Sometimes I do stop and think: “Are these the last days of the Empire?” Do you ever get that feeling? That like the Roman Empire before us, the English-speaking Western world will fall and it’s because we shrugged our shoulders when “sex-entrepreneurs” made millions of dollars organizing extravagant sex parties for the rich, well-connected and famous? Granted, these sex parties are only for consenting adults, so at least on that level, the Empire still stands. But it does seem sometimes like the hedonism and excess has a decidedly “end of days” feel.

All of that is just a prologue to this story about Duchess Kate and her friend Emma Sayle. The UK tabloids have been talking about this for months, probably because there is a “royal connection.” Kate and Emma are friends or were friends at some point. They went to the same school (Downe House) and Emma was the friend who convinced Kate to do that Sisterhood rowing thing in 2007 (which Kate ended up not doing because William came back to her). You can see a photo of Emma and Kate here. Funny story: Emma runs a business called Killing Kittens, a business that organizes sex parties.

Emma Sayle is the founder and CEO of Killing Kittens – a highly successful sex party business that caters to the rich and racy. For $250 a couple ($100 for single women), guests at Emma’s high-end romps are treated to a night of champagne, oysters and anonymous sex in discreet, upscale boutique hotels and rented luxury penthouses.

The business is a huge hit, with regular parties in London, LA and a New York City branch opening soon. But while Kate finds her job interesting and “funny,” Queen Elizabeth sees it as no laughing matter.

“This is yet another reason why the Queen can’t stand the Middlestons,” says a royal insider. “The Queen thinks it’s so embarrassing that Kate would associate with someone like Emma.”

But Kate doesn’t understand why the Queen would care. Kate sees Emma as a successful businesswoman, much like her parents. A source says: “Kate really doesn’t see what the big deal is. She and Emma have been friends for years and she refuses to end their relationship just because the Queen doesn’t like it.”

Physical fitness is one of many interests shared by Kate and Emma, who met in 2007 during a rowing event for charity. Both women also attended the prestigious Downe House, although not at the same time. Both are moms as well – Emma has a five-month old son with Olympian James Tindall. The insider says: “They’ve been friends for years. They really get along.”

Sources say Kate is “fascinated” with Emma’s business. Killing Kittens grossed $1 million last year and boasts 43,000 members worldwide.

The royal insider says: “The Queen was furious after learning of Kate’s link to such a trashy business. This is the last thing she needs. She keeps urging Kate to distance herself from Emma. But Kate doesn’t like being told what to do.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

As I said, the sex party business seems to be only for consenting adults, which is more than we can say for Prince Andrew’s extracurricular activities. Still… this is a pretty tacky, unnecessary scandal for Duchess Kate. That is, IF Kate and Emma are still friends. We don’t really know if they’re still in contact or how close they actually are. My guess is that Emma and Kate probably aren’t that close and Kate is NOT “fascinated” by Emma’s work. And my guess is that the Queen has bigger fish to fry.

Here are some photos of Emma in 2014.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The fake baby of American Sniper must be crying over this news. Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse have called it quits after two years of dating. I’ve been wondering about them lately. BCoop recently turned 40, and Suki is only 23. They surely wouldn’t last forever, although Us Weekly recently teased a possible engagement. Oh and there were pregnancy rumors in January. Alas, there shall be no mini Cooper from this couple. Fake baby will have to do. Mark Malkin broke the news:

It’s over between Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse.

I can exclusively reveal that the couple of about two years have called it quits.

Whether or not it’s permanent is anyone’s guess right now, but Waterhouse, 23, did attend the Oscars just last month with Cooper, 40, who was nominated for his work in American Sniper. (His mom was also with them.)

The lovebirds were first linked in March 2013 when they were spotted together in Boston.

Waterhouse’s rep declined to comment on the split. Cooper’s rep did not respond to our requests for comment.

[From E! Online]

It sounds like this relationship simply ran its course, which happens. I find it interesting that Suki mostly hid her personality from the media for so long. Last fall, she told Elle UK about how “boring” it would be to reveal personal details. Suki did rave about loving LA and building an acting career, but she stayed impersonal. Her tactics changed this week when a few obnoxious interviews dropped, followed by the breakup. Because a pimplenamer can’t date a three-time Oscar nominee and wearer of beige booty shorts?

People confirms the breakup and says Suki & BCoop quit it in January. They still went to the Oscars together and dined out the next day but “didn’t seem affectionate.” Us Weekly has a slightly different take and says the two lovebirds are only “taking a break.” Bummer. I’ll miss watching their awkward Wimbledon body language this summer.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet & WENN

Here are some photos of Lily James and Richard Madden at last night’s Cinderella premiere in London. Lily’s Balenciaga gown is pretty, but… that button or whatever we’re calling it? It’s pretty epic. It looks like something the button-loving Duchess Kate would imagine during a fever dream. “I want half of my dress to just be one huge BUTTON!!!” Still, it is pretty. I like that the pale blue references the famous Cinderella gown.

