While attending the protests in L.A. against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's murder, Halsey documented her experience on social media to bring awareness to how cops are handling peaceful protesters. All across the country, demonstrations have been taking place to protest police brutality after recent footage of a 46-year-old black man by the name of George Floyd getting killed by police proved that the issue is as prevalent as ever. Many celebrities have been spreading awareness, sharing and signing petitions, donating their funds, and attending the protests in their city. Halsey, who revealed she had donated a total of $100,000 to a number of different organizations, was out on the streets of Los Angeles to protest. The singer posted photos on her Instagram story describing the scene, indicating that she and others around her had been shot at with rubber bullets and tear-gassed by cops despite remaining peaceful.
"We were peaceful," she wrote. "Hands up, not moving, not breaching the line. They opened fire of rubber bullets and tear gas multiple times on us. Citizens who were not provoking them."
"Most of us were simply begging them to have empathy," she continued. "To reconsider. To consider humanity and our nations history and future."
"They opened fire multiple times," she explained. "I was hit twice. Once by pellets and once by shrapnel. We were gassed repeatedly for hours."
"The frontline did not relent," she concluded. "I will be returning. HAVE COURAGE."
She later clarified that, despite the rumours, she herself had not been arrested, but that many have been and are not in safe conditions.
"I WAS NOT ARRESTED," she tweeted. "Im safe. There were ppl I had to get to safety as many of them have VISAs. Myself + many of my peers were shot, gassed + antagonized. The frontline was calm + did not provoke BUT MANY ARE NOT SAFE + MANY ARE IN CUSTODY DONATE TO BAIL ORGS!!! I AM CURRENTLY."
"I wanted you to know I was SAFE because information was out of control," she continued. "But I will NOT be updating any more personal information!!! I WILL ONLY BE DOCUMENTING AND POSTING MY RECORD OF THE STATUS OF THE ASSEMBLY. Thousands of you witnessed them fire on us unprovoked. Be safe."
Joe Rogan Attacks L.A. Mayor For Rewarding Social Distancing Snitches
Joe Rogan sounds off on Instagram regarding the new social distance “snitching” movement by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Joe Rogan, Los Angeles resident and world-famous podcaster, called out L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for a new rule that rewards people for snitching on those not obeying social distancing.
Ethan Miller / Getty Images
“Do not worry, comrades. History will not repeat itself. Turn your neighbor in for rewards. Seriously… is this shit necessary? Aren’t most people severely changing their lives and staying at home? How the fuck would they not know that this takes us down a terrible road while people are already paranoid and freaked out?,” Rogan said on Instagram, Friday. The post is accompanied by a picture of the headline, “L.A. Mayor Offering Rewards To Social Distancing Snitches.”
Mayor Garcetti announced the move at the beginning of the month saying, “You know the old expression about snitches, well in this case snitches get rewards. We want to thank you for turning folks in and making sure we are all safe,” according to a local CBS affiliate.
“Your decision to stay home may mean that there’s one less person who needs a ventilator we do not have,” Garcetti continued. “And bringing case and death numbers down won’t just happen because of physical distancing and isolation, but also because of testing.”
There are over 19,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 500 deaths from COVID-19 in California.
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Strip Club In L.A. Refuses To Close, Checks For Fever At The Door
A strip club in L.A. refused to close its doors and was checking patrons' temperatures at the door.
Bliss Showgirls, a strip club in Southern California, has been closed down after allegedly violating COVID-19-related closure orders.
An Instagram post from the club, earlier this week, said the establishment would remain open: "Attention, Bliss Showgirls will be open. Want to stay away from corona, we got 10 min, 15 min, and 25 min quarantines with your favorite showgirl."
The club's owner told Fox 11 that Bliss Showgirls is closed: "We are taking the safety of our employees and customers very serious. I closed my doors Thursday after hearing about the shutdown," he said. "Had security outside the club for a few nights after my Instagram account got hacked the next morning with invites being sent out which was through a dancer who used to run the page who got fired months ago."
However, undercover reporters from Fox 11 found that the club was open and bouncers were checking patrons' temperatures at the door. When presented with this information, the owner responded, "You can lose my number, cause I have no further comment."
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells Fox 11 that his department has come across numerous businesses attempting to stay open:
"We’ve received complaints on particular businesses that have not been adhering to social distancing. Chief among them have been gun shops, night clubs, bars, and strip clubs, so we’ve fanned out and we’re making sure these businesses are complying."
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Chuck D Clarifies Flavor Flav & Bernie Sanders Situation On Twitter
Chuck D clarifies the situation regarding Public Enemy's endorsement of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States.
After days of public disagreement between Chuck D and Flavor Flav, Chuck D has clarified the situation on his Twitter.
He explained that his support for Sanders stems from the loss of his father in 2016 and his support for Medicare for All.
"My Dad passing in 2016 and Granddaughter being born automatically put healthcare and childcare at the top of my brain. There ain’t a candidate running that can answer to 3 Black struggling generations living in the same crib, same time. If y’all don’t know THIS-it’s a bad problem
"I dig aspects of Bern. Hate the party Bulsht. But can relate to half the issues & get forward. Use your minds & be ready to fight whoever in office. My rap bro @KillerMike is nice.I am not-Wake the fcuk up get off your asses make yourself important where YOU live. This aint vodka."
