The Press Box - 'Jam Session'—The End of Us Weekly With Lara Cohen (Ep. 285)

Episode Date: March 22, 2017

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins discuss the end of a gossip era with the selling of Us Weekly (5:00). Then, former Us Weekly editorial director Lara Cohen joins to give her thoughts on the invention of "Bennifer" (11:00), Britney Spears's head-shaving incident (17:00), and the biggest celebrities today (25:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Jam Session. I'm Juliet Litman. I'm Amanda Dobbins. It's a summer day for us because last week, Us Weekly was sold. It's the end of an era. Yeah, this is our Us Weekly in Memorium podcast. Yeah, it's put on some Boys to Men. It's so hard to say goodbye. We're going to miss it. Oh, is that kind of. I'm due into the road. But you know what? Many Boys to Men offerings for you. Listen to both. Hello, Boys to Men. I did too. Yeah, this is, so let's put this in a little context. Us Weekly last week was sold to AMI, which is a company.

that owns the National Enquirer star. Radar Online? Possibly, and I believe also OK Magazine. Yes. Now, regular listeners of Jam Session and Gossip Watchers in general will understand what those three tabloids that I just mentioned have in common,

which is that they are not extremely reliable sources of celebrity gossip. Correct. One thing with the National Enquirer is it has broken a few scoops. Sure. But not in a long time. Sure.

You know, they did get the John Edwards thing. The National... Monica Olensky. Oh, that's correct. The National Guard... That's an OJ scoops as well. Can get things right. But, you know, maybe star...

Like, a broken clock is right twice a day. And I think that could even be true for a star or whatever. But the way that those particular magazines treat the gossip industry and reporting is very different. And, you know, we've done, like, the trustworthy scale before of which sources you can actually believe in. and none of those magazines are on it. Right. So we don't know what's going to happen to us weekly. Yeah.

There was a report that they are forcing all of the staffers to re-interview for their jobs, which is not... Are you serious? Yeah, which is not the kindest. Yeah, it's not like an auspicious beginning to their time with A&I. Wow, that's rough. I feel for them. Yeah, I do too. I really feel for them because you and I love us weekly, and we have always found it, like, kind of the gold standard for...

Totally. When I was, like, in ninth and tenth grade, my mom and I subscribed to... people, Sandstar. Yeah, that's a lot. I subscribe to Us Weekly for a long time. I have stopped buying it recently for editorial decisions that they made even before they were sold to AMI. Same. But this is kind of, this is the nail.

I don't want to say it's the nail in the coffin. We don't know what will happen. But it is like, I feel like in 20 years in the history books, this will be the ending of the S Weekly era. Totally. Which had been fading for a bit. So I think we want to pay a brief tribute. Yeah, absolutely. to us weekly, which basically humanized celebrities.

Stars there just like us. Who doesn't make us stars there just like us joke on Slack all the time? I certainly do. Yeah, and I think that we sort of, we make a joke of it a lot, and it's a very funny joke. But that was a pretty significant shift in the way that celebrities were covered and that we talked about celebrities. Even the desire to see celebrities as just like us is different, right? Like the reason they're celebrities is because they're like, live a rarefied life. Exactly.

And so like the choice to try to humanize it. them, as you said, or make them just seem more regular, was significant. And the fact that we want celebrities to be relatable, which seems like, duh, obvious now. And, you know, everyone wants to be like Jennifer Lawrence now because she burps and she is just like us. But we forget that that's a pretty relatively new phenomenon in terms of what we expect from famous people. And like every celebrity profile that goes like viral now is basically because it has like

some kind of like moment of humanity and that you weren't expecting, but maybe you should at this point, basically. Exactly. Yeah, and that's, so stars, they're just like us. The, was started by Us Weekly in, like, 2002. Yeah. So that's really pretty new. That was Bonnie Fuller.

And then they kind of changed the whole industry of how we read tabloids. Yeah. And I learned from this interview that you're about to hear that they made up Benefer, as in Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Yeah. Which is, like, also the whole, like, name portmanteau phase is, like, that's never going away. Yeah. I mean, it's like part of the, it's like not just part of the celebrity lexicon.

It's like, you know, in its own section, wouldn't even be alphabetized. It'd be like in the foreword of the Celebrity Dictionary. That's very true. Celebrity Dictionary. That's very true. And then I think they also, you know, they did a lot of good things. They did some questionable things. The reason that we have the paparazzi culture that we have now is in large part because of the arms race between people on us weekly in the mid-2000s.

And that yielded some positive. things and some negative things. I would also posit that us forced people to change. People used to be a little bit more closer to Life magazine in terms of like trying to like, you know, be a little bit more political sometimes or like if you had a story, like a, if you had like a tell-all that you wanted to get ahead of, you would go to people with that story. But it was like a little bit more serious like in its earlier iterations.

And I think when people and us sort of like started competing, it's sort of because us was doing really well. That's my theory, although I would need to do a little bit more research to truly stand by it. But they weren't always like kind of a one-to-one. I think that's very true. I'm going to honestly, I'm reading something from a 2006 variety article, which is Janusman, who is the former Us Weekly Editor-in-Chief. I should be honest, really, this is like on the Wikipedia page, but it's important to know your sources. So the original source is variety. and she's kind of talking about that moment when people in Us Weekly were kind of really fighting against each other. And it was, she claims that it was people who actually jacked up the price of a celebrity paparazzi photo because they bought photographs of Jennifer Lopez reading Us Weekly so that Us Weekly couldn't use the photos of J-Lo reading their magazine.

So yeah, it really was like a, you know, a death match for a while between the two. And they got probably a little more stupid or more invasive than was always wise possibly. And then there is the fact that suddenly all of the reality stars were on the cover of Us Weekly. And I think Us Weekly probably is responsible for the Kardashians as well, wouldn't you say? Yeah, I think the huge part of it. And also the mainstreaming of The Bachelor from like a fringe weird show. Absolutely. To making it something that, you know, a lot of women.

And then their 30s who have, you know, a lot of education are really interested in. Yes. Actually, Janice Min did like a BuzzFeed list of sort of like facts about the Bachelor. Right. Sorry about Us Weekly. And one of them is that their demographic was 32-year-old women who have been to college. And that they were like, they put the Bachelor on the cover for the first time in like 2005. And like those things go hand in hand.

Yeah. It's kind of, it's pretty fascinating. It's the effect of Us Weekly, like, will definitely be the subject of, many dissertations. Absolutely. And you can also sort of chart, you know, like I said, this is kind of the official end of the era, but I think it kind of had been tapering off in, it was not the only gossip stronghold.

It's not the only gossip stronghold anymore. You obviously have TMZ and also kind of celebrities using they're just like us on social media and they're kind of obviating the need for a gossip magazine as it used to exist, which is probably why Janice Smith retweeted the news. was sold, S-Weekly was sold for $100 million. J.N.S. Men treated it with once worth $600 million less than 10 years ago, a.k.a. when she was the chief, R-I-P. She's an amazing performance from her in the last couple of days.

Yeah, I really suggest that you seek out the 25 things you didn't know about Us Weekly on BuzzFeed. There's a number 26 that is really quite a statement. Don't reveal what it is. Okay, I won't. I'm not going to kick it. Let's give BuzzFeed some clicks. Yeah. They deserve this one, but... I will say also, like, to her credit,

the way that it's like the way the list, the flow of the list, and now that number 26 hammer is excellent. Listen, I mean, Us Weekly was a celebrity tabloid, and it, like, made its money on, like, photos of people eating ice cream while, like, Siegles attacked them. I understand that it's stupid, but they did what they did

as well as anyone. Like, the execution was perfect and smart, and these were people who understood what they were doing. And that is the difference between Us Weekly and Star and okay and in touch. Even people's events. Like even people, they were very, very smart about it. Absolutely.

And that's what we responded to, and I will miss it. Totally. And that is a perfect segue into our guest. Yes. Lara Cohen, who was one of the smart people who used to work there. She was. She started as a reporter and worked there for over a decade and was an editorial director when she left.

