1.) I ♥️ Conan so much and the fact that most of his staff have stayed with him for 20-30+ years is amazing. He’s got people who have been with him from DAY 1. That’s not just incredible by media industry standards but in any working environment/company. It’s a testament to leadership from top down setting the example of compassion, integrity and creating a fun and equitable environment where people are challenged to do their best work, can grow, and feel ownership/ pride about their contributions to the organization’s shared goals, wins, and losses.
2.) re: Meghan and Harry - I too have had the impression that LG steers away from even noteworthy/ gossip worthy H&M news. Like not reviewing Spare - a legit meteoric best seller with plenty to dissect/digest - was disappointing bc I was chomping at the bit for Lainey’s hot takes and perspective. I get that they’re a hot bed for controversy and opens up crazies coming for the jugular but I’d rather get Lainey’s astute perspective over Celebitchy’s over-the-top fan girling. Lastly, more than ever, it’s imperative for smart voices to actively discuss/question archaic, racist, classist, colonial institutions like the British royal family. It’s their PRIVILEGE to ‘never explain’. They’ve gotten away with deriving/maintaining extreme [personal, generational] wealth through exploitation/slavery, and as an American I find it bizarre how the Brits continue allowing these inbred idiots to justify their existence under the guise of ‘service’ and ‘duty’. Not calling out this BS is akin to acceptance and tolerance of these unacceptable structures - and does more harm to those fighting for progress and equality.
MJ, I felt similarly. Obviously, I am not trying to push Lainey to write something she doesn’t want to write. At the same time, particularly given that the blog does have a header for royals (one of very few headers) and has enjoyed boosts from royal traffic in the past, I don’t think it’s unfair as a reader to feel some tension about Lainey’s response here. There has to be some middle ground between reblasting the Daily Mail (like Celebitchy) and periodic thoughtful takes. I found the lack of Spare coverage glaring - and certainly there is room for some analysis about the book, particularly the complicated nature of a family relationship in the public eye where there is an explicit hierarchy.
I also appreciate that my response alludes to a bigger “insider baseball” question regarding how you all decide what to feature versus what not to. What’s the balance between author interest, author expertise, audience traffic/ad revenue, etc.?
Yes! I don’t consider myself a royals fanatic by a long shot, but I thought M and H’s experience with the royal family was a perfect example of gossip showing us who we are as a society, something this blog focuses so much on. For that reason and bc it’s hard to argue that Diana and her sons aren’t some of the biggest worldwide celebrities of the past 40 years, it was such a disappointment to not get any discussion of Spare. It was the biggest pop culture topic for months and I kept waiting to get an interesting and nuanced take here!
Exactly! Haha, I had the identical experience as you two! Kept checking in for weeks for that Spare post, and totally thought Lainey would make it happen after teasing she’d eventually do it. After more than a month I figured it was too late - gossip moves so fast it probably didn’t feel relevant anymore - but I still would have gobbled up every word no matter when she decided to bestow it upon us!
Me too! And then she even hinted that she was still writing it. I read that book so fast, one because I enjoyed it and two because I wanted to be caught up when Lainey posted her review! Oh well!
I read it quickly too! But that was because the library wanted it back, lol. Honestly I felt like the leaked stories from the book made it seem way more devastating that was accurate. Read all together, with the more outlandish stories put in context, I didn't think Spare was THAT salacious overall! It was mostly about his time in the military and other countries. In fact it was kinda harrowing to realize that the media's version of Spare was WAY more dramatic and messy than it actually was, and that's what most people will remember instead of reading it themselves...
I wanted to hear her take on Spare so badly! And I would have loved to read her opinion about how the monarchy has been messing their PR lately, comparing Earthshot vs Invictus, or even her thoughts on Meghan and Harry and how they have handled their PR over their summer.
I find that Lainey always adds a lot of nuance and insider information to her pieces - but I understand how it must be boring to cover the same over and over
I am definitely bored with royals, I can't believe people are asking for more coverage of them. They completely ruined Celebitchy. I understand that people over there like Meghan but that kind of worship is insane
I can’t even go there and they are hateful, homophobic and misogynistic in their coverage of “peg” and “Kkkate” and their children, linking to them is frankly gross these days whether you love or hate H&M
I read maybe two pieces a month on Celebitchy now because of how it’s just endless royals spam. I used to visit multiple times a day! It drives me crazy how they take a single royals story and spread it over like 6 posts. But hey, whatever you have to do to keep the lights on, I guess.
