Much like his character in Barbie, Will Ferrell is the voice of women everywhere. Ferrell, a noted and iconic feminist, opened up The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment gala, presented by Lifetime, a famously woman-forward network. Why was he tasked with such an honor? Nobody knows, but let’s just sit with it for a moment.
Being the martyr that he is, Ferrell took the time in his opening remarks to call for women to “run the planet,” which is really nice of him and doesn’t add any more societal pressures at all.
He said, “This is such a wonderful event where we honor and support and continue to fight for women in all facets of the entertainment world. Forget about the entertainment world, isn’t it just time? Isn’t it just time for women to run the planet?” Ferrell said. “I’m not just trying to placate you, I swear, but I don’t know what else to do because we — men — we’ve been running the show since, what, 10,000 B.C., and we’re not doing so good. So, please, can you guys just take over?” he added over some applause. Sounds like something that Mattell’s CEO would say.
Ferrell even had a specific person in mind, Kerry Washington, who received the Equity in Entertainment Award. “Kerry, you’ve always been amazing in everything you’ve ever done and an incredible advocate for so many different things,” Ferrell began. “Can you just run for president? Please? We’ll pay you. We’ll do a GoFundMe right in this room and we’ll launch you,” he pleaded. This would not be the first time that we had a President Washington, though it has been a while. We could definitely use a new person on the $1, though.
On the other hand, having celebrities as political figures can get extremely messy…we all know why. Kerry is doing great on TV! She should stay there.
Only five weeks remain in the 2023 NFL regular season, and bye weeks are slowly coming to an end. That means opportunity from a handicapping perspective, and a nearly full slate is on tap in Week 14. In this space, Week 13 wasn’t a full-fledged disaster, but it was a losing week overall. Of course, it was a half-point away from success, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Alas, Week 14 is a fresh start.
Before we get into the upcoming slate, let’s look back at the season-long work.
Week 13: 2-3
2023 Season: 34-28-3
Come get these winners.
Chicago Bears (+3.5) over Detroit Lions — PointsBet
At the time of this post, the weather report looks better in Chicago than it did earlier this week. I’d rather it stay brutal, but I like this either way. Chicago appears to just have the better defense in this matchup, and Jared Goff isn’t usually the same quarterback outside in the elements. Chicago also covered and should’ve won outright in Detroit on Thanksgiving, and this number should be lower.
TEASER: Baltimore Ravens (-1.5) over Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills (+7.5) over Kansas City Chiefs — Widely Available
I love the Ravens teaser leg this week. Baltimore is coming off a bye and the market might be a touch high on the Rams now. Plus, this is a friendly matchup for Baltimore on both sides of the ball. From there, Buffalo may not win, but the Chiefs are mortal right now on offense, and this is an urgent spot for the Bills coming off a bye.
Seattle Seahawks (+11) over San Francisco 49ers — DraftKings
The market couldn’t possibly be any higher on the 49ers right now, and that’s understandable after the destruction in Philadelphia last week. Still, this is a great spot for Seattle with a rest advantage and a number that is very clearly inflated. It won’t be fun to sweat, but it’s the side.
Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5) over Denver Broncos — DraftKings
The run of great fortune finally ran out for the Broncos last week, but the underlying metrics don’t paint the best picture for Denver. Yes, the Chargers looked awful on offense last week, but they got there for us. We’re going back to the well in a spot where the world is on the Broncos.
TEASER: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+8.5) over Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts (+7.5) over Cincinnati Bengals — FanDuel
This is unsightly, but I like both spots. We’ve gone with teaser legs against the Falcons a number of times this year, to good success. Atlanta is content to play bafflingly middling offense, leading to few lopsided results. That’s also a total in the low 40’s that is exploitable. On the other side, the projected weather conditions seem to favor the Colts, and I think the market is more confident in Jake Browning after one quality start than I am.
Much like his character in Barbie, Will Ferrell is the voice of women everywhere. Ferrell, a noted and iconic feminist, opened up The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment gala, presented by Lifetime, a famously woman-forward network. Why was he tasked with such an honor? Nobody knows, but let’s just sit with it for a moment.
Being the martyr that he is, Ferrell took the time in his opening remarks to call for women to “run the planet,” which is really nice of him and doesn’t add any more societal pressures at all.
