Good morning. All eyes are on former President Trump after he was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt during his rally in Butler, PA yesterday evening. Before we get into our regular content, here’s what you need to know:
The former president was minutes into his speech when a 20-year-old suspected shooter fired “multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position” outside the rally, according to a Secret Service spokesman. Trump, with blood visible on his ear and face, pumped his fist in the air as agents escorted him to his motorcade. The Secret Service later confirmed he was “safe” and in a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had been “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
One rally attendee was killed, and two other spectators were critically injured. The alleged gunman is dead. Law enforcement officials said the shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt.
During a brief televised statement, President Biden — who spoke with Trump following the shooting — said there’s “no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick.” Top Democrats and Republicans, world leaders, and former presidents also issued messages of support and condemned what they believe is an act of political violence. The Republican National Committee and Trump’s campaign have said the party’s convention will proceed as planned, starting tomorrow in Milwaukee.
This is a developing story, we’ll have more in tomorrow’s Daily Skimm. In the meantime, here’s what else consumed our group chats this week…
🐶 There are designer dogs, and then there are $150,000 dogs, which are apparently: “Part cuddly. Part vicious. All status symbol.”
💰 Also filed under Rich People Do the Darndest Things: While some are hiring a “mummy concierge” to help with, say, babyproofing a yacht, others are establishing “revival trusts.” You know, in case the whole cryopreservation thing works out.
🛏 Forget modest chocolate squares — turndown service at some hotels has gone bougie. Like, premium ski jacket bougie.
💼 The latest C-suite trend? Having multiple piercings, apparently. But we have a feeling that doesn’t include the TikTok-famous “rhino piercing” (warning: you won’t be able to unsee it).
🩳 Knee-length Bermuda shorts may be “summer’s chicest shorts” (we wish we were kidding), but experts say you still shouldn’t wear those — or, any shorts — to the office. That also applies to skorts, which are making the comeback no millennial asked for.
You would think, in the year of 2024, everyone would know that nothing is ever truly deleted from the internet. Not so. On Tuesday, a Vulture investigation by royal correspondent Ellie Hall reported that various UK media outlets — including The Guardian, Tatler, Daily Mail, and The Sun — have apparently removed or substantially updated articles about Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (pronounced, against all odds and logic, “Chumley”). For those who don’t know more about the royals than their own relatives: The former model and political staffer is the wife of the seventh Marquess of Cholmondeley and is part of the “Turnip Toffs,” a group of extremely wealthy, aristocratic friends in Norfolk, UK. Not to mention, she’s been rumored to be Prince William’s mistress and Kate Middleton’s “rural rival” for the last five years, spurred by reports — if you can even call them that — from gossip blogs and British media outlets. (For the record, both rumors are basically unsubstantiated, and legal reps for both Hanbury and the royal family have strongly denied the affair.) Some of those stories are among the 27 that Vulture claims have been quietly deleted or “edited post-publication to remove information.”
The natural question: Who’s behind this? That’s hard to say. According to Hall, none of the publications identified in the piece have issued statements or notices “explaining why they’ve chosen to delete paragraphs and even entire posts.” In fact, while Vulture sent “several requests for comments” to the seven outlets in question, only The Guardian responded, saying it had removed a reference to a joke made by Stephen Colbert “after internal editorial consideration and not following external outreach.” But some are reportedly not so convinced, insisting it’s yet another example of the Firm’s ongoing relationship with the tabloids — and its work behind the scenes to crush any reporting that the royal family deems unflattering. Who knows where this will (or won’t) lead, but Ellie Hall, we thank you for your service.
It may be called Sunny, but Apple TV+’s new series is, well, dark. Part sci-fi and part thriller, the 10-episode dramedy — based on The Dark Manual by Colin O’Sullivan — is set in Kyoto and follows an American expat named Suzie (Rashida Jones), whose husband and son vanish in a mysterious plane crash. Not long after, one of her husband’s colleagues delivers a condolence gift of sorts: a domestic “homebot” named Sunny, which Suzie’s husband allegedly designed and programmed just for her. Odd, since Suzie hates robots and her husband worked on refrigerators…or so she thought. Over time, the two form an unlikely friendship — especially when Suzie realizes Sunny may be the only way to find out what really happened to her family.
Think about the most over-the-top wedding you’ve ever attended, then multiply that by 10 — actually, 100. Either way, it won’t come close to the nuptials of Anant Ambani (the youngest son of the richest person in Asia) and pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant, who tied the knot on Friday in “the craziest richest wedding ever.” For starters, the ceremony was held at the Jio World Centre, a cultural hub that claims to be 10 times the size of the Empire State Building. Guests included Bollywood superstars, several members of the country’s cricket team, Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas, Law Roach, Kim and Khloé Kardashian and former British prime minister Tony Blair — many of whom posed for photos on the ceremony’s red carpet. Keep in mind, that was followed by two additional days of events, which took place at the Jio World Centre and the Ambani home, a 27-story mansion called Antilia.
Of course, this is incredibly on brand for a couple who threw a series of pre-wedding events that were so extravagant, they make the average engagement party or bridal shower look like a classroom birthday party. In March, the couple kicked things off with a weekend-long celebration that included a performance by Rihanna, a custom-made glass palace, a light show consisting of more than 5,000 drones, and more than 1,200 of their closest friends (think: Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Karlie Kloss), who reportedly received a nine-page dress code in advance. After that, there was a four-day Mediterranean cruise in May, involving a toga party, a masquerade ball, and performances by the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, and Pitbull — all of which thankfully, was captured in a Vogue feature. Not to mention, their sangeet, in which a not-so-retired Justin Bieber sang hits like “Love Yourself” and “Where Are U Now.” And we thought earlymoons were a lot…
Could a 3-inch-tall, pantless cherub doll be the key to happiness? TikTok seems to think so. Over the past year or so, Sonny Angel figurines have continued to explode in popularity, popping up in everything from a post on Bella Hadid’s Instagram to a Saturday Night Live skit. They’re so in demand, there’s apparently a worldwide shortage and a secondary market online where price gouging and fakes run rampant. And there’s in-person meetups where dozens of fans trade and seek out the most coveted designs. All of which leads us to: Why?? Some credit the blind-box packaging, which, like a pack of trading cards, conceals which one you got until you open the box. Or perhaps it’s the doll’s array of silly headgear (think: a strawberry, a tulip, a lop-eared rabbit, a bulb of garlic). Of course, it could also be that Sonny Angels are fulfilling their original purpose: a companion for stressed-out working women in their mid-20s. Wonder why they’d need that.
Trending products and brands our shopping team has been loving recently.
Bluemercury is taking $100 off the Dyson Airstrait we swear by for sleek hair in seconds. If you straighten your hair at least once a week, it's worth the investment.
PS: Want more product recs? Follow @skimmshopping on Instagram.
Unleash your competitive side with today’s games and puzzles. Choose from an anagram word search, digital jigsaw puzzle, or crossword (with a twist). Better yet: Try them all.
Mental health-related leaves of absence are up 300% since 2017 — and women accounted for 69% of those taken in 2023, according to one analysis.
In a world where it can feel challenging to take control of your mental and physical health, we’ve got you covered. The Skimm Well newsletter gives you expert-backed advice and info to do just that.
Skimm’d by: Melissa Goldberg and Margaret Wheeler Johnson
Photos by Dove Lee via Getty Images, Max Mumby/Indigo/Contributor via Getty Images, courtesy of Apple TV+, SOPA Images/Contributor via Getty Images, South China Morning Post/Contributor via Getty Images, Brand Partners
