The big story today is of course Michael B. Jordan for Sexiest Man Alive (read Lainey’s analysis from this morning here). This year I didn’t have a solid guess, but in mid-October MBJ posted a voting thirst trap and I wrote, “But why would you ever count out Michael B. Jordan for SMA when he does stuff like this. In the name of democracy, of course.” Sorry to quote myself like an asshole, but the point was made and I so rarely get anything right.
Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudekis did the classic Friday dump for their breakup announcement and I agree with Lainey that this doesn’t seem dramatic, which is why there have been so few stories about it. There is one in US Weekly about how it’s amicable but they butted heads over their schedules and where to live (he wants to be in New York, she wants to be in LA, allegedly). Sounds like they borrowed from the plot of Marriage Story for that “scoop.”
Vanity Fair has a new interview with Carl Lentz’s affair partner, Ranin Karim. OK so I’m living for this story, but I still find it a bit odd that VF would run such a fluffy interview when she’s already told (and sold) her story to The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, and Page Six. There’s very little new information to be gleaned from her at this point – they met in a park, she knew he was married, they f-cked, he fled when he was caught. She was motivated to speak out because of his Instagram statement (“I was hurt, yeah,” Ranin said. “I wanted to speak my part.”) There appears to be a deeper coverup they are hinting at with Hillsong but the story doesn’t quite go there yet (and Ranin knows little about the church). Maybe we are at the beginning of something bigger, but for now, she is clearly OK with centering her narrative. They even spoke to a friend of hers for a character assessment: “People get intimidated by her, her beauty,” says a friend from childhood. “She’s one of a kind, she’s not trying to be a model, not trying to be an actress, she’s not trying to get rich, she’s just crazy-beautiful.” He continued, “She’s a good person, very honest.” Well that’s an extremely flattering quote. Once she’s wrung this story dry, what’s the next step – reality show?
Karlie Kloss confirmed she’s pregnant, which I thought was already confirmed, but I guess now it’s official.
Dakota Johnson is joining a sexual wellness company as a co-creative director and investor. It’s a line of intimacy products (toys, body care) with a minimalist aesthetic, but I had to look through several Instagram posts to figure out what exactly they sell. It’s certainly discreet. They call the vibrators “vibes.”
This story about a fan’s lost weekend with Van Halen is wild. It’s incredible how absolutely nuts this idea was: pick up two college kids and have them spend a weekend with a bunch of rock stars doing all of the rock star sh-t (yes, all of it!). And MTV not only filmed it, but they paid for it and encouraged it. The oral history is worth a read this week.
