Some days, I just love how extra Beyonce is. It’s not enough that Queen B deigned to lend her voice to The Lion King. It’s not enough that she sang a new song for the soundtrack. It’s not enough that she’s front and center for all of the promotional materials. It’s not even enough that she’s creating a new African-music-infused album adjacent to The Lion King’s release. No, she also had to go to Africa to film the music video for the new single, “Spirit,” and she had to bring dozens of dancers and dozens of costume changes and y’all know she brought her wind machine to the Serengeti too. Behold, the music video for “Spirit.”

As I said last week, I actually like the song. Is it the best bop ever? No, but that’s not what it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be Lion King-themed and sort of spiritual too. And it’s nice. The video is SO over-the-top though, I love it. How many costume changes did she have? How many new dances did she work on? Was Blue Ivy’s hair only temporarily dyed? That waterfall was CGI, right? Anyway, I love it. Give her the Oscar! Seriously, I hope Beyonce is nominated for Best Song and I hope she wins. And I hope she decides that next year’s Oscars should be presented in Tanzania, just so can perform the song as intended.

Update: So it looks like she filmed this in Arizona? ALL of it? Or just parts of it? Oh well, I’m not changing it!

Screencaps courtesy of ‘Spirit’.

Dear Gossips,

As Duana wrote yesterday in her post about the Emmy nominations, there’s very little to complain about because this is where we are now, “the Emmys now IS the big show” or, rather, television is the big show. It’s not a matter of snubs, it’s a matter of bounty. Quality programming …

Kaiser alerted me to this story last week about Simon Cowell losing weight and I skipped it because I don’t really care about him. He seems like he has a massive ego, although it probably helps to be that way if you want to become as successful as he is. He can be kind on America’s Got Talent, he’s not always an a-hole I guess. Anyway Simon repeated this story in an interview with Extra [via Hello!] so we may as well talk about it. He said he went to some guy who did some unspecified blood work and told him he needed to give up gluten, dairy, meat, and sugar. He did and of course he lost weight because he was eating less.

Simon Cowell has been making some major changes to his lifestyle over the last few years, which has seen the America’s Got Talent star lose an impressive 20Ibs. [He] was pictured earlier in the month looking noticeably slimmer, following his decision to cut out red meat, dairy, sugar, bread and gluten from his diet. The star was advised to do so by a specialist, who also told him to cut down on the amount of alcohol he had been consuming. He told Extra: “I went to see this guy who’s very well-known. And he said to me, after doing some blood work, ‘You can’t have red meat, dairy, sugar, bread or gluten.”

The X Factor judge admitted that cutting down on his alcohol consumption had been a challenge at first. He revealed that he had asked the doctor for guidance on his drinking, and was told: “‘Maybe not quite as much as you had before.’ And I did it and I stuck to it and it’s easy,” Simon added. The star’s son Eric has also been inspiring his new lifestyle, with Simon joking that he was on the same diet as his little boy: “Apart from ice cream, he actually likes water, and eats all his raw vegetables. I’m on the Eric Cowell diet.”

[From Hello!]

I understand going on elimination diets to figure out what may be causing digestive problems. A lot of doctors suggest that. However it doesn’t sound like Simon went to a doctor, it sounds like he went to a naturopath or another non-MD (I know some naturopaths are MDs) who did some kind of quacky “nutritional blood analysis” and then just told him to cut all these things out of his diet. I know about this because I almost fell for it years ago. I don’t care too much if he does that, but I really dislike it when people tout extreme diets. Dieting is math. If you eat less than you burn you’ll lose weight. You don’t have to give up all your favorite things to lose weight! Too many people think of dieting as going to extremes and either don’t bother to do it, or do it for a while and can’t keep it up because it’s too hard not to eat regular food. You can eat what you usually do, just less. That’s all a diet is.

Also, this dude skeeves me out. He needs to close his shirt.

