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Help talk:Watchlist/Archive 2

 * This page is deprecated but will be updated periodically.
 * Please direct comments to the Meta-Wikimedia version of this :page

 * Because of their length, the pre-2005 discussions about server issues have been archived on September 20th, 2005. If further archiving is needed, see How to archive a talk page.

 * See m:Talk:Watchlist privacy for a (now closed) discussion on whether watchlists should remain private.

Watchlist like Recent Changes?
On the watchlist, for every edited page that I watch I get only the last edit, with the indication whether this last edit was minor or not. I can not see whether there have also been non-minor changes recently, except by checking the history of the article. It would be better if I could set my preferences to ignore minor edits, for the purpose of the watchlist, just like for Recent Changes. - Patrick 00:36 Dec 29, 2002 (UTC)

 * I don't believe in minor edits. If you want to be sure you know what's been done to the article, check the history. --Brion 04:47 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

 * Wikipedia serves us very well regarding minor edits. We can turn off listing of minor edits for Recent Changes, which spares us seeing lots of spelling changes, link fixing, and so forth.  In the Watchlist, we are given all the tools we need to watch the articles we are interested in.  The most recent change, major or minor, appears in the text part of the list.  If there has been a major change and then a minor, you will see only the minor, but right next to the listing you have the opportunity to click on "diff" to see what is different from the last edit, which should tell you something, and also "hist" which tells you all the changes recorded for the article.  This is the maximum amount of information available for all articles you have chosen for your watchlist, and also a more bearable summary for all other articles in Recent Changes, which also lists all your watched articles, including their talk pages, in bold.  All in all, the watchlist and the way it is handled and presented is one of the best worked out and most useful and user-friendly features of the Wikipedia interface.  And, as Brion said, someone who will delete your fine article on turnbuckles and replace it with ranting about his girlfriend will not be afraid to mark his changes MINOR in hopes of avoiding detection.  The way the watchlist is set up makes it almost impossible for that to happen to a watched article, if you check.  And, if you don't check, then you're not really watching the article.  Ortolan88 05:20 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

 * Diff has a function on the Recent Changes list (and on history lists, where it is labeled 'last'), but hardly on the watchlist, because only the last change is in the watchlist and diff refers to that one only. If one is interested in major changes only, of the articles one watches, it may be better to use Recent Changes (without minor edits) instead of the watchlist, unless one watches relatively few articles, then the watchlist is more convenient. - Patrick 10:04 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

 * I use the enhanced version of Recent Changes now. When I want to check changes of one day or less I prefer this feature to using the watchlist, even when I want to check only the changes in pages I watch. If I want to check changes of several days the watchlist may be easier: the list of Recent changes becomes too long. - Patrick 21:21 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

 * Although Ortolan88 is right that it's a great feature, Patrick has a point. How about two new features:

 * diff to own - displays difference to last own change
 * concatenate last few change summaries in watchlist.

 * Sebastian 05:06 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

 * I agree; these would be useful. --Brion 05:16 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

 * A watch list in the style of the Enhanced Recent Changes would be great. - Patrick 09:59 Jan 26, 2003 (UTC)

Filtering
I want to filter my watchlist and remove user pages. Susan Mason

 * When you view a watched page you are given the option to click "stop watching". Arthur

No, I want to filter my watchlist so that it does not list user pages. I didn't say I never wanted to see user pages in my watchlist, I said I wanted to filter the watchlist. Susan Mason

 * What does "filter my watchlist and remove user pages" mean, then, if not "remove user pages from my watchlist"? --Paul A 08:30 Mar 17, 2003 (UTC)

Paul - Susan wants to have two views of her watchlist: one in which user pages (and user talk pages) appear, and one in which they don't. Susan - perhaps you could tell us why you would appreciate this feature, and how you would use it? Perhaps you want to only look at changes to user pages some of the time - when you're in a more chatty mood? Or some other reason? Martin

Watchlist confirmation
Moved from Village pump

Minor enhancement suggestion - when you add a page to your watchlist, the text on the confirmation screen which then appears: The page "Foo-Bar" has been added to your watchlist contains a link from your watchlist to - erm - your watchlist. When you stop watching a page, there is a similar confirmation text, but your watchlist isn't linked. It would be more consistent, as well as nice and helpful, if it were. Can some nice developer-type-person please consider adding this to their list of Things To Do?? Thanks Nevilley 07:16 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC)

Another thing: do we need a separate confirmation screen at all? When I decide to watch an article I usually want to continue reading it. To avoid having to reload the article I apply "open in new window" to the link "Watch this page", then click away the confirmation window. Can it be programmed such that by just clicking "Watch this page" the article does not disappear (by not having a confirmation window or by having a small one, automatically as new window)? - Patrick 13:38 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

 * I agree, the Watchlist confirmation screen is a real drag, especially on days when Wikipedia is really crawling (like today...) Cheers quercus robur 13:48 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

Multilingual Watchlist
Hi, I am working on 3 to 4 Wikipedias (EN, DE, IT, FR). If I want to watch one article, I have to go to all 4 of them and click on the "watch this page" and open 4 "Watch-Windows" all the time. Would it not be possible, that e.g. my watched articles from the EN Wikipedia also show the recent changes of the "connected" Articles in the other languages? Would be a big help. Thanks, Fantasy 09:11 25 May 2003 (UTC)

 * That's not really feasible the way the databases are structured right now. There's been occasional talk of merging things to make this possible (eg Thoughts on language integration) but nothing's been done yet. We're still working on making things work smoothly with our current code... --Brion 09:33 25 May 2003 (UTC)

Plan to move this page to meta soon
We need one place to develop MediaWiki documentation so I'm starting a project-neutral MediaWiki User's Guide in meta and think it would be a good idea to cross wiki redirect this page to meta:MediaWiki User's Guide: Using the Watchlist as soon as I'm done with the conversion (before that I will change each link to this page to a direct one to meta so that it appears correctly as an external link). --mav 02:15, 7 Sep 2003 (UTC)

12314 total pages edited
I may be a bit slow understanding how Wikipedia works, but what does "12314 total pages edited since cutoff" mean? (I'm talking about my basically empty "watchlist".) Edited by whom? Certainly not by me - I've only just discovered Wikipedia. Who or what was cut off (ouch)? Wikikiwi P.S. Hope this is the right place to ask this question.

 * That's 12314 edits by anyone, within the last week or so, or whatever the cutoff time was when viewing your watchlist. (Cutoff time ---> Show last 1 | 2 | 6 | 12 hours 1 | 3 | 7 days all) Κσυπ Cyp    23:36, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi and welcome to wikipedia. hope you like out place. feel free to ask questions here whenever you are unsure about how something works. Optim 00:46, 22 Dec 2003 (UTC)

-

Hi, I'm new to this, too. I'm really confused by this watchlist thing. When I first started here (a few weeks ago), the watchlist was simply a list of the articles I was watching and I think there was an option beside each to "unwatch" it. Now it looks more like the "my contributions" list and no matter how I look at it, I can only get the most recent ones. I don't have a lot of pages I'm watching, so the 250 cutoff can't apply. Also can't see anything anywhere where I can set a default for 1 day (or more, or less). Help ... ? morimom

There's a link at the top that lets you see your whole watchlist, with options to unwatch pages. Otherwise, you will see the last three days of changes. If it's looking like your contributions list, this might be because you have set in your preferences to watch all articles you edit. To see more than the last three days, click the seven days link at the top: Show last 1 | 2 | 6 | 12 hours 1 | 3 | 7 days all You can then change the url in the address bar to be a number greater than seven days if you want. For example, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Watchlist&days=10 if you want the last 10 days. Angela. 18:28, Jan 22, 2004 (UTC)

E-mail notification?
Does a feature exist to allow e-mail notification of pages in the Watchlist? --Amy.C 00:52, 24 Jan 2004 (UTC)
 * No, there isn't such a feature available at the moment. You could submit a feature request at SourceForge if you think it would be useful. Angela. 01:00, Jan 24, 2004 (UTC)

What's NOT being watched?
It sounds like encouraging people to add things to their watchlist might not be best, from a server perspective -- or has that changed with the new servers online?

I was curious though, because although I have less than 200 items on my list, I've caught two cases of page-blanking vandalism in the last week because the items appeared on my watchlist.

Would it be possible to do a one-time query to find out how many of our 200,000+ articles are NOT being watched? That might give us an idea how many vandalisms are not likely to be caught by Watchlist-users.

Would it be helpful or harmful to use that query to provide a list of pages no one is watching? Perhaps we could encourage interested users (especially those with small watchlists) to choose a handful of pages within their interest areas to watch for vandalism?

-- Catherine 22:27, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * This would be a neat feature. I also remember somebody floating the idea of displaying the number of users who watch a particular page at the bottom of that page. --mav 07:10, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * That would be dangerous, since vandals (spambots) would know which pages to vandalize. They would go for the ones that nobody looks at. Maybe there is some clever solution that would enable people who have made X number of (good/unreverted?) edits to a page to be able to know statistics on that particular page. This would encourage people to make good edits. MPS 21:53, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Database error when clicking watchlist
I'm getting this when I try to view my watchlist:

What's wrong? –radiojon 03:47, 2004 Jul 12 (UTC)

Son of Database error
Kinda like the one above, but my error message is: Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /usr/local/apache/common-local/php-1.4/includes/SpecialWatchlist.php on line 45 all in one line, with bold in the original. This is after I go to Special:Watchlist&magic=yes, linked to at the top of the usual Special:Watchlist page, check a few checkboxes to remove things from my watchlist, and hit the "Remove checked items from my watchlist" button. --John Owens (talk) 01:50, 2005 Mar 20 (UTC)

 * For the record, in case anyone else comes along here with the same question, it was because I'd picked up weird things in my watchlist like "../index.htm" and pages in Wikipedia namespace that began with a space character. So if you've got the same problem, you'll probably have to track down a developer and get them to clear that out for you. --John Owens (talk) 02:46, 2005 Mar 20 (UTC)

Dysfunctional watchlist syndrome
Over the last few days I've had non-stop difficulty having my watchlist served. Yes, it is big (>3000 items). I've tried to remove items, but even that function frequenly leads to "Database error" messages.

