title: Mass media

text: According to Stephen Balkaran, an Instructor of Political Science and African American Studies at Central Connecticut State University, mass media has played a large role in the way white Americans perceive African Americans. The media focus on African American in the contexts of crime, drug use, gang violence and other forms of anti-social behavior has resulted in a distorted and harmful public perception of African Americans.


title: Mass media

text: In his 1999 article "Mass Media and Racism", Balkaran states: "The media has played a key role in perpetuating the effects of this historical oppression and in contributing to African Americans' continuing status as second-class citizens". This has resulted in an uncertainty among white Americans as to what the genuine nature of African Americans really is. Despite the resulting racial divide, the fact that these people are undeniably American has "raised doubts about the white man's value system". This means that there is a somewhat "troubling suspicion" among some Americans that their white America is tainted by the black influence. Mass media as well as propaganda tend to reinforce or introduce stereotypes to the general public.


title: Mass media

text: Lack of local or specific topical focus is a common criticism of mass media. A mass news media outlet is often forced to cover national and international news due to it having to cater for and be relevant for a wide demographic. As such, it has to skip over many interesting or important local stories because they simply do not interest the large majority of their viewers. An example given by the website WiseGeek is that "the residents of a community might view their fight against development as critical, but the story would only attract the attention of the mass media if the fight became controversial or if precedents of some form were set".


title: Mass media

text: The term "mass" suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals. This is an image associated with some earlier critiques of "mass culture" and mass society which generally assumed that the development of mass communication has had a largely negative impact on modern social life, creating a kind of bland and homogeneous culture which entertains individuals without challenging them. However, interactive digital media have also been seen to challenge the read-only paradigm of earlier broadcast media.


title: Mass media

text: Whilst some refer to the mass media as "opiate of the masses", others argue that is a vital aspect of human societies. By understanding mass media, one is then able to analyse and find a deeper understanding of one's population and culture. This valuable and powerful ability is one reason why the field of media studies is popular. As WiseGeek says, "watching, reading, and interacting with a nation's mass media can provide clues into how people think, especially if a diverse assortment of mass media sources are perused".


title: Mass media

text: Since the 1950s, in the countries that have reached a high level of industrialisation, the mass media of cinema, radio and TV have a key role in political power.


title: Mass media

text: Contemporary research demonstrates an increasing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a small number of firms.


title: Mass media

text: When the study of mass media began the media was compiled of only mass media which is a very different media system than the social media empire of the 21st-century experiences. With this in mind, there are critiques that mass media no longer exists, or at least that it doesn't exist in the same form as it once did. This original form of mass media put filters on what the general public would be exposed to in regards to "news" something that is harder to do in a society of social media.


title: Mass media

text: Theorist Lance Bennett explains that excluding a few major events in recent history, it is uncommon for a group big enough to be labeled a mass, to be watching the same news via the same medium of mass production. Bennett's critique of 21st-century mass media argues that today it is more common for a group of people to be receiving different news stories, from completely different sources, and thus, mass media has been re-invented. As discussed above, filters would have been applied to original mass medias when the journalists decided what would or would not be printed.


title: Mass media

text: Social Media is a large contributor to the change from mass media to a new paradigm because through social media what is mass communication and what is interpersonal communication is confused. Interpersonal/niche communication is an exchange of information and information in a specific genre. In this form of communication, smaller groups of people are consuming news/information/opinions. In contrast, mass media in its original form is not restricted by genre and it is being consumed by the masses.


title: N.W.A

text: N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.


title: N.W.A

text: Active from 1987 to 1991, the rap group endured controversy owing to its music's explicit lyrics, which many viewed as being misogynistic, as well as to its glorification of drugs and crime. The group was subsequently banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, the group has sold over 10 million units in the United States alone. Drawing on its members' own experiences of racism and excessive policing, the group made inherently political music. The group's members were known for their deep hatred of the police system, which has sparked much controversy over the years.


title: N.W.A

text: The original lineup, formed in early 1987, consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube, with DJ Yella and MC Ren joining later that year. They released their first compilation album as a group in 1987 called "N.W.A. and the Posse", which peaked at No. 39 on "Billboard" magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Arabian Prince left shortly after the release of N.W.A's debut studio album, "Straight Outta Compton", in 1988, with Ice Cube following suit in December 1989. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Dr. Dre later became platinum-selling solo artists in their own right in the 1990s. The group's debut album marked the beginning of the new gangsta rap era as the production and social commentary in their lyrics were revolutionary within the genre. N.W.A's second studio album, "Niggaz4Life", was the first hardcore rap album to reach number one on the "Billboard" 200 sales charts.


title: N.W.A

text: "Rolling Stone" ranked N.W.A at number 83 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following three previous nominations.


title: N.W.A

text: N.W.A was assembled by Compton-based Eazy-E, who co-founded Ruthless Records with Jerry Heller. Eazy-E sought an introduction to Steve Yano. Although Yano initially rebuffed him, he was impressed by Eazy-E's persistence, and arranged a meeting with Dr. Dre. Initially, N.W.A consisted of Eazy-E and Dr. Dre. Together with fellow producer Arabian Prince, Ice Cube was added to the roster after he had started out as a rapper for the group C.I.A. Dre later brought DJ Yella on board as well.


title: N.W.A

text: Dre and Yella were both formerly members of the World Class Wreckin' Cru as DJs and producers. Ruthless released the single "Panic Zone" in 1987 with Macola Records, which was later included on the compilation album "N.W.A. and the Posse". N.W.A was still in its developing stages, and is only credited on three of the eleven tracks, notably the uncharacteristic record "Panic Zone", "8-Ball", and "Dopeman", which marked the first collaboration of Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Mexican rapper Krazy-Dee co-wrote "Panic Zone", which was originally called "Hispanic Zone", but the title was later changed when Dr. Dre advised Krazy-Dee that the word "hispanic" would hinder sales. Also included was Eazy-E's solo track "Boyz-n-the-Hood".


title: N.W.A

text: N.W.A released their debut studio album, "Straight Outta Compton", in 1988. With its famous opening salvo of three tracks, the group reflected the rising anger of the urban youth. The opening song "Straight Outta Compton" introduced the group, "Fuck tha Police" protested police brutality and racial profiling, and "Gangsta Gangsta" painted the worldview of the inner-city youth. While the group was later credited with pioneering the burgeoning subgenre of gangsta rap, N.W.A referred to their music as "reality rap".


title: N.W.A

text: Twenty-seven years later, member and co-producer of the "Straight Outta Compton" film, Ice Cube, commented "they were talking about what really led into the style that we ended up doing, which is now called hardcore gangster rap." Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, as HighPowered Productions, composed the beats for each song, with Dre making occasional rapping appearances. The D.O.C., Ice Cube, and MC Ren wrote most of the group's lyrics, including "Fuck tha Police", perhaps the group's most notorious song, which brought them into conflict with various law enforcement agencies. Under pressure from Focus on the Family, Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI sent a letter to Ruthless and its distributing company Priority Records, advising the rappers that "advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action." This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Policemen refused to provide security for the group's concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBI's letter only served to draw more publicity to the group.


title: N.W.A

text: "Straight Outta Compton" was also one of the first albums to adhere to the new Parental Advisory label scheme, then still in its early stages: the label at the time consisted of "WARNING: Moderate impact coarse language and/or themes" only. However, the taboo nature of N.W.A's music was the most important factor of its mass appeal. Media coverage compensated for the group's lack of airplay, and its album eventually went double platinum. One month after "Straight Outta Compton", Eazy-E's solo debut "Eazy-Duz-It" was released. The album was dominated by Eazy's persona (MC Ren was the only guest rapper) but behind the scenes it was a group effort.


title: N.W.A

text: Music was handled by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella; the lyrics were largely written by MC Ren, with contributions from Ice Cube and The D.O.C. The album was another double platinum success for Ruthless (in addition to girl group J.J. Fad in 1988 and singer Michel'le in 1989). 1989 saw the re-issue of "N.W.A and the Posse" and "Straight Outta Compton" on CD, and the release of The D.O.C.'s "No One Can Do It Better". His album was essentially a collaboration with Dr. Dre and notably free of "gangsta rap" content, including the N.W.A posse cut "The Grand Finalé". It became another #1 album for the record label.


title: N.W.A

text: Ice Cube left the group in December 1989 over royalty disputes; having written almost half of the lyrics on "Straight Outta Compton" himself, he felt he was not getting a fair share of the profits. A lawsuit brought by Ice Cube against band manager Jerry Heller was settled out of court. He wasted little time putting together his solo debut, 1990's "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted", but he avoided mentioning his former label mates. N.W.A's title track from their 1990 EP "100 Miles and Runnin'", however, included a diss towards Cube:


title: N.W.A

text: ""We started with five, but yo / One couldn't take it—So now it's four / Cuz the fifth couldn't make it."" The video for the song depicted the remaining members of N.W.A together in a jail cell, while an Ice Cube look-alike is released.


title: N.W.A

text: Also heard on the EP (which found its way on the "Efil4zaggin" album) was "Real Niggaz", a full-blown diss to Ice Cube where the remaining members accuse him of cowardice, and question his authenticity, longevity and originality: ""How the fuck you think a rapper lasts / With your ass sayin' shit that was said in the past / Yo, be original, your shit is sloppy / Get off the dick, you motherfuckin' carbon-copy"", and ""We started out with too much cargo / So I'm glad we got rid of Benedict Arnold, yo.""


title: N.W.A

text: The song "100 Miles and Runnin'" was Dr. Dre's final uptempo recording, which had been a common feature of late 1980s hip hop. After this, he focused on a midtempo, synthesizer based sound which became known as G-funk, starting with "Alwayz Into Somethin'" from "Efil4zaggin" in 1991. The G-funk style dominated both the West and East Coast hip hop music scene for several years to come.


