Mailbag for October 25, 2024
Wicked's early marketing, on celebrity media training and preparation, (no) US work aspirations, blacklists and snippy studios, Colin Farrell in person, a comfy couch, and the Three-Word Method
Dear Squawkers,
There’s been a lot of conversation in the daily chats lately about the Wicked press tour and, well, the fact that it started a year ago and how MUCH it’s been. Here’s an example – a comment from Andrea2:
“I'd love to know the back story, on why the Wicked PR folks, thought promoting the movie through the stupid theme dressing, etc. 9-12 months prior was smart! We're all completely sick of the actors, and other than the theater/book buffs, who will see this?”
Well…
First day advance ticket sales for Wicked were big. Like second this year only to Deadpool & Wolverine. It’s possible that the movie is frontloaded, sure, and that the box office will level off once it opens. But for the people doing the marketing, this is exactly what they were after. These are the numbers they were targeting when they fired up the hype machine all those months ago.
And, of course, as others have pointed out in the chats this week, it’s not like Barbie wasn’t doing this. The IP for that movie is literally a toy that belongs to a corporation. You could argue that that movie was a two-hour commercial for the doll. Wicked, meanwhile, is based on a novel that became a stage musical and is now a two-part movie. Some might say that the source material has a lot more, um, creative integrity. So I wonder if the fatigue that certain people might be feeling about Wicked is not necessarily about the actual story than it is about the people who are representing the movie. I’m not here to argue this, it’s a matter of taste. But I feel like it’s not just going to be theatre and book buffs who’ll be seeing the movie. There’s Ariana Grande’s considerable fanbase, crossing over with the 2SLGBTQ+ community, many of whom are not Broadway nerds, and also families. People with kids. The same demo that went batshit for Frozen, only this time it’s not Elsa and whoever the other princess is (confession: I have never seen Frozen, and I do not apologise), but Elphaba and Glinda. That’s a huge pool.
Still, where relentless marketing is concerned, and how aggressive Wicked’s is perceived to be, it’s an opportunity for me to talk about a realisation I had back in the summer, when It Ends With Us came out. I’m a very online person and I’m assuming that most of you here at The Squawk are very online people. It certainly seems that way from the chats, with many of you sharing what you’ve seen on social media and also mainstream industry entertainment media. One of the traps of being very online is that you assume that everyone else knows what you know. I consistently make this mistake, that’s how powerful online assumptions and even deceptions can be, even though my best friend, Fiona, often reminds me that not everyone knows everything. Fiona, hilariously, will message me about a movie she’s just heard about that came out a month ago. And it’s not like she lives her life in a cave. She’s an active, ordinary person who participates in the world, has many friends, and a job that is in no way related to pop culture. One of the people she loves the most in the universe (me!) is a gossip columnist, and she probably still doesn’t know that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez aren’t married anymore.
My point here, to go back to It Ends With Us, is that it was big on BookTok. There was social media. There were previews, advance trailers. We covered the trailers, twice I think, at LaineyGossip. And still, when the movie opened, there were people who went into it with no idea that it was about intimate partner violence and, understandably, were triggered by the experience. I was surprised by this. But I should not have been. I remember sending a message to Sarah at the time that went kinda like this:
“Ohhhh, I totally forgot that not everyone watches movie trailers.”
Because they don’t!
WE do. YOU, here at The Squawk do, because we put them in front of you at LaineyGossip and you read all our posts, right? (THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT!) But the sad fact is …fewer and fewer people actually go to websites now. Whatever pop culture they consume is being delivered to them on social media, Instagram and TikTok and Snap. And on those platforms, the full trailer is rarely played or watched. Instead, it’s 15 to 30 seconds from a trailer. Those trailers are clipped and edited and in the case of It Ends With Us, it was probably just the romantic parts. Or, I dunno, Blake’s outfits. So some of the people who were interested in the movie from social media weren’t exactly getting the full picture of what the movie actually was. This, by the way, is basically TikTok in a nutshell: never the full picture.
The blanket full blitz approach, then, of movies like Wicked, with huge budgets and so much financial investment is intended to reach as many people as possible. ALL THE FUCKING PEOPLE. Not just people in one corner of Facebook and that corner of Instagram, but every single eyeball in the goddamn world. That, in my opinion, is one of the consequences of an increasingly fractured media landscape and the increasingly rarity of monoculture.
