On Tuesday, the Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at a private talk at Spotify in LA. The talk was for Women@Spotify, an “employee-led group that fosters inclusivity and builds community.” Meghan is currently one of Spotify’s biggest stars with her wildly successful Archetypes podcast, which is obviously about women’s issues and the archetypes and stereotypes which oppress women. Meghan was invited to speak at the event!
Meghan turned up in this great black t-shirt from Etsy (you can buy one here). That’s Farsi and it reads “Women. Life. Freedom.” That has been the rallying cry in Iran in the wake of the police murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini also known as Jina Amini. Since Amini’s murder by the morality police in Iran on September 16, there have been widespread protests all over Iran, especially in Tehran. Persian women are burning their hijabs and dancing in the streets. There have been violent clashes between protesters and police. During her talk at Spotify, Meghan spoke about the courage of the protesters.
There’s no video because it was a private Spotify event, but Mandana Dayani posted these lovely photos on her social media. Meghan looks so happy and beautiful! Dayani is the creator of I Am A Voter and president of Archewell.
Sonja Morgan, formerly of Real Housewives of New York, has gotten some more plastic surgery, perhaps in preparation for her RHONY spinoff with Luann de Lesseps coming next year. It’s called Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake and it’s supposed to be like the iconic mid-aughts series, The Simple Life. Sonja spoke about her face/neck work back in 2020 and she’s being open again now about liposuction procedures she had done on her “problem areas” to feel good and “pick [her] up.”
Lipo is her neutral.
Sonja Morgan, who spoke candidly about her “liquid nose job” and neck lift and lower facelift in 2020, has gone back under the proverbial knife for a laser liposuction procedure.
“I’m in front of the camera, but I also want to feel good in every day clothes; whether I’m going to the beach, or if I want to put on sexy lingerie,” the “Real Housewives of New York City” alum, 58, told Page Six.
“I’m active, I’m in shape, I love my body — I just want to tweak it.”
Morgan enlisted the services of Dr. Gary S. Berger at Sono Bello’s Westchester practice to target her self-proclaimed “problem areas,” including “the side of [her] bra and [her] waist.”
Dr. Berger targeted those areas by performing a TriSculpt procedure on her abdomen, waist, hips and front bra roll.
“I look good! I don’t want to do too much, just a natural [look],” the reality star said before undergoing to procedure.
Morgan has long been open about her cosmetic procedures, speaking candidly on social media about getting work done in 2020.
“I just wanted to be rid of the wrinkling on my neck and the jowls that were starting to form,” she wrote on Instagram after undergoing a neck lift.
“People thought I was nuts because it was so subtle. But not to me,” she added. “It was a no-brainer – gravity had taken its toll, I was also exhausted and I needed a ‘pick me up.’”
Morgan was announced as a Sono Bello ambassador in July.
“Her transformation is just beginning so check back for updates,” the med spa teased at the time of the announcement.
I’ve said before that I appreciate that Housewives are usually open about their plastic surgeries. It’s certainly better than lying and promoting some unattainable ideals like a certain K-J family. Anyway, Sonja’s thought process sounds perfectly reasonable. She’s on camera and in the public eye, it makes sense she is image-focused. She also notes that in certain areas gravity has taken its toll, which happens to all of us. And there are some areas on the body that no amount of diet and exercise can change and they really do bother people. I’m sure a lot of people (myself included) understood exactly her complaint about the area on the side of the bra. That’s a very stubborn part! I remember my cousin agonizing over that specific spot at another relative’s wedding and sometimes I do the same now. Sonja aimed for her tweaks to be subtle and I think they are, including her face work. She looks like a normal human woman still, instead of a space alien robot. If it makes her feel good and she can afford it and is honest about it, go for it.
Photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram
I bought a couple of the menopause greeting cards Naomi Watts designed and sent them to my girlfriends. They were really well received; I highly recommend it. And remember the cards raise money for the Alliance for Period Supplies. In addition to the cards, Naomi has founded a line of face, hair, body, vaginal, and supplement products for menopausal women called Stripes. To back up the products, the Stripes website has an expert advice page with “Menoguides” offering topics from sex to moods to how to talk to your doctors. It’s fantastic and a real testament to Naomi’s commitment to making menopause a part of the national discussion. One of the unique parts of Naomi’s personal experience is that she was essentially going through perimenopause as she was having her kids. She started peri early, at 36, and that was right when she was trying to start her family with Liev Schreiber. But as she’s told us before, no one had ever talked to her about perimenopause so she felt “very alone.” Which is why she’s so determined to make sure other women don’t have to navigate this part of life on their own.
Naomi Watts has shared more of her experiences with perimenopause and menopause — and is encouraging other women to do the same.
At The New Pause Symposium in New York City on Friday, presented by The Swell and Stripes, Watts said that her personal experiences inspired her to create Stripes, a skincare brand for women in midlife.
“I found myself at 36 and perimenopausal, a word I didn’t even know about, and at the precipice of trying to start a family. So I went into complete panic, felt very lonely, very much less-than or like some kind of failure and what was I going to do? There was no one to talk to, there was no information, basically on my visit to the doctor, who said, ‘Well you’re not getting pregnant … your bloodwork is indicating that you’re close to menopause’ so I was freaking out.”
Watts acknowledged that there are more resources for women in perimenopause and menopause than there were 18 years ago, but much more more education and awareness are still needed.
“I went through anxiety, shame, confusion, panic and managed to fall pregnant naturally after two years of trying and getting my system right with different alternatives, since I wasn’t a candidate for IVF,” she said. “After the second child, I went through massive night sweats, hot flashes and I thought ‘this is terrible,’ and I would try to test out the community of my friends and I was sort of met with nervous laughs and shrugging it off, and I thought ‘Oh wow no one else is there, I better keep silent,’ and that’s how it was.”
Watts also asked her mother, who told her she had been 45 when she started perimenopause. “And that’s all I knew,” she said. “There was no detail around it. There was no handholding from doctors. The doctors said okay, ‘Here’s a patch or a gel or a spray.’ ”
“I just knew that this is a road that no one else should have to walk through alone again without a community, because without proper care taken you are going to turn in on yourself.”
I’ve said it before but let me reiterate my admiration for what Naomi is doing. I respect that she’s backing up her product with advice and support. It feels like she’s building a whole community for women. Unlike Naomi, my mother never went through any kind of menopause. She got periods forever until she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and had a full hysterectomy to eliminate it. So we didn’t have any notes to compare. I entered peri at 48. Granted I was unfamiliar with peri until I was knocking at its door, but I had friends who had entered it, so I was not alone, like Naomi was. And I certainly wasn’t considering kids. That must have been lonely as I’m sure everyone both in and out of the medical community wrote off her chances. It’s amazing to be able to bring these things up now. Honestly, talking about menopause and being over 50 with you all in these posts, I’m starting to really feel myself. Community matters. This is how we change opinion. And Naomi gets that.
And check out her products. They aren’t cheap, but they do answer quite a few calls. There’s a cooling mist for hot flashes. The lubes look really good as do the supplements, one that focus on vaginal health and the other on managing hot flashes and brain fog. Plus all the skin and hair care.
Photo credit: Avalon Red, Cover Images and Instagram
Bella Hadid wore Michael Kors at the Golden Heart Awards. [JustJared]
BTS is going on hiatus as they all plan to fulfill their mandatory military service in South Korea. Basically, we won’t see them as a group until 2025? [LaineyGossip]
Ezra Miller finally made a court appearance. [Dlisted]
Would you wear Avavav’s four-toed monster shoes? [OMG Blog]
Emma Corrin’s recent style is heavy on minis. [RCFA]
Viktor & Rolf’s bridal collection is actually really lovely? [Tom & Lorenzo]
Yep, Bill Murray has been a POS for years and people are only getting it now. [Pajiba]
Victoria Beckham’s many street style photos. [GFY]
This new joke format is very “dad humor” but it’s gotten really dirty. [Buzzfeed]
John Oliver tackles transgender issues and anti-trans legislation. [Towleroad]
Heidi Klum eats chocolate cake in bed. [Egotastic]
Review of Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave. [Gawker]
The Duchess of Sussex’s new Archetypes podcast is out! This week’s episode is “Breaking Down the Bimbo with Paris Hilton.” This week, Meghan is talking about the “bimbo” and “dumb blonde” archetypes, the beautiful women cut down and undervalued by society for being “dumb.” I appreciate that Meghan acknowledges that women play into these tropes sometimes, and many women find ways to subvert the “bimbo” stereotype and profit from it.
I’m listening to the pod as I write this, and because I barely listen to Paris Hilton speak in recent years, I didn’t know that she had abandoned the sexy-baby voice. She’s using her real voice in this pod which is really nice. Here’s the pod:
Paris Hilton talks about the abuse she suffered at the private boarding school she was sent to at the age of 16, and where she lived for two years. It’s interesting to reposition the Paris Hilton we saw as a young adult and understand that she was still processing the trauma she went through at the boarding school – she survived the abuse by dreaming of the kind of the person she would become, how she would brand herself as a real-life Barbie to assume control of her life, so no one could control her.
Anyway, this is a good one – they’ve all been good. Meghan is a good interviewer. Paris tells Meghan that she (Meghan) comes across as a girl’s girl, which is true.
I have never been able to understand the British school system’s holiday schedule, but apparently this week is a midterm break for the young students at posh private schools like Lambrook. Lambrook students have been off since last Friday. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all go to Lambrook, and I swear, their fall term has only been happening since the second week of September? Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th, which was the kids’ first day of school. And now they’re getting a week-long holiday. Which means the kids’ parents also get a week off from their grueling schedule.
Kate Middleton and Prince William won’t be out and about over the next few days. The new Prince and Princess of Wales, both 40, are expected to take a break from public engagements this week as their three children are off from school. Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, are currently off from classes at Lambrook, where fall half term began last Friday. After the short break, the siblings and their schoolmates will return to the classroom on a favorite childhood holiday — Halloween.
Prince William and Princess Kate have previously scaled back their schedules during school vacations in order to spend more time with their kids. George, Charlotte and Louis enrolled as new pupils at Lambrook on Sept. 8, the same day their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth died. Following the shock, the royal parents did all they could to support their grieving children and keep things as “normal” as possible.
This is nothing new – for years now, William and Kate take time off from “public duties” during their kids’ school vacations. I did want to ask though, where do you think they went? Do you think they’re staying at Anmer Hall this week? With all of the shuffling of royal properties following QEII’s death, it’s widely assumed that William and Kate won’t give up any of the properties they already have, they’re just adding more. They’re keeping Kensington Palace Apartment 1 (a mansion within a palace). They’re keeping Anmer Hall. They’re keeping Adelaide Cottage. They’re adding Windsor Castle. So are Kate and the kids in Norfolk right now? Also: yes, it’s funny that William and Kate arranged that big People Magazine cover story about how they’re “stepping up” and “embracing a heavier workload” and then they promptly went on vacation.
