Angelina Jolie covers the latest issue of WSJ. Magazine. It’s a surprising piece, written by Elisa Lipsky-Karasz, which largely ignores the tabloid version of Jolie and barely touches the divorce from Brad Pitt. Jolie spent years healing with her children after the Pitt marriage went t-ts up in 2016, but slowly and steadily, she’s been rebuilding her life. She’s back to taking acting roles with some regularity. She’s directed another movie (Without Blood), and she’s filming the Maria Callas bio-pic. She also confirms, in this piece, that she’s signed on to a third Maleficent movie (no additional details). While she’s still being sued by and countersuing Brad Pitt over the sale of her half of Miraval, she’s already using the money from the sale to start Atelier Jolie. Which seems to be the main point of this WSJ. piece – Jolie is hyping, in her hilariously awkward way, her new thing, this fashion collective she’s dreamt up. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Playing Maria Callas: “I’m a little terrified to do it. I’m the one who whispers ‘Happy Birthday’ at the party. My body reacts very strongly to stress. My blood sugar goes up and down. I suddenly had Bell’s palsy six months before my divorce.”

The past seven years, where she was mostly at home in LA: “We had to heal. There are things we needed to heal from.”

On Hollywood today: “I wouldn’t be an actress today,” says Jolie. Maybe theater, she caveats, but not Hollywood. “When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.”

Winning an Oscar at 24: “Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it. I never bought into it as significant or important.”

Her closest friends are refugees: “There’s a reason people who have been through hardship are also much more honest and much more connected, and I am more relaxed with them. Why do I like spending time with people who’ve survived and are refugees? They’ve confronted so much in life that it brings forward not just strength, but humanity. I realized my closest friends are refugees. Maybe four out of six of the women that I am close to are from war and conflict.”

No social life: Meanwhile, in L.A., “I don’t really have…a social life,” says Jolie. She says she isn’t currently dating.

Her children are the people closest to her: “They are the closest people to me and my life, and they’re my close friends. We’re seven very different people, which is our strength.”

The public gave her a career: “They’ve also chosen how they want you. Since I was young, people liked the part of me that’s pretty tough and maybe a bit wild—that’s the part that I think people enjoy. I’m not the one [who] you want to hear about my pain or my sadness. You know, that’s not entertaining.”

Jolie plans to eventually leave L.A. “It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely. I will move when I can,” she says, and spend more time at her home in Cambodia. “I grew up in quite a shallow place,. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.”

On Atelier Jolie: She also seems to have an almost compulsive need to work. “I can’t stop. I always think there’s like a fight coming.” Jolie says people around her laughed when she told them about her new venture: “You, in fashion? No.” “I’ve never been to a fashion show or Met Ball my entire life.”

She has so many ideas for Atelier Jolie, but she knows it will run at a loss: “I’ll probably lose money, maybe even for a while,” says Jolie. The 6,600-square-foot space was advertised at $60,000 per month for a minimum 10-year lease; a representative for the brand declined to share the terms of the lease but said Jolie is paying less and isn’t committed to 10 years. “If I can eventually put into practice some things that I think are improvements and I just break even, that’s a huge victory.”

She consulted human rights lawyers before consulting designers: “What would be an ethical business? We are trying to reverse-engineer it a little bit. I don’t know the answers. Can we avoid doing real damage—not only to the earth, but the garment workers? … Is it possible that I could go somewhere and enjoy making clothes, enjoy wearing clothes and not hurt anybody? And actually maybe treat people well?”

Her style: “My daughter jokes that I wear too many trench coats. It’s just like a hiding thing.”

She’s comfortable with her body now: “It’s like I see my scars and my things, and I feel like I’ve lived. And I’m having these big experiences, and I have this map of this complex body that’s changed over time. You and I both know that a woman with a full life is very sexy.”

[From WSJ. Magazine]

I want her to get back with Jonny Lee Miller so badly, my god. I feel like they would be so good together now, at this age. I know that’s far from the point of this interview, but I honestly feel like she needs to let one good man in for a weekend and build from there. As for Atelier Jolie, WSJ. Mag lists all of the smaller projects she’s building within the Basquiat studio, not just full fashion design, but a cafe and sewing lessons and classes that people can take. It sounds really cool, like a modern fashion-based commune. She’s also already on her way out of LA – she’s reportedly apartment-hunting in New York as we speak, and now that the kids are older, I would imagine she’ll be traveling a lot more.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

For the first time ever, Netflix has released an engagement report, which lists the hours that each of its more than 18,000 titles were streamed during the first half of 2023. The top titles streamed globally this past January through June are The Night Agent, Ginny & Georgia (season 2), The Glory, Wednesday, Queen Charlotte, and You (season 4). Other notable streamers within the top 20 include telenovela La Reina del Sur, Outer Banks (season 3), Love is Blind (season 4), Firefly Lane (season 2), Luther: The Fallen Sun, and Manifest (season 4). That last title surprised me because I honestly thought Dustin at Pajiba was the only person in the world still watching it, lol. Non-English stories accounted for 30% of all viewing.

Netflix has released its first-ever engagement report, providing more viewership data transparency than ever before. Among the streaming platform’s most popular shows are global hits, teen shows and female-fronted stories.

The FBI thriller “The Night Agent,” the first two seasons of “Ginny & Georgia,” Korean drama “The Glory,” Jenna Ortega’s “Wednesday,” “Bridgerton” spinoff “Queen Charlotte,” the fourth season of Penn Badgley’s “You,” the third season of Spanish telenovela “La Reina del Sur,” the third season of “Outer Banks” and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “FUBAR” rank as the ten most-viewed shows or movies on Netflix from January to June 2023, according to the streamer.

The top 100 – among more than 18,000 titles available on Netflix – includes the fourth season of “Manifest,” the second season of “Firefly Lane,” Jennifer Lopez’s thriller “The Mother,” Eddie Murphy’s “You People,” both seasons of the now-cancelled “Sex/Life,” reality shows including “Perfect Match” and the fourth season of “Love Is Blind” and award season breakouts “The Diplomat” and “Beef.”

Netflix has historically been highly selective about revealing audience viewing habits, highlighting high-performing content in “Top 10” lists or “Most Popular” lists in lieu of more robust consumption figures. The newly released data publicly discloses the least-watched shows and movies for the first time.

According to Netflix, non-English language programming like “The Snow Girl” (Spain), “The Empress” (Germany) and “Fauda” (Israel) comprised 30% of viewers’ most-watched content. Original series and films accounted for 55% of viewing time, while 45% was licensed content – like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Suits,” both of which have found new audiences on the platform.

[From CNN]

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’m surprised at some of the results. I’ve only seen a handful of the shows in the top 100 and out of the top 10, I’ve only seen Wednesday! I wonder if that will change when the second half comes out. Honestly, my biggest takeaway here is that I really don’t watch Netflix as much as I think I do. This list has reminded me of some movies and shows that I want to watch, but with streaming services raising prices nonstop, I think it may also be helping me put it in the “cancel” column on list of discretionary expenses. Not until I’ve finally watched Better Call Saul, of course.

And, because I know some of you are probably wondering, Suits placed 67th in the rankings, which, again, only show data from January through June 2023. It didn’t really take off until the summertime. Netflix says it’s going to release the viewer data for July through December 2023 sometime in the new year, which makes sense since technically, they’re still counting what we’re streaming up until 11:59 p.m. on the 31st. I’m guessing Suits is going to be at the top of that list. If you’d like to see the full list, you can download a full spreadsheet of it here.

Photos courtesy of Netflix Press

Shailene Woodley wore Valentino to the Ferrari premiere in LA. [RCFA]
I didn’t go to high school with a murderer, but I did go to college with a girl (she was even on my floor in my freshman dorm) who later got married and killed a few women with her husband. That bitch was always a freak, even in college. [Buzzfeed]
SCOTUS will hear a case about abortive medication mifepristone. [Jezebel]
Trevor Noah will host the 2024 Grammys. [JustJared]
Why IS May December being billed as a comedy? [LaineyGossip]
Spoilers for Leave the World Behind’s ending. [Pajiba]
More photos of Sydney Sweeney’s promotional fashion. [GFY]
Snoop Dogg & Lil’ Wayne performed at Art Basel. [Hollywood Life]
Will you watch Lifetime’s Prison Brides? [Starcasm]
Matt Bomer was on Guiding Light! [Seriously OMG]

Last week, Oprah attended the big premiere of The Color Purple, the latest (musical) adaptation. Her transformation was remarkable, and many people had conversations about Oprah’s weight loss and how she looks really great. There were other conversations too, about whether she’s on Ozempic or another weight-loss drug, and whether she should talk about it. Well, guess what? She’s talking about it. Oprah covers this week’s People Magazine, and she talked about the changes she’s made with her diet and fitness, and then she admits that she had an “aha moment” over the summer, when she did that panel discussion about weight loss, obesity and how weight isn’t a matter of pure “will power.” While Oprah sounded somewhat close-minded about weight-loss drugs then, she changed her mind and in true Oprah fashion, she’s talking about all of it pretty openly:

Conversations about Oprah’s weight: “It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years. I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself.” One hurtful moment came early in her career, when she landed on acerbic fashion critic Mr. Blackwell’s list. “I was on the cover of some magazine and it said, ‘Dumpy, Frumpy and Downright Lumpy.’ I didn’t feel angry. I felt sad. I felt hurt. I swallowed the shame. I accepted that it was my fault.”

No more: Weight fluctuations “occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing,” says Winfrey, whose dogged rehabilitation after knee surgery in 2021 kick-started what has been steady weight loss over the last two years. “After knee surgery, I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends. I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years.”

Her new regimen: “I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points. I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way….I was actually recommending it to people long before I was on it myself.”

The turning point: Itcame in July during a taped panel conversation with weight loss experts and clinicians, called The State of Weight and part of Oprah Daily’s Life You Want series. “I had the biggest aha along with many people in that audience,” she recalls of the discussion, which posted online in September. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control. Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.”

How she uses the medication: Once she reconciled the science, Winfrey says she “released my own shame about it” and consulted her doctor, who went on to prescribe a weight-loss medication. “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she says, opting not to name the specific drug she takes. “The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”

Weight-loss drugs are not the magic bullet: Winfrey is aware of the buzz around her body size, especially as the use of medications like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro for weight loss has surged in popularity. But she stresses it has not been a magic bullet or singular solution. “It’s everything,” she says of her all-encompassing health and fitness routine. “I know everybody thought I was on it, but I worked so damn hard. I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me.”

Thanksgiving eating: She took the medication before Thanksgiving “because I knew I was going to have two solid weeks of eating,” she says, and “instead of gaining eight pounds like I did last year, I gained half a pound . . . It quiets the food noise.”

Goal weight: Though she’s seven pounds away from her goal weight of 160 lbs., Winfrey says “it’s not about the number.” Instead, she’s content building on the progress she has made during the two years since her surgery. “It was a second shot for me to live a more vital and vibrant life.”

[From People]

I’m glad she’s talking about it and I’m glad she’s putting her decision in context, with how her mindset changed over time, how she understands that it’s not about willpower for her or millions of other people. The thing that depresses me though is that Oprah is almost 70 years old and so much of her brain-space is still occupied with thoughts about her weight. While she puts that in context too, and talks about her health and wanting to feel strong and resilient, it still feels like she should just give up the whole concept of a “goal weight.” She’s set goal weights for herself before, and she’s reached that goal weight, only to back slide and gain it back and the whole miserable cycle started up again. Like, you’re 70 years old. Just live a happy, rich and healthy life and stop weighing yourself. Release yourself from the prison of having a “goal weight.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People Magazine.

Prince Harry’s Spare really reset the narrative on Prince William and Kate’s behavior towards Meghan when he first introduced them. William and Kate were huge Suits fans and they already knew who Meghan was. Harry absolutely insinuated that William was a particularly big fan, and that William likely had a crush on Meghan. In Spare, Harry recalls introducing Meghan and William, and Meghan leaned in to hug William and he “recoiled.” Harry also mentioned that William seemingly wanted to meet Meghan alone, without Kate around – that Kate was out with the children when Harry brought Meghan over to their Kensington Palace home. This whole time, we’ve never actually heard the story of Meghan and Kate’s first meeting though. Even Omid Scobie’s Endgame didn’t have much of anything about it (Finding Freedom did, but who knows if that version was true), but the Mail is still trying to make “mistranslations” into a bigger thing. This whole thing is so f–king weird.

The publication of Omid Scobie’s Endgame has caused a huge fallout after two ‘royal racists’ were named in the Dutch version of the book – and now it seems another translation issue in Prince Harry’s memoir months earlier could have wrongly painted the Princess of Wales in a bad light. After the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, it was widely reported that Kate chose to remain outside in the garden at Kensington Palace with her children rather than meet Meghan on the first day she came over to be introduced to William.

However, Spare was accidentally released in Spain days before the official publication date in January 2023, and Harry’s words, translated from Spanish to English, have been widely misinterpreted as Kate being nearby in the garden, rather than away from home altogether. According to Prince Harry’s own words in the English language version, he asked William where Kate was, to which his brother replied: ‘Out with the kids’.

In Spare, released in January this year, the Duke of Sussex recalled the first time he brought Meghan over to William and Kate’s home so they could meet each other. The book described the scene with Meghan giving William a big hug, something which took ‘Willy’ by surprise because he’s not much of a hugger, according to Harry. The pair exchanged pleasantries and Harry then asked William where Kate was, to which his brother replied: ‘Out with the kids’. It didn’t seem like a big deal with Harry responding, ‘Ah, too bad. Next time.’

Although he recalls Meghan’s first meetings with the Queen, Charles, Camilla and William in the book, he never actually mentions what happened when she was first introduced to Kate. But later in Harry’s memoir, he describes an evening between the four where Meghan cooked dinner and everyone appeared to get along.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, Spare makes it clear that the first time Kate and William invited the Sussexes into their home was after the wedding, after Harry and Meghan had repeatedly invited W&K to dinner at Nottingham Cottage. But it’s definitely weird that no one really knows, for sure, what happened when Meghan and Kate first met and that Harry never described it.

I’ve started to develop a theory about Harry, actually – even though he’s sensitive and empathetic, he’s still a dude and there were several moments where he blundered around, not realizing that his decisions and behavior were going to boomerang back on Meghan. He was saying “no” to things on Meghan’s behalf and instead of Harry taking the hit for it, Meghan took the hit. He didn’t realize that Will and Kate would treat Meghan so poorly, he didn’t understand for months, perhaps years, that Will and Kate were absolutely a huge part of the campaign against Meghan.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.

The Crown’s final episodes dropped today, and it looks like I’m getting something on my wishlist: a somewhat accurate portrait of how Carole Middleton stage-managed her daughter’s relationship with Prince William. Keep in mind, even Kate’s sugary biographers can’t avoid that historical reality, that Carole groomed Kate to do whatever was necessary to secure that specific ring. Katie Nicholl has written about it, so has Tina Brown, all of the royalist, palace-approved media knows it for a fact: without Carole’s management, Kate and William would have been a short college fling and nothing more. Once Carole and Kate got their claws into William, they never let him go. Well, at least some of that makes it to The Crown:

Carole Middleton is portrayed in The Crown as a meddling “Mrs Bennet” figure who carefully masterminded her daughter’s relationship with Prince William. The mother-of-three features heavily in the second part of the sixth and final series, released on Thursday, orchestrating the Princess of Wales’s switch from Edinburgh University to St Andrews as well as a place on the same gap year expedition to Chile as the future King.

When a newly single Kate tells her mother that the Prince will attend the fashion show in which she is due to take part, Mrs Middleton replies: “Heels not flats, you still want to show off those legs. It’s our duty to make use of the assets God has given us. Does he know you’re back on the market? Maybe find a way of letting him know.” Her daughter replies: “Honestly, you’re worse than Mrs Bennet.”

Mrs Middleton had earlier encouraged her to buy a specific glittery dress because “it’ll show off your figure, which the boys will love”. Elsewhere, when the Princess of Wales tries to tell her mother to back off, pointing out that he is a “royal prince”, Mrs Middleton gives her a pep talk. “When I first met your father he was way out of my reach, I was just a lowly stewardess. Trolley dolly,” she said. “I felt like the luckiest woman in the world … Then I realised that maybe it was the other way around, that he’d been lucky to have me. Never underestimate yourself. Never think there’s anything in this world you’re not good enough for.”

Kensington Palace has declined to comment on the episodes but sources close to the Middleton family suggested the portrayal of Mrs Middleton was unlikely to be well received. One said it was important to note that The Crown was a work of fiction.

Peter Morgan, the show’s creator, produced one scene in which Mrs Middleton and her daughter met Princess Diana and Prince William during a shopping trip in 1996. When the late Princess asks Kate’s name, Mrs Middleton answers for her, saying: “Catherine”. Her daughter replies: “Kate’s fine,” and her eyes meet the Prince’s.

At home in Bucklebury, the future Princess is shown cutting out pictures of the Prince and sticking them in a scrapbook. She also has a Prince William magazine. But years later, she chastises her mother for encouraging her to sign up for an art course in Florence which the Prince was expected to join as well as the gap year Raleigh expedition to Chile. “I thought you’d thank me. You said you liked him,” Mrs Middleton responds, insisting her reasons were not sinister.

“Yes but then I grew up,” Kate replies. “Once you had the idea fixed in your head you never stopped.” She adds: “You don’t know him. What if William isn’t right for me? What about what I want?”

[From The Telegraph]

“You don’t know him. What if William isn’t right for me? What about what I want?” Yeah, Kate never said or felt this. She was single-minded in her pursuit of William, and it was an effort she shared with her mother. I wonder if the recent attempts to cover up that historical reality are an effort to spare William, honestly – the whole thing makes him seem so dumb, like he was too stupid to understand that he was preyed on by this grifter family and he got conned and honey-trapped by Carole and Kate.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.

From Rosie: If anyone is looking for a Ring video doorbell, Amazon currently has a limited-time sale where they’re $55 instead of the usual $100. We have a Ring doorbell and really like it. It works with our Alexa, too. Other people who have it like the interface and find it user-friendly. “The ring app has a very nice interface, it is very user friendly and you can easily save clips if needed.” “I love the added security of knowing who’s outside our door. I like the interface with Alexa.” Here are some of the other things that CB and I are looking at on Amazon this week.

A face cream and makeup primer that works for all skin types

From Rosie: Embryolisse’s Lait-Crème Concentré is a rich, multi-task moisturizing face cream for all skin types. It can be used as a face cream, makeup primer, and face mask. It has a shea butter-based formula that gives it a rich texture that helps smooth fine lines. At $16, it would make a great gift or stocking stuffer (or, treat yo’self!). This cream has a 4.6 star rating, more than 25,000 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. People love how soft, smooth, and hydrated it makes their skin feel. “I was amazed how it applies really light and dries nicely on the skin. I also noticed that my skin has never been this soft and smooth after applying it and it lasts until it’s time I need to wash my face.” “I’m 37 with combination skin. I have to be very careful choosing face moisturizers/ primers, many tend to break me out. All I can say is, wow! [M]y face is loving it! The hydration under my make up is my favorite, especially now with this cold weather.” “This is perfect if you have sensitive skin, it is fragrance free and so pure.”

A gadget that makes your drink cold in minutes

From Rosie: This portable cooling device boasts that it can turn your 12 oz canned drinks from room temperature to cold within minutes. You just add ice and it runs on AA batteries. You can buy this portable drink-chiller in either black or white. It has a 4.1 star rating, more than 1,200 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. In reviews, people marvel about how well it works. “It was pretty cool (pun not intended). I don’t understand the science, but it totally works and the soda does not explode or flatten.” “I took a normal room temperature 7UP can (78 F) and set the timer for two minutes. In the end, the thermometer read the liquid as 44.4F.” “If you’re hosting a party and don’t want to worry about rolling a cooler around full of melting ice and drinks that barely get cold, this is definitely worth the money.”

An affordable, sulfate-free shampoo that smells so nice

From Rosie: I love OGX’s Coconut Milk shampoo. It has a nice scent that isn’t too strong and makes my hair feel soft. I used to buy it from Target but they raised the price earlier this year, so now it’s cheaper for me to buy it through Amazon. It has a 4.6 star rating, more than 12,500 reviews and an A on Fakespot. Users love how it makes their hair look and feel. “This shampoo smells so good and is so nourishing when it comes to moisture. I feel like it also adds density because my hair looks and feels fuller.” “Awesome product. I am always looking for products that will not trigger my migraines due to the overwhelming scents, and this was just perfect. It also makes your hair feel very moist and soft.” “The OGX Coconut Milk Shampoo nourishes my hair, leaving it feeling moisturized and smelling tropical. The formula is thick and creamy, creating a luxurious lather.”

A skincare set would make a great gift

From CB: The honey glow kit by trusted brand Cosrx comes with travel sizes of the propolis light cream, toner and ampoule. It’s formulated with propolis extract, honey extract and panthenol. This set is good for dry skin and mature skin. There’s also another set on this listing for sensitive, younger skin. Both are reasonably priced at under $24. This listing has 4.5 stars, over 400 ratings and a B on Fakespot. Reviewers say they leave their skin soft and dewy and that they reduce fine lines. “I love this kit. I wanted to try the essence and toner but wasnt ready to commit to the full size bottle. So far, I just love it. Very soothing and nourishing to my sensitive skin, makes it feel plump and smooth with a dewy finish.” “Hydration and glow with no overpowering smell or tackiness. I can really see improved glow and radiance in my skin after a couple weeks.”

A baklava gift box that anyone would love to receive

From CB: I love baklava and always order it when we eat at our local Greek restaurant. Good baklava is just slightly crunchy and flaky and melts in your mouth. This baklava box would be an awesome gift for just about anyone on your list. There are three different sizes, 4, 8 and 16 pieces that range in price from $20 to $50. This baklava has 4.4 stars, 319 ratings and a B on Fakespot. People say it’s fresh, delicious and that they didn’t share any because it’s so good. “I have been searching for some amazing Baklava. This was delicious! I did not share it was so good! I will be ordering again! It is worth the money if you are looking for a gift or just looking for yourself!” “Bought it for my Greek friend as a birthday gift and it was a huge hit! He commented on the amazing taste, how moist the baklava was, how high-quality the ingredients were and was generally blown away by the presentation! The packaging was beautiful, very professional and perfect. It makes an amazing gift!”

This assorted baklava gift box also looks very good and has a B on Fakespot.

Vacuum sealed food storage for longer lasting fruits, vegetables and more

From CB: This vacuum sealer starter kit from trusted brand Zwiling comes with a sealer, a glass container and four reusable bags. You can also buy additional glass containers and sets for wine and cheese sealing or sous vide. Any of these would make an awesome gift. This listing has over 1,300 ratings, 4.4 stars and a B on Fakespot. People say it’s easier than traditional vacuum sealers and helps food last much longer. “This system is the best of the four similar brands I have previously had. Overall it is 2-3 times faster than the rest. This will be on my Xmas shopping list for everyone.” “This system has already saved me money in the short time that I’ve had it as I’m not throwing so much food away.” “Total game changer for me! Absolutely love this system. Use the containers for berries and salad greens mostly. Bags for freezing protein. I have fresh berries for 2 weeks. Raspberries 1 week. Normally raspberries are toast within 3 days because they’re so delicate.”

A slasher card game you’ll want to add to game nights

From CB: Don’t Get Stabbed is a party game for adults that’s based on horror movie tropes. One player is the killer while the others fight to survive. It’s under $20 and would make a fun addition to your game library. This has 4.6 stars, over 1,700 ratings and an A on Fakespot. Reviewers say it’s a blast, relatively easy to learn and has become part of their game night rotation. Please note that it’s not for kids at all. “Our family (adult children) had so much fun playing this game. It took a round of play to really figure it out, but then it was so fun. We liked that the victims work together to defeat the killer.” “This game was a lot of fun after the first few rounds. The first round we weren’t sure how to play, so it seemed kind of boring, but once we started being more malicious with our carss, it was a lot more fun. I murdered my entire family when I was the killer, but no one was able to kill me when I was the victim… little bit of luck of the cards, little bit of strategy, lot of fun.”