And she is going to tell us about chasing Benefer up and down the East Coast. Let's hit it. And so now we are joined with Lara Cohen, a former editorial director for Us Weekly. Lara, thank you. Oh, I'm so honored to join. I'm a huge fan of Todd. Thank you. For a long time.

Yeah. You're very kind. So you worked at Us Weekly for a decade. Is that correct? Yes. Yes, a little bit over a decade. Yes. I started there as a reporter chasing Ben Affleck and Jennifer.

Lopez up and down the East Coast as they filmed Gile. That's amazing. And then when I left. Okay, wait, hold on. Hold on. Let's just stop right there. Let's start with that. So that was like 2002?

That was 2002-3, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Can you explain what chasing Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez up and down the East Coast while they're making Gile entails? Like what does a U.S. Weekly reporter do? Okay. A decade ago.

A decade, yeah, more than a decade, like 15 years ago at this point. So at that time, it was like still, it was early days. It was like the Bonnie Fuller regime there. It was sort of before the whole news team had been built out. So it was like me and this one other dude were like the only two reporters or maybe like there were like three reporters on staff. So when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez had started, you know, there were rumors of them getting together.

And I think this guy, Michael Lewittis, who is now gossip cop, you know that? Oh, yeah. On the internet? Yeah. Totally. He was running the hot stuff column at that point, and I think he broke that story. And so, yeah, when I chased them up and down the East Coast meant, like, I would, like, stand on the side of, like, their film set in Philadelphia and try to, like, get color for the stories.

Like, if they were, like, making out or, like, he would go into her trails. I was just like taking copious amounts of notes. Can I ask a follow-up question? Yes. Were they just like making out in between takes on set? Yes, totally. The best Jennifer Lopez and Ben Appleg story was the one time they went to Atlantic City, you know, because Ben was like super into gambling.

Yes. And so was J-Lo's mom, Guadalupe Lopez. And I remember one time I dragged my poor husband at the time, to Atlantic City to watch them gamble and they were like sitting at like some high rollers table and I was like sitting at a slot machine just like peeping on them for like seven hours

just watching just getting every last detail Was it easy to get close to the set or like was it like closed off? It was pretty easy back then because that was sort of before the whole paparazzi explosion so I think that I think that those sets became more closed and hard to get to, but this was sort of early days for all that.

So, yeah, I just, like, hung around. I was sort of like one of those, like, weird autographed people, except I wasn't an autographed people. That's an Us Weekly reporter. So it's my job. So can you talk a little bit about that transition from to the paparazzi phase of Us Weekly and kind of Us Weekly becoming the main tabloid and kind of changing the way? that we consume celebrity news because you were kind of in the rooms, I think, as that was happening.

Yeah, I think that there were sort of like these big fundamental periods in the last weekly history. Like, I think the first real big one was Benifer, a term in which I think I may be coined, which is like, they'll write that on my tombstone. That's a huge deal. That's the first line of your obituary, and you should be proud of that. That's incredible. I know.

I know. It's like pretty much I peaked. you know, at like whatever years old I was when that happened. It was like an accident. But then someone else in my office did Brangelinea. But, you know, it started the phenomenon. Sure, the portmanteau. Right, right.

So, yeah, so that was the first period. And I think at that time, it was just Us Weekly and people, but people were just riveted by that story. And I think that out of that people started, you know, the photographers that were covering them, you know, it was just like low-hanging fruit and more people jumped on that story and it got bigger. And then as you go into the Brad and Angelina, Brad and Jen breakup period, that's when things sort of blew up and got even bigger. And that's when, you know, there were all these competing paparazzi agencies. And that really started that moment. And that led to

Brittany and her head shaved meltdown that was another big that was like you know that was another huge period for us I have a question about that one yeah yeah yeah um James Mann just did like a buzzfeed post about sort of a couple of like highlights

from her time at us and one of them was that the second reporter just show up at the scene for Britney Spears when she shaved her head was an us weekly reporter like right behind CNN and like back then not that it was so long ago but it was definitely a different time like how do you get that tip and then how do you, like, how did you dispatch someone so quickly? Because now it would, like, obviously, be like, or not so obviously, but I assume it would

have to do with, like, someone randomly taking a picture on Twitter and then it's just, like, kind of circulating from there. But, like, how do you get that tip and then how do you get someone there right away? I think at that point with Brittany, the paparazzi were, like, all over that story. And I think that, like, they were, you know, I think we probably got word from, was it, where did she shave her head. It wasn't at a gas station? No, it wasn't I guess.

I think it was like at like a weird barber shop, right? I'm thinking about the picture. Oh, and she's sitting in the chair. Yeah, I think we got a tip from someone inside the barbershop actually. You're right. It was like a salon.

It was like a weird salon, yeah. Yeah, there was like nail polish in the background. But that was a crazy time. That was a crazy time. I remember like getting a call in the middle of the night from my eyes. editor at the time that like that was when brittany like locked herself in the house you know she was like locked in the bathroom and like the police came and they had to put her into a 50-150

hole that was a sad story that was like you know there is i mean that was a really great crazy story but that was that was a that was a darker moment for the us weekly what was the biggest conundrum you faced like biggest like huh what do we do here um i think like for myself personally or for the magazine. Like, I think that, um, for the magazine, I think that we always, for the magazine,

I think we tried to, like, we tried to really walk a fine line between, um, keeping it light and, like, not, like, I don't think anyone ever there, like,

want to ever destroy anyone's life, you know? And I think that's like, people took their reporting super seriously there, and we treated it, you know, in the way that, like, any reporter would treat any beat.

Like, I'm really proud, actually, as, like, the reporting that came out there. Um, but we also, held back on a lot of things because, you know, these were, like, real people with real lives,

even though they felt like cartoon characters sometimes. So I think, like, always walking that line between, like, breaking news that was meaningful and that readers wanted, with also sort of, like, not crossing into, like, a darker, like, more, you know, like, star, inquire, super invasive way. Totally. You know? Yeah. I have a follow-up question about that, which is, did the celebrity's relationship to you

change at all over the years as celebrities kind of, for instance, Benifer, they did a lot of press. It seemed like they were sort of open to the idea of, you know, this was going to be in public and we were at least going to sell part of this. And I'm just curious. Yeah, I mean, like, J-Lo put in the Jenny from the Block video, you know, like Ben, like, literally like kissing her butt and the Jenny from Block video. I don't know that. That's sheer it into my mind.

Don't ever forget about that. Yes. Very important. I mean, are there just some celebrities who are more game, or did celebrities realize they have to be more game? Oh, totally. I mean, I think that my whole point at the time, like, when people would be critical with me, like, if it was, like, publicists or whatever would be really critical with me.

My point would always be like, well, you know, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon came up at literally the same time, you know, and had the exact same level of fame. and yet you've never seen a picture of Matt Damon's kids. I think that it's a conscious choice in terms of how you live your life and where you go and sort of like what you choose to put out there. I think that like Ben put a lot out there early that he then later regretted and has dialed it back. But I think that at that time it was like, you know,

you can't really complain if you're getting shot by the paparazzi, You're, like, sitting at, like, you know, at that time, remember, like, Kitsen on Robertson. You know, like, there were certain places where the paparazzi, like, always hung out and you knew that they were going to be. And so, like, there were sort of zones that you knew that you were going to get covered and be, and be featured. Yeah. Let's talk more about that, but first, let's tell you about our sponsors. Listen to this. Have you ever been on a website and thought, this seems good, but what if it were a TV show instead?

You're in luck. Since 1993, the AV Club has produced some of the best pop culture writing on the web, and now, after 20 years of talking about TV, things are coming full circle for the folks that ate the AV club. They're getting their own TV show. Hosted by longtime editor John Teddy,

the AV Club show is a weekly deep dive that invites everyone, fanatics, and casual observers alike, to look closer and laugh more at every corner of pop culture, from TV to movies to music to games and beyond. So get your snack of choice and turn on Fusion TV to catch the AV club hosted by John Teddy Thursdays

9 Eastern and be sure to visit fusion.net slash where to watch for details. And we'd also like to think SimplySafe. Protecting your home should be easy, right? Unfortunately, it usually isn't. Instead, getting home security can often mean countless installation appointments, drilling holes in your walls, and getting locked into contracts that make you wonder if it's even worth it. But your home is worth it.