To recap a very complicated situation, here are the basics: Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis didn’t announce their split until November 2020, when she was already working on Don’t Worry Darling, and likely already hooking up with Harry Styles. Olivia’s version was that she and Jason had split months beforehand and there was no overlap between her old and new relationships. Jason’s version was that Olivia cheated on him with Harry Styles, Jason begged her not to leave and she left him around the same time they announced their split. Now the Daily Mail has an exclusive with the nanny who worked for them for three years, and Nanny is spilling all the tea. The Nanny prefers to remain unidentified, and you’ll quickly see why – she provided screenshots of text messages and an eyewitness account of how Olivia dumped Jason the second she started banging Harry (in the fall of 2020) and… yeah, so much more. Secret salad dressing recipes, child abandonment, Jason throwing himself in front of Olivia’s car. Some highlights:
Olivia & Jason split in the fall of 2020: Despite Wilde’s insistence that her split from Sudeikis was ‘initially friendly,’ in fact it left the blindsided Sudeikis distraught and drinking heavily alone at home and ranting to the couple’s nanny: ‘She’s f***ing someone else.’ Wilde, 38, has always insisted that she and Sudeikis parted ways in early 2020 and her affair with former boybander Styles started months later. She told Vanity Fair: ‘The complete horses**t idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate. Our relationship was over long before I met Harry.’ But in fact she was talking of marriage to Sudeikis as late as October that year, the nanny said, and broke up with Sudeikis a month later, just weeks after she began filming Don’t Worry Darling with Styles in Palm Springs, California.
Olivia was still talking about marrying Jason in October 2020: In fact, just a month before Wilde dumped Sudeikis – on November 8, 2020 – the actress spoke to staff about her plans to marry him and to make their daughter Daisy a flower girl, the insider revealed. But that all changed after Wilde met Styles and swiftly fell for the singer, with the nanny claiming she even appeared visibly ‘giddy’ and giggly around him when she took Daisy to visit her on set.
How Olivia dumped Jason: Wilde began spending more and more time away from home citing work and eventually moved into the nearby $1,650-a-night Paramour Estate Hotel in LA at the start of November 2020. She told her oblivious fiancé the move was due to a Covid outbreak on set but later dumped Sudeikis during a visit to the house they shared on November 8.
Jason learned of Olivia’s affair by looking at her Apple Watch: Distraught Sudeikis later uncovered the full details of her relationship with Styles by reading messages on an Apple watch Wilde had left behind – and swiftly banned the nanny from playing Styles’ music near their children. The nanny said: ‘It was supposed to be a temporary break for Covid but that turned out to be how she left us. He thought it was a temporary break. On the Monday morning November 9, when I came back from a weekend off he was crying a lot, crying and crying. I didn’t know what had happened at all. After I’d got the kids ready, Jason came upstairs and was having some coffee. He was crying and a mess, saying ‘she left us. She left us!’ He was just out of control crying. I didn’t know what to say. He was just crying and crying and saying he was going to get her back and he loved her. He was so brokenhearted – I felt for him.’
Olivia left the kids to party with Harry: On November 13, Wilde – who was briefly staying at the family house while Sudeikis was away – went to a party with Styles in Silver Lake before getting home at 4am.
The salad: Two days later, Wilde infuriated Sudeikis by preparing a salad for Styles with her ‘special dressing’ in the family kitchen – leaving him ranting furiously at her and filming the encounter, before he tried to prevent her leaving by lying under the car. The nanny explained: ‘The night she left with her salad, Jason had chased after her, videotaping her in the house. She was saying: ‘I’m scared of you, Jason, I’m scared of you’. And he said: ‘If you’re scared of me, why are you leaving your kids with me’? So then, Jason went outside and lay under her car so she wouldn’t leave. She got in her car to back up, he lay under her car so she wouldn’t leave. She went back into the house and he went in, it was back and forth. He said he was doing it on purpose to make her late going to see Harry.’
The salad dressing: The nanny added: ‘Jason told me: ‘She made this salad and she made her special dressing and she’s leaving with her salad to have dinner with [Harry]. I said, what salad dressing? He said: ‘She has a special salad dressing she makes for us and she’s taken it to have it with him now’. I don’t know what was in it. Out of everything, he was like, ‘she made her special salad dressing and took it to him.”
