The Venice Film Festival is always a glamorous affair, but this year’s prestigious competition just might be the most star-studded yet. The 11-day extravaganza, which kicks off on August 27 and runs through September 6, is filled with noteworthy film premieres, screenings and fêtes, all of which are attended by A-list filmmakers and celebrities.
Alexander Payne is the jury president for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, and this year’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement which will be awarded to Werner Herzog and Kim Novak.
Glitzy movie premieres aside, let’s not forget about the sartorial moments at Venice, because attendees always bring their most fashionable A-game to walk the red carpet in front of the Lido’s Palazzo del Cinema. It’s a week-and-a-half of some of the best style moments of the year, and we’re keeping you updated with all the top ensembles on the Venice red carpet. Below, see the best fashion moments from the 2025 Venice International Film Festival.
Molly Gordon. Getty Images
Molly Gordon
in Giorgio Armani
Mia Goth. Getty Images
Mia Goth
in Dior
Jacob Elordi. WireImage
Jacob Elordi
Kaitlyn Dever. Getty Images
Kaitlyn Dever
in Giorgio Armani
Callum Turner. Getty Images
Callum Turner
in Louis Vuitton
Leslie Bibb. Getty Images
Leslie Bibb
in Giorgio Armani
Paris Jackson. Getty Images
Paris Jackson
Gemma Chan. Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImag
Gemma Chan
in Armani Privé
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImag
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
in Armani Privé
Sofia Carson. WireImage
Sofia Carson
in Armani Privé
Suki Waterhouse. Getty Images
Suki Waterhouse
in Rabanne
Tilda Swinton. Getty Images
Tilda Swinton
in Chanel
Julia Roberts. WireImage
Julia Roberts
in Versace
Ayo Edebiri. Getty Images
Ayo Edebiri
in Chanel
Monica Barbaro. WireImage
Monica Barbaro
in Dior
Andrew Garfield. WireImage
Andrew Garfield
in Dior
Chloe Sevigny. Getty Images
Chloe Sevigny
in Saint Laurent
Lady Amelia Spencer and Lady Eliza Spencer. Getty Images
Pic takes place in the 1950s, where married Muriel and her brother in law Julius embark on separate but parallel straight life paths, only to discover their closeted desires bubbling to the surface. On Swift Horses is scripted by Bruce Kass and produced by Peter Spears, Theresa Page and Christine Vachon produced it.
UTA Independent Film Group is brokering the North American deal with SPC, and Black Bear International is handling the international territories.
Not just anyone can earn the title “People’s Princess.” I mean, the moniker was first used to describe Princess Diana, so the bar is high. It describes someone who isn’t just iconic but feels relatable. But this is a tough balance to reach — especially for celebrities who are, by definition, not relatable. And many a female celeb — think Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway every 5 business years — has earned this title just to have the world turn on her and suddenly hate her for no reason. It’s called being woman’d, and it’s the flip side to being the people’s princess.
So, this title doesn’t come without its risks. But my god, the rewards are worth it. Everyone loves you. You book job after job. No one can get enough of you.
In the music world, the people’s princess is currently Sabrina Carpenter. You can’t go anywhere without hearing either “Espresso” or “ Please, Please, Please” — and surprisingly, you don’t want to. If I don’t get my daily dose of “Espresso,” my mental health suffers. She’s also dominating the festival circuit and just wrapped up an opening spot for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. And her album Short and Sweet is on the way and I’ve already pre-saved it to Spotify and am mentally preparing for the Ticketmaster queue for her solo tour.
Somehow even more ubiquitous than our Pop Princess is the preeminent Ayo Edebiri. Across demographics, fan bases, and generations, everybody loves her. She seemingly arrived out of nowhere with a refreshingly relatable persona backed with earnestness and raw talent. She has the wide-eyed charm of Call Me By Your Name-era Timothee Chalamet. The viral interview acumen of early-career Jennifer Lawrence. And the infectious grin of a young Julia Roberts. How could she not be the people’s princess?
Over the last two years, she went from being a niche comedian [Popdust named her as one of the best comedians to watch in 2019] to a household name. And while it might seem like she’s everywhere now, she’s been working for years behind the scenes as a writer, basement comedian, and voice actor before finally getting the recognition she deserves. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a master of press tours. Combined with her It-girl style (lots of Loewe, naturally), her witty answers to interview questions often go viral and become memes and ongoing jokes. Making us feel like we’re in on the joke with her is a classic people’s princess move.
If you’re still wondering where she came from and where she’s going, we’ve got the full scoop.
What has Ayo Edebiri written for?
Before she was one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, Edebiri was making a name for herself behind the scenes as a writer. Or versatile queen, she did it all. She was also a comedy writer on one-season (not) wonders like The Rundown with Robin Thede and Sunnyside on NBC. She also joined the writing staff of Big Mouth for the show’s fourth season, where she eventually became the voice of Missy in 2020 — replacing Jenny Slate amidst the Black Lives Matter Movement.
After a few uncredited acting roles and small roles from 2014 -2020, she started with comedy sets on Comedy Central which eventually led to a show with frequent collaborator Rachel Sennott. Their scripted digital series Ayo and Rachel Are Single aired on Comedy Central in May 2020. Amongst people in the industry, this was her breakthrough. But her major breakout role came two years later in The Bear.
What is Ayo Edebiri in?
When everything happens, it all happens at once. In 2020, though she’d had scripts floating around development offices and stints in writers’ rooms before, Ayo started booking jobs, both as a writer and as an actress. And those jobs often ended in more jobs — and even awards.
It started with the show Dickinson. This underrated AppleTV+ dramedy stars Hailee Steinfeld as a young Emily Dickinson in an anachronistic rendition of the writer’s young life. And in the second season, a surprise: a guest appearance by Ayo Edebiri herself. Edebiri was a writer on the show when she appeared as an actress. There, she first worked with director Christopher Storer, who is best known for creating The Bear.
Storer, a Chicago native, based The Bear on a sandwich shop called Mr. Beef and its owner Chris Zucchero. The Bear was already cooking by the time he met Edebiri, so to speak. So when he imagined the casting for Sydney, he imagined Ayo. She submitted a self-tape for the role and the fit was just right. Audiences thought so, too. The Bear was an instant hit, and Ayo its breakout star.
It’s hard to eclipse the attention of a White Boy of the Month. So, while the internet was infatuated with Jeremy Allen White and his chef-boy tattoos (this was before the now-infamous Calvin Klein ad), it’s a wonder they had room to fawn over anyone else. Yet, Ayo’s charm cut through the noise, and she became one of the most talked about young actors — in and outside of Hollywood casting rooms and voting rooms.
For her first season of The Bear, Edebiri was nominated for a bevy of awards, including the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Performance in a New Series, the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. She also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series.
After that, she was everywhere. You might have seen her in a recurring role in the beloved Abbott Elementary, a too-small role in niche Indie comedy Theater Camp alongside Molly Gordon, who would go on to be in The Bear, and in an episode of Black Mirror.
2023 was a giant year for Ayo in movies. She was in the definitive queer movie of the year, Bottoms (also the best dressedmenswear film of the year), alongside Rachel Sennott. But that wasn’t enough. She starred in The Sweet East — a bizarre indie drama alongside Talia Ryder, Jacob Elordi, and Jeremy O’Harris — and lent her voice in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
She’ll be making another turn as a voice actor alongside Maya Hawke in this summer’s Inside Out 2 and premiered her latest movie role in Omni Loop at SXSW this year in Austin, Texas.
But one movie she wasn’t in? Banshees of Inisherin, the 2022 Martin McDonagh film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson that earned Barry Keoghan an Oscar nomination (pre-Saltburn). Yet, it’s the reason behind the running joke that she’s Irish (she is). Let’s get into it.
Why do people say Ayo Edebiri is Irish?
It all started, as many things do, on a red carpet. Before Bottoms finally made it the cinemas worldwide to raucous, roaring, lesbian applause, it was a strange indie film premiering at SXSW 2023. This was the beginning of Ayo’s rise to People’s Princess-dom, and co-stars Rachel Sennott and Nicholas Galitzine were beginning to get some attention, too.
But instead of talking about Bottoms on the red carpet, Ayo took that time to talk about something nearer and dearer to her heart: the proud and gorgeous nation of Ireland. In an Irish accent and straight face, she joked that she had played the role of Jenny the donkey in Banshees. Thus, an Irish queen was born.
“I lived in Ireland for about four months, and I got really in character, and I was on all fours for four months, and it was really painful — but beautiful as well,” she said.
Since then, she — and the proud and gorgeous nation of Ireland — have run with the bit. She thanked Ireland in an award acceptance speech. She celebrated St. Paddy’s with Paul Mescal. She’s been embraced by Irish publications. God bless the Irish. I just need her to do an Actors to Actors Series conversation with Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan.
Is Ayo Edebiri dating Jeremy Allen White?
Alongside the speculation around her Irishness, Ayo, like every famous woman, has received a lot of interest in her dating life. Rumors abounded that she had a short fling with fellow Irish icon Paul Mescal, and if it’s not true, don’t tell me. But lately, fans are hoping real life imitates fiction and that Ayo Edebiri is dating Jeremy Allen White.
The rumor began in Chicago. While on location for The Bear, the cast has become a Chicago tourist attraction. You don’t pay rent in Chicago if you haven’t seen White in his Nike Cortez sneakers or Matty Matheson enjoying some local fare. So it’s no surprise a video went viral of the cast hanging out at a Chigaco baseball game. But a curious moment in the footage sparked some attention. For a second, White seems to rub Edebiri’s back. That’s it. That’s the proof. But fans are convinced it was more than friendly.
Who knows? Maybe they are dating, or maybe they’re just playing the press tour game like all movie stars playing love interests do these days. Their characters also have a will-they-won’t-they dynamic, and I’ll be sitting waiting for Season 3 to reveal their fates.
When is The Bear Season 3 coming out?
The Bear Season 3 will be released on June 27, 2024. If you’re anything like me, you’re counting down the days to get your fix of Ayo Edebiri at her best. The People’s Princess surely can do no wrong in my eyes. I can’t wait for a new season of her as Sydney — including her directorial debut in one of the episodes. Stay tuned for our full review on the Season!
It’s time for one of the most glamorous events of the year—the Cannes Film Festival. Every May, filmmakers, producers, directors, actors and other A-listers make their way to the French Riviera for 12 days of movie screenings, parties and, of course, plenty of glitzy red carpets and exciting fashion moments on La Croisette.
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 to May 25, and we’re keeping you updated on all the best red carpet moments throughout the entire spectacle. Below, see the best-dressed looks from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet.
Though the Euphoria star has had dozens of on-screen love interests throughout her career, there are far fewer guys who have managed to snag the title of Zendaya’s boyfriend in real life.
