#elle magazine interview February 2008

[haydennation]

A Star Reborn: Elle Magazine Interview (February 2008)

No matter how romantic, dissolute, or beatnik he played it, Hayden Christensen just couldn’t lose the long arm of Star Wars. Until, that is, he starred in this month’s hotly anticipated, Jumper and ditched Darth Vader for good. Interview by Sarah Bernard When George Lucas plucked Hayden Christensen from teen-TV obscurity to play Darth before he was dark in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, it was a career making break. It was also the kind of opportunity that could set up a young actor to fail spectacularly. Christensen wouldn’t have been the first 19 year old to let fame turn him into an intolerable party boy, or the first to flame out, Mark Hamill-style. But Christensen’s post-Vader life hasn’t followed either of those scripts. Since hanging up his lightsaber, he has made a handful of small films, the best of which was Shattered Glass, which he also produced. His portrayal of journalist-turned-plagiarist Stephen Glass, complete with dorky glasses and khakis, was a perfectly creepy rendering of ambition and desperate defiance. In Factory Girl, the Andy Warhol biopic, he played a Dylan-esque musician. The movie was so god-awful that Christensen has never seen it. “And I don’t think I ever will,” he says. He had originally signed up to play Bob Dylan, but Dylan didn’t like the way the film portrayed his relationship with Edie Sedgwick and threatened to sue. “The producers called a week later saying, ‘We can’t call him Bob Dylan.’ I said, ‘Okay, I can play Bob in my head,” says Christensen, who more or less worships the singer. But Dylan saw the final cut and still wasn’t pleased. Most of Christensen’s scenes had to be scrapped, and those that did survive had to be completely redubbed so that he sounded less Dylan-like. “It was really depressing,” the actor says. In 2007’s Awake, he played a wealthy businessman (his wife is played by Jessica Alba) who finds himself conscious during heart surgery. The film came and went in a weekend. When Christensen tried to bolt from the premiere’s screening, he says Harvey Weinstein, the film’s producer, told him, “I’ll sit next you with handcuffs if I have to.” In this odd collection of projects, there is a through line: characters who are not quite what they seem at first, possessing a mix of innocence and malevolence. Those are the parts that Christensen loves to play and what attracted to the starring role in this month’s Jumper, a sci-fi thriller about a bank robber with a talent for teleportation. It’s directed by Doug Liman, who turned Matt Damon into an assassin with a soul in Bourne Identity and matched Brad and Angelina in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  “I think people who see this film will view Hayden as having emerged they viewed Matt as having emerged…[But the reality is, both Matt and Hayden had done phenomenal work before,” says Liman. “You just had to look at Good Will Hunting and Shattered Glass to see there was a star there.” Christensen is not one of those celebrities who always craves an audience, as he sits in a Tribeca bar in New York City answering questions, he’s wearing a Bathing Ape baseball cap pulled low over his brow. His features are so delicate, they’re almost pretty. In fact, he was the face of Louis Vuitton Menswear in fall-winter 2004-2005. (“He reminds of a young Paul Newman,” says Simon Kinsberg, who co-wrote Jumper as well as Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the third installment in the X-Men franchise.) The actor’s idea of fun is manning the excavator on the farm he recently bought an hour north of Toronto, the city where he grew up and where his family still lives. Like any good Canadian kid, he was hockey-obsessed and dreamed of playing for the Maple Leafs. He also played competitive tennis, and when he was a ball boy at the Canadian Open, he was nearly clocked with a racquet hurled by a tantrumming John McEnroe. (A clip of the near miss made the nightly news.) Christensen’s mother, Ali, and father, David, ran a communications consulting business together. He has an older brother, Tove (who now heads, with Hayden, a production company, Forest Park Pictures), and two sisters: Hejsa, a former junior world trampoline champion, and Kaylen. The whole clan spent time in Australia during the filming of Star Wars, where Christensen’s sisters even became tight with George Lucas’ daughters. When Lucas invited the girls along on a yacht vacation, Hejsa really hit it off with the boat’s captain. They married a year and a half ago in Antigua, with Lucas in attendance. “She’s sort of responsible for me having the career that I have,” says Christensen, “and I’m indirectly responsible for her family.” Listen to him talk, and it’s hard to believe he isn’t just a farm boy himself. For one thing, he mumbles. He also slurps his Coke like a little kid. Then orders another.

“I thought I had a sense of what it meant to be a down to earth, regular actor,” says Liman. “Then I met Hayden, and suddenly everyone else seems like a primadonna.” During one of many reshoots, Liman realized his star’s hair has gotten longer and lighter from the sun. “Hayden’s like, ‘no problem,’” says Liman. “He gets the scissors and the trimmer out and cuts his own hair in my bathroom! I’m terrified because we have some shooting coming up and if I mess up his hair, someone’s going to kill me. I go, ‘Are you sure you should be putting those scissors to your hair?’ He goes, ‘I was cutting my hair through the whole movie.’” “He is so sweet and so humble and approachable, and loving,” adds Jessica Alba. “He literally hugs everybody on the crew and knows all their first names, every day. He’ll say good morning, give everyone a hug. He’s so present and happy and sweet. It’s crazy. And then you’re like ‘Oh, he’s Canadian.’” ‘Menschy’ is how Kinberg describes him. “So much that wondered when I’d get to see the other side.” It’s an earnestness with an edge, like a scrim that’s hiding something uglier, messier, darker. “He’s incredibly good at lying,” says Jamie Bell, his Jumper costar. “That element of ‘I’m totally pulling the wool over your eyes.’ He’s good at that.” Darth Vader is a cartoon version of this of course. There were lots of intense stares and heavy brows in that performance. But to be fair, Star Wars has never been known for its thespianism, and delivering stilted dialogue with imaginary droids against a green screen doesn’t leave an actor much room for subtlety. Maybe Christensen was reacting to that when he played Sam Monroe, the pill-popping part time prostitute teenage son of Kevin Kline in 2001’s Life as a House. In the opening scene, Sam wakes up, sniffs a rag doused with paint thinner, sticks his head through a noose in his closet, and jacks off, until the clothes rack collapses on top of him and his mom opens the door. And that’s before the title sequence is finished. Christensen threw himself into Sam both emotionally and physically. He says ‘It was my means of rebelling,” from Star Wars one assumes. He shed 25 pounds on a diet of salad and water, dyed his blond hair black and cobalt blue, and shaved his legs to look as young and sickly as possible. The result was a performance with vulnerability and angst and full-fledged rage, all twined together like a heap if twisted steel. And because Life as a House came out before Attack of the Clones, it was actually Sam in all his Goth glory (piercings, eye shadow), not the falling Jedi Knight, who introduced the actor to the movie going public. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work in House, as well as a fair amount of tortured teen credibility. At that point, tortured teens were something of a Christensen specialty. In 2000, the year he got Star Wars, he was living in Vancouver and playing Scott Barringer, a drug addicted, sexually molested teenager on Fox Family’s Higher Ground. When he was summoned to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Northern California for a face-to-face reading with Natalie Portman, he threw up on the ride there. It was his and Portman’s chemistry that the unknown Canadian was the one. “Hayden is immediately appealing, both in person and on screen, because he knows how to balance his strength with his sensitivity,” Lucas emails. “I think he has a great acting career ahead of him.” The filming of Attack of The Clones and then Revenge of the Sith consumed a good five years of Christensen’s life-an eternity in the career of a hot young actor. He tried moving on, focusing on indie films, sharing the stage in London in 2002 with Jake Gyllenhaal in Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth, a play about three rich-kid slackers in 1980s New York. Still he could not get away from Star Wars. Boxes of paraphernalia continued to arrive. “They have to send me one of everything produced,” he says. “It’s nuts. The first I opened: ‘Oh that’s cool. A little figurine of me,’ All sorts of lunch boxes, potato chips. I don’t even open them anymore. I had to get storage space because my parents’ basement overcrowded. My mom was like, ‘Enough!’” So when his agent told him about Jumper, he didn’t jump at it. “They said it was sort of science fiction, there was a franchise possibility,” he says. “And I was like, ‘does this really sound like something I’d be keen to do? I was franchise scared.” Then he found out it was being directed by Doug Liman, who has a way of infusing an emotional quotient into the star roles of his big budget action pictures. The first meeting between them was, according to both, like a great first date. Christensen has a farm. Liman has a farm. Christensen was off to a flying lesson that day. Liman is a pilot. The director invited Christensen to his apartment in New York, where they met with Kinberg and with Bell, who’d already been cast. (Liman had begun filming Jumper with Tom Sturridge as the lead, then halted production because Sturridge looked too young for the part, Kinberg says.) Christensen plays Davey, a callow young guy with a sweet, sexy girlfriend (Rachel Bilson) and the secret superpower to ‘jump’ teleport himself anywhere in the world by picturing the place. Thinking he’s the only one with such skils, Davey is blithely breaking into banks and living the high life in Manhattan when one day, a white-afroed Samuel L Jackson (Christensen’s Star Wars costar) shows up and tries to get medieval on his ass. Jackson, part of a jumper secret police, doesn’t want rogue teleporters jumping about. Disrupts the universe, you see. Liman and the crew discussed the script and debated what a jump would look like. “We started improvising, throwing out ideas,” says Christensen. A week later, Liman called and asked him back to do it all again. When Christensen was finally offered the part, the group continued to meet as a collective several times a week. “My character’s way of dealing with things is he doesn’t confront his problems. He’s always avoiding them. One day I was saying to Jamie, ‘My superpower is I can run away from anything.’ And Doug was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait! That’s your character! The fundamental undercurrent.”   It is the perfect superpower for a guy: the ability to literally bail when things get tough. “A very guy thing, yeah.” Christensen says with a laugh. Jumper was the opposite of the closed door ways of Star Wars, where they’re George’s characters,” the actor says. “I was stepping into something preexisting.” Now he was getting to be part of that defining process and he was thrilled. Not that Liman’s defining process is any cake walk. For him, scripts are never finished and actors are ever in discovery mode. Often they’d shoot a scene one way, discuss it, come up with a better idea, and shoot again. This happened whether they were on a soundstage in Toronto or on location in Tokyo, Paris, Prague, London, or Rome, where they got permission to film inside the Colosseum, the first film to do so in decades. Liman is also spontaneous, to the extreme. Driving through Times Square with Bell and Christensen, he decided that it would be good to get them fighting in traffic. So he stopped the van, ordered them out, and manned the camera himself as his starts rolled around on the pavement mid the cars and pedestrians. A good portion of the film has Christensen pummeling himself onto the floor, up against walls. Says Bell, “Hayden was tortured on this movie.” Well, not entirely tortured. Reports are that Christensen and Bilson are dating-there are pictures of her feeding him, of her puppy getting into his Ferarri, of her and Christensen running errands Best Buy-but he refuses to discuss it. What he will say is, “She’s awesome. She’s a very, very beautiful girl. She’s special. She’s one the sweetest, most gentle, kindhearted people I’ve ever met.” Christensen’s Jumper performance may be the one that finally overrides everything else on his resume. “Doug is really good at making guys look cool,” says Kinberg. Liman couldn’t agree more: “I have the reputation for getting just the right actor at the right point in their career. I think people will say I just did it again.” But even a director as self-confident as Liman is no match for the Force. Christensen tells how, on a recent head clearing trip to the Bahamas, he stopped in at a ‘really local, really basic market’. And there on the shelf was an ancient box of cereal with his mug as Anakin in that signature shag. Says Christensen; “I wanted to go up and ask the guy, ‘Are you sure that should still be on the shelf?’”

[silkchifffon]

The Complete Taylor Swift/John Mayer Timeline aka John Mayer Is An Asshole

May 5 2008 Taylor and John meet at the Met Gala. “I was starstruck by the fact that he came up and introduced himself to me. I just respect him so much, I was rattling off quotes that he said in his blog, and he was probably like thinking that I’m a stalker. But he was amazing and sweet.”

