Mailbag for January 5, 2024
Dear Squawkers,
Did you see all that reporting about Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny spending New Year’s together? Kendall’s been sharing shots of herself on holiday with a group of friends, including the Biebers. She and Benito still have mutual friends, and one of them posted an IG story where you could hear Benito’s voice saying “Feliz Año Nuevo” in the background. So they were in the same place at the same time and while that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve reconciled… well… NYE with someone you just broke up with? As Cardi B said a few days ago, there’s a lot of dicking down that goes down on NYE. It’s a high probability.
I’m not here to talk about that though. I’m here to talk about the coverage – because it was TMZ with the exclusive, citing sources who confirmed that Benito and Kendall were indeed hanging out on NYE but that it was “nothing romantic”…yet. But where?
According to TMZ, the Biebers, Benito, and Kendall were “vacationing together near Barbados”. Translation: they know exactly where they all were but didn’t want to name the island. Which tells you it’s an inside job. And perhaps a request from the insider (thanks, Kris) not to name the island because … let’s get into that.
The island is Mustique. I’ve spoken to three different people who were also in Mustique during the holidays. Mustique is hard to get to. You can’t just book a hotel in Mustique and get a flight. Mustique is exclusive. You need to be vetted to go to Mustique. The people who have property in Mustique are super wealthy and, generally, super, super private. And for the most part, they keep it that way. My friends are not super wealthy, but they happen to know some super wealthy people which is the only way that poors like us can get to Mustique – by invitation, and even then the island apparently scans your socials and does background checks to make sure you’re not paparazzi. Because the island is so small and so protected, the elites are able to move around pretty freely. And by freely, I mean William and Kate, after they had their kids, were on family holiday in Mustique and I know someone who actually ended up swimming next to them, this is how unguarded VIPs are able to be on that island.
So to go back to Kendall and Benito, obviously someone in the Kardashian-Jenner camp wants us to know that they were together on NYE through TMZ. And you know, if TMZ wanted to, they could have gotten way more specific with the location. But if they did, and they named Mustique, then the other VIPs in Mustique would be side-eying Kendall and Benito for blowing up their spot. That’s my theory because unlike almost anywhere else in the world, Mustique doesn’t need Kendall or any of the Kardashians. Their whole shit is undercover, maybe one the few remaining places for people who don’t want publicity and don’t want to be a heatscore which, obviously, is antithetical to the Kardashian worldview.
Now before we get to your questions, some fun housekeeping items! It’s the Golden Globes this weekend followed immediately by the Critics Choice Awards on Monday. Which means we’ll be busy with content for LaineyGossip and while we won’t do regular Tuesday newsletter next week, we are doing a paid-subscriber-only LIVE CHAT of the Golden Globes on The Squawk on Sunday night – and it’ll be me, Sarah, and Duana! Let’s watch and chat together? The thread will go live half an hour before the show, and we would love for you to join us!
Time for your questions and the first mailbag of the year!
Question from Daniela: Do you guys have any info about Jolie and Akala? They have been seen together a few times, do you think it could be legit?
Lainey’s Answer:
I don’t think anyone has any answers, although I’m sure everyone is asking around. The fact that no outlets, not PEOPLE, not TMZ, not Page Six etc, have been able to give more insight tells you that whatever it is, or isn’t, is locked down pretty tight. Not unlike Angelina and the Abel Tesfaye formerly known as The Weeknd. I’m actually surprised that one of the tabloids hasn’t made up a story about Angelina and Akala yet.
So the only thing we have is what’s already out there: that they were first connected last May at the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica where Akala was supposedly touring Angelina, with Zahara and Shiloh, through the event. Then at the end of November, Akala popped up in Milan where Angelina was shooting Maria and joined her for dinner with her colleagues on the film.
All we can do, then, is speculate. What does it mean that she took him to what was essentially a work function? There are multiple ways to read this and at this point, no one can say for sure whether your take is better than mine or vice versa.
Good match? Excellent match. If this is actually romantic, I’m hot for it, I love it for her. Akala is smart and informed, actively engaged in social justice, their values (at least on paper since we don’t really know either of them) seem to be in alignment, and he’s sexy as fuck. While we’re here though…
Can you even imagine how hard dating must be for her, even without all the Brad Pitt baggage? But then when you layer that shit on top of the fuckery that Brad has been throwing at her, and how vindictive he’s said to be (via court filings) in their ongoing property and financial disputes, I’m thinking she’s probably quite reticent to reveal anything personal in the public domain. She has spoken many times about the healing process – likely from all that gaslighting and the harm that she and the children have experienced.
Kelly Clarkson is on the cover of this week’s PEOPLE and she talks about how it’s been a “really rough few years” and she’s only, just now, after FIVE seasons of her talk show, been able to enjoy it. Divorce is SO hard for a lot of people. And it was obviously profoundly difficult for Angelina given how her marriage ended. Some people, sure, they bounce back quickly. Angelina was the bad girl at the start of her career. She was Lara Croft, she was Evelyn Salt – the culture assigned her a tough personality and we assumed that her edges prevented her from sustaining deep emotional wounds. The celebrity image that she in part cultivated and that we in larger part exaggerated ended up, in many ways, depriving her of the sympathy that may have been extended to other women.
She, then, would be more acutely aware than anyone else how complicated it would be for her, especially for her, to start dating. MUCH more complicated than it is for her ex. So while he’s out making sure we know all about him and his younger girlfriend, if Angelina really does have a boyfriend, I feel like for her the approach would be the exact opposite.
Question from CaitlinL: I wonder if Sarah could give us a career prospectus on Tatiana Maslany! She is from my hometown (Regina) so I am particularly invested. If she could land White Lotus S3...😎🚀
Sarah’s answer:
Whew, the career prospectuses—prospectii?—take a lot of work. But…yeah…I can probably bring it back as a feature here on The Squawk. Not right now, as the next couple weeks are insane with awards shows, but once we get through this, I’ll go back to the drawing board with Tatiana Maslany for the return of the career prospectus. Although, if we’re talking talented Canucks…what about Sarah Gadon? She is SO talented and yet…isn’t one of the biggest stars on the planet? I might have to look into her, too. But, yes, the career prospectuses will come back at some point. They just take a while to put together.
Question from Kathryn Ferguson: I’m hoping this doesn’t fall into sad gossip territory; however, I’m concerned how Celine Dion is doing? There have been a lot of click-bait posts surfacing, but they seem exploitative (which has me side-eyeing the sources). Has there been any reputable updates on our Canadian siren of FEELINGS? Like Lainey, I adore Celine. I’m pulling for her with everything I’ve got. (I imagine Celine might enjoy the TNT development, too. Just thinking about this makes me smile.) Sometimes, gossip can be healing.
Lainey’s Answer:
If Celine is following along with TNT, and it’s a fun distraction that’s making her happy, that’s all that matters. We want the Queen of All Feelings to be healthy and happy.
As for all those click-bait posts… they are definitely click-baity which is how it works now with everything, non? Things are distorted, exaggerated, liberally interpreted, and in this case, with the most recent headlines, it was basically a non-update that became a BREAKING NEWS STORY.
Celine’s older sister, Claudette, manages their family charity, Fondation Maman Dion, which means she has a front-facing job. Ahead of the holidays, she did an interview with a Quebec publication, 7 Jours. The interview wasn’t about Celine. This happened before Christmas, when charitable organisations push for donations. So the discussion was largely focused on the work of Fondation Maman Dion (https://fondationmamandion.org/), which helps underprivileged children in Quebec, and Claudette’s own career as a performer.
Celine came up briefly, and all Claudette said was that she’s working hard but that she has no control over her muscles which, again, isn’t new since that’s the definition of her medical condition. Claudette went on to say that they’re all so grateful with how much the public cares about Celine and how unfortunate it is that there’s been not that much research into Stiff Person Syndrome because it’s so rare which, again, this is facts and nothing new.
But then what happened is that other media outlets just isolated that small part of the conversation and amplified it and turned it into an “update”, making it sound like Claudette called a press conference or something to broadcast that Celine’s condition had deteriorated. When you actually read the interview, that’s not what it is at all.
Admittedly, I too, when I saw some of those headlines, was wondering if Claudette was sus. The fucking Daily Mail, for example, was presenting it like Claudette was out here, a French Canadian Samantha Markle, with a megaphone ready and willing to sell out her sister. So I had to go searching for the original article…and wouldn’t you know, it was an entirely different picture.
The point of the story? We could all use more media hygiene.
Question from Margaret: Who are the voters for the Golden Globes now that the HFPA has lost control? I see references to 300 voters but who are they?