Zendaya, for her part, has always been notoriously private about her dating life. While the Malcolm & Marie actress has been linked to everyone from co-stars to athletes, it’s very rare that fans hear about her love life directly from her. In her October 2021 British Vogue cover story, Zendaya played coy when asked about her current relationship status and joked about the hurdles any would-be suitor would have to jump over in order to date her. The Dune star noted that there’s a long list of family members who insert themselves into her dating life—”my dad, my brothers, it’s a whole thing,” she explained, adding. “Good luck to whoever wants to take that on.” (I mean, we can surely think of many who would love the opportunity).
The multi-hyphenate star also opened up about refusing to have her first kiss on camera when she starred as Rocky on Shake It Up on the Disney Channel. “I remember being on Shake It Up and being like, ‘I’m not gonna do this,” she told British Vogue. “I’m going to kiss him on the cheek because I haven’t been kissed yet so I don’t want the kiss to be on camera.” TBH, she had every right to wait on her first kiss when she felt ready for it—and obviously, there have been plenty of lucky dates who have had the chance to lock lips with her since.
For everything we know about who Zendaya’s boyfriend is in 2021—along with every other guy she’s reportedly dated throughout the years—just keep on reading below.
Trevor Jackson (2012 – 2016)
Image: Tony Forte/MediaPunch/IPX.
Zendaya and Trevor first sparked dating rumors in 2013 after the Disney Channel alum appeared in a music video for his “Like We Grown” music video. In the clip, Zendaya portrayed his love interest—and the scene clearly left fans speculating that there was something more going on behind the scenes.
The pair addressed the rumors in 2014, with Zendaya telling HipHollywood, “There’s going to be those [rumors] but he’s my best friend in the whole world. I love him to death. That’s all it is.” Trevor, for his part, also denied the dating rumors at the time: “We be laughing every time we hear it. I can understand why people think that because we are really close,” he told the site. “But, no she’s just my friend.”
Years later, however, Zendaya opened up about a secret relationship she had from 2012 to 2016 in an interview with Vogue. While she didn’t name any names for her “first love,” the timeline with Trevor certainly adds up.
Odell Beckham Jr. (2016)
Image: JC Olivera/Sipa USA via AP Images.
Zendaya was briefly linked to NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. after they were spotted leaving a party together in 2016. Her dad, however, denied any rumors of a relationship between his daughter and the football star. “There’s no relationship. We’re just friends. When you see my daughter out on a date without me, it’s a relationship,” he told TMZ at the time, joking that Zendaya’s outing with Beckham Jr. was just “like an audition” for him to witness.
Jacob Elordi (2019 – 2020)
Image: Art Garcia/Sipa USA via AP Images.
Zendaya and Jacob Elordi met on the set of HBO’s Euphoria in 2018. The pair were first romantically linked months after the series premiere in August 2019 when they were spotted vacationing in Greece together. According to a source who spoke to Us Weekly at the time, “They looked like they were getting a little cozy.”
The Kissing Booth star, for his part, downplayed his relationship with Zendaya in an interview with GQ later that year, telling the magazine that his HBO co-star was like his “sister.” But by February 2020, the pair were spotted kissing and looking absolutely giddy together in New York City. Their romance appeared to fizzle out sometime after, as Elordi was soon linked to his current girlfriend, model Kaia Gerber.
Tom Holland (2017, 2021 – Present)
Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP.
Zendaya and Tom Holland have sparked romance rumors ever since they met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016. Speculation reached its peak in 2017 during the pair’s promotional tour for the film, with many assuming that the duo were secretly an item. Zendaya shut down the rumors at the time, telling Variety, “We are friends. He’s a great dude. He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how[ever] many months, we’ve had to do press tours together. There’s very few people that will understand what that’s like at 20 years old.”
While rumors quieted for a few years, the Spider-Man co-star reignited talks of romance in July 2021. The pair were photographed sharing a passionate kiss in Holland’s car. The photos—which you can see here—pretty much broke the internet. A source who spoke to People at the time confirmed the relationship, revealing, “They started seeing each other while they were filming Spider-Man. They’ve been super careful to keep it private and out of the public eye but they’ve gone on vacations with each other and try and spend as much time as possible with one another.”
The insider continued, “They’re both really ambitious and they challenge each other—but, most importantly, they make each other crack up. They seem to have a really similar sense of humor and love joking around together. They have great banter back and forth.”
While Tom and Zendaya have continued to play coy about their relationship, the actress spoke about what she appreciates most about her rumored beau in her November 2021 InStyle interview. “There are many things, obviously, that I appreciate,” she told the magazine. “In an actor way, I appreciate that he really loves being Spider-Man. It’s a lot of pressure—you take on the role of a superhero wherever you go. To the little kid who walks by, you are Spider-Man. I think he handled that so well. And seeing him at work, even though he’s not a Virgo, he is a perfectionist.”
In an interview with GQ in 2021, Tom revealed what Zendaya taught him about fame. “Having her in my life was so instrumental to my sanity,” he said. “She is so good at being the role model for young guys and girls. When anyone comes up, like, ‘Can I have a picture?,’ it’s never a bad time. Whereas my initial reaction was: ‘Why are you talking to me? Leave me alone.’” Tom also discussed the 2021 photo of him and Zendaya kissing, which he saw as an invasion of his “privacy.” “One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn’t really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world,” he said. “I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” he says. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy.”
Zendaya added, “It was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive. The equal sentiment [we both share] is just that when you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own.… I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other.”
When asked how he and Zendaya started dating, Tom told GQ, “I don’t think it’s about not being ready. It’s just that we didn’t want to. It’s not a conversation that I can have without her. You know, I respect her too much to say… This isn’t my story. It’s our story. And we’ll talk about what it is when we’re ready to talk about it together.”
As for what Zendaya thinks of Tom, the former Disney Channel star gushed to GQ about her co-star. “He’s a fun time,” she said. “Very charismatic, can make anybody feel comfortable and have a good laugh and a good chat. A good chat—I sound so British.”
Even years later she’s confirmed that the only person to rizz her up was her Spider-Man co-star. “I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not in the Dune cast, but worked for me is Mr. Tom Holland,” she said in a Buzzfeed puppy interview. “I’m more shy and kinda quiet, so it takes a little more to pull me out of my shell,” she explained. “But he’s great at just, like, talking to people and getting to know people.”
The Crowded Room actor even acknowledged his rizz game when making a movie with a love interest. “I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz,” he told Buzzfeed. “I need you to fall in love with me, really, for it to work. So, long game. Probably making a movie with each other. Definitely helps when the characters you’re playing are falling in love with one another—you can sort of blur the lines a little bit. That’s kind of where my rizz is at. And I’m, you know, I’m locked up, so I’m happy and in love. So I’ve got no need for rizz.”
He also talked about his relationship with social media after the Euphoria star sends him memes every day on Instagram. “It’s nonstop,” he says. “She sends me too much, it’s like, I can’t keep up! I delete my Instagram for days at a time. I download it to post and then I have to check my messages, and I’ll have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of things from her.”
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If you missed the hit film “Saltburn”, released in November 2023, where have you been? The salacious movie starring Jacob Elordi, Barry Keoghan, and British favourites Richard E Grant and Rosamund Pike was the talk of group chats over Christmas when it took to Prime Video. “Saltburn”‘s success (including multiple award nominations and being responsible for Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s resurgence) is arguably down to its shocking and disturbingly scandalous scenes that have skyrocketed to virality on social media.
Scenes we’ll safely label as the “period snack” and “graveyard thrust” have been widely discussed online, but not as much as the infamously controversial bathtub scene where – spoiler alert – Keoghan’s character, Oliver Quick, watches Felix Catton (Elordi) masturbate while bathing, and then sneaks in and licks Felix’s remnants from the plughole. Yes, I was watching through my fingers, too.
Fresh off the back of the social media furore, beauty retailer Lush has wasted no time in launching a limited-edition bath bomb, creatively titled Saltbomb (£5), so you can, erm, recreate the scene in wellbeing form. It promises to create salty, milky bathwater, packed full of moisture and minerals for a soothing experience fit for an aristocrat. Now, we know what you’re thinking: is this really necessary? Fortunately, I’ve tried it out to let you know whether a bath à la “Saltburn” can really elevate the experience or leave you feeling dirtier than before your soak.
About Lush’s “Saltburn” Bath Bomb
Key ingredients are coconut milk powder and mineral-rich coarse sea salt.
It smells the same as the reusable Milky Bath Bubble Bar (£9) – a sweet orange and earthy patchouli scent.
As with all Lush products, it’s vegan, cruelty free, and plastic free.
What I Liked About Lush’s “Saltburn” Bath Bomb
Throughout my soak, I did my best to keep what the silky sensation and milky experience was supposed to represent to the back of my mind. As the bath bomb fizzed, the water quickly turned into a traditional white, soapy foam, yet when I stepped into the bath tub, the creamy concoction was obvious. And I liked it.
At first, the scent was not to my fancy, but after bathing in the remnants of the Saltbomb, the invigorating, citrusy scent quickly won me over. As the notes of sweet orange and patchouli dominate, I couldn’t help but pick up on a cotton fragrance, like fresh laundry, that made me feel refreshed and squeaky clean, while creating a grounding atmosphere perfect for winding down.
Laced with nourishing coconut and exfoliating sea salt, it made my skin feel soft and moisturised, which is all I ask of a luxurious bath bomb. While the “Saltburn” theme might be a gimmick in terms of marketing, it’s certainly no fad for your bathroom cupboard. Keoghan’s slurping aside, if you can take your mind away from the dark, erotic scene, then it makes for a truly relaxing experience.
What To Consider About Lush’s “Saltburn” Bath Bomb
As I continued to bathe, the foam dissolved creating an icy-white, opaque bathwater that resembled the bathtub scene way too much for my liking and my thoughts got the better of me, so if that scene is too prominent in your memory, flashbacks may occur!
I did want the white, foamy initial form of the bath bomb to last longer. It was over too soon, cutting my bath time short, and encouraging me to reach for more bath bubbles. If you like a quick soak, then it’s fab. If you like to elongate your self-care bath time then prepare to top up.
If you have a friend that was an Elordi superfan and loves a bath, then this is the perfect gift.
Where to Buy Lush’s “Saltburn” Bath Bomb
Saltbomb is a limited-edition treat from Lush. You can purchase it online and on the app.
Jacob Elordi is being investigated by the New South Wales Police after an alleged February 3 assault on Joshua Fox, a producer for the Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show, according to NBC News. On the following day’s episode of the program, Fox detailed the incident from his perspective. Allegedly, the show had gotten a tip that Elordi was at a beer garden, Fox went there, and as Elordi was leaving, Fox approached him while filming the interaction. “Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating after a man was allegedly assaulted outside a hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs,” New South Wales Police said in a statement to news.com.au. “Police were told about 3.30pm on Saturday 3 February 2024, a 32-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old man. The man did not sustain any injuries.”