What else? Olivia agreed to go to couples therapy but she didn’t take it seriously, according to the Nanny. Olivia just thought it would look better, like she was giving it one last chance. Their therapist thought Olivia was addicted to Harry, like a drug. Meanwhile, Jason’s drinking got worse and worse after Olivia left him.
Yeah, the biggest headline for me is that Olivia has been lying this whole f–king time about when her relationship with Jason ended and when she and Harry began, and the circumstances around it. Add that to the list of Olivia’s lies, and it definitely gives us a picture of what she’s like. The salad thing is… I don’t know. I’m already seeing a lot of internet jokes but it was just the kind of heartbreaking detail which made me feel really bad for Jason. Now, did he react poorly? For sure. But his fiancee cheated on him, dumped him and took her salad dressing.
Last week, King Charles had his weekly meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss. Truss is currently taking the UK down in a blaze of glory – I’ve never seen a world leader create so much havoc in their first month on the job, it’s astonishing. While that is definitely a story – as is the fact that Charles greeted Truss with “dear, oh dear” – too many people focused on the fact that Charles had a somewhat notable photo in the background:
Last week, King Charles took his first weekly audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss at the palace. In a short video of their greeting, released on Twitter, viewers can see several photos of the family displayed around the meeting room. Among them is a photo from Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s wedding.
The image was taken by photographer Alexi Lubomirski at Windsor Castle following the Sussexes’ wedding ceremony at St. George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018. It shows Harry and Meghan surrounded by members of their family and bridal party—including the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The now King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Princess Kate are also in the photo, as are Kate and William’s children, boys and girls from Harry and Meghan’s bridal party, and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
You might say, okay, big whoop. Yes, these people all “speak” in these completely bizarre codes instead of communicating with one another directly and openly, but is it really that weird to think that Charles would display a photo of the Sussexes? Then something weird happened – Queen Camilla did a photo shoot with Chris Jackson and she also made sure to display a photo of the Sussexes in her background.
Queen Consort Camilla made a sweet nod to the royal family in an official picture shared at the weekend. King Charles’ wife, 75, was photographed in the Morning Room at Clarence House, on the 64th anniversary of the publication of the first Paddington bear book with several of the Paddington Bear toys left by royal fans in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth following the announcement of the Monarch’s death on September 8.
It was revealed yesterday that the soft toys will be given ‘good homes,’ just like the ‘real’ Paddington Bear, and are to be donated to vulnerable children supported by the Barnardo’s charity.
After the release of the picture, eagle-eyed fans noted that the Queen Consort had surrounded herself with pictures of the late Queen and the royal family. One snap showed the Queen Consort, the King, with the Prince and Princess of Wales, their three children and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the occasion of Prince Louis’ christening in 2019.
Two major photo-ops featuring photos of Harry and Meghan, both done within a week? Charles and Camilla are both sending a coded message to and about the Sussexes, and to the press. This is honestly Charles wanting to have it both ways though – he wants the freedom to brief against the Sussexes and threaten them about their projects and play the victim, while also making a big show of “see, they’re still family, we still love them.” That being said, I still believe that this year, Harry and Charles have been in communication more consistently than most people know. The one tabloid story I believed completely was that Charles asked Harry directly not to speak about him either way. Harry has kept up his end so far, all while his father has briefed against him all year. I think it’s also worth noting that some of the “Charles and Harry have drama with each other” storyline is being pushed by William.
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith, who also goes by Keely Shay Brosnan, have been together for 29 years. They’ve been married for 21 years and have two sons together, in addition to Pierce’s two other kids from his first marriage. They’ve been through some stuff (more on that below) and yet, they are one of the strongest couples in Hollywood. Naturally, people want to know what makes their relationship work. Pierce and Keely say it’s because they are best friends.
Pierce Brosnan is as much of a “superhero at home” with his wife Keely Shaye Brosnan as he is on the big screen in Black Adam.
Brosnan and Keely, who tied the knot in 2001 after initially meeting in 1994, share thespian backgrounds, as she worked as an actress across TV and film roles in the 1980s. However, Brosnan said Wednesday that Keely does not help him rehearse for his roles.
