Taylor Swift usually sets up multiple concerts in a major city during her tours. That’s especially true of Los Angeles – her concerts always sell out in LA, and if she wanted to, she could easily fill the SoFi Stadium every night for a full month. Let’s be real – I’m a snake-skeptic about a lot of things, but everyone wants to go to Taylor’s concerts. So, she arranged for a six-concert stop in LA, and on Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex was apparently seen there. There was a story, weeks ago, trying to make it sound like Taylor has beef with Meghan because Meghan wrote her a letter, asking her to appear on Archetypes but Taylor said no. Looks like there’s no BAD BLOOD.

Meghan Markle is a Swiftie! A source confirms to PEOPLE that the Duchess of Sussex, 42, attended Taylor Swift’s performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Tuesday during the Eras Tour’s California leg.

As Swift launched into her Fearless era — telling the excited crowd, “Let’s go back to high school!” — Meghan jumped up out of her chair to sing along to “You Belong with Me.”

Page Six, which was first to report the news, said Meghan attended with her friend Lucy Fraser.

Although Prince Harry did not join his wife as he’s overseas, he’s been to SoFi Stadium since they located to Meghan’s home state in 2020 after stepping back from their royal roles. In 2022, he attended the Super Bowl at the venue alongside his cousin Princess Eugenie, who was visiting from the U.K.

[From People]

“You Belong with Me”? That’s the song Meghan got up for?? Y’all know my feelings on Tay, but I would have been able to rock out to “Anti-Hero” or “Wild Dreams” or “Blank Space.” Sh-t, maybe my preferred era is 1989 or Midnights. Never thought Meg would be a Fearless girl. (Also: Justice 4 Lover.)

Anyway, in all of the reporting about this, people are clutching their pearls that Meghan left her house while Harry was away in Japan and Singapore. Like, it’s 2023? A wife can leave the house without her husband. A woman doesn’t need her husband’s permission to go to a concert. What is this retro – or purposefully regressive – era we’re living in? Even if the argument is “it’s notable because Harry and Meghan are not together, it lends fuel to the breakup rumors” – the rumors were always complete bullsh-t, there was never anything substantive there. A man is away on business for a week and a wife went to a concert with her friend.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

After appearing at the sports summit in Tokyo and before they flew to Singapore, Prince Harry and his brother Nacho Figueras decided to go shopping. Nacho posted the above Instagram pic with this message: “Shopping for our wives. A big thank you to Tokyo for your generous hospitality and kindness towards us. And of course, for your continued support of @sentebale!” LOL – you mean that Harry’s trip doesn’t mean that there’s a Sussex split? You mean that Harry picked up something for Meghan at the duty-free shop?? Page Six had more gossip:

An insider gave further insight into the shopping spree, exclusively telling Page Six that Harry, 38, had “so much fun” and made no attempt to avoid being recognized.

“He didn’t even wear his hat out, we had the best time and everyone was so nice,” the source enthused. Figueras and Harry even took photos with “anyone who asked and waved at anyone who noticed them from afar,” the source told us.

[From Page Six]

Wow, Meghan’s hostage is getting so bold! Imagine, Harry and Nacho being warm and polite to fans during a shopping trip before their flight to Singapore. Too bad the All White Royals can’t go anywhere without being threatened with the guillotine, I guess.

Meanwhile, the Mail has a hilariously obsessive story about the history of Harry and Nacho’s friendship. All of the quotes and stories are old news, except that the Mail claims Nacho is called the “David Beckham of Polo” and I don’t think anyone calls him that except the British media. The Mail also wrote this line with a straight face: “His closeness to the couple is despite his public openness about his friendship with Harry and Meghan, who has previously insisted her family has a ‘basic right to privacy’, as well as even launching a royal-inspired scent.” Yes… how dare Harry and Meghan have friends when they also say they have a basic right to privacy???

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A post shared by Sentebale (@sentebale)

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Cover Images, Backgrid, Instar.

I remember being on Twitter on the afternoon and evening of January 6th, 2021. The MAGA terrorists had forced their way into the Capitol and many congressmen, senators and staffers had been evacuated, but some were still in bunkers or in lockdown in their offices. There were terrorists openly hunting for Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats. Republicans began applying pressure on Donald Trump to do or say something to get his terrorists to stand down. He refused to say anything publicly for hours. Then he started tweeting encouragement to the terrorists and actively inciting more violence and more crime. Suddenly, Twitter started deleting his tweets and monitoring his account so that they could take down tweets as soon as he made them. This was happening for hours, and Trump tried tweeting from other accounts and Twitter deleted those too. That was finally when Trump’s Twitter account was suspended.

