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Last month, there was a round of headlines thanks to a very brief mention in a Puck News post about The Office showrunner Greg Daniels being “set to do a reboot.” Reporting and speculation went rampant, but nothing was ever officially commented on until now. Like a true industry veteran who knows how to play the game, Daniels fully let the cycle of free publicity play out before commenting on the report. Turns out, it’s not something Daniels is opposed to happening, but rumors of an Office reboot are greatly exaggerated.

“Well, I think that it’s very speculative,” Daniels, 60, said of a potential revival during a Tuesday, October 17, interview with Collider. “The fact that it kind of blew up based on one line in a Puck piece was kind of cool, I guess, in the sense that the fans still care a lot.”

While Daniels couldn’t confirm that a new iteration of the beloved sitcom is happening, he also didn’t fully shut down the idea, hinting that something may happen in the future. “When there’s something to announce, I will definitely announce it,” he promised fans.

When it comes to how a show like The Office could work today, Daniels told Collider that it would be an “interesting” storytelling challenge, especially with all the advancements in technology over the past decade.

“When you watch old movies it’s like a game to identify what wouldn’t work when everybody had a cell phone,” he explained. “Like, all the story moves of people like, ‘Oh, they just missed you. Oh, dang.’ Now maybe I’ll get on that boat and go to, you know, it’s just like, ‘Oh, how frustrating if you only had a cell phone.’ I mean, it’s an interesting question for sure.”

Reboots and revivals have only gained momentum in the past few years, but Daniels hasn’t always been as open to the idea of revisiting the show, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2019 that he would “hesitate” to “open” such a “perfect” thing back up.

“We got the chance to end it the way we wanted to end it. It wasn’t like we were interrupted in the middle of a run or something,” he shared. “So in a sense, it’s completely an artistic whole. But, that said, I don’t know, the cast every now and then talks about getting back together in some form, but I don’t see it being a reboot like the way Will & Grace was rebooted.”

[From Us Weekly]

And there you have it. It kinda feels like that Puck news item was a little press leak to test the waters to see if there was even any substantial public interest in the idea. When we first talked about the reboot, I think most of us were in agreement that there’s no need to reboot The Office. From what I saw around the Internet, the news blew up because it was something fans had an opinion about…and most opinions were unified in the, “Thanks, but no thanks” camp.

It is interesting what he said about it being a “storytelling challenge” to navigate present day things like technology in a potential reboot. I mean, we had cell phones, the Internet and social media when the American version started in 2005, lol. Is “technology” some sort of code for “various problematic behaviors that were used for comedy?” Just like any show we’re watching 20 years later, there are definitely things that don’t hold up, but I feel like they could just not write those things into a new script. Is it really a hold-up that they can’t make certain jokes anymore? Don’t worry, Greg. We’re all still going to laugh at a good “That’s what she said.” Anyway, I’m still on Team Nah when it comes to the reboot and once again recommend Superstore to anyone who is looking for a good replacement to binge.

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I need someone to tell me if The Fall of the House of Usher is too much for a scaredy cat like me. Is it truly terrifying or is it more gothic-vibe horror? [Pajiba]
While this is funny, please don’t do this to your poor dog. [OMG Blog]
Added detail: Britney Spears was only 18/19 years old when Justin Timberlake got her pregnant, in 2000. Yikes. [LaineyGossip]
Ashley Park is such a showgirl. [Go Fug Yourself]
Was Kristin Cavallari in love with Travis Kelce? [Just Jared]
Michigan abortion providers & the state need to fix this. [Jezebel]
Hannah Waddingham wore Tom Ford… eh. [RCFA]
Tom Cruise was almost in Days of Our Lives. [Seriously OMG]
Alessandra Ambrosio was in Abu Dhabi! [Egotastic]
The reasons why some people are still single. [Buzzfeed]
Meatball Ron DeSantis is causing kids to drop out of college. [Towleroad]
RHOC’s Shannon Beador talks about her hit-and-run.[Socialite Life]

Personally, I don’t think Britney Spears’ story about getting pregnant by Justin Timberlake was some kind of “gotcha.” She’s telling her story, in her memoir, and from the excerpt I read, she was matter-of-fact about the situation, that if it was solely up to her, she would have carried the pregnancy, but Justin said he wasn’t ready to be a father. He wasn’t – he didn’t welcome his first child with Jessica Biel until April 2015, probably 14 years later, when Justin was in his 30s. Like, I definitely think Justin deserves to be called out and held accountable for many, many things, but “a guy asking his girlfriend to get an abortion when they were 20 years old” is just a normal story for many people. Anyway, it looks like Justin won’t be commenting publicly on Britney’s memoir. At least not yet.

