It’s still so fascinating to watch Tom Cruise cozy up to the British establishment and British royal family. Cruise has been based out of England for years now, as he’s worked on back-to-back productions filming at Shepperton. He seems to enjoy British life a lot – I have no idea if he has a place in London, but I’m sure he’s bought (or he rents) a place in the country. He was invited to some of the Jubbly events last year, and he hosted a royal premiere for Top Gun: Maverick, personally escorting Prince William and Kate around. He also now has a standing invitation at Wimbledon, and he’s been invited into the Royal Box a few times. Well, now it looks like he’s gotten an invitation to the coronation. And he’s putting everything on hold so he can attend.

He is a notorious perfectionist when it comes to work, so not much gets in the way of Tom Cruise and his films. Unless, that is, you’re a member of the Royal Family. Those close to the Hollywood superstar tell me he is putting a stop to filming on the eighth instalment of spy franchise Mission: Impossible to attend the ­Coronation on May 6.

A source said: “Tom has been invited to King Charles’ Coronation and there is no way he would have ever turned it down. It is a hugely prestigious event and Tom is a real royalist — plus he is now close with Prince William and Kate. Tom has told film bosses to shut down the production on Mission: Impossible over the Coronation weekend to make sure he can attend. It shocked some people on the film, as Tom is so dedicated to his craft and would never ­normally deviate from his intense production schedules.

“But something as important — and grand — as King Charles’s Coronation is something he would not want to miss out on. It is a huge thing for Tom to be invited and he is honoured.”

[From The Sun]

LOL. From what I understand, most businesses and non-essential whatevers are being shut down because it’s a three-day weekend anyway? I mean, even if Tom wasn’t invited to the Clowning, the production would have probably shut down for the national holiday. It’s Britain – they have bank holidays at the drop of a hat and everything shuts down. Now, do I think that Cruise was actually invited to the Chubbly? I kind of doubt he was invited to the “crowning” at Westminster Abbey, but I bet he’s been roped into doing something else, like hosting the concert or something like that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Here are photos from Saturday night’s BRIT Awards in London, at the O2. Harry Styles was a big winner at the BRITs, just like he was at the Grammys. He knew he got a backlash against his Grammy wins as well, which is why he tried to undo some damage at the BRITs. Harry picked up awards for Pop/R&B Act, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and Mastercard Album of the Year. At the BRITs, Artist of the Year had zero female artists nominated after the awards show removed gender from the categories. Styles told the crowd: “I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight… So this is for Rina [Sawayama], Charli [XCX], Florence [+ the Machine], Mabel and Becky [Hill].” Yeah – he didn’t make the categories genderless, and he probably always would have won regardless, but still – I’m going to need a little bit more than “I’m aware of my privilege.” Sigh. He also thanked his former One Direction bandmates in one of his speeches. On the red carpet, he wore Nina Ricci.

More photos from the BRITs – Jodie Turner-Smith in Zuhair Murad. She looks amazing!! Like a ‘70s disco queen.

Salma Hayek in Alexander McQueen. She looks TINY. And badass.

Sam Smith wore a custom latex suit by Harri (a London label). This is bonkers. But fun?

Kim Petras in Valentino. Her makeup is great.

And here’s Lizzo in her stage ensemble. She’s enjoying herself so much.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Elon Musk fired the Twitter engineer who told Musk that his tweets were getting as much engagement as they used to because Musk is unpopular. [Pajiba]
Bailey is such a good dog! [Dlisted]
Guillermo del Toro is about to make the sexiest Frankstein movie. [LaineyGossip]
Atlantis & Royal Caribbean want y’all to stop filming your OnlyFans on their properties and boats. Which I understand? [OMG Blog]
Julia Fox wore latex pants to pose with a slice of pizza. [Go Fug Yourself]
Troy Kotsur will sign the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. [Seriously OMG]
Kendall Jenner wore Bottega Veneta. [RCFA]
Gemma Arterton is such a low-key person, congrats on the new baby! [Just Jared]
These viral “big red boots” are stupid, imo. [Jezebel]
Serena Williams looks snatched, she needs to un-retire. [Egotastic]
In 2005, Mischa Barton said that her publicist told her to have sex with Leonardo DiCaprio so she would get publicity. [Buzzfeed]
Are they going to expel George Santos or what? [Towleroad]
Joy-Anna Duggar & her husband share their miscarriage story. [Starcasm]

Last week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres’s vow renewal. There were zero photos posted of Harry and Meghan on social media, and the only reason people know they attended the last-minute event was because of some blurry shots of them in Portia’s video. That’s it. The vow renewal was full of celebrities, and Page Six would have us believe that one of the attendees is gossiping about what Harry did and said at the event. Apparently, Harry was telling people he has “no regrets” about Spare.

