Newsweek Int 20.08.2021

Exclusive: Suga on Olympic Success

GLOBAL
CEOS WEIGH

THE RISK
OF STAYING IN

CHINA

Xi Showdown

20.08.2021

ABU DHABI DH35 CYPRUS €6.50 GIBRALTAR £6.05 KUWAIT KD3.00 NEW ZEALAND $14.00 ROMANIA LEI 42.00 SPAIN €6.50
ALBANIA €6.25 CZECH REP CZK180 GREECE €6.50 LATVIA €6.50 NIGERIA $3.40C SAUDI ARABIA SR35.00 SWEDEN SKR60
AUSTRALIA $11.00 DENMARK DKR49.95 HOLLAND €6.50 LEBANON LL10,000 NORWAY NKR45 SERBIA RSD1035 SWITZERLAND CHF8.90
AUSTRIA €8.30 DUBAI DH35 HONG KONG HK80 LITHUANIA €8.99 OMAN OR 3.250 S LEONE SLL30,000 UK £4.95
BAHRAIN BD3.5 EGYPT E£ 65.00 HUNGARY FT1,800 LUXEMBOURG €6.25 POLAND PLN28 SINGAPORE $11.95 US $9.99
BELGIUM €6.50 FINLAND €7.60 IRELAND €6.25 MALTA €6.50 PORTUGAL €6.50 SLOVAKIA €6.50 ZIMBABWE ZWD4.00
CHINA RM80 FRANCE €6.50 ISRAEL NIS35 MONTENEGRO €8.30 QATAR QR65 SLOVENIA €8.50
CROATIA HKR70 GERMANY €6.80 ITALY €6.50 MOROCCO MDH70 MALAYSIA RM27.90 SOUTH AFRICA R55.00

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INTERNATIONAL EDITION

AUGUST 20, 2021 _ VOL.177 _ NO.05

0$'6 3(5&+ʔ*(77< WHERE CREDIT IS DUE FEATURES 34
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Black artists are seeking
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3KRWR RI ;L E\ (PPDQXHOH &RQWLQL 1XU3KRWR *HWW\ of doing business in China.
Plus: An exclusive interview BY DANYA HAJJAJI
For more headlines, go to with Japan’s Yoshihide Suga.
NEWSWEEK.COM
BY BILL POWELL

1

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AUGUST 2 , 21 _ V L.177 _ NO.05 '(387< (',725ʝ,1ʝ&+,() _ Diane Harris

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In Focus ',*,7$/ ',5(&725 _ Laura Davis

06 Tokyo P. 46 86 1(:6 ',5(&725 _ Juliana Pignataro
Just Did It
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08 Amta, India
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PUBLISHED BY

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1971 Gloria Steinem was dubbed “The New Woman” by Newsweek for
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film The Glorias based on her autobiography My Life on the Road.

1969

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2009 1(:6:((. $5&+,9( ʤ ʥ

4 NEWSWEEK.COM “Even if E.T. exists off the silver screen,
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AUGUST 20, 2021

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In Focus T H E N E W S I N P I C T U R E S

TOKYO

Just Did It

After a grueling men’s decathlon, the event’s winners posed in the Olympic Stadium on August
5, with other participants. Left to right, in the rings: silver medalist Kevin Mayer of France, gold
medalist Damian Warner of Canada and bronze medalist Ashley Moloney of Australia. Warner scored
9,018 points, making him the first athlete to break the 9,000-point barrier at the Olympics.

6 NEWSWEEK.COM August 20, 2021

ANTONIN THUILLIER/AFP/GETTY

AMTA, INDIA GREENVILLE, CALIFORNIA BANGKOK

No Relief Conflagration Flash Point

People wade through Dozens of burned vehicles sit On August 7, protesters clash with
waterlogged streets on August in heavy smoke from the Dixie police during a demonstration
5. Flooding has not let up from Fire on August 6. The fire, which demanding government accountability
heavy rainfall during monsoon razed the Gold Rush town of for failure to contain the COVID-19
season, which has caused Greenville, continues to rage outbreak. Nationwide, only about
widespread destruction and through northern California one in five has received a single dose
created added challenges as and has burned over 489,000 of the vaccine, and the infection and
India struggles to vaccinate its acres since it erupted in mid- death rates from the virus are at their
population against COVID-19. July, according to CalFire. highest since the pandemic began.

→ DIBYANGSHU SARKAR → JOSH EDELSON → LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA

8 NEWSWEEK.COM August 20, 2021

CLO CKWISE FROM LEFT: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/GET TY; JOSH EDELSON/AFP/GET TY; LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/GET TY

NEWSWEEK.COM

9

Periscope N E W S , O P I N I O N + A N A L Y S I S

MASTER YOUR AuguSt 20, 2021
OWN DESTINY
Nearly 25 percent
more people filed
for IRS employer
I.D. numbers in 2020
than the previous
year—but success
as an entrepreneur
isn’t a sure thing.

10 N E W S W E E K . C O M

“Somehow I managed to keep my cool.” »P.14

ENTREPRENEURS

Do You Have
What It Takes

to Run Your
Own Business?

+HUHŠV KRZ WR ɿJXUH RXW LI \RXŠYH JRW WKH ULJKW VWXII WR VXFFHHG

the covid-19 pandemic has obviously over the years, it’s curiosity. Entrepreneurs have the

been bad for a lot of things. But it might end drive to solve problems. Not because they have the

up being a good thing for entrepreneurship. For answer, but because they want to find out the answer.

instance, it has forced many folks to rethink their In 2001, for instance, I decided to take a break

careers. In 2020, per Bloomberg citing IRS num- from my role in tech at AOL. It was time to figure

bers, 4.3 million people applied for employer I.D. out what was next. But I also had some health is-

numbers, up nearly 25 percent over 2019. sues that I wanted to solve and part of the solution

But like anything—and especially going into was coming up with new, healthier drinks. So one

*(7 7< 723 5,*+7 $17+21< '(9/,1ʔ3$ ,0$*(6ʔ*(7 7< business for yourself—there are things to consid- day, while looking at all the indecipherable ingre-

er before taking the plunge. Success, after all, is far dients on my diet soda can, I decided to make the

from a sure thing. History and the U.S. Bureau of switch to water. Quitting 20 years of Diet Coke

Labor Statistics tell us that about 20 percent of wasn’t easy, but the hardest part was I didn’t like

those new pandemic-era businesses will fail with- the taste of plain water. I solved that by adding

in the first two years. The first five years? About 45 different fruit essences I had created that didn’t

percent of those businesses won’t make the cut. have any sweeteners in them to make the water

So, what does it take to make it? To get to the that much more interesting. And it did.

promised land? Here are some of the But here’s where the “curious” part

traits of successful entrepreneurs. kicked in: Why wasn’t there a product

Curiosity BY making water taste better without
sweeteners or preservatives to date?
if there’s one inherent trait in KARA GOLDIN Why was everything sweetened? Even
almost every entrepreneur I’ve met the things that seemed healthier like
@karagoldin

Photo-illustrations by C .J. BU RT ON NEWSWEEK.COM 11

Periscope ENTREPRENEURS

my “diet” soda? I definitely had fears and doubts But it doesn’t stop with your own
I didn’t realize it immediately, but I about whether or not I could do what doubts for sure. You also have to over-
I was setting out to do, but decided I come the doubts others have that you
soon was combining my search for a needed to face those fears and doubts can actually accomplish what you are
new career with my curiosity about a too if I had any hope of getting this setting out to do. For instance, there
healthier drink. Some 18 months later, idea, and company, off the ground. was no shortage of opinions from
my product Hint hit the shelves of my Instead of being obsessed with the friends and family when I started Hint.
local Whole Foods in San Francisco. big picture, I focused on each step— And so often, especially in the begin-
Of course, the journey wasn’t all that one by one—on the road to ultimate- ning, their opinions matter a lot. But
simple or easy. All along, my quest to ly launch Hint. First: how to bottle I found that the ability, and the will,
satisfy my curiosity about an indus- this drink I’d concocted in my kitch- to compartmentalize their advice and
try I initially knew nothing about was en. Then, how to get Hint on to the take it for what it is worth is the best
helping me overcome countless road- shelves at my local Whole Foods. Then, strategy.
blocks. And that curiosity would soon when I knew that I had traction, how
lead to developing not only a new to get this product on shelves, and Remember this: friends and family
product and company, but also an eventually online, for all to buy ev- mostly just want to help you prevent
entirely new category in the crowded erywhere. Each victory, each success, any failures or risk. What they don’t
beverage industry. gave me the confidence to overcome pause to think about is that the abili-
my doubts and second thoughts. ty to take risks is what often separates
Doubt Conquering successful entrepreneurs from the
“cUonndsuermstearnadnidngthyeoiur r pack. Sometimes, the best of friends
EvEry EntrEprEnEur wondErs ‘ywohuyr’pforordeuncgtaigsincrgitwicitahl.” and family with great intentions just
whether they have enough experi- don’t get that.
ence to take on the challenges of
starting a business. When I launched Consumer Obsessed
Hint back in 2005, I had no experi-
ence in the beverage industry. And whEthEr you’rE launching a
while I had worked for incredible service or a physical product, the key
entrepreneurs and start-ups, this was to scaling your business is knowing
the first one that I was founding. your consumer. Really understanding
what their needs are. What makes
them tick. RIGHT: COURTESY KARA GOLDIN

The best entrepreneurs are the ones
who are constantly watching consum-
ers. Or if you are like me, spending
hours lurking in the beverage aisle
of supermarkets and talking to shop-
pers or reading Hint customer service
emails. It’s those critical conversations
with consumers that allow entrepre-
neurs to really see things from the
consumer point of view.

