The internet-famous TikTok account Sylvanian Drama is now at the center of a real-world legal battle, as its creator faces a lawsuit from the brand behind the toys.
If youre unfamiliar, Sylvanian Drama features Sylvanian Family figurines (known as Calico Critters in the U.S.) acting out wild, often dark storylines involving kidnappings, drug abuse, and murder. One of its most viral videos, titled “My marriage is falling apart,” has amassed 22.1 million views. A top comment calls it Shakespearean.
@sylvaniandrama #love #drama Mr. Brightside – The Killers
Thea Von Engelbrechten, based in Kildare, Ireland, launched the account in 2021. She later dropped out of university as the account exploded in popularity (it now has 2.5 million followers) and has since collaborated with brands like Netflix, Burberry, and Sephora.
But in April, the drama left TikTok and landed in court. Epoch Companythe parent brand of Sylvanian Familiesfiled a copyright lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as first reported by the Irish Independent.
The company accuses Von Engelbrechten of copyright and trademark infringement, as well as unfair competition. According to the complaint, Defendant is working to build Sylvanian Dramas own brand image as an advertising and content creation service provider at the expense of Epochs goodwill it has built over decades, Vulture reports.
Epoch states that TikTok had removed some videos following a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice issued in October 2023. However, after failing to reach a lasting agreement with Von Engelbrechten, the company wrote that it had no choice but to file this lawsuit.
The case underscores a broader issue: the legal risks creators face when centering content around trademarked brands. Epoch is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, in addition to profits generated by the Sylvanian Drama account. A pretrial conference is scheduled for August 14, during which both legal teams will explore settlement options or prepare for trial.
Von Engelbrechten has not publicly addressed the lawsuit, and Sylvanian Drama has not posted on any platform since January. (Fast Company has reached out to her for comment.)
Meanwhile, fans have flooded the accounts pinned videos with messages of support. Someone make her a GoFundMe, one commenter wrote. Creator Jeffrey Men, creator of the toy company Fancy Teddy, tells Fast Company: Self-expression should be celebrated, not suppressed. As a small, creator-led brand, I stand with anyone reimagining what toys can mean.
U.S. wireless carrier Verizon raised the lower end of its annual profit forecast, riding on strong demand for its premium plans and benefits from the Trump administration’s new tax law.
Shares of the company rose 3.5% on Monday as it also surpassed Wall Street estimates for June-quarter sales and profit, thanks to a 2.2% rise in wireless service revenue.
The telecom major has launched price-lock promotions and broadband-wireless bundles to retain users as competition intensifies from AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as broadband providers Comcast and Charter.
Verizon is also benefiting from favorable U.S. tax reform that allows companies to immediately write off the full cost of certain new equipment, finance chief Tony Skiadas said.
He estimated the legislation will boost free cash flow by $1.5 billion to $2 billion this year, prompting Verizon to raise its forecast for the metric to between $19.5 billion and $20.5 billion, up from $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion previously.
The company now expects 2025 adjusted profit to grow between 1% and 3%, compared with 0% to 3% previously.
Verizon pays the highest cash taxes among major U.S. telecoms, Wells Fargo analysts said earlier this month, adding the tax law will provide a big financial boost to the industry.
Shares of AT&T and T-Mobile were both up 2.3%.
However, Verizon posted a surprise drop of 9,000 monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers in the second quarter, reeling from user churn after price hikes in January. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting an increase of 13,000 subscribers.
To drive growth, Verizon and its rivals have been bulking up on fiber-optic assets that can tap growing consumer data use.
Verizon in May won approval from the U.S. telecom regulator for its $20 billion acquisition of fiber-optic internet provider Frontier, after it agreed to end its diversity programs.
The sharper focus on internet services helped it post 293,000 broadband net additions in the second quarter.
Overall, Verizon reported revenue of $34.5 billion, beating estimates of $33.74 billion, according to data compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Its adjusted earnings per share of $1.22 also beat estimates.
By Harshita Mary Varghese, Reuters
A Mississippi law that requires social media users to verify their ages can go into effect, a federal court has ruled. A tech industry group has pledged to continue challenging the law, arguing it infringes on users rights to privacy and free expression.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a decision by a federal district judge to block the 2024 law from going into effect. It’s the latest legal development as court challenges play out against similar laws in states across the country.
