Prince William was in Estonia for two days. I was surprised by how little news he made outside of the most devoted royalist media, and even then, the coverage was almost entirely rote. “William did this, yawn.” What’s crazy is that this trip was actually important from an optics standpoint. Russia is still waging war against Ukraine, and William was just a hundred miles or so from Estonia’s border with Russia. The whole reason he went to Estonia was to oversee the handover of British troops on NATO’s northeastern flank – the Royal Dragoon Guards handed over their base to the Mercian Regiment (William is colonel-in-chief). William played some dress-up games and took a short ride in a tank, then he played pool and foosball with the men. Instead of actually emphasizing the political sensitivities around Russia and NATO, they just let William play dress up and play pool. Just as well, honestly.

During his second day of engagements in Estonia, William spoke to soldiers about what it was like to be deployed in the country, saying: “It must focus the mind a little bit coming out here, knowing what’s going on the rest of the world, the context.
And in fact, the Russian border is only a few hundred miles from here. It does feel like it’s a bit more of an operational environment rather than just training.”

During his second day of engagements in Estonia, William took part in an exercise where he joined a convoy of Warrior vehicles that opened fire on an enemy trench with machineguns, before throwing in smoke grenades and then entering on foot to capture a “high-value target”. Speaking to soldiers, William said that the Challenger 2 tank “packs quite a punch”.

“I’ve probably churned up quite a lot of the mud here in the Challenger 2 and the Warrior, I made a bit more of a mess. We were saying it’s quite a useful exercise in itself, just viewing what’s gone on in Ukraine, seeing all the kinds of terrain they’re operating in and understanding the pros and cons of what’s gone on before. It’s quite a lot of things to be thinking about while you’re operating out here and does focus the mind a little bit . . . what the challenges are coming up”.

Staff Sergeant Amy-Jane Hale, in charge of welfare across Operation Cabrit in Estonia and Poland, welcomed the Prince to the welfare area at Tapa camp. The Prince appeared surprised to learn that Hale was the one welfare officer on the base. “One?” he said. When the Prince asked Hale what she would wish for that would allow her to be more effective if she could “wave a magic wand” she said another welfare worker to make the job less lonely.

In the cinema room, the Prince asked whether they got to watch the latest films. When he was told that Bridget Jones was due to arrive soon, he said: “Oh that’s pretty good, not bad.” However, when he was told there was no fridge, he said: “You’re joking? You do need a fridge. I’m definitely getting you a fridge.”

[From The Times]

It will be interesting to see if there’s any follow-up – do you think William will actually send a fridge to Estonia? Would he actually demand a second wellness officer at the outpost? We’ll probably never know.

Incidentally, some people found it odd that William would be in Estonia for two days and his trip coincided with King Charles and Queen Camilla’s multi-day visit to Northern Ireland. The thing is… all of the Windsors move quietly whenever they’re going to NI. They don’t announce anything, they just show up with the royal rota in tow. So, it’s likely William didn’t even know that his father was going to be out of England too.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Justin and Hailey Bieber out on a date night on Friday. They went to dinner at Sushi Park, a popular Japanese joint located in the second floor of a strip mall. I remember when Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Zoe Kravitz and some girlfriends went there in October 2023 (I remember the photos of them leaving the strip mall, if I’m being honest). Still, Sushi Park is a very popular place in WeHo, and I’m sure Justin and Hailey just wanted some sushi.

The paparazzi were all around, and the tabloids are making it seem like the Biebers wanted to get pap’d on Friday specifically because Selena Gomez dropped her new album, I Said I Love You First, on that same day. I mean… it could be, but I hope that Hailey and Justin are done with the Selena stuff. Justin and Hailey literally welcomed a son last year. I hope they’re not purposefully doing pap strolls to compete with Selena’s album promotion. Considering the way Justin looked at the photographers, it definitely seemed like he had no desire to get pap’d. Meanwhile, there’s been another gossip-cycle where people have been “worried” about Justin, because something something “he doesn’t look well” or he’s posting cryptic sh-t on his socials. I think he just likes posting weird sh-t? In any case, People Magazine got another exclusive about the Bieber marriage:

What’s Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Bieber’s life really like at the moment? After the “Sorry” singer recently left fans concerned with some cryptic messages on social media amid rumors of drug use, which his rep has shut down, a source close to him tells PEOPLE “things are fine.”

