Billboard named Taylor Swift’s Reputation the Album of the Year…even though it was released in fall 2017. Billboard also named Ariana Grande their Woman of the Year, even though most of the Ariana headlines this year were about her personal relationships. Personally, I remember covering Billboard’s WOTY event with Selena Gomez last year and thinking “this should have gone to Ariana.” Ariana’s 2017 was just more notable from professional/career standpoint, but I’m open to the theory that Ari didn’t want to give an interview to Billboard last year, so they gave her the title this year. Anyway, Ari talks at length about her music, the music industry, Mac Miller’s passing, and only a little bit about Pete Davidson – you can read the full Billboard piece here. Some highlights:

On the success of ‘Thank U, Next’: “I got myself to a place where I would be able to do things like drop a surprise record and have it be the biggest single I’ve ever had.”

She cries a lot these days: “I just hope you’re OK with me crying, because that’s not going to not happen. I can’t even say ‘Good morning’ to anyone without crying. I guess there’s not much I’m afraid of anymore. When life tries you with such serious sh-t so many times, your priorities change. I don’t give a sh-t. I just want to be happy and healthy — one day — and make music.”

Whether she has perfect pitch: “People tell me I do, but I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘Yes, I do.’”

She is in charge of her sessions: “I’ve politely walked out of sessions before. It has happened. I’m a small girl. People tend to underestimate that. And then I sit down and comp my own vocals and can produce my own session, and they’re like” — here she adopts an excellent impersonation of a dopey man — “‘Oh, I didn’t know you could do that.’ I’m like, ‘Believe it or not, there are plenty of tiny women that can do this.’”

Feminism & how the media treats women differently. “I would just love to see a chart with as many women on top as men. It’s just so male-dominated. It’s so easy for them. There are so many unbelievable female artists out there that try so much harder. They’re unable to accept the fact that women are a million things, and not just two. You can be adorable and brilliant. You can be friendly and silly, and yet strong and indestructible. You can be professional and present and also sexual and fun. My dream has always been to be — obviously not a rapper, but, like, to put out music in the way that a rapper does. I feel like there are certain standards that pop women are held to that men aren’t. We have to do the teaser before the single, then do the single, and wait to do the preorder, and radio has to impact before the video, and we have to do the discount on this day, and all this s–t. It’s just like, ‘Bruh, I just want to f–king talk to my fans and sing and write music and drop it the way these boys do. Why do they get to make records like that and I don’t?’ So I do and I did and I am, and I will continue to.”

On Pete & Mac: Talking explicitly about the men in Grande’s life is a non-starter. She still loves all her songs, even “Pete Davidson.” (She also sent the Davidson in question “Thank U, Next” before releasing it: “I wasn’t going to blindside anybody,” she says.) The wound left by Miller’s death is, unsurprisingly, still raw. She expects Thanksgiving will be particularly hard, since she had spent the past few holidays in Pittsburgh with the Miller family. At this point, these are the kinds of details that Grande already knows will be A1 on every gossip site. Her rise to fame has been punctuated by a series of public romances, which she writes off as a side effect of her workaholism. “This is how I meet people — I can’t just, like, meet someone at a bar,” she says. “I live fast and full-out, and I make mistakes, and I learn from them and I’m grateful no matter what happens.”

[From Billboard]

I think…she sounds fine? Sometimes, after a celebrity has had a particular bad year, they can come across as sort of manic, like they’re just trying to hold on to anything. Ariana seems to know that the Pete breakup was for the best long-term, and that she just needs to grieve for Mac, and she also knows that she feels better when she works. The most interesting part, to me, was where she talked about wanting to do what rappers do, which is record music and release it within a matter of days/weeks. She’s right that the music industry doesn’t seem to allow women to operate like that.

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Cover and Instagram courtesy of Billboard.

