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2021: The Year of Celebrity PDA

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The year 2021 will be remembered for events like the end of the Trump administration and the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations. But it also provided us with another thing: celebrities kissing in public with no care in the world.

It’s possible that it was the after-lockdown rush of feeling, or a strong reaction to social distance. Perhaps celebrities wanted to remind the public they existed after a year of little public appearances. At any rate, the celebrity PDA machine started from hand-holding and obtaining lattes to holding hands and walking on the beach in Cabo, maybe with a scantily clad bikini? In 2021, things escalated to full-on licking each other on the red carpet, straddling each other in the desert, and talking about it as Megan Fox recently put it: “the type of sex that would make Lucifer clutch his rosary” for all to see. The aughts are back, and they’re as intense as ever.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a Bennifer 2.0, were the hall of famers for this 2021 cottage industry, which naturally included their reunion and immediately launched on a worldwide tour of touching. They cruised the Riviera, recreating both Jack and Rose’s “I’ll never let go” moment from Titanic and the “Jenny from the Block” bottom grind of old. In July, Ben and Jen made Instagram official, kissing on Lopez’s 52nd birthday in a photo that felt personal (the photographer was J.Lo’s go-to Ana Carballosa) yet was liked close to nine million times. The pair continued to kiss for the cameras at the red carpet premiere of Their Finest Hour in Venice and at the Met gala, both wearing masks. That’s dedication.

If the legends were Bennifer, however, Kravis—Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker—were the newcomers who forced their way into the celeb PDA game. They’ve been seen throughout the world in matching leather couch makeouts before SNL, kissed in front of the Eiffel Tower (IG caption: “Forever isn’t long enough”), and, most notably, entangled their barely clothed forms in a desert photo session that some news outlets labeled NSFW. Kravis went up against their pals Machine Gun Kelly and Fox, whose trademark red-carpet move was…tongues touching. I can’t improve on Fox’s description of the relationship in their GQ cover reveal on Instagram: “the story of two outcasts and star-crossed lovers caught in the midst of a torrid, solar-flare romance.”

The acquisition of this PDA bonanza was—and continues to be—received with a variety of mixed feelings. To some, it’s nothing more than a shameless P.R. stunt—and one that works well, since we’re all discussing them. The likes of Kravis and Kelly and Fox draw far more attention when they’re together as a crazily in love group than they would separately. Others claim it’s TMI or that overabundance of PDA is a sign of hidden flaws. Whatever happened to being coy, using little strategies like showing up in separate cars? That form of diplomacy is an illusion: Celebrities have been capitalizing on their connections since the inception of fame.

Personally, I derived strange voyeuristic pleasure from following Bennifer and Kravis this year (and witnessing the typical woman-scorned narrative being turned on its head). The thirst, the tongues, the mountains of flowers! Those gratuitous PDA snaps and many Instagram photographs compiled into a new reality show—filled with drama (given the numerous divorce proceedings), romance, and  suggestions of sex—when stitched together. Yes, they’re performing and seeking attention, but there’s still something fragile and horribly human about people so extravagantly expressing their affection for one another while the rest of the world watches. Will these “twin flames” burn, as they claim, forever? Will these couples cringe as they look back on this year of intense PDA and modify their public relationship policy? Maybe—maybe not! That’s the strength and unpredictability of love.

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Netflix Is Getting Involved In The Meghan And Harry Saga

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Fans of the British royal family were ecstatic when it was announced in May that Netflix will release an “At Home With” style documentary series focusing on none other than royal rebels Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex (via Page Six). The pair, who now live in California with their two children, struck a lucrative distribution deal with Netflix to share their life story.

According to several sources, the film’s release date has been evolving for weeks; will Netflix be able to air it in time with Prince Harry’s much-anticipated memoir, which is set to be published this fall, or will it not appear on screens until next year? A rep for Netflix stated at the time, “The announcement has not been made yet, and things are still in flux” (Page Six).

However, new information suggests that Netflix is attempting to capitalize on the fuss surrounding the royal family by releasing Meghan/Harry, a documentary series at the same time they release the next season of their blockbuster hit, “The Crown.”

What Netflix is aiming to do

Netflix is working “extremely hard” to release the docuseries about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the end of the year, according to an inside source, in order for it to be available on living rooms throughout the world in time for both Prince Harry’s upcoming tell-all book and the network’s own royal drama “The Crown.”

“There’s a lot to organize and a lot of things going on here,” said one source to Page Six. “Netflix wants to make sure they don’t get scooped by Harry’s book, so they’re coming in hard.” The fifth season of “The Crown” is set to premiere on Netflix this November (via BTV). The final season will pick up in the 1980s, focusing on the marital issues faced by Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Harry’s parents.

It’s uncertain whether Netflix will be able to actualize this mythical combination, but we’ll keep you informed!

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Instagram knows you don’t like its changes. They don’t care.

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Instagram has released numerous improvements in recent years in an attempt to transition from a social media platform to an e-commerce behemoth, messaging application, and, most recently, a short-form video discovery platform comparable to TikTok.

Now this public identity crisis is bleeding into its user base.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, addressed the situation on Tuesday morning in a bid to prevent further damage. Wearing a bright yellow pullover and facing the camera, he attempted to quieten a mounting rebellion from prominent Instagrammers.

On Sunday, Kim Kardashian West and other high-profile personalities shared a black-and-white image that read: “Make Instagram Instagram Again. (Stop trying to be TikTok I just want to see cute photos of my friends.) Sincerely, everyone.” The viral story, written by a 21-year-old influencer named Tatiana Bruening, has more than 1.9 million likes as of Wednesday morning.

In the video, Mosseri explained that the app was in transition and that some features, such as a full-screen feed, were simply tests. “There’s a lot going on on Instagram right now,” he said. “We’re experimenting with a number of different changes to the app, and so we’re hearing a lot of concerns from all of you.” But the rapid succession of new features and tests has prompted even its most devoted users to ask if Instagram itself understands what it’s doing.

“Instagram has become overcrowded with so many different types of content happening at the same time,” Bruening said. “Everyone has been feeling the same thing at the same time, but a lot of people have been too afraid to say anything.”

Many changes to the app have been made, including but not limited to: eliminating chronological timelines, elevating photo posts, and downplaying algorithmic discovery. A Change.org petition initiated by Bruening aims to restore many of these features, including a chronological timeline, priority for photo postings, and removing the Reels video tool. By Wednesday morning, it had more than 190,000 supporters.

Instagram, which has more than 1 billion monthly active users as of 2021, is still vulnerable to competition from TikTok, which boasts about 400 million monthly active users. While Instagram continues to outpace TikTok in terms of total number of users, short-form video app use has exploded in recent years. In 2020, TikTok became the most-downloaded app in the world, and its young user base began spending more time on it than Instagram and Facebook. The earnings report from Instagram’s parent firm Meta is expected to be published on Wednesday, and it will show if TikTok has harmed its market share.

The Instagram controversy has spilled over into the physical realm. Last Saturday, several dozen content producers gathered outside the firm’s New York headquarters to protest its restrictive community standards and modifications that make locating new users difficult.

How to fix your ‘trash’ Instagram feed — at least temporarily

However, the organization is attempting to move closer to the entertainment world. According to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Instagram owner Meta is establishing an advisory board that will include top entertainment executives, managers, and publicists. The plan has been in the works for over a year, but outreach to possible board members began this week. The board will not focus on specific product improvements, but rather on how Meta may collaborate with the entertainment industry more closely. Others, on the other hand, believe Instagram’s intentions may yet be validated because only the platform has the data to see what is and isn’t working.

The fact that Instagram is putting out so much effort to challenge its basic purpose of connecting with friends and relatives, according to some pundits, speaks to how radically social media has evolved. “Making that content harder to access shows the competitive landscape they’re in right now,” said Matt Perault, director of the Center on Technology Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It might be totally necessary that they pivot, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll succeed in this new world.”

Instagram will have to pay attention to the proper people and navigate the fallout from either side if it wants to weather the storm. “There’s a war between people who want Instagram to be more like Snapchat and people who want it to be more TikTok,” Woodbury said. “Right now the former group is larger and louder.”

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Inside Khloé Kardashian’s Huge Baby News With Tristan Thompson

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Sources tell TMZ that Khloé Kardashian is expecting a baby via surrogate with her ex-boyfriend Tristan Thompson. According to a spokesperson for Kardashian, the news is true. Us Weekly reported that the confirmation read: “Khloé is incredibly grateful to the extraordinary surrogate for such a beautiful blessing. We’d like to ask for kindness and privacy so that Khloé can focus on her family.” The baby was conceived in November, implying the surrogate should deliver any time between August and September.

 

Kardashian and Thompson already have a daughter named True, but the good news is somewhat tempered by the fact that the pair are no longer together. More so, Thompson stated that he had cheated on Kardashian with fitness trainer Maralee Nichols during the pregnancy – and that he fathered a kid with her (via The U.S. Sun). “Khloé, you don’t deserve this,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you.”

 

Unfortunately, Thompson’s vow of fidelity proved to be as insincere as his relationship with Kardashian. Just months later, the couple called it quits after a model accused him of getting too cozy with her, according to Page Six. He was also photographed attending a soiree at which he entered a notorious “hookup room” with three other females. Many people thought the two had split up following these things, but the latest statement has them wondering where they stand now.

Are two-time parents Khloé and Tristan back together?

In the case of Khloé Kardashian’s pregnancy, history is repeating itself. In early 2022, when she was recording “The Kardashians,” Khloé experienced one of the most difficult periods in her life, discovering Tristan Thompson’s latest indiscretion. After years of marriage, it was revealed that four years ago, he had been cheating on her while she was pregnant with their daughter True, who is now three (via Insider). Not to mention, with her younger sister Kylie’s best friend, Jordan.

 

Although she is concentrating on having a second kid, Kardashian is focusing on becoming a mother for the second time. According to ET Online, a source said, “The two have long said they wanted True to have a sibling, and Khloé even told her family she’d do it without Tristan if she needed to.” Her doctor, according to Us Weekly, informed her that if she tried to conceive naturally again, she was at high danger of having a miscarriage. Which is why Kardashian and Thompson decided to move forward with a surrogate. Page Six has also reported that the pair will be welcoming a baby boy, as “Khloé has always wanted a little brother for True.”

 

Fans want to know if this means Kardashian and Thompson are back together. No, according on the ET source: “The two aren’t together and Khloé will have the baby full time, but Khloé wants Tristan in both the kids’ lives as much as he wants to be.” The two had already been cordial for the family’s sake. The pair not only watched True’s dance recital together on Father’s Day 2022, but they also had lunch with the rest of the extended Kardashian family afterwards, as reported by TMZ.

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