Question from LazyCat:
I'm so curious about media training. I know it has to do with answering questions, but I am also always impressed by the excellent posture of celebrities on talk shows. What does this training actually look like in practice? Who provides and gets this service? And how can I get some for my daily life?
Lainey’s Answer:
In the chat thread for the mailbag this week, a Squawk member called Vera Cardoso, who works in PR, gave a great and extensive answer to this question, so please check it if you haven’t already. What I can add here, from personal experience, is that I work with publicists and comms experts who have also prepared me for interviews, events, panel discussions, and other media-related opportunities. Early on in my career, I had the privileged of being mentored by someone I consider to be one of the best in our country – and I’ll just include her initials here because she doesn’t love attention like that: GF.
GF was my personal publicist for a couple of years and what was amazing about her work is that it was constant. She wasn’t just guiding me when I had an interview on the schedule, but on the regular, daily, pointing out to me other interviews with other people who gave great answers or when there were terrible answers. I also remember her talking me through a bad interview that I gave as a rookie during my first time covering the Toronto International Film Festival.
I was working around the clock, on no sleep, and overwhelmed. And I was scheduled for a radio interview at 7am to promote ETALK’s coverage of the festival. I got through the celebrity namechecking bits and then I was asked how my TIFF was going, what my experience had been like. Like I dumbass, I talked about how tired I was. And that feedback came quickly from the radio host which, frankly, at first, also like a dumbass, I was indignant about afterwards during a vent session. “Well, I was being honest, why can’t I be truthful?” GF was the one who was like, being truthful doesn’t mean you have to be a fucking spoiled bummer. You were forgetting your audience, the people who listen to morning radio on their commute. They don’t want to hear you moaning about your fatigue from having to interview all these celebrities at the most glamorous events. There’s a way to talk about how it’s been a steep learning curve for you without sounding like a brat.
She was right. And my point in sharing this story is that I wonder, even after media training and preparation, if there’s a follow-up and a debrief with celebrities, and how many of them are getting real, honest feedback when they mess up. Because too often they are surrounded by yes people blowing sparkles up their ass. Publicists are more inclined to yell and talk down to the media than they are to their celebrity clients. Not all celebrities have publicists who are fucking assholes, but some do, and the way I’ve seen them talking to people, the way I’ve been talked to, has been appalling at times. I recently heard from a very trusted peer in the business, who does great work, about a situation where they were doing an interview and at the end, thanked the celebrity for their philanthropic work because they have a child whose life could be improved by that kind of awareness, and was about to leave the room when the celebrity asked them to elaborate. So they chatted, briefly, about the child and then wrapped it up. Two minutes later this person was chased down the hall by the celebrity’s publicist and reprimanded for taking the conversation in that direction. It was cruel and unprofessional, the reporter was nearly in tears. It was a moment between two parents who understood each other through their love and care and concern for their children, and now this person was humiliated, in front of a room full of people, by the way, and made to feel small and stupid about the most precious person in their life – their baby.
That celebrity has no idea their publicist has a reputation like that (this is not the first time something like this has happened) because the face that the publicist shows the star is not the face that the media sees. So what are the chances that the celebrity would ever get honest feedback from that person? If there was anyone who needed Vera Cardoso’s expertise, it would be that celebrity’s publicist.
Celebrities are treated like the most special people on earth – and it’s systemic. When they are in the presence of media, their time matters more than the media’s time. The media accommodates the celebrity’s schedule, not the other way around. For every five minutes I interview a celebrity at a junket, I spend at minimum half and hour waiting (and that’s generous). The media is asked to wait at the red carpet at least an hour in advance for the privilege of a two-minute conversation. The media is asking them about them – it’s blatantly understood that one person is the main character, and the other person can remain nameless. When they are accustomed to that kind of setting, how receptive would they be to feedback?
One final note on the posture thing: for sure it’s training but I also think it’s wardrobe, for all people. When I’m interviewing a man in a suit, he is making sure he’s sitting right so that the jacket or shirt doesn’t bunch, and his pants aren’t looking weird in the crotch and the pant legs are even on both sides. The women are often wearing tight shit and if they don’t have good posture it’s unflattering from certain angles. Or if they’re wearing a suit or a dress shirt, they have to sit up straight so that the shirt doesn’t gape at the buttons. I know this for myself because in general life my posture is bullshit but when I’m on camera and I happen to be wearing a dress shirt or a dress that cuts a certain way, my posture is impeccable. So the outfits are definitely a factor!