If Aquaman is going to make any money, it will be because Jason Momoa is really good at doing promotion. He’s carrying the promotion on his back, starting with his hosting duties on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Momoa has been in New York most of the week, stopping by various media outlets, giving interviews and doing stunts – these are some photos of Momoa from his week in New York. He’s also done the most to promote his episode of SNL:

We’ll just leave this here. pic.twitter.com/5lB6GaaMwF

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) December 5, 2018

*fans self* That’s a quality thirst trap. He also seems to be putting on the charm, big-time, in the official promos:

And to keep up this theme of “Jason Momoa is hot, goofy and willing to do anything,” here’s a clip of Momoa playing with tridents on the Tonight Show last night:

And finally, to complete this Jason Momoa extravaganza, it’s time to talk about this story that his costar Amber Heard told about him on Good Morning America this week. Apparently, Amber spent much of Aquaman’s filming hanging on wires about 30 feet in the air. This happened for hours and hours every day, so Amber organized it so she could have a special bag made out of green-screen material, where she could hide her books and then read her books in between set-ups and takes. She was very happy with her book bag, especially because it meant that Momoa couldn’t get to the books she was reading: “He adopted this method of ripping out the pages of my book so I would pay attention to him. It would drive me crazy because I’d have 30 pages left and it would be gone.” That is one of the most monstrous things anyone has ever done. WHY WOULD YOU RIP OUT PAGES IN SOMEONE ELSE’S BOOK???

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.

Two days ago it was announced that Kevin Hart would host the Oscars and I wrote, “…everyone likes Kevin Hart. He’s the Platonic ideal of an Oscar host: popular, funny but not offensive…” And then a lot of you emailed to let me know that you don’t like Kevin Hart. He has a history of doing and sayin…

Two days ago it was announced that Kevin Hart would host the Oscars and I wrote, “…everyone likes Kevin Hart. He’s the Platonic ideal of an Oscar host: popular, funny but not offensive…” And then a lot of you emailed to let me know that you don’t like Kevin Hart. He has a history of doing and sayin…

The Grammy nominations came out this morning and I was unprepared, as I always am for the Grammys. Not to be Trumpian, but to me, the Grammys have always been a fake awards show. I mean, people take them seriously and everybody comes out for them, but the Grammys truly do not matter -there are always so many controversies about racism and sexism, and the Grammys are ALWAYS out of touch. They always have been, always will be. I’m sure this year will be no different. What’s notable this year is how many big-name artists got shut out of the bigger categories, like Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year. Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande both got nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album… but they were shut out of the big categories. Jay-Z and Beyonce were shut out of the big ones too. You can see the full list here.

Album of the Year
Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B
By the Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
Scorpion, Drake
H.E.R., H.E.R.
Beerbongs & Bentleys, Post Malone
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By, (Various Artists)

Record of the Year
“I Like It,” Cardi B
“The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
“This Is America,” Childish Gambino
“God’s Plan,” Drake
“Shallow,” Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“All the Stars,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Rockstar,” Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
“The Middle,” Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey

Song of the Year
Kendrick Lamar & SZA – All the Stars
Ella Mai – Boo’d Up
Drake – God’s Plan
Shawn Mendes – In My Blood
Brandy Carlile – The Joke
Zedd & Maren Morris – The Middle
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – Shallow
Childish Gambino – This Is America

Best New Artist
Chloe x Hale
Luke Combs
Greta van Fleet
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa
Margo Price
Bebe Rexha
Jorja Smith

So… The Recording Academy is all about Post Malone, Drake and Cardi? While I think Drake and Cardi had good albums, I wish… I don’t know, I felt like Florence and the Machine had a great album too. And I like it when Taylor Swift gets nominated for sh-t, because then she shows up. Now I wonder if Taylor will even bother to come out. That being said, most music critics did agree that Reputation was probably her worst album, or less successful album musically/lyrically. As for the rest of the nominations… Lady Gaga will TOTALLY perform with Bradley at the Grammys. I assume Kendrick & SZA will perform too, and the performance will probably be FIRE. Oh, and I’m super-excited about Janelle!!!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The Community Run for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre in Vancouver is happening this Sunday, December 9 starting at 9am at Olympic Village Square. Last year, $5,000 was raised to provide warm meals for women and children. Everyone is welcome – bring your kids, your strollers, your neighbours, y…