He also continues by explaining that Flav doesn't care about politics so "Don't attack Flav on what he don't know."
"...It’s not about BERNIE with Flav," he says. "he don’t know the difference between BarrySanders or BernieSanders he don’t know either..."
Saturday, Flav's lawyer released a statement saying, "Flav has always delivered his authentic self. That authenticity compels him to speak out to ensure voters are not misled and that Public Enemy’s music does not become the soundtrack of a fake revolution."
Adele Shows Off Impressive Weight Loss In Workout Clothes
Adele was seen on her way to a workout in Los Angeles this week. It's fans' best look at her weight loss yet.
There have been rumors circulating about Adele's recent weight loss, but this new photo may be fans' best look yet at the impressive progress the Grammy-winning singer has made, according to PageSix.
In a newly released photo, seeming to depict Adele on the way to the gym, she can be seen in a full-black, mostly Nike, workout fit. PageSix reports that she lost the weight through the combination of an intense workout routine and by following the sirtfood diet. The diet focuses on sirtuins, proteins that specialize in cellular health and metabolism, and includes kale, extra-virgin olive oil, buckwheat, matcha, blueberries, arugula and more.
Adele recently ran into a fan in Anguilla, who says the singer mentioned losing 100 pounds: “She said she lost something like 100 pounds, and that it’s such a crazy positive experience,” a 19-year-old fan named LexiLarson told People. “She seemed so happy, and she looked amazing. She seemed really confident.”
Back in October, Adele made headlines for an appearance at Drake's 33rd birthday party at Goya Studios in LA and mingled with other partygoers including Kylie Jenner, Chris Brown, Future, Fetty Wap, French Montana and Snoop Dogg.
Adele's last album, 25, was released in 2015. Hopefully, fans can expect more music soon.
Kobe Bryant Transcended Basketball
Rest in peace to one of the greatest to ever pick up a basketball.
To some, he may have been just a basketball player, but to millions more, he was invincible– a man who could hit two clutch free throws, limping on a torn Achilles, a man who could score 81 points in a single game, a man who, while being the best at it, showed us there was more to life than just basketball. Kobe Bryant was a hero.
Sure, I was undersized and never anything special, but it didn’t matter. When the bell rang and school was over, the first place I wanted to be was the basketball court. I wanted to reenact the moves I saw my hero, Kobe, make the night before on ESPN.
I’d have to heave the ball with all my strength just for it to reach the hoop from where Kobe hit the impeccable game-winner over Dwyane Wade in December of 2009, but when the ball finally went in, I felt like Kobe Bryant. I was shooting from the edge of a driveway in Charlestown, Rhode Island, but I felt like I was in front of thousands at the Staples Center. I could escape the stresses of middle school, the low self-esteem of my anxious 12-year-old self and, for just a moment, feel like I was invincible, because Kobe Bryant was invincible. Kobe Bryant was Super-Man.
This story is likely similar to millions of other kids who looked up to Kobe and found solace on the basketball court.
He was an assassin– 33,643 career points, 18 all-star selections, five NBA championships, an MVP award and countless more accolades. He was one of the rare competitors who could strike absolute fear in his opponents. Regardless of the score, a lead was never safe if Kobe was on the court. Unparalleled balletic footwork, a brain that seemed designed for basketball, an unshakable love for the fourth quarter, it all made Kobe the most entertaining player to watch.
Moments like when Kobe scored 62 points in three quarters in a 112-90 route over the Dallas Mavericks in 2005 made fans fall in love with his game. Kobe sat out the fourth quarter, and, as legend goes, when offered a chance to go back in to reach 70, he told coach Brian Shaw, “Nah, I’ll get it another time.”
How about when he scored 60 points in his final game and gave life to the Staples Center, that of which it hadn’t seen in years? Or when Matt Barnes pump-faked the ball into his face and Kobe didn’t even flinch? The alley-oop to Shaq in Game 7 against the Trail Blazers in 2000? The countless game-winners, deep fadeaways, jawdropping dunks, are all ingrained in the memories of NBA fans whose lives were impacted by Kobe Bryant.
A loss like this forces us to stare in the face of our own mortality. How can he be gone? He was invincible.
Kobe may have been passed the prime of his playing days, but he was just entering the prime of life. With his wife Vanessa, he had four children– Gianna, Natalia, Bianca, and their newborn Capri, who was only just born, in June 2019.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Above all else, though, Kobe was a father. After taking a break from basketball post-retirement, he rekindled love with the game once again, vicariously through his daughter Gianna. The two could be seen attending NBA games across the country; he often tutored her from the sidelines in the art of the game. At his Mamba Sports Academy, he did the same for other young girls who found love for basketball.
For his short film, Dear Basketball, Kobe won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, setting up what could have been an illustrious second-act: “What I love is storytelling,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2018. “I love the idea of creative content whether it’s mythology or animation, written or film, that can inspire people and give them something tangible they can use in their own lives.”
Tragically we will never get to see that second-act come to fruition. Kobe Bryant died yesterday, in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others. It’s one of the most devastating losses in NBA history.
This is not the ending Kobe Bryant was supposed to get.
