Spoilers for Barbie.

New York Times columnist Jessica Bennett organized a special outing and wrote about it in a column this week. The outing? Taking noted feminist author Susan Faludi to a matinee of Barbie and asking Faludi what she thought about it. Faludi seemed to enjoy it, and she even has some theories about the feminism and backlash politics contained within the film. As I read through the (overwritten and overwrought) column, I sort of agreed with her? Faludi thinks that the film is about abortion and the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. I agree that I think it was really pointed that much of the third act of the film hinged on voting, the Barbieland constitution, patriarchal overreach and, in the final moment, a trip to the gynecologist. Some highlights from this NYT column:

Faludi’s immediate reaction: “I mean, you couldn’t write the script without 30 years of women’s studies,” Ms. Faludi said as the lights came up. “It seems to me that a big theme underlying the movie is shock and horror over what happened to us — what happened to women — from 2016 on, with the double whammy of Trump and then Dobbs. And in particular, I thought abortion was the subtext to a lot.”

Ms. Faludi explains. “I mean, it begins with little girls playing with dolls learning the origin story of Barbie — and the rejection of the idea that women can just be mothers. It ends with her going to the gynecologist.”

Ms. Faludi went on to outline a series of other allusions to our present moment: In an early montage introducing viewers to Barbieland, lawyer Barbie speaks before the Supreme Court about the idea of personhood — “which immediately made me think of attempts to create the unborn as ‘persons,’” Ms. Faludi said. Later, the Kens attempt to change the Constitution, amid Barbie lamenting how hard they had worked to create Barbieland, and “You can’t just undo it in a day.” (To which Ken responds, “Literally — and figuratively — watch me.”) Ms. Faludi’s take? “I mean, that’s what happened on Election Day of 2016.”

The Midge problem: And then there’s Midge, the doll once marketed as Barbie’s best friend, and the one pregnant doll in the Barbie universe, before she was discontinued. (You could remove Midge’s belly and baby intact from her body and then magnetically reattach it. It was weird.) Midge and her bump are in the film, too, repeatedly — a ghost that the fictional Mattel executives, and everyone else, just wish would go away. She’s there for laughs, but squint hard enough, Ms. Faludi suggested, and you could also see her as “the specter of Dobbs.”

Barbie ofers genuine catharsis. “Perhaps what’s going on,” Ms. Faludi wrote me in an email a few days after the screening, “is that women are finding a way to explore their anger about recent history without feeling like they have to drown themselves in the bathtub (in real water)….Only Barbie could say, ‘By giving voice to the cognitive dissonance required to be a woman under the patriarchy, you robbed it of its power!’ and turn it into a laugh line.”

[From The NY Times]

Yeah… as I said, I think Faludi makes a very good case. Is every part of the movie about abortion and feminism? No, but there’s tons of subtext (and just plain upfront text) about personhood, feminism, bodily autonomy, women’s right to “choose” and the political realities of being a woman in a modern society. I also noted, as I watched the film, that Ken’s line of “Literally — and figuratively — watch me” was actually frightening. They play it off later on, but making Ken drunk on his own patriarchal power and hellbent on achieving a completely male autocracy, a Kenocracy, was a huge f–king choice.

Photos and posters courtesy of Warner Bros/Barbie.

If you choose to briefly forget about King Charles and Queen (Consort) Camilla’s overwhelming awfulness for a moment, you might actually enjoy these photos. Like, I really can’t stand either of them at this point, but even a bitter hag like me thought “wow, they looked kind of cute at this event.” On Wednesday, the king and queen attended the Sandringham Flower Show. They arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. Charles wore a snazzy summer suit complete with a coordinated tie and pocket square, a cute boutonnière, two small brooches, a Panama hat and a pair of plastic-rimmed sunglasses. Imagine Tom Wolfe as a British king… I think it would have looked like this.

As for Camilla… I’ve admitted this before, but I like Camilla’s housedresses. That’s what they are, they’re old-school housedresses, like women used to wear in the 1950s. Simple silhouettes and material (cotton), usually a knee-length A-line, sometimes a half-shirtdress, with a built-in cloth belt. She has a lot of them in various florals and those housedresses are her preferred look for daywear. Wednesday’s housedress was from Fiona Clare and it was a custom look. She’s absolutely getting Fiona Clare and other designers to just make the same dress in different fabrics.

