Although today is full of promise, let’s not pretend that the stink of 2020, and the last few years, really, isn’t still wafting around. There has been a gossip bright spot so far in 2021 though – Lori Harvey, aka Turtle, and her Nugget, aka Michael B Jordan. Who seem to be telling us … Don’t cry fo…

The NY Times has a dumb nitpicking story about Joe and Dr. Jill Biden’s fitness equipment that I wanted to talk about. I saw a tweet that we’re now in the phase where the press is complaining about brown suits and dijon mustard again and I’m here for that. The Times repeatedly references Biden’s “regular Joe from Scranton” image as if owning a Peloton is not consistent with that. The dude was vice president for eight years and a career senator before that. He’s not some up-and-coming politician and that criticism is ridiculous. I guess I should expect that from the Times. The crux of the story is that the bike’s connected features, a camera, microphone and data sent to Peloton, makes it a security risk. So the Times wonders aloud what Joe and Jill will do. It’s impressive to me that they’re doing spin classes at 78 and 69. Those classes aren’t easy either, although some instructors are easier than others. (I choose Christine, Leanne or Irene when I want an easier workout. Hannah, Olivia and Alex are my go-tos.) Here’s part of that story, with more at the source.

When Mr. Biden was cloistered during the coronavirus surge this spring, The New York Times reported that he began each day “with a workout in an upstairs gym that contains a Peloton bike, weights and a treadmill.” The Biden team did not respond to requests for comment, but a person close to the president-elect said that Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, engage in regular morning negotiations over who gets to ride first.

But the Peloton tablets have built-in cameras and microphones that allow users to see and hear one another if they choose, and for Mr. Biden, therein lies the rub. The last thing the C.I.A. wants is the Russians and the Chinese peering or listening into the White House gymnasium. Last week, Popular Mechanics warned about the security risk under the headline “Why Joe Biden Can’t Bring His Peloton to the White House.”

The article prompted an explosion of chatter in Peloton world, but really, cybersecurity experts say, if Mr. Biden wants his bike, he can surely have it, though it might bear little resemblance to the off-the-assembly-line version after the Secret Service and the National Security Agency are finished with it. (There have been news reports that Michelle Obama has a modified Peloton, but her spokeswoman would not confirm them.)

Mr. Biden would not be the first occupant of the White House whose desire for electronics clashed with the cybersecurity needs of being president. President Trump flouted White House security protocols by calling old friends on his iPhone. President Barack Obama insisted on bringing his BlackBerry (remember BlackBerries?) to the White House, and later wanted to use an iPad, to much opprobrium at the time. Security experts found a way to make it happen.

[From The NY Times]

The Times also interviewed some Peloton owners who said that they’ve tried and failed to figure out Joe Biden’s username. You guys have heard me complain so often that Peloton has excellent classes but that they gouge on subscriptions for bike and treadmill owners ($12.99 if you use it alone, $36 if you have their equipment). Plus they charge exorbitant amounts for equipment. I have a much easier solution for Joe and Dr. Jill. All they need to do is get a standard spin bike from Schwinn or Keiser and then install the app on their Android TV. Issue solved and they don’t have to have a tech expert disassemble it and take out the camera and microphone. Plus when you use the app on your TV you’re not on the leaderboard and it’s easier on your neck. I have a used Schwinn I got from Play It Again Sports (I always say this forgive me for repeating myself). I put a TV table next to it where I keep three pound weights and a box of tissues. There’s no way in hell I’m going to pay nearly $2k for a bike. I’ve owned cars worth less than that. Plus Peloton is taking months to ship them to people. Joe and Dr. Jill should donate that bike to a frontline worker and get a non-connected one.

As an aside it’s probably true that Michelle Obama has a rigged Peloton. I’ve heard that she goes to Soul Cycle classes with her security detail. God I miss in-person spin classes. It will probably be at least another year before I go back to them though.

Photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram

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Tuesday was the Grifter Family’s last full day in the White House. By most accounts, Donald Trump has spent the bulk of the transition period in the White House Residence, watching TV and whining to anyone who will listen. I imagine all of his crotch critters were at the White House yesterday, trying to steal artwork, silverware or office supplies. We know for sure that Tiffany Trump was at the WH, and we know because Tiffany’s boyfriend, “Nigerian multi-millionaire Michael Boulos” proposed to her and they posed for their engagement photos at the White House.

Nigerian multi-millionaire Michael Boulos proposed to Tiffany Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House before presenting her with a massive diamond ring, sources told Page Six. Boulos, 23, popped the question to Tiffany, 27, after the couple flew in from Miami, where they had been spotted soaking up the winter sun over the past few weeks.

It’s unclear whether Boulos asked President Trump for his permission, but a source said that the fact they were at the White House for the proposal means it’s “highly likely” he did.

A White House source told Page Six: “The family is delighted.” Tiffanys’ mom — and the President’s second wife — Marla Maples posted her own message of congratulations to the couple on Instagram on Tuesday. She wrote: “Celebrating God’s endless blessing of love…May God’s blessings & love always light your path. Love you so much, mom.”

As we reported, the couple have been looking at property in Miami after spending time at the swanky Setai in South Beach.

[From Page Six]

If you are anything like me, you are probably thinking to yourself “I wonder if ‘Nigerian multi-millionaire Michael Boulos’ is some kind of money laundering scheme by the Trumps.” I have no idea but *something* is definitely fishy (it could just be Tiff, to be fair). I swear to God, I was trying to find out how long Tiffany has been with Boulos and Town & Country wrote it this way: “The pair hit it off as “friends, almost instantly,” before things turned romantic in late 2018. Despite reports that they met last summer at Lindsay Lohan’s club in Greece, Lohan Beach House Mykonos, our source says that’s not the case.” OH MY GOD. Can you imagine having to dispute the claim that you met your fiance at Lindsay Lohan’s cracked-out Mykonos club, which doesn’t even exist anymore?!!?

Anyway congrats to them or whatever. It will end in tears, recriminations and prison time, I have no doubt.

Photos courtesy of Tiffany’s Instagram.

Anna Wintour made sure to create a lot of stupid drama for no good reason. Soon after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election, Vogue got in touch with Team Kamala and invited her to appear on the February issue, which they would coordinate to come out just before the inauguration. Kamala and her team agreed, with some conditions. Kamala – Senator Harris, VP Harris – wanted to style herself and wear her own clothes, and her team wanted to be informed about which photo would make the cover. All of that was fine with the Vogue team and they selected the cover image you can see above, VP Harris in a powder blue suit in front of a soft gold background. Vogue and Team Kamala agreed, this would be the cover.

Then, at some point, Anna Wintour was like “not so fast,” and out of nowhere, she changed the cover images. Suddenly, the newsstand cover became the more informal shot of VP Harris in Chucks and slim-cut pants, looking too lowkey. As many pointed out, the Chucks photo was too informal, overly familiar in a disturbing way. The more presidential image (powder blue suit) was relegated to the “digital cover.” The whole thing was a catastrophe. Well, Anna Wintour is still eating sh-t about it, as she should be. Wintour decided to offer “a limited number of special edition #InaugurationDay issues, featuring Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” and the special edition Vogues will have the powder blue suit cover. What happened?

Vogue magazine is doing a U-turn and publishing a new cover with Kamala Harris following the furor over the vice president-elect’s cover. The fashion bible released a cover with the senator posing in her own casual clothes and Converse sneakers for its February issue. But fans griped that it was far from worthy of the fact she will be the first woman to hold the nation’s second-highest office.

Sources close to Harris then said her camp was “blindsided” by the cover after being told Vogue would use a photo of her wearing a Michael Kors powder blue suit in front of a gold background. The image was instead used for the digital cover. But on Tuesday, Vogue confirmed to Page Six that it would be publishing this photo as a fresh cover to commemorate Wednesday’s inauguration, saying in a statement: “In recognition of the enormous interest in the digital cover, and in celebration of this historic moment, we will be publishing a limited number of special edition inaugural issues.”

