Bark at Your Dog TikTok Trend Could Scare or Confuse Your Dog, Our Expert Says

 We're all curious to see how our dog might react to us barking, but this viral trend usually isn't good for our dogs.

At some point most of us have uttered a woof or a bark at our dogs just to see if they notice, but the "bark at your dog" TikTok trend could be startling or confusing our pups.

Each dog is different, but many of the dogs in the videos, which have earned more than 300 million views on the video-sharing app over the last month, exhibit body language that shows fear or even aggression, says Jenna Stregowski, RVT and Daily Paws' pet health and behavior editor.

"If done repeatedly, it can even condition the dog to fear or avoid you," she says.

While some dogs might not mind the human barking and even think it's a fun game, Stregowski still recommends not participating in the trend. Heading outside for a game of fetch or some belly rubs are better ways to bond with your dog.

"The risk of barking at your dog outweighs any potential benefits," she says.

How Dogs Are Reacting To Human Barks on TikTok

Most of the TikTok videos look similar: An owner sits facing the camera next to their dog, sometimes only mere inches between them. Then, the owner either barks or they let the audio from TikTok—which you can play as you record the footage—do it for them. Then we see how the dog reacts.

In two of the most popular videos, the dogs' eyes get incredibly wide—a sign of aggression, according to Stregowski, who has more than 20 years of experience in animal medicine. Other dogs display their discomfort in other ways, like backing away in fear or surprise, flattening their ears, or even baring their teeth and growling. Dogs wagging their tails slowly can even be a sign of fear, Stregowski says.

Some of the dogs respond in ways that might seem harmless or playful, licking the faces of the barking humans. But that might be another cause for concern.

"While this may initially appear as affection, it may actually be the dog's way of trying to calm the person down," Stregowski says. "Dogs sometimes lick other dog's muzzles to put them at ease in social situations."

 Why Dogs Bark and How You Can Control It

So why is this happening? Stregowski says the dogs are obviously confused why humans are making their noise, and most of the barking sounds are similar to an alert or warning bark. They're also reacting to their person's demeanor and body language.

And yes, in some cases the dogs might think it's harmless or even part of a game, but it's probably not worth finding out. It could spook your dog, and you might accidentally end up with a scratch or a bite.

Should I Bark at My Dog at All?

Many of us have done this before, either wanting to see how our dogs react or trying to "speak dog" ourselves. We're inquisitive creatures and just want to see what happens, probably like many of the people in these TikTok videos. There's nothing wrong with being curious.

 What Your Dog's Body Language Is Trying to Tell You

But knowing how the barks could scare your dog, there's no practical reason for you to do it, Stregowski says. If you absolutely must see how they react, bark from a distance instead of near your dog's face. Then, if needed, you can use cues—sit, stay, etc.—to "redirect" any unwanted behavior, Stregowski says. Once they follow your cue, you'll of course reward them with their favorite treat. This should only be done between a dog and their owner because they already have a trusting bond.

If you do try this—which we wouldn't recommend—it's probably best to keep the video off social media.

"Even if your dog seems to be having fun, it's not a good idea to post a video of you barking at your dog," Stregowski says. "Unfortunately, as this may inspire others to try it on their own dogs with negative results."

Selena Gomez & Zayn Malik: Rumored Relationship Timeline

 Zelena: A Possible Love Story

The ship name “Zelena” has sparked intrigue. Either the rumor mill is in overdrive, or Selena Gomez is romantically linked with former One Direction member Zayn Malik – and honestly, both scenarios seem quite plausible.

The Zelena buzz began in March when a supposed restaurant hostess from a popular NYC eatery took to TikTok after receiving messages from another hostess claiming that Gomez and Malik were getting cozy during a dinner outing. The sourcing raised suspicions, and even DeuxMoi, Instagram’s go-to gossip page, had reservations.

Nonetheless, a recent insider speaking to Entertainment Tonight corroborated the TikTok creator’s account – and you know what that means: it’s time for a detailed rundown of the rumored relationship between Selena Gomez and Zayn Malik.

Dec 2010 – Mar 2018: Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber navigate a tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship spanning eight years. We won’t delve into all the details, but there’s one key moment involving Malik…

Aug 14, 2016: During a break in 2016, Gomez and Bieber reportedly clash on Instagram over photos he shared with rumored girlfriend Sofia Richie. In their alleged online spat, Gomez seems to suggest that Bieber “cheated multiple times” during their relationship. Screenshots from Harper’s Bazaar reveal his response, “I cheated.. oh I forgot about You and Zayn?”

