First and foremost I would like to start off on a positive note this week by sending my deepest congratulations to all for the auspicious announcement of my good personal friend Rihanna’s pregnancy.

I’m so happy for you, Rih! I can’t wait to be an auntie. 

While many of us rejoiced to see a glowing Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement, and while Drake was definitely punching the air, there were some (haters, as we’ll call them) who had their own thoughts on the situation. 

Speaking of haters, Rihanna’s joy almost made me forget that I am one, and so it’s time to unpack other moments from the internet this week that were arguably less positive.

Let’s get into it. 

Nick Cannon please stop

Nick Cannon just announced that his 8th child is on the way, and the world, and his 5 baby mothers, are all collectively begging him to just please stop. During his talk show this week, Cannon announced that he is expecting a baby boy with model Bre Tiesi. He shared a picture from their gender reveal party, and said, “Bre, is the next mother…”

The next mother? This man is an absolute menace. He previously welcomed twins on June 14, 2021, only for another model to give birth to his son on June 23, 2021. 

The child with Tiesi will be Cannon's fifth baby in a year and a half. 

HE FATHERED FIVE BABIES IN A YEAR AND A HALF?!?!?! 

Women are out here on birth control and having their reproductive systems legislated, while this man is just letting the chopper SING.

I will say, Cannon is free to have as many kids as his heart desires, but he himself has previously discussed how he is attempting celibacy, and clearly, that isn’t going so great for him.

Honestly, if the man keeps going like this, almost everyone everywhere will be once-removed from someone of the Cannon lineage. Please Nick, stop.

Pam & Tommy

TW: Abuse

A new Disney+ series explores the relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, centering around the details of their relationship and the now-infamous moment whereby the couple’s sex tape was stolen and leaked, changing the trajectory of Anderson’s career and life. 

According to People Magazine, the tape “was stolen by a disgruntled former employee who leaked the tape to the public,” and now, the series was produced and created without any participation on her part.

Critics have been vocal about how the series exploits Anderson’s traumatic experiences, and once again ignores her consent and agency in the situation.

It also glosses over the alleged abuse that took place in the relationship,  including the reasons for filing for divorce, that had to do with Lee hitting Anderson while she was holding their son.

Instead, the series is fixated on the romance and the sex, without acknowledging the way that the experiences arguably changed Anderson’s life forever. 

Between Baywatch and Playboy, Anderson has always had the Hollywood blonde bombshell persona, but this was something she had wanted and had consented to—to an extent. The tape was a gross violation of her privacy that she did not ask for, and the series is now retraumatizing her again for their monetary benefit.

And such is the experience of many women. The way we dress or conduct ourselves is then held against us when our consent is violated. We are hypersexualized, yet shamed for having a sexuality. 

Everyone else’s transgressions become our fault. 

I’ve hated the discourse around the series, mostly because it glamourizes a situation that is so far from glamorous. 

My heart goes out to Pamela Anderson, and I hope that we as a society can finally move away from turning women’s most traumatic moments into spectacles for our own viewing pleasure.

Dave Portnoy is gross 

TW: Sexual violence

The original reason Dave Portnoy grossed me out this week wasn’t the worst thing he did. 

Portnoy is the founder of the infamous Barstool Sports, which has long been criticized for it’s misogynist and bigoted content, that according to Media Matters, has “successfully normalized a culture of harassment, misogyny, and rampant misinformation, all while taking cavalier attitudes toward the chaos that ensues.”

That sounds quite on brand when you learn more about Portnoy, who was once again in the headlines this week. 

Firstly, he tweeted this, at his big old age.

A 44-year-old man dating a woman nearly 20 years younger than him, came on to Beyonce’s internet to complain about not wanting to do something for his partner for Valentine’s Day. You are a grown man. 

But again, this wasn’t the worst thing he’s said or done, this week or ever. 

Multiple women have come out with allegations of sexual misconduct against Portnoy, and the list continued to grow this week.

In addition, according to The Cut, Portnoy “has repeatedly defended a slew of racist comments he made about Colin Kaepernick, supported a colleague’s use of blackface, and chanted at least one racial slur in a video that surfaced in 2020.”

He also has a history of making rape jokes and sexually degrading commentary, as well as publicly naming any people who criticize him, (mainly women), leaving them vulnerable to “doxxing and sexual harrasment” from his supporters.

All in all, this man is gross, and as is his publication. I send my love to his victims.

There are apparently no rules for anti-vaxxers

A week into the truckers convoy for “freedom,” protesters continue to make their presence felt in Ottawa, as police do… absolutely nothing to enforce rules or regulations. 

This week, pictures circulated from Ottawa, where police have allowed protesters to set up some kind of public encampment. 

The situation has shown the stark difference in how white anti-vax protesters are policed, versus how racialized and Indigenous populations face violence for simply trying to exist.

In fact, in 2021 Toronto served an injunction to a man named Khaleel Seivwright, who built tiny homes for the homeless in Toronto, and evicted them from those houses, citing that the structures were “not allowed on city-owned land.”

We live in a world where a Black man is penalized for trying to house the homeless, and where those living in encampments due to lack of housing face violent evictions, yet people aligned with and supported by white supremacists are free to create their structures, not out of sheer necessity, but for just because they can. 

It is fucking infuriating. 

At the same time, in anticipation of the convoy’s arrival in Toronto, healthcare workers are also being told not to wear the scrubs in public, due to the threat of potential violence. 

What a time to be alive. 

The people who have been overworked for 2 years trying to save lives in an overwhelmed healthcare system are targets, while white supremacists and fascists roam the streets freely, without any fear of consequences. 

Anyways.

It’s only the first week of February and this year has felt exceptionally long. 

While I usually end off these articles with a little sarcasm, much like the rest of this dumpster fire roundup, I want to end today with this beautiful poem that came across my timeline this week, in honour of the late Langston Hughes' birthday.

It’s felt like a lot of this year, much like the last few, have felt extremely dark and dreary. Finding the silver linings has been increasingly difficult as of late, but if there’s one thing we can do for ourselves and one another, it’s loving. Hug your loved ones a little tighter for me this week.  I know I will. (I mean I'll be hugging my loved ones, not your loved ones. That would be weird).

Stay safe and stay blessed. See y’all next week.

All my love,

• R

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