For the past week, there’s been a lot of rumor-mongering about Will Smith and the film Emancipation. Will spoke about Emancipation a lot as he promoted King Richard and did the awards season blitz late last year and early this year. Emancipation, based on the true story of a former slave-turned-Union soldier known as Whipped Peter, completed production in early 2022, and it was and is Will’s big passion project. He got Apple to spend $120 million on the production and they were all geared up to launch a huge Oscar campaign for the film and for Smith. Then Will slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. Now no one is 100% sure what’s going to happen with Emancipation.

Apple has a Will Smith problem. Mr. Smith is the star of “Emancipation,” a film set during the Civil War era that Apple envisioned as a surefire Oscar contender when it wrapped filming earlier this year. But that was before Mr. Smith strode onto the stage at the Academy Awards in March and slapped the comedian Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Mr. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Now Apple finds itself left with a $120 million unreleased awards-style movie featuring a star no longer welcome at the biggest award show of them all, and a big question: Can the film, even if it succeeds artistically, overcome the baggage that now accompanies Mr. Smith?

The sensitivity of the situation is apparent. According to three people involved with the film who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the company’s planning, there have been discussions inside Apple to release “Emancipation” by the end of the year, which would make it eligible for awards consideration. Variety reported in May, however, that the film’s release would be pushed into 2023. When asked for this article how and when it planned to release “Emancipation,” Apple declined to comment on that or anything else about the film.

[From The NY Times]

The rest of that Times piece featured quotes from a lot of white people clutching their pearls at how no one will ever be able to see Will Smith the same way after he… slapped a grown man for disrespecting his wife for the millionth time. I mean, I get that there are still conversations about this and obviously, there’s no “right answer” for “what do we do about Will Smith’s other films?” At first, I thought they should just release the film as they originally planned to, late in the year, in time for the 2023 awards season and just come what may, even with Will being banned from the Oscars. But considering all of the pearl-clutching and angst, maybe Apple should let one Oscar telecast go by before releasing the film.

This entertainment journalist says that it’s definitely coming out in December though. Maybe Apple just wants Emancipation off its plate.

BREAKING: Apple expected to release the Will Smith movie EMANCIPATION in early December.

— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 20, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, YouTube, Instar.

Jennifer Lopez’s new movie looks fun! I wish Angelina Jolie still made movies like this, she would be good in them. [LaineyGossip]
Seriously though, were people asking for a Quantum Leap reboot? [Seriously OMG]
Kanye West to British peeps: He feels like he “lost his queen too.”. [Dlisted]
IMO, Diane Kruger lost her style mojo when she got with Norman Reedus. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Misusing Alison Janney is a capital offense! [Pajiba]
Why does Rihanna keep visiting the recording studio? Y’all know you aren’t getting any new music, sorry Navy. [JustJared]
George & Amal Clooney finally looked like they went to the same event. [GFY]
These parents are completely unhinged. [Buzzfeed]
God, I hope Val Demmings beats Marco Rubio. [Towleroad]
Steph Curry signed a billion-dollar lifetime contract with Under Armour. [Egotastic]
A Teen Mom wedding! [Starcasm]
Lingering questions about Don’t Worry Darling. [Gawker]

As someone who lived and gossiped through The Neri Oxman Debacle of 2018, I have to say that I think Brad Pitt got burned by trying to force a tabloid relationship with a full-on MIT professor. Brad’s attempts at PR relationships and rebranding needed someone much more willing, like poor married Nico Poturalski, the German instamodel who (whoops) turned out to be married. So that looked bad too. Now, finally, Pitt has found someone who is at least getting a divorce from her skeevy husband: Emily Ratajkowski. We also know that Emily loves attention (a big plus for Pitt) and that she has a bad picker (also a huge plus for Pitt). So it seems to be full speed ahead with the “dating rumors.” Pitt’s team got Page Six AND People Magazine to write about how Pitt and Ratajkowski are quietly seeing each other.