Prince Harry has “no regrets” about the bombshell revelations in his book — and is extremely proud of his memoir sales, Page Six is told. Harry, 38, was in great spirits as he spoke to fellow guests at Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s surprise wedding vow renewal ceremony last week.

One guest said that Harry, who was joined by wife Meghan Markle at the bash, seemed very proud of the success of his controversial memoir, “Spare,” which sold more than 3.2 million copies worldwide in one week.

“Harry said he was really happy about the success of the book and the reaction to it,” the guest told Page Six. “He said he had no regrets about any of the revelations, and he’s relieved to have got his story out into the world. There’s been an amazing reaction to it, he said.”

The source added that Harry and Meghan “seemed to be in extremely good spirits,” but politely sidestepped questions about whether or not they will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles, on May 6. As Page Six has reported, the King wants them to attend. But this week, another source close to the Sussexes told People magazine they had not yet been invited.

[From Page Six]

Do you think people were really asking him about the Chubbly at a party in California? Doubtful. I also doubt that this eyewitness saw or overheard anything, but it does sound truthy. I believe that Harry has zero regrets about writing Spare. I bet his only regret is the way the British media tried to hijack Spare and terrorize Harry about it, but even then, he was probably expecting it. Speaking of, Page Six also had this curious story about Harry and a “dealmaker.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have hired a big-time Hollywood dealmaker to help them rake in even more millions, Page Six can reveal. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are believed to have been introduced to Adam Lilling, who was crowned one Tinseltown’s top dealmakers, by their close friend Ellen DeGeneres, who has worked with Lilling for years.

The trio were seen mingling at DeGeneres’ surprise vow renewal to Portia de Rossi in Montecito, Calif., last week, and Harry was spotted introducing the money man to a fellow guest.

People have questioned how the Sussexes plan to make more money, and one industry expert who works with Lilling told us that he works at the “intersection of celebrity and venture investing,” adding that “he has worked with Ellen forever, as well as Matthew McConaughey and a bunch of A listers.”

“It’s very possible that Ellen introduced him to Harry and Meghan,” the expert said.

Lilling and his business partner Amanda Groves were named among The Hollywood Reporter’s “Top dealmakers of 2022” in December, along with 43 other power players “who brokered big-ticket pacts, cultivated content and built brands from scratch amid the streaming wars.”

[From Page Six]

LMAO: “People have questioned how the Sussexes plan to make more money…” Like, the Sussexes got extremely rich deals from Netflix and Spotify. Harry is making a lot of money with BetterUp. They’ve already gotten into venture capital. I don’t doubt that the Sussexes know a lot of dealmakers and that they have their choice of California’s best money managers and business dealmakers. But they’re already doing really well and they’re already very rich.

Photos courtesy of Archewell, Travalyst, AppleTV and WellChild.

King Charles stepped out solo on Thursday in London. He visited the newly-renovated Leighton House (a museum), where he got to see various treasures in the Arab Hall. Some of the new treasures were commissioned by one of Charles’s side projects, Turquoise Mountain, which helps global artisans and craftsmen make and sell their goods in a global market. He was presented with a puzzle box from Jordan and he struggled with it, apparently.

Something notable happened on Wednesday, when Charles and Camilla were doing a walkabout at one of their events. The king was greeting some of his subjects and one gentleman asked him to “bring back Harry”:

While the monarch was greeting royal fans at the University of East London’s Stratford Campus, one attendee shrieked, “Can you bring back Harry?” as King Charles shook hands.

After seemingly mishearing what the student said — the king asked “Who?” in his initial response — Charles simply burst into laughter and continued his visit.

