What’s Going on With Aaron Sorkin's Tan?

Key takeaways

• Aaron Sorkin's tan became an internet forensics project. At the London premiere of his Social Network sequel, The Social Reckoning, Sorkin showed up with a tan ranging from George Hamilton to visibly burnt depending on the footage. Amanda and Juliette compare Sony Pictures UK video against the Scriptnotes podcast clip and conclude it's likely a bad sunburn or tanning bed result compounded by makeup trying to even out redness—with his hairline oddly matching the tan, raising doubts about whether a spray tan could even reach that far up.
• Red carpet lighting is broadly failing celebrities right now. Beyond Sorkin, Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison both looked washed out and aged on the cold-toned blue carpet at the same premiere. The hosts argue stark, warm-less lighting (plus heavy compression when videos get uploaded) is making already-questionable glam choices look worse across the board, not just for Sorkin.
• Tom Cruise's Spirit Tunnel appearance on Jennifer Hudson's show read as overly rehearsed. Recreating his Risky Business entrance (sunglasses, no pants this time) to a rewritten a cappella version of "Old Time Rock and Roll," Cruise's dancing looked stiff and the segment felt negotiated rather than spontaneous; contrasted with genuinely charming Spirit Tunnel turns from Michelle Obama, Aja Wilson, and Magic Johnson, who succeed because they're inherently likable on camera.
• Taylor Swift's "Life of a Showgirl" re-release with four bonus tracks (including "Patient Zero," whose Dakota Johnson/Colin Farrell music video she directed) drove the VMAs to their highest ratings in years, but fans are turning on the material. The hosts' theory: Swift's songwriting thrives on heartbreak, and now that she's happy with Travis Kelce, the stakes and lyrical inspiration have dropped; echoing what happened to Adele after she found contentment and largely stopped releasing music.
• Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer released a new book reigniting royal-family conflict, with Tina Brown amplifying it via interview. The timing looks awkward since it coincides with reports that Harry and Meghan are selling their house, and the hosts speculate Spencer may partly be trying to rehabilitate his own image after his role in facilitating the fraudulent Martin Bashir interview.
• Toddler milestones took center stage in personal updates: Juliette navigated moving day with 18-month-old Micah (prioritizing setting up his room and doubling bedtime books), while Amanda described planning a friends-and-pizza second birthday for her son Sai instead of a full kids' party, and both commiserated over destroyed plastic toys and school water-bottle rules.

Notable moments

• "He got a really bad sunburn and then put makeup on top of it. That made him look strange."
• "There's certainly in some lights a lot of George Hamilton slash Trump orange going on here."
• "Never pose in front of anything gray, if you can help it."
• On Tom Cruise's Spirit Tunnel dancing: "I think he's never looked shorter... I was like, wow, this is an old man."
• "Happiness does not sell in pop songs."
• "Travis Kelce is a terrible muse."
• "Maybe the missing ingredient here is Blake Lively."
• On Earl Spencer's book: "It seems like bad timing for Harry and Megan to... walk right back into this."

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