SPOILERS for last night’s Game of Thrones

In Game of Thrones Ep. 5.7, “The Gift,” it started to get REAL. Many book readers have been complaining about how fast some storylines are moving, and the derivations from the books for certain other storylines, but I’m really happy about the progress. It was high time that we saw certain characters meet up and certain other characters finally get that smug look wiped off their faces. Sh-t is also getting real because after five seasons of hearing “Winter is Coming,” winter is finally upon us. It’s starting to get COLD. And the winter will last for years, if not decades. Think, like, Ice Age kind of winter. So here are some highlights, in no particular order.

Sansa’s marriage sucks & Theon is still the worst. What I enjoyed is that Sansa still has some fight left, even though she was being locked up in her bedroom and only interacting with Ramsey and Theon. Her life is definitely the worst and she’s looking for a way out. So she asked Theon to help her and light a candle in the high tower, per Brienne’s instructions. Except Theon just went to Ramsey and told him everything and that old woman (“the North remembers”) got flayed. Now I think Sansa is just going to kill Theon at some point. I also liked that Sansa got some jabs in there to Ramsey, pointing out that a “trueborn” Bolton heir is in a better position than Ramsey’s sketchy “now you’re my heir, I promise” speech from Roose Bolton. What else? Now Sansa knows that Jon Snow is Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.

Sam got his V-card punched. I thought it was going to be a more Jon Snow-intensive episode, but we only got a little bit of Jon Snow at the beginning, as he left with the ginger dude. No one at the Night’s Watch is happy that Jon Snow has left. Then the story became about Sam. Sam said goodbye to his mentor and friend, Maester Aemon Targaryen. It’s sort of refreshing to see a beloved character die of old age, right? In his last moments, Aemon remembered his brother, The Mad King, when they were children. Then as soon as they burned Aemon, some Night’s Watch brothers tried to assault Gilly and Sam tried to defend her (and got his ass kicked) but Jon’s direwolf Ghost had to come in and have the final word. Then Gilly took Sam to his room and cleaned him up and then she banged him. I enjoy the fact that now that Winter is upon us, some of the Night’s Watch rules are sort of forgotten. That whole vow of chastity? Whatever, man.

Hey, bro, let’s kill your daughter. Stannis – the one true king – is having a tough time now that winter is coming. Horses are dying, men are dying (or leaving? I think I missed some dialogue there). So Stannis’s Red Witch, Melisandre, is all “You know what would help us beat the Boltons? We could kill your daughter!” Thank God Stannis has one line he won’t cross – he won’t kill his daughter for her blood, to win a war or whatever.

Tyrion is a survivor. When it looked like Jorah and Tyrion would be separated in the gladiator clearance sale, Tyrion fought to stay connected to Jorah. Literally, he fought! That was a cool scene. And seriously, when is the Greyscale going to start affecting Jorah?

Dany still wants to bang Daario. Even though she’s engaged to WhatsHisGuts (I’m not looking up his name, I hate that guy), Dany still wants Daario on the side. But Daario is all, “Hey, why don’t you marry me instead?” Honestly, Dany’s whole scheme to ingratiate herself in Meereen by marrying Dude-face is poorly thought out. She might as well marry a dude who is a legendary fighter, who loves her and who is good in bed. Why not? She’s the Queen. Get yours, Dany.

Tyrion is The Gift. He really IS the gift. Both Iain Glen and Peter Dinklage were on point in those scenes. Jorah slaughters a bunch of fights because he knew he had to get in front of Dany. And Dany is still pissed at him – she was about to order her guards to grab him, possibly kill him when he told his “Khaleesi” that he brought her a gift. Then Tyrion steps out… “I am The Gift.” I got chills!!!!! To see those two characters – Dany and Tyrion – in the same place… WHOA.

This is everything. Dany’s costume was totally based on Solange’s weddding gown.

Who wore it better? Solange Knowles or Daenerys Targaryen? #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/QMks0lQ5fT

— Stephanie Freedle (@Steph_Freedle) May 25, 2015

The High Sparrow and the Queen of Thorns. Last week, I said that I could watch a whole hour of Arya washing dead people. This week, I could have watched a whole hour of Dame Diana Rigg (the Queen of Thorns) and Jonathan Pryce (the High Sparrow) talk about their knees and hips. Those two actors were AMAZING in that scene.

