I continue to find it curious as to why People Magazine decided to go with “Royal Rift” for their cover story this week. The rift being the sexy, younger-royal rift between the Sussexes and Cambridges. It seems like that’s not the only damn rift in the House of Windsor these days, as shadow King Charles stuck the knife in his brother’s back yesterday. But as we all know, the younger royals’ drama is being used to distract from the larger dysfunction with the older royals. I don’t dismiss the fact that there IS a legitimate rift between the Sussexes and Cambridges either. Clearly, there is. I just disagree with People’s sources that the rift is all about William’s preparations to be king or whatever. I think the rift is about William being a petty a–hole. In any case, People Mag wants us to know that the Cambridges still haven’t really reached out to the Sussexes:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s emotionally wrenching ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, which was filmed during their royal tour in Africa, did little to quell rumors of tension within the royal family. In fact, when Harry acknowledged that he and Prince William are “certainly on different paths at the moment”—it became clear that the unity of the “Fab Four” (Harry, Meghan, William and Kate Middleton) was always more fairy tale than reality.

Those close to the couple say both Meghan, 38, and Harry, 35, struggle with ongoing feelings of isolation from the rest of the family, with Harry’s friend Tom Bradby—who interviewed the couple for the documentary—­describing them as “bruised and vulnerable.”

Following their candid revelations in the October special, in which Meghan bared her pain at being a new mom in the spotlight and Harry admitted his desperation to protect his family from constant tabloid scrutiny, a source says “eyes are open” about their emotional distress, but the relationship between the couple and the rest of the royal family has not grown any closer as a result.

“There hasn’t been this complete 180,” a source tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “Nothing has changed. They don’t speak, no one is checking in, no one is texting.”

[From People]

Yeah, I believe that. I believe that William still isn’t checking in with Harry and I believe the Sussexes are being isolated by the Windsors. It really sucks and you know what? Diana would have hated that for her sons. But I’ve always felt like Diana would be very disappointed with how William turned out, in general. I still feel like William wants to exile the Sussexes physically, and perhaps William has just decided to exile them emotionally and psychologically for now, and that’s how he will “force them out.”

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and Avalon Red.

I was trying to do the math on this, and you’ll have to excuse me for doing this in Eastern Standard Time, it’s just easier for me. Prince Andrew’s BBC interviewed began airing at 4 pm EST on Saturday. But 5 pm, social media was blowing up across the pond and even here in America, and that was sustained throughout Sunday as clips from the interview were widely circulated (the BBC eventually put the entire interview on YouTube). By Monday, all of the American morning shows and evening news programs had segments on Andrew’s interview and how badly it had gone. There were news outlets doing deeper dives into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Monday was also the day we heard that Andrew had told the Queen that the interview went well. Tuesday was full of stories about the Queen supporting her favorite son and how the family all had his back. Meanwhile, all the stories just kept getting worse and worse, as Andrew’s lies just kept falling apart, and it was open season on stories about his shady finances and racism too.

And so… all in all, it took about 90 hours for Andrew to “resign” from public life and “take a step back” from royal duties. By my count, if we’re starting with the end of the interview on Saturday to his statement on Wednesday – which was released around 1 pm EST – it was about ninety-two hours of one of the worst news cycles ever, in the history of the royal family. Here’s Andrew’s statement:

“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support.

Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.

I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency.”

[Via Sky News]

Well, it was his only move, honestly. There was no way he would have been able to successfully “ride out” this catastrophe. But my point in adding up the hours was that… it was pretty clear in the first 24 hours that Andrew was in the center of self-made sh-tstorm. It was clear within 48 hours that there was no “managing” the crisis and no way through it. It was clear that Andrew would have to go, to resign from public/royal life. So… why did it take ninety f–king hours? Why did we have to roll our eyes through the palace’s bumbling and tone-deaf attempts at damage control? Why did the Queen not understand for ninety-two hours that Andrew had to go?

Photos courtesy of WENN, BBC and Avalon Red.

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A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman) on Nov 13, 2019 at 11:53am PST

This is Sunday. Sunday is Natalie Portman’s new fur-baby and she is very eager to show you what a good girl she is. Because she is the best. My fur baby girl is the best too. As is Brittany Snow’s baby girl, Billie. They are just all the best, okay? Boy fur-babies, too. Natalie adopted Sunday from the rescue group Paws for Life K9 Rescue, which I knew little about prior to this. Natalie explained about the organization in her caption to the post above:

So grateful to all the people @pawsforlifek9 who trained Sunday, the newest addition to our family! Paws for Life is a prison dog training program for PTSD service dogs and CGC certified adoptable dogs. I saw first-hand how their program is healing for both the trainer and dog. Visit their page to learn more: @pawsforlifek9.

