Before 2023 was over, the Daily Mail published articles about the Duchess of Sussex and Princess of Wales’s clothing costs for the year. While it’s ridiculous that British publications are still trying to claim ownership of Meghan in any way, it brought up something weird – why didn’t anyone tally up the Queen Consort’s fashion costs for the year? Camilla wears a lot of bespoke pieces and she also repeats a lot of stuff she’s had in her closet for years, if not decades. Her first full year as queen featured a huge number of bespoke pieces for all of the big events – the coronation, the first state visits as queen, etc. Well, instead of getting a tally, we’re getting this stupid piece in the Telegraph: “How Camilla abandoned stiff grandeur for a modern regal style.” This was written by Lisa Armstrong, the Telegraph’s “head of fashion,” but you wouldn’t know that from how many times Armstrong randomly brought up the Sussexes for no good reason. Some highlights:

Camilla’s unspectacular rise to a 47% approval rate: Unspectacular is probably where the wiser members of The Firm should be aiming, given the volatility of public crushes. Take note, Harry and Meghan. Increments make for stronger foundations than emotional landslides.

No more Country Camilla: While there have been sightings of some rather good shirtwaisters – an ideal style for her, especially when they’re midi – including one worn with a shoulder robing trench, another good shape for Camilla. We’ve seen relatively little of country Camilla during the past year. Hardly surprisingly given the Coronation and the subsequent finessing of Charles’s and Camilla’s images as worthy successors to an impossibly hard act….In the subsequent months [following the coronation], the Queen has honed in on the silhouette Bruce Oldfield gave her that day in the Abbey: gently skimming, indenting rather than constricting the waist, with a scooped neckline that elongates her neck and gives ample framing to the magnificent collection of royal jewellery she clearly cherishes.

The importance of a drop waist: “The drop waist elongates her body so it photographs well from many angles,” explains personal stylist Annabel Hodin. “And while a drop waist can be hard to wear when the dress is short, if there’s plenty of length below the waist, it can be very flattering. This dress is undulating rather than attempting to go sharply in and out. The neckline is perfect for her, neither too high nor low. You see the jewellery and some pretty collarbone; there’s a simple shoulder line and flattering wrist-length sleeves. It’s a very modern, lively approach to gala dressing. She looks comfortable and at ease – and incidentally she has on very good support wear.”

The making of a red velvet dress: So considered are Camilla’s outfits these days that Fiona Clare, designer of the red dress, was charged with tracking down a silk velvet that exactly matched the rubies in the Burmese necklace and tiara that previously belonged to Elizabeth ll. It took weeks to find the right velvet – 100 per cent silk velvet is almost impossible to source now, but Clare sourced a British velvet, made from silk and viscose, which is derived from wood pulp, so it was 100 per cent natural fibres. As velvets go, “it’s a nightmare to sew,” Clare tells me, “but worth it for the lustre and the way it drapes.

Camilla is happy for Kate to be a fashion plate: That Camilla clearly isn’t a limelight-hogger is endearing. She’s delighted for Kate to be the fashion mascot. She wants to be comfortable – and that’s evident not only in the flowing lines of her clothes and the mainly soft colours (ivory is her best pale shade, more compatible with her hair than cream, says Hodin) but in the people she works with – long-time friends such as Anna Valentine, who designed her wedding dress to the then-Prince Charles in 2005 and Clare, who has been working with her for 10 years. Make-up artist Maria Sandoval, who has done a superb glow-up job of subtly supercharging the Queen’s complexion and eyes, started out as a manicurist and has now worked with Camilla for 15 years – typical of the non-starry, non-bitchy types who make up Camilla’s glam squad.

Camilla’s victories: The extent to which she’s succeeding can be seen in the obvious – those state banquets – and the more oblique victories. Harry’s whinging in Spare, about his step-mother’s co-option of his old room at Clarence House into extra wardrobe space, for instance, doesn’t appear to have ruffled a single hair on Camilla’s serene head. (Dear Harry, what’s a woman to do when she needs more hanging room and her step-son’s moved on?) Meanwhile, Omid Scobie’s ramblings have become an international joke and even The Crown’s controversial sanctification of Diana has done nothing to stymy Camilla’s keep-calm-and-dazzle-on approach. Not when the same drama also makes That Woman, despite everything, seem rather likeable and ultimately quite self-sacrificing. One who, these days, dresses like a Queen.

[From The Telegraph]

Harry could have said a lot more about Camilla but he held his tongue, and it feels like Camilla was bothered by Spare after all, just as she was bothered by The Crown and the fact that everyone keeps talking about Diana. As for Camilla’s fashion… I’ve said before that I actually like a lot of what she wears, especially her housedresses. She’s not a fashion plate, but she has a good team of seasoned professionals working with her and you can tell. I’d just like to know how much all of this costs – a red velvet gown made especially to “match” a ruby suite? All of those custom pieces? A glam squad? Why didn’t anyone even attempt to tally up the cost of dehorsifying Camilla?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

For years now, Dave Chappelle has devoted his stand-up act to criticizing, mocking and dehumanizing transgender people. He’s committed to punching down on several marginalized communities, but his favorite topic is absolutely his hatred of transgender people and trans rights. In 2021, he declared himself “Team TERF” and he declared that he would not bend to anybody’s demands. “Demands” like “can you stop being so f–king transphobic, it’s not funny and you’re really gross.” Well, Chappelle has a new Netflix special called The Dreamer and guess what, it’s the same old disgusting material. Even Variety called him out:

Maybe it’s time for Dave Chappelle to try some new material. The comedian’s newest special, “The Dreamer,” debuted on Netflix on Dec. 31, and largely focuses on his early years in entertainment and how he manifested his success. But he floods the first 12 minutes of the set revisiting his favorite target in recent years: Transgender people.

Chappelle opens the special by telling a story about visiting Jim Carrey while he was shooting the 1999 film “Man on the Moon,” where the actor famously went method on set while portraying comedian Andy Kaufman. Dave recalls being “very disappointed” that he spent the day speaking to Carrey pretending to be Kaufman, ending by saying, “That’s how trans people make me feel.”

He then addressed the controversy surrounding his anti-trans material, saying, “If you guys came here to this show tonight thinking that I’m going to make fun of those people again, you’ve come to the wrong show. I’m not f–king with those people anymore. It wasn’t worth the trouble. I ain’t saying sh-t about them. Maybe three or four times tonight, but that’s it. I’m tired of talking about them. And you want to know why I’m tired of talking about them? Because these people acted like I needed them to be funny. Well, that’s ridiculous. I don’t need you. I got a whole new angle coming. You guys will never see this sh-t coming. I ain’t doing trans jokes no more.”

He then said he was going to transition to joking about “handicapped” people instead because “they’re not as organized as the gays. And I love punching down.”

A few minutes later, Chappelle revisited the topic, saying, “To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to repair my relationship with the transgender community cause I don’t want them to think that I don’t like them. You know how I’ve been repairing it? I wrote a play. I did. Cause I know that gays love plays. It’s a very sad play, but it’s moving. It’s about a Black transgender woman whose pronoun is, sadly, n***a. It’s a tear-jerker. At the end of the play she dies of loneliness cause white liberals don’t know how to speak to her. It’s sad.”

Later in the special, Chappelle addressed when he was attacked onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 by an assailant with a replica gun that could discharge a knife blade. Chappelle recalled trying to diffuse tension after the incident with a joke, telling the audience, “It was a trans man!” But he said it didn’t go over well, given the audience’s response of, “‘Boo. It’s L.A., we like trans people.’” Chappelle also said the attacker “had a knife that identified as a gun” and “I triggered them because I had done LBGTQ [sic] jokes and it turns out this fella was a ‘B.’” He also joked that, knowing the attacker was bisexual, he “could have been raped.”

[From Variety]

He also made a grotesque “joke” about wanting to go to a women’s prison if he’s ever sent to jail and it’s not even worth repeating. In years past, I’ve wondered if Chappelle really is this out of touch and maybe that’s the larger issue – he lost his ability to keep his finger on the pulse of American culture. But at this point, the dude just loves being a bigot. He thinks hatred is funny and edgy. He thinks this is okay because his buddy Elon Musk laughs at his jokes.

Screencaps courtesy of Netflix.

