Ciara is 37 years old, happily married and a mother of three. She broke free from Future and now she’s married to Russell Wilson, who seems to adore her and respect her. Ciara covers the latest issue of Allure to talk about new music – yes! – but she’s also shilling for her new skincare line. Everyone has a skincare or a makeup line these days. The market is incredibly oversaturated. While Ciara has great skin and I love to hear her talk about what she does to look so glowy, I just don’t know how any celebrity can justify starting another skincare company! Some highlights from Allure:

She’s actually from Decatur, not Atlanta: “As a collective, we all come from different locations within Georgia, but still, it’s just Atlanta. It’s just how it kind of happened naturally.” According to Ciara, “there’s something in the water, as they would say. Even down from being a cheerleader growing up in the South. There’s so much sauce, so much character. The people. How we all talk. Sometimes, when I go home, it’s like speaking another language because of our Southern drawl. It’s different. You don’t really know it until you see it. It’s an energy.”

Her dream as a kid: “You would’ve asked me what my job was going to be when I was this eight-year-old girl in Decatur, Georgia and I would’ve told you I’m going to be doing hair. I was going to own hair salons. That was my vision. Hair was a big part of how we expressed in Georgia.”

How her prayers were answered: “Now, I will say this: I ain’t just have one prayer that I prayed when I was going through some things. I had many a night where I prayed, but I looked at it as a sweet opportunity to spread love and hopefully inspire people and pour some positivity into their hearts as they listen to it and to speak life.”

Her skincare line OAM (On A Mission), launched into an oversaturated market: “Honestly, I don’t really think about what everyone else is doing so much because I know the uniqueness of my product… You look around and you’re starting to see more women building out their beauty brands. I think that’s pretty amazing because it shows the power of how you can really build something if you desire to, and it’s also showing you the power of your platform. It’s been amazing to see how women have been taking charge and flipping the way we thought we always had to go through someone to do something. No, you can do it yourself. I think that’s a really beautiful thing that’s happening. As far as the competitive part of it, all I know is what I built, and I know what I built is something special, and I believe in that. I think whenever something is right, if people receive it, it rises on its own way.”

Headstrong: “I’ve always been a very vocal, headstrong kind of girl. I’ve always been very clear on my vision, even if my vision is not always spot-on. It’s an expression of who I am.”

[From Allure]

I vaguely remember Ciara as part of the “Dirty South” music energy when she first came around, but for some reason I did not realize that she’s from Decatur/Atlanta. So she’s REAL Southern. Wow. And she’s right – Southerners are just different. There is more sauce. The only competition for sauce of that kind is probably New York? As for her skincare line… ugh. I mean, she’s doing it for herself and because she wants to. I wish celebrity women would move on to the next thing though – remember whenever everyone had a lifestyle site? It feels like newsletters are already becoming the next big thing, but some of the girls are still stuck on skincare and makeup lines. Let me brainstorm for a second about what the new side-hustle should be…celebrity scarf lines. Celebrity boat lines. Celebrity hospital wings.

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Cover & IG courtesy of Allure.

The first Avatar film came out in 2009. Back then, I really did think to myself, “who is this for?” But I was wrong – it found an audience and made 2.92 billion worldwide. Now, thirteen years later, Avatar fans are getting a sequel. It took this long for James Cameron to figure out the technology in making the sequel he wanted to make, and here we are. Avatar: The Way of Water will be out on December 16th. I won’t ask who it’s for, but I do wonder if the same audience will be there and whether the sequel will make the same kind of money. James Cameron is concerned too. He admitted that the sequel will have to make at least $2 billion to BREAK EVEN for the studio. Omg, WHY.

How expensive is “Avatar: The Way of Water”? Early reports have claimed the production budget alone was in the $250 million range, but director James Cameron isn’t willing to give a hard number just yet. The only answer Cameron would give about the sequel’s budget when asked by GQ magazine was the following: “Very f–king [expensive].”

