About a month ago, I covered a story about wealthy patients of concierge medical services trying to pay to get one of the two approved vaccines. At the time I thought we would be further along in the vaccination process than we are now. While there’s a lot of hope now that the Biden administration is in power, the incompetent a-holes in the Trump administration left absolutely no vaccine surplus nor even a rudimentary distribution plan. States are scrambling to administer the vaccine to frontline workers and people at-risk, and availability varies wildly by area. Los Angeles and California are among the hardest hit, and vaccinations are understandably difficult to get. Enter all the rich, powerful and famous people who want to jump the line. Variety has a new article about the lengths some are going through to get vaccinated. While some celebrities, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford, seem to have waited in line like everyone else, others are traveling on private jets to get the shot and sharing news about private doctors willing to give vaccinations.

Beverly Hills-based Dr. Robert Huizenga confirmed to Variety that his practice has been offered in excess of $10,000 by individuals, including members of the entertainment industry, desperate to get vaccinated.
“We’ve been offered bribes. We see people taking planes to every location. We’ve seen people try to transiently get into the healthcare profession or on staff at nursing homes, so they qualify for an early vaccine,” said the physician, who has also appeared as an expert on the NBC weight loss competition show “The Biggest Loser…”

Managers, agents, producers and a few film directors have pivoted from their daily business to focus on helping clients and stars find vaccines for family members, insiders said. Some notable names are using their own shoe leather, not representatives, to seek out the vaccine.

Not all are content to navigate California’s byzantine vaccination process. Allen Shapiro, the 73-year-old former CEO of Golden Globes telecast producer Dick Clark Productions, was reported last week to have flown via private jet to Florida recently in search of the vaccine with friends. Sources tell Variety that Shapiro did fly private — but alone — to Miami. While some reports have decried this as an example of vaccine tourism, insiders said Shapiro owns property and conducts business in Florida.

Some Hollywood power players are aghast that people in the industry are using their connections as millions of healthcare workers, older citizens, teachers, and essential workers toil in line. As of January 15, reports citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that California has only administered 2,716 doses for every 100,000 residents.

Dr. Art Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at the NYU School of Medicine, said he has heard of hospital donors seeking early access to the vaccine, or about concierge doctors being asked to provide it early for their wealthy clients.

“It’s bad behavior. It should not be condoned. We should find ways to penalize it,” he said. “We’ve got 91-year-olds waiting, health care workers waiting. People who are wealthy can easily find ways to quarantine, mask, and stay isolated for another month or two, and more vaccine will become available.”

[From Variety]

The part that stuck out to me was the line about managers and agents working to get vaccines for their clients and their families. They’re making calls, using connections and trying to get deals for them, like they do for their careers. Only vaccinations should be reserved for people who work in healthcare, who are elderly or who have public-facing jobs and can’t afford to stay home. It’s infuriating that these rich a-holes think that they deserve to get vaccinated ahead of the people who serve them. However, there was a music industry executive, Irving Azoff, who was quoted as saying “I’m a 73-year-old cancer survivor. I recently had part of my intestine removed. Damn right I received the vaccine, and I’m glad I did. Everyone eligible should get vaccinated as soon as they can.” That is definitely understandable, I just hope he’s making contributions to healthcare organizations serving people in need.

I agree with the medical ethicist quoted at the end that these people are so privileged that they can easily quarantine a little longer. They probably have staff and friends they’re still hanging out with anyway. I see what the celebrities are doing on Instagram! Plus they can get tested every day if they want to! They should be penalized if they’re taking resources away from people who need them. No one is going to enforce that though, because that’s how the healthcare system works in our country. Those who can pay get the best care and people who can’t afford it have to fend for themselves.

Note that the celebrities featured here all waited their turn!

