Constance Wu and the rest of the Crazy Rich Asians cast has made the promotional tour for their romantic comedy something bigger and more substantive than a simple movie promotion. The film symbolizes a lot of progress for the Asian-American community and Asian actors and a lot more. It’s a powerful message that “white” is not the default for romance, for glamour, for comedy, for escapism. Constance is out here talking about how the film is “for anyone who has ever felt that they struggle to be accepted or they’ve been otherized.” Director Jon M. Chu has been saying: “This is more than a movie, it’s a movement.”

I am in full agreement with all of the above And I’d just like to point out that BECAUSE Crazy Rich Asians is such a “special case” and an outlier in the current era of Hollywood, some people expect the Crazy Rich Asians cast to be all Asian things to all Asian people. And that was never going to happen. But that’s how we get headlines like “‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Red Carpet Fashion Lacks Representation for Asian American Designers.” True story: only one female cast member of CRA wore an ensemble designed by an Asian or Asian-American designer to the LA premiere. And people are mad about it, I guess.

In these era of sociopolitical fashion messaging, one might have expected Constance Wu to wear a gown by an Asian or Asian-American designer. Indeed, several such designers rallied to support the film, and helped build buzz for its Aug. 15 release prior to the premiere.

“For as long as I can remember, I turn on the television or go to a movie, and [have] never been able to identify with the characters, because I never saw someone who looked like me. I’ve seen Asians typecast, miscast, or fully ignored. Until now,” Nepalese-American designer Prabal Gurung said July 27, when he hosted an advance screening of Crazy Rich Asians in New York City, alongside other key players in the Asian-American fashion community, including designers Joseph Altuzarra, Phillip Lim and Instagram fashion director Eva Chen.

Instead, Wu wore a silk fringe gown by British-based fashion house Ralph & Russo. “This movie is so important for so many reasons, and I felt that Constance should look both powerful and glamorous,” her stylist Micaela Erlanger told Vogue.

Henry Golding, who portrays hunky Nick Young, showed up to the premiere looking like Cary Grant in a light blue jacquard cocktail jacket by Hollywood’s leading man go-to Tom Ford. Playing feared matriarch Eleanor Young, Michelle Yeoh took to the carpet in a strapless dress by Italian designer Giorgio Armani, and Awkwafina chose a silk-satin pink gown by New York-based, Lebanese-American designer Reem Acra. The only female cast member to tap an Asian-American designer for her red carpet look was Gemma Chen, who wore a glittery dress by Oscar de la Renta, which is co-designed by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, who was one of the hosts of the New York screening.

Still, the missed opportunity to shine more of a spotlight on representation in fashion has some in the Asian-American design community fuming. “After seeing how powerful the Black Panther press tour was, and the cast using their platform in a visual way, addressing issues of representation … That’s what we would have loved to have happened with Crazy Rich Asians,” said one industry insider who asked not to be named. “Constance talks so much about representation but there is no show for it,” griped another.

Crazy Rich Asians cast members have been using their platform to talk about representation in Hollywood, in publications like THR and others; should they be obligated to use that platform to shine a light on representation in fashion, too? It’s an interesting question. On one hand, it would have been a headline-making boost to other Asian Americans who have forged a path in pop culture ahead of them. And for that, the fashion industry would certainly have been grateful.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

This reminds me slightly of a minor kerfuffle when Black Panther was released: some people were trying to make the argument that the film was imperfect because it lacked any LGBTQ+ representation. To which I say the same thing as I say now: these films and these actors don’t have to be all things to all people. It would have been great to see LGBTQ+ representation in Black Panther. It would have been great if the Black Panther cast had all worn clothing designed by black, African and African-American designers. It would have been great if the Crazy Rich Asians cast had made a point of wearing stuff from Gurung, Lim and Jason Wu. But these casts and films don’t have to be all things to all people all the time, and we should stop expecting that. Especially when we don’t hold movies about white folks, made by white folks, made for white folks to the same diversity and representation standards.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I tweeted this yesterday, and I’ll say it again now: I feel like Thomas Markle has been suspiciously quiet this week, and I strongly suspect that another interview is coming. Maybe on Sunday, maybe at the Mail or The Sun. It’s just a thought, and maybe I’m wrong. In the meantime, Meghan and Harry are hopefully enjoying their time off, and I truly hope they’re on vacation right now, and that Meghan is currently being knocked up. But someone in Meghan’s camp – who? – went to the Daily Mail to discuss how Meghan is totally over her father’s shenanigans.

