Natalie Portman is currently on the promotional tour for Vox Lux, which might get her another Oscar nomination. She plays a diva-like pop star, and in an interview with USA Today, Portman talked about the music industry’s favorite trope: the pop star as virgin/vixen. Female pop stars have mined that trope for decades, and since Portman is of a certain generation, she referenced two pop stars in this USA Today piece. Here’s the context:

Pop culture leaves its footprints: Portman grew up up ingesting all things Madonna. “I felt really lucky to have her as a little kid, because I saw someone who was brazen and disobedient and provocative and trying to mess with people and always changing – I thought it was a great thing to see in a woman growing up,” she says.

But she also remembers the virgin/vixen paradigms lobbed by the music industry as the millennium neared. “I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused. Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl,” she says.

[From USA Today]

I think Natalie had some semblance of a point, if she expounded on it – which she might have done and USA Today simply didn’t quote her any further. But it sounds like Natalie is like “I don’t understand how an attractive young woman would sell a sexy image while still being a virgin.” It’s a tricky conversation to have, and Portman ended up pissing off Jessica Simpson. Jessica posted this message to Instagram:

“@Natalieportman — I was disappointed this morning when I read that I confused you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999. As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in. However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then — and believe now — that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body art not synonymous with having sex. I have always embraced being a role model to all women to let them know they can look however they want, wear whatever they want and have sex or not have sex with whomever they want. They power lies within us as individuals. I have made it my practice to not shame other women for their choices. In this era of Time’s Up and all the great work you have done for women, I encourage you to do the same.”

[From Jessica’s social media]

Jessica… has a point? As many have already said, Natalie wasn’t really attacking Jessica personally, it was part of a larger conversation about the music industry and how young women are marketed. But Jessica took it personally, and I actually like that she stood up for herself and her message of sex-positivity or “you do whatever you want.” Natalie ended up commenting on Jessica’s Instagram too:

What’s the teaaaaaa the girls are… mature adults and not actually fighting pic.twitter.com/e6CPxsT6ZP

— Ira (@ira) December 5, 2018

Super-classy, ladies. In the year 2018, Jessica Simpson and Natalie Portman had a minor beef for a few hours and then they worked it out on social media and everything is good.

pic.twitter.com/zBLuyF3a8p

— Jessica Simpson (@JessicaSimpson) December 5, 2018

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Gwyneth Paltrow covers the WSJ. Magazine, and it’s actually a cute editorial if you’re sick of Christmas-themed photoshoots. It’s very beachy and Gwyneth’s body looks bangin’ in all of the swimsuits – you can see the editorial here. Unfortunately, that’s my only compliment here, because this WSJ. Magazine interview is Classic Goop, in that she is just THE WORST. I’m actually appalled by how a publication like the Wall Street Journal would help whitewash Gwyneth’s pseudoscience. Hilariously, though, they do quote her liberally, especially when she’s being super-snotty. Some highlights:

Gossip in the ‘90s: “Cameron Diaz and I talk about this all the time. We’re like, ‘Thank God in the early ’90s there were [so few] paparazzi. Thank God.’ We cry in gratitude that no one was following us around and seeing what we were doing. I remember when Brad Pitt and I broke up, it was on the cover of the New York Post and there was no one outside my house. That would never happen today.”

Her marriage to Brad Falchuk: “It’s fantastic. I feel like we are probably better equipped to choose our life partner when we are halfway through life. But generally, we have to pick our spouses a lot earlier because of the whole procreation piece. For me it has been more of a process, and so I feel really lucky to have met this person who is an incredible, true partner.”

Their blended family: “We are still doing it in our own way. With teenage kids, you’ve got to tread lightly. It’s pretty intense, the teenage thing. I’ve never been a stepmother before. I don’t know how to do it.”

Goop is on the forefront of pseudoscience: “We’re trailblazers. We’re going to write about sh-t that people haven’t heard of. It’s often women’s sexual health that is the most triggering.”

On the fines she’s had to pay for promoting fake science as actual science: “I’m so happy to suffer those slings and arrows, because if you look at the culture from then to now, people are so curious. It’s so beautiful to see people feeling empowered by natural solutions or ancient modalities alongside science and medicine.

Gwyneth invented yoga: “Forgive me if this comes out wrong, but I went to do a yoga class in L.A. recently and the 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, ‘Have you ever done yoga before?’ And literally I turned to my friend, and I was like, ‘You have this job because I’ve done yoga before.’ ”

Her early years as an actress-brand: “I felt like I had hit all of those benchmarks. I’m very competitive with myself and I thought, Well, what am I supposed to do now? On some level I had gotten the message, ‘If you’re not achieving something that’s quantifiable, you might not be worth that much.’ Somehow, that wire got fused together in my head. So, I was like, How do I keep achieving something?”

The Goop Businesswoman: “In one way you think, ‘Oh, my God. I hit the freaking jackpot. I won the lottery. I get to be this person, and that served as a platform for me to start my business and to have all this incredible access to amazing people and artists and designers, and I’ve had such a fascinating life.’ And then on the other hand, you get old and a little grumpy and you just want to kind of be a hermit. I’m here one f—ing time. I want an incredible life. I used to be in my trailer, smoking a cigarette and waiting for Ethan Hawke to open the door. Now look at me.”

[From WSJ. Magazine & People]

BOW DOWN PEASANTS. Gwyneth invented yoga. You wouldn’t even own a yoga mat if it wasn’t for Gwyneth! I find her appropriation of an ancient Indian tradition to be… hilarious and frightening. As for this: “It’s often women’s sexual health that is the most triggering.” If Gwyneth came at the “women’s sexual health” conversation with research, science and data, I would applaud her. But I sometimes feel like Gwyneth is one of the reasons why conversations about women’s sexual health aren’t taken seriously, because she treats gynecology as a “Western theory” which is just one of many “ideas” that we should embrace, along with her jade eggs and biscuit-steaming and whatever else she thinks she invented.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, cover courtesy of WSJ.Magazine.

I truly believe that one of the purposes of smear campaign against the Duchess of Sussex was to get her to slow down, to get her away from the cameras for a month, and to re-establish the Cambridges at this moment in particular. There was such a mountain of bulls–t thrown Meghan’s way, but in one of Katie Nicholl’s Vanity Fair pieces, Nicholl noted the significance of the Sussexes and Cambridges separating their offices as soon as possible, especially with Kate being so keen to finally announce some new projects, and Meghan telling the palace staff that she also plans to work up until her due date. There seems to be a concern that Kate and Meghan will continue to step on each other’s newscycles. As I said, I believe that was one of the reasons for the smear campaign – a power play aimed at Meghan’s schedule.

So it’s interesting that on the same day that Duchess Kate wore Meghan-esque trousers in Cyprus, Meghan quietly stepped on Kate’s newscycle. Oh, but there’s NO competition, right? NEVER. How dare anyone suggest that there’s a game of tit-for-tat happening? Meghan made a quiet, unannounced appearance at King’s College in London for the Association of Commonwealth Universities on Thursday. The only photo from Meghan’s visit was the one the ACU released on its social media (it was retweeted by the Kensington Palace Twitter account).

Today we brought together university leaders, academics & #students to discuss how we can build a better world through #highered. We were honoured to be joined by HRH The Duchess of Sussex. Thanks to @KingsCollegeLon for hosting! https://t.co/SoowV30PFS pic.twitter.com/ugFQP46Gbg

— The ACU (@The_ACU) December 5, 2018

The ACU’s site says the meeting was about “Building a better world through higher education.” It was a chance for Meghan and an assortment of academics and educators to “discuss the role of universities in addressing human trafficking and modern slavery, gender equality and inclusion, peace and reconciliation, and climate change and resilience.” The ACU says Meghan took part in discussions, so it wasn’t just a “listening” meeting.

This visit is especially interesting when you combine it with the news that Meghan’s first solo patronage will likely be the Campaign for Female Education. Meghan seems keen to make a big announcement in the next few weeks, or maybe she’ll be convinced to wait until January. But it definitely seems like she’s going to make education, higher education and education for girls her big priorities as a duchess.

Also: a lot of people think Meghan is pregnant with twins. I have no idea, I’m not her gyno, but if she was expecting twins, that would also explain a lot about…everything.

Photo courtesy of The ACU’s Twitter, additional photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.

Keira Knightley covers the December issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, to promote Colette, The Aftermath and The Nutcracker. It’s been said many times by me and other people that Keira has really come into her own over the past few years – her 20s were hot garbage, but her 30s are awesome. She’s a mom now, and she’s working constantly, and she just seems to be feeling herself. She seems confidant and ballsy and brutally honest now. I love Nu Keira. Keira chats with Bazaar UK about motherhood, Me Too and more – you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

She’s worried about where her daughter Edie will go to school: There’s the local school, which she likes but her child might not get into, or the variety of private schools she’s not sure about, or home-schooling, which she would definitely never do. “And I’ve literally just gone crazy looking at every single one in London!”

