Latest news with #Em
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Woman orders espresso martini at restaurant but is stunned by what arrives
A woman was left in hysterics after ordering an espresso martini at a restaurant - only to be served a very different version of the classic cocktail instead Many of us fancy a cheeky espresso martini while out and about. This timeless tipple, typically concocted from espresso, coffee liqueur, and vodka is famed for its creamy froth, traditionally crowned with a trio of coffee beans. But, one woman's recent encounter has taken social media by storm. Her 'dreadful' espresso martini from American restaurant chain Chili's sparked viral hysteria. Em took to X to share her cocktail calamity, whipping up quite a frenzy as the post racked up a jaw-dropping 11 million views, leaving people "wheezing" at its appearance. Gone was the anticipated creamy surface, replaced instead with an abyss of murky brown liquid, excessively sprinkled with coffee beans compared to the usual garnish. Commenters couldn't help but jest about the concoction, with one user jesting: "When I get the job after lying on my resume." Another expressed sympathy: "Nah sis they played you. That ain't no espresso martini", while someone else echoed their astonishment: "I cannot believe that is even real omg." Some even likened it to Pepsi or Coke dashed with coffee beans. Elsewhere, a commenter was so tickled they exclaimed: "I am wheezing". Em later disclosed that this peculiar take on the drink was born from a collaboration between Chili's and 'Vanderpump Rules' stars Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney. One thing is certain, if Chili's ever makes the leap to British shores, let's pray this peculiar cocktail isn't part of the package. The Espresso Martini hails from the 1980s and is frequently attributed to a London bartender called Dick Bradsell – its popularity endures years on. As the story goes, a model once approached him with a request for a beverage that would "wake her up and then f*** her up." In response, Bradsell concocted a blend of vodka, coffee liqueur, and fresh espresso, birthing the now-iconic Espresso Martini.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2 Chainz Explains Why He 'Couldn't Smoke' Around Eminem
2 Chainz reflected on his time in the studio with Eminem while speaking to Shannon Sharpe in an episode of the Club Shay Shay podcast. In the conversation, the 47-year-old revealed that the Detroit rapper's team had some strict guidelines for their session. 'When I did work with Eminem, I couldn't smoke in there. It was kinda funny,' detailed the Atlanta rapper. 'It was his people, not Eminem. Eminem was somewhere writing, but his people are just so concerned with him, they put the speakers outside so I could listen to the beat.' 'I'm outside, it's a beautiful day in Malibu, I'm just smoking the speaker's outside. I come back in to do my verse, and the door's closed and I'm in the booth smoking and I see Em out there and I'm like 'he in there while I'm recording, this hard'. He's about to come in and say something and some of his people are like 'no, don't go in there, he's smoking,' and Em looks like 'sit the f**k down.' I guess he was thinking like 'what do you think I'm about to do?'' he explained. The 'Epiphany' rapper continued, 'I remember them tripping on him, and he was not tripping at all.' Last year, the Detroit musician celebrated 16 years of sobriety since overcoming an addiction to alcohol and drugs earlier in his career. The landmark in his wellness journey was marked with a social media upload that featured the rapper displacing his sobriety medallion. 'My addiction didn't start in my early days when I was coming up. We used to drink 40s on the porch and just battle rap each other. My drug usage started at the beginning of that first album,' he detailed. 'I didn't take anything hard until I got famous. I was experimenting. I hadn't found a drug of choice. Back then, you went on tour, and people were just giving you free drugs. I managed it for a little while. And then, it just became, I like this sh*t is too much and I don't know how to stop.' In 2022, Eminem and his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, reflected on how the Grammy-winner learned to rap again after his near-fatal 2007 overdose. More from Eminem Beats Out Kendrick Lamar For Hip-Hop Awards At 2025 AMAs, Social Media Reacts Eminem Stalker Convicted Of First-Degree Home Invasion 2 Chainz And Omar Epps Unite For 'Red Clay' Short Film
News.com.au
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Samuel Johnson in tears as he shares emotional confession about near-fatal accident
Australian actor Samuel Johnson has endured numerous tragedies, with one in 2021 coming harrowingly close to ending his life. When he and his partner Em pulled over on a dark night so he could answer the 'call of nature' behind a tree, Johnson was struck by a car. In the moments that followed, Em kept him alive by holding his head together until the ambulance arrived. Ground glass in his lungs; he had endured multiple fractures to his neck and skull; and doctors were clueless as to whether he would ever be himself again if he regained consciousness. In a heartfelt new interview with Australian Stories, Johnson shared his surprising outlook on the night that everything he had ever built in his life was almost taken away within an instant. 'When I woke up. I couldn't believe how much Em cared for me,' he told Australian Story as he broke down in tears. 'I was just. I woke up and went 'Wow, I'm not awful'. She really cares for me. And I just realised that I was all right and that I needed to make sure that I cared for her as well as she cared for me.' 'He realised he was deserving of love,' added Em. 'He put the whip away and stopped being so hard on himself.' What followed was seven weeks in hospital, followed by 18 months of painful rehab. But he was determined to return to his life and he put all his remaining strength into recovering. 'Even though I nearly died, a little knock on the head balanced everything out nicely,' he shared. While he managed to get back on his feet, the impact of that fateful night still lives on in his body. 'I've got no sense of smell. My vestibular system, which controls my sense of space and my balance, is a bit wonky. 'When I get tired my behaviour starts to change — so if you interview me for too long, I'll start talking funny. But apart from that, I'm all right.' 'A lot of people don't come out of it, and a lot of people come out of it seriously compromised,' continued the actor. 'I've got no sense of smell. My vestibular system, which controls my sense of space and my balance, is a bit wonky. 'When I get tired my behaviour starts to change, so if you interview me for too long, I'll start talking funny. But apart from that, I'm all right.' Johnson has endured more tragedy than most, from losing his mother and a former partner to suicide, to losing his sister to cancer, and he admits that he's sometimes leant on unhealthy ways of coping. 'The problem is that I really love alcohol. It's fun. But I like it a little too much,' he confessed. But as he's understanding of his limits, and how crucial it is for him to remain as healthy as he feels nowadays. 'I've got a personal life I would never insult. And I've got a professional life I cannot jeopardise,' insisted the star, who has since dedicated his life to raising money for cancer research. 'I'm not trying to paint a picture that's not true. It's just my life now. It's like a rainbow life,' he said.
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Beautiful European country 'like Croatia' without crowds and with £35 flights
One budget-friendly travel influencer has shared her top three destinations in Europe for travellers "fed up" with popular hotspots and keen to find some hidden gems A popular travel influencer has shared one of her favourite budget-friendly holiday destinations in Europe. The country in question is described as a 'less crowded and cheaper' version of Croatia. The TikTok account, emsbudgettravel, prides itself on sharing good value travel tips and destinations to its 100,000 followers. In a video from 2024, Em shared a video counting down her favourite cheap holiday destinations for those 'fed up with holidays to Spain, Portugal and Greece'. Em's number one choice is Montenegro in the Balkans. She shares in the video that she was tempted to gatekeep the destination because it was her favourite country that she's visited. Em says it's an ideal destination for budget-conscious travellers and those looking for true hidden gems. 'It's kinda like Croatia' says Em, though a less crowded alternative, which is great considering that Croatia is rising rapidly in popularity in recent years. According to Em, Montenegro 'has the perfect combination of stunning scenery with so many beaches and islands, but then also mountains.' She continues: 'It has the clearest and bluest water I've ever seen and really good value accommodation.' One of the other merits of Montenegro Em espouses is that it is 'quite a small country so it's easy to get around'. For reference, Montenegro has a total area of 13,812 square kilometres (5,333 square miles), which makes it one of the smallest countries in Europe. The country's diverse terrain comprises mountains and a narrow strip of beaches along its Adriatic coastline. Montenegro's 150 miles of seacoast has helped put it on the map as a must-visit tourist destination. According to Em, flights to the UK are also relatively cheap. 'You can fly there from £35 return' attests Em. Flights from London to Podgorica Airport in Montenegro depart fairly regularly, though you'll likely have a stopover in-between. TikTok commenters agreed with Em's estimation of Montenegro. One user wrote: 'Montenegro is the best summer destination in Europe without a doubt'. While another said: 'Love Montenegro, such a beautiful country'. Em also shared in the comments that if you only have 3 days to spare in Montenegro, she recommends staying in Budva or Petrovac since it's closer to the airport. Em shared another favourite great value destination in Europe in the video. A country with 'amazing scenery, beautiful mountains and loads of history'. The country is Armenia - more specifically Yerevan, the capital - and Em says it is also home to 'really friendly people and it's really good value'. She also said its home to some of the best brunches she's ever had and she was able to fly for £about £80 return'. Her final recommendation for a 'weekend break on a budget' is Bratislava in Slovakia. Em says it is home to a 'really charming old town' as well as 'an impressive castle with great views'. The best part: she was able to fly there from £28 return.
