What’s up with the current crop of “Prince William is ready to be a despotic king” stories? Do you think they’re coming from Kensington Palace, or are these just filler pieces from royalists talking sh-t for the hell of it? A few days ago, In Touch Weekly had a weird piece about William’s big plans to become the “toughest ruler the family has ever seen.” Fox News decided to piggyback on those claims and discuss how Millennial Peggington will be super-tough on Prince Harry and Prince Andrew. What’s really going on here?

As King Charles continues his battle with cancer, his heir, Prince William, is preparing to be the future monarch – and no one will get in his way. British royal expert Hilary Fordwich made the claim, saying that the Prince of Wales feels the future of “The Firm” looming over his head.

“Prince William is dedicated to duty, as imbued in him by Queen Elizabeth II, who tutored him every Sunday regarding his royal duties,” Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “He’s also under huge generational pressure since the increasing public popularity of the monarchy ranks highest for both him and Princess Catherine.”

Fordwich also claimed that Prince Harry and Prince Andrew are “wary of his wrath.”

“Harry’s whinge fest ‘Spare,’ with its acerbic accusations against the royal family, particularly his denigration of the Princess of Wales, rendered it the ‘final straw’ as William told those around him,” Fordwich claimed. She noted that William feels he and his wife were “bitterly attacked” in Harry’s tell-all. As for the disgraced Duke of York, William believes he “has put the family in jeopardy” over his controversial ties to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“As a millennial, he won’t and can’t risk public association with disastrous members of the family who merely serve as distractions from public duty,” Fordwich added.

British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that William is determined to revamp the monarchy’s reputation. Last year proved to be a “brutal” one for the prince, as he admitted, due to his family’s health saga.

“The last year has been the hardest in his life,” she said. “Yet, he has emerged with renewed energy and purpose. Prince William is very much a self-assured family man. He is also redefining his role as the future heir to the throne. With his revamped relaxed image, he continues to help people through charitable service, using his platform for meaningful good.”

“He supports King Charles, carrying out state and national duties regularly,” Chard continued. “He has surprisingly taken to the role like a duck to water, commanding center stage at every event. His future role as king is in sight. However, he doesn’t believe all his father’s tenets are gospel. He is his own man and wishes to show a more modern, encompassing face to the monarchy.”

[From Fox News]

“He has emerged with renewed energy and purpose.” He hasn’t been seen anywhere since Christmas Day and he constantly goes missing for weeks at a time. “Prince William is very much a self-assured family man.” There we go. There have been rumors for years about the sorry state of the Wales marriage, and I believe almost all of those rumors. I just don’t believe that William would torpedo his “family man” image without some kind of backup plan or complementary narrative. Whatever has happened in the past year, something was negotiated and agreed to by all parties. Kate turns up here and there, the Middletons are in from the cold and the press runs stories about William looking and acting like a hot single guy. Let’s see how long this compromise holds.

Also, I do not get this statement: “As a millennial, he won’t and can’t risk public association with disastrous members of the family who merely serve as distractions from public duty.” What does his Millennial generation have to do with anything? Will and Kate have never seemed of their generation either – they’ve always seemed like throwbacks to a Victorian or Edwardian era.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Will the Grammys get delayed? They’re scheduled, right now, for February 2 in LA. If the Grammys move, I’ve gotta wonder if the Oscars might end up moving too (they’re scheduled for March 2). There’s no way they’ll delay the Super Bowl though. [Just Jared]
People were so dumb about David Muir’s clothespins. [Socialite Life]
What were your top ten films of 2024? The Substance certainly didn’t make my top ten, but Anora, Dune 2 and Conclave did. [LaineyGossip]
Review of The Last Showgirl. [Pajiba]
Jodie Turner Smith looked amazing on The Jennifer Hudson Show. [Go Fug Yourself]
Jessica Alba & Cash Warren really lost their spark. [OMG Blog]
Whoever is running Pamela Anderson’s awards campaign is doing a great job. [RCFA]
Did Tyler Henry predict the fires? [Seriously OMG]
Unexpected’s Myrka gave birth to her third child. [Starcasm]
Will there be a second season for Landman? [Hollywood Life]
A Simple Favor 2’s release has not been delayed. [Buzzfeed]