Meghan Markle has made it clear that she refuses to be manipulated by her father’s ‘emotional blackmail’ after saying that she has heartlessly cut him off and she would be better off if he were dead.

‘Enough already,’ Meghan told a close friend. ‘For the life of her, she can’t understand why he’s digging such a deep hole for himself and to say things like, ‘It would be easier for her if her dad died.’ She said she just wishes her dad would “stop blathering” to the press. That’s the one birthday gift she wanted from her father.’

According to the source close to the 37-year-old duchess, ‘Meghan has no immediate plans to contact her father. Firstly, she’s deeply hurt and secondly she can’t trust him to keep their conversation private. Meghan is big on being true to herself and taking care of herself, and if this means avoiding toxic relationships so be it. It’s not like she’s never ever going to speak with her dad again, but certainly not now, not in this climate.”

Thomas Markle has said that Meghan might be better off if he were to die: ‘Everyone would be filled with sympathy for her,’ he said. The friend says this is not the first time Meghan has had to deal with her dad’s self-pity.

‘Behavior like his doesn’t happen overnight. Why do you think her parents got divorced in the first place?,’ the source told DailyMail.com. ‘Meghan’s had to deal with a lot of self esteem issues growing up with a narcissist. She has tools to cope with emotional blackmail. She does pray for him. That’s Meghan. She does not have a bad bone in her body, but she’s not falling for her dad’s crocodile tears. She’s been down that road far too many times before.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I have no idea if Meghan or the palace organized this strategic leak or what, but I believe what this “friend” says. While Thomas Markle’s emotional abuse of his daughter in broad daylight has shocked the media, the royal family and everyone else, I don’t think it was shocking at all to Meghan. Meghan’s seen her father up close, and she’s had to deal with his bulls–t for 37 years. She wasn’t surprised. She was disappointed, and I would imagine she’s probably quite embarrassed too, that the Markle side of her family is so trashy. But she’s dealt with her father’s crap before, just never at this level. And I do hope she’s taking care of herself and putting herself first, regardless of what those toxic narcissists do or say.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, WENN, The Sun.

Embed from Getty Images

Donald Trump hates immigrants. He hates brown people. He hates black people. He hates Muslims. He hates Hindus. He hates Sikhs. He hates anyone and everyone from what he deems a “sh-thole country.” He wants to stop brown and black immigrants from coming to this country. He wants to revoke citizenship from black and brown naturalized citizens. He has ranted and raved and tweeted about the evils of chain migration. All this from a man who has married two immigrant women – Ivana was an immigrant, and Ivanka, Tweedledee and Tweedletreason are all anchor babies. Melania was an immigrant who lived in the US under a shady, questionable visa, and then weirdly became a naturalized citizen shortly after she started dating Trump. It’s taken some-odd 17 to 18 years, but Melania’s parents are now naturalized citizens too. But they’re white, so I guess chain migration is fine when it involves white peeps.

First Lady Melania Trump‘s parents became naturalized United States citizens on Thursday, PEOPLE confirms. Viktor and Amalija Knavs, Slovenian immigrants in their 70s, took the citizenship oath at a private ceremony in New York City, the Associated Press reported. The husband and wife — a former car dealer and a former textile factory worker, respectively — had been living in the United States as permanent residents.

The couples’ lawyer, Michael Wildes, did not specify the length of time the Knavses have been living in the United States, according to the AP. Under United States law, permanent residents must be in the country for at least five years in order to apply for citizenship.

