Mike and Zara Tindall arrived in Australia last week. Most years – except for the pandemic years – the Tindalls get paid to go to Australia around this time. Zara is an ambassador for some Australian horse thing (I’ve never really understood exactly what), and so the Tindalls are in Oz for a week or so every year, doing events and walking red carpets. I have no idea how much they get paid, but I suspect it’s probably in the low six figures. Last year, the Mail tried to convince everyone that Mike and Zara have more “earning power” than the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, because something something royal-adjacent, I guess. This year, the Mail is saying that the Tindalls are living the life which could have been Harry and Meghan’s. You mean half-in/half-out and striking commercial deals? Gee, I wonder if anyone suggested that? From the Mail’s “Fun-loving, popular and living the life Harry and Meghan turned their backs on: Inside story of royal couple who are model of what Sussexes could have been – and the revealing details that show just what they have lost.”

This week marks five years since Megxit, the infamous moment the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were ditching the Royal Family for a life of freedom. They planned to pursue exciting new work opportunities, find fans further afield and enjoy a happiness that had eluded them as senior members of The Firm. So it must be somewhat galling for Harry and Meghan, as they continue to struggle to make their mark in America, to see another royal couple living the life that still eludes them.

Mike and Zara Tindall, daughter of Princess Anne and granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, are a template of what the couple could have been – fun-loving, easy-going and immensely popular. And as they throw themselves into their annual summer season Down Under, the Tindalls make combining purposeful endeavours with a jolly good time look effortless. Adored in both hemispheres for their warmth and down-to-earth attitude, they’re not quite what we expect from royalty – but exactly what the institution needs.

In Australia for the annual equestrian event, the Magic Millions Carnival, where both are ambassadors – Zara competes and Mike helps with judging karaoke and compering – they’re a couple who’ve cleverly designed a life that straddles palaces and beaches, monarchy and mates. The Tindalls are proof that you can be both royal and ‘normal’. Snapping carefree selfies with admirers at the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo event, Zara, 43, and her husband, 46, are a cheery antidote to the Sussexes.

While Meghan, 43, is returning to her role as a lifestyle influencer with carefully curated Instagram posts promoting With Love, Meghan – her new Netflix show that’s straight from the trad wife playbook – Harry, 40, seems to fill his days with court cases and surfing. How much easier their life would have been if they’d opted for a low-key but royal-adjacent life like the Tindalls.

The Tindalls arguably enjoy the best life of anyone in the Royal Family and it’s precisely the model Harry and Meghan could have carved out if they’d negotiated Megxit with greater care and diplomacy.

[From The Daily Mail]

If you read the whole piece, the Mail suggests that Zara and Mike should start getting formal roles within the monarchy, and perhaps step into Commonwealth positions like Harry and Meghan had five years ago. I guess after five years, no one over there has given up on trying to rewrite the narrative and reimagine the real history. Harry and Meghan actually suggested something a lot like Mike and Zara’s situation, where they would have been still welcome to appear at family events and still able to do royal work. That option was soundly rejected. Not only that, we were told repeatedly for years that Harry and Meghan had to play by different rules because of their titles, something Zara and Mike have never had to worry about.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

The Kensington Palace social media accounts posted this new portrait of the Princess of Wales for her 43rd birthday today. We didn’t get a new birthday portrait last year, correct? Let me check… no, we didn’t. She gave us a whole photoshoot with costume changes when she turned 40 (in 2022), but I honestly wasn’t expecting a new portrait today, for this birthday. Prince William issued a personal statement alongside the photo, writing: “To the most incredible wife and mother. The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W.” That doesn’t sound like William’s “voice” to me, but whatever. It is what it is.

