Pop Culture

HBO Max's new docuseries, The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, delves into the bizarre and disturbing story of the Remnant Fellowship Church, a religious cult with a toxic emphasis on dieting. Founder Gwen Shamblin's first success was The Weigh Down Workshop, a Christian diet program that preached extreme intuitive eating alongside fundamentalist values. If that sounds bad, it pales in comparison to the horrific abuses that church members were subjected to. And in case the whole saga weren't dramatic enough, Shamblin died in a plane...

The first line of Maid, Stephanie Land’s remarkable 2019 memoir about working as a maid during her impoverished early years as a single mother, reads: “My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter.”In Netflix’s series adaptation of the book, which is now streaming, that scene never takes place. In fact, Alex—the show’s main character, a fictional stand-in for Land played by Margaret Qualley—never stays at a conventional homeless shelter at all. This is just the first in a series of differences between the source material and the show. Yet,...

Next year’s Super Bowl is shaping up to be a night to remember, at least music-wise. Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem are set to headline the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking their first time taking the stage together. The big event is set to take place on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA.The lineup is a noticeable nod to the greater Los Angeles community, which will be hosting its first Super Bowl in 30 years. It was only...

Jamie Magnifico In ELLE.com's monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke with Katie Sturino, who started her career in fashion PR before taking over her own corner of the Internet as an entrepreneur, influencer, and body acceptance advocate. If you’re not one of her 650K Instagram followers, you probably know her from one of her other ventures: She’s the brains behind the blog The 12ish and the podcast Boob Sweat;...

Courtesy Candace Mayeron Curse of the Chippendales, a new discovery+ docuseries, peels back the curtains on the Chippendales saga, a twisty (and almost unbelievably real) tale involving a murder, an international manhunt, and lots of oiled men in g-strings. The famous male revue began as a stunt in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but soon became embroiled in a slew of scandals, including the 1987 assassination of Chippendales choreographer Nick De Noia and two other planned hits on a dancer and producer—all orchestrated by Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee.Now available to...

For the first time in 18 months, Beanie Feldstein's back in New York “for good,” and she'd like to state for the record that she's thrilled about it. It's not that filming Impeachment: American Crime Story and donning the blue beret of Monica Lewinsky wasn't one of the most extraordinary things to ever happen to the 28-year-old Booksmart actress. It's that, well, it's nice to be Elizabeth Greer “Beanie” Feldstein today, rather than a much-maligned former White House intern and ’90s icon—no disrespect to her good friend Lewinsky, of course.On...

Kate Middleton doesn't often step out on a red carpet, but for her first big one of 2021, the Duchess of Cambridge fully leaned into golden girl vibes. Kate stepped out with Prince William for tonight's No Time to Die premiere in London, and she opted to wear a gold sequined cape gown by Jenny Packham with Onitaa earrings. She had her brown hair styled up. Dave J HoganGetty Images Chris JacksonGetty Images Getty Images Getty Images The No Time to Die red carpet was all-around star-studded, with Billie Eilish,...

Margaret Qualley opened up to Harper's Bazaar about her decision to publicly show her support for FKA Twigs when the singer shared her story with ELLE about her experience with ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf. In December, Twigs filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf alleging sexual battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress during their relationship. LaBeouf denied Twigs' accusations “generally and specifically” in response to her lawsuit. In a statement emailed to the New York Times at the time of the lawsuit, LaBeouf wrote that while “many of these allegations are...

Unmarried people of faith don’t seem to get laid—at least not in commercial literature. Sure, there’s a peck on the cheek, or a meaningful smoldering glance, but more than that? Unlikely. And then, imagine the clouds opening up, a beam of light shining down upon Sally Rooney’s newest book. If you haven’t read Beautiful World, Where Are You yet, the book is peppered throughout by a long email chain between the two female characters, Eileen and Alice. But this essay is not about Eileen or Alice, who are similar to...

Watching a talking cat and a teenage girl navigate the wacky ramifications of spells that make unpalatable lima beans disappear or stop the school bully from spreading lies might not seem like a fun Friday night for those growing up in the TikTok era. But in 1996, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch was appointment viewing for 17 million households. Starring Melissa Joan Hart, fresh off her star-making turn as the title character on Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch has everything—humor, heart, magic, and a female protagonist with...

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom giggled their way down the red carpet on Saturday night at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala in Los Angeles, both wearing Louis Vuitton in matching black. The couple has been engaged since Valentine's Day 2019 and have a beautiful one-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, but they were clearly enjoying their night out on the town. Matt WinkelmeyerGetty Images Bloom kept things simple in a velvet tuxedo jacket over black pants, while Perry wore a latex dress with a peplum waist and yellow piping...

Saturday night, musical artist Lizzo appeared on New York City's Central Park stage for the Global Citizen Live event. Dressed in a hot pink cat suit with removable ruffled sleeves, the performer wowed audiences with her biggest hits, including “Truth Hurts” and “Juice.” The Grammy award winner wanted to share more than music while she had the audience enthralled. Lizzo used the opportunity to bring attention to institutional racism in not only the U.S. but around the world, as Global Citizen was being broadcast from six continents. “Thank you so...

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello gave the Global Citizen Live concert what they refused to give the American Music Awards and MTV VMAs: an actual kiss during their “Señorita” performance. The two were photographed having a passionate moment on stage in Central Park. Kevin MazurGetty Images Kevin MazurGetty Images Taylor Swift would be so pleased, especially after her reaction following their American Music Awards “Señorita” rendition: This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to...

50 Cent takes the infamous Vanity Fair lie detector test. Is he ready to talk about why he left New York for Texas? Was he starstruck when he met Meryl Streep? Does he write his own Instagram captions? Has he asked his current girlfriend 21 Questions? Still haven’t subscribed to Vanity Fair on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/2z6Ya9M Want to stay in the know? Subscribe to Vanity Fair Magazine and be exquisitely informed ►► http://vntyfr.com/2RuQGW2 ABOUT VANITY FAIR Arts and entertainment, business and media, politics, and world affairs—Vanity Fair’s features and exclusive...