Controversy
Balenciaga Files Lawsuit Against Production Company That Shot Bondage Campaign
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: SOPA Images / Getty The story behind Balenciaga’s controversial campaign is getting more convoluted. They have filed a lawsuit against the production company who did the shoot. As spotted on Hype Beast the luxury label is fighting to keep their name clean amidst their most recent visuals which were largely deemed to be in poor taste. Last week the brand released a commercial on their social media channels featuring children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage. Gabriele Galimberti, the photographer, claimed the images were part of a project series called “Toy Stories”. Balenciaga later apologized after heavy criticism and removed all posts connected to the photo campaign. Hours later, Balenciaga apologized for a separate, earlier advertisement, whi...
Sharon Osbourne on Death Threats to Her, Ozzy, and Their Pets: “They Were Going to Cut All Our Throats”
Sharon Osbourne has opened up about the fallout she experienced after being ousted from The Talk earlier this year. The former host of the daytime TV show says that people threatened to “cut the throats” of herself, her husband Ozzy Osbourne, their children, and their pets. Back in March, Sharon exited The Talk after a heated exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood led to a number of accusations regarding Sharon’s behavior around the show’s other hosts over the years. In the initial blow-up with Underwood, Sharon defended her friend Piers Morgan, who had made disparaging and apparent racist comments about Meghan Markle. Then, former co-hosts like Holly Robinson Peete and Leah Remini accused Sharon of using racist language in the past. It all led to Sharon parting ways with The Talk after a ...
Winston Marshall Leaves Mumford and Sons So That He Can “Speak Freely” About “Evils of Political Extremism”
Following a leave of absence, Winston Marshall, lead guitarist and banjoist for Mumford & Sons, is exiting the band. The news come after a March controversy in which Marshall tweeted support for a dishonest book by right-wing provocateur Andy Ngo. Marshall made the announcement in the Medium post “Why I’m Leaving Mumford & Sons”. In the article, he reiterated his support for Ngo, whom he previously called a “brave man.” He also said he should never have apologized for backing Ngo and denied that he himself supports far-right causes. The beleaguered instrumentalist began by reminiscing on all the fun he’s had on tour. “Who in their right mind would willingly walk away from this?” he asked. “It turns out I would. And as you might imagine it’s been no easy decision.” Re...
Late goal gives Brazil controversial win over Colombia in Copa America
Brazil continued their winning romp through the Copa America on Wednesday, eking out a controversial 2-1 victory against Colombia after struggling most of the match to answer a magnificent bicycle-kick goal by Luis Diaz. The 11th-hour win gave the “Selecao” a perfect nine points from three matches in the South American championships, and extended their current winning streak to 11 matches. However, the victory was steeped in controversy: Brazil’s second-half equalizer, a Roberto Firmino header, was preceded by a Neymar pass that glanced off Argentine referee Nestor Pitana. Colombia heatedly argued afterward that play should have been stopped, but Pitana ruled neither side was hindered and allowed the match to continue. Disgruntled Colombia fans on social media turned the referee’s name int...
Billie Eilish Apologizes for Lip-Syncing Racial Slur as Teenager
Billie Eilish has issued an apology for a video that surfaced last week showing her lip-synching to a song with an anti-Asian racial slur. The footage, taken when she was “13 or 14,” according to Eilish, also includes her use of a made-up language that some perceived as mocking Asian communities. The pop star denies that interpretation, calling it, “silly gibberish,” and, “in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent or culture.” The video, posted on TikTok on June 13th, features Eilish mouthing along to the words of Tyler, the Creator’s 2011 song “Fish”. The track opens with, “Slip it in her drink and in the blink/ Of an eye I can make a white girl look c—-.” Eilish addressed the controversy in a statement on her Instagram stories. “I love you guys, and many of you h...
Morgan Wallen’s Radio Airplay Has Doubled in Past Month
Nothing can stop Morgan Wallen’s ascent to country superstardom, not even a massive controversy and being banned from select radio stations. Over the past month alone, Wallen’s radio airplay has more than doubled (!) in the latest instance of an unsurprising comeback, reports Billboard. Nearly 150 radio stations report to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, and the numbers they tracked are hard to argue with. At the start of May, their accumulated spins clocked in around the low 1,000s. In the first week of May that number went up to 1,100 and in the second week it was bumped to 1,500. Fast forward to the first week of June and there’s more than 2,900 plays. That’s a total gain of 164% in the span of one month — and with summer on the way, chances are those numbers will only continue to ris...
Kid Rock Uses Homophobic Slur to Address Video of Him Using Homophobic Slur
Kid Rock has released a statement addressing the recent video of him using a homophobic slur at a Tennessee bar. And this time he has blatantly spelled out the very same offensive term, in case there was any mistaking that it was part of his vocabulary. The singer was caught on camera this past Saturday at the FishLipz Bar & Grill in Smithville, Tennessee, ranting about people filming him with their smartphones, at one point screaming, “You f**king f**gots with your phones out.” Posting on the official Kid Rock Twitter account under his real name, Bob Ritchie, and referring to “Kid Rock” in the third person, the musician addressed the controversy on Wednesday evening (June 9th): “If Kid Rock using the word f**got offends you, good chance you are one. Either way, I know he has a lot of ...
Ellie Kemper Apologizes for Debutante Ball with “Unquestionably Racist” Past: “Ignorance Is No Excuse”
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-07T17:53:30+00:00“>June 7, 2021 | 1:53pm ET Ellie Kemper has issued an apology for her role as the Veiled Prophet Queen of a debutante ball with what she called an “unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past.” This comes after old newspaper articles documenting the event went viral, with some mocking the veteran actress as the “KKK Princess” or “KKK Queen.” “When I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown,” the star of The Office and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt wrote in an Instagram post. “I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting invo...
Palestinian teen bears scar of eviction battle in East Jerusalem
Jana Kiswani, a 16-year-old Palestinian, was entering her home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah when an Israeli police officer shot her in the back with a sponge-tipped bullet, her family said. Her spine fractured, the teen bears testimony to the tensions and violence surrounding an Israeli court-ordered eviction of eight Palestinian families from homes claimed by Jewish settlers. Last month, the Sheikh Jarrah dispute helped to trigger 11 days of intense fighting between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group, and frequent protests and confrontations with Israeli police in the neighbourhood have kept tensions high. Clashes were under way in Sheikh Jarrah on May 18 when Kiswani was shot. She said she was obeying police orders to go inside when the police officer f...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...
Thomas Tuchel reacts as ‘unlucky’ Chelsea suffer back-to-back FA Cup final defeats
Chelsea suffered late VAR heartache as they slipped to back-to-back FA Cup final defeats after a 1-0 loss to Leicester City, Youri Tielemans’ second-half strike proving decisive. In front of a reduced, yet undoubtedly noisy, Wembley crowd, it was Chelsea who made the brighter start, Timo Werner showcasing his electric speed to test the Foxes backline early on. Despite controlling the opening exchanges, the first real chance of the match fell to their opponents, Timothy Castagne getting in down the right and teeing up Jamie Vardy inside the area, the veteran striker’s effort well blocked by Reece James. At the other end of the pitch, Thomas Tuchel’s men almost fashioned a chance of their own, Thiago Silva’s dinked cross agonisingly evading the head of Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post, aft...
Tunisia president wants debate on new political system, constitutional amendment
Tunisian President Kais Saied called on Tuesday for a dialogue with political parties on creating a new political system and amending the 2014 constitution, which he described as “with locks everywhere”, in an effort to ease the ongoing political crisis. Saied’s comments could pave the way for an end to a months-long political standoff with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who is backed by parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, over powers and political alliances. The Tunisian constitution, approved following the 2011 revolution, has been widely praised as a modernist constitution. But many politicians admit that it includes many controversial chapters and needs amendment. “Let us enter into a credible dialogue… to a new political system and a r...