At some point, I started following (on Twitter) various beat-reporters whose jobs include “sitting in federal courthouses and live-tweeting the criminal proceedings of various Trump flunkies.” It’s actually quite awesome – Twitter is made for this kind of thing, especially since cameras aren’t allowed in federal court. All of this to say, Michael Flynn’s sentencing hearing did not go the way ANYONE thought it would, and the tweets were amazing as everything unfolded in real time.

The backstory is that Flynn is truly “Trump’s guy,” in that Trump has always been bizarrely attached to Flynn, even when Flynn was committing treason and lying to the FBI and the Vice President and everybody else. Trump is even loyal to Flynn when it’s clear that Flynn has spilled his (partial) guts to the Mueller investigation. Trump even has a conspiracy theory that Flynn did nothing wrong, that Flynn was “entrapped” by some “bad FBI guys” and that Flynn is merely a humble intelligence chief and career federal employee who never knew that lying to the FBI was a crime. Flynn even played into that conspiracy theory with a statement last week, saying outright that he was never told that “lying to the FBI” was a crime.

Well, the shenanigans came thick and fast once Mueller’s lawyers and Flynn and his lawyers got to court yesterday for the sentencing hearing. Flynn has already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his phone calls to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. But Mueller’s investigators have Flynn on many other crimes, much like Paul Manafort – Flynn was up to his neck in illegal lobbying for foreign governments and financial shenanigans and such. Many believe that Mueller allowed Flynn to plead guilty to the “lying to the FBI” charge because they made a bigger deal for Flynn’s total cooperation, and that his cooperation includes little to no jail time. That’s what the prosecutors had told the judge: their recommendation was that Flynn serve no jail time, or a minimum amount. But it’s up the judge’s discretion, no matter what. Judge Emmet Sullivan was not here for any of Flynn’s treasonous shenanigans:

Judge Sullivan immediately took aim at the notion of entrapment during Flynn’s sentencing hearing, saying he wondered if Flynn had really accepted responsibility for his crime, according to reporters in the courthouse. Responding to questions from Sullivan, Flynn said he knew that lying to the FBI was illegal and his lawyer said he wasn’t contending that Flynn needed to be reminded of that, nor that he needed to have a lawyer present, or that Flynn “was entrapped by the FBI.” Flynn reportedly affirmed several times that he was guilty of lying to the FBI.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have recommended that Flynn serve no jail time as a reward for cooperation with their probe into Trump campaign ties to Russia. However, Sullivan reportedly said he couldn’t promise that Flynn wouldn’t receive a jail sentence. He ordered the court to recess briefly for Flynn’s team to consider the morning’s hearing.

“I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious,” Sullivan said, according to CNN. “Not only did you lie to the FBI, you lied to senior officials in the incoming administration.”

Flynn has also admitted lying about his private sector work for the Turkish government, and yesterday two of his former business associates were indicted for that work. Sullivan reportedly attacked Flynn for not registering as a foreign agent of Turkey while working in Trump’s administration, saying, “arguably you sold your country out.”

At one point Sullivan asked Mueller’s representative whether Flynn could have been charged with treason. The prosecutor said they hadn’t considered that charge.

[From Quartz]

Yes, Judge Sullivan said the word “treason” in open court. So much for “poor misunderstood Michael Flynn, he didn’t even know what he was saying when he chanted ‘Lock Her Up’.” Apparently, the prosecutors were not pleased with Judge Sullivan basically telling them that they were letting a traitor get off with a slap on the wrists, and Flynn’s lawyers were freaking out about Sullivan GOING IN. Sullivan offered to postpone this hearing a few times, and after a lunch break, both sides agree: Flynn won’t be sentenced until March, and during that time, Flynn must continue cooperating with Mueller’s investigation. Heh heh.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski cover the latest Rule Breakers issue of The Hollywood Reporter. The photos are lovely. Although the poses are slightly contrived, they are having fun with it. Plus, they’re a handsome couple and they look so old school Hollywood. The articles claims this is “a rare joint interview,” for the couple. It’s obvious that their awards strategy is to sell their marriage. So for the push, they’re just going all in and doing joint interviews. Hopefully, once the Oscars are handed out, they’ll go back to having separate careers and just being supportive of each other’s projects.

We’ve heard the story of Emily asking to star in A Quiet Place after it had been cast before. But in this interview, they explain why this movie changed their minds about working together, because their marriage wouldn’t overshadow the film itself.

Emily Blunt almost didn’t act in A Quiet Place: Blunt was immersed in preparations for a daunting new acting project, as the magical nanny in Disney’s sequel to one of its most beloved films, Mary Poppins. The couple had two healthy young daughters, a new home in Brooklyn and careers that were thriving — separately.

