Josh Duggar Checks Into Rehab As Brother-In-Law Spews Insults on Facebook

As if the Duggar family drama wasn’t bad enough already, the recent Ashley Madison website hack has just made things a whole lot worse for TLC’s former fundamentalist reality stars.

Josh Duggar, arguably the most controversial member of the Duggar family at the moment, was caught red-handed when “hacktavists” broke into the Ashley Madison website and released thousands of user emails.

Duggar already faces serious public scrutiny after reports emerged a few months ago that he had sexually abused multiple young girls girls as a teenager, including his sisters. The allegations caused TLC to cancel the reality show that catapulted the Duggar family to fame, titled 19 Kids and Counting, and the family as a whole has faced plenty of public criticism for the way it handled the charges — or rather, the way it ignored the charges and tried to sweep them under the rug as swiftly as possible.

Despite the accusations and his abrupt departure from his job at the conservative lobbying group Family Research Council, Josh Duggar, 27, seemed firmly rooted in marriage with his wife, Anna, and their children.

That is, until the Ashley Madison email records were released, and it become clear that Josh had been cheating on his wife for three years.

According to CNN, the cybersecurity company Trustify has confirmed that Duggar had an account on Ashley Madison, using the name “josh_the_man.” He paid the company nearly $1,000 between 2012 and 2015 for dating services targeted specifically to married individuals looking to have extramarital affairs.

Duggar released a statement on his family’s website on August 19, admitting that he had been struggling with a pornography addiction and had been unfaithful to his wife. Just a week later, TIME reported, Duggar checked himself into rehab for his apparent sex and pornography addictions.

Up until this point, it has been unclear how well his wife, Anna, had been handling the entire onslaught of events. Though infidelity often leads to divorce, and indeed is the primarily reason for splitting up, according to 73% of divorced couples, the fundamentalist Christian faith that the Duggar family preaches is not very keen on allowing members to get divorced easily.

Of course, social media has a way of weeding out unpleasant details for the media, which is exactly what happened when Duggar’s recently-married sister, Jessa Seewald, posted a Bible verse from 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Daniel Keller, Anna Duggar’s brother and Josh’s brother-in-law, took the opportunity to voice his true feelings about the Duggar lifestyle by commenting on Seewald’s post, according to FOX News. “You have to confess and forsake your sin to have mercy. Not sin confess and repeat,” Keller commented. “Confessing and getting caught are two different things… You want to know what happens when you cover ur [sic] sin maybe you should go read ur [sic] bible instead of beating people over the head with it.”

Little Boy Demands Personal Injury Lawyer Themed Birthday

There are approximately 45,678 personal injury law businesses in the U.S., according to IBIS World research, with nearly 150,322 personal injury lawyers. But even with all those options to choose from, one little boy in New Orleans knows who his favorite legal representative is.

According to a recent story from the Wall Street Journal, L’erin Dobra threw her two-year-old son Grayson a birthday party with a very interesting theme.

“He’s always been very drawn to Morris Bart commercials,” Dobra described. “He used to watch ABC and color videos, and he used to love those. But now he wants to watch Morris Bart commercials.”

She’s talking about New Orleans personal injury lawyer Morris Bart, who’d recently become a source of great captivation for her son. His snappy “One Call, That’s All!” tagline could be heard in the house on a daily basis, if not on the TV, then on repeat on YouTube. The little boy was so obsessed that Dobra decided to throw him a Morris Bart-themed birthday.

Not only was there a cake with an edible frosting portrait of the local lawyer, but Grayson received a pint-sized Morris Bart t-shirt and a life-sized Morris Bart cardboard cutout. While Dobra contacted Bart’s office to see if he would make an appearance, he did not make it to the party. He did, however, send the family an autographed photo, along with some Morris Bart key chains and another logo shirt.

Bart expressed amusement and a little bewilderment at the strange request, and thinks it could mean trouble for his business down the road.

“This was an unusual request… I’m flattered by it,” said the attorney. “He might be a future lawyer… That could be a future competitor of mine many years down the road.”

