Perhaps I’m wrong, but Kim Kardashian really stopped wearing major pieces of jewelry following the 2016 Paris robbery. The robbers stole the giant diamond ring given to her by Kanye, among other pieces of jewelry she had brought to Paris that trip. One of the lessons Kim took away from that robbery was to stop showing off her high-priced jewels in public. I remember Kanye offering to buy her a replacement diamond and Kim was not into it. I think she still obviously had some major pieces of jewelry, including her engagement ring from Kanye, but she rarely wore them in public post-2016. So… maybe Kanye raided Kim’s jewelry box ahead of the divorce??

Kanye West was trying to sell jewelry he had bought for Kim Kardashian just days before she filed for divorce, a source has claimed. The rapper knew his marriage to Kim, who filed for divorce last week, was over and didn’t want to be reminded of the past, the insider added.

“In the last two weeks, Kanye was attempting to sell jewelry he had purchased for Kim to at least two top jewelers,” the source told The Sun. “His friends knew it was over at that point. He really wanted to stay together but she was done. Kanye recently said, ‘I don’t want to be connected to the Kardashian brand anymore’ but he was so torn because he still very much loves Kim. Although he never ended up selling the jewelry he was talking about how he didn’t want to be reminded of the past.”

[From The Sun]

Even if I had been robbed at gunpoint and was too traumatized to wear my jewelry in public, I would still be incredibly pissed if my husband was trying to sell my jewelry behind my back. Those pieces were given as gifts! It would be one thing if that was part of their divorce settlement, that Kim would give back some of the gifts Kanye had gotten her. But to do it before she filed for divorce is so awful! God. Divorce him again! And, as always, Kim (or “sources close to Kardashian”) won’t shut up when People Magazine calls – there’s yet another story about how Kim is spending a lot of time with her family, and then the source added this:

The source adds that the SKIMS founder is feeling “disappointed” that she and West couldn’t make their marriage work.

“There is no drama between Kim and Kanye. Kim is mostly just disappointed that they couldn’t figure out how to stay married,” says the source. “But it takes two people to create a happy marriage. Kim has felt Kanye is not willing to do the hard work and compromise.”

[From People]

I don’t how many different ways Kim is going to say that she did her best and she really tried, but it wasn’t enough and Kanye wouldn’t try hard enough to make it work. But there you go. Jewelry-selling douche!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been going through a phase over the past few weeks where she’s doing the most to take credit for getting Covid-19 before it was “cool” and for being a mask-wearer before anyone else, if you don’t count half of Asia. Gwyneth has also talked a lot about the coronavirus in the context of her Goop pseudoscience, much to the consternation of actual public health officials. For years now, we’ve known about Gwyneth’s over-reliance on shamans, healers and non-medical doctors for all of her wellness and diet advice. So obviously, Gwyenth has so many stories about how Covid affected that which is most precious to her: her weight, and which starvation diet she pursued.

Gwyneth Paltrow knows the struggle of COVID-19 quarantine weight gain. While speaking with Dr. Will Cole on his Dear Media podcast, The Art of Being Well, the Goop founder, 48, revealed that she recently started struggling with her metabolism and subsequent weight gain.

“I’ve noticed over the last couple of years my metabolism has slowed down. I know a lot of that is perimenopause,” she explained. “I’m 48 years old and I know that women tend to lose up to 30% of their metabolic speed once we enter this phase of life — so I know some of it is that. I think maybe some of it is because I got COVID and my physician in New York said that was affecting a lot of his patients’ metabolisms as well,” Paltrow added. (She recently revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19 “early on” last year.)

Paltrow said her ability to “snap back” into shape has waned. “I could quickly eat really well for a couple of days and exercise a lot and [the weight] would all be gone. And that was not happening over the past year,” she said. Paltrow decided to turn to her favorite bone broth diet, as well as Dr. Cole’s Ketotarion diet and intermittent fasting. The combination of all three has already helped her lose weight.

“This has been incredible. I’ve lost 11 lbs. since I started … I gained a lot of weight over COVID,” she said. During the podcast, she also said that after only one week of her new diet plan, she already feels “amazing.”