It seemed like a good idea to leave it that way. So Krasinski, after secretly writing a part for his wife, abandoned his plan to ask her to play it. “I decided the safest thing to do was just have this experience on my own,” says Krasinski of making A Quiet Place. He was afraid Blunt would say no — or, in a possibility that seemed even more mortifying, that she would say yes out of a sense of wifely duty rather than genuine enthusiasm. “I didn’t want this to be the one job that she was like, ‘Listen, I don’t know if I love this, but I love you, so I’ll do it.’ ”

Why Blunt wanted to do A Quiet Place: In A Quiet Place, they play a couple trying to teach their children to thrive in a world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing — an idea that so resonated with them as terrified, exhilarated new parents, they deemed it worth the risk of sharing a project. “I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, how adorable. They’re working together,’ ” Blunt says. “It was the only idea that had come our way that seemed bigger than our marriage. The narrative of our marriage was not going to overwhelm this movie and this amazing opportunity for him as a director, as a filmmaker, as a writer. I knew this was a big swing for him.”

The dichotomy of Blunt working on MPR and Krasniski working on A Quiet Place: “I’d come home and be like, ‘I just danced with 30 lamplighters,’” Blunt begins, in a sing-song voice. ” ‘It was beautiful!’ ” Adds Krasinski, “And I’d be like, ‘I just killed a child on page 10!’”

Blunt on deciding to take on the iconic role of Mary Poppins: As an actor, Blunt relies on instinct, which is how she settled on how to portray Mary Poppins. While heavily pregnant with Violet, “I was waddling around the house trying to figure out how she moved and spoke,” says Blunt, who settled on a version of the character closer to the imperious, slightly vain woman first created by author P. L. Travers. “What’s the point of playing Mary Poppins if you’re just going to try and do an impersonation of Julie Andrews?” It was only after she began to tell people that she had the role that Blunt felt the immenseness of it. “Friends of mine, they almost started to well up talking about her and what the film had meant to them, and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, f-k. What have I done?’ I had no option but to Zen it out, because I’d taken this on.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

This makes sense to me. When a real-life couple plays an onscreen couple, it can overpower the film. That didn’t happen in A Quiet Place. John has said that he wrote A Quiet Place inspired by his fears as a parent. Of course Emily would understand what this movie meant to him. A lot of factors came together to make it a success for them. And now they’re shopping for awards, which again, I understand. But honestly, my favorite part of the whole interview was the part about Emily dancing with lamplighters while Kransinski was killing people in his script. It sounds like a conversation The Mister and I would have (who was dancing and who was killing off changes daily for us).

I also like the last bit about Emily understanding the responsibility of playing Mary Poppins. The movie is currently at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. Most of the critique seems to be that the character is played closer to the book rather than affable like the movie. Emily is getting good notes on her performance, but people aren’t ready to give up Julie Andrews. I get that, but I am still excited for this movie.

Photo credit: Andrew Hetherington/THR

A beautiful night in Wakanda! Congratulations @blackpanther on @goldenglobes best picture nomination.??????????????????

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Dec 17, 2018 at 9:56pm PST

This week, Oprah Winfrey decided that she had been sitting on the sidelines long enough. It was time to let her voice be heard. It was time to campaign for a better country! No, Oprah isn’t running for president (yet). She is throwing her support behind Black Panther’s Oscar campaign though. So far, Black Panther has been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Drama, and a SAG for Best Ensemble – both of those nominations are half-decent Oscar harbingers, and I do think Black Panther has a really good shot at getting a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. But will it win? With Oprah backing it? Perhaps.

As you can see from Oprah’s Instagram (above), three big names came out for Oprah’s fancy Black Panther screening: Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman and writer-director Ryan Coogler. Honestly, I’m a little bit surprised that Oprah hasn’t been a more vocal supporter of Coogler AND MBJ before now. It feels like Fruitvale Station and Creed both would have drawn her support, but Oprah is Oprah and she’ll decide on her schedule when she’ll throw her weight around Hollywood. Incidentally, not only did Oprah host this screening in LA, she brought in Disney CEO Bob Iger to co-host.

Here’s how you know Oprah is in campaign mode and she’s going all-in for BP: Michael B. Jordan’s mom made a rum cake for Oprah and Stedman, and Oprah made a video of Stedman calling the rum cake the “best cake he’d ever eaten.” I’ve never noticed how sexual Stedman is – this video is FILTHY.

Last night@blackpanther event @michaelbjordan ‘s mom gave me a Rum Cake . We’re lovin’ it over here. Having cake for breakfast!! #wwfreestyle ????!

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Dec 18, 2018 at 10:02am PST

Photos courtesy of Instagram.

