I barely recognized Jennifer Garner in the thumbnails of her appearance at the American Ballet Theatre’s Annual Holiday Benefit in Beverly Hills last night. I think it’s because she lightened her hair a little with honey highlights. She’s also gone lighter with her makeup. She looks so pretty! Her dress is kind of nondescript, but it’s perfect for the event and her styling stands out. We’ve learned through Garner’s posts on Instagram that she studied ballet as a child and is a fan. She’s surely thrilled to support the cause.

Garner also posted a video to Instagram (that’s below) where she’s in a nutcracker costume “helping” the dancers get ready for their performance. She’s acting goofy and out of place, as is her schtick, but it’s nice to see the dancers. I have only seen the Nutcracker once, when I was very little and found it boring. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again actually.

Last week there were photos of Garner and her boyfriend, restaurant technology CEO John Miller, heading to breakfast. They didn’t seem to be photographed together, and E! quoted a source who previously said that they want to keep the relationship “private and for themselves” and that Jen is “keeping things under wraps by going away with him and seeing him in private places.” OK thanks for letting us know.

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I take game day seriously. #numberonefan #snowflakesforsnowflakes #americanballettheatre . Thank you to all of the @abtofficial dancers and crew for letting me play along — I was in heaven being with all of you. Even more— I loved every minute of #ABTNutcracker @segerstromarts. @mistyonpointe was the dreamiest Clara. Alabama’s finest, @mbhoven, was the most regal prince. The mice made me laugh, the snowflakes made me dream, the bees made me tired… If you want to feel holiday happiness: find and see your local Nutcracker!! ???????? . ???? @stellaabreradetsky @betsymcb @courtney_shealy @laurencpost @alexbasmagy_diaz @remyyounggg @april_giange ????

A post shared by Jennifer Garner (@jennifer.garner) on Dec 17, 2018 at 1:27pm PST

Also points for getting this little venus flytrap all dressed up as a santa plant and then having it close around a beard. That’s clever!

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A post shared by Jennifer Garner (@jennifer.garner) on Dec 15, 2018 at 3:11pm PST

photos credit: WENN and via Instagram

Rebekah – you’re right. I can’t believe you forgot to send this until this morning. It IS tradition. Good to hear that this year has been an improvement. I’m looking forward to even better next year, especially since you are working on what to do with the “no”. “No” just means you have to get even m…

Dear Gossips,

It’s December 18 and the Academy has yet to announce a host or hosts for the Oscars. Last night though, some movement, perhaps. According to The Hollywood Reporter, John Legend could do it. And not alone either. Is it possible that John AND Chrissy Teigen will host the Oscars toget…

I’m a big fan of those memes about “2018 was fifty years long” and “can you even remember what happened in March of this year?” Like, do you even remember that we had a Winter Olympics this year?? Do you even remember what won the Best Picture Oscar this year, without looking it up? Something else that happened this year: Laura Ingraham mocked a Parkland survivor over his college admissions. She cyberbullied a kid who survived a mass school shooting. Advertisers pulled out of Ingraham’s Fox News show in a steady stream, which was a reminder that many corporations do worry about aligning themselves with the nastier elements of the Trump era, especially when people notice that they’re doing it.

I have no idea what happened with Laura Ingraham’s show, long term, but I do know that Fox News continues to employ the worst of the worst, and then these terrible people say awful things every single day, on the public airwaves. So it with Tucker Carlson, a douchenozzle of the highest order. Carlson has a primetime show on Fox News, and he used it to bash ALL immigrants. Now advertisers are pulling out:

Tucker Carlson’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has compelled four companies to pull advertisements from airing during his prime-time Fox News show. The backlash came in response to Thursday evening’s monologue, when the host suggested immigrants make the United States “poorer and dirtier.”

“Our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this,” he said, while name-checking Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). “We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided. Immigration is a form of atonement.”

