It’s been well-known for decades, if not centuries, that the British monarch gets to keep all of the gifts they receive from friends, world leaders, despots and everyone else. Many of the jewels in the Royal Collection were “gifted” to the Windsors, and the Windsors obviously never pay taxes on any of those gifts, no matter how lavish. Something shifted when then-Prince Charles married Camilla, and Camilla received and accepted millions in jewelry from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern kingdoms and emirates. Suddenly, people had concerns and the Windsors were supposed to disclose the gifts they received annually. For the past four years, no disclosures have been made, according to Richard Palmer writing for the Guardian.

King Charles and his family have failed to reveal their official gifts for the past four years, despite previously promising to publish an annual list. Palace officials have blamed the pandemic, the change of reign, and then planning for last year’s coronation for their inability to publish details of the gifts received by members of the royal family.

The royal family’s reticence follows controversy over a cash-for-honours scandal involving the king’s main charitable foundation, which led to a police investigation that was dropped last year without a full explanation from either Scotland Yard or the Crown Prosecution Service. It also comes after revelations that Charles, when he was Prince of Wales, accepted £2.6m in cash in bags from a Qatari politician for another of his charities, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund.

But unlike MPs, who have to register gifts, donations and hospitality, there is no public register of interests for members of the royal family. Instead, they act on the advice of their private secretaries in deciding what to declare. Annual gift lists were introduced after media criticism of attempts by the royal household to conceal the origin of lavish jewellery given to Queen Camilla by a Saudi royal in 2006 and worn by her on an official visit to the US in 2007.

The last annual list, detailing official gifts received by all working members of the royal family in 2019, was published in April 2020 but since then there has been nothing, apart from the occasional description of an exchange of presents during a state visit or pictures when they are given gifts during an engagement.

Over the years, the annual list has led to controversy, such as in 2012 when it emerged that the king of Bahrain and his country’s prime minister had given a “suite of jewels” to Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, while facing criticism over human rights abuses. But many presents, including sensitive ones, were often concealed, even though official gifts are not the personal property of the royals and are in effect accepted on behalf of the nation.

Saudi Arabia’s controversial crown prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the Duchess of Sussex a £500,000 pair of diamond chandelier earrings as a wedding present in 2018. In October that year Meghan wore them at a state banquet in Fiji only a few days after the crown prince was accused of ordering the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But when journalists asked where she got them, palace officials said they were “borrowed”. She wore them again that November at a Buckingham Palace dinner to celebrate the then Prince Charles’s 70th birthday. It was only in March 2021, shortly before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave a controversial television interview to Oprah Winfrey, that their true provenance was leaked.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, chose not to release a list of any gifts they had received at their wedding in 2011. Only a handful of official gifts received by Queen Elizabeth for her platinum jubilee in 2022 were disclosed and it is not clear what, if any, were given to King Charles and Queen Camilla to mark their coronation.

[From The Guardian]

Re: the earrings from MBS – once again, the earrings were given to the royal family. Then-Prince Charles and Prince William met with MBS just a couple of months before the Sussexes’ wedding in 2018. When Meghan said they were “borrowed,” she was telling the truth. The earrings were borrowed from the Royal Collection. They were “given” to her by Angela Kelly, QEII’s dresser, as a set-up. Ask the palace where the earrings are now and whether MBS’s “gift” is sitting in some palace vault. Throw in the fact that no one knows whether William and Kate are also accepting suitcases full of cash, bags of jewelry or tons of free sh-t from Apple, everyone’s being pretty selective in their outrage.

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It’s been a minute since we’ve seen Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce out together in New York. He’s been working, she’s been working, but he came to NYC for the weekend (?) and they stepped out on Friday night. They had a double-date with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, and the two couples had dinner at The Corner Store in Soho. You can see the menu here – their steaks sound amazing, the “lobster frites” sound like a dream and they do hand-cut fries.