On IRC the thought was that Querybane terminated heavy queries. However, even requesting a watchlist for the last 2.4 hours (argument days=0.1) leads to errors. I'm wondering what other mechanism may be causing my problem. JFW | T@lk  15:50, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You have 110.5 pages on your watchlist
I noticed this odd count the last time I checked my watchlist. It shows 221 when I go to edit the list (presumably because it counts talk pages on that screen). Could I be getting this odd number because I have article-less talk pages watched? --Poiuyt Man talk 02:16, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

Page doesn't appear on watchlist.
Hmm, I have a page (Bible Student movement) that doesn't appear on my watchlist even though I edited it a couple hours ago. It appears when I list all items on watchlist. One possible cause is that I recently renamed it. I tried deleting the watch of the ancient name, as well as unwatching and re-watching it, but it's of no use :-P I'll try to reproduce it on Sandbox Watchlist Test Junk. I don't have a very long watchlist (100 pages) Flammifer 10:02, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

I reproduced it. I created Sandbox Watchlist Test Junk then moved it to Sandbox Watchlist Test junk. Now neither page appears on my watchlist. But then, if I edit the new page, it finally does appear. Hmmm. I don't think that's normal :-P there's even potential for abuse (deface a page, then immediatly move it, it won't show up on people watchlist) Flammifer 10:15, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Question
Can I find out how many people are watching certain page? - Darwinek 21:42, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

 * I would like to know alsoJohnRussell (talk) 15:46, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

deprecated?
the Watchlist help page says '''This page is deprecated but will be updated periodically.  Please direct edits to the Meta-Wikimedia version of this page ''' Is there a better word than deprecated??? MPS

Strange pages in watchlist
Recently, I've found strange pages in my watchlist - Things I didn't add, and no-one has my password (never told anyone, I'm sure I have no keylogger too), so no-one else could have added them.

Some seem to be similar to pages I already have. For example, I have "InuYasha" on my watchlist, and the non-existant page "InuWilly" had appeared on it. I also have "IRC" and "Wi-Fi" on my list, and the non-existant pages "Internet Relay Chat on WHEELS!" and "Wi-Fi on 28968 wheels" has appeared.

Is anyone else having this problem? Or can anyone tell my why this is happening?

My best guess is someone vandalizing a page to redirect to a weird page and the watchlist is adding the redirected page... -KevinJr42

 * i believe when a vandal moves an article already on your watchlist, the new article name is added to your watchlist. then an admin moves the article back to its original name and deletes the new article name, but it is not removed from your watchlist. Kingturtle 04:26, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Same problem here. Dragice (talk) 20:48, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Redirecting this to Help:Watching pages
This page, Watchlist help is in very bad shape, with the historical note on top, and a note saying that it is deprecated, etc. In the same time, a huge number of pages link here, so this is a sorry state of affairs.

I suggest this page be redirected to Help:Watching pages which is the up-to-date version from Meta. Any comments? Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 04:35, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

 * I did not recieve any objections, so I made this page redirect to Help:Watching pages. That page is not that well-written, but looks better than this one. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 05:09, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

actually, i am going to object for now. i am going to revert the redirect, but i am willing to work together to get this right. Kingturtle 05:53, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

 * er....let me sleep on it first, before i do anything about it. your decision is probably right. Kingturtle 05:56, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

title: Help talk:Watchlist/Archive 2


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Psilotum

Psilotum is a genus of fern-like vascular plants. It is one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae commonly known as whisk ferns, the other being Tmesipteris. Plants in these two genera were once thought to be descended from the earliest surviving vascular plants, but more recent phylogenies place them as basal ferns, as a sister group to Ophioglossales. They lack true roots and leaves are very reduced, the stems being the organs containing photosynthetic and conducting tissue. There are only two species in Psilotum and a hybrid between the two. They differ from those in Tmesipteris in having stems with many branches and a synangium with three lobes rather than two.

Description and life cycle
Whisk ferns in the genus Psilotum lack true roots but are anchored by creeping rhizomes. The stems have many branches with paired enations, which look like small leaves but have no vascular tissue. Above these enations there are synangia formed by the fusion of three sporangia and which produce the spores. When mature, the synangia release yellow to whitish spores which develop into a gametophyte less than 2 mm long. The gametophyte lives underground as a mycoheterotroph, tapping into mycorrhizal networks to access carbon and other nutrients. When the gametophyte is mature, it is monoicous, producing both egg and sperm cells. The sperm cells swim using several flagella and when they reach an egg cell, unite with it to form the young sporophyte. A mature sporophyte may grow to a height of 30 cm or more but has no apparent leaves. The stem has a core of thick-walled protostele in its centre surrounded by an endodermis which regulates the flow of water and nutrients. The surface of the stem is covered with stomata which allow gas exchange with the surroundings.

The gametophyte of Psilotum is unusual in that it branches dichotomously, lives underground and possesses vascular tissue. The nutrition of the gametophyte appears to be myco-heterotrophic, assisted by endophytic fungi.

Taxonomy and naming
The genus Psilotum was first formally described in 1801 by Olof Swartz and the description was published in Journal für die Botanik (Schrader). The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek word psilos meaning "bare", "smooth" or "bald" referring to the lack of the usual plant organs, and the seeming lack of leaves.

Species and distribution
There are two species, Psilotum nudum and Psilotum complanatum, with a hybrid between them known, Psilotum × intermedium W. H. Wagner.

The distribution of Psilotum is tropical and subtropical, in the New World, Asia, and the Pacific, with a few isolated populations in south-west Europe. The highest latitudes known are in South Carolina, Cádiz province in Spain, and southern Japan for P. nudum. In the U.S., P. nudum is found from Florida to Texas, and P. complanatum in Hawaii.

Relation to ferns
Psilotum superficially resembles certain extinct early vascular plants, such as the rhyniophytes and the trimerophyte genus Psilophyton. The unusual features of Psilotum that suggest an affinity with early vascular plants include dichotomously branching sporophytes, aerial stems arising from horizontal rhizomes, a simple vascular cylinder, homosporous and terminal eusporangia and a lack of roots. Unfortunately, no fossils of psilophytes are known to exist. A careful study of the morphology and anatomy suggests that whisk ferns are not closely related to rhyniophytes, and that the ancestral features present in living psilophytes represent a reduction from a more typical modern fern plant. Significant differences between Psilotum and the rhyniophytes and trimerophytes are that the development of its vascular strand is exarch, while it is centrarch in rhyniophytes and trimerophytes. The sporangia of Psilotum are trilocular synangia resulting from the fusion of three adjacent sporangia, and these are borne laterally on the axes. In the rhyniophytes and trimerophytes the sporangia were single and in a terminal position on branches.

Molecular evidence strongly confirms that Psilotum is a fern (in the broad sense that includes horsetails) and that psilophytes are sister to ophioglossoid ferns.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Psilotum


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Chris Rock

Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s, where he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and observational comedy. His success branched off into productions in film, television, and on-stage, having received multiple accolades including three Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Rock was ranked No. 5 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. He also ranked No. 5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time.

After years working as a stand-up comedian and appearing in minor film roles including Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Rock gained prominence as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993. While at SNL, he appeared in the films New Jack City (1991), Boomerang (1992) and CB4 (1993), which he also wrote and produced. He reached mainstream stardom with Bring the Pain in 1996. Rock continued making specials which include Bigger & Blacker (1999), Never Scared (2004), Kill the Messenger (2008), Tamborine (2018), and Selective Outrage (2023). He developed, wrote, produced and narrated the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009), which was based on his early life. From 1997 to 2000 HBO aired his talk show The Chris Rock Show.

Rock was cast in starring film roles in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Dogma (1999), The Longest Yard (2005), the Madagascar franchise (2005–2012), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), Grown Ups (2010), Death at a Funeral (2010), Top Five (2014), The Week Of (2018), Spiral (2021), Amsterdam (2022), and Rustin (2023). He has taken roles on television including Empire, Kevin Can Wait, and Fargo. He made his Broadway theater debut in the 2011 Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherfucker with the Hat. He has hosted the Academy Awards twice; in 2005 and 2016, and was slapped on stage by Will Smith at the 2022 Awards.

Early life
Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina, on February 7, 1965,. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. A few years later, they relocated and settled in the working class area of Bedford–Stuyvesant. His mother, Rosalie (née Tingman), was a teacher and social worker for people with developmental disabilities; his father, Julius Rock, was a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman. Julius died in 1988 after ulcer surgery.

Rock is the eldest of his parents' seven children (six boys and one girl), and he had an older paternal half-brother, Charles Ledell Rock, who died in 2006 after suffering from alcoholism. Rock's younger brothers Tony, Kenny, and Jordan are also in the entertainment business.

Rock's family history was profiled on the PBS series African American Lives 2 in 2008. A DNA test showed that he is of Cameroonian descent, specifically from the Udeme (Ouldémé) people of northern Cameroon. Rock's great-great-grandfather, Julius Caesar Tingman, was enslaved for 21 years before serving in the American Civil War as part of the United States Colored Troops, then later was elected to two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives. During the 1940s, Rock's paternal grandfather moved from South Carolina to New York City to become a taxicab driver and preacher.

