Once Princess Diana’s years-long affair with James Hewitt was finally done and she was no longer in a love-and-sex haze, she realized that Hewitt is an idiot. It’s true, and we still see it whenever Hewitt opens his mouth. In the decades since his affair with Diana ended, Hewitt has sold her out completely, writing books and giving paid interviews and chiming in as some kind of “royal expert.” It’s all pretty sleazy. Well, they got Hewitt to go on the record about… Prince William and Prince Harry’s estrangement and how Diana would feel about it. Good lord.

Diana, Princess of Wales would be trying to reunite her sons if she was still alive, her former lover has said. Army Major James Hewitt, who had a five-year affair with the late princess from 1986, was asked in a rare television interview if he thought she may have been able to engineer a rapprochement between the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, who have barely spoken in five years.

“I think any mother would be worried and concerned about such a rift, as you put it,” he said. “And she’d do her best to try and get them together.”

Major Hewitt, who now devotes his time to aid work in Ukraine, told Good Morning Britain the last time he had spoken to the late princess was “just after” her BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir in November 1995, during which she admitted to their affair. He described the conversation as “distant” and admitted that the interview did “create problems” for him from which he was “trying to move on”.

The Princess was asked by Mr Bashir whether she had been unfaithful to the then Prince Charles with Major Hewitt, her riding instructor. She replied: “Yes. I was in love with him. But I was very let down.” Major Hewitt had collaborated on an unauthorised biography and the late Princess said it was “very distressing” for her that someone she had trusted had used their connection to make money. The former Life Guards officer was swiftly cast as a “love rat” by the tabloid media and found his reputation in tatters.

“It was a stitch-up job,” he said of the Panorama interview on Tuesday. “It was appalling of Bashir to [have] inveigled, lied to her, criminal activity, absolutely appalling. As I’ve said, I hate bullies and bullying and arrogant people and I think it’s appalling.”

[From The Telegraph]

I didn’t realize that he was currently doing work in Ukraine. Good for him. As for his statement about Diana… yeah, he kept that brief. It still sucks that he even said anything and it’s sick that Diana’s former lover is fixing his mouth to speak about Diana’s sons. As for the sentiment… I’ve never really believed that “Diana would want William and Harry to figure it out and reconcile.” I’ve always believed that Diana would be so proud of what Harry has done by standing up for Meghan and moving to California.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Old people get bruised very easily. Fair-skinned people tend to bruise easily as well. This week, suddenly people are talking about bruises on one orange-skinned, thin-skinned man: Donald Trump. During an Oval Office meeting with Emmanuel Macron this week, Trump had a large, noticeable bruise on the back of his right hand (he is right-handed). Notably, it looked like Trump smeared some orange makeup on the back of his hand to cover up the bruise. Someone actually asked the WH press secretary about the bruise, and this was the response:

The White House tried to tamp down on speculation about President Donald Trump’s mysterious bruise Tuesday, attributing excessive hand shaking as the reason for the black-and-blue mark on the back of his dominant hand.

“President Trump is a man of the people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, per NBC News. “His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day.”

“President Trump has bruises on his hand because he’s constantly working and shaking hands all day every day,” she continued.

Trump, 78, previously parroted a similar sentiment when interviewed by Time magazine for their 2024 Person of the Year issue, explaining that a bruise on his right hand was from “shaking hands with thousands of people” when probed on it by the outlet.

The president’s bruise was visible during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron Monday, and swiftly drew rampant attention online as some questioned Trump’s health while others expressed concern. The bruise appeared to be of considerable size and was seemingly covered with makeup.

In a December interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press last year, the president said he would release his full medical report but has yet to do so.

[From The Daily Beast]

If only someone had exerted pressure on Trump to release his medical records, right? Instead, we had months of “Biden’s age” discourse. Which… fine, talk about Biden’s age, but also talk about Trump’s age and all of the uncomfortably senile sh-t he was doing and saying last year. The weird thing about this explanation is that Trump doesn’t shake hundreds of hands a day. He’s a germaphobe, he doesn’t like to touch peasants – sure, he shakes hands with people like President Macron, but on the whole, he avoids “shaking hands all day every day.” The bruises must have some other explanation.