Cameron apparently told Disney and 20th Century Studios executives that his sequel budget was so high it represented “the worst business case in movie history.” According to the director’s estimates, “you have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.”

On the current chart of highest-grossing movies worldwide (unadjusted for inflation), Cameron’s original 2009 “Avatar” ranks at the top with $2.9 billion. Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” is in second position with $2.7 million, while Cameron’s “Titanic” remains in the third slot with $2.1 billion. That means, according to Cameron, that if “Avatar: The Way of Water” wants to break even, it’ll need to overtake either “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($2.07 billion) or “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.05 billion) in the fourth or fifth slots, respectively.

Only five movies have ever crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide, unadjusted for inflation. While the pandemic has affected moviegoing, films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.9 billion) and “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.4 billion) have managed to turn huge profits, so there’s hope for “The Way of Water.”

[From Variety]

I won’t speak to Avatar specifically – I never saw the 2009 film, nor am I planning to see the sequel – but I have no idea why studios continue to greenlight these huge “tentpole” films which require hundreds of millions of dollars worth of greenscreen work, CGI and/or underwater filming. Almost all of it just comes out looking like a really cheap cartoon anyway, so just spend the money to make an expensive cartoon, FFS. I’m not trying to upset the DCU or the MCU people, but (IMO) all of those movies overwhelmingly LOOK horrible. I get that Avatar will have pretty colors at least, and there’s a lot of world-building, etc. But there’s absolutely no f–king reason to spend $2 billion on one film (which should be a cartoon anyway).

Avatar posters courtesy of Disney/20th Century, photo courtesy of Cover Images.

Jessica Chastain wore Michael Kors to premiere George & Tammy with Michael Shannon. They are such a great on-screen couple. [JustJared]
Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez shared their love on TikTok. [Dlisted]
The Best Supporting Actress race is all over the place. [LaineyGossip]
Sinbad’s family gave a health update. [Seriously OMG]
More fashion pics from the AMAs. [RCFA]
Saoirse Ronan wore a saffron Erdem to the BAFTA Scotland Awards. [Tom & Lorenzo]
How did The Walking Dead end? [Pajiba]
The Barbiecore trend is still big at awards shows. [GFY]
Vanessa Hudgens is witchy. [Egotastic]
Colorado Springs’ Club Q was a safe haven for LGBTQ people. [Buzzfeed]
The Colorado murderer was a Mormon. [Towleroad]
Someone decorated Kanye West’s Malibu mansion with Hanukkah stuff. [Gawker]

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa began his state visit to the UK today. This is the first state visit of King Charles’s reign, and Charles has put out the literal red carpet for Pres. Ramaphosa. Interestingly enough, the president’s wife was supposed to join him on this state visit, but she mysteriously canceled at the last minute. Upon the president’s arrival, he was greeted and escorted by Prince William and Kate, who met the president at the Corinthia Hotel. Then he had to deal with King Charles and Queen Camilla and all of the military pomp, inspecting the troops and listening to the South African national anthem.

While King Charles hosting his first state visit is a very big deal for him, it’s also a big deal for the Prince and Princess of Wales. Charles has to try to give these two 40-year-old diplomatic lightweights a crash course in soft diplomacy. All Kate cares about is the clothing and jewelry though. She wore a new Emilia Wickstead coatdress in a dark berry shade. She paired it with a £1,720 Jane Taylor hat and a £495 Mulberry bag. She wore pearl earrings which were a gift to Princess Diana and she also wore the official PoW fleur-de-lis three-feather brooch. Kate really got her hands on all of Diana’s old jewelry.

This evening, Charles will host the state dinner and of course people have been talking about which tiaras will be worn by Camilla and Kate. I’m guessing Kate will carefully select one of Diana’s favorites.

Embed from Getty Images

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Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, the Waleses’ Instagram.