I remember hearing from a Hint
customer that first week of launch. He
had purchased Hint and was excited
to reach out via our customer service
email that we had put on our bottle.

START SMALL AND BUILD UP CEO
Goldin says “I focused on each step—one
by one—on the road to ultimately launch.”

AuguSt 20, 2021

What he might not have realized was ing stories about how a product like CURIOUSITY CREATED
that the recipient of his email, given Hint has helped various consumers THE MOUSETRAP
we were a very small company at the is key. And we have found when you Goldin turned her desire for a healthier
time, was me! share those stories with a broader drink into a successful business selling
audience, the consumer shares your flavored beverages at chains nationwide.
He told me that he had been look- message, too. Understanding your
ing for an unsweetened beverage that consumer and their “why” for engag- 40 percent of our total revenue now
tasted good because he was trying to ing with your product is critical. going away (and within 2 weeks), this
manage his Type 2 diabetes. He ex- jolt presented a big challenge for us to
plained that although he was healthy Learning From Mistakes overcome.
overall, he felt that his diabetes was
triggered by diet sweeteners. (Under- in 2010, hint was fortunatE What did I learn from that?
stand that 16 years ago, only about 1.5 enough to strike a partnership with Don’t put too many eggs in one
percent of the U.S. population know- Starbucks to be in all of the Starbucks basket. Too much business with one
ingly had Type 2 diabetes, while today cases nationwide. Unfortunately, af- retailer, in our case Starbucks, was
the CDC says that 40 to 45 percent of ter a successful 18-month run exceed- terrific while it was there, but when
the U.S. population has Type 2 or Pre ing our sales goals threefold, that it went away, it hurt. And when they
Type 2). relationship came to a halt. Within made a decision to discontinue us, we
months of being in the cold cases of were left holding the eggs.
With this conversation, I saw the over 7,000 Starbucks stores, a deci- Something else I realized from
possibility of how the product that I sion to replace Hint with higher-mar- this experience: Not having a direct
created COULD also help people who gin food items like sandwiches forced relationship with the consumer,
had chronic health issues—Type 2 dia- Hint out of the mix. One day, we were which we now have through our
betes and others. Knowing what prob- on cloud nine with our success with direct-to-consumer business, left us
lems you are solving for, even if they them, and the next, witnessing our vulnerable. When Starbucks discon-
aren’t your own, is key. And having a demise. tinued us, we had no way to com-
way for customers to communicate municate with the consumer that
with you who are interested in engag- The hardest part was recognizing we were available at other outlets or
ing with your brand is critical. that we had put all of our focus into online. Those consumers who loved
making sure that this partnership our Blackberry Hint, the only flavor
Conversations like the one I had with Starbucks worked, instead of Starbucks carried, didn’t know where
with this customer early on definitely focusing on making sure that we to find us once we were gone. Thank-
informed how I communicate with had other new business should that fully, many who had been purchasing
our consumers. While not everyone business with Starbucks end. With at Starbucks soon found us through
may have the same health issues, shar- Amazon and then our own site at
drinkhint.com, as well as retailers
which soon started to grow, but had
we had a direct connection then with
our customers, it might have been
faster. And today, direct to consumer
is almost half of our overall sales for
the company.
Lesson learned!

→ Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of
Hint, Inc., best known for its award-win-
ning Hint unsweetened flavored water.
Her first book, undauntEd: ovErcom-
ing doubts and doubtErs, was re-
leased October 2020 and is now a wsJ
and Amazon Best Seller.

NEWSWEEK.COM 13

Periscope

MY TURN I’ve never been as nervous mainly sees gymnastics every four

JMusot‘rTewTihstaines’ in my life as the day in 2019 I years, and you see the best of the
An Olympic gymnast
says she and her fellow competed to qualify for the Tokyo best in their sparkly leotards. It
athletes face a lot of challenges
Olympic Games. Somehow I man- looks very easy at that point. But
in the sport that men don’t
aged to keep my cool and when it was getting to that place has taken a lot

officially announced that I would be of strength and determination, men-

representing Jamaica in gymnastics, tally as well as physically. When I got

it was the best feeling. to Tokyo, I was train-

I was able to finally see ing with girls from

my name on that list of B Y all different countries
qualifiers after years of and the main feeling

hard work. DANUSIA FRANCIS was one of gratitude to

The general public @danusiafrancis be there. Everyone was

14 N E W S W E E K . C O M AuguSt 20, 2021

main“lTyhseeegsengeyrmanl paustbilcics land. It’s so scary. When you’re lost German women’s gymnastics team
vyeoeruyvbeeesrsealyetesfoiytnothauatethrrtdbeyhsieear.satsItrtppsoloao,fariotnknhktldesy.” in the air, sheer panic goes through wearing full-body suits before the
your whole body. I’ve definitely had Olympics, in the 2021 European
so supportive of each other. it. Sometimes you get them so badly Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Simone Biles and the U.S. team they stick with you, and if it’s hap- in April. Although my immediate
pening during actual routine skills reaction was that it was very cool,
were in my subdivision so we were on competition surfaces it becomes I then wondered if they had been
training with them every day. Her seriously dangerous. deducted points for wearing them.
training was incredible leading up When it was revealed that wearing
to qualification. She’s unbelievable. Simone went on to win a bronze full-body suits is in the rule book
That’s the closest I’ve been to her medal on the balance beam. But if and completely allowed, my reac-
gymnastics and your jaw is on the she hadn’t competed again at the tion was, “Wow, why didn’t I know
floor when you watch her. How- Olympics, she would have made about this?”
ever, you can see during her vault in just as big a statement. She put her
the team final that she got lost and mental health and her safety first. To When it comes to sexism and
she’s so lucky that she’s so innately sacrifice those medals and put her what gymnasts are allowed to wear,
spatially aware and strong that she mental health first is a huge state- the men can wear their longs and
didn’t hurt herself. ment. Hopefully, governing bodies, shorts and cover up a bit more. But
with Simone’s voice, can take men- it was like this unwritten rule that
I left after competing in the tal health in gymnastics a lot more we had to wear leotards. And obvi-
uneven bars on July 25 because I seriously now. ously we know now we are allowed
tore my ACL, but I can’t imagine to cover up as well because the Ger-
how much that shook her up in that We also have issues with body man women’s team brought that to
moment, being unsure if that was image in gymnastics. I first saw the people’s attention, but I didn’t know
going to happen again and poten- that was in the rule book and I have
tially get a low score and take the TAKING FLIGHT Opposite: The been a gymnast for years.
team out of medals. Also there’s the U.S.’ Simone Biles on her way to a
risk of injury. There are some people bronze medal on the balance beam in Even though I am personally
out there calling her a quitter and Tokyo on August 3. Below: Jamaican quite happy in a leotard, for me it’s
saying that it’s a team competition Olympic gymnast Danusia Francis. amazing for the German gymnasts to
and why did she “quit.” That is not keep showing that there is a choice.
FROM LEFT: JAMIE SQUIRE/GET TY; NAOMI BAKER/GET TY what she did. She made the best deci- They’re showing the world, the gym-
sion for the team and then she came nastics world and young gymnasts
back out and was cheering them all that you can choose what you want
on and getting them chalk. to wear.

She has since revealed she had I also hate to be on my period
“the twisties,” which is when you during a competition, because
are getting lost in your twist, you there is that fear of your tampon
don’t know how many times you’re string hanging out of that thin bit
going to go round, you lose where of material. So I would use, and do
the ceiling and floor are and you use, my birth control pills during
don’t know where you are going to a competition to control that, and
make sure I’m not on my period.
Maybe, given the opportunity to
wear a full body suit before, I would
have just accepted my period and
worn something different. I doubt
men in gymnastics are aware of this.
I would hate to prejudge them, but it
would be good for men to have a bit
more education around the subject.

NEWSWEEK.COM 15

Periscope MY TURN

COVERED From left: the U.S.’ Brody
Malone, Shane Wiskus and Yul Moldauer.
Male gymnasts have had more latitude
in what they wear than women.

If you do have a male coach, they “finWactoeemrmmeosnroeinfpbgryoemdssynuiamrsetaigces health. If there were more psycholo- HARRY HOW/GETTY
need to broach these topics, so they ylcaeoonoundttahtrhraidbevue1pt0teeo0rscwpteoeepatrthcrioeaannt.t” gists involved from a governing body
know the right language and to be level that were able to help at a club
sensitive. someone out there in the public will level then I think we’d be able to see
say you don’t look good. Even though more healthy gymnasts.
Women in gymnastics face more you’re probably 10 percent body fat
pressure in terms of body image, and and in the shape of your life. Of course, it was devastating to
the perception you have to wear a hear the news that I had torn my
leotard 100 percent contributes to Women are conscious of that and ACL while in Tokyo, but I wanted
that. You’re training every day and for some that don’t have such thick to have my Olympic moment and
you’re in a leotard a lot of the time. I skin, that can lead to eating disor- I was able to. I remember after my
remember when I went to UCLA and ders. I know it happens in gymnas- warm up for the uneven bars I was
we had training tops instead; they tics. Some friends of mine have left still feeling a little sorry for myself,
are a little looser, and so on those the sport and been able to admit that so I was talking to some of the girls
days where you feel a bit bloated or they have had an eating disorder. who were getting ready for the next
aren’t feeling yourself, you’re more That’s something that needs to be round. I spoke with Simone and was
covered up. I’ve never trained in a addressed along with psychological sharing my disappointment. She told
leotard since, apart from when I go me that whatever I did up there, I
to big events. When you’re going to would still be an Olympian. Hearing
compete and you know you’re in a that from her and Canadian gymnast
leotard, you know someone is going Ellie Black, who gave me very simi-
to say something. Not necessarily to lar words of encouragement, really
you, but their eyes aren’t just on your touched me.
gymnastics, they’re also on what you
look like. With women, everyone I had some nerves, but I was able
has such different body shapes, and to smile all the way through my 11
seconds. There was a delay in our
group so I was the last one up, and I
heard all the gymnasts from around
the arena cheering for me. It hon-
estly meant the world to me.

The Commonwealth Games are
coming up in 2022, and hopefully I
can have my friends and family sup-
porting me there. To be able to finish
up in gymnastics in front of every-
one I love, in the Jamaican colors at
a big event would be such a fairytale
ending to my career.

→ Danusia Francis is a British-Jamaican
Olympic gymnast, stuntwoman, gym-
nastics coach and choreographer. You
can follow her on Instagram. All views
expressed in this article are the author’s
own. As told to Jenny Haward.

16 N E W S W E E K . C O M AuguSt 20, 2021



Periscope

Has Climate no scientific debate about the fact that
Change Reached the buildup of greenhouse gases in
A Crisis Point? our atmosphere is causing dangerous
climate change.
Some voices in the political and economic
argument over climate change warn there is little time So what would drive some people to
deny an overwhelming body of science
left to act, but others call those fears overblown that tells us we are headed in a really
dangerous direction?
CLIMATE CHANGE IS
THE BIG GEST THREAT We have a body of science that has
WE’RE FACING—PERIOD. begun answering that question. There
are a few answers, but in general, what
by Heather Goldstone seems to motivate this denial is that
when information conflicts with a
an emergency is an urgent last 10,000 years, at the evolution of deeply held worldview, values or beliefs 7 + ( 6 $ 0 3 + 272 * 5 $ 3 + <ʔ* ( 7 7 <
life-threatening situation that is agriculture, at the entire development we will often reject that information.
actionable. If you have an extreme of civilization, that has all taken place
threat and it’s completely unactionable, in a time of remarkable climate stabil- When we talk to climate scientists
it’s not an emergency. It’s just a trag- ity. It’s that stability that has made it there is no question that human beings
edy. That’s a really important distinc- possible for civilization and the societ- are causing dangerous climate change.
tion when it comes to climate change, ies we know to develop. This conclusion has been come to over
which is an actionable emergency. and over in large consensus reports in
Recently, a group of about 14,000 sci- The fact that we are now so far out- individual studies. Does that mean we
entists published a signed re-declara- side the bounds of anything we’ve seen know every single thing about climate
tion that we’re in a climate emergency. in the course of human evolution is an change? Absolutely not, and nobody’s
emergency. It’s cause for huge concern. claiming that. But we certainly know
There is extensive science that levels enough to know that we are in the
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere Carbon dioxide has always been in midst of an emergency and that we
are completely unprecedented. Car- the atmosphere and it’s an incredibly need to act urgently and dramatically
bon dioxide levels have not been this important part of our planet that we to respond to it.
high in over 800,000 years. Modern have had this warming layer. What’s
humans have been around for a little really critical here is to realize that It’s a false dichotomy that we have to
bit less than half that. If you look at the you can cherry-pick specific statistics choose between a healthy environment
to support an argument, but there is and a healthy economy. The science
tells us a healthy environment is the
18 N E W S W E E K . C O M underpinning of a healthy economy.

At Woodwell Climate Research Cen-
ter, we’ve been working with McKinsey
and Company, and our work is show-
ing that climate change poses material
risks to economic prosperity. Invest-
ments in green energy, in renewable
energy, in the kinds of changes that we
need to make, actually earn back more
than you invest in them.

Ơ Heather Goldstone is the chief
communications officer of the Wood-
well Climate Research Center. The
views in this article, adapted from a
transcript of The Debate podcast,
are the writer’s own.

AUGUST 20, 2021

“The fact that
bohuiutsnihhfnmadwIaauttnsr’aethgsoeonweeaaumfrececcatevo’oesanvonniruueydglocrsuteseswehetenetriifohensncoonnoegy.rf”.

NEWSWEEK.COM 19

Periscope

oYnofuucwllcwliawmnp.aontltdehiecwesas-ctswdheteeanebndtkageo.tebcetahohtemeer/e: AUGUST 20, 2021

20 N E W S W E E K . C O M

THE DEBATE

YES, THE CLIMATE IS be the first one cheering them on.
CHANGING. NO, IT’S China emits 30 percent of the
NOT AN EMERGENCY
world’s carbon dioxide emissions;
by James Taylor the United States admits 14 per-
cent. Since the turn of the century,
67(33(8$ʔ*(77< for the vast majority of the time low confidence of any negative the United States has reduced our
that human civilization has existed, observed impacts between global emissions by 14 percent, whereas
temperatures have been signifi- warming and severe weather events. the rest of the world has increased
cantly warmer than today. More NASA satellites have measured its emissions by 66 percent. Which
than 30,000 scientists have signed a decline in global wildfires. We makes me wonder, why it is that
on to a paper saying that we’re not see beneficial impacts from more people say “The United States needs
facing a climate emergency. atmospheric carbon dioxide and to take action to get in line with the
warmer temperatures. rest of the world or is undermining
Throughout the history of the some global action,” when the rest
earth, a more normal level of car- It is very important to have of the world should be beating a
bon dioxide in the atmosphere has affordable and abundant energy; path to our door saying, “Hey, how
been about 1000 parts per million, that’s the lifeblood of any economy. do we do this?”
not the 420 ppm we see today. The There’s a reason why in virtually
fact that carbon dioxide levels every country in the world, new We’re doing it through the free
are so high, and yet compared to energy projects being built and market, we’re doing it through
over the past few 100 or few 1,000 being implemented are coal and technology, we’re doing it through
years, temperatures are lower than natural gas, primarily. I don’t think natural gas, that through economic
they’ve been throughout most of that the leaders in virtually every factors is replacing coal power.
human civilization, tells you that country in the world lack intelli-
carbon dioxide is not the control gence; I don’t think they’re stupid. The United States has the world’s
knob for global temperatures. There’s a reason why coal and natu- largest economy with the most
ral gas dominate energy production. gross domestic product, and yet
I believe humans may be play- If and when the day comes that China’s emissions are more than
ing some role in that warming. But wind power, solar power can com- twice ours. If we had completely
saying you know for sure—I think pete with coal and natural gas, I’ll eliminated our emissions at the
that’s really taking a leap of logic. turn of the century, global emis-
The American Meteorological Soci- “NASA satellites have sions would still be rising.
ety is the only scientific body in measured a decline in
the world whose full membership The United States has been reduc-
has been polled extensively on this JOREDO ZLOG˽UHV :H ing our emissions, and we will con-
issue. And when they are asked, VHH EHQH˽FLDO LPSDFWV tinue to do so. But if there’s going
“How concerned are you?” only 30 IURP PRUH DWPRVSKHULF to be some form of climate action,
percent say they are very concerned. I don’t believe that we should force
carbon dioxide and other nations to do so, because we’re
We know for a fact that the earth ZDUPHU WHPSHUDWXUHV Ť not facing a climate crisis. The focus
is greening; NASA satellites have should be on making sure that we
measured it. We also know for a are not hamstringing American con-
fact that crop production is setting sumers and American businesses by
records nearly every year in most self-inflicted economic wounds in
countries. According to the United the name of global warming when
Nations Intergovernmental Panel China and the rest of the world
on Climate Change, they have very don’t care and don’t act.

Ơ James Taylor is the president of the
Heartland Institute. The views in this
article, adapted from a transcript of The
Debate podcast, are the writer’s own.

NEWSWEEK.COM 21

Periscope

NEWSMAKERS

Talking Points

”Be Cool. “We’re not shutting “IT’S EASIER TO CANCEL
Get Vax'd” down. These SOMEONE THAN TO
interventions
—PAUL McCARTNEY FIND FORGIVENESS AND
have failed time COMPASSION IN OURSELVES
“NO MATTER and time again
THE OUTCOME, OR TAKE THE TIME TO
throughout CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS.
I'VE WON.” this pandemic,
not just in the THERE’S NO MORE ROOM
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on competing to be the but abroad. They
have not stopped KEEP SEEING PROGRESS!”
new host of jeopardy
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Miley Cyrus

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d g protesters,
ned y ouri —Senator Lindsey G am on eing
diagnosed with COVID

Ron DeSantis

AUG T 20, 2021

CANCER DOESN’T STOP.
NEITHER DO WE.

FOR ONE NIGHT. WE STAND TOGETHER.

SATURDAY 8/21
8 ET/7 CENTRAL

American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE, Amgen, Cless Family Foundation, Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Farrah Fawcett Foundation,
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Stand Up To Cancer is a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NEWSWEEK; XI BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA/BLOOMBERG/GETTY XISHO

W D O AS BEIJING
TIGHTENS

ITS CONTROL,
GLOBAL CEOS
WEIGH THE RISKS

OF DOING
BUSINESS IN CHINA

WN
by
BILL
POWELL

NEWSWEEK.COM 25

he national security agency got ministration took, and was the first significant PLAYERS, PAST &/2 &.:,6( )520 /()7 :$1* =+28ʔ*(7 7< '5(: $1*(5(5ʔ*(7 7< .,0,0$6$ 0$<$0$ʔ$)3ʔ*(7 7< *,/%(57 8=$1ʔ*$00$ʝ5$3+2ʔ*(7 7<
wind of the attack almost immediate- demonstration that the Biden administration
ly. A massive cyber hack was underway meant it when it said it would work closely with AND PRESENT
last month into Microsoft’s Exchange allies to respond to China’s economic predations. Top row, from left: Barack
email server, and within hours the Obama with Xi Jinping
NSA had determined where the assault In government offices in Tokyo and in European in 2016; Joe Biden, who
had originated: the People’s Republic capitals, the change was welcome. “Now, on cyber has pledged to work with
of China. The PRC had over the years repeatedly for- security, we will be working closely with the United allies to counter Beijing’s
sworn any intention to hack into U.S. corporate com- States, as well as other like-minded countries, to economic predation; and
puter systems and steal intellectual property. Pres- take countermeasures,” Japanese Prime Minister top Chinese diplomat Yang
ident Xi Jinping, in fact, had given Barack Obama Yoshihide Suga told Newsweek in an exclusive in- Jiechi, who has warned of
his word, in September 2015, that China would not terview during the Tokyo Olympics. “This is going crossing “red lines.” Below:
engage in commercial cyber espionage. to be a public-private effort. And in that, we’ll be Jimmy Carter with Deng
That had been a lie, and now the Biden White working closely with the United States.” Xiaoping, who reopened
House was fed up. While refraining, for the moment, China to the world in 1979.
to impose new sanctions against Beijing, it imme- For multinational companies, the ever increas-
diately contacted key allies, led by Japan, and asked ing tension between Beijing and its trading part-
them to join Washington in issuing a formal joint ners complicates the already-difficult challenge of
complaint to Beijing, which they did in late July. doing business in China. Given how intertwined
This marked a difference from the aggressively Tokyo’s economy is with China’s, Japanese compa-
unilateral approach on trade that the Trump ad- nies are very much in the crosshairs. Japan over
the past 30 years has poured $140 billion in direct
investment into China, compared to $110 billion

26 N E W S W E E K . C O M AUGUST 20, 2021

WORLD

CEOS ARE ACUTELY AWARE THAT from the U.S. Tokyo now trades more with China
AS THE GEOPOLITICAL ENVIRONMENT than with the United States, as does Washington’s
other key East Asian ally, South Korea.
WORSENS, ALL THE MONEY AND
EFFORT THEY PUT INTO BUILDING Ever since Deng Xiaoping reopened China to
the world in 1979, the country has seemed a prom-
THEIR BUSINESSES IN CH NA ised land for businessmen and women around the
COULD BE AT RISK world. First as a source of virtually limitless low-

wage labor with which to make
their products, then as a vast
market itself, the allure of the
China Dream was unmatched.

To some extent—as the trade
and investment statistics illus-
trate—that dream has been re-
alized. But now, with escalating
friction over trade and human
rights, doing business with Chi-
na is fraught. As the West squares
off with Beijing in the 21st centu-
ry’s version of the Cold War, mul-
tinational companies are caught
in the middle. As Matt Pottinger,
President Trump’s Deputy Na-
tional Security Adviser says, “the ideological dimen-
sion of the competition [between China and the
West] is inescapable, even central.” CEOs—in the
U.S., Japan and across the developed world—“need
to come to grips with how much the situation has
changed over the past few years and acknowledge
that those changes are almost certainly here to stay.”
This is the last place most CEOs ever thought
they would be. Many companies have invested
decades of time and millions of dollars setting up
business in China. Auto companies like Volkswa-
gen, Toyota and General Motors have joint ventures
producing cars all over the country. In 2013, China
became GM’s largest market, and it has remained
so ever since. Intel spent $2.5 billion on a new com-
puter chip factory in Dalian in northeast China.
More and more, those companies’ home govern-
ments are wondering whether those investments
were wise. And Beijing is pressuring them to behave.
When Biden assumed office, China waged a furious
lobbying campaign aimed at CEOs in the U.S. and
allied countries like Japan. Beijing urged them to
weigh in against Trump-era trade restrictions. In a
virtual meeting in February, Beijing’s top diplomat,
Yang Jiechi, told a group of American businessmen
and former government officials that China was

NEWSWEEK.COM 27

WORLD

still very much open for business, but warned that START YOUR ENGINES SEBASTIAN KAHNERT/PICTURE ALLIANCE/GETTY
issues like Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang (where thou- Volkswagen, Toyota and
sands of ethnic Uighurs are imprisoned) and Tai- General Motors are among
wan were “red lines” they must avoid. the foreign auto companies
with joint ventures to
As Pottinger said in a speech at Stanford’s produce vehicles in China.
Hoover Institution in late March, “Beijing’s mes- Here, a VW factory in
sage was unmistakable: You must choose. If you Dresden, Germany.
want to do business in China, it must be at the ex-
pense of American values.” AuGuSt 20, 2021

U.S. allies heard the message as well. Many multi-
nationals have already seen their businesses suffer
as trade conflict ratcheted up. European power-
house Ericsson AB, the second largest maker of cel-
lular equipment in the world, said in mid-July that
its sales in China had plunged, and warned that its
market share there would likely diminish sharply
in the coming months. The reason? Sweden late last
year banned China’s Huawei from the country’s
build-out of its 5G telecommunications network.

Multinational companies in every industry do-
ing business in China are acutely aware that as the
geopolitical environment worsens, all the money
and effort they have put into building their busi-
nesses there could be at risk. In a recent, candid in-
terview with Newsweek, Takeshi Niinami, the chief
executive officer of Suntory, the Tokyo-based beer
and spirits maker, said when weighing the risks of
expanding the company’s business in China, he and
his team of senior executives must confront the
possibility of a worst-case scenario: confiscation.

“We have to decide whether to expand production
facilities or not in China,” Niinami says. “Should
we invest more knowing that the possibility of con-
fiscation [exists]? Do we take the risk or not—and
to what extent? If it’s a 10 billion [yen investment],
maybe not. Five billion? Probably. So we have to
judge to what extent we can tolerate confiscation.”

Global CEOs are rarely so blunt when discussing
their business in China, but Suntory’s risk analysis is
rooted in reality. Beijing already has a record of pun-
ishing companies from countries who make decisions
it disapproves of. In early 2017, giant South Korea re-
tailer Lotte agreed to give land it owned to the Seoul
government so that the U.S. could build a missile de-
fense system aimed at deterring North Korea. Beijing
insisted that the system’s radar could also track its
own military flights, and launched an economic war
against the giant South Korean retailer. For months
it shuttered Lotte’s 10 stores across the country and

28 N E W S W E E K . C O M

NEWSWEEK.COM 29

WORLD

disrupted its duty free shopping website—costing the back supply chains long ago offshored to China. COST OF BUSINESS
company nearly $200 million in sales. Prime Minister Suga was ahead of the U.S. presi- Below: South Korean
retailer Lotte lost nearly
For countries like Japan and other developed econ- dent. Last year, Tokyo announced that it would de- $200 million in sales when
omies, there are two primary concerns facing them vote $650 million in subsidies to help 87 companies its 10 stores in China
and their companies. One is the increasing techno-na- move manufacturing out of China to either south- were closed during a
tional competition between Beijing and the West. In east Asia or back to Japan. Some analysts heralded dispute with Beijing. Right:
2015, China issued an ambitious plan to develop the announcement as the commencement of a great Factoring in the possibility
leading companies in a wide array of high tech indus- “decoupling” of the Japanese economy from China’s. RI FRQɿVFDWLRQ LV SDUW RI
tries—from biotechnology to robotics to telecommu- the calculus for foreign
nications and beyond. Among its goals is to have 70 It wasn’t. As Scott Kennedy, a senior fellow at the companies operating
percent of the components used in its own high tech Center for Strategic and International Studies, a in China, says Takeshi
industries be sourced domestically. And by 2049—the Washington, D.C., think tank, points out, “a perus- Niinami, CEO of Japanese
100th anniversary of the Communist Party coming to al of the list of companies receiving aid are small liquor maker Suntory.
power in Beijing—it seeks to have world class com- and medium-sized enterprises, not major Japanese
manufacturers with extensive investments in China.”

