Instagram beauty influencer slammed for ‘blackface’ photos: ‘I am disgusted’
A professional make-up artist and beauty influencer has been criticized after she shared photos and a video that followers accused of containing “blackface.”
Ghadeer Sultan has more than two million followers on Instagram who have been left shocked by the video, which she uploaded to her page on New Year’s Eve.
The Kuwaiti woman is lip-syncing to We Are the World 25 for Haiti sporting a variety of different colored wigs and skin tones, from light to dark.
“No matter where you are from or what you believe in, we are all children of this world, and we all share it together equally,” she captioned the video.
“Beauty comes in all shapes and colors, so let’s love each other and celebrate our unity. I love u all, happy new year #happynewyear #happy_new_year #2020.”
However, not many people were impressed by Ghadeer’s efforts and shared their outrage at her choice to darken her face.
“Darkening your face, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface,” one wrote.
“Black face really??? I am disgusted,” another said.
“This is just a straight up black face, which is very offensive and as an educated make-up artist you should know better about that, you want to show your abilities or talent on black skin USE A BLACK MODEL !!! Period,” another stated.
“This is the most offensive thing I’ve seen. You can portray togetherness without disrespecting an entire culture. So uneducated, this is beyond unnecessary and unacceptable,” someone else wrote.
Many begged the social media star to delete the video, branding it “crazy” and “offensive.”
“This is crazy. Delete it!!” one said.
“Black face ain’t cute, delete,” another agreed.
“This is so stupid,” one added.
The social media star responded to the heat by posting a photo wearing the dark make-up, captioning it: “I am not racist. I hate racism. What I’ve done is only to show what I am capable of … I love you all.
“Life is meant for living … living with love and passion for every one without thinking of what they are could really change your life … Think 2020 and live with passion for all peoples. Happy New Year.”
Ghadeer has refused to take the post down and continued to defend herself by sharing a video of a BBC News report on the controversy.
The initial clip appears to be inspired by the celebrity charity video made to raise money for the victims of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010.
The song is a cover of We Are the World written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in 1985.
Article via FoxNews
Taraji P. Henson’s New Hair-Care Line Is Truly a Blessing for All Hair Types
If Taraji P. Henson weren’t acting, she’d probably be doing hair. As a college student, the Empire star would do wet sets (styling wet hair with rollers immediately after cleansing) for her classmates as a side hustle. And while her talent and onscreen magnetism have gained her 32 awards and a mess of nominations, the latest chapter in Henson’s career is taking her back to her first love. “I always loved and understood hair,” she tells Allure. “Growing up, we took [it] very seriously. I was always in a salon every week getting a different hairstyle.”
TPH by Taraji is the fruit of Henson’s decades-long passion for hair, grown from her own experiences styling and nurtured by the kind of trial-and-error we all go through when learning how to take care of our own hair. The 18-piece line is divided into four color-coded parts: teal for cleansing and care, red for repair, purple for treatment stylers, and yellow for scalp-care products.
As Henson tells Allure, scalp care lies at the heart of TPH, due to her own experiences wearing weaves over the years. “The first time I went to get the weave taken out, it smelled like mildew. I was so embarrassed. I was washing my hair, but wasn’t doing drying the weft,” she explains. “When you have a weave or an install, your hair is braided down and then sometimes they sew a hair net down on top of that and then they sew the hair tracks on top of that. My dilemma was how do I get to my scalp? How do I clean it? I didn’t ever want that mildew smell again.” Her Master Cleanse, the hero product, is inspired by a homemade concoction Henson made just to refresh her scalp when she wears weaves.
The collection wasn’t made with a specific hair type in mind, nor is it solely for people who wear weaves. Henson says she created TPH hair for every texture, from silky and stick-straight, to fluffy, gravity-defying z-shaped zig-zag strands. So, we tested the range on five different hair types.
Read the testimonials of the women who tried the product with y. our hairtype here.
Taraji P.Henson Should be FIRED for making False Racial Claims against the Glendale PD!?
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Taraji Henson Responds To Outrage Over ‘Empire’ Stereotypes ~“I’m Glad You’re Mad!”
Rae Sremmurd’s Stepfather Murdered, Duo’s Younger Brother in Custody as Person of Interest
Tragedy has reportedly struck the family of Rae Sremmurd.
On Tuesday (Jan. 7), TMZ reported that Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi’s stepfather, 62-year-old Floyd Sullivan, had been shot dead late Monday evening (Jan. 6). According to the report, their 19-year-old stepbrother Michael Brown is being held for psychiatric evaluation as a person of interest in the shooting.