Page Six also noted that Camilla wore her Sole Bliss (orthopedic) heels, which she’s worn more than 80 times. She also accessorized with her favorite Van Cleef and Arpels Alhambra bracelet in blue, which retails for $4800. She has a lot of Alhambra pieces in all different colors, but that blue bracelet is one of her faves. She also wore a Kiki McDonough blue topaz pendant ($1,937) and carried a nude Bottega Veneta tote ($5,200).

I think C&C looked so happy because Kate wasn’t there, trying to steal their thunder…like she did at the Chelsea Flower Show. Where was Kate, btw? Isn’t the cover story that Kate and William are spending the summer in Norfolk? Shouldn’t they attend the Sandringham Flower Show too?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Back in March of this year, Senate Minority Leader “Moscow” Mitch McConnell had a “fall” at a “hotel” in Washington. No one really nailed down the circumstances of the fall, and to this day, I’ve never heard the names of anyone with McConnell when he fell or the circumstances of the fall. Did we even learn why he was in a hotel in the first place? No, I don’t think we did. Everything about the “fall” was hushed up, and Moscow Mitch was not seen or heard from for weeks afterwards. At first, he was recuperating at home, and then they said he was doing in-patient physical rehab. Moscow Mitch returned to the Senate in April/May and I guess I wasn’t paying attention. This man looks like ten kinds of hell, but he’d had that sickly look for a while, honestly. Well, Moscow Mitch was trying to do his weekly press conference on Wednesday and the man just froze in front of the cameras:

First of all, before he froze, he already sounded and looked like he was recovering from a stroke. As for the deep freeze… experts are saying it could have been a stroke or a seizure. I’ve watched the video a few times already – look at the Republican senators behind him. Senator Thune was the one who took over the press conference after Sen. Barrasso escorted Mitch away from the podium. About twelve minutes after McConnell was escorted away, he came back and spoke off-the-cuff to some reporters, telling them that he’s “fine” and he just “felt light-headed.”

The cable news networks had some doctors on air to consult and they were all like “yeah, he should see a doctor, he should go to a hospital.” If the Republican Party is fine with having cold, clammy, half-dead Mitch McConnell out there, so be it. Instead of worrying about that despicable old man’s health, think about all of the disgusting things he’s done with his power: shoved a sexual predator and a Quiverfull dipsh-t princess onto the Supreme Court; expressed his desire for a national abortion ban; used his office to try to make Barack Obama a one-term president; does everything to cut and end Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; never supported equal pay; pledged absolute fealty to Donald Trump and on and on. Let this motherf–ker rot.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Ariana Grande has had an enormous amount of public sympathy in recent years. The turning point was the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, where terrorists set off pipe bombs during Ariana’s 2017 concert. Twenty-two people died and over a thousand people were injured. Ariana was beyond devastated, and she was extremely brave to return to Manchester after the bombing, to raise money for the families and support the community. Ariana had so much goodwill after that. And… it’s kind of over. Ariana dumped her husband Dalton Gomez and carried on with Ethan Slater, a man with a wife and baby at home. Ari blew up this guy’s life just because she was bored in London, working on Wicked. Speaking of, Ethan Slater has now filed for divorce:

Ariana Grande’s boyfriend wants a totally clean slate going into his new relationship with the singer … filing to divorce his estranged wife. According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ethan Slater decided to legally end things Wednesday with Lilly Jay … filing divorce papers in New York. We don’t yet know the specific reason Ethan’s listed for the split.

Ethan and Lilly were high school sweethearts — getting hitched back in 2018 — and welcomed a son together last year.

[From TMZ]

The divorce news came just hours after TMZ posted this story, where Ethan’s wife Lilly Jay is refusing to go quietly. Lilly is telling people that she feels like Ethan abandoned his family as he’s entered a full-blown relationship with Ari:

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s romance came as a surprise to the Broadway actor’s now-estranged wife who feels he abandoned his family … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lilly Jay — who married Slater back in 2018 — tell us she’s devastated her family’s been torn apart. She’s also upset their young son, who was born in August 2022, won’t have both his mom and dad around constantly, now that they’ve split.

Our sources say Lilly and Ethan aren’t on good terms now that the Ariana relationship is full steam ahead. We’re also told, for her part, Lilly feels like he’s completely turned his back on his family.

