Mailbag for November 15, 2024

Taylor mania in Toronto, Kate’s cancer sideshow, Trump's impact on Hollywood, PEOPLE's biggest SMA victory, on directorial control, levels of fame and sleeping on Canadians, and Gooping broth

(Glasshouse Images/ Marion Curtis/StarPix/ Chris J. Ratcliffe/WPA Pool/Shutterstock, VEGAN / BACKGRID)

Dear Squawkers,

Coming to you from a city that has no chill – Toronto has lost its goddamn mind! It’s two weeks of Taylor Swift here where I live and I’m not complaining, please don’t misunderstand, I’m just giving you my observations. Every restaurant I’ve walked by on my way to work is playing only Taylor Swift music. Billboards are plastered on surfaces and screens. There are QR codes pressed into the sidewalks, something something about the Taylor Swift Eras experience. The fans have been camping out and screaming on camera whenever the news interviews them. Speaking of news! Several of the major national new shows, like the most-watched newscasts, are setting up temporary headquarters across from the stadium to broadcast with the concert venue in the background.

I’ll be working the first Toronto Taylor Swift show on Thursday night for ETALK (which will be over by the time you read this since we send this out on Fridays at around noon ET) which makes me a liar. Because if you recall, I said at LaineyGossip that the city would be so batshit when Taylor is in town that I’d try to stay far the fuck away from the core…not anticipating that it would actually be my assignment to go and shoot footage for our show. As any Swiftie would say, she made a fool out of me.

Let’s get to the mailbag.

Question from Joanne via email:

Are you going to say anything about this new scandal over Kate’s cancer and the palace fixing the story? Or are you too much of a coward?

Lainey’s Answer:

I guess you can call me a coward because I’d rather not say anything and I don’t want to summarise what you’re talking about either for the people who hadn’t heard about it because in my opinion, all that needs to be addressed here is this:

I am deeply uncomfortable with these accusations, this entire conversation really. Meghan Markle has haters. Kate has haters. None of the hating is productive, especially how it’s playing out on social media. So the way I’m approaching the Kate coverage is: that she had cancer, which fucking sucks, she was treated, and she’s going to manage the recovery. I have no interest in contributing to the rest of the sideshow unless we’re talking about the work of the media and the royal comms teams.

Catherine, Princess of Wales attends "The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance" at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 9, 2024 (Chris J. Ratcliffe/WPA Pool/Shutterstock)

And honestly, this is one of the ongoing consequences not only of toxic social media behaviour but also the team’s terrible communications strategy way back at the beginning of the year with how they handled the messaging. In these times of digital chaos, a mystery automatically becomes a conspiracy. Everyone is looking at every situation through a true crime or blind item gossip lens. And because these are royals we are talking about, automatically that mess was amplified, spinning wildly out of control. To the point where some became so entrenched in believing, and wanting to believe, that there was something sinister or sensational going on that it’s hard for them to let go of it. See also Blake Lively. And lipreading at the Golden Globes. And the Diddy case and all the crazy finger pointing that’s been going on since his arrest. 

The takeaway here, then, is what the royal comms teams has learned from that example, what all comms teams should be learning, and how to improve upon it. By improve on it, by the way, I don’t include Diddy. Because whatever that comms team is going to do, probably, is going to be disgusting and DARVO.

Question from Rachel:

Not to continue the election discourse but… What are your predictions for how the Hollywood landscape will change under Trump? What types of movies do you think we’ll see? More Michael Bay action thrillers with vaguely foreign racist stereotypes as villains? Do you think we will get any subversive stuff or will all the execs just roll over?

&

Question from Annie:

Further to this excellent question, do you think we’ll see more celebrities “come out” as being pro-Trump or Republican, given the election results and majority vote?