Justin Timberlake is focusing on his family as revelations about his relationship with Britney Spears come out.

A source tells ET that with the upcoming release of Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me, the “Cry Me a River” singer is looking ahead.

“Justin has been focusing on his own family and trying not to concern himself with Britney’s memoir,” the source says. “In recent years, Justin has tried to be supportive of Britney from a distance. They dated so long ago, but he still has respect for her. Justin and Jessica just want everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past.”

[From ET]

Did Justin ever apologize to Britney privately? Not about the abortion, but just a personal apology for how he treated her and how he smeared her post-breakup? Oh, so I looked it up and I totally forgot about his 2021 apology! I even covered that mess. He was like “oh, I was part of the problem when I was a kid, youthful indiscretions, y’all!” So, he gave a public apology to Janet Jackson and Britney in 2021, and now, two years later, he’s all “We just want everyone to grow and evolve instead of continuing to bring up the past.” Dude spent years as a teflon white-guy, creating all kinds of problems for women, but now? Now he only wants to look forward.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.

In Spare, Prince Harry detailed one conversation he had with his father and brother in Windsor, shortly after Prince Philip’s passing. Meghan was heavily pregnant in Montecito when Harry flew solo to England in the middle of the pandemic to attend his grandfather’s funeral. The British media was in a full meltdown about it, because it was just weeks after the Oprah interview aired and tensions were high. We only found out about the private meeting between Charles, William and Harry in Spare, although Charles and William both leaked different things about how they reacted to Harry’s presence in real time. Harry wrote about how Charles and William played dumb about why he left, and how William lunged at him and grabbed him twice, all while Charles sat back and whined. So… Robert Jobson’s latest book claims that William and Charles agreed to never meet Harry alone following the Oprah interview:

Following Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah, his brother and father decided not to meet him alone, a shocking new book claims. The Sussexes announced they would be leaving the family to other royals before Christmas in 2019, before telling the world in early 2020. After they finished royal duties, the couple became more outspoken with their criticism of the monarchy and some members of the royal family.

But after the claims of racism and mistreatment made by the Duke and Duchess in their March 2021 Oprah interview, senior royals agreed dramatic steps needed to be taken.

The revelation comes in Robert Jobson’s new book Our King: Charles III — The Man And The Monarch Revealed – with part two being published in this weekend’s Mail on Sunday.

In the aftermath of the interview – in which the couple said a senior royal had questioned what Archie’s skin tone would be – Prince William held a crisis meeting with his father. He is said to have been furious and said the firm needed a clear strategy for dealing with the renegade royals – and the then Prince of Wales agreed.

They decided that Prince Harry could no longer be trusted and they could not meet with him alone, for fear that the conversations would be remembered somewhat differently.

While ‘recollections may vary’, the royals decided, they would have the benefit of larger numbers, as there would always be someone else in the room.

[From The Daily Mail]

Alone in the sense of “it will never be one-on-one,” or alone in the sense that a neutral party always needs to be around when Harry is around both his father and brother? It doesn’t even matter, honestly – it doesn’t seem like Harry is particularly desperate to be alone with his father or brother either. This is supposed to make William sound like a bold man of action, but really, he was terrified that Harry would expose their conversations and William’s violent behavior. Post-Oprah interview, William was incandescent with FEAR. And rage.

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

Here’s a 2023 sentence: Lesbian TikTok called this! They figured out this story before it broke this week. Some backstory: in August, Sophia Bush filed for divorce from Grant Hughes, her husband of only 13 months. It was a big mystery and no one could figure out if there was some big drama lurking behind the divorce, given the sudden nature. Then, JUST LAST WEEK, people learned that soccer star Ashlyn Harris filed for divorce from her wife Ali Krieger (also a soccer star) back in September. They were married for nearly four years and they have two children together, a two-and-a-half year old and a 14-month-old. Crash cut to this week, and Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris are a new couple.

Sophia Bush is getting a fresh start. Two months after splitting from husband Grant Hughes, the actress, 41, is spending time with professional soccer player Ashlyn Harris, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm.

“After being friends for years, and running in the same social circles, Sophia and Ashlyn went out on their first dinner date a couple of weeks ago,” a source from inside their social circle tells PEOPLE. “This is so recent, and they are both beginning new chapters.”