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I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. https://t.co/gBLRR0OeJc

— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) December 17, 2020

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if anybody needs some good news today @WillieNelson got his covid vaccine ??? pic.twitter.com/mIShGtswIA

— Margo Price (@MissMargoPrice) January 14, 2021

Photos credit: Kristine Wook, Steven Cornfield and Hakan Nural on Unsplash and via social media

It was announced back in June that Kristen Stewart had been cast to play Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s upcoming biopic Spencer. Pablo directed Natalie Portman in Jackie and if you’ve seen that film, you should know that this will likely be an unconventional story about a woman and a story that m…

I really enjoyed Emma Corrin’s performance as Lady Diana Spencer/Princess Diana in Season 4 of The Crown. I thought that the “Diana” character would be unplayable, just because Diana is so iconic and so KNOWN. But Emma found a way to do it through wigs, terrific accent work and head tilts. Was it a perfect Diana replica? No, but it wasn’t supposed to be.

Now that Emma worked out the puzzle, it’s time to enjoy other actresses playing Diana. Like, Kristen Stewart, the American lip-biter best known for the Twilight franchise. Kristen was cast in the film Spencer last year, and the film is about a very specific moment in time, in the early 1990s, as Diana and Charles’ marriage was irreparably broken. The production released this first image of Kristen-as-Diana. It looks… good? The head tilt! And really, the eyes. Kristen has those striking eyes. Facially, Diana and Kristen have a lot of similarities. But I’m still not sure Kristen will be able to do Diana’s voice at all.

This first photo marks the start of principal photography on Spencer. The director is Pablo Larrain, who directed Natalie Portman in her Oscar-nominated performance in Jackie (she played Jackie Kennedy). I had my doubts about Portman in that role too, but I really enjoyed Jackie and it was one of the better performances I’ve seen from Portman. Will Larrain work his magic with K-Stew? Or will this just a sucky off-brand version of The Crown?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first Archewell podcast came out just before New Year’s. It feels like that was months ago! January 2021 has been a whole-ass journey. Anyway, there was an expectation that Meghan and Harry would be releasing a second podcast soon enough, but they have not, at this time. I wonder again if M&H were a little bit surprised by how time-consuming it is to just produce one podcast? Plus, they’re like, doing interviews and featuring exclusive clips of celebrities and authors and sh-t. I’m sure that their first pod took hours and hours of labor. Anyway, at least one royal commentator is dreaming about who will be featured in the Sussexes’ next podcast. The dream is, apparently, for Meghan to speak to Vice President Kamala Harris. Um.

Kamala Harris may be a guest on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s podcast Archewell, according to a royal commentator. There has been speculation that the Duchess of Sussex may be wading into US politics, but she has so far stopped short of any directly partisan comments. While stepping down as a senior royal means she can express herself more politically, there are still limits, as she retains her Duchess title and HRH status ? although the latter should not be used commercially. During the US election, Meghan and Harry encouraged citizens to vote, while openly opposing “misinformation” and “hate” online, which many interpreted as being anti-Donald Trump comments.

Meghan chose not to congratulate Vice President Kamala Harris on her win in the election, although it is clear that the two women admire each other. In her interview with Gloria Steinem, Meghan strongly hinted at her support for Ms Harris, saying the “representation” of people of colour in politics “excited” her. Meanwhile, Ms Harris has made comments in admiration and solitary with the Duchess. When Ms Harris won the election with Joe Biden, popular friends of Meghan’s including Oprah Winfrey and Priyanka Chopra congratulated her, but Meghan did not do so ? publicly, at least.

However, Rosa Silverman wrote in the Telegraph that there may be plans for collaboration on the horizon, such as a podcast.

One source told her: “I think there’s a real feeling of solidarity between the two women.”

She added that Ms Harris is a serious politician and not usually one who chooses to rub shoulders with celebrities too often. The source said: “I don’t think she’s interested in popular game-playing,” but added that the opportunity to work with Meghan might be too good to pass up.

Ms Silverman suggested a podcast might be the answer. She wrote: “Why this could work: It would serve as a one-off collaboration to discuss and promote some shared aims and interests before Harris becomes too busy to enter into such enterprises with figures like Meghan.

