It feels like this is going under the radar given *waves hands around* everything else, but as someone who has followed King Charles’s two-year effort to evict Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge, the recent turn of events have been fascinating. Charles’s big scheme was to evict the Sussexes for Frogmore Cottage, and finding some way to force Andrew out of Royal Lodge and making him live in Frogmore. This whole time, Andrew has had a valid lease and enough money squirreled away to pay for his way of life. Charles made a big stink about “cutting off” the funds for Andrew’s security and Andrew’s allowance this year. Andrew still isn’t giving up Royal Lodge, and now people close to Charles are admitting defeat. In fact, everyone saying that Andrew has “comprehensively humiliated” the king, and that “heads will roll” over this whole saga. Now the Mail’s Richard Eden has written a piece where he points out that Charles should be careful not to piss off Andrew, because Andrew will happily sell out everyone in the family. Some highlights:

Charles shocked Andrew & Fergie by withdrawing funds: I can disclose that the move by the King, who has long made it clear he wants his brother to move out of Royal Lodge, has shocked friends of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, also resident at the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park. ‘Why is the King doing this?’ demanded one associate I spoke to. ‘And why now? It makes no sense. The King hardly needs to save money.’

Charles accidentally drew attention to his slumlord style: Indeed, the King was handed more than £27 million from the Duchy of Lancaster last year to spend as he pleases without public scrutiny. That huge sum is in addition to the £86.3 million he will receive this year from the Sovereign Grant, which pays for the Royal Family’s running costs. The decision to strip Andrew of financial support once again draws attention to the King’s finances, which are already being scrutinised heavily under the Labour Government, which is currently legislating to remove hereditary peers from the Lords. Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the constitution, declared: ‘The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain.’ And the King, surely, cannot rest easy under Sir Keir Starmer, who once called for the abolition of the monarchy.

Charles needs support, so what is he doing? However, the recent publication of stories such as one disclosing how the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the King, charged the NHS more than £11 million over 15 years for the right to park ambulances in one of its warehouses, are likely to increase nervousness among monarchists. But instead of sticking together, the King is attacking his 64-year-old brother Andrew, who served bravely as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War and worked as UK trade envoy.

Andrew has always been loyal to the crown: ‘Whatever you think of Andrew or his former wife, they have always been loyal to the Crown,’ one of their friends insists. ‘It’s quite remarkable how Sarah has managed to pursue a successful career in public life, and has given countless interviews, yet has never said anything damaging about the Royal Family.’ The friend is too discreet to spell it out, but Andrew and Fergie’s loyalty stands in contrast to the disloyalty of another duke, the Duke of Sussex, who, with his wife, has made a fortune out of attacking the Royal Family via Harry’s tawdry memoir, Spare, and their Netflix ‘docu-series’ Harry & Meghan. Is it wise of the King to force his brother to seek his own fortune in order to pay the costs of maintaining and running Royal Lodge, which are estimated to be as much as £1 million per year?

Charles should call off the dogs: The King should call off the dogs and reassure Andrew that he won’t be booted out of his family home if his sources of income dry up. Otherwise, his brother might be forced to follow the example of Charles’s disloyal younger son and make millions from spilling royal secrets. And no one would want that.

[From The Daily Mail]

None of this is new, this has been Andrew’s go-to threat for several years now. He continues to say to his brother: capitulate or I’ll start spilling family secrets. The thing is, Andrew can’t do what Prince Harry has done – write a massively successful memoir and give multiple sympathetic interviews – because Andrew is fundamentally a pathetic and villainous figure. Andrew can’t suddenly make millions of dollars by selling his story. But Andrew could absolutely do a huge amount of damage if he ever chose to speak out about his family. What’s even more interesting is that in this limited battle, Andrew had more sympathy from the media. They seem quite happy that Andrew “humiliated” his brother so thoroughly too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Look at this photo of Donald Trump and tell me that the next four years, two months and five days are not going to be the worst and most terrifying ordeal ever. That being said, I still feel strangely peaceful and empty. Tens of millions of Americans wanted this rather than the nice Black lady, so here we are. For the past week, there’s been a lot of “palace intrigue” gossip about how quickly Elon Musk has worn out his welcome at Mar-a-Lago. It’s clear from the reporting that Trump’s people are not happy with Musk, especially since Musk is reportedly “behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it…And he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory.” But Trump was asked about Musk and he said supportive things:

Elon Musk may have become the Mar-a-Lago guest who won’t leave, but president-elect Donald Trump apparently has no plans to send him home.

“He likes this place—I just can’t get him out of here,” Trump said in a speech Thursday at his resort in Florida. “And I like having him here. He’s good. He’s done a fantastic job.”

Musk has been a near-constant fixture at Mar-a-Lago since he poured $200 million into the incoming president’s successful re-election bid and jumped around for him non-stop on stage on the campaign trail. The tech tycoon has been golfing and dining with Trump, sitting in on meetings, advising on personnel matters, traveling to Washington, D.C., and even meeting with foreign officials. Members of Trump’s transition team have likened him to a guest who won’t leave after the party ends.

The billionaire owner of social media platform X has also been tapped to co-head a government efficiency “department” with Vivek Ramaswamy that will supposedly identify $2 trillion in wasteful government spending—a plan that even conservative economists have called a “fantasy.”

[From The Daily Beast]

It’s not that DOGE is a childish idea of how the American government operates and functions, it’s that Elon Musk is apparently too stupid to understand that he was put “in charge” of nothing more than a blue-ribbon busywork panel. Anyway, I find it interesting that Trump is sort of saying that he’s fine with Musk around. I can’t imagine what those rooms smell like.

Meanwhile, the NY Times reports that Trump sent Musk to speak with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations this week. The Iranian officials were the ones to confirm the meeting to the Times! The purpose of the meeting was “a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States.” I understand that Trump does not attract the best and brightest foreign policy minds (or the best and brightest anything) but holy sh-t, it’s incredibly embarrassing to send MUSKRAT into that f–king meeting. It’s also probably against the law, but hey, nothing matters.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Can’t wait to see how the Washington Post deals with this update! Prince Harry is now only one of two litigants suing The Sun (News Group Newspapers) for hacking and unlawfully obtained information. Harry was originally part of a larger class-action lawsuit with 40 other litigants, and it was set to go to trial next year. Now NGN has settled with every litigant except for Harry and Tom Watson, a former Labour leader. NGN loves to settle these claims after years of dragging their victims into court and making their lives hell – they did the same with Hugh Grant earlier this year as well, and I imagine NGN had to pay out in a really big way to get 38 people to settle like this.

Prince Harry is continuing his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful activities by journalists and private investigators despite dozens of others settling their cases, his lawyer said on Friday.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, is suing the publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World at the High Court in London, alleging NGN unlawfully obtained private information about him from 1996 until 2011.

The royal’s case was one of about 40 lawsuits against NGN, but all but one other litigant – Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of Britain’s now-governing Labour Party – have now settled, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne told the court.

Those who have agreed to settle include Spice Girl Melanie Brown, former BBC executive Alan Yentob, “Game of Thrones” actor Alfie Allen and Ted Beckham, the father of former England soccer captain David Beckham.

The trial is due to begin in January, though Sherborne has previously said it was likely claimants could be forced to settle because they could be left with huge legal bills if they rejected a settlement offer, even if they won at trial. He made the remarks after British actor Hugh Grant reluctantly settled his case in April.

NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World and settled claims brought by more than 1,300 celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events.

Harry’s legal team previously said that his older brother Prince William, the heir to the throne, settled a case against NGN, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, in 2020. The publisher has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at the Sun, though it has paid damages to settle cases involving claims levelled against the tabloid’s journalists.

[From US News & World Report]

David Sherborne, Harry’s lawyer in the UK, told the media: “The Duke of Sussex is one of two claimants whose claims are still live in this matter. The reduction of the live claims to just two is a pretty recent development.” Sherborne admitted in April that Harry is taking a huge risk by continuing with this litigation and refusing the settlement offers from NGN, because if Harry loses, he could be on the hook for millions in legal fees and more. There’s been a really high-level pressure campaign to “convince” Harry to drop this lawsuit in particular and/or to settle out of court. I think it’s remarkable that he’s still going.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

King Charles turned 76 yesterday. He spent several hours at an event at a foodbank, in which the slumlord king graciously donated new refrigerators and we weren’t supposed to remember that the man bills the NHS £11 million to rent a warehouse for ambulances. Some outlets made Charles’s birthday all about Prince Harry, because of course. GB News declared that Harry “has fumbled a public olive branch he received from members of the Royal Family” because he “opted not to send a public birthday message to King Charles on Thursday.” Why would Harry PUBLICLY wish his father a happy birthday when Harry could just call his father and speak to him? Oh, wait, Charles refuses to take his son’s calls. Oh well. Good luck with Peggington then! I don’t think William even saw his father on his birthday. It also sounds like Charles planned a small party for himself last night and didn’t invite his sons. Sounds about right. From Katie Nicholl’s latest in Vanity Fair:

Birthday plans: According to aides, the king is treating his birthday like any other day, but it is expected that there will be a small, low-key gathering attended by some family and close friends to mark the king’s birthday on Thursday evening. “There will be more to the birthday than going to the Coronation Food Project, but it will be a private celebration,” reveals a source close to the king.

Happier than he’s ever been?? Sources close to Charles tell VF that he is “happier than he has ever been” and is grateful to be able to carry out his work. “What’s happened since the King’s last birthday is incredible. No one had any idea of the challenges that would lie ahead on a personal and a family level. It’s been a year of highs and lows,” notes a royal source.

Ending 2024 on a high: King Charles is continuing with his weekly treatment which he is “tolerating well,” according to well-placed sources. It has not stopped the monarch from maintaining his busy schedule, which includes a recent tour of Australia and Samoa. “As we come to the end of what has been a terribly hard year there’s a feeling that 2024 will end on a high,” adds the palace source. “That the king was able to visit Australia and CHOGM in Samoa showed just how well he is doing. He was at the Cenotaph last weekend, which was incredibly important, it’s what the royal family do best – leading the nation in moments of national importance.”

More on his treatment: “As he celebrates his birthday, I think the king is getting on with life and feeling deep gratitude for all that he is able to do,” says a source close to the monarch. “He had treatment this week – he’s on a weekly cycle and the symptoms and side effects are manageable. He’s determined to be seen going about his business and doing what he loves doing.”

Human contact: “I think the past year has shown the king to be very human,” adds the source. “The late queen was a quasi-deity in some ways. The king is very human, he has human strengths, frailties and engages in human contact. Nothing could be more reductively human than a critical illness that affects so many and I think most people think he has conducted himself with dignity and courage. People think he’s done well with climate change, youth opportunity and is making a difference and actually see that he’s a good king doing good things, and it would be sad if he wasn’t here. He recognizes that there’s a limit to what he can do, but I do think he’s happier this year than last year. There’s a levity about him and a sense of joy. You see him hugging people and laughing. He’s happy to be here doing what he loves and I think people are paying more attention to him and what he’s doing than ever before.”

[From Vanity Fair]

“People think he’s done well with climate change, youth opportunity and is making a difference and actually see that he’s a good king doing good things, and it would be sad if he wasn’t here.” I find it sad that Buckingham Palace’s communications team serves King Charles so poorly, that they lay it on so thick. He’s so human, he’s frail like the peasants, he’s managing without complaint, and you will miss him when he’s gone!! Aiming for sympathy, maybe even pity? Anyway, I do hope that Charles holds on. There’s definitely a growing sense of panic over William’s inability to take over.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

As I’ve said before, I like Sydney Sweeney. I think she’s a smart cookie, and I appreciate the fact that she’s not a nepo-baby, and that she’s gotten to the top because of her sheer hustle, drive, talent and work ethic. Sydney is featured on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue cover, and VF did individual profiles of all of their cover stars. She’s now an in-demand producer because of the success of Anyone But You, plus Immaculate. She’s also got Ron Howard’s Eden coming up, and Echo Valley with Julianne Moore. Some highlights from her VF profile:

On her interviews: “We’re going to have a conversation, we’ll talk for 30 minutes, it’s condensed, then people don’t understand the context behind the conversation, and it’s all clickbait. Unfortunately I don’t get to control my image—my image is in your guys’ hands.”

Her work as a producer: “I love being able to have a seat at the table, have creative say over decisions that would help benefit the project, whether it be the character or budget or time frame, anything that I can do that can help the project succeed. I love to help brainstorm and problem solve because it’s a puzzle—you’re constantly trying to have all these moving pieces put together.

On the strategy to play up affair rumors with Glen Powell: “Once [Anyone But You] did become a success, a lot of the interviews were just questions about it, so I don’t know if we necessarily were planning on ever talking about the strategy behind any of it. We just had very specific questions and when you say no to a question, people think that you’re a bitch, so….We definitely are very supportive of each other’s careers. We watch and talk about each other’s projects all the time, or even if we’re both debating between projects, we’ll call each other up and ask for advice. I just saw him last week and we were talking through some projects, so we definitely have a really great working relationship. We would absolutely love to work on something else together.

On a female producer publicly calling her talentless: “It’s very disheartening to see women tear other women down, especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard—hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have—and then trying to bash and discredit any work that they’ve done. This entire industry, all people say is “Women empowering other women.” None of it’s happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other sh-t that they say behind everyone’s back.”

More on women not supporting women: “I mean, there’s so many studies and different opinions on the reasoning behind it. I’ve read that our entire lives, we were raised—and it’s a generational problem—to believe only one woman can be at the top.
There’s one woman who can get the man. There’s one woman who can be, I don’t know, anything. So then all the others feel like they have to fight each other or take that one woman down instead of being like, Let’s all lift each other up. I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m just trying my best over here. Why am I getting attacked?

[From Vanity Fair]

She also talks about Euphoria and effortlessly walks the line of being happy about a show which made her a breakout star AND calling out the producers for not having their acts together. Which is true. As for what she says about what Hollywood is really like and all of the “women supporting women” stuff being bullsh-t… I believe it, but I also believe it’s particular to Sydney too. Like, I think there are pockets of Hollywood where, um, white women support other white women. But I think a lot of women are probably threatened by Sydney’s youth and beauty too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Months ago, the Duchess of Sussex revealed to the New York Times that she invested in Cesta Collective, a woven-purse company operated and owned by women. Meghan also revealed to the Times that she has now invested in five to ten other brands. It was a big, rich mystery, one which the British media only acknowledged to mock (this story is going to upset Camilla Tominey so much). Well, as it turns out, Meghan has invested in another female-owned company – Highbrow Hippie, which was founded by her good friend and colorist Kadi Lee. Kadi has been Meghan’s colorist (and colorist to celebrities like Julia Roberts) for years. Now Kadi has turned her successful hair salon (Highbrow Hippie) into a product line of the same name, a product line in which Meghan invested. From InStyle:

Kadi Lee on her mission: “I work with some of the most visible women in the world; keeping their hair healthy has always been at the top of my mind,” says Lee, who specializes in sun-kissed balayage that radiates warmth and makes skin glow. And while Lee insists that good hair health is holistic, she’s bottling some of the magic in her new Highbrow Hippie hair wellness line, developed alongside her salon co-founder and longtime friend Myka Harris. The pair, who first met as students and opened their hair atelier in 2019, designed their debut offerings—a supercharged scalp serum and wellbeing supplement—to optimize all the tenets of good hair health, from luster to density.

Why these products: Lee and Harris have seen their clients through many seasons of life, including postpartum and aging into their 40s and 50s, when hair loss often becomes more pronounced. The duo point to statistics that have motivated their work: 80 percent of women experience hair loss throughout their lifetime; it’s among the top issues affecting women’s self-esteem. Moreover, hair health is often an early indicator of various larger health issues, such as chronic stress or hormonal imbalance, but is not always taken seriously. So, they set out to formulate comprehensive, science-backed formulas that prevent and treat the root causes of hair loss. “We always knew we wanted to start a product line, and the conversations being had with clients made it clear that it needed to be about hair health,” the pair explain. “We knew that we needed to start there and provide them with a comprehensive system that treats the root causes of hair loss and damage while holistically supporting overall wellness and longevity.”

Meghan’s investment: The line’s potential has drawn attention from Markle not just as a client, but as an investor, as well. “Kadi has a mastery of hair health, and her Highbrow Hippie collection is a perfect reflection of that,” Markle tells InStyle. “I am so proud to invest in her as a friend and as a female founder.” In an increasingly crowded space where overnight solutions for hair loss are being pushed on us from every direction, Lee and Harris offer something with integrity. They are mindful of all textures, only use premium-grade ingredients backed by clinical trials, and, of course, offer unmatched experience tending to the world’s most famous heads of hair. As the pair put it, “Women of any age looking to have healthy hair that thrives even under the most stressful of circumstances now have a product they can trust.”