Dobra added that while Grayson used to pay his loyalties to Mickey Mouse, he has clearly found a new favorite in Morris Bart. “He still likes Mickey,” she said, but “given a choice between the two, Morris Bart will always win.”

After 50 Long, High-Heeled Years, Barbie Finally Gets to Wear Flats

It might have taken half a century, but Barbie can finally give her feet a break.

According to a June 4 Mashable article, the iconic doll will finally have flat feet and adjustable ankles as part of Mattel’s new “Barbie Fashionistas” line of dolls. That means Barbie can now wear flats, sandals and even sneakers for the first time in her 56 years.

Mattel says the Fashionistas line is meant to reflect “the world girls see around them.” Not only do the Barbie Fashionistas dolls have flat feet to reflect more modern-day tastes; this collection of dolls is also decidedly more diverse than Barbie is known for being. Barbie Fashionistas will come in “eight different skin tones, 14 different facial sculpts, 18 eye colors, 22 hair styles, and 23 hair colors,” Cosmopolitan reports.

The choice to make Barbie a bit more modern might be a response to the doll’s waning popularity in recent years, with growing competition from other kid’s toys — especially dolls named Anna and Elsa — taking an increasing chunk out of sales.

But it’s still amazing that it’s taken so long for Barbie to venture into different styles of footwear. Yoga Teacher Barbie, Surgeon Barbie and Firefighter Barbie all walked on their tip-toes. When the feet contain about 25% of the bones in our bodies, it’s hard to fathom how badly Barbie’s feet must have hurt after wearing high heels for so long.

This is especially true when recent scientific studies — and even the fashion industry itself — have acknowledged that high heels cause pain and limit physical activity when worn more than three times per week. Not only is it unrealistic to convey to young girls that successful women always wear high heels, it also might be unhealthy.

So go, Barbie. Fake walk and fake run anywhere your newly-flat feet will take you. Just be sure to keep your Instagram updated with tastefully-filtered photos of all the new shoes you’ll be buying.

New Line of Sneakers by D Lillard 1 Released To Commemorate PDX Carpet

It’s been a long time since one pair of sneakers has been anticipated as much as the newest design from D Lillard 1, but fans have already taken to social media to express their excitement with the design, which was modeled after the old carpet that once lined the floors of the Portland Airport.

Carpets might cover 70% of flooring in the U.S., but few carpets have been as recognizable as the purple and blue lines that decorated the airport’s sea green carpet.

When the Portland Airport ripped out its old carpeting last year, travelers around the globe shared their grief at the loss of the beloved design via social media.

The carpet has been on the floor of the airport for about 20 years, according to WDSU News, but in the past couple of years it became an iconic design, specific to Portland. As KGW News and Oregon Live have reported, travelers began taking pictures of their sneakers on the floor and posting the pictures to social media accounts with the hashtag #pdxcarpet as a way of announcing their arrival in the city.

As a way of commemorating the Portland “landmark,” Adidas joined forces with Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard to design a new sneaker with the color palette of the carpet.

On May 19, Lillard tweeted “I’ve got something special for my PDX fans coming real soon,” along with a photo of his own Adidas-brand sneakers standing on the carpet; a picture of the new carpet-themed sneakers was released shortly after.

Anyone unfamiliar with the iconic carpet of Portland may find the new sneakers a bit odd, but this is hardly the first time that the design has created a flurry of social media activity — there have already been several items, like socks and t-shirts, emblazoned with the PDX design.

Has California’s Drought Affected the Way Celebrities Live?

The average American home can waste anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 gallons of water every year due to leaking faucets and fixtures — but for the biggest celebrities in Hollywood, who live in mega-mansions the size of an entire neighborhood of houses, who knows how much water goes to waste?

It’s impossible to know the answer. Even as massive drought continues to plague California, making water a luxury for millions, state law allows utilities providers to withhold water usage information regarding specific customers from both the press and the public.

For example, we can’t know exactly how many gallons of water Jennifer Lopez uses in her house. But after a recent series of aerial photos showed a number of Hollywood lawns that are still green as ever, including Lopez’s, it’s evident that most celebrities are staying insulated from the concerns of the drought.