The penultimate Archetypes episode of Season 1 is “Beyond the Archetype: Human, Being” with Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Candace Bushnell. The Duchess of Sussex speaks about existing, being as a human with Michaela, Candace, Amanda Gorman (the poet) and Dr. Shefali Tsabary, a clinical psychologist and author. The emphasis also seems to be a conversation on identity and how people – especially girls and women – understand their identity beyond the stereotypes and labels society places on them.

I love the part where Meghan talked to current teenage girls from her old high school about labels, stereotypes and archetypes. I love that the youths were like “what’s a bimbo, I’ve only heard that on TikTok.” Meghan felt so old!! It also strikes me that Meghan’s interest is wonderfully focused on the importance of adolescence and the teen years, that phase of life is where we define ourselves and try on different personalities and experiment. It’s like a subtweet of Kate’s Early Years bullsh-t, where she clearly doesn’t give a f–k about kids older than five.

Meghan’s conversation with Bushnell was fascinating, I had no idea about Candace’s family and how her father raised her as a feminist, basically. Candace is also from a much different generation than Meghan – Candace is 62 years old, so she was told no, you can’t do this, you can’t be a writer, you’re not allowed access to this and that. And this was in the 1980s and 1990s. I like Candace a lot – she’s not Carrie Bradshaw, you know? Candace has more depth and wisdom than most people give her credit for, and that’s what this is about too. Candace is feminine, sexual, empowered, so culturally she’s treated like she’s some niche artist.

Anyway, I didn’t finish listening to this, but I love what I’ve heard so far. This is a good episode!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, JPI Studios/Avalon.

The Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales will apparently be in Boston for three full days. The Boston trip is the whole shebang, they’re apparently not going to visit any other American city, nor are they building in a day to simply be tourists, which kind of sucks? Yes, it will be a Boston winter, but there’s so much cool stuff to see in and around Boston, so much Revolutionary War history and so many places steeped in American history. Which just shows you how superficial Prince William and Kate are – to them, Boston is “the Kennedys” and they’re keen about “the American royal family” and that’s it. That’s as far as they go. Anyway, more details of their big three-day trip have been revealed:

The Prince and Princess of Wales will visit the US for the first time in almost a decade this month when they jet off to Boston for the Earthshot Prize Awards.

Prince William and Kate will spend three days exploring the city and meeting with local organisations before joining activists, policy makers and performers for the glittering ceremony on 2 December. The awards were founded by Prince William to ‘discover, celebrate and scale the best solutions to help repair the planet’. The five winners will be announced on the night.

The princess will also spend time at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, a world leader on research into the lifelong impact of experiences in early childhood, which is a subject area that has become a tentpole of her royal work. The centre has been a long-time supporter of the Royal Foundation and the Centre for Early Childhood.

During their trip, which will take place between 30 November and 2 December, William and Kate will attend a special event with the Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, as well as a visit by the prince to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum with Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, of the fabled political dynasty.

As well as learning about the climate-related challenges that Boston faces, The Prince and Princess will also take time to meet with those who are working to support vulnerable members of the local community. They will hear about the efforts of Roca, a non-profit organisation working for nearly 35 years to bring public systems together in a cohesive approach to save and change the trajectory of the lives of high-risk young people.

[From Tatler]

“The princess will also spend time at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University… The centre has been a long-time supporter of the Royal Foundation and the Centre for Early Childhood.” Oh, God. Buttons is going to Harvard. She’s going to sit there with Harvard researchers – people with PhDs and million-dollar grants – and talk about how, in her extensive research, the Early Years are important, and not enough people know that! She might even show them her keen Five Big Questions survey, the one she threw together after promising some big new project for a year. Anyway, I’m definitely underwhelmed by this itinerary. It’s like they were trying to pick the most boring events possible. Maybe, despite the reporting to the contrary, William and Kate are not trying to make this trip into some huge, make-or-break international story. Or maybe they don’t know how to draw international headlines for doing anything but “be colonialist flops.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar and Avalon Red.

Last week, Lily Rose Depp’s Elle Magazine cover story came out, and most people rolled their eyes at her and her idiocy, white privilege and blindness to her own nepotism. Lily Rose has two massively famous parents – American Johnny Depp and French model, actress, singer and muse Vanessa Paradis. Paradis has a big career in France and… Lily Rose looks a lot like her mother. Lily Rose got a Chanel contract when she was only 16 years old, and of course she’s gotten modeling and acting jobs based on her name and her parents’ fame. Not according to Lily Rose though, who told Elle:

“The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part. The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”

Well, a lot of people who are NOT nepo-babies have some thoughts about all of that. Model Vittoria Ceretti got it started, posting this message on her IG Stories:

“I just want to share a thought here because I can. I bumped into an interview of a so-called ‘nepo baby’ or whatever y’all call it,” she began her Instagram Story post, which was later shared by the gossip account Diet Prada. While Ceretti conceded that the nepo baby in question has probably faced some rejection, the model pointed out that their privilege and family connections have likely cushioned any blow.

“You can tell me your sad little story about it (even at the end of the day you can still always go cry on your dad’s couch in your villa in Malibu), but how about not being able to pay for your flight back home to your family? Waiting hours to do a fitting/casting just to see a nepo baby walk past you from the warm seat of her/his Mercedes with her/his driver and her/his friend/assistant/agent taking care of HER/HIS MENTAL HEALTH. You have no f–king idea how much it takes to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. You just get it [for] free day one.”

“I have many nepo baby friends whom I respect, but I can’t stand listening to you compare yourself to me. I was not born on a comfy sexy pillow with a view. I know it’s not your fault, but please, appreciate and know the place you came from.”

[From Yahoo]

Good for Vittoria, truly. I’m glad she said this and I hope that Lily Rose is f–king listening. Another model, Anok Yai also spoke up around the same time as Vittoria, writing about how broke she was when she moved to New York to work as a model, and how she felt like she was on a knife’s edge, with no one or no money to fall back on for years and years. She also wrote, in part: “I will see some of you privilege kids stress about not booking a job because of the impact of your career while there are those of us who stress because we don’t know if we’ll be able to take care of our parents this months or put our siblings through school…I know you work hard and have your struggles like the rest of us, but goddamn if you only knew the hell we go through to stand in the same room that you were born in.”

Anok and Vittoria posting their statements on their respective IGs ended up giving space to several models – none of them nepo babies – the space to tell their own stories and how it bothers them that they can’t even talk about this within the fashion industry, how much nepotism is “baked into the system.” You can follow this thread:

Nyagua Ruea on Lily Rose Depp and white privilege pic.twitter.com/KxmBV3RvIP

— MODELS (@ModelsFacts) November 18, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Elle.

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Dylan and Paris Brosnan attended the GQ Man of the Year party with their dad Pierce Brosnan and mom Keely Shaye Smith. Dylan is a musician and Paris is an artist, plus both have done modeling work. Dylan and Paris were recently featured in People’s SMA issue in their Sexiest Man Gen Next section, which just kind of highlighted the up-and-coming nepotism babies to keep an eye on. In their video for the shoot, both young men come across sweet and shockingly unpretentious. They clearly respect and adore their parents. So it’s not surprising that when they were asked at the GQ party about the nepotism discussion, they gave a fairly decent answer. Paris recognized they are always going to have to answer the nepotism question and instead of arguing against it, it’s best to simply acknowledge it and be grateful.

The name’s Brosnan… Dylan and Paris Brosnan.

On Nov. 17, the brothers, who are the sons of James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and journalist Keely Shaye Smith, accompanied their parents for a glamorous night out at GQ’s Man of the Year party to celebrate their recent profile with dad in the magazine. Having grown up with an easily recognizable surname, Dylan and Paris weren’t afraid to share their thoughts on the discussion of nepotism when it comes to Hollywood kids.

