Happy New Year, everyone! We hope you have a safe & happy holiday and come back in 2024 for more fun gossip!

I love the way Ava DuVernay dresses, she has a great stylist. [Go Fug Yourself]
Jennifer Lopez is in St. Bart’s. [Hollywood Life]
Travis Kelce didn’t actually give Taylor Swift that opal ring. [LaineyGossip]
Review of The Color Purple. [Pajiba]
Paul Buscato’s optical illusion photos are cool. [OMG Blog]
Nikki Haley is an idiot. [Jezebel]
Harry Styles & Taylor Russell are still together. [Just Jared]
Would you know the clues in this Jeopardy category? [Seriously OMG]
Some of T&L’s favorite 2023 red carpet looks. [Tom & Lorenzo]
People have got jokes about the new Shakira statue. [Buzzfeed]
Seeking Sister Wife’s Sophie Winder is preg. [Starcasm]

Photos credit: Abhinav Sharma, Cottonbro Studio, Jill Wellington and Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

Some people have expressed surprise that Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are still together. They started up in the spring, by what I can tell, and their affair ruined both of their marriages. By July, Ariana had left Dalton Gomez and they would eventually settle their divorce very quietly. Ethan’s situation was more complicated, given that he had a wife and baby at home and Ariana had even tried to befriend Lilly Jay (Ethan’s wife). All of that went down this summer, but it’s been relatively quiet in recent months. Every now and then, we’ll hear about Ariana supporting Ethan in New York, and Ari is still trying to rewrite the narrative. Anyway, they’ll stay together throughout 2024, that’s my prediction. Wicked – the film where they met – won’t be out until November. They’ll try to stay together through the promotion. Meanwhile, People Magazine had this exclusive:

Things are getting very real for Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater. A source tells PEOPLE that things are “serious” between the “7 Rings” singer, 30, and the Spamalot actor, 31, who have been confirmed to be dating since July.

“Ariana is serious with Ethan,” they said. “She loves being with him.”

The insider added that while the pair “go out occasionally” as Grande puts the finishing touches on her upcoming album, they “mostly enjoy staying in. It’s a very normal relationship.”

On Saturday, the couple was pictured together for one of their first times out together.
The singer and Broadway star were photographed during a night out in New York City when a source close to Grande told PEOPLE they ate dinner with her father Ed Butera at her family’s favorite Italian restaurant before seeing Slater in Spamalot.

Grande sported an all-black with a furry bucket hat, mini skirt, and black top with furry cuffs. Meanwhile, Slater opted for a more athletic getup with a zip-up, joggers and running shoes.

“They love to support each other in their work,” the source said. “When she’s done with work, Ariana loves going to the theater when she can.”

Grande shared a carousel of photos to Instagram earlier this month, which featured one image with a Spam can ornament hanging on a wall Christmas tree made of green garland. The ornament is, of course, a shoutout to Spamalot, the 2005 Tony-winning musical adaptation of Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Slater is currently starring in a revival of the comedy on Broadway.

[From People]

One of my favorite things is when one of these pop star divas dates a guy and her fanbase absolutely loathes the guy. It happened to Taylor Swift when she dated Matt Healy – the Swifties panicked because the guy sucked and he was pretty racist to boot. From what I’ve seen of the Arianators online, they’re counting down the days until Ari dumps Ethan, and they’re grossed out by the fact that Ethan looks so much like her brother Frankie. All of which to say… Ari isn’t Taylor. She’s not going to dump a guy just because her fans hate him. Especially because two marriages ended to make this mess happen.

Ari was out with Ethan this week:

pic.twitter.com/xucTJvPGSe

— v (@ViralThingz) December 26, 2023

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram.

Sarah Ferguson joined the Windsors on the Sandringham church-walk on Christmas Day, her first time doing that Christmas walk in over 30 years. When Prince Philip was alive, he would not allow her to do anything with Andrew and their daughters in Sandringham. But King Charles has softened the Windsors’ stance on Fergie, especially since she toes the company line. As you can imagine, this is all part of the royal commentators’ new talking point: if the Windsors can “forgive” Fergie, then there’s “hope” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As in, Harry and Meghan need to do what Fergie did and lavish praise on the Windsors for decades and eventually the Sussexes will be “forgiven.” Please allow Richard Eden at the Daily Mail to go full-throttle bonkers about it:

The King’s Christian generosity in allowing Sarah Ferguson to join him at church on Christmas Day shows that there could even be a way back into the Royal Family for Harry and Meghan. But first they would have to show some contrition. That’s the view of The Daily Mail Diary Editor, Richard Eden, writing in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter.

‘The King’s embrace of the Duke and Duchess of York shows that there is a way back for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,’ writes Eden. ‘However, unlike Harry and Meghan, Andrew and Sarah have never attacked the Royal Family. Quite the opposite: they have always lavished praise on their relations.’

King Charles used his Christmas Day broadcast to emphasise that ‘the words of Jesus seem more than ever relevant’, writes Eden – a sentiment supported by his own actions.

‘He demonstrated his capacity for forgiveness by inviting Sarah, Duchess of York to join her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, and senior members of the Royal Family at church in Sandringham. The fact that Andrew was also with the working royals, for the second year running, shows that the King is determined to be a forgiving monarch.’

‘The Duke of York is said to be particularly grateful for the King’s welcome to him and Sarah because he is “tormented” by the forthcoming publication of court documents which are expected to link him to the late Epstein and reignite the sordid scandal.’

‘As all Christians know, before forgiveness there needs to be repentance. And we have seen no sign that the California-based couple are prepared to apologise to those they have betrayed with their insults and indiscretions. Until that happens, we may continue to witness the unlikely spectacle of ex-royal Fergie enjoying a more prominent role in the Royal Family than the King’s second son.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“As all Christians know, before forgiveness there needs to be repentance.” Which is probably why the Sussexes have not forgiven the Windsors for their sins. If the argument is “Charles is such a good Christian, he forgave his credibly-accused rapist brother and a sister-in-law who took money from Jeffrey Epstein,” then isn’t the follow-up question, “so why doesn’t Charles forgive Harry and Meghan for talking about how badly they were screwed over by the family?” They’ve made everything into the Sussexes’ “sins” of telling their stories, all to avoid the sins of the family, the “un-Christian” way Charles, William and Kate treated the Sussexes in the first place. Anyway, if Charles thinks any of this is a good look or a flattering look for the family, then he really deserves everything coming his way.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

The whole “racist royals” newscycle around Omid Scobie’s Endgame overshadowed some of the fascinating stories Scobie wrote about. Notably, very few people have talked in-depth about the way Endgame makes it clear that King Charles and Prince William’s separate royal courts are constantly briefing against one another, and there’s always a lot of angst, anger and palace intrigue. William and Charles have never gotten along or any kind of traditional father-son bond. Pre-2017, we often talked about how Harry was much closer to Charles. Now that Charles is king and William is Prince of Wales, what is this whole thing going to look like for the rest of Charles’s reign? Imagine the dumbest power struggle ever. The Daily Beast’s Royalist column had some additional insight into Charles and William’s ever-changing dynamic. Some highlights:

The two royal courts: Concerns over how the two men’s vastly differing styles might clash have long vexed palace insiders. The two courts are very much separate entities with little regular day-to-day interaction other than exchanging diary dates. While Charles runs a traditional, buttoned-up operation, William and Kate Middleton encourage the use of first names, and strive for a more informal but still professional feel. As one former Palace employee who went between both courts in their role told The Daily Beast: “William and Kate would do things like give you two weeks off if your father died, while Charles’ office has a more workaholic vibe.” A courtier in Charles’ office once joked to The Daily Beast they didn’t have time to use the bathroom.

A not quite united front. Cracks and differences of opinion have nonetheless come to light: As recently as November, for example, it looked like William was flexing on his father when he told a reporter that when it comes to charitable causes he wants to “go a step further” than his family previously has and avoid spreading himself too “thin” and finding himself with “loads of causes that you sort of turn up and keep an eye on.” It was a pretty sharp rebuke of his father’s way of doing things. The comments fed a perception of steadily increasing tension between the courts of the new king and the heir apparent.

