Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Lady Gaga’s Former Dancer Alleges They Suffered ‘Permanent’ Hearing Loss After Touring With The Singer

Lady Gaga EE British Academy Film Awards 2022
Getty Image

Before Lady Gaga captivated hearts on the big screen, she was a global pop star. Nowadays, the “Shallow” singer’s time as a fully-fledged musician seems far behind her. Unfortunately, one of Gaga’s former dancers supposedly has a bitter reminder of their time working together.

On January 20, in a series of videos shared on their official Instagram page, Graham Breitenstein alleged after joining Gaga on the road for her Monsters Ball Tour, they suffered ‘permanent’ hearing loss. Between 2009 and 2011, Breitenstein reportedly traveled the world with Gaga without issue until the tour’s European wing.

“While I was on stage, I believe I was in Germany or France, I had an experience on stage where my left ear all of a sudden it sounded like the crowd was in my ear the whole time,” he said. “We didn’t have in-ears at this time. So it was just raw ears in all these arenas.”

After seeking medical attention, Breitenstein learned that they had unrepairable damage. “I found out that I had lost 70 percent of hearing in my left ear and that it was permanent,” he said. “It could have been reversed if it was treated in the first two weeks of the onset with a direct shot of steroids. But we were six weeks [in], and it was too late. I would have to live the rest of my life with 30 percent of hearing in my left ear and full hearing in my right ear. So to say that I was devastated … is an understatement.”

Under the advisement of his family, Breitenstein claims he filed for worker’s compensation, providing his medical records to Live Nation (a financial supporter of the tour), but was reportedly denied.

According to Breitenstein, they hoped by coming forward, their story would serve “As a resource for other dancers that wanna perform at a high level.”

Watch Graham Breitenstein’s videos below.

Lady Gaga nor Live Nation have issued a statement regarding Breitenstein’s claims.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Trump ‘Officially Retired’ His Unfunny Name For Ron DeSantis After The Governor Ended His Flailing Campaign

Donald Trump Ron DeSantis
Getty Image

Say what you will about Donald Trump, he has a gift for mean, childish nicknames. Sometimes they’re lazy, sometimes they’re straight-up racist, but other times they’re inspired, in a schoolyard bully way. Alas, when it came to someone who was once seen as a likely successor to this throne — that is, Florida governor Ron DeSantis — he came up short. It was rumored he was flirting with “Meatball Ron,” but evidently that was too mean even for him. The best he could come up with, publicly, anyway, was “Ron DeSanctimonious.” But after DeSantis finally deep-sixed his 2024 campaign, Trump unceremoniously put it to rest, as he should have long ago.

Per Mediaite, Trump was in New Hampshire Sunday, addressing a crowd not long after DeSantis formally ended his presidential run. The former president has been torching DeSantis for months and months, but once he was no longer seen as a threat, he did what he often does: He put down the gloves and welcomed him back into the fold — after DeSantis kissed the ring by endorsing him, of course.

DeSantis’ reward? An end to a lame Trump nickname. After his New Hampshire speech, Trump was asked if he would still pelt him with the “Ron DeSanctimonious” name? He would not, declaring the moniker “officially retired.”

Does this mean DeSantis is no longer sanctimonious? Was he ever? It was never a great name for a guy who could be pretentious, with his shoe lifts, who could be profoundly awkward, who basically tried, and failed, to cosplay as a younger, tougher version of Trump.

During his speech, Trump described DeSantis as a “very capable person,” signaling he was willing to let bygones by bygones. Again, no doubt DeSantis endorsing him and not Nikki Haley was instrumental in getting him back in his good graces.

So RIP to one of Trump’s lamer nicknames, and RIP to DeSantis’ presidential aspirations, at least for now. He now returns to his state, where he’s hated by anyone who’s not a homophobic and/or transphobic bigot. Hope it was worth it!

