During the segment, Che said: “President Biden signed an executive order repealing Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.
After pausing for cheers from the audience, Che continued: “Yeah, it’s good news, except Biden is calling the policy ‘don’t ask, don’t tuck,’ which is not good news.”
The joke was met with backlash on social media, where it has been labelled “transphobic,” with many questioning why the line was approved by the show’s writers.
“What is Saturday Night Live's weird obsession with transphobic nonsense? I honestly don't get it. It's so lazy and sad. Last night, Michael Che joked about the repeal of the trans ban being called ‘don't ask, don't tuck’ -- who is this ‘joke’ for?” writer Charlotte Clymer tweeted.
Another person said: “How does SNL think it’s acceptable that Michael Che is blatantly transphobic on live TV?!”
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“This isn’t funny and so many people had to let this joke get to air y’all are dumb,” someone else wrote.
Others pointed out that this is not the first time Che has been accused of transphobia following jokes made during the segment.
In October 2019, the SNL host faced similar backlash after he told a Weekend Update joke at the expense of Caitlyn Jenner, during which he also deadnamed and misgendered the gold medal-winning Olympian.
“Why does #MichaelChe keep getting to make these transphobic jokes seemingly unchecked? Why?” another person asked.
There have been many studies conducted on the health benefits of laughter, and among them, laughter helps to boost energy levels, reduce stress, improves blood flow, lowers your blood pressure and helps fortify your immune system. While all of that (and more) is excellent news, the bottom line is that laughter makes us feel good.
Reading funny books can act as a real game changer with kids. Whether it’s a stressful day that needs lightening up, kids going stir-crazy from being at home, to convince kids that reading is fun or just because we all love to laugh, funny books are always a good choice. Read on and see for yourself.
Books to borrow
The following book is available at many public libraries.
“Timmy Failure No. 1: Mistakes Were Made” written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis, Candlewick, 294 pages
Read aloud: age 8 and older.
Read yourself: age 8 – 9 and older.
Timmy Failure is the founder, president and CEO of his detective agency. His partner is a 1,500-pound polar bear named Total. During a momentary loss of focus and concentration Timmy agrees to include Total’s name to the agency, making the company name Total Failure Inc. He knows it wasn’t his best idea, but he refuses to talk about it. Instead, Timmy is determined to make Total Failure Inc. the most successful detective agency in the world.
Of course, Timmy is up against some obstacles which include a competing detective agency owned by the “Center of Evil in the Universe,” continuous botched plans to find his mother’s Segway (which Timmy wasn’t supposed to touch but now is missing), and his friend’s daisy disguise being reduced to resemble a mutant bunny, all while he attempts to find the missing vehicle. Will Timmy be able to solve the cases of the missing Segway, the missing candy and the toilet paper crime?
If this book doesn’t make readers double-over with one laugh after another then nothing will. Loaded with illustrations that are equally as hilarious as the story, this one is a guaranteed winner.
Librarian’s choice
Library: Brandywine Community Library, 60 Tower Drive, Topton
Library director: Heather Wicke
Youth services coordinator: Yvonne Albright
Choices this week: “Dinosaur Roar!” by Paul and Henrietta Stickland; “Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones” by Ruth Heller; “Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper! A Maasai Tale” by Tolowa M. Mollel
Books to buy
The following books are available at favorite bookstores:
“Road Trip! A Whiskers Hollow Adventure” written and illustrated by Steve Light, Candlewick, 2021, 38 pages, $16.99 hardcover
Read aloud: age 3 – 7.
Read yourself: age 6 – 7.
Whiskers Hollow is a delightful place full of friends and fun adventures, where the residents zoom in their vehicles on tree branches. One beautiful day, Bear is out for a drive in his old truck when he crashes into an enormous acorn and brakes a headlight. Bear must fix the headlight, so he gathers up his friends — Rabbit, Mouse and Donkey — for a road trip to Elephants Old Junk Tree to hopefully find a replacement light.
The always exuberant Donkey takes the lead, exclaiming again and again, “Follow me, friends!” Over a rickety bridge and a dark and thorny tunnel, the friends finally arrive at Elephants Old Junk Tree that has every manor of old car parts, rusty treasures and broken things. But will there be a headlight and if so, how will they find it?
Available Feb. 9, "Road Trip! A Whiskers Hollow Adventure" is as much fun to read as it is to look at the intricate illustrations. Packed with adventure and laughs, kids will want to read this choice many times over.
