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Tom Hiddleston attended the People’s Choice Awards & gave a shout-out to his partner/fiancee Zawe Ashton (who wasn’t there). [People]
Megan Fox had pink hair at the People’s Choice Awards. [Just Jared]
Orville Peck would “risk it all” for one night with Brad Pitt. Gross. [Socialite Life]
Travis Kelce’s first executive-producer credit. [LaineyGossip]
Kelly Rowland has an issue with Today’s dressing rooms. [Seriously OMG]
Another review of spectacularly bad Madame Web. [Pajiba]
Tom Hiddleston & Zawe Ashton attended a BFI event last week! [Go Fug Yourself]
Lara Croft’s latest redesign. [OMG Blog]
More dudes at the BAFTAs. [RCFA]
90 Day Fiance: an Indonesian wedding? [Starcasm]
All about Jennifer Lopez’s new documentary. [Hollywood Life]
Gen Z has some ideas about what constitutes middle class. [Buzzfeed]

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Here are more photos of Prince William, backstage at last night’s BAFTAs. He went solo, was seated next to Cate Blanchett during the ceremony, then he was taken around to meet of the beautiful young actresses, because that wasn’t obvious at all! Remember how often, in 2023, William was being branded as a “hunk” and a “hot single dad”? It kept happening, over and over in palace-approved stories. As you can see, he spent some time last night trying to chat up Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna Bruce. As you can see, William was not very successful. Ayo’s face in particular betrays just how badly this went. Still, the Mail hilariously tried to tell everyone that Hot Single Dad William really won over these starlets!

Prince William won over BAFTA winners last night as he met with rising star nominees and other people who had picked up gongs at the award show. Making a dapper appearance at the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Prince of Wales, who made a last-minute solo appearance while his wife Kate remains at home recovering from abdominal surgery, chatted with the nominees for the Rising Star award – plus winner Mia McKenna-Bruce.

The father-of-three, 41, shook hands with the star-struck actresses, who also included The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, Phoebe Dynevor and Sophie Wilde, before revealing he had not seen any of the films they had starred in.

Earlier in the night he apologised for confirming his attendance to the ceremony late in the day, and for also not watching many of the films – noting that, understandably, he has ‘other things’ on his mind.

However, ever the entertainer, William kept things light despite a difficult few months for the royal family and told Mia McKenna Bruce, who stars in How to Have Sex, that she looked like she had ‘a lot of fun’ making the film.

As William walked into the green room following the award ceremony, he smiled as he greeted the three young actresses.

‘It was very close between all of you,’ he told the talents, before turning to Mia to congratulate her. He then told her: ‘I haven’t yet watched your film. I think it looked like you had a lot of fun all the way through’.

After revealing he hasn’t had time to ‘get through’ many of the nominated films, William said: ‘It is a very very strong year for categories.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“The father-of-three, 41, shook hands with the star-struck actresses” – they were not star-struck, they looked disturbed by his behavior and mannerisms. These photos went viral last night (along with my tweet with the Michael Sheen photo) and it was yet another moment where non-royal-watchers were talking about William’s awkwardness, weirdness and how he always manages to fall flat whenever he’s trying to impress women. It was also funny to watch all of the behind-the-scenes videos of no one in the BAFTA auditorium clapping for him or acknowledging him at all. How embarrassing.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

This weekend was full of royalists screaming into the echo chamber they made for themselves, mostly about the Times report about Prince Harry offering to “temporarily return” to royal work while his father has cancer. That story came, in my opinion, straight from Buckingham Palace. I’ve developed a theory that Queen Camilla has her own side operation and she ends up briefing all kinds of bullsh-t, mostly about her stepsons. Well, I also believe this new Sun exclusive came from Camilla’s operation, because she’s still pissed that her husband met with Prince Harry one-on-one two weeks ago and she was kicked out of the room. Now she wants people to know that Harry was “blocked” from meeting his father in Sandringham.