(Via Mediaite)

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Meek Mill Shut Down ‘Ongoing’ Wale Beef Rumor When Questioned By A Fan Online

Meek Mill Future And Friends One Big Party Tour 2023
Getty Image

2024 seems to be off to a peaceful start in rap music. During a recent interview, Kid Cudi confirmed his relationship with Kanye West had been mended. This revelation, in a convoluted way, helped to put an end to his feud with Lupe Fiasco. Now, Meek Mill has come out to quash a longstanding beef rumor.

On January 20, the “Ima Boss” rapper prompted his followers on X (formerly Twitter) to submit questions, and he’d answer them truthfully. One of the questions posed to Meek surrounded his relationship with former Maybach Music Group collaborator Wale. Meek immediately shut it down when asked if the pair had any issues.

“Hell no,” he wrote. “We had our arguments before… years back. But I came in this game getting money with him. I’m not holding any grudges against my people. And for what?”

Similarly, during a sit-down with Drink Champs in October 2021, Wale also dismissed the fable. As host Nore asked him about reports that Rick Ross and Meek Mill had him barred from entering their private section at a nightclub, Wale laughed off the story.

“I don’t know sh*t about that,” he said. “That sh*t don’t even sound real to me. I talked to both of them n****s all the time. I ain’t hear nothing like that. If I ain’t hear nothing like that, I can’t say.”

Not that this has been cleared up; maybe the two will finally give supporters a new track.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Chlöe Could Be Reuniting With Her Sister Halle Bailey, Or So The Singer Teased While Chatting With Fans

Chloe Bailey 2023
Getty Image

2023 belonged to the Bailey sisters. Both Uproxx cover star Chlöe and Halle Bailey accomplished considerable career feats in their solo pursuits. For Chlöe, that included hitting the road for her first solo headlining tour, dropping her debut studio album In Pieces, and appearing in several film and TV projects. Halle’s resume was also quite impressive.

Before welcoming her son with DDG, Halle starred in The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple. She even snagged a Grammy nomination for her debut solo single, “Angel.” With both siblings swamped with professional opportunities, fans have let go of the idea of a Chloe X Halle reunion. However, not all hope is lost. On January 20, during a TikTok livestream, Chlöe teased that the supporters’ wish had been granted.

When asked by a user when the duo would release new music, Chlöe quickly answered, “Soon.”

Shortly after dropping their sophomore studio album, Ungodly Hour, the siblings broke the news to fans that they would be taking a hiatus. With Halle hard at work on her forthcoming solo album, it’s hard to say how a reunion would fit into the plans. Maybe instead of an entire project from the duo, Chlöe is hinting about a one-off track on Halle’s upcoming project. Either way, fans can’t wait until it becomes tangible.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Pour One Out For Ron DeSantis’ Non-Starter Of A 2024 Campaign, But At Least He’s Endorsing The Guy Who Allegedly Came Up With ‘Meatball Ron’

Ron DeSantis
Fox News

This time last year, months before he even formally threw his hat in the ring, Ron DeSantis was seen as the likely successor to Donald Trump. The big guy had had a chaotic end to 2022, what with dining with anti-Semites and whatnot. People actually — shocking as this may sound now — thought he was finally done. But time is a flat circle, and as Trump made yet another improbable comeback, DeSantis’ campaign spluttered about like a fish out of water. And now its kaput.

In a lengthy-ish video posted to Twitter/X on Sunday, DeSantis announced he was “suspending” his campaign. After months of trailing in the polls to Trump, and after only placing second in the Iowa caucuses, he finally had to admit there was “no clear path” to anything resembling a victory.

But where do DeSantis supporters go now? To Nikki Haley, who may have tussled with him in debates but who didn’t make fun of his name? Nope. Instead DeSantis decided to endorse the guy who kept making fun of his name. (Then again, he did refuse to call him the funniest mean moniker.)

“Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden,” DeSantis said. “That is clear. I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge. He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear.”

DeSantis also slammed “woke ideology” on his way out.

After his announcement, some dragged purported tough guy DeSantis for supporting the guy who’s done little but say mean things about him for months and months and months.

Others pointed out that only days ago he was talking about how cynical it would be to “kiss the ring” of Trump.

But at least this is a win for Woke.

DeSantis may still be governor of Florida, but this has been an ignominious beginning to his presidential aspirations. The nation now faces a shortage of awkward smiles from the guy now primarily known for homophobic legislation. Adieu for now, Meatball Ron!

(Via The New York Times)

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Caitlin Clark Got Run Over By A Fan Storming The Court After Ohio State Upset Iowa

caitlin clark court storm
The Field of 68/Twitter

Ohio State and Iowa met in Columbus on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of top-25 women’s basketball teams, and the 18th ranked Buckeyes pulled off a 100-92 overtime upset of the No. 2 Hawkeyes.

Cotie McMahon (33 points and 12 rebounds) and Jacy Shelton (24 points and seven rebounds) were able to outduel another incredible Caitlin Clark performance, as the Iowa star poured in 45 points along with seven assists in the loss. As the final buzzer sounded, the Ohio State crowd poured onto the court to celebrate the win, but unfortunately the celebration saw Clark get clocked trying to run into the tunnel by a fan not paying attention as they sprinted onto the court with their phone up.

Clark stayed down for a bit of time after getting run over, but said after the game that she was fine, just dealing with the wind getting knocked out of her which is great news for Iowa (and college basketball in general).

“Kind of scary, could’ve caused a pretty serious injury to me,” Clark said after the game. “Knocked the wind out of me. But, luckily, teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court, and their AD already came and apologized to me, so I really appreciate that. This is what comes with the territory, I’m sure they tried their best to do whatever they could. Obviously, it didn’t work, and that’s disappointing. But, just focused now on the game, ways we can get better.”

This is the reason court/field storming is something schools get fined for by many conferences, as there’s always the danger of an opposing player getting caught up and there being either a confrontation or an accidental situation like this.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Comedian shuts down heckler cop after joke about police violence

Some people just haven’t gotten the memo: You really don’t want to heckle comedian Steve Hofstetter. He’s become one of my favorite stand-up acts both because he’s just funny but also because of his brilliant ways of shutting down hecklers and other rude patrons who show up for his live act.

In this case, Hofstetter was in the middle of a bit where he quipped, “I don’t like people.” It was part of a larger joke recalling how he’d had a bad interaction with a police officer but that he was “still alive” because he was a white male.


Hofstetter was talking about how most cops like the joke but others get offended. His point was that if you get offended by a joke about cops killing innocent people, you’re probably not a good cop. Just as he was finishing up the joke, a person in the front of the audience got up. When Hofstetter politely asked the guy to stop talking so loudly, the man said, “I’m going.”

He then followed up, telling Hofstetter, “You disrespected me, so I’ll disrespect you.”

The man then went on a tirade, stealing a drink from another customer and getting into an argument with the club’s bouncers. He also got into a shouting match with another patron before finally stepping outside.

Hofstetter tried to lighten the mood, joking, “I think he’s mad that the Meghan Trainor concert was canceled last night. Maybe he’s all about the bass, I don’t know.”

He then disclosed to the audience that the heckler had actually approached him before the show, asking Hofstetter to roast some of the friends the man had shown up with, which he refused to do.

That’s when one of the heckler’s companions told the comedian that the heckler was actually himself a cop. And that the man the heckler was shouting down was actually another cop who was embarrassed by his bad behavior.

“I know to drive slowly when I leave,” Hofstetter joked.

But just to make it clear that he wasn’t out to give all cops a hard time, the comedian noted that he actually thinks most cops are good people; he just wants them to speak up more when a bad cop does something wrong, comparing it to how comedians call out each other all the time when one of them crosses the line. And that’s something we should all be able to get behind without the need for a hilarious punchline.

This article originally appeared on 12.12.16

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Ever wonder why people 100 years ago died so much younger? It’s these 14 reasons.

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don’t be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.


Wellness involves a lot of personal choices and the tradeoff between personal liberty and shared public good.

Measles is the starkest example. There were about 61 cases of measles in all of 2012, but in just the first seven months of 2014, there have been nearly 600.

