Secret celebrity Republicans
Gossip Time!
Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: an actress reveals a little (Republican) secret, a famous Chris is in crisis, and Hilary Duff wears a very long sweater.
Should a celebrity go on a podcast? In these times, it’s hard to see the upside (for the celebrity). For example: This week, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence appeared on the “Absolutely Not” podcast hosted by the comedian Heather McMahan, and Lawrence apparently felt relaxed enough in this environment to say, unprompted, that she used to be a “little Republican” and voted for John McCain in 2008.
How did this happen? And what is a “little Republican?” I listened to the entire 51-minute episode to find out, because I love you and I have little else to do. It turns out that “Absolutely Not” is Lawrence’s favorite podcast, and that she specifically requested to be a guest on it. During the course of the show, Lawrence and McMahan discussed the relative merits of truffle fries, their preferred brand of “internet humor” (silly animals), and the time Lawrence confronted Anderson Cooper after he suggested that she faked her fall during the 2013 Academy Awards. (He apologized, Lawrence said.) And then, the conversation turned to the upcoming presidential election, and J-Law offered this:
“It’s extremely hard to talk about politics, and you know, you don’t want to. I’m an actor, I want everybody to see my movies. I grew up Republican. My first time voting, I voted for John McCain. I was a little Republican. And I changed my politics based on the things that I — but I was fortunate to grow up in a Republican household because I could see, you know, the fiscal benefits of some of the Republican policies, and I could also see that the social issues weren’t in line with my views.”
Lawrence was 18 years old during the 2008 election that propelled Barack Obama to historic victory, and she was among just 29 percent of women aged 18-29 who voted for the Republican candidate. Did she also vote for — oh man — Mitt Romney in 2012? She didn’t say, but she did explain that “for me, when Donald Trump got elected, that just changed everything.”
Two weeks ago, Lawrence endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in a V magazine feature alongside other stars who used to refrain from discussing politics, like Taylor Swift. (According to OpenSecrets, Lawrence also donated $2500 to Harris in 2018.) Isn’t it funny that Lawrence never really joined Swift’s “squad”? They have so much in common!
I still don’t know what a “little Republican” is, but at least that identity is in Lawrence’s past. Her former co-star Chris Pratt, however, has now been forced to confront his reputation as the Famous Chris We Don’t Like. (We’ll save a discussion of Lawrence and Pratt’s truly insane 2016 film Passengers for another day.)
His co-stars from the “Marvel universe” have tried to defend him, but unfortunately the evidence that Pratt is a Big Republican continues to mount.
The lesson here, I think, is that there’s no benefit for a celebrity to talk on a podcast or look at a Twitter poll.
Do you like to read gossip about the royals? I have to admit I don’t follow all of it, but some of it is very funny, like the fact that Princess Eugenie is having a baby with her third cousin. (They’re married, so it’s okay.) And I enjoyed this headline from my favorite blog Celebitchy this week: “Patrick J. Adams hasn’t spoke to his ‘Suits’ friend Duchess Meghan out of ‘pure fear.’”
As you probably know, before she married Prince Harry, Meghan Markle starred on the USA Network legal drama Suits, and now all of her former co-stars have to respond to questions about her in interviews until they die. So it went with Adams, who admitted to the Radio Times this week that he hasn’t been in touch with Markle lately because he is scared.
“Quite frankly, I think I’m intimidated,” he said. “I have no doubt I could pick up the phone and call her at any moment, but I don’t know what I would say. After our children were born, there were some texts sent and gifts sent, but I guess I’m a little scared. I think it’s pure fear. I guess I’m scared about the idea of breaking through whatever walls exist to have that conversation.”
Will Adams ever work up the courage to call his former co-worker for no reason? I’m sure someone will ask him directly soon.
I am curious if Markle has an opinion on the cheating scandal currently captivating England and parts of Ireland. I’m referring, of course, to the British actor Dominic West’s “strong” marriage to Irish aristocrat Catherine FitzGerald, which was momentarily blown off course last week when The Daily Mail published photos of West making out with his recent co-star Lily James in Rome. West, 51, and James, 31, have not been seen together since, but they may have to answer for their crimes soon: The Sun reports that a local Italian councillor wants to fine them for riding tandem on an e-scooter during their Roman holiday.
“The law is quite clear — riding tandem on an e-scooter is forbidden,” said councillor Stefano Marin. "It’s a breach of the highway code and a breach of the new Covid laws.”
It also looks ridiculous!
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: This week, Hilary Duff was spotted on a sidewalk in Manhattan wearing a very long sweater. I’m not kidding — take a look.
Finally, some good news:
According to this delightful E! News “exclusive,” the actor Robert Pattinson, who was previously engaged to FKA Twigs, and the model Suki Waterhouse, who once dated Bradley Cooper, have found true and lasting happiness with each other.
"They love being low-key together and have very similar interests," a source told the site. "They are truly inseparable and in love."
There you have it. Thanks so much for opening this email — I love being low-key together and discussing our similar interests. If you have a friend who likes celebrity gossip, why not forward this to them?
And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about celebrities or anything else with me. You can respond to this email or leave a comment below.