Your family's safety is worth it, and that's why SimpliSafe is making it simpler than ever to protect them. With SimpliSafe, you can get comprehensive, professionally monitored home security right online. Each Simpli safe system is a thoughtfully assembled security arsenal. From entry and motion sensors to a high-definition security camera, you'll have everything you need to keep your family safe. And best of all, there are no long-term contracts or hidden fees ever. No wonder, CNET called it comprehensive, easy-to-use protection

and named it editor's choice for home security in 2014. order today and you can be protected by the end of the week. And you can get an exclusive 10% discount when you go to simplysafe.com slash ringer right now and order your simply safe system. That's simply safe.com slash ringer. There's a blind item in Janusman's buzzfeed piece about an actress calling the paparazzi to take pictures. And I think I know who it is. You don't have to name names, but how common are is celebrities calling the paparazzi on themselves? Um, way common.

And I do know who that is, but I, but I'm, but I will never, I will never reveal that, but it's like, it, that was a fucked up one. I'm not square in this podcast, right? That was a fucked up one. Yeah. Um, yeah. Um, yeah, it was a super fucked up one. Um, but, um, yeah. Yeah.

I think a lot. I mean, I think that that generally speaking celebrities were far more complicit. And certainly the machines behind them were far more complicit in that than they ever let on. I mean, like, there were many, many more times that I could ever count where, like, a source close to whoever was their publicist or them themselves. I mean, I think that, like, it was a game and everyone was in on it to a certain extent, you know. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Can I ask you, do people try to pitch themselves, like, for stars like us? Yeah.

Are you ever getting emails being like, here's a picture of me eating ice creamer from the publicists? Well, I'll tell you a dirty secret. Okay, great with that, which hopefully I will not get murdered for telling the secret. But I will say that there are certain brand companies out there who will do like arranged, like phony just like us is. Oh, interesting. Like, like, oh, here's Jennifer Love Hewitt. And this did not happen. I'm not just using her as an example.

But, like, you know, Jennifer Love Hewitt loves to do the laundry. And it's like, you know, like it'll have been pitched by someone at Tide, you know. So there were those occasional sort of like favor photos that went in there. And it was usually like in a trade for some kind of goth in return for that. Got it. Were you still there when they started doing what's in my bag? Yes, it was. Okay.

Can you just give me a pretext? percentage on how many what's in my bags are A, true and B written actually, or at least as told to by the celebrity in question? I think they're like all kind of true-ish. I mean, I think that, like, they all knew. It wasn't like you just, like, we, like, showed up at your house and they were just going to, like, dump their bag out, you know? So they, like, kind of knew what was going on.

So maybe, you know, they all have a lot of purses. I don't know. They'd, like, make it specific. Okay. But, yes, those were all accurate. Those were all accurate. Okay. So you were there from 2001 to tell me when you were there.

I was there, gosh, I guess 20, like late 2012 to 2013. Like, what did I go to? I guess, like, yeah, 2012 or 2013. So, yeah, so it was like Benefer into Brangelinea, and that was like, I mean, Brandolina, that period. had lasted for a long time. That was like Team Angelina versus Team Jen. I think when it finally came out that Brad and Angelina were officially dating,

I think we did nine covers in a row about this story. Because like it was just like a machine. And then there were two staff writers, Joey Bartle Mayo and Mara Rhinstein who like did a, who crashed a book in like two weeks about like the Brad and Jen story. But anyway, yes, it was very impressive. So into Brangelinea, into Brittany, and then I think, you know, there's like a lot of Bachelor mixed in there and teen mom. And then obviously we get to like a very heavy Kardashian period. And I think that's when I finally, when I bounced was like, but I was there for like, you know, Chris Humphrey and Kim and like that whole, that whole game.

Yeah. Wow. What was the kind of, what was the biggest change from, from what? when you started to when you left in terms of either how people consumed it or just the kinds of stories you guys were telling. Well, it's interesting. Like, when we, when we, when I started there, it was like, I remember, like, with the Ben and Jen story, I think we had that story for like a week, like, you know, we went to, we went to close

on Monday night and we had that story on like a Tuesday and we were able to like sit on it until the issue, until we closed the issue the following week. as obviously like digital rose and then as like Twitter and social media rose later it became impossible to save anything for the magazine like it was just like he became a sort of like 24 hour news breaking machine so that was like the biggest evolution and then you know I know that since I've left like they've really built out the website and their they're breaking news like on the digital side a lot the team there's good. You as a person, a professional gossip watcher, who do you think the most famous celebrities in the world are right now? Oh, gosh. That's so interesting. I mean, can you beat the Kardashians? I mean, like, I know, I know that there's, I know, I know that there's, like, some mixed Kardashian views on this podcast. I listen to do that. So I know, I know this, this is a great divide between the two of you. But, yeah, I mean, I think that, like, I think

ultimately the Kardashians sort of changed the game more than anything. I think that, like, you know, us weekly changed a lot when stars sort of removed the filter for having to have traditional media to tell their story, you know? Like when they started using, you know, Twitter and Instagram and Facebook to tell their own stories, like nobody did that better than the Kardashians. And they did that not only through their social channels, but like through their own show to a point that like, I don't know, like I'm super pumped. to like watch the Kim drama about like the robbery in Paris.

As am I. I'm riveted by that. Yes. I still think the show did the best version of the Kanye tape and Taylor tape. Yeah. And also you can kind of watch Kim managing Kanye's career from afar, which is fascinating. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the receipts.

That was like, there are a couple days like that I've met since moving on to us weekly on two other jobs and another career. Like there are certain days when I've been like, damn, it'd be still so fun to be at Us Weekly

and like that Kim and the receipts with Taylor that was just, I mean, that was just masterful. I just think that that's, it's the best thing I've ever seen.

So good. And that was probably a super fun story for them to cover there. I mean, it sent Taylor switched into hiding basically, haven't heard much

from her since then. Yeah. It's pretty wild. I also recently was like, where's Kanye? Like, what's he doing right now? I hope he's taking some time and getting some time and working on his family. Sorry on Kardashian to ask that question now.

I mean, until recently, Kim, I mean, Kim is now just doing the weird filters on Instagram and otherwise is not really around. Yeah. Yeah. I just hope that Kanye doesn't have that blonde hair and the contacts anymore because I was really not into that look at all. Agreed. And let Kanye be Kanye, but like normal Kanye. Yeah, I would agree with that also.

I mean, if there is a normal Kanye, you know? All right. One final question. Yes. Where is the best place to read gossip in 2017? You know, that's so interesting because I a little bit feel like I've hung up my hat and I'm not, I'm not as astute a gossip watcher anymore. but, you know, I still think that, like, I'm hoping that whatever happens with us weekly and this next incarnation, they still walk out by line.

I mean, you guys have talked about this a lot on the pod. Like, people is always the place to go where you know everything they're saying is true, right? But they also, like, don't go there ever. Yeah. I think with the other magazines, it's a lot less likely to be true. you know who's that was good does Lainey gossip still do does she still kick it

she was always really good she broke a lot of stuff and she was all over the she was real real she was all over the brand jolina divorce which was great yes yes yes oh yeah that was another day I was like damn I wish they would like bring me back

to like get said it out I said if Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez like were to get back together which I feel like is not beyond the realm of possibility right I would come back and get said it's that. Doesn't seem likely, but it doesn't seem impossible.

I know, but I mean, like, would you have predicted her and Drake? I never, I still don't believe that one, so. It's, I think that there's at least a 50% chance that they'll be photographed together. And then everyone will lose their minds and be like, J-Lo and Ben are back together, Ben for 2.0. Yeah, I mean, like, I will lose my mind and I will, like, take a hiatus from whatever I'm doing professionally at that moment to come back and, like, get it at that. Because, like, that's an important, that could be the most important story of our time, you guys.

And then I hope it happened just to see how you react. It would be full circle for you. That would be nice. Beautiful. Super beautiful, yeah. But I hope whatever happens with us now, it's good. But, yeah, tip your 40s. Tip your Chateau, Miraval, Rose.

