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Courtney Cox covers the latest issue of Marie Claire, in an interview which was conducted during the SAG-AFTRA strike. But it’s okay, because she’s promoting one of her side-gigs. Before now, I did not realize how many celebrities had side-gigs which they will gleefully promote with magazine interviews, but here we are. Cox’s side-gig is Homecourt, which started out as a line of candles but now includes high-end household and cleaning products. In some ways, playing Monica on Friends was a natural fit for Cox, because she really is a clean-freak who loves to deep clean her house. This woman’s natural habitat is knee-deep into a closet reorganization. So, this interview was sort of funny. Some highlights:

She notices everything: “I made this term up, but I feel like I suffer from acute awareness. It’s a pro and a con, but I can’t help but notice everything.”

Letting go of fear: “I used to do a lot of things out of fear, even making connections with people, checking in with people…not taking a chance, a risk. Now, fear doesn’t play nearly as big of a part in my life. I push myself more.”

She’s involved with every detail of Homecourt: “There are a ton of celebrity brands, but I don’t know if all the celebrities that have brands are as involved [as I am]. It’s not something that I’m just getting paid to do; I’m not getting paid. I want it to be perfect. I want it to be the best it can be.”

She loves interior design & seems to have a photographic memory: “I’ve gone through so many different styles. If you [ask me later], ‘what does this room look like?’ I would almost be able to recite every single color, every single thing that I see.”

How she’s made friends: “When I moved to California, I didn’t have any family out here. I was like, I need a community. Where’s the gathering?” Cox took it upon herself to solve the problem. Almost every Sunday for the last 25 years, she has opened her home to new and old friends for casual dinner parties. “People will call and say, ‘Hey, is it okay if I bring three friends?’” Cox says. She’s never said no, even if she would sometimes like to (“I’m not great at that,” she says). Plus, she never knows who she might meet. It was at one of these dinner parties that Cox was introduced to her current partner of 10 years, Johnny McDaid, a musician, who tagged along with his friend and musical collaborator, Ed Sheeran. Other guests have included Taylor Swift, Prince Harry, and Brandi Carlile.

The empty-nester: Her daughter Coco is now in her first semester of college. “I miss that girl every minute,” she says. They FaceTime often; with the dogs too, though “Bear never looks into the camera.” Cox had just visited Coco the week before. “I found myself expecting [to run] into each other’s arms,” she says, laughing. But their reunion wasn’t quite so dramatic. Adds Cox, “I expected her to need more than she does. It’s an adjustment.”

[From Marie Claire]

What she says about Coco hit me hard – Coco is an only child of divorced parents, and I’m sure she’s going through it in her own way, being away from her mom. She just can’t show Courteney that! It’s tough being an only child, especially the first year away at college. As for Homecourt, I’m sure Courteney is saying everything with perfect sincerity, but literally every celebrity with their own side-gig or brand cites “I’m in charge of packaging” as an example of how “involved” they are. Courteney is like “no really, the packaging is based on this and this, that shows how involved I am!” They all do that. But I buy that Cox is very involved.

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Billie Eilish covers the latest issue of Variety. Part of it is advanced promotion for her next studio album, which she’s still finishing as of this interview. Part of it is, I think, a low-key Oscar campaign move. Billie did a song for Barbie – “What Was I Made For,” and the studio might want to submit it for “Best Song” at the Oscars. It’s weird because most people came out of that movie humming “I’m Just Ken,” as performed by Ryan Gosling. Still, Billie is already an Oscar-winner, so maybe she gets priority. Her Variety interview is pretty good – Billie’s interviews can tend towards “navel-gazing” but she’s growing up and developing some good ideas, and she does love to sh-t talk. Some highlights:

Womanity: “Being a woman is just such a war, forever. Especially being a young woman in the public eye. It’s really unfair. It turns out that I’m young, and I have a whole life of s–t I can do. Maybe because my life became so adult very young, I forgot that I was still that young. I settled in a lot of ways: I lived my life as if I were in my 70s. I realized recently that I don’t need to do that.”

Getting out of her comfort zone, taking acting roles: “My life is feeling good. I feel like I’m becoming a person I really love and doing things I feel really proud of. In many ways in my life, I feel like I’m just now waking up.”

She hasn’t always been a girl’s girl: In fact, she’s spent much of her life plagued by the assumption that other women don’t like her. “I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real. I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”

TikTokers making their own videos for “What Was I Made For”: “It was so moving, dude. It was so, so touching. I feel like I helped bring people together, and it felt so special. I wasn’t expecting to have women around the world feel connected.”

On being sexualized when she was so young: “I wasn’t trying to have people not sexualize me. But I didn’t want people to have access to my body, even visually. I wasn’t strong enough and secure enough to show it. If I had shown it at that time, I would have been completely devastated if people had said anything. Maybe my not really caring about being sexualized is because I’ve never felt desired or desirable. I’ve never felt like a woman, to be honest with you. I’ve never felt desirable. I’ve never felt feminine. I have to convince myself that I’m, like, a pretty girl. I identify as ‘she/her’ and things like that, but I’ve never really felt like a girl.”

On her bust: “I have big boobs. I’ve had big boobs since I was nine years old, and that’s just the way I am. That’s how I look…You wear something that’s at all revealing, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, but you didn’t want people to sexualize you?’ You can suck my ass! I’m literally a being that is sexual sometimes. F–k you! Nobody ever says a thing about men’s bodies. If you’re muscular, cool. If you’re not, cool. If you’re rail thin, cool. If you have a dad bod, cool. If you’re pudgy, love it! Everybody’s happy with it. You know why? Because girls are nice. They don’t give a f–k because we see people for who they are!”

[From Variety]

As someone who developed early, I’ve always understood Billie’s love-hate-apathy towards her curves. Like, when you have D-cups as a teenager, it f–ks up your self-image and you’re always on guard about what you wear and how men and boys look at you. When Billie went through that years-long phase of wearing really oversized clothes, I got that. I understood that she was mostly uncomfortable with her body and people’s reactions to it. Her comments about not being a girl’s girl are interesting too – my theory is that relates to how she was homeschooled, and she probably didn’t have many (if any) strong female friendships growing up.

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As we’ve discussed a lot this week, the first excerpts of Omid Scobie’s Endgame were dropped and everyone over in the UK commenced with their salty-ass freakout. The Windsors are shaking, and the royal media apparatus seemingly feels betrayed. I tend to believe that much of what Scobie writes is common knowledge among most royal reporters and that’s why they’re so mad at him – it’s not just the Windsors who have a code of omerta, it’s the royal media too, they have their own omerta, where they all feel like they have to capitulate and be stenographers to royalty. Scobie “broke” that code by writing that the emperor has no clothes.

In the middle of all of that, the Windsors and royal media have been desperately trying to claim that Endgame is a Sussex-centered story, or that Scobie’s sources are all Prince Harry and Meghan. As I’ve said, I have no doubt that Scobie has close sources in Team Sussex. But he also has contacts and sources in Windsor World and beyond. In any case, the Mail is now reporting that “Meghan and Harry categorically deny any suggestion they are ‘affiliated’ with the book or that Mr Scobie, who has been friendly with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and co-wrote their biography Finding Freedom, is part of the ‘Sussex Camp’.” That’s seriously how the Mail wrote it. LMAO. Anyway, for Scobie’s part, he tweeted this out on Thursday:

And let’s get this nonsense out the way – #ENDGAME is about the current state of the British Royal Family. It’s not “Harry and Meghan’s book”, I’m not “Meg’s pal”, the Sussexes have nothing to do with it, their story is a small part of a much bigger one you can read in 12 days.

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) November 16, 2023

I’m sure the many victims of the Mirror’s alleged phone hacking have asked the same thing pic.twitter.com/cSLv8Fe28o

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) November 16, 2023

I enjoy the fact that Scobie isn’t playing with these bitches. I cannot wait to read Endgame.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Scobie’s Instagram.

People Magazine released more quotes from their interview with Omid Scobie, which he gave alongside the exclusive excerpts from Endgame. Again, these are official book excerpts, not a “leak.” The Daily Mail and other British outlets have claimed that Scobie – or the Sussexes! – have “leaked” this information. No. LOL. Anyway, Scobie’s sources told him much the same thing that we’ve heard from other sources and articles this year, which is that the Duchess of Sussex’s interest in the Windsor family or the royal psychodrama basically died with QEII. Meghan adored Harry’s grandmother. She doesn’t give a f–k about the rest of them. Some highlights from Scobie’s interview:

Meghan is done with that family: While the Duchess of Sussex, 42, has “moved on” from the royals, Harry “still has unfinished business,” author Omid Scobie. “Quite early on in the [book-writing] process, some of those Meghan sources that I really leant on in the earlier years this time were like, ‘You know what? She doesn’t want anything to do with it.’ For Harry it’s different. He still has unfinished business when it comes to his battles with the press. His challenge will be to find something that balances that out so we can see him working in a space that isn’t connected to the ties that bind from the past.”

William & Harry’s relationship is done: According to the author, Harry “is in the rearview mirror” for his brother Prince William. “William’s so far forward in his journey that what is important today is very different to what was important 10 years ago. You really feel this when you talk to people working at the palace, that they really consider what Harry and Meghan, but mostly Harry, say as just irritating noise. The feelings of this man are not worth anything anymore. That’s sort of typical of any big corporation. I know it’s different because they’re family. But as we’ve known for a long time, the meaning of family is very different to them.”

The Windsors are ostriches: In Endgame, Scobie writes that perhaps more than at any other point in history, the family is ignoring its internal fractures at its own peril, because “part of the buy-in from the [British] public is that the royal family is the nation’s family.” And yet, Scobie says, heir-to-the-throne William, 41, has prioritized his loyalty to the monarchy, even quietly cooperating with the U.K. press to undermine Harry, 39. (Kensington Palace had no comment when reached by PEOPLE about the allegations.)

[From People]

“You really feel this when you talk to people working at the palace, that they really consider what Harry and Meghan, but mostly Harry, say as just irritating noise. The feelings of this man are not worth anything anymore.” I mean, it’s horrible, it’s despicable and it’s also not true. I have no doubt that palace insiders have said just that to Scobie, that Harry’s memoir full of neglect, abuse, parental abandonment and brainwashing is all just “irritating noise” to William and Charles. But it’s not true – William in particular is obsessed with Harry, obsessed with trying to “compete” with Harry and somehow claim Harry’s life and achievements as his own. If Harry and Meghan breathe in the Windsors’ general direction, William and palace insiders immediately run to the press to scream, cry and throw up over all things Sussex. These are not the acts of an heir or a king who have thoroughly moved on either.

I believe the stuff about Meghan though – I genuinely think her “breaking point” with the family was QEII’s death and the subsequent 10 days she was held hostage. She wants nothing to do with them.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

We’ve got a Gossip with Celebitchy podcast coming out this weekend, and in this week’s episode, we talk about the stupidity around all of the “who leaked all of this information about King Charles’s birthday party and phone call” drama. To be clear: Buckingham Palace started the entire drama by lying to the Times about Charles inviting Harry to his birthday party, a lie which Harry’s spokesperson corrected on the record, saying that Charles had not invited Harry to the party and there was no snub, but Harry would try to call his father on his birthday. Which then led to a series of PALACE briefings about how Harry would call, and then Harry did call and the king also spoke to Meghan and something about a video of Archie and Lili as well. In my opinion, that entire briefing spree came from the palace, not Montecito. The palace then tried to cover their tracks by blaming everything on the Sussexes. Once again, this all started because of the palace’s lies. So, of course, Richard Eden is here to underline the palace’s bullsh-t cover story.

According to Richard Eden, this apparent briefing ‘may have heightened the royals’ suspicions about the loose-lipped couple in California.

‘The fact that details of a private conversation were published so quickly might serve as a warning ahead of any possible future invitations,’ he concludes. Eden, editor of The Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential, suggests that Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have form for revealing intimate details of private conversations with other members of the Royal Family, citing their interview with Oprah Winfrey, their Netflix series and Prince ‘Harry’s tawdry memoir,’ Spare.

‘One of the major factors preventing the two privacy campaigners from resuming friendly relations with the Windsors is their refusal to respect other people’s expectation of privacy,’ he writes. ‘While Buckingham Palace officials have adamantly refused to disclose any details of King Charles’s private birthday celebrations “sources” with knowledge of Harry’s intentions briefed the BBC that he would telephone his father on his birthday. Then The Daily Telegraph, which is one of the few British newspapers to be spoken of favourably by Harry, managed to obtain details of the phone conversation between His Majesty and his younger son.

‘Within hours of the chat, the Telegraph reported that the pair “enjoyed a warm conversation” after Harry had rung his father to wish him a happy birthday. It asserted that the King and his son would “speak again next week” after a phone call for the Monarch’s 75th birthday marked a “turning point” in their relationship.’

The Telegraph suggested that King also spoke to Meghan while Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were understood to have recorded a video of themselves singing happy birthday to their grandfather.

‘While it’s a good thing if the King’s relationship with his son is improving, it’s clear that Harry and Meghan are not welcome at family events,’ concludes Eden. ‘Although family members including the Duke of Gloucester, the King’s first cousin once removed, and Princess Margaret’s daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto, attended the birthday party, no invitation arrived in Montecito.’

[From The Daily Mail]

These people are brain-dead, istg. It’s perfectly obvious – and stay with me on this – that Buckingham Palace has now sent out a series of talking points to certain reporters that all of their palace briefings must have come straight from Montecito, and shame on Harry and Meghan! And the same reporters who got the palace briefings just toe the line. “Yes, evil Harry and Meghan made Buckingham Palace lie to Roya at the Times! How dare Harry correct the lie, how dare he force the palace to leak all of these details about the phone call, it’s all the fault of Those People In Montecito!!” The entire reason Eden knows that “no invitation arrived in Montecito” is BECAUSE HARRY CORRECTED THE PALACE’S LIE.

Photos courtesy of Instar.

It’s cold & flu season again, which means if you haven’t already gotten your flu shot, it’s time to get on it! It’s also around the time for most of us to get our latest Covid boosters as well. I know a lot of people who took advantage of getting both shots at the same time. I’ve also talked to people who were reluctant to do both shots on the same day because they tend to have negative reactions to one or both, especially the Covid one. You should always talk to your doctor and do what’s best for yourself. There is good news, though, for anyone who is getting both vaccines at once. According to a new study, getting both your flu and Covid shots together produces a stronger antibody response.

A major study shows that giving the COVID and flu shots together produces a stronger antibody response.

The research was presented on Monday at the Vaccines Summit Boston, an annual scientific conference. It measured the antibody levels of 42 health care workers in Massachusetts.

Twelve received a bivalent COVID booster and seasonal flu shot on the same day. 30 others got shots on different days. The study found those who received the shots together had higher antibody levels against COVID.

It’s important to note that the research has not been published in a scientific journal.

Scientists say they want to try to replicate this data with this year’s vaccines as well.

[From NBC Boston]

As they point out in the article, this was just a small study done on 42 people, but those results sound really promising. I hope further research yields similar results because getting both at the same visit would save so much time. It’s such a pain to have to take the time out of your already busy day, or even to have to take time off of work, to get one vaccine, let alone having to do it twice within a short amount of time. This year, our pediatrician did a family flu shot clinic on a Saturday back in September, which was great because it meant I didn’t have to take the kids out of school early and if they did have any mild reactions like being tired and cranky, we could deal with it over the weekend. The only downside to getting the shots so early was that the office didn’t have the latest Covid booster yet, so we ended up getting boosted at a local pharmacy. I’m going to keep an eye out for other studies that come out about this subject.

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In the first excerpts of Omid Scobie’s Endgame, Scobie writes that multiple sources within Prince William’s camp have told him for years that William despises Harry, that William still believes Harry and Meghan “blindsided the family” with the Sussexit (which is a lie) and that William often bitches and whines about the Sussexes “oh so California” self-importance. In addition to all of that, Scobie’s sources say that wannabe mental-health advocate William believes Harry has been “brainwashed by an army of therapists.” All of this reporting on William’s “perspective” rang true to me because sources truly have been saying similar things for years now. Whenever Harry and Meghan do anything, “sources close to William” furiously stomp their feet and, with an incandescent rage, tell everyone far and wide that William loathes his brother for going to therapy, living in America, having a hot wife and making his own money. The Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes has reported that perspective for years now. And wouldn’t you know, Sykes has an update:

William’s friends confirm everything Scobie reports is accurate: Friends of Prince William were quick to confirm the accuracy of Scobie’s insights to The Daily Beast. “He absolutely f–king hates him,” one old friend of William’s said, succinctly, when asked about the status of his relationship with Harry. The why is no mystery to William’s circle and can be simply summed up by one word: betrayal. “Harry sold his family out to the media for millions of dollars, and William can’t forgive that breach of trust,” the friend said.

But Charles is genuine in his attempts to reconcile: A friend of the king told The Daily Beast that there was nothing cynical about Charles’ wish to build bridges with his son, and that he would be “delighted” about the renewal of contact with Harry. But the friend also said they doubted William would be minded to follow his father’s example, saying: “Charles has kept the door open to Harry. He has been very explicit about that, saying he loves him. That’s what parents do. William doesn’t have the same forgiving attitude. That dynamic is not unique in family arguments.”