There wasn’t always such a lack of transparency surrounding the amount of water that the wealthy and famous consume. In 1991, during California’s last major drought, baseball star Mark McGwire came under fire when an Oakland Tribune report revealed that McGwire used a stunning 3,752 gallons a day during the summer months. The article also found that the top 100 biggest water users in the East Bay used 15 times more water than the average home in the area.

In 1997, however, the state passed legislation that weakened the California Public Records Act, effectively blocking public access to individual and corporate water use information, according to a May 18 Mother Jones article.

As Californians continue to dramatically alter their lifestyles to follow ever-more-stringent water restrictions, they have no way of knowing if the rich and famous have to follow these same conservation measures.

To pressure Hollywood stars to change their household water usage, utilities companies themselves have begun to ask celebrities to comply with local water restrictions. Recently, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District sent a letter to Kim Kardashian, asking her to cut the water usage at her Calabasas mansion in half.

According to the UK Telegraph, the letter contained suggestions to help homeowners maintain their lawns during the drought such as installing artificial turf or planting succulents and other desert plants.

Kardashian responded in earnest, saying she has no problem with letting her lawn go brown in order to conserve water.

“Kim takes this drought seriously. She has no problem letting her grass go brown,” a representative for Kardashian, who shares her $20 million mansion with husband Kanye West and daughter North West, said.

Barbra Streisand is another celebrity who recently cut her water usage after her lawn appeared in the aforementioned aerial photos. One of Streisand’s representatives said she’s cut her water use by more than 50% and plans to take even more conservation measures in the future.

But these are just two examples of celebrities doing the right thing out of the hundreds of wealthy Californians doing nothing to alter their lifestyles. With California entering its fourth straight year of drought and more than 94% of the state classified as being in severe drought, it’s going to take a lot more than two people’s efforts to solve the water crisis. Surviving the drought in California is going to require everyone to pitch in — no matter how wealthy or famous they may be.

Canadian Man Attempts Most Canadian Eating Challenge Ever, Eats 49 Poutines Over Seven Days

A Calgary man has undertaken the most Canadian challenge of all food challenges, in celebration of perhaps the most Canadian holiday of all time.

For Poutine Week last month, Kyle MacQuarrie said he would attempt to eat a whopping 49 poutines in seven days. That’s seven different meals of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds, for seven straight days.

If any Canadian could have done it, though, it’s MacQuarrie, who has already earned his reputation as an extreme eater. Not only did he wolf down 30 pizzas during last fall’s Pizza Week, but he also ate an amazing 36 Calgary Stampede breakfasts (which are large pancake breakfasts served during Canada’s largest rodeo) last year over the course of 10 days. This, he said, will be his greatest food challenge yet.

“It’s such a dense food,” MacQuarrie told the Metro. “I have no doubts this is definitely going to be the hardest.”

The density, however, was not the only problem he’d have to deal with. The size of each gravy-covered meal could also prove to be a big challenge. According to a study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, portion sizes have increased all over the place between 1977 and 1996. MacQuarrie, it seems, is well aware of this fact.

“Until Saturday, I had no idea what portion sizes would be,” he told the Metro. “If I can get half portions at places, I’m confident I can do it. If I’m having to eat the full-sized portions, it will be very much up in the air.”

While the gastronomic feat of strength might have seemed like just a silly challenge, MacQuarrie’s poutine adventure was not without good cause. Proceeds from each of the poutine meals he bought and ate during Poutine Week went towards buying one free meal for a disadvantages Calgarian, through the charity Mealshare.

Mark Wahlberg Loses $250,000 Bet to P.Diddy Over the Fight of the Century

On Saturday, May 2, famed athletes Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao clashed in one of the biggest boxing matches in recent years. Titled the Fight of the Century, the bout drew millions of viewers around the world, including more than a few celebrity guests. Two such stars, Mark Wahlberg and P. Diddy, reportedly made a sizable wager over the results, with Wahlberg siding with Pacquiao and Diddy backing Mayweather.

