Paramedic Says Conrad Murray's Story Didn't Add Up

A paramedic took the stand today, on day 4 of the Conrad Murray trial for the death of Michael Jackson, and said that the doctor's story "didn't add up."

Richard Senneff was the paramedic who showed up at the scene, and he said that he knew right away that things didn't seem normal.

Senneff testified that, when he asked Murray what Jackson's underlying heath issue was, Murray failed to respond the first two times he asked, and eventually responded that there was no underlying issue.

As expected, Senneff also testified that, when he asked Murray what medications Jackson had been taking, he he didn't mention Propofol, which was found to contribute to the singer's death. Eventually, Murray told Senneff that he'd been treating Jackson for dehydration and exhaustion.

Senneff also noted that, when he asked when Jackson went down, Murray told him that it had occurred just as he had placed the 911 call — which gave Senneff the impression that "we had a good chance of saving" Jackson. However, when paramedics hooked up an EKG, he was flatlining, and the drugs paramedics gave Jackson in order to re-start his heart had no effect.

Yeah, something does seem a little fishy!

There just wasn't any sign of life when the paramedics showed up, Senneff said, and Michael was cool to the touch when they moved him. Not only that, but they couldn't find a vein for the start-up drugs — which is a sign he had been gone for much longer than the doctor claimed.

Stay turned for more updates!

[Image via WENN.]

Tags: conrad murray, death, drugs, michael jackson, press, singer, trial

View the original article here

American Apparel Responds to Nancy Upton’s Campaign Against Their “Next Big Thing” Plus-Size Model Search; Explains Why Upton Didn’t Win

Last month, American Apparel launched a nationwide contest to find a plus-size model, in celebration of the brand’s addition of XL sizes to a couple of their styles. The contest, titled “The Next Big Thing,” was rife with euphemisms and jokes, which outraged many who felt that the contest was mocking, rather than celebrating plus-size women.

But no one felt stronger than Nancy Upton, who challenged American Apparel by entering the contest and submitting photos of herself gorging on food, and generally satirizing what she perceived to be the company’s misconceptions about plus-size women.

Of course, Upton actually wound up receiving the most votes in the contest, and should have won but the company decided to award the title of “Next Big Thing” to other contestants.

Now, The Frisky has alerted us to a letter American Apparel’s Creative Director Iris Alonzo sent to Upton, which Upton also published on her Tumblr this morning. The letter addresses both Upton’s campaign against the contest, and the reason why she didn’t win despite getting the most votes.

Alonzo begins by apologizing for offending Upton and to assert that, while the contest may have been misinterpreted, their “only motive was to discover and celebrate the many beautiful XL women around the globe who enjoy our brand, and to promote the recent size additions to our collection.”

Alonzo also responds to accusations that a sales rep allegedly told a shopper plus-size is “not [their] demographic,” something that Upton has referenced on her blog. Alonzo said in the letter:

I don’t recall the name of the confused employee credited with saying that, but he or she was sadly uninformed, and our company certainly does not endorse their statement. For as long as I can remember, we have offered sizes up to 3XL in our basic styles, and as far as adding larger sizes to the rest of our line is concerned, if there is the demand and manufacturing power to support it, we’re always game.

Alonzo also goes onto defend lawsuit-prone Executive Director Dov Charney saying that despite negative media reports, she can “represent a ton of people I know when I say that we really like Dov and we passionately believe in his vision for a beautiful factory with sustainable practices,” noting that the “sensational media will always need something to latch on to and success, spandex and individuality (and mutton chops circa 2004) are certainly easy targets.” We hardly believe that all of Charney’s sexual harassment issues have been because of his hairdo, however it is interesting to hear Alonzo’s take on the subject, as she’s woman who must work closely with Charney.

While Alonzo keeps it pretty classy throughout the letter, she does resort to some snarkiness on the subject of Upton being denied the winning title, saying that while she had the popular vote the company instead chose contestants they “feel truly exemplify the idea of beauty inside and out,” which seems to suggest that Upton is neither of those things in their eyes. (We wholeheartedly disagree.)

We actually kind of feel bad for American Apparel. It seems like no matter what the company does, it always leads to controversy. Then again, maybe that’s sort of the point–or as, Alonzo hints in her letter to Upton, “maybe the PR ups and downs are all part of our DNA as a company.”

PR stunt or not, American Apparel should not take people’s offense too lightly–a brand as large as they are have the power to really affect the general population’s psyche, and they should remember that behind the outraged buzz of a controversial PR stunt, are real people with hurt feelings.

View the original article here

Fashion Horror Story: Tucker’s Entire Studio Burned Down (and They Didn’t Miss a Single Shipment)

Fashionista favorite Of-a-Kind, a cool e-commerce site that sells small quantities of special edition merchandise from emerging designers, is launching a blouse by Tucker as their latest featured product today. This is despite the fact that Tucker’s New York studio burned down the weekend of July 23 (yes, that’s just a little over three weeks ago). And it wasn’t just a little smoke–shit burned. down. Luckily, no one was hurt, but they lost every single thing in the studio, including their computer servers and all their current stock (including the pieces for Of a Kind). Could you imagine?

This is the kind of thing that could put a company out of business–at least temporarily. Instead, here’s the crazy story of how they turned around and went right back to work without missing a single shipment, as told to us by the Of a Kind peeps:

We were beyond impressed by the resilience and determination of this Tucker team. By Monday, 24 hours after the fire, they were back up and running, fully operational, working from their production manager’s apartment. They pushed their factories hard and decided they weren’t going to miss any deadlines or shipments. Honestly, they could have easily pulled out of their commitment and we would have completely understood but they were AMAZING. They recreated our entire shipment and got it to us in crazy turn around time, we only had to push it back by a week. They managed to still fulfill their Super Saturday commitment which was that next weekend and are going to get all their shipments out on schedule. Really incredible on their part. The only thing that they’ve had to shut down is their online store, and they really want to let everyone know why it’s not operational right now and that everything is cool and will be back up and running very soon.

That’s some dedication. The Blue Flute Tank by Tucker, $150, is available here. And you better hurry if you want this extra-special piece–there are only 25!

View the original article here

Dave Chappelle didn't want "reverse Kramer" situation

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Dave Chappelle appeared on a San Francisco area radio program Friday morning to promote a weekend concert, but spent much of the interview explaining his sometimes contentious stage presence, especially his demeanor during a July 22 charity performance at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida.

The reclusive "Chappelle's Show" star said that he didn't even get a chance to begin his routine that night because attendees in the front row began heckling immediately and that he was worried that it would become a "reverse Kramer" situation -- a reference to the bigoted tirade "Seinfeld" alum Michael Richards launched into at a comedy club in 2006. Instead, he stayed on stage for 46 mostly silent moments.

"Someone said I melted down or I had a nervous breakdown," said Chappelle. "I wasn't nervous at all. The thing is, it was an Indian casino and I felt that they were trying to get a reverse Kramer shot of me. In other words, I came out on stage and the YouTube extravaganza began -- everyone's pulling their camera phones out. And that's cool for the first couple of minutes. And then the whole front row starts heckling me and apparently the whole front row was the Seminole Indians, whose casino it was, so security didn't want to tell them to be quiet.

"Now, this obviously wasn't the whole audience -- there were thousands of people there. But in the front, I can see and hear everything. I was, like, okay, whatever. But at a certain point, you can't possibly expect me (to continue). There's got to be a little bit of cooperation."

The following night he apologized profusely for the incident, calling it a "wild night."

You can find Chappelle's radio interview here: http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/dave-chappelle-explains-seminole-hard-rock-casino-reverse-kramer

View the original article here