“Sheepish (Wolf Under Cover) written and illustrated by Helen Yoon, Candlewick, 2021, 38 pages, $17.99 hardcover
Read aloud: age 3 – 7.
Read yourself: age 6 – 7.
Wolf has devised a very clever, foolproof plan to ensure he can have an endless supply of lamb dishes. Being a master of disguise, Wolf puts on his sheep costume and slowly, silently approaches a neighboring sheep herd. He works hard to blend in and not create suspicion by being helpful, handy, friendly and acting 100% like a sheep. Then, when no one is suspecting a thing, Wolf will be able to complete his evil plan (or will he?).
Brimming with laughs, hilarious illustrations and an ending that even surprises Wolf, "Sheepish, Wolf Under Cover" is pure delight.
Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached at kendal.rautzhan27@gmail.com
On Super Bowl Sunday, the couple will star in a Cheetos commercial. In a new chat, Mila hilariously said one of the main reasons she and her husband signed on to do the commercial was to just get away from daughter Wyatt and son Dimitri for a few hours.
Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
"It's so silly! Ashton and I, we never work together," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I mean, I know we worked together before … And in the midst of quarantine, they sent us this ad to do and every time I've ever been offered a Super Bowl ad it's always a female having to be scantily clad."
Mila, though, looked at this particular commercial and thought everything was perfect, including the timing.
"I started laughing so hard and Ashton was like, 'This is kind of funny.' And I was like, 'We should do it!'" she recalled. "Also it was quarantine and we were stuck with our children for nine, 12, months at this moment, and I was like, 'Two days, baby! Two days off.'"
"Literally we were like, 'Yeah, OK, let's do it,'" she said. "And so we did it. And I hate saying it but we were like, 'Freedom!'… It was amazing!"
Peter Barreras/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Although Ashton and Mila, who previously starred on "That '70s Show," were thrilled with their decision, Wyatt and Dimitri weren't as excited.
"[I've] never been so excited to wake up at five in the morning to be like, 'I'm going to work!' And I literally skipped out of the house," Mila said. "My kids were like, 'You're abandoning us!' And I was like, 'Relax.'"
Meghan McCain's security blanket at ABC has left the building.
Last week, ABC News president James Goldston shocked many when he announced he was leaving the network. The announcement, sources tell Page Six, is very worrisome for Meghan.
Andrew Morales/Shutterstock
"She should be very nervous now. Her cover has left the building," one source said.
During her time on "The View," Meghan has had controversial opinions, and she's been a target of her co-hosts, particularly Joy Behar, who said she "did not" miss Meghan while the new mom was out on maternity leave.
The now-former ABC exec, who was in charge of daytime programming, was supposedly a Meghan fan and consistently stood in her corner.
"[James] has for years been seen as a Meghan McCain apologist. She's used him as leverage against other talent," an ABC insider claimed, "He's been Meghan's voice in the room. He's taken on Whoopi in defense of Meghan McCain."
The exec had even reportedly gone so far as to tell people to "get over it" when they disagreed with Meghan's viewpoint or sometimes brash delivery.
Clint Spaulding/Variety/Shutterstock
One source, though, said James wasn't as close with Meghan as many thought.
"He's certainly not her defender. Ally would not be the word," that source said. "Things happen and there are continued steps to solve them. Issues get addressed."
An ABC spokesman said Meghan's future at "The View" isn't tied to James at all.
"This is ridiculous. This combo of co-hosts has 'The View' delivering our best numbers in seven years," the rep said. "Meghan is a valued member of the team and no one is talking about any changes to the table."
"'The View' did better ratings with Meghan being gone. For years people claimed that viewers tuned in for her craziness, but the numbers showed us otherwise," a source told The Daily Mail on Jan. 8. "The show actually broke a record during her maternity leave and now she realizes that she doesn't have the job security that she once did. All of that has her shook."
Minnie Driver is opening up about her father's secret double life and his other family.
In a new chat with The Sunday Times Magazine, the "Good Will Hunting" actress spoke about learning at a young age that her dad, Ronnie Driver, was married to a different woman throughout the course of his relationship with her mom.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
"My parents separated when I was six, but at the age of 12 I discovered they had never been married, and that throughout their relationship my father was married to somebody else and had another family," she said.
Minnie's mom, Gaynor Churchward, helped the actress process the secret family dynamic.
Gaynor told The Sunday Times Magazine that she had a five-year relationship with Ronnie.
"He was loyal to me, to his wife and loyal to the children," she said, adding that he was a "complicated man."