Few advocates, if any, argue the economic merit of immigration, Carlson said in his opening. The nation needs skilled workers, but that is not who arrive here, he said. The segment ended with an advertisement for insurance company Pacific Life. The Fortune 500 company said in a statement Friday that it “strongly” disagreed with Carlson’s immigration comments. Several other companies have since followed suit. NerdWallet, a personal finance company, pulled its advertising and said that it will be reevaluating future airtime during “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” SmileDirectClub and Nautilus, the parent company of fitness training equipment brand Bowflex, also confirmed asking Fox News to refrain from running their commercials during Carlson’s show, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Employment search engine Indeed.com requested the same from the network more than a month ago, too.

A few companies have stood behind their ad placement, including Bayer, producer of Alka-Seltzer Plus, and Mitsubishi. Farmers Insurance also said it will keep advertising during the time slot, adding that “decisions made by Farmers should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a show’s content or the individuals appearing on the show,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

[From The Washington Post]

I’m not going to pretend that what Tucker Carlson said is shocking – I assume he’s said stuff like that every night he’s on the air. So why now? Why these particular comments? I usually believe that “liberal activists” aren’t super-organized, but I think there’s a campaign against Tucker, and I’m happy about it. He’s been one of the worst trolls in the Fox News troll farm for years. Why did he even have those big advertisers in the first place?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Thomas Markle continues to be awful. As we discussed yesterday, Thomas appeared on Good Morning Britain for another tragic interview with Piers Morgan. This has been happening for months now, so I’m surprised that people are still like “what’s happening with Thomas Markle, why won’t Meghan speak to him, what can be done?” Nothing can be done. Thomas is hellbent on emotionally abusing his daughter, and he’s colluding with the British press to do it. The only thing that can be done is to stop consuming his interviews as “entertainment” and stop treating Thomas Markle like he has anything valid to say. He’s a liar, he’s profiting from Meghan, he’s toxic, and he continues to show why Meghan was 100% correct to cut him out of her life.

Here’s what I do wonder though: do “palace courtiers” understand that Meghan’s father is toxic and abusive, and that she’s right to ignore him? This isn’t a communications problem, per se. But I think some of the royal communications officers are treating it that way:

The Duchess of Sussex is reportedly in talks with palace officials in the wake of her father publicly calling upon the Queen to step in and help mend their rift. Thomas Markle made a direct appeal to the Queen to intervene and rebuild the relationship with his daughter during an interview with Good Morning Britain on Monday.

He said: ‘I love my daughter very much and she has to know that. I would really appreciate if she would just call me, reach out to me somehow, send me a text, just say you’re there and you’re hearing me.’

The Royal household is allegedly ‘enraged and exhausted’ with Mr Markle, who claims he sends Meghan text messages ‘every day’ and has also sent letters to Kensington Palace. According to The Mirror, palace sources said the royal household had become ‘enraged and yet exhausted’ with Thomas and believe he has ‘gone a step too far’ by trying to draw the Queen into the row.

[From The Daily Mail]

I would hope that the palace courtiers would know that if they did panic and freak out about Thomas “pleading with the Queen” to step in, they’re playing into his dumb, toxic hands. And why is this a bridge too far? Thomas Markle has already used Princess Diana’s name, Prince Charles’ name, Harry’s name and more in his toxic quest to embarrass and shame his daughter. Hopefully, the Queen ignores this piece of sh-t, just like everybody else.

Also: People Magazine confirms that Doria Ragland will not spend Christmas at Sandringham. I bet she spends time with the Sussexes just after Christmas though.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

2019 will bring us the twentieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy Jr’s death. JFK Jr, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and Carolyn’s sister Lauren all died in July 1999, when John’s plane crashed into the sea. I thought about Carolyn and John too much in 2018, because there were new books and new magazine covers and new articles about them, and it wasn’t even a “big” anniversary of their deaths. But prepare yourselves – this coming year is probably going to be full of tons of documentaries and new books, all about John and his marriage and more. Apparently, ABC is getting a head start on it – they’ve done a documentary called The Last Days of JFK Jr, which will air on January 3rd on ABC. People Mag is promoting it:

A new documentary about John F. Kennedy Jr. is digging into the life of late first son — and exploring his family’s ongoing legacy.

