Names and faces
■ Actor Matthew McConaughey isn’t running for Texas governor after months of publicly flirting with the idea of becoming the latest celebrity candidate. The Academy Award-winner said in a video posted Sunday night that political leadership was not a route he was choosing to take “at this moment.” McConaughey, 52, said he would instead focus on supporting businesses and foundations that create pathways for others to succeed. The Texas governor’s race is already shaping up to be one of the nation’s highest-profile contests in 2022. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking a third term and Democrat Beto O’Rourke, coming off failed bids for the U.S. Senate and president, announced last month that he was getting in the race. McConaughey, star of films such as “Dazed and Confused” and “Dallas Buyers Club, ” never said what party — if any — he would run under while acknowledging that he was mulling a run for governor in his home state. McConaughey had also shied away from going into policy specifics and positions on contentious issues in Texas. “Politicians? The good ones can help us to get to where we need to go, yeah,” McConaughey said in the video posted to Twitter. “But let’s be clear, they can’t do anything for us unless we choose to do for ourselves.”
■ Bryan Adams took a break Monday from his coronavirus quarantine in Italy, to virtually unveil the 2022 Pirelli Calendar that he shot featuring fellow musicians including Iggy Pop, Cher and Jennifer Hudson. Adams, 62, tested positive for the virus on Thursday after arriving in Milan for events surrounding the release of the famed Pirelli calendar after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The Canadian rocker who has enjoyed a parallel career as a photographer has been keeping fans informed on his progress on social media, including receiving an anti-thrombosis shot as a precaution. “It’s been interesting launch. It wasn’t how I expected it to be. I certainly didn’t expect to have covid the weekend of the launch. It’s just the way it is,” Adams told a virtual news conference. The calendar is dubbed “On the Road,” referring both to Pirelli’s heritage as a tiremaker about to celebrate 150 years and the life of touring musicians. Iggy Pop, the 74-year-old punk legend, appears as if a molten, painted face and chest in silver, while Cher is photographed in a dressing room, leaning pensively against a mirror. “All of them are very unique and interesting artists and have their own individual style,” Adams said. “When you get into their world, you are really just there to observe [them] creating their persona.”