Vanessa Hudgens Calls Coronavirus Caution ‘a Bunch of BS… Like Yeah, People Are Gonna Die’ — WATCH
Actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens apologized on Tuesday after receiving backlash for ignorant commentary she made about the coronavirus crisis to her Instagram followers.
Said the 31-year-old entertainer: “Yeah, till July sounds like a bunch of bullsh*t. I’m sorry. But like, it’s a virus. I get it. I respect it. But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible, but like inevitable?”
Today, she’s sorry: “So yesterday I did an Instagram Live and I realized today that some of my comments are being taken out of context. It’s a crazy, crazy time. And I am at home and in lockdown. And … I hope that’s what you guys are doing too — in full quarantine and staying safe and sane.”
Anti-LGBTQ Fox News commentator Mark Steyn claims that San Francisco is under COVID-19 lockdown because “it’s a big gay town”
Credit: Media Matters
On Monday, anti-LGBTQ commentator and frequent Fox News guest Mark Steyn appeared as a guest host on The Rush Limbaugh Show to discuss the Bay Area’s recent ‘shelter-in-place’ guidelines enforced by local officials due to growing concerns over COVID-19. Joe.My.God. reported on his remarks earlier today.
When reacting to the news, Steyn blamed members of the LGBTQ community for the lockdown:
“San Francisco has just ordered everyone to shelter in place, just to say, ‘Stay in your apartment. Don’t leave your apartment unless you need to go out to a grocery store or to a pharmacy or to a doctor’s.’ Why are they doing that? Why is San Francisco the first to do that? Because they’ve got all the gayguys there.
It’s a big gay town, San Francisco, and they’re the ones with all the compromised immune systems from all the protease inhibitors and all the other stuff. And they don’t want y. all the gays dropping dead on the San Francisco mayor’s watch. So that’s why they’ve got all that sheltering in place there.
And even if it dropped, they all dropped dead on the San Francisco mayor’s watch, if there was a big gay apocalypse, you know, the way this thing is going now, it would be Trump who would get blamed for it anyway.
He’d be — it would be his homophobia that would have struck down all these people in San Francisco. So that’s why they’ve all been ordered to stay home. And it’s not easy staying home.”
This isn’t the first time Steyn has made anti-LGBTQ comments. This past January, Steyn questioned Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality during a segment of The Rush Limbaugh Show: “Do we, are we really sure he’s gay? I mean, he looks like some guy from the accountancy department. He doesn’t — that’s a very non-gay look.” Steyn also made a derogatory comment towards Elizabeth Warren during the segment, stating: “The great repository of diversity now is Elizabeth Warren! The first woman of color. We know she’s, what is she, 1/1,054th of color? Actually, do we know she’s a woman? I mean, who’s to say that’s not all a big scam, too?”
On Monday, Northern California officials ordered that those living in the Bay Area – which is nearly 7 million residents – would be required to stay in their homes as much as possible until April 7 in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Pro golfer Scott Piercy’s homophobia cost him $2 million and heavy dose of public humiliation
Pro golfer Scott Piercy has been bleeding sponsors ever since he published a homophobic meme mocking Pete Buttigieg. Now, it’s being reported his actions have cost him a not-so-small fortune and will likely continue costing him even more in the future.
It all started earlier this month when the 41-year-old shared a meme featuring alt-right icon Pepe the Frog and a picture of Buttigieg along with the caption, “Peter pulls out early from behind.”
A backlash ensued, and Piercy, who has played professional golf with the PGA since 2008, issued a hasty non-apology, saying: “Whenever I post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recents [sic] story posts have been offensive. I will do better!”
But that didn’t stop several of his biggest sponsors from immediately cutting ties with the four-time PGA Tour winner.
Titleist, FootJoy, and Scandinavian fashion brand J.Lindeberg all terminated their endorsement deals with Piercy. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour also issued a statement condemning his actions.
“We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgment used,” the organization said in a statement.
Now, it’s being reported Piercy lost a whopping $2 million in earnings because of the meme.
To add insult to all that injury, during the the first round of The 2020 Players Championship, he appeared wearing a blank shirt that was completely logo-less.
Scott Piercy’s strange outfit at The Players came for all the wrong reasons. t.co/26NdzEwKA1
Golf.com reports: “Now, he’s looking the part of a man who’s been through the public ringer. Piercy played his practice round at the Players Wednesday in unusual garb for a PGA Tour golfer: brand-less.”
To make matters even more disappointing for Piercy, after the first round of the Players Championship, the PGA Tour announced the championship was being canceled because of coronavirus.
NEW: NY Gov. Cuomo says expert projections show expected peak of coronavirus cases in New York in 45 days.
Cuomo says state will need 55,000-110,000 hospital beds and 18,600-37,200 ICU beds at projected peak, and that state currently has 53,000 hospital beds and 3,000 ICU beds. pic.twitter.com/PiaQ8IOHqI
AMAZON. Hiring 100,000 workers to deal with coronavirus delivery surge: “The online retailer said it will also temporarily raise pay by $2 an hour through the end of April for hourly employees. That includes workers at its warehouses, delivery centers and Whole Foods grocery stores — all of whom make at least $15 an hour. Employees in the United Kingdom and other European countries will get a similar raise.”
MARRIOTT. Tens of thousands of layoffs coming: “As travel restrictions and social distancing efforts around the world become more widespread, we are experiencing significant drops in demand at properties globally with an uncertain duration,” Marriott said in a statement. “We are adjusting global operations accordingly which has meant either reduction in hours or a temporary leave for many of our associates at our properties.”
