Three Things for January 25
1. Michelle Yeoh becomes first Asian actress nominated for best actress
The 2023 Oscars nominations brought 11 nominations for Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including the nomination for Best Actress for 60-year-old Michelle Yeoh. This nomination makes Yeoh the first identifying Asian to get nominated for Best Actress.
“What it means for the rest of the Asians around the world, not just in America but globally, is to say we have a seat at the table. We finally have a seat at the table. We are being recognized and being seen,” Yeoh told the Associated Press.
Other groundbreaking inclusions on the list are the nomination of two sequels, “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: Way of Water,” for Best Picture; John Williams becoming the oldest Oscar nominee at age 90; and Ireland finally receiving a nomination for best international film for “The Quiet Girl.”
For more information, read here.
2. Taylor Swift lyrics quotes at the Ticketmaster hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee met on Jan. 24 to discuss the November presale ticket debacle for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. In the meeting, various U.S. Senators quoted Swift’s lyrics when presenting their statements on the issue.
U.S. Senator Richard Bluemnthal quoted Swift’s most recent title track “Anti-Hero” when he told Live Nation's president Joe Berchtold to look in a mirror and say "I'm the problem, it's me."
Berchtold testified before the committee and took time to apologize to both Swift and her fans. Berchtold told the senators that Ticketmaster was "hit with three times the amount of bot traffic than we had ever experienced," and that the demand was not expected to be as high as it was.
The senators discussed the necessary steps to avoid another scenario such as the one that occurred in November. Many ideas were proposed, such as making tickets non-transferable or capping ticket prices at a certain level to avoid outrageous prices of resellers. Another proposal was to separate Ticketmaster and Live Nation, who merged in 2010.
For more information, read here.
3. Bird Flu drives egg prices up to an all time high
Egg prices rose nearly 60% from December 2021 due to an avian influenza outbreak killed approximately 41 million commercial egg-laying hens.
The prices have had a steady incline since the bird flu broke out in February of 2022, and in December, prices rose to an all time high due to the demand. Now that demand has lowered, prices are beginning to lower again, but the market prices have not yet leveled out the way they should.
Axios reports that retail pricing often lags the wholesale market and there is traditionally a 20% to 30% drop from seasonal highs to January and February lows according to Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited.
For more information, read here.