[From People]

Instead of being grateful to survive a deadly pandemic, Gwyneth is bitching about gaining weight. Instead of keeping everything in context of the losses we’ve suffered – more than 500,000 Americans dead in the past year from Covid – Gwyneth just yammers about her latest diet cure. And honestly, that’s all this ever was for Gwyneth. Everything about Goop and Gwyneth’s “wellness” branding is just… repackaged Diet Culture and the normalization and monetization of disordered eating. I mean, I’ve gained weight over the past year too and I hate it, but we’ve literally survived a deadly pandemic. Every one of us knows someone who has died from this virus, and the thing that we’re not talking about enough is the collective grief and psychological trauma of the past year. But no, that’s not the kind of wellness Gwyneth wants to talk about.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

For the past two weeks, we keep hearing about the “ninety minute Oprah interview” with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and what questions Oprah will ask and what Meghan and Harry will say. It’s one of the biggest topics of gossip these days. Oprah went to the Sussexes’ home in Montecito last week, as everything was ramping up and getting crazy with the fakakta “one year review,” which Buckingham Palace was furiously throwing together at the last minute. Various British tabloids claimed that Oprah was mad that she interviewed H&M before the Queen’s formal announcement and the Sussexes’ clapback, “Service is universal.” But I think Oprah, Harry and Meghan all said what they wanted to say. And apparently, what they had to say was so good, the special has been expanded to a two-hour special? And Gayle King says that Oprah thinks it’s her best interview ever.

“Oprah says it’s the best interview she’s ever done” ?#HarryandMeghan? pic.twitter.com/4UaT9hK9Ai

— ArchieMegHaz (@ArchieMegHaz) February 26, 2021

Maybe Gayle misspoke – but no one has corrected her “two hour” claim, so I think it’s real. Maybe when Meghan and Harry said 90 minutes, they meant 90 minutes of actual interview, plus 30 minutes of commercials. Anyway, I love it. A big ol’ two hour special on a Sunday evening in prime time. They’re going to be trending on Twitter for DAYS. The royal reporters are going to have the biggest f–king meltdowns, my God. Also: I cannot WAIT for the teaser.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

What a major score for CBS and the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exclusives. Their Oprah Winfrey special with the Sussexes airs on March 7 and they also air James Corden, which means Carpool Karaoke is theirs too. Before we get to the Harry specifics though, let me just get this out of the way firs…

I was such a fan of the OG Law & Order: SVU series, before it went to hell with terrible stunt-casting, a boozy Sharon Stone and the exit of Christopher Meloni. Those years where Benson and Stabler – Mariska Hargitay and Meloni – were partners were the best years. They had great chemistry together, but their chemistry mirrored their off-screen partnership too, which was based on respect and friendship and being each other’s work-wife and work-husband. Their characters were never romantic and Meloni and Hargitay were never romantic. It was deeper than that! God, I still stan them so much. And now they’re back together for Law & Order: Organized Crime, premiering in April. I CANNOT WAIT. Bring back Ice-T! Meloni and Mariska cover the new issue of People, with a great dual interview:

How their friendship started: “It happened at the screen test,” Meloni tells PEOPLE of their initial meeting in this week’s cover story, explaining that they both “walked into the screen test, me telling her a story, and we get up onstage in front of all the suits, and we’re just so engaged.” Hargitay also felt an instant bond. “I walked in, saw him, and I went, ‘That guy. That’s the guy.’ It went deep, very fast. We both knew that it was something big,” she recalls. “I won’t say that I fully understood it, but I knew that meeting him was important and life-changing. My father, my husband, [Law & Order creator] Dick Wolf and Chris are the four pillar men in my life. And that happened early.”

Their close families: Meloni had a front-row seat as Hargitay found love with actor Peter Hermann, 53, whom she first met when he had a guest-starring role on SVU. The two have now been married for 16 years and are parents to August, 14, and Amaya and Andrew, both 9. As for Meloni, he was already married to his wife, artist Sherman Williams, 61, when SVU began. When the couple welcomed Sophia, now 19, in 2001 (they later had son Dante, 17), they asked Hargitay to be godmother.

Mariska on Chris’s family: “The birth of his first child and being privy to his amazing, solid relationship with his wife, before I had that for myself — I think that Chris and Sherman played a really big role for me, to see this really stable couple that loved each other,” Hargitay says. “And it made me feel even safer with him, as opposed to: ‘Great guy — but single.’ Or ‘Great guy — except for his romantic life.’ Instead, he’s this man who is as solid as a rock, and who is that rock in his relationship. And I got to lean on it when I needed to. It was like family.”

Working together again: “It was Pavlovian: Ring that bell, and you get right into Stabler and Benson,” says Meloni. “There was so much shorthand between us, which all goes back to the trust we have,” Hargitay adds. “He’s always made me feel like I could just jump off the ledge, the cliff, the bridge, and he would catch me, in so many ways, whether it was comedy or acting or friendship.” “It’s simple,” Meloni says. “We have each other’s back.”

