Hilaria Baldwin covers the new issue of Romper and the interview is just as bonkers as you would think. Keep in mind, since Hilaria’s lies about being “from Spain” were outed in late 2020, she’s never explained exactly why she lied or what this whole thing was really about. Romper doesn’t press Hilaria on the subject, they merely note (hilariously) that she grew up in Boston and merely “visited” Spain a lot. Which, again, does not make her Spanish or from Spain, dios mio. Even beyond that, this piece with Hilaria is massively creepy. Some highlights:

Her stepdaughter Ireland had a baby: “I love being a grandmother. My kids get a kick out of it. They feel like they’re so grown up; they’re like, ‘Well, I can do this because I’m an uncle now.’ I send things to Ireland all the time. My favorite swaddle or my favorite bathtub or whatever. The towels, all these things.” As the mother of seven, I ask, is she the one everyone else goes to for mom advice? “My friend and his wife had a baby a year ago, and he’s always coming to me with questions. He loves golf, and he’s like, ‘I think of you as the Tiger Woods of babies.’”

Her reproductive choices: “People like to have a lot of opinions about women’s reproductive choices. Either we have too many kids, or we have too few. We don’t do it exactly as we should. We don’t put the hat on the baby. And then people say, ‘Why doesn’t your baby have a hat?’ And I say, ‘Would you like to come and put the hat on the baby? She’ll take it off and throw it at you.’”

Her background, per Romper: She grew up in Boston, visiting Spain regularly — her parents, a former doctor and lawyer, now live there, as does her brother. She’s bilingual. She graduated from New York University, became a yoga instructor, and co-founded Yoga Vida.

People on the street love her? “Sure, I’ve had times where I feel lonely or isolated, and then I open my eyes and my ears and my mind, and I realize how many amazing people are out there. We walk down the street and people say to us, ‘We’re praying for you. We’re thinking about you.’ They give us hugs. Most of the people who are mean to us are people like the paparazzi, who are making money off tormenting us.”

Whether she loves being pregnant: “Not really,” she says with a shrug. “But I love giving birth. This last time around, I pushed her out in a minute! Giving birth is like going down a water slide that’s really scary. And then you get to the bottom, and you’re like, ‘I want to do this again.’”

Why does she keep getting pregnant? Firstly, there’s the matter-of-fact answer: She’s not on birth control. “I feel awful when I’m on birth control; it makes me depressed,” she says. And Alec’s not interested in other, er, methods. “Every single time I have a baby, my OB writes down the vasectomy doctor on a Post-it, and I bring it home to Alec. He hasn’t done it yet.”

She adores the baby phase: She refers to having babies as “creating love” — and from what I can tell, gets deep joy from taking care of others. This tendency also extends to her husband. “Am I his mommy? Sometimes I’m his mommy. Sometimes. At the beginning of our relationship, everyone was like, ‘She must have daddy issues because she’s married to somebody older.’ But it’s actually the opposite.”

The Reddit community tracking Hilaria Baldwin. They’ve come up with conspiracy theories related to her pregnancies and births, they focus on her background and accent, and they say she’s “harming” her children by showing them on Instagram. In a twist, Hilaria knows many of her Reddit haters’ real identities; she hired a private investigator. She hasn’t done anything with that info and doesn’t plan to. But it makes her feel better to know, and when she describes them to me, they’re exactly who you’d think: lonely, lost people.

[From Romper]

She had seven kids because birth control makes her depressed???? You’d rather bring seven lives into the world just to avoid taking the pill? Jesus. And the fact that she hired a private investigator to identify Reddit posters? Holy sh-t. People tend to turn into armchair diagnosticians when they encounter Hilaria’s whole deal, and I’m no different – to me, the woman comes across as profoundly disturbed and pathologically narcissistic. I also find it upsetting to see outlets go out of their way to portray all of this as normal or even inspirational.

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Cover & IG courtesy of Romper.

