List of All Articles with Tag 'viral'

After Colleen Ballinger posted a video in response to the grooming and predatory behaviour allegations made against her, Adam McIntyre one of the first to speak about his experience with Ballinger whilst she was an adult and he was a minor, uploaded his own video. McIntyre, who is now 22, had raised issues publicly about Ballinger back in 2020. At the time, the 36-year-old known for YouTube personality 'Miranda Sings', responded to his claims, admitting to sending him a bra when he was just a teenager. During that apology video, she had said: "I don't know what part of my brain was missing at the time. But I am not a monster, I am not a groomer, and I shouldn't kill myself." At the time, people had largely accepted her apology and many turned on McIntyre as a result. But this year, McIntyre posted another video, this time over an hour long, documenting his relationship with Ballinger. In the video, he shared screenshots of a group chat he was in with Ballinger and other fans of her's called "Colleeny's Weenies," where she had asked a teenage McIntyre what his "favourite position" was. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter McIntyre's allegations led to others coming out about how Ballinger had made them uncomfortable whilst they were minors. McIntyre has initially responded to the video on Twitter saying: "As much as Colleen discredited & made fun of me, I'm glad her video did ONE thing, show you all Exactly the type of evil woman she is". However, McIntyre has now posted a response of his own, with the same title and same 'style'. hi. www.youtube.com At the beginning of his video, McIntyre picks up a ukulele, starts strumming the strings randomly and says: "Hey. It seems this is the only way she'll listen." "What was not true?" McIntyre asks when she says that the claims going around "aren't quite true." Later on, he says "we're all ears" when Ballinger claims that people don't care about her side of the story. He says that Ballinger "harassed" him for "three years in group chats." He also argues that in her 2020 apology video she "edited evidence to make a 17-year-old look bad." As well as saying that she doesn't have any facts to disprove his claims. When Ballinger tries to explain she was just trying to be "besties with everybody", McIntyre says: "Besties with children? Don't really know if that's helping your case." However he agrees with her when she says her behaviour was "weird": "It was weird," he sings, before bluntly saying, "very, actually." He also disagrees with Ballinger's claim that she "changed her behaviours and took accountability." He simply asks, "where? Where did you do that?" "There's making a mistake and then there's what you've done, for years," McIntyre adds. When Ballinger says that her YouTube persona Miranda Sings has always been PG-13 and that she has "always relied on parents to decide if they're comfortable with their families watching my YouTube videos or coming to my live shows." "You cater towards children," McIntyre says, "let's not pretend that Miranda Sings has not been a character catered towards children." In her song, Ballinger minimises an ex-fan named Becky, who came forward saying that when she was about 16 she went to a Miranda Sings show and got called up on stage for the "yoga challenge". "I am laying down and Colleen is spreading my legs," explains Becky. "She spreads them so far that you can see the spandex I was wearing under my romper." "I was lying under Colleen and she was smirking down at me while thousands of people were laughing and I was terrified that my body wasn't covered enough by the spandex or the romper. I basically felt naked, so it felt incredibly sexually violating," Becky shares. "For her to use my body as entertainment on stage really set my confidence back quite a lot." Becky also said that afterwards she felt that many men were staring at her in "a very predatory way." Colleen then referred to this situation in her song as simply a "fart joke." McIntyre puts down his ukulele and says: "You didn't make a fart joke. You called a fan, who was a minor, up on stage and spread their legs and made their body a joke, so much so that they felt threatened leaving the venue." He adds, "how dare you diminish what Becky spoke up about." Many viewers enjoyed McIntyre's response, with one fan commenting "Adam had the chance to do the funniest thing possible and he did." 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.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been accused of using a body double after people analyse a recent outing in public. The warmongering leader was seen in a rare moment interacting with crowds, taking photos and even kissing the forehead of a teenage girl in Derbent. But, footage of the event has reignited rumours that Putin is using a body double. Does Putin use a body double? Body double rumours around Putin have been circulating for years, with some people pointing to the so-called “evidence” lying in the ears. Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, told the Daily Mail he believes there are at least three body doubles for Putin who have “all had plastic surgery to look alike”. He said: “We know specifically about three people that keep appearing, but how many there are, we don't know.” Budanov added: “The one thing that gives them away is their height. It’s visible in videos and pictures. Also gesturing, body language, and earlobes, since they are unique for every person.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Did Putin use a body double in his recent appearance? Putin’s recent public appearance in Derbent was seen as wildly out of character for the Russian, whose grip on leadership almost took a hit after an attempted coup by Wagner mercenaries. He is rarely seen interacting with the Russian public, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, so his latest outing has caused rumours to swirl once more. According to the Daily Mail, a Moscow diplomat said: “It is getting impossible to believe that there is only one Putin. There are several - very good lookalikes, yet they behave somewhat differently. “This one diving into the crowd in Dagestan behaves differently to the traditional Putin.” Another questioned why it was only weeks ago that he was meeting visitors in the Kremlin only after they had quarantined for two weeks, yet now he was amongst the crowds. Viktor Alksnis, a former Soviet Air Force colonel and politician who is now based in the West, asked: “Why is Putin meeting with visitors in the Kremlin after their two-week quarantine and at a great distance, while in Derbent is calmly into the crowd and even hugs and kisses some citizens? “How can the physical security of the president be ensured under such conditions? Something is not right here. It looks like a theatrical production in which Putin is not really Putin.” 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 going crazy for two films about the ultimate kids’ doll and weapons of mass destruction couldn’t have been on many people’s 2023 bingo cards. But with Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer set to come out on the same day, 21 July, you’d be challenged to name a more iconic duo. The hype around the two movies could hardly have been more different. Barbie is, well, Barbie; it’s pink, pretty and plastic. Oppenheimer is the atom bomb, fire and brimstone, the destroyer of worlds. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The internet doesn’t see it that way though. As cinemas gear up to show the movie back-to-back – and film goers decide which order they’re going to watch them in – the meme factory has been working overtime. Here are some of the best. It recently emerged that the Barbie dream house had mysteriously appeared in Malibu. It comes complete with a pool, huge balconies and that signature pink finish. Oh, and you can stay there on Airbnb soon. Unfortunately, Oppenheimer fans had an idea for how they could counter the excellent work done by Barbie’s marketing team with a slightly more destructive piece of marketing of their own. They wouldn’t... Would they? Someone even went to the effort of making a poster. As the tension builds ahead of the big release date, people look like they’re picking teams. Margot Robbie or Cillian Murphy? Greta Gerwig or Christphoer Nolan? Plastic dreams or the everlasting sleep? You decide. As one Twitter user said: there can be no Switzerland. If you’ve seen the Barbie trailer, you’ll know that at one point she questions her place on this mortal coil. (If you haven’t seen it… Have you been living under a rock?) It’s bold writing – but even more timely when you hear the sound of death and destruction coming from the cinema screen next door. People are already planning their days. Are you Oppenheimer first, then Barbie? (Otherwise known as Oppenbarbie.) Or are you doing it the other, incorrect way? Because if you’re seeing Barbie in the morning followed by a chaser of atomic doom in the evening (Barbenheimer, apparently), you’re doing it all wrong. Elsewhere, a pink explosion heralding a totally unprecedented crossover of the two showed that life truly can be stranger than fiction. There is always, always a ‘Sopranos’ reference. Which do you fall into? These two iconic houses in Santa Monica almost nail the difference in tone between the two films without even knowing it. Yes, of course, there is merch. Even Tom Cruise couldn't resist it. And finally, here’s what everyone will look like on 21 July. We can’t wait. 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.

