What's that smell?

Special correspondent

BBC headline: “Katty Kay: A growing case of transatlantic heartburn”The BBC home page announced Katty Kay: A growing case of transatlantic heartburn, which sounds like Katty Kay is the cause of the discomfort. Who on earth is she? And what on earth could she have done to raise tensions so badly?

The truth, as always, is more prosaic. It's simply a TLDR written by Katty Kay—a US Special Correspondent for the BBC, no less. I have no idea what makes her special, but she's so noteworthy that her name needs to be included in the headline, as well as in the authorship ascription.

As the saying goes: the devil's in the details.

BBC headline: “Lil Nas X: Why are fans throwing things on stage?”Lil Nas X didn't write this piece, it was written about him. Kinda.

Actually, it was mainly written about other performers who've had things thrown at them onstage; as if this was a new thing. I think it was Sir Tom Jones—although it might've been Englebert Humperdinck—who complained that as they matured, his audience members stopped throwing their knickers at him, and threw their room keys instead.

BBC headline: “Cardi B: Why are fans throwing things on stage?”
Not since Betty Boo took to the stage wearing a pair of washing-up gloves has an artiste's accoutrement seemed so…singular.

Presumably Lil Nas X's lack of suffering, by not being hit by anything thrown at the stage, was deemed an inappropriate illustration of the phenomenon, and he was replaced by Cardi B. To be honest, I think she's lucky to have an audience in the first place, let alone only having a drink thrown at her.

The substitution isn't explained by our BBC News(dead)beats though, so I'm wildly speculating here.

Funnily enough, a link to Lil Nas X as a related topic is still given at the foot of the article, even though it's the only mention of him now remaining on the page. (SMH)

Fortunately, the world's most trusted international news broadcaster™'s accountability coach, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, recalls Lil Nas X's original place in this article:

Most recently, Lil Nas X seemed amused when a sex toy landed on stage while he was performing in Sweden on Saturday.

Jack Gray and Shaun Dacosta, BBC Newsbeat (via Wayback Machine)

That was removed four weeks ago. I guess his amusement didn't fit well with the piece's brutalisation theme. Either that, or dear old Auntie Beeb doesn't like to think of such things as s*x toys. (embarrassed)