The BBC aired a super gossipy documentary yesterday called Reinventing The Royals amid reports that the royal family pushed to delay the original air date after learning that the film alleges that Prince Charles had his advisors exploit his sons to boost his popularity and reputation after Diana …      

We haven’t written about Chelsea Handler in months. Hasn’t that been such a relief? Chelsea said goodbye to her E! show, Chelsea Lately, late last summer. She had spent months bitching and moaning about the show was beneath her talents, and she was trying to hustle her way into some kind of “smart” gig, openly talking about how she would love to do something like The Daily Show. She even tried to hustle her name onto the shortlist for David Letterman’s replacement. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that she failed at all of that. Nowadays she’s so desperate for attention, she keeps posting topless selfies on her social media. She allegedly has a Netflix talk show (or something) but that doesn’t start until 2016. And that’s about it. Still, she was invited to the Code/Media conference and she ended up biting the hand that fed her yet again. Unprofessional dumbass.

Onward and upward! Chelsea Handler spent seven years of her life hosting E!’s Chelsea Lately, and now that it’s over, she’s ready for something bigger and better — emphasis on the latter. Speaking at the Code/Media conference in California on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the comedienne couldn’t help taking a few shots at her former gig.

“The subject matter I was dealing with on E!, you know, it was a fun way to get started and kind of have a great time,” she told hosts Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka of the late-night program, which ran from 2007 to 2014. “And then after a while, I just was like, I’m so much smarter than that show was, and I wanted to be doing a show that was smarter than I was.”

That’s what she hopes to accomplish with her Netflix deal, which includes a new talk show in 2016. Handler said she chose the streaming service (now a major TV programmer thanks to hits like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards) because she didn’t want to just “go fill in someone else’s shoes” at an already-established show on another network. “I wanted to create my surroundings,” she explained.

She’s still working out the specifics of what her new show will entail, but so far, at least, the Netflix partnership has been a success.

“It’s nice to be involved in a show where I do respect their opinions,” she said. “I respect Netflix. So it’s like going out with a guy that you’re proud to be seen with.”

The stand-up star also spoke at the conference about her recent streak of topless photos on Twitter and Instagram. “I’m not trying to look fantastic. That’s just a by-product,” she joked. “I’m also not trying to sexualize myself in any way.”

What she is trying to do is make a point about the nudity rules on various social media platforms. (Instagram, for example, does not allow nudity and will take down any photo it deems inappropriate.)

[From Us Weekly]

“I just was like, I’m so much smarter than that show was, and I wanted to be doing a show that was smarter than I was…” How many different times and ways can she complain about a show that she created out of thin air, by sleeping with (then married) boss? And I’ve heard Chelsea’s stand-up and I’ve read more interviews with her than I care to admit, and I’m here to tell her something. Dear Chelsea: you are not smarter than Chelsea Lately. Chelsea Lately was your cash cow and the best vehicle for your marginal talent. And you let your ego and your yes-men tell you that you could do better, and now you’re posting topless selfies for attention. Maybe it’s time to stop bitching?

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Scandal Season 4 Episode 14 recap

We did it! And inexplicably Liv has all of her coats with her! Hooray for coats!

No, seriously, I didn’t see this coming at all. I did think she’d manage to weasel her way out of a buy from Iran, because she knows how to push buttons, although…      

Congratulations are in order for Eric Church and Katherine Church.

The country crooner, 37, and his wife welcomed their second child, a son named Tennessee Hawkins, on Sunday, Feb. 15, he announced via Facebook Thursday.

The baby boy, who they call “Hawk,” weighed in at 9 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. The couple, who announced their pregnancy news this past September during one of Church’s concerts, are already proud parents to 3-year-old son Boone McCoy.

“I’m thrilled that Hawk and his mom are doing well,” the Cold One singer shared on his Facebook page. “We aren’t sleeping very much, but we are enjoying every part of this incredible journey. I’m very blessed and thankful.”

Church and Katherine were wed in January 2008.

These are photos from last night’s Unite:4humanity gala in Beverly Hills, which honors celebrities for their commitment to charity. Halle Berry, a longtime supporter of domestic violence causes and in particular The Jenesse Center, was presented with the Creative Conscience Award by Queen Latifah. Halle was in a black v-neck David Koma gown with a fitted zippered bodice and a slightly asymmetrical bell skirt. This is a great dress for the occasion and it’s sexy without showing too much skin. I am not liking Halle’s new hair, which is surely extensions anyway. (She had a chin length bob a couple of weeks ago.) The whole vibe is very Jennifer Garner, but it’s not fug. I just wish she was still rocking short hair, it really suits her.

Emily Blunt was in a bizarre Peter Pilotto dress featuring metal florescent flower-like appliques. I don’t get this dress at all. Maybe if the rivet things were limited to just the top, it wouldn’t seems as busy. Kaiser mentioned to me that Emily looks very thin. She does look smaller than she did a couple of months ago.

Here’s Pink trying to work a Little House on The Prairie Michael Kors dress with a dust ruffle, puffy sleeves and a high neck. Why was this dress even made and what possessed Pink to wear it?

Two women wore oversize pantsuits to the event, a newly blonde Camilla Belle and Beth Behrs. Camilla’s hair makes her look like a different person, but she gets points for wearing a shell under her jacket. (Just because Jennifer Aniston does it, doesn’t make it ok.) Both of these suits need tailoring.

Also in the gallery we have pics of Amy Poehler, Sarah Hyland, Christina Applegate, Aaron Paul and Lauren Parsekian, Busy Philipps and Ewan McGregor looking grumpy hot. He’s bringing back bowling shoes!

photo credit: WENN.com

How To Get Away With Murder Season 1 Episode 13 recap

Once again, good things come to those who wait. Now we understand what we need to know about Frank, about Bonnie, and blissfully, everything we already wanted to be true about Asher. We learned a lot – a lot about Annalise. A little …      

Towards the end of 2014, there was a major kerfuffle in Prince Charles’ press office. Various former press officers, who used to work for Charles, had told their stories to the BBC and Radio Times. There was a documentary called Reinventing the Royals, all about how Charles had remade his image following Princess Diana’s death, and how he had gotten the British public to accept Camilla as his wife (and eventual Queen). The documentary was supposed to air months ago, but it was pulled after Charles’ people raised a stink. But the documentary ended up airing last night on the BBC. So what did we learn? The Daily Beast has a lengthy article about it – go here to read. Some highlights:

*Charles’ office always painted Diana in a negative light, before and after her death: Charles’ consigliere Mark Bolland is accused of helping to write a book that described Princess Diana as a serial adulterer with mental health issues, as well as sanctioning a story that would run in the News of the World claiming Prince Harry had taken drugs, in exchange for an editorial praising Charles’ fabricated reaction to the revelation.

*Charles sold out William: Charles and his press office gave vivid details about William’s first meeting (he was 16) with Camilla to The Sun. The reporter who wrote the story told the BBC: “We got all the details, her [Camilla] drinking the gin and tonic, her having a sneaky [cigarette] beforehand because she was nervous and everything else… So all the detail came to us and was, if you like, absolutely kosher. Apart from Camilla and William telling us, you couldn’t have got it from a better source…It was Mark Bolland.”

*Prince William hated his dad’s press officers: “He [William] didn’t like being used by anybody and he felt, from what I remember, that he was being used by his father’s staff,” said Richard Kay, royal correspondent for the Daily Mail, from 1986 to 2007. “I’m sure he was. I think it explained a lot about what happened in subsequent years when he decided to break away from his father’s people.”

*Charles’ press officer sold out Harry: Bolland had “done a deal” with the News of the World over the drug revelations despite Harry’s outright rejection of a raft of claims made by Rupert Murdoch’s former newspaper. The one thing he couldn’t deny was that he had ever smoked marijuana… Harry had felt trapped by Bolland’s alleged arrangement in which the palace agreed not to contest the drug allegations if the editorial flagged up the way Prince Charles had supposedly responded by taking his youngest son to a drug treatment center as a warning. In fact, the coincidental royal rehab visit had taken place months earlier. “Harry knew he’d done the wrong thing, he felt very bad about it, he felt he’d let people down, but I think he was quite angry that stuff had not happened in the way it had been said.”

*Mark Bolland must go: Whatever the truth about Charles’ direct involvement in the apparently nefarious briefings going on in his name, the rest of the royal family knew perfectly well that it was his staff planting all these stories in the press. And yet Bolland retained his lofty position. By 2002, the growing sense of frustration had come to the boil, the rest of the family was sick of being collateral damage in Prince Charles’ black ops…. it was the Queen’s intervention that heralded the end of Charles’ right-hand man. “The Queen is quite marvelous in all kinds of ways, but she’s quite ruthless when she needs to be. It seems to me she decided ‘Enough’s enough.’”

[From The Daily Beast]

I think this goes a ways towards explaining why William is so squirrelly with the press, and perhaps why he prefers the Middletons to his own family… although I would argue that the Middletons leak as much information about William as Charles’ office. Charles sounds ruthless, and like he hires ruthless people. But I also think that at the heart of all of this is one simple fact. William and Charles are a lot alike in general, and in one particular way: they are terrible at public relations and media management on their own. Their instincts are always terrible. They surround themselves with smarter media-savvy people to do their dirty work, to mixed results. And both William and Charles will throw anyone under the bus to make themselves look good. Like father, like son.

These are pics of Charles and Camilla celebrating the Chinese New Year in London yesterday.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Sonja! Happy Birthday from Olja, Eva, and Ana who hope that you continue to live the most “trendy mctrend” life ever. By request, here are fresh pics of John Legend at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood event yesterday.

Happy Birthday Melanie with love from your sister Tracey wh…      

I couldn’t resist squeezing in one more Michael Keaton post before Oscar weekend. All the votes are in, so there’s nothing more the nominees can do but sit on their hands and try to relax. This year’s Best Actor race has been highly entertaining and a bigger bitchfest than I can remember seeing from any recent awards season. These dudes shamelessly worked it. They’ve made Oscar season into a spectator sport, and I thank them for it.

Everyone assumes Eddie Redmayne will win at this point, although Keaton is still regarded as a solid contender. Steve Carell’s been quietly navigating behind the scenes. Benedict Cumberbatch may have realized by now that it’s not happening for him, but Bradley Cooper isn’t giving up. The fake baby and beige booty shorts just don’t stop, y’all. Some critics think BCoop has a shot at taking home this prize, but that would be an unprecedented upset.

Keaton did a few last minute interviews earlier this week. My favorite is a tiny autoplay video from People where Keaton kicks back with his horse in Montana. I’m combining that excerpt with a few others. Keaton’s stance all along has been to admit how much he wants to win and look down upon “false humility.” These new excerpts reflect Keaton’s desire show how hardworking and humble he is, which is interesting. Has he slipped into false humilitiy himself? It’s a fine line, but I think he’s genuine here:

His career in a nutshell: “Ever since I was a little kid, I was very kind of spoiled by the advantage of being able to walk out my door, up over the hill, and down into the woods, and play in the creek all day. I showed up in Los Angeles with about $263 dollars in my pocket. Someone asked me that the other day – ‘when was the time when you really had to pull yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps?’ And the truth is, I pulled myself up from the beginning and I pull myself up just about every job. I’m not sure I’ll ever get the opportunity to do anything like this again. I’m unbelievably grateful for the shot. I wake up in the morning, I’ve got two arms, two legs, two eyes, [breathes deep] got lungs. I’m pretty much good to go.”

He’s excited & grateful for the nomination: “The response from everyone’s been so great, to go through everything and work hard, work as hard as I did on this movie, all the years I’ve put into being recognized. It means a lot to me. It’s really fun, it’s ridiculously flattering … I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I’m grateful, that’s the word I keep using and I’m going to keep using it.”

He nearly “failed miserably” in the role: “It didn’t hit me until we had already started shooting, thank God, that I actually play four characters in this movie. I play the actor and the actor who’s actually directing and then two characters inside a play, then we perform the play inside of it and then there’s the Birdman character … you forget it’s a comedy … finally comedy is getting its due, I think.”

Advice to his younger self: “Mostly I’ve done what I would tell somebody, keep your eye on the ball, don’t be a baby, don’t whine, stay focused and just keep working, and don’t take your eye off the ball.”

[From People, Extra & GMA]

That last excerpt refers to his Golden Globe speech, where he said, “Never whine, ever. Never complain. And always, for crying out loud, keep a sense of humor.” Those are wise words for any occupation, not just acting. Keaton has more perspective (and a longer career) than the other Best Actor nominees. He led the Best Actor category for months, but the SAG and BAFTAs both point to Eddie Redmayne taking the top prize. I’ll be legit sad to see Keaton lose, but I believe him when he says he’s simply grateful to be recognized. He sounds genuinely humble, which is all the more reason for him to win. Oh well. We shall see what happens on Sunday!

Photos courtesy of WENN

Dear Gossips,

It’s Oscar weekend!

Have you submitted your ballot yet? The prize is $500 to spend at Homesense and an Alexander McQueen bag and a beauty products gift bag. All told, the winner’s getting almost $3000 in gifts. Click here to enter.

Am in LA this weekend cover…