There are so many conversations about “cancel culture” and what celebrities are really responsible for. When the conversation turns to fashion and which fashion designers are problematic, and whether celebrities should avoid certain designers, the conversation gets even weirder, honestly. For example: I’m happy to “cancel” Dolce & Gabbana. The designers, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, have repeatedly said awful things about politics in general, the LGBTQ community and children conceived through IVF. They deserve to be canceled. But I still see tons of people wearing D&G. Do those people deserve to be “canceled” as well? Not really. I wish people would pay more attention, but I get it – people are f–king busy and not everything is some huge conspiracy.
All of which brings me to this, one of the weirdest f–king fashion/cancel culture stories I’ve ever seen. Page Six is pointing out that Patricia Arquette carried a clutch to the Emmys, and the clutch was designed by… Joss Sackler. Joss Sackler is married to David Sackler, who is… a former board member of Purdue Pharma, one of the companies being blamed for the opioid crisis. Is this not one of the strangest issues?
Nobody was shocked to see Patricia Arquette win yet another prestigious award at Sunday night’s Emmys. But some were stunned by what she was carrying at the awards show— a bag by fashion designer Joss Sackler.
As Page Six has reported, celebrities including Courtney Love have recently shunned Sackler’s LBV line since Sackler is part of the family behind Purdue Pharma — which has infamously made billions from OxyContin and allegedly fueled the opioid epidemic. Sackler’s married to scion and former board member, David Sackler. So it raised eyebrows in the fashion world when Arquette — whose brother David has struggled with addiction — was carrying a dramatic LBV purse on the red carpet before the ceremony. It’s not clear if Arquette, who won an Emmy for her role in “The Act,” or her handlers were aware of the piece’s provenance, but reps for the actress and a person who’s previously been listed as her stylist didn’t get back to us when we asked for comment.
Again, this isn’t a clear-cut situation like Dolce & Gabbana, where a designer was on the record saying terrible sh-t. This is a case where a handbag designer is married to a man who used to be on a board of a f–ked up company, and… how dare Patricia Arquette? Now I understand those people who are like “cancel culture has gone too far.” To be clear, it’s totally fine if people don’t want to associate with the Sackler family and if you want to cancel them, so be it (and I agree, they’ve profited off of and sustained the opioid crisis). But all Patricia Arquette did was carry a purse to the Emmys. She probably didn’t even buy the purse – it was probably just something loaned out to her stylist. My lord.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
The entire Sackler family is akin to the Trumps. They have profited off of destroying people’s lives. Would you be as blasé about this if she was carrying a clutch designed by Don Jr’s girlfriend?
but really it would be “a clutch designed by cousin of the girlfriend of Don Jr”….there are degrees of seperation involved in PA’s clutch….i’m not saying ANY of this is right..
David Sackler (Joss’ husband) is the grandson of the owner of Purdue and the son of the former chairman/president, so not as tangled as that.
This is a huge no for me. Anyone wanting to write her a pass should do themselves a favor and read Dopesick by Beth Macy. This family is despicable.
I despise the Trump family but in this case I think it’s so much worse. This family profited off the death of so many people. They continue to try to shift blame, hide money and live ostentatious lives as though they are not scum. The Trump family is awful but they aren’t directly responsible for so many deaths.
This is some bullsh!t
1. Joss’ husband and his family have funneled millions of dollars from Purdue to shady bank accounts in Switzerland in an attempt to avoid paying their victims.
2. This line was founded with that blood money.
3. Joss is an absolute pig and you can see that for yourself in her comments. She is completely unapologetic and gives ZERO effs about the opioid crisis. She makes that completely clear on her Instagram page (which is public).
And…Im going to hazard a guess that Patricia Arquette knew none of that and simply wore the clutch her stylist picked out for her with the dress the stylist also picked out.
Im also going to hazard a guess that the MAJORITY of these people “canceling” Patricia wouldn’t have known who designed this bag either u til it was pointed out to THEM.
Im all for social justice but people need to stop making it about dumb $hit like this. It’s like the Lazy Man’s Guide To Activism. Protest some real s*it.
I have no beef with PA. She can do whatever she wants. I also feel like she probably did not know but even if she did that’s her decision to make. I just despise Joss and would not personally buy anything from her brand.
Great post VV, I agree. Doubt she knew. I know I certainly didn’t.
Seriously, I effin never heard about this designer and her family before now. PA’s crime may be a lack of googling?
I completely agree, VV.
I agree, I doubt she had any idea who designed it, or was told the name and nothing else. e
Patricia would be one of the last people to not care about something like that if she knew.
@vv totally agree.
Yup. I didn’t know ANY of this and I consider myself fairly educated on social justice issues.
joss sackler was in the celeb gossip news a couple weeks ago because courtney love (recovering opioid addict) complained that joss offered her money to attend her fashion show and courtney was offended but it turns out courtney was asking for even more money to attend the show and just didn’t get her asking price.
OxyContin is a painkiller (says Google, I’m not American), right?
Is it that much different to other painkillers when it comes to how addictive it is?
Was it falsly advertized?
Or why is the manufacturer in this case more responsible than other painkiller manufacturers (or users themselves)?
I would really recommend reading Dopesick (as commenters upthread have said). It outlines the role Purdue Pharma/Sackler family had in misleading doctors and patients about how addictive OxyContin is, hiding studies, aggressively marketing the drug, etc.
Purdue pushed that was a non-addictive alternative to morphine and other opioids, despite studies saying otherwise.
Yes, it was falsely advertised, even to doctors, as being very effective and non addictive. Well, it is very effective, it is also crazy addictive. I will admit this; i love it. I will take one any time I have the opportunity. I broke my leg and I was given quite a bit of oxy. I am very lucky in that I just don’t get addicted to stuff. Many people who are dead aren’t so lucky. But I will also say…I wouldn’t want to push my luck and have unlimited access. The stuff makes me feel really good. And many times since Trump was elected I have wished for an oxy, so who knows what would happen if I could happy ass down to the CVS and buy some otc anytime.
My mom was prescribed Oxy for chronic pain management. She was hooked quickly, and her doctor profited handsomely off of it.
When she died, alone and on her bedroom floor of an overdose in June 2012, her doctor refused to sign her death certificate because he feared legal consequences. Her body sat in cold storage for more than a month before we could hold a funeral, much less bury her.
But I don’t hold Patricia Arquette responsible for her doctor’s greed or the Sackler family’s methodical advertising and profiteering off the pain of others.
It is highly addictive
the reps for the company pushed doctors to prescribe it, and the more they did the more they made off the company
They never told the patients it was highly addictive
From what I’ve read in articles, so not an expert, the drug is far more addictive than other forms of opioids. However, the drug was marketed to doctors as less addictive than other pain killers, and so was marketed to doctors as safer for things like chronic pain.
Also, these drug companies failed to do much, if any regulation on orders. There were pharmacies in small towns receiving millions of pills a year and no one at these companies was looking into it. These companies were in fact doing everything they could to hamper investigations by the DEA even though they knew a ton of these drugs were ending up on the streets. Many people have become addicted, moved to street drugs when they couldn’t get more pills, and thousands have died.
Purdue Pharma is the company that created and marketed one of the most prolific opioids that people became addicted to, OxyContin.
My best friends mom accidentally overdosed and died three years ago. She was a great lady, she had a husband, five kids, and three grandkids. This entire situation has been a horrible tragedy.
I’m glad that Dopesick has been recommended by multiple commenters. It’s essential reading for anyone wanting to educate themselves on the opioid crisis.
The doctors in that book who took the courageous stance that Oxy wasn’t right for their patients and their communities are the real heroes of the book. They took on Purdue Pharma, at significant costs to themselves professionally and financially.
It’s not just Purdue Pharma, their sales representatives, and executives that are responsible for the opioid epidemic. The medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, pharmacists, and administrators that were wined and dined by Purdue Pharma and their reps are just as responsible. They were more than happy to accept the nice meals, both being taken out to eat and catered lunches paid for by the drug companies, swag, and samples to hand out to their patients. They were unable to see that it wasn’t good for their patients and their communities because they were benefiting.
My aunt was a nurse who had worked her way up to being an administrator. It was the norm for a long time for her to get taken out for dinners by drug company reps, and get the swag. In return, she had to ensure that the companies who had paid for her fancy dinners got their drugs prescribed by the doctors and nurses in the hospital she worked for. She was not happy when the wining and dining gravy train came to an end due to more regulatory oversight.
It also was ironic that one of her daughters who was a nurse got hooked on painkillers, and lost her nursing license as a result. She was stealing medication that had been prescribed for her patients and likely was both using and selling what she had stolen. She has a criminal conviction and will likely never get her nursing license back. We know that she was using both Oxy and Vicodin. She stole the Vicodin that had been prescribed for my mother when she was dying of cancer, that had barely been used. The Oxy for my dad after a recent dental procedure was missing after my cousin had been in the house. Because of these thefts, we know she’s still addicted to painkillers, and she lost her nursing license almost 15 years ago.
It’s really hard not to be more outspoken when relatives complain about how few painkillers are prescribed now after medical procedures. Given that both my sister and I know that someone my dad trusts has stolen prescription drugs from his house, we know that it’s done for good reason.
So, we’re supposed to follow Courtney Love now?
Joss actually posted the receipts to show that Courtney Love (through her publicist) asked for $250k and when they couldn’t meet the price she backed out and acted all offended. She’s a money hungry fraud as well.
When she’s calling for people to stop financially supporting a family that knowingly and deliberately developed a drug with a formulation that made it as easy to abuse as possible, wildly oversold it to rural areas, pushed sales incentives to encourage doctors to overprescribe, and ignored hundreds of thousands of people dying until their money was threatened? Sure.
You’re right and I 100% agree with the message but I hate that Courtney asked for more money and would have attended the event if it was given to her.
It’s the whole “broken clocks are still right twice a day” sort of deal with her.
over the sacklers? yes.
I can’t imagine being a celebrity and having to research the intricate ins and outs of who was linked to who and married to who just so I can carry a fricking purse at an awards show.
I’m, you should also be doing thing is in your own life, not just celebrities. The only way to be an ethical consumer is to know where what you’re consuming and where it comes from. Can you do this withbliterally everything? No. Can you read a label on your products and know that the people who make it are corrupt? Absolutely. This is like when people yell “let me eat my chicken in peace!!!!” When people bring up chik-fil-a. You can either try to do your best, or just go along with the system as is.
I think most of us do try to do our best, but the idea that somebody would be lambasted over and “offense” like this is absurd.
you’re a celebrity, get someone to do the research for you 😉
Sorry but LBV is every bit as toxic as the drug his family pushed. He’s not just a board member his family created and promoted the drug. His family money funded the LBV club and brand.
She looks so uncomfortable..
Ain’t no way in this life or the next…am I wearing or buying ANYTHING that has ANYTHING to do with the Sackler family…and I am SHOCKED that Patricia did this….considering the HELL her family has had to deal with concerning drugs…PERIOD!
I don’t think she should be “canceled” but right now it does make a statement of support–this designer recently made waves because Courtney Love told her to GTFO last week. Courtney Love said she would never wear the designer because she would never associate with the brand because of how they made their money–off of addicting and killing people.
This is very much like people wearing Marchesa. I don’t think it is “cancel” worthy, but it is absolutely in bad taste and a statement of sorts right now.
Uh, this is a completely legitimate criticism. Joss Sackler and her family have profited from an addictive substance that they actively lied about it’s addictive nature and healing abilities, and she is a billionaire as a result! Her fashion endeavor is a direct benefit of the wealth she reaped from destruction. Prosecutors also recently discovered that the Sackler’s have hidden billions in offshore accounts in efforts to keep more money for themselves while avoiding victim payouts. And their company is likely going to preemptively file for bankruptcy to avoid further financial responsibility. If Patricia Arquette didn’t know, or the stylist didn’t know (HIGHLY unlikely a stylist wouldn’t know about the controversy surrounding this label) that doesn’t negate that they deserve criticism for essentially advertising for this brand. The Sacklers should be shunned from American society.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jwriter, I don’t have enough hands to give you the applause your comment deserves.
I agree that while Patricia probably didn’t know when she carried it, she knows now. She could at least address it and state she unknowingly carried it and won’t make the same mistake again.
That would be a good move on her part. I hope she does that.
My mom died from a prescription opioid overdose in 2012. Obviously the Purdue/Sackler case is very personal and very painful for me.
That said, while I think Joss and David Sackler are terrible human beings, we don’t actually know what Patricia Arquette knew about her clutch, and we’re extrapolating an awful lot.
Here’s an opportunity to leverage a platform for education, not to cancel someone for holding a clutch.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how painful that must be.
But I really do appreciate your measured response to this. I wasn’t aware of the Sackler family previously (not American), but will certainly avoid supporting them however tangentially.
I also believe that Patricia Arquette doesn’t need to be cancelled for this, and hopefully the whole situation brings up useful discussion.
I’m really not a ‘canceller,’ in fact I tell people to lighten up most times. That is until I’m reading something, drawing lines and then thinking to myself, “No frakking way would I spend a penny…,” on this or that. Obviously I’m not a celebrity or public figure so there’s no obligatory responsibility I may, or may not, feel. And I’d never preach or lecture anyone because who knows their level of pertinent knowledge or how they separate justifications and pick battles. And it’s none of my business.
This family makes me personally sick to my stomach on many levels from lying and pushing to pill mills and physician stupidity to the rest of us being punished and having to subsidize the whole lot through suffering the consequences of not being able to properly eradicate pain from widespread national fear and pressure. Frak ’em all up one side and down the next.
I remember in Crazy Rich Asians that LBV was a brand that several characters enjoyed. I recall Victoria Beckham and many others wearing this line as well through the years. Hopefully they will see that the owners suck and wear better choices that look nicer too. Now I want to make knock off LBV for fun and sell it next to their boutique.
Upon further research I believe I mixed up the initials. It’s easy to do. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on sometimes. Does anyone know if the uber expensive brand I’m thinking of is LVB or LBV? It’s been around for a while.
I read that yesterday and just rolled my eyes. Page Six is a bunch of misogynistic, trump-supporting dick-heads who use every chance they get to body-shame, fat-shame, anything-shame women. They had to really stretch with this one. Patricia is a talented, smart, successful, self-possessed woman–exactly the kind Page 6 finds most threatening. I used to find page 6 a fun read but in the last year or so, it seems to have turned so mean. Maybe it always was and for some reason I didn’t notice. Either way, I deleted the app from my phone. I’m not yelling cancel as a response to this but I realized I just don’t want their negative voice anywhere in my day.