<\/p>\n
This article was featured in\u00a0<\/em>One Great Story<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>New York\u2019s reading recommendation newsletter.\u00a0<\/em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to get it nightly.<\/em><\/p>\n Along with toilet paper, yeast, and Annie\u2019s white-cheddar mac \u2019n\u2019 cheese, gossip ranks highly as a rare and valuable commodity right now. If it happens to fall in your lap, you want to savor it \u2014 maybe pair it with a cold beverage, or preserve it in your brain for longer than you normally would, fully absorbing its juiciness.<\/p>\n With many people stuck inside right now, gossip largely consists of shit-talking other people\u2019s backyards<\/a>, speculating about nannies<\/a>, and questioning the state of romantic relationships<\/a>. But the thing about quarantine scuttlebutt is that it\u2019s not very satisfying. In the long run, it won\u2019t make anything better.<\/p>\n Personally, what does<\/em> make me feel better is harmless celebrity fodder. It\u2019s exhilarating to watch Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello walk in slow motion like zombies toward a throng of paparazzi, for example. Or Jake Gyllenhaal<\/a> do a handstand. Or Ina Garten make an enormous cocktail<\/a>, and down it at 9:30 a.m. For better or worse, celebrities are still giving us the gossip we need and crave right now.<\/p>\n Why do we miss gossip? And what does that say about us? Elaine Lui<\/a>, the seasoned entertainment journalist and ever-curious mind behind Lainey Gossip.com<\/a>, has some thoughts. Since 2006, her website has served as a loving but agnostic source of celebrity news, so we called her up to gab about gossip in a pandemic.<\/p>\n Emilia Petrarca: I\u2019ve been talking with a lot of different people about how much they miss gossip right now. As someone who covers celebrity and celebrity gossip for a living, what were your first thoughts when the coronavirus pandemic started to become a reality? Were you afraid there wouldn\u2019t be anything to cover?<\/strong> There was someone named Bridget Phetasy who very brilliantly tweeted<\/a>, \u201cI never realized exactly how much attention celebrities craved until they were locked up.\u201d I thought that was hilarious, and it\u2019s so true. They\u2019re still logging onto Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and whatever, and serving us the content that we need.<\/p>\n The first big celebrity social-media gaffe seemed to be <\/strong>the \u201cImagine\u201d video<\/strong><\/a>, coordinated by Gal Gadot. What did you think of that? <\/strong>
Elaine Lui: \ufeffTo be honest, I did have a moment of worry when California issued the lockdown order. I talked to our writers, and we started brainstorming how we could get creative. But then, I remember the Monday after the order came down, I was like, Wow, there is so much content!<\/em> There was no need to make up for the gap. From the perspective of just having shit to talk about \u2014 who\u2019s doing what, who\u2019s quarantining with whom, how they\u2019re quarantining, how they\u2019re fucking up during quarantine, how they\u2019re putting their foot in their mouth \u2014 I mean, that just kicked up. It was an immediate shift.<\/p>\n
There was a flurry of a few of them that happened at the same time. There was Vanessa Hudgens<\/a> going on Instagram Stories and being like, \u201cWhat\u2019s the big deal?\u201d Or whatever. Not a good look. And then there was, yes, the \u201cImagine\u201d singalong. It was so earnest. But even though it was well-intentioned, it was badly executed.<\/p>\n