Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about nepo babies, the children of the rich and famous who use their privilege to get elite positions in the entertainment world. As people become more conscious of the advantages of the rich and powerful, there has been a backlash against those who some feel haven’t earned their positions.
That’s why people applaud actor-author Henry Winkler for protecting his daughter, Zoe, from becoming a reality TV star. Winkler played one of the biggest roles in TV history, Arthur Fonzarelli, on “Happy Days” from 1974 to 1984. In 2018, he won his first Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for portraying acting teacher Gene Cousineau on “Barry.”
Even though Winkler has been in the spotlight for 6 decades, he didn’t want the same for his daughter. The two shared the story on a recent episode of Zoe’s podcast, “What in the Winkler?!” which she hosts with her mother, Stacie.
"Do you remember when I was in the running to be ‘The Bachelorette’?" Zoe asked her father. "Oh, my goodness, and we put a stop to that," he said. "But only for your protection."
Zoe was also almost a star of “Quater-Life Crisis,” a proposed VH1 show starring Zoe’s friends, Kim Kardashian and Sarah Howard. "There wasn't even that much reality TV out. It was just ‘The Real World,’" Zoe said. "And me, Kim, and Sarah Howard were asked to be on a show called ‘Quarter-Life Crisis.’"
However, her father quickly ended her dreams of being a reality star in a calm and collected way that only “The Fonz” could. Unbeknownst to the elder Winkler, VH1 producer Matt Hanna put together a sizzle reel of the 3 girls and flew to Los Angeles to meet with her when he ran into the “Happy Days” star in his home.
"I said, 'It is so lovely that you're here. I can suggest some really good restaurants. My daughter is not doing your show,’” Henry recalled. Reality TV, however, would work out for Kardashian; “she went on to become the most famous person in the world,” Zoe said.
Henry Winkler’s always been a legend, but this? Top-tier dad move — Saeed (@rocck00) November 22, 2024
Kardashian recently appeared on Zoe’s podcast, where the “lifer” friends discussed their friendship, parenting and how to keep up with their kids’ social media.
Henry knew that becoming a reality TV star would have distracted Zoe from achieving her life goal of being a teacher. "[Reality TV] was so not the right thing for you to do in your life. It would have just perverted your trajectory. I really believe that,” Henry said, and Zoe agreed. "I became a teacher, which was the best job and what I always truly wanted to do,” she said.
In addition to her work as an educator, Zoe founded This is About Humanity, a nonprofit that raises awareness for families and children who have been separated and reunited at the U.S.-Mexico border. The nonprofit also educates people on being allies and advocates and helps support those affected by separation.
Zoe married actor-writer Robert Reinis in 2009 and the couple has 3 sons.
Bikini season is upon us, and Mindy Kaling has something to say about it.
The actress, comedian, writer, and recent mother shared a post on Instagram, promoting body positivity and embracing everyone's 'right' to wear a bikini. The post showed two photos of Kaling absolutely slaying in a two-piece bikini, as well as a video in which she shared a story about how she came to realize that anyone should have the confidence to wear bikinis if they want.
The caption reads: "IDK who needs to hear this but…," she wrote. "WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don't have to be a size 0."
The accompanying video is of of Kaling talking about her experience in Hawaii, where she was inspired by the women of all body types who wore bikinis.
She says:
"My very best friend in the world, Jocelyn, is from Hawaii, and I would go and visit her when I was in college, and what I was struck about Hawaii is that everybody wears bikinis," she recounted. "It does not matter what your body type is. You rock a bikini cause you're in Hawaii. And there's so much body positivity there that I, who was always really shy about my body, would wear bikinis."
Kaling adds that she prefers high-waisted bottom bikinis, as they are more flattering for her figure, and encourages her followers to share their bikini pics with her.
Naturally, people were inspired by this uplifting message.
You heard her, bikini season is for everyone! See you at the pool.
This article originally appeared on SomeeCards. You can read it here.
It's not something about the latest Kimoji cry faces or a celebrity feud. I promise, even if you don't keep up with the Kardashians, you'll want to read this.
Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images.
In April 2016, The Wall Street Journal ran an ad by a group that denies the Armenian genocide ever happened.
This is a problem because the genocide, well ... definitely happened. This is a fact.
Much like there are Holocaust deniers and 9/11 conspiracists, the Armenian genocide has been questioned and dismissed by people who, for whatever reason, prefer to believe fiction.
