title: Brodie Lee

text: At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, Harper competed in his first Royal Rumble match, where he eliminated two other participants before being eliminated by Roman Reigns. Shortly afterwards, The Wyatt Family began a feud with The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins), leading to a match between the teams at Elimination Chamber, which The Wyatt Family won. During this time, Harper and Rowan also supported Bray Wyatt in his feud with John Cena through WrestleMania XXX, with Harper and Rowan also starting their own feud with the WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), who supported Cena in the feud. Harper and Rowan went on to unsuccessfully challenge The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship at both Money in the Bank and Battleground.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Beginning on September 29, vignettes were shown of Harper and Rowan being "set free" by Wyatt, marking the dissolution of The Wyatt Family and the transition of its members into singles competition. After a further series of video vignettes aimed at Dolph Ziggler, Harper made his return to television during the closing moments of the November 10 episode of "Raw", throwing an unconscious Ziggler at Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's feet and expressing his desire to join their team at Survivor Series. The following week on "Raw", Harper officially joined Team Authority. Immediately after, Harper was awarded an impromptu match for the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, which, after interference from Seth Rollins, Harper won to capture his first main roster title. At Survivor Series, Team Authority lost the match, which Harper was eliminated by Ziggler. As punishment for his affiliation with The Authority, Harper was forced to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose on the November 24 episode of "Raw" and successfully retained the title after getting himself disqualified. Harper lost the title back to Ziggler in a ladder match at , ending his reign at 27 days, and failed to regain the title in a rematch on the December 22 episode of "Raw".


title: Brodie Lee

text: On January 25, 2015, Harper entered the Royal Rumble match at number 4, and was eliminated by Bray Wyatt. Beginning in early March, Harper was involved into a storyline where he was one of many wrestlers stealing Bad News Barrett's Intercontinental Championship belt from Barrett and each other. This led to a seven-man ladder match for the title on March 29 at WrestleMania 31, which was won by Daniel Bryan. The match led to a new feud between Harper and Dean Ambrose (who was also a participant in the ladder match at WrestleMania), with Harper losing a Chicago Street Fight between the pair at Extreme Rules. On the April 27 episode of "Raw", Harper took part in the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, but was eliminated by Neville in the first round.


title: Brodie Lee

text: In early May, Harper revived his alliance with Erick Rowan. After Rowan suffered an injury, Harper reunited with Bray Wyatt on July 19 at Battleground by helping him defeat Roman Reigns. This led to a tag team match between Harper and Wyatt against Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam, which they lost after Reigns pinned Wyatt. The following night on "Raw", Braun Strowman joined Harper and Wyatt as the new member of The Wyatt Family. At Night of Champions The Wyatt Family defeated Reigns, Ambrose and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match. On the October 19 episode of "Raw", Erick Rowan returned to The Wyatt Family when he filled in for Harper (who was unable to show for personal reasons). The Wyatt Family then got involved in a feud with The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane), which built to a tag team match on November 22 at Survivor Series, where the two defeated Harper and Wyatt. The next night on "Raw", Harper teamed with Wyatt again to defeat The Dudley Boyz, igniting a new feud. Over the next weeks, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno joined The Dudley Boyz in the feud, leading to an eight-man tag team tables match at , where Harper, Wyatt, Rowan and Strowman were victorious. On January 24, 2016, Harper competed in the Royal Rumble with fellow Wyatt Family members and he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar, but returned to the ring later on with The Wyatt Family members to eliminate Lesnar. Harper and Wyatt were defeated by Lesnar in a 2-on-1 handicap match at the Roadblock event on March 12. On March 21, Harper suffered a knee injury during an untelevised match on "Raw", sidelining him for five to six months. After getting an MRI, it was revealed that he had dislocated his patella and tore his medial patellofemoral ligament. Because of his injury, Harper was not drafted to either Raw or SmackDown in the 2016 WWE draft.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Harper returned to the ring on October 5, unsuccessfully teaming with Kevin Owens against Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins at a house show in Santiago, Chile. Four days later, Harper returned in the match of the SmackDown brand pay-per-view No Mercy, helping Bray Wyatt defeat Randy Orton by distracting Orton. On December 4 at , Wyatt and Orton, who had recently joined The Wyatt Family, captured the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and three days later it was announced that Harper had been sanctioned as champion as well, making him eligible to defend the title under the Freebird Rule. The Wyatt Family, represented by Harper and Orton, lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championship to American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) in a four-way elimination match on the December 27 episode of "SmackDown". After the match, Harper and Orton showed tension over the loss. After Wyatt and Orton unsuccessfully challenged American Alpha for the title on the January 10, 2017 episode of "SmackDown Live", Harper and Orton shoved each other, which led to Harper accidentally superkicking Wyatt. Harper and Orton continued having problems with each other, leading to a match between the two on the January 24 episode of "SmackDown", where Orton was victorious. After the match, Wyatt attacked Harper with the "Sister Abigail", separating him from the group.


title: Brodie Lee

text: At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Harper entered the Royal Rumble match at number 25, attacking both Wyatt and Orton and eliminating Apollo Crews, before being eliminated by Goldberg. On the January 31 episode of "SmackDown", Harper turned face after helping WWE Champion John Cena in his confrontation with Orton and Wyatt. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, Harper was defeated by Orton. Shortly after this, Harper unsuccessfully faced AJ Styles over number one contendership for the WWE Championship, held by Wyatt. At the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on April 2, Harper took part in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, from which he was eliminated by Titus O'Neil. Following WrestleMania, Harper feuded with the returning Erick Rowan, leading to a match at Backlash, which Harper won. On the July 4 episode of "SmackDown", Harper took part in the Independence Day Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for the United States Championship. He failed to win as the match was eventually won by AJ Styles. Harper then disappeared from WWE television for several months.


title: Brodie Lee

text: On the October 10 episode of "SmackDown", as a heel again, Harper returned to television in a vignette where he was once again aligned with Erick Rowan. The duo were dubbed "The Bludgeon Brothers", with Harper's ring name shortened to simply "Harper". The team wrestled their return match on the November 21 episode of "SmackDown", defeating The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley). At Clash of Champions on December 17, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) in a squash match. Going into 2018, The Bludgeon Brothers began to target SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, as well as their rivals The New Day.


title: Brodie Lee

text: On March 11, 2018, The Bludgeon Brothers made an appearance at Fastlane, interfering during the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match between The Usos and The New Day. This led to a tag team championship match between the three teams at WrestleMania 34, which The Bludgeon Brothers won to attain the titles. They would go on to successfully defend the titles against The Usos at the Greatest Royal Rumble event, against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at Money in the Bank, and against Team Hell No at Extreme Rules. The Bludgeon Brothers lost by disqualification in a championship defense against The New Day at SummerSlam, resulting in them retaining the titles. Two nights later on the August 21 episode of "SmackDown", The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a no disqualification match to win the championships, ending their reign at 135 days. The following day, it was announced that Rowan had suffered a torn right bicep, sidelining him indefinitely and putting the team on hiatus.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Harper made a surprise appearance at a NXT house show on September 6, where he unsuccessfully challenged Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship. Soon after, Harper took time off after undergoing surgery for a wrist injury. On March 9, 2019, Harper returned to in-ring action, defeating Mojo Rawley at a house show in his hometown of Rochester. He made his televised return at WrestleMania Axxess, defeating Dominik Dijakovic, which aired as part of the "WWE Worlds Collide" special. Following that, he competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at the WrestleMania 35 pre-show, but failed to win as he was eliminated by Braun Strowman. After WrestleMania, Harper wrestled against EC3 in a dark match before an episode of "SmackDown". It was reported that WWE chairman Vince McMahon did not like the match, so he canceled creative plans for Harper including a feud with Sami Zayn. After that, on April 16, Harper requested his release from WWE, as he had yet to appear on weekly television. His request was denied by McMahon. Dave Meltzer of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" later reported that Harper's contract was originally going to expire in November 2019, but WWE added six months to it, due to the time missed due to injury. In mid-July it was reported that Harper had returned to traveling with the roster, as he had been off events since requesting his release.


title: Brodie Lee

text: At the Clash of Champions pay-per-view event on September 15, with his old ring name Luke Harper, he made his televised return to WWE programming by attacking Roman Reigns in his match with former partner Erick Rowan. On the following episode of "SmackDown Live", Harper ambushed Daniel Bryan after a confrontation with Rowan, only to be interrupted by Reigns, who Harper and Rowan laid out as well. At Hell in a Cell, Harper and Rowan were defeated by Reigns and Bryan in a tag team match. As part of the 2019 draft, Erick Rowan was drafted to Raw, disbanding the team. Harper's last televised match in WWE was in a battle royal at the Crown Jewel event on October 31, which he lost.


title: Brodie Lee

text: On November 26, he filed a trademark for Brodie Lee, his former wrestling ring name. On December 8, it was announced that Harper had been released from his WWE contract.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Huber made a surprise debut for the Jacksonville, Florida-based promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the March 18, 2020 episode of "Dynamite", readopting his Brodie Lee ring name. Lee was revealed as the "Exalted One", the hitherto unseen leader of the heel faction the Dark Order, attacking SoCal Uncensored with the other members of the group. After staying undefeated for several weeks, he challenged AEW World Champion Jon Moxley to a championship match at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view. At Double or Nothing on May 23, Lee was defeated by Moxley, marking his first loss in AEW. Over the following months, Lee recruited new members into The Dark Order, including Colt Cabana and Anna Jay.


title: Brodie Lee

text: On the August 22 episode of "Dynamite", Lee quickly defeated Cody to win the AEW TNT Championship. After the match, Lee attacked Cody's allies Q. T. Marshall, Dustin Rhodes, and Brandi Rhodes with the help of the rest of The Dark Order. At All Out on September 5, Lee teamed with fellow Dark Order members Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson in a loss to Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, Dustin Rhodes and Q. T. Marshall. Lee then successfully defended the TNT Championship against Dustin Rhodes and Orange Cassidy on the September 9 and 23 episodes of "Dynamite", respectively. After the latter match, Cody returned and Lee challenged him to a dog collar match for the championship. On the October 7 episode of "Dynamite", Lee lost his final match, ending his TNT Championship reign at 55 days (46 days as recognized by AEW due to tape delay). Shortly after, he went on hiatus with what was reported to be an undisclosed injury.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Huber's wrestling style has been described as mix of "blending power moves with deceptive agility" and "pioneering a new wave of athletic giants". He cited Jake Roberts, Rick Rude, and Big Show as his primary influences.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Huber has described his original "The Right Stuff" gimmick as him "just having fun" and, despite being a heavyweight, claimed he was a "cruiserweight". Upon his debut in WWE as Luke Harper, he became part of The Wyatt Family, a cult-like faction with Bray Wyatt as their leader. According to Huber, WWE chairman Vince McMahon envisioned Harper as a hillbilly and asked him to speak with a Southern-like drawl. The faction split in early 2017, but Harper later reunited with former Wyatt Family teammate Erick Rowan to form a tag team dubbed The Bludgeon Brothers. The duo carried wooden mallets to the ring and had a look apparently modeled after Demolition, a tag team who wrestled for WWE in the 1980s. Desiring a run as a singles competitor, Huber pitched several gimmick ideas to McMahon, such as a "collector" who took trophies from his defeated opponents and an "intelligent monster" who would eloquently tell his rivals how he was going to hurt them, but his ideas were rejected by McMahon and WWE creative.


title: Brodie Lee

text: After joining AEW in March 2020, Huber reverted to his pre-WWE name of Brodie Lee and was unveiled as "The Exalted One", the previously anonymous leader of The Dark Order stable. Adding the prefix "Mr." to his name, he assumed the gimmick of a suit-wearing corporate executive who denied allegations that The Dark Order was a cult, and often harshly punished his disciples for petty transgressions. The character drew comparisons to McMahon due to displaying traits similar to ones often attributed to McMahon, such as disliking people sneezing in his presence, but Huber denied this and instead stated that it was inspired by mafia films.


title: Brodie Lee

text: In 2017, Huber appeared as Pitchfork Perry in an episode of the period drama series "Damnation". In 2018, he played Lachlan Allsopp in the action-horror film "Mohawk". Under the Luke Harper name, he is a playable character in the video games "WWE 2K15", "WWE 2K16", "WWE 2K17", "WWE 2K18", "WWE 2K19", and "WWE 2K20".


title: Brodie Lee

text: Huber married Amanda, a fellow professional wrestler who previously performed under the name Synndy Synn, in 2011. They had two sons named Brodie and Nolan. Following Huber's death, Brodie was signed to All Elite Wrestling and became a member of his father's faction The Dark Order at the age of eight, with AEW stating that he can immediately start to perform for the company when he comes of age if he so wishes.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Huber died at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, on December 26, 2020, 10 days after his 41st birthday. His widow, Amanda, said that he had been receiving treatment for a lung issue at the clinic since late October. Despite what some fans believed at the time, the issue was unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic as Huber had tested negative multiple times. He had been moved to the intensive care unit in late October. On the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast in January 2021, Amanda revealed that Huber had died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare condition which causes lung tissue to become irreversibly thickened until the lungs can no longer function.


title: Brodie Lee

text: A multitude of wrestlers and wrestling personalities paid tribute to Huber with stories on social media, most of which shared a running theme of him being devoted to his wife and children while going out of his way to guide and support other wrestlers. His former Wyatt Family teammates also paid tribute: Bray Wyatt called Huber his "best friend, brother, [and] partner", Erick Rowan said that Huber "meant more to [him] than he will ever know", and Braun Strowman referred to Huber as "one of the most unselfish men [he has] ever met and an amazing husband and father". Cody Rhodes, against whom Huber wrestled his final match, called the match "an honor and a privilege and an experience so ferociously humbling". Big E, who was particularly close with Huber and his son Brodie and was requested to be present alongside Rhodes with Amanda when informing Brodie of his father's death, spoke of how the professional wrestling industry as a whole came together to mourn the loss of a performer deemed to have made a personal impact on the careers and lives of many of his colleagues, stating, "I feel a real brotherhood. In that I have so many guys that I've worked with, who hit me up, who cried with me, who reached out to me, and that's beautiful. It really made me think, 'Man, we have something special in our industry.'" After many of the stories about Huber had been widely shared, Randy Orton stated, "You all have heard about how much we all respected [Huber], about how much we all enjoyed his presence. It is a fact."


title: Brodie Lee

text: The December 28, 2020 episode of "WWE Raw" opened with an "In Memory of Jon Huber ('Luke Harper')" graphic, as did the December 30 episode of "WWE NXT" and the January 1, 2021 episode of "WWE SmackDown". Performers and commentators on "Raw" paid tribute by using some of Huber's catchphrases, such as commentator Tom Phillips welcoming the viewers to the show by exclaiming "it's Monday, you know what that means" and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre beginning his promo by stating "it's Monday and you know what that means [...] yeah, yeah, yeah". Xavier Woods, who wore an armband with "Brodie" written on it, performed Huber's signature taunt and finishing move during an eight-man tag team match. Over the next week, the promotion uploaded videos with various WWE wrestlers honoring and speaking of their memories with Huber. On January 11, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) dedicated their "Feel the Power" podcast to Huber, which also featured Cesaro, Tyler Breeze, and Erick Rowan speaking about Huber; a video version of the podcast was put on the WWE Network. The next day on the WWE Network, the promotion added a new entry into their "Best of WWE" series entitled "Best of Luke Harper", an anthology showcasing several of Huber's matches in WWE, which also included comments by various wrestlers involved in those matches speaking of their time working with Huber. At the 2021 Royal Rumble, The New Day wore custom ring gear honoring Huber, later auctioning off the gear with all the proceeds going to Foodlink, a nonprofit foodbank based in Huber's hometown Rochester. At WrestleMania 37 in April 2021, Bray Wyatt, who had been largely off television since before Huber's death, performed as his "Fiend" character and honored Huber by shouting Huber's "yeah, yeah, yeah" catchphrase.


title: Brodie Lee

text: The 236th episode of The Young Bucks' YouTube series "Being The Elite" ("BTE") was titled "Brodie", featuring a compilation of Lee's "BTE" appearances. The following episode was titled "Tribute", featuring behind the scenes clips from his Celebration of Life memorial show. Since then, a painting of Huber has been present in The Dark Order's usual meeting room for their segments on "BTE". The Dark Order members also continue to often wear Brodie Lee shirts and "RIP Brodie" armbands.


title: Brodie Lee

text: The December 30 episode of "AEW Dynamite", known as the "Brodie Lee Celebration of Life", featured matches and segments with fellow wrestlers honoring and paying tribute to Huber and his family. Every match on the card featured members of Huber's faction, The Dark Order. The memorial show began with the entire AEW roster onstage and commentator Jim Ross saying, "It's Wednesday and you know what that means", followed by a ten-bell salute. In the middle of the show, Huber's former long-time WWE tag team partner Erick Rowan, now under the name Erick Redbeard, made his AEW debut and held up a sign which said, "Goodbye for now, my brother. See you down the road." At the end of the show, Huber’s widow and son left his wrestling boots and a purple bandana in the middle of the ring. As Huber was a former TNT Champion, AEW retired the red strap version of the title belt that had been used up to that point in honor of Huber, and presented the belt to Huber's son Brodie, with AEW President and CEO Tony Khan stating that Lee's son was "TNT Champion for life". Khan also regarded Huber as the greatest TNT Champion. A tribute video with "Ol' '55" by Tom Waits closed the show. Khan purchased the rights to the song in perpetuity, which he did "so the tribute will last forever". AEW has since adopted "it's Wednesday night, (and) you know what that means" as the standard introduction for episodes of "AEW Dynamite", as further tribute to Huber.


title: Brodie Lee

text: During the show, Pro Wrestling Tees' Shop AEW store released a T-shirt in memory of Lee with all proceeds benefiting The Huber Family. In less than two hours, it set a new record for most shirts sold within 24 hours, breaking Sting's previous record. In just under four hours, it became the highest selling T-shirt of 2020, breaking Orange Cassidy's previous record.


title: Brodie Lee

text: Night 1 of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 15 started with commentator Kevin Kelly saying "it's January 4th, you know what that means" and dedicating the broadcast to Lee. In March 2021, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer presented the Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award, named after Huber and fellow wrestler Shad Gaspard, who died in May 2020 while saving his young son from drowning, which is dedicated to people involved in professional wrestling who make positive contributions to society.


title: Brodie Lee

text: In August 2021, CM Punk revealed that Huber's death and how well his illness was kept secret amongst the AEW locker room out of respect inspired him to end his seven-year hiatus from wrestling, which began when he became disillusioned with WWE.


title: Brodie Lee

text: In September 2021, one week after winning the WWE Championship, Big E celebrated with the New Day and thanked the fans for their support and from "one incredible friend above" as the fans began to chant Huber's ring name.


title: Bill Ackman

text: William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach makes him an activist investor. , Ackman's net worth was estimated at $2.8 billion by "Forbes".


