Entertainment
Serena Williams fans defend her after white critics call her ‘privileged’ and demand an apology at Paris restaurant
Serena Williams’ recent trip to Paris made headlines world wide for a number of reasons. For example, the skilled tennis legend got the web talking by accusing a restaurant of treating her unfairly.
“Oh my @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to (a) rooftop to eat at (a) empty restaurant in better places but never with my kids. Always a first. #Olympic2024,” Serena Williams wrote on Twitter on August 5.
However, The Peninsula Paris claims that the mother-of-two and her family weren’t blocked from entering the L’Oiseau Blanc restaurant. The luxury hotel issued a press release in regards to the situation, claiming that “they were fully booked and the only free tables you saw were in our gourmet restaurant.”
Not only did the tennis icon receive a response from The Peninsula Paris, but the previous world primary player also needed to take care of backlash from social media users dissatisfied with her behaviour.
Many felt the Compton native “felt entitled” to her celebrity status as one in every of the best female athletes of all time.
“WOW! I was a fan of yours as a tennis player because you are the GOAT. Back when you were the Original Serena I wanted to work out with you and Venus. As you grew and became a beast in tennis your vibe changed,” someone wrote within the comments section Williams’ August 8 post on Instagram, which has nothing to do with the case.
The commentator continued, “You had an unpleasant aura about you. And it was proven when you disgraced a restaurant in Paris because they wouldn’t seat you because you didn’t have a reservation and they were busy. It’s a sense of superiority and shows that you’ve forgotten where you came from; Compton! Looking at you now and the old Serena, you’ve become someone else.”
Another person on Instagram criticized Williams, writing: “I am very disappointed that you have not yet apologized for disgracing the restaurant when it was fully booked.” Another Instagram user wrote: “Please apologize for disgracing the French restaurant, such a sense of superiority does not befit someone as wonderful as you.”
Fans responded to Williams’ post, which showed her wearing a blonde wig and makeup while talking in regards to the giveaway to learn her beauty brand WYN.
A European restaurant worker claimed the accident was attributable to Williams’ “unrecognizable” appearance. report by Variety.
“When she came in, there were only two tables available, which had been reserved by hotel guests,” Maxine Mannevy explained, although she didn’t take care of Williams’ family. “My colleague didn’t recognize her and felt terrible, but he told her what he would tell any other customer, which was to wait downstairs at the bar until a table became available. It was absolutely nothing personal.”
Critics expressed the identical sentiment after recent photos of Williams were zoomed in on, with one person saying: “Man, whatever you’re doing to your face, please stop.”
Two other people said, “She can’t move her face or open her eyes” and “I can’t believe you ruined your face and skin tone like that.”
For years, the talented athlete has been criticized and ridiculed online for her appearance, from her hair, face and body shape.
In her defense, someone said, “Serena is happy with her appearance, why are so many people turned on by that. How does that even affect your life?”
Serena Williams is attending the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and their 6-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Their soon-to-be 1-year-old daughter Adira just isn’t seen.
Last month, a Eurosport commentator called Alexis Ohanian his famous wife’s “umbrella man” because the couple walked the red carpet at the Olympics opening ceremony, a gaffe that went viral.
“She looks absolutely incredible. She has someone right behind us holding the umbrella,” Laura Woods said of Serena Williams on live television. “Those are the levels you strive for. To have a real umbrella holder behind you.”
Ohanian responded to the error with a humorous response. His Instagram signature read“Olympia. Serena. Serena’s personal umbrella. Let the games begin! I’ll be watching a lot of T&F to get inspired by @athlos.”
Serena Williams, 42, and Alexis Ohanian, 41, tied the knot on November 16, 2017, in New Orleans. Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. was born in September 2017. Williams gave birth to her second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, in August 2023.
Entertainment
Donald Trump’s grotesque performance with a microphone provokes a reaction from disgusted viewers
Many persons are outraged that the forty fifth president and current Republican presidential candidate appeared to simulate a sex act during his rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday, November 1. Social media users called him all the pieces from “disgusting” to “sleazy” and asked where his right-wing religious supporters were – the identical supporters who often see him because the savior of the nation.
The former reality star was upset because his microphone wasn’t working properly and didn’t sound clear.