Rock was bused to schools in predominantly white neighborhoods of Brooklyn, where he endured bullying and beatings from white students. As he grew older, the bullying worsened and Rock's parents pulled him out of James Madison High School. He dropped out of high school altogether, but he later earned a General Educational Development (GED). Rock then worked various jobs at fast-food restaurants including Red Lobster.

1984–1999: Saturday Night Live and standup
Rock began working as a stand-up comic during 1984 in New York City's Catch a Rising Star. Upon seeing his act at a nightclub, Eddie Murphy befriended and mentored the aspiring comic. Murphy gave Rock his first film role and big break in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). Rock rose up the ranks of the comedy circuit in addition to earning bit roles in the film I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and the TV series Miami Vice.

Rock was a cast member of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1993. He and other new cast members Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade became known as the Bad Boys of SNL. In 1991, he released his first comedy album, Born Suspect and won acclaim for his role as a crack addict in the film New Jack City. His tenure on SNL gave Rock national exposure. (Rock has hosted SNL three times; in 1996, 2014 and 2020.) With plans to leave Saturday Night Live after the 1992–93 season, Rock was effectively "fired" from the show. Beginning that fall, he appeared in six episodes of the predominantly African American sketch show In Living Color as a special guest star. The show was canceled a month after he arrived. Rock then wrote and starred in the low-budget comedy CB4, which made $18 million against its budget of $6 million. He signed on as client of 3 Arts Entertainment.

Rock headlined his first HBO comedy special in 1994, titled Big Ass Jokes, as part of HBO Comedy Half-Hour. His second special, 1996's Bring the Pain, made Rock one of the most acclaimed and commercially successful comedians in the industry. Rock won two Emmy Awards for the special and gained large critical acclaim. A controversial part of the special was "Niggas vs. Black People". For his much-publicized role as a commentator for Comedy Central's Politically Incorrect during the 1996 Presidential elections, he earned another Emmy nomination. Rock also was the voice for the "Lil Penny" puppet who was the alter ego to basketball star Penny Hardaway in a series of Nike shoe commercials from 1994 to 1998, and hosted the '97 MTV Video Music Awards.Rock's first music video was for his song "Your Mother's Got a Big Head" from his album Born Suspect. Rock also made videos for his songs "Champagne" from Roll With the New and "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)" from Bigger & Blacker.

Rock later had two more HBO comedy specials: Bigger & Blacker in 1999, and Never Scared in 2004. Articles relating to both specials called Rock "the funniest man in America" in Time and Entertainment Weekly. HBO also aired his talk show, The Chris Rock Show, which gained critical acclaim for Rock's interviews with celebrities and politicians. The show won an Emmy for writing. His television work has won him a total of three Emmy Awards and 15 nominations. By the end of the decade, Rock was established as one of the preeminent stand-up comedians and comic minds of his generation. During this time, Rock also translated his comedy into print form in the book Rock This! and released the Grammy Award-winning comedy albums, Roll with the New, Bigger & Blacker and Never Scared. Rock's fifth HBO special, Kill the Messenger, premiered on September 27, 2008, and won him another Emmy for outstanding writing for a variety or music program.

It was not until the success of his stand-up act in the late 1990s that Rock began receiving leading man status in films. He began the decade with supporting roles in such films as New Jack City (1991) as crack addict Pookie, in the Eddie Murphy comedy Boomerang (1992), the Steve Martin comedy Sgt. Bilko (1996) as well as Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). He also appeared in the Kevin Smith fantasy comedy film Dogma (1999). The film received positive reviews and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The film starred an ensemble cast with actors such as Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, and George Carlin.

2000–2009: Sitcom and stardom
He then starred in the dark comedy Nurse Betty (2000) starring Renée Zellweger, Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman which also debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 11, 2000. The film was a critical success. In the later 2000s, Rock started to work increasingly behind the camera. He wrote the film Down to Earth (2001) along with friend and comedian Louis C.K. The film was based on the Warren Beatty film, Heaven Can Wait (1978). That same year Rock also produced and starred in the C.K. directed film Pootie Tang (2001). Rock also would work as a writer and director of the political comedy Head of State (2003) and marital comedy I Think I Love My Wife (2007). He also played the lead in both films. He also went on to star in films like The Longest Yard (2005) opposite Adam Sandler, and the action comedy film Bad Company (2002) opposite Anthony Hopkins.

 Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009)

In September 2005, the UPN television network premiered a comedy series called Everybody Hates Chris, loosely based on Rock's school days, of which he is the executive producer and narrator. The show has garnered both critical and ratings success. The series was nominated for a 2006 Golden Globe for Best TV Series (Musical or Comedy), a 2006 People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy, and two 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards for costuming and cinematography.

Starting in 2005, Rock has also voiced the eccentric zebra Marty in DreamWorks' animated film franchise Madagascar. He starred in two of the film's sequels, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2013). In 2007 Rock voiced Mooseblood the Mosquito in the Jerry Seinfeld animated film, Bee Movie.

In 2009, Rock released his first documentary, 2009's Good Hair. The film focuses on the issue of how African-American women have perceived their hair and historically styled it. The film explores the current styling industry for black women, images of what is considered acceptable and desirable for African American women's hair in the United States, and their relation to African American culture. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where it earned critical acclaim and received a Special Jury Prize. The National Board of Review named it one of the five best documentaries of the year. Rock was also nominated for the Gotham Award for Best Documentary and for the Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America. Rock has since stated working on a documentary about debt called Credit Is the Devil.

2010–2019: Career expansion
Some of his 2010s film appearances include the black comedy Death at a Funeral (2010) a remake of the British comedy of the same name. The film starred Peter Dinklage, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Kevin Hart, Zoe Saldana, and Luke Wilson. The film received mixed reviews, although Roger Ebert, critic of The Chicago Sun-Times, praised the film writing: "I laughed all the way through, in fact. This is the best comedy since The Hangover, and although it's almost a scene-by-scene remake of a 2007 British movie with the same title, it's funnier than the original." Rock also starred in the summer comedy Grown Ups (2010) alongside Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade and Maya Rudolph, and reunited with them for a sequel in 2013.

In 2011, Rock appeared on Broadway in Stephen Adly Guirgis' play The Motherfucker with the Hat with Bobby Cannavale and Annabella Sciorra. Rock was nominated for a Drama League Award. In an interview with Vibe magazine, Rock stated that he chose to do Broadway because he wanted more people to see him "really act. Sometimes when you do comedy, that can be a little formulaic, and it's hard for really good directors to see that you can act." He produced the series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, which premiered in August 2012. While serving as producer, he had a production company, Chris Rock Enterprises (or CR Enterprises) for short. In 2012, he starred in the ensemble romantic comedy film What to Expect When You're Expecting alongside Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick, and Elizabeth Banks. Despite earning negative reviews, the film was a financial success. Rock earned a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Comedy nomination for his performance. That same year he starred in the romantic comedy 2 Days in New York (2012) opposite Julie Delpy. The film served as the sequel to Delpy's previous film, 2 Days in Paris (2007). The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it received positive reviews, with critics praising the chemistry between the two with Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter writing: "The best of the humor is verbal and attitudinal, all delivered at a rapid clip in overlapping languages that Preston Sturges or Howard Hawks would have admired."

In 2014, Rock scripted, directed and starred in the film Top Five, which critics have drawn comparison to Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980). The film is a social commentary on fame and society. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Scott Foundas, critic for Variety praised the film writing: "Rock has finally found a big-screen vehicle for himself that comes close to capturing the electric wit, shrewd social observations and deeply autobiographical vein of his standup comedy." In Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers wrote in his review: "Rock delivers the laughs, big ones, laced with razor-sharp observations on everything from pop culture to racial politics... His confident, prowling wit as a stand-up has finally found its way to the screen, enhanced by a bracing vulnerability. Top Five is Rock's best movie by a mile."

In 2015 Rock attended the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special on NBC where he introduced and paid tribute to fellow comedian and former SNL cast member Eddie Murphy. Also in 2015, Rock appeared as himself in Sofia Coppola's Christmas musical special, A Very Murray Christmas starring Bill Murray. In the film, Rock sings "Do You Hear What I Hear?" with Murray. The film debuted on Netflix and received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. He also appeared as himself in another Netflix film, Sandy Wexler (2017) starring Adam Sandler. In 2018, he starred in the Netflix comedy The Week Of directed by Robert Smigel starring Sandler. The film follows two fathers during the week of the wedding of their children.

The following year, he briefly appeared in the comedy film Dolemite Is My Name (2019) starring Eddie Murphy. In the film, Murphy portrayed Rudy Ray Moore and centers around his career as a standup, and director of blaxploitation starting with Dolemite (1975). The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He directed and appeared in the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Hump de Bump", and has simply appeared in several videos, including the Big Daddy Kane music video "Smooth Operator" as a guy getting his hair cut, one of the many celebrities seen lip-synching in Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", a cameo in Madonna's "Bitch I'm Madonna", and as a Wild West sheriff chasing down an 1889 cowboy version of Lil Nas X in "Old Town Road".

On October 30, 2016, Netflix announced that they would be releasing two new stand-up comedy specials from Rock, with Rock being paid $40 million per special. The first special, Chris Rock: Tamborine, was released on Netflix on February 14, 2018. It was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and was directed by comedian Bo Burnham. The specials marked the comedian's first concert specials released in 10 years. The special earned a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination.

2020–present
In 2020, Rock portrayed central character Loy Cannon in the fourth season of the FX crime anthology series Fargo. In 2021, he starred in a reboot of the Saw franchise, Spiral (2021), which dabbled into the territory of the horror film genre. Rock apparently limited his response to the Will Smith slap to his 2023 Netflix comedy show which aired earlier in the year in March. On March 4, 2023, Rock returned to Netflix with Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, the streamer's first-ever live event. The show streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. The special received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations including two for Rock for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.

