Search
AI Powered
Human content,
AI powered search.
Latest Stories
Start your day right!
Get latest updates and insights delivered to your inbox.
Latest News
Don’t Miss Out
Join the
ComicSands.com
community and make your opinion matter.
More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
'Emilia Pérez' Star Opens Up About Getting Hit With Transphobic Hate And Death Threats
Jan 14, 2025
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actor Karla Sofia Gascón opened up about the transphobic hate and vile death threats she's received since her critically acclaimed performance in Netflix's Emilia Pérez.
The film, a maximalist musical darkly comedic crime film that also stars actors Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress award for its female ensemble at last year's Cannes Film Festival. It is about a cartel leader (Gascón) who enlists the help of an attorney (Saldaña) to help her fake her own death by undergoing a gender transition.
Gascón has received accolades left and right and is likely to receive a Best Actress nomination when Academy Award nominations are announced next week but has nonetheless faced criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups who say she and the film have placed surgery at the forefront of the transgender experience and lean into tropes about transgender people being prone to violence.
And that's of course not even the half of it given the film was bound to face attacks from conservatives and transphobes who see the film as a threat to "family values," suggested Gascón's a "groomer" who will "erase women and girls," and have ramped up their violent and bigoted rhetoric in response.
In her interview, Gascón said social media users have said things like “I hope you die before you make another movie" and threatened she "would be found dismembered in a bag.”
And she had this to say about her critics:
“There is a part of society that lives off hate, that lives off selling hate, and there is another part that wants to live in hope, with the same rights, all of us in peace and respect. I always see it as a struggle between light and dark.”
“The brighter the light is, the darker the shadows are. And I am public enemy number one right now in the world for many people.”
“I’ve gotten used to it. In fact, I love it. It’s my gasoline to then tell the people of the light: ‘You have won.’ The more people hate me, the more insulting messages they send, the more I say, ‘Thank you,’ and the more I’m going to enjoy this moment.”
The bigotry doesn't bother her, she said, and instead:
“I’ve developed a taste for revenge.”
She also emphasized that in the grand scheme of things, these same critics, LGBTQ+ or otherwise, are little more than armchair faux experts:
“First off, I’m tired of TikTokers, Instagrammers, influencers and people who get up in the morning and are all soccer coaches, they are all journalists, they are all film critics. You must be super well-adjusted to criticize the work of 700 people from your couch, sitting there next to your PlayStation."
"Second, they claim to speak for everyone. Let me tell you: Being LGBT doesn’t make you less of an idiot.”
Many have condemned these attacks against Gascón and come to her defense.
Most recently, Gascón was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Independent Spirit Award for Emilia Pérez, cementing her status as a trailblazer whether or not she wins the coveted Academy Award.
The actor's higher profile has already led to new opportunities. She is set to shoot the film Las Malas, directed by the Academy Award-winning co-writer of Birdman, Armando Bó. Additionally, acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, whose film The Room Next Door has also received praise this year, has expressed a desire to work with her.
Keep ReadingShow less
Most Read
Don’t Miss Out
Stay ahead of the curve with the latest news and viral moments from Comic Sands!
@LizKreutzNews/X
Man Who Lost Home To LA Wildfires Has Emotional Reunion With Dog He Feared Had Perished
Jan 14, 2025
Raging wildfires continue to devastate areas throughout Los Angeles County since January 7, primarily due to a lack of humidity and powerful wind gusts.
Thousands of LA residents were forced to leave under mandatory evacuation orders while surrounding neighborhoods in Red Flag Warning zones are on standby as firefighters continue fighting the blazes around the clock.
While updates from the terrifying natural disaster received constant media coverage, news highlighting the local community coming together and lifting each other up through voluntary humanitarian efforts has started providing some reprieve from the mounting anxiety gripping LA residents.
One heartwarming viral video shows a dog owner being reunited with his dog after being separated for days amidst the chaos. This is a recent prime example of how hope and inspiration persist.
The clip also served as a reminder that animals are victims during the crisis, as many of them, including farm animals and house pets, were either abandoned or have run away in fear as they witnessed the encroaching flames easily spread by floating embers.
Fire victim Casey Colvin is the lucky pet owner featured in the video.
Colvin's home burned down in the Pacific Palisades fire, considered the most destructive wildfire in LA history after more than 1,200 homes and business structures were reduced to rubble.
The joyous clip starts with Colvin calling out for his rescue pup named "Oreo" from the other side of a fence after they were separated for days.