What’s more, we’re told Ariana actually used to hang out with both Ethan and Lilly while they were still a happily married couple, and she even liked his Instagram tribute to Lilly on Mother’s Day this year. Remember, we’re told Ariana and Ethan’s romantic relationship started several months ago. The whole thing has left Lilly feeling betrayed and heartbroken … according to our sources.

Additional sources close to the situation tell us, “It’s understandable that emotions are high and it’s hard seeing your ex move on, especially in such a public way, and her friends are trying to protect her. But Ari and Ethan are just trying to lay low and be respectful of their exes as they pursue this new relationship.”

[From TMZ]

Other people were making this point on Twitter (X): Ethan blew up his marriage for a woman who barely stays in relationships for a year at a time. It could be that Ari will pull a Full Miranda Lambert and make a big show of sticking this one out for a while. But I doubt it. Ethan also sounds like a total douchebag, my god.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Prince Harry is involved in so many lawsuits against the British tabloids, even I get confused. This update is about Harry’s lawsuit against the Sun, which is part of News Group Newspapers, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in the UK. Harry is alleging the same thing across the board, which is that all of these media outlets hacked his phones, spied on him, gathered information about him illegally, stalked and harassed his girlfriends and friends, blagged, and on and on. Harry’s case against the Sun was of particular interest because Harry revealed that the Sun had secretly paid Prince William a seven-figure settlement in 2020, and that QEII had some kind of arrangement with the tabloids to not pursue legal action circa 2010-12. Well, here’s the update:

The Duke of Sussex’s claim over allegations of unlawful information gathering against the publisher of the Sun will go ahead to a trial, after a high court ruling. Harry, 38, alleges he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, and has launched a claim for damages.

At a hearing in April, NGN asked Mr Justice Fancourt to throw out the duke’s case, arguing it was brought too late because he should have known sooner he had a potential claim. In a ruling on Thursday, the judge concluded that Harry could not bring his claim relating to phone hacking, but that his claim over other allegations – including use of private investigators – should go ahead to a trial, which is due to take place in January next year.

The judge also refused to allow the duke to rely on an alleged “secret agreement” between the royal family and senior executives working for media mogul Rupert Murdoch as part of his claim.

In his written ruling, the judge concluded: “I am satisfied that there is no reasonable prospect of the duke proving at trial that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have discovered facts that would show that he had a worthwhile claim for voicemail interception in relation to each of the News Of The World and the Sun. He already knew that in relation to the News Of The World, and he could easily have found out by making basic inquiries that he was likely to have a similar claim in relation to articles published by the Sun.”

Harry’s lawyers previously argued that NGN’s challenge to his claim was an attempt to go behind the alleged “secret agreement”, between the royal family as an institution and the publisher, which the duke was told of in 2012. Fancourt said in his ruling that the duke had not “provided any evidence from those in the palace who would have been aware of a secret agreement if there was one”.

At a hearing in London earlier this month, lawyers for the duke said there was evidence to support the existence of the agreement, including emails between senior executives at the Rupert Murdoch-owned parent companies of NGN and palace staff in 2017 and 2018. David Sherborne, for Harry, also said in written arguments the fact the Prince of Wales settled a claim against NGN “for a very large sum of money” in 2020 also “supports the contention that there was a secret agreement in place”.

[From The Guardian]

While I’m glad Harry’s case will go to trial – and this one is a solo venture, he’s not part of a case with multiple plaintiffs on this one – it does feel like the judge is kneecapping Harry’s lawsuit significantly. Harry’s argument was always: back then, in 2010-12, I didn’t ask questions, I did as I was told, and I was told that the palace had an agreement with NGN to avoid litigation and quietly settle. The judge is saying that Harry can’t make that argument because he doesn’t have evidence of a secret palace agreement. Like… the fact that William took a secret settlement in 2020 is the evidence. The fact that no royal before Harry openly sued the Sun for phone-hacking and criminal activities is the evidence of the secret agreement.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

