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Viral ‘Nicki Minaj challenge’ prompts warning from Toronto surgeon
You may have seen it online, or even tried it yourself.
A viral social media challenge has a lot of people throwing on a pair of high heels and testing out their balance on a number of precariously stacked objects.
“It was every other video on my ‘For you’ or ‘Explore’ page on Instagram and TikTok,” Molly Kohn said of the ‘Nicki Minaj challenge’ exploding online.
The 23-year-old business owner in Toronto was hoping to get more traction for her non-slip hair elastics business and decided to give it a go.
So there she was — high heels on, balancing on a jar of hair ties, with her mother filming the video, and her sister holding her hand while helping her cross her legs.
“I’m happy with the result…. I used to be a gymnast so my balance is pretty good. So that was definitely helpful for this specific trend,” Kohn chuckled.
The challenge is inspired by a clip of rap superstar Nicki Minaj in her 2013 music video High School, where she’s seen squatting in stilettos with one leg crossed over the other.
In the past few weeks, the moment has been recreated by hundreds online — including the Pinkprint rapper herself.
In London, Ont., another person took up the challenge, but with a twist.
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“I saw everyone doing it in high heels and I thought doing that on a Pilates reformer is probably not the best thing to do, so why don’t I do it in my grip socks?” said Melody Mulligan, a certified Pilates instructor and studio manager at FS8 Hyde Park.
“I had to do a couple of takes, just to make sure I was safe.”
Mulligan is also a personal trainer and a retired ballerina, so she says balance isn’t something that she struggles with.
And yet, some of the videos she’s seen others do online felt dangerous, she said.
“I think sometimes people can see a trend online, and they get really excited, because it looks really fun, but it can sometimes put people at risk. So I think it’s important to find that balance between fun and safety,” she said.
That sentiment is echoed by Dr. Jihad Abouali, who is warning others about what could happen if the challenge goes awry.
“Looking at that specific challenge, the person is in a really hyper-flexed position with their knee, so that puts a lot of strain on some of the structures in the joints, such as the meniscus or the cartilage,” the orthopedic surgeon at Michael Garron Hospital said.
“If you fall during that challenge, that could result in a meniscal tear or an ACL injury. Sometimes they land on their backside; that could result in a spinal injury as well.”
That seems to be what happened with Russian influencer Mariana Barutkina.
The 32-year-old reportedly fractured her spine falling off a kitchen countertop while performing the challenge.
Abouali says he sees about one patient a week who has been injured by copying a social media trend.
And while he hasn’t seen injuries associated with the Nicki Minaj challenge yet, he says it mimics other trends where he’s seen people get hurt.
“Unfortunately, I do see that come across my schedule from time to time, where patients — they’re a little embarrassed to say it — tell me they were trying to do a challenge or copy some kind of video they saw online,” he said.
If you do end up getting hurt, making a legal claim would be difficult, tech expert Ritesh Kotak says.
“Most of these social media platforms are headquartered in the United States, and there is a law in the United States under the Communications Decency Act that essentially says platforms can’t be held liable. You can’t go after them, and you can’t sue them,” Kotak said.
Overall, Abouali says some of those attempting the challenge may be at less risk than others — if they’re athletic, warmed up and sitting closer to the ground.
Others, however, should not take the risk, despite the temptation.
“Be safe, and please don’t show up to my clinic because you tried the challenge,” he laughed.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Health officials in Ontario are reporting just three new measles cases over the past week, all of them in the province’s southwest region.
Public Health Ontario says that brings the province’s total case count to 2,362 measles cases since an outbreak began in October.
One case previously reported in Sudbury’s public health unit was subtracted from the tally.
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Last week, the province’s data release showed an increase of eight cases, which reflected the first single digit increase since January.
The three new cases reported between Aug. 5 and Aug. 12 were in Southwestern Ontario, which has reported a total of 769 infections.
Public health officials repeated that the downward trend in weekly case counts suggests transmission may be slowing, but continued vigilance is needed.
Most of the 164 people who have been hospitalized with measles in Ontario are unvaccinated infants, kids and teenagers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Less than three months after removing tolls from the publicly-owned portion of Highway 407, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is considering expanding the now-clogged artery.
At an unrelated event in Pickering, Ont., on Thursday, Ford said he was receiving a growing number of calls from frustrated drivers who had hopped onto the toll-free 407 east, only to find themselves stuck in gridlock.
“People are coming home from the cottage; it’s getting pretty jammed up on there,” Ford said. “But if it’s jammed up there, I always say it must be taking congestion off another part, I guess the 401.”
Ford’s concerns about congestion came 10 weeks after his government removed tolls from the public portion of the 407, a move it promised would save drivers money and time.
A news release promoting toll removal — which officially happened on June 1 — said getting rid of 407 tolls would “help lower costs and fight gridlock.”
Weeks after that promise was made, however, Ford said he was considering expanding the route.
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“So I think in the long term, we might have to look at — we’ll work with the Ministry of Transportation and obviously the person that controls the money, Minister (Peter) Bethlenfalvy, to see if we can maybe add lanes on either side,” he said.
“So we’re looking at a plan to lighten up the traffic.”
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the rapid speed at which Highway 407 east became congested proves the policy Ford wants to pursue won’t work.
“When you build new highways or expand existing highways or remove road pricing from existing highways, it encourages more people to drive — it just leads to more gridlock,” he explained.
“That’s exactly why this ridiculous idea of the tunnel under the 401 or building Highway 413 and paving over 2,000 acres of farmland, 400 acres of the Greenbelt, is not going to solve gridlock.”
Over the past decade, Ontario has added a total of 134 km of new lanes to Highway 401 across the province. Despite the massive expansion, the crippling bottleneck at the centre of the highway worsened.
Schreiner said he wasn’t sure Ford understood induced demand — the phenomenon where adding more roads encourages driving and therefore congestion.
“Not even for the premier, but for a lot of people, it just seems intuitive that if you build more highways, expand existing highways that that’s going to solve gridlock,” he said.
“The reality is, it just creates an incentive for more people to drive and leads to more gridlock.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging the federal government to put more national resources toward fighting wildfires, as nearly every province battles them.
Premiers raised the issue with Prime Minister Mark Carney last month when he met with them in Huntsville, Ont., he said.
“We need resources, national resources across the country, because it happens frequently,” Ford said. “We send firefighters in, we send equipment in and help each other, but right now … everywhere seems to have issues, every single province.”
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Provinces frequently share firefighting resources to get through wildfire season but right now there isn’t enough equipment or crews to go around, Ford said.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt asked Ontario for help in fighting their wildfires, but Ontario could not spare any water bombers, having already sent two of them to Newfoundland along with four crews, Ford said.
Ontario has sent two helicopters to New Brunswick, where there are 13 active fires, Ford’s office later said. Ontario has also sent an incident management team to Saskatchewan.
The province has ordered more water bombers, Ford said, but it could take three to four years for them to arrive because so many other jurisdictions are making purchases too.
There have been 467 fires to date this year in Ontario, far more than 275 at this time last year, but under the 10-year average of 583.
Ontario’s fires include wildfires in Kawartha Lakes, a region of cottage country, where one is now classified as being held while another is still out of control.
Conditions are extremely dry, and Kawartha Lakes is one of many municipalities with fire and burning bans in place.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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