There are several stories going around these days, all with the same undercurrent of “how dare she?!” This is one of those stories – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been exiled to Frogmore Cottage, which is within the Windsor Castle property, which is a publicly owned property like Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace. As such, taxpayers pay for the renovations on those kinds of publicly-owned properties. Frogmore Cottage was in bad shape when the Queen “gave” it to the Sussexes, and an extensive renovation was fast-tracked so that it could be ready by the time Baby Archie arrived. The reno took longer than expected – they always do – but the Sussexes were able to move in a few weeks before Meghan gave birth. Still, there’s more work to do. Just because the reno was “done enough” for them to move in, doesn’t mean the reno is done! Thus, we get these kinds of stories:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex want the taxpayer to fork out for fresh renovation work at their new home. Harry and Meghan, who are believed to have charged taxpayers around half of the estimated £3million bill to convert Frogmore Cottage in Windsor Great Park, have applied for planning permission to further upgrade the five-bed house. The couple moved into the Grade II-listed building, previously used to house royal staff, in April ahead of the birth of their son, on May 6. Now Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, want listed-building consent for more work on the exterior, including to the doors, windows and walls.

They also want to undertake work on an outbuilding, install lighting in the garden and carry out landscaping in the house’s extensive grounds. A source said: “The Duchess is very involved in the project and wanted the final design to be perfect for them and Archie so they have called the builders back again to sort some parts of the build out. But this is not all. The couple are now looking at finishing off their garden to make it perfect for them and Archie. Lighting is a key part of the scheme not just to make the garden pretty but also for security reasons.”

The bill for refurbishing Frogmore Cottage has not been revealed but the portion picked up by the taxpayer up until March 31 is expected to be included in the Royal Family’s annual financial report next month. Work after March 31 will be in the following year’s report, but only if it is above £350,000. Buckingham Palace declined to comment but the Daily Express understands that the latest work on the exterior will be paid for from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant and the landscaping will be paid for privately.

[From The Daily Express]

Yes, it’s all Meghan’s fault that… she wants further work done to a property which was nearly derelict just seven months ago. I mean, sure, it seems like a waste of taxpayer money, but it *always* seems like a waste of money no matter which royal we’re talking about. William and Kate had a fast-tracked renovation of Kensington Palace’s Apartment 1, and then they just let it sit there, barely in use, for several years as they lived full-time in Norfolk. It was there in Norfolk that they also did a massive renovation on Anmer Hall, and that was NOT taxpayer-funded, because Anmer sits on the Sandringham estate, and Sandringham is “privately owned” by the Queen. Still, Will and Kate didn’t pay for the reno on Anmer – the Queen and Charles picked up the bill. My point? Harry and Meghan are basically doing the same kind of sh-t the Cambridges did, only their renovations and updates are to a smaller property and they’re cheaper than what the Cambridges had done to their homes.

But really, this is all just an excuse for people to continue to police “Meghan’s spending,” because how dare SHE spend money or have nice things or wear designer clothes or use a friend’s private plane or live a renovated home, right?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.

This exclusive story in The Sun is from Simon Boyle’s Bizarre Column. The Sun has been one of those outlets with very iffy and shady exclusives, all of them pro-Brad Pitt. The thing is, The Sun does that thing of gilding the lily – they take a somewhat believable gossip story and twist it until it becomes utterly useless. The nugget of gossip that I’ll believe is that Brad Pitt is mad that his divorce from Angelina Jolie hasn’t been finalized yet, especially as we’re nearing the three-year anniversary of Angelina ghosting him and dropping divorce papers on him. If that was the story – Brad’s mad, he wants this to be over – I would shrug and say that it sounds about right. What I don’t believe is that Brad’s mad and that Angelina is purposefully slow-walking the divorce because she wants to reunite with him. That’s some fantasy bullsh-t.

It has been almost three years since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt – and it could be another three till it finally goes through. I can exclusively reveal Brad and his legal team have gone to new lengths to get Angelina to sign the papers after stalling the process. The A-list Hollywood actor has asked his lawyers to get a judge to impose a final date or face being fined.

A source close to Brad said: “He has been incredibly patient throughout the divorce process despite being pushed to his limits on many occasions. But he’s finally had enough, and while he is a relatively calm person, he can only be pushed so far. He’s sick and tired of Ange constantly moving the goal posts and stalling their divorce month after month — painfully dragging out the process which he now feels has become almost a game for Angelina. Brad has instructed his legal team to seek help from the judge to impose a deadline for Ange to finalise the divorce — imposing a financial sanction if she fails to adhere to the date given by the judge.”