Queen Margaery is a mess. Seriously, how awful was Margaery’s jail cell that she looked like that? And I liked that Margaery is all “I know who did this to me, bitch” to Cersei. Cersei looked SO pleased with herself, because Cersei is absolutely the dumbest political figure playing the “game of thrones.” She’s incapable of planning three steps ahead.

Cersei finally gets the smug wiped off her face. The High Sparrow was all, “Oh, by the way, you know how you banged your cousin and got him to kill your husband? FAIL, bitch.” I’m so glad they moved this storyline along – it was a great payoff for all of us waiting for Cersei’s terrible decisions to come back to bite her in the ass.

The GoT hair & wig team had a great episode. Did you notice how many women were supposed to have “wild” hair? Sansa had no f—ks to give about making herself pretty, Dany had her sex wig on while she was banging Daario and they really made Queen Margaery look like she was a matted mess.

Photos courtesy of HBO/Game of Thrones.

View image | gettyimages.com

On Friday, we heard that Kelly’s Rutherford’s ex husband, Daniel Giersch, had told her that she could not bring their two children back with her for a scheduled visit to the US until she surrendered their passports. Apparently this was part of their custody agreement and Giersch’s side was trying to enforce it following a series of public statements by Rutherford suggesting she would take extreme measures to keep the children with her in the US permanently. As you know, Rutherford’s two children, Hermes, 8, and Helena, 5, have lived with their father in Monaco since 2012 following a judge’s ruling. Rutherford’s appeal in federal court, which claimed that her children have been deported, was overturned last month.

A judge in California, not the judge who issued her custody ruling, has now granted Rutherford temporary sole custody of her children until a follow up hearing is held on June 15. Rutherford has claimed that Giersch has filed to give Monaco jurisdiction over the case, and this ruling asserts that California retains jurisdiction. It is unclear if Giersch will comply with the California order or if Monaco will recognize it. You can read the full ruling here and The Daily Mail has more details. I’ll excerpt some of People Magazine’s report here as they have quotes from Rutherford’s lawyer:

According to a court order filed Friday, the children must return to Los Angeles, and their mother will keep their passports. A hearing at the L.A. Superior Court – where Rutherford, Hermes, Helena and Giersch or his representative are required to be present – is scheduled for June 15.

The news comes after Rutherford told PEOPLE that Giersch would not allow her to see the kids after she arrived in France for her latest trip Thursday unless she gave their U.S. passports to someone his legal team called “a neutral person” but she claimed was one of his attorneys.

“We are ecstatic, and hopeful that Monaco will respect the California court’s ruling and send the children home. It has long been our position that Monaco has no jurisdiction because Hermes and Helena, as American citizens, have an absolute right to live in their own country,” Rutherford’s lawyer Wendy Murphy tells PEOPLE. “If the citizenship shoe were on the other foot and these children were citizens of Monaco, I have no doubt the United States would respect their right to reside in Monaco.

“Monaco officials know that sending the children back to America is the right thing to do. I’m looking forward to the happy reunion of the children not only with their mother, but also with their country!”

[From People Magazine]

I read the court’s ruling and they state that “The United States of America remains each child’s habitual residence for purposes of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction… neither parent has the authority to change either child’s residence for Hague Abduction Convention or for any other purposes without written consent of the other parent, which consent has not been provided by either parent… each child’s habitual residence remains the United States.” From what I understand, the Hague Convention only applies when a child is removed in breach of a custody order, and since Giersch had a custody order allowing him to take the children to Europe, I don’t understand how the Hague Convention is applicable. Also, legal experts do not agree on the terms which constitute a child’s “legal residence.” Giersch can argue that they’re also EU citizens and have lived with him for three years. He can also continue to work to have Monaco take over the case.