He said, “This is such a wonderful event where we honor and support and continue to fight for women in all facets of the entertainment world. Forget about the entertainment world, isn’t it just time? Isn’t it just time for women to run the planet?” Ferrell said. “I’m not just trying to placate you, I swear, but I don’t know what else to do because we — men — we’ve been running the show since, what, 10,000 B.C., and we’re not doing so good. So, please, can you guys just take over?” he added over some applause. Sounds like something that Mattell’s CEO would say.
Ferrell even had a specific person in mind, Kerry Washington, who received the Equity in Entertainment Award. “Kerry, you’ve always been amazing in everything you’ve ever done and an incredible advocate for so many different things,” Ferrell began. “Can you just run for president? Please? We’ll pay you. We’ll do a GoFundMe right in this room and we’ll launch you,” he pleaded. This would not be the first time that we had a President Washington, though it has been a while. We could definitely use a new person on the $1, though.
On the other hand, having celebrities as political figures can get extremely messy…we all know why. Kerry is doing great on TV! She should stay there.
Only five weeks remain in the 2023 NFL regular season, and bye weeks are slowly coming to an end. That means opportunity from a handicapping perspective, and a nearly full slate is on tap in Week 14. In this space, Week 13 wasn’t a full-fledged disaster, but it was a losing week overall. Of course, it was a half-point away from success, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Alas, Week 14 is a fresh start.
Before we get into the upcoming slate, let’s look back at the season-long work.
Week 13: 2-3
2023 Season: 34-28-3
Come get these winners.
Chicago Bears (+3.5) over Detroit Lions — PointsBet
At the time of this post, the weather report looks better in Chicago than it did earlier this week. I’d rather it stay brutal, but I like this either way. Chicago appears to just have the better defense in this matchup, and Jared Goff isn’t usually the same quarterback outside in the elements. Chicago also covered and should’ve won outright in Detroit on Thanksgiving, and this number should be lower.
TEASER: Baltimore Ravens (-1.5) over Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills (+7.5) over Kansas City Chiefs — Widely Available
I love the Ravens teaser leg this week. Baltimore is coming off a bye and the market might be a touch high on the Rams now. Plus, this is a friendly matchup for Baltimore on both sides of the ball. From there, Buffalo may not win, but the Chiefs are mortal right now on offense, and this is an urgent spot for the Bills coming off a bye.
Seattle Seahawks (+11) over San Francisco 49ers — DraftKings
The market couldn’t possibly be any higher on the 49ers right now, and that’s understandable after the destruction in Philadelphia last week. Still, this is a great spot for Seattle with a rest advantage and a number that is very clearly inflated. It won’t be fun to sweat, but it’s the side.
Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5) over Denver Broncos — DraftKings
The run of great fortune finally ran out for the Broncos last week, but the underlying metrics don’t paint the best picture for Denver. Yes, the Chargers looked awful on offense last week, but they got there for us. We’re going back to the well in a spot where the world is on the Broncos.
TEASER: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+8.5) over Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts (+7.5) over Cincinnati Bengals — FanDuel
This is unsightly, but I like both spots. We’ve gone with teaser legs against the Falcons a number of times this year, to good success. Atlanta is content to play bafflingly middling offense, leading to few lopsided results. That’s also a total in the low 40’s that is exploitable. On the other side, the projected weather conditions seem to favor the Colts, and I think the market is more confident in Jake Browning after one quality start than I am.
One of the realities of being a celebrity of Selena Gomez’s caliber is that you sometimes have to deal with rumors about your romantic life. She actually just confronted one such rumor head-on, though.
Are Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco dating?
The answer: Maybe! As Pop Crave notes, the @popfactions Instagram account shared a post that reads, “Selena Gomez is rumored to be dating producer Benny Blanco.” Gomez herself commented on the post, writing simply, “Facts.”
Could that be considered confirmation from Gomez that she is in fact seeing Blanco? Perhaps, or maybe she’s joking and having fun throwing speculators off the scent. Whatever the case, there’s some context here.
Recently, celebrity gossip social media account Deuxmoi claimed Gomez and Blanco have been involved since “before the spring.” Indeed, there have been some public connections between the two this year. Blanco was confirmed to be in attendance at Gomez’s 31st birthday party in July. In November, Gomez shared a Blanco Instagram post about Open Wide: A Cookbook For Friends and wrote, “One of my favs releasing a cook book.”
