Controversial figure
The American rapper, Kanye West, who goes by the name, Ye, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. From his split with his wife, Kim Kardashian, last year to his recent sporting of a controversial t-shirt, the media can’t seem to get enough of this musician. Ye has been the subject of public ire for his jarring tweets and proclamations. Earlier this month, he was seen at the Paris Fashion Week wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt — a phrase classified by the Anti-Defamation League as white supremacist. Later, during an interview with Fox News, Ye said that the t-shirt was meant to be ‘funny’. Close on the heels of this stunt, he posted a tweet saying “... death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE...” — an extreme anti-Semitic expression. Twitter immediately took down the tweet and banned him temporarily. However, when asked about it during an interview, Ye justified his statement alleging that the media is mostly controlled by Jewish people. For that reason, Ye has now announced his plans to acquire Parler, a conservative Twitter-like social media platform which was once home to the supporters of the former American president, Donald Trump. Ye said that he was motivated to buy Parler because “conservative opinions are considered to be controversial”. It seems that there is no end for Ye when it comes to his penchant for creating controversies.
Wild allegations
What started off as a bizarre speculation about a chess player using anal beads to cheat during games has developed into a serious allegation. On the first day of the 2022 US Chess Championship, Chess.com, an online chess platform, released a 72-page damning report on the investigation into the grandmaster, Hans Niemann. This came after Magnus Carlsen, the fivetime World Chess Champion, accused the 19-year-old of cheating at a third round game of the Sinquefield Cup, held in St. Louis last month. Niemann has been banned from the website. After Carlsen was defeated by a newcomer like Niemann, there were rumours floating on the internet that the latter must have been using vibrating sex toys to receive winning prompts. The rumour spread like wildfire. Thereafter, Niemann admitted to cheating in other non-competitive online games in the past but denied cheating in his matches against Carlsen. He told the St. Louis Chess Club, “You want me to play in a closed box with zero electronic transmission? I don’t care. I’m here to win, and that is my goal regardless.” He even said that he could play naked to prove himself.
Lost creativity
Has anyone ever thought that a bag of Lay’s chips could cost over $1,800? Balenciaga, a high-end luxury fashion brand, has unveiled its latest accessory piece — the Lay’s x Balenciaga leather chip bag, an imitation of Lay’s potato chips bags featuring a ‘Balenciaga Paris’ label — which costs about that much.
The fashion label debuted its Lay’s bags collection at the Paris Fashion Week earlier this month but the leather clutches carried by the models failed to catch people’s attention. Lay’s later posted a video of the show on their Instagram page, stating “Our runway moment. Lay’s Bag by @Balenciaga” and added that the bags will be available for purchase by summer next year. In a statement to Food & Wine, Balenciaga said that each “L.O.L. Clutch” is made of high-gloss leather and “has been treated to resemble a chip bag with a [...] crumpled effect.” Interestingly, the bags will be available in four ‘flavours’ corresponding to four varieties of Lay’s chips: the classic yellow, the flamin’ hot orange, limón green and the salt & vinegar blue. People took to social media to make fun of this unique collaboration — a hefty price tag for a leather bag of chips, but sans the chips.
Horrific reminder
Netflix recently released a limited series called Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which is a fictional retelling of the life of the notorious American serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. The series has become the second most-watched English language show of all time on the streaming platform.
Having released a month before Halloween, people can be expected to dress up as the killer with his blonde hair and signature wire-rimmed glasses. The 10-part series depicts how Dahmer raped and killed 17 boys and men, most of them people of colour, between 1978 and 1991, with visceral details. The families of Dahmer’s victims have objected to the glorification of violence and the reproduction of the traumatic moments, which have forced them to relive the horror. However, in spite of the backlash, Dahmer continues to pique people’s interest. Online sites such as eBay have been selling Dahmer-inspired Halloween costumes. But the sale has now been banned.
Footnote
ZHan Solo has become ‘Pan Solo’ — he has been turned into a giant piece of bread. A bakery in Benicia, California has created a six-foot sculpture of the Star Wars character made entirely of bread. It spent several weeks moulding, sculpting and baking the structure using wood and two types of dough. A sign on the blackboard outside the bakery read “Our hero Pan Solo has been trapped in Levainite by the evil Java the Hut”. Unfortunately, it will not last forever and will eventually be composted.