2024 Greetings, my lovely Bitches! My final post of 2023 was about global New Year’s traditions, like wearing yellow underwear or smashing pomegranates on your front door. I was without yellow underwear at my holiday locale, so ended up going with black undies for New Year’s Eve and pink for New Year’s Day. But when my pooch and I were walking the neighborhood yesterday (she’s still hungover) we saw a lot of pomegranate remnants at apartment doors. I hope that good luck extends to the whole block.

I also saw a headline, while eating at a diner on January 1, that read “How to cancel gym memberships.” Not even one full day in and we’re talking about getting out of the most prevalent New Year’s resolution: health/fitness. It made me chuckle (as I dug into my breakfast sampler of bacon, sausage, eggs, french toast, and hash browns). I bet Brooke Shields would’ve chuckled too, as she recently told Today that she never makes resolutions because she thinks it’s setting yourself up for failure. I’m inclined to agree. Brooke has a new podcast called Now What? and is launching a “lifestyle brand” (watch out, Goop!) so she also spoke to Today about her beauty and skincare routines:

Her outlook on aging: It’s one that embraces aging and all that comes with it, and helps to create open and honest conversation around it — which she does, through her podcast “Now What?” and her online platform and lifestyle brand “Beginning Is Now.” That being said, if she did have the chance to go back, she says the one thing she wishes she could tell her younger self about aging would be to, “enjoy what you have now,” she tells Shop TODAY over the phone. “We’re all a product of our upbringing and society but I definitely think I would have been like, really appreciate yourself,” Shields says. “Not because it’s all going to go downhill, but because you deserve to be able to appreciate it. You don’t want to get to an older age and realize you’ve never really celebrated yourself. It’s sad. I think people then start chasing their youth. I’m not chasing my youth. I like to look my best, but it’s a futile thing to want to turn back the clock and make yourself crazy. So why not, as best you can, where you are, appreciate that every wrinkle I have around my eyes is because I smiled a lot?”

Skincare is self-care: “I now look at beauty as self-care, rather than vanity,” Shields says. “Which, I used to associate beauty routines with inaccessible luxury and vanity. My mom would say, ‘soap, water and moisturize. Get it clean, don’t make it complicated for yourself.’ But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve enjoyed the process and the ritual of taking care of my skin. And it’s not now just for aging or wrinkles. I mean, that’s a good byproduct of your skin looking healthier, but now I enjoy the process, it’s sort of time for myself.” … “Sometimes, it’s just about getting enough sleep and drinking enough water — but not too much water — and that ends up making my skin look better … if I’m doing everything that’s unhealthy, not sleeping and drinking too much alcohol, it’s going to show up first in my skin. I think that people don’t think of their skin as the largest organ of their body, but it is. And we have to treat it like that.”

A resolution for no resolutions: “I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, because I think that’s setting me to fail. I don’t say, ‘I’m going to stop doing this, stop doing that.’ I usually say, ‘I promise myself I’m going to, at least once, do something out of my comfort zone or I’m going to try to learn something.’ Because it’s essentially setting yourself up for failure. And the giving up of things just feels like I’m punishing myself and then it just makes me want it more.”

She uses a literal pencil on her eyebrows: Of course, we couldn’t talk to Shields about her beauty routine without asking about how she maintains her famous brows. And her answer was pretty simple. “I actually only use GrandeLashMD, the growth serum … I’m starting to see some positive results. I just have to fill them in now, because the gray is starting to come and they’re thinning.” So what does she use to fill them in? (The answer might surprise you.) “A graphite pencil,” she says. “Because I can make it really sharp, and if it’s the right softness, it will come up on my skin and it looks like the flick of a brush. The times that I’ve tried to dye them or do anything else to bring them back, I end up looking rather freakish… And it’s not lead, so you’re not putting lead on your face.”

[From Today]

Yeah, I’m fully on board with Brooke on not making resolutions, and agree that denial just ends up being self-punishment. I like her framing of trying to do something at least once. That’s a manageable commitment. That being said, I tend to be even more conservative in my wording, and usually say “it would be a nice gesture to myself if I took more care with what I eat. Carving out more/any time for exercise would be an investment in my own happiness.” Similar idea to Brooke, but I’m not even establishing the one-time minimum. So anything that gets done is a win! As for Brooke’s health and beauty commentary, so far she’s given us: eat potato chips to combat hydration and fill in your brows with graphite pencils. I kind of love it, yet at the same time think it sounds like advice from an eight-year-old, no?

