The daily gossip: July 2, 2020
Vanilla Ice finally agrees that a mid-pandemic concert is a bad idea, Kim Kardashian probably isn't a billionaire, and more
- 1. Vanilla Ice cancels controversial mid-pandemic concert
- 2. Kim Kardashian West is probably not actually a billionaire
- 3. Court documents suggest Meghan Markle felt 'unprotected' by the Royal Family
- 4. Kidnapping survivor Duffy pens powerful letter asking Netflix to remove 365 Days
- 5. Sia is a grandma
1. Vanilla Ice cancels controversial mid-pandemic concert
Vanilla Ice's concert is now … on ice. The rapper said Thursday that he's postponing the show he was set to play Friday in Austin, Texas, following a surge in local COVID-19 cases. "Basically, I'm not going," he said in a video. "I listened to my fans." News that the concert was set to go forward drew backlash, with the Travis County Health Department telling TMZ, "This is not wise regardless of who is performing at any gathering right now." In his video, Vanilla Ice said he'd hoped the pandemic "would be a lot better by Fourth of July." While no new date was provided for his make-up concert, Ice held out hope that "this corona crap will have a cure" by New Year's. Hear, hear.
2. Kim Kardashian West is probably not actually a billionaire
Earlier this week, Kanye West celebrated his wife, Kim Kardashian West, becoming a billionaire by making her a still life of vegetables and flowers, as one does. But while Kim is very, very rich — and now even richer, after selling a 20 percent stake in KKW Beauty to Covergirl-owner Coty for $200 million on Monday — she is probably not quite that rich. Forbes estimated that Kim's net worth is more like $900 million; you can read a thorough and oddly riveting breakdown of where she gets all her money from here. Notably, the news of Kim being slightly less exorbitantly wealthy than she claims follows Forbes exposing Kylie Jenner as not being a billionaire either, attributing her former status as such to a "web of lies."
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3. Court documents suggest Meghan Markle felt 'unprotected' by the Royal Family
Court documents obtained by E! News appear to reveal just how "unprotected" and "silenced" Meghan Markle and her friends were made to feel by the Royal Family. Markle is suing British tabloid The Mail on Sunday for "a large number of false and damaging articles" that caused her "tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health." The court documents claim that Markle's friends "had never seen her in this state before, they were rightly concerned for her welfare, specifically as she was pregnant, unprotected by the Institution, and prohibited from defending herself." Apparently Kensington Palace even "mandated" that Markle's friends and family not defend her, and say only "no comment" when asked about the Duchess, "despite misinformation being provided to U.K. tabloids."
4. Kidnapping survivor Duffy pens powerful letter asking Netflix to remove 365 Days
You may have heard of by now — or seen — the Netflix film 365 days, which holds a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been described as "a thoroughly terrible, politically objectionable, occasionally hilarious Polish humpathon currently gasping and writhing its way up the Netflix charts." Welsh singer Duffy — who in February revealed she'd survived being "raped, drugged, and held captive" for four weeks — is now speaking out against the film. "It grieves me that Netflix provides a platform for such 'cinema,' that eroticizes kidnapping and distorts sexual violence and trafficking as a 'sexy' movie," Duffy said. She added: "I encourage the millions who have enjoyed the movie to reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking … When we know better, let us do better."
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5. Sia is a grandma
Sia is giving a whole new meaning to the word "grammy!" The 44-year-old singer announced this week that she is officially a grandma, following the adoption of her two 18-year-old sons last year. "My youngest son just had two babies. I'm a f--king grandma!" she exclaimed during an episode of DJ Zane Lowe's Apple Music podcast. "I know, right? I'm just immediately horrified." Sia added that her sons, who are now 19, call her "Nana," despite her efforts to "get them to call me Lovey, like Kris [Jenner]." Sia has previously said that she adopted her boys because they were "aging out of the foster care system," which she described as "completely corrupt," and that they've "bloomed" since leaving the system.
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.
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