Tomorrow, Tuesday the 29th, is the two-week anniversary of the Princess of Wales’s mysterious and “planned” abdominal surgery. We don’t know when Kate checked into the hospital and no one has seen her at all since Christmas Day, when she was photographed at Sandringham. As Queen Camilla’s repeated visits to the London Clinic have shown in the past three days, photographers and press were still waiting outside the clinic and hoping to get a glance of Prince William visiting his wife, or Carole and Michael Middleton visiting their daughter. It genuinely appeared as if William only visited Kate one time, on the 18th. And now Kate has apparently been moved from the London Clinic to Adelaide Cottage thirteen days after her surgery, and no one got any photos. Kensington Palace released this statement:

The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress.

The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided.

The Wales family continues to be grateful for the well wishes they have received from around the world.

[Via KP]

KP provided the timeline of Kate needing “ten to fourteen days” in the hospital, then months of recuperation at home. The lack of briefings and lack of disclosures has led to rampant speculation, none of which will end any time soon in this information vacuum. Just this weekend, Spanish outlets were openly speculating that Kate’s situation was dire. The British media isn’t touching any of that – there’s clearly a palace-enforced embargo on speculation, even if they would only be repeating what’s being said in the European press. In any case, this is starting to get very creepy and I’m genuinely worried about Kate and how little we know about her condition. KP still isn’t saying that Kate will make a full recovery, just that she’s “making good progress.”

A statement from Kensington Palace pic.twitter.com/DW6BOHuuRJ

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 29, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Would you believe that the Windsors and British press are all still talking about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s surprise appearance in Jamaica? Once the shock wore off, the Windsors and their media cohorts have spent much of the past week throwing a very loud tantrum. It was “insensitive,” you see, for Harry and Meghan to go to Jamaica while Charles’s prostate is enlarged and Kate is recovering from abdominal surgery. No, it wasn’t just insensitive – it was a diplomatic snafu, a slap in the face of the crown, because the Sussexes warmly greeted the Jamaican prime minister, the same man who fired William and Kate on camera in 2022, during W&K’s absolutely disastrous Caribbean Flop Tour. Please keep Will and Kate’s colonialist disaster tour in mind while reading these highlights from the Times of London – apparently, the palace is quite upset that Harry and Meghan would bungle diplomatic relations so badly. Harry and Meghan, who were greeted warmly and behaved impeccably, all without creating an international sh-tstorm of racist imagery wherever they went (unlike you-know-who).

The Sussexes flew on a private jet to Jamaica! It is understood that the Sussexes were flown to the island by private jet courtesy of Paramount Pictures, the production company behind the new biopic Bob Marley: One Love. The pair made a surprise appearance on the red carpet of the film’s world premiere.

The Jamaica trip blindsided the palace!! However, the fact that Meghan and Harry were in Jamaica at all came as something of a surprise at the Palace. With two senior members of the royal family recovering in The London Clinic, the Sussexes’ photocall with the prime minister of Jamaica was “not what you would call ideal”, according to one well-placed source.

William & Kate’s flop tour: It didn’t help that [the Sussexes] were happy to pose with Andrew Holness, who hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2022. During an official visit to the Caribbean, William and Kate had a meeting with Holness. In an awkward moment, before his guests were even invited to sit down, the prime minister told them in no uncertain terms — and with the television cameras rolling — that his country was “moving on”. William pressed his lips together and nodded. The excruciating meeting with Holness aside, the trip attracted more criticism. During a trip to Trench Town, the former home of Bob Marley, the Waleses were seen shaking hands with locals through a wire fence. There was another colonial-era flashback when they travelled in an open-topped Land Rover during a ceremonial military parade.

The Sussexes’ trip was misguided!! The timing of the Sussexes’ high-profile visit as the guests of Brian Robbins, the chief executive of Paramount, was “not especially welcome back in London” according to one well-placed source, while another said that it was “misguided”. A source close to the King suggested that Harry may well have accepted the invitation because he is oblivious to the political or familial sensitivities of being pictured with the Jamaican prime minister. Those close to Prince William pointed out that he was “concerned with other matters”, not least his wife’s health after her surgery, which will require months of recuperation.

Jamaicans love Harry & Meghan: A well-informed source said: “Harry is beloved by the Jamaicans so they could have been a great asset to the Commonwealth if they had stayed in their royal roles.”

Fascinating and very telling lie: The late Queen saw the connection they had with the “family of nations” of which she was so fond. She awarded the Sussexes Commonwealth roles, with Harry and Meghan becoming the president and vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust respectively. When it became clear that the Sussexes were not happy with their royal life in the UK, a plan was nearing completion for the couple to be stationed elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Ultimately, the offers were not sufficient to keep Harry and Meghan in the fold as working members of the royal family. They had hoped for something in between, to have the freedom to pursue their own projects while still representing Queen and country. But the late Queen decided that a “half-in, half-out” approach was not an option.

Freedom from raised eyebrows: Harry and Meghan stepped down from their official Commonwealth roles and the couple’s Netflix documentary series later described the group of countries as “Empire 2.0”. Now they are free to do as they choose, even if it raises eyebrows at the palace.

The Sussexes stayed in Jamaica after the premiere: And there may well be more to come. On Thursday night, locals on the island said that after a stop in Kingston the Sussexes moved to a luxury resort in the north of the island. However, bigger moves are expected in the US as the duchess is said to harbour political ambitions.

No coming back to the UK!! Back in the UK, there seems to be no way back for Harry and Meghan. Invitations to see the Waleses will not be forthcoming any time soon. Harry has also quietly been shelved as a counsellor of state — members of the royal family who can stand in for the King. When increasing the number of people who can carry out head of state duties to include the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Royal, the royal household also gave a written undertaking that non-working members would not be called on. Many in the Palace believe that relations between Harry and his brother William are irreparably damaged. “Given everything that has gone on, it’s hard to see how Harry could ever come back into the fold,” a well-placed source said.

[From The Times]

A few things: “When it became clear that the Sussexes were not happy with their royal life in the UK, a plan was nearing completion for the couple to be stationed elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Ultimately, the offers were not sufficient to keep Harry and Meghan in the fold” – Harry genuinely thought he would be offered that kind of “half-in” solution, where they could live abroad (in a Commonwealth country) and still work for the crown. That was rejected by WILLIAM. And Edward Young. They continue to make it sound like Harry & Meghan just decided one day that they hated living in the UK.

As for this: The trip was “misguided” and “a source close to the King suggested that Harry may well have accepted the invitation because he is oblivious to the political or familial sensitivities of being pictured with the Jamaican prime minister.” Instead of embracing the power of the Sussexes’ grace, charm and soft diplomacy, they’re pretending that Harry and Meghan did something wrong or “misguided” by simply going to a premiere and being gracious towards local government officials. It’s not like they wandered around in neo-colonialist cosplay or greeted children through a chainlink fence, you know. Talk about misguided! Talk about oblivious!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

From where I sit, Nicki Minaj has beef with nearly everyone, especially women who have any kind of success. On the other side, Megan Thee Stallion has been through hell and back over the past five years, losing her mother and grandmother and then getting shot by Tory Lanez in 2020. After the shooting, Tory and the toxic men of the music industry decided to smear Megan for years. Megan was not only the victim of gun violence, she lost many friends and allies after the shooting. That being said, Megan still has friends in high places – Beyonce is firmly on Team Stallion, as is Cardi B and many other high-profile women. Well, on Friday, Megan released a new single called “Hiss,” in which she included ONE LINE which is a reference to Nicki Minaj.

Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj went from “Hot Girl Summer” to hissing back and forth. Megan Thee Stallion released her new single “Hiss” on Friday, which details the three-time Grammy Award winner’s trials and triumphs throughout the past few years.

