Mailbag for June 12, 2026
Who doesn’t love Mariska Hargitay (?), how I made JLo laugh, do celebs get to request cuts from interviews, will 'Is God Is" get some awards love (?), and Lainey's take on Serena's comeback
Dear Squawkers,
How do you measure popularity? In Korea, the Korean Business Research Institute releases monthly lists that literally rank idols and celebrities, like the Billboard charts, on how well their music and/or dramas and/or tours are performing and how much people like them. Over in China, there’s a heat index for television series, kinda sorta like the ratings system that exists in the west…but they’re not just tracking viewership, they’re tracking social media participation and mentions, and this results sometimes in in-fighting between fandoms that can get pretty intense.
There’s no real equivalent, like an actual published list for individual celebrity popularity for western stars but if there was, Mariska Hargitay might be ranked higher than she ever has been before. Even though she was seated next to Taylor Swift at game four of the NBA Finals in New York on Wednesday night to watch the Knicks pull off that improbable come-from-behind win, and Taylor often dominates the boards whenever she shows up anywhere, a lot of people are talking about Mariska Hargitay, loving on Mariska Hargitay, not only for her devotion to her basketball team but for the way she demonstrated her devotion on Wednesday night. On my timeline there are as many, if not more, videos of Mariska’s reaction during and after the game than there are of Taylor Swift. Here’s an example – this one’s been viewed over a million times, and it should tell you her status with the Knicks. She’s basically running around the court like it’s her backyard, heading straight for OG Anunoby…
… and also Rick Brunson.
Mariska revealed to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday how she was able to make it from the Hudson Theater, where she was performing in Every Brilliant Thing, over to Madison Square Garden in time for the second half. Every Brilliant Thing is a one-person show and it’s her Broadway debut; she took over in late May in the production from Daniel Radcliffe. On top of that, as is standard Broadway schedule, where there are two shows on Wednesdays (matinee and evening), she was doubling down, literally. Let’s just recap that: two shows, in a show where it’s ONLY her – like, she’s not relying on someone else’s monologue to get a breather, and after all that, she still had all her gears going at the game, which ended at almost midnight. In her words, here’s how she did it:
“I took four minutes off the running time of my show, and I knew the traffic would be crazy, so I sprinted from the Hudson Theater on 44th and 6th to MSG,” Hargitay writes in a statement to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’. “But I knew everything was going to be alright, because I was wearing my Jalen Brunson Kobe 5 Protos that Jalen gave me a few months ago. But I’m not gonna lie, the ten block sprint after a 2-show day was no joke.”
She went onto say in her statement that:
“I love my husband, and our wedding night was great and all, but I think it might have been the greatest night of my life. The game was so brutal, down 29 at the half, but I’m telling you, to watch this team fight and claw their way back — to see that look in Jalen’s eyes — there are just endless life lessons in there. And then OG comes flying in, his orange and blue cape fluttering behind him, and then it’s just pandemonium. It‘ll get replayed again and again, not just as an epic moment in basketball, but on the highlight reel of the best moments in sports. And all I could think was “THAT JUST HAPPENED!!!” And “OH MY GOD, I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!” And “OH MY GOD, I LOVE THIS CITY!!!”
As we all know, the city loves her. Almost everyone loves her. Who doesn’t love Mariska Hargitay? There are very few celebrities who are as UN-polarising as Mariska Hargitay…but… (don’t worry, I’m not about to shit on Mariska Hargitay, are you crazy, I’m not that stupid)…
But to go back to that heat index, and celebrity rankings, if we have to, let’s admit that in pop culture, in terms of status, and hierarchy, using the common vocabulary of this ecosystem, Mariska wouldn’t be top of mind if you were to do a poll of “A-list” stars. And the point I’m coming to is that…well…this is our bad, and maybe after these last few weeks, we should take Jalen Brunson’s lead. Because in his mind, and by his actions, she is the #1 star, the ONLY “A-list” star. As Ben Stiller said, she is the only star he really acknowledges. It’s not like she doesn’t have the credentials, so why aren’t we (and by “we” I mean pop culture) more impressed by them?
Mariska Hargitay is currently the highest-paid actor in television, with an estimated per episode fee of $750,000 which includes acting and producing. She also gets a back-end cut from residuals. Law & Order: SVU is on alllllll the time. And it’s been on for 27 seasons; it’ll be 28 seasons in the fall. She’s been there from the beginning. Almost every season is OVER 20 EPISODES (with the exception of a couple due to COVID and strikes). This is not like the shows we know on streaming with a max of ten episodes and sometimes as many as three years between seasons. She is a gangster for how hard she works and how consistently she works – and it’s the kind of work we don’t see anymore in the industry.