Sullivan reportedly helped raise Swae and Jxmmi since middle school and was living in their hometown of Tupelo, Miss. with their mother, Bernadette. Sullivan and Bernadette also shared a son of their own, Floyd Jr.
According to the report, Tupelo Police Department says that Sullivan died on the scene from “at least a couple” of gunshot wounds. The Tupelo Police Department has also reportedly said that no one other than Brown is being sought in connection with the killing.
This news marks the second time a rap act’s family member has been murdered within the last year. In August 2019, Tee Grizzley’s aunt Jobina Brown was shot and killed as they were both in Detroit.
XXL has reached out to a rep for Rae Sremmurd as well as the Tupelo Police Department for comment. XXL sends condolences to their family members.
Article via XXL
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Men tried cashing in losing lottery ticket after altering numbers with glue
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Two men were arrested after trying to cash in fake lottery tickets, police said.
Flowood police received a call from the Mississippi Lottery Corporation around 9:20 Monday morning about two men trying to pass a fake lottery ticket.
After speaking with officials, officers learned that the suspects presented a $100,000 ticket that had been altered by gluing the winning numbers on the ticket that matched the prize. The ticket was signed and presented to the commission for payment.
Odis Latham, 47, and 48-year-old Russell Sparks, both of Columbus, have been charged with conspiracy to commit-felony and uttering counterfeit instrument over $1,000. Latham was also charged with false ID information.
The men are being held at the Rankin County Jail with no bond and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Photo Credit: Flowood PD
Oklahoma couple accused of murdering teen as ‘payback’ for STD
A twisted couple in Oklahoma has been charged with murdering a 17-year-old girl as “payback” over a sexually transmitted disease, court documents show.
Andrew Hall, 30, and Cheyenne Blalock, 17, were charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Kirstan Patterson, who was found shot in the head Wednesday just hours after she was reported missing, KOTV reported.
“Be very careful who you hang out with and who you run around [with], because it can make a difference,” Mayes County Sheriff Mike Reed told the station. “I promise you your parents would rather get up at 1 in the morning and come and give you a ride home than something detrimental happen to you.”
Blalock told investigators that Hall had discussed killing Patterson as “payback” for a sexually transmitted disease and told her to text the teen to meet up with them on New Year’s Day, court documents show.
Hall made Blalock ride in the back of his car beneath a blanket as they picked up Patterson, she told deputies.
But Hall told investigators he thought Blalock — who was armed with knives — was “only going to physically assault” Patterson and was afraid she would turn violent if he didn’t comply with her demands, court records show.
Deputies allege that either Hall or Blalock then shot Patterson with a rifle they grabbed from Hall’s trunk. Investigators from the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office said Blalock and Hall have implicated each other in the slaying, the Tulsa World reported.
Blalock, meanwhile, has denied witnessing the fatal shooting, but said she heard two gunshots while at the Spring Creek Recreation Area. She admitted touching Patterson’s body to confirm that she was dead and claimed Hall tried to clean up the scene, according to an affidavit.
“Blalock said Hall poured bleach on the body in some effort to destroy evidence, and then Hall moved the body into the water,” the affidavit says.
Hall and Blalock had allegedly discussed several ways of killing Patterson. The teen, who attended Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools, played volleyball for her high school, KTUL reported.
“Our heart goes out to the family,” Mayes County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Rod Howell told Tulsa World. “I’ve got kids, and I just couldn’t fathom.”
Hall and Blalock, who are set to return to court Thursday, remain jailed on $1 million bond, the newspaper reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/01/06/oklahoma-couple-accused-of-murdering-teen-as-payback-for-std/
Photo Credit: KTUL
Children’s dolls coming up as sex toys in Amazon searches
Anatomically correct children’s dolls have been popping up as sex toys in Amazon searches — and the e-tailing giant has insisted to sellers that it’s powerless to prevent the problem, The Post has learned.
The more realistic and lifelike toys, sometimes called “reborn” dolls, have become popular among parents who are looking to prepare their toddlers for a new brother or sister, or who are otherwise fed up with the tradition of neutered dolls.
“I want my daughter to understand the physical differences in gender and not be confused,” one mother wrote in her five-star review of a 16-inch, anatomically correct infant doll sold by Rifi for $19.79, which has both boy and girl versions.
But after viewing the Rifi girl doll, some customers also have gone on to purchase dildos and vibrators, according to their Amazon page late last week. The Q&A section revealed some shoppers had come across the doll while browsing for sex toys. One asked whether the doll “has a hole?” — prompting a slew of outraged responses.
