Author: openjargon

Seafood is one of the most commonly fraudulent foods we come in contact with, according to the ocean-conservation nonprofit Oceana. Your red snapper could actually be a tilapia fillet. That wild-caught salmon? It could be farm-raised. Crab, lobster, and scallops have also been victims of fraudulent swaps — and some of the substitutions could be harmful to human health. But there are also entire criminal rings smuggling seafood across the world. They often fish illegally and have been involved in human trafficking. Why is it so hard to catch bad actors in seafood supply chains? And how can we make sure we're getting the seafood that's on the label?

• ChargePoint said it is rescinding charging credits for Fisker Ocean owners who received promos.
• ChargePoint cited Fisker's contract and said the company had not paid for the credits.
• Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

Fisker filed for bankruptcy on Monday and Ocean owners are already beginning to feel the pinch.

EV charging company ChargePoint notified some Fisker Ocean owners that the company had rescinded their promotional charging credits on Tuesday morning. The company said in an email to owners who had received charging credits through Fisker that Henrik Fisker's company had "abandoned its contract with ChargePoint."

"It has done so without paying for any of the promotional charging offers given out to its customers, including the one you redeemed to your ChargePoint account," the email reads, according to a screenshot viewed by Business Insider. "ChargePoint has done everything in our control to reach Fisker and find a way to take care of its drivers, however they have abandoned all communication without resolving payment."

As a result, ChargePoint said in the email that it would have to relinquish any charging credits on the owners' accounts, but Ocean owners would not have to pay for any credits they had already used via Fisker's promo codes.

ChargePoint customer service confirmed the email when contacted by Business Insider. A spokesperson for Fisker did not immediately respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

Fisker had given some of its customers ChargePoint credits or credits that could be used to subsidize their charging needs to mitigate long repair waits or delivery issues, several owners and two former employees told BI. Fisker first announced a partnership with ChargePoint ahead of the SUV's release in 2023. The company had also said it would offer owners of the Ocean One, a special version of the SUV that was limited to 5,000 cars, a $1,000 ChargePoint credit.

ChargePoint is not the first company to accuse Fisker of stiffing them. Last month, an engineering company sued Fisker seeking $13 million in damages, alleging the company failed to meet the terms of its agreement. At the time, a Fisker spokesperson said the lawsuit was "without merit."

The charging credits are just one of many problems Fisker Ocean owners might face in the coming months. Business Insider previously reported that owners were concerned their cars might become unusable if Fisker were to go under. The company told BI last week that it has delivered about 7,000 cars to date.

Do you work at an EV company or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com or 248-894-6012

• A former Trump advisor says a second Trump term should involve restarting nuclear testing.
• Nuclear experts pushed back on the idea, warning that it'll lead to a global arms race, among other problems.
• Nuke testing could prompt Russia and China into nuclear competition.

Donald Trump's former White House national security advisor is arguing that a second term in office should involve restarting US nuclear testing for the first time in over 30 years.

That's a bad idea, nuclear weapons experts say, as the US, Russia, and China could quickly find themselves in an arms race if the ban on that kind of testing isn't maintained.

Robert O'Brien, ex-adviser to former President Trump, wrote in Foreign Affairs Tuesday that in order to counter China and Russia's continued investments in their nuclear arsenals, the US should test new nukes.

"China has doubled the size of its arsenal since 2020: a massive, unexplained, and unwarranted expansion. The United States has to maintain technical and numerical superiority to the combined Chinese and Russian nuclear stockpiles," O'Brien wrote. "To do so, Washington must test new nuclear weapons for reliability and safety in the real world for the first time since 1992 — not just by using computer models."

O'Brien added that the US should also resume production of uranium-235 and plutonium-239, the primary isotopes of nuclear weapons.

While it's unclear if such actions would be Trump's priorities in a potential second term, O'Brien's recommendations were swiftly condemned by nuclear weapons and arms control experts.

"The ignorance of Trump advisors continues to stun," Jon B. Wolfsthal, a nuclear arms control and nonproliferation expert and an Obama administration official for national security affairs, posted on X, saying that the "US has the world's most reliable and advanced nuclear weapons."

Wolfsthal said that if the US resumed testing, it "would only make it easier for RF [Russian Federation] and PRC [People's Republic of China] to resume nuclear testing and catch up." He added that new nuclear materials also weren't needed, as the US has stockpiles available form the Cold War.

"Nuclear bullying doesn't work and leads to arms racing," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, wrote, calling O'Brien's opinion "dangerous, counterproductive Dr. Strangelove thinking."

No one wins a nuclear arms race, he said.

Kimball called out the difference between O'Brien's argument for the resumption of nuclear testing with the Biden administration's current policy, which remains dedicated to the status quo.

In 2023, US President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: "The United States does not need to increase our nuclear forces to outnumber the combined total of our competitors in order to successfully deter them. We've been there. We've learned that lesson," adding that truly effective nuclear deterrence comes with a "better" approach, not a "more" approach.

Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a nuclear proliferation expert, said in a thread on X that the number of US nuke tests — 1,149 — is more than that of Russia, 969, and China, 45, combined.

"Resuming nuclear testing would reduce US technical superiority over Russia and China because they would immediately follow and have much more to learn," he said.

Hans Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said in a social media post that "there are some 'advisors' you just shouldn't take advice from."

O'Brien's push for resumed testing shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise. Back in June 2020, in the final months of Trump's presidency, the US State Department told Congress it suspected Russia and China had defied testing moratoriums, raising concerns the US would follow. Just a month prior, US officials considered conducting a so-called "rapid test" just to demonstrate readiness to America's adversaries.

At the time, experts pushed back on both the State Department's accusations and the potential for resumed testing, noting that the US does many of the same activities as Russia and China without conducting full tests.

It remained unclear if Trump would have been game for resumed nuclear testing or breaking the longstanding Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but his first-term advisors, such as O'Brien's predecessor John Bolton, believed "unsigning" the treaty should be a top priority for the US. Now, the discussion is back again.

• Goop Superfina is part of Gwyneth Paltrow's ghost kitchen empire. 
• It serves 10 different types of gluten-free pizza, as well as pasta and salads. 
• I wouldn't order the pasta again, but I loved the light and crispy gluten-free pizza crust. 

When you hear the word Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow's multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand, what's the first thing that comes to mind? The infamous jade egg, perhaps, or maybe the viral "This Smells Like My Vagina" candle?

Whatever it is, there's one thing you're almost certainly not thinking about. Pizza.

And yet, that is exactly what Paltrow is selling at Goop Superfina, her ghost kitchen dedicated to gluten-free pies, pasta, and salads.

It doesn't seem like a likely venture for the wellness mogul, who swears by a strict diet of bone broth and paleo-approved foods. But, to our surprise, the pizza was actually … pretty good?

Gwyneth Paltrow has been quietly growing her ghost kitchen empire.

Paltrow was planning a Los Angeles restaurant when the pandemic hit, according to Vanity Fair. She quickly switched gears and opened Goop Kitchen in March 2021.

With chef Kim Floresca — whose impressive résumé includes Per Se, El Bulli, and The Restaurant at Meadowood — at the helm, Paltrow's Goop Kitchen promised to "accelerate the clean food movement" and prove that "unprocessed meals can be both satisfying and convenient," according to a statement the company sent to Food & Wine at the time.

It quickly proved to be a success.

A spokesperson told Vanity Fair two months after the launch that Goop Kitchen's sales were up 526% compared to the company's projections. The takeout venture has since expanded its reach in Los Angeles with five locations, and its menu now features a dozen salads, soups, and bowls. A year after the initial launch, Paltrow launched Goop Rotisserie, which offers organic rotisserie chicken, salmon, salads, and sides.

After launching salads and chicken, Paltrow wanted to try pasta and pizza.

Chef Floresca told Vanity Fair that Paltrow has the final say on Goop's tasting panel, and it took a year for the company to develop the gluten-free pizza dough for Goop Superfina.

"We wanted to create pizza that was just pizza," Floresca added. "If you knew it was gluten-free, cool. If you didn't, even better, and you just ate it and you liked it, perfect. That, for us, is a huge win."

Goop Superfina officially launched in August 2022 and currently offers 10 different square pizzas on its menu, with prices ranging from $14.50 to $22.95 for a pie. Classic flavors like pepperoni, cheese, and Margherita all make an appearance, as do "Field of Greens," "Shroom Shroom," and a barbecue chicken pizza named after Paltrow's son Moses.

The menu also features four different types of pasta, sides of broccoli or meatballs, and a few Goop Kitchen salads.

So, how did it all taste? I recruited my boyfriend and some friends to find out, opting to try two pizzas, two pastas, and a salad for our review of Goop Superfina.

We kicked things off with the Caesar salad.

Goop Kitchen has some great salads, so I wasn't surprised that the $13.95 Caesar at Superfina was delightfully refreshing.

The gem lettuce mix was bright and crisp, the Parmesan cheese added a touch of lovely saltiness, and the croutons — described on the website as "garlicky crunchies" — brought some great texture and flavor. Overall, this gluten-free and vegetarian salad was light, fresh, and delicious — everything you'd want from a great Caesar.

Then we dug into the Queen Margherita pizza.

The $16.95 Queen Margherita pizza features San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte mozzarella cheese, and basil.

I thought the sauce on the Queen Margherita pizza tasted delicious, and the thin crust and bottom had a satisfying crispiness.

The fior di latte wasn't spread out consistently across the pie, so some slices were lacking in cheesiness, which it really needed to boost the overall flavor.

The Pepperoni Potts pizza was our favorite dish of the night.

The $19.50 Pepperoni Potts pizza — a pun on the name of Paltrow's character in the "Iron Man" films — is described as "the pepperoni pizza you loved in your youth, all grown up." It features Zoe's pepperoni, basil, pomodoro sauce, as well as fontina and fior di latte mozzarella.

As with the Queen Margherita, I loved the crispy texture of this pizza. Thanks to the pomodoro sauce, it was light but still packed a ton of flavor. The rich fontina cheese paired deliciously with it, adding depth to each well-balanced slice.

I don't usually opt for a gluten-free pizza, but I loved that I could eat multiple slices of the Goop Superfina pies without feeling like I needed a nap afterward.

The Queen Margherita and Pepperoni Potts were both light and enjoyable, with a texture that impressed every one of my friends who tried a slice. All that time Floresca spent developing the gluten-free dough was worth it.

But the pesto pasta was the biggest disappointment.

Everyone laughed when I opened the takeout bag and pulled out the two pastas we had ordered. For $15.95, the portions were pretty small.

"Are these appetizer-sized?" my boyfriend asked.

And when it came to the pesto pasta, which the menu describes as a "fun update on a traditional standby," the flavor didn't make up for the extra cost.

The pesto sauce — made with roasted sunflower seeds, basil, and lemon — was bland, barely coated the penne noodles, and desperately needed some salt. It was a forgettable dish that I wouldn't order again.

We then tried the "Penne, No Vodka" pasta, which was an improvement.

Goop Superfina's $15.95 "Penne, No Vodka" pasta is as laughably small as the pesto, but at least it tastes better. Paltrow's "alcohol-free take on penne alla vodka" features a tomato-cream sauce with a touch of heat.

I loved the kick of spice in each bite, and the sauce had a delightful creaminess. Even without the alcohol, it tasted like penne alla vodka, and some Parmesan cheese I grated on top helped tie everything together.

But there's no chance I'd order it over Jon & Vinny's famed fusilli alla vodka, which is double the size and just an extra $5.

If you're ordering from Goop Superfina, I think sticking to the pizza is best.

I was apprehensive when I heard Gwyneth Paltrow was launching her own pizza, but I was pretty impressed with Goop Superfina.

While there are far healthier takeout options than a decade ago, they're usually salads or bowls. After trying Goop Superfina for myself, I realized the business idea was far more astute and on brand than I had initially given Paltrow credit for. Launching a gluten-free pizza option, especially in Los Angeles, is undoubtedly savvy. And it actually tastes good!

Time will tell if Paltrow's culinary empire is destined to grow as big as her lifestyle brand, but I'll be watching (and eating).

• Queer representation has continued to grow on TV in recent years.
• But even now, fans argue that networks use queer tropes to market shows without following through.
• It took "Supernatural" over 10 years to confirm a character was gay … and then he died.

Queerbaiting is a complex thing to define in 2024. Oxford Languages defines it as "the incorporation of apparently gay characters or same-sex relationship into a film, television show, etc. as a means of appealing to gay and bisexual audiences while maintaining ambiguity about the characters' sexuality."

In other words, it's when a show is marketed to queer audiences through the promotion of an LGBTQ+ relationship, known colloquially as a "ship," without actually making the relationship canon.

Last year, for example, Netflix threw a Pride party for its show "Wednesday" titled "WednesGay." But neither Wednesday nor any of her friends were confirmed to be queer on the show, even though Wednesday certainly had chemistry with her roommate, Enid.

For some shows, it's not as clear cut, but that hasn't stopped fans from accusing writers or networks of failing to follow through on the promise of a queer relationship.

Here are 10 shows that have been accused of queerbaiting by fans.

One pre-death confession didn't erase 12 years of queerbaiting for "Supernatural" fans.

"Supernatural" aired for 15 years on The CW, from 2005 to 2020. The show primarily focused on a pair of demon-hunting brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester.

As Business Insider's Kat Tenbarge pointed out in 2020, the supernatural soap's queer fandom "kept it alive," but the show never actually followed through on one of its most popular ships: Destiel.

Destiel, a portmanteau of Dean and Castiel (an angel), was heavily hinted at throughout the series and was one of the most popular ships on Tumblr.

"The queerbaiting just got ridiculous," former "Supernatural" fan Evan Tess Murray told BI in 2020. "You couldn't pretend they weren't doing it on purpose anymore. It wasn't 'Well, there's some subtext.' It was like 'Oh my god, this is never going to pay off and you're doing it to keep me here.'"

After years of criticism from outlets like TV Guide and The Advocate, "Supernatural" finally made Destiel canon … sort of.

With three episodes to go before the series finale, Castiel confessed his love for Dean — though it wasn't made explicitly clear if it was romantic or platonic love — and then he died. Then, as meme-makers loved to point out, he was basically sent to "super hell."

Netflix received criticism for how it promoted the show "Wednesday" by using queer tropes … even though Wednesday and Enid were both in straight relationships.

"Wednesday" is a Netflix series focused on Wednesday Addams, the deadpan goth teenage daughter from "The Addams Family." As Digital Spy pointed out, Wednesday (and the rest of the Addams family) have been read as queer icons, as their alternative lifestyles usually distanced them from the rest of the world.

Netflix was apparently aware of this reading and even threw a "WednesGay" party targeted toward LGBTQ+ viewers and featured drag queens and other queer performers, Them reported.

But once the show premiered and it became clear Wednesday was going to be involved in a love triangle with two boys, and Enid also had a male love interest, some viewers saw the event as pandering.

As Discussing Film pointed out on X, "Netflix has queerbaited fans and made them believe Wednesday and Enid would be a couple. Instead of promoting actual queer sapphic shows like 'Warrior Nun' or 'First Kill' they chose to promote a straight show as, and we quote: 'WednesGAY'."

During a 2023 appearance on Dax Shepard's podcast, "Armchair Expert," Jenna Ortega, who plays Wednesday, said the love triangle on the show "made no sense."

"Everything that she does, everything that I had to play, did not make sense for her character at all," she said.

John Watson and Sherlock Holmes on "Sherlock" were a huge ship, but the creative forces behind the show insisted they were strictly platonic.

The BBC's modern-day adaptation of "Sherlock" starred Benedict Cumberbatch as the sleuth and Martin Freeman as his iconic sidekick Watson. Across four seasons and seven years, fans became deeply invested in "Johnlock," the ship between the two.

However, showrunner Steven Moffat was adamant there were never any plans to make Johnlock canon in a 2012 interview with The Guardian, saying there was no reason to think Sherlock was gay or asexual and, instead, he shuns women because he "doesn't want the distraction."

But throughout the series, many characters mistake the two for a couple, including Moriarty, Sherlock's nemesis, who called John "Sherlock's heart."

However, as reported by Screen Rant, instead of the writers addressing some of this tension, their perceived relationship was used as comedic relief.

Fans held onto the hope that "Swan Queen," aka Regina and Emma, would fall in love on "Once Upon a Time."

The queer subtext is easy to find in the relationship between Emma Swan (the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming) and Regina Mills (the Evil Queen from "Snow White"): The two co-parent their son Henry together, and are usually working together to keep him safe.

However, Emma and Regina were given their own male love interests, Captain Hook and Robin Hood, respectively.

Autostraddle pointed out that, while "OUaT" is fun to watch because it's "truly laughable," the perceived queerbaiting is a "silent killer" in the show.

Eventually, showrunners Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis introduced a different same-sex relationship in season five. They told TVLine, "We know that [the LGBTQ+] community has been a big supporter of the show, and we would love to be able to tell a love story that reflects that."

Troy and Abed on "Community" were truly each other's soulmates, platonically or romantically.

Troy and Abed are two main characters in "Community," a sitcom about a study group at a community college. The show aired for six seasons, and there's a movie on the way, Deadline reported in March.

Troy is, at first, portrayed as a stereotypical jock who peaked in high school, while Abed is a pop-culture fanatic with some type of neurodivergence (fans typically see Abed as on the autism spectrum, though it's never confirmed on the show). They don't seem to have anything in common.

Throughout the first four seasons, though, they become best friends and even move in together.

And plenty of people on the internet — like those who signed a Change.org petition to make Troy and Abed "boyfriends" in the upcoming movie — became convinced that, even if the two aren't dating each other, they are each queer-coded.

For example, there's a scene where Troy is struggling with what he wants to do with his life, and talks to Abed about it, all in front of some prominently placed rainbow flags.

Making Kara and Lena's relationship canon on "Supergirl" could've been groundbreaking.

On Business Insider's 2022 list of the best non-canon LGBTQ ships, "Supercorp" — Kara and Lena from The CW series "Supergirl" — were at the top of the list.

And Supercorp shippers held on until the bitter end, as BI's Esme Mazzeo pointed out in 2021 after the show wrapped its six-season run.

"Romantically coded dialogue, longing looks, and pivotal episodes dedicated to defining how much Kara and Lena meant to each other led many Supercorp shippers — fans who wanted Lena and Kara to be together romantically — to believe that the only endpoint that made sense was a confession of love between the two," she wrote.

Fans say there is ample evidence these two were more than just gal pals, including an instance where Lana called Kara her hero and filled her office with flowers.

However, the series finale ended with Kara specifically calling Lana her friend, angering shippers.

"It is a shame that after all these years they really ended Supercorp's story with 'friends,' the same word that has been used on the show, that has been used by homophobic fans and actors since the beginning to avoid discussing the love of two women," a fan told BI.

If you watched certain scenes between Stiles and Derek on "Teen Wolf," you'd probably ship Sterek, too.

"Teen Wolf," which aired on MTV from 2011 to 2017, actually had multiple LGBTQ+ characters and ships on the show, as noted by star Tyler Posey in a 2023 interview with Attitude.

But none was as popular as the non-canon ship "Sterek," which was the relationship between Stiles and Derek.

YouTube and Tumblr are filled with explainers about Sterek, and why some fans felt Stiles, specifically, was queer-coded.

However, their relationship remained platonic, with Stiles also being involved in a fan-favorite ship, "Stydia," with the character Lydia.

Faith and Buffy on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have long been thought to be a little more than friends.

Ever since "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" began airing in 1997, the series has attracted a huge queer fan base, as Buffy's status as a vampire slayer makes her stand apart from the rest of her peers — there's even a scene when Buffy "comes out" to her mom as a slayer, where the dialogue mirrors what many people have experienced when coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

However, Buffy herself was only ever canonically in heterosexual relationships on the show. But some fans were convinced her relationship with Faith, another slayer, was more than platonic.

From the beginning, the two were deeply connected, as they were the only two slayers in the world. They learned and grew from each other — and it was tragic when Faith went down the wrong path.

"'Buffy' aficionados and fan-fiction writers would have described Fuffy as a canonical sexual relationship," wrote Sophie Wilkinson for Vice.

If you're still not convinced, this YouTube video called "Buffy and Faith Being Extremely Heterosexual Gal Pals" might change your mind.

"Rizzoli & Isles" aired on TNT from 2010 to 2016 and focused on "best friends" Jane Rizzoli, a detective, and Maura Isles, a medical examiner.

Even though Rizzoli and Isles were never shown to be anything more than best friends, the show played up the potential for more.

As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2011, there's a season one episode entitled "I Kissed a Girl," in which the two characters "played on a softball team, shared some intimate dinners, drank wine over candlelight and hopped into the same bed for girl talk." The show's creator, Janet Tamaro, even described them as a "power couple."

But one of the show's stars, Angie Harmon, made it clear: "I hate to disappoint, but these characters are straight. If we lose viewers because of it — sorry!"

The Washington Post had a similar read, writing that the show had "faintly lesbian undertones."

Despite all this, Rizzoli and Isles never become more than friends — though the series finale does end with the two taking an extended vacation to France together.

Betty and Veronica kiss in the series premiere of "Riverdale," and then it's never mentioned again.

"Riverdale" started as a dark turn on the classic "Archie" comics and ended as a supernatural, time-traveling, multiversal story.

In the show's 2017 pilot, edgy newcomer Veronica kisses the straitlaced Betty during cheerleading tryouts, for seemingly no reason. It would've been one thing if this resulted in a storyline where either was forced to confront their sexuality, but it didn't — at least, not until the final season six years later.

Even then, Betty and Veronica share two more kisses, but both are in fantasy sequences. It's finally made canon that Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie are in some sort of polyamorous relationship in the series finale, but it all takes place off-screen.

To "Riverdale's" credit, the show was self-aware about its queerbaiting tendencies. During a season six episode, Veronica suggests that kissing Cheryl could be the key to saving their universe — it makes sense in the show — and Cheryl says their kiss would be queerbaiting. Veronica replies, "That's not queerbaiting, it's saving the world."

• The Gateway Pundit was sued by election workers over its claims that they rigged the 2020 election.
• Creditors grilled its chief Jim Hoft on Tuesday morning about undocumented loans to himself and others.
• Hoft admitted using Gateway Pundit funds to buy himself a Florida condo and a Porsche.

Jim Hoft, the far-right blogger behind the notorious conspiracy theory website The Gateway Pundit, gave a picture of his finances in a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday morning, revealing he purchased a Florida condo in recent years and uses a Porsche SUV as a company car.

Hoft appeared to view the distinction between his personal finances and TGP Communications, the now-bankrupt corporate entity that owns The Gateway Pundit, as little more than a formality.

Both he and his brother, Joe Hoft — a Gateway Pundit cofounder — took loans from the company, he said. He was repeatedly asked about whether the loans were memorialized in writing, what interest rates were being charged, and when the loans were due, and he did not give any clear answers.

"We've never been, uh, you know, enormously profitable," Hoft told creditors.

TGP Communications declared bankruptcy in April while trying to fend off defamation lawsuits from people it had falsely claimed manipulated the results of the 2020 election, including election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss and former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer.

The company had between $100,000 and $500,000 in liabilities, it said in a bankruptcy filing. At the same time, it said it had between $500,000 and $1 million in assets — a figure it later revised to $2.3 million. According to Hoft, the company's litigation insurance policy wouldn't cover all the expenses needed for the defamation cases.

One of the lawyers who spoke at Tuesday's hearing said there was about $1.2 million to $1.3 million left on the policy out of an initial $2 million.

"The insurance policies, as you know, are dwindling down, and so that was a serious reason that I looked at the situation I was in and decided that bankruptcy would be a good option," Hoft said at the hearing.

Some of the creditors suing The Gateway Pundit claim the bankruptcy is a legal maneuver to try to escape from accountability in other courts.

After nearly four years of procedural wrangling, Hoft finally agreed in April to take a deposition in a lawsuit brought by Freeman and Moss, two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of manipulating the ballot count in the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost. The two previously won a $148 million jury award in damages for a defamation lawsuit against election conspiracy theorist and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, which forced him into bankruptcy as well.

Coomer has also sued Hoft after The Gateway Pundit falsely accused him of being on "a conference call filled with Antifa-sympathizing callers" to rig the election. Hoft has lost a number of procedural challenges to that lawsuit as well, though it hasn't yet gone to trial.

The bankruptcy has stopped both cases from moving forward.

"This case is a pure litigation tactic," lawyers for Moss and Freeman wrote in a recent filing.

Tuesday's bankruptcy hearing shed some light on how Jim Hoft managed the company's finances. He used the company to give himself an $800,000 loan to purchase a condo in 2021 in Jensen Beach, Florida, he said. To date, none of the loan has been repaid, according to a recent filing, which also lists the condo as the company headquarters.

The company also owns a 2021 Porsche Cayenne worth about $54,000, according to a recent filing. Hoft said he has used it as a "company car" when he's in St. Louis, where he is originally from and still spends a portion of the year.

That is all on top of a salary of $17,000 a month that Hoft pays himself, he said at the hearing.

Hoft didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Hoft is the driving force behind The Gateway Pundit, which ascended to prominence during the presidential administration of Trump, who embraced the site and allowed it a seat among the White House press corps.

The site often misidentifies the shooters in mass shooting events and has been the source of numerous hoaxes and false stories regarding the coronavirus, vaccines, and the 2016 and 2020 elections.

At the hearing's end, a lawyer for the US Trustee's Office warned that his office may seek to have the bankruptcy dismissed — exposing the Gateway Pundit to the defamation lawsuits it was trying to avoid — or put someone else in charge of the company.

"Don't be surprised if the US Trustee either makes a motion to convert, dismiss, or appoint a Chapter 11 trustee in this case," the lawyer said.

• An activist investor has bought a big stake in Southwest Airlines and is asking for major changes.
• Elliott Management wants a new CEO and a total review of Southwest's business model.
• The hedge fund wants to fix outdated systems and has suggested more add-on fees to increase revenue.

Activist firm Elliott Investment Management has taken a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest Airlines and has proposed big changes — including a new CEO — to shore up the company's stock price and fix what it's called mismanagement.

Many of the changes are behind the scenes, like a board shake-up and new C-suite talent, but others (if enacted) could affect Southwest's quirky customer-facing features that make it a unique carrier in an industry that increasingly looks the same these days.

In some cases, Southwest is already considering changes or has been rumored to for years. Others would be brand new for the 57-year-old airline.

"We are convinced that Southwest represents the most compelling airline turnaround opportunity in the last two decades," Elliott said in its letter to Southwest's management on June 10.

Elliott has pointed to possible revenue opportunities for items like bags and seats, while experts told Business Insider that changes to Southwest's network and systems could give customers more choice.

"They want the airline to start acting like every other airline, like charging for checked bags, introducing basic economy, creating an extra legroom coach seat, and more," Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group, said.

Southwest could charge for bags — one of its biggest free perks

Elliott's proposal called attention to one of Southwest's most visible perks: two free checked bags. They suggested unbundling the fare and charging for bags could generate more revenue.

However, Richard Aboulafia, managing director of aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, told BI that Southwest and its customers may resist the idea as the perk boosts loyalty.

CEO Robert Jordan said at a Politico event in June that 50% of its consumer base chooses Southwest because of the free checked bag policy, Reuters reported. CCO Ryan Green told CNBC in April the change was not on the table.

There is a way for both sides to win, according to Harteveldt: Give free checked bags to Southwest credit card holders.

American, Delta, and United offer complimentary checked bags as credit card perks. Southwest could capitalize on the same strategy with its co-branded Chase cards.

Baggage fees were worth an estimated $33.3 billion to global airlines in 2023, according to a report from IdeaWorksCompany, a consultancy for airline ancillary revenues.

The airline was already thinking about changing open seating

Southwest has been discussing changes to its seating policy for months as a way to boost revenue, but Green told CNBC that adding another cabin to the aircraft — à la business class or premium economy —is unlikely.

Elliott suggested seat assignments could be a lucrative revenue stream. Southwest already earns ancillary revenue for early boarding, which it has increased the price of recently.

Business travelers, for example, may be willing to pay for a specific seat. And even leisure travelers, like those with families, "don't want to play boarding bingo," Harteveldt said.

Mainline carriers like American, Delta, and United have found much success in their discounted "basic economy" fares, which offer a cheaper base fare but charge for seats — and they can make a lot of money selling premium seats in exit rows and closer to the front for an extra fee.

Southwest was slow to consider red-eye flights

Southwest is planning to add red-eye flights starting in 2026, launching from hot-spot destinations like Las Vegas and Hawaii, Green said at a conference in March.

The additional flights can give travelers more flexibility and give Southwest more seats to sell on a route.

According to The Seattle Times, Southwest has been able to offer overnight flights since 2017 thanks to its upgraded reservation system but has waited years to implement the option.

"It wasn't a reservation system limitation at the time," Harteveldt said, referring to when Southwest upgraded its IT. "It may have been a limitation within other parts of Southwest's operational infrastructure."

Updated technology behind the scenes could improve the customer experience

Elliott pointed to Southwest's outdated systems in its proposal, citing a December 2022 meltdown that left millions of people stranded due to Southwest's antiquated crew-scheduling software that couldn't keep up with the disruptions.

Beyond that, Harteveldt said Southwest's reservation system does not accept foreign currency. In fact, the carrier can't fly to Canada because it does not accept Canadian dollars, as required by local law.

Southwest has only recently invested in systems that would allow it to codeshare with other airlines, Harteveldt said — another modern strategy common among many US airlines.

Codesharing could open overseas connectivity to Europe and Asia, for example, similar to Alaska's partnership with the Oneworld alliance.

"In some ways, what Elliot may do is force Southwest to accelerate making some of the changes it has already been considering, and that's not a bad thing," Harteveldt said.

Regardless, experts said Southwest's challenge lies in making any short or long-term changes without disrupting its huge consumer base — people loyal to the airline because of its extensive freebies and customer-focused culture.

Southwest has defended its CEO and board, telling BI it looks "forward to better understanding [Elliott's] views on our company." Jordan told reporters after an event in Washington on June 12 that he had no intention of resigning, Reuters reported.

"We want to understand what their ideas are, they may have great ideas," he said. "At the end of the day, we are going to treat Elliott like any other investor. We'll sit down and listen to them."