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Tragedy, an accident and a postie round — the life of actor Samuel Johnson
Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide. Actor and cancer campaigner Samuel Johnson can't remember the car crash that nearly killed him, but he has an unlikely name for it: "The good accident". The Gold Logie winner has pieced together the harrowing details: his partner Em holding his head together until the ambulance arrived; ground glass in his lungs; multiple fractures to his neck and skull; and the terrifying stretch where nobody knew if he'd survive, or how damaged his brain might be. When Johnson finally woke up — speaking in a Russian accent due to post-traumatic amnesia — something fundamental shifted. After a lifetime of often struggling with self-worth, he stopped punishing himself. "I couldn't believe how much Em cared for me," he tells Australian Story. Em adds: "He realised he was deserving of love. He put the whip away and stopped being so hard on himself." Johnson's life has been punctuated by tragedy. His mother died by suicide when he was three. A girlfriend also took her own life. His breakout role in hit TV series The Secret Life of Us made him famous overnight, opening the door to drug and alcohol abuse. In 2017 his sister Connie died of breast cancer. But he's managed to channel his grief into purpose, raising millions for cancer research through his charity Love Your Sister. At home in country Victoria, though, Johnson doesn't pretend to have it all figured out. He polices his drinking but hasn't given up alcohol entirely. "I've been working on wrestling the alligator for decades now," Johnson says. "I'm a work in progress. There's no neat bow on the end. If his isn't a story of redemption, it is certainly one of determination. Johnson embodies grit — whether it's riding a unicycle 16,000 kilometres or recovering from a serious brain injury. "I don't know if it's his will or if he's lucky or what," says Lucy Freeman, Love Your Sister's managing director, "but it seems like life deals a lot of things to Sam and he somehow triumphs over them." Johnson was born in the small Victorian town of Daylesford in 1978, a year after Connie and nine years after his oldest sister Hilde. "He was a wacky little kid. Everything was a dream and everything was magical," Hilde recalls. His father — who renovated houses by day and wrote books by night — followed the work wherever it led, and Johnson found their "transient lifestyle" exciting. Connie's cancer diagnosis at age 11 derailed her life, and they all felt the aftershocks for years. "She seemed to be on a rocket ship to the stars, and then it got pretty real pretty quick," Johnson says. "She was part of that first wave of kids in the 80s that survived when we treated them. We'd half kill them with chemo to try and save their lives. Really cruel thing to do." Johnson has no memory of his mother. He had scraps of information — she was a poet, she'd been in and out of mental health institutions — but otherwise, she "was basically a ghost". At 20, he found hundreds of her poems in his father's filing cabinet. One, written just months before she died, was addressed to him. He gets goosebumps as he recites the final verse. All the seas of joy rise to sing for you boy Surge and swell and roar All the seas of joy sound wonderfully near Since you've been here. The poems — "a magic rainbow from my mum 20 years after she ended it all" — helped Johnson expand his picture of who she was. "Her poetry reflected how smart she was, how capable she was, what a good person she was. And she loved me. She didn't leave me — she opted out of life itself," he says. Johnson knows other people think his childhood sounds rough, but he refuses to entertain a victim mentality. "People would say, 'Jeez, how much can one man handle?' But I see my life as quite idyllic." Johnson acted through high school — by 15, he was out-earning his father — and when he was 21, The Secret Life of Us became a cult television hit. "I was thrust into that world before I'd learned how to equip myself with the tools needed to cope with life itself, let alone life in the spotlight," he says. He was swept up in a whirlwind of people and parties, and he had the money to fund "all kinds of lifestyle choices". "I was a poly user — I liked all the things," Johnson says. But fame never sat comfortably with him. When the show ended in 2005, Johnson retreated to the country to find himself again. There he met a "brash young girl" named Lainie, "one of the most lovely girls you could ever meet". They were together for two years before she took her own life. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder "gave some meaning to all of the things that were happening inside me". He took medication for six years before tapering off, "and there's not been an incident since". Johnson went on to win an AACTA and a Gold Logie in 2017 for his portrayal of music guru Ian "Molly" Meldrum in the TV series Molly. He's done stints on radio and in the theatre, and even won Dancing With The Stars in 2019. But his true purpose emerged beyond acting. Connie beat cancer twice before her terminal diagnosis in 2010. When Johnson asked her how he could help, she told him to channel his infectious energy into something "bigger than us". A joke about a unicycle evolved into an epic lap around Australia in 2013 to raise money for cancer research. He even ate a live huntsman spider for the cause. "In 364 days, I turned from a pessimist into an optimist. I realised how amazing people are," he says. "I had a lot of reasons to hate myself, but … the more I focused on other people, the more my life improved." Later, love blossomed between Johnson and Em, Connie's best friend. "One of the reasons Sam is very successful in his life is sheer persistence," says Em, who works alongside him at Love Your Sister. "He doesn't stop. It doesn't matter if he's literally got bleeding blisters from the unicycle saddle. He will not stop riding." Johnson was determined to keep growing Love Your Sister after Connie's death, and he has. This year the charity hit an extraordinary $20 million milestone. It is now focused on precision medicine, a cutting-edge approach that uses genomic profiling to help target the treatment for a person's individual cancer. The charity donates to Omico, a not-for-profit body working on giving cancer patients access to precision medicine. Love Your Sister's money is targeted towards funding services in regional Australia. Johnson wants to see it become the standard of care for all patients. Lucy Freeman says he has a knack for making people "believe anything is possible". "You don't live a small life when you work with Sam. The ideas are large," Lucy says. Hilde says the work has given her once-rudderless brother a profound sense of direction. "It definitely saved Sam. He was heading into a very dark place, and look where he is now," she says. In 2021, Johnson's life on the move came to a startling halt. He and Em were driving to see a friend when nature called, and they pulled over so he could relieve himself behind a tree. As he returned, he was struck by a car. He spent nearly seven weeks in hospital, followed by 18 months of rehab. He treated recovery like a job, focused on giving it his all. "He had to learn to speak again. Had to learn to walk again," Em says, but "there was no way he wasn't going to get this done". Johnson, who didn't sport a Russian accent for too long, has called it the best year of his life. He had post-traumatic amnesia; the 11 days following the accident were a complete blank. But he knows he is "a good news story" when it comes to serious brain injury. "Even though I nearly died, a little knock on the head balanced everything out nicely," he says. "A lot of people don't come out of it, and a lot of people come out of it seriously compromised. "I've got no sense of smell. My vestibular system, which controls my sense of space and my balance, is a bit wonky. "When I get tired my behaviour starts to change — so if you interview me for too long, I'll start talking funny. But apart from that, I'm alright." At home in the little town of Tallarook, north of Melbourne, Johnson has found a sense of peace. He volunteers as the local postie, getting up before the Sun a few times a week to embark on a 30-kilometre mail run on his pushbike. He likes to sit by a big tree near the Goulburn River at dusk where he reads Japanese fiction, soaks up the nature around him, and sometimes cracks open a can. Like all of us, he is complex and multifaceted — and that includes being imperfect. "The problem is that I really love alcohol. It's fun. But I like it a little too much," Johnson says. "One day I hope to cold turkey it. But I'm OK with it in my life as it is." He has a few very good reasons to keep himself in check: "I've got a personal life I would never insult. And I've got a professional life I cannot jeopardise." He knows it's a cliche, but he is ridiculously grateful for his life. "I don't have sad days. I don't really have bad days. I'm not trying to paint a picture that's not true. It's just my life now. It's like a rainbow life." Stream the Australian Story documentary Better Angels on ABC iview and YouTube.
