Just days after the election, Justine Bateman threw a tantrum on Twitter. The tantrum was about the “intolerable period” of President Biden’s woke-ass presidency, where woke cops would arrest non-woke citizens for having incorrect opinions about cultural issues. As you can imagine, Justine Bateman is a white woman looking to center herself in the oppression Olympics, even if that oppression is “hey, you should mask up during a global pandemic.” On the heels of her Twitter tantrum, Bateman spoke to USA Today and she’s just as asinine as you would expect.

Trump won because of Americans’ exhaustion over political correctness. “Trying to shut down everybody, even wanting to discuss things that are going on in our society, has had a bad result. And we saw in the election results that more people than not are done with it. That’s why I say it’s over.”

She’s super-excited about America’s Fascist Era: Now, she says, she feels like we’re “going through the doorway into a new era” and she’s “100% excited about it.” In her eyes, “everybody has the right to freely live their lives the way they want, so long as they don’t infringe upon somebody else’s ability to live their life as freely as they want. And if you just hold that, then you’ve got it.”

The pandemic was her Vietnam: Bateman referenced COVID as an era where if you had a “wrong” opinion of some kind, society ostracized you. “All of that was met with an intense amount of hostility, so intense that people were losing their jobs, their friends, their social status, their privacy. They were being doxxed. And I found that incredibly un-American.”

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was a turning point. “The air kind of went out of the Woke Party balloon and I was like, ‘OK, that’s a nice feeling.’ And then now with Trump winning, and this particular team that he’s got around him right now, I really felt the air go out.”

Did she vote for Trump? She won’t say. “I’m not going to play the game. I’m not going to talk about the way I voted in my life. It’s irrelevant. It’s absolutely irrelevant. To me, all I’m doing is expressing that I feel that spiritually, there has been a shift, and I’m very excited about what is coming forth. And frankly, reaffirming free speech is good for everybody.” She also hopes “that we can all feel like we’re Americans and not fans of rival football teams.” Some may feel that diminishes their concerns regarding reproductive rights, marriage equality, tariffs, what have you. But to Bateman, she’s just glad the era of “emotional terrorism” has ended.

[From USA Today]

If the air has truly gone out of the Woke Party Balloon, why not say that she voted for Donald Trump with her whole chest? Why not own that entirely? Free Speech! But this is telling: “I’m not going to talk about the way I voted in my life. It’s irrelevant. It’s absolutely irrelevant.” It’s not actually – if you’re going to cry about wokeism run amok and how Trump won as a backlash against woke culture, why not say “and that’s why I voted for Trump?” Anyway, ignorant and hateful white women are always going to be ignorant and hateful. But hey, the majority of the electorate is with her.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Jennifer Lawrence attended the premiere of Bread & Roses, which she produced. Malala Yousafzai was also there! [Just Jared]
Jennifer Lawrence’s dress at the premiere was a vintage Christian Lacroix Fall 2006 Haute Couture. Very fancy maternity-wear! [RCFA]
Andrew Scott came out to support Paul Mescal, aw. [LaineyGossip]
A late review for Alien: Romulus… has the franchise fallen off a cliff? [Pajiba]
John Duff has a new single. [Socialite Life]
Eve Hewson, so pretty but such bad style. [Go Fug Yourself]
An explainer for the 4B Movement. [Jezebel]
Is anyone watching Lucky 13? [Seriously OMG]
Summer House star is becoming a wellness podcaster. [Starcasm]
Moscow Mitch McConnell is back to as the Senate Majority Leader. [Hollywood Life]
What films have held up well? Dirty Dancing is absolutely up there. [Buzzfeed]

So, the past 10 days have been rough. As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m grateful I had the foresight to adopt a rescue dog before Election Night, because the need, nay, the privilege of taking care of him is pretty much all I’m running on. This particular lame duck period is such a mindf–k, too; it’s like we’re passengers on the Titanic, but we actually know the ship is gonna sink in two months. What a time to be alive. Venerated actor, singer, dancer and funnyman Dick Van Dyke has been on this planet for nearly a century (he’ll be 99 next month), and when bombarded approached by photographers in a parking lot recently, was asked for his thoughts on Trump’s imminent second term. DVD quickly responded, and it wasn’t with, “Ain’t it a glorious day?!” No, instead DVD said, “Fortunately I won’t be around to experience the four years.” Would you believe me if I said he’s not the first nonagenarian I’ve heard express that sentiment, just today?

