Connect with us

Entertainment

Model Lied About Being Trans After Making Anti-Trans Comments

Published

on

  • Model Carissa Pinkston faced backlash in May for transphobic comments she posted on Facebook.
  • Soon after, she came out as transgender and said her comments stemmed from her own insecurities about her gender identity.
  • But models who personally know Pinkston called her out and said she lied about being transgender.
  • Pinkston has now admitted that she lied and says she is taking responsibility for her actions.

Model Claims to be Transgender

Model Carissa Pinkston admitted she lied about being transgender after she was called out for making anti-trans Facebook posts. Now the model says she is taking responsibility for her words.

Pinkston came under fire when transphobic comments she made in May resurfaced online. In Facebook posts, the model, who has worked with brands like Marc Jacobs and Savage X Fenty, said, “Being Transgender does NOT make you a woman. It makes you simply Transgender.”

Photo via Twitter @itsamekyana
Photo via Twitter @itsamekyana

Being Transgender does make you a Woman in a Transgender context according to gender and not sex,” she added in a later post. “This is how they want to be perceived. In a biological context there are Females and Males. This is the world in 2019.”

When these posts earned her backlash, she took to Instagram to make a statement about them. In that post, she came out as transgender.

“I wasn’t ready to come out about it yet but today I got fired and I’ve been receiving hate mail and death threats ever since so I’m being forced to tell the truth,” she wrote on July 22.

Photo via Twitter @aaronphilipxo

“I’m Transgender,” she continued. “I transitioned at a very young age and I’ve lived my Life as a Female ever since. It’s been very hard to keep this secret but what I said about Trans-Women is a direct reflection of my inner insecurities and I have since come to realize that I am a Woman…. WE ALL ARE!”

Pinkston Called Out for Lying

This post has since been deleted, but it warranted immediate criticism from people who claim to personally know Pinkston. Several models in the industry called her out and said she is lying and is actually cisgender.

Model Aleece Wilson commented that she had seen photos of Pinkston as a baby, and that the two have trans friends and that this never came up.

“I would fully support her the way I support my other transgender friends and family, but she’s lying about being transgender,” Wilson said.

Aaron Philp, a trans model, tweeted about Pinkston’s post and said she did it “for clout.”

Pinkston Owns Up to Lie

A few days later, she wrote another Instagram post owning up to her lie.

“I apologize for any transphobic remark I’ve ever made towards the Trans community. I panicked and I thought if I came out as Trans that I could somehow make things better for myself but it appears I’ve only made things worse,” she said on July 26.

Photo via Twitter @ylupiter

“I’m truly sorry,” Pinkston continued. “I’m only 20 and I’m human. I make mistakes but I refuse to let them define me. I hope you all can forgive me and move on from this because I’m so much more than this incident and I’m not a coward. I’m taking some time to reflect on my actions and I hope you all can try to understand.”

That post has also been deleted.

In her Instagram stories, Pinkston continued to post photos of her with Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer, who is a trans woman.

“I hate to do this because this doesn’t concern her but, me being ‘Transphobic’ is stupid as shit when I love trans people,” she wrote along with the photos.

Photo via Twitter @macypoops

“I been friends with Hunter way before all these comments and now she won’t even talk to me. You don’t know what it’s like to lose all your friends behind a misunderstanding.”

Responses to Pinkston’s Comments

After the news of her lie spread, many took to Twitter to criticize the model.

On Tuesday, Pinkston spoke to BuzzFeed News to further clarify her comments, saying she would take full responsibility for her words.

The outlet said that Pinkston initially wanted to be paid for the interview, but still answered their questions after they declined to compensate her.

“I definitely feel like a trans person in a way — in high school I was really bullied,” she said to BuzzFeed. “I remember being in school being little and taking tissues and trying to put them in my shirt.”

Pinkston also explained why she lied about her gender identity in the first place. She claims her decision had nothing to do with clout or covering her mistake up.

“The only reason I had lied was because of the death threats,” she said. “And I was scared, so I thought they would accept me only if I said I was trans.”

However, even the statements she gave to BuzzFeed received backlash, with many seeing her point about being bullied as a weak argument.

See what others are saying: (BuzzFeed News) (Paper Magazine) (The Cut)

Entertainment

Max to Agrees to “Properly” Credit Writers and Directors After Facing Backlash For Lumping Them in As “Creators”

Published

on

The company said the credits were laid out incorrectly due to “an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max.”


After film and television writers slammed Max for crediting all writers, producers, and directors as general “creators” on its platform, the company said it will be adjusting its credits display.

“We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” the streaming service said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. 

Max — the new rebrand of HBO Max that incorporates Discovery content — launched on Tuesday to much criticism. Amid glitches and app-switching confusion, the biggest backlash it faced was over the choice to lump creative roles into one credit section called “creators.” As one viral tweet noted, if a user were to select the film “Raging Bull,” the service’s display would not specifically credit Martin Scorsese as the director, rather, his name would be included at random with half a dozen other people, including writers and producers. 

