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Do you ever think about how perfectly it worked out for Taylor Swift? Her favorite lipstick color – bright red – doesn’t even clash with the Kansas City Chiefs’ colors. Red is one of her favorite colors too, as well as the name of one of her albums. Anyway, Taylor was in Kansas City again this weekend, all to attend another Chiefs game. The Chiefs beat the Chargers last night, meaning that Taylor is bringing good luck to the Chiefs. They haven’t lost a game with Taylor in attendance. Taylor wore different Chiefs merch too – a kind of dated-looking sweatshirt.

During the game, Taylor stayed in the VIP area with her new friend Brittany Mahomes. It looks like she was mostly with the Mahomes family too, not the Kelce family. After the game, Travis and Taylor left together, in his Rolls Royce. Travis apparently hosted a party at his mansion, perhaps one last party at his old place before he moves into the new mansion. Travis also got a local restaurant to cater the party.

Meanwhile, sources told the Daily Mail that Taylor is really falling for Travis. A source told the Mail: “Taylor is blown away right now and her family is all about Travis. She is trying to keep it together, but is obviously falling in love with him and he feels the same way. He courted her and it was not her typical, ‘Hey, you’re hot, let’s go out,’ sorta thing. He actually courted her and she feels like she is the luckiest gal in the world right now. It is no coincidence that all she had to do was look outside of Hollywood.” As I’ve said for more than a month now, Travis is in it to win it. He wants to marry her. It will be fascinating to watch as Taylor’s instincts tell her to sabotage the relationship.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

Almost a year ago exactly, Prince William and Kate visited Scarborough and did an afternoon of events within the community. Kate cosplayed Meghan, there were jazz hands flying around, and after a few hours, Will and Kate left and never returned. There was one difference between that day of events versus all of their other inane busywork. The Scarborough visit was supposed to be the first of their brand-new plan to undertake “impact days,” wherein they would go into a community and donate to some specific charity so that they were not arriving empty-handed. That was their big idea, you guys. As you can imagine, after they hyped themselves and told everyone about their big keen plan, nothing happened. They’ve only done two “impact days” in the past year (while taking a two-month summer holiday too). Well, Richard Palmer at the Express has an update, and he even added some hilarious asides about how much money the Royal Foundation “donated” in Scarborough.

A year after a groundbreaking trip to the seaside town of Scarborough, Prince William and Kate are stepping up plans to bring a lasting legacy to their visits to some of Britain’s poorest communities by creating “community impact” projects providing permanent benefits. The first two pilot projects have created annual grants for young people in Scarborough and a therapy garden and allotments in Pontyclun, South Wales, one of a network of similar gardens to help mental health. More projects are on their way.

“There are plans in the works for further pilots to look at how we can deliver impact in the community in the long term,” a senior royal source said. It may not always be a huge sum of money. Aides are looking at providing benefits in kind like the garden.

Even when cash was involved, the couple’s donation to Scarborough was hardly a princely sum, sceptics might think. Newly published accounts from the couple’s Royal Foundation reveal that they donated just £13,043 towards a £345,000 fund announced on the day of their visit.

But their input was vital, according to Celia McKeon, chief executive of the Two Ridings Community Foundation, which is working with the royal couple in Scarborough.

“What the royal visit allowed us to do was to catalyse a range of donors to invest in the town,” she said. Much of the £345,000 pledged as a result of their visit will be benefitting young people for many years to come in the seaside resort, where despite beautiful sandy beaches and numerous visitor attractions almost a third of residents live in areas that are among the most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Some of it was pledged as cash to be spent when needed but the bulk of it is tied up in endowment funds paying 5 per cent interest, together creating around £25,000 each year to spend on youth projects.

Ms McKeon accepted that alone would not solve problems such as lack of opportunity in the town. But she pointed out that Two Ridings and the Royal Foundation were among numerous agencies working with the local authority, North Yorkshire County Council, to improve life in Scarborough. She also insisted that even quite small grants to youth projects “can be really transformational for young people’s lives”.

It is early days yet but in Scarborough they are just starting to see the fruits of last year’s royal visit after a grant-setting session in the summer to decide how to spend the first annual tranche of £25,000. The money went to six groups arranging various activities, ranging from a summer of arts fun, to music therapy, and youth charities offering support and advice.

William and Kate’s advocacy for marginalised groups via community impact projects complements their work in other fields, such as his new project to try to end homelessness and hers to improve the first five years of children’s lives. They readily accept they cannot achieve those goals on their own but they can use their convening powers to bring people together who can, according to aides. They can use their positions to create a national conversation that moves those topics to the top of the political agenda.

[From The Daily Express]

Just so we’re clear, they showed up in Scarborough, posed for photos, donated £13,043, briefed the media that they were donating much more and structured the whole thing so that the Scarborough youths are only getting £25,000 a year to fund a handful of miniscule projects. This is offensive, right? It’s like some form of poverty tourism for Will and Kate – they want to be seen as these impactful humanitarians, meanwhile even their bare-bones charitable giving is so small, it barely has meaning. They’re not just going around and trying to get photo-ops, they’re using really poor communities to embiggen themselves without actually doing anything to help. By the way, Earthshot is structured similarly – Peg always brags about how Earthshot Prize winners are getting £1 million, but that “prize money” is stretched out over five years. Hellish for innovators who actually needed the capital upfront to grow their business.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Here are some photos from this weekend’s Go Campaign’s annual gala. Robert Pattinson – a Go Campaign ambassador – attended with his girlfriend Suki Waterhouse. Lupita Nyong’o was there as well, and she brought her mother, Dorothy Ogada, as her date. I want to talk about Lupita more than Rob, if that’s okay. Weirdly, Rob seems so settled lately, like he’s finally figured out some kind of balance in his life and everything’s going well for him, so it’s not that scandalous or anything. But Lupita has some drama and it’s not just her shell headpiece or her sack dress.

So, last Wednesday, Lupita turned up at a Janelle Monae concert in Inglewood. She was with a group of friends, one of whom was Joshua Jackson. Jodie Turner Smith just filed for divorce from Joshua a few weeks ago, and reportedly, he was surprised. Reportedly, Joshua and Lupita are “just friends” but… you know, people will gossip. That Janelle Monae concert outing came at the very same time that people noticed that Lupita wiped all evidence of Selema Masekela from her social media. Lupita and Selema had been together for a year, probably longer. Well, the day after the concert, Lupita posted this note on her social media:

There are much more important things going on in the world right now, and my thoughts are with those who are deeply suffering.

At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust…

I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception. I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, “Whatever, my life is better this way.” But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love. And so, I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass. The promise, they say, is that a tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. I hope it’s true… I share this to keep it 100, and hoping that the knowledge of my experience might be useful to someone else out there experiencing the grip of heartbreak who is poised to try and escape from the pain and miss out on the wisdom that comes from it. #Breakup

Let’s face our pain so we don’t spread it.

[From Lupita’s IG]

WTF did Selema do to Lupita? What kinds of lies, what deceptions, what did he do that was so horrible that she needed to publicly dissociate herself?? The fact that all of this happened within 24 hours is bonkers too – Lupita wipes her IG of any trace of Selema, goes to the concert with Joshua and then posts this message… I really, really want to know what went down. It was bad, I know that much. It also feels like Lupita’s mom probably had to fly in after the sh-t went down.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Introduction: Minutes 0 to 6:00
We’ll be off next week. Chandra thinks the gossip will pick up when The Crown and Omid Scobie’s book come out. I’ve been watching The Fall of the House of Usher. Chandra can’t do ghosts or body horror. Chandra watched the Beckham series and loved it. You can listen below!

Royals: Minutes 6:00 to 14:00
We’re getting more details about the bankruptcy of the Middleton’s business, Party Pieces. We talked about that in episode 153. Someone has been putting up posters in Bucklebury where the Middletons live calling them out for stiffing creditors and suppliers. We’re wondering why there aren’t any photos of the posters. The man who bought Party Pieces earlier this year, James Sinclair, said it’s all the investment firm’s fault and everything was fine before Carol sold half her business. These excuses don’t add up.

William and Kate are said to be divided over whether Prince George should go to boarding school at Eton where William and Harry went. It looks like they’ve been separated for some time. William went to the Rugby World Cup semifinal in France with George on Saturday. Then Kate went solo to another match on Sunday.

Another big royal story this week was from Richard Eden at the Daily Mail saying that Harry and Meghan have hurt the Waleses’ mental health. It’s opposite world over there. They project so much onto the Sussexes.

Britney Spears: Minutes 14:00 to 20:30
Britney Spears has a new memoir coming out on October 24th called The Woman in Me. We’re getting advanced details and she really dished the dirt. She talked about how she’s been controlled and criticized since she was a teenager, and she revealed that Justin Timberlake got her pregnant when she was 18 or 19 and convinced her to have an abortion. She said he cheated on her with another celebrity. She also admitted that she made out with another guy, a choreographer named Wade Robson, when she was with Justin. We are sure Justin cheated a lot and we remember when he cheated on Jessica Biel. In response to this story a source told Entertainment Tonight that “Justin has been focusing on his own family… and just want[s] everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past.”

I read a quote from Lisa from the Eat, Pray, Britney podcast. We wonder how Justin Timberlake dumped Britney over text when not many of us were texting in 2002. Did he use a Blackberry? They had just come out in 2002 and Britney and Justin broke up in March of that year. I had an LG Env like this one, but that was later in 2009. Many people in our last post about this thought he used a Sidekick.

Comments of the Week: Minutes 20:30 to end
Kaiser’s COTW is from Ameerah M on the post about Travis Kelce’s love of fashion.

My COTW is from Bee on the post where Jada Pinkett Smith said that people blamed her for Will smacking Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Thanks for listening bitches!

Photos credit: Avalon.red, Cover Images, Backgrid and via Instagram

Tim Burton & Monica Bellucci made their red-carpet couple-debut in Rome, for the premiere of Diabolik Chi Sei?. She wore Dolce & Gabbana! [Paris Match]
Wow, the trailer for Saltburn was not what I expected. [OMG Blog]
Oh no, Lady Gaga had some fresh “work” done. [Just Jared]
Glen Powell & Sydney Sweeney have zero chemistry in this trailer. [LaineyGossip]
People watch The Morning Show and Google random things. [Pajiba]
John Legend wore a great sweater. [Go Fug Yourself]
House Republicans are the most dysfunctional people on the planet. [Jezebel]
Paloma Faith wore McQueen to a premiere. [RCFA]
Pink postponed two concert dates due to illness. [Seriously OMG]
Hailey Bieber is a Christian who loves Halloween. [Egotastic]
Secrets people would never tell their families. [Buzzfeed]
Gwyneth Paltrow also suggested, in that Bustle interview, that she’ll disappear at some point but not anytime soon. [Socialite Life]

Another day, another palace briefing about Prince William and Kate’s rage towards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They’re just going to keep repeating it for the next ten, twenty years – Will and Kate are big mad at Harry and Meg! The “why” of it changes from week to week, but an old favorite got dusted off: because Harry and Meghan’s exit increased Peg & Buttons’ workload! The added twist here is that Will and Kate are now under so much work pressure (lmao) that they’re turning on each other. Please, it’s been years and I still can’t believe that Team Keen believes this is a winning message.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are said to have “had a huge impact” on Prince William and Kate Middleton when they stepped back from the Royal Family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to leave The Firm back in 2020 before starting a new life together in America. A source has now said that after their departure, the Prince and Princess of Wales were forced to pick up the “extra workload”.

