A video posted by Serena Williams FanPage (@mrsturkishbeyhive) on
How about when they need the entire stadium at Wimbledon to realize when someone has won?
Hahahah, awww, Beyoncé wanted to support Serena so bad, she just doesn't understand the game at all. This moment is the sports equivalent of laughing too loudly when you don't understand the joke.
Beyoncé has really never watched a game of tennis in her life before this" GO SPORTS" 😂😂😂😂. https://t.co/2rW54w3o6t
If we want to give her the Bey-nefit of the doubt, she could have just been being overly cautious and was waiting for the call to be made official. Yeah. That's why she was looking around all confused and then awkwardly pumped her fist in the air.
5. Tori Spelling, because the taxman wants to kick her out of 90210.
Remember Tori Spelling? This 90s icon was first made famous for her role as Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, a show coincidentally produced by her father Aaron. But despite the fact that she's Hollywood royalty, her home state is showing her no leniency when it comes to paying her taxes.
TMZ is reporting that Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott have been hit with a $259,108.23 lien for unpaid state taxes dating from 2014. The good news is that they don't have a house for the state to seize, because they rent their LA mansion. The bad news is that if they have trouble coughing up the money, they might not be able to afford the rent in the fancy hoods they're accustomed to: Beverly Hills, Calabassas, Santa Monica—they might have to settle for the horrors of Silver Lake or Pasadena. And that would be a crime against television.
4. Bradley Cooper, because he was caught fighting with his girlfriend at Wimbledon.
Bradley Cooper and his girlfriend, Russian model Irina Shayk, took in some of the action at Wimbledon last week. Understandably, the TV cameras were easily distracted from watching Serena Williams destroy everyone for the millionth time, and were constantly turning up into the stands to ogle the star-studded crowd. So it's not that surprising that this uncomfortably real moment between Coop and Shay was caught on film:
Ouch. Everyone has experienced that moment at least once. To be fair to this extremely photogenic couple, their relationship usually seems very happy. Maybe it was just the stress of following the high-speed tennis that caused them to fight. Or maybe the fact that they were two seats away from Benedict Cumberbatch. Shayk may have been moved to tears remembering his unforgettable performance in The Imitation Game.
3. Victoria Beckham, because people were not cool with her birthday tribute to her daughter.
Spice-Girl-turned-Soccer-Mom Victoria Beckham celebrated her daughter Harper's fifth birthday on Sunday by posting a sweet pic of the two of them to Instagram. Although some commenters (the kind who have nothing better to do than critique a former pop star's parenting skills) thought it was extremely inappropriate. See if you can guess why:
A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on
She's kissing her daughter on the lips! EEEEEW! Instagram users accused Beckham of being "weird" and "so lesbian," with the occasional "wtf" thrown in for good measure. One even wrote: "Stop having sex with your girl," proving that he does not understand parenting or what sex is.
Of course, most people realized that this was an innocent show of motherly love. Which is good, because the other ones are probably going to get soccer balls kicked through their windows in the middle of the night.
2. Rob Kardashian, because he's guilty of living life in the fast lane.
Back in January, during the early days of the Rob Kardashian/Blac Chyna romance, things were not as gravy as they are today. Chyna was arrested for public intoxication in Texas, and Kardashian had to drive there in his Bentley to bring her home. Evidently, he was in a rush, because he was arrested on his way back to Hollywood for rocketing through Blythe, CA at a brisk 107 MPH.
Now, TMZ snoops have found out that Kardashian was indeed found guilty for his crime of being a badass speed demon who plays by his own rules (a.k.a. excessive speeding). He was forced to pay an $1,100 fine, which is about what the average Kardashian loses in the dryer every laundry day.
Luckily, he's become a more sensible driver since Blac Chyna became pregnant with his Kardashian heir. He know the importance of protecting his family name, so that future generations will never have to go a day without a Kardashian in the headlines.
Yes, those are crabs. Straphangers headed from Brooklyn to Manhattan last weekend were surprised (not that surprised, because it's New York) to find more than 50 live crabs on the floor of an empty N train car. Park Slope resident Brian Slepian told Gothamist that he came across the crab car, and found a man squirting them with water to keep them alive. He even grabbed some video:
Of course, the crab squirter wasn't the one who dumped them there either. The world may never know how these crabs got into the subway, but one thing is clear: they didn't go anywhere. The crabs traveled all the way through Manhattan and were spotted in Queens by Astoria resident Shawn Petcaugh. By that time, unfortunately, all the crabs had passed on, and smelled about how you would imagine.
RIP N train crabs. You reminded us all what it truly means to be a New Yorker: dodging crabs on the subway.
Unless you are trying to star in a romantic comedy, the last thing you want to do is wake up in a hospital without any idea why.
The only real upside to waking up in a hospital is that you actually woke up. That, and now you have something interesting to say at parties for the the rest of your life. Here's a collection of 14 people telling their story about how they went through the most confusing and terrifying few minutes of their lives, and didn't even have a new fiancée to show for it.
1. Nougat has a great example of why you should stay off the grass.
7. al_molah's life was saved by her brother and some good timing.
Diabetic, went to sleep normally, woke up 2 days later in the hospital.
I got too low while sleeping that i passed out, fortunately the time i passed [out] was close to the time I'm supposed to wake up, my brother found me half dead and took me to the hospital.
8. wooddoug only remembered what happened once he realized he wasn't dead.
9. SSinscreed swam at a pool that had the necromancer as its lifeguard.
10. do_you_like_my_nuts is really lucky he woke up or he would have ended up with a really funny tombstone.
11. SneakIDPls has a story about "getting into a groove" during a heat stroke.
Serena Williams recently won Wimbledon (for the seventh time), but one of her best return volleys of the week came during a press conference when a reporter asked how she felt about going down as "one of the greatest female athletes of all time." That reporter obviously kicked a hornets' nest, because Williams has a history of making reporters that ask her dumb questions look dumb. Williams responded quickly, and in the best way possible.
She would prefer that the world "female" be dropped in reference to a career to which she has dedicated her entire mind and body:
I prefer the words 'one of the greatest athletes of all time.'
Williams also answered questions about women and equal pay, which she discussed beyond tennis and sports:
I would like to see people, the public, the press and other athletes in general just realize that and respect women for who they are and what we are and what we do.
In addition to being one of the greatest athletes of all time, Williams is one of the greatest smack-talking celebrities of all time.
When work gets rough, most of us have enough self-control to swallow our anger and keep our feelings bottled up until we can get home and vent about our day to our significant other and/or cat. Some of us, however, are not so in control. People shared some of those stories of the craziest workplace meltdowns they've ever witnessed in this AskReddit thread, and did not disappoint. The responses might even make you feel better about that time you got angry at job, because at least you didn't behave like these 11 unstable individuals:
1. She may have been acting like a toddler, but at least angrywords's co-worker followed instructions.
I work in hospitality. Our old head of housekeeping was a small Polish woman with a spitfire personality. She refused to hire minorities or heavier woman (even though some of the best cleaners we've ever had were one of those two). She worked 7 days a week at least 50 hours total. She was burning herself out hard core. She was very paranoid and always afraid someone was out to get her position.
Well, one morning she got into it with one of our best housekeepers. She grabbed the woman's wrist and gave her an indian burn. Then she came to the front desk, yelling and screaming, and threw herself to the floor, like a toddler having a tantrum, kicking her arms and legs. This was in the middle of a busy check in window as well, and here she is rolling on the ground crying and yelling.
I looked at her and said, "get your ass to the office if you're going to have a melt down". So she picked herself up, then threw herself down in the office and finished her tantrum there. She was fired that day.
2. plax1780 knows firsthand that any good workplace breakdown story involves public urination.
Dude pissed in another persons locker at work and then another coworker went in to sniff the guys pants that were in the locker cuz he didn't believe it was piss, and then he proudly confesses to all of us, "yep that's definitely piss!"
3. airwalkerdnbmusic's metalworking professor had a literal (aluminum) meltdown.
While I was at college learning metalworking, our teacher got so pissed off with the complete lack of respect/attention by his students that he stormed out of the engineering lab and got in his car then drove off, only to hit a lampost at nearly 30mph. He got out of his car, pushed it off the lampost, which fell over and nearly took him out. He drove off with steam coming out of the bonnet of his new Porsche.
Meanwhile, he had left an Aluminium crucible on full heat which literally went into meltdown. Molten metal started bubbling and bursting out of the crucible like a volcano. Where the molten metal touched anything flammable, it started a fire.
When molten metal starts erupting, you know you're having a bad day. He was remarkably not fired, and all of his students made rapid life adjustments and never disrespected him again.