Sarah’s answer:
So, they did release the list of 300 voters, which you can find here. It is a solidly global group, which is what the HFPA purported to be, but no one could ever verify. The new membership board of directors is listed here, several of the members were in the old HFPA and migrated to the new Golden Globes organization after it all came under the Penske Media brand. There is finally some transparency about who is voting for the Globes, which was a huge problem with the HFPA. I’m still not really clear on the criteria for this—when I applied to the Critics Choice Association, for instance, there was a standard for how long I had been a published critic, Lainey had to vouch for me as an editor hiring me for my expertise, and a board of my peers judged samples of my work to decide if I was up to snuff. It’s still not clear what qualifies one to vote for the Golden Globes, beyond generally working in international entertainment journalism.
More importantly, though, I’d love to know what their ethics policy is. THAT was the final nail in the coffin of the HFPA, their pay-for-play method of nominating/awarding stuff based on who was flying them to Paris for a weekend getaway. Publishing the membership directory is an important step toward transparency after the years of scandals regarding the HFPA, but publishing the ethics policy would be a big step, too.
Question from Kathryn L-B: The NYT article about the Eanes brothers. I haven’t seen it covered it yet, but SUCH good SHOW YOUR WORK stuff there!
Lainey’s Answer:
You’re referring to this profile in the New York Times of André and Aaron Eanes who are Travis Kelce’s co-managers and have been working with him since they were all in university. And you are right – this is great Show Your Work material, and not really about Travis but about Team Travis overall and the strategy that’s been in place in building his career outside of football well before he became Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. The goal is to set up opportunities for Travis beyond and after the NFL, opportunities that might include acting and broadcasting and more unique brand partnerships and also the podcast, New Heights, of course.
Did you know that New Heights is sold out through 2024? Word on the pod streets is that you can’t even pay to get on New Heights. There are no more advertising slots on that pod for at least the next 12 months.
But right now, I’m more interested in André and Aaron because this is such a great collective come-up. The Eaneses believed in Travis first, pitched him on their vision, and on the strength of their collaboration, this is where they’ve all arrived at, together. Travis is arguably the most high-profile player in the league, currently, and André and Aaron are now getting shine from the NYT which, undoubtedly, will attract more clients to their management company.
What’s especially exciting about this arrangement is that it used to be white men profiting from other white men and Black talent. Representation, across all fields, was a white man’s job. But Travis is working with two Black executives, and now they’re all making big money. But this is relatively new. Black people, and other people of colour, were up until only recently shut out of the C-suites. Black artists and athletes didn’t have people who looked like them advocating for them. But that, too, is a complicated situation because the few Black managers and agents who did manage to break through were only thought to be effective with Black clients. People like André and Aaron are changing that narrative, adding to the tracks that were laid before them by leaders like Rich Paul.
Rich Paul and LeBron James met when LeBron was still playing high school ball, before he was drafted, but already hyped to be the NBA’s next best thing. LeBron was impressed by Rich’s ideas about innovating sports management and so Rich became part of LeBron’s inner circle and started repping him AT THE START OF HIS CAREER. Along with two of Bron’s other childhood friends, the four of them worked together to build LeBron’s empire and their own empires.
Rich is now known as one of the most successful and powerful agents in the business, reportedly managing $1.4 billion worth of contracts over the last decade or so. And he started as a fucking outlier! He went from selling jerseys out of the trunk of his car to having a direct hand in the overwhelming success of one of the greatest basketball players of all time, a proper legend, and owning his own agency. If you want to know more, read his memoir Lucky Me which came out last year.
LeBron was 18 when he and Rich met and started working together. Rich was just a couple of years older, around 20/21. Though inexperienced, they imagined something different. They didn’t want to follow the same path, in a system that wouldn’t necessarily serve them to their full potential. So they built a new model. And that model brings us to this moment with André and Aaron Eanes, also outliers with a bigger plan, and realising it with a white athlete.
Rich and the Eaneses and others like them, they are disruptors, challenging the status quo, and forcing the people who have tried to maintain it to think and work differently.
And that wraps up our first mailbag of 2024. Which means The Squawk made it to a new year! THANK YOU for supporting us! Thank you for talking to us here, and for talking to each other here.
Finally, a quick reminder about the Golden Globes live chat on Sunday night. Come here and watch with us!
Keep squawking, keep gossiping,
Lainey and Sarah
Building on the Eanes Brothers conversation, I just learned that Jalen Hurts (the QB for the Eagles) has an all-female team managing his career, and he’s making a point with it.
Love to see it!
Thanks for answering Sarah! I didn't mean to add to your plate during a busy time 🤪🫣. Excited for Sunday!