In March:

Photos credit: WENN and Backgrid

View this post on Instagram

This evening, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended #TheLionKing European premiere in London at the Odeon Theatre. In celebration of the film’s release, The Walt Disney Company announced #ProtectThePride, a global conservation campaign to support efforts protecting the rapidly diminishing lion population across Africa. As a part of their commitment to this cause, Disney also made a donation to The Duke of Sussex’s upcoming environment & community initiative which will be formally announced this autumn. The Duke and Duchess are committed to advancing conservation efforts across Africa and around the world, and working with communities to ensure a sustainable future for the planet. This evening Their Royal Highnesses had the pleasure of meeting the cast and creative team behind the film, as well as supporters of @africanparksnetwork, of which The Duke is President. Photo credit: PA images / Getty images – Chris Jackson

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jul 14, 2019 at 2:24pm PDT

Time Magazine has compiled their now-annual list of “the 25 most influential people on the internet.” When the meteor comes, at least we’ll have spent our last moments on earth evaluating people’s influence online, right? No, it’s just… whatever, a listicle on the internet to show who’s important and buzzy on the internet. The reason why this year’s list is getting so much attention is because Time Magazine included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Other influential internet people include (according to Time): Donald Trump, BTS, Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Lil Nas X, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, James Charles, Yashar Ali and Jameela Jamil. You can see the full list here. Here’s the Sussex writeup:

The British royal family is a notoriously tight-knit institution. So when Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, launched an independent social media account on Instagram in April, @SussexRoyal, it was bound to make waves. The handle reached 1 million followers in its first six hours, a platform record. (It’s since accrued 9.1 million.) While baby photos are among @SussexRoyal’s draws, most posts are dedicated to the pair’s work as royals. Each month, in an effort to highlight advocates and organizations focusing on issues such as climate change and mental health awareness, the account rotates the users it follows—a savvy strategy that has driven headlines. The Sussexes’ forward-thinking, cause-oriented approach to social media fits neatly with other ways they are establishing their identity beyond the crown. In June, the palace confirmed that the couple will be departing the Royal Foundation, which was started by Prince Harry and Prince William in 2009, to launch their own, separate charitable organization.

[From Time]

Basically, Meg and Harry made the list because they’re good at Instagram. Which is legit – they ARE good at Instagram. They’re so good at Instagram that even Kensington Palace has taken note and started not-so-subtly copying parts of the Sussexes’ social media strategy. Meaning, the Sussexes are affecting change on several different levels – they’re actually raising money for charity and drawing attention to more organizations AND they’re changing the way the Future King And Future Queen approach their jobs and their presence online too.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Avalon Red, Backgrid.

To my knowledge, Chris Pratt has never come out and said “I’m an Evangelical Christian and I support Donald Trump.” He talks about his Christian faith in interviews more and more these days, and when he does make a political remark, it’s usually sympathetic to “conservative” politics or talking points. I have no idea if he’s the kind of guy who votes straight Republican and listens to Rush Limbaugh. I tend to think he usually votes for Republicans, and he’s the kind of guy who lowkey wishes there were more white dudes in power, and that the message of “make America great again” does appeal to him on some level. Why am I talking about this? Because Chris Pratt was photographed looking like this:

pic.twitter.com/u9vDDar24G

— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) July 15, 2019

Chris’s t-shirt is a variation on the Gadsden flag, with the snake and “Don’t Tread On Me.” The origin of the Gadsden flag dates back to the Revolutionary War. Over the years, it’s been adopted and co-opted by other groups and movements and even by the armed forces. It’s been seen and used a lot in the past decade because it was co-opted by “Tea Party” Republicans, and whenever I see those Don’t Tread On Me bumper stickers or license plates now, the truck or SUV usually has a MAGA sticker and/or a Trump sticker too. Which means that people can draw the clear line: Tea Party => Republican => Donald Trump => MAGA => white supremacist.