This video of brothers Andrew and Chris Cuomo fighting ON AIR about their mom’s favorite child, calling their parents, and breaking curfew growing up is better than anything Shakespeare ever wrote pic.twitter.com/h7KF6pOdun
ROBERT MICHAEL PHELPS. 62-year-old Connecticut man arrested for threatening to murder Adam Schiff: “A federal criminal complaint by the US Attorney’s office for Connecticut alleges that the man filled out a form on Schiff’s website for a meeting request on November, 12, 2019, saying he wanted to come and see the congressman, ‘So I can spit in your face and I want to kill you with my bare hands and smash your sick little round fat lying face in.’”
SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION. Joe Biden has it again. “A protective detail began its assignment with the former vice president and Democratic front-runner this week, multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News, even as Biden is expected to remain off the campaign trail amid the coronavirus crisis.”
MASKS. How telling people they don’t need masks for coronavirus backfired: “…of course masks work — maybe not perfectly and not all to the same degree, but they provide some protection. Their use has always been advised as part of the standard response to being around infected people, especially for people who may be vulnerable. World Health Organization officials wear masks during their news briefings. That was the reason I had bought a few in early January — I had been conducting research in Hong Kong, which has a lot of contact with mainland China, and expected to go back. I had studied and taught about the sociology of pandemics and knew from the SARS experience in 2003 that health officials in many high-risk Asian countries had advised wearing masks.It is of course true that masks don’t work perfectly, that they don’t replace hand-washing and social distancing, and that they work better if they fit properly. And of course, surgical masks (the disposable type that surgeons wear) don’t filter out small viral particles the way medical-grade respirator masks rated N95 and above do. However, even surgical masks protect a bit more than not wearing masks at all.”
WHEN WE WERE YOUNG. Older gays look back at their past careers.
UNITED AIRLINES CHIEF. COVID-19 impact worse than 9/11: “We unequivocally support prudent steps like these to keep the American people safe. But, these actions have also created a fast-moving, financial crisis unlike anything the U.S. airline industry has faced before. In fact, the financial impact of this crisis on our industry is much worse than the stark downturn that we saw in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.”
TOM HANKS AND RITA WILSON. Out of the hospital. “They’re still self-quarantined obviously, but they’re feeling a lot better so that’s a relief.”
We’re the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: At the Crossroads of COVID-19 and HIV
COVID-19, sometimes known as coronavirus, has taken America by storm. With more than 2,000 reported cases and 70 deaths in the U.S., the American public is in a state of turmoil. Our fears and concerns have only been exacerbated by a lack of leadership from the Trump-Pence administration. Instead of being a leader to the American people, President Trump downplayed the threat of COVID-19. In early January, during a White House briefing, President Trump said, “We have it totally under control” and “We have a very small number of people in the country, right now, with it. Many of them are getting better. Some are fully recovered already. So we’re in very good shape.”
As HIV activist Mark King points out, despite the early delay, what happened with the early days of HIV and what’s happening here are light years apart. It took years for President Reagan to even utter the word AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of people died.
But that doesn’t mean people living with HIV and HIV advocates aren’t viewing COVID-19 through a unique lens.
When we think of Americans with compromised immune systems, we must consider people living with HIV (PLWH). While there is no specific data yet, in an unofficial statement from Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, he states, “it would be prudent for persons with HIV to follow CDC recommendations for older persons and people with underlying health conditions.” In addition to the standard guidelines, having extra HIV antiviral medications and remaining up to date on vaccinations (influenza and pneumonia) are key.
It’s also more important than ever to stick to your treatment schedule and do your best to keep stress from impacting your mental and physical health. I’ve spoken to many HIV community leaders and frontline workers who are afraid of potential agency closures and the impact it will have on the community and their staff, especially staff who are paid hourly and unable to deliver services remotely. Some agencies have begun to explore unemployment benefit options and are working with their staff to make sure they know when and how to apply.
Kirk Myers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Abounding Prosperity in Dallas, Texas, had to cancel large testing events in an effort to minimize potential exposure to COVID-19. “We’ll be providing services as long as it is safe to do so and within CDC guidelines. We have also implemented more frequent disinfection of our fixed and mobile facilities,” Myers said. “We have made reasonable accommodations to support our staff impacted by school closures. And, we have implemented temperature and symptom screening for all staff upon arrival for work.”
Closures are unfortunate and will have lasting effects on the HIV workforce, but in many cases, it is the only way to prevent COVID-19 exposure. However, some agencies are ahead of the curve. Dr. Demarc Hiskson, Executive Director of Us Helping Us, implemented a telework model effective March 17. According to Dr. Hickson, “Us Helping Us frontline staff will communicate with all of our clients to discuss and offer tips as to how they can remain safe and healthy during this current environment. We have canceled all community outreach and testing activities to reduce the exposure to staff. However, we will provide HIV/STD testing by appointment only.”
Regardless of one’s HIV status, we all play a part in ensuring that we remain healthy. The common COVID-19 symptoms include fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.
For more information on the COVID-19, please visit one of the following websites:
We know that this is a time of great uncertainty and difficulty. We will weather this crisis as we have weathered crises before — by taking care of one another, by supporting each other and by ensuring we are doing all that we can to protect and empower the most vulnerable.
(@yashar) March 17, 2020
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