As this chart shows, vaccinations are not like taxes rates or even freedom of speech. The impact of one’s personal health choices can have a significant impact on the population around them, in their communities and even on a national level. It makes that trade-off all the more complicated and one not easily distilled into one convenient political or religious ideology.

Obviously, the topic of vaccinations has become immensely more complicated since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. But history teaches us valuable lessons and information is power. No matter how you feel about vaccines today, this chart is a reminder that medical science can be used for incredible good. Without breakthrough vaccinations in the past, many of us would likely not be here to have the debate about our personal choices now and into the future.

This article originally appeared on 11.21.14 and this infographic is based on data from 2012.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

9 astounding photos this mom took to keep herself calm while giving birth.

When San Francisco photographer Lisa Robinson was about to have her second child, she was both excited and nervous.

Sure, those are the feelings most moms-to-be experience before giving birth, but Lisa’s nerves were tied to something different.

She and her husband already had a 9-year-old son but desperately wanted another baby. They spent years trying to get pregnant again, but after countless failed attempts and two miscarriages, they decided to stop trying.


Of course, that’s when Lisa ended up becoming pregnant with her daughter, Anora. Since it was such a miraculous pregnancy, Lisa wanted to do something special to commemorate her daughter’s birth.

So she turned to her craft — photography — as a way to both commemorate the special day, and keep herself calm and focused throughout the birthing process.

Normally, Lisa takes portraits and does wedding photography, so she knew the logistics of being her own birth photographer would be a somewhat precarious new adventure — to say the least.

pregnancy, hospital, giving birth, POV

“After some thought,” she says, “I figured I would try it out and that it could capture some amazing memories for us and our daughter.”

In the end, she says, Alec was supportive and thought it would be great if she could pull it off. Her doctors and nurses were all for Lisa taking pictures, too, especially because it really seemed to help her manage the pain and stress.

In the hospital, she realized it was a lot harder to hold her camera steady than she initially thought it would be.

tocodynamometer, labor, selfies

“Eventually when it was time to push and I was able to take the photos as I was pushing, I focused on my daughter and my husband and not so much the camera,” she says.

“I didn’t know if I was in focus or capturing everything but it was amazing to do.”

The shots she ended up getting speak for themselves:

husbands and wives, intimacy, hospital rooms,

obstetrician, doctors, hospital rooms

nurse, strangers, medical care,

newborn, insurance, patient rights

love, emotion, mental health, community

experiment, images, capture, document, record

“Everybody was supportive and kind of surprised that I was able to capture things throughout. I even remember laughing along with them at one point as I was pushing,” Lisa recalled.

In the end, Lisa was so glad she went through with her experiment. She got incredible pictures — and it actually did make her labor easier.

Would she recommend every mom-to-be document their birth in this way? Absolutely not. What works for one person may not work at all for another.

However, if you do have a hobby that relaxes you, figuring out how to incorporate it into one of the most stressful moments in your life is a pretty good way to keep yourself calm and focused.

Expecting and love the idea of documenting your own birthing process?

Take some advice from Lisa: “Don’t put pressure on yourself to get ‘the shot'” she says, “and enjoy the moment as much as you can.”

Lisa’s mom took this last one.

grandma, hobby, birthing processThis article originally appeared on 06.30.16

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

A viral post argues East Coast folks are better people even if they aren’t as ‘nice’ as those out West

Having lived in small towns and large cities in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest, and after spending a year traveling around the U.S. with my family, I’ve seen first-hand that Americans have much more in common than not. I’ve also gotten to experience some of the cultural differences, subtle and not-so-subtle, real and not-so-real, that exist in various parts of the country.

Some of those differences are being discussed in a viral thread on Twitter. Self-described “West coaster” Jordan Green kicked it off with an observation about East coasters being kind and West coasters being nice, which then prompted people to share their own social experiences in various regions around the country.

Green wrote:

“When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say ‘The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind,’ and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad.

Niceness is saying ‘I’m so sorry you’re cold,’ while kindness may be ‘Ugh, you’ve said that five times, here’s a sweater!’ Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.