Does it follow that Chris Pratt is sending that quiet dog whistle to white supremacists that he’s one of them? Is it a dog-whistle that he’s a Trump supporter/nouveau Tea Partier? I don’t know. As quickly as gossip/news outlets picked up on his t-shirt and tried to decipher its meaning, the conservatives/white-supremacists online also picked up on it and started shouting about how “the libs” are dumb for making the association. Which says that those MAGA peeps absolutely recognize Pratt as one of their own.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This past weekend, Donald Trump tweeted a vile, racist attack on four American congresswomen. He told the four women of color – three of whom were born in America – to go back to their countries. People pretended to be shocked, because it’s apparently breaking news that Donald Trump is an unhinged racist, a nativist, a white supremacist, a bully and a misogynist. Oh wait, we’ve known all of that for years. As I said in my initial coverage, the tweets were written in a certain way which led me to believe that someone was tweeting for Trump, because the phrasing of the tweets was not what he would use. Meaning, there were people on his staff who cosigned Trump’s racist attacks on four congresswomen and those staffers helped him attack those women.

In the days that followed, Trump has been happy to make this is the dominant conversation, and you know why? He loves to stir up his racist, white supremacist base. Not only has he tweeted more unhinged, racist sh-t, he’s directed his staff to, like, create talking points about his racist attack and go out and give public statements justifying his words. Which is how we got Kellyanne Conway standing outside the White House, giving a half-assed press conference. At some point, Kellyanne turned to journalist Andrew Feinberg and this happened:

Feinberg, a reporter for the website BeltwayBreakfast.com, asked the White House counselor which countries President Donald Trump was referring to when he suggested Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar—all U.S. citizens—should “go back” to where they came from. Instead of answering that question, Conway asked him, “What’s your ethnicity?”

“Uh… why is that relevant?” Feinberg asked before Conway interrupted him to say, “Because I’m asking you a question.”

After Conway shares that her ancestors are from Ireland and Italy, the reporter said, “My ethnicity is not relevant to the question I’m asking you.”

Conway still would not answer Feinberg’s question, instead insisting that he question was relevant because Trump said “originally” from—he didn’t—and going on a rant about how “a lot of us are sick and tired in this country of America coming last,” echoing comments she made on Fox News earlier in the day about the “Squad” representing a “dark underbelly in this country.”

Reached for comment, Feinberg told The Daily Beast, “It’s not the first time she’s responded to one of my questions with an irrelevant question, but this time was particularly bizarre.”

[From The Daily Beast]

The argument Conway and Trump are making is clear to those neo-Nazis listening – Conway and Trump are saying that the reason America is doing poorly is because of all the brown and black people. They’ve always said that if you speak dog-whistle racist or explicit racist. As for “what’s your ethnicity?” – again, they’re setting it up so that anyone who criticizes them or questions them will be shown to have “bias” because those critics/journalists are Jewish/Hispanic/black/Asian, etc. Pretty soon the White House’s official policy will be “only white male Christian journalists allowed at makeshift press conferences.” Pretty soon, the pressers will just be Lindsay Graham yodeling while Kellyanne wears a swastika t-shirt.

It’s even more shocking when you see the video:

During a tense exchange over Pres. Trump’s tweets, Kellyanne Conway asked a reporter, “What’s your ethnicity?”

“My own ethnicity is not relevant to the question I’m asking,” the reporter replied.

“This was meant with no disrespect,” Conway later tweeted. https://t.co/4qH8sSryxi pic.twitter.com/0ICKKNgNk5

— ABC News (@ABC) July 16, 2019

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

I am OBSESSED with the Hustlers trailer. I suspect I’ll be obsessed with the movie too. What a great real-life situation to turn into a movie. Hustlers is based on the true story of a gang of Manhattan strippers who decide to basically rob their high-end clients circa 2007-08. It really is that simple. This New York Magazine article was the jumping off point. The cast is fantastic and it looks great – funny and dramatic and maybe a little sad too. The cast included Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart (who looks so much like Brittany Murphy it’s scary), Cardi B, Lizzo and Julia Stiles. Here’s the first trailer:

I love it when J.Lo plays a smart working-class woman who hustles to get ahead. That’s like half of her IMDB page. But doesn’t this look good? I can already tell that Constance Wu’s bangs will be distracting, but they’re supposed to look that way. There’s not much Cardi B in the trailer, and I wonder if she has a real supporting part or it’s more like an extended cameo. It would be weird if she didn’t have a real supporting role, considering she was a real stripper and she really did drug men and steal from them. Like, she could have written this script.

Photos courtesy of ‘Hustlers’, Backgrid.

Spoilers for season one of 13 Reasons Why follow
When 13 Reasons Why debuted on Netflix two years ago, it was subject to intense criticism due to its treatment of suicide. The scene that provoked the most outcry, understandably, was the one in which main character, high school student Hannah Baker, dies by suicide. Hannah left 13 cassette tapes for explaining why she made the choice to end her life. (You can see some scenes from that here, trigger warning.)

Selena Gomez, an executive producer of the show, along with other cast and crew members, addressed the controversy. Netflix worked to proactively address the concern that the series might be glorifying suicide by including pre-episode warnings and by creating a website, 13ReasonsWhy.info, to provide resources. Netflix also created a half-hour special, Beyond the Reasons, which features interviews with the cast and crew and with mental health professionals who discuss the topics that inform the series. Following continued criticism, Netflix added more warnings to the beginnings of several episodes, including those that depict rape and Hannah’s death.

Though crew members (and 13 Reasons Why author Jay Asher) defended the inclusion of the scene depicting Hannah’s suicide in the final episode of the first season, Netflix has removed the scene. Engadget has more:

If you decide to rewatch the first season of 13 Reasons Why, don’t expect to see the controversial three-minute-long scene showing Hanna taking her own life in graphic detail. Netflix and the team behind the show have decided to tone down that part of the episode ahead of the third season’s debut and following advice from medical experts. In an announcement posted on Twitter, the team said they’re aware of the ongoing debate surrounding the show and have heard concerns about that scene in particular from Dr. Christine Moutier at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and other experts.

[From Endgadget]

The show’s official Twitter account tweeted two statements, including one from show creator, Brian Yorkey, about the decision to remove the scene:

A statement from our show creator Brian Yorkey. pic.twitter.com/J6XiD9LVkU

— 13 Reasons Why (@13ReasonsWhy) July 16, 2019

Engadget also discusses studies that have been conducted to examine the show’s potential impact on people’s decisions to die by suicide. The National Institute of Mental Health found “a 28.9 percent increase in suicide rate among people ages 10 to 17 in April 2017, a month after the series began streaming.” This of course doesn’t prove causation. Numerous mental health organizations and advocates support Netflix’s decision. Some, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and American School Counselor Association, have issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“We support the decision to edit the scene in which Hannah takes her own life from 13 Reasons Why. There has been much debate about the series in the medical community. But this positive change will ensure that 13 Reasons Why continues to encourage open conversation about mental health and suicide prevention — while also mitigating the risk for the most vulnerable teenage viewers.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I’m glad that Netflix removed the scene and is supporting viewers with mental health struggles, and people who have lost loved to suicide. I’m sure that viewers are divided about the choice. I understood why Netflix included the scene initially, but as the above mental health professionals point out, removing the scene is “a positive step.” As they note, the most important action we can take is having open and honest discussions concerning mental health and suicide prevention. We can support people with mental illnesses and fight the stigma.

If you are in the United States and are in crisis and in immediate need of assistance, text HOME to 741741 for confidential assistance 24/7 (http://www.crisistextline.org). You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255 (http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org).

In Canada, text HOME to 686868 (Crisis Text Line).

In the United Kingdom, call Samaritans, 116 123 (free)
(http://www.samaritans.org).

If you are in another country, please visit https://13reasonswhy.info/ to find contact information for national crisis groups.

photos credit: Beth Dubber/Netflix press

Embed from Getty Images

I’ve said this for months, but it’s practically a mantra at this point: the British press has set it up so that they can criticize the Duchess of Sussex coming or going. If she – and she alone! – had decided to raise Archie as Prince Archie, there would have been cries of “she doesn’t know her place!” and “the Cambridge kids are more important!” If she chose to stay at home with Archie for three months of maternity leave with no public appearances, that would have been criticized too, because how dare she NOT work, the taxpayers, etc. And on and on. Of course it wears on her. The system has been designed to wear on her. But if she ever admits that it wears on her, lord help us. Well, she admitted it in an oblique way, while she briefly spoke to Pharrell Williams on the red carpet of The Lion King:

Life in the public eye isn’t always easy for Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry met a number of celebrities on Sunday night during their appearance at The Lion King premiere in London, including Grammy winner Pharrell Williams, who produced many of the songs on the live-action remake’s soundtrack. Williams took the opportunity to congratulate the royal couple on their relationship.

“So happy for your union,” the 46-year-old musician and producer is heard saying in a video of the exchange from ITV. “Love is amazing. It’s wonderful. Don’t ever take that for granted, but what it means in today’s climate, I just wanted to tell you, it’s so significant for so many of us. Seriously. It’s significant. We cheer you guys on.”

“Thank you,” Meghan responded. “They don’t make it easy” — a possible reference to the criticism the couple has faced in the U.K. media about their decision to raise their two-month-old son Archie as a “private citizen.”

In another video of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex greeting members of the movie’s cast — including Billy Eichner, who was spotted hilariously preparing his greeting to the royal couple — Meghan was heard saying, “It’s a date night for us,” while smiling up at her husband.

[From People]

“I just wanted to tell you, it’s so significant for so many of us. Seriously. It’s significant. We cheer you guys on.” And the reply: “They don’t make it easy.” That’s not about Archie. Or should I say, it’s not JUST about Archie. It’s mostly about how she and Harry are treated as white man and a black woman, because that’s what Pharrell was saying to her: in the community, we love seeing a beautiful and proud black woman as a duchess, we love that you’re not part of the white establishment, the colonizers. And Meghan’s response was basically “they don’t make it easy to be black in this country.” That’s my interpretation anyway, I’m sure a lot of people are about to shout at me.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.

My mom has been in the hospital for the past week, so I totally forgot that the Emmy nominations were coming out on Tuesday. It’s weird too, because I was really looking forward to seeing how many nominations Game of Thrones’ final season would get in the end. As it turns out, A LOT. The Television Academy was more than happy to give sweeping nominations to GoT actors across the board, in supporting and lead categories. As for the rest… a lot of expected noms, although some has got to explain how the bonkers fourth season of Billions didn’t get any acting nominations, and it’s missing from the Best Drama shortlist too! BOO! You can see the full list of nominations here. The biggest categories:

Outstanding Comedy Series
Barry
Fleabag
The Good Place
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
Veep

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bodyguard
Game of Thrones
Killing Eve
Ozark
Pose
Succession
This Is Us

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Billy Porter, Pose
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Alfie Allen, Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Chris Sullivan, This Is Us

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gwendoline Christie, Game of Thrones
Julia Garner, Ozark
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Fiona Shaw, Fleabag
Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Mahershala Ali, True Detective
Benicio Del Toro, Escape at Dannemora
Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal
Jared Harris, Chernobyl
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Sam Rockwell, Fosse/Verdon

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Amy Adams, Sharp Objects
Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora
Joey King, The Act
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Aunjenaue Ellis, When They See Us
Niecy Nash, When They See Us

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Bill Hader, Barry
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

[From People]

I am SO happy for Alfie Allen, I don’t even have words. Apparently, HBO didn’t even put any money or thought behind getting Alfie or Gwendoline Christie nominated, so they put themselves up for nominations and they got them! I would love it if Alfie won, wouldn’t you? He was one of the best actors on the show. Everyone’s jazzed about the Fosse/Verdon nominations, as they should be because Sam Rockwell & Michelle Williams killed it in those roles. And of course, people are excited for Amy Adams, although ten bucks says she loses. Who are your faves?!?

Notable snubs: Julia Roberts didn’t get nominated for Homecoming (lol), Richard Madden didn’t get anything for Bodyguard (boo), and the Emmys decided not to give the primary cast members of The Big Bang Theory any acting nominations for their final season (lol).

Photos courtesy of HBO.