“He was the last glimmer of the fantasy,” says writer Michael Gross of John in the PEOPLE exclusive trailer for ABC’s upcoming documentary, The Last Days of JFK Jr. “He was the last prince.”

The documentary features interviews with several close friends of John and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, who both died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.

“I think John F Kennedy Jr. summed up the fascination and attachment many have with him when he spoke to ABC News in 1992. When asked about his father, he said, ‘One of the reasons why he remains a figure that captures our imagination is that his life was uncompleted and his work was uncompleted and there was that sense of promises that were left by circumstances undone,’ ” says executive producer Terri Lichstein. “Our documentary is an intimate and personal look at the life of JFK Jr. through new interviews with close friends, and extremely rare footage of his life, and life with Carolyn in those final years and days,” says Lichstein. “I believe it will be a lasting emotional and unforgettable journey for the viewer.”

The interviews paint an intimate portrait of the man and his marriage to Carolyn.

“That was definitely a deep love affair,” Chermayeff tells ABC. Yet, also one plagued by stressful circumstances. In the last few weeks of their lives, both Carolyn, 33, and John, 38, were under intense pressure. John’s political magazine, George, was under financial strain and John was looking for a buyer. On top of that, the relentless media attention had added stress to their marriage.

[From People]

I know this is the kind of thing aimed at me, my generation, and the generation above me. I was too young to be truly obsessed with John, and then Carolyn. But I remember that time very clearly, and I do think that John was probably “America’s Last Prince,” or the last of that very particular kind of celebrity/political-entertainment-figure. No one else will be able to combine the good-looks, the tragedy, the glamour, the normal-life-struggles, and the circumstances could never be mimicked either. Here’s my question though – in the parallel universe in which John and Carolyn had lived, what would the last 20 years have looked like? I think they probably would have gotten divorced. And I think people really would have pushed him to run for office too, and it would have been disastrous.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

The Duchess of Sussex had an event today! She went to visit the elderly nursing-home residents of Brinsworth House in Twickenham. The residents of the nursing home worked in the British entertainment industry, so I imagine Meghan was sent there because of her Hollywood connections. Brinsworth House is funded by the Royal Variety Charity, and Meghan and Harry attended the big Royal Variety show last month.

For this event, Meghan wore a summery looking dress by Brock Collection, and a grey, belted coat by Soia Kyo. If Kate’s “thing” is “comically large and unnecessary buttons,” Meghan’s “thing” is “wrap dresses and coats that tie like bathrobes.” She’s pregnant, so she probably just wants stuff that’s adjustable. She’s also touching her bump in some of these photos, which I’m sure will make the haters lose their friggin’ minds again.

Here’s a video where you can see Meghan’s dress – it’s short-sleeved and the back is pretty open.

Video: #Meghan looks at old royal variety performance programmes – she attended her first show last month with Prince Harry and wanted to find out more about @RoyalVariety charity (for which the show raises money). pic.twitter.com/jCbFA020Ea

— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) December 18, 2018

“Do you have kids?” asks Meghan.
“No I don’t, I had a career.”
“Yes… that I understand.”#DuchessofSussex #DuchessMeghan https://t.co/iJm0VFriBk

— Hannah Furness (@Hannah_Furness) December 18, 2018

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Embed from Getty Images

When Woody Allen was 41 years old, he began an eight-year affair with a 16-year-old named Babi Christina Englehardt. Babi Christina has told her story for the first time to The Hollywood Reporter – you can read the piece here. True story: I’m hopped up on cold medicine and I feel such a bizarre mixture of nausea, disgust and apathy with this story. I know I should be outraged, and maybe I am, but Babi Christina does not come across well in this interview, and it’s skewing any sympathy I would have had for her. She’s 58 years old now, and a mother of two daughters, and she spends the first chunk of her interview trying to explain how she seduced Woody Allen because she was so cool and different and special. Lady, he slept with you because you were 16 and that got him off.

