Welcome Back 2025!
"I love LA!" - Randy Newman, Me
My friends, this is my personal PSA that we are starting 2025 NOW. Listen, January didn’t start off quite the way we intended it to. And things happen, it’s fine, I’m FINE *Ross Gellar voice*.
There has just been so much that has happened over the past 31 days.
Somehow we are still talking about It Ends With Us drama perolike WHEN WILL IT END WITH US? It doesn’t look like anytime soon, considering we have a court date currently set for 2026 (yes, 2026!) and an entire website dedicated to Justin Baldoni’s timeline of relevant events. Their lawyers met in court for the first time today and my major takeaway is that the judge reminded them they could move up the court date — and all I have to say is for the love of everything holy PLEASE do.
We have Jake and Logan Paul teasing a new HBO reality show and no matter how much I can ask, “who wants this?” I know that people do. All I can on the matter is anyone who still thinks being an influencer isn’t a “real job” I think it’s time to rewire your critical thinking skills because these creators are obviously the moment. We even had the White House just announce they’re allowing influencers and podcasters into the Briefing Room. Over 7.400 influencers applied for credentials letting me know this creator economy is just getting started.
And to end on a good note, Beyonce finally won Album of the Year at the Grammys. Y’all the Grammys were so good? I pose that as a question because the Grammys have been blasé for what, the last 5-6 years? And the Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason Jr. actually addressed the shortcomings of the past few years while also taking accountability and outlining actual change. There must’ve been something done right because the Grammys were reunited with my chaos king, The Weeknd, who surprised us all by performing during the awards show. It’s a bit IYKYK lore but the Grammys and The Weeknd have a bit of a touchy past which had him boycott the awards show for a number of years before last night.
To say 2025 has been off to a meaty start (and I’ve barely scratched the surface) is an understatement, so I am claiming February as the official start to MY year and I hope you honor yourself and your needs however you approach the 2025 conversation.
Conversation Starters
It may not be our year (yet!) but Beyonce’s 2025 is off to a good start. Not only did she win AOTY but she also won Best Country Album at the Grammys. She announced her Cowboy Carter & The Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour. And let’s not forget the Beyonce Bowl on Netflix where she first dropped the tour announcement which it looks to be only the beginning of their partnership.
Can anyone stop Alex Cooper right now? First we had the Rachael Kirkconnell interview that officially marked her departure from Spotify. The podcaster premiered the episode with a Youtube livestream on the Call Her Daddy YT channel. We had new shows announced for the Unwell Network hitting Sirius XM on February 11th (I cannot wait to listen to my girl Hannah’s new radio show). And because Alex Cooper follows the Logan Paul / Dave Portnoy school of business, we’ve got her and the Unwell crew headed to Miami for Unwell Spring Break. It’s a masterclass in moving to the pulse of Gen Z and how to scale when you’re the face of the brand.
Hailey Beiber’s beauty brand, Rhode, will officially drop into Sephora stores this year. Now the internet is trying to make this about Hailey and Selena and the fact that Selena Gomez’s brand, Rare Beauty, which is also sold at Sephora, tried to block Rhode from selling in the stores. Again, calling on critical thinking here as there are plenty of other celebrity beauty brands, including Fenty by Rihanna and Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs, available at Sephora so this feels like quite the stretch.
Speaking of Lady Gaga, she released her first single, Abracadabra, from the upcoming album ‘Mayhem’ and it’s a certified BOP! The music video premiered as a Grammys commercial break which I could honestly see becoming a trend for artists and brands moving forward. The Super Bowl is coming up, what could we get? It’s been interesting to watch to resurgence of commercials, as Grammys host Trevor Noah joked during the show, Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t used to a traditional commercial — you know, one they can’t scroll out of. With all the nostalgia coming back (fyi going to the mall is cool again) I could see kids looking to commercials for that vintage vibe of whatever aesthetic they’re trying to achieve.
MAC Cosmetics relaunches its iconic 90s Nude Collection by pairing lipsticks with iconic models including Martha Stewart, Julia Fox, Tiffany Pollard, Odell Beckham Jr. and beabadoobee. I think if the world wasn’t a clusterf*ck right now this campaign would’ve gotten more attention. It should’ve gotten more hype IMO but I fear it was lost in the swirl of 2025.
Weekend Watchlist
I have to say, I truly appreciate your patience with the Weekend Watchlist hiatus. I am so happy to share, we are BACK and this week’s Watchlist is here.
One Last Thing
You know I talk a lot about WAGs but let me introduce you to TWAGs – Tech Wives and Girlfriends. If the election taught us anything, we are going to have to endure the Tech Bros – Elon, Mark, Jeff – at least for the next little while. And beside them will stand their TWAGs, as the article puts it, “according to lore, there was a saying in the 2000s about dating tech bros: the odds are good, but the goods are odd.” It’s an interesting read and a toppic I’ll be keeping my eye on as the year progresses.