William will only see Harry at their father’s funeral: A second friend of William’s, who used also to be friendly with Harry but has not had contact with him since Harry left the country, told The Daily Beast that there was “zero prospect” of a rapprochement between the two, and that they believed the next time they would meet would be at a family funeral. “There are some relatives whose deaths would bring Harry and William together under one roof but other than that, realistically it’s probably Charles’ funeral. And if things stay as they are, which is basically mutual loathing, you would have to say William would be unlikely to invite Harry to his coronation.”

Why William is still so incandescent: Asked for the specific reasons why William has developed a “loathing” of the brother he was once so close to, this friend also cited “betrayal.” They said: “I think it’s exactly because the bond was so deep that the betrayal has been so wounding. They were the only people who actually knew what each other had been through. How would you feel if your best friend decided to reveal all your personal secrets to the newspapers? Well, multiply that by a thousand. Harry is never going to apologize, at least not while he is married to Meghan, and William is never going to apologize either. So that’s that.” Asked if Scobie’s book was likely to worsen relations, the friend said: “No, but only because you can’t get lower than absolute zero.”

[From The Daily Beast]

At some point, hopefully soon, larger questions will be asked of both Charles and William and what their attitudes about Harry say about their leadership and family. William was incandescent with rage long before Harry “sold his family out to the media for millions of dollars.” In fact, the whole “incandescent with rage” story came from a report in January 2020, when Harry and Meghan were simply trying to exit the institution. This is the root of William’s violent rage towards Harry – William can’t control Harry, can’t boss him around, can’t bully him. William has been seething with contempt for Harry because… Harry left. Harry decided his wife and son were more important to him than service to an abusive family (and even then, he offered to continue to serve part-time). Of course, William’s violent abuse of Harry predates the Sussexit, but that also was about control and about… Meghan.

As for “William will see Harry at their father’s funeral” – it’s chilling. William is a f–ing psycho, but I’ve known that for a while. Ten bucks says that William will actually throw a tantrum about not wanting to invite Harry to their father’s funeral.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Yesterday, the Telegraph tried to make the premiere of The Crown’s Season 6 all about Prince Harry. No matter how many times Harry says that he really doesn’t care and he has nothing to do with The Crown, people still try to attach him to the show or make it sound like he’s secretly providing scripts or what have you. Harry has said he’s watched some of it – probably the early seasons – but there’s no indication that he’s watched more recent episodes. This is what the Telegraph’s Victoria Ward reported:

The Duke of Sussex is expected to watch his final conversation with his mother dramatised in the final series of The Crown, but his brother, the Prince of Wales, will not tune in. The first four episodes of the sixth series will strike a devastatingly personal note for both Princes William and Harry, being almost wholly concerned with Diana, Princess of Wales’s final weeks, her death and its immediate aftermath. The drama depicts the final time Diana saw her sons and imagines their final conversation on the telephone.

Despite the decision by writer Peter Morgan to devote the best part of four episodes to the build up and aftermath of the tragedy, Harry is still likely to watch the show. Prince Harry, 39, has admitted that he watches and fact checks the Netflix series.

However, one source close to him said they may watch it first in order to save him from anything he may not wish to see.

His elder brother, meanwhile, has never watched it and is not expected to watch this series, sources close to him confirm. Prince William was also said to have been “frustrated” that the show raked over the circumstances surrounding his mother’s Panorama interview with the disgraced BBC journalist Martin Bashir, which he has said holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. Some close to him have expressed surprise that The Crown has edged so far towards the present day, depicting events that many acutely remember.

[From The Telegraph]

The stuff about William having never watched it is a blatant lie – all of the royals watched the early seasons and they had really positive things to say about Matt Smith and Claire Foy’s performances. The problems only began for the royals when the show entered the Diana years. Suddenly, they despised the show and wanted everyone to know that the whole thing was fiction! Well, anyway, would it surprise you to know that the Telegraph has zero knowledge of what Harry thinks about the Crown?

Prince Harry has distanced himself from a report that claimed he would watch his mother’s last moments in the final season of The Crown on Netflix.

A source close to the Duke of Sussex told Deadline that he would not stream the final season of Peter Morgan’s show due to the “sensitive nature” of its content.

Deadline understands that Prince Harry has no ill feelings towards The Crown’s creators or Netflix about the direction of Season 6. He was not consulted over the show and had no advanced sight of episodes.

Earlier on Thursday, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Prince Harry would be tuning in having viewed previous seasons of The Crown.

