• 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."

• Mountaineer Garrett Madison recently summited Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, and Mt. Nuptse this season.
• This is his second time doing it, earning him another Everest "triple crown" of mountaineering.
• Madison made the trek even more challenging by collecting pounds of trash along the way.

Few people have successfully summited the Everest region's "triple crown."

These three peaks — Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, and Mt. Nuptse — are some of the most dangerous climbs, boasting some of the harshest conditions on Earth: freezing temperatures, low oxygen levels, and treacherous terrain.

Summiting any one of these three peaks could risk your life. Climbers can die from severe altitude sickness, falls into deep crevasses, exposure, and other threats.

Professional mountaineer Garrett Madison has achieved the Everest triple crown not once, but twice — first in 2023, the deadliest Everest climbing season on record, and again this year.

But visiting the top of the world isn't just about climbing for Madison anymore. He's summited Mt. Everest 14 times, and after years of watching trash accumulate on the mountain and its surrounding peaks, he's decided to tackle the issue head-on.

He started the Madison Mountaineering Mountain Cleanup Project in the fall of 2023, and he and his team have now collected a total of 4,000 pounds of trash — 2,000 pounds in 2023 and another 2,000 pounds this year — from Everest and neighboring peaks.

"I think we've made a big dent. There's obviously more work to be done," Madison told Business Insider.

Cleaning up polluted peaks

Picking up trash on some of the world's tallest mountains adds yet another layer of complexity and intensity to an expedition like this, Madison said.

"It's not just like walking down the street and picking up trash out of the ditch. It's really hard work," he said.

Doing any sort of physical labor at such a high altitude, while also spending entire days climbing, can lead to exhaustion fast.

Plus, the climbers have to carry extra protective equipment like gloves and packages for transporting the trash down the mountain. Every additional pound is extra strain.

"Our teams could only work for like an hour at a time before they'd have to rest," Madison said.

The climbers also had to be wary of dangerous terrain. Most of the trash is in the camp areas, which are relatively flat, Madison said. But Camp 3 is located on the Lhotse Face, which is very steep with a high risk of avalanches and falling rocks.

"That's a treacherous area to be operating in, you don't want to fall. People have fallen down and died," he said.

But for Madison and his cleanup team, the work is worth the risk.

Pollution flows down

The Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, which includes Mt. Everest and seven of its neighboring peaks, has a serious trash problem. Most of the garbage is left behind by climbers, and includes stuff like abandoned tents, discarded food packaging, and empty oxygen canisters.

A 2010 study estimated that park tourism generated roughly 4.6 tons of solid waste per day during climbing seasons. But that number is likely higher today, because the amount of people climbing these peaks has generally increased since then while garbage disposal methods are still lacking.

Waste management rules on Mt. Everest haven't been well-enforced, Troy Aupperle, an experienced mountaineer who climbed Everest twice and summitted once, told Live Science in 2022. And he doesn't think most climbers are all that concerned with carrying their trash back down the mountain.

"You barely have enough energy to get yourself off the mountain, so anything you don't have to carry or can get rid of, you just off-load so you can get down," Aupperle told Live Science.

All that waste is polluting critical water resources for local communities, Madison said. "Where does all that trash go? It'll flow down the glaciers into the streams and rivers and water sources that communities rely upon," he said.

Plus, discarded climbing equipment can break down into microplastics, which have been found in water and snow samples at Everest's base camp.

"Of course, what we really want to see is a change in policy and attitudes through education, where it's no longer acceptable to leave trash behind up there." But it's been a challenge.

In 2014, for example, Nepal's government instituted a rule requiring every mountaineer who climbs above Everest's base camp to return with 18 pounds of trash from the mountain, or forfeit a $4,000 deposit. But many people just forfeit the money, Alton Byers, a mountain geographer wrote in an article for The Conversation in May.

Madison's cleanup project is perhaps one of the most recent efforts but it's certainly not the first. In 1991, local Sherpa people created the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), which monitors waste on the permit-required peaks in this region, like Mt. Everest, Byers wrote.

And in 2019, the nonprofit Sagarmatha Next started a "Carry Me Back" program that encourages tourists to take two-pound bags of trash out of the mountains to be properly processed and disposed of.

Madison's cleanup project partners with both of these organizations in a united front against trash pollution on the world's tallest peaks.

"It's been an honor, very exciting to work with them a little bit," he said.

Madison hopes that his clean-up project helps reduce the environmental impact that climbers have on Mt. Everest and other peaks in this region.

