219: On Beyoncé, JoJo Siwa, Hacks

Summary

Every Outfit Podcast Episode 219 Summary: On Beyoncé, JoJo Siwa, Hacks

Release Date: May 2, 2025

In Episode 219 of the Every Outfit podcast, hosts Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garoni delve into a vibrant mix of topics ranging from high-profile events and celebrity news to beauty industry developments and trending TV shows. This detailed summary captures the essence of their engaging conversation, enriched with notable quotes and insightful discussions.

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1. Personal Updates and Opening Remarks

The episode kicks off with casual banter as Chelsea reveals a personal anecdote:

• Chelsea Fairless [00:04]: "I spent $40,000 on shoes."

Lauren responds with her own updates, touching on recent personal challenges:

• Lauren Garoni [00:31]: "I just want to thank all of the lovely fuckettes who have reached out and left very heartfelt comments. Also commiserating about how much it sucks to lose a dog."

The hosts discuss a recent double date, highlighting personal losses and milestones:

• Chelsea Fairless [01:04]: "We're bringing this because your dog died four days ago."
• Lauren Garoni [01:21]: "Also, congrats to Paul, who at the ripe age of 35, finally got his driver's license."

2. Event Coverage: Jacques Mousse and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour

Chelsea shares her experiences attending two significant events:

• Chelsea Fairless [02:25]: "I went to two events where I felt like I actually crawled inside Instagram."

Jacques Mousse Store Opening: The first event discussed is the Jacques Mousse store opening in West Hollywood. Chelsea describes the vibrant ambiance and notable attendees:

• Chelsea Fairless [02:39]: "They had so many people that I was like, do I know you?"
• Lauren Garoni [03:06]: "Looking at the crowd of Hadids. I was most excited to see John Grease, who plays Gary slash Greg from White Lotus, who shockingly, is very hot in person."

The hosts praise John Grease's evolving fashion influence:

• Chelsea Fairless [03:19]: "He's become a bit of a fashion it boy because he was in that Jacques Moose lotta fashion show a while back."

Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour: Chelsea also attended Beyoncé's new tour, "Cowboy Carter," sharing her impressions of the show’s production and setlist:

• Chelsea Fairless [03:59]: "It was the first show of the tour, so I didn't know the set list, hadn't seen the costumes, which just like never happens anymore for anything."
• Lauren Garoni [04:33]: "Beyoncé feels like someone that is more of a pro athlete than a pop star."

They compare it to past performances and discuss the inclusion of old hits versus new tracks:

• Chelsea Fairless [05:40]: "I like the Renaissance album a lot more."

3. Met Gala Boycott Analysis

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to analyzing Jack Schlossberg's recent Instagram post announcing a boycott of the Met Gala:

• Lauren Garoni [16:34]: "Jack Schlossberg who in a recent Instagram post had this to say, hey, Anna Wintourer, I'm sorry. I'm boycotting the Met Gala this year."

Discussion Points:

• Lauren Garoni [17:00]: "It's not the time for a party like that."
• Chelsea Fairless [17:55]: "It's a benefit for a very important cultural institution."

They debate the complexities of boycotting the event, considering its role in funding the Costume Institute:

• Lauren Garoni [19:04]: "It is both things, because obviously, this is an event where celebrities are peacocking."

Economic and Cultural Implications:

• Lauren Garoni [19:56]: "People are associating this more minimal look... it's cozy to see how it's effectively a fundraiser."
• Chelsea Fairless [20:16]: "The level of dress and theatrics has gotten out of control."

They explore the ethical considerations of the Met Gala amidst global and domestic challenges:

• Lauren Garoni [20:16]: "The amount of waste that goes into... all of the dresses and outfits."

Conclusion on the Boycott: The hosts acknowledge the event’s dual nature as both a celebrity showcase and a critical fundraiser:

• Chelsea Fairless [21:03]: "It is a benefit for a very important cultural institution.”

4. JoJo Siwa and Celebrity Big Brother Drama

Lauren leads into a discussion about JoJo Siwa's tumultuous experience on Celebrity Big Brother:

• Lauren Garoni [23:32]: "JoJo Siwa and Big Brother, which might not be the hottest of topics..."

Conflict with Mickey Rourke: JoJo's interactions with Mickey Rourke are dissected:

• Lauren Garoni [24:14]: "Mickey Rourke was asked to leave... making a sexually lewd comment."

Relationship Dynamics: The conversation shifts to JoJo’s public breakup and relationship reassessment:

• Lauren Garoni [26:03]: "I was told there are confused feelings that they realized in the house that I wasn't the person they wanted to spend the foreseeable future with."

Hosts’ Perspectives: Chelsea and Lauren offer their takes on JoJo’s evolving identity and relationships:

• Chelsea Fairless [29:57]: "What happens, I don't think it actually is."

They reflect on the pressures of public relationships and identity:

• Lauren Garoni [30:32]: "It's Trump's America, babes."

5. Beauty Industry News

The hosts transition into beauty news, focusing on the controversial rebranding of Boy Smells:

• Chelsea Fairless [31:48]: "Leave Boy Smells alone."

Boy Smells Rebrand: They critique the aesthetic changes and market strategy:

• Lauren Garoni [32:24]: "Millennial Pink wasn't called that and it didn't have a culture attached to it."

Public Reaction: They discuss the backlash and consumer expectations:

• Lauren Garoni [35:56]: "The worst rebrand I've ever seen."

SZA's Not Beauty Line: SZA’s new beauty venture, Not Beauty, is examined:

• Lauren Garoni [42:46]: "It's giving Aiden Shaw."

Jeff Goldblum's Fragrance: A light-hearted segment on Jeff Goldblum’s new fragrance, Gold Blooming:

• Chelsea Fairless [43:25]: "Shroom Cola... comforting notes of wood decay."

6. TV Show Discussions

Hacks Season 4: The hosts delve into the latest season of Hacks, highlighting character developments and plot twists:

• Lauren Garoni [48:05]: "It's nice to see after several seasons of Deborah Vance always being the underdog..."
• Chelsea Fairless [52:03]: "It is just a little curious that she said, give me 48 hours."

The Rehearsal: They explore the innovative aspects of Nathan Fielder's new show, The Rehearsal:

• Lauren Garoni [55:56]: "It's so rare that anything ever gets made that is this extreme and this original."

Season Insights: Detailed discussions on the show's thematic elements and production challenges:

• Lauren Garoni [60:44]: "Nathan Fielder's whole thing is like, if I can just work on improving this sort of dynamics..."

7. Conclusion and Sign-Off

The episode wraps up with anticipation for upcoming events and a brief light-hearted exchange:

• Lauren Garoni [64:03]: "We will be back as soon as possible because the Met is happening on Monday."
• Chelsea Fairless [64:31]: "It breaks."

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Notable Quotes:

• Chelsea Fairless [00:04]: "I spent $40,000 on shoes."
• Lauren Garoni [16:34]: "Jack Schlossberg... I'm boycotting the Met Gala this year."
• Chelsea Fairless [20:36]: "Dynamic ticket pricing... that shit is truly evil."
• Lauren Garoni [42:46]: "It's giving Aiden Shaw."
• Chelsea Fairless [43:58]: "I don't want to smell like rotting wood."

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Key Takeaways:

• Personal Connections: The hosts share personal stories and support each other through life’s ups and downs, adding a relatable layer to their discussions.

• Celebrity and Event Coverage: Detailed insights into high-profile events like the Jacques Mousse store opening and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter tour provide listeners with a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion and entertainment worlds.