They’re not Bratajkowski just yet — but “stay tuned.” Brad Pitt and Emily Ratajkowski have been out a few times together, sources confirm to Page Six exclusively, but the duo are not officially dating.

There has been speculation online that Pitt and Ratajkowski — who filed for divorce from her estranged husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, earlier this month — have been “secretly dating.”

But a Hollywood insider with knowledge of the situation tells Page Six of the pair, “People have been speculating about this for a while. Brad is not dating anybody. They [Pitt and Ratajkowski] have been seen a couple times together.”

The source notes that Pitt has also “been seen with other people” in recent months and that he is not dating anyone in particular. However, the movie insider cryptically adds, “Stay tuned.”

[From Page Six]

Ah, the old confirmation-through-denial. “I wouldn’t say they’re dating but they have been on a few dates and he’s super-interested in her and they’ll be official soon,” Pitt’s publicist told Page Six and People Magazine:

Brad Pitt and Emily Ratajkowski are hanging out, a source tells PEOPLE.

The source says that the Bullet Train actor, 58, and the model, 31, “are spending a lot of time together.” However, they add that “friends aren’t sure if it’s serious,” and the two don’t “appear to be ‘dating’ formally.”

A rep for Ratajkowski did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

[From People]

This is so dumb. Brad Pitt is 58 years old, you think he could actually date like a mature man and threat his audience with respect? But no, his publicist sends out these non-denial confirmations like he’s Justin F–king Bieber. As for Emily, she seems happy enough to play along. I wonder for how long.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

Before Queen Elizabeth II passed away, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were looking at an autumn full of appearances, interviews, book releases, tea-spilling and success. Just win after win after win. We know that Meghan was supposed to be on the cover of Variety, and that Variety agreed to postpone it. We know that Meghan was going to be in New York to speak at the United Nations and do at least one talk show (The Tonight Show), but those appearances were canceled. Hopefully, some stuff will be rescheduled and we’ll get to see more of both Meghan and Harry in the weeks and months to come. By that I mean, I hope they stick to America for the time being. American media, American charities, appearances in America. Salt Island is desperate to capture Meghan and Harry yet again, and they’re looking for any excuse to get them back. Speaking of, there are rumors afoot that British GQ wants to honor Meghan at their “Men of the Year Awards” in November? LMAO, desperados.

Meghan Markle is being lined up to receive an honorary award at the 2022 GQ Men of the Year Awards. This year’s ceremony will be held at the Tate Modern in London on November 16 – with Meghan Markle expected to attend in person. The swanky showbiz bash is one of the most exclusive events in the UK calendar with David and Victoria Beckham regulars and the likes of Madonna, Dua Lipa and designer to the stars Donatella Versace all attending in previous years.

Insiders said Meghan, 41, was going to be celebrated for her charity work. A source said: “Meghan has been offered one of the top awards of the evening so it’s a massive coup for her. She already has a close relationship with GQ due to her friendship with Vogue’s Editor-In-Chief Edward Enninful which is also owned by Conde Nast. Edward is very much seen as a friend rather than a business acquaintance.”

The GQ Men of the Year Awards usually take place in September and were initially due to take place on September 7. However earlier this summer the event, where tickets cost £5,999, was postponed with no further explanation. Insiders said the change was put in place solely to accommodate Meghan and Prince Harry should they wish to attend.

The source continued: “Due to their mini tour of Europe Meghan wouldn’t have been able to attend if awards went ahead on their original date in September. Talks about the evening were already happening before The Queen’s passing so no doubt things will have to be re-evaluated to make sure it’s as respectful as possible.”

[From The Sun]

Seems to me that any “whatever of the year awards” should probably go towards, you know, the end of the year, as opposed to a September event. What if someone has a late surge of success in the last quarter of the year? In any case, this is from the Sun so it’s likely a big pile of BS. These kinds of awards/events are not postponed just to ensure that one person can come. Besides, I smell a trap! Salt Island is trying to convince Meghan and Harry to come back so that they can keep abusing them and profiting from them.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Cover Images and Backgrid.