“Mayer, 30, returned the compliment by telling the young singer that he’s enjoyed watching her career blossom. “I was like, ‘what, you know my name?'” said Taylor. “I’m such a fan of his writing and everything so it was really cool to get to meet one of my heroes.”” (link)

February 8 2009 John and Taylor are photographed talking backstage at the Grammys.

March 2009 John tweets “Waking up to this song idea that won't leave my head. 3 days straight now. That means it's good enough to finish. It's called Half of My Heart and I want to sing it with Taylor Swift. She would make a killer Stevie Nicks in contrast to my Tom Petty of a song."

May 22 2009 John performs with Taylor at the Staples Center on her Fearless tour (White Horse) (Your Body Is a Wonderland)

May 23 2009 John tweets a photo of Taylor with the caption “I couldn’t get Taylor Swift on my record so I found the world’s greatest impersonator, Laura Jacksheimer.”

June 2009 Taylor in the June issue of Elle magazine: “I freaked out when I heard, because I've been such a big fan of John for such a long time. I'm really excited about just the idea that he would even mention me in his Twitter!" (link)

November 5 2009 Half of My Heart leaks on Perez Hilton (link)

November 17 2009 John’s album Battle Studios, featuring the collaboration, is released

John gives an interview to Access Hollywood about Taylor (link)

December 8 2009 Taylor and John are photographed together at the launch of VEVO, where they are seen “chatting it up in a booth.” (link)

December 11 2009 Taylor and John perform Half of My Heart at Z100’s Jingle Ball (video)

December 29 2009 Us Weekly announces Taylor Squared have broken up (link). “It wasn't really developing into anything, and wasn't going to, so they decided they were better as friends. There was no chemistry."

“He liked her more than she liked him. He went everywhere he could to see her, but she didn't travel much to see him.”

January 6 2010 OK Magazine reports ​​“Did John Mayer break up Taylor Squared? Probably not, but John Mayer asked Taylor Swift to sing on his single “Half of My Heart” and a ‘pal’ says he has a crush on her. In a daring move, Swift rejected Mayer’s advances, but Taylor Lautner is still ‘devastated.’” (link)

Taylor and John have dinner together in Los Angeles. Star Magazine reports “Fresh off of her breakup with Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift shared an intimate dinner with serial heartbreaker John Mayer…They were spotted at Italian bistro Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on January 6, following Taylor’s win as Favorite Female Artist at the People’s Choice Awards.” (link)

“They came in together and got a private table in a corner of the restaurant. They seemed to really enjoy each other’s company.”

“The pair lingered for almost two hours, with John sipping wine. The duo headed out into the night together around 10 pm.”

“They definitely looked like a couple. John was telling stories, and she was hanging on every word!”

January 19 2010 John’s interview with Rolling Stone is published. He talks about how much he masturbates and finding “the Joshua Tee of vaginas.” (link)

January 24 2010 the two enjoy dinner in Nashville with a group of friends (link)

January 25 2010 John and Taylor get coffee in Nashville (link)

January 26 2010 Taylor attends John’s taping of a CMT Crossroads special (with Andrea) According to Lainey Gossip: “Taylor Swift attended amid speculation that she and Mayer are now dating. My sources tell me she was backstage before the show, totally crushing on him, very “smitten”, flirting, like a young girl intoxicated by attraction to an older man, too young to separate artistry from douchery.” (link)

“On Monday night, Taylor and Mayer went out for dinner with a large group. I’m told this is how she gets around her mom. Momma Swift is a wary parent and some say Taylor arranges their time together in crowds so as not to hear it from her mom later on. There are some rumours that John was seen at her place afterwards. This has not been substantiated.”

“At the performance however her affection for him was undeniable. She was cheering enthusiastically in the audience, making hand hearts at him constantly, and the buzz among industry insiders and crew is that they’re definitely dating. Some have even told me that this is why she called it off with Taylor Lautner. Because while there was no spark with Tom Cruise’s mini me, she was compelled to explore the intensity of her feelings for John.”

February 1 2010 Lainey posts “Finally...about this business with Cory Monteith – they sat together at a pre-Grammy party on Saturday after being spotted out for dinner last week so now of course she’s totally going to marry him…More likely however – it’s a conveniently cutesy coverup for the f-ckery that’s happening with John Mayer. I’m told they went out for coffee together in Nashville, she and John, the morning after a group dinner with friends when he was alleged to have been seen at her house. If she’s smart enough to stay away from that douchebag, all the offkey business is totally forgotten.” (link)

February 2 2010 HollywoodLife reports, “Taylor and John are absolutely more than ‘just friends.’ They aren’t ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ or anything as provincial as that, but they have taken their friendship to the next level.” (link)

A second source says, “Cory is just a decoy. She isn’t really dating him. They’re friends.”

February 5 2010 In Touch reports that John told a friend that he and Taylor hooked up in January in Nashville. “According to a source, the couple met up several times, in public and private, and were first seen getting cozy in a recording studio. “She was sitting on John’s lap, her arms were around him, and she was talking in his ear,” says the source. They were acting like teenagers.””(link)

“That night, John, 32, and Taylor, 20, dined at the restaurant Cabana and were joined by friends afterward. The couple left alone and went back to The Hermitage Hotel, where they arrived in the loading dock to avoid being spotted and were escorted to John’s suite, the source claims. Both of their reps deny the story. But the source claims, “Taylor spent the night and enjoyed mid-morning room service before leaving his suite the next day.””

“Though the source says that Taylor “adores” John, it seems the womanizer is up to his old ways, involving yet another starlet in boosting his career. When asked by a friend how his night with Taylor went, John laughed, and boasted, “How do you think it went?””

The National Enquirer reports Andrea confronted John about his relationship with Taylor at the CMT taping. (link) “Andrea pulled John aside and told him point blank to back off. She said a friendship was fine, but there was no way he’d get close enough to Taylor to break her heart if she had anything to say about it."

“With a string of ex-girlfriend…along with his reputation as a partier and pot smoker, John is hardly Andrea’s idea of a dream date for her little girl. John did not help his cause with Andrea when he recently appeared shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and made shockingly candid statements about casual sex.”

“Right after John performed, Andrea pulled him aside and basically told him to keep his hands off her daughter. She’s all for music collaborations, but she couldn’t get past his baggage."

"All John could do was to offer Andrea a compliment on raising a lovely daughter. He said he understood completely, and it was an honor enough to call Taylor his friend."

February 9 2010 John tweets “What's that song that goes "It's a quarter after one, I just huffed a can of ceiling paint and I need you now?" I like that one.” (link)

Lainey reports, “I can assure you that many Nashville insiders saw them making out in town while he was there for Crossroads. Many.” (link)

February 10 2010 John’s hectic, racist Playboy interview is published (link)

March 4 2010 Taylor’s April Elle interview, conducted in December (a few weeks before she broke up with Taylor L), is published (link). She plays the MASH game with the writer and names John as one of three hot guy candidates. “Now for the tough part: Three guys you think are hot? “Like, how do you mean?" she asks, scrunching up her face. She knows how I mean. "Um, well...Taylor Lautner," she says finally, a certain nervy resolve in her voice.””

“Back to the game: Swift name-checks John Mayer and Carter Jenkins, another Valentine's Day costar, as her remaining hotties.”

March 23 2010 On break from touring, Taylor goes bowling with friends including Cory and Selena Gomez (video)

March 24 2010 Taylor has lunch with Andrea, Taylor L, and their publicists. (link)

Lainey Gossip points out John is performing in LA at the same time and says it isn't a coincidence Taylor is in town. (link)

April 19 2010 Lainey reports “My sources tell me she’s still seeing John Mayer on the low whenever they get the chance.” (link)

April 30 2010 Star magazine reports they are still on: “Friends say that Taylor Swift is still having a love affair with notorious ladies’ man John Mayer – and they fear she’s bound to get hurt! And so will her “legit” love, Glee star Cory Monteith, who has no clue that Taylor has been flirting with John for months.” (link)

“Taylor will drop anything to see him. They’ve been meeting up all over the country!”

“And all John has to do to get Swifty to come running is text her, says another source – no matter what time it is!”

“Sometimes they meet in Hollywood or Beverly Hills… Taylor doesn’t like going to his house in LA. He always has his buddie staying with him and there’s no privacy.”

“She used to be infatuated with him. When she was 17, she used to tape his pictures to her wall and stare at his face.”

“Taylor’s mom isn’t happy about Taylor’s relationship with this “too old” Mayer, and “Taylor’s friends tell her he’s too old, but she says she’s an adult and wants to see where things go. She hopes this will turn into something real. She’s trying to guard her heart, but if John dumps her, she’ll be devastated.””

June 9 2010 Taylor and John are both at the CMT Awards, and Taylor writes The Story of Us based on this event. “She says Dear John and The Story of Us are about the same person. And her lyrical code for the latter spells out "CMT AWARDS," where she and Mayer both performed in June.” (link)

"The Story of Us is about running into someone I had been in a relationship with at an awards show, and we were seated a few seats away from each other. I just wanted to say to him, 'Is this killing you? Because it's killing me.' But I didn't. Because I couldn't. Because we both had these silent shields up.”

Lainey says “Swifty has been extra extra careful about whatever undercover business she has going on with John Mayer the last few months. They are super stealth about their movements, smart not to let anyone catch them connecting, but I’m told last night there was an arrangement for after. Keep you posted on whether or not they pulled it off.” (link)

June 17 2010 John presents Taylor with an award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, saying "You could put her in a time machine in any era and she would have a hit record. Don't confuse everybody loving one thing as hype. Sometimes that's everyone agreeing that it's fabulous." And that they were like two black swans. (video)

June 21 2010 Half of My Heart is released as a single

October 17 2010 the New York Post quotes Taylor, “There’s actually no surprise person on this record. I will be excited for you to hear that song, though.” (link)

October 18 2010 Taylor’s interview with Yahoo Music’s Chris Willman is published. She says her songs aren’t hard to interpret: “They’re all made very clear. Every single song is like a roadmap to what that relationship stood for, with little markers that maybe everyone won’t know, but there are things that were little nuances of the relationship, little hints. And every single song is like that. Everyone will know, so I don’t really have to send out emails on this one.” (link)

“But, I said, by necessity of her fame and that of her recent boyfriends, she is past the point of using proper names in the lyrics now.

"Um," she responded, "there's still names that I used. Wait till you hear those."”

Willman publishes lyrics to Dear John in the article, which is followed by many articles about the song lyrics and her relationship with John.

October 19 2010 Taylor tells People magazine, “A lot of times when people’s relationships end, they write an e-mail to that person and say everything that they wish they would have said. A lot of times they don’t push send. This was a tough one to write, and I guess putting it on the album was pushing send.” (link)

October 20 2010 Taylor tells the New York Times “I feel like in my music I can be a rebel. I can say things I wouldn’t say in real life. I couldn’t put the sentence together the way I could put the song together.” (link)

October 21 2010 PopEater reports, “Everyone knows John "loves publicity and lives for this" type of situation, a giddy friend of John's tells me.” (link)

"She can bet that right now he is sitting in his apartment thinking of some witty way to respond. Writing a response to 'Dear John' called 'Dear Taylor' would be too obvious, so expect something much bigger than that."

“And although John's friend has no idea exactly what the crooner will do, his history with the ladies should give Taylor reason to worry.”

"Sure Taylor has a right to say whatever she wants but she needs to know she is playing with fire.”

October 25 2010 Speak Now is released.

June 6 2012 John talks to Rolling Stone and says that he was “really humiliated” by Dear John.“It made me feel terrible. Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.” (link)

“I never got an e-mail. I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?”

When asked about the song’s line, “Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?” Mayer says, “I don’t want to go into that.”

“I will say as a songwriter that I think it’s kind of cheap songwriting. I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bullshit.”

June 7 2012 The New York Post reports that on the day the article was published the two had a run-in in Los Angeles. “According to the New York Post, Swift walked into the hangout and noticed Mayer, who was there with a friend. "Taylor very visibly — in front of the entire restaurant — demanded to be moved to the other side," the eyewitness said. "The bar's usually an oasis of calm and privacy for celebrities and power players, but this was drama central." But according to a Swift source who spoke with Gossip Cop, there was no nasty confrontation and while the singer was at the bar, it's not even confirmed whether they saw each other.” (link)

Us Weekly reports “A Swift pal scoffs at Mayer’s counterpunch. “I can’t believe he is trying to play the victim!”” (link)

““John was a player and treated her like s–t,” another source tells Us. “He looked at her as a conquest.” After the Rolling Stone interview, “Taylor is going to think even less of him now!” the source adds.”

September 30 2012 Taylor’s November cover story for Glamour is published and she has the following exchange with the writer:

Glamour: And "Dear John," also about a failed relationship, still seems to be resonating strongly. Does that surprise you?

Taylor Swift: I think that song really hit home with a lot of girls who had been through toxic relationships and had found their way to the other side of it. I've never looked out while singing a song during a concert to see so many girls crying.

Glamour: You never identified who it was about, but John Mayer recently told Rolling Stone that it was him.

Taylor Swift: How presumptuous! I never disclose who my songs are about.

Glamour: He said he felt…

Taylor Swift: No! I don't want to know, I don't want to know.

Glamour: You don't? [Mayer told Rolling Stone that he was "humiliated" by the song, and that Swift's releasing it was "a really lousy thing for her to do."]

Taylor Swift: I know it wasn't good, so I don't want to know. I put a high priority on staying happy, and I know what I can't handle.

October 22 2012 Taylor has an interview with Katie Couric. Katie brings up John “feeling humiliated” “Oh come on!” Taylor retorts. (video)

“Do you ever hear from these dudes, like ‘Yo Taylor, guess what, I didn’t really appreciate this.’ Do they ever get in touch with you?” Well some of them like to write really long emails.”

April 7 2013 John and Taylor separately perform at the ACM Awards

April 16 2013 Grazia reports “Sources claimed to Grazia that they spotted each other on the red carpet and were later "deep in conversation" at an after party. (link)

"They snuck off to a corner and were all over each other. At one point she had her hands on his knees, with him holding her waist – they were so deep in conversation."

“‘Taylor spotted John on the red carpet, but it was only at the party that they got talking,’ a source told Grazia magazine.” (link)

“It allegedly turned into an all-night reunion as Taylor invited John for breakfast at her hotel room at The Orleans.”

Taylor’s camp issues a denial: “There is no truth to this... whatsoever.”

April 22 2013 Us Weekly reports “One insider says Swift, 23, put on “a stink” about her ex-boyfriend’s performance. “She said she had to go on earlier than him,” the source tells Us of the songwriter.” (link)

“The country star got her way in the end, but a second insider says Swift “was just really bitter that night” — especially after she didn’t win anything. Adds another source: “John just being there irked her.””

June 18 2013 John releases Paper Doll, an apparent response track to Dear John (link)

July 5 2013 John performs Paper Doll on the Today Show. When asked "There's been some speculation from the press that it might be about someone. True or false?" He responds “Yeah, songwriters write songs because of people, about people. Anything someone else wrote is their reception of a song; I don’t get involved in it. It’s none of my business.” (link)

October 7 2013 Taylor and John (and Katy Perry) both spend the day at Disneyland but don’t have any run ins (link)

August 20 2014 both dine at the Chateau Marmont. HollywoodLife reports “When Taylor saw John it was as if she saw a ghost. She was horrified and, for a moment, contemplated leaving. Cooler heads prevailed and she acted as if she didn't see him but she totally knew he was there and was uncomfortable."

“Our source goes on to confirm that the two are “in no way dating, and they didn’t share any conversation at all.”” (link)

February 7 2015 hosting the Late Late Show, John jokes in his monologue “You can see me at the Grammys doing what I do best: being avoided by Taylor Swift. That won’t make the internet at all.” (video)

March 6 2015 John tells Ronan Farrow ​​“We have to be able to talk about Taylor Swift professionally.” (video)

“Artists need the person with the loudest voice to speak for them. You can go to the Met Ball. That’s great. That’s a great way to use your voice is to go ‘I’m wearing Valentino.’ Or you can use your voice to give things.”

On Paper Doll: “The song never got listened to as a song. It became a news story because of the lyrics. I’m not in the business of telling people what the song’s about. Now I can just go, ‘Look, I can say the name Taylor Swift.’ She’s an artist. I’m an artist. Everybody stop, nobody’s got cancer. We’re rich people who get to live out our dreams. Let’s just stop it. I’m a musician who’s bigger than one song or one record.” (video)

April 28 2016 both attend Gigi Hadid’s birthday party (link)

October 23 2016 both attend Drake’s 30th birthday party (link)

October 24 2016 Page Six reports, “[Taylor and Katy] were put on opposite sides of the room and didn’t even look at each other. Taylor came through the front door with Karlie Kloss and the Haim sisters while Perry entered through the back with a gang of friends, who were inappropriately dressed for the formal affair. Katy and John chatted, but Taylor avoided both of them.” (link)

December 13 2016 John tweets "Tuesday, December 13, may be the lamest day of the year, conceptually." Deletes it, and follows it up with "NOPE. No. Nuh-uh. People I am 39. I am deleting those tweets. Come right at me for doing so. Absolutely no shade." He deletes that tweet and then tweets a screenshot of the original tweet. (link)

December 6 2017 John likes tweets defending Taylor’s Time Person of the Year cover (link)

October 25 2018 during a concert John tells fans that he “was thinking about reputation” when working on his song New Light. “Not the album, but that’s still fine. That’s a fine piece of work.” (link) (video)

November 17 2019 A week after his Lover remix is released, Shawn Mendes participates in an instagram live with John, who mocks the lyrics to Lover. "[It's] insane. Everyone keeps their Christmas lights up until January. And I go, 'Can you really?' Because normally I take my Christmas lights down on December 29. We can keep the Christmas lights up 'til January. And then about January 5, we'll take the lights down. And then we'll put 'em in a box and we'll label that box 'Christmas lights.' Yeah, we'll put 'em in the attic until next December. Well, that's a crazy love, I'll tell you." (link) (video)

February 22 2021 Andy Cohen asks John "If an ex of yours comes out with a song, do you ever wonder is that about me?" John replies, "Sometimes, I hope it's about me. Sometimes, it's a really good song. I don't think it's a dirty admission. Sometimes, a song is so good, I go, 'Man, I hope that's about me.'" (link)

March 1 2021 John joins Tiktok and the Swiftie response is not great (link)

November 15 2021 a particularly aggressive Swiftie sends threatening DMs to John and he responds. They post the messages in a tiktok. (link)

November 16 2021 Life & Style magazine reports that a source said “Even though [John is] a pretty open minded guy, he disagrees with the way Taylor goes about targeting exes in her music, especially with all the online trolling and bullying that goes on these days. He acts like he doesn’t care but of course he finds it hurtful.” (link)

After Red TV’s release on Friday, November 12, “the insider noted that Mayer has “no time” for Swift and that they “aren’t friends” at the moment.”

“John is extremely wary of Taylor. He‘s convinced that she’s trying to bring him down. Whenever she’s about to drop a new song or album he becomes nervous that it could be about him. It’s a horrible feeling.”

Us Weekly reports “John is trying his best to avoid the attention he’s been getting from Taylor’s new album. He’s not going to make any public comments directly related to her songs or album.” (link)

“Mayer has “been through it all” after being bombarded with comments from Swift’s listeners in recent days, the insider tells Us. “It’s like he’s faced with the humiliation [of the split and song about the drama] all over again.” “[He] would prefer he was left out altogether,” the insider tells Us, noting that Mayer “hasn’t spoken to her in forever, so he learns about her feelings towards him through her music. What’s new to everyone else is new to him.” The Connecticut native “said what he needed to say years ago and is trying to just let bygones be bygones,” the source adds.”

December 15 2021 DeuxMoi publishes a fanfic tip that John will play guitar on Dear John (Taylor’s Version). It is shortly debunked when a fan tweets “i’m so tired of seeing that stupid screenshot about john on dj (tv) why are y’all ACTUALLY falling for it or even sharing it… este haim would fucking never” and Este likes the tweet, as well as the Haim band account.

[yepic]

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (/tʃɪˈpoʊtleɪ/, chih-POHT-lay),[7] often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom,[8] Canada,[9][10] Germany,[11] and France,[12] specializing in tacos and Mission burritos.[13][14] Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.[15] The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CMG.[16]

Chipotle is one of the first chains of fast casual dining establishments.[17] Competitors in the fast-casual Mexican market include Qdoba Mexican Grill, Moe's Southwest Grill, Rubio's Coastal Grill, and Baja Fresh.[18] Founded by Steve Ells on July 13, 1993, Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald's Corporation became a major investor in 1998. By the time McDonald's fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006,[19] the chain had grown to over 500 locations. With more than 2,000 locations, Chipotle had a net income of US$475.6 million and a staff of more than 45,000 employees in 2015.[3]

In May 2018, Chipotle announced the relocation of their corporate headquarters to Newport Beach, California, in Southern California, ending their relationship with Denver after 25 years. Founder Steve Ells attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Afterward, he became a line cook for Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco.[20] There, Ells observed the popularity of the taquerías and San Francisco burritos in the Mission District. In 1993, Ells took what he learned in San Francisco[21] and opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in Denver, Colorado, in a former Dolly Madison Ice Cream store at 1644 East Evans Avenue,[22] near the University of Denver campus, using an $85,000 loan from his father.[19] Ells and his father calculated that the store would need to sell 107 burritos per day to be profitable. After one month, the original restaurant was selling over 1,000 burritos a day.[16] The second store opened in 1995 using Chipotle's cash flow, and the third was opened using an SBA loan. To fund more growth, Ells' father invested $1.5 million. Afterwards, Ells created a board of directors and business plan, raising an additional $1.8 million for the company.[23] Ells had originally planned to use funds from the first Chipotle to open a fine-dining restaurant, but instead focused on Chipotle Mexican Grill when the restaurants saw success.[24][25]

In 1998, the first restaurant outside of Colorado opened in Kansas City, Missouri.[26] The company opened its first location in Minnesota by opening near the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in March 1999.[27]

In 1998, McDonald's made an initial minority investment in the company. By 2001, the company had grown to be Chipotle's largest investor.[19] The investment from McDonald's allowed the firm to quickly expand, from 16 restaurants in 1998 to over 500 by 2005.[28] On January 26, 2006, Chipotle made its initial public offering (IPO) after increasing the share price twice due to high pre-IPO demand. In its first day as a public company, the stock rose exactly 100%, resulting in the best U.S.-based IPO in six years, and the second-best IPO for a restaurant after Boston Market. The money from the offering was then used to fund new store growth.[29]

In March 2005, Monty Moran was appointed president and chief operating officer of Chipotle while Ells remained chairman and CEO.[30]

In October 2006, McDonald's fully divested from Chipotle.[31] This was part of a larger initiative for McDonald's to divest all of its non-core business restaurants — Chipotle, Donatos Pizza, and Boston Market — so that it could focus on the main McDonald's chain.[32] McDonald's had invested approximately $360 million into Chipotle, and took out $1.5 billion.[23] McDonald's had attempted to get Chipotle to add drive-through windows and a breakfast menu, which Ells resisted.[33][34] In 2008, Chipotle opened its first location outside of the United States in Toronto.[10]

In January 2009, president and chief operating officer Monty Moran was promoted to co-CEO, a position that he would share with Ells, while Moran retained his president position.[35]

In a list of fastest-growing restaurant chains in 2009, Chipotle was ranked eighth, based on increases in U.S. sales over the past year,[36] and in 2010 Chipotle was ranked third.[37] Consumer Reports ranked Chipotle as the best Mexican fast-food chain in 2011.[38] The company serves approximately 750,000 customers per day.[39]