As I said, I think I’d heard their name before but didn’t know anything about them. From their website: “Paws for Life K9 Rescue pulls its dogs from local shelters. Often, we choose dogs in need of socialization and training which we place with our incarcerated trainers throughout California State Prisons.” The incarcerated trainers can devote 24/7 to working the pups, most of whom are trained as service dogs. Then the dogs are adopted to folks like Natalie, with many going to those who suffer from PTSD, particularly veterans. So, this program benefits the dogs, because dogs who lack socialization rarely get adopted. This benefits those incarcerated with a meaningful job and a loving companion. And it benefits those who adopt the pups in so many wonderful ways.

Sunday joins Natalie, her husband Benjamin Millepied and her three other kids, Aleph, Amalia and Penny, Penny being of the fur variety like Sunday, and also the best. I’m thrilled Natalie and Co. have this new, gorgeous addition to their family. I’m thrilled Sunday has a loving family and permanent home to go to. I’m thrilled with all the lives Sunday has touched already. But I am also grateful to Natalie for promoting this rescue organization in her Instagram so that many of us who didn’t know about it can now support it. There are many, many rescue/animal groups out there but they are all doing wonderful things and the more visibility we can give to them, the better.

Paws for Life is in Santa Monica, which is near Los Angeles here in California. Unfortunately, this particular organization does not do out-of-state adoptions at this time. If you know of any rescue groups in your area such as this (or any doing good work, really) please let others know in the comments. If you want to support Paws for Life, you can donate, adopt or foster with them.

Paws for life also posted the happy news about Sunday’s adoption:

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SUNDAY has been adopted! SWIPE ?? to see when we met her at the shelter ? thank you @natalieportman for giving her an amazing home! And @friendsofeastvalley for caring for her at your shelter! Repost @natalieportman with @get_repost ??? So grateful to all the people @pawsforlifek9 who trained Sunday, the newest addition to our family! Paws for Life is a prison dog training program for PTSD service dogs and CGC certified adoptable dogs. I saw first-hand how their program is healing for both the trainer and dog. Visit their page to learn more: @pawsforlifek9.

A post shared by Paws For Life K9 Rescue (@pawsforlifek9) on Nov 19, 2019 at 9:00am PST

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Pumpkin carving with Penny.

A post shared by Natalie Portman (@natalieportman) on Oct 25, 2019 at 10:59am PDT

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A post shared by Paws For Life K9 Rescue (@pawsforlifek9) on Nov 11, 2019 at 2:39pm PST

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A post shared by Paws For Life K9 Rescue (@pawsforlifek9) on Oct 13, 2019 at 10:06am PDT

Photo credit: WENN Photos and Instagram

Yesterday was another bonkers day in politics. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, testified in a public hearing for the impeachment inquiry. Sondland is a businessman millionaire who donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s campaign and that’s how he became an ambassador. In previous statements, Sondland’s story about the Ukrainian “drug deal” (as John Bolton called it) kept changing. Sondland must have seen the writing on the wall, because he came into yesterday’s hearing ready to spill all the tea on Trump, on Mike Pompeo, on Mike Pence, on quid pro quo and everything else. His first hour of testimony was so damning that even Ken Starr said on Fox News that Trump is basically in deep sh-t.

There were a million memes & great tweets, but here are some of my favorites:

I had to do it. The Nunes face and expression demanded it. pic.twitter.com/ypULFzmGWQ

— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) November 20, 2019

pic.twitter.com/8d85EFB1l6

— Alex Blagg (@alexblagg) November 20, 2019

If all of that wasn’t bonkers enough, Donald Trump came out of the White House after his mysterious emergency hospital trip last weekend, and he sounded like an absolute madman. It’s because his comments to the press were written in Sharpie on a piece of paper he was holding:

Amazing WaPo photo by Salwan Georges. pic.twitter.com/MffQ8Tsn8l

— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) November 20, 2019

Donald Trump seized upon one particular bit of testimony from Gordon Sondland’s hearing today. The EU envoy testified that the president told him “I want nothing” from Ukraine, and “I want no quid pro quo.”

“That means it’s all over,” Trump told reportershttps://t.co/eYuiyBaqZe pic.twitter.com/JuJJNbIAyL

— POLITICO (@politico) November 20, 2019

Trump had latched onto one conversation Sondland recounted in his testimony, but the context here is that Trump told Sondland “I want nothing, I want nothing” on the same day the House opened up its investigation into the Ukrainian quid pro quo scheme. Meaning, Trump was trying to get his story straight with Sondland. So that bonkers little show yesterday was just further evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors!

Sondland showed up with RECEIPTS! #ImpeachmentHearing pic.twitter.com/t4aoFgRdg6

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) November 20, 2019

“Was there a quid pro quo? … The answer is yes.”