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Photos credit: Diane Cohen / BACKGRID, Roger Wong/INSTARimages, IMAGO/RW / Avalon

As I’m writing this, Jeffrey Epstein’s client list/blackmail list has not been released by an American court. A judge ordered that the previously redacted list to be made public in the new year, and from what I can tell, the names will probably come out later today, or maybe later this week. Reportedly, something like 170 names appear in Epstein’s records, and it’s widely believed that three specific names will appear: Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. People have known about Clinton, Andrew and Trump’s associations with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for years now, but it will be interesting to see what kinds of records were kept and how extensive the associations were. The British media is obviously focused on Prince Andrew’s association, especially since Johanna Sjoberg specifically named Andrew previously:

Disturbing new evidence from one of Prince Andrew’s sex accusers will be presented in court this week, lawyers say. The latest claims are in legal papers being unsealed on the orders of a judge on Tuesday.

They relate to Johanna Sjoberg who has claimed Andrew groped her breast in 2001 at the home of his billionaire paedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein.

Of the 170 documents being released in the US, 67 concern Ms Sjoberg and relate to a 2015 defamation case brought by another of Andrew’s accusers, Virginia Roberts, against his friend, the now-jailed Epstein conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Ms Roberts’ lawyer Sigrid McCawley calls it “disturbing testimony corroborating what lies at the core of this case — Maxwell was involved in facilitating the sexual abuse of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein”.

Last week, New York judge Loretta Preska ordered the hundreds of files to be unsealed. The 30-page summary of Ms Sjoberg’s evidence from the 2015 case will be unsealed alongside claims about a hidden Maxwell email account — which could reveal details of her conversations with Andrew, 63. Ms Sjoberg previously claimed the duke laughingly fondled her breast while posing with a Spitting Image puppet of himself. Andrew denies all wrongdoing.

[From The Sun]

Apparently, the statute of limitations ran out on Sjoberg’s potential case against Andrew – I would imagine she could have sued Andrew under the now-expired New York Adult Survivors Act – and Andrew is reportedly relieved that he won’t have to settle out of court against another one of his victims. Still, he’s hopefully going to be under siege yet again when Epstein’s records are released. He won’t be the only one – Bill Clinton is reportedly “John Doe 6” and his name appears more than once in the records. Reportedly, Clinton and Trump were both frequent-fliers on Epstein’s private plane, nicknamed the Lolita Express.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Having seen many of the big Oscar-bait films and potential “Best Actor” performances, I really do believe that the Best Actor race will come down between Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer). While Leo DiCaprio was good enough to get an Oscar nom for Killers of the Flower Moon, he wasn’t good enough to be a real contender this year. There are other men in the mix – hopefully Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction – but I think we can safely say that Bradley Cooper is the dude who wants it the most. He wants to be nominated for Maestro and he wants to win. He’s doing everything he can to get nominated, to put himself in the Oscar conversation. Well, everything but turn in an Oscar-worthy performance in a good film. All he’s got is a hilariously offensive fake nose and claims that he spent years learning how to conduct an orchestra just like Leonard Bernstein:

Much of the buzz around Bradley Cooper‘s “Maestro” so far has revolved around his shocking physical transformation into famed conductor Leonard Bernstein, but the actor-director-writer’s prep for the role might also blow some people away. Speaking at a recent Los Angeles screening for the film in a conversation moderated by “Hamilton” Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cooper revealed that he spent a whopping six years learning how to conduct just over six minutes of music in the style of Bernstein himself so he could record a crucial scene in “Maestro” live on set.

The scene in question recreates Bernstein’s famous conducting of the London Symphony Orchestra at the Ely Cathedral in 1976. The sequence is the film’s most rousing, as it fully showcases Bernstein’s musical genius and shows off Cooper’s staggering performance in all its full-bodied glory.

“That scene I was so worried about because we did it live,” Cooper said at the event (via IndieWire). “That was the London Symphony Orchestra. I was recorded live. I had to conduct them. And I spent six years learning how to conduct six minutes and 21 seconds of music.”

“I was able to get the raw take where I just watched Leonard Bernstein [conduct] at Ely Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1976. And so I had that to study,” Cooper added, while also thanking “wonderful teachers” such as Metropolitan Opera director Yannick Nézet-Séguin for helping him fine-tune the performance.