The Sun revealed in April that Angelina was trying to delay the process in a bid to win Brad back. But he turned her down in favour of trying to keep things harmonious for the sake of their six children. A court then issued a bifurcated judgement, which means the pair are legally single as they hash out the details of their divorce.

The source added: “Brad’s never been one for ultimatums. But he’s spent the past two-and-a-half years dealing with the ending of his marriage and he just wants to put an end to it all for good. He wants to move on with his life and stop having the divorce hanging over his head.”

[From The Sun]

Brad and Angelina’s divorce status was bifurcated back in March, which means they are somewhat “single,” legally. Back in December of last year, they reached a custodial agreement, which I believe (still) just extends to the four youngest children. What’s left? The money. The financial part of the divorce, which we haven’t heard much about in months. Back in November of last year, Angelina notified the court that she turned over all of her financial information to Brad and his legal team. We have never gotten confirmation that Brad has made similar disclosures to her team. That’s what’s left in their divorce proceedings, figuring out the money, figuring out the child support and spousal support and whether Angelina will get a structured divorce settlement. That’s my take on this suspicious piece from the Sun – I mean, Brad keeps smearing Angelina for no reason, except maybe the reason is that he’s the one holding sh-t up because he hasn’t made a disclosure to her team about his finances, and he’s fighting her on spousal support and that stuff. Just a theory. Because I truly don’t believe Angelina is pining away for him or hoping for a reunion.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, Avalon Red.

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The Carters are in the building ?

A post shared by Golden State Warriors (@warriors) on Jun 5, 2019 at 7:40pm PDT

As we discussed yesterday, Beyonce and Jay-Z attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals. They sat courtside, and they happened to be seated next to Joe Lacob and his wife Nicole Curran. Lacob owns the Golden State Warriors, one of the most successful franchises of the NBA. None of that was the point though. The point of the story was that Nicole and Beyonce were seated beside each other and Nicole leaned over Beyonce to talk to Jay-Z. ESPN posted a very short clip of the LEAN IN, and the Beyhive was convinced that Beyonce seemed uncomfortable with Curran leading over her to speak to Jay. This discomfort was seemingly confirmed when, after Curran’s lean, Beyonce sort of bumped Curran’s shoulder to get her out of her space. Plus, the look on Beyonce’s face was just… classic.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are courtside for Game 3 ? pic.twitter.com/6mmJuN8Odn

— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2019

So the whole thing became A THING and the Beyhive pounced, as they are wont to do. To be clear, 99.9% of the time, the Beyhive “pounces” by… sending bee emojis and making Becky jokes. That’s what I saw in the hours following The Lean: Curran’s Instagram comments were flooded with bee emojis:

I stay up at night wondering if a single human on this planet will ever love me as much as the Beyhive loves Beyonce pic.twitter.com/rf0ROKrtGp

— KB (@KaraRBrown) June 6, 2019

Yall the BeyHive is CARRYING on Nicole Curran’s Instagram ?????? #Beyonce #NicoleCurran pic.twitter.com/4UZyA5cqjc

— Raffy Regulus the Enbydexterous (@raffy_regulus) June 6, 2019

It happens literally all the time. The Beyhive monitors their queen and jumps to her defense constantly. They are hyper-vigilant. They swarm and bee-emoji attack the likes of Kid Rock and Tamera Mowry-Housley and they still have their eye on Becky With the Good Hair. But I guess Nicole Curran has never been swarmed before. She tried to do damage control by posting this to her Instagram:

When I saw that IG yesterday, she had already disabled the comments so that post would not be swarmed with bee-emojis and skulls. It was a bad photo to use, right? Because it’s another photo where Curran seems to be invading Beyonce’s personal space. Anyway, at some point on Thursday, Curran just deactivated her social media accounts and then she ended up pleading with the Beyhive to leave her alone:

Just spoke to Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, about the “incident “ with Beyoncé last night. She was in tears. Said she had been getting death threats on social media all night this morning she disabled her IG account just to make it stop.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019

Curran said she had no idea anything was even amiss until she got home and started seeing texts from friends and checked her social media. She’s invited Jay Z and Beyoncé to the game 3-4 times before. Last night she says she asked if they wanted drinks. Beyoncé asked for water

