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Altria Group said on Tuesday its subsidiary, NJOY, has filed a complaint against Juul Labs with the U.S.

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Alabama Barker has revealed she struggles with an autoimmune and thyroid disease while addressing body-shaming comments about her weight. The youngest daughter of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker hit out at body-shamers on TikTok after viral paparazzi photos led critics to refer to her as a “catfish”. The 17-year-old began her video by scowling at the camera, before she told her followers: “That’s my face when I see all the fake pages commenting about my weight in paparazzi pictures and saying I’m a catfish or saying I’m fat.” Barker went on to explain how “paparazzi will purposely take pictures” with “your mouth open, middle of sentence and any ugly picture they can get of you just for views”. “I would love to see you guys getting random pictures of you taken of you when you’re leaving the grocery store, in the middle of a sentence, with your mouth wide open - and let’s see how beautiful you look,” she said in the 20 August TikTok. She then revealed that fluctuations in her weight have been a result of her autoimmune and thyroid disease. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, problems with the thyroid include a variety of disorders that can result in the gland producing too little thyroid hormone, called hypothyroidism, or too much thyroid hormone, called hyperthyroidism. Thyroid disorders can affect heart rate, mood, energy level, metabolism, bone health, and the body’s reaction to other hormones. “I also have a thyroid problem and an autoimmune disease, so that’s one of the main reasons why I have weight gain,” Barker said. “So, it would be very appreciated if you guys just keep your opinions to yourself. It will get you further in life.” The teen added that once her thyroid and autoimmune disease are “balanced,” she will go back to her “normal weight”. However, Barker emphasised that she’s only gained “five, 10 pounds” amid her health struggles, which she said is “so normal” for women. “I don’t want any girls that are young, watching this that are gaining weight to ever think there’s something wrong with it,” she continued. “There is a certain point when your health is getting affected by it that you need to change it, but, no. It’s not the case for me, and I would appreciate if you guys put yourself in my shoes.” @alabamabarker ♬ original sound - Alabama barker Since it was posted, Barker’s video has received more than 12m views and nearly two million likes. Many fans applauded Barker in the comments for opening up about her health struggles and shutting down body-shamers. “She’s so real with the thyroid comment because same,” one TikToker commented. “I have thyroid problems and an autoimmune disease too so I understand,” another fan wrote. “Weight really does fluctuate.” A third person said: “You are beautiful!! Stay strong!” Barker’s video comes after paparazzi snapped photos of the 17-year-old with her father, Travis Barker, and her pregnant step-mother, Kourtney Kardashian Barker. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum was seen sporting her growing baby bump, while Alabama was dressed in a graphic black T-shirt, black sweatpants, and an oversized hoodie. This is not the first time Barker has addressed negative social media comments. In April, she called out internet users who shamed her for wearing makeup, claiming that she was too young to wear a full glam. “When Kathryn with three kids only waterline liner, four different coloured blonde, and Tom shoes, talk about my makeup or age,” she captioned her TikTok video, which included the background audio: “I’ll tell you what you look like, but you won’t like it.” Alabama Barker is the youngest daughter of Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler. The former couple - who were married from 2004 to 2008 - share 19-year-old son Landon Barker as well. The drummer is also the adoptive father of Moakler’s oldest daughter, Atiana De La Hoya. Meanwhile, Travis and Kourtney revealed they were expecting their first child together last June. The reality star shares three children - Mason, 13, Penelope, 11, and Reign, eight - with ex Scott Disick. Barker and Kardashian tied the knot in May 2022. Read More Travis Barker discusses potential baby names for son with Kourtney Kardashian: ‘Even he knows it’s bad’ PrettyLittleThing advert banned for portraying 16-year-old Alabama Barker in a ‘sexual way’ Travis Barker praises Kourtney Kardashian for ‘healing’ him as he takes 30th flight following deadly crash

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A 27-year-old woman with a rare genetic disorder who could only identify with Mickey Mouse while growing up due to the shape of the Disney character’s hands is trying to be the role model she never had as a social media influencer, to show people with disabilities they are “fully worthy and capable” of achieving anything. Rochelle Muir, who lives in Colorado, was born with ectrodactyly, which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, two toes on her right foot, and four toes on her left foot. The condition causes difficulties in buying footwear, and with relationships – with one of her ex-boyfriends splitting up with her due to the possibility of their child being born with ectrodactyly – but she is now happily partnered with Charles, 31, a primary school counsellor who, along with her father Bill, is her “biggest cheerleader”. Rochelle, who is a client engagement manager for a healthcare company, could identify with characters such as Mickey Mouse growing up as he also has four digits, but she said “being like a cartoon is not exactly the role model you want”. She now posts pictures and videos on her social media