Getting to know first-time Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro, the actress with an angelic voice who played Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. Full disclosure: I have accidentally referred to her as “Melissa Barbaro” on multiple occasions, and I’m sorry about that. It’s just in my head now, that she’s “Melissa” and not “Monica” and I have to keep catching myself. [Pajiba]
Guy Pearce & Carice Van Houten broke up “years ago.” [Just Jared]
Carrie Coon looks insanely glam on the cover of T&C. [Go Fug Yourself]
Reese Witherspoon went to a premiere. [Socialite Life]
Analysis of the Oscar noms and the race from here. [LaineyGossip]
Troye Sivan’s GRWM. [OMG Blog]
Mikey Madison looked cute in Patou & Proenza Schouler. [RCFA]
Joel McHale is hosting another Fox show. [Seriously OMG]
Reality star details their ayahuasca journey. [Starcasm]
When will The Brutalist come out on streaming? [Hollywood Life]
Ethan Slater celebrates Ariana Grande’s first Oscar nom. [Buzzfeed]

Last November, certain segments of the British media got off their asses and actually did some investigative journalism on the Windsors. Specifically, Channel 4’s Dispatches, along with the Mirror, did a series of exposés on the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall. Lancaster is the “private income” of the monarch, and Cornwall is the “private income” of the Prince of Wales. The investigations revealed just how thoroughly Charles and William loot taxpayer money for sh-t like “garage space for ambulances” and “seabeds used by the Navy.” Alongside that, we learned that the Windsors are full-on slumlords who trap desperate, broke people in cold, moldy rentals. The duchies are under no legal obligation to maintain these rentals either. Speaking of, the Duchy of Cornwall owns the land underneath Dartmoor Prison, and taxpayers have to foot the £1.5 million annual bill to “lease” that land. Except Dartmoor was recently shut down, yet they’re still expected to pay Peggy.

The Prince of Wales is due to receive millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money from a vacant prison that may never reopen. The Duchy of Cornwall, the estate which provides a private income for Prince William, owns HMP Dartmoor and leases it to the Ministry of Justice for £1.5 million a year. But the category-C prison has been empty since July after high levels of toxic gas were recorded in prisoners’ accommodation earlier this year. Its 682 inmates, many of whom are sex offenders serving long sentences, were moved to other jails as the government grappled with the prison overcrowding crisis.

Under the terms of the lease, the Duchy is not responsible for the upkeep of the prison and even has a “dilapidations clause”, which requires the taxpayer to spend up to £68 million to repair the building, despite the fact that it is not owned by the state and was built with taxpayers’ money. This means that the taxpayer is effectively liable for any repairs that are required at Dartmoor.

A report published last month shows that the prison has fallen into further disrepair since staff were ordered to leave. There have been infestations of rats, birds, bats and insects since windows were left open to increase ventilation. The report by the independent monitoring board at HMP Dartmoor, calling for an “urgent decision” on its future, suggests that the prison may never reopen, or 2026 at the earliest. It reveals that unsafe levels of radon — a colourless, odourless radioactive gas which has been linked to lung cancer under prolonged exposure — had already been detected in the prison when the lease was signed.

Some staff have been permanently reassigned to other prisons. The report notes that the “lease requirements would have to be met at, potentially, some considerable cost” if Dartmoor is closed for good.

The 25-year lease, which was struck when the King was Prince of Wales and head of the Duchy, was renewed by the government in March 2022 and commenced in December 2023. The Duchy has increased the cost of the lease by more than double the amount paid in the 1980s, even after taking into account rises for inflation and the terms dictate that the taxpayer would still be required to pay at least £13.5 million more, even if the Ministry of Justice were to end the contract now. A Tory source familiar with the details of the lease renewal said that the MoJ felt it had no alternative but to sign or lose vital prison spaces.

The prison was revealed as the most lucrative taxpayer-funded source of income for the Duchy of Cornwall after a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches revealed the assets owned by the royal property empires for the first time.

