As you can see, the Daily Mail is NOT OK with sussex.com, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new website, in which they’re trying to organize everything in one website framework. When the website went live, the Mail immediately got sources to cry about the whole thing was terribly “gauche” and how the royals should do something about it. The Windsors can’t do sh-t unless they’re prepared to go to Parliament just to remove Harry and Meghan’s Sussex titles. Which I wouldn’t rule out, even if the Windsors would look like idiots for not removing Prince Andrew’s York titles. Anyway, Sarah Vine barfed out yet another screed about how the Sussex titles should be removed, and I’m not going to excerpt any of it. Meanwhile, the Mail got Becky English to coauthor this completely bonkers piece about the website which brought down the monarchy.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s new website using their Sussex titles is a betrayal of their agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth, it was claimed last night. The couple’s ‘provocative’ decision to relaunch their homepage as ‘Sussex.com’ sparked accusations they are trying to be ‘more Royal’.

Well-placed sources said the new online venture would provide a ‘big challenge’ for Buckingham Palace’s Lord Chamberlain. The top Royal official must decide whether to take the Sussexes to task or ‘let it slide’ in order to keep the already fragile family peace. The growing row centres around the Duke and Duchess’s decision to replace their Archewell website – the umbrella name for all their philanthropic and business endeavours – with ‘Sussex.com’.

Many close to the royal household believe it is a flagrant breach of the supposedly cast-iron assurances Harry and Meghan gave the late Queen when they acrimoniously quit as working royals in 2020, and comes perilously close to using their royal status for commercial gain. Others described it as a betrayal of the agreement, ‘if not in letter, certainly in spirit’.

But a source close to the couple brushed off the claims and defended the use of their royal titles for the website. They said: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. That is a fact. It is their surname and family name.’

The palace has declined to comment, preferring to focus on The King who returned to London yesterday for meetings and cancer treatment.

But one insider said: ‘Buckingham Palace may have its hands tied in taking action. The King has other things he needs to focus on at the moment and the last thing His Majesty needs is another fight with his son. But this won’t go down well at all.’

Following the so-called ‘Sandringham summit’ in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex agreed to step back from royal duties and not use their HRH titles for business purposes or trade off their royal connections. They were also forced to put on ice their existing website, Sussexroyal.com, which had been launched weeks earlier without any warning and effectively contained their ‘manifesto’ for a new life half-in, half-out of the royal family. Since then they have traded under their new guise of Archewell. The couple’s decision to launch Sussex.com this week was therefore seen as reopening old wounds.

Insiders highlighted the decision to use only Meghan’s royal coat of arms on the web page and not Harry’s. Some theorised that having the prince’s coat of arms would be too provocative ‘even for them’. Others wondered whether it was because ‘ultimately this is a re-branding for Meghan’.

[From The Daily Mail]

Harry’s coat of arms would have been TOO PROVOCATIVE! The Welsh Guards would have to ride at dawn to defeat the provocative coat of arms! Anyway, the Mail can’t stick to one rationale for why this is a slap in the face to a dead queen – Harry agreed to not use his HRH and he isn’t. He agreed to stop using the “Sussex Royal” branding for social media and the one website. The issue, we were told, was the word “royal.” The Windsors believe that they alone own the word “royal.” The Sussexes are not using the word “royal.” They also ignored that family in their personal bios on sussex.com. So what’s the issue? Also: I would be very interested in hearing if Harry actually had to sign anything in 2020 and, if so, what exactly he signed. Because reading between the lines of this ridiculous outrage, the Windsors don’t actually have anything other than “but Harry promised, this was the vague verbal agreement!” We know Meghan didn’t sign anything… because they excluded her from all of the exit talks.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of the Mail.

Note: the beach photos in this post are from 2019, I’m just using them to illustrate the story.

For four weeks, I’ve wondered why the Middletons have disappeared. It was four weeks ago (exactly) when we were told the Princess of Wales underwent “planned abdominal surgery” and would be in the hospital for up to two weeks, and then out of commission for months. So much weirdness has followed… the fact that Prince William seemingly only visited his wife once at the London Clinic, the fact that absolutely no one has seen or apparently heard from Kate in nearly two months, the weird behavior of Charles and Camilla towards the Waleses. And throughout it all, the Middletons have been in the wind too – no photos of Carole driving over to Windsor, no reports of Carole and Mike out with their grandkids.

