Here are some photos of Prince William making a visit to the Royal Mail in Heathrow today, the 6th. William has stepped out rather quietly in the past few weeks, sort of easing his way into a more regular schedule for a working royal. William and Kate will be returning to Kensington Palace soon, if they haven’t already, after spending much of their summer in Norfolk. They quietly returned to Anmer Hall after spending two weeks in Mustique after George’s school year ended. Both William and Kate are expected to pick up their public schedules this month, hopefully. Which brings me to this piece in the Daily Beast a few days ago – it’s all about how William and Harry still have a “strained” relationship with their father. We’ve heard this many times before, and personally, I think a lot of Harry’s negativity towards his father has dissipated over the past few years especially. But William? William still has a strained AF relationship with Charles. Some highlights from The Daily Beast:

The Daily Beast has been told by a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, that it is well known in the intimate circles of the higher echelons of the royal family that the two boys’ relationship with their father is “strained.”

“They are very different people and they just don’t get on. It’s as simple as that. They rarely see each other outside of official business,” the source said. The source also added that Charles “hates” William and Harry’s public “emoting” which has seen them discuss, in heartbreaking detail, the psychological troubles they endured following the loss of their mother, as part of their efforts to reduce the stigma around discussing mental health issues.

The writer Christopher Andersen told the Daily Beast that tension has also been brewing between Charles and William owing to disagreements over William and Kate’s work schedule.

“William loves his father and is tremendously loyal to him, but from the beginning he has said he is his own man and hates being told what to do. So whenever he’s pressured by Charles’ aides at St. James’s Palace to take on some royal assignment he isn’t interested in, William complains bitterly. William is also unhappy with Charles’s camp for promulgating the notion that the Cambridges aren’t pulling their weight. In fairness, they have three young children and there is no reasonable way they can be expected to match the hundreds of tree-plantings, plaque-unveilings, ribbon-cuttings, hospital visits, and walkabouts Charles and Camilla perform each year.”

These fresh suggestions of strained relationships—unexpectedly, perhaps, Harry is said to be more willing to compromise with Charles than William in the cause of keeping the peace—fit with other stories that have been doing the rounds, some of them for many years.

[From The Daily Beast]

It would be SO funny to me if Charles was the one behind the work-shy narrative. He isn’t behind it though, and the fact that William thinks Charles is plotting against him with a work-shy narrative is… amazing. William has no one but himself to blame for it – if anything, his father coddled William into Will’s early 30s because Charles didn’t want to rock the boat and deal with William’s famous temper tantrums. Now that a lifetime of laziness has caught up to William and he’s expected to keep up a full schedule, suddenly DADDY IS BULLYING ME BECAUSE I’M WORK-SHY. Sigh…

In any case, Clarence House denied the Daily Beast’s story, so… whatever.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Kanye West apologized to Drake in a series of tweets yesterday. Last week, he expressed remorse for his outlandish “slavery sounds like a choice” comments on TMZ. I won’t call that one a proper apology because in classic New Kanye form, he didn’t exactly admit he was wrong. He apologized “that it hu…

Kanye West apologized to Drake in a series of tweets yesterday. Last week, he expressed remorse for his outlandish “slavery sounds like a choice” comments on TMZ. I won’t call that one a proper apology because in classic New Kanye form, he didn’t exactly admit he was wrong. He apologized “that it hu…

Since I’m not really into superhero films, I tend to side-eye Marvel’s years-long reluctance to make a female-led superhero film. They had plenty of opportunities, but for years they were more than happy to churn out the sausage-party films and balk when anyone suggested that perhaps Black Widow should have a stand-alone movie. Finally, Kevin Feige got with the program and realized that girls see movies too (shocking!). So Brie Larson was hired to play Captain Marvel in a stand-alone origin film. The film is set in the ‘90s, because ‘90s nostalgia is a very real thing and Brie even wears a NIN shirt, which warms my heart. Anyway, Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive cover story about Captain Marvel, which comes out March 8, 2019. Some quotes from Brie:

Captain Marvel is a part-Kree, part-human pilot, and she’s just being herself: “She can’t help but be herself. She can be aggressive, and she can have a temper, and she can be a little invasive and in your face. She’s also quick to jump to things, which makes her amazing in battle because she’s the first one out there and doesn’t always wait for orders. But the [not] waiting for orders is, to some, a character flaw.”

She’s not a godlike superhero: “You have this Kree part of her that’s unemotional, that is an amazing fighter and competitive. Then there’s this human part of her that is flawed but is also the thing that she ends up leading by. It’s the thing that gets her in trouble, but it’s also the thing that makes her great. And those two sides warring against each other is what makes her her.”

Brie didn’t say yes to the film right away: “I never saw myself doing something like this, mostly because I like being anonymous. I like disappearing into characters, and I always felt like if I was out in the public eye too much, it potentially limits you in the future….[but] just seeing a character who says how she feels and says what’s on her mind and doesn’t let people stand in her way is incredibly empowering,” Larson says. And becoming the face of a Marvel superhero doesn’t hurt, either: The first time she put on the Captain Marvel suit, she says, her first thought was, “Whoa, am I going to be a character at Disneyland?”

She trained for months to get the stunt work right: “I was an introvert with asthma before this movie. I really thought when they hired me, ‘I am the worst choice for an action movie.’ And I didn’t know that I had a little Keanu Reeves in me! Who knew?”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

I’ll admit it, it did surprise me when Brie was announced for this role, just because she seems like such an indie-film purist, someone who would never be down with a big Marvel role. But Brie is a pragmatist too, and a smart cookie: she knows that this will open her to a new fanbase and new opportunities. Plus, she probably loves that kids will come up to her now. And she loves the fact that they actually fleshed out a real character for her in a lead role.

.@brielarson took a long time to say yes to playing #CaptainMarvel. Here’s why: https://t.co/K7yIdo2RdX pic.twitter.com/3SQZoTEo4z

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 5, 2018

Here’s your first look at Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, courtesy of @ew pic.twitter.com/amGwIK92AU

— IGN (@IGN) September 5, 2018

Cover & photos courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Michael Moore’s new documentary is Fahrenheit 11/9, which is obviously about Donald Trump’s election and presidency. The documentary premieres at the Toronto Film Festival today – it’s the big opening night premiere. Moore got a lot of credit for correctly predicting the way Trump would “win” the presidency – by appealing to white voters in the Rust Belt, and by winning states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. So what are his predictions for the midterms and 2020? The thing is, Moore shouldn’t be seen as an oracle – some of his predictions are designed as warnings, to rile up people and get them motivated. So he’s being careful. Some highlights from Moore’s interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

We created Trump: “Trump is our Frankenstein and we are Dr. Frankenstein. We have helped to create a situation that has allowed us to end up with Trump. The dumbing down of our society through the media, the lack of education through poor schools, allows for a dumbed-down electorate, and for him to be able to actually get 63 million votes.”

Predictions for the midterms: Moore’s not prepared to say a Democratic takeback of the House, let alone the Senate, is a fait accompli, but he predicts, “There’s going to be a tsunami of voters — especially women, young people and people of color. If there are candidates worth voting for, there will be a shellacking the likes of which the Republicans have never seen.”

The 2020 presidential election: “As things stand right now, everybody should operate as if it’s a two-term Trump,” but if the Dems are to unseat him, “we need beloved figures running. Say what you want about Trump, but tens of millions watched his show. We need Tom Hanks, Oprah, Michelle Obama. Who would not vote for Michelle Obama?”

His prediction that Trump would do well in the Rust Belt: “I just felt, ‘What is wrong with me that I could not communicate to people that he was going to win these three or four states and that we had to get out en masse?’ It really bothered me.”

Trump is a modern fascist: Fahrenheit 11/9 is at its most provocative when it veers away from Trump’s ascension to recount Adolf Hitler’s rise, with an emphasis on how the media in the 1930s, from The New York Times to the Jewish press, normalized the Fuhrer. Moore insists he isn’t making a direct comparison between Trump and Hitler but rather making “a serious point about fascism,” he explains. “It comes from a book, Friendly Fascism, by a philosopher named Bertram Gross. He talks about how the fascism of the 21st century would not be like the fascism of the 20th century. It would not come with concentration camps and swastikas, but with a TV show and a smiley face. The fascists of the 21st century will convince the people to go against their own interests by using television and branding. I don’t think we should be afraid to call this out for what it is.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Wow, I 100% agree with him. I think the midterms will hopefully be a huge wakeup call for the GOP, but we have to remember to #StayWoke. I also think it’s way too soon to make any 2020 predictions since 2020 will hinge on what happens in the midterms, and whether Democrats get both the House and Senate and begin impeachment proceedings. As for Moore’s note about modern fascism… he’s absolutely right. I’ve been calling Trump a fascist this whole time, because that’s what he is. It’s not hyperbolic. It’s really f–king happening.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Dear Gossips,

If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you know my position on gossip – that it says more about us than it does about the subject(s) of the gossip. In that sense, there is a connection between the conversations we have about fame and the famous and what happens in other aren…

Dear Gossips,

If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you know my position on gossip – that it says more about us than it does about the subject(s) of the gossip. In that sense, there is a connection between the conversations we have about fame and the famous and what happens in other aren…

As we discussed yesterday, Asia Argento now claims that Jimmy Bennett sexually assaulted her in 2013. At the time, he was 17 and she was 37. Unlike her previous claim that nothing happened, her new version is that he “jumped her” and that she was “frozen” when they had sex. She claimed that Anthony Bourdain agreed to pay off Bennett to save her reputation and cause the least amount of drama. Now that the story is out there, Argento refuses to pay the rest of the out-of-court settlement she agreed to with Bennett. And so… no surprise, Bennett is filing a sexual assault claim with the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

Asia Argento has just poked the bear, because we’ve learned Jimmy Bennett — who was 17 when he had sex with her — is going to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. to file a sexual assault claim against her and cooperate with the investigation. Bennett, who is now 22, has been on the fence as to whether he’d cooperate with authorities, but he’s now decided to go full steam ahead.

We’re told Bennett’s tipping point was the statement Argento’s lawyer released Tuesday, attacking his character. Her lawyer, Mark Heller, talked about Bennett’s “unfortunate past, stalled acting career … his desperation to seek money.” Heller also referenced that Bennett had been a drug user. Bennett’s lawyer, Gordon Sattro, tells TMZ, “the attack on my client’s character has no bearing on the events that took place on May 9, 2013. These are statements that are meant to intimidate, shame and insult my client.”

The maximum penalty for statutory rape in California in a case involving a 17-year-old is 3 years in prison. Attorney Heller tells TMZ, “Asia encourages anybody, including Bennett, to come forward with any allegation concerning a sexual assault, and she is prepared to take any and all steps necessary to continues to protect her reputation and defend against any false allegations.”

[From TMZ]

As I have said repeatedly, I believe Jimmy Bennett. I believe his story, and I believe that he really didn’t want this to become public. I believe it took him years to understand what happened to him and that he was disturbed by Argento being hailed as a fearless victim. To be clear, I also think Argento was a victim… of Harvey Weinstein. But I also think she was a predator when it came to Jimmy Bennett. As for Bennett filing a sexual assault claim… we’ll see if anything happens. I have my doubts.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Who wrote the New York Times’ op-ed? We discussed the op-ed earlier, wherein some high-up “senior official” in the Trump White House basically wants to get credit for being part of the “resistance” while carrying out 95% of Donald Trump’s unhinged orders. To be clear, I’m glad that there’s a “bridge too far” for even die-hard Deplorables, and I’m glad that there are a handful of people within the administration who are capable of feeling shame and disgust at Dear Bigly Leader. But let’s also be clear: whoever this “senior administration official” is, he’s still an amoral jackass who does Trump’s bidding on almost everything, but he wants us to know he has feelings about it.