Beyond the tabloid fare, Gomez and Blanco have collaborated musically on multiple occasions, most notably on “I Can’t Get Enough,” the 2019 single by Gomez, Blanco, Tainy, and J Balvin.
One of the realities of being a celebrity of Selena Gomez’s caliber is that you sometimes have to deal with rumors about your romantic life. She actually just confronted one such rumor head-on, though.
Are Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco dating?
The answer: Maybe! As Pop Crave notes, the @popfactions Instagram account shared a post that reads, “Selena Gomez is rumored to be dating producer Benny Blanco.” Gomez herself commented on the post, writing simply, “Facts.”
Could that be considered confirmation from Gomez that she is in fact seeing Blanco? Perhaps, or maybe she’s joking and having fun throwing speculators off the scent. Whatever the case, there’s some context here.
Recently, celebrity gossip social media account Deuxmoi claimed Gomez and Blanco have been involved since “before the spring.” Indeed, there have been some public connections between the two this year. Blanco was confirmed to be in attendance at Gomez’s 31st birthday party in July. In November, Gomez shared a Blanco Instagram post about Open Wide: A Cookbook For Friends and wrote, “One of my favs releasing a cook book.”
Beyond the tabloid fare, Gomez and Blanco have collaborated musically on multiple occasions, most notably on “I Can’t Get Enough,” the 2019 single by Gomez, Blanco, Tainy, and J Balvin.
Bradley Cooper has two important things going on in his life this month:
1. His new film, Maestro, premieres on Netflix on December 20th. The biopic of American composer Leonard Bernstein is expected to be a major contender at the 2024 Oscars with possible Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Cooper.
2. But more importantly, he served cheesesteaks from a food truck.
Cooper teamed up with Angelo’s Pizzeria (South Philly stand up) owner Danny DiGiampietro to open Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks in, of all places, New York City’s Greenwich Village. The DeSean Jackson jersey he wore in Silver Linings Playbook is a lie.
“Cooper and DiGiampietro are donating all proceeds from this pop-up event — scheduled to reprise Thursday — to a nonprofit helping to feed New Yorkers in need,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “DiGiampietro would say only that he and Cooper hope to open a cheesesteak shop in New York, where they have been searching for locations for two years.”
DiGiampietro, who told the Inquirer that he is not leaving his Philadelphia shop, said Cooper chose Manhattan for the truck “to see if people want cheesesteaks in New York.”
It appears Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks is only open two days, yesterday and today, so you better hop on I-95 now if you want to yell “go Birds” at a future Oscar winner.
Matt Diaz has worked extremely hard to lose 270 pounds over the past six years.
But his proudest moment came in March 2015 when he decided to film himself with his shirt off to prove an important point about body positivity and self-love.
Matt had lap-band surgery in 2009 at age 16.
Through the course of his weight-loss journey, Matt became passionate about promoting body positivity for people of all shapes and sizes.
To stay motivated, he started sharing his journey on social media, posting before-and-after photos, answering questions and giving support to followers, and even sharing his meals and favorite workouts. Six years later, Matt is down over 270 pounds and is a very active voice in the online body-positivity movement.
But in all his years of sharing his story, the one thing he’s never done is showed what his body looks like after 200+ pounds of weight loss. So he uploaded the video above to show his followers his true self.
Shortly after he posted the video online, originally to Tumblr, it quickly went viral and garnered thousands of shares and comments from people around the web. I was one of the thousands touched by the video, so I reached out to Matt to find out more about what motivated him and what he hopes others can take away from his story. Here’s what he had to say:
Why was it so important for you to post this video?
“I’m a really big advocate for self-love and body positivity. I think it’s important that we learn to love the bodies we’re in, even if we don’t necessarily like every little thing about them. However, in the time I’d been writing and talking about it, I’d never actually shown my excess skin to anyone. It felt dishonest somehow, to others and to myself. I couldn’t tell others that I wanted them to love themselves and keep myself hidden away and ashamed of my skin.”
“I know what it feels like to hate your body, and to be depressed about it, and I never want anyone to feel that way again. So, if making myself vulnerable can help one person, why not?” — Matt Diaz
What’s the response been like? Anything particularly unexpected?
“I think that putting any opinion on the Internet will garner a certain amount of negativity and cynicism, but I haven’t seen anything like that at all. I’ve read every comment and message since the video has gone up, literally thousands, and they’re all so thoughtful.
