Happy New Year and What Else for December 30, 2020

Our final post of 2020, this f-cksh-t of a year. Hopefully in 2021, when it’s our turn, we can all get the vaccine and go f-ckwild, not just buckwild, but f-ckwild. It’s my new word, you are welcome to use it, and I look forward to going f-ckwild with all of you…I think? My ma, the Chinese Squawking...

Show Your Work: In Bed With Bridgerton

It’s the show that everyone is bingeing and while there are so many wonderful, lovely things to enjoy about Bridgerton, as Sarah has documented in the use of colour and the costumes and textiles and the gossip and most of the hot sex, there is That Scene. And how they deal with it and DON’T deal wit...

Celebrity Social Media round-up for December 30, 2020

This is my last column of the year and I feel a sort of pressure to bring you some wonderful nonsense to cap off 2020, so thank you to Katie Rosman at The New York Times who spent 80 minutes with Hilaria (née Hillary) Baldwin talking about her roots. For the most part, Hil blames the media for misre...

Ranking the textiles and prints of Bridgerton

One of my favorite things about historical adaptations are the clothes and interior design. I have zero desire to cosplay the past, but I love an elaborate ball gown and a bold wallpaper print (I wallpapered my living room ceiling and never looked back). Bridgerton is not entirely grounded in realit...

A look back at Katie Holmes: Love in a Decade

Katie Holmes celebrated her 42nd birthday recently with Emilio Vitolo Jr making their relationship Instagram official. She’s ending 2020 and starting 2021 with love. Here they are out for a walk the other day, now a regular New York experience.  But was Emilio’s birthday post and “I Love You” the be...

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen in St Barts and arranging math competitions with friends

Every year this week, celebrities can be found in St Barts. Even this year. Paul McCartney is there, Amy Schumer is there, Lionel Richie was there with his kids, including Sofia, for Christmas, and John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are there with their family and friends, also to celebrate his birthday...

Michael B Jordan to direct Creed III while trying to dial down the sexiness

Fresh off being named People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2020, Michael B. Jordan is set to direct Creed III. His on-screen love interest in the franchise, Tessa Thompson, confirmed the new gig in an interview with MTV News where she couldn’t help but poke fun at MBJ’s illustrious new title. Although, sh...

Beyonce's Christmas list is a very exclusive insiders club

Dear Gossips, This is the last site intro of 2020. We are posting today and then we will be dark tomorrow and Friday for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  Let us end this wretched year with a blessing and how the Queen chooses to bless the people closest to her. We know what it means to be on Beyo...

Melania Trump never got any covers and What Else for December 29, 2020

As we get ever closer to the blessed day when the Trumps will leave the White House, some people are talking about how Melania Trump never got any fashion magazine covers. Well, sure, but if she did, would she be OK with being asked about the infamous “I don’t care do you” coat that she wore to visi...

Celebrity Social Media round-up for December 29, 2020

This year, many of us put holiday decorations up early. Many people keep the Christmas lights up until January (like Taylor Swift), but what is the protocol this year? Leave them up longer because there’s not much else going on or take them down earlier because they’ve already had their time to shin...

Bridgerton's use of colour is a signal of where characters are at emotionally in its scenes

If you missed previous Bridgerton installments, a review of the series is here and a ranking of the Bridgerton boys is here.Bridgerton is a very pretty show to look at, the overall art design rooted in history but with a touch of whimsy that brings out the romantic fantasy of the story. It’s also an...

Channing Tatum to star with Sandra Bullock in The Lost City of D and is one step closer to Jennifer Aniston

Let me set this up for you now that I’ve lured you here with that headline.  Back in October it was announced that Sandra Bullock is getting back in the rom-com game with an “action romance” movie called The Lost City of D. I’m hoping that the “D” stands for “Dick” but, probably, since she’s playing...

Baby Archie says Happy New Year on Harry and Meghan’s first podcast

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s podcast deal with Spotify for Archewell Audio was confirmed a couple of weeks ago. Sussex + Spotify launched today and in the first episode, Harry and Meghan ask dozens of special guests to record audio diaries with their thoughts on what they learned this year, how ...

DC Films will feature TWO Batman franchises with two different Batmen

Today in But Why Though? news, Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, told The New York Times that the new game plan for DC Films going forward will include TWO Batman franchises featuring two different Batmen. One will be Robert Pattinson, existing on one alternate Earth, and the other, yet to b...

Sylvie's Love starring Tessa Thompson will give you all the feels and squeals

Dear Gossips, I hit play on a new film last night just before dinner and ended up watching it twice, back-to-back. I mean, I’m always down for a romance but what is it about this time of year that makes romance extra appealing? And this year in particular? We’re seeing it with Bridgerton on Netflix ...

Prince Andrew's fragile ego documented in Daily Beast's Tom Sykes recap of his and Ghislaine Maxwell's 2020

We’re two days away from the end of 2020 so let’s check in with Prince Andrew and his friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged madam to Andrew’s other friend, the dead rapist pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.  Ghislaine has been in jail since her arrest back in July and she and her legal team have spent mon...

Shout-Outs for December 29, 2020

December 29, 2020 – Smutty Shout-Outs“Happy Birthday Kate! It’s been quite a year. Congratulations on winning the country lottery! We all could learn a lot from New Zealand. Here are some of your favorite celebrities being responsible and wearing masks (or not wearing masks, because you don’t have t...

BTS can do small and intimate as well as big and extra and What Else for December 28, 2020

I laughed at the Fug Girls mention of that “speckled notebook” and Gossip Girl. And also… did you ever use notebooks that looked like that? I totally would have if they’d sold them where I’m from. Then there are Bella Hadid’s pants which…I like the fit of them but the print, yes, leaves something to...

Celebrity Social Media round-up for December 28, 2020

I’m still immersed in the curious case of Hilaria Baldwin and one thing that went up right after I filed my story is this photo by Amy Schumer. Obviously she is taking the piss as she and Hilaria have been involved in a good-natured teasing of each other since Amy reposted a photo of Hilaria in her ...

Ranking the Bridgerton boys

Now that you’ve had time to spend with the ton over Christmas weekend (my review was posted last week, including my thoughts on That Scene – catch up on it here), we can get down to the important work of deciding which Bridgerton boy is the best Bridgerton boy. Not just the hottest Bridgerton boy or...

Hilaria Baldwin's fake accent drama is the exactly the kind of adrenaline rush we need

On December 21, a tweet dropped that has unleashed a level of f-ckery and chaos not seen since Dominic West wore his “f-cking around in Rome” clothes home to pose in front of paps by the bushes with his wife. It’s about Hilaria Baldwin, wife of epic blowhard Alec Baldwin.My first reaction was, at fi...

Leonardo DiCaprio celebrates 3 years with "young and simple" Camilla Morrone

Leonardo DiCaprio has been in the Boston area the last few weeks preceding Christmas shooting Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up with Jennifer Lawrence. He returned to LA just before Christmas though and was photographed with Camila Morrone at a dog park last Wednesday which is around the time I read a coup...

Review: WW84 starring Gal Gadot is simple-to-the-point-of-stupid and lacks moral nuance

Well, this is disappointing. After a terrific opening sequence in Themyscira, once again featuring Lilly Aspell as the young Diana, Wonder Woman 1984 just disintegrates. The problems all stem from the script, written by Patty Jenkins, who also directed, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callaham, though I’m not...

Harry and Meghan Christmas card features an illustration of family presumably to protect Archie

When I posted about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last Tuesday, December 22, I noted that in 2019, they released their Christmas card on December 23 through the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and wondered if they’d maintain the same schedule and rollout for 2020. They did indeed. I also wondered whethe...

Steven Yeun's Variety profile addresses his potential Oscar nomination for Minari

Dear Gossips, Maybe it’s all those holiday season feelings but I was emotional the other day when I saw Steven Yeun on the cover of the current issue of Variety. He is the star of the upcoming Minari, which won the grand jury and audience prizes at Sundance last year and is on almost every expert pr...

MI7 crew walking on eggshells and What Else for December 23, 2020

Reminder: we are dark tomorrow and Friday for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and will resume posting on Monday. HAPPY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAPPY HAPPY! It’s been over a week now since leaked audio of Tom Cruise losing it on the London set of Mission: Impossible 7 made headlines. Since then, f...

Celebrity Social Media round-up for December 23, 2020

Sex and the City season 7 is reportedly being considered by HBO Max. It’s a money-making franchise, so I don’t blame them. But is the quality there? The second movie was a disaster and Twitter has reconsidered the characters, with Carrie coming out as a nightmare human and friend and Miranda being a...

Review: Soul is a love letter to teachers that will probably bore your kids

Soul is Pixar’s latest existential film about the meaning of life, this time told from the almost-afterlife. Co-written and co-directed by Pixar impresario Pete Docter and Kemp Powers (who also adapted his own play for the screen in One Night in Miami), with a script assist from Mike Jones, Soul fol...

Dilireba and Victoria Song attend the Tencent Video Star Awards in China

The Tencent Video Star Awards happened in Nanjing, China earlier this week. If you’ve never heard of Tencent and you care about pop culture, you should start getting familiar. Tencent is a major multimedia Chinese conglomerate. It is the world’s biggest gaming company and has a stake in some of the ...

Coming 2 America trailer reminds us how FUNNY Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy were in Coming to America

One of the casualties of the 2020 movie season was Coming 2 America, which Paramount took off their release calendar, then sold to Amazon. Now, however, Coming 2 America is finally coming to the world as an Amazon release in March 2021. The first trailer has dropped and it’s a nostalgia-fest remindi...

A Brad Pitt year in review amid reports he will spend time with kids over Christmas

Brad Pitt was making headlines exactly a year ago this week for a few reasons. First, he was the frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood which he would go on to win. But also, he was seen at Jennifer Aniston’s holiday party, among the firs...

Review: News of the World is the dad movie of 2020

In News of the World, Tom Hanks stars as the extravagantly named Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a world-weary Civil War veteran who is atoning for his Confederate past by attempting to bring frontier communities together through the power of stories.  In 1870, Kidd crisscrosses Texas to read the news ...

Mariah Carey improvised taking luxury RV to Aspen and Intro for December 23, 2020

Dear Gossips, For a lot of people this year, the holidays are nothing like what we’re used to which is why, where we can, we are improvising, figuring out how to keep some traditions, only modified according to guidelines. In an ordinary year Jacek and I would be in Vancouver to spend Christmas with...

What Else for December 22, 2020

Would you have tried the McDonald’s Oreo Spam burger if it was available where you live? I would. I f-cking love Spam. Spam isn’t as big in China as it is in Korea (Koreans are obsessed with Spam) but in Hong Kong, where I half grew up, they serve it at diners slathered with some honey and it goes d...

Celebrity Social Media, December 22, 2020

Jennifer Lopez was on Radio Andy and said she and Alex have considered the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell approach (long-term commitment without the marriage certificate). This is surprising to me because as we know, Jennifer loves love and, in the past, that meant getting engaged and/or married. This tim...

Review: The Midnight Sky starring George Clooney and Felicity Jones hangs uneasily together, never quite finding an effective rhythm

George Clooney’s latest feature film is The Midnight Sky, an adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel Good Morning, Midnight. Clooney stars as Augustine Lofthouse, a scientist at an Arctic outpost when some cataclysmic event occurs which forces everyone to evacuate the facility. It is hinted at bein...

My Favourite Things of 2020: Food Edition!

It was a Friday morning in the middle of March when I took my first bizarre grocery trip of 2020. Even though we were yet to wear masks, the silence among us, the lack of eye contact, the absence of background music, and the lack of rice and beans and toilet paper (remember when that was the story?!...

Review: Shonda Rhimes’ Bridgerton is a lavish, visually stunning historical romance series

Bridgerton is Shonda Rhimes’ first production for Netflix, and it is a lavish, visually stunning historical romance series. Adapted from Julia Quinn’s series of novels depicting the lives and loves of the copious Bridgerton family in Regency England, the first season of Bridgerton tackles the first ...

The more repellent Hugh Grant thinks he is, the more we LOVE him

How does a man who so famously hates everything bring out the opposite emotion in us? Hugh Grant is delightful! Does he know how delightful he is? Does he know that the more he curmudgeons, the more joy he brings? Does he know that his self-loathing makes us love him more?  Here’s Hugh in London yes...

Awaiting Harry and Meghan's Christmas Card and how they'll release it

Prince Harry and Meghan Markled were papped in Beverly Hills on Sunday (Page Six has more photos) heading into an office building. It is not known specifically which business they were visiting. It was 27˚C/81˚F in Beverly Hills that day. Harry is dressed for it. Meghan, however, appears to be missi...

Would Harry and Meghan have received the same muted criticism Will and Kate have had over their repeated COVID sloppiness?

How lovely! The lights are so beautiful this time of year, aren’t they? I really, really love holiday lights. And in London especially, they really do know what they’re doing with the lights. I’ve been in London a couple of times during the holiday season and the Regent Street and Oxford Street ligh...

Joyce Echaquan's husband Carol Dube releases statement and Intro for December 22, 2020

Dear Gossips, Joyce Echaquan is the Atikamekw woman who died in a hospital in Quebec after live-streaming hospital staff verbally abusing her with racial slurs and generally not taking her condition seriously. Her death exposed once again the inequalities in all Canadian institutions, from education...

Read Allison P Davis piece on living with Karens

I will read anything that Allison P Davis produces but this piece, what’s presumably her final major piece of the year, is why she’s one of the best culture writers right now. It’s about how a Black family had to deal with a racist neighbour and covers every corner of the issue thoroughly and compas...

Celebrity Social Media round-up for December 21, 2020

What is the Jason Mantzoukas couple doing for the holidays? If you don’t remember, it was a Reddit thread about a husband who was catfishing his wife as her celebrity hall pass, Jason Mantzoukas. I think about them all the time. Will the summer of 2021 belong to Zola? The studio is holding out for a...

Will other media finally follow print publications and feature BTS more prominently to attract new audiences?

Did you do your assigned homework? On Friday, in What Else, I linked to CNN’s article about the BTS effect on the American magazine industry this year as assigned reading. If you read it then you know that the piece reported on the magazine sales of four publications that profiled BTS this year: Var...

Review - Small Axe: Education is about London's education system disenfranchising Black students and the support they get from their community

Education is the final installment in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology—which collectively won Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association—and like Lovers Rock, it is not based on a specific person, but on a specific event that occurred in the Afro-Caribbean community in London in t...

The Mandalorian reinforces that Star Wars cannot seem to exist without an inevitable Skywalker injection

SPOILERS From the beginning of The Mandalorian, when Mando hooked up with Baby Yoda, he was charged with returning the tyke to “his kind”, but “his kind” turned out not to be the mysterious species to which Baby Yoda belongs, but to the Jedi. In and of itself, this is not catastrophically bad storyt...

Emilio Vitolo Jr delivered Katie Holmes a birthday present Jamie Foxx never did

Katie Holmes’s birthday was last Friday, December 18. I always remember because it’s also Brad Pitt’s birthday and at one point I tried to Gossip Genie the two of them together. But then Emilio Vitolo Jr came along.  What did Emilio give Katie for her birthday, her first birthday with him? This: It’...

Ariana Grande engaged to Dalton Gomez

Dalton Gomez put a ring on it. Ariana Grande broke the news on Instagram yesterday with a collection of photos captioned “forever n then some.” Mixed in with the candid shots of her and her fiancé were some closeup looks at her new hardware. The ring is simple and extra at the same time. Very Ariana...

