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<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Love Is Blind" season seven features a cast of singles from the Washington DC area.</li><li>One of those singles is Leo, an art dealer who forms multiple connections in the pods.</li></ul>Warning: Spoilers ahead through episode six of "Love Is Blind" season seven.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/love-is-blind-couples-still-married-together">"Love Is Blind"</a> is back — and it's found its newest polarizing character.The show is Netflix's flagship dating franchise, and one of its most successful series. According to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/what-we-watched-the-first-half-of-2024">platform's own numbers</a>, the show's sixth season drew 20,900,000 views — which the platform defines as hours watched divided by runtime — in the first half of 2024. For context, that's about 66.7 million less views than <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bridgerton-season-3-book-differences-best-worst-changes-netflix-2024-5">"Bridgerton" season three</a>, but 4.7 million more than the first season of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://businessinsider.com/suits-netflix-effect-nielsen-streaming-data-2024-1">"Suits."</a> Outside the US series, the streamer has also launched international editions in Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, and most recently, the United Kingdom.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/love-is-blind-season-7-cast-instagram-list-2024-10">The show's seventh season</a> features a cast of singles in their 20s and 30s from the Washington, D.C. area. As you'd expect, many of them have high-powered careers — and strong personalities.Despite not being one of the cast members to make it to the couples' vacation to Mexico (more on that later), Leo is one of this season's most prominent characters in the pod episodes.Here's what we know about where he is today.<h2 id="32b99b70-7ef9-4ff8-80b3-cb4149147e37">Leo forms two connections in the pods, but the experience ends poorly for him</h2>Going into the appearance-concealing pods portion of "Love Is Blind," 31-year-old art dealer Leo says that he worries women only want him for his money after he inherited his family's business young. He also insists he's not on the show to boost his own profile, as he tells the other male cast members in episode one."I grew up financially very well-off," he said. "I'm not trying to build an influencer career. I'm a rich fucking art dealer. I grew up, like, I went to a coutnry club, went to private school. My college was paid for."Leo forms strong connections with 33-year-old esthetician Brittany, who wants to be taken care of in a relationship, and 26-year-old Hannah, who quit her job to be on the show. In episode two, he tells Brittany that he feels equally confident in his relationship with both her and Hannah.Eventually, that leads to some tension. After Leo questions Brittany about what kind of ring she may like in episode three, she takes issue with his indecision after he tells her that he was planning on having the same conversation with Hannah.For a moment, it seems like the issue is going to resolve itself after Hannah tells Leo in episode three that she and Nick D., another cast member, have confessed their love to each other. Leo doesn't take the breakup attempt well, demanding to know whether Hannah would agree to marry him if he asks in that instant and bringing her to tears.During another meeting in episode four, Hannah and Leo agree to end their relationship after Hannah tells him that she has stronger feelings for Nick. Leo asks Hannah to tell Brittany that their split was mutual, so that Brittany doesn't think that she's his second choice. Hannah declines — but does tell Brittany that he asked her to do so.In episode four, Brittany tells Leo that she's still "hurt" by the way he handled his relationships with her and Hannah. Leo attempts to propose, but Brittany turns him down and tells him to ask again. In episode five, he tries again, and she says yes.When the two meet at their reveal, however, the tension is palpable. Brittany still can't tell Leo that she loves him, and the pair agrees that if they aren't selected for the show's couples trip to Mexico, they will travel to Miami together instead.Mexico wasn't meant to be, and neither was this couple."Brittany &amp; Leo were not one of the six couples chosen by producers to continue their journey in Mexico," an on-screen card reads right after Leo and Brittany's first in-person meeting. "They took their own trip to Miami and broke off their engagement weeks later."<h2 id="1a4f3db6-39e3-4dd1-a0c1-173047ff637c">Leo and Brittany's relationship 'didn't work out' after episode 6</h2>In an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://ew.com/love-is-blind-season-7-brittany-reveals-what-happened-leo-after-filming-8721608">Entertainment Weekly</a> published on Wednesday, Brittany explained how her relationship with Leo progressed after they finished filming and how it eventually ended. Brittany told EW that she and Leo spent two days in Los Angeles, where the pods are filmed, before going to Miami. And while they had "a blast" on the trip, they realized after several days that their relationship wasn't going to work out."There wasn't anything major that happened," Brittany told EW. "Honestly, I sometimes wish there was, because maybe it would give a better explanation to why things didn't work out. It's really just, you know when it's right and you just know when it's not, and we're better off as friends."She told EW that their breakup was "super mutual," and "nothing crazy happened" when they decided to split.<h2 id="ac6cd615-0705-4d87-ba6a-55437f51fb08">Leo still seems to be running his family's art business after filming the show</h2>According to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://capitalartadvisory.com/about">company website</a>, Leo runs his family's art business, Capital Art Advisory, which he took over in 2015 and relocated to New York City, where Brittany told EW he now lives. He serves both domestic and international clients and also provides advice on NFT collection.He's active on Instagram, where other cast members — including Hannah and Brittany — follow him (for what it's worth, he still follows both of them as well).Leo regularly posts videos on Instagram and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@leo_braudy/video/7420770688652365099?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7192678209945847338">TikTok</a> about art world topics, such as price negotiation and whether the woman in da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa painting is smiling.He's also promoted "Love Is Blind" on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DAESCf-OH2e/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Instagram</a>, teasing the seventh season with his cast portrait."'Hey Leo, how's your love life been?'" he captioned the video.The next episodes of "Love Is Blind" season seven will air on Wednesday, October 9 on <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.netflix.com/">Netflix</a>.

Leo from 'Love Is Blind' is one of the most controversial contestants on season 7. What happened to him after his unceremonious exit?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Mastercard filed the applications on Monday last week. </li><li>Mastercard's applications suggest it may be planning to create NFTs and virtual payment systems for the metaverse.</li></ul>Payments company Mastercard has applied for at least 15 crypto- and metaverse-related trademarks, according to data from the <a href="https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks">United States Patent and Trademark Office</a> payments giant Mastercard filed 15 <keyword id="11892695" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrency" source="Orion">cryptocurrency</keyword>, metaverse and <keyword id="11919795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nft" source="Orion">NFT</keyword> related trademark applications on April 4th. Mastercard's applications include trademarks for virtual cards and payments in the metaverse, an application to create NFTs, an NFT marketplace, as well as a marketplace for <keyword id="11893898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">crypto</keyword> assets in general."Provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital goods and media authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs)," one of Mastercard's applications, serial number 97346029, read. Another application includes plans for downloadable music files which would be backed up by NFTs, as well as other multimedia assets like artwork, text, audio and video – all of which would be authenticated by NFTs. American patent lawyer Mike Kondoudis noted the applications on <a href="https://twitter.com/KondoudisLaw/status/1512397180044296197?s=20&amp;t=gYq4iTZu_lr7Pa90ctYsug">Twitter</a>."We are continually looking for opportunities to deliver new and unique experiences to our customers and cardholders. This filing is simply part of that effort, ensuring that the trademark protection for our brand carries through to any potential use in the metaverse uninterrupted," a Mastercard spokesperson told Insider.The global payments company also filed to create virtual cards that would allow them to take payment for goods and services in the metaverse, including debit, credit and prepaid cards. This is just the company's latest play in the space as it previously partnered with crypto exchange Coinbase in January to offer a series of crypto services. The cryptocurrency exchange <a href="https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-and-mastercard-partner-to-revolutionize-nft-purchase-experience-8e486a392c55">announced</a> in January that it had enlisted the help of Mastercard to improve customer experience when purchasing digital collectibles by classifying NFTs as digital goods. This, according to Coinbase, will allow a wider group of consumers to purchase the digital collectibles.Following the applications for virtual payment system trademarks, NFTs and more, Mastercard also filed an application for events and performances in the metaverse, in the field of finance, cryptocurrency and NFTs.Events have become more popular as brands look to widen the net and attract more attendees, especially as COVID continues to complicate travel plans, international events and festivals. One such example was the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/rafael-nadal-australia-open-crypto-nft-metaverse-tennis-gain-ash-barty-2022-1">Australian Open being held in the Decentraland metaverse</a>, where NFTs were sold so fans could own a piece of the court.The idea of the metaverse, which is widely attributed to sci-fi <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/metaverse-term-creator-neal-stephenson-distances-himself-from-facebook-zuckerberg-2021-10">author Neal Stephenson</a>, grew in popularity in 2021 after Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-the-metaverse-golden-goose-2022-1">announced</a> it would be rebranding as Meta and pivoting its business towards the development of the digital world. Shortly after that, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/metaverse-investing-goldman-sachs-web3-crypto-blockchain-analysis-outlook-strategy-2022-1">Goldman Sachs</a> analyst Eric Sheridan wrote the virtual world could be worth $8 trillion.Furthermore, investments in metaverse-linked companies is rising. In the last quarter of 2021 alone, almost $1.9 billion of venture capital funding went to AR and VR start-ups, according to Crunchbase <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/news/metaverse-augmented-reality-virtual-reality-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">data</a>.Research shows the metaverse market could grow more than 20% this year, before exploding more than 1,300% by 2030, according to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1295784/metaverse-market-size/#statisticContainer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Statista research</a>. In 2022, its estimated size will be $47.48 billion, and $678.8 billion within eight years, Statista said.

Mastercard filed 15 crypto and metaverse-related trademark applications. Here's a look at what the company may have in the works

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NewsAnchored promised "GUARANTEED publishing services" without dealing with "grumpy journos."</li><li>It runs a network of sites where clients can publish whatever they want for $1,500 a month.</li></ul>A company that sells guaranteed "news" coverage created knockoff versions of name-brand news websites, including Rolling Stone, MarketWatch, the New York Post, and even Business Insider, and populated the sites with hundreds of apparently AI-generated articles.NewsAnchored, which doesn't reveal the full names of its owners or corporate leadership, markets its 30 "reputable" websites to public-relations firms and search-engine-optimization agencies to manufacture positive Google search results for their clients.But many of the company's websites blatantly rip off national news brands — and they appear to be full of AI-written garbage. Until recently, the website Music Observer was a clear <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231127151410/https://musicobserver.com/">knockoff</a> of Rolling Stone. The green-and-black lettering of the <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231127145937/https://marketdaily.com/">MarketDaily</a> logo looked a lot like that of MarketWatch. The New York Post's iconic italicized, all-caps type with drop shadows on a red background was crudely imitated by a site called the <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231011153331/https://entertainmentpost.com/">Entertainment Post</a>. And the logo of US Reporter closely resembles USA Today's.At least six of the sites were redesigned to remove the similarities to established media brands after BI contacted the company for a comment on this story."Whoever set up this website appears to think that if they don't use the name, they are free to do whatever they want. That's definitely not the case," said Eric Perrott, a trademark lawyer at Gerben Perrott.For as long as there have been search engines, there have been website owners trying to game them, but generative AI appears to enable sites like the ones run by NewsAnchored to churn out a staggering amount of junk — five "authors" for Music Observer published 150 articles on December 11 alone. The authors appear to be fake, and all of the articles spot-checked by BI appeared to be AI-generated rewrites of pieces published by Billboard.The services offered by NewsAnchored also aren't that valuable, one industry expert said. Eric Carrell, the CEO of the search-engine-optimization firm <a target="_blank" href="https://dofollow.com/">DoFollow</a>, said the NewsAnchored sites he reviewed got little traffic and aren't highly trusted by search engines. The websites they link to include mom-and-pop businesses, like local cleaning services, that are probably getting taken for a ride by SEO vendors, Carrell said."These little brick-and-mortar businesses, I'm guessing they need SEO and they hire someone off of Fiverr," he said. "These people have no idea that the money they're spending has absolutely no effect."<h2>A fake Insider feature</h2>NewsAnchored markets itself to businesses that want publicity and struggle to get it."Instead of spending 20 hours a week pitching to grumpy journos," it says on its homepage, publicists can offer their clients "GUARANTEED publishing services" on its websites that, if you squint and don't actually read them, look sort of like news.Ryan Croy, who runs the Los Angeles PR firm Public Haus Agency, said his mention on the NewsAnchored website Influencer Daily wasn't one he sought out for the content — his priority was getting backlinks to boost his firm's SEO."I didn't even know that this was a network of sites. I basically picked from a menu of different outlets — low cost, and solely to impact my SEO," he said. He summarized a conversation with an SEO advisor this way: "I said, 'OK, this site has a domain authority of 45.' They said, 'If you get two or three of those, that will help.'"Some subjects of glowing NewsAnchored posts are small businesses that might struggle to get traditional news coverage. Others are more dodgy: BI found at least two NFT projects, including one linked to a businessman who had been sued by the Federal Trade Commission, that were spotlighted on NewsAnchored sites.Another subject of NewsAnchored puff pieces is Lance Dion, a purported branding expert. Dion, whose full name is Lance Dion Ashley, was sentenced to a year in prison in 2022 for cheating on taxes and lying to the IRS. BI's efforts to reach Ashley through his lawyer, listed phone numbers, email, and social media weren't successful.A Business Insider reporter first found NewsAnchored while reporting on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wealth-assistants-amazon-automation-users-lost-thousands-red-flags-2023-11">Wealth Assistants</a>, a company that claimed it could help investors get rich on Amazon. An archived version of Wealth Assistants' website said it was featured in "US Insider" — a website whose logo looked almost exactly like Business Insider's old logo.US Insider changed its logo and website earlier this year to look less like BI's, archived versions show. But NewsAnchored hasn't backed down from ripping off other media outlets — in fact, it appears to have accelerated its efforts.In June, <a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230607160721/https://musicobserver.com/">Music Observer's</a> website looked nothing like Rolling Stone's, but it recently attempted to duplicate the much better-known brand's look and feel. Shortly before this article was published, Music Observer reverted to the logo it had been using in June.Contacts at Rolling Stone, Dow Jones, and other publishers named in this story didn't respond to requests for comment. But Perrott, the trademark lawyer, said they would have a good case in court — though it would cost thousands of dollars in litigation fees, and there's no guarantee the companies would recover any money.This is "a very cynical attempt to ride the coattails of a brand," he said.<h2>Who is NewsAnchored?</h2>While NewsAnchored lists 30 news brands on its website as part of its "Credibility Bar," those "reputable" brands reveal little about who publishes them. NewsAnchored's terms of service mention a company in Wyoming — where corporate officers aren't public — called NA Publishing Group LLC, which was incorporated on September 13.At a glance, nearly all of the websites NewAnchored operates look like genuine news outlets. In press releases, NewsAnchored calls itself a "media conglomerate" focused on "impactful journalism." But there are no juicy scoops or hot takes, just a mixture of what appears to be articles rewritten by AI and insipid pablum about minor figures (published with plenty of links back).The bylines on the site don't appear real, either. A bio for Entertainment Post's "Melanie Moore" — or "<a target="_blank" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230608080623/https://entertainmentpost.com/contributor-4/">Contributor 4</a>," as she's referred to in the URL — says she was born into a family of filmmakers and attended college, but it provides no specific, checkable biographical details, a common thread in the biographies of NewsAnchored "writers." No Melanie Moore fitting that description could be found via any search method, and none of the headshots Business Insider conducted reverse-image searches for resulted in hits.A clue to its business model could be found on a referral page linked to by Dillon Kino, NewsAnchored's chief marketing officer. The page offers "unlimited article placements," including "free access to Article Genie (AI writer tool)," for just $599 a month. The normal rate, according to Kino's referral page, is $1,500 a month.Kino and others at NewsAnchored never responded to BI's inquiries. On December 13, shortly after BI emailed Kino a list of facts we intended to publish, at least six NewsAnchored websites changed their logos to look less like those of established media properties. Kino's referral page also vanished.Carrell, the SEO expert, said many clients are still apprehensive — appropriately, in his view — about having backlinks in AI-generated content. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatgpt-jobs-replaced-by-tech-translator-2023-9">G/O Media</a>, which publishes the AV Club and Gizmodo, and Arena Group, the publisher of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-illustrated-ran-articles-by-fake-ai-generated-writers-report-2023-11">Sports Illustrated</a>, have been embarrassed after publishing AI-generated content with factual errors and fake authors."The way that a lot of people see the industry going is that Google is going to want to see content that's written from firsthand experience," he said. "And that's just not something that AI is going to be able to do. So our clients don't use AI content that I'm aware of."Kino was the only NewsAnchored executive to use his full name and actual photo on its website. The others use first names and last initials and sketches instead of photos.The company's CEO is named in a press release as "Oliver T." and it lists just five employees on LinkedIn.Even for Carell, the brazenness of the mimicry was unique. "I hadn't seen people just straight up trying to knock off other websites," he said. "I hadn't seen that before."

A shadowy firm ripped off dozens of media websites to prop up NFT projects, Amazon hustlers, and a convicted tax cheat

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The NFT roller coaster!

BI India Bureau

Leo from 'Love Is Blind' is one of the most controversial contestants on season 7. What happened to him after his unceremonious exit?

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Mastercard filed 15 crypto and metaverse-related trademark applications. Here's a look at what the company may have in the works

Adam Morgan McCarthy

A shadowy firm ripped off dozens of media websites to prop up NFT projects, Amazon hustlers, and a convicted tax cheat

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