Jeff Bezos appears at the Baby2Baby Gala in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 13, 2021, left, and actor-comedian Pete Davidson appears at the premiere of "Big Time Adolescence" in New York on March 5, 2020. Davidson is heading to space. The “Saturday Night Live” star will be among the six passengers on the next launch of Bezo’s space travel company, Blue Origin. The company announced the March 23 flight on Monday. (AP Photo)
Pete Davidson is heading to space.
The “Saturday Night Live” star is among the six passengers on the next launch of Jeff Bezos' space travel venture Blue Origin, the company announced Monday.
The launch is scheduled for March 23 and Davidson will be the third celebrity on a Blue Origin flight. William Shatner was on a flight in October, blasting off from West Texas and reaching a height of roughly 66 miles above Earth on the 10-minute jaunt.
Former NFL great and “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan flew on Blue Origin's second passenger flight in December, joining astronaut Alan Shepard's daughter on the journey. Bezos, the founder of Amazon, flew on the company's first passenger flight last July.
The other passengers on next week's flight are CEO and investor Marty Allen; Sharon and Marc Hagle; teacher and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen and George Nield, a former NASA manager who has worked to promote commercial spaceflight.
Marc Hagle is CEO of the commercial and residential property company Tricor International. His wife, Sharon Hagle, founded SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring children about spaceflight.
Blue Origin flights give passengers a few minutes of weightlessness above the Earth's surface before the capsule parachutes and lands in the West Texas desert. The company has not disclosed the ticket price for paying customers.
Some of Tiktok's biggest stars have a message for the platform: It is time to pay up! As the platform has skyrocketed in popularity, many content creators have been given the opportunity to garner millions of fans and even sometimes billions of views. In 2020, the company launched a creator fund in order to incentivize the platform's users. However, while the group of creators has grown larger, the pool of money has remained the same, and creators are fed up, they claim as Tiktok becomes more successful. Senior Editor at Engadget, Karissa Bell, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
In 2021, QAnon, the community which traffics in conspiracy theories saw a rapid growth in its numbers. As a result of vaccine rollouts, a number of conspiracies surrounding them also began to circulate which then led to the rise of "Anti-Vaxxers". As a result, the QAnon and anti-vax communities have become increasingly intertwined and the results could be costing lives. Senior Researcher at Media Matters Alex Kaplan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Neil Young gave the streaming service Spotify an ultimatum demanding that his music be removed if the Joe Rogan experience remained on the platform. Joe Rogan's platform has been questioned a number of times as a result of some of his takes on covid treatment strategies and at times downright misinformation. Ultimately, Spotify decided to stick with Joe Rogan's podcast. The Director for the Business and Entertainment Program at American University, John Simson, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Nutritional supplement beverage company Athletic Greens has achieved unicorn status. The company announced a new $115 million funding round, bringing its valuation to $1.2 billion. The company's flagship product AG1 combines 75 different vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients into one daily serving. Athletic Greens says it is poised to reach the millions of consumers who are currently driving the health and wellness market's exponential growth. Athletic Greens founder and CEO Chris Ashenden joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Michael Mitchell, senior director of brand at Mailchimp, joins Cheddar News to discuss the launch of Bloom Season and what every BIPOC entrepreneur needs to know to succeed.
Janet Jackson shared that she had a conversation with Justin Timberlake who had asked her if he should make a statement during the scandal over her Super Bowl XXXVIII wardrobe malfunction, in her new self-titled Lifetime documentary. The musical icon said that she viewed the incident as an accident and remains "good friends" with Justin Timberlake.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