Mug cozies are a cute inexpensive gift that people will appreciate

From CB: I love finding gifts that people wouldn’t buy for themselves. These mug cozies are just $12 for four and can be given separately or together. They fit most mugs and come in pink, white, gray and black. These have 64 ratings, 4.4 stars and an A on Fakespot. People say they’re cute, make their mugs less hot to the touch and help keep drinks warm longer. “So cute, got as a Christmas present and I am still using one every day. Makes it easier to hold your cup with out burning your hands.” “Very easily fits on large mug, washes well and adds to the coziness feel of a mug when giving as a gift. Highly recommend.”

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The Duchess of Sussex has been seen! Well, these are weeks-old photos, but still! On November 15th, Meghan moderated a discussion between Misan Harriman and David Oyelowo, all to promote Misan’s short film The After, which streams on Netflix. Misan is one of the Sussexes’ favorite photographers – he was invited to Princess Lili’s first birthday party at Frogmore Cottage last year, and Misan snapped Lili’s first-birthday portrait. Misan has also been a very good and loyal friend to the Sussexes, so it’s cool that Meghan acted as moderator for this discussion. The event was the LA Tastemakers.

People have been trying to pin down the IDs for Meghan’s ensemble here. There’s agreement on her shoes, at least – those are Armani. Hello Mag says her turtleneck is from Reiss. Some people think it might be a rewear of her Massimo Dutti sweater? Hm. People are guessing about the suit as well – maybe Ralph Lauren, maybe Max Mara? Who knows. Her jewelry includes her wedding band, her diamond eternity band, her diamond pinkie ring and her Logan Hollowell gold Constellation Ring.

Meanwhile, the British media is still running blaring headlines and obsessive reporting about Meghan and Harry’s money, their foundation and their “make or break 2024.” It’s genuinely bizarre to watch a national press obsess over two people who left that island four years ago and who are not taking one penny of taxpayer money.

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It’s been a full week since the news dropped that Andrew Shue, Marilee Fiebig, Amy Robach, and T.J. Holmes are in a ‘Shania Twain’ situation. Just as Amy and T.J. were making minor headlines for their new podcast, the news dropped via Page Six that Andrew and Marilee are dating now too. The former couple, who won’t stop talking about how in love they are, were livid to have had their press cycle commandeered. I think everyone is in agreement that Marilee and Andrew both upgraded in the partners department.

Rather than take the high road and say, “We’re happy they’re happy. Best of luck to them!” and make some dumb joke about how they could all just house swap now, T.J. and Amy threw a little hissy fit on this week’s episode of their podcast. T.J. accused Andrew and Marilee of having an agenda and hilariously said, “We are not going to get into that back and forth game because gossip is toxic.” Well, let’s see how long that resolution lasts because a new report from US Weekly insists that Andrew and Marilee are in a “true relationship” with genuine feelings for each other.

Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig are “happy together” as they move on from respective exes Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. The blossoming romance is more than just “a rebound,” the insider adds, telling Us that Shue and Fiebig’s “feelings for each other are genuine.”

Per the source, Shue and Fiebig “knew each other” from going on double dates when they were still married to Robach and Holmes. “They always got along,” the insider notes.

Holmes filed for divorce from Fiebig, with whom he shares 10-year-old daughter Sabine, in December 2022. Nearly one year later, Us confirmed in October that the former couple reached a settlement. Robach and Shue, meanwhile, were declared legally single earlier this year. (Both Robach and Shue welcomed children with their first spouses before tying the knot 2010.)

Following their departure from GMA3, Robach and Holmes teamed up for a new project as they continued to give fans glimpses of their romance. The first episode of their “Amy & T.J.” podcast dropped on December 5, during which the pair asserted that they were both already separated when their relationship began. They didn’t inform anyone at ABC at the time — or even their families — that they were dating.

“I’m still saying I’m sorry [to my daughters] … and it’s just been a really hard, hard journey that will continue,” Robach confessed. “We’re all in therapy.”

News broke of Shue and Fiebig’s relationship hours after their exes shared their side of the affair story. Despite being “hurt” by the way her marriage to Holmes ended, the insider tells Us that Fiebig is ready to “put the past in the past.”

“She’s willing to move on and let go of the anger because she feels she has found a true relationship with Andrew, and he feels the same way,” the source adds.

While the relationship came as a shock to fans, a second insider tells Us that Holmes and Robach have been aware of their exes’ connection for a few months. “It was surprising, but they didn’t think it was anything serious or worth a lot of energy,” the second source says, adding that Holmes and Robach were “annoyed” by the timing of the relationship reveal. “It seemed planned … and so petty.”

[From Us Weekly]

I truly love this for them. Getting involved with the spouse of the person that your partner cheated on you with is definitely not a conventional start to a relationship, but as long as they’re in a healthy one, who cares? I’m glad they’re drying each other’s tears and all that. They both deserve to be happy. I’m pretty sure they’re going to last a lot longer than T.J. and Amy will. And speaking of, y’all, there is no way that Robach and Holmes are going to be able to resist saying or doing something catty about this report. They’re the gift that keeps on giving. At this point, it’s the only reason anyone is paying any attention to them or even showing any remote interest in their podcast.

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Exactly four years ago Kaiser noted that Annette Bening was “One of the most famously Oscar-snubbed actors out there.” Still true! The situation has not been rectified. Will this be her year? I don’t think so. Not because she isn’t superb as Diana Nyad in Nyad, now on Netflix. She’s physically incapable of delivering anything less than flawless performances of brilliantly flawed women. It just feels like she hasn’t been part of the Best Actress conversation much, at least not compared to the younger actresses in contention. Then again, all bets are off this year, what with the strikes delaying the usual promo campaigns, and no one knowing exactly who the voting body is at the Golden Globes since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association disbanded. Speaking of, Annette did nab a Golden Globe nomination for Nyad, and she has a new interview out in This Guardian this week. I’m excerpting one section here, but the whole piece is worth a read.

She [Bening] took the role of Nyad because it was “such a great story”, but she hadn’t thought through what playing the swimmer would mean – the “oh, it’s me in the water; oh, I’m in a bathing suit; oh, I’ve got to really pull off the swimming”, she says. It took a year of training, with the Olympian Rada Owen. Bening reckons she is a better swimmer now than when she shot the film, because she has fallen in love with the sport. “What I’ve come to understand about Diana, what I admire, is not only the fact that she swam 54 hours; it was that she found the ability to think enough of herself to say: ‘I have the right to say I’m going to do this thing.’ I think that is what a lot of us struggle with.”

Nyad has written a number of books about her career, which the film picks through judiciously. “She had a coach who abused her when she was a kid,” says Bening. “We didn’t want to make the movie about that, but it is part of who she is. And what happened to her as a teenager, with this coach, did inform her swimming and it did inform her 20s. Just like all of us, right? All these things that we’ve gone through, they inform us in the present.”

Bening is keen to underline that the film amps up a spikiness in Nyad’s character. Nyad is delightful, says Bening. In her on-screen portrayal, however, she is often a pain in everyone’s neck, especially Jodie Foster’s (Foster plays her ex-girlfriend and best friend). “When women have complexity, when women are difficult, our metric for being able to accept them is so different,” she says. “It’s like politicians: there’s always this sense that they have to be likable. There’s a quality that a woman has to have that’s non-threatening and pleasing. Either that, or they have to be very conservative. Like Thatcher. We can accept a woman if she’s very conservative, but the idea of a liberal woman is much scarier.”

[From The Guardian]

“Spikiness” is a great way to describe Annette’s version of Diana Nyad, and she’s so good at playing that quality (remember her in 2009’s Mother and Child?). I mean really, the Diana of the film cannot stop talking about herself or her “destiny.” She’s the kind of person that you know you would find insufferable in real life but delight in watching as a movie character. (Again, we’re talking about the heightened film depiction, not Diana Nyad in real life.) And that gets at exactly what Annette talks about with the expectations on women. In Nyad, Annette is a woman out to please herself first and foremost, and is unabashedly unlikable, at times even to her dearest friends and supporters. But she has an ambition — to swim the open ocean from Cuba to Florida, 103 miles — and as the movie unfolds we see how a woman fulfilling her goal can be threatening to those around her. Why? Because it forces anyone watching her to reckon with their own dreams, and whether they’ve honestly done everything they could to fully realize them.

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