Avengers: Infinity War grossed over $2 billion worldwide. It was an enormous hit and Marvel fans were traumatized by all of the deaths of beloved characters. But… of course it won’t stay that way. The deaths, I mean. Everyone knew that the “survivors” of Infinity War would fight back and that of course certain characters would have to survive, because those actors have contracts for multiple films and/or their franchises are just getting started (coughChadwickBosemancough). So, behold, the first trailer for… what is this being called? Infinity War II? Avengers 4? The trailer calls it Avengers: Endgame, but is that the final title? Here’s the trailer:

Tagline: “Part of the journey is the end.” This is definitely, 100% Robert Downey Jr’s last Marvel outing, right? His contract is finally up and Marvel is sick of paying him the most. The rumor was that this is Chris Evans’ last Captain America outing too, but in the past few months, he’s sounded more open to possibly returning to the role. I don’t know how that will shake out for this film though.

Also: Marvel had previously saved May 3rd as the release date, but this trailer says it will be released in April 2019. So… fans will get to see it earlier, good.

Photos courtesy of Marvel.

Dear Gossips,

Best read on the internet this week? For me nothing come close to the piece Allen Iverson wrote about Allen Iverson in The Players’ Tribune published yesterday. I read it the first time, sent it to almost everyone I know, read it a second time, then woke up this morning and read it…

This is an affiliate post with stuff I either own or find interesting enough to feature here, I let you know under each item. This is how we make money along with ads, and it took us a while to come around to this. Please consider turning off your ad blocker if you’d like to support us. Thank you! You can see our other affiliate posts here.

An awesome blender that will help you get healthy for the new year

I have had a Vitamix for about six years. It works almost as well as when I got it. It can definitely help you get more vegetables and fiber into your diet. About three to four times a week, I have a smoothie made with a large bunch of rinsed kale, 1/2 a frozen banana and some frozen mixed fruit with stevia. I like it smooth so I add a lot of water and save half for the next day. (Here’s a video on how to make a green smoothie with it. I can’t ever get anyone else to drink this in my house, but I think it tastes fine.) The Vitamix is so powerful that you can make and actually heat up soup in it. It can also make iced treats. This is not an average blender and you will not regret this purchase. I got mine refurbished from Vitamix’s site so look into that if you’re interested. This is new and is a real bargain at $299. It’s over 30% off, and would make an excellent gift.

A device that lets you video chat, listen to music and watch shows

My son’s dad bought us an Echo Show to keep in touch and he also bought them for both sets of grandparents. It’s so easy to video chat and the image quality is very clear. It can also play music, news and podcasts. You just say “Alexa play 70s music” or name an artist. Plus you can watch shows on Amazon Prime or Hulu (not YouTube though, Amazon and YouTube broke up). I was surprised how easy the setup was. I wasn’t sure I was going to keep it plugged in all the time as it freaks me out, but so far it’s been very convenient to get spied on in my living room.

A vacuum to clean up after your pets

I have owned this Bissell PowerGlide Pet vacuum for about five years and it still works great. It’s not a Dyson, but it also doesn’t come with that type of price tag. It works on carpets and hardwood and will pick up a surprising amount of dirt and hair. (Honestly I do not have a dog or cat though.) This doesn’t take filters or bags, is easy to empty and comes with a permanent filter that is also easy to clean. Most reviewers love it and say that it’s strong and picks up a lot of dirt and hair. I never have a problem pushing it, but some reviews say it can be a little heavy so it wouldn’t make a good gift for an elderly person.

A bamboo riser for your monitor that also holds your stuff

This is a present I’m buying myself! I have problems with neck pain so I read about ergonomics months ago and one of the recommendations was to raise your monitor. I put a shoebox under mine and it’s worn and sagging now so this looks perfect. Reviewers say it looks classy, helps you organize your desk, and stands up to wear. Plus you can fit stuff under it to free up space. I’m sold. Ooh there’s one designed so you can stand up too. Nope I want to sit for now. (I also sit on an exercise ball and put my feet on another shoebox.)