So, let’s analyze the photo. It doesn’t look like a hacked-together frankenphoto like last year’s scandalous Mother’s Day portrait. It does look edited, but I’m open to the possibility that it’s just the way Kate is standing, with her hips sort of jutting out. It’s thrown off the perspective. Her hands are halfway in her jean pockets, so that you can see that she’s wearing her sapphire engagement ring. She didn’t wear Big Blue to several public appearances last year, so it feels notable. And then there are her clothing choices. The Telegraph’s style people had some thoughts:

This morning the Prince of Wales marked his wife’s 43rd birthday by sharing a new portrait of her on social media. With her hands in her pockets and looking away from the camera, the picture shows Kate looking relaxed and happy in faded dark jeans, a white blouse with pleated bib detail, black tuxedo jacket and checked scarf, with only her sapphire engagement ring to accessorise the look.

The styling is particularly chic, with her sleeves rolled up and top button undone, with the scarf just resting on top, giving it a lived-in look. Naturally, Kate’s trademark long, bouncy blowdry is also present, with minimal make-up too, showing she is a woman unafraid of facing her age.

The look recalls the styling of Kate’s 2016 British Vogue cover, in which she wore a similar shirt with a brown suede jacket and hat. It is very much in keeping with her laid-back approach to dressing when she is “off-duty”, favouring jeans, sweaters and outerwear to dresses or heels, and being a keen champion of the high street, including brands such as Boden, Hobbs and Reiss.

The photograph was taken by Matt Porteous, a favourite of the family who has taken countless images of the Princess and her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis over the years. A wildlife and ocean photographer by trade, his background clearly suggests that this is less about royal portraiture, and more about positioning Kate as a relaxed, outdoorsy woman. That said, the image, which is striking in black and white, does recall other famous royal portraiture, most notably Mario Testino’s iconic images of the late Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1990s.

[From The Telegraph]

The comparison to Mario Testino’s incredible work is hilarious. Testino is a deeply flawed, problematic man, but as a photographer, he created some of the most iconic images of Princess Diana. Diana’s sons loved Testino’s photos so much, I believe both brothers still keep some of those Testino portraits featured prominently in their homes. As for Kate’s fashion choices… I agree that she’s going for the more outdoorsy, middle-class vibe that she had in her (kind of terrible) British Vogue editorial all of those years ago. What’s odd about that is Matt Porteous obviously photographed her in some kind of studio. With denim and a scarf, surely the photoshoot should have been outside? She did two notable outdoor “shoots” last year – the photo released just before Trooping the Colour (which was also bizarrely edited) and the “cancer-free” commercial which was widely criticized. Anyway, the choices being made are fascinating.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Matt Porteous for Kensington Palace and KP.

Just after the Golden Globes, Hugh Jackman decided to hard-launch his relationship with Sutton Foster. Hugh and Sutton have likely been dealing with each other for months, if not years. First they were friends and work colleagues, and then there were rumors of their extreme closeness right around the time when Hugh and Deborra-Lee Furness’s marriage fell apart in 2023. Sutton didn’t file for divorce from her husband until last fall though, so it’s possible she was trying to make it work with her husband for a while, even after Hugh left Deb. All I know is that the hard-launch of Sutton and Hugh came after more than a year of speculation. Apparently, Deborra had her suspicions all along, and she feels relief that Hugh is no longer gaslighting her about his thing with Sutton.

It wasn’t sadness, but relief that Deborra-Lee Furness felt when she saw pictures of her ex Hugh Jackman going public with his former co-star Sutton Foster. The Australian actress, 68, was married to the Hollywood star for 27 years before they announced their shock split in September 2023. Soon followed rumors that Jackman, 56, had embarked on a relationship with his The Music Man co-star, 49, who was married to her ex-husband Ted Griffin when the pair first started workshopping the Broadway production back in 2020. They confirmed they are now an item on Monday night after being snapped hand-in-hand on a dinner date in Santa Monica, California.

After months of being ‘plagued with suspicions,’ Furness can now move on, according to insiders, who claim the images confirmed that her fears were warranted.

‘Deborra-Lee feels a sense of relief to be honest with you,’ a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘She has been plagued with suspicions. She was told it wasn’t true, and that they were nothing more than close friends who worked together. But something in her heart told her that this was not true. She trusted her intuition and her intuition was right. She finally feels at ease after getting confirmation that her fears and suspicions were warranted. She can now fully close this chapter and move on.’

The insider added: ‘She has nothing more to say about her ex-husband and his close friend Sutton.’

The Wolverine star, who played Harold Hill alongside Foster as Marian Paroo in The Music Man, decided to go public with their romance this week as they are no longer ‘interested in hiding their love.’

‘Enough time has passed for Hugh to stop playing games and hide his feelings and his relationship,’ a second insider said. ‘They both wanted to be considerate of their exes and anyone else that might be upset, but they aren’t interested in hiding. Hugh’s close friends have seen a rejuvenated glow to him and that is all thanks to Sutton.’

They said Jackman and Foster bonded over their individual marital struggles but didn’t strike up a romance until he was ‘out of the heartbreak of his relationship ending.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I said this before, but Hugh and Sutton’s work relationship-turned-romantic relationship definitely has the feel of something which began as an intense emotional affair and then got really chaotic. Chaotic enough to blow up both of their marriages. Emotional affairs are affairs, and yeah, I imagine that Deborra had strong suspicions for a while. Hugh probably told her that she was overreacting, that nothing was happening. I still wonder if Hugh’s nice-guy image and popularity will be affected.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I just wanted to circle back to this year’s SAG nominations, which were released yesterday. People are still sort of shocked by them, and I’m “people.” Usually, the SAG nominations helped cull down the Oscar races, but it feels like this year’s noms were a grenade in the middle of multiple Oscar campaigns and prognostications. There were some notable surprise nominations – Jamie Lee Curtis for her supporting role in The Last Showgirl, Jonathan Bailey in supporting for Wicked – but the “snubs” are even bigger surprises.

First off, the chaos in Best Actress. SAG nominated Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl), Mikey Madison (Anora), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez) and Demi Moore (The Substance). Who thinks that will be the Best Actress shortlist for the Oscars? There’s been so much buzz about Nicole Kidman in Babygirl, it’s stunning that the SAGs blanked her. Angelina Jolie’s performance in Maria garnered a Golden Globe nom and Critics Choice nom, but now the SAGs and BAFTAs have both ignored her. It sucks, but now I believe that Jolie probably has no shot at an Oscar nomination. It’s especially painful because they gave Kristen Stewart a nomination for Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, and I think Larrain’s Maria is a much stronger film, and Jolie gave a much stronger performance than K-Stew.

I have to say though, as chaotic as this Best Actress race is shaping up to be, it gives me hope that Mikey Madison might end up the surprise winner. I love Anora and I’ve thought for a while now that Mikey could have a real shot if she waged a smart campaign. The emergence of Demi Moore as a serious contender is bonkers to me though, but I hated The Substance. If there’s going to be a surprise shakeup in Best Actress, I would assume it will be Nicole Kidman getting in, not Jolie.

It’s also wild to me that Denzel Washington was snubbed for his supporting role in Gladiator II. He was the best part of that ridiculous film, and it was something we never saw from him. He looked like he was having a blast. Plus, HE IS DENZEL. How can you NOT nominate Denzel?

Some mentioned Sebastian Stan in A Different Man – Stan won the Golden Globe, which was seen as a boost for his Best Actor chances. But I think the SAG noms for Best Actor are probably what the Oscar noms will look like – Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) and Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown). I just don’t know who will win in that category if those are the Oscar nominees though. Ralph? Timothee? Hm.

In the supporting categories, they’re also saying that Selena Gomez got snubbed for her work in Emilia Perez. I’m not so sure, but something that does interest me is whether the “backlash” to Emilia Perez grows during the Oscar-voting period. A lot of people have a lot of feelings about the film, the quality of the film and whether the film is exploitative to Latin Americans. Still, many consider Zoe Saldana the frontrunner for Supporting Actress, so who knows. They’re also saying Margaret Qualley got snubbed in supporting for The Substance, which… again, I did not like that movie, but if you’re giving a nom to Demi, sure, Qualley was half of that performance.