[From Page Six]

I saw the video (which is no longer available) and the man in the crowd actually asked twice, with Charles’s “who?” in between. I mean… the Windsors still believe that the Sussex issue will “blow over” eventually and it’s been over three years. Charles is feverishly planning his Chubbly and all anyone can talk about is Harry and whether he’ll come. But I’d also like to point out that there is this consistent belief among the British populace that it’s just a matter of Charles ordering Harry to come back or that it’s Charles’s call as to where Harry lives. And that’s not the case. And notice that it’s solely about Harry too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are more photos from the Prince and Princess of Wales’s trip to Cornwall on Thursday, plus some additional photos of Kate’s event on Wednesday, when she got to hang out with Captain Preet Chandi. For a while, it seemed like William and Kate were going to do more separate events, but the day in Cornwall was their third joint-appearance in less than two weeks. William was with her when she launched Shaping Us at BAFTA, and they went to the Windsor foodbank together on January 26th. Is this a new era of William and Kate being able to do events together without looking like they’re disgusted with one another? Perhaps. According to People Magazine’s cover story, Kate is as tough as they come and she’s a real asset for William. Her people always say that.

Kate Middleton is moving forward following the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare. While the Princess of Wales has stayed silent on her brother-in-law’s bombshell book, which portrayed her as cold towards him and Meghan Markle, she is “no shrinking violet,” a family friend tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

“She is a tough woman. It is wonderful that William has Kate by his side to rely on, as she is a real stalwart through this,” the friend says.

Another friend tells PEOPLE, “So much has been said that at this stage, I think they just want to move on. The whole situation is very sad, but it’s business as usual, and she’s getting on with the job because that’s what she does.”

Behind the scenes, discussions are underway onhow to work out a reconciliation between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the royal family. There’s “fatigue” at the consequences of the brothers’ estrangement, as one insider puts it, and recognition that something — or someone — must bridge the divide.

[From People]

I guess it’s much too late for the Keen Peacemaker narrative to rise again. Kate’s done with keen-peacemaking, everyone, she’s not going to solve her husband’s beef with Harry. Her new narrative is “Kate is moving on by winning the imaginary battle in her head against her nemesis Meghan!” Kind of crazy how Ol’ Stalwart wants credit for being “tough” when she also wants sympathy for Meghan sympathetically referencing her Baby Brain. Also: it continues to fascinate me to watch how Kate and William’s separate PR strategies diverge. Kate tells people that she’s indispensable, that she’s the only one who can soothe her intemperate, rage-filled, childish husband, that she’s his best asset. William’s PR is that Kate is fine, she raises the children and she doesn’t embarrass him too much. Anyway, we must allow Kate to get on with the job of copykeening her nemesis. Oh wait, it’s time for Kate to disappear for a month, whoopsie.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Britney Spears finally had her conservatorship removed in the fall of 2021. “Free Britney” worked, and Britney has been enjoying her newfound freedom ever since. Because Britney’s fans were so instrumental in helping Britney seek and achieve freedom, those fans believe they’re entitled to monitor her health and well-being. Those fans even went so far as to recently send police to Britney’s home to do a welfare check. The thing is, once Britney’s conservatorship was done, Britney can now make her own decisions about her medications, her doctors, her treatments and how she lives her life. Mine is not a pro- or anti-conservatorship stance, just a recognition that Freed Britney was always going to have a difficult time managing her own life after more than a decade of microscopic control exerted on her.

That’s what we’ve been seeing for more than a year now: a fanbase with a parasocial entitlement to “monitor” Britney; a woman with a history of mental health issues now in charge of her own treatment and medication; a victim of financial, medical and parental abuse trying to understand and process that abuse. Of course it’s messy and of course people have legitimate concerns about Britney’s well-being. I’m not entirely sure that briefing People Magazine is the answer though.

Those in Britney Spears’ life are worried about the pop star as she goes through a difficult time, multiple sources close to the singer tell PEOPLE. Spears’ inner circle had an intervention planned for the “Hold Me Closer” singer, 41, but it was canceled at the last minute. She did, however, meet with a doctor on Wednesday night — and while the meeting went well, the next steps are unclear.

“Britney has been acting increasingly erratically and those around her have grown more concerned,” a source says. “She is often up all night, sleeps during [the] day and has a lot of anger.”

Another insider in Spears’ circle tells PEOPLE that things behind the scenes have been “very difficult” and “absolutely chaotic” as those close to her encourage her to get help.

“Everyone had hoped Britney could be convinced to seek treatment before things got any worse but they knew it wouldn’t be easy,” the source says. “She’s been going through a lot and has been increasingly combative.”

The insider adds that Sam Asghari, whom Spears married in June after six years of dating, “is being as supportive as possible.”

[From People]

This sounds familiar to anyone who has any experience with someone dealing with bipolar disorder. It sounds… a lot like Kanye West too, only Kanye is allowed to just exist in whatever harmful Nazi state he wants with his bros around to insulate him. As for Britney, she isn’t a monster and what’s happening is not some new thing. Now, am I concerned that she doesn’t seem to be taking her meds, or that her meds don’t seem to be working? Yes. Do I wish that Britney had better people in her life overall, people whom she can trust, people who will help her without their own agenda? Yes. I hope she’s well and I hope she finds medical professionals who can help her. I hope she has people in her life whom she trusts no matter what.

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Photos courtesy of Britney’s IG.

What kind of money do you think Sasha Walpole is getting for all of her interviews with the British media? Walpole came out last weekend to claim that she is Prince Harry’s “first,” the “older woman” who took his virginity in a field behind a pub in 2001. Harry didn’t name the woman in his memoir and he barely described her – all we knew about her was that she was older than Harry and she liked horses. That’s it. And yet that instigated Sasha Walpole to give several exclusive interviews to the Sun, the Mail and now Piers Morgan’s television show. So how much money do you Walpole has gotten from all of this? My guess is low to mid-six figures?

In any case, she’s not shutting up. I would respect her hustle if she was honest about just wanting or needing the money, but instead, she’s playing along with the British media’s narrative that she was “outed” by Harry, that Harry should have never written about her (again, he didn’t identify her), that she was forced to come out in this way. I also have zero respect for all of this sh-t she said on Piers Morgan’s show, the biggest headline from which is that she and Piers believe that Harry “downgraded” from Sasha when he married Meghan.

Prince Harry’s former lover Sasha Walpole revealed the Duke of Sussex is ‘not the boy she remembers’ and joked that he has ‘traded down’ by marrying Meghan Markle. The digger driver – who has come forward as the woman who took Prince Harry’s virginity – appears on the latest episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, which airs tonight at 8pm on TalkTV.

During the interview, Sarah, 40, was quizzed by the host about her feelings towards Meghan Markle. Joking that the two women have ‘a lot in common’, Piers said: ‘He’s gone from a digger to a gold digger!’

Laughing along, Sasha then pointed out that both her and Meghan refer to Harry as ‘H’.

Piers then went on to ask if Prince Harry – who now lives in Montecito, California after quitting royal life in 2020 – seemed ‘happy’ to her. She replied: ‘He’s not the boy I remember, that’s for sure. But again I’m not in his shoes, I have no idea what’s going on in his head, I haven’t seen him for 21 years.’

Piers added: ‘Do you think he’s traded up from you or down?’ Sasha replied with a laugh: ‘Definitely down!’

Elsewhere in the interview with Piers Morgan, Sasha said she decided to come forward and reveal her identity because the speculation over Prince Harry’s mystery lover was ‘never going to stop’. Sasha said: ‘People are asking, family and friends. We know who it is, and then suddenly it’s just a reality of ‘This isn’t going to go away’. Forever this is going to flare up. Until they know who it is, they’re going to be questioning people. And yes I could not have said anything but then it’s never going to stop. He could have given me the heads up that you know, ‘I’m going to put it in the book’.’

[From The Daily Mail]

While this whole thing is disingenuous, this is particularly irritating: “People are asking, family and friends. We know who it is, and then suddenly it’s just a reality of ‘This isn’t going to go away.’” She wasn’t being bombarded with questions from FRIENDS, she was being bombarded by tabloid journalists who were looking to humiliate Harry by “finding” his first. Sasha Walpole made a conscious choice to sell her story to a series of high bidders and parrot the lines they fed her.

As for Meghan being a downgrade… be kind, people. I’m not going to say it. If you care, you can see the stupid interview here, I’m not going to post it.

Covers courtesy of The Sun, screencap courtesy of Piers Morgan Uncovered.

The Super Bowl is happening on Sunday. Wait, let me look up who’s playing… Chiefs versus the Eagles. That should be good (I have no idea). I’m mostly looking forward to the music, and I’m getting hyped for Rihanna’s Half-Time show. Usually, days before the Super Bowl, the Half-Time act gives an exclusive interview as part of the NFL sponsorship, and that’s what happened on Thursday. Rihanna gave an interview, and iTunes dropped this magnificent trailer for her Half-Time show:

It actually gave me chills? “I was just a little island girl flying kites at the cemetery…” is so evocative. This will be Rihanna’s first time on stage in five years, and this is something Rihanna always swore she wouldn’t do. In 2019, Rihanna was asked by Vogue if she would ever do the Half-Time show and she said: “I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.” Crash-cut to 2023, with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation partnering with the NFL, and here she is. Some highlights from Rihanna’s interview:

She forgot about her birthday: “Sunday, now that’s the one. I’ve been so focused on the Super Bowl I totally forgot that my birthday’s coming up. I totally forgot about Valentine’s Day.”

The Super Bowl is an “entertainer’s dream.” “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world; it’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that. But it’s nerve-racking. You want to get it right. You know, everybody’s watching. And they’re rooting for you. And I want to get it right.”

She keeps changing the set list: Rihanna explained how curating the setlist for the halftime show has been the most difficult aspect of it, noting that it’s changed roughly “39 times” already. When asked what fans can expect from the performance, Rih said, “It’s going to be a celebration of my catalog in the best way that we could.” She added that it’s changed so many times because of the inherent time crunch that comes with the halftime show. “You’re trying to cram 17 years of work into 13 minutes, so it’s difficult, and some songs we had to lose because of that, but that’s okay.”

She’s also going to focus on her Bajan & Caribbean roots: “[Caribbean culture] is a big part of why this is important for me to do this show. Representation: representing for immigrants, representing for my country of Barbados, representing for Black women everywhere. I think that’s really important. That’s key, for people to see the possibilities.” Apple Music also released a teaser for the show after the interview, which featured glimpses of Bajan culture and are sure to be present during the show.

[From Complex & People]

It’s kind of crazy to think that Rihanna hasn’t done any of this in five years, and that the set list wasn’t finalized weeks ago, and that Rihanna just had a baby last year. I’m just saying… while I’m excited about the Half-Time show, I also think that there’s a good chance it will end up kind of messy! We’ll see.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images, Backgrid.

Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon are trying to promote their film Your Place or Mine. It’s… not going well. The premise is already a hard sell for a rom-com because it’s two best friends who switch homes so that Reese’s character can find herself again or something. But surprise! Actually Ashton’s character has always been in love with her. But Reese has to dump Jesse Williams, whom she started dating because she left her kid with Ashton. This is all in the trailer, btw. I’m not spoiling anything. The weirdest part is it seems to take place with our two romantic leads on separate coasts. So it’s Romance by FaceTime – fun. The fact that the two aren’t in the same room might be the movie’s saving grace, because Ashton and Reese are tanking the red carpet. Their lack of chemistry has overshadowed the press tour. Even Ashton’s wife Mila Kunis tried to help the pair by joining the vocal criticism (I don’t get it either but that’s what she went with).

So Ashton has finally defended his awkward Are They First Cousins? body language with Reese. He told the Chicks in the Office podcast that the reason he and Reese react like same pole magnets is because he’s avoiding affair rumors. If he slipped an arm around her shoulders, he’d make headlines for sleeping with her. Ooooh, okay.

Here’s the thing, OK? Here’s the thing. If I put my arm around her and was, like, all friendly with her, I’d be having an affair with her. The rumor would be that I’m having an affair with her. If I stand next to her, and I put my hands in my pockets, there’s no chance that could be the rumor. The rumor is we don’t like each other… Reese and I are really good friends. We’re really close. I don’t have to defend that.

[From Chicks in the Office via DListed]

A cheater says what now? I’m not buying it. Plenty of people have promoted rom-coms by cuddling on the red carpet and all people talked about was how much chemistry they had. As has been pointed out repeatedly, Oscar Isaac practically licked Jessica Chastain’s armpit and no one accused them of anything other than raising the temperature of Cannes. Now, maybe that’s why Ashton is doing it, but nobody would have jumped to that conclusion. People accused Ashton of having affairs during his first marriage because he was having affairs during his first marriage, not his red carpet behavior. But, okay, he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s knocking boots with Reese. Mission Accomplished. So accomplished, they’re spending their entire junket trying to convince everyone they actually like each other. Kind of swung that pendulum a little far in the wrong direction, didntcha? You know what else this Awkward Body Stance has successfully made go away? Ashton’s defense of his rapist (whatever, alleged) buddy Danny Masterson.

Ashton also blamed his awkwardness on his hearing loss from his bout with vasculitis in 2019. It’s left him almost deaf in one ear, which has made the chaos on red carpets overwhelming. That makes sense. I’m sure it’s a combination of things. I don’t think he and Reese dislike each other but I don’t think they make any sparks, either.

I also think Ashton took the notes and corrected because here he is hugging Reese on stage. So, according to Ashton’s logic, are they sleeping together now? I hope not because that hug is worse than not touching her.

Photo credit: Getty Images for Netflix