A video of the event shows him complaining concerning the issue, which he said disrupted his hour-long talk time.
“I’m not asking for much. I’m not asking for much; all I ask for is a good microphone,” he said, adding that if he fired the person chargeable for the setup, people would think he was a bad person. He kept saying, “I do not even need a stage. I do not care.
Continuing, he mentioned that he had spoken at several other rallies and that, along with his microphone being cut off, it had strained his voice. He also noticed that the advanced team had positioned the microphone stand too low, forcing him to lean over to talk. At this point, he began stroking the microphone stand and opened his mouth in an “O” shape, appearing to simulate an explicit act.
Reactions on social media were swift.
The full clip is even weirder.
WHY IS TRUMP FELLATING INTO THE MICROPHONE?!
— Millennial snowflake 🇵🇸 (@Teh_Snowflake) November 2, 2024
Some X users he wrote “practiced for prison.”
One person he tweeted“He higher perfect this method. His fellow inmates won’t be glad with his weak sauce game.
Other commented“And this guy wants to be president! Disgusting! Come on, normal Americans!”
Someone else he wrote“He has no shame,” and one other nicknamed him “Hawk Tuah Guy.”
Referring to former President Bill Clinton and his infamous scandal, one person he was joking“‘I did not have sexual intercourse with this microphone’ – Donald J. Trump.”
Others expressed concerns about one user given the closeness of the election writing“…and some people want this bastard to become president! Vote Blue!”
Ana Navarro from “The View” also weighed in: tweeting“Ask yourself: What would happen if Kamala Harris did this? Yes. You saw it right. That’s Trump on stage at a rally, faking a sex act on a microphone. This is not normal. Trump is disgusting, unstable, and unfit to represent the United States. Vote for him.”
While many are disgusted by the incident, some find it ironic that his people see him because the “savior” of the nation.
Moreover, earlier this yr, certainly one of the videos Trump shared with his supporters stated: “And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on the paradise he had planned and said, ‘I would like a guardian.’ So God gave us Trump.”
“GOD CREATED TRUMP” pic.twitter.com/l03fK9SSfC
— Donald J. Trump posts on His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 5, 2024
According to The Guardian, this film has played at a lot of his rallies.
New York Times reports that the previous president’s language “became increasingly coarse” and “four-letter words were flying everywhere.”
Their evaluation shows that they use such language by 69%. more often than in the course of the 2016 campaign, sometimes admitting that he knows higher but adding that he can not help himself.
In the times since Election Day, the race between Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Trump is neck and neck, signaling a razor-sharp contest.
Harris is rallying in Michigan while Trump is specializing in key swing states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
On Saturday, November 2, Trump visited Virginia and North Carolina, and Harris also campaigned in North Carolina, later surprising viewers with an appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in New York.
Surprisingly, whatever the former president’s antics, the gap is just not widening and his base stays overwhelmingly in his favor.
Entertainment
Michael Vick voted for the first time in 2020. Now he encourages others to get involved.
Growing up in Newport News, Virginia, in the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, Michael Vick didn’t know much about elections or voter rights.
Thanks to his parents, Vick understood the scale of electing leaders in this country, especially the president, but the former NFL quarterback was surrounded by violence and poverty in his hometown (nicknamed “Bad News” because “a lot of bad things happen there,” compatriot Allen Iverson once said). As a youth, Vick’s only concern was entering into the NFL and getting over his illness, so things like voting and laws took a backseat.
A federal dogfighting conviction in 2007 sent him to 21 months in prison, further alienating Vick from the electoral process and his desire to exercise his right to vote.
“At a young age, I lost the right to be involved,” Vick told Andscape. “So for an extended time I used to be distant from it, I didn’t concentrate to it since it didn’t mean anything.
“It had no effect on me.”
While in prison, Vick made a listing of things he wanted to achieve after his release, which included: voting for the first time. In 2020, greater than a decade after his release, Vick’s voting rights were restored, allowing the 40-year-old to solid his first ballot this yr.
On the eve of Tuesday’s presidential election, the former dynamic quarterback is recommending that others register to vote in order that their voices may also be heard. He partnered with the Vote or Else campaign to engage more Black communities in the political process to improve their social standing after the four-year election cycle.
“People didn’t do this for us when we were growing up,” Vick said. “So this is a campaign where I felt like if someone watches me and idealizes me in a way, they can look at everything I do outside of playing football.”
After a two-year collegiate profession at Virginia Tech that included a national championship berth and a third-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting in 1999, Vick was chosen No. 1 overall in the 2001 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, making him first, the Black quarterback can be chosen with the top pick. It only took one season for Vick to turn into one in every of the most fun and unique players in league history, combining a sprinter’s speed with the elusiveness of a kick return and a cannon for a throwing arm.
His Jump 46 meters during a game against the Minnesota Vikings during his sophomore season in which Vick’s lightning speed caused two defenders to run into one another trying to attack him, it felt like something out of a movie. At the start of the 2002 playoffs, he traveled to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers, who had not lost a house playoff game since 1933. At 31 degrees Celsius Vick made something out of nothing in almost every performanceleading the Falcons to a 27-7 loss.
From there, Vick became a cultural icon. Nike gave him his own signature line of shoes, a first for an NFL quarterback. His cover of the 2004 video game Madden and its almost indestructible gameplay of the game’s characters is one in every of the most significant covers of a whole generation of gamers and continues to be talked about today. In each his game and appearance (dark skin, cornrows hairstyle, streetwear), Vick displayed a coolness that was more present in the NBA than the NFL at the time. Wearing a Falcons jersey backwards with Vick’s name and No. 7 on the back was a trend, and although in 2004 he was principally just standing in the music video for Atlanta rapper T.I.’s single “Rubber Band Man,” his mere presence was a moment. itself.
“Michael Vick was the Michael Jordan of our football,” said Marvin Bing, founding father of Mobilize Justice in Philadelphia, which organized the “Vote or Else” events. “It was Jesus on the gridiron.”
Vick signed a 10-year, $130 million contract with the Falcons in 2004, a then-record amount, but by April 2007 he was under investigation for running a dogfighting ring out of several of his Virginia homes for six years. In July 2007, Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury and on December 10, 2007, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison. (In September 2007, Vick was also indicted in reference to two state dogfights in Virginia; in that case, Vick pleaded guilty and received a three-year suspended sentence.)
After serving 19 months in prison – where he refused to eat for the first three days of his stay, missed his grandmother’s funeral and witnessed various things, – he told an ESPN reporter things that “should have stayed in prison” at the time – Vick was released in July 2009. Within weeks of his firing and after consulting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as Donovan McNabb’s backup last season, becoming the starter for the 2010 season. Vick resumed his great play – in 2010 he had a historic 400-yard game and 6 touchdowns against the Washington Redskins – and later signed one other $100 million contract with the Eagles in 2011.
While serving his sentence from 2007 to 2009, Vick didn’t participate in the election of then senator. Barack Obama for president. He knew who Obama was because he had examine the election and watched the debates, but witnessing the historic election of the nation’s first black president made him feel more misplaced in prison. So he finally decided to vote when he was free.
“I felt like on a small scale this was something that would be the most important thing at some point,” he said. “It’s about having your rights to do certain things in life.
“I screwed it up and I wanted to at least fight for it, and if I missed then at least I gave it a chance.”
But when Vick tried to vote in Florida with family and friends in 2011, they found he was ineligible due to his felony conviction. Before 2018, the Florida Constitution permanently prohibited individuals with felony convictions from voting. (Vick owned a house in Broward County, Florida). But in November 2018, Florida voters passed Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to 1.4 million returning residents like Vick. Months later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis added a requirement in 2019 that those affected by Amendment 4 first repay any fines, fees and restitution before they’ll regain the right to vote.
Although Vick paid nearly $1 million in restitution for his conviction, he still had not registered to vote as of early 2020. He partnered with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which works to restore voting rights to individuals who have served their sentences for crimes, and led the effort to pass Amendment 4 to each regain his rights and lift funds to help other returning residents pay court fees. During that time, the coalition raised greater than $4 million to cover the fees, with some support from the More Than a Vote campaign backed by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
“(If) people can call you a criminal, it means they can treat you differently” – Desmond Meade, executive director of the coalition, he said in a 2020 documentary about Vick’s electoral journey. “We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and the best way to achieve that is to make our voices heard.”