• Critical Analysis: The Met Gala boycott debate underscores the complexities of celebrity influence and the balance between spectacle and philanthropy in high-stakes events.

• Beauty Industry Trends: The commentary on beauty brands highlights the tension between maintaining brand identity and adapting to market pressures, reflecting broader industry challenges.

• Cultural Commentary: Discussions on TV shows like Hacks and The Rehearsal reveal the hosts' appreciation for nuanced storytelling and innovative television, offering listeners thoughtful entertainment recommendations.

• Social Dynamics in Reality TV: The JoJo Siwa and Celebrity Big Brother segment sheds light on the often tumultuous nature of reality television relationships and personal evolution.

This episode of Every Outfit masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes with sharp cultural critique, delivering a comprehensive and entertaining exploration of contemporary fashion, celebrity, and media landscapes.

Transcript

[Chelsea Fairless]

I spent $40,000 on shoes.

[Lauren Garoni]

What's the matter, Morty? Great gowns. Beautiful gowns. Fashion has changed. No, it hasn't. Hi, I'm Lauren Garoni.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I'm Chelsea Fairless.

[Lauren Garoni]

And welcome back to the Every Outfit podcast.

[Chelsea Fairless]

How's it going, bitch?

[Lauren Garoni]

I will say I'm having a better week certainly than last week. I just want to thank all of the lovely fuckettes who have reached out and left very heartfelt comments. Also commiserating about how much it sucks to lose a dog. It is a very particular kind of pain, but I'm getting through it. Maybe getting through it a little too well as you and Tat came through.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I wasn't going to bring that up.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's fine. You can bring it up. I think it's worth discussing that. Yes, we had a double date the other night, and you and Tat came through the door and you brought flowers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I was like a large bouquet of white flowers. And Lauren was like, oh, are you bringing these? Because Paul passed his driver's exam. And we were like, no, bitch. We're bringing this because your dog died four days ago and we haven't yet been to your house.

[Lauren Garoni]

Also, congrats to Paul, who at the ripe age of 35, finally got his driver's license.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, we all grieve in different ways.

[Lauren Garoni]

This past week has not been as bad. But I will say that my kitchen did flood on Saturday.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, that's so fucked. Like, did it actually damage anything, though?

[Lauren Garoni]

It didn't damage anything. And you know what? It's worth it in the end, because what's happening is there's a section of roof missing from our existing house to where we're building every outfit studios. And you know, Los Angeles is a dry, dry place. How was I to even think that this rain that we had on Saturday would possibly be a torrential downpour and start leaking into the lights in our kitchen?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm so ready for it to be summer. Not that we have anything to complain about, like, compared to the east coast people, but still.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, the weather is kind of sucking right now. I don't know about you. It's very hard to be awake at the moment because it's very gray and for Los Angeles, cold yet again. You had a much more fun week than I did.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I went to two events where I felt like I actually crawled inside Instagram. The first being the Jacques Mousse store opening in West Hollywood, which was a real scene.

[Lauren Garoni]

Did you see the banana boat car?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I actually did it. I. I Don't know where they parked that there was a lot going on. They had a whole, like, fake flower market. There were so many people that I was like, do I know you? And then it's like, no, I actually don't. You're just some random stylist I follow on Instagram or some random, like, TikToker that like, Tat shows me your videos or whatever.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, that's nice to put an actual face to the 2D visage you've been.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Looking at through a screen in the crowd of Hadids. I was most excited to see John Grease, who plays Gary slash Greg from White Lotus, who shockingly, is very hot in person.

[Lauren Garoni]

I mean, did you not get that impression during the show? He certainly has something.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guess I just never really thought that the character was hot. So to be confronted with the vibes and the look and the healthy looking tan in person, I was just kind of like, wow, good for him.

[Lauren Garoni]

And I was surprised you got a photo with him, which I imagine was our friend Maya's idea, because it couldn't have been yours.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course not. But yeah, he's become a bit of a fashion it boy because he was in that Eckhouse lotta fashion show a while back and now he's the new face of Jacques Moose.

[Lauren Garoni]

I love it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I also went to the Cowboy Carter tour, Beyonce's new show, which was so much fun because it was the first show of the tour, so I didn't know the set list, hadn't seen the costumes, which just like never happens anymore for anything.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's interesting, especially for musical acts that live in Los Angeles, because I know that Nine Inch Nails will be ending their tour in L. A. So it's interesting that Beyonce is starting her tour in the city that she lives in while I wasn't there. Given all the clips I've watched online, I feel like I was.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm sure you do. So many American flags. I mean, Beyonce feels like someone that is more of a pro athlete than a pop star. Which is why I think this whole thing had a very super bowl feel to it.

[Lauren Garoni]

This is your, what, third or fourth concert experience at SoFi? I feel like you're an expert at this point.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think I've been to more shows there than that. It's the third time seeing Beyonce. The first time I saw her was the Destiny's Child era when I was in high school.

[Lauren Garoni]

Oh, that's crazy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What a journey she has been on since she was opening for Christina Aguilera, if you can imagine.

[Lauren Garoni]

So one of the clips I saw, it teased Kelly and Michelle, but they did not make an appearance during the show. They were just there up on the jumbo screen.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they showed a lot of video footage from throughout her career and they did something really mean, which was like they mixed the opening bars of I think say My Name into another song and everyone screamed. Then they just, like, moved on. So rude.

[Lauren Garoni]

Overall, how was the show? How does it rank against Renaissance?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I like the Renaissance album a lot more. I think Cowboy Carter was really hit and miss for me. And this whole show is basically Cowboy Carter, but it also was really Renaissance heavy. Like, she still played a lot of songs from Renaissance in a few, like, of the big hits, you know, diva.

[Lauren Garoni]

Crazy in Love, what have you Formation I saw.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But, yeah, very Blue Ivy focused.

[Lauren Garoni]

I was gonna say. The other thing I've gleaned from the clips that I have seen is that Blue Ivy is now just exclusively one of the backup dancers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they have different configurations of the backup dancers on stage at different times. So she wasn't on stage the whole time, but she was there a lot more than she was in the Renaissance tour where she basically just came out and did one little dance. But it's crazy. Like, she's still only 13 years old. I feel like by the time Beyonce does her next tour, she will be as good as the dancers.

[Lauren Garoni]

I saw someone online make the point, and I would love to get your opinion on this, that Blue Ivy is the Liza Minnelli of this generation.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Let's not get too excited.

[Lauren Garoni]

I mean, this is believed to be part of a trilogy, right? That Renaissance was the dance album. Cowboy Carter is the country album. And then she will close out this trilogy with a rock album.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's the word on the street.

[Lauren Garoni]

I may have to join you for the rock album tour. I'll be there.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Whatever that album is, is going to be mental. I cannot wait. And I can't wait to see what the horse themed album cover for that will be. Maybe the horse will be in like a ring of fire or something.

[Lauren Garoni]

As an outsider looking in, there's been a lot of controversy I've noticed about ticket pricing and if the venue was sold out or was not.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It wasn't sold out. Oh, it wasn't on the day of the show. When I went there and looked around, it appeared to be completely sold out. So I don't think that ticket sales were an issue for her. But I know that she did drop ticket prices in certain sections closer to the show, which is great. You should be able to go see Beyonce in the craziest nosebleed seat for like 50 bucks.

[Lauren Garoni]

Understandably so. I know that people who went ahead and participated in the pre sale felt like they got screwed. Like, I watched a video on TikTok of a girl who waited to get her tickets, got them for 250, then was surrounded by people who had bought in the presale and they had bought the same tickets for 770.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I don't know. You can't win with this shit. You always have to roll the dice whenever you go to anything. You can't anticipate. Is it going to be too popular? Not popular enough. Should I buy tickets in advance in the pre sale? Should I buy them the day of the show after the doors are open? Like, who knows? It's a risk, you know, it's like gambling.

[Lauren Garoni]

For my exciting live show experience of the year, the Nine Inch Nails show in September, I still haven't bought tickets because I will do that closer to the event. That's what I've learned from modern ticket going experiences.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, I think it's either presale or day of hour before. I would not advise the in between.

[Lauren Garoni]

Except if Chelsea and I are going on tour and then we highly encourage you to not wait until the day of to buy tickets.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, well we don't use. What is it called, dynamic ticket pricing or whatever that's called, where the price adjusts due to demand. That shit is truly evil. And that shit is what Lady Gaga is doing on the Mayhem Ball tour. So it's like you can get tickets, but their price is based on their scarcity.

[Lauren Garoni]

I'm not enjoying the gamble ification of everything in our lives.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm just not enjoying the fact that these artists do have control over the pricing of their tickets and they're greedy as hell. And that's the reality. Will I pony up and pay an oink oink like a little piggy?

[Lauren Garoni]

Yes, you are Sofi Stadium's pay pig.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It was also really fun when watching the Beyonce show to guess who designed what? Because you don't know that kind of stuff going in. And it was incredibly bizarre to look at the costumes because they took all of these different designers and then forced them to design that they would never ever design. Like, hey Burberry, do you want to make like spangly chaps? Or like loewe, would you like to make an American flag ball gown?

[Lauren Garoni]

It is amazing that at this stage Beyonce can kind of make anyone do whatever she wants.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guessed like six of the outfits correctly. Which I was proud of.

[Lauren Garoni]

I did see Mugler posted their custom look, their custom white fringe chap look for Beyonce.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, I thought that was kind of boring for them, just considering the fact that they actually have a rich history of making jeweled cowboy outfits, unlike many of these other brands.

[Lauren Garoni]

It was giving Nomi Malone, I felt.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, that one wasn't my favorite. I think my favorite was the D squared one with the furry boots and the little micro shorts. That was cute.

[Lauren Garoni]

Because I'm so relieved that both weekends of Coachella are done that I always forget the fact that quite literally the weekend after Coachella at the same venue in Indio is the Country Western Festival, Stagecoach.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Lauren, I know that this sounds like your hell, but are you aware that there are influencers that went to both weekends of Coachella? Then Stagecoach, then Cowboy Carter.

[Lauren Garoni]

The poor sponsored Waymos. They may take them out to the desert. I mostly feel bad for the residents of Indio, Palm Desert and Palm Springs.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, that goes without saying.

[Lauren Garoni]

They're still recovering from Modernism Week.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Modernism Week is a walk in the park compared to this shit.

[Lauren Garoni]

3. I think the only person we care about that played the stage coach was Lana Del Rey.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wait, I thought we were going to talk about Jelly Roll set. What are you talking about?

[Lauren Garoni]

My mom's favorite artist, Jelly Roll.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Is that really your mom's favorite artist?

[Lauren Garoni]

When I was showing her clips from the SNL50, I was talking about how at the concert there was just such a random assortment of people put together and I was using Jelly Roll as an example. I'm like, who even likes Jelly Roll? And she was like, I love Jelly Roll.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Jelly Roll is everywhere. I look like posters for Shen Yun or something. Yeah, I'm really jealous of everyone who saw Lana. That looked really, really fun. The newness of it. Getting to see her do certain songs for the first time. Getting to see her do new material. Although after watching her set, I realized that, like, okay, she didn't really make a country album per se, so much as do her normal Lana songs with more kind of western imagery, I suppose.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, and wear a sort of 1950s housewife dress and some curls. I understand with what I'm about to say, women can't win. But the Ozempic is ozemping a little too hard. I had to say it. I had to say it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Rude again. You can't win. So in one of her new songs, she admitted to kissing Morgan Wallam.

[Lauren Garoni]

Gross Wallen.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I always get him mixed up with Stephen Wallam, the gay character actor. And this made me realize I don't think we ever talked about his SNL appearance.

[Lauren Garoni]

Did we know where he walked off stage during the goodbyes?

[Chelsea Fairless]

He's like, I can't even breathe the same air as a gay person. Get me out of here.

[Lauren Garoni]

He walked towards the camera, passed it left, then posted an Instagram story where it was like, bring me back to God's country.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Get me to God's country.

[Lauren Garoni]

Thank you. Get me to God's country. Which is like some real Queenie shit.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I loved it. We haven't had this much drama with the end of SNL since, like, Kanye wore a MAGA hat and went on his, like, tragic rant.

[Lauren Garoni]

I don't know much about Morgan Wallen. From what I understand from the Internet, he's very problematic and we shouldn't fuck with him. So it makes sense that Lana has a song about kissing him.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I know. I hate that everyone is hating on Lana, even though she hasn't said anything that's pro Trump necessarily. Just because she performed at Stagecoach and has married a guy who people perceive as being conservative.

[Lauren Garoni]

Again, she can't win. She marries a blue collar guy. We hate her for it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I just don't think that Lana is the person we should be looking to.

[Lauren Garoni]

Oh, for morality?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. For her politics. I felt the same way when people were putting all this pressure on Chapel Ron. Like, you need Chapel Ron to tell you who you should vote for. What's wrong with you?

[Lauren Garoni]

Also, really? You're questioning her politics after albums called Chemtrells over the Country Club?

[Chelsea Fairless]

She also did a cover of Stand by youy man, the Tammy Wynette song during her Stagecoach set. And it took me back to the fact that, like, Hillary Clinton was the person that introduced me to that song. Do you remember this, or is this one where age difference comes into play?

[Lauren Garoni]

This is when Bill Clinton was running for president in 1993 and he was accused of stepping out on his marriage. And Hillary Clinton said something to the effect of, well, I'm not going to be little Tammy Wynette. Stand by your man.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And then every country music fan was so mad at her. Although, let's face it, they didn't like her to begin with.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, I don't think that's what did it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. But I remember it being a big drama at the time.

[Lauren Garoni]

But the song is about standing by your, like, cheating husband that, like, may also beat you.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, no. It's not like he hit me and it felt like a kiss level fucked up. It's a song about standing by your man. But the lyrics I wouldn't say are particularly messed up compared to other songs.

[Lauren Garoni]

Other country songs specifically, or even, like.

[Chelsea Fairless]

There'S 60s girl group songs that are way more fucked up in that regard.

[Lauren Garoni]

Also, on the scale of problematic artists, Lana is on the neutral problematic side, I would say. If we're using D and D language.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Lana has always been in her own lane and everyone wants to put her in a box always. And I don't think we should. I think we should just let her do her and be with her man and whatever. Can't wait for the album.

[Lauren Garoni]

All right, shall we get into some hot topics?

[Chelsea Fairless]

What if I said no?

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, podcast over, guys. See you next week.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wow, that's the best sign off we've ever done. I think they get worse and worse every single week. Anyway, what hot topic would you like to start with?