December 21, 2020 – Smutty Shout-Outs

Rebekah! I’m SO sorry I missed this last week, especially since it’s been such a f-ck of a year and you’ve had so much going on. As for the crying, girl, same. Same, same, same. So I’m thinking of you in your pyjamas while I’m in my pyjamas. You’re right though, we could all use some more Dolly Part...

Kristen Wiig's SNL reunion with Maya Rudolph reminded us they'll go down as all time greats

Dear Gossips,It was so good to see Maya Rudolph and Kate McKinnon join Kristen Wiig onstage for the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live this weekend. They’ll go down as all-time greats on the show for sure. Actually, they already are. The women of SNL have always held it down – and I’m not sure...

F-ckwits who claim religious freedoms for not wearing a mask and what else for december 18, 2020

Well now I really have to go watch some Nancy Meyers movies because reading about these f-ckwits at the Denny’s who refused to wear a mask, claiming civil rights and religious freedom is making me rage. The fact that they went in there with their phones recording the whole thing, like they’re thinki...

Celebrity Social Media, December 18, 2020

Alicia Silverstone is a long-time vegangelist and that’s great, it works for her. She wants it to work for other people, too. She often uses her son Bear as vegan poster child, telling US Weekly that he doesn’t get sick or get ear infections (and has never taken antibiotics). OK, but is it just beca...

My Favorite Things of 2020: Rom-Coms

Movie theaters were closed most of 2020, but this was not a year without movies. There have been many good and a few great movies this year, with more yet to come in the early months of 2021 to qualify for the adjusted awards season schedule. Eventually, I’ll get around to doing a proper top 10 for ...

Jennifer Garner's Iron Throne sweater is my vote for Outfit of the Week

What do you call these … spikes on Jennifer Garner’s sweater? To me they look like the blades on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Is that what you’re seeing too? That’s mostly what I’m seeing. The other part, because vaccines have been so much in the news right now, is needles. I am READY for m...

Boman Martinez-Reid was one of My Favourite Things of 2020

Here’s a name you need to know: Boman Martinez-Reid. For better or worse TikTok become even bigger in 2020. We were locked inside and looking for even more entertainment than usual, a distraction from our increasingly serious problems and anxieties which are being shared worldwide. One person provid...

Review: Tenet is a giant cartoon mallet bashing you over the head and not one recognizable human being occupies this pointless story

Tenet has finally arrived for on demand home viewing, which means it is finally time to review Tenet! Or maybe I have already reviewed Tenet! Maybe my review of Tenet has drifted back from the future, to materialize at just the right moment—now!—and I can close the loop of Tenet, a movie that has al...

Jennifer Lopez clashes a lot of prints as she visits dermatologist and it works for me

Jennifer Lopez stepped out yesterday or what the paps are calling a dermatologist appointment, apparently for the second day in a row. JLo recently launched a skincare line and as Maria wrote in her post about the products, of course we all want JLo’s skin – but it’s more than serum and moisturiser ...

Nancy Meyers Week by Rachel Handler has been one of the great highlights of the year and Intro for December 18, 2020

Dear Gossips,A few years ago at the London Film Festival, Meryl Streep had something to say about film critics – specifically how male film critics largely outnumber female film critics and the effect that disparity has on how films are received, both commercially and culturally. She was talking abo...

The Sun reports Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell are a couple on the heels of his on set rant leak

Back in October, when pap photos of Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell shooting Mission: Impossible 7 in Italy were released, I posted about their “vibration”. This is how director Christopher McQuarrie described their chemistry, that the energy between Tom and Hayley is a “vibration”. As I said at the ti...

What Else for December 17, 2020

Dua Lipa’s outfit is a LOT. And I was thinking this even before I got to see the entire thing. Because you have to see all of it to appreciate it. I do appreciate it. I appreciate the commitment to go head to toe, literally, not only in this print, but with all these elements. That said, I hate the ...

Show Your Work: Tom Cruise pulls a Tom Cruise

What else would we be talking about on this new episode of Show Your Work? Tom Cruise lost his sh-t at work, after all. He’s not the first Hollywood star to get caught on tape berating crew members and we discuss how Tom’s example compares to, say, Christian Bale. And whether or not the pandemic is ...

My Favorite Things of 2020: Piranesi

Like many people, I ended up reading more than usual this year. Sleep being especially hard to come by at certain points during the year, I found myself reading well into the night many times. The stand-out book for me this year is actually one of my recent reads, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It is h...

Celebrity Social Media, December 17, 2020

The first trailer for Justin Timberlake’s new movie Palmer has dropped and goodness gracious this looks bad, even for a Justin Timberlake movie. PEOPLE also posted the trailer… with no mention of the hand-holding photos that came out during filming. Checked the comments under his post and didn’t see...

PEOPLE releases more hilariously benign and super thirsty details about how Princess Kate is just like us

PEOPLE revealed its new cover story yesterday featuring Kate of House Cambridge, the “royal mom behind the scenes” with her friends and other sources telling the magazine what she’s really like: she’s “not a pushover” and she’s casual, no blowouts only ponytails, when she’s with her kids.  Today the...

Lily James and Sebastian Stan to play pop culture icons Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in upcoming Hulu series

Mick and Bianca Jagger, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Sonny and Cher, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, Kurt and Courtney… and Pam and Tommy.YES they belong on that list and I will fight about it all day: this was an iconic pairing in pop culture. The rock star and the sexpot who got married after...

Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman is a bitter, aching portrait of Black artists struggling against white capitalism

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is adapted from August Wilson’s play of the same name, written for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and directed by George C. Wolfe. It feels very much like a play, with a staginess to the setting, especially early on, and long, unbroken monologues that are impressive on ...

Nancy Meyers's daughter, Hallie Meyers-Shyer, takes issue with Rachel Handler's Vulture piece about her mother's films

We are going to go deep into some media/social media/film drama right now. Let’s get the players in place. It’s Nancy Meyers Week at Vulture (my bias right up front, love Vulture) and this specific piece written by Rachel Handler, “A Chaotic Taxonomy of the Nancy Meyers Universe” has upset Nancy’s d...

George Clooney tells Howard Stern he doesn't think Tom Cruise overreacted while popping off at Mission: Impossible 7 crew members

The biggest celebrity headline of the week so far has been the leaked audio of Tom Cruise popping off at crew members on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 in London for violating social distancing protocols. Yesterday in my post about the situation, I wrote that this is the best press Tom’s had in ye...

December 17, 2020 – Smutty Shout-Outs

A message from Kate to Ashley: “Happy Birthday Ashley! It's been such a crazy year but even more intense for you with the Oregon wildfires in your backyard and moving cross-country in a pandemic. In a year like 2020, some of the biggest turn-ons have been celebrities being responsible with masking a...

Intro for December 17, 2020

Dear Gossips, Megan Thee Stallion was interviewed by Mikael Wood in the LA Times this week to promote her album, Good News, and to recap the wild year she’s had. As we know, not all of 2020 has been good news for Megan. But with the lows, there were also some major highs. Her collaboration with Card...

What Else for December 16, 2020

Lana Del Rey is probably engaged to Clayton Johnson. Didn’t know they were dating but apparently it hasn’t been long. Clayton… used to be in a cover band? Who does he remind me of? I can’t quite put my finger on it. Or maybe it’s every dude I ever saw at a party when I was in university. (Dlisted) I...

Naomi Ackie to play Whitney Houston in Stella Meghi directed biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody

When I wrote back in April (April! It feels like three years ago, and even though that is desperately clichéd, it doesn’t make it any less true) that Stella Meghie had been tapped to direct the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, I also wrote, “ It’ll take an unknown to really, truly...

Princess Serene Charlene of Monaco debuts newly shaved hairstyle while handing out gifts with her kids

Holy sh-t. This might be the most exciting hairstyle of the year – mostly because of the person with the haircut. Check out Charlene Serenity, aka Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco with her kids, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, giving out gifts today. Normally the babies are the...