Prince Harry was stopped from joining the King at Sandringham after flying to the UK because Palace aides feared “they’d never get rid of him”. The Duke of Sussex was told to get a hotel instead of staying with the cancer-stricken King. The Sun on Sunday can reveal Harry, 39, planned for a long heart-to-heart with his dad. He had even hoped to join the King — recuperating from cancer treatment — for a few days at Sandringham.

But instead he was instructed to visit Clarence House, his dad’s London home, for a short managed face-to-face meeting — and then told to get himself a hotel for the night.

It was understood Buckingham Palace accepted his quick visit to Britain as a kind “gesture” and “cause for optimism”. But it was not believed to have led to a major thawing in relations. When Charles rang his younger son to reveal his shock cancer diagnosis, Harry “took it upon himself” to fly to London. But after landing at Heathrow on February 6 he was told not to set off for Norfolk, where the King, 75, was planning to spend time with Queen Camilla, 76.

As Charles delayed his departure for Sandringham, Harry was directed to go to Clarence House. He spent 45 minutes inside, but only around half an hour with his father. An insider revealed: “Harry came over to see his father, expecting to go to Sandringham. But instead he was asked to be at Clarence House and was restricted to 30 minutes. The fear was that if he went to Sandringham they would never get rid of him.”

Just six minutes after Harry left the meeting with his father, the King and Queen made their way by Bentley to a helicopter in the Buckingham Palace gardens before flying to Sandringham. Harry later stayed in a hotel in London, although it has not been reported which one.

[From The Sun]

Someone suggested that Harry’s flight was delayed because of the huge storms hitting California in that 48-period when Harry was trying to get to England. Which I believe – I would guess that the original plan was to have a longer visit between father and son, but Harry arrived too late and Charles was probably pretty tired from his first cancer treatment that day. The fact that Harry had a police escort from Heathrow tells you all you need to know about Charles agreeing to Harry’s visit and how much Charles wanted to see his younger son. This whole “Harry was PUNISHED by not being allowed to go to Sandringham” thing is so dumb – my guess is that Harry asked “where should I meet you” and Charles thought Clarence House would be better and so that’s what happened. It also sounds like everybody Over There is still salty about the fact that Harry breezed into town, saw his dad, met with his lawyer, dipped in 25 hours and made it back to America in time to present an award at the NFL Honors.

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Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Getty.

This is the March cover of British Vogue, Edward Enninful’s last issue as editor-in-chief. Enninful managed to put together forty “legends” together for the cover. This is not CGI or AI, these are actual women who all showed up at the same place and time for a cover shoot. The cover includes: Simone Ashley, Oprah, Selma Blair, Naomi Campbell, Adwoa Aboah, Iman, Jameela Jamil, Karlie Kloss, Kaia Gerber, Salma Hayek, Cara Delevingne, Jane Fonda, Karen Elson, Gigi Hadid, Dua Lipa, Amber Valletta, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kate Moss, Irian Shayk, Anya Taylor Joy, Ariana DeBose, Gemma Chan, Jourdan Dunn, Serena Williams, Anok Yai, Jodie Comer, Cindy Crawford, Laverne Cox, Christy Turlington, Cynthia Erivo, Linda Evangelista and many more. So, obviously, the story is “why didn’t Edward Enninful include the Duchess of Sussex?” I sh-t you not.

Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and Gigi Hadid were among 40 British Vogue stars that came together to shoot the cover for Edward Enninful’s final edition. But for royals fans, Meghan Markle, 42, was noticeably absent from the impressive line-up – which also included Salma Hayek, Naomi Campbell and Miley Cyrus.

The Duchess of Sussex was once close friends with the outgoing editor-in-chief after guest editing an issue of British Vogue in 2019. But she was nowhere to be found on Mr Enninful’s final cover, which featured Meghan’s pals Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, and Jameela Jamil. Eagle-eyed royal fans questioned the Duchess’ lack of appearance, with one writing: ‘Now why did Meghan Markle deny us a Vogue cover because I know that guy called her.’

Another person asked Endgame author Omid Scobie on X, formerly Twitter, ‘was your bestie #MeghanMarkIe busy that day?’ after he shared the cover.

