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Does Charles Melton listen to Japanese Breakfast?

April 23, 2021

This week, Daysia shares the celebrity posts she’s obsessed with while Hannah discusses a weird brain phenomenon she has when it comes to certain celeb siblings. We also round up some great reads this week that are serious (exposing years of abusive behavior by a powerful producer), not-so-serious (Lourdes Leon spilling the tea) and somewhere in between (Caitlyn Jenner following in the steps of Arnold Schwarzenegger).

<3

Daysia and Hannah

This Week's Fixations

What’s taking up our brain space this week?

Daysia: Today, I present to you a smattering of nonsensical celeb moments. This week: Ariana Grande's vocal arranging process is fascinating; Shawn Mendes’ attempts at being interesting are collectively my 13th reason; WHAT is the TMI in this Nicholas Braun hook up blind item??; SZA, Kehlani, and Lizzo are in a room together, and I’m eagerly anticipating a collab; Bridgit Mendler took a pause from making bangers because she’s a literal PhD student at MIT, BUT new music is on the way, girlies!; 🚨ONLY REAL DIRECTIONERS WILL GET THIS TIKTOK 🚨; Jane Fonda fought a bear once; Cardi B supports Olivia Rodrigo; since the Girls Next Door are having a bit of a comeback moment, the Les Deux You Remember This podcast will remind you of its glory (and garbage); and Jennifer Garner is goth for Kat Dennings.

And finally, my favorite thing this week: Charles Melton is reading JBrekkie’s new book 🥺 (do they know each other??? or did he just buy it himself? is he a fan?):

I also bought my (signed!<3) copy of Crying at H Mart yesterday.

Me 🤝 Charles Melton

Great taste in books

Hannah: Earlier this week I gave Daysia a minor scare when she thought I didn’t know that Elizabeth Olsen (Marvel darling) was the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (of Full House, New York Minute, Passport to Paris, etc. fame). The cause was me sending her this tweet and saying, “I’m one of those people lmao.” Obviously, I know that they are sisters but it’s not the first thing that comes to mind because they are part of two completely eras of my personal pop culture history. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are Celebrities of My Childhood—I don’t even know how many times I have watched New York Minute (the Bob Saget cameo is still one of the most genius moments in cinema history, in my opinion). Meanwhile, Elizabeth is very much in the mainstream as Scarlet Witch and that’s how she’s categorized in my mind rather than “sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley.” For me, Elizabeth’s distance from her sisters comes from the fact that Mary-Kate and Ashley aren’t really in the mainstream anymore. They are minding their business selling $34,000 backpacks, getting divorced on Zoom and wearing black at the Met Gala. I don’t really want to get into the nepotism and Hollywood discussion—other than to say it’s absolutely a thing. Instead, I want to discuss this weird brain phenomenon that I have with other famous siblings:

  • Macaulay and Kieran Culkin: the former being a Celebrity of My Childhood with Home Alone (and then recently breaking into my timeline when it was announced he and Brenda Song had a baby!) and the latter making me laugh as Roman Roy as an adult (Succession season 3 when?!).

  • Dakota and Elle Fanning: slightly different as both are still working but Dakota was a fixture in my childhood with Uptown Girls, The Cat in the Hat, Charlotte’s Web, and the Twilight series (honorary mention goes to one of my favorite underrated films Push with Chris Evans). Meanwhile, in the past few years Elle has emerged as an indie darling and most recently as a wonderful Catherine the Great in the Hulu series The Great (watch this if you haven’t!).

I’m sure there are other celeb siblings that I’m forgetting that fall under this divide in my mind but I can’t think of them right now. (Tweet me @popcultletter if this is also a thing you experience and/or think of other examples). Anyways, I’m going to finally watch WandaVision (don’t spoil me!) and try to remember that Elizabeth is related to Mary-Kate and Ashley.

Has Lorde Dropped a New Album?

Not even a crumb, girl.

In the meantime, listen to Troye Sivan and Tate McRae's groovy new collab "You."

Too Many Tabs

Our fav reads of the week

Lourdes Leon may be the most iconic person ever (among other things, she says she wants to play Mother Teresa in a movie, her hero is JWoww, and she says Ansel Elgort is a terrible DJ), according to the interview she gave to Britt Hennemuth for Vanity Fair.

Alanna Bennett talked to Keke Palmer about being booked and balanced for R29Unbothered’s first cover story.

Paris Hilton talks about her not so simple life on this episode of Inside the Hive (Vanity Fair) with Emily Jane Fox and Joe Hagan.

Vulture investigated and put together a thorough piece about Hollywood and Broadway producer Scott Rudin’s abusive behavior as a boss by speaking to 33 of his former assistants. Also in Vulture, Tavi Gevinson writes about her experience with Rudin and the wider network of abuse and bullying in the entertainment industry and the opportunity for change.