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Why Hallmark Christmas Movies Feature the Same Women Every Year


Peete echoes this sentiment—”Hallmark Channel is very family oriented, so they have respect for us hard-working mamas”—as does Loughlin. “Bill Abbott, the head of the network, and Michelle Vicary [EVP of programming and publicity at Hallmark] are parents,” she says. “They have children. They really understand if you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t make it to this thing’ or ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I have to leave set because it’s my kid’s birthday.’ They’re like, ‘Yup, go. You do whatever you need to do.’ They’re so understanding about kids and obligations that parents have in regards to their children. “

Accommodating the Hallmark actors who are mothers is a priority for Abbott. (He says three-quarters of the employees in his direct reports are women, and approximately half of them have children.) “We owe it to our employees who give so much, and our talent who give so much,” he says. “It’s more than just a job. It’s a relationship—it’s a long-term relationship. It fits our brand and it fits our style and it just works for us, and we are very focused on it.”

Of course, the actors without children have different reasons for staying in business with the network. Witt, for example, enjoys balancing her darker work (like on The Walking Dead) with Hallmark’s lighter fare.

“It’s fun to come out with a movie where every day you have a happy ending and it’s a sweet love story [or] family story,” she says. “I just spent the last week in winter clothes and people I really enjoy working with and Christmas lights everywhere and snow and gingerbread cookies and vegan eggnog. There’s very little heaviness on my psyche right now.”

Witt says the more uplifting work makes Hallmark’s movie sets really enjoyable—which is another reason she keeps coming back for more. “There’s something about the lighter material that I think lends itself to everyone just having so much fun,” she says. “If you’re making a movie about something really dark, it does something different to your psyche. You’ll get home from work and try to shake it off, and you’re kind of in a darker place.”

Alicia Witt in The Mistletoe Inn (2017)

HALLMARK CHANNEL / COURTESY: EVERETT COLLECTION

Loughlin agrees. “If you’re dealing with disturbing content, that affects everybody on set,” she says. “With Hallmark, we’re not going to the dark side, so these sets tend to be super lighthearted and more fun because the content we’re working on is lighthearted and fun.”



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Victoria's Secret Will Feature Its First Size-14 Model in New Collab With Bluebella


On Friday, October 4, Victoria’s Secret launched a partnership with London-based lingerie company Bluebella—and for the first time in VS history, the brand will feature a size-14 woman in its campaign. The model, Ali Tate Cutler, says she hopes her involvement will pave the way for other plus-sized models in the future.

Bluebella is also known for its campaigns that feature and celebrate diversity in an effort to promote inclusivity.

The new collab with VS also comes after transgender model Munroe Bergdorf starred in Bluebella’s 2019 lingerie campaign, Love Yourself, before publicly criticizing Victoria’s Secret for its refusal to use trans models on the runway.

You might recall that in 2018, during an interview with Vogue, Ed Razek, former chief marketing officer of Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands, made controversial comments regarding transgender and plus-size models. At the time, he said didn’t think the annual fashion shows should feature “transsexuals” because “the show is a fantasy.”

The company has since made attempts to re-brand itself given the public’s demand for better representation.

It seems they may have found that in Cutler, who told E! how “surreal” it is to represent women who want to wear beautiful lingerie every day.

“I never expected that I was going to see an image of myself on the wall next to these top supermodels that I have been looking up to since I was a little girl,” she told the outlet. “It feels amazing, I feel on top of the world.”

“I feel like they are headed in the right direction and they are listening to their audience who have requested to see more women of diverse shapes and sizes,” she continued. “I think if they continue to head in that direction they will be on to a jackpot because that is reflective of what the average woman is in America.”



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Christina Aguilera's New Song Doesn't Feature Enough Christina Aguilera


After six years of waiting and flooding Twitter with “When’s the album coming?” messages, fans can rest easy: Christina Aguilera has finally made her return to music. The pop star released her first single since 2012 on Thursday, May 3. Called “Accelerate,” it fits perfectly into top 40’s current landscape: sultry, chilled-out, a warm pop tune with R&B influence. In lieu of vocal gymnastics, Aguilera delivers the lines in “Accelerate” like she’s drinking cocktails on a beach. It’s very relaxed, easily danceable, and features two mood-setting features from Ty Dolla $ign and 2 Chainz.

It’s good—if this weren’t Aguilera’s first release in six years. We’ve waited eons for this moment, and Aguilera herself has been teasing new music for years now. So it’s unusual that Aguilera, who has a knack for consistently delivering dynamite first singles, chose “Accelerate” to be her debut back on the scene. Take 2012’s “Your Body,” for example. It’s a punchy pop masterpiece that features Aguilera’s catchiest chorus to date. “Not Myself Tonight” (2010), from the polarizing Bionic album, snaps and crackles with synth-pop flair. Then there’s “Ain’t No Other Man” (2006), a funkified ode to jazz that reached number six on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Before that, of course, Aguilera released “Dirrty” (2002) and “Genie in a Bottle” (1999): two songs that defined Y2K pop.

All these songs are incredible and have one common thread: Aguilera’s up front and center on them. Despite the songs’ swirling productions, the spotlight stays consistently on X-Tina’s voice. That’s not to say she has to capital-S sing in order to have a hit record—”Not Myself Tonight” buries Aguilera’s vocals in techno trickery, and yet she still never pulls focus—or that she can’t have featured artists. (Redman raps on “Dirrty,” in case you forgot.)