Harris, 37, filed for divorce from her wife and fellow soccer pro, Ali Krieger, 38, with whom she shares two kids, in September.

“Although it’s new information to the public, Ashlyn and Ali’s divorce began months ago and they have been living apart since the summer,” the insider says.

The source believes “there is no salacious story” when it comes to Bush and Harris’s recent coupling, “though the public may want there to be.”

Reps for Bush and Harris did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[From People]

Oh my god. “Ashlyn and Ali’s divorce began months ago and they have been living apart since the summer…there is no salacious story…though the public may want there to be.” It plainly looks like Ashlyn and Sophia started an affair months ago and filed for their respective divorces after test-driving the relationship over the summer. As I said, Lesbian TikTok has been all over this for weeks. There were lots of rumors! I’ll admit, I was not expecting this kind of mess.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Real talk: before this week, I wasn’t really looking forward to Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me. I was worried that it would be either a massively sanitized version of her life, or it would be a big ball of chaos. People Magazine has published extensive excerpts (along with an interview with Britney) and I have to say, I was wrong. Britney’s writing is clear and simple, and she tells some truly ghastly stories in her punchy, nonchalant Britney “voice.” Here are some of the excerpts which caught my eye:

Day drinking with her mother in eighth grade: “For fun, starting when I was in eighth grade, my mom and I would make the two-hour drive from Kentwood to Biloxi, Mississippi, and while we were there, we would drink daiquiris. We called our cocktails “toddies.” I loved that I was able to drink with my mom every now and then. The way we drank was nothing like how my father did it. When he drank, he grew more depressed and shut down. We became happier, more alive and adventurous.

She’s glad she wasn’t cast in ‘The Notebook’: “[Crossroads] was pretty much the beginning and end of my acting career, and I was relieved. The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it. If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.

The early days of her conservatorship: “I’d been eyeballed so much growing up. I’d been looked up and down, had people telling me what they thought of my body, since I was a teenager. Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back. But under the conservatorship I was made to understand that those days were now over. I had to grow my hair out and get back into shape. I had to go to bed early and take whatever medication they told me to take. If I thought getting criticized about my body in the press was bad, it hurt even more from my own father. He repeatedly told me I looked fat and that I was going to have to do something about it. I would do little bits of creative stuff here and there, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore. As far as my passion for singing and dancing, it was almost a joke at that point.

What her father did to her: “Feeling like you’re never good enough is a soul-crushing state of being for a child. He’d drummed that message into me as a girl, and even after I’d accomplished so much, he was continuing to do that to me. I became a robot. But not just a robot — a sort of child-robot. I had been so infantilized that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself. The conservatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child. I became more of an entity than a person onstage. I had always felt music in my bones and my blood; they stole that from me.

She thinks she would have figured out her life without the conservatorship: “If they’d let me live my life, I know I would’ve followed my heart and come out of this the right way and worked it out. Thirteen years went by with me feeling like a shadow of myself. I think back now on my father and his associates having control over my body and my money for that long and it makes me feel sick. Think of how many male artists gambled all their money away; how many had substance abuse or mental health issues. No one tried to take away their control over their bodies and money. I didn’t deserve what my family did to me.

[From People]

She’s right to point out that plenty of male artists “gambled all their money away; how many had substance abuse or mental health issues. No one tried to take away their control over their bodies and money.” I think about that whenever I cover Kanye West, because if we’re using Britney as “the standard” for who should be in a conservatorship, surely Kanye meets that criteria. But it’s not even mentioned or discussed, mostly because he’s a man. Jamie Spears is such a deeply horrible man too, the way he treated Britney and emotionally abused her and financially abused her. It’s despicable. And Lynn Spears taking her 13-year-old daughter to get daiquiris? Dear god.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Jada Pinkett Smith gave a lengthy interview to the New York Times this weekend to promote her memoir, Worthy. The NYT’s piece was actually quite thoughtful and they didn’t tabloidize some of the darker elements of Jada’s life, which is sort of what happened with her People Magazine cover story. Jada’s in full promotional mode and she has talking points, which is why some of the quotes sound familiar – she’d already said the same stuff to Today and People. Still, I enjoyed reading a more in-depth piece with Jada. Some highlights:

When Will Smith called her his “wife” at the 2022 Oscars: “Even though we hadn’t been calling each other husband and wife in a long time, I said, ‘I’m his wife now. We in this.’ That’s just who I am. That’s the gift I have to offer, like, ‘Hey, I’m riding with you.’”

Smith and Rock had decades of disrespect between them, starting in the late 1980s: “I didn’t judge Chris, I didn’t judge Will. I was like, ‘Oh, this is a spiritual clash.’”

Why she stood by Will that night: He was in tremendous pain, and fragile, Pinkett Smith said. He had recently finished filming “Emancipation,” a hellish Civil War-era drama that was psychologically tormenting for Smith, who plays an enslaved man. “I knew in my heart that he needed me by his side more than ever.”

Her reaction – to roll her eyes – at Chris Rock’s joke: “It was easy to spin the story of how the perfect Hollywood megastar had fallen to his demise because of his imperfect wife. Blaming the woman is nothing new…How is it that a woman can be so irrelevant and culpable at the same time? I had to think about the narrative out there of me as the adulterous wife, who had now driven her husband to madness with the command of one look. I had to take responsibility for my part in aiding that false narrative’s existence. I also had to chuckle at the idea that the world would think I wielded that amount of control over Will Smith. If I had that amount of control over Will, chile, my life would have been entirely different these damn near three decades. Real talk!”

The state of her marriage: They are not in an open marriage, nor are they uncoupled, polyamorous or divorced. They are something else altogether: life partners in family and business, long maintaining an agreement they call “a relationship of transparency.” In recent years, they’ve lived separately. As a 50th birthday present to herself, she bought her own place, moving out of their Calabasas compound….Pinkett Smith, in pursuit of “clarity and emotional sobriety,” became what she calls an “urban nun of sorts.” She meditates and reads texts like the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran or the Bible daily, and abstains from sex, alcohol, violent entertainment and unnecessary spending.

On Tupac: “Pac’s whole thing was because I knew him when — when he wasn’t Tupac. The guy who was poor, the conditions that he lived in. And I was rocking with him anyway.” In “Worthy,” she reveals that he’d proposed to her in a letter while incarcerated at Rikers in the mid-1990s for groping a fan. “Did Pac love me? Yeah he loved me! But I promise you, had we got married, he’d have divorced my ass as soon as he walked through them damn gates and got out.”

[From The NY Times]

Jada’s description of her life now is kind of the dream, right? She’s still married, she still has some kind of love for and partnership with Will, but she has carved out her own space, her own home, her own rules for existing and healing. I get that there’s some outrage at Will and Jada for “lying” about their marriage, but my view is that they’ve both always been pretty open about the fact that their marriage has struggled a lot in the past decade or longer, but it’s also clear that they still love each other. They don’t have to define it, especially since they’re still figuring out their sh-t. Now, if I was in charge of their lives? Sure, I would tell them to just get divorced, get things settled and then continue to be friends and continue to love each other. But they’ve got their own thing.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

For years and years, whenever anyone spoke about Prince William and Kate’s laziness, we were huffily told that they are “hands-on parents” who prioritize their children’s school runs. That worked for a while, but that excuse is already wearing thin, as more royal experts and royal commentators speak openly about William and Kate needing to do more, travel more, be seen out and about more. The current drama is Kate’s upcoming absence from the Singapore Earthshot Awards in November. The official excuse is that Kate is staying home to “support” George as he takes some kind of important test. The excuses came thick and fast: George has to take this test because something something he’s going to Eton! For years, Kate has gotten “her way” on her kids’ education, but they’re getting to the age where royal protocol demands that the kids go to boarding school. Kate really thought she could keep up the “I have to do the school run” excuse until Louis left for university.

Apparently, Prince William and Princess Kate have argued for a long time over whether Prince George, 10, should attend Eton College, where his dad and uncle Prince Harry were pupils in their school days.

“Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernise the monarchy. Plus, she’ll miss George desperately,” a source said (via OK! US). “She and William argued about it for years, but he has finally won.”

However, George himself is reportedly happy about the move, which may happen when he is old enough to attend the institution. “He wants to be just like his father,” the source said, adding that though Kate “finally gave in, she’s still heartbroken.”

Another reason for the Princess’ reluctance was her own bad experience at boarding school. “She was horribly bullied at her first boarding school, and can’t bear the thought of George suffering through that,” the source continued.

They pointed out that George will easily be able to visit home since he’ll be living close by, but said that this wasn’t quite enough to convince the Princess of Wales.

“There’s also the worry that William will insist the other two kids be shipped out next,” the source said. “Kate knows this is all part of her ‘royal duty,’ but there’s a lot of tension between her and her husband right now.”

