Chef? Is that you?
Jeremy Allen White is having a great year. Sure, 2024 just started and it’s basically White’s third day out here. Still, while most of us were wiping the crust from our eyes and catching up on post-holiday emails, White was zapping the zeitgeist.
White, famous actor and regular degular shmegular dude from Carroll Gardens, is the star of Calvin Klein’s latest campaign. Shot by famed photographer Mert Alas, the campaign finds White running to the rooftop of a New York City building – with urgency! He does pull-ups; gazes into the camera; lounges on a couch; and takes his clothes off to the tune of “You Don’t Own Me,” the 1963 song by fellow Brooklynite Lesley Gore.
I didn’t know White was from Carroll Gardens until a few months ago, when I was clicking around on the internet and stumbled upon that lovely lil’ fact. My partner and I have enjoyed watching “The Bear,” and one day, I’d love to interview White about his old neighborhood haunts. Until then, I will just share this photo of White eating an apple while wearing a style Calvin Klein calls “Intense Power Underwear.”
A Calvin Klein billboard holding court from its iconic SoHo perch is as New York as campaigns come. Most, if not all, Calvin Klein campaigns tend to generate buzz, but the degree to which White’s blew up my Instagram feed this week was… something. I’m not sure I’ve seen this level of thirst since Usher’s Snapchat shower mishap.
CNN’s headline is my top pick: “Look of the Week: Jeremy Allen White drops his pants for the New York skyline.” Dubbing White half-nude as a “look of the week” is so unhinged, I have no choice but to stan.
White granted GQ what seems to be the exclusive campaign interview. This excerpt about White cramming in “endless pushups the night before” the Calvin Klein shoot got me:
Even with that preparation, White was his characteristically anxious self before the shoot. “In my head, I was just like, I can't see myself on a billboard. I shouldn't be here,” he said. “Just real imposter syndrome.” To prepare, he ran, jumped rope, and did calisthenics. Ate plenty of fish. All the things one does before everyone on the planet sees them in their underwear. The week before the shoot, White got sick—“a chest thing,” he says—and had to cram in a last-minute run and endless pushups the night before.
After seeing the campaign images, some wondered whether White’s belly button had disappeared, like some kind of “Kyle XY” situation. Allure did some investigating and interviewed editor-in-chief Jessica Cruel’s father, who is a doctor, about the matter. The verdict: Everyone has belly buttons! Yay, mystery solved!
And that’s week one of 2024, folks. Where are we placing our bets for week two?