Well, this is an interesting update. This week, Pippa Middleton was seen and photographed in St. Barts with her husband and children. Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews’ family owns the Eden Rock resort in St. Barts, and Pippa and TMW James try to make it down there at least once a year. I would imagine Pippa’s kids are currently enjoying a school holiday, just like Kate and William’s kids. You can see the photos of Pippa and her family here at the Mail.

Pippa looks happy, like she doesn’t have a care in the world, and like she’s certainly not worried about her sister’s health or condition. Or should I say, Pippa isn’t worried that her sister’s condition is terrible or very serious. If Kate was in a coma or the situation was touch-and-go, the Middletons would have stayed out of sight, in the UK, including Pippa. Then again, I’ve believed for some time that Pippa and Kate’s relationship has cooled down in recent years, especially after Pippa named her daughter Rose. Still, it would be ice cold to go on holiday in St. Barts if your sister was at death’s door. Ergo, Kate is most likely okay or doing better than we were led to believe.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

Several weeks ago, Robert Hardman’s latest royal book was being widely excerpted and discussed. Most of the discussion centered on QEII’s rage about her great-granddaughter’s name, to the point where many people failed to mention that Hardman’s sources took many digs at Prince William. Hardman’s book was authorized, and so it’s basically officially from Buckingham Palace that William isn’t academic, intellectual, political or any kind of reader. Nor is William religious in the least – he doesn’t like going to church and he’s not committed to this whole “Church of England” thing. There’s been little discussion of that, but now that Lent and Easter are approaching, there are more questions about whether William will get off his ass and attend a Maundy service in his father’s absence. From The Mail:

With Ash Wednesday marking the start of Lent tomorrow, the King’s thoughts will be doubtless be turning to an important moment in the year of a Monarch and an occasion he will not want to miss. An ancient Christian ceremony mixing leadership and service, next month’s Maundy Thursday service sees the King wash the feet of his subjects and hand out specially minted Maundy coins. It has deep roots. Stretching back to the Middle Ages, the Maundy Service commemorates the the Last Supper, when Christ washed the feet of his disciples but also remembers the commitment to serve made in the King’s Coronation vows.

Yet with King Charles now receiving cancer treatment, there is every chance he will not be there this year (the venue is yet to be disclosed) leaving this duty to – most likely – his heir, Prince William. The task would certainly remind the prince of his destiny – and of how very much that future is bound up with Christian faith. It would also raise some questions that nag a little more insistently with every passing year: just what does Prince William believe? And how committed is he to the Church of England he will one day lead.

His great friend, Lord Chartres, once told me that the King ‘is enthralled by religion’. That fascination does not seem to be shared with the Prince of Wales. There is little evidence of his own religious beliefs, although he was christened as a baby and later confirmed by Lord Chartres. By the time Charles was in his forties – the age that William is at now – he was regularly given lengthy speeches about religion and ethics. Speechmaking is not William’s forte, it is true. He prefers practical action.

Where there is evidence of his interest in faith, it is in his strong connections to religious organisations that work at the grassroots, helping those who are homeless. About such things, he is passionate. His charitable commitment has not, however, been enough to prevent speculation that William might cut ties with the Church of England when his time comes. That he would not be Supreme Governor.

According to biographer Robert Hardman’s new book, Charles III – New King, New Court, William is not a regular church-goer and ‘is not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment.’ Not that the prince could change the relationship unilaterally, for the British monarchy and the Established Church, the Church of England, are so bound up together that he could not become King without being ‘in communion with’ the Church of England, according to the Act of Settlement, 1701.

Today and in the immediate future, the King’s siblings and children will be more concerned for his health than the constitutional niceties of church attendance. But whoever washes the feet of the 75 chosen citizens – 75 to mark Charles’s age – on March 28, this much will be unavoidable: Christian faith, which at the heart of the King’s life and looked-for recovery, is at the very heart of Monarchy itself. At some point, answers will be needed.

[From The Daily Mail]

Keep in mind, if William had his way, he would have been away from “work” past Easter, like Kate. The timeline for Kate’s recovery was “after Easter” and even now, they’re suggesting that it will be more like May or June before she’s seen again. My point is that no, I do not believe William will take over any of the religious events this year. He will skip the Maundy service (March 28) and he’ll probably skip going to church on Easter Sunday too. Charles will probably ask Anne or the Edinburghs to go to the Maundy service in his place. This Mail columnist is right – questions will be asked and “at some point, answers will be needed.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Cover Images.