Photo agency Backgrid labeled these photos as “Jodie Turner Smith and husband Joshua Jackson squash breakup rumors!” Were there actually breakup rumors or was it just some rando on Twitter trying to make something happen? I feel like if Joshua and Jodie ever do have problems, we’ll probably know about it pretty quickly, because Jodie will tell us.

Anyway, Jodie and Joshua went out to dinner at Nobu last night and they look like they’re not going to the same place at all. It’s not that Joshua looks schlubby or anything, he just looks… I don’t know, weird?? The pants are awful but at least his hair and sneakers are cute. Meanwhile, Jodie looks like she’s coming from a fashion magazine photoshoot. What I love most about these photos is that Joshua opens the car door for his lady AND he holds her purse. I didn’t realize Jodie’s hair is so short these days – that’s close to a full buzzcut, and she’s dyed the stubble fuchsia.

I also saw this, which is perhaps the root of the “breakup rumors” – Page Six and Twitter randos pointed out that Joshua and Jodie weirdly do not follow each other on Instagram. Jodie is much more “online” than Joshua, who only updates his IG every few months. But it’s weird – you’d think they would follow each other.

Anyway, this was just an update! Joshua and Jodie are fine! They had a date night and left their daughter Janie with the babysitter, I guess.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

It should be said again and again: King Charles III and the whole palace operation proved to be utterly incompetent and tone-deaf in the days following Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The immediate focus was not on QEII, but on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Charles and Prince William were really feeling themselves as they launched a full assault on Harry and Meghan for daring to want to travel together to Balmoral. A source close to the new king said: “Charles told Harry that it wasn’t right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time. It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.” Not right or appropriate for Harry to travel with his wife and mother of his two children. Meghan “would not be welcome” because, as other palace insiders insisted, it was “wholly inappropriate” and Balmoral was for “family” only. And Meghan isn’t “family” to them.

That set the tone for everything that followed, with Charles and William’s aides once again briefing the media about all things Sussex, with all of the messiness about who was allowed to wear military uniforms and who wasn’t. The fact that Charles and his staff want everyone to know that they’re snubbing two little kids by publicly refusing to acknowledge their royal titles. The fact that Charles invited and then uninvited the Sussexes to a diplomatic mixer. And it just keeps going, because now King Charles’s aides are briefing the media that the king thinks there’s a “thaw” in relations.

Hopes of a thaw in the ‘cold war’ between The Firm and the Sussexes emerged last night after royal insiders revealed that King Charles saw ‘tremendous flickers of hope’ when he spoke to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Queen’s funeral – and even believes he might even be able to salvage the relationship with the duke and duchess.

The King’s conversations with his son and daughter-in-law at the ceremonies for the late monarch at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle left him feeling hopeful that he could mend relations with the Sussex after their acrimonious departure from the royal family.

An insider told The Telegraph: ‘It remains the case that the King loves both of his children. Over the last 16 days or so, there were tremendous flickers of hope. In terms of the future, there is hope of a cause for unity.’

Among the many challenges facing the King in his reign, including modernising Britain’s ancient monarchy, will be how to deal with the duke and duchess, who plunged The Firm into crisis after quitting public duties for a life free from royal obligations in California – from where they have made a string of damaging allegations against the institution.

[From The Daily Mail]

This is how Charles thinks he needs to rewrite the narrative which he set himself in the first ten days as king. Instead of actually focusing on his kingship, he played petty games and now he’s reaping all of the petty prizes. If anything, what the mourning period and funeral showed the Sussexes was that they were right to go, right to stay away and right to start the process of cutting ties from these awful people. As I’ve said before, the only “win” here for all parties is to stop the bleeding, which would mean William and Charles making a commitment to stop scapegoating and briefing against the Sussexes entirely. Which isn’t going to happen.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

I hate that I know so much of the backstory of Justin Bieber, Hailey Baldwin and Selena Gomez. Selena and Justin were off-and-on for so many years. Selena was Justin’s first serious boyfriend and Justin was Selena’s first everything. They were chaotic and dramatic and Justin dated a lot of different women whenever he and Selena broke up. In late 2017 and early 2018, Justin and Selena started hanging out again and many thought that they were back “on” for a moment. Then nothing happened – Justin seemed to distance himself from her and move on. He reconnected with Hailey Baldwin and they got engaged in July 2018, after “dating” for about a month (although Hailey and Justin had known each other for a lot longer than that).

Hailey and Justin got legally married later in 2018 and they’ve been loved up and “happy” ever since. It honestly seems like a somewhat healthy relationship for Justin, much healthier than his toxic on-and-off cycles with Selena – I often think Justin and Selena brought out the worst in each other. Selena, meanwhile, has blossomed professionally and her career has never been better, and she’s got all kinds of projects in the works. But there remains this beef between Hailey and Selena, and the fandoms argue about whether Hailey “stole” Justin from Selena. Having covered it at the time, I don’t think there was any overlap – Justin had moved on from Selena and he was (arguably) trying to break their toxic cycle for good. Anyway, all of that is being debated once again because Hailey appears on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week:

THIS WEDNESDAY 9/28 Hailey Bieber opens up about the public-generated controversy between her and her husband’s ex. Hailey makes it clear she wants to discuss this one time and one time only…on Call Her Daddy. pic.twitter.com/TXuc5WuXBg

— Call Her Daddy (@callherdaddy) September 27, 2022

Now Selena’s fans are mad that the pod refers to her as “Hailey’s husband’s ex” and that Hailey actually answers the question, it seems. Like… I think Hailey should probably avoid speaking about Selena too, it’s not a great look and Hailey does some shady sh-t online as well. That being said, Selena was still making ALBUMS about Justin and her feelings about him when he had been married to Hailey for a year. Selena was still talking about Justin and how she “hopes” that he hears all of the music she made about him and about them. Don’t tell me that Selena has moved on because she hasn’t. Her fans haven’t moved on either, which is why they climb all over Hailey over anything.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.

Well, the new Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales have made their first official visit to Wales now that they’ve secured the PoW bag. I wondered why their first trip wasn’t to Wales as soon as QEII passed away, mourning period or not. The mourning period didn’t keep other royals from traveling to Belfast, Manchester, etc. William and Kate’s first stop was a local RNLI Lifeboat Station in Anglesey, where they lived early in their marriage. They’ll also visit the Holyhead Marine and Cafe Bar and do a walkabout. Nothing strenuous, no wall-to-wall schedule.

As for fashion… Kate is wearing red for Wales. That is LK Bennett’s “Spencer” coat, which retails for £599. She bought it because of the name, right? Wearing a Spencer coat on the new Princess of Wales’s visit to Wales. Her staffers don’t know how to be subtle! Plus, this coat has THIRTEEN shiny gold buttons for the Princess of Buttons. Don’t forget that weird gold chain on the pockets too, my God.

As for actually becoming the PoW formally, plans are already being made to keep the investiture pretty simple:

The visit comes as Kensington Palace said there were no plans for Prince William to have an investiture “anything like his father had” as Prince of Wales.

A petition calling for the Prince of Wales title to be scrapped has gained more than 35,000 signatures. Following King Charles’ announcement that William would take on the title, there was delight for some but uncertainty from others, with one politician labelling it divisive.

The king’s investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969, held at Caernarfon Castle, was watched by a TV audience of millions around the world.

Kensington Palace said it currently had “no plans for anything like” the King’s investiture in 1969. It added: “Right now is about deepening trust with the people of Wales and representing the dynamic Wales that there is today. There are no plans for the investiture yet.”

