Happy Monday! 

I officially failed to secure Mayhem Ball tickets… Don’t text. At least we got a Lady Gaga performance at the VMAs, which made me emotional.

I did get the chance to see Tate McRae last week. The mic was on and she hit her marks. That’s all I can ask of Miss Tate. However, I came away feeling a bit strange about some parts of the show. More on that below.

Also in this newsletter, quick VMAs highlights, a bad After the Hunt interview, and a return of personal ads.

I saw Tate McRae live

And deduced that y’all give Sabrina Carpenter too much shit for being sexy. 

I went to night two of her New York tour stop at Madison Square Garden. I cannot stress enough how loud the arena was (and I forgot my earplugs!). Here is a clip to give you an idea:

The second I arrived at MSG, I thought, “Am I an old crone?” Last year, when it was announced that Tate would be playing MSG, I was dismissive. I thought it was another case of artists booking the venues they couldn’t sell. I realize now that this was an out of touch take from someone a bit older than Tate’s typical demographic. 

I like some of the Tate McRae songs! I was a fan of So Close to What and Think Later. I appreciate that she’s trying to serve choreo because we’ve had a lack of that up until her big breakthrough with “greedy.” The new girls weren’t all-arounders! I like what Tate brings to the table. 

That being said, I’ve been… perplexed with her image/brand to say the least. She is a hit with teens — most of the audience at my show looked about 12-16. So imagine my surprise when Tate starts her show with some pretty raunchy positions! 

I hate pearl-clutching over sexy pop stars. Every female pop star is under pressure to be just sexy enough without being too offensive. They are expected to straddle the Madonna-whore complex just right. So I have mixed feelings over my own reaction to some of Tate’s moves. But I couldn’t help but feel weird about how all the tweens were going crazy over her light humping and brief simulation of oral sex (!). 

With Sabrina Carpenter, people like to hem and haw about how she’s too sexy in her songs and album covers. But during her shows, her depictions of sexuality are quite cartoonish. Even during her “Juno” positions, it doesn’t feel that explicit. She seems to balance her own adult image with her mixed-age audience.

Perhaps it’s that Sabrina is farther into her adult journey than Tate. With Tate, my friend and I rolled our eyes when she waxed poetic over her nostalgia for her youth… at the ripe age of 22. The transition from child star is never smooth, but it’s always a little cringe to watch a teen pop star assert that they are an Adult™ now. I wasn’t 100% on board when Sabrina did it during her emails I can’t send era, particularly with the “Nonsense” outros. It took me seeing her live for the first time earlier this year to really feel like the sexuality was authentic. 

It’s been awkward to watch Tate figure out how to incorporate sex appeal into her pop image. I’ve felt this way since the “Sports car” music video. It inspired me to jot down a mini essay, which morphed into the Benson Boone newsletter, about how I think a lot of rising pop stars make their whole brand “serving cunt” to mask the fact that they don’t have a strong creative vision. The extent of Tate’s brand is that she can hold her leg above head Really Good. Upon seeing her live, it felt like the team went, “Hmm, what else can we do with that?”

But you can always tell when it’s a bit put on. Insisting so much on your own sexiness, paradoxically, makes everything sexless. Perhaps this is why no one has really taken up arms about Tate in the same way they have with Sabrina. 

Sabrina, while being quite explicit in her songs, is implicit in her visuals. She leaves room for imagination and fantasy, which gives people room to project this image of sexual deviance onto her. It’s actually quite strategic and feels intentional to her iconography. 

I might be being too harsh on Tate, but only time will tell. My judgments so far may be premature, as they were for Sabrina. After all, this early 20s period is when every pop girl experiments with the bounds of their own sexuality. Miley had Bangerz (a foam finger-humping, PR disaster turned legendary era). Selena Gomez had Revival (demure whisper pop that gave you a tiny peek under the sheets). Christina Aguilera had Stripped (widely considered a feminist sexual empowerment project). Some of these were successful, others were more rocky. 

Some rapid fire thoughts on the VMAs

• A bit awkward this year, award handoffs, speeches, crowd shots did not feel smooth or slick.

• Lady Gaga coming in person to accept her award at UBS Arena and dipping to play MSG is so legendary… I still teared up at her pre-recorded performance of “The Dead Dance.” It’s sick to be alive and cognizant at the same time as pop royalty like Gaga or Beyoncé.

• I can’t wait for Doja Cat’s pop music return <3 While I think her return to form on Vie feels a bit like she came back with her tail between her legs, I still think she has endless star power and vision. Her opening set at the VMAs was gaggy to me!

• They seem to be inventing new lifetime achievement awards for the old heads who still care about this show.

• Tate McRae's performance reinforced every word I wrote above.

• Sabrina Carpenter popping out of a manhole and getting doused in rain while dancing with the dolls… She’s so much fun!

• I am keeping my eye on Sombr… Hated his cringey Interview Magazine feature, but he’s 20 so I’ll give him grace. His VMAs performance was good!

• Why didn’t Cardi B perform??? I thought we had some album promo to do!

A press junket for an era of anti-woke backlash

An interview clip with After the Hunt stars Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, and Julia Roberts is going viral. The journalist, Federica Polidoro, asked a question about the state of Hollywood now that #MeToo and Black Lives Matter are, in her words, “done.” She directed it specifically to Andrew and Julia while excluding Ayo, the only Black woman in the room. Ayo’s face says it all. She graciously answered the question though, despite it not being given to her. 

Perhaps the interviewer felt emboldened by the context of the film they were all there for. After The Hunt is a film that grapples with sexual assault, identity, and believability. Yet, it has not been well-received by critics, many of whom have remarked on the vagueness of its message. Many people are rightfully angry about this exchange and some have called on Polidoro to be removed from the Golden Globes voting body. Now, Polidoro has posted that she will pursue action against any “defamatory” statements. Yikes.

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. This week, here is a UK girl group playlist in honor of the Little Mix girls’ upcoming solo debut albums.

In this week’s playlist:

• Wasabi - Little Mix

• Push the Button - Sugababes

• Say You’ll Be There - Spice Girls

• Sound of the Underground - Girls Aloud

• Ego - The Saturdays

• Rock Steady - All Saints

• Get It Till I’m Gone - FLO

• Brick by Brick - SayNow

Other things I want to share with you.

• The Pinkpantheress Tiny Desk is soooooo cute. It’s very cool and pleasing to see her transform her digital world into an analog set!

• The podcast landscape has grown rapidly over the last few years — but this isn’t the case with narrative shows. 

• The Cut surveyed 100 adult men about the current state of dating and the male loneliness epidemic.

• Speaking of The Cut, they are reviving New York’s personal ads via newsletter! For those looking to try something new while looking for their next partner.

• They’re saying Charli XCX is a good actress. I will be sat for Erupcja!

• Production assistants have fewer opportunities for upward mobility these days. Many are trying to create opportunities for themselves — either by building something new or by unionizing.

• I am a rare American Mixer, so this month is my Super Bowl. JADE releases her debut album That’s Showbiz, Baby! On Sept. 12 and Perrie drops her eponymous debut on Sept. 26. Perrie also just announced that she’s pregnant! Huge news for me and five people.