Here is a portrait of the Swedish royal family over the weekend, celebrating National Day (June 6th). Even though Sofia Hellqvist has not officially married into the family yet – the wedding is this weekend – she was still allowed to participate and wear the traditional Swedish garb. Anyway, I’ve been sort of surprised by the sparse advance coverage for this wedding. Granted, people in America care more about the British royals and I truly wasn’t expecting, like, Kate Middleton-marrying-William type of excitement, but I genuinely thought this would be a bigger story. Instead, we’re getting half-hearted propaganda from Sofia’s former boss in NYC. Yes, Sofia used to be a waitress in New York. And her boss thinks she has a beautiful smile.

Sweden is preparing for the royal wedding of the summer between Sofia Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip on Saturday — but less than 10 years ago, Sofia was a waitress and bartender in New York. The beauty worked at Italian restaurant Serafina, on 55th Street and Broadway, from 2005 to 2007.

Restaurant co-owner Fabio Granato told Page Six, “I remember her very well because she always had the best attitude with the customers and a really beautiful smile. If I was having a bad day, all I had to do was look at her, and I would feel better because she is the type of girl who is always happy and uplifting. She has a calming effect on people.”

He added that the restaurant had stayed in touch with Sofia, and, “We’re so happy that she is getting married and going to be the princess of Sweden. She always brought so much good energy to Serafina, and I’m sure she will be great for the entire country. [Serafina co-owner] Vittorio Assaf and I both have Swedish kids, so it is a very nice coincidence that one of our past employees is the future princess of Sweden. We’re really happy for her, and she will be a beautiful princess .?.?. We are so happy for her and we wish her all the best.”

Sofia was also a yoga instructor during her time in New York, and had previously appeared on a reality show and posed in a bikini — with a python — for a Swedish magazine called Slitz.

[From Page Six]

Yoga instructor, waitress, reality show star and softcore p0rn model. Just think about this: would Prince Harry ever be “allowed” to marry someone with those job descriptions in her CV? Maybe Harry would be allowed to marry a former waitress, as long as waiting tables was done “ironically” in Ibiza during one’s gap year or something like that. But it just feels like the Swedish royal family was like, “Ugh, anything goes with this one.”

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, Swedish royal family and WENN.

Here are some photos from last week’s LA premiere of Love & Mercy, the authorized bio-pic of the Beach Boys’ frontman Brian Wilson. John Cusack and Paul Dano both play Brian Wilson – Dano (obviously) plays the young version, the Beach Boy, and Cusack plays the older Wilson, struggling with mental illness. Both performances are said to be excellent, and both Dano and Cusack are in the conversation for many awards, although it’s difficult to say which actor would be considered the “lead” or if both would be considered.

This feels like one of John Cusack’s first Oscar-baity drama roles in a long time, but I was looking through Cusack’s IMDB and it’s sort of amazing to see how much he works. He seems like one of those actors – a bit like Nicholas Cage – who just says “yes” to every script he’s offered, good or bad, indie or studio, whatever. I was an old-school Cusack fan back in the day. Like, I LOVED him. He was one of my favorite people ever. But in the past few years, he’s come across as… I don’t know, not really a douchebag but definitely douche-adjacent. Cusack has a new interview with The Daily Beast where he talks politics, drugs and more. Some of his quotes are thought-provoking and some are just… ugh.

He says whatever: “I just say what I think, and if people don’t like it, that’s OK…. All those people are just full of hot air and networking and stuff. If you’re speaking out about basic Rubicon lines that should or shouldn’t be crossed, if you can’t be against state-sanctioned murder being made acceptable or economic policy, making the difference between language and meaning so absurd that Orwell and Kafka laugh, these are not heavy-duty things, these are just basic, Cartesian things. They’re common sense, and were debated constitutionally a long time ago.

On Vince Vaughn saying there should be more guns in schools: “The thing is, you’d say “What schools?” and “What version of America are we talking about?” If you look at the site called HeyJackass.com it’ll tell you about how many murders have happened in Chicago, giving you weekly and monthly updates, and you can probably find out how many murders have happened in Baltimore and all over the country. That’s not the kind of debate where you want to do a tit-for-tat with what two celebrities think about it, and in order to talk about it you have to do it in an in-depth way—you need to follow the money and see what the politics are. But no, I think that’s a bad idea.

