For the last few weeks, I have been alone in my apartment, wracked with fear that everyone I love will get sick and die, and missing human contact that doesn’t require a microphone. Indeed, I’m losing my mind so fully in semi-isolation that I’ve started befriending all my forks. There are certainly some benefits to social distance: I feel more connected to some of my friends and family who live far away, I have more time to read, and today I learned all the moves to the Justin Bieber “Sorry” dance. Still, I think I speak for most people when I say that this experience sucks (and is sure to get worse).
But when I say “most people,” I apparently do not mean Miley Cyrus, who seems to be using social distance as an opportunity to recharge. She told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, “This is the most at peace and fulfilled that I’ve been in the last few years.”
Per Us Weekly:
“I think I miss the safety of being able to be around my family,” she explained. “What do I miss of the outside world — of going to the studio or whatever, I don’t really miss that. Because, connecting with my fans every day is something that I really have been missing, probably since Hannah Montana.”...
...“Even you and I just having this chat feels less alone,” Cyrus admitted. “I just, I feel like I connected more with the outside world inside than I did on the outside.”
I don’t particularly blame Cyrus for feeling differently about social distance than I do. I imagine being a celebrity during this period is a little different altogether—no more hiding from paparazzi, no more PR events you don’t need to go to, no more getting mobbed by fans, which probably gets old. And there are some nice things, celebrity or not, about having the time to think about what kinds of human connection are important, and the things that really matter.
As Cyrus told Lowe:
“We’re starting to see what it would look like if we actually started treating the world more responsibly. So getting this little, kind of breath of fresh air and a little vision for us to actually see physically what would happen if we actually really focused on climate change,” she explained.
True! (Ish). On the other hand, if I see one more celebrity Instagram themselves in “quarantine” in a literal mansion with fifteen backyards, I will mail them one of the roaches from my tiny, lonely, fear-filled Brooklyn apartment. [Us Weekly]
Demi Lovato has a new boyfriend!
Page Six reports that Lovato is dating soap opera star Max Ehrich, as evidenced by social media flirtation, which is always the smoking gun.
Per Page Six:
The new couple first sparked romance rumors when eagle-eyed fans spotted them leaving flirty messages on each other’s Instagram posts.
“When u realize u should’ve packed more for your quarantine stay,” the actor captioned a shirtless photo of himself, to which the pop star responded, “Fine by me.”
Oh hell yeah, that’s the juicy stuff.
The tabloid says they’ve been dating for “a few weeks,” and since last month was now about 125 years ago, I expect a marriage announcement any day now. [Page Six]
- Kylie Jenner is doing a very good thing. [Huffington Post]
- Chris Pine went to the grocery store. [Celebitchy]
- Joshua Jackson is tryin to stay calm, as are we all. [People]
- Colton Underwood opens up. [E! Online]
- Awkwafina would like everyone to be less racist. [Instagram]
- Laura Prepon wrote about having an abortion. [People]
DISCUSSION
This might be laying it on a bit too thick, but when I’m able to get away from the fear - because you can let fear rule you in deteriment to everything else - I feel pretty damned close to this. These are horrible times, but maybe we can force a reset or at least recharge in our lives out of this. Can’t lie, I’m kind of enjoying the much cleaner air while I can.