I’ve wondered, in the years since, if we would ever learn what Trump was trying to tweet out to his terrorist mob, tweets which were caught by the Twitter monitors before they were even published. Looks like DOJ’s Special Council Jack Smith wondered the same thing.

Prosecutors working for Jack Smith, the special counsel who has twice brought indictments against former President Donald J. Trump, obtained a search warrant early this year for Mr. Trump’s long-dormant Twitter account as part of their inquiry into his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, according to court papers unsealed on Wednesday.

The warrant, which was signed by a federal judge in Washington in January after Elon Musk took over Twitter, now called X, is the first known example of prosecutors directly searching Mr. Trump’s communications and adds a new dimension to the scope of the special counsel’s efforts to investigate the former president.

The court papers, which emerged from an appeal by Twitter challenging a part of the judge’s decision to issue the warrant, did not reveal what prosecutors were looking for in Mr. Trump’s Twitter account, which the tech company shut down for nearly two years soon after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

But the papers indicate that prosecutors received permission from the judge not to tell Mr. Trump for months that they had obtained the warrant for his account. The prosecutors feared that if Mr. Trump learned about the warrant, it “would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation” by giving him “an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior [or] notify confederates,” the papers said.

Mr. Trump quickly responded to the news about the warrant on his own social media site, Truth Social. “Just found out that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major ‘hit’ on my civil rights,” he wrote. “My Political Opponent is going CRAZY trying to infringe on my Campaign for President.”

[From The NY Times]

Politico had more information on the search warrant and how Elon Musk refused to comply with the order initially. The court levied a $350,000 fine on Twitter/Musk for their three-day delay in complying with the search warrant. The opinion was sealed until now. Meaning, I think, that Jack Smith now has all of Twitter’s digital records of what they deleted on January 6th. I would imagine that Smith would probably be able to speak to the people, the actual living humans, who were tasked with monitoring his account on that day as well. Another interesting part of this is the gag order and secrecy – apparently, Elon Musk wanted to “warn” Trump that Jack Smith was looking through his Twitter files but the federal court said no. This was around the same time that Musk reinstated Trump’s account too.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

I did not know that Jamie Dornan and Robert Pattinson were once roommates as young actors in London. I presume someone somewhere has written a fanfiction about these two beautiful men living together and so forth; if not, please commence, Internet! Just kidding. But I guess it makes sense that they were friends, coming up together at the same time. They also shared a flat with Andrew Garfield, Charlie Cox, and Eddie Redmayne during this period. Prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Jamie was promoting the Netflix action movie Heart of Stone, slated for an August 11 release. Obviously the actors are not doing any promotional work anymore. Wired released an interview on YouTube recorded prior to the strike with Jamie and his co-stars Gal Gadot and Alia Bhatt. In it, Jamie talks about his friendship with Rob Pattinson and how he used to be jealous of Rob’s early success with Twilight.

Jamie Dornan has nothing but love — and a hint of jealousy — for longtime friend Robert Pattinson.

In a new WIRED interview with Heart of Stone castmates Gal Gadot and Alia Bhatt, the Irish actor, 41, reflected on his relationship with the Twilight star.

“I’ve known Rob forever,” he said. “He’s a really good friend. I love him. I think he’s one of the most interesting and exciting actors around.”

The Fifty Shades star explained that he was envious of Pattinson, 37, who was making a name for himself as vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen when the pair — as well as pals Andrew Garfield, Charlie Cox and Eddie Redmayne — were roommates over a decade ago.

“I probably at one point was quite jealous of him, like early on when we were all friends back in London and Rob was just like going places and we sort of weren’t,” he admitted, referring to Pattinson’s Twilight fame.

“You love him,” Gadot chimed in, teasing her costar. “You love him so much.”

“I think he’s amazing,” Dornan agreed, adding that the Lighthouse actor is “the nicest guy in the world.”

[From People]

It’s sweet that they’re still friends. In my view, Rob became a movie star (or what passes for a movie star in this day and age) and Jamie didn’t get to quite the same level of fame for one reason: Rob is interesting. Rob is chaotic, and always has been. He constantly says absurd things in interviews, he prefers to play weird characters whenever he can, and he subverted expectations and didn’t get swole to play Batman. (He trained for three months prior to filming, but he didn’t go the full Chris Hemsworth superhero routine.) You truly never know what’s going to come out of that young man’s mouth. Jamie is beautiful, but boring. He’s also a good actor when given the right material but he isn’t as good at being a celebrity and I don’t think he takes as many risks with the roles he chooses. Nevertheless, there are far worse fates than being a square-jawed leading man who has little to do besides look stoic–it’s nice work if you can get it. As an aside, I find it amusing that both men played a version of Edward Cullen–Rob played the Original, and Jamie the Sadist Redux since Fifty Shades is based on Twilight. Fifty Shades is much worse than Twilight, but it’s just funny to me that they’ve both played that character.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty Images

Every time abortion is on the ballot, there is a historic turnout for people wanting to protect reproductive rights and abortion rights. This week, Ohio Republicans learned that lesson. I honestly do not believe that Republicans understand the anger women feel about the Dobbs decision. [Jezebel]
Sean Penn took his new girlfriend to Giorgio Baldi. [Just Jared]
Just Bill Nighy, sitting in a cafe, reading Joan Didion’s Miami. [Go Fug Yourself]
The WGA & SAG-AFTRA strikes won’t end anytime soon. [LaineyGossip]
Noah Schnapp talks about coming out. [OMG Blog]
LOL, Dustin is right – And Just Like That is going to have Carrie Bradshaw break Aidan Shaw’s heart again. So dumb. [Pajiba]
Chris Noth speaks and no one is listening. [Socialite Life]
Heidi Klum’s tomatoes look amazing. [Seriously OMG]
Millie Bobby Brown reads her own book. [Egotastic]
Stories about mean and nice celebrities. Where does Aston Kutcher fall? [Buzzfeed]
I can’t imagine the kind of delusional hatred this woman spreads in every aspect of her life. This is disgusting. [Towleroad]
Florence Pugh is doing a Tiffany & Co campaign. [RCFA]

Supporters of abortion rights in Ohio are claiming victory after voters rejected a measure that would have made it more difficult to amend the state constitution.

Republicans had wanted to change the law ahead of a scheduled vote on abortion rights in November. pic.twitter.com/pLXxEbPzjc

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 9, 2023

WATCH: @chrislhayes on the defeat of Issue 1 in the Ohio special election:

“Voters have shown…they will crawl over broken glass, coast to coast, state to state to repudiate the Dobbs decision and the banning of abortion, the taking away of that right. It keeps happening.” pic.twitter.com/HeN544xGi9

— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) August 9, 2023

The only time I’ve checked on Royal.uk is when we covered all of the stories about the British royal family making a point of snubbing a baby. That was in 2021 through this year – the royal webmasters decided that Lilibet Diana shouldn’t be added to the royal family’s official website for more than seven weeks after her birth, then following QEII’s death last September, those same racist webmasters didn’t update Lili and Archie’s titles when they were updating everyone else’s. It wasn’t until March of this year that the line of succession included “Princess Lilibet” and “Prince Archie.” Anyway, long story short, there’s more bullsh-t on Royal.uk.

Prince Harry’s page on the royal family’s website was just updated to remove references to his “His Royal Highness” title.

After Express reported on Friday that the Duke of Sussex was still being called “His Royal Highness” in his bio, the outlet noticed on Tuesday that the page had been updated to remove the two references to the title.

Both references were tied to Harry’s work to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in 2016. The title is now replaced with “the Duke or the Duke of Sussex” — although he did not receive his dukedom from his grandmother Queen Elizabeth until his May 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.

The royal family’s website has not been completely updated following the death of Queen Elizabeth. As Express pointed out last week, Queen Elizabeth was still referred to as the current monarch, King Charles was called “the Prince of Wales” and Queen Camilla was still being styled as “the Duchess of Cornwall.”

Buckingham Palace said in a statement reported by Express: “The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information about the life and work of the Royal Family. Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete.”

[From People]

The thing is… this didn’t need to be updated whatsoever. Harry’s HRH was not removed, neither was Meghan’s. They voluntarily agreed to NOT USE their HRH styles when they stepped down/were forced out as working royals. The HRHs are still there, because King Charles doesn’t have the stones to actually remove them formally. So this is his weaksauce way of giving some red meat to the people braying for him to “punish” Harry. Speaking of, we still don’t know for sure if Charles intentionally snubbed the Sussexes for some kind of private ceremony for QEII’s death-anniversary, but Page Six claims that Harry and Meghan will “pay respects” to QEII in their own way next month.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan on honoring the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death “in their own way” after not making the invitation list for the royal family’s forthcoming Balmoral Castle gathering.

“They will of course acknowledge and pay their respects to Her Majesty in their own way,” a source with direct knowledge tells Page Six exclusively while confirming that the couple “haven’t received any information or invitation to plans marking the anniversary of her death.”

However, the insider notes that the memorial at the Scottish estate is not a formal royal event.

“I know the palace has said nothing official is happening,” the source shares, adding that honoring the late Queen is very “personal.”

[From Page Six]

Harry adored his grandmother and grandfather, but I doubt he cares about whatever soap opera storyline is playing out in Scotland right now. I believe that Charles didn’t invite the Sussexes or contact them at all – I think contact completely ceased immediately following the coronation.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

In the days following King Charles’s coronation, a sort of sad-sack ennui set in among royalists. They were sad because the coronation was the last “big event” for the Windsors for many years to come. There would be no more big funerals or big weddings until King Charles dies or William and Kate’s kids start getting married. Personally, I think the answer to the “when is the next big dramatic event” question is “maybe start reporting honestly about the state of William and Kate’s marriage and see what happens.” In any case, the Windsors are on vacation and they’re trying to make “QEII’s death anniversary” into this year’s big drama. There was already a five-act drama about whether or not Prince Harry and Meghan are “invited” to the anniversary party (or whatever it is). Now William and Kate want a cookie for what will probably be a remembrance tweet.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will lead the tributes to the late Queen on the first anniversary of her death. They are to deliver a public message honouring the life and legacy of the monarch, who died on September 8. William and Kate will also use the occasion to “look forward”, a source said. But the King will mark the anniversary “quietly and privately” at Balmoral in Scotland where she died aged 96.

While William and Kate are to reflect on the Queen’s long reign and life, they will also use the opportunity to “look forward”, sources said. Final plans are still being made over how their address will be delivered, whether in person or via their social media to millions of fans.

A royal source said: “Her Majesty’s passing was an event that truly ­signified the end of an era. The Royal Family has been in ­transition since then and following the Coronation and conclusion of the summer holidays, there will be an expectation to see what is next.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

As I said, it will probably be a tweet. We’ve gotten to the point where William and Kate are so lazy, their staff has to hype the fact that they’re going to TWEET on QEII’s death-anniversary. I imagine the staffers are furiously trying to coordinate William and Kate’s joint appearance for a taped, 60-second video. Or will they just use CGI to turn a pile of buttons into something Kate-shaped next to William as he pontificates about how QEII loved him more than Harry?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s affair undoubtedly began when they were still married to Dalton Gomez and Lilly Jay respectively. Ariana and Dalton’s marriage was probably on its last leg, and Ari’s need to bang Ethan just expedited everything. Meanwhile, Ethan’s marriage to Lilly Jay seemed pretty healthy before Ariana showed some interest. Ariana really worked them both over – the foursome went on double-dates, Ari held Ethan and Lilly’s baby and she was even liking Lilly’s Instagrams. All of which contributed to Lilly not going away quietly. The whole affair blew up in a way Ariana’s team didn’t expect. Two weekends ago, Ari’s people leaked that she and Ethan were on different coasts so that he could deal with his divorce. Ari’s people are telling her to back off. She’s not listening, so her people keep running around, trying to give Ari and Ethan a cookie for dealing with the mess they created.

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are continuing their romance amid his divorce. A source tells ET that the Wicked co-stars’ “relationship is still progressing” after he filed for divorce from Lilly Jay.

“Ethan is trying to be as amicable as possible with Lilly as he navigates his next steps. He wants to be the best dad he can be, regardless of the current circumstances,” the source says of the Broadway star, who shares a son with his estranged wife. “He is taking things day by day and trying to keep his private life private, out of respect for everyone involved.”

As for Grande, the source says that she’s “trying to give Ethan some space as he figures everything out,” but notes that “their relationship is still progressing.”

Jay hasn’t been shy about her feelings regarding Slater’s new flame, previously telling Page Six that her “family is just collateral damage” in the scandal, and blasting Grande as “not a girl’s girl.”

“She’s doing her best to get back on her feet. She’s incredibly smart and driven,” a source previously told ET of Jay. “She is truly the best mother.”