The two originally agreed on a bet of $100,000, but eventually raised the number to $250,000. Wahlberg also promised to donate his winnings to charity if Pacquiao was successful. Unfortunately, it was Diddy who came out on top, with Mayweather winning the match by unanimous decision.

However, some tax experts are saying that while Wahlberg may have lost, Diddy is the one who will likely pay when tax season returns.

Research shows that Americans spend 7.6 billion hours preparing taxes annually, and for good reason, as the process is infamously confusing. However, there are a few rules that most people keep in mind: for example, you can deduct donations to charity, while you are required to report your gambling winnings. To the average person, this would therefore imply that you could deduct your gambling winnings if you donated them to charity, as Wahlberg planned to. But according to Robert Wood, a tax and litigation expert with Forbes, it isn’t quite so simple.

Wood says that the problem comes down to the strict rules gamblers face when it comes to tax deductions. While professional gamblers can deduct their losses as a business expense, casual gamblers cannot deduct gambling losses that are more than their winnings, and deductions are limited. Additionally, all gambling income is taxed, whether it comes from the lottery, a raffle, races or a casino. Non-cash prizes, such as cars and houses, are also taxed based on their market value. For this reason, the payer may provide the winning gambler with a special form, called a W-2G, for reporting gambling winnings, and may even withhold federal income taxes from the payment.

Meanwhile, Wood says that all deductions are limited. While you can deduct your gambling losses for the year on your Form 1040, taxpayers must be able to provide receipts, tickets, statements or other records to show the total amount they won or lost. The casino or other business will also report big wins to the IRS. For this reason, Wood says that all casual gamblers who want to use their gambling losses to offset their winnings should keep records. Otherwise, the winnings will be taxed while the losses will become nondeductible.

Even if Pacquiao had won, Wahlberg would have been unable to deduct the $250,000 as a charitable donation: the IRS always counts money derived from gambling as gambling winnings, even if you spend the money on charity. However, Wood says that Wahlberg may come out on top because of this. While Diddy will have to report the bet, all Wahlbeg has to do is win at least $250,000 on another wager. This way, Wood says he will violate the IRS rule that a taxpayer can’t deduct more than they win. But Wood notes that limits on itemized deductions could be costly, especially given Wahlberg’s wealth.

Fortunately for Wahlberg, there are reportedly some slick ways he could attempt to minimize his losses. For example, if he made the bet through his production company, Closest to the Hole Productions, he might be able to deduct the loss as a business expense. Likewise, Wood says his business relationship with Diddy might come in handy, as perhaps Wahlberg could claim the entire ordeal as a promotional expense.

Houston Rockets Fire Social Media Manager After Offensive Emoji Tweet

Social media is one of the quickest ways for big brands and entities to get themselves in hot water. All it takes is a poorly timed tweet, a distasteful post, or accidental share of inappropriate content — but this may be the first time that a guy got fired for his choice of emojis.

USA Today reports that social media manager for the Houston Rockets Chad Shanks was fired Wednesday for an offensive tweet, but it wasn’t the text alone that caught people’s attention.

Shanks fired off the tweet right before the end of Tuesday night’s first-round playoff series game against the Dallas Mavericks, which the Rockets won. The tweet read “Shhhhh. Just close your eyes. It will all be over soon.” The text was accompanied by two emojis: a pistol and a horse.

When distasteful tweets like these and other social media gaffes happen, they’re noticed quickly. There are 27 million pieces of content shared online every single day, and when social media users see something controversial or offensive they don’t hesitate to draw attention to it. After some backlash, Shanks’s tweet was deleted.

The Mavericks did respond to the tweet with another, which said, “Not very classy but we still wish you guys the best of luck in the next round.”

According to ESPN, Shanks was a valuable part of the franchise and had attended most of the team’s games and updating the team’s social media and website. He later apologized from his personal Twitter account.

“Sometimes you can go too far,” Shanks wrote. “I will no longer run @HoustonRockets but am grateful to the organization that let me develop an online voice.”

With the rise of smartphones and emoji integration into social media (like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook), more and more users rely on them to express what they’re thinking without words.

