Have Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani actually met?

It’s Oscar weekend and I’m feeling pretty blah about this celebration of the supposed best films of the year. How are there no nominations for Mati Diop’s Atlantics or Lulu Wang’s The Farewell or the brilliant, chaotic thrill ride that is the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems?

One redeeming Hollywood story? Watching the ascent of Margot Robbie (nominated for Best Supporting Actress) who, as Anne Helen Petersen writes, has “shaped her stardom in a way that’s historically been reserved for men” by starting her own production company and developing films and TV shows written, directed, and acted by women.

Speaking of people showing up for women, do read this great feature by Kristen Bahler about OB-GYNs who offer advice on Reddit for people in areas without adequate access to good sex education or reproductive healthcare.

And we’re debuting a new column this month — Scaachi’s Garbage Bag — which features senior culture writer Scaachi Koul’s thoughts on well, everything. This month, she wonders if Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have actually met.

Happy reading!

Personal Essays

Holly Stapleton for BuzzFeed News

In My Father's Final Year, He Was Not My Father

A year before he died, my father called me and sounded different — like he was lost on a bender and wasn’t coming back.

10 Life-Changing Moments That Happened Since My Cancer Went Into Remission

For the past 10 years, I’ve celebrated the anniversary of my remission as a way to pause and reflect on my life: what’s changed, what’s the same, what’s worse, what's better.

Features

Justin Bettman for BuzzFeed News

OB-GYNs Are Using Reddit To Help People Who Desperately Need Advice

Facing public budget cuts and restrictive anti-abortion legislation, some medical providers are using Reddit to connect with people who can't find answers anywhere else.

Newsletter exclusive: a column by senior culture writer Scaachi Koul

Relationships, from the inside, look a lot different than they do from the outside. It’s hard to know who’s happy, who’s struggling, who’s likely to stick it out forever, and who’s just faking it. Casting aspersions on the love lives of others is an exercise in foolishness — judge not lest ye be judged.

But I’m not here to be a good person. I’m here to tell you that I absolutely, 100% do not believe that sentient gentrified bindi Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, a pair of torn Levis brought to life by a cranky gargoyle, have ever been in the same room together.

Indeed, they’re an unlikely pair. After meeting in 2015 on The Voice, they started dating and have been deeply annoying ever since. Am I bitter about Blake because he allegedly cheated on Miranda Lambert? Sure! Do I know who Miranda Lambert is? I do not! Would I like more information? No thanks! Or is my refusal to believe in this union all because I’m still mourning Gwen’s split from Gavin Rossdale, who was obviously not good enough for her but at least that relationship made some kind of sense. Gwen and Blake together are like when you smoke too much weed and you’re starving and there’s nothing in your house so you make a sandwich by putting a bunch of cashews between two slices of bread and dip it in ranch. Technically, it is food, but you know it’s not right and you know that soon, you will be punished for your decision.

Sure, one might be able to argue that there is plenty of photographic and videographic evidence that these two people — who claim to be smooshing booties — have been in the same room together, and have even — at choice moments — touched. But how do we know this footage is real? How do we know it isn’t some sort of deep-fake footage that we’re being tricked into believing? This is the kind of conspiracy theory Shane Dawson should be focusing on. Who cares about the aliens?

The facts are these: Never has a couple been so aggressively public with their “l o v e” and yet so seemingly foreign from each other. It would be easy to argue that theirs is a romance manufactured by two very clever PR agents who wanted their relatively middling musicians to get a few People covers. (Sexiest Man Alive??? Says WHOMST??) But they’re so utterly devoid of chemistry, so awkward-looking together, that they live in a realm beyond “opposites attract” and well into “have these people ever spoken to each other in their entire fucking lives?” Is it normal for two people, who have been dating for around five years, to continuously refer to each other by their full Christian name????

How am I supposed to believe that Gwen Stefani, a flawed but still fascinating and influential musician, has decided to go out with a man who, in his early forties, is still afraid of sushi? How fucking stupid do you think I am, Gwen Renée?

Their relationship is the equivalent of telling someone you definitely have a hot girlfriend, but she goes to another school, and she’s a year older, and also she lives in Canada, and she can’t FaceTime because her phone broke, and also she is a sexy ghost.

Or, I guess, maybe I just think Gwen and Tony should have ended up together. Come on, guys — we’re all already wearing crop tops and mini skirts and watching Friends unironically. The ’90s are back!! Just do the right thing.

Books

American Dirt Tries To Pretend That Immigration Isn’t Political

As a formerly undocumented Mexican immigrant, I’ve longed for more books telling our stories to be published and celebrated. Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt is not what I was hoping for.

15 Small Press Books To Kick Off Your 2020 Reading Season

Here are 15 recent and upcoming books from small presses that span everything from fantasy and crime fiction to memoir and literary short stories.

14 Contemporary Books By Native American Writers To Get Excited About

These novels (some available now, some about to be) are more than necessary or “important” — they are books you’ll love reading.

Four Books We Couldn't Put Down Last Month

Some recent must-reads, as recommended by the BuzzFeed Books newsletter.

32 TV And Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2020

Station Eleven, Little Fires Everywhere, All the Bright Places — there's a lot to look forward to.

28 Highly Anticipated YA Books That Are Coming Out In 2020

Here are all the YA novels we're excited about.

Cultural Criticism

Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News; Getty Images, Everett Collection

How Margot Robbie Changed Her Hollywood Destiny

Once pigeonholed as “the hottest blonde ever,” the star of Birds of Prey has become one of Hollywood’s most promising producers.

What Were The Makers Of Joker Even Upset About?

Joker’s commercial success — and now its critical success — makes the filmmakers’ persecution complex even more absurd.

The Class War Came To Hollywood In 2019

From Parasite to Hustlers, a lot of last year’s most notable movies offered sharp critiques of capitalism and the widening class divide — while others celebrated the status quo. (Spoilers for Knives Out, Uncut Gems, The Irishman, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.)

Yes, People In Their Fifties Can Be Hot

It shouldn’t surprise us that fiftysomethings, from Jennifer Lopez to Jennifer Aniston, can still look this good.

BoJack Horseman Asks What Accountability After #MeToo Looks Like

In its final season, BoJack Horseman holds BoJack — and those of us watching in the real world — to account. (Spoilers!)

Cheer Captures What It Really Felt Like To Be A Cheerleader

The Netflix documentary Cheer shows viewers something I learned a long time ago: All kinds of people become cheerleaders, for all kinds of reasons — and some are profoundly changed by it. (A few spoilers.)

Tyler Perry’s (terrible) new Netflix movie A Fall From Grace makes it clear that it’s time he started collaborating with artists who actually have something to say.

The conservative cohost of The View has become emblematic of a certain kind of civility argument no one is interested in hearing anymore.

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