Lily James Plays Tinder/Bumble Girl Boss in 'Swiped'

Lily James Plays Tinder/Bumble Girl Boss in 'Swiped'

Lily James Plays Tinder/Bumble Girl Boss in 'Swiped'

Actor Lily James has three films out this year [‘Finally Dawn’, ‘Relay’ and ‘Swiped’] and a new production company called Parodos Productions, which James co-founded with Gala Gordon. Both women are in their mid-thirties and Gordon is also a British actor.

They launched Parodos Productions to champion fresh voices and female-led stories like the film ‘Swiped’. Parodos has joined 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment as co-producer of the film inspired by the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and former CEO of online dating platform Bumble. James plays the lead role and Gordon is executive producer on the film.

Bumble founder Wolfe Herd couldn’t contribute in any way to ‘Swiped’ because she’s governed by a NDA. “Part of why I wanted to make this movie is to explore how NDAs are weaponized against women,” James told Bloomberg/Businessweek.

“In a way this film becomes a form of reclamation not just for Whitney but for women who have been told to keep quiet,” James says.

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Platinum Haired Emily Blunt Covers Vogue Hong To Talk 'The Smashing Machine'

Platinum Haired Emily Blunt Covers Vogue Hong To Talk 'The Smashing Machine'

Platinum Haired Emily Blunt Covers Vogue Hong To Talk 'The Smashing Machine'

Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and more are returning for the sequel of their 2006 hit ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. That’s all the buzz and now Emily Blunt is bringing her “shocking platinum hair” to her cover story for Vogue Hong Kong [IG] August 2025 issue.

Playing Dawn Staples in ‘The Smashing Machine’

In October we will see Blunt in ‘The Smashing Machine’, where she plays Dawn Staples in the biographical sports drama film about her ex-husband, UFC champion Mark Kerr. Directed by Benny Safdie, the film explores the brutal and raw nature of MMA.

Mark Kerr is played by Emily Blunt’s longtime friend and co-star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Blunt and Johnson have significant mutual trust in each other, which was required to portray a high-combustion relationship that was searingly contentious and then “filled with love, connection, and intimacy.”

Both Blunt and Johnson committed themselves to being vulnerable, and it shows in the finished film, according to the cover star.

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Jennifer Aniston in Vanity Fair September Says Hollywood's Female Alliance Is Strong

Jennifer Aniston in Vanity Fair September Says Hollywood's Female Alliance Is Strong

Jennifer Aniston in Vanity Fair September Says Hollywood's Female Alliance Is Strong

Actor Jennifer Aniston covers the September 2025 issue of Vanity Fair [IG], sitting for a major interview with Julie Miller 20 years after her divorce from Brad Pitt.

Aniston is styled by Paul Cavaco in Balenciaga, Gucci, Loro Piana, Rabanne, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Schiaparelli and more. The actor wears Bulgari High Jewelry in images by Norman Jean Roy [IG].

Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock are close friends, and the most interesting parts of the interview focus on changes in Hollywood regarding women’s power and influence.

“We were from that time in the business where no one wanted the ladies to be friends—it was about pitting everyone against each other,” Sandra Bullock says. “We were told we weren’t supposed to do that—meaning like and respect and honor each other.”

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Malala Yousafzai Brings Wit and Grit to GQ Hero Interview, Lensed by Elizaveta Porodina

Malala Yousafzai Brings Wit and Grit to GQ Hero Interview, Lensed by Elizaveta Porodina

Malala Yousafzai Brings Wit and Grit to GQ Hero Interview, Lensed by Elizaveta Porodina

Shot-in-the head while sitting on her school-bus in 2012, Taliban gunman survivor Malala Yousafzai was among the British GQ Heroes 2025 honored in early July. AOC notes that Brunello Cucinelli was also among the artists, activists and radical thinkers at the two-day event and on the cover of British GQ’s special issue. We must track him down.

GQ’s interview by Adam Baidawi launches on a private practice golf range an hour southeast of London. And she is giving him instructions.

The Uncomfortable Truths for Activists

Much of the interview is devoted to all the back-sliding happening around the world on women’s rights — and especially in Afghanistan, where Malala is deeply involved in girl’s education. And how activism has gone lukewarm in many countries around the world.

Badawai asks a critical question:

What’s an uncomfortable truth about the work that you do?

