Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE
Selena Gomez is confronting Facebook again about not curbing COVID-19 misinformation. The “Lose You To Love Me” singer previously put the social media site on blast in December for not doing enough, saying its inaction would result in “thousands of deaths.”
Taking to Twitter, Selena called out the social media giant by retweeting her warning from last year, which said, in part, “Scientific disinformation has and will cost lives…Facebook is going to be responsible for thousands of deaths if they don’t take action now!”
“In December I asked @Facebook and @Instagram to take action on lies about COVID and vaccines,” she penned in a new thread, citing recent data that claims only a handful of users are behind the vaccine misinformation.
“@CCDHate found that 12 people are behind 2 in 3 of all misinformation,” said Selena, linking to the study for her nearly 65 million followers to read. It claims that the 12 bad agents produce 60 percent of the lies spreading across the service.
“So why do they still refuse to act?,” she concluded in a final tweet.
Selena also commended President Joe Biden and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy for putting pressure on Facebook to remedy the matter, while rebuking it for its alleged inaction.
While the president previously stated Facebook is “killing people” for allowing the spread of false information — sparking the media giant’s ire — Biden has since walked back his comments.
“My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally… would do something about the misinformation, the outrageous misinformation about the vaccine,” Biden said last week.
As of Thursday, 610,264 Americans have died of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Coldplay is back with their second offering from their upcoming ninth studio album Music of the Spheres.
On Thursday night, the British rock band dropped the 10-minute experimental track “Coloratura,” which serves as their new album’s closing piece. In addition to the track, the band also released its accompanying kaleidoscopic lyric video.
According to a press release, Coldplay views their latest song “as an album track rather than a single.” In addition, they described “Coloratura” as “an exhilarating, space-bound epic that includes namechecks for Galileo, Oumuamua and Betelgeuse.”
If you’re not up on your astronomy, “Oumuamua” is the first known interstellar object to be detected passing through the Solar System. “Betelgeuse” — pronounced “Beetlejuice” — is a star in the constellation of Orion. Galileo, a scientist who died in 1642, is considered to be the father of modern astronomy.
The gentle, dream-like piece is rife with piano riffs and guitar solos that are reminiscent of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall era — especially when Chris Martin‘s tranquil vocals are accentuated by a bevy of hazy strings.
As previously reported, Coldplay’s upcoming ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres, is set to be released on October 15. The album is produced by Max Martin.
There are 12 tracks on the upcoming studio effort, with five of the titles represented by emojis instead of names. Those tracks are described as the planet emoji, sparkle emoji, heart emoji, the Earth emoji and infinity symbol emoji.
Britney Spears shouted out Cher and Jennifer Lopez while discussing her dreams for the future in an Instagram post.
Without directly mentioning her ongoing conservatorship drama, the 39-year-old pop star shared a video on Thursday of herself smiling and dancing to Foster The People‘s “Pumped Up Kicks.”
However, Britney’s caption was much more serious: It began with the question, “So what do you guys do to keep your dreams alive ???? Just curious cause at this point I’m not sure it’s a good idea to listen to advice from some people.”
The “Toxic” singer continued, “Yesterday I realized all my tennis shoes were gone … I like them because I dance three hours most days.” She then explained that she went on a shopping spree to replace them.
Comparing herself to Carrie Bradshaw, the character Sarah Jessica Parker played on Sex and the City, Britney added, “My assistant’s HUMBLING APPROACH — why don’t you just see what you can find in your closet — DID NOT WORK ANYMORE.”
The singer then told her 32 million followers, “I’m not gonna settle and considering the other day I said I feel like I’m just getting here…THAT’S AN UNDERSTATEMENT !!!!”
“It’s been a while since I drove alone and well let’s just say it’s a DIFFERENT BALLGAME cause I’m not sure this stadium is gonna be anywhere near America,” she cryptically continued.
She then answered her own question about how she keeps her dream alive: “Thinking about visiting St. Tropez with @cher and eating ice cream…She was one of my favorite singers as a kid and I loved to dress up as her. ” Britney also dreams of “having a six pack like @jlo,” adding of Jennifer, “Lord she’s so inspiring in her new video !!!!”
