Welcome back to Week in Review. I missed you! This week, we’re diving into all the gadgets and announcements out of this year’s CES, Meta’s decision to roll back its fact-checking program, TikTok’s response to employees affected by the California wildfires, and more! Let’s do this. CES 2025 came and went this week. The event […]
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I did not go to CES 2025 with the goal of getting drenched by Lake Mead’s chilly January waters. But when I discovered Los Angeles-based boat startup Arc had brought its new sport boat to Las Vegas, I figured it was worth the risk. It was. The Arc Sport was a joy to drive, even […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
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Brooke Shields has said that a surgeon once performed a vaginal rejuvenation procedure on her without her consent.
In an excerpt published by People from her forthcoming autobiography, "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old," the model and actor said that she elected to undergo a labia reduction surgery eight years after the birth of her youngest daughter.
But she said that following the procedure, the male doctor who had performed the surgery told her he had thrown in a "bonus" rejuvenation, also known as vaginal tightening.
"I was horrified, but also at a loss," Shields wrote. "I didn't want to sue this man — or maybe I did want to, but I didn't feel I could — because I didn't particularly want talk of my lady parts, once again, on the front page of every paper."
Shields, 59, said that it was on the advice of her female gynecologist that she had decided to have the surgery, as she had been experiencing discomfort and pain since high school.
But Shields said that when she woke up from the operation, the surgeon told her that he had gone further: "I was in there for four hours, and you know what I did? I tightened you up a little bit! Gave you a little rejuvenation!"
"He acted as if he'd done me a favor," she wrote. "But I had never asked to be 'tightened' or 'rejuvenated' (translation: given a younger vagina). I felt numb."
"This man surgically altered my body without my consent," she continued. "The sheer gall of it enraged me. The fact that the most intimate parts of my body had been a public focal point for so long ... it was enough already."
Shields has spoken candidly in recent years about her experience of being sexualized and objectified from a young age following her breakout performance playing a child prostitute in the film "Pretty Baby" at age 11. Her 2023 documentary of the same name explored the media's treatment of her throughout her career.
Shields said that while she was outraged by her treatment during the procedure, she "never took action against this doctor" or spoke to him about it, as she questioned herself and wondered "if he was right" that she should feel lucky.
Shields also said that it took her a while to discuss what had happened with her husband, Chris Henchy, adding that "he was nearly as angry as I was."
"Had I been happy with the results of the procedure, I still would have been angry that he did it without my consent. But as it turns out, I wasn't happy with the results, and haven't been since," she went on.
Shields added that while she was "embarrassed" to share her story, she felt it was important to "bring up the uncomfortable but very real issues" if people were to change the way they approach the topic of women's health.
"Shame is no longer an option," she wrote.
We’ve all had that moment where our phones are dying, but we need to leave. Charging is usually too slow, and carrying around a battery bank can be annoying. That’s the problem Swippitt wants to solve with a clever phone charger that’s “instant,” but it’s probably not for you.
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Amazon will be winding down its Prime Try Before You Buy program, which let Prime members try on clothes before paying for them, reports The Information. It will shutter on January 31st, according to a banner at the top of the service’s landing page.
Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said in a statement emailed to The Verge that the company is discontinuing the service because it only worked for a “limited number of items” and customers have been “increasingly using our new AI-powered features” to decide what to buy.
Tagay gave examples like Virtual Try-On AR feature that puts 3D renders of shoes from certain brands on your feet using your smartphone’s camera. She also mentioned the company’s LLM-powered “personalized size recommendations” that tweak size recommendations based on customer reviews.
Prime Try Before You Buy launched in 2018 for all Prime subscribers as Amazon Wardrobe before the company later changed its name. Through it, Prime members can order up to six items, try them for seven days, then pay for what works and send back the rest — like a very basic version of Stitch Fix’s curated clothing service. But a big part of that is returns, which is something the...
Angelina Jolie and Knox Jolie-Pitt are stepping up.
As several Los Angeles wildfires—including the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst—continue to burn throughout the city, the Maria actress and...
Let’s talk about sex … or the lack thereof. While the movies are still a way to escape the realities of life, it seems there’s no more fantasizing about what it’d be like to spend the night with an A-lister — unless they’re offering OnlyFans content.
Some of the biggest blockbusters from the past few years have made millions at the box office, but they’re missing one major thing: a steamy sex scene. Miles Teller only felt a rush flying an F-18 as far as 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick is concerned, and Tom Cruise didn’t even sleep with love interest Jennifer Connelly in the movie. Similarly, Twisters had audiences up in arms when it premiered in July because nothing romantic happened between leads Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Not even a smooch — unless you count the deleted kiss that was leaked on X.
Listen, Us is fully on board with a slow burn, but sometimes escapism in the form of two hot people getting it on onscreen is what we want — and need. When did the tides turn? And, more importantly, why does it seem like all the sex is gone? Let’s put the blame on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Of course, we’re kidding because who doesn’t love a good superhero movie? (Chris Evans, we miss you!) But there’s a point to be made about the 34 and counting films in the MCU. Mind you, the film franchise has been going on since 2008, and only one of the flicks features a sex scene (2021’s box office bomb The Eternals). Most of them don’t even have a kiss!
The Battle for Attention in Hollywood Is Getting Really Dirty, Us Declares
Are we really living in a “puritanical age” of Hollywood, as some have called it? Well, a study published last year by The Economist says yes, stating that sexual content in movies has dropped 40 percent since 2000. Previously, 20 percent of movies had no sex at all, and the same study revealed that number has now gone up to 50 percent. It has been argued, however, that the rare intimate scenes of today are more graphic than they once were — but that’s still up for debate.
An added layer to this discussion is the actors who have taken a stand. A number of stars have been vocal about their distaste for filming (or choreographing, as some will say) intimate scenes. Henry Cavill, for one, bluntly stated that he’s “not a fan of doing them” in scenes “overused” in film. The younger generation, who favor TikTok over AMC Theaters, seems to agree — OnlyFans anyone?
Do Actors Get Aroused in Sex Scenes? An Intimacy Coordinator Tells Us
Overall, it seems more fitting to say that technology is the cause for the recent decline in onscreen lovemaking. The internet age has made sex more accessible for Gen Z, thanks to OnlyFans and streaming services galore. The thrill of going to the movie theater and trying to fake-avert your eyes from an intimate moment between two actors doesn’t seem necessary anymore.
While sex scenes might be what the younger generation prefers to stream on their phones, studios are leaning into what audiences can only truly enjoy in a theater. Watching Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal fight it out in the Colosseum during Gladiator II on an IMAX screen is never an experience we’ll get at home. Maybe movie theaters should make a permanent shift from intimacy to action movies? Because based on the box office receipts, it seems likely that those are the only kind of hot and sweaty scenes we’ll see on the big screen. We’ll take what we can get.
