I can’t remember watching a single episode of any home improvement show and if I did watch one it was for work. But I understand the impact of this genre of programming. December marks the 30th anniversary of HGTV and over the last three decades, the network has become an “industry juggernaut”, turning its personalities into celebrities who are often more familiar and more followed than actors, musicians, and models. Like Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Like I said, I don’t know anything about these two because HGTV is not my thing. But I do know that their popularity has made them extremely wealthy and influential, to the point where they now have their own network, Magnolia, and their success has had an impact on an entire town – Waco, Texas. I also know that everybody else knows them and that they sell a lot of sh-t and a lot of people buy their sh-t, including the actors, musicians, and models that we cover on the site.
Like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. Blake talked a few years ago about how obsessed she is with Chip and Joanna and now she and Ryan are friends with the Gaines. She was seen with them yesterday in New York, Preserve meets the Waco Way. Which totally tracks because, no doubt, there’s a lot of crossover in this fandom. And none of them are strangers to controversy. Which, presumably, is something else that they’ve bonded over, in addition to whatever rustic cabinets and cookie recipes.
Back to just Blake though – she’s been pretty quiet since, you know, the mess from It Ends With Us. No feed posts on IG for several weeks until the end of September with this one below but you’ll note the comments have been turned off.
And nothing since then because if the energy at Blake Brown’s IG is any indication, there are a lot of people who are still making hating her their entire personality. Which, frankly, is absurd. She bungled a press tour, she wore too many floral outfits, and didn’t get on well with a colleague – but the way they’ve been hammering her is excessive. To the point where even though she’s never been my favourite, it’s making me want to root for her because the online mob is making her sympathetic. And, frankly, the way celebrity pathology works, it only reinforces an unwillingness to acknowledge that *some* of the criticism might have been valid, because all they can see is the monstrous behaviour of the most toxic critics. So the circle closes even more, the lens becomes even more narrow. And they stay within the margins of celebrity and the people who occupy that small space, alongside the Gaines and Taylor Swift.
What do you think of this friendship? Let us know at The Squawk! (App link here)