Because I think that, you know, magazine is important. It, like, fundamentally changed the way, you know, of celebrity entertainment. I think. For sure. Absolutely. All right, Larry, thank you so much for coming on to talk to us and for your wisdom and for your investigative reporting on Benefer. Yes.

You're welcome. Bye. Bye, guys. We'll talk to you soon. Well, I certainly learned a lot. Thank you to Lara. Yes, thank you very much. So, Juliet, here's the one last thing that I want to talk about with us with us with you.

As we have discussed before, there is a hierarchy of trusted sources. Sure. And I think that it's time. to talk a little bit more about our trusted gossip sources in 2017. Where are you with this? Number one for me is blindgossip.com. Okay. Absolutely number one.

I would agree with that. The thing that's great about it is you kind of like can't be like, no, that was wrong because since it's blind and they only reveal it when it's like actually come out, it makes them seem like unsaleable. But as soon as there's like three items on the same topic, I'm like, okay, this is true. So that's number one for me. Okay. So you are doing some triangulating with blind gossip.

I think this is really important, and I reiterate this every single time we talk about this. You need to question your own sources. Yeah. You need to be doing some thinking on your own about what you're being told, who's telling it to you, the way that they are telling it to you. In gossip, as in real fucking news, by the way. But so you are, like, you're pulling things together. Yeah. On Blang Gossip.

What's number one for you? I got to say TMZ. Oh, yeah. Sure. I mean. They're almost never wrong. The only time that they were wrong was, I mean, Lowen was in the hospital, but, you know, there were some conflicting reports, and that was a very tense moment. And I don't think they totally got that right.

But that's the only time that I can think of that they screwed up every single time they're right. And they, you know, they get the documents. Yeah, that's the thing. They're really good with, like, legal papers. The only thing is they obviously have a deal with the kid with Chris Jenner. Sure. So I was, like, kind of sad with some of the Lamar Odom coverage. However, I talked to that it was wrong.

It just was, like, planted. But that said, they are always correct. Yeah, I mean, as we learned from the interview, much of us weekly is planted as well. Yes. I think that's just they are kind of trading favors. Yeah, absolutely. After there, it gets very murky.

Yeah, you know, I'm going to say, as we learn in college, like original sources, original text, original sources of you hear from the celebrity, that's what you need to do. Page six is pretty reliable. Yeah, that's true. it's a pretty narrow reign of interest, so you can't totally rely on them.

People... People's usually like state-sponsored media. Yeah. It's like, it's like, it's like, not something wrong, but like certainly not the full story. Yeah, you can read, but read wisely. Yeah, exactly. Those are my main sources, TMZ, blind gossip, and page sex.

Yeah, I guess that's right. Sometimes a good Reddit thread can get juicy. You know what I'm going to say? Oh, no, they didn't. Oh, yes. Is doing some sort of... They're doing like this. citizens report, like version of, they're just pulling things together, like the Homeland

Board. But I think the Tavi-Gevinson ad, sponsored ad apartment saga of last week was actually first uncovered by, oh, no, they didn't. Yeah, they're really good. Yeah. The moderators of, oh, no, they didn't just, like, have incredible vision on Instagram. Yes. It's like an all-seeing eye of celebrity posts on Instagram.

It's pretty amazing. That's how we learned about the, um, Connie Britton birthday party last that we previously discussed. Okay. That's a great one. Oh, and Laney Gossip, of course, her friend. Yes, of course. Lainey knows. Yeah, she does know. Lainey's breakdown of the, of Justin Timberlake's performance at the Oscars was a incredible. Incredible. It was incredible. She must, yeah, she really saw right through him, even though he was a shine blocker. Also, but she's using analysis as well as her sources, which is what we should all do. Totally. She's a real holdover from the previous era.

We're very lucky to have her. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to miss you us weekly. That's weekly as we know it at least. I will too. It'll be around in name. Yes.

Thanks everyone for listening. Yes. Thanks very much. Be smart about your gossip. Yeah, blindgossip.com. I would probably recommend it. Have a great week. Thanks, guys.