Out of Scope Issue 109: The Met Gala Strikes Back

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May 9, 2023

It’s been a weird week for the upper crust. From a Met Gala that cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to scheduling around social unrest, to a Presidential dinner tapping reality TV’s greatest minds, the glitziest of events were even harder than usual to look away from this week. Join the HL team this week as we examine not only how the other half lives, but how we talk about them, too. 

????ON OUR MINDS: Rolling Out the Red Carpet

  • From the glamorous steps of the Metropolitan Museum to the picket line on Hollywood Boulevard, there’s been no shortage of discourse on legacy, creative expression, and honoring the artist this week. 
  • Hosted on the First Monday of May, this year’s Met Gala played tribute to Karl Lagerfeld — a man best known for his tenure as Chanel’s Creative Director and his beloved cat-turned-influencer Choupette. While Chanel brides, Choupette caricatures, and Hollywood’s elite showed up to serve looks, one thing was notably missing from the red carpet: a meaningful conversation about Lagerfeld’s history of problematic and defamatory behavior. 
  • Legacies can be complicated — as Anna Wintour knows all too well — but the erasure of Lagerfeld’s transgressions at a history museum was not lost on anyone. The Gala’s perceived tone-deafness was only further exacerbated by the creative turmoil unraveling on the other coast. 
  • After months of failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television, the Writer’s Guild of America officially called a strike until demands for fairer compensation, streaming residuals (a la Taylor Swift v. Spotify), and responsible artificial intelligence policies can be agreed upon.
  • The WGA’s public airings (witty signs, included) paint a troubling picture: extremely wealthy studios and executives devaluing the artists whose work funds their ornate lifestyles.
  • While this year’s Gala’s legacy and the future of the strike are still up in the air, public criticism of Lagerfeld and the AMPTP proves that fair treatment never goes out of style.

???? ON OUR RADAR

  • The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has long served two important roles: bridging the gap between the Bully Pulpit and the press, and inflating C-SPAN’s viewership into the thousands. This week’s Correspondents’ Dinner brought some unusual guests, and we aren’t talking about Dark Brandon. In addition to the traditional menagerie of politicos and journalists, the cast of reality hit Vanderpump Rules attended the event, along with beloved influencer Julia Fox, signaling a shift in audience, and a potential rebrand for one of Washington’s “nerd proms.”
  • One of the earliest pioneers of AI, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton has left his position at Google in order to freely speak about the dangers of rapid AI advancement. ‘The Godfather of AI’ warned that scientists should avoid new AI innovations until fully understanding if the creators of AI can control the programs. This Thursday, the White House expressed similar concerns to the CEOs at the companies at the forefront of AI development, including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI (notably absent: Meta—but that’s another story). It’s feeling as though Victor Frankenstein is warning the villagers of the risks of his own creation running amuck. 
  • Don’t forget the little guys. Amidst economic downturn, major media outlets have made headlines for laying off staff, but smaller, niche publications have also been hit. Of course, game-changer Buzzfeed announced its fold weeks ago, but more recently, other fan-favorite projects, including PAPER Magazine and VICE have fallen on hard times. VICE, once a promising startup on the edge of mainstream media, and in another lifetime, a Canadian punk magazine, has failed to turn a profit for years,filing for bankruptcy after hemorrhaging money and launching rounds upon rounds of staff layoffs.

????QUICK HITS: 

In case you missed these stories.

  • WordPress is the latest platform to cut ties with Twitter due to Elon Musk implementing new (and pricey) API subscription plans.
  • Snoop Dogg has entered the bidding for Ottawa Senators as a serious contender.
  • The Tech Bro may be out of favor, but the New York It Girl is forever. 

Thanks for reading,

HL

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This week’s newsletter is brought to you by the number one suspect in the case of who dumped the mysterious hundreds of pound pile of pasta in the woods of New Jersey, Strega Nona.

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