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Time of India
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'Aquaman' star Jason Momoa recalls how he almost drowned in Hawaii
Los Angeles, Aug 14 (IANS) Hollywood star Jason Momoa revealed that he almost drowned while out surfing in Hawaii back in 2007. Hollywood star Jason Momoa revealed that he almost drowned while out surfing in Hawaii back in 2007. The 'Aquaman' actor was navigating Pe'ahi, the biggest surf break in Maui, which is nicknamed Jaws, during a lengthy paddle through Hawaiian waters in 2007 when his leg rope snapped amid high wind, though he was "fine" at first, despite the waves crashing down on him, reports Battling the elements Talking about the incident on the Smartless podcast, he said: "I was doing this paddle, we went in at Jaws. We paddled like 13 miles down the coast. You're kind of almost a mile offshore, and then my leash snapped. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped, and it's so windy on Maui." The star said he was trained pretty well and so he was fine. "I took quite a few on the head. They're pretty big, like 10-foot Hawaiian waves. But I'm probably half a mile at that point offshore... There's all this water that pulls out of a channel there, (and) you just get hit with these waves." The 'Aquaman' star got "stuck" and his body began to "give up" on him while he waited to be rescued. He continued: "I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef and unknown to me. I was really on the outer reef and they couldn't see me. I had my paddle and I was waving it and they couldn't see me, and the waves were so big. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Discover the Secret to a Lush Garden with These 15 Unbelievable Hacks! Kingdom Of Men Undo "I was out there for a while, and I just couldn't see anyone coming to get me. I couldn't move anymore, and my arms and my legs gave up after, you know, I was out there for a while... My body stopped. Like I couldn't move my arms anymore, and I bubbled down. Then my toe hit the outer reef. I literally gave up, and I'm screaming inside." Friend to the rescue The 46-year-old actor was eventually found by one of his surfing friends, but the journey back to shore wasn't easy. He recalled: "I get back on the board and we start paddling. He's like, 'You got to go out,' so we just keep paddling out." Momoa continued: "I have seven more miles to paddle. My feet are covered in blood, and I'm just literally (with) my ancestors just paddling the rest of this way, head down, and we get out." Momoa eventually made it back to shore and instantly turned his back on his deadly smoking habit. He said: "I used to smoke two, three packs a day. I couldn't stop for my kids, I couldn't stop for my ex, I couldn't stop smoking. And the moment I came out, I never smoked again. Like, I just died. I tried and tried, but I couldn't do it again because I just gave up. Like, I gave up my life." "Get the latest news updates on Times of India, including reviews of the movie Coolie and War 2 ."
Business Insider
14 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The hot, new celebrity side hustle
Everybody wants to be Ryan Reynolds. Donald Trump wants to be Ryan Reynolds. The " SmartLess" podcast guys want to be Ryan Reynolds. Even Klarna wants to be Ryan Reynolds. I don't mean they want to star in "Deadpool" or marry Blake Lively (though neither of those is a bad deal). I mean that they're all slapping their brands on mobile phone networks in an attempt to make a little extra bank. If you're familiar with Mint Mobile, a mobile phone network that offers inexpensive prepaid plans, it's probably because you've seen Reynolds in an ad for it. The actor-turned-entrepreneur bought an estimated 25% stake in the company back in 2019, positioned himself as its spokesperson, and then sold it to T-Mobile for $1.35 billion in 2023, with Reynolds reportedly making $300 million off the deal. The concept of Mint Mobile isn't new: Virtual mobile network operators, which are telecom companies that offer mobile services without owning their own network infrastructure, like towers and stations, have been around for a long time. Some examples, besides Mint, include Cricket Wireless and Boost, though the latter is becoming a full-on wireless carrier and investing in its own 5G network. Reynolds offered a new spin by successfully attaching a big-name brand or celebrity to one. His achievement seems to have inspired others to get in on the game, including the president, some podcast hosts, and a buy-now-pay-later company. "It's all Ryan Reynolds' fault. Sort of," says Avi Greengart, the founder and lead analyst at Techspontential, a research and advisory firm. In June, the Trump Organization announced the launch of Trump Mobile. Its website says the service will offer "All-American performance" on a $47.45 a month plan that includes unlimited talk, text, data, and calls to 100 international destinations. The Trumps are also selling a $499 gold-colored phone to accompany the plan. Everyone else on this list is thinking that if Ryan Reynolds can do it, why can't they? The same month, Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes, actors and the hosts of "Smartless," said they are starting SmartLess Mobile, which promises to be "direct-to-consumer, data-sane, and refreshingly BS-free." Their website boasts, "Friends don't let friends overpay." SmartLess' value proposition is that it offers inexpensive, limited data plans that start as low as $15 a month. The argument is that most people have plans that give them unlimited cellular data, but they don't actually need all that download capacity, given how widely available WiFi is, so they wind up overpaying. "The quick math is about half of the country use 10 gigs or fewer, but it's almost impossible not to buy unlimited," says Paul McAleese, the CEO of Smartless Mobile and a mobile industry veteran. "Why we did it is because we recognize that gap, that data gap, which is really unique compared to any other product category. You don't go into the grocery store and buy 40 gallons of milk and consume two and then do it again the next month." As The Wall Street Journal noted around that time, celebrity cellular brands seem to be everywhere. Consumer brands are joining in, too. Klarna, the Sweden-based buy now, pay later company, is launching a mobile network of its own, too. In June, it invited consumers to sign up for a waitlist to join its $40-a-month plan. It may seem strange for an installment lender to get in the wireless game, but the company says it's a step in continuing to build its "neobank offering." "Everyone else on this list is thinking that if Ryan Reynolds can do it, why can't they?" says Craig Moffett, a cofounder and senior research analyst at MoffettNathanson, an equity research firm. It's not dissimilar to the rich and famous hopping on the liquor train in recent years. There's Reynolds' gin, Snoop Dogg's wine, George Clooney's tequila, Kendall Jenner's tequila, Kevin Hart's tequila. In a way, telecom is the new tequila. "It's a sign of the times that every celebrity's reason for getting up in the morning is to think of ways they can monetize their celebrity," Moffett says. Mobile virtual network operators, which industry insiders call MVNOs, buy excess network capacity in bulk from major carriers — AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile — and sell it under their own brands. They profit from the differential between the wholesale rate they get and the amount they charge customers. "It is a capital-light alternative without having to invest considerable sums in acquiring a licence, constructing a network, and so forth," says Paolo Pescatore, a telecom analyst at PP Foresight. He says that it can also work for brands that have a similar business to tack on an extra service for their customers, such as Comcast's XFinity Mobile, which it can tie in with its broadband service. For carriers, MVNOs are a way to make money off of capacity they're not using and try to reach niche markets they may not be able to connect with on their own — customers of different demographics, who speak different languages, and who have different interests. Their brands are very general, and in their marketing, they have to appeal to the general population. It's low risk. If the thing fails, no harm, no foul. "Big carriers are not the most creative kind, and their advertising focuses on big customer segments. They don't have the time, effort, and focus to go after smaller customer segments," says Roger Entner, the founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics, a research and analytics firm. "It's low risk. If the thing fails, no harm, no foul." MVNOs are just a small sliver of the mobile market. Entner estimates there are about 15 million MVNO customers in the US (that excludes people who use MVNOs tied to cable companies, which are an additional 19 million or so). By comparison, the major carriers have upwards of 340 million. Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel, the author of "Cultural Intelligence for Marketers," says that because consumers tend to distrust the big telecom players, an MVNO may signal a "perception of independence" for potential users. It gives an "illusion of being separate from the major telco brands," she says, even if that's far from the case. Klarna is working with AT&T, SmartLess is with T-Mobile, and the Trump Organization says they're working with all three major carriers. For the brands and individuals trying to launch mobile networks, the hope is that they have enough clout with their existing fan bases to get them to switch networks and sign up. Maybe you love Jason Bateman so much you feel like you have to have his phone plan, or you're so entrenched in Klarna's payments system and app, you switch your network to them. Or, in the case of the Trump family, you're MAGA. And given the president's long history of putting his name on things and promoting them, from buildings to steaks to wine, the move seems like a natural extension. "The only surprising thing about Trump Mobile is that he didn't try this already," Greengart says. McAleese, from SmartLess, says that while he's aware this may look like following in Reynolds' footsteps, that's not what's going on. Arnett served as a spokesperson for the Canadian company Freedom Mobile, which he also ran, back in 2018. "Will did that job, frankly, before Ryan ever did," he says. Just because celeb-affiliated mobile networks are blooming does not mean they will flourish. It's a tough business to be in. ESPN failed at its MVNO efforts two decades ago, even with all the power of, you know, ESPN — though that attempt was also before the iPhone existed. It's an easy business to start, but it's a hard business to operate, Moffett explains. "The MVNO network operator provides almost everything you need to get started. But once you spend money on marketing and customer service, it turns out to be a really tough way to make money," he says. "To succeed, you need to achieve meaningful scale, and very, very few MVNOs ever do." Phone plans are sticky. It takes time and effort to switch your carrier from one brand to another, though the barrier is getting a bit lower these days. It's especially difficult if your phone plan is how you're paying off your device, or you're on a family plan with multiple lines. Many MVNOs don't offer plans with more than one or two lines, and few help customers finance their devices. Where a lot of them run into a buzzsaw is when there's not enough differentiation going on. As much as people may idolize certain celebrities or relate to certain brands, it's just not clear that they do so enough to want their entire consumer lives to reside in their ecosystems. Beyond the branding, a lot of these networks aren't particularly special in terms of the price or service they offer. Maybe they'll get some people, via social media posts and ads, but it may not be enough to grow and sustain a thriving business operation. "Where a lot of them run into a buzzsaw is when there's not enough differentiation going on," Entner says. "They bring nothing unique to it." He was skeptical of Klarna's move, too. "It's a lower-cost acquisition channel, because if you're already paying off your burrito, they can also say, 'Hey, by the way, I know you're broke. Here's cheap service on top of it,'" he says, referring to Klarna's BNPL deal that allows people to break up a DoorDash order into multiple installments. "'I know so much about you, so I can tailor my offer exactly for you.' That's the logic. I probably don't agree with it, but knock yourself out." A Klarna spokesperson says in an email that "unlike most new MVNOS, we're not starting from scratch, nor are we jumping on the bandwagon" and that its mobile offering has been in the works for many months as part of a multiyear strategy. "We're not trying to 'win' mobile or become the biggest carrier — this isn't about scale for its own sake," the spokesperson says. "It's about solving a very real problem for the tens of millions of consumers who already trust Klarna to help manage their finances." SmartLess's McAlease says they "wish everyone well" who's trying to launch an MVNO right now, because competition is good for the industry, but "they're just kind of on that unlimited train, and that might work for them and for their audience." Initial marketing efforts have focused on the SmartLess guys, for obvious reasons — you've got three big celebrities and a giant podcast in the mix, so why not? But it will soon shift more to what actually differentiates it. "You're going to start seeing much more product- and price-focused things over the course of the next while," McAelase says. "It's always tricky for MVNOs to break through the noise, and we're fortunate to have a brand and principles that are happy to do that." Pescatore says that MVNOs have been more successful in other countries, such as the supermarket Tesco's mobile network in the UK. But it's challenging. "There are opportunities in a mature market like the US, given the price of existing services from mobile network providers. Ultimately, it needs to tightly integrate and complement the existing service and offer something truly novel to attract subscribers," he says. The track record of these projects working out may not deter brands and public figures from trying. Entner says he knows of multiple MVNOs that are in development. Apple has long faced speculation that it might launch an MVNO, though it always denies it. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Will all these projects work out? It seems unlikely, but it could happen. Some of these packages are pretty cheap, and hey, if you like some actor enough to switch your cellphone plan for them, by all means.
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
'Aquaman' Jason Momoa recounts near-drowning while surfing in Hawaii and the life changes that followed
Actor Jason Momoa has described a near-drowning incident while surfing in Hawaii that left him fighting for survival and ultimately led to a major lifestyle change. Speaking on the Smartless podcast, the Aquaman star said the incident occurred during a miles-long paddle starting at Pe'ahi, Maui, known as Jaws. Momoa explained that around seven miles into the route, his leash snapped in strong winds. At the time, he was nearly a mile offshore. 'I took quite a few on the head… like 10-foot Hawaiian waves,' Momoa said, recalling that he ended up on the outer reef without realising it, unable to be seen by others in his group. His thoughts turned to his then three-month-old daughter, Lola Iolani, as fatigue set in. 'My body stopped… I literally gave up,' he said. A fellow surfer eventually located him, but the pair still faced strong currents and large waves that cost them both their boards. Momoa described paddling the remaining seven miles with his feet bleeding, drawing strength from his ancestors until they reached shore. The experience, Momoa said, had a lasting impact. A long-time smoker, he stopped immediately after the incident, explaining that even previous attempts for his children and family had failed. 'The moment I came out, I never smoked again,' he said. Momoa also recalled filming near the lava fields of Kalapana for Apple TV+'s Chief of War, where he predicted volcanic activity before an eruption of Kīlauea. 'You're obviously stirring up a lot of spirits and mana,' he said, describing the atmosphere as charged yet positive.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jason Momoa reveals the moment he feared he would DIE during 'brutal' surfing accident in Hawaii
Jason Momoa is opening up about a near-death incident that still haunts him to this day. The 46-year-old Aquaman star revealed on the latest episode of the Smartless podcast that he nearly drowned while on a surf outing off the coast of Maui, Hawaii, in 2007. 'I was doing this paddle, we went in at Jaws,' Momoa said, referring to the surf break located on the northern shore of Maui, which draws the world's top surfers to its enormous — and potentially deadly — waves. Momoa — who is currently dating the Andor actress Adria Arjona — explained to hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes that his group of paddle boarders were taking a 13-mile route along the island's coast when his situation took a dire turn. 'You're kind of almost a mile offshore, and then my leash snapped. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped, and it's so windy on Maui,' he said. Momoa, who was at the time starring on Stargate: Atlantis, said he was 'trained pretty well' at the time, so he initially felt 'fine,' but things took a turn for the worse as waves began to batter him. 'I took quite a few on the head. They're pretty big, like 10-foot Hawaiian waves,' he shared. 'But I'm probably half a mile at that point offshore.' But as he began to tire from staying afloat in the chaotic sea, Momoa got to a point where he was 'stuck in this crazy spot,' which he thought may have been the outer ridge of a coral reef, which kept him out of sight of his friends. 'I was really on the outer reef and they couldn't see me,' he said. 'I had my paddle and I was waving it and they couldn't see me, and the waves were so big.' The actor — who was still two years away from his breakout turn on Game Of Thrones — began to panic as he thought about his three-month-old daughter Lola. Momoa shared his daughter, now 18, with his ex-wife Lisa Bonet, and the former couple later welcome their son Nakoa-Wolf, 16. 'I just lost it. I was like, "Oh s***,"' Moma admitted. Momoa said he began to just drift in the water as he feared that he had been left behind by the rest of his group. 'I was out there for a while, and I just couldn't see anyone coming to get me. I couldn't move anymore, and my arms and my legs gave up,' he recalled. 'My body stopped. Like I couldn't move my arms anymore, and I bubbled down. Then my toe hit the outer reef. 'I literally gave up, and I'm screaming inside,' Momoa said of his moment of despair. But he got the motivation to go on at the last possible moment when one of his friends spotted him and swam out toward him for support. 'I get back on the board and we start paddling,' he recalled, adding that it wasn't possible to just swim the shorter distance back to shore. 'He's like, "You got to go out," so we just keep paddling out.' Momoa and his friend still had seven more miles to go on the journey, even as the 'brutal' waves battered them the whole way. By that point, the Dune actor was bleeding profusely from cutting himself on the reef lurking just below the surface. 'My feet are covered in blood,' he recounted. 'And I'm just literally [with] my ancestors just paddling the rest of this way, head down and we get out.' Momoa's near-death experience was followed by an incredible career resurgence that he's still in the midst of today. He become one of the biggest stars on the planet after scoring a major role on Game Of Thrones as Khal Drogo, and he followed that part up with his role as Aquaman in multiple DC Comics films. Momoa also tried his hand at playing in the Fast And Furious sequel Fast X and was part of the ensemble cast of the hit video game adaptation A Minecraft Movie earlier this year. He also earned rave reviews as Duncan Idaho in 2021's Dune: Part One. After skipping the second film in the Timothée Chalamet–starring series, he's set to return to the for the sequel Dune: Messiah, which is now filming. Momoa can currently be seen on the nine-episode miniseries Chief Of War, which began airing on Apple TV+ on August 1. The actor — who is also an executive producer on the show — stars as the real-life warrior chief Kaʻiana, who in the late 18th century rebelled against Kamehameha I's attempts to conquer and unify the major Hawaiian islands.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Jason Momoa came close to death in surfing accident
Jason Momoa almost drowned while surfing at Pe'ahi in Maui in 2007 after his leg rope snapped. Photo / Getty Images Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Jason Momoa almost drowned while surfing at Pe'ahi in Maui in 2007 after his leg rope snapped. Photo / Getty Images Jason Momoa almost drowned while out surfing. The Aquaman actor was navigating Pe'ahi, the biggest surf break in Maui, which is nicknamed Jaws, during a lengthy paddle through Hawaiian waters in 2007 when his leg rope snapped amid high wind, though he was 'fine' at first, despite the waves crashing down on him. Speaking on the Smartless podcast, he said: 'I was doing this paddle, we went in at Jaws. We paddled like 13 miles down the coast. You're kind of almost a mile offshore, and then my leash snapped. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped, and it's so windy on Maui. I was trained pretty well, so I was fine. I took quite a few on the head. They're pretty big, like 10-foot Hawaiian waves. But I'm probably half a mile at that point offshore... 'There's all this water that pulls out of a channel there, [and] you just get hit with these waves.' Momoa said he got 'stuck' and his body began to 'give up' on him while he waited to be rescued.
