The World of Style & Entertainment

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

He has become quite funny.
Of course, to us.

[Owendonovan]

So proud.

[ti-amie]

Wild Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theories After Last Album Was Coordinated Effort, Report Claims

By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs,

Forbes Staff.
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.
Dec 10, 2025, 01:59pm EST

A series of bizarre online theories that coincided with the release of "The Life of a Showgirl" and claimed pop star Taylor Swift was a racist white supremist with MAGA connections were actually part of an online effort coordinated by accounts also connected to a campaign against Blake Lively last year, a new report suggests.

Key Facts

A new report from GUDEA, a behavioral intelligence startup that tracks how viral reputation-damaging claims spread online, found the “Taylor Swift is a Nazi” narrative was pushed largely by “small bursts of coordinated activity” from disingenuous accounts meant to engage authentic users—and it worked.

In response to the unsubstantiated theories that Swift was racist, a white supremacist and a secret Trump supporter, Swifties and other members of the mainstream audience jumped into the conversation and made thousands of genuine videos defending Swift, adding context and criticizing the irrationality of the conspiracy theories.

Provoking authentic user discourse is "a hallmark of successful narrative manipulation," the startup’s report says, and a prime example of a "cross-event amplification network" that injects misinformation into otherwise organic conversations, further spreading the lies.

GUDEA’s report, which examined more than 24,000 posts and 18,000 accounts across 14 digital platforms in the two weeks after “Showgirl” released, found that fewer than 4% of accounts drove 28% of the conversation around Swift and the album, and pushed the most inflammatory Swift content.

The inflammatory narratives increased in prevalence in the two weeks following the Oct. 3 release of “Showgirl,” per the report, with posts generated by inauthentic accounts rising from 10% in the first days after the album release to 40% within 10 days.

GUDEA’s report did not theorize as to the identity of the users or group behind the posts.

Key Background

The deluge of videos spread interpretations of Swift's lyrics and album artwork to push the Nazi conspiracy theories. A necklace featuring lightning bolts, for example, was compared to the symbol of the Nazi SS, despite its 12 bolts more likely being a reference to her 12th album. Some said her use of the word "savage" on the song "Eldest Daughter" was racist, and others said she was making a racist reference to her fiance Travis Kelce's ex-girlfriend with the lyric, "Sleepless in the onyx night, but now the sky is opalite." Others claimed she was taking a turn to the far right, despite her longstanding support of Democratic political candidates, and was leaving hints she'd be taking on a "trad wife" role in her relationship with Kelce. Swift disabled comments on her TikTok account as the attacks increased.
Tangent

The GUDEA report found that most conversation around Swift in the studied period could be broken down into nine broader categories and, of those, three were pushed heavily by inauthentic accounts: accusations of Nazism and use of symbolism in the album, allegations of connections to MAGA and politicization of her relationship to Kelce. Four categories were considered to be mildly influenced by inorganic users: comparisons to Kanye West, allegations of cultural appropriation, a perceived celebrity rivalry with Beyoncé and general discussions of Swiftie fan dynamics. Two categories remained stable and free from inorganic influence, the report said: artistic critique of album quality and commentary on ethical wealth.
Surprising Fact

GUDEA’s report also found significant overlap between the accounts active in spreading the Swift theories and in a separate astroturf campaign attacking her friend and actress Blake Lively last summer around the release of her film, “It Ends With Us.” During the press tour, Lively faced online backlash from social media users commenting on everything from her haircare line to how she discussed the film’s central theme of domestic violence. Lively in December sued the film’s director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, in an ongoing lawsuit that claims he coordinated an online smear campaign meant to tarnish her reputation after she complained of inappropriate behavior on set (Baldoni has denied the claims). Of the 107,774 accounts active in bashing Lively and the 18,209 in the Swift dataset, nearly 2,400 were active in both campaigns, GUDEA found.
Crucial Quote

“This reinforces a significant lesson: Narrative ecosystems are interconnected,” the report said. “Users who escalate one controversy often reappear in others… Narratives do not exist in isolation.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroelof ... rt-claims/

[ponchi101]

How ridiculous. Everybody knows that Taylor is not a cult member. She is cult leader.

[ti-amie]

If you can enlarge the picture to see the injection marks for the lip fillers she's using. I had to do that but once I saw them I can't unsee them.

Also she's 28 years old.

I haven't seen an explanation for the orange on her nose.

[ti-amie]

‪Amee Vanderpool‬
‪@girlsreallyrule.bsky.social‬
· 1h
"Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action."

[ti-amie]

Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center
The opera, which has performed at the arts center since 1971, was concerned about declines in attendance and donations during President Trump’s second term.

By Adam Nagourney
Jan. 9, 2026Updated 7:25 p.m. ET

The Washington National Opera decided on Friday to move its performances out of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, abandoning the hall where it has played since 1971 in perhaps the largest artistic rebuke yet to President Trump’s campaign to remake the Kennedy Center in his image.

The opera company is seeking to sever its ties with the Kennedy Center after a tumultuous year in which both groups have faced cancellations by artists, empty seats and the retrenchment of donors protesting Mr. Trump’s intervention. Within weeks of beginning his second term, the president named himself chairman of the center and installed a political ally, Richard Grenell, as its executive director, while filling its board with supporters.

A resolution to leave was approved by the Washington National Opera’s board of trustees on Friday, according to a statement the opera provided to The New York Times.

“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the statement said.

The resolution calls for the opera to move its performances out of the Kennedy Center’s 2,364-seat Opera House as soon as possible and to reduce the number of performances as a cost-saving measure. Opera officials said that new sites in Washington have been lined up but that no leases have been signed. They declined to name those venues.

The officials said that details about the new schedule would be announced shortly. The Kennedy Center’s website currently lists the opera’s lineup of spring performances, including Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha” and “West Side Story” as well as its upcoming gala, but a separate website is being set up.

The resolution also calls for the Washington National Opera to begin negotiations with Mr. Grenell and the Kennedy Center about ending an affiliation agreement that has bound the cultural institutions since it was signed in 2011, when the opera was facing financial challenges.

The opera declined to release a copy of the resolution, which was being negotiated until shortly before it was approved by the 37-member board during a virtual meeting on Friday. But details of its contents were provided to The Times by officials involved in the deliberations.

Under Mr. Trump and Mr. Grenell, the Kennedy Center has been aggressive in trying to discredit artists who have canceled commitments with the center. But on Friday, Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman, said the center agreed that the time had come to end the relationship.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the W.N.O. due to a financially challenging relationship,” she said. “We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”

In a social media post, Mr. Grenell said that ending the arrangement would give the Kennedy Center the flexibility to bring in operas from around the world. “Having an exclusive Opera was just not financially smart,” he wrote. “And our patrons clearly wanted a refresh.”

The opera’s impending departure is the latest sign of resistance to Mr. Trump’s effort to drastically change an institution that was created in 1971 in tribute to John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated eight years earlier.

Opera leaders said the decision to leave was in response to a drop in attendance and a decline in donor contributions during the president’s second term, as well as an escalating number of artists who have refused to appear at the Kennedy Center since Mr. Trump’s name was added to the building last month. The authority of the board to overrule Congress and rename the center is disputed, and The Times has continued to refer to its legal name.

“I am deeply saddened to leave the Kennedy Center,” Francesca Zambello, who has been the opera’s artistic director for 14 years, said in a statement to The Times. “I have been proud to be affiliated with a national monument to the human spirit, a place that has long served as an inviting home for our ever-growing family of artists and opera lovers.”

In its statement, the opera appeared to take pains to be conciliatory, not naming Mr. Trump or Mr. Grenell.

“The board and management of the company wish the center well in its own future endeavors including recognizing the center for having secured significant funding, including $275 million from Congress, for upgrades to the center,” the statement said.

The affiliation agreement was first negotiated when Barack Obama was president, setting a framework for the organizations to work cooperatively in hiring the opera company’s general director (currently Timothy O’Leary) and artistic director, as well as to make decisions on its programming. The Kennedy Center also leases space to the opera company for storage, offices and rehearsals.

Among the most difficult issues that need to be resolved is the future of the opera’s $30 million endowment, which has already become a matter of dispute. The opera contends that the affiliation agreement makes clear that both entities control the fund, the result of a history of donations from opera supporters in Washington.

Officials with the opera said they would move all performances out of the center, regardless of whether a deal to end its formal ties is struck. They asserted that taking their shows to other venues would free the company of the management entanglements with the Kennedy Center — in particular, programming and the selection of top opera personnel — that are addressed in the affiliation agreement.

