title: Warsaw Pact

text: Following Albania's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, Romania remained the only Pact member with an independent military doctrine which denied the Soviet Union use of its armed forces and avoided absolute dependence on Soviet sources of military equipment. Romania were the only non-Soviet Warsaw Pact member which was not obliged to militarily defend the Soviet Union in case of an armed attack. Bulgaria and Romania were the only Warsaw Pact members that did not have Soviet troops stationed on their soil. In December 1964, Romania became the only Warsaw Pact member (save Albania, which would leave the Pact altogether within 4 years) from which all Soviet advisors were withdrawn, including those in the intelligence and security services. Not only did Romania not participate in joint operations with the KGB, but it also set up "departments specialized in anti-KGB counterespionage".


title: Warsaw Pact

text: Romania was neutral in the Sino-Soviet split. Its neutrality in the Sino-Soviet dispute along with being the small Communist country with the most influence in global affairs enabled Romania to be recognized by the world as the "third force" of the Communist world. Romania's independence - achieved in the early 1960s through its freeing from its Soviet satellite status - was tolerated by Moscow because Romania was not bordering the Iron Curtain - being surrounded by socialist states - and because its ruling party was not going to abandon Communism.


title: Warsaw Pact

text: Although certain historians such as Robert King and Dennis Deletant argue against the usage of the term "independent" to describe Romania's relations with the Soviet Union, favoring "autonomy" instead on account of the country's continued membership within both the Comecon and the Warsaw Pact along with its commitment to Socialism, this approach fails to explain why Romania blocked in July 1963 Mongolia's accession to the Warsaw Pact, why in November 1963 Romania voted in favor of a UN resolution to establish a nuclear-free zone in Latin America when the other Socialist countries abstained, or why in 1964 Romania opposed the Soviet-proposed "strong collective riposte" against China (and these are examples solely from the 1963-1964 period). Soviet disinformation tried to convince the West that Ceaușescu's empowerment was a dissimulation in connivance with Moscow. To an extent this worked, as some historians came to see the hand of Moscow behind every Romanian initiative. For instance, when Romania became the only Eastern European country to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, some historians have speculated that this was at Moscow's whim. However, this theory fails upon closer inspection. Even during the Cold War, some thought that Romanian actions were done at the behest of the Soviets, but Soviet anger at said actions was "persuasively genuine". In truth, the Soviets were not beyond publicly aligning themselves with the West against the Romanians at times.


title: Warsaw Pact

text: The strategy behind the formation of the Warsaw Pact was driven by the desire of the Soviet Union to prevent Central and Eastern Europe being used as a base for its enemies. Its policy was also driven by ideological and geostrategic reasons. Ideologically, the Soviet Union arrogated the right to define socialism and communism and act as the leader of the global socialist movement. A corollary to this was the necessity of intervention if a country appeared to be violating core socialist ideas, explicitly stated in the Brezhnev Doctrine.


title: Warsaw Pact

text: On 12 March 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO; Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia joined in March 2004; Albania joined on 1 April 2009.


title: Warsaw Pact

text: Russia and some other post-USSR states joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 1992, or the Shanghai Five in 1996, which was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) after Uzbekistan's addition in 2001.


title: Warsaw Pact

text: In November 2005, the Polish government opened its Warsaw Treaty archives to the Institute of National Remembrance, which published some 1,300 declassified documents in January 2006, yet the Polish government reserved publication of 100 documents, pending their military declassification. Eventually, 30 of the reserved 100 documents were published; 70 remained secret and unpublished. Among the documents published was the Warsaw Treaty's nuclear war plan, "Seven Days to the River Rhine" – a short, swift invasion and capture of Austria, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands east of the Rhine, using nuclear weapons after a supposed NATO first strike.


title: Mean Girls

text: Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, and Fey. It is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 non-fiction self-help book, "Queen Bees and Wannabes", which describes female high school social cliques, school bullying, and the damaging effects they can have on students. Fey also drew from her own experience at Upper Darby High School as an inspiration for some of the concepts in the film. The plot centers on a naïve teenage girl navigating her way through the social hierarchy of a modern American high school after years of her parents homeschooling her while conducting research in Africa.


title: Mean Girls

text: "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels produced the film. Fey, screenwriter and co-star of the film, was a long-term cast member and writer for "SNL". Although set in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, the film was mostly shot in Toronto. Filming took place from September to November 2003. The film marks Lohan's second collaboration with director Waters, the first being "Freaky Friday", released a year earlier.


title: Mean Girls

text: Released on April 30, 2004, the film grossed $130 million worldwide and developed a cult following. Critics praised its direction, screenplay, humor, and performances; especially lauded was Lohan's acting, which earned several accolades including three Teen Choice Awards and three MTV Movie & TV Awards, and in 2021, was listed as the 11th-best performance of the 21st century by "The New Yorker". The made-for-television sequel "Mean Girls 2" premiered on ABC Family on January 23, 2011. A musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in March 2018.


title: Mean Girls

text: Sixteen-year-old homeschooled Cady Heron and her parents return to the United States after twelve years in Africa, settling in Evanston, Illinois. After an intimidating first day at North Shore High School, Cady befriends outsiders Janis Ian and Damian Leigh, who explain the school's various cliques and warn her to avoid the "Plastics": wealthy but insecure Gretchen Wieners, sweet but dimwitted Karen Smith, and "queen bee" Regina George. When Cady is invited to sit with the Plastics at lunch, Janis persuades her to infiltrate the ruling clique.


title: Mean Girls

text: Cady becomes attracted to Aaron Samuels, a senior in her math class and Regina's ex-boyfriend, and learns about the "Burn Book", a scrapbook the Plastics fill with cruel rumors about students and faculty. Regina offers to talk to Aaron on Cady's behalf, but instead kisses him in front of her and resumes their relationship. Feeling betrayed, Cady fully commits to Janis' plan to damage Regina's reputation. Regina tells Cady that she and Janis were once friends until she accused Janis of being a lesbian and ostracized her.


title: Mean Girls

text: After their attempts to sabotage Regina's wardrobe backfire, Cady, Janis, and Damian plan to turn Gretchen against her. They make it seem as though Regina has sent "candy cane-grams" to Cady and Karen while excluding Gretchen. Regina further humiliates Gretchen during their dance performance at the Winter Talent Show, leading Gretchen to tell Cady all of Regina's embarrassing secrets. Cady informs Aaron that Regina is cheating on him, prompting them to break up, and tricks Regina into eating nutrition bars that cause her to gain weight. Following a sharp drop in Regina's reputation, she is replaced by Cady as the new "queen bee".


title: Mean Girls

text: Cady throws a house party while her parents are away, and drunkenly admits to Aaron that she has been deliberately failing math class to make him help her, but he rebukes her for becoming as manipulative and image-obsessed as Regina. Janis and Damian confront Cady for lying to them about the party and remaking herself in Regina's image. Cady accuses Janis of being in love with her, and Janis declares her a "mean girl" and renounces their friendship.


title: Mean Girls

text: Realizing Cady's betrayal, Regina retaliates by distributing the contents of the Burn Book throughout school, inciting chaos among the girls of the junior class. She avoids suspicion by inserting insults about herself, and blame is placed on Cady, Gretchen, and Karen. To restore order, Principal Duvall and math teacher Ms. Norbury gather the female junior students in the gym to apologize to each other. Regina insults Janis' sexuality, prompting Janis to reveal her entire plan to destroy Regina's reputation as the students cheer. Regina storms out, pursued by an apologetic Cady, and is struck by a school bus, fracturing her spine.


title: Mean Girls

text: Deciding to take full blame for the Burn Book, Cady is shunned by her peers and distrusted by her own parents, but gradually returns to her old self. She joins the school Mathletes at the state finals, answering the tiebreaker correctly and winning the championship. The team arrives at the Spring Fling dance, where Cady is elected queen, but declares that all her classmates are wonderful in their own way, snapping the plastic tiara and distributing the pieces to other girls in the crowd, including Janis, Gretchen, and Regina. She rekindles her friendship with Janis and Damian, makes up with Aaron, and reaches a truce with the Plastics.


title: Mean Girls

text: The Plastics disband at the beginning of the new school year; Regina joins the lacrosse team to positively manage her anger. Karen becomes the school weather reporter, and Gretchen joins the "Cool Asians" clique. Aaron graduates and attends Northwestern University while starting a relationship with Cady. Reflecting on the relative social peace that has taken over North Shore High, Cady notices a trio of new "Junior Plastics" in Freshman year, and imagines them being hit by a bus.


title: Mean Girls

text: Tina Fey read Rosalind Wiseman's "Queen Bees and Wannabes" and called "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels to suggest it could be turned into a film. Michaels contacted Paramount Pictures, who purchased the rights to the book. As the book is nonfiction, Fey wrote the plot from scratch, borrowing elements from her own high school experience and her impressions of Evanston Township High School, upon which the film's fictional "North Shore High School" is based.


title: Mean Girls

text: Fey named many characters after real life friends. In a 2014 interview about the movie, she told "Entertainment Weekly", "I tried to use real names in writing because it's just easier." Main character Cady Heron was named after Fey's college roommate Cady Garey. Damian was named after Fey's high school friend Damian Holbrook, who went on to become a writer for "TV Guide". Minor character Glenn Coco is named after a friend of Fey's older brother; the real Glenn Coco works as a film editor in Los Angeles. Janis Ian was named after singer Janis Ian, who was one of the musical guests on the first "Saturday Night Live" episode, in which she sang the song "At Seventeen", which can be heard playing in the background when the girls are fighting at Regina's house.


