Weird week: An intense tattoo, a star-powered plane, and more wild headlines

Another strange week is in the books, with another controversy for a viral chef and a middle school building esports into its campus.

If you aren’t a Salt Bae fan, this probably won’t curry favor. Chef Bae turned viral videos into ostentatious restaurants in cities like London, Dubai, and NYC that cater to the uber-wealthy — and seems to do it well, given they turned a $4.2m profit last year. But here’s a strange juxtaposition: the Turkish butcher’s London hotspot, which sells a $856 steak, is also skimping on heating for its patrons and employees. The luxury purveyor says it shuts off its central heat “to improve energy efficiency,” but critics are calling BS, saying it’s another nickel-and-diming move by a chain whose staff is already angry over alleged tip theft.

A collage of images against a pink background: influencer chef Salt Bae, a yellow Spirit Airlines plane, a gloved hand holding a tattoo needle, and a red and black gaming chair.

Machine Gun Kelly has more ink than an HP OfficeJet Pro. The rapper unveiled a massive (like, “it takes up most of his torso” massive) new tattoo that apparently took 44 needles to complete — and covers much of the ink he already had. The buzzworthy piece was completed by tattoo artist Roxx, who specializes in blackwork and whose client list also includes Ricky Martin and Rosie O’Donnell. Want to add yourself to that roster? Be warned: an initial consultation with Roxx runs $499/hour.

We’re guessing your middle school didn’t have a $500k+ esports lab (ours didn’t either). Tallahassee’s R. Frank Nims Middle School is about to leave other schools in the dust, as it’s soon to add a gamer’s paradise to its campus, equipped with a 100-inch flat-screen TV, computers, two PlayStation 5 consoles, and ~$50k worth of gamer chairs. Florida taxpayers who financed the half-million dollar project surely won’t be mad about a thing once assured it’s all for the kids — many Nims students have reported that esports class is their favorite, which, respectfully, no shit.

If you see a giant banana peel on the tarmac, blame Spirit Airlines. The budget airline has been in a bind since a judge nixed its $3.8B merger with JetBlue, but Spirit found one teammate it won’t be forcibly removed from: Universal Studios Hollywood. The two brands partnered on the first-ever Super Nintendo World airplane, which sounds exciting, but is truly just a standard Airbus A320 with a picture of Mario slapped on its side. So cool.

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