Though the rapper has topped the charts with buzzy collaborations alongside Cardi B, Beyoncé and more, she’s faced public scrutiny and trauma after fellow rapper Tory Lanez shot the Houston native in July 2020. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the shooting in August.

In her previous single, “Cobra,” about life post-shooting, Megan Thee Stallion opens up about her mental health struggles, rapping, “I’m sittin’ in a dark room thinking, probably why I always end up drinking; (Yes), I’m very depressed.” In her first song of the year “Hiss,” she raps that people “don’t be mad at Megan,” but that they’re “mad at Megan’s Law.” The bars are an apparent reference to Minaj, who is married to registered sex offender Kenneth Petty.

Megan’s Law is a federal law that requires registered sex offenders to provide their personal information to local law enforcement agencies. Petty was sentenced to probation and house arrest for failing to register as a sex offender in California.

In response to the “Savage” rapper’s shade, Minaj took to Instagram Live shortly after “Hiss” was released to preview a song of her own.

“She like 6 foot, I call her big foot,” Minaj raps, before saying someone “fell off, I said get up on your good foot.” The verse is an alleged reference to the 2020 shooting; Lanez was accused of shooting Megan in her feet.

“You have three Grammys and you have to learn how to rap on the beat and being comfortable in the music,” Minaj said before mocking Megan Thee Stallion’s rap flow. Minaj also liked several tweets from users that were aimed at her former collaborator. Megan Thee Stallion responded with an Instagram story where she was doubled over with her left hand covering her mouth, seemingly laughing at Minaj’s response to “Hiss.”

[From USA Today]

I’m using USA Today’s reporting because they did a good job with the bare-bones timeline of it all. What they aren’t covering is the fact that Nicki was on Instagram Live most of the weekend, ranting to her Barbz and sounding increasingly detached from reality. USA Today also skips the part of Minaj’s “Big Foot” where she criticized Megan because her mother died. And… like, don’t skip over the fact that Megan was like “you’re married to a convicted sexual predator” and Nicki was like “YOU HAVE BIG FEET!” Childish doesn’t even cover it.

Now that Minaj has dropped the track, people are laughing at her because it basically just sounds like a drugged-out rant (much like Nicki’s IG Live this weekend).

to save you a stream: it’s a coke rant set to music where she quotes tweets with a bridge where she repeats “lyin on your dead mama” over and over and then there’s like, a spoken word part at the end where she sounds like she is off a perc insane

— ashley ray (@theashleyray) January 29, 2024

lmao she accuses meg of getting a nose job so…yeah there’s really no substance here and she makes it clear she thinks meg lied about being shot, she’s real trash

— ashley ray (@theashleyray) January 29, 2024

They done synthesized sister Minaj down to this and I laughed. I did. pic.twitter.com/pyK9j2bUAs

— Kevín (@KevOnStage) January 27, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Earlier this month the tragically named AI comedy platform Dudesy presented a one-hour standup routine with an AI-generated George Carlin. In addition to not obtaining any legal rights to Carlin’s name and likeness, Dudesy further insulted Carlin’s comedic genius by having the set begin with perhaps the most unfunny opener in history: “I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude.” A real zinger. At the time I expressed my hope that the George Carlin Estate had all their ducks in a row regarding rights and could have this heresy shut down. Well, consider the ducks officially rowed. His estate has filed a lawsuit against Dudesy for violating copyright law and intellectual property, and have asked for the immediate removal of the AI imposter:

The estate of George Carlin has filed a lawsuit against the media company behind a fake hour long comedy special that purportedly uses artificial intelligence to recreate the late standup comic’s style and material.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday asks that a judge order the podcast outlet, Dudesy, to immediately take down the audio special, “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” in which a synthesis of Carlin, who died in 2008, delivers commentary on current events.

Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, said in a statement that the work is “a poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals to capitalize on the extraordinary goodwill my father established with his adoring fanbase.”

The Carlin estate and its executor, Jerold Hamza, are named as plaintiffs in the suit, which alleges violations of Carlin’s right of publicity and copyright. The named defendants are Dudesy and podcast hosts Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen.

“None of the Defendants had permission to use Carlin’s likeness for the AI-generated ‘George Carlin Special,’ nor did they have a license to use any of the late comedian’s copyrighted materials,” the lawsuit says.

The defendants have not filed a response to the lawsuit and it was not clear whether they have retained an attorney. They could not immediately be reached for comment.

At the beginning of the special posted on YouTube on Jan. 9, a voiceover identifying itself as the AI engine used by Dudesy says it listened to the comic’s 50 years of material and “did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today.”

The plaintiffs say if that was in fact how it was created — and some listeners have doubted its stated origins — it means Carlin’s copyright was violated.

The company, as it often does on similar projects, also released a podcast episode with Sasso and Kultgen introducing and commenting on the mock Carlin.

“What we just listened to, was that passable,” Kultgen says in a section of the episode cited in the lawsuit.

“Yeah, that sounded exactly like George Carlin,” Sasso responds.

The lawsuit is among the first in what is likely to be an increasing number of major legal moves made to fight the regenerated use of celebrity images and likenesses.

The AI issue was a major sticking point in the resolution of last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strikes.

Josh Schiller, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the “case is not just about AI, it’s about the humans that use AI to violate the law, infringe on intellectual property rights, and flout common decency.”

[From USA Today]

What on earth were the Dudsey dudes thinking? It’s like they were asking to be sued. Whether they thought no one would be paying attention to George Carlin (not likely, he’s a legend) or not paying attention to them (more likely), they’ve just learned some valuable lessons the hard, expensive way. I only wish we could have seen their faces when reading this: “Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, said in a statement that the work is ‘a poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals to capitalize on the extraordinary goodwill my father established with his adoring fanbase.’” Man, I would not want to play a game of Scrabble against Kelly Carlin! Not surprising, though, given her family’s love of words and language, as George told The Harvard Crimson in 1978:

His parents and grandparents were fascinated with words and poetics, and fostered that same affinity in their family. “I’m sure there’s cellular truth to this, too,” Carlin interjects, “but my mother’s father was an original New York cop, and he had written out long-hand all of Shakespeare’s written works — he quizzed my mother at the dinner table. And my mother was always careful to let us know how we could free ourselves through expression.”

I remember hearing George Carlin on a late night show talk about his grandfather having handwritten Shakespeare, just because he loved it. While Carlin’s work differed from The Bard in style and substance, I still see a link. There’s a rhythm to Carlin’s sets, a musicality, and above all an understanding and reverence of language. Dudesy has no idea what they’ve stepped into.

Photos credit: John Atashian / Avalon

When King Charles checked into the London Clinic on Friday for his prostate procedure, Queen Camilla joined him at the hospital. Reportedly, they stopped by the Princess of Wales’s room at the same hospital and said hello or something. Details are fuzzy. It was unusual for a royal wife to accompany her husband to the hospital – back in QEII and Philip’s day, the queen only went to see Philip like once or twice during his many hospitalizations, and that has been the way it is for generations. Usually, the only time two royal spouses are together at a hospital, it’s because one of the spouses is giving birth. But these royal times, they are a-changin’.

So, Camilla went with Charles when he checked in. Then she left the London Clinic for several hours (presumably as Charles was under anesthesia for his surgery), then she returned to the hospital on Friday afternoon and spent some time with the king. His operation reportedly went well and the Mail claims that Charles was already cognizant enough to tackle some paperwork. Then, on Saturday, Camilla returned to the London Clinic and checked on Charles yet again. Camilla was photographed outside the hospital during the second and third visits, making it clear that photographers are seemingly stationed outside the London Clinic. We were told that press wasn’t allowed, weird.