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Nicole Kidman News: Clé de Peau Beauté Ambassador, Portugal Residency, 2015 Playing Gertrude Bell

Nicole Kidman News: Clé de Peau Beauté Ambassador, Portugal Residency, 2015 Playing Gertrude Bell

Nicole Kidman News: Clé de Peau Beauté Ambassador, Portugal Residency, 2015 Playing Gertrude Bell

Actor Nicole Kidman made news last week with her skincare routine under scrutiny, now that the ‘Moulin Rouge’ actor became a new global ambassador for Clé de Peau Beauté [IG].

Clé de Peau Beauté has never pursued a superficial, external approach to physical beauty and the appointment emphasizes the shared values between the beauty brand and Nicole Kidman’s actions as a humanist.

Intelligent, Intentional, Illuminating Beauty

As a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, the actor dedicates herself to advancing gender equality, supporting education, and combating violence against women. Her humanitarian work echoes Clé de Peau Beauté’s core mission: to empower individuals and transform beauty into a vehicle for confidence, purpose, and positive impact.

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Sharon Stone Is Modern Goddess with Ancient Roots in Vogue Adria June 2025

Sharon Stone Is Modern Goddess with Ancient Roots in Vogue Adria June 2025

Sharon Stone Is Modern Goddess with Ancient Roots in Vogue Adria June 2025

Actor, activist, humanist and hardcore ballbreaker Sharon Stone is the cover star of Vogue Adria [IG] June 2025. Stone is joined by models Gabriel Aubry and Adam Senn in a provocative fashion story styled by Paris Libby.

Photographer Branislav Simoncik [IG] captures the visual narrative that reminds us of 90s Gianni Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and even Valentino. It intrigues me to review French luxury brands and Italian brands historically on this idea.

In its simplest form, Sharon Stone is a glass half full person. And she is the consummate ballbreaker.

Right wingers insist that ballbreakers are narcissistic women consumed with our own self-image and self-contained universe. In fact, ballbreakers are more likely to be exactly the opposite.

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Sydney Sweeney Talks New Films 'Eden' and 'Echo Valley' for W Magazine Summer 2025

Sydney Sweeney Talks New Films 'Eden' and 'Echo Valley' for W Magazine Summer 2025

Sydney Sweeney Talks New Films 'Eden' and 'Echo Valley' for W Magazine Summer 2025

With a short but punchy interview Lynn Hirschberg runs a trifecta with the actor about her upcoming 2025 releases.

Professionally, Sweeney appears this summer in ‘Eden’, a survival thriller set in the Galápagos Islands. She also plays Claire, a devious and compelling character drug addict in Apple TV+’s new thriller ‘Echo Valley’.

Sydney Sweeney Plays Boxer Christy Martin

In her third upcoming 2025 release this fall, Sweeney gained more than 30 pounds to play breakthrough female 90s boxer Christy Martin.

The real story of the rise to welterweight champion of the coal miner’s daughter from West Virginia — is much more complicated than previously told.

Will Sydney Sweeney tell the entire story?

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Nicole Kidman Is 'On a High' in a Hyperbaric Chamber by Dan Beleiu for Allure May 2025

Nicole Kidman Is 'On a High' in a Hyperbaric Chamber by Dan Beleiu for Allure May 2025

A Dual Hyperbaric Chamber Meetup

The irrepressible, uber-talent Nicole Kidman rolls on with life, inviting Allure Magazine Summer 2025 to meet her for am atypical bodyshop tuneup.

There’s a reason why fashion story interviews typically happen separately from the fashion shoot. Can you imagine photographer Dan Beleiu [IG] getting a message that he will be shooting Nicole Kidman [IG] for the May 2025 issue of Allure Magazine’s beauty issue in a hyperbaric chamber in Nashville?

In NK’s case, her career just does not slow down. Ever since she wore the MiuMiu mini skirt, remaining oblivious to the morality-infused angst of younger women that Kidman should act her age, the red head with bangs staring back at us has been on fire.

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Actor Jodie Comer Knows Quite a Lot About Rage in GQ UK June 2025 Heroes Issue

Actor Jodie Comer Knows Quite a Lot About Rage in GQ UK June 2025 Heroes Issue

Actor Jodie Comer Knows Quite a Lot About Rage in GQ UK June 2025 Heroes Issue

Actor Jodie Comer is among the British GQ’s Heroes cover stars, lensed by Scandelbergs [IG] for the June 2025 issue and styled by Gerry O’Kane and more for the fashion story ‘How Jodie Comer focused the fury.

