When Prince Harry was in Canada two weeks ago, many media outlets sent reporters to Vancouver and Whistler to cover the Invictus “One Year To Go” events. The preview events in Whistler were especially popular, with Harry and Meghan walking around openly and allowing photographers and videographers to document their activities. As we soon learned, ABC sent Will Reeves and Good Morning America’s cameras to Canada too, where Harry gave them an exclusive interview. The interview aired on GMA two Fridays ago and it must have been a big success, because ABC/Disney used that exclusive to put together a quick, short documentary, which aired on Hulu over the weekend. This is why the British media spent all weekend screaming about the Sussexes’ Netflix contract – because of the Hulu documentary.

A documentary featuring Prince Harry has appeared on the US streaming service Hulu, a rival to Netflix, with which the Sussexes reportedly signed a $100 million deal four years ago. The 20-minute one-off programme contains no new material and is in effect a combination of an interview with ABC News, which he did earlier this month to promote the Invictus Games, and archive footage.

It includes an interview the duke did with Michelle Obama in 2016 and a video in which the late Queen Elizabeth appeared to promote the games. The prince established the games for wounded veterans a decade ago.

The film does have some contemporaneous elements, including the ABC News interview filmed on February 16 when Harry was asked about the King’s cancer. “I love my family,” he said. “The fact that I was able to get on a plane and spend time with him, I’m grateful for that.”

Given the lack of new material on the Sussexes’ life in California, perhaps the most controversial aspect of the documentary is the fact that it exists at all.

The duke and duchess signed what was reported to be a five-year deal with Netflix in 2020. The money was due to be paid in instalments and while against a set of targets that needed to be met before funds were paid. Hulu, which is owned by Disney, was set up to rival Netflix, and is cheaper than its rival.

It was reported last year that the couple’s deal with Netflix would not be renewed. Executives at the company are thought to have concluded that the couple are not as marketable as they had been in the past.

[From The Times]

Keep in mind, the Sussexes did not produce the Hulu documentary whatsoever. Harry gave interviews to GMA’s Will Reeves in Whistler, and in January 2023, he gave an interview to GMA’s Michael Strahan, and both of those interviews (owned by ABC/GMA) were used in the Hulu doc. If anything, it shows that Harry and Meghan are absolutely marketable, more marketable than the British media would have people believe (as they too obsess over every little thing the Sussexes do). ABC was so pleased that they own exclusive interview footage of Harry that they threw together a short documentary and put it on Hulu, and now the media is giving the doc all kinds of free press. Besides all that, Netflix knows exactly how marketable the Sussexes are – their docuseries was one of the most successful series in Netflix’s history.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

King Constantine of Greece passed away in January 2023. King Charles did not attend his friend and cousin’s funeral in Athens, and neither did Constantine’s godson Prince William. Charles and William both sent family members in their place (Princess Anne and Lady Gabriella Windsor). While I understood why Charles skipped the funeral (he didn’t want his first overseas trip as king to be a family funeral in Greece), there was never any reason given for why William was too lazy to attend his godfather’s funeral. Then, last week, we heard that Charles would also skip the memorial service for Constantine, which is being held today in Windsor. Charles’s absence once again makes sense – he’s being treated for cancer, he needs his rest, etc. I wondered aloud last week if Prince William would once again skip out on showing his respect for his godfather. Well, it looks like William was scheduled to appear at the memorial… but now he’s pulled out, citing a “personal matter.”

The Prince of Wales has pulled out of attending a memorial service at Windsor Castle for Constantine, the former king of Greece, due to a personal matter.

Kensington Palace would not elaborate further but said the Princess of Wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, continued to be doing well.

William, who was due to deliver a reading, called the former king’s family who are attending the service in St George’s Chapel to let them know he was unable to attend.

Constantine II of Greece, who died in January last year, was William’s godfather.

Kate is away from official royal engagements until after Easter following major surgery in January. King Charles is also missing the service as he continues treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. Charles was close to his second cousin, the former Greek monarch.

[From The Guardian]

“A personal matter” could be anything. If it was about the fakakta school run, they would have said that, that William has too much on his plate because he’s a father. It sounds more like William couldn’t crawl out of a bottle in time to look sober-ish for a memorial service. What’s weird is that I was under the impression that the memorial service is private, as in, it won’t be televised, it’s for extended family and friends. William couldn’t handle being around HIS family, away from the cameras. It’s definitely weird. He can attend the BAFTAs and an air ambulance gala but not his godfather’s memorial service?

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and their daughters are attending the service. They’re explaining Andrew’s presence as “it’s a private family event,” plus the Greek royals invited him. Queen Camilla will play hostess at a reception in Windsor Castle after the service, but Charles will not attend (Charles left Windsor before the service). Just… weird.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

American icon Billy Dee Williams released his memoir earlier this month. In the book, titled, What Have We Here?, the 86-year-old Star Wars actor shares anecdotes about his considerable career, including some wild stories about experiences with fellow stars. Well, back in the 1970s, there were rumors that Williams was gay. These rumors have followed him for years and although they began during a time when it could have ruined his career, Billy Dee didn’t care. So when Page Six asked him about them in a recent interview, BDW had an epic response.

Billy Dee Williams — who rose to fame as Lando Calrissian in the original “Star Wars” trilogy — never cared that people thought he was gay in the 70s.

While speaking to Page Six about the rumors that could have jeopardized his career at the time, he said, “I’ve been called a ‘Closet Queen.’ But, I don’t pay much attention to any of that.”

Earlier this month, the actor released his rollicking memoir “What Have We Here?” which covers not only his 7 decades-long career but also stories of the many famous people he met along the way, such as Marlon Brando, James Baldwin, Laurence Olivier and Angela Lansbury.

The Harlem native — who is turning 87 in April — writes that he was always comfortable hanging out with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and even attended secret gay parties in the Metropolitan Opera’s basement when he was an extra.

“It all seemed very normal to me,” he shares. “I was around it all of my life, so I never really gave it much thought.”

In his book, the “Brian’s Song” actor recalls a recent conversation with his daughter (he’s been married 3 times) in which he discussed Carl Jung’s theory of anima and animus. The famed psychoanalyst believed that animus is an unconscious masculine side to women, while anima is the unconscious feminine side to men.

“I told my daughter about it,” he recalls. “I was talking about why men should get more in touch with the female side of themselves and then my daughter told me — the first time I ever heard the phrase — gender fluid. My daughter was very happy to think that I was gender fluid!”

The “DWTS” alum notes that he finds the current wars over gender “really amusing, to say the least.”

[From People]

Billy talked about the gender fluid thing in an interview back in 2019, too. It’s neat that the topic had such an impact on him that he included it in his memoir. I understood what he meant at the time about gender being fluid in terms of everyone having both masculine and feminine qualities that they should get in touch with. I know BDW’s had more roles than just Lando Calrissian, but as we’ve talked about before, the Star Wars fandom has such a toxic subset that it’s really great to hear one of the actors speak so openly and positively about the LGBTQIA+ community. This man is so freaking cool. I would love to meet him at a convention one of these days.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon and Getty, James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, B2820 / Avalon and Getty

The Producers Guild Awards were held this weekend too! Oppenheimer won the top prize but here are cute pics of Margot Robbie in Balmain (she was nominated as executive producer on Barbie, which didn’t win anything). [Just Jared]
Ricky Martin has something in common with Quentin Tarantino. [Socialite Life]
The Oppenhomies were on Jimmy Kimmel last week. [LaineyGossip]
How did Shane Gillis do as SNL host? Not great, Bob. [Pajiba]
Tom Ford said: Pants! Military coats! Suits! [Go Fug Yourself]
These childhood photos are absolutely precious. [OMG Blog]
Cillian Murphy looks like he’s been listening to “Texas Hold ‘Em”. [RCFA]
Is Kieran Culkin getting that third kid he wanted? [Seriously OMG]
Ethan & Olivia Plath filed for divorce. [Starcasm]
I’m totally going to watch Mary & George. [Hollywood Life]
More women should give their kids their maiden-name/surname. [Buzzfeed]

