Hurricane Helene ravaged Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee two weeks ago, and so many communities are still digging out of that catastrophe. Dolly Parton pledged $1 million to Helene relief, and many country stars are pulling together a benefit concert. Then on Wednesday, as Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida, Taylor Swift decided to once again pony up a huge sum from her personal fortune: $5 million to Feeding America and other hurricane relief efforts.

Taylor Swift has donated a large sum in effort to lend a hand to those recovering from the impact of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

On Wednesday, Oct. 9, Feeding America shared a statement on Instagram thanking the star for her generous contribution.

“We’re incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous $5 million donation to Hurricane Helene and Milton relief efforts. This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms,” Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, the CEO of Feeding America wrote in a statement.

The statement continued, “Together, we can make a real impact in supporting families as they navigate the challenges ahead. Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and for helping communities in need.”

In the caption section, Feeding American thanked Swift, 34, “for standing with us and the movement to end hunger and helping communities in need in the wake of #HurricaneHelene and #HurricaneMilton. Together, we can make a real impact in supporting families as they navigate the challenges ahead.” They also encouraged readers to “join Taylor if you’re able to” and donate.

[From People]

People always talk about Taylor’s capitalism and it’s true, she’s a red-blooded American capitalist. But people rarely talk about how she pays her people fairly and gives huge, six-figure bonuses to everyone involved in Swift Inc. They also don’t talk about this kind of charitable giving as much as they should – in a country where so many CEOs behave recklessly, where so many rich, privileged people close their wallets in national disasters, Taylor is usually one of the first ones to make these kinds of huge donations. Also notable: Taylor was supposed to restart her Eras Tour in Florida next week, in Miami. I kind of wonder if she will have to reschedule, given the devastation from Hurricane Milton.

You can go to Feeding America’s donation page here, and the American Red Cross’s disaster relief resource page here.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Last week, Garth Brooks was sued in a California state court for sexual assault, battery and harassment. The woman who sued him used to work for him – as an independent contractor/hair stylist and MUA – and she claims that he exposed himself to her, harassed her in person and electronically and assaulted her at a hotel. Brooks pushed back on her claims, saying that the woman had “hassled” him with “threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.” Brooks also noted that he filed an anonymous suit in September to stop the attempted extortion and defamation. Now Garth Brooks has filed two complaints in Mississippi. Sidenote: why all of the jurisdictional drama? The woman apparently lives in Mississippi, Garth and Trisha live in Tennessee, so why did the woman initially file suit in California?

Garth Brooks is taking legal action in response to a lawsuit filed by a former hairstylist and makeup artist of his that accused him of sexual assault and battery last week. The “Friends in Low Places” singer, 62, filed a pair of complaints in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on Tuesday, Oct. 8, denying the allegations the woman — whom he names in one of the documents — made against him and claiming that he was the “victim of a shakedown.”

In one of the complaints obtained by PEOPLE, Brooks used the pseudonym “John Doe” and noted that he would “re-file his complaint without pseudonyms” against “Jane Doe,” since the woman’s attorneys “disclosed” his identity to the press. In that filing, he also claimed that he was seeking to “defend himself against extortion.”

In his second complaint, Brooks asked for a trial by jury in order to “obtain relief” from the woman who he claimed was also attempting “defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress” on him. The musician alleged that the woman “devised a malicious scheme to blackmail” him into paying her “millions of dollars” after he “rejected her request for salaried employment and medical benefits.” He also claimed that she “threatened” to “publicly disclose false claims” about him that would “imperil his business and reputation.”

He further claimed in his court filing that she had worked as an “independent contractor” for him for 15 years before relocating from Tennessee to Mississippi. He said following her move, she “encountered financial difficulties” and asked him for assistance, which he claims he offered. Brooks claims the woman eventually asked for “salaried employment and medical benefits,” but when he denied her request, she “responded with false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct she claims occurred years ago.” The allegations, which included sexual “grooming,” “unwanted sexual touching and sexual assault” among others, were allegedly submitted in a “demand letter” to Brooks and “others” whom he worked with on July 17, 2024.

“The July 17 demand letter was the first time Plaintiff learned of these allegations, none of which has any basis in fact,” the complaint alleged. He claimed the woman then “threatened” to “publicly file” the letter — which he called “false and defamatory” — in a “draft civil complaint” against him unless he agreed to pay her “millions of dollars.” He said in the filing that she threatened that if he “failed to meet this demand” for payment, he “would face exposure of many millions of dollars ‘based on [his] net worth.’ ”

In addition to a trial, Brooks requested a “declaratory judgment” from the court that her allegations “against him of sexual misconduct are untrue” and compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney’s fees.

