Like so many of us, I can’t stop thinking about what’s happening in Minnesota and, of course, the entire country. Before hopping into my recap of the past seven days, I want to share Stand with Minnesota, a list of mutual aid resources you can direct financial support to, from rent relief to food, diapers, contraceptives, and more.
January 19: Clare Malone profiled Bari Weiss for The New Yorker. It’s an excellent piece, taking a close look at how Weiss, founder of vile news outlet The Free Press, has continually maneuvered herself to align more and more with power. Among the many incredible quotes from sources near the new media mogul, this one stood out: “I don’t think if you sat her down and said, ‘Can you explain the difference between a news story, an investigative story, and an enterprise story?,’ [Weiss] could tell you what it means—and she wasn’t going to let that slow her down.”
January 19: Following months of speculation that Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest son of the British clan, had fallen out with his famous family, the amateur photographer took to Instagram to air out his grievances. Of course, this immediately went viral. I have no loyalty to any Beckham, so I don’t want to bow to pressure to give my “take,” but I do think it’s worth noting that most people wouldn’t abandon their family — and, in this case, generational wealth — over nothing. I’m left wondering what Brooklyn didn’t say! Surely he could have included more.
January 20: Texts exchanged between Taylor Swift and Blake Lively were made public through unsealed legal filings. Unfortunately, they’re pretty boring.
January 20: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered an impassioned speech at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, garnering a standing ovation. He spoke about how middle powers, like Canada, the UK, and other European nations, have the most to lose “from a world of fortresses” and “the most to gain from genuine cooperation.”
January 21: Puck reported that Pat McGrath Labs, the beauty line by famous makeup artist, Dame Pat McGrath, will be sold off next week. The brand once had a $1B valuation, but according to Puck and WWD, sales have dropped significantly in the last two years. I’m not surprised — the brand never became a fixture of Gen Z beauty routines the way other new brands have.
“Pat is disconnected from how the consumer wears makeup today,” is how one beauty veteran bluntly put it. “In 2016, her brand dominated because you had a 12-step eyeshadow routine and blush under frosty highlighter, and so on. The bitchy MAC counter queen vibe is no longer relevant, and that’s what her brand is giving, unfortunately.”
One would assume that a company with a competent social media strategy would be somehow able to take advantage of the 2016 trend still plaguing my feed right now.
January 22: Also at Davos, Jared Kushner revealed his real estate plans for Gaza. Disgusting.
January 22: A deal between the U.S. and China has been finalized to keep TikTok operating in America. As reported in Semafor, “The new structure leaves [China-owned] ByteDance with just under 20% of the US business, with 15% stakes going to Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, a state-owned investment firm in the UAE focused on AI.” Yes, Trump ally Larry Ellison is Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Oracle.
January 23: Jacquemus announced his first, very unexpected brand ambassador: his grandmother. Earlier this week when he teased the news, I immediately thought of Dua Lipa (a friend of Jacquemus founder and creative director, Simon) but wondered if that was too obvious. Turns out it was — and this is considerably cooler.
January 23: In preparation for today’s storm, Mamdani made his way through the Big Snow media circuit. While he was at it, he reminded everyone that the NYPL has temporarily made Heated Rivalry, and the entire Game Changers series, available with no wait times through February 14. Happy early V Day, yearners!
January 24: Anti-ICE protests are continuing in Minneapolis, MN. Among other continued horrors, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed by ICE officials, marking the second murder of a Minneapolis resident by federal officers since the start of the year. Following their son’s execution, Pretti’s parents released a statement:
January 25: The New York Times profiled Morris Katz, one of the young political strategists behind the Mamdani campaign. If you can believe it, he’s just 26. (And if you missed it, Mamdani’s senior advisor Zara Rahim was profiled in Passerby last month, as I’d been hoping for.)
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