The 2024 SAG Award nominations are here! You can see the full list at Variety, I skipped some of the TV and stunt noms for space. Interestingly enough, this year, the SAG Awards will be streamed on Netflix. They air on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. ET. It will probably be a strange vibe. Re: the film nominations… back in December, I was excited because I believed that several of the biggest races were up in the air. I no longer think that – it feels very much like most of the winners are already locked in.

FILM
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”)
Colman Domingo (“Rustin”)
Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”)
Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”)
Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Annette Benning (“Nyad”)
Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Emma Stone (“Poor Things”)
Margot Robbie (“Barbie”)
Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”)
Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”)
Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)
Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”)
Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”)
Danielle Books (“The Color Purple”)
Penelope Cruz (“Ferrari”)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”)
Jodie Foster (“Nyad”)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“American Fiction”
“Barbie”
“The Color Purple”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Cox (“Succession”)
Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”)
Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)
Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”)
Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”)
Elizabeth Debicki (“The Crown”)
Bella Ramsey (“The Last of Us”)
Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”)
Sarah Snook (“Succession”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”)
Bill Hader (“Barry”)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”)
Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)
Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”)
Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”)
Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“The Crown”
“The Gilded Age”
“The Last of Us”
“The Morning Show”
“Succession”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Abbot Elementary
Barry
The Bear
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso

I am so, so happy for Jeffrey Wright and Colman Domingo! I’m so pleased that Leo DiCaprio was snubbed (“snubbed”) for Killers as well – the film never should have been built around his character. I don’t have an issue with DeNiro getting nominated though – while King Hale was a despicable person, DeNiro turned in an incredible performance. Sad that Andrew Scott didn’t make the cut in the lead category. The lead actress noms are what I expected but the supporting actress noms are all over the place. I was only expecting two of those names! How did Penelope Cruz sneak in there?? And Emily Blunt was the worst part of Oppenheimer, tbh. Anyway, fight among yourselves!

Also: no nominations for May December, booooo. Charles Melton deserved a nom. So did Sandra Huller for Anatomy of a Fall, WTF!!!

Photos courtesy of Netflix, Avalon Red and Cover Images. Posters for Barbie, Killers, The Holdovers, Poor Things and Anatomy.

For years, we’ve heard about the Princess of Wales’s aversion to British boarding schools. She was allegedly bullied at one all-girls boarding school, and she ended up becoming a day student (as in, not a boarder) at Marlborough, a co-ed private school. Apparently, she wants all of her children, especially Prince George, to go to Marlborough. She’s been seen visiting Marlborough several times in recent months, although she and William were also seen touring Eton with George last summer as well. It’s believed that William is really pushing for George to attend Eton, the same posh all-boys school William and Harry attended. Will and Kate’s school argument has spilled out into the media, and it’s clear that Kate is really fighting to avoid sending all of her kids to any boarding school, especially Eton. Now In Touch Weekly claims that William won the battle about sending George to Eton, and that Kate is upset about it.

Kate Middleton couldn’t take her eyes off her son. As her husband, Prince William, spoke to Eton College headmaster Simon Henderson in a photo posted by a royal watcher on June 22, Kate placed her hands on her chin and gazed at George with a look that most mothers recognized instantly. “She’s thinking, ‘How did my baby grow so big, so quickly?’” guessed one commenter, while others interpreted her expression as “pensive,” “sad” and “worried.” Added another, “She looks very perturbed. I suspect she’s not looking forward to her eldest son going to boarding school.”

It isn’t exactly her choice. “Kate long disagreed with her husband about sending him away, even though it’s tradition,” says a source, noting that Eton is considered the most prestigious boarding school in the world, having educated England’s most elite boys — including William and Prince Harry — for nearly 600 years. “Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernize the monarchy. Plus, she’ll miss George desperately. She and William argued about it for years, but he has finally won.”

The 10-year-old future king may have had a hand in the decision. “He wants to be just like his father,” says the source, and William, 41, has regaled him with stories about his five years at the nearly $60,000-a-year school, where he was captain of the swimming team and his house football squad and was also elected a prefect in the ultra-exclusive Eton Society, nicknamed the Pop. (Harry, who didn’t enjoy his time there nearly as much, recently recounted how hurt he was when his popular big brother told him to “pretend we don’t know each other” at school.)

Acknowledging George’s wishes, Kate, 41, “finally gave in,” says the source. She’s reportedly skipping a royal visit to Singapore with William in November to support her son as he takes Eton’s 150-minute verbal and mental reasoning entrance exam. “But she’s still heartbroken. She was horribly bullied at her first boarding school, and can’t bear the thought of George suffering through that.”

At least she’ll have a few more years with him: Boys don’t begin at Eton until they’re 13. It’s also just a nine-minute drive from their new home, Adelaide Cottage, in Windsor, the source points out. “William used to visit the queen for tea because she was so close by,” says the source. “It’s boarding only, but close enough that George would be able to come home on weekends.”

That’s Kate’s only comfort. “At least they’ll still have some family time, and he can bond with his siblings,” the source says of Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. “But it still seems as if her family is being torn apart. There’s also the worry that William will insist the other two kids be shipped off next. Kate knows this is all part of her ‘royal duty,’ but there’s a lot of tension between her and her husband right now.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

I know it’s just In Touch Weekly, but I generally believe that this is the way it’s going down – William insists that George will go to Eton, George wants to go to Eton, and Kate is fighting for all of her kids to be day students at a co-ed posh school. As I’ve said before, there’s a good chance she might get her way with Charlotte and Louis. I can see that being the “compromise” – George goes to Eton, and the other two kids are day students at Marlborough. Kate won’t like it but this is just the kind of thing where William and Charles will get their way.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Last November, Prince Harry apparently called King Charles and wished him a happy birthday. Various British outlets reported variations on the phone call – that Charles had also spoken to Meghan and they had a pleasant chat; that Harry and Meghan sent a video of Archie and Lili to Charles; that the Sussexes were the ones doing a huge briefing spree to the British media about a phone call. Buckingham Palace really overplayed their hand and – in my opinion – the craziness around that whole story was evidence of wildly different factions within Charles’s royal court. The Sussexes got blamed for all of the stories and then everyone moved on, because the palace didn’t want anyone to look too closely. I bring all of that up because it’s interesting that we haven’t gotten any big briefings about a Christmas phone call between Harry and his father. I’m absolutely sure it happened – it’s clear that Harry still contacts Charles on big occasions, and I would assume that the Sussexes sent something to Charles privately. But this time, the palace didn’t immediately leak a bunch of sh-t about it. And yet…

King Charles is reportedly on a ‘mission’ to bring Prince Harry back into the Royal fold. It’s said that Harry has been showing his late mum, Princess Diana’s “good qualities” to his dad as they try to mend their relationship.

For King Charles’ birthday, Harry and Meghan spoke with the monarch and sparked rumours of a reconciliation. Royal sources said it was likely to be a “nice surprise” for the King, who had not heard from Harry, either by phone or message, “for some time”. His Majesty is understood to have had a friendly and cordial chat with his boy during the transatlantic chat.

Charles also received a video of Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, singing happy birthday to their grandfather, who he has only met on a handful of occasions. Insiders have revealed that Charles feels no pressure with Harry and despite their differences, “still have that father-son bond”. He also reportedly sees his late ex-wife Princess Diana’s “good qualities” in his son.

The source told Closer: “Charles doesn’t feel pressure when talking to Harry, unlike William, who is itching to be king. They’ve had their differences, but still have that father-son bond. That’s how they mended things. Charles has clarity with age, and if he wants anything, it is for William and Harry to repair their relationship. He’s telling William to be the first one to reach out and be the bigger person. It’s his mission to get the boys on good terms.”

The source added that Harry wanted “to start the new year off right and focus on making amends” with his father. “And lucky for him, Charles wants that, too.”

