People Are Mad About Gigi Hadid Shilling for McDonald’s at Coachella

Hadid’s followers would like to remind you that McDonald’s is unhealthy

Supermodel Gigi Hadid stoked a very diet-conscious hornets nest, as she posted a sponsored ad for McDonald’s for her 47 million Instagram followers. The single post (consisting of two photos) was uploaded in advance of Coachella, with Hadid writing “fed & hydrated, thanks friends” while holding a medium fries.

Aside from the fact that fries aren’t a full meal for an adult human, and are not exactly hydrating, it’s pretty innocuous stuff. Some sections of the internet disagreed: a wave of criticism washed over Hadid’s comments section, with most complaining that she shouldn’t be promoting unhealthy fast food (a few outliers pointed to the chain’s poor labor practices, too). And while the commenters are right (it’s patently obvious that McDonald’s is not particularly healthy), some of the comments seem to feature a less constructive “models should eat KALE and not BURGERS” undertone. Can’t a girl eat some fries and get paid $200,000 to do it in peace anymore?

And in other news...

• A Dominos employee in the UK constructed his own Game of Thrones Iron Throne, using pizza boxes, soda bottles, and a bunch of aluminum foil. [Pop Culture]
• This 22-year-old Korean man allegedly stuffed himself with fried chicken to avoid mandatory military service — but when the case went to court, he was acquitted. [Munchies]
• New York City is planning to issue an additional 4,000 street vendor permits in the next decade; some restaurant owners are upset with the prospect of having to compete with more carts peddling dry-ass pretzels. [Restaurant Business Online]
• It’s well known that rising temperatures will screw with global agriculture, but these genetically modified hazelnuts provide one example of how crops can be adapted. [Grist]
• The Times profiled Martha Stewart’s right-hand man Kevin Sharkey, pondering whether he’ll one day take over her empire. [NYT]
• Burger King’s meat-free Impossible Whopper has nabbed more glowing praise, this time courtesy of the Washington Post. [WaPo]
• Seven years before he became the Queer Eye food guy, Antoni Porowski starred in a somewhat low-budget production of Legally Blonde: the Musical, alongside Mackenzie Davis of Terminator: Dark Fate. [AV Club]
• Protesters commandeered a Chick-fil-A branded zamboni at an Ohio hockey match over the weekend, wielding signs reading “Chick-fil-A is anti gay.” [WLWT]
• It looks like Alinea co-owner Nick Kokonas is ready to joke about his very public feud with celebrity chef Cat Cora. Or he’s just being petty. [Twitter]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]