Rage in Play ‘Prima Facia’

Rage is not confined to her next film ‘28 Years Later’. Comer’s ‘Prima Facie’, the one-woman play that won her a Tony when it transferred to Broadway in 2023, has been a game-changer for her. The play has also helped her to confront this severe contradiction of inner peace between many men and women.

The play has been so emotionally draining for Comer as an actor, that she prepared for her West End run by sitting and waiting, drowning out the raw negativity about to consume her for 100 minutes with music. Absorbed in the sound and messages of artists Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Alison Goldfrapp and Florence Welch, Comer would steady herself until someone tapped her on the shoulder to tell her it was time to go on. That’s quite a story.

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Bella Hadid's Memorable British Vogue June 2025 Interview with Giles Hattersley

Bella Hadid's Memorable British Vogue June 2025 Interview with Giles Hattersley

Bella Hadid's Memorable British Vogue June 2025 Interview with Giles Hattersley

In her British Vogue cover interview and fashion shoot, Bella is styled by IB Kamara in chain-mail from Etro and Balmain and embellished tulle from Dolce & Gabbana. Her silk crepe cover dress is Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.

High jewelry comes from Chopard — for whom Bella is a global ambassador. Earrings and super bangles are from Alexis Bittar.

Clearly, Bella Hadid and photographer Steven Meisel [IG] have excellent chemistry.

British Vogue’s IG descriptor of Bella also resonates. Bella Hadid “gives a riveting glimpse into her complex inner self.”

It’s an indisputable fact that a peculiarity of constitution or temperament surrounds the process of interviewing Bella Hadid. She is an idiosyncratic human being, which is not a negative comment.

Journalist Giles Hattersley is superb in how he handled Bella. In one moment of the interview, Bella really stepped in it with Anne — who still can’t believe how Hadid played right into the hands of the Trump Administration trying to get rid of women in high places.

I beg her mother Yolanda not to let Bella go to Washington with her controversial views, as she suggested she wanted to do.

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Kaia in Vogue Spain June 2025: "Why did I try so hard not to be like someone I admire so much?”

Kaia in Vogue Spain June 2025: "Why did I try so hard not to be like someone I admire so much?”

Kaia in Vogue Spain June 2025: "Why did I try so hard not be like someone I admire so much?”

Kaia Gerber covers the June 2025 issue of Vogue Spain, lensed by Amy Troost. Max Ortega styles the ‘Overcompensating’ [Amazon Prime] series actor in Altuzarra, Gabriela Hearst, Mango, Phoebe Philo, Prada, Sportmax and more. The extensive Mango selects are from Gerber’s current collabwith the Spanish brand.

Kaia is lit: she’s lit on literature, learning, her Library Science [IG] bookclub and loving fellow humans very different from herself. The mega-talent in-the-making won AOC over in the i-D Spring 2020 Icons Issue, where Kaia Gerber chatted with her new friend and ‘Slave Play’ playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

The actor, literature lover and top model talent shares very unique insights into her relationship with mom Cindy Crawford. They are very much worth the read.

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Rosamund Pike in 'Rare Bloom' Lensed by Emma Summerton for Harper's Bazaar UK June 2025

Rosamund Pike in 'Rare Bloom' Lensed by Emma Summerton for Harper's Bazaar UK June 2025

Rosamund Pike in 'Rare Bloom' Lensed by Emma Summerton for Harper's Bazaar UK June 2025

English actor and producer Rosamund Pike is styled by Leith Clark in Dior fashion, beauty and high jewelry, in advance of her performance this summer in ‘Inter Alia’. Photographer Emma Summerton [IG] captures Pike in ‘Rare Bloom’ for Harper’s Bazaar UK [IG] June 2025.

Pike plays the role of a London Crown Court Judge Jessica Parks, at the top of her successful career, also navigating professional demands and family life. Outside her courtroom, Parks is a karaoke fanatic, a loving wife and good mom. Life is idyllic.

Then an event occurs that throws Judge Parks’ life into chaos, leaving her family life fissured by this searing examination of modern motherhood and masculinity.