It’s unclear if the Duchess of Sussex was contacted to appear on the magazine cover.

Meghan’s ‘Forces for Change’ issue in September 2019 put inspirational women including actresses Gemma Chan and Jane Fonda, and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on the front cover. When it was published, it was the fastest selling issue in the magazine’s 104-year history, selling out in less than 10 days.

The following year, Mr Enninful spoke to Sky News about criticism Meghan received when she joined the royal family, arguing that he didn’t believe it was solely down to racism. Describing the Duchess as a ‘brave woman’, he said: ‘Parts of it were probably racism, but it was more of an institution.’ He added that while criticism was ‘harsh’, he ‘wouldn’t just blame it on racism’, saying: ‘She walked into an institution and everyone expected her to know the rules. And I think sometimes it takes a minute to understand the rules.’

However, Mr Enniful, who has previously praised King Charles as a monarch who can ‘evolve with the times’ and is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, continued to say he believed the treatment of her was ‘very unfair’.

[From The Daily Mail]

As Enninful writes in his letter from the editor, the photoshoot took place in New York in December. It would not surprise me if he asked Meghan and she said no, just as it would not surprise me that several other high-profile women said no or had some kind of scheduling conflict. It’s wild to assume that Meghan would be willing to fly to New York just for Enninful’s last cover as EIC, especially since many have wondered if they had a falling out in the years since she guest-edited the magazine. Enninful was never really loyal to her, and he made sure to supplicate to the left-behind royals.

The larger question – one which we’ll probably never get an answer to – is how many magazine covers has Meghan turned down over the past four years? I’d be willing to bet she’s been offered Vanity Fair, American Vogue, Elle, Allure, Forbes, everything.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid. Covers courtesy of British Vogue.

Last week, there were photos of Pippa Middleton on vacation in St. Barts with her husband and children. Some people questioned whether the photos were actually taken last week, as if the Mail and the paparazzo would purposefully hold photos for weeks or even months. That’s just not what happens the majority of the time. Maybe – a very big maybe – an outlet like the Mail will hold some salacious or interesting photos for a few days, tops. But the Pippa photos were just as the Mail reported – Pippa was vacationing with her family last week during her kids’ school holiday.

As you can see in the tweets below, Pippa was photographed in recent days, still in St. Barts, still wearing bikinis and enjoying herself. I still say that Pippa wouldn’t be larking about in a bikini in St. Barts if her sister’s condition was really that dire. King Charles and Queen Camilla’s actions and behavior have emphasized that too – whatever is going on with Kate, it’s not the gloomiest, most devastating thing ever. It still begs the question, or several questions, actually: what happened with Kate, where are Kate’s parents, was Kate ever actually in the London Clinic, and was she ever “home” in Adelaide Cottage?

Bikini-clad Pippa Middleton flaunts fit figure during beach day with husband and 3 kids https://t.co/EmVxi47KZ3 pic.twitter.com/JV22qeF5JW

— Page Six (@PageSix) February 18, 2024

Her Royal Hotness! Pippa Middleton, 40, looks sensational in a £232 Vix bikini as she enjoys the sun in St Barts with her husband and young children https://t.co/VLlZPsnPL7 pic.twitter.com/Be0ZaGbTZS

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) February 17, 2024

Pippa Middleton’s sun-soaked half-term getaway at the glitzy Eden Rock hotel in St Barts – owned by her husband’s family – continues https://t.co/LkYYgoGOR4 pic.twitter.com/QosIIVfy6o

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) February 18, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Emma Stone won the Best Actress BAFTA last night. For Poor Things, Emma has now won the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and at least a dozen critics awards. Everyone said Lily Gladstone was the Best Actress frontrunner, that she would sweep all of the awards… and it’s not actually happening. Emma caught fire at just the right moment during the awards season and I really believe that she’s going to win her second Best Actress Oscar. Sort of hilariously, Emma is not dressing like she’s the frontrunner or like she expects to win. She’s a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton and LV has given her some of the most hideous looks for months. Her BAFTA ensemble was, in my opinion, the worst look yet. This peachy monstrosity looks like someone reworked a bridesmaid’s dress from 1986.