Hilariously, Rebecca English at the Mail published this overwrought story about how “royals never visit each other in the hospital,” so it was super-notable that Charles checked on Kate before his procedure. Which may be true, but again, Camilla has made a point of visiting Charles twice since his surgery, and she’s been photographed both times. It’s making everyone wonder why the hell no one has reported seeing (much less photographing) William since January 18th.

Does Camilla know that her repeat visits at the London Clinic are drawing attention to the fact that no one has seen William at the hospital in more than a week? Yes. Of course she knows that.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Right after Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary last week, he flew to New York to testify in the civil case brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. Last May, a civil court found that Trump had, in fact, raped E. Jean in a dressing room at Bergdorf’s, and not only that, Trump had defamed her repeatedly after she told her story. Back in May, E. Jean was awarded $5 million. Soon after, Trump continued to defame her in interviews and on social media. Another trial was set to extend the defamation part of E. Jean’s case. Trump was called in to testify and he succeeded at completely alienating the judge and jury, loudly muttering “con job” and “witch hunt” during the proceedings, arguing with the judge and, worse yet, continuing to attack and defame E. Jean on Truth Social (his Nazi social media). Well, it took less than three hours for the jury to reach their decision: E. Jean Carroll has been awarded $83.3 million.

Former President Donald J. Trump was ordered by a Manhattan jury on Friday to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of a decades-old rape, attacks he continued in social media posts, at news conferences and even in the midst of the trial itself.

Ms. Carroll’s lawyers had argued that a large award was necessary to stop Mr. Trump from continuing to attack her. After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury responded by awarding Ms. Carroll $65 million in punitive damages, finding that Mr. Trump had acted with malice. On one recent day, he made more than 40 derisive posts about Ms. Carroll on his Truth Social website.

On Friday, Mr. Trump had already left the courtroom for the day when the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, called in the nine-member jury shortly after 4:30 p.m., warning the lawyers, “We will have no outbursts.” The verdict was delivered nine minutes later to utter silence in the courtroom.

In addition to the $65 million, jurors awarded Ms. Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages for her suffering. Mr. Trump’s lawyers slumped in their seats as the dollar figures were read aloud. The jury was dismissed, and Ms. Carroll, 80, embraced her lawyers. Minutes later, she walked out of the courthouse arm in arm with her legal team, beaming for the cameras.

“This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down,” Ms. Carroll said in a statement, thanking her lawyers effusively.

[From The NY Times]

Trump’s lawyers are already saying that they’ll appeal, which means it will be a while before E. Jean gets her money. Besides, I’m pretty sure Trump does not have that money, anywhere. It would be hilarious if the court basically gave E. Jean Carroll possession of Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago. Come on! Jokes aside, this whole situation is pretty awful for E. Jean. Trump has targeted her so thoroughly, she’s constantly in danger from his lunatic supporters and she’s basically going to need security for the rest of her life.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Imagine your sister’s business just collapsed into bankruptcy, but not before she defrauded people out of millions of dollars. Imagine your niece is the future queen consort of the United Kingdom, and not only that, your niece is going through some kind of major health crisis which has seen her hospitalized in secrecy for weeks and there’s a projected months-long recovery process. If that’s what your family was going through, wouldn’t you do everything you could to simply ensure that your sister and niece are doing okay, and wouldn’t you try to avoid courting public controversy for a while? Well, Gary Goldsmith doesn’t care. He’s making too much money as an anti-Sussex troll-for-hire. Gary has put his name on some of the most excruciatingly nasty anti-Sussex essays for the Mail, and he’s built a very sad little career for himself as someone perfectly willing to say and do tacky things for paltry paychecks. Well, now Dodgy Uncle Gary has signed on to Celebrity Big Brother, and he’s promised to “tell all” about… the Sussexes.

The Princess of Wales’ uncle Gary Goldsmith has signed up to take part in Celebrity Big Brother. Insiders said the controversial businessman had negotiated a hefty contract with the ITV show’s bosses. Gary — brother of Kate’s mum Carole — had been locked in talks with them but signed his deal today.

A source said: “Gary is champing at the bit to get on Celebrity Big Brother. He finalised the terms of his deal today and can’t wait to enter the house.”

Gary, 58, auditioned for I’m A Celebrity last year but was rejected at the final stage over fears it could embarrass Kate and William. Insiders said Gary, who attended Kate’s marriage to Wills in 2011, is CBB’s most controversial signing.

The source added: “The CBB team love him because of his link to Kate and the fact that he’s confident and loud and won’t hold back. He’s made it clear he will talk about everything and anything, and he’s pretty outspoken when it comes to Harry and Meghan. Gary also holds a deep affection for Kate and Wills and will be able to give a fascinating insight into what it’s really like being related to the future King and Queen. He could be TV gold and ITV knows it. The deal he signed is for good money.”

[From The Sun]

I can’t wait to hear what Gary says about his niece’s racism, or Carole’s fraud or the James’s many failed businesses. I guess all of those topics are off-limits though – he will obviously be given talking points about the Sussexes and all of this is just some kind of royalist theater. What’s worse is that the royalists don’t even want any part of it. They know Gary is a loose canon and he could accidentally say the wrong thing and the whole precarious house of cards could start to fall:

Royal experts have now criticised the decision to welcome him into the Celebrity Big Brother house – calling the move ’embarrassing’ and possibly ‘dangerous’ to the Royal Family during a testing period. Angela Levin told The Sun: ‘I think it’s cringe-making, very embarrassing, the trouble is he doesn’t like Harry and Meghan at all, some of this comments will fall onto Catherine and she’s had a lot against her, she’s not well, she’s in hospital. I think when you come out of an operation you’re quite vulnerable and this could upset her enormously. In principle people who don’t like her could say she encouraged him to do it, but she would have done nothing of the kind. It’s very embarrassing. It’s very hard being a Royal, and I don’t know if this is a good idea.’

Royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams agreed that the news would be the ‘last thing’ Kate needs while she is in hospital and noted that he doesn’t think the Middleton’s will be ‘particularly delighted’. Mr Fitzwilliams believes Mr Goldsmith would not be popular on the show, and adds that he will probably be a ‘big yawn’.

‘I think he will try really hard to make comments about the Sussexes, because I don’t think most people know who he is and most people are that interested,’ he said.

[From The Daily Mail]

You mean they’re acknowledging that it looks really bad that Kate’s uncle can’t STFU about the Sussexes? They’re acknowledging that Gary’s messiness and lies reflect poorly on KATE? Well, I never. You know what also looks bad? Gary has always been “the rich one” – he reportedly made a fortune over twenty years ago and he’s been living a semi-retired life in Mallorca and England ever since. But all of Gary’s moves scream “broke ass.” I mean, repeatedly auditioning for Celebrity Big Brother? How broke is he?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

No one really had a divorce/comeback storyline like Nicole Kidman, before or since. Those of us old farts who watched it unfold in real time were in awe. She went from one half of THE Hollywood A-list couple to a woman divorcing her Scientologist husband, all while dealing with a miscarriage and (basically) being forced to leave her two kids in Scientology so she could escape. Then Nicole rewrote her own narrative, doing a string of acclaimed and award-winning films and showing up to every red carpet looking like a million bucks. Moulin Rouge, The Others, The Hours, Cold Mountain, Dogville, all released within a three-year period, with Nicole getting back-to-back Best Actress Oscar nominations in 2002 and 2003. She ended up winning in 2003 for The Hours. While she was riding a professional high during that tumultuous period, she was mostly single and trying to figure out what was next for her romantically. That is the focus of Nicole’s version of her 2003 Oscar-winning night. Kidman spoke to Dave Karger for his new book, 50 Oscar Nights, about what she felt and did on that night.

As Nicole Kidman’s career reached one of its highest peaks, the actress was experiencing one of her most personal lows. The star, 56, won her first Oscar in 2003 for playing Virginia Woolf in The Hours, just a year after her first nomination for Moulin Rouge!. But behind her bright smile and glamorous Jean-Paul Gaultier gown hid a private struggle; Kidman had recently finalized her divorce from Tom Cruise after 11 years of marriage.