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Natalie Portman in 'Leading Light' for Vogue Australia May 2025

Natalie Portman in 'Leading Light' for Vogue Australia May 2025

Natalie Portman in 'Leading Light' for Vogue Australia May 2025

Natalie Portman is Vogue Australia’s [IG] May 2025 cover star eager to discuss her upcoming movie ‘Fountain of Youth’, which Vogue calls a “globe-trotting extravaganzathat looks like it was fun to make. The movie opens May 23 on AppleTV.

“It was so fun. It was really a dream offer when I got it. Wait, I get to work with Guy Ritchie and John Krasinski? And all these other actors, between Domhnall [Gleeson] and Eiza [González] and Arian [Moayed] and Carmen [Ejogo], who I love so much. . . Vienna was extraordinary and Cairo was a dream. It’s so rare these days to go to the real places.”

Portman pushes back on the issue of aging in ‘The Fountain of Youth’, although she affirms that her beautiful, aging-naturally mother inspires her not to be afraid of physical aging.

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Diane Kruger Talks New 'Merteuil' Film with Madame Figaro FR April 25, 2025

Diane Kruger Talks New 'Merteuil' Film with Madame Figaro FR April 25, 2025

Diane Kruger Talks New 'Merteuil' Film with Madame Figaro

Today we find Kruger covering the April 25, 2025 issue of Madame Figaro [IG], where the actor has just finished filming the six episodes of ‘Merteuil’, by Jessica Palud, freely adapted from ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ [1988], which was adapted from ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ [1959], directed by Roger Vadim.

Kruger is styled by Barbara Baumel in images by Thiemo Sander [IG].

Kruger plays Madame de Rosemonde, in the ‘Merteuil’ series, and here we share synchronicity. Just today I wrote about the ancient, global history of courtesans, inspired by a Louboutin Beauty campaign with Daphne Groeneveld.

Her character excels in the art of seduction, Kruger explains. “But she uses her beauty for the sole purpose of being the equal of men, or even their superior. She is a strategist and a manipulator determined not to be locked up in the shackles of the patriarchal society of the time.”

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A History of Courtesans Thru the Lens of Louboutin Beauty's 2025 Rouge Stiletto Vinyl Gloss Campaign

A History of Courtesans Thru the Lens of Louboutin Beauty's 2025 Rouge Stiletto Vinyl Gloss Campaign

A Global History of Courtesans Thru the Lens of Louboutin Beauty

Today we return to Mesopotamia, asking about the rise of courtesans. Was it a worldwide role for select women, a role crossing many different global cultures but with compatible definitions?

In Mesopotamia Temple priestesses, often referred to as "sacred prostitutes," were involved in religious rites, highlighting a blend of the sacred and the secular that involved sexual service as part of worship. . . These practices are mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi, which provides one of the earliest written references to women who engaged in such roles.

In Greece The concept of the courtesan emerged more distinctly in Greece. . . In India Ancient texts in India also offer early textual evidence of courtesans, with references in ancient texts such as the Arthashastra and the Kamasutra . . . In China The origins of courtesans can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted from approximately 1046 to 256 BC . . . In Italy The origins of courtesanship can be traced back to a complex interplay of social, economic, and cultural factors that emerged during the Renaissance.

In America Yes, there is a record of courtesans in America. But AOC needs to catch up with the facts. After reading about white women courtesans in urban cities like New York and Chicago, we queried the story in New Orleans.

The findings were borderline extraordinary, and we will explain in our next deep dive into red lips women.

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Linda Evangelista Wants to Live, As Told to Linda Wells for Harper's Bazaar US May 2025

Linda Evangelista Wants to Live, As Told to Linda Wells for Harper's Bazaar US May 2025

Linda Evangelista Wants to Live, As Told to Linda Wells for Harper's Bazaar US May 2025

Supermodel Linda Evangelista covers the May 2025 issue of Harper’s Bazaar US May 2025 as she faces her 60th birthday on May 10th. Evangelista is styled by Carlos Nazario wearing Cartier, Givenchy, Jacquemus, Maison Alaia, Tiffany and more, lensed by Anthony Seklaoui [IG]./ Hair by Mustafa Yanaz; makeup by Dick Page

Evangelista’s relationship with her trauma over a CoolSculpting procedure gone rogue continues to dominate her life. One must process this reality knowing that the 90s superstar has experienced a host of health challenges. CoolSculpting aside, Linda has a 2018 double mastectomy behind her.