platforms to educate others about ectrodactyly, raise awareness of the limb difference community, and share her hobbies, including gaming. “I remember specifically always loving the characters which had brown hair whenever they were in Barbie movies because I thought, ‘Oh, she’s like me!’,” she told PA Real Life. “But I never had that feeling when it came to my limb differences.” Rochelle has never let the disorder hold her back despite being teased and bullied at school, but when she entered the dating world in her 20s, she faced rejection multiple times and felt she was not “capable or worthy of having an amazing relationship”. “I’ve never been rejected over something that I couldn’t change about myself, something I was born with, and that was probably the first hit to my confidence with my limb differences where I felt awful about being born the way I am, about being disabled,” she said. “I just thought, I’m never going to find a meaningful relationship, I’m not worthy, I’m not capable, and that was the dialogue that kept going through my brain over and over again.” Rochelle has since removed “that nasty little voice out of (her) head”, found love with partner Charles, and shared her story publicly on social media, as she wants to “uplift” others among the disability community and show the world that “disabled is not a dirty word”. She said she is no longer “worried about showing (her) true self” and wants to encourage others to do the same. “Most people usually point out the negatives, but there are so many great positives with going and finding other people that look like you, other people you can connect with, and just creating this amazing community where you can uplift each other,” she said. “That’s one of the things I love about social media so much because when I came out about my limb differences, other people reached out and said, ‘Hey, I look exactly like you, this is so exciting, I’ve never seen anyone else that has the same hands as me’. “So it’s one of my favourite things now – and, yes, it’s sad that we didn’t have that growing up, but at least it’s there now and we can have that moving forward.” Ectrodactyly is a rare genetic disorder, and symptoms can vary, the National Organisation for Rare Disorders says. Rochelle underwent surgery to minimise the gap between her fingers and remove the longer toe on her right foot, enabling her to have improved grip and wear shoes from a young age. However, finding the right shoes has been an ongoing challenge and, when she was younger, she could not understand why she could not wear the same shoes as “able-bodied” people. “I remember specifically, there was a time, I think I was about five, that I tried to get my mum to buy me a pair of flip flops – they were pink, and they had butterflies and flowers on them,” she said. “My mum was so heartbroken because she couldn’t fully explain to me, ‘No, you can’t wear these shoes, they are going to be too dangerous for you’. “She eventually just caved and got me the shoes, and we were going up the escalator to go to the next floor in the mall, and I tripped, and we fell. “Ever since then, I’ve thought, I’m going to wear shoes that will stay securely on my feet.” Throughout her life, Rochelle has used humour to “defuse” awkward or uncomfortable situations and to enhance her confidence, but when it came to dating, for the first time in her life she felt self-conscious and “unworthy of having a real relationship”. She remembers one boyfriend who “was like a deer in the headlights” when he saw her feet for the first time, and another who ended the relationship over the possibility of their child being born with ectrodactyly. “He talked to his family, and his mum at the time said, ‘You need to decide whether you want to have kids because if you do, you have to break up with her’,” Rochelle explained. “The relationship ended, and I thought, I can’t blame him, but when I spoke to my friends, they said, ‘You’re amazing. What’s wrong with having a child with a limb difference?’ “That’s when I realised that I had internal ableism, where I told myself that having a disability is awful – ‘you’re not capable, you’re not worthy of having an amazing relationship’.” Ableism is discrimination in favour of able-bodied people – and it was at this point that Rochelle decided she wanted to do something about the lack of representation for people with ectrodactyly on social media. This “lit the fire” in her to share her story publicly for the first time, aged 25, and she has never looked back. Since then, she has launched her own Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels on which she discusses ectrodactyly, limb differences and other disabilities, along with her hobby of gaming, and she has met Charles. Reading positive comments and messages, including from mothers of children who describe her as “an amazing role model”, has been “heart-warming” and makes her emotional – and she wants to continue to “fight ableism and bring more representation for the limb difference community”. “The biggest thing for me is representation for the limb difference community, but also for other disabilities as well, because the more we have that out there, the more of a norm it will be,” she said. “I want to be that role model, that person I wanted to look for in social media growing up, that person that younger me would be proud of and say, ‘Oh yeah, I know her, she’s so awesome, I’m just like her’. “It’s a younger me that inspires me to keep going forward and talking about these things, and I want to give the message that disabled is not a bad word, it’s not a dirty word, and you are fully worthy and capable of anything you put your mind to.” Find out more about Rochelle and her social media channels at beacons.ai/goodmornindreamer Read More Tempted to try barefoot running? 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