There’s no denying these aforementioned hits are Christina Aguilera songs—and “Accelerate” doesn’t feel like a Christina Aguilera song, at least to me. It feels equally divided between herself, Ty Dolla $ign, and 2 Chainz. There just isn’t enough of her on it, which, again, would’ve been fine for a third or even fourth single from the album—but not the first. Certainly not a first single in six years. The shine isn’t just on Aguilera here, and it deserves to be.

Aguilera’s eighth studio album, Liberation, will drop on June 15. She released a promotional image for the record on Thursday, as well:

The album, interestingly, features a song with Demi Lovato called “Fall in Line.” “I have always looked up to Christina,” Lovato told Billboard magazine for its cover story about Aguilera. “I remember being at her concert and singing facing the crowd instead of the stage, knowing that that was exactly what I wanted to do in life.”

Let the countdown to Liberation begin.

Related Stories:

Christina Aguilera Goes Makeup-Free for Paper Magazine

Watch Christina Aguilera’s Moving Tribute to Whitney Houston at the 2017 American Music Awardss





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Maisie Williams Thinks Hollywood Needs to Feature More Than 'One Type of Beautiful'


Maisie Williams‘s first professional role was Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, a job that’s earned her plenty of awards, a new best friend, and her fair share of fame. But even after starring as one of Winterfell’s finest for seven (soon to be eight!) seasons, Maisie feels that, thanks to Hollywood’s shallow views on beauty, there’s no guarantee she’ll be able to land another role as good as Arya.

In an interview with The Irish Times this week, the 20-year-old spoke about how she feels her looks might impact her future in acting. “It’s only now I’m starting to realize the characters that are available to me because of the way I look and the characters that aren’t available to me,” she said. “It’s a very shallow industry. And I don’t look like someone who is cast in roles that are, well, sexualized. Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely in awe of Hollywood’s leading ladies. I love looking at those totally jaw-droppingly beautiful women. But I think it’s sad that you only get to see one type of beautiful on screen.”

She’s right: Even after all the strides we’ve made in recent decades, the majority of women in movies and TV shows are still thin with classically beautiful features. Though Maisie may feel that she’s somewhat excluded from this stereotype, as a thin, white woman, she’ll likely have an easier time landing roles than will other non-white, non-sample-size actresses her age. Of course, it’s nonetheless important that Hollywood embrace diversity in all senses of the word.

Maisie also spoke about learning to embrace feminism as she spent her formative years in the spotlight. “I didn’t even know what the word ‘feminist’ meant until I became an actress. Within my family, I never felt that I had to conform to any kind of types. I had no idea about what was typically male or typically female. I didn’t even know about skin color,” she said. “I think it’s quite lovely that I was so clueless.” That said, she did admire powerful feminist icons—you know, like a certain claymation chicken. (Yes, really!) “Growing up, I loved Chicken Run, because it’s driven by Ginger, who is such a fantastic character,” said Maisie, whose next film role is in Early Man, from the people behind Chicken Run. “So to be a part of that same world, and to be playing another woman who is popular for her talents and not for her looks, and whose main story arc has nothing to do with the interest of boys, is very cool.”

Related: Sophie Turner Just Revealed Her Best Friend Maisie Williams’ Most Embarrassing Moment



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The 2018 SAG Awards Will Only Feature Female Presenters


UPDATE, January 21: The full lineup of the women presenting at tonight’s SAG Awards has been revealed.

Here’s who you can expect to see: Rosanna Arquette, Halle Berry, Connie Britton, SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, Geena Davis, Dakota Fanning, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Felicity Huffman, Brie Larson, Laura Linney, Leslie Mann, Mandy Moore, Rita Moreno, Megan Mullally, Olivia Munn, Niecy Nash, Lupita Nyong’o, Gina Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Marisa Tomei, and Kelly Marie Tran.

That’s not the only news: The SAG Awards’ traditional “I Am an Actor” segment will be comprised of only female actors this year.

ORIGINAL POST: What’s the opposite of a sausage party?

This year’s annual Screen Actors Guild Awards—which, if you don’t follow the Hollywood awards season too much, is unique because the nominees and winners are chosen by peers, as opposed to stuffy nominating committees—will be exclusively featuring women presenters. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that all 13 acting awards will be presented by a group of actresses, as well the two additional, nontelevised awards for stunt categories. Traditionally, the SAG Awards would see a man and a woman present onstage for each award, but in the current, post–Harvey Weinstein climate, the committee decided that change would be a good thing. (Plus, think of the pairings. Jessica Chastain and Mary J. Blige! Saoirse Ronan and Judi Dench!)

“Beginning with the Women’s March in January, it’s been the year of the woman. This is a unifying salute to women who have been very brave and speaking up,” SAG Awards executive producer Kathy Connell told The Hollywood Reporter. “How many times has a woman walked into a room of predominantly men? We thought, maybe for one night, it’ll be more than fifty-fifty [onstage]. We don’t want to slight the men who have given great performances this year—knowing our membership, I’m sure our men will embrace the opportunity to honor women. It’s still an awards show and a celebration; we’re not here to preach to anybody. To me, just having some of these fabulous women onstage sends its own message.”

To add to the fun even more, this year’s SAG Awards will also be featuring its first-ever host—the honor of which is going to the wonderful Kristen Bell. The ceremony will air on January 21 on TBS and TNT as a nice pregame to the Oscars.

Related: Nicole Kidman Is Championing Women in Hollywood: ‘To Be an Advocate, You Have to Actually Put Things Into Action’



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