For years there throughout the 1990s, Saturday Night Live enjoyed something of a Renaissance, especially with the “bros” of the show: Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade and of course, Chris Farley. Farley passed away in 1997, and to this day, people still speak of his special brand of comedy, how he could light up a room, how he was one of the nicest guys in the world, how he could just stand there and get a laugh, but how he would throw his whole body into comedy. Farley was especially close to David Spade and Adam Sandler, and they still speak of him with a sort of grief-stricken awe.

Well, Sandler has a new stand-up special on Netflix called 100% Fresh. Towards the end of his set, he pulls out a guitar and sings a song that he wrote for Chris Farley. It’s actually…amazing? It’s touching and sad and bittersweet and devastating and funny. Somewhat NSFW for language.

Adam Sandler is 52 years old, and his friend Chris passed away 21 years ago. I get the feeling that Adam is still working through his grief. But it’s healthy and sweet – maybe one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen from Sandler. I teared up. Legit.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and WENN.

The Kensington Palace released William and Kate’s holiday card for 2018 and it’s sure to warm your heart. The big question is how does one get on the list to receive one in the mail? When we figure it out we will let you know, until then here are some details and facts about our favorite royal family’s Christmas card.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased to share a new photograph of their family. The photograph, taken by Matt Porteous, shows The Duke and Duchess with their three children at Anmer Hall. This photograph features on Their Royal Highnesses’ Christmas card this year.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 14, 2018 at 3:00am PST

This year’s card was shot by photographer Matt Porteous and he did an outstanding job capturing the more relaxed side of the royal family of five. The portrait was taken in a wooded area with William and Kate nestled in a tree. The royal kiddos, Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and 8-month Prince Louis did a perfect job looking absolutely adorable while sitting with their mum and dad for the shot.

This is quite a different departure from last year’s card which showed the usual more buttoned-up look that the world is used to seeing when it comes to the Royals. If this is any indication that the monarchy is changing we like this more carefree and relatable shot.

?The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share two photographs of Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, taken by The Duchess at Kensington Palace.? This image was taken on 2nd May, on Princess Charlotte’s third Birthday.? ?The Duke and Duchess would like to thank members of the public for their kind messages following the birth of Prince Louis, and for Princess Charlotte’s third birthday.?

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on May 5, 2018 at 4:00pm PDT

Prince William, 36, and Duchess Kate, 36, are both in jeans, a rarity when it comes to the royal family. Kate looks fresh and relaxed wearing a beige jumper with a collared shirt underneath. William looks dapper wearing a plaid button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

But who really stole the show are George, Charlotte, and Louis. George is all smiles in the family portrait while leaning over his father’s shoulders. Wearing a cozy sweater and collared shirt underneath the future heir to the throne also had his rainboots on for the shot.

Prince Louis wore traditional tights and shorts with a coordinating sweater for his first holiday card. His mother Kate held him close for the shot.

Princess Charlotte looked adorable as ever wearing a corduroy skirt with tights and a sweater that might look familiar. The blue cardigan is a hand me down from her big brother George who originally wore it for the Queen’s 90th birthday portrait.

Charlotte also wore the sweater in a sweet snap the palace released in celebration of Charlotte’s third birthday and following the birth of her younger brother Louis. The blue sweater already has so much history for the newest generation of the royals. We are certain Louis will be wearing it next.

The post Happy Holidays From William and Kate appeared first on Celebrity Baby Scoop.

I am not someone who would take this lightly. And by this I mean someone who has a lock of my hair and may or may not use to set a hex against me. We learned about this growing up through Chinese kung fu and mythology lessons. My childhood favourite Hong Kong actress, Barbara Yung, starred in a TV s…

I am not someone who would take this lightly. And by this I mean someone who has a lock of my hair and may or may not use to set a hex against me. We learned about this growing up through Chinese kung fu and mythology lessons. My childhood favourite Hong Kong actress, Barbara Yung, starred in a TV s…

I am not someone who would take this lightly. And by this I mean someone who has a lock of my hair and may or may not use to set a hex against me. We learned about this growing up through Chinese kung fu and mythology lessons. My childhood favourite Hong Kong actress, Barbara Yung, starred in a TV s…

Remember all the drama over Henry Cavill’s moustache in Mission: Impossible – Fallout? Two studios were fighting over that moustache which resulted in his moustache looking super weird in Justice League. Sarah’s theory, hilariously, about the moustache and why it even needed to happen at all in Miss…

Remember all the drama over Henry Cavill’s moustache in Mission: Impossible – Fallout? Two studios were fighting over that moustache which resulted in his moustache looking super weird in Justice League. Sarah’s theory, hilariously, about the moustache and why it even needed to happen at all in Miss…