“IF YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS IN CHINA,
IT MUST BE AT THE EXPENSE OF

AMERICAN VALUES.”

petitors in no less than 14 key high tech industries.
For an industrially sophisticated, high tech na-

tion like Japan, China 2025 presents a big problem.
CEOs like Niinami of Suntory can continue to invest
in China in pursuit of 1.3 billion customers, know-
ing that its business isn’t targeted by Chinese eco-
nomic planners. “But not technology companies,”
Niinami told Newsweek. Companies like Fanuc in in-
dustrial robotics, or Toshiba and Fujitsu in artificial
intelligence, can no longer look at China as an or-
dinary market. High tech companies “have to view
Beijing as a predator, and protect their intellectual
property at all costs,” says a former board member
at Nissan, the Tokyo-based automaker, who request-
ed anonymity in order to speak candidly.

The other driver of corporate investment deci-
sions is the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,
which originated in China and showed multina-
tional companies across the world just how vulner-
able their supply chains are. In mid-June the Biden
administration completed its 100-day review of
U.S. supply-chain vulnerabilities. The results were
eye-opening and, for a lot of companies, depressing.
The review called for sweeping changes in how the
government interacts with private companies, of-
fers subsidies to a range of high tech industries (just
as Beijing does) and presses companies to bring

30 N E W S W E E K . C O M AUGUST 20, 2021

Shanghai for the equivalent of a couple of bucks. Mic-
rosoft kept accepting Beijing’s assurances that things
would get better, and right up to this day has kept in-
vesting. Less than one month before the July cyberat-
tack against its Exchange system, Bloomberg and oth-
er news agencies reported that Microsoft intended
to invest billions of dollars in four new massive data
centers in China, in the hopes of capturing Chinese
businesses moving to store their data in the cloud.

FROM TOP: NORIKO HAYASHI/BLO OMBERG/GET T Y; SHIHO FUKADA/BLO OMBERG/GET TY; ZHANG PENG/LIGHTRO CKET/GET TY Moreover, a substantial portion of them are in two What Happens Now?
sectors—medical equipment and specialty chemi-
cals—which were in high demand during the pan- For multiNatioNal compaNieS aNd goverN-
demic. Altogether, the Suga subsidy program affects ments alike, the Microsoft news this summer neat-
just 1 percent of total Japanese investment in China. ly captured the dilemma of dealing with Beijing.
Reconciling the economic opportunity China still
Balancing an economic relationship with China presents with the present dangers it poses will be
against a worsening geopolitical climate is a deli- a critical task for years to come. As Suntory’s CEO
cate, complicated business. For major companies Niinami suggests, companies producing run-of-
across the globe, the China dream—a huge, pros- the-mill consumer goods can relax because noth-
perous country with a massive middle class snap- ing much about their China business will change
ping up their wares—dies hard. (aside from the fact that their competitors contin-
ually become more formidable).
Consider the case of Microsoft. If the Biden admin-
istration was angry over China’s cyberattack against But technology companies, particularly those
the tech behemoth, Microsoft’s management was em- that Beijing singles out in its Made in China 2025
barrassed. The company over the years has endured program, are in for a rough ride. For them, Deng
Chinese abuse and constantly come back for more. Xiaoping’s famous mantra of “reform and opening”
For years, you could buy pirated versions of Micro- has been replaced by “reform and closing,” says
soft’s Windows computer operating system and pro- James McGregor, the former head of the American
grams like Word from street vendors in Beijing and Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, now Greater Chi-
na Chairman for consulting firm APCO Worldwide.
The computer chip industry, McGregor says, is “at
the top of the list of America’s threatened indus-
tries.” American chip makers are going to have to
re-evaluate their China presence, and confront the
likelihood that the huge and lucrative market will be
controlled by domestic competitors in the coming
decades.

That is likely to be true in a number of other
businesses, from machine tools and robotics to new
energy materials. Beijing seeks to dominate these
industries. The task for multinationals and their
home governments going forward will be to play
defense to the greatest extent possible: push back
against intellectual property theft as vigorously as
possible to force Beijing to achieve its ambitious
economic goals on its own.

For CEOS across the globe, that is hardly the
stuff of which China Dreams are made. But it is
the bleak reality confronting them now.

NEWSWEEK.COM 31

EXCLUSIVE

CAN
ANYONE MAKE CHINA

PLAY BY THE RULES?

The global economy depends on Tokyo and Washington
coordinating their defense against
cyber and trade threats, says Prime Minister Suga

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FLWL]HQV KDYH EHHQ YHU\ LPSUHVVHG so that we can establish new tech- ties as a great power. That will be
and inspired by the power of nologies to commercialize them. And important not only for the Japanese
sport with the great performances by taking these measures, we’re ex- HFRQRP\ EXW IRU WKH GHYHORSPHQW
demonstrated by the athletes. pecting an economic effect and the of the world economy as well.
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on TV, and we’re not hearing so to do is to establish a digital agency States, as well as other like-minded
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priorities going forward: DQG YDULRXV LVVXHV KDYH FRPH LQWR dination with the United States,
sharp relief after the start of the
Ơ (YHU VLQFH , DVVXPHG WKH RIɿFH pandemic. We thought that unless AUGUST 20, 2021
of prime minister, deregulation has we start digitalization broadly now,
been one of my highest priorities. we won’t be able to change Japan.
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became prime minister I decided on
the target of going carbon neutral

32 N E W S W E E K . C O M

ZHŠG OLNH WR PDNH XVH RI KLJK OHYHO On the move to subsidize On whether he would like to
opportunities. We will also contin- some Japanese companies to see the U.S. rejoin the
ue our communication with China relocate supply chains Trans Pacific Partnership,
WR UHVROYH LVVXHV RQH E\ RQH DQG out of China and either back which the Obama administration
we will be asserting our position to Japan or southeast Asia: originally proposed:
where we must. That is how we
need to work on these issues. Ơ Well, stable supply chains are Ơ ,W ZDV YHU\ UHJUHWWDEOH WKDW WKH
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encouraging companies to relocate And we see other countries wanting
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technology. So when it comes to DV GLYHUVLI\LQJ WKHLU VXSSO\ FKDLQV LPSRUWDQW WR KDYH PDQ\ FRXQWULHV
these matters of concern in the from China to ASEAN countries. join TPP because expanding free
international community, and [there trade is extremely important in our
DUH@ GLIIHUHQFHV RI YLHZV ZH KDYH WR On the potential vulnerability YLHZ $QG WKLV \HDU ZHŠOO EH VHUYLQJ
work with the United States based of Okinawa in the event of DV WKH FKDLU RI *'3 LQ RUGHU WR >SUR-
on our relationship of trust. To try to conflict between the mote] free and fair trade. Honestly
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portant for us to coordinate between rejoin TPP but I also do understand
allies and like-minded countries, Ơ 2NLQDZDQ SHRSOH DUH REYLRXVO\ WKDW WKHUH DUH GLIɿFXOWLHV LQYROYHG
especially in areas such as cyberat- Japanese citizens. So it is quite a
tack and security. We need to work matter of course that we should On what persuaded him to go
in coordination with each other to defend Okinawa. There are many ahead with the Olympics,
DGGUHVV WKHVH LVVXHV LQYROYLQJ &KLQD U.S. bases in Okinawa, and based on and his favorite moment of
this alliance between Japan and the the Games so far:
United States, [we must] make sure
that Okinawa will be protected. And Ơ In this world when we are faced
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getting tougher now, and to protect
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including domains such as space, So, based on this spirit, I decided
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trum, in all of these domains, we
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capabilities to increase our defense WKLV QHZ HYHQW VNDWHERDUGLQJ ERWK
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necessary defense spending. So petition [Japan] won gold medals.
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necessary defense spending will be that was considered a minor sport
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an approach to defense spending of woman who won the gold medal
NHHSLQJ LW ZLWKLQ SHUFHQW RI *'3 ZDV RQO\ \HDUV ROG 7KH \RXQJ-
HVW JROG PHGDOLVW LQ WKH *DPHV

NEWSWEEK.COM 33

SOURCE IMAGES: GETTY (2)

34 N E W S W E E K . C O M AuguSt 20, 2021

→ Many of the hottest viral stars are white people who
got famous doing dances by created Black performers.