Around this time, Malik is involved with Gigi Hadid. Allegedly, Gomez retorts to the comment, stating, “I’m done. I have Selenators to meet.”

Oct 2021: After an on-and-off relationship since Nov 2015, Hadid and Malik call it quits merely a year after the birth of their daughter, Khai.

May 15, 2022: During her Saturday Night Live hosting debut, Gomez mentions she’s “manifesting love.” Jokingly, she adds, “I’d like to say I’m searching for my soulmate, but by now, I’m open to anyone.”

Jan 15, 2023: Allegedly, Gomez is spotted in a passionate embrace with The Chainsmokers’ Drew Taggart at NYC’s The Gutter bowling alley, as per witnesses speaking to Page Six.

Jan 19: Gomez seemingly dismisses relationship speculations by sharing and deleting an Instagram story with the hashtag “I am single.” Against a black-and-white backdrop, she writes, “I enjoy my solitude too much.”

Jan 21: Paparazzi capture Gomez and Taggart holding hands in NYC.

Mar 15: Gomez playfully claims her crush is “nonexistent” in a TikTok video, captioning it “Still out here lookin for him lol.”

Mar 21: Reports suggest Gomez dines with Malik’s personal assistant Taryn Zimmerman. As per an Us Weekly report on Mar 31, Gomez and Zimmerman were seen at NYC’s Nobu just two days before Gomez and Malik’s purported outing.

Mar 23: TikTok user Klarissa Garcia, supposedly a restaurant hostess, shares a video asserting her friend, another hostess, seated Gomez and Malik together at an NYC hotspot. The friend’s text messages read, “Tell me why Selena Gomez and [Zayn] just walked into [restaurant redacted] hand in hand making out, and I seated them.”

Garcia also notices that Gomez is among the 18 people Malik follows on Instagram, reciprocated by her following him.

Mar 24: DeuxMoi states via an IG story that they haven’t independently verified the tale, noting, “Usually when she’s out in NYC, someone writes in seeing her & I always thought Zayn stayed in Pennsylvania.”

However, an eyewitness tells Entertainment Tonight, “Selena and Zayn went out in SoHo in New York City last night at around 10:30 p.m. They walked in holding hands and were kissing. Most restaurant staff and patrons didn’t notice. They seemed at ease, clearly on a date.”

Mar 27: An insider tells Us Weekly that Gomez and Malik aren’t deeply committed, although Malik may desire it. “Zayn has known Selena for years and he’s definitely into her,” the insider reveals. “He’s always admired her and thinks she’s an incredible person, inside and out.”

The source adds that they’re not exclusive, saying, “She’s free to see other people. However, Zayn would love to continue to see Selena and see where things go.”

Aisha actress Pernia Qureshi is too hot to handle in these pictures

 

Over the time we have seen beautiful actress Pernia Qureshi making headlines for her hot looks. We have seen the actress in different roles, and indeed she is one such hottie who has to be blamed for raising the temperature all over the internet with her hot looks.

She has been blessing the internet feed over the time with her hotness and today let us have a look at a few hot pictures of the star that are grabbing the attention of the fans and making our jaws drop.

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Woman who cloned boyfriend's voice to catch him cheating admits it was prank

 

Mia Dio originally posted a video of how she input voice messages from her boyfriend Billy into voice-cloning technology to catch him cheating - but has now admitted it was all fake

An influencer who used AI technology to clone her boyfriend’s voice to discover whether he was cheating on her has admitted it was all a prank. Social media creator Mia Dio, 22, from Miami, posted a Tiktok video earlier this year showing how she input voice messages from her boyfriend Billy into voice-cloning technology.

The clip, which has gone viral, showed her using Billy’s fake voice to speak to his friend on the phone and find out what had really happened the previous night when they had gone out. Telling fans what she was doing, she revealed: "I'm going to AI clone my boyfriend's voice, call his best friend and figure out if he lied to me about what he was doing last night. I opened up a voice-cloning software and imported voicemails that my boyfriend has left."