“I think we need to just be grateful for our blessings,” Paris, 21, told E! News in an exclusive red carpet interview, with his brother noting that he was going to say “the exact same thing” about how they’re “very lucky” to be in the position they’re in.

Paris continued, “It’s always gonna be there and we got to recognize it. At the end of the day, we’re just grateful to be here.”

And while the Brosnan name may open some doors, Paris said he and Dylan, 25, are trying to “pave our own way.”

[From E! News]

Like I said, I feel like Paris’ answer is a good approach to this question. He’s right, he will never escape the nepotism umbrella. But there is a big difference between what Rob Reiner did with his famous last name and what Brooklyn Beckham did with his (so far). And yet, I’m willing to bet that Rob would tell you he got where he is because of his dad long before Brooklyn would. I don’t care if a kid wants to follow a parent into fame, but it bugs me when they pretend didn’t have a leg up.

To be fair, I think if you feel like you’re working really hard and everyone still says you got where you are because of your parent, it would be frustrating. I also think those are the breaks. If four out of five doors are opened for you while others had to open them themselves you will inevitably get asked about your parents. It’s like success tax. And as Paris said, if you pave your own way, eventually they’ll start asking if your parent is proud of you and not if you got there because of your parent.

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Last week, People Magazine confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docuseries will come out in December. We still don’t know the name of the series, nor have we seen a trailer (sob), but Page Six claims to have a release date and the original name of the series, which they’ve now changed:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s highly anticipated Netflix docuseries will hit the streaming platform on Dec. 8, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

It was initially thought that the show’s release would be delayed due to backlash over the most recent season of “The Crown,” but Page Six confirmed last month that the streamer would be moving forward with a December release date.

The series, which will showcase the ousted royals’ “love story,” was once called “Chapters,” sources tell us, but the couple are believed to have changed their mind. The new title has not yet been made public.

[From Page Six]

They originally called it Chapters? Eh. I wonder if Deadline will apologize for their asinine Baz Bamigboye “report” about how “Netflix is rattled by King Charles and they’re postponing the Sussexes’ docu-series.” By all accounts, the series was always supposed to come out in December, about a month after The Crown, and here we are. That’s exactly what’s happening. Meanwhile, this curious thing happened yesterday:

Meghan Markle fans were put through a confusing series of unfortunate events today after NBC announced that the Duchess of Sussex would be making an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on December 7 – only for her close media pal Omid Scobie to furiously deny the news just minutes later.

The mystery surrounding Meghan’s alleged talk show visit began on Monday after NBC published a story on its website stating that the mother-of-two ‘will appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ next month.

However, moments later, Omid, 41, took to Twitter to furiously deny the report – insisting that ‘someone at NBC didn’t get the memo’ and claiming that Meghan, 41, is not scheduled to make an appearance. ‘Looks like someone at NBC didn’t get the memo!’ he wrote. ‘Despite an announcement via their various PR channels, Meghan isn’t scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show.’

It’s now been confirmed that the blunder was on NBC’s part – as they admitted they erroneously said the Duchess would be appearing on the talk show. A representative from NBC confirmed that they made a mistake: ‘Earlier today, it was inaccurately reported that Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex would be appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on December 7.’

The NBC piece – which has since been deleted – initially stated that Meghan would sit down with Fallon in order to discuss her recent projects, as well as the Sussexes’ upcoming Netflix documentary, a project that has already sparked furious controversy, even before its premiere.

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, Meghan was reportedly due to appear on The Tonight Show in September, but she had to cancel all of her appearances in New York that week, following QEII’s death. I’ve been wondering if Meghan promised the Tonight Show booker to try to come later, and honestly, it would make perfect sense for Meghan to do talk show appearances that week in New York anyway. Meghan and Harry are due to receive the Ripple of Hope Award on December 6th. Surely, they’ve booked other appearances for the NYC trip? So I kind of wonder if Meghan’s appearance was supposed to be a surprise? Or maybe she’s going on Colbert!! Maybe we’ll get another magazine interview too.

Photos courtesy of Variety’s YouTube video, covers courtesy of Variety & The Cut.

Well, that was quick. I swear, Love is Blind gets more dramatic with each season. SK Alagbada and Raven Ross made a connection in the pods in the third season of the show. SK ultimately said no at the altar, but at the reunion they revealed they were still together despite not getting married on the show. Well, not anymore. At least two women took to social media to claim that they were with SK while he was with Raven, and that he claimed their relationship was fake, for money and clout. The former pair released a joint statement confirming their split with some weird wording.

Going their separate ways. Love Is Blind stars SK Alagbada and Raven Ross have called it quits amid allegations of infidelity.

SK took to his Instagram Stories on Sunday to confirm that they had broken up following accusations posted to TikTok by two women claiming they had been romantically involved with SK during his time with Raven. Raven later reposted the statement to her own account.

“We are saddened to announce that we have decided to go our separate ways,” the former couple wrote in a joint statement.

“Due to ongoing legal proceedings surrounding these allegations, we can not provide additional details and ask that you please respect our privacy during this hard time,” the statement continued.

It is not made clear what “ongoing legal proceedings” is referring to.

The statement continued, “Thank you for following our love story and believing in us. This journey has forever shaped out lives and we are so grateful for everyone who has been a part of it. Your love and support means everything.”

SK and Raven connected in the pods during season 3 of Love Is Blind. SK surprised fans and his future bride on his wedding day when he said “I do not” at the altar, but the former pair gave fans a pleasant surprise during the reunion special when they revealed that they were still together.

“We’re super good,” Raven previously told ET shortly after the show had stopped filming.

But in the past week, new cheating allegations against SK came to light on TikTok.

Though the first allegation by user @emmwho9, have since been deleted, they initially featured the user doing a video saying (per Buzzfeed), “Put a finger down if you went on a date in April with a guy from Hinge and then you see that he’s actually on the show Love Is Blind, and that he met you after the show was filmed, but is still with the same girl right now.”

Another user, @hannahbethstyle, then came out with her own allegation and receipts against SK over the weekend. In a since-deleted post, she said they’d initially dated in 2019 and then got back together with him in 2021, going on various trips throughout Europe after he’d filmed Love Is Blind.

“I asked to see his phone to send pics of myself but ended up seeing messages from a contact named ‘fiancé.’ I waited to confront him until dinner bc I was trying to wrap my head around what I saw,” Hannah wrote, adding, “He told me it was for the LIB show but it was just for $ & they were friends only.”

She also shared screenshots of alleged texts from SK making plans for trips in May and even September 2022, and photos of herself with the reality star during the outings.

[From ET Online]

What legal proceedings? They weren’t married. Unless they’re getting sued by the show for being frauds! Honestly, of course this happened. I’ve said before, the first seasons of these dating shows are the only ones where the majority of the cast is truly looking for love. The contestants on the following seasons are just looking for the fame and money participation can bring them. Even if they’re not angling for an influencer career, they could be looking to grow their business, etc. Maybe that was the plan here? Appearance fees and sponsorships and more Pilates clients for Raven? I’m not sure SK’s potential angle, given that he planned to attend grad school at Berkeley and arguably didn’t need this. I feel disappointed and hoodwinked, honestly. I thought they were a puzzling match, but was rooting for them and I thought SK was a breath of fresh air among all the American f-ckbois that usually populate the show. He’s a little bit older and seemed more cerebral and thoughtful than the other male contestants. Like, this is so shady and he covered his tracks so poorly that I’m rethinking my opinion of his intellect. No one is saying that everyone on these type of shows has to or will always have completely pure intentions, but be smarter about it.

photos credit: Netflix