The Duchess of Sussex was seen out and about in Montecito this weekend! The photos are very exclusive, meaning that (from what I can see) only Page Six, the Daily Mail and TMZ could afford to buy them. I included some tweets at the end of the post so you can see her ensemble – she wore “a $595 strapless green Malia Mills jumpsuit, which she paired with an olive sweater, a wide-brimmed $128 Panama hat from Cuyana, sunglasses and sandals.” She looked fresh-faced and relaxed as she did some shopping at Pierre La Fond, a gourmet food boutique, and Wendy Foster, a clothing boutique. The Mail dutifully noted that Wendy Foster is “a high-end women’s fashion boutique that specializes in sportswear where clothes go for hundreds of dollars.” Gasp! You mean that a Montecito duchess was shopping for expensive clothes? How dare she!!

Real talk though, I hate this Malia Mills jumpsuit. I hope this kind of look doesn’t come back into style, because you can see clearly how unflattering it is on a woman with a slender/athletic figure (so what hope is there for the rest of us?). It’s giving saggy diaper butt!! But otherwise, she looks nice. I like the braid and the casual sweater over her shoulders. She was with a friend and what appeared to be a casually-dressed bodyguard.

Meghan Markle goes shopping with a friend amid ‘Deal or No Deal’ backlash https://t.co/HS6mBqHfjJ pic.twitter.com/zimkFiUAzU

— Page Six (@PageSix) October 22, 2022

Meghan Markle likely didn’t find any deals at this luxury boutique in Montecito, but she was happy with the buy regardless. https://t.co/gJBfVI5TGY

— TMZ (@TMZ) October 22, 2022

Meghan Markle seen for the first time amid Deal or No Deal drama enjoying a shopping day in Montecito California#Meghan #Markle #time #Deal #drama #shopping #day #Montecito pic.twitter.com/3Iqxtn6BdH

— Shahryar Sultan (@Shahryar_Sultan) October 22, 2022

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Variety YouTube screenshots.

We barely cover Riverdale’s Camila Mendes, 28, because she just keeps her head down and does her work. She has over 27 million followers on Instagram – she’s promoting herself, she just isn’t saying or doing controversial sh-t that gets headlines. She has one of those “How I get things done” profiles in The Cut, which I enjoy (although I stopped subscribing to NY Mag after this terrible story). She’s 28 and sounds both self aware and vulnerable about being a working actress and the self doubt that goes along with that. I enjoyed this interview and could relate to some of what she said. Here are highlights, with more at the source:

On establishing a routine within her schedule:
My life goes through very intense phases where I’m either working on a movie or I’m on Riverdale or I’m in L.A., so my routine is constantly changing. But when I’m on a certain project, I’ll establish a routine there. I have to make them up as I go, and as soon as I start getting into a rhythm I have to change it because that project is over or it’s on to the next thing in the next place. If I do have time in the morning to work out, that is something I really like to do — or at least stretch. This sounds so basic, but making my morning latte is how I wake up, and because I actually make it in an espresso machine, it feels like a nice way to get my brain moving. It’s therapeutic, that process, and having that one coffee in peace and quiet before the day gets too crazy.

On productivity:
I manage stress through organization. I am most stressed when I feel like everything’s all over the place. I have a crazy Google calendar that’s color-coded, and I’m always using that. The irony is that I’m not great with time management. I’m someone who’s constantly running ten minutes behind, which is something I’ve been fighting my entire life and still haven’t found the solution to.

On self-doubt:
This career and this passion of mine means so much to me. So now that I have it, it’s too precious for me to screw up. I’m always like, Okay, what’s the right thing to do at this point in my career? What’s the right next step? Am I taking steps toward where I want to get, and is this going to help me get there? I’m probably more cautious than I should be when it comes to picking projects, but I get very afraid of making the wrong choice and ruining everything. I think super catastrophically, like, I’m going to take one bad project and it’ll be the end of my career and I’ll never work again. I tend to be the most anxious when good things are happening.

[From The Cut]

Since high school, I’ve tried to be exactly on time to everything. I like being busy and productive, it’s a rush to try to fit more sh-t in a day. This results in me being a couple of minutes late to things usually, which can be stressful, but I have to admit I like that. Camila sounds similar. At least she knows it’s a problem and is addressing it. There’s something boring to me about being early for an appointment. I’m constantly thinking of other things I could be doing instead, which I know is not healthy. I just like staying busy as hell! I get a rush out of it. I also really like what she said about establishing a routine whenever your situation changes, which has served me well throughout my life.

Buzzfeed has a “facts you don’t know about” article for Camila if you’re interested in learning more about her. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts in 2016 and she was massively inspired by Rachel Bilson’s character in The O.C.!

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photos credit: Phillip Faraone/Netflix, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon

Drew Barrymore’s talk show is three seasons and hundreds of episodes in at this point. After some growing pains in the beginning, she seems to have settled into a nice groove with her co-hosts and guests. I think in general, as a celebrity and a person, she’s a good fit for the talk show format. She’s bubbly and charming and has been around forever, so she knows everyone. And she’s always been known as a free spirit and so we get tidbits like this — in a recent episode they were talking about Christopher Meloni’s nudity comments and turns out Drew loves it too.

Drew Barrymore doesn’t mind shedding her clothes when home alone.

The topic came up during the “Drew’s News” segment on Thursday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, during which Barrymore, 47, cohost Ross Mathews and former NBA player Dennis Rodman discussed actor Christopher Meloni recently telling PEOPLE he is a “big fan of nudity.”

Rodman expressed that he also finds nudity freeing, saying he likes “being an individual that’s very open,” which led cohost Mathews to make a joke in reference to the 61-year-old Meloni’s admission that he enjoys exercising in the nude at his home gym.

“Imagine a jumping jack, if you will,” Mathews joked while gesturing with his arms. “Whoever you are, things are, you know.”

Barrymore then said, “I have to say, too, if I get a moment alone in my apartment and my kids have gone to their dad’s or there’s no one around, I’ll lock all the doors and I’ll walk around naked. It just feels like the most liberating act I can do.”

“That’s cool. I do it all the time,” Rodman said in response. “All the time.”

“All right, well guess what everyone: tune in tomorrow — I’ll be nude, right here at this desk!” Mathews joked. “You’ve convinced me, Rodman.”

[From People]

I see the pros and cons of nude exercising. Pros: you don’t get as hot and there’s less sweaty workout gear to launder. Cons: equipment gets sweaty and body parts bounce around uncomfortably. I think those cons outweigh the pros, but when exercising at home I try to wear as little as possible so I don’t have to do laundry as often. But I completely get what Dennis Rodman and Drew are saying about nudity at home being freeing and liberating. I mean, I don’t feel particularly liberated, I just feel comfortable, provided the temperature is right. After all, it’s our natural state. It’s also convenient to do a lot of chores and projects in the nude, if possible. Less opportunity to get paint and dust on clothes. Hm, maybe I’m really just advocating nudity because it means doing less laundry. In any case, Stabler, Dennis, and Drew are all right. Exercise naked, do everything naked at home!

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Last Thursday, the same day that a head of lettuce outlasted Britain’s prime minister Liz Truss, Netflix released their full-length trailer for The Crown. After months of sniping and crying from Buckingham Palace, the trailer was full of all of the royal drama we’ve been waiting for – Diana and Charles’s separation, the fire at Windsor Castle, the royalshambles that was the House of Windsor in the ‘90s. What was also fascinating about the trailer was that there was no disclaimer or note about “this is a dramatization” or “some elements are fictionalized.” The day after the trailer was released, Netflix added the disclaimer… but only to the YouTube description, not within the actual trailer. LMAO.

Netflix has added a disclaimer to the description for its latest The Crown trailer following a difficult couple of weeks for the royal series.

In the YouTube description below the video for the fifth season trailer, Netflix states: “inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign” .

None of the previous trailers included this disclaimer, instead going straight into a description of the season.

The move comes after two years of lobbying from certain circles including former Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, who said in late 2020 that a “health warning” should be played before episodes so viewers know the series is a work of fiction. That “health warning” still doesn’t appear in the current trailer, however, only in the YouTube description. Netflix already uses the “fictionalised” line in press materials, on social media and on The Crown’s Netflix landing page.

[From Deadline]

Come on, Netflix knows exactly what they’re doing. They’re “giving” one version of what Buckingham Palace says they want, and by doing it after the trailer dropped, Netflix is extending the story and the beef. “Oh, you said you wanted a disclaimer, well here’s one in the YouTube description, what? Is that not good enough?” They’re poking the bear, only in this case, the “bear” is a new king who believes the best use of his power and authority is masterminding an unhinged campaign against a corporation. It’s going to get so much worse for King Charles III as well – once the Crown comes out and people begin talking about the storylines, my guess is that Charles will be dumb enough to send out people to try to “fact check” the series in nitpicky ways. Netflix will do the same thing they did two years ago: drop receipts. So will other people. There will be hundreds of stories about “did this really happen, well not exactly like that, but here’s what really happened and here’s what Charles said at the time.”

This is also a pretty significant point too – it’s not that the Palace has an issue with only The Crown, they simply don’t want to cooperate with any historian or historical documentary. It is, as always, about control. The Palace wants to be solely in control of their history, their message and what’s said, dramatized and written about their family.

I have a letter in The Times this morning about an old hobby horse of mine (by which I mean archives rather than The Crown). pic.twitter.com/ArKiNbtopH

— Philip Murphy (@philipvmurphy) October 21, 2022

Photos and posters courtesy of Netflix/The Crown.

For a while, it seemed like Angelina Jolie was giving up acting to focus on her family, her directing career and her humanitarian interests. At the end of the day, she needed money though – as we now know, for much of the past fourteen years, her money was tied up in the Chateau Miraval. So she needed paying gigs, and she wanted movies where she could shoot stuff very fast, usually on her kids’ school breaks. A supporting role in The Eternals, voice work in some animated films, a quick film shoot for Those Who Wish Me Dead. She hasn’t had a major lead role in a major movie since (arguably) Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and it’s not like that was an Oscar-bait drama. I did wonder if we’d ever see Jolie like that again. Well, guess what? She’s going to play Maria Callas in a Pablo Larrain movie!

Jackie and Spencer director Pablo Larraín looks set to continue to focus his lens on some of the most famous women in modern history, and has found his next subject in soprano Maria Callas. The Chilean director has also tapped another, equally well-known, figure to play his lead in Angelina Jolie.

Maria, based on true accounts, will reportedly tell the “tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story” of the life of the one of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris. The hugely-influential American-born Greek icon — once described as “the Bible of opera” by Leonard Bernstein — is also linked to another of Larraín’s films, having famously had a love affair with Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who later married Jackie Kennedy.

Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, who reunites with Larraín following the director’s previous feature, Spencer, the film is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín for Fabula Pictures; Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle Company; and Jonas Dornbach for Komlizen Film.

“I take very seriously the responsibility to Maria’s life and legacy. I will give all I can to meet the challenge,” said Jolie. “Pablo Larraín is a director I have long admired. To be allowed the chance to tell more of Maria’s story with him, and with a script by Steven Knight, is a dream.”

Added Larraín: “Having the chance to combine my two most deep and personal passions, cinema and opera, has been a long-awaited dream. To do this with Angelina, a supremely brave and curious artist, is a fascinating opportunity. A true gift.”