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, we are a mere few days away from the Met Gala, so of course someone of note needs to go on record to say that they are boycotting the Met Gala. This time it was Jack Schlossberg who in a recent Instagram post had this to say, hey, Anna Wintourer, I'm sorry.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But I'm boycotting the Met Gala this year. I can't go in good conscience with so much happening around the world and at home.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's just not the time.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's not the time for a party like that. So I'm calling on everybody to boycott the Met Gala. It's not the time. Thank you, guys. Thank you all so much.

[Lauren Garoni]

For someone like him who has been to the Met Gala to say that he's boycotting it this year implies that he was invited and isn't going. Which I don't know if that is the case, because you and I could also say, you know what, guys, we've looked around and we're also boycotting the Met Gala. We were not invited to the Met Gala, so it makes it a bit easier.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I think that it's very likely that he was invited just because he's gone many times in the past. Although clearly he wouldn't be saying this if he was still Vogue's political correspondent, so something must have happened there.

[Lauren Garoni]

These series of comments from the Cut story about this really gets at the heart of what the issue is, which someone goes, the gala is about the arts, and even in the bleakest times, people look for inspiration. And someone goes, it's about the arts. Seems to me that it's actually about a lot of celebs peacocking and competing with each other. To which someone else replies to that and goes. It's literally a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not exactly true, but this is my yearly reminder that the Costume Institute's funding is not connected to the Metropolitan Museum, so it has to be independently funded. How is it independently funded, Chelsea? Through the MEG Gala, which is primarily a fundraising event for the Costume Institute. Proceeds from the gala, which includes the ticket sales and donations, funds the Institute's exhibitions, the acquisitions and improvements. There are literally dozens of people you never see photographed on vogue.com, those are the people who are actually paying for the tables, which go for $350,000 that actually fund the Costume Institute. Last year, despite how excessive the red carpet event looked, they raised over $26 million.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Look, it is both things, because obviously, this is an event where celebrities are peacocking, and it definitely does have similar vibes to, like, Versailles right before the French Revolution. However, yes, you are correct. This is ultimately a benefit for a very important cultural institution. If anything, the problem with the Met Gala is that it's just become too mass and too successful. It's too well known.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's understandable. But people do conflate this one red carpet event with, I guess, the overall message at large, which I do think is partly Anna Wintour and Vogue. And the apparatus around it could do a better job educating people of what this one evening is actually for.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They need to make, like, a public service announcement with Gigi Hadid.

[Lauren Garoni]

I feel like Jack's take is particularly bad because you could make the opposite point. Right. Considering everything that is going on, we shouldn't be boycotting a charity event that benefits the arts, especially at a time when arts funding is getting slashed, especially in the year where the exhibition is celebrating a black subculture.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I agree with you, but optically, if you divorce it from the fact that it is a fundraiser, it is pretty extreme right now. Although there's always horrible shit happening. So is it ever appropriate to have a party like this? Probably not. Or not by Jack Schlossberg standards.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, I agree with you. The level of dress and theatrics has gotten out of control. And I think that the amount of waste that goes into actually making all of the dresses and outfits that people wear on the red carpet is the bigger issue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I don't know if it's waste necessarily, because if something is worn to the Met Gal, it's always going to retain value, whoever keeps it, whether it's the celebrity or the brand.

[Lauren Garoni]

Fair enough. And also, I mean, I remember this discourse, and we talked about the time was going on about the Oscars and in light of the Palisades and the Eaton fire, should we even be having this award show? And it's like, yes, there are many small businesses and vendors. That's year depends on these kind of events. Like I always think about the red carpet person, the company that does the florals, the catering, it employs a lot of people. It is a cottage industry in and of itself. Also, what does boycott even mean? Chelsea, don't watch the red carpet coverage. Don't go to the exhibition, Stop buying Vogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Look, it's such a complicated thing because on one hand it's like celebrities should be conscious of not giving off eat the rich vibes. Right now, some people are succeeding at that, some people are failing.

[Lauren Garoni]

And again, if you go back and look at old red carpet photos of the Met gal, you know, people just wore a nice dress, maybe something they had in the closet, maybe something that a designer loaned for them. Not full out new outfits. And as we noted last year, which I'm very concerned about with this red carpet, when Zendaya wore two outfits on the red carpet, that's really Gildan the lily, as they say. Also I feel like I should note, Chelsea, that Jack Slosberg posted multiple videos about this. He posted another video where he's on a kayak. He says basically the same thing. Instead of going to the Met Gala, he will be launching his own channel that same day. So it seems like he was very purposeful in boycotting Met Gala as an avenue to launch a new media venture for himself. Doesn't exactly feel genuine.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, moving on.

[Lauren Garoni]

Jojo drama Jojo Siwa and Big Brother, which might not be the hottest of topics, maybe a lukewarm topic. In the time that Jojo Siwa was first on Celebrity Big Brother and I wanted to talk about this, we were traveling, we did pre recorded episodes and now she's like already out of the celebrity Big Brother house. And boy, Chelsea, so much has happened.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I feel like this is all anyone is talking about.

[Lauren Garoni]

There's a lot to digest. I've done my best in doing a bullet point of JoJo's Avengers. Full 20 days in the celebrity Big Brother house.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, go for it.

[Lauren Garoni]

Which I would say began when Oscar nominated actor and former boxer Mickey Rourke arrived at the house. Mickey began to get to know JoJo Siwa when he asked her to take him out to the smoking area. So do you like girls or boys? Me? Girls. I know I can tell my partner is non binary. Okay, simple enough. He's just trying to get to know her. But things take a turn just minutes later when Mickey then says this. I'm trying to last four days. If I stay longer than four days, you won't be gay anymore. I can guarantee I will still be gay and I will still be in a very happy relationship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'll tie you up. Mickey Rourke is deeply gross, but, you know, fabulous style.

[Lauren Garoni]

And I mean a well known Pomeranian owner. So I do have to Stan, despite the fact that he is a horrific domestic abuser, he's also someone that I.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Always kind of suspected might not be 100% straight himself if his latter day.

[Lauren Garoni]

Style is anything to go by. But I think you are correct, the lady doth protest too much. So Siwa accused Roark of being, quote, homophobic for saying he was going to vote the lesbian out real quick, which he received a formal warning for from the celebrity Big Brother house. However, no matter, because Mickey Rourke was asked to leave, not because of his behavior towards Jojo Siwa, but making a sexually lewd comment towards the Only Way Is Essex. Actress, presenter. I don't know these British shows. I'm so sorry, UK fuckettets. But this woman, Ella Rae Weiss. And then he got aggressive with Love Island's Chris Hughes during a pirate themed task.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I did not watch this show.

[Lauren Garoni]

But you know that Chris Hughes plays a giant role in Jojo Siwa's time at the celebrity Big Brother house.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And he's from Love island, which I didn't watch. So no context for this man until now, but seems like a reasonably nice guy.

[Lauren Garoni]

Once Mickey Rourke leaves the house, Jojo and Chris Hughes form a very intense bond. A trauma bond, you could say, but a bond all the same that seems to have made Jojo realize that she's not a lesbian. She said during the April 22 episode, she joked that she was switching letters. Fuck the L. I'm going to the queue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

She's a baby. She's 21 years old. She shouldn't have to commit to a letter at this point.

[Lauren Garoni]

She went on to say, chelsea, I feel like so queer. Do you know what I mean? She told housemaid Danny Beard. I think that's the thing. I've always told myself I'm a lesbian. And I think being here, I realized, oh, I'm not a lesbian, I'm queer. And I think that's really cool.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So you're horny for someone.

[Lauren Garoni]

I do, like, love the idea because no one has their phones on them that like a week without, like TikTok or Instagram has made this woman realize she's not a lesbian. Jojo made it to the third place on Celebrity Big Brother. I have no idea what that means. I don't know if there's cash prizes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. I think we probably should have done a little bit of research about how Big Brother works, but it's too late now.

[Lauren Garoni]

Okay, the fuckettes will slide into our DMs and explain this. So now JoJo Siwa's partner, Kath Ebbs enters the chat because they are watching their partner get increasingly close to a reality show reject of the opposite sex. So they fly out and they then reveal in a 13 minute video posted to Instagram that I believe has since been deleted because I can't find it anymore. I found it somewhere on Reddit. But they explain that Jojo dumped them during the after party for the Celebrity Big Brother live show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So rough. But we kind of saw that coming, right? Because Jojo literally said to Chris, like, just give me 48 hours. When they were still in the house.

[Lauren Garoni]

Jojo forgot other people can see this.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So crazy.

[Lauren Garoni]

So according to Ebbs, Jojo Siwa said to them, I was told there are confused feelings that they realized in the house that I wasn't the person they wanted to spend the foreseeable future with.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, also, I don't think they had been together for that long.

[Lauren Garoni]

No. Here's the other funny thing is everyone was like, that's so fucked up. Because I guess also Cath Ebbs goes on in this video to say, like, we were making plans to get married and then someone pointed out they've only been together since December. And I also want to point out Jojo was gone in the Celebrity Big Brother house for almost the entirety of April. Even for lesbians, this is quite quick, for sure. But there's more. Chelsea. So Jojo Siwa was recently on Nick Vile's podcast this week and she explained she was cussed out by Kath Ebbs and that is what led to their breakup. And it's like, fair enough.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Lauren Garoni]

So Chris Hughes said Monday of their intense connection, it's hard to explain. It's really just a strong bond between two people, which is just a strong friendship. And I think you can have like a soulmate friendship.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I totally agree. They could just have a strong friendship. It is just a little curious that she said, Give me 48 hours, and then broke up with her partner and.

[Lauren Garoni]

Was like, I'm not strictly a lesbian anymore.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garoni]

So is she switching from the L to the Q to the B?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No one's B anymore. Everyone's pan.

[Lauren Garoni]

What a wild butterfly effect, right, Chelsea? For JoJo Siwa. Like, if the star of nine and a half weeks didn't decide to get into boxing in the early 90s, causing such facial damage that he needed multiple surgeries that rendered him unrecognizable and unhirable in Hollywood, JoJo Siwa would have never known she was queer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, like I said, she's a baby. And I actually kind of think it's cool that she is willing to sort of publicly reassess where she's at because a lot of people double down because they're too embarrassed to change course or whatever.

[Lauren Garoni]

Is there something you want to announce on the podcast, Chelsea?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it's funny because when I was growing up, a lot of people that would now identify as gay or queer were, quote, unquote, not into labels. And that always annoyed me because, you know, I was always committed to identifying as a lesbian. And I found more granular information to be useful when dating. But now everyone is too granular. So I might be turning into one of those not into labels people. Hell, I might be straight soon.

[Lauren Garoni]

Come on over, the water's warm.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's Trump's America, babes. I gotta adapt.

[Lauren Garoni]

All right, only time will tell if jojo Siwan, a man that I previously had no idea who he was, Chris Hughes, end up together, we don't know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although we did see photos of them hanging out with his friends at some bar.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, but she's all high. Being in the UK and coming off of Celebrity Big Brother. I wonder once she comes Back to the JoJo Siwa Dance Studio that's deep in Burbank if things will change.

[Chelsea Fairless]

She'll be like, wait, I hate dick. What was I thinking? Because sometimes you think it will be hot to sleep with a guy, but then you come face to face with the dick and you're like, wait, hold on, wait a minute.

[Lauren Garoni]

This looks nothing like a strap on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

On that note, shall we talk about some beauty news?

[Lauren Garoni]

As always, flawless transitions here on the Every Outfit podcast. I do want to get into some beauty news because I know that there has been a rebrand of the Candle SL perfume brand Boy Smells that is highly controversial. And I know you have specific feelings about this.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Leave Boy Smells alone. I think people are hating way too much on this personally, but I guess I'm the only person that has that opinion somehow. So I guess I should just explain this rebrand a little bit. It's kind of a three part rebrand, right? Because Boy Smells sells candles. They sell Perfumes, they changed the perfume bottle and they changed the candle vessels. Previously, Boy Smells was known for these black vessels with these pink labels.

[Lauren Garoni]

It was really the epitome of the Millennial Pink, late Obama, early Trump aesthetics.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sure. But it was one of the brands that ushered that in, along with Glossier, along with Sophia Amoroso and the Girl Boss book cover, all of that. When Boy Smells came out, Millennial Pink wasn't called that and it didn't have a culture attached to it. So I can understand why now they may want to move beyond that because it has become such a ubiquitous color in the beauty world. I'm looking at you, Kylie Cosmetics.

[Lauren Garoni]

People are associating this more minimal look, at least with the candle packaging, to what I have seen referred to as a Sephora Vacation. And Sephora Vacation uses a pejorative term of like, oh, the brand's cheaping out on us now. It's not like they went down in looks and packaging and are still charging the same price. The candle is less expensive.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And there's actually not that many luxury candle brands that are kind of mid range luxury at this point because Diptyque candles are now $76. Birado candles are 99. Trudon candles are $125. Like, this is the landscape that we're looking at. So with the Boy Smells candles, they've introduced two different kinds of candles, really. One batch of them are labelless in colored glass vessels and they're $38. And then the other ones are in black vessels with colored labels and are like 42 or something, 43, something like that for sure. I don't know. I get that it's not like the most innovative design, but I also don't think it's a far cry from what they were doing either.

[Lauren Garoni]

And I don't think it's badly designed to move into the perfumes. I think what is a dog whistle to a lot of people, especially in like rperfume or R Beauty, is when something is reformulated. And so the perfume, it not only has a different vessel, but it's a new formulation.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, they did also reformulate. They're now using, I believe, soy wax instead of beeswax. I think, God, I sound like a fucking nerd. But I think the perfume bottles look better because here's the thing, when they first introduced the perfumes, they took a risk with the design of the bottle. The design of the bottle was very unusual. I would even say avant garde. The cap of the perfume is like three times the size of the bottle, which is just like very different, not a safe design per se. So at this point I don't think we can fault them for doing something a bit safer, given how that was probably received.

[Lauren Garoni]

Right. And also it seems that the perfumes are now available to purchase at Sephora. I want to read you this brutal tweet from Daisy Alioto. Aze and confused. Nice Twitter handle. And it's a screen cap of the Boy Smells perfume from Sephora. This is the worst rebrand I've ever seen. The teemuification of an already targetified indie brand. Little pearlescent elf bars for TikTok influencers to click their nails against. I wouldn't even hide this in my top drawer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So rude. But the backlash has been so intense that I actually received an email from Boy Smells explaining the rebrand. In it they write, we won't sugarcoat it. Boy Smells has faced real challenges in recent years. As beloved as many of our scents are, they weren't selling at a level that could sustain the business. We were at risk of being dropped by major retails and worse, having to shut our doors entirely. So yeah, what are they going to do? The thing with the Sephora fication of certain brands is that these kind of smaller retailers completely depend on Sephora and selling products at Sephora. So they have to do what they have to do so that people that shop there will actually want to buy this.