title: Mean Girls

text: Lindsay Lohan first read for Regina George, but the casting team felt she was closer to what they were looking for in the actress who played Cady, and since Lohan feared the "mean girl" role would harm her reputation, she agreed to play the lead. Rachel McAdams was cast as Regina because Fey felt McAdams being "kind and polite" made her perfect for such an evil-spirited character. Amanda Seyfried also read for Regina, and the producers instead suggested her for Karen due to Seyfried's "spacey and daffy sense of humor". Both Lacey Chabert and Daniel Franzese were the last actors tested for their roles. Lizzy Caplan was at first considered too pretty for the part of Janis, for which director Mark Waters felt a "Kelly Osbourne-like actress" was necessary, but Caplan was picked for being able to portray raw emotion. Fey wrote two roles based on fellow "SNL" alumni, Amy Poehler (whom Fey thought the producers would not accept because of being too young to portray a teenager's mother) and Tim Meadows, and the cast ended up with a fourth veteran of the show, Ana Gasteyer. Evan Rachel Wood was offered a role in the film, but turned it down. Blake Lively did final tests for the role of Karen Smith but the producers decided to keep looking. Ashley Tisdale also auditioned for Gretchen Wieners. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was asked to audition for the role of Gretchen Wieners but her mom declined as she disliked the script. Jonathan Bennett was a last-minute cast replacement after the actor originally slated to play Aaron Samuels got fired. James Franco had previously been considered for that role as well. Fey's decision to hire Bennett was due to his resemblance to her longtime "SNL" co-star Jimmy Fallon.


title: Mean Girls

text: Although set in Evanston, Illinois, the film was mostly shot in Toronto, Ontario, at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and Malvern Collegiate Institute, as well as at Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey. Landmarks include the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall and Sherway Gardens. Principal photography commenced on September 27, and concluded on November 25, 2003.


title: Mean Girls

text: Mean Girls: Music from the Motion Picture was released by Rykodisc and Bulletproof Records on September 21, 2004, the same day as the DVD release.


title: Mean Girls

text: Songs heard in the film but not on the soundtrack include the single "Pass That Dutch" by Missy Elliott, "Naughty Girl" by Beyoncé, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, "Fire" by Joe Budden featuring Busta Rhymes, "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian, and "Halcyon + On + On" by Orbital, "Put 'Em Up" by N.O.R.E featuring Pharrell Williams, "Oh Yeah" / "Run" by Gabriel Rene and "Love's Theme" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra and "Jingle Bell Rock".


title: Mean Girls

text: Rolfe Kent wrote the film's orchestral score, which was orchestrated by Tony Blondal. The score features taiko drums and a full orchestra.


title: Mean Girls

text: "Mean Girls" was released on VHS and DVD in North America on September 21, 2004, five months after it opened in theaters. It was released in a widescreen special collector's edition and a fullscreen collector's edition, both including several deleted scenes, a blooper reel, three T.V. Spots, the theatrical trailer, previews, and three featurettes. A Blu-ray version of the film was released on April 14, 2009. The film was later re-released on a 15th anniversary Blu-Ray in 2019. A limited SteelBook edition of the film was released in September 2022.


title: Mean Girls

text: In its opening weekend, "Mean Girls" grossed $24.4 million from 3,159 screens at 2,839 theaters in the United States, ranking number one at the box office and averaging $8,606 per venue. The film closed on September 9, 2004, grossing $86.1 million domestically and $43 million internationally for a total worldwide gross of $129 million. Paramount said the audience was 75% female, and 50% was under the age of 18. Over 90% of moviegoers rated the picture either "excellent" or "very good" and positive notices remained strong even outside the target demographic, ratings were over 80% positive from men in their thirties.


title: Mean Girls

text: "Mean Girls" received largely positive reviews; critics lauded Lohan's and McAdams' performances and labeled the film as Seyfried's and Caplan's breakthrough roles. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 84% based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus states "Elevated by a brilliant screenplay and outstanding ensemble cast, "Mean Girls" finds fresh, female-fronted humor in the high school experience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore, gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Mean Girls

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars out of four, writing, "In a wasteland of dumb movies about teenagers, "Mean Girls" is a smart and funny one." Ann Hornaday of "The Washington Post" wrote that it "boasts a one-two-three punch in star Lindsay Lohan, screenwriter Tina Fey and director Mark Waters, and, indeed, it delivers a knockout". The screenplay was highly praised by critics with Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" calling it "comic gold". "Entertainment Weekly" put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, Fetch' may never happen, but 2004's eminently quotable movie is still one of the sharpest high school satires ever. Which is pretty grool, if you ask me!" In 2006, "Entertainment Weekly" had also named it the 12th-best high school film of all time: "While "Mean Girls" is technically a comedy, its depiction of girl-on-girl cattiness stings incredibly true." In 2012, Rotten Tomatoes included the film in its "Top 50 Greatest Teen Comedies" list. In 2021, "Marie Claire" ranked "Mean Girls" as the best 2000s movie, calling it "the '00s pop culture staple".


title: Mean Girls

text: In March 2021, Richard Brody of "The New Yorker" ranked Lohan's performance in the film as the eleventh best of the 21st century up to that point, praising her "blend of charisma and awkwardness, innocence and guile" as well as "faux-casual earnestness" she used for dialogue. In 2022, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Mean Girls" as the twentieth greatest comedy of the 21st century, saying "Tina Fey established herself as one of America's best comedy writers courtesy of this instant teen-movie classic, which boasts one of the most quotable scripts of the past 20 years", while "Indie Wire" ranked it as the fifteenth best comedy of the 21st century, calling the script "effortlessly funny, but what makes the film truly timeless has more to do with the actors' ability to find the human grace notes amid the absurd high school hijinks (Kälteen Bars, anyone?) and instant-classic one-liners ("That's so fetch"). It's a high school comedy with broad genre humor and specific insight into teenage anxieties, and for that it stands the test of time." In October 2022, "The Independent" also included Lohan's role in a list of "outstanding performances", stating that she "gives a pretty flawless performance, dexterously balancing the film's irreverent comic tone with moments of occasional pathos."


title: Mean Girls

text: The film has become a pop-culture phenomenon. Fans have made GIFs and memes of the film and posted them on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. It is considered one of the most quotable movies of all time. In an interview about the film, Fey noted, "Adults find it funny. They are the ones who are laughing. Young people watch it like a reality show. It's much too close to their real experiences so they are not exactly guffawing." October 3rd has been dubbed "Mean Girls Day" on social media, alluding to a line by Cady, the protagonist. People also celebrate by wearing pink based on a line by Karen, another character. Clothing designers have printed quotes and other iconic imagery from the movie onto clothing and other merchandise.


title: Mean Girls

text: Members of the cast have reunited in video over the years on that day for various causes. In 2017, they created a GoFundMe to raise money for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and the National Compassion Fund. In 2019, they teamed up with the Thirst Project to raise money to fund a freshwater well in Uganda. In 2020, the cast was honored with the Pioneering Spirit Award for their #MeanGirlsDoGood campaign. On October 3, 2020, Katie Couric moderated a virtual cast reunion to reminisce about the film. Organized in collaboration with HeadCount to promote voting in the 2020 United States presidential election, it was the first time the entire cast gathered since the 2004 premiere.


title: Mean Girls

text: Mariah Carey has said several times that she is a fan of the film, quoting the film in numerous interviews and TV appearances, including a 2013 episode of "American Idol". Carey's 2009 single, "Obsessed", begins with an interlude quote where she says, "And I was like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?, a line of Regina George's. Carey's ex-husband, Nick Cannon, revealed that the song was inspired by the film. In September 2020, Fey quizzed Carey about the movie to prove how much of a "superfan" she is on "Billboard"'s "Quizzed" video series. Meanwhile the British band Wet Leg quotes the film ("Is your muffin buttered?/Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?") in their song "Chaise Longue" (2021).


title: Mean Girls

text: In August 2013, the White House tweeted a photo of President Obama's dog, Bo, holding a tennis ball and captioning "Bo, stop trying to make fetch happen". Taco Bell made a reply to the White House, also using one of the quotes from the film. In June 2018, the official Twitter account of the Israeli Embassy in the U.S. made headlines when it responded to a tweet by Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, calling Israel "a malignant cancerous tumor", with an animated GIF of the "Why are you so obsessed with me?" quote from "Mean Girls". In March 2019, Hillary Clinton tweeted a GIF of the same quote which went viral for being considered a response to Donald Trump. At the 2013 People's Choice Awards, Jennifer Lawrence referenced the film in her speech when she won Favorite Movie Actress. Multiple scenes from the movie have been reenacted and parodied by various celebrities throughout the years following its release, including Ed Sheeran, Iggy Azalea, Amber Rose and Waka Flocka Flame during a 2014 skit for MTV.


title: Mean Girls

text: In June 2020, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar referenced the movie during a COVID-19 lockdown news briefing. Varadkar stated that "some have asked whether there is a limit to what we can achieve", before drawing upon a line from the movie: "My answer is that the limit does not exist." "Lord Of The Rings" and "The Goonies" actor, Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, bet the Irish leader "50 quid" to quote "Mean Girls" in his next speech.


title: Mean Girls

text: The sixth episode of the third season of "How to Get Away with Murder" included several references to the film, including Aja Naomi King's character Michaela Pratt using the line "you can't sit with us", Viola Davis' character Annalise Keating eating her lunch in a toilet cubicle after feeling like an outcast, Karla Souza's character Laurel Castillo using sweatpants on a Monday and Behzad Dabu's character Simon Drake calling several other students "mean girls". In June 2021, actress Aimee Lou Wood mentioned the film scene where Cady broke her Spring Fling crown in pieces and shared it with girls around her. She said: "Now, I said that I'd break [this award] into pieces and share it with everyone, It's solid, Daisy [Haggard], It's solid! So I'll give you a metaphorical piece to everyone in my category, especially Emma Mackey who's the best scene partner and best friend…" The third novel by American author Karen M. McManus, 'Two Can Keep A Secret' includes a reference to a line in the film, where the character Ezra refers to his school's prom committee as looking like "they wear pink on Wednesdays".


title: Mean Girls

text: A novel based on the film, by author Micol Ostow, was released in September 2017 by Scholastic. Jonathan Bennett, who portrayed Aaron Samuels, released a cookbook inspired by the movie in 2018 called "The Burn Cookbook: Real Recipes to Feed Your Inner Plastic." The following year, he teamed up with Nocking Point Wines to release a limited rosé wine edition inspired by the film. Ariana Grande parodied the film in the music video for her 2018 song "Thank U, Next". The actors Jonathan Bennett and Stefanie Drummond, who were originally part of the film's cast, appeared in the video. A clip of Cady Heron from the movie was featured in a 2020 Discover Card commercial which aired during the Super Bowl LIV. K-pop singer Sunmi named her song “You Can't Sit with Us" after a quote from the movie.


title: Mean Girls

text: A comic book sequel to the film, titled "Mean Girls: Senior Year", was written by Arianna Irwin and released by Insight Comics in September 2020. A "Mean Girls"-themed pop-up restaurant in Santa Monica called Fetch was announced in 2020 as well. Primark launched a loungewear range inspired by the film in October 2019. On October 3, 2020, the Young Veterans Brewing Company released a "Mean Girls"-themed beer called "Army Pants & Flip Flops". Several "Mean Girls"-themed events, merchandising products and screenings have been often organized and produced in homage to the film.


title: Mean Girls

text: In August 2020, Screen Junkies released a Honest Trailers episode on the film calling it "the best thing to come out of that era," with Screen Rant's Daniel Gillespie saying: ""Mean Girls" remains entertaining, funny, and, most importantly, accurate. [...] That relevance almost two decades later proves that Mean Girls is deserving of its classic status," and Slashfilm's Ethan Anderton writing that the "generation-defining high school movie" not only captures the teenage culture of the early 2000s perfectly, "but it's also hilariously clever for being adapted from a non-fiction parenting advice book [...] Mean Girls is great because it captures that cruel teen vibe perfectly, and it tries to deliver a nice wholesome message to fight it, which kids will laugh at, agree with, and then never do anything about." In September 2020, the Pillsbury Company released a limited edition of Toaster Strudel featuring pink icing and "Mean Girls" packaging to pay homage to its movie-claimed inventor's daughter, Gretchen Wieners.


title: Mean Girls

text: A game for PC was released in 2009 featuring characters specifically created for the game. In 2010, a "Mean Girls" video game developed by Crush Digital Media and planned to be published by 505 Games for the Nintendo DS handheld game console was announced, but was canceled before release. The DS game was nearly completed before cancellation and was found in 2021 by YouTuber Ray Mona (also known as Raven Simone), who got a file for the game in her email by an anonymous person. A full playthrough was uploaded to her channel on July 15, 2021. In 2015, an iOS game based on the film was released. Since 2015, Pocket Gems' mobile app Episode also released various "Mean Girls" interactive stories following the characters from the film due to "overwhelming fan response".


title: Mean Girls

text: On January 28, 2013, Fey confirmed that a musical adaptation of "Mean Girls" was in the works. Fey wrote the book of the show, "30 Rock" composer and Fey's husband Jeff Richmond worked on the music, and Casey Nicholaw directed. Paramount was also involved. The musical premiered at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 31, 2017. "Mean Girls" opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre, with previews beginning March 12, 2018, and opening on April 8, 2018. On January 23, 2020, Tina Fey announced that a film adaptation of the "Mean Girls" musical was in active development. "I'm very excited to bring "Mean Girls" back to the big screen. It's been incredibly gratifying to see how much the movie and the musical have meant to audiences. I've spent sixteen years with these characters now. They are my Marvel Universe and I love them dearly," Fey said. During the film's cast reunion on October 3, 2020, Fey shared that fans could be involved in casting actors for the new adaptation by sharing their dream cast on the project's website and be featured in the musical film's "burn book".


title: Mean Girls

text: A made-for-television sequel "Mean Girls 2" premiered on ABC Family (now Freeform) on January 23, 2011, then subsequently released on DVD February 1. The plot takes place after the first movie and it has entirely different cast members, with the exception of Tim Meadows, who reprises his role as Principal Ron Duvall. "Mean Girls 2" is directed by Melanie Mayron and stars Meaghan Martin and Jennifer Stone.


title: Mean Girls

text: In early 2014, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced a planned release date of May 8, 2015, for a proposed spin-off of "Mean Girls", adapted from another book penned by Rosalind Wiseman. However, in May 2014, New Line Cinema pulled the film from its proposed release date of May 2015; there is no release date for the spin-off.


title: Mean Girls

text: In late September 2014, discussions arose that Lohan had pitched an idea to Fey for a sequel. Later that year, Lohan, along with other cast members of the original film, asked Fey to write a screenplay for it. The idea was brought up during a 10th anniversary for the film in "Entertainment Weekly", with Fey declaring she regretted not doing a sequel closer to its original release: "At the time we did want to start the conversation about the sequel, and for whatever reason I was like, 'No!!! We shouldn't do that!' Now I look back and I'm like, 'Why?' But now, no—it's too late now." Seyfried had previously said she was "really willing to pursue" a sequel and was unsure why it had not happened. In December 2016, Lohan mentioned she was still trying to pitch a sequel, with the hopes of Jamie Lee Curtis and Jimmy Fallon appearing in the film. She said she knew Fey, Michaels and Paramount were busy, declaring: "I will keep forcing it and pushing it on them until we do it." In October 2018, Seyfried said people needed to start a campaign for it to finally come into fruition. In January 2019, Lohan was interviewed by Howard Stern who wondered whether the sequel would ever happen. Lohan repeated her interest in revisiting the role and confirmed she had spoken to Fey about it, also saying sequel plans were not currently in the works, "I think they can't do it right now. I've spoken to her [Tina], but it can't happen without her and all of the cast. [...] Sometimes you're like, 'It's just too soon to do it.' But it's been 15 years." In October 2019, Chabert was asked if a sequel would be happening to which she replied: "I don't know. I wish I had an answer for you, I feel like you need to start a petition," while saying she would "of course" revisit the character if given the chance as "it would be so much fun to revisit these women and see where they are now."


title: Mean Girls

text: In April 2020, Lohan was once again asked about the sequel by David Spade and confessed she had been hanging on to the idea of coming back to doing movies with that project "for a really long time" but that it was out of her hands. "To work with Tina [Fey], and the whole crew again, and Mark Waters. That was really what I wanted. I was excited to do that. But that's all in their hands really," she concluded. A few days later, McAdams also expressed interest in reprising her role in a sequel, after having declared in previous years she would be up for it as long as Fey was on board, "She's our master-in-chief on this one. So, if she's into it, then I'm into it." Bennett then reacted to his co-stars by saying, "I was extremely excited when I heard Rachel [McAdams] say she'd love to play Regina George again because I've talked to over half the cast, including Lindsay [Lohan], and we all feel the same way", continuing, "We'd love to bring these beloved characters back to life at some point, whether it be sequel or a TV series. I think the world would love to see these characters again."


title: Mean Girls

text: In an August 2020 interview on the podcast "Unspooled", director Mark Waters discussed an idea for a sequel where the main characters from the original movie would now be young mothers serving together in a parent–teacher association, adding that its development is entirely up to Fey wanting to write a screenplay. A possible sequel was also questioned by Katie Couric while moderating a virtual reunion with the film's cast on October 3, 2020. Bennett then said in an interview he thought the virtual reunion "opened the door" for a sequel. In August 2022, Franzese talked about a potential sequel or reboot, "I would absolutely love it. And I would do it in any form whatsoever. This movie brings people so much joy. [...] I mean, I want to do a whole movie with the whole cast. We all play different characters. People would love that, you know? Tina Fey's got that power and she ain't pulling the trigger. So I don't know who else could do it." He revealed he was writing his own script and would try to pitch it to Fey as they approached the film's 20th anniversary, "I've been trying to write something now that has all of us in it [...] I think that within a year I could pitch it. And you know, it'll be fun. We're approaching the 20th anniversary, what a great time to start something like that."


title: Jack White

text: John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely credited as one of the key artists in the garage rock revival of the 2000s. He has won 12 Grammy Awards, and three of his solo albums have reached number one on the "Billboard" charts. "Rolling Stone" ranked him number 70 on its 2010 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". David Fricke's 2010 list ranked him at number 17.


title: Jack White

text: After moonlighting in several underground Detroit bands as a drummer, White founded the White Stripes with fellow Detroit native and then-wife Meg White in 1997. Their 2001 breakthrough album, "White Blood Cells", brought them international fame with the hit single and accompanying music video "Fell in Love with a Girl". This recognition provided White opportunities to collaborate with famous artists, including Loretta Lynn and Bob Dylan. In 2005, White founded the Raconteurs with Brendan Benson, and in 2009 founded the Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart of the Kills. In 2008, he recorded "Another Way to Die" (the title song for the 2008 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace") with Alicia Keys, making them the only duet to perform a Bond song. White has released four solo studio albums, which have garnered wide critical and commercial success.


title: Jack White

text: White is a board member of the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Foundation. His record label and studio Third Man Records releases vinyl recordings of his own work as well as that of other artists and local school children. His second studio album, "Lazaretto" (2014), holds the record for most first-week vinyl sales since 1991. White has an extensive collection of guitars and other instruments and has a preference for vintage items that often have connections to famous blues artists. He is a vocal advocate for analog technology and recording techniques.


title: Jack White

text: White values his privacy and has been known to create misdirection about his personal life. He and Meg White married in 1996, but divorced in 2000 before the height of the band's fame. They then began calling themselves siblings. He was later married to model and singer Karen Elson from 2005 to 2013; they have a son and daughter. He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.


title: Jack White

text: John Anthony Gillis was born in Detroit, Michigan, on July 9, 1975, the youngest of ten children of Teresa (née Bandyk; born 1930) and Gorman M. Gillis. His mother's family was Polish, while his father was Scottish-Canadian. He was raised a Catholic, and his father and mother both worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit as the building maintenance superintendent and secretary in the Cardinal's office, respectively. Gillis became an altar boy, which landed him an uncredited role in the 1987 movie "The Rosary Murders", filmed mainly at Most Holy Redeemer parish in southwest Detroit. He attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit.


title: Jack White

text: Gillis' early musical influences were his older brothers, who were in a band together called Catalyst, and he learned to play the instruments they abandoned; he began playing the drums in the first grade after finding a kit in the attic. As a child, he was a fan of classical music, but in elementary school, he began listening to the Doors, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. As a "shorthaired [teenager] with braces", Gillis began listening to the blues and 1960s rock that would influence him in the White Stripes, with Son House and Blind Willie McTell being among his favorite blues guitarists. He has said in interviews that Son House's "Grinnin' in Your Face" is his favorite song of all time. As a drummer, his heroes include Gene Krupa, Stewart Copeland, and Crow Smith from Flat Duo Jets.


title: Jack White

text: In 2005, on "60 Minutes", he told Mike Wallace that his life could have turned out differently. "I'd got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin, and I was gonna become a priest, but at the last second I thought, 'I'll just go to public school.' I had just gotten a new amplifier in my bedroom, and I didn't think I was allowed to take it with me." Instead, he got accepted into Cass Technical High School as a business major, and played the drums and trombone in the band. At 15, he began a three-year upholstery apprenticeship with a family friend, Brian Muldoon. He credits Muldoon with exposing him to punk music as they worked together in the shop. Muldoon goaded his young apprentice into forming a band: "He played drums", Gillis thought. "Well I guess I'll play guitar then." The two recorded an album, "Makers of High Grade Suites," as the Upholsterers.


title: Jack White

text: As a senior in high school, he met Megan White at the Memphis Smoke restaurant where she worked, and they frequented the coffee shops, local music venues, and record stores of the area. After a courtship, they got married on September 21, 1996. In a reversal of tradition, he legally took her last name.


title: Jack White

text: After completing his apprenticeship, he started a one-man business of his own, Third Man Upholstery. The slogan of his business was "Your Furniture's Not Dead" and the color scheme was yellow and black—including a yellow van, a yellow-and-black uniform, and a yellow clipboard. Although Third Man Upholstery never lacked business, he claims it was unprofitable due to his complacency about money and his business practices that were perceived as unprofessional, including making bills out in crayon and writing poetry inside the furniture.


title: Jack White

text: At 19 years old, Jack had landed his first professional gig as the drummer for the Detroit band Goober & the Peas, and was still in that position when the band broke up in 1996. It was in this band that he learned about touring and performing onstage. After the band's split, he settled into working as an upholsterer by day while moonlighting in local bands, as well as performing solo shows. Though a bartender by trade, Meg began to learn to play the drums in 1997 and, according to Jack, "When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing." The couple became a band, calling themselves the White Stripes, and two months later performed their first show at the Gold Dollar in Detroit.


title: Jack White

text: Despite being married, Jack and Meg publicly presented themselves as siblings. They kept to a chromatic theme, dressing only in red, white, and black. They began their career as part of Michigan's underground garage rock music scene. They played along with and opened for more established local bands such as Bantam Rooster, the Dirtbombs, Two-Star Tabernacle, Rocket 455, and the Hentchmen. In 1998, the White Stripes were signed to Italy Records—a small and independent Detroit-based garage punk label—by Dave Buick. The band released its eponymous debut album in 1999, and a year later the album was followed up by the cult classic, "De Stijl". The album eventually peaked at number 38 in "Billboard"s Independent Albums chart.


title: Jack White

text: In 2001, the band released "White Blood Cells". The album's stripped-down garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the US and beyond, making the White Stripes one of the more acclaimed bands of 2002, and forefront figures in the garage band revival of the time. John Peel, an influential DJ and the band's early advocate in the UK, said they were the most exciting thing he'd heard since Jimi Hendrix. "The New York Times" said of White, "beneath the arty facade lies one of the most cagey, darkly original rockers to come along since Kurt Cobain." The album was followed up in 2003 by the commercially and critically successful "Elephant". The critic at AllMusic wrote that the album "sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid and stunning than its predecessor ... darker and more difficult than "White Blood Cells"". The album's first single, "Seven Nation Army", became the band's signature song, reaching number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for three weeks, winning the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, and becoming an international sporting and protest anthem. The band's fifth album, "Get Behind Me Satan", was recorded in White's own home and marked a change in the band's musical direction, with piano-driven melodies and experimentation with marimba and a more rhythm-based guitar playing by White.


title: Jack White

text: The band's sixth album, "Icky Thump", was released in 2007, and unlike their previous lo-fi albums, it was recorded in Nashville at Blackbird Studio. The album was regarded as a return to the band's earlier blues and garage-rock sound. It debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, selling over 300,000 vinyl copies in England alone. Of his excitement for vinyl, White explained, "We can't afford to lose the feeling of cracking open a new record and looking at large artwork and having something you can hold in your hands." In support of the album, they launched a Canadian tour, in which they played a gig in every one of the country's provinces and territories. However, later that year, the band announced the cancellation of 18 tour dates due to Meg's struggle with acute anxiety. A few days later, the duo cancelled the remainder of their 2007 UK tour dates as well.


title: Jack White

text: White worked with other artists in the meantime, but revealed the band's plan to release a seventh album by the summer of 2009. On February 20, 2009—and on the final episode of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"—the band made their first live appearance after the cancellation of the tour, and a documentary about their Canadian tour—titled "The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights"—debuted later that year at the Toronto International Film Festival. However, almost two years passed with no new releases, and on February 2, 2011, the band reported on their official website that they were disbanding. White emphasized that it was not due to health issues or artistic differences, "but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band".


title: Jack White

text: In 2005, while collaborating with Brendan Benson—a fellow Michigan native whom White had worked with before—they composed a song called "Steady, as She Goes". This inspired them to create a full band, and they invited Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of the Greenhornes to join them in what would become the Raconteurs. The musicians met in Benson's home studio in Detroit and, for the remainder of the year, they recorded when time allowed. The result was the band's debut album, "Broken Boy Soldiers". Reaching the Top Ten charts in both the US and the UK, it was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. The lead single, "Steady, As She Goes" was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The Raconteurs set out on tour to support the album, including eight dates as the opening act for Bob Dylan. The group's second album, "Consolers of the Lonely", and its first single, "Salute Your Solution", were released simultaneously in 2008. The album reached number seven on the "Billboard" 200 chart, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. The group rebanded to create the new album "Help Us Stranger" in 2019. This release was followed by a US tour.


title: Jack White

text: While on tour to promote "Consolers of the Lonely", White developed bronchitis and often lost his voice. Alison Mosshart, the frontwoman for the Kills (who was touring with the Raconteurs at the time) would often fill in as his vocal replacement. The chemistry between the two artists led them to collaborate, and in early 2009, White formed a new group called the Dead Weather. Mosshart sang, White played drums and shared vocal duties, Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs played bass, and the Queens of the Stone Age keyboardist and guitarist Dean Fertita rounded out the four-piece.


title: Jack White

text: The group debuted a handful of new tracks on March 11, 2009, in Nashville from their debut album "Horehound". It came out on July 13, 2009, in Europe and July 14, 2009, in North America on White's Third Man Records label. In October 2009, Mosshart confirmed that the second album was "halfway done", and the first single, "Die by the Drop", was released on March 30, 2010. The new album (again on the Third Man Records label) was titled "Sea of Cowards" and was released on May 7 of that year in Ireland, on May 10 in the United Kingdom, and on May 11 in the U.S.


title: Jack White

text: Announcement of their third album, "Dodge & Burn", was made in July 2015 for a worldwide release in September by Third Man Records. Along with four previously released tracks, remixed and remastered, the album features eight new songs.


title: Jack White

text: White's popular and critical success with the White Stripes opened up opportunities for him to collaborate as a solo artist with other musicians. He has joined other artists on their recordings, as well as invited artists to perform on his projects. He has also worked as a producer for various artists, often through his label, Third Man Records.


title: Jack White

text: Rumors began to circulate in 2003 that White had collaborated with Electric Six for their song "Danger! High Voltage". He and the Electric Six both denied this, and the vocal work was credited officially to John S O'Leary. In subsequent interviews with Chris Handyside, however, Dick Valentine and Corey Martin (Electric Six band members) acknowledged White's involvement and confirmed that he received no payment.


