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Analysis
It was hard to avoid celebrity gossip this week, even if you’re a person who doesn’t follow celebrity news. Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner were seen kissing at a Beyoncé show in L.A.—causing some fans to melt down. Another high-profile couple, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas, announced their divorce. And people continued to fixate on West Side Story actor Rachel Zegler.
Everyone is paying attention to celebrities’ personal lives right now. Even other celebrities. Emily Ratajkowski posted a TikTok this week about women getting divorced before the age of 30, seemingly in response to the Turner/Jonas divorce. (Turner is 27.) Marion Cotillard also seemingly reacted to news of the couple’s divorce. People who aren’t even fans of the boy band are now anti-Joe Jonas.
“I’ve never given a thought to a Jonas brother before, but I now actively dislike Joe Jonas,” wrote gynecologist Jennifer Gunter.
For the whole year, celebrity dating discourse has become heated on multiple platforms. It seems like so long ago now, but remember the Taylor Swift/Maty Healy discourse? Fans were writing 30-part threads on their conflicted feelings about attending the Eras Tour. Videos of Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell took over the internet for several days while the pair was promoting their upcoming romcom. And now, amid multiple strikes in Hollywood, fans are discussing the lives of famous people in depth.
There are still multi-day debates around non-famous people too, of course. But celebrities are getting a lot of attention—and gossip is leaking outside the usual fan circles.
Why it matters
Summer ends in a couple of weeks. This time of year is usually when people are busy preparing for fall and all the activities that come with it—back-to-school, a return from vacation, deciding on a Halloween costume. Yet it’s been a busy summer for entertainment news.
This can only mean that we’re looking at a really chaotic fall, right?