Question from Jen:
A couple of weeks ago we were discussing the Canadian star ecosystem. On that note and in follow up to Lainey’s Vanity Fair profile….have you felt the draw to go to Hollywood? Have you been pursued by any American entertainment shows or networks, and do you think being in Hollywood would change how you work and gossip?
Lainey’s Answer:
I am asked often to appear for one-off commentary on news shows about big celebrity stories and I’ve done CNN and Bloomberg and NPR etc before for very specific topics. And there are pop culture documentaries that I’ve been a part of, again as a culture critic, but I have never been pursued by any American entertainment shows or networks nor have I pursued any opportunities to work in the US. I’m not sure if being in Hollywood would change how I work and gossip because, frankly, I’ve never considered it. What I want to do is stay in Canada and continue the work that I do here and support the work that others are doing here. As you referenced in your question, I’m worried about the Canadian star system, I’m worried that our industry is contracting, I’m worried that we do not value the talent that we have here.
ETALK is now the only national entertainment show in our country. It used to be our show and Entertainment Tonight Canada, and we were all heartbroken last year when ET Canada was cancelled as a result of shrinking budgets. There are other entertainment reporters here, and they’re amazing and knowledgeable and so good at what they do, but their work is part of a larger news show, not a show dedicated to pop culture. So they get like ten minutes every hour on morning television, for example, or maybe five minutes – at most – on the nightly newscast. Or a few minutes on morning radio. The hope is that more shows can be launched, and more people can work and tell pop culture stories through our unique perspective.
That said…
There is one show that if the call came, I would probably say yes right away: The View. I was on The Social, which is Canada’s counterpart to The View, for ten seasons. And I loved it. The View is the OG, the first, the trailblazer, and if that ever happened (even though it would never), I’d probably go for it. Please don’t misunderstand, this is not me trying to manifest anything. For the record, I do not have an agent for any of my on-camera work, so there literally is no attempt on my part at any time to seek broadcasting opportunities. I’m super happy doing the television work I already do, and my ambitions, the ones I daydream and nightdream about, aren’t related to television, they’re all about writing. But in that imaginary scenario that you asked about, The View would be the one. To date, as far as I know, please correct me if I’m wrong, there has only ever been one East Asian host of The View, Lisa Ling. If there was an alternative universe in which I could be the second, I’d give it my best, and I’d represent my background and Canada to the best of my abilities. But let me reiterate, this is not where I put any of my energy. What I fantasise about is writing a novel.
Question from Patty:
Do critics temper their reviews of movies to make sure that they are included in press screenings, and/or staying in the good graces of a studio or publicist?
Sarah’s answer:
No one I know does that, but there probably are people who do. I have the protection/privilege of belonging to two high-profile critics associations, one of which is national with a televised award show. I get invited to screenings because I belong to those groups. But not all critics belong to a critics group, or they don’t belong to one in a major market, and then access can be more precarious. If you’re not on the studios’ automatic-invite list, then you’re hustling for invites from publicists, and that can be a grace and favor game.
That said, I HAVE been blacklisted before—guess the studio, I bet you only need one try—and my peers in the Chicago Film Critics Association went to bat for me. It only took a couple weeks to clear up and get back on the screening list. I have never been booted off again, but I DO get snippy emails from that studio’s PR team on the regular, even though I often review their films/series positively. Some people can never be pleased.
Question from Betsy:
Can we get a ‘best of Colin Farrell’ thread from all the contributors? How hot he is in person, how flirtatious he is - or has he changed from the old days of hitting up Duana at the gym? And have you seen these photos?!?!
Lainey’s Answer:
You already know about Duana and me working out at the gym with Colin Farrell in LA on Oscar week a few years ago and what’s weird about it is that Duana and I don’t talk about it all that much. Not because it wasn’t hilarious and amazing but, I think, in a way I feel like if we talk about it, it makes it less special. Almost like we’re protecting that memory of having a gym date with him every day (that he didn’t know about) and watching him sweat for an hour.
Yes, he is hot as fuck in person. Like effortlessly sexy. He’s not conventionally flirtatious, like you don’t get the sense that he has “moves”, but the flirty energy just comes naturally, it’s part of his personality to make every woman (maybe men, too, I just haven’t heard directly from any of them about this) feel like she’s the only person in the room. Amazingly this also works on Zoom. Because that’s the last interview I did with him a couple of years ago, when he was promoting Thirteen Lives about the Tham Luang cave rescue. In the film he plays John Volanthen, a cave diver who was involved in the situation. John Volanthen is also a distance runner, so in preparing for the role, Colin started running… a lot. By the way, he's just announced he’s running the Dublin Marathon in support of a friend who has EB, epidermolysis bullosa.