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019

Curran says Jay Z asked for a vodka soda. She asked if he wanted lime with that. But it was loud in Oracle and she couldn’t hear, so she leaned over. That’s where the photos of Beyoncé looking askance at her come from.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019

Curran says she then went to go get them those drinks. “There was no hostility. I was trying to be a good hostess,” she said. “I’ve never experienced cyber bullying like this. I can’t believe our players go through this. That kids go through this.“

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019

Do you buy this or nah? I think Curran was definitely shocked by the reaction of the Hive, and I think what happened to her definitely constitutes cyberbullying. I also buy that whatever was happening in that clip was probably pretty innocent in Curran’s mind, although I’m still analyzing Beyonce’s body language, you know? The thing is, I feel like this situation just could have been something fun and funny, like “OMFG did you see Beyonce give a little shoulder-bump to the woman who leaned over her?” and then it turned into something really rough.

Also: there were a lot of people wondering why Beyonce hasn’t said anything directly about this situation, but I don’t think it’s particularly notable that Bey hasn’t released anything in her own name – she rarely, if ever, does that. Bey rarely speaks on behalf of Bey. What she did do was authorize her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure to post an Instagram message reading: “I am looking back today at the start of The OTRII tour, one year ago. It was a place of joy, unimaginable entertainment from two of the best performers in the world, and a place of love. Every single day on that tour I saw love. Which is why I also want to speak here to the beautiful BeyHive. I know your love runs deep but that love has to be given to every human. It will bring no joy to the person you love so much if you spew hate in her name. We love you.” Basically: we love how much you love Queen B but you guys have to chill.

Nicole Curran says she’s getting death threats over viral Beyoncé photo https://t.co/xlWADzu9nt pic.twitter.com/KmLibPFcCQ

— Page Six (@PageSix) June 6, 2019

Beyonce & Jay-Z are taking in some #NBAFinals action. ?

(?: @nba) pic.twitter.com/z5yaC7CIir

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 6, 2019

Photos courtesy of social media.

Sophie Turner is promoting Dark Phoenix, which represents the end of an era for the current X-Men franchise. After this, the X-Men will be folded into the Marvel Comic Universe at Disney. And my guess is that we’ll be getting an entirely new cast and reboot in a few years. But for now, let’s enjoy the last outing for this particular crew, I guess. Sophie plays the young Jean Grey, the “Dark Phoenix,” and… I don’t know, why not? Sophie covers the latest issue of Porter Edit to promote the film, but of course she talks a lot about Game of Thrones as well. This interview was conducted just after Sophie eloped in Las Vegas with Joe Jonas, and after Game of Thrones ended. You can read the piece here. Some highlights:

On her Vegas wedding: “I don’t know if I feel like a wife yet. I don’t know how I feel. I mean, I feel good, obviously. But it happened so recently that I’m just kind of floating at the moment.”

She wanted the Vegas wedding to be a secret: “Maybe not forever. I think at some point I would have had to stop saying ‘fiancé’, but yes, I would have kept it a secret. Marriage is a private thing between two people and I think that’s how it should always be. It’s not about the dress, it’s not about the food. It’s about being husband and wife, and being dedicated to each other forever.”

Living in the pap-friendly Nolita area of New York: “I’ve learned to accept the fact that if it’s my worst-dressed day, they’ll probably catch me, and I’m okay with that. There’s this expectation for actresses to look good all the time, which is not what being an actress should be. It should be about playing a role. So why should all actresses have to be stick-thin and look beautiful all the time?” It’s a problem on-screen too, she believes. “Every director is like: ‘We really have to fall in love with this character.’ Why does the audience have to fall in love with her? What if she’s a serial killer? F**k that s**t.”

On Jean Grey’s mutant powers: “There are very clear mental health undertones to it. There’s a loss of control over her mind and her powers, representative of schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder and addiction.” The theme has particular poignance for Turner, who has spoken openly about her own struggles with anxiety and depression, and who is passionate about destigmatizing mental health problems. “The first step to any kind of movement is just to put it out there, talk about it and make it less of a taboo so that people can go and get help and not feel embarrassed to do so. People feel so much shame about it, so if, by talking about it, I can even have an impact on one person, that would be awesome.”

