Piers Morgan has Covid and he’ll host his talk show from home. [Seriously OMG]
Penelope Cruz wore Chanel to promote Ferrari in London. [RCFA]
Charles Melton won a Breakthrough award and he honored his Korean mother in his emotional speech. I really love this guy. [LaineyGossip]
Britney Spears won’t reconcile with her amputee father. [Pajiba]
More photos from the British Fashion Awards. [Go Fug Yourself]
Kim Kardashian took Saint to a Lakers game. [Just Jared]
You guys, stop putting watermelon helmets on your dogs. [OMG Blog]
Tiffany & Co’s Christmas ornaments are very sweet. [Tom & Lorenzo]
I do not want to see these Sebastian Stan photos. [Hollywood Life]
A warrant has been issued for the son of RHOSLC’s Mary Cosby. [Starcasm]
Weird things you’ve seen at rich people’s houses. [Buzzfeed]

In October, we learned that Lupita Nyong’o broke up with Selema Masekela. She deleted the (few) photos she had of Selema on her social media and she was posting through her pain – whatever Selema did, he really f–ked her up. She was really heartbroken, to the point where she adopted a big orange tomcat to help her heal. As we learned about Lupita’s breakup, she was photographed with Joshua Jackson at a Janelle Monae concert. We were told, at the time, that they are longtime friends and nothing more. It felt notable though, given Joshua’s also-recent split from Jodie Turner-Smith. Well… it looks like Joshua and Lupita might really be helping each other through their respective splits, because they were seen out together yet again.

Joshua Jackson and Lupita Nyong’o clearly don’t want anyone to know they’re spending a whole lotta time together — going to great lengths to avoid being snapped together during a joint grocery run.

The Oscar winner made a valiant attempt — albeit unsuccessfully — to duck out of view when arriving with the “Dawson’s Creek” star to Erewhon in L.A. Monday. Lupita ducked in the passenger’s seat, but was still spotted.

Despite their foiled plan, Joshua continued to maintain the illusion of a solo outing as he headed into the store first … with Lupita following suit minutes later.

While the pair have yet to confirm their relationship, their shenanigans suggest their relationship is beyond friendship.

Joshua and Lupita have known each other for years … with their connection seemingly heating up in October at Janelle Monáe’s concert. While there was no PDA at the show, the outing raised eyebrows … especially considering Lupita called it quits with her BF, Sal Masekela, the same day … and swiftly deleted all traces of him from her IG.

[From TMZ]

I’m coming at this story as someone who loves Lupita and thinks Lupita can do no wrong – if she needs to cry on Joshua’s shoulder, so be it. If she needs to rebound with Joshua, that’s cool. If they’re getting serious, that’s fine with me. I just want what’s best for her and I genuinely hope that Joshua isn’t the next guy to break her heart. I also hope Joshua gets along with that orange tomcat.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images, Lupita’s Instagram.

The lunatics at the far-right-wing Heritage Foundation have been targeting Prince Harry for the entire year. Heritage, an American “think tank,” is populated with neo-conservatives and neo-fascists from America and the UK, and it’s clear that the hard right-wing in America and the UK have agreed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex must be targeted, they must be subjected to a transatlantic hate campaign, they must be made to feel unsafe. Heritage has repeatedly sued the American government in a deranged attempt to get their hands on Harry’s visa application. They have been repeatedly blocked. Heritage’s lunatics have explicitly said that their goal is to have Harry deported back to the UK. Homeland Security has explicitly and repeatedly said that Harry (and every visa applicant) has a right to privacy. That’s where we are. Now Heritage is throwing another hissy fit:

Prince Harry has been accused of “bragging and encouraging illegal drug use” in the latest court filing calling for the Duke’s US visa application to be released. In his controversial memoir, Spare, The Duke of Sussex described taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, saying “psychedelics did me some good.”