Well well well! In the months since Spotify ended their contract with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, there were some rumors that maybe Meghan was getting out of the podcasting business. Her sole podcast for Spotify, Archetypes, was a big success, even temporarily dethroning Joe Rogan from the top of the podcasting charts. I thought Archetypes got better as it went along – Meghan is a quick learner, and she was figuring out in real time what she wanted to do. All of which to say, I wanted her to do another podcast and I was sad that it looked like she was over it. But she’s not over it! She just signed on to Lemonada Media, a female-run company. The best part is that Archewell solely owns Archetypes, so Lemonada will now platform Archetypes Season 1, plus Meghan is apparently working on a new pod.

Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex is staying in the podcast business. The Duchess, otherwise known as Meghan Markle, has signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media, the company behind Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The move will see her launch a new podcast series and Lemonada will also distribute her previous Spotify series Archetypes to all podcast platforms.

It comes after her and her husband Prince Harry parted ways with Spotify last year. There are no details of the show yet, but Meghan will host the as yet untitled series.

Archetypes, which was previously a Spotify exclusive, will be rolled out to all audio platforms with Lemonada distributing. The series has recorded over 10M downloads, around a million listens per episode and debuted as Spotify’s No.1 podcast in 47 countries around the world when it launched in August 2022. The series, which is produced by her and Prince Harry’s Archewell Productions, won a People’s Choice Award for The Pop Podcast of 2022 and Markle won best entertainment podcast host at the Gracie Awards.

The deal is a coup for Lemonada Media, which was founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer, a former executive producer at Pod Save America producer Crooked Media, and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, cofounder of theater company Rec Room Arts.

“I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” said Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. “Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024. Our plan to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.”

“We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon. Meghan’s talent as host, creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters,” added Lemonada’s CEO Jessica Cordova Kramer.

“As we’ve started development with The Duchess of Sussex, we are blown away by her collaborative spirit and clear vision, along with her deep desire to build compassion and community through this work. The Lemonada team felt immediate kinship with Meghan and the Archewell Productions team, and we are delighted to be working together,” added Lemonada’s Chief Creative Officer Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

[From Deadline]

The only thing the Derangers have at this point is that Meghan’s Lemonada deal probably doesn’t pay as well as the old Spotify deal, which the Sussexes signed in 2020 (during the podcast boom). To that I say: it speaks volumes to me that Meghan prioritized a smaller, female-run company rather than, say, Audible. Meghan probably could have gotten more money if she wanted to go with a larger platform. She chose not to. I also love that Meghan still feels like she has something to say – she wasn’t scared off by her experiences at Spotify, nor was she scared off by the ridiculous smear job from Salt Island. Good for her! I feel like the second go-around will probably be more streamlined and she’ll be more confident about what she’s doing and what the voice of the show will be. Also: it’s amazing that Archewell owns the Archetypes archive. LMAO!

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Lemonada Media Announces New Partnership with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

The Award-Winning Podcast “Archetypes” will be available to stream on all audio platforms for the first time this Spring, with Lemonada overseeing ad sales and distribution.https://t.co/U5tJxiDbLu… pic.twitter.com/U3WABJmQTE

— Misan Harriman (@misanharriman) February 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The Friday before Ayo Edebiri hosted Saturday Night Live, with Jennifer Lopez as musical guest, TMZ unearthed a 2020 podcast interview from Ayo. Ayo appeared on the Scam Goddess pod and named Jennifer’s singing career as one of her favorite “scams.” When I covered the issue, I thought that Ayo likely spoke to J.Lo directly at SNL. Jennifer confirms that’s exactly what happened in a bonkers new Variety cover story. Jen spoke to Variety about her three new projects: the album This Is Me… Now; the musical film This Is Me… Now: A Love Story; and a documentary called The Greatest Love Story Never Told. In case you didn’t realize it, J.Lo has well and truly lost the plot. We were so worried that Ben Affleck was going to f–k up this marriage, but it’s Jennifer. She’s the one going way overboard in an attempt to celebrate her love for her fourth husband. Even Jane Fonda tried to talk her out of it, as did J.Lo’s longtime producing partner. Jennifer even put $20 million of her own money into financing these disasters. Some highlights from Variety:

Bennifer 1.0: “Our relationship crumbled under the weight of the pressure. We lost a sense of ourselves, and we needed to separate because we didn’t know how to survive it. I had to figure myself out, and he had to figure himself out.” The first time Lopez was in love with Affleck, the crush of cameras took him away from her, leading her into multiple baffling relationships. This time, Lopez is turning the tables and seems intent on sharing every shred of their love while Affleck grudgingly follows along. In the documentary, Affleck says, “Things that are private I always felt are sacred and special because, in part, they’re private.” He then delivers an understatement: “So this was something of an adjustment for me.”

The musical film features a Zodiac Love Council: “Everybody thought I was crazy,” she says with a loud laugh. “And by the way, I thought I was crazy.” Joining Jane Fonda and Trevor Noah in a partly animated musical journey through many of the songs on “This Is Me … Now” are Post Malone, Sofia Vergara, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Keke Palmer and a few other famous randos. They’re all on that Zodiac love council examining Lopez’s romantic foibles. There is a special appearance by guru to the stars Sadhguru, which, according to the documentary, added $200,000 to the film’s budget. Affleck plays a wizened TV commentator.

Even Khloe Kardashian wanted no part of this disaster: Khloé Kardashian was among many Hollywood types who declined to appear in the film despite Lopez’s requests. The irony that an icon from the most photographed family didn’t want to appear in her film was not lost on Lopez, who looks downcast in the documentary. “People are scared to put themselves out there,” she says on camera. “I get it. It took me a long time. I’m scared. But I don’t act like I’m scared — that’s the secret to my whole f–king career.”

She needs to do all of this to start the next chapter?? “I’ve been on this journey, and I’ve been trying to figure it out,” she says about her chronic quest for enduring love. ”Now I feel like because Ben and I have rediscovered each other — and now that we’re married — I have something to offer. This is the defining piece of work that’s going to close that chapter so I can move on to the next part of my life.”

She thinks the iconic “Jenny From the Block” video was a mistake. “‘Jenny From the Block’ should have been me back in the Bronx kind of walking around the neighborhood. That’s what that video should have been.” Lawrence, she says, convinced her to ask Affleck to be in the video. “We were so ourselves. And we never thought that people would take offense or be angry at us for kind of living out loud and making a cool video. We were so naive….I don’t regret it. Even though it wound up turning out ugly for us in the media, it was very defining for me in my musical trajectory. Some very beautiful, iconic images came out of that video. It’s the one thing, no matter where I go people still go, ‘Hey, there’s Jenny from the block.’”

On Ayo Edebiri’s scam comments: “She was mortified and very sweet,” says Lopez about talking to Edebiri backstage afterward. ”She came to my dressing room and apologized with tears in her eyes, saying how terrible it was that she had said those things. She felt really badly and loved my performance because we had just done my soundcheck and she actually got to hear me perform. She was just like, ‘I’m so f–king sorry, it was so awful of me.’” Lopez shrugs. “It’s funny. I’ve heard similar things said about me throughout my career, so it really didn’t affect me.”

[From Variety]

The Ayo story – I mean, Jennifer was really making sure that everyone knows that Ayo was tearful and apologetic, which is a big choice. But I was on the side of “Ayo should privately apologize” anyway – regardless of your thoughts about J.Lo’s music career, it was a regrettable move for Ayo to trash someone famous, someone she might meet and work with some day. As Tina Fey said to Bowen Yang, “Learn from my mistakes, learn from Ayo. Podcasts are forever. Authenticity is dangerous and expensive.” Talk about celebrities like they’re your future coworkers. Ayo learned that lesson.

As for Jennifer’s whole three-project mess these days… as Variety makes abundantly clear, absolutely no one in Jennifer’s life wanted any part of this. I think she could have gotten away with an album, for sure, and maybe spent some money making some fun music videos. But the musical film PLUS a documentary in which she’s dragging Ben around on camera? Come on. Jane Fonda was right – this is way too much.

