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Film Producer, Wealthy Heir, Political Donor Steve Bing Dies

NY State Senator Introduces Bill Banning State Employees From Using TikTok

New York State Senator Chris Jacobs has introduced a new bill proposing to ban state employees from downloading and using the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok on their government-issued phones. “On the surface TikTok appears to be a harmless tool for creating short videos with music when in reality it is a data mining instrument that violates our privacy and could threaten our security,”  Jacobs said in a June 22 press release from his office. He added: “It is just too easy for the information it collects to be accessed by the oppressive Chinese government waging a fierce economic war against our state and our country.” The bill, named “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” (S8600), was introduced by Jacobs last Thursday. It would add new language to section 103 of…

Film Producer, Wealthy Heir, Political Donor Steve Bing Dies

Movie producer, film financier, real estate heir, and major Democratic political donor Steve Bing has died. He was 55.

The Los Angeles County coroner said Bing died on June 22 at his residence in the Century City section of Los Angeles. The coroner did not cite a cause and said an autopsy is pending. Without giving a name, the city Fire Department said it responded to a report of a 55-year-old man jumping from a building at the same time and place.

Bing produced the 2000 Sylvester Stallone film “Get Carter” and was a major investor in the 2004 Tom Hanks animated film “The Polar Express.” He co-wrote the 2003 comedy “Kangaroo Jack,” a film starring Anthony Anderson and Jerry O’Connell that was savaged by critics but made nearly $90 million at the box office.

Bing was the son of Peter Bing, a doctor and philanthropist who specialized in public health, and the grandson of Leo Bing, a New York real estate developer who left him hundreds of millions of dollars that he inherited when he turned 18.

Bing donated millions to the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Nancy Pelosi, and to the campaigns for liberal-leaning ballot initiatives in California.

Film Producer, Wealthy Heir, Political Donor Steve Bing Dies Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) and Hollywood mogul Steve Bing look on during the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York City on Sept. 21, 2010. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Bing was an LA socialite who frequently dated famous women and was often seen on red carpets, at big-dollar benefits and courtside at Lakers games.

In his 30s, he was involved in a pair of high-profile lawsuits centering on his possible paternity of children that brought him media attention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. A 2002 DNA test required by a British court showed that he was the father of the infant son of model and actress Elizabeth Hurley, whom he had dated.

The same year he sued movie mogul Kirk Krekorian, alleging Krekorian had hired a private detective to go through Bing’s trash to obtain DNA for another paternity test, this one to determine whether Bing was the father of the daughter born to Krekorian’s then-wife, tennis player Lisa Bonder. That lawsuit was settled out of court.

The two children, Damian Hurley and Kira Kerkorian, have been named in recent court fights over whether they will be heirs in the trust set up by Bing’s father.

By Andrew Dalton

Focus News: Film Producer, Wealthy Heir, Political Donor Steve Bing Dies

House Will Debate the Great American Outdoor Act in July

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced Monday that the House will debate and may vote to amend the Great American Outdoors Act, which would inject billions to maintain neglected national parks and permanently fund land and water conservation efforts. “The House will consider the Great American Outdoors Act under a rule on the floor during the work period at the end of July.  This bipartisan bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 73–25, will permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and address the maintenance backlog at our national parks,” Hoyer said in a press statement. The Senate passed the legislation with bipartisan support last week, and it also has bipartisan support in the House. Hoyer said he will bring up the measure under regular rules that…