title: Jack White

text: White worked with Loretta Lynn on her 2004 album "Van Lear Rose", which he produced and performed on. The album was a critical and commercial success. In 2008, White collaborated with Alicia Keys on the song "Another Way to Die", the theme song for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace". In 2009, Jack White was featured in "It Might Get Loud," a film in which he, Jimmy Page, and the Edge come together to discuss the electric guitar and each artist's different playing methods. White's first solo single, "Fly Farm Blues", was written and recorded in 10 minutes during the filming of the movie that August. The single went on sale as a 7-inch vinyl record from Third Man Records and as a digital single available through iTunes on August 11, 2010. In November 2010, producer Danger Mouse announced that White—along with Norah Jones—had been recruited for his collaboration with Daniele Luppi entitled "Rome". White provided vocals to three songs on the album: "The Rose with the Broken Neck", "Two Against One", and "The World". White finished and performed the song "You Know That I Know", and it was featured on "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams", released on October 4, 2011. In that same year, he produced and played on Wanda Jackson's album "The Party Ain't Over". To her delight, his studio also released the album on a 7-inch vinyl. White also appeared on "AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered", performing a cover of U2's "Love Is Blindness". White has worked with other artists as well, including Beck, the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, and Insane Clown Posse.


title: Jack White

text: On January 30, 2012, White released "Love Interruption" as the first single off his debut, self-produced solo album, "Blunderbuss", which was released on April 24, 2012. The album ultimately debuted number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and in support of the album, he appeared on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest and played at select festivals during the summer of 2012, including the Firefly Music Festival, Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, the Sasquatch! Music Festival, the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan (one of the biggest festivals in the world), and Rock Werchter in Belgium. Later in the year, he headlined Austin City Limits Music Festival. During his tour for the album, White employed two live bands, which he alternated between at random. The first, called the Peacocks, was all female and consisted of Ruby Amanfu, Carla Azar, Lillie Mae Rische, Maggie Björklund, Brooke Waggoner, and alternating bassists Bryn Davies and Catherine Popper. The other, the Buzzards, was all male and consisted of Daru Jones, Dominic Davis, Fats Kaplin, Ikey Owens, and Cory Younts. White said maintaining two bands was too expensive, and abandoned the practice at the conclusion of the tour. "Blunderbuss" was ultimately nominated for several Grammys, including Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Song for "Freedom at 21".


title: Jack White

text: On April 1, 2014, White announced his second solo album, "Lazaretto", inspired by plays and poetry he had written as a teen. It was released on June 10, 2014, simultaneously with the first single off the album, "High Ball Stepper". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and, in a personal triumph for White, broke the record for the largest sales week for a vinyl album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. The album was widely praised among critics, and was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Music Album, as well as Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance (for the song "Lazaretto"). During the supporting tour, he performed the longest show of his career on July 30, 2014, at the Detroit Masonic Temple, and later performed as one of the headliners at the Coachella Festival over two weekends in April 2015. On April 14, 2015, White announced that the festival would be his last electric set, followed by one acoustic show in each of the five U.S. states he had yet to perform in, before he would be taking a prolonged break from live performances. However, he performed on the inaugural episode of the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" with the new host Chris Thile, on October 15, 2016, in support of his compilation album "Acoustic Recordings 1998–2016". He co-wrote the song "Don't Hurt Yourself " with Beyoncé on her album "Lemonade", and accompanied her on the vocals.


title: Jack White

text: Ahead of his next effort, White worked in isolation and without a cell phone; he rented an apartment in Nashville, recorded quietly so no one would know what he was working on, and slept on an army cot. He drew inspiration from rap artists of the 1980s and 1990s (as well as A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj), and chose his backing musicians from talent that played supporting hip hop artists live. On December 12, 2017, he released a four-minute video titled "Servings and Portions from my Boarding House Reach", which featured short sound bites of new music interspersed with white noise. In January 2018, White released "Connected by Love", taken from his third solo album "Boarding House Reach", which was released on March 23, 2018. Like its two preceding albums, it landed at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. In promotion of his album, White appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest, where he played "Over and Over and Over" and "Connected by Love". White released "Jack White: Kneeling at The Anthem D.C.", his first concert film as a solo artist, on September 21, 2018, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.


title: Jack White

text: In October 2021, White released "Taking Me Back", his first solo single since 2018, which appeared in the game "". In November, White revealed that he would release two solo albums in 2022: "Fear of the Dawn", which will feature White's traditional rock sound, on April 8, and "Entering Heaven Alive", a folk album, on July 22. White also released a video for "Taking Me Back" on November 11. In December 2021, White announced the Supply Chain Issues Tour kicking off on April 8, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. The tour covers North America and Europe.


title: Jack White

text: White has also had a minor acting career. He appeared in the 2003 film, "Cold Mountain", as a character named Georgia and performed five songs for the "Cold Mountain soundtrack": "Sittin' on Top of the World", "Wayfaring Stranger", "Never Far Away", "Christmas Time Soon Will Be Over" and "Great High Mountain". The 2003 Jim Jarmusch film "Coffee and Cigarettes" featured both Jack and Meg in the segment "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil". He also played Elvis Presley in the 2007 satire "Walk Hard". In 2016, he appeared as a special guest on the season one finale of "The Muppets", and sang "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", which he later released on 7" vinyl. In June 2017, White appeared in the award-winning documentary film "The American Epic Sessions," recording on the first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. His performances of "Matrimonial Intentions", "Mama's Angel Child", "2 Fingers of Whiskey (with Elton John) and "On the Road Again' and "One Mic" (with Nas) appeared on "." He was an executive producer of the film.


title: Jack White

text: White co-founded Third Man Records in 2001 with Ben Swank, formerly of the Ohio-based Soledad Brothers band. However, it was not until after he moved to Nashville that White purchased a space in 2009 to house his label. He explained, "For the longest time I did not want to have my own studio gear, mostly because with the White Stripes I wanted to have the constriction of going into a studio and having a set time of 10 days or two weeks to finish an album, and using whatever gear they happen to have there. After 10 to 15 years of recording like that I felt that it was finally time for me to have my own place to produce music, and have exactly what I want in there: the exact tape machines, the exact microphones, the exact amplifiers that I like, and so on." Using the slogan "Your Turntable's Not Dead", Third Man also presses vinyl records, for the artists on its label, for White's own musical ventures, as well as for third parties for hire.


title: Jack White

text: In March 2015, Third Man joined in the launch of TIDAL, a music streaming service that Jay-Z purchased and co-owns with other major music artists. Later that year, White partnered with the watch manufacturer Shinola to open a retail location in Detroit.


title: Jack White

text: White owns many instruments and, historically, has tended to use certain ones for specific projects or in certain settings. He has a preference for vintage guitars, many of which are associated with influential blues artists. Much of his equipment is custom-made, for both technical and aesthetic reasons. White is a proficient guitar, bass, mandolin, percussion and piano player.


title: Jack White

text: During his career with the White Stripes, White principally used three guitars, though he used others as well. The red, "JB Hutto", Airline guitar was a vintage 1964 model originally distributed by Montgomery Ward department store. Though used by several artists, White's attachment to the instrument raised its popularity to the extent that Eastwood Guitars began producing a modified replica around 2000. The 1950s-era Kay Hollowbody was a gift from his brother in return for a favor. It was the same brand of electric guitar made popular by Howlin' Wolf, and White most famously used it on "Seven Nation Army". He began using a 1915 Gibson L-1 acoustic (often called the Robert Johnson model) on the "Icky Thump" album; in an interview for Gibson, he called the instrument his favorite. He also used a three-pickup Airline Town & Country (later featured in the "Steady As She Goes" music video), a Harmony Rocket, a 1970s-era Crestwood Astral II, and what would become the first of three custom Gretsch Rancher Falcon acoustic guitars. While with the Stripes, any equipment that did not match their red/black/white color scheme was painted red.


title: Jack White

text: On Black Friday in 2013, Third Man Records diversified and launched the Bumble Buzz pedal an octave fuzz built for Third Man by Vancouver, British Columbia’s Union Tube and Transistor. In 2014 the pedal was reviewed by Premier Guitar, and is found in Jack's pedal setup.


title: Jack White

text: While the Raconteurs were still in development, White commissioned luthier Randy Parsons to create what White called the Triple Jet—a custom guitar styled after the Duo Jet double-cutaway guitar. Parsons's first product was painted copper color, however he decided to create a second version with a completely copper body, which White began to use instead. For the Raconteurs first tour, White also played a Gretsch Anniversary Jr. with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and three Filtertron pickups. He later added a custom Gretsch Anniversary Jr. with two cutaways, a lever-activated mute system, a built-in and retractable bullet microphone, and a light-activated theremin next to the Bigsby. White has dubbed this one the "Green Machine", and it is featured in "It Might Get Loud". He sometimes played a Gibson J-160E, a Gretsch Duo Jet in Cadillac Green, and a second Gretsch Rancher acoustic guitar. For the Raconteurs' 2008 tour, he had Analog Man plate all of his pedals in copper. In 2020 White completed his Three-Wheel-Motion Low Rider - which is a highly customized Fender Telecaster B-Bender guitar.


