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Target says it’s cutting back on Pride merchandise at some stores after backlash
Target is cutting back on the number of its stores that will cary Pride Month-related merchandise in June, a decision that comes after the retail chain last year faced a backlash and threats over some of the products.
Target said in a statement that its Pride merchandise will be available next month “in select stores, based on historical sales performance.” A spokeswoman declined to disclose the number of stores that won’t be carrying the merchandise. But a full assortment will be offered online, Target said.
In prior years, Target had typically sold the full Pride assortment across its 2,000 stores, but the decision to pare back comes after the retailer faced criticism last year over some of the collection’s swimsuits. Some people made claims that the swimwear, labeled as “tuck-friendly” with “extra crotch coverage,” was sold for children, although swimsuits with these labels were only available in adult sizes.
The decision to cut back on Pride merchandise availability, first reported by Bloomberg, also comes after some customers last year confronted workers and tipped over displays. Target also moved Pride displays to the back of its stores in certain Southern locations last year.
Target’s latest moves are just another example of how companies are grappling with catering to different groups of customers at a time of extreme cultural divides, particularly around transgender rights. Last year, Bud Light’s sales plunged after customers were angered by its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Target said the stores chosen to carry the Pride merchandise this year will be based on “guest insights and consumer research.”
“Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round,” Target added. “Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target.”
This year’s Pride merchandise will include adult clothing, home products and food and beverages, with the items starting at $3, Target said.
—With reporting by the Associated Press.
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Biden to stress climate action in first visit by sitting U.S. president to Amazon Rainforest
Washington — President Biden is set to deliver remarks on climate conservation in Manaus, Brazil, on Sunday during a visit to the Amazon rainforest that marks the first such trip by any sitting U.S. president in history.
Mr. Biden has made addressing climate change a key part of his policy agenda, approving legislation that reduces emissions, while setting the country on a path toward a transition to green energy. With the visit Sunday, the president is set to highlight his commitment to combatting global deforestation and conserving forests as part of what the White House calls Mr. Biden’s “historic climate legacy.”
The president is set to announce during the visit that the U.S. has reached its goal of increasing its climate finance to over $11 billion a year, up from $1.5 billion when Mr. Biden took office. He will also designate Nov. 17 as International Conservation Day, while the administration announces new conservation efforts including $50 million for the Amazon Fund, among other initiatives.
Mr. Biden is set to meet local and Indigenous leaders, take an aerial tour of the Amazon rainforest and tour a local museum, before heading to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 summit with world leaders. The trip comes after the president has been attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru in recent days, where he met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The historic visit comes as climate advocates have warned of the environmental consequences of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to rollback the Biden administration’s efforts to combat climate change.
It took too long for Cher to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “I thought, what do I have to do?” she said. “I’ve had number one records in all these decades. I had a song [“Believe”] that changed music forever. And so, what is it that I’ve gotta do?”
This year she finally made it. At her induction ceremony last month, she said, “It was easier getting divorced from two men than it was to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!”
It also took forever for Cher to write her story. This week, “Cher: The Memoir – Part One” finally comes out. Asked what she wanted to say with the book, she replied, “In the beginning, I didn’t wanna say much. And then at some point, I just thought, Cher, do it or give the money back.“
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The book centers on her years with Sonny, and her itinerant childhood with a mother who married at least seven times. She writes of how she had to be a grownup from the beginning: “One time we were driving in the car and she said, ‘Cher, I don’t know how we’re gonna pay the rent. What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Okay, how is this gonna work? How are we gonna do this?'”
In 1962, Cherilyn Sarkisian met Sonny Bono in a coffee shop. He was wearing a mohair suit and a mustard-colored shirt with a white collar. “I thought it was like when Tony met Maria,” she said. “Everybody disappeared, and it was just the two of us.”
But she said it was not love at first sight. “It was something,” Cher said. “I never felt it before.”
Sonny was 27, Cher was 16. “It wasn’t passionate; I just loved him,” she said.
What did she love about him? “How he was different than anyone else. And he made me laugh. And we had a dream.”
That dream came true. By the mid-1960s, Sonny & Cher had five songs in the top 50 at the same time. They had a #1 hit with “I Got You Babe.”
In the 1970s, on “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” they’d become America’s favorite couple, with their banter, their songs, and that Bob Mackie wardrobe: “And then, when they started to realize that people were tuning in because of what I was wearing, then they just gave us all the money we needed,” she said. “It was so much fun.”
But Sonny began to change. “He just started not to care,” Cher said.
About what? “About me.”
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He didn’t like her going out, or even talking with their band. But one member had his eye on her: A guitarist by the name of Bill. One night Cher met up with him. “We walked back to this place where the guys used to get high before the show. And then he kissed me, and it was like, Oh, my God.“
Somehow word got back to Sonny. “I don’t know if I can actually say what happened because it’s so personal, and it’s so … it’s embarrassing,” Cher said.
But it’s in the book: After Sonny asked her what she wanted to do, Cher writes: “I said, ‘I want to sleep with Bill.’ It all seems crazy now. I didn’t mean it, but I thought saying those words was the only way that he would let me go.”
“I thought if I do this, it’s over,” she said. “He’s not gonna be able to come back. We’re not gonna be able to be Sonny & Cher. I just wanna blow it up. But I didn’t know I wanted to blow it up until I was blowing it up.”
They offered her anything to keep up appearances: “Because everybody was afraid I was gonna blow up the show. They just said, ‘What do you want?’ And I said, ‘Well, I want my own place in Malibu. And I want $5,000 a month. Hello? And I want freedom.'”
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But Sonny & Cher kept up the façade for two more years, until Cher’s new boyfriend, record executive David Geffen, got a copy of her contract, and she learned the shocking truth: “Sonny owned 95 percent of the company and his lawyer owned five,” she said. “And it was called Cher Enterprises, but I own nothing! And we’d worked together for almost 12 years.”
She confronted Sonny: “I said, ‘When was the moment that you thought this would be a good idea?’ And he said, ‘I always knew you’d leave me.’ And I said, ‘That’s not a reason! Son, how could you do it? I was there by your side working, all those nights, all those days, through good, through bad.’ He didn’t have an answer.
“And we were still friends after that,” she said.
Even after Cher married Gregg Allman and was pregnant with their son, she rejoined Sonny for a revival of their TV show.
Mason asked, “Can you explain why it was that up on that stage all the other stuff seemed to go away?”
“Because we had fun with each other,” Cher replied. “And because on stage, there was no marriage. There was no discord. There was no word for our relationship. And you couldn’t cut it with a chainsaw.”
WATCH ANTHONY MASON’S EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH CHER:
Cher would go on to win an Oscar, for “Moonstruck.” But that’s for part two of her memoir, which she still has to write.
As for her music, she says she’s got another album she wants to make. When? “After I get rid of this book!” she laughed. “Because talking is harder on your voice than singing. And I want to record an album, and 78 is not exactly a time in your life when you want to. I hope I’m Tony Bennett!”
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READ AN EXCERPT: “Cher: The Memoir – Part One”
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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Steven Tyler.
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