The British still have a long way to go with discussing mental health: “My parents are still like, ‘Why do you go to therapy?’ and I’m like, ‘Because I’m depressed, remember?’ It’s a very British thing – that idea you should just get on with it, ‘chin up’. Therapy is seen as a bit self-indulgent, a bit soft. But therapy and medication have helped me immeasurably.”

She’s happy with the end of Game of Thrones: “When I read that script, I was so happy – it feels like the most perfect ending for Sansa. Having gone through everything she has, it’s the most positive outcome, and it feels right for her. She’s so capable now, she’ll be an incredible ruler in the North… The Starks really came out on top. It’s like that line of Sansa’s from season seven: ‘The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.’ I love that line. I had it tattooed on my arm long before we knew the ending.”

[From Porter Edit]

When I think about the Game of Thrones, I still get upset – yes, Sansa got what she wanted, but at what f–king cost? Mostly I absolutely loathed everything to do with Tyrion, but I’m not going to keep going on and on about it. *rage screams into pillow* As for the rest of it, I admire her openness about her mental health and it’s interesting what she says about the British “chin up” attitude. That’s what the Cambridges and Sussexes have been trying to address in their various mental health campaigns. It feels like Sophie would be a natural celebrity patroness of something to do with one of those campaigns – I wonder if she’s ever been asked? As for the Vegas wedding to Joe Jonas… I mean, it is what it is. I hope they’re happy, truly.

Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of Porter Edit.

This week has bizarrely been about the slow-burning breakup of Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk. Before this week, we could go months without hearing anything about Irina and Bradley, and then suddenly this week there were multiple exclusives in Page Six, E!, Us Weekly and The Sun about how their relationship was completely on the rocks and they were hanging on by a thread. Well, this week has been brutal for them, I guess? The Sun reported last night that Irina has moved out of the Pacific Palisades home she shared with Bradley (it was his home, he owns it). A source told The Sun: “Things are cooling off between Bradley and Irina in a big way. They haven’t been good for a few months and Irina decided it would be best if she moved into her own place. It’s not looking like there’s much long left for the two of them together.” And then after that, People Magazine confirmed that the split was really here:

Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk have split after four years of dating, PEOPLE confirms. Cooper, 44, and Shayk, 33, have officially decided to end their relationship and are amicably working out how to share custody of their daughter Lea De Seine, who they welcomed in March 2017, an insider tells PEOPLE.

Representatives for the former couple did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. The Oscar-nominated actor and the supermodel began dating in the spring of 2015.

[From People]

As I’ve said in my previous coverage, I already know that I’m Team Shayk. She seems cool, and I don’t buy that she was some impossible diva who hated Bradley’s quiet lifestyle or whatever. I think it was more a case of… she fell in love, had a baby, hoped for the best, hoped to eventually marry Bradley, but she discovered that he’s really just all about himself. I hope she has a good support system and I hope she and Lea are safe and happy.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

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It took me forever and a day to get the gist of exactly what Trooping the Colour was all about – a parade and plane-show for the Queen’s fake-ass birthday – and now I have to learn what a whole new thing is? WTF is Beating Retreat? Apparently, it’s a thing. It’s a thing that happens two days before Trooping the Colour. It’s a thing which is sort of a military parade, with some fireworks thrown in. Sometimes the Queen attends, sometimes she asks someone else to attend in her place, like Prince Charles or William or Harry. This year, she asked… the Duchess of Cambridge. And Kate actually looked like she had some fun with it. I guess this is why Kate couldn’t attend the D-Day event with William earlier in the day (sidenote: it’s actually completely possible that she could have attended both events, considering the, like, seven-hour staggered start-times, but whatever.)

For this event, Kate looked really great. It always feel so refreshing to see her in a clean and modern silhouette, in a coat which isn’t slathered in buttons, ruffles, peplums, butterfly collars, mini-capes or puffy shoulders. This Catherine Walker coat is a repeat, but something she hasn’t worn in years – we first saw this during the Cambridges’ Canadian trip in 2016. I truly have no memory of it, but I wish it was a coat we had seen more of. She paired it with one of her favorite pairs of earrings, the Cassandra Goad Cavolfiore Pearl Stud Earrings, which I always thought were super-fake but it turns out they retail for like $5000. She also wore her shamrock brooch, which usually only gets worn for her St. Patrick’s Day trip to the Irish Guards. Seeing out of the St. Patrick’s Day groove is… odd. Maybe she just thought it would look nice with the coat.

Also: for those of us wondering just how William and Kate got out of doing a bunch of events with the Trumps, apparently they scheduled a “private meeting” with some people from The Royal Foundation on Tuesday, the morning after the state banquet. Very convenient, that was absolutely the ONLY time for a private meeting, I’m sure!

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

Best day of my life! I get to marry my best friend!! ?????????

A post shared by Brittany Pattakos (@brittanypattakos) on Jun 3, 2019 at 2:36pm PDT

I know Paul Nassif, 56, from the first season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, when he was married to castmember Adrienne Maloof, 57. He’s a plastic surgeon and they would show him at his office as did work on the other housewives, like Botox or lip injections. He used to bicker with Adrienne constantly, which was uncomfortable to watch, and they separated in 2012. He started doing the show Botched on E! In 2014, which is still running and is now what he’s known for. Anyway he’s engaged to a woman less than half his age and he wants kids with her. He has three teenage sons with Adrienne, Gavin 16, and twins Christian and Collin, 13. His 27 year-old wife could help him become a dad again soon. At least that’s the plan. Maybe she’s 35 though, it’s hard to tell.

Dr. Paul Nassif is engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Pattakos, after the “Botched” doctor, 56, proposed to Pattakos, 27, on Saturday night during a romantic boat ride.

“I went to my friend’s house, Lisa Mitchell, first,” Nassif told Page Six. “And we had it all surprised where I got in their Duffy boat and I went underneath the bridge where my friend Mitchell hung up a sign. But by the way, he put my photo up there. I didn’t ask him to! I just said, ‘Brittany, would you marry me?’ And I made a U-turn under the bridge. I asked her for a glass of wine. She goes, ‘Why are you turning so fast?’ By the way, the Duffy only goes 6 miles per hour. And I go, ‘Look!’ So she looks at the sign. She’s staring at it. And I’m looking at it. She goes — she doesn’t even read the words — she goes, ‘Why is your face up there?’ Basically like, ‘Where’s mine?’ And then she read the words and I was down on my knees and I give her the ring. And she still mentioned funny, you know, ‘Oh my God. How come your picture’s up there?’ That’s what she was focused on!”

Nassif proposed with a “beautiful round diamond ring” and then the couple “went and had a party for [their] engagement with five couples.”

“Terry [Dubrow] and Heather [Dubrow] were there plus my friends,” Nassif added. “It was just really beautiful.”

He previously expressed an interest in starting a family with Pattakos, telling Daily Mail Australia in 2018 that it’s “in the cards.”

“It’s all a progression,” he said. “First comes the dating, then the next part comes the second part of it, and then the whole goal with that would be a child. That’s always the goal. I am not close-minded at all to having more children.”

[From Page Six]

I hope he doesn’t get a prenup and she leaves him within a couple of years, without having kids with him. I know that sounds petty and people will yell that she’s an adult, but this whole situation creeps me out. Adrienne has a much-younger lover too. She was last linked with a guy named Jacob Bush, who is also in his late 20s! I once dated a guy 12 years younger than me, I was in my 40s he was in his early 30s, and it only lasted a few weeks. He was hot but that’s about it. Half your age plus 7 is the rule and both Paul and Adrienne’s lovers don’t pass that. Maybe they pick them young so they won’t argue with them constantly.

Here’s the romantic boat proposal. Look he got a big sign with HIS face on it, that said “Brittany would you marry me?” His face, not a couple photo, not a photo of her. No wonder she got confused.

Embed from Getty Images

This weekend I found out I get to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate… ?? 6.1.19 ?? #SheSaidYes ?: @shotbyrichvisuals

A post shared by Paul Nassif (@drpaulnassif) on Jun 3, 2019 at 12:55pm PDT

Happy Birthday to my love my best friend @drpaulnassif to many many more birthdays together!! I love you!! ????

A post shared by Brittany Pattakos (@brittanypattakos) on Jun 6, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

This one goes out to every young LGBTQ kid out there, who has any doubt, whatsoever, that because of who they are or how they LOVE, they can’t achieve their dreams. ¡Si se PUEDE, mi amor! ¡Si se PUEDE!
Thank you @entertainmentweekly for the honor of gracing your #PRIDE issue! pic.twitter.com/4G2gwye0b9

— Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73) June 5, 2019

Entertainment Weekly is running six different covers to celebrate Pride Month, all of them are beautiful. The other covers feature gay trailblazers such as Neil Patrick Harris, Ruby Rose, Janet Mock, Anderson Cooper and Melissa Etheridge, But the one I want to discuss is Wilson Cruz’s cover story. Wilson plays Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery who is partners with Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), making them the first openly gay couple on a Star Trek series. But this wasn’t Wilson’s first trailblazing role. Prior to Discovery, Wilson was the first openly gay actor playing an openly gay character on TV in his role as Ricky Vasquez on My So Called Life at the age of 19. Wilson was still in the closet when he auditioned for Ricky but promised himself that if he got the role, he would come out to his parents, which is what happened on Christmas Eve 1993. Unfortunately, his parents did not take it well and kicked Wilson out of the house.

There was more than just a paycheck at stake for Wilson Cruz while he waited to see if My So-Called Life would be picked up to series.

“I was still in the closet when we made the pilot, but I had made an arrangement with myself that if the show got picked up, that I would come out to my parents,” the actor recalls in the current issue of EW.

It took months, but Cruz eventually got the call—and on Christmas Eve 1993, he told his mom and dad that he was gay.

“It didn’t go well with my dad,” says the actor, who was 19 at the time and living at home. “He kicked me out. I lived in my car. I slept on friends’ couches.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Wilson’s story is, sadly, not unique. 40% of homeless teens identify as LGBTQ, most forced from their homes by disapproving parents or grandparents. Wilson did not begin filming My So Called Life for three months after he was forced out of his home. However, he remained committed to his decision because he felt playing Ricky was, “an opportunity to shed light on LGBT youth issues and give a voice to young people,” and the only way he could do that earnestly was to be out himself. It was admirable and extremely brave, and Wilson paid a high cost for his convictions. But his commitment to these values was incredibly important to so many kids watching. As many gay actors and advocates discussed at the Paley Honors last month, characters such as Ricky are sometimes the only role models LGBTQ children, especially closeted children, have. The tides have changed somewhat since 1993 but there are still plenty of LGBTQ kids living in inhospitable environs. So it’s important to support shows with positive LGBTQ representation to keep them on the air *coughOneDayAtATimecough*.

But it’s Friday so let’s end on a positive note. Obviously, Wilson went on to a successful career and continues to use his platform to advocate for the LGBTQ community. In December 1994, four months after My So Called Life first aired, they had an episode in which Ricky was kicked out of his house for being gay. The show’s creator, Winnie Holzman, worked with Wilson to get the episode right and to make sure he was comfortable with what was put in. By this point, he was in communication with his mother, but his father was still not speaking to him. Wilson told Vulture in 2014 that his father reached out to him after watching the episode, which eventually led to a full reconciliation.

If anyone wants to help homeless LGBTQ teens, here is a link to donate to Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors United Fund.

Photo credit: Twitter and WENN Photos

I’ve mentioned this before, but Billions is one of the few current shows I’m watching. I love it – I started watching it because I’m a Damian Lewis fan, and now I’m watching it because I’m a huge Asia Kate Dillon fan. The rest of the people can and should burn in hell for what they’ve done, just leave me Taylor Mason, the non-binary mathematical savant who can make billions of dollars in their sleep. Asia Kate – like the Billions character they play, Taylor Mason – prefers they/them pronouns, so that’s what I’m using in this post. It takes a minute to get used to writing that way, just as it takes a minute to normalize the non-binary language on Billions. Anyway! Asia Kate covers New York Magazine and it’s a wonderful profile. I came into it thinking “I hope New York Magazine doesn’t make them talk about being non-binary instead of talking about their work,” but Asia Kate is clear: their non-binary identity is so central to the role and to their life. You can read the piece here. Some highlights:

Even their dog is non-binary: “My dog, I just call Herbert or buddy. I do think it’s fascinating though that primarily the first question when one asks about Herbert is, is Herbert a boy or a girl? As if the context is needed for them to understand something greater about the dog.”

Asia Kate’s style: “I want to be comfortable above all else — I’m pretty much always wearing a sensible sneaker,” though they say they’ve been dipping back into stereotypically feminine clothing since coming out as nonbinary because “that didn’t make me feel like I had to be a girl or a woman, just because I was wearing a dress or a skirt or a full face of makeup.”

Their partner: They refer to their partner, a nonbinary playwright, as their “sweetheart.” (For instance, when explaining why they use a flip phone: “if my sweetheart and I are going out on a date or whatever, I’m not even tempted to check anything.”)

Their sexuality: They tried coming out as a lesbian, but that didn’t feel quite right, nor did saying they were bisexual. They now identify as pansexual, saying they are “a human being who is attracted to other human beings.”

Asia Kate wanted to blend with Taylor Mason: “Right from the beginning, I didn’t feel any kind of pressure or like, Oh my God, what did I get myself into? Because I felt immediately like the autonomy was mine. And then, on top of that, I spent almost 32 years not living in the full truth of my experience. I was more than ready to talk about it as much as I could, engage with my newfound community, and really just live fully in my truth for the first time in my life.”

Whether they’re a trailblazer: “I am one part of the community, whose visibility would not be possible without the work that had been done before me by the people who continue to be the most marginalized from the movement. That trail existed long before me.”

[From The Cut]

As I said, I love the Taylor Mason character. They steal every scene they’re in and they make the men of the show – especially Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis’ characters – seem so petty, arrogant and self-involved. Plus, Asia Kate makes the other actors look like they’re overacting – Asia is a model of minimalism, and you only know their reaction to some particular piece of news by a bare flicker of an eyelid, a hint of a smirk, a faintly parted lip. They’re incredibly watchable. My hope for the season finale (this coming Sunday) is that all of the male leads die or go to prison and that Billions just becomes The Taylor Mason Show.

I wrote The Cut’s June cover story on Asia Kate Dillon, as part of my quest to profile every single person on Billions https://t.co/XpCc9yXNBt pic.twitter.com/rGEPr5KV2g

— Gabriella Paiella (@GMPaiella) June 3, 2019

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Ellen Pompeo was interviewed by Taraji P. Henson for Variety in the Actor to Actor series. Ellen will star in the 17th – and possibly last – season of Grey’s Anatomy. She’s been speaking a lot about what the show is and was like behind the scenes lo these many years, including all the challenges and hardships. During her discussion with Taraji, Ellen didn’t mince words and declared the Grey’s set “toxic” for the first decade it was filmed.

How did you do 15? Was there any moment where you were like, “Child, I want off this bus”?

There were many moments. It’s funny: I never wanted off the bus in the year that I could get off. The first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior, really toxic work environment. But once I started having kids, it became no longer about me. I need to provide for my family.

At 40 years old, where am I ever going to get this kind of money? I need to take care of my kids. But after Season 10, we had some big shifts in front of the camera, behind the camera. It became my goal to have an experience there that I could be happy and proud about, because we had so much turmoil for 10 years. My mission became, this can’t be fantastic to the public and a disaster behind the scenes. Shonda Rhimes and I decided to rewrite the ending of this story. That’s what’s kept me. Patrick Dempsey left the show in Season 11, and the studio and network believed the show could not go on without the male lead. So I had a mission to prove that it could. I was on a double mission.

My husband says, “Closed mouths don’t get fed.” But if you have to walk, don’t be a victim. If you don’t get what you want, put your big-girl panties on…
You can know your worth, but if they don’t know it, you can’t cry.

I now have three kids. And we turned the culture around. I’ve hit some marks that have made me feel accomplished in a different way. Shonda Rhimes has been amazing. She lets us be mothers. I don’t have to travel. I don’t have to go anywhere.

I haven’t been challenged creatively at all. Every once in a while we do an amazing storyline. But for the last five years, I’ve had other milestones that we were trying to achieve behind the camera.

[From Variety]

I really appreciate everything Ellen has gone on the record for regarding pay disparity. She mentioned again in this interview that she once asked for $5K more that Patrick Dempsey just on principle because it her character’s name in the title and they simply wouldn’t give it to her. I admire her for standing up for herself and getting what she deserves. It is widely assumed that Ellen and Patrick were at odds for more than just inequal pay and once he left, it probably lessened the toxicity considerably, even though Ellen has never directly said this. Of course, those first 10 years also saw the Isiah Washington controversy as well as weathered Katherine Heigl’s dissatisfaction with the show.

Shonda Rhimes and Ellen must have a rock-solid bond because every interview Ellen gives, she throws in a line about the show that, well, just isn’t nice. I’m sure it’s all true, but I can’t imagine her boss loves hearing that Ellen has been stifled creatively for so long.

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