Politics: “Well, Obama has certainly extended and hardened the cement on a lot of Bush’s post-9/11 Terror Inc. policies, so he’s very similar to Bush in every way that way. His domestic policy is a bit different, but when you talk about drones, the American Empire, the NSA, civil liberties, attacks on journalism and whistleblowers, he’s as bad or worse than Bush. He hasn’t started as many wars, but he’s extended the ones we had, and I don’t even think Dick Cheney or Richard Nixon would say the president has the right to unilaterally decide whom he can kill around the world. On Tuesdays, the president can just decide whom he wants to kill, and you know, since 9/11 there are magic words like “terror,” and if you use magic words, you can justify any power grab you want.

Whether he was offered the lead on Breaking Bad: “No! Not that I’m aware of, but you never know what the agents could have done. It’s such a weird, silly thing though because why would anyone want to see that show without that actor playing it? I want him to play it, even if they offered it to me! He’s awesome.

[From The Daily Beast]

The “Obama is worse than Bush” thing is so stupid to me. It makes me feel sorry for Pres. Obama more than anything else – the Republicans’ trope has been that Obama is so crazy-liberal and he’s a socialist and a communist and he will destroy America with his crazy liberal agenda. Then the far-left people complain that Obama is too centrist, that he’s “just like Bush,” etc. No one is happy because… at the end of the day, Pres. Obama is a reasonable man trying to work with both sides. Just my opinion.

There’s also a lengthy discussion about drugs and Brian Wilson and whether great art can be achieved from taking drugs. Cusack came across pretty well in that section.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Here are some photos of Kim Kardashian, out and about in LA yesterday, looking LESS pregnant than she’s looked in months. In some of these photos, I would almost swear she’s wearing a waist trainer. But surely she’s not, right? Those waist trainers always look A) stupid, B) painful and C) like they’re doing significant damage to one’s internal organs. I suspect Kim is just wearing two or three pairs of Spanx and that’s why she looks so trim. Plus, the outfit is pretty good – I wish Kim would dress like this all the time.

Meanwhile, Kim helped Kanye celebrate his 38th birthday on Monday. First, take a moment and realize that Kanye is 38… I thought he was younger. I thought he was 34 or 35. Anyway, to celebrate Kanye’s birthday, Kim rented out the Staples Center!

Kim Kardashian gave her husband Kanye West a set of keys for his birthday — the keys to STAPLES CENTER … in what has to be the most baller gift ever! Kanye turned 38 on Monday, and Kim went all out … renting the home of the Lakers and Clippers for a day so Yeezy could play a basketball game with his boys. We’re told Kim dropped $110,000 for the gift — and the only thing more impressive than that is the guest list.

Kanye’s running the court with NBA superstars Russell Westbrook and John Wall … plus his pals Justin Bieber, Tyga, and Pusha T. James Harden and 2 Chainz are coaching, John Salley is announcing … and freakin’ John Legend sang the National Anthem! Icing on the hardcourt cake? Kim hired real NBA referees, and a few Laker girls to cheer on her hubby.

Oh, and Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, Shaquille O’Neal, and Scottie Pippen … made videos that played on the jumbotron. #WifeOfTheCentury

[From TMZ]

I’m including a couple of Kim’s Instagrams below. The funniest inclusion here is definitely Justin Bieber. What the hell? Was Kim being passive-aggressive when she invited Bieber? Like, “If that a—hole thinks he’s going to run off to Paris after he gets me pregnant, I’m going to invite Justin Bieber to his baller b-day party.”

Thank you Staples Center for the most amazing birthday party for Kanye!

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 8, 2015 at 6:54pm PDT

WEST VS EAST

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 8, 2015 at 6:52pm PDT

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Instagram.