A roller that soothes your muscles and works out knots

Bedhead, who used to work with us, recommended this to me and I’ve used it for years. She’s a runner (I used to be) and now I’m into Zumba and don’t stretch enough after workouts. I have had to go to physical therapy for my neck and back and the work the therapist does isn’t much different from using this device. If you’d like to know how to use it, or have a foam roller already and need a program, Jessica Smith has a great video for it. Like the tens unit I love and recommend, the only issue is that you have to remember you have it and make sure you use it.

Succulents make great gifts that people actually want

My family and friends are not big on gifting but small plants are always welcome. I am buying these succulents for my desk and to give away. These seem to have some of the highest ratings among the succulents available through Prime, with reviewers saying that they arrive healthy. You can replant them with little pots from the Dollar Tree or buy pots on Amazon. That way, it’s a personal gift from you that you don’t have to be too crafty to make. These owl pots are adorable.

Catch bugs and spiders without touching them

Yes this looks stupid but once you have one you’ll wonder why you ever smooshed bugs like a plebe. The Bugzooka bug catcher vacuum is a manual vacuum tube that sucks bugs in a chamber. You pump it, suck the insect in, and then you can let it die a slow death or humanely release it outside. I live in the south and found this when researching how to trap stink bugs. It’s a little harder to catch fast bugs like flies, but it’s definitely possible. I once caught a spider and a fly within a couple hours of each other and then evilly watched the spider trap the fly inside this. I still tell that story. This would make a great gift and once my friends see how well it works they want one too.

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Stock photos credit pixabay and tookapic via Pexels

Angelina Jolie speaks! And she’s not speaking about divorce or legal shenanigans. Angelina spoke to Marie Claire on behalf of the initiative she created with former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. The PSVI initiative is UK-based, and it’s a multifaceted focus, everything from retraining peacekeepers and militaries about sexual violence, and advocating on behalf of funding more programs for survivors and a lot more. You can read the Marie Claire piece here. Some highlights:

On why the stigma against survivors of sexual violence still exists: “Sexual violence in conflict is still a taboo subject. Female and male survivors, and children born of this rape, are often treated as if they are the ones who have done something wrong. They are rejected and stigmatized, while their attackers go unpunished. That’s what has to change, and breaking the taboo is part of that.”

On why she uses her influence to shed light on this issue: “Our partners in this effort are victims speaking out, local NGOs and governments from around the world as well as militaries. We have to solve this comprehensively. We need to go to the heart of where there are abuses and make changes, and press for new practices and accountability. To take one example, 37 countries still exempt perpetrators of rape from prosecution if they are either married to their victims, or agree to marry them afterwards. Over 60 countries don’t include male survivors within the scope of their sexual violence legislation. So we have to change laws as well as attitudes.”

On how she speaks to her children about sexual violence: “I don’t just speak to my daughters. I speak to them with their brothers. That is maybe the first most important distinction. This is not just a problem for women, and the solution is working with women and men. And girls and boys. Not only are men and boys also victims of these crimes, but those who are perpetrating these crimes need to have other men remind them what it really is to be a man. A man with a healthy relationship to women. And all societies need to be clear about not tolerating this behavior.”

[From Marie Claire]

I’m often shocked by how a celebrity saying obvious, common-sense things – “the solution is working with women and men” or “we have to change laws as well as attitudes” – will often become huge news, or be seen as some major stance. I admire Angelina so much for what she’s doing, because while it is common sense, people still need to hear it and be reminded of it, because (as she said) there are still laws on the books in dozens of countries which refuse to punish rapists. There are still societies around the world which punish victims. There are still people in every single country who think that rape and sexual violence is a minor “women’s issue” and not a human rights issue.

Photos courtesy of ANDREW PARSONS / I-IMAGES FOR PSVI, sent from promotional Marie Claire email.