Puff Piece

I watch pretty much all of TV. And I’ve noticed a pretty extreme trend. Nearly everyone is smoking. And it turns out that the smoking is not limited to times when the camera is rolling. Cigarettes seem to be on fire again. “Are cigarettes back? Depending on who you ask, cigarettes never really left. But the attitude toward cigarettes and smokers has shifted. After a period of exile to the cultural fringes — when a cig was something you snuck, or that might have gotten you scolded or side-eyed — cigarettes seem to be creeping back to the aspirational center, among both civilians and celebrities. Think of Kylie Jenner lighting a cigarette on her March Vanity Fair cover; Hailey Bieber, a cigarette sticking out of her smile and smoke unfurling in her face, in April’s Interview magazine; ‘Heated Rivalry‘s Connor Storrie posing with a cigarette perched in his pout while prepping for the Met Gala, in GQ. Look at Gracie Abrams, photographed with boyfriend Paul Mescal’s arm around her shoulder and a cigarette in her mouth, or to the woman exuding the most enviable aura around: Dua Lipa, whose pre-wedding Instagram photo dump captioned ‘anyone got a light?’ featured a shot of a cigarette dangling from the pop star’s pursed lips.” WaPo (Gift Article): Cigarettes are back in vogue. How did this happen?