Sarah’s answer:

Anything remotely subversive will come from the indie sector, like Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice. As for what mainstream Hollywood will do, probably consolidate more. The assumption is that Trump will be far more M&A friendly than a Democratic White House. Output-wise, in the short term, I don’t think we’ll see a difference. The stuff coming out in the first half of 2025 is in post-production now, the stuff coming out in late 2025 is in production now. The stuff coming out in 2026 is slated for production in 2025. It’s the stuff coming out in 2027-28 that might show the effect of Trump’s second term, because that’s the stuff that will get greenlit/produced over the next couple years. You always have to look years down the line when it comes to making movies, it takes so long.

At the studio level, that is. We could see more immediate output from the indie sector, which has more financing challenges, but is nimbler without the corporate bureaucracy of a studio. SO many indie films go from seemingly dead in the water to in production within weeks once the money comes together. But whether we see it within a couple of years or not for three or four years down the line, I bet we see films with themes of division, authoritarianism, and, hopefully, resistance and community.

As for more celebrities coming out as Republican/pro-Trump, maybe in the short term. Like Zachary Levi is doing a victory lap right now, and while he has a bunch of projects in various stages, at the end of the day, none of it is going to make him Chris Evans (which is supposedly the career he wants for himself). And while there might be a short-term boost for Trumpy celebrities, long term, I think it will swing back the other way. I think we’re in for a lot of “leopards eating faces” and the buyer’s remorse will be strong by 2028. I thought the buyer’s remorse from 2016-2020 would be strong enough to prevent us being where we are now, but I underestimated the American public’s lack of shame.

However, if things go as badly as I suspect they’re about to, it’s not that I think being branded “conservative” will be a mark of shame, it won’t, but I bet being known as a Trumper WILL eventually be completely toxic in public life. For instance, it took over a decade for Joseph McCarthy to become toxic in American politics, but he did eventually become a liability, and today, his name is synonymous with one of America’s bleakest political eras. We’ll get there with Trump, but we’re just in year eight of his era. He’s not done yet, but whoever thinks they’re winning right now, give it a few more years. Just like with McCarthy, there WILL be a reversal of public opinion. Like with McCarthy, there are public figures whose reputations never recovered from affiliating with him, like gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who forever has an asterisk next to her name. Eventually, there will be a similar list of public figures for Trump. It might not ruin their lives/careers—Hopper continued to dominate Hollywood gossip after McCarthyism lost its sway—but they’ll always have that black mark. Their legacies will always be tainted, just like Hedda Hopper’s. (Louella Parsons was no peach, too.)

Hedda Hopper (1885-1966), American actress, and later gossip columnist, fashion portrait, Baron Adolph de Meyer, 1940 (Glasshouse Images/Shutterstock)

Question from Kristin in the Sexiest Man Alive thread:

I have a question and maybe it's better suited to Mailbag. Lainey brings up the Minivan Majority a lot. What happens when the Minivan Majority ages out of something like People? Like that's who [John Krasinski] appeals to, right? Safe, inoffensive, famous for playing a bland character. Do we see Gen Z being a Minivan Majority type? How many non-GenZ, non-Millennials read People? Are we seeing the last gasps of SMA because the guys who they would LIKE to offer it to know that's not their fanbase?

Lainey’s Answer:

I don’t think the MiniVan Majority ages out of PEOPLE Magazine. But will Gen Z age into the MiniVan Majority? This, of course, is the hope, it’s what every legacy media outlet is hoping for: to attract Gen Z and Gen Alpha and plant that seed so that when they’re old enough they might want to pay for it…

HAHAHHAHAHA

But that’s exactly why PEOPLE is targeting the MiniVan Majority and older. Because, frankly, the kids on TikTok don’t want to pay for anything. And I get it, the world and generations before them, have fucked them over with our reckless capitalism and our world leaders are corrupt assholes and their financial security is shot to hell. So why should they pay for things is probably their attitude.

PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive choice, then, isn’t for TikTok and Gen Z; it’s for their subscribers who will actually spend money on the hard copy at the grocery store or, better yet, the subscribers who pay annually for the issues to arrive in the mail. In that sense, they are catering to the audience who supports them, the audience they consider to be truly “high value”.

