Every November, apart from last year, Jacek and I go on holiday to the same resort in the Dominican Republic to celebrate our wedding anniversary. And we always watch the Country Music Association Awards. Or I watch, and he’s on the laptop streaming a soccer game. One year ago though, as soon as Bro…

I haven’t been watching many TV shows filmed during the pandemic – I’ve mostly rewatched my old favorite TV shows, or I’ve been catching up on Netflix stuff which I missed because of lack of time or because of my interest in tennis. The one show I have been watching, a show which began filming in the middle of the pandemic in New York, is Prodigal Son. And let me tell you, they’ve barely addressed it. They addressed the lockdown briefly in the first episode of the season, and then the rest of the season has just been people wandering around maskless the entire time, with no references to Covid. Prodigal Son has also tried to incorporate a Black Lives Matter/institutional racism subplot and it’s so poorly done, my God. That being said, at least they’re trying to address racism and to their minor credit, they’re attempting some sort of “this is what white allyship looks like” thing.

I bring all of this up because Sarah Jessica Parker chatted with Vanity Fair about the new Sex and the City ten-episode series and what kind of stuff they’ll cover. SJP was vague on details, but she says they will do something with coronavirus. Nothing on race and racism though, big surprise. SATC was one of the whitest shows, my God.

Sarah Jessica Parker mentioned that she is excitedly awaiting the scripts showrunner Michael Patrick King is currently concocting with a writers room that’s otherwise made up entirely of women—many of whom are new additions to the franchise.

“It’s incredibly diverse in a really exciting way,” Parker said of the show’s new writers, who will infuse the series with new “life experience, political world views, and social world views.”

Though Parker is still in the dark about specific storylines that will run through the 10 half-hour episodes, she said that she and her costars are thrilled to be revisiting their beloved characters now that they are in their 50s.

“I think that Cynthia, Kristin, and I are all excited about the time that has passed,” said Parker. “You know, who are they in this world now? Have they adapted? What part have they played? Where have they fallen short as women, as friends, and how are they finding their way? Did they move with momentum? Are they like some people who are confused, threatened, nervous [by what’s happening in the world]? I’m so curious and excited to see how the writers imagine these women today.”

“What is their relationship to social media? What has changed?” Miranda and Charlotte, she noted, are both mothers of teenagers now: “What is their life like? For Carrie, who doesn’t have family beyond her friendships, where is she professionally? How have all of these political changes affected her work? Is she still writing a column? Has she written any more books? Or does she have a podcast? What does fashion mean to her now? How have the friendships changed or not changed, and has her social circle grown?”

Parker said that COVID-19 will “obviously be part of the storyline, because that’s the city [these characters] live in. And how has that changed relationships once friends disappear? I have great faith that the writers are going to examine it all.”

[From Vanity Fair]

Yeah, this piqued my curiosity because SATC’s appeal – or lack of appeal – was always that it was purely about frivolity, sex, relationships, fashion and friendship. Not politics, not racism, not global pandemics. Major world events (like 9/11) happened during SATC’s television run and those events were barely addressed on the show. Do we need to see Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte running around New York in masks and dining exclusively outdoors? Eh. Also, I’m getting the feeling that Samantha Jones is going to be written off the show in some bizarre f–king way, like they’ll have her turn MAGA, or maybe the character will have died from the coronavirus. How depressing.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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As of this writing, about 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. That’s a lot, and there’s reason to be happy about that fact alone. But then you have to understand how many people are in the world, and how many people are left to be vaccinated. President Biden has promised for a massive vaccination ramp up throughout the late winter and spring, and there’s every hope that by June/July, America will be in a pretty good place, vaccination-wise. But…we’re not there yet. Not even close. We’re still very far from normal and all of the vaccination talk has combined with the regular old “I won’t wear a mask because muh freedum” thing and that’s how we get these shocking scenes out of – where else – Florida.

