Bill Gates’ daughter Jennifer engaged to Egyptian equestrian Nayel Nassar
Bill Gates‘ daughter Jennifer Gates has announced her engagement to Egyptian showjumper Nayel Nassar.
The Microsoft founder’s eldest child shared a photo on her Instagram account Wednesday revealing that Nassar, who helped Egypt qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had proposed.
“Nayel Nassar, you are one of a kind. Absolutely swept me off my feet this past weekend, surprising me in the most meaningful location over one of our many shared passions,” Gates wrote alongside a photo of the pair sitting on snow.
She added that she “can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives learning, growing, laughing and loving together.”
The couple, who both attended Stanford University, each have a love for the equine sport.
Gates told CNN’s EQ equestrian show last year: “Horses are just one part of our life, but we love the sport.
“He’s a professional, and I do this as an amateur. So, to be able to share our love and passion for horses with each other is just incredible.”
In October last year, Nassar helped Egypt qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games by winning the CSIO4*-W Nations Cup of Rabat.
The feat led to the country’s first Olympic qualification for the sport in 60 years.
Nassar also posted two other photos of the wintry proposal on his own Instagram account Wednesday, writing: “SHE SAID YES!!”
“I’m feeling like the luckiest (and happiest) man in the world right about now,” he captioned his pictures with his wife-to-be. “Jenn, you are everything I could have possibly imagined… and so much more.
I can’t wait to keep growing together through this journey called life, and I simply can’t imagine mine without you anymore.
“Nassar thanked his partner for “making every single day feel like a dream to me.”
While Bill Gates has yet to release a statement on his daughter’s pending nuptials, his wife Melinda shared their daughter’s post on her Instagram story and said she is “thrilled” for the couple.
Article via CNN
Recording Academy announces new diversity initiatives in midst of Grammys scandal
As the Grammys face accusations of lacking diversity and being a “boys club,” the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has announced new initiatives developed in partnership with its Diversity Task Force. Recording Academy Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer Harvey Mason Jr. made the announcement in a message obtained by CNN which was sent to his organization’s members Sunday morning.
“Six months ago, when I put my hat in the ring to be your Chair, I did so because I believed that the Academy could do better — could be better,” Mason wrote in his message. “The music we create has always reflected the best of ourselves and our world. But what was true of music has historically not been true of the music business as a whole.”
“Too often, our industry and Academy have alienated some of our own artists — in particular, through a lack of diversity that, in many cases, results in a culture that leans towards exclusion rather than inclusion,” he added.
According to his message, the Academy has agreed to implement 17 out of 18 initiatives suggested by its Diversity Task Force — which was formed in February 2018 and “made up of distinguished individuals from outside the Academy, to take a hard, independent look at our organization specifically and the music industry as a whole.”
The initiatives include the following:
- The Academy will hire a dedicated diversity and inclusion officer. This person will be hired within the next 90 days.
- The organization will establish a fellowship, funded by the Academy, that will be responsible for independent review and reporting of the progress of the Academy’s diversity and inclusion efforts. This will be in place within 120 days.
- It will create a fund to be distributed annually to different “women in music” organizations that will be managed by the diversity and inclusion officer. This will go into effect immediately.
- The Academy will recommit to meeting all 18 of the Task Force Recommendations as outlined in the full report and in a manner that will endure, with the caveat that we will have a deeper exploration, along with the task force into voting processes for the Grammys.
The Academy is also committing to meeting with the task force to review progress on all of the suggested initiatives with the first meeting happening in 45 days. “The movement to ensure that the Academy — and the music business — is truly representative of artists and their audiences has been going on for a long time,” Mason said in his message to academy members. “And that struggle will continue, not just for women and people of color, but for members of the LGBTQ+ community, for artists struggling to make ends meet, for those suffering from addiction or mental health challenges, for people of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds, and for groups we may not even recognize today.”
The Grammys finds itself in the midst of controversy after its former CEO Deborah Dugan filed a lawsuit last week against the Academy alleging she was wrongfully fired after raising allegations of sexual harassment and irregularities with Grammy nominations.
Dugan says she was put on administrative leave three weeks after she sent an email to the Academy’s managing director of human resources outlining numerous bombshell allegations against the organization and its “historically male dominated leadership,” according to the EEOC complaint.
“The decision to put Ms. Dugan on leave was clearly made in retaliation for her complaint, and came with thinly veiled threats of termination in the event that Ms. Dugan persisted in pursuing claims against the Academy,” the lawsuit says.