A source added it was a “gesture of goodwill combined with excitement about being able to publish this cover in time for this special day.”

Readers still took aim at Vogue after the announcement was made on Instagram, with one writing: “Don’t you mean ‘we are publishing the cover that should have been.’” Another added: “This is the edition I want to buy. Ms Kamala Harris looking like the powerful and dignified woman she is.”

[From Page Six]

Yeah, I still want the oral history of how the Kamala-approved cover was ever pushed aside in favor of the Chucks cover. Clearly, it was a very last minute thing, given that VP Harris and her team had already gotten a look at the powder blue suit cover and approved it. I’m positive that Anna Wintour screwed up, but I still want to know the hows and whys of what went into the f–k up. Anyway, Vogue offering us the newsstand cover we should have had from the beginning is too little too late.

Covers courtesy of Vogue.

I knew we would get a ton of follow-up stories about what went wrong in Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas’ now-over relationship, because we always get a ton of stories about Ben Affleck’s relationships. Remember the constant will they or won’t they when Ben and Jennifer Garner were breaking up and reconciling “for their kids?” It was the same with Ben and Lindsay Shookus, who got papped together in both LA and NY despite the fact that Ben swears he doesn’t do “pap walks.” Ben always wants to control the narrative but he doesn’t want to be famous, remember? These stories are absolutely coming from Ben’s PR people as they’re following the exactly playbook he always uses – leak similar-sounding sourced stories with slightly different wording, then add more detail in some outlets. It’s ridiculous and predictable. Here are most of the quotes I’ve found, although I’m sure there are more.

“Ben really wanted their relationship to work,” the source tells PEOPLE. “Ana has a great energy. Ben was always very happy when Ana was around. She likes to stay healthy and inspired Ben to keep staying healthy too.”

However, the pair’s relationship “was very complicated,” the source notes. “Ana is young and adventurous,” adds the source. “When she is not working, she wants to travel. She doesn’t want to settle down in Los Angeles. Ben needs to live in L.A. since his kids do.”

While Affleck “has been upset about the split,” the source says that [Ben] “is committed to focus on the happy things in his life.” – From People

Affleck, 48, and de Armas, 32, decided to go their separate ways and a source tells PEOPLE the split happened over the phone.

“They have had numerous discussions about their future and they decided together to break up,” another source tells PEOPLE. – From People

Page Six confirmed the split on Monday, with a source telling us the pair — who were together for almost a year — were in “different places” in their lives. Another source has further elaborated that the breakup came down to children. “He would not commit to having more kids,” said the insider. “She is in her 30s. It was a deal-breaker.”

Affleck, 48, has three children — Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and 8-year-old Samuel — with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner. De Armas, 32, does not have children.

Another source close to the couple explains, “Ben is not in a place to start a new family. Both he and Ana have three jobs lined up. His family has, and will continue, to be his focus.”

While we’re told the decision to split was mutual, pals think that the pair may not be done for good. “They could get back together,” said a source. “They are in love. People who know them believe it’s temporary.” – From Page Six

A source tells ET, “Ben and Ana have split up and Ben is single. They had little arguments and bickered like any couple but ultimately the relationship just wasn’t working in the way they both wanted it to anymore. This was a mutual decision.”

“They both have a lot of love and respect for each other, but it was time for them to move on,” the source continued. “At the end of the day he chose to be the dad he continues to want to be. Unfortunately they are in different places in their lives.” – From ET Online

“Both of them have completely full lives in a good way,” a source told E! News on Jan. 18. “There will always be that love.” – From E!

[From two stories on People, Page Six, ET Online and E!]

So the first news we heard was that it was Ana’s idea, but now it’s mutual and they might get back together. I do believe that they might get back together, but I believe the first story that it was Ana’s idea, technically. As I said yesterday Ben doesn’t break up with women, he sabotages relationships until they break up with him. For someone who hates being famous Ben really makes sure the different celebrity outlets have sourced quotes. This could have been solved with one leak to People Magazine with his side of the story. That’s what most celebrities do and those celebrities don’t do that on one hand and then bitch, for years, that they’re being talked about.

I don’t care about either of these people but it will be fun to watch them promote Deep Water in August. For all you can say about Ben though he does try to remain friendly with his exes. Narcissists usually do.

Oh and Ana de Armas’ new pageboy haircut is really cute. It suits her.

Photos credit: Backgrid and via YouTube

Dear Gossips, There’s really only one show that’s happening today, right? Let’s hope it’s a safe show. And that if there are any dramatics, they come from the entertainers – Lady Gaga’s vocals, Jennifer Lopez’s choreo, the synchronicity of the University of Delaware and Howard University Drumlines (…

Donald Trump is leaving the White House several hours before he would have been dragged out by his ankles. We haven’t discussed his big sendoff plans, which he had to organize himself, because no one – and I mean NO ONE – wanted to organize anything for him. He is very much a disgraced president, waddling off into the sunset after failing to win the popular vote twice and after being impeached twice. He incited an insurrection, empowered white supremacists, sexually harassed, abused and demeaned women and he’s also a fat, ugly, tiny-handed piece of sh-t.

Trump wanted a big military parade for his sendoff. He wanted a 21-gun salute, something which would have normally done for the death of a president or a military leader. Instead, Bone Spurs is probably going to get a poorly-attended, meek mini-parade. Mitch McConnell and other Congressional leaders, Republican and Democrat, chose to take up Joe Biden’s invitation to go to church for a morning mass… instead of attending the Bigly Bone Spurs Parade. Even Mike Pence refused to attend… because Pence is going to Biden’s inauguration. Reportedly, the Trumpers were telling invitees that they could bring up to five people. So… those are the bookends for the Trump era. It started with a poorly attended Struggle Inauguration and ends with a poorly attended Struggle Sendoff.

It’s also being said that Trump spent his last days in office growing more and more embittered, so much so that he barely even cared about his big shiny toys. The White House posted Trump’s “farewell address” on YouTube yesterday, one of the few sites which hasn’t banned Trump from posting anything. I didn’t watch it. I heard he said “China virus” and he apparently minimized his role in the insurrection. So here we are: the end of a fascist era, ending with a white supremacist whimper. Bye bye jackass.

Here’s Trump’s exit from the White House just minutes ago.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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One year ago, the first Covid-19 cases began appearing in America. We barely knew it at the time, and I still 100% believe that many of covid cases were misdiagnosed in January and February in the US. I still remember the stories about movie industry types convening at the Sundance Film Festival and coming back to LA with a mysterious, lingering flu which knocked them out for weeks/months. One year later, and we know of 400,000 Americans who have died from the pandemic which is still raging across North America and Europe. In the past year, Donald Trump never even thought to memorialize the dead. But Joe Biden and Kamala Harris wanted to spend the night before the inauguration remembering those who have passed.

There is hope that this will turn the page. After a year of this viral hellscape, we have several vaccines on the market or coming out shortly. The vaccine distribution has been an utter catastrophe and that won’t be fixed overnight. What will hopefully be fixed overnight is how we talk about the pandemic and how we expect our leaders to talk about public health and public safety. One of President Biden’s first acts will be a mask mandate on all federal property, and he’s already spoken to governors across the country, encouraging them to also put stronger mask mandates into place. There’s also a hope that the Biden-Harris administration will be able to fix the vaccine rollout and incentivize an even larger vaccine production by working in concert with drug companies.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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One of the things I didn’t even think to look forward to: covering First Lady fashion without worrying about the fascism and racism of the First Family. Over the years, I did talk, here and there, about what Melania Trump wore. But I hated it! It will be so nice to cover Dr. Jill Biden’s fashion. I always thought she dressed like a teacher, and that’s true, but she also genuinely has style.