A really surprising side-effect were the number of transgender people who’ve thanked me saying that they understood my struggle, even though their body-related insecurity grew from different roots. I’d never even begun to [think] of what that must be like, and the fact that my message could help even though my problems began somewhere else is really incredible.”
What advice or words of encouragement do you have for someone who’s struggling to love their body?
“I know it’s difficult, especially when you’re starting out. I want you to remember that you are not the problem, certain aspects of society are the problem. You’ll constantly be told that you’re too heavy or too tall to be attractive, or you’re not masculine or feminine enough, or that your skin isn’t the right tone or your hair isn’t the right color, and these people are always always always wrong.
Luckily, we’re slowly starting to see these ideas get phased out by modernity. Plus-sized, un-retouched models are getting more attention in major brands, more attention is being put on the alternative scene for high fashion, it’s becoming clear that these negative ideas are not going to last, though it’s going to take a while.”
“Understand that to love yourself is to contest the negative things that were put into your head. Every smile, tattoo, bathing suit, and crop top is a small revolution. Tell yourself you’re beautiful every day, and I promise you will be.“ — Matt Diaz
Watch video below:
Matt’s story is a personal one, but it’s one we can all learn from.
I think the most important thing to take away here is that self-love takes time and is different for everyone no matter what they look like. It’s also worth noting that for Matt, losing weight was an important part of his journey, but that might not be the case for everyone. Even so, our society has such incredibly high and unrealistic body standards that even many of those who do work to lose weight end up feeling uncomfortable or being shamed for not having “perfect bodies” once they’ve lost weight.
There’s no such thing as a “perfect body” because everyone is different, which is what makes us beautiful and great! I’m glad there are people like Matt in the world who are not only willing to share their stories but also to inspire others by showing that body confidence comes in all shapes and sizes, and that everyone deserves to feel good about who they are. Here’s hoping Matt’s inspiring words can help others begin to love and accept themselves, no matter where they’re at in their journey.
Matt Diaz has worked extremely hard to lose 270 pounds over the past six years.
But his proudest moment came in March 2015 when he decided to film himself with his shirt off to prove an important point about body positivity and self-love.
Matt had lap-band surgery in 2009 at age 16.
Through the course of his weight-loss journey, Matt became passionate about promoting body positivity for people of all shapes and sizes.
To stay motivated, he started sharing his journey on social media, posting before-and-after photos, answering questions and giving support to followers, and even sharing his meals and favorite workouts. Six years later, Matt is down over 270 pounds and is a very active voice in the online body-positivity movement.
But in all his years of sharing his story, the one thing he’s never done is showed what his body looks like after 200+ pounds of weight loss. So he uploaded the video above to show his followers his true self.
Shortly after he posted the video online, originally to Tumblr, it quickly went viral and garnered thousands of shares and comments from people around the web. I was one of the thousands touched by the video, so I reached out to Matt to find out more about what motivated him and what he hopes others can take away from his story. Here’s what he had to say:
Why was it so important for you to post this video?
“I’m a really big advocate for self-love and body positivity. I think it’s important that we learn to love the bodies we’re in, even if we don’t necessarily like every little thing about them. However, in the time I’d been writing and talking about it, I’d never actually shown my excess skin to anyone. It felt dishonest somehow, to others and to myself. I couldn’t tell others that I wanted them to love themselves and keep myself hidden away and ashamed of my skin.”
“I know what it feels like to hate your body, and to be depressed about it, and I never want anyone to feel that way again. So, if making myself vulnerable can help one person, why not?” — Matt Diaz
What’s the response been like? Anything particularly unexpected?
“I think that putting any opinion on the Internet will garner a certain amount of negativity and cynicism, but I haven’t seen anything like that at all. I’ve read every comment and message since the video has gone up, literally thousands, and they’re all so thoughtful.
A really surprising side-effect were the number of transgender people who’ve thanked me saying that they understood my struggle, even though their body-related insecurity grew from different roots. I’d never even begun to [think] of what that must be like, and the fact that my message could help even though my problems began somewhere else is really incredible.”
What advice or words of encouragement do you have for someone who’s struggling to love their body?
“I know it’s difficult, especially when you’re starting out. I want you to remember that you are not the problem, certain aspects of society are the problem. You’ll constantly be told that you’re too heavy or too tall to be attractive, or you’re not masculine or feminine enough, or that your skin isn’t the right tone or your hair isn’t the right color, and these people are always always always wrong.