The Academy said in a statement to CNN earlier that it’s “curious” that Dugan didn’t raise the allegations until legal claims were made against her by another employee who alleged she “created a ‘toxic and intolerable’ work environment and engaged in ‘abusive and bullying conduct.'”
During an appearances last week on “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning” Dugan described the Academy as a “boys club” and its nomination review committees as “mostly white male.”
The new diversity initiatives announcements also come after rapper/producer/mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs took the Academy to task Saturday night during his speech at Clive Davis’ legendary pre-Grammys gala.
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys,”Combs said. “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be.”
A rep for the Academy declined to comment on Combs remarks.
CNN has reached out to a rep for Combs for additional comment.
Article via CNN
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Selena Gomez Opens Up About Being Emotionally Abused by Justin Bieber
Selena Gomez has endured a roller coaster over the past few years, battling lupus and mental health issues, as well as dating and dealing with breakups in the public eye. She’s come out of it stronger and has a lot to say about it in her recently released album, Rare. In a Jan. 26 interview with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Gomez opened up about her mental health struggles and suffering emotional abuse when she dated Justin Bieber.
Gomez explained why she needs to “claim my story”
During her NPR interview, when Garcia-Navarro stated, “a lot has happened to you since your last album, Revival, came out in 2015, and a lot of it in the public eye,” Gomez remarked with a laugh, “Right. Super fun.”
The singer shared why she’s been “so vocal” about what she’s been through, telling the interviewer, “people were already going to narrate that for me. I wasn’t going to have a choice because of how fast everything moves now.”
She continued: “And most of the time, yes, it’s not true, or it’s an embellished version of what the truth is. I want to be able to tell my story the way that I want to tell it. And all of these things happened, and I wasn’t going to deny that, I wasn’t going to pretend to put a smile on when it actually was awful — a few of the worst moments of my life. And I don’t know if I would have made it. And that’s medical reasons, obviously, and emotional reasons. I just had to find a way to claim my story.”
Gomez wanted “respectful closure”
In discussing her song “Lose You To Love Me,” Gomez shed some light on dating Bieber. She said of the song: “I’m very proud of it. It has a different meaning to me now from when I wrote it. I felt I didn’t get a respectful closure, and I had accepted that, but I know I needed some way to just say a few things that I wish I had said.”
She continued: “It’s not a hateful song; it’s a song that is saying — I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn’t that. It was very difficult and I’m happy it’s over. And I felt like this was a great way to just say, you know, it’s done, and I understand that, and I respect that, and now here I am stepping into a whole other chapter.”
When the interviewer noted, “saying goodbye to Justin Bieber, who I’m assuming you’re speaking about,” Gomez responded, “You had to get the name in, I get it.”
Gomez admitted she was emotionally abused by Bieber
The singer opened up about the emotional abuse when she shared that she’s “found strength in” the painful parts of her life, adding, “It’s dangerous to stay in a victim mentality. And I’m not being disrespectful, I do feel I was a victim to certain abuse…”
When the interviewer interjected, “You mean emotional abuse?,” Gomez shared, “Yes, and I think that it’s something that — I had to find a way to understand it as an adult. And I had to understand the choices I was making. As much as I definitely don’t want to spend the rest of my life talking about this, I am really proud that I can say I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt and I’ve found a way to just walk through it with as much grace as possible.”
Article via CheatSheet
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Tinder adds a panic button for dates that go wrong
Tinder is following in Uber’s lead in adding in-app safety features for dates that become unsafe.
The dating app is adding new safety features, including a panic button that alerts safety authorities if something goes wrong during a date. Tinder has also added the ability to check-in, telling friends where the daters are.US users will receive the free new tools next Tuesday in a new section of the app called the Safety Center. Match, the dating conglomerate that owns Tinder, will roll out the new tools to its other US dating services later this year. The company also owns OkCupid, Hinge and the flagship Match.com.
The tools will be powered by Noonlight, a safety platform that Tinder made an investment in. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. To use the new Safety Center tools, users will have to also download Noonlight and enable the app’s location-tracking tools. Users’ dates information, such as location, will have to be manually entered into a new “Tinder Timeline” tool that can be shared with friends. If the user feels unsafe, they will have to open the Noonlight app and press a button that discreetly contacts Noonlight dispatchers. The dispatcher will first send them a text so they don’t have to vocally talk for help. If that’s unanswered, Noonlight will send a code and call them. If there are no answer, Noonlight will dispatch emergency services. The aim to let users ask for help without raising suspicions during the date. That’s why it’s panic tools are located within the Noonlight app.