Mary Poppins star Dick Van Dyke has said he is glad he “won’t be around” to experience the full duration of Donald Trump’s second term as president.

In a video published by the Daily Mail, Van Dyke, 98, was stopped in a car park and asked: “Does the future look bright for America?” The actor replied: “I hope you’re right.”

Van Dyke was then asked: “Do you think Donald Trump is capable of making America great again?” Van Dyke said: “Fortunately I won’t be around to experience the four years.”

Before the election the actor was one of dozens of celebrities to endorse Kamala Harris and make their anti-Trump position clear. Van Dyke posted a clip on social media the day before the vote in which he read out a message written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, which Van Dyke had originally read out at a civil rights event in 1964 in Los Angeles, alongside Martin Luther King.

The message read, in part: “Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, disklike, jealousy, scapegoating … none of those are the transcendent facets of the human personality. They are diseases. They are the cancers of the soul. They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been breeding humanity for years.”

Van Dyke had told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year that he planned to support Joe Biden, before the president dropped out of the election race.

[From The Guardian]

Ok, first of all, “dozens of celebrities” who supported Kamala Harris? The Vice President had an Academy Awards audience-size team of supporters in Hollywood. Celebs were lining up to speak or perform at rallies, post endorsements on social media, and hand out water to people waiting in long lines to cast their votes. On the other baby-fisted hand, Trump got Brett Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Zachary Levi, Danica Patrick, Mel Gibson, and Paula Deen. ‘Nuf said. As for the Daily Mail reporters encroaching on him, Dick Van Dyke is a nearly 99-year-old National Treasure — stop harassing him when he’s just getting out of his car! His wife had to act as a buffer between him and the cameramen. And speaking of age, only three-and-a-half years ago DVD received a Kennedy Center Honor, and during that bit of publicity he proudly, joyfully, exuberantly proclaimed his wish to live to be 100. Now he’s thankful he won’t be alive to see the next four years of Trump destroying the Republic. Can we go ahead and say that Donald Trump killed Dick Van Dyke? At least spiritually?

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: Avalon.red, Cover Images and Getty

Eva Longoria covers the latest issue of Marie Claire, in what was supposed to be a standard promotional piece for Eva’s many projects. Quietly, Eva has become one of the biggest bosses in Hollywood and politics – investor, producer, director, actress, Democratic Party activist and donor, and people only recently learned that she gave the financing to make the first John Wick movie happen. She’s promoting Siete Foods (a billion-dollar food company she invested in, which was just sold), and CNN’s Searching for Spain, which she hosts. The interview is in two halves – one, pre-election, where she’s talking about aging and wellness and business. The second half is post-election, where Eva is talking about politics and the fact that America f–king sucks for “electing” Donald Trump again. Some highlights:

Turning 50: “I’m cold-plunging; I’ve got red lights on; I strength train with weights; I meditate; I’m journaling. I wake up with the sun; I’m doing the grounding; I have an Oura ring to track deep sleep; I’m taking magnesium and other supplements; I’m doing everything. Not because I don’t want to age but because I do want to age. For me, age is just a number, but I’m excited. I refuse to believe my greatest success is behind me.”

Why she was motivated to host CNN’s ‘Searching for Mexico’: “I feel like the strained relationship between us and Mexico needs to be repaired, and I think culture and food can easily celebrate the best things of a country. The people who were screaming, ‘Build that wall!’ are the same people that are going to Taco Tuesday. And I’m like, ‘No, no, no. You don’t get to margarita out and sh-t on the culture that gave you the taco and gave you the margarita. You have to go, ‘This came from there. There must be good things.’”

How she felt after the 2016 election. “I’ve never been depressed in my life,” she recalls. In addition to actual, bodily anguish, she felt serious doubt about convictions that had once felt undeniable. “It was like, ‘Does my vote really matter? Am I really making a difference?’ I was so untethered to the core of what I believe because I truly believed in my soul that the best person wins. And then that happened, and I was like, ‘Oh, wait. The best person doesn’t win.’”

How she feels after the 2024 election: “The shocking part is not that he won. It’s that a convicted criminal who spews so much hate could hold the highest office. I would like to think our fight continues,” she says. But she can’t pretend she knows what’s coming next. The country “is a scary place. If he keeps his promises, it’s going to be a scary place.”

She and her husband José Bastón split their time between Spain and Mexico. Work takes them from Europe to South America and back. The movie and television business is in flux, but the globalization of it at least suits her. Longoria doesn’t tend to shoot in Los Angeles, and she doesn’t miss it. “I had my whole adult life here. But even before [the pandemic], it was changing. The vibe was different. And then Covid happened, and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to sh-t on California—it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now. I’m privileged. I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them.”

She had told Democrats to pay attention to the Latino vote. “We’ve been screaming from the highest rooftop that the Latino vote is not something to take for granted. You have to earn it and win it every election cycle.” She is already strategizing how candidates in future elections might reverse the trend. “I want to know how we can communicate that government and politics affects your life, whether you like it or not. Either you participate in that or you let somebody else hold the power.”

[From Marie Claire]

The more postmortems I read about the election and the more I see about why people voted for Orangina again, the less I believe it was a messaging problem for the Democrats. I said that hours after Kamala Harris lost Pennsylvania – this is not a candidate problem or a party problem. This is an electorate problem. Unless voters choose to vote in their best interests and the best interests of the country, Dems can’t “message” their way out of it. Tens of millions of Americans knew exactly what was at stake, and they still chose the fascist. As for what she says about being able to escape to Spain or Mexico… lucky lady. The crybaby fascists are trying to make it sound like Eva is storming out of the country because Trump won, but she clearly says that she’s been living in Spain and Mexico for several years already, and that she moved out of California years ago. I also agree with her that this election felt different than 2016.

Cover courtesy of Marie Claire, additional pic courtesy of Avalon Red.

It feels like this is going under the radar given *waves hands around* everything else, but as someone who has followed King Charles’s two-year effort to evict Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge, the recent turn of events have been fascinating. Charles’s big scheme was to evict the Sussexes for Frogmore Cottage, and finding some way to force Andrew out of Royal Lodge and making him live in Frogmore. This whole time, Andrew has had a valid lease and enough money squirreled away to pay for his way of life. Charles made a big stink about “cutting off” the funds for Andrew’s security and Andrew’s allowance this year. Andrew still isn’t giving up Royal Lodge, and now people close to Charles are admitting defeat. In fact, everyone saying that Andrew has “comprehensively humiliated” the king, and that “heads will roll” over this whole saga. Now the Mail’s Richard Eden has written a piece where he points out that Charles should be careful not to piss off Andrew, because Andrew will happily sell out everyone in the family. Some highlights:

Charles shocked Andrew & Fergie by withdrawing funds: I can disclose that the move by the King, who has long made it clear he wants his brother to move out of Royal Lodge, has shocked friends of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, also resident at the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park. ‘Why is the King doing this?’ demanded one associate I spoke to. ‘And why now? It makes no sense. The King hardly needs to save money.’

Charles accidentally drew attention to his slumlord style: Indeed, the King was handed more than £27 million from the Duchy of Lancaster last year to spend as he pleases without public scrutiny. That huge sum is in addition to the £86.3 million he will receive this year from the Sovereign Grant, which pays for the Royal Family’s running costs. The decision to strip Andrew of financial support once again draws attention to the King’s finances, which are already being scrutinised heavily under the Labour Government, which is currently legislating to remove hereditary peers from the Lords. Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the constitution, declared: ‘The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain.’ And the King, surely, cannot rest easy under Sir Keir Starmer, who once called for the abolition of the monarchy.