While I find most of Blake Lively’s red carpet looks goofy, she usually does a good job at the Met Gala. To me, the Met Gala isn’t a costume ball, to borrow from red carpet bloggers Tom and Lorenzo. The “theme” should influence how people look but it shouldn’t always be super literal (except the one year when the theme was camp). You know, when Jared Leto showed up this year wearing a whole ass cat mascot costume, dressed as a six foot tall Choupette, I rolled my eyes so hard I almost gave myself an ocular migraine. I like that Blake’s looks reference the themes and are still dramatic without being completely costume-y. Her preferred aesthetic is also a bit “trophy wife” but if I looked like that I too would show off my hotness. Her 2022 look, which referenced the Statue of Liberty, featured a dramatic reveal on the stairs where the skirt got changed around. Now that gown is in an exhibit at Kensington Palace called Crown to Couture. It’s supposedly about how contemporary red carpet looks reference the 18th century Georgian period, an era between 1714 – roughly 1830. I don’t know that much about Georgian fashion so I’ll have to take their word for it, but it features dresses worn by everybody from Audrey Hepburn to Beyonce to Lizzo, so it’s probably worth seeing if you’re in London. When Blake visited the exhibit, she apparently thought the curators had made a mistake with how they displayed the dress. So she jumped over the rope and adjusted it herself!

On Tuesday, the Gossip Girl alum posted an Instagram story of her jumping over the ropes at the Crown to Couture exhibit in London’s Kensington Palace to quickly alter the display of her famous gown.

“When you’re the clown who hops over the rope at the museum to fix the exhibit,” Lively, 35, captioned over her video. “Happy almost Virgo season folx.”

“So that you see what the transformation was,” the actress added, while crouched down, before turning the inside of the dress to face outwards on its center part with some assistance from jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz.

Lively’s dress appears alongside 200 other pieces at the exhibit inside Princess Diana’s former home, including Lizzo’s 2022 Met Gala Thom Browne look and Lady Gaga’s 2020 MTV Awards dress by Christopher John Rogers.

The exhibition also features a number of historic gowns as it tells the story of how rock and red carpet fashion has been influenced by the royals of the Georgian era in the 18th century.

The mom-of-four also took time to admire the crown Schwartz created for her to wear with the dress at the 2022 Met Gala.

“This was absolutely surreal. Seeing this crown that we made in Kensington Palace,” Lively captioned a follow-up post of her smiling beside a display cabinet. “I still feel like a kid playing dress up every time I get to wear a gown and borrowed jewels out. To see it memorialized like this… just. Wow. Something I’ll never forget.”

[From People]

There isn’t context in the clip from Instagram and it’s not on her stories anymore so I’m guessing she asked the exhibit staff for permission before she did this? The dress was custom-made for Blake and it’s not like she messed with one of the gowns from the 18th century. But still, it comes off a little bit rude to me. I’m sure whoever dressed that mannequin did it with great care. People who work as museum curators or conservationists typically have the most incredible attention to detail. They probably looked at dozens of reference photos and arranged the dress in a certain way on purpose. Plus, the exhibit space is different from the Met Museum steps, so it won’t look exactly like it did in that moment when the skirt changed around. I guess it is a Virgo-like thing to do. One of my friends is a Virgo and I lovingly refer to her as an Australian shepherd because she is always herding people and attempting to organize things according to her extremely high standards. But calling it “almost Virgo season” when it’s Leo season until the 23rd of August is…well, kind of something I’d expect from a fire sign like myself. We can’t stand not being in the spotlight.

As an aside, because this story involves Kensington Palace: I lived across the street from Kensington Palace when I studied abroad. We had a few sightings of the princes and Kate. One day my American classmate came home from the high street overjoyed because she’d just seen Prince Harry with his protection officer in TK Maxx buying underwear and socks. That was over ten years ago, so when he talked about shopping at TK Maxx in his book, I knew he was telling the truth, however implausible it seemed! (He preferred boxers, in case anyone wondered.)

photos credit: Backgrid and Instar

When SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher announced in mid July that the union was going on strike against AMPTP, she gave a barn-burner of a speech in a press conference. She laid it out clearly that this fight was about protecting labor against greedy corporations. Since that turning point actors have been organized and showing up on the picket lines and at rallies. On Tuesday Bryan Cranston joined a rally in New York’s Times Square, where he gave a passionate speech of his own, in which he name-checked Disney CEO Bob Iger and decried the use of AI to replace actors (all the more timely given Netflix’s latest job listing for an AI manager, annual salary $300 – $900K). Yahoo! Entertainment covered highlights of his speech:

Bryan Cranston delivered a fiery speech at a SAG-AFTRA strike rally in Times Square on Tuesday, which included a message directed at Disney head Bob Iger.

“We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger,” Cranston said from the stage of the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally. “I know, sir, that you look [at] things through a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us, and beyond that to listen to us when we tell you we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots. We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly, and most importantly, we will not allow you to take away our dignity! We are union through and through, all the way to the end!”