Location-sharing apps have come under scrutiny recently for not selling users’ information to advertisers. Match won’t have access to Noonlight’s location data and Noonlight claims it doesn’t sell user data. Users can also switch off location services within the phone’s settings when they aren’t on dates.Tinder is also testing a new photo verification tool so users can ensure they’re talking to someone real before they go on the date. A user will have to submit picture certain poses. Tinder’s AI technology will compare those photos to previously submitted pictures. Profiles will have a check mark for those that complete the service. Tinder said the tool will become widely available later this year.Match said it’s the first dating company to integrate in this type of service. Dating apps and ride-hailing companies, like Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT), have been blasted for putting users in unsafe positions. Both of those companies have rolled out similar so-called panic buttons and safety tools to address those concerns.
Article via CNN
Scientists discovered four new species of sharks that walk
So — some sharks walk. Just not the scary ones. While great whites haunt the deep, walking sharks are content to scuttle in the shallows.
They’ve been walking, or something close to it, for at least 9 million years. They’re evolutionary superstars, too: Walking sharks could be the most recently evolved shark on Earth. That’s according to findings published this week in Marine and Freshwater Research.
Shark scientists spent years sampling the DNA of the only known walking shark species to estimate when they evolved. They found four new species while they were at it.
The youngest species might’ve evolved less than 2 million years ago. And by evolutionary standards, that’s recent — and a major contradiction to the widely held belief that sharks are slow to evolve. “The discovery proves that modern sharks have remarkable evolutionary staying power and the ability to adapt to environmental changes,” said Mark Erdmann, the paper’s co-author and Conservation International Vice President of Asia-Pacific marine programs. Sharks are older than dinosaurs, dominating the seas for as long as 400 million years (the oldest dinosaur fossil is thought to be about 240 million years old, by comparison). So the fact that sharks continue to evolve as recently as 399 million years later is pretty remarkable.
How they walk and where they do it
Walking sharks, also called “epaulette” sharks for their spots that resemble the military decor, “walk” on their muscular fins to forage for small fish along shallow reefs and sea grass. It’s a behavior partially driven by changing sea levels and shifting landscapes, which ultimately influenced where most of the nine known species settled — eastern Indonesia and neighboring islands, New Guinea and parts of Australia. Based on differences in the sharks’ DNA, scientists created estimated evolutionary timelines. They found walking sharks started to split off from their evolutionary relatives around 9 million years ago.
This walking shark, which resides in a shallow ocean off New Guinea, uses his fins to “walk” along the sea floor in search of food. During mass extinction events, carpet sharks, the group that includes walking sharks, were among the “most affected” animals, researchers wrote. Sea levels rose and ocean temperatures dropped, pushing the sharks to migrate to warmer waters. Sharks off the coast of Australia “hitched a ride” on moving tectonic plates all the way to New Guinea, researchers said. When the plates stopped shifting, the land settled, creating barriers for species to migrate. This might be why the sharks’ habitat rarely overlap, they wrote.
Hope for walking sharks’ future
Erdman said the group hopes their research could encourage conservationists to add a few of the sharks to the IUCN Red List, a global inventory of threatened species, based on how little is known about them. “A global recognition of the need to protect walking sharks will help ensure they thrive providing benefits for marine ecosystems and to local communities through the sharks’ value as tourism assets,” he said. “It’s essential that local communities, governments and the international public continue working to establish marine protected areas to help ensure our ocean’s biodiversity continues to flourish.”
Article via CNN
Tommy Hilfiger: I Need to Work with Lizzo … She’s a Star!!!
Lizzo is going to be VERY busy in 2020 … especially if Tommy Hilfiger can get her people on the line, because he’s got big plans for the singer.
Tommy was leaving an Autism Speaks event Wednesday night at David Yurman Jewelry in L.A., and we asked about his upcoming collabs. He’s already said he and J. Balvin will be getting creative in the fashion arena … so we wanted to know what else he’s got cooking, and with whom.
He said there’s a long list of big names he wants to team up with, but when pressed to name just one … L-I-Z-Z-O rolled off his tongue. You gotta see it, because you know Tommy can line up just about anyone in show biz — but he was totally beaming when Lizzo came up.
And, btw, all that controversy over Lizzo’s assless outfit at the Lakers game this week … it’s not scaring off the Hilfiger brand. Tommy told us why he’s anxious to work with her, no matter what she’s wearing.
One word: “Star.”
Article via TMZ
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‘Star Wars’ actor John Boyega apologizes for Kelly Marie Tran comments
John Boyega has apologized for comments he made about social media bullying, which many people theorized were alluding to his co-star Kelly Marie Tran, who was forced to quit social media after online abuse.
“Being in this position, you just understand the masses, how the masses think, you know. Through social media, we get to engage, we get to have fun,” Boyega said in a Dec. 11 interview with Variety. “But at the same time, for those who are not mentally strong, you are weak to believe in every single thing that you read. That’s, you know, it is what it is.”
The “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” actor continued, “I don’t know, for me anyway, when I see that [backlash], I’m like, well, that’s actually not true. But no, it is actually not true. So it’s kind of like [shrugs] it is what it is. But to engage, to connect with the fans who otherwise wouldn’t get a day-to-day experience, especially during things like the press tour, and behind-the-scenes stuff, is always good.”
After many felt he was throwing shade at Tran, Boyega took to Twitter to clarify his comments.
“In no way was I referring to Kelly when I made my comments although the interviewer mentioned her given the topic. I was really speaking from my own perspective throughout this franchise,” Boyega, 27, tweeted. “Sometimes I’ve felt strong and sometimes I’ve felt weak. Badly worded though. I apologize.”
He added, “My comments on Kelly specifically and online harassment remains the same via a tweet I put out a few years ago.”
In 2018, Boyega urged the “Star Wars” fan base to leave Tran, who joined the franchise as character Rose Tico, alone.
“If you don’t like Star Wars or the characters, understand that there are decision makers and harassing the actors/actresses will do nothing,” he tweeted. “You’re not entitled to politeness when your approach is rude. Even if you paid for a ticket!”
Article via Page Six
Ashley Graham reaches out to celeb friends for pregnancy sex advice
Ashley Graham refuses to let the passion within her marriage to 31-year-old filmmaker Justin Ervin die down just because she’s pregnant, but admittedly needs some technical advice on making love while with child.
“I feel like every relationship goes in waves of sex,” Graham, 32, told Vogue in her January cover story. “You’re like, ‘Hey, do we need to plan this?’ And now, with pregnancy, things have been really different.”
For Graham, positions she used to find enjoyable are simply awkward to execute nowadays, adding, “Because there’s this huge bulge that can be sensitive if you lay on it or go into a new position. I’ve been literally asking every single one of my friends who have had babies or who’re pregnant, like, ‘What positions do you guys do?’ This has to be a normal conversation among mothers.”
Friends like Amy Schumer were able to provide Graham with a bit of parental feedback, inviting the model to her home to check out the nursery for her 7-month-old son Gene.
“I was like, ‘Come over and I’ll just tell you what I have learned and what I wish I knew,’ ”the comic told the magazine. “‘Cause it’s a lot. People are so in your face when you’re pregnant because they’re so f–king excited for you. And you don’t get it. You can’t possibly get it. And then after you’ve had a baby you’re like, ‘Oh, I get it!’”
Serena Williams — who shares 2-year-old daughter Alexis with husband Alexis Ohanian — has also been a great help to the expectant mother.
“I text her anything that rolls off my mind,” Williams said. “I was one of those people who wanted to know every ugly detail of what happens … down there … what happens everywhere. Like, why are my nipples so big a week into being pregnant? This makes no sense; the baby doesn’t need to eat yet. I wanted to know every single thing, and I still love talking about it.”
Article via PageSix
Monica Says Her Kids Have Given Her ‘Infinite Love And Optimism’
Article via BCKOnline
Monica has a forever kind of love for her kids. The celebrity mom recently shared pictures and video footage from her latest photo session with her sons, Romelo and Rodney Jr., and daughter, Laiyah Brown.
“So thankful,” Monica told her Instagram fans. The celebrity mom went on to tell her social media followers that she was grateful for the set and all those who worked to ensure success at the photoshoot.
“Thank you @hideokibespoke for lending us this beautiful location, @mrdblanks for shooting us, @childsplayclothing For the incredible threads, and @cyndiibee_ for this video,” Monica wrote online.
More than 200,000 Instagram followers liked the video that Monica shared. “Beautiful,” one fan wrote. “I see Rocko done caught up to mommy! Well, I think he’s about an inch or two taller,” the social media follower mused.
Monica often dotes on her kids via Instagram. The celebrity wrote a beautiful note to her sons and daughter on Thanksgiving that was nothing short of touching.
