The past two weeks have been full of gleefully nasty reporting about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s business, and the reporting has absolutely not been limited to the British media, not with Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets in America doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and the trade papers piling on. Given that the British media has always been utterly clueless about how American celebrity works and how Netflix and Spotify work, the British media’s hive-mind has come back to their familiar talking point, which is that Prince Harry solely is somehow desperate to “come back” to his abusers and tormentors and desperate to reconcile with his family (all evidence to the contrary). Camilla Tominey wrote a lengthy and delusional piece about how the Windsors feel about all of this, and how the Windsors will “solve a problem like Harry.” Well, we saw how Charles solved a problem like Diana, and I suspect Charles has planned the same for Diana’s youngest son, especially given what already happened in New York.

Solving a problem like Harry: Having pulled off a successful Coronation and even managed to persuade the public to accept “Queen Camilla”, there is only one more pressing conundrum for the Firm to grapple with: how to solve a problem like Prince Harry? Yet while the Sussexes may be impatient for an apology, their royal relatives appear in no hurry whatsoever to bury the hatchet.

Charles & Meghan’s letters: The emergence of a letter written by Meghan to the King, expressing her concerns about unconscious bias in the Royal family, seems to have put paid to any imminent hope of reconciliation…Sources close to Meghan say she feels that she has not received a satisfactory response to her concerns, which is one of the reasons why she did not attend the Coronation. The King, meanwhile, remains “sad” and “disappointed” that his son and daughter-in-law felt the need to make such high-profile and damaging allegations in the first place. It is understood that Meghan’s letter was sent in reply to one from the King, believed to be the only senior member of the family to make contact with the Duchess after the interview.

The Windsors are forever salty: According to one source, the royals were “only just coming to terms with the Oprah interview” when the publication of Spare, Harry’s tell-all autobiography, in January, “took everything right back to square one”. “There’s a sense of high irritation about everything they’ve done. The Netflix documentary was viewed as largely anodyne and nothing much to worry about – it’s the book that, for the family, has really cemented the view that all Harry ever seems to want to do is air his unhappiness.”

Harry could write another book: Referring to Harry’s suggestion that “there’s enough for another book”, but that he “cut the memoir in half to spare my family”, the insider added, “There’s not a lot of trust left to allow the family to maintain a good and open relationship. How do you speak openly without it ending up in volume two?” Or, indeed, Meghan’s memoirs, when the time inevitably comes. If the Duchess is minded to finally name the royal “racist”, then all hell will likely break loose again.

LMAO: For the couple’s part, they are sticking to the narrative that the press is in cahoots with a palace that constantly briefs against them – which is why there was no official “recollections may vary”-style statement in response to Spare. As one former aide explained: “One of the reasons you haven’t heard a peep from the King or the Prince of Wales about this lately is because the couple in California are incredibly sensitive about briefing to the media. They hate it. So, people at the palace are having to be punctilious in refusing to speak in any way about the relationship.” An irony, perhaps, when you consider just how many beans have been spilt by the Sussexes about their nearest and dearest – but it seems one royal’s briefing is another royal’s “truth”.

How Camilla feels: Royal watchers could have been forgiven for thinking that the Queen was getting her own back on Tuesday when she appeared at Royal Ascot dressed in Dior – just as the French fashion house was distancing itself from reports of Meghan becoming a “brand ambassador”. Yet while there is no doubt that the Queen was upset by Spare, friends insist she isn’t the type to bear grudges. One former employee added: “If you think of all the years when she nearly had a bread roll thrown at her – how did she respond throughout that period? She was just really stoic. Her most admirable quality is certainly her sense of humour.”

The Sussexes won’t visit the UK for a while: With the Duke and Duchess having no reason to return to the UK (sources close to Harry say he is unlikely to make another High Court appearance any time soon), there is no impetus to initiate peace talks. “In the run-up to the Queen’s death and the Coronation, there had to be an institutional response,” explained one insider. “But with no major royal events on the horizon, the Sussexes are no longer the subject of strategy meetings.”