Many have expressed their love for a worker at Entertainment Weekly after their Twitter account had something to say to a reader. The official Entertainment Weekly Twitter account posted a link to their article about Tom Cruise with the caption "Tom Cruise, ex-husband of AMC ad sensation Nicole Kidman, is encouraging moviegoers to flock to theatres for a 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' double feature." The reference of course to Nicole Kidman's iconic and somewhat meme-d advert for AMC. However one reader clearly didn't like the phrasing, replying: "it almost sounds like you are insulting her for no reason lol" "This is a Nicole Kidman stan account." Entertainment Weekly replied. However the reader wasn't impressed by this response: "homie you are owned by publishing conglomerate Dotdash Meredith" Clearly this was the last straw for the presumed social media manager for the Twitter account who wrote: "I am a 31-year-old with student loan debt, a useless journalism degree, and bills to pay. Just like the tweet and go." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Readers loved the response and many took the time to support whoever is behind the account: "God bless the person who runs the entertainment weekly twitter account," wrote one user. Others referred to the person as a "hero". Others said the social media manager deserved a raise. However, the user EW was originally responding too wasn't impressed, calling the tweet "pathetic": A few hours later, the social media tweeted "what a day," adding that they would be at home "Cold Mountain (2003)" which stars Kidman. 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.

Remember Wordle? Those were the days. Now, there’s another game in town: the Password Game. Developed by creative coder Neal Agarwal (AKA Neal Fun), the game was released on Tuesday, 27 June, but it already looks set to flood our social media feeds. Could it become the game of the summer in the same way Wordle did? You’ll need to know the rules first. Here’s how to play. How to play the Password Game It’s a relatively basic premise. You must create a unique password that satisfies a set of criteria laid out by the game. Simple enough? But here’s where it starts getting tricky: once you move past one of the criteria – called rules in the game – another one is added. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Mercifully, your password isn’t fixed, so you can change it as the game goes on, but it will need to satisfy all of the rules to win. Those rules ain’t getting any simpler though. Let’s just say the finished product is a little… complex. Struggling with rule 16? Us too One thing that makes the Password Game particularly difficult is that it brings in elements of other games. When you get to rule 16, for example, you’re asked to include the “best move in algebraic chess notation”. Now this is a tough one, because many people didn’t even know that chess notation existed before watching The Queen’s Gambit, let alone use it to solve a problem. This is what seems to have stumped many on social media so far, and a number of people appear to have given up at this point. If that’s you, never fear. We’ve got some pointers on how to beat this devilish game below. Password Game rule 16 tips and beyond Those flummoxed by rule 16 will be disappointed to know that it’s not even the halfway point. There are 35 rules for the Password Game. They begin with the usual prompts that you might get when making an actual password online – think adding special characters, numbers – but they grow more cryptic. If you don’t play chess, finding the best move might seem like an insurmountable challenge, let alone describing it with notation. But generally speaking, you should try to attack the opponent by placing their king in “check”, or by taking one of their pieces. Once you’ve done that, the notation is relatively simple. If a king moves to the g7 square, it would be Kg7. If a bishop went to e4, you’d write Be4. If you’re putting them in check, add the plus symbol (+), and if you think you’ve got a checkmate, add the hashtag (#). Nice work, genius. Here are a few more pointers For rule 5, where the digits in your password must add up to 25, you should use digits 1-9 only and don’t add signs. On rule 9, where the Roman numbers in your password should multiply to 35, the most common answer seems to be XXXV and I (35 x 1). And on rule 15, where the password must include a leap year, bear in mind that leap years are evenly divisible by four. So: 1996, 2000, 2004, 2020 and 2024. 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 does love a good optical illusion. A photo has gone viral on social media because people cannot see the fourth person in the picture. The debate started when @JenMsft tweeted the image of four bottles being clinked on what looks to be a group hike. But only three arms are immediately visible. She commented: “My brain refuses to believe there are 4 people in this photo.” Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter For those struggling to see them all, the “missing” fourth arm appears to be camouflaged as the bottle holder’s jacket matches the rocky path the group are standing on. User @JenMsft said the photo was first shared in a Reddit thread on confusing perspectives. People have previously looked into other optical illusions such as a hand swap trick, disappearing patterns and classic dual perception images. Social media users reacted to the latest confusing picture to go viral. Someone handily zoomed-in on the photo to highlight the illusion. Others shared their favourite optical illusions. Can you see them? 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.