The decision was condemned by many in the industry who argued it minimizes writers and directors by not properly giving them credit where it is due. Especially amid the ongoing writers’ strike, and with directors and actors starting negotiations with studios, some took it as a slap in the face. 

“The studios don’t want anyone to know our names,” writer Christina Strain tweeted. “It’s easier to pay us nothing if we’re faceless.”

“Another move from studios to diminish the role of writers, directors, actors and other craftspeople. Miss me wit this nonsense,” Jorge Rivera, the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild’s Latinx Writers Committee, added. 

In a statement, Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter said that Warner Bros. Discovery’s choice to “collapse” these roles into one credit “while we are in negotiations with them is a grave insult to our members and our union.”

“The DGA will not stand for it,” Glatter continued.

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm claimed the move was “a credits violation,” as well as an insult “to the artists that make the films and TV shows that make their corporation billions.”

On Wednesday, Max said it would rework its crediting. 

“We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake,” the platform said.

See what others are saying: (Gizmodo) (The Hollywood Reporter) (The Los Angeles Times)

Continue Reading

Entertainment

A Quarter of Young British Men Support Andrew Tate’s Thoughts on Women

Published

on

U.K. residents at large, however, do not view him favorably.


Even under house arrest in Romania, misogynist influencer Andrew Tate still holds substantial sway over young men. 

According to data from YouGov that was obtained by The Independent, 26% of U.K. men between 18 and 29 years old who know of Tate agree with his views on women. That figure was largely the same for men between 30 and 39, as 28% agreed with Tate’s opinions on the subject. 

Men in their 30s were slightly more likely to agree with Tate on his thoughts about masculinity. Three out of ten supported those views, compared to just a quarter of men 18 to 29.

Those statistics only include the thoughts of men who have heard of Tate, but per YouGov, most have. In the 18 to 29 group, 93% were familiar with him, and 86% of men in their 30s knew of him. 

The U.K. at large was less aware of Tate, with just 63% of British adults having heard of him. Of that group, only 6% held a positive view of him. 

Tate has faced substantial backlash for his sexist rhetoric over the years. In the past, he said that men should have “authority” over their wives or girlfriends, and that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped. He was previously banned from Twitter over his extremist views on women but has since been allowed back on the platform. 

He is currently being investigated in Romania for organized crime and human trafficking. He was arrested and held in custody in December but was released to house arrest earlier this year. No formal charges have been filed against him yet and he has maintained his innocence. 

Tate currently boasts a Twitter following of 6.7 million. It has grown significantly since he was enveloped in legal controversy, and many of his supporters have demanded his release. 

See what others are saying: (The Independent) (Glamour U.K.)

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Involved in “Near Catastrophic” Paparazzi Chase

Published

on

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” a spokesperson for the couple said.


“Aggressive” Paparazzi Chase Couple in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in a “near catastrophic” paparazzi car chase Tuesday night in New York City, according to a spokesperson for the couple.

In a statement, the spokesperson described the photographers as “highly aggressive.”

“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the statement added.

“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” it continued. 

Details of the incident are still emerging, but BBC News reported that there are claims the chase involved roughly six cars driving recklessly by running red lights, driving on the sidewalk, carrying out blocking moves, going backward on a one-way road, and taking pictures while driving. 

The chase happened after Harry and Meghan were leaving the Women of Vision Awards with Meghan’s mother, Doria. They did not want photographers to learn where they were staying and attempted to avoid them in what turned into a 75-minute chase on a main road in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. They eventually ducked into a New York Police Department Precinct to hide out before getting into a different vehicle.

The NYPD released a statement confirming that they assisted in protecting the couple as “numerous photographers” hindered their transport. Officials said they made it to their destination and there were no collisions, injuries, or arrests. 

The couple’s spokesperson is asking the public to not share or post footage of the incident. 

“Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved,” the spokesperson said. 

Memories of Princess Diana

The chase evokes the brutal press hounding Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was subjected to throughout her life. The paparazzi’s obsession with her ultimately resulted in her death in 1997, when she was killed in a car crash after being chased by photographers in Paris. 

Since marrying Meghan and later bowing out of the Royal Family, Harry has made it explicitly clear that he fears those events could happen again. Meghan has been the subject of endless tabloid scrutiny, enduring racism and harassment from the press. Part of the reason they left the Royal Family was to keep their family protected from such attacks.

Mayor Eric Adams brought up Diana’s tragic passing while speaking about Tuesday night’s chase. 

“I don’t think there’s many of us who don’t recall how [Harry’s] mom died,” Adams said while speaking to reporters. “And it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and something to have happened to them as well…I think that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.” 

Adams also questioned whether or not he believes a chase could go on for two hours in a city as congested as New York, but noted that even a 10-minute chase would be dangerous. He said he will be briefed on the exact timeline and details later. 

See what others are saying: (BBC News) (Associated Press) (Yahoo News)

Continue Reading