Ah, Jameela Jamil. Talented actress, champion of body positivity, and prolific tweeter. Jameela does important work helping to tear down the norms of problematic diet culture and harmful social media wellness practices, but she also has a habit of putting her foot in her mouth on social media. Over the last 24 hours, she’s been in a heated Twitter back-and-forth with Victoria’s Secret model Sara Sampaio, and it’s all one big mess. Tempers are high, things are getting condescending, and I’m not sure anyone is completely in the right, tbh. Let’s try to make sense of this, shall we?
A few days ago, Jameela Jamil reposted a video of a runway show in which several women are walking barefoot, dancing together, and generally just having a good time. No one in the video is super skinny, and Jameela took note. She said the show looked fun, then added “not a long-starved terrified teenager in sight.”
Oh my god 😍😍😍 this looks like the most fun, and not a long-starved terrified teenager in sight. Beautiful. https://t.co/hck5n6e9Xu
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 13, 2019
And in the least shocking turn of events, this offended some people, namely models, namely Sara Sampaio. Sara is a Portuguese model who has worked with Victoria’s Secret since 2013. She criticized Jameela’s description of models as “extremely offensive,” and called her a hypocrite for going against her usual message of body positivity.
How about celebrating someone without bringing other people down? Calling runway models “long-starved terrified teenager” is extremely offensive. From someone that is always preaching for body positivity this just screams hypocrisy. https://t.co/JOBtY0yrui
— Sara Sampaio (@SaraSampaio) October 16, 2019
As we saw last week with the George W. Bush drama, Jameela Jamil isn’t one to back down from criticism on Twitter, and this was no exception. She clarified that she wasn’t referring to all models, and clarified that a “*vast* majority” of young models have issues with drugs and/or eating disorders. She also said that Sampaio should “try to calm down.” *Cringe emoji*
On the one hand, while I understand Sampaio’s argument that Jameela Jamil could have just celebrated the video without bringing anything negative into the narrative, that’s not really Jameela’s style. Her whole thing is calling out issues in beauty standards, and the fashion industry has long played into and profited from these toxic ideals. On the other hand, telling Sara Sampaio to “try to calm down” is extremely condescending, and it doesn’t make Jameela Jamil’s argument any stronger.
I also don’t preach “body positivity.” I talk about moving away from all talk of body, in order to combat our current pervasive issue of eating disorder culture, which is in NO small way perpetuated by the extreme thinness demanded of girls by the high fashion powers that be.
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
After those first couple tweets, it was basically a free-for-all between Sara and Jameela, with each tweeting and responding with blocks of text every couple minutes. It’s really not important to read every single tweet, or analyze every word, because it’s not that complicated. Sara Sampaio obviously feels strongly about not making disparaging generalizations about models, and Jameela Jamil doesn’t give a sh*t about making the fashion industry look bad.
Sampaio talked about how eating disorders and drug use are a problem in society as a whole, not only in the modeling business, and that these problems don’t actually affect a “vast majority” of models (k, I’m gonna need a citation on that), like Jameela suggested.
You didn’t say all models, sure, but you still chose to attack girls just so you can celebrate others. Eating disorders, drugs and cocaine use aren’t a exclusive problem of models, it’s a huge problem is society as a whole. And when you talk like you know for sure majority of https://t.co/4hAIf379WP
— Sara Sampaio (@SaraSampaio) October 16, 2019
Sara also clarified that the only intention of her original tweet was to call out Jameela Jamil’s negativity: “I never said there wasn’t a problem with the industry, so don’t go around and put words in my mouth.” Honestly, this drama is more intense than 80% of Real Housewives feuds, which is saying something. Jameela Jamil then told Sara not to “police how I choose to celebrate something or call out something problematic,” before adding that her words “aren’t cute, or easy, or inoffensive.”
Okay, so while I agree with Jameela that we don’t have to be polite when trying to affect change in the world, that’s not the same thing as demanding a free pass to offend whoever you want along the way. Sara’s not trying to say that Jameela should stop doing this kind of work, just that this specific tweet could have stayed on a positive note instead of slamming a whole group of people for basically no reason.
Don’t police how I choose to celebrate something or call out something problematic. I was celebrating that it’s a refreshing change, compared to the toxic fashion show norm. I’m an activist. My words aren’t cute, or easy, or inoffensive. Change doesn’t come from being polite. https://t.co/NqvfwTeixP
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
So all of that (and more that I didn’t embed because it was just too much) happened on Tuesday night, ending at around 1opm. But that’s not the end!! Jameel Jamil fired up her Twitter machine once again this morning, going all the way back to Sara’s original response to her tweet. Girl, at this point, the horse is dead. Stop beating it.
Also @SaraSampaio , you MIDUNDERSTOOD the tweet in the first place… it was Not taking aim at *kids* for being starved and afraid. It’s definitely not *their* fault. Who on EARTH would blame children? it was taking aim at this (unbelievably fucked) industry. Which is RIGHT to do https://t.co/K3DkuRmIG7
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
After all of what happened on Tuesday night, Jameela claimed that Sara didn’t even understand the intent of her tweet in the first place. After all of that!!!! Jameela, I’m not gonna tell you how to live your life, but if someone misunderstands your point, perhaps try letting them know in the first response, rather than 10 rounds of petty tweets later. She said that her tweet wasn’t taking aim at the starved teenagers, but actually the fashion industry as a whole.
By this point, it doesn’t really matter, but Sara did criticize Jameela for “attacking girls,” so she can correct her if she wants. But Sara also understandably called out Jameela this morning for her “constant condescending tone” when responding to her, and told her to have a nice life. Wowwww, this is so petty, and I love it.
This is the last I’ll say on this. Your constant condescending tone is just unnecessary, and makes it impossible to actual have a conversation. Hope you have a nice life. Wish you all the best.
— Sara Sampaio (@SaraSampaio) October 16, 2019
Despite Sara’s best efforts to shut the feud down, Jameela wasn’t done, and she followed this up with her most personal attack yet. She fully went for the jugular, saying that Sara works “for a transphobic, fat phobic company,” and that she should check herself “before you start policing me for calling out an industry wide epidemic of harm to young girls.”
You also proudly work for a transphobic, fat phobic company @SaraSampaio . Victoria’s Secret is a brand that sets out to exclude most women, so I would check yourself on that before you start policing me for calling out an industry wide epidemic of harm to young girls. https://t.co/e8HKFPQ71X
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
Honestly, this one left me speechless. Up until this point, the argument had stayed pretty squarely focused on the issue at hand. They can debate Jameela’s message on the tweet as much as they want, but Jameela really took it to a new level by attacking the job that has, by far, been the defining part of Sara’s career. And, I mean, she is not wrong…
If you’re speaking out against what your company did then GREAT. I look forward to seeing your activism on that with your big profile. You seem passionate about speaking out. So best of luck to you on helping young girls and trans people in this business. ❤️ https://t.co/UdQNCJrtb6
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
Despite saying she was done with the feud, Sara couldn’t ignore Jameela’s attack on her career, and came back for one last tweet, in which she acknowledged Victoria’s Secret’s mistakes, and said that they’ve “been working on changing that.” She made one more dig at Jameela, saying that she’s made big mistakes in the “pass” too, but then said that she’s not going to turn to “personal attacks to try to win some stupid twitter feud.”
Oh my god, you guys, I am so tired. Honestly, it’s comical that these two women got so involved over something that started with a dumb tweet about a fashion show that was meant to be positive, but that’s just the world we live in. I now know way more about Sara Sampaio than I ever intended to, and honestly, she’s pretty great at being petty on Twitter, so I kinda like her. Between Jameela’s relentless dedication to her causes and Sara’s unwillingness to back down, this was unknowingly a matchup for the ages.
Images: Shutterstock; jameelajamil (6), sarasampaio (3) / Twitter
Today is Gigi Hadid’s 24th birthday, and as usual, we’re celebrating by doing a deep dive into her entire life. Well, not really. To be honest, Gigi’s personal life isn’t that exciting, because it mostly just consists of me googling to see if she and Zayn are still together every few months. (I’ll save you 30 seconds: they’re not together right now.) Instead, today let’s focus on Gigi’s best asset—her face. Gigi Hadid is obviously like, superhuman levels of gorgeous, but how much of that beauty is natural? Let’s examine the evidence and see whether the elder Hadid sister has gone under the knife.
Gigi Hadid is still so young, but she’s been in the spotlight for a long time. I remember her fondly from the early days of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, when she was an up-and-coming model being lectured by her mom about why she needed to eat salad every day. Nothing problematic here! But Gigi Hadid actually got her start as a model way before that, doing campaigns for Guess when she was just two years old. Casual.
So Gigi was obviously cute AF when she was a little kid, but I’m not going to analyze what her face looked like when she was a toddler. Sorry, but I don’t want to have “Gigi Hadid little girl” in my Google search history. I’m too young to go to jail. Instead, let’s start with Gigi Hadid’s first-ever post on Instagram, from November 2011.
Gigi’s modeling career was already beginning to take off when this photo was taken, but she looks so fresh-faced and natural. She was 16 at the time, and while she was obviously a pretty girl, she looked more like the average hot girl at your high school than anyone who’s ever been on a CW show. Let’s start by establishing that Gigi Hadid has naturally beautiful features. Her big blue eyes are stunning, and she’s always had great bone structure. For today’s purposes, let’s focus on two specific areas: her lips and her nose.
Gigi has full, pillowy lips, so they’re often a topic of conversation when it comes to cosmetic adjustments. Lip fillers are one of the biggest beauty fads right now, and honestly, I bet more than half of the top models and celebrities have dipped a toe (or a lip) in the Restylane pool. But not Gigi. I feel very confident in saying that she has not had lip fillers. I know I said I wasn’t going to analyze her face when she was a child, but I mean, look at her lips in this photo:
First of all, love the costume. But mainly, those lips! Unless Yolanda was making some seriously questionable parenting decisions, these lips look 100% natural. Yes, I’m jealous, but there’s a reason Gigi’s been on like, 74 Vogue covers, while the only thing I’ve been on the cover of is my mom’s photo albums. I really hope Gigi never touches her lips, because I would honestly cry if I saw her with Instagram model trout pout.
Moving on, we really need to discuss Gigi Hadid’s nose. While the lips were a pretty easy call to make, the nose has really given me some sleepless nights. Some people are absolutely certain that Gigi got a nose job, but I’m really not so sure.
Let’s take a look at this side-by-side. The photo on the left is from September 2014, while the photo on the right is from February 2019.
Obviously, Gigi looks pretty different in the two photos. But I don’t think it’s because she had a lot of work done. Instead, I think most of the changes can be attributed to makeup, skin tone, and getting older. She’s lost some of her baby fat over the years, giving her cheeks and jaw a more chiseled look. She’s also learned that sometimes, less is more when it comes to fake tan. Paler skin makes her features more striking, allowing the best parts of her face to really pop.
But let’s get back to the nose. For years, Gigi Hadid has been a big fan of using contouring and strobing techniques on her nose. This, I think, is the main reason for the change in appearance. For example, look at this photo of Gigi from last year’s Met Gala:
This is one of my favorite Gigi Hadid hair and makeup moments ever, and the generous amount of highlighter used on her nose really changes her entire look. Seriously, she looks like an alien sent to kill us all because we’re so ugly. But that’s not actually what her nose looks like. Here’s a magazine cover from July 2018, meaning it was probably shot around the same time the Met Gala took place:
THAT’S Gigi’s nose! Gigi doesn’t have a large nose by any means, but it’s not insanely narrow or tiny like the contouring can make it appear. Damn, the devil works hard, but Gigi’s makeup artist works harder. And honestly, because of all the crazy makeup tricks she can use, I think it would be really silly for Gigi to get a nose job. She obviously doesn’t need it, and she could easily end up looking crazy. Her sister Bella has mostly had tasteful work done, but she still looks way less natural than Gigi.
So happy birthday Gigi Hadid, and congratulations on your lack of plastic surgery, at least as far as I, an untrained expert, can tell. Am I wrong? Do you think Gigi’s been under the knife? Sound off in the comments!
Images: Shutterstock (3); @gigihadid / Instagram (4)
Head Pro doesn’t like doing work either, but at least he’s paid accordingly. Find him on Twitter and Insta at @betchesheadpro, and send relationship questions to [email protected]
We live in a time of staggering wealth inequality, where a tiny (and shrinking) percentage of the population possesses a vast (and growing) majority of the world’s wealth. That this happened isn’t surprising; our social and political systems have been actively pushing wealth into the hands of those who least deserve it at a rocketing pace for going on 40 years now.
But what is surprising is that a shocking number of people are ok with this! An obscenely wealthy technocrat will claim with a straight face (because money buys you lots of botox) that they earned their money through hard work and diligence. Laughable, but go online and say, for instance, that Elon Musk is a moron with one good idea and a blood diamond inheritance, or that no one can realistically “earn” Jeff Bezos’ $450 billion, and you’ll be met by a frothing brigade swearing otherwise (and probably threatening to rape you, this being a women’s website and all). Temporarily embarrassed millionaires, and whatnot.
All of that is why what Kendall Jenner said in a recent Love magazine interview (featured in a now-deleted Instagram post) is actually pretty refreshing: Kendall, Wall Street Journal columnist and world’s highest-paid model, prefers doing as little work as possible!
Since the beginning we’ve been super selective about what shows I would do. I was never one of those girls who would do, like, 30 shows a season or whatever the f*ck those girls do. More power to them. But I had a million jobs, not only catwalks, but everything else. The whole combination was very overwhelming and I started to freak out a little bit and needed to take a step back.
Goddammit, inject that into my veins. Kendall, apparently only nominally a model, refers to the actual work of modelling as “whatever the f*ck those girls do!” She had “a million jobs” (like shooting not at all problematic Pepsi commercials), failing (or refusing) for even a moment to consider why she had them or why other, less born-famous models might have to do more fashion shows! This was not lost on other models, several of whom took offense to her flippancy.
But don’t worry, when Buzzfeed reached out for comment, her representative set the record, uh, straight:
It’s not what she meant. The quote was taken out of context. Mid-thought she realized the number of shows some models walk a season is closer to 80. The point was that it’s their path and “the more power to them.” She admires their hard work and dedication. It’s an accomplishment.
Lmaooooooo that’s so much WORSE! It’s an even more galling refusal to acknowledge why stomping down 80 runways per year might be less someone’s “path” and more “the only way they can get work.” “It’s an accomplishment and I admire their hard work,” says the highly paid model who expresses not an ounce of guilt about neither having worked for nor accomplished anything. She admires her contemporaries the way I admire dung beetles for their skill in rolling little balls of poo — from a distance and with a quiet disdain.
Look: None of these people are hard workers, or particularly talented at anything beyond self-promotion. Kim Kardashian is not a “brilliant businesswoman” or whatever descriptor outlets use in order to avoid talking about her body. That’s even more true of Kylie, and in the same way Kendall is no more a model than any other tall, skinny, pretty girl. They and their success are the product of inherited wealth, a sex tape and coming of age in a rare, brief golden age of reality TV. Nothing more.
They’ll never be held accountable for that, and whether or not they even should be is a matter of personal taste (at least they’re taking the E! network’s money, not yours). But to hear one of them at least admit it really is a nice change of pace.
Head Pro doesn’t like doing work either, but at least he’s paid accordingly. Find him on Twitter and Insta at @betchesheadpro, and send relationship questions to [email protected]
Despite being the most boring of the Kardashian clan, Kendall Jenner cannot keep herself out of trouble these days. As a recap, Kendall first got shit (and rightfully so) for appearing in the now infamous Pepsi ad where she takes a break from modeling to solve police brutality by giving a Pepsi to a cop. Still not over the fact that out of the like, hundred people who had to watch this ad, nobody said, “eh maybe we should slow our roll on this one.” Where’s Don Draper when you need him? Next, Kendall came under fire again for her promotion of the Fyre Festival, aka the Millennial Hunger Games. Kendall promoted the fest on her personal Instagram alongside models like Bella Hadid and Emily Ratatouille (or whatever her name is), but unlike literally everyone else involved in the Fyre Festival, Kendall has not apologized.
Cue Kendall’s appearance on the cover of Vogue India’s 10th Anniversary edition. You’d think two giant controversies in the span of a month would be enough for ol’ KJ, but here’s the thing: Kendall Jenner is an over acheiver. She’s not one to look at 30 straight days of bad press and throw in the towel. Hell no. Kendall is going big, or going home (to her giant mansion).
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 4, 2017
As anyone who has been awake for even one minute in 2017 could have predicted, people are pissed that Vogue India would choose to commemorate its 10th anniversary with a Jenner rather than like, an actual Indian person. People noted that, given the fact that India has like a billion people in it, it seems strange that they wouldn’t be able to find a single Indian model for the honor. Or maybe an Indian actress?