title: Jack White

text: He has since acquired another Gretsch, a custom white "Billy Bo" Jupiter Thunderbird with a gold double pickguard (as seen in the music video for "Another Way to Die"). White found a 1957 Gretsch G6134 White Penguin in 2007 while on tour in Texas—the same one he used in the music video for "Icky Thump"—which ultimately fit in with the Dead Weather's color scheme. He also uses a black left-handed one since the Dead Weather album "Sea of Cowards" came out. He has also been known to play Fender Telecasters, featuring one in the music video for Loretta Lynn's "Portland, Oregon".


title: Jack White

text: White owns three Gretsch Rancher Falcons because he says that its bass tones make it his favorite acoustic to play live. They are collectively referred to as his "girlfriends", as each one has an image of a classic movie star on the back. Claudette Colbert is the brunette he used while with the Stripes, Rita Hayworth is the redhead he acquired with the Raconteurs, and Veronica Lake is the blonde he added in 2010 while with the Dead Weather.


title: Jack White

text: Since 2018, White has been playing EVH Wolfgang guitars, which are Eddie Van Halen's signature model.


title: Jack White

text: White uses numerous effects to create his live sound, most notably a DigiTech Whammy WH-4 to create the rapid modulations in pitch he uses in his solos. White also produces a "fake" bass tone by playing the Kay Hollowbody and JB Hutto Montgomery Airline guitars through a Whammy IV set to one octave down for a very thick, low, rumbling sound, which he uses most notably on the song "Seven Nation Army". He also uses an MXR Micro Amp and custom Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Distortion/Sustainer. In 2005, for the single "Blue Orchid", White employed an Electro-Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator (POG), which let him mix in several octave effects into one along with the dry signal. He plugs this setup into a 1970s Fender Twin Reverb "Silverface" and two 100-Watt Sears Silvertone 1485 6×10 amplifiers. He also used a 1960s Fender Twin Reverb "Blackface".


title: Jack White

text: On occasion, White also plays other instruments, such as a Black Gibson F-4 mandolin ("Little Ghost"), piano (on most tracks from "Get Behind Me Satan", and various others), and an electric piano on such tracks as "The Air Near My Fingers" and "I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman". White also plays percussion instruments such as the marimba (as on "The Nurse"), drums and tambourine. For the White Stripes' 2007 tour, he played a custom-finish Hammond A-100 organ with a Leslie 3300 speaker, which was subsequently loaned to Bob Dylan, and currently resides at Third Man Studios. On the album "Broken Boy Soldiers", both he and Benson are credited with playing the album's synths and organ.


title: Jack White

text: With the Dead Weather, White plays a custom Ludwig Classic Maple kit in Black Oyster Pearl. Notably, it includes two-snare drums, which White calls "the jazz canon". For the 2009 Full Flash Blank tour, White used a drum head with the Three Brides of Dracula on the front, but in 2010, White employed a new drum head, upon the release of "Sea of Cowards", which has an image of The Third Man himself: Harry Lime attempting to escape certain capture in the sewers of Vienna. During the American leg of the 2010 tour, White switched his drum head again featuring a picture of himself in the guise he wore on the cover of "Sea of Cowards". This drum head is called Sam Kay by some fans, referring to the insert inside of the 12" LP.


title: Jack White

text: White has long been a proponent of analog equipment and the associated working methods. Beginning in the fifth grade, he and his childhood friend, Dominic Suchyta, would listen to records in White's attic on weekends and began to record cover songs on an old four-track reel-to-reel tape machine. The White Stripes' first album was largely recorded in the attic of his parents' home. As their fame grew beyond Detroit, the Stripes became known for their affected innocence and stripped-down playing style. In particular, White became distinguished for his nasal vocal delivery and loose, explosive guitar delivery. In an early "New York Times" concert review from 2001, Ann Powers said that, while White's playing was "ingenious", he "created more challenges by playing an acoustic guitar with paper taped over the hole and a less-than-high-quality solid body electric".


title: Jack White

text: His home studio in Nashville contains two rooms ("I want everyone close, focused, feeling like we're in it together.") with two pieces of equipment: a Neve mixing console, and two Studer A800 2-inch 8-track tape recorders.


title: Jack White

text: In his introduction in the documentary film, "It Might Get Loud", White showcases his minimalist style by constructing a guitar built out of a plank of wood, three nails, a glass Coke bottle, a guitar string, and a pickup. He ends the demonstration by saying, "Who says you need to buy a guitar?" In a 2012 episode of the show, "Portlandia", White made a cameo in a sketch spoofing home studio enthusiasts who prefer antique recording equipment.


title: Jack White

text: White has enjoyed both critical and commercial success, and is widely credited as one of the key artists in the garage rock revival of the 2000s. "Rolling Stone" ranked him number 70 on its 2010 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". David Fricke's 2011 list ranked him at number 17. He has won twelve Grammy Awards, with 33 nominations, and three solo albums have reached number one on the Billboard charts. Interviewers note the wide breadth of the music styles and eras he draws from for inspiration. In May 2015, the Music City Walk of Fame announced that it would be honoring White (along with Loretta Lynn) with a medallion at its re-opening in Nashville. On February 8, 2017, White was the honoree of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy during the annual Grammy Week celebration for his commitment "to working diligently to ensure that the quality and integrity of recorded music are captured and preserved".


title: Jack White

text: Much has been made of White's "showmanship" and affectations. Since the beginning, critics have debated the "riddle" of White's self-awareness against his claims of authenticity, with people falling on both sides of the issue. Joe Hagan of "The New York Times" asked in 2001, "Is Mr. White, a 25-year-old former upholsterer from southwest Detroit, concocting this stuff with a wink? Or are the White Stripes simply naïve?" Alexis Petridis, of "The Guardian", said that White "makes for an enigmatic figure. Not because he's particularly difficult or guarded, but simply because what he tells you suggests a lifelong penchant for inscrutable behavior." White himself confesses, "Sometimes I think I'm a simple guy, but I think the reality is I'm really complicated, as simple as I wish I was."


title: Jack White

text: White is protective of his privacy and gives few details of his family life, even going as far as to disseminate false information. He states that he does not consider his personal life relevant to his art, saying "It's the same thing as asking Michelangelo, 'What kind of shoes do you wear?' ... In the end, it doesn't really matter ... the only thing that's going to be left is our records and photos."


title: Jack White

text: His collection of esoterica include Lead Belly's New York City arrest record, James Brown's Georgia driver's license from the 1980s, and a copy of the first Superman comic from June 1938. For $300,000 in January 2015, an online bidder won an auction for Elvis Presley's first recording ever—an acetate of the two cover songs: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". In its edition of March 6, 2015, "Billboard" magazine announced the buyer had been White. The vinyl record was recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee in the summer of 1953 when Presley was 18 years old.


title: Jack White

text: On multiple occasions, he has decried video games as being useless and a waste of time, going so far as to state that he doesn't allow his kids to play them. Despite this, his songs have appeared in the trailers for , , and Battlefield 1, and on the soundtracks of Forza Horizon 4 and numerous Guitar Hero games.


title: Jack White

text: Jack and Meg married on September 21, 1996, and divorced on March 24, 2000. Jack took Meg's last name, legally changing his surname. After the White Stripes broke up, he mentions he "almost never talks to Meg", adding that she has been solitary. In 2003, he had a brief relationship with actress Renée Zellweger, whom he met during the filming of "Cold Mountain". That summer, the couple were in a car accident in which White broke his left index finger and was forced to reschedule much of the summer tour. He posted the footage of his finger surgery on the web for fans. White and Zellweger's breakup became public in December 2004.


title: Jack White

text: White met British model Karen Elson when she appeared in the White Stripes' music video for "Blue Orchid". They married on June 1, 2005, in Manaus, Brazil. The wedding took place in a canoe on the Amazon River and was officiated by a shaman. A Roman Catholic priest later convalidated their marriage. Manager Ian Montone was the best man and Meg White was the maid of honor. Official wedding announcements stated that "it was the first marriage" for both. In 2006, the couple had a daughter, Scarlett Teresa. Their second child, son Henry Lee, was born in 2007.


title: Jack White

text: The family resided in Brentwood, a suburb south of Nashville, where Elson managed a vintage clothing store called "Venus & Mars". Elson provided vocals on White's first solo record. The couple announced their intention to divorce in June 2011, throwing "a positive swing bang humdinger" party to commemorate the split. On July 22, 2013, a Nashville judge barred White from having "any contact with Karen Elson whatsoever except as it relates to parenting time with the parties' minor children". A counter-motion was filed on August 2, 2013, stating that "The reason for filing this response is that Mr. White does not want to be portrayed as something he is not, violent toward his wife and children." The divorce was finalized on November 26, 2013. Elson later recanted the charges, attributing the "aggressive" proceedings to her divorce attorneys, and saying "those who gain of a marriage ending helped to create a downward spiral at my most vulnerable." White agreed, saying, "When shitty lawyers are in a situation like divorce, their goal is to villainize." The former couple reportedly remain on good terms.


title: Jack White

text: On April 8, 2022, White played the national anthem for a Detroit Tigers game, then proposed to his girlfriend, Olivia Jean, near the end of a concert performance at the Detroit Masonic Temple, while "Hotel Yorba" was being played. Jean and White were married shortly afterward by White's business partner Ben Swank who officiated on stage.


title: Jack White

text: In October 2016, upon learning that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had used the White Stripes song "Seven Nation Army" in video campaign materials, White denounced the presidential candidate and began selling shirts reading "Icky Trump"—a play on the White Stripes song "Icky Thump"—through the Third Man Records website. He publicly endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and performed a six-song set at a Sanders event at Cass Technical High School on October 27, 2019. At the rally, White stated that he believes that "Sanders is telling the truth, and I really do trust him". He was drawn in by Sanders' view that the Electoral College should be abolished, also stating at the rally that "I have this silly notion that the person who gets the most votes should be elected" and "[the Electoral College] is the reason we're in the mess we're in now".


