This Week in Gossip #13

The Grammys are gonna Grammy, Beyonce’s got big hair plans, and Dakota Johnson is stuck in a web.

1. Grammys Season is Here Again and the Results Were Predictable

Boy, this has been an extremely crowded awards season. With the Emmys pushed to the beginning of this year thanks to Hot Strike Summer, it feels like there’s been a new red carpet every week. The Grammys is a whole different beast compared to the movie awards, if only because there are dozens more trophies to give out. The ceremony itself is more an excuse for a series of incredible performances, with a couple of the bigger and more predictable awards handed out to give the illusion that this is proper show.

Taylor Swift won her fourth Album of the Year trophy for Midnights then announced her next project on-stage, which led to the expected slew of weird comments about Joe Alwyn on social media (leave that quiet indie actor who publicly supports a ceasefire in peace, you weirdos.) There was some gossip that Swift slighted Celine Dion, who made her first public appearance in months to hand out the trophy. It did seem a bit rude but Tree Paine made sure to get a photo of the pair cuddling backstage so crisis averted. It was good to see Celine looking well amid her health issues. Hey, in this house, we respect Montreal’s benevolent leader.

Honestly, the highlights for me were the performances. Joni Mitchell! Tracy Chapman! Annie Lennox (calling for a ceasefire on-stage, the perfect tribute to Sinead O’Connor, whose song she was singing!) I think the Grammys is at its best when it just lets those legends do their thing. For all the hubbub about “Fast Car” and whether or not Luke Combs’ cover was a good choice, it was truly lovely to see him be a total fanboy on stage next to his hero. The smile on her face when the crowd started cheering for her? I cried.

Grumbling about omissions and wins with the Grammys is kind of futile. It was a running joke on The Simpsons that the award is kind of garbage. Remember, Bjork doesn’t have a Grammy, but they gave Dave Chappelle one this year for his “old man yells at crowd about his hatred of trans people” era. Would I have given Album of the Year to Boygenius or Janelle Monae or SZA? Definitely, but it was always going to be Taylor’s. And it does suck to be reminded of how the Recording Academy’s wilful blind spots hurt artists of colour the most. Jay-Z got his wife guy mode on when he called them out over consistently denying AOTY to Beyoncé. As with any awards body, the issue is less about true merit and more about how the industry leading the way wants the world to perceive it. It certainly sends a message when Beyoncé has more awards than any other artist but still doesn’t have Album of the Year. At some point, it starts to look deliberate, right?

Also hey, did you know that Mark Ronson’s mother-in-law is Meryl Streep?!

2. Why is the Berlin Film Festival Inviting Hard-Right Politicians?

The Berlinale is one of the biggest film festivals on the planet, one of the big three of European cinematic prestige alongside Cannes and Venice. The 2024 festival kicks off next week, but the excitement has been overshadowed by the event organisers' decision to invite two far-right politicians to the opening ceremony.

Members of Alternative for Germany (AfD) have accepted the offer to attend the February 15 event – Berlin state chairwoman Kristin Brinker and her deputy, Roland Briller. AfD are horrendous a-holes who are anti-LGBTQ+, racist as all hell, anti-Semitic, and generally very nationalist in a way that has drawn comparisons to that other party that did big numbers about 90 years ago in the country. Why the hell would you invite them to the Berlinale? More than 200 film professionals and culture workers have signed an open letter denouncing the move, calling it "offensive and insensitive." One filmmaker, Lawrence Lenk, has withdrawn from the Berlinale talent development programme due to the move.

The festival responded to the outcry by saying that "Both the Federal government Commissioner for Culture and Media and the Berlin Senate receive invitation quotas for the Berlinale opening, which are allocated to the elected members [...] People – including elected representatives – who act contrary to democratic values are not welcome at the Berlinale." So, which one is it Is this just a bureaucratic decision you have to abide by or are the racists not welcome? It seems cowardly to me to be like, "well, they got elected so we have to invite them to our party." You really don't, especially after hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets to protest them (which they mention in their statement!)

Film festivals often can’t decide whether or not they want to be spaces of political freedom. They tout free speech but invite sex offenders and accused wife beaters to the red carpet. They offer support to Ukraine but practically balk at doing the same for Palestine. They fight to have films by oppressed filmmakers shown in competition but invite Islamophobic losers to the party. I’m sure the Berlin Film Festival doesn’t want to get into a political firestorm, but they’re already there, and it’s art’s job to start the fire.

3. Beyoncé Teases New Side-Hustle in the Form of Haircare Brand