In any case, the children will most likely be visiting their mother this summer as planned, but it sounds like this custody battle is far from over.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Michael B. Jordan may only be 28, but he’s already established a solid career. He delivered a nuanced, heartbreaking performance in Fruitvale Station. He was the only worthwhile part of an otherwise awful movie in Chronicle. Now he’s going blockbuster by playing Johnny Storm (a.k.a., “The Human Torch”) in a Fantastic Four reboot.

Chris Evans originally played the Torch role and has thrown his full support behind Jordan. But not every fan is happy. When the casting news came down for this movie, no one paid any attention to the rest of the cast. The only bit of news that mattered was Jordan’s casting. Much of the attention was pointlessly negative. People were stupidly whining about how the Torch will be played by a black man. Jordan shouldn’t have to answer to those trolls, but he did. Here’s Jordan’s powerful essay for Entertainment Weekly and EW also has a photo of him in character:

You’re not supposed to go on the Internet when you’re cast as a superhero. But after taking on Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four–a character originally written with blond hair and blue eyes–I wanted to check the pulse out there. I didn’t want to be ignorant about what people were saying. Turns out this is what they were saying: “A black guy? I don’t like it. They must be doing it because Obama’s president” and “It’s not true to the comic.” Or even, “They’ve destroyed it!”

It used to bother me, but it doesn’t anymore. I can see everybody’s perspective, and I know I can’t ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books. But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, “You’re good. I’m okay with this,” who am I to go against that?

Some people may look at my casting as political correctness or an attempt to meet a racial quota, or as part of the year of “Black Film.” Or they could look at it as a creative choice by the director, Josh Trank, who is in an interracial relationship himself–a reflection of what a modern family looks like today.

This is a family movie about four friends–two of whom are myself and Kate Mara as my adopted sister–who are brought together by a series of unfortunate events to create unity and a team. That’s the message of the movie, if people can just allow themselves to see it.

Sometimes you have to be the person who stands up and says, “I’ll be the one to shoulder all this hate. I’ll take the brunt for the next couple of generations.” I put that responsibility on myself. People are always going to see each other in terms of race, but maybe in the future we won’t talk about it as much. Maybe, if I set an example, Hollywood will start considering more people of color in other prominent roles, and maybe we can reach the people who are stuck in the mindset that “it has to be true to the comic book.” Or maybe we have to reach past them.

To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer. Go outside and walk around. Look at the people walking next to you. Look at your friends’ friends and who they’re interacting with. And just understand this is the world we live in. It’s okay to like it.

[From EW.com]

Jordan pretty much wiped the floor with the bigots who have the audacity to complain about race and try to justify themselves with “continuity” rationales. It sucks that an actor has to defend his own casting after producers (including Stan Lee) decided he was the right one for a role. Now Johnny Storm will be a stepbrother to Sue Storm (a.k.a., “The Invisible Woman”), and it shouldn’t matter at all! I understand that some fanboys will always complain about something, but they should be ashamed of themselves for creating this “controversy.” Anyway, Jordan wrote a fantastic essay.

Photos courtesy WENN

A soaking wet Chris Pratt covers the new “Must Issue” of Entertainment Weekly. Pratt is everywhere right now with Jurassic World coming out on June 12. Universal Pictures released a clip of Pratt doing stunt videos. EW divulged a video of Pratt getting wet and some excerpts, which are mostly other people talking about Pratt. His Jurassic co-star, Bryce Dallas Howard, loves him so much: “Basically at this point I’m like, ‘Chris Pratt for president.’” Chris Evans adds, “You can’t fake what he has. And I think most people are clever enough to see through people who are putting that on. That’s just who he is.”

Speaking of his good buddy Evans, Pratt decided not to follow in the same shoes as Marvel’s Offenders. Other franchise movie stars must have watched the Ultron tour and felt relieved that they weren’t the ones stepping in it. The worst part was when Evans and Jeremy Renner called Black Widow a “slut” and “wh*re.” A few apologies followed. Evans tried to redeem himself, and Renner doubled down. Now Pratt wants to apologize in advance. He wants to have his bases covered just in case he calls the raptors “sluts.” This letter is both funny and douchey at the same time:

I want to make a heartfelt apology for whatever it is I end up accidentally saying during the forthcoming ?#?JurassicWorld? press tour. I hope you understand it was never my intention to offend anyone and I am truly sorry. I swear. I’m the nicest guy in the world. And I fully regret what I (accidentally will have) said in (the upcoming foreign and domestic) interview(s).

I am not in the business of making excuses. I am just dumb. Plain and simple. I try. I REALLY try! When I do (potentially) commit the offensive act for which I am now (pre) apologizing you must understand I (will likely have been) tired and exhausted when I (potentially) said that thing I (will have had) said that (will have had) crossed the line. Those rooms can get stuffy and the hardworking crews putting these junkets together need some entertainment! (Likely) that is who I was trying to crack up when I (will have had) made that tasteless and unprofessional comment. Trust me. I know you can’t say that anymore. In fact in my opinion it was never right to say the thing I definitely don’t want to but probably will have said. To those I (will have) offended please understand how truly sorry I already am. I am fully aware that the subject matter of my imminent forthcoming mistake, a blunder (possibly to be) dubbed “JurassicGate” is (most likely) in no way a laughing matter. To those I (will likely have had) offended rest assured I will do everything in my power to make sure this doesn’t happen (again).

[From Chris Pratt on Facebook]

I feel two different ways about this letter. First, this could be Pratt giving Evans a good-natured ribbing. That was my first thought when Pratt claimed to be half-drunk during a Reddit AMA last month. I also thought this was the case when Pratt gave GQ acting lessons while drunk on Fireball whiskey. Pratt has spoken about how he rarely drinks anymore because of the calories involved. He’s putting these “drunk” stunts on for effect, and it may have something to do with drunkface Evans’ behavior.

Then there’s the other side of this advance apology letter. Pratt’s also making fun of everyone who was offended by the Ultron tour. Perhaps he thinks everyone overreacted, and this is his way of asserting his opinion under the cloak of humor. Such an attitude discounts people’s perfectly valid reactions to the Marvel dudes’ behavior. So yeah. His letter is funny with a thinly-veiled layer of douche.

Photos courtesy of EW.com & WENN

I could honestly look at photos of sweaty Prince Harry for days. The royal family’s very own Bridget Jones (Forever Singleton, diarist) was out in Gloucester yesterday. He was playing polo – the game was for the Jerudong Trophy, an annual charity event which raises money for Centrepoint and WellChild, amongst other organizations. Usually Harry and William both play (sometimes on the same team, sometimes not), but William wasn’t there this year. Probably still holed up with Kate, George and baby Charlotte, although you never know – William made several public appearances in the past week.

As for Harry/Bridget Jones, sources say that he finally traveled to Anmer Hall to meet his niece! Apparently, Harry stopped by late last week, maybe Thursday or Friday. I bet he enjoyed meeting Charlotte, although I do get the impression that Harry isn’t particularly close to his niece and nephew at this point. Maybe he’ll be Fun Uncle Harry when they get a bit older. Either that or he’ll be Dodgy Uncle Harry and Kate will have to tell him to stop roughhousing with the children.

Harry’s team lost by the way. But there were no hard feelings. I think Harry is going to be on the road again very soon – he’s reportedly going to spend the summer in Africa, working with NGOs and his Sentebale charity. So enjoy Sweaty Harry while we have him. Poor Bridget!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Y’all know how I feel about Jack White. He’s so delightfully bitchy and complains about the tiniest things, but I still adore him. He’s like a grumpy vampire, and it’s not a holiday without a little Jack White.

I was surprised to see how Jack was one of Jay-Z’s rich friends who signed onto Tidal. Did you expect Jack to be like Mumford & Sons and call Tidal a bunch of “new school f***ing plurocrats“? You’re not alone. Every bit of Jack’s image rails against an uber-corporate, digital subscription service. Each year on Record Store Day, Jack leads the charge for the forgotten little guy. But Jack is very much a Tidal artist. When the service started to falter, Jack joined Jay-Z to personally call Tidal subscribers and thank them for their dollars. He also hosted a Q&A to talk about how Tidal will help every musician. The problem was that Jack talked around the questions and never gave direct responses. Now he’s written a poem called “Music is Sacred,” which he swears isn’t about Tidal but totally is:

those of you who stand for the sanctity of music
so that its soul can breathe
and be heard
so that it blooms in graveyards
echoes in hotel hallways
awakens neighbors in the night
and fills peoples minds with fire
shout it out loud with whatever microphone you have
or these stones will shout for you.
jump in front of demons,
and stand over cowards and those who would intend
to rip out your lungs and dampen your desire
tell the living and the dead
what you know in your heart to be true
and what you know your ears
will forever hear
that the melody of the human race
is a song that never ends.
music is sacred.

[From Jack White – Third Man Records]

Jack once received the James Joyce award by University College Dublin (see picture below), but he’s not much of a poet here. In the Q&A mentioned above, Jack stressed that people don’t value music enough to pay for it. That’s a valid point, but I don’t see how Tidal will help the situation. The subscription costs twice as much as Netflix, and the service is reportedly buggy with bad sound quality. The involved artists are pretty defensive about any criticism. Nicki Minaj blocked a bunch of fans on Twitter for questioning Tidal-only music videos. What I get from Jack’s poem is that “the sanctity of music” = “getting paid.” Yes, artists should be paid when people enjoy their work. But I never expected Jack White to try and make that point by signing onto Tidal.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Jessica Lange has always worked steadily in Hollywood, but her career hit an undeniable lull about a decade ago. She recently returned to acclaim and audience favor with the lead role in American Horror Story. For four seasons, she’s dominated the show. Jessica, age 66, has decades of experience with the male-dominated entertainment industry. She’s experienced many highs (2 best actress Oscar wins) and lows. She’s seen and heard everything during her years in the biz. So Jessica wasn’t at all surprised to hear 37-year-old Maggie Gyllenhaal’s story about being too old to play a 55-year-old man’s wife. Jessica spoke with The Wrap and told some straight-up truths about how Hollywood works:

On Hollywood sexism: “Hollywood is run with this male point of view. Even if a woman runs a studio, she still does it with a male point of view. And as long as that exists, you’re still going to have this wish fulfillment. That men continue to be fascinating and attractive and virile, and women age and are no longer sexual or beautiful — it’s a fantasy that has nothing to do with reality.”

She’s not surprised by the Maggie Gyllenhaal story: “When I was in my thirties I wasn’t fascinated by 70-year-old men. But then, I didn’t have to be. It’s classic Hollywood. I’m glad the media has picked up on it, but it’s certainly not a new phenomenon. I think a lot of it is fear of mortality. One’s mortality, one’s youth and virility … now they have Viagra, they’re humping away on their deathbeds. Hollywood is a perfect expansion of that idea that permeates our society.”

[From The Wrap]

The stuff Jessica says about female studio heads running things with a male POV is interesting. Last week, Amy Poehler revealed how she “often looks to men to model behavior” during important meetings. She does so, in part, to counteract how men treat her in the boardroom. That sucks in a way. Yet Amy’s killing it so hard that you can’t help but feel she’s pulling one over on the men. She’s playing their game, and she’s winning. Whereas Jessica Lange is pretty much over everything and refuses to play any game. They’re both awesome and winning in their own ways.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Stephanie March and Bobby Flay’s divorce drama is so epic. We haven’t had a divorce battle this contentious in a while, especially considering the fact that Stephanie and Bobby don’t even have children. They’re just fighting about money and real estate, which makes it more fun for all of us in the cheap seats because we don’t have to clutch our pearls and shriek “Won’t someone think of the children?!” As we learned last week, Flay and March are in court right now, trying to work out the financial aspect of the divorce. There was a leak that March is trying to nullify the prenup at this point because, to March’s way of thinking, she significantly contributed input to Flay’s financial success.

Throughout the divorce drama, we’ve kept hearing bits and pieces about how March’s health has been struggling, and that’s why she hasn’t worked much in the past five years, and isn’t it just terrible that Flay cheated on his physically ailing wife, etc? Well, now Flay’s camp wants you to know something: March’s health issues are just about her breast implants.

Bobby Flay has taken an incredibly cheap shot at his estranged wife, telling the judge in their divorce case that any medical problems she has are the result of vanity … specifically a boob job.