[From The Mirror & The Express]

It honestly would not surprise me if Charles genuinely misses Harry because Harry isn’t power-hungry or waiting for Charles to die. Harry adores his father, wants to still have a relationship with his father and he’s tremendously disappointed in Charles for good reason. Charles and William are basically in the same position though – they’ve committed to never reconciling with Harry, to blaming Harry for the breakdown in relations, and they both refuse to have those larger conversations with Harry. So no, it’s not like Charles can say to his sons “you two need to bury the hatchet.” It’s the same hatchet between father and son. I wish Harry would just understand that it might be healthier for him to go no-contact and grey-rock these people.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Paul Giamatti celebrated his Golden Globe win at In-and-Out. [JustJared]
The hot guys of the Golden Globes! [LaineyGossip]
Yes, I will probably watch all of these “cozy mystery” series in the next few months. This post was written for me, I know it. [Pajiba]
Sherri Shepherd got a really sweet gift from Melissa Rivers. [Seriously OMG]
Amanda Seyfried & Meryl Streep had a Mamma Mia reunion. [Hollywood Life]
Funny Golden Globes tweets & memes. [Buzzfeed]
Yeah, I still love Rosamund Pike’s Dior look at the Globes. [GFY]
So many people wore white at the Golden Globes. [Tom & Lorenzo]
This Instagram hottie looks like a bearded Matt Bomer. [Socialite Life]
Lakeith Stanfield wore Louis Vuitton to a premiere. [RCFA]

PAUL GIAMATTI keeping it real post his Golden Globes win last night , at the Westwood In-N-Out in L.A. pic.twitter.com/bmhbLhy3DB

— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) January 8, 2024

Here are some photos from last night’s big New York premiere of Mean Girls: The Musical. I’m not into this at all, but I’m glad Tina Fey is getting paid, I guess, and I’m sure there’s a market for it. Tina has always had such a soft spot for Lindsay Lohan, and Lohan came out for the premiere (although from what I can see, Lohan doesn’t even have a cameo in the film). Lohan wore Alexandre Vauthier and she looks like she got some face updates for the premiere. Tina’s ensemble is so… lmao.

Megan Thee Stallion is part of the Mean Girls soundtrack and I’m sure Meg was a huge fan of the original film. Megan looked amazing and she posed with Reneé Rapp (who plays Regina George).

Jon Hamm was there with his new wife Anna. Hamm has a small role in the film, as one of the teachers.

Here’s Angourie Rice, she plays Cady.

Busy Philipps was there with her daughter Birdie!!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in 2006. By 2007, he was serving his first tour in Afghanistan, a tour which was cut short as Harry had to be removed from a war zone after an Australian media outlet published his general location. Harry waited and trained to go back as an apache helicopter pilot, which happened in September 2012 through January 2013. After his tours, Harry used his military and charitable connections to organize the Invictus Games, the first of which were held in 2014, when Harry was still an Army captain. You would think that Sandhurst would be enormously proud of what their graduate has achieved. You would be wrong. No, maybe that’s not fair – there’s a new book out about Sundhurst graduates and the guy who wrote it made a point of not including Harry. Coincidentally, Prince William wrote the foreword for the book.

Prince Harry has been left humiliated after being excluded from a prestigious book celebrating the Sandhurst’s top alumni in what has been branded a snub by a top army commander. The Duke of Sussex failed to make the military academy’s top 200 people to train at the armed forces military college, despite his brother Prince William making the cut and even penning the foreword to the exclusive guide.

Even James Blunt made the pages of They Also Served for his stint serving for the military in Kosovo before becoming a multi-million-pound singer.

Instead the California-based royal joins other military outcasts, such as fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Benson Freeman who joined the Nazi party to become a Waffen-SS officer.

The humiliating blow comes almost a year to the day after the Duke’s explosive memoir Spare was released, where he boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters, explaining he saw those he killed as ‘chess pieces’ rather than people.

It prompted fury from those within the military ranks, with former British Army colonel Richard Kemp calling the details split in his autobiography a ‘betrayal of the people he fought alongside’.

Reacting to the decision to remove the Prince from the book, Mr Kemp told The Sun: ‘I completely understand why he has not been included. I probably would have included him on balance, but it is not a disappointment to not see him in there. I don’t think he did anything particularly notable in his service but he was certainly a significant person to go to Sandhurst. I suspect the recent disharmony between him and the Royal Family has led them to decide against having him in.’

‘One thing he said in his book was the Army taught him to see the enemy as less than human — which is not what we were taught. That has overshadowed a lot of the great things that he has done.’