[From The Times]

“This means that the taxpayer is effectively liable for any repairs that are required at Dartmoor.” Here’s the thing – if this was a state-owned prison, the taxpayer would be liable to make repairs too. But it’s blowing my mind that William’s slumlording extends to refusing to account for upkeep on a prison he OWNS and leases to the government. Not only that, the Duchy is clearly demanding that the government continue to pay the lease, even though Dartmoor is likely to be permanently closed. When I read these stories, it’s unbelievable to me that more people aren’t throwing eggs at Charles and William every time they go outside.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

News Nation’s gossip person, Paula Froelich, has had some bizarre royal exclusives in recent months. Last September, she made some wild claims that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace obsessively watched everything Prince Harry and Meghan do and that the palaces weren’t happy with the Sussexes because King Charles and the Princess of Wales were both at death’s door. Then in November, Froelich’s sources insisted that Meghan “doesn’t know what she’s doing” with her Netflix cooking show and that it was likely that Netflix would “drop it.” This stroll down memory lane is sponsored by These People Don’t Know What They’re Talking About, in association with The Palace Is Still Briefing Against The Sussexes On a Daily Basis. Obviously, Froelich has an exciting new palace briefing/exclusive about NGN settling with Prince Harry this week.

Word that Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) settled at the last minute with Prince Harry rocked the media world this week when Harry scored a major victory as the Sun newspaper not only admitted to hacking the Prince but apologized to him for his “torments”… and gave him, what I hear, was a whopping $12.3 million for his troubles.

After the case was settled on Wednesday, News Group Newspapers agreed to pay “substantial damages” for what it described as “the serious intrusion” by two of its flagship titles, the Sun and the News of the World. But there’s more to the settlement than meets the eye.

”They needed the money,” my insider said. “The way (Harry and Meghan) live, and the rate they spend, they would run out of cash sooner rather than later — and it’s not like anyone is running to hire them or give them more contracts. As they’ve proven time and time again, the only time they make money for people is when they’ve sold out his family and that cow has been milked.”

And I’m hearing it’s an insane amount of money — $12.3 million dollars (10 million GBP), which not only covers Harry’s legal fees, it also puts a chunk of change in his personal bank account. An insider added: “If he had been able to file in the United States the damages would have been a lot more, but since the crimes happened in the UK he couldn’t file here — and the UK rarely gives out massive amounts of money for damages.”

The cash is important as Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, live an expensive life. Their Montecito house was bought for $14.65 million and costs at least $500,000 to maintain a year (insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc). They also have a nearly $1 million annual security bill and both like expensive things like polo horses and private jets.

While they were rumored to have scored a $100 million deal from Netflix, only their docuseries “Harry & Meghan” scored any eyeballs. The other shows they created — “Heart of Invictus,” “Live to Lead” and Harry’s “Polo” — bombed… and there’s little hope that Meghan’s cookery show “With Love, Meghan” will do well.

”It’s completely contrived and so very 2004,” an insider said about Meghan’s upcoming show that was set to debut mid-January but was pushed back until March due to the LA wildfires. “She wants people to have a look inside her life but she didn’t even film inside her own home. And no one knows who these pretty people are she’s cooking for. It’s insane. The price of eggs is skyrocketing and she’s showing us how to put edible flowers in ice cubes — like that hasn’t been done before.”

Meanwhile, there are no more book offers (unless Harry does a sequel to his runaway hit “Spare” which, again, sold out his family), and while the numbers quoted about the Sussex’s projects were huge ($100 million for Netflix, $40 million for a series of books, $20 million for a Spotify deal) — those numbers are the CAP own what they would have made had all their projects been successful. Likely, the pair were given production support and marketing but would have only garnered big bucks if they’d met sales targets. Which they did not.

The couple’s publishing deal has gone by the wayside and the Spotify deal was canceled after just one year, with Spotify exec Bill Simmons calling the pair “grifters”.

[From News Nation]

The way I know some/all of this is coming from Buckingham Palace is because this is a near-constant storyline from Charles’s camp in particular: the money will run out at some point, and when the money runs out, then we’ll have Harry right where we want him. They’ve been saying that for five years, they’ve been trying to promise everyone that “Harry will crawl back, broke and divorced.” Anyway, this reads like the feverish rants of a courtier who knows nothing about how money, business or contracts work. The publishing deal has not “gone by the wayside” – Harry wrote one of the most wildly successful books of the decade, and I’m sure Penguin Random House would love a second book (and Harry should absolutely write it). Netflix seems happy with the Sussexes, and the money from their original contract hasn’t just disappeared. They have investments, they have other jobs, they’re doing fine. Harry didn’t “need” the settlement money. NGN needed to settle so that Harry wouldn’t reveal all of their criminal activity in open court.

Photos courtesy of Netflix.

Angelina Jolie did not get an Oscar nomination for Pablo Larrain’s Maria. She’s actually the first actress in Larrain’s “famous women” series to not receive an Oscar nom for his films – Kristen Stewart got a nomination (her first) for Spencer, and Natalie Portman got a nom for Jackie. Jolie is the first one named in all of the “Oscar snub” lists, but can I just say? I’m genuinely shocked that Nicole Kidman and Denzel Washington were snubbed too. Nicole is a perennial awards favorite – she got an Oscar nomination for that god-awful Lucille Ball movie, for goodness sake – and Denzel (arguably America’s greatest living actor) was the best part of Gladiator II, and he was having a f–king ball and chewing the scenery.

In any case, yes, Angelina was snubbed. Her name was trending yesterday after the Oscar nominations came out, but I had already made my peace with the fact that Jolie wasn’t going to get a nom. She had already been snubbed for a BAFTA nom and a SAG nom, so I knew what was up. It just wasn’t going to happen. The question is… why? Was it all down to how Hollywood took Brad Pitt’s side? Well, funny that, because Brad Pitt’s favorite outlet, Page Six, had this exclusive:

Angelina Jolie is surely “devastated” over being snubbed by the Oscars after pouring her own pain into “Maria,” Hollywood insiders say. Jolie, 49, spent months learning to sing for the role of Maria Callas — and said she made the opera singer’s anguish “personal to me.” Although nominated for a Golden Globe, she missed out on a nod by both the SAG Awards and the Academy of Motion Pictures, which announced its contenders Thursday.

“Angelina will be devastated … look at all the press she did for the film — she wanted to get nominated,” a senior awards source said. “She did Jimmy Fallon, her first late-night show in over a decade. She even went to the Gotham awards. She did all these magazine covers.”

The star made her acting comeback in biopic “Maria” after taking a few years off, and a second Hollywood awards expert told Page Six that Jolie would undoubtedly be upset — adding the Oscars snub “wasn’t great for Angelina – or Netflix [which produced the film].”

A movie insider, meanwhile, insisted the snub comes down to Jolie’s very public divorce from Brad Pitt.

“This just shows that Hollywood is Team Brad,” said the insider. “The Globes showed that the foreign press loves her, but that’s not Hollywood. Nobody was going to go against Brad and give Angelina a vote … people just love Brad.”

Pitt and Jolie finally resolved their bitter divorce in December after eight years of intense legal fighting. At the time, Jolie’s lawyer James Simon admitted that she was “exhausted” and trying to find healing for her family.

Another Tinseltown source, however, told Page Six, “The divorce is done, and yes, politics do come into play a little alongside the films and the performances. But the fact is that there are a lot of first-time nominees shows that we still have a healthy industry.”

[From Page Six]

I hate that they’re throwing “she wanted a nomination” in her face… like, yeah, they all want nominations. ALL of the actors on the awards-season circuit want to get nominated for their performances. I genuinely loved seeing Angelina go out and hustle a little bit. She “went outside” for the first time in many years and it was so fun to see her, and people loved seeing her at those Q&A sessions and screenings and film festivals. It was fun, and it didn’t end in an Oscar nom and that’s fine. This reads like Brad Pitt gloating that his years-long campaign against her worked. PS… I blame those fakakta bangs too. Never soft-launch bangs in the middle of the awards season! The bangs jinx!!!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Since News Group Newspapers settled with Prince Harry, there’s obviously been a lot of analysis about what it all means and how the Murdochs blinked. There’s also been a lot of talk about the actual amount of the settlement. Everyone has confirmed that the settlement is “massive” and “eight figures.” People Magazine and several British outlets have suggested that the amount is closer to the lower end of eight figures, meaning something in the vicinity of $10-12 million. I have a hard time believing that, even if I acknowledge that British awards and settlements are much lower than Americans believe. I just think that $10 million is a waste of time, given the legal fees and the five-year-plus battle. I did want to point out this tidbit in the New York Times’s coverage, which I found interesting:

Yet moments before the trial began, Harry agreed to a settlement worth at least 10 million pounds ($12.3 million). As Piers Morgan, a broadcaster and vocal critic of the prince, posted on social media, “So ‘moral crusader’ Prince Harry took the cash.”

Harry has not said what he plans to do with the money. His legal bills will be formidable, though Daniel Taylor, a media lawyer, said these are usually covered by the party offering the settlement in a separate payment. He has not commented beyond a statement that was read out for him by Mr. Sherborne.

[From The NY Times]

That’s significant, if the settlement was structured so that Harry’s legal bills are fully paid by NGN and then Harry gets a financial settlement on top of that. I bring this up because the Mail’s Richard Eden has some big breaking news: Harry will have to pay taxes in America on his settlement money.

The Duke of Sussex’s settlement with The Sun’s publisher was described as a ‘monumental victory’ by his barrister David Sherborne on Wednesday. But how much of the payout, understood to be in excess of £10million, will Prince Harry pocket?

The majority is thought to be to pay his lawyers’ fees. And what remains will, I hear, have to be shared with Donald Trump’s administration.

‘As a US resident Harry has to pay tax on his worldwide income unless it’s been taxed in Britain,’ a source says. ‘And here’s the sting in the tail: legal damages are not taxed in the UK.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Ah, so Prince William didn’t have to pay taxes on the $1 million he took under the table from NGN then? Good to know. Yeah, anyway, news at seven, as a permanent resident (or whatever Harry’s status is here), Harry will pay taxes.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

I have a magnet proudly displayed on my fridge that’s a sketch of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, with the caption: “Give me that old time… separation of Church and State.” So my hackles are constantly being raised at the ever-increasing sway organized religion lords over our politics. It’s such a profound, deliberately mistaken understanding of our constitution. That being said, there was a genuine exception this week, when Episcopal bishop Mariann Budde led a prayer service at Washington Cathedral on Tuesday. In the most gracious way possible, Bishop Budde addressed the new president seated in the first row, asking him “to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” The president’s social media-issued response hours later was predictably full of vitriol, but it hasn’t cowed Bishop Budde. Instead, she has spoken to several news outlets, including All Things Considered on NPR, reaffirming that she believes in what she said, she believes she spoke appropriately, and no, she will not be apologizing. Amen, sister! I mean bishop!

Blessed are the merciful: “I decided to ask him as gently as I could to have mercy,” Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, said of her plea to Trump, telling All Things Considered, “how dangerous it is to speak of people in these broad categories, and particularly immigrants, as all being criminals or transgender children somehow being dangerous. … To be united as a country with so many riches of diversity, we need mercy. We need compassion. We need empathy. And rather than list that as a broad category, as you heard me say, I decided to make an appeal to the president.”

Blessed are the peacemakers: Despite the backlash, Budde told NPR that her remarks were sincere, and she did not have any regrets in bringing them to the president’s attention. “I don’t hate the president, and I pray for him,” Budde said. “I don’t feel there’s a need to apologize for a request for mercy. … I regret that it was something that has caused the kind of response that it has, in the sense that it actually confirmed the very thing that I was speaking of earlier, which is our tendency to jump to outrage and not speak to one another with respect,” she continued. “But no, I won’t, I won’t apologize for what I said.”

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness: “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some of who fear for their lives,” Budde said. “The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors.”

Blessed are you when people insult you: Trump criticized Budde’s remarks, writing after midnight Wednesday morning on his Truth Social platform: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. … She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

[From NPR]

I’m not a religious person myself, but “so-called Bishop” was a low blow from the so-called president. Although, I’d bet $5 that Trump didn’t even know there were women bishops until that service. Most of Bishop Budde’s comments are excerpted here, but I beseech you to watch the scene in motion. For one thing, you immediately get a feel for what a gentle spirit the bishop is. Her voice is sure but not bombastic, her manner ever so delicate because she knows the gravity of the moment. You get the sense that she’s the last person in the world who wants to stir up even the slightest whiff of trouble, but her conviction compels her to. Then of course there’s the other half of this equation, the fascinating reaction shots of the Trumps and Vances. Here’s my take: Donald, Melania, and Eric have no discernable responses, to the extent that to me they looked like they were listening to someone speaking to them in another language. JD kept turning to his wife with a snicker on his face, and to her credit, Usha kept her gaze on the bishop and was the only one maintaining a passingly sincere gaze. Lara looked pissed, and Tiffany was serving fish face.

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A post shared by Mariann Budde (@mariannbudde)

photos via Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Instagram/YouTube

One of the things driving me crazy about the PR and statements from the Princess of Wales is that she clearly didn’t think any of this was anyone’s business originally. She went missing for months in 2024, took the fall for a manipulated frankenphoto and refused to give any kind of honest medical updates for several months. It was only after the “missing princess” story turned into an international sh-tstorm that anyone thought “hey, maybe we actually do need to provide proof of life on Kate.” I was thinking of this again as I read this new excerpt from People Magazine’s “Kate in Remission” cover story. Now they’re saying that Kate’s journey was “lonely” because… she had to sneak around for months while people wondered where she was?

Kate Middleton shared that she faced her cancer treatment “quietly and privately” during a visit to the London hospital where she received care, offering insight into the isolating experience.

“Going through the back door unseen while going through the treatment must have been pretty lonely,” a close royal insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story. “When you see these other people when they’re having their chemotherapy, they were doing it as a group, with a support mechanism.”

The Princess of Wales, 43, contrasted her own experience while visiting The Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Jan. 14, which coincided with the confirmation that she previously received treatment there during her cancer journey.

Admitting the difference, Kate said, “I had to do it privately and quietly, but being on a ward like this has to be reassuring in a way.” She shared the sentiment while speaking with Katherine Field, who was in the midst of her fourth chemotherapy session for breast cancer during the princess’s visit. For Field, the camaraderie among patients sharing chemotherapy sessions has been a source of comfort. “There is a real sense of community,” she tells PEOPLE, drawing a contrast to Princess Kate’s private ordeal, but said speaking with Kate was “just like talking to a friend.”

For much of 2024, the Princess of Wales slipped through a secluded door at the Royal Marsden Hospital and attended regular chemotherapy sessions away from the public eye. It was a lonely path during the most challenging year of her life. One year after her abdominal surgery, Kate walked confidently through the Royal Marsden’s front entrance for the first time. She returned not only as a woman in remission, but also as an advocate for those still in the midst of their fight.

Initially scheduled to be there for an hour, the princess extended her visit by 20 minutes as she met with patients and staff, offering hugs and sincere advice.

[From People]

One, I guess everyone is in agreement that Kate’s husband, mother and/or sister never came to her chemo sessions to keep her company and provide moral support? Weird. Secondly, I understand someone’s desire for privacy or discretion when dealing with any medical issue, but it still feels notable that we can compare Kate’s situation side-by-side with what King Charles has done. While he’s never emphasized it, it’s no secret that his schedule changed significantly because he always had to be in London mid-week for his treatments. He might have entered the hospital through a side door or private entrance, but he regularly goes back and forth from the hospital in his Bentley, so photographers can see him out and about. I guess my point is that Kate made her cancer journey “lonely” by her own choice. She made these choices to hide away, and now she’s using those choices for sympathy?

Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace, cover courtesy of People.

Prince William worked (“worked”) more this week than he had in the previous three months combined. Funny timing, right? I still believe that the Windsors really thought that Prince Harry would be flying into London for the start of his NGN trial. As it is, Harry stayed in Montecito, negotiated a substantial settlement from NGN over the phone and protected his peace. So the Windsors were all dressed up with no one to thunder-steal. They played themselves, so now they just look randomly busy, like they scheduled a bunch of sh-t this week out of nowhere (because it’s genuinely rare for them to be out this much in any given January). Anyway, William was out on Thursday, doing back-to-back events in Liverpool. The photos indicate that William was fully in his Lurch Era in Liverpool.

Prince William visited Liverpool to spotlight community groups in the area working to support young people.

The Prince of Wales, 42, visited the Toxteth area of Liverpool on Thursday, Jan. 23, stopping by Cycle of Life, a nonprofit cycling organization that helps young people from diverse backgrounds improve their physical and mental health and boost their employment opportunities. The organization, which launched in 2020, was originally founded to provide equal access to cycling and has expanded its reach to help improve young people’s confidence, build relationships and improve access to the city as a whole, according to William’s office at Kensington Palace.

