Call it pop culture nirvana. Readers of popular magazines can’t get enough of Princess Kate and her adorable little prince and princess. Well move over, Kate, there’s a new Cait in town, with a story you couldn’t make up. The man previously known as Bruce Jenner has made a dramatic transformation. With an upcoming reality series, the “Keeping up with the Kardashians” TV dad, former Olympian and Wheaties box hero has gone from Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner. Readers at the Malibu Newsstand are clamoring for a glimpse of the famous Vanity Fair cover, which depicts the 65-year-old Jenner, completely transformed with the help of celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. The once all-American male graces the cover as a fab ’50s pin-up girl.
It is a completely different look than when we last met up with Jenner on Diane Sawyer’s much-watched interview, conducted at Jenner’s Malibu home.
Newsstands and supermarkets expect sales to be brisk and many are hoping to order extra issues. Although a few readers gave it a yawn, most seemed to put the news in the OMG category. “Vanity Fair is definitely selling better than a normal issue,” explained Malibu Newsstand’s Nathan Schields.
As writer Buzz Bissinger put it, “Few recent stories have gripped the public imagination as much as Bruce Jenner’s journey from Olympic icon to transgender woman.”
The article is entitled “He Says Goodbye, She Says Hello.” The lengthy spread is filled with glam photos of Jenner modeling many of her racy gowns, all shot at her Malibu home. Jenner is candid about her long journey, perhaps best summing it up by saying, “If I were lying on my deathbed and kept this secret and never did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life.’”
All the publicity is bound to be good for Jenner’s TV docu-series “I am Cait,” which airs on E! beginning in July. So here’s to ratings, mag sales and presto-chango.
RYAN AND ALI REUNITE
It’s hard to believe that 45 years have gone by since moviegoers were pulling out their hankies and bawling their eyes out over the tearjerker “Love Story.”
The film paired Malibu’s Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. The heartbreaking romance also turned them both into big name stars. The fresh-faced actors are now in their ’70s and that means it’s time for a reunion. The two will match up once again for a touring production of “Love Letters.” A. R. Gurney’s two-character play runs from Oct. 13 to 25 and can be seen at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
“Love Letters” recently played in Malibu, starring locals Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott.