STATUS UPDATES
A week in which a Muslim appeared in Playboy and Martin Shkreli raffled off the right to punch him in the face
EXILED Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character whose co-optation by the “alt-right” earned it the status of “hate symbol” from the Anti-Defamation League. Since appearing online in 2005, the amphibian has been twisted into a white nationalist symbol. Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a mock movie poster that depicted the frog standing behind his father and sporting the same hair.
CHARGED The two protesters who stormed the stage at a taping of
Dancing With the Stars after a performance by Olympian Ryan Lochte. Sam Sotoodeh, 59, and Barzeen Soroudi, 25, face misdemeanour counts of leaving a spectator area and interfering with a performance. The maximum penalty is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. They’ll be arraigned in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
SOLD The right to punch Martin Shkreli in his most punchable face. The former pharmaceutical CEO — roasted for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 per cent — was raising money for the son of a friend who died of leukemia. The winner, Shkreli tweeted: “Katie from Florida,” who’ll donate $50,000 to “repeatedly pummel me in the face.” Shkreli matched the donation.
LIBERATED The manager of England’s national soccer team, from his job — after one game. Sam Allardyce made his exit after the Daily Telegraph caught him agreeing to take £400,000 ($680,000) in exchange for advice on circumventing rules around player transfers. Also caught in the sting was Tommy Wright, an assistant manager with Barnsley FC, who was filmed accepting money.
EMBRACED Muslim journalist Noor Tagouri, by Playboy magazine. Fully clothed and wearing a hijab, the 22year-old is part of the special issue “Renegades of 2016.” The move sparked support, outrage and bewilderment. Zainab Chaudry, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, wrote on muslimgirl.com: “I’ve had a figurative ‘WTF?’ tattooed on my forehead for the better part of 48 hours.”
PUNISHED Janaye Ervin, an intelligence specialist with the U.S. Navy Reserve, after refusing to stand and salute during the national anthem at a flag-raising. “I felt like a hypocrite singing about the ‘land of the free’ when I know that only applies to some Americans,” she wrote on Facebook. The navy has reportedly revoked her security clearance and threatened her with jail.
SETTLED By the Obama administration, lawsuits with 17 native American tribes totalling $492.8 million (U.S.). Some of the claims went back more than a century, the Washington Post reported. Later, President Obama was presented with a traditional hat and blanket. “I’m very glad that you also have a blanket for Michelle so she doesn’t steal mine,” he said. “She would, too. I’m just saying.”
RESTRAINED Cats in the Alaskan town of Kenai, if a leash law is approved. The move was brought on by a surge of complaints, including one resident who wrote, “Twice I have accidentally stuck my fingers in cat poop while trying to weed my flower garden,” the Peninsula Clarion reported. Other U.S. cities have adopted similar measures, which have proven ineffective because, well, cats.