Now the originators want credit and payment for their work

TikTok’s BlackCreators

BFIAG KTbyDanyaHajjaji

Photo illustration by M ICH A EL BE S SI R E NEWSWEEK.COM 35

ONLINE

ate last month 10 young event would later be viewed by millions on TikTok. INFLUENCERS
dancers and choreographers The NBA’s endeavor to capitalize on TikTok, Clockwise from right:
of color were being honored at a dinner in Los An- Choreographer JaQuel
geles hosted by the JaQuel Knight Foundation and though, met with backlash. The D’Amelio sisters Knight (far left) with
Logitech. Knight is the choreographer behind Be- and Easterling owe their celebrity to viral dance young dancers; “The
yoncé’s “Single Ladies” and Cardi B and Megan Thee routines, a significant portion of which were cre- Git Up” dance creator
Stallion’s “WAP” videos, among others. Logitech is a ated by Black creators. The NBA hastily extended a Ajani Huff; Shaquille
maker of cameras and other computer peripherals. last-minute invitation to Jalaiah Harmon, then 14, O’Neal has danced on
The honorees—among them TikTok dance cre- to perform the “Renegade” dance she had created TikTok; and Charli (left)
ators Keara Wilson (the “Savage” dance), Young Deji to K Camp’s song “Lottery” at the All-Star Game. Har- and Dixie D’Amelio.
(“The Woah” dance), Mya Johnson and Chris Cot- mon had just been profiled by The New York Times
ter (the “Up” dance) and Shayné and Zhané Stanley which held up the teenager’s infectious choreogra-
(the “Savage Remix” dance)—were surprised by the phy as a prominent example of Black creators going
announcement at the dinner that the star choreog-
rapher and the tech company were offering to help
each of them secure copyrights for their dances.
The move was the latest in a long struggle by
Black artists for recognition and payment, often
after their work is adopted by white performers. A
current battleground for this fight is TikTok.
TikTok has grown to at least 700 million month-
ly active users and hosts a huge amount of video
content. Since the app’s inception, though, dance
has been its reigning art form. Some of the biggest
TikTok influencers are white performers who got
famous doing dances created by Black dancers.
In June, appropriation-weary TikTokers launched
a #BlackTikTokStrike. When Megan Thee Stal-
lion’s “Thot Shit” was released, many of the cre-
ators who normally would have posted their own
dances to the song didn’t and urged others not to
as well. Some of the awkward routines that did
appear were mocked. By not making new dances
to a trending song, Black creators deprived Tik-
Tok of one of its biggest engines for popular new
content. A TikTok spokesperson told The Holly-
wood Reporter, “We recognize and value the im-
pact that Black creators continue to have on our
platform and across culture and entertainment.
We’re committed to investing in resources and
building technology that address their concerns.”

Uncredited on All-Star Weekend

at 2020’s nba all-star weekend, white tiktok
influencers Charli D’Amelio, her older sister Dixie
and Addison Rae Easterling, bopped energetical-
ly, doing popular dances alongside NBA players on
the glimmering court of Chicago’s United Center
before a constellation of cameras. Footage of the

36 N E W S W E E K . C O M AUGUST 20, 2021

&/2&.:,6( )520 /()7 *27+$0ʔ*& ,0$*(6ʔ*(7 7< 7200$62 %2'',ʔ/2 *,7(&+ʔ*(7 7< *(7 7< ʬ$-$1, +8))ʔ7,.72. 0,.( &2332/$ʔ&$51,9$/ &58,6( /,1(ʔGET TY I created this dance unsung. Her “Renegade” dance had been copied
out of the CREATIVITY and performed by millions on TikTok and other
of my own mind, platforms, usually without a username mention for
and now these people the dance’s creator. In fact, it had been a “Renegade”
are being invited to do it, video that launched the meteoric rise of Charli
all of these celebrities D’Amelio, sometimes called the “queen of TikTok.”
are doing it, and people
have no clue it was me.” On the day of the All-Star Game, Virginia-based
college student Nicole Bloomgarden reacted to a
Twitter video of Easterling and the D’Amelio sisters
dancing courtside. The routine could easily be rec-
ognized as a viral dance to “Out West” by JackBoys
and Travis Scott featuring Young Thug. “It’s honestly

crazy these ppl personally invited by
the @nba to perform MY DANCE,”
Bloomgarden tweeted. Her post subse-
quently racked up hundreds of thou-
sands of likes and retweets.

“I was like wow that’s crazy, like
I created this dance out of the cre-
ativity of my own mind, and now
these people are being invited to do
it, all of these celebrities are doing it,
and people have no clue it was me,”
Bloomgarden, 21, tells Newsweek. “I
honestly think that tweet is what
made creators, now, they’re literal-
ly scared to not put idea creds,” she
adds, acknowledging Easterling has
since credited her for the dance.

When Bloomgarden first joined
TikTok, she says, “dancing was all
it was.” And that was the medium
she chose to grow her following,
sifting through albums for songs to
concoct routines. She first posted
the “Out West” dance to the app in
December 2019. At the time, hers was only one of
two videos under an upload of the song to TikTok.
Bloomgarden’s dance—but not her video—went
viral two months later, she says.
Influencers performing the dance attracted mil-
lions of likes, while likes on Bloomgarden’s original
video still remain in the thousands. Even celebri-
ties such as Kylie Jenner and Shaquille O’Neal got
involved in the trend. “My video never went viral
viral,” Bloomgarden says. “I would get creds some-
times, but as it started getting bigger, the creds
started getting less and less and less.”
In August 2020, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon

NEWSWEEK.COM 37

staged a game on the show in which he and actor We’re making something
Joseph Gordon-Levitt attempted popular TikTok humorous about their
dances, all demonstrated using Easterling’s videos. LIVED REALITY and their
One of them was her performing Bloomgarden’s actual real life experience
“Out West” dance. Until Newsweek mentioned it to that m
her, Bloomgarden says she had “no idea” her rou- have been intended
tine had been featured on the show. to be humorous.”

Fallon made his own TikTok dance gaffe this year,
renewing buzz over elusive recognition for Black
creators. In a March 2021 segment, he had Easter-
ling perform a series of viral dances. Viewers who
recognized them as the work of creators who were
not being credited were outraged. Fallon followed
up by showcasing the dances’ original creators,
most of whom are Black: Keara Wilson, Mya John-
son and Chris Cotter, Dorien Scott
(“Corvette Corvette”) and Camyra
Franklin (“Laffy Taffy”).

After making herself known as
the creator of the “Out West” dance,
Bloomgarden says she has found sup-
port, but also experienced attacks, in-
cluding “a lot of comments being like,
‘You didn’t make this dance,’ ‘Addison
Rae made this dance,’ ‘Charli [D’Ame-
lio] made this dance.’” Bloomgarden
now says she has an acting gig and a
deal with makers of the online game
Fortnite to render her dance into an
emote, an emoji indicating an action
rather than a mood. However, she
still feels like she “missed out” on a
number of opportunities.

“Cause while it was popping, no
one knew it was me. But now that it’s
kinda, like, sizzled out and it’s in the
past, people know it’s me,” she says.

Lost Money

in addition to missing opportunities-
at the height of their dances’ popularity, Black
dance creators continue to get shortchanged even
after they’ve been credited. A March report by
Bloomberg found marketers pay Black TikTok in-
fluencers significantly less than their white coun-
terparts, even if the latter merely mimic content
that originated with Black users.

After George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis po-
lice in May 2020, TikTok announced a number of

38 N E W S W E E K . C O M

ONLINE

&/2&.:,6( )520 723 -2+1 6+($5(5ʔ &07 $:$5'6ʔ*(77< 1,&+2/$6 +817ʔ0$5& -$&2%6ʔ*(77< '20,1,. %,1'/ʔ1<):ʔ7+( 6+2:6ʔ*(77< ʬ1,&2/(%/220*$5'(1ʔ7,.72. Clockwise from measures to champion racial justice, including especially the role of dance in Black communities.
left: “The Git Up” pledges to tackle algorithmic bias and elevate Black “I don’t know that that was necessarily being
creators. “TikTok is an inclusive space for positive,
rapper Blanco creative expression. Our community of creators is discussed before I got there,” Nkonde tells News-
Brown; Nicki Minaj; vibrant and diverse, and Black creators are a vital week, pointing to a new feature on TikTok’s U.S.
part of it,” a TikTok spokesperson tells Newsweek. interface which allows users who choreograph
Wendy Williams viral dances to feature prominently in the list of
is a source of viral Mutale Nkonde is a member of TikTok’s Content videos under relevant songs.
memes; and “Out Advisory Council and the founding CEO of commu-
West” dance creator nications firm AI For The People, which seeks to While the appropriation of Black creators’ dances
Nicole Bloomgarden. combat racial bias in tech. Nkonde does not work inflicts “deep cultural wounds,” Nkonde says, some
for TikTok, but examines activity on the app and TikTokers are reclaiming their content, either by
makes nonbinding recommendations. Since join- using the app’s “duet” feature for split-screen per-
ing the council, Nkonde says she has seen “more formances next to users who popularize their rou-
awareness” surrounding Black internet culture, tines or by filming in-person collaborations. “Black
TikTokers are resisting through this way, and that
is really in the tradition of dance being a form of
resistance generally,” Nkonde said. “I think this is a
uniquely Black thing, in the sense that we’re always
having to resist, we’re always having to shape-shift.”

