Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Allow me to be among the first to welcome you to August. If you’ve made it this far into summer, congratulations on plodding along through joy-blunting, sizzling hot temperatures. That is not to say that I don’t like the heat, but it would be nice to be able to comfortably wear jeans without having to wring the sweat out afterwards.

Speaking of jeans, you may have heard that there has been somewhat of an outcry over Euphoria and The White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney’s participation in a campaign promoting clothing company American Eagle’s jeans. In particular, the controversy surrounds the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress appearing in advertising materials that say she has great jeans, an obvious double-entendre for her genes that critics maintain evokes eugenics movements from darker moments in history. What’s most offensive to me, however, is the easy pun the brand used. Why couldn’t they at least have considered, “our jeans cover these ‘neys”? Whatever the reason and intent behind the campaign, in a not-so-surprising turn of events, the outrage has only drawn more eyeballs to the campaign, sending American Eagle’s stock price soaring like…a bird of prey. Particularly in light of my wringing (not ringing) description above, the partnership and ensuing Streisand-esque reaction is arguably the best thing that happened to American Eagle since I stopped wearing their jeans after college.

• • Happy Gilmore 2 is now the owner of the Netflix record for most-viewed film with 46.7 million views. I’d like to think my free advertising in last week’s Spotlight contributed about five viewers to that tally—not asking for money, just a “thank you” would be nice.
  • Ex-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron—whose now viral and infamous marital affair was caught on a “kiss cam” during a Coldplay concert—is rumored to be weighing legal action against the British rock band for their audacity in uncovering his web of lies. If Byron is trying to strike back against being thrust into the spotlight (no relation), he may have to trade in his Coldplay fandom for that of Barbra Streisand.
  • Former NBA Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested as part of a federal probe into illegal, high-stakes poker games he hosted at his California mansion. If convicted, he could face a maximum of five years in prison, but he may be able to get off with probation, if he plays his cards right.
    Congratulations to the winners who predicted the “over” on the over/under of 1.5 Barbra Streisand references! See you next week!

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