Parentsand even some teens themselvesare growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Supporters of the new laws have said they are needed to help curb the explosive use of social media among young people, and what researchers say is an associated increase in depression and anxiety.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch argued in a court filing defending the law that steps such as age verification for digital sites could mitigate harm caused by sex trafficking, sexual abuse, child pornography, targeted harassment, sextortion, incitement to suicide and self-harm, and other harmful and often illegal conduct against children.
Attorneys for NetChoice, which brought the lawsuit, have pledged to continue their court challenge, arguing the law threatens privacy rights and unconstitutionally restricts the free expression of users of all ages.
The industry group, which has filed similar lawsuits in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah, represents some of the country’s most high-profile technology companies, including Google, which owns YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat; and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
In a written statement, Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the group is very disappointed in the decision to let Mississippi’s law go into effect and is considering all available options.
NetChoice will continue to fight against this egregious infringement on access to fully protected speech online,” Taske said. “Parentsnot the governmentshould determine what is right for their families.
By Kate Payne, Associated Press/Report for America
In 2025, our collective mental health in the U.S. is worsening, with some reports calling it a “crisis.” But when it comes to millennials and Gen Z employees, that national concern may be even more urgent with financial anxiety driving the crisis.A Modern Health report published today revealed just how mentally strained 18- to 44-year-old workers are, and the findings are troubling. In a survey of 1,000 American professionals within the age range, a staggering 79% said that economic uncertainty is fueling their anxiety. A dismal 16% rated their mental health as excellent.
For millennials and Gen Z, financial anxiety seems to be all encompassing. Three in four workers said it is to blame for their burnout, 68% said it interferes with their ability to be productive at work, and it keeps 76% up at night, routinely disturbing their sleep.
In a press release, Matt Levin, CEO of Modern Health, said, Our latest report reveals that many of todays young workers are quietly pushing through mounting mental health challenges just to keep up at work.”
One massive issue seems to be the feeling that they can’t step away or log off. Nearly three quarters (74%) said they’ve delayed taking time off due to financial concerns. And 77% say they check emails when they do take time off. A concerning 80% said they’ve sacrificed their mental health for work and 77% say they’ve even worked through a mental health crisis.
While you might think 18- to 44-year-olds are more in tune with mental health concerns than older age groups, they largely feel forced to ignore their mental health concerns. Over half (58%) said they delayed seeking mental health care until their symptoms became unmanageable, with 66% pointing to financial stress as the reason for delaying getting the care they needed.
“For many employees, the pressure to perform outweighs the permission to pause,” Jessica Watrous, senior director of Clinical Research and Scientific Affairs at Modern Health, said in the report. “They want to do well, but they feel they can’t ask for help even when they need it most.”
Gen Z and millennials say they want mental health support at work, but aren’t getting it or the support isn’t effective. In fact, nearly three quarters (71%) say that company mental health programs just mask toxic work culture that deprioritizes employee mental health over all.
While an overwhelming majority, (96%) say prevention is key, with 94% saying it would improve their life overall, and 52% saying that mental health care would increase the trust they have in their employer, the vast majority do not feel a culture of prevention exists in their workplace. Only 31% of employees actually feel that their employers care about their mental health and create work cultures that support it.
Millennials and Gen Z are struggling, while not getting the help they need. They also feel stuck. While 52% have considered quitting due to mental health concerns, 69% said they’re avoiding changing jobs, even if it means staying in toxic environments.
Essentially, financial anxiety is simply so crushing, that making changeswhether that be seeking help or getting a new jobfeels impossible.
Yet another CEO in the artificial intelligence space is warning that major job losses are imminent due to advancements in the technologyand they may come much sooner than many anticipate.
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, cautioned that roles such as recruiters and executive assistants could soon be rendered obsolete by the next wave of AI improvements, particularly as AI browsers become more widely adopted.