“No, no. I don’t let anyone do that. I do that all by myself,” he told PEOPLE. “Keely does have a hand in it, of course, but to practice, to rehearse, I rehearse alone.”
The couple, who share sons Dylan, 25, and Paris, 21, agreed that being each other’s friend is the secret ingredient for a wonderful marriage.
“Solving problems day in, year after year, liking each other, getting on with each other,” Brosnan told PEOPLE of keeping his marriage healthy.
“Being best friends,” Keely added.
When I mentioned that Pierce and Keely have been through some stuff, they’ve had some real sadness befall them. I think most of you know that Pierce lost his first wife, Cassandra Harris, to ovarian cancer. Pierce and Cassandra had a son, Sean, but Cassandra had two kids, Chris and Charlotte, from her first marriage. Pierce adopted them when their father died in 1986. Sean and Chris have both had serious issues with drugs. Sean is clean now but Chris may still be struggling and is estranged from the family. Charlotte died in 2013 from the same cancer that killed her mother. Pierce has repeatedly said Keely was there for him when he slumped into some very dark depressions during these times. And those kinds of experiences can really forge a bond with best friends and lovers. Not that a couple needs this level of tragedy to test their relationship, of course. I’m reminded of when we were doing the required pre-wedding counseling with our rector and his first question was “why do you want to get married?” We both spat out lists of the other’s good qualities. The rector laughed and said it’s kind of a trick question because nobody ever says, “Because I love him/her.” I think about that all the time because like Pierce said above, honestly, liking my partner is why I stay here.
I love the way Pierce and Keely love each other. I like that they remain wrapped up in each other and that they are comfortable talking about how much their relationship means to them and all the things they do to celebrate it – most of the time. I don’t get this latest one, though. The outlets are making a big deal that Pierce made a point to wear his own wedding band in Black Adam, in which he plays Dr. Fate. Granted, I’m not a romantic but, come on – he wore his own jewelry for a film. Oh well, whatever makes them happy, I guess.
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram
Over the years, we’ve actually heard many rumors about James Corden’s rudeness and cold behavior towards celebrities, service industry workers, and even his wife. On camera, of course he presents himself as a joyful and happy guy. When the cameras are off though, he seems like an Ellen DeGeneres-level a–hole. So it wasn’t shocking to hear yesterday that Corden had been banned from Balthazar, one of the hottest restaurants in New York. Balthazar’s owner Keith McNally took to Instagram to slam Corden for multiple instances of rude and abusive behavior towards Balthazar’s waitstaff. From McNally’s IG:
James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago. I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh. Here are two examples of the funny man’s treatment of my staff.
MANAGER’S REPORT # 1:
‘In June, James Corden was here on table 61. (Although this is diabolical, it happens Very occasionally in all restaurants.) After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said:
“Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.” ‘MANAGER’S REPORT # 2:
‘James Corden was at Balthazar with his wife on October 9th for brunch. He asked for a table outside. Brunch Maitre D’ Allie Wolters took the party to table 301. Mr. Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad. A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K. and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk. M. K. informed the floor manager, G. The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad. That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!” M.K. was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server.’ M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.’
Egg YOLK omelette? I’ll never understand fancy rich people, I guess. I know all about egg white omelettes, but I didn’t know you could just get an egg yolk one. Anyway, while it was the server’s mistake, that’s no excuse to f–king scream at someone who is probably taking care of a dozen tables. Anyway, that IG was published in the late afternoon on Monday. Seven hours later, McNally posted this to IG:
James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not. But….anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. Xx
That… must have been a good apology. Well, we know Corden can turn on the charm when he wants to. I’ve always wondered if there’s a little bit of culture-clash with Corden too – some of his behavior is more “tolerated” in Britain, whereas he’s slammed on social media here. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong.