Jezebel's Advent Calendar of Crap, Day 18: Stupid Celeb Websites
LatestGossip Girl Blake Lively is back in the news. Not for acting, of course—don’t be silly! No. In a recent interview with the Cut, she talked a bit more about her nebulous plans for a company involving “storytelling” and “living a very one-of-a-kind, curated life.” Not that the words that burbled from her mouth add up to much: “I don’t know if it’s a lifestyle site. I was very vague about it….It’s not accurate. I’m creating a brand that I felt the need for.”
Also, it will involve food somehow, and did she mention that she’s just so bored with acting? “I was on my show [Gossip Girl] for so long that I really wanted to break from acting, because it lost its excitement for me in a way, because it was such a job.”
That’s the thing about jobs, they’re just such a chore. Maybe that’s why Blake is the umpteenth celeb to give “Internet brand” a try as a side gig.
There’s Gwyneth Paltrow and her empire of GOOP. Zooey Deschanel has Hello Giggles. Heidi Klum has something at AOL that looks like it might just be a Pinterest board. Lauren Conrad runs her hub for “all things lovely and chic,” and Lo Bosworth has Revelry House. Elizabeth Banks, Pretty Little Liars‘ Shay Mitchell, Olivia Palmero—the list goes on.
And those are just the lifestyle sites! There are e-commerce ventures, too: Jessica Alba seems to be making a go of it with Honest. The Olsen twins own a slice of BeachMint. Punky Brewster has a startup called “Moonfrye” that does…something.
Then there’s the random dabbling. Lindsay Lohan posed for pictures with half the tech reporters in New York earlier this week, promoting her younger brother’s startup. Justin Beiber and Scooter Braun invest in tech companies, while Ashton Kutcher likes to present himself as a “tech guy.”
I liked it better when celebs released ill-advised singles, instead of launching half-baked Internet ventures. It’s exhausting just to watch them all jockeying so nakedly for attention.
But the worst part is that the celebs who could dispense actually interesting advice refuse to bite. When will David Bowie and Iman step in and sweep these pretenders from their throne?