- Oscars Announce New Equity And Inclusion Standards The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have made changes in order to make the Oscars more inclusive to creators. The Academy is teaming with the Producers Guild to form brand new representation standards by July 31st. The Oscars will also have a mandatory 10 slots for Best Picture in the hopes of including movies from a diverse range of candidates. Before the Best Picture nominees could have been from 5 up to 10 films. That will start for the 2021 release year. This is part of an ongoing effort by the Academy to be more inclusive to women and people of color.
- Starbucks Changes Policy To Allow Black Lives Matter T-Shirts After telling employees that they couldn’t wear Black Lives Matter merchandise at work, Starbucks has reversed course. A chorus of online backlash may have been the spark for change. Workers will be allowed to wear Black Lives Matter t-shirts and pins in stores. Starbucks is teaming up with its Black Partners Network and Black Starbucks leaders to design a 250,000 Black Lives Matter shirts to give to all of their employees.
- Watch Out For These Bogus Coronavirus Products The EPA is cracking down on bogus coronavirus products being sold by online retailers like Amazon and Ebay. The agency has banned dozens of products that promise “Coronavirus Protection” or “Complete Sterilization”. Many contain pesticides or other toxic chemicals like chlorine dioxide or methelyne chloride, which can cause health issues or even death. Both retailers say they have pulled the sketchy products from their sites, and Amazon says it is “taking action against the bad actors who listed them”.
- The First Black “Bachelor” Is Chosen Matt James has been picked as the next man looking for love on The Bachelor. This is highly significant as James will become the first Black male lead on any of the Bachelor programs. Rachael Lindsay was the first Black Bachelorette lead in 2017. James told Good Morning America on Friday that his casting was “a step in the right direction.” What do you think? Should this have happened a lot sooner? Is it right on time?
- Domino’s Shares Pizza Reheating Hack to Prevent Sogginess; Pizzeria Owner Not Convinced Domino’s Pizza has shared a hack for preventing your leftover slice of pizza from becoming soggy when you reheat it. The national pizza chain says if you put a cup half-full of water in the microwave when you heat your pizza for 30 seconds, it can prevent sogginess, although Dominos doesn’t promise that the hack will work every time. Pizza owner, Nino Martinez, owner of Milly’s Pizza in Bed-Stuy, doesn’t believe the hack works. “I never heard that trick — I will find out today,” says Martinez. Martinez suggests using a toaster oven to reheat pizza saying it may take longer but it’ll be worth it.