Charles is a dogsh-t father: One school of thought is that the King will eventually start the ball rolling again. “Most parents ultimately love their children a tremendous amount, and reconciling with them is something they want, although not necessarily at any cost,” said a source. But the dynamic has shifted since Charles became King. “A deference is suddenly introduced that is much more than a conventional father-son relationship,” explained one source. “You’re effectively disrespecting not just a person, but a sovereign. The monarch’s need to protect the institution as its only head figure makes everything more challenging.”

William & Kate act like children: It seems unlikely that a white flag will be raised without William’s approval, however, and the Prince and Princess of Wales appear determined to play the long game. “It’s a 1,000-year-old institution and they have long horizons,” said one source. “It’s a case of ‘Let the work speak for itself.’ The working family is working hard and it is working. The birthday parade was well received and no one seems to be missing the Sussexes on the Buckingham Palace balcony.”

Peg & Buttons are more concerned about Prince Andrew & Royal Lodge: While William and Kate, both 41, acknowledge that the impasse will eventually have to end, they believe that there are more pressing issues that remain outstanding, not least the future of the Duke of York. The couple, who are currently living in Adelaide Cottage, on the Windsor estate, have earmarked Prince Andrew’s much larger mansion, Royal Lodge, as a future family home – but the Duke is refusing to budge, despite reportedly receiving his marching orders from the King. “Having no contact seems to be the right answer for everybody right now,” said one insider. “At the height of it, it was all-consuming – and that’s not healthy for anyone.” Determined “not to be sucked back into the psychodrama”, the Waleses are very much in “keep calm and carry on” mode. “You need a level of distance in order to be detached and do your job. In that respect, the Waleses are a bit like Queen Elizabeth II – they actively avoid conflict. If you avoid the drama, it allows you to be stoic. The Princess is always very good on these things. Ultimately, it’s a relationship that’s probably worth saving, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” It perhaps also helps that there is “less anger than there was”. “It’s like a form of grief,” added the source. “There’s anger at what happened, but sadness at what could have been.”

[From The Telegraph]

TL:DR version: the Windsors continue to obsess over the Sussexes constantly and they, alongside their media partners, are uncomfortably focused on what the Sussexes do and say, all while the Sussexes live their lives in sunny California. Immediately following the coronation, there was a sudden realization among these morons that they no longer had any “big events” to hold over Harry’s head, to force him to come back. If it’s true that Harry won’t have to return to the UK to testify in any of his civil trials for a while, then how will the British media explain their continued obsession with a family who has not lived in the UK for three-plus years? At what point will the Windsors stop obsessing over the Sussexes and briefing about them on a weekly basis too?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Prince William today at Mosaic Clubhouse in Lambeth, London. This was the first stop in his “homelessness project” tour, which I guess means that he’ll be staging events across the UK to launch this program. The name of the program is called Homewards, and if I’m reading this correctly, William is solely financing the project… through the Royal Foundation. William has been previewing the project and I honestly thought it was going to be something much bigger and more comprehensive, given William’s desire to have some big, signature initiative (to compete with his brother). But this just sounds like William is financing six half-way houses across the UK? That’s nothing to sniff at, but it’s nowhere near the kind of program which will eradicate homelessness as we know it.

Prince William today launches an ambitious £3million programme to ‘end’ homelessness within five years. The future king is personally funding, through his Royal Foundation’s charitable arm, six projects in flagship locations across the UK. They will bring together local stakeholders, experts and even house builders to eradicate rough sleeping, ‘sofa surfing’ and temporary hostels and bring about substantive change.

As a member of the Royal Family, William acknowledges his critics may question why someone from such a privileged background believes they can solve such a widespread issue. Figures suggest more than 300,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – are homeless, whether living on the streets, in cars, or hostels and other types of temporary accommodation.

He has been involved with several organisations working in the field ever since, including Centrepoint and The Big Issue. Now the 41-year-old heir to the throne believes he can use his unique convening power as a member of the Royal Family to bring together coalitions of individuals, organisations and businesses to work together based on specific local needs.

