‘Tis the season for filling your fillings

By Claire Carusillo

A Utah linguist talks to Gawker about the Real Housewife's rill distinct pronunciation

All season on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Bravo’s shocking true crime/alpine sports series, cast member Whitney Rose has been on a hilling journey. On this hilling journey, Rose has been filling a lot of fillings as a result of uncovering traumatic detills from her past, plus she’s anguished about the time her friend and co-worker Jen Shah may spend behind bars, wasting away in a jill cill. We’re all rooting for Whitney, but respectfully, it’s hard to know what she’s talking about without the closed captioning on.

Unless, like me, you’ve spent a lot of time in the state of Utah, home to the Great Salt Lake, plenty of Mormons, and a peculiar regional accent. Like our Wild Rose, lots of Utahns pronounce the word “heal” as “hill” or “feel” as “fill.” It’s a hilling journey. Continue reading

By Kelly Conaboy

For example, how did Portia open Jack’s phone?

The White Lotus finished its second season last night. The final episode was satisfying in that we got to see who lived and who died and who murdered and who got their phone back and who is able to transfer large sums of money internationally with ease, but it wouldn’t be a season of appointment-viewing murder television if we weren’t left with a few unanswered questions. Do you have some questions, and if so what are they? Or wait — I’ll go first. Continue reading

By Tarpley Hitt

If she wants to snitch to us personally, girl to girls, email tips@gawker.com

It appears Sam Bankman-Fried’s media apology tour did not appease the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was arrested last night by Bahamian authorities, who announced in a statement that they planned to cooperate with American prosecutors and extradite the crypto financier to his home country. This came as a surprise to basically no one except SBF himself, who previously told a Twitter Spaces audience: “I don’t think I will be arrested.”

That particular quote was in reference to Bankman-Fried’s forthcoming testimony before Congress, which he planned to attend remotely out of alleged fear of “paparazzi.” He was scheduled to speak today, but in a twist of either convenient or unfortunately coincidental timing, he was arrested first. (Forbes, however, has obtained the transcript of his planned remarks). This morning, the SEC unsealed their 28-page indictment against him, laying out their case how he violated two provisions of the Securities Act, pertaining to “fraud in the offer or sale of securities,” and “fraud in connection with the purchase or sale of securities.” Separately, the New York Times confirmed that Bankman-Fried had been indicted with criminal charges, in a complaint also to be unsealed today. Those charges, filed in the Southern District of New York, allegedly involve: securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.

It’s of course unclear how Bankman-Fried’s case will unfold, but at least one thing is starting to look certain: Caroline Ellison probably snitched. Ellison, an avid Tumblr user and Harry Potter fan, is Bankman-Fried’s alleged ex-girlfriend and the former CEO of Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, which figures heavily into the charges levied against him. Continue reading

By Olivia Craighead

Everyone will go gaga for their 'Ozark' Funko Pops

Holiday shopping is too stressful these days. Sure, the internet makes it easier, but Amazon can only get you so far and lacks a personal touch. I once thought there was no place where I could easily get presents for everyone in my life in one fell swoop. I have spent far too much time trawling both the web and brick-and-mortar establishments looking for gifts that would make everyone in my life know that I understand them on a deep, personal level. That era is over, as I have stumbled upon the best place to get presents for literally anyone: The Netflix online shop. Continue reading

By Fran Hoepfner

We're steamed

The Golden Globes are back, and with them, the boozy, confusing logic of the racist, though apparently reforming, Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The HFPA and the Globes have always been a bit of mystery, logically speaking – remember when Aaron Taylor-Johnson won one for Nocturnal Animals, for example? – but they’re also often a fascinating harbinger of the awards season to come.

This year’s crop of nominations has plenty of surprises, but like any list of nominees, there are a lot of snubs too. Here, Gawker will give a fond salute to the fallen soldiers of the HFPA’s reign of terror. Continue reading