"It's a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it. I feel really lucky and privileged to get to go on these expeditions," Madison told Business Insider.

• "Chipotle Boys" are now they're getting their own special.
• "You know who you are," Chipotle said in its promotion of the double-chicken and white rice bowl.
• The brand posted a "starter pack" on X, which included aviators, AirPods, and the requisite puffy vest.

Move over rat boys; it's a Chipotle Boy summer.

The army of young urban male office workers who just might constitute the chain's most reliable customer cohort is now being recognized with a meal special of their own.

Now available for a limited time, the Chipotle Boy bowl is available in the app, featuring the necessary two scoops of chicken (so you don't have to ask), white rice, black beans, mild salsa, corn, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce.

"You know who you are," the item listing says, beneath a collage of the bowl, a copy-pasted stack of white finance bros, and a spreadsheet to really drive the meme home. (It is unclear from the image whether the guys are 6'5" or have blue eyes.)

In a post on X, the brand posted a "Chipotle Boy Starter Pack," which included aviators, AirPods, a MacBook, a glovebox full of Chipotle napkins, and the requisite puffy vest.

Several regulars previously told Bustle that Chipotle has been able to "tick all the boxes" of convenience, speed, and nutrition.

"After all, who needs variety when you have the intoxicating promise of optimization?" Bustle wrote.

Attempting to "Make it my own" on the Chipotle Boy Bowl brings up a warning that changes could make the meal ineligible for the promotional price.

Bustle also observed that several customers were picking up orders from restaurants near their offices — in many cases to eat at their desks.

And a trainer told the outlet that "gym boys tend to be Chipotle Boys," since the chain's dietary information makes it easy to track macronutrients.

Earlier this year, some diners complained that they were receiving skimpier scoops than they were expecting, prompting the company to clarify that there had been no official change in portion sizing.

• Ukraine has vowed to destroy the strategic Kerch bridge linking Russia with occupied Crimea.
• Russia has attempted to protect the bridge with barges and floating boom defenses.
• But Ukraine has demonstrated that it can innovate and adapt to defensive measures in the Black Sea.

Russia has placed multiple barges and other defenses around a major bridge connecting it to the occupied Crimean peninsula, recently captured satellite images show. The efforts appear to be a bid to protect the structure from Ukraine's vaunted fleet of exploding naval drones.

The Kerch Bridge — Russian President Vladimir Putin's prized accomplishment and a symbol of the Kremlin's desire to maintain its grip on Crimea forever — has already fallen victim to several high-profile Ukrainian attacks, including a naval drone strike.

Past efforts to protect the bridge have been ineffective, and as Ukraine continues to innovate with its highly effective naval drone programs, Russia's new defensive barriers may not be enough to prevent further attacks.

Britain's defense ministry said recently that Russia started placing barges as barriers on the southern side of the 12-mile-long bridge, which connects Russia and Crimea and facilitates military and economic activity, in early May. Satellite imagery captured on May 23 and published by the UK government revealed multiple barges in place.

The defense ministry said in a June 8 intelligence update that "these barges were placed by Russian forces in an attempt to defend the bridge and shipping channel, reducing the angles of approach for Ukrainian unmanned surface vehicles." It added that the "previously installed barriers have been damaged by storms, reducing their effectiveness."

By June 8, more than two weeks after the images were taken, the protective measures had swelled to include several additional barges and floating boom defenses that run parallel to the bridge, according to satellite imagery captured by Maxar Technologies and then obtained by Business Insider.

To allow for ships to pass through the defenses and under the bridge, the barges give way to an opening, and the floating booms curve inward toward the structure underneath its arch.

Whether these new defenses are able to effectively prevent Ukraine's naval drones remains to be seen.

But the Ukrainians tend to adapt and find ways to attack Russia's assets at sea even as Moscow develops measures to protect them, said Brady Africk, an open-source-intelligence analyst and an associate at the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

"These barriers complicate the equation, but it is still a solvable one," said Africk, who has chronicled the development of the defenses over the past few weeks.

Ukraine has repeatedly vowed to destroy the bridge because it is used as a supply and logistics route for the Russian military in Crimea and also because it represents Moscow's illegal annexation and continued occupation of the peninsula. Kyiv's ambitions have been underscored by multiple attacks on the site over the past two years.

But a Ukrainian navy spokesperson said destroying the bridge now won't be as effective as it would have been earlier in the conflict because Russia is relying on it less frequently to help sustain its war efforts in Crimea.

The lengthy bridge accounts for less than a quarter of all transiting cargo, Dmytro Pletenchuk told local media this week. To help sustain its military presence in Crimea, Russia has been using ferry crossings. Ukraine, notably, has shown that it can also target these operations, highlighting Kyiv's ability to adapt.

"Ukraine is very comfortable with innovating past Russia's defenses and finding new ways to strike targets in occupied territory," Africk said.

Ukraine has made a number of upgrades and improvements to its naval drones since they were used against the bridge last summer.

The modifications made to them include giving the vessels larger warheads, increasing their ranges, and outfitting them with missiles and rockets, reflecting a push from Kyiv to make its drone fleet even more of a problem for Russia.

The naval drones have already been used to wreak havoc on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet, damaging and destroying a number of warships, at least two dozen by the Pentagon's count.

Given the threat, Russia has turned to barges and floating boom defenses to protect other high-profile sites around the Black Sea and Crimea, including at the ports of Sevastopol and Novorossiysk. It has also sunk ships and used smoke generators to help safeguard the Kerch Bridge.

These are relatively cost-effective ways to add an extra layer of protection to a site as valuable as a warship port or a strategic bridge — compared to more kinetic options like constant aircraft patrols of the waterway — but they aren't necessarily the most reliable.

"In terms of constructing defenses and defending key assets, I think Russia has realized that where they can't excel in quality of defenses, they should try and invest in quantity," Africk said. "We see that with these barges that are protecting" the bridge.

• GAO reports DOD is troublingly slow at delivering new weapon systems to keep up with threats.
• Despite reform attempts, DOD's bureaucratic hurdles and workforce issues hinder timely tech delivery.
• GAO urges DOD to adopt better practices and clear objectives to stay on top.

The Department of Defense continues to struggle to quickly deliver new technologies, a watchdog agency argued in a new report published Monday.

Significant national security threats are continuing to emerge and evolve, but the "DOD remains alarmingly slow in delivering new and innovative weapon system capabilities," the Government Accountability Office wrote it its Weapon Systems Annual Assessment.

Though the Pentagon plans on investing trillions of dollars into weapons development and acquisition, the GAO says the delivery of these new technologies is not happening quick enough.

The US Navy is a prime example of the challenges the military is currently facing. Most of the sea service's biggest shipbuilding projects are delayed by years, putting new weaponry way behind schedule at a time when rival China is rapidly expanding and improving its navy.

The Department of Defense introduced reforms in 2020 related to acquisition policies in hopes of speeding up the lengthy and overwhelming bureaucratic acquisitions process; however, "slow, linear development approaches persist," according to the GAO report on these issues.

The GAO said that the concerning delays within the Department of Defense are linked to issues related to the department's workforce, modernization efforts, and security.

One thing the GAO noted is that a majority of the acquisitions programs did not regularly report its scheduling of important cybersecurity evaluations to be completed at the proper phases of development or ahead of time for planned transitions, which puts acquisitions at risk of vulnerabilities that could then affect the delivery schedules.

Additionally, the Department of Defense's acquisition programs have had difficulties hiring and retaining a sufficient workforce, especially in software-focused fields.

The agency also explained in its assessment that the timeframes acquisitions programs provide for certain projects, such as 10 years to produce initial capabilities for a warfighter, are simply "incompatible with maintaining military advantage."

The accountability agency made clear in its report that the Department of Defense must work quickly to address its stagnancy as foreign powers such as China and Russia actively aim to become more dominant forces militarily.

China, known as America's "pacing challenge," has "greatly strengthened its military capabilities over the last 20 years and its stated goal is to have a 'world-class' military by the end of 2049," the report said. And "Russia is increasing its military capability and seeks to expand control over portions of the former Soviet empire."

The GAO offered several recommendations, encouraging the Department of Defense to address how its acquisition programs apply best practices for product development, present objectives for its software workforce, and identify tactics and materials required to meet those objectives.

"DOD concurred with the software workforce recommendations and partially concurred with the remaining recommendation," the agency said.

• The "Bridgerton" season three finale introduces a queer plot twist for Francesca Bridgerton.
• Masali Baduza plays a gender-swapped version of John Stirling's cousin from the book series. 
• Showrunner Jess Brownell said she got "Bridgerton" author Julia Quinn's blessing to make the change.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season three, part two of "Bridgerton," and "When He Was Wicked," the sixth Bridgerton book.

The season three finale of "Bridgerton" sets up a major change in Francesca Bridgerton's (Hannah Dodd) love story by introducing a gender-swapped character, and book series author Julia Quinn gave her seal of approval.

"The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you're never going to please every single side of the fan base," showrunner Jess Brownell told Teen Vogue in an interview published on Friday. "In, for example, deciding to tell a queer story with Francesca, I spoke with Julia Quinn, I got her blessing."

Francesca becomes a more prominent character during season three of the Netflix drama series as she makes her debut in society and seeks a compatible match for marriage. She finds that partner in John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin (Victor Alli).

Francesca and John bond through their similarly introverted and reserved dispositions. In the season three finale, they get married in a small ceremony and make arrangements to move to John's primary estate in Scotland.

In the final episode, while at the Dankworth-Finch ball, Francesca is caught off guard by the arrival of John's cousin, Michaela Stirling (Masali Baduza), who will be accompanying them to Scotland. When Francesca meets Michaela, she immediately becomes nervous and stutters as she introduces herself.

Fans familiar with Quinn's "Bridgerton" books, specifically "When He Was Wicked," already know where Francesca's story is heading, but the show sets up a different course of events for her.

In the novel, John dies two years into his marriage to Francesca and his cousin Michael Stirling becomes the new earl. Francesca and Michael reconnect years later, get married, and have two children.

Introducing a gender-swapped version of John's cousin will lead to changes in the TV show. Fans hoping for a by-the-numbers adaptation of Francesca and Michael's love story may have strong opinions on the queer story, but Brownell isn't surprised.

"I think something that has been a real growth point for me, stepping into the showrunner role, is that I've always been a people pleaser, and someone who wants to give everyone what they want — but in this job, you have to make difficult decisions," she told Teen Vogue.

Brownell said that as a queer woman, she related to Franceca's book. She also felt that it was important to incorporate a queer romance into the show that had a happy ending, "which we don't always get to see in period pieces."

Brownell, who took over as the showrunner for season three, said that she had been pitching a gender-swapped Michael since season one. When she spoke to Quinn, they discussed the potential backlash.

"We talked about the fact that with almost any single book, there would be a side of the fandom that would be disheartened to see their favorite characters changed," Brownell said. "I don't think that there is any book that wouldn't happen with, so for me, again, it came back to story, and it came back to character. Because Francesca's book resonated [with me] in the way that it did, it felt like a natural adaptation."

"Bridgerton" already has a fourth season in the works, but there has yet to be an official announcement about which character's love story will be next — though there are strong hints that Benedict might be giving up his bachelor ways soon.

Fans will likely have to wait a while before seeing how Francesca and Michaela's love story unfolds.

The show hasn't been renewed for additional seasons beyond season four, but Brownell and executive producer Shonda Rhimes already have plans for how they'd tackle future installments. In the case of Francesca, Brownell told The Hollywood Reporter that there "will definitely be a time jump at some point" to adequately show her relationships with John and Michael.

• Melinda French Gates is excited about her new lifestyle post-divorce from Bill Gates.
• French Gates told Time that she loves walking to local spots in her neighborhood.
• She bought a cottage in Seattle three weeks before the former couple filed for divorce in 2021.

Melinda French Gates is loving her new neighborhood.

The philanthropist, who divorced Bill Gates in 2021, told Time that she spent a lot of time on Redfin researching the right home for herself. French Gates reportedly found just that in the house she's been living in as a divorcée.

"I live in a neighborhood. Now I can walk to little stores. I can walk to the drugstore, I can walk to a restaurant," she told Time. "I absolutely love it."

While French Gates didn't specify where she currently resides, she bought a cottage in the North Broadway neighborhood of Seattle weeks before the former couple filed for divorce in 2021. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home cost $1.2 million, according to documents previously viewed by Business Insider.

It's a significant downsize from Xanadu 2.0, situated on the about 10.5 acres of land Bill Gates bought in the Medina suburb of Seattle, which is worth north of $183 million.

According to Time, French Gates was never a big fan of the sprawling compound, outfitted with a 60-foot-long swimming pool, over 18 bathrooms, and 2,100-square-foot library.

Instead, it appears she prefers the simple life of strolling to her local shops, neighbors who aren't tech titans, and a home that doesn't feel "like arriving at Jurassic Park," as a former Microsoft intern once described Xanadu 2.0.

French Gates stepped down from her cochair position at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in May to "move forward into the next chapter" of her philanthropy. Her resignation went into effect on June 7.