A South Korean media scandal, hockey needs more Zaynes and fewer 'pucks in deep', why critique of 'The Pitt' (and other shows) is fair game and necessary, the TCA/CCA overlap, and Alexa Demie's career
This was a great mailbag. I hadn't heard anything about the Sonny/World Cup/Korean media kerfuffle and this is the kind of pop culture stories I love that Lainey provides. I'm not a huge follower of Asian pop culture so my algorithms don't give me the goods but I love insights into the wild cultural ecosystems that most North Americans are unaware about.
Also, hockey players don't deserve to be recognized in the wild.
Just leaving a comment to say THANK YOU to Lainey, Sarah, and everyone involved with LG and the Squawk for consistently great, well researched, reviews, goss, and opinion reporting. Super long time web reader who finally subscribed and so glad I did. Long time coming - thank you for making my lunch hour reading entertaining for so long <3
The South KoreaMedia/World Cup/BTS breakdown was super interesting!
I can say that in Montreal hockey players are absolutely recognized in the wild and treated like celebrities. To the point that some players would rather not play here due to being recognized and the immense pressure to perform. (and the taxes’ lol) Montreal is a tough hockey market. I once was sat next to Saku Koivu (iykyk) at a bar in the early 2000s. I smiled and tried to give him privacy but I was practically knocked off my bar stool by ppl trying desperately to get his attention. One woman said “if you aren’t gonna try to get his attention maybe you could move” LOL
Montreal is definitely a hockey mad city. I'd say that it stops short of having paps following players around though. There just isn't the kind of demand to see players in their civvies like there is for celebs, or even footballers (soccer players) in Europe. Most hockey fans in Canadian cities will recognize some or most players on their favourite team, but I don't think they're looking at sites for photos of them in the wild.
I, too, am having a hard time of thinking of Sydney Sweeney as a top notch actress. I watched bits and pieces of Euphoria, and I just don't get it. It did not help that everyone was telling me how great she was, maybe that impacted my impression. She sure did get a lot of screentime. Do I think that she and Zendaya don't get along, yes but my reasoning may be different than most. When I read that Hollywood Reporter article about the delays of shooting Euphoria and Zendaya going to HBO to voice her thoughts. What did Sam say, it was because Zendaya wanted to be a movie star, but Sydney was okay with the delays. So I think they pitted them against each other. Now I never thought they close, just work colleagues.
Re: Alexa Demie, I don’t watch Euphoria but I wonder if Alexa is also taking some of her cues from Zendaya’s career as well, not just in being super intentional but also in preserving her own privacy and mystique.
I fully have sports blindness. I travel for work pretty often and my son is still mad about the time I saw the entire Celtics team in a four seasons lobby in Miami and could not tell him which players were there
Lainey – I fully support your theory about hockey players being less recognizable because their faces are hidden under their gear. I actually have two interactions that back this up.
The first was with Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils goalie from the late '90s and early 2000s) and the second was with Sidney Crosby (back in the late 2000s when he was just starting out). I approached both of them in very casual, everyday situations—completely unrelated to media or hockey events. Interestingly, both of them mentioned that only Canadians ever seem to recognize them when they're out of uniform and without a helmet. Even then, they said most Canadians usually just have a vague, "Wait, where do I know you from?" moment. Both players noted that they really appreciate how casual Canadians are when approaching them, and they genuinely enjoy being able to blend into the crowd.
Thank you to Lainey and Jacek for answering my hockey and fame question! What Lainey says makes perfect sense on multiple levels, soccer and basketball players do have their faces front and center in the game and that certainly adds to their celebrity—but also I think the forced conformity required by hockey (which is steeped in whiteness/a certain type of culture coded as white) makes these players more boring on and off the ice. I think of Lainey commenting on the charisma and magnetic nature of certain celebrities in person, but I can’t see most hockey players ever developing that. It’s a real shame, but the old dinosaurs and the culture they promote still holds true, no matter how it hurts the sport overall
Hockey players maybe aren’t treated like celebrities, but absolutely get corporate perks and get laid much easier than the other sport team guys lol. Just say you play hockey, and u will never be short of ahem “puck bunnies.” They are BORING AS A ROCK 🪨 though.. ALTHOUGH Matthew Tkachuk and Leon Draisaitl can be hilarious. Leon’s grumpy /smartass commentary cracks me up. Specially the KFC joke about his hat😂 Reporters were just like uhhhh. 😂😳
This was a great mailbag. I hadn't heard anything about the Sonny/World Cup/Korean media kerfuffle and this is the kind of pop culture stories I love that Lainey provides. I'm not a huge follower of Asian pop culture so my algorithms don't give me the goods but I love insights into the wild cultural ecosystems that most North Americans are unaware about.