“Prince William and Kate are feeling incredibly resentful towards Meghan and Harry for leaving them to pick up the work they dropped when they moved to the States. The extra workload that’s been handed to them is huge,” the source said.

They also claimed William and Kate have had to take on “even more responsibility” since Meghan and Harry left. The source said this has had a “huge impact on their marriage and family life”.

“At times it can feel like they are cracking under this relentless pressure. With less time at home together and having to spend more time apart, they feel constantly torn apart in different directions and they insist that wouldn’t be happening if Harry and Meghan hadn’t abandoned their royal duties.” the source told Closer magazine.

It’s been reported that William and Kate are also setting their sights on making waves in America, meaning Meghan and Harry could face competition across the pond. The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to be in the midst of submitting a trademark application in the United States. PR expert Andy Barr from 10Yetis.co.uk has revealed exclusively to The Mirror that Meghan and Harry would be “jealous” of the connections and opportunities William and Kate would be presented with should they decide to crack America. “I love brand Meghan and Harry but I do think that were Kate and Wills wanting to crack America, as rumoured, they would do so with far greater ease and speed than their power couple rivals,” he revealed.

[From The Daily Mirror]

“With less time at home together and having to spend more time apart, they feel constantly torn apart in different directions and they insist that wouldn’t be happening if Harry and Meghan hadn’t abandoned their royal duties.” I mean… lmao, what’s crazy is that it’s sort of true. True in the sense that the Sussexit was the beginning of the end for the Wales marriage, and they no longer had the Sussexes as a distraction to paper over their issues. All of which to say, if Harry and Meghan were so vital to the whole operation, maybe the family should have treated them accordingly? Maybe Will and Kate shouldn’t have been abusively racist a–holes? Anyway, I came here for Kate whining about how she’s a Top CEO under relentless pressure, but I leave this piece believing that the press is trying their best to telegraph the fact that all is not well in the Wales marriage.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Last December, Netflix dropped the trailer for the Harry & Meghan docuseries in the middle of Prince William and Kate’s Boston Flop Trip. William was, predictably, incandescent with rage, and he truly sat around for hours, screaming down the phone to every royal reporter back in the UK. William’s big talking point that week was that Harry and Meghan are “like the Kardashians,” and that it’s extremely “tacky” to overshadow Earthshot – which is like the Super Bowl!!! – with one trailer. Seriously, that was such a crazy week and it was bonkers to watch William’s incandescent briefing spree in real time. I bring this up because the British media was especially bored this week given Will and Kate’s refusal to do any work during their kids’ school breaks, so the media began churning away at some dumbf–k story about how the Sussexes might appear on Hulu’s The Kardashians. None of this is real, but the Daily Beast’s Royalist column was bored, so there was a big, stupid write-up. Some lowlights:

The Sussexes & Kardashians: Reports that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are being wooed to make a cameo in a new series of The Kardashians is a telling sign of how “they have frittered away their reputations in pursuit of money,” a former friend of Harry’s has told The Daily Beast. The person said they had been left “gobsmacked” at reports that Harry and Meghan are weighing an offer to appear in Hulu’s hit reboot of the legendary reality show. However, industry insiders told The Daily Beast that it makes sense for Meghan to be “aligned” with the Kardashians, especially if she is planning to relaunch herself as a lifestyle and social media influencer, a space the Kardashians rule, as some reports have suggested.

What is the source? The rumor first emerged in British gossip magazine Bella before being picked up by other tabloids such as the Mirror, and also appearing in Page Six. A source was cited as saying: “It’s no coincidence that the Kardashians all move in the same circles as Meghan’s new circle… It’s just a slam dunk for the two families to team up, but Kris doesn’t want to push too aggressively, too soon… Even if it’s just a cameo, that’s a huge win for Kris, the business side is now in motion and looking very lucrative.”

Who even cares: While the prospect of the exiled royals appearing on The Kardashians may be being greeted in England with a surge in demand for smelling salts, the producer, asked if an appearance would damage Meghan’s brand, said: “Not if she wants to be famous. Sure, the Kardashians are tacky, but that family are an entertainment juggernaut. Meghan will certainly want to be aligned with them, especially if she wants to make a splash on the social networks…. Meghan is having her moment in the sun, but the Kardashians have been going for over 15 years now [Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered in 2007 on E!]. If Meghan is being seen at events with them in LA then it’s probably not too big a leap before they get her to sign a release and be on camera, even briefly. That is how those shows work.”

An old friend of Harry (who sounds like William): One old friend, who was friends with Harry and William at Eton and has maintained a friendship with William despite not being in touch with Harry any more, told The Daily Beast: “I mean, it used to be a joke, ‘Oh, they are going to be the new Kardashians.’ The idea that it could actually happen is insane. I’m gobsmacked. They have frittered away their reputations in pursuit of money, and this is the result. I actually think they ultimately probably will do it, or something very like it. They have done everything else, and they are going to need the money.”

[From The Daily Beast]

I get that people “on here” hate the Kardashians, but guess what? They’re super-successful by nearly every metric, Kim especially, and they’re accepted within the Hollywood/entertainment industry. A big chunk of this is just more of “the British people Britsplaining American culture” thing – these are truly the same people who think that David Beckham is one of the biggest celebrities ever in America (he is not). My point is that I doubt Meghan and Harry feel one way or the other about the Kardashians, and that they all have friends in common (like Serena) and it’s all fine. There’s this bizarre obsession with trying to make the Sussexes sound like C-listers, when really, all evidence points to the Sussexes being well-liked and popular within the A-list crowd.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Taylor Swift out and about last night in LA. She had a girls’ night with Zoe Kravitz and Selena Gomez – they went to Sushi Park in West Hollywood. Keleigh Teller (Miles Teller’s wife) was also with them, although I don’t see any photos of her (she might have arrived separately). While Taylor and Selena have been friends for more than a decade, it feels like Tay’s friend-collection of Zoe and Keleigh is somewhat more recent. Taylor’s outfit here is so “granny chic” too – she’s literally wearing ‘80s jeans and a Shein doily. Meanwhile, we’ve got an update on Taylor and Travis Kelce. That man is in it to win it, and he’s even planning to visit her during part of her Eras Tour in South America.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance is reaching new heights as the NFL star is planning to be by her side when she starts her international tour dates, scheduled to kick off in November. A source tells ET the duo is fully committed to their relationship and the future.

“Travis and Taylor are all in. The two are very into each other and are enjoying their time together but are also planning for the future. Taylor starts her international tour in November, and Travis is planning to be there to spend time with her,” the source says. “Travis and Taylor are very serious about their careers, and the two bond over that and want to show support for each other whenever they can.”

During week 10 of the NFL season, Travis and the Kansas City Chiefs enjoy a bye week, providing him with a brief respite. Coincidentally, during this very week, Taylor is set to take the stage for three consecutive nights in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from Nov. 9 to 11, marking her debut international Era Tour performances. This fortunate scheduling overlap grants Travis the opportunity to be in attendance.

In the midst of their whirlwind romance, Travis is taking proactive measures to safeguard his privacy. ET has learned Travis recently purchased a new home, something he has been wanting to do for a long time. His current house was easily accessible to the public, which is no longer feasible given the onslaught of attention he’s received.

On this week’s new episode of his New Heights podcast with brother Jason, Travis also addressed the viral videos of him helping Taylor from the car on a recent date night, admitting that he does feel “protective” of the singer when they’re out together. “I feel like whenever I’m on a date, I’m always having the sense that I’m a man in the situation. I’m protective, yeah, for sure. You always have to have that feeling or self-awareness, I guess.”