Vick voted for the first time in November 2020, filling out a Florida absentee ballot from his home in California. “I felt that younger generations, seeing me do this, whether they were white, black or indifferent, would strive to do the same,” he said.
Across the country, in Philadelphia, Bing was mounting a campaign for Tuesday’s upcoming presidential election that relied on people like Vick for support.
In addition to founding Mobilize Justice, Bing also served as national artistic director for the human rights organization Amnesty International USA and is co-founder of Justice League NYC, which advocates for criminal and social justice reform. Bing’s father, Malik Aziz, was a Philadelphia civil rights activist who in 2000 successfully challenged a state law barring residents with returning felonies from voting.
“He was one of the first people to actually engage in advocacy for this organization and partner with it to actually challenge the legal system in the states to gain voting rights after he got out of prison,” Bing said of his father.
For the Vote or Else campaign, Bing invited athletes and entertainers to connect with Black communities who may feel forgotten between election cycles and support collective change to improve their social standing. That list includes Vick and Iverson, rappers Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Jadakiss and Killer Mike, and actor Woody McClain.
Bing said he selected these stars because their upbringing and background made them credible messengers.
“They come from what I consider ‘mud,'” Bing said. “They know what it’s like to fight, they know what it’s like to just play this sport to get out of a bad situation and change their family and (their) circumstances.”
Vick walked through neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Atlanta, knocking on doors, talking to residents, hugging them and taking photos to educate them about their right to vote and the importance of getting their voices heard. A girl Vick met in Atlanta told him her father was an enormous fan and hung his Falcons jersey on the wall.
“It makes me persevere and achieve more in life,” said Vick. “I’m not a young man, but I still have a lot of life ahead of me, God willing, so I continue to set goals for myself. People like that encourage me to hear stories like that and people appreciating what I did in the time I spent there.”
Bing said Vick brings a novel perspective as a talented black athlete, entrepreneur, husband and father who managed to escape Virginia and the criminal justice system. Vick, who retired in 2017 after 13 seasons, speaks the languages of the Black community and the resilience he has shown over the past twenty years is an indication of hope.
So much in order that, according to Bing, Vick inspired no less than one person in Philadelphia to fulfill his civic duty.
“One woman said, ‘S— I could go vote early now,'” Bing said.
Entertainment
Bianca Censori’s disturbing appearance in new photos with Kanye West is causing concern as fans think she looks ‘amazing’
Kanye West and Bianca Censori are making headlines again, but this time fans are expressing concerns for Censori’s health following the pair’s latest appearance.
TMZ obtained photos the duo at an event at Maison Margiela Gallery in Tokyo on Wednesday, October 30. Ditching the black clothes from their last photographed outing, West and Censori showed as much as the event dressed in white.
While their outfits – as usual – caught the eye of fans, others were more concerned about Censori’s well-being. In one photo, the model posed next to her husband with her hand on her head and her eyes barely open.
Some observers speculated that Censori could have been intoxicated or under the influence of medication.
One commenter wrote on Instagram: “Looks like it’s not true.”
“Looks beautiful,” wrote one other.
A 3rd commenter wrote: “This girl always looks so AF, someone help her!!!”
A fourth person appeared to think Kanye West wasn’t completely sober either. They wrote, “They both drank pink booga suga,” referring to “pink cocaine.”
Pink cocaine is a new drug that was recently named in a civil lawsuit against Diddy. This was also discovered in a toxicology report after One Direction star Liam Payne fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
Of course, there is not any method to know if West was under the influence of medication, but from a photograph shared on TMZ’s Instagram, it appears the “Runaway” rapper was drinking from an all-white cup.
In August, West’s former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopolous, sent the so-called a series of tweets making shocking accusations against his dentist, who he claims conspired to get the rapper hooked on nitrous oxide (laughing gas).
Yiannopoulos accused celebrity dentist Thomas P. Connelly, who also installed Kanye’s titanium grill, of being a “dangerous predator who targets African-American celebrities.”
In a grievance filed with the California Dental Board, Yiannopoulos alleges that lots of West’s team members became concerned once they noticed “four large surgical tanks of nitrous oxide” were installed in Kanye and Bianca Censori’s apartment.
Kanye has not spoken publicly about Yiannopoulos’ claims.
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