Also, hockey players don't deserve to be recognized in the wild.
Just leaving a comment to say THANK YOU to Lainey, Sarah, and everyone involved with LG and the Squawk for consistently great, well researched, reviews, goss, and opinion reporting. Super long time web reader who finally subscribed and so glad I did. Long time coming - thank you for making my lunch hour reading entertaining for so long <3
The South KoreaMedia/World Cup/BTS breakdown was super interesting!
I can say that in Montreal hockey players are absolutely recognized in the wild and treated like celebrities. To the point that some players would rather not play here due to being recognized and the immense pressure to perform. (and the taxes’ lol) Montreal is a tough hockey market. I once was sat next to Saku Koivu (iykyk) at a bar in the early 2000s. I smiled and tried to give him privacy but I was practically knocked off my bar stool by ppl trying desperately to get his attention. One woman said “if you aren’t gonna try to get his attention maybe you could move” LOL
Montreal is definitely a hockey mad city. I'd say that it stops short of having paps following players around though. There just isn't the kind of demand to see players in their civvies like there is for celebs, or even footballers (soccer players) in Europe. Most hockey fans in Canadian cities will recognize some or most players on their favourite team, but I don't think they're looking at sites for photos of them in the wild.
I, too, am having a hard time of thinking of Sydney Sweeney as a top notch actress. I watched bits and pieces of Euphoria, and I just don't get it. It did not help that everyone was telling me how great she was, maybe that impacted my impression. She sure did get a lot of screentime. Do I think that she and Zendaya don't get along, yes but my reasoning may be different than most. When I read that Hollywood Reporter article about the delays of shooting Euphoria and Zendaya going to HBO to voice her thoughts. What did Sam say, it was because Zendaya wanted to be a movie star, but Sydney was okay with the delays. So I think they pitted them against each other. Now I never thought they close, just work colleagues.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, as always!
Re: Alexa Demie, I don’t watch Euphoria but I wonder if Alexa is also taking some of her cues from Zendaya’s career as well, not just in being super intentional but also in preserving her own privacy and mystique.
I fully have sports blindness. I travel for work pretty often and my son is still mad about the time I saw the entire Celtics team in a four seasons lobby in Miami and could not tell him which players were there
Lainey – I fully support your theory about hockey players being less recognizable because their faces are hidden under their gear. I actually have two interactions that back this up.
The first was with Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils goalie from the late '90s and early 2000s) and the second was with Sidney Crosby (back in the late 2000s when he was just starting out). I approached both of them in very casual, everyday situations—completely unrelated to media or hockey events. Interestingly, both of them mentioned that only Canadians ever seem to recognize them when they're out of uniform and without a helmet. Even then, they said most Canadians usually just have a vague, "Wait, where do I know you from?" moment. Both players noted that they really appreciate how casual Canadians are when approaching them, and they genuinely enjoy being able to blend into the crowd.
Thank you to Lainey and Jacek for answering my hockey and fame question! What Lainey says makes perfect sense on multiple levels, soccer and basketball players do have their faces front and center in the game and that certainly adds to their celebrity—but also I think the forced conformity required by hockey (which is steeped in whiteness/a certain type of culture coded as white) makes these players more boring on and off the ice. I think of Lainey commenting on the charisma and magnetic nature of certain celebrities in person, but I can’t see most hockey players ever developing that. It’s a real shame, but the old dinosaurs and the culture they promote still holds true, no matter how it hurts the sport overall
Also interesting that Montreal sounds like it’s an especially intense hockey market, that makes a lot of sense and lines up with what I’ve heard.
But majority are boring as a rock. Even when they are drinking💀🙄
Hockey players maybe aren’t treated like celebrities, but absolutely get corporate perks and get laid much easier than the other sport team guys lol. Just say you play hockey, and u will never be short of ahem “puck bunnies.” They are BORING AS A ROCK 🪨 though.. ALTHOUGH Matthew Tkachuk and Leon Draisaitl can be hilarious. Leon’s grumpy /smartass commentary cracks me up. Specially the KFC joke about his hat😂 Reporters were just like uhhhh. 😂😳