Mailbag for May 8, 2026
Is Paul Anthony Kelly a red flag, anticipated Blockbusters and Hailey Bieber's visibility, Sarah's campaign to rescue Hera, on learning to interview, and my post-Met lace top/bodysuit
Dear Squawkers,
The Emmy Awards are still four months away but voting on the nominations starts in just over a month, followed by the announcement of the nominations on July 8, so this is definitely Emmy season.
One of the shows that’s been very visible on the campaign circuit lately is Love Story: John F Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette. Three of its stars were at the Met Gala on Monday night: Sarah Pidgeon, Naomi Watts, and Paul Anthony Kelly. So the Met Gala has become, for those who can manage an invitation, a stop on the Emmys campaign circuit. Constance Zimmer should have been there, too, because in my opinion both she and Sarah Pidgeon give the best performances in an otherwise medium-to-not-good series.
Entertainment Weekly published an early Emmys nomination prediction list this week and, according to their current rankings, all four of the aforementioned actors from Love Story will hear their names called. For Paul Anthony Kelly, this would be enough of a win since it’s literally his first acting role. That’s not the only reason he went a bit viral though. There was some controversy over his appearance at the Met Gala – it’s the way he answered this question about Beyoncé.
Some people online connected Paul’s tone and body language to a recent comment that Zendaya made when she was promoting The Drama. Z and Robert Pattinson were playing a game about wedding red flags. It’s not just about not knowing any Beyoncé songs, as Z elaborated, it’s about “going out of their way” to underrate Beyoncé.
She specifically says here that, you don’t have to know Beyoncé’s music, it’s about making a point to be, like, “I don’t know Beyoncé”.
Since I’m in the mood to get a little messy, my question to you is…
Based on Zendaya’s definition of red flag behaviour to do with Beyoncé, and people who go out their way to advertise their incorrect opinion that Beyoncé is too hyped, using those parameters that Zendaya just laid out…
It’s really not that serious. Please let’s not get too heated in the comments, LOL.
Now to your questions…
Question from Patty:
2 questions. 1. There are what appear to be blockbuster movies coming out this summer, which ones are you looking forward to? 2, I see Hailey Bieber at what seems like SO many events, does playing the Hollywood Circuit have as much pay off as it may have had several years ago? Some people seem to be everywhere , and others not so much. I assume the ones that don’t attend every event don’t really need to. Just like there are certain restaurants that are where people go to be seen. Or is everything reversed where events invite certain people, so that their event gets more publicity?
Lainey’s Answer:
The blockbuster summer movies I’m most looking forward to are the two most obvious ones, I guess I’m a basic bitch: The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I was devastated at the end of No Way Home when Peter was basically forgotten by everyone he loves. I need to know if he can rebuild those relationships! Also…the Zendaya and Tom Holland press tour, because they’re going back-to-back with each other with The Odyssey first and then Brand New Day.
As for The Odyssey, I took Greek mythology in university, so this movie lines up with all my shit. The discourse about the accents this week is sending me – and I’m not mad at it, nobody needs three hours of listening to Matt Damon speak in an English accent. Three hours? This is a Christopher Nolan movie based on The Odyssey, there is no way he’s bringing this in at two hours, no fucking way.
The press tour will be bloated, the movie will be long, the debates will be exhausting, and I’m here FOR ALL OF IT. Months and months and months of it. Because get ready for the Oscar campaign. This film will contend, it’s just a matter of how many categories it will contend in, and which actors will be categorised where. There are some people who are saying that Anne Hathaway might be going for her second Oscar, and wouldn’t that be some kind of cherry on top of her big year, with five movies coming out in six months. We can talk more about this later, no need to get a head start on something that will be interminable through the back half of 2026.
To your second question and celebrities going to so many events. Does Hailey Bieber go to a lot of events? I don’t really think of her that way, but I do agree that she’s visible – pap photos and promotional appearances for her beauty brand. And that’s what a lot of her appearances are for: Rhode is almost a year into its billion-dollar acquisition and she’s driving so much of the demand. This is the influencer-founder life. This is the influencer-to-founder pathway. You start by influencing, which means constant exposure, constant sharing, in the hopes that whatever product you develop will have an audience that becomes a consumer base. She did that better than most of them, but now she has to sustain it. In her case, yes, I would say it’s paid off. In fact, that might be an understatement; she’s worth more than Justin now.
In the reverse, where events invite certain people, that’s actually how it works most of the time. The events need the people who ride the Hollywood Circuit, as you call it, to show up so that they can get the photos, get the coverage, get the media impact value. It’s a transactional relationship; each side benefits equally.
Sarah’s answer:
I am looking forward to Boots Riley’s new film, I Love Boosters, as well as Kane Parsons’ Backrooms. I love that this is a 20-year-old kid turning his own creepypasta into a feature film that looks super cool and stylish and atmospheric. The kids will be alright!
I’m also looking forward to Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood. I am exhausted by Hugh Jackman and refuse to know any more about him, but like The Odyssey, the Robin Hood myth is ripe for reinvention and reinterpretation. I love Sarnoski’s work, so I am curious to see what he does here.
Finally, I think I am convinced that He-Man Masters of the Universe will be really fun. Like, dumb, yes, of course, but also fun. Summer is when we want big fun dumb movies!
Question from Charlotte:
So, Sarah, please tell us about your campaign to rescue Hera from thousands of years of misogynistic mythology. You have your work cut out for you, but I support your quest to take down the original shrewish wife trope.
Sarah’s answer:
There are so many myths and so many versions of those myths, but one Hera myth is that Zeus courted Hera, but she rejected him, so he transformed into a cuckoo and when Hera pitied the strange bird, she cradled it in her arms. Zeus then transformed back into a man and raped her, which resulted in her being forced to marry Zeus. So, really, Hera is Zeus’s first victim.
With that in mind, is she a shrew-wife, as the stories go, or might there be lost versions of all those stories of Hera versus Zeus’s many women—almost all of whom he assaulted!—that are about Hera desperately trying to protect women from her predator husband only to tragically fail time and again? Is Hera an unrepentant bitch, or have we lost a goddess-queen meant to protect women who was forced, instead, to watch her husband make women suffer?
What we know of Hera from archaeology is that she was IMPORTANT. All over the ancient Hellenic world we find MASSIVE temples to Hera, signaling her stature and importance among the pantheon. The Heraion on Samos was continually rebuilt over thousands of years; the Heraion on Olympia, where the Olympic flame rests, was once combined with a temple to Zeus, but eventually Zeus was booted out and the whole complex was dedicated to Hera. Within Heraions, it is very common to find offerings dedicated from across the world known to the ancient Greeks. People came from all over to honor and recognize Hera.
Excavated residences show altars dedicated to Hera, which makes sense as she was the goddess of marriage and protector of women in childbirth. A woman going into labor would pray to Hera, which means most women prayed to Hera eventually. Hera was integrated into daily life, she was incredibly important as a religious icon, but she is remembered mostly because of mythology, which depicts her as a jealous, cruel bitch. Because ancient Greece was a deeply misogynistic culture, literally they did not believe women capable of higher thought or complex emotion. Keep that in mind when The Odyssey rolls around.
Question from Monika T via DM:
(This is about interviews and interviewing people.) I wonder who inspired you or if it’s just a natural born gift.
Lainey’s Answer:
Definitely not a natural born gift, and there might be some people out there who were born with it, but in my experience, the best interviewers developed it as a skillset. Which means they practised and practised and practised. In my opinion, interviewing shouldn’t be like…I dunno…an athletic ability, in the sense that as much as I wish I could dunk a basketball, I will never be able to no matter how much time I spend training. (I could totally hit a major league baseball pitch though – this is not delusional! {comment from Jacek: this is ridiculous and she’s just baiting me - she wouldn’t even manage start the swing in time on a soft major league curve ball - we debate this all the time} But with interviewing, almost anyone who truly puts in the work should be able to do it well. Because listening is fundamental to interviewing, and we can all listen. We might not all be able to hear but listening and hearing are two different things. Listening is an “intentional cognitive process”, it’s actively engaging your brain as you take in the information that’s being relayed to you and measuring that information against what you have already learned, what you might have perceived, and everything else that you’ve gathered in your mental library as you approach the conversation.
When I first started as a reporter, I was a shitty interviewer – because I had no experience, I was too busy being nervous and focusing on getting from one question on the cue card to the next. I became a better interviewer because I was taught. This was the advantage of coming up in the business when legacy media was still dominant: I was surrounded by producers and writers and veteran communications specialists, and broadcast journalists, who trained me from the ground up. And I was willing to be trained in the sense that I was obsessed with their proficiency. This is why it’s so tragic what’s happening to media institutions. What corporations are losing in their shameless greed and relentless pursuit of profit are creative and intellectual natural resources of immeasurable value. If I’m a good interviewer, it’s because of them. And by the way, they never stop teaching.
One of them just sent me some homework the other day that happens to relate to your question and has its own gossip legacy attached to it. It’s the latest episode of the Revisionist History’s The Mistakes Series, featuring people revisiting some of the bad decisions that changed their lives. “Why Would I Do That to Jennifer Lopez?” is about Irv Gotti regretting the lies he told about JLo in a magazine interview when he had just produced two massive hits with her and could have gone on to more success. Briefly: JLo told the magazine that “Ain’t It Funny” wasn’t about Puffy. Irv Gotti said it was totally about Puffy and that she was lying…even though she actually wasn’t lying, Irv was just hot that day and ran his mouth.
This story would become a core part of the anti-JLo lore that her detractors remain committed to, and it was totally false. Irv tried to get the magazine to take that part out before publication, but they were like, no, you said what you said. And he also apologised profusely to JLo but their relationship would never be the same again, the trust was broken. Years later, before his death, he would say that that was his biggest regret.
The episode of Revisionist History expands on the regret though – because there’s so much more context behind why Irv lied on JLo’s name that day. And the analysis of this mistake also expands to the journalist who interviewed him…and whether the interviewer had fulfilled his journalistic duties in that moment when Irv came out of nowhere, riding a #1 hit with JLo, and proceeded to randomly call her a liar. The journalist did not probe it, did not attempt to unpack Irv Gotti’s position and while, yes, Irv said what he said and ultimately had to wear it, if we’re talking about good interviewing, and the importance of listening and remaining curious, should the journalist have attempted to understand WHY Irv felt that way about JLo? Because there was actually so much more to Irv’s state of mind when he was giving that interview, and with that context, the story becomes that much more compelling, way beyond petty feuds with exes and revenge songs.
It’s a really, really interesting lookback at the broken trajectory between two talented celebrities and the gossip that ensued – but also the disappearance of music and art that may have potentially been made had that series of events not occurred. Specifically, for those of us who are in the business of interviewing people and telling their stories, it’s also a lot to think about as we engage with our own work processes.
Question from Renee:
100% self serving query here - I need the deets on Lainey’s lace top/bodysuit that she wore on the ETALK Live coverage after the Met. Obsessed! As someone who doesn’t often let the girls/midriff out, I love that it wasn’t a pure crop top…anyways, any info appreciated!
Lainey’s Answer:
Thank you Renee, that was a fun outfit, and my ego appreciates your praise. For what it’s worth though, my answer is more than just an ego stroke. Renee is referring to this outfit that I wore on Monday night. Flip through the carousel below and you’ll see that my tits were out – which I don’t do often. Simone, our stylist, has been working with me for three years and this is the first time we’ve ever built an outfit around cleavage. It’ll likely be another three years, at least, until I do it again. But when I do it, it’s not subtle.
When I say it’s not subtle, that also applies to where I bought this bodysuit: at a sex shop. As far as I’m concerned, sex shops sell the best bodysuits, and this is one of the best sex shops in the world. The owner is Veronica Kazoleas, who worked in healthcare and is also a sexual health researcher and educator. For 20 years she’s been advocating for change in dialogue around female sexuality.
Her store is called The Nookie and, as she says, it specialises in pleasure products, not a sex shop but a sensuality shop. At The Nookie you will find toys and accessories but also lingerie. Beautiful lingerie, gorgeous bodysuits. I bought my bodysuit at The Nookie’s retail space in Yorkville in Toronto. Veronica recently announced, however, that she’s closing the physical shop, but the online shop will remain open and will also expand. The store in Yorkville is closing on May 21 so if you’re in Toronto, I encourage you to drop in not just for the sales but also to appreciate the spirit of the place. There might not be a lot of inventory and sizing right now in store and online since they are transitioning, but please continue to check out their website in the coming weeks and months. My bodysuit is no longer available since I bought it a few years ago but there are others, like this one. And I also have this one that I’ve worn under a suit and nothing else. Have fun at The Nookie!
Thanks for supporting our work here at The Squawk and for reading all our posts on the Met Gala at LaineyGossip and for your chats and shares and jokes and… gardening! Because that’s become a regular topic in the dailies too. This is what we wanted when the community first launched – a place to share and exchange and debate and connect…
Keep squawking and keep gossiping,
Lainey and Sarah
Very selfishly, Sarah, when are you teaming with Madeline Miller to write this enlightened, re-litigation of Hera, because I'm ready to preorder it right now?
1. Sarah, thank you for your thoughts on Hera...I have loved mythology since I was small, and adult life has really stolen time from me that ought to be spent diving back into those myths, and you are pushing me that way. I'm very excited for the discourse this summer.
2. Re: the non-red flag, I'll just note my annoyance that the Internet really has to make everything A Thing. People having different interests and tastes is okay. If someone asked me my favorite BTS song, I don't feel compelled to say, "I don't know but I really respect their cultural impact." If someone asked my thoughts on the latest T Swift album, I wouldn't say, "Don't have any, but she is one of the most important pop artists of her generation." Of course we should be aware of any effort to diminish artistic and cultural achievement, particularly when the dismissal is rooted in misogyny and/or racism. But also, people like what they like, and that means they don't care as much about other things. It's okay!