“Hailey’s working, and Justin’s creating music,” says the insider. The Grammy winner, 31, has shared numerous photos from recording studios to his Instagram in recent weeks.

“They are just doing their thing,” adds the source. “They are not concerned what people think.”

The insider notes that Justin and Hailey, 28, “have a great life.”

“They love being parents,” says the source about the couple, who welcomed their first child, Jack Blues, in August 2024. “They have a great marriage too.”

[From People]

My personal take: I think there are a lot of people who want Justin to be upset or consumed with regret or deeply unhappy with Hailey. I think a lot of people don’t understand that this is probably the closest Justin will get to his happy ending: he’s married to someone he loves, someone who “takes care of him” and handles his moods; he’s finally a father, something he’s always wanted; he feels no pressure to still be in the music industry rat-race of churning out albums and going on tours. And to top it all off, Hailey’s side-business (Rhode) is super-successful and she’s bringing in more money than him these days. Now, I’m sure they have problems and I’m sure everything isn’t a basket of roses. But there’s just so much projection on both of them and it does feel like people are constantly looking for “signs” that his marriage sucks or he’s secretly unhappy.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Spoilers for Severance Season 2. Praise Kier!

AppleTV dropped the Season 2 finale of Severance late Thursday/early Friday, depending on your time zone. I was dodging spoilers all damn day, but I finally watched the finale and it made me really mad. Before I get into my thoughts, some general upkeep. I’m including photos of the cast (and director/executive producer Ben Stiller) from their Paleyfest appearance on Friday, where they gathered for a special screening and general presentation. Leading into the finale, many noted that AppleTV had yet to greenlight a third season, so there was a real possibility that this could have been the actual show finale. But then on Friday, Apple greenlighted a third season, and Stiller promised that it wouldn’t take three years to get Season 3 (which was the gap between the first and second seasons).

As for the finale… first of all, I found it really hokey how they brought Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) back into the story after she went MIA for much of the season. I was fine with her stand-alone episode, but I simply don’t believe that Devon would have seen Mark with a hole in his skull and immediately thought “we need that weird woman, Cobel.” I understand why they needed Cobel plot-wise, but I just thought what Devon did was out of character for someone suspicious of everyone and everything connected to Lumon. That being said, Cobel’s work in the “birthing cabin” was interesting, and I loved the way they shot the two Marks speaking to one another.

It was also deliciously creepy to see the conversation between Jame Eagan and Helly on the severed floor – the fact that he went down there to talk to his daughter’s innie just hours after he had breakfast with Helena, gross. He apparently sees Kier in Helly, and not Helena. Helly almost curb-stomped him right there. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t believe that “Helena” was down there the next day – that was Helly telling Mark about the weird experience with Jame.

Anyway, all of the stuff with Innie Mark rescuing Gemma and for a brief moment, Outie Mark and Outie Gemma were reunited… it was beautiful. I loved that Gwendoline Christie protected Emil and that she and Mark managed to take down Drummond. I thought the thing about Mark’s trigger finger twitching as he switched from innie to outie was brilliantly done too! Basically, the only thing I didn’t like was the very end – outie Gemma screaming for Mark as he backed away from the door and ran off with Helly. Apparently, the original idea was Helly standing at the end of hallway and Gemma on the other side of the door, and innie Mark was trying to decide where to go. From Ben Stiller’s comments to Variety: “There was a brief moment where we thought, maybe we do another cliffhanger where Mark is between Helly and Gemma. But, pretty soon after, we realized we can’t do that again — people will kill us. So, we wanted him to make the choice and set up a dystopian conflict.” You can read that interview here – Stiller and Dan Erickson have a lot of answers about some of the hidden history, like yeah, Lumon is sacrificing/killing people with some regularity down there, that’s why Gwendoline Christie’s character asks how many more goats must she give.