"I’ve had all those lung surgeries, oh my God, and my keloids and all the chest-tube scars and my C-section scar. There were a lot of surgeries. I’m cool. I’m fine with those. I won. I’m here. I won.”

This is an usually candid interview with the supermodel, who says she still can’t look at herself in the mirror but — even more important — she is grateful to be alive. Evangelista is in therapy to confront that issue of the mirror, and she also wants to be a grandmother. Just not right now.

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Gisele Bundchen: The Early Years 1996 - 2007 and a Victoria’s Secret, Career-Changing Angel Contract

Gisele Bundchen: The Early Years 1996 - 2007 and a Victoria’s Secret, Career-Changing Angel Contract

Gisele Bundchen: The Early Years 1996 - 2007 and a Victoria’s Secret Career-Making Contract

Gisele was a rising star model with plenty of work in 1999. It’s almost impossible to believe, but Gisele appeared on 37 international and US covers of ‘Vogue’ alone in 2000.

Then all hell broke loose in a change that put Gisele Bündchen in the financial stratosphere of models.

In 2000, the Brazilian powerhouse signed a five-year contract with Victoria’s Secret, estimated by People Magazine to be worth $25 million. This deal made Bündchen an early member of the Angels sorority and the highest-paid model on the Forbes list for 14 straight years.

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Paris Hilton, Humanist and Brainiac, Covers Grazia Global April by Daniella Midenge

Paris Hilton, Humanist and Brainiac, Covers Grazia Global April by Daniella Midenge

Paris Hilton, Humanist and Brainiac, Covers Grazia Global April by Daniella Midenge

On a sun-drenched rooftop in Venice Beach, California, Paris Hilton [IG] stepped into the spotlight with photographer Daniella Midenge [IG] at her side. The glamorous Hilton was poised to create fashion magic with Midenge for 10 Grazia countries worldwide.

In spring 2023, Hilton responded to an outpouring of positivity and caught-off-guard understanding and support for her unknown, personal journey first revealed in the 2020 Documentary ‘This Is Paris’. Hilton’s response was a new book ‘Paris: The Memoir’.

In explaining the personal revelations in her film, one magazine summed up Paris’ point-of-view perfectly: “I’m Not a Dumb Blonde. I’m Just Really Good at Pretending to Be One.”

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Rianne Van Rompaey's 'Last Dance' As She Leaves Modeling To Be Her Real Self

Rianne Van Rompaey's 'Last Dance' As She Leaves Modeling To Be Her Real Self

Rianne Van Rompaey's 'Last Dance' As She Leaves Modeling To Be Her Real Self

The infinitely-talented Rianne Von Rompaey covers the April 2025 issue of Harper’s Bazaar France [IG], styled by Emmanuelle Alt in ‘Rianne, Last Dance’. Carlijn Jacobs [IG] photographs the aspiring actor — and perhaps future screenwriter and/or producer.

This may be one of the last times we see the Dutch model in 2024/5 campaigns for Chanel, Chloé, Louis Vuitton, Tom Ford and more. Rianne also does an unusual amount of editorial work — all on this AOC link.

Especially after completing her first short film in fall 2024, working with director David Finlay, Rianne Van Rompaey wants to plunge into this new world of creative opportunities. I watched the 8-minute film this morning —which Rianne wrote, starred in and produced — and was highly impacted by the film itself and Rianne’s superior talents.

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Vittoria Ceretti Reveals She Was a Whale in Another Life in Vogue France April 2025

Vittoria Ceretti Reveals She Was a Whale in Another Life in Vogue France April 2025

Vittoria Ceretti Reveals She Was a Whale in Another Life in Vogue France April 2025

Vittoria Ceretti has a truly original interview in Vogue France. The top model is styled by Alastair McKimm and lensed by Carin Backoff [IG].

In fact, they made her response to an innocent question the headline, even though her response came mid-interview:

"I have always been sure that I was a whale, in a previous life."

Why a whale?

Because she lives in the ocean - I love the ocean as much as it scares me. And they are mammals, so they keep their young with them, even for very long trips.

Ceretti gave him a real opener with that answer, but Mr. Dreyfus wanted none of it. Of course, this was not the ‘end of it’ with Anne and AOC. Read our update and much more of the actual interview on top-of-page link.

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