Gigi Hadid looks like she's doing a photoshoot while out in New York with her baby and sister Bella

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik’s daughter was born in September on Gigi’s family farm in Pennsylvania. I actually can’t remember Gigi being in New York City, where she has an apartment, since the pandemic started in North America. In November she was photographed shopping with her mother, Yolanda, in pub...

Celebrity Social Media, December 16, 2020

Do you think Viagra sales have gone up or down since quarantine? I would guess up in the spring/summer and down in the fall and as we go into winter. Up/down – get it!? I’m a child. Oh I love this game: which celebrity family would you join for the holidays for a short amount of time? The Hawn/Hudso...

Kate Cambridge's "friends" tell PEOPLE that she is “no pushover” and is "just like us" for latest cover story

Kate of House Cambridge covers the latest issue of PEOPLE, just in time for the Christmas break. As we’ve been discussing the last couple of weeks, the timing with Will and Kate has been interesting after The Crown controversy and their three day royal train tour that was…medium-received. Since then...

Netflix's Song Exploder, featuring Alicia Keys, REM, and Natalia Lafourcade, was one of my late 2020 favorites

I first fell in love with the voice of Hrishikesh Hirway when he was a guest on the Gilmore Guys podcast. I remember I was on the treadmill of my local YMCA (you know this was a while ago, because I was in a gym...exercising!) when I heard this man say he was Team Luke. Eventually I listened to many...

Vogue makes clear statement about their focus for the future with gorgeous Paloma Elsesser cover of Vogue Values 2021 issue

A year ago, 26 editors of Vogue’s international editors came together to launch the Vogue Values program, affirming their commitment to being more socially responsible, presenting people of all backgrounds in their publications, and having a stronger voice on current affairs and global issues. With ...

Tom Cruise loses his sh-t on Mission: Impossible 7 crew members for violating social distancing protocols in audio leaked to The Sun

Tom Cruise has been shooting Mission: Impossible 7 for months across Europe during the pandemic. Production has been paused a couple of times due to COVID complications and now they’re back in London, shooting interiors, and audio from set this week was leaked to The Sun of Tom losing his sh-t when ...

Intro for December 16, 2020

Dear Gossips,Jodie Turner-Smith was pictured for the first time this week in costume as Anne Boleyn for a new Channel 5 series in the UK. The show will focus on the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life before her execution as she fights for survival and the future of her daughter who would eventually ...

What Else for December 15, 2020

Timing is a funny thing. While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are about to show off their voice work on Spotify, Prince William and Kate are narrating a Christmas surprise. As someone who does voiceovers for a living, all the British people in this discussion need some training. (Cele|bitchy) Is the...

Celebrity Social Media, December 15, 2020

Every year the “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” debate happens, as predictable as a Hallmark movie plot. But if you want a Christmas movie that is genuinely not really viewed as a Christmas movie, my pick is About A Boy. It’s even centered around a popular holiday song.John Mayer posted a photo albu...

How well do you know TIME's Entertainer of the Year, BTS?

Last week, TIME, ahead of their reveal of the 2020 Person of the Year (Joe Biden and Kamala Harris), also announced their Athlete of the Year (LeBron James), Businessperson of the Year (Eric Yuan, Zoom), and the Entertainer of the Year. The TIME Entertainer of the Year for 2020 is the band that I’ve...

Jennifer Aniston sells her image and aspiration in Vital Proteins commercial

About a month ago, I wrote about Jennifer Aniston’s partnership with Vital Proteins and how it’s a good fit because she really does seem like someone who actually uses this product.A new commercial has dropped and it’s a day-in-the-life montage of her working out, reading scripts, doing yoga, medita...

My Favourite Things of 2020: Grand Army

I love a dark drama. I’ll always pick a show that will leave me feeling sad over something that will lift me up. This has no correlation to my personality, so I wonder what that says about me? One series that fed my desire for darkness this year was Netflix’s teen drama, Grand Army. The show follows...

Review: Promising Young Woman

Promising Young Woman is a gleaming, glittering cinematic candy hiding a poisonous center, something sweet on the surface with a vicious sting that will ruin your night for sure. Emerald Fennell, in her feature directorial debut, has lovingly crafted a delicious cinematic treat meant to make your st...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's latest development is new partnership with Spotify to produce podcasts

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are shutting down the year with all kinds of new developments. Yesterday we learned that Meghan’s invested in Clevr Blends and got an assist from Oprah to promote it. Today it was announced that House Sussex has partnered with Spotify to produce podcasts – not unlike t...

Taylor Swift discusses the easter eggs hidden in her new albums on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

I’ve now had a few days with Taylor Swift’s evermore. Like folklore before it, evermore has been well-received. Evenly received? Reviews are generally positive though perhaps slightly less effusive because the surprise factor isn’t quite as strong with this one. As Taylor has explained, evermore is ...

Intro for December 15, 2020

Dear Gossips, Many months ago, shortly after the start of the pandemic in the west, do you remember celebrity “Imagine”? Maybe you don’t want to. The impact did not match the intent. Anyway, Gal Gadot was one of the stars prominently featured in the “Imagine” video and she’s just released a differen...

What Else for December 14, 2020

Gah! They beat me to it! When I saw these photos of Yara Shahidi in a dark orange/tan leather dress with a red collar over knee-high black leather boots, I was thinking… Outfit of the Week? But also, I knew it wouldn’t hold until Friday and the Fug Girls are featuring it here – because a GREAT outfi...

Review: Steve McQueen’s Small Axe - Alex Wheatle is an intimate portrait of a Black artist as a young man

Alex Wheatle, the fourth installment of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, is, like Red, White and Blue before it, a biopic focused on the origin story of an accomplished Black man descended from Caribbean immigrants to the UK. In this case, the story centers on Alex Wheatle, an award-winning auth...

Celebrity Social Media, December 14, 2020

The Social Network was on TV this weekend, a movie I cannot not watch when I come across it, you know? A few observation: Armie Hammer was born to play those big WASP twins; Justin Timberlake as the annoying Sean Parker might have been genius on Fincher’s part. And Max Minghella is fine. Have a bunc...

First full trailer for Netflix's Bridgerton is the lavish, candy-coated confection we need

The full trailer for Bridgerton, Netflix’s big-budget adaptation of Julia Quinn’s popular series of romance novels, has dropped and it is the lavish, candy-coated confection we need at the end of this horrible year. I am unabashedly enthusiastic about Bridgerton—look at it! JUST LOOK AT IT!—and have...

Meghan Markle makes surprise appearance on CNN’s Heroes special as she's confirmed to be investor in start-up, Clevr Blends

Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance on CNN’s Heroes special this weekend to pay tribute to those who gave us hope during this dreadful year – those who sacrificed their wellness and safety to help patients, community leaders who came together to assist their neighbours, help other families, and...

The curious timing of Prince William and Catherine's public outing with their children following royal train tour PR fail

Prince William and Kate were at The Palladium in London the other night for a special pantomime performance in honour of frontline and essential workers for their service this year. They were joined by their three children, Big G, Charlotte, and Louis. Of course any time the young Cambridges are see...

Intro for December 14, 2020

Dear Gossips, A couple of weeks ago, The New York Times published its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (so far), a thoughtful, really well-produced package that I slowly savoured and, really, had no quarrel with. This week, The New York Times Magazine released its annual Great Perf...

FKA twigs sues ex Shia LaBeouf for sexual battery and emotional distress and reveals details about the abuse in the New York Times

On Friday The New York Times reported on FKA twigs’ lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf; she is accusing him of “sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress”. She and Carolyn Pho, who also dated Shia, were both interviewed by the NYT and provided details of the abuse they experienced durin...

What Else for December 11, 2020

I really love this shot of Frances McDormand on the January 2021 cover of Vogue. This outfit is so perfect for her, for the vibe, for Nomadland. Also really into how into the fashion she is because, yes, a woman can be many things – serious, artistic, respected…and care about her clothes. That coat ...

Duana Names: A Few Friday Updates!

Man, do I ever love a well-named baby. First of all, aunt-of-the-year from Name. Needed. Now keeps her title by providing this timely and super-sweet update:  Hi Duana! Your article was so helpful! Truly...you have no idea. The two first names you mentioned- Atlas and Hugo- were on their short list,...

My Favourite Things of 2020: STARZ's P-Valley

"Down in the valley where the girls get naked...” The song from P-Valley’s opening credits still gets stuck in my head and when it does it takes me right back to the magic of this show. The STARZ series premiered this summer and follows employees working at a The Pynk strip club in the fictional cit...

Review: Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Broadway musical The Prom is too weird to work

Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Prom is a strange artifact from another time. Though it debuted in 2016 and hit Broadway in 2018, it feels like flotsam from the Obama-era, something from a less contentious, less overtly divisive time when “NYC Broadway liberals” versus “sma...

Sasha Finds: Naked Body Balm

It’s that time of the year where my skin literally wants to run away from itself, it’s a dry, gross mess. Now I’m sure a lot of you probably have your favorite body moisturizers, but on the off chance you don’t, allow me to introduce you to a spankin’ new product: Naked Body Balm. Ooofff this stuff ...

Celebrity Social Media, December 11, 2020

Hilary Duff’s daughter Banks is my outfit of the week: plaid pants with the floral cardigan and silver boots. Very 90s.Seth Rogen has become an internet Zaddy (even though he’s not a dad) because he’s unproblematic, has a wholesome hobby, and can pull off a beard with ease.It’s a testament to Taylor...

Rachel McAdams will return as Doctor Love Interest in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Tatiana Maslany is playing She-hulk after all

I’ve been covering the info dump from yesterday Disney Investor Day, where they bragged about topping 86 million subscribers in 13 months, and announced a bunch of new theatrical and streaming stuff to roll out over the next few years. As you’ve seen already today there’s so much to unpack, I-resent...

Cardi B says she always wants to improve her craft as she accepts Billboard’s Woman of the Year Award

Billboard doesn’t always get it right when it comes to Woman of the Year, in my opinion. Giving it to Selena Gomez in 2017, Madonna in 2016, and Katy Perry in 2012 were a few of their serious misses. Those were not marquee years for those artists, and although some people also thought Cardi B wasn’t...

Outfit of the Week: Chrissy Teigen's purple velvet loungewear

A few days ago when Cher stepped out in London in an amazing black and white jacket with a matching beret, I wondered whether or not I’d be able to find any good photos for the Outfit of the Week and Chrissy Teigen came through!And this is an outfit that’s basically a whole mood for the year.  We’ve...

Marvel releases first look at The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki

It will NEVER stop coming! Marvel will keep making sh-t until they are the ONLY people left in Hollywood to make ANYTHING, EVER! It does kind of feel like that, doesn’t it? All that will survive at the end of the world are cockroaches and Marvel movies. Feast your eyeballs on two more trailers for e...

Taylor Swift's new album, evermore, received with warm reception and "willow" music video is an immediate connection to "cardigan"

Taylor Swift’s ninth studio album, evermore, a companion to folklore, has now been released and is receiving a warm reception, just like its predecessor. I’ve only given it one pass start to finish, and it usually takes me at least a couple to get a hold of how I feel about new music but I do have s...

First look at sunny and cute newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel

Among the never-ending Marvel news from yesterday is a teaser for Ms. Marvel, the Disney+ series featuring Kamala Khan. We learned a couple months ago that newcomer Iman Vellani will play Kamala, and now we can see snippets of her in action. It isn’t enough to judge the whole series by—this is not a...

Patty Jenkins to direct Star Wars spin-off titled Rogue Squadron for Lucasfilm

Among all the news coming out of the Disney investor day, one big hit is that Patty Jenkins will be directing a Star Wars spin-off titled Rogue Squadron for Lucasfilm, making her the first woman to head up a Star Wars film. She shot an introduction video for it, explaining she’s always wanted to mak...

Intro for December 11, 2020

Dear Gossips, Before I went to bed last night, I was considering several content options for this space. There was so much information dropped last night for Disney Investor Day (Sarah is covering the various Marvel and Star Wars updates) and I can always write about BTS (that’s coming later) and Ti...

December 11, 2020 – Smutty Shout-Outs

Jennifer Scott and her friends from the Roncesvalles Holiday Cookie Exchange are participating in the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre DIY fundraising challenge. Jennifer is doing this to honour her sister, Julie, her father, Herb, and her mother-in-law Pat, all of whom are desperately missed. Pat wa...

What Else for December 10, 2020

Ana de Armas went shopping in a pair of paisley print pants and while I’m all over printed pants, printed anything actually, and clashing prints too… I’ve actually never been fond of paisley. Maybe it’s because every time I see paisley print, the colours are kinda boring. Like these colours on Ana’s...

My Favorite Things of 2020: Television shows

I listened to a lot of podcasts in 2020, but I DID watch a bunch of TV, too. Obviously, we all Tiger King’d in the spring, when quarantining was new, but that’s not a show I revisited, or one that was at all comforting. I will even go so far to say Tiger King aged badly over the course of the year, ...

The best part of Selena: The Series was the conversation among Selena fans that happened on our phones

It was the conversation.In getting ready to watch and review Selena: The Series, I tried to stay away from other reviews and social media posts that would affect my take on the show. I didn’t want to be influenced. Hell, I didn’t even re-watch the Selena movie because I feared JLo’s performance woul...

Chris Evans swabs himself for a COVID test on the set of Netflix's Don’t Look Up

Adam McKay’s upcoming Netflix film, Don’t Look Up, already had a crazy high-profile cast. I posted about Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio on set last week, and Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Grande, Timothee Chalamet, Kid Cudi, and so many more are also joining.  One more big name has n...

Celebrity Social Media, December 10, 2020

The Grammys bad press streak continues. The Recording Academy asked Tiffany Haddish to host a pre-telecast party and not only refused to pay her, but declined to pay for her glam. Now some people might read “glam” and think it’s demanding but it is not. It’s standard and it’s actually the bare minim...

Show Your Work: Mariah’s Meaning and The Bloody Truth

At long last (and after many emails from you guys keeping us on it) we waited for December, and unofficially rang in the holiday season and finally had our book club about The Meaning Of Mariah Carey. Problem is, there may not be a whole lot of meaning… not that Mariah and her extremely overwrought ...

Taylor Swift announces another surprise album, evermore, to be released tonight at midnight with music video for first single "willow"

No matter how you feel about her, no one can deny that Taylor Swift is one of the music industry’s biggest players. Commercially she’s a big deal – all of her albums have reached million-plus milestones that few, if any, artists ever achieve. She’s also established herself as an astute businessperso...

Nicolas Cage swears in first trailer for Netflix's The History of Swear Words

Yesterday a trailer dropped so unexpected and random that the comedy continuum skipped a beat. The History of Swear Words is a new comedy series coming to Netflix on January 5, which features Nicolas Cage as the host, walking us through the history of half a dozen swears including “sh-t”, “damn”, “b...

George Clooney and Ben Affleck in talks to team up again for adaptation of JR Moehringer’s The Tender Bar

George Clooney and Ben Affleck worked together on Argo – they co-produced, along with Grant Heslov, George’s producing partner, and Ben starred and directed, and the film went on to win Best Picture. That was almost ten years ago. And now they’re teaming up again. Deadline reported yesterday that Ge...

The Hollywood Reporter calls Johnny Depp "radioactive" in cover feature reporting on his implosion and potentially dangerous response

Maria linked to The Hollywood Reporter’s new Johnny Depp cover story yesterday in Celebrity Social Media. It’s a deep-dive piece and at the time of that post, many people hadn’t had a chance to read it and fully absorb all the bombshells. And there are, indeed, some bombshells.But let’s start with T...

Intro for December 10, 2020

Dear Gossips, Sarah texted me about Promising Young Woman on Saturday night with her reaction. She didn’t know at the time but I was just about to text her with mine. Turns out we were screening it at the same time which meant we were processing all the excellence of this film at the same time… whic...