Since the Duchess of Sussex’s With Love, Meghan trailer dropped, there has been a lot of rage and mockery from the usual suspects. I think even some of Meghan’s supporters feed on the drama of arguing with or about her most hateful critics, but I’ve always tried to balance “gossip/clapback” with not wanting to amplify the cruelest and stupidest narratives out there. Basically, people should be wary of the back-and-forth outrage machine. In many ways, Meghan has already overwhelmingly won – act like you support the victorious. What I find most interesting about the current outrage cycle is how bored her critics are with always forcing themselves to hate every single thing Meghan does and says. With Love, Meghan is just a show about cooking and entertaining, why all the drama? Which is sort of the point of this latest column in the New York Times: “Martha, Nigella, Meghan Markle?” It was written by Louis Staples, who is “based in London and writes often on the royal family, social media and pop culture.” Note: this was written and published before WLM’s release date was pushed back to March. Some highlights:

The WLM trailer: The nearly two-minute ad, set to the hopeful tones of “Do You Believe in Magic” by the Lovin’ Spoonful, which rolled out to much fanfare this month, casts Meghan as something of a domestic goddess. We see her wearing an apron and carrying artfully presented baskets of intimidatingly fresh-looking vegetables, creating colorful floral arrangements and even harvesting her own honey…Since it was announced, the existence of the show has been met with a noisy, and perhaps predictable, backlash. The criticism has been most intense in British legacy media, which is already panning Meghan’s turn as the millennial Martha Stewart of Montecito.

Setting a different narrative: Watching Meghan’s many critics rage-post about fairly standard elements — like the show reportedly being filmed in a rented property not far from the Sussexes’ actual home — it’s clear that most of them were always going to hate the show. But this rebrand as the duchess of domesticity is a very shrewd move for Meghan nonetheless. The show’s concept appears to combine the fantasy of Meghan as a princess in exile while reactivating parts of her pre-royal public persona, when she ran her own lifestyle website, The Tig. With so many eyes on Meghan, she might finally be allowed to change — and more crucially, sell a different narrative about herself. After years of Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, pleading for privacy while also seeking publicity, she will now participate in the attention economy in a more clear-cut, direct way.

The problem with the Sussexes’ royal tell-alls: Since their relationship began in 2016, the story of the Sussexes has been defined by feuds… With each new appearance, the duo have provided a steady drip of scandalous allegations. The problem the Sussexes have run into is that eventually, retelling your story starts to bore — and annoy — your audience. Even those who had sympathy for them and believed they had been badly mistreated began to tire of the couple monetizing their victimhood.

Meghan’s solo strength: The biggest strength of “With Love, Meghan” is that it appears to be something completely different. The series is produced by Archewell Productions, the couple’s production company, so what we’ll see is likely to be tightly controlled. But the show allows Meghan to break out of the cycle of re-litigating the royal feud on different mediums, which put the couple at risk of irrelevance. With frequent references to love, friendship and joy, the message of the show seems to be relentless positivity.

The British press’s beef: Since the Sussexes settled in California, the British press’s main beef has been that they gave up their royal status to become “celebrities,” a class of citizen considered uncouth by comparison. What’s often overlooked in the case of the British press versus Meghan is an underlying snobbery and distrust over the fact that she’s American. In recent years, Prince Harry has drawn parallels between the treatment of his wife and his mother, Princess Diana, whose tragic death was a result of being hounded by the tabloids. The British press, however, have more closely aligned Meghan with another woman who married into the family: Wallis Simpson, the American socialite who married Edward, the Duke of Windsor, after he abdicated the throne to be with her, causing a crisis that jeopardized the monarchy itself. Like Simpson, Meghan has been portrayed as a grifter who is both disrespectful to the royal institution and determined to profit from her association with it.

The runaway princess narrative: To understand the show’s chances for success, consider that Meghan has not one public persona but two. Yes, there’s the version of her that enrages her detractors, who have zero desire to be told how to elevate their lives by a duchess who frolics around a mansion with immaculately blow-dried hair and annoyingly perfect makeup. But in the eyes of her fans, she is an unfairly persecuted runaway princess who was swept into a storm. Her life was a fairy-tale turned into a nightmare — and now it’s back to a fantasy again. “With Love, Meghan” reintroduces her to those in the middle while still giving her true believers a chance to participate in that fantasy, in which their heroine is finally finding her feet on the other side of adversity, one edible flower at a time.

[From The NY Times]

I excerpted this op-ed because A) it was in the NYT and that’s a big deal and B) because I thought Staples was relatively fair to Meghan. I expected much worse, especially from a London-based writer. That being said, Staples still pushes one particular agenda which we’ve heard for years now. That agenda? That Meghan and Harry shouldn’t continue to talk about what was done to them at the hands of the Windsors and the British press and that people will get bored or tired of their “royal tell-alls.” That’s a narrative which came straight from the Windsors and the British press, and as we’ve seen multiple times over the past five years, nothing could be further from the truth. Harry and Meghan’s most successful interviews, ventures and projects have been those centered on what happened to them and what is still happening to them. If Meghan wrote her memoir, it would be a huge success because people know that she still hasn’t talked about all of the sh-t those people did to her. Still, even if I think it would be fine if Harry and Meghan continued to tell their stories, I’m also glad that Meghan is projecting an air of “I moved on a while ago, this cooking/entertaining show is who I really am.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Netflix.

In some ways, the international hate campaign against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has worked – Harry and Meghan can’t leave their house without every unhinged whackjob losing their sh-t. The Sussexes spent some time in Pasadena on Friday, volunteering alongside World Central Kitchen and speaking to evacuees. By all accounts on the ground, their efforts were appreciated and welcomed by all. But that hasn’t stopped the British media and certain Americans from wailing and screaming about how Harry and Meghan aren’t doing enough, or they’re only doing it for attention, or that they don’t even live in LA? These people are so soaked in their own bitterness and bile, they can’t even see straight. Behold, Justine Bateman’s thoughts:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been slammed by Justine Bateman as ‘disaster tourists’ after they appeared volunteering during the LA wildfires. The Hollywood actress, 58, took to X/Twitter to blast the couple after they were spotted in footage dressed in plain clothes and speaking with victims and other helpers.

The former working royals were spotted in a clip out and about at an evacuation centre – just hours before it was confirmed the death toll of the blazes had climbed to 24.

Bateman wrote online: ‘Meghan Markle and Harry are no better than ambulance chasers. What a repulsive “photo op” they achieved. They are “touring the damage”? Are they politicians now? They don’t live here; they are tourists. Disaster Tourists.’

Video captured by Fox 11 Los Angeles showed Harry and Meghan in Pasadena on Friday, mingling with volunteers and the city’s mayor, Victor Gordo. But the couple were keen to provide any support they could, according to the mayor, saying they were ‘great people’ with ‘great personalities’. ‘They really buoyed the spirits of the first responders. We visited the command post at the Rose Bowl and people were very happy to see them,’ Gordo added.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s true that Meghan and Harry don’t live in LA. I’m sure the Mail hated quoting someone who acknowledged that Montecito is not LA. But Meghan did grow up in LA, it’s her hometown, and she has many friends and associates there. Why is Justine Bateman gatekeeping “volunteering in a tragedy” again? Is there some rule that only Angelenos can help other Angelenos?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, screencaps from Sky News & local Fox affiliate.

In many ways, I honestly believe that Prince William is terrified of being king, terrified of having everything on his shoulders, terrified of having no more scapegoats left. In other ways, I think William probably wants power, he just doesn’t know what he’s going to do with it other than “try to make his brother jealous.” That seems to be William’s raison d’etre at this point: he wants money, power, fame and international statesmanship because A) he wants everything Harry has and B) William thinks Harry will be jealous if/when William becomes king. To hear In Touch Weekly describe it, William is grasping power from a weakened king and this is playing out like a Shakespearean drama. “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome father?”

Heir-apparent Prince William is flexing his royal muscle in a big way going into 2025 as he declares the Sussexes and Prince Andrew personae non gratae and lays down a host of other nonnegotiable rules in a bid to finally get rid the royal family of destructive dysfunction and lay the groundwork for when he’s finally king, a source exclusively tells In Touch.

As the golden-haired first born assumes more and more official responsibility, the royal insider says that the prince “has never been more influential” than he is now. With King Charles battling cancer and frankly getting up there in age, the monarch “is now bestowing more responsibility on [William] and by all accounts is acknowledging that his time to rule will be sooner, rather than later.”

Many have speculated that Charles, 76, who has been derided in the British press for his controversial love life and relationships for decades, would ultimately keep his rule short and possibly abdicate the crown to his more-beloved son, 42, and his wife, Princess Kate, the darling of the U.K. royal press.

In an arc ripped from a Shakespearean play, the prince “is seizing the opportunity” of his weakening father “to make decisions that he feels will benefit the Crown in the long run,” which isn’t necessarily a good thing for the rest of the royal family.

“It’s no secret that anyone who pushes back against him will be swiftly shown the door,” the palace insider says. “He’s not willing to take any nonsense and the word is he’s already on his way to being the toughest ruler the family has ever seen.”

More specifically, and importantly to William, improving their public image means financial austerity for the members of the family. They do not want to be seen as the effete Fauntleroys their naysayers often portray them as, especially as regular folks tighten their belts.

“He wants expenses to be monitored closely, and any fat trimmed straight away,” the source says. “He doesn’t want there to be any sense that special perks are being handed out to the Royals. He’s all about the environment, so he’s pushing hard to be front and center in that respect and has put out this edict that the rest of the family needs to get on board with being as green as possible. Private flights and that sort of thing are being frowned on. The days of wasteful spending and overconsumption are ending now that William is at the helm.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

First of all, Charles is holding onto the throne with both hands. He’s going to duct tape the Imperial Crown to his head. Second of all, Charles is not handing off any responsibilities to William because William is incapable and unwilling. William refuses to do even the bare minimum as Prince of Wales, like representing the crown abroad at state events. Other than that, yeah, I believe that William storms around, barking orders and throwing tantrums. I believe he probably marches into meetings and fires people for disagreeing with him. I believe everyone walks on eggshells around him because of his violent temper. So… good luck with all of that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

With all of the press around the Princess of Wales’s 43rd birthday last week, we were told emphatically that no one should expect to see Kate in public very often this year. Basically, Kate can be expected to attend a handful of daytime events like Trooping the Colour and Wimbledon, but I believe they’ll be able to keep her away from “tiara events” for a while. It’s also clear that Kate has refused to do even a bare minimum of charitable visits for the time being. So only “big events” and nothing where she could wear a tiara. It would be extremely funny if, with these new rules around Kate’s public appearances and lack of work, her first outing of the year would be a trip to the BAFTAs. It would be a particular kind of admission about Kate’s priorities. Of course, it would also be sort of funny if she didn’t turn up and William once again went solo. His solo trip to the BAFTAs last year was widely criticized, for good reason. Well, there’s a rumor going around the Daily Mail that Kate will make a triumphant return to work this year at the BAFTAs.

The Princess of Wales is set to make her biggest comeback to royal working life with a show- stopping appearance at next month’s Bafta film awards. Insiders at the awards say they are ‘pulling out all the stops’ to ensure the ceremony marks Kate’s triumphant return to the red carpet after her cancer ordeal. Bafta film committee chairman Anna Higgs says she is ‘very hopeful’ Kate will accompany husband William, the academy’s president, at London’s Royal Festival Hall on February 16.

An insider adds Bafta is ‘throwing everything at securing’ Kate’s presence, aware of the worldwide fanfare her arrival will herald.

Kate finished chemotherapy in September and said that she would focus on staying ‘cancer-free’. Since then she has met families of the girls killed in the Southport knife attack, marked Remembrance Sunday and led her annual carol service at Westminster Abbey. But she has yet to return to the glamour of the red carpet.

