In April 2021, Helen McCrory passed away after a lengthy cancer battle. Helen and her husband Damian Lewis didn’t talk about her cancer battle, and it felt like only close friends and family really knew how bad it was. It made Helen’s passing feel very sudden, and Damian seemed incredibly raw. He grieved her publicly in a statement, as did all of her coworkers and friends. Now, fourteen months later, Damian has moved on. He’s dating an American rocker! Alison Mosshart is 43 years old and the frontwoman for The Kills. They attended the Alchemist’s Feast a few weeks ago, and they stepped out in London again this week.

Damian Lewis and Alison Mosshart confirmed their romance as they cosied up together at private members’ club The House of KOKO’s summer party on Wednesday. The Homeland actor, 51, and the American rocker, 43, have now been pictured together four times in two weeks during a variety of high-profile outings.

Damian’s new romance comes 14 months after he was devastated by his beloved wife Helen McCrory’s death at the age of 52 after a secret battle with breast cancer. They had been married since 2007. Although he appears ready to embark on a new romance with Alison, Damian kept his wedding ring firmly on during their latest outing.

The new couple’s appearance comes as Alison’s mother told MailOnline she had given the relationship her seal of approval.

[From The Daily Mail]

I bet he probably still feels married to Helen, but I also think he’s trying to move on and he knows it’s going to be messy and painful and it is what it is. A lot of men are like this too – they have a hard time being alone, especially after being married for so long. It also seems more than possible that Damian and Alison have been friends for a long time, and she’s been there for him in a big way since Helen’s passing. Damian also has two teenagers at home, I wonder how he’s dealing with being a single parent and figuring out his dating life.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.

Keira Knightley looked lovely at the PFW Chanel show. [LaineyGossip]
Josh Holloway & Daniel Dae Kim could still get it, big time. [Seriously OMG]
An update on Travis Barker, he says he’s doing a lot better. [Dlisted]
Inside Beyonce’s British Vogue cover shoot. [OMG Blog]
Carlos Santana collapsed on stage from heat exhaustion, but he’s reportedly recovering well. Protect Carlos Santana! [Just Jared]
The Anarchists sounds like a docuseries about awful people. [Pajiba]
Diane Kruger’s style has changed so much since she became a mom. [Go Fug Yourself]
A review of Sonic’s new Sour Patch Kids Slush Float. [Gawker]
More legal messes are on the way for red states banning abortion. [Buzzfeed]
Monkeypox cases have doubled in NYC, oh god. [Towleroad]
Bella Thorne got “patriotic.” [Egotastic]
A young Highland Park woman was shot in the face. She tweeted about it and people’s responses were f–king terrible. [Jezebel]

Here are some photos from last night’s “gala screening” of Thor: Love and Thunder in London. What is the difference between a gala screening and a premiere? I do not know. Perhaps the difference is that Thor didn’t show up, and neither did the villain, played by Christian Bale. Chris Hemsworth and Bale were absent, but in their place, Taika Waititi walked the carpet with his girlfriend/fiance Rita Ora, plus his two leading ladies, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson.

Fashion notes: Natalie wore Dior, a flouncy red minidress which… don’t yell at me, but I think the look is way too “young” for her? She’s 41 years old, she’s a mother of two, and she’s dressed like a 20-year-old Instagram influencer at the MTV Awards. Plus, the dress itself is really bad, like an ill-fitting, stiff tutu… ugh. Now, I love the flower headpiece. Gorgeous. Her makeup is on point too.

Rita wore an Elie Saab dress which is one of the cheapest looks I’ve seen from that designer. Tessa wore a gold Oscar de la Renta dress which… I don’t like that either? It doesn’t fit her properly, it’s way too tight in the bust and you can tell that she’s really uncomfortable. Poorly styled with the jewelry/choker too, although I love her braids.

Bonus photos of Serena Williams, who is still in London for some reason, with her husband Alexis Ohanian. Rege-Jean Page was also at the screening.

Photos courtesy of Instar and Backgrid.

One consistent thing I’ve heard from British and European ex-pats in America is that they’re consistently awed by the sheer size of the United States. I think about that a lot with regards to Prince Harry and his somewhat limited experiences in the US, even before he moved to California permanently. Just the size of the US and how much there is to explore and see. I also think Harry must have lots of veteran friends all around America from his time in the British Army and from the Invictus Games too. I still wonder if Harry’s visit to Fort Worth, Texas last year was a visit to see some of his veteran bros, although that’s never been confirmed. Anyway, fun story: the Sussexes were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the Independence Day weekend.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been pictured alongside their son Archie celebrating the 4th of July parade in Wyoming. The family-of-four travelled from their Montecito home in Santa Barbara to Jackson Hole to enjoy the weekend alongside some friends.

In the snaps, posted by an onlooker on Facebook, Meghan can be seen wearing black jeans, a white top and a large straw fedora hat whilst attentively watching her son Archie, three, who is wearing an all-blue outfit and a red, white and blue cap. The youngster cheered on the passing parade whilst holding an American flag.

Prince Harry could be seen standing behind them, wearing a dark grey top and green cap.

“Funny story, we are in Jackson Hole WY at their 4th of July parade. The big tough guy told us twice that he was saving seats for a family…” the woman who took the pictures of the Sussexes wrote.

She later added: “I thought, well it must be the royal family (very sarcastic thinking!) A minute later Meghan Markle and Prince Harry walk up with little Archie! The big guy was the bodyguard. Meghan is gorgeous and Harry and Archie are cute.”

[From Hello]

Hello didn’t post the photos and I’ve only seen a handful of tweets with the pics. The pics feel massively intrusive, so I’m not going to post them here. Suffice to say, Meghan, Harry and Archie really did attend a parade in Jackson Hole. Who were they visiting? Do they have friends in the area? It’s also possible that if they have friends in the area, those friends are elite. I realized several years ago that Wyoming had become the new celebrity vacation hot-spot, a la Aspen, Miami or the Hamptons. Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner had their second wedding in Wyoming. Kanye West owns extensive property in Wyoming and many musical and cultural A-listers traveled to his Wyoming dome to chill out. I’m not saying that the Sussexes were hanging with Kanye (please, they were NOT). I’m saying that celebrities and wealthy elites have been flocking to Wyoming for several years now.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Here are more photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Wimbledon on Tuesday, which was Day 9 of the Championships (and the first time either of them showed up this year). I was actually a little bit wrong in yesterday’s post, and so I’ll correct myself. I assumed that the Future Future King and Queen would not deign to appear at Wimbledon if they weren’t watching from the Royal Box on Center Court. I was wrong! Actually, Kate has watched matches on the outer courts before, but William has not. He did on Tuesday though – after they watched Novak Djokovic beat Jannik Sinner in five brutal sets on Center Court, the Cambridges left the Royal Box to catch the last two sets of British player Cameron Norrie’s quarterfinal against David Goffin on Court 1. Norrie won! Norrie won while Bill and Cathy watched on in some seats designed for peasants.

The vibe was decidedly “off” between William and Kate, regardless of where they were seated. Kate seems more social at Wimbledon, she enjoys talking to the people around her and making weird faces, while William concentrates on the matches. It was the same on Tuesday. I’m also starting to think that William might be a Djokovic fan? They end up going to a lot of Djoker’s matches. I also think it’s notable that they skipped out on watching the women’s quarterfinal after Djokovic’s match. Kate and William are not all that supportive of women athletes, not even when the woman is Ons Jabeur, the first North African woman/Arab woman to ever make it to the Wimbledon semifinals.

As I said yesterday, Kate wore a sister-wife dress from Alessandra Rich, one of Kate’s new favorite designers for high-necked, peplum’d, button-covered, ruffled disasters. This Rich dress was actually a repeat – Kate wore this same look to a Jubbly event, The Big Lunch. The dress retails for £1,515, so don’t give Kate too much credit for “recycling a look” or whatever. That being said, Wimbledon is trying to be more sustainable these days. Ralph Lauren redesigned the ball kids’ uniforms using recycled materials. So Kate was theme-dressing, sort of.

Carole and Mike Middleton also went to Djokovic’s match on Center Court. For this match, the Middletons DID get into the Royal Box seats, unlike their appearance last week. When Kate saw her parents, she blew them a kiss. I wonder if there was some kind of deal worked out, where Carole and Mike got Royal Box seats if Kate was there. Hm.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid, Avalon Red.

In March 2021, a couple of YouTubers/pranksters named Josh Pieters and Archie Manners decided to pull a spectacular prank. They formed a production company and contacted several “royal commentators” to see if they wanted to give paid interviews about the Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah interview. The thing is, Josh and Archie asked the commentators to give on-the-record, on-camera interviews before the Oprah interview aired. The commentators were paid to pretend that they had just seen the interview and they were reacting to it. It was a mess. Ingrid Seward, Richard Fitzwilliams, Dickie Arbiter and Victoria Arbiter were all paid to do the interviews days before the Oprah interview aired, and then they were exposed by Archie and Josh. We covered it as it happened.

What was especially funny was that the commentators who mostly cash checks from British outlets were not affected in the least. Ingrid Seward still does commentary all the time on British television and print media. Richard Fitzwilliams barely missed a beat, and he still offers up his nonsensical opinions constantly. But Victoria Arbiter used to do a lot of work for American media. She was a CNN contributor and I think an ABC contributor too? She got a significant amount of work in the American media markets. But since the video came out, she apparently isn’t being hired and she’s thinking of suing!

The daughter of the Queen’s former press secretary is threatening to sue two pranksters who tricked her into commentating on Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before it aired. Victoria Arbiter was “cancelled” by CNN, the US television news channel, and suffered horrific online abuse at the hands of the so-called Sussex Squad, the internet army that supports Prince Harry and his wife. In the wake of the hoax, Ms Arbiter was branded a “Nazi Barbie”, “toxic racist liar” and “Apartheid Vicky” and CNN was urged by the Sussex Squad to sack her.

Ms Arbiter, 48, who lives in New York, is now considering legal action against the two London-based hoaxers in an attempt to restore her reputation. The prank, broadcast on YouTube, has cost Ms Arbiter, a single mother, tens of thousands of pounds in lost earnings over the past year. She believes she is the victim of fraudulent misrepresentation.

She said: “I just want to clear my name and for them to apologise and be accountable for what they did. They set out to have a laugh and make some money and in the process destroyed my life as I knew it. If it wasn’t for my family and friends I don’t know what the eventual outcome would have been.”

Ms Arbiter, who was paid a fee of £300 which was never cashed, was told she was taking part in a programme to be aired on ITV after the interview but that the programme makers – using the fake company name Beneath the Fold – needed a pre-record. Ms Arbiter says giving interviews in advance is recognised industry practice and she was merely trying to help out what she thought was a legitimate programme maker. Ms Arbiter said that in the aftermath the “onslaught had been relentless”, leaving her with dark thoughts and without any income.

“I have literally lost all of my work,” she said, “I was mocked mercilessly. I went to see a doctor who diagnosed me with acute anxiety and depression. I still have insomnia.”

Mr Manners, 29, who is also a magician, and Mr Pieters, 28, approached Ms Arbiter through her agent, asking her to comment on the Oprah interview, broadcast on March 7 2021. Ms Arbiter insists such pre-recorded interviews ahead of events are not uncommon. A few days [after the YouTube video came out], CNN, which paid her an annual retainer, cancelled an offer of a new contract. “I loved working for CNN. It was the pinnacle of my career,” said Ms Arbiter, who had worked for the channel for eight years. Other broadcasters also snubbed her.

“Archie and Josh sowed the seed and then willfully allowed the Sussex Squad to do its worst,” said Ms Arbiter, “The onslaught was relentless. I lost the ability to earn an income. We were still in the midst of a pandemic so there wasn’t a survival job to be had. I was too scared to leave my home. I lost a stone in weight and my eyelashes fell out. I still suffer from insomnia and at times the anxiety is so paralysing I’m unable to function.

Ms Arbiter has now been removed from the video after her lawyers at Kingsley Napley complained. But Ms Arbiter says the damage has already been done.

[From The Telegraph]

Yeah I watched the video again and they did edit out Apartheid Vicky, which is a shame. Everything Archie and Josh did was above-board where it counted – the commentators knew they were being paid to comment on an interview which had not aired. The commentators were not given a script. Josh and Archie simply asked questions and the commentators all went to their basest, most racist and most ludicrous instincts. As for Apartheid Vicky, imagine f–king up this badly and then whining about it publicly and exposing your own stupidity like this. “I couldn’t sleep, you don’t know how I suffer” – you lied about a pregnant woman. You marginalized a Black woman because you could, because you were drunk on your own toxic power. Imagine how Meghan felt when the media and the palace ganged up on her while she was pregnant and she was contemplating suicide? Victoria could have just chosen to… be fair. She could have chosen to tell the truth, or analyze the situation from a less anti-American, less racist perspective.

Screencaps courtesy of YouTube, CTV.

To mark her 75th birthday this summer, the Duchess of Cornwall decided to go all out, and make a real PR push. She was supposed to get the cover of British Vogue, but she got pushed off the cover by Beyonce (the magazine still included an in-depth interview). Camilla also agreed to guest-edit Country Life magazine… and to do an ITV documentary about that guest-editorship. These are the same people who cried, screamed and acted traumatized when the Duchess of Sussex guest-edited British Vogue. These were also the same people claiming that Harry and Meghan were selling their souls to Netflix by… making documentaries and docu-series.

Anyway, the cover of Country Life has come out, the one which Camilla guest-edited. She put herself on the cover (bold choice). But the real story is that she roped the Duchess of Cambridge into photographing her for the cover. Kate went to Ray Mill to photograph her husband’s stepmother. Ray Mill is the Wiltshire home Charles bought for Camilla while they were dating, and she’s maintained the residence as a place where she can go to get away from royal life and be with adult children and grandchildren. I’m surprised that Camilla invited Kate to Ray Mill, and that Kate agreed to photograph her. It’s all very interesting.

The Telegraph reports that Country Life editor Mark Hedges had a meeting with Camilla in Clarence House about the guest-editorship and cover, and Camilla was the one who suggested Kate to shoot the cover. Hedges told the paper: “She immediately replied, ‘Oh I’d quite like Catherine to do it.’ I spent the next three or four minutes desperately racking my brains trying to think of a professional photographer called Catherine. Then suddenly I grasped what she meant—one of the most amazing things that could happen. I found it one of the easier things to nod my head at.” Kate apparently made Camilla “feel relaxed” and Kate didn’t fuss about with Camilla’s hair and makeup, Kate just posed Camilla in her garden and that was that.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Backgrid, Country Life.

The Duchess of Cambridge is the royal patron of Wimbledon. The Duke of Kent retired from the position last year, after decades of trophy presentations and tennis-watching from the Royal Box. In recent years, Kate has made somewhat of an effort to come to Wimbledon in the first week. She’ll watch Roger Federer’s matches or support one of the British players. But not this year – today is Kate’s first appearance at Wimbledon and it’s Day 9 of the Championships! She didn’t even both to come out on Sunday, when the All-England Club did a lovely celebration for the club’s centenary. They invited past singles champions and Roger Federer made a surprise appearance, alongside Bjorn Borg, Stan Smith, Billie Jean King, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams and many more. Wimbledon’s royal patron didn’t bother showing up for that. It was really noticeable, her complete lack of effort.

So, Kate showed up today in the Royal Box, with her husband at her side. They’ll stay on Center Court (the only court with a Royal Box), which means they’re watching Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner, then maybe they’ll stick around for the women’s match, Ons Jabeur vs. Marie Bouzková. I wonder if they’ll come back tomorrow considering British player Cam Norrie plays his quarterfinal?

Fashion notes: Kate’s ugly dress is by Alessandra Rich. As I always say, Kate likes polka dots because she thinks they’re “fabric buttons.” I’m sure this dress is hideously overpriced. At first, I thought she wore a pair of Royal Collection earrings, but I think these are something else.

Kate turned heads in a vibrant blue polka-dot dress by one of her go-to labels, Alessandra Rich, as she arrived at #Wimbledon today https://t.co/3th6GLHqBz pic.twitter.com/v9NoAwGEM3

— Tatler (@Tatlermagazine) July 5, 2022

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.

Happy Independence Day! Hope everyone stays safe!

Adele was “devastated” about canceling her Las Vegas residency, which she still hasn’t rescheduled whatsoever. [Dlisted]
Priscilla Presley breaks down 15 iconic looks with Vogue. [OMG Blog]
Kristen Stewart had brown hair again, omg. [LaineyGossip]
Sarah Paulson & Holland Taylor had a date night in Santa Monica. [Just Jared]
Travis Barker gave everyone a health update. [Seriously OMG]
Reddit asks: what’s the dumbest mistake you’ve seen a coworker make? [Pajiba]
I love Max Mara’s Resort collection? [Go Fug Yourself]
This is the 25th anniversary of Radiohead’s OK Computer, gah. [Gawker]
This chia-seed TikTok trend is legit. [Buzzfeed]
Supreme Court justices want states to provide additional protection from nonviolent protesters at their private homes. [Towleroad]
Kim Kardashian tries the 1980s metallic-bikini trend. [Egotastic]
Ohio would not allow a 10-year-old rape victim to get an abortion. [Jezebel]

Weird how Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace all briefed the media openly about their finances and hiring practices, and in the wake of those disclosures, we’ve been getting endless stories about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Incredibly obvious! They’re not even hiding it – the Windsors aren’t hiding the fact that they’re STILL briefing about and against the Sussexes, and the British media isn’t hiding the fact that Harry and Meghan are the biggest stars of the British monarchy. Well done, everyone. The Telegaph’s Camilla Tominey had a big, dumb story about Harry and Meghan’s lack of visibility at the Jubbly a month ago. Yes, the palaces are still briefing about that. There’s some old news getting regurgitated, but there’s some new info here.

Harry & Meghan missed the Red Arrows flyover at Trooping the Colour: The Telegraph has learned that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in such a rush to leave last month’s Trooping the Colour ceremony in honour of the Queen’s 70 years on the throne that they missed the flypast altogether. As the aerial show featuring the Royal Air Force aerobatics team captivated the nation, the couple were already making their way back to Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home, to see their children Archie, three, and Lilibet, one. Although prevented from watching from the balcony, they could have joined their fellow “non-working” royals on the roof of St James’ Palace, but opted to go home instead.

They missed the Cousins Lunch: The swift exit meant the couple also avoided a family lunch with royal cousins, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, after watching the parade of pomp and pageantry together from the Major General’s Office overlooking Horse Guards. According to several sources, the cousins had planned to pay Harry and Meghan a visit at Frogmore later that day, but the “celebratory” lunch went on much longer than planned. As one insider put it: “It was quite boozy and went on well into the early evening, by which point there was no time to get to Windsor to see the Sussexes.”

The silence around the Bullying Inquiry: The decision [to not release the report] has raised serious questions about transparency at the publicly funded institution and its responsibility towards members of staff working closely with the Royal family. The unusual silence on either side about the issue has also led to speculation that Buckingham Palace and Sussexes, who work closely with their lawyers, are both moving to downplay the long-running dispute. Both sides are understood to be hopeful of drawing a line under the episode – after the Duke and Duchess met with the Queen at Windsor Castle as soon as they arrived in the UK on June 1.

The Sussexes saw the Queen upon their arrival: Contrary to reports they introduced her to Lilibet after the Trooping ceremony, they actually flew into Farnborough airport the day before and headed straight for Her Majesty’s private apartments. The couple had hoped to bring their own photographer to capture the first meeting between the sovereign, whose family nickname is Lilibet, and her great-granddaughter. However, the Queen personally intervened to prevent an official image being taken, apparently advising the couple that she had a bloodshot eye and did not want to feature in any pictures for public consumption. It came after aides expressed fears that publicising a private meeting could set a dangerous precedent, not least if any photographs were shared with US television networks or Netflix, with whom the couple have signed a multi-million dollar contract. The Duke is thought to have expressed a desire to get an official photograph of the two Lilibets together at some point in the future.

People were mad that Harry & Meghan walked at the Jubbly service: The Telegraph has also learned that the Sussexes’ decision to take a solo walk down the lengthy aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral for the service of thanksgiving on June 3 “raised eyebrows” behind palace walls – not least when they could have walked with Beatrice, Eugenie and their husbands, who were seated next to them in the pews. One of the reasons the couple were spotted leaving Clarence House that Friday morning was because they were in a security “pod” with the Duke of York’s daughters, having apparently expressed concerns about their level of protection throughout the whistlestop visit.

The Sussexes didn’t speak to the Cambridges: Clive Alderton, the Prince of Wales’ private secretary, was strategically seated at the end of the row behind the Sussexes – who had no contact with the Duke of Duchess of Cambridge during the hour-long service, nor throughout the weekend.

Lili’s birthday party: Although the wider family were invited to Lilibet’s first birthday party on the Saturday, only the Tindalls’ and Mr Phillips’ children attended, while their parents spent the afternoon at the Epsom Derby. According to one source: “There was a bit of reluctance among the royals to admit to having any involvement in Lilibet’s birthday party.”

[From The Telegraph]

There was some confusion about whether Harry & Meghan did go to the “cousins’ lunch” after Trooping, so I appreciate that there was some clarity about that. They went to Trooping, watched it with the cousins and then left. The cousins were then too drunk to go to Frogmore later on that Thursday. The next day, Meghan and Harry went to the Jubbly service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where everything was stage-managed down to the minute, and yet some of the royal houses are big mad that the Sussexes got their very own mini-procession, where all eyes were on them? Gee, I wonder who was mad about that? As for the stuff about the “reluctance” to go a baby’s birthday… the eagerness with which these people WANT to be seen snubbing little kids is actually appalling. This is not “family first” or “family values.” And the whole thing with wanting a photo with the Queen and Lilibet… Jesus. They’re falling all over each other to brag about exactly why they snubbed a baby.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.