Omar Vega/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock
This isn't the first time Minnie has spoken about her upbringing and her dad's other family. In 2014, she met the family she never knew existed for the TLC series, "Who Do You Think You Are."
"Did you get the impression that he was hiding something," Minnie was asked one newfound relative. Another chimed in, "In those days people didn't talk about things like that."
At the time of the series, Minnie said, "My parents Ronnie and Gaynor met in 1962 and they were together for 13 years. They broke up when I was six. And during that entire time my dad was married to somebody else and had another family. I didn't know my parents weren't married until I was about 12. My dad, I think, lived a very split life. We just did not talk about where he came from."
"He spoke very succinctly about his mom and his dad. I never met either of my grandparents. I had a grandmother who was alive when I was a child and I wonder if she even knew about us. I wonder if we were a secret that he therefore had to keep her a secret from us," Minnie continued. "I never saw even a photograph of my grandparents and I have always wondered what they looked like."
Tom Cruise is so "obsessed" with finishing "Mission: Impossible 7" that he's making life a "nightmare" for the cast and crew, a new report states.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP/Shutterstock
Further, there is worry that the cast and crew won't be able to get home once the film is actually finished.
"A lot of us would love to cut our losses and leave things for a while, then pick up when we can," a source told The Sun. "But Tom is completely obsessed with finishing and nothing will stop him. He's the most determined person. It's impressive, but a nightmare."
The movie was filmed all over Europe, but production has now moved to the United Arab Emirates. Currently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, direct flights between Middle East and the United Kingdom are banned. That is worrying the cast and crew, as they're unsure if they will be able to get home.
"Now many of the production team, especially the more junior staff who aren't on big salaries, are up in arms and just want to go home," the Sun reported.
Piero Tenagli/IPA/Shutterstock
Production of the film hasn't exactly been smooth. In mid-December, The Sun leaked audio of Tom laying into crew members on the set of the film for violating COVID-19 protocols.
The Sun's source said over the weekend, "This is starting to feel like a real nightmare of a production — and of course, a lot of that is totally unavoidable. But the hope was that after the pre-Christmas rows and delays, filming out in the UAE would give the crew more freedom to make headway without holdups. It feels like everything is against us at the moment and morale is really down."
Kevin Nealon was the victim of a home burglary during which the crooks got away with more than $100,000 in property and valuables.
Matt Baron/Shutterstock
TMZ reports the thieves broke in while the former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman was away from home for a few days. When Kevin returned, he discovered the burglary.
Authorities are still trying to figure out how the thieves got into the home.
The crooks, he told police, got away with six-figures worth of jewelry and handbags.
Police feel that Kevin wasn't targeted and believe it was more of a random hit.
Randall Park revealed on Jan. 29 that he's been vaccinated against COVID-19 since last September, but only found out this week.
MediaPunch/Shutterstock
The "Ant-Man and the Wasp" star said he took part in a medical trial last year during quarantine, but wasn't sure if he received the actual vaccine or the placebo.
"I just found out that I've been vaccinated against COVID since September of last year," he said on "The Talk."
The actor recalled speaking to "The Masked Singer" panelist Ken Jeong, who's also an actual doctor, about the coronavirus pandemic. During the conversation last year, Ken told Randall about a vaccine trial in Los Angeles that was looking for Asian men and women.
"I was thinking, 'Oh that's interesting.' Then, I found out it was near my home, not far, and I was bored because it was the pandemic," he said. "I was stuck in the house. And I was like, 'Maybe I should donate my body to science.' I figured it would be my way to, kind of, fight this thing happening throughout the world. So, I enlisted in the trial. And I didn't know if I got the placebo or the actual vaccine, but I just found out yesterday that I got the vaccine."
"Sex and the City" star Jason Lewis is issuing a mea culpa after shooting a loaded gun at some feral cats — the gun, though, was loaded with rice, not bullets.
MediaPunch/Shutterstock
On Jan. 30, TMZ published a video showing the actor getting into a heated argument with a neighbor over the incident.
The webloid reports that one of Jason's neighbors passed away last fall and left the cats without an owner. A different neighbor — seemingly the one in the augmentative video — has been feeding the cats every day. Jason, though, is upset that the cats are apparently relieving themselves in his yard, so he took matters into his own hands and started shooting rice grains in cats' direction.
Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
The woman says Jason's action are undermining her efforts to "get [the cats] into homes."
"Everyone who knows me knows my love of animals. I've tried for months to work with a person who is coming into the neighborhood and feeding a large group of feral cats in an effort to relocate them as they have been filling the yards with fleas and waste," he said in a statement. "I made the wrong choice in shooting rice into the dirt (not toward the cats) to spook with the noise and scare them away. To fellow animal lovers that I disappointed, I'm sorry."
The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star and Luis "Louie" Ruelas were first linked in early November, and now they appear to be in the full throes of love.
On Jan. 29, the reality TV star posted a beach pic with her beau, writing on Instagram, "You make my heart smile."
That message came just a few days after she posted an Instagram selfie with her man, captioning it, "You stole my heart, but I'll let you keep it."
Louis also hasn't shied away from public professions of love.
On Jan. 26, the digital marketing executive posted a photo from a dinner date with Teresa on Instagram.
"Everyone has a journey and a path in life and we all have to go thru the pain in order to find the JOY," he wrote in the caption. "JOY Is a constant feeling of happiness and that's what I feel when I'm with you."
While a smattering of fans wondered if a proposal might be on the horizon, most of Teresa's social media followers couldn't help but comment on how happy she looks, including several from the "Housewives" sorority.
"So happy for you," Vicki Gunvalson wrote. Meanwhile, Kelly Dodd wrote that Teresa and her beau are a "gorgeous" couple. Dolores Catania and Tamra Judge both left fire emojis in Teresa's comments section.
A new accessory on Megan Fox's finger is sparking engagement rumors.
The actress has been dating Machine Gun Kelly since early last year, and the couple hasn't shied away from publicly professing their love for each other. Now, after Megan was photographed wearing a big, sparkling ring on her ring finger, there's speculation that the couple has taken their romance to the next level.
Ulices Ramales / BACKGRID
In the new images, which were snapped in New York City on Jan. 28, Megan dons a dark coat and cat ears. It's her ring, however, that's getting everyone talking.
An engagement wouldn't be a huge shock, as Megan and MGK's romance has moved quickly. The couple first met on the set of "Midnight in the Switchgrass" in late 2019. In May, Brian Austin Green announced that he and Megan had split up. She was quickly spotted packing on the PDA with Machine Gun Kelly.
ABC/Shutterstock
In speaking about her romance with the rap-rocker in July 2020, she said on a podcast, "We're actually two halves of the same soul, I think. And I said that to him almost immediately, because I felt it right away."
Around the same time, MGK declared that he was "probably" done dating forever. "I'm locked in," he said on Instagram.
Later, he told Howard Stern, "I didn't know what [love] was until me and her made eye contact. That's when I was like, 'Whoa.'"
After a particularly draining visit to the nursing home, my sister turned to me and said:
“That’s it. When I turn 75, I’m buying a pack of cigarettes.”
She is not a smoker. It was a joke, and I laughed.
We could see that our 90-year-old father was fading. He was in physical pain and psychological distress and whatever help we were offering him wasn’t enough.
My sister was saying out loud what we both were thinking: That a life shortened by smoking seemed better than the one he was living. That we imagined ourselves in his shoes and it terrified us.
You hear versions of that joke all the time when the subject of aging comes up. People say things like, “If I get like that, just take me out behind the barn and shoot me.”
Since we are talking about ourselves, these jokes seem OK, even if they are a little grim. But words have meanings, and what we say informs what we do.
Last week, the editorial board heard an important presentation by the Maine Council on Aging about the language we use when we talk about people as they get older. The session was sparked by changes in the Associated Press Style Manual, the go-to reference work for newspapers like ours on matters of usage.
The AP now recommends that we no longer use terms like “the elderly” or “senior citizens” when describing older adults because the terms come with a lot of baggage that prevents us from seeing people behind the stereotypes. We are advised to avoid generalities and to be as specific as possible, to use words that describe instead of label.
Some are going to call this “political correctness, or “cancel culture,” but if you look, it’s easy to see how the words we use can affect our views.
One of the disturbing aspects of the politics of the COVID crisis is the way some people discount the more than 400,000 deaths by pointing out that many of the dead are people in their 70s, 80s and 90s.
These arguments are made by people who oppose policies they think will slow the economy or inconvenience them in some way, and some of the same people who make them were fighting against Obamacare a few years ago, claiming that it would create “death panels” and “kill Grandma.”
But behind the words is an assumption that we can’t write off. Like the grim jokes, it expresses a judgment over which lives are worth living.
