A Star is Born just had another great weekend. The film is holding well at the box office. The soundtrack is number one again. And everybody is talking about the “butt song”, “Why Did You Do That?” Diane Warren, who wrote it, is now defending it, telling The New York Times that the song was never in…

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I think Bella Hadid’s bangs are clip-in and… I honestly don’t think these bangs on Bella specifically look that bad? [Red Carpet Fashion Awards]
Camille Grammer got married in Hawaii this weekend. [Reality Tea]
I’m obsessed with the furious mongoose in this video. [Jezebel]
There’s rarely news about Queen Latifah’s love life, so I believe this. [Dlisted]
Angelina Jolie was out with Pax, Knox & Vivienne this weekend. [LaineyGossip]
Chris Hemsworth & Elsa Pataky got pap’d in Australia. [JustJared]
What royals – other than the Sussexes – were doing last week. [Go Fug Yourself]
Wait, is the UK going to take a mulligan on the Brexit vote? [Pajiba]
I still have no idea why 90 Day Fiance is so popular. [Starcasm]
The ACLU & Human Rights Campaign will sue the Trump administration. [Towleroad]

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The Invictus Games were the focus of the royal tour itinerary this weekend. On Monday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Fraser Island. As previously announced, they travelled there together and Royal Meghan then went to rest, rejoining Harry later in the day.

As I wrote last week, Meghan’s…

Liam Payne was never my favorite One Directioner. I enjoyed Harry Styles, then I liked Zayn Malik, then I hated Zayn, and now I’m back to liking Zayn. I’ve never really cared about Liam other than his weird two-year relationship with Cheryl Cole, a relationship that resulted in a baby: Bear Grey Payne. Cheryl and Liam broke up in July of this year, and my guess is that Liam is dating casually, but that he’s not in a serious relationship. Of course there’s going to be speculation about who he’s dating now – he just got out of a relationship with a woman who is considered one of the sexiest women in the UK.

I’m trying to avoid assessing Liam’s current level of fame, because I know I’m out of touch when it comes to some people – in my mind, Liam isn’t that important and all of the 1D guys have been seen their fanbase dissipate over the past few years, but I’m actually convinced that in the UK, ALL of the 1D guys are still really big deals. They still get pap’d like crazy whenever they’re out and about in London especially. So a few days ago, Liam was pap’d walking with a “mystery girl.” The Daily Mail posted the photos. Here’s Liam’s reaction:

https://t.co/pK43KBQVJV My team is full of talented, smart professional women. I find it wrong that they are reduced to being linked to me romantically in the press just for simply standing next to me. Isn’t it time we treat women with a bit more respect?

— Liam (@LiamPayne) October 21, 2018

So far the press have done this with every female member of my staff it’s demeaning some are in relationships and it complicates there work environment when they do this to them … I think it stops here

— Liam (@LiamPayne) October 21, 2018

I’m of two minds here. First of all, I don’t mind that Liam is trying to stand up for women and I like the fact that he proudly employs women and cares about their well-being and individual identities. There’s something chivalrous about the way he’s trying to protect his female employees from being made into gossip-targets. That being said… despite the Daily Mail’s cheeseball “mystery woman” title and speculation about a possible romance, what else can really be said? “Liam Payne stands next to unidentified woman” is basically the story. It’s a factual statement and there are photos. It’s the bread and butter of gossip – Celebrity A stands next to Person B, is something happening between them?? That’s like 70% of gossip, especially when it involves a young single dude.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Ashley Graham was a guest on Thursday’s episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, which is where celebrities spill the tea. A caller asked about the comments model Kendall Jenner made toLove Magazine in August, where she said she found it “overwhelming” to have “a million jobs” modeling and “needed to take a step back.” She later clarified her comments in a tweet insisting she was “misrepresented,” but the damage had been done and other models were not amused. Naomi Campbell, when asked about Kendall’s comments on an earlier episode of WWHL simply replied, “Next question,” but Ashley elaborated a bit more.

The 30-year old model snapped, “Well, lucky for her,” adding, “‘Cause I’ve never been—that’s so lucky. These t*ts and a** have just had to fight through and break down barriers everyday.” Sick burn, Ashley.