The group responsible for the Wall Street Journal ad fuels the fires of these outrageous, harmful lies.
Kardashian, who is of Armenian descent, responded with a full-page ad in The New York Times, penning a blistering attack of The Wall Street Journal's decision to run the ad.
The letter — which Kardashian originally shared on her website in April — was published over the weekend, courtesy of the Armenian Educational Foundation.
"It’s one thing when a crappy tabloid profits from a made-up scandal," Kardashian wrote. "But for a trusted publication like WSJ to profit from genocide — it’s shameful and unacceptable."
— (@)
For what it's worth, The Wall Street Journal defended itself when criticism began pouring in, explaining that it accepts "a wide range of advertisements, including those with provocative viewpoints."
As you can imagine, this explanation didn't extinguish the fire when The Wall Street Journal first issued it months ago, and it likely won't please too many people now that Kardashian's rehashing the controversy.
This wasn't a one-off move by Kardashian. She's used her platform to speak out on the issue before.
Kardashian, whose ancestors escaped to America just before the genocide began, most notably used her fame to shine a light on the overlooked atrocity when "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" filmed an episode at the genocide memorial in Yerevan, Armenia, last year.
Photo by Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty Images.
Because many parts of the world have forgotten about the horrors of the Armenian genocide, here are some important facts about the tragedy to remember:
1. The Armenian genocide lasted from 1915 to 1918 and killed about three-fourths of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population.
That's about 1.5 million people who died at the hands of a state trying to exterminate an entire people within its borders, according to the Armenian National Institute.
Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images.
How could something like this even happen?
2. The empire's crumbling government became suspicious of Armenians leading up to and during World War I. It made them the perfect scapegoats.
As History.com notes, the relatively wealthy and educated Christian Armenians, a minority in the empire, stood out amongst their Muslim Turkish neighbors. This led to widespread resentment. And that resentment eventually led to state-sanctioned suspicion.
Mourners hold photos of famous Armenians killed in the genocide at the memorial in Yerevan. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images.
As the Ottoman Empire destabilized during the first world war, the ruling political party, which was fighting alongside Germany, believed Armenians would sympathize with the enemy. So officials began arresting and executing Armenians, many of whom were sent on "death marches" through the desert, where they'd eventually die from exposure and dehydration, The New York Times reported.
3. The genocide was part of a broader plan by officials in power to "Turkify" the region back to the way it was — the good ole days, so to speak.
At the turn of the century, a new ruling government, the "Young Turks," came to power with very strong nationalistic views. People who weren't Turkish and especially those who were Christian were seen as a threat to these new "Turkification" efforts.
In other words, their plan was to Make the Ottoman Empire Great Again.
A map of what used to be the Ottoman Empire and surrounding region. Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images.
These new ideas of strength and nationalism left Armenians particularly vulnerable and helped justify the eventual extermination of 1.5 million people.
4. Sadly, some countries still do not officially recognize the mass killings as a genocide, including the U.S.
Although several individual U.S. states do, the federal government is hesitant to deem the Armenian genocide an actual genocide, the Los Angeles Times reported, worried that doing so would complicate our relationship with Turkey, an important NATO ally.
Turkey, of course, doesn't want to confirm the horrors it unleashed back in 1915. So it has spent millions of dollars lobbying U.S. officials to keep up the status quo of denial.
Which makes Kardashian's emphasis on simply telling the truth so much more compelling.
"It’s totally morally irresponsible, and, most of all, it’s dangerous," Kardashian wrote of The Wall Street Journal's decision to publish the ad. "If this had been an ad denying the Holocaust, or pushing some 9/11 conspiracy theory, would it have made it to print?"
Kim Kardashian at the genocide memorial in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2015. Photo by Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty Images.
Isn't it time we make this issue about the factsand not about politics?
"We have to be responsible for the message we pass on to our children," Kardashian wrote. "We have to honor the truth in our history so that we protect their future. We have to do better than this."
Chances are, you feel some sort of way about Kim Kardashian.
She's built a career on snapping selfies, starring in reality TV, and blanketing the home pages of tabloid websites. She's not everyone's cup of tea, and hey — that's perfectly fine.
Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images.
But even if you're not a fan, you should probably read the open letter she published March 7, 2016, on her website in honor of International Women's Day.
Because the essay makes some excellent points about how we view women and their bodies — especially given the news surrounding her social media presence.
If you haven't heard, Kardashian posted a nude selfie to her Instagram account.
And the photo caused quite the (unfortunate) stir.
Many people on social media — including celebrities like Piers Morgan, Bette Midler, and Chloë Grace Moretz — decided to chime in on the image to let Kardashian know they were not thrilled. And all it takes is one glance at the more than 341,000 comments left on the photo to spot the consistent theme of many of the criticisms directed at Kardashian because of herdecision to share a nude photo:
Slut-shaming. It's alive and well on the Internet, folks.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
Degrading Kardashian for choosing to share an image of her own body is sort of messed up. Why? "Embarrassing, insulting or otherwise denigrating a girl or woman for her real or extrapolated sexual behavior" is never good for any woman, as writer Soraya Chemaly once put it. And that includes Kim K.
It's an issue the reality star took head on in her essay.
Kardashian defended her decision to share the photo, saying that for her, her body is a source of strength and empowerment.
"I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. And I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world."
"I feel so lucky to have grown up surrounded by strong, driven, independent women. The life lessons I’ve learned from my sisters, my mother, and my grandmother, I will pass along to my daughter. I want her to be proud of who she is. I want her to be comfortable in her body. I don’t want her to grow up in a world where she is made to feel less-than for embracing everything it means to be a woman."
"It’s 2016," Kardashian concluded. "The body-shaming and slut-shaming — it’s like, enough is enough. I will not live my life dictated by the issues you have with my sexuality. You be you and let me be me."
Kardashian closed the letter with the hashtag #HappyInternationalWomensDay.
Fortunately, plenty of stars stood by Kardashian's decision to do whatever she wants with her body (and Instagram account).
Like Abigail Breslin, who ran to Kardashian's defense.
And actor and model Emily Ratajkowski, who said it like it is.
"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter pointed out a hard truth.
And model Chrissy Teigen cracked a joke about the whole situation in support of her friend.
Actor (and all around amazing human) Rowan Blanchard also stood up for the reality star.
"Why are feminists mad at Kim K [for] consensually posting a pic of her own body," Blanchard tweeted, noting that women should use the power of the selfie in whatever way they choose. “Nonconsensual nudes of women are leaked all the time by abusers and [you] are mad at a woman being proud of and happy with her own body?"
Slut-shaming harms girls and women in many ways. And Kardashian deserves a thumbs up for getting it right this time around.
Slut-shaming hinders gender equality in many ways — even when it's subtle. It sets double standards between men and women when it comes to sexual liberation (because who wants to be that girl, who's known for sleeping with half the class?). It contributes to rape culture (because if a girl was asking for it by the way she dresses, then it's sort of her fault, too, huh?). And it welcomes adolescence bullying (because it's OK to judge the girl who wears too much makeup or wears the wrong clothes, right?).
Kardashian is by no means the perfect feminist (and really, no one is), and she's definitely not always on the right side of the body-positivity train (her comments about her brother's weight gain, for example). But this time, she really put the patriarchy in its place.
Kim Kardashian, former breaker of the Internet and star of "That Show You Watch on the Treadmill," is pregnant.
But will she get her baby body back??? AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW!!!
Unfortunately, pregnancy hasn't been all baby bump, push present, and smooth sailing for the reality star. Like most expectant mothers, Kardashian has suffered from occasional, painful bouts of morning sickness.
Fortunately, unlike most of her pregnant cohort, Kardashian was able to take that suffering, grab it by the collar, and monetize the ever-loving bejeezus out of it.
For those who hate squinting, that's Kardashian singing the praises of a morning sickness drug called Diclegis.
Just, you know, giving it some completely spontaneous love on social media. Like normal people do. For their 37 million friends. A genuine, heartfelt, totally-not-secretly-highly-compensated-stealth-endorsement from your bud, who definitely has real actual personal experience using the product in question.
Who wouldn't believe her?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for one.
An FDA official, seen here making sure some lettuce isn't a deadly biohazard. Photo by the FDA.
Turns out, Kardashian's post was, in fact, a paid advertisement. (I know. Try to remain calm.) Not only was it a paid advertisement, but it was a paid advertisement that left out some pretty crucial information about some of the drug's pretty nasty potential side effects.
"The social media post is false or misleading in that it presents efficacy claims for DICLEGIS, but fails to communicate any risk information associated with its use and it omits material facts. Thus, the social media post misbrands DICLEGIS within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and makes its distribution violative. ... These violations are concerning from a public health perspective because they suggest that DICLEGIS is safer than has been demonstrated."
Two things should be immediately clear from the FDA statement.
1. It would make amazing Adele lyrics...
"Amazing."
And...
2. Taking medical advice from a reality TV star is a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, Kim Kardashian is just the tip of the iceberg...
Prescription drug ads in general — even ones that do get their facts right — are kind of the worst.
Abilify has been great for my anxiet ... AAAGGHH A SENTIENT BATHROBE IS FOLLOWING ME AAAAGGHH! Photo by Raza Syed, used with permission.
If you watch any TV at all, chances are you've seen at least a bajillion-and-a-half commercials urging you to "talk to your doctor" about Nexium, Cialis, Novorex, Fontainebleau, Prospector Pete's Tooth Caulk, or what have you if you experience any number of vague, over-broad symptoms.
Sneezing? Talk to your doctor about oxycodone. Photo via iStock.
Asking a professional to disregard their hard-won expertise on the advice of a commercial is kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
How ridiculous? Just ... imagine any of the following scenarios:
"Donating to earthquake relief in Haiti? Talk to your charity about sending your cash to Sweden instead."
"Claiming a deduction for that charitable gift you just made? Talk to your accountant about turning it into a home mortgage interest deduction!"
"And speaking of home, why does your home have to be made of bricks and mortar? Talk to your builder about graham crackers and strawberry cream cheese."
Doctors aren't perfect, of course. They're human, and they do get things wrong from time to time. But drug commercials are essentially hoping you'll go to your physician and say, "Sure, you've got professional integrity, six years of graduate school, and took an oath to do no harm, but what about this 30-second B-roll of women in bathtubs voiced by the third lead actor from 'Suits' that I just saw? How does that stack up?"
They're trying to Kardashian you.
Not only are these ads often misleading, they also help drive up the price of drugs.
It's no secret that Americans like things bigger and better.
A "small" in America.
Our towels are plusher. Our French fries are more fried. Our hats are larger.
And our drugs are the most expensive in the world — often double the price of what they are in other similarly wealthy countries.
The United States is one of only two countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer drug ads — and we pay extra for medicine because of it.
New Zealand is the other. Obviously, there's worse company we could be in. Photo by thinboyfatter/Flickr.
Turn on British TV, and you won't see Benedict Cumberbatch striding purposely across a cricket pitch, saying, "Pardon me, sir, but if it's not terribly much of a bother, would you mind inquiring with your physician about Crumpetrex?" Watch television in Germany, and no one will urge you to "ASKEN ZE DOCTOR FIR SCHNITZELGRAZ!"
We are the only suckers who get those ads shoved in our faces. (New Zealanders do too, but they get hobbits in exchange.)
That cost gets passed on to sick people (and to people who pester their dermatologist until she throws up her hands and signs over a prescription for Cialis so she can move on to her next wart-freezing already).
Regardless of our reasons for needing a medication, that's not a cost we should be paying.
Like Kim Kardashian's Instagram feed, drug commercials serve pretty much no practical purpose — and there's no reason they couldn't quietly disappear forever.
Serious doctors mean business. Photo via iStock.
That's what the American Medical Association — the largest professional organization of physicians in the United States — wants, which is why it voted to call for a ban on the ads last week.
"Today's vote in support of an advertising ban reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially driven promotions and the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices," Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the AMA board, told the Chicago Tribune. (Come on, Adele, are you seeing this? So much gold here!)
That's a great first step. But there's still more that could be done.
Unfortunately, the AMA vote doesn't address subtle social media ads like Kardashian's, which could lead pharmaceutical companies to simply shift their ad dollars toward efforts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. (And let's be honest, who among us wouldn't share a Facebook-optimized George Takei meme featuring dancing arthritic cats, sponsored by Celebrex?)
Meow to your doc ... purrrrr about Celebrex! Photo via iStock.
It also doesn't address direct-to-physician marketing, in which drug companies use sales representatives to tout the benefits of their medications to doctors in person, which accounts for a huge portion of pharmaceutical industry spending — in addition to just being generally kind of shady. ("Funny, my doctor prescribed me the exact same medication that was featured on that nifty pen in his office!)
If we really want our drugs to pull even price-wise with the Canadas and Norways of the world, a federal law that calls for transparency, competition, and fair pricing needs to be passed and enforced.
As for Kim Kardashian? She ultimately made good on her endorsement deal...
