Update: It's a Civic Holiday in Canada on Monday May 22nd. We'll be back on Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed your weekend.
Joe Alwyn is reportedly “distraught and slighted” over his breakup with Taylor Swift (I BET). Joe won a Grammy writing songs with Taylor. Do you think he’ll pull a TSwift and write a breakup anthem about HER? (DListed)
I could not get into The Bear—too stressful!—but the trailer for season two is here and it looks both stressful(!!) and delicious. (Popsguar)
Halle Bailey continues her mer-themed wardrobe on The Little Mermaid’s press tour. I think this look is sort of like, modern Ginger from Gilligan’s Island. (Go Fug Yourself)
Update in the ongoing battle between Disney and Florida and its governor, Ron DeSantis. Disney has officially cancelled their planned Lake Nona business park, which was meant to primarily house the Imagineering department (currently homebased in California). It’s estimated the Lake Nona development would have added 2,000 permanent jobs to Florida, and those would mostly be high paying white-collar jobs, aka, the people moving there would be spending money on not only middle to upper class real estate, but restaurants, shopping, regional travel et cetera. These are people who would, over time, add tremendous value to the state. But they’re staying in California.
DeSantis’s team is trying to pass this off as a failure on Disney’s part, like, oh, they’re struggling. But this is actually the culmination of what kicked off their problems with Florida in the first place. Disney announced the Lake Nona project two years ago, in the Bob Chapek era. Bob II wanted to relocate the Imagineering department and some other theme-park related jobs to Orlando, home of Disney World, their largest theme park. But the Imagineers—the heart and soul of Disney creative—said no. Amidst the early days of the “Don’t say gay” controversy, many did not want to move and put themselves or their family members in harm’s way in a state increasingly hostile to 2SLGBTQ+ people and families. (Similar issue to that film incentive PSA in Texas.)
A lot of Imagineers quit outright, and Chapek had to concede to internal pressure and stall the relocation, which meant stalling the Lake Nona project, too. And now Bob Iger has permanently shelved the idea, and the whole thing is dead. So no, Disney didn’t “fail”. Their key employee base threatened to walk en masse if relocated to an actively hostile state, and corporate was forced to support them. Now, Disney is in a First Amendment battle, and Florida is out 2,000 high-paying jobs. Everyone loses! (Celebitchy)
Absolutely OBSESSED with Lindsay Dougherty, the Hollywood Teamsters boss. Look, I know the Teamsters are complicated—they include skilled laborers AND cops—but Dougherty is crushing it as a labor leader in a strike era. All the productions shut down by the writers’ strike aren’t shut down because the writers didn’t show up to work, they’re shut down because Dougherty’s Teamster crews aren’t crossing the picket lines. The Teamsters, who make up drivers, casting directors, animal trainers/handlers, mechanics, among others, you know, the skilled workers who make sets run, aren’t on strike themselves, but they’re holding the line for the writers. Worker solidarity is beautiful, and so is Lindsay Dougherty’s fiery presence and “stepping on dicks” for the working class. (Vanity Fair)