Here are some of Jennifer Aniston’s latest Smartwater print ads, because of course. So we’ve got Aveeno, Living Proof, Smartwater and those are the major endorsement deals, although I’m sure she’s aiming to get some more contracts, especially from some more lifestyle-friendly companies. Anyway, much like Aniston’s recent interview with Yahoo Style, she sat down for another infomercial interview with Elle.com. She talks about… hair (STAHP!!!!), how Justin Theroux sometimes uses her toothbrush (gross), how she loves the smell of the ocean (groundbreaking!) and much more. Some highlights:

She hates when people are (Smart)water-lazy: “I usually have warm water with lemon first thing in the morning if I can remember. Otherwise I’ll have a cup of coffee, feed the dogs, then a shake, eggs and a little avocado and a little coconut oil on Ezekiel whole wheat toast. Then I usually read the paper and hit the gym. I have the Smart Water bottle that’s 23 ounces. I make sure I get three or four in of those a day. It’s such a habit for me now. So many people are water lazy; it’s such an important thing.”

Her favorite smells: “I love the smell of coffee, coffee beans, the ocean, ocean air, mornings when I go out and walk my dogs. Freshly cut green grass. I wear the fragrance that I made.

Haircare: “[Living Proof] is just a perfect product and they’ve just come out with a humidity shield, and for me it’s incredible. Also the Night Cap, that is something that you put on at night or just around the house, it smells so good. You put it in your hair and it absorbs it. And the new Blowout which you spray in right before you blow dry. It has UV protection and chlorine protection. I do my color once a month, just a touch-up every four weeks. But I’m trying not to color it right now and give it a break.

Shilling for Aveeno whilst talking about in-flight maintenance: “I do take my makeup off. There are great makeup removers from Aveeno, so you just wipe it off. And a little spray bottle of Evian, and wipe your face down with a toner, and put on your moisturizer, and do a mask, especially on a European flight. I’m a lip balm and eye drops addict. I have terrible allergies. I use Alcon Naphcon A. I really enjoy the sensation of eyes burning. Dr. Hauschka great lip balm and By Terry Rose Balm in the pot; it’s really gooey for bee stung lips.

The one look she’ll never repeat: “Bleach out my eyebrows, I will never do that again. It was my first Cosmopolitan cover and Kevyn Aucoin was doing my makeup, and all of a sudden I had white foam on my eyebrows. It was a real look in the 90s, and it looks gorgeous if you’re Linda Evangelista. I was so new and naïve in the business, I didn’t know that I could say ‘no.’ I had to paint in my eyebrows for three months with brown shadow.

On Justin’s beauty products: “We share everything. He uses all Living Proof and Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion. Guys are lazy. They use what’s in front of them. He has his own toothbrush, of course, and in an emergency then we’ll share. I like my toothbrush.

[From Elle]

It’s not that she’s doing interviews solely to promote her advertising contracts. It’s that the only interviews she’s done in four months are only for her advertising contracts and that she name-checks each product in her interviews. She’s like one year away from appearing on QVC, for the love of God. I don’t blame the media outlets for interviewing her, but I wish they would put a disclaiming above every one of her interviews: “ATTENTION: the following is a paid advertisement for Aveeno, Smartwater and Living Proof.”

Ads courtesy of Smartwater.

Of all the Duggar offspring, I think Josh Duggar was the only one “allowed” to move far away from the family. As the kids start to grow up and get married, the rest of them will be sticking closer to their family home in Arkansas. Jill and Jessa both moved out when they married their husbands, but it’s my understanding that both daughters are still pretty near to Jim-Bob and Michelle. So… was there a reason why Jim-Bob and Michelle were so eager to get Josh as far away as possible? My theory is that he was shoved out of the house ASAP because of the Duggars’ involvement in the Arkansas DHS investigation – everything would have gone a lot smoother if Josh just moved out of the house, right?