Like other kinds of prejudice, ageism doesn’t have to be something we are aware of to work on us. It gets perpetuated by the choices we make even if we think it’s not a factor.
The great irony is that while more people than ever are living into healthy old age, we are a culture that’s obsessed with youth. It hasn’t always been this way. If you look at high school graduation portraits from the 1940s and ’50s, the kids look like grown men and women. Today, though, a billionaire CEO of a tech company will go to extraordinary lengths to dress like he’s in middle school.
Internal beliefs about aging, including fears about our own future, find their way into policies and practices that make life harder for older adults.
More people are able to work past what used to be considered retirement age, but they still have to fight against old ideas about what makes a good employee when they look for a job. Older patients don’t bother to seek help for treatable conditions because they have been told that these are just normal symptoms of aging. Older people are seen as a drag on society, and not contributors, and no one wants to think of themselves that way.
Which doesn’t make a lot of sense in a place like Maine, where nearly half the population is old enough for membership in AARP.
We have a workforce shortage that slows economic growth. It’s driven by demographic trends. There are fewer Mainers graduating from high school every year than there are people who celebrate their 65th birthday.
The solution should include attracting younger people to live and work here through some combination of immigration from other countries and in-migration from other states. But it also should include a mental shift that makes us recognize that turning 65 is not the end of productive work life for everyone.
We can’t make that shift without confronting our own fears about aging and recognizing how those fears color the way we see others.
The way we talk about aging matters. It’s no joke.
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Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo are currently working on The Adam Project, a science fiction film that’s set to hit Netflix at some point in the future. Reynolds recently took to Instagram to share some behind-the-scenes images from the film, some of which show his and Mark Ruffalo’s characters standing around a severely damaged car. Judging by the caption, the vehicle may have belonged to Ruffalo’s character, but Reynolds isn’t too worried about how he’ll react. Check out his post below:
Comedian Brendan D’Souza didn’t even get to enjoy the first part of 2020 before everything went to hell: their boyfriend dumped them on New Year’s Day. D’Souza decided to connect with broken-hearts another way: by starting a podcast called “Shredded: The Post-Break-Up Podcast.”
“Grief is singular, but also universal, especially right now when all of us are experiencing a sort of mourning for the lives we were living before the pandemic,” says D’Souza. “I love thinking that my podcast could help someone the same way it helped me.”
Here are D’Souza’s picks for the best Toronto podcasts to bring a little light and laughter into your lockdown life.
1. “Shredded: The Post-Break-Up Podcast”
“Every episode, I sit down with a different comedian to unpack the experience of their worst breakup, and talk about their coping mechanisms, lowest points, jokes they’ve written about it, and most importantly what their breakup anthem was.
Start with these episodes: “Try with Selena Vyle,” “Rumour Has It with Anasimone George,” “Shout Out To My Ex with Tamara Shevon”
2. “Nostalgique”
“This is a rollercoaster with no seatbelts. Ben Sosa Wright is a comedic genius and Aba Amuquandoh is one of Torontos fastest-rising comedy stars. Listening to an episode feels like hanging out with old friends after years apart. The show discusses popstars from the ’90s and early 2000s. There are hot takes, takedowns, impressions, and jokes that come so fast they give you whiplash.”
Start with these episodes: “Kelly Clarkson,” “Radiohead with Meg MacKay”
3. “The Liquid Courage Podcast”
“Amanda Pereira is so talented, it’s intimidating, but her podcast is all about exploring her self-doubt and getting stuck in her own head. She interviews different female artists who she admires over an alcoholic beverage of the guest’s choice, and shares experiences, stories, and advice. ‘Liquid Courage’ should be mandatory listening for every artist to learn how to stop getting in your own way, focus on your goals, and not let doubts get the better of you.”
“Brandon Ash-Mohammad and Andrew Johnston are pop-culture scholars. They unpack it all, as well as politics, social media, race, queerness and more in their podcast that started out as an Instagram Live show and became a piece of pop culture history.”
Start with this episode: “The Crown”
5. “Sidenote”
“I actually understand very little that goes on outside my own head, so I rely on AsapSCIENCE to fill in the gaps for me. Greg and Mitch are your dream science teachers: they’re hilarious, they charming as hell, and they explain everything in super-accessible ways that even someone like me can understand. And it’s not just chemistry or biology: they use science to investigate subjects like social media addiction, racism, pop culture trends, and politics. Science is super-cool and applicable to everything, yo!”