According to NPR, about 65% of Americans now have a smartphone, and there are about 1,000 emojis for users to choose from. This offers yet another dynamic to our rapidly evolving methods of communication, but social media managers should, of course, tread carefully.

Can’t Get a Flight to the Superbowl? Win Your Way Through the Alaska Airlines Sweepstakes

After the incredible Seattle Seahawks comeback this week, Seahawks fans from Seattle, and Patriots fans from Boston, are scrambling for plane tickets to Phoenix, AZ for the big game. As a result, Alaska Airlines is opening a sweepstakes to get fans to Phoenix.

Sweepstakes winners will receive a flight to and from Phoenix, a room near the game, and a game day party sponsored by Alaska Airlines.

Though many sweepstakes are used as cost-effective advertising, this sweepstakes is offered through Alaska’s “Chief Football Officer” Russell Wilson’s “Fan Flight II: Strong Against Cancer.” The airline will also donate a dollar to Wilson’s cause for every person who enters the sweepstakes, capping at $50,000.

The sweepstakes might be the only way to get to Phoenix soon. Alaska Airlines announced that flights for Friday, Jan. 30 and Monday, Feb. 2 are already sold out. Additional flights will be added to accommodate air traffic to Phoenix. Fans willing to go earlier and stay longer may still be able to find regular tickets.

Alaska Airlines isn’t the only airline struggling to keep up with Superbowl traffic. U.S. Airlines will add dozens of new flights and some temporary routes to get fans to Super Bowl XLIX. Delta, United, Jetblue and Southwest have also announced expanded flight schedules. United alone is adding 55 extra flights to Phoenix and switching to larger planes for regularly scheduled flights.

Most of the added flights will connect Phoenix to Seattle and Boston, since fans from both teams will be coming from those locations. The extra flights are primarily on the Friday before the Super Bowl and the Sunday following the Super Bowl, though there are a few other dates as well.

Much of the focus is on Alaska Airlines, which runs the biggest hub in Seattle. The Alaska Airlines sweepstakes will provide 56 sports fans with the chance to get to and from Phoenix for free, but there’s a catch: the sweepstakes is only open to members of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan living in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Other sports fans will just have to try to catch one of the added flights.

HGTV Axes Home-Flipping Show After Anti-Gay Comments Surface From Its Star

David and Jason Benham are twin brothers and purported followers of Christ. They’ve run a successful real estate business for the past decade and were all set to captain their own show on HGTV that featured them helping families land houses they could otherwise not afford. But earlier this week, HGTV dropped their show, “Flip It Forward,” without much in the way of an explanation

So, what happened?

You could blame the lobbying group Right Wing Watch, which published a post on its website characterizing David as an “anti-gay, anti-choice extremist” because of comments he had made in the past, including those at a prayer rally held outside of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in North Carolina. Additionally, Right Wing Watch made public a recording of David speaking to talk-show host about “homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation,” as CNN reports.

HGTV, potentially ruffled by the accusations, issued a tweet on May 7 stating their decision not to move forward with the Benhams’ show. David and Jason’s response? “If our faith costs us a television show,” they wrote in a statement released earlier this week, “then so be it.”

The twins also appeared on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” to emphasize their commitment to the Christian faith, which includes being raised by their father, the Rev. Philip “Flip” Benham, who heads Operation Save America, a North Carolina-based anti-abortion group. As David said, “We love all people. I love homosexuals. I love Islam, Muslims, and my brother and I would never discriminate. Never have we — never would we.”

The proposed program, “Flip It Forward,” would have seen the Benhams assist families in turning fixer-uppers — literally “flipping” them — into beautiful dream homes. The real estate market is notably cyclical, with winter always bringing down total sales numbers. The show was slated to ride the natural wave of good-weather sales into the spring and summer.

Philip Benham, the twins’ father, was sentenced to 18 months of probation in 2011 after being convicted of stalking an abortion doctor, the AP reports. A petition to reinstate the show called #FlipThisDecision has since sprung up from the Faith Driven Consumer organization, which also began a campaign in favor of “Duck Dynasty”‘s Phil Robertson.