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow shut down the haters and bust out of jail with their new single, “Industry Baby.” The duo dropped the visuals and vocals for their collaboration on Friday.
From the jump, Lil Nas hits back at naysayers who thought he wouldn’t make it in the industry by rattling off some of his accomplishments, which include a “couple Grammys” and a “couple plaques.”
He then continues his taunts in the pre-chorus, singing, “And this one is for the champions / I ain’t lost since I’ve began, yeah / Funny how you said it was the end, yeah / Then I went, did it again, yeah.”
Meanwhile, the music video picks up right where Lil Nas’ teaser left off — with him being sentenced to jail. After a naked shower dance scene, a workout, and time spent in his cell, Harlow hands Nas a pickaxe to help him finish digging his escape route.
A few more shenanigans ensure, including Harlow being electrocuted and Nas knocking out a guard, played by Arrow alum Colton Haynes, before Harlow speeds out of the facility in a bus, with Nas riding on top and a group of other inmates following closely behind.
“Industry Baby” is more just a song and video, though. Nas also used the song’s release as a fundraiser and to raise awareness for cash bail in America, asking fans to donate to Lil Nas X’s Bail X Fund with the The Bail Project. Over $7,500 was been raised less than an hour after the song dropped.
“Industry Baby,” which is produced by Kanye West, follows “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and “Sun Goes Down.” Nas has yet to announce a release date for his upcoming album, Montero.
Amid growing concerns over the highly contagious Delta variant spreading across the U.S., Sean Penn challenged Hollywood leadership to impose stricter COVID-19 vaccination guidelines on TV and film sets, according to Deadline.
The 60-year-old actor vowed not to return to work on Gaslit — his Starz series co-starring Julia Roberts — until everyone on the production has been vaccinated for the virus.
Penn is insisting that vaccinating everyone on the set against COVID-19 must be mandatory and is offering to facilitate the vaccination effort, free of charge, through his organization, CORE.
Earlier this week, NBCUniversal, the studio behind Gaslit, mandated vaccinations in “Zone A,” which constitutes the cast and those who come in close proximity to the cast. Production members must show proof of vaccination when they show up for their next shift.
Penn insists that unvaccinated individuals still put everyone else around them at risk on set, because crew that isn’t in “Zone A” still can come close enough to others to potentially spread a variant — for example, simply by being in the trailer of a cast member, for instance.
This is one of the first examples of a filmmaker or star directly challenging Hollywood leaders to go further than an agreement and impose strong rules on a production by requiring everyone to be vaccinated. If Penn follows through with his threat to stay out, it will delay the production.
Gaslit is a modern take on the Watergate scandal, which focuses on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time. Penn will play former Attorney General John Mitchell.
In videos shared to Instagram Stories on Wednesday, the 35-year-old Cravings author showed off the tons of mail she and husband John Legend received after she suffered a pregnancy loss last September.
“This is just piles of letters that we just got because the place we usually get mail from, where you guys send mail, has been shut down and it opened back up. And now we got everything,” Teigen said between sniffles as she sorted through the items. “You guys sent the most amazing condolence letters and cards and books and I just want you to know that we got all of them. All of them. I’m gonna read them all, OK? I love you guys.”
Two months after announcing her pregnancy in August 2020, Chrissy shared the heartbreaking news that she suffered a miscarriage of a son, whom they planned to name Jack.
“We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before,” she shared at the time.
Chrissy and John are also parents to Luna, 5, and Miles, 3.
Mark Wahlberg stars as the title character in the new drama Joe Bell, a reality-based drama in which he plays a blue collar father who, in 2013, set off from Oregon to walk alone across country as a tribute to his gay son, who was bullied to the point of suicide.
Wahlberg, who also produced the film, said, “Just as a parent and father of four, felt, wow…This message needs to continue to get out there…”
He explained, “Jadin was such a brave and really tough young man. He was worried about what people thought, but he was devastated when his father told him not to be himself.”
