Coronavirus
City of Los Angeles Brings Charges Against TikTok Influencers Who Threw Illegal House Parties
The Los Angeles City Attorney has brought charges against two prominent TikTok influencers, Bryce Hall (21) and Blake Gray (19). The young men threw a series of parties — including a massive birthday bash — in defiance of emergency pandemic orders. As TMZ reports, both have been slapped with one misdemeanor for violating a local ordinance. They’ve also each been issued a noise citation. The city described the charges as a “crackdown on party houses.” The biggest of the bashes took place August 14th at “Sway House”, a $50,000-a-month rental in the Hollywood Hills. It’s occupied by a small collective of hard-partying, often shirtless TikTok influencers, including Gray and Hall. The party was thrown in honor of Hall’s 21st birthday and his first legal consumption of alcohol. The resulting bac...
Brazil court fires Rio governor over corruption
Brazil’s High Court of Justice removed Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel from office Friday, as police raided his official residence in a probe into accusations he stole emergency funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The raids also targeted the far-right governor’s wife and inner circle. Among those arrested was Pastor Everaldo, an evangelical preacher and leader of Witzel’s Christian Social Party. Helicopters circled over the stately governor’s residence, Laranjeiras Palace, starting at dawn as federal police executed a sweeping series of search and seizure orders and arrest warrants. The court ruling suspends Witzel, 52, from office for at least 180 days as authorities investigate claims he took a reported 274.2 million reals ($50 million) in kickbacks. “This criminal organizatio...
US Music Venues Will Light Up Red on Sept. 1 to Demand Passage of The Restart Act
Music venues across the U.S. will bathe their facilities in red light on Tuesday evening to encourage Congress to pass the Restart Act, which would provide much-needed assistance for millions of Americans who have lost income due to the pandemic. Spearheaded by the #WeMakeEvents coalition, the #RedAlertRESTART campaign seeks to bring awareness to the dire situation live music faces if Capitol Hill does not supply support for venues that have been shuttered since mid-March in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. From 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. PST on Tuesday night, music venues nationwide will be lit red to highlight that the live events industry is on red alert for its survival. The campaign is also coming out in support of ExtendPUA.org, which is lobbying for the continuation ...
Smash Mouth Receive Hate Mail Amid Rise in COVID-19 Cases Linked to Sturgis
In the aftermath of this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, festival headliners Smash Mouth (those words haven’t been written in a decade or two) have shared some of the hate mail they’ve received. The rally took place from August 7th to 16th and Smash Mouth held down the Sunday night slot at the flagship event, the Sturgis Buffalo Chip. During their set before a large, mask-less crowd, lead singer Steve Harwell seemed to mock the pandemic, shouting, “We’re all here together tonight! Fuck that COVID shit!” The message may have resonated for Sturgis attendees, but for others, it left the band with the shape of an ‘L’ on their foreheads. Now, in an Instagram post, the “All-Star” rockers have revealed an angry letter from a fan. It depicts a shattered CD sprinkled over a hand-written note. Only...
Nigeria records lowest daily virus cases in three months
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 221 new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the country. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Wednesday. Newsmen report that the 221 new cases was the lowest number of cases recorded in the country in about three months. It recalls that on Aug. 4, Nigeria reported 288 COVID-19 new cases and 290 one week later, while another low figure of 252 was recorded on Aug. 25. NCDC said that there were more persons who died of COVID-19 related complications in the country in the last 24 hours with the national death toll rising to 1,010. The NCDC said that the number of recovery crossed the 40,000 mark after 317 more people were treated and discharged from isolation centres across the country. The agenc...
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Now Linked to 100+ Coronavirus Cases in Eight States
Fears over this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally of becoming a super-spreader event for the coronavirus are unfortunately now being realized. As of this week, health officials in eight states have confirmed more than 100 cases of COVID-19 connected to the rally, according to CBS News. In the rally’s home state of South Dakota, there have been 40 documented cases, while officials in nearby Minnesota have counted 35 cases to date. And it stands to only get worse in the days to come. According to The Associated Press, an analysis of anonymous cell phone data from Camber Systems, a firm that aggregates cell phone activity for health researchers, found that 61% of all the counties in the US have been visited by someone who attended Sturgis. Health officials say conducting contract tracing a...