The author of the book Vaughan Kent-Payne reportedly notes in the book that ‘not everybody who trained [there] was a good egg’, adding that there ‘is a smattering of traitors and cads’ who trained at the prestigious base.

[From The Daily Mail]

I’ve said this before, but it keeps happening – these dumbf–ks keep doing all of these despicable things for an audience of one, and it’s like they don’t realize that everyone else can see it. “Look at us, we’re snubbing Harry so hard, we hate him so much we’re not even going to include him in a book about Sandhurst, he’ll be so mad!” And everyone else is like “WTF is wrong with you?” These are the most short-sighted and ridiculous people in the world. I bet you any amount of money that William was the one screaming, crying and throwing up about Harry’s potential inclusion in the book as well – there’s a reason why William agreed to “write” the foreword. Quid pro quo in an attempt to “punish” Harry.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

For about three years, we’ve heard that Prince William and Kate are desperate to move into Royal Lodge. In 2021, the speculation began when Will and Kate suddenly decided that they hated living in Kensington Palace full-time and they needed some big property in Windsor or the wider Berkshire area. My take was always that Will and Kate’s scheme to move to Windsor landed poorly with QEII and then-Prince Charles, and that’s backed up by the fact Will and Kate were not “given” one of the grander properties in Windsor. Instead, Kate and the children were shoved in Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom house with no staff quarters. The talking point is that William lives there too (but it’s extremely doubtful).

In 2021, Will and Kate let it be known that they would love Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion where Prince Andrew resides. So much of the recent “Andrew should be evicted from Royal Lodge” conversation comes from William’s office. That being said, by last fall, Will and Kate seemed to finally make their peace with the fact that they wouldn’t get Royal Lodge. But over the past week, the Epstein files have been unsealed and suddenly Royal Lodge is back on the table, at least that’s what they think.

Just a few weeks ago Prince Andrew walked to church on Christmas Day with King Charles and the rest of the Royal Family marking a gradual return to the fold. However, sources state that fresh revelations outlined in New York court documents detailing sexual assault allegations against the duke have strengthened the King’s resolve that his brother must never be allowed to resume royal duties and should be forced out of Royal Lodge.

A well-placed source tells Express.co.uk that Prince William and Catherine would “welcome and support” the King’s decision to turf Andrew out of Royal Lodge as they have been eyeing up the property for quite some time.

“It’s no secret that William and Kate have been trying to secure Royal Lodge for their family. They are in desperate need of a larger property to accommodate their household,” the source said. “The wheels finally seem to be in motion to remove Andrew from the property which William and Kate welcome and support wholeheartedly.”

The source adds that plans were put in motion to evict Andrew from Royal Lodge last year when he was handed the keys to Frogmore Cottage which is in keeping with his “downgraded” royal status. However, Andrew refused to move into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s old home because it was said to be “too small” for his highness.

“The Palace originally wanted Andrew out of Royal Lodge so that the property could be renovated and prepared for new lodgers,” a source said last year. “However, Andrew was having none of it and is adamant that he will see out the end of his lease at Royal Lodge.”

The lease of Royal Lodge was granted to Andrew in August 2003 for a term of 75 years, and he paid a lump sum of £1million to the Crown Estate to secure it. It was revealed last year how the Duke of York was provided for in Queen Elizabeth’s will and, as a result, was able to come up with the money to make essential repairs to remain in compliance with the terms of the lease. The source adds that the duke won’t go down without a fight and is prepared to “give everything he’s got” to hold onto his home. However, Andrew will be forced to fund future security operations at his Windsor home himself and other expenses will see the costs mount which, in turn, could see him fault on the lease agreement.

[From The Daily Express]

Apparently, William still has a bug up his bum about this. He really has his heart set on Royal Lodge. Which begs the question… why doesn’t William feel similarly about any other home on the Windsor estate? There are multiple palatial homes and forts on the Royal Windsor estate, and nearly all of those other properties would be a lot more accessible. That’s always been such a question mark for me, but it makes sense if you consider that William is constantly seething with jealousy over what other people “have.” Also: I remember when William made it clear that Adelaide was just the right size for Kate and the children, all while Kate was furiously insisting that it was much too small.

