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Lily Singh Apologizes for Turban Joke During Jessica Alba Interview

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  • Comedian Lily Singh apologized for comparing towels to turbans during a recent episode of her show A Little Late with Lily Singh.
  • During an interview segment, guest Jessica Alba explained that her daughters were trying to keep it cool when meeting Singh at their house, all while wearing towels on their heads to dry their hair.
  • Singh said, “They look like my Punjabi friends. It’s fine,” a comment that outraged many on social media.

Towel-Turban Comparison 

YouTube comedian turned late-night host Lily Singh has apologized for a joke she made comparing turbans to bath towels during an interview with Jessica Alba. 

On Thursday’s episode of NBC’s A Little Late with Lily Singh, the comedian talked about recently meeting Alba’s family at their home. Alba explained that her 8 and 11-year-old daughters, who are fans of Singh, were “trying to be cool” about meeting her.

“I was like,‘You know, Lilly’s downstairs,’ and they’re like, ‘Lilly’s downstairs?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, come say hi,’” Alba said. 

“And they wear the towels, you know– the Turbie Twists, so they like look super not cool in the Turbie Twists but it dries their hair really quickly, so it’s very practical. I think they definitely had the Turbie Twists on when they said hi,” Alba added. 

“They look like my Punjabi friends. It’s fine,” Singh responded. 

Backlash 

Following the episode, Singh was met with backlash from viewers who were upset by the joke. 

“When you see someone from your community rise to prominence, you’d expect them to represent your people, not fuel their ridicule…I can only think of the kids in school who have been called ‘towel-heads’ their entire lives,” one user wrote. Others said they were “disgusted” and “disappointed” to hear her make the comment. 

Apology

Singh, whose show has only been on the air for about two weeks, responded quickly to the criticism.

In a Twitter apology posted Friday, she wrote, “My guest was explaining how her kids were embarrassed when I saw them with towels twisted on their heads and I said “don’t worry, it’s like my Punjabi friends. In the moment, my thought process was ‘don’t be embarrassed! I think that’s dope.”

“But in hindsight I recognize that it was a disrespectful and problematic joke to make that has a lot of painful history behind it. And I’m very sorry.” 

Singh explained that she was particularly nervous during this taping since it was the very first episode she had ever filmed for her show. She also went on to thank those who had educated her on the matter and made her aware of her mistake. 

“I don’t wear a turban and I haven’t lived that experience and so I really value people giving me perspective. I’m grateful that this was a teachable moment instead of another opportunity to divide and attack.”

“Aside from these words, I’ve also taken the action to ensure my stupid joke is removed from the episode and online clips.” As of Monday morning, the joke is still included in streaming versions of the full episode, but it has not been uploaded on the show’s YouTube channel.  At this time, it is unclear if NBC will actually comply with her requests to have the joke removed.

In addition to her apology, she shared a Funny or Die video titled “Let’s Talk About Turbans (Gasp!)” in a follow-up tweet. “Also, education is love so I’d like to shine light on this great video discussing the turban. Thank you again,” she wrote in her post. 

Singh also took to Instagram to make sure more of her fans heard her apology, reiterating the same key points she included in her Twitter statement. In her video, she noted that no publicist was forcing her to make this apology, saying, “Genuinely, it’s from the bottom of my heart.”

See what others are saying: (BBC) (PEOPLE) (Vulture)

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Schools Across the U.S. Cancel Classes Friday Over Unverified TikTok Threat

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Officials in multiple states said they haven’t found any credible threats but are taking additional precautions out of an abundance of safety.


School Cancelled

Schools in no fewer than 10 states either canceled classes or increased their police presence on Friday after a series of TikToks warned of imminent shooting and bombs threats.

Despite that, officials said they found little evidence to suggest the threats are credible. It’s possible no real threat was actually ever made as it’s unclear if the supposed threats originated on TikTok, another social media platform, or elsewhere. 

“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok,” TikTok’s Communications team tweeted Thursday afternoon. 

Still, given the uptick of school shootings in the U.S. in recent years, many school districts across the country decided to respond to the rumors. According to The Verge, some districts in California, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas shut down Friday. 

“Based on law enforcement interviews, Little Falls Community Schools was specifically identified in a TikTok post related to this threat,” one school district in Minnesota said in a letter Thursday. “In conversations with local law enforcement, the origins of this threat remain unknown. Therefore, school throughout the district is canceled tomorrow, Friday, December 17.”

In Gilroy, California, one high school that closed its doors Friday said it would reschedule final exams that were expected to take place the same day to January.

According to the Associated Press, several other districts in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania stationed more police officers at their schools Friday.

Viral Misinformation or Legitimate Warnings?

As The Verge notes, “The reports of threats on TikTok may be self-perpetuating.”