We’re told as part of her argument to invalidate their prenup, Stephanie March says she’s been plagued by well-publicized medical problems, including a burst appendix and 3 deep infections. As a result, she says she’s unable to work as an actress and the prenup would create an undo financial hardship.

Bobby has responded to Stephanie’s argument, but he got surprisingly detailed, saying the infections were the result of breast enhancement surgery. It’s pretty clear the point he’s making is that Stephanie’s problems are her own doing … choosing to go under the knife for the sake of vanity. Stephanie also took a shot at Bobby, saying revelations of his alleged infidelity have compromised her health and mental state.

As TMZ reported, the prenup provides a relatively meager $5k a month in support. Stephanie claims she was a key reason Bobby was able to build his empire.

[From TMZ]

After watching a few minutes of E!’s Botched, I have a new and terrible understanding of bad plastic surgeries and the kind of damage that can be done to one’s body in the name of “elective surgery.” I think it’s possible that March had health problems – specifically the infections? – from a boob job, although the burst appendix was likely a separate issue altogether. And my first thought was honestly, “I bet Flay wanted her to get those new boobs.” And now he’s using it as a slam in their divorce. For the love of God… he just needs to give her a better settlement!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

They’ve gotten so big!

Twisted actress Denise Richards hit the Beverly Glen Market with her older daughters – Sam, 11, and Lola, nearly 10 – in Beverly Glen, Calif. on Saturday (May 23). The trio were seen picking up some party supplies.

Denise welcomed Sam and Lola with her ex-husband, Charlie Sheen, with whom she reunited in March to celebrate Sam’s 11th birthday.

The actress, 44, is also mom to daughter Eloise, 3, whom she adopted on her own.

On Mother’s Day, the single mom Instagrammed a throwback photo with her late mother and younger daughters.

“Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of u…thank u for watching over us. We love you!,” she captioned the precious family photo.

The mom-of-three is currently filming the family movie, Christmas Switch, costarring William Baldwin, Tom Arnold, and Jennifer Grant.

The film tells the story of a widowed father and his son who receive a mysterious package in the mail. When the boy makes a wish that his father could understand his life, they magically switch bodies and live each others’ lives.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of u…thank u for watching over us. We love you!

A photo posted by Denise Richards (@deniserichards_officialpage) on May 10, 2015 at 1:44pm PDT

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After years of fighting for them, Kelly Rutherford‘s kids are coming home.

The Gossip Girl alum, 46, has been granted sole legal and physical custody of her two children – son Hermés, 8, and daughter Helena, nearly 6 – temporarily, PEOPLE reports. A California judge ordered her kids back to the United States from France, where they had been living with father Daniel Giersch since 2012.

According to a court order filed Friday, the children will be sent to Los Angeles, and their mother will keep their passports.

Earlier on Friday, Rutherford said that Giersch would not allow her see their kids after arriving in France for her latest trip Thursday. As well, she claimed that the German businessman won’t let her be with them unless she turned over their U.S. passports.

Meanwhile, Giersch’s attorney said he was asking Rutherford to give the passports to a third party.

But Rutherford claimed Giersch asked her to give them to another one of his attorneys, whom is someone she does not know and has not been approved by the court.

The actress has been fighting their parenting plan since 2012, when a California judge ruled that since Giersch’s U.S. visa had been revoked, the children would live with him in Monaco and Rutherford would fly out to visit – even though they technically shared joint custody.

Giersch was court-ordered to reapply for a visa, but he never did.

“I told my son, ‘Mommy is still fighting for you,’” Rutherford said. “My children, not only were they taken away, but they were sent to a foreign country. I don’t even know how you explain to someone what it feels like.”

“I’ve always wanted my kids to have a relationship with him, and I’ve really only encouraged that all along. When I went into court, I never asked for money, and I never asked for full custody,” she said. “I just wanted what was right for them and their well-being moving forward. And what happened over the next six years was the most surreal, bizarre, unimaginable thing.”

In an attempt to help other broken families in similar circumstances, the actress created the organization The Children’s Justice Campaign.