The programme, run by his Royal Foundation, will be known as ‘Homewards’. Launching the initiative today, with hopes of turning conventional thinking about the problem on its head, the prince will say: ‘In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need. Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate. It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.’

William will unveil the six locations over the next two days on a tour of the UK. Sources say he feels inspired by his mother who would be celebrating her 62nd birthday this week. ‘She is very much in his thoughts as he embarks on this,’ said one source. ‘This isn’t just his legacy, it’s his mother’s legacy. This means so much to him and meant so much to his mother. He is committed to transforming the way we as a nation think about homelessness. The prince really is the heart and soul of [the programme].’

[From The Daily Mail]

Imagine having millions of pounds in resources, an overstaffed office at Kensington Palace, a whole-ass Duchy of Cornwall (a billion-dollar real estate empire) and then sending out your staff with talking points like “The prince really is the heart and soul of [the programme].” No one said “but sir, why are you centering yourself in this program?” No one said to him “do we need to do wall-to-wall keenery in which we attempt to wrest control of Diana’s legacy in this way?” Is this solely an exercise in William’s narcissism?

Besides all of that, I will be curious to see the breakdown of how this “£3 million” is allocated. When I saw the breakdown in how the money is allocated for Earthshot, I was shocked – Earthshot claims to hand out five £1 million grants every year, but the grants are structured in a way that the prize winners don’t actually get all of the prize money at once, it’s parceled out over the course of three years. Not to mention the fact that Earthshot blows through £7 million on vague Earthshot keenery per year (compared to the “£5 million” in grants) by throwing the big Earthshot ceremonies in different cities and NOT INVITING THE PRIZE WINNERS. I’m just saying, if Homewards is organized in any way like Earthshot, nothing about that “£3 million” figure is as it seems.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Last September, Roger Federer announced that he would retire at Laver Cup, the team competition he founded. Laver Cup was held in London last year, and LC teamed up with The Royal Foundation to do what amounted to a charity day before the Laver Cup began. Kate was supposed to show up at the charity day and hit with Roger, who has been something like a “family friend” to the Middletons. That was all organized months in advance – then Queen Elizabeth II passed away, and Kate was stuck in a formal period of mourning, and she had to skip the Laver Cup charity day, and she also missed seeing Roger play his final match.

All of that means that Kate was particularly keen to find some way to hang out with Roger. It’s hilarious that this was all she could come up with – she got Roger to fly to London to make a video in appreciation for the Wimbledon ball kids. In typical Kate fashion, all she does is play dress-up and perform skits and we’re just left to shake our heads and say “sure, Kate, I guess that counts as work.” I’ll be fair to Roger: he was actually a ball kid back in the day in Switzerland, and during his career, he was known as a player who was really nice to ball kids, and he always shows appreciation for what they do.

So, basically, Kate wanted to hit with Roger at Wimbledon. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who would pay millions of dollars for that experience, so I get why she did it. It’s just funny that she managed to do it, and that Wimbledon was like “f–k it, we’ll make it into a video about the ball kids.” Also: Roger basically retired because his body was so banged up, especially his knees. I winced on his behalf a few times in the video – poor guy can’t serve the way he used to because his knees are shot. And it was cruel to make Roger get on one knee!!!

PS… I still haven’t forgotten that Kate – the royal patron of Wimbledon – completely skipped the centenary event on Center Court last year. Legends like Bjorn Borg, Venus Williams, Billie Jean King, Roger, Novak Djokovic, John McEnroe and many more were all there to celebrate Wimbledon… and Kate couldn’t be bothered.

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Photos courtesy of Wimbledon’s social media.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was diagnosed weeks ago, and she already had an operation to remove the cancer. Given how much media Sarah has done in recent months, I’m a little bit surprised that she’s only talking about it now, although her statement says that she was only “recently” diagnosed. Obviously, our thoughts are with her – f–k cancer and f–k breast cancer.

Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson has been diagnosed with breast cancer, PEOPLE can confirm. A representative for the Duchess of York, 63, tells PEOPLE, “Sarah, Duchess of York was recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer detected at a routine mammogram screening. She was advised she needed to undergo surgery, which has taken place successfully.”