Hmm. Wonder where we could find one of those.
Honestly, I feel like we’re being a little too hard on Kendall. She’s a 21-year-old model who has never attended real school and has spent her entire life on reality TV. Can we really expect her to understand the nuances of a complicated issue like police brutality, to do research into the things she promotes, or to even know what India is?
JK. We totally can. And we do.
Kendall, you’re officially cancelled until you learn how to behave.
Hillary Clinton may not have won the presidency and smashed the glass ceiling (still bitter about that, TBH), but that doesn’t mean other Clintons can’t get in on the “smashing gender norms” game. Now, let’s play a word association game. If I say the words “young Clinton,” who comes to mind? Is it Chelsea? It’s probably Chelsea. Now, if I were to say the words “hot Clinton” who would come to mind? Maybe like, Bill in college? Or like, that picture of Hillary wearing cool pants in the 70s? IDK. The jury is still out on that one. But what if I were to tell you that there’s an even younger member of the Clinton family, who also happens to be a hot male model? Meet Tyler Clinton, Hillary’s hot nephew.
Tyler made a moderate splash last summer when he uploaded some amateur modeling photos to the internet, as one does. This is normally where people’s amateur Instagram modeling career both begins and ends. Like, no matter how fire your gym selfie is, it usually does not end in gainful employment. But that rule apparently does not apply to members of political royalty (and felons), because as of this week Tyler has officially signed a contract with IMG, one of the world’s biggest modeling agencies that isn’t the one all the ANTM winners get signed to.
IMG’s biggest claim to fame is that they also represent the Hadid sisters, which is exciting because I think we can all agree that the consolidation of the Hadid-Clinton dynasty would be good for America. I mean, we may be getting ahead of ourselves here, but if Tyler and a Hadid sister end up together, their offspring would be the most beautiful baby democrat since JFK Jr. (RIP.) And we would literally die if we got to see Hillary Clinton trying to hold a conversation with Gigi. What could they possibly talk about? That stupid Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad, probably.
Signing this contract means Tyler makes the jump from being one of those random thirsty dudes from your high school on Instagram who hashtags #model in all his photos for free to doing all the same shit but actually getting paid for it. And in case you’re wondering how the fuck this perfect male specimen is related to the Clintons, Tyler is the son of Bill Clinton’s brother Roger, but he looks more like a young Matt Damon with better bone structure. He’s 22 years old, and his Instagram (@tclint) is basically dream boyfriend material if we liked being outside a little bit more.
There’s camping, kayaking, and beaches (#whitepeoplethings), and while the first two things on that list sound like our personal hell, we’d learn to fake it for Tyler and his life changing abs. Now I know America wasn’t ready for the first woman president, but are we ready for the first Instagram model-turned-actual-model-turned-president? Who knows? And who knows if Tyler will make it big in the modeling world, but we have a feeling with his family connections he’ll be okay no matter what. He recently made the move from LA to New York, so look out for him next time you’re out and about in NYC. The city’s not that big, right?
Remember when there was a pretty large discrepancy between the hotness of Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid? Probably not because Bella Hadid got a nose job in approximately 2010—which was an era that predated Gigi Hadid—so unless you’re like a weird psycho crazy insane fan of the Hadid family (or David Foster), you might not recall that day and age.
For a while though, it was true. Gigi was the more successful sister, overshadowing Bella in just about everything. All of a sudden, the darker and more mysterious Hadid rose from the shadows, got a Dior campaign and started dating fuckboy The Weeknd. She landed the VS gig, dumped his ass, wore a lot of side boob (love), etc, etc, and here we are now. In a place where Bella Hadid might usurp her sister.
But, twist. Gigi is taking a page from Bella’s book and sporting darker tresses. Is it an effort to become more quote unquote edgy and less quote unquote boring? Did Zayn ask her to go darker to match his “emotions”? Did Yolanda do this? Where is Yolanda? Is Yolanda ok? Do you remember when Bella got a DUI when she was 17? I didn’t either, until I googled it.
Up next: Gigi Hadid wears army pants and flip flops because Bella wore army pants and flip flops. Keep a close eye on these two. And Anwar, for good measure.
