Celeb Superlatives: Swift takes a bite out of Apple
Paste BN's Andrea Mandell combed through the latest celebrity news, looking for the best and the worst moments of our week. Think high school yearbook superlatives — if Taylor Swift and Chris Pratt were classmates.
Most likely to take on Apple – and win: Taylor Swift
Remember when Apple Music launched its streaming service offering users three months free? Well, that came with a caveat for musicians, whom Apple decided wouldn't be paid for that period of time. T-Swift wasn't happy, and she announced she was pulling her latest album from Apple Music in an open letter that shamed the corporate giant into an almost immediate policy reversal. "This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt," Swift wrote. "This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field … but will not get paid for a quarter of a year's worth of plays on his or her songs." Hours later, Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, tweeted that the company "will pay artist for streaming, even during customers' free trial period." That, friends, is the power of 1989.
Her boyfriend Calvin Harris cheered the victory.
Biggest champion of women: John Oliver
HBO's newest face of long-form journalism had one major focus this week: being a woman online is dangerous. The comedian took on harassment and revenge porn in a 16-minute segment on Last Week Tonight, outlining the horrible things that "any woman who makes the mistake of having a thought in her mind, and then vocalizing it online" has to go through when an ex decides to get even. Even more chilling: revenge porn is still legal in in 27 states. "Now you would assume that it's illegal to do that to someone. The problem is, there is no federal law specifically against revenge porn. ... In fact, only 23 states have passed laws specifically against revenge porn." Here's to looking out for each other, Oliver.
Most likely to cut through the BS: Kendall and Kylie Jenner
On Father's Day, Caitlyn Jenner's daughters Kendall and Kylie took to Instagram in support Jenner, handling the dad-focused day in the classiest way possible. "my whole life this soul was my daddy and just because your appearance is different now doesn't mean you were any less of a father to me my entire life. happy Father's Day to the person who raised me, and taught me everything I know, my hero," Kendall wrote, sharing a photo of herself as a child with her parent. Added Kylie: "Happy Father's Day my little light of sunshine, adding a quote from Caitlyn: "You can still call me dad, Kylie. No matter what I'm always going to be your father. That's never going to change." Bravo.
Most likely to charm every living human (even the tiny ones): Chris Pratt
Starring in the biggest film of the year (Jurassic World is just piling the T-rex cash on at this point) hasn't gone to Chris Pratt's head. The actor recently paid a visit to Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital in Baton Rouge and taught the young patients how to "train" velociraptors. "Our patients were all smiles and we are so thankful to Chris for lifting their spirits by visiting and handing out Jurassic World goodies," the hospital staff wrote on Facebook. SWOON.
Most suddenly subtle: Kim and Kanye
Did the hashtag-friendly couple announce the gender of their second child on a magazine cover? A talk show? While promoting a new fragrance, TV show or album? No! In fact, on Father's Day, Kim Kardashian dropped that she is pregnant with a boy so casually, many at first missed it. "Precious moments like this when we were traveling on tour with you are what I live for," Kardashian wrote in an comment along with a photo of West holding their baby daughter, North West. "You're such a good daddy to North & you will be the best daddy to our new son too!" We gotta say: Nice work.
Least likely to take a Lifetime movie seriously: Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell
When news of these two comic powerhouses doing a Lifetime movie (of all things) leaked, most thought it was a joke — especially when the posters hit town. A Deadly Adoption just sounded too good to be true, with Wiig and Ferrell playing a wife and husband who naively invite a pregnant young woman (Jessica Lowndes) to live with them. (Obviously she just happens to have be a crazed former fling of Ferrell's.) The best part? When the two-hour movie actually aired Sunday, it turned out these two took their Lifetime gig seriously, from A Deadly Adoption's tragic, life-altering accident in Act 1 to the TV movie's epic, bloody finale. That's one for the bucket list.