“Nézet-Séguin made videos with all the tempo changes, so I had all of the materials to just work on.” Cooper said. “It was really about dialing exactly what I wanted cinematically and then inviting them into then inhabit that space and trusting that they have all done the work. Because I think that I knew I was terrified, absolutely terrified that if I hadn’t done the work then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself in these scenes. And everybody did.”

[From Variety]

It took him six years to learn how to fake-conduct an orchestra for six minutes? I’m sorry but Lydia Tar did it better. The fact that Maestro came out one year after Cate Blanchett’s incredible turn as the fictional Lydia Tar is hilarious to me – Cate’s conducting scenes were brilliant and she didn’t spend months bragging about any kind of tortuous, years-long process to get into character.

Bradley Cooper shared his concerns about filming the scene featuring Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. He mentioned, “That scene I was so worried about because we did it live… I was recorded live. I had to conduct them. And I spent six years learning… pic.twitter.com/KPfFgBOTW0

— Screenplayed (@Screenplayed) December 29, 2023

Photos courtesy of Jason McDonald/Netflix, Backgrid and screencap from the trailer.

One of our last posts of 2023 was the Daily Mail’s (incorrect) estimate on how much money the Princess of Wales spent on clothing and accessories during the year. The Mail made a point of downplaying the cost of many of Kate’s bespoke outfits, and they correctly pointed out that Kate did wear some repeats, so those don’t “count.” The Mail never would have afforded the Duchess of Sussex the same luxury – when Meghan lived in the UK (and even in the years since), the Mail always lists the cost of Meghan’s jewelry and older pieces like Meghan is buying everything new for each event. Nevermind the fact that whatever Meghan spends on clothes and jewelry is none of anyone’s business at this point – it hasn’t been anyone’s business since early 2020, four years ago. British taxpayers aren’t “paying” for anything to do with Meghan whatsoever. Anyway, when I wrote about that Kate story, I actually had a moment of “wow, I can’t believe the Mail isn’t writing about Meghan’s clothing costs this year.” I’m a clown, I know. The Mail waited a few days before publishing this:

Accustomed to wearing designer clothing and exquisite jewels, the Duchess of Sussex is widely recognised for her luxurious style.

And this year was no exception as Meghan Markle, 42, showcased a wardrobe worth £86,612.16. It is £4,121.48 more than her 2022 total, which was £79,000.

Meanwhile, in 2021, she showcased outfits worth £58,388, and in 2020, the year she stepped back from her role as a senior royal, her closet totalled £44,188. However, in 2018 her clothing bill totalled almost half a million pounds (£406,662.55).

While a working member of the Royal Family, the cost of Meghan’s clothes for work engagements was covered by then-Prince Charles through the budget he gave the couple from the Duchy of Cornwall.

However, since the couple became financially independent, it is not clear who is picking up the bill for Meghan’s clothes, whether she pays full price or receives discounts from designers.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Since the couple became financially independent, it is not clear who is picking up the bill for Meghan’s clothes…” Who do you think? The Daily Fail Brain Trust can’t figure it out!! Also: in 2018, Meghan was still wearing a lot of stuff from her pre-marriage wardrobe, and I think that “£406,662” figure probably includes her wedding gown and her reception dress. Anyway, just a little annual reminder that what Meghan wears is none of the Mail’s business anymore. Stick to adding up the costs of the left-behind Windsors’ wardrobes.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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Last week, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released on parole after serving eight years in prison for her role in her mother, Dee Dee’s, murder. If you aren’t familiar with the story, Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by proxy syndrome. At the time of her murder, Dee Dee had convinced everyone that a then-24-year-old Gypsy was a terminally ill teenager with the mind of a seven-year-old who suffered from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and other fake diagnoses that she used to defraud people and charities. She was able to get away with it by constantly changing doctors, moving across state lines, and using Hurricane Katrina to explain away missing medical records. In 2015, Gypsy convinced a boyfriend to stab her mother. She pleaded guilty to second degree murder and, in 2016, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her ex-boyfriend received a life sentence. There’s a lot more details that you can read about here.

After Gypsy was released on December 28, she took to Instagram and TikTok to announce her freedom. In a series of posts, she released selfies and other images of her homecoming. Gypsy, who got married in 2022, also posted a video thanking people for their support and giving an update about what’s coming up next for her. The Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gyspy Rose Blanchard premieres on Friday, January 5. On January 9th, an ebook, titled, “Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom,” will drop.

