• Pop Cult
  • Posts
  • Where's the Charlie Puth documentary?

Where's the Charlie Puth documentary?

December 18, 2020

Alright folks, this week’s newsletter is admittedly Puth-heavy. Hannah demands a documentary from him (we don’t want a Shawn Mendes one!), and Daysia tries to figure out who his new song is about (and she’s pretty disappointed by her findings!).

Other topics include Liam Payne giving relationship advice, the biggest celeb PR flops of the year, and evermore.

Enjoy!

<3 Daysia and Hannah

P.S. Queries, questions and letting us know that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are dating  (although we’re still skeptical) can be shared with us at [email protected] or DM us on Twitter @popcultletter.

This Week’s Fixations

What’s taking up our brain space this week?

Hannah: Honestly surprised this hasn’t come up sooner but since we’re leaning into talking about Charlie Puth I will admit that I watch “We Don’t Talk Anymore [Official Live Performance]” on the regular (like maybe once a month). There’s so much to unpack and it starts with the juxtaposition of Selena Gomez looking incredible in a messy braid and Nordstrom prom dress and Charlie wearing an actual flannel (also looking incredible). Not to mention the way they can’t stop looking at each other, some intense staring happening. The way Selena says “Charlie Puth, everybody” when they finish singing. This video makes me a Charlena believer (but then after the end of the 3 minutes and 4 seconds I promptly go back to believing that he has never been in love). 

And what would make it even better is if I could have a retrospective breakdown of this performance in a Charlie Puth documentary*. This year alone we have had docs about Blackpink, Shawn Mendes (who asked for this?), and Taylor Swift and can look forward to Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish docs. (Sidenote: the Billie Eilish doc is coming out on Apple TV+ which I think is really interesting but the only reason I have this obscure streaming service is to watch Dickinson. Season 2 coming out on January 8!) Charlie is so talented I would watch a four hour documentary about him putting together Voicenotes. Someone needs to make this happen! For now, I attempt to fill this void by watching Charlie talk about making “Mother” and “Attention”. 

*Hopefully this documentary could also shed some light on Mr. Puth’s past relationships because what Daysia discovers in this week’s Unhinged Truther Vibes makes me uncomfortable. 

Daysia: I watched a TikTok the other day by spencewuah in which he screamed about getting relationship advice from One Direction alum Liam Payne. He said that Payne’s “so good” at giving it, and I must say I am frankly unconvinced! Are we talking about the same 27-year-old Liam Payne that is engaged to 20-year-old (maybe 19 since her quinciañera was four years ago) model Maya Henry? Who he allegedly met five years ago at a 1D concert when she was underage? Hm! Interesting (gross)! I personally wouldn’t take any advice from a man in his late-twenties who is quite possibly engaged to a teenager, even if he was in the band I stanned! 

Other news that broke my Brit-loving, 2013 Tumblr heart was that Jesy Nelson is leaving Little Mix! In an Instagram post, she said that the pressure of being in a girl group was taking a toll on her mental health. Nelson has previously opened up about her experiences with trolls and nasty comments about her weight in a 2019 documentary. And as Fiona Sturges wrote in the Independent, it doesn’t seem like the haters haven’t relented. I’m so glad that Nelson is taking a much-needed rest, but I will never understand why people have to be so cruel!

Where was their team?

This year’s biggest celebrity PR flops.

It’s a massive understatement to say that this year has been hard (and continues to be). I can’t decide if some of our favorite celebrities made it harder or provided some needed comic relief in a WTF sort of way. They did, however, despite what Us Weekly tries to insist every week, prove they are not like us. In fact, trying to seem more like us backfired (spectacularly in some cases) by reminding us of the fact that they tend to live in giant mansions and also can do things like travel on private jets. 

These are some of the moments that truly stuck out for me about celebrities’ reactions to the pandemic and really had me wondering if their teams made like the Avatar and abandoned these celebs when they needed them most. (For the record, I know that when it comes down to it celebrities will just do what they want but I don’t understand why they don’t let the people on their payroll do their jobs!) 

V Hudge’s (in hindsight) prescient warning on Instagram Live about what was going to happen during the pandemic 

The way Vanessa Hudgens says people dying is “terrible but inevitable” haunts my dreams. She really didn’t care about letting us know how she felt about being on lockdown (and how it could possibly affect her Coachella plans). I think the worst part is the end when she says, “maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now”... like, obviously! Actually, scratch that the worst part is the subsequent Notes app apology she shared where she apologizes for offending “anyone and everyone” who watched her Live, which is not an actual apology. 

When a bunch of stars (a lot of them not even singers) opened their mouths instead of their wallets 

Of course, I’m talking about the now infamous “Imagine” video where 25 stars assembled by Gal Gadot (maybe leave the assembling to the MCU?) gave us something we didn’t even ask for. (Also, going a cappella was a really bold choice.) I think I made it through like 15 seconds and then I was texting everyone I knew about how ridiculous it was. Would it have been so hard to throw in a link to a COVID relief fund? Bonus points to Jamie Dornan for his post-video response which makes me laugh. (Gadot recently addressed the “Imagine” video in an interview with the Los Angeles Times saying she had “the best intentions” and she knows you can’t please everyone. Okay!)

Ellen equating her experience in lockdown in a multi-million dollar mansion to jail 

Yes, she really did. Although this was on her show so (presumably) some other people were involved in creating this joke (?) but, ultimately, it was Ellen saying, “One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people -- this is like being in jail, is what it is. It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days and everyone in here is gay.” Ellen’s experience is so far from being in jail, I don’t even know where to start (Cue John Mulaney GIF). Anyways, here’s what it’s really like in prisons across the U.S. dealing with the coronavirus. 