So, Josh moved out, married Anna and they brought their growing family to a home in Maryland, where Josh commuted to work at the Family Research Council. His work with the FRC was all “social issue” based – no gay marriage, no reproductive choice for women, no LGBTQ issues because, obviously, gay and transgender people are the REAL threat to children, not Josh Duggar. Well, when the Duggar sh-t hit the fan, Josh had to resign his position at the FRC. And now it seems that Josh and his family are putting their Maryland house on the market – TMZ and Us Weekly note that there were moving trucks outside of the Maryland home. TMZ says that Anna and Josh bought a home in Arkansas earlier this year, and sources believe that they will be moving back to Arkansas full-time now.

What else is going on? Well, in the Duggars’ Fox News interview, Jim-Bob and Michelle brought up the idea of a “lesbian agenda” to bring them down, starting with the “illegal release” of public records pertaining to In Touch Weekly’s FOIA request, which (according to the Duggars) was all part of some kind of bribe to the Springdale police chief, Kathy O’Kelley. As we keep saying, there was nothing illegal about any of it, and the police departments were actually required by law to turn over their records to meet the FOIA request. So the current mayor of Springfield, Ark, has some stuff to say. Mayor Doug Sprouse issued a very interesting statement, per In Touch:

The City will not dignify suggestions of misconduct in this matter by Chief O’Kelley with any comment beyond labeling them as outrageous and categorically false. Chief O’Kelley is a dedicated public servant whose career in law enforcement has been committed to duty and the adherence to the law.

With respect to the release of records pursuant to requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the facts are these:

The City complied with each and every requirement of the FOIA with respect to the request for records.

Upon notification of the request for information pursuant to the FOIA request, the Chief of Police referred the matter to the Springdale City Attorney for an opinion as to whether the requested records were subject to public disclosure under the FOIA. As part of due diligence and in order to thoroughly analyze the request, the City also contacted the Arkansas Municipal League, the Arkansas State Police, the Washington County Juvenile Prosecuting Attorney within the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and made unsuccessful attempts to contact appropriate officials within the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

Out of courtesy with respect to the release of information in potentially sensitive situations, the Police Chief directed the family be notified of the FOIA request. The Police Chief further directed that the family be kept regularly informed as to the status of the request; the City’s analysis of the request and any action the City would take with respect to the request, including notification to the family that the City had an obligation under the FOIA law to release the redacted report.

Subsequently and consistent with and pursuant to advice of legal counsel, the City Attorney determined that the record – after thorough redaction — was subject to release under the FOIA.

Prior to release, the record went through several rounds of review that included redaction of the names of minors and all potentially identifying pronouns.

The Springdale Police Department files in this case are not part of juvenile proceedings, had not been sealed or expunged, and at the time the report was filed the person listed in the report was an adult, not a juvenile.

In 2014, the Chief indicated to the Mayor her intent to retire in 2015. In a letter to the Mayor on May 6, 2015, she formally notified the Mayor that she would be retiring as Chief of Police on June 30, 2015. With respect to the Police Chief’s reference to “unfinished business” cited in her retirement letter, those issues relate to issues of Departmental structure, organization and leadership succession planning and were not in reference to any case specific, including this one. Any suggestion or assertion otherwise is patently false.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

The accusations the mayor is responding to are insider-y, but if you’ve been following the stories or if you’ve watched the Duggars’ interviews, you know how harsh this statement is. This is the mayor of Springfield calling the Duggars liars. This is the mayor of Springfield telling the world that public officials followed the law and that the Duggars are still, to this day, lying their asses off.

Photos courtesy of Duggars’ social media.

Here are some photos from yesterday’s Gurkha 200 pageant in London, with appearances by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. The pageant was marking two centuries of Gurkha service in the British army, and there was also a moment to commemorate those lost in the Nepalese earthquake in April. The Prince of Wales is patron of the Gurkha Welfare Trust and he made a public statement honoring the Gurkhas and calling for more contributions towards helping Nepal rebuild following the earthquake – you can read more about the event and Charles’ statements here.

As you can see, the Queen brought some Brooch Realness to the event. That brooch is completely fantastic. Her suit is by Angela Kelly, her longtime dressmaker. It’s a bit shiny and metallic, but since she’s the Queen, she pulls it off. I was a little bit surprised to see that the Queen was seated next to the Sultan of Brunei. As opposed to being seated next to Prince Philip or Prince Charles. Harry is seated somewhere away from the royals too.

What else is going on with the Queen? Oh, nothing much, she’s still working her monarch arse off at 89. It was recently announced that the Queen will making a visit to the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany during her state visit to the country next month. A few years ago, it was believed that the Queen would not be undertaking very many state visits at her age, but she just keeps on truckin’. Her visit to the concentration camp – incidentally the same camp where Anne Frank is buried – will be the first visit by a reigning monarch. It will also coincide with the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation by British soldiers.

And finally, the Queen recently met one of the most dapper children ever. This video was originally posted by Dubai’s Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, and it is believed that the little boy is the sheikh’s son. This is from the Epson Derby last week.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Amber Heard covers the July issue of Elle in a malliot swimsuit, 1980s hair combo that looks straight out of a Jane Fonda workout video. The editorial is much better. Amber’s promoting her role in Magic Mike XXL. She’s also promoting her marriage to Johnny Depp. I don’t mean that as shade. Amber talks about Johnny with Elle. Johnny used to sleepily interrupt her interviews, and Amber does leak gossip to her friends (to test them). But she has never discussed their relationship with a magazine until now.

Amber also spends a chunk of the interview complaining about fame and her career. She’s made no secret of wanting to be Action Jolie and disliking “hot” roles. Now Amber’s discussing all of the scripts she has to reject. It’s interesting:

On her marriage to Johnny: “I fall in love again and again. Nothing is a dramatic change. We’ve been together for a long time now, so it’s been a fairly organic process. I have a fiercely independent spirit.”

On the dearth of female roles: “I get a stack of scripts, like, once a month, and most of the time, you find these placeholder girls that are there to provide a bounce for the male character. So we know he’s funny because she’s serious and she’s mad at him. We know he’s strong because she needs saving. So really her job is to validate this personality trait of our hero or male. I mean we’re trying to imitate life, and it seems to me a deeply saddening injustice that we are so uncreative and uninterested in developing representations of female life.”

She hates being placed in a Barbie box: “I feel like I’m constantly fighting against my exterior, or this exterior presentation of myself because of how I look or perhaps because of who I’m with.”

Her fear of fame: “The thing that really scares me is the potential of losing my freedom. I never want for my life to lose the ability to transverse the world, with freedom and ease. The freedom and ease I have worked so hard to acquire for myself.”

[From Elle]

Piles of scripts. That’s the part that throws Amber’s story off. Everyone knows that female roles in Hollywood are rarely as meaty as men’s roles But Amber tossed in a visual to represent how in demand she is as an actress. She’s promoting Magic Mike XXL, not high art. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. She’s pretty tough in a few movies (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and Syrup) and has a sultry appeal, but Amber is not an amazing actress. She can turn on the charm or appear cold as ice. Those are her two onscreen modes.

I don’t know when the Elle interview happened, but it also feels like damage control. Amber’s never been open about her private life. Why now?

P.S. Yesterday was Johnny’s 52nd birthday. Entertainment Weekly put together a tribute.

I saw the headline on People Magazine, “See Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny Reunite on the X-Files Set,” and I squeed a little. Then I braced myself for the possibility that none of our photo agencies would have the pics, but I was wrong they do – and holy sh*t, there’s Joel McHale! If you add Joel McHale to any production, however terrible, I will watch it.

We heard last week that McHale would be joining the X-Files reboot and actually seeing him on set is incredible. Variety reports that he’s playing “Tad O’Malley, a conservative news anchor who becomes an unlikely ally for Fox Mulder.” I’ll take it. It makes sense too, because some of those conservative talking heads are huge conspiracy theorists. Look at how badass McHale is in his suit and glasses. These pics were taken on set in Vancouver yesterday.

Here’s a photo of McHale cracking up Anderson and Duchovny. It looks like they’re not even filming at this point and that he’s just making witty observations.

Moving on, here’s Duchovny going in to kiss Anderson on the cheek. Maybe they’re filming but he looks like a creeper here. She’s trying to move away from him.

In terms of the costuming, People drops a minor spoiler by pointing out that Duchovny “is noticeably not dressed for official FBI work, which could indicate that his character, Fox Mulder, may not have rejoined the bureau in these new episodes.” People may actually be reporting a tip here instead of just jumping to conclusions, but we’ll have to wait and see if more information comes out.

On a superficial note, I love Anderson’s hair here. They gave her strawberry blonde color in a more modern style. Do you remember her deep red helmet hair? I had hair just like that in the mid 90s and it was no coincidence.

The X-Files is scheduled to return for six new episodes in January, 2016. Here’s Anderson with showrunner Chris Carter.

photo credit: FameFlynet

I feel like I’m hallucinating. Did you guys know that Sean Avery (former NY Ranger, now retired from hockey) is engaged to Hilary Rhoda? I feel like I heard that a while back and I dismissed it because I really and truly believed Avery was and is a gay man. I wasn’t hallucinating about that – there were widespread reports back in 2013 (especially) that Avery was gay, engaged to a man and about to come out publicly. The specificity of those rumors and stories led me to believe that sure, he was probably gay and good for him. But I guess he’s not? And he’s engaged to a human woman, model Hilary Rhoda. And they posed for Hamptons magazine cover editorial and story that is so awkward, even Tom Cruise is cringing in his lifts. The reason for their Hamptons cover? Their wedding will be in the Hamptons. Some highlights from the interview:

Avery on being called an “attractive couple”: “That means we’re going to have ugly babies. We’re cursed.”

Rhoda on whether they want babies: “Yes, of course.”

Rhoda on their wedding plans: “We’re just getting it together now after a year and a half of being engaged. We’re just starting to meet with wedding planners and figure out where we’re going to do it, but we’re aiming for the fall. We are getting married in the Hamptons.”

Avery is a groomzilla? “At this point, I don’t necessarily think we need a wedding planner. I could set this wedding up in the next couple of weeks, and everything would run smoothly. I have it conceptualized in my head, and we’ve discussed what we want to do. We’re going to have an amazing weekend—all of our friends are going to be here, and no matter what happens, it’s going to be fun and beautiful.

Rhoda on fitness: “When we started dating, he was taking me to SoulCycle, and I started to work out a lot more because he’s a professional athlete; he has to do that for his job, so I got into that mentality about my job, too. We both work out every single day.

[From Hamptons Magazine]

There’s a lot of couple-stuff in the piece too and for what it’s worth, they do seem to have a pretty strong partnership. Like, their lives are already pretty blended together and they seem to finish each other’s thoughts. There’s also some interesting stuff about how they’re in the house-flipping business now – they’re buying mid-range Hamptons houses and fixing them up and selling them for a profit. They aren’t doing mega-mansions or McMansions though, which is nice.

Photos courtesy of Hamptons Magazine.

I only just realized that Entourage: The Movie had already been released domestically (last week) and we still hadn’t written one word about it. That’s weird, right? I mean, lots of sites were doing “think pieces” about Entourage and whether anyone really cared about these guys anymore, but no one around here could even work up the energy to say a few words. So here are some photos from last night’s London premiere – I’m including photos of Adrian Grenier, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Connolly and Kevin Dillon.

So how did Entourage: The Movie do in its first few days with the domestic box office? Not great. It opened last Wednesday and the film came in fourth place at the weekend box office with $10.4 million, following Spy at #1 (which is a great action-comedy), Insidious: Chapter 3 and San Andreas (at #3). So… that’s why the whole crew came out in London. They’re hoping the Europeans will enjoy cheeseball bros.

So why was Entourage: The Movie even made? Who thought it would be a good idea? Did Jeremy Piven need a new Lambo or something? Well, the Daily Beast ran what I thought was a good analysis of why Entourage: The Movie was met with a resounding yawn. It’s not even like people have a full-fledged hate-on for the film, it just seems boring and silly and a waste of time and energy. The DB theorizes that we can’t even complain about the misogyny of such bro-centered stories because in the world of Entourage, everyone is a vapid douchebag, man and woman. So… who’s buying this? Does anyone even care?

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.