Happy Saturday! Thank you for starting your weekend with Pop Cult. In this week's letter, Daysia recounts covering the Astroworld tragedy and Hannah can’t get over the details of the weddings of Ivy Getty and Paris Hilton.

In other news, there are so many great albums out today! Hope you have a wonderful weekend (unless you’re Jake Gyllenhaal 😡).

<3

Daysia and Hannah

This Week's Fixations

Daysia: There are a lot of things that happened in the pop cultural sphere this past week, but nothing was as affecting or important as the Astroworld disaster. I have never seen such graphic or horrifying footage in my life. Because of my job (I am a weekend editor and I run the news desk during that time), I watched and compiled viral videos and stories from the festival. Many of them made me sick to my stomach. People described unprepared medics, festivalgoers impeding ambulance carts, and fruitless screams for help. The death toll is up to nine after a 22-year-old woman died in the hospital yesterday. People, including children as young as 9 years old, are still fighting for their lives. This didn’t have to happen. There were failures at so many points: Travis Scott failing to stop for 37 minutes after police declared a mass casualty; rushed hiring of security; and a lack of action after people stormed the festival gates earlier in the day. There continue to be failures in the aftermath: Scott’s partnership with BetterHelp; all of the distasteful Astroworld conspiracy theories; and the misinformation spread by police about a rogue drug injector in the crowd.

Undoubtedly, the Astroworld saga is far from over. There are no words that aptly capture the gravity of this event, but one thing is clear: no one should have to die at a concert. Musicians have a certain responsibility to stop shows that become unsafe, and they usually do. Here’s hoping that something like this never happens again.

If you are interested in seeing how you can help Astroworld victims or need help yourself, please check this master doc (compiled by my colleague and Houstonian, Anna María).

Hannah: Last week I talked about celebrity engagements and this week I’m talking about a couple of celebrity weddings, namely Ivy Love Getty’s and Paris Hilton’s. Both heiresses—oil and hotel, respectively—had their wedding covered by Vogue (of course). Thank you to Vogue for providing this essential journalism so we can vicariously see how the uber-rich get married.

Here’s the Vogue article that gives all the details but I like this article by The Cut (This Wedding Is Doing A Lot) which gets to what we really want: all the insane details. Some highlights:

• The British Invasion-themed pre-wedding party at the Palace of Fine Arts where Meryl Streep’s son-in-law, Mark Ronson, was a DJ and Earth, Wind and Fire did a surprise performance.

• There were 14 bridesmaids! Outfitted in Maison Martin Margiela by Galliano couture dresses, naturally. Not to mention that Anya Taylor-Joy served as maid of honor. Getty’s wedding dress was also custom Galliano.

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi officiated the ceremony??

I will say after scrolling through the 100 photos of the wedding/celebration in the Vogue article it does seem like it was a wonderful day.

Meanwhile, Paris Hilton’s nuptials took place on November 11 because as she’s quoted in the Vogue article covering her wedding, “11:11 has always been my favorite time of day. It’s my reminder to make a wish and be open to miracles. This date is special to Carter and I—it represents our love story, which both of us knew was meant to be.” Aww!

Hilton’s wedding dress was custom Oscar de la Renta and her bridesmaids (a reasonable five) wore Alice + Olivia. Thee Kim Petras was responsible for the music that Hilton walked down the aisle to, which was the song “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The Vogue article on Hilton’s wedding is shorter and has less photos but not to worry because the article ends with a note that more details can be found on Hilton’s website. (Paris said if you want the scoop, I’m going to get the clicks—we love a savvy businesswoman!)

Has Lorde Dropped a New Album?

She celebrated her birthday on the 7th and posted a bit of an existential musing about it on her website. 25, baby!

Lorde also postponed her Australian/New Zealand tour dates to 2023 and went to a basketball game with her boyfriend (and Chris Rock!).

ICYMI: Lots of releases today! Red (Taylor’s Version), including a short film for All Too Well featuring our favorite WBOTM Dylan O’Brien, has arrived. Between Us Little Mix’s 10 year anniversary compilation album, along with the music video for “No,” is out. And Silk Sonic’s debut album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, has finally dropped. Big day for music!

Too Many Tabs

Vulture’s Craig Jenkins unpacked the aftermath, and uncertainty, following Astroworld.

Lady Gaga and Ridley Scott spoke with the New York Times’ Kyle Buchanan about making House of Gucci.

Adele and Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos discussed divorce and 30, her most honest album yet.

Plus… Britney is FREE!, a roundtable on the rise and fall of Chris Pratt, you don’t know Tessa Thompson, what this year’s CFDAs say about the future of American fashion, Montero on MAURY!!!!, KStew: the best Diana, sexiest man Paul Rudd, Charlie Puth is done with Benny Blanco’s bullying (??) 😳, Shailene Woodley accidentally dragged her fiancé Aaron Rodgers lol, and the weird Vin Diesel-The Rock feud.