Sandra Hüller also wore custom Louis Vuitton and she’s also being screwed over by Emma’s momentum. Huller is SO GOOD in Anatomy of a Fall, it’s one of the biggest f–king injustices that she’s not a bigger Best Actress contender this year. At least her LV is better than Emma’s.

Also in Louis Vuitton: Cate Blanchett. Cate has been doing some kind of one-woman sustainability challenge, rewearing so many of her old gowns to various red carpets for several years now. This gown is new and it’s not great, although I do like the color.

The last of the LV girls was Phoebe Dynevor. She honestly got the best dress and that’s crazy! Louis Vuitton dressed two of the Best Actress nominees and they gave the cutest look to Phoebe!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Here are some photos of Prince William, the honorary president of BAFTA, attending last night’s BAFTA ceremony. Up until a few days ago, everyone was convinced that William would skip this year’s ceremony, which would have been the eighth time William had skipped in 14 years. But I guess the Sussexes’ trip to Canada really shook up Kensington Palace, because by mid-week, William was throwing a tantrum about how he needed to be seen too. So here we are. His wife is still in the wind, she hasn’t been seen or photographed since Christmas day. In general, William didn’t look completely plastered at the BAFTAs, like he did at the daytime investiture ceremony on February 7th.

William tried to glad-hand and they seated him next to someone named Catherine, I guess the thought process was “maybe people won’t notice this is the wrong Catherine.” This Catherine is Cate Blanchett, who currently lives in England and also serves as some kind of celebrity ambassador for Earthshot. Cate has been cozying up to the Windsors for several years now and I don’t know why. She’s married to an Englishman, but I wonder. William also took several photos with David Beckham, and I’m sure that the British media will launch another lunatic fan-fic series wherein we hear that William forced Goldenballs to choose between him and Harry and Goldenballs chose WILLIAM, take that Harry!

Note: I’m going to cover some other (crazy) photos of William in a separate post. For now, just enjoy the look on Michael Sheen’s face. Also enjoy the fact that William’s combover has gotten CRAZY.

pic.twitter.com/rKToa7jHYw

— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) February 18, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Margot Robbie went with Barbiecore for her BAFTA look, doing a black-and-pink custom Armani Privé gown with black gloves. People are really doing gloves a lot these days and you can tell the ladies are out of practice. No, honestly, Margot’s gloves look fine and I think Margot assumes that we want or expect her to wear Barbiecore throughout the entire awards season. Maybe that’s true? I don’t know. But it’s going to be quite an adjustment once this whole ride is over!

If Claire Foy is going to do one thing in this world, it’s wear something fringed. She has been wearing fringed ensembles for MONTHS. I guess it’s a minor trend, but also: she’s seeking it out. It’s pretty easy to avoid wearing this much fringe. This dress is also Armani Privé – it would be lovely without the boob fringe, I’m sure.

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Carey Mulligan wore vintage Christian Dior and posed on the carpet with Bradley Cooper. The dress is gorgeous, but I might have chosen a different necklace?

Rosamund Pike in Christian Dior. She’s really trying to beat the “Rosamund only wears severe black dresses” allegation. While she looks pretty, this is the wrong look for the BAFTAs. It’s more “BAFTA Tea Party” than BAFTAs.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty and Cover Images.

Guess who’s knocked up again?? Rooney Mara appeared at the Berlin Film Festival to promote her latest film, La Cocina, and she revealed her bump at the premiere. Rooney is still with Joaquin Phoenix and they might even be married (he’s referred to Rooney as his wife in a couple of interviews). They welcomed their son River in 2020, which surprised me because I thought that was just last year or something. But no, they have a three-and-a-half year old running around the house and now a second one on the way. By the way, Rooney’s maternity sack dress is amazing. I love maternity sack dresses, they always look so comfortable.