As many people keep saying, Lily James is a small, slender girl. She’s naturally like that, I don’t think anyone doubts that. But many people have taken issue with the fact that Disney put Lily into a really, aggressively cinched corset for Cinderella. When people questioned the miniscule, corseted waist of Cinderella, Lily took it personally. Like, she was offended. Offended that people were like “Um, this film is aimed at very young girls and it promotes a really unrealistic body image.” Many of you said – and I agree – that this isn’t Lily’s fight and that she should just refer these questions to Disney. But while she was promoting the film in London, she got asked more questions about her waist and once again, she doesn’t “get” it.

Speaking at a press conference today at London’s Claridges Hotel, Lily James said about the waist controversy: “Why on earth are we focusing on something so irrelevant? I’ve had friends’ kids and a little boy called Daniel, whose nine, who said ‘it’s amazing how you promised your mum to be kind and good and you remembered it’ that’s the message.”

The film’s costume designer, Sandy Powell, then added, according to PA: “I don’t understand what the concerns are actually. Lily does have a small waist, but then so do all the other girls in the film, all the girls in the film wear corsets because that’s what you wear with period clothes – it creates the silhouettes. Lily’s dress in particular is an optical illusion, I have to say. The diameter of the skirt is about two metres and it has the width and that really does make the waist smaller than it actually is.”

[From Express]

If you read the full Express article, it sounds like Sandy Powell and a female producer jumped into the conversation really quickly, which leads me to believe that somewhere at Disney, they realize that Lily is somewhat incapable of answering these questions on her own. She takes it way too personally. And no, this conversation is not “irrelevant.” Moms want to take their daughters to a movie where the heroine doesn’t look like she has damaged her internal organs with a too-tight corset.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Kate Upton covers the April issue of The Edit. She’s surprisingly covered up for the shoot, which signals her continued and hopeful move into high fashion. We don’t see her in a swimsuit nearly as often these days. She still looks alluring. It’s a gift.

Kate uses her interview to discuss her public image. She used to be very active on social media but has lost the urge to constantly update her statuses. A lot of celebrities go through these phases. When they first long on, they experience a heady rush of greetings and salutations. Some celebs grow addicted, and others grow numb to the onslaught. Kate’s not into social media at all anymore:

She’s over Twitter: “I feel like social media at this point is kind of bullsh*t. At the beginning it was amazing and a lot of fun. It was like, ‘Cool, I can talk to my fans!’ And now I think that we’re losing the art of it. When I first joined Twitter it was just me, but [when] you’ve got contracts, it’s so planned. Now it’s about who has the best marketing, not who has a really good personality.”

On scrutiny of her image: “[The criticism was difficult] because I actually cared what people thought. The only thing I do for other people now is cook. That’s the only place in my life where I care what they think … I’ve heard people say, ‘You put yourself in that position to be judge.’ But no, I put myself in that position because I really liked that photographer. I wanted to do that piece of work. Not to be judged.”

On online forums: “The Internet can be horrible, so I just don’t look at it anymore … But maybe a bit of hate is good for me. Because if I’m in a spot where everyone loves me, I won’t try as hard … People always have low expectations of me, but that makes it easy to impress them!”

[From Net-a-Porter’s The Edit]

Kate previously said the internet kept her from taking it all off during photo shoots because “I don’t think that my pictures would be received in the way that I’d want them to be received.” After Kate’s unfortunate inclusion in last Labor day weekend’s massive iCloud photo hack, we saw that Kate was correct. She doesn’t mention the hacking in this interview, but I don’t blame her if she feels burned by the internet.

Social media can mean many different things to different people. I use it mostly to find and spread interesting news stories and to check out dog photos. Some people use it on a strictly professional basis while others overshare their personal lives. Models often use social media to build buzz. Think Kendall Jenner and her Estee Lauder contract. Kate may be shading Kendall (and similar models) a little bit.

Photos courtesy of The Edit & WENN

I have no memory of this, but according to Star Magazine, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dakota Johnson dated briefly four years ago, in 2011? I probably didn’t pay attention to the rumors at the time because I – like the rest of America – was still reeling from Jake’s breakup with Taylor Swift at the time. I might not have paid attention to the rumors because I didn’t pay attention to Dakota Johnson at the time. In any case, they might have had a thing back in the day. And now Jake wants to rekindle the cuddlefesting flame.

Four years after Dakota Johnson and Jake Gyllenhaal had a brief, two-month fling after meeting at Sting’s birthday party in NYC, the actor wants another chance. Jake, whose romance with Ruth Wilson recently fizzled out, has been showering Dakota with sweet messages and flowers.

“His crush on her never went away,” dishes a source. But Dakota, who ended her romance with Matthew Hitt over the holidays, has yet to give in to his sweet gestures. Maybe if he drew up a contract?