[From People]

Inject this into my veins!! God I love them so much. To have that kind of trust and respect between coworkers/friends and then to be able to show it on screen, as a functional working relationship between a man and a woman who are not romantically involved. It’s great! And I am so looking forward to this show.

Also: there’s some secrecy about who else from the L&O cinematic universe might show up in this new thing. Maybe Mike Logan (Chris Noth) or Bobby Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio)!! No, probably not, but it would be great.

L&O dropped a teaser!

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A post shared by Law & Order: SVU (@nbcsvu)

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

This one’s for Nigel and Megan… who is missing Nigel so much. It’s been a year, and a f-ck of a year at that. I know you miss him, you will always miss him. That said, I do love how you remember him: haughty and judgy, with SUCH A GREAT NAME. Nigel! Nigel looks like he could throw some major shade, …

Frances McDormand has a new profile in the NY Times, conducted from the mysterious town where she lives in California with her husband of 36 years, Joel Coen. Joel and Frances have a son, Pedro, who is 26, and works in fashion in New York. I haven’t known much about her apart from her roles and that’s very deliberate. Frances told the Times’ Kyle Buchanan that she stepped away from the spotlight for ten years so that she can be believable in her roles, essentially. As Kaiser wrote back in January, Frances is considered one of the frontrunners for Best Actress, for her work in Nomadland. While I think she might win a Golden Globe for that on Sunday, Viola Davis may give her a run for her money at the Oscars. Frances has two Best Actress Oscars, for Fargo and Three Billboards, and she’s been nominated for Best Supporting Actress three times. Here’s some of what she told The Times, and you can read the full piece here.

She had married Coen not long after making her screen debut in the 1984 noir “Blood Simple,” which he directed with Ethan. Twelve years later, the Coen brothers would give McDormand her signature role, one that could only be played by a woman: Marge, the chirpy, pregnant police chief in “Fargo.”

That film made her famous, a condition that McDormand considered a fire to be stomped out: After hiring a publicist, she almost immediately instructed him to turn down most requests.

“I made a very conscious effort not to do press and publicity for 10 years in what other people would think would be a very dangerous moment in a female actor’s career, but it paid off for exactly the reasons I wanted it to,” she said. “It gave me a mystery back to who I was, and then in the roles I performed, I could take an audience to a place where someone who sold watches or perfume and magazines couldn’t.”

To her, “Nomadland” is the culmination of that effort to keep herself unspoiled in the public eye. “That’s why it works,” she said. “That’s why Chloé could bear to even think of doing this with me, because of what I’ve created for years not just as an actor, but in my personal life.”

[From The NY Times]

I didn’t know that Frances was doing that at the time, but it makes sense. She made prestige films where she convincingly played gritty characters and when she wasn’t working we didn’t see her. She’s captivating in Nomadland, which is sad and depressing but I couldn’t stop watching it. The filmmaker, Chloé Zhao, spent time in the traveling retirement community shown in the film. Supporting characters like Swankie, Linda May and Bob Wells, the YouTube personality who promotes van living as a retirement strategy, are all real people living that lifestyle. That’s why the film has the feel of a documentary. The movie is based on the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. I’ve read criticism that movie glosses over how dangerous and debilitating traveling gig jobs can be. It would have been a much different story if we would have seen Frances’ character, Fern, struggling with injuries and illness along with trying to come to terms with her past. It was rich in emotion and nostalgia while feeling pure and real. Frances is excellent at playing those type of characters who seem both vulnerable and incredibly resilient at the same time. Maybe she’s right that if she was in Nespresso commercials we wouldn’t feel the same way about her.

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photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty

One of the things which I will NEVER get behind is “making a movie or a series about something that just happened.” People were literally trying to put together a movie about Harvey Weinstein like two seconds after he was outed as a predator. Brexit was literally still happening and being adjudicated when a British company made a TV movie about Brexit Svengali Dominic Cummings starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Well, British channel Sky Atlantic has decided that what everyone needs is a “coronavirus drama” about Boris Johnson. They’ve cast Kenneth Branagh as BoJo and while I hate-respect the quality facial prosthetics they gave Branagh, this is CURSED.

