The Morning: How celebrities became moguls

Plus, the California fires, Sudan and chronic pain.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 12, 2025 Good morning. Today, my colleague Madison Malone Kircher writes about celebrity entrepreneurs. We're also covering the California fires, Sudan and chronic pain. —David Leonhardt Selena Gomez Cindy Ord/Getty Images Celebrity, Inc. By Madison Malone Kircher I cover internet culture. "Please just keep in mind," Nikki Glaser exhorted Hollywood's A-list while hosting the Golden Globes last week: "The point of making art is not to win an award. The point of making art is to start a tequila brand so popular that you never have to make art again." The stars arrayed before her chuckled. They were laughing at themselves. Among them was Selena Gomez. The actress, doubly nominated that evening for her roles in "Only Murders in the Building" and "Emilia Peréz," has become a beauty tycoon with her popular makeup company, Rare Beauty. Ariana Grande, seated nearby, owns a cosmetics brand, too. Need a drink? Ryan Reynolds sells gin, and Brad Pitt has rosé. George Clooney, Kendall Jenner and Dwayne the Rock Johnson all founded tequila brands. Got kids? Jessica Alba's Honest Company proffers diapers and baby stuff. Looking for workout gear? There's Kate Hudson's Fabletics. Menopause products? Try Naomi Watts's offering, Stripes. These days it feels as if Hollywood's entrepreneurs are dabbling in every part of the retail market. It's not enough anymore for a celebrity to simply be a spokesperson for the brand. Now they've got to own it, too. This model offers more control — and potentially bigger profits. (Though that means bigger risks as well, naturally.) Extra cash Why is this happening? One reason is that a side hustle offers insurance against the fickle entertainment industry. It's harder to score a big payday when streaming services pay a fixed price for a movie or a show, regardless of how many people watch it. And roles might dry up, but a successful brand can outlast someone's good looks or the buzz they earned from their last prize nomination. It can offer "a very steady amount of money that can go on for years, after your acting career is over or diminished," Bruno Maglione, the president for licensing at the talent agency IMG, previously told The Times. In some cases, actors can make much more from their stuff than they do from their film credits. Gomez is reportedly a billionaire these days. Celebrities aren't going it alone, however. They work with experienced entrepreneurs. Gomez started her company with three alums from NYX Cosmetics, including her chief executive. Alba brought on the chief executive of a nonprofit focused on childhood health. She later recruited Brian Lee, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Kim Kardashian's company ShoeDazzle. Still, there are no guarantees. In 2024, the actor Blake Lively started a hair-care line, Blake Brown. The brand tanked alongside a reported smear campaign against Lively during the promotion of her film "It Ends With Us." Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's Hello Bello — another diaper company — filed for bankruptcy in 2023. (They later sold it to a private equity fund.) It's not enough for celebrities simply to put their face on a product. It's about telling a story and convincing those of us who might buy their booze or bralette or blush that they actually embody the product. That they use it or, at the very least, like it. Jenner has been known to pop up at college bars pouring shots of her wares. Gomez stepped onto the red carpet at the Golden Globes wearing plenty of her own makeup products, which the brand later highlighted on social media. Not every celebrity has gone this route. Some still tread more traditional paths, lending their likeness for ad campaigns. Timothée Chalamet, who is drawing Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown," hasn't founded any companies, though he's an "ambassador" for high-end brands like Chanel. Bob Dylan, on the other hand, would like to sell you a bottle of his whiskey. Yes, the real Bob Dylan. THE LATEST NEWS California Fires Fighting the Palisades fire. Loren Elliott for The New York Times Firefighters in Los Angeles are working to contain huge blazes as the death toll from wildfires rose to at least 16. A return of heavier desert winds could spread flames further. The Palisades fire, the biggest one, expanded even as firefighters made progress containing it in some areas. Canada and Mexico sent firefighters to help. Donald Trump criticized the officials handling the blazes. "The fires are still raging in L.A.," he wrote on Truth Social. "The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out." The wildfires have destroyed mobile homes, leaving some residents' dreams of building a middle-class life in ruins. "It looks like we're in a war zone": Residents of Pacific Palisades have begun sifting through the remains of their homes. Private firefighters are battling blazes for insurance companies and wealthy property owners, The Los Angeles Times reports. Politics Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two failed federal prosecutions against Trump, has resigned. Elon Musk is helping to recruit billionaires and tech executives to unofficial government positions. Read about Musk's plans for the Department of Government Efficiency. Sid Edwards was a high school football coach who had never run for office. Now, he's the mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana's second-largest city. President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom With Distinction to Pope Francis. Biden has turned to the pontiff for personal guidance. International In Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. Joao Silva/The New York Times Islamic State militants have rampaged across an area of northern Mozambique for more than seven years. The government says the situation has stabilized. Residents tell a different story. Sudan's military recaptured a key city from a paramilitary group that the United States recently accused of genocide. Syria's rebel alliance has vowed to prosecute senior Assad regime figures for crimes. Accountability will be hard to achieve in a divided and vulnerable nation. Criminal gangs in Brazil have run a lottery for decades. The rise of digital gambling is threatening it. Other Big Stories The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was not committed by an uncontrolled mob, but was the result of "a coordinated military-style attack," a Justice Department report said. The airline industry is optimistic about 2025: Demand for tickets is strong and profits are rising. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Should we take Trump's talk of territorial expansion seriously? Yes. Trump's threats interfere with the affairs of American allies at a time when our adversaries mean to do us harm. "Now is not the time to tie down the American military in pointless imperialism," The Kansas City Star's David Mastio writes. Who knows? Trump's strategy of inciting fear makes it impossible to know his real intentions. "This causes many problems, among them forcing people and governments to insulate themselves against the chaos, to the detriment of the chaos-creator," The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's David Mills writes. FROM OPINION Vivek Ramaswamy wants the United States to reward the genius of skilled immigrants. But the American dream is about working hard, even if it's not high-achieving, Ross Douthat writes. Democracy worldwide is being challenged, but it's not facing extinction, Serge Schmemann writes. Studies suggest that some patients with severe brain injuries remain conscious even if they're not responsive. Science needs to work to restore their ability to communicate, Daniela Lamas writes. Here are columns by Nicholas Kristof on contraceptive shots and Maureen Dowd on Jimmy Carter's funeral. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS Marcus Schaefer for The New York Times Medical mystery: A writer suddenly began experiencing chronic pain. It made her realize how many others were, too. Spooky holidays: Does a giant skeleton in a tutu qualify as a Christmas decoration? A court in Tennessee will decide. Crossing the Atlantic: Why do so many stage shows that were hits in London bomb on Broadway? Most clicked: The maps of the Los Angeles fires were the most popular story in The Morning this week. See them here. Vows: They met more than 20 years ago as child actors in "School of Rock." Now they're married. Lives Lived: Charles Person was the youngest of the 13 original Freedom Riders who traveled to Birmingham, Ala., from Washington in 1961 in an effort to integrate interstate bus terminals across the South. He died at 82. BOOK OF THE WEEK By Elisabeth Egan "Fire Weather," by John Vaillant: In this hair-raisingly prescient book — it could be shelved under "horror nonfiction" — Vaillant makes the case that the raging wildfire that consumed Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, in May 2016 was a harbinger of catastrophes to come. He shows how the blaze flickered to life, then grew, fed by dry trees and hurricane-force winds, until it devoured more than 2,500 homes and other structures and 2,300 square miles of forest, not to be fully extinguished until August of the following year. "Vaillant anthropomorphizes the fire," our reviewer wrote of "Fire Season," which was selected as one of The Times's 10 Best Books of 2023. "Not only does it grow and breathe and search for food; it strategizes. It hunts." More on books In "We Tried to Tell Y'All," Meredith Clark chronicles the heyday of Black Twitter. Thinking of keeping a journal? Writers, artists and a social worker weigh in on how, why and where to get started. THE INTERVIEW Ben Stiller Philip Montgomery for The New York Times By David Marchese This week's subject for The Interview is Ben Stiller. The new season of "Severance" (Apple TV+), which he directs and executive produces, returns on Jan. 17. Stiller talked about the show, how comedy has changed and being Jewish in Hollywood. A project you had wanted to make for a long time was an adaptation of "What Makes Sammy Run?" the Budd Schulberg novel. It's a story about a Jewish character named Sammy Glick who's a conniving, amoral striver in Hollywood and his thirst to succeed. What was it about that book that resonated with you? I think Budd Schulberg saw it as a metaphor for anybody who wants to get to the top — that mind-set of, do whatever it takes. That's why I think the novel resonates. There's always been a resistance to it, and I can understand why. For a long time I was frustrated because I felt like this story should be made, but the flip side of it is it can be looked at as you're shining a spotlight on a Jewish character who is the self-hating Jew who is willing to do whatever. That was the resistance to making it? Partly, I think so. It's funny, I think about it now and I would love to see that story made. What I worry about is how people would interpret it on the outside — and that's as a Jewish person. Are ways in which, after Oct. 7, being Jewish in Hollywood has been trickier to navigate? Have things felt different? I think just being a Jewish person feels different. I grew up in an incredibly sheltered Upper West Side environment. I never experienced antisemitism. So to start feeling that now, where other people have felt it their whole lives, and to see the rise in antisemitic violence, is something that I never thought I'd experience in my lifetime. The reality of it is frightening. Read more of the interview here. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photo illustration by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari Click the cover image above to read this week's magazine. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Shop for groceries like a nutrition scientist. Stream these children's movies. Try a countertop dishwasher. Check your pulse. MEAL PLAN Linda Xiao for The New York Times In this week's Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Ali Slagle highlights recipes with three mighty ingredients: greens, beans and grains. Her recipe suggestions include a one-pot grains dish and a brussels sprouts salad with pomegranate and pistachios. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was pompadour. Can you put eight historical events — including Woodstock, the invention of the typewriter, and the founding of Los Angeles — in chronological order? Take this week's Flashback quiz. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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