[From Deadline]

I’m sure there will be Sussex squad folks screaming about not believing unnamed sources in either direction, but my guess is that Harry didn’t believe the Telegraph’s false report rose to the level of denying something on the record, so he had some Archewell comms person send a quick email denial to a trade paper and there you go. The fact that Deadline reported this is fascinating to me too – it shows that Harry is perfectly capable of using the American media as a way to fact-check the lies in the British media.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Netflix.

To quote Whitney Houston, I believe the children are our future. The children of the UK keep on brutalizing Prince William’s ego and reputation. I would be shocked if they hadn’t already nicknamed Prince Oldhead. Just a few weeks ago, William asked a group of schoolkids to guess his age. They guessed “57.” Then, on Thursday, William was in Manchester to introduce yet another baroque scheme of “donating” a small amount of money while saddling several charities with a lot of rules and bureaucracy. This time, the Royal Foundation is putting up part of a £100,000 charitable scheme spread out over three years. This is… not a lot of money, especially given that it’s spread out over multiple charities, over three years. One of the children at William’s event must have done the math on it and the child started asking the right questions:

The Prince of Wales has said he “doesn’t know” how much money is in his bank account after a question from an 11-year-old boy.

The Prince was visiting Manchester’s Moss Side to learn about a project tackling youth violence with Andy Burnham, the city’s mayor. He announced a £100,000 scheme, funded jointly by the Royal Foundation and the Labour politician’s office, which will bolster the work of the Manchester Peace Together Alliance.

As he met young people and volunteers at the Hideaway Youth Project, which is a lead partner of the Manchester Peace Together Alliance, the Prince sat down with some schoolchildren working on a collage.

Amir Hassan, 11, made the Royal laugh when he asked him: “How much do you have in your bank account?”

The schoolboy said afterwards the future king had quipped he “didn’t know”.

Prince William was also asked whether he wanted to join the art project, where the children were cutting out hairstyles they thought were empowering and positive, and replied: “I’m literally the last person you should ask. My hair is disappearing.” He also briefly joined a game of pool and produced groans from the watching guests when he twice failed to pot a yellow ball.

[From The Telegraph]

William was overheard stage-whispering “seize him” to an aide and the child was quickly taken to the Tower of London. I jest, but you know that William probably wasn’t happy at the peasant child’s impertinence. If an 11-year-old boy questions why a rich prince is donating such a small amount, imagine what the adults think. And by the way, William inherited the Duchy of Cornwall tax-free. The Duchy is a vast real estate empire worth around $1.5 billion, and William gets an annual income of around $7.5 million from the duchy. He also has money that his mother left him, plus whatever he’s embezzled from the Royal Foundation, plus everything else. The child was right to ask him about his bank account.

He truly went Full Lurch on Thursday.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Sean Combs’ love life has been extremely complicated, to put it mildly. Combs likes to have an official girlfriend or partner, someone with whom he cheats on openly and treats like sh-t publicly. For a while, that person was Kim Porter, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 47. In 2005, he met Cassie Ventura, who was then just 19 years old, and they likely began “dating” around then as well, only he didn’t make Cassie his official girlfriend until 2012. They ended things – she ended things – circa 2018. Cassie has just sued Combs for years of abuse, rape and human trafficking.

Sean Combs, the producer and music mogul who has been one of the most famous names in hip-hop for decades, was sued in federal court on Thursday by Cassie, an R&B singer once signed to his label, who accused Mr. Combs of rape, and of repeated physical abuse over about a decade.

In the suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura — and who had long been Mr. Combs’s romantic partner — says that not long after she met him in 2005, when she was 19, he began a pattern of control and abuse that included plying her with drugs, beating her and forcing her to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters. In 2018, the suit says, near the end of their relationship, Mr. Combs forced his way into her home and raped her.

“After years in silence and darkness,” Ms. Ventura said in a statement, “I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”

In response, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, Ben Brafman, said: “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ms. Ventura, said the parties had spoken before the suit was filed. “Mr. Combs offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit,” he said. “She rejected his efforts.”

[From The NY Times]

You can read more about the lawsuit at the Times link. I’ll admit, I did not have the stomach to read all of it. I believe Cassie. While I don’t visit certain message boards where these issues have been discussed for years, even I was aware that there have always been rumors about Sean Combs’ propensity for violence towards his intimate partners. Especially when Kim Porter passed away, a lot of that stuff got brought up again, how Sean treated her and what he might have done to her.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.