As played on the show, the footage begins congenially until Fox hands Elordi a Tupperware container labeled “Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.” Don’t have to tell you it’s a reference to Saltburn, which includes a scene of Elordi masturbating in a bathtub, after which Barry Keoghan’s character licks up the water, cum and all. Fox then asks Elordi to send the Tupperware back to the show filled with his bathwater. “Are you kidding me?” Elordi asks, before rejecting the Tupperware and telling Fox to stop filming.
From there, Fox alleged that Elordi, “gets up in my face,” and backs him against the wall. Elordi demands that Fox delete the footage, which Fox says he was fine with, as “the joke didn’t land.” “It’s like a switch went off and he became quite aggressive,” Fox claimed. Elordi tells Fox to go into his recently deleted folder. Fox said he felt intimidated so he would not delete the video. “I’m thinking, If I delete this footage, there’s no evidence that this encounter happened,” Fox said. “Then Jacob kind of just flips, and he kind of pushes me against the wall and his hands are on my throat.” Fox added that someone in Elordi’s posse pulled the actor off. Fox is lucky he didn’t ask Björk that kind of question.
Every year, Awards Season is special for one reason: we all come together in outrage against a very specific group of voters, and publicly shame them until we grow bored. The Golden Globes and Emmys are great predictors of who will be ultimately nominated for an Oscar…but this year, it appears that the Academy stopped watching movies altogether.
When I woke up yesterday, I was bombarded by thousands of Tweets calling for the evisceration of the Academy after the 2024 Oscar Nominee list was revealed. It’s your modern-day mob mentality — and get your pitchforks ready, because there were quite a few notable snubs.
Okay, so I was already up in arms about the lack of nominations for Jacob Elordi and Charles Melton. But nothing was more offensive than the glaringly obvious Barbie irony: the Academy chose to honor “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling in a movie created by women, for women, about the struggles of feminism in a male-dominated society.
This is no hate to Ryan Gosling, who has owned his Ken-ergy in the best, candid way possible. He has supported his cast and uplifted its women during every single press event, red carpet, and personal statement. But the fact that they chose to nominate the one song about men taking over is laughable. Commenting on the lack of nominations himself, Gosling took to social media to say:
“ But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film…To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,”
Sure, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” was nominated considering it’s a beautiful, haunting ballad that perfectly fits the film. But the Oscars have proven they’re Billie stans before by honoring her James Bond ballad. What about the two women who made Barbie possible? Who revived cinema and brought millions of moviegoers to the theaters dressed in pink? Who created a whole movement surrounding celebrating women after years of being told we should bring each other down?
Barbie was a statistically bigger first-week success story than its release-day twin, Oppenheimer, and the biggest film of the year. Yet, no nomination for the director and face of the film. It’s almost like the Academy realized this movie was about them…
Here’s the worst part: you don’t have to let them win if you don’t want to. To not even recognize Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s work and impact on the 2023 cinemascape is like saying Taylor Swift didn’t dominate the music industry this year. It’s just a lie.
So I will end this the way Taylor Swift would, with lyrics from “The Man”:
Is he single? All the TikTok girls are asking the same question: “why did Jacob Elordi and Olivia Jade break up?” after this acute observation. The couple was first linked in December 2021 after they were photographed on a date in Los Angeles.
A source confirmed the relationship to People at the time. “Olivia and Jacob are casually dating,” the insider said. The couple had started dating after he broke things off with Kaia Gerber and after Jade’s split from Jackson Guthy in August of that year.
Jade was also the subject of the college admissions scandal when her parents Lori Laughlin and Mossimo Giannulli lied about their daughter’s ability as a coxswain who would be an asset to the University of Southern California’s rowing team. “I didn’t really 100 percent understand what just had happened,” Jade told the New York Times in 2020, referring to the scandal’s aftermath. “Because there was a lot that, when I was applying, I was not fully aware of what was going on.”
“I was definitely confused when this all came out,” she continued. “And I went and confronted them about everything. They didn’t really have much to say, except, like, ‘I’m so sorry. I, like, really messed up in trying to give the best to you and your sister.’”
A source also told Us Weekly in December 2021 that the Euphoria actor and model weren’t serious but “enjoying hanging out together.” The insider claimed that the two had “been on some dates” but were “keeping it casual” in regards to their relationship. The romance came after Elordi’s split from Kaia Gerber in November 2021 and Jade’s split from Jackson Guthy in August of that year. “They both got out of relationships recently so they’re not rushing into anything serious,” the insider said. “So far it’s going well and there’s sparks between them.”
In August 2022, Life & Style broke the news that while Elordi and Jade had “enjoyed spending time together,” they had called it quits. “They were never official but have gotten close earlier this summer and enjoyed spending time together,” the insider said at the time, adding, “Olivia’s having fun being single!” As for how Elordi was handling the breakup, the source said he was “in full-force work mode” and “really focused on his career.” They continued: “He’s not looking to jump into anything serious at the moment,” the insider continues.
After an eight-month break, the Saltburn star and Jade were spotted acting affectionately toward each other, sparking rumors of a reunion (See the photos here). They apparently went to a car dealership together in Los Angeles on Monday and in the photos, you can see Elordi wrap his arm around Jade. They were also walking around SoHo, New York City in September 2023.
But did they call it quits for the final time? Here’s if Jacob Elordi and Olivia Jade are still together.
Why did Jacob Elordi and Olivia Jade break up?
Why did Jacob Elordi and Olvia Jade break up? When they split in 2022, Us Weekly reported that it was because Elordi was “completely focused” on his career and they didn’t want to tie each other down. “He’s not looking for a serious relationship at the moment,” the source confirmed at the time, noting that the duo “hung out earlier this summer” but are “not dating.”
Elordi is definitely among the most talked about actors of the moment, having solidified his A-lister status in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. Most recently, he was announced to have taken over from Andrew Garfield as Frankenstein’s Monster in the Guillermo Del Toro-directed adaptation for Netflix.
On January 15, 2023, many TikTokers found that Olivia Jade wasn’t following Jacob Elordi on Instagram anymore, and vice versa. However, Elordi doesn’t follow anyone on Instagram to begin with. Many fans took to social media to celebrate their supposed breakup. One fan took to TikTok to dance and cheer about the breakup with the caption “Olivia Jade unfollowed Jacob Elordi on Instagram.” One user posted on X, “guys jacob elordi broke up with his girlfriend, i have a chance”
However, Capital FM noted that Jade was wearing a charcoal grey knitted snood in her new vlog, the same accessory Jacob was spotted wearing earlier in January when he landed in Toronto. His dog was also seen in the vlog.
In his GQ Man of the Year interview, Elordi politely shut down questions about his personal life. He responded to the interviewer, “But I appreciate you giving me the space.”
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Have y’all seen Saltburn yet? If you haven’t, Emerald Fennell’s black comedy which stars Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi as two Oxford University students spending a summer at the titular mansion, is pretty okay to great depending on whichever scene you’re talking about. Though it’s not as “weird” and unsettling as you might’ve heard (I saw it recently and thought all the hooplah was greatly over exaggerated), it does have one or two scenes that have fast become memes on TikTok, Twitter, and other social media sites. Scenes like the final one (some NSFW spoilers ahead) where Keoghan’s character dances naked with his penis flopping around throughout the mansion to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor”. Of course it was only a matter of time before someone remade that scene in Fortnite.
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TikTok user nxganussy posted a clip of their character dancing through the Lavish Lair mansion location on Fortnite’s map with “Murder on the Dancefloor” playing in the background. While their character is not nude like Keoghan is at the end of Saltburn (no Peely’s swinging around here), the vibes of the final scene are still perfectly captured within Epic’s battle royale. Well, until they’re discovered by another player who kills the vibe by killing them. That part didn’t happen in the movie.
I planned to spend this next paragraph ruminating on whether or not Fortnite players could recreate other Saltburn scenes in the game, but lo and behold, nxganussy had already recreated the Bathtub scene, in which Keogan’s character drinks Jacob Elordi’s inseminated bathwater. This recreation is a little more abstract, but I admire the creativity.
The next question is when do we get Saltburn skins in Fortnite? Then we could really recreate those scenes as authentically as possible. That’s probably not going to happen, but a guy can dream. Fortnite recreations are a pretty prevalent part of the game’s community at this point, ranging from game recreations to pop culture moments that capitalize on hot new memes. And even if what those memes are based off of are decidedly NSFW, Fortnite’s cartoonish, sanitized world make the recreations somewhat age-appropriate and hilarious for those in the know.
Fortnite has been adding a lot of new modes and features as of late, from a Lego mode to a Rock Band-like one that still doesn’t support the plastic instrument controllers it should, yet. But it sounds like Fortnite players are eating as good as Keogan was out of that bathtub, am I right?
By now, you should have seen Saltburn. One of the most viral moments of 2023 came at the very end of the year when Emerald Fennell’s film hit Amazon Prime Video. Starring two of Hollywood’s favorite leading men, Jacob Elordi as Felix and Barry Keoghan as Oliver, the movie is both appalling and captivating. I describe it as like watching a car accident: the events taking place so vile that you can’t help but stare at the damage.
And forget about the infamous bathtub scene (the only thing I knew to expect from the film) or even the graveyard scene (the thing I did not expect in my wildest dreams)…I’m constantly replaying one scene: the final one where Oliver Quick has finally overtaken the estate and can dance around naked. By this point in the movie, my jaw had permanently resided on the floor…but this scene made me want to get up and dance too.
It’s thanks to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 song “Murder On The Dance Floor”, which is having a spike in popularity similar to Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) after playing in Stranger Things. On New Year’s Eve alone, “Murder On The Dance Floor” had its biggest streaming date on Spotify with 1.5 million plays and entered the Global Spotify Chart for the first time at no. 130.
In the week after Saltburn’s theater release on November 22, streaming increased over 360% for the song and 340% for Ellis-Bextor’s Read My Lips album. It was a song that perfectly juxtaposed the dark message behind the film- which was riddled with comic relief and short, witty quips to satirically add to the mood.
“Murder On The Dance Floor” should be on everyone’s playlist this week…For more Saltburn-related music, check out Amazon Prime’s “Saltburn: Official Playlist” on Spotify!
While pop culture has been eager to put a spotlight on a number of real-life millennial villains (including Mark Zuckerberg via The Social Network, Elizabeth Holmes via The Dropout and Anna Delvey via Inventing Anna) in recent years, Emerald Fennell decided to create an “evil” millennial to outdo them all (even, perhaps, fellow fictional millennials Danni Sanders from Not Okay and Dory Sief from Search Party). His name, of course, is Oliver Quick, and he’s portrayed with razor-sharp villainousness by none other than current millennial golden boy Barry Keoghan. Fashioning him in the dual role of protagonist/antagonist, Fennell’s ode to Evelyn Waugh, Saltburn, commences in fall of 2006, when Oliver is just beginning his tenure at Oxford.