[From THR]

It would have been amazing to see a Greek or Greek-American play one of the most iconic Greek women of all time, but I also think this is good casting. Maria Callas was beautiful and tragic, deeply in love with Ari Onassis, a man who treated her like garbage. Looking at photos of Callas when she was young, I actually do see a resemblance with Jolie? Especially around the eyes and mouth. I doubt Larrain will make Jolie sing. They’ll use Callas’s recordings, surely? Anyway, I enjoyed Jackie and Spencer and I’m interested and excited to see what Larrain does here, with Jolie. I wonder who they’ll get to play Onassis? Let me dream-cast this… how about Eric Bana?? OMG, Mark Ruffalo??? Joel Edgerton could pull it off, in a weird way.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Starstock/Photoshot/Avalon and Avalon Red.

Kanye West is in the middle of a significant manic episode. It should be emphasized: Kanye’s bipolar disorder is not the reason why he’s suddenly saying racist, bigoted and anti-Semitic crap, but it’s a factor. What’s unique about this moment is that this time, Kanye has alienated almost everyone “on his side,” the people who normally would have looked out for him and gotten him some help, or enabled him in various ways. Kim Kardashian has cut her ties with him. So has Donald Trump. Reportedly, Kanye’s team is scattered, and he’s already fired several of his closest associates. Now we’re coming to the point where Kanye will be paying for this financially and culturally for years to come. Last week, Balenciaga severed ties with him.

Balenciaga has severed its ties with Ye. Following the publication of its third-quarter results on Thursday, parent company Kering said the French fashion house would no longer be working on projects with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has made increasingly controversial public comments in recent weeks, including anti-Semitic threats.

“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering said in a response to a query from WWD. It did not elaborate further.

The “Stronger” singer opened Balenciaga’s summer 2023 show, held in a mud pit during Paris Fashion Week, wearing what looked like battle gear, including a branded mouthguard shielding his teeth. The image has been removed from Balenciaga’s website.

[From WWD]

Keep in mind, Balenciaga was fine with collaborating with Kanye following his “slavery was a choice” sh-t and after his MAGA meltdowns and his 2020 ratf–ker political campaign. The anti-Kanye thing is a bandwagon too, just like the pro-Kanye thing was for years. Still, it’s notable that people are finally acknowledging that lines have been crossed and there’s no coming back. Anna Wintour apparently feels the same way:

A Vogue spokesperson told Page Six exclusively on Friday that neither the magazine nor its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour intend to work with Kanye West again after his anti-Semitic rants and support for the White Lives Matter cause.

Wintour, 72, has had a long and close relationship with the rapper-turned-designer, 45. She first invited him to her annual Met Gala in 2009 before featuring him and now-ex-wife Kim Kardashian on the cover in 2014 after their wedding. Just last month, Wintour modeled the Yeezy founder’s new sunglasses line in press images sent out to promote the shades — even after he publicly bullied Kardashian online about their children.

And then on Oct. 4, Wintour sent her longtime close pal, Baz Luhrmann, to film the reconciliation between West and one of her editors, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, after he mocked her fashion sense because she criticized him for wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt at his Paris fashion show.

But on Friday, sources told us the fashion royal is finally ready to cut the Grammy winner loose after he made a series of stunning threats against Jewish people, and then aggressively doubled down on them after he was given the opportunity to apologize.

“Anna has had enough,” an insider told us, adding, “She has made it very clear inside Vogue that Kanye is no longer part of the inner circle.”

[From Page Six]

Wintour’s pro-Kanye stance also lasted too long – she should have been out of Kanye’s camp years ago, but better late than never. I do wonder about all of these fashion people though, and whether their newfound rejection of Kanye will be reversed in six months. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, another piece of Kanye news: he’s hired two new lawyers, one for his long-running divorce and one for his business interests. He hired Camille Vasquez for his business – some people might remember her as Johnny Depp’s lawyer, when Depp sued Amber Heard. He will likely need a bigger legal team because George Floyd’s family is now suing Kanye for the statements he made, lying about Floyd’s death/murder. Kanye hired Bob Cohen as his latest divorce lawyer – Cohen represented Melinda Gates in her divorce. The revolving door of divorce lawyers has been an interesting sideshow – clearly, no self-respecting divorce lawyer wants to stick with Kanye, given what he’s saying about and doing to Kim.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are not making their failing marriage a secret. It’s been shocking to see how openly this has played out, and how matter-of-fact Gisele has been over the past two months. She seemingly came to a decision over the summer that she wasn’t going to stick around, that Tom had broken his word and broken her trust for the last time. Reportedly, she began the separation process over the summer, and she’s renting (I think) a place in Miami. She left Tom to deal with the back-to-school drama, and she’s left him to organize the running of his household and everything else. Tom is super-salty about it and he’s whining about how Gisele has “abandoned” him. Gisele also lawyered up before Tom, and according to Page Six, she hired one of the best lawyers in Florida.

Things are getting “nasty” between Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen amid their marriage split, sources say. Page Six exclusively revealed Bündchen has hired the top divorce lawyer in Florida to take on Brady as the pair seem to be heading to the end zone.

Insiders say Bündchen hired Tom Sasser, the managing partner of the law firm of Sasser, Cestero & Roy. The West Palm Beach divorce attorney has handled a stable of high-profile clients including Tiger Woods in his divorce with Elin Nordegren.

Sasser also represented Jeff Gordon in his bitter 2003 divorce from wife Brooke which turned into a battle over the NASCAR driver’s net worth, but was ultimately settled.

A source said, “Things are very nasty between Tom and Gisele because of the lawyers. They are ready for a fight. Tom and Gisele are not battling over the kids, they both want joint custody. But it will take some time to divide their immense wealth and property all over the world.”

Bündchen, 42, and Brady, 45, share two children — son Benjamin, 12, and 9-year-old daughter Vivian, along with Brady’s son Jack, 15, with ex Bridget Moynahan.

[From Page Six]

Maybe my gut is completely wrong about this, but I genuinely don’t believe this is going to be some long, drawn-out divorce fight. They both have significant financial assets, and sure, it will take a minute to figure out how to divide their real estate. But Gisele is radiating this “over it” energy and surely Tom’s people are telling him that a drawn-out divorce fight will be awful for his image. My prediction is that we suddenly get some announcement, possibly a few months from now, that everything has been settled quickly and quietly. They’ll make a joint statement and proclaim their love for their children and that’s it. I wonder if my gossip mojo is right about this.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.

Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel renewed their vows in Italy for their ten-year wedding anniversary. Remember their wedding photos?? [Dlisted]
The whole “Netflix is rattled” thing was completely made up by British royalists and it’s so funny to see Netflix unchained. [LaineyGossip]
Did Megan Fox & Machine Gun Kelly break up? Hm. [Jezebel]
Joy Behar has banged a few ghosts in her day. [Seriously OMG]
Zuhair Murad’s bridal collection is very, very lacy. [Go Fug Yourself]
Tom Brady clarifies: Football season is not, actually, like a military deployment. [Gawker]
Did Taylor Swift reveal the name of Blake Lively’s fourth child? [Just Jared]
People are mad about House of the Dragon? (Spoilers.) [Pajiba]
Shakira’s new music video for “Monotonia.” [Egotastic]
Welcome to Plathville’s Kim Plath was arrested. [Starcasm]
Kim Kardashian’s swimwear helps people with body insecurities. [Buzzfeed]
LA cougars are being imperiled (the real cougars). [Towleroad]

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The Daily Beast’s Royalist has another flimsy “exclusive” about Prince Harry’s memoir. I guess the point of the British media and royalist media’s wall-to-wall meltdown about the memoir is to make the book “old news” by the time it’s published. Will it actually work that way? I don’t know. I know I’m tired of these exclusives, especially because it’s clear that every single one of these “insiders” and “royal journalists” are just talking out of their asses. The exclusive information in this piece is that one chapter in particular in Harry’s memoir will be super-damaging to his father. But really, this piece was just an excuse for Tom Sykes (“The Royalist”) to interview Valentine Low, the author of Courtiers. Some highlights:

One chapter: Anxiety over the content of Prince Harry’s memoir is growing in the royal family’s inner circle, with one source telling The Daily Beast that a particular chapter in the book could cause “big trouble” for King Charles. The royal insider told The Daily Beast: “There is one chapter in particular that could spell big trouble for Charles.” However, they did not say what revelations the chapter in question detailed.

Original time table: The source did say that their understanding was that the book is still likely to be published according to its original timetable before the end of the year. Publishers Random House did not respond to a request for comment on the issue, however their website still says the book is due out “late” this year.

Sanguine courtiers: While courtiers are moderately sanguine about both The Crown (the simple “it’s made up” message seems to be cutting through domestically at least) and the Netflix docuseries that Meghan has promised will explore the couple’s “love story,” Harry’s book is seen as a different order of threat.

Meghan’s “attacks” are abating: Her lightweight Variety interview, in which she praised the late Queen Elizabeth and did not trash the royals, was seen by some as a sign that her attacks on the Palace may be abating. One source, a friend of the family, told The Daily Beast: “It is interesting that when she isn’t slagging off the royals, Meghan has very little of interest to say. There was nothing in the [Variety] interview that would trouble the royals. If this is the tone the Netflix show is going to take, then I think it might be a good deal less problematic for the family than has been assumed. The worst could be over.”

Valentine Low on Meghan’s Variety interview: “It was interesting that Meghan, in her Variety interview, was very conciliatory. She spoke warmly about the queen and was certainly not stirring up controversy. I think that might be taken as an encouraging sign that, ultimately, they are moving on and looking to the future.”

Low’s inside information: Intriguingly, Low told The Daily Beast that he had knowledge of a meeting between Harry and a private individual (not a Palace staffer) while Harry was in London. The person gently suggested to Harry he might go easy on his family in the book but, Low says, “Harry was not very receptive to the idea.”

Low on Harry’s memoir: “While Harry could certainly make revelations that are damaging and produce days or even weeks of headlines, and tropes that get wheeled out for years to come, I think his book is unlikely to be terminally damaging for either the king or the royal family. You only have to look at ‘Tampongate,’ when Charles was recorded having literally the most embarrassing phone call (with Camilla, imagining being her tampon—revealed to the world in 1993), you could possibly imagine. He survived it, indeed, he married Camilla and she is now queen.”

What??? While it is probably not in Harry’s long-term interests to reveal something so devastating that it forces the king to abdicate (even if he had the receipts) it is, whether the Sussexes like it or not, their ability to dish on the royals that is their most valuable product. As one media executive told the Daily Beast: “Netflix doesn’t care about Meghan’s quest for social justice. They just want to know if James Hewitt is Harry’s dad.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“It is probably not in Harry’s long-term interests to reveal something so devastating that it forces the king to abdicate (even if he had the receipts)…” I’M SORRY WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? You can’t just introduce the idea that Harry might have receipts which could bring down the king? My God, they really are worried. I also wonder about Low’s aside, that someone – not a staffer – pulled Harry aside during the mourning period. Curious.

About all of the shady sh-t regarding Meghan’s Variety interview. I’ve been thinking about this all week, how well Meghan handled that, how easily she deflected the larger questions about what happened after QEII passed away. She didn’t give the British media anything, and they were twisting themselves in knots to parse her statements and find ways to criticize her. I mean, they were even crying about the expensive clothes she wore for the photoshoot, that’s how desperate they were for red meat. She gave them nothing, and now they’re mad so they’re complaining that her interview was “soapy” and “lightweight.” Just wait until Harry and Meghan give interviews to promote his memoir and their docu-series.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Variety’s YouTube video screenshots, plus the cover courtesy of Variety.

Liz Truss resigned as Britain’s prime minister on Thursday. She went down in a spectacular blaze of glory. It all started with Queen Elizabeth II passing away shortly after meeting Truss for the hand-kissing formation-of-government moment in Balmoral, then Truss managed to survive the official mourning period as she plotted her hard-right deranged tax cuts for the rich, she oversaw the British pound massively weakened, she watched as the Bank of England had to step in with emergency measures to ensure that the economy didn’t completely collapse, and then she did nothing as Tory-on-Tory crime occurred on Wednesday in Parliament. Forty-four days of chaos, bad policy, violence, death, economic collapse, and she gets a generous allowance for the rest of her life even after she couldn’t outlast a head of lettuce.

Liz Truss is eligible for a taxpayer-funded allowance capped at 115,000 pounds ($129,000) a year for the rest of her life.

Despite her short time in office, Ms. Truss became eligible on Thursday for what’s called the Public Duty Costs Allowance — a government reimbursement plan for staff and salary costs incurred by former prime ministers “arising from their special position in public life” after they leave office, according to the government’s website.

This has drawn scorn, however, from some of Ms. Truss’s political opponents, who have called for her to be refused the payment because of what they see as her role in Britain’s political and economic turmoil.

“There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same £115,000 a year for life fund as her recent predecessors — all of whom served for well over two years,” said Christine Jardine, the spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office of the Liberal Democrats, in a statement.

“Truss’s legacy is an economic disaster — for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill,” Ms. Jardine said, adding that the potential payout would leave “a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiraling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.”

[From The NY Times]

I mean… we have similar issues here in America. Former presidents get a pension and Secret Service protection after they’ve left office, and it pisses me off that Donald Trump is getting money and protection even after he literally tried to murder public officials by inciting an insurrection. In Truss’s case, it does feel like there should be some kind of mechanism to introduce a “threshold” measure, as in “if you haven’t served as prime minister for a certain amount of time, you don’t get this kind of pension.” Apparently, John Major and Tony Blair have both received this “allowance” following their prime ministerial reigns. Which makes sense, given they both served for seven/eight years. No one knows if Boris Johnson will take the money. But it looks like BoJo has his eyes on a different prize: a return to 10 Downing.

Liz Truss has resigned as Britain’s prime minister and will step down after a week-long emergency contest to find her successor, she announced outside Downing Street, leaving the possibility of a return of Boris Johnson. Her resignation follows a turbulent 45 days in office, during which Truss’s mini-budget crashed the markets, making her the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister.

The prospect of Johnson returning to Downing Street is dominating debate amid fevered speculation the former premier is plotting a comeback.

Only six weeks after he left No 10, forced out by his own Conservative party MPs after a slew of scandals, supporters are calling on Johnson to run again for a second shot at leading the country. But as many supporters of Johnson call for his return, his critics have also made their feelings known, with some threatening to defect to Labour if he is chosen as leader again.

Who else is running? Several Tories have come out in support of Rishi Sunak as the successor to Truss. Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Penny Mordaunt are also expected to stand as leadership candidates.

Could Johnson really return? “I wouldn’t want to make any cast-iron prediction in this crazy world of politics at the moment but I think Boris Johnson returning is a very real possibility,” said the founder of the ConservativeHome website, Tim Montgomerie.

[From The Guardian]

I wish Britain was real. I mean, come on – you guys FINALLY managed to toss out Boris Johnson over all of his lies and liquor-soaked parties and not even two menstrual cycles later, he’s on the comeback trail? My God. What a waste of time, money and effort.

Friday’s Star: Lettuce REJOICE #TomorrowsPapersToday #DailyStar #Star pic.twitter.com/I7YpriTDRz

— Tomorrows Papers Today (@TmorrowsPapers) October 20, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.