Names and faces
■ Singer Taylor Swift slammed President Donald Trump on Twitter on Friday morning for inciting violence with one of his latest tweets, which he posted after protests in Minneapolis overnight following the police killing of George Floyd on Monday. “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?” Swift wrote. “‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. realdonaldtrump.” Earlier Friday, Trump tweeted, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Twitter subsequently flagged the tweet, stated that it “violated the Twitter rules about glorifying violence.” Swift’s tweet was retweeted more than 100,000 times in an hour. In the past, Swift — the fifth-most-followed person on Twitter — was criticized for staying silent about anything political or topical, particularly during the 2016 election.
■ Forbes magazine, which once declared Kylie Jenner a billionaire on its cover, says she no longer deserves the title, but Jenner is pushing back. Forbes said in a story posted Friday that an examination of financial filings after the reality star and beauty mogul sold a majority share in her cosmetics company revealed that Jenner’s worth was inflated. Jenner sold 51% of her Kylie Cosmetics company to Coty in a deal valued at $1.2 billion early this year. “Kylie’s business is significantly smaller, and less profitable, than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe,” the magazine said in the story. “Forbes now thinks that Kylie Jenner, even after pocketing an estimated $340 million after taxes from the sale, is not a billionaire.” Jenner responded in a series of tweets, saying “what am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site.. all i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period.” The Forbes story acknowledges that the coronavirus crisis and its effect on the cosmetics industry has hurt her net worth. But it says it is “likely” that the “business was never that big to begin with, and the Jenners have lied about it every year since 2016 — including having their accountant draft tax returns with false numbers — to help juice Forbes’ estimates of Kylie’s earnings and net worth.” The magazine said it cannot prove the documents were forged. Jenner’s attorney says the story is “filled with outright lies.”