Dua Lipa and her Service95 Book Club opened the Manifesto Library inside the historic Livraria Lello Bookshop in Porto, bringing together 100 books tied to power, control, voice, and memory as part of the new BABELL literary festival.
Lipa framed the project as a direct response to censorship, noting many of the titles have been pulled from school curricula or restricted for their treatment of race, sexuality, and identity.
The library invites visitors to "decide for yourself what belongs on these shelves," positioning it as an interactive cultural space rather than a static collection.
It's a strong example of a celebrity brand extension that actually deepens credibility instead of diluting it, turning a book club into a physical cultural institution rather than another line extension.

Alex Cooper spent Cannes Lions pitching brands directly on her year-old Unwell Creative Agency, positioning it as a way for marketers to reach Gen Z women without going through a traditional agency middleman.
The agency's first big swing, a Google Pixel campaign starring Cooper, grew out of a relationship she built with Google's marketing VP back at Cannes 2023, showing how these deals often start as personal connections long before they become contracts.
Cooper argued Gen Z is fatigued by influencers just holding up products, and that brands need to be woven into the storytelling from the start rather than bolted on.
It's a clean case study for boutique agencies: the creator-turned-agency model works when the founder's voice and audience insight become the actual product, not just a media buy.

Mexico's 2-0 win over Ecuador broke a 40 year World Cup knockout drought and left the team unbeaten in 26 matches at Estadio Azteca, the venue that hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals.
The piece raises a real debate over hosting equity, noting the U.S. was awarded 78 of the tournament's matches versus 13 each for Mexico and Canada, despite Mexico's football culture and the Azteca's outsized atmosphere.
Team success is reframing the national narrative fast, with coach Javier Aguirre crediting the crowd's energy while the article also notes the tension between celebratory scenes and the country's real security and infrastructure challenges that shadowed the buildup.

Cosmopolitan's take on Movie Night wasn't about the drama itself but what it revealed once compiled back to back, arguing the season's central thread is a pattern of men disrespecting the women they're coupled with.
The piece calls out specific moments, like KC calling Aniya a "grandma" over a lack of physical intimacy while expecting credit for giving her empty compliments, as evidence of "manosphere" dynamics creeping into the show's dating culture.
It's a good gut check for entertainment and lifestyle clients on how quickly a "fun" reality format can become a lightning rod for gender discourse, and why cultural commentary now travels just as far as the show's actual drama.

A physical altercation between two rival Timothée Chalamet and Heated Rivalry stan accounts outside a Paris hotel put a spotlight on how parasocial fan culture has become both an asset and a liability for the celebrities' publicists, who have to manage fallout they can't control.
Publicists interviewed say devoted fan pages can now outreach traditional press entirely, which is why teams increasingly reward top fan accounts with exclusive content drops and event access rather than treating them as a nuisance.
The piece points to Chappell Roan as a cautionary tale, noting her 2024 comment that fans made her feel "unsafe" seeded a lasting "ungrateful to fans" narrative that resurfaced again in 2026 during an unrelated security incident.

Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov bought observation deck tickets the night before, hid in a maintenance room after closing, then cut through padlocks and cables to reach the spire and get engaged roughly 1,450 feet above the city.
The Empire State Building's quick statement calling the stunt "unauthorized" and confirming no guests were ever in danger let the brand stay on the right side of the story while still crediting the NYPD's response.
It's a good case study in disaster-adjacent crisis comms for any landmark or hospitality brand: acknowledge the breach fast, reaffirm guest safety in plain language, and let law enforcement own the security narrative instead of getting defensive about it.

Check out our latest blog post: How to Write a Media Pitch for Interior Design, breaking down why the best interior design brands get the press coverage they deserve.

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Xo,

Julia, Che PR Founder

What we read this week: July 5

What we read this week: June 28