4. We're just impressed that hak5013's boss had the guts to wear jeggings in a federal government building.
I had this terrible/ incompetent boss when I worked in a certain federal building in DC famous for the number of sides that it has. We got this important task to do and she decided that her whole staff was too stupid to help and got weirdly secretive about it. The time came to present it to her boss and for some reason (THANK GOD, because this was really fun to witness) she brought be with her. So I'm sitting there listening to her, and her boss's face is getting all contorted as she's speaking and he's clearly displeased, but was pretty professional and said "look, we've done this 100 times before, why don't you go back and ask hak5013 how we've done it the past and come back tomorrow". Her face turned red, she started shaking and she just walked out of his office without saying anything. Weird and unprofessional, but hey it's the government, so I didn't really think much of it.
On my way back from lunch I come across by boss in the hall with a cart full of her belongings, the framed/matted poster sized awards that she had on her wall, her family photos, everything - and her boss is kind of starting to yell like "you can't just leave, we have this important thing to finish" and she's going off in front of everyone all like "I'm not taking this bleeeeeeping bleep bleep bleep" and completely losing it. People are starting to congregate and stare, so goes back to her office, probably just to get him to leave her alone because like 15 minutes later she's gone.
We all figured, I guess she quit? One. Week. Later. She rolls into the office in jeggings, knee high leather boots, and a puffy vest and acts like this is normal (to drop off the face of the planet for a week AND to be dressed like this at our workplace) and just says "Sorry I left you hanging on that project hak5013, I was having back spasms." I'm really not good at playing it cool, so people were lining up to peek around the corner into her office to see my facial expressions.
Somehow she got all of her stuff back up on her walls without anyone noticing, but she took her stuff off the walls and left in the middle of the day 2 more times before I quit that job.
(I actually quit, like, got another job and never went back)
TL, DR; My old boss took a critique from her boss really poorly, walked off the job after a screaming fit and came back a week later like nothing happened.
5. Idrinknailpolish watched a broken world map break his Social Studies teacher's brain.
I was in 5th grade, and we had this Social Studies teacher (who was strangely resemblant of Colonel Sanders) named Dr. King. He was high strung, a little overly touchy (physically and emotionally), and he loved his map of the world. It was one of those maps that requires a string to be pulled down in order to reveal it. Dr. King would not let anyone but him pull it down.
One of my friends named Oren was a bit of a bad seed. He'd consistently get in to trouble, because he was kind of a mischievous little cunt. One day, we were in Social Studies, and Dr. King was about to use his precious prized map of the world for his lesson. We were all being shit heads on this day, all the while Dr. King is trying desperately to maintain composure. Oren, gassed up on the attention of his friends, volunteers to help Dr. King pull the map down. In a moment of tenderness and foolishness, Dr. King agreed to let Oren open up the map. Oren, so ecstatic that of all the kids he was the one allowed to do this, runs up to the map string and clutches it. He then pulls it down with the force of a fuckin' tank, and the map tears in half.
Dr. King goes completely white with anger. He starts babbling and repeating one phrase over and over. "Why would you do this? Why would you do this? Why would you do this? Why would you do this?" He can't even reprimand Oren properly, he's just stuck in a loop at this point. The next day Dr. King did not show up for class, and that continued through the rest of the entire semester. Oren broke Dr. King.
tl;dr Kid breaks teachers prized map. Teacher blows a fuckin' gasket and can't stop saying "Why would you do this?" Never shows back up to class.
6. stevieracine witnessed a WWE-style fight between two movers in Chicago. I don't know about you, but my money's on the dude with the bird bath.
My wife and we're walking in downtown Chicago last summer and we saw 2 furniture movers get into a tiff. Se slowed our pace to witness the bit of drama that escalated into a one on the guys using a floor lamp like a baseball bat while the others weapon of choice was a fucking bird bath.
7. We're in awe of the amount of planning awsnapitsrachel's co-worker put into his exit. He really stuck it to the man on his way out.
I worked for a fortune 100 tech company that gave all of us free top of the line tablets when we were on boarded. This one guy came in smelling like weed one day, and so he was asked to go home and come back the next day. Apparently he'd been planning his exit because he walked to the front of house, and sparked a cigar in the middle of the room. He then proceeded to pull the tablet out of his backpack, with a hammer following. He smashed the screen of the device with the hammer and just said "Don't let yourselves be slaves to the corporation." Dropped the tablet on the floor, walked out, never to be seen again. Oh, and we got armed security in the building for 2 weeks in case he tried to come back. I've never seen something so hilariously dramatic since.
8. You knew at least one of these meltdowns had to end with someone getting arrested. Blackbeyond's story doesn't disappoint.