“The Duchess is receiving the best medical care and her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good. She is now recuperating with her family, the rep continues. “The Duchess wants to express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days.”

“She is also hugely thankful to the staff involved in the mammogram which identified her illness, which was otherwise symptom free, and believes her experience underlines the importance of regular screening,” adds the representative.

The spokesman also tells PEOPLE that the Duchess recorded a podcast episode the day before she went in for surgery, which is set to be released early Monday morning.

[From People]

This is why routine mammograms are important! And it absolutely sounds like the doctors found it early. What a trooper – she recorded a pod before her surgery, and I bet she’s up and about already… at Royal Lodge, where she lives with her ex-husband. While I wish Fergie the best of health and I hope they removed all of the cancer, there is part of me which wonders if Prince Andrew will use Fergie’s diagnosis as a “reason” for why they need to stay at Royal Lodge. I doubt it will even come to that – King Charles really doesn’t have much of an appetite to evict them anyway.

The Mail reports that Fergie had a single mastectomy. My God. Poor woman.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

From CB: In 2006, when my son was a year old and I felt isolated living in Switzerland with my then-husband, I found solace in the growing celebrity blogs like PopSugar, JustJared, I’m Not Obsessed (RIP), Moe Jackson (RIP), The Superficial (RIP), Pink is the New Blog (RIP) and most of all, Dlisted. Dlisted was so unlike anything I had ever read before and it was raucously funny. While I knew I had more gossip analysis to offer than laughs, I was inspired to start Celebitchy. Once we got going, Michael K was generous with advice and links, and we continued to follow his lead by starting a podcast after his launched in 2019, a year before we would truly need more at home content. We still get so many ideas and leads from the clever, funny, unique content at Dlisted.

There have been a couple profiles of Michael K and we’ve listened to his podcast. He’s just as humble, thoughtful and funny as his writing has been these past 18 years. Michael K has announced that he’s shutting Dlisted down at the end of this week. While we understand we’re super sad. Honestly the burnout is real in this job. Not to presume, but It’s hard to have the entire internet reviewing your work and telling you how to do your job.

We know that whatever Micheal K. does next he’ll do it with all the care and humor he’s brought to Dlisted, we just wish we could continue to be entertained by him and his team. Dlisted is such a gossip staple, and we will miss it so much.

From Kaiser: I only started reading Dlisted when I started this job in late 2008 and I quickly became obsessed with Michael K’s humor, phrasing and writing. There are so many celebrities and idiosyncratic stories I associate with Dlisted. Michael K is a giant in the independent blog arena as well as one of the funniest writers in the business. He will be missed and so will Dlisted.

From Rosie: I discovered Dlisted sometime in 2006, when I was looking to expand beyond my very first go-to celebrity site, Pink is the New Blog. I have so many fun memories of the site thanks to Michael K’s brilliant, hilarious writing: Prince Hot Ginge, Hot Slut of the Day/etc al, the Lohan/Paris Hilton era, and more. I discovered Celebitchy, Pajiba, The Superficial, and more through Dlisted. Wishing MK & co all the best!

photos credit: Avalon.red and via Wayback Machine

The Wall Street Journal has another “exclusive” on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, following WSJ breaking the news on the end of their Spotify contract and WSJ’s bizarre exclusive on the podcast ideas Harry pitched to Spotify. Given this new story and the previous exclusives, several things are clear. One, Spotify has an ax to grind with Harry & Meghan and they’re grinding that ax publicly, with a Spotify executive smearing them and various Spotify people openly speaking to WSJ. Two, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is far-reaching and extremely focused on the Sussexes ahead of Prince Harry’s eventual civil trial against the Sun/News Group Newspapers in the UK. Both things are true in this case – NGN is going after the Sussexes in a huge way, and there’s no love lost between the Sussexes and Spotify. Behold, some highlights from WSJ’s “Harry and Meghan Produce a Hollywood Flop: Themselves.”

