New MLM Just Dropped Hun!! 💄
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Good morning angels!!! First thing from me: do any of you gorgy readers work in publishing? Or know someone who does? Preferably international 👀 More on that later... maybe...
Next thing from me is just a slight humble brag that my TikTok about my ✨universal✨ experience with Macklemore's song Downtown (which we've talked about in this newsy) popped OFF so u should go & watch it:
about once a year I remember downtown by Macklemore exists and fixate on it — www.tiktok.com
Happy weekend angels!! Love you the most xxx
Elon's Twitter Takeover, Explained
New MLM alert!
Meta cuts 11,000 jobs as it sinks more money into the metaverse
Influencer Nikita Dragun Was Arrested and Misgendered in Miami
New Episode of The Shit Show!
Elon's Twitter Takeover, Explained - The Shit Show — open.spotify.com
Squish and I are back in your ears this week to give you a timeline of what's gone down at Twitter since self-proclaimed 'Chief Twit' Elon Musk has taken over. Listen wherever you get your pods!
New MLM alert!
You all know we feel a type of way about MLM's (remember this podcast episode we did about Arbonne?) so it #shocks and #horrifies me that we might be seeing a whole new round of #girlbosses with the launch of Monat in New Zealand (shoutout to newsy reader Mandy who put me onto this story!!)
MLM doesn't stand for men who love men (in this instance)
For those who aren't across it, MLMs are "Multi-Level Marketing" schemes where one person is selling a product and recruiting other people (down the line) to sell products and recruit more people and.... it's kinda like that ✨triangle-based scheme✨ but we can't call it that because there is a product involved (we have a big piece about MLMs here if you're interested in knowing more. ) Andrew Tate is currently running an MLM under the guise of 'Hustlers University' (and just made $11m in one month doing so) if you want a recent example.
What's Monat and what are they actually selling?
Monat is a pretty contro MLM company that sells haircare and skincare products, and claims to be "the world's #1 premium haircare brand" without anyone who isn't trying to flog their products ever saying that... ever.
In fact, the brand has been wrapped in lawsuits lately as the products are alleged to cause harmful side effects, including scalp irritation and hair loss.
The thing about MLMs is that they target the most vulnerable people - people who are struggling during the current cost of living crisis and are trying to find extra income, people searching for a sense of purpose... if you see someone you love falling into this trap, please have a chat to them. Mates don't let mates join MLMs!
Meta cuts 11,000 jobs as it sinks more money into the metaverse
Tis the season for tech layoffs it seems! Right off the back of Elon's unfair (and semi-regretful on his behalf apparently) Twitter layoffs, Meta is following in its footsteps. Yesterday, they announced that they were cutting 11,000 jobs (13% of its workforce), but unlike the Twitter sitch where people weren't kept in ANY loops, I think... dare I say it... Zuckerberg handled it much better.
"Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I'd expected," Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to employees.
"I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."
According to Reuters:
"a red-eyed Zuckerberg addressed employees but took no questions. He stuck to a script that closely followed the wording in the morning's blogpost and called the increased investments in e-commerce a "big mistake in planning."
He said he would host another townhall on Friday in which he would take questions.
Seems like this is a trend in a LOT of tech companies at the moment - I can't help but wonder if all the brilliant minds that are jaded by being in this industry will band together and build some fucking cool new stuff?? Kinda hope so!
Influencer Nikita Dragun Was Arrested and Misgendered in Miami
Beauty influencer/ Youtuber Nikita Dragun was arrested on Monday after officers "responded to a call about a guest at The Goodtime Hotel acting disorderly." She was charged with assaulting a police officer, and when her details were taken down (and made public on the clerk office's website) she was misgendered and booked as a male.
I first saw this news on ✨surprise surprise✨ TikTok, in a clip of Nikita asking a judge if she was still required to stay in the men's unit of a Flordia jail, to which the judge said that yes, she was.
"In the affidavit, the department said Dragun “appears as a female but would like to be recognized as a male.” The affidavit lists Dragun as male and uses the pronouns “he” and “him” in the report."
Dragun has since been released, but this type of misgendering isn't an isolated incident in the US. In 2020 a report found that almost all trans inmates in the States are housed by their sex at birth instead of their gender identity, which is dangerous and damaging as hell.
And finally:
Elon's Twitter Takeover, Explained (The Shit Show)
Phoebe Bridgers, Paul Mescal, & Selena Gomez's New Doco (Culture Vulture)
Jennifer Aniston Has Nothing to Hide (Allure)
Adidas will continue to sell Kanye West’s shoe designs without the Yeezy name (CNN)
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