Kim Kardashian and company’s casual retreat to a private island 

The funniest thing to me, personally, is that if she hadn’t posted about it with a long-winded explanation none of us would have been the wiser! I mean I’m almost a little glad she did because the resulting parodies on my Twitter timeline were great. The last thing I expect is for a Kardashian to recognize their privilege, evident by how much Kim failed when trying to do it—flying 40 of your family and friends on a Boeing 777 to a private island and describing yourself as feeling “humbled and blessed” is definitely an interesting way of addressing your privilege. 

Jake Paul going on the record saying that he thinks the coronavirus is a hoax 

I mean this is hardly a surprise considering it’s Jake Paul but certainly ranks towards the top of ignorant things he’s said. Jake in an interview with The Daily Beast said, “I think the disease is a hoax.” Okay! And then when given the opportunity by the reporter, Marlow Stern, to elaborate Jake said he didn’t want to. An interesting choice! And Jake could have avoided everything by using “no comment” when asked about the coronavirus (he uses it a couple of other times in this interview!) but instead he gave a lengthy explanation about why the U.S. needs to open back up. The cherry on top? Jake later going on record in The Vergesaying that he was taken out of context and then Marlow Stern releasing the audio file of the interview on Soundcloud. 

Bonus: Yomi Adegoke’s article, “This is The Year Celebrities Lost Their Shine” in VICE also captures these moments really well and also looks back at some other questionable celebrity choices this year (reminding us that there needs to be an immediate ban on compilation PSA videos). 

Unhinged Truther Vibes

We’re unpacking celeb rumors, connections, and theories

Who is Charlie Puth’s new song about?

Charlie Puth famously has never been in love, but he teased a song about a relationship that was the closest he ever got to it. Everyone is saying it’s about Selena Gomez, but I’m here to tell you that is not the case.

In the TikTok he posted about the song and this relationship, he says that he met a girl who made him feel like he fell in love for the very first time. He says he met her a couple years ago and said that they’d be in Paris at the same time but wouldn’t hear from her. Those are the only facts we’re going off of.

So, let’s run through a list of people that Puth has been romantically linked to in the past two years. This is our suspect list:

Danielle Campbell, actress: Puth’s relationship with Campbell was never confirmed, but there were rumors that the two of them were an item in late 2017 and early 2018. It is probably total bullshit since there are no pictures of the two of them together and the only public interaction that can be found between them is via IG comments. I am ruling her out because of a lack of evidence. Plus, she has been dating her The Originals co-star Colin Woodell since 2018. 

Halston Sage, actress: Sage was linked to Puth in late 2018 when they both posted some flirty pics with each other on their respectiveInstagrams. But by early 2019, the rumors were put to rest because he started dating…

Charlotte Lawrence, singer: Okay I’d just like to note that Puth was allegedly dating Lawrence last year when she was 18-years-old and he was 27. I hope it’s not true, but since Lawrence referred to him as an ex in this Vanity Fair piece, I’m inclined to believe it is. I’m of the opinion that people born in the early 90s, in the year 2020, should not date people born in the 2000s (see Liam Payne, above)! It is really weird and creepy and so barely legal! Anyways, he made a Valentine’s Day post with her last year, but by November he tweeted that he was single again. 

Of the three publicly known flings, I am most convinced the song is about Lawrence because she is the only one of these women with Instagram check-ins in Paris over the last two years. They’ve also worked closely together, and he produced some of her songs. There could be other people that Puth has kept private, as he has previously said that he tries not to share too many details about his love life. This teaser could be about someone we, the public, know nothing about, but as of now, my conspiracy theory is that this sad song is about Charlotte Lawrence.

Has Lorde dropped a new album? 

Readers, I promise the moment there is even the hint of a new Lorde album I will shout from the metaphorical rooftops over on Pop Cult’s Twitter (follow us!). 

In the meantime, as I mentioned last week, Taylor Swift surprised us all with the gift of a second album in 2020 and I’ve been listening to it on a loop. The combination of Taylor and HAIM on “no body, no crime” is almost too powerful and makes me want to frame someone or at least try to get through season 2 of Big Little Lies. Taylor is one of my favorite storytellers so I’ll listen to evermore until Ella comes back to break my heart and put it back together again. 

Too Many Tabs 

Our fave reads of the week

For Vulture, Zoe Haylock recaps the apologies this year by various-degrees-of-canceled internet stars from Best Crying Face (Tati Westbrook) to Fewest Brain Cells Exerted (Gabi DeMartino). 

It’s Nancy Meyers week at Vulture and the beloved director’s daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer was not pleased with writer Rachel Handler’s package on her mother. Meyers-Shyer criticized Handler’s analysis of Meyers’ cinematic universe and signature elements as being sexist and reductive, completely missing the nuance and adoration in Handler’s writing. Maria Tallarico explained the situation quite well in LaineyGossip(yes, the early-aughts gossip blog!). Highly, highly recommend reading all of Handler’s Nancy Meyers package and Tallarico’s breakdown of the drama that followed it. 

For Bitch, Nicole Froio wrote about how Shia LaBeouf’s apology takes advantage of the post-#MeToo era and doesn’t require him to take actual accountability. Just a fair warning, the topics discussed in this article (sexual and physical abuse) may be triggering to some readers.