Dear Gossips, 

In one of Sarah’s upcoming posts (coming later this morning) about how she experienced the inauguration of President Joe Biden yesterday, she writes about the kind of “normalcy” that might return to the White House now that Trump is out. The normalcy happened almost immediately as the Biden administration got to work right away, and was perhaps most evident during White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s first press briefing. As many have already noted, it was noteworthy for the fact that it was practically UN-newsworthy. All Jen Psaki is doing is her job. What an exciting new development! After so many years of … well… the opposite, watching the briefing was like porn. A functioning working White House is sexy as f-ck. Which is why there have already been so many comparisons with The West Wing. 

 

We have more inauguration coverage on the way but here, just a few quick hits to get started. Chrissy Teigen was there yesterday with John Legend who performed Nina Simone’s version of “Feeling Good” during the primetime special. The inauguration committee shouted Chrissy out on Twitter with the performance: 

 

Earlier in the day, Chrissy made a request of the new administration: 

And then this happened: 

 

LOLOLOLOLOL.

But let’s end on more Amanda Gorman because I think by now we are all obsessed with her, right? She obviously showed her work yesterday, writing and then performing a poem for the ages. By now you probably know about her inauguration accessories and who gave them to her and what they symbolised – but if not, read her interview with Vogue about how she prepared for the moment and the meaning behind the style choices she made for it. 

Amanda’s words are precious, but her mere presence was significant to so many. So here’s an email I received yesterday from a reader called Nicole who shared with me how just the sight of Amanda, and one particular detail about her appearance, was in itself a powerful statement: 

 

“But let's talk about one thing you didn't mention, how she wore her hair (in braids!). That means so much to me because the Black natural hair movement has come a long way in empowering Black women to wear their hair as they choose. Even 5 years ago, I couldn't imagine occupying a space/stage like that in braids.”

As we’ve all seen, there are Black girls who’ve been sent home from school for wearing their hair in braids. Black girls and women have been told to leave work for wearing their hair in braids. Yesterday the spotlight was on a young Black woman who transfixed the world with her words, heralding the arrival of a new president, and she chose to wear her hair in braids. It’s an image for all time. 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey