👨🚀 It’s 2019 and not caring is not cute
Between the VMAs, a new Taylor Swift album, and Lizzo, this week’s issue is chock-full of pop. I don’t make the rules and I won’t apologize.
Read on for Lizzo’s thoughts on the Democratic primary. Just know that although her performance last night was absolutely epic, two presidential candidates who tweeted their love for her set — Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) — were not among the candidates Lizzo gave a shoutout to, nor did they make the top-three cut in a recent poll. The Monmouth poll found a virtual three-way tie between former Vice President Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.). Folks, the race for the Lizzo primary is on. Also in this issue, Yello Field Guide subscribers can read my review on the politics of Lover.
Yello will be off next week for Labor Day. I’ll miss you, but enjoy your holiday weekend, wear sunscreen, and stay safe! 🇺🇸
Yours,
👨🚀 “It’s 2019 and not caring is not cute”: Politics at the VMAs
Credit: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
Taylor Swift opened the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards with a performance of “You Need to Calm Down” featuring drag queens and a call out for the Equality Act. It was followed by an opening monologue from host Sebastian Maniscalco in which he railed against participation trophies and joked there was a safe space backstage for those who felt triggered or offended (“I didn’t know Tucker Carlson was hosting,” one Twitter user said when I tweeted out Maniscalo’s line). It was that sort of VMAs.
There were do-not-miss performances from Missy Elliott, Normani, and Lizzo, and there was not one, but two women who wore live snakes to the red carpet. Britney’s impact.
“You Need to Calm Down” scored two VMA wins on Monday. “Queer Eye” host and “You Need to Calm Down” star Jonathan Van Ness announced the video’s win for Video for Good and introduced the category by saying, “it’s 2019 and not caring is not cute.”
Swift gave her acceptance speech time to the video’s co-producer Todrick Hall, who called on kids who feel different to share their art and share their story. “You Need to Calm Down” also won for Video of the Year, and Swift used her acceptance speech to promote the Equality Act.
“In this video, several points were made, so you voting for this video means you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law regardless of who we love or how we identify,” Swift said. She noted her petition for the Equality Act has racked up half a million signatures, more than it needs to get a response from the White House.
Other political moments from the show include French Montana saying immigrants help make this country before announcing the winner for the Best Latin award, Justina Valentine wearing a “Nasty Woman” dress to the red carpet, and Lil Nas X’s performance of “Panini,” which started with a video of him as POTUS in the year 2079 releasing his 3,162nd remix of “Old Town Road.”
💿 Tay on Trump: “I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy”
Swift told the Guardian in an interview that she stopped throwing her annual 4th of July parties after she became disillusioned with America. She referenced President Trump without naming him when describing her shifting attitude on the country.
“It was the fact that all the dirtiest tricks in the book were used and it worked,” she said. “The thing I can’t get over right now is gaslighting the American public into being like, ‘If you hate the president, you hate America.’ We’re a democracy – at least, we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate.’ I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.”
🕺 “Dancing With The Stars” drama
“Queer Eye” host Karamo Brown will compete alongside former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in the next season of “Dancing With the Stars,” and in an interview last week with Access, he called Spicer a “good guy.” Brown told Access that he’s “a big believer that if you can talk to someone and meet in the middle, you can learn about each other and help each other both grow.” Drama ensued.
Brown’s fellow “Queer Eye” star Bobby Berk defended him, tweeting that the cast is “trained over and over to not talk smack about anyone” in interviews. Berk has since deleted his tweets and Brown deactivated his entire Twitter account.
In other “Queer Eye” news, Antoni Porowski went to a Sean Mendes concert this weekend with Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson.
🧢 Here’s how the Trump campaign is marketing “Keep America Great” hats online
In the first week of the KAG’s hat release, the Trump campaign ran more than 800 ad variants on Facebook. In case you missed it, read my story here on how the campaign is marketing its new hats.
💻 The cartoons that illustrate Big Tech’s backlash era
If you’ve spent any time on sites or apps for Airbnb, Facebook, Google, Lyft, or YouTube, you’ve noticed the colorful cartoons of active characters with long arms that illustrate their landing pages, blogs, and social media accounts. This flat, minimal style was developed for Facebook in 2017 by the Brooklyn design firm Buck, which dubbed it “Alegria,” meaning “joy” in Spanish.
Xoana Herrera, a designer who worked for Buck, told AIGA’s Eye on Design these Alegria characters were “designed for expression, rather than individual identity. They are ethnically non-specific to represent diversity.”
But as Eye on Design notes, the illustrations have become a “tool to paper over the social and political harm and divisiveness” of tech company products. They’re the happy cartoons illustrating Big Tech’s backlash era, they’re everywhere, and now you won’t stop noticing them.
🎤 Lizzo has some thoughts on the Dem primary
In a tweet storm (which includes some tweets that have been since deleted) , Lizzo asked voters to listen to what Sanders has to say and “drop the ageism s—t.” She also called Warren “a dope candidate as well.” Lizzo noted she doesn’t know who she’s backing yet, but it won’t be Trump.
“The first President I could ever vote for was Obama,” Lizzo wrote. “I was so proud of my right to vote and I will never take it for granted. I love us. I’m not sure who I’m voting for yet, but it for damn sure isn’t Trump.”
Lizzo also got a shoutout from the Democratic Party’s two most recent nominees. @HillaryClinton replied to a meme Lizzo tweeted with a line from “Truth Hurts,” while her track “Juice” made it onto former President Barack Obama’s summer playlist.
By the way, I turned Obama’s list into an actual Spotify playlist you can listen to here.
🖤 Ari returns to Manchester
Ariana Grande headlined Manchester Pride Sunday, returning for the first time since her 2017 benefit following the attack that killed 22 people at her concert. Grande opened her set with “No Tears Left to Cry” and ended with a stripped down “One Last Time.” She told the crowd she loves Manchester “so much” and Manchester showed the love right back with a mural of Grande on the city’s Canal Street.
“Thanks for having me back,” Grande said. “I’m so nervous, I had so much more to say but I’m like very overwhelmed.”
Yello Field Guide:
On 'Lover,' Taylor Swift lays out her 2020 platform
For paid subscribers: “Swift roots her political expression in a motif she’s used before. When she referenced a high school antagonist on ‘You Belong With Me,’ it was a cheer captain who wore high heels. In ‘Miss Americana’ there’s a new bully, but this time around, Swift doesn’t plan on sitting the game out in the bleachers.” Read the full review here.
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