Scrolling Getty and couldn’t help but notice this photo of a huge bruise on Trump’s hand today pic.twitter.com/LY9LFypsFF

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2025

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Back in January, the Duchess of Sussex delayed the release of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. We got a glimpse of what the monarchy had geared up to “combat” Meghan’s show – they sent the Princess of Wales out to the Royal Marsden Hospital to announce that she is now in remission from cancer. Kate’s hospital visit was one day before the original release date of WLM. Incredibly obvious, if you ask me. But the delay has given the Windsors more time to prepare their shenanigans, and after five-plus years… they don’t have much. They’re actually running the same old play from 2021 – send Jason Knauf out and cry about how Meghan “bullied staffers.” Knauf didn’t even say anything directly about that horses-t in his 60 Minutes Australia interview, but apparently Knauf’s sudden reemergence is part of a coordinated effort by the British media to once again run the same “Meghan is a bully, we promise” play. Some lowlights from Amanda Platell’s latest column in the Mail:

It’s not a coincidence that Knauf reemerged: Is it a coincidence that almost a week before the delayed Netflix launch of the Duchess of Sussex’s new make-or-break ‘With Love, Meghan’ lifestyle series the couple’s former royal aide Jason Knauf has spoken out in an interview for the first time? Whatever the case, that he has talked in public at all suggests he might be a ticking timebomb that could one day detonate under Meghan’s self-appointed fabulousness.

The palace’s investigation: After details of the [Knauf] email were leaked, Buckingham Palace launched an investigation by an independent QC, inviting testimony from those who’d worked for Meghan and Harry. The result was a secret ‘bullying dossier’ that was apparently buried by the Palace never to see the light of day. Yet now, in a TV interview on Australia’s most prestigious investigative programme 60 Minutes, Knauf appears to suggest it was right to send the email that prompted the investigation and the ‘bullying dossier’.

Why didn’t the palace publish the dossier? The question is why did the Palace never publish the investigation? Particularly when Prince Philip nicknamed Meghan The Duchess of Windsor in a ‘barbed remark, with a wealth of subtext’, according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward. Almost certainly because at that time the future King Charles and his ailing mother the late Queen were desperate to keep the fragile peace between the Sussexes and the royals. It’s surely why the dossier was buried.

William is obsessed with his sister-in-law: Insiders believe it is inconceivable that Knauf – who worked happily with William and Kate – would have spoken on TV without at the very least William’s tacit agreement.

Knauf is a ticking time bomb: Yet for all his closeness to Prince William, Jason Knauf remains the keeper of perhaps the most devastating secrets of modern royal history – he knows about Meghan’s alleged bullying of two women at a time when she was parading herself as a feminist. He could turn out to be a ticking timebomb for self-appointed saint Meghan. The bomb hasn’t exploded yet but it might one day, and not a moment too soon.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s been four years since Knauf’s email was leaked to the Times of London and four years since Buckingham Palace backed up Kensington Palace’s clownish scheme to smear Meghan. BP quickly realized that their in-house investigation was compromised, so they hired an outside law firm to do a neutral investigation. THAT was the “dossier” which got buried, along with Harry’s report on why KP’s smear job was based on lies. Does anyone honestly believe that the “dossier” got buried to protect Meghan? Or do you think a neutral third-party investigation revealed the toxicity and clownish behavior within Kensington Palace? I’ve long sided with the British media on this narrow issue: the dossier should have been made public as soon as it was completed. Let’s put it all out there, let’s actually litigate these issues publicly so that “unnamed sources” can’t cry about how they had nervous breakdowns because Meghan asked them to complete a task.

Also, I feel like we’re totally skipping over the fact that Knauf and William are doing all of this because… Meghan’s cooking show is about to come out. Like, this isn’t an interview about the Windsors, this is not a memoir. This is Meghan baking and entertaining, and they’re still doing all of this.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Embed from Getty Images
There’s another measles outbreak, this time in Texas and New Mexico. That makes three outbreaks in 2025 so far. What makes this particular outbreak so much more nerve wracking is that now, we have an anti-vaxxer in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a battle between the president and the CDC about whether or not to promote life-saving vaccines.

As of right now, the CDC is still allowed to track and report measles cases. The most recent outbreak, which began in West Texas, has been multiplying rapidly. It’s actually so concerning that even Republican politicians who confirmed RFK Jr. are urging their constituents to make sure they give their children the MMR vaccine. Speaking of the vaccine, there’s been some confusion as to whether or not those of us who have already been vaccinated against the measles (and mumps and rubella) need to get a booster shot. While most people do not need to worry about getting a measles booster shot, it also wouldn’t hurt if you did.