In December 2010, Chipotle hired chef Nate Appleman to develop new cuisine. Appleman has won Rising Star Chef from the James Beard Foundation, was named "Best New Chef" by the Food & Wine magazine, and competed on The Next Iron Chef.[40]

In 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audited Chipotle's Minneapolis restaurants, and found that some employees had been hired using fraudulent documents. In December, Chipotle fired 450 employees from its Minneapolis restaurants as a result of the audit, resulting in protests by local groups.[41][42] In February 2011, ICE expanded the audit to include 60 restaurants in Virginia and Washington, D.C.[43] which resulted in 40 workers being fired. In April 2011, the criminal division of the attorney general's office in Washington, D.C., joined the case, and ICE agents began interviewing employees at 20 to 25 restaurants in other locations, such as Los Angeles and Atlanta.[44] In response to the government investigations, Chipotle hired former director of ICE Julie Myers Wood and high-profile attorneys Robert Luskin and Gregory B. Craig.[45]

In December 2016, Chipotle announced that co-CEO Monty Moran has stepped down from his role effective immediately with Ells becoming the sole CEO.[46][47] Eleven months later, Ells announced in November 2017 that he would be stepping down as CEO.[48]

In December 2017, Chipotle announced it signed a 15-year lease and in late 2018 will move around 450 corporate employees – currently housed in multiple buildings around downtown Denver – into the new 1144 Fifteenth Tower and occupy around 126,000 square feet or 5 floors of the 40-story tower.[citation needed]

In February 2018, Chipotle announced that Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol would replace Ells as CEO starting on March 5 while Ellis would retain his chairman position.[49] Many industry analysts praised Niccol's appointment saying that Chipotle "needed new blood."[50] Chipotle stock went up $30.27, or 12.04%, as a result of the announcement. However, other analysts criticized the announcement by saying that "the move goes against everything the burrito chain stands for."[51]

In May 2018, Chipotle announced that it would relocate headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach, California in Southern California. Corporate functions handled in their Denver and New York offices would move to Newport Beach or to an existing office in Columbus, Ohio. This move would impact 400 workers, some being offered relocation and retention packages.[52]

In June 2018, the company announced the closing of 65 under-performing restaurants.[53][54]

Other restaurant expansion[edit]

In 2011, Steve Ells was a judge for the TV show America's Next Great Restaurant and investor of ANGR Holdings, the company that will be running the winning concept's restaurants. Chipotle has agreed to purchase Ells' investment in ANGR at his cost, provide support for ANGR operations, and invest a total of $2.3 million in cash contributions.[55] The winning concept, Soul Daddy, was quickly closed after operating for less than 5 weeks.[56]

In September 2011, Chipotle opened an Asian fast-casual concept restaurant named ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen in Washington, D.C.[57] The company has said the new restaurant "would follow the Chipotle service format and its focus on 'food with integrity' in ingredients."[58] Chipotle's plan was to start with only one store, and see how the restaurant works out before expanding the concept.[59]

On December 18, 2013, the company revealed that it had opened its first fast-food pizza chain in Denver back in May 2013. According to Associated Press, Chipotle partnered with a local full-service restaurant called Pizzeria Locale to create a fast-food version of the eatery, keeping its name. The company plans to open at least two more pizzerias in the Denver area.[60]

In April 2014, Chipotle announced an increase in menu prices for the first time in nearly three years, due to increasing costs for steak, avocados, and cheese. The price increase was expected to be rolled out from the end of second quarter of 2014 through the end of the third quarter.[61] In late 2015, Chipotle expanded its mobile strategy through delivery partnerships with tech startups like Tapingo, a delivery service that targets college campuses.[62]

On July 29, 2016, the company announced the opening of its first Tasty Made burger restaurant in the fall. Chipotle was still dealing with the various virus outbreaks with additional marketing. The company was also reducing the number of new stores for the year from 235 to 220.[63]

The newer restaurant concepts did not perform as well as expected so that ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and Tasty Made were respectively closed in March 2017[64] and February 2018[65] leaving only Pizzeria Locale operating besides the parent company.

International[edit]

According to an article in The Motley Fool, Chipotle had 17 locations outside of the United States by October 2014 with the majority in Canada, and the UK was in the process of opening more locations.[66] The rate of overseas expansion was slower than expected.[67] Many of the press reviewers thought that the food was overpriced for their area.[12][68]

As of 2018 there are 33 locations outside of the United States with 19 locations in Canada (Ottawa, Toronto, Markham, Vaughan, Mississauga, Oakville, Vancouver), 6 locations in The United Kingdom (London), 6 in France (Paris), and 2 in Germany (Frankfurt).[better source needed][3][69]

Canada[edit]

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Canada

In August 2008, Chipotle opened its first location outside of the United States in Toronto.[10] The second location in Toronto–and in all of Canada–was not opened until 2010.[67]

The first Canadian location outside of the Toronto area was opened in Vancouver in December 2012.[70] A second Vancouver-area location was opened in Burnaby in October 2014[71] followed by a third in Surrey in January 2016,[72] a fourth in Langley in October 2016,[73] and a fifth in West Vancouver in March 2018.[74]

The first location in the nation's capital of Ottawa was opened in February 2017 at the Rideau Centre.[75]

Chipotle rapidly expanded in the Greater Toronto area, and is still opening new locations.[citation needed] As of 2018, there are 11 locations in Toronto, 2 in Vaughan, 2 in Mississauga, 1 in Oakville, and 1 location in Markham.

United Kingdom[edit]

The second Chipotle Mexican Grill location in London, located on Baker Street

Chipotle expanded to Europe with the first European restaurant opening in May 2010 in London.[8][76][77] A second location opened in London in September 2011.[78] The following year, three additional locations were quickly opened in the London area.[79] After this growth spurt, the rate of further expansion in London slowed greatly with the sixth location appearing in 2013[80] and the seventh in June 2015.[81] Although Chipotle blames the slow growth in the United Kingdom on the British unfamiliarity with Mexican foods,[82] several locally owned burrito chains had opened locations across the United Kingdom during the same interval.[83]

France[edit]

The first location in France opened in Paris in May 2012.[12][84]

Expansion in France was much slower than that in the United Kingdom or Canada, with a second location in Paris opening in 2013[85] and a third location in 2014.[86] At 7,000 square feet, the restaurant at La Défense is, as of 2015, the largest Chipotle location in the world, while a typical Chipotle restaurant is usually between 2,200 and 2,500 square feet.[87] A fourth Parisian location was opened in Levallois-Perret in 2015[88] followed by a fifth[89] and a sixth[90] Parisian location in 2016, both in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Germany[edit]

The first location in Germany opened up in Frankfurt's Skyline Plaza shopping mall in August 2013.[11][68]

A second location opened in Frankfurt's MyZeil shopping mall in April 2019.[91]

Corporate management[edit]

Chipotle's team includes a residing corporate office of managers and its board of directors. Members of both teams are appointed to serve on committees: audit, compensation, and nominating and corporate governance.

The top management team consisted of the chief executive officer, Steve Ells; the chief financial officer, Jack R. Hartung; the chief marketing and development officer, Mark Crumpacker.[92] The current board of directors consists of: Ells, Patrick Flynn, Albert Baldocchi, Neil Flanzraich, Darlene Friedman, Stephen Gillet, Kimbal Musk and John Charlesworth.[93] On March 14, 2018, it was reported that Mark Crumpacker, who had previously been charged in a 2016 cocaine ring indictment, would be leaving the company.[94]

Ells serves as chairman of the company, and served as Chief executive officer until November 2017.[95][48] He has a 1.25% stake in the company.[96] The labor-market research firm Glassdoor reported that Ells earned $29 million in 2014, versus a median of $19,000 for Chipotle's workers, making the CEO-to-worker pay ratio 1522:1.[97]

On February 13, 2018, Chipotle announced that Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol would replace Ells as CEO starting on March 5 while Ells would retain his chairman position.[49]

On March 6, 2020, Ells resigned as chairman and left the board of directors, breaking his final ties to the company. At the same time, Niccol was appointed chairman and the size of the board was reduced from 10 to 7 directors.[98][99]

Operation and distribution[edit]

All of Chipotle's restaurants are company-owned, rather than franchised.[100] As of December 2012, 1430 restaurants have since opened throughout the United States and Canada, with locations in 43 states, Ontario, British Columbia, and the District of Columbia.[101][102]

The field team are the employees who work closely with but not directly within specific restaurants. The field support system includes apprentice team leaders (step up from restaurateurs), team leaders or area managers, team directors and regional directors (not atypical for them to oversee more than fifty locations).[103] Because Chipotle does not franchise, all restaurants are corporately owned. Thus, whenever Chipotle is in the process of launching a new location, the field team hires a new general manager and trains them at a current location so that they will be ready for the new location when it opens for business. The corporate office takes care of finding and funding new locations as well.[104]

Menu[edit]

A Chipotle restaurant in Brandon, Florida, having the typical service-line layout with menu above

Chipotle's menu consists of five items: burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas, and salads. The price of each item is based on the choice of chicken, pork carnitas, barbacoa, steak, carne asada, tofu-based "sofritas",[105][106] or vegetarian (with guacamole, which would be at an extra charge otherwise). Additional optional toppings are offered free of charge, including: rice, beans, four types of salsa, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce.[107][108]

Chipotle regular sized chips and queso with a side of sour cream.

When asked in 2007 about expanding the menu, Steve Ells said, "[I]t's important to keep the menu focused, because if you just do a few things, you can ensure that you do them better than anybody else."[109] Chipotle also offers a children's menu.[110][111] Most restaurants sell beer and margaritas in addition to soft drinks and fruit drinks.[112]

The majority of food is prepared in each restaurant. Some exceptions are the beans and carnitas, which are prepared at a central kitchen in Chicago, Illinois.[113] None of the restaurants have freezers, microwave ovens, or can openers.[114]

Chicken Burrito Bowl

The chain experimented with breakfast foods at two airports in the Washington (D.C.) metropolitan area but decided against expanding the menu in that direction.[115][116][117] Starting in 2009, selected restaurants had offered a pozole soup,[118][119][120] which has since been discontinued.

In June 2015, Chipotle began test marketing a pork and chicken chorizo-type sausage as a new protein option at selected locations in the Kansas City area.[121][122][123] Some food writers have expressed their health related concerns over the protein's relatively high sodium content since a 4-ounce serving contains 293 calories and 803 milligrams of sodium[124] while the American Heart Association’s recommended daily amount is less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium.[125] In contrast, the protein options with next highest sodium contents are Barbacoa with 530 milligrams and sofritas with 555 milligrams.[124] An earlier version on the Mexican sausage was tested in Denver and New York City in 2011,[126] but that test was terminated when that version of the sausage was perceived as looking too greasy.[127] Chorizo was discontinued in September 2017[128] but was returned to the menu in the following year for a limited time.[129]

In July 2020, Chipotle began test marketing a cauliflower rice option at 55 locations in Colorado and Wisconsin.[130]

Chipotle accepts fax orders, and in 2005 the company added the ability to order online from their website. For both online and fax orders, customers proceed to the front of the line to pay for pre-ordered food.[131] In 2009, Chipotle released an app for the iPhone that allows users to find nearby Chipotle locations, place an order, and prepay with a credit card.[132] In 2013, Chipotle released an Android app that allows users to locate nearby Chipotle locations, place an order, prepay with a credit or gift card, and access favorites and recent orders.[133][134]

Nutrition[edit]

In 2003, a Center for Science in the Public Interest report stated that Chipotle's burritos contain over 1,000 calories, which is nearly equivalent to two meals' worth of food.[135][136] MSNBC Health.com placed the burritos on their list of the "20 Worst Foods in America" because of their high caloric content and high sodium.[137] When a burrito with carnitas, rice, vegetables, cheese, guacamole, and salsa was compared with a typical Big Mac, the burrito had more fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and sodium than the Big Mac, but it also had more protein and fiber.[138] The restaurant has also received praise – Health.com included the restaurant in its list of the "Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants".[139]

Chipotle's vegetarian options include rice, black beans, fajita vegetables (onions and bell peppers), salsa, guacamole and cheese.[140] All items other than the meats, cheese, sour cream, and honey vinaigrette dressing are vegan.[140] As of late 2013, Chipotle developed a new cooking strategy for the pinto beans, eliminating the bacon and making them vegetarian and vegan-friendly.[141] The cheese is processed with vegetable-based rennet in order to be suitable for vegetarians.[140] In April 2010, Chipotle began testing a vegan "Garden Blend" option, which is a plant-based meat alternative marinated in chipotle adobo, at six locations in the U.S.[142][143] The flour tortillas used for the burritos and soft tacos are the only items that contain gluten.[140]

Food sourcing[edit]

In 1999, while looking for ways to improve the taste of the carnitas,[20] founder Steve Ells was prompted by an article written by Edward Behr to visit Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).[144] Ells found the CAFOs "horrific", and began sourcing from open-range pork suppliers. This caused an increase in both the price and the sales of the carnitas burritos.[76]

In 2001, Chipotle released a mission statement called Food With Integrity, which highlighted Chipotle's efforts to increase their use of naturally raised meat, organic produce, and dairy without added hormones.[7] Chipotle only uses the leg and thigh meat from its chickens; the breast meat is sold to Panera Bread.[145]

Customers at a Chipotle restaurant in Fredericksburg, Virginia

Ells has testified before the United States Congress in support of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which aims to reduce the amount of antibiotics given to farm animals.[76][146]

Since 2006, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Floridian farmworker organization, has protested Chipotle's refusal to sign a Fair Food agreement, which would commit the restaurant chain to pay a penny-per-pound premium on its Florida tomatoes to boost tomato harvesters' wages, and to only buy Florida tomatoes from growers who comply with the Fair Food Code of Conduct.[147] In 2009, the creators of the documentary film Food, Inc. (along with 31 other leaders in the sustainable food movement) signed an open letter of support for the CIW's campaign, stating that, "If Chipotle is sincere in its wishes to reform its supply chain, the time has come to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers rights."[148] In September 2009, Chipotle announced that it would sidestep partnership with the CIW and instead work directly with East Coast Growers and Packers to increase wages for its tomato pickers.[149] Ells framed the dispute as a fundamental issue of control, stating that, "the CIW wants us to sign a contract that would let them control Chipotle's decisions regarding food in the future."[150] In October 2012, Chipotle signed an agreement with the CIW and became the 11th company to join the organization's Fair Food Program.[151]

In January 2015, Chipotle pulled carnitas from its menu in a third of its restaurants; company officials cited animal welfare problems at one of the suppliers, found during a regular audit, as the reason.[152] Subsequently, a false rumor spread online claiming it was done to appease Muslims who consider pork to be unclean, leading to some protests on social media.[153] The company still uses antibiotic-free and hormone-free steak in its restaurants, despite being briefly forced to "serve beef that is not naturally raised" during the summer of 2013, posting an in-store notice each time that occurred.[154] Roberto Ferdman of The Washington Post opined that Chipotle's stated mission to sell "food with integrity" may be "untenable" if meat producers continue to breach Chipotle's ethical standards.[152]

Also in 2015, Chipotle stopped using genetically modified corn and soy beans in their foods, claiming to be the first nationwide restaurant to cook completely GMO free.[155] This was done in response to increasing consumer demand for GMO free products.

Food safety[edit]

External video "How Chipotle made hundreds of people barf". Vox report dated January 6, 2016, explaining Chipotle's "food safety crisis".

Since 2008, a former Kansas State University food safety professor has accused Chipotle of confusing the public by using such terms as "naturally raised meats", "organic ingredients", and "locally sourced" and trying to equate those terms with food safety.[156] In rebuttal, a Chipotle spokesperson told The Daily Beast that "all of our practices have always been very much within industry norms. It's important to note that restaurant practices are regulated by health codes, and restaurants are routinely inspected by health officials. Everything we have done in our supply chain and in our restaurants has been within industry norms."[156] Yet, FiveThirtyEight pointed out that the 2015 norovirus outbreak appears to be unusual[157] and others are criticizing their food sourcing or handling practices.[158][159] MarketWatch wrote that the result of all of these outbreaks will be to force Chipotle to obtain their produce from larger corporate farms that can afford the more extensive microbial food-safety testing programs and to process vegetables at centralized locations instead of at the individual stores, both of which are industry-standard practices that the company had previously criticized.[160] The New York Times implied that the company's insistence on maintaining its long standing rhetoric about "food integrity" seemed to be quite opposite with the realities of recent current events and made it appear that the management was just ignoring their current problems.[161] It also has been pointed out that Chipotle's current record-keeping system is actually hindering the health authorities' investigation in locating the sources of the various infections.[161]

A writer for the magazine Popular Science pointed out that Chipotle had publicly acknowledged that they "may be at a higher risk for food-borne illness outbreaks than some competitors due to our use of fresh produce and meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation."[162][163][164] Henry I. Miller, a medical researcher and columnist and the founding director of the FDA's Office of Biotechnology, asked: "One wonders whether Chipotle’s "traditional methods" include employees' neglecting to wash their hands before preparing food, which is how norovirus is usually spread. And the fresh versus frozen dichotomy is nothing more than a snow-job. Freezing E. coli-contaminated food does not kill the pathogens; it preserves them."[165] Describing food poisoning outbreaks as "something of a Chipotle trademark; the recent ones are the fourth and fifth this year [2015], one of which was not disclosed to the public", Miller notes that "a particularly worrisome aspect of the company's serial deficiencies is that there have been at least three unrelated pathogens in the outbreaks – Salmonella and E. coli bacteria and norovirus. In other words, there has been more than a single glitch; suppliers and employees have found a variety of ways to contaminate what Chipotle cavalierly sells (at premium prices) to its customers."[165]

A writer for the North Carolina newspaper The News & Observer called Chipotle's "food with integrity" a "lucrative farce" and a "marketing ploy" by pointing out that organic food is "often grown with manure (an 'all-natural' fertilizer), which can certainly increase the risks of accidentally spreading fecal bacteria like E. coli."[166]

In December 2015, Seattle health officials closed a Seattle-area Chipotle for a day after it had repeatedly had small numbers of violations during recent consecutive inspections that previously would not have generated a closure order.[167] On December 10, 2015, CEO Steve Ells released a press statement apologizing for 2015 outbreaks and promised changes to minimize the risks of future outbreaks.[168]

March 2008 hepatitis outbreak[edit]

In March and April 2008, the Community Epidemiology Branch of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency traced a hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County to a single Chipotle restaurant located in La Mesa, California in which 22 customers were infected with the virus.[169][170]

April 2008 norovirus outbreak[edit]

In 2008, Chipotle was implicated in a norovirus outbreak in Kent, Ohio, where over 400 people became ill after eating at a Chipotle restaurant.[171] Officials at the Ohio Department of Health said that the outbreak was caused by Norovirus Genotype G2.[172] Many of the victims were students at Kent State University.[173] The initial source of the outbreak was never found.

February 2009 Campylobacter jejuni outbreak[edit]

In 2009, an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health traced an outbreak of campylobacteriosis to a Chipotle Mexican Grill in Apple Valley, Minnesota.[174][175][176] The investigation found that chicken was sometimes served undercooked by the restaurant and determined that lettuce which had been cross-contaminated with raw or undercooked chicken was the vector for the outbreak.[177][178][third-party source needed]

July 2015 E. coli outbreak[edit]

In early November 2015, The Oregonian reported that there was a little-known E. coli outbreak that had occurred earlier in July in which five people were infected with the O157:H7 strain of E. coli. The outbreak was traced to a single Chipotle location in Seattle and that the incident was not publicized at that time.[179][180] Seattle public health officials defended their actions at that time by saying that the outbreak was over by the time they made an association with Chipotle. Health officials were unable to trace the source of the July outbreak and said that the cause of the July outbreak is unrelated to the October/November outbreak.[179]

August 2015 norovirus outbreak[edit]

Another norovirus outbreak was confirmed to have occurred in August 2015 at a Simi Valley, California location in which 80 customers and 18 employees reported becoming ill.[181][182] Ventura County health inspectors found various health violations during two inspections following the outbreak report.[183] Despite those violations, the county health officials did not close the restaurant and allowed it to continue to operate.[181] In a January 2016 article, The New York Times reported that the number of victims involved in the Simi Valley norovirus outbreak was actually 207, twice the number that was reported earlier.[184]

In an unusual move, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration has gotten a federal grand jury to issue a subpoena in January 2016 as part of a criminal investigation seeking documents and information from Chipotle concerning the Simi Valley norovirus outbreak.[184][185] As of January 2016, it is too early to tell which organization is the actual target of the investigation. In most cases involving norovirus outbreaks that involved a single location, state and/or local authorities are the usual jurisdiction responsible in the investigation and prosecution of those type of cases. However, Ventura County officials had been criticized for their handling of parts of their investigation, and for allowing the restaurant to continue to operate after finding health violations during consecutive inspections.

Less than two weeks later, a federal class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claiming that Chipotle knowingly allowed an ill kitchen manager to work for two days before sending that person home. Then, the restaurant actively deep-cleaned the restaurant to remove all traces of contamination prior to notifying the Ventura County Environmental Health Division of the existing outbreak, hindering their investigation. The lawsuit also claimed that the number of known victims was as high as 234 and estimates that the number of meals that the infected employee may have come in contact with could be as high 3,000.[186][187][188]

August 2015 Salmonella outbreak[edit]

At almost the same time as the Simi Valley norovirus outbreak, Minnesota health officials confirmed a Salmonella outbreak that affected 17 Minneapolis-area Chipotle restaurants in mid-August 2015. The source of the outbreak was traced back to contaminated tomatoes that were grown in Mexico.[189][190] The Minnesota Department of Health reported that samples from 45 victims were tested and found that their illness was caused by the Salmonella Newport bacterium as determined by DNA profiling.[191] Later, the state officials reported that the total of persons who became infected was increased to 64 and the number Chipotle locations in which they had acquired the bacterium was increased to 22, all located within the state of Minnesota.[192]

October 2015 E. coli outbreak[edit]

In October 2015, at least 22 people were reported to have gotten sick after eating at several different Chipotle locations in the states of Washington and Oregon. At that time, an epidemiologist for the Washington State Department of Health said the culprit appeared to be a Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli bacterium, but they were still waiting the outcome of several laboratory tests before they could give a definitive result.[193][194][195] As a precaution, Chipotle had closed 43 stores in Washington and Oregon pending the results and recommendations of the involved health authorities. On November 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported that the number of persons reported ill had risen to 40 known cases and that the bacteria samples taken from 7 infected persons in Washington and 3 persons in Oregon states were confirmed to be infected by the same strain of E. coli, the Shiga toxin-producing STEC O26 strain, as determined by DNA profiling.[196] At least 12 persons required hospitalization, but no fatalities. As of November 2015, Health authorities were still trying to trace the exact source of the bacterial contamination, but suspected fresh produce.[197]

On November 12, the CDC increased the number of known cases to 50, the number of persons requiring hospitalization to 14, and the number of DNA fingerprint confirmations to 33.[198] Through a match via Pulsenet, the DNA fingerprint also matched a recent case in Minnesota, but the ill person did not eat at Chipotle. The source of the bacteria infection still had not yet been determined at the time of the report released by the CDC and the CDC is trying to use the more definitive, but more time-consuming whole genome sequencing procedure to see if they are able to determine the relationships between all of the STEC O26 cases. In the meantime, Chipotle reopened the closed restaurants on November 11 after disposing all of the food within the closed facilities and deep cleaning those facilities.[199]

On November 20, the CDC reported that the number of STEC O26 cases, as determined by DNA fingerprinting, had increased to 45 with 16 persons requiring hospitalization and the total number states being affected had increased to six.[200] Besides Oregon and Washington, new cases were reported in the states of Minnesota, California, New York, and Ohio.[201] 43 out of 45 of the affected individuals had reported that they had eaten at a Chipotle in the week before they had become sick.

On December 4, the CDC reported that the number of STEC O26 cases, as determined by DNA fingerprinting, had increased to 52 with 20 persons requiring hospitalization and the total number states being affected had increased to nine.[202] New cases were reported in the states of California (1), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Washington (1).[203]

The price of shares for Chipotle stock dropped a further 12% immediately after the CDC had issued their update on November 20.[204] Share prices had been dropping since the initial announcement of the E. coli outbreak in late October with investors unsure if the drop in share prices just a temporary aberration and that Chipotle management is handling the incident as well as they could. Chipotle has since hired a consultant to improve their food safety program and have their program reviewed by both the CDC and FDA.[205]

On February 1, 2016, the CDC official closed their investigations on the larger E. coli that started in Pacific Northwest in October 2015 and also the smaller outbreak that started in Kansas and Oklahoma in November since no new cases were reported since December 1.[206] In their final report, the CDC stated that 55 persons in 11 states were infected with the same strain of STEC O26 during the major outbreak with 21 of those persons requiring hospitalization. The five persons infected in the later outbreak were made ill by a genetically different strain of STEC O26. The CDC also reported that federal and local health and food safety authorities were unable to detect traces of the microorganisms in any of the food samples taken from the suspected restaurants or from their supply chain. The CDC, FDA, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service were unable to determine a point source that was in common in the meals that were consumed by all the victims since some of the restaurants were located far apart and had obtained some of their ingredients from different suppliers while other consumers of the suspected suppliers were not affected.

November 2015 E. coli cases[edit]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on December 21 that five more people became ill after eating at two Chipotle restaurants located in Kansas and Oklahoma in late November. Preliminary DNA fingerprinting results appear to indicated that the newer cases were caused by a different strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26. Scientists are waiting for the results of the more definitive whole genome sequencing analyses to determine if the organisms responsible for this outbreak are genetically related to the E. coli that are responsible for causing the outbreak that had started in Oregon and Washington in late October and thus an extension of that outbreak. The agency has not yet determined which food is responsible for the outbreak.[207] The Food and Drug Administration reported that they are trying to determine how the bacteria in these cases, along with the earlier Oregon, Washington, and other multi-state cases, might have been propagated through the food supply chain.[208]

December 2015 norovirus outbreak[edit]

The closed restaurant on December 16, 2015

In December 2015, eighty students at Boston College, including members of the men's basketball team, were sickened after eating at a single Chipotle restaurant. Affected students had been tested for both E. coli and norovirus in order to determine the cause of the illnesses.[209][210] Although it would take as long as two days before the results of more definitive tests became known, public health investigators reported that preliminary tests pointed to the presence of norovirus.[211] The health inspectors for the City of Boston had since closed this particular location on December 7 for a number of health violations that included maintaining meats at a too low of a temperature on the serving line and for allowing a sick employee to work at the time of the inspection.[212]

On December 10, officials from the Boston Public Health Commission reported that tests had identified a single strain of norovirus that is responsible for this particular outbreak.[213] Boston Globe reported on December 10 that 141 persons were reported to have gotten ill and that some of the newer victims had not visited Chipotle before contracting the virus[214] and most likely became infected by being in close proximity to someone who had gotten ill at Chipotle, such as a roommate or dorm-mate.[213] Boston authorities traced the cause of the outbreak to a sick employee who was allowed to work on the day of the outbreak. Chipotle has since fired the employee and also the manager who knowingly allowed the ill worker to complete his shift instead of following health codes.[215]

Consequences of the multiple incidents in 2015[edit]

On February 8, 2016, Chipotle closed all of its eateries nationwide for a few hours during the morning for an all-staff meeting on food safety.[216] The company hired a new head of food safety, who instituted changes including having all employees wash hands every half hour, having two employees verify that produce like onions, jalapeños and avocados have been immersed in hot water for five seconds to kill germs on their exteriors, and using Pascalization to pre-treat food ingredients.[217]

Since the series of food-poisoning outbreaks in 2015 lowered trust in the product, Chipotle has tried to lure back its customers with free food and heavier advertising. Same-store sales increased 17.8% percent in the first quarter of 2017.[218]

July 2017 norovirus outbreak[edit]

Despite corrective actions, the company faced another setback in implementing their safe food policies in July 2017. A norovirus outbreak is being investigated in Virginia. More than 130 people reported having norovirus-like symptoms and two individuals had tested positive for the virus after eating at a Chipotle restaurant in Sterling, Virginia. The Loudoun County Health Department confirmed the illnesses from July 13–16, 2017. Shares of Chipotle's stock stumbled more than 10% on this news[219][220] and also the news that customers had posted videos of mice skittering through a Chipotle restaurant in Dallas just a few days before the norovirus incident was reported.[221][222] On July 25, several news agencies reported that Chipotle officials confirmed that the "recent norovirus outbreak in Virginia was the result of lax sick policy enforcement by store managers" and that the company believed that an employee was the cause of the outbreak.[223][222]

July 2018 Clostridium perfringens outbreak[edit]

In late July 2018, Ohio public health officials launched an investigation after receiving 368 complaints from customers after they had eaten at a Powell, Ohio, location.[224] By mid-August, the U.S. Ce

[punjabiolympia]

20 Best Female Fitness Models Of 2020

There are actually so many superb feminine fitness fashions on the market that we couldn’t probably embody everybody on our record. However, we did discover among the many hottest and influential ladies at the moment (however don’t be mad in case your favourite wasn’t included). These hotties are completely doing their factor and all have fairly huge followings on Instagram/social media. So, right here’s our record of common feminine fitness fashions (take pleasure in)! 1. Kayla Itsines First up is Australian private coach Kayla Itsines. This 28-year-old can also be an writer and entrepreneur who based a collection of fitness ebooks known as Bikini Body Guides (BBG). She additionally created the app, Sweat with Kayla, which was probably the most profitable fitness app of 2016. Itsines is vastly common on social media, boasting a powerful 12.5 million followers on Instagram. She was additionally named 30 most influential individuals on the Internet by Time’s, and identifies herself as Greek on account of her household heritage. Itsines can also be definitely among the many wealthiest fitness figures with over $60 million. 2. Sommer Ray An completely gorgeous fitness mannequin from the U.S., this 23-year-old has discovered unparalleled success with 24.9 million Instagram followers to show it. This tops our record for Instagram followers. She additionally owns a clothes model (Sommer Ray Collection) and is getting extra common by the day. 3. Michelle Lewin If we’re speaking about feminine fitness fashions then Michelle Lewin positively belongs within the dialog. This beautiful influencer positively is aware of what she’s doing relating to constructing a head-turning physique. Lewin began off working at a Venezuela clinic and doubtless by no means would have thought she’d blow up how she did. Now she’s one of the recognizable faces who has been on the duvet of a number of high-profile fitness magazines together with Sports & Fitness, Her Muscle & Fitness, and Iron Man. She’s at the moment based mostly in South Florida. Oh… and also you would possibly keep in mind the time she was bitten within the butt by a pig on the seashore throughout a photoshoot. 4. Jen Selter Top feminine fitness mannequin and web superstar Jen Selter is simply 26 years outdated however she has made fairly the title for herself. Her ardour for fitness began in highschool when she labored on the entrance desk of a fitness center. She discovered figuring out to be a technique to relieve stress and earlier than she knew it, she would pave the best way for different social media influencers. Selter apparently performed a component in popularizing the “belfie” or butt selfie and her signature “Seltering” poses. She has additionally been featured in a number of publications comparable to Women’s Health, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, The New York Post, and Elite Daily. Other notable accomplishments embody being acknowledged as a prime fitness influencer by Forbes in 2017. She’s additionally the co-owner for BlendJet (moveable blenders) and founding father of @couplegoals. 5. Paige Hathaway Definitely one of many extra common feminine fitness fashions, Paige Hathaway started her journey in 2011. Hathaway is from Minnesota initially and has achieved such enormous success through the years. Although, her childhood was tough coping with the divorce of her mother and father and custody points. But she went on to do fairly nicely for herself, competing in Bikini, showing in magazines, and raking in 7 figures a year, making her one of many highest-paid fitness fashions. 6. Ana Cheri Besides having a really profitable modeling profession, Ana Cheri can also be a fitness center proprietor, actress, and host with a following of 12.5 million on Instagram. Cheri was additionally a options Playmate mannequin in 2015, citing the next about gym-spiration… “You have to start somewhere. If the gym seems intimidating, try an outdoor sport. Every little bit counts.” 7. Anllela Sagra Anllela Sagra has a killer physique that she isn’t shy about displaying off. Her determine has acquired lots of consideration from prime names within the trade and earlier than she turned actually common, she was a vogue design pupil who would mannequin (vogue) just a few instances per week. But she turned very severe about fitness and needed to compete, of which she positioned third at her first competitors. Sagra’s transfer to the US from Columbia was apparently one of the best transfer the 26-year-old made as a result of it paid off huge time! Here’s an inspiring quote from the bio on her web site… “In life there is no such thing as luck, there are only opportunities and it is your decision whether or not to take a chance on them. I decided to take it and risk everything, lose everything and just jump into the world of possibilities and the truth is that it was the best decision I ever made in my life.” 8. Eva Andressa It’s fairly apparent Eva Andressa works her butt off to rock that sort of physique and he or she positively deserves the popularity. Of course, she used to compete professionally which is smart. Her most notable accomplishments embody… 2008 Brasil, Bodyfitness, 1st 2009 Brazilian National champion, Bodyfitness The 35-year-old Brazilian mannequin has 5.6 million Instagram followers and actually noticed success after showing on the superstar TV present in Brasil – Programa do Jo. Andressa went on to have her personal present in 2015 known as Dica Fitness of which she interviews well-known athletes. 9. Katya Elise Henry Based in Miami, Florida, Katya Elise Henry has actually bought it happening. She’s additionally a WBFF Pro in addition to a coach and mannequin who has impressed and helped to rework so many individuals across the globe. Here’s a bit of the bio from her web site Workouts by Katya… “My journey started when I was at a place probably very similar to where you are right now. I knew how I wanted to look, and I knew that I really wanted to look like that, but I didn’t know where to start. Workouts By Katya was born out of my motivation to inspire and empower everyone to be their best. My vision is to provide you with the best workout programs and information to allow you to be your very best. I was blessed with a Mom who is an amazing personal trainer, and a Dad who has always been involved in sports and weight training. Growing up, I was always active and generally fit. My childhood dream was to be a cheerleader, and I pursued this goal until it was achieved when I turned 18! As I grew older, I started to develop an understanding of the way I wanted to look. My main sources of motivation came from my mom and sister, but also from myself. I know that my fitness journey will never stop – improvement is constant and never-ending!” 10. Karina Elle Karina Elle is on each feminine fitness mannequin crush record. She’s a former athlete and Bikini competitor having received the World Fitness Federation Pro Bikini Championship. The half Asian/half European mannequin is thought for her slender and athletic physique standing at 5’11 tall. She discovered a ton of success in her 20’s and has grow to be one of the in-demand feminine fitness fashions. Elle additionally has her personal web site for training and galvanizing. 11. Emily Skye Personal coach and fitness mannequin Emily Skye based Emily Skye FIT which is the end result of her years being concerned within the trade. But she needed to do extra and now how a web based program consisting of every part ladies have to be more healthy and extra FIT. Emily Skye can also be the co-founder of a cosmetics model James cosmetics. And she’s at the moment anticipating a child boy… 12. Anna Nystrom Anna Nystrom is a well being/fitness/life-style YouTuber from Sweden with 8.6 million followers on Instagram. She skilled just a few setbacks whereas finding out for design and vogue on account of well being points. However, she was capable of flip issues round by studying about well being and fitness which led to her changing into a private coach and the remainder was historical past. Nystrom developed a ardour for social media and used these platforms to encourage so many individuals. She was additionally capable of observe her ardour for design and vogue by launching the exercise clothes line Ryvelle® in 2018. 13. Bru Luccas Brazilian mannequin Bru Luccas went from McDonald’s employee to common fitness determine and enterprise proprietor. She’s additionally one half of a duo together with her sister known as Body & Sisters on Instagram. There’s no approach she wouldn’t belong on this record… 14. Lauren Drain Lauren Drain has one of the fascinating tales on the market that she become a e-book, and have become a New York Times bestseller. She’s a Registered Nurse, private coach, and Bikini Pro who owns her personal enterprise. Despite her unlucky early years the place she was pressured to evolve to a cult, she’s achieved amazingly nicely and is fortunately married. 15. Gracyanne Barbosa Gracyanne Barbosa is a Brazilian fitness mannequin and Carnaval dancer who started her rise to stardom after monetary points led her to pursue dancing and modeling. She posed for Playboy Brazil within the February 2007 subject after which caught the eye of many after a video was shared of her squatting round 450 lbs. The authenticity of the weights used was positively in query however her reputation has risen considerably. 16. Tammy Hembrow Australian-born Tammy Hembrow most just lately posted a fairly racy photograph that caught the eye of the media. And she isn’t afraid to point out what she has labored for. She’s a mom of two at age 26 and began her private model in 2015 and seeks to show ladies reside a more healthy and healthier life-style. Hembrow has 11.Three million Instagram followers and over 1 million YouTube subscribers. 17. Amanda Lee Canadian fitness mannequin Amanda Lee is admittedly shy, nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped her from making her presence recognized. She was very skinny in her youthful years of which she despised however due to her mom who was a private coach, Lee was capable of finding herself and her ardour. She then rose to fame on Instagram after a well-known dancer tagged her and earlier than she knew, the followers and alternatives began to flood in. 18. Brooke Ence A former prime CrossFit competitor who positioned 14th on the 2015 CrossFit Games, Brooke Ence is as spectacular as they arrive. So a lot so actually, that she has had some fairly good success with appearing. Ence has had roles within the movies Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), and Black Lightning (2018). The Utah native was all the time athletic and aggressive which appeared to essentially repay. Ence stated she was making a comeback to CrossFit competitors in 2020 seeing how common she is, that might be an thrilling build-up for her and followers. 19. Heidi Somers Also generally known as BuffBunny, Heidi Somers is a fitness competitor and mannequin. Somers wasn’t all the time match… or wholesome. In reality, when she lived in her home state of Alaska, she hit all-time low on account of relationships, her job, and her well being habits. So she relocated to Texas and have become concerned with CrossFit earlier than transitioning right into a deal with increase her physique of which she competed within the NPC. And by seems to be of issues, she didn’t waste her potential. 20. Anna Victoria Concluding our record, Anna Victoria started her fitness journey in 2012 with no information of get match and little or no understanding of correct vitamin. She had some well being issues which meant it was much more crucial for her to learn to reverse this and grow to be her healthiest. Fast ahead to 2015 and he or she was altering lives which led to growing her Fit Body Guides and the Fit Body App. Wrapping Up We actually hope you loved our record of 20 common feminine fitness fashions for 2020. Again, you might have a special opinion based mostly on ladies who’ve impressed you. But we selected some huge names that we all know have completed quite a bit. And you by no means know, you would possibly simply discover some new inspiration. Read the full article