Ashley spread a little positivity in another segment. When asked about her fellow models, she had sweet sentiments to share. Of Gabrelle Union, Ashley said she was “an awesome mom and wife,” Chrissy Teigen was described (quite aptly) as “truly your drinking friend” and Kim Kardashian was called a “braless mogul.” When Kendall’s name came up, Ashley may have added a touch of shade to her comment, stating, “She’s in demand, honey!”

I dig Ashley, She;s a gorgeous model who is working hard to change perceptions of beauty and I admire her for it. The fact that she’s shady toward Kendall is just icing on the cake.

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Stopped by the @bravowwhl clubhouse last night ? who watched me teach @bravoandy how to take the perfect nude selfie ? #wwhl #prettybigdeal

A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@ashleygraham) on Oct 19, 2018 at 12:32pm PDT

Photos: WENN, Instagram

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Do you guys ever do that horrible thing where you’re remembering one of your favorite movies and you’re thinking about a certain actor’s performance and then suddenly you remember that the actor you were thinking about died a few years back? That happened to me when I was thinking of Good Will Hunting the other day and suddenly I remembered: Robin Williams is dead. The same thing happens to me all the time whenever I think of Liam Neeson, it takes me a moment and then I remember “oh, God, Natasha Richardson is dead.” It’s awful when my grief for these actors sneaks up on me. Well, Natasha and Liam’s sons were just 12 and 13 when Natasha passed away in 2009. Liam kept the boys in New York, but he also kept them connected to the Redgrave-Richardson family, most of whom live in England. And now… Micheal Neeson, 23, is changing his name to Micheal Richardson.

Liam Neeson‘s son Micheál is remembering his late mother Natasha Richardson with a deeply personal gesture. Micheál, 23, has changed his last name from Neeson to Richardson, PEOPLE confirms.

The Parent Trap actress died at age 45 in 2009 of blunt force trauma after she fell while she was skiing at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. Neeson and Richardson’s sons Micheál and Daniel were 13 and 12, respectively, when she died.

Richardson’s actress mother Vanessa Redgrave, 81, reportedly said of the name change, according to The Daily Mail, “That wasn’t because he wanted to avoid his father’s fame, which is enormous. He wanted to hold his mother close to him — because she was a remarkable actress. Absolutely remarkable.”

[From People]

This made a tear come to my eye. What a lovely gesture to change his name to his mother’s maiden. And for those cynics who might claim that the “Richardson” name is just as famous as the Neeson name… yeah, so what? He’s clearly not doing this FOR fame or to AVOID fame – both names are quite famous. It’s not like he’s changing his name to Micheal Redgrave-Richardson-Neeson and yelling “I COME FROM A FAMOUS FAMILY!” I genuinely believe that he just wants some kind of symbolic connection to his mom. And it breaks my heart. Gah! I need Uncle Ralph Fiennes to step in and tell some stories about his dear friend Natasha too.

Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.

As we discussed previously, Rihanna was offered the Halftime gig for next year’s Atlanta Super Bowl and she turned it down. Us Weekly had the exclusive and no one has denied anything, so I’m going with what Us Weekly wrote, which is that Rihanna turned it down because she believes in what Colin Kaepernick is doing, and she believes the NFL is a racist organization (which it is). After Rihanna turned them down, the NFL went to Maroon 5 and they jumped at the chance.

I questioned whether there would be any public move to question Adam Levine or any of the Maroon 5 guys about any of the issues facing the NFL these days, and whether we should *expect* white folks like Maroon 5 to speak to any of the racist issues. Well, someone else wondered too. Amy Schumer posted this on her Instagram:

Friday thought. I wonder why more white players aren’t kneeling. Once you witness the truly deep inequality and endless racism people of color face in our country, not to mention the police brutality and murders. Why not kneel next to your brothers? Otherwise how are you not complicit? I think it would be cool if @maroon5 backed out of super bowl like @badgalriri Did. I personally told my reps I wouldn’t do a Super Bowl commercial this year. I know it must sound like a privilege ass sacrifice but it’s all i got. Hitting the nfl with the advertisers is the only way to really hurt them. I know opposing the nfl is like opposing the nra. Very tough, but don’t you want to be proud of how you’re living? Stand up for your brothers and sisters of color. And the hottest thing a guy can do is get down on one knee. Not to propose but to reject the treatment of his teammates by this country. Anyone who says its disrespectful to our military please read up on the fact that a lot of veterans are proud of what @kaepernick7 is doing and fully support him. What are your thoughts?