Perplexity recently launched the Comet AI browser, featuring an Assistant mode capable of researching topics, booking flights, scheduling meetings, and more. Speaking on The Verges Decoder podcast, Srinivas acknowledged that while Comet currently struggles with long-horizon tasks, human assistants are still needed to manage complex workflows. However, he added, “I’m pretty sure [that within] six months to a year from now, it can do the entire thing.”
The emergence of more advanced reasoning models, he said, could put recruiter roles especially at risk.
“I’m betting on the fact that a sufficiently good reasoning model could get us over the edge where all these things are suddenly possible and then a recruiters work worth one week is just one prompt: sourcing and reach outs,” he said.
Srinivas believes that with access to a user’s Gmail and calendar, Comet’s AI Assistant can not only match a human assistants capabilities but even exceed them when it comes to follow-ups.
For example, if a meeting invite is sent and responses begin rolling in, the AI can “go and update the Google Sheets, mark the status as responded or in progress and follow up with those candidates, sync with my Google calendar, and then resolve conflicts and schedule a chat, and then push me a brief ahead of the meeting.”
According to Srinivas, the ultimate vision is to turn the web browser into a sort of operating systemrunning tasks in the background all day to streamline the user’s schedule. While theres still a way to go before reaching that point universally, he said Perplexity is close to realizing this goal in specific areas. If successful, he believes word-of-mouth adoption could fuel further growth.
“We nail those use cases, get the early adopters to love the product, and then ride the wave of progress and reasoning models,” he said. “Thats been the strategy.”
Srinivas is far from alone in raising concerns about AI’s disruptive potential for the job market. In May, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told Axios that AI could eliminate up to 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, potentially pushing unemployment as high as 10% to 20%.
That warning, he emphasized, was meant for both policymakers and fellow AI developers.
“Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen,” Amodei said. “It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it. We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming.”
Also in May, LinkedIns Chief Economic Opportunity Officer Aneesh Raman noted that AI increasingly threatens the kinds of jobs that have traditionally served as stepping stones for young professionals. Venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee has gone further, calling forecasts that AI will displace 50% of jobs by 2027 “uncannily accurate.”
Still, there are signs of pushback and recalibration among companies that have embraced an “AI-first” philosophy.
At Klarna, for instance, despite ongoing AI investments, the company has come to value human interaction more deeply. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg in May that the fintech firm was preparing to hire more staff to ensure customers always have the option to speak with a live representative.
Similarly, Duolingos pivot to AI-led operationsannouncing it would reduce reliance on contractors for tasks AI can performsparked strong backlash from users. A company spokesperson told Fast Company in May that Duolingo was “committed to using AI with human oversight, to help us deliver on our mission to make the best education in the world available to everyone.”
Around this time last year, Southwest Airlines announced that it would scrap its signature open-seating model in favor of a more traditional assigned seating system, chipping away at its identity as a quirky airline in order to better compete with rivals like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
A year later, Southwest is finally gearing up to sell its first assigned-seat tickets.
Over the past few months, Southwest has been slowly shedding the features that once made its brand stand out. The airline built its name around its uniquely standardized open-seating boarding systemwhich meant that every customer flew in the same kind of seat, without any divisions by price tier.
Last July, though, the airline announced that it would implement new premium features (like seats with expanded legroom) and assigned seating.
This March, Southwest killed its bags fly free policy, which offered every flier two free checked bags. And in April, the airline overhauled its fare bundles to include more expensive fares with better amenities.
Southwest expects these new policies, among others, to add $800 million to earnings before interest and taxes this year, and add $1.7 billion in 2026.
Starting on July 29, Southwest will sell assigned-seat tickets, and planes with the updated seating will take to the skies on January 27 of next year. The airline recently shared more details about how its boarding process is set to change.
Less time pressure, but a more segmented cabin
Southwests current open-seating boarding process is simple: Passengers line up behind stanchions based on their boarding group (labeled by letters A to C) and then pick an available seat once theyre on board the plane. In an investors call last July, Southwests executive vice president Ryan Green noted that this process is relatively calm but can create time pressure once customers are inside the cabin.
Some of that pressure will be alleviated under this new system, with the trade-off being that the cabin will now be segmented into standard and premium seating sections. In an interview with CNBC, Southwest executives shared that the new boarding system was designed using computer models and live testing in order to ensure that the assigned seating wouldnt slow the process down.
