Timothee Chalamet and Sarah Talabi’s alleged Coachella kiss got the world talking about climate change

A rumoured kiss between Timothee Chalamet (film star) and Sarah Talabi (model) has turned the tables on how tabloid gossip mills work, and has the world talking about climate changes.

Here’s the story of how one celebrity rendezvous at a music festival kicked off a conversation about global warming.

Who, what, when?
Chalamet starred in last year’s epic blockbuster Dune, which won six Oscars at this year’s event, and he was nominated in the best actor category for his leading role in 2017’s Call me by my name. Sarah Talabi is a model and influencer who has 1.5 million Instagram followers. She founded the social justice group Intersectionality for Feminists.

The two allegedly shared a kiss at the weekend’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held in the Californian desert. It was possible. Maybe. Talabi confirmed she was photographed next Chalamet. However, she refused to confirm the kiss and has used the mystery as a way to redirect the news.

How do you redirect news stories about a kiss to another source?
After being bombarded with questions from the media about her potential brush with Chalamet, Talabi sidestepped the question on people’s lips and turned it the conversation to… the polar ice caps.

“Everyone is asking me if I was kissing Timothee Chalamet at Coachella, and that is a good question,” she said in a statement to gossip outlet Page Six. “But a great question would be asking our world leaders why the Earth is now losing 1.2 trillion tonnes of ice each year due to global warming and why climate crisis reform has been completely ineffective.”

It’s one of the greatest deflections of all time. Talabi was unable to confirm or deny the rumour. Switch the conversation to a more relevant topic. She encouraged readers also to contact their local representatives to answer the question she posed. It’s masterful PR.

Isn’t celebrity gossip bad for our brains?
Celebrity news often gets a bad rap but there’s no doubt it captures people’s attention. Talabi’s response shows how clever handling of a personal topic can help draw focus to a global issue.