Gawker - Spon Please

What happens when “journalist brands” involve actual brands?

A few weeks ago, a subset of journalists were duking it out over the word “brand,” and specifically whether writers should have one. This is hardly the first time the issue has come up, although the writer-as-brand conversation tends to deploy the word “brand” somewhat narrowly — where the thing being sold is the person’s reputation or the writing they forge it through. “In the way that the influencer uses her image to sell her swag,” critic Allegra Hobbs wrote in a piece about this phenomenon three years ago, “the writer leverages her life to sell her work, to editors and audiences.” But a recent incident at The Cut illuminates some of the ethical and material gray areas in instances when journalist-branding involves actual brands.

The situation involved a writer named Andrew Nguyen who, until February, had worked at the website for nearly four years. The Cut, an online offshoot of New York magazine, began as a fashion blog in 2008 and has since grown to cover a range of subjects. Nguyen, a former stylist and fairly well-known New York drag performer, had come to the site from the fashion side — starting as a fashion assistant and moving up to fashion news writer by the late summer of 2020. (Nguyen declined to comment for this piece).

Fashion journalists, generally speaking, have a different relationship with brands than those on other beats. A tech reporter can’t usually accept a gift from Amazon, or another corporation they cover. But fashion writers, for better or worse, do regularly receive free products from luxury designers or take funded “press trips” to a marketing event or product launch. The Cut, like many similar outlets, allows writers to accept these gifts, if they comply with Vox Media’s guidelines. “The lines at fashion publications especially have always been blurred,” fashion journalist Amy Odell told Gawker. “Let's say, and I’m making this up, Chanel flew a bunch of beauty editors to the French Riviera to show them a new perfume — these things are quite common.” Continue reading →

We know you haven't seen 'Nightmare Alley' yet, and we’re here for you

The Oscars — cinema’s biggest night. Every year Hollywood’s best and brightest turn out in borrowed couture to celebrate what are, allegedly, the best films of the year. However there are a few films that slip into the race each year that disappear from the cultural memory as soon as the ceremony ends.

Recent entrants into this distinguished tradition include Lion, The Post, Mank, Hacksaw Ridge, and Brooklyn. All of those movies have their fans, but are you one of them? I dare you to find someone who has rewatched Darkest Hour since their hurried rush to see all of the Best Picture nominees in 2018.

It’s hard to see every nominated film before Oscar night, and I am here to tell you that you do not have to. But perhaps you still want to be included in the conversation. Maybe you’re going to an Oscars party and don’t want to look like the only idiot in the room who hasn’t seen King Richard. Well, you’re in luck. Because my brain has been poisoned by Big Cinema, I have seen all the movies you might have missed. That means that I can tell you what they’re about, and what you can say to make yourself seem like someone who checks GoldDerby every day. Continue reading →

It’s about someone named “Cricket Lopez”

Are you very interested in knowing what Chris Pine is doing at Jeni’s Ice Cream in Los Feliz? Do you care that Joe Biden was seen by an anonymous source in Washington D.C., where he works as the President of the United States? If the answer is yes, a recent book announcement may excite you.

DeuxMoi, the anonymous Instagram account that routinely updates its 1.4 million followers on mundane celebrity sightings framed as “gossip,” like which celebrity was actually so sweet when a stranger approached them for a photo, is writing a book. The book is to be titled Anon Pls. and it is written by the anonymous loser behind DeuxMoi.

The book has not yet been announced on Publisher’s Marketplace, so it’s unclear how much this sold for, but it is being published by HarperCollins’s William Morrow imprint and already available for pre-order on Barnes and Noble, Target, Google Play, Amazon, and Bookshop. Continue reading →

A gallant and timely admission

As proxies for the Queen, Prince William and Kate have been shaking their alabaster bums across commonwealth countries in the Caribbean to commemorate the Platinum Jubbly, exploring chocolate farms and forest preserves to sample new and exciting pudding ingredients.

Citizens of Jamaica, Belize, and the Bahamas have staged massive protests amid the royals’ tropical jaunt this week, calling for British accountability for the Crown’s storied history of land grabbing, colonization, and slavery. Even People, typically the American propaganda arm of the multi-billion dollar corporation Queen Lilibet Trading Company LLC, had to acknowledge it. The magazine ran a damning cover story this week– Royal Tour Controversy: Facing Protests, The Couple Must Navigate a Changing World. Enough was enough. In an effort not to be outdone by his woke-ass brother Harry, recent recipient of an NAACP Image Award, Prince William finally put his lily-white ass on the line and channeled loveable fop Hugh Grant stuttering out the word “sorry” a million times.

"I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened," William said in a “landmark speech” in Jamaica on Wednesday. Continue reading →

A new study found microplastics in human blood for the first time.

The uh-oh alarm is ringing out its monophonic beep-boop version of “Barbie Girl,” and, as you know, that can only mean one thing: Science has determined you are one step closer to becoming one with the plastic bag from American Beauty or Katy Perry’s “Firework.” And it doesn’t seem good.

Yes, scientists in the Netherlands have found microplastics in human blood for the very first time. Sorry to have to tell you like this. And, no, it doesn’t seem rare; our tiny plastic friends (or, I guess, family members) showed up in about 80 percent of people tested. I’m no scientist myself, but from the results I feel comfortable theorizing: oh no.

The study, published in the journal Environment International, analyzed blood samples from 22 healthy adult donors, and found plastic particles in 17 of them. According to the Guardian, half of the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in drink bottles, and a third contained polystyrene, which is commonly used in food packaging (and fake plastic trees). A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene, which is the plastic from which plastic bags are made. Yum! Continue reading →