In 2023 it was announced that Rock would direct a biopic on civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with Steven Spielberg producing. The film will be based on the biography King: A Life by Jonathan Eig. In 2024 it was announced that Rock would direct an English language adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's Academy Award-winning film Another Round (2020).

2005 ceremony
In February 2005, Rock hosted the 77th Academy Awards ceremony. The decision to have Rock host the awards was seen by some as a chance to bring an "edge" to the ceremony, and to make it more relevant or appealing to younger audiences. Jokingly, Rock opened by saying "Welcome to the 77th and LAST Academy Awards!" During one segment Rock asked, "Who is this guy?" in reference to actor Jude Law seemingly appearing in every movie Rock had seen that year and implied Law was a low-rent Tom Cruise (he made a joke about filmmakers rushing production when unable to get the actors they want: "If you want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law, wait [to make the film]!"). Subsequently, an angry Sean Penn took the stage to present and said, "In answer to our host's question, Jude Law is one of our finest young actors." (At the time, Penn and Law were shooting All the King's Men.) Law was not the only actor that Rock roasted that evening, however—he turned the joke on himself at one point, saying, "If you want Denzel [Washington] and all you can get is me, wait!" Older Academy officials were reportedly displeased with Rock's performance, which did not elevate ratings for the ceremony. Rock was also criticized for referring to the Oscars as "idiotic", and asserting that heterosexual men do not watch them, in an interview prior to Oscar night.

2016 ceremony
On October 21, 2015, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Rock would host the 88th Academy Awards the following February. When the subsequent acting nominations turned out to include no racial minorities, Rock was called upon to join a boycott of the ceremony. Rock declined, stating at the ceremony that it would have accomplished little since the show would have proceeded anyway, with him simply replaced. Instead, Rock spoke of his concerns about the lack of diversity in AMPAS at various times during the show, closing by saying "Black Lives Matter".

Rock's performance was largely praised by critics. Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara wrote: "Rock's Oscars had some of the most powerful moments seen in the telecast's history. His decision to honestly answer the question 'Is Hollywood racist?' was brave and effective," The New York Times television critic James Poniewozik, praised Rock's performance for being "evenhanded without being wishy-washy" and that he represented "an example of something the industry is still trying to learn: that you can achieve both inclusion and entertainment by giving the right person just the right opportunity."

2022 ceremony
Rock presented the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022. During the ceremony, Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, which he compared to Demi Moore's shaved head in G.I. Jane, saying: "Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it!". Pinkett Smith had shaved her head due to alopecia areata. Her husband, Will Smith, responded to Rock's joke by walking onstage and slapping Rock, who remarked: "Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me". Smith then returned to his seat and yelled twice at Rock, "Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth!" Rock went on to say that this "was the greatest night in the history of television." Later in the night, Smith was named Best Actor for King Richard, and while accepting the award, he apologized to the Academy and the other nominees, but not to Rock, in his acceptance speech. Rock declined to file a report with the Los Angeles Police Department regarding the incident.

The next day, amid public backlash, Smith issued a formal apology to Rock via a public Instagram post, adding that "a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally." He also stated that "I was out of line" and that his behavior was "unacceptable and inexcusable." During a stand-up performance in Boston later that month, Rock stated that Smith had not reached out to him personally and they had not spoken since the ceremony.

Comedic style and views
Rock's subject matter typically involves family, politics, romance, music, celebrities, and race relations in the United States. Though not strictly autobiographical, much of his comic standpoint seems rooted in his teenage experience; his strict parents, concerned about the inadequacies of the local school system, arranged to have the adolescent Rock bused to a nearly all-white high school in Bensonhurst. In his memoir Rock This, he recalls, "My parents assumed I'd get a better education in a better neighborhood. What I actually got was a worse education in a worse neighborhood. And a whole bunch of ass-whippings."

Rock has not wavered from a position explored in his 1996 Roll With The New show, and reiterated in his 1997 memoir: "Why does the public expect entertainers to behave better than everybody else? It's ridiculous[... of] course, this is just for black entertainers. You don't see anyone telling Jerry Seinfeld he's a good role model. Because everyone expects whites to behave themselves[... nowadays,] you've got to be an entertainer and a leader. It's too much." Often the subject of tabloids, when asked about paparazzi and the other negative aspects of fame, Rock says he accepts the bad with the good: "You can't be happy that fire cooks your food and be mad it burns your fingertips."

At the London Live Earth concert on July 7, 2007, which was broadcast live on the BBC, before introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rock called the crowd "motherfuckers" and said "shit", and after a brief pause said he was joking. Due to the broadcast being at 5:45p.m., Rock was immediately cut off, and the BBC made several apologies for his use of the word "motherfucker".

Chris Rock has been an avid fan of the New York Mets baseball team since childhood. He complained that his team "had no money" during a 2011 interview with David Letterman.

During a 2008 rant on his Kill the Messenger tour, Rock labeled George W. Bush as "the worst president ever".

Rock has campaigned against the racial profiling of African-Americans, and often speaks of the everyday racism he experiences “despite being famous”. In a 2013 episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld, Rock and Seinfeld are pulled over by the police for speeding while Seinfeld was driving. In the episode Rock admits to Seinfeld that "If you weren't here, I'd be scared. Yeah, I'm famous – still black." In 2015, Rock was pulled over three times in the first three months of the year. Each time Rock posted a selfie of the incident, without further comment as to the reason for the stops or whether he was issued a citation.

In May 2021, Rock voiced opposition to cancel culture. He said that it has led to "boring" and "unfunny" material from comedians. He also commented that there is an existing built-in mechanism for audiences informing comedians that their content does not work, like the audience not laughing at their jokes. Rock went on to say "Everybody's scared to make a move. That's not a place to be. You know, we should have the right to fail because failure... failure is a part of art."

Rock has said that he was influenced by the performing style of his paternal grandfather, Allen Rock, a preacher. Rock's comedy influences are Bill Cosby, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Pigmeat Markham, Woody Allen, Bill Maher, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison, George Carlin, Mort Sahl, and Rodney Dangerfield.

Comedians who have cited Rock as an influence include Dave Chappelle, Christian Finnegan, George Lopez, Kevin Hart, and Trevor Noah.

Personal life
Rock married Malaak Compton-Rock on November 23, 1996. Compton-Rock is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a non-profit, full-service hair salon that provides free services for women leaving welfare and entering the workforce. The couple lived in Alpine, New Jersey with their two daughters. In December 2014, Rock filed for divorce from Compton-Rock. Rock admitted to infidelity in the marriage, as well as struggling with a pornography addiction. The divorce was finalized on August 22, 2016.

In 2012, Rock settled a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse. Rock was not charged with a crime and has denied that the alleged rape ever occurred.

On August 20, 2019, Rock, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be "a dedicated cannabis consumer."

On September 18, 2020, Rock said that he was diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disorder, a neurological condition that makes it difficult for him to understand non-verbal social cues. On September 19, 2021, Rock announced on Twitter that he had been tested positive for COVID-19. He strongly advocated getting vaccinated to his followers.

On July 7, 2022, it was reported that Rock had started dating actress, screenwriter, and director Lake Bell.

Guest features on albums
Chris Rock has appeared on numerous hiphop albums including Method Man's Tical 2000, Prince Paul's Prince Amongst Thieves, Ice Cube's War and Peace vol. 2, Ludacris' Theater of the Mind, and Busta Rhyme's Extinction Level Event 2.

Standup specials

 * Chris Rock: Big Ass Jokes (released on HBO, 1994)
 * Chris Rock: Bring the Pain (released on HBO, 1996)
 * Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker (released on HBO, 1999)
 * Chris Rock: Never Scared (released on HBO, 2004)
 * Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger (released on HBO, 2008)
 * Chris Rock: Tamborine (released on Netflix 2018)
 * Chris Rock: Selective Outrage (released on Netflix 2023)

title: Chris Rock


text:
Croupier

A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.

Origin of the word
Originally a "croupier" meant one who stood behind a gambler, with extra reserves of cash to back him up during a gambling session. The word derived from croupe (the rump of a horse) and was by way of analogy to one who rode behind on horseback. It later came to refer to one who was employed to collect the money from a gaming-table.

Originally a "dealer" meant one who was responsible for distributing cards or the player in the dealer position, regardless of whether or not that player was responsible for distributing the cards.

Training
Training methods to become a casino croupier vary from country to country. In North America, blackjack is almost always the game that dealers learn first, as it is simple and popular, and when the dealer makes errors, they tend not to cost the casino much money. In Europe, croupiers tend to learn roulette first. Complex, busy games such as craps, with complicated payout systems, etc., are usually reserved for the most competent and/or ambitious dealers.

Licensing
American, Australian, Canadian and British croupiers are required to apply for a gambling license. This license includes police background checks and credit rating checks, to help determine if they are eligible to commence employment. Croupiers are not permitted to deal at a casino until being issued this license.

Tipping
As is common with customer service staff in the United States, croupiers there depend on tips to make their wage worthwhile. While a croupier should theoretically have no personal interest in the outcome of the game, a successful player customarily tips the croupier, especially in American casinos. Tips are often pooled and divided amongst all the staff. Fraternising with customers is frowned upon, and most casinos prevent their gambling staff from being seen smoking or even being seen in uniform outside the casino. Some gambling strategies include suggestions to tip the casino dealer in order to create a good atmosphere and improve the dealer's mood. According to these strategies, tipping might even make the dealer shuffle the cards less frequently and thereby allow easier tracking of particular cards. Australian casinos forbid dealers from taking tips.