So in that sense, even though I don’t love John Krasinski as the boring ass choice this year either, I understand the business decision, why on an editorial level, they would make that choice.

Are they aware of the “backlash”? Of the reaction and how (some of) the internet hates it? Of course. But it’s also discussion. It generated debate all over the place, including here. Maybe even controversy, but the safest kind of controversy, by today’s standards anyway. Like no one was actually harmed by this controversy in the immediate term. It is, over time, of course, harmful that white oatmeal men are the “standard” of sexy, but this isn’t something that shareholders and accountants have to worry about today – which is the magazine’s main concern.

Instead, though, the controversy further cemented PEOPLE’s annual Sexiest Man Alive event as… well… an event. And there are very few publications who can boast about an event like this, reliably every single year. Others have certainly tried it, and we see random “The Hottest Man on the Planet” lists come out all the time. I don’t remember them, you don’t either. Because those outlets have failed at creating a brand.

PEOPLE has a winning brand with the SMA, winning because everybody fucking knows it. We bitch about it every year, but the recognition is pretty valuable. Yes, still pretty valuable. All that discussion and the complaining about it this week translates into impressions and awareness, and they can take those numbers to advertisers to build in for next year’s issue, and the magazine’s operation in general.

And to be honest? As bored as I am with John Krasinski, I can’t say I’m mad at a legacy media outlet attracting advertising money as opposed to advertisers chasing the impossible dream of monetising on TikTok or Snap or whatever. The health of a magazine like PEOPLE is important to the gossip industry. The Sexiest Man Alive annual feature is one of its most important assets and this year, despite the fact that the SMA is not inspiring, the discourse around it is the magazine’s biggest victory.

Question from Christy:

Question about the level of control a streaming service has on production. I am a huge fan of Severance and cannot wait for it to air in January after almost 2 years. The Writers' strike no doubt impacted the delay in production, but I have also heard it is also due to Ben Stiller's directing style. How much control can a streaming channel like Apple exert on its directors and showrunners?

Sarah’s answer:

Over a director like Ben Stiller? Not much. Over a gigging director whose name you’ve never heard? A LOT. That’s why it is said that Marvel prefers to hire up-and-coming directors, because they have more control over them than more established filmmakers.

But in the case of Severance, specifically, I don’t think the problem is Stiller, or he’s not the BIGGEST problem. The biggest problem is an alleged personality clash between co-showrunners Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman. Erickson created the series, but Severance is his first produced TV script. Mark Friedman, with years of experience writing and producing films and TV shows, was brought in to be co-showrunner for season one, presumably to be the voice of experience and help Erickson through his first TV production.

(L-R) Dan Erickson (Writer, Exec Producer), Ben Stiller (Exec Producer) and Adam Scott attend a Q&A of "Severance" at The Crosby in NYC on November 13, 2022 (Marion Curtis/StarPix for Apple TV/ Shutterstock)

Except they (allegedly) hate each other’s guts, and Friedman was going to leave the series, but when Stiller—who is an executive producer on the show, but not a showrunner—couldn’t find a replacement, he asked Friedman back, which (allegedly) led to a messy second season production. Stiller also hired big-name showrunner Beau Willimon to outline season three but ended up bringing him in to contribute to season two as well, since things were apparently so dysfunctional between Erickson and Friedman. There has been pushback on the rumors that Severance has problems behind the scenes, but you don’t bring in a big gun like Beau Willimon unless you’re trying to fix shit.

In this case, Apple can’t really maneuver around Ben Stiller, he’s Ben Stiller. Unless they want to cancel the series and get out of the Severance business entirely, which they don’t, they’re stuck signing checks until he hires enough people to stop the problem. Which is what they’re doing.

