Nothing But Respect for My President Barbie
Tiffany, Brad, Issa, Kevin, Jake, Tyra and more famous faves do the hustle....
Barista Barbie
I, strangely enough, do not feel assaulted by the absolute deluge of Barbie movie-themed marketing. I’m just letting it wash over me like a river at high tide.
I am even enjoying the ridiculous, no pink stone left unturned aspects of it, like revelations that actor Michael Cera and his flip phone were not a part of the cast’s group chat (gasp!) or the cast’s absolute shock to learn that Issa “I’m a mogul, bitch” Rae has co-owned a few coffee downtown LA shops, Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen, for several years now. Nothing but respect for my President Barbie.
[The Barbie Cast Tries to Guess Which One of Them Owns a Coffee Shop / @FindYourHilltop]
Jake Tapper
CNN news anchor Jake Tapper has been making the rounds to promote his third (!) novel, All the Demons Are Here, and I am intrigued. That means that I should probably get around to taking a look at the first two. My groaning to be read pile is giving me a bombastic side eye, but Tapper had me at wanting “a way to talk about the rise of tabloid journalism, and how the Murdochs have exploited people’s most base fears for their own financial gain.”
[Jake Tapper on His New Novel and Taking His Talents to Tinseltown With a TV Adaptation / The Hollywood Reporter]
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
I couldn’t keep the last few years of, um, Tiffany Haddish discourse straight if I tried. I still haven’t recovered from the secondhand trauma of reading a third of the comedian turned #blactress’ New York Times bestselling memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, before my cortisol levels lodged a complaint. Her upcoming Broadway play and Snoop Dogg-blessed debut album give me pause. And agita. But I brake for any attempt at something resembling food justice. So I hope she’s successful in raising $25 million for a BIPOC-oriented grocery store in the neighborhood she grew up in, Crenshaw, Los Angeles.
[Tiffany Haddish Wants It All / The Washington Post]
Bringing Home the Fakin’
I never watched Gotham. I thought The O.C. was just an Adam Brody and Peter Gallagher delivery system. But you bet I’m reading actor turned author Ben McKenzie’s new book, Easy Money, about his attempts to make us all see that the Emperor, i.e., the cryptocurrency industry, has no clothes. You’re right, Ben. It’s giving scam.
[Ben McKenzie Has a New Role as a Crypto Skeptic—in Real Life / The Ringer]
Smize Queen
Every day is National Ice Cream Day in my neck of the woods. But I was still surprised to learn that Tyra Banks, somewhere ignoring the hordes of us detoxing from the hot mess that was America’s Next Top Model, has an ice cream company. I thought Sherri Shepherd was pulling my leg last week when The Sherri Show’s Instagram feed gave a shout out to Banks’ creamy side hustle during her visit to the show last fall. But nope, Smize Cream is real. Not spectacular, but real.
Wait, what’s that? *touches earpiece* Ah. Sorry, thanks to a *checks notes* brand rebirth since Banks’ visit to Sherri’s couch, Smize Cream is now Smize & Dream in honor of Banks’ mother. Lionel Richie is involved somehow. But it’s still insanely sweet and chemically and no threat to whatever your favorite ice cream actually is. (Yes, I did my due diligence. You’re welcome.) Carry on.
Hart to Hart
Some tea, no shade? This 44-page Amazon Original Stories book wasn’t written for me, a hit or miss Hart fan who’s inspired up the proverbial wazoo these days, thanks!
But “beloved comedian and #1 New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hart” has a huge fan base that’s no doubt pre-ordering the hell out of It Will All Work Out: The Freedom of Letting Go before its August 1st debut. And they’re ready to “join Kevin Hart as he identifies and battles one of the biggest obstacles to happiness—what he calls the Control Monster.”
I will be over here checking out his first stand-up special in three years on Peacock though.
[It Will All Work Out: The Freedom of Letting Go by Kevin Hart / Amazon]
[Kevin Hart: Reality Check / Peacock]
New W(h)ine in Old Bottles
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filed for divorce way back in 2016, yet the hits keep on coming. This time, per Financial Times, it’s in the form of an ongoing battle over a vineyard, one of the classier nouveau riche side hustles, which no doubt seemed like terrific idea when they were happily married.
I’ll let you dig into the intricate details over their expensive tussling over the Château Miraval vineyard in Provence. The gist of it is that they bought it in the halcyon days of 2008, and “the rosé brand they established with the help of famed Rhône winemaker Marc Perrin went on to generate more than €15mn in profits in 2022, according to the filings.” But things soured and now phrases like “loot,” “blatant cash grab,” “Croatian stone mason, “Russian billionaire,” and “this f**king guy”—wait, that last one is merely implied—are being thrown around liberally.
The Financial Times article is also how I learned that the often stuffy newspaper will “send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Brad Pitt news every morning.”
Every morning? Have…have we run out of news? Has FT run out of subscribers? I am confusion.
[‘Petulant’ Brad Pitt Accused of ‘Looting’ Provence Vineyard He Owned with Angelina Jolie / Financial Times]
Nikki Suits Up
Comedian Nicole Byer is hardly the first celeb to launch a swimwear line, but she’s probably the funniest. "I love bathing suits. I wrote a whole book about wearing bathing suits," she told InStyle magazine, which, perhaps fearing for its word count, did not note the book’s amazing title—#VERYFAT #VERYBRAVE: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini.
I knew the Kitty and Vibe x Nicole Byer Collection would pass the vibe check, aesthetically speaking, because that’s Kitty and Vibe’s thing. And it’s right there in the name, people! When you’re wearing Kitty and Vibe, people stomp up to your beach chair and demand to know where you got your suit.
But they’re also beloved for their size inclusivity, something not lost on Byer. “Being a fat woman, it's hard to find things to match your thinner friends,” she told InStyle. “You go to a store, and it stops at an XL or a large or whatever [and] I'm like, 'What are you doing? Do you just not want money from fat people?' Fat money is the same as thin money."
[Nicole Byer's New Kitty and Vibe Swimwear Line Totally #NailedIt / InStyle]