Some other snubs, according to experts… nothing for The Room Next Door, but I wasn’t expecting anything for that film? Nothing for Jesse Eisenberg, who wrote, directed and starred in A Real Pain – but I think Kieran Culkin is probably going to win an Oscar for it, so there’s that. Nothing for Elle Fanning in A Complete Unknown, which… I’m fine with. I enjoyed A Complete Unknown and Elle was good in it, but her performance wasn’t groundbreaking or anything. The few people who have seen The Brutalist also think Felicity Jones is being robbed of a major Oscar campaign, as is Guy Pearce.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, posters from ‘Gladitor II’.

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Rolling Stone has a new, in-depth profile on Jeopardy, with the modest title, “What Is… The Greatest Game Show of All Time?” I mean, I agree, I think Jeopardy IS the most intelligent and clever game show out there. The GOAT of game shows, if you will. Still, the hubris makes me chuckle. The article is part history of the show, and part anointing Ken Jennings as Alex Trebek’s chosen successor. Why a piece like this is coming out now, instead of a full year ago when Mayim Bialik exited and left Jennings as the sole host, I cannot say. But there were facts and anecdotes throughout the article that made the whole thing a nerdy fun read. A few highlights:

TV history: Jeopardy! began life as a private joke between the legendary TV producer Merv Griffin and his wife Julann, who suggested the “answers in the form of a question” gimmick as a riff on the quiz-show scandals of the Fifties, when contestants were given the answers in advance. The original version, hosted by Art Fleming, ran on and off from 1964 through 1979. But it’s the modern incarnation, which debuted in the fall of 1984 with Trebek as host, that became an institution: a reassuring constant in an otherwise turbulent world. Trebek was one big reason for that. He filled the role for so long and in such an unflappable manner that he lent the nerdy proceedings an almost Rat Pack level of cool.

Random trivia: During commercial breaks, upholding a tradition started by Trebek, Jennings takes questions from the studio audience, which range from Jeopardy!-related (no, he’s never seen a contestant get cold feet and back out) to personal (his favorite sandwich is a BLT) to unanswerable (“Are there more wheels or doors in the world?”).

Biography: By some standards, Jennings was the perfect candidate for the job. He had spent his school-age years in South Korea and Singapore … and watched Jeopardy! daily as a lifeline to American culture. … Twenty years ago, pausing his day job as a computer programmer to appear on the show, he won 74 consecutive games — a record that still stands — and more than $2.5 million. He would later win another $2 million in various tournaments pitting past champions against one another, including 2020’s Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. He also had Trebek’s implicit endorsement. (Trebek’s widow, Jean, even gave Jennings a pair of her husband’s cuff links to wear on his first episode.) But he was not an experienced broadcaster, which made some fans skeptical. Others rolled their eyes at another white guy in a profession full of them.

Who is Gainsborough’s rival? “I saw the look that the contestants would have when he’d walk out on the stage,” [showrunner Michael] Davies says, “or his facility with the material. I remember at one point, somebody buzzed in and gave the wrong response, and they said, ‘Who is Gainsborough?’ And he said, ‘Oh, no, I’m sorry, it’s Gainsborough’s great rival,’ and named some other obscure artist. It was just a moment, [but] who on earth other than Ken Jennings could have that moment?”

A haven for facts: “Jeopardy! is a weirdly unifying thing,” says Jennings, with “young people, old people, red states, blue states — it’s an institution that has this universal acceptance. Whatever the forces of anti-science and fake news and whatever are, they seem to have some carve-out for Jeopardy!. Maybe because it’s a game? This is a place where nobody says, ‘Why are you doing a category about dinosaurs? Dinosaurs aren’t real.’ Or, ‘Why are you mentioning the moon landing? We never went to the moon.’ For whatever reason, Jeopardy! seems to be immune from that, and maybe that’s a good sign. Maybe we will at some point get back to a more unified culture that agrees on basic facts of the universe. What a dream for America!”