[From BBC]

It’s still kind of remarkable to me that one of King Charles’s first acts was to hand the PoW titles to Will and Kate. I still think that was a mistake – it’s not something which needed to be decided right away, and it would have been much more diplomatic to perhaps wait and do some kind of listening tour through Wales? A lot of Welsh people simply want to see the title retired completely. Anyway, the investiture will probably happen after the coronation, and we still don’t have a date for that either.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

The royal tea in Katie Nicholl’s The New Royals is so lukewarm. It’s not that surprising – Nicholl made a name for herself in her early days as a de facto talking head on behalf of the Middletons. Nicholl would simply write whatever Kate, Carole and Pippa wanted her to write. Nicholl still keeps up with her Middleton connections, and I believe she also has sources within Kensington Palace’s staff operations too. All of which makes The New Royals very carefully written and, as I said, lukewarm. There’s also a lot of “the Queen thought this” and “the Queen didn’t understand that,” all from fussy old biddies who clutch their kerchiefs when a divorced woman comes into the room. Some highlights from the Daily Mail excerpt of The New Royals:

Kate hated Meghan on sight: There had been persistent rumours about tension between the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as Kate and William were then styled, from the earliest days of Harry’s relationship with Meghan. Harry had hoped that his sister- in-law, Kate, would show Meghan the way, that the two women would become friends. It seems, however, there was a coolness between them from the off – a ‘personality clash’ was how it was put to me by someone close to the Princess of Wales. Harry’s complaint was still more personal: that he didn’t truly have the endorsement he really craved from his brother and Kate, the ‘sister [he’d] always wanted’, as a source put it. William did have concerns, in fact – not least that his brother’s relationship with Meghan had progressed too quickly.

William “had reservations” about Meghan: ‘It’s probably a bit strong to say he didn’t like Meghan from the start, but William had reservations,’ confides one of the Prince’s oldest friends. ‘He was obviously happy for Harry but he was also cautious, as he always is about people getting close very quickly to his family.’

Queen Elizabeth hated Meghan’s white wedding gown: The wedding day was a great success, although the Queen had reservations about the pure white of Meghan’s Givenchy dress, designed by Clare Waight Keller. According to a source: ‘The Queen was surprised that Meghan wore pure white on her wedding day. Perhaps it’s a generational thing, but she believes if you’ve been married before, you wear off-white on your wedding day, which is what the Duchess of Cornwall did.’

The royal fast track: So anxious was the Queen to include her new daughter-in-law, in fact, that she put Meghan on a Royal ‘fast track’, granting her the patronages of the National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, which she had held herself for 45 years and 33 years respectively. It amounted to a very public endorsement. In March 2019, she elevated the Duchess still further, appointing her vice president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to work alongside Harry, who was already serving as its president.

Jealous Peggington: These were plum roles for the Sussexes, so significant they made William ‘slightly jealous’, according to one source. ‘[The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust job] was a role William had rather fancied for himself,’ said the insider.

Frogmore Cottage: When Harry and Meghan announced their wish to move out of Kensington Palace, the Queen offered them Frogmore Cottage in Windsor Great Park as their new home. This was not the suite of apartments at Windsor Castle they had hoped for. It was a generous gesture nonetheless, recalled Lady Elizabeth Anson, who died in 2020. ‘The cottage was a big deal,’ she said. ‘The Queen’s entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage. It is essentially her back yard, her solitude, and her privacy. She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said, ‘I hope they’ll respect it.’ ‘

[From The Daily Mail]

What’s funny about the “William had reservations” conversation is that William and Kate have always wanted to have it both ways – they want to say that they gave Meghan an honest-to-God “chance” and that Meghan ruined it and they also want credit for knowing immediately that Meghan wouldn’t “work out” as part of the family, therefore they were completely justified in treating her like sh-t from the word go. Pick one, it can’t be both. The “reservations” conversation is also about William’s racism and how he was likely the one telling Harry not to get serious about Meghan because of what their children would look like.