In May, Carole Middleton’s business Party Pieces was “sold” for £220K through some version of a bankruptcy court. PP was sold without its extensive debt, and it’s likely that Carole’s creditors are going to get screwed out of £2.6 million. As we learned this month, Carole left multiple small businesses and local craft suppliers on the hook for thousands of pounds, because they were supplying Party Pieces on credit, given Carole’s royal connections. Carole also owes various banks and the British taxpayers something like £800K. For several days, there were reports of how badly Carole personally screwed over small businesses and how much in debt she is. Party Pieces’ bankruptcy has left a trail of destruction and Carole just gets to walk away and live in her £5 million manor house in Bucklebury.

The story of Party Pieces’ demise should have been a months-long scandal, given the fact that the Middletons’ house of cards has utterly collapsed and their web of lies is starting to be untangled. Instead, the British media just completely stopped reporting on it. It’s been radio silence about Party Pieces for a week and a half. And now Hello Magazine is picking up the Middleton keenery like nothing ever happened:

The Princess of Wales’ family have a big week ahead of them – not only will they likely descend on the race grounds of Royal Ascot, but they are also set to celebrate several milestones behind closed doors.

Princess Kate’s parents Carole, 68, and Michael Middleton, 73, are marking 43 years of marriage on 21 June, which happens to be the same day as their son-in-law Prince William’s birthday and two days before Michael’s birthday.

Despite the fact that the party accessories business has been sold through a pre-pack administration, according to reports, the decorations will likely come in handy as they celebrate two birthdays this week. She added: “I do love a good party.”

[From Hello]

Oh, how cute, right? Carole and Mike’s anniversary! Mike’s birthday! Their son-in-law’s birthday! Ten bucks says that Carole and Mike turn up at Wimbledon in a few weeks and act like nothing’s happened. They’ll find a way to scam some good seats and no one will ask how they paid for their tickets or their new Wimbledon ensembles or anything else.

Note by CB: Get the Top 10 stories about the Middletons’ shady finances when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays after lunch.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

Christine Baumgartner was clearly prepared when she filed for divorce from Kevin Costner. This was not done on a whim – she had spent 24 years with Costner, and 19 years as his wife. She planned it out, hiring a divorce lawyer and a forensic accountant, and she and her lawyer clearly have a plan to revoke or nullify the prenup she signed. But even though Christine was prepared, she still hadn’t told her three minor children about the divorce before she filed. She is now telling the court that Costner broke the news to their kids over Zoom, even though she asked him to come home so they could talk to their kids in person together.

Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine isn’t happy with how their three kids learned of their split. In a court filing obtained by PEOPLE, Christine, 49, says Yellowstone star Kevin, 68, told their kids Grace, 13, Hayes, 14, and Cayden, 16, about their divorce in a brief Zoom call while he was filming on location in Las Vegas.

“The children’s welfare has always been my highest priority, and I was concerned they would find out about the divorce before Kevin and I could tell them. It was important for me that we tell the children in person and together,” Christine alleges in the documents.

Christine says she expressed her concerns with Kevin that the kids would hear the news through an “outside source,” shared “several articles about the importance of talking to the children as a united front” and believed they would go about it together.

“He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced ‘first’ and tell them privately ‘without me present,’” she continues in her claims. “After a 24-year relationship, from his hotel room in Las Vegas, Kevin told our three children that we were getting divorced over a 10-minute Zoom call without me present. I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later. He also could have easily come home from Las Vegas to have the conversation in person.”

A source close to the actor notes that Christine filed for divorce while Kevin was filming on location. “He FaceTimes all the time with the kids when he is away working,” says the source.