Luckily, we’re slowly starting to see these ideas get phased out by modernity. Plus-sized, un-retouched models are getting more attention in major brands, more attention is being put on the alternative scene for high fashion, it’s becoming clear that these negative ideas are not going to last, though it’s going to take a while.”
“Understand that to love yourself is to contest the negative things that were put into your head. Every smile, tattoo, bathing suit, and crop top is a small revolution. Tell yourself you’re beautiful every day, and I promise you will be.“ — Matt Diaz
Watch video below:
Matt’s story is a personal one, but it’s one we can all learn from.
I think the most important thing to take away here is that self-love takes time and is different for everyone no matter what they look like. It’s also worth noting that for Matt, losing weight was an important part of his journey, but that might not be the case for everyone. Even so, our society has such incredibly high and unrealistic body standards that even many of those who do work to lose weight end up feeling uncomfortable or being shamed for not having “perfect bodies” once they’ve lost weight.
There’s no such thing as a “perfect body” because everyone is different, which is what makes us beautiful and great! I’m glad there are people like Matt in the world who are not only willing to share their stories but also to inspire others by showing that body confidence comes in all shapes and sizes, and that everyone deserves to feel good about who they are. Here’s hoping Matt’s inspiring words can help others begin to love and accept themselves, no matter where they’re at in their journey.
Madalyn Parker wanted to take a couple days off work. She didn’t have the flu, nor did she have plans to be on a beach somewhere, sipping mojitos under a palm tree.
Parker, a web developer from Michigan, wanted a few days away from work to focus on her mental health.
Parker lives with depression. And, she says, staying on top of her mental health is absolutely crucial.
“The bottom line is that mental health is health,” she says over email. “My depression stops me from being productive at my job the same way a broken hand would slow me down since I wouldn’t be able to type very well.”
She sent an email to her colleagues, telling them the honest reason why she was taking the time off.
“Hopefully,” she wrote to them, “I’ll be back next week refreshed and back to 100%.”
Soon after the message was sent, the CEO of Parker’s company wrote back:
“Hey Madalyn,
I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health — I can’t believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.”
u201cWhen the CEO responds to your out of the office email about taking sick leave for mental health and reaffirms your decision. ud83dudcafu201d
Moved by her CEO’s response, Parker posted the email exchange to Twitter.
The tweet, published on June 30, 2017, has since gone viral, amassing 45,000 likes and 16,000 retweets.
“It’s nice to see some warm, fuzzy feelings pass around the internet for once,” Parker says of the response to her tweet. “I’ve been absolutely blown away by the magnitude though. I didn’t expect so much attention!”
Even more impressive than the tweet’s reach, however, were the heartfelt responses it got.
“Thanks for giving me hope that I can find a job as I am,” wrote one person, who opened up about living with panic attacks. “That is bloody incredible,” chimed in another. “What a fantastic CEO you have.”
Some users, however, questioned why there needs to be a difference between vacation time and sick days; after all, one asked, aren’t vacations intended to improve our mental well-being?
That ignores an important distinction, Parker said — both in how we perceive sick days and vacation days and in how that time away from work is actually being spent.
“I took an entire month off to do partial hospitalization last summer and that was sick leave,” she wrote back. “I still felt like I could use vacation time because I didn’t use it and it’s a separate concept.”
Many users were astounded that a CEO would be that understanding of an employee’s mental health needs.
They were even more surprised that the CEO thanked her for sharing her personal experience with caring for her mental health.
After all, there’s still a great amount of stigma associated with mental illness in the workplace, which keeps many of us from speaking up to our colleagues when we need help or need a break to focus on ourselves. We fear being seen as “weak” or less committed to our work. We might even fear losing our job.
Ben Congleton, the CEO of Parker’s company, Olark, even joined the conversation himself.
In a blog post on Medium, Congleton wrote about the need for more business leaders to prioritize paid sick leave, fight to curb the stigma surrounding mental illness in the workplace, and see their employees as people first.
“It’s 2017. We are in a knowledge economy. Our jobs require us to execute at peak mental performance,” Congleton wrote. “When an athlete is injured, they sit on the bench and recover. Let’s get rid of the idea that somehow the brain is different.”
This article originally appeared on 07.11.17
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