[From People]

In the previous post, I said that “believe women” should still apply, and I hope this woman is given a fair hearing. If she has evidence to back up her claims, the court and the lawyers will hopefully be able to figure something out. We’ve gotten so used to accused predators huffing and puffing about how they’re going to fight the charges, and then some of the time, those guys settle out of court quickly once their lawyers tell them “hey, this evidence doesn’t look good for you” or “this could do huge reputational damage if any of this comes out.” So keep your eye on that, although the way Garth is going after this woman in court, my gut is telling me that he’s not going to settle.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

For years, the British media tried to make “Princess Kate is a keen peacemaker” into one of their major storylines. It fell flat. The idea was that the Princess of Wales could somehow convince King Charles and Prince William to make peace with Prince Harry? Or that she could convince Harry to abandon his wife and children and “return” to the UK to be the family scapegoat? It was always sort of fuzzy – what were the terms of the “peacemaking” from Kate? No one really knew. Besides which, her behavior when QEII passed away in 2022 sort of ended the “Kate the keen peacemaker” narrative for good. Still, they need some kind of storyline for Kate – anything to avoid asking real questions – which is why we’re getting “Kate is totally done with keen peacemaking.”

After battling cancer, the last thing on Kate Middleton’s mind is playing peacekeeper between Prince William and Prince Harry. Christopher Andersen, the author of “The King,” spoke to Fox News about the relationship between the princess and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, saying that the pair isn’t on Kate’s radar.

“The idea that Kate somehow still has the time and energy to continue playing peacemaker is rubbish,” Andersen told Fox News. “She did try over a period of years and finally threw up her hands in disgust. She did her bit, but it wasn’t enough to build a bridge between William and Charles on the one side and Harry on the other.”

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said that Kate, 42, “is totally at one” with her husband Prince William, 42, and is done handling the sibling rift.

“Harry portrayed her as cold and unwelcoming to [his wife] Meghan Markle in [his memoir] ‘Spare,’ when he painted an extremely damaging picture of the royal family,” Fitzwilliams told Fox News. “The memoir is soon to be released in paperback and his allegations will surface again, though fortunately, he will not be adding to the volume or promoting it. He knows perfectly well how damaging it has been.”

Instead of focusing her time on the royal brothers, Kate will focus her time returning to royal duties as she prioritizes her health.

“We have recently seen encouraging signs of Catherine’s recovery,” he explained. “Her focus, as she has said, is being ‘cancer free.’ The Wales family has had a tremendously difficult year. She has finished her course of preventative chemotherapy. William, while carrying out some royal engagements, has been tremendously supportive… [But] Catherine will wish to avoid anything that promotes negative energy.”

[From The NY Post]

“She did try over a period of years and finally threw up her hands in disgust.” Again, what were some examples of Kate’s peacemaking? Staring longingly at Harry doesn’t count. Spreading racist lies about Harry’s wife doesn’t count as peacemaking either. It also would not surprise me at all if all of the left-behinds are simply too repressed to even express their clear and unambiguous “peace” terms: that Harry must return to them, broke, humiliated and divorced.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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After airing the pilot last month, the rebooted Matlock is actually starting, for realsies this time, next week on October 17. While I had mixed feelings about the first episode, I’m still enthusiastically on board because of my love and admiration for Kathy Bates. Even though Kathy scared us by telling the NY Times that she would retire after Matlock, she heard our cries of despair and walked back that statement. Well, now Kathy has given another deeply personal interview, this time with People Mag, in which she speaks candidly about the weight loss journey she’s been on for the past seven years. It started in 2017 when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease that’s prevalent in her family. Then after losing 80 pounds through lifestyle changes and what she calls “hard work,” and given her diabetes, Kathy consulted with her doctor and started using Ozempic to lose the final 20 pounds. Unsurprisingly, the weight loss has affected every aspect of her life.

80% hard work, 20% Ozempic to lose the last 20 pounds: In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, the Oscar-winning actress, 76, clarifies that she lost 80 lbs. over the past seven years through changes to her lifestyle and diet. She then lost another 20 lbs. on Ozempic. “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic,” Bates says. “But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”

She began making changes after her diabetes diagnosis in 2017: “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she says. “[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.” The first change Bates made to her lifestyle was taking a piece of advice her niece had given her about listening to her body. “When we’re full, we experience an involuntary sigh,” she explains. “I just pushed the plate away.” She also changed her diet — “I used to eat terribly: burgers and Cokes and pizza,” she admits — and stopped eating after 8 p.m.