“The dialogue we are having on immigration, this is an example of it going right,” Wildes added. Wildes confirmed to PEOPLE that the Knavses became citizens on Thursday, but declined any further comment. The first lady’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

[From People]

“This is an example of it going right…” Make no mistake, right = white. It’s a plain as the nose on Melania’s facelift. You can’t tell me that Melania maybe/probably got a “genius” visa, overstayed that questionable visa, worked illegally, somehow got greenlighted for naturalization, and then was able to bring her parents over here where they’ve maintained permanent resident status for years AND EVERYTHING WAS DONE CORRECTLY? No. And no one is really going to press Donald Trump about this either, let’s be clear. We’ve all just accepted the fact that the traitorous president’s immigration conversation is ONLY ABOUT RACE. Which is to say, it’s only about Trump’s racism and stoking fear of brown people, so much so that there are still children in f–king cages on American soil. Don’t give me this horsesh-t about this being one of the times it went “right.”

NEW: First lady Melania Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, have been sworn in as U.S. citizens, their attorney says outside a New York City courthouse today. https://t.co/5FbzDYTjzF pic.twitter.com/6i1qVtbWfo

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 9, 2018

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty.

In 2013, Kanye West did a rather uncomfortable interview with the BBC. The interview went viral for all of the crazy stuff Yeezy said, and Jimmy Kimmel did a “spoof” of it, where he had children read from the exact transcript of the interview. Kanye got SO MAD. That was the moment when Kanye went on a caps-lock rant about Kimmel being unfunny and #NoDisrespectToBenAffleck became a thing. A few weeks later, Kanye and Jimmy made up when Kanye appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Well, I say “made up,” but you could tell that Kanye still felt like Kimmel wronged him and all of that. I wouldn’t say that Kanye and Jimmy have been feuding ever since, but there’s been ~tension~.

Well, Kanye agreed to sit down with Kimmel again. Kimmel has been promoting the interview constantly, just hyping the hell out of it. Here’s the full interview.

Around the 2:30-minute mark, they talk about Kim’s visit to the Oval Office, and Kimmel asks Ye if he was concerned about Kim being alone with Donald Trump. Kanye laughs and says, “Well, he is a player.” Er… Trump has been accused of sexually harassing and assaulting dozens of women. That doesn’t make him a player, it makes him an abuser and a misogynist. After that, Kimmel just dives in and asks Kanye about his Trump-love (around the 3:40-mark) and Kanye went on and on about how people were trying to tell him how to think and who to vote for:

“Just as a musician, African American, everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me. And then told me every time I said liked Trump that I couldn’t say it out loud or my career would be over,” West said. “I’d get kicked out of the black community because blacks, we are supposed to have a monolithic thought, we can only be Democrats and all.” He added that as a result of his hospitalization in 2016 he “lost his confidence” and it took him a year and a half to say what he truly felt. “If I’m afraid to be me, then I’m not Ye, that’s what makes me Ye. I enjoy when people are mad at me about certain things… It represented overcoming fear and doing what you felt, no matter what anyone said…Liberals can’t bully me; news can’t bully me; the hip-hop community, they can’t bully me. Because at that point, if I’m afraid to be me, I’m no longer Ye. That’s what makes Ye. And I actually quite enjoy when people actually are mad at me about certain things.”

[From The Washington Post and THR]

He goes on and on about how there’s not a class that teaches you how to balance a checkbook (YES THERE IS) and there’s isn’t a class about the future (JADEN SMITH DID IT FIRST) and something about Galileo and how we need to “advance as a race of beings.” I can’t.

Anyway, just skip along to the 10-minute mark, because that’s when Kanye starts talking about how we should not “hate” Donald Trump, we should try loving him. Kimmel challenges him on that, by reminding Kanye that Trump is literally tearing families apart at the border. Kimmel then challenged Kanye to remember what he said at the Hurricane Katrina telethon in 2005, when Kanye said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Kimmel asked Kanye if thinks Donald Trump would care about black people. Kanye sits there silently, in thought, and then Kimmel breaks for a commercial. And that’s where I stopped watching.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

I loathe any schtick that deals with eating gross stuff. James Cordon plays this game on his show called Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts, where you either have to answer a question or eat something gross. He’s done it several times with the Kardashian-Jenners. James had Kris Jenner on this week and made her choose her poison. But he went easy on her while she grossed us out by making James eat a cow’s tongue. I’ve posted the clip at the bottom for those less squeamish than me. At one point, James asked Kris if the diamond ring she had been spotted wearing is an engagement ring from Corey Gamble. I can answer that – no. Even if they are engaged, I can promise you any ring she’s wearing is from herself. Kris, however, refused to give an answer and ate a cricket instead.