The fact that the grocery store cashiers aren’t wearing masks… my God. Every grocery store I go into in Virginia has those plastic partitions between cashiers and customers, and every cashier is masked, and it’s the law that every customer needs a mask too. My area isn’t as rednecky as CB’s area, and I don’t see as many maskless people out and about in stores anymore. People follow the mask mandate around here, but we have a great Democratic governor who has taken this seriously from the very start. Florida has MAGA clown Ron DeSantis as its governor and it f–king shows.

There are some people saying that these people, the cashiers and the customers, should all be denied the vaccine. I mean… I actually agree with that in principle, I just don’t know how any of it would be or could be enforced.

As #Flordia fights community spread of COVID on a massive scale, this is a 15-second snapshot of a supermarket in Naples. Many employees and customers- even older ones- with no masks on inside. Store sign outside cites “medical exemptions,” we can’t ask questions. @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/rNUSOPLjeB

— Sam Brock (@SamBrockNBC) February 3, 2021

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

80s rap trio Salt N Pepa found themselves in a very public brouhaha recently. Spinderella, the third and often forgotten member of the group, took to Twitter (and later Clubhouse) to spill the tea about how she felt about being excluded from the Salt n Pepa biopic released on Lifetime January 23rd. The fact that they didn’t see a need to include Spin who was an integral part of the group’s sound in the biopic was like rubbing salt into the wound (no pun intended). Spinderella stated in several tweets that “when Salt n Pepa was building their legacy, which was rooted in empowering women,” that that same group would be responsible in disempowering her. Spinderella was a part of Salt n Pepa from 1987 – 2019. Spinderella wrote more about the fall out and you can read those tweets below.

Salt n Pepa decided to respond to the accusations three weeks later on an episode of The Real. I guess they felt that responding to Spinderella wasn’t worth their time until then. They claimed that they did not exclude Spinderella from the movie, that they reached out to her about a part in the film and that the film was based on Salt and Pepa’s time in college. Hmmkay. Below are more details via People:

“I reached out to Spinderella; I feel like this is very unfortunate,” James began. “We’ve come to a crossroads where we have decided to agree to disagree. I definitely am open and Pepa’s open. We’ve talked about it and our hearts are open, have always been open to Spinderella.”

James, 54, went on to explain that there is more to the story than people realize.

“As far as the public is concerned, I’m really happy about the people who know that they don’t know everything. There’s six sides to every story,” she said. “We just hope that we can come to some sort of resolution in the future. You never know. You never know what God is doing.”

Denton, 54, jumped in to note that she and James did reach out to Spinderella (née Deidra Roper) regarding a certain part of the biopic.

“I just wanted to add to that, but I do want to clear up, there is a part that when Spinderella did say we excluded her. That part, Salt and I did reach out to consult with the movie,” Denton said.

The hip hop star explained that the biopic was created to focus on “the friendship of Sandy and Cheryl back in college.”

“But yes, Spinderella joined us, a part of it. We will always acknowledge her contribution that she’s done with us. She will always be our sister,” Denton continued. “We love her, but we have always made sure that she had the opportunity and the platform. We always encourage her to be Spinderella and be supportive of her, so that is important.”

James then added, “Perception is not reality.”

[From People]

So the biopic was about when Salt n Pepa were in college huh? Sounds to me like they intentionally excluded Spinderella. If it wasn’t for Spin, the mixing of their songs which made them so popular would not have existed. Ignoring the entire existence of a third and very integral member of your group that helped solidify your popularity is like doing a limited series Sex and the City reboot without Samantha, but I digress. Why would Sandy and Cheryl focus their biopic on when THEY met in college and exclude DJ Spinderella from the development and production of the film? If you’d ask me that is some shady a*s sh*t. I have always felt Spinderella never got her due while in Salt n Pepa and we won’t talk about the inherent colorism surrounding Spinderella, who has always been pushed to the shadows (again no pun intended).

