Category: Viral

Once in a blue moon, a celebrity will have their Twitter account hacked and, as a result, a string of weird posts will be sent out, making it quite obvious the account has been hacked. Today, however, was a much different case, as a number of celebrity accounts were hacked as part of what seemed to be a bitcoin scam.

Accounts owned by Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, former President Barack Obama, former Vice President/presidential nominee Joe Biden, billionaires Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, and more were among those hacked. Company accounts for Apple, Uber, and Cash App were also among the victims.

These accounts broadcasted a message, that read, “I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19!” It then asked users to send money to their Bitcoin account for it to be sent back, with a bonus. “All bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000!”

Twitter sent out a tweet letting their followers know they are aware of the scam and are “investigating and taking steps to fix it.” According to Business Insider, Bitcoin transactions revealed that the listed account in the tweets from the hacked accounts received more than 11 Bitcoin, which equates to about $101,300. It should be noted that is unknown if some or any of the transactions were executed by the scammers in order to add legitimacy to their account.

View the affected accounts and their tweets below.

Wiz Khalifa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

[via Business Insider]

On Wednesday, Twitter was the victim of a massive hack, which saw numerous name accounts — belonging to people like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates — mysteriously tweeting out a Bitcoin scam. The social media giant quickly tried to enact damage control, and one thing they seem to have done is render certain accounts unable to tweet at all, at least beyond retweets.

This comes from The Verge, who pointed out that block appeared to mostly, if not exclusively, affect verified accounts. Not all accounts that contain a blue check mark were affected, and it’s not clear why certain ones were targeted while others were not. It was also not revealed when those locked accounts would be set free to tweet about how they were not allowed to tweet for some as-yet-to-be-determined period of time.

The Twitter support account would only reveal that they were “investigating” the hack and “taking steps to fix it.” They also informed users that they would be unable to reset passwords while the investigation ensues.

The news left the social media site bereft of the rich, the famous, the powerful, and randos who somehow managed to score a blue check mark, possibly because they worked in media. Those that hadn’t been raptured to some temporary oblivion, predictably, made jokes about a cabal sometimes disparagingly referred to as the “Blue Check Mark Mafia.”

Of course, some made a joke while pointing out that some accounts are, alas, useful and even necessary to keep our futuristic society running.

As of this writing, many verified accounts were still unable to tweet.

(Via The Verge)

On Wednesday, Disney+ released the latest trailer for Muppets Now, the super-company’s latest attempt to do something with the Jim Henson brand they purchased for $75 million back in 2004. It’s been a bumpy road, with one mildly underperforming reboot movie, an actually underperforming sequel, and a mockumentary TV show that lasted only one season. (Kermit, at least, has endured in the form of many popular memes.) Muppets Now, a short-form improv-y series featuring the likes of Josh Gad and Seth Rogen, may be the thing that gets them back on track, but there’s one hitch: Some people on Twitter felt the new guy voicing ringleader Kermit is a little…off.

The trailer consists of a Zoom session — because even puppets have to social distance when making content now — with Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Janice, Dr. Teeth et al. popping in for a quick meeting. “Hi, everyone,” Kermit announces, and you don’t have to be a stickler for detail to notice Kermit suddenly sounds different. And there’s a reason for that: Steve Whitmire, who took over for Kermit creator and longtime voice Jim Henson after his death in 1990, retired from the gig in 1990. He was replaced by Matt Vogel in 2017, but we haven’t really heard a lot from the Muppets since then.

As such, Vogel’s attempt to carry the torch couldn’t help but sound…not quite there. It left people confused.

Some were more directly critical.

Some were angry.

Some, however, were optimistic about the show in general but hoped Vogel would get better.

Some were more charitable in their criticism.

And at least one was incredibly complimentary.

There was, however, one detail that jumped out to some.

A giant Twitter hack is currently underway as many prominent Twitter accounts have been posting fraudulent cryptocurrency promotions over the last hour. High profile personal and company accounts have been taken over in what will likely go down as the biggest data breach Twitter has ever seen. The accounts of Apple, Jeff Bezos, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Uber, Joe Biden, Wiz Khalifa, and Bill Gates have all been taken over, among others, according to early reporting by investigative journalist Scott Stedman.

In a lengthy Twitter thread currently being updated in real-time, Steadman shared screenshots of the since-deleted tweets from famous accounts that are all running essentially the same message promising users the chance to double their money by donating to a Bitcoin address.

“We are giving back to our community. We support Bitcoin and we believe you should too! All Bitcoin sent to our address below will be sent back to you doubled! Only going on for the next 30 minutes” read Apple’s tweet. According to Stedman, the hackers responsible for the scam have already received $100,000 in donations in the first forty minutes of his initial reporting.

The hack is over it appears, and the attack seems to have been directed at only high profile verified accounts. Justin Sun — CEO of BitTorrent and founder of TRON — has put a $1 million bounty on the hackers responsible.

This story is being updated.

Banksy recently revealed a brand new work inspired by COVID-19 on his Instagram, in a video that shows the artist spray painting a London subway car. Hours after Banksy posted a video of himself disguised as a cleaner tagging the London Underground, the COVID-19 piece has been removed by the Transport for London, scrubbing one of Banksy’s best works in some time. The work consisted of several stenciled rats and face masks, meant to encourage commuters to mask up to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Highlights of the new work included a sneezing rat expelling a burst of blue paint, and several different stencils of rats interacting with the facemasks. Banksy also tagged the words “I get lockdown” and “but I get up again” in the station and on the train doors, a reference to “TubThumping” by the English rock band Chumbawamba.

CNN reports that the TFL removed the piece because it was in violation of their “strict anti-graffiti policy” but expressed that they appreciate the ever-elusive artist’s sentiment and would “offer Banksy the chance to do a new version of his message for our customers in a suitable location,” which sounds like the most un-Banksy thing ever.

It’s a shame, though not at all surprising, that Banksy’s newest piece had to be removed but when it existed it was definitely the coolest pro-mask statement we’ve seen from any artist to date.

The accusations of antisemitism against Nick Cannon haven’t deterred Diddy from offering the disgraced radio and television host a job at Revolt TV. After being excommunicated from Viacom over recent comments he made during an interview with controversial old-school rapper Professor Griff, Nick Cannon may receive a second chance from the Bad Boy Records founder, who invited Cannon to “come home” to Revolt TV on Instagram. “Nick come home to Revolt TV, which is truly BLACK OWNED!” he enthused. “We got your back and love you and what you have done for the culture.”

Diddy explained his rationale in the caption, reasoning, “The only way we can change the narrative, educate, and uplift each other is if we do it together.” He also noted that he didn’t believe in writing off Black entertainers who ran afoul of the powers-that-be. “Nick, my brother, I am here to support you fully in any way you need,” he wrote. “What we are not going to do is turn our backs on our brothers and sisters when they challenge the system.⁣”
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Cannon’s deal with Viacom was canceled when his Cannon’s Class podcast episode featuring Professor Griff — who was himself expelled from pioneer hip-hop group Public Enemy over his views — spun off into a discussion of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Although Cannon tried to clarify his statements afterward, the damage was already done, with ViacomCBS — parent company to MTV and CBS, where the majority of Cannon’s mainstream work could be found — cutting ties within less than a day.

Meanwhile, Revolt TV received some backlash in June for putting Russell Simmons, accused of rape by several women, on a recent episode of the Drink Champs podcast. Diddy also has a noted penchant for offering help to controversial friends in need. In 2018, he signed Joe Budden as a partner, despite previous accusations of domestic abuse against Budden. The same month the deal was announced, Revolt TV laid off a third of its staff.

The question of how to make up for hundreds of years of stolen labor from and economic discrimination against Black Americans has been hotly debated for years. When racial disparities can be traced directly to laws, policies and regulations that prevented Black people from earning or accumulating wealth generation after generation, the only just thing to do is to try to repair the damage.

Enter the idea of reparations, which literally means “to repair” through financial or other means.

Asheville, North Carolina has just taken a big step forward with this idea by unanimously approving a resolution designed to repair the racial disparity among its residents. In a 7-0 vote, the city council apologized for the city’s role in historic wrongs against Black people, including slavery and discrimination. It also announced that it will make reparations in the form of investments in the lives of Black people living in Asheville, who make up nearly 12 percent of the city’s population.

“The resulting budgetary and programmatic priorities may include but not be limited to increasing minority home ownership and access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, strategies to grow equity and generational wealth, closing the gaps in health care, education, employment and pay, neighborhood safety and fairness within criminal justice,” the resolution states.

Councilman Keith Young, one of two Black members of the council, said, “Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today,” according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. “It is simply not enough to remove statutes,” he added. “Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature.”

The measure does not specify making direct reparation payments to Black residents, but rather putting more of the city’s resources into eliminating racial disparities. Councilman Vijay Kapoor said he voted in favor of the measure for moral reasons, but also referred to the “practical reason,” which is that data shows large gaps between Black Asheville residents and other residents of the city.