Charles needs support, so what is he doing? However, the recent publication of stories such as one disclosing how the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the King, charged the NHS more than £11 million over 15 years for the right to park ambulances in one of its warehouses, are likely to increase nervousness among monarchists. But instead of sticking together, the King is attacking his 64-year-old brother Andrew, who served bravely as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War and worked as UK trade envoy.

Andrew has always been loyal to the crown: ‘Whatever you think of Andrew or his former wife, they have always been loyal to the Crown,’ one of their friends insists. ‘It’s quite remarkable how Sarah has managed to pursue a successful career in public life, and has given countless interviews, yet has never said anything damaging about the Royal Family.’ The friend is too discreet to spell it out, but Andrew and Fergie’s loyalty stands in contrast to the disloyalty of another duke, the Duke of Sussex, who, with his wife, has made a fortune out of attacking the Royal Family via Harry’s tawdry memoir, Spare, and their Netflix ‘docu-series’ Harry & Meghan. Is it wise of the King to force his brother to seek his own fortune in order to pay the costs of maintaining and running Royal Lodge, which are estimated to be as much as £1 million per year?

Charles should call off the dogs: The King should call off the dogs and reassure Andrew that he won’t be booted out of his family home if his sources of income dry up. Otherwise, his brother might be forced to follow the example of Charles’s disloyal younger son and make millions from spilling royal secrets. And no one would want that.

[From The Daily Mail]

None of this is new, this has been Andrew’s go-to threat for several years now. He continues to say to his brother: capitulate or I’ll start spilling family secrets. The thing is, Andrew can’t do what Prince Harry has done – write a massively successful memoir and give multiple sympathetic interviews – because Andrew is fundamentally a pathetic and villainous figure. Andrew can’t suddenly make millions of dollars by selling his story. But Andrew could absolutely do a huge amount of damage if he ever chose to speak out about his family. What’s even more interesting is that in this limited battle, Andrew had more sympathy from the media. They seem quite happy that Andrew “humiliated” his brother so thoroughly too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Look at this photo of Donald Trump and tell me that the next four years, two months and five days are not going to be the worst and most terrifying ordeal ever. That being said, I still feel strangely peaceful and empty. Tens of millions of Americans wanted this rather than the nice Black lady, so here we are. For the past week, there’s been a lot of “palace intrigue” gossip about how quickly Elon Musk has worn out his welcome at Mar-a-Lago. It’s clear from the reporting that Trump’s people are not happy with Musk, especially since Musk is reportedly “behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it…And he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory.” But Trump was asked about Musk and he said supportive things:

Elon Musk may have become the Mar-a-Lago guest who won’t leave, but president-elect Donald Trump apparently has no plans to send him home.

“He likes this place—I just can’t get him out of here,” Trump said in a speech Thursday at his resort in Florida. “And I like having him here. He’s good. He’s done a fantastic job.”

Musk has been a near-constant fixture at Mar-a-Lago since he poured $200 million into the incoming president’s successful re-election bid and jumped around for him non-stop on stage on the campaign trail. The tech tycoon has been golfing and dining with Trump, sitting in on meetings, advising on personnel matters, traveling to Washington, D.C., and even meeting with foreign officials. Members of Trump’s transition team have likened him to a guest who won’t leave after the party ends.

The billionaire owner of social media platform X has also been tapped to co-head a government efficiency “department” with Vivek Ramaswamy that will supposedly identify $2 trillion in wasteful government spending—a plan that even conservative economists have called a “fantasy.”

[From The Daily Beast]

It’s not that DOGE is a childish idea of how the American government operates and functions, it’s that Elon Musk is apparently too stupid to understand that he was put “in charge” of nothing more than a blue-ribbon busywork panel. Anyway, I find it interesting that Trump is sort of saying that he’s fine with Musk around. I can’t imagine what those rooms smell like.

Meanwhile, the NY Times reports that Trump sent Musk to speak with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations this week. The Iranian officials were the ones to confirm the meeting to the Times! The purpose of the meeting was “a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States.” I understand that Trump does not attract the best and brightest foreign policy minds (or the best and brightest anything) but holy sh-t, it’s incredibly embarrassing to send MUSKRAT into that f–king meeting. It’s also probably against the law, but hey, nothing matters.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Can’t wait to see how the Washington Post deals with this update! Prince Harry is now only one of two litigants suing The Sun (News Group Newspapers) for hacking and unlawfully obtained information. Harry was originally part of a larger class-action lawsuit with 40 other litigants, and it was set to go to trial next year. Now NGN has settled with every litigant except for Harry and Tom Watson, a former Labour leader. NGN loves to settle these claims after years of dragging their victims into court and making their lives hell – they did the same with Hugh Grant earlier this year as well, and I imagine NGN had to pay out in a really big way to get 38 people to settle like this.

Prince Harry is continuing his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful activities by journalists and private investigators despite dozens of others settling their cases, his lawyer said on Friday.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, is suing the publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World at the High Court in London, alleging NGN unlawfully obtained private information about him from 1996 until 2011.

The royal’s case was one of about 40 lawsuits against NGN, but all but one other litigant – Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of Britain’s now-governing Labour Party – have now settled, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne told the court.

Those who have agreed to settle include Spice Girl Melanie Brown, former BBC executive Alan Yentob, “Game of Thrones” actor Alfie Allen and Ted Beckham, the father of former England soccer captain David Beckham.

The trial is due to begin in January, though Sherborne has previously said it was likely claimants could be forced to settle because they could be left with huge legal bills if they rejected a settlement offer, even if they won at trial. He made the remarks after British actor Hugh Grant reluctantly settled his case in April.

NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World and settled claims brought by more than 1,300 celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events.

Harry’s legal team previously said that his older brother Prince William, the heir to the throne, settled a case against NGN, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, in 2020. The publisher has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at the Sun, though it has paid damages to settle cases involving claims levelled against the tabloid’s journalists.

[From US News & World Report]

David Sherborne, Harry’s lawyer in the UK, told the media: “The Duke of Sussex is one of two claimants whose claims are still live in this matter. The reduction of the live claims to just two is a pretty recent development.” Sherborne admitted in April that Harry is taking a huge risk by continuing with this litigation and refusing the settlement offers from NGN, because if Harry loses, he could be on the hook for millions in legal fees and more. There’s been a really high-level pressure campaign to “convince” Harry to drop this lawsuit in particular and/or to settle out of court. I think it’s remarkable that he’s still going.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

King Charles turned 76 yesterday. He spent several hours at an event at a foodbank, in which the slumlord king graciously donated new refrigerators and we weren’t supposed to remember that the man bills the NHS £11 million to rent a warehouse for ambulances. Some outlets made Charles’s birthday all about Prince Harry, because of course. GB News declared that Harry “has fumbled a public olive branch he received from members of the Royal Family” because he “opted not to send a public birthday message to King Charles on Thursday.” Why would Harry PUBLICLY wish his father a happy birthday when Harry could just call his father and speak to him? Oh, wait, Charles refuses to take his son’s calls. Oh well. Good luck with Peggington then! I don’t think William even saw his father on his birthday. It also sounds like Charles planned a small party for himself last night and didn’t invite his sons. Sounds about right. From Katie Nicholl’s latest in Vanity Fair:

Birthday plans: According to aides, the king is treating his birthday like any other day, but it is expected that there will be a small, low-key gathering attended by some family and close friends to mark the king’s birthday on Thursday evening. “There will be more to the birthday than going to the Coronation Food Project, but it will be a private celebration,” reveals a source close to the king.

Happier than he’s ever been?? Sources close to Charles tell VF that he is “happier than he has ever been” and is grateful to be able to carry out his work. “What’s happened since the King’s last birthday is incredible. No one had any idea of the challenges that would lie ahead on a personal and a family level. It’s been a year of highs and lows,” notes a royal source.

Ending 2024 on a high: King Charles is continuing with his weekly treatment which he is “tolerating well,” according to well-placed sources. It has not stopped the monarch from maintaining his busy schedule, which includes a recent tour of Australia and Samoa. “As we come to the end of what has been a terribly hard year there’s a feeling that 2024 will end on a high,” adds the palace source. “That the king was able to visit Australia and CHOGM in Samoa showed just how well he is doing. He was at the Cenotaph last weekend, which was incredibly important, it’s what the royal family do best – leading the nation in moments of national importance.”

More on his treatment: “As he celebrates his birthday, I think the king is getting on with life and feeling deep gratitude for all that he is able to do,” says a source close to the monarch. “He had treatment this week – he’s on a weekly cycle and the symptoms and side effects are manageable. He’s determined to be seen going about his business and doing what he loves doing.”

Human contact: “I think the past year has shown the king to be very human,” adds the source. “The late queen was a quasi-deity in some ways. The king is very human, he has human strengths, frailties and engages in human contact. Nothing could be more reductively human than a critical illness that affects so many and I think most people think he has conducted himself with dignity and courage. People think he’s done well with climate change, youth opportunity and is making a difference and actually see that he’s a good king doing good things, and it would be sad if he wasn’t here. He recognizes that there’s a limit to what he can do, but I do think he’s happier this year than last year. There’s a levity about him and a sense of joy. You see him hugging people and laughing. He’s happy to be here doing what he loves and I think people are paying more attention to him and what he’s doing than ever before.”

[From Vanity Fair]

“People think he’s done well with climate change, youth opportunity and is making a difference and actually see that he’s a good king doing good things, and it would be sad if he wasn’t here.” I find it sad that Buckingham Palace’s communications team serves King Charles so poorly, that they lay it on so thick. He’s so human, he’s frail like the peasants, he’s managing without complaint, and you will miss him when he’s gone!! Aiming for sympathy, maybe even pity? Anyway, I do hope that Charles holds on. There’s definitely a growing sense of panic over William’s inability to take over.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

As I’ve said before, I like Sydney Sweeney. I think she’s a smart cookie, and I appreciate the fact that she’s not a nepo-baby, and that she’s gotten to the top because of her sheer hustle, drive, talent and work ethic. Sydney is featured on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue cover, and VF did individual profiles of all of their cover stars. She’s now an in-demand producer because of the success of Anyone But You, plus Immaculate. She’s also got Ron Howard’s Eden coming up, and Echo Valley with Julianne Moore. Some highlights from her VF profile:

On her interviews: “We’re going to have a conversation, we’ll talk for 30 minutes, it’s condensed, then people don’t understand the context behind the conversation, and it’s all clickbait. Unfortunately I don’t get to control my image—my image is in your guys’ hands.”

Her work as a producer: “I love being able to have a seat at the table, have creative say over decisions that would help benefit the project, whether it be the character or budget or time frame, anything that I can do that can help the project succeed. I love to help brainstorm and problem solve because it’s a puzzle—you’re constantly trying to have all these moving pieces put together.

On the strategy to play up affair rumors with Glen Powell: “Once [Anyone But You] did become a success, a lot of the interviews were just questions about it, so I don’t know if we necessarily were planning on ever talking about the strategy behind any of it. We just had very specific questions and when you say no to a question, people think that you’re a bitch, so….We definitely are very supportive of each other’s careers. We watch and talk about each other’s projects all the time, or even if we’re both debating between projects, we’ll call each other up and ask for advice. I just saw him last week and we were talking through some projects, so we definitely have a really great working relationship. We would absolutely love to work on something else together.

On a female producer publicly calling her talentless: “It’s very disheartening to see women tear other women down, especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard—hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have—and then trying to bash and discredit any work that they’ve done. This entire industry, all people say is “Women empowering other women.” None of it’s happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other sh-t that they say behind everyone’s back.”

More on women not supporting women: “I mean, there’s so many studies and different opinions on the reasoning behind it. I’ve read that our entire lives, we were raised—and it’s a generational problem—to believe only one woman can be at the top.
There’s one woman who can get the man. There’s one woman who can be, I don’t know, anything. So then all the others feel like they have to fight each other or take that one woman down instead of being like, Let’s all lift each other up. I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m just trying my best over here. Why am I getting attacked?