The other thing that bothers me about this saga is the fact that Salt n Pepa waited until being on a talk show to respond. They waited three weeks before broaching the subject and until they were on a talk show with a large viewership. That is gaslighting 101 folks. Why not call Spinderella or respond via Twitter? I can understand trying to avoid a show on social media but obviously Spinderella doesn’t have access to big platforms like The Real to address her grievances which is why she did so on Twitter and Clubhouse. Using The Real to respond makes me feel as if Sandy and Cheryl were behaving like two mean girls. To be honest Spinderella was my favorite member of that group. Spin’s style and class captured my imagination as a kid. I wanted to be like Spinderella. Anyhow, I support Spinderella in speaking her truth in this matter and I hope that all the tea is spilled. According to Salt (Cheryl) there are six sides to a story and in my opinion we have mostly heard Salt n Pepa’s side of this one. It is about time that Spinderella tells hers.

Back when Salt n’ Pepa was building our legacy, which is rooted in empowering women, I could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me.

— Spinderella (@Spindeezy) January 22, 2021

Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I learned a decision was made to move forward with a Lifetime biopic that wrongfully excluded me from every aspect of development and production…

— Spinderella (@Spindeezy) January 22, 2021

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Last night Lainey texted me about the Alex Rodriguez story and I jumped on it because I’m quite certain I am the only on Team LG who watches Southern Charm. Usually this is part where I’d express some shame and embarrassment about watching this trash but I will do no such thing. Climb into this garb…

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We’ve got some more fun stuff from Angelina Jolie, some of it involving her excellent March cover for British Vogue. The magazine has been releasing more photos from the shoot at Jolie’s LA home, including this great photo of Angelina and three of her kids, Vivienne, Knox and Zahara. Angelina also did an ‘In My Bag’ feature for the magazine:

The most important question is: what kind of chocolate is that? It didn’t look like Lindt or Ferrero Rocher. What is individually wrapped in gold foil? Godiva? I MUST KNOW! I also like how clean her purse was, I aspire to that. I have twenty crumpled receipts at the bottom of my purse. And mints. And a pink pen for some reason. Angelina also gave some quotes – new quotes, I believe – in support of her Guerlain contract. She name-checked Guerlain several times in her British Vogue piece (and again in this video), and now she says that Zahara is also into Guerlain:

“Guerlain is really a favorite of mine. Z [Zahara] and I share the perfume products, such as the lotion and the body wash. I love that she and I will remember each other by a smell. Especially as my first memory of Guerlain was the scent of my mother’s powder.”

[From The Daily Mail]

So Zahara is the one who uses her mom’s Guerlain products, just like Angelina used to grab her mom’s Guerlain products. *hums “The Circle of Life” and cries*

Last thing: Warner Bros will release Angelina’s new film, Those Who Wish Me Dead, on HBO Max in May. It’s supposed to be a lady-Western. Directed by Taylor Sheridan, who is a great director.

Photos and covers courtesy of British Vogue, Backgrid.

My working theory on Kim Kardashian and Kanye West is that she’s been done with him and their marriage for the better part of a year, probably longer. She’s thought long and hard about the best way to detach herself from him and her solution is playing out in front of us. I have no doubt that Kim and her team leaked the first stories about the separation and impending divorce as a way to force the moment to its crisis. I also have no doubt that Kim wants Kanye to be the one to file for divorce, that she doesn’t want to get hit with the charge of “abandoning a mentally ill man.” So that’s where we are. Kanye has apparently moved a lot of stuff out of the Calabasas home they bought together, including 500 pairs of sneakers. Kim went on a girls’ trip to Turks & Caicos to give Kanye the chance to move his sh-t out, and so that’s what he’s been doing this week while she was out of the country. Kim’s sources also told People Mag that at this point, Kim and Ye have no contact:

Kim Kardashian may legally still be married to Kanye West, but she’s already begun living her life on her own. A source tells PEOPLE that the couple, who married in 2014, now have minimal communication as they continue to move toward an official split.

“Kim and Kanye continue to live separate lives,” says the source. “They have no contact.”

After stopping marriage counseling with West last month, the source says Kardashian doesn’t seem bothered by the idea of raising their four children — daughters North, 7, and Chicago, 3, and sons Saint, 5, and Psalm, who turns 2 in May — on her own.

“Kim stays focused on the kids and work. She is very busy and seems happy,” says the source. When it comes to officially ending her marriage, the source says “she has a divorce plan in place and will file when she is ready.”

The source further adds that “her issues with Kanye are a big part of the final season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which premieres March 18, and that she will likely “file for divorce when the season has aired.”

[From People]

Yeah, I still feel like she’s waiting for Kanye to file first. The whole “she’ll file when the season airs” feels like an ultimatum to Kanye: file before me, or I will be the on to leave and you won’t like that. E! News’ sources make it sound like Kanye might actually do it too:

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality star has yet to file for divorce from estranged husband Kanye West, but, according to a source close to Kim, that’s a mere formality. The insider exclusively tells E! News Kim and Kanye have “are completely done and no longer speaking.” At this point, the source says, “She is trying to stay strong and move on with her life.”

Though many people are aware of Kim and Kanye’s rocky relationship status, the insider explains that Kim has yet to initiate formal proceedings because she “is still working out the logistics of announcing the divorce.” Nonetheless, the insider says their separation is “completely official in her mind.”

Likewise, a second source shares, “Kanye is also completely done with the marriage and is moving on. He doesn’t care what Kim’s priorities are with holding off on a divorce announcement,” the second source explains. “He will file before she’s ready if he has to. He wants the divorce just as much as Kim does.”

[From E! News]

If Kanye ends up filing for divorce in the next month or so, I think Kim will have played this perfectly. I know y’all won’t give her credit for anything, but she’s been really smart about this very narrow issue of how to leave him and how to minimize the public criticism of her actions. In my mind, she’s done the best she could to help Kanye and take care of him when he is manic, and she’s really tired of the fact that he doesn’t *want* to be a full partner in their marriage, or a full partner in raising their children. It is what it is.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, social media.

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For the past year, I’ve felt so sorry for Japanese government officials and Japanese Olympic Committee officials as they tried to understand the pandemic and what they should do about the summer Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to be held last summer – they obviously got pushed back, and the current Olympic gossip is that the Tokyo Olympics will probably be cancelled altogether, especially given that no one knows what the global vaccine rollout will look like by the summer. Against that setting, the Tokyo Olympics chief decided to go off-script and mention that he hates having meetings with women because they talk. I’m choosing to laugh.

Sexist remarks made by Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori have drawn international condemnation, in a further blow to organizers who face criticism for persisting in holding the event this summer despite rising COVID-19 infections and costs.

“I apologize and am remorseful for the remarks,” Mori told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday. He said he “withdraws” his comments as they were inappropriate and against the Olympic spirit. However, he said he has “no intention” to step down.

Mori, 83, on Wednesday said board meetings with a lot of women “take so much time,” in comments about a government initiative to increase representation of female directors. “Women have a strong sense of competition,” and that is why “everyone speaks” so much, he added.

The remark immediately caught domestic attention and many Japanese people vented their feelings on social media. His comments eclipsed the International Olympics Committee’s publication the same day of its action guidelines for sports federations. His remarks quickly made waves overseas, and were picked up in publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post and The Guardian.

“Definitely going to corner this guy at the breakfast buffet,” Hayley Wickenheiser, a Canadian IOC member, tweeted on Thursday.

“Yes, Mr. Mori, women can be concise. For example, to answer you, two words are sufficient: ‘Shut up’,” Nathalie Loiseau, a French politician currently serving as a Member of European Parliament, tweeted in French on Thursday.

Mori, a former prime minister, has a track record of making disparaging remark. In 2000, when recalling a 1969 election win, he said: “When I was greeting farmers from my car, they all went into their homes. I felt like I had AIDS.” As prime minister (2000-2001), his cabinet approval rating plummeted to 9% after poorly handling a fatal collision between a Japanese fishing vessel and a U.S. submarine.