Kenneth Branagh is unrecognizable as he transforms into Boris Johnson for new coronavirus drama “This Sceptred Isle.” The 60-year-old actor will play the British Prime Minister in the new Sky Atlantic drama. The five-part series will chart the events surrounding the Prime Minister, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic.

Kenneth’s casting as Bojo was first announced last month, and now the first look image of him as the PM shows his utter transformation into the 56-year-old politician. Kenneth has swapped his neatly trimmed brown hair for Boris’ trademark wild blonde locks and prosthetics appear to have been used to give him more of Bojo’s facial features.

The series will be directed by Michael Winterbottom, who will also co-write, while Tim Shipman, the political editor of The Sunday Times, will act as a consultant. Winterbottom has co-written “This Sceptred Isle” with Kieron Quirke, and will direct all five episodes. The five-part drama begins with Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, before recounting from the first coronavirus cases in the UK — through to Johnson falling ill with the virus, and the arrival of his son.

[From The NY Post]

Winterbottom is no Tory apologist, which makes this project sort of interesting. I wonder if that’s why Branagh signed on too – the promise that this will be heavily critical of many of the choices Boris Johnson made in 2019 and 2020. But, again, the sh-t is STILL happening. Boris Johnson is still prime minister. We’re still dealing with a deadly pandemic (although by the time this is released, hopefully we won’t be). Britain will feel the effects of Brexit (plus the pandemic) economically for years and years. My point is that it’s probably way too soon to try to review this catastrophe. Also: I kind of wonder if Sussexit will be mentioned?

Say what you will, but Kenneth Branagh is still a very handsome man. How little ego he has to transform himself into a clownshow like BoJo.

No, you’re not seeing things. That’s Kenneth Branagh as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the first day of filming This Sceptred Isle.

This Sky Original drama will be coming to your TVs in Autumn 2022… pic.twitter.com/WR1Ig4BVRU

— Sky TV (@skytv) February 25, 2021

Photos courtesy of Sky Atlantic, Avalon Red.

Dear Gossips, The Golden Globes are happening on Sunday – and these may be the first Golden Globes of Instagram. Of course while the show is still airing on conventional broadcast, the fashion moments will mostly happen on social media, and mostly Instagram, as nominees have been encouraged to stay …

This will shock everyone, I’m sure, but do you know that royal reporters are having some kind of meltdown as we speak? It’s true! Prince Harry appeared on James Corden’s late night show last night, in a pre-taped segment which was really funny, charming and, frankly, notable. As I covered, Harry talked about the toxicity of the British/royal media, how he’s still part of the royal family and he’ll always devote his life to public service, but he had to get the f–k out of that country to protect his own mental health and to protect his wife and child. Let’s watch it again!

So, yeah, the reactions from the British press were just as toxic as one would imagine. As it turns out, Harry calling the press “toxic” does not go over well in the British media hellscape. So they’re spending all morning screaming and crying.

royal commentators being wound up by actual royal Prince Harry explaining how toxic press coverage is

— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) February 26, 2021

There couldn’t be a starker contrast this morning than the Queen urging people to do their duty while Prince Harry, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, larks around in Hollywood. #royal

— Richard Eden (@richardaeden) February 26, 2021

https://t.co/ec8HNsKi51 What the hell is going on? How can Harry appear on a chat show and make a fool of himself like this. This is the silliest royal appearance since Its a Royal Knockout in 1987. He talks about serious issues in a ridiculously silly way. Demeaning. Really sad.

— Richard Fitzwilliams (@RFitzwilliams) February 26, 2021

https://t.co/ec8HNsKi51 What is “Haz” thinking of, appearing on this sort of show and making an idiot of himself? He reveals the Queen gave Archie a waffle maker for Xmas. Waffle is what he does. The script is puerile. Its nauseating to watch, all 17 mins of it.

— Richard Fitzwilliams (@RFitzwilliams) February 26, 2021

It keeps going on and on. There’s also a lot of commentary – lol – about how Harry is “invading his own privacy,” which for the millionth time, is not a thing. It’s also worth noting that all of the weird smugness about Harry ruining his exclusive with Oprah is pretty stupid too – the bulk of the Oprah interview is with Meghan. Harry will be there for only part of it. Oh, and I bet we get to see Archie too.

Here’s Camila Tominey’s reaction – her arguments were so absurd! Yes, Harry is giving HIS side of things, WTF? Did she expect him to argue on behalf of the racist a–holes who smeared him and his wife?

Don’t even have a joke for this one. That’s just ridiculously impressive. pic.twitter.com/4NAeMOAqb3

— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) February 26, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.