“I was struggling with things in my personal life, yet my professional life was going so well,” she told author Dave Karger in his new book 50 Oscar Nights (on sale Jan. 23). “ That’s what happens, right?”

On stage, Kidman briefly broke down before composing herself (“Russell Crowe said don’t cry when you get up there and now I’m crying”), and was played off before she was able to finish her speech. Afterwards, she felt the urge to go home.

“I’m not a big party girl, so I was going to skip the Vanity Fair party, and everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to go. You’ve got to walk through the party carrying your Academy Award,’” she recalls in the book. “I said, ‘That just feels like gloating, and it doesn’t feel humble.’ Like, what? You can’t walk through carrying the award! That feels really inappropriate. They’re like, ‘That’s what you do.’”

Ultimately, she did go to the storied bash, at least for a little while, with her engraved Oscar in hand: “So I literally walked in, carried it around, was completely overwhelmed, emotional, shaking, and I didn’t enjoy it. I was almost apologetic, which is so stupid. I wish I could have enjoyed it more,” she says. Afterwards, in the quiet of her hotel room, Kidman was confronted with the urge to find love again.

“I went home and ended up ordering takeout and eating it on the floor of the Beverly Hills Hotel,” she says. “I sat on the floor of the hotel eating French fries and a burger with my family and went to bed. That’s when it hit me. I went, I need to find my love; I need a love in my life. Because this is supposed to be when you go, ‘This is ours.’”

The Oscar evening ended with a whimper. “I went to bed alone; I was in bed before midnight. If I ever won again, I’m telling you, I’d be out for 24 hours.”

[From People]

I get it – she was still in the middle of that crazy ride which started when Tom Cruise filed for divorce. She barely had time to think, she was working on back-to-back projects and she had a moment of taking-stock on Oscar night. Something I hate is this idea that a single woman can’t or shouldn’t be proud of her achievements, or that an Oscar means nothing unless Nicole had a boyfriend or husband to validate her and her award. But I also think it’s more complicated than that in Nicole’s case.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.

Sofia Richie is expecting her first child with husband Elliot Grainge. [Hollywood Life]
Who even wanted a remake of Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal? [LaineyGossip]
John Oliver was surprised at the Jon Stewart news. [Pajiba]
Here’s the latest Valentino collection. [Go Fug Yourself]
I ain’t reading all that, Glen Powell. [OMG Blog]
Justin Timberlake’s new music sounds… basic. [Jezebel]
Joe Manganiello stepped out with his girlfriend. [Just Jared]
Front row at Loewe’s menswear show. [RCFA]
What if Nirvana was a Kpop band? [Seriously OMG]
Who is Southern Hospitality’s Lea Aylor? [Starcasm]
Did Priyanka Chopra soft-launch Joe Jonas’ new relationship? [Buzzfeed]

On Tuesday night, the photos and videos of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Jamaica began coming out on social media. As soon as the video of Harry and Meghan warmly greeting Prime Minister Andrew Holness came out, I knew we would be in for a complete sh-tstorm in the British media. Holness will always be famous in royal media circles as the prime minister who called Prince William and Kate into his office in 2022 and fired them live on camera, without even offering them a seat. He kept them standing as he told them that Jamaica was “moving on” from the Windsors’ colonialist sh-tshow. That side-by-side, of Holness firing W&K and then warmly greeting the Sussexes two years later, will live rent-free in the Windsors’ heads for eternity. Since the One Love premiere, the British media has predictably gone crazy, screaming and crying about Harry & Meghan’s easy soft diplomacy and charisma. Well, the Guardian’s Nels Abbey had a fantastic column about just how badly Britain f–ked up:

A popular Nigerian adage says “the cow never knows the value of its tail until it is chopped off”. In many tragic ways, this speaks to today’s Britain. From EU membership, to competent leadership, to low inflation, it seems necessary for Britain to lose things to appreciate their importance. This week, look at Prince Harry and Meghan being feted in Jamaica. See the soft-power skills they carry with them, and think about that Nigerian adage.