What Else for December 9, 2020

OK so I want to go to a concert too, desperately. I’ve never been to an in-person BTS concert and I don’t know how long we’ll have to wait before that happens but the point is, I get the desire to listen to live music, be among other people, throw your arms in the sky, just dance, and let loose. But...

My Favorite Things of 2020: Podcasts

Usually at this time of year, I’m working on my top 10 films for the year, but this year we’ve decided to follow the time-shifted schedule of awards season, which means my top 10 won’t be out until February, congruent with the eligibility cut-off for the 2020 Oscars. In lieu of a top 10, though, I t...

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello gift us with "The Christmas Song" duet and homemade music video

“Señorita”, but make it Christmas? Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have followed up their steamy 2019 smash hit duet with a new take on the holiday classic, “The Christmas Song.” If you’re a fan of that song, you’ll like this version. Camila delivers some of her best vocals, and their voices always ...

Celebrity Social Media, December 9, 2020

I once read a story (Tweet? Caption? Post? I don’t remember exactly) that called Kermit the Frog the original hipster and I think about it often. This reminded me of that.  Nicole Kidman is partnering on a CBD skin care line. This seems way out of Nicole’s comfort zone as she usually isn’t about the...

Celebrity Social Media, December 9, 2020

I once read a story (Tweet? Caption? Post? I don’t remember exactly) that called Kermit the Frog the original hipster and I think about it often. This reminded me of that.  Nicole Kidman is partnering on a CBD skin care line. This seems way out of Nicole’s comfort zone as she usually isn’t about the...

Cher's amazing black and white coat as sheCher in an amazing black and white coat as she promotes Bobbleheads: The Movie, which is her first voice role promotes Bobbleheads: The Movie, her first voice role

I just saw these new shots of Cher in London heading to the BBC and what I first wanted to write about is this outfit because her half black, half white coat is amazing. And then she matched it with a half black, half white beret and now I don’t know if there’s going to be an outfit that comes aroun...

Prince William and Catherine get their royal tour money shot with the Queen at Windsor Castle

The final stop on Prince William and Kate’s royal train mini tour yesterday was Windsor Castle. All week we’ve seen them travelling around the UK to thank people for their service during the pandemic – and, also, to generate some good headlines about the family after almost a month of The Crown…alth...

Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone in talks to return to Spider-Man 3 as Alfred Molina confirmed to reprise Doctor Octopus role

Spider-Man 3 (version 2) is filming now, and the multiverse cast for the movie continues to grow. Joining Jamie Foxx in reprising a villain role is Alfred Molina, who played Doctor Octopus waaaaay back in 2004 in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 (aka still the best live-action Spider-Man movie, and one of t...

Lori Loughlin's daughter, Olivia Jade, appears on Jade Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk for discussion about college admissions scandal

It’s been almost 2 years since Operation Varsity Blues. Felicity Huffman has served her abbreviated eleven days in prison and subsequent community service. She’s even booked her comeback role: a half-hour comedy for ABC. I’m sure she’ll address the scandal in a sit-down interview before that show hi...

Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Steven Soderbergh to produce what will undoubtedly be the most bizarre Academy Awards in history

Yesterday, the producers of the 93rd Academy Awards were announced: Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Steven Soderbergh, who, yes, dressed like a member of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for his press release photo.  The 2021 Oscars are going to be WEIRD, there is no getting around it, but this...

Intro for December 9, 2020

Dear Gossips,A few weeks ago on her BBC Show, Nigella’s Eat, Cook, Repeat, Nigella Lawson made headlines in the UK and then around the world because she butters her toast twice. She adds the first layer when the bread comes out of the toaster and then a second when it slightly cools, leaving a few c...

December 9, 2020 – Smutty Shout-Outs

Judy Chiao is a teacher at Burnaby North Secondary. She and her students with diverse abilities have published a book! The book is called 1, 2, 3 Count With Me: A Bug Can Count If You Believe! All the students participated – colouring, rhyming, drawing. This is a wonderful achievement and it would a...

What Else for December 8, 2020

Regina King is one of PEOPLE’s People of the Year. No debate on this one, right? And she may be one of the People of Next Year too because of her work directing One Night in Miami, one of the contenders for Best Picture. Regina just might receive a Best Director Oscar nomination (to go along with he...

Review: Steve McQueen’s Small Axe - Red, White, and Blue starring John Boyega is a nuanced and intimate look at what it means to be a reformer

In Red, White and Blue, the latest installment in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series (Mangrove was the first and Lovers Rock is the second), John Boyega plays Leroy Logan, the son of Caribbean immigrants living in London. His father, Kenneth (Steve Toussaint), is a sort of call-and-response to Mangrov...

Review: Mank starring Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried is all technical achievement and no heart

David Fincher is too technically proficient as a director to make a really bad movie. Even his less interesting efforts will have something worth looking at, and Mank is certainly one such case. A biopic of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, Mank is an odd Fincher misfire. It’s based on a screenplay wr...

Celebrity Social Media, December 8, 2020

Miley Cyrus’s new album Plastic Hearts is out and she’s celebrating success by thanking everyone who worked on her album, from producers to songwriters to mixers. Usually this is done in an album liner – remember those? But now that a lot of us forgo physical copies for downloads, Miley is still fin...

Ben Affleck wasn't involved in any drama in 2020 but is still making headlines with Ana de Armas

Wearing your drama, as words on a t-shirt, is way better than living the drama. And despite the fact that 2020 has been a f-cking prick of a year, Ben Affleck, as least publicly, didn’t have a bad one. While Ben may not have been involved in any drama in 2020 though, he was still making headlines, o...

HBO Max's 12 Dates of Christmas is the perfect holiday binge

For some reason 2020 has become the year that I started watching reality dating shows. I’ve never seen an episode of The Bachelor or any of its spinoff franchises because I don’t appreciate the lack of diversity or adherence to traditional gender roles. But then came Netflix’s mega-hit Love Is Blind...

Prince William and Catherine's "tone-deaf" royal train mini tour of the UK is receiving mixed reactions

What’s in between a bomb and a hit? That’s the word I’m looking for to describe Prince William and Kate’s royal train mini tour of the UK to visit frontline and essential services workers who’ve given so much during the pandemic. Royal tours like this are usually pretty well-received. This, however,...

Production company Legendary threatens to sue Warner Brothers over their HBO Max plans

Last week, Warner Brothers announced they will releasing their entire 2021 slate of films simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max (in America, the only country with HBO Max). This was obviously huge, unprecedented news, and in my original write up, I said, “it is crushing to production partners li...

Intro for December 8, 2020

Dear Gossips, Over the next couple of weeks, as we approach the end of 2020, we’ll be sharing some of our favourite 2020 content, entertainment that got us through this f-cked up year. If you asked me at the end of 2019, if we could have predicted that we’d be on lockdown for several months, what I’...

What Else for December 7, 2020

The optical illusion of this dress also freaked me out and I’m luckier than the Fug Girls because I was told that it was an optical illusion in the title so I was prepared going in but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t weird the way Sabrina Parr’s hand appears to be going out of her thigh, OMG. Now I...

Celebrity Social Media, December 7, 2020

This weekend, Ms. Dionne Warwick had time to gather all of the kids for their stage names. That’s not to say she isn’t a fan, but points were made.  But that’s not all she had time for: her son Damon tried to send her back to the dark ages (a flip phone) and she corrected him as well. “Good luck get...

BTS win multiple awards over the weekend at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and Melon Music Awards

It’s now year-end award season in South Korea and this weekend there were two music award shows, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The one on Sunday is referred to as MAMA, the Mnet Asian Music Awards, a major event in Asia, comparable to the MTV VMAs in North America. And just as it is in the west...