Former UFC fighter Ben Askren called Jordan Peterson's bluff after Peterson threatened those who call him 'cis' on Twitter. Cisgender is term that refers to a person who identifies with the sex given to them at birth. The phrase was coined in 1994 by Dana Defosse PhD., MPH to refer to people who aren't transgender that avoided marginalising transgender people. The Latin-derived prefix 'cis-' means "on this side of", and 'trans-' means "across from" or "on the other side of". The use of the term cisgender has increasingly upset some, mainly those who are anti-trans, and Jordan Peterson has appeared to have threatened anyone who referred to him as "cis". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Peterson responded to an article written by the online publication Spiked, a British outlet launched in 2001. In spiked's tweet they write that "the term 'cis' is an invention of trans activists." Peterson then replied saying "call me cis to my face and see what happens" Out of the various replies to the Canadian psychologist's tweet, Askren, a former MMA world champion in Bellator and ONE Championship simply said: "Lol you'd do nothing" Whilst Askren appears to agree with Peterson's general view towards the term cisgender, he still had no problem criticising Peterson. Responding to a comment that said "you approve of this nonsense then?" "Lol of course not. I just no Jordan Peterson would do nothing. Maybe get really really mad and that's it." Askren clarified. Askren walked away from combat sports in 2019, leaving a lasting impact on various promotions such as Bellator, ONE Championship, and the UFC, as evidenced by his impressive MMA record of 19 wins and 2 losses. 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.

An incredibly violent fight broke out in a gym.

Confusion has been sparked in Pakistan over the death of a TikTok influencer in the country named Ayesha Hanif yet another Pakistani influencer called Ayesha Mano has been wrongly identified as the one who has died. Reports began to emerge on Friday that Hanif had passed away while she was in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre of an apparent drug overdose. As news of Hanif's death began to spread images of Mano began to spread across Pakistani media wrongly claiming that she was the influencer who had passed away. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter This had led to Mano issuing a statement after a friend sent her a post in tribute to Hanif that had used a picture of her. She wrote: "One of my friend [sic] sent me this last night in which they spread a rumour that I had passed away. For God's sake, you guys have no idea what kind of circumstances this ridiculous rumour may create in anyone's life. "I have never sought attention or created any kind of hype, so why are you trying to mess up my life? It's important to note that they don't even know my real name. I have never exaggerated or sensationalised anything about your lives and I refuse to accept any interference in my own life from anyone. "Moreover spreading false information without any regard for its consequences is not only irresponsible but also shows a lack of respect for the well-being of others. It should be stopped!!!" Mano is best known for dancing to the song 'Mera Dil Ye Pukare Aaja' which currently has more than 44 million views on YouTube. Mera Dil Ye Pukare Aaja | mere gham ke sahare aaja | bheega bheega hai sama full video song www.youtube.com According to reports Hanif had been at a party DHA Phase 1 when her body was dropped off at the medical facility Jinnah. Following this police reportedly arrested her husband Muhammad Adil and his mother Nusrat Sobia. 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 new milkshake inspired by McDonald’s mascot Grimace has taken the internet by storm after inspiring a new TikTok trend. The limited-edition milkshake is part of the new Grimace Birthday meal that was rolled out in the US this month to mark the 52nd anniversary of the character’s introduction. Who is Grimace and what is in his viral milkshake? Grimace is a purple character first revealed by McDonald’s on 12 June 1972 when he appeared in an advert where he was known as “Evil Grimace” after running off with milkshakes. In 2012, Roy T. Bergold Jr., the company’s previous vice president of advertising, described Grimace as “a soft, plush, two-armed blob of a sweetheart”. McDonald's explained: “Grimace is from Grimace Island and comes from a huge family (including his Grandma Winky, aunts Millie and Tillie and his Uncle O’Grimacey!).” Since he stopped appearing in adverts in 2003, the grinning purple blob began fading into obscurity, aside from the odd Thanksgiving parade appearance or Twitter mention. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Now, his character has remerged in a major way, helping to spark a trend thanks to the birthday meal which features a purple-coloured milkshake. The Grimace milkshake is a purple limited edition berry-flavoured drink, “inspired by Grimace’s iconic colour and sweetness”, according to McDonald’s. It contains berry flavouring, vanilla soft serve and whipped cream. It is available with the Grimace Birthday Meal, available in the US, where customers can choose either a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets with fries. The limited-edition shake is available only “while supplies last”. 