title: N.W.A

text: N.W.A is referenced on Ice Cube's 1990 EP, "Kill at Will", where he name-checks his former group (likely in a mocking manner) on the song "Jackin' For Beats". On "I Gotta Say What Up!!!", Ice Cube gives shout-outs to his rap peers at the time, among them Public Enemy, Geto Boys, and Sir Jinx. At the end of the track, in what appears to be an on-the-phone interview, Ice Cube is asked, "Since you went solo, what's up with the rest of the crew?" and the phone is abruptly hung up on the interviewer.


title: N.W.A

text: The group's second full-length release, 1991's "Efil4zaggin" ("Niggaz4Life" spelled backwards), re-established the band in the face of Ice Cube's continued solo success. The album is considered by many Dr. Dre's finest production work, and it heralded the beginning of the G-Funk era. It also showed a clear animosity towards their former member, and derogatory references to Ice Cube are found in several songs. The interlude "A Message to B.A." echoes the beginning of his song "Turn Off the Radio" from "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted": Ice Cube is first addressed by the name Benedict Arnold (after the infamous traitor of the American Revolution) but then named outright in a torrent of abuse from both the group and its fans: ""When we see yo' ass, we gon' cut yo' hair off and fuck you with a broomstick"" spoken by MC Ren.


title: N.W.A

text: The N.W.A–Ice Cube feud eventually escalated, both on record and in real life. "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" had avoided direct attacks on N.W.A, but on "Death Certificate", Ice Cube's second full-length release, he retaliated. He sampled and mocked the "Message to B.A." skit before embarking on a full-blown tirade, the infamous "No Vaseline". In a series of verses, Ice Cube verbally assaulted the group: ""You lookin' like straight bozos / I saw it comin' that's why I went solo / Kept on stompin' / When y'all Muthafuckas moved Straight outta Compton / You got jealous when I got my own company / But I'm a man, and ain't nobody humpin' me.""


title: N.W.A

text: He also responded to members MC Ren, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E individually to "100 Miles and Runnin'", claiming ""I started off with too much cargo / Dropped four niggaz and now I'm makin' all the dough"", using homophobic metaphors to describe their unequal business relationship with Jerry Heller, who became the target of harsh insults:


title: N.W.A

text: ""Get rid of that devil real simple / Put a bullet in his temple / Cuz you can't be the 'Niggaz 4 Life' crew / With a white Jew tellin' you what to do."" The song attracted controversy for its antisemitism (the beginning of such accusations against Ice Cube during his affiliation with the Nation of Islam), based on the bashing of Heller's religion.


title: N.W.A

text: The track was omitted from the UK release, and later pressings included a censored version of the song. In September 1990, members of hip hop act Above the Law clashed with Ice Cube and his posse Da Lench Mob during the annual New Music Seminar conference, forcing the latter to flee the premises of Times Square's Marriott Marquis, the venue of the event. On January 27, 1991, Dr. Dre assaulted Dee Barnes, host of the hip hop show "Pump It Up", after its coverage of the N.W.A/Ice Cube beef. According to "Rolling Stone" reporter Alan Light:


title: N.W.A

text: In response, Dre commented: "People talk all this shit, but you know, if somebody fucks with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing—I just threw her through a door."


title: N.W.A

text: 1991's "Niggaz4Life" was the group's final album. After Dr. Dre, The D.O.C. and Michel'le departed from Ruthless to join Death Row Records and allegations over Eazy-E being coerced into signing away their contracts (while however retaining a portion of their publishing rights), a bitter rivalry ensued. Dr. Dre began the exchange in 1992 with Death Row's first release, "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", and its accompanying video featured a character named "Sleazy-E" (played by actor A.J. Johnson) who ran around desperately trying to get money. The insults continued on "The Chronic" with "Bitches Ain't Shit". Eazy-E responded in 1993 with the EP "It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa" on the tracks "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" and "It's On".


title: N.W.A

text: Eazy-E accused Dr. Dre of being a homosexual, calling him a "she thang", and criticizing Dre's new image by calling him and Snoop "studio gangsters". The music video for "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" showed a still of Dre wearing make-up and a sequined jumpsuit. The photos dated back to Dr. Dre's World Class Wreckin' Cru days, when such fashion was common among West Coast electro hop artists, prior to N.W.A's popularization of gangsta rap. Eazy-E kept dissing Dre and Death Row on most of his songs until his AIDS-related death on March 26, 1995.


title: N.W.A

text: Even Eazy-E's longtime friend MC Ren voiced his dislike for Eazy-E in 1994, calling Eazy-E a "big-head" and "wannabe mega-star", and even suggesting that N.W.A should reunite without Eazy-E. MC Ren later said that the only relationship he had with Eazy-E was through Ruthless Records, where he released the platinum-selling EP "Kizz My Black Azz" (1992) and the album "Shock of the Hour" (1993). Eazy-E and MC Ren ended their feud shortly before the former's death in their 1995 duet '"Tha Muthaphukkin' Real" after two years of not talking to each other. All bad blood finally ceased within the rest of the group. Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Ice Cube later expressed their re-evaluated feelings to their old friend on 1998's "Ruthless for Life", 1999's "What's the Difference" and "Chin Check", 2000's "Hello", 2006's "Growin' Up", and in the 2011 music video "I Need a Doctor".


title: N.W.A

text: Having both parted with Ruthless Records on bad terms, tensions between Ice Cube and Dr. Dre eventually eased on their own. After Ice Cube made a cameo appearance in Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride" video in 1993, the two recorded the hit song "Natural Born Killaz" for Snoop Doggy Dogg's 1994 short film and soundtrack "Murder Was the Case". Ice Cube also later appeared on MC Ren's album "Ruthless for Life" on the track "Comin' After You". MC Ren appeared on Dre's 1999 album "2001", and the three remaining N.W.A emcees reunited for "Hello" on Ice Cube's 2000 album "War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc)", and the song "Chin Check" in 1999 for the "Next Friday" soundtrack, a movie starring Ice Cube.


title: N.W.A

text: The West Coast and "gangsta" music scene had however fallen out of the spotlight since the death of Tupac Shakur in 1996, and it was only after Dr. Dre's successful patronage of Eminem and Dre's ensuing comeback album "2001" that the genre and its artists regained the national spotlight. 2000's all-star Up In Smoke Tour reunited much of the N.W.A and Death Row families, and during time spent on the road, Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, featured special guest Snoop Dogg and Eminem began recording in a mobile studio. A comeback album entitled "Not These Niggaz Again" was planned (and included DJ Yella, who had not been present on the tour).


title: N.W.A

text: However, due to busy and conflicting schedules as well as the obstacles of coordinating three different record labels (Priority, No Limit and Interscope), obtaining the rights to the name N.W.A and endorsing the whole project to gain exclusive rights, the album never materialized. Only two tracks from these sessions were released: the aforementioned "Chin Check" (with Snoop Dogg as a member of N.W.A) from 2000's "Next Friday" soundtrack and "Hello" from Ice Cube's 2000 album "War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc)". Both songs also appeared on N.W.A's remastered "Greatest Hits". There were also partial reunions on other projects, notably "Set It Off", from Snoop Dogg's "Tha Last Meal" (2000), which featured MC Ren and Ice Cube, and The D.O.C.'s "The Shit", from his 2003 album "Deuce", featuring MC Ren, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Six-Two. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella were present in the studio for the latter song.


title: N.W.A

text: In addition to the "Greatest Hits" initially released by Priority in 1996, Capitol and Ruthless Records jointly released "" in 1999, a compilation that contained songs by other rap artists and only three songs from the actual group but various solo tracks from the five members. The success of the album prompted a second volume, "The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 2", three years later. It emulated the format of its predecessor, containing only three genuine N.W.A tracks and many solo efforts by the crew members. In 2007, a new greatest hits package was released, entitled "".


title: N.W.A

text: In 2014, Ice Cube appeared on MC Ren's remix for "Rebel Music". This was the first time the duo had worked together since the N.W.A reunion in 2000.


title: N.W.A

text: On June 27, 2015, MC Ren and DJ Yella joined Ice Cube during his solo set as part of the BET Experience show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This marked the first reunion performance of the group (minus Dr. Dre) in 15 years. Following a 27-year hiatus, the group reunited with surviving members Ice Cube, MC Ren, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella taking the stage during the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2016, just days following the group's Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction.


title: N.W.A

text: New Line Cinema representatives announced to "Entertainment Weekly's" "Hollywood Insider Blog" that N.W.A's story was in development to become a feature film for theatrical release in 2012. However, it was delayed to sometime in 2014. The script was researched and written by filmmaker S. Leigh Savidge and radio veteran Alan Wenkus, who worked closely with Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre act as producers of the film. In September 2011, John Singleton was selected as director. Ice Cube and Singleton previously collaborated on "Boyz n the Hood", a movie that was nominated for an Academy Award, and Ice Cube also played the part of the character "Fudge" in Singleton's "Higher Learning".


title: N.W.A

text: Casting calls began in the summer of 2010. There were rumors of Lil Eazy-E playing his late father Eazy-E, and Ice Cube's son and fellow rapper O'Shea Jackson Jr. playing his father as well. Ice Cube stated of the movie, "We're taking it to the nooks and crannies, I think deeper than any other article or documentary on the group," he said. "These are the intimate conversations that helped forge N.W.A. To me, I think it's interesting to anybody who loves that era and I don't know any other movie where you can mix Gangster Rap, the F.B.I., L.A. riots, HIV, and fucking feuding with each other. This movie has everything from Darryl Gates and the battering ram."


title: N.W.A

text: In August 2012, F. Gary Gray was selected as director rather than Singleton. The film, named "Straight Outta Compton", had been picked up by Universal Pictures who hired Jonathan Herman in December 2013 to draft a new script and brought in Will Packer to executive produce. On February 21, 2014, director F. Gary Gray announced a March 9, 2014 open casting call for the film via his Twitter account. There were also open casting calls in Atlanta and Chicago. Rapper YG auditioned to play MC Ren in the film. The project was scheduled to start filming in April 2014 but was pushed backed due to casting delays.


title: N.W.A

text: On June 18, 2014, Universal announced that the N.W.A biopic "Straight Outta Compton" would be released August 14, 2015. Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., plays a younger version of his father in the movie, while Jason Mitchell plays Eazy-E, Corey Hawkins plays Dr. Dre, Aldis Hodge plays MC Ren, and Neil Brown Jr. plays DJ Yella. In early July 2014, casting directors for the N.W.A biopic issued a casting call for extras and vintage cars in the Los Angeles area for scenes in the movie. The film received positive reviews and grossed over $200 million worldwide.


title: N.W.A

text: Although the group disbanded in 1991, it remains one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop groups, leaving a lasting legacy on hip hop music in the following decades. Its influence, from the use of funky, bass-driven beats to its exaggerated lyrics, was evident throughout the 1990s and even into the present, and is often credited as bridging the white/black American musical lines with its appeal to white Americans in the late 1980s.


title: N.W.A

text: In Dr. Dre's 1999 single "Forgot About Dre", Eminem pays homage to the group, rapping "So what do you say to somebody you hate / Or anyone tryna bring trouble your way? / Wanna resolve things in a bloodier way? / Just study a tape of N.W.A", possibly referring to the negative reception of N.W.A's works by mainstream radio, which considered the group's songs violent.


title: N.W.A

text: A scene in the music video for the 2005 single "Hate It or Love It" by The Game featuring 50 Cent shows Tequan Richmond and Zachary Williams (portraying a youthful Game & 50 Cent respectively) being caught spraypainting "N.W.A" on a wall, resulting in their subsequent arrest by two policemen. The Game also has a tattoo that says "N.W.A" on the right side of his chest.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito was born in Tokyo as the eldest child of Akihito and Michiko, then crown prince and crown princess of Japan. He became the heir apparent upon his father's accession as Emperor on 7 January 1989, following the death of Emperor Shōwa, and was formally invested as crown prince in 1991. He attended Gakushūin schools in Tokyo and later studied history at Gakushuin University and English at Merton College, Oxford. In 1993, he married Harvard graduate and diplomat Masako Owada, with whom he has one daughter: Aiko, Princess Toshi (born 2001).


title: Naruhito

text: Continuing his grandfather's and father's boycott over the enshrinement of convicted war criminals, he has never visited Yasukuni Shrine. Naruhito is interested in water policy and water conservation, and likes to play viola. He was an honorary president of the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics and is a supporter of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.


title: Naruhito

text: Before becoming emperor, he was generally referred in the Japanese press by his given name and princely title. Upon succeeding to the throne, he is no longer referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as which may be shortened to . In writing, the Emperor is also referred to formally as . The era of Naruhito's reign bears the name , and according to custom he will be renamed by order of the Cabinet after his death. The name of the next era under his successor will be established after his death or before his abdication.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito was born on 23 February 1960 at 4:15 p.m. in the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo Imperial Palace. As a prince, he later quipped, "I was born in a barn inside the moat". His parents, Akihito and Michiko, were then crown prince and crown princess of Japan, while his paternal grandfather, Hirohito, reigned as emperor. Reuters reported that Naruhito's paternal grandmother, Empress Kōjun, had driven her daughter-in-law and grandchildren to depression in the 1960s by persistently accusing Michiko of not being suitable for her son.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito's childhood was reported to be happy, and he enjoyed activities such as mountain climbing, riding, and learning the violin. He played with the children of the royal chamberlain, and he was a fan of the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League, his favorite player being No. 3, later team manager, Shigeo Nagashima. One day, Naruhito found the remains of an ancient roadway in the palace grounds, sparking a lifelong fascination with the history of transportation, which would provide the subject of his bachelor's and master's degrees in history. He later said, "I have had a keen interest in roads since childhood. On roads you can go to the unknown world. Since I have been leading a life where I have few chances to go out freely, roads are a precious bridge to the unknown world, so to speak."


title: Naruhito

text: In August 1974, when the prince was 14, he was sent to Melbourne, Australia, for a homestay. Naruhito's father, then the Crown Prince Akihito, had had a positive experience there on a trip the year before, and encouraged his son to go as well. He stayed with the family of businessman Colin Harper. He got along with his host brothers, riding around Point Lonsdale, playing the violin and tennis, and climbing Uluru together. Once he even played the violin for dignitaries at a state dinner at Government House hosted by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.


title: Naruhito

text: When Naruhito was four years old he was enrolled in the prestigious Gakushūin school system, where many of Japan's elite families and "narikin" (nouveaux riches) send their children. In senior high, Naruhito joined the geography club.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito graduated from Gakushuin University in March 1982 with a Bachelor of Letters degree in history. In July 1983, Naruhito undertook a three-month intensive English course before entering Merton College, Oxford University, in the United Kingdom, where he studied until 1986. Naruhito did not, however, submit his thesis "A Study of Navigation and Traffic on the Upper Thames in the 18th Century" until 1989. He later revisited these years in his book, "The Thames and I – a Memoir of Two Years at Oxford." He visited some 21 historic pubs, including the Trout Inn. Naruhito joined the Japan Society and the drama society, and became the honorary president of the karate and judo clubs. He played inter-college tennis, seeded number three out of six on the Merton team, and took golf lessons from a pro. In his three years at Merton he also climbed the highest peaks in three of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom: Scotland's Ben Nevis, Wales's Snowdon and Scafell Pike in England.


title: Naruhito

text: While at Oxford, Naruhito also was able to go sightseeing across Europe and meet much of its royalty, including the British royal family. The relatively relaxed manners of the United Kingdom's royals amazed him: "Queen Elizabeth II, he noted with surprise, poured her own tea and served the sandwiches." He also went skiing with Liechtenstein's Prince Hans-Adam II, holidayed in Mallorca in the Mediterranean with Spain's King Juan Carlos I, and sailed with Norway's Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.


title: Naruhito

text: Upon his return to Japan, Naruhito enrolled once more in Gakushūin University to earn a Master of Humanities degree in history, successfully earning his degree in 1988.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito first met Masako Owada (staff working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) at a tea for Infanta Elena of Spain in November 1986, during her studies at the University of Tokyo. The prince was immediately captivated by her, and arranged for them to meet several times over the next few weeks. Because of this, they were pursued relentlessly by the press throughout 1987.


title: Naruhito

text: Despite the Imperial Household Agency's disapproval of Masako Owada, and her attending Balliol College, Oxford, for the next two years, Naruhito remained interested in Masako. He proposed to her three times before the Imperial Palace announced their engagement on 19 January 1993. The wedding took place on 9 June the same year at the Imperial Shinto Hall in Tokyo before 800 invited guests, including many of Europe's heads of state and royalty.


title: Naruhito

text: By the time of their marriage, Naruhito's father had ascended the throne, so Naruhito had been invested as the crown prince with the title on 23 February 1991.


title: Naruhito

text: Masako's first pregnancy was announced in December 1999, but she miscarried. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have one daughter, , born 1 December 2001 at the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo Imperial Palace.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito is interested in water policy and water conservation. In March 2003, in his capacity as honorary president of the Third World Water Forum, he delivered a speech at the forum's opening ceremony titled "Waterways Connecting Kyoto and Local Regions". Visiting Mexico in March 2006, he gave the keynote address at the opening ceremony for the Fourth World Water Forum, "Edo and Water Transport". And in December 2007, he gave a commemorative talk at the opening ceremony for the First Asia-Pacific Water Summit, "Humans and Water: From Japan to the Asia-Pacific Region".


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito plays the viola, having switched from the violin because he thought the latter "too much of a leader, too prominent" to suit his musical and personal tastes. He enjoys jogging, hiking, and mountaineering in his spare time.


title: Naruhito

text: The Crown Prince was a patron of the 1998 Winter Olympics and 1998 Winter Paralympics. The prince is also a supporter of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and in 2006 attended the 14th Nippon Jamboree, the Japanese national jamboree organized by the Scout Association of Japan. The crown prince has also been an honorary vice-president of the Japanese Red Cross Society since 1994. In 2001, the Crown Prince visited the United Kingdom; he met Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle.


title: Naruhito

text: For two weeks in 2012, Naruhito temporarily took charge of his father's duties while the Emperor underwent and recovered from heart bypass surgery. Naruhito's birthday was named "Mount Fuji Day" by Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures because of his reported love of the mountain.


title: Naruhito

text: On 1 December 2017, the government announced that Naruhito's father, Emperor Akihito, would abdicate on 30 April 2019, and that Naruhito would become the 126th emperor of Japan as of 1 May 2019. Following an abdication ceremony on the afternoon of 30 April, Akihito's reign and the Heisei era continued until the end of the day. Naruhito then succeeded him as emperor at the beginning of the day on 1 May, ushering in the Reiwa era. The transition took place at midnight, and Naruhito formally began his reign in a ceremony later that morning. In his first statement as emperor, he pledged to reflect deeply on the course followed by his father, and fulfill his constitutional responsibility "as the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people of Japan".


title: Naruhito

text: Under Article 4 of the Constitution, Naruhito's role is defined as entirely ceremonial and representative, without even nominal powers related to government; he is barred from making political statements. His role is limited to performing ceremonial duties as delineated by the Constitution, and even then he is constrained by the requirements of the Constitution and the binding advice of the Cabinet. For instance, while he formally appoints the prime minister, he is required to appoint the person designated by the National Diet.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito's enthronement ceremony took place on 22 October 2019, where he was duly enthroned in an ancient-style proclamation ceremony. On 23 July 2021, Naruhito opened the 2020 Summer Olympics (originally scheduled to be played in 2020, postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic) hosted in Tokyo, just as his grandfather, Hirohito, had done in 1964.


title: Naruhito

text: Naruhito's first trip abroad as Emperor took place in September 2022, to the United Kingdom to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman was a writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live", and she starred in and produced "The Sarah Silverman Program", which ran from 2007 to 2010 on Comedy Central, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She released an autobiography "The Bedwetter" in 2010. She also appeared in other television programs, such as "Mr. Show" and "V.I.P." and starred in films, including "Who's the Caboose?" (1997), "School of Rock" (2003), "Wreck-It Ralph" (2012), "A Million Ways to Die in the West" (2014) and "Ralph Breaks the Internet" (2018). In 2015, she starred in the drama "I Smile Back", for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: During the 2016 election, she became increasingly politically active; she initially campaigned for Bernie Sanders but later spoke in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She hosted the Hulu streaming television late-night talk show "I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman" from 2017 until late 2018.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Her comedy roles addresses social taboos and controversial topics, including racism, sexism, homophobia, politics, and religion, sometimes having her comic character endorse them in a satirical or deadpan fashion. She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on television.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Sarah Silverman was born on December 1, 1970, in Bedford, New Hampshire, to Beth Ann Halpin (1941–2015) and Donald Silverman. She was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. Beth had been George McGovern's personal campaign photographer and founded the theater company New Thalian Players, while Donald trained as a social worker and also ran the clothing store Crazy Sophie's Outlet. Silverman's parents divorced and later married others. Silverman is the youngest of five siblings. Her sisters are Reform rabbi Susan Silverman, writer Jodyne Speyer and actress Laura Silverman; her brother Jeffrey Michael died when he was three months old. Born into a Jewish family, she considers herself secular and non-religious. She was in attendance when women lit menorahs at the Western Wall for the first time, in December 2014. Her ancestors were from Poland and Russia.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: The first time Silverman performed stand-up comedy was in Boston at age 17. She described her performance as "awful". After graduating from The Derryfield School in Manchester in 1989, she attended New York University for a year, but did not graduate. Instead, she performed stand-up comedy in Greenwich Village.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: After beginning her stand-up career in 1992, Silverman was part of the 1993–94 season of "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") for 18 weeks as a writer and featured player. She was fired after one season. Only one of the sketches she wrote survived to dress rehearsal and none aired, although she did appear on the show as a cast member in skits, usually in smaller supporting roles. Bob Odenkirk, a former "SNL" writer, explained, "I could see how it wouldn't work at "SNL" because she's got her own voice, she's very much Sarah Silverman all the time. She can play a character but she doesn't disappear into the character—she makes the character her." She has stated that she was not ready for "SNL" when she got the job. She said that when she was fired it hurt her confidence for a year, but after that nothing could hurt her and that she attributes her time at "SNL" as being a key reason why she has been so tough in her career. Later, she was grateful that her "SNL" time was short because it did not end up defining her. She parodied the situation when she appeared on "The Larry Sanders Show" episode "The New Writer" (1996), playing Sanders' new staff writer, whose jokes are not used because of the chauvinism and bias of the male chief comedy writer, who favors the jokes of his male co-writers. She appeared in three episodes of "Larry Sanders" during its final two seasons.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: She also starred in the HBO sketch comedy series "Mr. Show" (1995–1997) and had the leading role for the 1997 independent film "Who's the Caboose?", about a pair of New York comedians (Silverman and director Sam Seder) going to Los Angeles during pilot season to try to get a part in a television series; the film features numerous young comedians in supporting roles but never received a widespread theatrical release. Silverman and Seder later made a six-episode television series sequel titled "Pilot Season" in which Silverman stars as the same character and Seder again directed. She made her network standup comedy debut on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on July 3, 1997.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman made several TV program guest appearances, including on "" in the two-part time-travel episode "Future's End" (1996); "Seinfeld" in the episode "The Money" (1997); "V.I.P." in the episode "48 Hours" (2002); "Greg the Bunny" as a series regular (2002); and on the puppet television comedy "Crank Yankers" as the voice of Hadassah Guberman (since 2002). She had small parts in the films "There's Something About Mary", "Say It Isn't So", "School of Rock", "The Way of the Gun", "Overnight Delivery", "Screwed", "Heartbreakers", "Evolution", "School for Scoundrels", "Funny People" and "Rent", playing a mixture of comic and serious roles.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In 2005, Silverman released a concert film, "", based on her one-woman show of the same name. Liam Lynch directed the film, which was distributed by Roadside Attractions. It received 64% positive ratings based on 84 reviews on the film critics aggregator Web site Rotten Tomatoes and earned approximately $1.3 million at the box office. As part of the film's publicity campaign, she appeared online in "Slate" as the cover subject of "Heeb" magazine and in roasts on Comedy Central of Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman played a therapist in a skit for a bonus DVD of the album "Lullabies to Paralyze" by the band Queens of the Stone Age. Silverman also appears at the end of the video for American glam metal band Steel Panther's "Death To All But Metal". On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", Silverman parodied sketches from "Chappelle's Show", replaying Dave Chappelle's characterizations of Rick James and "Tyrone" as well as a Donnell Rawlings character based on the miniseries "Roots". In 2006, Silverman placed 50th on "Maxim" Hot 100 List. In 2007, she placed 29th and appeared on the cover.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Her television sitcom "The Sarah Silverman Program" debuted on Comedy Central in February 2007; the series had 1.81 million viewers and portrayed the day-to-day adventures of fictionalized versions of Silverman, her sister Laura and their friends. A number of comedic actors from "Mr. Show" have appeared on "The Sarah Silverman Program". Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her acting on the show. At the awards ceremony, she wore a fake mustache. Comedy Central canceled "The Sarah Silverman Program" after three seasons.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In June 2007, she hosted the MTV Movie Awards. During her opening act, she commented on the upcoming jail sentence of Paris Hilton, who was in the audience, saying: "In a couple of days, Paris Hilton is going to jail. As a matter of fact, I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I think it is wrong, too. I just worry she is going to break her teeth on those things." In September 2007, she appeared at the "MTV Video Music Awards". Following the comeback performance of Britney Spears, Silverman mocked her on stage, saying: "Yo, she is amazing, man. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life."


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In January 2008, she appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to show Jimmy Kimmel, her boyfriend at the time, a special video. The video turned out to be a song called "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" in which she and Matt Damon sang a duet about having an affair behind Kimmel's back. The video created an "instant YouTube sensation." She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. Kimmel responded with his own video a month later with Damon's friend Ben Affleck, which enlisted a panoply of stars to record Kimmel's song "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck". On September 13, 2008, Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for writing the song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman guest-starred in a second-season episode of the USA cable program "Monk" as Marci Maven. She returned in the sixth-season premiere and for the 100th episode. According to the audio commentary on the "Clerks II" DVD, director Kevin Smith offered her the role that eventually went to Rosario Dawson, but she turned it down out of fear of being typecast in "girlfriend roles". However, she told Smith the script was "really funny" and mentioned that if the role of Randal Graves was being offered to her she "would do it in a heartbeat." She appeared in "Strange Powers", the 2009 documentary by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara about cult songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band The Magnetic Fields. Silverman wrote a comic memoir, "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee", which was published in 2010.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman played Geraldine alongside Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen in "Take This Waltz", written and directed by Sarah Polley. The film was well received when it premiered in Toronto in 2011 and was picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution in summer 2012. At the Toronto International Film Festival, she told the press she'd deliberately gained weight for the part, which required a nude scene, emphasizing that Polley wanted "real bodies and real women". In interviews, she warned fans not to expect too much. However, she later told podcaster and author Julie Klausner that she had not really gained weight for the role and that the statements were meant as self-deprecating humor.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: On September 20, 2012, Silverman made a public service announcement (PSA) criticizing new voter identification laws that create obstacles to the ability of certain groups to vote in the November presidential election, i.e., young, old, poor and minority citizens. The project was financed by the Jewish Council for Education & Research (JCER) and was co-produced by Mik Moore and Ari Wallach (the pair that also co-produced The Great Schlep and Scissor Sheldon).


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman voiced Vanellope von Schweetz, one of the main characters in the 2012 Disney animated film "Wreck-It Ralph". She reprised the role in the 2018 sequel "Ralph Breaks the Internet". She is in the creative team that writes and produces the content for the YouTube comedy channel called Jash. The other partners are Michael Cera, Reggie Watts and Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (also known as Tim & Eric). The JASH channel premiered online March 10, 2013. In Seth MacFarlane's western comedy film, "A Million Ways to Die in the West", she played Ruth, a prostitute, who is in love with Edward (Giovanni Ribisi). It was released on May 30, 2014.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In 2013, HBO announced that Silverman would star with Patti LuPone and Topher Grace in a situation comedy pilot called "People in New Jersey", produced by "SNL"s Lorne Michaels. The pilot was not picked up for a series order.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: From 2017 to 2018, she hosted the Hulu streaming television late-night talk show "I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman". On October 10, 2019, she was featured in a 30-minute YouTube documentary called "Laughing Matters", created by SoulPancake in collaboration with Funny or Die, wherein a variety of comedians discuss mental health.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: After being unable to do stand-up shows during the COVID-19 pandemic, Silverman launched "The Sarah Silverman Podcast" in October 2020, in which she discusses topics ranging from her personal life to societal issues, politics and current events, as well as responding to listener call-ins.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In 2001, Silverman used the word "chink" in an ironic fashion in the context of a joke during a TV interview with Conan O'Brien which Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) publicly objected to.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: A minor controversy arose over Silverman's performance in the 2005 documentary "The Aristocrats". The film includes her retelling of the Aristocrats joke – a sample of transgressive art told by numerous comedians since the vaudeville era – as if it were an autobiographical account of her life as a child sex performer. As part of the punchline, she deadpans that longtime New York radio and TV personality Joe Franklin raped her. After the film's release, Franklin took offense at Silverman using his name in the routine, and considered suing her; a month later he claimed the "best thing" he could do was "get Sarah better writers so she'd have funnier material."


