Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: How a video of former President Trump “dragging” his right leg has sparked an explosion of rumors online, a woman detailing how her friend let a “random man” live in her apartment for a month while she was away, a customer sparking discourse after only tipping 20% to a driver who delivered to them in a snowstorm, and actor Ayo Edebiri revealing that she was once grounded for having a picture of actor Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy as her desktop background.
After that, the trending team shares with you their pick for the “Main Character of the Week.”
Also: It’s Friday, so make sure to take our weekly news quiz. If you answer it correctly, you might win a “Jingle Blogs” shirt.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🦶 POLITICS
‘He doesn’t look well’: Video of Trump’s ‘dragging’ right leg sparks accusations of hidden health concern
Footage that some believe shows Donald Trump “dragging” his right leg has led to an explosion of online rumors about the former president’s health.
🏠 WTF
‘She probably charged him’: Woman says friend let ‘random man’ live in her apartment for a month while she was away
A New York City woman learned the hard way that sometimes the people you think are your friends will use you the first chance they get, even if it means subjecting you to potential danger.
🌨️ LABOR
‘I would’ve tipped at least $10’: Domino’s driver curses out customer over 20% tip. Viewers switch sides when they learn it was during a snowstorm
A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after posting a video showing what he says is a Domino’s driver cursing at him for a bad tip.
🎬 CULTURE
Ayo Edebiri was grounded for having a pic of Mr. Darcy as her desktop, and Matthew MacFadyen’s reaction is perfect
As MacFadyen later shared with Entertainment Tonight, Edebiri revealed to him that she was once grounded by her father because she—wait for it—had a photo of MacFadyen’s Mr. Darcy as her desktop background.
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Fox News recently pushed the conspiracy theory that a famous singer was actually a ‘Pentagon asset.’ Which singer were they talking about?
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👑 Main Character of the Week
By Ramon Ramirez
Managing Editor
Main Character of the Week: The Republican party
Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent “main character” online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
🍟 A NASA software engineer thinks that McDonald’s is trying to swindle people into picking medium fries over large ones.
💼 This job seeker is sharing their frustration with the current job market landscape, which includes employers not being transparent about a job’s salary before they start interviewing candidates.
💄 TikTok has been afire with story after story from Sephora employees about packs of 10-year-old girls roving the beauty store for skincare brands like Drunk Elephant, Laneige, Summer Fridays, and Glow Recipe.
🥤 A TikToker says his little sister got bullied for using a “non-trendy” water bottle instead of a Stanley cup.
🍪 A Costco customer excitedly reviewed the new double chocolate chunk cookies that are now being sold at the chain’s food courts, and she was stunned by its “massive” size. But how does it taste?
🎒 This woman went viral after exposing her house inspector for stealing her child’s diaper bag on-camera.
✈️ Compliments can boost someone’s confidence. However, some compliments cross the line between kind and creepy. A flight attendant shared her recent “creepy” experience with a hotel housekeeper.
🛍️ From the Daily Dot archive: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt: Why TikTok shopping is now the ordinary.
👋 Before you go
In a viral TikTok, user Philiana (@philana) shared her frustrating experience with a New York City restaurant’s no-show policy. The video has already racked up over 415,600 views.
The video begins with a stitched clip from @meliimelons, a TikTok creator who previously complained about the same restaurant demanding a $100 fee to cancel a reservation. “New York City restaurants have absolutely lost their minds,” she says.
Philiana then shares her own story. “Yeah. So I think I know what restaurant you’re talking about,” she begins. She explains that she arrived at the restaurant, which she jokingly refers to as “Fridays,” only to find out that her friend couldn’t make it. Despite this, she decided to stay and enjoy the meal by herself.
However, before she could place her order, the waiter informed her that she would be charged a $50 fee because her friend did not show up. “I’m like, what?” she says in the video.