For example, many of the videos online may have been created in response to initial warnings as more people hopped onto the trend. Amid school cancellations, videos have continued to sprout up — many awash with both rumors and factual information.

 “I’m scared off my ass, what do I do???”  one TikTok user said in a now-deleted video, according to People. 

“The post is vague and not directed at a specific school, and is circulating around school districts across the country,” Chicago Public Schools said in a letter, though it did not identify any specific post. “Please do not re-share any suspicious or concerning posts on social media.”

According to Dr. Amy Klinger, the director of programs for the nonprofit Educator’s School Safety Network, “This is not 2021 phenomenon.”

Instead, she told The Today Show that her network has been tracking school shooting threats since 2013, and she noted that in recent years, they’ve become more prominent on social media. 

“It’s not just somebody in a classroom of 15 people hearing someone make a threat,” she said. “It’s 15,000 people on social media, because it gets passed around and it becomes larger and larger and larger.”

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Associated Press) (People)

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Jake Paul Says He “Can’t Get Cancelled” as a Boxer

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The controversial YouTuber opened up about what it has been like to go from online fame to professional boxing.


The New Yorker Profiles Jake Paul

YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul talked about his career switch, reputation, and cancel culture in a profile published Monday in The New Yorker. 

While Paul rose to fame as the Internet’s troublemaker, he now spends most of his time in the ring. He told the outlet that one difference between YouTube and boxing is that his often controversial reputation lends better to his new career. 

“One thing that is great about being a fighter is, like, you can’t get cancelled,” Paul said. The profile noted that the sport often rewards and even encourages some degree of bad behavior.

“I’m not a saint,” Paul later continued. “I’m also not a bad guy, but I can very easily play the role.”

Paul also said the other difference between his time online and his time in boxing is the level of work. While he says he trains hard, he confessed that there was something more challenging about making regular YouTube content. 

“Being an influencer was almost harder than being a boxer,” he told The New Yorker. “You wake up in the morning and you’re, like, Damn, I have to create fifteen minutes of amazing content, and I have twelve hours of sunlight.”

Jake Paul Vs. Tommy Fury

The New Yorker profile came just after it was announced over the weekend Paul will be fighting boxer Tommy Fury in an 8-round cruiserweight fight on Showtime in December. 

“It’s time to kiss ur last name and ur family’s boxing legacy goodbye,” Paul tweeted. “DEC 18th I’m changing this wankers name to Tommy Fumbles and celebrating with Tom Brady.”

Both Paul and Fury are undefeated, according to ESPN. Like Paul, Fury has found fame outside of the sport. He has become a reality TV star in the U.K. after appearing on the hit show “Love Island.”

See what others are saying: (The New Yorker) (Dexerto) (ESPN)

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Hackers Hit Twitch Again, This Time Replacing Backgrounds With Image of Jeff Bezos

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The hack appears to be a form of trolling, though it’s possible that the infiltrators were able to uncover a security flaw while reviewing Twitch’s newly-leaked source code.


Bezos Prank

Hackers targeted Twitch for a second time this week, but rather than leaking sensitive information, the infiltrators chose to deface the platform on Friday by swapping multiple background images with a photo of former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. 

According to those who saw the replaced images firsthand, the hack appears to have mostly — and possibly only — affected game directory headers. Though the incident appears to be nothing more than a surface-level prank, as Amazon owns Twitch, it could potentially signal greater security flaws. 

For example, it’s possible the hackers could have used leaked internal security data from earlier this week to discover a network vulnerability and sneak into the platform. 

The latest jab at the platforms came after Twitch assured its users it has seen “no indication” that their login credentials were stolen during the first hack. Still, concerns have remained regarding the potential for others to now spot cracks in Twitch’s security systems.

It’s also possible the Bezos hack resulted from what’s known as “cache poisoning,” which, in this case, would refer to a more limited form of hacking that allowed the infiltrators to manipulate similar images all at once. If true, the hackers likely would not have been able to access Twitch’s back end. 

The photo changes only lasted several hours before being returned to their previous conditions. 

First Twitch Hack 

Despite suspicions and concerns, it’s unclear whether the Bezos hack is related to the major leak of Twitch’s internal data that was posted to 4chan on Wednesday.

That leak exposed Twitch’s full source code — including its security tools — as well as data on how much Twitch has individually paid every single streamer on the platform since August 2019. 

It also revealed Amazon’s at least partially developed plans for a cloud-based gaming library, codenamed Vapor, which would directly compete with the massively popular library known as Steam.

Even though Twitch has said its login credentials appear to be secure, it announced Thursday that it has reset all stream keys “out of an abundance of caution.” Users are still being urged to change their passwords and update or implement two-factor authentication if they haven’t already. 

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Forbes) (CNET)

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