One role? For 27 seasons? ONE ROLE? That schedule doesn’t really allow her a whole lot of time to do much else. She’s on Broadway for the first time during hiatus, and once in a while she shows up in a music video or a commercial. But, really and truly, she is Olivia Benson. Ellen Pompeo couldn’t even outlast her on Grey’s Anatomy.
And, again, this is rare. Rare that unlike sooooo many other actors she hasn’t gotten bored of it. And isn’t lured down that path of temptation to go to film or to seek whatever it is that others define to be more “prestigious”. Whatever it is that is allegedly more “prestigious”, I promise you it’s not more challenging than what she’s bringing to her show, for 27 straight seasons, as the same character, and also producing. It is, however, very very smart. She’s the most powerful person on that call-sheet and she is fucking ubiquitous. In the United States and Canada, you probably can’t go six hours without finding her on some channel somewhere. Jalen Brunson is obsessed with her because he grew up watching her with his family, with his grandparents and parents. So, ultimately, in the fame game, isn’t that what they all want? Isn’t that the mark you want to leave behind? To be a generational star in the sense that every generation of a family knows you? Jalen Brunson is right. Mariska Hargitay is A-list.
Also no one was surprised the day after game four that she showed up for work and somehow worked the Knicks into it.
Now to the mail…
Question from Charlotte:
Can we get the play-by-play of how you made JLo laugh?
Lainey’s Answer:
I was assigned a couple of weeks ago to the Office Romance junket (it was virtual for ETALK) and while I wasn’t super concerned about Brett Goldstein’s vibe, I was a bit worried about Jennifer Lopez. Because it’s more challenging in a virtual interview. And also, it was early in the day, and I was early in the first group of the day – sometimes in a virtual setting when you’re getting celebrities at 10am, when they haven’t warmed up yet, they can be flat. I’ve interviewed JLo enough times by now to know that she works better in the same room, when you can kinda bounce some energy off of her, she’s too much of a professional not to respond and return it. But it’s harder to achieve when you’re doing it over Zoom.
In our planning sessions, then, my producer Elise and I really strategised on the order of questions and also the tone of the questions. Our goal was to keep the questions connected to the spirit of the movie, of course, but also try and get a little silliness out of the two of them. So, we started off with a question about rom-coms and their value and then I asked Brett to basically assess himself against the other actors in the JLo rom-com Hall of Fame, since he’s the latest member. But the question was worded with all kinds of penis innuendo because, spoiler alert…
His character in the movie pops a boner while shaking her hand after a good day at work. So, after a few other dick euphemisms, I ended the question on how he “rose” to the occasion. Which he picked up on right away, and giggled knowingly, which then set up the next question that made JLo laugh, like she actually threw her head back and laughed. This video has been slightly edited – the question was about manifestation because she’s really big into it, so what’s been cut out of this post is me talking about her powers of manifestation before I drop in with the kicker (tap this link or the image below to see the Reel):
Elise and I workshopped that question for a while. Basically, we wanted to know if, since he’s already manifested himself into a movie with JLo, whether or not Brett could also be in one of her music videos. But simply saying, “Hey Brett, how badly do you want to be in one of JLo’s videos?” isn’t going to get the same reaction. So, the key to the question, which Elise and I eventually landed on, was the phrase “video vixen”. It’s an evocative expression – everyone knows what a video vixen looks like the moment you hear the words. But if you’re using the words “video vixen” in relation to Brett Goldstein, it’s a whole other visual. And that’s what JLo’s brain was processing when I asked the question, resulting in the laugh. From both of them. Because then they started picturing him as a video vixen – and then I kinda just stepped back and let the two of them freeball on his video vixen potential. They went on for a bit there, so I actually ran out of time for another question that Elise and I really, really wanted to get to so it’s too bad that it’s still sitting in the chamber waiting for its time.
The idea came up when we were noodling with the whole narrative that Brett is JLo’s biggest fan and has a PhD in all her movies – but we didn’t want to just repeat that because we thought probably everyone would have asked them about it. During our brainstorm we were like, OK so he’s seen all her movies, but does he know her music? And at the same time, we were talking about how viral “On the Floor” has been lately, and every few minutes we’d just break out singing to each other…
“La la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Tonight we gon’ be it on the floor”
Then one of us wondered – do you think he knows the lyrics beyond that?
That’s when it came to us, we just needed to figure out how to get there. I practised the shit out of the timing for this question, thinking back on it now, I’m actually kinda pissed that there wasn’t enough time to get to it because I think it would have been funny. This was the set-up:
“Brett, like all JLovers (the name of her fans), you already know that Jennifer is our rom-com queen and…our queen deserves a king who is worthy of her. We would like you to prove your worth. Are you ready?
Brazil, Morocco, London to … (said in monotone)”
If he couldn’t fill in the blank, the plan was for me to start shouting it:
“BRAZIL, MOROCCO, LONDON TO … !!!!”
It was a way to kill two birds with one stone: address the surge in popularity of the song but also involve Brett and set up a situation where no matter what happened, there would be the potential of something funny happening. Either he wouldn’t know, at which point we could tease him, or JLo would speak to her excitement about “On the Floor” hitting so hard after all these years, or Brett would turn into a fangirl and start singing the song.
Ted Lasso season four is coming out soon. Maybe if I’m on that junket, I can pull this one out of the vault.
Question from Emma:
I was just watching the Bryan Cranston and Rhea Seehorn Actors on Actors interview, and between the 5:00-6:00 minute mark Rhea is clearly uncomfortable answering Bryan’s question about how long Pluribus takes to shoot. She ends up saying (to someone off camera) “actually I do want that cut” and seems quite serious about it. Obviously, it wasn’t cut so I was wondering how much sway the actors have in that kind of scenario. My assumption was that she must have ended up being happy with keeping in that question/answer, but would the actor typically get a say/sign-off on the final cut for something like this? Or is it more a case of once the cameras are rolling, you’re on record, like it or not?
Lainey’s Answer:
So, the moment that is being referred to here in the Variety Actors on Actors between Bryan Cranston and Rhea Seehorn is related to how Vince Gilligan runs his sets and specifically the shooting schedule, which both of them would be super familiar with on Breaking Bad and Pluribus. Bryan asks Rhea about the length of the Pluribus shoot – she says it was ten or eleven months, which is long. You can watch below, starting at the 5 minute mark:
Here’s why she might have been nervous about saying that on camera. Pluribus season one is nine episodes. Ten to eleven months for nine episodes is atypical. In television, the typical shoot time per episode is eight days. (Duana taught me all of this, I’m nerdy about the logistics inside baseball of television production.) Ten to eleven months for nine episodes is way more than eight days per episode. If they were shooting five days a week, that works out to around-ish 20 days per episode – a lot more than industry standard. That said, in the age of premium television, and Pluribus is very premium, those “standards” can and do change.
As you can see from Bryan’s reaction, though, and he’s not exactly a rookie, ten to eleven months is a lot. So, I suspect that her nervousness was not wanting to give the impression that Vince Gilligan is irresponsible with time and, more importantly, resources. Especially not now. Sarah has written a lot at LaineyGossip and here at The Squawk about shrinking budgets and Hollywood cost saving, often at the expense of quality. And, honestly, there are directors and showrunners who…let’s say…lack restraint, maybe even vision, wasting time and money without a clear idea of what they’re looking for. (Ahem, Sam Levinson.) Vince Gilligan doesn’t have that reputation.
Pluribus is expensive and evidently extensive, but not wasteful – you can see the quality on the screen and in the scripting. Rhea may have been worried that her words, perhaps, might be misconstrued and/or manipulated for nefarious purposes. It could be that she was protecting Vince’s right to work how he needs to work to get the kind of show that he can deliver. Or it could be that she was wary of other people in the business being all like, what? Vince gets that much patience and time and funding when I had to bring my show in in just four months? Not unlike any other workplace or industry, really, when people feel resentful and perceive that others have more benefits than they do. And Hollywood in particular is full of jealous vipers.
As for final sign-off and whether or not she could actually demand that they cut that part from the segment…
If it’s hard news, or what’s left of it, like an interview with 60 Minutes (they do celebrity interviews from time to time), or what it used to be, or 20/20, or similar, it is very offside to make that kind of request. You can try, but there’s no guarantee, and it wouldn’t be a good look. At least not in the past. We’ve been seeing it play out in real time how politicians are pressuring journalists to abandon journalistic principles in their reporting and their coverage which is actually what’s been happening for decades in celebrity reporting.
Celebrities have no problem telling entertainment outlets what they can and cannot ask. They have no problem requesting that a portion of the interview not be aired, to cut out an answer. I know of situations where they’ve even asked for glamour changes, like vocal adjustments and tuning when it’s a performance. Even filtering and tweaking if it’s about the appearance. This is why so many people love Tiny Desk, because Tiny Desk is super strict about live performance and does not allow artists to remix or adjust after the fact. What we’re seeing once the performances go live on Tiny Desk’s YouTube is how it was when it happened.
To go back to Variety, and whether or not they would honour a request from a celebrity to take out a certain portion of the conversation – they’re probably less accommodating than, say, PEOPLE Magazine. But Variety is still in the business of celebrity transactions, and they do need to work with celebrities and their teams for coverage and access. So, if Rhea’s team pushed hard enough, in my opinion, they probably would have found a way to make it work without that part.
Question from Cherie:
I watched Is God Is over the weekend and I’m still not over it. The acting was incredible, especially from Broadway legend Kara Young and Sterling K. Brown. I’m astounded that this is the directorial debut for Aleshea Harris. I think I know the answer, but are the odds slim that this film will get some awards love?
Sarah’s answer:
For reference, here is the trailer for Is God Is, a mystery/thriller—kind of western?—written and directed by award-winning playwright Aleshea Harris.
As a play, Is God Is won the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award, and as a film it is Harris’s feature film debut as a writer/director. Harris is also a Pulitzer finalist, so she has serious bona fides as a playwright coming into cinema. While Is God Is is a smaller film, it is backed by Amazon MGM, though it is exactly the kind of film that can easily get lost in the awards season shuffle. It has been received very well by critics and audiences, but that audience is, admittedly, small. Added to that is Amazon MGM’s inconsistent award season campaigning. I don’t immediately count on them to back a film like this, especially this year when they will already be throwing significant resources into Project Hail Mary.
However, Is God Is is also the kind of film that might appear on the trophy trail seemingly out of nowhere just by landing one or two early “indicator” prizes. Think a Gotham Awards nomination/win, or a spot on the National Board of Review’s top 10 for the year. It is entirely too early to tell if this can happen for Is God Is and/or Aleshea Harris, but this is definitely a title to remember for later this year. Also, Is God Is is now available on VOD if you want to check it out for yourself.
Question from Margaret:
I was surprised, and a bit disappointed, to see Serena Williams coming back to tennis after four years. Do you know why or what happened? She’s the GOAT and I fear this will somehow sully her reputation. Has she struggled with her post-tennis life?
Lainey’s Answer:
Sarah addressed this question in last week’s mailbag but I wanted to come back to this because Serena played her first match at Queen’s Club this week, with doubles partner Victoria Mboko, and won, although they did not advance because Victoria sustained an injury in her singles match on Wednesday and withdrew from the tournament.
Serena’s serve was still impressive, though questions remain about how well she can actually move around the court since mobility is not as tested in doubles play. So far then, and I know it’s only been one outing, her reputation has not been sullied.
But there is something to consider when we’re talking about how Serena has experienced retirement and whether not there’s more nuance to her unretirement in comparison to other GOATs, like Tom Brady. And it has everything to do with being a woman.
Serena won her 23rd and final (so far) grand slam, the Australian Open, in January 2017 while she was pregnant with her first child, Olympia. At 36 years old, she was playing well enough to win. So, presumably, she would have been competitive for the rest of the 2017 season had she not taken time off to grow and then give birth to her child – which, obviously, was the priority.
Male athletes don’t have to pause their careers when they are still the best in the sport to start a family. But female athletes must make this choice all the time, often when they are at the height of their abilities. And male athletes are often still playing when their children are old enough to see them on the pitch or the field or the fairway or the rink. So maybe that can be another possible answer to Margaret’s question, “…Serena Williams coming back to tennis after four years. Do you know why or what happened?
It could be that she wants her children to be able to see her holding court and holding serve, doing the thing that made her a legend.
Thanks as always for making the Squawk community so much fun and so insightful!
HAPPY FESTA to those who celebrate. Borahae!
Keep squawking and keep gossiping,
Lainey and Sarah
I love all these logistics that you give us, it baffles me that I just assumed the questions asked in interviews would be off the cuff, but obviously, these would be deeply considered prior to the actual interview. I feel deeply stupid but grateful to be educated 😂
This is so timely because I just asked my 22 yo coworker what her favorite show is and loved that she said SVU. I was also obsessed with SVU and Olivia Benson when I was in my 20s (I'm 50 now). Nothing better than an SVU marathon with your roommate on a Sunday afternoon when you're hung over...Mariska forever!