Anyway, I run a little – or I did until an injury – so we were talking about running and he was leaning right into the camera and wanted to know about my running and then we were out of time and he did not want to hang up but the people managing the junket were rushing me out so what I’m trying to tell you is that in person, even when it’s during an interview, and not even in person, he’s a real person who shows real interest in other people and he goes about it in a way that makes you feel like you have all his attention. And, frankly, who among us would be immune to that. If you’ve read Emma Forrest’s Your Voice in My Head, you might remember the downside of that kind of intensity. But in short, casual interactions? The man is irresistible… though I’ve heard some chatter over the years that sometimes there are certain members of his team who aren’t so nice. This has not been my personal experience, but the whispers are there.
Sarah’s answer:
I have mentioned this off-handed before, but here is the full story. In 2014, Miss Julie screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, and Colin Farrell and director Liv Ullman came to Chicago to do press. There was a reception for the film, I usually skip those things as Not My Scene, but this one I went to because…Colin Farrell. And he delivered. I am not joking when I say that he made eye contact, and I almost peed a little. I had a visceral reaction to his presence. He is SO charismatic it’s overwhelming.
At one point, I was doing my wall flower routine, watching Liv Ullman. She was around 75 at the time, and didn’t seem entirely well. Colin Farrell stopped by and asked me what I was doing (staring intensely at Liv Ullman), and rather than blurt out, “I’m afraid Liv Ullman might die at any moment,” I said she reminded me of my great aunt, who was very classy and beautiful (she did remind me of my aunt, so I wasn’t completely lying). He asked about my great aunt, and I said she was a dragon who whacked my shins with a mahogany cane when I displeased her. He asked if she was Irish, and I said no, and he said, “Well, I think she was.” And then he moved on.
Fast forward to last year, I was in LA visiting friends and we ran into Farrell in Los Feliz (I’m not blowing up his breakfast spot). While waiting for our orders, my fearless friend Ray started chatting him up, telling Farrell I’m a film critic and also had just been to Ireland. He ignored the critic part and asked about my trip. We talked about Irish ice cream and how I am now obsessed with it. Did Colin Farrell remember me? Almost certainly not! But he once again made me feel like the only other person in the room. It’s a big part of why he’s proving to be an enduring star, meeting him in the wild is never disappointing, it’s always a good story (see also: the plethora of “Colin in the wild” stories online).
Question from Pankie:
Question for the Lainey Gossip team about purchasing designer fashion or high end/ vintage home decor... I love Lainey's openness about her botox*, laser facials, etc. She has 100% influence my bare minimum not on camera beauty regimen. I also love when she mentions something what she purchased a decade ago, has purchased recently, or has asked her stylist to include for her on-camera wardrobe. I'd love to hear from the entire LG team. This is vicarious shopping, I'm reimaging my wardrobe after a career pivot and I love design and fashion. I do a lot of vintage accessories and honestly furniture - earrings, necklaces, handbags and a insane mid-century modern mint (seafoam) green couch - at estate sales. How does the LG team shop? retail b/c you are super busy, The Real Real, a personal shopper?? Please share!! *I am in remission for myasthenia gravis. It's noted in Botox commercials as contra-indicated. Because the disease prevents ones' nerves from properly communicate with one's muscles. I was diagnosed at 37. I'm 51 now grateful as fuck. But dammit, my forehead seems to have no issues moving my wrinkles around!! LOL So I live vicariously through gorge fashion! (FYI: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myasthenia-gravis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352036))
❤️
Lainey’s Answer:
Thank you for sharing your personal story and for your wonderful attitude about living with your disease. But how could you describe a couch like that and not send a photo? In today’s Daily Squawk thread, PLEASE?
I mostly shop online because I’m an expert at it at this point. When I’m out of town though, I do love shopping retail. In Japan and Hong Kong last year, I fell in love with malls there. Malls in Asia are the motherfucking shit! And the merchandise over there, sorry, is so much better than what we have here. In Japan especially, like if you go into a Zara? They have items that have never been available in North America. I know this because every Zara I went into in Asia, I’d text our stylist, Simone, in real time, and get her to check online and in-store in Canada. Not even close. Also, straight up, Japan’s Zara prices are less expensive. I got an amazing cargo sweater there for the equivalent of CDN$60 that could have easily been over $100 at home.
But also in Asia, there are stores and clothing lines that just aren’t offered here, period. In Hong Kong there’s a no-name clothing store on every block and the clothes are cute and trendy and maybe not the best quality but no worse than the high street stores in North America but even cheaper than H&M and TopShop and whatever. Fiona was with me in HK last year and she couldn’t fucking believe the prices.
As for home décor, I think I’ve mentioned before that fashion is my thing, home style is not my thing. Our home is strictly for function, it doesn’t “look” good and should never be featured in any magazine. For far too long we had a very outdated black leather couch set in our living room that Emily was side-eying every time she came to Toronto see us. Honestly, it was just there to take up space, neither one of us used it because it wasn’t comfortable anymore, and it was ugly. Back in August, though, I shot a commercial and it had to be done at our house. I did not want to shoot this commercial with that leather monstrosity, so Jacek and I decided that finally, after eleven years of living in our house, having brought over a lot of old furniture from Vancouver (that couch set was basically 20 years old), it was time for a new sectional. And she has changed my life!
This bitch is so comfortable and cozy and looks SO good in our house. She was a splurge, but she’s worth it. From Urban Barn – and it was even more of a bonus because Jacek got it on some kind of end of summer sale so it was probably 30% less than the current listed price. I think he still has a boner about this. I know I do because in the eleven years we’ve lived in this house, I have never spent as much time in the living room as I do now. It has totally changed the complexion of our home. And it has changed my relationship with our home. I have always loved our home. But now… home is home, and a holiday spot… if that makes sense? Like, right now, I would rather be on my couch in my house than at the cottage we usually rent every few months or so outside of the city when we need to get away for a few days. That’s the power of this couch!
Sarah’s answer:
I second the sofa tax! My thing with clothes is I hate shopping, online or in person. I’m currently doing a no-buy year (as part of a zero-waste attempt), and I’m finding it pretty easy because I don’t like clothes shopping. It is not a hardship to not buy new clothes, I never want to buy new clothes. I recognized this about myself pretty young, because Clueless made me think I could be an Outfit Girl, and then my very next trip to the mall proved me wrong, when I could not muster the patience or interest in putting together even one outfit. I am a jeans and tee shirt person, my style rarely gets more complicated than that.
But I did have a very stylish friend in high school who taught me about thrifting and vintage clothes. Her thing was that if I hated shopping, I should make the most of each shopping trip. Further, if I invested in quality pieces, they would last longer, and I wouldn’t need to shop as much. That’s my MO when it comes to clothes shopping, I look for well made pieces, I prefer vintage, but it doesn’t have to be, that I can wear for years. I have a wool blazer I bought in 1998 that I am still wearing.
Furniture and décor shopping, though, is a completely different matter. I LOVE to wander around furniture stores and vintage décor stores. When I renovated my condo in 2019, I splurged on custom wood furniture, and it was worth every penny. I also have some stuff I got from my grandparents, like my desk chair, and a Victorian rocking chair I got from my nana that I currently do not have room for (my condo is a tiny space). But someday I will have room for it, and then I am going to have it reupholstered in an animal print. I like maximalism, but I also like my home to be peaceful and to really feel like a retreat, so I tend to indulge in small doses. Like in my condo, I wallpapered my living room ceiling (do NOT recommend, upkeep is horrendous because gravity is the enemy) and went for high impact tile in the bathroom. But my bedroom is very quiet, the colors pulled from a lithograph of my favorite Georgia O’Keefe painting (Light Iris, 1924). My living space, ceiling aside, is very light blue, the color multiplying the natural light that comes in to make the space seem bigger. I’m forming a concept of an idea to buy a bigger place, and I am already making Pinterest boards for how I would decorate, say, a home office or second bathroom, or, if the stars align, one of those sunrooms old Chicago apartments have. I want one of those SO bad. I want to find a vintage spindle daybed to put in it as a reading nook.
Question from Myra:
You’ve mentioned Allison Bornstein’s wrong shoe theory before. I’m always curious about the style of fashion critics so I can contextualize their fashion critiques of celebrity style. Can the LG fashion crew share their three style words per Bornstein?
Lainey’s Answer:
For the uninitiated, you can learn more about the Three-Word Method here. According to Allison Bornstein, your personal style is reflected in three words of your choosing and the only criteria is that one word has to be Practical/Realistic, and one has to be Emotional, and one has to be Aspirational.