Speeding: Usain Bolt Tests Positive for COVID-19, His “MASSIVE” Birthday Party Could’ve Been A Super Spreader Event
Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty While millions of people have decided to once again go about their lives as if we’re not still slap-dab in the middle of a deadly pandemic, more and more people continue to reveal they’ve been infected with the Coronavirus and gold medalist Usain Bolt has joined the long list of celebrities to do so. According to TMZ Jamaica’s minister of health, Dr. Chistopher Tufton, has confirmed that the fastest man on earth has indeed tested positive for COVID-19 days after rumors began swirling that he’d been infected. Initially after the rumors started Bolt denied having the Rona but said he’d just been tested and was awaiting the results, but now it’s confirmed he’s self-isolating until he tests negative. Now people are worried about the “massive” birth...
Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh Was in ICU for COVID-19, Recovery Disturbed by TikTok Party House
Bryce Hall’s “Sway House” crew (photo via Instagram) and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh (photo by Heather Kaplan) Buried in a story about how obnoxious young social media stars can be (surprise!) is a report that Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh apparently had a severe bout with COVID-19. Mothersbaugh’s wife, Anita, revealed the news to The Daily Mail, saying her 70-year-old husband came “close to death” while in the ICU in June. “This virus is no joke, I’ve experienced it first-hand,” she told the tabloid paper. “There was a week where my daughters thought he would die.” All this despite Devo having their own line of energy dome face shields. So why is this coming out now? Because rich youths are inconsiderate, privileged, jagoffs, that’s why. The Daily Mail’s story is ac...
Central bank, bankers’ committee to support airlines, media with special facilities
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee have unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in the country to enable them adequately address the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBN Director Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. Okorafor said the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced this while addressing the Bank Chief Executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee on Tuesday. Emefiele urged the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in the country, noting that such support was critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the ape...
Brazilian president’s son contracts coronavirus
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, said Tuesday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus but was asymptomatic. The 39-year-old senator’s office said in a statement he was “feeling fine,” isolating at home and taking the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, which his father has aggressively pushed as a treatment for COVID-19 despite studies finding it is ineffective against the virus. Known for his staunch support of his father, the younger Bolsonaro is under investigation for an alleged embezzlement scheme when he was a state lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro. He is the fourth member of the presidential family to test positive for the virus. Bolsonaro himself, 65, caught it last month, forcing the far-right leader, a fierce critic of lockdown measures agai...
The Biebers Host Illegal, Maskless Birthday Party in Los Angeles
A photo from the Biebers’ maskless birthday party, photo via Instagram/@justinbieber The celebrities are at it again! While many Los Angeles residents are obeying the city’s pandemic orders, Justin Bieber and wife Hailey thumbed their nose at the law and hosted a maskless birthday party for R&B/pop singer Justine Skye last weekend, per the Daily Mail. In addition to the honorary celebrant, the star-studded guest list included Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Jaden Smith, and model Winnow Harlow, who was the only person the paparazzi snapped wearing a face mask. Yikes. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti issued a citywide order on August 7th that bans “all public and private gatherings of any number of people,” except those in the same household or essential operations. At press time, there ...
No Laughing Matter: Kevin Hart Reveals He Had COVID-19 Earlier This Year
Source: Gregg DeGuire / Getty COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate. Comedian Kevin Hart became the latest celebrity to reveal they had the contagious virus. During a stand-up set over the weekend, Kevin Hart revealed that he battled COVID-19 earlier in the year. Hart shared the shocking revelation with attendees at Dave Chappelle’s An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Hart explained why he didn’t share the news when he was first diagnosed with the virus telling the socially distanced crowd: “The problem is that I had it around the same time as Tom Hanks, and I couldn’t say anything because he’s more famous than I am.” As for the event Hart was at, Page Six reports that Chappelle opened-up his wallet and spent $100,000 on coronavirus rapid testing for those in attendance,...