[From Marie Claire UK]

Yeah, I genuinely believe that William and Kate have fought about the kids’ education, and I believe that Kate doesn’t want to send any of the kids to boarding school, ever. This is why Kate largely got “her way” on the kids’ early education, because eventually the institution would put its foot down and say that George has to go to Eton, period, the end. The trade-off might be that Charlotte and Louis don’t have to go to boarding school, but it will be interesting to see that play out in real time. Kate has made it perfectly clear that she’s going to use her kids as her biggest excuse for not working until they’re all in their 20s.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Surprising absolutely no one, Britney Spears has revealed that Justin Timberlake cheated on her when they were together circa 2001-2002. Twenty years later, we’re finally getting that vindication and that truth. For years, Justin “slut-shamed” Britney and left enough breadcrumbs to lead fans to believe that he dumped Britney for cheating on him. When really, he got Britney pregnant, convinced her to get an abortion, cheated on her and then wrote “Cry Me A River” about Britney cheating on HIM.

Britney Spears took most of the blame for years after she and Justin Timberlake split due to speculation she cheated — but she’s accusing him of doing the same with another celebrity — one of many revelations in her new memoir.

Britney’s “Woman in Me” doesn’t drop until next week, but the cheating claim is just another chapter when it comes to her relationship with the *NSYNC star. Remember, we were first to report Britney also says she and Justin got pregnant when they were 19, and she claims he pushed for the abortion she eventually had.

In the book, we’re told Britney doesn’t name the person with whom Justin allegedly stepped out, saying the woman now has a family Brit doesn’t want to embarrass … which means fans will, inevitably, start trying to connect dots on their own.

Of course, Justin dropped his massive hit “Cry Me a River” in 2002 — admitting he wrote it after a nasty argument with Spears — with many believing she had cheated on him.

Britney never denied the claims, and released her song “Everytime” the following year — a song her writing partner says was a direct response to “Cry Me a River.” Britney’s lyrics in the song include, “I may have made it rain. Please, forgive me. My weakness caused you pain. And this song’s my sorry.”

However, since we broke the story of the abortion, some fans have speculated “Everytime” is actually about the pregnancy and abortion … especially because the music video features a woman giving birth at the end.

[From TMZ]

Blind item: who was the famous woman, in what I assume was 2002? What if it was Christina Aguilera? Or Jessica Simpson? (It probably wasn’t Jessica.) Maybe it was an actress. Man, post-9/11 gossip was apocalyptic. I’ll admit that I missed much of this stuff at the time because I was actually paying attention to the war in Afghanistan and George W. Bush, etc. Anyway, it was well known that JT cheated on all of his girlfriends. That man just loves infidelity. What he did to Britney was disgusting.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, WENN.

Britney Spears covers this week’s People Magazine, giving the outlet an exclusive preview of her memoir, The Woman in Me. Britney spoke to People, talking about how she had to learn “this new freedom” following the end of her conservatorship in November 2021. She says she loves to travel, play with her dogs and watch Friends. She spoke about reclaiming her voice and finally being able to tell her story without feeling like she would have to face repercussions from her father and other people. One of the biggest stories from her memoir – thus far – is Britney’s description of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. According to Britney, Justin got her pregnant and they decided that she should get an abortion.

In her upcoming memoir The Woman in Me, the pop icon, 41, reveals that when she dated Justin Timberlake, she became pregnant with his baby but had an abortion, PEOPLE confirms.

“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears writes of the pregnancy in the book. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”

A rep for Timberlake did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

She writes in the book: “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

Spears writes of her experience undergoing the abortion: “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

[From People]

I suspect that this pregnancy happened towards the end of their relationship, and perhaps this was the beginning of the end. Which would place this in the 2001-02 zone, meaning Britney and Justin were probably around 20 years old. I mean… they were too young, and Justin was and is a terrible person. He was right, he wasn’t ready to be a father and Britney wasn’t ready to be a mother. It does sound like he talked her into having the abortion. The thing that really sucks here is not the difficult decision made between two people who were too immature to be parents, it’s that Justin then smeared Britney as a cheater who broke his heart. When really, he got her pregnant and talked her into getting an abortion, then it’s likely the relationship fell apart soon after.

Previously, “sources” were talking about how Justin is very “concerned” about Britney’s memoir. I feel certain that this is not the only scandalous JT story.

Update: I just read TMZ’s story, their (publishing?) sources confirm that Britney was pregnant in late 2000, which means she was only 18/19 years old.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of People.