1. TACO BELL WILL OPEN HOTEL IN PALM SPRINGS: Taco Bell is opening a temporary hotel in Palm Springs this summer as a new way to engage with consumers. The Bell, a Taco Bell Hotel & Resort, will start accepting reservations in June and will open August 9. CNBC: “The Bell will feature a gift shop with exclusive Taco Bell-theme apparel and an on-site salon with Taco Bell-inspired nail art and hair styling services. Taco Bell’s chief brand officer Marisa Thalberg said that the idea for a Taco Bell-theme hotel is meant to be playful and fun, but the brand sincerely intends for it to be an ‘unparalleled experience,’ and opted to house the Bell in a fully operational hotel.” 2. C.F.D.A. AWARDS TO HONOR BARBIE: span style="font-size: 14.5px;">The C.F.D.A. Fashion Awards will honor Barbie with the Board of Directors’ Tribute Award. The fashion doll celebrated its 60th birthday this year. The ceremony takes place June 3 at the Brooklyn Museum. Women’s Wear Daily: “Barbie has collaborated with more than 75 designers and influencers, including Gigi Hadid and Jeremy Scott for Moschino. The brand’s first designer partnership was with Oscar de la Renta in 1985. Barbie also collaborated with Bob Mackie, who will be awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s ceremony, on a collector doll in 1990. Vera Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka and Stephen Burrows are among the CFDA members who have created special dolls with Barbie.” 3. WASHINGTON VENUE REFUSES TO HOST ALT-RIGHT EVENT: A group of alt-right figures are hosting the Demand Free Speech Freedom Rally on July 6 at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.—but their plans for an after-party might be tricky as area venues can refuse to host events for right-wing groups. Rally organizers posted an event listing for a V.I.P. after-party at the Penthouse Pool Club on the rooftop of VIDA Fitness, but the venue never actually booked the event and doesn’t plan to host it. DCist: “The venue confirmed that someone from the group had reached out about hosting the event, which was described in vague terms, but say the vendor never agreed to host it. After learning about the EventBrite page, the third-party vendor asked organizers to remove all references to and photos of Penthouse Pool Club. … Adrienna DiCioccio, the organizer of the event, tells DCist over email she booked the event through a third party. She says she thought everything was settled, hence the EventBrite page, until she learned Tuesday that ‘they will not be hosting the event due to the conflicting views of the owner and booking guest' … It feels we are being discriminated for wanting to come together, and celebrate the Fourth of July week in our countries capital on behalf of our American free speech and some of the events speakers' political views.’” | 