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

Dakota is 25 years old now and she’s pretty single – her breakup with Matthew Hitt became public last month. Leonardo DiCaprio was allegedly sniffing around Dakota as well, although those reports seem… odd. One thing is for sure: Dakota is a hot property nowadays. It wouldn’t surprise me if all kinds of celebrity dudes are giving her a second look. I think Jake has a better shot than Leo, and I also think Dakota looks more like Jake’s type than Leo’s. Then again, she’s dated outside of the narrow Hollywood A-list before and maybe she’s not really looking for a big high-profile romance. Still… Jake and Dakota would be pretty together (again).

Also: the “contract” joke is, in my opinion, a reference to Fifty Shades of Grey and Christian Grey wanting a sex/relationship contract. As opposed to Jake maybe having contractual beards. But it could go either way!

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

Periwinkle purses and ponytails

A photo posted by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on Mar 18, 2015 at 2:15pm PDT

You know what freaks me out a little bit about Khloe Kardashian these days? It’s so obvious that she got butt implants – behold, the Pinocchio Butt! – but she mostly gets pap’d these days going in and out of the gym. Why change your body so dramatically with butt implants only to basically LIVE at the gym, like she’s trying to lose weight? You know what would make you look thinner, Khloe? Taking out those massive implants.

But the butt implants are just one of several tweaks Khloe has made over the past few years. She’s also gotten her lips augmented, and I kind of think she also got a somewhat modest boob job. “Modest” meaning she’s didn’t get freakshow breast implants to match her freakshow booty. And what is it all for? I have a theory that she’s trying to “match” her sisters to a certain extent. She’s trying to blend with them in some ways. Why is that? Because as the years go by, it becomes more and more obvious to many people that Khloe probably isn’t a real “Kardashian.” Meaning, she is not Robert Kardashian’s genetic daughter.

Gawker’s Blackbag has been doing “Illuminati Month” for March and it’s been amazing. They’ve been focusing on political, technological, wingnut and celebrity conspiracy theories. On Wednesday, they did a piece of Khloe’s paternity and whether OJ Simpson is her real father – go here to read. The evidence is there, for sure, and I think one could even make the argument that Kris Jenner was sleeping with several dudes at the time of Khloe’s conception, and that OJ might have even been one of them. But I tend to think Khloe probably isn’t OJ’s daughter. I’ve always believed that Alex Roldan, Kris’s hairdresser, is Khloe’s biological father.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Instagram.

Congratulations to Anne V and Adam Cahan.

The Russian-American model, who turned 29 on Thursday, and her boyfriend are expecting their first child, she announced on Twitter.

“On this birthday I couldn’t feel luckier, happier & more grateful. [Adam] & I couldn’t be more excited for you,” she Tweeted an ultrasound photo of the baby’s feet.

The mom-to-be debuted her baby bump by posing alongside fellow model Christy Turlington-Burns in Every Mother Counts T-shirts.

“So proud of be a part of @everymomcounts, thanks @CTurlington for your love & bday wishes & being the best role model,” she captioned the image.

Born Anne Vyalitsnya, the supermodel has been dating Cahan, senior vice president of mobile and emerging products for Yahoo, since last year. She has previously dated New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.

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Rapper Tyga hit the happiest place on earth and shared the shots via Instagram.

“I grew up never knowing my father,” the Hookah hitmaker, 25, captioned the image with 2-year-old son King Cairo. “Always wanted that father son bond but never got it. I knew when king was born that was Gods way of talkin to me. Words can’t describe what he means to me. #RealLove.”

The proud papa – who raises King with his ex, urban model/stripper Blac Chyna – posted some more pics from their fun-filled trip to Disneyland. “The Future,” he captioned the sweet selfie with his son.

He also shared a shot while meeting Mickey Mouse and a video of the two driving race cars.

The sweet Instagram shots come just five days after the recording artist seemed to confirm a relationship with Kylie Jenner.

“Certain things catch your eye, but only few capture the heart,” Tyga captioned a photo of the 17-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians star.

As well, the rapper recently chatted about his relationship with Kylie.

“Whether if I tell the world that I love her or I don’t, it’s gonna be me to dictate that, and how I want to keep my friendship and relationship with her,” he told 92.3 during a radio interview. “I feel like it doesn’t matter what the world thinks. If you’re around somebody, and you love being around that person, that’s all that matters. I don’t feel like what anybody could say would change that… how I feel for her as a person… She’s just a good person, she’s got great energy.”

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Model becomes an actress. You’re like, whatever, because you still remember seeing Cindy Crawford in Fair Game. Nine times out of ten I would agree with you. But my best memory from TIFF 2014 was that I found out that Cara Delevingne can act. It was a film called The Face Of An Angel. Total…      

It’s Thursday, which means social media is littered with Empire posts. Duana is going to start writing about it, so I thought this meme (via Naomi Campbell) was appropriate. I’ve never thought of Naomi as having a good sense of humour. Have you ever heard her laugh? It’s terrify…