[From Rolling Stone]

“An almost Rat Pack like level of cool,” is a superb characterization of Trebek’s affect on the show. Yet I think it actually works out for the best that Jennings brings such a wholly different vibe as host. I always thought he was a fitting choice from the angle of his being a record-breaking champion, and his comments at the end had my political-philosophical synapses humming (if in a rather trippy way). Here we are in a world where facts are respected in a game show, but not in real life. I only hope we evolve as he says, to once again agree “on basic facts of the universe.” But I’m not holding my breath, either. In the meantime, I will take Time Wasting Diversions for $1,000 and likely spend the rest of my week pondering that age old question: are there more wheels or doors in the world?

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Over the weekend, the Mail’s Becky English had a big exclusive about the year to come for the Princess of Wales. The 2025 plans for Kate have been briefed extensively for months, and by that I mean that Kensington Palace has repeatedly drilled it into royal reporters’ briefings that Kate will not be “back to work” for some time, if ever. Ingrid Seward put her own spin on those palace briefings, suggesting that Kate sees her role now as just child-rearing and preparing her kids for their future roles. There’s a sense that Kate feels some creeping terror at the thought of royal work, and there’s also a sense that Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla simply want Kate to be a background character from now on. Well, the Telegraph’s Hannah Furness also got the “birthday briefing” about Kate. Some highlights:

Kate’s birthday plans: As she turns 43 today, her world looks mercifully different. After a birthday breakfast with her children at their Windsor home and the school run, she will probably join Prince William to walk their dog Orla as usual before a family celebration in the evening.

Plans for events in the months to come: There is no “big reset button that’s going to be pressed” because of the turn of a new year into 2025 or a birthday, said a Palace source. But her slow return will continue. The Princess’s team at Kensington Palace is making plans for engagements, expected to include a welcome resuming of her public work on early years childhood in the not too distant future.

Staying cancer-free: Sources emphasise that the Princess’s “unwavering commitment to duty and service” has not changed with illness, but that her own words in September are the ones to pay attention to. “Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus,” she said then. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.”

Do it right once: The idea, though no one at the palace quite expresses it this way, is to do it once and get it [right]. For the Princess to thrive in a decades-long job in the public eye, she must have the chance to fully recover now. As the months since her chemotherapy ended have passed, that has meant swimming, re-emerging at school events and children’s sports clubs, and – as she has said so many times before – spending time outside in nature.

William & Kate don’t want to be king and queen: The coming year will see big decisions on Prince George’s future schooling, with visits to public schools around Windsor and London already under way ready for his move in 2026, with his two younger siblings to follow. Then there has been the matter of the King’s own cancer, and what it could have meant for Prince William and Catherine as a future King and Queen who did not want the roles for many years to come.

Kate won’t travel overseas: She will not join the Prince on a short spring overseas tour, it is understood, but will aim for key public moments just as she did last year, with the addition of some “ordinary” engagements too. The Princess will also continue with the recent pattern of using video messages and signed statements to speak directly to the public, it is said. Just as she has lost so much, it appears, she has found a new way to use her voice. “What you’ve seen from the Princess of Wales has been her speaking directly and sharing her journey with the public,” says a source. “I can see that trajectory continuing. Her using her voice to share her own story was extremely powerful.”

[From The Telegraph]

I’m trying to think if I’ve ever seen any other 40-something woman be so coddled and infantilized. This is the way it’s always been with Kate, even before her mysterious medical situations, and I have to imagine that the people around her treat her similarly too – like she’s a child who has to be managed and indulged. There’s also a piece of news here, that Kate will not travel. We assumed that, but Becky English sort of left it open in her piece over the weekend, that if Kate felt “well enough,” she would join William on a trip or tour. Now the courtiers are saying “of course not, who would do the school run??”

New birthday photo! I’ll let y’all discuss if there’s any Photoshop involved.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images and Matt Porteous for Kensington Palace.

British outlets heard that there are raging wildfires in Los Angeles County, and they decided to make it all about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan live in Montecito, which is part of Santa Barbara County. That’s about a hundred miles away from LA. While it’s possible that Montecito may be affected by the wildfires, let’s be clear: this is the British press trying to draw Harry and Meghan into a wider tragedy. These people do not understand that the Sussexes live some distance away from LA.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be forced to evacuate their $14 million Montecito, Calif., mansion as the Pacific Palisades wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles. A spokesperson for Southern California Edison told the Telegraph Wednesday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s property falls inside a “high fire risk” zone.

