News Information and Media Site: When celebrity gossip goes very, very QAnon

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Hey. Hope your morning is going all right. I wanted to drop in and let you know that this week's Incoming is going to be a bit shorter than usual. For the next few days, my team at BuzzFeed News is getting together to focus on how to keep the newsroom glowing and growing. Because of that, I'll be away from my keyboard more than usual. Starting Oct. 25, we'll be back with our regularly scheduled newsletter programming! Thank you as always, Alexa

THE BIG STORY

Crazy Days and Nights readers fear the gossip site has gone QAnon

Commenters on Crazy Days and Nights guessing that a post about child trafficking was referencing George Clooney. Screenshot via Crazy Days and Nights

Since 2006, people have come to Crazy Days and Nights for celebrity updates that run the gamut from true (Kaley Cuoco getting divorced) to ridiculous (Beyoncé faked her pregnancies) to fantastical (Anna Wintour and Bob Marley had a secret baby together).

The site has a well-earned reputation for being both prescient and endlessly entertaining. But lately, its posts have taken on a decidedly more QAnon flavor — much to the dismay of many longtime fans.

Viewed through a political lens, QAnon is a far-right collective delusion with a surreal and terrifying real-world reach, says BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulos. But viewed through a celebrity gossip lens, it seems to make a little more sense.

Hollywood elites engaging in morally repugnant or taboo sex? Facing no repercussions for bad actions? Using their fame and money to silence those who might reveal their misdeeds? Gossip fans and QAnoners share a core belief: that behind closed doors, celebrities are doing unspeakable things.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

For these abortion clinic escorts, the vitriol from protesters has gotten way worse as states try to restrict access

Seasoned clinic escorts told BuzzFeed News they're used to the coalitions of anti-abortion protesters outside reproductive health centers. As volunteers offering protection to people seeking abortions, many escorts have been deflecting verbal and physical harassment for years.

The difference now is that the opposition has been bolstered by Texas's new six-week abortion ban, and wants states to take even more extreme measures against abortion.

"We realized that they're just getting more confident," said one volunteer in Duluth, Minnesota. "We noticed patients have full-on panic attacks. Patients getting in the building and falling to the floor and crying because they just went through a mob of people."

Still, escorts insist the heightened backlash isn't enough to stop them from defending patients. Kathy Zentner, a clinic volunteer in Alabama, has watched the fight for abortion access since she graduated from high school in 1973, the year Roe was established. She says she sees escorting as an act of human kindness.

"I'm fighting for my granddaughters now."

SNAPSHOTS

A US Capitol police officer was charged with obstructing the Jan. 6 investigation. Michael Riley is the first member of the Capitol Police to face criminal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection and its aftermath.

Advocates left a meeting with Biden officials over plans to restart a Trump-era border policy. According to leaked video obtained by BuzzFeed News, the dispute was related to the relaunch of Migrant Protection Protocols, a policy that forced thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities.

Drake threatened to quit and take legal action against Degrassi unless his character was "taken out of his wheelchair" because he worried it made him "look soft." Despite clearly having strong feelings about his character's wheelchair, Drake ultimately stayed on the show for another two seasons.

WHAT'S THE PLAY?

Succession is the best show on TV, and it's not even close

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy in Season 3 of Succession. David M. Russell / HBO

Since Succession's debut in 2018, creator Jesse Armstrong and company have painstakingly forged a world of corruption, greed, and self-interest so colorful and gripping, it's impossible to look away, writes Elamin Abdelmahmoud. After being gone for so long, the temptation for the show to bend and become more accessible to new fans might have been high.

But that's too predictable. Instead, Succession doubles down on all the things that make it great: Its razor-sharp writing and inch-perfect timing are its secret weapons, and in the third season, Succession goes full throttle to prove that it's still the best show on television.

This review contains mild spoilers. You've been warned.

Good morning! Eat something that nourishes you today,

Alexa

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