For some reason, I always believed that professional athletes were diligent in cleanliness. Most athletes spend their jobs sweaty. Football plays are surrounded by other sweaty men, dirt, grass and more. Like, don’t they all go to the locker room and take a nice shower and make sure that everything is clean after a game? Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Jason Kelce decided to fall unwashed-ass first into the long-running discussion about celebrity bathing habits. On the dirty-ass spectrum, it looks like Jason Kelce falls more on the “Jake Gyllenhaal” side of things. Jake clearly believes that less is more when it comes to showering and soap. At first, Jason Kelce was like “who washes their feet” and then it turned into something even grosser.

What kind of weirdo washes their feet…. https://t.co/djbjj39Lyw

— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) June 1, 2024

All of you have been fed diabolical lies that washing every crevice of your bodies and hair, all the time is somehow better or healthier. Any dermatologist not in bed with Big Soap will agree!! Hot spots are all that is necessary and actually leads to cleaner healthier skin.

— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) June 1, 2024

“Hot spots” being… groin, ass and pits, I’m assuming. For Jason in particular, that’s leaving a huge part of his body just… unwashed. He’s a big guy with a big abdomen and big back and big, thick legs. Is he saying that he really doesn’t apply soap to all of those parts? Like… I’m sorry, but this man is a husband and father. Role model cleanliness for your children! Respect your poor wife enough to be CLEAN.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

Everything old is new again, and everything around the “what’s going on with the Princess of Wales” conversation hearkens back to what we were dealing with in March. Mysterious “sightings” of Kate with janky photos and videos, lies about when certain photos were taken, lies about the chronology of Kate’s illness and recovery. Back in March, in the days just before Kate’s cancer-announcement video, one of the big stories was about a data breach at the London Clinic, and suspicions that someone in the hospital tried to access Kate’s medical records. The story was everywhere for a week… the week before the cancer-announcement video. I had my suspicions about what was really going on, but I will say two things can coexist: Kate has the right to medical privacy and I was personally surprised that no one at the London Clinic actually sold any information to the tabloids about Kate. Well, the whole medical-record story has gotten even weirder. According to the Mail, the “investigation” hasn’t even been referred to Scotland Yard.

Staff at the prestigious hospital at the centre of a data breach over the Princess of Wales’s private medical records may have had to contend with a ‘decoy’ trap set by managers, experts believe. The MoS can reveal that, three months on, The London Clinic remains under investigation and the case has not yet been referred to Scotland Yard, despite Health Minister Maria Caulfield stating in March that police had been asked to look at it.

Bosses at the hospital launched a probe after it was claimed at least one staff member had attempted to access personal details about Kate following her planned abdominal surgery in January. It is a criminal offence for any NHS or private healthcare staff to access the medical records of a patient without the consent of the organisation’s data controller. Now several data specialists have told this newspaper that, if the breach occurred, staff could have been caught through a ‘decoy’ tactic used by private hospitals that often have high-profile clients.

To protect the health data of VIP patients, hospitals often store it in a file under a fake name. A ‘decoy’ file is then created under the celebrity’s real name. This contains false information and is regularly checked by bosses to see if any wayward staff have opened it without permission.

If a breach is suspected, hospitals are required to launch their own inquiry while the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) investigates whether management did anything wrong. But this process is laboriously slow. Sam Smith, of health data privacy group MedConfidential, said: ‘It’s disappointing but sadly normal that three months on there is no update about the investigation.’

He said data breaches were ‘unfortunately common’, adding: ‘It’s rare that people find out when a data breach has happened, even rarer that they can get the evidence to prove it, and if they do, the process is still very slow.’

Tom Llewellyn, a partner in commercial litigation and data protection at Ashfords law firm, said: ‘It might take years for action to be taken against the individuals.’ He highlighted a similar case last year when a former NHS secretary was fined £648 for accessing the medical records of more than 150 patients – four years after the breaches took place.

The London Clinic has provided no update since the suspected breach of the Princess of Wales’s health data was reported. The ICO told the MoS: ‘Investigations into reported data breaches can be highly complex and our expert team must be given adequate time to make their enquiries. To protect the integrity of a live investigation, we will not provide regular updates on its progress to those not directly involved until its conclusion.’

The Met Police confirmed they were ‘not aware of any referral’ about the breach. Kensington Palace said: ‘This is a matter for The London Clinic.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Hm. My gut says “cover up.” I’ve believed for some time that there’s so much going on behind-the-scenes with this particular story about the data breach and the reports of multiple London Clinic people attempting to access Kate’s files. The “decoy file” sounds both real and like an explanation the palace would give if Kate’s file ever becomes public. Like, if there’s ever a report of “this is why Kate was really hospitalized initially and this is when she was checked in,” the palace and the London Clinic can say “oh, that was the decoy file, that’s all a lie!” And the fact that the case hasn’t been passed on to Scotland Yard or the Met Police? Something really weird is happening here.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

King Charles is not horse-obsessed like his mother. Charles only has eyes for one horse, iykyk. Queen Elizabeth II was extremely involved with her racehorses, developing a breeding program and a keen eye for which horses would do the best in the races. When QEII died, Charles reportedly wanted to be done with all of her horses – he wanted to sell off the whole operation and not spend the money on his mother’s passion project any longer. He couldn’t even conceive of simply handing off the whole thing to his wife or his sister, both of whom are just as horse-obsessed as QEII. Someone finally got through to him and he didn’t end up selling off the whole operation, although he did sell at least fourteen prized racehorses. On Friday, Charles and Camilla made a surprise appearance at the Epsom Derby, specifically to watch one of QEII’s horses compete. The horse came in LAST!! Oh noes. Charles sold the wrong horses.

The King and Queen watched as their horse came last at Epsom on Ladies’ Day.

King Charles and Queen Camilla had to watch the late Queen Elizabeth’s thoroughbred Treasure finish at the back of the pack in the Oaks at Epsom on Friday.

Despite odds of 16-1 Treasure, who was bred by the King’s mother, lost out to the Aga Khan’s horse Ezeliya.

The King watched through binoculars after emerging on the grandstand moments before the race began. He and the Queen had walked around the parade ring ahead of the race to speak to Treasure’s jockey James Doyle, trainer Ralph Beckett and royal racing advisor John Warren.

[From Sky News]

What’s funny is that I remember the last few years of QEII’s life, when she was getting around okay, she would always make time for the races and several of her horses ended up winning some big titles. One could argue that her decades-long stable project was finally paying dividends. That’s over now! I get the feeling that Charles just sold off horses willy-nilly and he let Camilla take over everything else. Poor Treasure, that poor horse is probably headed to the glue factory.

Also: it’s still so funny that Buckingham Palace made this big deal about how they were canceling events during the election cycle, and now it just looks like Charles and Camilla have the newfound time to make surprise appearances at the races. It was apolitical, I guess. And another thing… I hate how much I love Camilla’s hat. It’s snazzy as f–k.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

It feels like most people dipped out of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt divorce story years ago, which is why Shiloh’s news last week came as a huge shock to many. Last week, Shiloh turned 18 years old. On her birthday, her lawyer filed paperwork to change Shiloh’s legal name from Shiloh Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Jolie. This follows Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Vivienne also dropping “Pitt” from their names in school and elsewhere, but as far as anyone can tell, Shiloh is the first kid to make a legal change.

Now, for those of us who followed the divorce story and the lawsuits, countersuits and FBI files, we know why the kids want nothing to do with their father. The plane incident in 2016 was the turning point: Brad Pitt terrorized his wife and children for hours, assaulting not only Angelina but at least two of the kids (striking one child in the face and choking another), with the other children witnessing all of it. Everything that came after the plane incident is notable here too – the abusive campaign waged against Angelina in the media, Brad’s attempts to financially abuse her for years, that dirty work with the compromised judge. In any case, Angelina’s people let it be known that Shiloh made her own decision to drop “Pitt” from her name. Shiloh went out and hired her own lawyer!!

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh took it upon herself to change her last name.

A source close to the matter told PEOPLE the 18-year-old filed to drop Pitt from her surname, which would make her legal name Shiloh Jolie, and hired her own attorney for the process.

“Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself,” the source said, pointing to Jolie’s allegations of an “abuse history” as part of the reason for the name change.

Shiloh filed legal documents, obtained by PEOPLE, to drop Pitt from her last name on May 27, which was her 18th birthday.

In addition to Shiloh, Pitt, 60, and Jolie, 48, share five other children — Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Knox, 15, and Vivienne, 15.

Two of Shiloh’s siblings also appear to have removed Pitt from their last name. Vivienne is listed as “Vivienne Jolie” in the playbill for the Broadway show The Outsiders, which is produced by Jolie. Zahara, meanwhile, joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Spelman College in November, and introduced herself there as Zahara Marley Jolie.

[From People]

A source also told Entertainment Tonight something similar: “Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself, so Angie doesn’t know and can’t speak for it.” Yeah, it sounds like Shiloh is exceptionally close to her siblings and they’ve all discussed this name issue amongst themselves and Shiloh was like “I’m going to do it on my birthday.” I love that she went out and hired a lawyer herself. Amazing.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Sean Ono Lennon is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Their only child together, but Sean has half-siblings from each parent: Julian Lennon and Kyoko Chan Cox. Sean was part of an Oscar-winning Animated Short, WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the music of John & Yoko. That’s why he attended the Oscars this year. Well, Sean isn’t content to just be a celebrity offspring who dabbles in music and what have you. He also wants to have celebrity beefs. A few days ago, Sean decided to tweet about how much he hated Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.

John Lennon’s son has finally read Prince Harry’s memoir … and he’s crapping on it.

Sean Ono Lennon — John and Yoko Ono’s only kid — says he’s cracked open the Duke of Sussex’s memoir, a year after its release, and he was left underwhelmed by the tell-all, writing … “My long awaited review of Prince Harry’s autobiography is two words. ‘Spare Me.’”

As fans of the prince hit back at Sean’s criticism in his comments, the musician doubled down, calling the prince “a buffoon” and an “idiot” in replies to various people online.

While Sean admitted to having empathy for PH, he blasted the royal for “the way he whines and wangs on about things” … feeling particularly unimpressed with Harry’s tidbit about his frostbitten penis.

However, he clarified his scathing review a bit — later saying it was just a bit of fun, but in the same breath telling his followers King Charles’ son “deserves to be mocked.”

[From TMZ]

So I was going to be like “eh, live and let live, who cares.” Then I went through Lennon’s recent tweets to find the Spare-specific ones and now I f–king hate this guy. He’s lecturing people and rolling his eyes at Trump’s felony convictions and trying to bill himself as some kind of anti-woke crusader. The dude thinks he’s the biggest edgelord to ever live. Spare me, indeed.

My long awaited review of Prince Harry’s autobiography is two words.

‘Spare Me.’

— Seán Ono Lennon (@seanonolennon) May 29, 2024

I do empathize with him generally. But the way he whines and wangs on about things is really too much. I’m just having a little fun. I think he’s earned some mockery. (I’m sure I have as well).

— Seán Ono Lennon (@seanonolennon) May 30, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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In yet another blow for us Millennials having to acknowledge how old the things we grew up with are, Laguna Beach turns 20 this fall. I watched the first season of that show in the background when my college roommates had it on, but I got the gist of it and knew all the players and their drama. It was the same with the early seasons of The Hills. (I kept up with later seasons through gossip blogs lol.) Gosh, that all feels like a completely other lifetime ago at this point.

In honor of the 20th anniversary, USA Today did an interview with Lauren “Lo” Bosworth. Lo has been busy in the years following The Hills ending. She wrote a book, had a YouTube channel, graduated from the International Culinary Center, started a podcast, and founded a wellness brand called Love Wellness. Love Wellness is her primary focus these days. You may be familiar with its Bye Bye Bloat digestive health gummies. (My sister likes them; I had no idea it was Lo’s company until now.) During the interview, Lo talked about processing her time on reality TV in a healthy way, her dream alternate career path, and her very thorough wellness routine, which includes a lot of bathing, walking, and sleeping.

She knows reality TV has given her a lot of privilege: “I have developed a much healthier relationship with my own reality TV experience than the one I had a number of years ago. I think right when I came off the show, there was definitely some trauma that we all had to work through. I think it’s not normal to be on TV, to have millions of people see you, and to have to absorb all of that energy and their opinions can be challenging. As I have grown into an adult, I think I have a much better perspective on it. I’m able to understand how the experience has benefited me to a degree that I can’t even really communicate, (and) the amount of privilege that I have on every single day because of the show.”

She starts her day with a walk: “When I first wake up in the morning, I have a puppy and so we always get out there for a nice walk around a couple of blocks. One of the reasons I got my dog was to improve my mental health and wellbeing, and it really just helps you so much. Having a reason to get up and get out of the house every day because of that little doggie has really fundamentally changed my life for the better.

Next up, coffee and cottage cheese: “I always start my day with a coffee of some kind. My go-to coffee is just drip coffee with half and half, and heavy on the half and half. I’ve done every kind of diet you possibly could. What really works for me is focusing on high protein with healthy carbohydrates. I typically have cottage cheese with a little bit of toast on the side, or cottage cheese with some fruit thrown in (or) vegetables thrown in. You could do cottage cheese 100 different ways. My favorite way is cottage cheese with sliced cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, some everything bagel seasoning on top and a little drizzle of olive oil. Delicious.”

She unwinds with hours of self-care: “When I come home, that’s when I really lean into my wellness hours. Not minutes, not an hour: hours. Truly most of the evening is spent on wellness in some capacity. I’m a big fan of either an ‘everything shower,’ a really long bath, or sitting in the steam room.” Bosworth, who recently partnered with shave brand BIC Soleil Escape for the launch of their limited-edition 5 Senses Shave Kit, likes her showers to be a total sensory experience, complete with music (ideally country music), eucalyptus wafting through the air and mocktails on hand to enhance the self-care special

She’s a “card-carrying member of the serious bathers club”: “I am also a card-carrying member of like the serious bathers club. I’ll take a bath for an hour. I’ll take a bath before work, I’ll come home and take a bath after work. I’m all about hydrotherapy in any form.”

She sleeps 10 hours every night: Bosworth also indulges in the luxury many are unable to master: sleep. “My best tip is get as much sleep as possible. I get 10 hours of sleep every single night. I make it a priority. I’m like, ‘It’s 9 o’clock, it’s time to get into bed and it’s time to put my phone down.’ I am a master at putting down my phone.”

She would have loved to be a doctor: “If I could go back in time and I was never on a reality TV show, I would have been a doctor,” Bosworth says. Her reality background, however, helped provide the platform to create her women’s wellness brand, Love Wellness, which helped launch a conversation (and products, her favorite of which is Bye Bye Bloat) around women’s health that wasn’t being had at a mainstream level in 2016. “I got laughed at, criticized, made fun of,” Bosworth says, but “I’m deeply, deeply passionate about health care for women.”

[From USA Today]

Well, dang. Taking hours-long baths or showers *and* getting 10 hours of sleep every night? To this tired, busy mama, that sounds like living in a fancy hotel and spa every single day, lol. Though, if I’m being honest, bath tubs gross me out to the point where I couldn’t even get over myself to use the indoor hot tub during my honeymoon. A nice long shower sounds amazing, though. No wonder the woman left California for New York City. That water usage wouldn’t fly on the West Coast! If she really does bathe for hours every single day, that’s a huge waste of water.

As for her 10 hours of sleep per night, that is also something I cannot even imagine. Sadly, I’ve always been a six-to-seven hours a night kinda sleeper. I wish I could sleep more, but whenever I do, I end up even more tired and groggy than if I don’t get a lot of sleep. Does that happen to anyone else? I’ll wake up naturally earlier in the morning feeling rested but make myself go back to sleep. Even if it’s just for another hour, I then wake up exhausted. Or, if I happen to sleep for eight+ hours straight, I find myself more tired the next day. I’m so envious of all of you 10-hours per night people. Teach me your secrets.

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As Kaiser covered yesterday, J.Lo finally pulled the ripcord on her This Is Me… Live tour that was scheduled for this summer. The album the tour would have been promoting, This In Me… Now, was not well received when it dropped in February (nor were the musical film and documentary released alongside it), and within a month of announcing the tour, show dates were already being canceled. Jennifer spent a hot minute trying to spin the lackluster sales into no-big-deal, but I agree with Kaiser that canceling the whole tour was the right, sound move for J.Lo to make. And she’s not alone! Many music artists are canceling shows lately, so much so that NBC News did a deep dive to try and suss out what’s not working in the current touring model. It kind of boiled down to three things: monopoly, money, and an oversaturated market.

Live Nation & Ticketmaster are still making money: Many of those tours are being sold through Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation. And prior to facing landmark accusations that it is a monopoly, a claim it denies, Live Nation reported its biggest first quarter ever, with $3.8 billion in revenues. Its concerts business alone was up 26% to $2.9 billion, while “estimated fans” globally were up more than 20%, and up 42% in North America.

It’s the economy, stupid: Dave Clark, editor of Ticket News, which tracks the live entertainment industry, said the period of explosive live music growth following pandemic reopenings may in hindsight be seen as an aberration: People were simply more eager — and more financially able — to go to as many shows as they could after months cooped up indoors. This year, Clark said, a reckoning may be emerging. “The days where there was enough demand to sell out arenas at top dollar just isn’t there in this live events economy — outside of people like Taylor Swift who can sell whatever they want wherever they want,” he said. At a time when many consumers are struggling to pay for basic necessities, he said, “people are seeing some of the prices they’re asking and just saying, ‘Hard pass.’”

‘A very overloaded market’: Another factor may be a supply issue, Clark added: too many acts trying to tour at once, or too many times. In the pre-streaming era, bands would go on tour as a way of marketing an album. These days, he said, it’s reversed, since the returns on recorded music have shrunk dramatically. “Now they’re making records to sell the tour,” he said. “That paradigm has a lot to do with it. It’s just a very overloaded market.”

Fewer small venues mean more expensive tickets: But experts say recent economic trends in the live-music industry, especially the types of consolidation the Justice Department is now targeting, have translated into fewer smaller-sized venues. That’s made it more difficult for a given tour date to make financial sense for the artist, venue and promoter. “Some shows, they can’t afford to drop prices; they can’t afford to wait to try to sell out the rest of the building,” Clark said. If there is uncertainty about all stakeholders being able to at least break even, he said, the show might get canceled.

One K-pop fan from NJ speaks: Such realities have collided with a more circumspect concertgoer. Brittney D’Mello, a 23-year-old K-pop fan from New Jersey who works in corporate marketing, posted to X about her frustrations with the current touring landscape. “The tickets are too expensive,” D’Mello said. “There’s only a SMALL amount of people (10%) that will spend $500+ on vip/floor/premium,” she said. “The rest of us have budgets and won’t spend $100 on nosebleeds,” she said, referring to seats that are typically the farthest away from the stage. … “I will only go see two artists that are my tried-and-true favorite artists,” she said. “But I won’t be casually going to concerts anymore.”

[From NBC News]

The system as it is now cannot hold. I’m cautiously optimistic about the DOJ going after the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly, which it definitely is, despite Live Nation’s denial. They basically admitted as much in their clapback to the lawsuit: “Live Nation can offer and has offered fans, artists, venues and the rest of the performance ecosystem better prices and better services than they would receive if these complementary businesses were separated.” To the minions at Live Nation PR, this is not the rebuttal you think it is. “But it benefits everyone if you just let us run every aspect of the business!!!” Yeah, so this is a good start — going after the biggest player, the group that has done the most to consolidate resources and venues. But I still can’t figure out the way around rising production costs translating to higher ticket prices, which in turn leads to the results reviewed here: consumers opting out. Cause Ms. D’Mello is right, $100 for nosebleed seats is outrageous and $500+ for good seats is highway robbery. Plus if we’re talking Madonna tix, then you also have to factor in the legal costs for when you end up suing her for starting egregiously late. This Is Me… Broke!

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I think multiple things are happening with and around Jennifer Lopez all at once and they’re all connected. She had a big plan to tour this summer to promote her new album, This Is Me… Now. The album flopped and the concerts were not selling well. The poor ticket sales affected the rumors of a Vegas residency, which would have seen J.Lo pocket something like $90 million. The combination of an album flop, a terrible “music film,” a TMI documentary and a flop concert tour have added to the strain on J.Lo and Ben Affleck’s marriage. It was too much all at once, and they’ve reportedly been separated for a few months. Well, Jennifer is pulling the ripcord. But it’s not the ripcord I was expecting – this is not a divorce announcement. Instead, Jennifer is canceling her tour:

Jennifer Lopez’s summer tour is no longer happening. On Friday, May 31, Live Nation announced that the singer’s This Is Me… Live is canceled because she is “taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends.” Lopez released a statement to her fans on her OntheJLo website and explained why it was a tough decision to make.

“I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary,” Lopez, 54, wrote.

She continued, “I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again. I love you all so much. Until next time…”

The tour was originally set to run from June to August, in support of her latest studio album This Is Me…Now, which dropped in February.

Fans who have already purchased tickets through Ticketmaster will automatically be refunded. For those who purchased through third-party resale sites, fans will need to reach out to the point of purchase for more details.

[From People]

I’ve already seen people joking and laughing about this but honestly? This is a mature decision. She could have barrelled ahead with the tour and thrown herself into work at the expense of everything else. Instead, she’s choosing to work on her personal sh-t at the expense of her career. Does it help that the tour was selling poorly and people weren’t super-interested? For sure. But this is J.Lo, Ms. Workaholic. It sounds like she’s going to spend the summer with her family and working on her marriage too:

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are making sure to prioritize their kids. Despite the recent strain in their marriage, a source tells PEOPLE that the couple “still want to put the kids first,” and adds, “Jennifer and Ben have always been very family-oriented.”

The insider notes it was important to the singer-actress, 54, to attend Violet Affleck’s graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 30.

“The graduation was a big deal,” says the source. “Jennifer wanted to celebrate it.”

Still, the current situation has “been heartbreaking for her,” adds the source.

[From People]

I’m glad she was still invited to Violet’s graduation and she’s clearly still making an effort with her stepkids. Would it be so bad to stay in LA for the summer and spend time together as a family? I’m not advocating for a Tradwife Life for J.Lo or anyone else, but she’s 54 years old and it’s very possible that she could be headed for her fourth divorce. It’s okay to slow down and prioritize family stuff and marriage stuff.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

It seems incredibly convenient that much of the past week has seen a revival of “where is the Princess of Wales,” and then just as suddenly, there’s a big story about Prince Andrew. Andrew is familiar enough with being the family scapegoat, although it wasn’t that long ago when he was the one being protected while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the ones being scapegoated. Still, in the Carolean era, Andrew is the family’s designated rat. This time, the “what do you mean ‘where is Kate,’ look over there, at ANDREW!” is blindingly obvious. So what’s the big breaking news about Andrew? This time, King Charles insists that he will cut off Andrew’s private funding if Andrew does not move out of Royal Lodge. The Royal Lodge issue has been percolating for nearly two years now, especially after QEII’s death. My opinion: Charles doesn’t actually want to evict Andrew from Royal Lodge, but Prince William keeps demanding that the lodge would be perfect for HIS family. Anyway, here are some highlights from the Times’ big new story:

Charles won’t fund Andrew’s extravagant lifestyle indefinitely: The King has made clear that he is not willing to continue to fund Andrew’s lifestyle at Royal Lodge, the vast home in Windsor Great Park that was home to the Queen Mother until her death in 2002. Andrew, however, is refusing to budge, much to the frustration of his brother. Many fear the duke is making a point of the matter even though he knows that there can never be a full rehabilitation back into the fold.

Charles really wants Andrew to move into Frogmore Cottage: As one source familiar with the situation says, “The King’s kindness is not without limit and there is a very good option for Andrew to move into Frogmore Cottage, recently vacated by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which also has the benefit of being within the Windsor Castle security cordon hence reducing the need for alternative round-the-clock security for Royal Lodge. He is taking longer than desirable to recognise the reality of the situation, even though it is clearly the most sensible course of action. If he doesn’t agree to move to a property better suited to his needs, then the King may have to reconsider the levels of support he is willing to provide.”

Andrew isn’t actually taking care of the property: Recent pictures published in national newspapers appear to show some of the outhouses in a state of disrepair, with paint peeling off the walls. Inside, shelves heave with Sarah Ferguson’s collection of novelty teapots, while Andrew is known for his love of teddy bears. A friend and visitor to the Lodge says, “Sarah is a collector and Andrew is just as bad. He likes to surround himself with stuff, which seems to act like some sort of reassurance in life. Beatrice’s husband [who is chief executive of a property and interior design company] has tried to yank it into something much more manageable.”

Andrew sits in the dark, watching TV, most days: Like the surroundings, Andrew cuts an increasingly tragic figure. With no discernible role, he spends his days watching television in a darkened room. Before the change of reign, Andrew was seen out riding out with his younger brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the pair have been riding together as Edward prepares to ride in this year’s Trooping the Colour parade. “Often, Andrew has the horse brought to him,” a local says. “You see it coming in a horse box three times a week to the Lodge and he goes riding from there.”

No one is on Andrew’s side: His continued tenure at Royal Lodge has irked those at the very top of the institution. Former aides are not rushing to help the duke. They still remember being on the receiving end of his “hairdryer” treatment, where he would shout at them for various misdemeanours. They know too that Andrew is stubborn. The situation over his lodgings has now reached such a stand-off that it has been dubbed “the siege of Royal Lodge”.

Andrew’s 75-year lease: It does not expire until June 15, 2078. He moved [into Royal Lodge in 2003], paying nearly £7 million to carry out extensive repairs and renovations on the property. If he left during the first 25 years of his tenure, Andrew would be entitled to get some of the initial outlay back on a sliding scale. Rather than a grace and favour residence, Royal Lodge is let under a commercial lease agreement with the Crown Estate. If the duke dies, the lease can only pass to named members of his immediate family. A friend of the duke says, “The facts remain the facts. He’s got a long lease on Royal Lodge, the family has lived there for 20-odd years and still have 50-odd years to run on the lease. It’s in perfectly good repair because they spent the lion’s share of the sale of their previous house [Sunninghill Park] renovating it from top to bottom, thereby saving any draw on the public purse or the private finances of the royal family. Them’s the facts.”

Andrew is patient: Another acquaintance who has visited Royal Lodge says, “It’s really rather sad but if it’s a case of who will blink first then Andrew is going to dig in. He ain’t going anywhere. He has had a stay of execution with Sarah and the King’s illnesses and he will be hoping that Charles won’t want to be seen as vindictive by turfing him out.”

What Charles is spending to keep Andrew safe & watching TV in a mansion: Charles funds Andrew’s £3 million a year security bill — the Home Office removed his police detail once he had stepped down from official duties — providing static security guards (manning the gate) and mobile ones (who travel with him when he goes out). The King grants the duke an additional living allowance, thought to be well in excess of £1 million a year. If Charles were to withdraw these payments, Andrew would have to fund his own security, housekeepers, gardeners and home improvements. While friends of the King say that he is willing to afford his brother a comfortable lifestyle out of his private funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, the level of funding must be appropriate.

Charles is threatening to cut him off at some point: One friend of the King says, “Unfortunately, if Andrew refuses to leave within a reasonable time frame, then the King may be forced to reassess the whole package of support he provides and the duke would be required to fund the lion’s share of his security, accommodation and lifestyle costs all on his own — which, given the sums involved, is highly unlikely to be possible in the long term. Everyone is mindful of his well-being, and has his best interests at heart, but there are limits of patience and tolerance.”

The “turnkey” Frogmore Cottage: A move to Frogmore Cottage for Andrew would make an immediate saving. While friends of Charles say that the King would continue to pay for mobile security, he would not also have to provide static security for the building. Those with knowledge of Frogmore say that it is a “turnkey” property, meaning that it is in good condition thanks to work carried out by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before their relocation to America.

William wants the Lodge: If Andrew gave up the lease for Royal Lodge — or sold it back to the Crown Estate — it could be let to another private tenant provided they pass security checks. The Prince and Princess of Wales are adamant that they are happy in nearby Adelaide Cottage, although they would be a more natural fit for the Lodge.

[From The Times]

Minus a few details here and there, this could have been written in September 2022. That’s when QEII died and Charles immediately began plotting all of the evictions he could now do as king. In fact, versions of this story have already been reported for more than a year. As I said at the beginning, there’s a reason why the “Andrew must move out of Royal Lodge” story gets revived every few months, and I find it curious that they’re using Andrew as a distraction for “what is Kate” this week. Anyway, yet another reminder that Charles promised his mother that he would look after Andrew and finance his lifestyle. Yet another reminder that Charles is spending around $5 million annually to do just that. Yet another reminder that the Sussexes were evicted from Frogmore just so Charles could put his pedophile brother in the home.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Last week, the Vatican’s spokesperson had to issue a very weird and vague apology on behalf of Pope Francis. You see, Franny was in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, and the discussion turned to how Franny wished there was some way to stop homosexuals from joining the priesthood. The pope used the word “frociaggine” to describe gay men. It’s not exactly a straight translation of the f-slur in English, apparently it’s more like an adjective, if you understand. Well, as it turns out, at a different meeting around the same time, Pope Francis was wildly sexist. He told a group of young priests that “gossip is a women’s thing…We wear the trousers, we have to say things.” My dude, you wear a dress and you love to gossip, and you surround yourself with people who love to gossip. Let’s dial all of this down several notches.

The leader of the Catholic church, typically lauded for his modern leanings, allegedly made a sexist remark about women just two days after dropping a homophobic f-slur behind closed doors in Rome, according to the Vatican news outlet Silere Non Possum.

Pope Francis allegedly warned a group of young priests in a different closed-door meeting on Thursday against badmouthing parishioners and others—a reasonable piece of advice, if woefully ironic, as it came so soon after the f-slur reveal. Unfortunately, the pope also reinforced misogynistic stereotypes about women in his choice of words: “Gossip is a women’s thing,” he reportedly told the group of priests. “We wear the trousers, we have to say things.”

Marco Perfetti, the director of Silere Non Possum, claimed to have audio recording of the pontiff making the cringe-worthy remarks and said multiple sources confirmed the pope’s comments. An apology may be forthcoming—on Tuesday, Francis had to apologize for using the Italian slur “frociaggine” during a discussion about possibly allowing gay men in seminaries.

[From The Daily Beast]

Beyond the fact that it’s the damn POPE saying this sh-t, it always irritates me when men dismiss “gossip” as solely a female purview. Men gossip. Men LOVE gossip. MEN LOVE TO GOSSIP. Within the past month, one of the biggest stories in music/entertainment was Kendrick Lamar and Drake spilling tea about each other in songs and let me tell you, their male fans loved every minute of it and those guys were suddenly all gossip scholars when it came to rap beef history. It’s especially rich for Pope Franny to say this sh-t dismissively – “don’t gossip like those weak-minded women” – when he was literally just gossiping about all of the gay clergy!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.