FLOTUS breaks her silence
Plus: I’m not over Ariana Grande’s Oscars dress
It’s been a rough week for fans of the postwar world order where the U.S. lead an alliance of Western democracies to stand up to bullies. Luckily, pop stars are still building bridges between the nations that once called themselves the Allies after Sabrina Carpenter delivered a Union Jack-draped performance of “Espresso” at the BRITs in London and Calgary’s own Tate McRae stunned in “Sports Car” in New York City for Saturday Night Live. Meanwhile First Lady Melania Trump was on Capitol Hill to lobby for a bipartisan anti-“revenge porn” bill.
Welcome to this weeks’ issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out the highest-paid actor. — Hunter
R.I.P the U.S.-led postwar world order, 1945-2025:
The Oval Office catfight with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance teaming up against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday was tough to watch for anyone who’s a fan of America’s role in making the world safe for democracy. The interaction played out like a Real Housewives reunion, with Vance scolding Zelenskyy for not taking a diplomatic approach to Russia’s invasion before it devolved from there.
Zelenskyy responded to Vance by asking how diplomacy could be possible when dealing with Russia’s authoritarian President Vladimir Putin who breaks his agreements, like invading Crimea in 2014. Trump interjected, falsely claiming Russia invaded Crimea in 2015 (Trump was wrong and Zelenskyy was right), and then Vance scolded Zelenskyy for not saying thank you. The Ukrainian president left Washington without signing the mineral rights deal Trump put forward and European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy.
A poll of Republican primary voters published by the Wall Street Journal found Trump’s stance towards Russia and Ukraine is out of step with his own party. The poll found 69% of 2024 Republican primary voters believe correctly that Russia is the aggressor and 83% disapprove of Putin. E.U. Foreign Secretary Kaja Kallas said after Friday’s blow up that “the free world needs a new leader” while the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said U.S. foreign policy under Trump now “largely coincides” with Russia’s. Folks, we’re a looooong way from “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
FLOTUS breaks her silence:
Dressed like Teddy Roosevelt in a tan suit and vest, the First Lady spoke at a roundtable on Capitol Hill today in favor of the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan bill that would criminalize non-consensual, sexually exploitative images, including deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence. The bill would also require platforms to remove such images within 48 hours. It was Trump’s first solo public appearance as FLOTUS since her husband took office for a second term.
“We must prioritize robust security measures and uphold strict ethical standards to protect individual privacy,” Trump said. “Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.”
The Take It Down Act was sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). It passed in the chamber in February and now must be voted on in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson said he was a “full supporter” of the bill and “anxious to put it on the floor in the House.”
So are we getting tariffs for real now?:
After delaying tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico by a month, Trump said today that 25% tariffs will begin Tuesday. “They’re all set,” he said. “They go into effect tomorrow.”
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett told CBS in a rare interview he believes tariffs are an economic “act of war, to some degree” and “a tax on goods. I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn't pay 'em!”
Trump’s name was in Epstein’s flight logs seven times:
The Justice Department released declassified documents last Thursday related to Jeffrey Epstein, the sex trafficker who died in 2019, by inviting right wing influencers to the White House. They were photographed holding binders reading “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” but online, the MAGA right criticized the release as a stunt that didn’t include any new information.
Trump’s name appears in Epstein’s flight logs seven times, according to People, which notes Trump hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing nor does the appearance of someone’s name in the log indicate wrongdoing. In an interview last year, Trump was quick to say he was willing to declassify files related to 9/11 and JFK, but stammered when he was asked about Epstein.
Slotkin to give Democrats’ response to Trump:
Trump is scheduled to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, and Democrats tapped Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan to deliver their response. “I’m looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week,” Slotkin said in a statement. “The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country.”
Vance’s old house is for sale:
The Vance family moved into the vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in January, and they’ve now put their old five-bedroom, four-bathroom house in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va., up for sale. The 100-year-old farmhouse, which Vance bought in 2023 for about $1.6 million, is being listed for nearly $1.7 million. The open kitchen is nice and the property has a gorgeous separate secondary accessory dwelling unit. You can see the listing here.
Monica Lewinsky thinks Clinton should’ve resigned:
Monica Lewinsky recently reflected on former President Bill Clinton’s affair with her when she was a White House intern and said she thought he should have handled it differently.