“Hey everyone, this is Gypsy. I’m finally free,” the 32-year-old said in a video posted to TikTok and her official Instagram on Sunday. “I just wanted to send a quick video to thank everyone for the massive amount of support that I’ve been getting on social media, everyone has been really, really nice and supportive and I really appreciate that.”

She’s outside in the video, wearing a New Orleans Saints NFL Jersey, her brown hair down and makeup on her face.

“It’s nice to be home. I’m back home in Louisiana, enjoying a beautiful day outside and I’ve got a lot of great things happening really soon,” Blanchard continued. She’s been active on social media since her release, posting selfies and images from her homecoming celebration to her platforms, but Sunday marked the first time she spoke to the public in a video.

Blanchard told her followers about her upcoming Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, which begins on Jan. 5. She also mentioned her upcoming book, Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom, which she said she’s “super proud of.”

“It’s not a rehashing of everything that happened, it’s more of my reflection of everything that I’ve learned and experienced in the last 8.5 years,” she said. “Again, just thank you guys for all the support, and keep watching. Okay, bye,” a smiling Blanchard concluded the video.

[From People]

I haven’t watched any of the interviews, documentaries or series about the Blanchard case – I mainly read about it – and don’t really plan on reading her book or watching the Lifetime series. I’ll skim through articles about them, though, to see if I find anything of interest. I hope she doesn’t fall into a trap where she feels like her only option is to monetize what happened to her and it prevents her from moving forward. Her entire story is just so disturbing from start to finish. I cannot imagine what Gypsy has been through as a victim of emotional, medical, and physical abuse. I think all of the grown-ups in her life failed her. There were doctors with suspicions that never raised alarm bells. I also think on some level they failed Dee Dee, too, because that woman was an abusive monster who needed some serious help and to be held accountable via prison. I honestly hope that Gypsy received top-notch therapy in prison and put in the work to fully heal. I also hope that she has a great support system now and a good mental health plan in place.

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Happy New Year, everyone! We hope you have a safe & happy holiday and come back in 2024 for more fun gossip!

I love the way Ava DuVernay dresses, she has a great stylist. [Go Fug Yourself]
Jennifer Lopez is in St. Bart’s. [Hollywood Life]
Travis Kelce didn’t actually give Taylor Swift that opal ring. [LaineyGossip]
Review of The Color Purple. [Pajiba]
Paul Buscato’s optical illusion photos are cool. [OMG Blog]
Nikki Haley is an idiot. [Jezebel]
Harry Styles & Taylor Russell are still together. [Just Jared]
Would you know the clues in this Jeopardy category? [Seriously OMG]
Some of T&L’s favorite 2023 red carpet looks. [Tom & Lorenzo]
People have got jokes about the new Shakira statue. [Buzzfeed]
Seeking Sister Wife’s Sophie Winder is preg. [Starcasm]

Photos credit: Abhinav Sharma, Cottonbro Studio, Jill Wellington and Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

Some people have expressed surprise that Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are still together. They started up in the spring, by what I can tell, and their affair ruined both of their marriages. By July, Ariana had left Dalton Gomez and they would eventually settle their divorce very quietly. Ethan’s situation was more complicated, given that he had a wife and baby at home and Ariana had even tried to befriend Lilly Jay (Ethan’s wife). All of that went down this summer, but it’s been relatively quiet in recent months. Every now and then, we’ll hear about Ariana supporting Ethan in New York, and Ari is still trying to rewrite the narrative. Anyway, they’ll stay together throughout 2024, that’s my prediction. Wicked – the film where they met – won’t be out until November. They’ll try to stay together through the promotion. Meanwhile, People Magazine had this exclusive:

Things are getting very real for Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater. A source tells PEOPLE that things are “serious” between the “7 Rings” singer, 30, and the Spamalot actor, 31, who have been confirmed to be dating since July.

“Ariana is serious with Ethan,” they said. “She loves being with him.”

The insider added that while the pair “go out occasionally” as Grande puts the finishing touches on her upcoming album, they “mostly enjoy staying in. It’s a very normal relationship.”

