Facebook hosts misleading ad discouraging use of HIV prevention drug
Facebook and Instagram were accused of running misleading ads that discouraged people from using the HIV prevention medication “Truvada,” also known as PrEP. The ad, which was created by several law firms that claimed the drug caused kidney problems, aimed to recruit LGBTQ people to join a lawsuit against drug manufacturers. PrEP reduces the risk of HIV contraction by up to 99 percent and has not been found to have significant side effects. Several organizations, including Act Up, GLAAD and the University of Chicago Medicine released statements calling for the social media platforms to ban the ads.
JuiceWorld died at 21 from a seizure
Twenty-one-year-old Chicago rapper JuiceWorld died of a seizure on December 8, just hours after his private jet landed at Chicago’s Midway Airport. Although details surrounding his death are not clear, law enforcement sources claim that the rapper overdosed on Percocet pills— an opiate commonly used as a pain reliever— shortly before he landed at the airport.
TMZ reported that JuiceWorld overdosed on the pills in an attempt to hide them from authorities who had been called to search plane because the rapper was transporting weapons. JuiceWorld was best known for his singles “Lucid Dreams” and “All Girls are the Same,” and for his candidness when speaking about drug addiction and mental health.
Miss Universe is a Black South African Woman
Zozibini Tunzi, a Black South African woman, won this year’s Miss Universe contest and became the first Black woman to do so since 2011. This year’s pageant was held at Atlanta’s newly inaugurated Tyler Perry Studios, created to increase Black representation in film and TV. Tunzi’s victory came when four other major beauty pageants— Miss Teen USA, Miss America, Miss USA and Miss World— were also won by Black women.
… Plus, the first openly lesbian contestant of Miss Universe speaks out
Swe Zin Htet of Myanmar became the first openly lesbian contestant of the Miss Universe competition after she came out on Instagram last month. Htet said in an interview that she felt a need to talk about her sexuality because she was “in the best position to promote this cause”; in her home country, same-sex activity remains illegal as a result of a British colonial-era law.
Hallmark pulls ad featuring same-sex couple after conservative backlash
Hallmark was caught in the middle of backlash from every side of the political spectrum last week: first, for featuring a lesbian couple in an ad for the wedding-planning site Zola and later for giving in to criticism from the conservative group “One Million Moms” and pulling the commercial. In yet another twist, the company announced recently that it will reinstate the ad and apologized for scrapping it in the first place.
Cynthia Erivo and Awkwafina get nominated for the Golden Globes
Cynthia Erivo and Awkwafina were two of only a handful of women of color who were nominated for the Golden Globes this year. Erivo, who played Harriet Tubman in the movie “Harriet,” received a double nomination for the categories of Best Lead Actress in a Drama and for Best Original Song (she co-wrote the film’s theme, “Stand Up”). Nora Lum, popularly known as Awkwafina of Crazy Rich Asians, was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy for her starring role in The Farewell.
Conservative Party, which ran on an anti-immigrant platform, wins UK elections
UK’s Conservative Party won a staggering 43 percent of votes in the December 12 elections, bringing the country much closer to leaving the European Union. The election also solidified the leadership of Boris Johnson, that country’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader, infamous for his misogynistic and racist rhetoric.
Lizzo went pantless at an NBA game
Lizzo got dragged on social media for wearing a controversial outfit to a Lakers NBA game last week that exposed the singer’s bare butt cheeks strung together by a thong. Although Lizzo’s supporters said the outfit was all about body positivity and that the critics were just haters, a lot of us were really just genuinely concerned about the germs on those stadium seats…
So Lizzo showed up to the Lakers game dressed like rakishi ?? For what reason pic.twitter.com/3wEpyuaezj
— NO (@FuckNitty) December 9, 2019
Plus, some things to look forward to…
Ivy Park announced a new collab with Adidas set to launch January 2020
Beyonce’s clothing line Ivy Park severed ties from Topshop last year after Sir Philip Green, the clothing chain’s founder, was accused of sexual misconduct. Fans of Beyonce’s activewear brand were left in the dark until last week, when the singer posted on Instagram that she was launching a collaboration with Adidas in January 2020.
In the Heights musical will be turned into a movie
The beloved 2005 Broadway musical, which takes place in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights and centers on a tight-knit Latinx community there, has been remade into a movie that will be released in the summer of 2020. The film is directed by Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon M. Chu with music composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Lifetime announces “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning,” featuring new accusers