Case in point: for the Bidens’ arrival in Washington yesterday afternoon, and their public event in the evening, Dr. Jill chose a spectacular ensemble. She wore this stunning Jonathan Cohen coat in a vibrant purple, with a velvet belt-tie. Cohen is an American designer, based in New York, and this is from his yet-to-be-shown Fall 2021 collection. Meaning, Dr. Jill’s stylist thought to ask some small, independent American designers if she could buy/borrow some pieces for this week. The mask is from Cohen too, and her clutch is by Tyler Ellis. Jimmy Choo pumps!

By all accounts, Dr. Jill will try to go back to teaching at a local community college, but I just think in-person school is having a rough time at the moment. Maybe she’ll go back to teaching in the fall semester. Which leaves Dr. Jill time to fix some stuff as First Lady. There are already big appeals being made to Dr. Jill – people are desperate for her to fix Jacqueline Kennedy’s Rose Garden. Melania Trump ripped out the Kennedy Rose Garden and replaced it with a dull, colorless, cemetery-looking muted garden. We were calling it Melania’s White Power garden.

Dr. Biden, please bring Jackie’s Rose Garden back. ???????

Sincerely, America. pic.twitter.com/IrkOFnMgZz

— Jenn ? (@GenXJenn3) January 18, 2021

I’m also including photos from the Bidens and the Harris-Emhoffs’ memorial to the 400,000 souls who have passed away from the coronavirus. (We will have a story coming up about that shortly.)

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

Donald Trump spent his last 24 hours in office not IN the office. He has spent the bulk of his “presidency” at golf courses and Mar-a-Lago, and even when he’s in the White House, he’s rarely spent time in the Oval Office. He prefers to work from what amounts to a TV room so he can keep up with what Fox News is saying about him. So pathetic. Anyway, it is from that TV room that I imagine he signed 143 pardons and commutations. Surprisingly, the biggest news is who Trump has NOT pardoned. No Rudy Giuliani, no Joe Exotic, no Ivanka, no Jared, no Ghislaine Maxwell. Still, Steve Bannon got a pardon:

President Trump has granted clemency to Stephen K. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was charged with defrauding political donors who supported building a border wall that Mr. Trump advocated, and Elliott Broidy, one of his top fund-raisers in 2016, among other people.

Mr. Bannon was indicted and arrested in August by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on charges related to the money raised to promote the construction of the wall long sought by Mr. Trump.

Mr. Broidy, a fund-raiser for the president, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.

The pardon for Mr. Bannon was described as a pre-emptive move that would effectively wipe away the charges against him, should he be convicted. It was particularly remarkable because he had been charged with a crime but had yet to stand trial. An overwhelming majority of pardons and commutations granted by presidents have been for those who were convicted and sentenced.

The president made the decision on Mr. Bannon after a day of frantic efforts to sway his thinking, including from Mr. Bannon himself.

The White House had planned to release the list of those granted clemency earlier on Tuesday, but the debate over Mr. Bannon was part of the delay, officials said.

By late afternoon on Tuesday, advisers believed they had kept a pardon for Mr. Bannon from happening. But by around 9 p.m., Mr. Trump had changed his mind once again. Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon spoke by phone during the day as the president was weighing the pardon, and Mr. Bannon’s allies tried to apply pressure to make it happen while his detractors pushed the president not to go ahead with it.

[From The NY Times]

While I am disgusted, I had also prepared myself for a lot worse. Bannon is currently facing federal charges for what amounts to conning Trump supporters for money for “the wall.” I imagine we’ll get additional bites at the Bannon apple, you know? Bannon got pardoned for all of the sh-t he’s done in the past five years – there are still current and future crimes, as always.

Trump also pardoned Lil’ Wayne, Bill Kapri/Kodak Black and Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit. Oh, and two former Republican congressmen: Rick Renzi of Arizona and Randall “Duke” Cunningham of California. Apparently, Trump’s lawyers finally convinced him that if he pre-emptively pardoned his children, he would have to describe the crimes which he thinks they’ve committed. LOL.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty and Backgrid.