Posted this somewhere else before but:
At my old store, we had a high schooler employed as a cashier because her dad worked as the deli assistant manager. Everything was fine, she was a little bratty and wouldn't listen to me or any of the other service leads, but she did her job alright.
Her dad got caught selling ecstasy and weed in the parking lot and was arrested and she was promptly put under investigation too. Eventually they found out that she had been stealing from her register and she was arrested during one of my shifts.
I watched as they told her why she was being arrested, that charges were being pressed, and that she was officially fired.
This sixteen year old tries to resist arrest, falls to the ground and begins to beat on the floor while tearing at her uniform. They manage to get her hands behind her back after she'd gotten her shirt off.
Once she's in cuffs she begins to shout that she's going to sue everyone because they're looking at her body and she's underage and don't they know who she is and she knows people who will fuck us all up.
They put her in the back of the cop car and she thrashed around trying to escape, banging on the divider and trying to get her hands on the cops. Not sure what happened to her after they drove away.
9. The guy might've lost his job, sweaty_obesity, but he also got to eat fifty chicken wings. Honestly, that's a pretty fair trade in our book.
I've posted this before, but it still makes me laugh. I wasn't the one that got fired, but I watched it happen. I was at Publix getting a sub when I hear this:
Manager: What the hell are you doing?! You know I have to fire you for doing this again.
Worker: What is the problem? I didn't do anything wrong.
Manager: You are allowed to get something to eat on your break, not eat while you're packing food.
Worker: So I had a couple chicken wings, it's not that big of a deal.
Manager: THERE ARE 50 WINGS IN THE BOTTOM OF THAT TRASH CAN!!!!
Nothing else was said and the manager escorted the wing eater out. The guy was making baskets of wings and was basically going " 1 for the basket, 1 for me" and eating his way through the batch of wings. Best part was the two people making subs just start laughing and one goes "if the manager knew how much that guy has eaten in the 2 weeks he has worked here, he would shit a brick. The other day he just sat there eating a whole container of potato salad while he was working the fryer."
10. The first half of turkoosi_aurinko's story sounds like a pretty standard office breakdown. The second half takes a dark turn.
One of our product managers was having a meeting with our CPO, right next to our work area. They were discussing an upcoming release, and the CPO asked how things were going with another team. Product manager flipped his shit, screaming profanities about how he wants nothing to do with them etc. He was fired then and there.
A few weeks later, the now former product manager assaults a kid with a hammer in a dorm at Georgetown University, with no apparent motive. Police start a manhunt for him, but he flees the country to escape.
11. And finally, let's all learn a lesson from Logic_Nom's friend: If you're going to quit your job, you might as well do it right.
Had a buddy who worked at Target about 5-6 years ago. He had had his fill of the job and was intending to put in a two week notice, but he really wanted to go out in epic fashion (His own words) So anyway, an old lady came over to him and asked how much a glass container cost? He walked it over to his station, scanned it, looked incredibly shocked and screamed....IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then proceeded to smash the glass container on the ground.
He then stormed off, removing his shirt and never came back.
Either this is the best piece of viral marketing for the new Ghostbusters movie, or sh*t just got real, yo! Rhode Island father Scott Denton was out with his kids at the local playground when he was stopped dead in his tracks by what appeared to be a possessed swing set.
A photo posted by Sofia Vergara (@sofiavergara) on
The Los Angeles dinner party involved Vergara's family, lemon cake, lemon-themed adult beverages, and even a lemon Snapchat filter. Luckily, her son Manolo Gonzalez-Ripoll Vergara documented the whole thing on Snapchat and Instagram. So, we get to see gems like this panorama that ends with a shot of Manolo in a lemon bodysuit (that's not the filter, he's actually dressed like a lemon).
A video posted by Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, Esq. (@manologonzalezvergara) on
Vergara also donned the lemon suit later in the evening, according to this shot she posted on Snapchat.
Vergara's son also posted a cheeky video in which he wishes his mom a happy birthday while her husband of eight months, Joe Manganiello, gives a thumbs up in the background. "I can't believe you're turning–" says Manolo, before his mom pushes him out of the frame ("18, she's turning 18," reads the caption).
A photo posted by Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, Esq. (@manologonzalezvergara) on
It turns out the whole lemony affair was thrown together at the last minute. "I thought I was not going to be in town," Vergara told Extra. "I organized something really fast last week, so it's just going to be, like, a dinner; it's not going to be that big or that crazy, it's just going to be simple, 'cause I thought I really was going to be in New York."
Nothing big or crazy. Just a few rich, famous people in a garden with a fully-stocked bar and a custom Snapchat filter and approximately ten thousand lemons. Suuuper simple.
In an incredible twist, social media personality/model/remarkably beautiful person Christen Rhule helped out a lady who was using her image to catfish a dude. In pursuit of a Sugar Daddy, Twitter user Lana (who has since deleted her account, probably due to her elaborate ruse being revealed) pretended that Rhule's selfies were her own, and she was just one particular picture away from getting free stuff.
Rather than freak out at this weird request, or about somebody stealing her identity, Rhule decided to #leanin and help her fellow woman get that swag.
Lana had lifted her previous pics off of Rhule's Twitter and Instagram, and was just missing that one pose. (Maybe the guy wanted a specific picture so he knew it had to be new and not just stolen from some model, not anticipating she might be in contact with a model.)
The Catfishee was already creepy to begin with—obviously looking to spend money on random beautiful girls on the Internet—so might as well milk him for what he's worth? JK don't do criminal things (but if you do, do them to creeps).
Sure, Pokémon Go might be a security risk—but it's a fun security risk! It's even more fun than using the same password for every website! And unlike other video games, it's actually getting people outside exploring new places and meeting new people (although they're primarily looking to meet Pokémon). Here are some of the best times Pokémon Go brought strangers together.
1. How does Pokémon Go bring people together? All of a sudden, all your local monuments and bars that are now "gyms" (but the kind gamers actually visit).
2. It's leading to non-tense interactions between cops and civilians.
Well, well, well, will you take a look at who made it onto the cover of Forbes magazine? That's right, it's your girl Kim Kardashian, finally gracing the cover of a magazine that doesn't trade in celebrity gossip. On Monday, the star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians posted a picture of the magazine on Instagram, and you know what? Forbes looks good on her.
A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on
Forbes is, of course, a business publication, and the whole Kardashian/Jenner clan aren't just businessmen and businesswomen, they're businesses, men and women.
Her father, the late Robert Kardashian, left his family well-off, but as 35-year-old Kim would be quick to point out, she's money a shit-ton of money herself. She mentioned her father in the photo's caption, writing: "Such a tremendous honor to be on the cover of @forbes! I never dreamed this would happen and know my Dad would be so proud. #NotBadForAGirlWithNoTalent."
Kim knows what people think of her, but now they can eat their words, as far as she's concerned. Turns out people usually don't get this successful without some talent, even if that talent is simply being successful (or as respectable people call it, business).
This particular issue of Forbes is all about "Mobile Moguls," and Kardashian is certainly one of those, earning the number 42 spot on the Celebrity 100 list after her 2014 mobile game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, grossed $160 million.
Kardashian is not looking to get out of the tech game anytime soon. As she told the magazine, "I became really intrigued with the tech world. I started spending a lot of time in San Francisco. I realized this is really going to be the next cycle of my career and this is what I want to focus on." She continued:
When people looked at me in a way like, "Why is she stepping into the tech world? That’s not her territory! Stick to reality TV!" I was like, "No." This is fun for me. Now I’m coming up with Kimojis and the app and all these other ideas. I don’t see myself stopping.
Nope, doesn't look like she'll be stopping any time soon. Eventually, everyone will communicate solely via the international language of Kimoji, and total world domination will be hers. Just you wait.
A news reporter caught Taylor Swift's beta BF Tom Hiddleston going for a run outside the Gold Coast, Australia hotel where they have been shacking up all weekend. The reporter lobs him some pretty soft Q's about their relationship, but they seem to totally fluster Hiddleston, who knows better than to speak for Mistress Swift without a list of prepared statements.
"How's Taylor enjoying the beautiful Gold Coast?"
"Uhmm.. er.. uh... [shit Taylor didn't tell me if I can say that she's having a good time what do I do????]... I'm not going to answer that if that's alright. "
Wow, so much stalling; he's scared he will upset the master. He even asks the reporter if its alright if he doesn't answer, because he's afraid to upset any woman for any reason. What a sweet little beta.
The reporter tries again: "What are you and your girlfriend looking forward to doing on the Gold Coast?"
"Ummm.. [GIRLFRIEND? FUCK THERE"S NO RIGHT ANSWER!!!!].. I don't know."
It's OK if you're not allowed to talk, Tom. Swift's ex Calvin Harris is allegedly willing to use his new track to talk for you.
Poor Hiddleston. One of the rare moments Taylor allows him to be seen alone and he can't even say if they are having a good time. This is all Taylor's fault; she should have never let him go outside without her in the first place.