Note by CB: Get the top 8 stories about Will and Kate’s real estate drama when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Buckingham Palace has spent much of the past week screaming, crying and throwing up about Prince Andrew. As I said, it feels quite performative – the palace was somewhat prepared for Andrew’s name to appear all over the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files, and the palace was prepared with talking points for how they would “punish” Andrew. No, they won’t remove his titles nor do they regret inviting him to Sandringham and allowing him to walk with the family to church. Silly goose, of course they would never punish him in any real way. Currently, they’re making a lot of noise about forcing some kind of eviction from Royal Lodge. King Charles also wants credit for casting his brother out, “out” meaning “the palace will trash Andrew for a few weeks and nothing will happen.” One palace source insisted to the Sun that: “Charles found it very difficult. It was the hardest decision, as it’s his brother and he cares for him. But he knew it was the right thing to do. Someone had to take out the trash.” Charles also refused to speak to Andrew over Christmas, which I find hard to believe. Meanwhile, Andrew is also openly briefing the media about how he will absolutely refuse to move out of Royal Lodge:

Prince Andrew will refuse any efforts to get him out of his royal mansion despite new claims over his links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke of York has reportedly vowed to fight any attempt made by King Charles to evict him from Royal Lodge, his ten-bedroom Windsor home since 2003, following the release of court documents detailing a slew of sexual assault allegations.

The King is said to want to remove his brother from his Berkshire residence and move him into the smaller Frogmore Cottage, which had belonged to Harry and Meghan before they left for the US. But Andrew has so far refused requests by Charles to move and is not planning on letting up anytime soon, according to The Mirror.

A source close to Andrew told the newspaper: ‘Andrew is going nowhere. The King can’t force him out. He has a cast iron lease that he has absolutely every intention of honouring.’

Well-placed sources have told the Mail that while the court claims were not a surprise, they will have served to ‘crystallise’ King Charles’s determination to solve the ‘Andrew problem’ decisively. Plans were already in train to evict Andrew from Royal Lodge in keeping with his ‘downgraded’ status but it is understood the King will redouble his efforts to move his brother in the coming months.

The release of the court documents are believed to have also strengthened the King’s resolve that his brother will never be allowed to resume Royal duties.

A source told the Mail: ‘When it comes to any public role for his brother, there is no way back. There has always been an agreement that Andrew would be permitted to attend private and family events, as is his right. But not public or official ones. That has not changed.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, Charles is literally going to have to send in police to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge. Which Charles doesn’t want to do, so nothing will get done and Andrew will stay in Royal Lodge. Interestingly, the Mail also spoke to some other royal sources and these statements are so weird and unsettling:

One source, who has dealt with Andrew extensively, said: ‘The Palace can’t ignore it, this isn’t going away. He paid that vast amount of money to Virginia Roberts. If he thought the money was going to make it go away, it’s had the opposite effect. It’s given it legs. People think ‘no smoke without fire’. This young woman, supposedly powerless, has had the last laugh. She’s got his money and found a way to publicly name and shame him through legal court documents he has no redress against once again.

Another source added: ‘Forty years ago he was a hero naval officer, charming and good looking. What a meteoric downfall. He was never clever about the company he kept. In fact he’s not very clever, full stop. He doesn’t like taking advice and has a severe lack of judgment, as well as historically surrounding himself by people who told him he could walk on water. If you are surrounded by sycophants like that, you believe your own Press. The Palace needs to get a grip on this. It’s difficult for the family. He is still their flesh and blood. But King Charles must act. Of course, if [Andrew] was a thoroughly nice chap, then people would be more willing to consider all sides. But he’s not. It’s a classic example: if you are not very nice to people on your way up, be careful on your way down… It’s rare that you find someone who so few people have something good to say about.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“This young woman, supposedly powerless, has had the last laugh. She’s got his money and found a way to publicly name and shame him through legal court documents he has no redress against once again.” Imagine saying that about a victim of human trafficking, someone who was passed around to Jeffrey Epstein’s powerful friends since she was a young teenager. Andrew would have “redress” if he had stood trial in Virginia’s civil suit – he chose to settle out of court because he didn’t want to have that “redress.” Anyway, Andrew, Charles, William… they all deserve each other. It’s incredible to watch these tone-deaf a–holes throw each other under the bus constantly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

