Pop Culture Mondays/1.8.24
The “CATCHING UP” Edition
HAPPY Monday, my darling pop culture junkies, and welcome back! It has been a minute….with Christmas and New Year’s falling on Mondays, this is the most extended break I have ever taken since I started this thing many moons ago. So forgive me, as it will definitely take me a minute or two to get my groove back. Thankfully, both iMessage and WhatsApp let you edit messages you have already sent because I have lost the ability to type anything coherent lately. So, I will publish this and have to edit it throughout the day!
Also, where do we even begin? There is SO much going on. I could sit here and write for 12 hours and only scratch the surface. HENCE, my decision to make this a catch-up, speed dating sort of PCM. I want to get us all up to date on most of the pop culture-y things that have happened — some you might be aware of, and some of the things you are going to be like, WTF are you talking about? So let’s GET to it….we have a LOT to get through…
YES, CHEF:
Some of you know Jeremy Allen White as Carmy from The Bear. Others may know him as one of the wrestler brothers in The Iron Claw. Some of you, like me, have been fans since the Showtime series Shameless, where he played Lip Gallagher. YES, he was playing a teen for a lot of that show, but look, they had him in a full-on romance with his much older married college professor, so the show KNEW what it was doing. It knew.
He is a walking red flag, hence why SO many of us deranged ones are here for this moment.
So HAPPY 2024 to all of us, and thank you, CALVIN KLEIN, which dropped this thirst trap of an ad for us:
Frankly, it’s the comments on the video I am living for as well.
I do not care that he is a short king, my darlings…all of you who emailed me, “he’s like 5'3”!!!” can bite me. Firstly, he’s like 5'8" (or ALMOST), and secondly….IT MATTERS NOT.
And frankly, the stills are even better.
EVERYONE understood the assignment.
Everyone.
The couch, the skyline, the jeans — they understood the assignment.
The reactions have been priceless.
And my fave:
PS: I know I made fun of WONKA from its trailer…but the movie is SPECTACULAR. And while Jeremy Allen White DOES look like Gene Wilder…the performance by Timothee Chalamet was 12 out of 10. NO notes. FLAWLESS.
THIS:
So maybe there is a theme here, and for you, straight men…I am sorry. But you need to know what we are all discussing. Calvin Klein ad and THIS movie…lots about this movie, but a few things specifically (SPOILERS):
If you know….you know.
And this….
AGAIN…if you know, you know.
So this movie is great. I loved it. And it was in theatres, and I missed it, but the world all of a sudden got on the same page when it started streaming on Amazon Prime, and then we were all together, and while we all know the hotness of Jacob Elordi…this was Barry Keoghan’s first leading role and WOWZERS. Everyone knows I love the Irish…and THIS IS WHY. It’s just the whole attitude; I cannot explain it. But maybe also this:
Which has now put this song, “Murder on the Dancefloor,” from 2001, high up on the charts again. Written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the wonderful Gregg Alexander, an old pal, and performed by Ellis-Bextor…this song is dominating our lives. If you have not seen the movie but have recently heard this song…THIS is why.
And it has launched a million takes.
ANYWAY, only a badass woman could have made this movie. And that’s exactly who Emerald Fennell is. She made her directorial debut last year with Promising Young Woman…
Loved.
And she was the showrunner for Season 2 of Killing Eve, which was my favorite season, tbh.
But you also know Emerald from the Barbie movie…
Remember Midge, pregnant Barbie?
Emerald.
Oh, also….young Camilla in The Crown? ALSO Emerald.
I am in awe of this woman. That is all.
WHO IS SIMONE BILES’ HUSBAND?
For those of you who followed this, it seems like a lifetime ago by now — what with everything else that has gone on lately. But this was basically the thing the kids were talking about over the holidays.
Simone Biles is THE most decorated gymnast in American history. FULL STOP. You will be hard-pressed to find someone who has not heard of Simone Biles. She is married to Jonathan Owens, an NFL player currently playing for the Green Bay Packers. I think. So Wikipedia tells me.
And Owens did a podcast (The Pivot Podcast, which is different from PIVOT with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, so please stop asking me about this…!) where he talked about how he and Simone met on the dating app Raya, and well, it went viral…for all the wrong reasons.
Look…I think they are adorable. I do NOT think he said anything wrong, and they were adorable and cute and respectful of one another and their careers. BUT lord…the Internet takes all good things and really tries to destroy them like they did here.
TikTok exploded with videos of women asking their husbands (mostly) if they knew who Simone Biles was. Here is a compilation of the trend:
But Simone had the last word…as she should. With this tweet:
WELL DONE.
THIS IS REN:
To many, especially in the UK and Europe, Ren is very well known. But, for everyone else, he is a relatively new discovery. An incredibly talented Welsh singer/songwriter…this talent put out his OWN music. AS in, he self-published and is now becoming a household name amongst Gen Z. This is the single he put out a year ago, which details his experience of being misdiagnosed with mental illness and being stuck in bed for a LONG long time. It turns out he was suffering from Lyme disease, but before he was finally diagnosed with Lyme, his body and mind were failing, and he was not able to do anything. But clearly, his creative genius came out with his writing and music:
There are a few young people I know who had similar experiences and let me say this: while I wish their suffering never happened…they are creative geniuses bringing art to all of us as a result.