“I think that the right way to handle a situation like that would have been to say it was nobody's business. And to resign,” Lewinsky said in an interview with Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper. “Or to find a way of staying in office that was not lying and not throwing a young person who was just starting out in the world under the bus.”
Lewinsky added, “at the same time, I'm hearing myself say that, and it's like, we're also talking about the most powerful office in the world. So I don't want to be naïve, either.”
Babydog gets an official congressional headshot:
For picture day on Capitol Hill, photographers snapped an extra pic, of Sen. Jim Justice’s (R-W.V.) dog Babydog. The English bulldog, who appeared on stage during last year’s Republican National Convention, was the mascot of Justice’s “vaccination sweepstakes” when he was governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, urging West Virginians to get vaccinated.
I’m not over Ariana Grande’s Oscars dress:
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the 2025 Oscars by performing a medley that included “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Home,” and “Defying Gravity,” and yes, Erivo hit the “Defying Gravity” riff. Grande’s red dress for the performance was from Schiaparelli, and the protruding heel built into the back of the dress was a nod to “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I had expressed that I wanted to pay tribute to the ruby slippers and to Judy Garland with this dress, and Daniel [Roseberry, the Schiaparelli artistic director] really just created the most stunning piece of Ozian art from there,” Grande told Vogue. “We wanted it to be a tribute to Oz, and to the beautiful women and witches who have come before us.”
More like Tate McSlay:
The stacked chairs in the set McRae used for her performance of “Sports Car” on SNL this weekend definitely wasn’t OSHA approved, but it was doing more to bring back proper big-budget ‘00s-style pop girl energy than anyone else in the game right now. It had it all, the hairography, the back-up dancers, the flashing lights. McRae also performed “Dear God” as her second song of the night.
McRae’s new album So Close To What debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200 album chart, becoming her first No. 1 album in the U.S.
Sabrina Carpenter opens the 2025 BRIT Awards:
Carpenter opened the U.K. music awards show Sunday with a medley of “Espresso” and “Bed Chem.” Her staging was decked out in the Union Jack and her backup dancers were dressed as the King's Guard, the red coat guards with the big fluffy black hats stationed at Buckingham Palace. Carpenter won the award for International Artist of the Year while the prize for Best International Song went to Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”
BRITs go Brat:
That’s the headline from the BBC after Charli XCX won for British Artist of the Year, Best Dance Act, Songwriter of the Year, British Album of the Year for Brat, and Song of the Year for “Guess” with Billie Eilish. “Culture caught up with us and wanted to be on the journey with us,” Charli said. “I am living proof that it takes a long time but you don't need to compromise your vision.”
They’re sending Katy Perry to space:
Katy Perry is getting sent off the planet, but no, it’s not because 143 flopped so badly. No, Perry is joining the all-female crew on a future launch from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company. Perry will be accompanied by NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, and the first journalists in space, CBS Mornings host Gayle King and Bezos’ fiancée and former Good Day L.A. host Lauren Sánchez.
Speaking of Bezos and journalists, more than 75,000 digital subscribers have canceled their Washington Post subscriptions after the owner announced the outlet’s opinion section would focus on “personal liberties and free markets.” That comes after more than 300,000 subscribers canceled subscriptions after Bezos killed the opinion section’s endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.
Mike Myers reps “Canada Is Not For Sale” tee:
Canadian Mike Myers played Elon Musk in a surprise guest appearance during the cold open of this week’s Saturday Night Live, and he closed out the show with a message. Wearing a “Canada Is Not For Sale” shirt, Myers mouthed the phrase “elbows up,” a reference used in sports like hockey to defend yourself.
The Rock is the highest-paid actor:
Forbes is out with its list of the highest-paid actors of 2024 led by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who brought in an estimated $88 million from work including Amazon’s Red One and Disney’s Moana 2. In No. 2 was Ryan Reynolds with $85 million after starring in Deadpool & Wolverine, the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.
They were followed by Kevin Hart ($81 million), Jerry Seinfeld ($60 million), Hugh Jackman ($50 million), Brad Pitt ($32 million), and George Clooney ($31 million). Nicole Kidman was the highest-paid woman, coming in at No. 8 with $31 million, and Adam Sandler ($26 million) and Will Smith ($26 million) rounded out the top 10.
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