Boon Sheridan lives in a beautiful renovated 1800's church with his wife and cats. That all sounds very serene, but then Pokémon Go happened. For those who are not aware, Pokémon Go is a mobile game where you can catch Pokémon around your actual neighborhood—but in order to truly be a Pokémon master, you have to train at a gym. Gyms are usually located in public spaces like parks, malls, or churches. Unfortunately, because Boon's home used to be a public space, the game lists it as a gym. Because you can only use the gym when you are within a certain distance, Boon now has Pokémon enthusiasts hanging around his yard at all times.
Living in an old church means many things. Today it means my house is a Pokémon Go gym. This should be fascinating.
For the record, Boon isn't angry that his home has become a hub for strangers looking to train their Pokémon, he's just a little concerned about having a bunch of strangers flock to his residence at any given time.
I'm working on a sign for the front, something like "Train well, play with honor, leave as friends" or something equally cornball.
Boon looked more closely into how gyms are chosen and whether someone who happens to be living in a sanctioned "gym" has any way to monitor hours or change the location. It looks like the game must have made his home a gym by mistake, because most gyms are public places and not private residencies (besides the White House). There doesn't appear to be anything Boon can do about it.
The only real reference in the Pokémon GO Trainer guidelines is "Adhere to the rules of the human world." pic.twitter.com/EjjcRVq0h6
Because it looks like Boon may be living in a Pokémon gym forever, he decided to make the best of it. He told BuzzFeed that he has been spending time outside meeting the different players who come to his house to train. He even met the "owner" of the gym (sort of like the "mayor" of a location in FourSqure, a player can have ownership of the gym and is only be ousted if defeated).
A young girl's raw, tearful singalong at a Selena Gomez concert is going viral thanks to the rarity of real, unfiltered emotion in our cynical age. Grandmother of the Year Lorraine Ruiz took her granddaughter to see The Wizard of Waverley Place live, and she was particularly moved by Gomez's "Who Says," an anthem about smashing stereotypes. The video is resonating with both fellow Gomez superfans and the rest of the heartless internet who haven't let their souls feel things in years.
My beautiful granddaughter loves Selena Gomez she made me cry every time I see it pic.twitter.com/4G49dBHWNu
The tweet got over 5,600 likes in 2o hours. It's a cute throwback to Gomez's Disney days—and a relief that the young girl wasn't singing along to the newer stuff.
Young love: don't you just hate it? Well, actress Chloë Grace Moretz and Brooklyn Beckham are here are to give you curmudgeonly feelings about two teens being cute at each other. Here is Moretz coyly showing off her beau, the spawn of David Beckham and Posh Spice:
A photo posted by Chloe Grace Moretz (@chloegmoretz) on
"Hey @brooklynbeckham," Moretz coos in the caption. "Idk who your girlfriend is, but she's pretty lucky huh?"
Just look at Beckham's expression while holding a camera! He's faux-intellectual in the same exact way your high school boyfriend was. Decades ago. Pass the Pinot Grigio, right fellow old people?
A recent ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could technically have legal implications for those who share Netflix and HBO Go passwords (so basically everyone). The case did not deal with Netflix or HBO specifically, but it did find that sharing passwords is partially a crime prosecutable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). This decision dealt with an employee of a headhungting/recruiting firm who used a password to access company data after he left.
This case began before headhunters could harass people in bulk via LinkedIn. David Nosal was an employee at the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, and he left in 2004 after being denied a promotion. His passwords were deactivated after he left, but he used the password of his former assistant to access the company's database of job seekers. His case went through several appeals, though he was ultimately sentenced to one year in jail and nearly $900,000 in fines.
It's obvious that Nosal violated trade secrets, and that it's highly illegal to access proprietary information from your employer after you leave. The broader concern is that the CFAA law was cited in the decision regarding passwords, since legal decisions can create precedents and slippery slopes. Stephen Reinhardt, one of the dissenting judges, explained:
The majority does not provide, nor do I see, a workable line which separates the consensual password sharing in this case from the consensual password sharing of millions of legitimate account holders, which may also be contrary to the policies of system owners. There simply is no limiting principle in the majority’s world of lawful and unlawful password sharing.
Basically, the dissenting judge doesn't want people who share Netflix passwords to fall under the same scrutiny of the law in the future. The good news is that Netflix is not planning on coming after anyone, and the CEO even praised customers sharing Netflix at the Consumer Electronics Show in January:
Everyone is safe for now. But if an entertainment company cracks down on password sharing in the future, the law is not on the side of the Netflix-binging masses.