[From Amy’s Instagram]

That’s the question I have too: “Why not kneel next to your brothers? Otherwise how are you not complicit?” If it’s just Rihanna and Kaepernick and other black folks speaking up for freedom of speech and speaking against police violence, at what point do we expect something more from white people, especially white folks who could be and should be allies? I have no idea how Adam Levine feels about Colin Kaepernick or kneeling during the anthem or police violence against communities of color. But I do know that by not taking any kind of stance on those issues, he and Maroon 5 LOOK complicit in their silence. Also: there’s something else Amy could do and something else all of us could do too – we could boycott any product and company which does advertise during the Super Bowl.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Sundays are for Thomas Markle. Every time he wants to put out a press release, and he seems to be favouring UK outlets these days, it’s on Sundays, because if you’re his daughter, the one who married into the royal family, seeing your famewhore dad making headlines again, that’s exactly how you want…

When Prince Harry and then-Meghan Markle first announced their engagement, we saw an unprecedented flurry of work from the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate’s newfound keenness led some people, myself included, to wonder if the keenness was related to “the competition” Kate faced with Meghan for attention and general public goodwill. Even though the British press has been downright racist and thuggish with Meghan, she’s also the shiny new toy of the royal family, and it’s pretty clear that Meghan is uniquely capable and comfortable in her public role. While we’ve focused a lot of the “Kate v. Meghan” side of things, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast has a slightly different take – Sykes frames the issue as mostly about William. As in, “King William” might throw a massive tantrum if Meghan and Harry continue to be so popular. Some highlights from this Daily Beast piece:

Meg-mania hits Australia: Crowds of that size have not appeared for Queen Elizabeth on any of her trips to Australia (which date back as far as the 1950s), and Harry and “Megmania” easily eclipses the enthusiasm with which William and Kate’s 2104 trip to Australia—even with crowd-pulling Prince George in tow—were received…. Meghan and Harry could easily steal William and Kate’s thunder. And that really wouldn’t be wise at all.

William is jelly: William is said by some who know him to share one of his father’s less admirable traits—jealousy. Sources have told The Daily Beast that fear of provoking his jealousy is rumored to be one of the reasons why Kate has consistently sought to dampen her public profile and withdraw from public life wherever possible. As the royal biographer Penny Junor told The Daily Beast recently: “I suspect Kate is holding back slightly to ensure she doesn’t overshadow her husband. That is what went so disastrously wrong for his parents.”

Everyone is supposed to be a supporting player to King Willy: William is also said to be intensely aware of his status as future king, to the extent, sources say, that he is often jestingly referred to in his absence as “King Billy” or “King William” by friends and staff, who clearly understand they are, in his eyes, playing supporting roles. Harry and Meghan’s trip to Australia is part of that supporting role, and no one will be more delighted it is going so well than Kate and William. With another 10 days of this 16-day monster tour still to go, there will be no let-up on the intense coverage either at home or abroad.

But what if Meg-mania doesn’t let up? What remains to be seen is how serenely William and Kate will cope with Harry and Meghan’s soaring profile, if, as seems entirely likely, the all-star Sussexes continue to claim a larger slice of global and domestic attention than the decidedly drab Cambridges.

[From The Daily Beast]

As I keep saying… Meghan is the shiny new toy. William and Kate know that and they’re both taking the longer view, that this too shall pass… eventually. But as Sykes points out, there probably is some concern in the Cambridge household that Meghan and Harry’s popularity really won’t pass, and that Meghan especially is making them look bad. Meghan, who can make speeches without notes or hair tosses, who can speak with authenticity about inclusivity, diversity and (gulp) work ethic. Also: Kate isn’t “holding back” to avoid stealing attention from William. There’s nothing to hold back.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.