The Washington National Opera was established in 1957, with an inaugural performance of Mozart’s “The Abduction From the Seraglio” at George Washington University. With a few exceptions — it performed at Constitution Hall while its home on the Potomac was being renovated — it has been performing at the Kennedy Center since the building opened.

The opera was founded by Day Thorpe, the music critic of The Washington Star, and has provided a stage to some of the most prominent performers of the generation, including Plácido Domingo (who also served as its artistic director), Anna Netrebko, Denyce Graves and Renée Fleming. It has staged warhorses like “Carmen” and a new production of the “Ring” cycle in 2016, which was directed by Ms. Zambello. It also created the American Opera Initiative to showcase young composers.

“The Washington National Opera is one of our most prominent companies,” said Marc A. Scorca, the president emeritus of Opera America, a service organization for opera companies. “It has presented a mix of work from our inherited repertoire and new works from a wonderful young artists program.”

Matthew Shilvock, the general director of the San Francisco Opera, said the Washington National Opera played “a vital role in expressing the national consciousness on the operatic stage.”

Since early in his second term, Mr. Trump has sought to put his imprint on traditionally nonpartisan Washington institutions like the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center. His appointment of Mr. Grenell came with a clear message from Mr. Trump that he wanted changes in the way things were done at the Kennedy Center.

“Ric shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture, and will be overseeing the daily operations of the Center. NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA,” the president said then in a post on social media.

Before long, the center ordered the National Symphony Orchestra to open all concerts with the national anthem (Mr. Grenell took the baton and conducted one of them) and hired a dance director who had complained to Mr. Grenell about “radical leftist ideologies in ballet.”

Officials with the Washington National Opera noted that operas often advance strong political and moral points of views — whether they were written two centuries or two years ago — and that they were worried they would be blocked from performing operas that did not follow Mr. Grenell’s edicts. Among its programming this season is Robert Ward’s “The Crucible,” based on the Arthur Miller play that explored the waves of paranoia overtaking a small town during the Salem witch trials of the 17th century.

In addition, Mr. Grenell said he wanted all productions at the Kennedy Center to be revenue neutral, taking in as much money in ticket sales and contributions as they cost to mount. Operas are expensive to produce and are typically not revenue neutral.

The opera company, in its statement, said the Kennedy Center’s requirement that productions be fully funded in advance was “incompatible with opera operations. Opera companies typically cover only 30-60% of costs through ticket sales, with the remainder from grants and donations that cannot be secured years ahead when productions must be planned.”

Ms. Zambello publicly raised the possibility of leaving the Kennedy Center in an interview with The Guardian in November, saying that the Trump administration’s policies had “shattered” the confidence of donors and resulted in a 40 percent drop in ticket revenues. “If we cannot raise enough money, or sell enough tickets in there, we have to consider other options,” she said at the time.

After her remarks produced an uproar, Ms. Zambello and other leaders of the opera reaffirmed their intention to stay. But since then, she and other opera officials said, the situation has only grown worse.

Béla Fleck, the celebrated banjoist, recently announced he was pulling out of performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, and the “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz said he would not host the opera’s gala. Both said that appearing at the Kennedy Center had become a political statement.


https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/arts ... enter.html

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

It's either soft porn or a spy story about a mole.

[ti-amie]

A nice gallery featuring only men.

Colman Domingo steals the show in my opinion but all of them look just fine.

[ptmcmahon]

I'm not even close to a fashion person, but Colman always looks good to me!

[ti-amie]

Kennedy Center’s new programming head resigns days after hire was announced

Kevin Couch, appointed the center’s senior vice president of artistic programming, resigned less than two weeks after his hire was announced.
January 28, 2026 at 8:15 p.m. ESTYesterday at 8:15 p.m. EST

By Travis M. Andrews

In a Jan. 16 news release, the Kennedy Center announced that Kevin Couch would be its new senior vice president of artistic programming.

On Jan. 22, the center posted the announcement on X.

Not a week later, Couch resigned.

Couch confirmed his resignation Wednesday but declined to comment further.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. A webpage listing the center’s executive administration does not include Couch.

“We are proud to welcome Kevin Couch to the Trump Kennedy Center as we expand our commonsense programming,” the Kennedy Center’s president, Richard Grenell, said in the statement announcing Couch’s hiring. “Kevin brings a clear-eyed approach to curating a roster of compelling shows that invite and inspire all audiences.”

Couch founded CBC Creative, a Dallas-based branding agency. He also worked as a manager for various touring acts, including the R&B group Color Me Badd, according to the news release.

