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Chet Hanks Goes on Viral Anti-Vax Rant

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The son of Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, who both contracted COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, compared the virus to the flu and told people to “get over it.”


Chet Hanks Goes on Anti-Vax Rant

Chet Hanks, the son of actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, went on an anti-vax rant on Tuesday that has since gone viral.

Hanks — who has dabbled in white boy summers, music, and acting but, notably never medicine — posted a video on Instagram with the caption, “SUPER IMPORTANT PSA GUYS LETS GET THRU THIS TOGETHER.” The video started off like a standard clip that any star might post encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Then it took an M. Night Shyamalan-style twist. 

“I think it’s important for me to say I got the vaccine, I think everybody should,” Hanks said. “It’s really important that we all do this. We have to look out for each other and get this shit under control guys. I suggest to all my followers, you guys set an appointment and get the vaccine first thing…SIKE!”

“Bitch, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he continued. “I never had COVID. You ain’t sticking me with that motherfucking needle, it’s the motherfucking flu. Get over it. OK? If you’re sick, stay inside. Why are we working around y’all? If you’re in danger, stay your ass inside. I’m tired of wearing a motherfucking mask.” 

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Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s Bout With COVID-19

The comments came as a surprise to some considering the fact that his own parents previously contracted the virus. In March 2020, the famous couple announced that they tested positive for COVID-19 and were hospitalized for a few days. The news ignited a cultural shift prompting the public to take the virus more seriously. Chet, for his part, said at the time that his parents were “not even that sick” and that the situation was nothing “to be too worried about.”

In July 2020, the elder Hanks told The Guardian that he “had crippling body aches” during his bout with COVID.

“I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes,” he added. “My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did.”

The Hollywood couple has since spent the remainder of the pandemic urging people to mask up and practice social distancing. They both also donated their blood to vaccine research. Tom Hanks joked that maybe it could be called the “’Hank-ccine.”

So far, roughly 50% of people in the United States have been vaccinated, but millions more still need the jab in order to in order for the country to see the benefits of herd immunity, a goal made especially vital by emerging contagious variants like Delta and Lambda.

Experts at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention have stressed that the vaccine is both safe and effective. According to Vox, the breakthrough case rate is just 0.0034%, while the breakthrough hospitalization rate is 0.0032% and the death rate is 0.0009%.⁠

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

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Swifties Rally Outside Los Angeles Courthouse Amid Ticketmaster Lawsuit Hearing

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Over 300 fans are suing Ticketmaster over the “disaster” they experienced while attempting to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s latest tour. 


Monday’s Hearing

Taylor Swift fans rallied outside of a Los Angeles courthouse on Monday as the first hearing for a lawsuit they filed against Ticketmaster took place.

Swift’s fans, dubbed “Swifties,” sued the ticket giant late last year after the presale for the singer’s Eras Tour left many fans empty-handed. Swift herself called the ordeal “excruciating” after her fans were kicked out of the virtual queue, lost tickets they thought they had purchased, and experienced technical difficulties for hours on end. 

Dozens of fans, including virtual attendees, spoke at Monday’s hearing, which largely centered around the status of the suit. There are over 300 plaintiffs represented in the case, though attorney Jennifer Anne Kinder, the self-proclaimed Swiftie leading the case, said she does not plan on pursuing class-action status. 

Fans are seeking at least $2,500 each in damages, though as one fan told CNN: “It has nothing to do with the money.” Swifties really want to take aim at the alleged monopoly Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, hold over the entertainment and live event industries. Live Nation is currently the subject of a Department of Justice investigation over potential abuse of power. 

Swifties traveled from across the country to attend the hearing and rally. Roughly a dozen stood outside the courthouse carrying signs using Swift’s lyrics to take aim at Ticketmaster. One sign featured a broken heart with “Ticketmaster” and “Live Nation” written on either side. “Are you ready for it?” the sign asked. 

Others used lines like “my pennies made your crown” and “can’t shake it off.”

What’s In The Lawsuit?

Kinder’s firm made a website called “Take Down Ticketmaster” to lay out issues fans had with the Swift presale and with the company as a whole.

“We monitored the Taylor Swift sale in real time of what was happening to fans across the U.S.,” the website says. “Collectively, fans’ experiences with Ticketmaster indicated a potential pattern of fraudulent behavior and antitrust violations by the company.”

The site also encouraged music fans across genres and artists to fight back against Ticketmaster and take “back our power in the live entertainment ecosystem.”

In their lawsuit, Swifties accused Ticketmaster of “anticompetitive conduct” by imposing higher prices on the sale, resale, and presale markets. It also claims the company gave out more presale codes than demand allowed, and “intentionally and purposefully mislead ticket purchasers by allowing scalpers and bots access” to the presale.

According to Ticketmaster, the incredibly high demand, coupled with an onslaught of bot attacks, forced the platform to slow sales down. The company delayed sales in certain cities and canceled the general sale altogether before it started slowly releasing pairs of tickets to fans with presale codes who did not have tickets in their accounts. 

The Eras Tour kicked off in Arizona earlier this month. Swifties are not the only fandom Ticketmaster has to worry about though, as just last week, Drake fans slapped the company with a price-gouging suit.

See what others are saying: (CNN) (The Los Angeles Times) (Rolling Stone)

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Twitch Tightens Policies on Explicit Deepfakes 

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“The creation, promotion, or viewing of this content is not welcome on Twitch,”  the company said in a blog post.


New Rules Regarding “Synthetic NCEI”

Twitch is cracking down on explicit deepfake content and will indefinitely suspend users who share or promote it after a first offense.

“The existence of this content, and its presence and distribution on various sites, is personally violating and beyond upsetting. Deepfake porn isn’t a problem on Twitch, but it’s a terrible issue that some streamers (almost exclusively women) may face on the internet at large,” Twitch said in a Tuesday blog post, explaining it wants to “help streamers protect themselves” in any case this issue arises. 

Twitch referred to this content as “synthetic non-consensual exploitative images,” or “synthetic NCEI,” but many of the platform’s users have casually referred to it as deepfake porn. Synthetic NCEI involves someone taking the face of another person and editing it into a pornographic video to make it appear as though that person filmed themselves demonstrating those sexual acts. The new rise in access to this technology has concerned many, as it is easy to use it to exploit others.

While synthetic NCEI is already banned on Twitch, the company took a more actionable step against it in its Tuesday post by creating an Adult Sexual Violence and Exploitation policy. The new rule prohibits the intentional sharing, promoting, or creation of synthetic NCEI and those acts can result in an indefinite suspension on the first offense. 

Twitch also updated its Adult Nudity policy to include synthetic NCEI. Even if it is only shown briefly, that content will still be taken down and result in an enforcement. 

In addition to the policy changes, Twitch made available a list of resources for those who might be impacted by or wish to learn more about synthetic NCEI. 

“The creation, promotion, or viewing of this content is not welcome on Twitch,”  the company said closing its blog post.

Growing Concerns About Explicit Deepfakes

Twitch’s updates come as synthetic NCEI and deepfakes have become a primary topic of concern for social media platforms. Earlier this year, Twitch was home to a major deepfake controversy after a streamer known as Atrioc was caught with an open tab to a website that hosted these videos. That site specifically hosted deepfakes of female Twitch streamers, some of whom were Atrioc’s colleagues. 

Many women featured on the page spoke out against these deepfakes, explaining the trauma they endured knowing their face, image, and likeness were used in a sexual manner without their consent. It’s an issue that extends far past Twitch creators. Some fear they could be used for revenge porn, and there are already several cases where the technology is used to create sexual videos of celebrities. 

On Tuesday, NBC News published a report finding that Facebook and Instagram ran suggestive ads featuring deepfakes of actresses like Emma Watson and Scarlett Johansson. The ads were for a deepfake app that told users they could “replace face with anyone.”

While the ads did not show explicit pornographic content, one ad featuring Watson was clearly meant to mimic the start of an explicit video, suggesting a sexual act was about to start. The face of the “Harry Potter” actress was seen looking into the camera before bending down.

The report found that 127 ads with Watson deepfakes and 74 with Johansson deepfakes ran across Meta’s platforms on Sunday and Monday, but have since been removed. The app in question was also removed from the Apple app store after NBC News contacted the tech giant for comment. 

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Engadget) (Kotaku)

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Fans Defend Pedro Pascal After Actor Refused to Read Thirst Tweets: “It’s Sexual Harassment”

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Pascal has been dubbed the Internet’s “daddy,” but many think the joke has gone too far.


Pascal’s Heartthrob Status

Fans are defending actor Pedro Pascal after he refused to read thirst tweets on the red carpet, arguing that it is inappropriate and disrespectful to ask him to do so. 

Pascal, the star of HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Disney+’s “The Mandalorian,” has become a major Hollywood heartthrob. He has even been widely dubbed as the Internet’s “daddy” by those posting about his handsome looks. The running joke grew last year when he did a Vanity Fair lie detector test and said he considered himself a “bigger daddy” than “Star Wars” star Oscar Isaac. 

“Daddy is a state of mind, you know what I’m saying? I’m your daddy,” he quipped during the interview. 

Since then, TikTokers have started posting thirst trap edits of Pascal, journalists have called him “daddy” on the red carpet, and interviewers have shown him tweets where fans call him a “cool, slutty daddy.”

Pascal has been a good sport about the public displays of lust for him, but many think the joke may have crossed a line. During last week’s red carpet premiere for season three of “The Mandalorian,” an Access Hollywood reporter went viral for asking Pascal to read thirst tweets to the camera. Pascal politely declined. 

“No. Dirty! Dirty!” he told the reporter after reading through the tweets.

“For your enjoyment only,” she responded.

“Thank you very much,” Pascal said before exiting the interview. 

Fans Condemn Thirst Tweet Interviews

In response, many who watched the clip condemned this treatment of Pascal, arguing it promoted constant objectification.

“I think it’s time for the internet to leave Pedro Pascal alone,” one person wrote. “It’s sexual harassment, but no one seems to care bc he’s a man + is graceful about it. It’s really gross and I would never want to be treated like that.”

“These jokes have gone way too far and he’s visibly uncomfortable,” another fan added. 

Some claimed that while the Internet’s love of Pascal “started as harmless fun…the constant public objectification and sexualization must be terrible” and should stop.

“Being attractive, banking on it, selling it, and even at times enjoying some of the attention, doesn’t give everyone wholesale permission to sexualize you,” someone else argued. 

See what others are saying: (IndieWire) (The Gamer) (BuzzFeed News)

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