She dumped hot coffee in her own goddamn lap, then blamed someone else! For fuck's sake! That was an early symptom of the death of personal accountability.
The cup popped open because the coffee was hot enough to liquefy a snowman. Hence her 3rd degree burns. You noxious boil drainage.
The top of the cup didn't pop open, but as usual nuance is completely lost on Uncle Angrybert. The victim, Stella Liebeck, originally asked McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical costs since she was burned so badly that she required skin grafting and was partially disabled for a few year years. McDonald's basically told her to fuck off so she got a lawyer and filed suit. A jury -- let me repeat that -- a jury of twelve normal Americans decided that McDonald's was 80% responsible and Liebeck was 20% responsible. They awarded her $160,000 in costs plus $2.7-million in damages (which was later reduced by the judge). The full story is available on Wikipedia.
I've spilled hot drinks on myself, I didn't need skin grafts. Micky's was heating their coffee with a forge furnace or something.
The guy who believes in conspiracy theories and aliens also wants us to know that everything is fine.
I want my coffee exactly that hot. I never trust the lid, never hold it in my fucking lap, and in general tailor my behavior to the FACT that reality is not nerfed and idiot-proofed for mongoloid toddlers in adult clothes.