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman was raised in Chappaqua, New York, the son of Ronnie I. (née Posner) and Lawrence David Ackman, the former chairman of a New York real estate financing firm, Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 1988, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree "magna cum laude" in social studies from Harvard College. His thesis was "Scaling the Ivy Wall: the Jewish and Asian American Experience in Harvard Admissions." In 1992, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 1992, Ackman founded the investment firm Gotham Partners with fellow Harvard graduate David P. Berkowitz. The firm made small investments in public companies. In 1995, Ackman partnered with the insurance and real estate firm Leucadia National to bid for Rockefeller Center. Although they did not win the deal, the bid generated interest in Gotham from investors: three years later, Gotham had $500 million in assets under management (AUM). By 2002, Gotham had become entrenched in litigation with various external shareholders who also owned an interest in the companies in which Gotham invested.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2002 Ackman researched MBIA in order to challenge Standard & Poor's AAA rating of its bonds. He was charged fees for copying 725,000 pages of statements regarding the financial services company as part of his law firm's compliance with a subpoena. Ackman called for a division between MBIA's structured finance business and its municipal bond insurance business.


title: Bill Ackman

text: He argued that MBIA was legally restricted from trading billions of dollars of credit default swap (CDS) protection that MBIA had sold against various mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and was using a second corporation, LaCrosse Financial Products, which MBIA described as an "orphaned transformer." Ackman bought credit default swaps against MBIA corporate debt and sold them for a large profit during the financial crisis of 2007–2008. He reported covering his short position on MBIA on January 16, 2009, according to the 13D filed with the SEC.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2003, a feud developed between Ackman and Carl Icahn over a deal involving Hallwood Realty. They agreed to a "shmuck insurance" arrangement, under which, if Icahn were to sell the shares within 3 years and made a profit of 10% or more, he and Ackman would split the proceeds. Icahn paid $80 per share. In April 2004, HRPT Property Trust acquired Hallwood, paying $136.16 per share. Under the terms of the "contract", Icahn owed Ackman and his investors about $4.5 million. Icahn refused to pay. Ackman sued. Eight years later, Icahn was forced to pay the $4.5 million plus 9% interest per year, by court order.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2004, with $54 million from his personal funds and from his former business partner Leucadia National, Ackman started Pershing Square Capital Management.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2010 Pershing started buying J. C. Penney shares in 2010, paying an average of $22 for 39 million shares or 18% of J.C. Penney's stock. In August 2013, the two-year campaign to transform the department store came to an abrupt end when Ackman stepped down from the board following a disagreement with fellow board members.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In December 2012, Pershing Square Capital Management launched a new closed-end fund called Pershing Square Holdings, which raised $3 billion in an October 2014 IPO on Amsterdam's Euronext stock market. As a closed-end fund valued at $6.7 billion, PSH was designed as a permanent capital vehicle from which investors would not be able to directly withdraw funds. PSH reported 17.1% in returns since inception (Dec. 2012 – November 2017) under Ackman's management, 80% below the S&P 500.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In a statement dated August 27, 2013, Pershing Square reported that it had hired Citigroup to liquidate the 39.1 million shares the firm then owned of the Plano, Texas-based department-store chain at a price of $12.90 per share, resulting in a loss of approximately $500 million. In January 2015, LCH Investments named Ackman one of the world's top 20 hedge fund managers after Pershing Square delivered $4.5 billion in net gains for investors in 2014, bringing the fund's lifetime gains to $11.6 billion since its launch in 2004 through year-end 2014.


title: Bill Ackman

text: On April 27, 2016, Ackman, along with Valeant Pharmaceuticals' outgoing CEO, J. Michael Pearson, and the company's former interim CEO, Howard Schiller, testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging. The testifying panel answered questions related to the committee's concerns about repercussions to patients and the health care system posed by Valeant's business model and controversial pricing practices. Ackman opened his testimony saying, "As a shareholder of Valeant, I recognize my investment was an… endorsement of Valeant’s strategy." Ackman sold his remaining 27.2 million share position in Valeant to the investment bank Jefferies for about $300 million in March 2017. It has been estimated that the total cost of the position, including direct stock purchases and 9.1 million shares that were underlying stock options traded with Nomura Global Financial Products, was $4.6 billion, leading to a substantial loss.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In December 2012, Ackman issued a research report that was critical of Herbalife's multi-level marketing business model, calling it a pyramid scheme. Ackman disclosed that his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, sold short the company's shares directly (not with derivatives) starting in May 2012, causing Herbalife's stock price to drop.


title: Bill Ackman

text: A few months after Ackman's initial comments, billionaire investor Carl Icahn challenged Ackman's comment in a public spat on national TV. Shortly thereafter, Icahn bought shares of Herbalife International. As Icahn continued to buy up HLF shares, the stock price continued to show strength. By May 2013, Icahn owned 16.5% of the company. That number had declined to 6.4% by November 2013.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) called on Congress to investigate Ackman's use of public relations and regulatory pressure in his short campaign, and Harvey L. Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has questioned whether Ackman aims to move the price rather than spread the truth. In 2014, Senator Ed Markey wrote letters to federal regulators, including the FTC and the SEC, demanding they open an investigation into Herbalife's business practices. The day the letters were released, the company's stock dropped 14%. Markey later told the "Boston Globe" that his staff had not informed him that Ackman stood to benefit financially from his actions and defended the letters as a matter of consumer rights.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In March 2014, the "New York Times" reported that Ackman had employed tactics to undermine public confidence in Herbalife to lower its stock price, including pressuring state and federal regulators to investigate the company, paying individuals to travel to and participate in rallies against it, and boosting its spending on donations to nonprofit Latino organizations. According to the article, groups such as the Hispanic Federation and the National Consumers League sent federal regulators numerous letters. "Each person contacted by "The Times" acknowledged in interviews that they wrote the letters after being lobbied by representatives from Pershing Square, or said they did not remember writing the letters at all. Mr. Ackman's team also then started to make payments totaling about $130,000 to some of these groups, including the Hispanic Federation — money he said was being used to help find victims of Herbalife."


title: Bill Ackman

text: By December 2, 2014, stock prices had fallen nearly 50% to $42.08 from their January 8 high of $83.48. Later that month, Pershing Square Capital released a 2005 Herbalife distributor training session, in which an employee described high turnover rates and implied that the company's business model was not sustainable. According to an unnamed source speaking to the "New York Post", the video had previously been subpoenaed by federal investigators. In an interview with "Bloomberg", Ackman predicted that the company would experience an "implosion" in 2015 or early 2016, citing federal scrutiny and debt.


title: Bill Ackman

text: On March 12, 2015, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the FBI were investigating whether people hired by Ackman "made false statements about Herbalife's business model to regulators and others in order to spur investigations into the company and lower its stock price." In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer, in Los Angeles, California, dismissed a suit filed by Herbalife investors alleging the company is operating an illegal pyramid scheme. In response to Fischer's ruling, Herbalife stock rose approximately 13%. Herbalife and the FTC reached a settlement agreement in July 2016, ending the agency's investigation into the company. On the day of the settlement, "Fortune" estimated that Ackman lost $500 million.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman's position on Herbalife led to a discussion on live television with Herbalife supporter Carl Icahn for nearly half an hour on CNBC on January 25, 2013. During the segment, Icahn called Ackman "a crybaby in the schoolyard" and claimed that going public with his short position would eventually force Ackman into the "mother of all short squeezes". On November 22, 2013, Ackman admitted on Bloomberg Television that Pershing Square's open short position in Herbalife was "$400 million to $500 million" in the red, but that he wouldn't be squeezed out and would hold the short "to the end of the earth."


title: Bill Ackman

text: In November 2017, Ackman told Reuters that he had covered his short-sell position, but would continue to bet against Herbalife using put options with no more than 3% of Pershing Square's funds.


title: Bill Ackman

text: On February 28, 2018, Ackman exited his near billion-dollar bet against Herbalife after the company's stock price continued to rise.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ahead of the 2020 stock market crash, Ackman hedged Pershing Square's portfolio, investing $27 million to purchase credit protection, insuring the portfolio against steep market losses. Pershing Square first disclosed the hedge on March 3, 2020. According to Reuters, "Ackman said hedging was preferable to selling off his portfolio of companies whose businesses are otherwise strong." The hedge was effective, generating $2.6 billion in less than one month.


title: Bill Ackman

text: On March 18, 2020, in an emotional interview with CNBC, Ackman called upon President Trump for a "30-day shutdown" of the American economy to slow the spread of coronavirus and minimize loss of life and ensuing economic destruction resulting from the shutdown. Ackman warned that without intervention, hotel stocks were “going to zero” and said that America could “end as we know it." He also cautioned U.S. companies to stop stock buyback programs because “hell is coming.”