An outcast from the get-go, his only “comrade” by default becomes Michael Gavey (Ewan Mitchell), who calls Oliver out as a fellow “Norman No-Mates” when he sits down across from him at that first posh-looking dinner in the dining hall. Michael’s social ineptitude and obsession with showing off his mathematical prowess, however, makes Oliver have a Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) in The Breakfast Club epiphany when she says, “I know it’s detention, but…I don’t think I belong in here.” Nor does Oliver feel that he belongs with someone so lame and unglamorous as Michael. Thus, by Christmas, it seems he can endure no more of this bullshit, this social exile and decides to take matters into his own hands to deviate from the outsider path he’s on.
This, indeed, is what the viewer unearths by the third-act reveal. That his entire “happenstance” encounter with the ultra popular and privileged Felix Catton (Jacon Elordi) was just the first in a series of his machinations to cut Felix and his ilk down to size. After all, as he later admits to Felix’s mother, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), on the deathbed he created for her, “I hated him.” He then adds, “I hated all of you.” This statement seeming to apply not just to the Cattons specifically, but all rich people in general. Particularly for their lack of hard work (because, needless to say, it’s not that hard to “inherit”). Whereas, as Oliver points out to a comatose Elspeth, he actually knows how to work, and did just that in order to procure the palatial Saltburn residence. Hence, all that preplanning and manufacturing of scenarios to get into Felix’s good graces so as to be invited to Saltburn in the first place. And for the entire summer no less.
A summer that would initially seem so carefree not just because Oliver found himself living as a courtesan in a modern-day Versailles scenario, with Felix acting as Louis and Marie rolled into one, but because it was the summer of 2007. An idyllic period (unless you were Britney Spears) right before the financial crisis of 2008 that would not only affect millennials freshly graduating from college for years to come on the job prospect scene, but also force rich people to “rebrand” in a way that has been the gold standard ever since: highlighting how hard they work for their money. This despite everyone, Oliver included, knowing full well that one does not actually “work” for generational wealth (no matter how many cookware lines Paris Hilton puts out to prove she does “so much,” ignoring the fact that, yeah, in order to do so much, you need some fuckin’ startup capital). It’s simply the fortunate boon that comes with having one family member many decades back who happened to be at the right place at the right time, getting in on the ground floor of some enterprise that was then new and managing to monopolize the industry by any forceful and unjust means necessary (see also: the railroad barons known as the Big Four). This is what clearly vexes Oliver to no end, and the reason why he feels no compunction for his long game con.
In fact, he even blames Elspeth and her rich kind for their “misfortune” in coming across a “predator” such as him by taunting, “You made it so easy. Spoiled dogs sleeping belly-up. No natural predators.” Then correcting, “Well, almost none.” And oh, how well Oliver played the part of “prey” himself. Or at least “innocent” and “wayward” poor boy. Allowing himself to blend in even if still standing out as a graceless member of the “low class” (and, despite the Cattons not knowing Oliver is actually an upper middle classer, they would undoubtedly still view that category as one and the same with all the rest of the rabble).
The significance of the mid-00s time period, for Fennell, isn’t just about the fact that she’s a millennial who lived through its heyday as well, but about showcasing the dawning of an era wherein the “millennial grift”—consisting primarily of building one’s identity on a house of cards—first began to form (as it did for Elizabeth Holmes circa 2004). This being founded on the bedrock of pretending to be someone you’re not. Of posing as something or someone that will appeal to a surprisingly naive mark. And in the germinal age of social media (hell, for most of 2006, Facebook was still reserved solely for college students with Harvard email accounts), “becoming” someone else, Mr. Ripley-style (and, obviously, Fennell owes a great debt to The Talented Mr. Ripley, in addition to Waugh, for this story, too), was a cinch. Or, at the bare minimum, much more facile than it is now.
So sure, the summer of 2007 was a carefree one. Not just for a little millennial grifting, but overall as well. ‘Twas the summer of Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad, Justice’s Cross, Kate Nash’s Made of Bricks and M.I.A.’s Kala. And, of course, the entirety of the film is steeped in other millennial pop culture of the day—from Felix’s cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), wearing a “Dump Him” t-shirt à la Britney in 2002 (right after her much-discussed and speculated-upon breakup with Justin Timberlake) to the entire band of youths on the premises (Farleigh, Felix, Oliver and Venetia [Alison Oliver]) reading the final installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that was released in July of that summer.
Alas, as the adage goes, “Nothing gold can stay.” Or, more to the point, nothing gold-tone can keep its shine. This means Oliver. Though it is only Felix’s sister, Venetia, who really comes to understand what her family hath wrought in choosing to allow an interloper like Oliver into their home. So it is that she points her finger at him and announces the millennial mantra, “Stranger danger” (or, in her case, “Stranger fucking danger”) while talking to Oliver drunkenly in the bathtub. This being the phrase oft repeated by parents and other authority figures during millennial childhood that it’s an ironic wonder that so many services of the present are contingent upon trusting total strangers (e.g., Airbnb, Uber). As Felix so blindly trusted Oliver and his pack of lies wielded manipulatively to gain access to the precious Saltburn castle. Almost as though he had no idea that just because someone is a member of your birth cohort doesn’t mean they won’t fuck you over as badly as the older generations have already.
As for the final, now illustrious scene of Oliver swinging his dick (not fake, by the way) around throughout Saltburn to the tune of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s apropos “Murder on the Dancefloor,” some might take issue with the flagrancy of such “nefariousness.” But the point, of course, is to emphasize that the rich themselves never felt a shred of guilt about how they amassed their own wealth, so why should someone like Oliver, who knows there’s no such thing as getting rich “honestly” (or without bloodshed-filled exploitation)? What’s more, the intensification of lusting after wealth without “working for it” was a phenomenon that crested as millennials came of age. Suddenly faced with the bleak reality that their own hard work, and the bill of goods they were sold by baby boomers about how it would ensure “prosperity” (or at least home ownership), was for nothing.
And since that proved to be the “reward” for “obeying,” why not just take what one wanted by force and through any means necessary? The same way the forebears of the currently wealthy already did (and what the currently wealthy still do to ensure the proliferation of that wealth down the generational line). This, ultimately, is why Fennell succeeds in making her “millennial villain” come across more as a byproduct of the failure of capitalism than anything else. In which case, one must ask: villain or victim?
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Saltburn. It’s easily one of the most divisive movies to be released this year. If you’ve watched it and still have questions (or you’re Googling before it’s over), the question on everyone’s lips is how did Felix die in Saltburn. Jacob Elordi takes on the role of the aloof, privileged hot boy; Barry Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, whose infatuation with Felix consumes him (and, as the film would have it, he consumes it).
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, Oliver finds himself drawn into the world of the charming aristocrat Felix, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten. “It gets under your skin,” director Emerald Fennell told Variety.
“We just want to make something that makes people feel something. I want to make stuff that you go and sit in a dark room full of strangers and you don’t know what you’re going to feel and you don’t know where you’re going to be probed. And everyone has a different take on it. Some people are screaming, some people are squealing, Some people are turned on, some people are freaked out and some are furious,” . “Some people don’t really care. What you want is for people to spill out into the street and want to go and have a drink and talk about it.”
It’s a twisted, modern Gothic tale about priviledge and desire that ends in tragedy for some, and dancing nude for another. With that said, and if you’re not clear on how the film ends, here’s how Felix died in Saltburn.
How did Felix die in Saltburn?
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Saltburn. How did Felix die in Saltburn? After he confronts Oliver over his lies—that his dad isn’t dead and his mother isn’t a drug addict—he dies from a suspected drug overdose. But it’s later revealed that Oliver poisoned him.
Let’s backtrack a bit. Oliver develops an unhealthy obsession with Felix after encountering him at Oxford. Felix is cool, effortless, as is everyone in his orbit. Oliver, meanwhile, is dowdy and shy—an unpopular dork drawn to Felix’s aura.
In an effort to garner attention and sympathy, Oliver tells Felix his father is dead and his mother is a hopeless drug addict. Oliver says he’ll never go home again and Felix invites him to vacation with him at his family estate, Saltburn. A few days into his visit, Felix’s family offer to throw Oliver an elaborate birthday party, but the afternoon before the bash, Felix drives Oliver to his mother’s house to make ammends with her.
Upon discovering Oliver’s deception—that his family home is very wholesome and normal—Felix tells Oliver that he wants nothing to do with him anymore and casts him out. Drunkenly, Oliver follows Felix into the property’s hedge maze to find him having sex with someone in the center. They argue. Felix tells Oliver to stay away from him. “I just gave you what you wanted, like everyone else does,” begs Oliver. “Everyone puts on a show for Felix. So I’m sorry my performance wasn’t good enough. … I just need you to understand how much I f—ing love you.”
“You make my blood run cold,” Felix tells him and in that moment, it’s clear Oliver has decided that if he can’t have Felix, no one can. He hands him a bottle of champagne, Felix takes a huge swig, and the following morning, there’s a panic in the property because Felix can’t be found. A scream rings out and we see that Felix’s body has been discovered at the center of the maze.
His death is ruled an accidental overdose. In a particularly tense scene, the family eat lunch around the dining table as the police and coroner collect Felix’s body. “What are you still doing here?” Felix’s cousin Farleigh asks through tears. “Does no one else find it weird?” To which Oliver replies coldly: “I wouldn’t throw stones if I were you, Farleigh. … I would feel guilty, too, if I was the one racking up lines the night someone died,” leading the family to believe Farleigh was responsible for Felix’s death.
Elordi told Collider that Felix has no idea what Oliver is capable of at that point in time. “No, I think his blood has just turned to ice. I think he’s just terrified of someone like that. But I don’t think he can see what’s coming, no.”
Keoghan told Variety that despite his sinister actions, by eliminating the family one by one and taking Saltburn for himself, audiences generally continue to side with Oliver. “They do! It’s kind of like that character Dexter, isn’t it? I know Emerald really roots for him and I was rooting for him. All the choices I made as Oliver, I didn’t seem them as sociopathic or wrong. Maybe that’s so I can justify a way of doing them. It’s when you step back as an audience member and go, “Okay, he probably is fecked up in the head.” But a genius!”
Saltburn is available to stream on Prime Video.
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It’s a story that becomes harder and harder to tell in the present epoch. That of Priscilla’s overt grooming by Elvis in order to eventually make her his virgin bride. Of course, that’s not really the story Sofia Coppola wants to focus on with her eighth film, Priscilla. Just as the 1988 TV movie (or “miniseries,” to make it sound more elegant) called Elvis and Me, so, too is Priscilla based on that autobiography of the same name. And yes, the title of it should be telling of the fact that Priscilla continued to view herself as being forever stuck inside the towering shadow of Elvis. Why not Me and Elvis, after all? That her autobiography should have to include Elvis’ name in it was also indicative of the already publicly-held belief that she really was “no one” without him. Had no identity of her own. And a large part of that, as we see in Priscilla (which remains largely faithful to Presley’s book), stemmed from Elvis “getting her” while she was young. Worming his way into her mindspace and heart before she ever had a chance to fully form.