For his last question, James gave the E! star the option of eating crickets or responding to a rumor. “I’m not eating a cricket!” Kris said. With a devilish smile, James replied, “You might be!”

“Kris, you’ve been spotted wearing a massive diamond ring on your wedding finger,” James said. “Are you and Corey Gamble engaged?” Initially, Kris said “no” and took a long, hard look at all the crickets. Then, James asked, “Do you mean ‘no, you’re not going to answer,’ or ‘no?’”

“No!” Kris said. “I’m not going to answer!”

The camera then cut to a shot of Corey on the side of the stage, grinning from ear to ear.

“The ring’s right there,” James told Kris, pointing to her hand. “It’s a real giveaway.”

“This isn’t the ring,” Kris replied, to which James smiled and said, “But there is a ring!” That elicited a big laugh from Kris, who then took a bite of the cricket—and still evaded the question.

[From E! News]

I swear, her coquettish refusal to answer was more groan-inducing than the cricket-eating. What truly baffles me is why on earth would she evade this, of all questions? I asked Kaiser for a motive and her theory is that it’s all for a hyped-up storyline that will be dragged to death on KUWTK. Of course that makes perfect sense. We are talking about the strategist who still hasn’t officially confirmed Kylie’s pregnancy. And whatever her motive is, Corey has been trained accordingly because he wore a coy grin on the cutaway implying he’s not telling either. Lord, I hope he’s getting paid enough for this nonsense.

I’m sure this contrived intrigue is for the show. And the cat and mouse game Kris is playing is to drum up interest because I’m sorry, do we really care? I’m sure Corey is a nice enough guy and if he’s in love with Kris – more power to him. They just don’t generate any excitement in me. Actually, her keeping him and their relationship out of the spotlight would be far more interesting. Alas, I don’t think Kris knows how to view any relationship outside how it will play to the audience.

Photo credit: WENN Photos and YouTube

Towards the end of 2016 and into the first months of 2017, we talked a bit about Casey Affleck. Or rather, we talked about how very few industry media outlets were talking about Casey Affleck and the two lawsuits he settled out-of-court for sexual harassing two female coworkers. That was the way a handful of outlets covered the Affleck situation: they covered the near-silence around Casey, even given the fact that he was in the midst of what would be become a successful Best Actor Oscar campaign for Manchester by the Sea. Did I mention that Casey Affleck is a white man with very powerful alliances within Hollywood? Yeah. That’s why his history of sexual harassment didn’t derail his Oscar chances. When #MeToo came about last fall, the only thing it meant was that Casey didn’t go to this year’s Oscars to present the Best Actress Oscar. That was it. That was his punishment.

So from where I sit, I tend to believe Casey could have “gotten away” with not saying anything about the lawsuits or Me Too or anything else. But he’s promoting his new film, The Old Man & The Gun, and he sat down for an in-depth interview with the Associated Press – you can read the full piece here. He was asked directly about all of it and he answered those questions. Give him a f–king cookie, I guess. Some highlights:

Why he didn’t present at this year’s Oscars: “I think it was the right thing to do just given everything that was going on in our culture at the moment. And having two incredible women go present the best actress award felt like the right thing.

On the two lawsuits in 2010: “First of all, that I was ever involved in a conflict that resulted in a lawsuit is something that I really regret. I wish I had found a way to resolve things in a different way. I hate that. I had never had any complaints like that made about me before in my life and it was really embarrassing and I didn’t know how to handle it and I didn’t agree with everything, the way I was being described, and the things that were said about me, but I wanted to try to make it right, so we made it right in the way that was asked at the time. And we all agreed to just try to put it behind us and move on with our lives, which I think we deserve to do, and I want to respect them as they’ve respected me and my privacy. And that’s that.

