Mailbag for August 2, 2024
Women's scary orgasms, Meghan's thoughts on Harry's lawsuits, Reese's connected (and fragile) men, Hawke-eye and Marvel Jesus, and gossip never fully sleeps.
Dear Squawkers,
I’ve been angry all week and waiting to talk to you about it, but before I get into the situation, FYI it’s related to a brand partnership. I know you come here for content and not commercials, but this is the kind of Show Your Work detail that we said we’d share with you about the inner workings of the site and our business. And because LaineyGossip relies on sponsorship in support of our work, it’s relevant to so much of what we discuss at LG and also here at The Squawk.
Sunday on Instagram, I put up a sponcon post – a photo of myself with a toy called Pebble, by Bellesa, to mark National Orgasm Week, calling myself your Fairy O-Mother because as part of my collaboration with Bellesa, we’d be giving away toys and/or discount codes to my followers. Here’s what the picture looked like on IG and as you can see, it’s been clearly marked as a “Paid Partnership” for full transparency:
The theme of the caption was travel essentials. I was in Vancouver last week and, yes, when I travel, I often bring my sex toy with me. If it’s a work trip with a full schedule and a lot of pressure (which this was), it helps me decompress. Let me show you the full text of the post, because it’s germane to what happened next. Here’s what it said:
“I’m coming (ha!) to you as your Fairy O-Mother this National O Week and giving you a chance to find your new best friend and travel partner.
I’m hooking you all up with toys! Everyone who enters wins a toy or gift card towards a toy, all you have to do is:
💫 Click the link in my Instagram bio
💫 Sign up with your email
💫 See your gift from @bellesaco in your email
My travel essentials for good health on a weekend trip to Vancouver:
-Sneakers, so I can get my steps in
-SPF and a ball cap, because we don’t play when it comes to sun protection
-A small pair of scissors that my ma makes me carry around to ward off bad luck and…
My best friend, Pebble by @bellesaco. She’s a multitasker and a hustler, just like me. Pebble is my travel companion for relaxation, self-celebration, and wellness. Because sexual health is health!
Get a Pebble for yourself or check out their other range of products. I have my eye on Thrust, because Pebble needs a companion. Remember, take care of yourself … by taking care of yourself!”
As you can see, there’s no profanity, nothing off-side. And that’s generally true of most branded posts – they’re vetted by the brand, and brands are not usually interested in controversy, they want to reach as many people as possible. If you visit Bellesa’s Instagram account, my post really was no different than the posts on their page. Also, this is not the first time I’ve worked with the company and posed with the toy.
But the next day, my Bellesa post was disappeared. And this message popped up when I opened Instagram:
The post was flagged for inappropriate content. I was, and still am, ENRAGED. I have asked for an appeal through the app, and I haven’t heard back. We don’t believe that Instagram itself initiated this censorship but that they received a complaint about it by someone who thinks that promoting, encouraging, and celebrating women’s sexual wellness is a fucking problem. After all, what’s more terrifying than a woman in full control of her own pleasure? What could be more concerning than a woman empowered to seek out and cater to her own desires?
There is nothing safer than self sex, for all people but especially for women. Sexual health is an important part of good overall health, it’s not even debatable anymore. Science is telling us that self pleasure can improve mental and physical health and can contribute to healthier relationships, both with ourselves and with others. These are the messages that Bellesa is promoting and, yes, they are a business, but on the sliding scale of businesses out here bombarding our feeds in this capitalist existence, this business in particular that centers female sexual wellness is a profit enterprise that should be the least of our concerns. And the fact that someone is so offended by it almost proves its necessity.
But this isn’t just about me and Bellesa. There’s a bigger conversation that’s been happening in social culture and we’ve seen it play out in politics, with a vice-presidential candidate labelling child-free women as the downfall of civilisation. All of this insanity comes from the same place – a desperate and dangerous effort to limit what and who women can be by controlling and/or judging the choices they make about their own bodies. To the point where a post about a sex toy aimed at women is treated like the big bad that will corrupt our children.
It's pathetic but it’s also deeply concerning. And I don’t say that just because one of my brand partnerships went sideways – whether you believe me or not, this to me is not about money, it’s about the message that someone was trying to send me about how I was trying to make money: that it’s an immoral act of greed to amplify a product that exists solely for the purpose making women feel good.
One way of pushing back against that is by… well… feeling good. Like I said, this was a brand partnership initially and the giveaway is for free toys or a gift card toward a toy and everyone is eligible. So if you’re interested, click here to get your orgasm.
Now to your questions!
Question from PLM via email:
Why hasn’t American Riviera Orchard launched yet? Meghan started the Instagram a while ago, what’s taking so long?
Lainey’s Answer:
I really don’t have an answer to this question. ARO was announced in April and now it’s August and it’s definitely been a stretch of time without any further information. They’re collecting emails, though, and in this time of data=gold, that’s probably something they can build on. Maybe a newsletter, or equivalent, will show up in your inboxes soon, for those of you who’ve subscribed. By contrast, notice the speed at which Blake Lively’s Blake Brown happened this week. A few days ago, people noticed the Instagram account and the products are about to go on sale at Target this weekend. From my vantage point, then, ARO does feel sort of anti-climactic. That said, she has for sure been filming the show… so maybe they’re waiting to come out with the product range along with the new docuseries? And the first step was to build a subscriber base to blast out information to whenever there’s new information to share?
The reason I chose this question, however, doesn’t have to do with ARO but with another Meghan story that came out this week. As you may have seen, Prince Harry covers the current issue of PEOPLE.
They led with a headline about why Harry and King Charles aren’t speaking but then the next day followed up with a curious story about how Meghan feels about all of Harry’s lawsuits. According to a source:
“Meghan Markle wishes that Prince Harry didn't have to carry the weight of litigation as he fights for greater security protection for their family of four.
The Duchess of Sussex "supports Harry 100 percent, but she wishes he could let go of these lawsuits, be happy and live in the moment," a former employee of their Archewell Foundation tells PEOPLE in this week's exclusive cover story.
"She wants him to be free of all of this, but she also knows that because of everything he’s been through and his love for [her and their children], he can’t. She wants him to live in a world where he is not burdened by this," says the former staffer.”
The sources that speak to PEOPLE are not the haters who speak out of their asses to the Daily Mail. Quotes that show up in PEOPLE are often placed there by celebrities or their teams – we all know this by now, right? We don’t have to go over this?
Presumably, then, Meghan wouldn’t have necessarily minded that her position on Harry’s lawsuits – that she’s of course going to ride with him through these court battles, but that she also wishes he could put the past behind him – be shared with PEOPLE’s readers. But to what end? What is the picture the Sussexes are trying to paint?
It could be something as simple as – this has been so hard on them, please have sympathy – or it could be, as celebrities have been known to do, laying the groundwork for a shift, a next move, if there is a next move. Nobody knows right now, because they have managed to keep their shit pretty tight. Which is why this pinged me. This doesn’t happen often, we don’t often hear about Meghan’s thoughts on Harry’s decisions/choices/projects beyond the standard and generic, “she’s so proud of him”. So my gossip antenna is slightly vibrating, smutty senses are activated… what is up?! What do you think is up? Comment below!
Question from Now2023:
Reese Witherspoon’s man in finance! Is this who you would have Gossip Genie’d for her?
Lainey’s Answer:
If you missed it, Reese was papped the other day having dinner with Oliver Haarmann, a private equity financier. According to PEOPLE, the two are “friends”. Ah, the old “friend” trick. As Sandra Bullock said many years ago, if there’s not “just friends”, then technically it’s not lying. PEOPLE then followed up with an article “all about the financier getting dinner with Reese Witherspoon” with details like where he went to school and his previous marriage and who he’s friends with (Bill Gates) and also his businesses. The short story is that this man is wealthy. And Reese is wealthy, too – her estimated net worth is almost half a billion dollars, and a big part of that has to do with the sale of Hello Sunshine to a “media company backed by the private-equity firm Blackstone Group Inc.” a few years ago. So she’s been moving in these circles, maybe more than she’s been moving in the movie star circles.
Is this what I would have Gossip Genied for her? No. Because it’s obviously gossipier for her to be dating another celebrity. Am I surprised by it? Also no. Reese’s second ex-husband, Jim Toth, is/was an agent. In other words, a behind-the-scenes player, in the business and definitely influential, but not front-facing. I feel like that might be her preference now in light of her previous romances.
Here’s some gossip nostalgia – when Reese and Ryan Phillippe presented at the Oscars together in 2002 they did their whole scripted bit and then the nominees were introduced, and when the camera came back to them onstage and he opened the envelope, you remember what happened next? Start at the 1:40 mark below:
She has since confirmed in interviews that she did not know he was going to say that. But then cut to four years later, and this time she’s the frontrunner for Best Actress for her performance in Walk the Line. If you recall, Reese Tracy Flicked her way to that win, she campaigned for months, with Ryan next to her playing happy family. His enthusiasm was so enthusiastic, it almost seemed… forced. I’ll never forget that shot of them at the Golden Globes afterparty and he was all over her, at one point with his tongue all over the side of her face…
And unfortunately I can’t show you that photo because we can’t licence it but here’s the link.
