"Team Bumble" is about to become Fortnite's first all-female pro team.
Gen.G is teaming up with Bumble, the women-first social and dating app, to bring the team together. The initial roster of "Gen.G Empowered by Bumble" (the team's official name) will include current members of the esport organization's Fortnite roster, including Kristen "KittyPlays" Valnicek, Madison "maddiesuun" Mann, Tina "TINARAES" Perez, Carlee "Carlee" Gress, and Hannah "Hannah" Reyes.
Bumble has also announced an individual partnership with Valnicek, who was hired as Gen.G's head of new gaming initiatives in October. Valnicek boasts a community of over 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and organizes her own network of women gamers and streamers, #TeamKitty.
This announcement came just weeks after the conclusion of the first-ever Fortnite World Cup. While the World Cup featured women in its Creative Cup and Pro-Am competition, not a single woman qualified for the 200 available spots in Solos and Duos competition, sparking a conversation about the question of gender equality in esports.
Gen.G CEO Chris Park said that they intend for their new partnership with Bumble to "strengthen platforms for women" and create "more inclusive, supportive environments in which all passionate esports athletes can compete and connect."
In addition to their partnership with Gen.G, Bumble has further ventured into the gaming sphere by adding a "gaming" badge for subscribers on the app's premium service, Bumble BFF. Users will be able to add the badge to their profiles and use it to filter matches. Gen.G and Bumble will also be co-developing merchandise for both Team Bumble and other Gen.G teams.
Gen.G currently fields rosters in "Apex Legends", "PUBG", "League of Legends", "Clash Royale", "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4", and Blizzard's Overwatch League, where the team competes as the Seoul Dynasty.
The Supreme Court will be hearing arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health on Wednesday over a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. Jimmy Hoover, the Supreme Court editor-at-large for Law360, joined Cheddar to break down the momentous legal fight. "This is the biggest abortion case at the Supreme Court in 30 years," he said. "It is a … a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade."
In recent years, extreme weather events like flooding and wildfires have become more frequent, and more severe - and scientists say global warming is to blame. Climate crises could leave people in need of help, and that's where Global Rescue steps in. The crisis response firm employs former Navy Seals and Army Rangers to rescue travelers from climate-related emergencies. Global Rescue CEO Dan Richards joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Cloud-based AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly recently raised $200 million in a funding round that values the company at $13 billion. The funding will be used to help Grammarly achieve its goal of becoming more ubiquitous, as the company says it wants to be the go-to writing assistant for wherever people type. Grammarly also says it aims to solve what it calls one of the most critical problems facing people and businesses today -- ineffective communication. Grammarly global head of product Rahul Roy-Chowdhury joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jennifer Lotito, president and COO at the non-profit (RED), joined Cheddar to discuss the CODE (RED) campaign as the organization looks to expand its mission to support both AIDS and COVID-19 relief. She explained that people can get involved in the campaign for Giving Tuesday and ahead of World AIDS Day by shopping (RED) branded products and even using credit card rewards points to add their own support. Lotito also pointed out that COVID-19 has also impacted HIV testing as people avoid clinics out of fear of the other pandemic.
The Movember Foundation is celebrating the end of Movember, the annual fundraising event that involves the growing of moustaches as a way to draw attention to men's health issues, including suicide prevention and prostate cancer. Mark Hedstrom, the U.S. executive director for the Movember Foundation, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's goals and the fundraising partnerships it's secured. He also talked about normalizing conversations around men's mental health.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Dr. Dorothy Kim, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature at Brandeis University, discusses the roots that modern-day white supremacy has in Viking history, despite its many factual inaccuracies; Vikings are often misunderstood and while their brutality is what's shown in popular culture, there are many misconceptions about who they really were. Philip Parker, Historian and author of 'The Northmen's Fury', helps break down the true Viking history.; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Viking Women.'
Dr. Dorothy Kim, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature at Brandeis University, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the roots that modern-day white supremacy has in Viking history, despite its many factual inaccuracies.
Vikings are often misunderstood and while their brutality is what's shown in popular culture, there are many misconceptions about who they really were. Philip Parker, Historian and author of 'The Northmen's Fury', joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the true Viking history.
