Popular Opinion: Butter, Bruce and Backlash.
Homemade butter, Eurovision chaos, Kim K’s legal glow-up, and Pedro Pascal’s quietly iconic protest tee. Plus: a serious note on Cassie’s bravery in the Diddy case. Pop culture, churned and served.
This week was no different — butter got political, Eurovision got messier, and Bruce Springsteen joined the resistance (again). Let’s unpack.
Kiwis have entered their little house on the prairie era. Homemade butter is trending. Why? Maybe it’s Nara Smith. Maybe it’s late-stage capitalism doom and gloom. One Reddit user recently posted: “$10.69 for a block of butter. I have decided to make my own.”
Over in America, Kim Kardashian is now officially a law school graduate. And look — we can side-eye the PR machine all we want, but she’s actually putting in some work. If prison reform is the next Kardashian industrial complex, that’s still a net win. Plus, she won her case surrounding the 2016 Paris robbery, which the media used to treat like a punchline.
Bruce Springsteen, who has clearly had enough, kicked off his UK tour by declaring Trump unfit for office. It was like watching your dad snap at Christmas dinner and finally say what everyone’s been thinking. Cathartic, slightly awkward, and very needed. Bruce 2024, honestly.
Eurovision, as always, is a very thinly veiled political playground. Austria their way to victory, but the real discourse was around Israel’s placement — second, controversially. Given the ongoing crisis in Gaza, their inclusion (and popularity) felt loaded. Eurovision loves to say it’s “not political,” but the results said otherwise. Also, Ireland didn’t make the final? Not impressed.
Pedro Pascal, amongst other celebrities, stepped out in the Protect the Dolls T-shirt — a now-iconic fashion statement supporting trans rights and drag communities.
And then… the tone shifts.
It has been a very good two weeks for evil men. In an attempt to keep this as light as possible, I am not going to get into Tory Lanez's stabbing or Chris Brown being allowed on tour.
However, it is important to knowledge the magnitude of Cassie's testament in the Diddy case. Such an awful thing to relive for her but so brave and important. Massive props to her husband for his support and his insistence that he did not 'save' her and that undermines all the work she has done for herself.
So yes, the girls are making butter. The dolls are being protected (at least by Pedro). And as always, pop culture gives us both the distraction and the reckoning.
