Latest news with #Kalani
Scotsman
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Online abuse ahead of Scottish festival 'worst' ever experienced by Palestinian musician
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Palestinian musician has said the online backlash and hatred against her ahead of her performance at a Scottish festival is the 'worst' she has ever experienced and warned of a 'co-ordinated online attack' on the event. Reem Kalani, who is due to perform at Art27 Scotland's Culture=Life festival in Edinburgh on Saturday, said she had faced a barrage of abuse on her social media accounts, as well as those belonging to other organisations which had promoted her performance at the event. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Helen Trew, chief executive of Art 27 Scotland, said the festival overall had faced a "daily backlash" on social media, warning there was a "cultural censorship" of Palestinian arts. Ms Kalani, who is performing Palestinian folk music with her trio at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh, said: 'I've been abused culturally and personally.' She said attacks ranged from her personal appearance and religion and ethnicity, to jokes about Jihad and starving children in Gaza. Posts included 'guys I think I found the reason for Gazan food shortage' and 'should have a festival, maybe call it, oh…I don't know…….Nova….?', referencing the music festival in Israel that was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Kalani, 61, who was born in Manchester and grew up in Kuwait before returning to the UK, said she had experienced abuse before. But she said the backlash ahead of the festival in Edinburgh was the worst she had faced. She said: 'As a Palestinian, I'm used to it, it's to be expected. But this has been the worst [comments] I have ever seen in my life. It has never been like this before. Reem Kelani is due to perform in Edinburgh on Saturday. | Art27 'I love Scotland. I've worked with Scottish artists before and my experience of performing in Scotland has been wonderful, so it surprised me. It feels like a co-ordinated online attack. This can't be ordinary Scottish people.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Kelani, who has performed at Scottish events in the past, including Celtic Connections, plays with a band of non-Arabic musicians whom she says 'can't believe' the hate she has received. 'I'm a political activist, but when I'm on stage, the art speaks for itself,' she said. Ms Trew said the festival's social media accounts had suffered repeated accusations of policy violations every day - resulting in their posts being temporarily suspended - as well as abusive comments aimed at Palestinian culture. Art 27 Scotland was named from Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states 'everyone has the right freely to participate in cultural life and to enjoy the arts'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Trew said: 'Facebook and Instagram are our whole marketing strategy and [the attacks] are being managed in a way that that is what is being closed down and constantly disrupted. The cultural sector is being censored.' Ms Trew said the event was 'managing risk' surrounding the festival, but vowed to go ahead. Some audience members have already asked if it is safe for them to attend the festival's events.
Daily Mirror
18-06-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
American makes observation about UK weather and says 'I thought you were lying'
An American man can't believe what the heat feels like in the UK when the sun comes out – and has issued his sympathy to Brits struggling in the high summer temperatures Summer is here – which means our T-shirts are on, suncream is getting lathered on, and we are guzzling water in a bid to cool down. But while it is lovely to enjoy the glorious sunshine, scorching temperatures can often be hard to handle for us Brits. Many of us feel that the hot weather is worse when it's impacting us at home than when we're abroad. There's no air con and we can't just go for a swim, after all. And it turns out, we're not just moaning for the sake of it! The UK has a higher level of humidity, according to the Met Office. This means it is harder for the human body to keep cool as your sweat doesn't evaporate as quickly". However, people from other countries often don't realise this. An American man has shared his sympathy and admitted online that he "gets it now" - and understand why Brits complain so much about the heat in summer. Viral food reviewer Kalani, who boasts a whopping 3.1million followers on TikTok, loves reviewing British food and spends a lot of time in the UK. The viral man, from Tennessee, admitted that he "always thoughts Brits were lying" about the humidity when it is sunny. He added: "I always thought British people were lying when they said how hot it is. For some reason it just feels like you are melting... "I know it gets hotter at home [in the US], the humidity is just as bad at home, but for some reason, walking in the streets and walking into my hotel room feels like I'm in a f**ing sauna. I don't know how you guys do it without aircon." He describes the lack of aircon as "misery", continuing: "You wonder why Brits complain about the weather so much, it's f***ing miserable." The TikToker also advised fellow Americans that if they want to make conversation with a Brit, the best thing to talk about is the weather. He explained: "It's the easiest way to start a conversation here, it's a British pastime... I doubted you guys.... but I was wrong." The video has garnered more than 156,000 likes since it was posted online yesterday. It's also racked up plenty of comments. Rushing to the comment section, one Brit said: "UK heat is different." Meanwhile, another wrote: "For someone from the Philippines, I cannot handle summer in the UK. I have been here since 2009." Another individual shared: "Yep, my family are from Cyprus, we went last June [to Cyprus]. It was 44C degrees and I was fine, we came back to England it was 27C and I couldn't take it." And a fourth added: "Problem is we have no infrastructure to deal with the heat, all our houses are insulated & have carpets. No AC. Only place it's cold is the meat section in supermarkets."
