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Pop culture update: Engagement, TV hits, and tech controversies

Entertainment industry events spotlight major developments and trending stories
Pop culture update: Engagement, TV hits, and tech controversies
Tom Holland And Zendaya’s Engagement
Tom Holland And Zendaya’s Engagement

The famous actor and actress Tom Holland and Zendaya, who both acted in Spider-Man: Homecoming and its follow up movies together, were confirmed to be engaged at the 2025 Golden Globes Awards when Zendaya showed up with an engagement ring on the red carpet.

The couple had previously announced their romantic relationship back in 2021, even after trying to keep their relationship private. However, information regarding the couple’s wedding ceremony is still up in the air, with much of their private matters kept away from the public.

Squid Game Season 2
Squid Game Season 2

The Netflix series “Squid Game” follows the protagonist Seong Gi-hun compete with fellow players in massive debt in children’s games, with failure resulting in death. After the series’ international success, there was an announcement in July 2022 confirming the production of a second season. Finally, after a long and anticipated wait, season two released on December 26, 2024 with seven episodes available. The season’s premise revolves around Seong Gi-hun, participating in the same competitive games he faced before with the intent of dismantling it.

Tik Tok Ban
Tik Tok Ban

After the U.S. Department of Justice determined that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was sharing American data with the Chinese Communist Party, a legislation was signed that the company must sell the app to a U.S. company by January 19, 2025. As of today, ByteDance has not complied with the legislation, leading to widespread speculation of TikTok getting banned in the U.S. However, the final verdict regarding the app will be decided by the Supreme Court, with the ruling possibly being announced before the legislation’s deadline.

While the app will not cease to exist, the service will cease updates, rendering the app unusable overtime. The only way for the app to be accessed in the U.S. would be through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that can set a user’s location outside the States.

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About the contributor
Alyssa Reign Pontines
Alyssa Reign Pontines, Staff Writer
Alyssa Pontines is a first-year staff writer who works under the Arts and Entertainment section for The Mirror. She has survived 12 years of compulsory education despite her true aspirations lying within the creative industry as an artist. As Van Nuys High School does not offer creative writing classes, she pursues mastering her storytelling skills independently. She primarily works with narrative fiction in her projects, preferring character-driven works over plot-driven ones. Much of her art portfolio consists of original anime-styled artworks as she finds drawing in a realistic style not much fun. Her current inspirations include Vocaloid and Japanese-EDM songs, graphic novels, animated shows and the rhythm game “Arcaea.” In the future, she plans on entering the art industry and specializing in either game design or concept art. If things go well enough, she wants to start a graphic novel or visual novel series of her own.
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