Boom. The pizzaz, it hurts. pic.twitter.com/44YT5Hn1jX

— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) November 20, 2019

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Isn’t it just like Ron Weasley to be out here stirring up sh-t? Rupert Grint, who played Ron in the Harry Potter films, is dropping some gossip gold on his notoriously private co-star, Emma Watson, implying that she and Tom Felton had, “a bit of a spark” while filming the franchise. Fresh off Emma telling the world she’s doesn’t consider herself single as much as “self-partnered,” Rupert suggested that once upon a time, Emma wanted to be Felton-partnered.

Rupert Grint is looking back at his years on the set of the Harry Potter franchise, and opening up about the off-screen “sparks” that flew between some of his fellow castmates.

Recently, Emma Watson spoke about being single in a cover story for British Vogue, where she said she prefers the term “self-partnered.”

Soon after, her Harry Potter co-star, Tom Felton, praised Watson and her term while speaking with MailOnline, and laughingly said, “I like it! It’s the first I’ve heard of it, but it’s great. I’m in the same category, to be honest with you, quite happily self-partnered.”

Grint, however, admits that he could see the two stars hitting it off, if that came to pass.

Grint laughingly said he didn’t want to stir up any drama or rumors, but admitted that there “were some sparks” indeed during their years together on set.

“But we were kids. It was like any kind of playground romance,” Grint added with a shrug. As for his time on set, he never really had any flirtations with his fellow co-stars. “I didn’t have any sparks. I was spark-free.”

[From ET]

“Grint laughingly said he didn’t want to stir up any drama or rumors,” oh come on – that’s exactly what he wanted to do. And bless him for it. Hermione lusting after Draco? The fictional wizarding gossip world lives for that kind of tea. Alas, it looks like it will stay as a long-extinguished spark. Tom and Emma apparently run into each other frequently because they live close by each other, so if they were ever going to get together, they’ve had plenty of opportunities. Interesting sidenote: in addition to living close to Emma, also in the neighborhood areBonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) and Matt Lewis (Neville Longbottom). Add that to Tom casually mentioning he’d just spoken to Daniel Radcliffe (I don’t need to reference this one, do I?) this week and it’s like Universal Studios be damned, I’m going to hang out in the Wizarding World of Nicholas Canyon! (Just FYI, I have no idea where these folks live. Please don’t flood Nicholas Canyon in Hogwarts robes carrying quidditch brooms.)

Maybe that’s why Rupert’s out here causing Potter-drama, he feels left out of the cul-de-sac crew. Oh well, he’s got much bigger issues to deal with in the new Apple TV series he promoting, Servant. I just watched the trailer and oh dear, it’s disturbing as hell. I have no idea who the psychopath is, it could be any of them. Don’t forget the baby doll. And a creepy, big-eyed baby doll at that. Did I mention it’s an M. Night Shyamalan project? However, good for Rupert. It’ll be nice to see him in such a different role. I know he’s worked steadily since Potter, but I hope this works out well for him. Maybe he can make enough cash to move into the Potter-de-sac with the rest of his friends. Of course, he might want to keep the floodlights on because Emma and Tom are going to TP his house for sure after these comments.

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A post shared by Emma Watson (@emmawatson) on Nov 8, 2018 at 7:01am PST

Photo credit: WENN Photos, Instagram and YouTube

Kirsten Dunst was apparently asked to “fix” her teeth for Spider-Man. She does have distinctive teeth. And what’s wrong with distinctive? Her teeth are cute. Sexy even. Super sexy in Marie Antoinette. I love her whole look in that film. But, of course, this goes back to the generic-ness that was onc…

Kirsten Dunst was apparently asked to “fix” her teeth for Spider-Man. She does have distinctive teeth. And what’s wrong with distinctive? Her teeth are cute. Sexy even. Super sexy in Marie Antoinette. I love her whole look in that film. But, of course, this goes back to the generic-ness that was onc…

Kirsten Dunst was apparently asked to “fix” her teeth for Spider-Man. She does have distinctive teeth. And what’s wrong with distinctive? Her teeth are cute. Sexy even. Super sexy in Marie Antoinette. I love her whole look in that film. But, of course, this goes back to the generic-ness that was onc…

Kirsten Dunst was apparently asked to “fix” her teeth for Spider-Man. She does have distinctive teeth. And what’s wrong with distinctive? Her teeth are cute. Sexy even. Super sexy in Marie Antoinette. I love her whole look in that film. But, of course, this goes back to the generic-ness that was onc…

Kirsten Dunst was apparently asked to “fix” her teeth for Spider-Man. She does have distinctive teeth. And what’s wrong with distinctive? Her teeth are cute. Sexy even. Super sexy in Marie Antoinette. I love her whole look in that film. But, of course, this goes back to the generic-ness that was onc…