Fashion notes for Taylor… real talk, this outfit looked straight out of a ‘90s mall TO ME, but I’m shocked to discover that these are really high-end designer pieces. Her coat is from Ralph Lauren, her corset is from Gucci ($1650) and her boots are Louis Vuitton. She’s carrying a $4400 Dior saddle bag and she’s blinged out in jewelry pieces from LV and other brands. Meanwhile, Travis wore a Jacquemus Simon printed shirt. Thoughts on Travis’s ‘stache? He’s had it for more than a month and I’m not feeling it, nor am I feeling his overall hairstyle. He looks very… Blue Lives Matter.

Meanwhile, Taylor notably missed Travis’s birthday on October 5. She was in Kansas City on the 7th, in time to watch the Chiefs win another game. Page Six claims that on the 6th, Taylor was in town and she hosted a small dinner party for Travis at Noka in Kansas City. They say her dad was there, and Patrick and Brittany Mahomes were there too. What do you think? Did Tay do something special for his birthday, one day late? Her birthday is coming up soon enough… I wonder what he’ll get her for her 35th?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

King Charles will arrive in Australia on the 18th. This will be his first (!!!) visit/tour to a “British realm” as king. As in, a country which still has the British monarch as their head of state. In recent weeks, Buckingham Palace courtiers have been gently trying to lower expectations for the trip and add some sympathetic layers for Charles. Charles is pausing his cancer treatments for the tour, and they’re limiting his schedule because no one knows how tired he’ll be. They’re telling people that the point of the tour is to show people that he’s still alive. The bar is, as always, in hell. Well, now they’re saying that Charles will travel with two doctors, neither of which is the king’s in-house homeopath. LMAO.

The King will take two doctors with him on his 11-day trip to Australia and Samoa. Charles’s visit to Sydney and Canberra will be his first visit of the reign to a Commonwealth realm. To make it possible, the King will pause the cancer treatment he has been undergoing since his diagnosis in February.

The 75-year-old monarch will be monitored closely during the visit. A palace source said that the decision to pause treatment and resume it when he returns to Britain followed doctors’ advice. It is understood that Michael Dixon, the head of the royal medical household, who is known for his interest in homeopathy, will not be one of the doctors travelling with the King.

Steps taken to support Charles abroad are understood to be the same as previous arrangements put in place for the late Queen. They included travelling with a supply of the monarch’s blood, to ensure an exact match if a transfusion was needed. As well as travelling with his own doctors, the King will be supported by medical teams in Australia and Samoa. In Australia, the itinerary has been designed with the King’s health in mind: the King and Queen will have a rest day and there will be no evening engagements.

Hugo Vickers, the historian and author, said: “I’m sure that the medical team has been consulted and will look after the King and make sure that he doesn’t overwork, as we know he has a propensity to do. I’m sure he wouldn’t be undertaking the trip unless he was fit enough to do it.”

In Samoa, the King and Queen will arrive in the evening and attend a state dinner. The King will meet Commonwealth heads of government in Samoa and has had a series of phone calls with leaders in preparation. In Australia he is due to visit the Sydney Opera House and attand a barbecue, and said to be looking forward to meeting the public. Given his continued ill health, however, a planned visit to New Zealand was cut from the tour.

[From The Times]

If I’m being honest, I do feel a tad sorry for Charles. He waited seventy-plus years to become king and now, two years after his mother’s passing, it’s like he’s holding the whole operation together with scotch tape and glitter. Notice how no one has even suggested that it probably would have been better to send the heir, or that the heir should be stepping up to do more to help his ancient father who still has cancer. Speaking of the whole thing falling apart, the palace corresponded with an Australian republican group about what Charles would do if Aussies want a republic:

King Charles has confirmed that it is up to the Australian people to decide whether the country remains a constitutional monarchy or becomes a republic. Ahead of the King’s visit to Australia next week, the Australian Republic Movement exchanged letters with Buckingham Palace officials, writing on the King’s behalf.

Correspondence from the palace, first revealed by the Daily Mail, says that “whether Australia becomes a republic” is a “matter for the Australian public to decide”.

The letter sent by palace officials restates the existing position, rather than marking any new change in policy – and Buckingham Palace is not saying anything further to the letter’s contents. But it is an amicable exchange, following a request by a group campaigning for a republic to have a meeting with the King during his visit.

“The King appreciated that you took the time to write and asked me to reply on his behalf,” says the letter from Buckingham Palace to the Australian Republic Movement, written in March. “Please be assured that your views on this matter have been noted very carefully. His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his Ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is therefore a matter for the Australian public to decide.” The letter adds that the King and Queen have a “deep love and affection” for Australia and “your thoughtfulness in writing as you did is warmly appreciated”.

[From BBC]

Canada’s being pretty quiet, eh? I think Aussies will be the first ones to get a big crack at becoming a republic, and all of the other British realms will watch what happens. I hope it happens in the next decade or so. Anyway, I think the palace’s response was polite – as I said, this sh-t is barely being held together during Charles’s reign. I doubt “King William” will bother with any of this.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Minnie Driver lived and worked in America for nearly three decades. Many British celebrities view America as a place to work but disparage as a place with inferior culture compared to Britain. But Minnie loved her life in California, living in a fancy trailer in Malibu and raising her son Henry. Nowadays, she splits her time between California and the UK, because Henry goes to school over there. But she has nice things to say about America – and awful things to say about Donald Trump – in an interview with the Times of London. Some highlights:

Her “Cinderella moment” while promoting ‘Circle of Friends’ in America. Landing in the US having lost the weight again, she was treated to the full Hollywood glam-over. “They came at my hair and blow-dried it straight. And they got me a good bra and the right size jeans. And suddenly I was sleek. Suddenly, I was revealed to myself as being a girl who was pretty, and it was so exciting.”

Being 54 years old: “I’d much rather have my face when I was 25. But I certainly wouldn’t want to have to go through all that sh-t again, of all the other attendant stuff that was coming down the pipe.”

She’s back to living in London after 27 years in Los Angeles. “I will always be between both places, but my son’s at school here, so if I’m not working, I’m wherever he is.”

She stopped making movies when she became a mother: “It’s why I stopped making movies, really consciously. I called my agent and went, ‘OK, I’m having a baby and I would really like you to go and look for a show that’s called Shoots in Los Angeles and will pay me a regular wage. I couldn’t be travelling. I couldn’t be taking a tiny baby to Romania — and I didn’t want to. As a single mum, I didn’t want him to have that uncertainty. I wanted him to have school and football and mates and tea and his own bed and our house.”

She was happy to find work in America: “In America there was just this idea of, ‘Whatever you want to do, try it. Do it. Throw everything you have at it and see what happens.’ There is this idea that you’re allowed to renew and to change course; you’re allowed to pivot. I can be a writer, I can be a musician, I can be a mother, I can be an actor — you don’t have to be just one thing. In England, I felt I was punished for wanting more. I was punished for being ambitious. The British press think it’s greedy for me to want to be more.”

Whether she believes things really changed with #MeToo: “Yes, I do. But not because of some kind of systemic epiphany that men had. Rather, because they know that there’s accountability now. There are actually mechanisms in place [which mean] that kind of behaviour can’t be hidden. And I think #MeToo put a dent in it, but I just don’t know whether that power dynamic is ever really going to be redressed. Revolutions are bloody. People want to maintain the status quo for as long as they possibly can until they absolutely can’t and then, kicking and screaming, people will change.”

Another big change for the industry: “I watched Challengers the other night and what I loved most was seeing that Zendaya was a producer. Not an executive producer — a producer.” She namechecks Margot Robbie, the creative force behind Barbie. “They’re like, ‘I’m part of this creation, I am making this happen.’ And I think maybe that is how it changes. We all should have been doing that back in the Nineties. When I think about the work that I did on scripts, the fixing things, the making stuff better, absolutely uncredited. I made so many of the roles that I was in through improv, through rewriting, through ideas that were all then completely uncredited. So what’s great is that these girls are now getting credit for it.”