And TikTok really embraced Ren and reaction videos are all over…
KATT WILLIAMS GOES OFF:
Katt Williams is a stand-up comic who is well-known to some and not known to others. Some call him legendary, while others will say, “Who?” Sorry, but that’s the truth. He is known for his saying it like it is…some say his honesty despite who it takes down. Others say he is living in fantasy land.
He was on the precipice of superstar fame, but life sometimes has a way of messing things up. He has had many legal issues, from gun possession to harassment to child endangerment. At the same time, other stand-ups of his era, from Kevin Hart to Tiffany Hadish, have gone on to mega fame. And that does not sit well with Katt. To read more about him before we continue, check out his wiki:
OK. So here’s where we are at today. Katt recently sat down with Shannon Sharpe, the former NFL champion and Hall Of Famer, on his podcast, “Club Shay Shay.”
This podcast was TWO HOURS and FORTY SIX MINUTES.
Nothing good comes from talking on camera THAT long. And he had some scores to settle. From calling Kevin Hart an industry plant to saying Ludacris is a member of the Illuminati, which he claims to know because it was between Katt and Ludacris on who would become members. He also goes off on Kim Kardashian.
WOO BOY.
It is hard to follow in clips tbh…but he has many people talking. Below is the full interview viewed on YouTube over 31 million times. Some have criticized Shannon for not moderating this or pushing back…but he is not a trained interviewer. He is a football star. And a media personality. Anyone can have a podcast. I have one ffs which tells you everything you need to know. But not everyone can be a responsible interviewer/journalist.
And some of the people he calls out have responded:
In response to this:
“In 15 years in Hollywood, no one in Hollywood has a memory of going to a sold-out Kevin Hart show, there being a line for him, ever getting a standing ovation at any comedy club,” Williams said during the interview with Sharpe (at the 19:55 mark).
“For a five-year period, every single movie that Kevin Hart did was a movie that had been on my desk that all I had said was just, ‘Can we take some of this Stepin Fetchit shit out and then I can do it,’” said Williams (at the 1:29:00 mark), referring the 1930s Black actor who found fame for his lazy persona.
“Like it don’t need to be overtly homosexual cuz I’m not homosexual right? It doesn’t need that to be funny, right? And me saying that and them going, ‘Oh yeah, no problem,’ and then going to give it to this other guy and having him do it just like it was and acting like I’m a bad person because I keep standing on my standard. Yeah, it’s interesting, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Again, I’m on the winning side of these decisions.”
Kevin Hart tweeted:
And Tiffany Hadish responded to her call out in the interview:
And Ludacris responded to the callouts as well:
DRAMA-RAMA.
For more on this:
GET OUT OF JAIL, GET RIGHT ON TIKTOK:
This is Gypsy Rose Blanchard. If you don't know who this 32-year-old is, then honestly, I don't even know why you are reading this newsletter! I kid, I kid. So, Gypsy Rose is maybe the most famous victim of Munchausen by Proxy, who went on to kill her mother, her abuser. She and her then-boyfriend at the time were convicted and sentenced, and Gyspy Rose served 8 of the ten years she was sentenced. Leading up to her release, she has become a much-discussed topic and hero on TikTok. The Hulu movie on her was AMAZING and I highly recommend:
She grew up believing she was so so sick and she couldn't walk, and then when she figured it out, her mother held her captive and forced her to lie. And well, she exploded. NOT THAT MURDER IS THE ANSWER, but lord…she HAS become a folk hero. And now that she is out of prison and married to a man she met thru letters IN prison, she is on a press tour of press tours. AND doing #OOTDs on TikTok.
THIS has 48 million views:
And doing #GRWMs (Get Ready with Me):
I mean this has 80 million views….and it is just so…WHOLESOME?
This is from prison interviews, but she talks about the best memory of her life was her first day in prison when she was finally free. I mean, how do you not love this girl?
ANYWAY, her social media team is ON FIRE:
A LITTLE OF THIS. A LITTLE OF THAT:
I told you we were in CATCH-UP mode! Here are a few more quick little things that happened while we were on HOLS.
THE CHICKLE:
New TikTok viral food? Pickle and fried cheese. You’re welcome.
THE BOYS KILLED:
While I missed the show, the clips the next day were great to see. Drunk Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper are fun…silly…messy…am here for it. And add John Mayer? Fun.
The Other Stanley Cup:
We have talked about this before. But did you see the videos of kids CRYING at Christmas over their new Stanley Cups?
The IT girl thing of the season.
This creator LAMINATED the label…and TikTok is crucifying her:
And now, there is a TARGET /STARBUCKS COLLAB Valentine version, and people are losing it. LOSING IT.
In Poor Taste:
Look, I am not perfect. Humor can be found in some horrible things. I did not create this…I cannot condone any of this BUT…it’s funny. Using humor to handle trauma is ALLOWED. And the Epstein files…I generally ignore all of this…but the Stephen Hawking orgy one is a lot. It’s…a lot. But creators did the work for us:
The Important Parts of the Golden Globes:
I present this with no words. Just the clips that matter.
I AM WHO I AM.
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
Believe it or not, I skipped over a LOT. Like, a lot. From smelly Trump (we are TRUMP-free, you guys!!) to Modest Wedding Dress TikTok to 2024 Out lists to Creek lady and Tunnel lady on TikTok. To the dumb host of the Golden Globes, Jo Koy who was a classic boring basic misogynist making dumb jokes about women. Google any of them if you are interested in knowing more. But I have things to do like work to PAY MY BILLS since I do this shit for free! But I am so glad to be back…I have missed you!
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Xx,
Brooke
