List of All Articles with Tag 'viral'

A Taylor Swift fan was shocked to find “creepy” electronic music when she played her new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vinyl of the new album. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released on July 7, 2023 and quickly broke the Spotify record for the most single-day streams for any album in 2023 so far. It is also the most streamed country album in Spotify history. As well as impressive streaming feats, many fans have also opted for physical copies of the album, with over 225,000 vinyl sales, less than a week into its release. Rachel Hunter, a British fan of Swift, couldn’t wait to listen to her copy of Swift’s latest re-recording after returning from vacation. But, as she found out, it seems not every vinyl was pressed correctly. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “This voice started, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, do I have, like, a secret message from Taylor on my album?’” Hunter said Speaking to NBC News. “And I was like, that’s not Taylor Swift.” In her confusion, Hunter posted a now viral TikTok over the mysterious album, asking “does anyone else’s Speak Now vinyl not have Taylor Swift on it?” @mischief_marauder send help I got speak now (not Taylors version) this is so funny #speaknowtaylorsversion @Taylor Swift @Taylor Nation #erastour #speaknoworchid Hunter proceeds to play the album, instead of hearing Swift’s voice, she instead hears the song “Happy Land,” an electronic song by the group Ultramarine. On the B-Side of the album is the song “Soul Vine (70 billion People)” by Cabaret Voltaire. After posting the vinyl to TikTok fans quickly discovered that the songs appear on the album “Happy Land: A Compendium of Electronic Music from the British Isles 1992-1996 Volume 1.” “Happy Land” is distributed by the record label Above Board Distribution, whilst Swift’s album is distributed by Universal Musical Group. “Due to a pressing blunder, some Taylor Swift fans received a misprinted copy of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),’ which we have learned features audio of ‘Happy Land (A Compendium of Music from the British Isles 1992-1996),’” said Dan Hill, the founder and managing director of Above Board, in a statement to NBC News. “While this error was beyond our control, we sincerely hope anyone who received what is Not Taylor’s Version of the vinyl enjoys the beats. It might very well end up being a collector’s item!” Hunter said she’s decided to keep the mistresses vinyl, unless someone wants to offer her VIP tickets for Swift’s tour, she joked. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The internet's obsession with McDonald's Grimace shake continues – and now an executive has spoken out about the TikTok trend. For those who still don't understand what's going on but have seen the phrase everywhere, McDonald's dropped a new limited-edition purple milkshake to celebrate the 52nd birthday of the famous character's birthday. TikTok users were immediately hooked on the drink before turning it into a bizarre trend. It sees people creating content showing them drinking the shake and pretending to be poisoned to death with a decorative crime scene around them. While the trend is bizarre, the hashtag #grimaceshake has racked up a staggering 142 million views on the platform and continues to grow. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @kale1ay Bro pls domt get the grimace shake #viral #meme #grimaceshake #grimaceshakemeal #grimaceshakememe #grimacememe #mcdonadlsmeme #skit Now, McDonald's marketing director Guillaume Huin has stepped into the chat, crediting the original TikTok creator Austin Frazier for his upload. In a Linkedin post, Huin said the company were initially not going to speak about the trend, but after "hours of watching, reading the comments, trying to learn and genuinely understand helped us see what this was about," he saw the "brilliant creativity, unfiltered fun, peak absurdist gen z humor, just the way a new generation of creators and consumers play with brands." He said that some of the content had even left him "smile silently in admiration and wonder." Huin then shared how behind the scenes, the team "discussed what was the right thing to do about the trend." He continued, "saying nothing felt disconnected, encouraging it felt self-serving, so we just decided to show our fans that we see them and their creativity in a sweet, candid and genuine way, as grimace would." The Grimace shake will be available to buy in the US until 29 July. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The wife of newsreader Huw Edwards has said he is “suffering from serious mental health issues” and is receiving “in-patient hospital care” as she named him as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images. After intense speculation as to the identity of the BBC presenter at the centre of the allegations, Vicky Flind said in a statement that she was speaking out on her husband’s behalf after “what have been five extremely difficult days for our family”. Following the name reveal, the BBC and The Sun have both faced criticism for the handling of the events of the last few days, with colleagues and high-profile media personalities speaking out in support of Edwards on Wednesday night. The Metropolitan Police said no criminal offence had been committed by the presenter, adding: “There is no further police action. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “As such, the Met has advised the BBC it can continue with its internal investigation.” The statement added: “We are aware of media reporting of further allegations against the same individual. “No specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time.” Now that the speculation about who the previously unnamed presenter was you would hope that the public and social media especially would allow Edwards himself and his family to deal with what is sure to be a distressing situation privately. Sadly though we cannot say that this is the case. Much like the OceanGate submarine tragedy the internet has managed to find a dark sense of humour in another wise serious situation involving real people. Yet you've only got to spend a few moments on Twitter, which continues its downward trajectory under Elon Musk, to be confronted with jokes about Huw Edwards, which were even prevalent on the platform prior to him being named as the presenter in question. Given that Edwards is now receiving hospital care because of the serious mental fatigue the story has placed upon him you'd hope that some people could afford to show a slight bit of dignity and not make any jokes that may further impact his condition or the other people involved in this story. Also there are better things to make jokes about at this time so maybe rather than add to the stress instead take some time to read the many statements of support offered to Edwards from his colleagues and peers. It's very easy to engage with big topics like this on social media but at the end of the day numerous real people, some only by association, are involved in this and likely still processing what happend. Allow them to deal with this in peace and for the right course of action to be taken, instead of creating cheap puns just for a few likes. Additional reporting by PA. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Americans are having 'sleep divorces' to save their relationships, with over 2,000 people altering their sleep routine to help accommodate their other half. A recent study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that more than a third of participants opted for separate beds to ensure they have a good night's rest. More people used eye masks, ear plugs and even opted for an earlier or later bedtime to avoid sleep disruption. Dr Seema Khosla, a pulmonologist and spokesperson for the AASM, said: "We know that poor sleep can worsen your mood, and those who are sleep deprived are more likely to argue with their partners," "Getting a good night’s sleep is important for both health and happiness, so it’s no surprise that some couples choose to sleep apart for their overall well-being." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 'Sleep divorce' has even found its place on TikTok, with almost half a million views under the emerging trend. Urologist Rena (@renamalikmd) took to the platform to explore the concept, saying more and more people are moving towards it. "That doesn't mean that they're not having sexual relations," she disclaimed. "It's just that they either choose to sleep in separate beds in different rooms or different beds in the same room." Unsurprisingly, many viewers were on board with it, with several sharing how they do it themselves. "I've been doing that since I got married 29 years ago," one person wrote, while another added: "I sleep in different beds. Best sleep ever." "Nothing wrong with that," a third commented. "Especially if you don't want to be in a zombie state every day." "As humans, we should be sleeping separately to have good quality sleep," another user added. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Mark Zuckerberg is seemingly in beast mode ahead of his rumoured fight with fellow tech mogul Elon Musk after he was spotted training with UFC champions. On Wednesday (12 July), fighters Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski shared a topless snap with the Meta boss. "No fugazi with Mark," Adesanya wrote. "This is Serious Business‼️" The post was also shared on Instagram, where Zuckerberg commented: "It’s an honor to train with you guys!" Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It comes after Lex Fridman shared a glimpse into his "impromptu training session" with Musk. The computer scientist and artificial intelligence researcher complimented Musk's "strength, power and skill, on the feet and on the ground." He added: "It's really inspiring to see Elon and Mark doing martial arts, but I think the world is served far better if they train martial arts but not fight in the cage. That said, as Elon says, the most entertaining outcome is the most likely... I'm there for them, no matter what." Of course, the back-and-forth has been prompted by the pair seemingly agreeing to a fight, after Musk said he was "up for a cage match" ahead of Zuckerberg's Twitter-rival app, Threads. Zuckerberg responded with a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption "send me location". Things have since heated up, with Musk calling Zuck a "cuck". Musk responded to a screenshot of a Threads post saying: "Hey @zuck, you should go to space just to make him really mad lol." Zuckerberg replied with a crying laughing emoji, which prompted Musk to write on Twitter: "Zuck is a cuck." He also went on to reply to a Twitter parody account that called Zuckerberg "lizard boy". The real question on everyone's mind, is who would win? Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Colleen Ballinger’s legal team told Pop Crave that her apology song was not uploaded to iTunes and Apple Music by her or her team after social media continued to criticise the YouTube star. The video has now been removed from both iTunes and Apple Music. On Tuesday (July 11) Ethan Klein, host of the H3 Podcast, tweeted that Ballinger’s apology song had been uploaded to CD Baby under the name Toxic Gossip Train. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter CD Baby is a website that allows people to monetise their music by independently uploading their songs to platforms like YouTube. Klein shared that he had received a copyright claim due to using less than a minute of the song in his video. Shortly after, many realised that the song had also been uploaded to Ballinger’s official profile on iTunes and Apple Music. The 10-minute ukulele song was being sold for $10. The initial discovery sparked further outrage on Twitter. Adam McIntyre who alleges he was groomed and manipulated by Ballinger called her a “f***ing joke”. McIntyre also took the opportunity to point out the irony in the moment, in her song Ballinger had accused the public of ‘monetising’ her demise. Other users were shocked at the idea of Ballinger copyrighting those who featured the apology in videos talking about the subject, as well as charging $10 for the song on iTunes: After Pop Crave updated the story, Klein responded saying that “she still has our podcast claimed”. Ballinger herself has not made any public comment. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The FBI have jumped on the hype around Taylor Swift’s release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) to try and get people to send them tips on federal crimes. On Monday (July 10), the FBI Washington Field tweeted their own version of the Speak Now track list, which included ‘songs’ such as 'Terrorism (FBI’s Version)', 'Public Corruption (FBI’s Version),' and 'Weapons of Mass Destruction (FBI’s Version).' In the caption, they played on songs by Swift such as 'Better than Revenge' and 'Superman', writing: “Justice is better than revenge. You may not be Superman, but you can help the #FBI protect the country.” “If you have information about a federal crime, speak now. Call 1-800-225-5324 or visit http://tips.fbi.gov to submit a tip,” the post reads. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter For a fandom that is known for its commitment to uncovering easter eggs and secrets left for them by Swift, you can see why the FBI chose to use Swift’s music in an attempt to encourage people to get in touch. Twitter couldn’t believe that the FBI had referenced Taylor Swift, and many shared the tweet in disbelief and found it hilarious: Republican Congressman Mike Johnson responded to the tweet quoting lyrics from Swift’s ‘Should’ve Said No’, mocking the FBI’s decision to tweet. Johnson has previously accused the FBI of abusing its power. This isn’t the first time government officials and politicians have quoted Swift’s work. During a Judiciary Committee hearing on consolidation in the ticketing industry after the disaster surrounding Ticketmaster and the sale of Swift’s Eras Tour, many senators used Swift’s lyrics to make their points. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal had quoted the song 'Anti-Hero' during the hearing telling Live Nation that the company should look in the mirror and say: “I’m the problem, it’s me.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The "not real" plane passenger saga continues – and now opportunists have jumped on a very niche market by releasing merchandise. Let's recap for those living under a rock... Footage of an American Airlines passenger went viral online. It showed a woman pacing up the aisle and demanding to get off the flight. She claimed there was an imaginary passenger – or as some conspiracy theorists have described a "shapeshifter" – aboard the plane. "I’m telling you, I’m getting the f*** off, and there’s a reason why I’m getting the f*** off," she yelled as confused onlookers watched on. "And everyone can either believe it, or they can not believe it. I don’t give two f***s." "But I am telling you right now, that motherf***er back there is not real." The woman continued: "And you can sit on this plane, and you can f***ing die with them or not. I’m not going to." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The footage soon spiraled on social media, with many users speculating what actually happened. Some accused the woman of alcohol consumption, but she has not yet spoken out about the incident. Now, 'TMFINR' ("That motherf***** is not real") has become a thing. Not only has it became a viral audio on TikTok to poke fun at everyday scenarios, but it's also made its way onto a T-shirt. One Etsy seller took to Twitter to announce the release, writing: "Thank you everyone for all the memes @Kohleispresent & I collabed to make an Etsy store if you want to support us. Other people are selling it as their own merch & design (it's the internet, I expected this) but this is the original. Much love." American Airlines told Indy100: "American Airlines flight 1009, with service from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Orlando (MCO), returned to the gate due to a disruptive customer. "The flight was met at the gate by local law enforcement and the customer was removed from the flight. Safety and security are our top priorities, and we thank our customers for their understanding and our team members for their professionalism in managing a difficult situation." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Adult actress Lena the Plug has hit back at haters calling her husband a "simp" for allowing her to film a NSFW with another man. For the blissfully unaware, a simp is "when a male is overly submissive to a female and gains nothing from it," according to Urban Dictionary. It comes after Lena announced her latest collaboration with fellow pornstar Jason Luv in a handful of promo posts on Instagram. One of the uploads shows her and her husband, Adam 'Adam 22' Grandmaison, discussing the adult scene, with Lena saying she couldn't wait for him to watch it. This prompted many followers to flood the comments calling Adam a simp. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Lena later addressed the criticisms to TMZ while outside a supermarket. "I feel bad for him [Adam] because I'm having a lot of positive reaction whilst he's having a lot of negative reaction," she told the outlet. "I'm getting hated too, but I do feel like there's a big dump on him. He can handle it, he's a big boy." She continued: "I feel like everyone should do what makes them happy as long as they're not hurting anyone. There's way weirder sexual things out there than what we currently have going on." "I've had 200 threesomes with him and women. Is that a simp?" Lena added. "Someone who's been given all of this sexual experience and I get one guy and it's like a big deal?" Adam has also spoken out about the scene in a Twitter post, where he admitted to feeling "a little jealous at first but overall it wasn't that big a deal." He continued: "She’s watched me sleep with hundreds of girls and it’s never affected our relationship. Sleeping with that gentleman has been amazing for both her career and our business." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Artificial intelligence has revealed what the most conventionally attractive man looks like according to the tastes of different countries. AI technology has advanced to mind-boggling capabilities, leaving many fearful for what the future may hold if it ends up in the wrong hands. But until then, others have decided to have fun with AI and use it to decipher the peak of physical attraction in men across the globe. Midjourney is a generative artificial intelligence program and it has been used to make images featuring men mostly with large muscles and chiselled jaws, representing the “Most attractive man in a country”. The reel of photos included the most attractive men in 20 different countries including, Greece, Syria, the USA and North Korea and the results were shared on the Midjourney Reddit community. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The candidate for North Korea could be seen wearing what appears to be a military uniform and had a portrait of a leader behind him. Reddit - Dive into anything from midjourney The most attractive man in the Central African Republic had dark brown skin and chest tattoos and wore lots of beaded necklaces. Some Reddit users compared the Kazakhstani man to a “Disney adaptation villain” or a “spicy Harry Styles” as the AI version resembled some of the singer’s features such as his eyes and hair. The AI-generated American man featured shoulder-lengthed light brown and blonde hair with blue eyes, a beard and big muscles. One Redditor commented: “I like how USA is literally just Chris Hemsworth lol.” Another said: “Men of Reddit take note: to be attractive you must look concerned, sincere or intense ... ideally all three at once.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

First, a woman rants that her fellow passenger is “not real”, now, a man positively hurls himself at cabin crew to get off the plane – what the hell is going on with air travel? Last week, the internet became obsessed with an American Airlines flight, on which a woman claimed everyone on board would “die” if they remained in the presence of an alleged spectre. Just days later, a new video is doing the rounds showing a man having a similar meltdown, this time while travelling with Ryanair. The clip shows the passenger screaming furiously at the person in the seat next to him, before leaping up, charging down the aisle, and demanding that staff “open the door” to the aircraft. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter A caption to the video, which was posted to Twitter on 6 July, reads: “A British man was allegedly disturbed so badly by the passenger sitting next to him on a plane, that he tried to open the door of the plane and leave. “First a woman in US now this. What is going on?” In this case, it turns out the man was not having an existential crisis about his co-passenger. Instead, his fellow travellers suggested he may have been under the influence of alcohol and, possibly, drugs. He has been identified as a 27-year-old British boxer who was returning to the UK from Zadar, Croatia most likely after attending the Hideout electronic music festival. The man was later filmed being escorted off the plane and dragged across the airport’s tarmac, EX-YU Aviation NewsAviation News reports. Police in Zadar confirmed that a 27-year-old Brit had been arrested and that they had launched an investigation into the incident. Commenting on the drama, Ryanair said in a statement: "This flight from Zadar to London Stansted returned to the stand when an individual passenger became disruptive while preparing for takeoff. “The passenger was removed from the aircraft by local police before the flight continued safely to London Stansted.” Now, let’s be honest, however bizarre the American Airlines rant was (and conspiracy theorists are still having a field day with it), air travel isn’t exactly known for bringing out the best in people. Whilst, it’s true that most in-flight brawls and tantrums involve people who are widely accepted as “real”, they are rarely pretty but alarmingly common. Indeed, on Monday, it emerged that a United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas to Amsterdam had to be diverted to Chicago because a business class passenger threw a tantrum over their inflight meal. A Twitter user, called JonNYC, shared internal communications from the US airline stating that there was a “disruptive [passenger] on board”. JonNYC also tweeted that the passenger “was noted to be intoxicated as well, but meal choice seems to have been an enragement point.” In a statement to The Guardian, United Airlines confirmed that the culprit had been escorted off the plane. They said: “United flight 20 from George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Amsterdam diverted to O’Hare International Airport and landed safely following a passenger disturbance. Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate and escorted the passenger off the plane. The aircraft then continued to Amsterdam.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A relationship coach says women shouldn't date men who "can't afford their lifestyle", guys on a low salary "shouldn't be dating in the first place," and women are "investments". Karla Elia, 23, earns her living teaching women how to find the right man for the life they want - and believes "being treated right is the bare minimum". She suggests women shouldn't be treated equally to men - because women's time is "more precious". Karla claims many clients struggle to find their perfect man because they have the wrong mindset. She insists the right man to go for is one with a "provider mindset" - who will give their partner the best treatment. This includes paying for all their dates before they're in a formal relationship and buying them gifts and flowers. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Controversially, she said men who can't afford a woman "shouldn't be dating in the first place" - because they must add value to a woman's life to be worthy. She said there's no fixed salary a man needs to be earning before he should start dating - but it needs to be enough to afford his partner's expenses and needs as well as his own, whatever they may be. Karla, from San Diego, California, US, said: "In my experience, women are scared of speaking their standards. "They think there are no men like this out there - when actually there is a big pool of men with the provider mindset. "To find these men, you have to step into the energy of 'I am worthy, I am healing, and I am not making decisions from a place of insecurity.' "We shouldn’t be treated equal to men, we should be treated as women, and we’re special, we should be treated as precious. "A man needs to understand he has to be in a financial place to invest in a woman. We are investments. "I know I can afford my lifestyle and if someone can't afford and add value to that, I would say 'thank you, next'." Karla - who married her husband Dustyn Elia, 25, in May 2022, said the reason women don't find "high-quality men" is down to their mindset. She said Dustyn, who is currently transitioning careers after six years in a high-ranking role in the US Navy, had no problems financially supporting her due to also having investments in the stock market. Women need to adopt an "abundance" mindset rather than a "scarcity" one, Karla says. A "scarcity" mindset is a belief based on insecurity that there aren't many people out there that are right for you. An "abundance" mindset is dating, knowing your worth, and not making decisions out of fear of rejection. This is because Karla believes if you're on the hunt for someone to start a family with, women's time is "more precious". She said: "When a woman settles down and gets married, fertility is not forever. "A man can make his life start over with a new girl at any age. "As women, we don’t have that luxury. That means a woman's time is more valuable because she has more to lose." Karla clarified a 'provider' man is not the same as a 'traditional man' who would want his wife to be a homemaker rather than working. She says a provider is a man who "strives to be successful in every area of his life - and understands his woman will have her own goals". She said: "They both have the common goal of creating a family, being stable and growing with each other." Karla said women shouldn't be treated equally to men - and should be treated as "precious" because her time is "more precious". She said the man should always pay when he is dating a woman or calls her his girlfriend and should be able to financially support his partner through her ventures. She said: "In my marriage, I wasn't stressed about paying bills or doing housework, so I had emotional stability, creativity and self-awareness. "It allowed me to think about my goals and build my business up. "During that time, Dustyn did that because he wanted to see me happy and grow my business. "That's him getting a return on his investment - I invested in him, then he invested in me." Karla said she has been accused of sounding "materialistic" for advocating for women to find a man with the provider mindset. She said that's not the case - because a partner needs to add value to a person's life to be worth investing in. She said: "A woman adds value to a man immediately - when a man has a good woman next to him, it signals he has something to keep her and increases his attractiveness. "A woman can do everything by herself - so the way a man adds value to a woman's life is by giving her a sense of security. "Because of this, a man needs to understand he has to be in a financial place to invest in a woman. "Men who can't afford it should wait to date until they become more stable." How to identify a 'provider mindset' in a man: 1. Never expect you to pay on dates 2. Is willing to help pay for expenses, if you allow him 3. You can rely on him for anything - not just money 4. A man of his word and follows through with the plans he's made with you 5. He has no problem giving (e.g. time, effort, gifts) How to identify a non 'provider mindset' man: 1. Does not see the value in investing in his woman 2. Is not generous with his time and money 3. Expects his woman to pay on dates 4. If he does pay for an occasion, he expects something in return 5. Always goes for 'cheap' options Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.