She is British but: “I identify as a Californian.” Driver is more anxious than jubilant [about Trump’s felony conviction]. “He’s going to say that the whole thing is like the election, that it’s corrupt. Of course he deserves to be in prison — of course he does. But just looking at how much money he raised in that two days, $53 million in a 48-hour period, and the idea that because the founding fathers — if there had been some mothers involved perhaps it would be different — left no room in the constitution for the idea that the American people could be so stupid as to vote for a felon, there is nothing reflected in the judiciary about what would happen if he wins. It’s a pickle when you’ve got the Secret Service already scoping out prisons, going, ‘What would this look like?’ ”

Whether she would live in America again if Trump was reelected: “If I lived in a red [Republican] state, no, I couldn’t. But living in California, you are somewhat insulated. But do you want to go and live in a bubble? Do you run away from the fire or do you go back and help?” It’s not just Trump himself, she says, but “the revelation of the 70 million people who really quite like a bit of a racist attitude and non-existent immigration policies and dismantling the environmental agencies. And they were always there; they weren’t created by him. He’s just a symptom, and now they’ve got a mascot.”.

[From The Times]

Yeah, her assessment of Trump and the MAGA cult is dead on. Trump IS a symptom. The thing is, while I think the cult is a fundamental crack in America’s foundations, I also feel like it’s an underreported story – especially by the American media – that the cult seems to be less enthusiastic these days. The same energy isn’t there. Minnie’s right about being insulated from everything in California too, and she’s right about how the industry has changed.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I will watch the crap out of Netflix’s documentary on Martha Stewart. [Just Jared]
Variety released their “best horror films of all time” list. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is #1, agree or disagree? Eh. [OMG Blog]
Rest in peace, Ethel Kennedy. [Hollywood Life]
Sarah Jessica Parker & Andy Cohen went to the NYC Ballet gala. [Socialite Life]
Andrew Garfield embraces his pain & vulnerability. [LaineyGossip]
Review of Anatomy of Lies. [Pajiba]
Monique Lhuillier’s latest bridal collection. [Go Fug Yourself]
Selena Gomez wore Schiaparelli to a photocall. [RCFA]
George Lopez is staging a comeback! [Seriously OMG]
How are we on nine seasons of Love After Lockup? [Starcasm]
A backlash to Nobody Wants This. [Buzzfeed]

On Thursday, the Princess of Wales did her first public event in months, since she attended the Wimbledon men’s final in July. She had been seen in careful photo-ops in those three months, of course – there were the photo-ops to church at Balmoral, there was last week’s meeting at Windsor Castle with a 17-year-old girl with cancer, and of course, there was idiotic sepia-toned “cancer-free” video she released in September. But Kate and Prince William’s event in Southport on Thursday was their first public event together since Trooping the Colour in June. It’s a pretty big deal.

Some details about her outfit – Kate wore a polka-dotted dress from Whistles and a McQueen peacoat, both of which look newish to me? The Telegraph dutifully announced that shades of burgundy & merlot are the hottest autumnal colors this year. Naturally. Tatler made a big deal about her fern earrings from Catherine Zoraida – those are a repeat, but according to Tatler, “ferns represent the importance of family bonds and signify hope for the next generation. They are also said to symbolise endurance, with many cultures viewing the unfurling of the plant’s fronds as the natural embodiment of resilience through hardships.” Some people are doing entirely too much to give Kate credit for her symbolism. This is the woman who cosplays national flags. She’s not researching the meaning of ferns. Kate was also notably not wearing her sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring. Again. That ring has been disappearing a lot lately – she wasn’t wearing it in the cancer-free video, nor in the Olympics video.