For me…
Practical/Realistic: SHOE
I build all my outfits around shoes first. Once I know what’s on my feet, the rest of it will follow.
Emotional: COMFORT
There was a time when I would and could endure torture for an outfit. It’s been just over a decade now and I refuse. And I’m emotional about it because I have so much regret about not choosing comfort sooner, especially since I think my aversion to belts and material that hugs the body might be more than just preference. I am also really f-cking obsessive about the placement of zippers, the size of a collar, how a seam sits, how it feels on my skin, and whether or not it’s perfectly straight. I don’t love silk and the way it falls and takes light, it makes me crazy when a sweater is itchy, button fly pisses me off because it never lies flat, and the way it digs into the stomach. I hated underwear so much, it made me anxious, and I stopped wearing it altogether like 20 years ago. I could keep going but let me get to the issue.
This summer I read Mary H.K. Choi’s beautiful piece about her adult autism diagnosis. And this paragraph really popped out at me, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Mary writes about the changes she made to so many parts of her life after her diagnosis – from furniture to clothing.
“Some fixes revealed themselves quickly. Others required more trial and error. For most of my adult life, I dressed with great, highly strung care. But even when I put an outfit together, I’d sometimes leave whatever occasion early to take it off or not go to the event altogether because I knew I’d be uncomfortable. People with autism are known to have issues with textures, tags, and seams, and I began wearing a tissue-thin, very soft turtleneck or an undershirt as a barrier to textiles that I found objectionable. Turns out there are also silhouettes I adore aesthetically that I cannot abide proprioceptively. Any trench-coat-length garment that tugs when I sit. Poplin. Too-full skirts that create a sense of vagueness behind me. Brocade. Stiff jeans. Leg-of-mutton sleeves that bunch at my armpits. Accepting this took more self-persuasion, but once I did, I ransacked my style archive and parted ways with half of my wardrobe.”
To be clear, I do not have autism and I’m also not saying I might have autism. If what I will say is disrespectful to the neurodivergent community, I apologise in advance. I just… profoundly related to this specific experience of how clothing feels on my body. And I started wondering if maybe my clothing fixations were more than just about surface and style. So I spent some time reading about tactile stimulation with respect to clothing and it turns out that people with ADHD can also have similar sensitivities (Mary was diagnosed with ADHD before ASD). And I’ve always wondered whether or not some of my… tendencies… might be on that spectrum.
So to go back to the emotion of that word, COMFORT, I’m now beginning to investigate my relationship with it with respect to clothing. And that’s why its such a pillar when it comes to my personal style.
Finally, the last word …
Aspirational: ASSASSIN
I mean, I don’t think I’m morally compromised to the point where I would kill someone for money. But I do like to dress with an edge. I’d rather look intimidating than friendly, polarising over popular, and if you described my look as unapproachable and not welcoming, I would be happy, LOL. Jacek can confirm this. He is always lecturing me about how I never look up at the neighbours and my general lack of warmth. But also, I love a turtleneck, a trench coat, and a crisp collar that holds up all day.
Shit, it’s been over 5,500 words this week, let’s wrap it up.
Thanks for your support. Thanks for alllll your comments this week, especially in the thread about Jennifer Lawrence and abortion and reproductive freedom. We so appreciate your vulnerability and passion and that The Squawk has been a safe place for you to share it.
Keep squawking and keep gossiping,
Lainey and Sarah
The comment about the publicist that followed the reporter and berated her without the knowledge of the celebrity (and the celebrity's active philanthropy raising awareness about something related to children)- I'm wondering if this was a 'blind' item that may have been answered later on in the mail bag with Lainey's ending sentences about Colin Farrell, 'I’ve heard some chatter over the years that sometimes there are certain members of his team who aren’t so nice. This has not been my personal experience, but the whispers are there.' Relevant info may be the Colin Farrell Foundation...
I think it's easy to overlook just how big a deal Wicked is. It's Broadway's second-highest grossing musical, it's one of the longest-running shows on Broadway and the West End (not to forget a ton of regional theatre communities), and both the poster and "Defying Gravity" are arguably iconic. I would not be surprised if it ends up being one of the biggest films of 2024 and that will be in large part thanks to Universal making its stars and their green/pink costuming omnipresent. I'm mostly looking forward to all of the novices finding out the actual plot of the musical, which is way weirder than people remember it being.
Also, it doesn't need to be two movies. The musical's plot is pretty concise and all the good songs are in the first act. Are they adding details from the book? Because the book is even weirder (and NOT for kids.)