I don't mind reading an article sometimes, like once a week or something especially if it's nuanced objective writing. But I don't think royals should have a special section on the blog like they are somehow better or more important than ordinary celebrities.
A crappy day was just made brighter reading the Mailbag - thank you so much.
Question: in the conversation about Jimmy Fallon and his behaviour, my mind goes to Tina Fey sometimes. I know she has a group of very famous/talented friends, but for someone as powerful (and frankly, funny), I’ve been side-eyeing her silence on topics. Is she just famously private or is she kind of part of the lion in the grass? I laughed really hard reading Bossy Pants, but I get a vibe from her that somehow she likes the status quo. Or maybe I’m totally wrong.
Regardless, I hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for all sharing your time with me/us!
My take on Tina Fey is that she was def a pre-girlboss era mouthpiece in a way that was in vogue during the mid-aughts, but then when the subjects got deeper, she started speaking out of turn and really displaying her limited, privileged worldview. Kept putting her foot in her mouth, and petulantly (IMO) announced she was over this "culture of apologizing." And then kinda gave up altogether trying to speak about anything substantial. So no, it doesn't surprise me that she has nothing to contribute to the discourse, although this is one case where her voice/experience would actually be valuable...
Ooh yes big +1 to this! Loved Show Your Work. Such a great behind the scenes / "how this stuff gets made" fame tutorial (left a gap that hasn't really been filled since SYW ended!). Any plans to return? What's your sense of the gossip podcast landscape, and what would your next dream audio project be?
At this point, I wonder what happens in general when certain shows just stop: I've noticed that when podcast disappear, they DISAPPEAR. Hosts don't give an explanation on social media, and a farewell episode is a rare thing. I remember Janet Mock did a few episodes of a pod, maybe even a full season, and just...never mentioned it again. Which makes me wonder, is it some sort of network rule that prohibits them from even speaking about shows when they're over, or what? Always been curious about this.
As someone who firmly believes in Adopt Don’t Shop, I don’t know why I find it so funny that Meghan Markle wasn’t impressed by you buying your beagles from a breeder but I really, really do.
Adopt Don't Shop is aimed at pet stores and puppy mills, not legitimate breeders without whom we'd no longer have healthy lines of dog breeds. Unless you are PETA, which takes Adopt Don't Shop all the way and advocates ending all dog breeding and eliminating all breeds.
Sorry- I realize that by connecting Tina Fey to Jimmy Fallon, it sounds like I’m “blaming” her for his behaviour and I didn’t mean to do that but I can see how it reads that way. What I meant to say is I’ve often wondered about Jimmy Fallon as a person. He gives off such “nice guy vibes” but it has never felt genuine. I’ve often found it odd he’s so close to JT and this train of thought about who surrounds Jimmy Fallon led me to Tina Fey because they’ve talked about being close. When I think of Tina Fey (on her own), I remember how funny I found her but given her connections and power, I just wonder where she is when big issues come up. I have no doubt that she has dealt with so much adversary but she’s now a powerful, successful woman who is also white. Does she bring others along with her to build something like Issa Rae or others but just quietly? Or is she pretty comfortable with the status quo? So my question was really meant for the mailbag and questioning what do the “insiders” think about Tina Fey. I do appreciate that you questioned me, though. Thanks!
Question for next time. I remember years ago seeing stories on Lainey Gossip about designers who absolutely would not provide clothes for plus-size stars. To the point where stars would beg designers to make something for them and it was the rare, very heroic designer who would do this. That seems not to be a problem today and yet I don't know exactly when or how that switched. I'm assuming it's no longer a problem but is that true? If so how did that happen?
I also note that I learned from Lainey that the fashion provided for the Emmys used to be b-grade compared to the Oscars. I imagine that changed when TV became the place for A-list stars so the fashion got better too. Is there a story there?
I have a question, and I apologize if it's a dumb question. When Meghan and Harry were at Beyoncé and he looked bored in that photo, I saw some tweets saying the videos where they looked happy were posted by someone M & H paid. Yes, the tweets were from someone who clearly hates them and spends all their time hating them and it's almost definitely a batshit conspiracy theory. But it did make me wonder, do celebrities ever pay people to post "spontaneous" positive videos of them to social media?