Most people were not expecting to see Kate this week, as I said yesterday. Most of us thought that she would only come out for some Remembrance events in November. Gee, I wonder why she made a point of going to Southport this week? Especially when the British media was on Day 5 of their aggressively bitter coverage of “Meghan wore a red dress to a charity gala.” It’s almost like that’s why Kate decided to come outside! Speaking of, the Daily Beast’s coverage made note of something curious: “Some media outlets including the Daily Telegraph said that Kate had chosen to join her husband ‘at the last minute’ but an official source at Kensington Palace told the Daily Beast that was not an accurate characterization of matters.” Meaning, what? Kate saw the pics of Meghan on Sunday and decided that she just had to go outside, therefore it wasn’t a last-minute decision?

Will & Kate also did a tweet.

We continue to stand with everyone in Southport. Meeting the community today has been a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting one another in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. You will remain in our thoughts and prayers. W & C pic.twitter.com/CP2DXJaqW2

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 10, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign crossed the $1 billion threshold this week in donations raised. She’s only been the candidate since July 21!! The Harris-Walz campaign is so flush with cash, they’re spreading out their money to all 50 states, trying to help out Democratic candidates everywhere, from Senate races to House races to state and local elections. The Harris-Walz campaign strategy isn’t just “pushing hard in five swing states” either – they’re actively looking to appeal to rural voters, white working class, the tricky youth voters and former Republicans across the board. You know who else did that? The Big Dog himself, President Bill Clinton. Now the Harris-Walz campaign is letting the Big Dog loose. Bubba’s got big plans in Georgia and North Carolina. Pennsylvania Democrats are dying for Bubba to come up there too.

Former President Bill Clinton will hit the trail this weekend to begin what is expected to be a very targeted push across battleground states through Election Day, three sources familiar with his plans told CNN. The former president will seek to appeal to rural voters, among whom polls have shown Vice President Kamala Harris is performing worse than some of the last few Democratic nominees, particularly among younger Black men. Former President Barack Obama is also hitting the trail, beginning Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Clinton will start with stops in Georgia on Sunday and Monday, with a bus tour next week in North Carolina expected to follow, pending recovery from the hurricanes. The emphasis is on counties won by former President Donald Trump. But it’s also on Clinton voters, hoping there are enough left from when he was the last Democratic presidential nominee before Biden to win Georgia in 1992 and that he can reconnect them to a coalition they’ve been steadily dropping out of over the last decade.

Clinton won’t appear at rallies. Going back to a kind of campaigning that he hasn’t done since before he became the “Comeback Kid” in the 1992 New Hampshire primary, Clinton’s schedule is for local fairs and porch rallies, talking to at most a few hundred people at a time.

He will talk about the economy, convinced that this is the issue that the election will come down to for the voters on the fence. He will pick up themes from his Democratic National Convention speech this summer about how Trump is only out for Trump, and how he himself has been out of office for more than 20 years and is still younger than the Republican nominee. He will eat fried foods (maybe even briefly breaking the vegan diet he’s famously kept to since heart surgery).

“He’s the perfect messenger to make the case that Kamala Harris would fix inflation and finish getting the economy back on track,” one person who’s spoken with the former president about his plans told CNN on Thursday. “So he’s saddling up, returning to his roots and meeting people where they are to ask for their help electing her.”

Clinton was one of the first five calls Harris made in July after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, a person with knowledge of the conversation told CNN. She asked for his support and he immediately offered it, and their aides have been working out campaigning details ever since.

“He’s an authority on economics and bread and butter issues and the longest peacetime economic expansion in American history,” said Calvin Smyre, a former Georgia state representative who talked to CNN about his warm memories of watching Clinton campaign in the state in 1992. “He has a knack of reaching people.”

[From CNN]

The Clintons have been total champs this entire election cycle. When everyone was freaking out over Joe Biden’s debate performance, the Clintons were the ones working behind the scenes, trying to soothe nervous donors and party faithful. Hillary and Bill endorsed Kamala Harris within hours of Biden withdrawing from the race. And now they’re sending Bubba to Georgia? And they’re making him do small-batch events too, which is an interesting strategy. I would assume that Obama will be used for the rallies and power-house GOTV speeches. Clinton can do that too, but Clinton has always been amazing in smaller groups, where he can really work a room and make sure every single person gets a handshake, a chuckle and a smile.

I remember hearing a wonderful story about Clinton… it was probably during the 2012 election, when the Obama campaign sent Clinton to headline some fundraisers out west somewhere. Clinton worked the room of big-money donors and had them all eating out of his hand, every donor got a handshake and a private joke with the Big Dog. Then, after he worked the room, Clinton went around and shook the hand of every waiter and waitress, then he went into the kitchen and made sure each and every one of the blue-collar workers got a handshake and a smile too. All of which to say, sending Bubba to some fairs in Georgia will probably have a huge effect on the race.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

When Prince Harry’s relationship with then-Meghan Markle was “outed” in the British media in late October 2016, tabloid reporters and paparazzi descended upon Toronto, where Meghan was filming Suits. The situation got so dangerous for Meghan, NBC (which produced Suits) hired private bodyguards for Meghan so that she could simply leave her house and go to work. Meghan went from mildly famous on a cable drama to internationally famous (for dating one of the most eligible bachelors in the world) in the space of a couple of days. She was also not getting any help from the palace, and I believe the palace had already begun throwing her to the wolves, even then, in those early days. Well, now one of her bodyguards during that time has given an interview. Steve Davies is actually pushing back on the revival of the “Meghan bullied palace staffers” storyline. Davies says, actually, Meghan’s great and she’s a really nice person who went through a really tough time.

In an exclusive interview with In Touch, Meghan’s former bodyguard Steve Davies is telling all about what it was like for him to work for the duchess. “She gets a bad rap for being a not very good person to work with, that she was this evil person in the royal family,” Steve, who had an intimate, firsthand perspective on Meghan as she transitioned from relative obscurity as a B-list actress to the unforgiving worldwide spotlight, exclusively tells In Touch. “I saw her, from working at the studio to working with charities to working with dog walkers and cleaners. There’s one huge lesson I learned from her: It’s give respect to get respect.”

When they first met in 2018, Meghan’s life had essentially changed overnight. “I felt sorry [for her] because she’d gone from being a celebrity to being a member of the biggest family in the world,” says the bodyguard, who was hired by NBC to watch over the Suits star, 43, in Toronto. “It was stressful for her — all the publicity.”

The constant surveillance [in 2016 & 2017] took a toll, Steve says. “She was paranoid. We had people following us around everywhere we went. We had problems with drones, vehicles chasing us. It was a nightmare.” Everything she’d taken for granted about her old life disappeared. “After a couple of weeks of working with her, I said, ‘What do you really want to do?’ She said, ‘I’d love to be able to go and shop in a grocery store.’ The previous security team wouldn’t let her do that. So I pushed the cart around the grocery store, and she was putting stuff in it. She really enjoyed that.”

From the moment she began dating Harry, 40, photographers have “followed [her] around, jumping traffic lights, trying to get alongside the vehicle,” says Steve, a former British special forces soldier who is now managing partner of Focus One Group in Toronto. These “dangerous” situations — similar to those that Harry and Meghan reported during a May 2023 trip to New York City — were common, he says. If Meghan had stayed in London, he feared that “what happened to Princess Diana in Paris might have happened to her.”

The situation deteriorated so much, Meghan has admitted she suffered from suicidal ideations. “She loves Harry, she loves the children, but it can cause a lot of depression [when] you’re scared to open a paper to see what people are saying about you,” notes Steve, adding that it didn’t help that “Buckingham Palace was controlling the PR and Meghan was always used to being able to control the PR herself with her team.”

It was around this time that employees started complaining. “The staff at Buckingham Palace [said they] couldn’t stand working for her,” Steve says. But back in Toronto, aides had seen a different side of Meghan. “Nobody had a bad word to say about her. Even with the pressure that she was under, she was warm and considerate all the time,” he insists, adding that what might surprise people most is “how friendly she is and what a big heart she has. She’s great to her fans, and she would go out of her way to help people. That’s what hurts me — that people believe [otherwise].”

And that’s why he’s speaking out now. Though he no longer works for her, Steve considers Meghan a friend. “My wife and I got invited to the wedding, that’s how close we became,” he says, adding that they exchange emails on birthdays and holidays. “I would work with her again, not a problem at all. She was a good person to work for, and she still is a good person.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

It’s sort of amazing how the Us Weekly cover story several weeks ago actually did the job. While there was tons of grumbling about it from the usual suspects, the fact is that it’s really tough to say that people should believe unnamed sources with unspecific grievances rather than Archewell staffers (current and former) going on the record about how Meghan and Harry are great bosses. This guy, Steve Davies, is literally just saying what everyone else has said about Meghan outside of the UK – that she was always lovely, even when her life changed so dramatically and she was under so much pressure. The longer this British character assassination campaign goes on, the more I want to know the specific examples people have cited for Meghan’s supposed bad behavior. I think that’s why we never get specifics too – because at some level, the media or the palace know that if those “bullied staffers” actually told their stories, people would laugh and say “are you kidding me, you had a nervous breakdown over an email from Meghan?”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Pacific Coast News.

Frenchies will probably disagree with me, but Emmanuel Macron is still riding high internationally for the spectacular Paris Olympics. While there were some weird moments – the entire opening ceremony, the food complaints in the Olympic Village – the Olympics were a buffet of amazing international press for France and President Macron. Paris has re-established itself as the cultural capital of the world during Macron’s tenure, and the Olympics solidified that in a breathtakingly beautiful way. So it seems right that Macron is giving interviews to Variety about culture, filmmaking and TV. He’s apparently a huge fan of Emily In Paris – his wife made a funny cameo in Season 4 – and he has a lot of opinions about AI, French auteurs and forcing streamers to invest in local productions. You can read the full Variety cover story here (it’s super interesting), and here are some highlights:

His favorite memory from the Paris Olympics: “I’m hesitating between [swimmer] Léon Marchand, when he won his two gold medals in two hours on the same day. It was incredible. He wasn’t the favorite. And in judo as well, when we got the gold medal for the team after this incredible finale with Japan with Teddy Riner.

When Celine Dion sang at the opening ceremony: “I did [get emotional]! I think everybody was emotional at this very moment. Obviously, I knew that it was Celine Dion, but it was a surprise. You could feel the surprise in the audience when she appeared — all the lights, this moment of celebration, Celine Dion, appearing suddenly by the Eiffel Tower, as well as the song itself [Edith Piaf ’s “Hymne à l’Amour”], created a huge emotion.

The financial & tourism boost from the Olympics: “Our country managed to welcome the world in perfect security conditions, sharing our culture, heritage and art of living, along with our festive spirit. We’ve been able to do so with the boldness that characterizes us. It’s the best image we could project of our country. In Paris, we welcomed 1.7 million tourists during the first week of the Olympics, with very good prospects until the end of the summer for international visitors. Overall, the beautiful images of Paris and France during the Olympic Games will undoubtedly have a very positive impact in the short and medium term.

Advice for Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 games: “Oscar Wilde said something like, “Don’t try to be someone else. It’s already taken.” We did something unique because we wanted to make something unique. So do your own Olympic Games. Don’t try to copy anything. Be creative. Be in line with your identity, your history, even your paradoxes. Be yourself.

His wife Brigitte’s cameo in the fourth season of “Emily in Paris”: “I was super proud, and she was very happy to do it. It’s just a few minutes, but I think it was a very good moment for her. I think it’s good for the image of France. “Emily in Paris” is super positive in terms of attractiveness for the country. For my own business, it’s a very good initiative.

On the possibility that ‘Emily In Paris’ would go to Rome: “We will fight hard. And we will ask them to remain in Paris! “Emily in Paris“ in Rome doesn‘t make sense.”

On Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in Paris: “It’s very impressive! She’s one of the few artists who are able to gather so many people. Happily, the concerts in Paris went well. It was before the terrorist concerns, and she had some concerts canceled in other parts of the continent. For French people, for all generations and for the economy in the cities where she appeared, it was absolutely unique. This is a phenomenon.

There’s a deepfake of Macron & Taylor: “I haven’t seen that one, but I saw one this summer where I was made to look like I was kissing one of our male security officers. Millions of people have seen it. Which isn’t a bad thing in itself, but it’s not the reality. We can do all sorts of things with AI, but for people who are vulnerable, it can plunge them into depression. It can be a form of harassment. It destabilizes people, and it can disinform, which can upset our democracies. This is something that needs to be regulated.

Whether he was surprised that Joe Biden stepped out of the presidential race: “I was surprised. I think it was a personal choice, but I have a lot of respect because it’s always a very difficult choice. I do respect him and what he decided because he did it for the country.

Is the U.S. ready to elect its first female president? “The U.S. is a great democracy, so they are ready to be innovative and move forward. I have to say, it’s not super innovative to elect a woman. They are half of humanity and half of the country. Same on our side. So yes, of course!

[From Variety]

The thing about the LA Olympics is that everyone in California gulped hard when they saw the spectacular way Paris pulled it off. Paris delivered a modern, welcoming, post-pandemic Olympics which will be the gold standard for years to come. I’m not going to say LA will be a disaster, but LA is going to be staging sh-t in goddamn parking lots and calling it LA culture. The fact that he loves Emily in Paris is so funny – it’s the silliest, dumbest show, but it really does highlight the beauty of Paris. That’s why the whole Rome storyline felt so interesting. Anyway, Team Marcello! Get some Italian D, girl. I hope Emily lives in Rome for a few seasons.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Variety.

Former President Barack Obama waited until now to join the campaign trail for Harris-Walz. If I remember correctly, Obama also waited until pretty late in the campaign in 2020. He’s arguably the most high-profile and popular Democratic surrogate, and he feels like he should be the late-stage surrogate, the one making the final appeal, the final case for Democrats. Last night, Obama went to Pittsburgh for his biggest speech since the DNC. He was there with Pennsylvania’s Gov. Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey (who is apparently in a dogfight reelection campaign). Pennsylvania is a major piece of the Electoral College for VP Harris and Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania – Joe Biden won the state because of voters in Philadelphia, Scranton and Pittsburgh and the suburbs. I watched Obama’s whole speech (it was covered live on MSNBC) and I thought it was impassioned and emotional – Obama is f–king angry at Trump and he’s pissed off that so many people are still buying Trump’s horses-t.

I like that he riffed off-script a few times – talking about his surprise at how much diapers cost when Malia was a baby, then asking if anyone thinks Trump has changed a diaper and someone shouted something about Trump wearing diapers. Obama also said Trump inherited the Obama economy (true) and then destroyed it. Before this speech, Obama also stopped in a Harris-Walz field office in Pittsburgh and made a direct appeal to Black men:

Obama said he wanted to “speak some truths” and address Black men specifically, making his most direct remarks about their hesitancy in supporting Harris to date.

“My understanding, based on reports I’m getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama said, adding that it “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”

Obama questioned how voters, and Black voters specifically, could be on the fence about whether to support Harris or former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

“On the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the struggles and pain and joy that comes from those experiences,” Obama said, ticking off a list of Harris’s policy proposals. In Trump, he added, “you have someone who has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person … And you are thinking about sitting out?”

The former president then spoke about what he thought might be contributing to Black men’s soft support of Harris: the discomfort of some with the idea of electing the first female president.

“And you’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses, I’ve got a problem with that,” he said. “Because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

The “women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time,” Obama said. “When we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting. And now, you’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable.”

[From WaPo]

He went on to echo similar sentiments in his rally speech, speaking about what real masculinity is, not the whiny, petulant, self-centered, entirely fake and entirely toxic bravado Trump employs.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.