This reality is one that many still don’t want to acknowledge or look at too closely. Including none other than Elvis’ only daughter, Lisa Marie. Indeed, a leaked email that Lisa Marie wrote to Coppola shortly before her death stated, “My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative [in your movie]. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?” This form of denial about the type of man her father was is perhaps to be expected. Even questioning her mother’s “awareness” of what she hath wrought in letting Coppola go through with filming this script. So it was that she added, “I am worried that my mother isn’t seeing the nuance here or realizing the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out. I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy. I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
But isn’t it long overdue to look at Elvis’ “dark side” (read: creep factor) with a less flattering microscope than has been done in the past? Hell, even the celebrated Baz Luhrmann biopic, Elvis, chooses to sidestep detailing much of his domestic life with Priscilla, instead focusing on his artistry and the exploitation he suffered at the hands of the Colonel. Some might even say that being exploited so blatantly was what made Elvis want to do it to someone else. That someone else being, most of the time, Priscilla. Subject to his whims and mood swings, Coppola’s adaptation of Elvis and Me shows “Satnin” slowly adjusting to the life she thought she wanted, because that’s what it would take to be with Elvis. The man she pined for from the moment they separated in March of 1960, after Elvis completed his tour of duty in the Army and went back to the U.S.
Being an impressionable young teenager prone to easy attachment and tending to amplify everything more than it actually should be, Priscilla continued to yearn for Elvis as almost two years went by. Years during which she was tortured by published accounts of Elvis’ sexual exploits with his costars. In 1960, that co-star was Julie Prowse, the fiancée of Frank Sinatra (ergo, Elvis “stuck it” to a fellow musical titan while “sticking it in” Prowse). Forced to watch Elvis’ career and personal life unfold from the sidelines, Priscilla almost gives up hope entirely that their year spent getting to know one another on the Army base meant anything at all. And then, out of the blue, just like that, Elvis calls her and invites her to Graceland. This after Coppola shows us the bittersweet passage of time through the girlhood ephemera of Priscilla’s room. For example, a string of pearls hung over a birthday card that reads, “To My Granddaughter Happy Sweet 16”—the words positioned around a blooming rose with two hummingbirds hovering over it. Symbolism indeed. But men don’t tend to have much interest in girls once they “bloom past a certain age.” Maybe, in that sense, it was best for Priscilla to leave Elvis before she turned thirty.
Priscilla’s “Sofian” foil, Marie Antoinette, on the other hand, never had such a choice. Even though she, too, was leading a life largely separate from Louis XVI. A life she made the most of by “being frivolous.” Decorating the palace, overseeing the construction of the Hamlet at Trianon and, needless to say, buying plenty of clothes and shoes. That latter “hobby” being something Priscilla was well-trained in by Elvis himself as he remade her in his image. Not like a god (though Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” is based on Priscilla’s worshipful dynamic with Elvis), but more like a man playing with a Barbie doll. One he could dress up and style however he wanted. And he did, telling her what and what not to wear (patterns were an absolute no-no). Despite having gotten what she wanted when her parents concede to letting her live with Elvis full-time while she finishes high school (a Catholic one chosen by Elvis), Priscilla finds that the “real relationship” she was hoping to achieve by moving in is largely impossible to get in that Elvis is perennially absent (often mentally, as well as physically), blowing in whenever he wants with the same whimsy as a breeze. Worse still, he continues to avert any sexual consummation with her (one supposes at least he had some limits, but that was more about his own fucked-up psychology than anything resembling a moral code).
Priscilla’s privileged girlhood connection to Marie is a motif Coppola established from the outset of her career, with The Virgin Suicides. Its star, Kirsten Dunst, would go from Lux Lisbon to Marie Antoinette in a pinch. And, although mostly panned at the time, 2006’s Marie Antoinette has evolved into being something of a Coppola favorite—one of the most shining gems in her still scant canon. And, of course, it speaks to all the themes Coppola is so fond of: a teen girl’s loneliness and isolation despite living in a gilded world of privilege. One that’s ultimately a prison where she can be abused under the guise of being “taken care of.” Both Marie and Priscilla experienced this in different centuries and places, but the feeling Coppola evokes about what each woman goes through remains entirely similar. In point of fact, Coppola herself remarked of her attraction to the project, “I was just so interested in Priscilla’s story and her perspective on what it all felt like to grow up as a teenager in Graceland. She was going through all the stages of young womanhood in such an amplified world—kinda similar to Marie Antoinette.”
What’s also “similar” is the idea that both women were basically sold off to a suitor. With Antoinette, that reality was obviously more glaring and straightforward. With Priscilla, it was done with more “subtlety.” In this regard, Coppola is certain to include Priscilla’s (whose last name was then Beaulieu) parents’ initial hesitancy about succumbing to Elvis’ overtures. But, in the end, of course, no one ever says no to power. They didn’t call Elvis “The King” for nothing (a modern-day Louis XVI to Priscilla’s Marie). Which is why he had “little minions” to do his bidding for him…like, say, scouting young “talent” for his bedroom. That’s essentially what Elvis’ “Army buddy,” Currie Grant (not to be confused with Cary), did when he spotted Priscilla at the Wiesbaden, Germany “malt shop,” if you will. Seeing something that he knew Elvis would like, he invited her to a party at the house Elvis was renting. Over the course of that year, things remained decidedly Rated G (though Coppola does leave out a scene from Elvis and Me where Elvis comes up to his room to join Priscilla by lying in bed with her). As they did for Marie’s own sex life with Louis, who has the very French male problem of impotency during the beginning of their marriage.
A girl living in a beautiful location with a beautiful man who 1) does not give her any attention and 2) cannot sexually satisfy her seems to be the name of Coppola’s thematic game. To boot, Coppola “was initially drawn towards the character of Marie Antoinette as an innocent and caring character who found herself in a situation outside of her control, and that rather than creating a historical representation, she wanted to create a more intimate look into the world of the heroine.” The same goes for Priscilla Beaulieu. Who never went back to that surname after taking Elvis’—almost like she couldn’t admit that she wasn’t ever a “whole person” without him. In this sense, Priscilla focuses very little on the “transformational” period of “Cilla’s” life (packed in for a few minutes at the end of the movie), which began in the early 70s when she started taking martial arts lessons with Mike Stone. The instructor she would have an affair with (vaguely alluded to by Coppola) and who Elvis would want to have murdered upon finding out. Because, duh, only a husband can have his affairs, not a wife. One who is mostly responding to the lack of emotional and physical attention from her husband. But even when Priscilla started to talk about the sense of independence karate was giving her, she couldn’t help but relate it back to Elvis by saying, “I think he was really proud of me; very few women were doing karate at that time.”
That wouldn’t exactly track, though, considering Elvis didn’t like “his” woman to display any signs of masculine energy. So it is that Priscilla falls into her role as “trophy wife,” though often with no one to “display herself” to. To convey this type of rudderlessness—this emotional vacancy—Coppola provides so many scenes that echo the decadence-drenched loneliness of Marie Antoinette, like Priscilla sitting in isolation on a massive couch at Graceland holding her only companion, Honey. The dog Elvis gave her right when she moved in (likely in anticipation that it would be the only being in her life she could call loyal and constant). Or sitting alone (and pregnant) in the morning at the kitchen table, furnished with lavish fruits and fresh orange juice, in addition to her breakfast, only to further sink into despair upon encountering yet another gossipy headline about Elvis and Nancy Sinatra “canoodling” on the set of Speedway.
Already well-acquainted with Elvis’ affairs after the highly publicized one involving Ann-Margaret during the production of Viva Las Vegas!, Priscilla “learns her lesson” about bothering to confront him. “I need a woman who understands things like this might happen,” Elvis has the gall to scold her after she brings up his affair with Ann-Margaret. But eventually, she knows that nothing will change. Elvis “is who he is.” And “boys will be boys.”
So it is that Priscilla keeps wandering Graceland like the empty palace that it is, her bereftness enveloping the viewer. As does the emptiness of her life in contrast to the abode she haunts, so chock full of opulent furniture and decor. Seeing her life unfold under Elvis’ specter, most audience members of today would ask why and how she could stay with him for so long before realizing how toxic the relationship was. Granted, the TV movie version of Elvis and Me is way more on blast than Priscilla about that toxicity (side note: Priscilla served as an executive producer on both films). Which makes one wonder why Lisa Marie was so scandalized by Coppola’s rendering. It’s far more generous than past presentations have been, doing its best to uphold the myth that this is a love story and not a story of perverse grooming followed by a master-slave dynamic. Even the rape scene in Elvis and Me is much more direct than the one merely inferred in Priscilla. It happens at the very end, with Coppola making it the catalyst for Priscilla’s final decision to leave him the next morning.
And yet, despite all the abusiveness, all the cruelty, Coppola has the “reverence” to conclude the film with Priscilla driving away from Graceland to the tune of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which comes across as altogether sick after witnessing what we just did. Nonetheless, it’s another classic case in point of Coppola’s acumen with musical selections, especially as she was forced to get creative after being denied use of Elvis’ music by his Estate. Though it was technically allowed to be used in Elvis and Me (even if “rendered” by another singer named Ronnie McDowell), an equally unflattering portrayal. But maybe that just goes to show how much public tastes have changed to reflect that the Estate wouldn’t want to be part of any project that makes Elvis look like the abusive predator he was (what’s more, even Lana “Daddy Lover” Del Rey didn’t make the time to contribute a song to a biopic about a woman she’s often been aesthetically compared to).
As for Coppola’s casting choices, Cailee Spaeny looks like a mashup of Carey Mulligan in An Education (a film that also deals with a teen girl-older man romance) and Natalie Portman circa Closer (with her vocal inflection also mirroring Portman’s), while Jacob Elordi sounds more like Elvis than he looks like him. But Coppola assessed, “I thought nobody was gonna look quite like Elvis, but Jacob has that same type of magnetism. He’s so charismatic, and girls go crazy around him, so I knew he could pull off playing this type of romantic icon.” Though “romantic” doesn’t feel like quite the right word for Elvis anymore.
To that end, while the story it tells is increasingly difficult to stomach in the modern era (Lisa Marie was right about that), Priscilla is a return to form for Coppola after she veered horrendously off course with 2020’s On the Rocks. Perhaps an indication that she’s better at telling stories about daughters and “Daddies” rather than daughters and daddies.
After the trailer was (finally, finally) released for the new Emerald Fennell feature film, Saltburn, I asked the question: what the hell is SaltburnSaltburn? Now, a week after watching it and turning it in my head for days, I still don’t know the answer. This sick, salacious, yet ultimately satisfying film is a reinvigoration of its genre. But what genre is it aspiring to? And is it succeeding?
There are a few things I’m sure of. Saltburn is a study of dichotomies. Rich and poor. Filth and fabulousness. It’s the haves and the have-nots. Some have power, beauty, privilege, and love. The others have not.
Saltburn is also a masterclass in acting from Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick. Jacob Elordi holds his own as Felix, shedding his Netflix-star skin and playing a more substantive golden boy. Alison Oliver as Venetia is a breakout star in her role, teeming with both vulnerability and venom.
But most dazzling are the scenes with Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Keoghan together, both masters of their craft at their very best, (honorable mention to Carey Mulligan’s scenes too.) But Keoghan has shown in this role that he doesn’t just play a part, he embodies an entity. Every cell of his body, every muscle in his face, is so carefully trained to play Oliver. His choices are always satisfying and surprising — and in a role as complex and cunning as this, he plays the audience like a fiddle.
The internet has, of course, been enamored and appalled by this film. Its blend of dark academia and homoerotic subtext of course makes it fodder for niche internet subcultures and instant cult status. And casting Jacob Elordi in anything also guarantees its interest from the mainstream audience — I mean, I firmly believe that if Call Me By Your Name had been made today, Jacob Elordi would have replaced Armie Hammer.
The “eat the rich” genre has increased in popularity over the last few years. And Saltburn is an immersive deep dive into the world of the wealthy. From the halls and balls of Oxford to the sweeping grounds of Saltburn manor. Through its characters, we know what it’s like to be loved and lonely in these beautiful places, embraced and shunned by these beautiful people. And in every moment, the scepter of class disparity hangs over the settings and the relationships ensconced within them.
I can wax poetic about the promises and pitfalls of the genre’s unapologetic navel-gazing, with shows like Succession and White Lotusleading the pack. While we love to watch terrible rich people do terrible things to each other in beautiful locations, the genre is hardly subversive. It’s also not new.
Saltburn reminds us of the long lineage of class commentaries — especially those with homoerotic themes. Think The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow as young and beautiful Americans in Italy, unable to escape the trappings of their class and the cradles of their privilege. Sound familiar? But no one would ever accuse Ripley of being a satire. So why are we so desperate to cast Saltburn as one?
Perhaps because Saltburn is, at its core, hilarious. The characters are almost cartoonish in their wealth and rituals- especially Pike as Elspeth, who insists on a black-tie dress code for family dinners and throws extravagant parties on a whim. Yet, even in its laughable strangeness, even these moments are not hyperbolic. For the characters, they’re real. And we only see their absurdity through the eyes of Oliver, Keoghan’s character. Which may be critical of the wealthy characters, but still covets their life.
What is the point of Saltburn?
But Saltburn is more than just a portrait of a rich family. The underlying darkness is what has compelled reviewers to call it a homoerotic thriller and to ascribe morality to its characters and its ending. But Saltburn cannot be a satisfying takedown of the wealthy if that’s not its goal. Here rests the tension between those who love Saltburn and those who loathe it. Does the film seek to understand and empathize with the wealthy? Or does it villainize them? In short, what is the point?
I think Saltburn is a character study in which class is a character itself. The antagonist, even. More attention is paid to the trappings of wealth, its various dimensions than is given to even Felix. Though we are told everyone loves Felix and he is bestowed with good looks and a first-class education, he is a shallow character. And this feels intentional. Felix is not beloved because he is Felix, he is beloved because he is Felix Catton, a symbol of all things upper-class and wealthy. Wealth here isn’t about money. We can assume many of the other students surrounding him have a lot of it. Instead, it’s about power. Which is the central theme of the film, and a fixture in the legacy of British class hierarchies.
American viewers might misunderstand the complexity of the British class system. It really is as shameless as it seems in the film — especially in 2006, before the 2009 financial crisis. This was the era of indie-sleaze (made clear by Jacob Elordi’s eyebrow piercing and carpe diem tattoo) and extravagant parties. Even old money stewards like Saltburn’s fictional Catton’s were not too invested in stealth wealth. And, a key component of this wealth is that it’s inherited for generations that predate the very existence of America.
Even Elordi, an Australian trying to understand the role, marveled at the revelation that English upper-class kids really can be so self-absorbed and pretentious. “I lived in Chelsea, and I would just go down to the coffee shops and listen to people talk and order their flat whites,” he told Vanity Fair. “That was kind of the final puzzle piece to realize you couldn’t really go too far with it.”
So while Saltburn ends with a line in which Oliver professes how hard he’s “worked” (this is all I can say without delving into spoilers), hard work is not valued in this system. Unlike the US and its fixation on self-made fortunes as the American Dream, fictional though they may be, those at the top of the British class system are proud that they have worked for nothing, and gained everything through birth. And this idea, that one inherits pedigree that cannot be replicated and is always out of reach, is what Saltburn is interested in.
Yet, it doesn’t approach this with satire. Director Emerald Fennell is not counting on our laughter, our morality, or even our praise. She wants us to be interested — in the characters but also in their place in the world. And with that, she succeeds.
Is Saltburn good?
Saltburn is beautiful (and also has some of the grossest shots I’ve seen in cinema, be warned). Saltburn is charming and deeply compelling. It’s also disgusting and feral and dark. I gasped aloud in the theater at first watch and instantly wanted to see it again. It’s an instant cult classic, cementing Barry Keoghan as a leading man and Jacob Elordi as a heartthrob. It’s one of the best films of the year. But it’s one that you have to see to believe.
A friend said, “Saltburn did for bathtubs what Call Me By Your Name did for peaches.” To understand how achingly accurate that is, I implore you to run to the theater and experience this shocking tale for yourself.
Perverse. Unhinged. Horrifying. Horny. Deliciously bad, but also perhaps the best movie of 2023. These are just a few ways in which critics – mostly people on X (formerly known as Twitter) – have described “Saltburn,” the new film from director Emerald Fennell. The eat-the-rich storyline is one everyone sort of expected. Back in August, months before they were graced with a full trailer, people were comparing it to movies like “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Brideshead Revisited.” But since its limited release earlier this month, there have been so – so! – many other details about this movie sparking discussion, little of which is the hair and makeup. But let’s not forget what really drew our attention when teasers for “Saltburn” hit the internet: an eyebrow piercing.
For years to come people will talk about how this film changed pop culture – the word guzzling will never be the same – but those subtle details (thatbygone piercing, the matching tattoos, and the peroxide roots) are a huge reason why this movie could sink its teeth so far into our necks. Without them, these British aristocrats might have felt like nothing more than flat tropes. Don’t believe us? Allow Siân Miller, the “Saltburn” hair and makeup designer, to explain.
Miller tells POPSUGAR she was instantly captivated reading the “Saltburn” script. “I’ve read a lot of scripts over the last three decades, and sometimes it’s a bit of a chore, but this wasn’t the case,” she says. “It was such a page-turner and completely laid in with reference and detail.”
Since this film takes place somewhere around 2006, it isn’t just a contemporary story, it’s a period piece. In order to prepare for the hair and makeup design, Miller revisited classic Y2K movies and TV shows, like “Mean Girls” and “The O.C.” for inspiration. There, she remembered just how striking the beauty from the early aughts was – sexy little barbell piercings and all. Ahead, Miller breaks down some of the key makeup and hair design elements that helped bring these characters to life.
Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios
Felix’s Eyebrow Piercing Is More Than a Sign of the Times
If you aren’t sure which time period “Saltburn” takes place in, Jacob Elordi‘s eyebrow piercing should be all the context you need. Most people may associate eyebrow piercings with the ’90s, but before boy band heartthrobs rocked the hardware, punks in the ’70s made it their own. It was counterculture. Elordi’s character Felix Catton, the carefree rich kid who takes Barry Keoghan’s Oliver Quick under his wing, might look like he belongs in J-14, but inside – at Oxford University and away from his family’s manor Saltburn, at least – he’s punk. Miller says although Felix is “a superstar upon arrival,” his facial jewelry is an attempt at trying to be cool. That tousled, unkempt, early-stage mullet makes Felix look like his IDGAF attitude is completely thrown together, and maybe it is, but the eyebrow piercing, despite its appeal, should make you think otherwise.
Then again, just about every trend in the early aughts was “naff,” as Miller says. Even the tattoos, which Felix also has. In addition to a “carpe diem” tattoo, he has a few others written in the same font as the Catton family crest. Seems ironically conformist for someone who seems to try hard to fight against the limitations that come along with being an aristocrat.
Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios
Oliver Is a Proletariat Shapeshifter
“Oliver is definitely a shapeshifter and that’s very clear from the start,” Miller says. In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Keoghan shared that he essentially plays five different characters in the film – five different versions of Oliver. When we first see him at Oxford, a middle-class scholarship kid, he’s got a geeky, blow-dried, “Zac Efron kind of hairdo.” He’s such a try-hard, and Miller made sure to show it.
Throughout the three acts of the film, the more time he spends ingratiated into the Cattons’ world – the more he becomes obsessed with it – we see him evolve and adapt to suit the company he keeps. While the Cattons may be aristocracy, they’re inherently disheveled. In fact, it was written into the script, the shabby chicness of it all, says Miller. So the longer Oliver is at Saltburn, the looser his look becomes. “He starts to imitate [Felix] a little bit,” she says. “He becomes a little bit less done. He gets more casual . . . he becomes a bit more tousled with the hairstyle.” By the end of the film, Oliver is the lord of Saltburn manor. Technically, he’s no longer the poor interloper, and his look had to say so. Miller says they made him very clean cut and groomed, like Cary Grant. The difference is that Grant probably never danced naked to “Murder on the Dancefloor.”
The Meaning Behind the Catton Siblings’ Tattoos
Venetia Catton may never be the Catton golden child, but that doesn’t seem to waver her relationship with her brother Felix – at least not by much. “It was very important for Emerald that there were elements of Venetia and Felix that mirrored each other and that’s how we played it with the tattoos,” Miller says. Whether it’s simply the placement of certain ink – Venetia has a tattoo on the inside of her arm where Oliver has “carpe diem” permanently etched – or the actual design – they share a cluster of stars on both of their hands – the siblings are physically linked one way or another throughout the film.
Venetia’s energy and aesthetic scream “rich girl who took a gap year to live in Bali,” so it’s not surprising that Miller didn’t want all of her tattoos to really mean anything at all. For example, Miller designed a tattoo for Venetia inspired by the mathematical number π. She also gave her a lightning bolt on her ankle and rose on her shoulder to finish the look.
Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios
Why Venetia’s Bleached Hair Is Perfectly Horrible
Alison Oliver, who plays Venetia, was game to bleach her hair to the point of breakage – just like any good socialite in 2006. While a wig was an option, Miller says that the actress was willing to push the limits of her hair health by having it bleached – and bleached and bleached – until it was just the right kind of brittle. Apparently, even Margot Robbie noticed. Miller says that the LuckyChap Entertainment producer paid a visit to the set not long after “Barbie” wrapped. “She came along to a screening and she sat behind me,” Miller says. “I could hear her saying, ‘Look at those brittle ends. They’re just perfect!.’”
They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve
What I was wearing, if I was rude
Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves
Taylor Swift, “The Man”
When Barbie premiered in July, women felt seen in the cinema — perhaps for the first time in a long time. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was more than a beginner’s feminist manifesto, but also a meditation on what it means to be both a woman and mother in today’s world. It was a gentle reminder that maybe we’re all just trying our best — and that our best is enough.
It also encouraged women celebrate each other more. The Barbie effect had us all wearing pink, emulating Margot Robbie’s cowboy-chic style, and referring to men as our “Kens.” And with help from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, her friendship bracelets, and sense of community, women were winning. It’s the first year in history that women dominated the Billboard Hot 100 twice (thanks to Swift and her Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album). Like I said, it’s a good year to be a woman.
This celebration of women and our successes is long overdue, but the promising news is that it isn’t slowing down. Barbie’s feminist wave has shifted how we are accepting ourselves (and others) as women.
So it’s no surprise that women are raking in awards this year too, dominating the Grammy nominations and more. We hail celebrities for all sorts of achievements: Patrick Dempsey is People’s Sexiest Man Alive (deserved), Taylor Swift is the world leader (they literally projected her welcome onto Christ the Redeemer), and Austin Butler is Best Elvis (because somehow we have multiple).
And one of the buzziest celeb awards is run by GQ (short for Gentlemen’s Quarterly), whose “Men Of The Year” award is a highlight of every fall/winter. Similar to TIME’s 100 list, GQ likes to celebrate those who have taken the world by storm annually.
This year, the recipient of the Man of the Year award is none other than Kim Kardashian…and they’re not wrong.
Kim has been taking her empire to new heights in 2023: building on the 2022 launch of her SKKN-care line, breaking ground with Skims’ Men’s campaign, the Nipple Bra, and becoming the official partner of the NBA/WNBA, working on prison reform, filming The Kardashians on Hulu, starring alongside Emma Roberts in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story as Siobhan Corbyn, I could go on.
Calling someone “the man” has now become synonymous with “a winner.” Saying “you’re the man” is a sign of their success. And though this might have problematic roots, women are reclaiming the term — like the Taylor Swift song. And in the grand scheme of things: Kim Kardashian is the man.
Some hard working men get the title alongside Kim in the GQ issue. The other MOTY honorees include Jacob Elordi (AKA Elvis #2, who’s starring in blockbusters like Sofia Coppolla’s Priscilla and Saltburn alongside Barry Keoghan), Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin, designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford, and Travis Scott. But you have to admit that Kim hasn’t come up for air this year.
It’s right there for us to see in episodes of The Kardashians: Kim flying from country to country for another event on her booked and busy schedule. She’s literally everywhere at once, officiating recently divorced Chris Appleton and Lukas Gage’s wedding, shooting countless magazine covers and promo shoots for her growing enterprise, opening a Skims popup here, and shooting an episode of AHS there.
Is there anything she can’t do?
Meet The Previous Recipients Of GQ’s Men of the Year
Kim Kardashian is one of the few women to grace the cover of GQ’s Man of the Year edition. Technically dubbed “Tycoon of the Year”, acknowledging her business successes over the past few years (and for the gender neutrality of it all)- Kardashian joins a host of some of the most famous men in the world. Let’s take a look at the past five years:
2022: Brendan Fraser, Andrew Garfield
2021: Lil Nas X, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tom Holland
2020: Megan Thee Stallion, George Clooney, Trevor Noah
2019: Jennifer Lopez, Tyler, The Creator, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino
2018: Michael B. Jordan, Henry Golding, Jonah Hill
Women are normally recognized during the Men of the Year ceremonies, as it is a celebration of all people who emulated pop culture that year…however, no year has celebrated women quite like 2023.
The Men of the Year Awards 2023 were held on November 15 at London’s Royal Opera House where cover stars like Jeremy Allen White, boygenius, and Kardashian were in attendance.
Other female recipients included Megan Thee Stallion and Rihanna, who have paved their own paths in both the music and fashion industry. Rihanna with her Savage x Fenty inclusive lingerie line and Fenty Beauty has been changing the makeup and underwear game for a while now. Megan Thee Stallion is coming off a high-profile trial that she won against Tory Lanez, under immense public scrutiny, has become a figure for mental health and domestic violence while still creating hit records.
It’s one of the most female-dominated GQ events we’ve seen, which is a pattern. The GRAMMY Award nominations just rolled out with so many female artists nominated, you’d think it’s a record. In the top three categories, female acts make up seven out of eight nominees.
This year, women are the man. It’s an exciting, uplifting time where we get to celebrate with each other instead of tearing one another down. Kim K is just another example of the Barbie effect.
Method acting has taken a turn since it first entered the cultural zeitgeist. Gone are the days when it was referred to by the Stanislavsky method, and it was just Marlon Brando doing his thing in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Now it’s become associated with actors terrorising their castmates with dead animals, refusing to stop talking in a ridiculous voice no matter the circumstances and, for Jacob Elordi, eating a pound of bacon a day. We will never know peace.
Yet, this week on POPSUGAR Rush, Starr and I talk about how Jacob Elordi is… doing all the right things. He’s got a serious bid for an Oscar nomination across two films — “Priscilla” and “Saltburn”. We, frankly, would love to see it for him. Put him in the pantheon of decorated Aussie actors alongside Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and more. Give this gloriously tall man the trophies he deserves!
Jacob Elordi Is a National Treasure-in-Training. Period.
In fact, all of Jacob Elordi’s promo for his work has made him an unexpected internet favourite. First, he opened up about his first exposure to Elvis Presley. While, to many of us, The King has always been a sort of omnipresent culture icon, immortalised by endless impersonations, iconic outfits and *that* voice, Jacob Elordi’s first memory of Elvis was hearing “Hound Dog” play on “Lilo & Stitch”.
Then, in a separate interview, he speaks about one of the truly great Australians — Kylie Minogue (or, as I refer to her, Mother). Andy Cohen asked Elordi just how straight Aussie men perceive Mother, given she’s such an icon for women and the LGTBQIA+ community. Jacob’s answer? The correct one.
“She’s a national treasure. Period.”
PERIOD!
Beyond our outpouring of love for Jacob Elordi, this week’s episode of POPSUGAR Rush also included discussions about:
The global political implications of Kylie Jenner and Martin Scorcese posing for a photo together.
The return of “Big Brother“, and why we’ll always yearn for its heyday.
Rachel Zegler understanding the assignment when it comes to “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”.
Katy Perry still having a plethora of celebrity friends.
Nicolas Cage despising his movies becoming a meme.
“Barbenheimer: The Movie.” Yes it’s happening.
Listen to the latest episode above, or via any major podcast provider.
Practically since the “dawn of Lana Del Rey,” a.k.a. the Tumblr era, there’s been that image circulating around that features her head Photoshopped (this was before AI manipulation as we currently know it, after all) over Priscilla Preseley’s. Specifically, the image of her wedding photo with Elvis. Where they’re sitting down and he’s holding her hand. The aesthetic connection between Del Rey and Beaulieu (lest anyone forget that was her maiden name) is not a coincidence. Like most of the iconography Del Rey has pulled from, it’s very calculated. Plus, it’s no secret that Del Rey is an Elvis stan, even writing a song called “Elvis” at one point that eventually served as part of the soundtrack for 2017’s The King. Then, of course, there was her 2012 declaration on “Body Electric” announcing, “Elvis is my daddy.” Lisa Marie would beg to differ.
In fact, Lisa Marie would beg to differ with a lot of things about the “Priscilla project” in general. Maybe not least of which is a soundtrack that doesn’t offer a contribution from Del Rey (or even her father, for that matter, as Sofia Coppola wasn’t able to buy the rights). But, more than that, she was vexed with Coppola (per some recently released emails) for “making” her father “seem” like a predator when it came to his pursuit of an extremely underaged Priscilla. Except, obviously, it goes without saying that Elvis was a predator; Coppola doesn’t need to do much work to make that translate on screen. Especially since she’s using Priscilla’s own 1985 biography, Elvis and Me, as the source material. Material that covers everything from being raped by Elvis (a scene that also shows up in the 1988 TV movie adaptation) while they were married to his rampant affairs, most famously with Ann-Margaret. The book conveyed such a toxic master-slave “bond” that it inspired Depeche Mode to write the beloved single, “Personal Jesus,” a song about “how Elvis was [Priscila’s] man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships. How everybody’s heart is like a god in some way.”
If there’s one chanteuse who’s an expert in creating that effect (apart from Taylor Swift), it’s Lana Del Rey. Or at least it was…when we were in the era of Ultraviolence Lana Del Rey. This being the album wherein she freely filched the controversial Crystals’ line by annoucning, “He hit me and it felt like a kiss.” Priscilla knew that feeling too. But perhaps not as well as Elvis’ final “lady friend,” Ginger Alden, who wrote her own memoir detailing the propensity Elvis had for casual gunplay as a psychological mindfuck. Indeed, everything about Elvis screams “cult leader,” of the sort Del Rey was talking about on “Ultraviolence” when she sings, “‘Cause I’m your jazz singer and you’re my cult leader/I love you forever, I love you forever.” These lyrics are just as easily envisioned coming out of the mouth of Priscilla as she roams the empty halls of Graceland in the midst of yet another one of Elvis’ extended absences. In fact, it would be completely on-brand for Sofia Coppola to feature a scene just like this using that song (see also: her implementation of The Strokes’ “What Ever Happened?” in Marie Antoinette). But, for “whatever reason,” Del Rey’s inclusion on the Priscilla Soundtrack is nonexistent. Though it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the director’s part, who reached out at least twice to try to make something happen.
As Coppola told E! News, “We were hoping she could do a song for it, but it didn’t work out with the timing.” This, to be sure, is always a bullshit excuse for being able to get out of something you’re not all that passionate about. Nor was Del Rey all that passionate about attending the premiere of the film, which Coppola also invited her to. Even if she was rather late to the party on apprehending the internet’s long-standing connection between Lana and Priscilla. For, as Coppola admitted, “I’m learning that people really connect Lana Del Rey and Priscilla and I didn’t realize that, but I got a lot of requests with, ‘How is she gonna be a part of the movie?’” The answer, clearly, is that she’s not. And maybe part of her overt snubbing under the guise of “schedule conflicts” has something to do with her own vague awareness of the ick factor that comes with being associated with a narrative like this in 2023. Even if Del Rey isn’t exactly known for being anything other than tone deaf about what she calls “the culture.”