Start with this episode: “How Will The Universe End? Ft. Katie Mack”
MANSFIELD -- Heard the story about the ambivalent local TV weather forecaster? He adopts a non-committal stance in front of the camera, points at the colorful map and shrugs his shoulders.
"Might rain ... might not," is the best meteorological observation he can summon, all the while protecting a televised perfect record of weather obfuscation.
North central Ohio residents don't need that guy tonight and Sunday. It's gonna snow for sure. The only question is how much -- and that depends on the model used in the forecast.
At this point Saturday morning, the National Weather Service office in Cleveland has issued a winter weather advisory, which begins Sunday at 1 a.m. and continues until Sunday at 10 p.m.
The wide swath of Ohio included in the advisory area includes Richland, Ashland, Crawford and Knox counties. The snow is expected to begin around midnight and continue well into Sunday.
Today will be mostly cloudy with a high near 30. Snow begins, becoming steadier after 1 a.m. and dropping one to three inches overnight. Snow continues during the day Sunday with another one to three inches expected with a high temperature of around 32.
Snow is expected to continue into Sunday evening with another one to two inches predicted.
Schools will have a call to make Monday since snow is forecast to continue into the workweek with another inch or so possible.
You know the drill. Shovel carefully. Drive carefully. Give the plows space and time to work with their brine, salt and plows.
Heck, walk carefully. I know you have heard this one: What falls in the winter but never gets hurt?
Yep. You got it. Snow. And it's gonna start falling tonight while we sleep.
Sorry for the joke. I will show myself out.
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Keeping romance alive during the pandemic hasn’t been easy for many, but there has been an upside: People have been forced to deal with each other as they are, and not as they imagine.
The downside? Cliche and perfunctory Valentine’s Day gifts like candy and flowers just don’t cut it anymore. This year’s gift needs to prove that you appreciate your valentine for their authentic self.
And that means authentically weird.
Lucky for you, HuffPost Weird News has once again done the heavy lifting of searching through vast possibilities of gift ideas to present the choicest for every valentine.
Whether that means giving a giant rubber chicken, a vat of chocolate hummus or a bong shaped like the male sex organ, we’ve got you covered.
Check out the Valentine’s Day 2021 selection of weird gifts:
This month, the fast food giant was sued for fraud by two plaintiffs who claim the sandwich chain doesn't use actual tuna in its tuna sandwiches. The fast-food giant denied the claims on Friday, writing, "There is simply no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California. Subway delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests."
Enter Simpson, who on Friday reacted to the viral news story on Twitter.
"It's OK @SUBWAY. It IS confusing," the singer, who is 40, tweeted.
The mother of three's tweet comes 17 years after she admitted she was unsure if she was eating chicken or tuna when consuming Chicken of the Sea tuna.
"Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says chicken...by the sea?" Simpson asked Lachey during the 2003 episode of their former MTV reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica."
Lachey, who was shocked by his then-wife's request, tried explaining: "'Chicken of the Sea' is the brand because, you know, a lot of people eat tuna, and a lot of people eat chicken, so it's like 'Chicken of the Sea.'"
"I understand now, I read it wrong," Simpson replied.
Jessica Simpson poked fun at herself on Friday while reacting to Subway's recent lawsuit which accuses the sandwich chain of failing to use real tuna in their food. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)
The iconic moment in TV history quickly went viral, haunting Simpson for years. It even ended up being included in a "Saturday Night Live" sketch about the couple featuring Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake. Simpson's tweet on Friday, however, shows she's now able to laugh at herself for the mix-up after all these years.
Simpson and Lachey divorced in 2006 after three years of marriage. The "With You" singer is now married to former NFL pro Eric Johnson. The couple shares three kids.
If there is one thing about Deshaun Watson's personality, he's not going to let controversy kill his vibe.
With a few exceptions, Watson remained positive during the Texans' failed 2020 season, despite the pattern of losing.
And even as his trade request looms, on the day the Texans introduce their new head coach, Watson still carries a smile and appears upbeat.
Watson hung out with legends Michael Vick and Deion Sanders among others for about an hour Friday night for the NFL Pro Bowl Verzuz event. It's themed after the Verzuz brand which became popular with musical artists trading hits in a friendly battle format during the pandemic.
Here, the quarterbacks Watson and Vick traded highlights. Sanders was one of the moderators along with MJ Acosta-Ruiz.
Late into the session, Sanders praises Watson for being an inspiration to the next generation.
"The whole hood, everybody and they mama wanted to be like Mike Vick. Now, this generation, they want to do what you do because of the way you do what you do and you always classy and professional, man," Sanders said. "And I love that about you, my brother."
Then Sanders just couldn't help himself.
"They told me not to ask you nothing about where you going but I can't wait to see where you going, so you can take that with you, too."
All laughs in response, but no one's really joking.
Watson's response to Sanders?
"You've got my cell. Hit me up."
Of course, this is much different than what Texans first-year general manager Nick Caserio and first-year head coach David Culley had to say earlier Friday, when they were adamant about not trading Watson.
The sides are on opposite ends, and while Caserio was non-committal on a timeline for when all of this needs to be cleared up, it's now clear how big a task this is in front of him.
The public had not heard from Watson directly since the end of the season and this provides some insight.
"It is a one-two punch of things that I never dreamed of for myself," Levy, 37, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "It's a strange time to have lovely things happen. At the same time, I think it's so important to really sit and acknowledge the good things that happen, considering how strange these times are. So my plan is to really soak in all of it and have as much fun as I possibly can."
"I've always really admired the M&M's commercials. They've always been self-aware and funny and bright," says Levy. "I was walked through what this spot would be and I was in, I was hooked. It's a very rare opportunity that you read something and you're like, 'I have no hesitation, reservation—thank you very much, the answer is yes.'"
While Levy can't spill the beans yet about the plot of the ad—although the teaser hints at a gender reveal gathering gone wrong—he says he's proud of how "well- intentioned and fun" the final commercial turned out to be.
"The goal of the spot is just about connecting people and finding ways to bring people together, especially coming out of a pretty strange and tumultuous year," says the Happiest Season actor. "I think it's such a hopeful little spot. It is funny and sweet, and I can't wait for everyone to see it."
M&M's will release the full 30-second commercial during a virtual premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. EST. The event will be hosted by its "spokescandy" Yellow and will include surprise guests, according to the brand. Fans who are interested in attending the Zoom event can visit MMS.com/Superbowl to register.
While Levy says will certainly be watching Super Bowl 55 from home, he admits that the matchup between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is not as interesting to him as the other aspects of game day.
"I usually watch the halftime show and I watch the ads, and I will try my best to get through the whole game this year," he says. "But I can't say that I understand football—so that's on me."
"I was once recruited for my high school football team, and that's the closest that I have come to the sport outside of just being a very annoying person at a Super Bowl party—not that we're having them any time soon," says the star, who made his debut in PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive issue in November. "But previously and historically, I was always the person saying, 'Why do they have to start that whole thing again? Why does he keep running outside the lines? Okay, I don't understand this.' And people eventually being, like, 'Okay, can you go into another room or just be quiet?'"
As for the other big event of the weekend, Levy says that hosting on SNL for the first time will be "a highlight of my life."
"SNL is something that I have honestly dreamed about since I was a very precocious elementary school student. It is a dream come true," says the first-time host, who will be joined by musical guest Phoebe Bridgers. "And then to follow it on a Sunday with a Super Bowl spot that I'm just so proud of, it's going to be a weekend to remember for sure."
Super Bowl 55 will air on CBS on Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. EST.
NILES — Miss Marcie, “The Joke Lady” from Niles, wants you to know that brightening someone’s day isn’t a complicated mission. Simply think about someone else.
“I have a lot of physical problems. When you think of others, you work beyond that and get blessed at the same time,” said Marcie Danyi, who declined to have her photo taken because of illness.
For several years, Danyi has been mailing 6-inch-by-9-inch envelopes to people she knows and to people she doesn’t. Packed in each envelope are several typewritten pages of clean, uplifting jokes culled from the collection she’s been amassing for that last 40 or 50 years.
Pages are headed with such quotes as “Laughter is the shock absorber of life’s blows” and “Laughter is, and will always be, the best form of therapy.”
Even the envelopes are inscribed with words of encouragement. In her neat, almost calligraphic printing, Danyi writes beneath the return address label, “The Joke Lady — 78 1/2 and still harmless.” A common phrase on the backside: “You matter to God … and to others.”
Danyi said she’s amazed at how God can use just a common, ordinary homebound person who never really went anywhere to brighten the days of so many people from coast to coast.
“This is your calling,” a niece in Washington state wrote. “You make us laugh and put a smile on our faces.”
Her mailing list includes the Niles police and fire departments (“What award do you give a firefighter? — Most extinguished”), a great deal of the businesses in town and “anybody who pops into my mind.”
Danyi said the world would be a brighter, happier place “if people would just pay attention to their neighbors, anybody they can think of, especially those who live alone.”