Following its publication, think tank the Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), questioning why the Duke was allowed into the US in 2020, and why he has been allowed to stay. The Biden administration has pushed back with lawyers arguing visa applications are “private personal information”.

But the Heritage Foundation has said the former royal waived his right to privacy when he “sold every aspect of his private life for, in some estimates, over $135 million”, adding that his claims of his right to privacy have been “met with widespread public ridicule”. In a court filing, the think tank claims the Duke had “voluntarily—and for immense profit—admitted in writing to the elements of any number of controlled substance violations. (Indeed, some say HRH has approached the point of bragging and encouraging illegal drug use.)”

They said he had made the revelations “despite the fact that it is widely known that such admissions can have adverse immigration consequences for non-citizens and despite employing preeminent legal advisors on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The “case is further bespoke in that HRH—again for immense profit—detailed his immigration decisions and manner of entry in writing and via Netflix video”, they added, Newsweek reported. The think tank said the Duke’s status as a public figure “significantly reduces his privacy interests”.

“The Duke of Sussex must take the good with the bad. Having sold all manner of private matters for profit—including specific details on his taking up residence in the United States and every detail of his years of illegal drug use to the point of braggadocio—HRH must accept a substantially diminished privacy interest,” the filing adds.

[From The Telegraph]

This is a targeted hate campaign being waged by one of the most prominent ultra-conservative think-tanks in America. As I’ve covered this mess throughout the year, I’ve grown more and more unsettled by Heritage’s increasingly deranged claims and their disturbing legal strategy. They know that they have no chance of actually acquiring Harry’s visa records, so their goals are: to bring more hate and danger to Harry’s door, to put an even bigger target on his back, and to provide “content” to the British media. The Telegraph, the Mail, the Sun, all of those outlets breathlessly report on Heritage’s barrage of unhinged filings and lawsuits. There’s real money behind this too. It’s so disturbing.

Note by CB: Get the Top 8 stories about the Heritage Foundation targeting Prince Harry when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Over the weekend, several British outlets claimed that King Charles would hold “crisis talks” with Prince William and Kate, all about the “mistranslation” of Omid Scobie’s Endgame. The mistranslation, as Piers Morgan announced on live television, named Kate and Charles as the two “racist royals” discussed in Charles and the Duchess of Sussex’s 2021 letters. According to the Express, some kind of crisis meeting was held on Monday evening, a meeting between Charles, William and Kate. There’s no mention of Camilla’s inclusion in the crisis talks, which is weird, right? The way Camilla has completely avoided being named in any analysis of this situation is so odd. In any case, the results of the crisis talks are: no official statement, it doesn’t look like the palace will sue anyone, and the racist royals are currently on a “charm offensive.”

Senior members of the royal family have “no official response” after Piers Morgan claimed that Omid Scobie’s Endgame stated King Charles III and Kate Middleton made allegedly “racist” comments about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son, Archie.

“The royals have all held strategy meetings regarding how to handle the accusations of racism,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, noting that royal family members plan to “respond through their actions.”

Multiple reports claimed that the Dutch version of the book was published with the names printed, which the author denied. Morgan, 58, for his part, alleged during a November 29 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored that Charles, 75, and Kate, 41, were the names printed in the Dutch version. The British people “who actually pay for the British royal family” are “entitled” to know, Morgan stated on his show.

The insider told Us, however, that Kate “has made no such comments” and “Kate feels that she has been unfairly dragged into this.”

A separate source told Us last week that Kate “was 100 percent not one of the people who discussed it.” The insider added, “She is saddened that her name got pulled into this because she had nothing to do with it.”

Morgan echoed similar sentiments, during his broadcast, saying that he doesn’t “believe any racist comments were ever made by any of the royal family.”

[From Us Weekly]

Family members plan to “respond through their actions.” As in, more diversity props, more photo-ops with people of color, more “we’re not racists” charm offensives. They did the same thing after Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview. I suppose this is their new normal, how miserable. I actually feel sorry for all of the people of color who will get dragged into photo-ops with the Windsors – it’s obvious that in many cases, these are basically hostage situations – you must pose with Kate or William or you will be destroyed by the palace machinery.