[From ET]

I feel like Traylor will get so much love in Argentina. Taylor’s South American fanbase is huge and Argentinian fans will feel so special if Travis shows up there. And yes, I think Travis is all-in. This is so unique for Taylor – she was pursued by a man who has his own fame, his own money, his own profile. He’s showing her constantly that he prioritizes her and wants to protect her, and that he’s very serious about her. Is that what Taylor’s girls’ night was all about? Taylor was like “can you believe this, he doesn’t play any games and everything is so easy!”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Jim Jordan keeps losing Speaker votes, and his team has sent threats to his colleagues and their spouses over the Speaker vote. It’s insane. (Jordan now says he won’t do a third Speaker vote, so House Republicans are finding some temporary solution.) [Jezebel]
Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez went out to dinner this week. [LaineyGossip]
A rave review of David Fincher’s The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender. [Pajiba]
Lots of drama with RHOSLC’s Mary Cosby. [Starcasm]
More photos from the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Hailey Bieber is still trying to make “glazed donut” skincare happen. [Egotastic]
What happens when teachers date each other. [Buzzfeed]
What’s the New Girl cast up to these days? [JustJared]
Valentino’s Resort collection is really good. [GFY]
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu wore Armani, looked amazing. [RCFA]
The Masked Singer’s big reveal was a tennis legend. [Seriously OMG]

“We need a functioning Congress and I don’t know how we’re going to get it,” Rachel @Maddow says. “[Republicans] are incapable of choosing a leader amongst themselves and so we’re just waiting for them to get it together.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/4kvTAhpPtI

— The View (@TheView) October 18, 2023

Last night, King Charles and Queen Camilla attended a celebratory event at Mansion House in the City of London. I’m not really sure what the hell that means, but the Guardian explained it thusly: “a reception and dinner to recognise the work of the City of London civic institutions and Livery Companies – the city’s ancient and modern trade guilds.” Like, a better-business bureau with costumes?? I’ll stop trying to ‘Murica-splain this British stuff at some point. Charles and Camilla have been in London for a few weeks, after their “summer” at Balmoral, where they were actually staying at Birkhall. Charles was especially active in Scotland over the summer, doing events and making all kinds of public appearances. Camilla less so.

For Wednesday night’s dinner, Camilla repeated a Bruce Oldfield gown. She last wore this gown in Germany earlier this year, for the big state dinner in Berlin. Last night, she paired the old frock with Queen Mary’s Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, which was one of QEII’s favorites and one which she wore frequently. Camilla’s diamond necklace and earrings also belonged to QEII. At the dinner, the king made a speech about interfaith dialogue, understanding and respect:

King Charles has stressed the importance of mutual understanding in religious faiths and the space to think and speak freely, saying it is “never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life”. In a speech at Mansion House in the City of London, against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel conflict, Charles stressed that tolerance and civility were among the virtues that Britain could draw on.

Reflecting on what made Britain “so special”, he said the nation could draw on “deep wells” including “the breathing space we afford one another.”

Though he did not directly mention the Gaza conflict, he told guests: “This well carries the politeness and respect we owe to one another; our willingness to put others first and treat them as we would wish them to treat us. To listen to their views and, if we do not agree, to remind ourselves to engage in a way which is passionate, but not pugnacious. This includes the practice of our religious faiths, in freedom and mutual understanding… Such understanding, both at home and overseas, is never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life.”

“The instinct to cooperate wherever and whenever possible is deep within us. Even in the most fractious times – when disagreements are polished, paraded and asserted – there is in our land a kind of muscle memory that it does not have to be like this; that the temptation to turn ourselves into a shouting or recriminatory society must be resisted, or at least heavily mitigated whenever possible, especially in the digital sphere, where civilised debate too often gives way to rancour and acrimony.”

[From The Guardian]

In some sense, he’s advocating for the British Way – to paper over ideological, religious, moral and political differences with a thin veneer of forced politeness. That being said, Charles’s message is diplomatic and he threaded the needle in a smart way. I don’t know, it was better than avoiding the topic altogether.

LMAO, look at all of the medals Charles gave himself! He’s completely run out of room on his lapel/breast pocket.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.