Dear Gossips,    

Do you still Wordle? Wordle was the first celebrity of 2022. A year ago at this point, Wordle made the New York Times, it seemed like everyone was obsessed with it, or just being introduced to being obsessed with it. Now Harvard Business Review is wondering whether or not it can “outlast other pandemic pastimes” in a new interview with its creator Josh Wardle. 

 

I still play Wordle every day. But it’s no longer the first thing I do every day. I’ve switched to starting with NYT Spelling Bee and Wordle has become a reward that I can play only after I’ve reached Genius level or better on Bee. Sometimes that takes 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes the whole day, depending on how much trouble I’m having finding the Bee words. Wordle is definitely part of the routine though. And most people I know who were on Wordle in those early days are continuing to Wordle, they’re just not talking about it anymore. 

While Wordle was the first celebrity of 2022, the second celebrity of 2022 was probably Julia Fox, right? We watched the making of a new gossip star in real time. And even though the relationship that made her viral lasted barely a month, Julia kept hustling the rest of the year – she was memed and mocked, she self-promoted, she self-papped, she self-podcasted, she guest-podcasted, she vocal-fried, she messed around with fashion and makeup, she was everywhere from Paris to Milan to Miami to LA and back to New York. In early December, The Cut called 2022 the Year of Julia Fox

 

2023 has started off a little quieter for Julia compared to last. Sort of. She popped a veneer on NYE and shared the story from her bathtub – that was her first TikTok of the year. 

So, same chaotic energy, no f-cks to give, but never call her stupid. Julia Fox is many things – dumb is not one of them. Then again, Julia Fox has never lost from being underestimated. Will she continue to be underestimated in 2023? 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey