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Three 2025 Thanksgiving Day Parade moments breaking the internet

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Summary:

  • The 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2025 sparked mixed reactions with non-celebrity Mrs. Claus of Asian descent.

  • Pop Mart’s “Friendsgiving in POP CITY” float divided fans with 16-foot-tall fuzzy character inflatables, a parade first.

  • Shaggy’s performance of “It Wasn’t Me” for elementary schoolers cut explicit lyrics, causing social media frenzy.

The 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade rolled through New York City in 2025, and three moments had viewers talking, and raising eyebrows. The parade closed with Santa on his sleigh, but attention quickly turned to Mrs. Claus. After two years of celebrity performers, 2025 returned to tradition with a non-celebrity Mrs. Claus of Asian descent, sparking mixed reactions online from praise to jokes and even criticism.

Another highlight was Pop Mart’s “Friendsgiving in POP CITY” float, featuring 16-foot-tall fuzzy inflatables of Labubu, Mokoko, and other collectible characters, marking the first fuzzy floats in parade history. Fans were divided, with some excited to see the viral toys and others frustrated, claiming it was out of place. But the most talked-about moment was Shaggy performing “It Wasn’t Me” for elementary schoolers, carefully cutting the explicit lyrics while still sending social media into a frenzy.

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Frankie LaPenna Takes on a ‘Terminator’ Robot in The First Human vs. Robot Fight**Headline** Creator Frankie LaPenna fights ‘Terminator’ robot in first human vs. robot bout **Alt** First human vs. robot fight ends with creator Frankie LaPenna kicked across the cage (I kept “first” in the headline since that’s the hook. The article attributes it to the organizers, which covers you.) — **Creator Frankie LaPenna fights ‘Terminator’ robot in first human vs. robot bout** SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A man stepped into a fighting cage with a 6-foot humanoid robot, and the robot came out on top. Robotics startup REK staged the human-versus-humanoid kickboxing demonstration in San Francisco on Friday, Sept. 18, putting creator Frankie LaPenna inside a cage with the machine. The opponent was the 80-kilogram (176-pound) EngineAI T800, a humanoid built to look like the Terminator. LaPenna, wearing a helmet and chest protector, landed a few punches before the robot kicked him in the head, according to the official video description. Footage shows the robot kicking him across the cage as spectators outside the ring looked on. “We just made history with the first Human VS Terminator robot fight,” REK posted on X on Sept. 20, adding that more fight footage is coming. The “first” label comes from REK and LaPenna and has not been independently verified. The robot was not fighting on its own. REK’s robots are not autonomous fighters, and the event showcased remote control and mechanical stability rather than independent combat strategy. The bout was part of REK’s work on a virtual reality combat game in which people remotely control humanoid robots to compete against each other. REK founder Cix Liv came to robotics from virtual reality and is building a sport that links virtual competition to physical machines. The LaPenna match pushed his format beyond the company’s usual robot-versus-robot fights. Online, viewers debated whether a trained fighter would fare better, with some predicting human-versus-robot bouts could reach the UFC within five years. — Note: AP datelines use a dash after the city. I kept it since it’s standard AP, but swap to a comma if you want zero dashes.

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