The well-placed insider said: ‘Bafta has close ties with William and Kate and is pulling out all the stops to try to secure Kate’s presence at this year’s awards. It sent her warmest wishes when she revealed her cancer diagnosis and hopes she will appear alongside William in what will be her big showbiz return since she’s been in recovery. Anything Bafta can do to work around Kate, it will do. William and Kate love to watch the nominated films beforehand and we know Kate enjoys meeting those working in the film industry. We have been told that she wouldn’t want to miss it, so she’s hoping to be there with William.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“William and Kate love to watch the nominated films beforehand.” He didn’t last year, which caused some issues as he suggested that a film about rape would have been “fun” to act in. It’s not that I or anyone else expect the BAFTA president to watch every single film, but it’s bizarre that he couldn’t read a summary of the nominated films, right? As for Kate’s possible attendance, I love that everyone’s like, yeah, we’ve got to bribe her to do this kind of stuff now. We have to beg and pull strings and promise all kinds of sh-t to get her to put on a dress. I actually wonder if William even wants her to come to the BAFTAs?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, will turn 60 years old on January 20th. You would think that all of the big birthday-keenery articles would have been saved for next weekend, closer to Sophie’s birthday. You would be wrong, especially since the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix show was originally scheduled to come out on Wednesday (it has since been delayed). The timing here is important because the Sunday Times’ birthday article on Sophie reads like one gigantic subtweet of the Sussexes. It’s less than remarkable at this point, how the Windsors rush to coordinate everything for an audience of one (Harry) and every story is somehow about the Sussexes. Some highlights from the Sunday Times:

Sophie’s birthday will be different than Meghan’s Netflix show! As the Duchess of Sussex returns to Netflix this week, cooking and entertaining in a new series, With Love, Meghan, another duchess is planning a low-key approach to a milestone in the less glossy surrounds of Surrey. The Duchess of Edinburgh will be 60 on January 20, a birthday she will spend “privately” at Bagshot Park, the home she shares with Prince Edward, her husband of more than 25 years, and their three dogs: a cocker spaniel called Mole, and two black labradors, Teal and Teasel. Their children, Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and James, Earl of Wessex, 17, will send birthday wishes — she from St Andrews University, where she is in her third year studying English, and he from boarding school in Oxfordshire, where he is studying for A-levels next summer.

Sophie is so unflashy: Beyond the customary acknowledgements on the royal social media channels, the advent of Sophie’s seventh decade will be marked with little fanfare, which is just how she likes it. Sophie has long been considered one of the monarchy’s “safest pair of hands”. Doted on by the late Queen for her loyalty and unflashy approach to royal life, the fourth-hardest-working member of the family — after, in order, Princess Anne, the King and Edward — she clocked up 257 official engagements at home and abroad last year.

Family feuds: She has come to embody the “keep calm and carry on” mantra that the monarchy desperately needs after being shaken by family feuds, Charles and the Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnoses and the continuing scandal around the Duke of York. William and Kate are big fans of Sophie and Edward, and vice versa. “They get on very well,” said a Palace source. Palace insiders believe that under the next reign, William V will be eager for his aunt and uncle to play a more prominent role in public life. Their commitment is essential. Their children are unlikely to sign up to royal duties and the number of working royals will inevitably diminish as older members of the family — such as the Duke of Kent, 89, the Duke of Gloucester, 80, and the Duchess of Gloucester, 78 — hang up their boots.

Sophie is so humble! Ingrid Seward, the editor of Majesty magazine and Edward’s biographer, said: “With Sophie, it’s not all about her. She was one of the first ‘outsiders’ who came into the royal family and realised it’s about all of ‘them’ working together as a team. She really gets that and doesn’t want praise heaped on her.”

Sophie asks questions! A former Palace aide who knows Sophie well said: “She’s tough, she knows her own mind and will argue her corner. There was always a danger people underestimated her but she stood up for herself, for Edward, for them as a couple.” Recalling their diary meetings when engagements for the year ahead were planned, the aide said: “Edward would say OK to most things, but she would ask, ‘What are we doing that for? What’s the value in it?’ She wanted to know what they were doing was actually useful.”

QEII thought Sophie was boring: Seward says: “Sophie wasn’t from that world. She’d never encountered anything like the royal family and was very nervous, shy and tongue-tied when she first met the Queen, who as a result thought she was a bit dull and told a friend: ‘You wouldn’t notice her in a crowd.’ But the more she saw of her, the more she liked her, especially as she made a big effort with Prince Philip, learning to ride, taking up carriage driving. The Queen always liked people who could deal with her husband. Sophie might be low-key but she’s a lot smarter than people give her credit for.”

Sophie & Edward were overshadowed: A source who has known the royal family for years said: “Sophie and Edward were overshadowed because bigger stars in the family came along, and I think at times she did mind that. But she was always pragmatic about their place in the hierarchy, unlike some others in the family. The King and Queen are much more understanding and aware of the role they have been playing, and as they’ve come more into the spotlight, the rest of the family have appreciated that more. The [late] Queen always knew it. Sophie is a proper asset.”

[From The Times]

There’s something so hilariously performative about the way Sophie and the rest of the Windsors organize these kinds of stories about how they’re all so humble and hard-working. “But she was always pragmatic about their place in the hierarchy, unlike some others in the family.” Who are “some others,” huh? One of the headlines, for me, is that Sophie feels like she’s done enough to suck up to Prince William and Kate, so much so that her future within the Firm is secure (because no one else will be left for William’s reign). Sophie is one of the last ones standing and she makes it sound like she’s winning some huge prize.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Robbie Williams isn’t really a thing here in America. I’m sure he has some fans here, but there’s something about him which simply didn’t translate from the UK to America. He’s a HUGE pop star in the UK and throughout Europe, and I believe he’s big in Asia and Australia as well. I could see how some people would have believed that Robbie is big enough to do a general bio-pic, but I’m flabbergasted at the series of bad decisions which led people to convince themselves that Robbie needed a high-concept pseudo bio-pic in which he plays himself, except he’s a chimpanzee. Bonkers concept, and of course absolutely no one wanted to see it.

Another newcomer, Paramount’s musical biopic “Better Man,” in which a CGI monkey portrays the British singer Robbie Williams, hit all the wrong notes with a paltry $1 million from 1,291 venues, albeit a smaller screen count than the average nationwide release. The film, directed by “The Greatest Showman’s” Michael Gracey, captures the rise of the best-selling local artist through the lens of a chimp because, as Williams puts it, he always felt “less evolved than other people.” Even across the pond, where Williams is more well known than he is in the States, “Better Man” faltered with $1.9 million to start and $4.7 million to date. Those ticket sales aren’t a good sign for commercial prospects, although “Better Man” has been well reviewed.

“Better Man” was produced independently for roughly $110 million and acquired by Paramount for $25 million. Musical biopics have been on the upswing, with films about Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston and Bob Dylan in theaters in just the past three years, but some (“Back to Black” was another misfire) are destined to sing off key at the box office.

“Robbie Williams played by a digitally animated chimpanzee [is] an outlandish choice. For anyone complaining that the industry plays it too safe, this is your movie,” says Gross. “The risk-taking is excellent, but $110 million is not realistic for the genre and for this musical artist. $25 to $30 million would have made more sense.”

“Better Man” opened in 14th place, way behind specialty releases that were playing in far fewer locations. A24’s “The Brutalist.”

[From Variety]

They lost me at “produced independently for roughly $110 million.” These people are lunatics!! WTF?? I could actually understand (maybe) doing an animated film about a pop star who is beloved outside of America. I could also understand doing a straight bio-pic or maybe even just a documentary or docuseries – I would actually watch a docuseries about Robbie Williams’ life and career. But blowing through $110 million on a fruity bio-pic where “Robbie” is played by an animated monkey?? Come on. What the hell were these people thinking?

Photos courtesy of Better Man’s IG and Cover Images.

There have been several moments over the past six years or so where I find myself agog by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s unlucky timing. Some examples: QEII’s death just a few months before their Netflix docuseries was released and Spare was supposed to be released (Spare ended up being slightly delayed, with some rewrites); the Sussexes sitting down with Oprah just as Prince Philip’s health was circling the drain; and right now, just days away from Netflix’s release date for With Love, Meghan, and Southern California has been devastated with widespread wildfires. It sucks – these are acts of god, and it just feels like seriously bad luck every time the Sussexes have something happening.

Over the weekend, the rumors began in the Daily Mail and Daily Beast that Meghan or Netflix would delay With Love, Meghan’s release because of the Southern California fires. The Daily Beast even said that Meghan’s show was filmed “just up the road” from the fires – meaning 90 miles away. I understood how the optics were not great, but I also believed that WLM was always intended as light, uncomplicated escapism, which is always needed at any given moment. Netflix didn’t see it that way and neither did Meghan. WLM has been delayed until March:

Meghan Markle has decided to postpone the release date of her new Netflix series With Love, Meghan, as wildfires continue to devastate her hometown of Los Angeles.

At the request of Meghan, and with the full support of Netflix, the release of the series — a heartfelt tribute to the beauty of Southern California — has been moved from its previously announced Jan. 15 premiere date to March 4, due to the ongoing devastation caused by the Los Angeles wildfires.

“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said in a statement on Sunday, Jan. 12.

California is especially meaningful to the Duchess of Sussex, 43. She now resides in Montecito with her husband, Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, but she was also born and raised in Los Angeles. Her new series, With Love, Meghan, includes thoughtful nods to her home state and her strong connection to it.

The couple welcomed friends and loved ones who were forced to evacuate into their Montecito, Calif., home, PEOPLE previously confirmed. Through their Archewell Foundation, they are working to identify the most effective ways to support the community during this crisis.

[From People]

If this is what she thinks she needs to do, then sure, I support it. I would have found a way to support it if she still wanted to release the series this week as well. I just hate that those motherf–kers at the Mail and the Daily Beast were right when they suggested a delay would be in the cards. A silver lining might be that Meghan now has more time to promote the series and possibly get American Riviera Orchard up and running.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencaps courtesy of Fox affiliate.

Jennifer Garner has lived in and close to the Pacific Palisades for 25 years. She has a beautiful house there that she’s super proud of and is a big part of the community. Like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Jen also volunteered at the World Food Kitchen’s relief center in the Palisades on Friday. Katy Tur, who also calls the area her “hometown,” pulled Jen and Chef José Andrés aside for a pretty emotional interview. While Jen’s home was spared, she has friends who were not so lucky. She can name at least “100 friends who lost their homes.” Sadly, another friend, whom she knew from church, didn’t make it out in time.

Jennifer Garner says she lost a friend as destruction tore through her Los Angeles neighborhood amid the Palisades and Eaton fires.

On Friday, Jan. 10, the actress, 52, spoke candidly on MSNBC alongside World Central Kitchen’s Chef José Andrés and anchor Katy Tur about the death of one of her friends from her church.

“I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender so I don’t feel like we should talk about it yet,” Garner said, her voice cracking. “I did lose a friend. She didn’t get out in time.”

Garner was working alongside Andrés as a volunteer at one of his several pop-up locations around Los Angeles County to feed evacuees who fled the fires.

“My heart bleeds for my friends,” Garner continued. “I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can — without even [thinking] — I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.”

“I feel almost guilty walking through my house,” she continued. “You know, what can I do? How can I help? What can I offer? What do I have to offer with these hands and these walls and the safety that I have?”

The mom-of-three was photographed serving food to firefighters battling the blaze through World Central Kitchen.

Elsewhere in the interview, Garner praised Andrés, 55, and his mission to help serve the community through World Central Kitchen amid the tragic fires.

“It is an incredible thing to watch,” Garner told Tur, 41. “World Central Kitchen and Chef José just come in and… ‘We’ve got you. We’ve got this handled. Don’t worry.’ ”

“I’ve lived in and around the Palisades for 25 years, so I just think all of us, we want to get our hands into working, somehow, to be helpful,” she added. “And because of my work with Save The Children, we have a relationship with the chef, and I was able to just say, ‘Can I be with you for the day? What can I do to help? Put me to work.’ “

[From People]

This is so devastating. All of the stories coming out of Los Angeles right now are just terrible. Like I said above, Jen’s interview with Katy is really emotional. At points, she struggles to get through it without crying, especially as she describes what a tight knit community her neighborhood was by comparing it to Sesame Street. My heart breaks for everyone in each of the areas and communities that have been destroyed.

Jen was also there with the charity Save the Children, of which she serves on the Board of Directors. They’re going to be visiting shelters and other locations to help parents and children with social/emotional support, which is going to be so, so important in the challenging days ahead. There are a lot of resources out there of places to donate to in order to help the victims. I think both ABC and CBS have good lists with a variety of different organizations. GoFundMe also has a section of verified fundraisers to help prevent scams.

photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon