We’re used to seeing articles such as, “The Technology Questions You’re Embarrassed To Ask... Answered!” or, “How To Boil Water & Other Cooking Basics You Somehow Never Mastered.” In the spirit of true honesty (this is a safe space), there’s something helpful for all of us in those articles. I personally have sent Refinery29’s technology editor so many questions about iPhone hacks that I’m surprised she hasn’t silently handed me a copy of iPhones for Dummies. Still, it was only after being asked “What shows should I be watching?” for the 3,534th time at a dinner party, by someone who just learned that I write about television for a living, that the epiphany occurred. The R29 Entertainment team is so enmeshed in the world of pop culture 24/7 that we can probably tell you where any Kardashian or Jenner is at any given time. For most people, though, that’s not a possibility. They have things called “school” and “jobs” and “lives” that require attention. Responsibilities, one might call them.
And so this series was born. We want you to be able to focus on your life and get your burning pop culture questions answered in one place. There simply aren’t enough hours in the week to comb through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice reviews to find out if you should go see it. There are also way too many options on Netflix, and life is too short to spend most of your precious binge-watching time scrolling through titles trying to choose what to watch.
In the interest of freeing up your time and finding the answers you seek, please read on.
"Did Khloé Kardashian plagiarize tweets?"
We all have shower thoughts. There’s an entire subreddit devoted to them. Glamour once had Anna Kendrick read them in a video. When it comes to deep thoughts, though, you can’t beat Jack Handey. Unfortunately, he’s no longer writing his musings for SNL, so we have to settle for Yahoo Answers, where people of the internet come to ask life’s truly difficult questions. Questions like, “Do you think Hillary will pick Tonya Harding as her VP?,” and “What’s a good number of friends to have?” (Commonly agreed-upon answer to the latter: one or two.)
This week, Khloé Kardashian posted a series of tweets that sounded suspiciously like questions one might find on Yahoo Answers, and the sleuths at BuzzFeed were quick to call her on it. In fact, writers Samir Mezrahi and Rachel Zarrell found queries on Yahoo Answers that are nearly identical to Khloé's tweets. Very suspicious.
"Is Beyoncé dropping a surprise album this weekend?"
There are rumblings that Beyoncé might pull a Beyoncé this weekend and drop another surprise album. On March 23, @SBTVonline speculated this might be the case because “Beyoncé's iTunes page is down, and 13 new unlisted videos have been added to her VEVO channel…”
Shady Music Fact (@musicnews_shade) reported later that same day that Bey’s “iTunes is back up, but something big is happening, the album is confirmed for April release.”
Still, there are those 13 videos unaccounted for, and she has been known to drop albums out of the blue before.
"Did Chloë Grace Moretz reject Taylor Swift’s squad?"
In a cover story on the actress in Complex, author Andrew Gruttadaro decided that, “Moretz has...taken a strong ‘anti-squad’ stand in an era where building a squad seems to be part of being a celebrity.” The actress told Gruttadaro, “They appropriate exclusivity. They’re cliques!” Since Moretz is friends with Selena Gomez, who’s friends with Taylor Swift (and a well-known part of Swift’s squad), Gruttadaro not only asked Moretz if she knows Swift, but “Did she, you know, ask you to join her squad?”
“Yes,” Moretz responded.
When asked to elaborate, the actress only said that Swift is “a very talented person.” Gruttadaro tried to curry Moretz’s favor (as if this were a secret conversation, not an on-the-record interview), saying, “You can talk to me about these things, you know.”
“You know I can’t!” the way-too-savvy young star fired back.
Even though she wouldn’t speak openly about rejecting a spot in the “Bad Blood” squad, Moretz is no stranger to controversy as of late. She recently stirred the proverbial internet pot when she retweeted Bette Midler’s post about Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie, then responded to Kim herself. Kim fired back, pointing out that Moretz had recently appeared in a state of semi-undress on the cover of Nylon, and that no one even knows who Moretz is.
In an interview with Elle about the situation, Moretz said, “I think if people looked into something bigger that I was trying to speak upon, they wouldn't be so easy to fire back silly, miscellaneous things.”
"Do I really have to listen to Zayn's album?"
Doesn’t it feel like Zayn Malik’s solo album has been coming out forever? His first single, “Pillowtalk,” dropped in January. His album, Mind of Mine, finally comes out today (a year to the day he announced he was leaving One Direction), and according to most reviews, it’s demonstrative of a boy bander finally breaking free of the shackles of conformity. There’s a 104-second Urdu love song. He infuses R & B with pop. Most music critics seem excited about Zayn going in his own direction (pun intended) and agree that Mind of Mind is well worth a listen.
"Are Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber soul mates?"
Wow, this is a hard one. First of all, you have to believe in the concept of soul mates. Can we ever truly know if two people were placed on this big hunk of rock that’s hurtling around the sun solely to be with one another? How are they supposed to find each other? How are they supposed to overcome the insurmountable odds working against them, especially when you’re talking about two people like Gomez and Bieber, who also have the additional pressures of fame and fortune? It's almost too much to think about, but I understand why you’re asking.
Back in the day, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were in a relationship. They loved each other. They talked about this love in the press. Even though they broke up, the media continues to ask them about one another. They say all the usual expected things, like they wish each other the best, and they’re never going to stop loving one another. Listen, we all have a place in our hearts for past loves. It’s only human. Luckily, most of us don’t have to talk about past partners to members of the press on a daily basis.
Like many exes, Bieber and Gomez have been spotted spending time together again. Unlike most exes, they can’t do it without paparazzi catching it on camera, the pictures making their way online, and a zillion fans speculating about what it all means. Do they see each other as the one that got away? Has their time apart helped them grow and mature, and now they’re ready to give it another chance? Why does Bieber keep posting old photos of them kissing on Instagram?
These are questions only the two of them can answer, though. The rest of us won’t actually know anything until Gomez and Bieber decide to go public with any sort of official statement. And if it’s a statement proclaiming their soul-mate status, well, that would probably be a celebrity first. Usually it’s something fairly run-of-the-mill, like, “Yes, they have decided to give their relationship another chance.” Not, “Justin Bieber has written Selena Gomez a sonnet that puts Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 to shame to fully demonstrate that they have reached a higher level of connectivity in their love and commitment to each other in mind, body, and soul.”
"Should I see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?"
Well, there’s a bit of a problem with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). If you’re looking forward to seeing the Amazon swoop in and kick ass, you will get to have that wish fulfilled. Unfortunately, you’ll also have to sit through Diana Prince being ogled and hit on by Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck).
Then, there’s Lois Lane (Amy Adams), who’s supposed to be a badass reporter willing to go to great lengths to get a story. Unfortunately, she consistently finds herself in grave danger, needing to be rescued by Superman. Oy.
The movie hasn’t been getting the best reviews, mostly because with two iconic superheroes duking it out in the title, how can it be anything less than convoluted? And when you add in Wonder Woman, the one character audience members really want to see, there are just two many personalities vying for attention while Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) tries to destroy them all.
Pictured: Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) and Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck)
"Did Vogue really devote an entire special issue just to Kendall Jenner?"
Why yes, yes Vogue did. The special edition will arrive with New York and Los Angeles-based subscribers’ April issue (which has Rihanna on the cover). In it, Jenner shares her social media strategy with Robert Sullivan, shoots hoops with Carmelo Anthony, and visits Tory Burch’s studio. Jenner also shares the backstory behind what is now the most-liked Instagram photo of all time— you know, the one that finds her lying on the ground wearing a gorgeous gown, her hair fashioned into hearts around her head. Apparently, it was taken on a yacht anchored off of Monaco, and Jenner “was having a bad day" at the time.
“I wasn’t in the flow,” she tells Vogue. “I was like, everyone sucks. That’s when I did my best image.”
Jenner even debated whether she should post the picture to Instagram. “I was lying in bed and messing with it. And I thought, ‘Is this good? And I just posted it. And I remember looking at it right away and having a lot of likes and saying, ‘Huh.’”
That’s how the social media magic is made, folks. Huh.
"What the heck is Bridget Jones’ Baby about?"
The first trailer for the long-awaited completion to the life and times of one Bridget Jones finally dropped this week. Based on the story presented in the trailer, Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is now divorced from Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), and there’s a new handsome gent in her life named Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey). When Bridget finds out she’s pregnant, though, there’s only one important question that must be answered: Will this movie pass the Bechdel test? Just kidding; it’s “Who is the father of her baby?” But also, why is the film so different from the third book in Helen Fielding’s trilogy, 2013’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy?
"Did Elizabeth Olsen really turn down the chance to play Michelle Tanner?"
During an interview with E! News at the premiere of her new film, I Saw the Light, Elizabeth Olsen addressed rumors that she had considered the role of Michelle Tanner in Netflix's Fuller Housereboot. The actress said she’s pretty sure she never even received an offer to step into the role her older sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley shared on the original series.
"What do you do with approximately 843 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey?"
You build an awesome fort! That’s what a charity shop in the U.K. did with all of the donated copies of E.L. James’ tome it’s received.
"Are the 'Damn, Daniel' guys' 15 minutes up yet?"
Nope! Josh Holz (who filmed the video) and Daniel Lara made Time magazine’s list of the most influential people on the internet in 2016 (even though it’s only March), and Teen Vogue recently sent them to NYC to make a cute video. Don’t worry; Daniel wore his now-iconic white Vans.
"Are Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel expecting another baby?"
The couple has one son, Silas, who will celebrate his first birthday on April 11. People want another baby Timberbiel, but they’re going to have to wait a little while longer. When Biel appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 24, she addressed the ever-present pregnancy rumors.
“I don’t even know what to say about these things. I feel like, I thought I was doing good with my yoga practice. I thought I was in the gym but, no, I have a gut apparently,” Biel told DeGeneres.
So, not only is she not pregnant, she’s tired of people constantly assessing the size and shape of her stomach. Being famous sounds terrible a lot of the time.
What do Disney and AMC have against Georgia?
Disney, Marvel, Viacom, and AMC Networks (which makes The Walking Dead) may boycott Georgia by refusing to film productions there if the state passes a religious liberty bill that includes discriminatory practices. According to Variety, “Georgia legislators passed the bill last week. It protects religious officials from having to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, and would allow faith-based organizations to deny services or employment to those who violate their 'sincerely held religious belief.'"
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