[From InStyle]

I love that Meghan is investing in her friends and investing in female-owned brands which share her personal ethos. It’s really cool. While I’ve thought the makeup and skincare industries have been oversaturated with celebrity-run lines, there’s so much room in haircare to make a good product which could really catch on. Beyonce has that with Cécred! But it sounds like Highbrow Hippie’s products will be more of an industry/California thing for now. I’m sure Meghan would love to see her friends go national in a big way though.

A photo of Meghan from last night’s launch party, via Highbrow Hippie’s IG:

Top 8 stories about Duchess Meghan’s Clevr Blends investment

From a mail order latte business to an endorsement from Oprah and the shelves at Target, Duchess Meghan’s investment in Clevr Blends really paid off! Get the top 8 stories about Clevr Blends when you sign up for our mailing list!

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Photos courtesy of Highbrow Hippie’s IG Stories and Kadi Lee’s IG Stories. Additional photos courtesy of Cover Images.

As we discussed, Donald Trump has chosen Matt Gaetz as his nominee for Attorney General. Gaetz has long been on the national radar as a credibly accused statutory rapist and human trafficker who has been investigated by federal authorities, state authorities and the House Ethics Committee. In fact, it looks like Gaetz’s nomination to DOJ came at just the right moment, because the Ethics Committee was going to release their findings in their years-long investigation today, Friday. That was the plan before Gaetz’s nomination, and he’s already resigned his seat in the House. So, is the Ethics Committee still going to release their report? Because Republican Senators are actually interested in vetting Gaetz.

Republican senators are preparing for a robust vetting of Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in details from a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former congressman from Florida.

The ethics panel has been investigating Gaetz off and on since 2021, most recently focusing on alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other allegations. But the results of that probe may not become public because Gaetz resigned from the House at noon on Thursday. The Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting House members.

Trump’s choice of Gaetz was a surprise to nearly everyone, including members of his own party and officials at the Justice Department — in part because of the Ethics investigation, his past legal problems and his reputation as a rabble-rouser in Congress.

A source familiar with the process told NBC News that Gaetz had been consulting Trump on who would be best to run the Justice Department. Gaetz did not ask for the role, that person said, but Trump asked him to take on the job Wednesday morning, just hours before the decision was made public. Many Republican senators, including members of the GOP-led Judiciary Committee that will oversee Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, said they’ll want to see the details of the House Ethics investigation into Gaetz.

“I think it would be helpful,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah, said he would “absolutely” like to see the findings of the House Ethics Committee investigation, saying, “I don’t know the technicalities, or whether or not we would see that, but I think that would be very relevant.”

[From NBC News]

The House Ethics Committee is meeting today, and it’s widely assumed that they’ll privately debate whether or not they’ll still release their report. Meanwhile, someone on the committee has already leaked some of the testimony The committee heard testimony from a woman, now in her 20s, who said that Matt Gaetz had sex with her when she was only 17 years old.

The woman who was at the center of a yearslong Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the now-former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.

Over the summer, the House Ethics Committee subpoenaed the woman at the center of the probe — who is now in her 20s — and she sat for multiple days of testimony where she testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor in high school, sources close to the investigation said.

“These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress,” Gaetz said in response to ABC News’ reporting. “This false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism.”

The Justice Department spent years probing the allegations against Gaetz, including allegations of obstruction of justice, before informing Gaetz last year that it would not bring charges. Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing related to the Justice Department probe. In September, he released a detailed response to questions sent to him by the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating allegations of alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, reiterating his denial of the allegations.

[From ABC News]

Again, I seriously doubt anything will come from all of these reports of nervous Republicans, reluctant to confirm Gaetz. Gaetz will either be confirmed or Trump will push Congress into recess and he’ll get Gaetz as a recess appointment. Those are the only two options here – Matt Gaetz, a man widely known to have a penchant for drugs, Botox and teenagers, is absolutely going to be Attorney General.

Fox News contributor Ben Domenech weighs in on Matt Gaetz and commits a brutal murder. pic.twitter.com/ImGKUWKYs6

— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 14, 2024

Photos courtesy of YouTube thumbnails, Cover Images.

Every single day, we’re being terrorized by Donald Trump’s appointment announcements. From the white nationalist Fox News bro as Secretary of Defense to a credibly accused statutory rapist and trafficker for Attorney General, Donald Trump is truly going balls to the walls to find the worst people for his cabinet. Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet was famously “the team of rivals.” Trump’s cabinet is the Team of Degenerates. That being said, I expected it to be really bad. All of this has met my expectations thus far. There hasn’t been one name, one appointment, where I’ve been like “whoa, that’s shocking!” Trump literally told everyone what he was going to do and now he’s doing it. Speaking of, Trump will nominated Robert Kennedy Jr. for the head of Health and Human Services.

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect. It’s also a sign of the opening Trump sees after he scored a decisive electoral victory and Republicans won a comfortable majority in the Senate.

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump posted on X. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country.”

Kennedy, 70, may still face a steep slope to confirmation after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism, written a book accusing former National Institutes of Health official Anthony Fauci of conspiring with tech mogul Bill Gates and drugmakers to sell Covid-19 vaccines and said regulatory officials are industry puppets who should be removed.

[From Politico]

Since we’re in the darkest f–king timeline, I guess it’s okay to admit something: I actually thought it was a smart political move for Trump to publicly court Kennedy and ask for his endorsement when it was clear Kennedy was hurting Republicans and not Democrats. As a purely political move – I’m not talking about science, morality or ethics – the way Trump positioned his political alliance with Kennedy was one of the few smart decisions he made this year. A lot of absolutely batsh-t people were going to vote for Kennedy. Trump ensured that those batsh-tters voted for him, with the guarantee that he would put Kennedy in his cabinet and put him in charge of everything health-related. Anyway, yeah, the whole thing is predictably bonkers. I actually think Trump will get tired of Elon Musk and Matt Gaetz much sooner than he’ll get tired of Kennedy. Unless Kennedy starts decapitating animals in and around the White House (but I’m not sure that would be a dealbreaker for Trump). Brain Worm: 1, Science: 0.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Prince William made a “surprise visit” to Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thursday. For a second, I wondered if this trip was something thrown together at the last minute because William has been loudly criticized in some quarters after his Cape Town trip bombed so badly. But then I remembered… royal visits to Northern Ireland are almost always a “surprise.” They’re rarely announced ahead of time, although some reporters were obviously given a heads up, and some rota people even traveled with William. It’s just the way it is and probably always will be – the Windsors have to take extra precautions whenever they’re in Northern Ireland.

Still, I doubt many people in Belfast knew the heir would be in town on Thursday. So while there were few crowds, there were also no large-scale protests. And yet, there was one small-scale protest at Ulster University. William was booed entering and leaving a building on campus, and apparently the protest was made about of about thirty pro-Palestinian protesters. GB News claimed there were about 100 students waiting for a glimpse of him, but that he still got a “muted response” from them. Still, nothing beats the reception given to William whenever he’s in Aberdeen. I swear, the Scottish people in Aberdeen simply refuse to give him one iota of attention.

As for why William even went to Belfast… he visited some homelessness project or shelter and he visited the university, where he did a photo-op with a motorcycle. It was actually a staged thing at the Virtual Production Studio at Ulster- students basically learn how to greenscreen and such. The background was supposed to look like Arizona, and William was especially keen, because he loves motorcycles. He also loves hanging out with college coeds, doesn’t he?

The Prince of Wales, Prince William has arrived at @UlsterUni Belfast. @BelTel pic.twitter.com/q6Ksgwj77A

— Kurtis Reid (@kurtisreid_) November 14, 2024

A less than warm reaction to Prince William as he departs @UlsterUni in Belfast this afternoon. @BelTel pic.twitter.com/jTJ2cLmUri

— Kurtis Reid (@kurtisreid_) November 14, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Lady Gaga joins the cast of Wednesday Season 2. Sigh… [JustJared]
Lupita Nyong’o has been cast in Christopher Nolan’s new film?? [LaineyGossip]
Angelina Jolie wore Saint Laurent in NYC. [RCFA]
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor & Mike Faist have a group chat. [Jezebel]
I am an Agatha Christie Autumn Girl. [Pajiba]
Jay-Z launched a financial literacy program for HBCUs. [Buzzfeed]
We’re also opting out of the icky Liam Payne reports. [Socialite Life]
Matt Gaetz met his wife at Mar-a-Lago. [Hollywood Life]
Whoopi Goldberg made a scandalous joke on The View. [Seriously OMG]
Dua Lipa teams up with… Pokemon. [OMG Blog]