What more can be said about Taylor Swift? I’m pretty tapped out and I can’t be the only person who feels this way, even as I try to engage with her content as little as possible. 

 

As Lainey wrote this morning, she’s been posting positive reviews and tagging the writers and as we know, some publications like Paste will not put a byline because of the way some of her fans behave. If she’s reading the good reviews, she’s definitely reading the bad reviews. 

 

As Lainey said, it’s gloating. But it's also tapping into the part of the fandom she is allegedly sick of being up in her business. By tagging the journalists, Taylor is sending a message to her fans and they will respond in kind. She is telling them that it’s their job to engage on a personal level with people who are doing professional work. Took a scroll through the responses to the Paste review and here are a couple of direct quotes: “calculated hit piece,” “raked over the coals,” “wants Taylor to fail,” “would you rather threats of violence for everyone no staff or one person,” and “we want the name of this coward” – and this is on top of fans trying to dox the writer. “But it’s not Taylor’s fault her fans are like this!” OK. She has taken time to tweet out multiple positive reviews, but has no desire to tell her fans to stand down? 

 
 

I keep seeing headlines about Melinda Gates’s possible engagement and it got me thinking about how and why billionaires are gossiped about. Why do we do it? On the whole, billionaires are not glamorous or interesting from a gossip perspective – they are not creators of culture. Why would someone who is worth 11 billion dollars wearing a new ring even be news. 

David Beckham is suing Mark Wahlberg (or more likely, his holding company) for a business deal gone wrong and Marky Mark limited his Instagram comments while David is going viral as a Spice Girls stan. LOL.

 

The Sopranos turned 25 this year and this is a show that has been dissected from every angle. I can’t imagine there is more to say about it, the characters, the plotlines, the influence it had on TV… except, maybe there is. Drea De Matteo did an interview with Page Six and was asked about her former co-stars and who she keeps in touch with (Robert Iler, Vincent Carolata and Aida Turtorro). She was diplomatic but clearly, there’s a divide. She was also asked why she didn’t appear on Talking Sopranos (strange especially considering it was cohosted by her on-screen partner, Michael Imperioli) and she said she was busy. Her facial expression said it all.