Some adults need to be revaccinated: A measles outbreak in West Texas is continuing to spread. And with kindergarten vaccination rates dipping across the country, more communities may be at risk of outbreaks. But it’s not just kids who should be vaccinated. Infectious disease experts say some adults may need to get revaccinated, too.

It’s super hard to control measles: Measles can spread incredibly fast — it’s one of the world’s most contagious diseases, more than flu, polio, COVID, or just about any other infectious disease. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, notes that just last week, West Texas was reporting 14 cases. This week, it’s up to 90 cases. “It’s very hard to control measles,” he says.

Vax is best: The best defense against measles is vaccination. The vast majority of people getting sick in Texas are unvaccinated. And the measles vaccine is both safe and highly effective, says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vaccines give 95+% chance of survival: “If you have been vaccinated with two doses of vaccine as per routine, you have a 95-plus percent chance of being completely protected throughout your life,” Schaffner says.

The re-vaccination window: But public health experts say there are some adults who should consider getting revaccinated. That includes older adults who were born after 1957 and were vaccinated before 1968. That’s because early versions of the measles vaccine were made from an inactivated (killed) virus, which didn’t work particularly well, Offit says. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone vaccinated before 1968 get at least one dose of the live attenuated vaccine. Before the first measles vaccines were developed in the 1960s, nearly everyone got the disease during childhood. So people born before 1957 are assumed to have natural immunity.

PSA for 1968-1989 babies: Schaffner says if you’re not sure of your immunity or vaccination status, there’s no harm in getting a shot. If you were vaccinated between 1968 and 1989, you likely received just one dose of the measles vaccine, instead of the two doses that are standard today. One dose alone is highly effective and for most people, it provides more than enough protection, says Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in New York City and author of Booster Shots, a book on the history of measles.

High risk individuals: But Ratner says there are several situations in which the CDC recommends an additional dose of measles vaccine for adults who are considered at high risk. That includes people who are in college settings, work in health care, live or are in close contact with immunocompromised people, or are traveling internationally. “If you’re traveling somewhere where there’s an active outbreak and you’re not sure that you got two doses, it may not be crazy to get a second dose,” Ratner says. And if you live in a community that is experiencing a measles outbreak, your local or state health department may recommend a second dose for adults.

Oh hey, adults over 20 are starting to have complications: It’s worthwhile to make sure you’re protected, because adults over 20 are more likely to develop complications from measles, which can include pneumonia and brain swelling. And measles can also be dangerous — if not deadly — for children. As many as 1 in 20 kids with measles will get pneumonia, and 1 out of 1,000 will develop encephalitis, or brain swelling — which can lead to death or cause deafness or intellectual disabilities.

Texas only has an 80% measles vax rate: Nationwide, kindergarten vaccination rates have fallen below the 95% threshold that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is needed to prevent community outbreaks. In some parts of the U.S., rates are far lower. That includes Gaines County, Texas, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, where the vaccination rate is only at about 80%. Offit says vaccination is the best way to protect children. “I lived through the 1991 Philadelphia measles epidemic, where there were 1,400 cases and nine deaths over a period of three months,” he says. “So I’ve seen children suffer needlessly because of the choice not to get a vaccine. So, please vaccinate your children.”

[From NPR]

Ugh, how is Texas down to only 80% measles vax rate? Are we really that far gone as a society that so many parents refuse to trust a vaccine that has literally been proven so effective that the US was successfully able to declared it “removed” in 2000? That said, I genuinely did not know that anyone who got their measles shot pre-1967 needed to be re-vaccinated. Both of my parents and all three of my in-laws are within this category, so I’m going to make sure that they take care of that business. I somehow successfully forced them all into getting their TDAP booster while I was pregnant, so I’ll have to pull out that same playbook, which was basically, “Get this simple booster or you’re not going to meet your first grandchild!” If you fall within any of these categories, please talk to your doctor about whether or not you need a booster. Meh. I can’t believe we’re still talking about yearly, multiple measles outbreaks in America in 2025, but here we are.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