[tshirtfashiontrend]

Ex-soccer star Hope Solo reveals painful details of miscarriage with twins

Link Buys Now: https://kingteeshops.com/ex-soccer-star-hope-solo-reveals-painful-details-of-miscarriage-with-twins/

Ex-soccer star Hope Solo reveals painful details of miscarriage with twins

Ex-soccer star Hope Solo reveals painful details of miscarriage with twins

Ever since she stepped into the spotlight as a goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2000, Hope Solo’s life has seemingly been an endless series of high-profile peaks and valleys.

She won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 but was benched in the 2007 Women’s World Cup semifinals as the U.S. lost. After falling short again in 2011, she helped lead Team USA to the World Cup title in 2015. Her final international appearance ended with a penalty-kick loss to Sweden in the 2016 Olympics.

But Solo’s lowest point was one never made public, until she revealed in an interview for the July issue of Elle magazine that she suffered a miscarriage in February 2018.

Solo told the magazine that she and her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, had been trying for a while to have a baby. Then about a month after the miscarriage, while still experiencing both physical and emotional pain, she learned from a doctor she had been pregnant with twins — one of them ectopic.

Former USWNT goalie Hope Solo

“The doctor said I was hours from dying. They ended up having to remove my fallopian tube,” she told Elle.

At that same time, she was also running for president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Although she didn’t win the election — finishing last — she made equal pay and working conditions for male and female players one of her primary themes at the USSF convention.

“I knew my voice was important,” Solo said. “That speech took a lot. Even before all that, it would have taken courage.”

Since those losses, Solo has continued her fight for women’s rights in soccer. With an existing gender discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at a standstill, she filed a federal lawsuit against the USSF last August. In March, all 28 members of the current U.S. Women’s National Team joined her.

[topbeautifulwomens]

#Daisy #Lowe #Biography #Photos #Wallpapers #aztagram #ballet #brunettemodel #eyelashes #eyeliner #life #makeuplooks #malemodel #presenter #rap

Daisy Rebecca Lowe is an English fashion model who has modeled for editorial photo shoots and commercial advertising campaigns and has worked as a runway model. Lowe had a quick relationship with music producer Mark Ronson. She is the daughter of Pearl Lowe, the singer/songwriter turned textile and fashion designer, and Gavin Rossdale, the front man for the band Bush.

Lowe began modeling at the age of 2, and did some photoshoots when she was 12 and 14 years old. At 15 she was approached by a talent scout in Camden Town and, as a result, she signed with Select, a London modeling agency.

In February 2006, Lowe was featured in Italian Vogue, shot by New York photographer Steven Klein, who also shot her in March 2007 for a W magazine pictorial called “Xurbia”. In September 2006, Lowe modeled for the Urban Outfitters catalog, searched in French Connection printed advertisements and was profiled in British Harperâ€s Bazaar. She was featured in an editorial in Jane magazine alongside fellow model Lydia Hearst-Shaw in March 2007, appeared in Italian Vogue for the second time in May, and in August, posed nude on the cover of i-D magazine with her then-partner, Will Cameron of the band Blondelle, photographed by Terry Richardson.

On the runway, Lowe was selected by Karl Lagerfeld to model for Chanel, and has appeared on catwalks in New York, Milan and London for Topshop and designers such as PPQ, Nanette Lepore, Sue Stemp, Chargood dealte Ronson, Henry Holland, and Vivienne Westwood. She has modeled for Agent Provocateur lingere for the past three years, and has been used by Burberry, Converse shoes, Dr. Martens, Hooch, Wheels and Doll Baby, Ben Sherman, Frost French, Hari, Karen Millen, Diesel SpA and Whistles, as well as for her mother’s recent collection of lace dresses.

Of the Whistles campaign, Lowe said, “[It] was a favorite shoot of mine… Modeling is a cool outlet for me to express myself, and fashion has always fascinated me. I love that fashion crosses into my other passions – music and art.”

Lowe’s magazine work includes editorials and covers of publications such as Tatler, Elle, GQ, Vogue, Paradis, Marie Claire, Interview, Jalouse, Teen Vogue, Dirty Glam, Grazia, In Style, Nylon and The Sunday Times Style amongst several others.

In 2009 she will replace Cole Mohr as the face of Marc by Marc Jacobs and appear in campaigns for Pringle of Scotland and DKNY.

Lowe has some experience in other media, including being the focus of the BBC Two eight-part fly on the wall documentary series Class of 2008, co-hosting Glamour’s Best Dressed 2008 with Peaches Geldof for Fiver, and a brief contribution to a blog for Elle UK online. Lowe has worked as a DJ, appeared in the music videos NYC Beat by Armand Van Helden and Bloodthirsty Bastards by Dirty Pretty Things, hosted events for Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce and Gabbana, and in April 2008 made a recording in a New York studio with producer Mark Ronson, with whom she had a brief romantic relationship.

Lowe grew up in Primrose Hill, North London, and stayed with grandparents to continue her education at South Hampstead High School when her mother, Pearl Lowe, moved to Hampshire. Until 2004, Lowe was believed to be the daughter of Pearl Lowe’s ex-husband Bronner Handwerger, but a paternity test revealed that her godfather, Bush singer/guitarist Gavin Rossdale, was in fact her biological father. Her mother Pearl wrote about the situation in her book, All That Glitters, where she revealed that Daisy was the product of a one night stand between her and Rossdale following an argument she had with her ex-husband. Daisy’s paternity was not questioned at the time, and Lowe listed “Bronner Lowe” on Daisy’s birth certificate. Rossdale had initially offered to take a paternity test, but backed away. It wasn’t until Daisy identified out that neither Lowe nor Handwerger had the O-type blood that she had, that Lowe sought a paternity test through her lawyers. Rossdale’s wife, singer Gwen Stefani, was reported to be furious about this, causing some difficulty in their marriage.

At 16, Lowe said of the press, “A lot of the stuff that turns into written is just total, mindless ********. If something bad is said about any of the folks around me, then we all have a conversation about it […] Most of the time it doesn’t have an effect on my life. It really is annoying when teachers say they’ve read things about me, and my head of year takes me aside and asks if I’m all right […] But you’ve got to tackle it. There’s no point going to cry in the toilet.”

As for relationships, Lowe dated William Cameron Jr. (member of the former British indie-rock band Blondelle) from 2007 – January 2008. Lowe then dated Grammy-award winning music producer Mark Ronson in early 2008 until September 2008. As of 2009, Lowe rekindled her relationship with Will Cameron.

Name Daisy Lowe Height 5'10 Naionality British Date of Birth 27 January 1989 Place of Birth Primrose Hill, North London Famous for

The post Daisy Lowe Biography Photos Wallpapers appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/daisy-lowe-biography-photos-wallpapers/

[theconservativebrief]

Elon Musk personifies the modern cult-of-personality CEO style. His social media posts are unfiltered, he gets into public scuffles with his critics, and he has a loyal band of followers that defend his every move, often attacking Musk’s detractors. But Musk has nothing on Brandon Truaxe, the founder and CEO — though he likes to say his official title is “worker” — of Deciem, one of the buzziest skin care companies on the planet right now.

The unconventional beauty brand founder’s exploits have been followed rabidly by those both interested in incredibly affordable skin care and those who just love messy gossip. As Deciem’s sub-brand The Ordinary gains popularity for its $9 acids, its founder gains notoriety for his incendiary and even offensive Instagram presence. He’s used the platform to insult fans, cancel partnerships, and even posted a photo of an impoverished-looking New Yorker in front of one of the brand’s stores.

In a video on Deciem’s Instagram on Monday, Truaxe said: “This is the final post of Deciem. … We will shut down all operations until further notice, which will be about two months. Please take me seriously.” The location of the video was tagged as the White House. He went on to say, “Almost everyone at Deciem has been involved in major criminal activity, which includes financial crimes.”

The largely incoherent message was paired with a long, rambling caption in which he called out many in the company’s inner circle, then went on to name hotels, restaurants, other cosmetic companies, “so many porn ‘studios,’” Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tom Ford, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Tim Cooke, and Leonard Lauder, the patriarch of the Estée Lauder company.

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Without filters. A revolution is coming. Every one of you who has been laughing aT me will with certainty face criminal prosecution. Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has been the biggest stock promotion. Richard Duntas, Bernard Ass (LVMH), Marica “Tracy” (Bliss, Remedè, Soaper Due Per Shoe), Hyatt (Grand Hyatt, Andaz, er al), Marriott (St. Regis, W, Marriot, et al), So many porn “studios”, nearly all @deciem employees, most of “Hollywood”, Gill Sinclair, India Knight, Caroline Hirons, India Knight, RBC, BMO, Boots, KKR, most of the Lauder family, Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Karim Kanji, Antonio Tadrisi, DF Mc, LVMH, Dia Fooley, Michael Davidson, Hanif, Zark Fatah, Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, etc), H&M, $100 monkey, Too Faced (founders too), TSG, Alshaya, Amanresorts, Erwin Zecha, Oliver Zecha, Steven R Riddle, the Coc and Corcky managers, PRIDE organizers, IT Cosmetics, Nicola L ReadingTons, all of Dishoom, All of Delaunay, David Yurman, Tom Ford, Tim Cooke. McKesson, Rexall, Jamin Asaria, David Jackson, York Heritage and others — sentencing doesn’t begin with any point but sentences like this one do. Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Michael Less, Stephen Spellberg e.T., AON are also included with certainty. ARGO stood for “Ali Roshan GO”. You idiots. Father, please please be safe if you can for the next few hours. I love you all. -Brandon (RIYADH, please be EXTREMELY CAREFUL in the next few hours). Aurora (TSX) : you are finished. Michael Basler, Gordon Wilde, David Trinder, Eric Jacobs, Allan Gerlings, Dalton Pharma SS, Michael OH CON ELLE, Charm IS T A 007, Robert Jones, Cascade, Prince Al Walid, The White Company, Obagi (brand and doctor), Freedom Health, ESHO-isT, Alexandru Serban and baggage, Apotex: Goodbye also. Peace is coming. . It’s clear now. @esteelaudercompanies @richardbranson @realdonaldtrump @gowlingwlg_ca @zuck @musicianjessecook, et. al.

A post shared by THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY (@deciem) on Oct 8, 2018 at 5:41am PDT

This post has been covered and analyzed everywhere from Allure to Buzzfeed, but it’s par for the course for Truaxe, who has given fans reasons to worry about his emotional state before. He posts on the brand’s official Instagram page himself — the rest of the social media team consists of one employee who responds to product usage questions — and has a history of posting confusing and sometimes concerning messages.

Truaxe has not hesitated to attack commenters who question him on the brand’s page. This behavior has led fans and critics to question his mental health and the health of the company, as well as speculate that the social media theatrics are actually just savvy marketing. But what is really going on?

Before we get into the events of this week, here’s a primer: Truaxe founded Deciem in 2013 and launched 10 sub-brands simultaneously — including hair care, supplements, and a men’s grooming line — which is pretty much unheard of in the beauty industry. His company, based in Toronto, also makes its own products, instead of contracting outside manufacturers, which is how most beauty brands work. Deciem employs about 800 people and has more than two dozen stores worldwide. Tagline: “The Abnormal Beauty Company.”

Truaxe is a computer programmer by trade, but he co-founded a high-end line of skincare called Euoko in 2008. One product cost $700, according to an article published in W magazine at the time. He then exited that brand and founded Indeed Labs, another Canadian beauty company. He left that under “angry” conditions and with a non-compete agreement, according to an interview in 2016 with Cosmetics Business. “A combination of passion for bringing credibility to the functional beauty business and the revenge overly due to Indeed Labs led to the formation of Deciem,” he told the publication.

Deciem really took off after the company launched skin care brand the Ordinary in 2016. The line features exceptionally affordable skin care featuring well-studied ingredients that have been used in skin care for decades, like vitamin C, retinol, hyaluronic acid, and others. Most are in simple dropper bottles, and the formulas aren’t fancy; they often smell weird or have gritty textures. But the line took off because the price is cheaper than anything on the market, including products you can find at a drugstore.

A simple glycolic face acid costs less than $9; an equivalent at Sephora or Ulta can cost upward of $20. The Ordinary launched at a time when people were getting interested in and purchasing skin care in a way we haven’t seen in years. The Ordinary’s accessibility contributed to a democratization of sorts. Really effective skin care had previously been in the purview of those who could afford pricey products.

According to Truaxe, the brand has done about $300 million in sales. Beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder has a 28 percent minority share in the company, an association that has given the indie brand credibility but invited scrutiny. Truaxe has always been described as quirky in early interviews, but things started to get weirder at the beginning of 2018 when he started posting very personal and even bizarre messages on the brand’s official Instagram account.

In January, Truaxe officially announced he was taking over the brand’s Instagram page. His first order of business was to pick a fight with another indie brand, Drunk Elephant, by suggesting its marula oil was too expensive. He apologized. After that came a series of pictures of garbage and increasingly more personal posts. He also appeared to be communicating with his team via Instagram. Redditors then discovered Glassdoor reviews suggesting that the company was not a great place to work.

In February, Truaxe took to Instagram to broadcast that the company would no longer be producing Esho, a brand of lip products made in collaboration with a UK plastic surgeon, Dr. Tijion Esho. Truaxe unceremoniously announced this on Instagram, allegedly without alerting Esho himself that it would be happening. (Esho is tagged in this week’s Instagram post as well.) It led to an almost year-long legal battle between the two.

Esho told Vox that he secured trademark and other rights to the Esho brand, as well as payment he was owed, with the help of Deciem’s Nicola Kilner.

Kilner is an important part of the brand story. She joined Deciem early from UK drugstore brand Boots and had been integral to its growth; at one point her title was “co-CEO.” She was largely seen as the calm and moderating force in the company. But Truaxe fired her in February after a confusing string of events that culminated in Truaxe questioning her loyalty to him.

An experienced CFO, Stephen Kaplan, who had only been there about six months, quit around the same time in protest. Kilner was given two years of severance pay. She gave an interview to Elle magazine a few months after her firing, in which she seemed reluctant to say anything negative about Truaxe or Deciem. “Talking to Kilner is a bit like talking to someone rescued from a cult against her will,” wrote Carrie Battan in the article. This summer, Kilner was rehired at the company. (She has not responded to Vox’s request for comment.)

Following the ESHO posts, a Racked investigation, prompted in part by the negative Glassdoor reviews, revealed allegations by several employees of verbal abuse and other misconduct by Truaxe and others in management positions. It was generally acknowledged, including by those working at the company, that the leadership was disorganized, with people changing roles and job titles frequently.

But the brand was growing, opening a rash of new stores (including the one in which the indigent person camped out in front or prompting Truaxe to say, “This person is disrespectful to the beauty of the library; he is disrespectful to the beauty of Fifth Avenue”). During this period, the brand got picked up by Sephora and even got a shout out from Kim Kardashian, who was apparently a fan.

Since these flare ups, Truaxe has been likened to Donald Trump by fans. He picked a fight with Cosmetics Business when it reported on these comparisons. He’s angrily lashed out at fans on social media who have questioned his methods, expressed concern about his increasingly incoherent posts, or called him out for his sometimes brash communication style. He would often highlight retorts to them in Instagram Stories on the brand’s official page, which occasionally led to fans attacking those critics on social media.

“Anyone who insults me, I’ll insult back. Look, if someone drops a bomb on my house I will at least knock and maybe pee on theirs,” he told me in the summer in a previously unpublished conversation, when I asked him about angering his followers by insulting them.

Some of these events seem to have affected his relationship with retailers. Sephora carried The Ordinary for a short time online, then it disappeared. Truaxe had suggested that Ulta was going to carry the line, but that has not materialized. Victoria Health, a UK based site (and one of the first to carry The Ordinary) dropped it recently and started stocking a competitor brand, Garden of Wisdom; Truaxe took to Deciem’s Instagram to post unflattering photos of the site’s founder. He publicly announced, via a shared email on the platform, that he would no longer be supplying product to indie beauty e-commerce site Beautylish. (German retailer Douglas recently started stocking Deciem, and the company has over a dozen freestanding stores in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, and South Korea.)

Truaxe has also publicly called out his minority investor, Estée Lauder, a large and powerful company that has always controlled its image very tightly. He’s published emails from Leonard Lauder and other Lauder executives, airing dirty laundry like the fact that the company supposedly wouldn’t allow an artisan who tiles its stores to post her work on social media. (The woman’s family ultimately was upset at Truaxe for that post.) The company is mentioned in this week’s Instagram post as well. In a statement to Vox, a representative for the company wrote: “The Estée Lauder Companies is a minority investor in Deciem, and, as such, we do not control the company’s operations, social media or personnel decisions.”

(There’s so much more. You can read more of my old reporting here, and Elle also has a helpful timeline of events.)

Now we are back to the “financial crimes” Truaxe mentioned this week on Instagram. In the video, he announced that the company would close down. For a while, Deciem’s homepage was a black screen with a small green pi symbol in the center. Individual brand pages, such as for The Ordinary, could still be accessed. As of publication time, the site is up and running.

According to an email leaked to Cosmopolitan UK, Truaxe ordered all the London stores except one to be closed until February 2019, accompanied by a warning that those not following instructions would be “terminated tomorrow.” No one answered phones at any of the London stores, the Miami store, or the Seoul store. (Truaxe and multiple others in the company did not respond to a request for comment.)

At the Amsterdam store, an apologetic woman who spoke English answered and said her boss told her to close the branch for two weeks, “but I don’t know why.” The Nolita store in New York City was open, but others in the city did not answer the phone. Communication obtained by a source close to Deciem suggested that there was confusion behind the scenes and that more of the New York City locations would eventually be opened. The Toronto stores were closed yesterday, per social media reports, but it was Canadian Thanksgiving. The Canadian stores did not answer their phones today.

All over social media and in the Deciem Facebook chat room, customers have reported placing online orders successfully.

This is not the first time Truaxe has alluded to financial wrongdoings at the company. He’s posted increasingly disturbing videos, including one now-deleted post from a hotel in the UK in which he asked for his followers to call the police because he was worried for his safety. He once sent an email to all his employees stating he was “done” with Deciem.

During the summer, I spoke to Truaxe both on the phone and in person in previously unpublished interviews about some of these incidents, especially the insinuations that there were financial “crimes” at the company. He was vague, saying “authorities” were involved. He also suggested that he was served a lawsuit by his former Euoko partner and current Deciem minority stakeholder Pasquale Cusano, who did not respond to calls and emails. Truaxe sounded lucid during the in-person conversation, though he tends to speak quickly and occasionally rambles.

“I found things I don’t like in my company,” Truaxe said at the time. He would not offer more details when pressed. “Unless things are cleaned up, I won’t stay.”

Truaxe’s suggestion on Instagram this week that the company may shut down led to a bit of panic among customers and fans, as it has done on multiple other occasions when his behavior on Instagram has seemed erratic. The CBC, which ran a report on the company in July, spoke to a marketing expert who suggested that it might be a purposeful tactic to get customers to buy products in bulk. If it was premeditated, it’s working, if social media is any indication — though some are calling it a stunt:

this whole Deciem thing must be a next level PR activation stunt. ppl will go mad for the products and sell out the entire stock

— (@thelonelyldnr) October 9, 2018

Truaxe truly seems to run his company by the seat of his pants, and doesn’t really seem to be concerned about who he angers or worries along the way. A blog post about Truaxe’s drama as a CEO on Strategy + Business in July noted, “Chaos is not a business strategy.” But it seems to be working fine for Deciem so far. The company has opened two new factories and several new stores, as well as launched a variety of new products over the last six months. But shutting down stores, which he sporadically seems to have done this week, will cost the company revenue and also possibly cost employees their pay.

The parallels between Brandon Truaxe and Elon Musk are there. Musk’s problematic tweets have opened him up to federal probes and caused him to step down as chairman of Tesla. But the sheer force of his personality and perceived genius are allowing him to stay on as CEO. So far, Deciem is telling a similar story.

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Original Source -> Deciem’s Brandon Truaxe: the world’s most controversial beauty CEO, explained

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