I’m a West Coaster through and through—born and raised in San Francisco, moved to Portland for college, and now live in Seattle. We’re nice, but we’re not kind. We’ll listen to your rant politely, smile, and then never speak to you again. We hit mute in real life. ALOT.


So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it’s really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)

When you translate this to institutions or policy, you’ll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I’ve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.

Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. It’s rare we make sure that people’s immediate needs are addressed. There’s no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help.

As we begin to ‘get back a sense of normalcy’ or ‘re-calibrate’ to what people in Blue States™ think is Right™ and Just™, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesn’t mean that it’s kind.”

Of course, there are genuinely kind and surface nice people everywhere you go, so no one should take these observations as a personal affront to them individually. Generalizations that lead to stereotypes are inherently problematic, and broad strokes like “East coast” and “West coast” are also somewhat meaningless, so they should taken with a grain of salt as well.

In reality, a small town in South Carolina is probably more culturally similar to a small town in Eastern Oregon than it is to New York City, and there are some strong differences between various subregions as well. A more specific cultural comparison, such as “big cities on the West coast vs. big cities in the Northeast” might be more accurate as far as generalizations go, but regardless, many people related to Green’s observations based on their own experiences.

To kick things off, a slew of responses poured in from people describing how New Yorkers can be cold on the surface while simultaneously reaching out their hand to help you.

Several people explained that the hustle required to afford the expense of living in New York explains why people skip the niceties. It’s about valuing people’s time; wasting it with nice words is ruder than just quickly helping out and then moving on.

Many people chimed in with agreement with the original post (even some Canadians confirming that their East/West differences aligned with ours).

“No sense of urgency” is definitely a West coast vibe, but is generally viewed a positive out here. And “inconveniencing everyone around them” might be a subjective observation. Maybe.

Plenty of people with bicoastal experience weighed in with their stories of how their experiences lined up with the basic premise of the thread, though.

Though certainly not universally true, the tendency for West coasters to be more hands-off might extend back to the frontier days. The pioneer and gold rush mindset was necessarily individualistic and self-sufficient. In my experience, West coasters assume you don’t need help unless you directly ask for it. But people don’t ask because of the individualistic and self-sufficient thing, so automatic helpfulness just hasn’t become part of the dominant culture.

Things got even more interesting once the South and Midwest entered the chat.

But the takes on warm/nice/kind thing varied quite a bit.

One thing that seems quite clear if you read through the various responses to the thread is that specific states and cities seem to have their own cultures that don’t break down as simply as East/West/Midwest/South. There’s an entire book about how the U.S. can actually be subdivided into 11 different regions that are almost like nations unto themselves. Even this map from 1940 included 34 different cultural regions in the U.S.

And don’t even get a Californian started on the differences between Northern CA, Southern CA, and the Central Valley. “Culture” can even be narrowed down even to specific neighborhoods, and people’s experiences and perceptions vary for all kinds of reasons, so once again, generalizations only go so far before they fall flat.

If you’re curious about what the data says about all of this, a cursory search of surveys about which states are the kindest brings up a fairly mixed bag, but people seem to find Minnesota quite friendly. A Wallethub ranking of charitability by state based on 19 factors including volunteerism also placed Minnesota at number one, followed by Utah, Maryland, Oregon, and Ohio. Pretty hard to make a regional generalization with those states.

Then again, there’s the whole “Minnesota nice” thing, which brings us full circle back to the original thread.

So many elements go into the culture of a place, from population density to the history of settlement to the individual personalities of the people who make someplace their home. And nothing is set in stone—the atmosphere of a place can change over time, as anyone who’s visited a city a decade or two apart can attest.

One thing that’s true, no matter where we live, is that we play a role in molding the culture of our immediate surroundings. If we want where we live to be friendlier, we can be friendlier ourselves. If we want to see people help one another, we can serve as that example. We might stand out, but we also might inspire others who yearn for the same thing.

“Be the change” might seem a bit cliche, but it truly is the key to shifting or world in the way we want it to go, no matter what part of the country—or the world—we live in.

This article originally appeared on 01.22.21