As for the stuff about the wedding gown… God knows. QEII’s generation was like that, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she had thoughts. It should be said that Camilla did NOT wear off-white to her second wedding though, she wore a crisp white dress and coat to the civil service, then she changed into a pale grey-blue and gold ensemble for the wedding service at Windsor Castle. When Nicholl gets details like that wrong, it makes you think, huh.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

As we discussed over the weekend, Vulture posted an interesting piece of gossip on Friday, when Don’t Worry Darling had already opened. Vulture’s anonymous sources claimed that some of the tabloid reporting about the production drama was true, especially about a falling out between Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde. There was a “blowout argument” and a “screaming match” between Pugh and Wilde in January 2021, and it was all about how “Olivia and Harry would just disappear.” Sources also claimed that the fallout between Pugh and Wilde was so bad that then-Warner Bros executive Toby Emmerich had to step in as mediator.

All of that felt “truthy” to me, especially the part about Warner Bros executives being well aware that this film was shambolic behind-the-scenes, which goes a long way towards explaining why executives signed off on Florence Pugh doing next to nothing to promote the film. As for the blowout argument, well… following Vulture’s dishy reporting, “40 crew members” issued a statement defending Olivia, saying that there was no screaming match or blowout anything between Wilde and any member of the crew or cast. Yeah, sure. Absolutely no one believes that. In LaineyGossip’s coverage of this saga, Sarah (from Cinesnark) discussed how HER sources actually back up Vulture’s reporting and then some (these are just highlights):

Here’s what I can tell you after talking to two on-set members of production, and one person with knowledge of the production back at the studio. There was, indeed, a “loud” disagreement between Pugh and Wilde on set late into production. And Wilde would, indeed, “disappear” from set, aligning with times when no one could locate Harry Styles. One person described Wilde as “unpresent”. One social media rumor has it that Pugh “directed” much of the film, but this is not true. A director does more than yell “action” and “cut”, a LOT of their work is preparatory.

But it is believed to be the major source of Pugh’s ire that Wilde would be “unpresent”, and Pugh, already stressed, would grow tired of waiting and ask that they just start filming without Wilde. Everyone has their pages, they know what scene they’re shooting, Libatique and the first assistant director would know the shots Wilde wants, so they would proceed without Wilde, who would then breeze in and “take over” without acknowledging Pugh keeping them on track. Chris Pine apparently backed Pugh every time she asked to simply start without Wilde. Reportedly, Pine is firmly Team Miss Flo, factor that into Phantom Spitgate however you may.

I have no sense that Pugh cared particularly about Wilde and Styles disappearing together, but she did care about staying on schedule and not wasting time, and Wilde was held as unprofessional by many people on set for her vanishing act and then never acknowledging those instances when Pugh’s insistence was the only reason the whole day wasn’t wasted. It wasn’t so much that anyone cared she was (allegedly) having an affair, it’s that the affair was apparently bleeding onto set and affecting everyone else’s workday. THAT was the problem.

I have to believe there is yet more fire behind all this smoke, because an actor like Pugh, on the rise and ambitious, wouldn’t, essentially, throw away a major release like Darling unless there was a BIG reason to do so. Having a shouting match on set hardly qualifies, that happens WAY more than the general public knows, and no one panics over it. But whatever worse thing may exist, no one is talking. The feeling is that this one got away from Wilde, and that maybe she’ll learn from the whole experience (and that maybe without the distraction of Harry Styles, she’ll be more focused next time), and that Pugh will be fine either way. One thing is crystal clear, EVERYONE liked Florence Pugh, and by the end of production, respected her for enduring an increasingly difficult relationship with her director to turn in a fine performance. As the studio flak made clear, Florence abandoned the film’s press, but she never abandoned the production.

[From LaineyGossip]

I think it’s interesting that sources acknowledge that there was a big, loud argument AND that Olivia would disappear with Harry in the middle of the work day but that stuff wasn’t THE big falling out between Pugh and Wilde. Whatever happened, it happened long before Shia LaBeouf dropped the receipts. Chronologically, Olivia told Shia “I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo” before Wilde and Pugh’s fallout, but Pugh likely heard that message when we all did, in August of this year. If that’s the way Wilde was speaking about Miss Flo before the production even began, I think we can safely say that Wilde was probably dripping with sanctimonious assholery every single day of that production.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.