We wanted to make sure that, as we designed a boarding construct that paired well with assigned seating, we were optimizing for efficiency. But also for the second priority: making sure that were taking care of our most loyal customers, Stephanie Shafer Modi, managing director of fares and ancillary products at Southwest, told CNBC. [That includes] tier members, cardholders, and customers who buy our most premium products.
An eight-group boarding system
The updated boarding system reflects Southwest’s increasing focus on high-paying passengers. Under the new parameters, customers will be prompted to choose a fare bundle when they first purchase a ticket, and they’ll receive a letter and a seat number when they check in onlinesimilar to the current system.
However, once they arrive at the airport, passengers will be separated into two lines and eight different boarding groups:
The first two groups to board will include the top tiers of elite frequent fliers, and those with the top classes of tickets (Choice Extra and Choice Plus).
Groups 3 through 8 will be for Choice and Basic ticket holders, depending on their seat location. Credit card holders and Rapid Rewards credit card members will board no later than Group 5.
Despite the changes, Green said last July: We expect our future boarding process to feel very familiar and uniquely Southwest.
The FDA has issued a recall for more than 67,000 cases of deodorant which are sold nationwide.
The products, Power Stick roll-on deodorants, are made by the Easton, Pennsylvania-based company A.P. Deauville.
Per an enforcement notice, the recall includes three separate products: the Power Stick For Her Roll-On Antiperspirant Deodorant in the scent power fresh,” the Power Stick Invisible Protection Roll-On Antiperspirant Deodorant in the scent spring fresh,” and the Power Stick Original Nourishing Invisible Protection Roll-On Antiperspirant Deodorant.Over 20,000 cases of each product were recalled. The enforcement notice marked the reason for the recall as “cGMP deviations”, which stands for Current Good Manufacturing Practice. Per the FDA website, failure to meet CGMP regulations can lead to products being recalled.The FDA notes, “Adherence to the CGMP regulations assures the identity, strength, quality, and purity of drug products by requiring that manufacturers of medications adequately control manufacturing operations. This includes establishing strong quality management systems, obtaining appropriate quality raw materials, establishing robust operating procedures, detecting and investigating product quality deviations, and maintaining reliable testing laboratories.”The recall was announced on July 10 and is ongoing. While the products did not meet FDA standards, an exact reason for the recall was not disclosed. No injuries have been reported.According to the enforcement report, the products were distributed nationwide. They are regularly sold at Dollar Tree, Amazon, and Walmart.
Now that President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” is the law, you’re probably wondering how much you’ll save on your taxes when you file next year. The Tax Policy Center (TPC), a nonpartisan think tank staffed by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, has crunched the numbers. Here’s a rundown.
What does the new tax bill do?
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) offers Americans a number of tax benefits by extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), making many of the changes permanent, plus adding some new short- and long-term tax rules.
Those changes include certain business and international tax rules, and revenue-raising provisionsincluding the repeal of various energy tax incentives, according to the TPC.
What is the average 2026 tax savings from Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”?
An analysis from the TPC shows the new law would reduce taxes for Americans by about $2,900 on average in 2026, with some 85% of households receiving a tax cut in 2026. That figure will drop to just 70% in 2030, after some provisions are phased out.
But notably, almost 60% of the tax benefits would go to those in the top quintile, or one-fifth of earners, with incomes of $217,000 or more. It’s fair to say that higher-income Americans are more likely to see larger tax benefits than lower-income Americans.
Overall, about 4% of households would see their taxes go up in 2026; that percentage would increase to about 10% in 2030.
How much will each income bracket save on their 2026 taxes?
According to the data compiled by the Tax Policy Center, here’s how much the average 2026 tax savings will be for each of the five quintiles of income, as well as the top 1% and 0.1%:
Bottom 20% ($0 to $34,600 income range):
$150
Second quintile ($34,601 to $66,800):
$750
Third quintile ($66,801 to $119,200):
$1,780
Fourth quintile ($119,201 to $217,100):
$3,460
Top 20% ($217,101 and higher):
$12,540
Top 1% ($1,149,000 and higher):
$75,410
Top 0.1% ($5,184,900 and higher):
$286,440
What are some specific tax benefits included in the new bill?