“We don’t want to be held back by these gaps,” Kapoor said. “We want everyone to be successful.”

Some will undoubtedly ask the question, “Why should people today, who have never owned slaves, pay reparations to people who have never been enslaved themselves?” But that question ignores two things: 1) The deep and ongoing economic impact slavery had on generations of families, and 2) Reparations aren’t just about slavery, but also the century-and-a-half of ongoing discriminatory laws and practices designed to keep Black Americans economically oppressed that followed emancipation.

The question of how to manage reparations is a legitimate one, but there should be no doubt that some kind of reparations are in order. If you’re still unsure of why, check out Kimberly Latrice Jones’ excellent Monopoly metaphor, Trevor Noah’s explanation of why poor white people can’t h the same argument for reparations, and this video from Ta-Nehisi Coates beautifully testifying to Congress on why reparations are a perfectly reasonable expectation for Black citizens, considering the inheritance of our nation:

WATCH: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ full opening statement on reparations at House hearing

www.youtube.com

Thank you, Asheville, for taking this step toward economic justice, to help repair the damage done throughout U.S. history. If we truly want to be the country we say we are, where all people have the same access to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” we have to honestly address the past wrongs that prevented certain groups from those inalienable rights and make amends to the citizens who have been negatively impacted by those wrongs for generations.

Huntington Beach, California has a reputation for being one of the last bastions of conservatism in California.

The Orange County town also has a long-standing problem with white supremacists and made national news for staging an anti-mask rally in the early days of the coronavirus epidemic.

While public health shouldn’t be something that people fight over, as with everything in America these days, masks have become a political issue.

A recent poll by Pew Research found that “Democrats and those who lean Democratic are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say they personally wore a mask all or most of the time in the past month (76% vs. 53%).”

To help the people of Huntington Beach avoid contracting COVID-19, Orange County natives Chad Kroeger and JT Parr, hosts of the Chad Goes Deep podcast, showed up on the strand to hand out masks to the anti-maskers. They were greeted with scorn and a whole lot of fake science.

Solving the Mask Shortage in Huntington Beach

www.youtube.com

The 100 (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — Hope, Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo try to survive a few rounds of brainwashing on Bardo while back in Sanctum, Russell uses a hostage situation to cause even more chaos.

United We Fall (ABC, 8:00 / 8:30 p.m.) — This new family sitcom starring Will Sasso introduces the Ryan family and all their accompanying dysfunction. A judgmental live-in mother-in-law, a meddling extended family, and cultural clashes shape the hijinks that this crew goes through.

Bulletproof (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — Bishop and Pike’s covers are blown so Tanner faces off against Elena to keep the rest of the team safe.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 10:00 p.m.) — Yo-Yo is the team’s only hope to avoid disaster when the Zephyr’s time drive begins to malfunction. In order to save her friends, she’ll have to get her powers back which means enlisting the help of an old adversary and revisiting a painful part of her past she’d rather forget.

The Weekend (Hulu) — SNL alumn Sasheer Zamata and She’s Gotta Have It actress DeWanda Wise star in this millennial comedy film about a comedian who goes on vacation with her ex and his new girlfriend. Zamata plays Sadie, a sarcastic, pessimistic comedian struggling in her career who finds herself on a romantic weekend getaway with an ex-boyfriend, his new partner, and another love interest which strains the already tense bonds within the group and forces Sadie to fight for what she wants.

The Tennessee Titans were among the most surprising teams in the NFL a year ago, as they made it to the AFC Championship game before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

The Titans apparently aren’t worried about if last year was something of a fluke, as they’ve now locked up Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry to big, long-term contracts to lead the offense for years to come. Tannehill got a huge contract with $91 million in guarantees to be the quarterback for the foreseeable future in Tennessee earlier this offseason, and on Wednesday, the Titans and Henry were able to agree on a 4-year, $50 million deal (with half of that guaranteed) to keep their star back in town for years to come and avoid the franchise tag deadline.

Henry, who led the league in rushing last year, didn’t set the market with his deal, but does get paid like the top backs in the league and gets some security at a position that is rarely afforded that. The Titans put some risk in making a commitment to a running back, but also are locking up one of the league’s truly unique forces — a back with incredible power and speed — that they have effectively built their offense around.

With just two years of guaranteed money, the Titans leave themselves some flexibility, but if Henry continues to play as he did in 2019, he can more than live up to this kind of money.