On her press tour for the new adaptation of “Mean Girls,” Reneé Rapp has called out the owner of a bus touring company owner by name, described herself as “ageist” against millennial women, praised Megan Thee Stallion’s butt and used an interview as an opportunity to shoot her shot with Rachel McAdams, the original Regina George, whose shoes Ms. Rapp stepped into for her latest role. She also said that she might not want Ms. McAdams to see the new take on the character and suggested that she was weary of the franchise.
“I’m tired of wearing pink,” Ms. Rapp told an interviewer. “I’ve had it, I’m good on it. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“She’s not staying within the established safe boundaries of what’s the right thing to say, and that’s why her fans are identifying with her and gravitating to her — it’s very refreshing,” said Bill McGowan, founder and chief executive of Clarity Media Group, who conducted the Kardashians’ first media training session. “I mean, think about it — in some ways unhinged has become the new authentic.”
In the world of celebrity today, lawlessness and “unhinged” personalities reign supreme. Ms. Rapp is carving out her stardom in the mold of Julia Fox or even the disgraced politician George Santos, who both appear to be hyper-aware of their own presentation as well as willfully shambolic, treating press appearances as opportunities to go off-script. The more shocking, the better.
It’s a departure from what fans have come to expect from their favorite stars, many of whom have been coached to delicately dodge difficult questions and stick to positive messaging about their films and projects. In a meta move, Ms. Rapp appeared in an “S.N.L.” sketch last week that included a quip about her being sentenced to “40 hours of court-ordered media training.”
But among her supporters, “keep Reneé Rapp away from media training” has become a common refrain. So-called media training was once an industry secret. “23 years ago, we were the ones whispering off in the sides, telling stars what to say,” Mr. McGowan said. Today, however, an increasingly media literate generation may see it as antagonistic to star power, dulling a celebrity’s personality.