All of the shots from that night were the same energy though, tension and resentment simmering beneath the surface. They were putting on a show, and it read, to some of us at least, that he was kinda like, FINE, you want me to play along, I’ll fucking PLAY along, watch!
Six months later they were divorced amid rumours that he cheated on her with Abbie Cornish. But there were also rumours that he was jealous about Reese’s success. That he couldn’t handle that they started their careers around the same time, and she basically eclipsed him.
Reese would then go on to date Jake Gyllenhaal and that eventually ended, too, perhaps for the same reasons it ended between Jake and Taylor Swift. Reese and Jake together were a major heatscore and that fucking guy is so moody and temperamental (I’ve seen this up close because he was moody and temperamental to my face) it eventually came to an end.
But after those experiences, for someone as Type A as she is, and that was the name of her first production company, being in a relationship with another star and having to manage the fragile ego of an actor now that she’s even more successful, a true baller who turned a book club into an almost billion-dollar enterprise? Who has the time?! A rich ass investment dude is probably exactly what she needs for her lifestyle. He has his own money, he’s not thirsty for the spotlight, and he’s probably discreet in that way that super wealthy people are discreet because they don’t want to draw too much attention to their finances. It’s not the sexiest gossip, but it totally tracks.
Question from Betts:
Sarah, do you have any scoop on what’s going on with Hawkeye season 2? That was the MCU tv show I most enjoyed and am curious what became of Kate Bishop!
Question from Laura:
I’ll jump on to the MCU request and would love any insight on the RDJ casting news for Dr. Doom. Is he back to loving them after he got his Oscar?
Sarah’s answer:
Taking these two as one Marvel grab bag. First, Hawkeye. There’s the very obvious factor of Jeremy Renner’s injuries and rehabilitation, which is truly amazing given the severity of his injuries. Every time he talks about his snowplow accident, there’s a new horrifying detail, the fact that he is alive and walking around should not be underplayed. So whatever plans Marvel had for a second season of Hawkeye, they obviously have to factor in his ability to play the role of Clint Barton, who is supposed to be, basically, an acrobat with a bow. They’re going to have to figure out how to work with Renner on the stunt stuff, because while his recovery has been tremendous, as he says, he’s in recovery for the rest of his life. It’s a different job now than it was before.
That said, word is Hawkeye does have some vague plan for a second season, but from what I’ve heard, any future Hawkeye stuff is very long range, like maybe 2027-28 long range. There’s the Renner of it all, plus I have not heard anything resembling an actual idea for it. I did hear at one point they were tossing around a Raid-style setup in which Clint and Kate are trapped and have to fight their way out of one location. That sounds cool! But do we NEED that? I think the higher priority is building up Kate’s character, I expect we’ll see Hailee Steinfeld popping up in more stuff before there’s any serious talk of a Hawkeye season two. She already showed up in a post-credit scene in The Marvels, blatantly teasing the Young Avengers. That’s a higher priority than another Hawkeye standalone thing.
As for RDJ, I’m not convinced his attitude toward or snarky remarks about Marvel during the Oppenheimer days were about him not loving Marvel; I think he didn’t love how his peers talked about Marvel. Like he loved being the face of the MCU in the early 2010s when everyone was high on the supply, but by the end of the decade, Martin Scorsese was making (not inaccurate) theme park quips, and it became cool for people to bash Marvel to get headlines, and suddenly RDJ is the butt of jokes for becoming Tony Stark in real life or whatever. (Also, everyone leave Jamie Lee Curtis alone, she was being funny, her comment was funny, Marvel nerds really need to chill.)
I also think what he loves is the potential to “save” Marvel. Like, he started it all, then when they floundered, he swooped in and saved them. Deadpool can make all the jokes he wants, but if this works, RDJ really WILL be Marvel Jesus. I think he loves THAT. Plus, he’s making an untold fortune to play Doctor Doom, and money makes a lot of things tolerable.
Question from Manon:
Lainey, Sarah, Emily, Jacek etc...are you guys taking any holiday this summer ? I love being able to read Lainey everyday, but I also love it when people are being able to take holidays and completely disconnect (that's the French in me lol). Is it possible for a site like LaineyGossip to go completely dark for 1 or 2 weeks during the summer, financially? I personally would not mind at all if we didn't get The Squawk in August so you guys can take a break but I'm wondering if it's doable from a money perspective.
Lainey’s Answer:
I laughed when I read this in the mailbag because right underneath was a comment from Andrea2:
“Please note, Manon does not speak for me. Holidays are verboten to avid Squawkers. I hate weekends now, as no Squawking. Oh wait, we even opine on those days, for the good of the gossip system. Real troopers here!!!!! s/”
And right behind that was a comment from Lil:
“Nor does she speak for me. I'm all for our LG gods taking vacation time but would appreciate it being staggered, please. The days the site is dark are barely livable for me. *dramatic hand to forehead* As Andrea2 said, thank the gossip genie for the Squawk. It's the only way I'm getting through the site's dark days and the weekends anymore. 😭 😉”
We appreciate the love! And we want you to want to be here at The Squawk every day! Which is why… no…there is no extended holiday. One or two days here and there, for sure. And on that note, we will be dark this coming Monday as it’s a holiday in many parts of Canada.
For us, it’s not just about the financials of going dark for a week or two but also the interest. We don’t want you to lose interest in us, we’ve worked so hard to earn it, and we should be responsible with the privilege. The internet is already such a volatile place, and celebrity news is only moving faster and faster, we’d miss too much if we peaced out for longer than a couple of days.
That said, you’re right, rest is critical, especially for creatives. When I’m fried, I can’t think, never mind write. And sometimes, given that we often work on weekends, either on junkets for me or screenings and other deadlines for Sarah, by the time Monday comes around, it’s hard to crank out more juice. And with the schedule over the last decade, with streaming services and social media and no lulls in pop culture, the pace is relentless. This is why, for me personally, partnering with Sarah on editing has been such a gift. Over the last year, sharing editing duties has meant that when I do go on holidays, I can write much less, on some days, depending on what’s happening, I don’t write at all – which is a luxury I wasn’t able to enjoy for the first 15 years of LaineyGossip.
So with all that in mind, this past week, there’s been a slowdown in celebrity news because of all the Olympic activity, and I’m not mad at it. August may be a lighter month for us if it keeps up like this and, frankly, we need it, since Sarah and I are staring down a huge lift right after Labour Day: TIFF. She’ll be here in Toronto screening three or four films a day and then turning around reviews and other reporting from the festival, while I’ll be posting non-TIFF coverage on the site every day and working red carpets and doing interviews and premieres and parties for ETALK. For the first five days of TIFF, we barely sleep. Which means we need to bank some rest this month so instead of seven or eight posts a day, we might drop it down to four or five or six, depending on what the headlines are.
But that’s the bonus of The Squawk! This community has given us a place and the option to get in on the discussion with you without having to first write 500 words about it at LaineyGossip. So, once again, thank you for being here.
And a quick programming note about The Squawk for next week – we won’t be doing a Friday mailbag but instead there will be a live chat thread for an hour, exact timing will be posted on Tuesday. We hope you can join us!
Thanks for caring about us and thanks for all that you share in the chats every day, with us and with each other. It keeps us going, in more ways than one!
Keep squawking and keep gossiping,
Lainey and Sarah
I'm going to be 67 at the end of this month. I was bred and born a hillbilly. I'd had 3 miscarriages and 2 live children before I was 20, and I had my tubes tied after the second child because I knew if I didn't, I'd just keep having miscarriages or pumping out kids i could not afford to feed. I was a widow at 23, and the struggle to feed two boys was real, I worked my ass off to keep them fed and clothed and raise them to be decent young men. I have 2 children, 8 grandchildren, 7 of which are young women, and 5 great grandchildren, one of which is my very special girl. Man, woman or child, they should all be able to be exactly who they are and want to be, full stop.
I hate the sewer this country has been dragged down into by a political party. represented by two of the most degenerate sleazebags I've seen in my lifetime, that treats women, people of color, LBGTQ, and anyone who isn't stinking rich like expendable garbage. JD Vance, or whatever he's calling himself today, is a small little man with huge mommy and daddy issues that he's let fester into a toxic stew that he now spews over anyone within earshot. He can go fuck himself. I said what I said.
Could the delay of ARO be as simple as: she wanted to launch in the spring but then her father-in-law and sister-in-law were both diagnosed with cancer so she decided to put a pin in her jams for a while? Obviously there will never be a good time for the Sussexes to do ANYTHING, but medical crises can have a way of reordering priorities