Nonetheless, something about her willfully missing the opportunity to be part of a pop culture moment so tailor-made for her “brand” appears to indicate that maybe she’s attempting, in her own small way, to move on from the “toxic romance” label that has followed her from the outset of her career. Just as it did Amy Winehouse. The singer who more truly embodies the “Priscilla spirit” not just in her beehive coif and constant application of heavy, garish eyeliner, but in her assessments of love. One such example being, when she said of The Crystals’ “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss),” “There’s only a certain percentage of people that would understand what that’s about. Most people would be like, ‘How dare you promote domestic violence?’ But to me, I’m like, ‘I know what you mean. I know exactly what you mean.’” So did Priscilla, and so, as she herself claims, does Lana. Yet copping to that understanding has become increasingly problematic (especially in the years that have gone by since Winehouse ruled the charts, and could more effortlessly bill this rhetoric as something like “beautiful and tragic”). Even for somebody who has typically been rather blasé about her largely anti-feminist body of work. Try as many might to position her “world-building” as an “authentic” exploration of what it is to be simply: a woman in a relationship. And a “fragile” one, at that.
But fragility has never stopped a man from roughing a “dame” up, as Priscilla found out. Incidentally, “Ultraviolence,” the song from Del Rey’s canon that most reminds one of the Priscilla and Elvis dynamic (particularly as LDR dons a wedding dress in the accompanying video), is something she’s become more averse to in recent years, telling Pitchfork in 2017, “I don’t like it. I don’t. I don’t sing it. I sing ‘Ultraviolence,’ but I don’t sing that line anymore. Having someone be aggressive in a relationship was the only relationship I knew. I’m not going to say that that [lyric] was one hundred percent true, but I do feel comfortable saying what I was used to was a difficult, tumultuous relationship, and it wasn’t because of me. It didn’t come from my end.” Though a lot of internalized misogyny still does seem to come from (and out of) Del Rey’s end. However, this “schedule conflict” of hers with regard to participating in Priscilla might mean there’s hope for her “re-pivoting” away from such “predilections” in the future. Even if Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd isn’t necessarily a harbinger of that.
Since his star-making turn in 2018’s The Kissing Booth, fans have wondered about Jacob Elordi’s girlfriend and who he’s dating. Elordi, who also stars in HBO’s Euphoria as well as two Kissing Booth sequels, has had an eventful dating history in Hollywood.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2020, Elordi talked about how it’s still new for him to know that people are interested in his love life. “Just even the fact that somebody you don’t know knows your name could be quite disembodying. But then eventually, for me personally, it’s got nothing to do with me, you know,” he said at the time. “Imagine the store around the corner from where you are now. Whatever people are talking about is not your business, it’s kind of how it feels. Unfortunately, it just has my name involved in it but it literally has nothing to do with me. It just doesn’t affect the trajectory of my life. So I just kind of ignore it.”
Though The Kissing Booth made Elordi the star we know today, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 about how “awful” he thinks the character is, considering his similarities to his Euphoria character. “It’s two completely different experiences,” he said.
He continued, “The Kissing Booth was the first film I ever made — it was sort of my ticket to Hollywood, so I was really grateful for that. It’s almost like righting my wrongs a little bit too, because the character in The Kissing Booth is awful and it’s never really explained. He’s kind of idolized and made into a hero, so I suppose this show is showing why.” So who has he dated? Meet Jacob Elordi‘s girlfriend, as well as his exes, ahead.
Olivia Jade (2021 – 2022, 2023 – present)
Image: AdMedia /MediaPunch /IPX.
Elordi and Olivia Jade, the daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, were first linked in December 2021 after they were photographed on a date in Los Angeles. A source confirmed the relationship to People at the time. “Olivia and Jacob are casually dating,” the insider said.
A source also told Us Weekly in December 2021 that Elordi and Jade weren’t serious but “enjoying hanging out together.” The insider claimed that the two had “been on some dates” but were “keeping it casual” in regards to their relationship. The romance came after Elordi’s split from Kaia Gerber in November 2021 and Jade’s split from Jackson Guthy in August of that year. “They both got out of relationships recently so they’re not rushing into anything serious,” the insider said. “So far it’s going well and there’s sparks between them.”
In August 2022, Life & Style broke the news that while Elordia and Jade had “enjoyed spending time together,” they had called it quits. “They were never official but have gotten close earlier this summer and enjoyed spending time together,” the insider said at the time, adding, “Olivia’s having fun being single!” As for how Elordi was handling the breakup, the source said he was “in full-force work mode” and “really focused on his career.” They continued: “He’s not looking to jump into anything serious at the moment,” the insider continues.
After an eight-month break, Elordi and Jade were spotted acting affectionately toward each other, sparking rumors of a reunion (See the photos here). They apparently went to a car dealership together in Los Angeles on Monday and in the photos, you can see Elordi wrap his arm around Jade. They were also walking around SoHo, New York City in September 2023.
Kaia Gerber (2020 – 2021)
Image: Aurore Marechal/Abaca/Sipa USA.
Elordi and model Kaia Gerber sparked dating rumors in September 2020 after they were photographed on a date at Nobu in New York City. “Jacob definitely has an interest in dating Kaia, but there is nothing serious going on there,” a source told E! News at the time. “They have many mutual friends and have hung out many times in the past. They both have very chill personalities and similar interests. Jacob makes Kaia laugh, and her family adores him.
The couple confirmed their relationship a month later, in October 2020, after they were photographed kissing in Los Angeles. Gerber also confirmed their relationship in February 2021 when she posted an Instagram Story photo of flowers she received from Elordi for Valentine’s Day.
In a May 2021 interview with Vogue, Gerber opened up about her relationship with Elordi. “Being able to be with someone I trust, where we don’t want anything from each other, having a safe, steady relationship like that, has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of love and what it feels like to love without conditions,” she said. “Lust is touching other people or wanting them, but love is really seeing someone.” She continued, “He’s a great person for me to go to because he’s gone to drama school and has years of experience that I don’t have. So I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m definitely going to be using you as a resource.’”
News broke of Elordi and Gerber’s split in November 2021. “They split and it is amicable,” a source told E! News at the time. A source also told Life & Style at the time that Elordi and Gerber broke up because of their “conflicted” schedules. “Their schedules conflicted, they weren’t spending much time together. It seemed like they were going backward instead of forward and that’s why it wasn’t working,” the insider said. In Touch also reported that Gerber was the one who ended the relationship. “It has been a long time coming. From what I hear there are no hard feelings and they’re still on speaking terms,” the source continued.
Zendaya (2019 – 2020)
Image: zz/Galaxy/STAR MAX/IPx.
Elordi and Zendaya met on the set of Euphoria, which started filming in 2018 and premiered in June 2019. They sparked dating rumors in August 2019 when they were photographed on vacation together in Athens, Greece. They looked like they were getting a little cozy,” a source told Us Weekly at the time “At one point, they were walking with each other and being a little flirty.”
The dating rumors continued in October 2019 when they were seen on a movie date at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in California.“It was just the two of them out together,” a source told Us Weekly at the time “Jacob looked like he was trying to be incognito, wearing a hat that covered his face.” In November 2019, they traveled to Australia together to visit his family. A month later, in December 2019, Elordi seemed to friend zone Zendaya in an interview with GQ Australia. “She’s like my sister,” he said. “Zendaya is an amazing creative, you know? She’s super dope to work with. She’s an incredible artist and a very caring person to all of us. But we’re all really close. There is not one weak link in that show.”
However, the PDA continued. In February 2020, the two were photographed kissing in New York City. They were last photographed together in March 2020 at a flea market in Los Angeles, six months before Elordi’s first known date with Gerber.
Joey King (2017 – 2018)
Image: JC Olivera/Sipa USA.
Elordi and Joey King, who play love interests Noah and Elle, met on the set of The Kissing Booth in 2017. In a May 2018 interview with Bello, King revealed that, while she thought Elordi was attractive, the two started as friends before their relationship became romantic.
“Was it love at first sight? Well, I thought he was very cute when we first met, but it started as a friendship,” she said at the time. “Right away we were talking about gross things with each other (laughing). But before long I started to realize, ‘Hey, I think I kind of like this person!’ It was such an interesting experience meeting your boyfriend on set because you spend so much time together and become so close so fast. We were spending 17 hours a day together, and all of us would hang out after work and watch movies together and stuff. It was great.”
Though it’s unclear when Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship officially started, the Act alum revealed in an interview with Seventeen in May 2018 that a month into filming, around February 2017, was when she started to see the Euphoria actor as more than a friend.
“When we first met, me, him, and Joel went out to dinner and we had the best, most fun night ever,” she said at the time. “By the end of dinner, we had like six inside jokes. We were so close and throughout filming, I was just best friends with Jacob. I guess there was no moment, but I feel like the friendship kind of naturally was like, ‘Oh hey, this person is super frickin’ awesome. We have so much in common and we really love spending time together. Maybe there’s something more there.’”
She continued, “It was never like this moment of “Omg, I can’t let him see me like this.” You know what I mean? We were open books with each other. There was nothing we wouldn’t talk about. He’s just so great. After the first month, I was like, ‘Hmm, I think I like him.’” It seems like this is when Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship started heating up.
Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship became Instagram official in April 2017 when he posted a photo of them in front of the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. King’s first Instagram post of Elordi came two months later on his 20th birthday on June 26, 2017. In August 2017, King opened up about her relationship to Elordi in an interview with Us Weekly at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards. By that time, the couple had been dating for more than a year. In her interview with Us Weekly, King revealed that Elordi being an actor like her was a positive in their relationship.
“You know what, actually it does help,” she said at the time. “It helps to have somebody by your side, cheering you on, who knows what you’re going through and who’s been through it themselves.”
Three months after Us Weekly’s update on Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship, fans theorized that the couple had broken up. The speculation started after Elordi announced on his Instagram Stories at the time that he was taking a break from social media.
“G’day! Like to take a moment to thank everyone for the support over the last year,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories at the time. “I’m incredibly grateful to be able to connect with so many of you. I’m going to be signing off on this whole social media shabang while I work. Cheers for everything, stay happy :).”
He later deleted his Instagram entirely. After that, King took to her Twitter with a cryptic tweet that convinced fans the two were over. “Thank god I have my dog tho,” she tweeted at the time.
If you love The Kissing Booth movies on Netflix, read The Kissing Booth book series by Beth Reekles. The young adult romance trilogy, which was first published in 2012, tells more to the story of the romance between Rochelle “Elle” Evans, a never-been-kissed teenage girl, and Noah Flynn, a badass and volatile player. After you read the first Kissing Booth book, read the two sequels—The Kissing Booth #2: Going the Distance and The Kissing Booth #3: One Last Time—which continue Elle and Noah’s love story and prove that even happily ever afters have their obstacles. And after you finish The Kissing Booth trilogy, read Reekles’ two spinoffs: Road Trip!, a novella about Elle’s adventure-filled road trip from California to Harvard to visit Noah, and The Beach House, a spinoff novel about Elle and Noah’s summer at his beach house with his brother, Lee, and Lee’s new girlfriend, Rachel. If you want to know more to what happened in The Kissing Booth movies, these five Kissing Booth books are must-reads.
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