Sixteen, emerald-eyed, blond, an aspiring model with a confident streak and a painful past: Babi Christina Engelhardt had just caught Woody Allen’s gaze at legendary New York City power restaurant Elaine’s. It was October 1976, and when Engelhardt returned from the ladies’ room, she dropped a note on his table with her phone number. It brazenly read: “Since you’ve signed enough autographs, here’s mine!”

Soon, Allen rang, inviting her to his Fifth Avenue penthouse. The already-famous 41-year-old director, still hot off Sleeper and who’d release Annie Hall the following spring, never asked her age. But she told him she was still in high school, living with her family in rural New Jersey as she pursued her modeling ambitions in Manhattan. Within weeks, they’d become physically intimate at his place. She wouldn’t turn 17, legal in New York, until that December.

The pair embarked on, by her account, a clandestine romance of eight years, the claustrophobic, controlling and yet dreamy dimensions of which she’s still processing more than four decades later. For her, the recent re-examination of gender power dynamics initiated by the #MeToo movement (and Allen’s personal scandals, including a claim of sexual abuse by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow) has turned what had been a melancholic if still sweet memory into something much more uncomfortable. Like others among her generation — she just turned 59 on Dec. 4 — Engelhardt is resistant to attempts to have the life she led then be judged by what she considers today’s newly established norms. “It’s almost as if I’m now expected to trash him,” she says.

Time, though, has transfigured what she’s long viewed as a secret, unspoken monument to their then-still-ongoing relationship: 1979?s Manhattan, in which 17-year-old Tracy (Oscar-nominated Mariel Hemingway) enthusiastically beds Allen’s 42-year-old character Isaac “Ike” Davis. The film has always “reminded me why I thought he was so interesting — his wit is magnetic,” Engelhardt says. “It was why I liked him and why I’m still impressed with him as an artist. How he played with characters in his movies, and how he played with me.”

Even with hindsight, though, she’s unwilling to indict Allen, who declined to comment for this story. “What made me speak is I thought I could provide a perspective,” she offers. “I’m not attacking Woody,” she says. “This is not ‘bring down this man.’ I’m talking about my love story. This made me who I am. I have no regrets.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I suppose it’s just a sad story, because what this is really about is how an exploitative sexual encounter during your formative teenage years can warp your perspective throughout your entire adult life. It’s bizarre to me that Babi Christina hasn’t done the work in therapy, and that she doesn’t seem to understand that her story isn’t a “love story.” Anyway, in case you needed a reminder – Woody Allen is gross. He’s always been gross. He always liked underage girls. He should be in jail.

Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan’ muse speaks out on their secret “love story”: “I have no regrets” https://t.co/9L2aPh8Uu9 pic.twitter.com/vFzslJpEQ9

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 17, 2018

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty.

On Saturday at 1:15 pm EST Pete Davidson posted a disturbing message to Instagram that read like a suicide note. It read, in part “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore,” and “I don’t know how much longer I can last.” This came about a half hour after he posted support for Kanye West, after Kanye took offense at a vague mild joke Pete’s ex Ariana Grande made about Kanye’s beef with Drake. Kanye claimed Ariana was somehow mocking mental illness, she was not, but she apologized anyway. (The background and related posts are here.) It was clear Pete was aware of that exchange as he responded directly to it. It’s unknown how much it influenced his next post, but given the timeline it seemed related. Pete’s last message, which had so many people worried for his safety, was up for about 45 minutes before he deleted his entire Instagram.