As for her film, La Cocina is based on Arnold Wesker’s play The Kitchen. The film is directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios and Variety called it “an anti-food-p-rn movie.” Alonso said: “I wanted to show the other side of the food industry where expediency is more important than the quality of the food. It’s a metaphor for corporate capitalism.” At Rooney’s festival press conference, she spoke about how she chooses projects nowadays, which is to choose by directors only.

I used to sort of worry about Rooney & Joaquin’s relationship and wonder if they drove each other crazy with their weirdness and idiosyncrasies but over the course of their eight-year-long relationship, I think Rooney has stabilized him completely. They live quietly in the Hollywood Hills, they make vegan food together, they watch Netflix and mind their business. And now they’ll soon have two kids!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images and Avalon Red.

For years now, Prince Harry has exhibited a very strong I’m Never Going Back energy. He loves California, he loves being able to protect his wife and children, he loves that he’s not part of the 24-7 toxicity in the UK. During his Good Morning America interview, which aired on Friday, Harry said some interesting things like “I love every single day” in America, and “I have my own family” when asked about the Windsors. It has been abundantly clear for a long time that Harry is happy where he is, but with his father’s cancer treatment, Harry would like to see more of King Charles these days. Which is why he also told GMA: “I’ve got other trips planned that would take me through the UK or back to the UK so I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can.” I took that to mean that Harry will continue to make the effort to have some kind of personal reconciliation with the neglectful father he clearly adores. Unfortunately, the neglectful father is also a giant a–hole who needs to keep feeding the rabid British media machine, which probably goes a long way to explaining this mess:

The Duke of Sussex is willing to return to a temporary royal role in support of his father during his illness, sources have revealed. In an attempt to help heal the rift in the family, the King and Prince Harry are said to have had several “warm ­exchanges” since Charles ­received his cancer diagnosis. The duke is now understood to have told friends that he would step into a royal role while his father is unwell.

Harry, who is the fifth in line to the throne, remains a counsellor of state, although as a non-working royal he is not expected to be called upon to stand in for the King. Yet to heal the rift, Harry is now said to be focused on reconciling himself with his family.

Similarly, Charles, 75, is believed to want to see more of his son and a source said there was a growing sense that a rapprochement would “benefit the ­institution”. A royal insider said: “On all practical levels it makes perfect sense for the family to come together to support the King while he’s sick. Much has been said on both sides in recent years, but that has never diminished the fundamental bond of blood, and there are now pragmatic aspects to consider, with the King and Kate’s wellbeing ­paramount in this. The details of the Clarence House meeting and subsequent conversations are private, but the feeling is that this arrangement could work.”

The meeting last week with his father at Clarence House, at which the Queen was also present, did not provide time for a detailed discussion but it is understood that Harry wants to make an offer to make a limited return to royal duties. A written plan would have to be drawn up and ­actioned by the King and his closest aides before Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, could embark on any official duties on behalf of the monarch. Harry would not receive public funds.

Some within Buckingham Palace are not quite so amenable to the idea of a return, ­saying it would be “unlikely” and the late Queen had made clear that the Sussexes could not be “half in, half out”.

Regardless of whether any official role is granted, there appears to be hope in both the Palace and Montecito, the Sussexes’ Californian home, that a peacemaking operation could be successful in the coming months and years.

[From The Times]

It’s almost as if the half-in solution the Sussexes suggested in 2020 is now suddenly a good idea, four years later. Weird! In any case, this did not come from Harry or anyone close to him. The source is the same one who insisted to the Times: “The meeting last week with his father at Clarence House, at which the Queen was also present, did not provide time for a detailed discussion.” Now suddenly Camilla was in the room? Then why did she run to that crackhead Petronella Wyatt and neigh about Harry kicking her out of the room? My honest-to-god guess is that Charles was the one who said something like “we could really use you around these days” and Harry said something noncommittal like “we’ll see, Pa.”

The other candidate for “who was the source of this” is, of course, Prince William. The only reason I don’t think William is the one behind this particular story is because William would have centered himself and made sure that a source said something about “of course William despises his brother and will never forgive him!” The story isn’t centered enough on incandescent rage, is what I’m saying. Anyway, some really weird things are happening over there and, as always, I hope Harry stays far away.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.