As for Kate apparently denying it – lol. I mean, she’s absolutely a f–king Karen and I would imagine she’s said and done a lot of racist sh-t for years. But I’ve always been open to the possibility that Kate wasn’t the person named in Meghan’s letter to Charles. I’ve always believed that out of everyone, the most likely culprits are William and Camilla.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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It’s weird to reconcile Taylor Swift the Savvy Billionaire with Taylor Swift the Woman With So Much Personal Drama. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this year – Taylor is so accessible to her fans and accessible as a celebrity, going about her life, hanging out with her football player boyfriend. going to dinner with friends and writing blind-item lyrics. And she’s also one of the canniest marketers of the modern era, a self-made billionaire with a Midas Touch. Taylor covers People Magazine’s 2023 Most Intriguing People issue this week. This is sort of People’s annual wrap-up, a who’s who of “fascinating” or “intriguing” celebrities in 2023. It had to be Tay-Tay.

Taylor Swift is on top of the world and more in control than ever as she closes out her biggest year yet — which is why she’s on the cover of PEOPLE’s 2023 Most Intriguing People of the Year issue.

Her record-shattering Eras Tour (a 3.5-hour spectacle that draws from her 10 albums and spawned a history-making concert film) helped boost Swift to billionaire status, Forbes reported in October. Rerecordings of her early albums (which she began to release after her original label head sold them to music manager Scooter Braun) have even made vinyl records popular with Gen Z: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) broke the record for the largest vinyl sales week ever in October with at least 580,000 copies sold.

And the 12-time Grammy winner remains a force in pop culture, defining friendship goals with her tightknit group of girlfriends and causing Taylor-mania in the NFL amid her new romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“She never really stops writing songs,” says the National frontman Aaron Dessner, 47, who first began working with the star on her 2020 pandemic projects Folklore and Evermore. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and I’ve never seen anyone wait on her. When I have stayed at her house, Taylor herself was cooking everyone breakfast and dinner. She’s legitimately just a very down to earth and hard-working person.”

While she’s accomplished more in a year than anyone in the game, Swift may be even busier in 2024. Touring through next December, she has two more albums to re-release and has frequently been spotted at an N.Y.C. recording studio with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff; she’s up for six more Grammys in February; and her feature film directorial debut based on an original script she’s written is still in the works.

“Taylor has so many stories to tell,” says Dessner. “I think she’ll keep inventing new ways and methods of writing and keep expanding this enchanted universe of her own making that we all get to enjoy.”

Swift’s longtime friend, Paramore rocker Hayley Williams, 34, agrees.

“I’m almost afraid to say it,” Williams ponders, “but I kind of think she’s just getting started.”

[From People]

“When I have stayed at her house, Taylor herself was cooking everyone breakfast and dinner. She’s legitimately just a very down to earth and hard-working person.” True or false? I sort of believe that Taylor likes to play hostess and all of that, but surely she has domestic staff?? Doesn’t she have a maid or a cook or both? How can you be a whole-ass billionaire and not have household staff??? A question for the ages: does Taylor clean the kitty litter all by herself?

As I was writing this up, guess who was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year? Jesus, it really was The Year of Taylor Swift. You can see Taylor’s POTY package here. I actually love that Time chose an entertainer for POTY – all too often, Time chooses a politician. Taylor has the power to bring governments to their knees.

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Covers & Instagrams courtesy of People Magazine and Time Magazine.

Over the weekend, Roya Nikkhah at the Sunday Times had a very important royal exclusive: Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, will snub the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and not invite them to his June 2024 wedding. Considering Nikkhah reported it, the big exclusive absolutely came from Kensington Palace. The vibe of the whole story was that Prince William threw a tantrum and demanded that Grosvenor snub the Sussexes, and then William leaked the whole thing as a slam on Harry. Meanwhile, Harry is playing with his children and dogs in sunny California while William rages to Roya. The whole thing is incredibly pathetic. Hilariously, they’re dragging Camilla into it now – there’s a long history of Grosvenor family weddings being the site of royal shenanigans, apparently.

When the Duke of Westminster made the ‘incredibly sad’ decision to exclude the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from his wedding next summer, he was mindful of the royal row that complicated his sister’s ceremony at the same venue. The Daily Mail understands that the Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, was ‘very conscious’ of the tensions surrounding the wedding of Lady Tamara Grosvenor and Edward van Cutsem at Chester Cathedral in 2004 and did not want anything similar at his own.

‘Hugh knows how sensitive wedding invitations can be,’ a friend of the family told this newspaper.

Camilla Parker Bowles was invited to his sister’s wedding but was told that she would not be permitted to sit with Prince Charles and would have to sit several rows back. She would also have to arrive separately. This was because Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were due to attend the ceremony. A Buckingham Palace courtier was quoted as saying at the time: ‘It may provoke comment on the day, but Her Majesty will also be attending and she is a stickler for protocol. A pew will be set aside for the members of the Royal Family attending, and it would be inappropriate for Mrs Parker Bowles to sit beside Prince Charles since she has no official standing. Even for Mrs Parker Bowles to arrive with the Prince at the event, in the presence of the Queen, would be to confer rights and status upon her that she simply does not have.’

There had previously been very few official occasions at which both Mrs Parker Bowles, as she then was, and the Queen had been present. Among them were the Westminster Abbey service for the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation, a pop concert in the garden of Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s Jubilee, and the Queen Mother’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.

According to Viscountess Bangor, better known as the distinguished author Sarah Bradford, Mrs Parker Bowles was apparently so infuriated to read in a newspaper diary column that royal protocol would mean she couldn’t sit beside Charles at the wedding that she told the heir to the throne that the status quo was no longer acceptable. She and Prince Charles pulled out of attending Lady Tamara’s wedding, which, like her brother’s, was described as the society event of the year. It was reported that Charles took the decision because he was unhappy about the treatment of Mrs Parker Bowles.

The wedding was attended by 650 guests, including the Queen, Prince Philip, and Princes William and Harry.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s true that the 2004 wedding “seating snub” was some kind of turning point for Camilla, although Charles would not actually propose to Camilla until months after that wedding snub. Weirdly, I think the protocol around seating would be a lot looser at a society wedding than at a royal funeral, but what do I know. In any case, it absolutely sounds like Hugh Grosvenor is being used as pawn in one of William’s unhinged schemes, which is weird because Hugh is a very rich, very important person in British high society. William’s rage and need to drag Hugh into this mess could come back to bite William in a big way. You’ve got to think that many of those aristocrats have been looking for a way to put William in his place.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are more photos of the Princess of Wales on Tuesday, as she opened a new Children’s Day Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London. In the comment section yesterday, someone freaked out that I didn’t name the CEO of Evelina London, Gubby Ayida, a name which was not included in any of Kensington Palace’s media briefings, nor was it a name included in most of the coverage of Kate’s event. Probably because to the palace, diversity props’ names are not important. The point of the event was explicitly to get Kate photographed with as many people of color as possible, as you can see from these photos.

The point, as the Daily Mail reports, was to have Kate and the rest of the royals go on a “charm offensive” to prove that they’re not racist, although it comes across as “we were only racist to Meghan, not anyone else.” The Mail’s headline was seriously this: “Harry who? Royals will put on a united front at Buckingham Palace Christmas Diplomatic Reception tonight as they brush off Omid Scobie racism row – after Kate delighted youngsters at new children’s hospital and William sold the Big Issue.”

