Business

Crain’s Chicago reports: Mayor Rahm Emanuel is issuing an executive order banning official city travel to North Carolina. And, seeking to gain from a flap over the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people there, Emanuel says he’ll be contacting North Carolina companies that might be interested in relocating to a “more inclusive” Chicago. In comments after an unrelated …

North Carolina’s openly gay Replacements LTD founder Bob Page today issued a statement in reaction to his state’s hate law. His message in full: Today, I take the unusual step of sending you a personal message. Perhaps you, like millions of others, have heard that North Carolina’s recent passage of House Bill 2 – which has been called the worst …

The New York Times reports: The onslaught of criticism, economic sanctions and a lawsuit being leveled at Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina grew on Tuesday, as the largest corporation in his state joined the fight against a new law that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Bank of America, which has its headquarters in Charlotte, …

From a Facebook post by the NC Safe Coalition: “While business owners in other states have received criticism and have even been forced out of business for standing up for common sense, hundreds (334) of North Carolina business owners have signed on to a letter thanking Governor Pat McCrory and the General Assembly for passing a law affirming the privacy …

North Carolina’s High Point Market Week bills itself as the world’s largest home furnishings industry trade show and mere days after the state’s anti-LGBT bill was signed into law, the show’s organizers say they are being deluged with attendee cancellations for next month’s convention, which delivers an estimated $5.4B to the local economy with its spring and fall events. Via …

Yesterday major corporations took to social media or released statements to denounce North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law. See some of their messages below. Perhaps most prominent among them is IBM, the state’s largest private employer. Fortune reports: Big Blue, North Carolina’s largest employer, posted a statement on Thursday that expressed disappointment with the new law, which LBGT rights supporters widely …

On Saturday, HRC head Chad Griffin asked Hollywood to boycott Georgia if the state’s anti-LGBT “religious liberty” bill becomes law. Today Griffin got his first result. Via the Hollywood Reporter: Disney and its Marvel Studios film unit will not film future movies in Georgia if a controversial bill that critics contend would legalize anti-gay discrimination is signed by that state’s …

The Human Rights Campaign today announced that 60 major corporations have jointly endorsed the Equality Act. Companies on the list include Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter, IBM, Facebook, Hilton, Hyatt, MasterCard, General Mills, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo. See the full list below. Via press release: Since HRC joined with lawmakers and advocates last July to introduce the Equality Act in Congress, HRC …

Kardashian clan member Kylie Jenner has filed federal trademark applications for her first name. Not having it is gay icon Kylie Minogue, whose representation has fired back with enough legal shade to put Hollywood’s sunblock vendors out of business. Minogue’s opposing filing pointedly notes that Jenner is “home-schooled” and calls her a “secondary reality show personality” who only plays a …

Beyonce’s new single Formation contains this immortal line: “When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster.” Immediately following her Super Bowl performance of the song – albeit a cleaned up version – the Twitterverse hovered over Red Lobster’s feed, hoping for an amusing or at least meme-worthy reaction. But it was a long eight hours before …

As they have done for other holidays, Faith Driven Consumer has posted a listing of brands to boycott on Valentine’s Day because their parent companies do not show “respect for and compatibility with biblically orthodox teachings.” They write: “Valentine’s Day has been celebrated by Christians for many centuries; its emphasis on love makes this special day a natural fit for …

Politico reports: The drug industry’s most notorious CEO, who exulted in making a fortune by jacking up the price of a life-saving medicine, will plead the Fifth Amendment on Thursday morning when he appears for the first time before lawmakers he trashes on Twitter. The appearance of former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, the hoodie-wearing, hip-hop-loving indicted millennial multimillionaire, will …

USA Today reports: Al Jazeera America, the American cable news outlet owned by Qatar-based Al Jazeera, plans to shut down less than three years after its much-ballyhooed launch, unable to overcome low ratings, operational problems and a lack of advertisers. The cable news network will be phased out by April 30, according to a memo that was e-mailed to staffers …

Rupert Murdoch, Mick Jagger – what’s the difference? USA Today reports: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and actress and former supermodel Jerry Hall announced their engagement Tuesday. The news was revealed in the births, marriages and deaths section of the Times of London, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corporation media group. It reads: “Mr Rupert Murdoch, father of Prudence, Elisabeth, …

Bloomberg Business reports: One of China’s newly minted technology billionaires signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in Grindr, the world’s biggest gay social-networking app. Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., an Internet games company that helped introduce Angry Birds to China, offered $93 million in cash for 60 percent of New Grindr LLC, the company said in a statement to …

The first eight of 20 planned medical marijuana dispensaries open today in New York state, but unlike in most states, you won’t see actual buds available. CBS New reports: Vireo Health of New York in White Plains is one of the dispensaries opening Thursday, about 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. New York …

This news shocks no one. Via the New York Times: In Manhattan real estate, 2015 was a year for the record books, with the median price for co-ops and condos hitting a new high of $1.15 million in the final months of the year, according to reports by major real estate firms that will be released Tuesday. Strong overall sales …

Via New York Magazine: KaloBios, the biotech company briefly helmed by recently arrested “most hated man in America” Martin Shkreli, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. The company was already near collapse before Shkreli and a team of investors bought up a bunch of shares and he became CEO. He resigned from the San Francisco–based company shortly after getting arrested on …

In Missouri, as in many other states, it’s already completely legal to refuse to serve LGBT citizens as no such protections exist in state law. But that’s not good enough for GOP state attorney general candidate Josh Hawley. The Columbia Daily Tribune reports: Hawley wrote to legislative leaders urging them to pass exemptions for ministers, churches and businesses that do …

Via the Associated Press: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has reached $1 billion at the box office, achieving the milestone with record-setting hyper speed. The Walt Disney Co. said “The Force Awakens” crossed the billion-dollar mark Sunday, accomplishing the feat in just 12 days. The previous movie to reach $1 billion the fastest was Universal’s “Jurassic World,” which did it …