Earlier this year, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) reportedly hired a top Hollywood talent agency and “took meetings” on the possibility of writing a book.
According to the the Daily Beast, AOC retained the talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Emma Watson, Will Smith, Meryl Streep and Brad Pitt.
The book deal apparently fell though for reasons unknown.
It’s unclear whether the book project is on life support or “functionally dead” as the Daily Beast put it. Meanwhile, although Ocasio-Cortez has been lavishly praised in the media for her “transparency,” the congresswoman’s alleged work with CAA, oddly enough, appears to be very hush-hush.
The agency would neither confirm nor deny that it had recently been working with Ocasio-Cortez. Corbin Trent, communications director for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declined to address the story directly, saying it fell beyond matters of congressional work.
“I can’t help you with it,” Trent told the Daily Beast. Asked to clarify, Trent simply said “I’ve said everything that I’m going to say about that.”
Book deals signed by freshman members of Congress are not unheard of, but they’re not that common because there are “strict regulations that prohibit receiving an advance for the book,” according to Fox News.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a freshman Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota who’s facing multiple controversies, entered a book deal worth up to $250,000, though the exact figure remains unclear, before officially becoming a congresswoman, Forbes reported.
The book by Omar, the first Somali American to serve in Congress, has the working title, “This Is What America Looks Like,” and will be published by Dey Street. It will touch upon Omar’s upbringing in Somalia, her years as a refugee in Kenya and her subsequent arrival in the United States.
While AOC may be trying to enhance her public profile with the help of a talent agency, she appears to be decreasing her visibility on social media.
On Tuesday the unapologetic socialist announced that she is quitting Facebook and cutting down on her use of social media because it is a ‘public health risk’.
While admitting that Facebook was crucial to her campaign, Ocasio-Cortez said that social media can lead to ‘increased isolation, depression, anxiety, addiction and escapism’.
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