The wildest part? Mr. Milchick and the marching band celebrating the completion of the Cold Harbor file, then Dylan barricading Milchick in the bathroom. I guess they’re setting this all up as a Season 3 “innie rebellion.” But…who knows. Lumon is supposed to be a huge multi-billion-dollar company with endless resources. I don’t think an innie rebellion is going to end well for the innies. It also seems like the Glasgow Block would mean that Lumon could easily un-sever the innies at any given moment, and there goes the rebellion?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Uh-oh, Laura Prepon & Ben Foster’s divorce is getting messy – he’s accused her of inappropriate marital conduct, and she’s accusing him of constant drunkenness and cruelty. Let me know if you guys are interested in this now that it’s getting messy, because it felt like no one cared when Ben filed for divorce last fall? [Just Jared]
I’ve been dodging Severance finale spoilers all day, I won’t get to watch it until this evening, give me some space!! [Pajiba]
Zoe Saldana’s awards-season fashion retrospective. [Go Fug Yourself]
Lupita Nyong’o looked adorable in Jonathan Cohen. [RCFA]
Analysis on Alec & Hilaria Baldwin’s red carpet weirdness. [LaineyGossip]
Meet “Instagram hottie” Morgan Lugo. [Socialite Life]
Fatboy Slim played a fish-and-chip shop. [Seriously OMG]
Cast bios for the new season of Love After Lockup. [Starcasm]
Wow, Carrie Underwood & Mike Fisher have been married for 15 years. [Hollywood Life]
Men discuss why they slept with married women. [Buzzfeed]

Cate Blanchett went through the entire awards-season rigamarole in 2022 and 2023 with Tár. I was really rooting for her at the 2023 Oscars, but she lost to Michelle Yeoh. I was happy with Yeoh’s win, although I think people will look back on Tár and wonder how the hell Cate lost to anyone that season. In any case, Cate has eight Oscar nominations and two wins. She has eight BAFTA noms and four wins. Twelve Golden Globe noms and four wins. You get the idea – Cate has been to a lot of awards shows for many, many years, starting in the 1990s. She knows how to work an awards season, she knows how to walk a red carpet, and she knows that she’s really f–king tired of all of it, especially the televised awards shows. So she has an idea: stop televising the shows??? It will never happen, but hear her out:

Cate Blanchett would prefer awards shows not to be aired on television. The two-time Oscar-winning actress made a recent appearance on the Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang podcast, where she suggested that the Oscars should “go back to the day when it wasn’t televised.”

The conversation started when Blanchett noted that there are “so few spaces that you can go now, where you are private,” without phones and the risk of someone recording you. “That’s what I loved about the late ’80s [was] going to all of the dance parties in Sydney for Mardi Gras. People were just there. They were so present, you know, they were just together, collectively, having a great time. It was non-aggressive. No one was being recorded. No one cared what anyone did.”

Hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang proceeded to note how privacy is even more difficult in the era of TikTok, especially with the viral trend of lip readers analyzing celebrity moments during televised awards shows and other events.

“But now it feels like that chasm between that kind of event, that ideal, is widening from the thing that’s very common now at, like, an awards show where you’ve got lip readers, you’re being photographed,” Yang said before a confused Blanchett interjected, “Lip readers?”

The co-hosts explained the trend, which sees TikTokers trying to guess what celebrities are saying to each other at awards shows. “And it looks like it could be exactly what they’re saying, in a way that’s a little bit odd,” Rogers said. Yang added that the lip-reading trend makes Hollywood events feel more “treacherous,” to which the Black Bag actress agreed.

“I mean, I say, I know it’s blasphemy, go back to the day when it wasn’t televised,” Blanchett suggested. “Bring that back and just have a great party where people can just let go. I mean the industry is so scattered and at such a point…which I think potentially could be exciting or could really be depressing, but it’s at a pivot point, and so we need to gather together and celebrate what it is that we do, without it having to have any public-facing.”