This week’s Variety cover story:

Jennifer Lopez’s $20 Million Gamble: Why the Superstar Spent Her Own Money and Defied Skeptics to Tell Her Ben Affleck Love Storyhttps://t.co/f0Fr7YDYDe pic.twitter.com/wKdVz8nWdC

— Variety (@Variety) February 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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Costco’s slogan is “Do the right thing.” They must be doing the right thing in the right way because in 2023, they were highly rated by consumers as being an overall great shopping experience. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Costco has earned the top spot among America’s chain supermarkets. The ACSI rates businesses based on data taken from interviews conducted with customers throughout the year. This year, they interviewed approximately 500,000 customers, asking them to evaluate their experiences shopping in big supermarket chains. Kirkland 4Eva y’all!

When it comes to grocery shopping, everyone has their favorite supermarket chain, at least as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. Per the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index, the supermarket chain in the top spot earned high marks for factors such as the ability to provide brand names, the layout and cleanliness of the store, and the courtesy and helpfulness of the staff.

According to the index, which measures customer satisfaction across six retail industries—gas stations, general merchandise retailers, specialty retailers, drugstores, supermarkets, and online retailers—the extent to which a shopper is (or isn’t) satisfied can greatly impact individual brands, as well as the American economy at large.

In other words, keeping customers satisfied is of the utmost importance.

“For industries like supermarkets and gas stations, moderating inflation is helping to improve the value proposition,” explained Forrest Morgeson, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at the ACSI. “And leading up to the holiday season, consumers looking to stretch their dollars responded positively to discounters and retailers that excelled in sales and promotions, or pumped more value into the experience through private label offerings.”

[From Real Simple]

I will freely admit that I am a Costco stan. Every Sunday, my family and I run our errands for the week and our first stop is always at Costco. Even if we don’t really need much from there, we like walking around together, checking out what’s new. I actually buy a lot of my clothes from Costco because they have good prices and are really comfortable. Their leggings, CK jeans, and pajamas are my favorites. Also, in my area, literally no one beats their gas prices. As for the rest of the ACSI’s top 10, they are:

1. Costco
2. H-E-B
3. Publix
4. Trader Joe’s
5. Sam’s Club (Walmart)
6. BJ’s Wholesale Club
7. Target
8. Wegmans
9. Whole Foods (Amazon)
10. Aldi

I’ve never been to Aldi but I keep hearing it’s a great store. Wegmans is actually our second stop after Costco. It is still relatively new to my area, but let me tell you, it is just as awesome as everyone says it is. I know that we all want different things out of our shopping experiences, but I think when it comes down to it, we as consumers just want to visit a store that has good vibes and layout, reasonably priced products that we love, and is an overall positive experience. In other words, we just want the places we shop at to ‘do the right thing.’

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We’re still a full month out from the Oscars ceremony on March 10. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting it for the second year in a row and fourth time in total. This year’s nominees included some pretty notable snubs for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig with Barbie. It was a whole thing that took over Internet discourse for a few days. This week, Kimmel released a new Barbie-themed Oscars promo that gave a nod to Gerwig’s snub in a fun way. The premise is Kimmel gets lost on his way to hosting the ceremony and ends up in Barbieland. I won’t spoil it too much for you but Dame Helen Mirren narrates it and Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie (who else lol) acts as Jimmy’s guide, helping him get back to Oscarsland. You can watch it below.

The 2024 Oscars host has enlisted the help of the Barbie cast as he gears up to host film’s biggest night next month. In the first promo for this year’s ceremony, which aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night, Helen Mirren narrates the tale of a man (Kimmel) lost on his way to the Oscars. Having landed in Barbieland, he asks for help from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who takes him through all of the Best Picture nominees to get to “Oscarsland.”

The duo travels through nominees Poor Things, Maestro, and Oppenheimer, where they run into Matt Damon’s character and eventually run him over. (A new slant to the decades-long gag in which Kimmel has made a tradition of ending his broadcasts with, “Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time,” even though Damon was not scheduled to appear on the show.)

Once they arrive in Los Angeles, America Ferrera offers an inspirational monologue to calm Kimmel’s nerves — much like her character Gloria’s viral speech in the film.

Even Ryan Gosling comes along for the ride while wearing a Kenough sweatshirt and toting a bag of In-N-Out, which he says is a “cool social media trend, where you get it before the Oscars.”