[From ET]

Yeah, Ariana wants everyone to know that she’s still with Ethan. Her people must be begging her to end it and she keeps refusing. This is still fun for her – it’s still dramatic and crazy. As for Spongebob Sidepiece, “He is taking things day by day and trying to keep his private life private, out of respect for everyone involved.” Oh, honey, you dumped your wife and child for Ariana Grande, who revealed that you were her new man to People Magazine!! And your wife called Page Six to tell them that Ariana is a homewrecker. Your private life is gone, sayonara.

Note by CB: Get the Top 8 stories about Ariana’s Grande’s messy affair when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram.

VP Kamala Harris wore LaQuan Smith (a Black designer) to attend the Beyonce concert. I would love to know what Doug thought of the concert! I bet he loved it. [RCFA]
Mattel is now offering Weird Barbie, based on Kate McKinnon’s Barbie in the movie. Like… most kids do that to their Barbies anyway. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Andrew Scott & Paul Mescal made a movie together?!? [JustJared]
If The Rock wants to work out, The Rock is gonna work out. [LaineyGossip]
A review of Good Omens’ season 2. [Pajiba]
Kaitlyn Bristowe is taking a social media break. [Starcasm]
This was honestly my favorite Nicole Kidman Fashion Era. [GFY]
Most dudes have no idea when women are hitting on them. [Buzzfeed]
After conservatives attacked Barbie for being too “woke,” they’re changing tactics and trying to claim that Barbie is MAGA. [Towleroad]
Brandi Denise is bringing humor to OnlyFans. [Socialite Life]

Thanks for a fun date night, @Beyonce! pic.twitter.com/e6XfIEkB9n

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 6, 2023

Prince Harry will be in Japan and Singapore this week, and I could be wrong, but I doubt we’ll see Prince William and Kate desperately try to steal some headlines from him. That’s basically the only way anyone can get William and Kate to work these days – to send them out as counterprogramming whenever the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in the headlines. Which means that come September, during the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, I’m positive that they’ll bribe Kate to cut her vacation short and actually step out for some photo-op at a baby bank or something. Don’t expect to see Kate before then – Wimbledon finals weekend usually marks her final events before a two-month vacation, and that’s what’s happening now. She hasn’t been seen since mid-July. Still, royal biographers are eager to burnish Kate’s keen-linchpin credentials. Don’t you know that Kate is the only one holding the Windsors together??

Kate is reportedly “working behind the scenes” to get Prince William and Harry on speaking terms, helping the King and other stressed family members who are tired of the fighting. A royal biographer has revealed that the Princess of Wales is doing all she can do to mend the broken relationship between the two feuding brothers. Alongside her attempts to help the siblings bury the hatchet, Kate has also been helping organise visits from the King to see his grandchildren.

Robert Jobson, the author of ‘Our King Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed’, commented that she was “doing a brilliant job” at trying to mend the divides within the family. Jobson said: “I’m not sure how much dialogue there is with William and Harry, at the moment, I think the only person that is helping the situation is Catherine, who is doing a brilliant job. First of all when the king wants to see his grandchildren, for example, it’s important to say that a lot of it has been through Catherine. But William and Harry, it’s a difficult one. I think as brothers they are more likely to get on the phone and have a conversation.”

However, despite her efforts, there is still a “lack of trust” between the feuding family members.

“It’s quite possible that one of them might pick up the phone to have a rant, but who’s gonna pick up the phone on the other end? Because that’s not gonna achieve anything,” Mr Jobson said. “There’s also a lot of lack of trust. At the moment between all the members of the family and Harry about where this information is going, because a lot of stuff has appeared in print by him.”

Jobson added that Harry’s claims in court about Buckingham Palace have stirred up even more fury. He said: “I think that the Royal Family are going to have a period of calm, where they actually can start to build some form of trust. I don’t believe it’ll ever come back to what it was before.”

[From GB News]

Twelve-plus years of diligent promises to be keen, and all they’ve got is “Kate coordinates her children’s visits with the king” and “Kate swears that she’s working behind the scenes to make peace, all evidence to the contrary.” While it’s been clear for years that the main issue is between Harry and William, let’s also be clear: Kate was and is a major part in the campaign against Harry and Meghan. Kate is also jealous, short-sighted and mean, just like her husband. Kate isn’t cooing in William’s ear to encourage him to make peace. Please, she’s been exiled in Adelaide Cottage while William carries on like he’s already divorced, ready to mingle with all of the ladies.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.