She wants Edie to see her working: “My mum always worked when I was small, and she’s always had a real thing about me continuing to work, and I think a lot of my sense of self came from me being so proud of her for working and having that ethic. I think for my sense of identity, it was suddenly very important that I had that thing that was still me and mine. I’ve only been able to do it because I can afford the childcare, but I think that sense of identity is something that a lot of women really feel rocked by and work was a way for me to keep that.”

Motherhood means she’s not embarrassed anymore: “Once you’ve had that whole experience of leaking breasts everywhere and the messiness of it –there’s no control, it’s animalistic. I feel that in a funny way with acting it sort of helps; there is no embarrassment any more.”

On the Me Too and Time’s Up movements: “I hope Pandora’s box has been opened, because you can’t shut it again. Maybe talking is the only way to do it, although hey, I’d like some of the guys to talk too… You have to engage with the other side of the conversation to say, how are we raising our boys? What is it that made people want to do this in the first place?”

Asking for more money: “You just want to keep everyone sweet and you want to be like, yes, I’m easy to work with. I’m all for gratitude for luck that you’ve had in your life, but at a certain point I have to stop just feeling lucky and making nice and actually ask the questions.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar UK]

This isn’t the first time Keira has talked about how important it was to see her mom working, and how important she believes it is for Edie to see her working, but I’m always blown away by Keira openly talking about it like this. It IS important. Too many working Hollywood moms sound downright apologetic that they would dare to work AND have kids. Keira’s like, no, obviously the money is good but I WANT to work and I think it’s important that my daughter sees me working. And she’s absolutely right, it is important. Also: we totally need to have the larger conversation about how boys are being raised and toxic masculinity and all of that sh-t.

Cover courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar UK, additional photo courtesy of WENN.

I’m sure any of you who read Twitter saw the buzz over the weekend about the TV show Friends leaving Netflix. The show had been scheduled to be pulled from the streaming lineup on the first of the year. People did not take it well. But, all those broken hears can be pasted back together because Friends is staying! And it only took $100M to make it happen.

The One Where Netflix Paid the Big Bucks.

Over the weekend, Friends fans collectively lost it when they noticed an expiration date of Jan. 1, 2019 on the show’s landing page on Netflix.

But on Monday, the streaming giant confirmed that the beloved NBC sitcom would remain available in the U.S. throughout 2019 — and according to the New York Times, the extra year came with a hefty price tag.

The company will reportedly pay around $100 million to continue licensing the program from its owner, WarnerMedia. Netflix, which acquired all 236 episodes on Jan. 1, 2015, had previously paid $30 million a year to stream the show.

According to the Times, the deal to keep Friends on Netflix was indeed due to expire by the end of the year, but both Netflix and AT&T, WarnerMedia’s parent company, had been negotiating for at least a few months to extend it.

AT&T, meanwhile, plans to begin a streaming service of its own by the end of 2019. AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, said during an investor conference on Tuesday that the new agreement between the two is nonexclusive, meaning Friends is likely to appear on AT&T’s coming service by 2020, the Times reported.

AT&T and Netflix are reportedly negotiating rates for after 2019 that would be significantly lower than $100 million, since the show would no longer stream exclusively on Netflix. However, it’s also possible that Friends could leave Netflix after next year, as AT&T will likely have to keep some of its content off other services to attract new streaming customers.

[From People]

I’ve gone on the record that I am a full-fledged Friends fan. I know so many episodes by heart that if the Netflix/AT&T thing falls through, Facetime me and I’ll act them out for you (my delivery of “PIVOT!” is the stuff of legend). So I’m thrilled it will be staying. However, I cannot believe that price tag. I’m also confused by the fact that they announced the show’s end date if they’d been in negotiations for months to extend it. Either Netflix was trying to gauge interest before they signed off on that amount of money or WarnerMedia was trying to drive up the price. Either way, Friends is here to stay. That may not mean much to some, but I leaned heavily on the show during a time when I didn’t have many real-life friends. That and I couldn’t imagine going through a holiday season without our annual viewing of The One With the Holiday Armadillo.

Even if you don’t like the show itself, the bloopers are a riot.

Photo credit: WENN

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Happy thanksgiving bird! Hope all y’all have a great day. We here, sending love and best wishes to everyone. Xojd

A post shared by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@jeffreydeanmorgan) on Nov 22, 2018 at 8:29am PST

Jeffrey Dean Morgan lives in upstate New York, with his partner, Hilarie Burton, and their two children: son Augustus, eight, and baby daughter, George, nine months. Hilarie and Jeffrey do charity work for a children’s welfare organization in their town of Rhinebeck (here’s a cute video of Hilarie with their kids announcing a project) and they live on a farm with animals including chickens, cows and alpacas. They also co-own a sweet shop in Rhinebeck with Paul Rudd called Samuels Sweet Shop! They bought it to save it after the owner passed away unexpectedly in 2014. I don’t know how involved Hilarie is in the day-to-day operations but she does go there frequently and they just held a teddy bear beauty contest.

Their life sounds like something out of a Hallmark movie and here’s another piece of that. Jeffrey adopted two animals in need of a home, a donkey and an emu. The donkey is a male named Jack and the emu is a female named Diane. They a bonded pairs who often cuddled together and did not want to be separated at all. They were abandoned by their previous owner and rescued by a group called Waterfowl Rescue out of North Carolina. Their story went viral, Jeffrey and Hilarie applied to adopt them, and they were approved because they have a great farm. I love this story!

A North Carolina animal rescue group says that thanks to “The Walking Dead” actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a donkey and an emu who’ve bonded with each other can stay together.

The Charlotte Observer reports Carolina Waterfowl Rescue Founder Jennifer Gordon says Morgan is adopting them Tuesday. Morgan plays the villainous Negan on the TV zombie thriller.

Jack and Diane were rescued from Kershaw, South Carolina, when their owner vanished. Gordon says they cuddle and sleep together, but cried and became frantic when they were separated.

Gordon says a post about the complexities of adopting them out together sparked more than 2,000 inquiries, including Morgan’s. She says Morgan was the best choice since he has resources to care for the pair and they can roam free on his Hudson Valley, New York, farm.

[From Huffington Post]

Here’s a video of Jack and Diane in their new home. It looks so nice there! You can see more videos and photos of these two before their adoption on Waterfowl Rescue’s Instagram. I bet that Jeffrey and Hilarie will continue to Instagram video and photos of them too. I’m following both of them now.

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Jack and Diane in their new home.

A post shared by Carolina Waterfowl Rescue (@waterfowlrescue) on Dec 4, 2018 at 2:19pm PST

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#jackanddiane were safely delivered to their new home, and of course we took a moment to get some pics with the man himself! Thank you so much to @jeffreydeanmorgan for giving Jack and Diane their beautiful new home, and for being such a cool laid back person! ?? (Ps — peep his Carolina Waterfowl hat!! ?)

A post shared by Carolina Waterfowl Rescue (@waterfowlrescue) on Dec 4, 2018 at 2:59pm PST

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Four years ago this weekend, my friends @andyostroy @phoebejonasjewelry @julesyrudd #paulrudd @wilburtraver joined @jeffreydeanmorgan and I in our new adventure of preserving the magic of @samuelssweetshop in our little town of Rhinebeck NY. We signed our paperwork the night before Sinterklaas Festival and John and I celebrated right after with a much earned bottle of champagne. Today, we hosted the Teddy Bear Beauty Pageant at the shop – the passion project of our late founder Ira Gutner. I miss our friend, but I’m so glad he brought us all together. @sinterklaashudsonvalley will always hold a special place in my heart as our anniversary. Sending love to my friends and gratitude to our neighbors for allowing us to carry on in Ira’s memory. #holidaymagic

A post shared by Hilarie Burton (@hilarieburton) on Dec 1, 2018 at 2:14pm PST

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Benefit concert One Love Malibu took place in Calabasas last Sunday, raising almost $1M for victims of the devastating Woosley fire. Among those performing at the event were Gwen Stefani, Joe Walsh, Robin Thicke and Katy Perry. Katy also auctioned a date with her boyfriend, Orlando Bloom. She really sold it, emphasizing that the highest bidder would get to ride on the back of Orlando’s motorcycle, clinging on to his abs as they wound their way up the Malibu coast. Katy even sweetened the deal by throwing in lunch when she realized it wasn’t included. And then she took it all back by outbidding everyone to keep the date for herself.

No need for Katy Perry to be a jealous girlfriend; She just outbid a fan for a date with Orlando Bloom. The 34-year-old singer bid $50,000 to go out with the English actor at the One Love Malibu benefit show on Sunday night (Dec. 2). The two have dated in the past — and although they haven’t explicitly addressed the current state of their relationship, they have been seen in public together recently.

Perry performed “Roar,” “By the Grace of God” and “Firework” at the show in King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, Calif. to raise money to support those affected by the devastating Woolsey wildfire. She later stepped up to the stage to auction off a date with Bloom that included a motorcycle ride and lunch she threw in on the spot.

“You’re holding him in a way that I am not excited about,” she quipped about the prize. “You’re holding his pecs and his six-pack — and it’s so glorious! You get to hold on to Orlando for about 45 minutes… and then, you get to stare into his brown eyes!”

One excited fan bid $20,000 on the experience, but Perry decided to out-do the highest bidder. “Laura, I’m sorry. I’m buying it for $50,000,” she said, dropping her mic onto the stage and walking off.

[From Billboard]

Not surprisingly, Katy is getting a large amount of backlash for pulling such a seemingly petty move. People want to know why she’d hype the date so much only to take it away. They’re also asking why couldn’t she let Laura have the date and donate the $50K independently.

Katy Perry is still the WORST even at a charity event pic.twitter.com/iPTtu4894R

— Chicks in the Office (@ChicksInTheOff) December 5, 2018

that katy perry mess is so embarrassing, wtf is wrong with that woman

— kat (@Coolguyreiner) December 5, 2018

@katyperry: Why not just donate the 50k just because and let Laura win the date for 20k, thereby raising 70k. But petty will do what petty will do I guess.

— Lindsey Smith, Esq. (@Lindsey_Esq) December 4, 2018

What Katy Perry did wasn’t cool & her insecurity regarding her relationship with Orlando Bloom is showing #katyperry #sorryLaura

— ??Cry Baby Fan?? (@candyfrostheart) December 3, 2018

I have a completely different take on all of this. I don’t think this was a joke or pettiness – I think Katy took a bullet to save Orlando’s ego. If you watch the whole thing, below, they were struggling for bids. There’s even moment of just silence. Katy had hyped this up, emphasizing the sexiness of the situation and then all they got was one taker on their opening bid. And even that took some doing. No matter why the item wasn’t attracting bids, it’s highly embarrassing for Orlando. I think the whole thing, Katy outbidding, dropping the mic – it was all to make it look like she’d stolen the date and not like Orlando was a low-ticket item. If I am at all correct, I’ve got to give this to Katy. She’s getting creamed online and I’m sure she knew she would. I’m fairly convinced we will hear a story somewhere down the line of Orlando reaching out to Laura and maybe taking her to lunch.

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Photo credit: Getty Images, Twitter and WENN Photos

Chrissy Teigen recently opened up about the fact that her baby is wearing a helmet. She didn’t hold back explaining what was going on. Everyone appreciated the fact that she didn’t act embarrassed at all.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen have a six-month-old son Miles. He just had to be fitted for a helmet and Chrissy shared with fans about it. Some people would choose not to share this news, but she is a proud mom. She went to Twitter and shared the following.

“baby miles getting fitted for a little helmet today for his adorable slightly misshapen head. so if you see pictures, don’t feel bad for him because he’s just fixing his flat and honestly he’s probably gonna be even cuter with it somehow.”

After that, she went on to tease that she has been told it is too late for her head. Chrissy isn’t upset about her son wearing a helmet at all. She went to her Instagram page and shared the picture below. Miles does look adorable in his little helmet. It also doesn’t seem to be bothering him at all, which is great news. Hopefully, it didn’t take long for him to get used to it.

my baby bug got his head shaping helmet today! please don’t feel bad for him if you see photos. he is a happy bug and we’re just fixing his flat!

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Dec 3, 2018 at 5:08pm PST

The fans are raving about her in the comments. It seems that everyone thinks Chrissy is a great mom and is doing the right thing. It isn’t unusual at all to see a helmet like this on a baby anymore. A lot of parents actually responded with pictures of their own children with a helmet on. They are used while their heads are still growing to help fix the flat spot on the back of a baby’s head.

This has to do with the fact that babies sleep on their backs so much. This is recommended by doctors, but it does cause a flat head sometimes. The helmet helps fix that. These were not used near as often years ago.

Hopefully, Chrissy Teigen will keep sharing pictures and letting everyone know what is going on with her son. They will go to the doctor often and measure his head to see if it is working. Now that she is being so open it could lead to more people being open about this subject.

What do you think of Chrissy Teigen opening up about this issue? Has your child ever needed to wear one of these helmets? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Chrissy Teigen Talks About Baby Needing Helmet, Inspires Others to Share appeared first on Celebrity Baby Scoop.

I’m about to say something really inflammatory and we are going to fight. This is the expression I make when I see one of those fake white Christmas trees. I don’t believe in them! Also black wreaths! More and more people are putting up black wreaths. Ask Mimi – does she consider a black wreath fest…

I’m about to say something really inflammatory and we are going to fight. This is the expression I make when I see one of those fake white Christmas trees. I don’t believe in them! Also black wreaths! More and more people are putting up black wreaths. Ask Mimi – does she consider a black wreath fest…