I would like to cordially welcome you to the very first edition of Blacklisted, the new entertainment column that will soon become your weekly vice. Blacklisted is meant to highlight the most ridiculous, insane, pathetic and douchy (for lack of a better word) story this week in popular culture. No story is too small, no reality star safe, no A-list celebrity is exempt from being Blacklisted. If you’ve made it this far, that means you like to laugh at the stupidity of other people. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. Hopefully these stories will shock and awe you into appreciating your normal, non-newsworthy life. So let us get started, and welcome to Blacklisted. 

 

There were many juicy stories to choose from to kickstart our new column. Kelsey Grammer being an awesome dad and only requesting custody of his one son and one daughter, the Paris Hilton fiasco at The View and there will always be a 99 percent chance that any leaked sex tape or naughty photos will make the list. But this story is so bizarre, so pathetic that it immediately kicked Blake Lively off the top of the list. The best part of it is that this story doesn’t even feature a celebrity!

Steve Jobs, I hope you’re reading (wishful thinking?) but you may have started a sick trend for those desperate enough to do anything for the newest technologic trends. 

The demand for an iPad is so high in China that a 17-year-old boy sold his kidney for an iPad.

You read correctly.

An underaged boy, without parental consent, went into surgery to remove his kidney for RMB20,000 or $3,000 USD so he could afford an iPad.

For those of you who slept over night to be the first in line at the Apple store, I bet you feel pretty lame right now because this takes way more dedication. 

Identified only by his surname Zheng, he told Shanghai Daily that while surfing the Internet he came across an online post by an agent saying they would pay RMB20,000 to buy a kidney. 

According to The Telegraph, trading organs online is common practice in China and with over a million people in China needing an organ transplant every year, but fewer than 10,000 receiving organs, the black-market organ trade is flourishing for those desperate for an organ, or some extra cash. 

The kicker of the story is that the Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital was not even qualified to perform the surgery. The hospital claimed they didn’t know what was going on because the department that did the surgery was contacted by a Fujian businessman, who authorities are still trying to find. 

Talk about shady. 

It was only after Zheng walked home toting a spanking new iPad and an additional laptop that his mother demanded where he got the money to pay for it and the boy ‘fessed up. 

So why would someone go to these kind of lengths to get an iPad?

Maybe he wanted to fit in. Or maybe he just really wanted to play Crazy Birds. 

Either way his actions were foolish and sickening and while he has already sold his organs on the black market, Zheng has just been Blacklisted.  

 

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