Secondhand smoke exposure
Because casinos tend to allow smoking on the gambling floor, American croupiers are exposed to secondhand smoke. A health hazard evaluation of several Las Vegas casinos showed that nonsmoker croupiers suffered from more respiratory ailments than their administrative counterparts at the casinos, and had cotinine and NNAL (both components of secondhand smoke) in their urine samples. Britain banned smoking in all public places, including casinos, in 2007.

title: Croupier


text:
East Coast hip hop

East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in The Bronx, New York City.

In contrast to other styles, East Coast hip hop music prioritizes complex lyrics for attentive listening rather than beats for dancing. The term "East Coast hip hop" more specifically denotes hip hop originating from the Northeastern United States. Southeastern states such as Georgia or Florida instead produce Southern hip hop rather than East Coast hip hop, although the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland produce East Coast hip hop.

Musical style
In contrast to the more simplistic rhyme pattern and scheme utilized in older hip hop, hip hop in the late ‘80s developed a stronger emphasis on lyrical dexterity. It also became characterized by multi-syllabic rhymes, complex wordplay, a continuous free-flowing delivery and intricate metaphors. Although East Coast hip hop can vary in sound and style, "aggressive" beats and the combining of samples were common to the subgenre in the mid- to late 1980s. The aggressive and hard-hitting beats of the form were emphasized by such acts as EPMD, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, while artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Slick Rick were noted for their lyrical skill. Lyrical themes throughout the history of East Coast hip hop have ranged from lyrical consciousness by such artists as Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest to Mafioso rap themes by rappers such as Raekwon, MF Grimm and Kool G Rap.

1973–1986: Emergence
East Coast hip hop is occasionally referred to as New York rap due to its origins and development at block parties thrown in New York City during the 1970s. According to AllMusic, "At the dawn of the hip-hop era, all rap was East Coast rap." Leading up to hip hop, there were spoken-word artists such as the Last Poets who released their debut album in 1970, and Gil Scott-Heron, who gained a wide audience with his 1971 track "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". These artists combined spoken word and music to create a kind of "proto-rap" vibe. Following this, early artists of hip hop such as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, the Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Jam Master Jay and Run-DMC, pioneered East Coast hip hop during hip hop's earlier years in the 1970s and 1980s.

1986–1997: Renaissance
As the genre developed, lyrical themes evolved through the work of East Coast artists such as the Native Tongues, a collective of hip hop artists associated with generally positive, Afrocentric themes, and assembled by Afrika Bambaataa. New York–based groups such as De La Soul, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers also earned recognition for their musical eclecticism. This period from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s has been called the "golden age" of hip hop. Although East Coast hip hop was more popular throughout the late 1980s, N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton (released in the summer of 1988) presented the toughened sound of West Coast hip hop, which was accompanied by gritty, street-level subject matter. Later in 1992, Dr. Dre's G-funk record The Chronic would introduce West Coast hip hop to the mainstream. Along with a combined ability to keep its primary function as party music, the West Coast form of hip hop became a dominant force during the early 1990s. Although G-Funk was the most popular variety of hip hop during the early 1990s, the East Coast hip hop scene remained an integral part of the music industry. During this period, several New York City rappers rising from the local underground scene, began releasing noteworthy albums in the early and mid-1990s, such as Nas, The Notorious B.I.G. and others. The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show was the launch pad for many East Coast rappers during this era.

Nas's 1994 debut album Illmatic has also been noted as one of the creative high points of the East Coast hip hop scene, and featured production from such renowned New York–based producers as Large Professor, Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Meanwhile, The Wu-Tang Clan, Onyx, Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Big L, Lost Boyz and Mobb Deep became pillars in New York's hardcore hip hop scene, achieving widespread critical acclaim for their landmark albums, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993), Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous (1995), Enta da Stage (1993), Bacdafucup (1993), Dah Shinin' (1995), Legal Drug Money (1996) and The Infamous (1995).

The Notorious B.I.G. became the central figure in East Coast hip hop during most of the 1990s. Bad Boy Records comprised a team of producers known as the Hitmen Stevie J, Derrick "D Dot" Angelletie and Amen Ra directed by Sean Combs to move the focus on hip hop to New York with the Notorious B.I.G.'s Billboard topping hits. His success on the music charts and rise to the mainstream drew more attention to New York at the time of West Coast hip hop's dominance. According to AllMusic editor Steve Huey, the success of his 1994 debut album Ready to Die "reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age" and "turned the Notorious B.I.G. into a hip-hop sensation — the first major star the East Coast had produced since the rise of Dr. Dre's West Coast G-funk". Many saw his dominating presence as a catalyzing factor in the East Coast/West Coast hip hop rivalry that polarized much of the hip hop community, stirring the issue enough to result in the Brooklyn rapper's 1997 death, as well as his West Coast counterpart, Tupac Shakur, months prior. By the late 90s, East coast rap had returned to mainstream dominance.

1997–2007: Bling era, mainstream success
Biggie's commercial success helped pave the way for the success of other up-and-coming East Coast rappers such as Jay-Z, DMX, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Ja Rule, the Lox, Fat Joe, and Big Pun. Many East Coast hip hop producers also rose to prominence during this period such as Timbaland, Pharrell, Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz, Irv Gotti, and 7 Aurelius.

2007–2013: Blog era and revitalization
A mainstream revitalization of East Coast rap occurred in the late 2000s and early 2010s, albeit without the same level of ubiquity as in the 1990s. Younger artists at this time used Internet resources such as social media, blogging, and music streaming to build a following among fans, blurring the lines between the underground and the mainstream. Rappers who emerged during this "blog era" include Joey Bada$, Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa, Meek Mill, Pusha T, Vast Aire, Wale, Logic, Azealia Banks, and Mac Miller.

2014–present: Rise of New York City drill and trap
Various factors have led to a decline in unique regional scenes across many musical genres, including East Coast rap. In addition, rivalries between different cities and regions have declined significantly and artists across different regions and genres are much more willing to collaborate than in the past. Despite this, the distinctive East Coast sound is still notable in today's music, often mixed with modern trap sounds. Lil Uzi Vert, from Philadelphia, began their career representing the East Coast style, but moved to Atlanta to join others such as Lil Yachty and Playboi Carti, all of whom gained popularity by using online social media.

In addition, New York City's drill movement, heavily influenced by UK drill (and often using the same London producers), has injected new energy into the New York hip hop scene, attracting critical acclaim, media controversy and a significant following, despite departing from standard hip hop song structures. The movement started in Brooklyn, led by artists such as the late Pop Smoke, Fivio Foreign, Sheff G, and 22Gz.

TikTok's influence on East Coast rap is profound, shaping both the music and its reception. The platform's viral challenges and trends propel songs to mainstream attention, enabling emerging artists to gain exposure rapidly. East Coast rappers like Coi Leray, Sleepy Hallow, and Xaviersobased utilize TikTok to share snippets, teasers, and dance challenges, engaging directly with fans and cultivating a dedicated following.

Legacy
East Coast hip hop was the dominant form of rap music during the Golden Era of hip hop. Many knowledgeable hip hop fans and critics are particularly favorable towards East Coast hip hop of the early-mid 1990s, viewing it as a time of creative growth and influential recordings, and describing it as "The East Coast Renaissance". Music writer May Blaize of MVRemix Urban comments on the nostalgia felt among hip hop fans for records released during this time: "It was claimed as the East Coast Renaissance. Wu-Tang brought the ruckus with 36 Chambers. The world was ours when Nas released Illmatic. Big L, (The MVP) came out with Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous. Temperatures rose in clubs when Mobb Deep came out with The Infamous and Brooklyn's finest Jay-Z released Reasonable Doubt. . . And who can forget the powerful uplifting anthem that would brand New York's concrete 'Bucktown' (Smif-n-Wessun's hit single)? . . .Ahh, it was a beautiful time in hip-hop history that many of us wish we could return to."

David Drake of Stylus Magazine writes of hip hop during 1994 and its contributions, stating: "The beats were hot, the rhymes were hot – it really was an amazing time for hip-hop and music in general. This was the critical point for the East Coast, a time when rappers from the New York area were releasing bucketloads of thrilling work – Digable Planets, Gang Starr, Pete Rock, Jeru, O.C., Organized Konfusion – I mean, this was a year of serious music."

East Coast hip hop has also produced a multitude of acclaimed female rappers, including Salt and Pepa, The Real Roxanne, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, Lauryn Hill, Ladybug Mecca, Foxy Brown, Charli Baltimore, Eve, Missy Elliott, Angie Martinez, Remy Ma, Lil Mama, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and Coi Leray.

title: East Coast hip hop


text:
Bunk Johnson

Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a decade. Johnson stated on his 1937 application for Social Security that he was born on December 27, 1889. Many jazz historians believe this date of birth to be the most accurate of the various dates Johnson gave throughout his life.

Education and early musical career
Johnson received lessons from Adam Olivier and began playing professionally in Olivier's orchestra. Johnson probably played a few adolescent jobs with Buddy Bolden, but was not a regular member of Bolden's Band (contrary to Johnson's claim). Johnson was regarded as one of the leading trumpeters in New Orleans in the years 1905–1915, in between repeatedly leaving the city to tour with minstrel shows and circus bands.

After he failed to appear for a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade job in 1915, he learned that krewe members intended to do him bodily harm. So he left town, touring with shows and then by the early 1920s settling in New Iberia, Louisiana. While living in New Iberia, Johnson worked in rice mills and the public school system, and continued playing jazz, but with local groups such as the Black Eagle Band from Crowley and the Banner Orchestra.

In 1931, he lost his trumpet and front teeth when a fight broke out at a dance in Rayne, Louisiana, putting an end to his playing. He thereafter worked in manual labor, occasionally giving music lessons.