[From Vanity Fair]

She also talks about Euphoria and effortlessly walks the line of being happy about a show which made her a breakout star AND calling out the producers for not having their acts together. Which is true. As for what she says about what Hollywood is really like and all of the “women supporting women” stuff being bullsh-t… I believe it, but I also believe it’s particular to Sydney too. Like, I think there are pockets of Hollywood where, um, white women support other white women. But I think a lot of women are probably threatened by Sydney’s youth and beauty too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Months ago, the Duchess of Sussex revealed to the New York Times that she invested in Cesta Collective, a woven-purse company operated and owned by women. Meghan also revealed to the Times that she has now invested in five to ten other brands. It was a big, rich mystery, one which the British media only acknowledged to mock (this story is going to upset Camilla Tominey so much). Well, as it turns out, Meghan has invested in another female-owned company – Highbrow Hippie, which was founded by her good friend and colorist Kadi Lee. Kadi has been Meghan’s colorist (and colorist to celebrities like Julia Roberts) for years. Now Kadi has turned her successful hair salon (Highbrow Hippie) into a product line of the same name, a product line in which Meghan invested. From InStyle:

Kadi Lee on her mission: “I work with some of the most visible women in the world; keeping their hair healthy has always been at the top of my mind,” says Lee, who specializes in sun-kissed balayage that radiates warmth and makes skin glow. And while Lee insists that good hair health is holistic, she’s bottling some of the magic in her new Highbrow Hippie hair wellness line, developed alongside her salon co-founder and longtime friend Myka Harris. The pair, who first met as students and opened their hair atelier in 2019, designed their debut offerings—a supercharged scalp serum and wellbeing supplement—to optimize all the tenets of good hair health, from luster to density.

Why these products: Lee and Harris have seen their clients through many seasons of life, including postpartum and aging into their 40s and 50s, when hair loss often becomes more pronounced. The duo point to statistics that have motivated their work: 80 percent of women experience hair loss throughout their lifetime; it’s among the top issues affecting women’s self-esteem. Moreover, hair health is often an early indicator of various larger health issues, such as chronic stress or hormonal imbalance, but is not always taken seriously. So, they set out to formulate comprehensive, science-backed formulas that prevent and treat the root causes of hair loss. “We always knew we wanted to start a product line, and the conversations being had with clients made it clear that it needed to be about hair health,” the pair explain. “We knew that we needed to start there and provide them with a comprehensive system that treats the root causes of hair loss and damage while holistically supporting overall wellness and longevity.”

Meghan’s investment: The line’s potential has drawn attention from Markle not just as a client, but as an investor, as well. “Kadi has a mastery of hair health, and her Highbrow Hippie collection is a perfect reflection of that,” Markle tells InStyle. “I am so proud to invest in her as a friend and as a female founder.” In an increasingly crowded space where overnight solutions for hair loss are being pushed on us from every direction, Lee and Harris offer something with integrity. They are mindful of all textures, only use premium-grade ingredients backed by clinical trials, and, of course, offer unmatched experience tending to the world’s most famous heads of hair. As the pair put it, “Women of any age looking to have healthy hair that thrives even under the most stressful of circumstances now have a product they can trust.”

[From InStyle]

I love that Meghan is investing in her friends and investing in female-owned brands which share her personal ethos. It’s really cool. While I’ve thought the makeup and skincare industries have been oversaturated with celebrity-run lines, there’s so much room in haircare to make a good product which could really catch on. Beyonce has that with Cécred! But it sounds like Highbrow Hippie’s products will be more of an industry/California thing for now. I’m sure Meghan would love to see her friends go national in a big way though.

A photo of Meghan from last night’s launch party, via Highbrow Hippie’s IG:

Top 8 stories about Duchess Meghan’s Clevr Blends investment

From a mail order latte business to an endorsement from Oprah and the shelves at Target, Duchess Meghan’s investment in Clevr Blends really paid off! Get the top 8 stories about Clevr Blends when you sign up for our mailing list!

– Katie at Celebitchy

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Photos courtesy of Highbrow Hippie’s IG Stories and Kadi Lee’s IG Stories. Additional photos courtesy of Cover Images.