But then Ted Sarandos spoke.

The Netflix co-CEO, said something that crystallised everything wrong with this moment. When discussing theatrical windows, he stated that Netflix would work to make them “more consumer-friendly,” ergo, short theatrical runs, allowing audiences to access content faster… on Netflix. He then dropped the bomb: regarding Barbie and Oppenheimer, he said they “definitely would have enjoyed just as big an audience on Netflix. And so I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the movie itself is better in any size of screen.”

That sentence should haunt every person who believes in cinema.

The Hypocrisy I Had to Confront

I was angry when I read that. Furious, actually. As a cinephile, as someone who has written extensively about theatrical experiences and their importance to pop culture, I felt that rage that all film lovers are feeling right now, the collective understanding that something sacred is being sacrificed on the altar of profit margins and shareholder returns.

Theatres, the theatrical experience, and third spaces matter. I’ve always had a soft spot for movies for no apparent reason. Maybe it’s the romantic escapist in me, maybe it’s the lover of arts, maybe it’s finding community online when I was given free rein over the internet from a young age, maybe it’s the lover of stories in me. I don’t know exactly. But I do know that in another life, I could have totally gone to school for editing, screenwriting, or even filmmaking. In another century, I absolutely would have been a patron of the arts.

But then I paused. And I realised something deeply uncomfortable: I am a hypocrite. A complete and utter hypocrite.

I am someone who went to see Fantastic Four and Superman on consecutive days last summer, someone who understands the power of the theatrical experience in my bones. And yet, I still haven’t watched Wicked: For Good, despite endlessly consuming Michelle Yeoh’s “Madame Morrible MM flip it around, Wicked Witch” memes. I haven’t watched Now You See Me 3, despite reporting on it extensively, sometimes even when it wasn’t necessary. I haven’t watched Zootopia 2, despite loving the franchise with the kind of fervour that puts Nick the Fox at number one on my “hear me out” list. And when I learned that Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery would be in theatres a week before Netflix, my immediate thought was: “Nah, I’ll wait.”

That’s when it hit me: the grain of truth theory I studied in a high school psychology class, suddenly made visceral. What Ted Sarandos is saying, what I ideologically reject, is something I am empirically proving true through my own behaviour. I have become a statistic in his argument. I am the evidence he needs.

And in providing that evidence, I, and millions like me, have inadvertently given the industry permission to believe that the theatrical experience doesn’t matter.

The Root Cause: Convenience

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend who ribbed me about how I could watch any film in any quality on shady third-party sites. I had watched a low-angle, phone-recorded, terrible-sound-quality bootleg of The Materialists, a film she loved, and I…didn’t care about. When she called me out on the absurdity—why would I subject myself to that?—I had an answer ready: “I’d rather stay in the loop, be the first to know, and avoid spoilers than wait to watch something in theatres.”

She pushed back with a simple question that made me pause: “What’s to say The Materialists, or any other film not made for IMAX, isn’t a spectacle too? Wouldn’t those directors also want their work to be seen on the big screen?”

I was speechless because, in my heart, I do believe that. Every filmmaker deserves the respect of their vision being seen the way they intended it. I know someone who watched Dune for the first time on a flight. I find that genuinely blasphemous. And yet, here I am, choosing convenience over cinema.

She eventually let it go, saying, “I know you appreciate art like that. You’d just rather not wait and be the first to know something so you can tell your friends about it.”

She was right. And that’s the root cause of everything falling apart: convenience. It’s the ease of access, the removal of friction, the ability to have what you want, when you want it, with minimal effort. That’s what’s driving these industry deals. That’s what’s empowering Netflix to absorb Warner Bros. That’s what’s making Ted Sarandos believe he’s right.

What Could Have Been: HBO’s Model

Here’s the thing that makes this acquisition even more infuriating: Warner Bros. had an excellent year, arguably one of the best years in recent television and film. Sinners, Weapons, Superman, F1, One Battle After Another. HBO released The White Lotus, The Gilded Age, and The Pitt. Succession defined an era. These weren’t shows that thrived under the Netflix model of “drop everything at once so people can binge while doing laundry.” These were shows that forced audiences to wait.

Week after week, HBO made people stay with their stories. They created genuine cultural moments. They brought people together in real time, not algorithmically sorted into isolated viewing experiences, but united in genuine discourse. Succession wasn’t just a TV show; it was a weekly event. The kind of thing that generates think pieces and water-cooler conversations and fan theories that span the entire week between episodes.

Netflix’s philosophy is the opposite: create content optimised for passive consumption, with simplified plots designed for distracted viewing, released all at once so you can watch whenever your schedule allows. It’s content designed to exist alongside your life, not to demand your attention.

But art, real art, should demand attention. It should require presence. It should inconvenience you just enough to make you feel like you’re part of something.

What’s terrifying is that Netflix is now going to inherit HBO’s library, its infrastructure, and its legacy, and almost certainly erode it from the inside, gradually shifting toward that model of convenience and quantity. The deal still needs regulatory approval through 2026-2027, but the preemptive messaging from Netflix is already ominous. They’re already walking back promises about theatrical windows. They’re already talking about how they’ll “evolve” releases to be “more consumer-friendly”, which is corporate speak for “available on Netflix sooner.”

The Broader Cultural Death

People online have joked that this is starting to feel like an episode of Succession or The Studio, but the dark reality is that it will very soon become our actual reality. A monopoly is forming, and nobody’s stopping it.

What’s to be done? If this were a manifesto, I would pledge to watch every film in theatres, to boycott Netflix, to resist the siren song of convenience. But I can’t make that pledge in good faith, because I’m not confident I, or anyone in my generation, will actually follow through. We’ve been conditioned by convenience. The friction is too removed. The habit is too ingrained.

But I can hope that Christopher Nolan (the newly appointed president of the Directors Guild of America), Tom Cruise (wherever he hibernates), the Academy, SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild, and everyone who still believes in cinema as an art form will treat this acquisition as a bat signal. A call to arms. A moment to take a stand against the gradual erosion of theatrical culture.

Because if we don’t, we’ll wake up one day and realise that going to see a film in a theatre felt like a quaint, antiquated ritual. Like something our grandparents did.

It’s Not Just Movies

And if culture dying in cinema wasn’t enough, consider this: Pantone just declared WHITE, specifically “Cloud Dancer”, as the colour of 2026. Their reasoning? The world is supposedly “craving respite, less noise, less fun, more simplicity.”

This is dystopian. We live in a world that is divisive, chaotic, and messy. We live in an era where everyone has opinions about everything, where discourse is loud and constant. And Pantone’s response is to predict and, in some ways, demand that we collectively embrace... nothing. Blankness. A colour that represents the absence of personality.

It feels like we’re being subtly coerced into subconscious neutrality, if we’re all wearing white and embracing “simplicity,” how can we take sides on anything? How can we have strong opinions? How can culture exist if there’s nothing to push against?

Then there’s AI, that entire Pandora’s box of sucking the life out of life and inserting the ‘cult’ in culture, leaving behind only its hollow shell. Artists displaced, creativity commodified, authenticity replaced with statistical probability.

The Takeaway

Culture is dying because we, the consumers, the audience, the supposed arbiters of taste, have chosen convenience over art. We’ve optimised ourselves into a corner where every experience is frictionless, every desire immediately gratified, every moment commodified for algorithms and data points.

Ted Sarandos isn’t wrong about what consumers want. He’s disturbingly right. We’ve already chosen. By waiting instead of going to theatres, by accepting blankness instead of demanding colour, by embracing AI-generated convenience instead of insisting on human creativity, we’ve cast our votes.

The question isn’t whether culture is dying. It clearly is. The question is whether we want to save it.

And honestly? I don’t know if we do.

What are your thoughts on the Netflix acquisition? Do you still care about the theatrical experience? Hit reply and let me know. Let’s make this a conversation.

• Tom Cruise Gets His Oscar (26 Years Later)

Tom Cruise received an honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards on November 16th, marking the first time the 63-year-old action star has held the golden statuette. Despite four competitive nominations, including Best Actor for Magnolia (1999), Jerry Maguire (1996), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989), plus Best Picture for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Cruise had never won.​​

“Making movies is not what I do, it’s who I am,” Cruise said, visibly emotional during his speech. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu, who presented the award and is currently shooting a film with Cruise, hinted this might be “the first of many Oscars” for the actor.

• Zohran Mamdani Charmed Donald Trump (and the Internet Is Confused)

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 21st in what became a surprisingly cordial encounter. Despite Mamdani calling Trump a “fascist” and “despot” during his campaign, and Trump threatening to revoke federal funding if Mamdani won, the two found common ground on New York’s affordability crisis.​

“What he accomplished is remarkable,” Trump said, noting Mamdani surged from 1% in the polls to defeating Andrew Cuomo. When asked if he still believes Trump is a fascist, Mamdani confirmed but Trump jokingly interjected, “That’s OK, you can just say it. It’s easier than explaining it”. The clip of Trump looking lovingly at Mamdani and posting pictures with him on Truth Social has become the springboard for many jokes on Twitter.

• The Hunger Games Teaser Breaks Records

The teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping dropped November 20th, exactly one year before the film’s release, and racked up 109 million views in its first 24 hours, making it Lionsgate’s second-biggest trailer launch ever (after Michael, which hit 116 million).​

The prequel, based on Suzanne Collins’ novel published in March, is set during the 50th Hunger Games and follows a young Haymitch Abernathy played by newcomer Joseph Zada.

• Zara Larsson’s “Lush Life” Gets a Second Life (Thanks to One Fan)

At Zara Larsson’s concert in Amsterdam on November 15th, she invited 16-year-old Julia Sophie Coster onstage to dance to “Lush Life”, and Julia absolutely demolished the choreography. The video went viral, racking up nearly 15 million views on TikTok, with fans calling Julia a “pro dancer” and Larsson herself praising her.​​

The moment has sent “Lush Life”, originally released in 2015, climbing the charts again, proving that sometimes one perfect fan moment can reignite an entire song’s cultural relevance.​​

• The Quarter Zip Takeover: How One Piece of Clothing Became a Cultural Moment

The quarter zip has officially taken over menswear, and it’s not just your finance bro’s favorite layering piece anymore. Gen Z, particularly young Black men, have declared it’s a “quarter zip winter,” trading in Tech Fleece hoodies for this preppy staple. What was once Wall Street uniform is now streetwear gold.​

Music Moments

• Taylor Swift’s Secret Christmas Music Video Shoot in London

Taylor Swift allegedly spent a week in the UK filming a Christmas-themed music video for “Opalite” from her recent album The Life of a Showgirl. The $1 million production was shot at the Whitgift Centre shopping mall in Croydon, South London, as well as the Mildmay Club in Stoke Newington.​

Security was described as “a military operation,” with Swift and her cast assigned numbers instead of names and transported under umbrellas and screens to avoid detection. Extras wore retro clothing, and festive props included Christmas trees, glitter cannons, and tinsel. Some shops were told filming was for an “insurance commercial” to avoid arousing suspicion.​

Lewis Capaldi and Domhnall Gleeson are rumored to make cameos. The video is expected to drop before Christmas.​

• Billie Eilish’s James Cameron 3D Concert Film Drops March 2026

Billie Eilish announced her 3D concert film, co-directed with Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron, during the final show of her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour in San Francisco on November 23rd. Paramount will distribute Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) on March 20, 2026.​

• Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour Wraps

Sabrina Carpenter performed her final show of the Short n’ Sweet Tour on November 23rd at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, closing out 70 sold-out dates spanning a year. Carpenter ended the 70th show, with a fitting Juno position: reaching the “finishing” line after 69 positions (obviously).

During the final shows, Carpenter “arrested” celebrity guests including SZA, Dakota and Elle Fanning, Maya Rudolph, and Miss Piggy, with fuzzy pink handcuffs.

• Ariana Grande: The Eternal Sunshine Tour Is Her “One Last Hurrah”

Ariana Grande told Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast that her 2026 Eternal Sunshine Tour will be her “one last hurrah” before stepping back from touring for “a long, long, long, long time”. “I’m very excited to do this small tour, but I think it might not happen again for a long time. So I’m going to give it my all and it’s going to be beautiful,” she said. Grande is currently shooting Focker-in-Law, the fourth film in the Meet the Parents franchise.​

Movie Magic

• Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet Is Getting Oscar Buzz

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet is earning rave reviews and major Oscar buzz after its Telluride and Toronto premieres. The film, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as Shakespeare’s wife Agnes and Will, tells the untold love story that inspired Hamlet. Critics are calling it a “masterpiece,” with Buckley predicted to win Best Actress. The emotional final 15 minutes reportedly had entire theaters in tears. It opens Thanksgiving 2025.​​

• Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Drops Its Trailer

Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery dropped its trailer November 16th. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc to investigate an “impossible crime” at a small-town church with a dark history, teaming up with an earnest young priest (Josh O’Connor). The cast includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, and Cailee Spaeny. It hits select theaters November 26th and Netflix December 12th.​​

• Now You See Me 4 and Knives Out 4 Already in Development

Right as Now You See Me 3 has hit theatres, and even before the release of Knives Out 3!

• Zendaya as Athena in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

Zendaya’s first look as Athena in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was revealed in new images November 19th. She plays Athena, the goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ divine protector, while Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors. The first full trailer, featuring a full Battle of Troy action sequence, will screen ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash next month. The film hits theaters July 17, 2026.​

• Pixar’s Hoppers Brings Animal Communication to Life

Pixar’s Hoppers dropped its official trailer November 19th, revealing a legendary voice cast including Meryl Streep, Jon Hamm, Dave Franco, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bobby Moynihan. The film follows Mabel, an animal lover who uses new technology to “hop” her consciousness into a robotic beaver to communicate with animals and uncover mysteries in their world. It opens March 6, 2026.​

• Project Hail Mary Starring Ryan Gosling trailer drop

Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling dropped a new trailer November 17th. Based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, the film follows a science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no memory, tasked with saving Earth from extinction. Early buzz suggests it’s a strong 2026 Oscar contender, with comparisons to Arrival, Interstellar, and The Martian. It hits theaters March 20, 2026.​​

• You, Me & Tuscany: A Rom-Com That Loves Italy as Much as Romance

Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page star in You, Me & Tuscany, a rom-com about a woman who crashes at an Italian villa and pretends to be the owner’s fiancée when his mother shows up unexpectedly. The trailer dropped November 16th. It opens April 10, 2026.​​

• Moana: The Live-Action Question Nobody Asked

The live-action Moana teaser dropped November 16th, and fans are asking one question: Why? Less than a decade after the 2016 animated film (and just one year after Moana 2), Disney is releasing a CGI-heavy live-action remake starring Catherine Laga’aia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui. “It looks exactly like the animated film. What’s the point?” one commenter wrote. The film hits theaters July 10, 2026.​​

• Letterboxd Video Store Launches December

Letterboxd Video Store launches in early December 2025, allowing users to rent hard-to-find films directly on the platform. It’s not a subscription service, you pay per rental, like a classic video store. The curated selection will feature festival standouts, long-watchlisted titles, restorations, and limited-time drops of unreleased gems. It’ll be available on web, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, and AirPlay.​ A win for cinephiles everywhere!!

• Timothée Chalamet’s 18-Minute Chaotic Marketing Video

Timothée Chalamet posted an 18-minute video to Instagram of a chaotic Zoom call with A24’s marketing team for Marty Supreme. In the satirical sketch, Chalamet pitches increasingly absurd promo ideas, painting the Statue of Liberty orange, dropping ping pong balls from a blimp at Tyler, The Creator’s festival, while the marketing team tries to stay composed. The video has racked up nearly 10 million views on Instagram and perfectly skewers Hollywood self-importance and corporate brainstorming sessions. Marty Supreme opens December 25, 2025.​​

• Michelle Yeoh’s “Madame Morrible” Takeover on the Wicked: For Good Press Tour

Michelle Yeoh has been absolutely unhinged during the Wicked: For Good press tour, constantly riffing on her character Madame Morrible’s name by saying “Madame Morrible MM flip it around... Wicked Witch!” during interviews. The viral moment has become the press tour’s defining bit, with Yeoh leaning into the absurdity of her character’s name while promoting the film.

Celebrity & Fashion

• Vanity Fair’s All-Male Hollywood Issue

Vanity Fair‘s 32nd Hollywood Issue features 12 male actors across three covers: A$AP Rocky, Riz Ahmed, Jonathan Bailey, Austin Butler, Harris Dickinson, Andrew Garfield, Michael B. Jordan, Paul Mescal, Glen Powell, LaKeith Stanfield, Callum Turner, and Jeremy Allen White.​

• Beyoncé Stuns at F1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas

Beyoncé and Jay-Z made a rare joint appearance at the F1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas on November 22nd. She and Jay-Z each took a hot lap around the track with Lewis Hamilton.

• Met Gala 2026: Jeff Bezos Is Sponsoring Fashion’s Biggest Night

The Met Gala announced its 2026 theme—“Costume Art”—and revealed that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will be the lead donors for the exhibition and gala. The billionaire couple’s involvement has sparked massive backlash online. “With Bezos sponsoring, we truly are witnessing late-stage capitalism. Billionaires supporting other billionaires for their extravagant gatherings,” one Instagram user wrote. Saint Laurent is the lead fashion sponsor, making Zoë Kravitz, Hailey Bieber, Austin Butler, and Rosé strong candidates for co-chair roles. The gala takes place May 4, 2026.​

Cultural Reflections

• Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year: Parasocial

Cambridge Dictionary named “parasocial” its Word of the Year for 2025, defined as “involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence”.​

The term saw massive spikes in searches this year, particularly around celebrity relationships and AI chatbots. Professor Simone Schnall of the University of Cambridge noted: “We’ve entered an age where many people form unhealthy and intense parasocial relationships with influencers. This leads to a sense that people ‘know’ those they form parasocial bonds with”. The word’s evolution from academic jargon to mainstream usage reflects how AI and celebrity culture are reshaping human connection.​

• Parmigiano Reggiano Gets Glam

In possibly the most 2025 headline ever, Parmigiano Reggiano—yes, actual cheese—has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) to secure product placement in films, TV shows, and streaming projects.​

The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium announced that UTA will “leverage its expertise and global connectivity across entertainment and culture to introduce Parmigiano Reggiano to a wide pool of partners, to further its message of gastronomical excellence”.

Every day, a new Cynthia Erivo GIF is taking over Twitter, and honestly, we should just accept that the actress is the internet’s new reaction image queen. First, there was the iconic head-tapping GIF from 2024. Now, there’s the shocked gasp reaction from when a fan returned her lost Schiaparelli hat from the Wicked London premiere—a year later.​

The fan, Clara, approached Cynthia in Paris holding the custom black feathered hat that Erivo thought was gone forever. Cynthia’s reaction? Pure, unfiltered shock: backing away, hand over heart, gasping “May I have it back, please? I thought I had lost it forever”. The moment went viral instantly, spawning a GIF that Twitter users are now applying to everything from finding money in old jeans to discovering your ex moved on.​

And it doesn’t end there, many more moments from the Wicked press tour are being clipped and used as GIFs on a daily basis.

And speaking of Cynthia saving the day: At the Wicked: For Good premiere in Singapore on November 13th, she literally turned into a bodyguard when a fan jumped the barricade and grabbed Ariana Grande. Cynthia tore the person off Ariana while security handled the situation, proving she’s not just Elphaba—she’s the friend we all need.​​

Paddington The Musical: Yes, The Bear Is Real (Sort Of)

Paddington: The Musical opened at London’s Savoy Theatre on November 1st, and the real-life Paddington on stage is absolutely adorable.

The production is booking through October 2026, and if you’re in London, this is the kind of theater experience that reminds you why live performance still matters.​

Jonathan Bailey: People’s Sexiest Man Alive 2025

Jonathan Bailey has officially been crowned People’s Sexiest Man Alive 2025, and it’s about time. The Wicked and Bridgerton star is the first openly gay man to receive the honour in the magazine’s 40-year history.​

Sabrina Carpenter Is Alice, Because Of Course She Is

Sabrina Carpenter is starring in and producing an untitled Alice in Wonderland musical for Universal Pictures. The project—which she pitched to Universal over a year ago—will be written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers) and produced by Marc Platt (Wicked, La La Land).​​

Millie Bobby Brown’s Husband: The Internet Has Thoughts

Millie Bobby Brown found herself at the center of online discourse after paparazzi videos showed her carrying their adopted daughter while husband Jake Bongiovi walked behind her, seemingly doing... nothing. Fans immediately labeled his behavior a “red flag,” with one viral tweet getting 200k likes: “and her husband is f***ing useless”.​

The backlash intensified when more photos surfaced showing Millie juggling the baby carrier and bags while Jake strolled alongside her. Others defended him, pointing to Instagram posts where he’s clearly holding the baby, arguing the criticism was unfair.​

Then, like clockwork, the next day Jake was photographed carrying their daughter. The internet bullying celebs into damage control at its finest.

The Vine Reboot No One Saw Coming

Vine is back—sort of. Jack Dorsey is funding diVine, a Vine reboot that launched November 14th with over 100,000 archived Vine videos restored from before the platform’s 2016 shutdown. The app allows users to create profiles and upload new six-second looping videos, but here’s the twist: it strictly filters AI-generated content.​

Spotify’s New Weekly Listening Stats

Spotify launched a new “Listening Stats” feature on November 6th, giving users weekly snapshots of their top artists and songs from the past four weeks. The feature is available to both Free and Premium subscribers across 60+ markets and updates every 24 hours.​

Each week includes a “special highlight” that captures unique listening moments—whether it’s a new discovery, a milestone, or a fan moment. You can share your stats directly to Instagram, WhatsApp, or other platforms, essentially giving users mini-Wrapped moments throughout the year.​

It’s Spotify’s way of keeping engagement high between now and the annual Wrapped release in December.​

Rosalía’s LUX: The Album Everyone’s Raving About

Rosalía dropped LUX on November 7th, and critics are calling it the best album of 2025. Sung in 13 languages and heavily influenced by classical music and opera, the album is a radical departure from 2022’s MOTOMAMI.​

Rolling Stone described it as “a labor of love exploring the feminine divine and the brutalities of romance,” while The New Yorker praised its “astonishing scope and ambition”. Tracks like “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti” showcase Rosalía’s operatic range, while “Porcelana” and “Dios es un stalker” blend hip-hop phrasing with orchestral production.​

It’s a masterpiece that proves pop music can be experimental, challenging, and utterly brilliant all at once.​

Fashion, Retail, and Tech Collabs

Shein opened its first physical store in Paris at BHV Marais on November 5th, sparking protests, government pushback, and widespread backlash from French retailers, for a fast fashion brand occupying historical real estate in the fashion capital.

Issey Miyake and Apple unveiled the iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted wearable accessory designed to carry your iPhone and daily essentials. Available in short and long strap versions and eight colors, the Japanese-made collaboration launches November 14th at select Apple Stores worldwide. It’s inspired by Miyake’s concept of “a piece of cloth” and features the brand’s signature pleated aesthetic.​

Anok Yai was named Model of the Year 2025 by the British Fashion Council. The South Sudanese-American model, who was discovered at Howard University’s homecoming in 2017, has dominated runways for Versace, Alaïa, Saint Laurent, and served as the face of Mugler’s Alien fragrance. She’ll receive the award at the Fashion Awards on December 1st at London’s Royal Albert Hall.​

Love, Engagements, and Babies

Charles Leclerc and Alexandra Saint Mleux announced their engagement on November 3rd. The Ferrari F1 driver shared photos on Instagram with the caption “Mr². & Mrs. Leclerc 💍,” revealing that their dog Leo played a key role—his tag read “Dad wants to marry you!”.​

Chris Evans and Alba Baptista welcomed their daughter, on October 24th in Massachusetts.

British Vogue famously declared “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” and clearly the celebrities are quick to ditch that tag and enter their fiancé/husband/dad era.

TikTok Trends Taking Over

“You’re Not Nerdy Enough to Understand” has turned social media into a pop-culture guessing game. People are posting cryptic references to shows, movies, and books, ending with the cheeky line: “but you’re not nerdy enough to understand.” From Twilight to Stranger Things to How I Met Your Mother, fandoms are flexing their knowledge and bonding over shared nostalgia.​

The Couples Lying Challenge has partners sitting side-by-side with a barrier between them, each holding an object and either truthfully announcing what it is or lying about it. They ask each other questions to determine if the other person is lying—”shake it,” “drop it,” “read the label”—and reveal at the end. It’s chaotic, hilarious, and oddly revealing about how well you know your partner.​

Pop Culture Chaos

Starbucks’ Bearista Cup caused absolute mayhem when it launched November 6th, selling out almost instantly at $29.99. Customers claimed employees bought them before stores opened, and the 20-ounce bear-shaped glass is now reselling on eBay for $150-$500. Starbucks apologized, saying demand exceeded expectations, and announced new holiday merchandise launching December 2nd.​

Kim Kardashian failed the California bar exam again and went on a TikTok rant calling out the psychics who told her she’d pass. “All the fing psychics we’ve met are full of s. They all told me I was gonna pass the bar, so they’re all pathological liars,” she said. Undeterred, British psychic Sally Morgan predicted Kim will pass by March 2026.​

Grammy Nominations

The 2026 Grammy Awards nominations were announced November 8th, with Kendrick Lamar leading all artists with 9 nods. But the standout story is K-pop’s historic breakthrough: Rosé scored three nominations for her viral collab “APT.” with Bruno Mars (Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Performance). Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack track “Golden” earned four nominations, and most surprisingly, KATSEYE, a rookie girl group formed through HYBE’s reality show and managed as a global act under Geffen Records, scored two nominations including Best New Artist.​

Personally, this is the category I’m most looking forward to, stacked with talent and diversity:​

• KATSEYE (the global girl group)

• The Marías (LA-based dream pop quartet with massive breakout year)

• Lola Young (English artist with breakthrough hit “Messy”)

• Olivia Dean (UK artist whose The Art of Loving spawned Billboard Hot 100 hits)

• Addison Rae (TikTok influencer-turned-pop-savant with debut album)

• sombr (NY singer-songwriter who dominated charts with “Back to Friends” and “Undressed”)

• Leon Thomas (R&B artist whose debut LP Mutt also got Album of the Year nod)

• Alex Warren (had one of 2025’s most inescapable songs with “Ordinary”)​

The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place February 1st at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.​

The Stuff That Makes You Go “Wait, What?”

Shay Mitchell launched a skincare brand for children called Rini, designed for kids as young as three years old. The Korean-inspired line includes hydrating face masks, after-sun masks, and sheet masks in panda, puppy, and unicorn designs. The backlash was immediate, with critics calling it “dystopian” and “tone-deaf,” arguing kids don’t need skincare routines at that age. Defenders say it’s harmless play, but dermatologists warn against introducing unnecessary ingredients to children’s sensitive skin.​

China now requires influencers to have university degrees to discuss professional topics like medicine, law, finance, and education. The regulation, which went into effect October 25th, aims to curb misinformation but has sparked outrage for silencing self-taught experts and independent voices. Platforms must verify credentials, and violators face fines up to ¥100,000.​

Tiffintok is the new food trend where people showcase their Indian tiffin meals on TikTok and Instagram. Tiffin boxes—traditional Indian lunch containers—are going viral for their aesthetically pleasing, fresh, homemade meals delivered hot and ready to eat.​

Zohran Mamdani became the mayor-elect of New York City on November 4th, a victory for the American Democrat party. Meanwhile, on the Republican front, emails between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein insinuate that Trump had sexual relations with Bill Clinton…………

“67” was named Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2025. Pronounced “six-seven” (not “sixty-seven”), the Gen Alpha slang term originated from rapper Skrilla’s song “Doot Doot (6 7)” and has become a viral sensation in classrooms and on social media. Its meaning is deliberately nonsensical—it could mean “mediocre,” “maybe,” or absolutely nothing at all. Dictionary.com admitted it’s “impossible to define” but recognized its cultural impact as “part inside joke, part social cue, part performance”.​

Movie Trailers, and Major Announcements

The Michael biopic trailer dropped November 5th, featuring Jaafar Jackson (Michael Jackson’s nephew) in the title role. Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, the film traces MJ’s journey from the Jackson Five to becoming the biggest entertainer in the world. The trailer topped 116 million views in 24 hours, becoming the most-watched music biopic trailer ever. It hits theaters April 24, 2026.​​

Toy Story 5 introduces Lilypad, a high-tech frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee, who plays an antagonistic threat to Woody, Buzz, and the gang’s playtime. The teaser suggests the age of traditional toys might be over, with Conan O’Brien also voicing a toilet training tech toy called Smarty Pants. Pixar is leaning into tech anxiety in the most Pixar way possible, and the film drops June 19, 2026.​​

K-Pop Demon Hunters 2: Mark Your Calendars for 2029: Netflix and Sony have officially signed a deal for K-Pop Demon Hunters 2, set to premiere in... 2029. Yes, you read that right. The sequel to the animated musical about demon-hunting K-pop idols won’t arrive for another four years.​​

Miss Piggy Gets Her Solo Movie: Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone are producing a Miss Piggy movie written by Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!). Lawrence announced the project on the Las Culturistas podcast, adding that she and Stone will likely appear in the film.​

The Devil Wears Prada 2 teaser dropped November 11th with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci reuniting after almost 20 years. The sequel brings in Kenneth Branagh as Miranda’s new husband and addresses the collapse of the magazine industry. It hits theaters May 1, 2026.​​

Wuthering Heights, directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, premiered its steamy trailer November 14th. The adaptation features gothic romance, forbidden passion, and music from Charli XCX. It opens February 13, 2026, internationally on February 11.​​

Tom Ford’s Cry To Heaven, his third feature film, will star Adele in her acting debut. Inspired by Anne Rice’s 1818-set novel about a Venetian castrato opera star seeking revenge, the film features an all-star British cast including Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Colin Firth, Paul Bettany, and others. Filming begins mid-January in London and Rome, with an autumn 2026 release.

The Running Man, Edgar Wright’s faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s dystopian novel, has hit the theatres starring Glen Powell. Unlike the 1987 film starring Schwarzenegger, Wright’s version leans into King’s original bleakness and social critique, making it darker and more grounded. It’s projected to make $23-25 million opening weekend.​

Now You See Me 3 is also out now, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is streaming on Netflix!

Wicked: For Good releases November 21st, and Zootopia 2 arrives November 26th!

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: First Look

Empire Magazine revealed the first official images from Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, showing Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Mia Goth as Melantho. Matt Damon plays Odysseus in this “mythic action epic” shot using brand-new IMAX film technology.​

Nolan described the project as “foundational” and “primal,” explaining: “I’d never seen mythological cinematic work done with the sort of weight and credibility that an A-budget and a big Hollywood, IMAX production could do”. He shot over two million feet of film, so expect a three-hour runtime when it hits theaters July 17, 2026.​

What’s not to Louvre about a heist?

On October 19th, four thieves pulled off what can only be described as the most cinematic heist of 2025: they stole €88 million worth of French Crown Jewels from the Louvre in broad daylight. The whole operation took eight minutes, with only four spent actually inside the museum. They used a cherry picker to reach the Apollo Gallery, donned yellow vests (because apparently looking like construction workers is the ultimate disguise), and wielded chainsaws to cut through display cases while tourists watched on.​

The internet’s collective reaction was pure disbelief, how does someone just casually rob the Louvre in 2025? One of the suspects was caught trying to flee to Algeria at Charles de Gaulle Airport on October 25th, which honestly feels like the least smooth part of their otherwise flawless plan. The whole thing had the internet rooting for the crooks, hoping they get away with it. An image of a very fashionable man, standing with the police also had everyone hoping he’s the detective, but alas, he was just a random passerby. But that’s French style for you.

And if you’re suddenly craving more heist content: White Collar, Lupin, Money Heist, Ocean’s Eleven (and Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen, and Ocean’s 8), and The Italian Job are all perfect for scratching that “how did they even do that?” itch. Sometimes fiction feels more believable than reality.

When The Internet Actually Broke

Speaking of things that shouldn’t be possible in 2025: AWS (Amazon Web Services) went down for over seven hours on October 20th, taking half the internet with it. Snapchat, Fortnite, Ring doorbells, Robinhood, UK banks, everything just... stopped. The culprit? A DNS resolution failure that started with two pieces of automation trying to update the same thing at once. One overwrote the other with bad data, and suddenly millions of people couldn’t access their digital lives.​

The outage lasted over 15 hours and affected over 17 million users across 3,000+ organizations. People genuinely didn’t know what to do with themselves. It’s wild how a single point of failure can remind us just how fragile our hyperconnected world actually is, with some users IOT-based smart beds also failing to work, leaving them inclined and overheated. Yikes, maybe some things don’t need to be connected to the internet?

Love Stories That Sound Too Good To Be True

Carly Rae Jepsen Got Married (And It Was Perfect)

Carly Rae Jepsen married music producer Cole M.G.N. on October 4th at NYC’s Chelsea Hotel.

Camila Mendes Is Engaged (Via Surprise Party Ambush)

Camila Mendes got engaged to Rudy Mancuso on October 24th, but plot twist, she thought she was going to a friend’s birthday party. Rudy proposed in front of their closest friends and family.

Callum Turner Reveals The Most Perfect Meet-Cute Ever

Callum Turner finally spilled how he met fiancée Dua Lipa, and it’s so perfectly rom-com that it hurts. They sat next to each other at drinks before a mutual friend’s birthday party, realised they were reading the same book (Trust by Hernán Díaz), and had just finished the exact same chapter. His line? “So we’re on the same page.” The internet collectively died. One viral response read: “This is literally out of fan fiction like are you KIDDING me?” Sometimes, real life really does write itself.​

Lily Allen Drops an Album—and All the Truth Bombs

Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl, is not pulling any punches. She’s putting her heartbreak right out there, hinting that David Harbour (yes, Stranger Things sheriff himself) cheated on her and openly addressing the complicated emotional fallout of their relationship. With lyrics that read more like WhatsApp receipts than pop verses, it’s the kind of modern confessional that feels totally at home in the oversharing era—candid, raw, sometimes messy, and impossible to ignore.

Malala Did The “Beez In The Trap” Trend With Jimmy Fallon

In the most unexpected collaboration of 2025, Malala did the viral “Beez in the Trap” x “What’s Up” TikTok trend with Jimmy Fallon during her press tour for Finding My Way.

She’s been on tour confirming she’s alive, 28, and married, because people genuinely think she’s either dead or an ancient historical figure. The woman literally has to reassure people she exists while doing TikTok trends. If that’s not a perfect metaphor for our times, I don’t know what is.​

Hollywood’s Latest Controversies

Netflix’s “Famous Last Words” Raises Ethical Questions

Netflix launched Famous Last Words, a series where cultural icons record final interviews knowing they’ll only air posthumously. The first episode features Jane Goodall, and while it’s deeply moving, the concept is raising eyebrows. Are we commodifying death? Is this preservation or exploitation? The show promises to give important voices a final platform, but something about pre-recording your own obituary feels unsettling.​

Amazon Prime Video’s Engagement Ring Disaster

Amazon Prime Video somehow thought it was okay to mock a woman’s engagement ring by comparing it to Jeremiah’s notoriously small ring from The Summer I Turned Pretty. The woman, Savannah Monroe, had just announced her engagement when Prime Video quote-tweeted her photo asking “Girl is there any chance your fiancé looks like this?” with a photo of Jeremiah’s proposal. The backlash was immediate and brutal, forcing Amazon to delete the tweet and apologise. The incident perfectly captures how brands think they can participate in online discourse but end up revealing how tone-deaf they really are.​

Movies and TV Worth Your Time (Or Not)

High Potential: The Show You Should Be Watching

If you’re not watching High Potential on ABC/Disney, you’re missing out on Kaitlin Olson being absolutely brilliant as a single mom with an exceptional mind who helps solve crimes. It’s the perfect procedural for people who want something smart but not heavy. The show has that rare quality of being both entertaining and genuinely well-written.​

Colleen Hoover’s “Regretting You” Bombs With Critics

Regretting You, the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, debuted with a devastating 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics are calling it “plodding,” “uninspired,” and “soggy”, harsher reviews than even It Ends With Us received. The film stars Allison Williams and McKenna Grace as a mother-daughter duo dealing with tragedy and betrayal, but reviewers say it’s just an overstuffed soap opera. Maybe the BookTok-to-screen pipeline isn’t as foolproof as publishers hoped.​

Netflix Is Making A “Catan” Movie (Yes, Really)

Netflix secured the rights to develop Catan movies and TV series, marking the first time the beloved board game will come to life on screen. The projects will include live-action, animated, scripted, and unscripted formats because apparently we’re adapting everything now.

“Emily in Paris” Season 5: Now It’s “Emily in Rome”

Emily in Paris Season 5 drops December 18th, and surprise, Emily’s moved to Rome. The teaser shows her romance with Marcello heating up while she adjusts to running Agence Grateau’s Rome office. The trailer literally ends with “Emily in Rome” flashing on screen because subtlety is not this show’s strong suit. Sometimes you just need beautiful people in beautiful locations making questionable life choices.​​

Academy Gala Moments and Basketball Heroes

The Academy Museum Gala on October 18th brought out everyone who’s anyone in Hollywood. Newlyweds Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco made their first public appearance as a married couple, Penélope Cruz received the Icon Award, and Bruce Springsteen performed while receiving the inaugural Legacy Award. It was the kind of night where everyone looked impossibly glamorous and raised over $12 million for film preservation.​

Meanwhile, Justin Herbert became the internet’s boyfriend of the year when he protected Madison Beer from a flying basketball at the Lakers game on October 24th. His lightning-fast reflexes kicked in, blocking the ball before it could hit her, and the moment went instantly viral.

Gen Alpha Slang Update: “Chopped” and “Unc”

If you’re feeling lost in conversations lately, here’s your crash course: “chopped” means ugly or unattractive, worse than “mid” on the attractiveness scale. “Unc” is what Gen Alpha calls anyone they consider old, old-fashioned, or out of touch. So if someone calls you “chopped unc,” you’re officially both ugly and ancient in their eyes. The terminology is brutal, but at least we’re all learning together, right?

The Takeaway

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, life throws something completely unexpected, a Louvre heist in broad daylight that has everyone on social media secretly rooting for the thieves to pull it off, or cheesy, celebrity meet-cutes There’s still genuine unpredictability out there, a romance sparked over matching book chapters, a football star saving his pop singer girlfriend from a stray basketball. The real world finds new ways to surprise us, sometimes with a wink, sometimes with a chainsaw.

But just as quickly, tech and media rear their dark side: Amazon silently decides when your doorbell works or, even weirder, if your bed will tuck you in at night. Netflix greenlights posthumous interviews, playing with mortality in the pursuit of new content, and the everyday threat of a cloud outage reminds us who’s really in control. There’s something very Black Mirror about it all. Absurd, sometimes sinister, and impossible to ignore.

This week proves the plot twists aren’t over. Life, be it sweet, surreal, or slightly scary, still knows how to keep us guessing.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show made its return on October 15th for its second comeback year, and while there were undeniable moments, we’re all still mourning the OG era. Let’s start with the highs: Jasmine Tookes opening the show nine months pregnant in a golden fishnet dress with a Botticelli-esque clamshell cage, designed to look like her baby bump was a pearl inside a shell, was genuinely iconic. She became the first pregnant woman and second Black model ever to open the show.

Candice Swanepoel and Barbara Palvin (who walked on a broken foot, because apparently that’s what angels do now) stole the show as expected. But then there’s Bella Hadid, who closed the show in 23kg (50 pounds) wings just weeks after being hospitalised for Lyme disease. Fans were concerned watching her struggle down the runway, and Bella later confirmed on Instagram: “OK we’re not going to pretend these wings weren’t 50 pounds but HOW BEAUTIFUL”. Beautiful? Yes. Safe for someone who was literally in a hospital bed with IVs weeks earlier, as evidenced by her mom Yolanda’s Instagram posts? Questionable at best.​​

The consensus online? The wings and hair were disappointing, people literally compared the wings to mattress foam and postpartum pads. We wanted the big blowout, bouncy hairstyles that defied physics and wings that looked expensive, not like craft store clearance items. The show felt like Victoria’s Secret is still trying to figure out what it wants to be in 2025, inclusive but nostalgic, modern but dated. Maybe some things should stay in our memory and not on a New York runway.​

Dan and Phil: 16 Years of Being More Than “Just Roommates”

Speaking of things we suspected all along, Dan Howell and Phil Lester finally confirmed what the internet has been theorising since 2009: they’ve been in a relationship for 16 years. In a 46-minute video titled “Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship? The Truth,” they opened up about why they kept it private (spoiler: trauma from intense fan shipping, homophobia, and wanting to be known for their comedy, not their couple status). Dan’s quote hit hard: “The pressure from people trying to out us was incredibly triggering. Honestly, it could have killed me”. They’re now launching a podcast called “Hard Launch” because if you’re going to come out as a couple, you might as well be extremely on-brand about it.​

While I Was Gone: A Speed Round of Chaos

Let me catch you up on what I missed while I was touching grass:

Selena Gomez got married to Benny Blanco on September 27th in Santa Barbara, and the photos are giving Disney princess energy. Taylor Swift, Steve Martin, and Martin Short were there, and apparently everyone cried during the vows. File under: wholesome content we didn’t know we needed.​

Taylor Swift dropped The Life of a Showgirl on October 3rd: Her 12th studio album with Max Martin and Shellback, with a Sabrina Carpenter feature on the title track and a Charli xcx/Kim K diss track. The album broke records (obviously), sparked mass discourse (as is tradition), and proved that whether you love her or are going through your contrarian phase, Taylor Swift is too above it all to care.​ With the catchiest hooks, even if you think the lyrics are millennial-cringe, she is busy baking sourdough, showing off her engagement ring and being happy.

Charlie Puth announced he’s going to be a dad in the most Charlie Puth way possible, via the music video for his new single “Changes”. The clip ends with a stop-motion pregnancy reveal featuring his wife Brooke, and honestly, the lyrics “There’s been some changes in our lives” hit different now. His album Whatever’s Clever! drops March 6th.

The Coachella 2026 lineup was announced with Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G headlining, and for once, I actually know most of the artists in the classic lineup graphic!

Anna Wintour and Miranda Priestly finally met IRL when Meryl Streep, fully in character, attended Milan Fashion Week while filming The Devil Wears Prada 2. The meta moment of Meryl greeting Anna backstage broke the internet, and honestly, it’s the crossover we deserved.​

The Summer I Turned Pretty announced a movie literally hours after the series finale aired on September 18th, but was this really necessary? It feels like a cash grab now that they have everyone’s loyalty and attention from the final season.

The Concert “Moment” Industrial Complex

Can we talk about how every artist is now contractually obligated to have a viral concert moment?

Sabrina Carpenter started the trend by “arresting” fans during her “Juno” performances, with her latest being Joe Keery (aka DJO, aka Steve from Stranger Things), who people are now shipping her with.​

Role Model picks a “Sally” every night to serenade during his song, and everyone from Hilary Duff to Natalie Portman to Charli xcx has gotten the treatment.​

Conan Gray breaks a wishbone with fans to pick his surprise song, recently doing it with bestie Olivia Rodrigo, who requested “Sunset Tower” from his album.​

Laufey brought out Katseye and Lin-Manuel Miranda at her concerts most recently.

Here’s the thing though: where’s the line between genuine fan service and manufacturing a 15-second vertical video moment? These artists are brilliant, they’ve figured out that concerts aren’t just about the music anymore, they’re about creating shareable content that extends the tour’s lifespan across FYPs long after the venue lights go up. Is it cynical? Maybe. Is it working? Absolutely. But there’s something bittersweet about watching concerts become optimised for virality.

Timothée Chalamet Is Doing Press Like He’s Dropping an Album

Timothée Chalamet is promoting Marty Supreme like he’s Bad Bunny announcing a world tour. The man did an Instagram Live where he sat in a giant ping-pong ball machine wearing a ping-pong ball mask, then burst out to an EDM track sampling Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, walked through a field, and casually announced the film’s Christmas 2025 release date. This level of unhinged A24 marketing combined with Timothée’s commitment to the bit? He really is one of our generation’s greats.​

TikTok Trends That Are Breaking the Internet (and Relationships)

The Little Birdy Trend has couples everywhere attempting to perch on their partner’s arm like actual birds. It’s an optical illusion created by positioning your body in a specific way, and the results are either adorable or absolutely chaotic, depending on your partner’s upper body strength.​

@connorandyvonnewithout my birdie i would have no tea #connorandyvonne #fyp #relatable #comedy

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The Internet loves a transition short-form video: Sabrina Carpenter’s songs When Did You Get Hot?, Nobody’s Son and Tears are all being used to film transition Instagram reels/TikTok, ranging from cute to risqué. And Taylor Swift’s Wood is joining the lineup, along with the viral dance on The Fate of Ophelia.

AI Chaos: Pranks, Fake Actresses, and Existential Dread

The AI era is here, and it’s... weird.

Women are pranking their partners with AI-generated shirtless plumbers in their homes, leading to texts like “Why is he shirtless...” and “Tell him to put his shirt on and get out of my goddamn house”. The homeless man prank did similar damage to moms, proving that AI’s current main use is mild domestic terrorism.​

Meanwhile, Hollywood agents are allegedly trying to sign Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated actress. Real actors are (rightfully) furious, with Melissa Barrera saying “Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$”. Welcome to 2025, where we’re fighting for jobs against pixels.​

Other Things That Happened Because The Internet Never Stops

• Kylie Jenner officially entered her singing era, featuring on Terror Jr’s “Fourth Strike” to celebrate Kylie Cosmetics’ 10th anniversary. King Kylie lives.​​

• Cardi B and Nicki Minaj reignited their beef, and it got so ugly they dragged their kids into it. Can we not?​

• Bad Bunny is doing the Super Bowl LX halftime show in February 2026.​​

• Kris Jenner got another facelift (what else is new?), calling it her version of “ageing gracefully”.​

• Anne Marie has named her baby boy Forever Sugar after her grandmother and the gestational diabetes the singer had while pregnant…

• Mercedes is NOT discontinuing the G-Wagon despite viral panic from influencers who aren’t rich enough to own one yet.​

• Snapchat is now charging for memory storage over 5GB, which feels like emotional extortion for millennials who have 10 years of memories saved.​

• Women are pranking men by claiming they bought thousand-dollar rocks from Anthropologie, and the brand leaned into the chaos by creating fake in-store displays.​

• Gen Alpha won’t stop saying “6-7” (pronounced “six seven”) from a Skrilla song, and teachers are losing their minds. Let’s not look too deep into it, it’ll fade like the Italian brainrot memes.​

• Marvel’s Wonder Man series is coming to Disney+ on January 27, 2026, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.​

• Nobody Wants This Season 2 drops on Netflix October 23rd, and based on the trailer, Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody) are back with more messy, raw relationship drama.

The Takeaway

Pop culture in October 2025 is revealing an uncomfortable truth: we’re living in the mirror world, being served either nostalgia or rage as bait. Everything is for, and contained within, the online world; we’ve known this for a while. But are we so saturated now that creating something from scratch and truly new is a herculean effort? From the VS fashion show, “King Kylie” making a comeback, industry friends making surprise appearances at each other’s concerts (self-referential stunts designed to look fresh yet feel eerily familiar), to making unnecessary short-form opinion piece videos on whatever’s trending, for the purpose of inviting polarity in the comments section. Every comeback, “unpopular opinion”, sequel to an early 2000s movie, and concert “moment” exists not for authenticity but to fuel a 15-second vertical clip.
Every experience is optimised for shareability, every milestone needs a viral angle, and every piece of nostalgia gets repackaged until it’s unrecognisable.​ On top of that, we drown in AI slop, pranks that verge on domestic terror, because we crave main-character status so badly, we’ll outsource reality to algorithms.
Maybe that’s just what pop culture is now: a feedback loop where we consume, create, and perform for an audience that’s doing the exact same thing. We’re not just watching the show, we’re in it, directing it, and editing it for maximum engagement. Whether it’s storylines extended just to squeeze more cash, or life’s milestones revealed via cinematic music videos, we’re all performers in our own curated mirror world. Because what’s a life lived, if it didn’t invade someone’s FYP?

Hi besties, yes, you’re getting a double feature this week because last week I was taken out by a very unsexy villain: sciatica. Like, truly sidelined. Doctor’s orders were basically: “Don’t walk. Don’t stand. Don’t even sleep on your back.” (Shoutout to them for forgetting to mention “Don’t let the entire internet explode with pop culture moments while you’re incapacitated.”)

So there I was, lying on my side like a tragic 19th-century poet, watching Sabrina Carpenter's VMAs performance slack-jawed, drooling over Chris Evans, and cringing at the new Wuthering Heights trailer, unable to type anything except my own cries for help. The physical pain was bad, but the real pain? Watching the takes scroll by untouched.

Anyway, I’m back, (semi)upright, and ready to give you two weeks’ worth of chaos in one email. Consider this my triumphant return, or at least my villain origin story. It’s Giving Backlog (And You’re Going to Love It).

Show business

• VMAs 2025: Sabrina Carpenter served a glitter-drenched, early-2000s-coded performance of Tears that had the internet in a chokehold, channelling her inner Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and also used her moment to publicly support trans rights, earning instant praise. Pop star activism but make it dance-break-in-the-rain. Also attending and performing at the VMAs was Lady Gaga, who then left and made it just in time for her concert at Madison Square Garden, talk about multi-tasking.

  

• Creative Arts Emmys: The Guest Actor and tech categories got their moment, with awards honoring the unsung geniuses of TV, from sound design to scene-stealing cameos. Julianne Nicholson, Bryan Cranston, Merritt Wever and Shawn Hatosy were the winners for 'Hacks,' 'The Studio,' 'Severance' and 'The Pitt,' respectively. A perfect appetizer for tonight’s main Emmy course.

  

• Apple iPhone 17 + iPhone Air: Apple just dropped two shiny new toys, the iPhone 17 with its upgraded cameras and higher specs, and the ultra-thin, ultra-light iPhone Air. Your bank account is already crying.

  

• Harry Styles & Zoë Kravitz: TMZ reports the two are “casually hooking up,” after being spotted together again and again and again. Not sure how TMZ obtained this kinda info, but regardless, the internet is rooting for the two, who even met up with Zoë’s dad, Lenny Kravitz.

• Banksy’s London Piece: Banksy’s latest work criticizing the British Royal Courts of Justice was swiftly removed, which somehow made the statement even louder. Classic Banksy: chaos as performance art.

  

• Nikki Rodriguez’s Age Reveal: Turns out My Life With the Walter Boys star Nikki Rodriguez is 33, not 22, according to public records and a resurfaced 2010 high school video.

• KJ Apa’s Mr. Fantasy: KJ Apa has unveiled his alter ego, Mr. Fantasy, complete with eccentric outfits, a surreal vibe and a very trending and very catchy self-titled song. Perhaps his greatest role yet.

• Emmys 2025: The Emmys air tonight, with The Pitt and Severance leading the pack. I just hope we get some “Thank you Sal Saperstein”s in the winners speeches (go watch The Studio if you don’t get the reference).

New era of fashion

• Giorgio Armani’s Passing: The legendary designer Giorgio Armani has passed away, marking the end of an era for Italian fashion. Tributes are pouring in as the industry reflects on his clean, powerful silhouettes that defined decades.

• Chloe Malle at Vogue: Chloe Malle has been named the new US Vogue editor. A nepo baby (daughter of an actress and a director) who has earned her merit with 14 years at the publication, her first cover featuring Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid was unveiled. The response? Let’s just say the internet shrugged politely. The cowgirl aesthetic would’ve been better suited to the other Hadid sister.

• Dior x Greta Lee: Greta Lee has been announced as the new brand ambassador of Dior, serving sharp sophistication and proving she’s the quiet luxury muse of our dreams, she wore Jonathan Anderson’s first foray into Dior couture at the Venice Film Festival.

  

• Versace’s Twin Moment: Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried stepped out in the exact same Versace look, proving fashion déjà vu can be chic when you’re both icons. A great stunt to get the world’s eyeballs on the new Versace post Donatella’s departure.

  

• The Naked Dress Renaissance: Margot Robbie stunned in a sheer Armani number at her London premiere, while Dakota Johnson went sultry in black Gucci at a New York gala. The naked dress is officially back and baring it all.

  

Courtside crushes

• And then there were two: Sinner and Alcaraz made it to yet another Tennis final, but it was Alcaraz who took the title at the US Open, with Sinner’s post-match longing stare at him instantly becoming a meme. Challengers was onto something, tennis romance arc unlocked.

  

• Aryna Sabalenka’s Repeat Win: Sabalenka has officially defended her US Open crown, proving she’s not just a one-season wonder.

• Djokovic’s Soda Pop Dance: Novak Djokovic went full dad mode, dancing to “Soda Pop” from Kpop Demon Hunters for his kids.

• Lorenzo Musetti: Twitter (or X, whatever) has crowned Musetti their latest White Boy of the Month, thirsting over his press conference pictures.

  

Trailer park

• Chad Powers - Glen Powell’s new sports comedy, which he is also promoting on his new GQ cover.

• Wake Up Dead Man - Benoit Blanc is back for the third instalment of the Knives Out franchise, now featuring Josh O’Connor as a priest.

• Marvel Zombies

• Wuthering Heights - Literature fans, be warned, this is NOT a faithful adaptation, and has taken creative liberties galore. I’m not sure what to make of it yet. (PS Charli XCX has written original songs for the movie…okayyy)

  

• Hamnet - Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zhao’s next, starring Paul Mescal

• Die My Love - Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson

• After The Hunt - Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield’s latest drama (another piece of drama- at the Venice Film Festival, while promoting the movie, the trio were met with a rather racist interviewer who completely excluded Ayo while questioning the other actors about the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements. Yikes.)

• Swiped - The story behind dating app, Bumble

• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

• House of Guinness

• The Housemaid

• Christy - A biographical sports drama film about the former professional boxer Christy Martin, played by Sydney Sweeney.

Sound off

• Justin Bieber’s Swag II: In a surprise move, Bieber dropped Swag II way sooner than anyone expected, just weeks after Swag. Even though he promised a midnight release, the album showed up late for reasons neither he nor fans could explain, which somehow made it feel even more chaotic.

• Sabrina Carpenter’s Tears MV: Sabrina’s Tears music video features four alternate endings, each in classic Sabrina fashion- the guy dies in three of them, and in one, no one dies. Whether it’s avoiding censorship or just a clever way to boost replays, it’s working.

• Louis & Zayn Reunion: Former bandmates Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik were spotted together, sending 1D Twitter into cardiac arrest.

  

• Bad Bunny’s Bad Knees: A video of Bad Bunny’s knees giving out mid-hop has gone viral. Fans are begging him to sit down before the Un Verano Sin Ti sequel becomes Un Verano Sin ACL.

• Jonas Brothers Christmas Movie: The Jonas Brothers are starring in a Christmas movie, pushing the nostalgia button so hard it might break.

• Fifth Harmony (Minus Camila): Fifth Harmony has reunited as a quartet, but they’re still out of sync when performing on stage. Some things never change.

• Spotify Lossless Audio: Spotify is finally rolling out Lossless audio for Premium users, catching up to the feature Apple Music has had for years. Audiophiles everywhere are ready to pretend they can tell the difference.

  

• Tame Impala’s New Album: Tame Impala just announced Deadbeat, dropping October 17th.

• Hilary Duff’s Comeback: Hilary Duff has signed with Atlantic Records and is officially working on new music.

• Eternal Struggle: Ariana Grande tickets went on sale and the battle was brutal, friendships were tested, bank accounts drained, and Ticketmaster remains the true villain.

• Coldplay’s Endless Tour: Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour started in March 2022, and Chris Martin just announced they’re adding a whopping 138 more shows, extending it through 2027. At this point, is it even a tour, or just a permanent way of life?

Hollywood Hot Sheet

• Sophie Turner as Lara Croft: Sophie Turner has officially been cast as Lara Croft in the upcoming live-action Tomb Raider series.

• Superman: Man of Tomorrow: David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult just shared new artwork for Superman: Man of Tomorrow, hitting theaters July 9, 2027. The hype cycle has officially begun.

  

• Chris Evans at TIFF: Chris Evans showed up at TIFF looking ridiculously jacked, sparking rumors that he may appear in Avengers: Doomsday. Cap comeback? He COULD do this all day, after all.

  

• Spielberg x Call of Duty: Steven Spielberg reportedly wanted to direct a Call of Duty movie but got turned down. Somewhere, a gamer just shed a single tear at what could’ve been.

• Cillian Murphy ‘ROMO’: Cillian Murphy joked he has ROMO (relief of missing out) on not joining Nolan’s The Odyssey.

• Twilight on YouTube: All five Twilight films will stream for free on YouTube from September 7–14. Time to relive the Team Edward vs. Team Jacob wars like it’s 2009.

• People We Meet on Vacation: First look at People We Meet on Vacation is here, complete with a book-accurate poster. Coming to Netflix on 9th January, I hope we get a teaser trailer soon.

  

• No Other Choice at TIFF: No Other Choice is getting rave reviews out of TIFF. Expect it to be your new “have you seen this??” movie rec by year’s end. A South Korean satirical dark comedy thriller, revolving around the desperation of unemployment and job hunting.

  

• Venice Film Festival Buzz: The Testament of Ann Lee and The Smashing Machine got standing ovations in Venice, both clocking in at just 15 minutes each. This year’s Oscars race is sure gonna be a mixed bag of genres.

• Anxious People Adaptation: Best-selling novel by Fredrik Backman, Anxious People is getting a star-studded adaptation with Aimee Lou Wood, Angelina Jolie, and Jason Segel.

  

• The White Lotus Season 4: The White Lotus Season 4 will be set in France. But we still don’t know if that means a Parisian hotel of drama or a snow-capped Alpine murder mystery.

• New Drops: The Conjuring and The Roses are both out now, Thursday Murder Club just landed on Netflix, and Only Murders in the Building dropped its first three Season 5 episodes. Consider your weekend officially booked.

Elsewhere on the internet

• The Etsy Witch Trials: Jezebel posted about paying a witch on Etsy to curse Charlie Kirk, an American right-wing political activist, just two days before he was shot to death. Buying spells and consulting for hexes with Etsy witches has quietly become the internet’s favourite pastime ever since an influencer went viral for summoning perfect wedding weather.

  

• Charlie Kirk Shooter Memes: The shooter is already being compared online to the infamous Luigi Mangione, who apparently set the hotness bar too high for assassins. Adding to the chaos, the bullet casings reportedly had messages engraved like:

  • “*notices bulge* OWO what’s this?”

  • “Hey Fascist! Catch!”

  • “Bella Ciao”

  • “If you read this, you are gay lmao”

    The internet has been absolutely feral with reactions.

• Shaun White & Nina Dobrev Split: Shaun White and Nina Dobrev have officially called off their engagement after five years together.

• Rebecca Ma’s Wedding: Influencer Rebecca Ma (aka BeccaxBloom), known for her #RichTok flexes and showcasing her family’s amassed wealth, just tied the knot with her boyfriend in Lake Como.

• Royal Mess: Kate Middleton was spotted in a blonde wig that was… not exactly secure.

  

• The Summer I Pranked People: TikTok has a new trend: telling people the plot of The Summer I Turned Pretty as though it’s gossip about mutual friends. Gaslighting as entertainment? It’s what Susannah would have wanted…

• Nepal’s Discord-Elected Leader: Sushila Karki has been sworn in as Nepal’s interim prime minister, the first world leader elected via Discord after Gen Z overthrew the government. Democracy just got a push notification.

• 2025 is turning out to be quite a year for Taylor Swift. After reclaiming her master recordings and announcing her new album, she is engaged! The Instagram post announcing the engagement became the most-liked picture by an artist on the platform, currently standing at 35 million likes, and has also become the most-reposted post on Instagram.

  The engagement reportedly took place 2 weeks prior, when Swift and Kelce recorded their New Heights episode, where she announced The Life of a Showgirl. Travis Kelce used the 3-hour window to have their backyard set up and decorated for the proposal post-podcast. As for the ring, it appears to be an 8-carat elongated antique cushion-cut diamond, valued at $500,000, designed by Kelce and a New York jeweller, Artifex Fine Jewelry.

  

  It’s no surprise that the world celebrated this news like their own, because when you spend almost 20 years writing, singing and caring about feelings people can relate to, they’ll care for you too. Especially when her boyfriend/fiancé loves her loud and loves her right. Here’s wishing our English teacher and Gym teacher a happily ever after. 87 and 13 do make a 100 after all.

• And if that wasn’t enough, Taylor Swift broke a new Guinness World Record after her appearance on New Heights pulled 1.3 million concurrent viewers on YouTube, the most ever for any podcast!

Celeb shenanigans

• Sabrina Carpenter's new album, Man’s Best Friend, is out now! Unhinged lyrics, catchy melodies and strong vocals, my personal favourites lie in the second half of the record: When Did You Get Hot?, Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Worry and Goodbye.

• Harry Styles was spotted with Zoe Kravitz multiple times in Italy, sparking dating rumours.

  

• Also in Italy, the Venice Film Festival- Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro arrived together, Julia Roberts urged her castmates to open their cans together, Emma Stone said she believes in aliens during the press for her new film Bugonia (received a 6-minute standing ovation), Jacob Elordi and the cast of Frankenstein received a 15-minute standing ovation.

  

• Controversy darlings, actress Sydney Sweeney is reportedly

  dating record executive Scooter Braun… birds of a feather and all that, I guess.

• Selena Gomez took a bachelorette trip to Cabo!

  

• Youtuber Connor Franta reveals in a video that he and singer Troye Sivan dated for two years, confirming fans’ suspicions.

• Cardi B is bringing her unfiltered self to court for a 2018 assault testimony. From her different wigs to “I wasn’t calling her fat, I was calling her a bitch”.

  

• Ariana Grande announces The Eternal Sunshine Tour, which is basically an American tour with one date in London at the present.

  

• Nina Dobrev is set to star in rom-com It Happened One Summer, alongside Tyler Hoechlin, based on Tessa Bailey’s novel of the same name. This is definitely NOT what the BookTok community pictured for the blonde bombshell character in the book.

  

In other news

• Twitter/X was rife with rumours of Donald Trump being dead, as he wasn’t seen in public, and the Pentagon Pizza Index showed unusually high activity. What’s pizza got to do with the American President, you may ask? Well, The Pizza Index, also known as the Pentagon Pizza Meter, refers to sudden, observable surges in takeout food orders — not necessarily pizza — from offices such as the Pentagon, the CIA, or the White House, right before major international events or crises are announced to the public.

  Government officials order food from nearby restaurants when they stay late at the office to monitor developing situations such as the possibility of war or coup, or an alleged president’s death in this case, thereby signalling that they are expecting something big to happen even before the public is made aware. This index can be monitored through open resources such as Google Maps, which show when a business location is abnormally busy.

• K-Pop Demon Hunters becomes the most-watched movie on Netflix.

• A Gilmore Girls documentary is in the works for the dramedy’s 25th anniversary this October.

  

• The Cadillac F1 team have announced their driver line-up for their debut in 2026, with former Mercedes and Red Bull drivers, Valteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

• Instagram has added a new freshmen finder feature with UniDays, where you can find other students attending your school by adding your university in your bio and going through a verification process.

• Spotify is launching DMs on its platform for 16+ users.

• Capitalism strikes again, as The New York Times has paywalled The Mini Crossword.

• In America, it seems like jeans do the talking. After the scandal of Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad, Gap has roped in Katseye for their low-rise jeans advert. Set to the re-recording of the song Milkshake by Kelis, the diverse girl group may not have been a direct response to the other ad, given how long it takes to devise a media campaign, but it invariably has become so. Especially with the lyrics, “And they're like it's better than yours. Damn right, it's better than yours” playing in the background.

• Stranger Things actress, Millie Bobby Brown has adopted a baby girl! 21 years old, she is married to the son of Bon Jon Jovi.

• The US Open is back, while the Honey Deuce drink was all the rage last year, a new Watermelon Slice cocktail has been introduced this year. Created by IHG Hotels & Resorts and featuring Champagne, elderflower liquor, fresh watermelon juice and lime, it’s served in a fluorescent yellow glass shaped like a tennis ball and topped with a watermelon wedge, for just $39. By comparison, the $23 Honey Deuce is a steal.

  

• This years covers of Vogue’s ‘Dogue’ editions are here! Featuring pets of stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Lewis Hamilton, Malume, Rosé and Mikey Madison.

  

• Popmart is set to launch mini Labubus!

Watch out

• The trailer for Good Boy is here! A horror movie from the perspective of a dog.

• Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein’s poster, plus theatrical and Netflix release dates, have been announced.

  

• The new Harry Potter series is currently filming in London.

  

• Real Television is back! Only months after the Emmy-nominated series The Pitt aired it’s first season, the teaser for the second season is here. Releasing in January 2026!

• Shameik Moore reveals he has begun voice recording for Beyond The Spider-Verse.

• Anya Taylor-Joy and Meryl Streep are reportedly in talks to star in Joni Mitchell’s biopic directed by Cameron Crowe.

  

• Here’s the first look at Emily in Paris Season 5, taking place in Rome and releasing on 18th December.

  

• Rumour has it that two major Avengers: Doomsday stars clashed on set, leading to more reshoots than planned.

• Florence Pugh’s Yelena is joining Spider-Man: Brand New Day, along with Tramell Tillman of Severance fame, and Joe Keery, rumoured to play Harry Osbourne.

• Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci filmed a funeral scene for The Devil Wears Prada 2.

  

• Timothee Chalamet hides his bald look for Dune: Messiah in a new picture with fans, joined by Kylie Jenner in Budapest.

  

• Trailer for Jan Komasa’s thriller, Anniversary. A close-knit family is torn apart as a new movement called ‘The Change’ sweeps through the country. In theatres, 29th October.

• First look at House of Guinness, a new series from ‘Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight. The series follows the Guinness Family and the consequences of the death of the head of the brewery Benjamin Guinness. Releasing 25th September on Netflix.

  

• Austin Butler for the latest issue of Men's Health Magazine as he promotes his new movie with Zoe Kravitz, Caught Stealing.

  

Sound off

• Sombr and Laufey’s new albums are out now! Renee Rapp’s new album also came out this month!

• And next Friday, Sabrina Carpenter’s highly anticipated Man’s Best Friend (for which she has been having private listening parties for fans) releases, along with the music video for new song Tears.

• Florence & The Machine's new album, Everybody Scream, releases on Halloween, October 31st 2025.

  

• Harry Styles is rumoured to release his 4th album in the first quarter of 2026!

• “Man I Need” by Olivia Dean debuts at #1 on the Spotify Top Debuts Global Songs Chart.

• Halsey and Carly Rae Jepsen are celebrating 10 years of their respective albums, Badlands and Emotion. While Carly is releasing 6 new songs, Halsey is giving fans unreleased demos and new music videos!

In other news

• Netflix is launching an astrology hub that will recommend movies and TV shows based on each astrological sign.

  

• Spotify is introducing the ability for Premium users to mix their playlists with custom transitions and effects.

  

• Volkswagen has released a vehicle that unleashes its full horsepower behind a paid subscription. Users have to pay a monthly fee of around $20 to drive the car at top speed

• ‘Christian Girl Autumn’ influencer Caitlin Covington pranked the internet posting a crying video talking about the pressure behind taking her annual Fall pictures, but then revealed she will continue her Fall photoshoot tradition in another video.

  

  @cmcovingPlot twist: I would NEVER cancel fall 🍁🍂 Thank you for all your support, I was truly not expecting that response - your kindness honestly blew me away. Love y’all. 🥹 P.S. Consider this the official fall launch

  Tiktok failed to load.
  
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• Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty partners with Tajín for a limited edition Cheek & Lip set.

  

• Singer Lil Nas X was arrested while Tyla passed out in a club.

• Nadeen Ayoub has been crowned Miss Universe Palestine. This year marks the first time Palestine will be represented at Miss Universe 2025.

  

• A Justin Bieber impersonator tricked Las Vegas security into getting onstage for a live crowd at XS Nightclub this weekend. He performed several songs before being kicked out.

• “Skibidi,” “delulu,” and “tradwife” are among 6,000 new words added to the Cambridge Dictionary this year. Other words added include “work wife” and “work spouse,” “broligarchy”, and “lewk.”

Level: Easy

• Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s podcast New Heights (and the Easter egg hunt and reactive marketing that followed): Need I say more? Yes, I do actually.
  What started with Taylor’s official team dropping a post hinting at a “new era”, and the New Heights podcast teasing a very special guest, even though they are currently off air, culminated in the internet breaking.

  For her first-ever podcast (and first sit-down interview in over a decade), Taylor shared about the process of buying back her masters, the intention behind the Eras Tour, being hyperfixated on baking sourdough currently and obviously, the new album. The 2 hours also gave us a closer look into her relationship with Travis Kelce, as his brother Jason turned interviewer-extraordinaire.

  

  As for the album, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know. It’s called ‘The Life of a Showgirl’, it comes out October 3rd, has 12 tracks, with the title track having a Sabrina Carpenter feature. The rest of the tracklist has also been revealed, the album is produced by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback (her collaborators on hits like Blank Space and Style, so expect some absolute pop bangers). I’d say anything else you see online is strictly on a need-to-know basis since the Swifties are busy digging through the info-dump to find clues and the brands are playing into the hype by joining the bandwagon.

  

• Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Georgina Rodríguez, with a ring that can probably be seen from outer space: After 8 years of dating, and 4 children together Ronaldo finally popped the question with the 30-carat ring estimated to cost anywhere between 3-5 million dollars.

• Demi Lovato made a surprise appearance at a Jonas Brothers concert on their 20th anniversary tour for a Camp Rock reunion: She performed This Is Me and Wouldn't Change a Thing and called the experience 'healing' after years apart.

• The Summer I Turned Pretty Wednesdays: Do the words “Team Conrad”, “Team Jeremiah”, “80% cacao-mirror glaze-raspberry coulis” sound familiar to you? Everyone’s tuned into the Prime Video teen drama based on the books by Jenny Han. After a new episode drops every week, the internet sees a litany of discourse and memes about which boy the protagonist Belly should pick, and just how insane the premise of the story is…

Level: Medium

• 🎶Alexander come back to sleep🎶 short form trend from the musical Hamilton: Women are dressing up as the American founding father to escape through their windows…

• Trailer for Timothee Chalamet’s new movie, Marty Supreme, is here. We truly are watching the upward trajectory of one of our generation’s greats…:

• Trailer for the new season of Only Murders in the Building:

• Grasshopper on Jennifer Lopez: As fans screamed in warning, JLo truly thought she was having a moment on stage. Until the grasshopper creeped further up her neck and she realised what was happening.

• Ryan Reynolds will return as Deadpool in Avengers: Doomsday: I meannn, anyone could have guessed that, but I guess this is the official confirmation.

• Rachel Brosnahan kissing her Superman co-star after the director yelled cut: A clip has surfaced where, after the kissing scene in the new Superman movie, Rachel Brosnahan, playing Lois Lane, is seen pecking David Corenswet even though the scene has wrapped. Her real life husband has also taken to Instagram to ‘like’ shady comments about her under his posts…

Level: Difficult (read: niche)

• K-pop Demon Hunters (!!!): Sony Animation’s newest movie on Netflix is kinda becoming a big deal. And rightfully so. The people behind the Spider-Verse movies have made a movie that’s visually stunning, explores the themes of identity/friendship/trust and has songs that are SO. DAMN. CATCHY. No seriously, go look at this week’s Billboard charts (yes, the real one, not in-universe). The fictional K-pop group Huntrix has become the first girl group since Destiny’s Child after 24 YEARS, to get a number 1 on the charts!

  

  The film is also already getting Oscar buzz. So, don’t judge the name, don’t think it’s “just a kid’s movie” and just watch the K-pop idols moonlighting as demon slayers.

• KATSEYE: Speaking of girl groups, Katseye was formed on a reality show by Hybe Corporation (the company behind K-pop groups like BTS and Seventeen) and consists of 6 members from around the world. Even if you don’t know them, there is a definite possibility you have unknowingly watched their TikToks or others’ TikToks on their songs. Go listen to Gabriela and Gnarly.

• Book to screen adaptations: The book girlies have been going crazy over the breadcrumbs they’ve been getting from the production of the Prime Video Off Campus series (based on books by Elle Kennedy), and also The Love Hypothesis movie, thanks to Lili Reinhart doing TikTok trends with her co-star.

• Singers Lana Del Rey and Ethel Cain are beefing: Lana’s new album has lyrics that shade Cain, who didn’t hold back and retaliated online. Frankly, it’s… a lot. Thankfully, Forbes has summed it up for you and for me.

• Jeff Bezos wants to cast wife in the new James Bond: Since Amazon has taken over the franchise, it’s no surprise that this is happening. But rumour has it, this is not just fantasy casting, he wants to make her a star…

• The Gilded Age, and The Buccaneers: Who doesn’t love a historical drama series? And what’s better than 1 historical drama? 2 historical dramas! The Gilded Age from HBO and The Buccaneers by Apple TV are both the kind of low-stakes, high-drama watches you need in your life.

• Sombr announces his debut album, I Barely Know Her: Out next Friday, August 22nd.

• After the official suit reveal trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day dropped last Saturday, the movie went into production, and we started getting set photos from Glasgow, which collectively restored humanity’s faith in superheroes because of how real they looked!!!

• And then Spider-Man, aka Tom Holland, went viral while promoting his non-alcoholic beer, Bero, as he did a cold plunge for a video with Men’s Health magazine.

Make way for spooky szn

• The horror movie Weapons holds a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, becoming the highest-rated horror movie of the decade.

• The first poster for the horror film Good Boy has been released. Described as a horror movie shot from a dog’s point of view that sees its owner haunted by dark forces.

  

• Part 1 of the new season of Wednesday is out now on Netflix.

• First trailer for The Thursday Murder Club has been released.

Watch out

• The official trailer for Hikari’s Rental Family. It follows a down-on-his-luck actor (Brendan Fraser) living in Tokyo who gets a job at a “rental family” company to play various stand-in roles in other people’s lives. In theatres on November 21.

• First trailer for the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You, from the director of The Fault in Our Stars.

• The official trailer for James L. Brooks’ Ella McCay, starring Emma Mackey and Jamie Lee Curtis. In theatres on December 12.

• The teaser trailer for Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern and Billy Crudup, is here. In select theatres on November 14 and on Netflix December 5.

• Matt Smith has been cast as the villain in Star Wars: Starfighter, the new standalone Star Wars movie, alongside Ryan Gosling and Mia Goth. In theatres on May 28, 2027.

  

• A Spider-Punk spin-off animated movie from the Spider-verse universe is in the works. Daniel Kaluuya is co-writing the film.

Latest buzz

• Miley Cyrus plans to re-record Hannah Montana classics and perform them live to celebrate the icon’s 20th anniversary.

• Olivia Rodrigo's third studio album is rumoured to be released between March and April 2026.

• Fans are speculating that Beyoncé could be planning a drop on her birthday, September 4.

• Taylor Swift originally planned for ‘King Of My Heart’ to be released as a single, accompanied by a music video, director Joseph Kahn reveals. He said that she ultimately scrapped the idea and chose to make ‘…Ready For It?’ a single instead. HITS Daily Double continues to confirm that new Taylor Swift music is dropping this year, possibly in November.

In other news

• Instagram has dropped three new features: a repost option for reels and grid posts where content from other account can feature on your profile, an Instagram map that shows the location of accounts you follow (if enabled) (think Snap Map), and a separate ‘Friends’ section on the reels tab that shows you reels your mutuals have engaged with.

  

• SKIMS introduces a new face wrap product, because women being insecure only about their bodies was not enough.

  

• The world's oldest baby has been born from an embryo frozen in 1994. Thaddeus Daniel Pierce is over 30 years old despite being born July 26, 2025

• American comedian Matt Rife is now the legal guardian of the haunted Annabelle doll. He has purchased the Connecticut home and occult museum of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

• The Dating Pool: This was quite a week for relationship soft launches for celebrities of a certain age group. Starring in the upcoming movie The Naked Gun together (it’s receiving rave reviews and debuted with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes), Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson are together.
  Also, Tom Cruise was spotted with Ana de Armas, and Jessica Alba was seen kissing Danny Ramirez.

  

• Sydney Sweeney’s jeans are a big point of debate and online chatter. Her latest ad for American Eagle jeans is being called out for promoting racial superiority due to the gene/jean wordplay script, and also being mocked for being unnecessarily overtly sexual for a campaign that is claiming to donate its proceeds to a domestic violence non-profit. Advertising tends to be subliminal in nature, but this is giving 1930s Germany…

• Leonardo DiCaprio is building a hotel.

  

• The Social Network 2 cast is slowly coming together, with Jeremy Strong rumoured to play Mark Zuckerberg as Jesse Eisenberg passed on the role. Mikey Madison could play Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who disclosed Facebook’s documents in 2021, while Jeremy Allen White could play Jeff Horwitz, the reporter who led the breaking of the Facebook files.

  

• San Diego Comic Con- Lucasfilm head honcho, George Lucas, attended Comic Con for the first time ever and announced the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The upcoming Coyote vs Acme movie’s footage plus poster was released, fans got a first look at Tron: Area, and the first teaser of the final season of The Boys.

• The popcorn bucket and soda cup for Freakier Friday got it right.

• Trailers for

  • A24’s romantic comedy, Eternity, where you have to choose who you want to spend the rest of eternity with once you have died.

  • Avatar: Fire and Ash

  • Zootopia 2

  • Hoppers

  • Teaser for the new Spider-Man suit reveal!!!

Pop stars

• The Dating Pool (cont.): Katy Perry was spotted on a dinner date with former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, who then attended her concert.

  

• Girls are making their boyfriends personalise the line “That’s my baby, she’s iconic…” from Justin Bieber’s song for his wife Hailey Bieber on his new album.

• Justin Timberlake is receiving flak for not performing on his own tour and only singing a few lines of his songs while the audience sings the rest. He has also announced that he was diagnosed with Lyme disease.

• A Hannah Montana tour is rumoured to be in the pipeline after Miley Cyrus hinted that wants to do something special for the show’s 20 year anniversary.

• Selena Gomez has released a new perfume under her brand, Rare Beauty.

  

• Destiny’s Child reunited at the last stop of Beyonce’s tour.

  

• New music by,

  • Chappell Roan- The Subway

  • Demi Lovato- Fast

  • Renee Rapp- Shy

  • Hayley Williams released 17 new songs on her website, which were available for free download!

Internet stars

• A lot of people fell for the AI video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline.

• The Lofi Girl, YouTube’s iconic study streamer, just graduated!

  

  
  

• She’s done it again. Internet personality Trisha Paytas’ third baby was born just as another celebrity passed away, fuelling the reincarnation memes. Soon after Ozzy Osbourne died, Trisha Paytas gave birth to a baby boy named Aquaman Moses Paytas-Hacmon. And if that wasn’t enough, coincidentally, actor Jason Momoa aka Aquaman, had hosted Black Sabbath’s final reunion concert where Ozzy Osbourne performed for the last time…

  

• A mini horse playing the keyboard, waking up patients from anaesthesia, is going viral for just how absurd it would be to be waking up to that after a medical procedure.

• Harry Styles is releasing vibrators through his lifestyle/self-care brand Pleasing…

  

• This clip of the cast of Fantastic Four seeing Sue Storm’s Malice skin in the Marvel Rivals video game for the first time.

• And on the topic of Fantastic Four, yes, everyone is suddenly hating on Pedro Pascal for getting close to his female co-stars under the guise of his “anxiety”.

  

• Charli xcx got married, and did a TikTok trend on her song.

• The Devil Wears Prada 2 has started filming in New York!

  

• After the CEO-HR Head at the Coldplay concert scandal, the company Astronomer has made a slick PR move by hiring Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin’s ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow, to “address” the public’s concerns…

  

• Someone left a Labubu doll on Karl Marx’s grave…

  

• Nintendo has claimed that Mario and Princess Peach are just “good friends” and not a couple, as many have assumed for years. Okayyy, friendzone much?

• Chris Evans and Alba Baptista are reportedly expecting their first child together.

• Travis Kelce hard-launched Taylor Swift on his Instagram.

  

Hypermodern behaviour

Some new-age digital/Gen Z phenomena that have piqued my interest, for your perusal

• The Gen Z stare

• The Performative Man

• Use of the word “chalant”

• The first derogatory term for robots, thanks to Star Wars

  

Watch out

• New show from the creator of Breaking Bad. And it’s coming to Apple TV+, so you know it’s gonna be good.

• The new stop-motion pokemon series, Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, coming in 2027.

• The new season of Only Murders in the Building premieres on 9th September!

Sound check

New and new-ish music, for when you’re over DAISIES by Justin Bieber

• HOW DOES IT FEEL? - The Kid LAROI (also, ALL I WANT IS YOU by The Kid LAROI)

• IS IT - Tyla

• I Tried - Sadie Jean

• crickets!!! - hard life

• My Heart’s A Crowded Room - The Fray

• so nice - Sloane Simon

• End Of Summer - Tame Impala

• 12 to 12 - sombr (also, we never dated by sombr)

• Cry Cry Cry - King Princess

• Ring Ring Ring - Tyler, The Creator

• mangetout - Wet Leg

• At this point, who HASN’T seen either the original video or the multiple memes of the co-worker couple who had their affair exposed at a Coldplay concert? The CEO and HR chief of the company Astronomer were caught in an embrace on the concert jumbotron, which features couples in the audience. Obviously, the embarrassed scurrying and hiding away has gone viral, with the internet quickly finding out their identities/backgrounds and offshooting memes galore.

• Speaking of affairs, the concept of still fanning the flames of your 50-year-long situationship on Instagram… Fleetwood Mac bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have put up matching lyrical posts, years after their on-again-off-again relationship that inspired multiple songs and buoyed the success of the band, hinting at a possible reunion.

• Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is open for bookings for its IMAX tickets, A YEAR IN ADVANCE. While this is great news for theatre owners, and shows the demand for IMAX screenings, I can’t help but wonder how many of those sold-out seats are vendors buying them out for the black market…

  

• The Royal children are big Alacaraz fans; this much is obvious in their reaction to the Wimbledon final. And the tradition of the men's and women's finals winners dancing together has given us yet another awkward video.

  

• This aura farming boat kid from Indonesia.

• Booktok is going feral over this- The best-selling romance book, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, is getting its on-screen adaptation, but it’s the casting that’s blowing people’s minds. The lore behind it is that the book was originally a Star Wars fanfiction based on the characters of Rey and Kylo Ren (played by Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver in the movies). Now, the kicker is that, in the movie produced by Amazon, the male lead will be played by none other than Daisy Ridley’s real-life husband Tom Bateman… who, allegedly, the antagonist in the book is named after…

  

Movie magic

• Fantastic Four is committing to the theme and going old-school with its marketing. Marvel has collaborated with TIME magazine, Esquire, Men’s Health and Seventeen magazine to create in-universe magazine covers featuring the Fantastic Four in character.

  

• The trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s next directorial project, After The Hunt, featuring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield, is here.

• Trailer for The Map That Leads To You.

• The poster for DC’s Supergirl movie is here, due to release in June 2026!

  

• Speaking of DC releases, Superman has partnered with Spotify to give different playlist character covers to listeners, based on their listening habits. Search for the Superman playlist to check out yours. Unfortunately, me and this guy had the same experience…

  

• Also, thanks to Superman, the movie has helped increase interest in dog adoption by over 500% thanks to the character of Krypto! Google Searches After Superman Premiere:

  "Adopt Dog Near Me" — 513%+

  "Rescue Dog Adoption Near Me" — 163%

  "Adopt a Schnuzer" — 299%

  "Adopt a Puppy" — 31%

In other news

• TikTokers are taking to social media to show off their interpretation of one of Nicki’s most iconic poses in a new trend.

• Pete Davidson is going to be a FATHER. Yes, you read that right, Davidson and girlfriend, Elsie Hewitt are expecting their first child.

• The main stage at Tomorrowland caught fire a day before the festival.

  

• Stephen Colbert’s Late Night Show is getting cancelled. While the official claim is that this is being done due to financial reasons, people have pointed out that this may have been due to Colbert calling out the Trump administration.

• The famous Instagram account The Sylvanian Drama is being sued and has received a lawsuit claiming they've caused "irreparable injury" to the brand, Calico Critters (known as Sylvanian Families outside North America).

• The Emmy nominations are out! Apple Studios’ Severance and The Studio are leading the pack with 27 and 23 nominations, respectively! Apple’s Shrinking has also given Harrison Ford his first-ever Emmy nom, along with Martin Scorsese for guest-starring in The Studio. Some of the snubs, according to the internet were the Star Wars spin-off Andor, namely Diego Luna, The Industry, The Rehearsal and White Lotus’ Patrick Schwarzenegger.

  

  
  

Justin Bieber surprised everyone by dropping a new album, ‘SWAG’, returning after his 2021 release, Justice. Despite the lukewarm reviews, it’s safe to say the fangirls, sorry, Beliebers, are more than satisfied.

His wife, Hailey Bieber even took to her Instagram story to comment, “Is it finally clocking to you f--king losers?", referencing his recently viral video.

Sporty spice

• Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner, who beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, meets rival Carlos Alcaraz in a dream Wimbledon final on Sunday. Jannik Sinner will bid for a first Wimbledon title and attempt to gain revenge for that devastating French Open final defeat, while Carlos Alcaraz is seeking to join an elite club and achieve a 'three-peat'.

  

  In the earlier matches, American tennis player Ben Shelton had said on live television how his sister is his lucky charm but she has to go back to work at Morgan Stanley, and if anyone could help her extend her leave. The banking giant then proceeded to grant his wish.

  As for the celebrity attendance, Andrew Garfield showed up with new girlfriend Monica Barbaro (but the internet was more focussed on his brilliant hair transplant), Tom Holland showed up and promised Carlos Alcaraz a round of golf, aaaaand Hugh Grant fell asleep.

  

• Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been fired mid-season, reportedly due to poor performance of the team, however, a female employee had exposed him last year for sexual harassment, sooo make your inferences as you please.

  

Watch out

• The Superman team are doing a super job promoting the movie on socials, have a look at their Instagram page to see all the trends they’ve been recreating.

• Along with the main returning cast, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has made casting announcements for some fresh faces!

  

• The show Too Much by Lena Dunham, starring Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe on Netflix is receiving rave reviews. The romantic comedy is inspired by Dunham’s own life, after she broke up with music producer Jack Antonoff and moved to London.

  

In vogue

• Paris Couture Week is in full swing and the two highlights were the Schiaparelli and Rahul Mishra presentations. While Schiaparelli showcased a dress with a jewel encrusted beating heart, Mishra’s creations were inspired by the works of Gustav Klimt!

  

  Cardi B showed up to both runway shows on theme, even carrying a live crow on her hand for Schiaparelli.

• Jeff Bezos is rumoured to buy Vogue's parent company, Conde Nast!

• The original Birkin bag that was to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in Paris, sold for a whopping 8 million Euros, bought by a Japanese collector.

Trending on TikTok

• I grieve different- using Kendrick Lamar's “United in Grief” to show the trade-offs as a form of “mourning”, not necessarily in a tragic way, but as dark comedy.

• I woke up in a new Bugatti- using Ace Hood's 2013 hit “Bugatti”, where all the girls are getting whiplash from being pulled off screen at lightning speed while the men are pitifully dragged in slo-mo.

• Just a little something to take the edge off- holding the most unhinged things like a cigarette.

Celeb shenanigans

• Harry Styles was reportedly partying till 8 AM on a pink yacht named Cotton Candy.

• This clip of Damson Idris on Chicken Shop Date!!!

• After the release of the new Jurassic World, Scarlett Johansson becomes the highest-grossing actor of all time worldwide, surpassing her fellow Marvel male co-stars and Tom Cruise.

• Actress Rachel Zegler is dating a backup dancer from her West End musical Evita, and model Kaia Gerber is dating actor Lewis Pullman.

• Fergie has shot a new music video for her song London Bridge ON London Bridge.

• Sabrina Carpenter performed at BST Hyde Park and “arrested” actress Ayo Edebiri and singer Clairo as part of her set to be her “Juno girls”.

• Bad Bunny has used a voice seemingly mimicking president Donald Trump to send a message of support to immigrants in the music video for his single “NUEVAYoL”.

In other news

• Japan has broken the World internet speed record, with 1.02 petabits per second, enough to download all of Netflix in one second.

• Scientists have said that Earth may be trapped inside a giant void in space.

• Happy birthday Moo Deng! The slimy and chaotic viral sensation has turned 1!

  

  
  

Or should I say, Superjurastic July- as Jurassic World: Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, release this month.
Jurassic World: Rebirth stomped into cinemas on 2nd July, introducing a high‑stakes plot where dinosaurs, now living freely on equatorial islands, become the key to a cutting‑edge medical breakthrough. Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey lead, and Bailey’s “slutty little glasses” have stolen hearts online. Critics are split: some praise its return to Spielbergian wonder and strong ensemble chemistry, while others call it formulaic, lacking emotional depth, but who cares, the audiences love dinosaurs on the big screen time and again

Superman lands in theatres on 11th July, while Marvel’s first family returns on the 24th! DC, Marvel or Jurassic Park, wherever your loyalties lie, go watch some hot nerds do their thing.

Fruit of the summer

It’s a Guava Girl Summer- the pink and green aesthetic is taking over. It can probably be traced back to the release of Wicked last year, with Elphaba and Galinda’s striking green and pink being splashed everywhere, but naturally, we had to associate the trend with a food, because well, food sells (butter yellow, tomato girl summer, milk nails, sardine girl summer, need I go on?).

Vogue claims Gauva Girl “Isn’t Just An Aesthetic, It’s a State of Mind” and as much as I love a trend and a fashion/beauty moment, I’m not sure I understand how I should embody a FLIPPING GUAVA. So I’m gonna stick to the basics, and recommend you do the same, just wear your blush pinks and pastel greens, that should do the trick 👍🏻

Bookmarked for Bingeing

Some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations you should watch out for!

• The trailer for Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling is out! A sci-fi adventure film where a teacher becomes an astronaut to save the Earth’s future. The beloved novel is already a page-turner of a ride if you want to give it a read, but the movie looks just as fun and honest to the source.

• Emily Henry’s much-awaited romance novel adaptation, People We Meet On Vacation finally has a release date! The Emily Bader and Tom Blyth starrer comes to Netflix on 9th January 2026. Not a summer release for a vacation film as we fans had hoped for but hey, it's June in January because I'm in love (if you know you know).

• Sarah Hogle’s rom-com You Deserve Each Other is being adapted by Amazon MGM Studios and the leads will be played by Meghann Fahy and Penn Badgley! The story is a second-chance romance, where Naomi and Nicholas due to be married in a few months, have fallen out of love and are sabotaging their own wedding.

• The trailer for My Oxford Year is here!

• Jennifer Aniston is set to star in the adaptation of Jennette McCurdy’s best-selling memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, playing McCurdy’s toxic and manipulative mother.

Hearththrobs go hard (launch)

• Something must be in the British-European air this week as all the pop girlies seem to be hard launching their actor-boyfriends. Gracie Abrams posted Paul Mescal on her Instagram from the Glastonbury festival where she played, Olivia Rodrigo too gave her boyfriend Louis Partridge a shoutout on stage at Glastonbury (which he then posted about on the ‘gram), as they were spotted at Wimbledon the next day, while Dua Lipa and Callum Turner are having the Euro Summer of our dreams.

  

• Speaking of pop stars, Harry Styles was spotted attending the Glastonbury festival and went viral for a video where he was seen kissing a music video producer. Hot girl summer for everyone!

• As for other heartthrobs, BTS have finally reunited after their hiatus and are working to release their next album in Spring 2026!

  

Coming soonish

• The first teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s star-studded The Odyssey is now playing in theatres!

• Here’s the trailer for Glen Powell’s Running Man.

• Kenneth Branagh has been cast in The Devil Wears Prada 2 as Meryl Streep aka Miranda Priestly’s husband.

• The F1 movie has become the biggest movie at the box office and made serious bank for Apple Studios so naturally, sequel talks are in motion (I’m in, as long as this time they show at least one qualifying session, give their lead driver at least a couple of penalties for all the track terrors he commits, and ACTUALLY start caring about female representation in the sport if they are actively choosing to milk it for the plot) (Can you tell the movie didn’t do it for me?)

In other news

• Soham Parekh: The man who had multiple jobs in THIS economy. Over the last couple of days, Twitter/X has been rife with screenshots and anecdotes by Silicon Valley startup founders sharing that they had interviewed and employed a Soham Parekh, who simultaneously held multiple roles in various Y Combinator companies, thanks to remote working. Parekh has confessed to this as his truth came out, and claims he did this for financial reasons.
  Honestly, kudos to him, people are sadly mistaking a hustler for a scammer.

  

• Since July 2nd, the halfway point of 2025, we are officially closer to 2050 than the year 2000.

The India inspo

Western media outlets, luxury fashion houses, fast fashion brands, and content creators won’t say the quiet part out loud, but it’s the truth- India is your fashion inspiration this year.

There was a ruffle (pun intended) online, when a viral reel saw a creator style a stole over a dress and called it a “Scandinavian scarf”, which looked eerily similar to how Indian women wear a dupatta. And while there was uproar/coverage, whatever you wanna call it, it was not an isolated event.

Since then, long maxi dresses with a scarf around the neck have been all over our feeds. Be it someone we know attending a wedding, an influencer at a soiree or targeted ads selling the newest trends on shady websites. It is most definitely the style everyone is vying for, but you won’t see anyone acknowledging where the inspiration came from. I even pointed it out on a creator’s reel, and when my comment became the most-liked, she promptly disabled the comments, LOL. But the reel still lives on her feed; it’s the most-viewed after all.

Similarly, a few weeks back, Nordstrom started selling “Indian-souvenir” tote bags for $48, yes those jholas you can see the average Indian carry veggies in from their local vendors, which they probably picked up for free. And on the runways, Louis Vuitton is showcasing “India-inspired” bejewelled trunks, and Prada models are wearing Kolhapuri sandals. Thankfully, Prada has acknowledged the roots of its sandals’ design, but of course, only after they were called out on the Internet, and entered a legal row as the Kolhapuri Chappal is protected as a Geographical Indication (GI) under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

I have seen numerous takes about this whole situation online, while many Indians are rightfully upset about the West making a quick buck through their culture, some say it’s okay for the West to take inspiration, since this is at least propagating Indian culture to the World, especially when Indians don’t take the onus to do it themselves. But that’s not the point, is it? Cultural appreciation is great, and Indian fashion, art, and design can and should be celebrated by all, but only when their origins are rightfully acknowledged and due credit is given. It’s not lost on anyone how vocal people seem to be when something is Euro-centric inspired, when something is French or Italian. Then why the hesitation when you steal from India?

• Anna Wintour has stepped down as Vogue’s Editor-In-Chief after 37 years! But if you thought this was retirement for the head honcho, then you are wrong. Wintour remains the Chief Content Officer for the Conde Nast group at large, along with the being the Editorial Director for Vogue globally. This move is just her passing the reigns for Vogue US. One step at a time.

• Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049) is set to direct the next James Bond movie for Amazon MGM Studio, who had recently purchased the Bond IP. While Villeneuve is someone very familiar with successfully rejuvenating iconic stories of the past for new audiences, personally, I’m on the fence about this decision of an auteur handling a mainstream blockbuster franchise.

  

• In a historic upset, the self-proclaimed “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare”, Zohran Mamdani has been elected the new mayor of New York City. Amongst many other accolades, the first mayor to have met his wife on the dating app, Hinge.

  

• Jeff Bezos got married to Lauren Sánchez in Venice. The Kardashians, Kushners, Trumps, Leo DiCaprio and Oprah made the guest list. But the main takeaways? The local Venetians were NOT happy, the wedding was preceded by a foam party (I thought univeristy freshmen left that in 2017?), and a Vogue cover for the bride (a day after Ms Wintour stepped down, looks like someone didn’t want to be associated with that).

• Sabrina Carpenter, after facing backlash over her new album cover, has released an alternate cover for her upcoming album, Man’s Best Friend, which is “approved by God” lmao.

  

Coming soonish

• Two of a kind: The Social Network Part 2, and a sequel to the Lilo and Stitch live action is in the works.

• A new Sense and Sensibility movie starring Daisy Edgar-Jones is being developed.

  

• Trailer for the upcoming comedy, Splitsville, starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona is here. The film follows a man who when his wife asks for a divorce, runs to his friends for support, only to learn that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage.

• The trailer for the 4th Naked Gun film, a crime-spoof comedy franchise, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson is here.

• The trailer for Project Hail Mary comes out on Monday. Starring Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller, follows a teacher who wakes up & soon remembers he was sent 12 light-years away from Earth to save humanity after the Sun began to erode.

Celebs

• Taylor Swift gave a surprise impromptu performance of Shake It Off at the Tight End University concert for the first time after the purchase of her masters.

  

• Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have broken up and ended their engagement.

• Pedro Pascal covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

• The very heterosexual and married Scarlett Johansson keeps kissing her very gay co-star Jonathan Bailey on the press tour of Jurassic World: Rebirth…

  

• Blackpink have teased a new tour, Miley Cyrus has also announced her Every Miley You’ve Ever Loved tour (everyone wants to do their own Eras Tour it seems).

• The Glastonbury music festival is back! Lewis Capaldi returned to stage after he couldn’t complete his set the last time around because of his tourettes syndrome, Olivia Rodrigo and Ed Sheeran performed The A Team together, Gracie Abrams teased a new song, and The 1975’s Matty Healy was his chaotic self as usual for the band’s headlining set.

• Elon Musk has banned the use of hashtags on Twitter/X.

Trending now

• The Stanley tumblr is so 2024, if you want to be ahead of the hydration curve look no further than the LinLin Kettle. A water bottle/tumblr by the Chinese brand Chako Lab, is slowly gaining popularity for its quirky design and pastel colours.

  

• Singer/randomly-spawned-possibly-an-industry-plant-backflipper Benson Boone’s new song Mystical Magical is going viral for the lyric “moonbeam icecream”, for the way he sings it (🎶MoOnBeAm IcEcReAm🎶) and because what does it even mean???

• Short form videos you can recreate this weekend:

  • “You better pay attention/compliment them”

  • PinkPantheress’ “Hi, my name is Pink and it’s really nice to meet you”

  • Kesha’s Your Love Is My Drug

  • Which song would your wedding party make their entrance to? Here is some inspo for you.

• The facelift on Tiktok that’s left everyone shocked

• A lesser known stop motion animation show on Nickelodeon, The Tiny Chef was recently canceled. Their channel decided to announce this news by making a clip where said Tiny Chef gets a phone call with the news canonically. Soon after, the endearing clip naturally touched people’s hearts as they rallied for the show to not be taken off air.

  

Binge brief

• New season of The Bear (Disney +)

• Ironheart, Marvel Television’s latest show focusing on Riri Williams, the character introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (Disney +)

• We Were Liars, based on the bestselling novel, is a psychological thriller masked under teenage friendships and affluent summers. (Prime Video)

• Trainwreck: Poop Cruise - An engine fire leaves 4,000 passengers stranded at sea without power and plumbing in this wild documentary about the infamous "poop cruise" of 2013. (Netflix)

  

• Dept. Q - A British crime thriller about a disgraced former detective who is assigned a cold case. (Netflix)

• The Survivors - A drama miniseries about a low-key seaside town haunted by its past, faced with yet another death years later. Full of twists, turns and red herrings. (Netflix)

• Murderbot - A science-fiction action-comedy, where a security robot (played by Alexander Skarsgård) gains free will. (Apple TV+)

• Justin Bieber is back in the limelight, but not for new music or tolerating being Hailey Bieber’s husband, but because “it’s not clocking to you that [he’s] standing on business”. In a spat with a pap, Bieber said these words, and naturally, the video has blown up and is being memed relentlessly.

• Sabrina Carpenter’s newest song, "Manchild," is trending, along with the line dance choreography accompanying it that Sabrina performs in the music video.

• The dating reality TV show Love Island is always a fan favourite on social media but from the latest season of Love Island USA, a clip/audio has been going viral when Huda tries explaining to Nic that she’s a mother and has a daughter.

• 🎶Darling hold my hand…Nothing beats a Jet 2 holiday🎶, another audio that’s been making the rounds of the internet.

• I thought we had left lookalike contests back in 2024, but alas, we had to make space for one more, and for good reason. A Pedro Pascal lookalike contest was held in New York and the winner, Pedro #5 aka ‘The Daily Show’ lighting director George Gountas looks way too similar to the real deal. He even got interviewed on The Daily Show!

• If you’re reading this, you most likely do not live in New York and cannot vote in the upcoming mayoral elections. And yet, the chances of you seeing the viral campaigning of candidate Zohran Mamdani on social media would be very high. Mamdani, who identifies as a socialist, has quickly gained popularity for being unpretentious, cool and honestly? Just plain likeable.

• Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen in his upcoming biopic, and he sounds too. damn. good!

• Rachel Zegler has made her West End debut in the musical Evita and to the surprise of fans and onlookers in London, she has been singing the song “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” every night on the outside balcony of the London Palladium theatre! Crowds have been gathering at 9 every night outside to watch her, while those inside see it on a live stream.

  

• Audrey Anderson-Emmons has come out, and everyone’s making the same Modern Family joke.

  

• Beyoncé surprised fans by inviting Miley Cyrus to perform with her at her Cowboy Carter tour stop in Paris.

  

Sound off

• Laufey’s new song Lover Girl comes out on the 25th of June! Here’s a snippet…

• Haim’s new album, I quit, is out now!

Watch out

• Jon Bernthal will return as The Punisher in Spider-Man 4!

• Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier will be directing the new X-Men movie.

• Tom Cruise will be receiving an honorary Oscar for his contributions to filmmaking, the theatrical experience and the stunt community.

• A new teaser for Chad Powers, Glen Powell’s next project, is here.

• 28 Years Later, the sequel to the horror franchise, 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, is now playing in theatres!

In other news

• Kylie Jenner has gone back to her makeup empire’s roots and is releasing glossy versions of her original lip kits!

• The bandage dress of the aughts and 10s is making a comeback.

• In one of the largest privacy breaches, 16 billion login credentials and passwords have been leaked.

  

  
  

  
  

• At the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple announced iOS 26 and its new features. These include live translation on FaceTime, call screening, the karaoke and sound mixing features on Apple Music, a redesigned photo gallery, amongst other things, and the pièce de résistance, the liquid glass design.

  The new design overhaul features a completely revamped layout and look for the iPhone operating system, now presented in a transparent and glass-like avatar. While the sleek and minimalist look appears clean, the actual use case seems questionable. People are pointing out how the varying opacities of the notifications, widgets and control centre clash with each other, basically making everything harder to read.

  

• Sabrina Carpenter has announced her new album, Man’s Best Friend, which will release on 23rd August! However, everyone’s not talking about the new music but the album cover for the new record. Paired with the name of the album, the cover sees Sabrina on her knees as her hair is pulled by a man. At first glance, it does seem controversial and regressive, with many pointing out that it’s catered to the male gaze.

  

  But if you look beyond what meets the eye, and approach the discourse with nuance, this is the album which has the lead single ‘Manchild’. If you are remotely familiar with Sabrina’s discography, she constantly calls the other sex dumb, slow, useless and other such synonyms. She kills all the male leads in her music videos. I’m afraid this is a classic case of Poe’s Law- “an adage of Internet culture which says that, without a clear indicator of the author's intent, any parodic or sarcastic expression of extreme views can be mistaken by some readers for a sincere expression of those views.”.

  

• Israel attacked Iran, Iran retaliated. Sorry, this isn’t pop culture, but very much serious news. But what imbibed it in pop culture, was an account on X posing to be the Iranian military, tweeting about the retaliation attacks like it was a football match. Hundreds of thousands of people believed it to be true, until fact checkers called it out in the community notes.

  

Celeb circuit

• Dua Lipa has officially revealed that her and Callum Turner are engaged, in her recent interview with British Vogue. The two were introduced by a mutual friend and connected again after bumping into each other, while reading the same book! (It was Hernan Diaz's novel, Trust)

• Glen Powell’s ex, Gigi Paris, has spoken up about their break-up being a result of Powell leaning into the dating rumours with Sydney Sweeney while promoting Anyone But You.

• DIY queen Nara Smith is pregnant with her 4th child.

• Billie Eilish is dating Nat Wolff, as the two were seen kissing in pap photos on a balcony in Venice.

• Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton are pregnant with their 2nd child.

• Dakota Johnson joined Amy Poehler’s podcast and recounted a nightmare she had about The 1975’s lead singer, Matty Healy murdering people but turning into asparagus whenever the police would catch him. Honestly, I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall when she had her dinner with Taylor Swift, because WHAT did she tell her to induce this kind of a dream?!

• Justin Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds has been dismissed by the court.

• Sarah Snook won a Tony for her one-woman act as Dorian Gray on Broadway. This win now means that all the lead actors of Succession are each halfway through an EGOT!

  

Coming soonish

• Apple’s F1 movie has released a haptic trailer for iPhone users, which can be viewed by going on the AppleTV app. First of its kind, the user is able to feel all the motions and movements of the F1 cars and engines in the trailer. In other news related to the film, Simone Ashley’s character has been significantly cut from the movie, making her appearance only a cameo now. This comes after Damson Idris’ character has also been sidelined to make Brad Pitt the focus. Previously, the producer and director of this film have also cut out Manny Jacinto’s part from their previous project, Top Gun: Maverick. Hmmm, smells awfully like racism.

• Trailer for Lena Dunham’s new show for Netflix, Too Much, is here!

• James Gunn confirms a new Wonder Woman movie is in the works at DC.

• A sequel to the movie, Spaceballs, has been announced.

• Materialists is in theatres for most of us (not for me sadly, for some reason it releases on the 15th of AUGUST in the UK???), here is Celine Song’s reference material while making the movie.

  

• A new Disney Pixar movie, Gatto, comes out in 2027! It is about a music-loving black cat in Venice, that is shunned by the locals due to superstition.

  

Sporty spice

• Carlos Alacaraz and Coco Gauff win the Roland Garros!

• Formula 1’s 2026 race calendar has been unveiled.

• The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place this weekend!

Sound check

• Alex Warren and Blackpink’s Rose tease a new collab, On My Mind.

• BTS members V, RM, Jungkook and Jimin are done with their mandatory military training and have been discharged.

• Twenty One Pilots drop their first single, The Contract, off their new album, Breach.

• The Grammys are adding a Best Album Cover and Traditional Country Album categories to the awards.

In other news

• The cast of musical Hamilton got together for the 10th anniversary of the Broadway hit, for a medley performance at the 2025 Tony Awards.

• Instagram will now allow you to rearrange your grid, regardless of when the photos were posted.

• Porn star Bonnie Blue has been permanently banned from the platform OnlyFans.

• Disney and Universal have sued the AI company Midjourney.

• It was Friday the 13th, but like this tweet said, does it even matter anymore?

  

  
  

• After Elon Musk’s departure from the Trump administration last week, Musk and Trump took to their own social media platforms to attack each other as the world got to witness the spectacular falling out. While Elon claimed that Trump won the elections because of him and confirmed that Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files of pedophiles, Trump retaliated by announcing that he would revoke Musk’s government subsidies and contracts. Here are the internet’s best reactions to the public break-up.

  

Runway rundown

• The first-ever Birkin bag made by Hermes for its namesake, Jane Birkin, is up for auction by Sotheby’s in Paris! Before it became the ultimate luxury bag, the original was born out of necessity, as Jane complained to the head of Hermes in a chance encounter on a flight that she didn’t have a bag that could fit all her daily essentials.

  

• Jonathan Anderson has been appointed the new creative director at Dior, for their women’s, men’s and haute couture collections. Anderson will go from designing 9 collections per year at Loewe to 10 collections per year at Dior, including 2 haute couture collections, a first for him. Including his own collections at JW Anderson and their collab with Uniqlo, Jonathan Anderson will be designing 18 collections per year, meaning he is set to become the industry’s most prolific, multi-tasking designer since Karl Lagerfeld.

• The Paris Haute Couture Week schedule is here!

  

Stars and stuff

• Magnus Carlsen has won the Norway Chess tournament for the 7th time, but the video going viral is from round 6 when reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju beat a visibly dejected Carlsen, who slammed the table in frustration.

• After announcing the purchase of her masters, Taylor Swift has been spotted out and about with Dakota Johnson (who has allegedly broken up with Chris Martin), Selena Gomez, and at a wedding with Travis Kelce, as both versions of her song Love Story have surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify in the same week!

  

• Singer-Actress Hailee Steinfeld got married to NFL player Josh Allen.

  

• Huda Kattan has regained full ownership of her brand, Huda Beauty.

• After a Tiktok user posted a video asking Kylie Jenner for details of her plastic surgery so she could get the same procedure done, Jenner left a comment with exact particulars of her breast augmentation, down to the name of the doctor who did it.

  

• Meghan Markle, sorry, Meghan Sussex posted a throwback video of herself and husband Harry, dancing to induce labour, before the birth of her daughter Lili.

• Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood have cleared the air in a recent interview. The two are not feuding, but the way they talk about each other is now fuelling affair rumours.

• Miley Cyrus has revealed that she is now allowed to sing Hannah Montana songs, after being inducted as a Disney legend.

Coming soonish

• The trailer for the Kiss of a Spider Woman is here, starring Jennifer Lopez. As I pointed out in a previous issue, the movie and JLo’s performance were all the rage at the Sundance Film Festival, so this is one to watch out for.

• The trailer for Wicked 2 is here, and yes, the bad lighting and cinematography allegations persist for the sequel too…

• Downton Abbey’s final movie’s first look is here

• The trailer for A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell.

• Date announcement for the 3rd Knives Out movie, Wake Up, Dead Man, is here!

• Teaser for the highly anticipated Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac, and the monster played by Jacob Elordi.

• A new Fantastic Four trailer is here, revealing Franklin Richards, the son of Sue and Reed Richards! And IRL, Vanessa Kirby, who plays Sue, is also pregnant!

  

• A24’s romcom, Materialists’ latest marketing move with the New York Stock Exchange, urges men to feed their details into a website (menofny.com), which then shows them how in-demand they are in the dating market!

Binge brief

• Nobody Wants This Season 2 comes out on October 23rd!

• After only 2 seasons of Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa’s stint as the Doctor has come to an end. The finale showed his regeneration and revealed Billie Piper to be the 16th Doctor.

• The final season of Stranger Things has been split into a three-part release schedule. Vol. 1 will be 4 episodes, Vol. 2 will be 3 episodes and Vol. 3 will be the final episode of the series. Volume 1 - November 26, Volume 2 - December 25, and Volume 3 - December 31.

• For the release of the Phineas and Ferb reboot on Disney+, the show held an event for the fans, where Ashley Tisdale and Olivia Olson performed the song, Busted, live for the first time!

New noise

• Sabrina Carpenter’s new song, Manchild is out now! Very reminiscent of her Short n’ Sweet album, while it did hit #1 on the charts, the general opinion is that it’s not at the level to become the song of the summer, like Espresso last year, sadly.

• Ed Sheeran's new song Sapphire is here, made during his trip to India earlier this year.

• Singers Finneas and Ashe have formed a band called ‘The Favors’. Their debut single, The Little Mess You Made, from their 70s-inspired album ‘The Dream’, is out now.

• Yesterday, in a letter on her website, Taylor Swift announced that she now owns all of her masters aka she has ownership of all the art she has ever made! A little context for the uninitiated, in a deal behind her back, her old label/manager sold her catalogue of 6 albums to Scooter Braun for $300 million, despite her repeatedly asking to buy them back, but being refused. In short, her masters were always up for sale, just not to her, but for profit. In retaliation, Taylor started re-recording and releasing her old music as “Taylor’s Version” to own back what was rightfully hers. The new old music, along with five completely new albums, leads to the Eras Tour, celebrating her entire career’s worth of music altogether. Which brings us to the present, the enormous success of the tour enabled her to buy back her original masters for $360 million. Not only did she successfully devalue her own original albums by releasing new ones but now that she has them back, her barrage of fans (loyal as ever) are back to streaming her old discography, with reputation even reaching the #1 spot on the charts. A mastermind in action, ladies and gentlemen.

  In her letter, she mentions she’s not even a quarter way done with Reputation Taylor’s Version (so much for us Swifties clowning over it week after week), but she is done with re-recording her debut album, and may drop it as and when it feels right. We love to see a woman win, but also in today’s age of lack of control, artistic integrity, and devaluation of art, we love to see a win for the creatives. And to celebrate this, how would I even be a Swiftie if I don’t give you song recommendations for each piece of pop culture news in today’s issue?

• As for another huge business deal, Hailey Bieber has sold her skincare/beauty brand, Rhode, to Elf Beauty for $1 BILLION! The barely 3-year-old brand, with a handful of products but a huge following, was mostly bootstrapped with only a couple of small investors. While this doesn’t make Hailey a billionaire just yet, it’s still a study in marketing and positioning, and she will most likely walk away with at least a $100 million dollars, stock options, and a place on the advisory board of Elf, while being the creative head at Rhode.

• Girls around the world, across the internet, mourned with pity and lashed with anger as Youtuber The wizard liz revealed that her fiance, Landon, cheated on her, while she is currently four months pregnant with their child. A creator with 8 million subscribers, she is known for empowering women, giving relationship advice through her motivational videos. This news also came in the light of their recent Q&A video posted mere days before, where he claimed how much he loved her… Similarly, influencer Catherine Paiz of family vlogging channel ACE Family fame, went on the podcast Call Her Daddy to clear the air on her ex-husband Austin cheating on her…

• Aaand on the flip side, a viral clip shows French President Emmanuel Macron being slapped/shoved? by his wife Brigitte as they landed in Vietnam. He claims it was just a moment of jest but a reminder dear reader, the two met when Macron was only 15 and Brigitte was 39 years old. She was his teacher at school… In other news, France is also banning smoking in all public places. Taking away the French’s #1 favourite activity, well it can only result in them partaking in their #2 favourite activity, rioting.

• In happier news, Demi Lovato is married to singer-songwriter Jordan Lutes!

• Apparently, the New York Knicks win whenever Timothée Chalamet takes Kylie Jenner to watch a match with him! Talk about lady luck. Also, Kylie hilariously reshared this Sex and the City clip to her TikTok.

• Rumours were circulating that Annabelle, the haunted doll, yes, the one that multiple horror movies are based on, had gone missing, but this has been debunked by the museum where she resides inside a glass box.

• Sydney Sweeney, in collaboration with Dr Squatch, is selling 5000 bars of soap infused with her bath water… Sometimes being in on the joke is woke, sometimes its really just catering to the male gaze and setting back feminism. Well, at least some boys will take a shower (or maybe they’ll enshrine the soap…)

• Dior’s creative director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections Maria Grazia Chiuri is leaving the French luxury house after a nine-year run.

• A new Hadid sister has materialised! Gigi and Bella Hadid have announced that over 20 years ago their father had a brief relationship which lead to a pregnancy when he was single, and they have now connected with their step-sister, 23-year-old Aydan Nix.

• Sabrina Carpenter is allegedly being eyed for a role in Mamma Mia 3, following in the footsteps of Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Lily James to join the Sheridan women!

In other news

• Elon Musk has left the Trump administration, he was reportedly doing drugs while on the job.

• A video of a Kangaroo as a support animal, patiently waiting to board a plane while holding his boarding pass, has been going viral, and is fooling even the most sharp-eyed Internet users as it is not real and is in fact AI-generated. (I fell for it too, I’m so ashamed)

• Amazon Prime Video’s new slate of movies and series just dropped.

• Un Simple Accident by Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making it distributor Neon’s sixth consecutive win.

• HBO has cast its Harry, Ron & Hermione for the new ‘Harry Potter’ series.

  

• Fifth Harmony is regrouping and going on tour, but as a foursome, without bandmate Camila Cabello.

• Variety has unveiled this year’s lineup for its Actors on Actors interviews.

  

• Chris Hemsworth has released a statement and posted a video looking back on his time playing Thor in the MCU, leading many to believe his character may be dying in the upcoming movies.

• The ‘Airball’ trend.

• And finally, we know the theatres are about to be rife with summer blockbusters, but if you’re in the market for new shows to watch, look no further.

  • Overcompensating- The freshest college comedy on Amazon Prime Video.

  • Adults- In a similar vein to Overcompensating, a friend group of 20-somethings navigating adulthood.

  • The Rehearsal- Nathan Fielder flies a real plane. Please watch it.

  • And Just Like That- Back with a new season, and Carrie is already walking around with a ludicrously capacious hat.

  • Sirens- Remember The Perfect Couple on Netflix last summer? This is that, but for this year.

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