People who only started following royal gossip when Prince Harry fell in love with then-Meghan Markle missed the years in which the British media regularly criticized Prince William. These days, you would think Prince William walks on water and Kate’s farts smell like roses, that’s how positive and sycophantic their coverage has become. But it was quite a regular thing, especially circa 2014-2016, for the British press to scornfully write about “work-shy Will” and “lazy Kate.” I still remember the well-deserved pile-on when it was revealed that William didn’t even commit to a part-time air ambulance pilot schedule, and he regularly skipped important events like the BAFTA simply because he didn’t feel like it. There were deep concerns, as late as 2016-17, that William would be petulant, entitled, lazy and blundering all of his life.

I bring all of that up because William has never enjoyed better press than when he’s selling out his brother and sister-in-law. But recent weeks have felt different. William went MIA for weeks right when King Charles and Princess Kate were dealing with medical issues. Now he’s arrogantly issuing self-serving statements about sensitive political issues, all while maintaining a deafening radio silence about his wife, who hasn’t been heard from in two months. Well, the Mail published this curious column from Amanda Platell: “Don’t lecture us all about Gaza, William… just tell us how Kate is.”

The shock waves hitting the House of Windsor this year have been relentless, not least among them the news that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. So it was heartening to see him meeting Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace this week, getting on with his job. Discussions between them turned to the importance of raising awareness for cancer charities and the Prime Minister commented on how well the King looked.

Rishi wasn’t the only one who thought so. The King’s appearance was a reassuring message of hope. He hadn’t lost his hair, as some of us feared, as a result of possible chemotherapy. Nor had he lost too much weight. He seemed in good heart.

But to me there was also something rather poignant about seeing him. It made me think about the Princess of Wales and how we haven’t seen her for so long. The most recent pictures I can find of Kate were taken on Christmas Day last year on the royal walk to church in Sandringham. It was January 17 when it was announced she had been admitted to hospital for unspecified surgery. She then spent two weeks in a private clinic before her planned three-month recuperative break from royal duties.

Can we even remember a time since she married William in 2011 when she was not there in our lives, smiling and laughing at official events or with her husband and her children? Her absence feels almost like a bereavement so used to her have we become. Wherever I go — the hairdresser, the butcher, shops, even in the street — I am asked about Kate by people who think I might have some information about the Princess because I am a journalist (I don’t).

Everyone’s desperate to find out what’s happening. How she is. When we’ll see her. But there is radio silence. If Charles can be open about his condition, why can’t we hear about how Kate is getting on?

William can pontificate foolishly about Gaza all he likes, but those of us who support and admire him and the Royal Family are not even vaguely interested. We just want to know about Kate. So please, William, stop lecturing us about the Middle East. And tell us that the wonderful woman you married — and who long ago captured our hearts — is doing OK.

[From The Daily Mail]

In recent years, I’ve gotten the sense that the British media is under strict editorial guidance to handle William and Kate with kid gloves, especially since they were both “playing the game” starting in 2017-18. But Kate went missing for two months and Kensington Palace bungled the release of information… and people are starting to get unsettled. Then again, I believe that there are many rota people already have some idea about what happened to Kate, but there’s some kind of embargo on that information. This Platell column can be read as a threat, just the Mail pulling on William’s leash a bit, telling him “stop with the politics and give us something on Kate.” It’s remarkable that it’s taken two months for this shift to happen.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair had a somewhat interesting piece about all of the royal shenanigans a few days ago. She was piggybacking on the fantastical claim that Prince Harry had “offered” to return to the UK temporarily to help out while King Charles is being treated for cancer. It was a make-believe story thrown out there just so Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace could make a big show of snubbing Harry yet again – they’ve run out of punishments so now they create fantasies in which he’s begging to come back just so they can scream “NO!” Anyway, Nicholl had some new quotes involving a “contingency plan.”

