Does New York Fashion Week Have a Stephen Ross Problem?

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“Life is gray and dull; you might as well have a little fun when you dress.” —Iris Apfel

Political Backbones

Equinox and Fashion Week?

The thing about being rich and powerful is that the way you spend that money and exercise that power has repercussions. Just ask Stephen Ross, who in the course of a week went from low-key billionaire to a man whose name is at the center of a number of very public controversies and conversations. Ross, worth an estimated $7.7 billion, is a real estate developer who (ironically) has the kind of career in business that Donald Trump only wished he had. Active across the globe but most pronounced in Ross’s dual personal and business bases of Manhattan and South Florida, Ross’s portfolio includes the real estate firm The Related Companies; the Miami Dolphins; and the fitness company that owns Equinox, Soul Cycle, and Blink Fitness. Ross, who had previously been publicly agnostic about the president, inflamed controversy last week when it was revealed he was hosting a $100,000-a-plate-plus fundraiser at his Hamptons home for the Republican National Committee and Donald Trump’s reelection. An online parade of people (including celebrities Billy Eichner and Chrissy Teigen) canceling their Equinox memberships and criticism from players on his football team were just the tipping points. Through his wife, jewelry designer Kara Ross, the billionaire also has connections to the fashion community. Mrs. Ross holds a board seat on the CFDA, the governing body of American fashion, and it’s been rumored for years that the CFDA would eventually move New York Fashion Week’s home venue to a space in Hudson Yards, the multibillion-dollar development Ross’s company just opened on the western edges of Manhattan. Though NYFW hasn’t officially moved in yet, some shows were scheduled to take place there, but designer Prabal Gurung and Rag & Bone have very publicly pulled out. Another jewelry designer resigned from the CFDA on Instagram while calling for the resignation of Mrs. Ross from the board. Meanwhile, all of fashion seems to be waiting for some sort of official statement from the CFDA, something the group has not yet offered.

Anonymous Source Wars

Liam & Miley

The 2010 film The Last Song ended with the two main characters reunited and planning to move to New York to attend college and continue their love, but behind the scenes, it was just the beginning for its stars Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus. Unfortunately, their IRL romance did not end with a slow fade into happiness. The pair announced their separation, after nearly a decade-long off-and-on relationship and eight months of marriage, through a rep on Saturday night. Cyrus meanwhile was seen in Italy on vacation with Kaitlynn Carter, who recently broke up with Brody Jenner. The two were even seen making out, but there are conflicting reports about whether there is anything going on between them beyond blowing off steam and some paparazzi-baiting. Hemsworth, meanwhile, made his own public statement on Instagram, saying, “I wish her nothing but health and happiness going forward.” Various anonymous sources in the tabloids have painted a less amicable picture of the relationship, with one saying that Cyrus was fed up with Hemsworth’s partying ways. Suffice it to say, this did not end like a Nicholas Sparks movie.

Hollywood Kids on the Big Screen

We Hate to Say It, but Possibly Cate Blanchett?

Schools across the country are starting to call kids back to the classroom, and Hollywood this week is like, “Wait, hold on! We’ve still got some leftover summer movies to release.” Which is why this weekend’s box office is dotted with fare for families and teens. First there’s The Angry Birds Movie 2 (the catch: the birds and their historic blood enemy, the pigs, have put their differences aside to fight for something bigger than us all—inspiring!), which features in voice roles a wild assortment of celebs that includes everyone from Nicki Minaj to JoJo Siwa to Peter Dinklage. The children of Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis, and Gal Gadot also make voice cameos. It’s actually getting better reviews than the widely derided first film, so at least Nicole Kidman didn’t let her daughters wreck their Rotten Tomatoes average from the get-go. Speaking of Hollywood scions, the daughters of Jamie Foxx and Sylvester Stallone (Corinne and Sistine, respectively) head up shark-movie sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, which again is getting fine reviews for what it is. More oddly, there’s Good Boys which stars America’s sweet, sweet boy Jacob Tremblay in a foul-mouthed R-rated comedy. Drugs, drones, and paintball figure into the plot, which, hey, is also being greeted warmly by critics. Who says critics are always elitist cranks? Also of note is Blinded by the Light, a Sundance hit about a British Pakistani teen who becomes obsessed with the music of the decidedly American Bruce Springsteen. The Brits know how to do a surprising turn on the heartwarming coming-of-age film (think Bend It Like Beckham or Billy Elliott), and this seems no different.

Now, finally, we can talk about a subject we truly, truly care about: Cate Blanchett. On paper, her new film Where’d You Go, Bernadette? should be a slam dunk. It’s directed by the beloved Richard Linklater and based on a smash-hit novel. Yet the mystery-comedy has been moved around the release calendar numerous times before landing in the middle of August, and reviews, which were kept under embargo later than most films this week, have not been kind. Neither suggests the studio has much faith in the film. Oh, well: At least her upcoming miniseries Mrs. America looks promising.

In television, this week’s most enticing proposition might be on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN. Decorated playwright and Moonlight co-author Tarell Alvin McCraney returns to his Miami childhood once again for David Makes Man (which premiered on Wednesday), a coming-of-age series about a 14-year-old genius navigating life in his troubled neighborhood. CBS All Access meanwhile brings Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry back to your screens with Why Women Kill, which follows three different housewives (played by Lucy Liu, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste) in three different time periods with three different rotten husbands. Netflix, meanwhile, is letting the second season of Mindhunter carry its weekend, while on Sunday HBO rolls out the comedy The Righteous Gemstones, which stars John Goodman as the head of a famous but troubled family of Christian televangelists.

Julio Torres

@SpacePrinceJulio

It takes a certain amount of cachet to score vocal cameos from both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for your debut HBO comedy special, but Julio Torres managed it for My Favorite Shapes—likely because he’s the writer behind some of the more memorable sketches that Stone and Gosling have starred in during their most recent Saturday Night Live hosting gigs.