In much of the British media, Harry and Meghan are all-year panto villains. But around the world, they could not be more loved – often for the very reasons they are despised in the British media. They are the soft power we could have enjoyed with the increasingly dominant, increasingly self-confident non-white world, especially the Commonwealth.

It’s not just that they are royals. Prince William and Kate headed to “no problem” Jamaica in 2022, and encountered problems aplenty. As their PR fiasco unfolded, they were derided for shaking hands with Jamaican children through wire fences, and for motoring viceroy-style through crowded streets in a fancy Land Rover. At the nightmare’s end, Jamaica basically handed Britain its P45, informing the royals of its intention to be a republic, to “move on”.

And it’s not just that Harry and Meghan are famous. David Cameron’s 2015 visit to Jamaica as prime minister was seen as another giant clunker. But then he did self-sabotage there, swatting away reparations requests, urging Jamaicans to “move on” from slavery and offering to fund the building of a prison to house the Jamaican-origin criminals whom Britain didn’t want. As a figure of renown, and, of course, a descendent of enslavers, he could have handled it all better.

Still, Harry has something the royals he left behind and the likes of Chillax Cameron can never have. He has familiarity, an ease with difference – and he has Meghan. In 2012, he also had the love of the UK press and public. He was praised for his warm embrace of the then Jamaican PM, Portia Simpson-Miller, and was photographed larking about with Usain Bolt. “He has shown himself to be a natural ambassador, a diplomat in a very real sense – one hug from him has (at least partly) dissipated the bad feeling of generations … It is inconceivable that any other royal could have pulled this off quite so effectively,” gushed the Mail on Sunday.

But that was then, before the British media’s own version of Orwell’s “two minutes hate” became a thing. Now, much of the press sees Harry and Meghan glad-handing and being glad-handed in Jamaica, surfing the love at the premiere of the Bob Marley biopic, and they don’t much like it. “Meghan and Harry pose next to anti-royal Jamaican prime minister who wants to ditch the monarchy and warned Wills and Kate they’ll never be king and queen of his nation – as Charles undergoes prostate surgery and the Princess of Wales recovers in hospital,” thundered the Mail. “The hubris of Harry and Meghan’s Jamaican photoshoot,” snorted the Spectator. “Crown fools: ‘Provocative’ Harry & Meghan spark royal row as they meet Jamaican politicians plotting to oust Charles as head of state,” jeered the Sun.

Britain understood Harry’s value and soft power in 2012, so what changed? Answer: Harry fell in love with, and married, a Black woman. That could have been a boon for this country, here and abroad; instead it’s a might-have-been. And what might have been to our reputational benefit is what has been happening in Jamaica.

The UK headlines and sour grapes tell you one thing: we messed up and we know it. Meghan was, and remains, soft-power dynamite, and all we have now is the soft-power kryptonite of Wills and Kate and the Windsor “firm” that spurned her. Still, that’s us: we never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

[From The Guardian]

On Wednesday, I wrote: “I wonder what it feels like for the British royal reporters to lose this badly, and have to narrate their own pathetic irrelevance.” Well, at least one Guardian columnist is admitting as much. “Meghan was, and remains, soft-power dynamite, and all we have now is the soft-power kryptonite of Wills and Kate and the Windsor “firm” that spurned her.” You might even say that Meghan was “spurned” in the first place because she was so good at the job, because she was so beautiful, charismatic, effervescent, intelligent, diplomatic and hard-working. It’s not like Britain didn’t understand that Meghan would be/could be such a great ambassador for Britain – they understood it and they were mad that a Black woman overshadowed their royal saltines. Anyway, we should totally start calling them “soft-power kryptonite Wills and Kate.”

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