A NILES GIRL
Danyi was born and raised in Niles. “I love this town.”
She said her career consisted of office work and “anything that needed to be done.”
“I worked for an electrical contractor, and the guys would come in at night and drop everything on the floor,’ she said. “I would sort them out. What a mess.”
Another job memory: “I owned one of the first Mustangs in 1965. I had a pink and white Mustang. I worked for a trucking company back then. I let one of the parts guys go to lunch in it.”
He pulled up to a light and a truck driver looked down at him and shook his head. “Really?”
Danyi gets a kick out of that story. And it proves that a person who is hesitant to begin a joke ministry for lack of fancy and finessed material is missing the point. Anyone who can see the humor in daily life and ordinary situations can bless someone else’s day, she said.
MINISTRY OF MIRTH
The joke ministry “started out as making posters in 2016 for Sparkle Market. I wanted to do something for the workers,” she said.
But the roots were set long before then.
In the 1980s, she started a Scripture card ministry to people in her church.
Later, she wrote letters to prison inmates. “That was fear and trembling,” she said.
She notes she neither writes her own material nor is a performer, but sometimes the situation calls for it.
“I spent a lot of time in nursing homes with a couple of aunts and a cousin. At lunchtime, they’d bring them in, and they’d sit around staring at each other. It was boring,” she said. “I dug out my jokes and started reading.”
“Normally, I’m a serious person. This is my alter ego, I guess,” she said.
As illnesses kept her at home more and more, the ministry shifted to the U.S. Postal Service.
In December, she sent an apologetic letter to one of her “subscribers” after having to take a break because of health issues flaring up: “I haven’t given up, but I have slowed down quite a bit. Still, I continue to search for jokes (an obsession!) with the hope that I can continue to organize them and get them typed.”
She loved to collect quips, quotes and conundrums. Labeled file folders stashed in a storage box are stuffed with decades’ worth of stories and gentle humor.
“Now I’m hooked up to the internet. Now I can find jokes by category,” she said. “With a category, you can find specific jokes.”
Her firefighter friends receive firefighting humor while a joke packet for a plumber friend is stuffed with silly stories that relate to him.
“I pay attention to what people say,” she said. A person who mentioned a new cat received a packet that included three pages of cat jokes, plus a comic strip clipping about cats.
Among the cat quips:
“Cats probably think we are cleaning our ice cream cones.”
“What did the cat say after eating two robins lying in the sun? ‘I just love baskin’ robins.'”
“It’s my dog and cat’s world. I’m just here to open the cans.”
It’s not just jokes. A person talking about Vietnam received a 30-year-old magazine article she saved on the topic. Yes, she saves interesting stories, too.
Lifting spirits and caring about others is wonderful, she said.
“People just need something different in their lives,” Danyi said.
INSPIRATION
Her favorites to binge-watch on YouTube include humorist and former Miss North Carolina Jeanne Robertson and Christian comedian Dennis Swansberg. She admires both the humor and the Southern accents. She also loves pulling up videos of comedians Michael Jr., Jeff Foxworthy and Mark Lowry.
One of her heroes is Phyllis Diller, who was born in 1917 in Lima.
“Phyllis’ 53,000 jokes, on 3-by-5 index cards, in a steel cabinet with 48 drawers, were donated to the Smithsonian museum,” she said.
Some of her favorite Diller lines:
“Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people seem bright until they speak.”
“I do dinner in three phases: Serve the food, clear the table, bury the dead.”
“I spent seven hours in a beauty shop — and that was just for the estimate.”
Danyi also draws inspiration from her faith, which she also loves to share in her mailings.
“I want to get some Scriptures in them, very simple verses on God’s comfort, God’s presence,” she said.
As it is, the footnote at the bottom of most pages of jokes is this: “A cheerful heart is good medicine …” Proverbs 17:22A.
She said she’s disappointed that many churches seem to have slacked off on the Biblical command to care for orphans and widows, and to meet needs.
She’s grateful for her task and the help she receives doing it.
“I’m a project person, always have been all my life,” she said. “I keep wondering, is this what the Lord wants me to do?”
It all can seem so trivial, she said. But the response from her day-brighteners assures her that she’s following the correct course.
“Four different people sent me a total of 11 books of stamps for Christmas. Awesome. I’m thankful for the support,” Danyi said.
So she keeps thinking of others, keeps sorting through her files for cheerful heart medicine and keeps sending envelopes.
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