Many people reached out to Pete. We heard that his friend Machine Gun Kelly was on his way to see him (they were later spotted together) and Jon Cryer broke the news at 2:20 that Pete was at NBC studios for his job at Saturday Night Live. It was a huge relief to people, including fans and including Ariana, who tweeted that she was there for him. She wrote “I’m downstairs and I’m not going anywhere. I know u have everyone u need and that’s not me, but I’m here too.” Outlets are reporting that Ariana wasn’t let up to see Pete at his job though.

Pete Davidson refused to see Ariana Grande when she rushed to 30 Rock to comfort him over the weekend … TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to Pete and NBC tell us, Pete alerted his security to hold his ex-fiancee at bay when she arrived at the building. We’re told Pete knew Ariana was on her way, because she was calling friends after he posted what looked like a suicide note. Ariana told friends she was rushing over to NBC, and they dropped a dime on her and gave Pete the heads-up.

[From TMZ]

On SNL on Saturday night Pete introduced Miley Cyrus’s act and didn’t do any live skits, although a pre-taped skit with him aired. If there had to be last minute adjustments made you probably couldn’t tell, all the reviews I saw said it was one of the best SNLs in years. (That may be due to host Matt Damon though. Dude may be obtuse but he can act.)

I learned a lot by reading comments on the last post from readers with borderline personality disorder. (Pete has been open for years about his diagnosis.) He knew it wasn’t good for him to see Ariana, that’s his prerogative and he made that call for his mental health. He had people around him for support, including his close friends and coworkers. For those who say Pete’s post was attention seeking or a way to get Ariana back, that’s unfair. He was in pain, he made it known and got help. That’s what people should do. We want people to reach out and get help when they need it. Ariana tried to help, she just said she was there and when she wasn’t wanted she stepped back. I think she handled that well, although she wasn’t obligated to show up she wanted to be there and she wasn’t insistent on seeing him. It’s sad for everyone and I hope Pete is ok and that he can get to a better place soon. So many people can relate to what he’s going through.

photos credit: WENN and NBC/SNL

It didn’t occur to me until just now that the Duchess of Sussex probably won’t get to fly anywhere or travel any big distance for the next nine months or so. She’s well into her pregnancy, and she’s likely being advised against air travel for the remainder of her pregnancy. Then after she gives birth – probably in early spring, my guess is late March – she’ll just want to nest and be at home with the Polo Baby. Meghan has already let it be known that she plans to work well into her pregnancy, and she’s apparently already telling people that she plans to take less than six months maternity leave too. So it makes sense that Meghan and Harry are already booking another overseas tour for next fall:

As 2018 draws to a close, Meghan Markle can step back and reflect on a monumental year—and she’s already preparing to make 2019 even bigger. While she and Prince Harry prepare to welcome their first baby in the spring, the Duchess of Sussex has asked aides to fill her diary “right up to her due date” because she feels “fit and well and wants to continue working as long as possible,” according to one source.

The former actress, whose admirable work ethic has not gone unnoticed by the Queen, is planning to take a short maternity leave by royal standards—less than six months—and returning in time for an autumn tour of the U.S. and Canada, which courtiers are said to be in the early stages of planning. The precise timing depends on her actual due date, which remains a closely guarded secret. Meghan and Harry had planned to visit her homeland and the country where she filmed Suits in early 2019, but the trip was postponed because of the pregnancy. Sources close to Meghan say she and Harry are now keen to visit the U.S. and Canada as a family.

[From Vanity Fair]

Oh, that will go over so well in Canada and the US, if their first overseas trip with the Polo Baby is here in North America. We’ll love it! I’m imaging a cute little Polo Baby in a maple-leaf t-shirt and then Meghan taking Harry and the baby to see her old stomping grounds in LA. Good times.

Also: I wonder if Meghan and Harry will slip away somewhere for a “babymoon” early next year. I bet they do, but I bet they go somewhere close-by.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.