[From People]

Okay, I understand why she didn’t tell the kids solo – because she was genuinely hoping that she and Kevin could do it together, and again, she was prepared and did her research. Costner decided to disregard her request and (I would assume) make everything sound like Christine’s fault when he spoke to their kids. Nevermind the fact that Christine has truly been the primary caregiver and stay-at-home parent to those kids all of their lives. Nevermind the fact that Costner is, at best, a habitually absent parent whose idea of spending time with his children is Zooming with them for ten minutes from one of his location shoots. Kevin Costner is such a jerk, my god.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

From CB: I bought this six pack of vegan soap by Bali Soap about a week ago. The set is under $18 making them about $3 each. You get six different scents, they smell natural and not too perfumey, and they have a rich, luxurious feel that leaves your skin clean and soft. These soaps would make a great gift for yourself or for a friend. Here are some more things Rosie and I are looking at on Amazon.

Mosquito bands for easy all day protection

From CB: Mosquito bands are an easy, safe way to keep mosquitos off, especially for children and people who don’t like bug spray on their skin. These Buggy Bands brand mosquito repellent bracelets can also be used as anklets or hair ties. These are all natural and DEET free. They have 2,300 ratings, 4.2 stars and a B on Fakespot. People say they really work to deter mosquitos. “They are great for all ages. You can wear them on your wrist or even ankle. I keep a few in the car for unplanned hikes.” “Was skeptical, but did not get 1 mosquito bite and I saw them around me.”

Flattering leggings you’ll want in several colors

From CB: I’m always looking for new leggings. These cute compression leggings by Aoxjox come in sizes xx-small to 3x and in 50 different prints and colors, all under $30 and some around $21. They have over 3,800 ratings, 4.4 stars and a B on Fakespot. They’re said to be just as good as more expensive brands and to be comfortable, flattering and squat proof. “I never write a review but this leggings got me on a chokehold I bought 1 pair and literally went back and bought 4 more in different colors. Best workout and basically every day leggings for me.” “These are great. Really flattering, comfortable, stay in place, no camel toe, and hair/lint doesn’t stick to them.”

An affordable solar power bank for more outdoor fun

From CB: This solar power bank by Yeomin is currently on sale for under $19. It has two USB ports and is compatible with both iPhone and Android. It’s also waterproof and can be recharged with sunlight or electricity. This listing has almost 3,500 ratings, 4.3 stars and a B on Fakespot. People say the battery works well and is especially handy for camping. “I needed a charger that would recharge quickly and this does. It’s great for camping, hiking, power outages. Charges my phone quickly.” “I’ve used this during storms, deep freezes, camping, and just running errands. It’s got a great battery life and a handy built in flashlight. It will automatically charge itself with solar power whenever it senses sunlight. it even charges itself using the sunlight that filters in through my tote bag when I’m on the move.”

An accurate digital smart scale

From Rosie: I bought this scale five years ago when I was looking for one that broke down your body metrics. Even if I don’t always like what it says, I love it as a scale, haha. The app is easy to set up and use, and you can have multiple users. The Renpho Smart Scale is an affordable $20, has almost 280,000 reviews and 4.7 stars on ReviewMeta. Reviewers also appreciate how neat it is to have a scale that tracks your metrics. “I like the ability to track your body metrics and weight over time using the app (the line graphs in particular).” “Over [my] lifetime I’ve had plenty of different scales that claim to do different things but this scale offers more useful health information about yourself at this price point then any other comparison.”

A kids’ full face snorkel mask for more summer fun

From Rosie: This one’s another recommendation from my sister. She said it’s the “best pool toy ever” and reviewers agree. This snorkel comes in six different colors and lets kids play under water with ease. It has more than a 4.8 star rating, 1,600 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. Parents are raving about how great this product is. “These were great for our recent beach vacation. They kept the rough waves & salt water out of my kiddos eyes & mouth.” “My 4 year old son absolutely loves this mask! … It’s super easy to use and water does not get through.” “I assumed that this product couldn’t possibly work as perfectly as it claims, but it does!!! My 6yo and 9yo sons are enchanted with it. This is seriously the most miraculous thing I have ever bought on Amazon.”

A wall-mounted toothbrush dispenser to streamline your bathroom counter

From Rosie: I came across this while searching for Father’s Day presents for my husband, but I think I need to pick this up for my kids because they are messy teeth-brushers. This mounted toothbrush holder comes with magnetic cups and provides extra storage space. It has a 4.5 star rating, almost 200 reviews, and a B on Fakespot. Reviewers find it a helpful addition to their bathroom. “It’s so nice on my wall and gives me so much counter space! It is very simple to take apart and clean.” “This is great for organization. It adhered to [the] wall easily. Toothpaste dispenser works like a charm.” “Love this! Saves space on our small counter, keeps it organized!”

Beach coasters that keep sand out of your drinks

From Rosie: I love the beach but I hate how sandy everything gets! These super cute coasters are only $13 for a set-of-4 and have a 4.7 star rating, more than 1,400 reviews, and an A on Fakespot. Reviewers agree that they are incredibly convenient to have and work really well to keep sand out of your drinks. “I was able to use each to hold the drink, lotion, and other things I brought to the beach, and nothing got sandy! They stayed put in the sand so nothing moved or fell over.” “If you are going to the beach these are a must have. Keeps sand off your drinks, easy to clean and travels easily in a beach bag.” “I bought these for my bachelorette weekend down the beach and LOVED them. They fit skinny cans, skinny cans with coasters and bigger cans and water bottles.”

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Stephen A. Smith is a longtime ESPN commentator, popular for his shady and humorous commentary. There are a lot of memes and GIFs of him. Smith also had a podcast, and this week, he decided to chime in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Spotify mess. Keep in mind, Smith also knows Bill Simmons, the Spotify executive who called Harry and Meghan “f–king grifters” – Simmons used to work at ESPN before he was sh-tcanned for his disrespectful behavior within the network. Interesting sidenote: while Simmons has been on the record about his support of former ESPN journalist Jemele Hill, Hill is escaping Spotify too. Hill and Spotify announced they were parting ways before the Sussexes/Spotify story happened. But of course, everything always happens in a silo with the Sussexes, right? It’s never about the larger story. In any case, Stephen A. Smith decided to chat about the Sussexes, so here you go:

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, has said the couple are only interesting when “insulting their family.”

“If Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex ain’t complaining about the royal family, I don’t know if anybody cares what they have to say,” Smith said on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show. “… I’m not trying to dog [Meghan] like she doesn’t have any talent or anything like that. She did damn good on Suits… I love Suits. Matter of fact, I’m gonna watch it again. But what I’m saying is, you don’t really care what they have to say unless they’re insulting their family.”

Smith also addressed the critical comments made of the couple by his former ESPN colleague Bill Simmons.

He said: “I like Bill. I respect the hell out of Bill Simmons, ain’t no shade here. But Bill Simmons was going off… Bill Simmons seemed very happy they were gone.”

Smith, added “I never knew what the hell ‘grifters’ meant. So I had to look it up….In all seriousness, he’s qualified to say that. I am not, because I know nothing of them. I know nothing about their [Spotify] deal… I didn’t think that was necessary, but then again, he works at Spotify, not me. So he knows more than I would ever know about that particular situation, which means it came from a personal place.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“He works at Spotify” – which is why Simmons’ comments were so ridiculous. It’s an asinine way to do business for a Spotify executive to publicly trash two people who were under contract at his company. It’s bad management, it’s bad PR (for Spotify) and it blew up in Simmons face in real time as Spotify’s golden goose Joe Rogan hosted an hour-long conversation with one of the most despicable anti-vaxxers in America, Robert Kennedy Jr, and then Rogan spent the f–king weekend arguing with a immunologist on Twitter! I mean, y’all want to talk about grifters…

