Griner was outspoken for social justice in 2020 and didn’t take the court during the pregame anthem. But nearly a year behind bars in Russia changed her.

“I was literally in a cage and could not stand the way I wanted to,” she said. “Just being able to hear my national anthem and see my flag, I definitely want to stand.”

Griner had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots Friday night for the Phoenix Mercury in a 94-71 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

“Not good enough, didn’t get the dub,” said Griner, who nevertheless couldn’t be down in defeat.

“I appreciate everything a little bit more, all of the small moments, like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired I don’t want to go to practice today,’ that has changed, honestly,” she said. “Tomorrow is not guaranteed, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. I feel a lot older somehow, too.”

The 32-year-old center’s immediate goal is to play an entire game by the All-Star break in mid-July. She played 25 minutes Friday.

“I hope to be exactly where I want to be,” Griner said. “Just getting back to how I was before all this happened.”

Griner made an immediate impact against the Sparks. She fired a pass to Moriah Jefferson, who hit a 3-pointer for Phoenix’s first basket. Griner grabbed a couple of rebounds and scored twice in helping the Mercury to an early lead.

“How good did she just look? Unbelievable,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at halftime.

For the first time since last season, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard opened her pregame comments without announcing how many days Griner had been jailed. Griner has been free since December when she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap.

“Until the day we got the news in the morning that she was on her way home, no one thought that it was going to happen,” Nygaard said. “We did our jobs probably with less joy than professional athletes do. It was heavy every day.”

Not anymore.

“Today is a day of joy,” Nygaard said. “An amazing, amazing thing has happened.”

Griner and the Mercury were greeted with a standing ovation when they came on court for pregame warmups, although the biggest cheers were reserved for the Sparks.

“Just taking it in but staying focused because at the end of the day I’m at work,” Griner said. “Can’t get caught up in the moment. Kind of feel it, but put it to the side and feel it a little bit later.”

Griner hugged Vice President Kamala Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff as they left the court after Harris was presented with a No. 49 Sparks jersey. Earlier, Harris posed for photos in the Mercury’s locker room.

“It was nice to be able to see her face-to-face and thank her for everything,” Griner said.

She patted her heart and applauded in return during a brief video welcoming her back to the WNBA.

“It was nice to be back on the court for a real game,” she said. “The love from the fans when we came out was amazing. I definitely feel it.”

Griner scored 10 points in 17 minutes in an exhibition loss to the Sparks last week. It was her first game action since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.

“We brought back this Black, gay woman from a Russian jail and America did that because they valued her and she’s a female athlete and they valued her,” Nygaard said.

“Just to be part of a group that values people at that level, it makes me very proud to be an American. Maybe there’s other people that that doesn’t make them proud, but for me, I see BG and I see hope and I see the future and I have young children and it makes me really hopeful about our country,” the coach said.

Fans arriving early to Crypto.com Arena wore T-shirts with Griner’s name and jersey number on them. The 6-foot-9 Griner stopped to photo-bomb a group of young girls posing courtside before the game.

Billie Jean King and wife Ilana Kloss, who are part-owners of the Sparks, were on hand for the opener, as was Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Byron Scott, Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham and South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley.

Since her release, Griner has used her platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.

“She stands for so many people, so many different kind of people who can be undervalued in our society,” Nygaard said. “She stands with pride and confidence and has never once has shied away from who she is.”

Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.

“She’s an amazing person on and off the court,” Phoenix teammate Jefferson said. “I think her energy just inspires everybody every single day to show up and be the best version of themselves.”

Read more by BETH HARRIS, Associated Press

The post Brittney Griner makes WNBA season debut after being jailed in Russia appeared first on Bonbon News.

A certain soft serve ice cream has been making a big splash.  

The world’s first-ever oat milk ice cream shop has planted its roots in New York City — and business is booming.

Whipped – Urban Dessert Lab in Manhattan’s Lower East Side first opened in 2019, offering a full menu of unique soft serve flavors and ice cream sundae creations.

ot only are these creations aesthetically pleasing, but oat milk-based ice cream has proven itself publicly appealing as milk alternatives have become increasingly popular.

That’s according to Whipped general manager Hannah Keller.

The vegan and plant-based option resonates with customers, Keller told FOX Business in an interview.

“Our focus is on making sustainable food that’s good for the people and the planet,” she said.

he business was founded to keep those with food allergies in mind, Keller said, adding that many in the U.S. are lactose intolerant.

Indeed, “approximately 65% of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy,” notes Medlineplus.gov.

“Whether you are lactose intolerant, you have a nut allergy, you don’t like coconut — you can come to us,” said Keller. “We do our best to keep everyone safe no matter what kind of allergy you have.”

One frequent customer, Daychia Sledge, said she drives from Westchester County, New York, weekly just to get her oat milk ice cream fix.

“It’s the bomb,” she told FOX Business. “It’s hard for me to find anything vegan, especially [ice cream] that tastes good.”

Sledge, who was visiting Whipped for the fourth week in a row on April 13, said that she’s “on her way to total veganism” after experiencing allergy symptoms from dairy foods.

“It’s hard to find anything good,” she said. “So, to come here and get [vegan] ice cream and it’s good … It’s just delicious.” 

She added, “And I came here early just to get the strawberry crumble because it’s always gone by the time I get here.”

It is “very exciting” to have a hand in revolutionizing the ice cream industry, Keller said.

“It means a lot to be able to bring this new ice cream to people that they can really enjoy. They don’t have to worry about the consequences,” she added.

Demand for Whipped’s products is “very, very high,” especially as summer approaches, according to Keller.

“We end up with lines going all the way around the block,” she continued. “Whether you like dairy or don’t like dairy, you’ll love our ice cream.”

Other sectors of the food industry might also think about incorporating sustainability into their businesses to keep both the customer and the planet “happy and healthy,” Keller added.

Whipped – Urban Dessert Lab is expecting to open a second location this year in West Hollywood, California.

Whipped also ships nationally on Goldbelly. 

Read more By Angelica Stabile FOXBusiness

The post It’s the bomb! appeared first on Bonbon News.

Hefner went on to build the Playboy brand off the backs of the countless women featured in its pages, whose beauty and performance of heightened feminine sexuality have entertained its readers for generations.

Approaching its 70th anniversary in December, Playboy has radically shifted. With the magazine no longer in publication, the Playboy Mansion sold to a developer and London’s last remaining Playboy Club closing in 2021, what is the future for Playboy? The brand is changing to keep up with the post-#MeToo world.

Hefner passed away one month before allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced in 2017 giving momentum to the #MeToo movement (which saw survivors of sexual assault and harassment speak out against their abusers). In recent years, many have re-evaluated Hefner’s legacy and relationships with women. The 2022 docuseries “The Secrets of Playboy” (which aired on Channel 4 in the UK) detailed sexual misconduct accusations against Hefner from several ex-girlfriends, including model Sondra Theodore and TV personality Holly Madison.

Hefner and Playboy’s relationship with women has been complicated. Playboy was an early supporter of abortion rights, helped fund the first rape kit and was at times an early proponent of inclusivity (for example featuring transgender model, Caroline “Tula” Cossey, in its June 1981 issue). But most women featured in Playboy have fit within a narrow beauty standard — thin, white, able-bodied and blonde.

Meanwhile Hefner’s personal relationship with his much younger girlfriends reportedly followed patterns of control and emotional abuse. Ex-girlfriend Holly Madison described Hefner as treating her “like a glorified pet” in her 2015 memoir, “Down the Rabbit Hole.”

Hefner’s passing meant he evaded reckoning with the #MeToo movement. Playboy, however, responded, releasing a statement in which it affirmed support for the women featured in “The Secrets of Playboy” and called Hefner’s actions “abhorrent.”

The statement declared that the brand was no longer affiliated with the Hefner family and would be focusing on aspects of the company’s legacy that align with values of sex positivity and free expression.

Today, Playboy is a very different company from the one Hefner launched nearly 70 years ago. Roughly 80% of Playboy staff identify as women, according the company, and its motto has changed from “Entertainment for Men” to “Pleasure for All.” Shares in the company are publicly traded and 40% of its board and management are women.

The company has also moved towards more creator-led content through its app, Playboy Centerfold. Similar to subscription content service OnlyFans, Playboy Centerfold allows subscribers to view content from and interact with its creators, which it call “bunnies.”

On the app, creators — or bunnies — are able portray their own bodies however they wish, putting the power back in their hands. Perhaps Playboy’s future is no longer in serving the male gaze, but instead the very audience Hefner dismissed in his first letter from the editor:

“If you’re a man between the ages of 18 and 80 Playboy is meant for you … If you’re somebody’s sister, wife or mother-in-law and picked us up by mistake, please pass us along to the man in your life and get back to your Ladies Home Companion.”

The bunnies next door

The stars of Playboy’s mid-2000s reality series, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, are also enjoying a resurgence among fans.

“The Girls Next Door” launched in 2004. The show focused on the lives of Hefner’s three girlfriends, Madison, Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson. It became E’s best performing show and cultivated a new female audience for Playboy.

“The Girls Next Door” was a story of complicated empowerment despite patriarchal interference. Its three female protagonists went from being known solely as some of Hefner’s many blonde girlfriends, to celebrities in their own right.

They each ultimately broke up with Hefner, leaving the Mansion and going on to lead successful careers.

The show’s depiction of Madison, Marquardt and Wilkinson as empowered, fun-loving and complex individuals, who found joy and agency through expressing their sexuality was perhaps what drew so many female fans to the show. However, amid the girls’ fight for agency, Hefner retaliated.

The series shows that he maintained final say in every Playboy photograph of the girls, as well as imposing strict curfews and spending allowances.

In Madison and Wilkinson’s memoirs, “Down the Rabbit Hole,” and “Sliding into Home,” they claim that production consistently undermined them. They refused to pay them for the first season, didn’t credit them until season four and aired their uncensored nude bodies in foreign broadcasts and DVD releases without consent.

Fan interest in “The Girls Next Door” remains strong. In August 2022 Madison and Marquardt launched their podcast “Girls Next Level,” where they interview previous playmates and interact with fans. They also recap episodes from their own points of view, unpacking their experiences of working on the show.

Having reached 10 million downloads as of February 2023, the success of the podcast — 14 years after the last episode of “The Girls Next Door” — speaks to the cultural legacy of the Playboy brand. It also shows that despite Hefner’s original editor’s note, Playboy resonates with some women.

Playboy is now in a post-Hefner era, where the imagery of women found within old issues of Playboy can serve as inspiration for others to enjoy their own sexuality. Whatever the future has for the company, the concept of Playboy has become public property — be that in the appearance of Playboy bunny costumes each Halloween, the popularity of cheeky Playboy logo tattoos or branded lingerie and clothing.

In a post-#MeToo era, the women of Playboy are speaking up and taking over. With the mansion gates closed, the bunnies are finally reclaiming the brand as their own.

Read more by Daisy McManaman

The post Inside the radical changes being made at Playboy appeared first on Bonbon News.