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In a 2007 episode of "The Sarah Silverman Program", Silverman played a character in a sketch who wore blackface and remarked "I look like the beautiful Queen Latifah." On a 2019 episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast", Silverman revealed that the sketch had caused her to be fired from an unnamed film.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: During the MTV Movie Awards in June 2007, hosted by Silverman, the comedian made jokes about Paris Hilton going to jail for violating probation on an alcohol-related drunk-driving conviction, leaving Hiltonwho was in attendancelooking noticeably uncomfortable. In 2020, Silverman apologized for the incident. Later that year, she was criticized for calling Britney Spears' two sons "adorable mistakes" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, and for mocking Spears' "slutty clothes". Silverman's monologue garnered renewed criticism in 2021, following the release of the documentary "Framing Britney Spears"; she expressed regret over her monologue and claimed that she had not seen Spears' performance before going on stage.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In 2019, Silverman received death wishes from two Baptist pastors over her 2005 routine "Jesus is Magic", where she made a joke over killing Jesus: "I'm glad the Jews killed Jesus. I'd do it again!" In response, Silverman condemned the pastors and the "manipulation of what can be true".


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman became a vegetarian at the age of 10. She is open about her lifelong battle with clinical depression, which at one point led to her developing an addiction to Xanax. She credited her subsequent emotional health to taking the prescription drug Zoloft. She struggled with bedwetting from the time she was young until well into her teens and stated in a 2007 interview that she had wet the bed recently.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman's autobiography, published in April 2010, titled "The Bedwetter", explores the subject of bedwetting as well as other personal stories from her life. She stated she did not want to get married until same-sex couples were able to. In 2014, she tweeted "Just read that I wanna get married which is hilarious b/c I will never get married," adding, "Why would I want the govt involved in my love life? Ew. It's barbaric."


title: Sarah Silverman

text: She stated that she does not want to have biological children because "there's just millions of kids that have no parents" in the world and to avoid the risk that they might inherit her depression. In 2017, Silverman also said that she has prioritized her artistic career, constantly on tour, instead of motherhood.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman's real-life sister, Laura, played her sister on "The Sarah Silverman Program". Another older sister, Susan, is a rabbi who lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Yosef Abramowitz, the co-founder and president of Arava Power Company, and their five children. Silverman considers herself culturally Jewish, which she has frequently mined for material, but says she is agnostic and does not follow Judaism, stating, "I have no religion. But culturally I can't escape it; I'm very Jewish."


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In July 2016, Silverman spent a week in the intensive care unit at Cedars Sinai Hospital with epiglottitis.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In an interview on "The Howard Stern Show" in October 2018, Silverman revealed that she was one of several female comedians who witnessed fellow comic Louis C.K. masturbate, which she said was a consensual act. Silverman stated she felt the act was not abusive, because of the absence of a power differential between the two, but also stated that due to context, it was "not analogous" to what C.K. had done with the other women, which she said was "not OK".


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman began dating Jimmy Kimmel in 2002. She referred to the relationship in some of her comedy, joking: "I'm Jewish, but I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes; my boyfriend is Catholic – but you know ... it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn a hole through my skin, it will protect me." In July 2008, "Vanity Fair" reported that the couple had split. However, in October 2008, the media reported they were on "the road back to being together". The couple attended the wedding of Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky, but split again in March 2009.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: At the Emmy Awards in August 2014, Silverman acknowledged she and Welsh actor Michael Sheen were in a relationship. Silverman said in February 2018 that the two had broken up over the holidays.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: On Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show on November 17, 2020, she stated she was dating Rory Albanese, the former showrunner of "The Daily Show".


title: Sarah Silverman

text: In 2015, Silverman signed an open letter which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women, as they served as the head of the G7 in Germany and the African Union in Ethiopia, respectively, which would start to set the priorities in development funding in advance of a main UN summit in September 2015 that would establish new development goals for a generation.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, she became increasingly politically active. In 2015, Silverman endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States, saying: "He says what he means and he means what he says and he's not for sale." She had previously introduced Sanders at a rally in Los Angeles, California that drew an audience of over 27,500 people.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: She initially supported Sanders but, following the Democratic nomination, later spoke in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. In her convention speech, she urged other Sanders supporters to back Clinton and, later, amid boos from some Sanders supporters, said: "Can I just say? To the 'Bernie or Bust' people, you're being ridiculous". In addition to discussing her regular use of cannabis on "Conan" and at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, Silverman has been vocal in her opposition to racial bias and unfair arrests for cannabis possession. She supports social justice programs to find work opportunities for non-violent offenders and was a primary investor in Lowell Herb Co, aiming to end cannabis prohibition in the United States.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: Silverman again endorsed Bernie Sanders and campaigned for him for the 2020 US presidential election.


title: Sarah Silverman

text: On September 23, 2020, she encouraged her Instagram followers to contact VoteRiders, a voter ID education organization, to make sure they have the necessary ID to vote".


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014. It ranked No. 64 on the "Fortune" Global 500 in 2017 and No. 33 in the 2016 edition of the "Forbes" Global 2000 list of largest public companies.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé's products include baby food (some including human milk oligosaccharides), medical food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee and tea, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream, frozen food, pet foods, and snacks. Twenty-nine of Nestlé's brands have annual sales of over 1 billion CHF (about ) including Nespresso, Nescafé, Kit Kat, Smarties, Nesquik, Stouffer's, Vittel, and Maggi. Nestlé has 447 factories, operates in 189 countries, and employs around 339,000 people. It is one of the main shareholders of L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé was formed in 1905 by the merger of the "Anglo-Swiss Milk Company", which was established in 1866 by brothers George and Charles Page, and "Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé" founded in 1867 by Henri Nestlé. The company grew significantly during the World War I and again following World War II, expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and infant formula products. The company has made a number of corporate acquisitions including Crosse & Blackwell in 1950, Findus in 1963, Libby's in 1971, Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, Klim in 1998, and Gerber in 2007.


title: Nestlé

text: The company has been associated with various controversies, facing criticism and boycotts over its marketing of baby formula as an alternative to breastfeeding in developing countries (where clean water may be scarce), its reliance on child labour in cocoa production, and its production and promotion of bottled water.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé's origin dates back to the 1860s, when two separate Swiss enterprises were founded that would later form Nestlé. In the following decades, the two competing enterprises expanded their businesses throughout Europe and the United States.


title: Nestlé

text: In the late 19th and early 20th century, Henri Nestlé and his successors participated in the development of the chocolate industry in Switzerland, together with the Peter, Kohler, and Cailler families. In 1904, Daniel Peter and Charles-Amédée Kohler (son of Charles-Amédée Kohler who founded a chocolate factory in 1830) became partners and founded the "Société générale suisse des chocolats Peter et Kohler réunis". in 1911, the company created by Peter and Kohler merged with Cailler. Alexandre Cailler (grandson of François-Louis Cailler) had founded a chocolate factory in Broc in 1898, still used by Nestlé today; which enabled the production of milk chocolate on a large scale. In 1929, Peter, Cailler, Kohler, Chocolats Suisses finally merged with the Nestlé group. An earlier alliance in 1904 between Peter and Nestlé also allowed the production of milk chocolate in the United States, at the Fulton plant.


title: Nestlé

text: In 1905, Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss merged to become the Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, retaining that name until 1947 when the name 'Nestlé Alimentana SA' was taken as a result of the acquisition of Fabrique de Produits Maggi SA (founded 1884) and its holding company, Alimentana SA, of Kempttal, Switzerland. The company's current name was adopted in 1977. By the early 1900s, the company was operating factories in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. The First World War created demand for dairy products in the form of government contracts, and, by the end of the war, Nestlé's production had more than doubled.


title: Nestlé

text: In January 1919, Nestlé bought two condensed milk plants in Oregon from the company Geibisch and Joplin for $250,000. One was in Bandon, while the other was in Milwaukie. They expanded them considerably, processing 250,000 pounds of condensed milk daily in the Bandon plant.


title: Nestlé

text: After the World War I, government contracts dried up, and consumers switched back to fresh milk. However, Nestlé's management responded quickly, streamlining operations and reducing debt. The 1920s saw Nestlé's first expansion into new products, with chocolate-manufacture becoming the company's second most important activity. Louis Dapples was CEO till 1937 when succeeded by Édouard Muller till his death in 1948.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé felt the effects of the Second World War immediately. Profits dropped from US$20 million in 1938 to US$6 million in 1939. Factories were established in developing countries, particularly in South America. Ironically, the war helped with the introduction of the company's newest product, Nescafé ("Nestlé's Coffee"), which became a staple drink of the US military. Nestlé's production and sales rose in the wartime economy.


title: Nestlé

text: The end of World War II was the beginning of a dynamic phase for Nestlé. Growth accelerated and numerous companies were acquired. In 1947 Nestlé merged with Maggi, a manufacturer of seasonings and soups. Crosse & Blackwell followed in 1950, as did Findus (1963), Libby's (1971), and Stouffer's (1973). Diversification came under Chairman & CEO Pierre Liotard-Vogt with a shareholding in L'Oreal in 1974 and the acquisition of Alcon Laboratories Inc. in 1977 for $280 million.