She continued, “I mean, the fashion is great, and all of that stuff. We’ll find out in the end who won or who didn’t win. But it would be so nice that that happened behind closed doors. [It would be] absolutely a very different evening.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I’ve been watching awards shows for so long, I remember a time when actors were regularly drunk off their asses at the Golden Globes, to the point where they would give hilarious, off-the-cuff sh-thoused acceptance speeches. I remember Jack Nicholson winning a Globe, stumbling up to the microphone and telling a long-winded story about how alcohol-infused the Globes USED TO BE. While I don’t think Cate’s suggestion will be considered seriously, I would like to see a conversation about the need to shake up the awards-show format in general. There are too many “shows” and Cate’s right, a couple of them could stand to be untelevised and ALL of them could be shorter.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Prince Harry’s immigration/residency status was once again in the news this week after a federal judge authorized a more thorough release of Harry’s visa records. Harry permanently moved to the United States in March 2020, during Donald Trump’s first term, but that didn’t stop the Heritage Foundation from waging a two-year harassment campaign to “force” the Biden administration into releasing Harry’s records. Heritage thought that once Trump was back, his administration would be more forthcoming. Trump’s DHS wasn’t playing Heritage’s game though, and neither was the judge. The document dump was just page after page of black-out records. The DHS lawyers made it clear: there’s nothing untoward happening here and Heritage needs to let this go. Heritage Foundation douchebags reacted by throwing a tantrum and demanding that Harry “self-deport.”

Throughout all of this, it’s worth noting that Harry hasn’t said anything about Heritage’s “case,” nor are Harry’s lawyers involved in any way – this has purely been about Heritage vs. two administrations’ DHS lawyers. Well, Vanity Fair claims that they have a “source close to Harry,” and that source has some idea of how Harry feels about Heritage’s harassment and the “threats” of deportation.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security released documents related to Prince Harry’s immigration status and the Heritage Foundation’s quest to make his visa-application records public under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents contain private declarations from three DHS officers who had reviewed Harry’s records, as well as the transcript of a hearing with Judge Carl Nichols about the matter. However, they redact all details about the Duke of Sussex’s immigration status and the type of visa he has, with one of the DHS officials stating there was no evidence that Harry received special treatment from the government.

A source close to the duke says the documents show he was properly admitted to the US.

“Allegations that Prince Harry received preferential treatment during his US immigration process were unequivocally dismissed today by the Trump administration,” the source tells Vanity Fair. “Furthermore, the redactions in the case further weaken the Heritage Foundation’s claim that the duke’s immigration records should be considered a matter of public interest.”

The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the controversial Project 2025 plans that have helped guide President Donald Trump’s second term, started its quest to acquire Harry’s immigration information in 2023, soon after the publication of his best-selling memoir, Spare. Their early filings in the case claim that Harry admitted to “a long history” of drug use in the memoir, alleging that this raised questions about whether the royal was properly vetted when he moved to the US in 2020 along with his wife, Meghan Markle.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told GB News that he was not surprised that Harry’s full application was not released. “We still do not know whether or not Prince Harry lied on his application,” Gardiner added. “The fight continues to release Prince Harry’s immigration application to the American people.”

[From Vanity Fair]

I have no idea what Heritage will do next, but it feels like they’re not done and their harassment campaign will continue in some form. But legally, is there any road left? This source close to Harry doesn’t seem to think so, and I agree that the massively redacted files seem to be the final chapter on the attempted FOIA request. That’s probably why that Heritage idiot was squealing about self-deportation too – that’s the only scam they have left.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

David Beckham covers the latest issue of Men’s Health UK. While he has many businesses and sponsorships, it looks like this interview was mainly done for two reasons: he’s shilling his new nutrition/supplement line, IM8, and he’s also chatting about turning 50 years old in May. It’s a big deal – Ol’ Goldenballs is turning the big 5-0. He seems fine with it, probably because he’s in good shape and his body doesn’t hurt that much after decades of professional football. He’s got a strong marriage, healthy kids, and he’s the designated chore-monkey for the Windsors. Everything’s coming up roses! Some highlights from David’s interview:

He treats everyone respectfully: ‘I definitely learned a lot about leadership from Sir Alex Ferguson. I think I’ve taken that into my business. I’m sometimes first in the office and the last out. The staff see how I work. In business, I think it’s always been about how you treat people. That’s why I’ve got a great team. I don’t like an atmosphere in an office, I don’t like an atmosphere in a team. I don’t like aggression. You always treat people with respect – doesn’t matter who it is it, from the guy on the door to the lawyers or the accountant.’

His body feels good: ‘Do you know what, my body’s actually feeling better than it has done for a long time. People ask where I feel it the most – is it my knees or my ankles? My achilles was a bad injury towards the end of my playing career but it never troubles me now, despite rupturing it. It’s actually my back and left hip that give me the most grief. I’ve had it X-rayed, MRI’d – it’s just wear and tear.’

Turning 50 this year: ‘Doesn’t bother me one bit. People are asking me about it gently, like it should be a big issue. It’s not something that I’m worried about, as long as I’m fit and healthy and my family are healthy, that’s all I care about. I’m really happy. I’ve got the business and an amazing family. My kids are working hard and they’ve all got passions – that’s what’s important to me.’

The back-end of his career did a lot of damage to his body: ‘Unfortunately, I did have a lot of injections and I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think that’s probably why certain parts of my body were a real mess. My last game at Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, I had three cortisone injections in my ankle and my achilles purely to play… I’ve had cortisone injections in my back, too. I actually broke my back. I was living in LA and cracked my spine. I had pain after a game, I went for a scan and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I was insisting there was something not right there – I could feel it. So they injected me with dye and then it came up. It was a bad one. I broke my wrist in South Africa and I still get issues with it. I was told that it was a dissolvable screw. Turns out it wasn’t, so I’ve still got it.’

Why he created his premium nutrition brand, IM8: ‘It’s the reason that I wanted to create IM8. I was fed up with going into the pharmacy or a health shop and there were so many supplements, so many tablets, so many powders. One person saying one thing is the best and others would disagree. IM8 works for me. Gut health, energy, focus – all of it is improved.’

Life in the Cotswolds: ‘Cooking is a real passion for me now. It’s something I’m so proud of.’ On social media, he’s given fans tours of his home in the Cotswolds, complete with a chicken coop, a vegetable patch and beehives. ‘When we harvest the honey and I’m sat there in my kitchen looking at it all, I get quite emotional. I turn to my kids looking for respect and they’re like, “Yeah, whatever, Dad.” It’s so satisfying for me, though.’

He’ll have an empty nest in five years: ‘We’re not quite there yet, but it’s actually painful. We’ve gone from having four in the house to one.’ The self-confessed ‘neat freak’ even admits he’s already missing the boys’ cluttered bedrooms. ‘What I would give to have that back and be able to walk in, moaning to them about it! That said, my boys are pretty good. They’ll always ask me to the pub when they go with their mates.’

[From Men’s Health]

Did you clock the fact that he was like “my body feels good, I’m in great shape” and then he’s like “oh yeah I broke my back and it still bothers me, as does my wrist and everything else.” Still, I bet that David thought his body would be much more banged up after his career and it’s shocking that his knees and ankles aren’t being held together with duct tape. Anyway, spare a thought for Harper, the baby of the family and the last one in the “nest.” She’s their only girl too – David is going to be completely devastated when she moves out. None of the Beckham boys are going to college, right? I wonder if Harper will end up going to university. If she does, I’m sure her dad will visit as much as possible and bring hand-cooked meals.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of Men’s Health UK.

Someone remarked that the media outrage towards With Love, Meghan was partially because the show proves that the Duchess of Sussex still has so many friends and those friends are really loyal to her. There are no leaks or bad vibes among Meghan’s closest friends and they’re not selling her out for tabloid pennies. Instead, they’re happy to show up for her cooking show, alongside some new friends she’s made in Montecito and new friends she’s making because of WLM. You get the idea – Meghan has a wide group of friends that she can count on. Well, I have no idea what inspired this, but the Mail is trying to make it into a thing: why isn’t Markus Anderson on WLM? Markus and Meghan became besties when she lived in Canada – Markus is some kind of executive with the Soho House. What’s weird is that they’ve hung out publicly in recent years and the Mail knows that – Markus and Meghan just attended a mutual friend’s baby shower a few months ago. Markus went to a hockey game with the Sussexes last year, I think? Markus was also in Montecito during “coronation weekend” in 2023 – they went hiking near Casa de Sussex and there was a big freakout. Well, here’s another freakout:

Whatever happened to Meghan’s best friend Markus Anderson? The tall, handsome Canadian was a third wheel in the early days of her romance with Prince Harry — and he was front and center at their 2018 wedding. However, he was nowhere to be seen in the first series of her recent Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan — and I understand that he won’t appear in the second series either.

Though that next instalment isn’t due to air until the autumn, it was filmed at the same time as the first, in a rented $8 million home near to the Montecito mansion Meghan shares with her husband Prince Harry and their children Archie and Lilibet.

A friend of Anderson conceded that their bond ‘may’ not be quite as tight as it once was. This is apparently is due to Anderson’s extremely busy professional life – he’s an executive at Soho House and travels ‘almost constantly.’ The private members club now has 42 outposts around the globe. The last time he and Meghan were spotted together was at a baby shower for a mutual friend in December. And before that, he hadn’t been pictured with her in years.

On top of Anderson’s busy schedule, his friend admitted there was another reason he has steered clear from Meghan’s new show, saying: ‘He just really is not comfortable in the spotlight… it’s not his thing.’

Other prominent personalities who Meghan counts among her friends, but who haven’t appeared in her show, include Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey – though, it’s hardly like either of them are afraid of the spotlight. Another missing face has been feminist-trailblazer Gloria Steinem, with whom the Duchess of Sussex is close. Steinem’s absence is less surprising, for she has built a career around fighting for equality and getting women out of the kitchen – not sprinkling edible flowers on biscuits. Perhaps a changing of the guard is afoot in Meghan’s inner circle.

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m struggling to even figure out the point of this: “yes, Meghan clearly has a lot of close friends, but why isn’t every single one of Meghan’s friends on her show??” Because… that’s weird and unreasonable to expect every friend-of-Meghan to rearrange their schedules to turn up on her show in the first two seasons? “Why isn’t Gloria Steinem on the show?!?” Because she’s Gloria Steinem?? Is this all because they’re mad that they can’t say that Meghan is friendless and unsupported? Abigail Spencer, Mindy Kaling, Tracy Robbins (wife of Paramount’s CEO), Delfina Figueras, Kelly Zafjen, Victoria Jackson all showed up. And that’s why they’re mad.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram, Backgrid.

Questions about Gwen Stefani’s politics have been percolating for a while, but in the past month, a lot of Gwen’s fans have now become convinced that she’s fully MAGA. Gwen has, in my opinion, always been more socially conservative and religious than her fans realize, and she also has a long history of problematic words and behavior around race. And yet… she used to be a huge Democrat and a huge Democratic donor and fundraiser. But things have changed – these days, she’s reposting hyper-religious-wingnut content, she’s boosting Tucker Carlson interviews and she’s following right-wing nutjobs on social media. Well, now the Mail is running an exclusive about how Gwen has basically adopted Blake Shelton’s Republican politics and the music industry doesn’t know what to do with her anymore because her new music sucks and she’s turned off all of her loyal fans.

Gwen Stefani has become ‘unrecognizable’ to her fans, friends and even her label – which is now said to be ‘considering dropping her’ after her alleged ‘MAGA makeover’. The No Doubt singer, 55, outraged her liberal fans last week when she publicly supported conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, reposting one of his religious interviews. The move shocked her fans given her previous support for the Democratic party.

Now an insider has told the Daily Mail that Gwen ‘appears to have gone MAGA’ and ‘doesn’t care’ if it alienates her fans. They alleged that the change in her political views could be attributed to her husband, country singer Blake Shelton, who previously praised Donald Trump.

‘After massively supporting Democrats for years – she appears to have gone MAGA,’ the source explained. ‘Some of this can be attributed to her marriage, as Blake is an infamous Republican. She shut out everyone for him. She doesn’t seem to care about her fans anymore and has shed her persona to become the unrecognizable opposite of what she once was. The Tucker Carson situation is not anything new, though. This is who she has become,’ the source continued. ‘Gwen is not even trying to hide who she has become and this person is unrecognizable to her fans, friends and even her label.’

‘She cannot sell albums anymore and with her new holier-than-thou campaign, it has really turned a lot of people off,’ said our source. ‘After [teaming up with the Catholic] app, she released her last album Bouquet which was an absolute bomb. This has caused Interscope to consider dropping her which is a travesty considering she was once one of their top selling artists. But she has only herself to blame.’

Gwen’s last album debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart and sold only 13,000 copies in its first week. The Daily Mail has reached out to Gwen and Interscope for comment.

[From The Daily Mail]

For what it’s worth, I listened to a little bit of Gwen’s last album and it was a trainwreck, it’s like she’s completely lost her innate understanding of the pop-music zeitgeist. I guess her old producers don’t want to work with her anymore either. I think that was why the album bombed, not “fans were turned off by her politics” – the music was just bad. In the musical sense, Gwen had a good run – she was incredibly relevant for over two decades. She even had some hit songs with Blake in recent years. But yeah, this is her semi-retirement vibe: bad music, MAGA politics, being Blake’s perfect Republican wife, I guess.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Graydon Carter is currently promoting his new memoir, When the Going Was Good. It’s largely about his time as Vanity Fair’s editor-in-chief and what the media/magazine business was like in the glory days of the 1990s and pre-crash ‘00s. I skimmed through his interview with the Times of London, where he spoke a lot about his dealings with Donald Trump over the years and he remarked, “I don’t recognise this man. If it comes out in 15 years that this Trump was a Manchurian candidate, I wouldn’t be surprised. The Trump I knew was someone who just wanted to be liked.” He also bad-mouthed Anna Wintour and VF’s new EIC Radhika Jones. He said that Jones has made VF “less fun, less interesting and don’t even get me started on the dull covers.” Which… fair enough. I also think Jones is too cerebral for a VF editor.

The reason I skimmed that Times interview was because I wanted to see if a British outlet got Carter to talk about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They did not. The last time Carter was out and about and giving interviews, it was 2023 and he spent a good chunk of time criticizing the Sussexes and predicting that their marriage will last for “years not decades.” His site, Air Mail, has also spent a lot of time hitting Meghan in particular. Well, Carter also chatted with Maureen Dowd at the NY Times, and they played a game called “confirm or deny.” Dowd got him on the record about whether he thinks Harry and Meghan are, in Bill Simmons’ words, “f–king grifters.”

Confirm or Deny: Annie Leibovitz took your passport photo.
Graydon Carter: She took my passport photo.

CoD: The two funniest non-comedians you’ve ever met are George Clooney and Anderson Cooper.
In both cases, they were so funny that I had to tell them to stop because I thought my trachea would break.

CoD: Anna Wintour should retire.
Absolutely not. I think she can go on for decades.

CoD: Putin once called you to get on the cover of Vanity Fair.
Deny.

CoD: The Kushners are the new Kennedys.
Deny. Well, the new Bobby Kennedy juniors, if that’s the arm of the family you’re referring to.

CoD: Taylor Swift has a lifetime ban from the Waverly Inn.
No, we adore Taylor Swift.

CoD: Harry and Meghan are grifters.
Bill Simmons could say that. I never would. I’m not sure grifter is the right word. More “chancers,” which is an English expression for somebody who is on the make.

CoD: The Democrats need a celebrity candidate in 2028.
Confirm. Well, they need a candidate, and whether it’s a celebrity or not, they’ve got a strong bench. It’ll take six months, and they’ll get things sorted out, and then there’ll be a force.

[From The NY Times]

Americans don’t use “chancer” as any kind of descriptor, so I actually looked it up. Per dictionary.com, chancer is “an unscrupulous or dishonest opportunist who is prepared to try any dubious scheme for making money or furthering his or her own ends.” Like… Harry and Meghan got a Netflix contract? Meghan is investing in small, female-owned businesses? She’s doing a line of crepe mixes? Harry is working for a mental-health coaching business? What the f–k is so unscrupulous about any of this? The Sussexes really have the old guard royalist media on their heels, huh? In some ways, this is what Graydon Carter is describing in his memoir – he and the other tastemaker media types have seen their relevance dip to the point where they can’t control what people think of the Sussexes (or anyone), and it’s driving them crazy.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.