It’ll be four years next month since the release of Cameron Diaz’s last movie, Annie. She and Benji Madden got married a month later, in January 2015, and since then, as I say every time I write about her, she’s been really, really quiet. Earlier this year, during a reunion with Christina Applegate …

Ivanka Trump has been using her personal email account to conduct government business. She used her private email when she first came into the White House as her father’s senior advisor, and she continued to use the private email account for, like, a year and a half. She might even still be using it for government business. The first stories of Ivanka’s private email came out last year, but a few weeks ago, the Washington Post did a big story about just how much Ivanka had used/is using her private email for government business. Sources described “hundreds of emails” sent from the personal account to “White House aides, Cabinet officials and her assistants,” all of which are violations of federal law. Her excuse was that she wasn’t “familiar” with the law, because ignorance of the law explains everything, especially with her father screaming “BUT HER EMAILS” as an unhinged chant. Well, Ivanka sat down for an interview with Deb Roberts at ABC, and here’s what happened:

ROBERTS: It has come to light that early in the administration you used your private email for White House business. Your father had taken Hillary Clinton to task for this so how did you wind up in a similar situation?
TRUMP: Well, there really is no equivalency. All of my emails that relate to any form of government work which was mainly scheduling and logistics and managing the fact that I have a home life and a work life are all part of the public record. They’re all stored on the White House system so everything has been preserved. Everything has been archived. There just is no equivalency between the two.

ROBERTS: People see it as the same.
TRUMP: People who want to see it as the same see it as the same. But the fact is that we all have private emails and personal emails to coordinate with her family. We all receive content to those emails and there’s no prohibition from using private email as long as it’s archived and as long as there’s nothing in it that’s classified.

ROBERTS: But your father hammered Hillary Clinton on this, said that it was criminal, she should be locked up.
TRUMP: In my case all of my emails are on the White House server. There’s no intent to circumvent and there were mass deletions after a subpoena was issued. My emails have not been deleted, nor was there anything of substance, nothing confidential that was within them. So, there’s no connection between the two things.

[From CNN]

Lord knows I’m never going to be keen for Madame Complicit, but I understand the nuanced argument she’s making. Of course I still think she’s full of sh-t and of course she broke federal law, and of course we should all scream BUT HER EMAILS and LOCK HER UP at Ivanka constantly. I’m just saying that Ivanka isn’t completely and totally wrong. She’s wrong about there being “no equivalency” though – while Ivanka’s situation isn’t identical to Hillary’s, they are equivalent. I wouldn’t expect Ivanka to understand that though, because she doesn’t understand words.

Here’s Ivanka talking about the Mueller investigation. Her complicit baby-whisper is especially froggy here.

EXCLUSIVE: “I know the facts as they relate to me and my family, and so I have nothing to be concerned about,” Ivanka Trump tells @DebRobertsABC when asked how concerned she is about the Mueller investigation. https://t.co/f7YnyW1n4q pic.twitter.com/6nuLBj4ae6

— ABC News (@ABC) November 28, 2018

And here’s Ivanka getting caught up in a lie about “lethal force” against women and children.

EXCLUSIVE: “It’s devastating to see the images and seeing children put at risk,” Ivanka Trump tells @DebRobertsABC when asked about her response to images from border. https://t.co/kisMa9mB5r pic.twitter.com/lwYPeWxQBn

— ABC News (@ABC) November 28, 2018

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.

There were some questions in the comments about the timeline for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s living arrangements. What happened was that Will and Kate spent their first year of marriage in Wales, living in a rented “cottage” with full security. The Queen “gave” them the luxury apartment in Kensington Palace in 2012, with the idea that it would take a while to renovate extensively, at taxpayer cost. In 2013, the Queen also gifted the Cambridges with Anmer Hall, which is part of the Queen’s “private” Sandringham estate. It was said that the renovations to Anmer Hall – which included ripping out a lovely, brand-new kitchen, and redoing the tennis courts, plus extensive security measures – were paid for by the Queen and Prince Charles. Once they got Anmer Hall, the KP apartment – with it’s multi-million renovation – stayed mostly unused for years. That’s the timeline. Will and Kate spent a fortune of taxpayer money and Charles’ money on those two renovations.

Now that Prince Harry and Meghan are sorting out their living situation, we can expect more of the same kind of reporting about the costs, right? For sure. But maybe it’s just me, but it feels like there’s a weird edge to the reporting about Meghan’s “taxpayer-funded” whatever. Like the British press is two seconds away from calling her a “welfare queen.” Here’s the Daily Mail’s latest:

Taxpayers could fork out up to £5 million to protect Meghan and Harry’s new home in the grounds of Windsor Castle, it is claimed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are renovating 19th-century Frogmore Cottage before moving there from Kensington Palace in the spring. Plans will already be being formulated about how to secure the cottage grounds, which in places are only separated from public roads by a six-foot wall.

Former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe told The Mirror: ‘The costs of building and security arrangements could balloon to £5million in the first year. There is no protection at Frogmore, there is no one living there. There are costs of at least two or three private protection officers and to make sure the estate is policed adequately by Thames Valley Police. There will have to be major reviews of the security surrounding that property, exposed on virtually every side.’

The Grade-II listed cottage, near Frogmore House, is 200 yards from the publicly accessible Long Walk, increasing the need for tight security. Talks on security are believed to be underway between Thames Valley Police, the Metropolitan Police and Kensington Palace. The cottage has been used as rented accommodation for members of the royal staff and had fallen into disrepair.

Harry and Meghan held their wedding reception at Frogmore House, which overlooks the two-storey, stucco-faced cottage, and their engagement pictures were taken in the grounds. It is understood that the couple hope to turn Frogmore Cottage into a five-bedroom family home, with space for a nursery and a live-in nanny. A Kensington Palace spokesman said the costs of any substantial building work would be covered by the Sovereign Grant, which is ultimately funded by the taxpayer.

[From The Daily Mail]

I know from all of the Cambridge coverage that it makes a difference when you’re talking about properties owned by the “public” and properties which are “privately owned” by the Queen. Sandringham is privately owned by the Queen, and she can and does whatever she wants with Sandringham, which is why she gave Anmer Hall to the Cambridges and Charles funded the reno. Since Windsor Castle is the property of “the crown,” ie the public, that’s why the reno/conversion to Frogmore has to be taxpayer-funded. As for the security measures… it is what it is. Personally, I’m glad that they’re taking Meghan’s security seriously, because I feel like she’s getting more threats than the average royal bride. If you’re going to complain about the cost of Meghan and Harry’s security, I hope you also complained about Will and Kate’s expensive security measures.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Back in September, Green Book won the audience award at TIFF. This set it up as an Oscar front-runner, and it seemed like an inevitable Best Picture nominee. It’s a middle-of-the-road movie about race made to make white people feel good, a la Driving Miss Daisy, The Blind Side, and The Help. We’ve s…

Back in September, Green Book won the audience award at TIFF. This set it up as an Oscar front-runner, and it seemed like an inevitable Best Picture nominee. It’s a middle-of-the-road movie about race made to make white people feel good, a la Driving Miss Daisy, The Blind Side, and The Help. We’ve s…

Embed from Getty Images
People Magazine has a new panel interview with Jennifer Lopez conducted at a screening of her upcoming film, Second Act. It features Lopez’s real life best friend, Leah Remini, and also costars Milo Ventimiglia and Vanessa Hudgens. It’s about a woman from a working class background who gets a high powered executive job thanks to a fake resume. You can see the trailer below, it made me laugh a few times. I doubt I’ll be seeing this in the theater are it’s out the end of December and there are so many other movies I want to see then. It looks like a cute rental though, and it’s the kind of film that Lopez does well. She has broad appeal and she comes across as genuine on screen. Lopez is one of those rare celebrities who can dance, sing and act, but it didn’t all come easily to her. She told the panel that she had self doubt at the beginning of her career when she took critics seriously. She then decided that she wasn’t going to pay attention to that, she told herself she was good at everything and she focused on working hard. After that it all came together for her. This is really good advice.

“You know, I’ve really become — and I think from being in this business, I don’t let the opinion of others really influence how I think about myself,” Lopez told the event’s moderator, Full Picture CEO Desiree Gruber. “And that took a long time. Because in the early party of my career, I did, and it made me feel really bad about myself.”

While the singer and actress was experiencing massive success with her debut film Selena and her debut album On the 6, Lopez said she received criticism that made her doubt her talents.

“I’m killing it, and then everybody’s like, ‘She can’t sing, she can’t dance, she can’t act, she’s just some pretty face or her butt is big’ or whatever they were saying about me and I started thinking, ‘Yeah, that’s true,’” she recalled. “And it really hurt me for a long time.”

Despite feeling down about the backlash, Lopez she “just kept going.”

“I just couldn’t allow myself to let that become who I was. I was like, ‘No, I’m gonna make another record, I’m gonna make another song, I’m gonna make another movie,’” she shared. “‘I’m a great actress, I’m a great singer, a great dancer, I’m great at this stuff! And I’m gonna keep going!’ And I did. And that’s all I did. I just kept going. And I just started working harder and harder than everybody else.”

“I started believing in myself,” she added. “I started believing in the fact that I wasn’t an imposter, that I wasn’t a fake.”

[From People]

Lopez is drawing parallels to her Second Act character, Maya, whose journey involves believing in herself and her abilities. I didn’t know the term “imposter syndrome” until Viola Davis talked about it last year, but I was knew the concept of course. You think you’re not good enough to be successful or that other people are better than you are. I really like the simplicity in Lopez’s message and it’s a powerful one. She also said that she makes sure she talks to herself kindly, like a good roommate. I actually try to do this. Whenever I start to feel badly about myself or if I’m fixated on something I think “what would you tell your best friend?” and try to consider it from that perspective. I would never talk to a friend the way I talk to myself sometimes.

Here’s the Second Act trailer. I keep think it’s called Sister Act.

Sometimes you can believe your own hype and need a reality check though.

Photos credit: Getty, WENN and Backgrid

Debi! Happy Birthday with love from Stephanie whose birthday wish for you came true with Harry and Meghan – so believe her when she says that even though it’s been a rough year, “the best is yet to come”. By request, here are Richard Madden and a short-haired Dave Grohl.

Kim Kardashian’s pants in these photos… my goodness. How unflattering. Kim had been sticking close to home for the past month, but she decided to travel with Kanye West this week for his work. This is part of the Kimye branding – Kim is Kanye’s “muse,” and she often travels with him to help him promote his various endeavors overseas. The problem is that Kim continues to document her life of conspicuous consumption and excess constantly. So she posted some Instagram-Stories which have raised some backlash. It turns out, Kim and Kanye traveled on a private 747 a few days ago. There were maybe a dozen people (probably less) on the private plane. A 747 can literally hold up to 660 people.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West boarded a private 747 jet for a recent long-haul flight, sparking outrage over the extravagant method of travel. Kardashian, 38, showed off the spacious — and nearly empty — interior of the commercial-size airliner in a series of videos posted to her Instagram Stories.

“No big deal, just taking a private 747,” Kardashian says, filming West, 41, walking up to the “double decker” plane. “This is how he does it now. Only 747s, private. I’ve never even heard of this, but whatever.” Travel & Leisure notes the plane could hold up to 660 passengers, and points out that Air Force One is also a Boeing 747.

On board, Kardashian showed off the customized interior, which featured lounge areas, bedrooms and spacious cabins full of empty seats. The jet also contains plenty of work space, which the mother of three calls the “Yeezy floating office.” In another video clip, she shouts out “Team Adidas,” Yeezy’s parent company.

“So this is what a private 747 is like, you guys. I’ve never been on one before. Oh my god, there’s bedrooms everywhere. No big deal. This is like endless,” she says, noting it’s “pretty insane.”

[From People]

I’m honestly not a class warrior, and in some circumstances, I actually understand why certain rich people want to own private planes and such. But this is so wasteful, it actually makes me long for the bloody class war. These videos are insane – I’m assuming that Adidas arranged this for Kanye and Kim, and what were they thinking? I would be so ashamed if I was with a small group of people and a corporation “gave” us this huge plane to use. Ugh.

View this post on Instagram

oh, must be nice

A post shared by Kim Kardashian Snapchat ? (@kimkardashiansnap) on Nov 26, 2018 at 5:50am PST

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goals

A post shared by Kim Kardashian Snapchat ? (@kimkardashiansnap) on Nov 26, 2018 at 6:01am PST

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Sometimes, I’m blown away by the intelligence of dogs. I’ll watch any show about dogs, and consistently, the average dog has more emotional intelligence than most humans. Some dogs know how to use tools, and dogs know how to figure out engineering issues, they have strong sense memories, and they have some long-ass memories. But over the past month, there’s been a move by “scientists” to discredit all the good boys and good girls. These academics are getting paid by Big Cat (or possibly Big Fish) to try to convince people that their dogs are not really that smart. These “scientists” are punks.

Your dog may not be a genius, after all. A new study finds that canines are not exceptional in the animal world. https://t.co/DBafJwUGgP pic.twitter.com/l0yPvojPQJ

— Scientific American (@sciam) November 27, 2018

The argument these (fake) scientists are making is that “There is no current case for canine exceptionalism,” and that dogs are, intelligence-wise, “quite ordinary when compared to other carnivores, domestic animals, and social hunters.” So dogs are “ordinary” when compared to another domesticated animal… like, a cat? Cats are geniuses, granted. But I also think dogs are geniuses. What two animal groups have convinced their overlords to feed them, walk them, cuddle with them, get them medicine, and allow them to run the house? Also: why are these dumb scientists being paid to “study” this sh-t? YOUR DOG IS A GENIUS, CASE CLOSED.

The comments were funny though:

I bet you’re not a genius either, study guy. pic.twitter.com/XnrCNfcAFP

— suzy emerson (@suzyemerson) November 27, 2018

The authors pic.twitter.com/IViEDQnzI9

— CJ (@pnwrunnerlass) November 27, 2018

*blocked and reported* pic.twitter.com/zN1t51eWBh

— Nicola Calder (@NicolaCalder7) November 27, 2018

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.

Dear Gossips,

The National Board of Review announced its award winners yesterday. NBR isn’t always that great of an Oscar predictor; last year their Best Film was The Post, Best Actor and Best Actress were Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, Willem Dafoe and Laurie Metcalf won for supporting …AND they l…