His position as the director of programming for ATG Entertainment, which oversees venues in San Antonio, Tulsa, Little Rock and Springfield, Missouri, was the most relevant to his short-lived stint as an artistic programmer for the Kennedy Center. He routinely booked acts with wide appeal such as Nate Bargatze, Diana Ross and Carlos Santana.

“I am honored to join the Trump Kennedy Center at such a pivotal moment for the performing arts,” Couch said in the news release. “I look forward to the extraordinary creative possibilities ahead — championing our artists and partners to deliver meaningful experiences at America’s cultural center.”

Couch’s surprisingly quick resignation comes as the Kennedy Center is shedding talent from its stages, with many cancellations announced after President Donald Trump, the center’s chairman, had his name added to the building and its branding.

Among those who have canceled their upcoming appearances are composer Philip Glass, soprano Renée Fleming, banjoist Béla Fleck and “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertai ... ogramming/

[ti-amie]

MAGA's biggest goons assemble for Melania Trump's Amazon documentary premiere
As the United States faces unrest and devastation, Donald Trump's biggest supporters attended a night of glitz and glamor to promote the First Lady's new documentary

Charl Wright US Showbiz Reporter
04:38 ET, 30 Jan 2026
Updated 05:50 ET, 30 Jan 2026


Melania Trump attended the premiere with her husband, Donald Trump(Image: WireImage)


MAGA's biggest names have united for the world premiere of Melania Trump's self-titled Amazon documentary.

On January 29, Donald Trump's top cronies took to the red carpet at the Melania movie world premiere, which took place at the newly-renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Melania's new documentary, which was released on January 30 in theaters worldwide, is said to follow the First Lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband's second inauguration. Although it's set around a political event, the 104-minute film focuses on Melania's perspective on family and business during the Trumps' transition from private citizens to America's First Couple.

After the documentary has completed its initial run in theaters, it will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, with a three-episode series about Melania accompanying the film. However, before the public could get access to the documentary, several of MAGA's biggest goons headed to the Trump-Kennedy Center to celebrate the movie's release.

Unsurprisingly, Melania and Donald Trump were in attendance at the premiere, taking interviews with numerous news outlets, such as Fox News, which had also interviewed the First Lady the previous day about the movie.

Alongside the First Couple, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr attended the event, as did Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the film's director, Brett Ratner, who faced numerous sexual misconduct allegations in 2017. He has denied all claims put against him and has not been charged with any crimes.

MAGA senator Markwayne Mullin also attended the screening with his wife, Christie. Markwayne is known for being one of the politicians inside the Capitol building during the 2021 insurrection and he often spouts pro-Trump rhetoric during his many TV appearances.

Additionally, House Speaker Mike Johnson was pictured on the red carpet, smiling alongside his wife, Kelly, before they entered the famed center. Many other members of the cabinet were also in attendance, such as Scott Turner, Steve Witkoff and Ric Grenell.

One of Medicaid's biggest bozos, Mehmet Oz, was snapped on the red carpet, beaming with his family, as was Fox News's Jeannine Pirro and rapper Nicki Minaj. Minaj has recently been slammed for supporting Trump, having appeared on stage with the president at the Trump Accounts Summit.

However, there were some crucial people not in attendance at the premiere: Donald Trump's children, with the First Couple being the only members of the family present.

While the longtime married pair only share son Barron, the president has four other children. Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, whom he shares with his late ex-wife, Ivana Trump, and daughter Tiffany Trump, whose mother is the 79-year-old's ex-wife, Marla Maples. Yet none of them were in attendance at the screening.

Furthermore, the premiere comes as posters promoting the documentary were defaced with Hitler-esque mustaches and graphic graffiti. Writing on the promotional material, people have penned statements such as "My husband f---- kids." Others have written that Melania is a "b---h," and even called her "Eva Braun," who was Adolf Hitler's lover.

Additionally, Melania was dealt another severe blow, as it was reported that Amazon workers were not allowed to opt out of working on the film.

According to the New York Times, workers were allegedly told that they could risk losing their jobs if they refused to work on the newly released documentary. This has led people to believe that this may be the reason two-thirds of the documentary's employees asked not to be named in the credits.


https://www.themirror.com/entertainment ... ga-1651482

[Owendonovan]

"Someone's" been "decorating" the ads for her movies in the NYC subway's..............