Career revival and first recordings
In 1938 and 1939, the writers of an early jazz history book, Jazzmen, interviewed several prominent musicians of the time, including Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Clarence Williams, who spoke highly of Johnson in the old days in New Orleans. The writers tracked down Johnson's address, and traded several letters with him, where he recalled (and possibly embellished) his early career. Johnson stated that he could play again if he only had new teeth and a new trumpet. A collection was taken up by writers and musicians, and he was fitted with a set of dentures by Bechet's dentist brother, Leonard, and given a new trumpet. He made his first recordings in 1942, for Jazz Man Records.

Later touring career
These first recordings propelled Johnson (along with clarinetist George Lewis) into public attention. Johnson and his band played in New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City and made many more recordings. Johnson's work in the 1940s shows why he was well regarded by his fellow musicians. On his best days he played with great imagination, subtlety, and beauty, as well as suggesting why he had not gained prominence earlier, for he was unpredictable, temperamental, with a passive-aggressive streak and a fondness for drinking alcohol to the point of impairment.

Death
Johnson suffered from a stroke in late 1948 and died in New Iberia the following year.

Legacy
Jazz historians have debated Johnson's legacy, and the extent to which his colorful reminiscences of his early career were accurate, misremembered, exaggerated, or untrue. Although in recent years, new evidence has appeared in jazz historian Vic Hobson's 2014 ''Creating Jazz Counterpoint. New Orleans, Barbershop Harmony, and the Blues'', in which is stated that Buddy Bolden's band member Willy Cornish — who is seen on the only surviving picture of the Bolden Band — affirmed Bunk Johnson as a member of the early jazz group. This puts Johnson's own statements and recordings, in which he actively recreated the Bolden tunes, in a plausible and positive light, making them of great historical and musicological importance to the study of jazz and New Orleans jazz in particular.

His recordings have been reissued on CD.

Johnson was a Catholic, and as of 2019 an annual Jazz Mass and procession was conducted in his hometown of New Iberia, beginning at St Edward Catholic Church and ending at Johnson's gravesite.

In about 1996, Bunk Johnson Park was dedicated to his memory in New Iberia, Louisiana. Twenty years later, in 2016, the park was dismantled due to criminal activity in the area.

The Iberia Parish Library hosts an archival collection of Johnson's papers and a special exhibit room for Johnson.

1942
The following records were recorded June, 1942, and released on Jazz Man Records.
 * "Down By The River / Panama": Jazz Man 8. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.
 * "Weary Blues / Moose March": Jazz Man 9. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.
 * "Storyville Blues / Bunk's Blues": Jazz Man 10. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.

The following records were recorded October, 1942, and released on Milt Gabler's Jazz Information label, distributed by Commodore Records.
 * "Franklin Street Blues / Weary Blues": Jazz Information 12. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.
 * "Shine / Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula": Jazz Information 15. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.
 * "Sobbin' Blues No. 2 / Sometimes My Burden Is So Hard To Bear": Jazz Information 16. Recorded in New Orleans, 1942.

American Music Records, 1943-1946
The following records include recordings made for Bill Russell's American Music label between 1943 and 1946.
 * Bunk Plays The Blues And Spirituals: American Music 638 (10" LP). Recorded in New Orleans. Includes recordings by Johnson's working band (August 1944) and a brass band (May, 1945).
 * 1944-1946: American Music 644 (10" LP). Recorded in New Orleans, May 1945, and New York, June 1946. Includes recordings by Johnson's working band (1945) and a trio featuring Don Ewell (1946).
 * New Orleans 1944: American Music 647 (10" LP). Recorded in New Orleans, August 1944.
 * Rare And Unissued Masters, Volume 1 (1943-1945): American Music AMCD-139. CD; reissued as ORG Music ORGM-2101 on LP for Record Store Day 2018. Includes further recordings by Johnson's working band (July–August 1944; May 1945) and Johnson's brass band (May, 1945); also includes duets with pianist Bertha Gonsoulin recorded in San Francisco, May 1943.

San Francisco, 1944
Bunk Johnson recorded for Good Time Jazz with the Yerba Buena Jazz Band in early 1944.
 * Bunk Johnson and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band: Spirituals & Jazz: Good Time Jazz L-17. Recorded in San Francisco, January–February 1944.

New York, 1945
Bunk Johnson recorded for Blue Note in March, 1945, and for Decca and RCA Victor in late 1945.
 * Sidney Bechet and Bunk Johnson: Days Beyond Recall: Blue Note BLP 7008. Recorded in New York, March 1945.
 * Hot Jazz: RCA Victor HJ-7. Album of four 78 RPM shellac records; recorded in New York, December 1945.
 * New Orleans Memories: Ace of Hearts AH 140. 12" LP, includes four recordings from a Decca session in New York, November 1945. Also includes recordings by Kid Ory and George Lewis.

New York, 1947
Bunk Johnson's final recordings were made for Columbia in December, 1947.
 * The Last Testament Of A Great New Orleans Jazzman: Columbia CL 829. 12" LP, recorded at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York City, December 1947.

title: Bunk Johnson


text:
Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream parlor to a multinational brand over the course of a few decades. The company was sold in 2000 to the multinational conglomerate Unilever but operates as an independent subsidiary. Its present-day headquarters is in South Burlington, Vermont, with its factory in Waterbury, Vermont.

Ben & Jerry's is known for their original flavors, many of which incorporate foods and desserts mixed with ice cream. Some of these flavors have been themed after musicians, comedians, and public figures, such as Jerry Garcia, Stephen Colbert, Colin Kaepernick, and Phish. The company and its two founders have also been noted for their political activism and advocacy for social justice. This includes the way their products have been manufactured, marketed, and distributed.

Founding

The company was founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who had been friends since their childhood in Merrick, New York. Although Greenfield finished college, he was unable to get into medical school. Cohen dropped out of school. In 1977, Cohen and Greenfield completed a correspondence course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University's creamery. Cohen has severe anosmia, a lack of a sense of smell, so he relies on mouthfeel and texture to provide variety in his diet. This led to the company's trademark chunks being mixed in with their ice cream. On May 5, 1978, with a $12,000 investment, Cohen and Greenfield opened an ice cream parlor in a renovated gas station in downtown Burlington, Vermont. In 1979, they marked their anniversary by holding the first "free cone day", now an annual event at every Ben & Jerry's store, from that year to 2019, and resuming in 2023.

In 1980, Cohen and Greenfield rented space in an old spool and bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and started packing their ice cream in pints. The first Ben & Jerry's franchise opened in 1981, on Route 7 in Shelburne, Vermont. In 1983, Ben & Jerry's ice cream was used to build "the world's largest ice cream sundae" in St. Albans, Vermont; the sundae weighed 27102 lb. That same year, the cows on their cartons were redesigned by local artist Woody Jackson. In 1984, Häagen-Dazs wanted to limit distribution of Ben & Jerry's by its distributors in Boston, prompting Ben & Jerry's to file suit against the parent company, Pillsbury, in its "What's the Doughboy Afraid Of?" campaign. In 1987, Häagen-Dazs again tried to enforce exclusive distribution, and Ben & Jerry's filed a second lawsuit against the Pillsbury Company.

In 1985, the Ben & Jerry's Foundation was established at the end of the year with a gift from Ben & Jerry's to fund community-oriented projects; it was then provided with 7.5% of the company's annual pre-tax profits. In 1986, Ben & Jerry's launched its "Cowmobile", a modified mobile home used to distribute free scoops of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in a unique, cross-country "marketing drive", driven and served by Ben and Jerry themselves. The "Cowmobile" burned to the ground outside of Cleveland four months later, but there were no injuries. Ben said it looked like "the world's largest baked Alaska". In 1987, as a tribute to guitarist Jerry Garcia, Ben & Jerry's presented its first ice cream named for a rock legend and the most famous of fan-suggested flavors, "Cherry Garcia".

In 1985, Ben and Jerry's built and opened their factory in Waterbury, Vermont. The factory opened to public tours in 1986 and continues to offer these tours. This facility produces 350,000 or more pints of ice cream a day. It is the only Ben and Jerry's facility open to the public.

In 1988, the two men won the title of U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year, awarded by President Ronald Reagan. Also that year, the first brownies were ordered from Greyston Bakery, which led to the development of the popular Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor. In 1992, Ben & Jerry's joined in a cooperative campaign with the national non-profit Children's Defense Fund; the campaign goal was to bring children's basic needs to the top of the national agenda. Over 70,000 postcards were sent to Congress concerning kids and other national issues. In 1995, they hired Robert Holland Jr. as CEO after holding a "Yo! I'm your C.E.O." essay contest as part of the search. Holland left after 20 months following philosophical differences and was replaced by Perry Odak in 1997.

In 1989, Ben & Jerry's announced their opposition to the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in all their products. This genetically engineered hormone is sometimes given to cows to boost milk production, but Ben & Jerry's does not support this practice and is in favor of using less chemically intensive ingredients for the safety of consumers and the environment.

In 1994, Ben & Jerry's: The Inside Scoop, written by Fred "Chico" Lager, former CEO of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, was published. The book tracks the history of how Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream got started. The book focuses on "How Two Real Guys Built a Business with a Social Conscience and a Sense of Humor."

Sale of company to Unilever
In April 2000, Ben & Jerry's sold itself to British multinational food giant Unilever. In the acquisition agreement, Unilever agreed to carry on the company's tradition of engaging "in these critical, global economic and social missions". Following the acquisition, both founders remained employed at the company, though not in a position of operational or managerial responsibility, though Cohen remained on the governing board of directors.

In 2010, Jostein Solheim, a Unilever executive from Norway, was appointed CEO.

In 2018, Matthew McCarthy, previously a Unilever executive, was appointed CEO, replacing Solheim.

In 2019, Ben & Jerry's had production facilities in Saint Albans, Vermont; Waterbury, Vermont; Hellendoorn, Netherlands; and Be'er Tuvia, Israel. The Israeli facility was sold to its local licensee in June 2022.

On May 15, 2023, the company announced Dave Stever as the new CEO after the preceding CEO, Matthew McCarthy, retired from the company.

Changes in packaging
In 2001, Ben & Jerry's U.S. completed the transition to "Eco-Pint" packaging, which packaged all pint flavors in environmentally friendly unbleached paperboard Eco-Pint containers, a decision it later reversed. The use of brown-kraft unbleached paperboard had been a critical first step toward a totally biodegradable pint made without added chlorine.

Due to what they described as increasing supply, quality, and cost challenges, Ben & Jerry's discontinued the use of the Eco-Pint in 2006, transitioning to a pint container made out of a bleached paperboard that it said was more readily available.

Opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On Earth Day in 2005, when a vote in the U.S. Senate proposed the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Ben & Jerry's launched a protest by creating the largest ever Baked Alaska, which weighed 900 lb, and placed it in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.

April Fool's Day joke
In March 2009, "CyClone Dairy" launched an advertising campaign and a website to promote its milk products, which purportedly came exclusively from cloned cows. On April 1, 2009 (April Fool's Day), Ben & Jerry's announced that it was behind this fake company. Ben & Jerry's had created the tongue-in-cheek hoax to raise awareness of the increasing presence of products from cloned animals within American food and to campaign for a tracking system of cloned animal products. The hoax was revealed on April Fool's Day with the message: "We believe you should have the right to choose which foods you eat — and not to eat cloned foods if you don't want to. And that's why Ben & Jerry's believes we need a national clone tracking system, so people and companies can know where their food is coming from."

GMO-free
In 2013, Ben & Jerry's committed to making their products GMO-free in support of mandatory GMO labeling legislation.

Sales in Israel and Palestinian Territories
On July 19, 2021, it was announced that Ben & Jerry's planned to end sales in "Occupied Palestinian Territory", within which Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. Due to the refusal of American Quality Products - Ben & Jerry's Israel, its local franchisee since 1987, to comply with this policy, the company statement said it did not plan to renew the franchise in 2022. The decision may run foul of anti-BDS laws and policies in a number of US states. The statement, issued by Unilever, was criticized by Ben & Jerry's independent board of directors, which had not wanted to comment on the continuation of sales in other parts of Israel, as this required board approval.

On June 29, 2022, Unilever announced that it had sold its Ben & Jerry's division in Israel to American Quality Products, the company that had the exclusive license to sell Ben & Jerry's products in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Later that day, Ben & Jerry's tweeted that it disagreed with its parent company's decision and that the "arrangement means Ben & Jerry's in Israel will be owned and operated by AQP. Our company will no longer profit from Ben & Jerry's in Israel. We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry's values for our ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory."

Free cones
Every year, over one million cones are given away, prompting the company's ad slogan "Be One In A Million." Charitable organizations are often present at the stores each year and enjoy a significant amount of fundraising success. Often, local celebrities show up at various stores, promoting the day and the charities there. Sometimes the event is scheduled to coincide with Earth Day and sometimes volunteers are on hand with clipboards and voter registration forms to help those who would like to register to vote (in those countries where that is necessary).

Due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Free Cone Day was on hiatus through 2023.

Reduction of farm emissions
In May 2022, the company announced the launch of its pilot project, 'Mootopia', across 15 of its supplier farms (7 in the US and 8 in the Netherlands). The goal of the project is to bring the emissions intensity of the farms to a level that is half of the US industry average by the end of 2024. The farms will be supported to adopt regenerative agriculture practices for growing grass and other feed crops.

Child labor scandal
Months after teaming up with Tony's Chocolonely to raise awareness for ending modern slavery and child labor in the chocolate industry, Ben and Jerry's suppliers were found by The New York Times to be employing illegal migrant children in early 2023. Ben & Jerry's head of values-led sourcing, Cheryl Pinto, said that "if migrant children needed to work full time, it was preferable for them to have jobs at a well-monitored workplace".

Post-Unilever era
On March 19, 2024, Unilever announced it would divest its ice cream brands and cut 7,500 jobs in order to make “a simpler, more focused and higher performing Unilever.” Included in the spin-off are Ben & Jerry's, Cornetto, Magnum, Talenti, and Wall’s. The divestment is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Original flavors and sundaes

The most popular Ben & Jerry's flavor had been "Cherry Garcia" for more than a decade until 2013, when a survey taken of the general public found Cookie Dough was the winner with 60%, and in last place was Chocolate Chip Brownie with 8.5%. The company website states (as of December 2020) that the most popular flavor is "Half Baked", with "Cherry Garcia" placing second, and "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" following in third. It is unclear to what degree the popularity of flavors reflects their availability. In the United Kingdom, "Cherry Garcia" ice cream has disappeared from supermarkets, and those who desire it must obtain it from a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop.

The "Vermonster" is a large ice cream sundae served in a "Vermonster Bucket" in Ben & Jerry's "scoop shops". Its ingredients are 20 scoops of ice cream, four bananas, four ladles of hot fudge, three chocolate chip cookies, one chocolate fudge brownie, 10 scoops of walnuts, two scoops each of any four toppings, and whipped cream. It contains 14000 Cal, and 500 g of fat. Since 2009, the Vermonster Challenge is an annual charity event held by Ben & Jerry's in which teams of four compete to finish a Vermonster and win free ice cream for a year.

"Chubby Hubby" consists of vanilla malt ice cream swirled with fudge and peanut butter, and containing pretzel nuggets covered in fudge and filled with peanut butter. During the month of September 2009, Ben & Jerry's, in partnership with Freedom to Marry, renamed "Chubby Hubby" to "Hubby Hubby," in celebration of the legalization of same-sex marriage in the company's home state of Vermont. The carton featured the image of two men in tuxedos getting married beneath a rainbow.

On March 13, 2012, Ben & Jerry's announced it would be changing the name of one of its ice cream flavors in the UK in support of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. "Oh! My! Apple Pie!" would become "Apple-y Ever After" and tubs would feature a gay couple atop a wedding cake decorated with rainbows.

"Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough" was temporarily renamed "I Dough, I Dough" in the United States during the summer of 2015. This was in celebration of United States Supreme Court's ruling in support of same-sex marriage. The proceeds from sales were to go to the Human Rights Campaign (a nonprofit advocacy group for LGBT rights).

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield appeared on The Colbert Report on March 5, 2007, to promote the company's new ice cream flavor, "Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream", and Cohen's progressive advocacy group TrueMajority.

The company renamed a flavor, "Yes Pecan!", in reference to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. They decided in January 2009 to donate all proceeds made on the sale of that flavor to the Common Cause Education Fund.

On March 2, 2011, Cohen and Greenfield appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and unveiled the company's new flavor of ice cream, "Late Night Snack", whose carton features a picture of Jimmy Fallon on it.

On February 24, 2012, Ben & Jerry's released a new Greek Frozen Yogurt line, which came in several flavors: "Strawberry Shortcake", "Blueberry Vanilla Graham", "Raspberry Fudge Chunk", "Banana Peanut Butter", and "Vanilla" (scoop shop exclusive). On April 12, 2013, "Pineapple Passionfruit", "Vanilla Honey Caramel", and "Liz Lemon" were added to the Greek Yogurt line. The Liz Lemon flavor was inspired by a character of the same name created by actress Tina Fey as the main character on the NBC television sitcom 30 Rock.

On February 17, 2015, Cohen and Greenfield appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and unveiled the company's new flavor of ice cream, "The Tonight Dough", with all of its proceeds going to the SeriousFun Children's Network, which supports camps for children with major illnesses.

In 2015, charoset-flavored ice cream became available in Israel for the Passover holiday.

In April 2015, the company confirmed that it was working on vegan options, after hearing consumers' feedback, led by a petition and the organization Farm Animal Rights Movement. In early February 2016, the company announced a new all-vegan line with four flavors. Two of these are versions of existing flavors — "Chunky Monkey" and "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" — and two are all-new vegan-only flavors: "Coffee Caramel Fudge" and "Peanut Butter & Cookies".

In February 2017, three new non-dairy flavors were added: Caramel Almond Brittle, Cherry Garcia, and Coconut Seven Layer Bar.

In January 2018, the company added two new non-dairy flavors to its growing line of vegan options. Peanut Butter Half Baked features chocolate and peanut butter with fudge brownies and pieces of peanut butter cookie dough, while Cinnamon Buns is made with cinnamon-spiced ice cream and features cinnamon bun dough and a cinnamon streusel swirl. Ben & Jerry's non-dairy line also features flavors such as Peanut Butter & Cookies, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and Caramel Coffee Fudge. Among their newest non-dairy flavors are the following: Chocolate Caramel Cluster, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Chocolate Salted n' Swirled. In 2019, Ben & Jerry's also released new snack-able "cookie dough chunks" that have a vegan option. They continue to take new non-dairy flavor suggestions on their website.

In October 2018, Ben & Jerry's launched a campaign for a limited-edition ice cream flavor that also held a political message focusing on resisting the presidential administration of Donald Trump. The campaign debuted the new flavor, "Pecan Resist", and included new packaging that advertised their messages. The company donated $25,000 to four organizations that supported women's and immigrant rights, climate justice, and racial justice.

Commercial
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-advocacy group, urged Ben & Jerry's to stop labeling their ice cream as "all natural" due to the company's use of corn syrup, alkalised cocoa, and other chemically modified ingredients. In September 2010, the company agreed to stop labeling their ice cream and frozen yogurt as "all natural".