Chatting on the phone using Billy’s voice, Mia told his friend that she did not "remember much from last night" but felt weird, then asked, "What did I do?". In the video, which has been viewed 2.7 million times, the pal reveals that Billy “made out” with a “random sorority girl” in front of everyone.

Ending the video with Mia looking upset, people flocked to comment on whether it was real or not. However, the content creator has now revealed the whole thing was fake, the conversation was fabricated and her boyfriend never cheated on her.

She said: “No one's cheating on anyone, that I know of. I can always use AI, I guess.” Mia also shared how she paid $4 (£3) to clone Billy’s voice and was able to put the video together in two takes. Discussing how easy it is to use, she said: “Anyone can do this, clearly. If a scammer can do this, they're not that smart. I can do this.

“I had heard of using software like this on another news article that they were doing virtual kidnappings. That they were calling you and it was like the voice of your loved one. I think that with technology and social media, it is so much easier for people to cheat because there’s so much access. The flip side there is that it’s also much easier to get caught, which is why I believe there’s such a cheating epidemic.”

Mia went on: “Important context here is that this video was fully a prank on my fans, and both my boyfriend and friend were in on it. One night, him and I are talking and it comes up how you can genuinely clone someone’s voice. I remember watching the news and they were talking about that AI kidnapping scam, and I thought it was crazy. Right around the same time, the AI Drake song went super viral and I was blown away at how realistic it sounded.

These TikTok viral £25 sandals look just like the sellout £640 Hermès pair

 When something goes viral on TikTok we want to know about it, and the latest craze is over these stunning dupes which look near-identical to the popular Hermès sandals.

The leather-look sandals from Ego boast a similar cut-out front design to the iconic Hermès Chypre Sandals which sell for a whopping £640, unlike the affordable footwear retailer's which are priced at just £25.

As well as being super affordable, the dupes come in 14 colours ranging from a chic black and tan to a bold pink and orange - and they’re available in UK sizes 3 to 9, depending on which colour you opt for.

Hermes sandal dupes

Valerie Gladiator Velcro Strap Sandals - £25

These stunning dupes feature the classic 'H' cut-out front design, a similar adjustable velcro strap to keep them nice and secure and a padded footbed and sole so they’re comfortable and supportive enough to wear all day long.

From £

25

EGO

Buy now

Not only do the sandals feature the classic ‘H’ cut-out front design, but they have a similar adjustable velcro strap to keep them nice and secure. The dupes also feature a padded footbed and sole, so they’re comfortable and supportive enough to wear all day long.

Many Ego shoppers have headed to TikTok to share the designer dupe find - including ex Made In Chelsea star Frankie Gaff, who called the sandals 'really comfy' and 'cool' in her video.

Her followers were quick to comment on the video with one saying: "Literally wearing them now, they are the most comfy shoes ever!!"

A second added: "I've ordered them and they were too small, had to go a size up! Love them."

Although they're a little pricier retailing at £100, fashion fans have also been raving about Steve Maddens Missile Sandal - which again look pretty similar to the Hermès pair. Like both of the sandals above, these dupes boast a geometric cutout design, adjustable top strap, a moulded footbed and a treaded flatform sole.

There are only three colours to choose from, however we're absolutely loving the sand suede option which is perfect for summer.

While Hermès Chypre would set shoppers back around £640, the Ego valerie gladiator velcro strap flat slider sandals cost just £25, meaning you could save around £615 by opting for the dupe - what a bargain!

Elizabeth Beisel Becomes First Woman to Complete Historic Block Island Swim: 'Humbled and Honored'

 The Survivor alum completed the 10.4-mile swim on Saturday in five hours and 19 minutes

Elizabeth Beisel is "humbled and honored" to have made history as the first woman to swim from mainland Rhode Island to Block Island.

The three-time Olympian, 29, completed the 10.4-mile swim Saturday in five hours and 19 minutes, according to a news release from Swim Across America. Beisel helped raise funds for the nonprofit for cancer research and patient programs in honor of her father, Charles "Ted" Lyons Beisel, who died in July after battling pancreatic cancer.

"As a child growing up in Rhode Island and swimming in the ocean along our beautiful coastline, I always dreamed of swimming to Block Island," she said in the release. "I envisioned my dad on the island waiting for me to finish with an ear-to-ear grin on his face — how proud he would be that I made it."

 Olympian Elizabeth Beisel to Swim 12.4 Miles in Open Ocean in Honor of Her Late Father

Elizabeth's initial goal was to raise $5,000 for Block Cancer. She has raised over $135,000 to date.