The Royal Family has embarked on a ‘charm offensive’ as they brush off the fallout from Omid Scobie’s racism row – with William taking to the streets to sell the Big Issue, Kate visiting a children’s hospital and King Charles preparing to host a Buckingham Palace banquet.

The Prince of Wales left shoppers stunned this morning after he was spotted selling the magazine outside a Tesco in Hammersmith, West London. The beaming royal, 41, appeared relaxed as he chatted to vendor Dave Martin, 61, who has been a friend since they hit the streets to sell the magazine together 18 months ago.

Kate was also out and about today, receiving a warm welcome as she opened a new Children’s Day Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London before reuniting with fundraising amputee Tony Hudgell and his adoptive mother.

[From The Daily Mail]

The fact that these people have to go on “we’re not racist” charm offensives in the year of our lord Beyonce 2023 will always be funny to me. The fact that they’re this ridiculously obvious, that their comms offices are explicitly briefing the Mail about their intentions too. “Will and Kate are going on a charm offense, yes, please use those words, we’ll make sure to send a Black child over to hand flowers to Kate.”

William’s poverty tourism isn’t helping matters either.

Note by CB: Get the Top 10 stories from Omid Scobie’s Endgame when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Great to be back with Dave, selling the latest edition of the @BigIssue once again!

Find your nearest vendor this festive season: https://t.co/4Gauhs9Hgy pic.twitter.com/BEtDn0Hwak

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 5, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

This week, Prince Harry’s lawyers are in court, arguing about his security when he’s in the UK. When QEII was alive, she made sure that he and Meghan had royal protection when they visited, but this situation is now in dire straits with Harry’s father on the throne. Something that never made sense to me about the timeline in 2020 is when did the Sussexes’ royal protection really get pulled and when were they officially “cut off” from the institution? Omid Scobie writes, in Endgame, that the final cutoff happened in July 2020, when the Lord Chamberlain made good on his threat to cut off Harry when Harry refused to drop his legal action against the Sun, which led straight to Christian Jones. But we also know that Tyler Perry basically had to provide his private security to the Sussexes by the end of March 2020. Now, at least the timeline makes slightly more sense – Ravec cut off Harry’s security rather suddenly in February 2020.

RAVEC, a committee that also included police and senior palace aides who Harry had fallen out with, made the decision in February 2020 after he announced his decision to quit a month earlier and before his final royal engagements that March.

Shaheed Fatima, Harry’s attorney, told the court RAVEC’s own policies suggested an assessment by the Risk Management Board (RMB) should have been taken before he was stripped of his protection.

“In this case RAVEC chose not to follow its own written policy,” she told the High Court in London. “RAVEC chose not to do an RMB risk analysis. RAVEC therefore chose to apply a far inferior procedure to [Harry] that lacked the critical safeguards that have been built into the written policy.”

The prince’s team believe it is the first time the Home Office has done this and Fatima added: “No good reason has been provided for singling [Harry] out in this way. The critical point is that when that decision was taken he was still a full-time working member of the royal family,” she continued. “He was plainly still in the RAVEC cohort and the written policies should have been applied to him.”

She said “the court does not need to make a decision about” whether Harry should get “protective security,” but rather whether the decision was unlawful. It is possible that even if Harry wins, the government will simply take the same decision again using a different process.

[From Newsweek]

“It is possible that even if Harry wins, the government will simply take the same decision again using a different process.” Yep. I mean, I support Harry and I find this case really fascinating, because Harry is exposing some really disgusting sh-t at the heart of the royal protection bureaucracy, but nothing is going to change. It’s through this case that I learned that royal protection does not follow the threat, it follows favoritism and rank. Harry and Meghan were in serious danger and under siege from violent racists and lunatics – but because Harry was disliked by Edward Young and because the Windsors wanted to put the Sussexes “in their place,” they limited and ultimately removed the Sussexes’ protection. It’s short-sighted and extremely dangerous. And whatever happens with Harry’s case, the end result will be the same – Ravec has made it abundantly clear that the Sussexes need to be in mortal danger and that the Sussexes cannot pay for their police protection if they ever visit the UK.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