Oreo runs down the inclined pathway, squeezes underneath the gate, and is rapturously picked up by Colvin, who cries, "Oh, honey, you're alive!"
You can watch the clip here.
With his beloved pet over his shoulder, Colvin runs into the street and shouts "Oh thank you Jesus, oh thank you God!"
The clip ends with Colvin profusely thanking NBC news correspondent Liz Kreutz for setting up the happy ending.
Social media users were moved watching the clip.
Colvin had left for work before the wildfires started.
When the evacuation mandate was ordered, he spent five hours in traffic but failed to reach Oreo and his other dog, Tika Tika Tika, in time.
Here is a clip of Colvin featured in an earlier interview when he first met Kreutz and shared his uncertainty regarding the whereabouts of his pets.
"I hope to God my dogs are okay. They're my family," said the emotional Palisades resident, adding, "I don't care about the house, I care about the dogs."
With tears in his eyes, he said of his two four-legged companions:
"I literally rescued them off the streets. They deserve better than this."
Tika Tika Tika was immediately rescued by a firefighter who managed to get into Colvin's residence and found the frightened pup.
However, Oreo, a "behavioral dog" that Colvin had rescued, was nowhere to be found, despite having an AirTag location device.
Eventually, a neighbor discovered Oreo sleeping in a pile of rubble that had been where Colvin's house once stood.
"Casey says a friend has seen Oreo and took a photo. He believes he is alive," wrote Kreutz on an Instagram post seeking community help to find Oreo. "He sent me his missing flier asking people to share."
Kreutz's post has now been updated with, "Oreo has been found!"
Keep ReadingShow less
Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images, @viceplayer28/TikTok
Frontier Airlines Responds To Outrage After Muslim UFC Champ Was Kicked Off Flight
Jan 14, 2025
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has responded after viral clips showed him getting kicked off a flight following a dispute over seating arrangements with a flight attendant.
According to a TMZ report, the boarding dust-up took place on a flight leaving Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport on Saturday.
The Russian native born to an Avar family is regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. The 2022 UFC Hall of Famer also holds the distinction of being the first Muslim to win a UFC title.
Viral clips showed him being confronted by an airline employee who gave him the option to either switch seats or debark the plane after flight attendants expressed not being "comfortable" with him "sitting in the exit row," which requires passenger consent to physically assist fellow passengers off the plane in the event of an emergency.
"It's off of their judgment," she said of the flight crew members, who allegedly argued over Nurmagomedov's ability to understand and speak English.
"It's not about the language sir," said the employee, adding:
"I'm not gonna do this back-and-forth. You can either take a different seat or we can go ahead and escort you off the plane."
Nurmagomedov calmly replied the situation wasn't "fair" and eventually chose the latter option of being escorted off the plane and rebooking another flight.
The clip ends with Nurmagomedov following an airport security member off the plane.
Here's the video shared by TikToker @viceplayer28.
@viceplayer28 Khabib was removed from the airplane 🤯#khabibnurmagomedov #khabib #nurmagomedov #ufc #champion
On Sunday, Nurmagomedov addressed the incident in a post on X (formerly Twitter), starting with a clarification on the airline he was traveling with in response to false assumptions made online.
"First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier not AlaskaAir," he wrote.
Nurmagomedov continued:
"Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning, even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist, she still insists on removing me from my seat."
"What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I'm not sure."
"But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security and I was deplaned from this aircraft, after 1,5 hour I boarded another airline one and left to my destination."
"I did my best to stay calm and respecttul as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients."
Social media users weren't surprised he was flying with an airline that was notorious for having poor customer service.
Many thought he was more than qualified and dependable to be sitting in the exit row in the event of a mid-flight crisis.
He was commended for keeping things calm.
Some thought the conflict stemmed from racism.
In response to the onboard altercation with the UFC champ, Frontier Airlines told the Huffington Post in an updated statement:
“On Jan. 11, 2025, as flight 4401 from Las Vegas to San Francisco was preparing for departure, a flight attendant initiated the customary briefing for exit row passengers."
"Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated in an exit row, was asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency."
“According to the flight attendant, Mr. Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, which placed him in non-compliance with FAA requirements."
The statement added:
“As a result, he was asked to move to a different upgraded seat which he refused to do. Therefore, in accordance with airline and FAA policy, he was asked to deplane.”
The airline clarified:
"The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his traveling companions for their flights.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Scott Olson/Getty Images; Tom Emmer
GOP Rep. Dragged For His Awkwardly Fawning Reaction To Past Criticism From Trump
Jan 14, 2025
Minnesota Republican Representative Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip, was mocked online after he had only glowing things to say about President-elect Donald Trump despite Trump's negative assessment of him from 2023.
That year, the former president took to Truth Social to deride Emmer as “totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters” and a “Globalist RINO," even getting on the phone with members of Congress to stress he would not support Emmer's bid for the House speakership.
Trump later messaged one person close to him, according to Politico, with the words, “He’s done. It’s over. I killed him," mere minutes before Emmer officially dropped out of the race.
But Emmer had only glowing things to say about Trump in remarks to Jonathan Karl of ABC's This Week, who highlighted Trump's past remarks and asked Emmer if he and the president-elect have now "gotten to know each other a little better":
"The president and I are on very good terms. The president has been wonderful to me, and wonderful to my wife, has done everything that he could to campaign in Minnesota. He’s been amazing."
"And yeah, we’re going to do some good work together. But it’s Donald J. Trump’s agenda. My job is to make sure that we execute.”
When Karl asked him to share what his interactions with Trump are like, Emmer laughed and said:
“He’s a very blunt and honest human being."
You can hear Emmer's remarks in the video below.
While Karl also laughed, many critics were laughing at Emmer, not with him, calling out his awkwardly fawning reaction.
Emmer continued fawning over Trump during the rest of the interview, saying Trump "got a mandate on November 5" and that Republicans are "going to get the Trump agenda put in place."
He stressed that Republican voters expect their leaders "to deal with the excessive spending, the debt, the deficit that has driven double-digit inflation at the beginning of the Biden term, they've asked Donald Trump to seal the southern border, and they want peace and stability around the globe."
Given Trump's track record—and his recent threats to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, make Canada the 51st state, invade Greenland, and seize the Panama Canal—good luck with that.
Keep ReadingShow less
a woman laying in a hospital bed with an iv in her hand
Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash
People's Wildest 'I Should Have Died But Didn't' Experiences
Jan 14, 2025
Many of us sometimes wish we were given a different life.
We grew up in a different place, found ourselves working a different career, or, in more extreme cases, were born into a different family.
Sometimes, however, we are able to stop and remind ourselves to be grateful for the life we're living.
Something that is so much easier to do when you survive an experience that nearly cost you your life.
Redditor Jamestimes12 was curious to hear about people who survived experiences that should have, by all accounts, killed them, leading them to ask:
"What’s your 'I should’ve died but didn’t' story?"
TIMBER!
"I cut trees for a living, and sometimes in this job you will hear something fall and you just pray it’s not going to hit you or that it won’t kill you."- Yeetmiester6719
There Are Definite Benefits To Having Roommates
"Walking home late at night in -30 celsius weather."
"Slipped on ice, legs went forward and fell hitting the back of my head on the ice covered sidewalk - cracked my skull and got a concussion, but didn't know it yet."
"I got back up and tried to keep walking home, but I passed out - this time falling forward into the ground smashing my face, breaking my nose and a few teeth."
"I woke up about 30 minutes later and had to peel my face off my frozen pool of blood, stumbled home, and instinctively started running a bath to clean myself up."
"That's when my roommates saw me and had the good sense to call me an ambulance."
"Got rushed to surgery to fix my bleeding brain."- Metrochaka
All It Can Take Is A Matter Of Seconds...
"I attended Pukkelpop 2011, a festival that was hit by a super cell storm and completely destroyed within minutes."
"You can see the carnage on YouTube."
"First we found shelter underneath a large open tent, but it started to collapse under the weight of the hail stones."
"We started running and 1 second after we escaped the whole thing collapsed."
"I remember looking back and seeing the collapsed beam right where we just escaped the tent."
"Another young couple got killed by the impact of that same metal beam."
"They must have been right behind us."- Charlie2912
There Are Good Samaritans Out There
"My friends and I were on an aluminum paddle boat in the middle of a lake, a random and fast thunderstorm came on and suddenly our friends hair was standing up straight from static electricity."
"Huge lightning storm and we’re essentially in a tin can in the middle of the lake."
"We all bailed and started to swim back as it started pouring, and someone in a boat saw us rushing and came out to scoop us to safety."
"Scary sh*t."- skepticallincoln
Thank The Lord For Advancements In Technology
"When I was about 16weeks old I stopped breathing in the middle of the night."
"My older brother died of SIDS as a baby so when my mum had me she had some high tech baby monitoring devices in my crib."
"The only reason I’m alive is because one of these alerted my parents that I wasn’t breathing, so they could react quick enough to save me."
"I have a heart murmur, that’s why I stopped breathing as a baby."
"I’m okay now, just get it checked every few years that’s all."- Vegemite_is_Awesome
Talk About Being Grateful!
"Fell through an open trap door like a Looney Tunes character and landed about 15 ft onto the concrete below."
"I laughed it off, walked away, and drove myself to urgent care with a broken neck."
"Also, went into hypovolemic shock when I lost about 2 liters of blood during a postpartum hemorrhage."
"I didn’t realize how serious it was until way after."
"I was just chilling on the operating table, suddenly feeling very serene and out of it, thinking about how grateful my grandparents and ancestors would be for the staff who delivered my baby via c section after a difficult labor."
"Really all I felt was peace and gratitude in that moment."
"No fear at all."
"Didn’t learn til much later how dire the situation was."- honey222bunny
Life After Death
"Cardiac arrest last year."
"My heart went into ventricular fibrillation and the heart is unable to pump oxygen to the body."
"Had to be shocked back."
"I was clinically dead for a little while."
"No issues now though."- crunchypancake31
Thank HEAVEN For Nurses
"I had the ABSOLUTE worse birthing story."
"I was induced two weeks early because my baby was in distress."
"My epidural was leaking, having bad migraines, they had to drain blood out of my feet."
"I was in active labor for so long that I was deemed failure to progress."
"Then my baby girl was born with a blood infection."
"We had to remain in the hospital due to my leaky epidural."
"The doctors tried to patch it up, didn't work."
"Then after being in the hospital for over 5 days, I was getting ready to be released."
"As I was signing my discharge paper work the nurse noticed my face looked like I was in pain."
"She asked if I was ok, I said no, I felt like I was getting a headache."
"She said she wanted to take my vitals before I left and found out my BP was 200/140."
"I was diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia."
"They put my IV back in to give BP meds and started magnesium to prevent seizures."
"I stayed in the hospital for a total of 13 days."
"Nurse saved my life after giving birth."- runningwithglasses
If You're Trying To Kick The Habit Of Eating In Bed...
"This past summer I was eating laying down and ended up choking."
"I couldn't scream for help."
"Ran to the bathroom to get some water to wash it down."
"The water would hit the blockage and come right back out of my mouth, it was terrifying to see that in the mirror."
"That horrible feeling of water will not go down."
"Thought this was the end of me."
"Turns out that little bits of water did make it past the blockage enough for it to go down."
"Panicked."
"Absolutely certain I would die but here I am."- waterbottlejesus
Beating The Odds
"Back in the late 90s, I got hantavirus."
"At the time, the mortality rate was about 95%."
"When I was given the test results by the doctor, he was surprised I was alive."- No_Tailor_787
One Wrong Turn...
"I got lost on a mountain hike in Ecuador."
"I was alone."
"I ended up scrambling up the vertical face for the last metres as after I took a wrong turn there was nowhere else to go but up."
"To go down would be definite death."
"When I made it over the top of the vertical face and onto the top of the mountain, not without slipping and almost loosing my footing twice, I fell onto my stomach and cried so much i threw up, and then realized I was being bitten by a swarm of flying ants whose home I had just thrown up on."
"About 5 metres ahead of me was the trail leading back down the mountain, the one I should have taken up but didn't find."
"On the way back down I saw where I went wrong."
"The path was completely overgrown."- Kitchenwitch02
As If The First One Wasn't Bad Enough...
"Had a scare with a flash flood."
"I was going to get my nails done at a mall some distance from my house (it was a Wednesday), and my wedding was Saturday."
"This was June 2018."
"It is beautiful outside, nice and warm and in the evening."
"I sit at the nail shop for like an hour and hear rain beating down."
"It was really loud, and me and the tech were talking about it."
"I go outside and the water in the lot is up to my ankles."
"It was raining so hard I could barely see, and I was an hour from home."
"I wasn't near a water source like a river or lake or anything."
"The whole way the fire departments were racing in front of me with those sawhorses that say road closed."
"At one point I get stuck in traffic (it's night time) and there is a river flowing right next to me that never existed before."
"It was coming on the road."
"I have a little Hyundai."
"I would literally floor it and hydroplane from one dry spot to the next to try to stay above it."
"The water was pushing my car around."
"I kept looking at the houses next to me (they were on a hillside) thinking I can jump out and run."