title: Jack White

text: He is known for creating a mythology around his endeavors; examples include his claim that the Stripes began on Bastille Day, that he and Meg are the two youngest of ten siblings, and that Third Man Records used to be a candy factory. These assertions came into question or were disproven, as when, in 2002, the "Detroit Free Press" produced copies of both a marriage license and divorce certificate for him and Meg, confirming their history as a married couple. Neither addresses the truth officially, and Jack continues to refer to Meg as his sister in interviews, including in the documentary "Under Great White Northern Lights", filmed in 2007. In a 2005 interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, Jack alluded to this open secret, implying that it was intended to keep the focus on the music rather than the couple's relationship:


title: Jack White

text: When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, 'Oh, I see ... ' When they're brother and sister, you go, 'Oh, that's interesting.' You care more about the music, not the relationship—whether they're trying to save their relationship by being in a band.


title: Jack White

text: He has an attachment to the number three, stemming from seeing three staples in the back of a Vladimir Kagan couch, he helped to upholster as an apprentice. His business ventures frequently feature "three" in the title and he typically appends "III" to the end of his name. During the White Stripes 2005 tour in the UK, White began referring to himself as "Three Quid"—"quid" being British slang for pound sterling.


title: Jack White

text: He maintains an aesthetic that he says challenges whether people will believe he is "real". He frequently color-codes his endeavors, such as the aforementioned Third Man Upholstery and the White Stripes, as well as Third Man Records, which is completely outfitted in yellow, black, red, and blue (including staff uniforms). As a taxidermy enthusiast—that correlates to his work as an upholsterer—he decorates his studio in preserved animals, including a peacock, giraffe, and Himalayan goat.


title: Jack White

text: On December 13, 2003, White was involved in an altercation with Jason Stollsteimer, lead singer of the Von Bondies, at the Magic Stick, a Detroit club. White was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault and battery, was fined $750 (including court costs), and was sentenced to take anger management classes.


title: Jack White

text: White has repeatedly referenced conflicts that erupted between him and fellow artists in Detroit's underground music scene after the White Stripes gained international success. In a 2006 interview with the Associated Press, he said that he eventually left Detroit because, "he could not take the negativity anymore." However, in an effort to clarify his feelings towards the city of Detroit itself, he wrote and released a poem called "Courageous Dream's Concern". In it, he expresses his affection for his hometown.


title: Jack White

text: During their 2013 divorce proceedings, Elson entered into evidence an e-mail White had sent her that included disparaging remarks about the Black Keys. When asked about the email in a 2014 "Rolling Stone" magazine interview, White stood by the remarks saying, "I'll hear TV commercials where the music's ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it's me. Half the time, it's the Black Keys." He later apologized for the comments. However, in September 2015, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney posted a series of tweets alleging that White tried to fight him in a bar. White denied the claim in a statement to the online magazine "Pitchfork", saying that Carney should talk to him directly, and not on the internet. The following day, Carney posted a tweet saying, "Talked to jack for an hour he's cool. All good." White tweeted on the Third Man Twitter account, "From one musician to another, you have my respect Patrick Carney."


title: Jack White

text: On February 1, 2015, the University of Oklahoma's newspaper "OU Daily" ran a story regarding White's show of February 2 at McCasland Field House that included the publication of White's tour rider. The rider, especially the guacamole recipe it included and White's ban of bananas backstage, received some media coverage. It was later reported that in response to the rider's publication White's booking agency, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, had banned its acts from playing shows at the University of Oklahoma. On February 15, White released an open letter addressed to "journalists and other people looking for drama or a diva" in which he referred to the guacamole recipe as his tour manager's "inside joke with local promoters" and "just something to break up the boredom" and the ban of bananas being alluded to food allergies of an unnamed tour member, while criticizing journalists who wrote about the rider as "out of their element". In the same letter he forgave "OU Daily" for publishing the story and reaffirmed his desire to perform in Oklahoma.


title: Jack White

text: White has provided financial support to institutions in his hometown of Detroit. In 2009, White donated almost $170,000 towards the renovation of the baseball diamond in southwest Detroit's Clark Park. The Detroit Masonic Temple was nearly foreclosed on in 2013 after it was revealed that owners owed $142,000 in back taxes. In June 2013, it was revealed that White had footed the entire bill. To thank him for the donation, the temple has decided to rename its second largest theater the Jack White Theater.


title: Jack White

text: The National Recording Preservation Foundation received an inaugural gift of $200,000 from White to use toward restoring and preserving deteriorating sound recordings on media such as reel-to-reel tape and old cylinders. The foundation's director, Eric J. Schwartz said the donation demonstrated a "commitment by a really busy songwriter and performer donating both his time on the board, and money to preserve our national song recording heritage". White also serves on the foundation's board.


title: Jack White

text: On September 18, 2018, White donated $30,000 to The Outsiders House Museum for its preservation and restoration.


title: Jack White

text: On May 3, 2019, Wayne State University of Detroit, Michigan awarded White with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree "for his dedication to Detroit and significant contributions to the arts as one of the most prolific and renowned artists of the past two decades".


title: Jack White

text: On November 20, 2022, White wrote a note to Elon Musk explaining his reason for leaving the Twitter platform, he said, "So you gave Trump his Twitter platform back. Absolutely disgusting, Elon. That is officially an asshole move".


title: Jack White

text: For his various collaborations and solo work, White has won regional, national and international awards, including twelve Grammy Awards and has been nominated for 33. Nashville mayor Karl Dean awarded White the title of "Nashville Music City Ambassador" in 2011.


title: Jack White

text: Although a solo artist, White performs with a live band to provide additional instrumentation and vocals.


title: Richard Branson

text: Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called "Student". In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records—later known as Virgin Megastores—in 1972. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1997, Branson founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. The Virgin Trains brand operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007, and the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2015 to 2018. In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic, based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, noted for the SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane designed for space tourism.


title: Richard Branson

text: In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for "services to entrepreneurship". For his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure. In 2007, he was placed in the "Time" 100 Most Influential People in the World list. In July 2021, "Forbes" listed Branson's estimated net worth at US$5.7 billion.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 11 July 2021, Branson travelled as a passenger onboard Virgin Galactic Unity 22 at the edge of space, a suborbital test flight for his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. The mission lasted approximately one hour, reaching a peak altitude of . At 70, Branson became the third oldest person to fly to space.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson was born in Blackheath, London, the son of Edward James Branson (1918–2011), a barrister, and his wife Eve Branson ("née" Evette Huntley Flindt; 1924–2021), a former ballet dancer and air hostess. He has two younger sisters, Lindy Branson and Vanessa Branson. His grandfather, Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson's great-great-great-grandfather, John Edward Branson, left England for India in 1793; John Edward's father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined his son in Madras. Starting from 1793, four generations of Branson's family lived India, mostly at Cuddalore Tamilnadu. On the show "Finding Your Roots", Branson was shown to have 3.9% South Asian (Indian) DNA, likely through intermarriage. Later, he stated that one of his great-great-great-grandmothers was an Indian named Ariya.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School, a prep school in Surrey, before briefly attending Cliff View House School in Sussex. He attended Stowe School, an independent school in Buckinghamshire until the age of sixteen.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson has dyslexia, and had poor academic performance; on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson's parents were supportive of his endeavours from an early age. His mother was an entrepreneur; one of her most successful ventures was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins. In London, he started off squatting from 1967 to 1968.


title: Richard Branson

text: After failed attempts to grow and sell both Christmas trees and budgerigars, Branson launched a magazine named "Student" in 1966 with Nik Powell. The first issue of "Student" appeared in January 1968, and a year later, Branson's net worth was estimated at £50,000. The office for the venture was situated in the crypt of St. John's Church, off Bayswater Road, in London. Though not initially as successful as he hoped, the magazine later became a vital component of the mail-order record business Branson started from the same church he used for "Student". Branson used the magazine to advertise popular albums, driving his record sales. He interviewed several prominent personalities of the late 1960s for the magazine including Mick Jagger and R. D. Laing. Branson took over full direction of "Student" after successfully bluffing to Powell that the workers at the magazine opposed Powell's plans to turn the magazine into a cooperative.


title: Richard Branson

text: His business sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain WHSmith. Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration." At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, despite efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to limit retail price maintenance.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London. In 1971, he was questioned in connection with the selling of records declared export stock. The matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid purchase tax of 33% and a £70,000 fine. His parents re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 1972, using money earned from his record store, Branson launched the record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell. The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business. Branson bought a country estate north of Oxford in which he installed a residential recording studio, The Manor Studio. He leased studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, whose debut album "Tubular Bells" (1973) was the first release for Virgin Records and became a chart-topping best-seller.


title: Richard Branson

text: Virgin signed controversial bands such as the Sex Pistols, which other companies were reluctant to sign. Virgin Records would go on to sign other artists including the Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Japan, UB40, Steve Winwood and Paula Abdul, and to become the world's largest independent record label. It also won praise for exposing the public to such lesser known avant-garde music as Faust and Can. Virgin Records also introduced Culture Club to the music world.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson's net worth was estimated at £5 million by 1979, and a year later, Virgin Records went international.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson's first successful entry into the airline industry was during a trip to Puerto Rico. His flight was cancelled, so he decided to charter his own plane the rest of the way and offered a ride to the rest of the stranded passengers for a small fee to cover the cost.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 1982, Virgin purchased the gay bar Heaven. In 1991, in a consortium with David Frost, Branson made an unsuccessful bid for three ITV franchises under the CPV-TV name. The early 1980s also saw his only attempt as a producer—on the novelty record "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", by The Singing Sheep in association with Doug McLean and Grace McDonald, on which he was credited as "Jeff Mutton". The track consisted of samples of animal noises recorded at his aunt Claire Hoares' farm in Norfolk, set to a drum-machine-produced track and reached number 42 in the UK charts in 1982.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for £500 million. Branson said that he wept when the sale was completed because the record business had been the very start of the Virgin empire. He created V2 Records in 1996 to re-enter the music business, owning 5% himself. Virgin also acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it Virgin Express. In 1997, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. Virgin Rail Group won the InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast franchises, beginning operations in January and March 1997 respectively. Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years.


title: Richard Branson

text: A series of disputes in the early 1990s caused tension between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, which viewed Virgin as an emerging competitor. Virgin subsequently accused British Airways of poaching its passengers, hacking its computers, and leaking stories to the press that portrayed Virgin negatively. After the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks", British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson, a further £110,000 to his airline, and had to pay legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson distributed his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 25 September 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind SpaceShipOne—funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed by aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan—to take paying passengers into suborbital outer space. Virgin Galactic plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at US$200,000 using the Scaled Composites White Knight Two. The spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, which was founded by Branson and Rutan and is now solely owned by Virgin Galactic. In 2013, Branson said that he planned to take his two children, 31-year-old Holly and 28-year-old Sam, on a trip to outer space when they ride the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane on its first public flight, then planned for 2014. As part of his promotion of the firm, Branson has added a variation of the Virgin Galactic livery to his personal business jet, the Dassault Falcon 900EX "Galactic Girl" (G-GALX).


title: Richard Branson

text: He was ninth in "The Sunday Times" Rich List 2006 of the wealthiest people or families in the UK, worth slightly more than £3 billion. Branson wrote in his autobiography of the decision to start an airline.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2006, through a merger with SN Brussels Airlines, Virgin Airlines formed Brussels Airlines, while retaining its separate listing. It also started a national airline based in Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria, which ceased operations in 2009. Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson's next venture with the Virgin group was Virgin Fuels, which was set up to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains in research for environmentally-friendly fuels. The investment is estimated to be worth $3 billion.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 4 July 2006, Branson sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL:Telewest for £900million. A new company was launched with much fanfare and publicity on 8 February 2007, under the name Virgin Media. The decision to merge his Virgin Media Company with NTL was made in order to integrate compatible areas of the two businesses. Whilst Branson had owned three-quarters of Virgin Mobile, he would now get paid £8.5million per annum for the use of the Virgin brand name. He does not own any part of Virgin Media.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The company was founded with author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra. Branson also launched the Virgin Health Bank on 1 February 2007, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in private and public stem-cell banks.


title: Richard Branson

text: In June 2006, a tip-off from Virgin Atlantic led both UK and US competition authorities to investigate price-fixing attempts between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. In August 2007, British Airways was fined £271 million over the allegations. Virgin Atlantic was given immunity for tipping off the authorities and received no fine—a controversial decision the Office of Fair Trading defended as being in the public interest.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 9 February 2007, Branson announced the setting up of a new global science and technology prize—The Virgin Earth Challenge—in the belief that history has shown that prizes of this nature encourage technological advancements for the good of mankind. The Virgin Earth Challenge was to award $25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design that will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long-term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth's climate. Branson also announced that he would be joined in the adjudication of the prize by a panel of five judges, all world authorities in their respective fields: Al Gore, Sir Crispin Tickell, Tim Flannery, James E. Hansen, and James Lovelock.


title: Richard Branson

text: In July 2007, Branson purchased his Australian home, Makepeace Island, in Noosa. In August 2007, Branson announced that he had bought a 20-percent stake in Malaysia's AirAsia X.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 13 October 2007, Branson's Virgin Group sought to add Northern Rock to its empire after submitting an offer that would result in Branson personally owning 30% of the company and changing the company's name from Northern Rock to Virgin Money. The "Daily Mail" ran a campaign against his bid; Vince Cable, financial spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, suggested in the House of Commons that Branson's criminal conviction for tax evasion might be felt by some as a good enough reason not to trust him with public money.


title: Richard Branson

text: On 9 January 2008, Virgin Healthcare announced that it would open a chain of health care clinics that would offer conventional medical care alongside homeopathic and complementary therapies, a development that was welcomed by Ben Bradshaw, the UK's health minister.


title: Richard Branson

text: Plans where GPs could be paid for referring National Health Service (NHS) patients to private Virgin services were abandoned in June 2008. The BMA warned the plan would "damage clinical objectivity", there would be a financial incentive for GPs to push patients toward the Virgin services at the centre. Plans to take over an NHS Practice in Swindon were abandoned in late September 2008.


title: Richard Branson

text: In February 2009, Branson's Virgin organization was reported as bidding to buy the former Honda Formula One team. Branson later stated an interest in Formula One, but claimed that, before the Virgin brand became involved with Honda or any other team, Formula One would have to develop a more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image. At the start of the 2009 Formula One season on 28 March, it was announced that Virgin would be sponsoring the new Brawn GP team, with discussions also under way about introducing a less "dirty" fuel in the medium term. After the end of the season and the subsequent purchase of Brawn GP by Mercedes-Benz, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix, with the team being renamed Virgin Racing.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2010, Virgin Hotels was launched under the Virgin Group. In February 2018, Branson announced the first Virgin hotel in the UK would open in Edinburgh.


title: Richard Branson

text: Branson and Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and Lotus F1 Racing, had a bet for the 2010 F1 season where the losing team's boss should work on the winner's airline during a charity flight dressed as a stewardess. Fernandes escaped as the bet winner, as Lotus Racing ended tenth in the championship, while Virgin Racing ended twelfth and last. Branson kept his word after losing the bet, as he served his duty as a stewardess on an Air Asia flight between Perth and Kuala Lumpur on 12 May 2013.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2010, Branson became patron of the UK's Gordon Bennett 2010 gas balloon race, which has 16 hydrogen balloons flying across Europe.


title: Richard Branson

text: In April 2012, Virgin Care commenced a five-year contract for provision of a range of health services which had previously been under the aegis of NHS Surrey, the local primary care trust. By March 2015, Virgin Care was in charge of over 230 services nationwide.


title: Richard Branson

text: In July 2012, Branson announced plans to build an orbital space launch system, designated LauncherOne.


title: Richard Branson

text: Four commercial customers have already contracted for launches and two companies are developing standardised satellite buses optimised to the design of LauncherOne, in expectation of business opportunities created by the new "smallsat" launcher.


title: Richard Branson

text: In August 2012, when re-tendered the InterCity West Coast franchise was awarded to FirstGroup after a competitive tender process overseen by the Department for Transport. Branson had expressed his concerns about the tender process and questioned the validity of the business plan submitted by FirstGroup. When Virgin Rail lost the contract, Branson said he was convinced the civil servants had "got their maths wrong". In October, after an investigation into the bidding process, the deal was scrapped. The Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced there were "significant technical flaws" in the process and mistakes had been made by transport staff. Virgin Rail continued to operate the West Coast line until 7 December 2019, when it was replaced by Avanti West Coast.


title: Richard Branson

text: In September 2014, Branson announced his investment in drone company 3D Robotics stating, "It's amazing to see what a little flying object with a GoPro attached can do. Before they came along the alternative was an expensive helicopter and crew. I'm really excited about the potential 3D Robotics sees in drones. They can do a lot of good in the world, and I hope this affordable technology will give many more people the chance to see our beautiful planet from such a powerful perspective."


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2014, Branson launched the "Foodpreneur" food and drink-focused start-up competition. Winners were provided with mentorship from Branson, legal support, and brand counseling. The 2014 winners included Proper Beans, Killer Tomato, Sweetpea Pantry and Sweet Virtues. In 2015, the competition expanded to the Virgin StartUp's Foodpreneur Festival. The 2015 winners were given the opportunity to pitch Target Corporation buyers. The 2015 winners included Pip & Nut, Double Dutch Drinks, Harry Bromptons, Cauli Rice and Mallow and Marsh.


title: Richard Branson

text: In March 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise; the company was a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%). Due to the line performing below VTEC's expectations, it was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government. VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018 and operations passed to a government-owned operator, London North Eastern Railway.


title: Richard Branson

text: In November 2015, Branson announced the addition of Moskito Island to the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio. This resort, The Branson Estate on Moskito Island, offers 11 bedrooms for 22 guests.


title: Richard Branson

text: In 2017, Virgin Group invested in Hyperloop One, developing a strategic partnership between the two. Branson joined the board of directors, and in December 2017, became its chairman. The announced winner of the 2017 Virgin StartUp's Foodpreneur prize was The Snaffling Pig Co., which won a six-week rental space at Intu Lakeside, the retail center with the highest foot traffic in the United Kingdom.


title: Richard Branson

text: In October 2017, Branson appeared on the Season 9 Premiere of "Shark Tank" as a guest investor, where he invested in Locker Board, a sustainable line of skateboards invented by 11-year-old, Carson Kropfl. Branson told the young business man that he reminded him of himself. Branson became the richest Shark to have appeared on the show.