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Celebrity

"Macho Man'" Randy Savage during a 1992 appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show."

A surprisingly wholesome video clip of the late iconic professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage went viral in 2022 for the surprisingly vulnerable answer he gave when asked if he ever cries.

The 1992 interview with Arsenio Hall began with Hall joking that Savage's middle name is 'Macho,' and asking if he ever cried. If you're not familiar with professional wrestling in the 1980s and early '90s, it was common for the biggest names of the day—Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect and, of course, Macho Man—to take on personas that often embodied what we might now call "toxic masculinity." Many of them were after all what they call "heels," in wrestling circles, aka the bad guys.

So, it was pretty surprising to see the downright deep and wholesome response Savage gave to Hall without hesitation.

"It's OK for macho men to show every emotion available," Savage says in the clip. "I've cried a thousand times and I'm gonna cry some more."

This explanation of macho men being able to show all emotions was probably just as relevant then as it is now. The notion that it's not just OK, but completely normal and acceptable for men to cry goes against everything that some masculine norms have told boys from a young age. Not being able to express authentic emotions outside of anger can lead to mental health issues in men.

Watch the full clip below:

"I've soared with the eagles, I've slithered with the snakes and I've been everywhere in between," Savage continued. "Understand this: Nobody likes a quitter. Nobody said life was easy. So, if you get knocked down, take the standing eight count, get back up and fight again!"

As a public figure that boys, teens, and young men looked up to, it was pretty incredible to see Savage appear on national television and dispel the myth that tough guys don't cry and then take it one step further by proudly stating that he himself had cried "a thousand times" was powerful.

While this interview was filmed in the '90s, boys and men today are still fighting against the cultural norm of the hyper-masculine male image that includes bottling up emotions and not asking for help. All men experience a range of emotions, including sadness, because men are people and Macho Man is here to remind everyone it's OK to cry. Even when you're "macho."


This article originally appeared three years ago.

@taylorquitara/TikTok

This is next level cat parenting.

Listen, do pet parents need to go out of their way to provide extravagant indulgences for their fur baby in order for them to feel loved? No. But is it incredibly fun—inspiring, even—to watch when they do? Absolutely.

Take for instance Taylor Quitara’s completely decked out “mini bedroom” for her cat Giuseppe. This ingenious idea sparked when Quitara noticed her feline friend took a liking to this mysterious nook in the wall of one of the bedrooms in her home. Considering the wall paper and small light already installed, it very well could have been a small cat bedroom previously.

Quitara, a multifaceted artist who clearly knows her way around DIY home decor, quickly got to work, swapping out the black and white wallpaper for a fun and whimsical pattern with zebras (which just so happened to feature in The Royal Tenenbaums), staining and assembling a toy bed she found from Ikea, buying a lovely blue couch that doubles as a scratching pad, installing a climbing gym, and even putting up a gallery wall.

Throughout her journey, which she shared on TikTok, it’s clear that this is a labor of love in the purest form. Quitara is having the time of her life applying all her creativity to making her fur baby’s life that much more enjoyable. And the results pretty much speak for themselves.

Ugh, cuteness overload! And while not every cat owner certainly doesn't need to apply this level of extra to their cat’s sanctuary, it is important that they do have some comfy places to just chill by themselves for an hour or two.

How to create the purrfect kitty sanctuary

You can go create one solid space, like Quitara’s mini bedroom or a small “catio,” or, alternatively, you can opt for multiple smaller hiding spaces throughout your home, so long as they provide a bit of peace and quiet—as well as scratching opportunities.

It’s great to have both vertical spaces that require climbing, such as a cat tree, hammock, shelf, or perch, as well as a small horizontal space for nestling in, like a small box or basket. Many cat parents leave a designated space for their cat under the bed in a closet, or at the bottom of a bookshelf, for instance. Point being: you can get creative with this.

It’s also worth noting that no matter what safe space you provide for kitty, they might not take to it overnight. Even Quitara noted that Giuseppe hasn’t actually slept in his mini bedroom yet. Still looks incredibly cool though.

And perhaps the bigger point in all this is—there’s so much joy, love, creative expression [insert any positive emotion you wish] to be had when we put our heart and soul into providing the best possible life for our pets. It’s not about just buying them the bougiest food or the most expensive toy on the market, but the amount of love and energy we contribute. And what an amazing gift it is to give that.

Hilary Swank is a bona fide dog magnet.

It’s already great news when a lost pup finds its way back home. But it’s even better when the story involves a movie star.

When her beloved dachshund named Blue disappeared, Chelsea Blackwell did what any distraught dog mom would do—she immediately went searching for him. She desperately drove through the streets of New York for an hour before seeing a line of squad cars and people with cameras near the Greyhound bus station in Albany.

Blackwell had prepared for even more bad news. “I pulled over and thought, oh man, did someone get shot?” she told local publication Times Union Albany.

As she would soon find out, Blackwell had just made it one huge step closer to finding Blue, along with a celebrity surprise.

Blackwell had actually stumbled onto a filming location rather than a crime scene. Resuming her search, she began to ask the film crew if anyone had seen a small brown dog. To her shock, the answer was yes, someone had found a small brown dog. Not just anyone, in fact, but a household name.

Blackwell was in disbelief until about an hour later when a car pulled up and she saw Blue sitting in the lap of none other than Hilary Swank.

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Swank has a reputation for being a dog lover and hero. In her 2021 interview with People Magazine, Swank shared how "every dog I’ve ever rescued and also shared my life with have all had their unique way of being in the world.”

The two-time Oscar winner even created her own foundation called Hilaroo (named after own rescued pup named Karoo), which pairs abandoned animals with at-risk youth. Perhaps little Blue was just in the right place at the right time…or maybe Swank has transformed into a dog magnet. Who knows?

Either way, it was a truly happy ending. Relieved, and a little star struck, Blackwell asked Swank for an autograph. Instead, the actress offered a picture together because who wouldn’t want to capture this once-in-a-lifetime moment?

So happy that Blue is back home, and that he has his own celebrity sighting story.


This article originally appeared three years ago.

Christina Applegate's Walk of Fame speech.

Christina Applegate was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 14, 2022. It was her first public appearance since announcing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. While the Married… with Children alum cracked jokes, she also shined a spotlight on the importance of showing up for friends.

Applegate uses a cane to help her walk, but there was one unmistakable person standing behind her, quite literally holding her up at times—Katey Sagal. If you were a teen in the '90s you'll remember that Sagal played Peg Bundy, the mother of Applegate's Kelly Bundy in Married… with Children.

The speech was touching on its own and watching Sagal protectively stand and wait while her TV daughter-turned-friend spoke cranked up the emotional factor. Applegate's support team didn't stop there. Her TV brother David Faustino was in attendance as well as her two co-stars from Dead to Me. The star got pretty choked up explaining what they all meant to her.

Friendship is something that can easily be taken for granted and it doesn't always survive the tough moments of life. But it seems as if Applegate has found a group of friends that prove how important it is to build the family you want by taking inventory of the friends that show up. Applegate fought back tears when she said, "I don't have friends, I have family. These people take care of me. They take care of me every day of my life and without them, I don't know what I would do."

If you've ever needed a reminder on how important building your community is, watch Applegate's speech. The people that show up for the hard stuff are the ones you want to surround yourself with when celebrating the better times. Check out her speech below.

This article originally appeared three years ago.