The Daily Tonic: Get On The Cocaine Avtomagistral!

Today’s daily takes a look back at some stories from February 2020 – but as we creep closer to Christmas we also want to pose a few festive questions too. First off, we want to know about celebrity gift-givers.

Who is a generous sort? Who’s a big Scrooge? Who tries to pass off the worst recycled tat they can? Who gives the most insane nonsense?

Whatever you’ve got, send stories of celebrity prezzies to hello@popbitch.com and we’ll dish out some digital gifts of our own to the best.

YouTuber Logan Paul has just announced he will be fighting Floyd Mayweather early next year. The smart money is obviously on Logan getting absolutely pasted, but it has to be said that Floyd isn’t always the big man he likes to present himself as.

At the SuperBowl this February just gone, Mayweather was photographed cutting about dressed as a big bit of Louis Vuitton luggage, showing off huge stacks of hundred dollar bills – as he often does.

Except those stacks aren’t exactly what they seem. The top bill and the bottom bill are hundreds, for appearance’s sake. The rest of them? $1 bills.

We’ve always loved the Grace Jones “COCAINE AUTOBAHN” story, but we learned in February that the autobahn isn’t the only international highway Grace has gakked on.

A few years back, Ms Jones was hired to play a gig in Moscow to promote a vodka company out there. A brand manager was dispatched to collect her from the airport in the company’s luxury car and present her with a bottle of said vodka as a gift.

Grace wasted no time in cracking it open and swigging straight from the bottle, while also getting stuck into some other treats she’d brought along for the ride too. She was having a grand old time in the backseat – until they hit rush hour and came to a complete standstill.

That was when a notably energised Grace decided she’d like to stretch her legs a bit, so bounced out of the car to run up and down the four-lane motorway, all the while yelling at the Moscow traffic.

Sting was over in San Francisco at the start of the year, performing in his musical at the Golden Gate Theatre. He was staying at the Four Seasons while there and was spotted by a Popbitch reader in the bar enjoying a nice cup of tea.

All very normal, you might think. Our reader thought so too. Until they went to leave and noticed that on the back of Sting’s jacket there was a huge embroidered cartoon of… Sting’s own face.

(FYI: Ever seen a weirder bit of celebrity clothing? hello@popbitch.com)

It can be a tough life being a runner in TV. Constantly on-hand, made to do grunt work, occasionally getting tangled in national tabloid scandals, etc – but it isn’t without the odd perk here and there.

For instance, one runner working on Sky’s coverage of the Academy Awards in February found himself in a lift at the Roosevelt Hotel shortly after the ceremony, sharing it with none other than Renee Zellweger – who was clutching her newly-won Oscar.

When the doors closed, Renee offered him the award to hold and suggested that the two of them take a picture together. Bless.

Every one of the ten songs in today’s audio quiz was a UK number one hit in February at some point in the last 50 years. You just need to remember what they’re called and who they’re by.

You get a point for every song title you correctly recall and a point for every artist you identify.

[Ten songs; twenty points]

The hidden story of Who Let The Dogs Out is still amazing
[Listen on 99% Invisible]

Gillian Anderson doing ASMR
[Watch on YouTube]

What’s it like when your ex-boyfriend starts dating Lady Gaga?
[Find out on the NYT]