Daily Mirror
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
American tries full English but Brits say he should try 'better' UK meal
An American has shared how he would improve the classic full English to better suit his tastes, but people believe he should try a meal from elsewhere in the country before making his mind up An American has revealed the one change he would make to the full English breakfast to 'improve' the traditional British dish. US native Kalani ventured to Blues Café Bar in Swindon to try out the iconic meal for the first time – and while he can agree it's good as is, he would make one change to 'level it up'. He shared a taste test video on his TikTok channel @kalanighosthunter, where he rated the dish an 8.3 out of 10 but only a five for the black pudding. His breakfast came with all the trimmings such as eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato, beans and mushrooms and included extras such as French toast, black pudding and onion rings. Starting with the black pudding, he says: "It's just not my favourite – five out of 10. I like the flavour of it, maybe it's just a constancy thing I'm not a big fan of." Moving onto the other items on his plate, he bites into a sausage, giving it a nod of approval and saying it's "tasty". From here, he squirts brown sauce all over his plate before scooping the beans on to his toast and taking a big bite. He was shocked by the difference in English and American bacon in both taste and appearance. He said: "This is a lot different from the US. "I wouldn't say I like it better than my US bacon. I like the crispy bacon back home but this has a lot of really good flavour." Summing up the dish, he says: "I really like this meal. it's very homey like a comfort meal. I can see why you guys love this meal, good flavour, good variants too." Sharing his favourite part of the dish and what improvements could be made, he added: "The beans and toast might be my favourite part of this entire thing. I think my next evolution will be to adding cheese on top of that." However, people were convinced he should go elsewhere to sample the ultimate breakfast. Commenting on his post, one user said: "You need to go to Scotland and try a Scottish breakfast with haggis." Another user added: "It angers me that cafes always serve rubbery nearly raw bacon, born and bred brit but I think USA bacon solos purely because it's at least crisp." A third user said: "When black pudding is done right it's the best thing on the plate." One more user added: "Good man, you give everything a fair go and your honest opinion is good. I hope you enjoy your stay in the UK. It's been a pleasure following you." A final user said: "Eat the black pudding on some bread or toast with bacon or sausage and egg and some beans."
Leader Live
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
TikTok's Kalani Ghost Hunter tries 'best kebab' in Wrexham
'Kalani Ghost Hunter' has a staggering 3.2M followers and over 40M likes on the social media platform. In his most recent videos, he's been travelling around the UK sampling the most highly-rated spots in various towns and cities. And on Friday (June 13), the American-foodie visited Wrexham, including The Turf pub and local favourite bar/restaurant 'The Fat Boar.' But, it was his visit to award-winning 'Chip-O-Dee' that caught the attention of fans, as he tried the 'what's supposed to be the best kebab in Wrexham.' Kalani at The Fat Boar in Wrexham (Image: Kalani Ghost Hunter) Kalani Smith, who is from Tennesse, ordered a large lamb doner, coated in garlic and chilli sauce, salad and pitta. "It looks incredible", he said tucking in, with hundreds of local residents suggesting their takeaway of choice in the comments. Kalani at Death By Tacos in Chester (Image: Kalani Ghost Hunter) The reviewer also commended the sauce being 'in-house' and homemade, and overall loved the dish. "You definitely don't have to be drunk to enjoy this kebab", giving Wrexham yet another huge thumbs up. Owner of the takeaway business Haci Deniz said: "I'm very grateful for his visit and very happy with the comments. Hopefully we see him again soon!" Read more Kalani also stopped in Chester and tried rising Mexican restaurant 'Death by Tacos' situated on Bridge Street where he feasted on an 'incredible' platter. He previously visited the region in March, and enjoyed a fish pie at local pub 'Pant-yr-Orchain.' You can find Kalani's full reviews across his social media platforms.
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I'm American living in the UK - this typical British behaviour was really hard to get used to
An American has revealed the three culture shocks he experienced when he moved to the UK. Content creator Kalani Ghost Hunter, real name Kalani Smith, from Tennessee, listed portion sizes as one of the surprises he received after moving to the UK. The change was so dramatic that when he first ordered a large drink in the UK, he mistook it for a small. It's perhaps unsurprising that the content creator found the change astonishing since the US is famously known for its hefty food and drink servings compared to other nations. Taking to TikTok, Kalani said, 'My mind was like 'This is a small'. If you're not familiar with drink sizes in the US, you can get a small state-sized cup for like a dollar 50. It's absolutely mind-blowing. Taken aback by UK standards, he added, 'When you travel out of the US, you realise that it's not the norm.' Next, Kalani, who boasts over three million followers on TikTok, said when he first came to Britain, he did not realise how much of a difference tipping culture is. 'When you get your check at the end of dinner, and they don't ask for a tip, and they don't even give you an option to tip, it's really weird. 'For example, when you go out in the USA and you get dinner, let's say it's $60, it's customary to leave an extra 20 per cent on top of that for your service staff.' The content creator continued, 'But in the UK, it's not the norm to leave anything extra on top.' The internet personality said that he sometimes still tips waiters and waitresses, but he no longer 'feels the same pressure' that he does to splash out the cash when across the pond. The third adjustment Kalani had to learn to adapt to was the British humour, which he described as 'very dry, very dark and very passive aggressive'. However, once the social media star started to understand the British sarcasm, he admitted that it became 'really funny'. 'They have so many different ways to insult you and so many different ways to say things that it's almost like translating another language at times.' The clip racked up almost 800,000 views and over one thousand comments - and some Britons ranted about having to tip staff when holidaying in the States Kalani described British comedy as 'elite' and said he was first exposed to it when reading comments on his posts. 'I have grown to call a lot of people 'melts' and really enjoy it,' he added. A melt translates to someone acting in a pathetic or wimp-like manner. The clip racked up almost 800,000 views after two days and over one thousand comments, with Britons ranting about having to tip staff when holidaying in the States. One wrote, 'The reason you're not expected to tip in the UK is because service staff actually get paid a wage and tips are extra, not like in the US where servers only survive on tips.' Another penned, 'Been to America and hated the fact that I had to tip for someone that literally just sat me down and took my order.' A third said, 'Our banter is the best, the more you like someone the worse the insults.' A fourth commented, 'I wouldn't be able to tip in the US. Couldn't afford it.'