Last year, the Sussexes pitched a documentary idea to Netflix: The subject of endless rumors and gossip, the couple felt qualified to tackle the thorny topic of misinformation. A documentary would cement Harry and Meghan as serious creative types and help shed their reputation as exiles from the House of Windsor trading family dirt for eyeballs. A team assigned to the job at the pair’s Los Angeles-based production company, Archewell, had questions for “H” and “M,” as the Sussexes are known to their employees. Would the misinformation project be a feature film or a series? Who would host it? Would it be historical or contemporary? Would Harry or Meghan appear in it? Would Meghan discuss her bitter history with British tabloids—and if not, who would want to watch? The couple had few answers, according to people familiar with the inner-workings of Archewell and Harry and Meghan’s deals with streamers. The misinformation documentary soon met the fate of other Archewell projects, and faded away.

Will Netflix renew their deal in 2025? The graveyard of video projects they hoped to make includes an animated children’s show called “Pearl” that was canceled by Netflix, as well as at least two TV ideas that the streaming service rejected within the past year, people familiar with Harry and Meghan’s projects said. Netflix is unlikely to renew the couple’s deal, which runs through 2025, the people said… People who have worked with the pair say their Sussex-upon-Sunset outpost was undermined by their inexperience as producers and trouble finding material consistent with their brand, as well as problems beyond their control, including a retrenchment in the entertainment and podcasting businesses.

Archewell spoke to WSJ: An Archewell spokeswoman said, “New companies often make changes in their start up phase, both with people and strategy, and we are no exception. We’re more equipped, focused and energized than ever before.” She said the company recently hired a new head of scripted content, actress and producer Tracy Ryerson.

Netflix spoke to the WSJ: A Netflix spokeswoman said the company valued its Archewell partnership, and noted that “Harry & Meghan” was its biggest documentary debut. “We’ll continue to work together on a number of projects,” she said.

A changing business landscape: Today, streaming boom times have given way to an era of slower growth and unpredictability. Both Netflix and Spotify have cut shows and movies to trim costs. Both have been underwhelmed by the lack of productivity by the Sussexes, people familiar with their perspectives say. “Once you’ve launched your bombshell, what’s next?” said Andrew Morton, the longtime chronicler of the royal family. Archewell employees and associates say the company often lacks direction, and that its founders at times seem surprised by the work required to finish entertainment projects. Most potential initiatives, they said, follow a similar route: Big idea, subpar execution.

Is Netflix actually mad? Executives at Netflix have groused about Archewell’s output, according to people familiar with the matter, and feel that the success of the “Harry & Meghan” documentary is all the company has to show for the deal. Today, one Archewell project is nearing completion at Netflix: a documentary series on the Invictus Games, a tournament Harry founded for wounded veterans after serving two tours with the British Army in Afghanistan. Harry and Meghan are also developing a TV show for Netflix called “Bad Manners” based on Miss Havisham, a Charles Dickens character from “Great Expectations.” The prequel would recast the lonely spinster as a strong woman living in a patriarchal society, though it is unclear whether the show will get a green light from Netflix.

Archetypes’ rocky road: Meghan’s media productivity has largely been concentrated at Spotify, and the road to getting “Archetypes” on the air was rocky. When the Duchess first began working with the audio service, Archewell didn’t have an employee focused on audio projects, and instead, a public-relations representative initially led Archewell’s work with Spotify, people familiar with the company said. The audio company’s executives grew frustrated with the amount of time it took Archewell to conceptualize an idea for Meghan’s podcast and assemble a production team.

Ah, this explains WSJ’s exclusives: Ultimately, Archewell hired a head of audio, who worked in concert with members of Spotify’s Gimlet unit on podcasting ideas. The Gimlet team helped Meghan compile a list of potential guests, and Spotify helped build a podcast studio in the couple’s mansion, said people familiar with the situation. ( News Corp’s Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a content partnership with Spotify’s Gimlet Media unit.)