Cranston began his remarks by saying that there is one thing that all the guilds and the AMPTP fundamentally agree on: “Our industry has changed exponentially.”

“We are not in the same business model we were even 10 years ago,” he said. “And yet, even though they admit that is the truth in today’s economy, they are fighting us tooth and nail to stick to the same economic system that is outmoded, outdated! They want us to step back in time. We cannot and we will not do that.”

[From Yahoo! Entertainment]

I highly recommend watching the video of his speech below. There isn’t much more than what’s quoted above, but he delivers it so, so well. There are a few reasons why I think he’s an effective speaker for the striking actors. For one, he’s finally shaved. Go ahead and laugh at me, but before you do, imagine that Lorax mustache he was sporting at Cannes and tell me he would have had the same gravitas saying “we will not allow you to take away our dignity!” I rest my case.

Second, Cranston straddles a fine line that needs to be heeded from a pr standpoint. On the one hand it’s the successful minority of actors who attract visibility to the cause, but on the other hand, they have to guard against people thinking “oh it’s just rich celebrities wanting more money.” No, the celebrities are there in solidarity with the majority of their guild who are jobbing actors. Cranston is an excellent ambassador here, because while he’s undoubtedly “made it” now, it wasn’t until he was in his 40s that he landed the recurring role on Seinfeld. Which led to more bit parts in TV and film, which a few years later led to his break in Malcolm in the Middle. He knows what it is to be a jobbing actor, and he knows that career path is untenable now with the way streaming has upended the industry.

One final reason I find Cranston an intriguing advocate here: he’s also a director, with a nice resume of TV episodes under his belt. The DGA is the only one of the three guilds to have signed a new contract with AMPTP, a decision that is very rapidly living in infamy. As a union the directors have been conspicuously quiet since the actors joined the writers in striking. Et tu, DGA?

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Snoop Dogg canceled his Hollywood Bowl shows in solidarity with the WGA and SAG strikes. He also thinks the music industry needs to do something. [Just Jared]
Tom Cruise is winning the battle of striking stars. [LaineyGossip]
Doja Cat has lost 250K followers since she bitched out her fans. [Socialite Life]
Cheyenne Jackson is “swole” in a new thirst-trap. [OMG Blog]
Jeopardy might go on hiatus because of the strikes too. [Pajiba]
Robin Roberts outfit looks like it was done on a greenscreen. [Go Fug Yourself]
Would you eat mustard-flavored Skittles? Hork. [Seriously OMG]
I’m left with the impression that Alessandra Ambrosio just posts bikini photos on her social media, all day, every day. [Egotastic]
Funny tweets from women this summer. [Buzzfeed]
Again, everything about that SCOTUS case legalizing LGBTQ discrimination was a lie. It was some bigoted fever dream cooked up by the Federalist Society. [Towleroad]
What was your favorite Halle Bailey promotional look? [RCFA]

The current Princess of Wales has terrible style overall, but particularly when it comes to accessories and jewelry. She has a gift for putting the wrong earrings and necklaces with the wrong necklines, colors and styles. The rare times she is allowed to wear big pieces from the royal collection, she either f–ks up the styling completely or she just brings nothing modern to the table and wanders around, looking like an Edwardian ghost. Something else that I’ve noticed throughout Kate’s entire time as a royal woman: she has no idea how to wear big pieces and no one has ever bothered to teach her. All of which might be why Kate doesn’t get to wear the bigger Royal Collection pieces, even now that Queen Camilla is the keeper of the royal jewels. Well, one of Camilla’s fashion-industry allies, Suzy Menkes, also had some harsh words for Kate’s jewelry-style. This is so funny:

The Princess of Wales has been labelled a ‘disappointment’ in her approach to jewellery by a former Vogue editor. Suzy Menkes, 79, from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, made the scathing comment on the latest episode of her podcast Creative Conversations. The prominent critic – who was awarded an OBE by the late Queen for her contribution to fashion journalism in 2014 – invited British Vogue’s jewellery editor Carol Woolton onto the show, where they discussed the Princess of Wales’ recent outfits.

The former Vogue International editor accused Kate, 41, of appearing indifferent to the collection of rare and precious jewels she is privileged to wear and said she doesn’t seem as passionate about jewels as her mother-in-law Camilla, 75.

She said: ‘The Princess of Wales is a bit of a disappointment about jewellery. She gives the impression that she only puts it on when she absolutely has to. I imagine her looking beautiful in one of those gowns behind the scenes and then pulling a face as if to say, “Do I have to wear this?” She doesn’t give any sense of adoring jewellery and being pleased to put it on.’

Furthermore, the fashion critic highlighted how Queen Camilla – who visited the Monica Vinader headquarters yesterday – seems much more interested in gems. Suzy added: ‘She doesn’t seem to have Camilla’s joy at wearing jewellery.’

However, the critic remains on the fence about whether Kate’s attitude towards jewellery will change as she edges closer to the throne. She continued: ‘We now have a new Queen, so presumably she has a first opportunity to look at the jewels. We can imagine that the next in line to the throne’s wife would be something that was very special, so will we see Catherine wearing jewellery that is more dramatic, that is more personal to her? I don’t know. I can’t help feeling with things of beauty, you either love it or you don’t.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I wouldn’t even say that Camilla finds joy in jewelry – I think Camilla’s joy is the victory itself, the fact that she won, that she’s queen (consort) and to the victor go the spoils. Now, Camilla has always worn big statement pieces, mostly because Charles gave her all of his grandmother’s jewelry, and now that she’s queen, she’s mixing and matching stuff from the Queen Mum’s collection and the Royal Collection. Meanwhile, Camilla is the one limiting Kate’s access to jewelry too – Kate didn’t even get to borrow any Royal Collection jewels for the coronation, for goodness sake. Anyway… I halfway agree that Kate’s jewelry-wearing is rather joyless. Her only real sartorial joy for years now has been copykeening Meghan.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instar and Backgrid.

When President Biden and Dr. Biden first moved into the White House in 2021, their two German Shepherds stayed in Delaware for a time before moving in. Champ was the elderly dog and Major was the younger dog, the one the Bidens fostered and adopted from a Delaware shelter. Soon after the two dogs moved to the White House, Major had some “aggression issues,” or at least that’s what the Secret Service claimed. Major was possibly nipping at various people, if not biting them outright. In any case, Champ and Major both got sent back to Delaware. Champ ended up passing away, but Major is still living with friends or extended Biden family. Then President Biden’s brother gave him a German Shepherd puppy as a gift. The Bidens named the puppy Commander Biden. Commander was given all kinds of training… and it didn’t take. Or maybe the Secret Service people just suck and all the Biden dogs are like “f–k the police.” In any case, Commander is now in big trouble.

President Biden’s dog Commander has found himself in the doghouse after a series of incidents where he bit Secret Service officers on duty at the White House. The German shepherd bit several Secret Service agents a total of 10 times during the four-month period between October 2022 and January 2023, records show. One incident resulted in an agent getting sent to the hospital for treatment.

Tipped to the incidents, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit to get access to 194 pages of emails and texts where Secret Service agents and officials described aggressive encounters with Commander. For example, on Oct. 26, Commander charged at an agent while on a walk with first lady Jill Biden.

“The First Lady couldn’t regain control of Commander and he continued to circle me. I believe it’s only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit,” an email about a Secret Service official said. The names of most agents and officials were redacted.

Days later, on Nov. 3, Commander bit an officer twice, once on the arm and then when the officer stood up, on the leg. The officer said they had to use a steel cart as a shield from another attack, and they were in pain after the incident.

The next month, the president himself was walking Commander in the Kennedy Garden, where he let the dog off leash. Commander ran to an agent and bit them twice, once on the left forearm and once on the thumb. The emails said Biden “seemed concerned” about the special agent, who continued to work the rest of their shift.

[From NPR]

If I remember correctly, Major was getting aggressive with different people, not just Secret Service agents. Like, Major might have nipped some household staff. It doesn’t sound like Commander is doing that – Commander is singularly focused on Secret Service agents. Which reminds me of a story I’ve always found so haunting: when Biden/Harris won in 2020, then President-Elect Biden asked the Secret Service to only put certain people on his detail and VP Harris’s detail – as in, he didn’t want any agents who were loyal to Trump in any way. Y’all know some of those MAGA people slipped through, though. They infiltrated every part of the federal government, Secret Service included. You may say that Commander is “too aggressive.” I say that he’s just looking out for his mom and dad. Dogs know when the vibe is off.

Welcome to the White House, Commander. pic.twitter.com/SUudQnPv29

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 20, 2021

Photos courtesy of the White House & Backgrid.