title: Nestlé

text: In the 1980s, Nestlé's improved bottom line allowed the company to launch further acquisitions. Carnation was acquired for US$3 billion in 1984 and brought the evaporated milk brand, as well as Coffee-Mate and Friskies to Nestlé. In 1986, the company founded Nestlé Nespresso S.A. The British confectionery company Rowntree Mackintosh was acquired in 1988 for $4.5 billion, which brought brands such as Kit Kat, Rolo, Smarties, and Aero.


title: Nestlé

text: The first half of the 1990s proved to be favourable for Nestlé. Trade barriers crumbled, and world markets developed into more or less integrated trading areas. Since 1996, there have been various acquisitions, including San Pellegrino (1997), D'Onofrio (1997), Spillers Petfoods (1998), and Ralston Purina (2002). There were two major acquisitions in North America, both in 2002 – in June, Nestlé merged its US ice cream business into Dreyer's, and in August, a acquisition was announced of Chef America, the creator of Hot Pockets. In the same time-frame, Nestlé entered in a joint bid with Cadbury and came close to purchasing the American company Hershey's, one of its fiercest confectionery competitors, but the deal eventually fell through.


title: Nestlé

text: In December 2005, Nestlé bought the Greek company Delta Ice Cream for €240 million. In January 2006, it took full ownership of Dreyer's, thus becoming the world's largest ice cream maker, with a 17.5% market share. In July 2007, completing a deal announced the year before, Nestlé acquired the Medical Nutrition division of Novartis Pharmaceutical for and also acquiring the milk-flavoring product known as Ovaltine, the "Boost" and "Resource" lines of nutritional supplements, and Optifast dieting products.


title: Nestlé

text: In April 2007, returning to its roots, Nestlé bought US baby-food manufacturer Gerber for . In December 2007, Nestlé entered into a strategic partnership with a Belgian chocolate maker, Pierre Marcolini.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé agreed to sell its controlling stake in Alcon to Novartis on 4 January 2010. The sale was to form part of a broader offer by Novartis for full acquisition of the world's largest eye-care company. On 1 March 2010, Nestlé concluded the purchase of Kraft Foods's North American frozen pizza business for .


title: Nestlé

text: Since 2010, Nestlé has been working to transform itself into a nutrition, health and wellness company in an effort to combat declining confectionery sales and the threat of expanding government regulation of such foods. This effort is being led through the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences under the direction of Ed Baetge. The institute aims to develop "a new industry between food and pharmaceuticals" by creating foodstuffs with preventive and corrective health properties that would replace pharmaceutical drugs from pill bottles. The Health Science branch has already produced several products, such as drinks and protein shakes meant to combat malnutrition, diabetes, digestive health, obesity, and other diseases.


title: Nestlé

text: In July 2011, Nestlé SA agreed to buy 60 percent of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd. for about . On 23 April 2012, Nestlé agreed to acquire Pfizer Inc.'s infant-nutrition, formerly Wyeth Nutrition, unit for , topping a joint bid from Danone and Mead Johnson.


title: Nestlé

text: In recent years, Nestlé Health Science has made several acquisitions. It acquired Vitaflo, which makes clinical nutritional products for people with genetic disorders; CM&D Pharma Ltd., a company that specialises in the development of products for patients with chronic conditions like kidney disease; and Prometheus Laboratories, a firm specialising in treatments for gastrointestinal diseases and cancer. It also holds a minority stake in Vital Foods, a New Zealand-based company that develops kiwifruit-based solutions for gastrointestinal conditions as of 2012.


title: Nestlé

text: Another recent purchase included the Jenny Craig weight-loss program, for . Nestlé sold the Jenny Craig business unit to North Castle Partners in 2013. In February 2013, Nestlé Health Science bought Pamlab, which makes medical foods based on L-methylfolate targeting depression, diabetes, and memory loss. In February 2014, Nestlé sold its PowerBar sports nutrition business to Post Holdings, Inc. Later, in November 2014, Nestlé announced that it was exploring strategic options for its frozen food subsidiary, Davigel.


title: Nestlé

text: In December 2014, Nestlé announced that it was opening 10 skin care research centres worldwide, deepening its investment in a faster-growing market for healthcare products. That year, Nestlé spent about $350 million on dermatology research and development. The first of the research hubs, Nestlé Skin Health Investigation, Education and Longevity Development (SHIELD) centres, will open mid 2015 in New York, followed by Hong Kong and São Paulo, and later others in North America, Asia, and Europe. The initiative is being launched in partnership with the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), a consortium that includes companies such as Intel and Bank of America.


title: Nestlé

text: In January 2017, Nestlé announced that it was relocating its US headquarters from Glendale, California, to Rosslyn, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC.


title: Nestlé

text: In March 2017, Nestlé announced that they will lower the sugar content in Kit Kat, Yorkie and Aero chocolate bars by 10% by 2018. In July, a similar announcement followed concerning the reduction of sugar content in its breakfast cereals in the UK.


title: Nestlé

text: The company announced a $20.8 billion share buyback in June 2017, following the publication of a letter written by Third Point Management founder Daniel S. Loeb, Nestlé's fourth-largest stakeholder with a $3.5 billion stake, explaining how the firm should change its business structure. Consequently, the firm will reportedly focus investment on sectors such as coffee and pet care and will seek acquisitions in the consumer health-care industry.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2016, Nestlé and PAI Partners establish a joint venture, Froneri, to combine the two companies' ice cream activities throughout Europe and other international countries.


title: Nestlé

text: In July 2017, Nestlé introduced a new type of infant formula in Spain, containing two human milk oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides are the third most abundant components of breast milk with various health benefits, but previously were not part of infant formula.


title: Nestlé

text: In September 2017, Nestlé S.A. acquired a majority stake of Blue Bottle Coffee. While the deal's financial details were not disclosed, the Financial Times reported "Nestlé is understood to be paying up to $500m for the 68 per cent stake in Blue Bottle". Blue Bottle expects to increase sales by 70% this year.


title: Nestlé

text: In September 2017, Nestlé USA agreed to acquire Sweet Earth, a California-based producer of plant-based foods, for an undisclosed sum.


title: Nestlé

text: In January 2018, Nestlé USA announced it is selling its US confectionary business to Ferrara Candy Company, an Italian chocolate and candy maker. The company was sold for a total of an estimated $2.8 billion.


title: Nestlé

text: In May 2018, it was announced that Nestlé and Starbucks struck a $7.15 billion distribution deal, which allows Nestlé to market, sell and distribute Starbucks coffee globally and to incorporate the brand's coffee varieties into Nestlé's proprietary single-serve system, expanding the overseas markets for both companies.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé set a new profit target in September 2017 and agreed to offload over 20 of its US candy brands in January 2018. However, sales grew only 2.4% in 2017, and as of July 2018, the share price declined more than 8%. While some suggestions were adopted, Loeb said in a July 2018 letter that the shifts are too small and too slow. In a statement, Nestlé wrote that it was "delivering results" and listed actions it had taken, including investing in key brands and its global coffee partnership with Starbucks. However, activist investors disagreed, leading Third Point Management to launch NestleNOW, a website to push its case with recommendations calling for change, accusing Nestlé of not being as fast, aggressive, or strategic as it needs to be. Activist investors called for Nestlé to divide into three units with distinct CEOs, regional structures, and marketing heads - beverage, nutrition, and grocery; spin off more businesses that do not fit its model such as ice cream, frozen foods, and confectionery; and add an outsider with expertise in the food and beverage industry to the board.


title: Nestlé

text: In October 2018, Nestlé announced the launch of the Nestlé Alumni Network, through a strategic partnership with SAP & EnterpriseAlumni, to engage with their over 1 million alumni globally.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2019, the company announced that it would publish Nutri-Score on all of its products sold in the European countries that supported the nutritional label.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2020, Nestlé USA's and Nestlé Canada's ice cream divisions are acquired by Froneri. Also during that year, Nestlé announces that the company wants to invest in plant-based food, starting with a "tuna salad" and meat-free products to engage and reach younger and vegan consumers.


title: Nestlé

text: On 16 February 2021, Nestlé announced that it had agreed to sell its water brands in the US and Canada to One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co. The sale, expected to conclude in spring, would include the spring water and mountain brands, the purified water brand and the delivery service. The plan did not include the Perrier, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna brands. In early April 2021, the sale was concluded.


title: Nestlé

text: The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect Nestlé negatively. Due to lockdowns, people bought more packaged foods, not only coffee and dairy products, but also pet products, which increased the company's sales. Nestlé is recording its strongest quarterly sales growth in 10 years.


title: Nestlé

text: In April 2021, Nestlé agreed to purchase the vitamin manufacturing Bountiful Company, formerly known as The Nature's Bounty Co., for $5.75 billion, noting as well that much of the company's growth that quarter came from "vitamins, minerals, and supplements that support health and the immune system". The deal acquires various assets from Bountiful, including Nature's Bounty, Solgar, Osteo Bi-Flex, and Puritan's Pride.


title: Nestlé

text: In May 2022, it was announced Nestlé's Health Science unit had acquired the Brazilian organic, natural, plant-based food maker Puravida.


title: Nestlé

text: In May 2022, Nestle was sending baby formula supplies to the U.S. from European air bases to ease the 2022 United States infant formula shortage. These relief shipments included products from the Gerber baby food formula brand from the Netherlands and Alfamino baby formula from Switzerland.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé is the biggest food company in the world, with a market capitalisation of roughly 231 billion Swiss francs, which is more than US$247 billion as of May 2015. Nestlé has a primary listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is a constituent of the Swiss Market Index. It has a secondary listing on Euronext.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2014, consolidated sales were CHF 91.61 billion and net profit was CHF 14.46billion. Research and development investment was CHF 1.63billion.