Question from Annamaria:

As a Canadian entertainment "insider", Lainey, who/what do you think the Canadian people are sleeping on in our own backyard? Is there another Schitt’s Creek out there waiting to break? There are so many Canadian musicians that I can't believe haven't just erupted beyond Canada and smaller audiences around the world. Mostly because they are older and have chosen not to go down the TikTok shlocking avenue. They eek out a living with their dedicated fanbases. Do you think this level of entertainment success is dying as well? The middle celebrity? Is Chappell Roan a perfect case study, a no ones heard of her except the musically dedicated fans or the biggest star on the internet?

Do people in the entertainment world talk about their ideal level of fame in an honest way. I feel like there have been celebrities in the past who have actively cut down their fame trajectory to maintain their middle ground. They don't take a job or audition from Marvel or Disney or another franchise. More so than people who decline the SMA feature for the corniness. People who don't want to play Batman essentially. Is there anyone in the new generation of talent that is openly doing this? Paul Mescal seems to think he can ride the line going to do plays but as you've pointed out, he doesn't seem to realize how big Gladiator will be. Rambling thoughts for the mailbag this week or in the future.

Lainey’s Answer:

I don’t know…

I feel like Paul Mescal knows how big Gladiator II is going to be and wants it to be as big as it will be. This is what I’m enjoying about him so much: that he has no shame in pursuing a blockbuster and isn’t forcing every conversation about it to be about art and the process. Like, yes, art and the process is part of it but so is the fun, the entertainment. Now here’s the part of the song where I take a shot at fucking Jacob Elordi.

As for Batman, which you brought up, I might have to disagree here, too. Because Christian Bale played Batman. And I haven’t seen a pap shot of Christian Bale in months. Let me just check one of the agencies….

LOOOLLLLLLL

He was at the Malibu Chili Cookoff with his wife and kids in August! I don’t actually remember seeing it, and if I saw it, I obviously didn’t care enough to post it. You know what I see more? Christian Bale scenes from American Psycho pop up a lot more than he does in person. Because even though he was Batman, he has managed his fame, WHILE LIVING IN LA, in a way that does not invite gossip.

Christian Bale with his family at the Malibu Chili Cook-Off on August 30, 2024 (VEGAN / BACKGRID)

Is Christian Bale a middle celebrity? He’s been Batman and he’s an Oscar winner, probably he doesn’t qualify as a middle celebrity… but he lives a middle celebrity life.

As to whether or not celebrities talk about their level of fame in an honest way, it would depend on the celebrity. Jennifer Lopez, for example, is not going to be out here downplaying her fame; Jennifer Aniston on the other hand lives as VIP as JLo but the image she’s upheld or that’s been upheld for her is always going to be America’s Sweetheart, by its very definition not VIP.

Where I do think celebrities talk about levels of fame, honestly and dishonestly, is about EACH OTHER. Sydney Sweeney is making headlines right now for her remarks in Vanity Fair about that older industry executive (a woman) who talked shit about her on a panel. Carol Baum has been a producer in Hollywood for a long time, what she said was stupid and sexist, but don’t think for a second that the way she was speaking was an outlier. She said it with her whole chest because in Hollywood those conversations happen all the time every minute of the day, among producers and stars. They are all, constantly, side-eyeing and measuring themselves against each other, no matter the gender. You know that joint interview between George Clooney and Brad Pitt a few months ago in GQ? That was a sanitised version of their “is he better/more famous than me” private conversations. The whole thing is basically the two of them telling themselves that they’re both king shit and they have no rivals.

And finally, which Canadians are Canadians sleeping on? I’ll throw out two artistic acts…

The Beaches, an all-girl rock band, they opened for the Rolling Stones this past summer. Their song “Blame Brett”, a breakup song, was pretty viral last year. Guarantee you if you poll 10 Canadians, mayyyyyybe three would know them. And I’ll call myself out here because I haven’t been writing about them at LaineyGossip even though we cover them on ETALK.

And the second artist…

Our very own Duana Taha! Duana’s show Near or Far premiered earlier this year. It’s SO good. I know I’m biased but I think it’s every bit as promising as Heartstopper season one and it would be great if more Canadians, and beyond, supported it. You can watch full episodes here.

Question from Britt:

Hi Lainey, You often bring up Goop’s pseudoscience/alternative medicine/general quackery on the site. I’m a white woman, but I’ve benefitted greatly from a blended approach in medicine that incorporates both “western” and “eastern” medicine. I think Chinese and other ancient medicinal practices often get lumped into “alternative” medicine in the west and there is a more nuanced conversation and categorization that could happen. I get my vaccines, but I also love me an herbal concoction 😂 Do you think Chinese medicine is being conflated with wellness? I would love to know more of your thoughts on this! Thank you 😊

Lainey’s Answer:

I think Chinese medicine is conflated with wellness but not necessarily by Chinese people. My ma is super serious about Chinese medicine. But she has two oncologists, a nephrologist, another specialist in internal medicine, a neurologist, a family doctor, and maybe two or three more specialists that she sees regularly for her various conditions. She has at least two appointments a week. She believes in western medicine, it has saved her life, literally, on more than one occasion. And she also uses Chinese medicine in addition to her medical care to address all her ailments.

I have many issues with people who promote these snake oil wellness promises while disregarding the legitimate medical community. But for the purposes of this conversation about wellness and its appropriation of eastern practices, I take offence to the way that people in the west constantly borrow from what our eastern communities have done and then repackage it as something “cleaner”. The boba scandal with Simu Liu is a good example even though boba isn’t necessarily a health food. The language was there, though, and that’s why it was triggering for so many of us from East Asian backgrounds.

Bone broth and the way people like Gwyneth Paltrow have whitewashed it is another example. Soup is a big deal in Chinese culture. Where I come from, we start and end a meal with soup. My ma spends hours, sometimes days, working on a weekly soup that’s always different with different ingredients, that I pick up on the weekends to share with Jacek. Ma’s soups are my beauty secret. When I haven’t had soup for two consecutive weeks? I can see it in my face. I’ve shared this before on Instagram, but she has a soup that’s good for the skin, soups that are good for your lungs, your heart, your liver, pretty much every body part, they’re all formulated differently, and they’re all made with pork or chicken or beef bone. It’s not broth though, because there are seeds and roots and nuts and other ingredients I only know the Chinese name for in these soups.

Our soup this week

The whitening of bone broth has completely eliminated these ingredients. It’s basically bone and water and that’s not the fucking same as what we do in Chinese homes. The health benefits are not the same. But to make it the same, the western bone broth brigade would have to shop outside of their communities. Whole Foods doesn’t sell this shit. And in the places where we shop, to the western nose, many of them would consider it “smelly” or “funky” or “strange”, because guess what? All those amazing ingredients, the roots, the seeds, the dried fruit stones, whatever the fuck my ma and our ancestors before her started dumping in the soups hundreds of years ago, maybe more, smell “weird”. Not to me, but definitely to people who don’t season their meat.

And if they’re not willing to get real, and “dirty” with us, with the smells and the mystery (to them) ingredients they can’t name and don’t want to take the time to know, why should we support the theft of our cultural legacy in the form of pills and powders? I’m telling you, the powders don’t hit the same as the actual thing; the dried gnarly looking roots and the mangled bark, the seeds of different colours and shapes that I always find in my ma’s pantry, that is the real good shit and it’s priceless.

But also? Ma’s orders are always EAT YOUR SOUP and… also… GO TO THE DOCTOR.  

---

Finishing this off at ass in the morning after Taylor’s three-plus hour concert, uploading videos for ETALK, and two hours of sleep. And here’s what I consider the most gangster thing about Taylor:

She started EARLY! She started the show at 750pm! I love a punctual queen. But I adore an early queen who puts on a long ass show but still gets people out in time to make the train!

Keep squawking and keep gossiping,

Lainey and Sarah