[From Nikkei Asia]

Yes, the dude is wildly sexist and problematic and worse yet, he has no plans to resign. He just issued that faux apology – “takesies backsies, we good?” – and plans to carry on. I’d just like to point out that not only is the dude sexist as hell, he’s also just plain wrong. Most studies show that the more women are included at high levels, the more efficient an organization is. What happens when there are too few women in a meeting is that the men talk over the women and marginalize women and their ideas. When there are more women in a meeting, they gang up on sexist douches like Yoshiro Mori. And that’s why he’s big mad.

“Women have a strong sense of competition,” said Mori. “If one person raises their hand, others probably think, I need to say something too. That’s why everyone speaks.” …WHAT? https://t.co/R7VT32EvDO

— Eri Sugiura (@SugiuraEri) February 4, 2021

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Yesterday, we went over a story from a Portuguese actress named Lidia Franco about alleged “bad behavior” from Adam Driver on the set of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 2017. Franco was around 73 at the time. Franco alleged that Driver “assaulted” her with a chair. The interview occurred on a Port…

Democrats believe that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene not only represents a major threat to democracy, but that she’s also representative of the dark, fascist, anti-Semitic, violent path which too many Republicans want to willingly take. House Democrats issued an ultimatum to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy: strip MTG of her committee assignments or we will. The ultimatum came after a slew of awful information came out about MTG, including her threats of violence and harassment of survivors of school shootings, and her belief that wildfires were started by Jewish space lasers. Yesterday, Speaker Pelosi’s office issued this statement:

Speaker Pelosi’s office just sent out a press release referring to @gopleader as “McCarthy (Q-CA)” pic.twitter.com/I0Ijghe0R3

— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) February 3, 2021

Yes, that’s the Speaker of the House referring to McCarthy as a member of the QAnon Party, not the Republican Party. Aunt Nancy isn’t taking any more of your shenanigans, malarkey or bullsh-t. The Biden Era is a malarkey-free zone. So yes, Dems gave the ultimatum and Republicans whined and cried and made false equivalencies and did nothing about a violent fascist wingnut in their midst. No, not “nothing.” They gave the fascist a–hole a standing ovation:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) apologized for her past controversial remarks and embrace of the QAnon conspiracy theory during a heated closed-door House GOP conference meeting — and received a standing ovation at one point from a number of her colleagues.

Greene told her colleagues that she made a mistake by being curious about “Q” and said she told her children she learned a lesson about what to put on social media, according to two sources in the room. She also denied that she knew what Jewish space lasers were and defended her comments that past school shootings were staged by stating that she had personal experience with a school shooting.

She received a standing ovation from some members of the caucus at the conclusion of her remarks.

The House will vote Thursday on removing Greene from the House Budget and Education panels, where she was placed by Republicans. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has so far declined to take disciplinary actions against Greene.

[From The Hill]

Again, for those who disbelieve what has been happening right in front of them: people like Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene are not outliers who do not represent the Republican Party. This is not some kind of “flaw” in the GOP design. This is the modern GOP. This is who the Republicans have been for years now. Further proof: in this closed-door meeting for Republicans, House GOP apparently spent more time debating whether or not to punish Liz Cheney because she voted for impeachment! There’s also a poll of Republican voters and Marjorie Taylor Greene is “more popular” with them than Liz Cheney.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy defends Marjorie Taylor Greene:

“Denouncing Q-on, I don’t know if I say it right, I don’t even know what it is– any from the shootings, she said she knew nothing about lasers” pic.twitter.com/R49WoE9TvL

— The Recount (@therecount) February 4, 2021

A few details from a tense GOP meeting:
McCarthy apparently spent more time explaining why not to punish Marjorie Taylor Greene than defending Liz Cheney. Adam Kinzinger blasted him for it.
Cheney spoke, refused to apologize for her impeachment vote.https://t.co/7zd01pWl6l

— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) February 3, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.