[Lauren Garoni]

Obviously a metric that Sephora has is that it has to hit a certain price point. And I feel like getting into. Is Amaya French now being sold at Sephora? I think this is a good time to talk about that. I've also noticed is Amaya French who we've talked about, we've purchased her first few makeup drops that have been these insanely elaborate eye palettes. And there was the cowboy, you know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Lip liner, the pre Cowboy Carter. Cowboy Carter themed lip glosses. Yes.

[Lauren Garoni]

And now Isamiya French is in Sephora with a much more, let's say med spa industrial look to all of the products, which people have also taken offense to. It's like, but this stuff is 30, $40. It's cheaper than it was. Like, what do people want?

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, when things become attainable, people don't want them anymore.

[Lauren Garoni]

That's the truth, isn't it?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I really think it is. Like you loved it when she was selling $90 dick shaped lipsticks that you couldn't afford, but now that she's actually making a $40 skin tint or something, it's like, fuck that bitch. The psychology of it is really weird, but I think when Issa Maya approached this brand, she came at it similarly to Pat McGrath, which is that she differentiated herself from other beauty brands by having the most lavish, expensive packaging known to man. Really.

[Lauren Garoni]

And as that turns out, it's not sustainable.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it's hard to scale that into a massive brand.

[Lauren Garoni]

Certainly the backlash I've seen to her Sephora line is interesting to me. I've seen people go like, who is this brand even for? And it's like, it's for pale little freaks like Chelsea and myself who need a cool, toned contour stick.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, I think it's for people that would otherwise shop at Urban Decay. Like, in theory, Issa Maya Beauty should be appealing to the Urban Decay bitches. But it hasn't been because it's too fancy, I guess, and too conceptual.

[Lauren Garoni]

Issa Maya is for those of us that wore Urban Decay as teenagers into our twenties who have grown up.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. I think this is more for young people, though. But maybe we're just saying that because of the price point.

[Lauren Garoni]

Chelsea is pointing to the few Issamaya French products that I purchased because Chell was like, they're not at Sephora. I said, yes, they are. They don't have their own aisle. You know, when you, like, cross between aisles, they sometimes have, like, mini representations of makeup brands. That's where Isamaya French is, at least at the Studio City Sephora. But I did get a couple of the contour sticks, which I enjoy because they're more pointed. They more have the look of a lip liner or a lipstick. She also provides a chocolate brown mascara, which I also purchased.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I do want to say every single piece of packaging in this line looks like something that an alien would use to probe you if you were abducted.

[Lauren Garoni]

That's certainly the vibe for sure. I think the most controversial product that I've noticed is the Color Correcting Skin Tint Serum that's in a glass bottle. Just because, according to reviews, people literally cannot use it. They cannot get the product out of it because it's a glass vessel. They can't squeeze the product out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I saw a TikTok about this, actually. You have to, like, unscrew part of it. Like you have to disassemble it to assemble it.

[Lauren Garoni]

Right.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It doesn't just work like the first time you squeeze it. So maybe these people just didn't read the instructions.

[Lauren Garoni]

Leave these Sephora brands alone. It's very comforting to be able to swatch something in person.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, we shall see how it does Absolutely. In other beauty news, Sizza has entered the celebrity side hustle beauty game with her new line, Not Beauty. At the moment, it just appears to be lip glosses that are in very upsetting tubes.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's giving Aiden Shaw. For those who haven't seen it, they are lip glosses in wooden vessels. Sorry, I keep saying vessels, but I don't know how else to.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They're tubes. It's like a tubed lip gloss with a wand.

[Lauren Garoni]

That is a wood veneer of sorts.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I just don't think that wood is the answer when it comes to beauty packaging. And we've seen this time and time again, right? Because remember Blake Brown, Blake Lively's Target hair care line? Would.

[Lauren Garoni]

Remember Domain skin Care, Brad Pitt's male skincare line?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, would. Again, the only brand that I think has figured out how to use wood correctly is that fragrance brand called Omay. I think Omaie, which uses these really beautiful, like, sculptural, wooden, like, caps on their fragrances. But other than that, wood is just a bad idea.

[Lauren Garoni]

But, Chelsea, would you be surprised to learn that SZA's line, not beauty is inspired by nature?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay. Yet nothing looks less natural than this.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, it's also funny because the names of the three gloss shades other than quartz don't really convey nature. The other two gloss shades are called Flesh and strawberry jelly. SZA said of of her burgeoning beauty brand, or I guess not beauty brand. There was nothing that existed that did that for me and also made me feel moisturized. I don't know much about much, but I know a lot about lips. And I feel like not beauty is not beauty. It is just something that I wanted to share that worked for me, and I hope it works for you. It's really well made. It's awesome.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Look, lip gloss makes sense for her, but the way this turned out is deeply unsettling.

[Lauren Garoni]

I do like that she's rolling out these lip glosses, it seems, in her merch booth for her Kendrick Lamar tour.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also, we might be the only podcast talking about Jeff Goldblum's new fragrance, Gold Blooming.

[Lauren Garoni]

I think next week we're gonna get an email in our inbox. It's pitching Jeff Goldblum.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wait, no. What am I saying? Throwing fits is definitely weighing in on the Jeff Goldblum x Braindead fragrance.

[Lauren Garoni]

I didn't know that Brain Dead was in the fragrance game, but, yeah, they.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Have a perfume called Shroom Cola that they've had for a while now, but this is the only other perfume that I know of that they've done. Gold Blooming opens with bold, magnetic notes of sandalwood, tobacco leaf, leather, and white musk, laying down a warm and rich foundation. Layers of orris root, clary sage. I do love clary sage and tea. Absolute build an earthy heart, while notes of wood decay, maple and roasted hazelnut settle into a smoky, comforting drydown.

[Lauren Garoni]

I did notice the phrase comforting notes of wood decay, and I did want to talk about that with you because.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, it wasn't comforting notes of wood decay. It was notes of wood decay and a comforting dry down.

[Lauren Garoni]

I'm looking at Jeff Goldblum's Instagram, and it is referred to as the fragrance evolves with comforting notes of wood decay. I've never heard of wood decay. You know more about fragrances than I do. Is this a common note?

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's not a common note, but if I want to smell wood decay, I could just step out onto the balcony outside my bedroom. Look. It's a cute combination of brand and celebrity, I think. And I like when celebrities are working with indie brands. You know, I think it's cute when Chloe 70 did the regime de Fleur perfume. I think it's cute when Casey Musgraves did the Boy smells Candle, which, by the way, they've gotten rid of that. It was called Slow Burn, but they basically re released it as Red Hot, so they still make it. If anyone's wondering and looking for that, that's just what you buy instead.

[Lauren Garoni]

See, that's messed up.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, they don't want to have to pay her all that money anymore.

[Lauren Garoni]

What I also like is, in addition to the perfume, they have done a branded Jeff Goldblum T shirt that you can buy.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Very cute.

[Lauren Garoni]

Which I feel like should be drenched in the scent of Gold Blooming.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Gold Blooming is just such a good name that is kind of like, who even cares what this smells like? And the bottle is cute. Like, I'm not the biggest brain dead person, obviously.

[Lauren Garoni]

There's a wood cap on this. How do you feel about that? Okay, see, the wood works here at $120. I assume this is actually wood.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The wood looks good. Yeah. It's like brain dead is not my personal aesthetic, but I respect the fact that they have their own look. It is very distinctive. The world of street wear is very homogenous, and it seems like they've carved out a cute niche for themselves.

[Lauren Garoni]

We'll timeshare one bottle of Gold Blooming babes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't want to smell like rotting wood. Moving on. Shall we talk about some TV Yes.

[Lauren Garoni]

I want to get into what we've been watching, but before we do, I need to talk about the latest Netflix prestige series that is coming out called the Sirens. I sent this trailer to Chelsea. I started playing it and I got very confused. I was like, oh, Netflix made a mistake. They put the trailer for the Perfect Couple up again. Because somehow in the same calendar year, didn't the Perfect Couple come out earlier this year?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it came out in like September, I think.

[Lauren Garoni]

Within a year, Netflix is having two Prestige limited series that star Megan Fahey arriving at a coastal Nantucket esque town and shit goes down. But instead of Nicole Kidman, it's Julianne Moore, and instead of Liev Schreiber, it's Kevin Bacon. And instead of like A Murder in Family, it's Cult vibes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's upsetting to see Julianne Moore in one of these bottom barrel Nicole Kidman roles. Although to be fair, she did do that one movie called Chloe with Amanda Seyfried, which was like a bad Nicole Kidman movie. Yes, I'll probably watch it because I'm a garbage person with no standards.

[Lauren Garoni]

I would get it if this was on Hulu, but it's like this is also on Netflix and it also has Megan Fahey.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It really looks like the worst thing that's ever been made. It's taking aspects of various Nicole Kidman shows. It's like A Perfect Couple. The cult thing is kind of more Nine Perfect Strangers energy.

[Lauren Garoni]

All right, well, we'll watch it anyway. I can't believe it's taken us this long to talk about this season of Hacks.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, because we're four episodes in, five episodes in.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, the fifth episode dropped today, so we're talking about the first few episodes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think it's a great season.

[Lauren Garoni]

It is a great season. It's nice to see after several seasons of Deborah Vance always being the underdog, but also always being the smartest person in the room. It's fascinating watching her as a character try to do her old shtick and it just isn't working in the contemporary entertainment ecosystem. Like, she's trying to dominate these situations and then she's kind of just being outdone by Helen Hunt. Who is she a lesbian?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. She is a vest wearer.

[Lauren Garoni]

She's a very lesbian coded, I would say executive for sure, who is kind of out. Deborah Vancing. Her being like, this isn't working. Why are you alienating all of our sponsors?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think I like this season of Hacks because they kept the World of it Pretty Small, which was more akin to the first season. I guess that's true.

[Lauren Garoni]

I mean, they are confined to the writers room of the Deborah Vance late night show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, but why are all of these writers such freaks?

[Lauren Garoni]

Look, I don't know that many TV writers. Maybe this is what they're like.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We know plenty of TV writers and this is definitely not what they're like. But I love that they're kind of like nameless, faceless, personality. Less for the time being.

[Lauren Garoni]

Anyway, can I shout out my favorite storyline that I hope will be getting more attention as the season goes on?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I can guess what it is. Is it the fact that Ava is now living at the Americana?

[Lauren Garoni]

Of course it is. For those that don't live in Los Angeles, there are two Caruso outdoor malls. The Grove, which is in Los Angeles. Ironically, the Grove is next to one of the locations that they shoot the Deborah Vance show at, which is the CBS Television City. But there is a second outdoor mall called the Americana. And what differentiates that from the Grove is that that building has apartments above the stores. We knew someone at some point in some LA show was going to make this a plot point. I could not be happier. That attacks.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it's perfect that it's hacks. Also, the Megan Statler character really sold me on the idea of living there when she was like explaining to Ava, like, why this was the perfect place for her to live. It's like, yeah, I would love the convenience of just, just being at the mall all the time.

[Lauren Garoni]

Oh, for you, if they put an arrow on there, you actually, I think you and Tat would move to Glendale. Sadly, the Americana Apartments affords the only kind of walkable live work situation you could possibly have.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, even though I don't work in the entertainment industry, hacks does exist in the Los Angeles that I recognize. And we get lots of classic LA locations in this season. The Americana, the Comedy Store, and the Sunset Strip.

[Lauren Garoni]

Ava takes the writers out to Bar Lubidge on Santa Monica Boulevard. I do love when LA shows the geography is accurate because she leaves her car across the street at. Yeah, Pleasure Chest, which Bar Lubage is across the street from the Pleasure Chest. And Ava gets her car towed and is forced to buy a product at the Pleasure Chest so her car doesn't get towed. But it happens.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, the Pleasure Chest has a very big parking lot that they share with a dispensary and I think some sushi restaurant maybe or something.

[Lauren Garoni]

I don't know what that building is next to it. I thought it was like a. A weed infused bar.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, how long until Hacks makes Candle Delirium part of the show? Because that seems very them.

[Lauren Garoni]

We must have talked about our love for the store on Santa Monica Boulevard called Candle Delirium.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, it's my favorite store in L. A. It is what it sounds like. It is just a candle store.

[Lauren Garoni]

And you would think, do you really need a store dedicated to candles? Do we need 6,000 square feet of just candles? And the answer is, yeah, absolutely. So I will say that the tension between Deborah and Ava this season does make me uncomfortable. I know that it's Deborah's thing to be me and mommy, but I just want my girls to get along.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I know. It makes me really sad when they're fighting, which is most of the show.

[Lauren Garoni]

I know. Deborah's so mean to Ava again. I understand why.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This scene with the hug outside of Helen Hunt's house really upset me.

[Lauren Garoni]

Where is the show going? Is it going with the two of them having sex?

[Chelsea Fairless]

It seems like it might be moving towards that, although I don't think it actually is is.

[Lauren Garoni]

But I'm sure we'll get a fantasy sequence.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Also, the Carol Burnett scene really touched me when she ran into her in the cardiologist's office. It's more touching than it's been in the past. I think it's leaning into that.

[Lauren Garoni]

I think the, the Emmy and the Golden Globe for Jean Smart, that's already been etched on those awards because I think this is some of the best acting we've seen from Jean Smart of her character. Is Deborah Vance lashing out at these people that as she succeeds, they're succeeding, which means they're moving away from her. Like her longtime assistant that wants to run the QVC channel.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. That scene was incredible on both of their parts. He's such a great character too. I'm. I hope he doesn't leave the show completely. We also haven't gotten any of Deborah's daughter, Caitlin Olsen.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although we do have the addition of Robbie Hoffman, which is perfect for the talent agency.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah, I'm. I'm loving this season.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I think Hacks is an easy show for me to love because I do feel like I personally exist somewhere on the Deborah to Ava spectrum. Somewhere in the middle.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah. Who am I?

[Chelsea Fairless]

You're the Paul Downs character.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm a Jimmy sun in a Helen Hunt moon.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You have a vest or two.

[Lauren Garoni]

I mean, they don't fit me currently, but, you know, I'll get back into them.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Shall we move on? To the rehearsal.

[Lauren Garoni]

For those who have not delved into the latest season of the rehearsal, it sees Nathan Fielder bring his brand of elaborately staged recreations of everyday scenarios, but this time to try to understand why airplane crashes happen, particularly those that involve miscommunications between the pilots. The first episode is Nathan Fielder going through these transcripts of airplane crashes and what the conversations between the pilots are like. And I kept turning to Paul and I was like, wait, is this real or is this staged? And he was like, no, all of these. All of these things have happened.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's so terrifying. So if you haven't seen this, a lot of plane crashes happen because the assistant pilot, associate pilot, junior pilot, whatever the other pilot sees that something is wrong, but doesn't want to step on the toes or offend the main captain. And in these horrifying transcripts that they recreate, you see it again and again. And so Nathan Fielder's whole thing is like, if I can just work on improving this sort of dynamics between the pilots, maybe we can prevent some of these commercial airline disasters. Because when planes crash, it's usually because of that or because of, like, mechanical failure. I remind myself of this every time I experience turbulence. I'm like, turbulence does not cause planes to crash.

[Lauren Garoni]

No. But horrifyingly enough, we've now learned that, like, the two pilots don't really know each other.

[Chelsea Fairless]

How the. Is that a thing? I just assumed they were, like, cops and they had, like, a little partner.

[Lauren Garoni]

Yeah. They have routes that they go on together. Yes. As we learn in the first episode of the rehearsal, many of these junior pilots are meeting the captains for the very first time the day that they fly, and they don't even have, like, how's the weather? Conversations. Like, they truly sit in silence.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's so awkward. It's like they're on a horrible blind date every single time they fly.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, after, you know, they pick up their Panda Express. The second episode gets off the rails, which we'll get into in a second. But I did think of you when that pilot that it seems like they're going to be featuring throughout the series says, my routine at the airport is going to Panda Express.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That felt like you, me at Tom Bradley 1000. I love that he built a replica of the Panda Express in the Houston airport, which I just went to. Very impressive.

[Lauren Garoni]

How. How is Nathan Fielder's recreation?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I didn't go to the Panda Express specifically, but I did go to that airport.

[Lauren Garoni]

Okay, we need to get into the second episode, which was absolutely insane. It somehow weaves Nathan Fielder's previous work as a producer on Canadian Idol with his beef with Paramount plus for taking an episode of Nathan for you off the air for, quote, antisemitism concerns.

[Chelsea Fairless]

If you didn't ever see that episode of Nathan for you, he basically found out that there was this Canadian outerwear company called Tyga, I think, who had written something in support of a Holocaust denier in one of their catalogs. And so he set out to create a competing outerwear brand that was all about Holocaust awareness, essentially, which was called Summit Ice. Nothing about the branding or anything of the brand was about the Holocaust. It was more of a fundraising thing. And the brand continues to exist to this day.

[Lauren Garoni]

So we learn in this episode of the Rehearsal, which airs on hbo, has nothing to do with Paramount plus or any of their subsidiary channels, but he brings onto the rehearsal the fact that in 2023, he learns that Paramount Germany has an issue with this episode and has pulled it from their streaming service. And then every other country basically follows.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Suit because of concerns about antisemitism around the October 7th attacks. Although if you've seen the episode, it's more about antisemitism than anything else.

[Lauren Garoni]

And that is the irony of. Of all of that. It's also worth noting that the same night that this rehearsal episode airs at the end of 60 Minutes, Scott Pelly discusses the fact that their longtime producer, Bill Evans resigned from his position in part due to interference from Paramount, which is the parent company, to CBS, which airs 60 Minutes over stories that they were doing about Israel, Gaza, as well as the Trump administration, because Paramount is in the process of selling their company to David Ellison Skydance, which needs approval from the Trump administration. I don't think from everything that's being reported, Paramount was unaware that Nathan Fielder was going to air this out on this episode of the Rehearsal. I don't think Nathan Fielder knew about what was going on with Six60 Minutes, but I feel like it gives context to maybe why the episode was pulled off of the streaming services.

[Chelsea Fairless]

For sure.

[Lauren Garoni]

And it's all to make Daddy Trump happy. Sorry, we reserve Daddy for people we like.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I wonder if the Paramount thing will continue into the next episode, because it wasn't really resolved. He was doing rehearsals with German Paramount executives. Really nuts. I just think that this is actually the most brilliant show on television. I have only seen two episodes, but it is so rare that anything ever gets made that is this extreme and this original, and it actually kind of transcends originality. It's one of those television shows that actually like expands the possibilities of what a television show can be. And it kind of reminds me of like how I felt watching the Tom Green show in the 90s and the kind of renegade quality that that show had. Although this is of course more highbrow and, and polished and layered.

[Lauren Garoni]

And the budget.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And the budget is nuts.

[Lauren Garoni]

What I think is interesting about this season of the rehearsal compared to the first season is he is breaking the fourth one wall. Like in the first episode. He does acknowledge the insane budget HBO has given him. And almost with glee he's like, yeah, I'm going to recreate a whole airport.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Do we need to be buying Summit Ice in support?

[Lauren Garoni]

I know. Where can we find summit ice?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Summitice.com I went to the website. Ironically the Summit Ice logo not dissimilar from Paramount.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, I don't know if you've seen the Paramount ads for their streaming service, but like that is. The whole thing is like various IP characters landing on a summit. I assume on the Paramount and Chelsea. I don't know if you, if you'd be shocked to hear this, but did you know that CBS, which is owned by Paramount, started airing in September 2024, a show called the Summit?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I did not.

[Lauren Garoni]

This has so many layers now. I feel like I'm Nathan Fielder.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The logic of pulling that episode is so bizarre.

[Lauren Garoni]

I wonder if he can pressure them into putting it back on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I think they should. It's like let this Jewish man make his art in peace.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well also the second episode is so crazy for the Paramount plus of it all that we've yet to talk about the other jaw dropping moment of that episode where the pilot confides to Nathan that he's been banned off of every single dating app and he has no.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Idea why yet he's flying a whole ass plane. Yeah, I think I actually prefer just having this idea that captains are these fake, idealized, impenetrable, non human people that are responsible for our lives. To know that it's a guy that has been banned from every single dating.

[Lauren Garoni]

App and Instagram for making jokes. We've also come off of like two back to back great portrayals of hero pilots like Denzel Washington in flight who lands the plane upside down. Spoiler alert.

[Chelsea Fairless]

While drunken high, there goes my hero.

[Lauren Garoni]

And then Tom Hanks as Sully Sullenberg.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Why did I watch both of these movies?

[Lauren Garoni]

Did you also see it with your parents? Because that's how I saw both of these movies.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I think I'm just attracted to movies about plane crashes and like a Moth to a flame.

[Lauren Garoni]

Have you ever seen Fearless with Jeff Bridges from the early 90s?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No.

[Lauren Garoni]

It is a film. I think Peter Weir directed it, where Jeff Bridges is a nervous flyer. He gets into a plane crash, he miraculously survives, and then he has a new zeal on life. I believe Isabella Rossellini is his wife, but it's stuff like he's deathly allergic to strawberries, but now he can eat strawberries.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Everything you've described sounds wonderful.

[Lauren Garoni]

It's a very early 90s concept for a film because if you ask me what else happens, I'm like, I don't know.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, I will continue to be riveted by the rehearsal, and we can circle back when it's all over.

[Lauren Garoni]

So we will be back. No, I have a good ending for this episode. Chelsea, don't laugh.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Do you? Okay, great. Lay it on me.

[Lauren Garoni]

Well, we will be back as soon as possible because the Met is happening on Monday. As soon as we can process the, like, 700 outfits on the red carpet, we will come back on Mike and try to get that episode to you as fast as possible.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Right? Right. It's the first Monday in May. How could I forget?

[Lauren Garoni]

Gird your loins, Chelsea.

[Chelsea Fairless]

All right, guys, we will be back soon.

[Lauren Garoni]

All right, Bye.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It breaks.