So who wrote it? My initial guess was Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis – Mattis was clearly one of Bob Woodward’s big sources (anonymous) in Fear. But some people have other guesses, like… maybe Mike Pence? It’s The Lodestar Conspiracy – the word “lodestar” was used in the op-ed, and look at this:

“lodestar” (h/t @danbl00m) pic.twitter.com/SqKFlBTR0f

— David Mack (@davidmackau) September 5, 2018

Here’s Pence saying #Lodestar eight times, going back to 2001. I’m just saying! pic.twitter.com/oWWtngCgpK

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) September 6, 2018

Except that the Vice President’s office denies that Pence authored the letter. (But what else would his office say?) I agree that Pence is not a great guess? I just don’t think Pence would ever think to do something like that. But who are the other subjects?

Wonder how much George Conway helped Kellyanne with this op-ed

— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) September 5, 2018

George Conway seems to realllllllly be hoping that Kellyanne wrote this. pic.twitter.com/riJFFOBPEo

— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) September 5, 2018

I could see Kellyanne as the author – she’s amoral, she’s never been a true believer in Trump, she loves attention, all of it. I think the guesses of Ivanka or Jared Kushner are funny, but they’re sort of bad guesses – I doubt Ivanka cares one bit about the 25th Amendment, nor does she even understand it. Jared is… I don’t know, I just don’t get the vibe that he would think this way. My guess is still Mattis, or maybe Kellyanne. Also:

In the hours after the NYT published the anonymous op-ed, two senior admin officials reached out to Axios to say the author stole the words right out of their mouths.

“A lot of us [were] wishing we’d been the writer … there are dozens and dozens of us.” https://t.co/5iGeTmYr3K

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 6, 2018

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.

I’ve been wondering about this, but the Brangelina custodial drama took all of the oxygen out of the custodial-gossip room. For several years now, Gwen Stefani has been with Blake Shelton, and she’s brought her sons around Blake this entire time. They constantly travel out of state to Blake’s home in Oklahoma, and by all accounts, Blake absolutely adores Gwen’s sons. I’ve always thought the boys’ exposure to Blake was a great thing – he’s clearly hands-on with them like a “cool step-dad,” and he seems to have changed up his Oklahoma estate so it’s just a playground for them to ride ATVs and go fishin’ and all of that. But… those boys have a father. Gavin Rossdale has joint custody of his sons, and considering Gwen’s work schedule, Gavin generally has more time with them than Gwen. So is it surprising that Gwen and Gavin are still dealing with custody drama?

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale attended mediation on Wednesday, September 5, to discuss “ongoing parenting issues they have over their three children,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively.

“Gwen and Gavin have been in mediation all day since 10:30 a.m. at their respective lawyer’s office building in Los Angeles. Their lawyers occupy the same building so logistically it was easy to facilitate,” the source explains, noting that Anne Kiley is representing the No Doubt singer and Laura Wasser is continuing to represent Rossdale. The pair, who split in 2015 after nearly 13 years of marriage, are parents of sons Kingston, 12, Zuma, 10, and Apollo, 4. Stefani and Rossdale were both granted joint legal custody when their divorce was finalized in 2016.

“The hope is at the end of this, both Gwen and Gavin will agree to take co-parenting classes as that will only benefit the children,” the source adds. Rossdale, who is currently on tour, spent time in England with his father earlier this year before he died, according to a second source. The kids, however, did join Rossdale at one point on the road.

The “Make Me Like You” singer is currently dating Blake Shelton. The first source confirms, however, that the country crooner was not in attendance on Wednesday.

[From Us Weekly]

Yeah… I’m not going to raise the alarm…yet. I think Gwen and Gavin respect each other as parents and they both put their sons’ interests ahead of their own. I’m sure Gavin side-eyes the fact that Blake is so involved with his kids, but Gavin might also know that Gwen has tons of dirt on him which she could weaponize and use against him if the custody issue becomes a bit trickier. Still, it’s interesting that this is the first time we’ve heard of any trickiness with Gwen and Gavin in years, right?

Photos courtesy of WENN.