Barbie director Greta Gerwig has responded to the torrent of hate that rightwingers in the US have directed at the film, saying it’s “an invitation for everybody to be part of the party”. Speaking to the New York Times, Gerwig was asked if she had anticipated the degree of woke-bashing that rightwing critics have engaged in since the film came out, with some calling it a “man-hating” movie. Gerwig said: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.” She added: “I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Barbie’s feminist themes have sparked rage from influencers like Ben Shapiro, who made a bizarre Youtube video last week in which he burned Barbie dolls. Ginger Luckey Gaetz, wife of Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, said the movie “neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalise the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively”. Gerwig also responded to criticism that Mattel, which owns the Barbie doll range and executive produced the movie, interfered in the production creatively, in a scene where a character described the dolls as “sexist and fascist”. She said: “It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!’ I got a tentative, ‘Well, OK. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead and we’ll see how it goes.’ “But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out.” The backlash has been strong, but the support has been stronger, with Barbie already breaking the record for the highest-ever opening weekend for a female director at $356m. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Sofia Richie's sleek, tight bun has become somewhat a celebrity in its own right, and after months of guessing, she's finally revealed how she does it. Surprisingly, the influencer always starts with wet hair, and dubs it her 'lazy girl' style, adding a hair mask and hair oil to get the sleek finish. Richie divides her hair into three sections, before pulling each one back tightly. However, hairdressers are warning you shouldn't do it every day as not only is it going to result in a headache, it can also cause breakage. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

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TikTok star Breckie Hill claimed she is being “sued” by her ex-partner amid a recent Snapchat leak. The 20-year-old social media star addressed the ongoing issues of videos leaking from her phone, revealing in a TikTok that her mobile phone number had been shared online, and she was being bombarded with calls from her millions of fans. But it’s not the first time the influencer has been hacked. In fact, in one TikTok she claimed it is the third time it has happened to her. In another since-deleted video, she addressed the situation. According to HITC, Hill uploaded a video on 26 July in which she alleged her former partner is suing her over leaked files, which many have presumed to contain intimate content. She wrote: “POV your ex is now trying to sue you for being in something that was leaked which wasn’t even your fault.” Hill has deleted four recent videos from her TikTok that reference the leaks. In one of them, she claimed there were a total of 709 files that has been compromised. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @breckiehill_ Responding to one commenter who suggested that Hill had leaked the files herself, she replied: “This comment is actually really disturbing to me. Why would I purposefully cause myself stress, anxiety, and tears to put photos of me as a child on the internet, including my number, including my email?” She added: “Maybe you should be more considerate next time and try putting yourself in that position.” @breckiehill Replying to @Alissa?? According to reports, Hill is working with a private investigator to discover the person that hacked her account and leaked the content to bring them to justice since she is only 17 years old in some of the images. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.