The depth of Black people’s creative impact
throughout popular culture cannot be overesti-
mated. Take country rap, which in 2019 ushered
Southern drawls against trap beats onto Gen Z
playlists. Like rock, country music is a genre widely
associated with white artists, yet its key origins and
traditions include African American songs, instru-
ments and performers.

Following Lil Nas X’s wildly popular 2018 “Old
Town Road” (whose rise was jump-started by
TikTok virality), in May 2019 Blanco Brown re-
leased “The Git Up.” Soon after, “The Git Up” dance
emerged on TikTok. Its most popular incarna-
tion was a June 2019 video by Harvey Bass, then a
16-year-old student in the United Kingdom. Bass,
who is white, performed the dance in his school
uniform.

The deft choreography, paired with Bass’ strik-
ing resemblance to Superbad character McLovin,
catapulted him to social media glory. To this day,
Bass is widely believed to have come up with the
dance, but its real creator is actually 20-year-old
Ajani Huff, a Black Los Angeles-based influencer.

“I didn’t expect it, cause I did the dance and I post-
ed it; it took me a few times for the dance to start
trending,” Huff tells Newsweek. “So when I saw [Bass’
video], I was actually more happy in the sense of the
fact that people were gonna be doing my dance now.”

Huff and his brother Davonte House, 22, had
come up with the dance and posted their TikTok
video days after Brown released his song. But after

AUGUST 20, 2021 NEWSWEEK.COM 39

ONLINE

Bass posted the video that “blew up overnight,” the along to iconic phrases, many by Black female ce- INTERNET FAMOUS &/2 &.:,6( )520 /()7 7200< *$5&,$ʔ%5$92ʔ1%&8 3+272 %$1.ʔ*(7 7< $ 1 ' 5 ( : / , 3 296 . <ʔ 1 % & 8 3 + 272 % $ 1 . ʔ* ( 7 7 < ʬ+ $ 5 9( <%$66ʔ 7 ,.72 . 3$5 $6 * 5, ) ) , 1ʔ %( 7ʔ* (7 7<
brothers decided to make themselves known by lebrities such as Nicki Minaj, Wendy Williams and Clockwise from right:
posting a new video of their dance with the cap- NeNe Leakes. In one widely-memed phrase, Leakes Jimmy Fallon and Charli
tion: “Our dance is trending so why not do it again?” exclaims “Oh child, the ghetto!” Unwitting non-fa- D’Amelio on The Tonight
mous women are also used as source material. In an Show in March 2020;
“That’s when people actually started commenting expletive-laden voicemail message heard (and re- Harvey Bass doing Ajani
saying, ‘This is not your dance,’ ‘Harvey did it first,’” mixed) around the world, a woman named Jasmine Huff and Davonte House’s
Huff tells Newsweek. “Like, people were commenting Collins accuses her manager of racism. “The Git Up” dance; Lil Nas
on my video of my dance saying it’s not my dance.” X of “Old Town Road” at
The phenomenon of non-Black internet users the BET Awards in June
Blanco Brown eventually invited Huff, House using Black people’s voices and aesthetics has been 2021; and many audio
and Bass to feature in a music video for “The Git called “digital blackface.” The term, referring to the memes use the voice of
Up” released in September 2019. The brothers ap- makeup worn by white performers in racist 19th cen- former Real Housewives
peared amid a crowd of people late in the video, tury minstrel shows, was coined in a Teen Vogue op- of Atlanta NeNe Leakes.
but Bass was given an early solo shot dancing in his ed by writer and academic Lauren Michele Jackson.
trademark school uniform.
Apryl Williams, assistant professor of communi-
Considering “how the industry is,” Huff says, he cation and media at the University of Michigan, tells
understood the decision to highlight Bass due to Newsweek, “Maybe today it doesn’t have the same
his popularity. “But it did kinda suck, because it was
also my dance and I did that, but it’s, you know, no
hard feelings,” he says. Huff, House and Bass sub-
sequently joined forces for a TikTok video in which
they performed the dance together, captioned: “The
collab you’ve all been waiting for.”

Huff, who has more than 4 million TikTok follow-
ers, expresses gratitude toward the company. TikTok
did recommend him to perform on The Ellen DeGe-
neres Show and invited him to speak at a Black Histo-
ry Month event. However, the problem of uncredited
choreography persists. Huff faults TikTok’s algorithm,
as well as the apparent reluctance by bigger influ-
encers to give credit, tagging original creators only
after their own versions have gone viral or burying
the acknowledgment in flooded comments sections.

These tactics have not gone unnoticed by devot-
ed fans. “The fans will comment ‘Dance credits,’
‘This is not your dance,’ ‘This is this person’s dance,
get it right’,” Huff says. “So it sucks, but in the end
it also feels good that we have loyal fan bases that
will actually go and attack these bigger creators.”

Digital Blackface?

while dance is the art form that practically
defines TikTok, the app is powered by audio that
ties viral content together. One tap on a popular
sound unfurls an endless scroll of videos making
use of it, giving rise to audio memes. Much of Tik-
Tok’s audio memes feature music and dialogue by
Black people, many of whom are speaking African
American Vernacular English (AAVE).

TikTok users of all colors can be found mouthing

40 N E W S W E E K . C O M AUGUST 20, 2021

I think this is a with bullets. Text would appear with each gunshot,
UNIQUELY BLACK thing, recounting past traumas such as sexual assault and
in the sense that we’re mental health issues. The format was soon paro-
always having to resist, died by TikTokers who used it for self-deprecating
we’re always having jokes and complaints about minor inconveniences.
to shape-shift.”
Another example is the “Double Homicide” meme,
undertones of racial terror as it did back then, but which stems from a teaser clip this April for the sec-
at the same time, the underlying idea of making a ond season of streaming reality television show Jo-
mockery of Blackness for white entertainment is seline’s Cabaret. Host Joseline Hernandez speaks to
the same.” female contestants about growing up poor in her
native Puerto Rico. One young Black woman, Aqua,
She continues, “By using those words, those
sounds, AAVE, people are sort of relying on these starts crying and then tearfully re-
tropes of Blackness and taking them out of context, counts her own experience of having
which is why they’re funny. We’re making some- terminated a twin pregnancy. Fellow
thing humorous about their lived reality and their contestant Big Lex blurts out: “Damn.
actual real-life experience that may or may not have Double homicide.” The scene soon
been intended to be humorous.” prompted mockery online from peo-
ple who found the moment an oppor-
This May, Rolling Stone reported that retired tunity for dark humor. On TikTok, the
Black MMA fighter Joey Casanova had posted a phrase “double homicide” was repur-
TikTok video in which he feigned being sprayed posed to mean any twin misfortunes
or disappointments.

Aqua, a 22-year-old Detroit native
whose real name is Kasie McCalvin,
tells Newsweek she is presently home-
less, having departed Joseline’s Cabaret
around the fifth episode due to its “tox-
ic” environment. She says she had end-
ed her pregnancy just before her 21st
birthday, a decision reached after the
babies’ father abandoned her. “I was so
sensitive, if a pin dropped, I was crying,”
she says, “I was still very torn up.”

McCalvin recalls feeling “weak” af-
ter opening up in front of rolling cam-
eras. Then came the flippant remark. McCalvin says
she was inundated with outreach from “everybody
who had my number” once the clip had gone viral.
“I’m not gonna lie, I did have a moment where I did
shed some tears because it’s just like ‘Wow, the world
is really laughing at this,’” she says. “I was appalled
about how rude half the world is. And just disgusting.”
But McCalvin now sees her appearance on Jose-
line’s Cabaret as a “stepping-stone” to help empow-
er women by normalizing often unspoken traumas.
She says she plans to retire at her five-year mark in
the adult entertainment industry and hopes to study
for a career in podiatric medicine.
“I’m ready to go elsewhere,” she says.

NEWSWEEK.COM 41

Culture H I G H , L O W + E V E R Y T H I N G I N B E T W E E N

Change
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Ship (Arctic, Antarctic)
Lindblad Expeditions’ new polar
vessel, National Geographic
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climate art exhibition. Curated
by artist Zaria Forman, whose
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42 N E W S W E E K . C O M AUGUST 20, 2021

SHARING HER STRENGTH
SNLŠV &HFLO\ 6WURQJ RQ KHU QHZ ERRN This Will Be Over Soon. » P.46

UNCHARTED

Climate
Activism
Through Art

“Engaging with art can make the world felt. And
this feeling spurs thinking, connection and even
action,” says Olafur Eliasson, the Danish-Icelandic
climate-focused artist, about the power of art as
activism. Eliasson is part of a growing movement of
artists using visual arts not just to bring awareness
to environmental perils, but also to stir more
urgency—and, ultimately, action—around our
climate crisis. The pandemic has exacerbated our
fears about natural calamities and also isolated
us from the immersive nature of experiencing art.
From a permanent climate art exhibit onboard a
polar expedition ship to a live opera with vocals
that explore climate change performed on a faux
beach, these creations make the case for a stronger
connection to the natural world and imagine a
more sustainable future. —Kathleen Rellihan

NEWSWEEK.COM 43

Culture

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aspects of society will have to
44 N E W S W E E K . C O M
adapt to the climate crisis.”

