Yesterday was Prince’s 62nd birthday. I love looking at old photos of Prince because they are so glamorous and intense, but he is completely unbothered. This one with Salma Hayek is different because he seems relaxed and comfortable, the way he’s lounging and listening intently to what she is saying is intimate. He looks so content. It was taken by Afshin Shahidi (Yara Shahidi’s dad) – here’s a few more of photos of Prince over the years.
During a virtual discussion with showrunners for ATX TV Festival, Friends and Grace and Frankie showrunner Marta Kauffman teared up because she didn’t know about Black actors, I guess. About diversity in casting, she said, “Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would’ve made very different decisions.” You can read more of her comments here. Friends premiered in 1994 and Grace and Frankie in 2015 (!!!!!). Shows like Friends, Seinfeld and Sex and the City were criticized during their time for having all-white casts despite being set in New York, a diverse city. It’s ridiculous to say she had no idea until this week that this was an issue. She might not have actively cared or thought about it, but sometime between 1994 and now, she has had to have been made aware of the criticism around casting. David Schwimmer said he talked about it on set (which led to Aisha Tyler being cast as his love interest).
Are some social media posts by celebrities (or influencers, or even friends and family) giving you kind of an ick feeling and you can’t quite explain why? I first saw this post on Courtney Love’s feed and it’s very useful. It’s a graphic by therapist and activist Alishia McCullough called The 7 Circles of Whiteness. Circle one is KKK type sh-t, which we all (I hope!) aren’t a part of, but as you get deeper into the circles, there’s a lot of recognizable behaviour. It’s very specific: circle three (tone policing, cultural appropriation) to circle four (need constant validation from Black people) to circle 5 (white feminism, tokenism, gatekeeper) to circle 6 (“Omg you’re my Oprah or Michelle Obama”); this might put some people on the defensive but that’s how you know it’s hitting on something real.
Selena Gomez is, I think, the fifth most followed person on Instagram even though she isn’t the most active user (she goes weeks, sometimes months, without posting). Today she’s handed her account to Harvard professor Sarah Elizabeth Lewis. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Seinfeld and Selma Blair will be doing #passthemic on Wednesday, June 10.
Insecure is excellent this season, I think it’s the best it’s ever been. But why is Donald Trump only Twitter “like” about Insecure? Stay away from Issa and Molly!