The last time we covered a profile of former Disney actress Bella Thorne, which was in April of this year, she had 12 cats. Vogue did an 18 minute interview and documentary of her life. Her house is full of bizarre art projects, strange objects that wouldn’t be out of place in a commercial haunted house, and of course cats. She does have at least one dog as well, maybe two. We also learned that Bella makes a whopping $65,000 for just one sponsored Instagram post, which makes sense because she has over 18 million followers. Since that time Bella has been on essentially the same track except she acquired seven more cats. That’s because she doesn’t spay or neuter them. Bella, now 21, told the LA Times that she was broke at 18 despite having a Disney show (Shake It Up) and multiple films at that point. She heavily insinuates that her mom took all her money. (In this LA Times profile she also talks about the sexual abuse she endured from an unnamed male when she was a child so trigger warning for that if you follow the link. She opened up about that earlier this year.)

On outlets pointing out her acne
“The Daily Mail will be like, ‘Bella must have been out partying last night’ because they got a photo of me not wearing makeup with acne,” she says. “They’re like, ‘She looks really tired out. Maybe the drugs are really wearing on her skin.’ … I get so mad. So are you telling every kid with cystic acne that they must be a heroin addict? I think they think I take serious drugs, and I’m just smoking weed.”

On smoking weed
“I used to be super, super against weed. When I was 16, my boyfriend smoked weed and I would get so upset. I thought it was the devil’s lettuce. I was always the really good two-shoes — the one that was the teacher’s pet in that annoying sense.”

Why she has 19 cats
Thorne’s home appears to be her canvas — the medium she uses to express herself, be it through her hand-painted 12-foot unicorn statue, the hundreds of felt roses she’s glued to the wall or the castle she created for her 19 cats. (She didn’t want her first cat, Lola, to be spayed because she thought it was barbaric, and now there are four generations of cats living here: Nuzzling against your knee, crawling up the screen windows, tearing down metallic streamers.)

On being broke at 18
Despite working on “Shake It Up” for three years, she says that when she turned 18, she had $200 to her name. When I ask her where the money went, her voice turns serious: “You know where it went.” I reply I do not, but she declines to elaborate.

She knows what people say about her
“I mean, OK, this girl, she’s showing off her body. She’s got armpit hair,” she says, taking my phone in her hands. “That’s just my boobs looking huge. And that’s a photo I like because I have no makeup on. But people say, ‘She’s crazy. She’s probably giving it up all the time. That girl’s a ho.’ ”

On her friendship with Mae Whitman after they were in The Duff
“My first moment of seeing a female in power was her on that set. That was my first time ever experiencing the right and the wrongs of feminism. That’s just not the way things were growing up in my household. I just never really learned ‘Be a woman,’ and ‘Be a boss,’ and all these things and what the feminist movement is about. I never learned that until I got on that set with Mae.”

She says the awful things that happened to her made her who she is
“All of the things that are awful — especially all of the things that happened growing up — I’ve always looked at it as: ‘Why me?’ Because I am strong enough. Because it has gotten me here. I don’t even know what Bella Thorne would look like if she hadn’t been molested growing up, or her father hadn’t died. I don’t know that I like that girl.”

[From The LA Times]

Some outlets are focusing on Bella making freckles on her face to distract from her acne scars. (I didn’t include that part above. She also gets microneedling at the dermatologist, which is using small needles to help generate new skin.) Somehow that scene captures Bella’s whole social media personality, which is to entertain us while not trying to hide her vulnerability. As hard as it is to relate to her, there’s something endearing about her. It’s massively irresponsible for her not to get her cats fixed though. They’re inbred so they can have so health problems from that as well. (Although breeders do that to preserve traits and lines, etc.) Vulture points out that Bella barely Instagrams photos of her cats either, but often features her dog on social media. She does put her cats on Snapchat occasionally. Maybe she should offer some of them up for adoption if she’s not willing to spay or neuter them. I hope that they’re well taken care of.

photos credit: WENN.com