You guys, this is the second GREAT Stella McCartney ensemble I’ve seen in as many days. What is happening? Usually I loathe all things Stella McCartney, but Pamela Anderson’s Stella outfit at the British Fashion Awards was amazing, and now look at Taylor Swift’s Stella McCartney coat and matching miniskirt. They’re outstanding! I love that tweed, I love everything about her street-style look here (except the shoes). The coat is apparently $2900. Yikes, too rich for me, but it does look great on Tay.

These are pics of Taylor out to dinner last night in Tribeca. She flew out of Kansas City yesterday I think, or maybe Monday? Some outlets described her flight back to New York as “sudden,” but… that’s where she lives, and she’s not just going to camp out in Kansas City permanently. Especially when Meredith, Benjamin and Olivia are probably still living in New York. I don’t see any gossip about Taylor’s dinner companions, so it’s possible she just went out with her security guys – they went to Paros, a Greek restaurant.

The Kansas City Chiefs will play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and the game is at Arrowhead in KC. Will Taylor fly back down this weekend to see her man play? This past Sunday was the first time the Chiefs lost with Taylor in attendance. I wonder…

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Last year, the Windsors made a big deal over the Princess of Wales’s second piano recital, her “Together at Christmas” event at Westminster Abbey. King Charles, Queen Camilla, and almost all of the left-behind Windsors made a point of coming out to the event. Many of the women wore matching burgundy coats, because the Duchess of Sussex talked about all of the fashion rules for royal women, so the burgundy coats were seen as some kind of “dig” at Meghan. This was happening at the same time as the Harry & Meghan docuseries aired as well, so you get the picture – united front and all that. One year later, and the front is no longer all that united. Harry’s memoir was a huge cultural moment, and the Windsors are currently trying to ignore Omid Scobie’s Endgame and the outing of two alleged “racist royals,” Charles and Kate. Hilariously, Charles and Camilla made a point of scheduling something out of town on the night of Kate’s third annual piano recital.

King Charles III will be 100 miles away on the day of Kate Middleton’s major winter project as the pair are swept up in a media storm over Meghan Markle’s race allegations.

Charles was named in the Dutch-language version of new royal book Endgame, released on Tuesday, November 28, as the royal who commented on the then-unborn Prince Archie’s skin tone; the Princess of Wales was said to have been present at the time. The names have not been officially confirmed, but were included in the Dutch-language version of Endgame in error, the book’s publisher said, and copies were pulled from shelves. Since the revelation, Charles and Kate have been engulfed in a frenzy of news stories, although the British press has largely been supportive of the royals while condemning author Omid Scobie.

The saga will almost certainly be the backdrop to Kate’s Together at Christmas Carol Service, at Westminster Abbey, in London, on Friday. The press release said that “other Members of the Royal Family” will be present, sparking a headline in the U.K. newspaper Daily Mirror about family unity.

However, hours later, Buckingham Palace announced that the king has an engagement the same day at his Highgrove Estate, in Gloucestershire, England, more than 100 miles away.

A Kensington Palace press release read: “Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales, and other Members of the Royal Family will attend the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey on Friday 8th December.”

On the same day, the king will attend what the palace described as a “Celebration of Craft” Reception, hosted by his charity The King’s Foundation at his Highgrove estate.

[From Newsweek]

Charles reportedly prefers to spend his weekends at Highgrove, so I can understand (logistically) why he wouldn’t stick around in London on a Friday evening just to attend Kate’s dumb event. Although it IS funny – he would rather celebrate local crafters at Highgrove than put on a united (racist) front with Kate, William and the left-behinds. I absolutely wonder if this whole controversy might be the beginning of the institutional cooling-off for Kate.

Note by CB: Get the top 8 stories about the Waleses stealing King Charles’s thunder when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.