“And when Joe realized that he was as responsible as the kids were bullying him at school, I think that the only thing he could do was go out there and promote this message….”
He says of his character loved his two boys, “But emotionally, intellectually, being there for somebody who’s dealing with something that’s complicated, he just didn’t have the skills to do it, you know, and unfortunately, he had to learn and carry that burden with him. But he was willing to do that.”
Wahlberg said of his onscreen son, “Reid Miller reminds me so much of both of my sons, so there is the fact that, ‘Oh my God, if this were to happen to me and to my family, how would I be able to handle this and deal with it?'”
He added, “You know, when I’m away, even on location…you’re sacrificing a lot to do what I do. So I know what it’s like to be away from my family….I just I was just so connected to it emotionally and in depicting it in the most real way possible.”
After a nearly two-year break, Camila Cabello is back with a brand new earworm, “Don’t Go Yet,” and the promise of a new album.
Right before the Grammy nominee dropped “Don’t Go Yet” and its accompanying music video, she unveiled her third studio album, Familia, but did not disclose a release date.
“This album was inspired by two things: family & food,” Cabello tweeted Friday. “Your family by blood, but also your chosen family. Who you want to sit at the dinner table, get wine-drunk, & dance in the living room with.”
The singer explained that Familia will show a different side of her, following her previous two albums: her eponymous debut album and her 2019 effort Romance.
“To me, those are the moments that make me glad to be alive, those moments of collective joy & true vulnerability & connection with other people,” she expressed in a follow up message to fans. “I hope you enjoy it & I hope it inspires many wine drunk kitchen dance parties for you & your familia.”
“Don’t Go Yet” is a festive and catchy track that celebrates Cabello’s Cuban heritage. The song includes a rich array of drums, trumpets and passion, the latter being a testament to Camila’s impressive vocals as she pleads with her lover to entertain her for just a little longer.
“Oh, yeah, don’t go yet, don’t go yet (X3) / What you leavin’ for, when my night is yours? / Just a little more, don’t go yet,” she pleads as the drums beats in tandem with her voice.
The music video is reminiscent of a telenovela, complete with over-the-top outfits and drama — embodied by one hilarious scene in particular where Camila slides across the floor and wraps her arms around a guest who is about to leave the party.
(NEW YORK) — With landfills receiving millions of tons of textile waste each year — and growing — the environmental impact of clothing has become the fashion industry’s dirty little secret.
Today, more people are paying attention to this worsening issue and have zeroed in on the impact of rental clothing subscription services. These companies, such as Rent the Runway, Nuuly and Le Tote, give people the option to keep their clothes in an ongoing rotation, so they can swap their sweatpants for a pair of borrowed designer trousers. All they have to do is subscribe, select a few of their favorite looks, wear them and then return them later — some brands even offer an option to buy the pieces.
But while many of these companies have been marketed as a greener way to dress by contributing to a more circular, recycled economy, a recent study published in Environmental Research Letters questions how sustainable the logistical processes behind rental clothing subscription services actually are.
The study found that renting clothes could potentially cause the highest impact to global warming when compared to keeping a piece of clothing for an extended period of time or reselling it, which the study suggested impact the environment the least. The study said that rental services can impact the environment via increased transportation needs, such as shipping and packaging, as well as through the constant cleaning needed to maintain the clothes between each renter.
How does transportation play a part?
The transportation sector — including cars, trucks, boats, railroad and commercial aircraft — is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which said it contributed to 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
Most of the items used through rental companies are delivered through these transportation modes, but as the study suggests, delivery via a bike or another lower carbon-emitting vehicle could help to reduce emissions into the environment.
Some top rental clothing services, such as Rent the Runway, have implemented alternative methods for passing off the clothes, including a network of physical drop-off locations to consolidate inbound shipments from customers while also trying to mitigate the use of high carbon-emitting vehicles.
The company has also partnered with traditional carriers and implemented other non-traditional return methods such as a network of swap stops to consolidate inbound shipments from customers.
Cleaner, greener cleaning methods and practices
When it comes to keeping the clothing fresh, some apparel companies have relied heavily on dry cleaning, while others have found environmentally friendlier practices.