“The fact that it’s showing in the adult sex toys is very appalling,” customer Michelle Henry wrote in October 2017.
“Amazon, please fix your search algorithm so that these baby dolls do not show under ‘sex dolls,’” another disgusted customer wrote nearly two years later. “You haven’t been able to fix this by now?”
The situation is particularly stomach-churning as the algorithms that have juxtaposed sex toys with kids’ toys appear to be driven by the activity of Amazon customers — in this case sex pervs, according to industry experts.
“Enough people who were looking for sex products ended up buying these products,” says James Thomson of Buy Box Experts, a consulting firm to Amazon sellers.
“This problem is very fixable,” Thomson added, noting Amazon already has ways to “deactivate” sex-toy listings to prevent them from popping up in kids’ toy listings.
A source close to Amazon confirmed the dolls were “tagged correctly” and that the sickening juxtapositions were the result of “customer behavioral associations.”
Nevertheless, Amazon has been taking a hands-off approach to complaints, according to sellers. A chubby, 18-inch baby girl doll made of “high quality soft silicone” by a company called Vollence recently turned up in an Amazon search for “sex dolls,” according to an investigation by The Post.
Other X-rated results crowding the same search included a $229 “Women’s Torso Dolls for Men” and a $1,299, full-size “Realistic Real Life Love” silicone doll manufactured by a company called HotDesire.
Reached by The Post, a Vollence rep said, “Our links have no sexy keywords” and that it had reached out to Amazon to “try to solve this problem.” But the doll seller only got a shrugging response.
“Please note that there is no human intervention in how the search results appear for any particular product and we do not own control over it, as it is solely dependent on the automated system,” the Amazon rep told Vollence on Dec. 30, according to a copy of the online response obtained by The Post.
Another realistic-looking toddler doll named Luna, who has curly blond hair, “long baby lashes” and a “naive expression,” also came up during a recent search for sex dolls. The seller, PursueBaby, said it got a similar brush-off from Amazon when it complained.
“They have no way to help us prevent our products from being displayed here,” a frustrated rep who called herself “Eva” told The Post in an e-mail.
Reached late last week, an Amazon rep told The Post that the company investigated the disturbing search results and fixed the problem. As of Sunday, however, sex toys were still listed as alternative purchases on the Rifi doll’s page, and the testy, years-old exchange in its Q&A section remained.
“Why the Hell is this doll listed under sex toys? I mean, has molestation become legal where it’s okay?” one shopper wrote in March 2018. “I mean, are you serious amazon?!”
Nicolas Vega contributed to this story
via: https://nypost.com/2020/01/05/childrens-dolls-coming-up-as-x-rated-products-in-amazon-searches/
Photo Credit: Natasha Harridge / MDWfeatures
Pennsylvania Police Search for Person Who Released Bedbugs in Walmart
A Walmart in Pennsylvania is facing a bedbug infestation after someone released the parasitic insects in a men’s changing room, state police said.
A manager at the store in Edinboro found a closed pill bottle with live bugs crawling inside and reported it to authorities Thursday, police said in a release. The bottle was found inside a boy’s jacket which was for sale.
“We take this seriously and are looking into this,” a Walmart spokesperson told CNN. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement on their investigation.”
On Friday, health safety company Ecolab confirmed that the insects were bedbugs. An Ecolab employee also reported seeing bedbugs crawling around the men’s changing rooms the same day, according to police.
A Walmart employee later found a second closed pill bottle containing dead bedbugs in the men’s department, police said. Edinboro is in the northwest corner of the state, near Erie.
“A third-party pest management service has visited the store and we are working with them to assess next steps,” the Walmart spokesperson said. “In the meantime, we have blocked off the impacted area.”
State Police are investigating the matter and looking for the person or people responsible, they said.
Bedbugs are “small, flat, parasitic insects” that survive by feeding off the blood of people and animals as they sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
They do not spread disease, but can leave itchy bite marks which may lead to an allergic reaction for some people. While extremely small, bedbugs can live for months without feeding.
Bedbug infestations are also very expensive to fight. Professional extermination of bedbugs typically costs $200 to $1,500 per room and often fails.
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Louisiana man put gun to son’s head for drinking last Dr Pepper
WEST MONROE, La. — A Louisiana man was arrested after he allegedly put a gun to his son’s head after the boy drank the last Dr Pepper in their home.
According to an affidavit from the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, the 9-year-old boy and his mother told deputies that his father, Chad Kinnaird, had been drinking and had a loaded handgun on him when he entered their West Monroe home on December 28.
The boy said his father got angry with him because he drank the last Dr Pepper and pushed the barrel of a gun against his head.
Police also spoke with Kinnaird’s 11-year-old daughter, who was home at the time but did not witness the incident. She said her father admitted to her that he’d put a gun to her brother’s head.
Deputies found Kinnaird at his residence in West Monroe. He denied the allegations, but allowed deputies to enter the home. There, they found the .32 caliber handgun in a bedside night stand.
Kinnaird was arrested and booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center on one charge of felony violation of protective order and one charge of domestic abuse battery, child endangerment.
His bond is currently set at $125,000.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Toddler choked to death on sausage while staff ‘did nothing’ during family Butlin’s holiday
A toddler choked to death at a holiday camp as staff “stood around doing nothing”, an inquest has heard.
James Manning, two, choked on a sausage as he enjoyed his breakfast during a holiday with his family at Butlin’s in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
But as the toddler fought for his breath and family members battled to save him, Butlin’s staff failed to intervene.
James was rushed to hospital by ambulance where he was placed on life support but he tragically died two weeks later.
Today/yesterday an inquest in Crawley, West Sussex was told six members of staff – including some who were trained in first aid – witnessed the incident but not one stepped in to help save the boy.
James’ grandmother, Angela Knight, said: “There was a few staff stood around but there was no Butlins staff that helped with James.”
The hearing was told the toddler had been enjoying a family holiday at Butlin’s with his mother, Natalie, and grandmother Angela, in June 2018.
Natalie Reeves, his mother, said her son was very excited about going to Butlins’s on holiday.
She said: “He was very excited. He loved everything else that going on and was very clever for his age.”
His grandmother, Angela Knight, said: “He was full of excitement and joy because it was Butlins.”
The hearing was told that on the morning of June 6 – two days after their arrival – the family made their way down to the food hall for breakfast and chose a table in the buffet area.
His mother Natalie and grandmother put food on a plate for James to eat and began to cut it up into bite-size pieces.
However James grabbed a piece of sausage from the plate before it had been cut up and swallowed it.
Miss Reeves, from Battle, East Sussex said: “He gasped it down instead of spitting it out. I said: ‘I think he’s choking’ but it didn’t know how big it was.”
As he struggled to get his breath she grabbed her son and rushed towards a member of staff hoping to find someone with first aid training and told her her son was choking before dashing outside the building.
“So as many times before I picked him up and then I passed a member of staff hoping to get someone doing first aid.
“I sat down with James on a bench and I put him over my knees face down, whacking him hard as I could and doing the Heimlich Manoeuvre and it was like he started to fit in my arms. I just picked him up and ran to the entrance and called for help.”
Despite help from fellow holidaymakers James was still not breathing and emergency services were called.
A large man attempted a hard slap on the James’ back before reaching down his throat to remove the sausage to no avail.
The hearing was told women holidaymakers then asked if they could help as they had first aid training and, listening to the 999 operator, they began to perform CPR on the toddler.
James’ grandmother, Mrs Knight, said: “There was a few staff stood around but apart from me and that man and the two women there was no Butlins staff that helped with James.
“There were Butlins staff there but none of them helped. None of the first aiders assisted with James.”
James remained unresponsive and when the ambulance arrived the paramedics took over and he was rushed to hospital. Tragically James died two weeks later on June 20.
The inquest was told the cause of death was hypoxia-ischemic brain injury – or oxygen starvation – along with cardiac arrest following the choking incident.
The hearing was told James had suffered a history of choking on solid food in the past.
In May 2017, the family had to call 999 after the toddler grabbed a piece of KFC popcorn chicken and started choking.
Miss Reeves said they had to administer CPR on the toddler after he turned blue and lost consciousness,
She said paramedics gave him electric shocks to revive him and, although he recovered, he was taken to hospital were he remained overnight for observation.
The hearing was told James suffered from enlarged tonsils and had a predisposition to choke on food.
It was proposed he underwent an operation to remove his adenoids and tonsils to alleviate the problem and assist his swallowing.
However despite being referred to the Ears, Nose and Throat department at the Royal County Sussex Hospital two months earlier Miss Reeves had heard nothing.
Just a fortnight before the incident she called the hospital and begged them to do something for her son.
Breaking down in tears she told the hearing: “If you don’t do something for my son, something is going to happen. I said we were gong on holiday next week.”
Dr Samantha Holden, pathologist, said the post mortem showed inflammation of the tonsils.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/toddler-choked-death-sausage-while-203435073.html
Photo Credit: currently.att.yahoo.com
The New Mutants Trailer
After many long delays the second trailer for The New Mutants is finally here! Check it out!