Meghan wrote to Taylor Swift? Choosing the right kind of guest was often fraught. Meghan wrote Taylor Swift a personal letter asking her to come on the podcast. The pop star declined, through a representative. Meghan would often ask for changes late in the editing process, at times recruiting senior Spotify executives, including then-Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, to call producers and push them to make changes.

Harry’s podcast ideas: He explored a podcast on veterans but couldn’t find a compelling way to tackle the subject in podcast form. He tossed around subjects such as misinformation and his point of view as someone new to living in America, and at one point considered co-hosting a show with comedian Hasan Minhaj.

[From WSJ]

So, with Netflix, it sounds like they signed a five-year producing-and-development deal and three years into the deal, they’ve had one very successful docu-series and they’ll have a second docu-series coming out this summer, plus they’ve made several pitches which have been rejected by Netflix, and then Netflix turns around and complains of their low productivity? I mean, again – I think it’s fair to say that Harry and Meghan should have been more productive in the past three years. Like, we can say “but Spare was a bestseller” and “the docuseries was a huge success” and that’s all true, but it’s also true that they simply should have been more productive (Harry especially).

It’s also fair to say that a good chunk of this was out of their hands. Some of these ideas sound interesting and worthy of exploration – a podcast about an outsider’s perspective of America and American culture? A podcast about fatherhood or childhood trauma? A docuseries about misinformation & the insidiousness of, say, something like News Group Newspapers? All of that sounds really interesting, so why were these pitches rejected by Netflix and Spotify insiders who are now publicly trashing them? It’s so weird. And WTF is that Taylor Swift story – like, OMG, Taylor Swift didn’t want to do a pod interview, it’s a signal that the Sussexes are a flop! GMAFB.

Photos courtesy of Netflix.

Last month, Addison Timlin filed for divorce from Jeremy Allen White. They were married for three years, but together a lot longer than that. They also have two young daughters together. Shortly after Addison filed and the news broke, she posted on Instagram about Mother’s Day and referred to herself as a single mom. Jeremy’s sources were quiet at the time, but now that the second season of The Bear has come out they’re talking. He was “blindsided” that Addison called herself a single mom and the source says he can’t control his filming schedule/locations and is very involved in his daughters’ lives.

“The Bear” heartthrob Jeremy Allen White was left “blindsided” when his estranged wife, Addison Timlin, posted about being a single mom, sources tell Page Six.

White, 32, is starring in the hotly anticipated second season of his Hulu hit, which debuted Thursday, after winning a Golden Globe for the first season.

But behind the scenes, he’s been dealing with the heartbreak of his marital split.

“Californication” actress Timlin, 31, filed for divorce in LA after just under three years of marriage back in May. She gave no reason for the break-up.

Friends say he definitely did not cheat, and suggested his filming schedule in Chicago had put pressure on the relationship.

In an Instagram post on Mother’s Day, she called herself a “single mom,” while detailing the difficulties of raising children without a “witness” by her side, and posting photos of their young kids.

“Being a single mom is not how I pictured it. It is so f–king hard,” Timlin wrote. “It is all out covered in s–t crying on the floor kick you in the shins screaming with no sound coming out hard.”

Hours later, however, she updated the caption to read, “Co-parent is not how I pictured it,” as followers quickly picked up on her emotional message, with one saying: “There is a difference between being a single mom and being a mom that is single.”

In her initial divorce filing, Timlin asked for primary physical custody of their daughters, Ezer, 4, and 2-year-old Dolores, and asked the court to award White visitation.

But just last week, White responded by asking for joint custody in his response to the filing, in court records seen by Page Six.

A source who knows the couple confirmed that White was “blindsided” by the Mother’s Day post: “Addison changed her Instagram post because it wasn’t accurate, a lot of people were like ‘What are you talking about?’

“Jeremy had no control about where he was filming. He filmed ‘The Bear’ in Chicago and any time he could, he came home. He is so involved in those girls’ lives, he adores his daughters.”

[From Page Six]

In my initial coverage, I wrote: “But the fact that she filed, seemingly abruptly, and the absence of a joint statement… Maybe there’s more to the story there.” Then that Mother’s Day post bolstered that theory. It wasn’t quite going scorched Earth, but was certainly passive-aggressive and painted Jeremy in a bad, absent father, light. Addison even later changed “single mom” to “co-parent” because some people took offense to the idea that the wife of a working actor struggles as much as the average single mom and others began to question Jeremy’s support and involvement. It’s pretty obvious why he took offense to that and makes sense that his camp is refuting that. It’s a bad look. Addison asked for primary physical custody and visitation for Jeremy, while he has asked for joint custody, so clearly he does want to be involved. Jeremy’s source also specifically hits back against the cheating rumors on his side, so I guess they read blind items. This does seem like it has the potential to get a little messier than originally anticipated.

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Instead of a traditional tour, Lana Del Rey is on the festival circuit this year after a four year hiatus from touring (which was mostly due to the pandemic). She started out at MITA festival in Brazil and just performed at Glastonbury in the UK. She was half an hour late at Glastonbury, and because the festival has a strict curfew, her mic got cut off when she had six songs left to go in her set. You all know that I love Lana very much, but I rolled my eyes so hard at Miss Girl’s explanation for being late: her hair just takes so long, okay?

Lana Del Rey showed up for her set at the Glastonbury music festival a half-hour late—and her mic was cut an hour later when curfew arrived. With six songs still to go, she tried to sing a cappella with her fans but was eventually escorted away. As for why she was late, Del Rey told the disappointed crowd, “My hair takes so long to do,” adding that she was “super sorry,” according to the BBC.

[From The Daily Beast]

There is actually footage of her fans singing Video Games after her mic was cut, which is pretty cool. I always get a little emotional when I hear so many people singing the same song like that. She looked visibly upset when she was escorted off the stage. Now, I;m not sure that her hair was the problem. I think she had a case of nerves. Lana strikes me as someone with quickly changing moods and a tendency towards self-sabotage, like one of her idols, Marilyn Monroe. She opened the MITA sets in a Marilyn wig, cosplays as Marilyn in her most recent music video, and has referenced Marilyn in her songs. I think MM is hugely influential in Lana’s mind. Marilyn was often late to set because of debilitating stage fright. The more famous she got, the more pressure she felt to be perfect, and the harder it was for her to get to set on time. (She also had substance abuse issues, which didn’t help.) People put up with Marilyn because she created pure magic on screen. But most of the time, that kind of lateness isn’t tolerated in the music world. Filming days can run long, but concerts don’t allow for the same kind of leeway.

I think Lana sometimes experiences the same kind of performance anxiety, but that’s just my hunch. There’s precedence for it. She’s never been the most confident live performer, as her infamous SNL appearance revealed. Remember when she had a cover story with Rolling Stone, only to try to pull out of it halfway through the interview? If stage fright is the reason why she was late, I have more understanding for that. But if it really was her hair? Girl, only Mariah Carey can get away with that level of diva. Only the Elusive Butterfly Chanteuse. It’s a lousy reason to let all these people down who have been waiting all night–and four years before that. All this also comes after she pitched a fit on her now-defunct Instagram about not being listed as a headliner on the poster, and even threatened to pull out of the festival if it wasn’t fixed. If you want the headliner spot, act like one. Be professional, show up on time.

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photos credit: Justin Ng / Avalon and Getty

If I’m getting the time difference right, it seemed like this whole thing began mid-day Friday. Suddenly, a Russian paramilitary force of recently imprisoned mercenaries called the Wagner Group attacked and took over Rostov-on-Don, Russia. They were met with little resistance in Rostov, nor did they meet much resistance as thousands of Wagner mercenaries hauled ass for hundreds of miles, hellbent on “taking” Moscow before the weekend was over. Yevgeny Prigozhin in “in charge” of Wagner. Prigozhin went from hot-dog-stand owner to owner of a catering company to one of Putin’s close allies and the leader of a massive and dangerous mercenary force. Prigozhin and Putin were so close that Putin basically allowed Prigozhin to form Wagner. When Putin made the catastrophic error of invading Ukraine, Russia’s military couldn’t handle the invasion or the war, so Putin hired Wagner to fight the Ukrainians. Apparently, Prigozhin has been deeply unhappy with the losses his forces have suffered in Ukraine, and originally, he claimed that this massive coup attempt was merely trying to remove Russia’s military leadership, not overthrow the entire government. Well, this whole coup ended on Saturday night because finally Belarus’s President Aleksandr Lukashenko got in touch with Prigozhin:

The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, shortly after the leader of Belarus said he was in talks with Mr. Prigozhin on a deal to “de-escalate tensions.”