There’s a school of thought that the best way to learn is through failure. Billy McFarland is doing just that… except possibly without the learning part. In fact, by all outward appearances it seems that he’s just doing the same thing all over again. In 2017, a then-25-year-old McFarland conned hapless rich millennials out of thousands to millions of dollars per ticket for Fyre Festival, a multi-day music fest that ended up having no adequate music, housing, food or plumbing. McFarland was convicted of fraud and served four years of a six year sentence, time he used to write a 50-page plan while in solitary on how to make the next scam festival better. And here we are: Fyre Festival II is allegedly really happening May 30 – June 2 on Mexico’s Isla Mujeres in the Caribbean sea. No musical acts have been confirmed, but there “might” be professional skateboarding or MMA lessons, and tickets are still steeply priced at $1,400 – $1.1 million a pop, depending on which accommodations you select (that hopefully materialize). McFarland announced the latest details on Monday:

“FYRE 2 is real. My dream is finally becoming a reality,” [McFarland] said during his appearance on the show. “FYRE 2 really isn’t about the past, and it’s not really about me. It’s about taking the vision, which is strong.”

While no performers have been announced for the festival, McFarland, 33, confirmed that the lineup will consist of “artists across electronic, hip hop, pop and rock.”

“However, it’s not just music. We might have a professional skateboarder do a demonstration. We might have an MMA champion teach you techniques in the morning,” he said.

Tickets went on sale on Feb. 24, ranging from $1,400 to $1.1 million. Find more ticket information here.

In September, McFarland told TODAY’s Savannah Sellers the festival was taking place from April 25-28 on “a private island off the coast of Mexico in the Caribbean.”

He also said he was planning on having “karate combat” available as entertainment at the festival.

As for the range in ticket prices, McFarland said that the most expensive tickets will be a luxurious experience. “You will be on a boat, have the luxury yachts that we partner with who will be docked and parked outside the island.”

“But once again, Fyre is not just about this, like, luxury experience. It’s about the adventure. So you’ll be scuba diving with me,” he said. “You’ll be bouncing around to other islands and other countries on small planes.”

McFarland also confirmed that cheese sandwiches — which took the internet by storm after the first festival — will be on the menu.

“We will have cheese sandwiches,” McFarland said. “They’re going to be super expensive, too. We’re going to make them, like, really good. That’ll be the highest-priced food item, I think.”

[From People]

Well I for one am looking forward to another documentary! The first fiasco famously led to two great docs — FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened on Netflix, and Fyre Fraud on Hulu. Once again, McFarland sounds like he’s promising A LOT, with virtually (actually?) no guarantees. And yet, people are buying tickets… I will say, hyping up the (rumored) additions of MMA and karate lessons is a curious choice. Like he sat in solitary and thought, “What’s the ONE thing that was missing last time when people were hopping mad about having no food, lodgings, toilets, or performances? I know! Expert instruction on combat!” Also, when he says the cheese sandwiches will be the most expensive food, I get the concept of rebranding a flop into a signature (think: Jessica Simpson + Chicken of the Sea). But do you mean to tell me all that money for tix doesn’t include food?! Looking at the different ticket options on their site, they talk about access to experiences and chauffeur services and getting discounted rates at local hotels or staying on yachts, but there’s a serious lack of food discussion! And super nerd alert: it irked me no end that the website flits between “Fyre II” and “Fyre 2.” Pick a style and commit!!

And at the end of the day, this is still only the second most alarming repeat event of 2025.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FYRE FESTIVAL (@fyrefestival)

Photos via Instagram and YouTube/The Today Show

The 2024-25 awards season has been both boring and chaotic. Chaotic because of how many people and performances got snubbed – not to mention Karla Sofia Gascon’s mess – and boring because I feel like this is one of those years where the Oscars are out of touch with what people are actually watching and talking about. Last year, we had two of the biggest films of the year going head to head (Oppenheimer and Barbie). This year, we’ve got a bunch of films that few people have even seen. Bizarrely, several major “movie stars” turned in fun, exciting performances and they all got snubbed. Denzel Washington was one of them – while Gladiator II was not a great movie, Denzel was amazing in it and he was having an absolute blast. Denzel is also arguably the greatest living American actor – why did they make a point of snubbing him? I don’t know. But he’s not taking it personally. He gave a somewhat terse interview to the New York Times and he was asked about the snub. Some highlights:

On the Oscar snub: “I was sitting there smiling, going: Look at you. On the day you didn’t get a nomination for an Oscar, you’re working on Othello on Broadway. Are you kidding me? Awww. Oh, I’m so upset. Listen, I’ve been around too long. I’m getting wiser, working on talking less and learning to understand more — and that’s exciting.”

Why he loves going back to the stage: “I think that still gives me the greatest joy: acting onstage as opposed to acting in movies.”

Whether it feels risky to do Othello on stage: “In light of all that’s going on in our world, all that’s going on in our state, California, and our city specifically — it’s just a play. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but when put in perspective, it’s just a play.

Watching the Southern California fires: “Just as a spectator and just being amazed — the scope and devastation. And then hearing about a lot of people in our industry who’ve been affected. It’s unbelievable. [Whether it makes him want to move out of CA]: You mean like run? Nah, doesn’t make me want to live somewhere else.

He takes jobs for the money: “When I learned about my least favorite uncle, my Uncle Sam, that was the eye opener. I’m like, He takes what? That’s the reality of it, and a dollar is not a dollar. By the time agents, lawyer, business manager, Uncle Sam, everybody else gets finished with you, a dollar’s about 38 cents. So you’ve got to cobble those 38 cents together to make a real dollar. You’re asking me, Did I ever take a job for money? I’ve taken every job for money. There’s no job I’ve taken where I went: You guys just keep the money. I’m just so glad to be an actor. I don’t even want the money.

On his wife Pauletta: Yes [she’s an actor], and singer and concert pianist. Are you familiar with the Van Cliburn competition? My wife was a Van Cliburn competitor. Juilliard. North Carolina School of the Arts. I married up.”

[From The NY Times]

If Denzel is going to do anything, it’s talk about how much he admires his wife and give her as much credit as possible. Their kids are like that too – I’ve seen John David deflect questions about his father by saying “AND my mother Pauletta” and talking a lot about his mother’s influence. Pauletta has always run that whole house. As for what Denzel says about the snub… like, he’s a grown up, he’s got other things on his plate, he’s not going to sulk or be childish about it. But the rest of us can sulk on his behalf! It’s flat-out bonkers that the Academy blanked him.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

People love Kathy Bates in the Matlock reboot! She won the Critics Choice Award for the role earlier this month, and it was one of her two nominations at this weekend’s SAG Awards (the other was for The Great Lillian Hall). After watching the clips for both performances, I think the SAGs could easily create a new category: Kathy Bates Loses Her Sh-t. The nominees could be Kathy, plus all the scene partners she yells at! Anyway, I’m thrilled Kathy is getting her flowers. And now that I’ve established my admiration for Ms. Bates, I must begin a difficult conversation. It has been brought to my attention that Kathy has attended every award show in 2025 wearing… SNEEX! The (demonic) brainchild of Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Sneex are a sneaker–high heel hybrid, in which you get the toe of a sneaker bolstered by a three-inch heel. I’ve been against them since they debuted six months ago, but seeing Kathy embrace them whole-heartedly is throwing me off balance — and I’m not even wearing fashion stilts!

Kathy Bates is looking her best in her signature shoe at the SAG Awards 2025.

The star, 76, arrived at the star-studded ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 23, wearing a classically tailored look featuring a cinched shiny black blazer with matching pants.

She ditched traditional heels in favor of Sneex, the mesh heel-sneaker hybrid that she’s been wearing all awards season. This time, she rocked a pair of The Icon heels, which retail for $395, in a black and white colorway, which she also did for the Critics Choice Awards on Feb. 7.

Bates’ Sneex streak first started at the Golden Globes, where she turned heads in a monochromatic black ensemble and a pair of the sporty heels in navy.

Though her look was minimalist, Bates made sure to pile on the bling. Her accessories included Pomellato interlocking earrings made of 18K rose gold, a matching Pomellato rose gold necklace with diamonds and a ring adorned with a large black gemstone.

Bates is a double nominee at this year’s ceremony. She is nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a TV movie or limited series for her role in The Great Lillian Hall and for outstanding performance in a drama series for playing the titular character in Matlock.

Bates’ latest look adds to her stylish — yet comfy — award show fashion.

At the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, the Misery star wore a simple yet chic black moto-style jacket and black undershirt. She showed off the entirety of her rock-and-roll inspired outfit when she was named best actress in a drama series for Matlock.

In January, Bates wore a beautifully beaded dinner jacket that cinched at her waist to the 2025 Golden Globes. Adding to the look were black tuxedo pants and a sparkling evening bag. She styled her hair in a retro half-up style with lots of bounce.