I love the original 1985 film The Color Purple. Whenever it’s on TV, I get caught up in a rewatch. Steven Spielberg was criticized heavily for adapting Alice Walker’s book for the screen, but I still think Spielberg did an amazing job with the material and the casting was wonderful. All of which might explain why my general reaction to the musical remake of Walker’s book is “blah.” I’m loyal to the original film, even though the reviews of the new musical adaptation are pretty great. As the actors have promoted the musical film, I’ve developed a new reason to avoid it though – it sounds like the actors were treated like sh-t, they weren’t paid properly and they weren’t taken care of by the producers whatsoever. Taraji P. Henson plays Shug Avery, and Taraji has been really open about how poorly the cast was treated in multiple interviews:

Taraji P. Henson said in a recent interview with The New York Times that she and her co-stars on “The Color Purple” got “a lot of stuff on that set” because she fought for it behind the scenes. One such example was rides and security to the film’s Atlanta set, as the production allegedly offered the cast rental cars at first and expected the actors to drive themselves to set.

“They gave us rental cars, and I was like, ‘I can’t drive myself to set in Atlanta.’ This is insurance liability, it’s dangerous. Now they robbing people. What do I look like, taking myself to work by myself in a rental car?” Henson said. “So I was like, ‘Can I get a driver or security to take me?’ I’m not asking for the moon. They’re like, ‘Well, if we do it for you, we got to do it for everybody.’ Well, do it for everybody! It’s stuff like that, stuff I shouldn’t have to fight for. I was on the set of ‘Empire’ fighting for trailers that wasn’t infested with bugs.”

“It wears on your soul because you fight so hard to establish a name for yourself and be respected in this town to no avail,” Henson continued. “With Black films, they just don’t want to take us overseas and I don’t understand that. Black translates all over the world, so why wouldn’t the movies? I have a following in China of all places. Y’all not going to capitalize on that? Don’t everybody want to make money here? I’m not the person that pulls the race card every time, but what else is it, then? Tell me. I’d rather it not be race, please give me something else.”

A driver wasn’t the only thing Henson had to speak up to get on “The Color Purple” set. During a recent Q&A for the film presented by THR, Danielle Brooks revealed the actors did not initially get their own dressing rooms when they showed up for rehearsals, nor was food provided to them at that time. Henson contacted producer Oprah Winfrey to correct this. Brooks called Henson a “guide” and “our voice box” on set.

“I remember when we first came and we’re doing rehearsals, they put us all in the same space,” Brooks said. “We didn’t have our own dressing rooms at the time. We didn’t have our own food…[Oprah] corrected it for us. [Taraji] was our voice. This was my first studio film. Sometimes you do come in saying, ‘Ok, I’ll take whatever they give me. I’m just happy to be here.’ But [Taraji] spoke up for us. You showed me how to do that.” Henson remembered being on the phone with Oprah once word got out that the cast did not have dressing rooms or food at rehearsals. She told the mega-producer, “We gotta fix this.”

Henson nearly passed on “The Color Purple” due to pay and because she was forced to audition for the role of Shug Avery despite being the director’s top choice. During a viral SiriusXM interview last month, Henson broke down in tears while discussing the pay disparity issues she still faces in Hollywood despite her success on “Empire” and having an Oscar nomination under her belt.

“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over…Every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did, and I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you. What does that mean? What is that telling me? If I can’t fight for them coming up behind me then what the f–k am I doing?”

[From Variety]

My heart breaks for Taraji and it’s been breaking for weeks now as the promotion ramped up – for the producers to treat her this way, to not pay her properly, to not even guarantee a car and driver to and from the set? And Taraji wasn’t even the one who revealed the fact that the actors weren’t even given separate dressing rooms or FOOD?? Like, WTF was Oprah doing? Oprah executive produced this version and the fact that Taraji had to keep calling Oprah to get this sh-t fixed is WILD.

Speaking of Oprah, she was asked if she’s beefing with Taraji because Taraji has called out TCP’s producers for how she and the actors were treated. Oprah said:

“I would just like to say about this whole Taraji thing … I heard I was trending yesterday. People are saying that I was not supporting Taraji. Taraji will tell you herself that I’ve been the greatest champion of this film. Championing not only the behind the scenes projection but also everything that everybody needed. So whenever I heard that there was something that someone needed, I’m not in charge of the budget because that’s Warner Brothers you know that’s the way the studio system works. We as producers, everybody gets their salary everybody is negotiated by your team. And so, whenever I heard there was an issue or there was a problem, there was a problem with a cars or the problem with their food, I would step in and do whatever I could to make it right. And I believe that she would even vouch for that and say that is true.”

[From ET]

Like, I believe that Oprah would correct things when Taraji called her and personally asked for drivers or FOOD, but that doesn’t answer the question of what the hell producers (like OPRAH) were thinking when they were organizing the production. Oprah might not have beef with Taraji, but I’m sure Oprah isn’t pleased that Taraji is speaking honestly about how poorly she was treated on a film Oprah executive produced.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I remember when The Crown Season 4 premiered and “Lady Diana Spencer” was introduced. Then-Prince Charles freaked out and began a bonkers campaign against Peter Morgan, Netflix and The Crown. It was then that I realized that “support for Charles and Camilla” is a mile wide and an inch deep. Even today, now that we’re dealing with King Charles and Queen Camilla, that’s the extent of their support – a vague sort of “we appreciate the continuity but we don’t actually like Charles and Camilla all that much.” The Prince Andrew situation hasn’t helped at all, especially since Charles has made a point of including Andrew at many events during his reign, even though Charles has known this whole time that Andrew is a degenerate rapist who was BFFs with human traffickers. Well, the anti-monarchy group Republic paid for some new polling and they found that support for the monarchy has actually fallen drastically.

Support for the monarchy has fallen below 50% for the first time, according to a new poll. Campaign group Republic commissioned a poll by Savanta on the royal family under the reign of King Charles, who was crowned last year. It found that the monarchy is rapidly losing support, with fewer than half in all age groups under the age of 55 preferring the royals to an elected head of state. When asked if they would prefer the monarchy or an elected head of state – just 48% said they would prefer the royals.

Meanwhile, a third (32%), said they would like an elected head of state, with a large swathe of “don’t knows”.

Republic CEO Graham Smith said the results showed the UK desperately needed to discuss the future of the royal family and the country’s head of state, particularly in light of Prince Andrew recently being mentioned in the Epstein files.

“This is huge. Royalists have spent years saying the monarchy has the support of the country – that’s clearly no longer the case,” Smith said. “The monarchy is suffering a calamitous loss of support, yet one in five aren’t yet sure about the alternative. We desperately need a better informed, more robust and higher profile debate about what it means to abolish the monarchy.”

Smith added that the same poll carried out in November last year showed that 52% of the public supported the monarchy.

“In just six weeks they’ve dropped four points,” he added. “The monarchy relies on a fake mandate built on polling numbers, yet that argument no longer stands up. Andrew has clearly done significant damage to the monarchy, but Charles is the one responsible. He has been behind decisions on how to mismanage the scandal, and how to respond to Harry and Meghan. This is the result. The monarchy is on borrowed time. Britain will be a republic.”

[From The National]

While I think Graham Smith is going a bit overboard, one of his key points still stands: “The monarchy relies on a fake mandate built on polling numbers, yet that argument no longer stands up.” It’s true – the Windsors and their media handlers have found a way to game the system, publishing the results of right-wing push polls to claim that there’s widespread support for the monarchy, which the monarchy then uses as evidence of their own mandate. The bad news is that even a poll conducted as the Epstein files were being unsealed has revealed that there IS still a significant base of support for the monarchy. Oh, and limiting the poll to people under-55 isn’t slick either – it’s well known that the monarchy’s base of support is much, much older.

The photos in this post are from King Charles’s last three church walks in Sandringham, including this past Sunday’s church visit, where he was not joined by his queen consort. Instead, he walked with a mystery woman. She’s a mystery to me, I mean. Maybe y’all know who she is. Even the Mail didn’t identify her. Curious.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.