if you launched blush sticks but no one cares, did it really happen?

this one's for you kylie

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• BeReal is getting acquired by mobile apps and games company Voodoo, for $500 million. This is about as happy an ending as they could expect because I think we can all agree that BeReal’s prime is solidly behind them. The takeover was advised by JPMorgan, and co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat will be leaving the company. Speaking to Financial Times, Voodoo CEO Alexandre Yazdi said he plans to launch paid advertising on BeReal in an effort to move the company towards profitability. I had a quick look around Voodoo’s website and honestly, I think this is the last we’ll hear of BeReal.

• The power of Rhode’s creative direction is that two days ago I was railing about how much I hated the blush packaging, yet today I am in love. By now you know I’m a girl with strong opinions loosely held, so this should not surprise you. Someone on X created a ‘best of Rhode campaigns’ thread for our viewing pleasure, but also to remind us that no one (in this category) does it better- and I mean that. I had a look at their LinkedIn page today to see what jobs they had open, and saw that they have only 11-50 employees on there. This is obviously not an exact reflection of the company’s size, but it reminded me just how young the brand is, despite its larger than life presence in both beauty and culture.

• Did you know Kylie Cosmetics also launched blush sticks recently? You’d be forgiven if you hadn't noticed, since no one seems to notice much of what they do these days. I took a look at their blush campaign from only a few weeks ago and compared it to what Rhode is doing now. Each is authentic to their founder’s personal brands—Kylie’s is hot, but in a detached cool girl way. Rhode’s is hot but in a playful girl-next-door way. Rhode’s narrative is more interesting because it leans into internet culture tropes—from the models to the styling, and even the props. The Rhode campaign is great because it surprises and delights. There are inferences to be made and connections to be drawn. Kylie’s has no exciting underlying message for us.

  

  The thing is, Kylie as a celebrity brand isn't fun anymore- it hasn't been for a long time. My theory is that she doesn’t care much right now (more on that later), because yes I’m a smart girl, but none of what I’m saying is rocket science. She could so easily clear her Instagram page and rebrand if she wanted to. I mean, look how fun things are over at Sprinter. It’s all a bit much, but at least it’s something. It’s funny because anytime Kylie inevitably sexualizes something she’s selling, someone in the comments goes, “do you have to sexualize everything?” But guys, I don’t know if she knows how to do much else! And I can’t say it's altogether ineffective because there will always be a place for that. But I also think there’s a point to be made about how the way people want to see sexuality expressed online is changing. Being hot is the bare minimum these days! We love a hot girl who’s weird, a hot girl who’s funny, a hot girl who’s bookish, a hot girl who’s soft. (These women are also all white, but that’s a conversation for another day.) Kylie is none of these things, so while she’ll always be famous, her cultural relevance—and by extension, her ability to sell us things—will keep waning. Engaging with Kylie’s brand doesn't make you feel like you’re part of a larger cultural moment or conversation the way other celebrity brands do. And that’s a big problem for her.

  

  PS. I don’t think Kylie Cosmetics is going bankrupt, but I don’t think it’s growing either. There’s likely something in the ownership structure with Coty that’s made her feel less invested. There were reports at the end of last year that she was trying to buy back the 51% stake they own. If she somehow manages to do that (and I think she will), we might start seeing some real innovation again.

• Elon Musk threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies because they’re partnering with OpenAI, and I think he’s crazy enough to actually try! Here’s a quick and easy rundown of all the coming Apple AI features. I’m personally really excited for the Siri upgrade. I’m going to make that AI my bestie.

• The girls just want to have a brat summer, but some of you are pressed because you think you discovered Charli XCX first. Chillllll. If you’re reading this, know that I will never shame you for being the last on the hype train. It’s also okay not to like the album; I don’t.

• Momofuku is opening a new restaurant in New York after closing four of its thirteen restaurants in recent years. They’re also bringing on former Momofuku Seiobo chef Paul Carmichael to "play a key role in overseeing restaurant operations company-wide." This sounds to me like they'll likely be rolling out new restaurant locations after years of focusing mostly on their CPG business. Still haven't forgotten that Momofuku founder Dave Chang literally tried to trademark 'chili crunch' only two months ago. though!

• Meanwhile, this restaurant banned diners under 30 because they wanted a 'grown and sexy' vibe. Okay, but I think 25 would have been a more appropriate cutoff, no?

• I know people who love me and know my birthday read this newsletter, so here are some looks I want from the Sandy Liang Resort 2025 collection.

  

• If you thought things couldn’t get worse for The Washington Post, think again. The Intelligencer has the best timeline of what’s been going down that I’ve seen so far. I’ll just add that I think a fraction of all the bad press this is getting is because American media is pissed that many top publications like CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The Daily Beast have brought in British journalists to lead their newsrooms. One media executive said of his British counterparts, “If the good times were still rolling, then they wouldn’t be here.” Facts. Another one said, “Would Britons put up with Americans running all their newspapers? Absolutely not. And it is to the credit of America that outsiders are allowed in and made welcome.” Also facts.

• I keep saying I’ll only write about the Paramount merger/buyout saga when it’s all over, but there’s no telling when this will end so here I am. Apologies for dropping you guys right in the middle of things, but for those of us who have been following the will they, won’t they of it all for the last few months, here’s the latest: merger talks with Skydance have broken down and former media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr., backed by private-equity firm Bain Capital, is reportedly eyeing a $2 billion-plus bid for National Amusements, which owns Skydance. Shari is obviously the issue here, and this quote says it all:

  “A longtime Hollywood insider says he is stunned by the messiness and length of the deal-making process. He suspects that the emotional aspect of the transaction may have simply proved overwhelming for Redstone. ‘There’s two ways to look at it,’ he says. ‘One is, it’s a negotiation. And the other is it’s a matter of importance personally, where you just lose whatever brain power you have.’ Says another prominent media veteran: ‘It’s probably the looniest sales process in the history of public companies.’” Nepo babies are so chaotic.

• VICE Media announced on X that they were relaunching on Beehiv but then deleted it because everyone was making fun of them. In all fairness, I was going to make fun of them too, but now I feel bad. Apart from being slightly embarrassing and a massive fall from grace, this is actually not a bad idea if they want to keep operations tight and costs low while building a highly engaged and hopefully young audience. I want to know what the team at Substack did to fumble the bag, though.

  

• Related but unrelated, I’m desperate to know what Karlie Kloss and her husband intend to do with i-D. As of now, the former Vice-owned publication has been without an EIC since February, ceasing publishing on its website and halting print. There were stirrings of Derek Blasberg or Edward Enninful coming on to replace former EIC Alastair Mckimm, who said of leaving, “I truly believe this is the best thing to do for i-D, Karlie, and my own sanity.” But that was months ago, and no one’s heard a peep since then. 

• Looks like Disney and DeSantis have agreed to play nice (for now). They’re planning a development agreement that will allow Disney to add a fifth theme park in Orlando and guarantee up to $17 billion in investments for Florida. I will always respect Disney for their focus on doing what works. Their theme parks work very well, and the number of child-free adult visitors is growing every year. I’d love to see them create an adults-only theme park and let chaos ensue. Also, I read this morning that Disney+’s gross media ad spend in Q1 spiked to 210% YoY. For context, Netflix’s grew 135% in that period. They’re obviously hemorrhaging money right now, but I know they’re building a solid pricing and bundling strategy behind the scenes. I’d bank on the mouse house any day.

• Those who call football "soccer" won’t appreciate the gift that this is. Kim knows what she’s doing- and right before the Euros too? Slay.

  kimkardashian

  

  A post shared by @kimkardashian

• Americans are paying up to 10 or 15 times more for Ozempic and Wegovy than other countries, and Bernie Sanders wants to subpoena Novo Nordisk to find out why. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) found that the net cost of Ozempic in the United States is well above the drug’s list price in other countries. For example, Ozempic in Germany (where I live) is just $59 for a month’s supply, but about $600 a month in the US. Sanders said the committee has reached out to Novo Nordisk “time and time again,” but “unfortunately, despite all of our efforts, they have repeatedly denied our requests.” A Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Quartz that a subpoena is not necessary since the company has cooperated with all of Sanders’s requests. This should be fun.

• Sarah Shapiro
  did a great deep dive on what the exit of Chanel’s Creative Director, Virginie Viard, could mean for the brand’s future. “According to the articles, her designs lacked surprise, innovation, and a strong authoritative vision. The last couple of runway shows did have very poor reviews and were not well regarded.”

• I’ve been wanting to talk about the shifts I’m noticing in ‘trend’ culture for a while now, and this Vogue Business article is the perfect primer.  2023 was the year of the aesthetic “core” – some of us loved it, and some of us hated it. By the time 2024 rolled around, everyone was tired of those conversations, and every New Yorker with a platform wanted you to stop copying them and ‘develop your personal taste’ (but still click our affiliate links, please!) The issue with ‘tomato girl core’ and ‘ballet core’ was that they never reflected how people lived their daily lives. Now that we’re all going out more, people are dressing for the activities they’re participating in: running, tennis, reading clubs, brat summer. But this doesn't mean those ‘core’ trends have completely disappeared; people are just incorporating bits and pieces from each that resonate with their lifestyles. I know some of you love to hate on the girls that enjoy participating in trends, and while there’s so much to be said about hyper-consumption, I personally learned so much about my own style and tastes last year. Brands, for their part, are sooo OUTSIDE this summer, and I can't wait to see what women are wearing as they hop from one activation to the next.

• The Cut spoke to Alana Hadid about building her new venture, Watermelon Pictures—a film production and distribution company dedicated to telling and highlighting Palestinian stories. She wants it to be the Palestinian A24, and her dream project is an Oscar-worthy film that is Palestinian-led, acted, produced, and directed. Sister Bella Hadid is making her acting debut in a film called Gaza Is Calling by Mustafa the Poet, where she plays a mother who, along with her son, has found refuge from the ongoing conflict in the region.

• Kendall Jenner’s agent and “unofficial literary consultant”, Ashleah Gonzales, published a poetry collection. It’s called Fake Piñata, which I have to admit is a pretty great title. So if you see Kendall and co conspicuously toting this around all summer, you know why.

  ashleahelena

  

  A post shared by @ashleahelena

• PwC is laying off staff in its UK office and asking them not to tell colleagues why they’re leaving. They even provided ‘suggested wording’ for farewell messages, but of course no one listened, and now we all know.

• So much has been happening in the world of Big Oil and sustainability, and I want to talk to you guys about it. Partly because it's super important and interesting, but mostly because I want you to know there's so much more to my big brain than blush sticks. That being said, it's a bit of a hard one to talk about, and both industries are steeped in so many LIES. But I know a girl for everything, and I know a girl for this. Next week I’ll be having a friend on here to give us a rundown on what’s happening with Big Oil and what that has to do with you. We’ll make it accessible, but I can't promise it’ll be ‘fun’ because sometimes knowing stuff is more important than having fun. Tune in Wednesday and leave your assumptions at the door.