The daily gossip: April 16, 2020

(Image credit: JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images)

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1. Teachers are furious with Reese Witherspoon after botched dress giveaway
2. SNL's Michael Che honors his grandmother, who died from COVID-19, by covering rent for everyone in her building
3. Britney Spears and ex, Justin Timberlake, share a wink on Instagram
4. Martha Stewart promises you don't have to worry about her after bizarre Instagram comment
5. TikTok's new parental controls mean Charli D'Amelio will have kiddie settings … for a day

published 16 April 2020

1. Teachers are furious with Reese Witherspoon after botched dress giveaway

Things got really heated after Reese Witherspoon's fashion label, Draper James, botched a giveaway intended to show appreciation for educators. Draper James had written last month that it would "give teachers a free dress" while supplies lasted, but the label received "almost one million applications" for the 250 dresses it had available for the sweepstakes, The New York Times reports. Losers received only a coupon code. "Can't even afford the dresses with a discount!" wrote one teacher. As the Times notes, "it would not have seemed out of the realm of possibility to many teachers … that Ms. Witherspoon, whose most recent pay rate was reported to be $2 million an episode for The Morning Show on Apple TV, was giving everyone who applied a dress."

"Weekend Update" co-host Michael Che announced Wednesday that he plans to cover a month's worth of rent for all 160 tenants in his late grandmother's apartment building. "It's crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can't even work," the Saturday Night Live star wrote in a post on Instagram. He added a postscript calling for Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Diddy to help "fix this," asking for "a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST." Che's grandmother, who lived in one of New York City's 300-plus public housing projects, died on April 5 from COVID-19.

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It's been 18 years since Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears broke up, but the pair apparently remain on quite good terms. On Wednesday, Spears posted a video of herself dancing on her deck to Timberlake's "Filthy," writing in the caption "I know we had one of the world's biggest breakups 20 years ago … but hey the man is a genius" and "great song JT," along with a winking emoji. Timberlake apparently got a kick out of Spears' post, because he replied with a laughing-crying face and three raised-hand emojis. Britney's younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, observed that "blogs are already plotting their outrageous stories" about the moment between the exes, but told her sis: "You keep having fun and looking cute."

Martha Stewart has clarified that "I'm not a big drinker" after blaming a recent incomprehensible Instagram comment on "a very, very good wine." The 78-year-old lifestyle guru had posted a gibberish message on a chicken farm account on Tuesday, and later followed it up with, "what a mess, I have been drinking." On Thursday, speaking to Elle Décor editor-in-chief Whitney Robinson on Instagram Live, Stewart further joked that "despite what you'll read on Page Six and BuzzFeed, I'm not a big drinker." Still, she admitted "I couldn't say [wine] is a necessity [while in quarantine], but boy does it help." True that.

TikTok is bolstering restrictions for young users — a.k.a., basically everyone who's on it — and yes, that means even star Charli D'Amelio is getting her style cramped by the Man. In addition to allowing parents more control over how their teens use the app, TikTok announced Thursday that it will disable direct messaging for everyone under the age of 16 beginning on April 30. Fifteen-year-old D'Amelio doesn't turn 16 until the next day, May 1, meaning she'll have to go a full 24 hours without any of her peers thirstily sliding into her DMs now that she's single.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.