Power shutdowns could occur in the ritzy enclave of Santa Barbara County due to “a Red Flag Warning and increased risk of wildfires,” the spokesperson shared, adding that “affected customers” were being contacted in several communities, “including Montecito.”

It is unclear whether Harry, 40, and Markle, 43, have been contacted. Their reps did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

The couple has been residing in the 18,000-square-foot home with their two kids — Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 — since they resigned from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to the West Coast. The manor boasts nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, while the sprawling property features a pool, tennis court, tea house, rose gardens, century-old olive trees, children’s cottage and a two-bedroom guesthouse.

Other celebrities living in the area could also face evacuation, including the royal couple’s neighbors Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow. Winfrey, a close friend of Harry and Markle, memorably experienced damage to her property due to mudslides caused by wildfires in 2018. Thousands of residents have already fled the Pacific Palisades as roaring fires ripped through the region Tuesday and Wednesday.

[From Page Six]

There are outages in neighboring areas and power outages could affect Montecito. Over here in the mid-Atlantic, we had an especially icy and snowy weekend, and thousands of people lost power. I got a call from my power company telling me all about it. I would imagine many Californians are getting those same automated calls from their power companies and emergency services, keeping them updated on what’s happening in LA County. But, again, let’s be clear: this is mostly about the British media trying to drag the Sussexes into the wildfire tragedy AND say that the Sussexes’ Montecito mansion could burn down.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I remember when Jessica Alba and Cash Warren first got together, and feeling like the guy seemed “off” somehow. I was suspicious because, when Alba met Cash, she seemed vulnerable. She had just gotten out of a relationship with Michael Weatherly, who was well into his 30s when she was a late-teen and early 20s. It felt like Cash was a rebound after a weird age-gap relationship, but then it got serious. So, yeah, I was anti-Cash, but then they had three children together and seemed happy, or at least they seemed settled. Well, after about twenty years together, they’re apparently calling it quits. They met in 2004, got engaged in 2007 and married in 2008. Their oldest, Honor, is 16 years old. Their youngest, Hayes, is 7 years old.

Jessica Alba and Cash Warren’s marriage hasn’t just hit a rocky patch, they’re about to call it quits with a divorce filing … TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the couple recently separated, and they’re moving forward with divorce. It’s unclear what brought them to the decision to end their nearly 17-year marriage, but there have been some public signs of trouble.

Both Cash and Jessica have been out and about without their wedding rings. Most recently, she attended a pre-Golden Globes party Saturday at Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood without Cash, and without her ring.

Ditto for her night out in Rome last month with film producer Andrea Iervolino — no wedding ring on her hand as she and Andrea were beginning to work on the biopic, “Maserati: The Brothers.”

For his part, Cash was out and about in L.A. last week with a ring-less left hand.

The last time Cash and Jessica were photographed together was at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena back on November 10 as they sat courtside for a Lakers game. Jessica also posted a family photo from Universal Studios last week, though it’s unclear if was a current photo or a throwback.

[From TMZ]

This has actually been percolating for a while, a lot like the rumors about Jessica Simpson’s marriage to Eric Johnson. I kind of thought that we would hear something more about Simpson’s marriage before all of this. TMZ isn’t being slick about it – they’re insinuating that Alba has left Cash for Andrea Iervolino. I’ll wait to see what’s really going on. If Cash and Jessica file for divorce, there could be a huge battle over the money. Alba built a wildly successful, billion-dollar company from the ground up, and she has a reported net worth of anywhere between $300-400 million. She built all of that during her marriage too – will Cash want half?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

The current wildfires are being called the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles. It’s because of the population density in the affected areas, and because three major fires are raging all at once – the Palisades fire, the Eaton fire and the Hurst fire in the San Fernando Valley. More than 4 million people are without power in Southern California. The strong Santa Ana winds are spreading the fire further and further. We hope all of our friends in LA stay safe and that firefighters find a way to put these fires out.