As for Smith’s comment about “you don’t really care what they have to say unless they’re insulting their family” – this has become some kind of bizarre talking point in the past week, with commentators suggesting that the Sussexes’ only thing is talking sh-t about the Windsors. Like… Meghan had a whole popular podcast that wasn’t about that? I guess Smith missed it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Here are photos from Royal Ascot Day 2. Once again, the Prince and Princess of Wales didn’t bother to go to Ascot. It was Prince William’s birthday, I’m sure he wanted to spend his special day with… someone other than his father and stepmother. King Charles and Queen Camilla were in attendance for the second day (they plan to go every day), and Princess Anne and her daughter Zara Tindall were also in attendance for the second day. Someone new popped up: the Duchess of Edinburgh, who rode in a carriage alongside her husband Prince Edward. No word yet on whether the Sussexes were the hot topic of Royal Ascot’s Day 2.

Fashion notes: Camilla wore a pink coat dress by Anna Valentine, one of her go-to designers. That makes it even more notable that Camilla wore Dior on Day 1. Camilla also wore a Philip Treacy hat, because Ascot is all about hats. Speaking of, Zara’s ensemble clashes – a navy dress with a bright green hat? And silver shoes? These people have no style. That dress is f–king hideous too. Meanwhile, Sophie wore a £3,450 silk dress from Suzannah, which is way too expensive for this frumpy frock. Anne looks like Anne – I bet she’s had that whole ensemble in her closet for thirty years, if not longer (you can tell).

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Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.

Prince William turned 41 years old on Wednesday with little fanfare. William and his wife tend to tell rather than show, and they like to use their birthdays to explain how the coming year in their lives will be much different, that they have big plans, that they are amazing people who are perfect in every way. That didn’t happen this year on Kate’s birthday – we were spared the birthday keenery because Prince Harry released Spare that week. I wondered if we get something, anything from William – well, it looks like Peg got his office to brief Katie Nicholl for a Vanity Fair exclusive. Some highlights:

No big birthday plans: While there is no big birthday celebration planned – sources close to William say there will be a low-key birthday tea at the family’s home in Windsor — the next year promises to be anything but quiet for the royal.

William’s adjustment: According to those close to him, the prince has adjusted “exceptionally well” to his new role as Prince of Wales, comfortably stepping into his father’s shoes whilst eager to map out his own agenda. His conservation initiative, The Earthshot Prize, has so far been a great success and last weekend plans for a new five-year plan to tackle homelessness in Britain were revealed.

He’ll spend more time in Wales now that he’s PoW: William is also looking forward to spending more time in Wales, according to those close to him, as he is keen to forge an even closer connection with the country. The couple… plan to visit Wales frequently. According to one palace source, the prince is keen to forge a close relationship with the country, pointing out: “The prince has focused on Wales since becoming Prince of Wales. Expect to see regular visits as he and the princess are keen to visit more regularly.”

His home life is very settled: “There’s a sense that right now his life is both settled but about to take an exciting turn,” said a family friend. “His 41st year will mark his first full year as Prince of Wales and he’s already laying down the markers for what that will look like. His home life is very established and settled. He and Catherine really feel they have the balance just right between their public roles and being a family unit. They love living a less visible life in Windsor, and after a pretty momentous year William is looking forward to putting the drama of the past behind him and new beginnings.”

How William feels about Harry: “There’s relief that the drama is over and done with and now he and Catherine can get on with their lives doing what they are passionate about without any distractions,” added the family friend.

His keenery: His new [homelessness] venture will be launched in conjunction with the Royal Foundation, his and Kate’s charitable forum. William who has inherited the Duchy of Cornwall land also said he plans to allow social housing to be built on parts of the royal estate for the first time. This coupled with his continued work around mental health awareness and the Earthshot Prize will form the cornerstones of his work as Prince of Wales along with supporting his father at home and overseas. It is expected that William and Kate will carry out an overseas tour later this year although Kensington Palace has yet to announce plans.

[From Vanity Fair]

Oh, an overseas tour? Probably the trip to Singapore for Earthshot, I would imagine. They’ll tack on another country and they’ll go scuba diving and day-drinking and call it a “royal tour.” Their trip to Boston last year was supposed to be a royal tour, sort of, only it was a flop, just like their Caribbean tour last year too. As for visiting Wales… these royal sources keep emphasizing that it’s only NOW that William is committed to spending time in Wales, now that he’s Prince of Wales. Like, did he not expect to inherit the title or something? He was literally waiting to be PoW for forty years, he didn’t think to start building up relationships within Wales before now?

“His home life is very established and settled. He and Catherine really feel they have the balance just right between their public roles and being a family unit.” I kind of believe this, in that William has found a situation which works for him: Kate takes care of the kids, he visits and gets them some weekends, and he has ample time and privacy to get up to God knows what. He gets to keep his image as a devoted family man and he gets to trim rose bushes whenever he wants.

As for the “relief” that the Sussex “distraction” is “over and done with” – yeah, William is the one who has openly briefed the press for years about his incandescent rage over every little thing the Sussexes do. Let’s see if William can even go one full month without some “source close to William” rage-shrieking about Harry.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

As I said yesterday, I’m more interested in hearing what the trade papers and industry sources are saying about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Spotify mess, as opposed to hearing whatever hysterical and deeply unserious sh-t is coming out of the British media. This week, the Hollywood Reporter did a lot to lower the temperature around the Sussex/Spotify story, putting the whole thing in a much bigger context of what Spotify has done wrong, what market adjustments the company is making and how there are lots of high-profile people fleeing Spotify too, they just don’t have the bright, white, hot spotlight of the Sussexes. Well, Vanity Fair has also done an interesting piece called “Is the Air Coming Out of Harry and Meghan’s Content Balloon?” It was written by Joe Pompeo, one of VF’s journalists on the media/streamer beat. Meaning, his sources are within WME, Spotify and Netflix, not Camilla Tominey’s ass. Some highlights:

Whether Meghan conducted interviews for Archetypes: A source familiar with the Archewell deals said Meghan conducted all of the primary-guest interviews, like those with the Mariah Careys and Mindy Kalings of the world; interviews with secondary voices for certain episodes were handled by a producer, which is not an unheard-of practice.

The Sussexes pitched plenty of other projects: I’m told Harry and Meghan pitched show concepts and acquisitions that Spotify didn’t move forward with; the Obamas, as I previously reported, shared a similar frustration before they left Spotify for Audible.

The state of the Sussexes’ Netflix contract, according to the UK papers: The end of Spotify’s Sussex experiment has of course kicked up speculation about the future of Harry and Meghan’s $100 million deal with Netflix. The Sun’s US website says the deal is “unlikely” to be renewed, with a source suggesting, “The feeling is that the lemon has been fully squeezed.” Of course it was only weeks ago that The Sun’s UK newsroom suggested Harry and Meghan were set to produce more content from “behind the Netflix cameras” now that the tell-all “period of their life is over—as there is nothing left to say,” in the words of an “insider.” Which is it?

The reality of the Sussexes’ Netflix deal: “The Netflix deal is in better shape than it ever has been,” according to my source familiar with the Archewell deals, who said Harry’s Heart of Invictus documentary is slated for later this summer, and that there are “various projects in development that haven’t been announced that all parties are really excited about.” (Requisite caveat: Anything can happen.)

Again, they’ve got WME on their side: To be fair to Harry and Meghan, their haters are legion and the schadenfreude runs deep. It’s also not as if they’re chugging along without capable representation to negotiate future contracts. On the contrary, Meghan and Archewell Productions are, as of April, represented by WME, the powerhouse talent firm that will now explore “film and television production, brand partnerships, and overall business-building” with the Sussexes, according to Variety. Responding to the Spotify news, a WME rep told the Journal, “Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.” (WME had nothing to add.)

The future of Brand Sussex: And yet, the $100 million question remains: Does the world really want any more content from Harry and Meghan, let alone content that isn’t about them? I found one possible answer to that question in a Tuesday column from The Guardian’s Marina Hyde. “Experience and ratings continue to reveal that where the Sussexes are concerned, people want to watch them complain about their lives and their treatment by the royal family,” she wrote. “That is the sole genre in which Meghan and Harry truly pull in the eyeballs—which, considering they are literally the only people working in it, still feels like theirs to dominate.”

[From Vanity Fair]

“The Netflix deal is in better shape than it ever has been… [there are] various projects in development that haven’t been announced that all parties are really excited about.” Well, that’s good. There’s so much “but what have you done for us lately” about the past week of gloom and doom – the Sussexes delivered a popular podcast, a hit Netflix docu-series and a massive bestseller memoir, and all of those successful projects came out within a six months time-frame, a period which also saw Harry’s grandmother keel over right after she met Liz Truss. It’s been… a lot. Anyway, looking forward to Heart of Invictus and looking forward to what feels like the Sussexes signing on to Audible or some other podcasting platform.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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It’s interesting how biopics seem to be coming in pairs lately. I first noticed that Tom Holland and Jamie Bell both have Fred Astaire biopics in production. (The Old Hollywood nerd in me thinks both of them are a bad idea but I have a little bit more faith in Jamie to carry it off.) Now, hot on the heels of Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis, Sofia Coppola is releasing a related biopic about Elvis’ wife Priscilla. I’m sure I read about it when it went into production but it fell out of my memory. The trailer just came out for Sofia’s movie, called simply Priscilla, and I have to say, I’m intrigued. Jacob Elordi from Euphoria plays Elvis, and Cailee Spaeny from Mare of Easttown is Priscilla. More details about the movie:

The official synopsis: “When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend,” reads A24’s synopsis for Priscilla. “Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.”

Jacob Elordi says word salad about Old Hollywood actors: “I was just like, damn, Elvis Presley wanted to be James Dean. He wanted to be Marlon Brando. I’ve researched almost every actor from that time period, and I passed [Elvis] off as an entertainer and singer. But then he was an actor. I guess, in a way, I’m trying to learn from these people,” said Elordi at the time. “Because I obviously don’t have any friends that have been through the same thing, really, so they’re almost like guiding beacons,” he added.

How Sofia’s movie will be different from Elvis: “I loved how Baz approached his story in a very collage-y way, but I’m glad it didn’t go into much of Priscilla’s story because now I can really dive deep. I think Baz is so unique and his take on that story was so creative,” said Coppola. “But Priscilla is such a minor character in that film, so I never felt like I was treading on the same territory. I love that people were so into his film about Elvis, and now in a few years there’ll be another film about Priscilla. I think it’ll be interesting to have two completely different interpretations of the same events and time period,” she said.

[From People]

We’ll see if Jacob Elordi can cut the mustard as a passable Elvis, especially after Austin Butler’s career-making turn, but I have my doubts. The fact that Jacob compared himself to Elvis, James Dean and Marlon Brando, even indirectly, doesn’t bode well for the size of his ego. Those three men left eternal marks on American culture and are some of the most influential performers of the last century. Jacob, as far as I’m concerned, is just an Australian dude with an unusually prominent Adam’s apple. He has all the charisma of room temperature oatmeal. But I have not seen Euphoria, so maybe I’m being too hard on him.

The elephant in the room with all of this is that Priscilla was underage when she met Elvis. She was fourteen, and he was an incredibly famous 24-year-old man. For a lot of people that’s reason enough to not watch this movie, and I understand that. The thing I’ve always appreciated about Sofia Coppola’s work is how well she captures female alienation. Roger Ebert wrote something in a review for Sofia’s movie Marie Antoinette that struck a chord with me and I’ve always remembered it since. To him, Marie Antoinette was about “the loneliness of being female and surrounded by a world that knows how to use you but not how to value and understand you.” To me Marie Antoinette is a masterpiece (controversial, I know). I think, judging by the 45 seconds of the trailer, Sofia will take a similar approach here with Priscilla. We will see the whole story from Priscilla’s point of view, including the power imbalance between her and Elvis. I think it’s going to be good.

Kim Kardashian covers Time Magazine’s “Most Influential Companies” issue. I know many people like to rip Kim to shreds over everything and anything, but can I just say? She caught lightning in a bottle with Skims, which is the “most influential company” she’s highlighting here. She turned shapewear and beige underwear into a literal three-billion-dollar business. Skims reportedly brought in $500 million last year, and it will probably keep growing. While Skims is definitely Kim’s most successful business, it’s far from her only successful business – she’s also got a self-branded skincare line, perfume line, beauty line, and she’s expanding Skims in many different directions. Some highlights from Kim’s interview:

All of her businesses before Skims: “At the beginning, when I didn’t really understand where my career was going because I was just kind of winging it, I would do licensing deals with a lot of different companies that would contradict themselves, like a cupcake brand with a weight-loss pill at the same time,” she says. With Skims, “I feel like, OK, I did it.”

Skims keeps growing and growing: “Obviously you have big hopes, but this definitely exceeded everything that I ever imagined,” says Kardashian, who began to sense the brand would be a hit when she walked into “some Holly­wood party” and was greeted by a guest raising her top to flash her Skims. “I still have, like, impostor syndrome or whatever. But I think that’s part of what keeps me going.”

How Kim started Skims: “It started off with simply finding shapewear that was a skin tone that would match my color. I used to take my shapewear and dye it with tea bags and coffee in the bathtub.” It was an imperfect method; she had to wear soaking-wet shapewear under her clothes at Cannes after one last-minute dye job. A fan of dramatic slits, she would cut one leg off her Spanx and then tape the cut edge to her thigh so it didn’t roll up. Skims isn’t the first to offer 10 skin tones (from “sand” to “onyx”), and sizes from XXS to 4X, but some of the unusual shapes, such as one-legged or the low-back version, were new even to fashion cognoscenti.

She put her own money into Skims: Kardashian has put her own money into Skims and is the biggest shareholder. She’s also usually the fit model, which can mean hours of trying on tight underwear every week. She estimates she has tried on north of 7,000 items. “I always like to see it on myself,” she says. “I can absolutely tell when I miss a few drops.” On top of that, she’s Skims’ creative director, choosing the fabrics, the cuts, and the campaign concepts, photographers, and models, when they’re not her.

Allowing North West to have a TikTok account, despite Kanye’s complaints: “As soon as I saw the words, I was like, ‘Oh no, we’re taking this down,’” says Kardashian, who sees TikTok as an important outlet for the oldest of her four children. “I saw on the internet, [people saying] ‘Kanye was right,’ and maybe he was in that instance. But she loves making slime videos and doing her little hair tutorials, and I will fight for her to be creative.”

Paying a $1.26 million settlement with the SEC for not disclosing she was paid to promote a crypto product. “What I learned was to not really trust everyone in spaces that you don’t really know about. I try to not make the same mistakes twice.”

She may have a “time stamp.” “I understand that maybe in my 50s, I’m not going to be wanting to pose in my underwear,” she says. She hopes to cut back her appearances and pose in slightly fewer campaigns each year. But she’s also not giving up on what made her famous without a fight. “We’ll do anything we can to look as young as we can. We’re not going to go out not trying.”

[From Time]

Yeah, Kim has managed to be the face and model for Skims, while also expanding the vision of Skims to add other faces and models at the spur of the moment. Kim’s business partner in Skims remarks that Kim is one of the best “creatives” he’s ever worked with, that she’s got great instincts on everything from packaging to advertising to social media footprint. Which I believe. It’s also a little bit funny to me that she’s still trying to do other businesses but nothing has caught fire like Skims.

Photos courtesy of Kim’s IG, cover courtesy of Time.