Working out now that she’s out of work: Bates says her next challenge is figuring out a workout routine now that she’s wrapped the first season of Matlock. “That’s going to be my next thing that I’m worried about because I won’t be on set running back and forth,” she says. “I have a treadmill here at the house, and I might try Pilates. … It’s just very important to me to keep this going. I don’t want to slip.” Her weight loss, she says, “coincided beautifully” with the timing of Matlock. “Physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she says. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”

Her lymphedema has noticeably improved, too: She was diagnosed with the condition — which causes swelling due to a buildup of lymph fluid in the body — after undergoing a double mastectomy following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2012. (She previously had ovarian cancer in 2003.) “It’s been a tremendous benefit for me,” she says. “I’m lucky that I don’t have to wear my compression sleeves every day. It’s such a thrill to be able to put my arm into a jacket and it fits.” … This period of her life “is just so exciting,” she continues, tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s emotional.”

[From People]

If you have 12 minutes to spare, I highly recommend watching the video People Mag released of this interview. You get to see Kathy’s giddiness when she talks about fitting into clothes differently, and she tells a sweet story about finding her (stunning!) Armani Emmys dress with a friend. I was relieved to see the joy in Kathy. Back in September when the NY Times article came out, the one where she said Matlock would be her last acting gig, I was a bit startled with how despondent she seemed. But watching the video shifted my sense of that. I no longer think she’s despondent, I think she’s done a lot of hard work and unloaded a lot, and that can naturally make you feel more open and vulnerable. As she says, she is clearly excited and emotional with where she is right now, having stayed the course in losing a substantial amount of weight, and working on what she feels is a dream role. That is exciting and emotional! And inspiring to someone like me on the other side of that health journey. But please do me a favor and wait seven years before asking me how it’s going…

Kathy Bates Sets the Record Straight on Her Ozempic Use After Losing 100 Lbs.: ‘There’s Been a Lot of Talk’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/2KRajsKBkc

— People (@people) October 9, 2024

photos credit: Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Ryan Hartford/INSTARimages.com, Getty and via Twitter/People

Maybe I’m completely off-base, but I think A Complete Unknown looks really good? Timothee Chalamet might even get an Oscar nom for playing Bob Dylan. I was sold on this as soon as Johnny Cash calls him “Big D.” [Hollywood Life]
Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong & Maria Bakalova premiere The Apprentice in New York. I don’t really want to see it, but I wish them well. [Just Jared]
Jamie Dornan looks good in these Loewe ads. [Socialite Life]
Rihanna photographed ASAP Rocky for W Mag. [LaineyGossip]
What are some weird American things which Americans don’t even realize is weird? “Flags everywhere” – no, it’s true, we love our flag!! [Pajiba]
The vibes between Julianne Moore & Tilda Swinton are immaculate. [Go Fug Yourself]
A Halloween safety video from 1977. [OMG Blog]
Natasha Lyonne is really one of a kind. [RCFA]
Matt Damon does the silliest things. [Seriously OMG]
How many unmarried Duggars are out there? [Starcasm]
Emily In Paris Season 4 is brilliantly dumb, if that makes sense. [Buzzfeed]

Quinta Brunson has quickly become one of my favorite celebrities. She’s brilliant, funny, beautiful, and just all-around kick-ass. The fourth season of Abbott Elementary premieres tonight, October 9, and Quinta has been busy promoting it. She recently announced that this season would feature a random yet intriguing crossover with the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This week, Quinta appeared on Live with Kelly & Mark to talk about the upcoming season. As she was walking out, Quinta spotted a surprise in the audience: some members of her family! After commenting on it to Kelly and Mark when she got up on stage, she noticed that even more members of her family were in the audience, sitting in a different section. And that’s when the waterworks started.

Quinta Brunson got an emotional surprise from her family during a live interview on morning television. As Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos welcomed the Abbott Elementary creator-star to discuss season 4 of her Emmy-winning sitcom, she was moved to tears as she walked out to set and unexpectedly spotted multiple members of her family sitting amid the Live With Kelly & Mark studio audience.

Shortly after Brunson emerged from the backstage area, cameras captured her interacting with the crowd — and her eventual shock over recognizing her family waiting in the front row. Later, Brunson spotted more family members sitting in a different section of the audience, and she was clearly overwhelmed in the moment.