There are a number of new tax write-offs and credits, including: the No Tax on Tips provision (which allows eligible tipped workers to deduct a portion of their income from tips on their federal income taxes), a car loan deduction, a deduction for charitable donations, and a child credit.
Figma is targeting a fully-diluted valuation of up to $16.4 billion in its initial public offering, as the cloud-based design software firm prepares for a debut on the NYSE that could inject fresh momentum into a resurgent market for tech listings.
The San Francisco-based company, along with some investors, is eyeing proceeds of up to $1.03 billion by selling nearly 37 million shares priced between $25 and $28 each, it said on Monday.
The listing could be a major milestone for Figma, coming more than a year after its $20 billion sale to Adobe failed due to regulatory hurdles in Europe and the UK.
An equities rally and a bunch of strong debuts recently have helped remove the IPO market overhang. Figma is expected to start trading close on the heels of stablecoin giant Circle, which debuted with eye-popping gains last month and has continued surging since.
As a major technology player that appears supportive of bitcoin, Figma has already drawn attention on social media.
The company had around $70 million invested in Bitwise’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund as of March 31 and intends to allocate a further $30 million to bitcoin, its filing showed.
Figma expects to list under the symbol “FIG”. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Allen & Co and J.P. Morgan are among the underwriters for the offering.
It was valued at $12.5 billion in a tender offer last year that allowed employees and early investors to cash out a portion of their stake.
‘Big swings’
Figma is a cloud-based design platform that allows users to collaboratively create and edit apps, websites and software interfaces.
Its customers include ServiceNow, Workday and SAP. Its revenue rose 46% in the first three months of 2025, while net income jumped three-fold.
“Figma’s product is its primary marketing engine. Its collaborative nature fosters viral, bottoms-up adoption, leading to a best-in-class sales efficiency,” said Tomasz Tunguz, founder of venture capital firm Theory Ventures.
The company has also signaled it may take “big swings” with M&A, with co-founder and CEO Dylan Field saying it is prepared to “make decisions that may not seem immediately rational.”
Still, the listing will take place at a time when the industry landscape is shifting. While Figma is sharpening its focus on AI, it has also warned that design tools driven by the technology could make some customers less reliant on its platform.
The company has noted that restrictive immigration policies could impact its ability to recruit talent, citing past adjustments to hiring practices due to changes in visa assessment frameworks.
A majority of its revenue in 2024 came from outside the United States, exposing it to potential demand softness if international clients tighten their purse strings in response to tariffs.
Renewed trade tensions could also add to the caution among IPO investors, risking further disruption.
Against this backdrop, investor attention remains firmly on companies with solid fundamentals and a clear path to profitability, said Leslie Marlow, a corporate attorney at Blank Rome.
Niket Nishant, Reuters
The IT company CEO captured in a widely circulated video showing him embracing an employee at a Coldplay concert has resigned.
Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc., according to a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday.
Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met, the company said in its post on LinkedIn.
The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which went viral. A company spokesman later confirmed in a statement to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video.
The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday.
Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his Jumbotron Song, when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on.
Either theyre having an affair or theyre just very shy, he joked.
Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a U.S.-based company and the woman as its chief people officer.
Pete DeJoy, Astronomers cofounder and chief product officer, has been tapped as interim CEO while the company conducts a search for Byrons successor.
Most concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed
Its easy to miss, but most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets. Its common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films.
The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location.
Once captured, a moment can be shared widely
They probably would have got away with it if they hadnt reacted, said Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. And by the time the alleged identities emerged on social media, it hit a classic nerve around leaders acting like the rules dont apply to them, she added.
Still, Taylor and others stress how quickly such a video can lead to an internet search to find the people involved and note that its important to remember that such doxing isnt just reserved for famous people. Beyond someone simply spotting a familiar face and spreading the word, technological advances, such as the rising adoption of artificial intelligence, have made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in a viral video today.
Its a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system, said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austins School of Journalism and Media. When you think about it, we are being surveilled by our social media. Theyre tracking us in exchange for entertaining us.
Alex Veiga, AP business writer
AP Business Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips contributed to this report from New York.