[From People]

I agree with People Mag’s sartorial verdict that Kathy has been looking resplendent this year. She has a bounce in her step, and it’s not just from sporting this identity crisis of a shoe. Kathy’s lost a dramatic amount of weight — 100 pounds since she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2017. Around the time of the Emmys last year, Kathy talked about how exciting it was for her to fit into clothes differently. So I definitely think we’re seeing that rekindled sense of joy and fun play out on the red carpet. But… but… must that include Sneex?! Despite my protestations, these kicks have been an unmitigated business success story. I guess I’m just a die-hard anti-heel girl. Also, if it were up to me to engineer the unicorn hybrid heaker/sneel, I would want the toe part that peeks out from underneath the skirt or pants to emulate a fancy high heel, and then have comfort in the back of the shoe (ie, no heel). So a fashiony front in an overall supportive, level frame — what would that look like? Oh yeah, FLATS.

Look, if the day ever comes that my feet find themselves ensconced, happily, in one of these things, I will be the first to admit my flip flop on the issue. But as long as they’re still running $400-$600 a pair (which they are), I’ll remain comfortable in my indignation. I mean sneakers!

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, screenshot from YouTube/Critics Choice Awards and Getty

People are feral for Walton Goggins on The White Lotus. But he is married in real life, and he and his wife own a gorgeous Hudson Valley property. [JustJared]
More analysis on Timothee Chalamet’s SAG win and what it means for the Best Actor Oscar race. After seeing The Brutalist, I honestly hope Chalamet wins! [LaineyGossip]
The White Lotus’s critique of the wellness industry. [Jezebel]
Harrison Ford & Jessica Williams are a delight together. [Pajiba]
This Scandinavian kitchen is stressing people out. [Buzzfeed]
Some Nazi news of the week. [Socialite Life]
I’m thinking about doing an Oscar prediction post, would you guys be interested in it? I kind of think Anora isn’t getting Best Picture. [Hollywood Life]
Who has the drier sense of humor, David Duchovny or Harrison Ford? [Seriously OMG]
Who was the best-dressed of the Spirit Awards? [RCFA]
I hate all of these Trumpers with the power of a thousand suns. [OMG Blog]

Photos courtesy of Fabio Lovino/HBO/Avalon and Avalon Red.

I’m not surprised that Jason Knauf’s 60 Minutes Australia interview is getting so much attention. In fact, I thought it was weird that the teaser for the interview got so little attention when it dropped on Friday. This was Knauf’s first on-camera interview ever (I think?) and he spoke on the record about Prince William, Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan. Knauf is technically not working for the monarchy or heir at this point, although he’s still involved (in some way) with Earthshot. Plus, it definitely seems like he’s an informal advisor to William and that they’re still quite close. Close enough for people to point out Knauf’s very obvious timing. Even the Daily Beast’s Royalist pointed out that Knauf’s interview makes it look like Prince William is obsessively following everything the Duchess of Sussex does.

Damaging allegations that Meghan Markle was a workplace bully have been revived by an unprecedented TV interview by key Prince William loyalist Jason Knauf, just a week before Meghan’s new show is due to drop on Netflix. The intervention risks being seen as a calculated attempt by a royal family loyalist to damage Meghan’s reinvention as a warm-hearted, jam-making, bee-keeping homemaker.

It will confound Pollyannas who have expressed the hope that William wishes his sister-in-law success in her new career, and serve instead to reinforce the perception that the Sussexes and the Windsors are locked in an intractable feud. Knauf is a former key palace aide, who first worked for Kate, William and Harry, and then for Meghan and Harry, as communications secretary. However, he subsequently turned into one of Meghan’s most powerful and implacable enemies.
He betrayed Meghan and accused her of bullying and turned on her in a court case she brought (and won) against the Daily Mail. Meghan denied the bullying allegations.

He is openly aligned with the Waleses, having remained a close friend of Prince William. He is a trustee of William’s Earthshot Foundation and was knighted in 2023. He has now given an extraordinary interview to 60 Minutes Australia in which he suggested he stood by the allegations he made against Meghan.

The timing of the interview just a week before her new show, With Love, Meghan, drops recalls, for some, the timing of the publication of Knauf’s last intervention on the matter of Meghan’s management style. In 2021, just days before Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey was due to screen, an email sent by Knauf in 2018, accusing Meghan of having bullied two personal assistants out of their jobs, was published by the London Times. The leak was widely seen as a pre-emptive strike aimed at tarnishing Meghan’s credibility ahead of the Oprah interview.

Asked about that time in the sit-down with 60 Minutes Australia, Knauf, a New Zealander by birth, said he had “no regrets” and added: “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

While he sought to ostensibly couch his response as a generalized one, Knauf, a seasoned PR and reputation management expert, is unlikely not to have considered that his remarks would be construed as doubling down on his 2018 assessment that Meghan was a manipulative bully.

It is also inconceivable that he wouldn’t have sought William’s permission to give the interview, given that he remains a close friend of William, as the documentary makes clear. They are so close that, as Knauf says, William called him privately to tell him about Kate’s cancer diagnosis.

[From The Daily Beast]

While the 60 Minutes Australia segment featured information about Knauf’s letter to Simon Case – the letter in which Knauf accused Meghan of bullying two personal assistants out of the job – they used a voiceover to recite the letter and Knauf was not asked about the letter directly, nor was he asked anything about “the bullying accusations” specifically. He was asked how the whole thing made him feel, basically. Anyway, I think it’s interesting that the Royalist’s peggy sources have seemingly dried up and now Tom Sykes is saying this sh-t outright, that Knauf’s interview was specifically timed to f–k with Meghan’s Netflix show, and that this was yet another Kensington Palace operation. Maybe some of the Royalist’s “sources” can tell William that it’s pathetic to still be so obsessed with his sister-in-law.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Backgrid, Cover Images, Avalon Red, 60 Minutes Australia.

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin’s TLC reality show, The Balwins, premiered on Sunday night. I didn’t watch it, not even to hate-watch or mock it. I just find the whole thing to be uncomfortable because Hilaria is clearly some baby-crazy grifter with an entirely falsified backstory, and Alec is… well, we already know. So, no, I won’t watch, but I will cover stories that come out of this mess. Apparently, there was a conversation about prenups and whether Hilaria signed one. Spoiler: she did not. Hilariously, Hilaria claimed that she didn’t understand what a “prenup” was at the time. She was 28 years old and a Boston-born, NYU-educated woman when she married Alec. But there was a larger scam at play, and Hilaria got what she wanted.

Hilaria Baldwin didn’t exactly know what she was getting herself into during the early days of her marriage to Alec Baldwin. During the Sunday, Feb. 23 premiere of the couple’s new reality series, The Baldwins, Hilaria, 41, and Alec, 66, reflected on the conversation they had about a prenup before their 2012 wedding — a topic Alec brought up given his first marriage to Kim Basinger had failed.

“She wasn’t happy about it. It’s an awkward thing,” Alec recalled in a confessional, and Hilaria said she did “not quite understand what a prenup” was when he asked her.

“Because you are like, ‘After a certain number of kids, it’s this.’ And I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll just sign it,’ which was probably very stupid of me back then.”

She would “read it again” if she was faced with the question now, but the couple ended up agreeing that neither of them wanted a prenup anyway. “I just said, ‘I won’t sign it. I don’t really want to think about the end by the beginning.’ And then, you were like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to do it either,’” Hilaria said.

During the couple’s recent PEOPLE interview about the TLC series, they shared that they did not sign a prenup before their marriage, as Alec joked, “Can you imagine having a prenup with her?”

“We did not sign a prenup because — I said I would, and then you’re like, ‘Okay, we don’t have to,’” Hilaria said.

Alec then alleged that she “started to cry a little bit,” to which his wife rebuffed, “Oh, my God, I did not cry.” She also joked that signing one would go “against my gold-digging values,” poking fun at speculation over the nature of her and Alec’s relationship.

[From People]

I love how her fake-Spanish comes and goes to the point where she forgets the word “cucumber” and plays dumb about prenups, and yet she’s sly enough to make a golddigger joke. To be fair, I don’t think Alec is rolling in money at this point. I mean, he’s comfortable, he’s not poor, but he and Hilaria have a high overhead – seven children, lots of nannies, and maintaining at least two homes. There’s a reason why they finally agreed to the reality show, I’m just saying. Alec is a fool for shrugging off the prenup too, but I agree that it doesn’t even matter at this point, not after seven kids.

PS… You guys were right about Hilaria getting her bust refurbished. Those are some big-ass bolt-ons.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.