his mental health publicly.
In a January 28 email interview with Vanity Fair, the rapper said he experienced a “deep depressive episode” linked to an antipsychotic medication and shared that he ended up in “a rehab facility in Switzerland.”
West has previously spoken openly about living with bipolar disorder.
Another source close to the musician told PEOPLE that his struggles have followed a familiar pattern over the years.
“He’s been in this vicious cycle for years,” the source said, explaining that periods of instability often lead to public fallout.
“When he reaches a more stable place, he becomes very aware of the damages he’s caused his family, friends and himself.”
The source added that this awareness brings overwhelming guilt, making it difficult for him to remain emotionally balanced.
“He understands what he’s done and that weighs heavily on him. By the time he’s feeling clearer, there’s already so much fallout.”
For now, Censori’s remarks suggest cautious optimism, balancing thoughts of family and change with the realities of a highly scrutinised marriage and West’s ongoing efforts to regain stability.
President Trump’s new TrumpRx online platform is a key part of his plan to help lower drug costs for consumers, with some polls showing two-thirds of Americans report high health care costs as their chief financial concern.
Here’s what to know about TrumpRx, which launched Thursday and which the White House said in a fact sheet will provide “immediate relief” to patients across the U.S.
What is TrumpRx?
The White House said Trumprx.gov gives consumers “direct access to dramatically lower prices” on dozens of commonly used medications. The website doesn’t let users buy drugs directly, but rather directs people to drugmakers’ sites, where they can fill their prescriptions.
TrumpRx notes it only “displays discounted drug pricing offers” and does not sell medication directly to consumers.
“It’s a portal where someone can check if they can find a cheaper price, direct-to-consumer, from a drug manufacturer,” Kaye Pestaina, vice president and director of KFF’s patient and consumer protections program, told CBS News. “It’s not a storefront.”
To purchase a discounted medication, TrumpRx tells users to follow the instructions for each drug offer on the platform.
Who can use TrumpRx?
Anyone can use TrumpRx, provided they have a prescription. For now, however, the platform doesn’t accept insurance and is limited to patients who buy medications out of their own pocket.
“At this time, TrumpRx discounted pricing is only available for cash-paying patients,” the platform notes.
As a result, spending on drugs through TrumpRx won’t count toward a consumer’s insurance deductible.
Still, cheaper, direct-to-consumer options could benefit uninsured Americans, people with high deductibles and patients whose medications aren’t covered by their insurance
“You should not be buying drugs anymore, going forward, without at least checking to see if those medications are available at these discounted prices,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Thursday.
By contrast, Pestaina noted that consumers might also be able to find lower drug prices through their own health insurance. “It might be a good thing for some people, but for most folks they are paying less through insurance,” she said.
Exceptions to that might include GLP-1 medications for weight loss, where TrumpRX could lead to savings, Pestaina noted. “Your employer might not cover these kinds of drugs, or there could be limitations.”
For example, the White House fact sheet said TrumpRx offers Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pills for as little as $149 a month, down from $1,349. Consumers can also realize major savings on drugs used to treat infertility, according to the Trump administration.
Mr. Trump has urged Congress to pass “The Great Healthcare Plan,” which he introduced in January to lower health insurance costs. The proposal would “enable coverage of TrumpRx.gov purchases under health plans” and reduce medical insurance costs, according to the White House.
What drugs are offered?
Consumers can currently access 43 different drugs through TrumpRx for a range of conditions. For instance, users seeking fertility drugs can get an 83% discount on Gonal F, a medication containing a follicle-stimulating hormone, according to the platform.
“Fertility drug pricing could benefit a lot of people, because they aren’t typically covered by insurance, and TrumpRx offers discounts,” Merith Basey, CEO of Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, a patient advocacy group, told CBS News.
Late last year, the White House struck deals with more than a dozen drugmakers to participate in the coupon-like program, including AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly Genentech, Merck, Pfizer, and others.
The White House said it plans to strike deals with more drugmakers, expanding the list of discounted drugs available through TrumpRx.
The 43 drugs on offer, along with the advertised discounts:
Investigators say the alleged ransom note received by a media outlet contains a specific reference to missing floodlights at Nancy Guthrie’s home, one of which is broken.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her Tucson, Arizona, home at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Officials didn’t initially comment on the circumstances of her disappearance, but Sheriff Chris Nanos said Monday that “we do, in fact, have a crime.” A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital it’s believed Nancy Guthrie was either kidnapped or abducted.
The FBI said a possible ransom note in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance sent to a news outlet mentioned a “floodlight.” Fox News Digital found two possible floodlights outside her house, and the Fox Flight team also found another two floodlights in Nancy Guthrie’s backyard, one of which is broken.
Two broken floodlights could be seen dangling from a wire in the back of the house. During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix field office, said the possible ransom note contained the mention of a floodlight at Nancy Guthrie’s house.
“Yeah, the ransom itself. One talked about an Apple Watch and one talked about a floodlight,” he said. “And we’re not going to go into specifics. It’s very important that we keep this investigation moving forward.”
In an interview Thursday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on “Hannity,” TMZ’s Harvey Levin spoke about the possible ransom note his outlet received.
This map indicates where various floodlights are broken or remaining intact at Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Ariz.(Google Earth and Fox News)
“The letter begins by saying she is safe, but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is,” he said. “And so they are, you know, through us, telling the family — and obviously the sheriff’s department gave the family the letter we received — exactly what they’re demanding, and they’re saying that Nancy is aware of it.”
He believes the person who wrote the note is in the Tucson, Arizona, area.
An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie was provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” show host.(Courtesy of NBC)
“There is a phrase in this email that absolutely makes me believe this person who wrote this, and if they’re telling the truth, that Nancy is within a radius of the Tucson area — not in Tucson right now, but in a radius. It could be New Mexico. I don’t know how far, but I think at least what the authorities have is they’ve got a radius, and that’s something,” Levin said.
The TMZ host said there was a demand for payment in the form of bitcoin in the note.
Adam Sabes is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.
Bianca Censori has confirmed that her connection with Kanye West began while he was still married to Kim Kardashian.
Censori made the claim in a candid interview with Vanity Fair, published Friday, revealing that West first reached out to her after seeing a piece of her work on Instagram.
Censori revealed that it was the rapper’s general manager who contacted her first after West came across a post featuring a “digital mask with alien proportions.”
At the time, Censori was working as an architectural designer. She and West later met in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic, where their professional relationship deepened. She soon joined Yeezy as head of architecture, placing the two in close and constant collaboration.
Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage and four children together. The magazine noted that West and Censori’s romantic connection developed around the same period.
Censori also said their bond grew simply because they spent so much time together. “You’re spending so much time with somebody,” she said, recalling how they were either together or on the phone nearly constantly. “You’ve got to see it. We’re so similar.”
The pair married in December 2022, just one month after West finalised his divorce from Kardashian.
Addressing speculation about her motives, Censori pushed back firmly. “I didn’t marry my husband because I wanted some sort of platform,” she said. “I married him because I love him.”
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan now has a homemade gym in his garage. It’s the first place he visits every morning.
O’Sullivan used a two-month leave of absence to change his daily routine and eliminate some old habits in hopes of finding “the best version of myself” heading into his 19th season in Gainesville.
“It’s really that simple,” O’Sullivan said Friday, more than seven weeks after resuming his coaching duties with the Gators. “I feel rejuvenated. I feel great. I feel much, much more at peace, if that makes sense.”
O’Sullivan stepped away in late October to address undisclosed “personal matters.”
The Gators went through two interim coaches during his hiatus. They turned to associate head coach Chuck Jeroloman before he left to take a similar job at Tennessee. Florida then hired former Auburn coach Tom Slater as associate head coach.
O’Sullivan returned a week before Christmas and has been getting his program ready for next weekend’s season-opening series against UAB. The 57-year-old coach nicknamed “Sully” has led the program to 756 wins, 17 NCAA regionals, nine College World Series appearances, six SEC championships and the 2017 national title.
But his most recent season was far from the norm. In August, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee issued a public reprimand to O’Sullivan for aggressive behavior and profanity-laced language directed at site administrators for the regional in Conway, South Carolina, two months earlier.
O’Sullivan was upset that the start time of his team’s elimination game against East Carolina was pushed back an hour. East Carolina’s previous game had ended at midnight.
Videos of O’Sullivan’s tirade were circulated widely on social media.
“I certainly wish I didn’t do it,” O’Sullivan said. “No one feels more regretful than I do. The last thing I want to do is misrepresent Florida or myself or anybody for that matter. I handled it poorly.”
Florida responded by suspending O’Sullivan for the first three games of the 2026 season, meaning he will have to watch the opening series from home.
“I certainly accept that,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve moved forward on that. That’s in the past for me.”
O’Sullivan’s career probably depends on it.
He signed a four-year contract extension in January 2024 that raised his annual salary to $1.8 million and put him under contract through 2033. But there is little doubt decision-makers at Florida will have no tolerance moving forward for another outburst.
“You make a commitment to yourself personally,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what kind of slips away at times. I get up every morning and have my own routine and make sure I get some personal time for myself, so I don’t get bogged down during the day and let one day slip away from the next.
“It’s important. One of the things is we all take care of ourselves first. And if we do that, then everything else will fall in place. It’s really that simple.”
O’Sullivan admittedly has been too much of a perfectionist at times, and last year was a trying season. The Gators dealt with a rash of injuries and started 1-11 in SEC before rebounding to make the NCAA field.
He opens this season with high expectations. Not only does he have a ranked team led by starting pitchers Liam Peterson and Aidan King, he also now expects more of himself.
“Things can kind of get away from me a little bit,” O’Sullivan said. “Last fall, at the end, was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do other than lose my parents or other family members. But it ended up being the best thing that could have happened.”