The strength, speed and damage of the fires have already had an immediate effect in Hollywood. Several studios have been affected, with Disney, Universal and Warner Bros shutting down their lots in Burbank and Universal City. LA premieres and screenings for Unstoppable, Better Man, Wolf Man and The Pitt have been canceled. And now the Critics Choice Awards have been postponed as well. The Critics Choice Awards were originally scheduled for this coming Sunday in Santa Monica, with Chelsea Handler hosting. They’ve been pushed to January 26th.

The Critics Choice Awards will go forward on Jan. 26.

The rescheduled event will remain at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and will broadcast live on E! and around the world. It will also be available on Peacock the next day.

“This unfolding tragedy has already had a profound impact on our community. All our thoughts and prayers are with those battling the devastating fires and with all who have been affected,” said CCA CEO Joey Berlin.

[From Deadline]

This is fine with me and I guess everyone is assuming that the wildfires will be contained in the next week (hopefully). In case you’re keeping track at home, here are the new awards-season/winter dates to keep in mind: Oscar nominations come out on January 17, then the Critics Choice on January 26, with the Grammys scheduled for the following Sunday (February 2). The following weekend, we’ll have the DGA and PGA Awards on February 8th and the Super Bowl on February 9th. BAFTAs on February 16th, SAG Awards on February 23 and Oscars on March 2.

Oh, after I wrote this, AMPAS made some adjustments to their voting schedule. They extended the Oscar voting by several days, given how many Oscar voters live in LA. Now the Oscar noms will be announced on January 19th.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Today is the Princess of Wales’s 43rd birthday. I always find it interesting that she’s a Capricorn. The past year was pretty bonkers for Kate, and I would imagine the coming year will be significantly strange as well. As I’ve said before, the palaces have enacted a “kick the can down the road” strategy, where nothing is promised for Kate beyond her attendance at a handful of major events. It will be interesting if we see much of her in the next three months, and then when spring comes, there will be a new briefing that she’s still resting and recuperating and focusing on her family, how dare you expect her to work once a week. Here’s People Magazine’s birthday exclusive:

Kate Middleton is putting herself first as she rings in her birthday four months after announcing that she completed chemotherapy treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer. The Princess of Wales turned 43 on Jan. 9, celebrating her first birthday after a difficult year. In March 2024, Princess Kate announced that she was undergoing treatment for cancer and shared in September that she completed chemo. In a rare revelation at her Together at Christmas carol service in December, Princess Kate said, “I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had.”

Looking ahead, a family friend exclusively tells PEOPLE that the Princess of Wales, described as “a real running, skipping and jumping” type of sporty person, is wisely prioritizing her health now. “She is looking after herself and is wise to do so. She will know when she wakes up if she is well enough or not [to do something],” the family friend says.

Adds a source, “She has been allowed to get back in her own way. She has been able to pace it and do it her way, and that’s great.”

“Family has seen [Kate] through thick and thin this year … There is a sense of optimism going forward,” an insider says.

Princess Kate is spending her birthday at home with Prince William and their children, who recently returned to the classroom at the Lambrook School after a holiday break.

[From People]

I was thinking this week about William’s behavior during the “Kate is missing” months, and how he really didn’t want anyone to have any sympathy for her or worry about her health at all. He kept shrugging off people’s concerns in public and he seemed annoyed when people wanted to know about how she was doing. We still have no idea what the original “abdominal surgery” was even about. “She is looking after herself and is wise to do so.” I would be willing to bet that Kate did have to look after herself, and her mother had to look after her, because William couldn’t be bothered.

Oh, Kensington Palace just released a new portrait of Kate for her birthday. What a strange pic, especially her hands in halfway in her pockets… I guess to show that she’s wearing Big Blue?

To the most incredible wife and mother. The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W pic.twitter.com/VIW5v2aKlu

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 9, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.