Book Review: ‘Gwyneth' is a portrait of a pioneering and polarizing ‘It girl' and wellness mogul
In both phases, she struggles with likeability in the press and from the public, often coming across in interviews as elitist and out of touch with 'normal' Americans. But that hasn't stopped her from succeeding on both fronts.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Katy Perry superfan from Alberta basks in newfound fame, puts Medicine Hat on the map
A Katy Perry superfan is basking in newfound fame after a video of him meeting the pop star garnered nearly a million views online. Perry, who is in Canada performing several shows on her Lifetimes Tour, invited concertgoer Braiden Palumbo on stage during a stop in Vancouver. Palumbo travelled all the way from Redcliff, Alta., to attend the show. Now, his neighbours are recognizing him from the cute interaction, which somewhat schooled Perry on small-town Prairie life. 'People come into the gas bar all the time and they don't even buy anything, they just want to take a picture with me,' he said on Tuesday. 'Growing up in a small town, only the people in the small town know who you are.' In the video, Palumbo tells Perry he is from Medicine Hat, which is a small city in southeastern Alberta that's very close to his hometown. The animated pop star looks bewildered and plays to the cheering crowd, saying she needs 'to study better geography.' 'Your hats are filled with medicine? Well you know for us Americans you are our medicine hats, we love it,' she says jokingly. From there, Perry was in for another lesson when the 20-year-old reveals he works at a Co-op gas bar. 'I'm sorry but you guys are way advanced, what is a Co-op gas bar?' she asks. When the fan explains it is just a gas station, Perry goes on to say 'it sounds really fancy.' Perry, who also made news this week after dining out with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparking romance rumours, is known for interacting with fans during her extravagant performances. Palumbo said he is grateful to have had that shared moment with Perry, and to put a small town on the map. 'I am a huge Katy Perry fan for as long as I can remember,' Palumbo said. When Perry began calling people on stage, Palumbo didn't think he would be one of them. That was, until she started walking towards audience members who were further back in the section he was in. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. 'I knew that that was my moment to shine,' he recalls. He said all he could think of doing to get her attention was raise his arms and scream will full force. 'I was just screaming, 'Pick me, Pick me!' You need to notice me,' he recalls. The video was originally shared by @ on TikTok and has garnered over 750,000 views since being posted four days ago, leaving fans desperately questioning if Perry will visit Medicine Hat in future tours. Palumbo has also since changed his profile picture on Instagram to a selfie of him with Perry. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Millionaires multiply across the U.S., but most find it's not all mansions and champagne
Limo driver charged with impaired after passengers take away keys: OPP Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry spotted out for dinner in Montreal Two fans seemingly caught in sex act at Yankee Stadium in viral video Millionaires multiply across the U.S., but most find it's not all mansions and champagne Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP Article content NEW YORK (AP) — As a child, Heidi Barley watched her family pay for groceries with food stamps. As a college student, she dropped out because she couldn't afford tuition. In her twenties, already scraping by, she was forced to take a pay cut that shrunk her salary to just $34,000 a year. Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account or Sign in without password View more offers Article content But this summer, the 41-year-old hit a milestone that long felt out of reach: She became a millionaire. Article content tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Millionaires multiply across the U.S., but most find it's not all mansions and champagne Back to video tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video Article content A surging number of everyday Americans now boast a seven-figure net worth once the domain of celebrities and CEOs. But as the ranks of millionaires grow fatter, the significance of the status is shifting alongside perceptions of what it takes to be truly rich. 'Millionaire used to sound like Rich Uncle Pennybags in a top hat,' says Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, a wealth management firm in El Segundo, California. 'It's no longer a backstage pass to palatial estates and caviar bumps. It's the new mass-affluent middleweight class, financially secure but two zeros short of private-jet territory.' Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Inflation, ballooning home values and a decades-long push into stock markets by average investors have lifted millions into millionairehood. A June report from Swiss bank UBS found about one-tenth of American adults are members of the seven-digit club, with 1,000 freshly minted millionaires added daily last year. Thirty years ago, the IRS counted 1.6 million Americans with a net worth of $1 million or more. UBS — using data from the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and central banks of countries around the globe — put the number at 23.8 million in the U.S. last year, a nearly 15-fold increase. The expanding ranks of millionaires come as the gulf between rich and poor widens. The richest 10% of Americans hold two-thirds of household wealth, according to the Federal Reserve, averaging $8.1 million each. The bottom 50% hold 3% of wealth, with an average of just $60,000 to their names. Your Midday Sun Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Article content Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Federal Reserve data also shows there are differences by race. Asian people outpace white people in the U.S. in median wealth, while Black and Hispanic people trail in their net worth. Barley was working as a journalist when her newspaper ended its pension program and she got a lump-sum payout of about $5,000. A colleague convinced her to invest it in a retirement account, and ever since, she's stashed away whatever she could. The investments dipped at first during the Great Recession but eventually started growing. In time, she came to find catharsis in amassing savings, going home and checking her account balances when she had a tough day at work. Last month, after one such day, she realized the moment had come. Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content 'Did you know that we're millionaires?' she asked her husband. 'Good job, honey,' Barley says he replied, unfazed. It brought no immediate change. Like many millionaires, much of her wealth is in long-term investments and her home, not easy-to-access cash. She still lives in her modest Orlando, Florida, house, socks away half her paycheck, fills the napkin holder with takeout napkins and lines trash cans with grocery bags. Still, Barley says it feels powerful to cross a threshold she never imagined reaching as a child. 'But it's not as glamorous as the ideas in your head,' she says. All wealth is relative. To thousandaires, $1 million is the stuff of dreams. To billionaires, it's a rounding error. Either way, it takes twice as much cash today to match the buying power of 30 years ago. Advertisement 6 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content A net worth of $1 million in 1995 is equivalent to about $2.1 million today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A seven-figure net worth is, to some, as outdated a yardstick as a six-figure salary. Nonetheless, 'millionaire' is peppered in everything from politics to popular music as shorthand for rich. 'It's a nice round number but it's a point in a longer journey,' says Dan Uden, a 41-year-old from Providence, Rhode Island, who works in information technology and who hit the million-dollar mark last month. 'It definitely gives you some room to breathe.' No other country comes close to the U.S. in the sheer number of millionaires, though relative to population, UBS found Switzerland and Luxembourg had higher rates. Advertisement 7 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Kenneth Carow, a finance professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, says commonalities emerge among today's millionaires. The vast majority own stocks and a home. Most live below their means. They value education and teach financial responsibility to their children. 'The dream of becoming a millionaire,' Carow says, 'has become more obtainable.' Jim Wang, 45, a software engineer-turned finance blogger from Fulton, Maryland, says even if hitting $1 million was essentially 'a non-event' for him and his wife, it still held weight for him as the son of immigrants who saved money by turning the heat off on winter nights. The private jets he envisioned as a kid may not have materialized at the million-dollar threshold, but he still sees it as a marker that brings a certain level of security. Advertisement 8 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content 'It's possible, even with a regular job,' he says. 'You just have to be diligent and consistent.' The resilience of financial markets and the ease of investing in broad-based, low-fee index funds has fueled the balances of many millionaires who don't earn massive salaries or inherit family fortunes. Among them is a burgeoning community of younger millionaires born out of the movement known as FIRE, for Financial Independence Retire Early. Jason Breck, 48, of Fishers, Indiana, embraced FIRE and reached the million-dollar mark nine years ago. He promptly quit his job in automotive marketing, where he generally earned around $60,000 a year but managed to stow away around 70% of his pay. Now, Breck and his wife spend several months a year traveling. Despite being retired, they continue to grow their balance by sticking to a tight budget and keeping expenses to $1,500 a month when they're in the U.S and a few hundred dollars more when they travel. Hitting their goal hasn't translated to luxury. There is no lawn crew to cut the grass, no Netflix or Amazon Prime, no Uber Eats. They fly economy. They drive a 2005 Toyota. 'It's not a golden ticket like it was in the past,' Breck says. 'For us, a million dollars buys us freedom and peace of mind. We're not yacht rich, but for us, we're time rich.' Article content Share this article in your social network Read Next
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Toronto Star
Book Review: ‘Gwyneth' is a portrait of a pioneering and polarizing ‘It girl' and wellness mogul
'Gwyneth: The Biography,' Amy Odell's thorough portrait of Gwyneth Paltrow, splits her life and career into two distinct periods: the rise (and fall) of the quintessential '90s Hollywood 'It girl,' and her transformation to wellness mogul with the creation of lifestyle brand Goop. In both phases, she struggles with likeability in the press and from the public, often coming across in interviews as elitist and out of touch with 'normal' Americans. But that hasn't stopped her from succeeding on both fronts.