“I just saw basically I have family here. Oh my God!” the 34-year-old said, gathering herself as tears welled in her eyes. “That’s my literal, like, family. My sisters, my niece, and my cousin. I don’t want to cry on TV. That’s crazy.”

Brunson estimated to Ripa and Consuelos that her family must’ve traveled from her hometown of Philadelphia to surprise her, but that she “didn’t know” they’d planned the moment.

“I’m always just crying on TV. I’m so tired of it,” she joked. “Okay, make sure nobody else is here!”

The sweet moment came one day ahead of Abbott Elementary’s season 4 premiere, which producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker recently previewed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, in which they teased developments on the growing relationship between Brunson’s Janine and Tyler James Williams’ Gregory.

“We hope for it to go through the course of any normal relationship and to hit the ups and downs. We tend to approach everything from character. A lot of people thought we had this master plan for that, and ‘In this season and this episode, the two will kiss and blah, blah, blah,’” Halpern said. “But we’ve always tried to approach it from a character standpoint of ‘When are they going to be in a place where it would happen and when are they going to be in a place where things might get tough?’ This is all to say that we like to keep everything open in terms of character growth, but no, we don’t foresee at the moment that we’re going to pull the rug out from anybody.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

This was such a sweet moment, which you can watch below. That was so nice of her family to surprise her like that! Quinta is such a delight, isn’t she? She deserves every bit of success that she can get. Kelly’s joke about bringing out the rest of Quinta’s family made me laugh. I love Abbott and am excited for Season 4. During the interview, she also talks a little bit more about the crossover with Always Sunny, teasing that while Danny DeVito’s character, Frank, won’t be attending school, he will be making an appearance within Abbott Elementary itself. Does this change anyone’s predictions about the crossover’s overall plot? It sounds like it’s going to be more Abbott-centric than, say, the school going on a field trip to Sunny territory or the teachers ending up in Paddy’s Pub. Either way, this most likely means that Danny DeVito will interact with Janelle James and/or Cheryl Lee Ralph, and that’s going to be amazing.

Photos via YouTube and Instagram and credit: IMAGO/mpi099 / Avalon, Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon

Sarah Ferguson was in New York two weeks ago, did y’all know that? I didn’t. There was barely any coverage of her visit in the American or British media. She was in NYC for UN Climate Week, same as Prince Harry. She hasn’t said if they saw each other. She was invited to the launch of Youth Impact Council, which has asked her to be a Founding Ambassador. To celebrate, Fergie spoke to People Magazine about her love of New York and her love of America, in general.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has a special place in her heart for the city of New York. In an interview with PEOPLE on Sept. 25 during New York Climate Week, the Duchess of York reflected on her experiences in the city. During her visit, Ferguson, affectionately known as Fergie, announced the launch of the Youth Impact Council, a new nonprofit organization where she will serve as Founding Ambassador. The council aims to elevate the voices of youth activists who are making significant strides in climate action, social justice, and innovation.

When asked about her plans during her time in N.Y.C., Fergie referenced a quintessential delicacy — a hot dog with mustard, ketchup, sauerkraut and relish!

“It was so good! And everyone laughed at me, saying, ‘You can’t possibly eat the hot dog.’ And I said, ‘Oh, yeah,’ got in the car, and what did they do? [They] all wanted to eat it!” she tells PEOPLE.

“I like to get yellow cabs,” the Duchess of York, 64, shares about her N.Y.C. traditions. “My favorite film is An Affair to Remember, so every time I see the Empire State Building I think of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I know you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, but I remember An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant.”

“New York has been my home. The American people are extraordinarily kind to me,” Fergie tells PEOPLE. “I feel I am very Anglo-American. I know the language. I got it down. I don’t say ‘lift,’ I say ‘elevator.’ When I arrive in America, I speak American. Sort of. With a posh voice,” she jokes.

[From People]

Fergie has never really talked sh-t about America – America gave her a second chance, she made a lot of money in America, and she clearly enjoys the vibe here. She, more than anyone else associated with that family, understands why Harry chose to move to California. A fully-loaded hot dog though?? Even I wouldn’t do that. Okay, maybe I would get one without the sauerkraut.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Taylor Swift has become a regular at many New York hotspots. It feels like she likes to try all of the buzziest restaurants, most of which tend to be Italian or some Euro-American variation. The exception is possibly Japanese food – I believe she likes sushi. When Taylor visits Kansas City, she and Travis Kelce are usually spotted at steakhouses or Italian joints. Well, apparently, Taylor has a much more diverse palate than even I knew. Taylor has got Travis eating Indian food??

Travis Kelce is expanding his taste buds thanks to his girlfriend Taylor Swift! Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, released Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 35, revealed that Swift, 34, has been introducing him to some new foods.

“You know I’m starting to open up to the Indian cuisine,” Travis said after his elder brother, 36, asked him if he liked curry.

“I know, my girl Tay is getting you opened up,” Jason said, to which Travis replied, “She is.”

“She’s introducing new foods to you,” Jason added. “It’s been one of the greatest things that I’ve been happy about.”

Travis then explained that although he liked curry, he wasn’t keen on it being too thick.

“I’m in on a light curry,” he said. “The more it gets thicker and it looks like a baby food or like baby s— then I’m out.”

[From People]

Desi community: are we offended by “The more it gets thicker and it looks like baby food or like baby s— then I’m out”? I winced, but I also understand what he’s saying – some Indian dishes are too heavily sauced and it’s okay to admit that. You don’t have to drown yourself in curry to enjoy it. Still, I had no idea that Taylor – our new Desi queen??? – would be the one to convince Travis to eat spicy Indian food. Did y’all know that Taylor rolled like that? I thought she was just eating mild pastas and baking sugar cookies.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

As we discussed, we’re currently in Day 4 of the “Meghan wore a red dress at a charity gala” freakout over in Salt Island. Part of the reason why they’re still obsessing over Meghan and her dress is because the left-behinds weren’t giving them anything in recent days. Kensington Palace hasn’t had any new briefings about how much William hates his brother, and no one will even suggest that the Princess of Wales could do a charity Zoom or something. Well, Prince William is here! He stepped out today in London. He went to a smallish event at BAFTA headquarters:

Prince William has arrived at BAFTA HQ in central London to celebrate young creatives with BAFTA, and The Royal African Society. He has been joined by several well-known faces, including Celia Imrie, Andy Serkis, Stephen Merchant and director Paul Greengrass. They are all supporters of the Prince William BAFTA Bursary fund.

The heir to the throne started the bursary in 2021 and helps assist young people from underrepresented groups to progress their careers in film, games or television through grants.

He will meet with the 2024 recipients today, as well as students from the National Film and TV School who have been supported by the Royal African Society.

William will also meet with students who have been working with the Royal African Society on their upcoming Film Africa festival by helping to curate the festival program and give guidance on the short films that have been selected to represent diverse voices and narratives in African storytelling.

[From The Daily Express]

BAFTA and the Royal African Society? Surely this will count as two events. William is BAFTA president, an honorary position, although he skips the BAFTAs half the time. I didn’t even think he cared enough to start the “Prince William BAFTA Bursary fund.” It’s likely something that was handed to him by BAFTA and he got to slap his name on it, like so many of his wife’s carefully curated projects. Anyway, the event is fine, it is what it is (his first day of work this week).

PS… On this week’s Gossip With Celebitchy pod, CB and I talked about his awful beard and I wondered if William is actually trimming his beard to achieve this particular “two day growth” look. I think he is – there’s no way this is a full month’s growth. Meaning, he wants it to look this creepy and scuzzy.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Last month, the Duchess of Edinburgh went on a five-day tour of Tanzania and no one in the British media thought to cover it. The only photos of Sophie were taken by the embassy, and there were only a couple of articles published during or after her trip. It was incredibly strange, especially given that the Sussexes had just visited Colombia and British reporters literally flew all the way there to try to barge their way into covering Harry and Meghan. With Sophie, here is a “working royal” and duchess who is maintained and subsidized by taxpayers, trying to highlight work being done at the local level, and no one gives a sh-t.

Well, Sophie and her husband are on a royal tour of Malta this week. They’re getting marginally more coverage than Sophie’s Tanzania trip. The Daily Mail has even dutifully kept up with their events in a rote, perfunctory way: they went sailing, they posed, they took in the views, hurray. Tatler basically skipped right past their events and just went all-in on a story about how much QEII loved Malta.

Sophie and Edward really are the only left-behinds traveling consistently this year, and it’s so remarkable to me to see how little energy they get from the press. That being said, Edward has barely been seen in months? He truly disappears for months at a time regularly and no one says anything (because no one’s checking for him). Anyway, enjoy these photos from Malta.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.