In 2011, Ben & Jerry's released a flavor named Schweddy Balls, in homage to the Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit of the same name. This received protests from One Million Moms, a project of the conservative Christian group American Family Association, who said that the name was too explicit for grocery store shelves. Spokesperson Monica Cole explained to the media: "I realize it could be a lot worse, but are they going to progressively get worse if we don't say something? Maybe they'll think twice before they come up with another inappropriate name for ice cream." However, the expression of disdain was not unanimous among U.S. parents, as mother Gina Ragusa said to The Huffington Post: "We just think it's funny, that's all, and honestly we all really want to try it", adding that she consistently checks for the item's availability at her local supermarket. Actor Alec Baldwin, who appeared in the SNL skit as baker Pete Schweddy, hosted the September 24, 2011, episode of the 37th season of the show and responded to the protests by stating that a new flavor called "Go Fudge Yourself" had been produced for those in opposition to the tribute. Following the initial release of the flavor, Baldwin informed the media that "thanks to Ben & Jerry's, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won't go with me to the great beyond," as he had previously feared that his association with the SNL episode would remain permanent until his death.

Political
Following rumors that suggested Ben & Jerry's supported the defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal — who was convicted in 1982 of killing Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner — the company confirmed that Cohen did sign a petition, as a private citizen, asking that "the system of American justice be followed fully in the case".

Between 2005 and 2008, Ben & Jerry's collaborated with polar explorer Marc Cornelissen and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to run the Climate Change College, an initiative to train young people in communications and campaigning around climate change.

In 2006, Ben & Jerry's released a flavor of ice cream called "Black and Tan", which was named after the alcoholic drink of the same name, made by mixing stout with pale ale. After it was made available to Irish consumers, a controversy emerged in Ireland due to the name of the flavor being the nickname of Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force, a controversial British paramilitary force which was fought in the Irish War of Independence.

In 2012, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (VTJP) contacted Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield, and the CEO of Ben & Jerry's after learning that ice cream produced by the Ben & Jerry's franchise in Israel was being sold in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Leafleting occurred at locations in Vermont, New York, and California on 'Free Cone Day' in April 2013 and April 2014. , 232 organizations across the United States and in seventeen countries worldwide have signed a letter written by VTJP calling on Ben & Jerry's to end its commercial ties to such settlements.

In late April 2014, Ben & Jerry's signed on to the "Fight for the Reef" campaign, a partnership between the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) to help protect the Great Barrier Reef. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and federal senator Matt Canavan both said in statements that Ben & Jerry's was making misleading statements that exaggerated the detrimental impact that proposed government programs would have on the reef, and Environment Minister Andrew Powell said, "The only people taking a scoop out of the reef is Ben and Jerry's and Unilever. If you understand the facts, you'd want to be boycotting Ben and Jerry's". Australian Ben & Jerry's brand manager Kalli Swaik responded, "Ben & Jerry's believes that dredging and dumping in world heritage waters surrounding the marine park area will be detrimental to the reef ecology. It threatens the health of one of Australia's most iconic treasures."

In May 2017, Ben & Jerry's announced they would not serve two scoops of the same ice cream flavor in Australia, due to the refusal of the Australian government to legalize same-sex marriage. They said this would encourage "fans to contact their MP's to tell them the time has come — make marriage equality legal!" This stance, they said, would continue for however long it took for same-sex marriage to be legalized.

In June 2018, Ben & Jerry's announced their support for some 9,000 Afghan asylum seekers' right to stay in Sweden, drawing heavy criticism from some commentators, including politician Sven-Olof Sällström of the Sweden Democrats.

On October 30, 2018, they announced their new limited batch flavor called "Pecan Resist". It was introduced as a part of the opposition campaign against U.S. President Donald Trump.

In 2020, Ben & Jerry's announced that it plans to join the "#StopHateForProfit" campaign, halting paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the U.S. The company said it was asking Facebook "to take the clear and unequivocal actions called for by the campaign to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate."

In August 2020, Ben & Jerry's supported the English channel crossings of migrants from France, in a series of tweets directed at Home Secretary Priti Patel. The company tweeted that "we think the real crisis is our lack of humanity for people fleeing war, climate change and torture", "People wouldn't make dangerous journeys if they had any other choice", and "People cannot be illegal". James Cleverly said the statements from the company were "statistically inaccurate virtue signalling". Spiked said the statements were hypocritical, since Ben & Jerry's had "used suppliers who have exploited migrant labour". Spiked said that the US branch of the company was the target of a campaign aimed at improving working conditions on dairy farms that supplied Ben & Jerry's.

On January 7, 2021, Ben & Jerry's released a Tweet calling for the resignation, impeachment, and invoking of the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, saying, "Yesterday was not a protest — it was a riot to uphold white supremacy."

On February 6, 2022, The Daily Telegraph labeled Ben & Jerry's an "activist ice cream brand" after they accused US President Joe Biden of "fanning the flames of war" in Ukraine in connection with the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In September 2022, Ben & Jerry's rebranded its cold brew coffee flavor to "Change is Brewing", to highlight the power of Black voters and encourage voter participation by supporting Black Voters Matter activities.

In January 2024, the chair of the Ben & Jerry's board called for a "permanent and immediate ceasefire" in the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Sales in West Bank
On July 19, 2021, Ben & Jerry's announced that it plans to end sales in "Occupied Palestinian Territory", within which Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law. Due to the refusal of Ben & Jerry's Israel — the local franchisee since 1987 — to comply with this policy, the company statement said it did not plan to renew the franchise in 2022. The company had previously suffered criticism and boycotts for operating in the region, most notably from Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel. The company statement referenced this, noting that it was responding to "the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners", while confirming that sales operations would continue in Israel beyond 2022 "through a different arrangement".

The policy decision was met with mixed reactions. USA Today described the decision as "one of the strongest and highest-profile rebukes by a well-known company of Israel's policy of settling its citizens on war-won lands". The news drew some harsh criticism from Israeli public figures, with foreign minister Yair Lapid tweeting: "Ben & Jerry's decision is a disgraceful capitulation to anti-Semitism, to BDS, to all that is evil in the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish discourse." Pro-Palestinian and anti-apartheid groups welcomed the move.

It has also been suggested that the decision — while not technically a boycott, given the lack of legal recognition of the Palestinian Territories as a formal part of Israel under Israeli law — may run foul of anti-boycott laws in a number of US states. On August 3, 2021, governor of Florida Ron DeSantis announced that he had placed parent company Unilever on a list of "Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel" as a result of Ben & Jerry's decision to "engage in the BDS movement". On September 9, the State of Arizona committed to totally divest from Unilever by September 21. On September 14, the State of New Jersey also gave Unilever 90 days' notice of divestment action.

In June 2022, Unilever agreed to sell its business interests in Israel to the Israeli branch of Ben & Jerry's under an agreement in which the latter will be able to sell in both Israel and the West Bank, provided it uses only Hebrew and Arabic labels in the products. On July 5, 2022, Ben & Jerry's sued its parent company to block the sale on the grounds that it threatened to undermine the integrity of the brand and that it was inconsistent with its values to sell its ice cream in the occupied West Bank. When Unilever acquired the company in 2000, Ben & Jerry's board kept protection over its brand. On July 15, minutes before that first scheduled hearing in the lawsuit, both Ben & Jerry's and parent company Unilever announced they would pursue dispute resolution via mediation instead.

Social
In February 2012, a Ben & Jerry's franchise near Harvard University created a limited edition frozen yogurt flavor named "Taste the Lin-Sanity" in honor of Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin, a Harvard alumnus. At inception, the product contained vanilla frozen yogurt, lychee honey swirls, and fortune cookie pieces, leading to a widely publicized controversy about racial stereotyping due to the association of the fortune cookie ingredient with Chinese culture. That ingredient was later replaced with waffle cookies, as the fortune cookies became soggy and the franchise received returns from customers. Ben & Jerry's general manager for Boston and Cambridge explained to the media: "we obviously weren't looking to offend anybody and the majority of the feedback about it has been positive." Ben & Jerry's released an official statement shortly after the launch of the product, apologizing to those who were offended.

In September 2014, anti-hazing activists raised concerns about the ice cream flavor "Hazed & Confused", which had been released earlier that year. The concern was that the name could be perceived as belittling of hazing and bullying problems. The company has noted that the name was based on the word hazelnut and a play on the phrase "dazed and confused", which is both a song popularized by Led Zeppelin and a 1993 film. The decision was made in October to not rename the flavor.

Attempts by migrant laborers to directly contact Ben & Jerry's company officials in Waterbury, Vermont, during 2018, resulted in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

During the 2020 protests against racial prejudice following the police murder of George Floyd, Ben & Jerry's publicized a statement encouraging Americans to "dismantle white supremacy" and face "the sins of our past". Later that month, they endorsed the "Defund the Police" movement.

In 2023, Ben & Jerry's received criticism for posting a tweet on Independence Day, claiming that the United States was founded on "stolen Indigenous land" and that Mount Rushmore should be returned to the Lakota people. In reply, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation expressed interest in acquiring the Ben & Jerry's headquarters in Vermont, which is located on historical Abenaki territory.

Wages
Ben & Jerry's used to have a policy that no employee's rate of pay shall exceed five times that of entry-level employees. In 1995, entry-level employees were paid $12 hourly, and the highest-paid employee was president and chief operating officer Chuck Lacy, who earned $150,000 annually. When Ben Cohen resigned as chief executive officer and Ben & Jerry's announced the search for a new CEO in 1994, the company ended the five-to-one-ratio policy.

title: Ben & Jerry's