“Infinite Love and Optimism is what the three of you have given me,” Monica exclaimed. “There’s no love greater than the love I share with each you,” the celebrity mom continued. “You are the Love without Conditions that I prayed to feel … God knew I needed you,” she concluded.
Monica has one child, Laiyah, with her estranged husband, Shannon Brown. Romelo and Rodney are the singer’s kids with produce Rodney “Rocko” Hill Sr. Stay tuned for more celebrity family news!
Photos: Mr. D. Blanks
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The Emotional Moment the Obamas Dropped Off 18-Year-Old Sasha at College: ‘We Wanted to Make It Feel Normal’
“It was of course a little emotional to drop Sasha off at college,” Mrs. Obama tells PEOPLE, admitting “the tough part” has been “missing our girls”
Except for their last name and world-famous faces, Barack and Michelle Obama were just like so many other parents earlier this year when, as late summer began crisping into fall, they sent off their youngest to school.
“Time just goes so fast. But like so many experiences in the last 10 years, we wanted to make it feel as normal as possible, given our family’s circumstances,” the former first lady tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, reflecting on 18-year-old daughter Sasha Obama‘s next chapter.
“It was of course a little emotional to drop Sasha off at college,” says Mrs. Obama, admitting “the tough part” has been “missing our girls.”
“It’s an adjustment to see each other for a weekend here, a holiday break there, but the moments we do spend together feel extra special because of it,” she says.
And when Sasha is in her college dorm (the Obamas have asked to keep private where she is enrolled) she will still be surrounded by the familiarity of family.
“We were there, just like most parents, helping her unpack and make her dorm room feel like home,” Mrs. Obama says.
“But by and large, we let her take care of herself,” she continues. “As a parent, one of the most important things we can give our children is the freedom to find their own way in the world.”
Echoing what she wrote for PEOPLE in a special Mother’s Day essay earlier this year, Mrs. Obama says, “I first learned this truth from my own mother, who made sure my brother and I had plenty of space to speak our minds, make mistakes, and follow our passions, wherever they might lead. I try to do the same with Sasha and Malia, honoring the unique flame each of them has inside.”
“They are their own people, and that’s what I love about them,” Mrs. Obama says. “And they’ve got to have room to breathe and explore.”
Since the Obamas left the White House in 2017, the former president and first lady have been busy with their eponymous foundation, where she focuses efforts on increasing girls’ access to education worldwide, among other issues — not to mention a record-smashing memoir, Becoming, and sold-out book tour. (President Obama is busy writing his own memoir, which could come out next year, and the two are working with Netflix.)
Older daughter Malia Obama, 21, is in her third year at Harvard University, which both of her parents attended.
“Barack and I try to make sure that our daughters know that there’s no limit to what they can be or what they can achieve,” Mrs. Obama tells PEOPLE. “They don’t learn that if their parents treat them like delicate little ornaments, set aside so they won’t break. Girls need to have the chance to create and explore and skin their knees from time to time, too.”
Last year, in a PEOPLE cover story upon the release of Becoming, Mrs. Obama looked back at her family’s eight years in the White House and the spotlight in which Malia and Sasha literally grew up.
“They are the most recognized teenagers in the world, trying to be out in the world like regular kids,” she said then. “And that’s hard when you’re a child, and every day people are watching you, and you know that. There’s no time to just be … to blend in and have fun and make mistakes or smoke your first cigarette or have your first kiss or have a boyfriend.”
“I try to remind them that even the toughest parts of this have value,” Mrs. Obama said. “They’ve grown up with being able to maneuver it with grace.”
She told PEOPLE then she was far from broken up about having an empty nest with President Obama.
“Unlike my parents, who dropped me off at college and just had a phone call, I text with my kids. I can text Malia [at Harvard] right this second and know what she’s thinking. I feel like she’s off on her next adventure, so I’m excited for her,” she said. “I don’t need my children to make me happy. I had them so that they’d be happy.”
Speaking with PEOPLE for this week’s issue, in which she was named one of four People of the Year, she talks about not what she’s losing, with her daughters moving out, but what they are gaining.
“The most gratifying part of it all has been watching the girls enter into their next phase of independence,” Mrs. Obama says. “Our role as parents is to raise self-sufficient, thoughtful, and compassionate individuals, and in order for them to fully embrace their own journeys, we have to be willing to let them go, so that they can grow on their own. That’s the only way they can become more.”
Article via People