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 world is full of ridiculous gender stereotypes and tropes: girls like pink and Barbies; boys like blue and cars, to name but two of the most obvious. And yet, when it comes to masculinity, we didn’t know hydration could prove such a fraught subject. However, one Twitter user (named only as Chloe) has sparked an impassioned debate after publicly announcing: “Men who carry water bottles out in public give me the ick. Especially at the airport.” She then added, by way of explanation: “You can’t go a few hours without having your little sips of water? Carrying around anything is a feminine trait. “The only things men should be carrying around are his wallet and a pocketknife.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Her tweet racked up 6.5 million views and more than 4,220 shares in less than two days as commentators shared their take on her assessment. Inevitably it was met with fury by many, who suggested it be added to a seemingly endless list of things “masculine men aren’t allowed to do (according to social media)”. “Now we can’t even enjoy the most vital nutrient known to mankind,” lamented another. Others pointed out that carrying a penknife in an airport was far from advisable, with one writing: “This idiot is missing her flight because her man tried to bring a pocketknife through security and along with his uncomfortable strip search is gonna have to buy a $7 bottle of water to quench his thirst after a tense hour in the TSA’s custody.” Others described Chloe as “Andrew Tate’s dream girl”, and pointed to laughably ridiculous comments he once made about men who carry water bottles not being “combat ready”. Meanwhile, Chloe doubled down on her original statement, writing that men should “take [their] sips of water in private”. In response to another comment which read: “Real men drink sparkling water at nice dinner [sic],” she wrote simply: “Yes, this is true.” Her replies prompted numerous commentators to suggest the whole thing was either a joke or a sneaky attack on masculinity itself. One such observer wrote: “I truly think the way to defeat patriarchy would just be to make up increasingly impossible and random standards of masculinity until men break and admit they aren't into this whole masculinity thing anyway.” However, if you glance through one of Chloe’s Substack blogs, you’ll note it’s not the first time she’s expressed a belief in polarising gender standards. In one piece, in which she analyses the cult right-wing book ‘Bronze Age Mindset’, she writes: Every man should read this book if they wish to reclaim their masculinity and innate life-force that modern society has taken away from them.” All we can say is, we need more than a sip of water after all this. 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.

Stir-fried stones are the newest and most bizarre food trend going viral, especially as the stones themselves are inedible. Every now and then, a new food fad goes viral on the internet, with everything from the mysterious Pink Sauce to the TikTok famous baked feta pasta capturing people’s imaginations. Now, it is the turn of Chinese street vendors to have their moment, as a dish named soudui (“suck and throw”) has taken off online. What are stir-fried stones? The dish is a stir fry made of inedible pebbles, vegetables and spices that coat the pebbles with delicious flavour. Ingredients added to the stones on a griddle include chilli oil, garlic, rosemary and pepper. It is consumed by sucking the stones to get the flavour off, then discarding them. It costs around $2 per serving. Despite taking off with huge popularity now, the dish is thought to be centuries old having originated in the central Hubei province. It started when fishermen ran out of food and used the pebbles for sustenance instead. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @jeenjajaa วันนี้คุณลุงมากินให้ดูด้วยย หายสงสัยแล้วว่าต้องกินยังไง555555👀👀✨ Cr.抖音号：_COOL0818 #fyp #douyin #แปลจีน #ผัดหิน #ของแปลก #抖音 #กินหิน #อาหารแปลก #จีนจ๋าจ๋า After going viral online, hawkers and street vendors have been jumping on the trend which has also been given a boost by Mukbang content creators, who film themselves eating. 石头也能当菜吃？自制湖北“爆炒鹅卵石”，原来这才是最硬的菜 www.youtube.com According to local news, Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Xiaohongshu are awash with videos of street hawkers making the dish and people sampling it. But, opinion about the dish appears varied, with many focused on the obvious point that the stones can be reused. One translated TikTok comment read: “After eating, wash and continue to fry.” Another joked: “How do you see which ones are cooked or not?” “Can be recycled,” another said. 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.