Lainey’s story on Tiger Woods from this morning is a must-read. Last night the Golf Channel was on in my house and the coverage of the accident was, in my view, pretty insensitive – there was little about his wellbeing and a lot of speculation about the accident. The Golf Channel is a niche area of media (and even more white-washed than regular sports channels) but if we want to talk about the “build them up to tear them down” narrative of celebrity, this is a case study. The commentators “tsk tsk” Tiger constantly, yet it’s all they want to talk about. They are obsessed with him because he is – by far – the most exciting person to the play that sport and they resent it so much.
As the story around Britney Spears continues, I’ve really been thinking about whether we will, as a society, stop aiding childhood stardom. We know it’s unhealthy, destructive, and exploitative. We know that much of the time, it does not end well. We know that child stars are often not protected by their parents or the adults in the room. And yet it seems like there are more child stars than ever, from TV/film to YouTube families to TikTok to reality shows built around kids. We’ve collectively either learned nothing or don’t care enough to change anything even though, once the damage is done, we say we cared all along. There are some rare exceptions, like Drew Barrymore. Ironically, it was childhood stardom that probably saved Drew from her family. It gave her somewhere to go. And, by fate or luck, she found people who genuinely looked out for her. When she says, “the first person that cared about me” about Steven Spielberg, it’s such a raw thing. They met when she was six.
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo are in Vancouver filming The Adam Project with Ryan Reynolds. They leaned into the 13 Going on 30 nostalgia but I’d like to talk about gossip nostalgia. Many years ago (2014), Mark was on WWHL and a caller asked if he kept in touch with Jennifer and he said no, because of Ben. Kind of ironic Ben was the jealous one considering how their marriage ended.
The reviews for I Care A Lot are so all over the place – does that entice you or deter you from it? I’m going to watch it because Rosamund Pike’s sharp bob calls to me. (Lainey: she’s amazing in the film, and while I didn’t LOOOOOOVE it, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.)
A hoodie under a leather jacket is one of the great underrated looks of 2000s. And I love the pairing the with the ribbed skirt, much more comfortable than jeans. Remember jeans?
Mandy Moore, who so many of us have rooted for over the years, is a mom. Baby feet get a lot of love but wrinkly baby hands are also cute – look at little August (Gus). Great name.