title: Nestlé

text: According to a 2015 global survey of online consumers by the Reputation Institute, Nestlé has a reputation score of 74.5 on a scale of 1 to 100.


title: Nestlé

text: The company engages third party lobbying firms to engage with parliaments and governments in various jurisdictions. For example, in South Australia the company engages Etched Communications. In the US, Nestlé has a strong influence in Washington, D.C. From 2015 to 2020 their average spend on lobbying was $1,951,667 each year.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé currently has over 2,000 brands with a wide range of products across a number of markets, including coffee, bottled water, milkshakes and other beverages, breakfast cereals, infant foods, performance and healthcare nutrition, seasonings, soups and sauces, frozen and refrigerated foods, and pet food. In 2019, the company entered the plant-based food production business with its Incredible and Awesome Burgers (under the Garden Gourmet and Sweet Earth brands). In 2020, Nestlé announced additional plant-based products including soy-based bratwurst and chorizo-like sausages.


title: Nestlé

text: In late September 2008, the Hong Kong government found melamine in a Chinese-made Nestlé milk product. Six infants died from kidney damage, and a further 860 babies were hospitalised. The Dairy Farm milk was made by Nestlé's division in the Chinese coastal city Qingdao. Nestlé affirmed that all its products were safe and were not made from milk adulterated with melamine. On 2 October 2008, the Taiwan Health ministry announced that six types of milk powders produced in China by Nestlé contained low-level traces of melamine, and were "removed from the shelves".


title: Nestlé

text: As of 2013, Nestlé has implemented initiatives to prevent contamination and utilizes what it calls a "factory and farmers" model that eliminates the middleman. Farmers bring milk directly to a network of Nestlé-owned collection centers, where a computerized system samples, tests, and tags each batch of milk. To reduce further the risk of contamination at the source, the company provides farmers with continuous training and assistance in cow selection, feed quality, storage, and other areas. In 2014, the company opened the Nestlé Food Safety Institute (NFSI) in Beijing that will help meet China's growing demand for healthy and safe food, one of the top three concerns among Chinese consumers. The NFSI announced it would work closely with authorities to help provide a scientific foundation for food-safety policies and standards, with support to include early management of food-safety issues and collaboration with local universities, research institutes and government agencies on food-safety.


title: Nestlé

text: In June 2009, an outbreak of was linked to Nestlé's refrigerated cookie dough originating in a plant in Danville, Virginia. In the US, it caused sickness in more than 50 people in 30 states, half of whom required hospitalisation. Following the outbreak, Nestlé voluntarily recalled 30,000 cases of the cookie dough. The cause was determined to be contaminated flour obtained from a raw material supplier. When operations resumed, the flour used was heat-treated to kill bacteria.


title: Nestlé

text: In May 2015, Food Safety Regulators from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, found that samples of Nestlé India's Maggi noodles had up to 17 times more than the permissible safe amount of lead, in addition to monosodium glutamate. Due to this, on 3 June 2015, the New Delhi Government banned the sale of Maggi in New Delhi stores for 15 days. Some of India's biggest retailers, such as Future Group, Big Bazaar, Easyday, and Nilgiris, had imposed a nationwide ban on Maggi as of 3 June 2015. On the same day, Nestlé India's shares fell 11% due to the incident. On 4 June 2015, the Gujarat FD banned the sale of the noodles for 30 days after 27 out of 39 samples were detected with objectionable levels of metallic lead, among other things. Nestlé's share fell by 3% on that day over concerns related to its safety standards. On 5 June 2015, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) orders banned all nine approved variants of Maggi instant noodles from India, deeming them "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption, and Nepal indefinitely banned Maggi over concerns about lead levels in the product. Also on 5 June, the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom launched an investigation to test levels of lead in Maggi. Maggi noodles have been withdrawn in five African nations – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Sudan – by a supermarket chain after a complaint by the Consumer Federation of Kenya, as a reaction to the ban in India.


title: Nestlé

text: As of August 2015, India's government made public that it was seeking damages of nearly $100 million from Nestlé India for "unfair trade practices" following the June ban on Maggi noodles. The 6.4 billion rupee (approximately US$93 million) suit was filed with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), regarded as the country's top consumer court, but was settled on 13 August 2015. The court ruled that the government ban on the Nestlé product was both "arbitrary" and had violated the "principles of natural justice." Although Nestlé was not ordered to pay the fine sought in the government's suit, the court ruled that the Maggi noodle producers must "send five samples from each batch of Maggi [noodles] for testing to three labs and only if the lead is found to be lower than permitted will they start manufacturing and sale again." Although the tests have yet to take place, Nestlé has already destroyed 400 million packets of Maggi products.


title: Nestlé

text: In India, Maggi products were returned to the shelves in November 2015, accompanied by a Nestlé advertising campaign to win back consumer trust, featuring items such as the "Maggi anthem" by Vir Das and Alien Chutney. Nestlé resumed production of Maggi at all five plants in India on 30 November 2015.


title: Nestlé

text: In the Philippines, localised versions of Maggi instant noodles were sold until 2011 when the product group was recalled for suspected salmonella contamination. The product did not return to market, while Nestle continues to sell seasoning products including the popular Maggi Magic Sarap.


title: Nestlé

text: In 1993, plans were made to update and modernise the overall tone of Walt Disney's EPCOT Center, including a major refurbishment of The Land pavilion. Kraft Foods withdrew its sponsorship on 26 September 1993, with Nestlé taking its place. Co-financed by Nestlé and the Walt Disney World Resort, a gradual refurbishment of the pavilion began on 27 September 1993. In 2003, Nestlé renewed its sponsorship of The Land; however, it was under agreement that Nestlé would oversee its own refurbishment to both the interior and exterior of the pavilion. Between 2004 and 2005, the pavilion underwent its second major refurbishment. Nestlé stopped sponsoring The Land in 2009.


title: Nestlé

text: On 5 August 2010, Nestlé and the Beijing Music Festival signed an agreement to extend by three years Nestlé's sponsorship of this international music festival. Nestlé has been an extended sponsor of the Beijing Music Festival for 11 years since 2000. The new agreement will continue the partnership through 2013.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé has partnered the Salzburg Festival in Austria for 20 years. In 2011, Nestlé renewed its sponsorship of the Salzburg Festival until 2015.


title: Nestlé

text: Together, they have created the "Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award", an initiative that aims to discover young conductors globally and to contribute to the development of their careers.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé's sponsorship of the Tour de France began in 2001 and the agreement was extended in 2004, a move which demonstrated the company's interest in the Tour. In July 2009, Nestlé Waters and the organisers of the Tour de France announced that their partnership will continue until 2013. The main promotional benefits of this partnership will spread on four key brands from Nestlé's product portfolio: Vittel, Powerbar, Nesquik, or Ricore.


title: Nestlé

text: On 27 January 2012, the International Association of Athletics Federations announced that Nestlé will be the main sponsor for the further development of IAAF's Kids' Athletics Programme, which is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports. The five-year sponsorship started in January 2012. On 11 February 2016, Nestlé decided to withdraw its sponsorship of the IAAF's Kids' Athletics Programmes because of doping and corruption allegations against the IAAF. Nestlé followed suit after other large sponsors, including Adidas, also stopped supporting the IAAF.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2014, Nestlé Waters sponsored the UK leg of the Tour de France through its Buxton Natural Mineral Water brand.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2002, Nestlé announced it was main sponsor for the Great Britain Lionesses Women's rugby league team for the team's second tour of Australia with its Munchies product.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé supports the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on a number of nutrition and fitness fronts, funding a Fellowship position in AIS Sports Nutrition; nutrition activities in the AIS Dining Hall; research activities; and the development of education resources for use at the AIS and in the public domain.


title: Nestlé

text: Concern about Nestlé's "aggressive marketing" of their breast milk substitutes, particularly in less economically developed countries (LEDCs), first arose in the 1970s. Critics have accused Nestlé of discouraging mothers from breastfeeding and suggesting that their baby formula is healthier than breastfeeding, despite there being no evidence for this. This led to a boycott which was launched in 1977 in the United States and subsequently spread into Europe. The boycott was officially suspended in the US in 1984, after Nestlé agreed to follow an international marketing code endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), but was relaunched in 1989. As of 2011, the company is included in the FTSE4Good Index designed to help enable ethical investment.


title: Nestlé

text: However, the company allegedly repeated these same marketing practices in developing countries like Pakistan in the 1990s. A Pakistani salesman named Syed Aamir Raza Hussain became a whistle-blower against his former employer Nestlé. In 1999, two years after he left Nestlé, Hussain released a report in association with the non-profit organisation, Baby Milk Action, in which he alleged that Nestlé was encouraging doctors to push its infant formula products over breastfeeding. Nestlé has denied Raza's allegations. This story inspired the acclaimed 2014 Indian film "Tigers" by the Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović.


title: Nestlé

text: In May 2011, nineteen Laos-based international NGOs, including Save the Children, Oxfam, CARE International, Plan International, and World Vision launched a boycott of Nestlé with an open letter. Among other unethical practices, they criticised a failure to translate labelling and health information into local languages and accused the company of giving incentives to doctors and nurses to promote the use of infant formula. Nestlé denied the claims and responded by commissioning an audit, carried out by Bureau Veritas, which concluded that "the requirements of the WHO Code and Lao PDR Decree are well embedded throughout the business" but that they were violated by promotional materials "in 4% of the retail outlets visited".


title: Nestlé

text: Ernest W. Lefever and the Ethics and Public Policy Center were criticized for accepting a $25,000 contribution from Nestlé while the organization was in the process of developing a report investigating medical care in developing nations which was never published. It was alleged that this contribution affected the release of the report and led to the author of the report submitting an article to "Fortune" magazine praising the company's position.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé has been under investigation in China since 2011 over allegations that the company bribed hospital staff to obtain the medical records of patients and push its infant formula to increase sales. This was found to be in violation of a 1995 Chinese regulation that aims to secure the impartiality of medical staff by banning hospitals and academic institutions from promoting instant formula to families. As a consequence, six Nestlé employees were given prison sentences between one and six years.


title: Nestlé

text: Multiple reports have documented the widespread use of child labour in cocoa production, as well as slavery and child trafficking, throughout West African plantations, on which Nestlé and other major chocolate companies rely. According to the 2010 documentary, "The Dark Side of Chocolate", the children working are typically 12 to 15 years old. The Fair Labor Association has criticised Nestlé for not carrying out proper checks.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2005, after the cocoa industry had not met the Harkin–Engel Protocol deadline for certifying that the worst forms of child labour (according to the International Labour Organization's Convention 182) had been eliminated from cocoa production, the International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit in 2005 under the Alien Tort Claims Act against Nestlé and others on behalf of three Malian children. The suit alleged the children were trafficked to Ivory Coast, forced into slavery, and experienced frequent beatings on a cocoa plantation. In September 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California determined corporations cannot be held liable for violations of international law and dismissed the suit. The case was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Nestlé's appeal of the Ninth Circuit's decision.


title: Nestlé

text: A 2016 study published in "Fortune" magazine concluded that approximately 2.1 million children in several West African countries "still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa", noting that "the average farmer in Ghana in the 2013–14 growing season made just 84¢ per day, and farmers in Ivory Coast a mere 50¢ [...] well below the World Bank's new $1.90 per day standard for extreme poverty". On efforts to reduce the issue, former secretary general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries, Sona Ebai, commented "Best-case scenario, we're only doing 10% of what's needed."


title: Nestlé

text: In 2019, Nestlé announced that they could not guarantee that their chocolate products were free from child slave labour, as they could trace only 49% of their purchasing back to the farm level. The "Washington Post" noted that the commitment taken in 2001 to eradicate such practices within four years had not been kept, neither at the due deadline of 2005, nor within the revised deadlines of 2008 and 2010, and that the result was not likely to be achieved for 2020 either.


title: Nestlé

text: In 2021, Nestlé was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who alleged that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Nestlé (along with Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Mars Incorporated, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Mondelez International) of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021 by the Supreme Court of the United States.


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé has been involved in extensive union-busting activity in Colombia since it first arrived there. According to a spokesman for Sinaltrainal, the Colombian Foodworkers Union: "Nestlé converts the factories into camps for the public security forces in order to create terror in the community, destroy the unity of the workers, and misinform the members of the union, with the goal of pitting them against the leaders and destroying the movement."


title: Nestlé

text: At the second World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé and other corporations persuaded the World Water Council to change its statement so as to reduce access to drinking water from a "right" to a "need". Nestlé continues to take control of aquifers and bottle their water for profit. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestlé, later changed his statement, saying in a 2013 interview, "I am the first one to say water is a human right." In that same interview, he claimed that it was the "primary responsibility of every government" to provide 30 litres of water a day to citizens.


title: Nestlé

text: A coalition of environmental groups filed a complaint against Nestlé to the Advertising Standards of Canada after Nestlé took out full-page advertisements in October 2008 with messages claiming, "Most water bottles avoid landfill sites and are recycled", "Nestlé Pure Life is a healthy, eco-friendly choice", and, "Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world." A spokesperson from one of the environmental groups stated: "For Nestlé to claim that its bottled water product is environmentally superior to any other consumer product in the world is not supportable." In their 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report, Nestlé themselves stated that many of their bottles end up in the solid-waste stream, and that most of their bottles are not recycled. The advertising campaign has been called greenwashing. Nestlé defended its ads, saying that they will show they have been truthful in their campaign.


title: Nestlé

text: Considerable controversy has surrounded Nestlé's bottled water brand, Arrowhead, sourced from wells alongside a spring in Millard Canyon situated in a Native American Reservation at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains in California. While corporate officials and representatives of the governing Morongo tribe have asserted that the company, which started its operations in 2000, is providing meaningful jobs in the area and that the spring is sustaining current surface water flows, a number of local citizen groups and environmental action committees have started to question the amount of water drawn in the light of the ongoing drought, and the restrictions that have been placed on residential water use. Additionally, recent evidence suggests that representatives of the Forest Service failed to follow through on a review process for Nestlé's permit to draw water from the San Bernardino wells, which expired in 1988. In San Bernardino Nestlé pays the US Forest Service $524 yearly to pump and bottle about 30 million gallons, even during droughts. Peter Gleick, a co-founder of the Pacific Institute, which researches freshwater issues, remarked "Every gallon of water that is taken out of a natural system for bottled water is a gallon of water that doesn't flow down a stream, that doesn't support a natural ecosystem." He also said, "Our public agencies have dropped the ball".


title: Nestlé

text: The former forest supervisor Gene Zimmerman has explained that the review process was rigorous, and that the Forest Service "didn't have the money or the budget or the staff" to follow through on the review of Nestlé's long-expired permit. However, Zimmerman's observations and action have come under scrutiny for a number of reasons. Firstly, along with the natural resource manager for Nestlé, Larry Lawrence, Zimmerman is a board member for and played a vital role in the founding of the nonprofit Southern California Mountains Foundation, of which Nestlé is the most noteworthy and longtime donor. Secondly, the Zimmerman Community Partnership Award – an award inspired by Zimmerman's actions and efforts "to create a public/private partnership for resource development and community engagement" – was presented by the foundation to Nestlé's Arrowhead Water division in 2013. Finally, while Zimmerman retired from his former role in 2005, he currently works as a paid consultant for Nestlé, leading many investigative journalists to question Zimmerman's allegiances prior to his retirement from the Forest Service.


title: Nestlé

text: In April 2015, the city of Cascade Locks, Oregon, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is using water for a salmon hatchery, applied with the Oregon Water Resources Department to permanently trade their water rights to Nestlé; an action which does not require a public-interest review. Nestlé approached them in 2008 and they had been considering to trade their well water with Oregon's Oxbow Springs water, a publicly owned water source in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and to sell the spring water at over 100 million gallons of water per year to Nestlé. The plan has been criticized by legislators and 80,000 citizens. The 250,000-square-foot, $50 million Nestlé bottling plant in Cascade Locks with an unemployment rate of 18.8 percent would have 50 employees and would increase property-tax collections by 67 percent. In May 2016, voters of Hood River County voted 69 percent to 31 percent for the ballot measure to ban large bottling operations in the area, but in Cascade Locks, the one precinct in Hood River County, voters decided against the ballot measure, 58 percent to 42 percent. As a result, the Cascade Locks city council voted 5-to-1 to keep up the fight. Soon after, Governor Kate Brown directed state officials to stop an exchange of water rights that was crucial to the deal, citing fiscal rather than environmental reasons. Nestlé then acknowledged that the exchange "will not be going forward", marking a definite end to the planned bottling operation.


title: Nestlé

text: Although a 2005 court settlement gave Nestlé the right to pump 250 gallons per minute (GPM) from a well in unincorporated Osceola Township, Osceola County, Michigan, Nestlé has tried to increase that rate to 400 GPM. Its bottled water is sold under the Ice Mountain Spring label. The local planning commission denied the application to build a booster station to increase the capacity of the pipeline that delivers water to a water truck depot some distance from the town. Local citizens mounted considerable grassroots opposition to the plan, with 55 opponents testifying against the proposal at a meeting attended by almost 500 people in July 2017. The litigation has been costly to the small town, which receives its only compensation from a $200 annual pumping fee. Regarding the 1976 Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, section 17, a measure precipitated by Nestlé's previous demands, Bill Cobbs, a current Democratic gubernatorial candidate said, "This is wrong -- when this act was written in 1976 it was never intentioned that water would be up for sale." The "David vs. Goliath" situation is drawing increasing national attention. Nestlé approaches water purely as a commodity. In 1994 Helmut Maucher, Nestlé's CEO commented, "Springs are like petroleum. You can always build a chocolate factory. But springs you have or you don't have." His successor, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, was criticized when, in a 2005 documentary, he similarly promoted and rationalized the commodification of water, saying: "One perspective held by various NGOs—which I would call extreme—is that water should be declared a human right."


title: Nestlé

text: In April 2021, and after many water rights complaints and online petitions against Nestlé, California's Water Resources Control Board told the company that it has to stop unauthorized natural spring water diversions in the San Bernardino Forest.


title: Nestlé

text: In Canada, the Competition Bureau raided the offices of Nestlé Canada (along with those of Hershey Canada and Mars Canada) in 2007 to investigate the matter of price fixing of chocolates. It is alleged that executives with Nestlé (the maker of KitKat, Coffee Crisp, and Big Turk) colluded with competitors in Canada to inflate prices.


title: Nestlé

text: The Bureau alleged that competitors' executives met in restaurants, coffee shops, and at conventions, and that Nestlé Canada CEO, Robert Leonidas, once handed a competitor an envelope containing his company's pricing information, saying: "I want you to hear it from the top – I take my pricing seriously."


title: Nestlé

text: Nestlé and the other companies were subject to class-action lawsuits for price fixing after the raids were made public in 2007. Nestlé settled for $9 million, without admitting liability, subject to court approval in the new year. A massive class-action lawsuit continues in the United States.