This week, Daysia discusses the latest Joshua Bassett GQ profile and Hannah dips her toe into the Jeremy Strong discourse, and then it takes it out.

This Week's Fixations

Daysia: (Content warning for sexual abuse!) Perhaps I’m a Joshua Bassett apologist, but man, that guy has been through so much. His latest interview with GQ’s Willa Bennett was very illuminating and appeared (keyword) very earnest. His vague, wistful references to Olivia Rodrigo and their (unclear) relationship was kind of reminiscent of Jason Sudeikis’s statements about Olivia Wilde in his GQ profile earlier this year—meaning both admit to their shortcomings but are candidly uncertain about what led to their respective falling-outs. Of course, we will never really know the full story behind celebrity relationships (for instance, this bit from the interview, "'People don't realize how long ago that was,' he says, seemingly referring to Rodrigo."), but because of the nature of the internet, we fall into echo chambers that convince us our theories are correct. The fervor around Bassett and Rodrigo’s supposed relationship seemed to take a huge toll on Bassett’s mental health and create a pretty serious security issue. While I don't doubt Rodrigo was hurt by Bassett (and perhaps, vice versa, if we are to believe his new songs are about her), this summer sounds like it was absolute hell for him. No wonder he escaped New York City for the Catskills.

To make matters worse, after this interview came out, he received a lot of truly disgusting hate over one piece of the article in particular: his experience being sexually abused as a child. People responded to this by trying to minimize his assault. He rightfully called those people out on his Instagram Story. I commend him for coming forward with his story and for trying to create space for healing and processing from this sort of trauma. And while I’m unsurprised at the vitriolic commentary from opposing stans, I’m truly sickened by the response he received. We gotta do better, Livies.

I’m certain there is a lot of hurt between Bassett and Rodrigo, and their respective songs are probably autobiographical to an extent. But there are so many blanks that the public cannot fill, and like most relationships, it’s probably more complicated than we think.

Hannah: I was thinking of potentially throwing my hat into the ring regarding the Jeremy Strong discourse (that has taken over my Twitter timeline since that profile in the New Yorker—linked in Too Many Tabs, naturally—was published)... However, I am wise and longtime readers of Pop Cult will know that we stan Jeremy Strong. We are down with his sad boi, Serious Actor process. So I will remain unbothered 😌just like Jeremy probably is!

Instead, I will leave you with this trailer for a new Netflix series coming out starring Kristen Bell, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Yes, it is a parody!

I love a well-done parody and this does an excellent job of straddling the line between “wait, is this real?” and “no, this is too many woman-lead mystery/thriller tropes.”

Has Lorde Dropped a New Album?

She’s a headliner for the inaugural Primavera Sound Los Angeles festival, set for September 2022!

ICYMI: Mitski released the third single “Heat Lightning” from her upcoming album. Plus, the music video for French Montana, Doja Cat, and Saweetie’s “Handstand” is out now.

Too Many Tabs

The New Yorker’s Michael Schulman wrote an apparently divisive profile on Jeremy Strong, who takes his work extremely seriously (shocker!).

Colton Haynes published an essay in Vulture about the early days of his career and how he was told he was “too gay” for Hollywood.

Public defender Olayemi Olurin wrote an op-ed in Teen Vogue about how Law & Order shaped our views on policing.

Plus… RIP Zen Scott Cannon, Olivia at the DMV, a sort-of High School Musical reunion, Drake withdrew his name from competition at the upcoming Grammys, Zoë Kravitz’s power, Kirsten Dunst on her new role in The Power of the Dog, Spider-Man eats Hot Ones, I'm seriously afraid Kendall Roy is going to die this season, Olivia Wilde on Don’t Worry Darling, revisiting What I Like About You, and Jen Aniston is just the best (put her in a Wes Anderson movie!).