The 2016 Team USA Captain hit the water by Ocean Mist, her father's favorite restaurant, at Matunuck Beach. After battling a finish-line riptide, Elizabeth was met with an emotional embrace from her mother Joannie and brother Danny on Block Island.

CATE BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

The Survivor alum said her father was confident that she would accomplish her goal, "and that helped sustain him during his final months."

"I'll never get to hug him again, but his fight wasn't for nothing," she shared. "I know that my dad's battle, along with the money raised by Block Cancer, will save someone's life one day. He is smiling knowing we helped give someone and their family the most precious gift of all time."

 Survivor Castaways Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting Are Dating: 'Yes, We Share Hair Products'

"Elizabeth has been supporting Swim Across America for many years, even before her father's diagnosis, so this was our opportunity to support her," Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America, said in the release.

Block Cancer funds, he added, will be used by the nonprofit's cancer researchers "for science and patient care that will hopefully save someone's life in the future."

During an appearance on Good Morning America earlier this month, Elizabeth revealed that the idea for the fundraiser came after her father was first diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Day in 2020.

CATE BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

"He didn't want the swim to be about him whatsoever," she told the show at the time. "He wanted it to be about everybody who was fighting cancer. It gave my dad a lot of joy to kind of see Block Cancer come into fruition and turn into what it is now."

 Survivor Contestant Accused of 'Inappropriate Touching,' 2 Players Admit to Using Allegations to Win

The money raised by Elizabeth's swim will be donated to Rhode Island hospitals for cancer research, including the hospital where her father was treated, according to GMA.

"As sad as it is, cancer is going to touch all of us in some way at some point," she explained. "And, you know, for me, to be able to have a platform where I can bring people together … it's kind of a beautiful thing."

Nicole Shanahan 'Moving On' 1 Year After Alleged Elon Musk Affair, Sergey Brin Split (Exclusive)

In her only interview about the affair allegation (which she strongly denies), the attorney reveals the "debilitating" aftermath — and her hard-earned triumphs

One year after being accused of an affair with Tesla’s Elon Musk at the end of her marriage to Google’s Sergey Brin, attorney and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan is telling her own story in this week's issue of PEOPLE. 

JESSICA CHOU

The furniture had just arrived, and boxes were still packed in the Silicon Valley, Calif., house Nicole Shanahan was trying to turn into a home for herself and her daughter after her 2021 split from husband Sergey Brin, Google’s billionaire cofounder, when scandal hit.

Suddenly the world believed that Shanahan — a 37-year-old attorney, philanthropist and investor — had a tryst with Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, 52, leading to Brin, 49, filing for divorce. It was all in a July 2022 Wall Street Journal story picked up around the globe within a day. While many pointed out that the backlash against her had a decidedly sexist slant, online trolls called her a “gold digger” and made vulgar comments about her. (Shanahan and Musk both denied the affair; WSJ told PEOPLE, “We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting.”)

“My career has been based on academic and intellectual credibility, and I was being shamed internationally for being a cheater,” says Shanahan. “To be known because of a sexual act is one of the most humiliating things . . . it was utterly debilitating.”

But now, a year after the whirlwind, Shanahan sits at a dining table near her new garden, where vegetables will soon sprout. Smiling wide, she points to an email that her attorney sent minutes ago: “You’re officially divorced!” the message reads.

Those three words mark the end to a 17-month legal process with Brin, during which she survived a “wave of chaos” from the scandal — and found a new love (more on the “silly, smart" man later) in private. “It’s been a long journey,” she tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “Today is a turning point of letting go. I’m happy I’ve arrived at a point where I can reflect on my story.”

Nicole Shanahan at home on June 1. 

JESSICA CHOU

A "Conversation" with Elon Musk Becomes a Scandal

By December 2021, Shanahan was separated from Brin — now the world's 11th richest person, worth around $97 billion, depending on market fluctuations. When the WSJ report — in which unnamed sources claimed a “brief affair," including a December 2021 “liaison” with Musk — was published last July, “I remember feeling like everything I had ever worked for was under siege by a press cycle that had no idea what was going on in my life," Shanahan says, "and who I was.” 

 Elon Musk Denies Allegation He Had Affair with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin's Wife Nicole Shanahan

She insists that she was never even more than friends with Musk, whose pal Brin had helped fund Tesla, the automaker that helped make Musk the world’s richest person, worth $238 billion.

“Did Elon and I have sex, like it was a moment of passion, and then it was over? No,” she says. “Did we have a romantic relationship? No. We didn’t have an affair.”

Instead, she and Musk had simply talked about “how I might think about helping my daughter with her autism treatment, given his background with Neuralink,” his neurotechnology company, she says. “It was a conversation that was very meaningful about life and how people show up for one another. To be painted with such a massive scarlet letter for it just seems so unfair.”

Such conversations were common in her and Brin’s Silicon Valley circle. “There’s a community of friendship involving not just Sergey and Elon but many other people in the tech world — investors, founders, really big thinkers, dreamers and doers,” she says. “Elon was another person in this group of people. There’s almost this generational ecosystem and it’s a community. You run ideas past each other and you ask questions."

But she wouldn’t describe Musk nor the others as her closest friends. “Is it as close as my girlfriends? No," she says. "My girlfriends that I’ve known for 10, 15 years that we’re like sisters to each other? No, it’s not that relationship — but I would call it a collegial environment."

Shanahan questions why many have defined her by the Internet Zeitgeist. "Is this a commentary on my morals? Is it just general interest in sex, money, power?" she says. "I mean, that's the piece that still has me confounded is how that part of the story effectively overshadowed everything else going on in the news at the time." Comparing the importance of the climate crisis to what she sees as a frivolous and sexist situation, she asks, "Why does it matter so much?"  

Elon Musk at the 2022 Met Gala in N.Y.C. on May 2, 2022. ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY

Today, when Google users search her name, much about Musk appears in the results. “There’s a lot of layers of irony. It feels frustrating,” she says. “I stayed out of conferences and public conversations for almost a year. I had to come to terms with that reality."

It remains unclear how her conversation with Musk became a scandal, but Shanahan has a message for the story’s unnamed sources. “I have a strong sense of who they are and what they were motivated by,” she says. “It would be very easy to be angry and to feel defamed and seek clarity. In practical terms I understand why they did it, but in a deeper, spiritual context, I can’t understand — I would never do anything like that.”

Still, she says, “I forgive you, and I’m moving on.”

Shanahan's Challenging Start

"In many ways, I was perfectly trained as a child to get through this chapter of my life — the frenetic weight of a mentally ill father and a shell-shocked mother taught me to lean into a personal sense of self that has been bullishly cultivated through times of chaos," Shanahan writes in a personal essay that PEOPLE is publishing online Thursday. "Bad things happen, injustice happens, but there are always tools for overcoming them, it’s a matter of relentless commitment to oneself."

Growing up on welfare in Oakland with a father who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and a Chinese immigrant mother who struggled to make ends meet before becoming an accountant, “I had a very hard childhood with a lot of sadness, fear and instability,” she says of her dad’s behavior. “At times there was violence.”

Despite having a challenging childhood, “I was a very optimistic kid,” says Nicole Shanahan (in her 1997 softball portrait). 

COURTESY NICOLE SHANAHAN

To cope with the trauma due to his mental illness, she dwelled on her possibilities. “When you grow up in a home that sometimes feels like a war zone, you learn to find peace, joy, love and harmony in non-obvious places," she says.

Her safe place was school, where the honor student set her sights on a career in law. “Since I was 5, I knew I wanted to be a judge,” she says. “I had a very strong opinion about justice.”

She had street smarts, too. “When you grow up with very little,” she says, “it makes you creative, resourceful and quick to action.” At 12 she started bussing tables at a local burger joint for cash, and by 15 she landed a hosting job at a nicer restaurant. “I would unpack my tips envelope in front of my mom,” she says, “and she was blown away by how much was coming out.”

“School was one of the only reliable things I had in my life,” says Nicole Shanahan (after graduating high school in 2003). 

COURTESY NICOLE SHANAHAN

Shanahan shares that she eventually learned to forgive her father, who died in 2014, by participating in The Hoffman Process — which British GQ once called "seven days to change a lifetime" — in October of 2021. "It's a week-long intensive, 14 hours a day," she says of the emotional retreat. "They take away your cell phone, they take away your laptop. And you're in a classroom setting with about 29 other individuals."

"What The Hoffman Process helped me understand is that people really are doing what they know to do," she says. "A lot of what my father dealt with was due to his unresolved trauma in his own life. Rather than being embarrassed by him or ashamed or upset or just generally angry at the universe, Hoffman Process made me understand that he was really the product of his own past pains and hurts."

Before law school, Nicole Shanahan (second from right, with colleagues in 2007) worked at a law firm’s Beijing office. 

COURTESY NICOLE SHANAHAN

Forging Her Own Path and Falling for Sergey Brin

At 17, Shanahan left home for college at the University of Puget Sound, where she focused on Asian studies, economics and Mandarin Chinese. After working as a paralegal and patent specialist, she graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2014 and earned a fellowship at CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.

At Stanford, she took on a project with the San Francisco District Attorney Office. “I really doubled down on criminal justice reform, looking at police report data and determining if we could find bias by looking for patterns,” she says.

Also in 2014, she met Brin at the Wanderlust yoga festival in Lake Tahoe. They began dating in 2015, with Brin showing up to her campus office for long walks. “We fell in love at Stanford, wandering the campus and talking about quantum physics,” she says. “He showed me around the areas he’d frequent when he was there as a masters student — and where he created Google with Larry Page!”

"There was so much innovation happening in the Valley," she says of tech's inspiring energy at the time. "I adored it. 2014-2016 were years in which Silicon Valley was the most popular place to be on the planet if you were an ambitious young person seeking to change the world for the better. I look back at that time with so much nostalgia. I was at Stanford as a fellow running between the law school and the computer science department in the early days of machine learning and big data, and AI was talked about a lot."

“We were bonded,” says Nicole Shanahan (in Hawaii with Brin, Echo and his other kids in April 2021). 

COURTESY NICOLE SHANAHAN

While forging her own path with her company ClearAccessIP — a patent platform she created in law school and sold in 2020 — “here I was hanging out with Sergey,” she says. “I was living in a fairy tale. It was magical. It seemed like we really could solve a lot of the world’s problems with tech then."

'Living as a Wife of a Billionaire'

In 2018 she married Brin and gave birth to daughter Echo, now 4, after struggling with infertility. But everyday life was not what she expected. “When I was living as a wife of a billionaire, I was not the best version of myself,” she says. “I felt conflicted every day, like I couldn’t access the thing that made me what I am.”

"I couldn't access that 5-year-old girl who had to figure out how to turn a 30-year-old baseball mitt into something I could go to softball practice with," she continues. "It was the girl who just had endless optimism and tenacity and that fight — ’cause I’m a fighter — and I didn’t know how to switch gears. I tried for years. I looked around me for examples of how I could adapt to this new lifestyle.”

She and Brin appeared happy in paparazzi shots on vacations, and behind the scenes, she threw herself into philanthropy, hoping that making a difference for others would fulfill her. In 2018 she came up with the idea for the Buck Institute’s Center for Female Reproductive Longevity and Equality — inspired by her struggle to conceive Echo — and made a $6 million donation to launch it. “As I was being told what my chances were of having a child and being encouraged to freeze my eggs, it occurred to me that this should be an area of longevity research,” she says. “I don’t care about living to 120. What I do care about is being able to have a healthy child throughout my 30s and hopefully even my 40s.” 

During her pregnancy with daughter Echo, Nicole Shanahan and Sergey Brin attended the 2019 Breakthrough Prize event in Mountain View, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2018. They married three days later, on Nov. 7. 

MIIKKA SKAFFARI/GETTY 

Still, Shanahan grew increasingly frustrated by how insulated her life had become. She longed “to do real work” through her Bia-Echo Foundation, for which she now spends her days researching and investing in climate solutions, reproductive health, social justice and a cure for autism — a topic close to her heart after Echo was diagnosed to be on the spectrum. “I didn’t want a layer of departments between me and the people I want to help,” she says. “I want to be hands on.”

As for what she learned in the marriage, "It's nearly impossible to have mega wealth and be deeply grounded," she says. "I’ll just talk from my own experience. I think that with wealth comes a great deal of responsibility. To execute on that responsibility well, you must be grounded and you must be connected to people. At all corners of society, you must be able to have empathy and to connect with people. Otherwise, you will not show up responsibly as someone who holds extreme wealth. As you hear, people claim that there’s a disconnectedness — I mean I experienced it personally."

 Estranged Wife of Google Co-Founder Denies Having Affair with Elon Musk: 'Outright Lie,' Says Lawyer

"For me, it felt like there was a degree of I couldn’t figure out how to be in a rhythm within a community of people," she continues. "And we need community and connection to be happy. It was hard for me — and I’m a very sensitive person — to figure out how to live my life within an almost regulated social rhythm of connection with others."

The Breakup with Brin and the Fallout from Scandal

Amid her identity crisis, she realized the truth about her union with Brin: “It wasn't a right fit,” she says. “I can only speak for myself obviously, but I think what happened was I looked inside the marriage and I couldn't see myself.”

The couple separated by December 2021 and he filed for divorce in June 2022. The next month, she was setting up a new home for Echo as she learned that WSJ was working on a story involving her.

"It wasn’t until probably July 23 that I got word that they had more than two confirming sources that I had an affair with Elon Musk and that that affair was what prompted Sergey to divorce me," she says. "That was their narrative and I was really alarmed."

Through a representative, she denied the allegation and asked WSJ to not publish the story, she says. “I was going through a lot in my personal life," she explains. "This was a time where I was saying goodbye to a life and a family that I loved very much," including her two step-children, Chloe and Benji, whom Brin had with ex-wife Anne Wojcicki, the CEO of 23andMe. (Her sister, Susan Wojcicki, was once CEO of YouTube, a Google platform.)

 A Decade After Becoming Apple's CEO, Tim Cook Says He Never Felt He Had to Fill Steve Jobs' Shoes

Shanahan says of her mindset at the time, "I was learning how to be a single mom — in partnership with Sergey obviously, but it’s different when you go from an intact home to now two separate homes."

When the WSJ story with Musk came out on July 25, 2022, Shanahan was surprised to see it picked up around the globe. "I had never seen anything like this," she says. "I had never been in anything anywhere near this. I’m not a celebrity."

“I’m told you’re not supposed to read the comments and tweets, but I did," she adds. "I was really, honestly, intrigued by the different interpretations people were having. It seemed to me that misogynists and feminists were having very different opinions on the story and how they were interpreting it. The Wall Street Journal really focused on Sergey and Elon and I was almost an irrelevant character. But many of the other outlets I noticed were really trying to figure out who I was and how someone like me could end up in a situation like this."

"I tried to remain objective and I tried to remain academic as much as possible, but I could not also deny the fact that it hurt," she adds. "It hurt significantly."

Nicole Shanahan at home on June 1. 

JESSICA CHOU

Healing and Starting a New Chapter

As countless news outlets began contacting her for comment on the story, she turned inward and focused on beginning a new chapter. “I had to go to first principles,” says Shanahan, who asked herself, “Who is Nicole?" The answer? A woman "with a very big and open heart who loves innovation, but not at the expense of humanity," she says.

Enter Planeta Ventures, the venture capital fund that Shanahan says she's managing with Abe Burns, whom Bloomberg called "The Celebrity Techsplainer of Beverly Hills" in 2017. She says they've invested in Earth-conscious startups like Zero Acre, a cooking oil with a low carbon footprint that has attracted other investors like Chipotle.

"Vegetable oil is a $232 billion market," she says. "It’s devastating to the environment. Thirty percent of global croplands are devoted to growing vegetable oil crops. Deforestation drives biodiversity loss and is the second largest contributor to climate change, and we’re seeing forests getting cleared for oil production for all kinds of different oils: palm, soy, canola, sunflower, peanut, cotton seed, corn, rice bran — and the demand for vegetable oils is just increasing. What Zero Acre does is they use fermentation."

Shanahan uses it in her own kitchen. "Consumers want to cook with cooking oil that’s going to deep fry chicken beautifully, and this will do that," she says. "You’re actually doing something that’s good for your health and the environment, and the food tastes better."

Healing has included time with loved ones (including her mom, who lives nearby) and self-reflection. “There were a lot of people here that I knew prior to my life with Sergey that were there for me in ways that I could have never imagined,” she says, “telling me they were going to stand by me no matter what.” 

“I have a venture portfolio now,” says the Planeta Ventures founder and managing director (at home on June 1), who has invested in Earth-conscious startups like Zero Acre cooking oil. 

JESSICA CHOU

Co-Parenting Daughter Echo with Brin and Funding Autism Research

Through it all, her No. 1 priority is Echo, whose Moana toys are scattered throughout their otherwise organized home. "I didn’t want this to impact my daughter," she says of the divorce from Brin, with whom she's built "a healthy co-parenting relationship," and life in Silicon Valley after the scandal. "I wanted to be able to take her to school with my head held high and her head held high."

“When she’s an adult reading this piece," Shanahan adds, "I want her to know that she is so inspiring and so amazing, and I am so proud to be her mother every single day.” 

Shanahan's face lights up as she talks about raising the little girl. "I think she communicates with trees," she says. "I’ve never seen a child do this so regularly, but she goes up to a tree and puts her hand on it and looks up at the leaves and smiles. She loves the water — she’s like a fish. She is one of the hardest working young people I have ever met. Being autistic is really hard because sometimes you feel trapped in your head. I see her working to communicate with us, and I’m so proud of her. I have every bit of intention and dedication to helping her through every stage of this."

To that end, Shanahan says she spends 60% of her time delving into autism research, "in part because I am hopeful of helping my daughter overcome her autism, whatever that might look like, whether it be in five years not having a diagnosis anymore, or having all of the tools to navigate the challenges that her diagnosis has produced in her life."

"This has led me into fields of science that have been utterly fascinating," she continues. "I talk to two scientists a week, typically, whether they're neurosurgeons or neurologists or mitochondrial experts. Then I spend an equal amount of time after meeting with them trying to digest my notes. I chat with a lot of other mothers of autistic children because I think mothers are some of the most well-educated and researched. They’re having to show up for their child every hour of every single day. They’re trying some of these autism interventions and they’re able to tell you with greater accuracy than any published medical paper what they’re seeing in their children."

As someone who hopes to remain "on the cutting edge" of autism research, "I just funded a big project at UC Davis looking at the exposome," she says, "so we can early diagnose children as early as 2 days old."

Nicole Shanahan at home on June 1. 

JESSICA CHOU

Finding New Love and Looking Forward

Shanahan's favorite TV show is Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and her favorite band is the Talking Heads, but the self-described nature lover says learning to "quiet my mind" outdoors has been her best habit in the past year. She regularly surfs along the Southern California coast, and last summer, she attended the Burning Man festival in Nevada. There she met a friend of a friend, Jacob Strumwasser, a 39-year-old vice president at Lightning Labs and a "reformed Wall Street guy," as she describes him.

“I was there for less than 24 hours and we met over coffee,” she says. “He had no idea who I was and I had no idea who he was, and we became friends. Our relationship started as a deep friendship. We saw each other in a silo of our own experience with one another and nothing else.”

Soon the pair bonded over their passion for surfing and realized they both love the same beach in SoCal. "We were living parallel surfing lives it seems, and then we met at Burning Man, which is the driest place on the planet, and talked about how much we missed surfing," she says with a laugh. "I feel really fortunate, he’s lovely."

She's found him to be a supportive partner. "Echo comes first, and Jacob understands that and he shows up for me as a friend — and I feel like a better mother as a result," she says.

Partner Jacob Strumwasser is “silly, smart, sensitive, considerate, creative and loves nature,” says Nicole Shanahan (at their love ceremony on May 5). 

COURTESY KIM DUNHAM

Instead of getting married traditionally, they celebrated their commitment in a love ceremony at that special beach in May. “It’s lovely to be seen for who I am,” she says, “and not how search results show me.”

When asked what it's been like for her and Echo to start a new home life with Strumwasser, Shanahan says, "It’s been a process of trusting myself, trusting him, listening to my daughter and paying very close attention to household dynamics. And she comes first, every day she comes first."

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The trio spends afternoons in the backyard, taking long swims in the pool. “I’ve had a lot of perfect days recently,” says Shanahan, looking out at the water between bites of her favorite mint candies. In particular, the proud mom recalls the day before yesterday: “My daughter swims like a mermaid. She just looked at me with the biggest smile on her face and her eyes wide open — she refuses to wear goggles. You’re just underwater with her, and words don’t matter in that moment.”  

Reflecting on the contentment she feels today, Shanahan finds one thing she wishes she could go back and tell herself during the hardest days amid the scandal: "It might seem so hopeless right now, but follow the crumbs of your future, the crumbs that will lead you out of this," she says. "Don’t stop looking for the smallest signal that everything is going to be better than okay."