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman later received criticism for actively buying discounted equity stakes in the very companies he was warning could fail; however, Ackman already had realized roughly half of the gains before appearing during the CNBC interview.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In a November 2020 interview, Ackman said that he had grown concerned about COVID-19 because he had seen the film "Contagion".


title: Bill Ackman

text: In June 2020, Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, Ltd (PSTH), filed $4 billion for the largest-ever blank-check company IPO. In July 2022, Ackman addressed PSTH shareholders saying that he would return the funds of the SPAC as he was "unable to consummate a transaction that both meets our investment criteria and is executable."


title: Bill Ackman

text: In July 2021, Pershing Square and its affiliates acquired 7.1% of the share capital of Universal Music Group (UMG) from Vivendi for US$2.8billion, corresponding to an enterprise value of €35billion for 100% of UMG's share capital. On September 9, 2021, Pershing Square and its affiliates acquired 2.9% of the share capital of UMG for US$1.15billion, corresponding to an enterprise value of €35billion for 100% of UMG's share capital. Following the transaction Pershing Square held 10% of UMG's share capital. He was appointed as a non-executive director of UMG on May 12, 2022.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In January 2022, Ackman disclosed that Pershing Square acquired a $1.1 billion stake in Netflix. Netflix stock had just experienced a precipitous 30% selloff after announcement of a disappointing subscriber growth outlook for Q1 2022. In a letter to its investors, Ackman praised Netflix's "best-in-class management team" and said he long admired Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and the "remarkable company he and his team have built."


title: Bill Ackman

text: In April, Netflix stock fell by 35%, and Ackman responded by selling his entire stake in the company.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman has said that his most successful investments have always been controversial, and that his first rule of activist investing is to "make a bold call that nobody believes in".


title: Bill Ackman

text: His most notable market plays include shorting MBIA's bonds during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, his proxy fight with Canadian Pacific Railway, and his stakes in the Target Corporation, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. From 2012 to 2018, Ackman held a US$1 billion short against the nutrition company Herbalife, a company he has claimed is a pyramid scheme designed as a multi-level marketing firm. His efforts were reported in the documentary film "Betting on Zero".


title: Bill Ackman

text: After weak performance in 2015–2018, Ackman told investors in January 2018 that he was going to go back to basics by cutting staff, ending investor visits that were eating into his time, and hunkering down in the office to do research. The next year, Pershing Square returned 58.1%, which Reuters says qualified it as "one of the world’s best performing hedge funds" for 2019.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman has said that he admires short sellers such as Carson Block of Muddy Waters Capital and Andrew Left of Citron Research.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman has given to charitable causes such as the Center for Jewish History, where he spearheaded a successful effort to retire $30 million in debt, personally contributing $6.8 million. The donation, along with those of Bruce Berkowitz, founder of Fairholme Capital Management, and Joseph Steinberg, president of Leucadia National, were the three largest individual gifts the center has ever received.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman's foundation donated $1.1 million to the Innocence Project in New York City and Centurion Ministries in Princeton, N.J. He is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2006, Ackman, and then wife Karen, founded the Pershing Square Foundation to support innovation in economic development, education, healthcare, human rights, arts and urban development. The foundation is a major donor to Planned Parenthood. Since its inception, the foundation has committed more than $400 million in grants since 2006. In 2011, the Ackmans were on "The Chronicle of Philanthropy"'s "Philanthropy 50" list of the most generous donors.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In July 2014, Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides sports equipment to those with physical disabilities, honored Ackman at a gala fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City for helping raise a record $2.3 million.


title: Bill Ackman

text: On March 15, 2021, he announced that he donated 26.5 million shares in South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, valued at $1.36 billion, to three entities, one of them his own foundation.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In December 2022, Ackman auctioned a luncheon with himself for charity in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation. The proceeds would go toward helping "New York's frontline healthcare workers, police and veterans who battle anxiety, depression, addiction and suicidality every day", with Ackman matching the winning bid to support the foundation. The highest winning bid over prior instances was $210,000.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman married Karen Ann Herskovitz, a landscape architect, on July 10, 1994 and they have three children. On December 22, 2016, it was reported that the couple had separated.


title: Bill Ackman

text: In 2018, Ackman became engaged to Neri Oxman. In January 2019, Oxman and Ackman married at the Central Synagogue in Manhattan, and they had their first child together in spring 2019.


title: Bill Ackman

text: Ackman endorsed Michael Bloomberg as a prospective candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election. He is a longtime donor to Democratic candidates and organizations, including Richard Blumenthal, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quality. Common forms include sparkling natural mineral water, club soda, and commercially-produced sparkling water.


title: Carbonated water

text: Club soda and sparkling mineral water and some other sparkling waters contain added or dissolved minerals such as potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate, or potassium sulfate. These occur naturally in some mineral waters but are also commonly added artificially to manufactured waters to mimic a natural flavor profile and offset the acidity of introducing carbon dioxide gas. Various carbonated waters are sold in bottles and cans, with some also produced on demand by commercial carbonation systems in bars and restaurants, or made at home using a carbon dioxide cartridge.


title: Carbonated water

text: It is thought that the first person to aerate water with carbon dioxide was William Brownrigg in 1740. Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water, independently and by accident, in 1767 when he discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide after having suspended a bowl of water above a beer vat at a brewery in Leeds, England. He wrote of the "peculiar satisfaction" he found in drinking it, and in 1772 he published a paper entitled "Impregnating Water with Fixed Air". Priestley's apparatus, almost identical to that used by Henry Cavendish five years earlier, which featured a bladder between the generator and the absorption tank to regulate the flow of carbon dioxide, was soon joined by a wide range of others. However, it was not until 1781 that carbonated water began being produced on a large scale with the establishment of companies specialized in producing artificial mineral water. The first factory was built by Thomas Henry of Manchester, England. Henry replaced the bladder in Priestley's system with large bellows.


title: Carbonated water

text: While Priestley's discovery ultimately led to the creation of the soft drink industry—which began in 1783 when Johann Jacob Schweppe founded Schweppes to sell bottled soda water, he did not benefit financially from his invention. Priestley did however receive scientific recognition when the Council of the Royal Society "were moved to reward its discoverer with the Copley Medal" in 1772.


title: Carbonated water

text: Natural and manufactured carbonated waters may contain a small amount of sodium chloride, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, potassium sulfate, or disodium phosphate, depending on the product. These occur naturally in mineral waters but are added artificially to commercially produced waters to mimic a natural flavor profile and offset the acidity of introducing carbon dioxide gas (which creates low 5-6 pH carbonic acid solution when dissolved in water).


title: Carbonated water

text: Artesian wells in such places as Mihalkovo in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains, Medžitlija in North Macedonia, and most notably in Selters in the German Taunus mountains, produce naturally effervescent mineral waters.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water such as club soda or sparkling water is defined in US law as a food of minimal nutritional value, even if minerals, vitamins, or artificial sweeteners have been added to it.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water does not appear to have an effect on gastroesophageal reflux disease. There is tentative evidence that carbonated water may help with constipation among people who have had a stroke.


title: Carbonated water

text: While carbonated water is somewhat acidic, this acidity can be partially neutralized by saliva. A study found that sparkling mineral water is slightly more erosive to teeth than non-carbonated water but is about 1% as corrosive as soft drinks are. A 2017 study by the American Dental Association showed that it would take over 100 years of daily sparkling water consumption to cause damage to human teeth - a claim that could not apply if there is added sugar or artificial flavorings, which often include citric acid and other fruit acids, predicted to have an impact on human teeth.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbon dioxide gas dissolved in water at a low concentration (0.2–1.0%) creates carbonic acid (HCO) according to the following reaction:


title: Carbonated water

text: The acid gives carbonated water a slightly tart flavor. The pH level between 5 and 6 is approximately in between apple juice and orange juice in acidity, but much less acidic than the acid in the stomach. A normal, healthy human body maintains pH equilibrium via acid–base homeostasis and will not be materially adversely affected by consumption of plain carbonated water. Alkaline salts, such as sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, or potassium citrate, will increase pH.


title: Carbonated water

text: The amount of a gas that can be dissolved in water is described by Henry's Law. In the carbonization process, water is chilled, optimally to just above freezing, to maximize the amount of carbon dioxide that can be dissolved in it. Higher gas pressure and lower temperature cause more gas to dissolve in the liquid. When the temperature is raised or the pressure is reduced (as happens when a container of carbonated water is opened), carbon dioxide effervesces, thereby escaping from the solution.


title: Carbonated water

text: Many alcoholic drinks, such as beer, champagne, cider, and spritzer, were naturally carbonated through the fermentation process for centuries. In 1662 Christopher Merret created 'sparkling wine'. William Brownrigg was apparently the first to produce artificial carbonated water, in the early 1740s, by using carbon dioxide taken from mines. In 1750 the Frenchman Gabriel François Venel also produced artificial carbonated water, though he misunderstood the nature of the gas that caused the carbonation. In 1764, Irish chemist Dr. Macbride infused water with carbon dioxide as part of a series of experiments on fermentation and putrefaction. In 1766 Henry Cavendish devised an aerating apparatus that would inspire Joseph Priestley to carry out his own experiments with regards to carbonated waters. Cavendish was also aware of Brownrigg's observations at this time and published a paper on his own experiments on a nearby source of mineral water at the beginning of January in the next year.


title: Carbonated water

text: In 1767 Priestley discovered a method of infusing water with carbon dioxide by pouring water back and forth above a beer vat at a local brewery in Leeds, England. The air blanketing the fermenting beer—called 'fixed air'—was known to kill mice suspended in it. Priestley found water thus treated had a pleasant taste, and he offered it to friends as a cool, refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper titled "Impregnating Water with Fixed Air" in which he describes dripping "oil of vitriol" (sulfuric acid) onto chalk to produce carbon dioxide gas, and encouraging the gas to dissolve into an agitated bowl of water. Priestley referred to his invention of this treated water as being his "happiest" discovery.