02 Sun & Sea

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disastrous path our planet is on.

AUGUST 20, 2021

05 The Garden of Earthly Worries

Apeldoorn, Netherlands
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art installations by contemporary

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09 Change

Aboard Endurance
Polar Ship (Arctic, Antarctic)
(See previous spread.)

NEWSWEEK.COM 45

9

Culture

explain something that’s so devastat-

ing and so full of love?”

Strong says she and her cousin had

been close as kids but had since lost

touch. “When I came to New York
for SNL, Owen met me the night of

my audition. I was like, ‘Who are you

even? I don’t even know you as an

adult.’”

“All of a sudden he just kept show-

ing up and was always there. It made

me see what it is to be loved by family.

And that it’s okay to accept and give

into. He was teaching me about love.

Then when he was diagnosed, we have

so many texts to each other just being

like, ‘I love you so much.’ That’s such

a gift to have, I’m choked up talking

about. It’s such a gift that we got to say

that to each other so often.”

Grieving Owen led Strong to look at

other painful losses she hadn’t wanted

to face. “I started talking about my

friend Liz,” she says. “My best friend

BOOKS from like 13 to 16, joined at the hip,

Crying and Laughing wound up dying five years ago of a

Comedy and sorrow play equal roles in SNL’s Cecily heroin overdose. I didn’t know how
Strong’s memoir This Will All Be Over Soon
to talk about that. I didn’t even know

how to think about it. I don’t want

her to be defined by heroin now. I felt

so weird. How did I end up here and

how did she end up there? I took it for

granted that I could always go back

There isn’T ThaT much dis- her beloved 30-year-old cousin, Owen and find that friendship again. So I
tance between funny and sad. Strong, from brain cancer.
As Saturday Night Live’s Cecily Strong think writing about any kind of loss,
says, “When people talk about com- “My cousin just passed away and the
edy, you talk about tension. It’s one guy I finally started dating gets COVID. I got to go back and explore Liz and
in the same.” I had this busted thermometer, and
Take for example, Strong’s own life I’m like, ‘Am I gonna die? Is he gonna how people stay in your life.”
during 2020. First there was shoot- die?’ That’s over two weeks!”
ing SNL during the pandemic. Then Strong says the process helped
it was figuring out how to safely film Strong writes about it all in her
her new Apple TV+ musical comedy new memoir This Will All Be Over Soon, her develop a greater understanding
series Schmigadoon! At the same time, set for release August 10 by Simon &
amid waves of anxiety and depression, Schuster. “It was such a weirdly per- of life. “Even trying to understand
Strong was grappling with having to sonal thing to write this, and I didn’t
put a new relationship on hold over a quite know what it would ever turn Owen. What was his thought process
COVID-19 diagnosis and the death of out to be. I wasn’t even sure I wanted
to write about Owen in the first place. like? What made him so courageous
How can I find the right words to
and funny and bright? How did he

do that? Trying to think

about that stuff got me

BY to sort of try to trick
myself into handling

H. ALAN SCOTT COVID and grief better.”

@HAlanScott Meanwhile, while

46 N E W S W E E K . C O M AuguSt 20, 2021

“It’s more about just life, and he’s teaching me about love So far, 2021 has been a lot better.
being open and that after,” Strong says, adding she could Last month, Strong received an Emmy
means having a heart, “very easily stay single and not open nomination for her work on SNL. “I
and I think that’s always myself up when it’s scary.” feel very lucky,” she says. “Obviously
been a part of comedy.” an Emmy nomination is lovely, but it’s
“It’s very different for me, but it’s especially lovely when I feel so proud
Strong was struggling personally, she been great. There was a while we to have been part of SNL last year. I’m
was busy as ever, even thriving, in her kind of split apart and I hadn’t seen so proud of everybody. I think that’s
career. “I think people think I was him. Like I went from, ‘Do you want to for all of us. I feel like I want to share
much busier than I was,” she says. “I date?’ ‘Yeah, let’s date!’ and then four it with the entire crew there because
spent so much time in my bed, some days later he got COVID. Then I didn’t it was just such a tough year, and I’m
days were spent writing and some see him for three months. It was very really proud of what we did.”
days just going outside with Lucy [her difficult. Then he came back into my
dog] to walk around.” She adds, “It’s life. I’m really enjoying having some- As for Schmigadoon! Strong says,
sort of cathartic to hear people say I body who wants to hold my hand in after everything that happened in
had a good year during the pandemic, the sun.” 2020, working on the musical comedy
because my favorite thing to say about was the light at the end of a dark time,
Owen is his saying, ‘Minus the brain “What I like about him is we can talk “I felt like I was healed, personally. I’m
cancer it’s the best year of my life.’” through things,” she says. “And that’s a little bit less afraid now and more
been rare for me, not having that one open to a little bit of the magic and
“I love when it’s something that can person just go like ‘Nope, I’m walking the joy. I’m so happy we get to share
make you cry, and that doesn’t make away.’ I have to be able to talk through [Schmigadoon!], and I do think people
it not funny. It’s like people have been things. It’s worth it. It’s like my edges need it.”
to funerals and have been through were softened by this last year.”
hard things. There’s a lot of laughter “Everybody is so angry and there is
involved there, too. So I think for me, IN VINO VERITAS Cecily Strong so much trauma. We just need to be
it’s more about just being open and in a showstopping turn as literally gentle with ourselves and each other.
that means having a heart, and I think wine-soaked Fox commentator Judge Let’s make it a cool thing to say, ‘I love
that’s always been a part of comedy.” Jeanine Pirro during SNL’s “Weekend this’ instead of ‘This sucks.’”
Update” segment on May 22.
Now that people have started to
)520 /()7 *$5< *(56+2))ʔ*(7 7< :,// +($7+ʔ1%&ʔ1%&8 3+272 %$1.ʔ*(7 7< read the book, Strong is able to see
she isn’t alone in grief.

“Even this wonderful guy who ran
the studio [where she recorded the
audiobook for This Will All Be Over
Soon], we were all crying by the end.
He said he had recently lost people,
and was like, ‘I don’t think I was griev-
ing yet. I feel like I can start. I think
this will help a lot of people.’ And to
do that in the name of my cousin,
could there be anything better? How
could I honor him any more?”

Owen’s impact also helped Strong
do something else she had long
avoided: falling for her boyfriend, Jack.
“Owen taught me about love during his

NEWSWEEK.COM 47

Culture

PARTING SHOT

Holland Taylor

twenty years after holland taylor became everyone’s favorite How do you think The Chair shows
professor in Legally Blonde, she’s back to giving lessons in Netflix’s The the impact of ageism?
Chair, but this time they’re about ageism, not feminism. “I think one of the most My character gave me an opportunity
difficult things about ageism this character reveals is her lack of impact, her lack to tap into my own understanding
of ability to even be heard,” Taylor says about her character Joan, a distinguished of what it is to be marginalized
senior professor on the verge of forced retirement—unless the new chair of the because of age. In fact, I’ve had a very
department (Sandra Oh) can stop it. But she says these kinds of stories are exactly privileged career in terms of my age—I
what there need to be more of. “We are now as a society becoming more alert to work as much now as I ever did, if not
all the different ways people are marginalized.” Adding to her already successful more. But I do see all around me and
year, Taylor will next appear in the second season of Apple TV+’s The Morning have experienced the edges of the
Show (September 17), playing the chairman of the board for the network. “She ageism that exists in our country.
raises her voice, but quite infrequently, because what she says and decides is
what’s going to happen; she has this stillness, that kind of power.” Taylor says she +RZ GLG \RX ɿQG -RDQŠV SRLQW RI
is taking a thing or two from the freely opinionated characters she plays. “I’ve view in The Chair?
thrown a lot to the wind. I am becoming less and less edited.” Amanda Peet, one of the creators of
the show, early on said Joan is not
ţ,ŠYH WKURZQ edited. She’s at an age where she’s
a lot to the thrown those restraints aside. That
wind. I am was the greatest guide for me.
becoming
What was it like joining a cast like
less and less 5HHVH :LWKHUVSRRQ DQG -HQQLIHU
edited.” Aniston in The Morning Show?
I come in like this needle. Just come
GRZQ WKH ERPE VWULNHV DQG VKH ʀLHV
out. I might not be on the show for a
month-and-a-half. In fact, I went to
Pittsburgh to shoot The Chair and
then two-and-a-half months later I
came back and did another one for
The Morning Show.

Are you surprised how much of a )5$=(5 +$55,621ʔ*(77<
classic Legally Blonde has become?
, FDQŠW VD\ , WKRXJKW WKDW VSHFLɿFDOO\
but I did think it was really well
done. People still quote back to
me, “If you’re going to let one
stupid prick ruin your life, you’re
not the girl I thought you were”
[laughs].—H. Alan Scott

Visit Newsweek.com for the full interview