On Saturday, the couple was pictured together for one of their first times out together.
The singer and Broadway star were photographed during a night out in New York City when a source close to Grande told PEOPLE they ate dinner with her father Ed Butera at her family’s favorite Italian restaurant before seeing Slater in Spamalot.

Grande sported an all-black with a furry bucket hat, mini skirt, and black top with furry cuffs. Meanwhile, Slater opted for a more athletic getup with a zip-up, joggers and running shoes.

“They love to support each other in their work,” the source said. “When she’s done with work, Ariana loves going to the theater when she can.”

Grande shared a carousel of photos to Instagram earlier this month, which featured one image with a Spam can ornament hanging on a wall Christmas tree made of green garland. The ornament is, of course, a shoutout to Spamalot, the 2005 Tony-winning musical adaptation of Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Slater is currently starring in a revival of the comedy on Broadway.

[From People]

One of my favorite things is when one of these pop star divas dates a guy and her fanbase absolutely loathes the guy. It happened to Taylor Swift when she dated Matt Healy – the Swifties panicked because the guy sucked and he was pretty racist to boot. From what I’ve seen of the Arianators online, they’re counting down the days until Ari dumps Ethan, and they’re grossed out by the fact that Ethan looks so much like her brother Frankie. All of which to say… Ari isn’t Taylor. She’s not going to dump a guy just because her fans hate him. Especially because two marriages ended to make this mess happen.

Ari was out with Ethan this week:

pic.twitter.com/xucTJvPGSe

— v (@ViralThingz) December 26, 2023

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram.

Sarah Ferguson joined the Windsors on the Sandringham church-walk on Christmas Day, her first time doing that Christmas walk in over 30 years. When Prince Philip was alive, he would not allow her to do anything with Andrew and their daughters in Sandringham. But King Charles has softened the Windsors’ stance on Fergie, especially since she toes the company line. As you can imagine, this is all part of the royal commentators’ new talking point: if the Windsors can “forgive” Fergie, then there’s “hope” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As in, Harry and Meghan need to do what Fergie did and lavish praise on the Windsors for decades and eventually the Sussexes will be “forgiven.” Please allow Richard Eden at the Daily Mail to go full-throttle bonkers about it:

The King’s Christian generosity in allowing Sarah Ferguson to join him at church on Christmas Day shows that there could even be a way back into the Royal Family for Harry and Meghan. But first they would have to show some contrition. That’s the view of The Daily Mail Diary Editor, Richard Eden, writing in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter.

‘The King’s embrace of the Duke and Duchess of York shows that there is a way back for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,’ writes Eden. ‘However, unlike Harry and Meghan, Andrew and Sarah have never attacked the Royal Family. Quite the opposite: they have always lavished praise on their relations.’

King Charles used his Christmas Day broadcast to emphasise that ‘the words of Jesus seem more than ever relevant’, writes Eden – a sentiment supported by his own actions.

‘He demonstrated his capacity for forgiveness by inviting Sarah, Duchess of York to join her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, and senior members of the Royal Family at church in Sandringham. The fact that Andrew was also with the working royals, for the second year running, shows that the King is determined to be a forgiving monarch.’

‘The Duke of York is said to be particularly grateful for the King’s welcome to him and Sarah because he is “tormented” by the forthcoming publication of court documents which are expected to link him to the late Epstein and reignite the sordid scandal.’

‘As all Christians know, before forgiveness there needs to be repentance. And we have seen no sign that the California-based couple are prepared to apologise to those they have betrayed with their insults and indiscretions. Until that happens, we may continue to witness the unlikely spectacle of ex-royal Fergie enjoying a more prominent role in the Royal Family than the King’s second son.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“As all Christians know, before forgiveness there needs to be repentance.” Which is probably why the Sussexes have not forgiven the Windsors for their sins. If the argument is “Charles is such a good Christian, he forgave his credibly-accused rapist brother and a sister-in-law who took money from Jeffrey Epstein,” then isn’t the follow-up question, “so why doesn’t Charles forgive Harry and Meghan for talking about how badly they were screwed over by the family?” They’ve made everything into the Sussexes’ “sins” of telling their stories, all to avoid the sins of the family, the “un-Christian” way Charles, William and Kate treated the Sussexes in the first place. Anyway, if Charles thinks any of this is a good look or a flattering look for the family, then he really deserves everything coming his way.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.