title: Carbonated water

text: Priestley's apparatus, which was very similar to that invented by Henry Cavendish five years earlier, featured a bladder between the generator and the absorption tank to regulate the flow of carbon dioxide, and was soon joined by a wide range of others, but it was not until 1781 that carbonated water began being produced on a large scale with the establishment of companies specialized in producing artificial mineral water. The first factory was built by Thomas Henry of Manchester, England. Henry replaced the bladder in Priestley's system with large bellows. J. J. Schweppe developed a process to manufacture bottled carbonated mineral water based on the discovery of Priestley, founding the Schweppes Company in Geneva in 1783. Schweppes regarded Priestley as “the father of our industry”. In 1792 he moved to London to develop the business there. In 1799 Augustine Thwaites founded Thwaites' Soda Water in Dublin. A "London Globe" article claims that this company was the first to patent and sell "Soda Water" under that name. The article says that in the hot summer of 1777 in London "aerated waters" (that is, carbonated) were selling well but there was as yet no mention of "soda water", though the first effervescent drinks were probably made using "soda powders" containing bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid. The name soda water arose from the fact that soda (sodium carbonate or bicarbonate) was often added to adjust the taste and pH.


title: Carbonated water

text: Modern carbonated water is made by injecting pressurized carbon dioxide into water. The pressure increases the solubility and allows more carbon dioxide to dissolve than would be possible under standard atmospheric pressure. When the bottle is opened, the pressure is released, allowing gas to exit the solution, forming the characteristic bubbles.


title: Carbonated water

text: In the United States, plain carbonated water was generally known either as "soda water", due to the sodium salts it contained, or "seltzer water", deriving from the German town Selters renowned for its mineral springs.


title: Carbonated water

text: Sodium salts were added to plain water both as flavoring (to mimic famed mineral waters, such as naturally effervescent "Selters", "Vichy water" and "Saratoga water") and acidity regulators (to offset the acidic 5-6 pH carbonic acid created when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water).


title: Carbonated water

text: In the 1970s marketing-driven terms such as "sparkling water" gained favor, with an explosion of consumption of the naturally carbonated Perrier water .


title: Carbonated water

text: Generally, "seltzer water" has no added sodium salts, while "club soda" still retains some sodium salts.


title: Carbonated water

text: The soda siphon, or seltzer bottle—a glass or metal pressure vessel with a release valve and spout for dispensing pressurized soda water—was a common sight in bars and in early- to mid-20th-century homes where it became a symbol of middle-class affluence.


title: Carbonated water

text: The gas pressure in a siphon drives soda water up through a tube inside the siphon when a valve lever at the top is depressed. Commercial soda siphons came pre-charged with water and gas and were returned to the retailer for exchange when empty. A deposit scheme ensured they were not otherwise thrown away.


title: Carbonated water

text: Home soda siphons can carbonate flatwater through the use of a small disposable steel bulb containing carbon dioxide. The bulb is pressed into the valve assembly at the top of the siphon, the gas injected, then the bulb withdrawn. Soda water made in this way tends not to be as carbonated as commercial soda water because water from the refrigerator is not chilled as much as possible, and the pressure of carbon dioxide is limited to that available from the cartridge rather than the high-pressure pumps in a commercial carbonation plant.


title: Carbonated water

text: The gasogene (or gazogene, or seltzogene) is a late Victorian device for producing carbonated water. It consists of two linked glass globes: the lower contained water or other drink to be made sparkling, the upper a mixture of tartaric acid and sodium bicarbonate that reacts to produce carbon dioxide. The produced gas pushes the liquid in the lower container up a tube and out of the device. The globes are surrounded by a wicker or wire protective mesh, as they have a tendency to explode.


title: Carbonated water

text: In 1872, soft drink maker Hiram Codd of Camberwell, London, designed and patented the Codd-neck bottle, designed specifically for carbonated drinks. The "Codd-neck bottle" encloses a marble and a rubber washer/gasket in the neck. The bottles were filled upside down, and pressure of the gas in the bottle forced the marble against the washer, sealing in the carbonation. The bottle was pinched into a special shape to provide a chamber into which the marble was pushed to open the bottle. This prevented the marble from blocking the neck as the drink was poured.


title: Carbonated water

text: Soon after its introduction, the bottle became extremely popular with the soft drink and brewing industries mainly in the UK and the rest of Europe, Asia, and Australasia, though some alcohol drinkers disdained the use of the bottle. R. White's, the biggest soft drinks company in London and south-east England when the bottle was introduced, was among the companies that sold their drinks in Codd's glass bottles. One etymology of the term "codswallop" originates from beer sold in Codd bottles, though this is generally dismissed as a folk etymology.


title: Carbonated water

text: The bottles were produced for many decades, but gradually declined in usage. Since children smashed the bottles to retrieve the marbles, vintage bottles are relatively rare and have become collector items, particularly in the UK. Due to the risk of explosion and injuries from fragmented glass pieces, use of this type of bottle is discouraged in most countries. The Codd-neck design is still used for the Japanese soft drink Ramune and in the Indian drink called Banta.


title: Carbonated water

text: Soda makers or soda carbonators, known as "countertop carborators", are appliances that carbonate water with multiple-use carbon dioxide canisters. Soda makers may reach a higher level of carbonation than home soda siphons. A variety of systems are produced by manufacturers and hobbyists. The commercial units may be sold with concentrated syrup for making flavored soft drinks.


title: Carbonated water

text: One major producer of soda carbonators is SodaStream. Their products were popular during the 1970s and 1980s in the United Kingdom, and are associated with nostalgia for that period and have experienced a comeback in the 2000s.


title: Carbonated water

text: The process of dissolving carbon dioxide in water is called carbonation. Commercial soda water in siphons is made by chilling filtered plain water to or below, optionally adding a sodium or potassium based alkaline compound such as sodium bicarbonate to neutralize the acid created when pressurizing the water with carbon dioxide (which creates high 8-10 pH carbonic acid-bicarbonate buffer solution when dissolved in water). The gas dissolves in the water, and a top-off fill of carbon dioxide is added to pressurize the siphon to approximately , some higher than is present in fermenting champagne bottles.


title: Carbonated water

text: In many modern restaurants and bars soda water is manufactured on-site using devices known as carbonators. Carbonators use mechanical pumps to pump water into a pressurized chamber where it is combined with carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks at approximately . The pressurized carbonated water then flows either directly to taps or mixing heads where flavoring is added before dispensing.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water is a key ingredient in soft drinks, beverages that typically consist of carbonated water, a sweetener, and a flavoring such as cola, ginger, or citrus.


title: Carbonated water

text: Plain carbonated water or sparkling mineral water is often consumed as an alternative to soft drinks. Club soda is carbonated water to which compounds such as sodium bicarbonate or potassium sulfate have been added. Many manufacturers produce unsweetened sparkling water products that are lightly flavored by the addition of aromatic ingredients such as essential oils. Carbonated water is often mixed with fruit juice to make sparkling alcoholic and non-alcoholic punches.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water is a diluent mixed with alcoholic beverages where it is used to top-off the drink and provides a degree of 'fizz'.


title: Carbonated water

text: Adding soda water to 'short' drinks such as spirits dilutes them and makes them 'long' not to be confused with long drinks such as those made with vermouth. Carbonated water also works well in short drinks made with whiskey, brandy, and Campari. Soda water may be used to dilute drinks based on cordials such as orange squash. Soda water is a necessary ingredient in many cocktails, such as whiskey and soda or Campari and soda.


title: Carbonated water

text: Carbonated water is increasingly popular in Western cooking as a substitution for plain water in deep-frying batters to provide a lighter texture to doughs similar to "tempura". Kevin Ryan, a food scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, says the effervescent bubbles when mixed with dough provide a light tempura-like texture, which gives the illusion of being lower calorie than regular frying batters. The lightness is caused by pockets of carbon dioxide gas being introduced into the batter (a process which natural rising using yeast also creates) and further expanding when cooked.


title: Carbonated water

text: Since the dissolved gas in carbonated water acts as a temporary surfactant, it has been recommended as a household remedy for removing stains, particularly those of red wine.


title: Betty Grable

text: Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.


title: Betty Grable

text: Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reigned in the Quigley Poll's top 10 box office stars (a feat only matched by Doris Day, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand, although all were surpassed by Mary Pickford, who was in for 13 times). The U.S. Treasury Department in 1946 and 1947 listed her as the highest-salaried American woman; she earned more than $3 million during her career.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable began her film career in 1929 at age 12, after which she was fired from a contract when it was learned she signed up under false identification. She had contracts with RKO and Paramount Pictures during the 1930s, and appeared in a string of B movies, mostly portraying college students. Grable came to prominence in the Broadway musical "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1939), which brought her to the attention of 20th Century-Fox.


title: Betty Grable

text: She replaced Alice Faye in "Down Argentine Way" (1940), her first major Hollywood film, and became Fox's biggest film star throughout the next decade. Fox cast Grable in a succession of Technicolor musicals during the decade that were immensely popular, co-starring with such leading men as Victor Mature, Don Ameche, John Payne, and Tyrone Power. In 1943, she was the number-one box office draw in the world and, in 1947, she was the highest-paid entertainer in the United States. Two of her bigger film successes were the musical "Mother Wore Tights" (1947) and the comedy "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953), one of her later films. Grable retired from screen acting in 1955 after she withdrew from her Fox contract, but she continued to perform on the stage and on television.


title: Betty Grable

text: Throughout her career, Grable was a celebrated sex symbol. Her bathing suit poster made her the number-one pin-up girl of World War II, surpassing Rita Hayworth. It was later included in the "Life" magazine project "100 Photographs That Changed the World". Hosiery specialists of the era often noted the ideal proportions of her legs and thighs (), calf (), and ankle (). Grable's legs were insured by her studio for $1 million as a publicity stunt. Describing her film career, Grable said "I became a star for two reasons, and I'm standing on them."


title: Betty Grable

text: Elizabeth Ruth Grable was born on December 18, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children of Lillian Rose (née Hofmann; 1889–1964) and John Conn Grable (1883–1954), a stockbroker. Her siblings were Marjorie Lucille Arnold (nee Grable; 1909–1980) and John Karl "Jackie" Grable (1914–1916). The Grable children were of Dutch, English, German, Swiss German, and Irish ancestry. Nicknamed Betty as a child, she was pressured by her mother to become a performer. She was entered in multiple beauty contests, many of which she won or for which she achieved considerable attention. Despite her success, she suffered from having a fear of crowds and sleepwalking.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable married former child actor Jackie Coogan in 1937. He was under considerable stress from a lawsuit against his parents over his childhood earnings, and the couple divorced in 1939.


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1943, she married trumpeter Harry James. They had two daughters, Victoria Elizabeth "Vicki" Bivens (born 1944) and Jessica Yahner (1947-2016). Their marriage, which lasted for 22 years, was beset by alcoholism and infidelity, and they divorced in 1965.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable entered into a relationship with dancer Bob Remick, 27 years her junior, with whom she remained until she died in 1973.


title: Betty Grable

text: A 13-year-old Grable and her mother traveled to Hollywood in 1929, shortly after the stock market crash. In Hollywood, Grable studied at the Hollywood Professional School and the Ernest Blecher Academy of Dance. To get her daughter jobs, Lillian Grable lied about her daughter's age, claiming she was 15 to movie producers and casting agents. The same year, she made her uncredited film debut as a chorus girl in the Fox Studios all-star revue "Happy Days" (1929). This eventually led to her having chorus girl jobs in "Let's Go Places" (1930) and "New Movietone Follies of 1930" (1930).


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1930, at age 13, Grable (under the pseudonym Frances Dean) signed with producer Samuel Goldwyn; she thereby became one of the original Goldwyn Girls, along with Ann Sothern, Virginia Bruce, Claire Dodd and Paulette Goddard. As a member of the ensemble group of attractive young chorines, Grable appeared in a series of small parts in movies, including the mega-hit "Whoopee!" (1930), starring Eddie Cantor. Although she received no on-screen credit for her performance, she led the film's opening musical number, titled "Cowboys".


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1932, she signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures, and she was assigned to a succession of acting, singing, and dancing classes at the studio's drama school. Her first film for the studio, "Probation" (1932), provided the 14-year-old Grable with her first credited screen role. Over the next few years, however, she was again relegated to uncredited minor roles in a series of films, many of which became worldwide successes, such as "Cavalcade" (1933). She received larger roles in "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) and "Follow the Fleet" (1936).


title: Betty Grable

text: After her brief stint as an RKO contract player, Grable signed with Paramount Pictures. Paramount lent her to 20th Century-Fox to co-star in the adolescent comedy "Pigskin Parade" (1936). Despite the studio's effort to introduce Grable to the mainstream movie audience, her performance was overlooked by audiences and critics in favor of Judy Garland. When Grable returned to Paramount, she began a new phase in her career; the studio began casting her in a series of college-aimed movies, usually having her portray a naïve student. These films included the moderately popular "This Way Please" (1937) and "College Swing" (1938). Grable played the leading roles in these films, which led to her being typecast as an innocent and not-so-bright college student.


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1939, she appeared opposite her then-husband Jackie Coogan in "Million Dollar Legs", a B-movie comedy that gave Grable her famous nickname. When the film did not become the hit Paramount had hoped for, the studio released her from her contract and Grable began preparing to leave Hollywood for a simpler life. However, she changed her mind and decided to take her chance on Broadway; she accepted Buddy DeSylva's offer to star in his musical "DuBarry Was a Lady", starring Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr. The play was an instant critical and audience success, and Grable was branded a newfound star.


title: Betty Grable

text: In a 1940 interview, Grable stated she was "sick and tired" of show business and that she was considering retirement. Soon thereafter, she was invited to go on a personal appearance tour, which she readily accepted. The tour brought Grable to the attention of Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century-Fox, who offered her a long-term contract. "If that's not luck, I don't know what you'd call it", Grable said in her first interview after signing with the studio. Zanuck, who had been impressed by Grable's performance in "DuBarry Was a Lady", was, at the time, in the midst of casting the female lead in the musical film "Down Argentine Way" (1940). The role had originally been assigned to Alice Faye, Fox's most popular musical film star, but she had to decline the part due to an unspecified illness. After reviewing her screen test, Zanuck cast Grable as Faye's replacement in the movie. The film was a lavish Technicolor musical and co-starred Don Ameche and Carmen Miranda. Grable's performance of the song "Down Argentine Way" is considered a highlight of the film.


title: Betty Grable

text: "Down Argentine Way" was a critical and box-office success at the time of its release, and many critics proclaimed Grable to be the successor to Alice Faye. The film's success led to Grable's casting in "Tin Pan Alley" (1940), co-starring Faye. As the Lily sisters, both Grable and Faye received favorable reviews for their performances. Over the years, rumors have circulated that a rivalry existed between Grable and Faye during filming, but this has been said to be entirely untrue—both actresses denied all accusations of a feud, and each often expressed their admiration for the other. The two reportedly remained friends until Grable's death. After "Tin Pan Alley", Grable was teamed again with Ameche in the hit musical "Moon Over Miami" (1941), which co-starred up-and-coming actress Carole Landis.


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1941, Fox attempted to broaden Grable's acting and audience range by casting her in two films with more serious intent than those in which she had starred previously. The first, "A Yank in the R.A.F.", released in September, co-starred heartthrob Tyrone Power, and cast her as Carol Brown, who works in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the day, but is employed as a nightclub singer in the evening. The film followed the lines of other movies of the era, but it was not considered a propaganda movie by the studio. At the time of its release, the film received positive reviews, with many critics singling out the obvious on-screen chemistry between Grable and Power. It was a major box-office success, becoming the fourth-most popular movie of the year.


title: Betty Grable

text: The second movie, "I Wake Up Screaming", released in November, had Grable receiving top billing as Jill Lynn, the sister of a young model who is murdered. The film offered Grable her second teaming with Carole Landis, and it co-starred Victor Mature. Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, the movie was a traditional black-and-white film noir, containing a combination of suspense and romance. Grable's performance was reviewed favorably by most critics, and the film enjoyed reasonable financial success.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable's star continued to rise when she starred in "Song of the Islands" (1942), co-starring Victor Mature and Jack Oakie. The success of the movie led to her re-teaming with Mature in "Footlight Serenade" (1942), also co-starring John Payne, in which she played a glamorous Broadway star. Fox then began to develop Philip Wylie's short story "Second Honeymoon", into a script suited for Grable's talents. The resulting movie was "Springtime in the Rockies" (1942), directed by Irving Cummings, and the featured actors included Payne, Cesar Romero, Carmen Miranda, and her future husband, bandleader Harry James. The film was an immediate hit, Grable's biggest success to date, grossing more than $2 million. The film's success led to Fox increasing her salary and her having a wider choice over the films she made.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable was voted the number-one box-office draw by American movie exhibitors in 1943; she outranked Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, Greer Garson, Humphrey Bogart, and Clark Gable in popularity. "Coney Island", released in June 1943, was a Technicolor "gay nineties" period musical and co-starred George Montgomery. The film earned more than $3.5 million at the box office and was well received by critics. "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" (1943), her follow-up feature, was equally successful at the box office, but it failed to obtain the same critical favor.


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1943, she collaborated with photographer Frank Powolny for a regular studio photo session. During the shoot, she took several photos in a tight, one-piece bathing suit. One particular pose showed Grable's back to the camera as she playfully smiled looking over her right shoulder, with the pose chosen because she was several months pregnant with her first child. The picture was released as a poster and became the most requested photo for G.I.s stationed overseas. Grable's photograph sold millions of copies, eventually surpassing the popularity of Rita Hayworth's famous 1941 photo.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable's success as a pin-up girl furthered her career as a mainstream movie star. As her star continued to ascend, Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck expressed interest in broadening Grable's range as an actress. Zanuck tried, on multiple occasions, to cast her in films that challenged her acting abilities, but Grable was reluctant; she felt insecure about her talent and this made her unwilling to accept roles she felt required too much of her. She often worried about starring opposite well-known leading men. She preferred to star in up-beat and outlandish musicals, many of which followed the generic boy-meets-girl story tack. In fact, many of her movies were thin when it came to their stories, but they were high on energy during their song-and-dance sequences. Despite their lack of quality, Grable's movies were immensely popular and Fox regularly channeled the profits it received from Grable's movies into their more prestigious movies.


title: Betty Grable

text: Zanuck relented to Grable's own request not to tamper with her successful screen formula. As a result, the studio prepared a film called "Pin Up Girl" for her. The film has her as a hostess for a USO canteen who also provides entertainment for the troops during their time there. The lavish musical used the pin-up photograph in many scenes, which boosted the photo's sales. Many of the film's later scenes had to be rewritten to hide Grable's pregnancy. "Pin Up Girl" co-starred comedians Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown and was released in April 1944 to overwhelming success at the box-office. Critics, though, were not as accepting of the film. "Variety" wrote that the film "makes no pretenses of ultra-realism", but also called it "very pleasing and pleasant". After time off to give birth to her daughter, Grable returned to Fox to star in "Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe" (1945), co-starring Dick Haymes and Phil Silvers. Though the film earned more than $3 million at the box office, it struggled to make a profit because of its high production costs. "The Dolly Sisters" (1945), her next film, teamed her with newcomer June Haver, an actress Fox was promoting as Grable's successor. Although the press hinted that a tense behind-the-scenes rivalry existed between the two actresses, they both denied it, claiming to be good friends. "The Dolly Sisters" earned more than $4 million at the box office and was Fox's second-highest earning movie of the year, behind "Leave Her to Heaven".


title: Betty Grable

text: After five years of constant work, Grable was allowed time off for an extended vacation. She briefly returned to filming to make a cameo in "Do You Love Me" (1946), in which she appeared as a fan of her husband Harry James' character. Grable was reluctant to continue her film career, but Fox was desperately in need of her return. Without Grable's movies, which generated large profits, the studio struggled to stay afloat. "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" (1947) was her first film back at Fox. She played Cynthia Pilgrim, a college student who graduated at the top of her typewriting class during the first year of the Packard Business College. Although critics acknowledged that the film "momentarily achieved" brilliance, they also felt that the movie's music was like "sticky toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube". The film also suffered from indifferent ticket sales and lost money. Grable next starred in Walter Lang's "Mother Wore Tights", released in September 1947, co-starring Dan Dailey. The film told the story of two aging vaudeville performers as they look back on their heyday through a series of flashbacks. It received critical acclaim from critics and was a box-office hit, earning an estimated $5 million.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable was cast in "That Lady in Ermine" (1948), a film project that had previously been considered for either Jeanette MacDonald or Gene Tierney. It co-starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr and originally was directed by Ernst Lubitsch. After Lubitsch's death early in production, Otto Preminger took over. It was reported that Grable often quarreled with Fairbanks and Preminger and that she nearly walked out on filming, but decided against it on the advice of her agent. When the film was released, it received mixed reviews; it was referred to as "a bright and beguiling swatch of nonsense" and it did not generate the revenue Fox had hoped. Grable immediately thereafter began filming "When My Baby Smiles at Me" (1948), co-starring Dan Dailey, which became a blockbuster, cementing Grable and Dailey's status as a bankable movie duo. Closing the decade, Grable starred in "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend" (1949), an oddball movie that unevenly mixed musical numbers with Western clichés. Despite a casting consisting of Cesar Romero and Rudy Vallée, the film was panned by critics, but it was a reasonable success at the box-office.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable had been placed in the "Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll" every year, beginning in 1942. She ranked at the top of the poll in 1943, and ranked second in 1947 and 1948. In 1949, although she still placed in the top 10, she slipped from second to seventh place in popularity. Fox became concerned that Grable might be becoming regarded as passé. Darryl F. Zanuck had the film "Wabash Avenue" (1950) tailored to fit Grable's talents. The film's plot closely followed the story of Grable's earlier hit "Coney Island" (1943). Despite the similarities, it had new songs written and dances choreographed to modernize the film. "Wabash Avenue" was released in May 1950, and was a box-office hit. "My Blue Heaven", released in December 1950, re-teamed her with Dan Dailey, and was equally successful financially. In 1950, Grable had regained her status as the most-popular female at the box office; she ranked fourth overall, behind John Wayne, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby.


title: Betty Grable

text: Although, by the early 1950s, Grable was searching for originality in the scripts offered to her, she had no luck in finding the movies she wanted to do. She reluctantly agreed to make "Call Me Mister" (1951) with Dan Dailey, a loose musical remake of "A Yank in the R.A.F.". The film was moderately successful and quickly was followed by "Meet Me After the Show" (1951), co-starring Macdonald Carey, Rory Calhoun, and Eddie Albert. It received favorable reviews from most critics and was a box-office success.


title: Betty Grable

text: In 1952, Grable began renegotiating her contract with Fox. She requested a higher salary and the option to make only those films she wanted to doo. The studio refused, and she went on strike, which led to her being replaced by Marilyn Monroe in the movie adaptation of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) and by June Haver in the musical comedy "The Girl Next Door" (also 1953).


title: Betty Grable

text: After a year off from filming, Grable reluctantly reconciled with Fox and agreed to star in a musical remake of "The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1953). The film was an attempt by Fox to recapture Grable's reputation as the studio's biggest star, and although she was paired with Dale Robertson, the film was a critical and box-office flop.


title: Betty Grable

text: She next starred in "How to Marry a Millionaire", a romantic comedy about three models plotting to marry wealthy men, co-starring Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall. During production, Grable and Monroe falsely were rumored to be at odds with each other. Grable, whose career was declining, was assumed to be jealous of Monroe because she was being groomed as Fox's newest star and possibly as Grable's unofficial successor. In fact, Grable and Monroe got along famously; Grable reportedly told Monroe: "Go and get yours, honey! I've had mine!" "How to Marry a Millionaire" was a box-office triumph when released, grossing an estimated $8 million.


title: Betty Grable

text: After refusing the leading female role in Irving Berlin's "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954), Grable again was suspended from her contract. Grable appeared in her first film made away from Fox in over 15 years "Three for the Show" (1955) for Columbia Pictures, and the movie featured up-and-coming talents Jack Lemmon and Marge and Gower Champion. Critics called the film a "slight, but cheerful, item", and proclaimed it "does serve to bring Betty Grable back to the screen". It enjoyed reasonable success at the box office, particularly overseas. She agreed to make "How to Be Very, Very Popular" (1955) for Fox on the assurance Marilyn Monroe would be her co-star. When Monroe withdrew from the production, she was replaced with Sheree North. The release of the film was surrounded by a massive publicity campaign, but despite the promotion, the film failed to fulfill its hype, and many critics complained of the lack of chemistry between Grable and North. It was, however, a box-office hit, earning more than $3.7 million. It proved to be Grable's final film appearance. In 1955, she did attempt to return to acting in Samuel Goldwyn's film version of "Guys and Dolls" (1955). She opted to play the role of Miss Adelaide, but was passed over in favor of Vivian Blaine, who had played the role on Broadway. She then officially retired from motion-picture acting.


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable thereafter found a new career starring in her own act in Las Vegas hotels and with her then husband, musician Harry James. Later, she starred in big Las Vegas stage productions such as "Hello, Dolly". She also appeared on Broadway in "Hello Dolly" in 1967.


title: Betty Grable

text: Her funeral was held two days later and was attended by ex-husbands Jackie Coogan and Harry James as well as Hollywood stars Dorothy Lamour, Shirley Booth, Mitzi Gaynor, Don Ameche, Cesar Romero, George Raft, Alice Faye, Johnnie Ray and Dan Dailey. "I Had the Craziest Dream", the ballad from "Springtime in the Rockies", was played on the church organ.


title: Betty Grable

text: In the "Our Miss Brooks" episode "Lulu, the Pin-Up Boat", Mitchell mistakes the pin-up photo of Grable that Conklin confiscated from Walter and put into his desk drawer with Connie and Conklin's discussion about Conklin's boat "Lulu".


title: Betty Grable

text: Grable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6525 Hollywood Boulevard. She also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.


title: Betty Grable

text: She was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians.Her iconic pin-up image was named one of "Time" 100 Most Influential Photographs of All Time.


title: Betty Grable

text: A few months following her death, Grable was memorialized in song by Neil Sedaka on a track from his 1974 LP "Laughter in the Rain".


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jazz Jennings (born October 6, 2000) is an American YouTube personality, spokesmodel, television personality, and LGBT rights activist. Jennings is one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with Barbara Walters aired on "20/20", which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances. Christine Connelly, a member of the board of directors for the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, stated, "She was the first young person who picked up the national spotlight, went on TV and was able to articulate her perspective and point of view with such innocence." Her parents noted that Jennings was clear on being female as soon as she could speak.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings is a co-founder of the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, which she and her parents founded in 2007 to assist transgender youth. In 2013, she founded Purple Rainbow Tails, a company in which she fashions rubber mermaid tails to raise money for transgender children.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings hosts a series of YouTube videos about her life, titled "I Am Jazz". Jennings stars in the TLC reality TV series, "I Am Jazz", which focuses on her life with her family as a teenager and as a transgender youth. The series premiered on July 15, 2015.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings was born in South Florida to parents Greg and Jeanette ("Jennings" is a pseudonym). The family is Jewish, and their last name is "a very Jewish, long last name."


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings was assigned male at birth and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria by age five, making her one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender. Jennings made it clear as soon as she could speak that she was female, and, although the family presented her publicly in gender-neutral clothing, she wanted to be presented in feminine clothing.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings attended Broward Virtual School, where she was the valedictorian of the class of 2019. She was accepted to Harvard University, but delayed entry for a year.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: At six years old, Jennings and her family began appearing on television to speak about the challenges of growing up transgender. Her story has been covered by national television shows "20/20" and "The Rosie Show", where she appeared alongside Chaz Bono.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2007, Jennings and her parents founded TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation to assist transgender youth.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2011, "I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition", a documentary about her life and family, premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2013, Jennings founded Purple Rainbow Tails, a company in which she fashions rubber mermaid tails to raise money for transgender children. That same year, in a follow-up interview with Barbara Walters on "20/20", they discussed Jennings' two-and-a-half-year battle with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing US body for the sport, to allow her to play on girls' teams. Aided by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, she succeeded in changing the USSF's policies to allow trans students to play.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: That September, Jennings co-wrote a children's book, "I Am Jazz", with Jessica Herthel, the director of the Stonewall National Education Project. The book details her life as a transgender child. According to libertarian magazine "Reason", ""I Am Jazz" is one of the most banned books in the [United States]".


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2014, Jennings was a guest at the GLAAD Media Awards, sharing the stage with Zach Wahls and Lauren Foster. That year she was also named one of "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by "Time", and recognized as the youngest person ever featured on "Out"s "Out 100" and "Advocate"s "40 Under 40" lists. She was also named in "OUT"s 2014 Trans 100 list, named a Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador, and received LogoTV's 2014 Youth Trailblazer Award.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In March 2015, Johnson & Johnson announced a deal for Jennings to appear in Clean & Clear commercials. Jennings became a spokesmodel for Clean & Clear's "See The Real Me" digital campaign and shared "the trials of growing up transgender." She also modeled for the NOH8 Campaign. She also authored a piece for "Time" magazine's 100 Most Influential People List, writing the entry for Laverne Cox.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: Jennings and her family are featured in the TLC reality series "I Am Jazz", which debuted in July 2015. The seventh season premiered on November 30, 2021.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2017, Robert Tonner and the Tonner Doll Company announced plans to produce a doll modeled after Jennings. It is the first doll to be marketed as transgender. The same year, Jennings voiced a teenage transgender character, Zadie, in the season finale of the Amazon Video animated series "Danger & Eggs", who sings about acceptance, helping the two protagonists understand the meaning of a chosen family. Jennings described the experience as "groundbreaking," saying she was proud to be part of the show, especially in an episode that takes place at "a Pride event," saying it makes the role significant, meaningful, powerful, and special.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2018, it was announced Jennings would star in a short film called "Denim". It would focus on a transgender teen named Micayla and the actions following a leaked picture of her in the girls' bathroom taken by a former friend. It was released to Amazon Prime Video on July 20, 2019.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2019, Jennings made a guest appearance on the fifteenth season of the ABC program, "What Would You Do?". The same year, Jennings voiced the character Lily the Fairy in the 2019 episode "Cedric & the Fairies" of "The Bravest Knight", an animated series.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In 2012, Jennings discussed her sexual orientation with Barbara Walters during her "20/20" interview, saying she is romantically attracted to boys and that she harbored some apprehension about dating because of her transgender identity. In a Q&A video posted to her YouTube channel in July 2014, Jennings stated that she is pansexual, and that she loves people "for their personality", regardless of their sexual orientation or gender status.


title: Jazz Jennings

text: In an interview published in the April 11, 2018 "People", Jennings revealed that per her surgeons' instructions, she had lost at least in order to have gender confirmation surgery, which was scheduled for June 20, 2018. While the surgery was successful, Jennings suffered complications that required another follow-up procedure.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studio was premised on allowing actors to control their own interests, rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. UA was repeatedly bought, sold, and restructured over the ensuing century. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the studio in 1981 for a reported $350 million ($ billion today).


title: United Artists

text: On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in entertainment companies One Three Media and Lightworkers Media, then merged them to revive United Artists' television production unit as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). However, on December 14 of the following year, MGM wholly acquired UAMG and folded it into MGM Television.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists was again revived in 2018 as United Artists Digital Studios. Mirror, the joint distribution venture between MGM and Annapurna Pictures, was subsequently rebranded as United Artists Releasing in early February 2019, in honor of its 100th anniversary.


title: United Artists

text: In 1918, Charlie Chaplin could not get his parent company First National Pictures to increase his production budget despite being one of their top producers. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks had their own contracts, with First National and Famous Players-Lasky respectively, but these were due to run out with no clear offers forthcoming. Sydney Chaplin, brother and business manager for Charlie, deduced something was going wrong, and contacted Pickford and Fairbanks. Together they hired a private detective, who discovered a plan to merge all production companies and to lock in "exhibition companies" to a series of five-year contracts.


title: United Artists

text: Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith incorporated United Artists as a joint venture company on February 5, 1919. Each held a 25 percent stake in the preferred shares and a 20 percent stake in the common shares of the joint venture, with the remaining 20 percent of common shares held by lawyer and advisor William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford and cowboy star William S. Hart a year earlier. Already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work.


title: United Artists

text: They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over actor salaries and creative decisions, a process that evolved into the studio system. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized. When he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, apparently said, "The inmates are taking over the asylum." The four partners, with advice from McAdoo (son-in-law and former Treasury Secretary of then-President Woodrow Wilson), formed their distribution company. Hiram Abrams was its first managing director, and the company established its headquarters at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City.


title: United Artists

text: The original terms called for each star to produce five pictures a year. By the time the company was operational in 1921, feature films were becoming more expensive and polished, and running times had settled at around ninety minutes (eight reels). The original goal was thus abandoned.


title: United Artists

text: UA's first production, "His Majesty, the American", written by and starring Fairbanks, was a success. Funding for movies was limited. Without selling stock to the public like other studios, all United had for finance was weekly prepayment installments from theater owners for upcoming movies. As a result, production was slow, and the company distributed an average of only five films a year in its first five years.


title: United Artists

text: By 1924, Griffith had dropped out, and the company was facing a crisis. Veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had produced pictures for a decade, and brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, and his brother-in-law, Buster Keaton. Contracts were signed with independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn, and Howard Hughes. In 1933, Schenck organized a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, called Twentieth Century Pictures, which soon provided four pictures a year, forming half of UA's schedule.


title: United Artists

text: Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada, and then in Mexico. By the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries.


title: United Artists

text: When he was denied an ownership share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures' merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox. Al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including Walt Disney Productions, Alexander Korda, Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, and Walter Wanger. As the years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these "producing partners" drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO and Wanger to Universal Pictures.


title: United Artists

text: In the late 1930s, UA turned a profit. Goldwyn was providing most of the output for distribution. He sued United several times for disputed compensation leading him to leave. MGM's 1939 hit "Gone with the Wind" was supposed to be a UA release except that Selznick wanted Clark Gable, who was under contract to MGM, to play Rhett Butler. Also that year, Fairbanks died.


title: United Artists

text: UA became embroiled in lawsuits with Selznick over his distribution of some films through RKO. Selznick considered UA's operation sloppy, and left to start his own distribution arm.


title: United Artists

text: In the 1940s, United Artists was losing money because of poorly received pictures. Cinema attendance continued to decline as television became more popular. The company sold its Mexican releasing division to Crédito Cinematográfico Mexicano, a local company.


title: United Artists

text: In 1941, Pickford, Chaplin, Disney, Orson Welles, Goldwyn, Selznick, Alexander Korda, and Wanger—many of whom were members of United Artists—formed the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (SIMPP). Later members included Hunt Stromberg, William Cagney, Sol Lesser, and Hal Roach.


title: United Artists

text: The Society aimed to advance the interests of independent producers in an industry controlled by the studio system. SIMPP fought to end ostensibly anti-competitive practices by the seven major film studios—Loew's (MGM), Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros./First National—that controlled the production, distribution, and exhibition of motion pictures.


title: United Artists

text: In 1942, SIMPP filed an antitrust suit against Paramount's United Detroit Theatres. The complaint accused Paramount of conspiracy to control first-and subsequent-run theaters in Detroit. This was the first antitrust suit brought by producers against exhibitors that alleged monopoly and restraint of trade. In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court Paramount Decision ordered the major Hollywood movie studios to sell their theater chains and to end certain anti-competitive practices. This court ruling ended the studio system.


title: United Artists

text: Needing a turnaround, Pickford and Chaplin hired Paul V. McNutt in 1950, a former governor of Indiana, as chairman and Frank L. McNamee as president. McNutt did not have the skill to solve UA's financial problems and the pair was replaced after only a few months.


title: United Artists

text: On February 15, 1951, lawyers-turned-producers Arthur B. Krim (of Eagle-Lion Films), Robert Benjamin and Matty Fox approached Pickford and Chaplin with a wild idea: let them take over United Artists for ten years. If UA was profitable in one of the next three years, they would have the option to acquire half the company by the end of the ten years and take full control. Fox Film Corporation president Spyros Skouras extended United Artists a $3 million loan through Krim and Benjamin's efforts.


title: United Artists

text: In taking over UA, Krim and Benjamin created the first studio without an actual "studio". Primarily acting as bankers, they offered money to independent producers. UA leased space at the Pickford/Fairbanks Studio but did not own a studio lot. Thus UA did not have the overhead, the maintenance, or the expensive production staff at other studios.


title: United Artists

text: Among their first clients were Sam Spiegel and John Huston, whose Horizon Productions gave UA one major hit, "The African Queen" (1951) and a substantial success, "Moulin Rouge" (1952). As well as "The African Queen" UA also had success with "High Noon" in their first year, earning a profit of $313,000 compared to a loss of $871,000 the previous year. Others clients followed, among them Stanley Kramer, Otto Preminger, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions, and actors newly freed from studio contracts and seeking to produce or direct their own films.


title: United Artists

text: With the instability in the film industry due to theater divestment, the business was considered risky. In 1955, movie attendance reached its lowest level since 1923. Chaplin sold his 25 percent share during this crisis to Krim and Benjamin for $1.1 million, followed a year later by Pickford who sold her share for $3 million.


title: United Artists

text: In the late 1950s, United Artists produced two modest films that became financial and critical successes for the company. The company made "Marty" which won 1955's Palme d'Or and best picture Oscar. "12 Angry Men" (1957) which according to Krim before home video, was being seen on TV 24 hours a day, 365 days a year some place in the world. By 1958, UA was making annual profits of $3 million a year.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists went public in 1957 with a $17 million stock and debenture offering. The company was averaging 50 films a year. In 1958, UA acquired Ilya Lopert's Lopert Pictures Corporation, which released foreign films that attracted criticism or had censorship problems.


title: United Artists

text: In 1957, UA created United Artists Records Corporation and United Artists Music Corporation after an unsuccessful attempt to buy a record company. In 1968, UA Records merged with Liberty Records, along with its many subsidiary labels such as Imperial Records and Dolton Records. In 1972, the group was consolidated into one entity as United Artists Records and in 1979, EMI acquired the division which included Blue Note Records.