Oscar Isaac in talks to play lead in Sony’s Metal Gear Solid based on popular war video game

Oscar Isaac is the latest A-lister to take the video game challenge and try to make a video game adaptation that doesn’t suck. Slowly but surely, Hollywood seems to be figuring video games out—Tomb Raider didn’t completely suck—but they still remain tougher to adapt than you’d expect, given their sh...

Canadians will have to risk going to the theater to see Wonder Woman 1984 since HBO Max hasn't launched in Canada

Lainey emailed me this morning about being “stressed” about how she is going to watch Wonder Woman 1984 later this month. For Canada, the stress is real. With no HBO Max and not ideal circumstances for going to movie theaters right now, how to see WW84 is a stressful situation. (Lainey: first world ...

Netflix confirms they will not be adding disclaimer to The Crown stating that it's fiction

For almost a month now, Netflix’s The Crown has been a major headline, not just in entertainment news but even outside of the entertainment section of coverage because of all the angsting over it from royal supporters, politicians, and the British royal family themselves – even though they won’t go ...

Shawn Mendes tells the legend of relationship with Camila Cabello in new album, Wonder

This weekend I listened to Shawn Mendes’ new album Wonder. It’s his fourth studio album and it’s distinctly different than the rest. Not only is the production bigger and more anthemic, the sound is more mature. This is Shawn’s coming-of-age story and like many of coming-of-age tales, it’s about his...

Review: Selena The Series worked hard to erase Selena and focus instead on the Quintanilla family

“YOU’RE THE TREE.” I laughed SO hard at this line. If you don’t know what I’m talking about yet because you’re still watching, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. But damn if that line, ridiculous as it is, doesn’t tell you who the star of this show is. This is NOT Selena: The Series. Selena is no...

Intro for December 7, 2020

Dear Gossips,Solid Saturday Night Live episode this weekend hosted by the reliable and always game Jason Bateman… but in my mind, the reason for the extra jolt of energy is because Cecily Strong was back. As I mentioned on Friday in What Else?, it had to be Cecily to play Rudy Giuliani’s “star witne...

Disgraced Pastor Carl Lentz's sexual infidelity was reportedly only one of the reasons Hillsong let him go

One of the most notable celebrity scandals of the year was the fall of Pastor to the Stars, Carl Lentz, formerly of Hillsong Church. Not sure if anyone was shocked? Carl’s drama was actually the second high-profile church leader sex scandal of the year. I was too lazy this morning at 5am to remember...

What Else for December 4, 2020

Justin Bieber went on social media to defend his wife, after a fan of Selena Gomez tried to mobilise online hate against Hailey. To be clear, Selena had nothing to do with this and is also the recipient of this kind of sh-t too from JB’s fans. I can verify this in my inbox because several times a we...

Celebrity Social Media, December 4, 2020

Is the monolith something we really need to pay attention to at the end of this very long, no good year? I think it’s a marketing campaign for a CBD company or something, so I’ve been ignoring it. But a Monolilith I can’t ignore.  Tyra Banks’s first season as host of Dancing With the Stars has been ...

Deaf Native American actress Alaqua Cox making her screen debut as superhero Echo in Hawkeye

As we previously discussed, the real reason to care about the Hawkeye-centric Disney+ series is not because of Jeremy Renner, but because of Kate Bishop. Now we have another reason to mildly anticipate Hawkeye, and it’s still not because of Jeremy Renner, but because of actress Alaqua Cox, a deaf Na...

Sasha Finds: A Hair-Loving Hairbrush

Lainey and I are in a hair-growing contest. It all started late in the summer as she was walking behind me (because you know, social distancing) after we left Duana’s backyard. She got weirdly jealous that my hair was long and then proclaimed she would outgrow my length with ease. Again, I would jus...

Outfit of the Week: Jennifer Lopez's gym outfit

But first, a Jennifer Lopez wedding update – there won’t be one, at least not any time soon because we’re all still in this f-cksh-t. The update here though is that she revealed on Access Hollywood this week, while promoting her new single, “In the Morning”, and her skincare line, that she and Alex ...

HBO tweets first look at the new dragons from Game of Thrones prequel spinoff, House of the Dragon

Game of Thrones-ish, that is. The prequel spinoff of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, is set to begin production in 2021. To whet our appetites—and rinse out the bad taste left in many mouths by the GOT finale—HBO tweeted the one thing they know will get me people excited: DRAGONS. Who are thes...

Festive Mariah Carey in new video for "Oh Santa" featuring Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande is joy and comfort

Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special premieres today on Apple TV+. This is what I will be doing tonight and tomorrow and Sunday and as often as I can for the next three weeks. Mimi is our Christmas Angel. This is her season. As part of the promotion for the special, Mimi released a new video for...

Warner Brothers drops bombshell that all of their 2021 movies will drop on HBO Max and in theatres simultaneously

Yesterday, Warner Brothers dropped the absolutely gobsmacking news that in 2021 they will release ALL of their movies day-and-date with streaming and theatrical. That’s right, ALL of their 2021 movies will drop on HBO Max the same day they open in theaters, including Judas and the Black Messiah, Kin...

Intro for December 4, 2020

Dear Gossips, For a few years now at the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, the B.L.A.C.K. Ball has been one of the most anticipated events on the schedule. B.L.A.C.K. stands for “Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema, and Knowledge and the ev...

BLACKPINK announces first online concert, THE SHOW, on YouTube

2020 has been a big year for BLACKPINK. They were featured on Lady Gaga’s new album, on a track called “Sour Candy”, they released their first full-length album, THE ALBUM, with contributions from Cardi B and Selena Gomez, and their Netflix documentary, Light Up The Sky premiere in October. In an or...

What Else for December 3, 2020

I too, like the Fug Girls, am very curious about the rest of Dua Lipa’s outfit. Because I don’t hate what I’m seeing so far. Dresses like these can go budget really quickly with the fit. But all the elements here are holding up really well, the lines are clean, there are no bunches or folds that sug...

Christmas will look different this year for the royal family as it's confirmed that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will spend Christmas at Windsor Castle

For the British royal family, the tradition since 1988 has been for the Queen to gather with her family at Sandringham and on Christmas Day, they all walk to church together. That will not be happening this year because of COVID and it’s now been confirmed that Her Majesty and Prince Philip will spe...

What's Your Drama: Getting Nosey & Competing for the Same Guy

We have a very special guest for this episode: Kayla Grey. If you are not already in love with everything she is about, I'm pretty sure you will be by the end of this episode. I thought Lainey and I were straight shooters but whoa, Kayla does not f-ck around. So let's dive in with YOUR drama! Our fi...

Underrated Aubrey Plaza trends on social media after success of Happiest Season and ahead of tomorrow's release of indie Black Bear

The Internet has been thirsting for Aubrey Plaza since the release of Happiest Season last week, and for good reason. Her quippy wallflower doctor character Riley is exactly the kind of character that appeals to the social media generation. And yet, Aubrey still does not feel she’s worthy of being p...

Celebrity Social Media, December 3, 2020

Ariana Grande posted an album on Instagram (what the kids refer to as a photo dump) and buried in there is a picture of her kissing a boy. She and Dalton Gomez started dating in the early part of the pandemic. Here’s why I like this for her: her engagement and breakup with Pete Davidson was very pub...

George Clooney demonstrates how to use a Flowbee on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

George Clooney was on CBS Sunday Morning a few days ago and of all the things he said, the one revelation that went viral was that he wasn’t bothered about the hair situation in lockdown because for years he’s been cutting his own hair with a Flowbee:  People couldn’t stop talking about it because a...

Review: Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed is an above-average addiction drama

A heavy metal drummer with four years of sobriety under his belt, Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is doing pretty okay. He and his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke), form a duo called Blackgammon and they live in their vintage Airstream, driving to gigs and rocking out. Until, that is, Ruben’s hearing suddenly gives...

Selena Gomez reportedly casually dating NBA all-star Jimmy Butler

Selena Gomez has been in New York recently shooting a Hulu comedy series called Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short. She’s also an executive producer, alongside Dan Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal who created a little show called This Is Us. It’s about three people who live in t...

Intro for December 3, 2020

Dear Gossips,What is going on with the Oscars? Earlier this week, Variety reported that the “Oscars in-person telecast will happen”, citing sources who said that site visits had already happened to figure out how they could safely broadcast the event with the stars at the venue without having to do ...

New photos show Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop on set of Disney+'sHawkeye series with Jeremy Renner

One of my biggest disappointments with the MCU is Hawkeye. It started out promising—back in 2010, Jeremy Renner was one of the new rising stars, hot off The Hurt Locker, and his cameo in Thor seemed to nail the tone of the wise-cracking ace archer, Clint Barton. But then came The Avengers, and it fe...

What Else for December 2, 2020

How many times does a police source ever get to tell the media that “We interrupted a gang bang”? This story seems straight out of Borat – but it’s real life: a homophobic politician got busted at a sex party with 25 other men. The escape attempt is right out of a movie. There’s a beautiful paragrap...

Duana Names: Talk Us Into Something

Hi Duana,I've gone back and forth on whether to email you, and the closer we get to the due date, the less sure we are of a name. Here's where we're at: we're a Caucasian/Indian family with one little boy and another on the way. Main criteria: name must be fairly easy to pronounce in both Hindi and ...

Jennifer Lopez launches skincare line, JLo Beauty, after being questioned about her skincare routine for 20 years

Whenever I post a photo from Jennifer Lopez’s social media with a mention of her skin, someone will inevitably write in that it’s the work of a filter. I rebuke this. It’s JLo. She literally glows.She’s been too famous and we’ve seen her in too many different scenarios and angles (from pap shots on ...

Charlize Theron sets up production deal with HBO and HBO Max

Earlier this year we discussed Charlize Theron’s rise as a power producer, and now she is making power moves, setting up a production deal with HBO and HBO Max. Through her Denver and Delilah banner, Theron will produce film and television projects for HBO/Max, along with her co-producers A.J. Dix a...

I'm skeptical about Netflix's Selena: The Series but I'm open to being wrong

So now that you know about how 13-year-old me had a Selena obsession, and how it turned into my Selena Problem, here is what I am thinking about the upcoming Netflix show Selena: The Series. I am skeptical.  Now you may say, wait, didn’t you beg Lainey to write about this series? And yes, y’all, I d...

Celebrity Social Media, December 2, 2020

Last week, I posted about Nick Kroll’s wedding, and on Jimmy Fallon he went over the engagement. He got some help from his co-stars and do you know who he told first, before his parents? Click here for a hint. Ugh this is adorable.  This morning Lainey wrote about Harry Styles and the targeting of h...

Taylor Swift and Ryan Reynolds's excellent co-production on Match commercial featuring new version of Taylor's "Love Story"

As we know, Taylor Swift is currently re-recording music from her first six albums to degrade the value of her masters, which she does not own, but she’s tried to own. There is so much anticipation about this project, these projects, because of course Taylor is one of the biggest recording artists i...

First trailer for The Mauritanian features Benedict Cumberbatch’s singularly awful Southern accent

A trailer dropped yesterday, and I cannot stop thinking about it. The Mauritanian is about Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who was accused of being the chief recruiter for 9/11 and held in Guantanamo Bay for years without charges being filed. Ultimately, his case went to court, where many of the Gitmo abuses...

Variety names Harry Styles Hitmaker of the Year after he is shut out from Grammy nominations in major categories

This just in: Variety has named Harry Styles their Hitmaker of the Year. It’s been exactly a week since the Grammy nominations were announced last Wednesday and this cover story was likely timed around that, with the expectation that he would be contending for Album or Song or Record of the Year and...

Armie Hammer to star in one of two projects about the making of The Godfather, called The Offer

Today in But Why news, it has been reported that Armie Hammer will star in a limited series called The Offer, about the making of The Godfather. This is not to be confused with Francis and The Godfather, a movie which will star Oscar Isaac and Jake Gyllenhaal and is ALSO about the making of The Godf...

Elliot Page, champion for the LGBTQ+ community, comes out as trans in statement on social media

As you may have seen on your social media feeds, Elliot Page came out as trans. In a statement posted on social media yesterday morning, Elliot (who goes by the pronouns he/him and they/them) wrote: Obviously, this is amazing news. And I want to gush about this. For one thing, I always think it’s wo...

Intro for December 2, 2020

Dear Gossips, Back in October, Apple TV+ announced that they’re working on a new docuseries called The Supermodels featuring four members of the Big Five – Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington. Like I said at the time, this is exactly where I live. I am obsessed ...

What Else for December 1, 2020

Like Cardi B, Rita Ora was one of those people who decided to gather in a large group when no one is supposed to be gathering in large groups because, guess what, there’s a pandemic that’s deep into its second season. She paid for it, literally. And the amount seems like a lot to people like us but ...

Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio in plastic face shields on set of Adam McKay's Don't Look Up

Adam McKay has assembled one of the most high-profile casts for his upcoming dark comedy Don’t Look Up. The film is about two astronauts who are racing to warn the world about the approach of an asteroid. They’re not, like, superstar astronauts though. These are the benchwarmers of astronauts. Anywa...

Will Malcom & Marie earn Zendaya an Oscar nomination?

Months ago when we were talking about the Emmys, even after the nominations, most people considered Zendaya to be an underdog, considering the other women in the Lead Actress Drama category – Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and more. She was the youngest and Euphoria, for which she was nom...

BTS celebrates as brand new single "Life Goes On" goes to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 with "virtually no radio play"

This is a post about the artists who’ve just achieved their THIRD #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Which means this is a post that anyone who consumes pop culture should care about – because how many other artists, like in HISTORY, can say they’ve been able to do what BTS has done…in the last few years,...

BTS celebrates as brand new single "Life Goes On" goes to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 with "virtually no radio play"

This is a post about the artists who’ve just achieved their THIRD #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Which means this is a post that anyone who consumes pop culture should care about – because how many other artists, like in HISTORY, can say they’ve been able to do what BTS has done…in the last few years,...

Celebrity Social Media, December 1, 2020

Over the weekend I watched Kevin Hart’s stand-up special, No F*cks Given. My only observation is that Kevin Hart gives so many f-cks, which is not a bad thing. The jokes, for me, were not memorable, but some of his ideas and observations were interesting, particularly how celebrity has evolved and w...

Because of my Selena problem, I will be watching Selena: The Series on Friday

(Lainey: introducing LaineyGossip’s newest contributor… Violeta! She lives by the word of our Queen, Beyoncé, she’s big on 90s and 2000s classic gossip, 30 Rock and the first two seasons of Arrested Development are her “everything”, and, as you’ll read below in her first piece, she is a Selena exper...

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are back on the dog walk during second wave of COVID-19

During the early part of the pandemic in North America, when lockdown was first imposed in Los Angeles, Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas’s near-daily dog walks became a comforting scene out of Hollywood. There was a lot of reporting on this – not just from me but from many entertainment and news outlets...

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky seem to confirm their relationship one year after appearing together at Fashion Awards in London

Gossips have been watching this situationship for a year now: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, who’ve been friends for a long time, first emerged as a romantic possibility in December 2019, six months or so after he’d returned home after being held in a Swedish prison; they showed up together at the Fashion ...

Kelly Clarkson has had a very long 2020 with divorce from Brandon Blackstock and complicated custody issues

We’ve all had a year, but Kelly Clarkson has had A YEAR. Between separating after quarantining with her husband Brandon and their two children (plus, at times, Brandon’s two children from a previous marriage) on a ranch that needed a lot of work while she was trying to host her show virtually, they ...

Intro for December 1, 2020

Dear Gossips, Yesterday marked the deadline for this year’s Golden Globe submissions. Although the eligibility period for television runs until December 31 and for film it’s February 28, programs and movies that want to be in contention must have submitted by now. Typically, by now, in a non-pandemi...