But when Kimmel says the trend is to have it after you’ve won the Oscar, Gosling says, “Well, that’s not going to happen. Good thing Greta’s got director in the bag.” A sly, if painful reminder for fans that Barbie director Greta Gerwig was snubbed for Best Director, despite the film becoming the No. 1 movie of the year at the box office, grossing more than $1.4 billion, and earning critical acclaim.

Leading lady Margot Robbie was also overlooked for the Best Actress category. Barbie is still nominated for eight awards at the Oscars, including Best Picture, with Gosling and Ferrera both nominated for their supporting performances.

[From ET Online]

Clocking in at just under five minutes, the promo is a little bit long, but honestly, I loved it. I thought it was cute and funny and appreciated that they addressed the Barbie snub situation with humor. It was awesome to see some of the cast back and interacting with each other. Kimmel and McKinnon played off of one another perfectly (“And you find GPS threatening to your masculinity?” lmao). America’s speech and Jimmy’s response was clever, and Ryan’s sweatshirt and In-N-Out joke made me laugh out loud. It took me a second though to realize that America and Ryan were playing themselves. I could have done with a little bit less screaming at the end. Oh, and the Matt Damon joke absolutely took me out. Their pretend feud has always cracked me up. I’m looking forward to seeing what Jimmy and his team come up with next.

Photos are screenshots from YouTube

The Grand Ole Opry hosted a tribute concert for Dolly Parton last month to celebrate her 78th birthday. Unfortunately the event ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons. When Elle King took to the stage she forgot lyrics, started swearing (a big no-no at the Opry), and admitted “I’m f–king hammered.” It wasn’t good. The venue took to Twitter to apologize to the concert goers, others piled on to slam Elle online, and yet more chatter poured in to harangue the people slamming Elle. Up until now we haven’t heard a reaction from Dolly. Now that she has chimed in, she’s showing nothing but kindness to Elle, and asking for others to do the same:

Dolly Parton will always love Elle King.

The country music legend recently broke her silence on the “Exes and Ohs” singer’s drunken performance at a star-studded tribute concert held in celebration of Dolly’s 78th birthday.

“Elle is really a great artist, she’s a great girl,” Dolly told ExtraTV in an interview published Feb. 9. “She’s been going through a lot of things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink.”

Encouraging others to lead with kindness as well, she added, “So let’s just forgive that and forget that and move on ‘cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

The “Jolene” singer’s understanding words arrived less than a month after Elle confessed to being “f–king hammered” when she messed up the lyrics to Dolly’s 2001 hit “Marry Me” onstage at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. After stumbling her way through some of the lines, the 34-year-old proceeded to sing, “I don’t know the lyrics to this thing in this f–king town/ Don’t tell Dolly ‘cause it’s her birthday.”

Elle later quipped, “I’m not even gonna f–king lie, you bought tickets for this s–t? You ain’t getting your money back.”

In the aftermath of her concert blunder, the iconic country music hall — which operates on a strict no-profanity rule — issued an apology on X, expressing “deep regret” for “the language that was used” during the “America’s Sweetheart” singer’s Jan. 19 performance.

Elle — who has yet to publicly comment on the incident but did postpone a series of shows six days later — has previously spoken about her complicated relationship with alcohol.

“I get nervous before I go on stage,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune in February 2022. “I have couple of drinks [first]. Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing. If I don’t make them, it won’t sting as much.”

[From E! News]

There’s no sugarcoating that this was a low moment for Elle King. In a way, though, you could say she is very lucky it happened at an event for Dolly Parton. Not because Dolly deserves it, not that at all! But because of how gracious and encouraging a spirit Dolly is. She was generous to Jessica Simpson after Jessica stumbled while performing “9 to 5” at the Kennedy Center Honors, so it’s no surprise she’s being just as kind to Elle. As to that pre-show ritual Elle described, of drinking to subdue her nerves, that system cannot hold. I hope she is taking time now to seek out new methods of coping that are supportive instead of self-destructive. I bet Dolly herself would happily speak with Elle — without being preachy! — about sustaining a career in their industry and being good to yourself. Even I would wake up at 3-7am for that conversation with Dolly. (Ok fine, I’d probably just stay up from the night before. And show up with boxes of Dolly’s Duncan Hines cakes to bake. You get the point.)

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Photos credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix, Rachpoot/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon

People were freaking out because they thought Kylie Jenner got her boyfriend Timothee Chalamet’s haircut. But looking through her Instagram, it’s clear that her hair is still long and this is just a very good wig. [Pajiba]
The Super Bowl was the most-watched telecast in history. [Seriously OMG]
Bad Bunny stars in a new Jacquemus campaign. [Socialite Life]
Lainey’s summary of Usher’s sexy Halftime show – I agree, and I can’t believe how many “culture critics” are talking sh-t about it. [LaineyGossip]
Did Taylor Swift get the ick? The debate rages on. [Jezebel]
The photo of the bird tracks through wet cement is amazing. [Buzzfeed]
I feel like we haven’t seen Channing Tatum in a while! [JustJared]
Patrick Mahomes went straight to Disneyland to celebrate. [Hollywood Life]
Oh, look at Lily Gladstone’s amazing outfit! [RCFA]
Glen Powell stars in a remake/sequel of Twister. [OMG Blog]

Here’s what I think happened: King Charles called Prince Harry to tell him personally about his cancer diagnosis, and Harry immediately told his father that he wanted to visit him in person. Charles quickly ordered the arrangements – including the police escort from Heathrow to Clarence House – and agreed to meet Harry alone, however briefly. They had their short meeting last Tuesday, then Charles was off to Sandringham with Camilla while Harry stayed the night in a hotel, and likely met his lawyer David Sherborne in person (since we now know that Harry settled his lawsuit against the Mirror last week). That was all Harry had on his agenda – face time with Charles and the lawyer. Throughout the entire 48-hour period around Harry’s visit, Prince William was losing his f–king mind, calling every rota journalist and ranting about how much he hates Harry and how Harry should not have come and how he, William, will never ever meet with Harry or forgive him.

All of which to say, there’s a sense of rota journalists and commentators doing William’s bidding, but also sort of rolling their eyes at his pettiness, laziness and general incandescent rage. Even the old-guard commentators will dutifully report (for the millionth time) that William “refuses” to see Harry and that William “will never forgive his brother,” and then in the same breath, those commentators are like… yeah, but eventually William is going to have to suck it up. Speaking of, Robert Jobson had some comments:

Prince William was never going to see Prince Harry after years of attacks by the duke, a royal expert has claimed. Writer and broadcaster Robert Jobson exclusively told The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson how William can’t forgive his brother. Robert believes William never had any interest in meeting with Harry after the duke attacked the prince and princess huge bombshells on Oprah, Netflix and in his autobiography Spare.

He said: “It’s a clear message there: ‘You’re certainly not forgiven and you’ve certainly done a lot of damage’. The fact that his brother didn’t even bother to acknowledge him – They were very close and he didn’t even bat an eyelid. There was no way that that was going to happen.”

Jobson now believes Harry and William need to “grow up” and look after their father. He said: “We just want Charles to be healthy. Focus on his health, maybe do a bit of painting, get people off his case. People keep coming in and asking him questions, putting things on his plate. This is why it would probably be quite good if William and Harry were not making the later stages of his life a misery, which is what he said they were doing. They’re not boys any more, they’re both men. It’s time to grow up.”

Jobson added: “Harry’s gone. He’s made his bed, he’s going to lie in it – that’s it. But what could happen is what William did when they had that walk-about after the Queen’s death. There was a truce. They don’t have to do that, they don’t have to be so graphic. I think Kate said at the time it was the hardest thing she ever had to do. The two brothers have to bury the hatchet, say they’ll agree to disagree. Let’s agree not to talk about each other any more and let’s try to build the relationship. And the same with the King. Ultimately, they are men not boys.”

[From The Sun]

Well, Harry did put aside his differences and his security concerns to personally check in with his father and dear old dad couldn’t even give him a full hour. Harry was the bigger man, across the board, and he showed more maturity than his brother and father combined. That being said, I believe that Charles and Harry are open to reconciling with one another in some form and Harry adores his father no matter what, just as I bet Charles “appreciated” that Harry made the effort. That’s what the trip was about – Harry and Charles, and Harry making the effort and flying 14 hours just for 40 minutes. Harry’s effort draws attention to William’s lack of effort when it comes to dear old dad – William still hadn’t seen his father in person one week after his cancer diagnosis. William was too busy raging about Harry to even see Charles. Anyway, even the royalists know that William is lazy, childish, unprepared and too stupid to strategize or problem-solve his way out of a wet paper bag.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.