[From The Daily Express]

I don’t see how it could or would happen, but I totally understand why royal commentators want it to happen. They want to attack Meghan for “getting political” and they also want to continue their weird campaign of assuming that Meghan is friends with all of the prominent Black people in America. It’s clear that VP Harris and Meghan are on each other’s radars and that will probably be enough for now. Don’t take this the wrong way and I don’t mean to insult Meghan and Harry but… I would hope that the Vice President of the United States has better things to do with her time than appear on the Archewell podcast.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, social media.

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are not currently together. And since their breakup was reported, there have been multiple sources speaking to multiple outlets about why they split, also sharing that there’s a chance they may get back together. The latest – according to Page Six earlier this week, a so…

Before the racial justice movement last year, Black models and actresses were already talking about the challenges they faced on film sets and photoshoots with makeup artists and hair stylists who were completely unprepared to style them. Those stories came out more and more last year though, to the point where I was just left… shocked. It’s been happening for decades, where makeup and hair stylists – professionals, and likely union workers – were completely sh-tty at their jobs when it involved styling Black women. Models of color spoke about how makeup artists simply never had makeup for anyone other than white women. Hair stylists in fashion and film never bothered to learn how to do hair for anyone other white women. So this story is about Monique Coleman, who starred as Taylor McKessie in High School Musical back in the day. The Taylor character was known for wearing a lot of headbands. The reason will break your heart.

Monique Coleman says her signature headband look in High School Musical was the solution to a bigger issue – inexperienced styling of a Black actor’s hair. The actress, 40, who played the role of Taylor McKessie in the Disney Channel films, told Insider that her character always wore statement headbands because stylists did her hair “very poorly.” A rep for Disney Channel did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

“We’ve grown a lot in this industry and we’ve grown a lot in representation and we’ve grown a lot in terms of understanding the needs of an African American actress,” Coleman said. She then revealed, “But the truth is, is that they had done my hair, and they had done it very poorly in the front.”

The High School Musical alum says she ended up suggesting to stylists that they “incorporate headbands into her character” and “just make that a part of who she is” because they didn’t have time to fix her hair in time for filming. Although Coleman had to hurdle the obstacle of advocating for better hairstyling, she was happy to be a role model for Black teens and children watching the movie.

“I’m really grateful to have been someone who was able to bring representation at a time where there wasn’t very much, and I’m so happy when I see this next generation of young artists and there just being so much more room for people of color,” she said.

More specifically, the actress shared that she was happy about how her character lived outside of stereotypes. “Taylor is such a dynamic character and the smartest person at school and all of that at a time where, often, Black girl characters tended to be the ones who had an attitude or to be sassy,” she said. “And I appreciated that that wasn’t why people loved Taylor. They loved her because she was smart and supportive.” Coleman added, “So knowing that this generation got to look up to her really is special for me.”

[From People]

I’m really aghast at how professionals stylists were allowed to be this awful at their jobs since the beginning of time. I mean, to get hired to work as a hair stylist on a big Disney Channel show with actors of all races and hair types, and you just completely abdicate a huge chunk of your job by not knowing how to do the hair of several actresses? WTF? But honestly, if the Disney Channel had seen it as a problem, they would have fixed it. They didn’t see it as a problem. And that’s the larger issue.

Screencaps from ‘High School Musical.’

The Duchess of Cambridge has done a handful events around Holocaust remembrance over the years, including a visit (with Prince William) to Berlin’s Holocaust memorial in 2017, and various meetings with Holocaust survivors. I don’t have a joke here or anything – Kate has behaved well at those events, and she honestly seems to enjoy speaking to the survivors she’s met over the years. I think she has a genuine interest in the World War II era of history. I wish she would do more around the Shoah, especially given the deep vein of anti-Semitism which is still pervasive in British society, and, on the other side, the real history of Britain taking in Jewish refugees before, during and after the war. Perhaps she was told that it’s “too political.”

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, and to mark the day, Kate did a Zoom call with Holocaust survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg. Again, I don’t have a joke here. Kate is mostly listening to their stories and asking a question here or there, or commenting about how young they were.

I feel like the one criticism which might possibly be made – and has been made before – is that Kate is too smiley and upbeat during somber remembrances and conversations about unspeakable tragedy. I’ll defend her there, because (again) I think she genuinely enjoys meeting with these older people and she seems to have lively conversations with them. I also think that the palace aides want Kate to have photo-ops with kids and do a lot of keen busy work with children, when she would probably prefer to work with seniors. Some people are like that. I also prefer to be around seniors rather than kids.

Screencaps courtesy of the KP video.

Dear Gossips, Last month, just before the holidays, Serene Charlene, Princess of Monaco, debuted a new haircut. Basically she shaved half her head. It was bold and wild, especially considering she’s a royal. If there ever was a hairstyle to represent having no f-cks to give, this would be it. Princ…

Allison Janney has a new movie coming out, Breaking News in Yuba County, on Feb 12. You can watch the trailer here. It looks batsh*t crazy, but like, in the best way possible and I cannot wait to see it. The cast is incredible and look like they are having a blast with their roles. Allison is also, of course, promoting the 8th season of Mom that is currently filming during COVID. She said she’s grateful to be able to film now, given so many other productions are still shut down. But they are taking every precaution including testing several times a week. Allison said she’s getting the mid-nose, swirl tests, rather than the “brain tickle,” and confessed she actually loves how they feel. The discussion turned to Q-Tips and Allison admitted she defies her doctor and goes for full penetration when it comes to ear Q-Tipping, simply because it feels so darn good.

On her germaphobe co-star whom she won’t name
Before COVID I had a scene partner I had to kiss. He was such a germaphobe he put Neosporin on his lips and asked me to put it on mine too before he would kiss me. I kind of unnerved me, but people are germaphobes.

She loves her mid-nose COVID tests and Q-tips in her ear
I really love the way it feels. It’s like a puppy getting scratched. It relaxes me.

There was an ear doctor [who] said ‘don’t put anything in your ear smaller than an elbow.’ I did not listen to him. I love the Q-tip in the ear.

Jimmy: I love it too. My ENT said ‘you’re going to put my kids through college.’ I have perforated my eardrum a number of times [doing that]. I’ll get ear infections out of it.

She keeps in touch with her West Wing costars
I love it. All of us are on an enormous text chain with each other. We text about everything. There’s a lot of abuse given on those text chains.

[From Jimmy Kimmel Live on YouTube]

For years I kept using Q-Tips for the very same reason. I remember the first time I heard my first-person horror story – a mom who had to run her young daughter to the emergency room in the middle of the night with a burst eardrum because she had no idea she was supposed to only keep the swap outside the ear. It horrified me. And yet, it still took me a decade to stop. My husband still uses. I am proud that I never swabbed my kids, they are and always have been swab free. It was odd getting used to a wet ear after the shower but I don’t even notice now. And my doctor confirmed my ears look fine, no buildup. But OMG do I miss the feeling. Watching my husband use a Q-Tip is like watching pr0n.

I am holding a tube of Neosporin in my hand and were I a germaphobe, like Allison’s costar, I think I would use it like lip balm. Many of the inactive ingredients can be found in lip balms as well. Neosporin’s whole schtick is that it prevents germs from getting in. It wouldn’t work, but I can see it acting as a placebo. But I also understand Allison seeing it as a commentary on the condition of her mouth. My favorite part, though, was the discussion about The West Wing text chain because I haven’t quite gotten over the WW. I love that Allison stays out of the put down battles because she recognizes Josh Malina, Dulé Hill and Bradley Whitford are merciless. Oh to be a reader on that chain.

I love, love, love Allison’s hair. She’s been sporting this cropped grey cut for a while and I thought it was for a role, but I guess this is her look now and she’s wearing a wig for Mom. It’s sharp. Speaking of Mom, I think it’s surviving post Anna Faris just fine. I really wish they would work on diversifying the cast, though. They just cannot seem to get that message.

Here’s Allison’s segment. I love all the dogs that wander in and out of frame during the interview.

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The timeline on the “Hilaria Baldwin is a fraud who lied about being Spanish” story is pretty interesting, actually, and it involved Amy Schumer, although we didn’t talk about Schumer at the time. The whole thing started when Schumer started clowning on Hilaria for always posing in lingerie, holding her babies and doing provocative yoga poses. This made Hilaria happy, because then she got to pretend that people were “attacking” her for being hot and for losing her pregnancy weight fast. Hilaria posted a video on her social media where she lamented just that – people being mean to her because she’s hot and flexible. The thing is, in the video, Hilaria had no trace of a Spanish accent. She sounded like any old bitchy, self-absorbed American woman (which is what she is). THAT led to Twitter peeps doing a deeper dive into “Hilaria” and her crazy accent work and her Spanish lies.

As the Hilaria/Hillary controversy picked up, Amy Schumer exited the conversation. She was wise to do so! And now Amy has chosen this moment to chat about all the sh-t that went down, and so help me, I enjoyed what she had to say.

Amy Schumer is sharing her thoughts on the Hilaria Baldwin heritage controversy. The 39-year-old comedian hilariously trolled Alec Baldwin’s wife over Instagram last month, just weeks before the internet started questioning Hilaria’s identity, background and accent. At the time, Schumer used a photo of the yoga instructor in her underwear (cuddling her 4-month-old son, Eduardo), for her own pseudo holiday card.

“Gene and I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season,” Schumer joked in the caption, referencing her own 1-year-old son, whom she shares with husband Chris Fischer. “Enjoy it with whatever family members are talking to you this year.”

Now, in an exclusive interview with ET’s Rachel Smith, Schumer explains why she ultimately deleted the post poking fun at Hilaria. She also reacts to all the recent backlash the mother of five has received over allegations that she’s exaggerated her connection to Spain.

“Oh my god, I really don’t even know what to say. I didn’t know that was going to happen, obviously,” Schumer said of the scandal. “I feel like it was so insane and entertaining that I think Hilaria is probably the only person who is happy about the insurrection in the Capitol, because it distracted [people] from that. She is amazing and I wish her and her family the best. And I hope she gets to visit Spain as much as she wants.”

Schumer told ET that when she originally reposted Hilaria’s pic as her own on Instagram, she “just thought it was funny” and had no idea that the Baldwins would be making headlines weeks later. “It’s a little insane to be in, like, lingerie with your baby. I just thought that was a little funny, and then I saw that she made a video and she seemed a little bit upset,” Schumer recalled. “Not at me, but about the comments she was getting. I was just like, ‘I don’t want to be mean,’ and she seemed like maybe it hurt her feelings, so I just took it down.”

“We were just playing with each other, and then the whole Spain thing came out,” she continued. “I just felt like everybody else watching it. Just like, ‘What is going on?’ I thought we were still kinda playing, so I wrote, ‘Hey, look, I love Spain too.’ But then it became this whole big thing and people were really upset so I just took it down [too].”

Schumer said that she quickly realized she wanted to take herself “out of the narrative.”

“Look, she’s a mom. She has a million and a half kids, and that’s really hard,” she joked. “So I just — I don’t want them to be going through a bad time. But also, you can’t just pretend you’re from Spain.”

[From Entertainment Tonight]

“I wish her and her family the best. And I hope she gets to visit Spain as much as she wants.” LOL. “I don’t want them to be going through a bad time. But also, you can’t just pretend you’re from Spain.” Yeah. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s not that people wish Bostonian Hillary Thomas ill, it’s just that she was f–king lying about being from Spain. For years. You can’t do that. It’s sketchy! I feel like Amy accidentally uncovered that someone she barely knows has serious mental health issues and she doesn’t know what else to say but “I hope she’s okay, but wow, this B is crazy.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.