Cycle of Life is based in the Kuumba Imani Millennium Center, and William learned more about the multipurpose, multicultural building upon his arrival. He then joined Cycle of Life participants to take part in building and learning about maintaining bikes with them, and learned about how entrepreneurial cargo bikes worked in action.

Later on Jan. 23, the future king visited Tiber, where he met members of the Tiber Young People’s Steering Group to learn how they came together to lead the construction of a lively community hub — which has seen over 200 young people become a part of the project since its creation in 2005.

Upon his arrival, Prince William met members of the Steering Group and heard about their experiences, including the funding applications, design and construction of a new community building. He then met young men and women on the pitch of the adjoining Football Centre, which Kensington Palace said brings together over 1,200 children and young people weekly. He then took part in a walkabout with members of the community.

[From People]

It feels like People Mag just cut-and-pasted this from Kensington Palace’s email. Honestly though, we always say that Huevo should do more of this kind of easy-breezy work, and now he is. He’s 42 years old and finally doing the sh-t everyone expected him to do since his 20s. Now, I still believe that he was only out and about this week because of Harry. I wonder how much sh-t the family scheduled for the next month to “distract” from Sussex headlines? Also: at least this Liverpool trip didn’t come with more headlines about how William is “channeling Diana.” Those were super-convenient this week, right?

These photos are a MESS.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

The New York Times published a surprisingly balanced and fair assessment the day after News Group Newspapers settled with Prince Harry in their years-long legal battle. The NYT piece was written by Mark Landler, the paper’s London Bureau chief, not some wannabe royalist. It’s called “What Prince Harry’s Settlement Means for Him and for Britain’s Royal Family,” but really, it’s about how the Windsors and their symbiotic partner, the British press, are grumpy and fuming about Harry’s astounding victory. The biggest tell is the flat refusal by all parties to acknowledge that the Murdochs had to admit partial liability to save themselves from getting reamed in the trial. The British press is trying and failing to make the story into “Harry didn’t want to fight” rather than “The Murdochs blinked and backed down to save their own asses.” Some excerpts from this NYT piece:

How the British press covered Harry’s victory: Prince Harry’s last-minute settlement of a long-running suit with Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids was on the front page of a handful of London papers on Thursday, though conspicuously, not on any owned by Mr. Murdoch. The Sun, which admitted illegal activity by private investigators it hired more than a decade ago to dig up personal information on Harry, didn’t get to the story until Page 6. The Times of London, Mr. Murdoch’s broadsheet, covered it at the bottom of Page 12, next to a report about the failing eyesight of the actress Judi Dench. The Daily Mail, whose publisher, Associated Newspapers, is also being sued by Harry for hacking his cellphone and invading his privacy, reported the news on an inside page, as did The Daily Mirror, whose publisher, Mirror Group Newspapers, lost a phone hacking lawsuit to Harry in 2023.

Dismissive of Harry’s win: Even papers that are not in litigation with Harry, like the right-wing Daily Telegraph, treated the deal dismissively. The Telegraph, in a front-page article, said “Harry climbs down after eight-figure payout,” adding, “His quest to bring down part of the Murdoch empire has ended in a fizzle rather than a bang.” Critics of the press coverage said it played down the significance of what Harry had extracted. Crucially, that included the first admission by News Group Newspapers that unlawful activity had occurred, not just at The News of the World, a tabloid Mr. Murdoch shut down in 2011, but also at The Sun, his flagship British tabloid.

What Harry actually achieved: “If you’re interested in an accountable media, Harry’s was actually an act done in the public interest, at considerable cost to himself,” said Peter Hunt, a former royal correspondent at the BBC. “He’s gotten them to accept something they’ve refused to accept for years. The dispiriting thing for him is that the public don’t appreciate that,” Mr. Hunt added. “A lot of their understanding of what Harry’s up to is through the lens of a media that is implacably hostile to him.”

The years-long smear campaign on the Sussexes: “The blackening of Prince Harry’s name and his wife by large chunks of Fleet Street has been really awful to watch,” Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of The Guardian, said to Channel 4 on Wednesday, referring to London’s traditional thoroughfare for newspaper publishing. “It seems like an almost deliberate tactic to destroy the credibility of somebody who is a threat to them.”

The settlement money: Harry has not said what he plans to do with the money. His legal bills will be formidable, though Daniel Taylor, a media lawyer, said these are usually covered by the party offering the settlement in a separate payment. He has not commented beyond a statement that was read out for him by Mr. Sherborne.

Will the settlement ease Windsor tensions? In one respect, however, Harry’s decision to settle could ease tensions with his family. He said last year that his campaign against the tabloids was a central cause of the rift with his brother, William, and his father, King Charles III. Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, where William has his office, declined to comment on the settlement. By joining his brother in taking a deal, Harry will avoid another embarrassing spectacle for the royal family. But Mr. Hunt and other royal watchers cautioned against concluding that this alone will heal a rift that includes painful issues like the family’s treatment of Meghan and the airing of dirty laundry in his memoir, “Spare.” “The damage runs so deep that one court case is not going to be enough to resolve it,” Mr. Hunt said. “The fissures run wide.”

[From The NY Times]

I’m constantly irritated by the framing of Spare as “Harry airing out the Windsors’ dirty laundry” or “Harry telling his family’s secrets.” Spare was his own story, a memoir of profound grief, sadness, neglect and redemption. These people are not just dismissive of Harry’s legal victories, they’re dismissive of one of the bestselling memoirs of all time. As for the reaction of the Windsors and the British press… the NYT is right to suggest, in a way, that the reactions are connected. I’m not sure if I believe that the Windsors have ordered the press to frame Harry’s victory in this sullen, butthurt way, because I think that reaction is completely organic – they’re mad that the Prince Who Got Away is the one who stood up to them and got one of the most powerful press barons to capitulate. That just happens to scare the sh-t out of the Windsors too. Anyway, the Windsors’ silence is deafening…and hilarious.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

This awards season has not panned out the way I was expecting back in November. No Oscar nominations for Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Denzel Washington, Challengers, Margaret Qualley and on and on. But I did get one thing I really wanted: Isabella Rossellini has scored her first-ever Oscar nomination at the age of 72. She was recognized for her work in Conclave, where she played a grumpy nun who revealed a vital piece of information to the cardinals at just the right moment. Rossellini’s screen time was limited, but I think people are so used to “category fraud” that they forget that… this is actually what a “supporting performance” looks like, this is what it’s supposed to be. They gave Judd Hirsch a supporting actor Oscar nomination for eight minutes of screen time in The Fabelmans! Rossellini’s Conclave nom is similar.

Throughout the awards season, Isabella has been soaking in the experience and bringing a lot of heart and levity to the party. She’s enjoying herself, and this must be such a treat, to get an Oscar nom at this stage of her life. Like most nominees, Isabella released a statement thanking everyone for helping her along the way, and reminding everyone of her incredible pedigree:

“When I was young, I was always identified as the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. As I’ve gotten older, this doesn’t happen as frequently; and, I miss it, especially today. I wish my parents were alive to celebrate with me this great honor. And, also, today, with this joy, my mind can’t help lingering in the beyond to David Lynch. Our collaboration was key to my understanding of the art of acting. It is my past, all that I have in me, that I brought to my interpretation of Sister Agnes in the film Conclave, working under the clear, sharp direction of Edward Berger, his incredible cast and crew, especially the incomparable Ralph Fiennes. Thank you to the Academy. I am very honored.”

[From EW]

Isabella also released a video, filmed in her home, thanking everyone and the Academy and referencing her parents. I love all of this, and honestly, I would love nothing more for Isabella to win the Oscar. Let’s make it happen, Oscar voters!

Isabella Rossellini on her first Oscar nomination, highlighting her parents, David Lynch, Edward Berger and Ralph Fiennes pic.twitter.com/EHMteGsFQj

— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) January 23, 2025

The funniest thing about people being mad at Isabella Rossellini for mentioning her mother is…wouldn’t you? Your birth was an international scandal that was condemned by US Congress AND The Vatican and nearly derailed Ingrid Bergman’s career? I would never shut up about that! pic.twitter.com/zF6cOcBILy

— Brandon Lewis @ Sundance 2025 (@blewis1103) January 15, 2025

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.