Sources close to the king insist that while Charles wants to show the world it is “business as usual,” reports about his son Prince Harry returning to official duties are incorrect. “The idea of Harry coming back to the UK to carry out engagements on behalf of the King is highly, highly unlikely,” a well-placed source tells Vanity Fair. “There is a carefully mapped out contingency plan in place if the king is unable to carry out public-facing engagements over the coming months, and none of these involve Prince Harry.”

VF previously reported that Prince William is being lined up to stand in for King Charles if the monarch is unable to attend next month’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. Sources close to the Prince of Wales say that the idea Harry could return to the royal fold in a working capacity is “unthinkable.” “The brothers are barely speaking so the idea of William wanting Harry to come back and represent the firm is both laughable and unthinkable,” says a friend.

While Harry seems keen to paper over the cracks, palace aides have insisted that a cool distance remains between the Sussexes and the royal family. While Harry traveled from California to see his father in a last-minute dash following the king’s shocking cancer diagnosis, he was apparently told to wait until the king was at Sandringham. “The advice was for Harry to leave it a while and come to see his father in Sandringham while he was recuperating, but there was a big rush for Harry to come and see his father. It was all very last minute hence why the meeting was so short,” says a source.

[From Vanity Fair]

So… Harry was told to wait a few days before visiting so that he could go to Sandringham for a longer visit with his father? What’s interesting about that is Camilla was telling everyone that Harry was banned from Sandringham. As for this quote –“The brothers are barely speaking so the idea of William wanting Harry to come back and represent the firm is both laughable and unthinkable”– literally no one cares, William. Stop screaming, crying and throwing up about Harry for two f–king seconds. Regarding the “contingency plan” though, here’s an interesting little story:

King Charles has reportedly begun work on his succession plan, sparking fears his cancer diagnosis may be ‘more dangerous than we have been led to believe.’ Earlier this month Charles revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer after being admitted to hospital for a separate issue regarding an enlarged prostate. The type of cancer has not been revealed to the public, but it was reportedly caught early and the King has been undergoing ‘regular treatments’ ever since.

Nevertheless, the issue has reportedly prompted the King to start formalising his succession plans earlier than intended and ensure that Prince William is at the heart of them, sparking rumours that his illness could be more serious than we have been led to believe.

Tom Quinn, a Royal expert and author, told the Mirror: ‘Charles is also aware that, as future king, William is at the heart of the succession planning that is taking place right now – officials had assumed Charles would remain healthy at least into his mid-eighties before succession planning would need to begin but in fact it has now begun and indicates perhaps that Charles’ cancer is more dangerous than we have been led to believe. Succession planning is highly secret and no one trusts Harry to be part of it for the simple reason that if he feels in any way slighted or not given what he feels he deserves he will run straight to the media.’

[From Metro]

As I always say, these people have plans on top of plans and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the palace was already knee-deep in plans for Charles’s funeral, William’s accession and everything in between. The planning alone doesn’t mean that Charles’s condition is more serious than has been disclosed. That being said, it feels like there was a reason why Harry rushed to the UK as soon as Charles called, just as my radar is pinging about two different articles referencing contingency plans and succession plans.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

One of the weirdest things about the Heritage Foundation’s deeply unsettling targeted attack on Prince Harry is that Harry received his visa in 2020, when Donald Trump was president. Heritage is trying to claim that the Biden administration is “hiding” something about Harry’s visa, when really, the visa application was submitted and approved during the Trump administration and whatever Harry’s residency status, the Biden administration is likely just extending whatever policy from the Trump administration. Something to think about. Not that Trump likes the Sussexes – of course not. He’s been targeted them for years, making public proclamations about how they wouldn’t get security when they moved to California, how Harry is “whipped” and how Meghan was “disrespectful” to QEII. Well, Ol’ Dementia Don is at it again, clout-chasing the Sussexes in a desperate bid for cultural relevancy.

Donald Trump has said Prince Harry will be “on his own” if he wins a second term this year as the former president criticised him for an “unforgivable” betrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Trump said that Joe Biden’s administration had been “too gracious” to the Duke of Sussex since he moved to America in 2020.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington DC on Saturday, Mr Trump told the Express: “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”

On Mr Biden’s approach to the Sussexes, he added: “I think they have been too gracious to him after what he has done.”

Prince Harry’s immigration status has become the subject of legal dispute by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, which argues he cannot legally have entered the US because he admitted to taking illegal drugs in his memoir, Spare.

[From The Telegraph]

I guess Heritage sent Trump some talking points. I’ll say it again – the Sussexes are not receiving anything special from the Biden White House. They pay for their private security themselves, and some of their security people are former Secret Service and retired military. They are already “on their own” when it comes to security. And once again, Harry moved to America during the Trump administration. His visa was granted by the Trump-era DHS. Anyway, just another reminder – the biggest losers in the world hate the Sussexes. ‘Tis always the case.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Jennifer Aniston came out for the SAG Awards because she was nominated for The Morning Show, and because she was asked to co-present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbra Streisand. It made me remember that very strange 2010 Harper’s Bazaar editorial where they styled Aniston to look like a vintage Streisand – it’s clear that Aniston has always believed that she looks like Babs, even if Aniston has done everything she can to surgically remove the likeness. Speaking of! Yeah, Aniston overdoes it with the Botox and fillers. Everything looks okay in still photos and then when she tries to move her mouth or face in any way, it’s painful for everyone involved.

I asked on Twitter if people think she got a boob job but now, looking at the photos, I agree that it was probably just the dress/taping situation. The dress is very good, actually – a silver Celine, rather than one of Jen’s preferred black-widow looks. Her haircut is also pretty good – the bob is really having a moment with Hollywood ladies. Also: Aniston wore a diamond-looking ring on her left ring finger. Is that anything?

Margot Robbie wore Schiaparelli – the Barbie looks are limping along at this point, but bless her heart for trying. I don’t like this at all and I’m mad that Margot and Barbie are getting nothing at these awards shows!

America Ferrera wore a very boring Dior to the SAGs. She better have a great look for the Oscars.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

For the past year, the Heritage Foundation, an American right-wing think tank, has been engaged in a targeted harassment campaign against Prince Harry. Heritage has marched into court multiple times to try to force the Department of Homeland Security to “release” Harry’s visa application. DHS has refused, saying that every visa applicant has the right to privacy. Heritage’s deranged argument is that Harry wrote about using drugs in his memoir, and then something something, what if he lied on his visa application? That’s it. That’s their whole legal strategy, it’s based on “what if” and endless and baseless supposition. Well, Heritage was back in court on Friday and DHS’s lawyers tried a new strategy. Anti-Sussex Derangers are always calling Harry and Meghan liars, so DHS was like “Harry could have been lying in his book, who even knows, a memoir is not a court of law.”

The Duke of Sussex’s admission in his memoir that he took drugs is not “proof” and could have been embellished to “sell books”, a lawyer for the US government has argued in court. The Biden administration is resisting demands for Prince Harry’s US visa application to be made public to see if he lied about his drug use when he moved to America in 2020.

As a federal court in Washington began hearing the case, John Bardo for the Department of Homeland Security claimed the revelations in the prince’s memoir, Spare, were not “sworn testimony or proof” that he took drugs.

“Just saying something in a book doesn’t make it true,” Bardo said. The prince’s book was written “for a commercial audience” and does “not necessarily tell the full story,” he added.

Judge Carl Nichols, overseeing the case, said early in the hearing that he was uncomfortable referring to the duke as Prince Harry, deciding that it was too informal. “You wouldn’t call me Judge Carl,” he told the court.

Under US law, applicants who are “determined to be a drug abuser” are generally denied a visa, although the government is permitted to make exceptions. Past drug use has caused problems for other celebrities seeking a US visa.

“The duke explicitly admitted at length to drug use” in his book, said Samuel Dewey, a lawyer for the Heritage Foundation, holding a copy of Spare in court. Dewey added that Harry had admitted to taking drugs after entering the US and had not denied the revelations in his memoir under cross-examination in other court cases in the UK. “Spare is a valid admission” of drug use, Dewey said.

The government has refused to reveal any of Harry’s immigration documents, even refusing to say what type of visa he was granted. “There are multiple lawful ways that the duke might have entered the US and do not show government impropriety,” Bardo said.

The judge suggested that the questions surrounding the prince’s visa raised a “suite of red flags”. He confirmed that he had not looked at any of the prince’s visa documents to avoid prejudicing his questioning at the hearing, but said he will now decide “pretty soon” on whether to order the government to submit Harry’s visa declarations for him to view in confidence. A ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

[From The Times]

Apparently, the judge ordered the lawyers to refer to Harry as “the Duke of Sussex” throughout the arguments because the judge was so uncomfortable with the informality of calling him “Prince Harry.” As for the DHS stuff… yeah, you can argue that the book is an admission, but Harry wasn’t “under oath” when he wrote the book. There’s also a difference between “drug abusers” and “drug users.” The foreign nationals who have visa issues because of drugs have usually been convicted or charged with drug crimes internationally. Harry has never been charged with anything, nor has anyone credibly claimed that he is a habitual drug abuser (or even habitual drug user). Saying “I did coke once when I was a teenager” in a book or interview is not the same thing as saying it under oath in court, nor does it follow that Harry lied about anything in his visa application.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Welp, there goes that dream – I genuinely hoped that Travis Kelce flew to Sydney, Australia for an extended stay with Taylor Swift during the international leg of her Eras Tour. Instead, that meathead flew to Australia (a long-ass flight of more than fourteen hours) last week and then was on a flight back to the US in less than two days. It’s not like he flew back for some important meeting or a trip to the White House or something – he flew back to Las Vegas just to party with his team!!

Travis Kelce’s visit to see girlfriend Taylor Swift was short and very sweet. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, returned to the U.S. on Saturday, PEOPLE has learned.

Kelce had supported the “Anti-Hero” singer, 34, at her first Eras Tour stop at the Accor Stadium in Sydney on Friday after flying across the world to spend some time with her. But it was a whistle stop tour Down Under for Kelce, as he began his journey back stateside on Saturday.

Though her boyfriend wasn’t in the crowd for her second show in the Australian harbour city, Swift had a blast, and happily shared her delight with the audience as they cheered for her.

“”Ah Sydney, you are just … right off the bat you’re making me feel so … just extraordinary right now,” she told the crowd on Saturday in a fan video posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

[From People]

TMZ had a larger story when Kelce was en route to Vegas, reporting that “when he arrives in Vegas — we’re told TK is set to reunite with his teammates, including his QB and other players … which our sources say had been the plan all along dating back to the Super Bowl…Our sources say this 2nd Vegas get-together with the team isn’t for any particular reason or occasion — we’re told this is just another celebration to ring in the big Super Bowl win.” So… given the crazy logistics of this, why did Travis go to Australia at all? He was already in Las Vegas for some golf thing before he went to Sydney. Why didn’t he just wait until the partying was done and then head out to Singapore to spend more time with his girlfriend? Did he take a whirlwind trip to Australia just to get the Traylor fans off his back? Because they were really mad that he didn’t drop everything to fly to Australia immediately. Anyway, I’m getting a weird feeling about this.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.