The negotiations between Mr. Prigozhin and President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus opened the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling the Russian government could be resolved without armed fighting. But Mr. Prigozhin did not immediately say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where he has seized critical military and civilian buildings.

In a brief address on Saturday morning, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called the mutiny an act of treason by people who were delivering “a stab in the back of our country and our people.” Mr. Prigozhin, after lashing out on Friday at the Russian military over its handling of the war in Ukraine, took control of Rostov in the early morning and began moving his armed military convoys toward the Russian capital. Mr. Putin, in turn, scrambled security forces in southwestern Russia and Moscow.

The situation shifted quickly late Saturday when Mr. Lukashenko’s office, in a statement, said that Mr. Prigozhin had agreed to the Belarusian leader’s proposal “to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company.” In an audio statement posted to Telegram shortly afterward, Mr. Prigozhin said he was “turning around” to avoid Russian bloodshed and “leaving in the opposite direction to field camps in accordance with the plan.”

[From The NY Times]

Over the course of a 36-hour period, Vladimir Putin had to step out and make a public address and he kept it short. That’s interesting because anti-Russian disinformation bots were definitely trying to convince everyone that Putin, his oligarchs and senior military officials were running like rats from a sinking ship, but it looks like the senior command did stay put in Moscow. It’s also interesting to see how little military and civilian resistance Prigozhin encountered as Wagner raced through the country to get to Moscow. Russian authorities said that Prigozhin was committing treason and armed rebellion. Prigozhin said he was merely a patriot. LOL.

It is good news for Ukraine, more than fifteen months after Russia’s invasion. Putin is deeply unpopular, the Russian military is in chaos, the Russian mercenaries are having supply chain issues and Putin needed his Belarusian buddy to bail him out. Insane.

Imagine if Jose Andres had 35,000 convict soldiers at his command

— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) June 24, 2023

Prigozhin now says he’s pulling back to avoid spilling blood, after coming within 200km of Moscow. What a day

— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) June 24, 2023

Putin is accusing Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin of treason. Prigozhin calls it a ‘march for justice’. As the story escalates, here’s a video from May about how, from the 80s to now, Prigozhin went from prison, to catering, to the Wagner group. pic.twitter.com/0yU36AFcBJ

— Ros Atkins (@BBCRosAtkins) June 24, 2023

Dark Brandon got Russia to fight a war against itself pic.twitter.com/7DNXm4PLDa

— Santiago Mayer (@santiagomayer_) June 24, 2023

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Here are some odds and ends from the last two days of Royal Ascot, Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Queen Camilla wore a “crisp” white and black look, with an absolutely enormous Philip Treacy hat. I may be wrong, but I believe that pearl necklace is from the Queen Mum’s collection of private jewelry, which she left to Charles. I know for a fact that Charles gave all of his grandmother’s jewelry to his side chick, and that he demands that she wears the pieces often.

On Saturday – the final day of Ascot – Charles and Camilla once again stepped out, because they were both committed to attending every single day of the first Ascot of their reign. Camilla chose a “buttermilk silk dress by Anna Valentine” and yet another Philip Treacy hat. Interestingly enough, the final day of Ascot seemed to be devoted to lesser-known and barely-seen royals and royal-adjacents, with Charles putting in some face time with Frederick Windsor and his wife Sophie Winkleman, plus Lady Gabriella Windsor was there with her husband Thomas Kingston.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Bonus photos of Princess Beatrice & the Duchess of Edinburgh on Friday. That dress on Sophie is one of the most flattering things she’s ever worn.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty, Cover Images.