Competing agendas: Scobie says that the rival courts are now “hives of competing agendas and different ideas about how to modernize…behind closed doors, the King and the Prince of Wales are embracing very different approaches.” This is true, but friends of the king reject the suggestion that William is breaking precedent or behaving badly by having a strong, independent court. One said: “Charles absolutely wants William to plough his own furrow, he is encouraged to do so, just as he was.”

Unsubtle Peggington: However a former Buckingham Palace staffer told The Daily Beast: “I am sure they will butt heads as Charles is allergic to anyone telling him what to do, and William is not exactly famed for his subtlety. But I think it is broadly seen as a productive rivalry, rather than a destructive one, because William respects his father’s ‘rank’ as head of The Firm. Ultimately the monarchy is a hierarchical structure based on military principles, and when push comes to shove, you have to obey orders from your superiors. That’s what William and Kate understand, and Harry and Meghan could never accept. They would not do as they were told.”

William’s priority is his family: Given that Charles turned 75 recently, it is perhaps not entirely surprising that there have been regular suggestions by outsiders that he will or should stand down when he reaches his 80th birthday. But a friend of William’s said: “William and Catherine have three children under the age of 11, so that is very much their focus right now. William neither expects nor wants Charles to ever abdicate.”

William is simply more popular: Unfortunately for Charles, William and Kate consistently get stellar poll ratings in the mid-70s—and Charles is of course well known for his jealous streak.

William’s expectations: The king’s and Prince William’s offices did not comment to The Daily Beast about reports of tension between the two courts, but another friend of William and Kate said: “Of course William expects to be given more influence and control as the years go by. That’s how it works. It’s total rubbish to suggest that means they are at each other’s throats.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“Of course William expects to be given more influence and control as the years go by. That’s how it works.” Well… I think that says a lot, actually. Charles wasn’t “given” more influence and control, he went out and sought it and fought for it, even if it meant giving his mother Covid and controlling which staffers were around her. Charles’s de facto regency in QEII’s final years was something he actively pursued. William “expects” power. William feels he’s entitled to it, that it should be given to him and he won’t have to work for anything, ever. Charles is a dagger slipped into someone’s back – William is a chainsaw coming to lop off his father’s head.

“When push comes to shove, you have to obey orders from your superiors. That’s what William and Kate understand, and Harry and Meghan could never accept. They would not do as they were told.” What “orders” did Harry and Meghan disobey, pray tell? “Stop pursuing legal action against the Sun because that’s the publication paying William’s press secretary for information about you?”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace, Instar, Cover Images.

What’s the general consensus on individual states keeping Donald Trump off their ballots? It’s hilarious to me that the same people screaming “states’ rights” are the same ones arguing that states don’t actually have the right to keep a fascist insurrectionist off the ballot. Of course, we already had a precursor to the states’ rights advocates’ cognitive dissonance, as they argued for a federal abortion ban. Anyway, another state has barred Trump from appearing on their ballot. This time, Maine is getting into it.

Maine on Thursday became the second state to bar Donald J. Trump from its primary election ballot after its top election official ruled that the former president’s efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election rendered him ineligible to hold office again.

Hours later, her counterpart in California announced that Mr. Trump would remain on the ballot in the nation’s most populous state, where election officials have limited power to remove candidates.

The official in Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, wrote in her decision that Mr. Trump did not qualify for the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. A handful of citizens had challenged his eligibility by claiming that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

“I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection,” Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, wrote.

Ms. Bellows’s decision follows a Colorado Supreme Court ruling last week to keep Mr. Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot.

The decisions in Maine and Colorado underscore national tensions over democracy, ballot access and the rule of law. They also add urgency to calls for the United States Supreme Court to insert itself into the politically explosive dispute over Mr. Trump’s eligibility.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said Thursday night that both the Maine and Colorado rulings were “partisan election interference efforts” that were “a hostile assault on American democracy.”

[From The NY Times]

Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a fight worth having and Democrats at the state level should continue to push this issue and remind voters of what Trump did and what Trump is. But I also think that at the end of the day, Trump is going to appear on every state’s ballot. We should still have the fight though, and we should also force this Christofascist-majority Supreme Court to make some big decisions. Also: even if Trump is barred from a few states’ ballots, there’s literally nothing keeping people from writing in his name. It sucks but that’s democracy.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid, Fulton County mugshot.

I can’t believe another year has gone by! Last year our most commented story was about the slap heard round the world when Will Smith stood up to Chris Rock at the Oscars for disrespecting his wife. We added our favorite stories to that list, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez getting married, Leonardo DiCaprio dumping his girlfriend for turning 25 and then-Duchess Camilla gleefully spreading covid maskless at a cooking event. This year we had King Charles’s coronation and both Spare and Endgame came out! Here are our most commented stories this year along with some of our favorites. (From CB: I’ve written this post and there are sections that Kaiser wrote which are labeled!)

20 Meghan sent letters to Charles following the Oprah interview

The Telegraph revealed this April that Meghan and then Prince Charles exchanged letters following the Oprah interview in early 2021. They discussed Meghan’s disclosure to Oprah that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie’s] skin might be when he’s born.” The letters were said to be cordial but there was no resolution reached. We later learned, through the mistaken publication of the Dutch translation of an unapproved draft of Omid Scobie’s Endgame, that both Princess Kate and King Charles were the royals who speculated about the baby’s skin color. (Get the Top 10 stories from Omid Scobie’s Endgame when you sign up for our mailing list!)

15 The racist Oscar voter

A rare non-royal story among our most commented was this Entertainment Weekly piece featuring quotes from four anonymous Oscar voters. One was so contemptibly racist that we made it a blind item. He refused to watch The Woman King, called “wokeness” “out of control” and said “Viola Davis and the lady director need to sit down, shut up, and relax.” While there was no consensus on this horrible man’s identity, those awful comments could have come from any number of old white men in Hollywood.

16, 10, 6 The Sussexes were evicted from Frogmore Cottage, then targeted in a paparazzi car chase

It was just this year, following the massive success of Prince Harry’s Spare, that the Sussexes were evicted from Frogmore cottage. This laid bare their very serious security concerns, particularly because Harry is still fighting to pay for armed protection in the UK. Meghan signed with WME in April and then in May the Sussexes were targeted by paparazzi in a car chase during a trip to NY. There were so many think pieces about how they should have made more business moves this year and very little analysis of the systematic way they’ve been targeted, threatened and harassed. (Get the Top 8 stories about the Sussexes’ paparazzi car chase when you sign up for our mailing list.)

17, 13, 12 Kate tried to get attention as her marriage crumbled

Princess Kate’s fashion and the sad state of her marriage were among our most commented stories. She wore a cosplaying red outfit to the South Korean state visit, which she comically hiked up when exiting her car. At the BAFTAs she paired a white dress with black opera gloves and then she donned a white pantsuit to a Rugby World Cup match in March. We wouldn’t have paid much attention to her predictable copykeening, except for the fact that it was a near exact copy of the outfit Meghan wore to the previous years Invictus Games – as the Invictus Games were happening. We also heard that Will and Kate have “terrible rows where they throw things at each other.” The stories about Will and Kate throwing cushions at each other and needing time apart make it sound like their marriage is all but over. (Get the Top 8 stories about Will and Kate’s crumbling marriage when you sign up for our mailing list!)

7, 5, 3, 2 The Coronation of King Charles

It’s hard to believe that the coronation of King Charles was just this May. The palace announcement that only Harry would go and that Meghan and their children would stay home was our second most commented story this year. The post about Charles claiming the Sussexes would be banned from the balcony, the Coronation open post and the story about Kate’s outfit were also amount the top 10. Overall it was a glum, bizarre and expensive affair highlighting the uselessness of the monarchy. (Get the Top 10 Stories about the Coronation when you sign up for our mailing list!)

From Kaiser: The coronation substories were hilarious because there was so much dumb drama ahead of the coronation, then the event itself was so boring. I loved our open post on the day, I loved all of the drama about Prince Harry’s Dior suit, I loved how aristocrats were totally pissed that they didn’t get invited, and I loved that as soon as the whole thing was done, Prince William basically told everyone that he’s already planning his coronation and he won’t do anything like Charles. The Pamela Hicks snub was really extraordinary too, and that didn’t get enough attention.

19, 18, 14, 11, 9, 4, 1 Spare

Prince Harry’s Spare was an international bestseller and contained so many revelations that made it to our top 20. The number one story was about Prince William’s violent assault of Harry in Harry’s kitchen. William’s response at the news getting out was textbook DARVO. Other top stories from Spare include Prince Harry’s first lover selling her story to the tabloids, Kate throwing a fit about Charlotte’s bridesmaid’s dress, Kate grimacing when Meghan borrowed her lip gloss – after Meghan asked, and Prince Harry revealing Meghan’s pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding. My favorite story was when Kate misinterpreted Meghan’s empathetic comment about “baby brain” as a slight. Another top story this year was Queen Camilla’s 48-year-old son, Tom Parker-Bowles, who very much takes after her looks-wise, being floated as a replacement for Harry. Thankfully we haven’t heard much about him since.

From Kaiser: We had so many huge stories about Prince Harry’s Spare in the first months of the year, and Spare became one of the biggest bestsellers of the year. There’s so much conversation about what was said and Harry “selling out his family,” and all of that dumb sh-t, but I just have to keep repeating this: Spare is not only a historical document, it’s also a narrative about childhood neglect and how that shaped Harry.

Our Favorites: Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s affair

From Kaiser: Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s affair was one of the most old-school messy gossip stories of the year. That man had a wife and a baby at home! And his wife started briefing the press herself. (Get the Top 8 stories about Ariana’s Grande’s messy affair when you sign up for our mailing list!)

Our Favorites: Taylor Swift’s love life

Taylor Swift had a great year with the bestselling tour of all time, a box office hit and two new romances. In May we heard that she was dating The 1975’s vocalist, Matt Healy. They moved quickly with a typical boyfriend rollout for Taylor however his awful history of racism and sexism soon caught up with him and he remained unapologetic. They split soon afterwards. We heard in September that Taylor was seeing Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and their whirlwind romance has been so much fun to witness. (Get the Top 8 stories about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s new relationship when you sign up for our mailing list!)

Our Favorites: thunder-stealing

From Kaiser: I laughed my ass off at all of the Chelsea Flower Show thunder-stealing. Princess Kate hosted a surprise picnic at the flower show on Media Day, overshadowing Charles and Camilla, and there were headlines for weeks! (Get the top 8 stories about the Waleses stealing King Charles’s thunder when you sign up for our mailing list!)

The Middletons’ house of cards

From Kaiser: The collapse of the Middletons’ house of cards was Peak Schadenfreude, especially since long-time royal watchers always knew that the Middletons’ finances were shady as hell. Party Pieces’s descent into bankruptcy was incredible to watch, especially as someone finally admitted that the Middletons have lied about their wealth for years. (Get the Top 10 stories about the Middletons’ shady finances when you sign up for our mailing list!)

And finally The Telegraph called us Sussex Squad influencers when they saw Kaiser’s tweet about getting an advance copy of Endgame.

Thank you for reading, listening and commenting! We hope you have a great 2024!

This was Kate’s first full year as Princess of Wales, carrying the same tortured title as the late mother-in-law she never met. Diana was a humanitarian icon, an iconoclast, the proverbial mouse who roared. Diana was also a fashion icon who went from prim English rose to big-shoulder Dynasty ‘80s through the cleaner, more minimalist ‘90s looks. Kate has tried cosplaying Diana, cosplaying QEII and cosplaying her sister-in-law, all to no avail. Kate simply doesn’t have her own style, her own look, and she spends hundreds of thousands of pounds every year trying to figure out what her style should be. Except this year, she ended up wearing tons of repeats, which caused some lowkey discussion about whether Kate’s husband cut her clothing budget now that it’s coming out of his Duchy of Cornwall pockets. All of which to say, Kate really did spend less money on clothes this year than she did in 2022.

The Princess of Wales saw the value of her wardrobe decrease during 2023, after showcasing an extravagant collection of garments worth £176,664 in 2022. Kate, 41, has worn new clothing and accessories totalling £159,040.28 over the past 12 months, including a host of ball gowns and glittering jewels for royal engagements.

It marks the royal’s second most expensive year to date, with a host of new outfits on show – beating 2017 when she wore £119,000 of new outfits.

The future Queen has also continued to recycle some of her old favourites, as well as donning pieces from affordable high street stores, such as Hobbs, Zara and LK Bennett.

As expected, she displayed her most expensive outfit while attending the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, opting for a bespoke Alexander McQueen dress and headpiece, made in collaboration with Jess Collett – estimated to be worth £3,000 and £32,000 respectively.

The King is understood to cover the costs of Kate’s closet for ‘work-related’ engagements through his official household budget, but it is not clear whether the Princess always pays full price for outfits or receives discounts.

In 2021, the royal slashed the sum of her new wardrobe, wearing just £48,845 worth of new clothing. This year’s total has also increased from 2020, when she wore £93,914 of new clothing, and 2019, when she wore £103,075 worth of clothing.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s funny that she spent that much because she didn’t go on any royal tours this year, and to many of the red-carpet events, she repeated evening gowns which were already in her closet. That coronation headpiece should not have cost £32,000 either – that’s insane. It was some Home Ec project made with a glue gun and glitter. It’s also an insane number considering how many times she just wore pantsuits or somewhat casual clothes. Hm. Also: I don’t think Charles pays for her clothes anymore? William should be paying for her stuff from the Duchy of Cornwall funds, just as Charles did when he was PoW.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Sometimes I think about how Jennifer Lopez was snubbed for an Oscar nomination for Hustlers and I get mad all over again. Like… how did that happen? Be real – J.Lo was excellent in Hustlers, she put the film together, she produced it and it’s a film about working class minority women. That film deserved a lot more love. Anyway, I thought about all of that as I read J.Lo’s excellent Elle Magazine cover profile, one of many for Elle’s Women in Hollywood issue. This is not an interview where Jen talks about love or Ben Affleck – she’s talking about her business, what she’s learned throughout her professional life and what more there is to do. Some highlights:

She’s not interested in just producing rom-coms: “I want to tell the gamut of stories. Uplifting, empowering stories, and entertaining stories, and gangster movies. I want to do everything that men do. I want to do all of it.” She doesn’t like the notion that women only want to see love stories or romantic comedies. “I think that’s insulting.” Women, she points out, “have been leaders of countries. We have run empires; we have done all of these things throughout history, and we should tell all of those stories.”

The drive to do these things: “When people ask me, ‘How do I do this? How do I get into this?’ I think to myself, ‘You’re not going to do this.’ Because if you’re going to do this, there is a drive within you that will find a way and you don’t need anybody to tell you, ‘You should do this, or you should do that.’ That’s not how it goes. It’s just knocking on the wall and finding a way. When people ask that question, I go, ‘This person probably is looking for a shortcut.’ There is no one sure way to become an actor or start making music. People fall into it in different ways, in their own time.

She loves to mentor: “But I do like mentoring. I like sharing the experience that I have. When I work with younger actors and I see them banging their head up against the wall, really trying to make this moment work, it’s just like: The most important thing you can do right now is relax. Let’s just be, let’s just live. You start off and you have all of these ambitions: ‘I’m going to be the greatest actor of all time and I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that.’ You can and you will, but how you become that is to relax into it and understand that you know what you’re doing and that you’ve put in the work. The more relaxed, the more aware I can be, the better.”

Telling women’s stories: “People were laying the groundwork for this for a long time. It’s just that sometimes it takes time to move these mountains and these old ideas and paradigms and shift them to a place where there’s real change. We have been able to stand in our own power and say, We’re not going to be taken advantage of. We’re not just on the corners of life or on the outside of the stories. We are the stories.”

Learning as she went along: “One of those things was to be more particular with my choices. And I didn’t have that luxury, being Latina. I didn’t get called in for everything someone who wasn’t Latina would get called in for. I got called in for very specific things. As I started getting more leads here and there, I should have pulled back. I took that mindset with me instead of going, ‘I should only work with certain kinds of directors that I really want to work with. I should choose this material in a different way.’ I just wasn’t as particular as I could be, I think. And if I [could] start over, I think I would’ve done that. I would’ve known that the director is really the helm of the project when you’re acting. Just like in singing, the producers you work with are very important. I knew that with music, but I didn’t quite understand it as much when I was younger about directors.”

Working as a woman over the age of 50: “It has changed a lot, and I think it’s appropriate. As you get older and you have more experience, you become a richer human being and you have more to offer. The idea of, ‘There’s nothing really valuable about watching a woman over 30’ is so ridiculous, it’s the opposite of right. It just makes me laugh. People have realized that women just get sexier as they get older. They get more learned and more rich with character. All of that is very beautiful and attractive, and not just physically, but on the inside, the beauty that you gain as you get older, the wisdom you gain. I see myself working [as long as] I want to. I don’t know what that age is. It might be 70, it might be 80, it might be 90, I don’t know. But I know that it’s there for me if I want it and I want to create it. That has always been the mindset that I’ve had: to never let anybody put me in a box because of where I was born, where I’m from, what age I am, anything like that. Those boundaries don’t exist for me.”

[From Elle]

She’s right about wanting to see women over 30 on screen. Maybe I was always like that, but I never felt like “oh, I don’t want to watch older women.” It’s always been about the stories, and for so many years, Hollywood simply didn’t prioritize any female stories, much less stories involving women over the age of 30. I like what she says about rom-coms too – that she didn’t become a producer just to make rom-coms, that women can play leaders and gangsters and strippers and hustlers and everything else. I love that she scoffs at the rom-com paradox.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of Elle.

My New Year’s Eves tend to be quiet, introspective nights at home. I do not like large, raucous crowds, nor am I much of a drinker. So instead I typically find a long, classic film on TCM (anything from My Fair Lady to Ben-Hur) and I fastidiously get to work on my calendars. Even in the midst of our digital age, I’m steadfastly clinging to wall calendars (one large for the kitchen, one mini for the bathroom) and a weekly engagement planner. And I force myself to wait until December 31 to fill in each of these with handwritten notes of birthdays, anniversaries, and other upcoming events for the next year. What really amps up the excitement for me is choosing the best colored pens to complement the image for each month or week’s page. I swear it’s not as sad as it sounds. But that’s just me! Good Housekeeping has done a timely roundup of New Year’s rituals observed around the world. It’s a fun, long list, and here are a few that really tickled my fancy:

The iconic ball drop, twists optional: Crowds have been gathering in New York City’s Times Square to watch the ball drop since 1907. And while the first one was just iron and wood, today you can watch a 12-foot, 11,875-pound geodisc sphere covered in 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles and 32,256 LEDs make its descent, even from the warmth and comfort of your own home. Or, you can see something else fall as a visual countdown to the new year: Plymouth, Wisconsin hosts a Big Cheese Drop; Kennett Square, PA uses a giant mushroom and New Orleans drops a fleur de lis (formerly a big gumbo pot). No matter what symbol is used, it does make for a dramatic countdown.

Do not try this without community consent: In Denmark, broken dishes are a good thing: people go around breaking dishware on the doorsteps of their friends and family. The more shards there are in front of your home the next day, the luckier and more well liked you are (unless you’re the one who has to sweep them all up). But try to keep it on the doorstep: “I once threw a cup at my friend’s house,” a reveler told the University of Copenhagen’s University Post. “The cup didn’t break — his window did!”

Deck the halls with boughs of… onions: To Greeks, onions are a symbol of good luck and fertility, because they sprout even when no one is paying attention to them. On New Year’s Eve, families in Greece hang bundles of onions above their doors as a means of inviting that prosperity into the home. On New Year’s Day, parents also wake up their children by gently bonking their kids on the head with the onions that were outside.

Happy moo year: Walloon and Flemish farmers in Belgium make sure everyone can get in on the festivities, and that includes the livestock. They rise early on January 1 to wish a “Happy New Year” to all the cows, horses, pigs, chickens and other farm animals. That way, they’ll have a good farming year.

Peppermint piggies: In upstate New York, they sell special peppermint pigs all throughout the holiday season. Everyone gets to take a turn hitting it with a special candy-size hammer and eating a piece for good fortune in the coming year. The peppermint is very strong, so only take a small piece. At least you’ll start the year with fresh breath!

The new year hinges on underwear color: Certain countries, especially in Latin America, believe that the color of your underwear can bring good things to you in the next 12 months. Yellow is for luck, red is for love and white undies bring peace. And for heaven’s sake, make sure they’re clean and free of holes!

Another variety of smashing at the front door: In Turkey, pomegranates are symbols of abundance. Eating them is great, sure — but if you really want a good 2024, you’ll smash the fruit on your doorstep. The more pieces there are and the farther they spread, the more prosperous you’ll be. For a little extra luck, try sprinkling salt in front of your door to bring peace.

[From Good Housekeeping]

Argh, I totally have yellow underwear! But I didn’t bring any with me to my mother’s where I’ll be until New Year’s. Anyone know what the portents are for black or leopard-print underwear? At least I’ll be prepared with the right undies for 2025. Moving on from undergarments, I am fascinated by the Greek tradition with onions. First of all, acknowledging that “they sprout even when no one is paying attention to them” just became the second reason why onions bring tears to my eyes. It’s a lovely sentiment and I understand the symbolism. What I don’t understand is the next step of waking up your kids by whacking them with the onions. I feel like we’re missing one piece of the story of how this practice evolved, no? Or maybe not, because I couldn’t help but notice how many of these global rituals involve pretty strong undertones of violence. Breaking plates, smashing fruit, hammering peppermint pigs. And the new year is just getting started! Bless those Belgian farmers for observing a peaceable tradition. Happy Moo Year, ya filthy animals!

photos credit: Shvets productions and Victor Candiani on Pexels, Ries Bosch and Shahand Babali on Unsplash

I know Blake Shelton isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but I adore reading his interviews these days. Blake is so happy to be settled down and married to Gwen Stefani. After the way Gwen and Blake’s respective ex-spouses treated them, it’s so lovely that they found each other and they make each other so happy. Blake seems especially awestruck that he found a wife who loves the more traditional family life, cooking and party-planning and decorating. Well, Blake is still giving interviews ahead of his New Year’s Eve special, and he spoke to People Magazine about how much he and Gwen love to decorate for the holidays.

The holidays aren’t just a season at Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s home — it’s an all-encompassing state of mind. “I think we’re the biggest celebrators of holidays of any of my friends and family members. We really go for it,” he told PEOPLE. “Gwen and I love to pull up to the house and see over-the-top Christmas decorations or walk into the house during Thanksgiving and see all the pumpkins.”

The country singer, 47, often feels “nostalgic” around the holidays.

“Gwen is the perfect person for me to be with because that is one of her passions. So we really lean into the holidays literally as much as we possibly can without just going broke doing it. We love it that much,” he said.

One thing Shelton doesn’t do: hang Christmas lights on the outside of the house. Stefani, 54, doesn’t either.

“That’s one of those things where it’s like, I’ve made my point. I’ve got some money. I’m not going to break my own neck to get up there. I’m going to hire some guy who’s way better at it than I am,” he joked.

While Shelton helps with the decor, he acknowledges that his wife (and hired help) does the brunt of it.

“Gwen’s got the little town set up in the house, the fake snow everywhere. I just love all of that stuff, the gingerbread houses. We really go over the top with it,” he said. “I’ll sit there and stare at that stuff all day long.”

However, Shelton and Stefani love to cook together, with their holiday spreads home-cooked every year. For the 2023 season, the couple enjoyed a Funyon-coated turkey for Thanksgiving, while Christmas was celebrated with an Italian feast they made themselves.

[From People]

Wow, obviously I knew that Gwen is Italian-American but I guess I didn’t realize that she does an “Italian feast” for Christmas. I wonder if it’s the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes? Anyway, I enjoy how “domesticated” Blake seems with Gwen, but not just that – in a world where men fall all over themselves to mock or denigrate their wives and partners (especially over the holidays), Blake is like: no, I’m really into all of this, I f–king love your gingerbread houses, let’s start planning how we’ll decorate the house for Valentine’s Day, babe. It’s positive masculinity and he’s also telling his country bros: you too can get lost in the magic of holidays!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.