Some people do have photographers who take professional-grade photos for the purpose of sharing on social media. Sometimes it's to feed their spon con side hustle, sometimes it's just to guarantee they always look maximally good. I just wish it was a more transparent practice, like Photoshop, so that people realize the images they're seeing are professionally staged, styled, and lit, and not even the most beautiful people on thst planet look like that all the time.
Although Colin Farrell always DOES look like that.
Umm, that picture of Lainey in the Daily Mail is fabulous. At least they did you that solid! Apparently I agree that the Royals are super boring because that’s my only take away from the first few answers.
I mean I’m happy for the clarification on H&M but you never reviewed Spare and it seemed like because you didn’t want to say anything bad, and while it sold and was juicy it was full of lies and petty whining and it seemed like you didn’t want to be critical of it. Also nobody on a measured manner will report in their inconsistent stories, like the three versions of how they met, their sketchy finances themselves and MMs mother, or everything else that seems to shift and change and is “their truth” but maybe not the actual truth, and that’s pretty frustrating and imo a missed opportunity to inject some sanity.
Just here to say I 10000% agree with your take on exotic cats and I would also apply it to rescue animals - a puppy is HARD WORK. A reactive dog (hand up for personal experience here) is HARD WORK. It really makes my skin crawl when I see people who I know are not equipped for/willing to deal with these challenges get a pet because it’s cute. As you said, the pet didn’t ask to exist and also they REQUIRE a good life that meets their species-specific needs. If you want photos for the gram get a robot dog or make some AI portraits.
1.) I ♥️ Conan so much and the fact that most of his staff have stayed with him for 20-30+ years is amazing. He’s got people who have been with him from DAY 1. That’s not just incredible by media industry standards but in any working environment/company. It’s a testament to leadership from top down setting the example of compassion, integrity and creating a fun and equitable environment where people are challenged to do their best work, can grow, and feel ownership/ pride about their contributions to the organization’s shared goals, wins, and losses.
2.) re: Meghan and Harry - I too have had the impression that LG steers away from even noteworthy/ gossip worthy H&M news. Like not reviewing Spare - a legit meteoric best seller with plenty to dissect/digest - was disappointing bc I was chomping at the bit for Lainey’s hot takes and perspective. I get that they’re a hot bed for controversy and opens up crazies coming for the jugular but I’d rather get Lainey’s astute perspective over Celebitchy’s over-the-top fan girling. Lastly, more than ever, it’s imperative for smart voices to actively discuss/question archaic, racist, classist, colonial institutions like the British royal family. It’s their PRIVILEGE to ‘never explain’. They’ve gotten away with deriving/maintaining extreme [personal, generational] wealth through exploitation/slavery, and as an American I find it bizarre how the Brits continue allowing these inbred idiots to justify their existence under the guise of ‘service’ and ‘duty’. Not calling out this BS is akin to acceptance and tolerance of these unacceptable structures - and does more harm to those fighting for progress and equality.
MJ, I felt similarly. Obviously, I am not trying to push Lainey to write something she doesn’t want to write. At the same time, particularly given that the blog does have a header for royals (one of very few headers) and has enjoyed boosts from royal traffic in the past, I don’t think it’s unfair as a reader to feel some tension about Lainey’s response here. There has to be some middle ground between reblasting the Daily Mail (like Celebitchy) and periodic thoughtful takes. I found the lack of Spare coverage glaring - and certainly there is room for some analysis about the book, particularly the complicated nature of a family relationship in the public eye where there is an explicit hierarchy.
I also appreciate that my response alludes to a bigger “insider baseball” question regarding how you all decide what to feature versus what not to. What’s the balance between author interest, author expertise, audience traffic/ad revenue, etc.?
Yes! I don’t consider myself a royals fanatic by a long shot, but I thought M and H’s experience with the royal family was a perfect example of gossip showing us who we are as a society, something this blog focuses so much on. For that reason and bc it’s hard to argue that Diana and her sons aren’t some of the biggest worldwide celebrities of the past 40 years, it was such a disappointment to not get any discussion of Spare. It was the biggest pop culture topic for months and I kept waiting to get an interesting and nuanced take here!
I agree with this! Would have loved to read Lainey’s take on Spare...
I came to the blog with bated breath hoping for that article for weeks
Exactly! Haha, I had the identical experience as you two! Kept checking in for weeks for that Spare post, and totally thought Lainey would make it happen after teasing she’d eventually do it. After more than a month I figured it was too late - gossip moves so fast it probably didn’t feel relevant anymore - but I still would have gobbled up every word no matter when she decided to bestow it upon us!
Me too! And then she even hinted that she was still writing it. I read that book so fast, one because I enjoyed it and two because I wanted to be caught up when Lainey posted her review! Oh well!
I read it quickly too! But that was because the library wanted it back, lol. Honestly I felt like the leaked stories from the book made it seem way more devastating that was accurate. Read all together, with the more outlandish stories put in context, I didn't think Spare was THAT salacious overall! It was mostly about his time in the military and other countries. In fact it was kinda harrowing to realize that the media's version of Spare was WAY more dramatic and messy than it actually was, and that's what most people will remember instead of reading it themselves...
I wanted to hear her take on Spare so badly! And I would have loved to read her opinion about how the monarchy has been messing their PR lately, comparing Earthshot vs Invictus, or even her thoughts on Meghan and Harry and how they have handled their PR over their summer.
I find that Lainey always adds a lot of nuance and insider information to her pieces - but I understand how it must be boring to cover the same over and over
I am definitely bored with royals, I can't believe people are asking for more coverage of them. They completely ruined Celebitchy. I understand that people over there like Meghan but that kind of worship is insane
I can’t even go there and they are hateful, homophobic and misogynistic in their coverage of “peg” and “Kkkate” and their children, linking to them is frankly gross these days whether you love or hate H&M
I read maybe two pieces a month on Celebitchy now because of how it’s just endless royals spam. I used to visit multiple times a day! It drives me crazy how they take a single royals story and spread it over like 6 posts. But hey, whatever you have to do to keep the lights on, I guess.
Exactly LOL. I enjoy Kaiser and other writers but the other day I looked at the front page, there were 11 articles, 9 of them about royals
I disagree. Especially with Meghan’s “relaunch” and supposedly coming back to Instagram...I’d love to hear Lainey’s thoughts once/if that happens.
I don't mind reading an article sometimes, like once a week or something especially if it's nuanced objective writing. But I don't think royals should have a special section on the blog like they are somehow better or more important than ordinary celebrities.
A crappy day was just made brighter reading the Mailbag - thank you so much.
Question: in the conversation about Jimmy Fallon and his behaviour, my mind goes to Tina Fey sometimes. I know she has a group of very famous/talented friends, but for someone as powerful (and frankly, funny), I’ve been side-eyeing her silence on topics. Is she just famously private or is she kind of part of the lion in the grass? I laughed really hard reading Bossy Pants, but I get a vibe from her that somehow she likes the status quo. Or maybe I’m totally wrong.
Regardless, I hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for all sharing your time with me/us!
My take on Tina Fey is that she was def a pre-girlboss era mouthpiece in a way that was in vogue during the mid-aughts, but then when the subjects got deeper, she started speaking out of turn and really displaying her limited, privileged worldview. Kept putting her foot in her mouth, and petulantly (IMO) announced she was over this "culture of apologizing." And then kinda gave up altogether trying to speak about anything substantial. So no, it doesn't surprise me that she has nothing to contribute to the discourse, although this is one case where her voice/experience would actually be valuable...
I agree. It's quite telling that Tina hasn't said a word.
Ooh I have a question for the next Squawk. What happened to the Lainey podcasts? I miss Sasha and What’s your Drama and Duana and Show Your Work!
I was just going to ask this same thing. I loved both podcasts and they just disappeared. Will we be seeing a new podcast anytime soon?
Ooh yes big +1 to this! Loved Show Your Work. Such a great behind the scenes / "how this stuff gets made" fame tutorial (left a gap that hasn't really been filled since SYW ended!). Any plans to return? What's your sense of the gossip podcast landscape, and what would your next dream audio project be?
At this point, I wonder what happens in general when certain shows just stop: I've noticed that when podcast disappear, they DISAPPEAR. Hosts don't give an explanation on social media, and a farewell episode is a rare thing. I remember Janet Mock did a few episodes of a pod, maybe even a full season, and just...never mentioned it again. Which makes me wonder, is it some sort of network rule that prohibits them from even speaking about shows when they're over, or what? Always been curious about this.
Agreed!!! I really mis Show Your Work! I'm also concerned about Duana. She':(s gone completely MIA :(
As someone who firmly believes in Adopt Don’t Shop, I don’t know why I find it so funny that Meghan Markle wasn’t impressed by you buying your beagles from a breeder but I really, really do.
Adopt Don't Shop is aimed at pet stores and puppy mills, not legitimate breeders without whom we'd no longer have healthy lines of dog breeds. Unless you are PETA, which takes Adopt Don't Shop all the way and advocates ending all dog breeding and eliminating all breeds.
Just blink if it’s Lorne. 🦁
Sorry- I realize that by connecting Tina Fey to Jimmy Fallon, it sounds like I’m “blaming” her for his behaviour and I didn’t mean to do that but I can see how it reads that way. What I meant to say is I’ve often wondered about Jimmy Fallon as a person. He gives off such “nice guy vibes” but it has never felt genuine. I’ve often found it odd he’s so close to JT and this train of thought about who surrounds Jimmy Fallon led me to Tina Fey because they’ve talked about being close. When I think of Tina Fey (on her own), I remember how funny I found her but given her connections and power, I just wonder where she is when big issues come up. I have no doubt that she has dealt with so much adversary but she’s now a powerful, successful woman who is also white. Does she bring others along with her to build something like Issa Rae or others but just quietly? Or is she pretty comfortable with the status quo? So my question was really meant for the mailbag and questioning what do the “insiders” think about Tina Fey. I do appreciate that you questioned me, though. Thanks!
Question for next time. I remember years ago seeing stories on Lainey Gossip about designers who absolutely would not provide clothes for plus-size stars. To the point where stars would beg designers to make something for them and it was the rare, very heroic designer who would do this. That seems not to be a problem today and yet I don't know exactly when or how that switched. I'm assuming it's no longer a problem but is that true? If so how did that happen?
I also note that I learned from Lainey that the fashion provided for the Emmys used to be b-grade compared to the Oscars. I imagine that changed when TV became the place for A-list stars so the fashion got better too. Is there a story there?
I love all this inside baseball!
I have a question, and I apologize if it's a dumb question. When Meghan and Harry were at Beyoncé and he looked bored in that photo, I saw some tweets saying the videos where they looked happy were posted by someone M & H paid. Yes, the tweets were from someone who clearly hates them and spends all their time hating them and it's almost definitely a batshit conspiracy theory. But it did make me wonder, do celebrities ever pay people to post "spontaneous" positive videos of them to social media?
Some people do have photographers who take professional-grade photos for the purpose of sharing on social media. Sometimes it's to feed their spon con side hustle, sometimes it's just to guarantee they always look maximally good. I just wish it was a more transparent practice, like Photoshop, so that people realize the images they're seeing are professionally staged, styled, and lit, and not even the most beautiful people on thst planet look like that all the time.
Although Colin Farrell always DOES look like that.
He is another longtime crush. Hoo boy.
Also, I have had a crush on Conan for like 20 years and am so glad he seems to be a non-jerk in private!
Umm, that picture of Lainey in the Daily Mail is fabulous. At least they did you that solid! Apparently I agree that the Royals are super boring because that’s my only take away from the first few answers.
I mean I’m happy for the clarification on H&M but you never reviewed Spare and it seemed like because you didn’t want to say anything bad, and while it sold and was juicy it was full of lies and petty whining and it seemed like you didn’t want to be critical of it. Also nobody on a measured manner will report in their inconsistent stories, like the three versions of how they met, their sketchy finances themselves and MMs mother, or everything else that seems to shift and change and is “their truth” but maybe not the actual truth, and that’s pretty frustrating and imo a missed opportunity to inject some sanity.
I would love if you could give us a peak inside your closet 😩 I always loved your fashion on The Social. Your shoe game is always on point!
Sarah, speaking of cats, how’s Pancake???
Totally fucking insane after spending a week in boarding. Ask Lainey, she's heard Pancake having meltdowns over the phone.
Just here to say I 10000% agree with your take on exotic cats and I would also apply it to rescue animals - a puppy is HARD WORK. A reactive dog (hand up for personal experience here) is HARD WORK. It really makes my skin crawl when I see people who I know are not equipped for/willing to deal with these challenges get a pet because it’s cute. As you said, the pet didn’t ask to exist and also they REQUIRE a good life that meets their species-specific needs. If you want photos for the gram get a robot dog or make some AI portraits.
Lainey, those boots are perfection. Definitely a silver lining in the UK gossip controversy.
Beginning the hunt for the McQueen sneakers now...thanks Lainey!