Christian Siriano’s front row included Alicia Silverstone, Busy Philipps, Melanie Lynskey, J. Smith Cameron and What Else for February 9, 2024 | Maqvi News

New York fashion week is happening, and Christian Siriano’s front row included Alicia Silverstone, Busy Philipps, Melanie Lynskey, and J. Smith Cameron. I have a bet going that Siriano designs Margot Robbie’s final Barbie look for the Oscars. He has designed for Barbie in the past, and he has the borderline camp sensibility an all-out drama gown for Barbie needs. I hope to see it (and win money)! (Go Fug Yourself)

Speaking of betting, here are some potential wagers if you’re watching the Super Bowl for everything but the actual game. (Popsugar)

Dakota Johnson is still talking, delivering hit after hit. This time, it’s about how guest-starring on The Office’s final episode was “the worst time in [her] life”. Because it’s Dakota, there’s an implied tone, but her full comment is actually interesting: implications that not everyone on The Office were getting along by the end, and that as excited as she was to be there, everyone else was bummed because it was the end. Paul Rudd said something similar about being there for the end of Friends, how emotional everyone was, and he was just doing comedy bits. I would like to know more, though, about who wasn’t talking by the finale of The Office. You KNOW Dakota Johnson is a gossip! (Celebitchy)

Gary Baum has a great in-depth report about the borderline poverty wages being paid at Universal Studios theme parks. Particularly in LA, where the park has rebounded from the pandemic and the cost of living is very high, park workers putting in 40+ hours a week often struggle to afford housing or rely on benefits like food stamps to make ends meet.

There is no shame in needing assistance, but it is ridiculous to be working full-time and still need food stamps. A significant portion of America is allergic to social safety programs, but certainly we can start here—people who are working should not be struggling to put food on their table and a roof over their head. They’re WORKING. They should be paid enough to live! I don’t understand why this is even a problem, except we have turned into a society that worships billionaires and shareholders at the expense of our own quality of life. Hopefully, exposés like this, and pending legislation, will force NBCUniversal to provide a living wage to their workers. (To be fair, Disney has been here before, too.) (THR)

In the past, I have defended Taylor Sheridan, whose Yellowstone-verse is in jeopardy due to pay disputes—as not as conservative as people think. After all, he pissed off his red-state fans when Yellowstone featured an out lesbian character kissing women. There has also been a subtle but present thread of “this kind of closed mentality ruins people’s lives” bent to Yellowstone, but…I think Taylor Sheridan is getting high on his own supply and the support of conservative America, because he is starting to parrot those talking points more and more. The latest is that he hates Forrest Gump for being preachy (about what? Kindness?), yet he also thinks it wouldn’t get made today because of cancel culture. He says all of this to Joe Rogan. Truly, the darkest timeline. (Brobible)