"Finally dawned on me how people die in these things."
"I always commented about dumb people in floods, but it came out of nowhere and so fast."
"I couldn't believe it."
"There weren't even any water sources near me to flood."
"Every road I tried to take to get off this one was 20 feet under water."
"When I got home I found out a lady less than a mile from me was swept away."
"The fast food place only 1/4 mile away got flooded so fast the patrons and staff were jumping on the tables watching their cars get swept away."
"I also had a twisted ovary I refused to go to the doctor for like an idiot."
"I had a pain below my belly button that got worse in like 2 days so I got a heating pad."
"Finally my parents yelled at me that I am changing colors and this isn't normal."
"I went to the hospital where the doctor (Dr. Idiot as I call him) and Nurse Ratchet decided I had a kidney stone and made fun of me."
"She said I better never have kids if I can't tolerate this."
"I wasn't even screaming or crying just groaning and moving around."
"They held me captive for 4 hours, finally ordered a test and I got a ovarian cyst."
"Dr. Idiot told me to go to my gyno and have them 'pop it' then he refused to release me until 8 am."
"My mom said your not giving her medicine anyway just racking up a hospital bill."
"He pulled his BS and I pulled my 'I was an EMT and work for a lawyer and you can't make me stay because I don't have a head injury and I am not under the influence so I can make my own decision' comment."
"I go to the gyno the next day, she checks me and looks at me and asks if I drove myself in. I said no, my parents are out front.'
'She said I want you to go straight to your parents, have them take you to the local hospital in the emergency room entrance where the ambulances are."
"She asked if I knew where that was and I said yes, I used it before I was an EMT."
"She said to hit the call button, and they will know exactly who I am."
"If she calls an ambulance for me, it will take too long."
"I had emergency surgery within 30 minutes of arrival."
"My cyst twisted my ovary and fallopian tube and they could not be saved."
"Dr. Idiot sent a bill to which my primary doctor told the hospital I lost 2 organs because of his failure to act and he was actually fired."
"What's funny is the surgeon was pulled out of a tennis game and came in with the cutest outfit on and my dad thought she was some kind of student nurse!"
"She did an excellent job and all is good."- MelissaRC2018
Bringing Life Into This World Is No Easy Feat
"I flatlined during childbirth."
"Well during labor."
"I had just gotten my epidural, and I was sitting up with my husband supporting me."
"I looked at him and said I didn't feel well and was going to pass out."
"And then I did."
"He said I took 2 big gasping breaths and then my face turned grey and I stopped moving."
"I was wearing a heart monitor because I have a heart condition, and I had no pulse for 26 seconds."
"I came to and immediately told my husband it felt different than other times I've passed out."
"I had a really weird dream sequence that I don't quite remember."
"But it was vivid at the time and oddly.... Calming?"
"This whole thing led to my unborn son having an 8 minute episode of a low heart rate, which led to an emergency c section."
"Then w days later his oxygen dropped to the 50s in the NICU and he turned blue."
"Which led to my baby being airlifted by helicopter to a nicu 2 hours away when he was 2 days old."
"He spent a week in the NICU and we drove down and visited him twice a day."
"With my stomach freshly stapled back together."
"I should have died."
"I don't know how I survived that."
"My baby is now 11 weeks old and thriving."
"But I still have so much trauma from that week."- Jeffiner310
Almost Died And Went To Heaven...
"My parents decided to give me a pringle chip in the car when i was 1."
"They had to hold me upside down so it would fall out."
"My soul would have been so upset if i died from a pringle...thank god I'm still here."- IGoByBay
When In Doubt, See A Doctor
"February 2018 the fourth, I believe was a Tuesday if I recall correctly."
"Woke up headed to the gym at 4 AM like normal except the previous two months I’ve been feeling like I’ve had the flu."
"Really bad achy feeling."
"Really old and tired rundown that morning."
"vomited four toilet bowls, full of yellow bile and thought to myself this isn’t the flu."
"Went to the hospital discovered my liver and kidneys had begun shutting down."
"I had begun the process of dying from plasma cell leukemia."
"December 2024 is joyfully my 79th month battling said disease."
"It ain’t easy."
"But I’m alive."
"And that’s the bottom line."
"Be cool Be Kind Be Loving AS BEST YOU CAN."- Big-Wall8657
Difficult as it may sometimes be, it's important to find a way to be grateful for the life you have.
Or rather, every now and then we should stop taking for granted how lucky we are to be alive.
Keep ReadingShow less
Load More