Women’s monthly clothing rental subscription company Nuuly says it uses a custom-built cleaning facility along with dry and wet cleaning methods. The company told ABC News that more than 60% of its products are cleaned with non-alkaline and phosphate-free cleaning solutions, which are gentler on the environment when compared to traditional household detergents.
Rent the Runway says it uses similar methods, along with biodegradable detergents that are free from added fragrances and zeolites. The company said it does not use any halogenated cleaning solvents such as perchloroethylene. After cleaning, most pieces pass through a steam tunnel with temperatures between 248 and 302 degrees and are immediately sealed in plastic to protect them from subsequent handling.
Rent the Runway said it encourages customers to keep the plastic out of landfills by sending it back along with their garments. From there, the company said the plastic is recycled through a third-party partner, which in turn uses the plastic for wood-alternative building and decking materials.
Both Nuuly and Rent the Runway also say they make use of recyclable garment bags as opposed to big boxes and packing materials.
“Our goal is to power a new future for fashion, one in which women buy less and wear more, disrupting a centuries-old industry and contributing to a more sustainable future for the industry,” Anushka Salinas, president and chief operating officer of Rent the Runway, told GMA. “We are focused on shifting customer behavior, improving our operations and transforming the dynamics of the industry to drive positive change.”
The company also said it’s making progress in these areas by inspiring a customer base that buys less clothing and keeps clothing in rotation for as long as possible, thereby shifting the focus on the industry from high volumes and low price points — which are generally found through fast fashion brands — to quality, durability and utilization.
While these sustainability efforts from rental clothing companies have to be considered in the grander scheme, some experts agree that the bigger issue has to do with overall mass textile production.
The study only looked at cotton-based jeans and not other textiles
While the study examined how extended use, reselling, recycling the textile materials and renting them could potentially be harmful to the environment, it also highlighted limitations in the research and areas of future exploration. Specifically, it noted that the study was only conducted on cotton-based products and that research into clothing made from synthetic fibers might have resulted in different findings.
Some experts also agree that jeans, which were primarily used for this study, are one article of clothing that’s rarely rented.
“They’re the kind of thing you buy and wear a couple of times a week for at least a year, if not five,” Alden Wicker, a journalist and founder of sustainable fashion website EcoCult, told GMA. “Renting is great for items that you would only wear a few times or even just once, like cocktail dresses and evening gowns.”
Mass textile production and manufacturing likely hurts the environment more than rental clothing
In 2018, landfills received 11.3 million tons of municipal solid waste textiles, which equates to 7.7% of all municipal solid waste that was landfilled, according to the EPA.
The study published in Environmental Research Letters says that developing “more efficient recycling options” for textiles will not be able to reduce this amount of waste on their own.
“Currently, reduction of the total amount of products in the circuit is the most efficient way to steer the sector toward more sustainable practices,” the study said. “Reduce and Reuse strategies are the most practical for achieving such goals.”
Timo Rissanen, an associate professor in fashion and textiles at the University of Technology Sydney, told GMA that people urgently need to reduce total fashion production and consumption.
“We are in the early stages of a human-induced planetary catastrophe, and our collective cognitive dissonance in the face of that is alarming,” he said. “Rental clothing should not be employed purely to satiate a hunger for novelty and to prop up the current, inherently unsustainable worldview and levels of consumption.”
Whether you’re looking to try rental clothing services or not, there are eco-concious fashion advocates such as Clare Press, a sustainable fashion influencer and host of the “Wardrobe Crisis podcast,” who serve as guides for people looking to dress more sustainably.
“I think rental has an important role to play in making fashion circular by keeping clothes in use for longer while satisfying consumer desire for novelty,” Press told GMA. “Do I prefer renting fashion over buying a $10 dress from Shein? Absolutely.”
“Resist being told what to do by pop culture, big media and fast fashion,” she added. “It’s much more interesting and inspiring to make your own style decisions and wear what makes you happy.”
Press said that even though she loves new clothes, that doesn’t mean she should be buying new pieces every week.
“Maybe what makes you feel best will be re-wearing much-loved clothes you already own,” she said. “Quality over quantity, and styling what you already have in new ways.”
(NEW YORK) — Adding to the many challenges parents faced during the COVD-19 pandemic, vaccines remain unavailable for young children leading to questions about the need for kids to wear masks.
The issue has come to a head as kids start to return to school and even different schools within the same school district may have different mask policies.
On the national level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said immunized adults and teens can go without a mask, including inside schools.
The public health agency has also said that schools can still embrace universal masking if they can’t verify vaccinations or have large numbers of students too young to qualify. Children under the age of 12 are currently not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
At least eight states, including Arizona, Georgia and Texas, have banned mask mandates in schools.
Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of nearly 70,000 pediatricians, this week called for schools to enforce universal masking mandates.
“AAP recommends universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated,” the AAP wrote in a statement. “Many schools will not have a system to monitor vaccine status of students, teachers and staff, and some communities overall have low vaccination uptake where the virus may be circulating more prominently.”
Good Morning America spoke with two pediatricians from Columbia University to help clarify for parents all the advice coming in on face masks and kids.
Here are their takeaways for parents.
1. All kids above age 2 should wear face masks at schools:
Both pediatricians, Dr. David Buchholz and Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, agreed with the AAP’s recommendation that all people above age 2 should wear masks inside schools, regardless of vaccination status.
“It makes it simple and it makes it flawless and protects everybody,” Buchholz said of a universal policy. “Wearing a mask protects yourself and it also protects others. It’s a great benefit.”
Both Buchholz and Bracho-Sanchez pointed out that the AAP’s and CDC’s seemingly different policies can be explained by the focus of their work.
“The CDC is in general making recommendations for the whole country,” said Bracho-Sanchez. “The APA, they’re pediatricians and their first thought is what makes sense for children? They’re looking granularly at kids and what makes sense for them.”
2. Masks matter because kids are at risk for COVID-19:
“Our understanding of COVID-19 in children has changed dramatically [since the start of the pandemic] and it absolutely can be a very serious illness in children,” said Bracho-Sanchez. “Since the start of the pandemic, there have been over 4 million children who have contracted COVID-19 and hundreds who have unfortunately passed away from it and another large amount of children who are suffering long-term COVID-19 symptoms after having had the initial illness.”
COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled in the United States over two weeks, according to The Associated Press. The virus is also on the rise among children, with more than 23,000 new pediatric cases diagnosed in the U.S. last week, twice as many as the end of June, according to the AAP.
The CDC reports that among recent cases of COVID-19, 99.5% of hospitalizations are people who weren’t immunized.
In addition to protecting children from COVID-19, face masks also help prevent the spread of other viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, noted Buchholz.
3. Masks allow children to learn in person:
After more than one year of learning entirely online for many students, wearing face masks is an easy measure that will allow kids to learn in person, according to Bracho-Sanchez.
“Children have absolutely suffered from being isolated from their peers, from their friends, from other people,” she said. “But that is because they have been away from other people, not because they have been wearing masks.”
“You can be around other people and socializing and wear masks, or not wear masks and potentially get very sick and have to go back to learning online,” added Bracho-Sanchez. “It’s in my mind a no-brainer. I would mask my own child. I would ask the adults around my child to wear masks.”
4. Masks should be used along with other safety practices:
In addition to supporting their kids in wearing face masks, parents should pay attention also to the other safety recommendations that have been in place throughout the pandemic, including hand washing and social distancing, according to both doctors.
They also urge parents to continue to screen themselves and their children for symptoms each morning and to stay home from school and-or work if they are sick.
5. Kids may have bigger feelings around returning to school:
Bracho-Sanchez said that parents will want to listen to their kids in case their possible resistance to or anger over having to wear a mask is about something deeper, like anxiety over returning to school.
“We are very focused on COVID and masking but this back-to-school season is going to be about so much more than COVID-19,” she said. “Some kids are really nervous. Some kids have truly fallen behind. Some kids have not been around people, so at the same time we’re having these conversations, we also have to remember that we have to protect children in so many ways.”