On the Me Too movement: “Over the past couple of years, I’ve been listening a lot to this conversation, this public conversation, and learned a lot. I kind of moved from a place of being defensive to one of a more mature point of view, trying to find my own culpability. And once I did that I discovered there was a lot to learn. I was a boss. I was one of the producers on the set. This movie was (shot in 2008, 2009) and I was one of the producers. And it was a crazy mockumentary, (a) very unconventional movie. The cast was the crew and the crew was kind of the cast and it was an unprofessional environment and, you know, the buck had to stop with me being one of the producers and I have to accept responsibility for that and that was a mistake. And I contributed to that unprofessional environment and I tolerated that kind of behavior from other people and I wish that I hadn’t. And I regret a lot of that. I really did not know what I was responsible for as the boss. I don’t even know if I thought of myself as the boss. But I behaved in a way and allowed others to behave in a way that was really unprofessional. And I’m sorry.

He’s taken his kids to women’s marches, etc: “Well I’ve taken these lessons with me that I’ve learned not just to work but to home and as dad and it informs how you parent. I have two boys so I want to be in a world where grown men model compassion and decency and also contrition when it’s called for, and I certainly tell them to own their mistakes when they make them.

How he wants to change as a producer/employer: “I think bigger picture, in this business, women have been underrepresented and underpaid and objectified and diminished and humiliated and belittled in a bazillion ways and just generally had a mountain of grief thrown at them forever. And no one was really making too much of a fuss about it, myself included, until a few women with the kind of courage and wisdom to stand up and say, “You know what? Enough is enough.” Those are the people who are kind of leading this conversation and should be leading the conversation. And I know just enough to know that in general I need to keep my mouth shut and listen and try to figure out what’s going on and be a supporter and a follower in the little, teeny tiny ways that I can. And we do that at our production company and I try to do it at home, and if I’m ever called upon by anyone to help in any way and contribute, I’d be more than happy to.

[From The Associated Press]

A few points, in no particular order:

1. He makes it sound like he was “responsible” for sexual harassment because it vaguely happened on his watch, as a producer, but that’s not why he was sued. One of the women even described him climbing into bed with her.
2. I understand that a lot of men have gotten the memo about needing to shut up and LISTEN, but I’d also like to point out that Casey is a 42-year-old man, not some young, naive kid who was so immature just a few years ago and there’s just been so much growth in just the past year.
3. “I wish I had found a way to resolve things in a different way. I hate that. I had never had any complaints like that made about me before in my life and it was really embarrassing and I didn’t know how to handle it…” Imagine being one of the one he harassed and how embarrassed she was that her boss climbed into bed with her. I guess he’s saying that he settled out-of-court because he thought it was the best way to go for his victims’ benefit even though he totally could have fought them tooth and nail.
4. Did he really learn anything? Or did he just jumble together some phrases that his publicist put together in a memo?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Last night, the news broke: Esquire was reporting that Idris Elba is now the frontrunner to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. The problem? It wasn’t Esquire’s exclusive – they were summarizing a report from The Independent. So I went to The Independent… and it turns out that they got their story from the Daily Star, which is a tabloid in Britain. And it’s through this game of Media Rumors that we hear that Antoine Fuqua has possibly relayed a conversation he had with Barbara Broccoli. That’s it?

Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has reportedly announced that the door is open for a black 007 in the future, once Daniel Craig completes his final outing as the spy. The Daily Star reports that director Antoine Fuqua revealed the details of a conversation with Broccoli, in which she said “it is time” for a non-white actor to take on the iconic role.

Fuqua discussed who might be next in the running with Broccoli, who’s certain the progressive move “will happen eventually”, with Idris Elba a reported frontrunner for the role. Indeed, the director seemed to hint that the actor is currently being eyed as a strong candidate, adding: “Idris could do it if he was in shape. You need a guy with physically strong presence. Idris has that.”

Danny Boyle will direct the next, Daniel Craig-starring Bond installment, with work having already begun on the script with Trainspotting scribe John Hodge.

[From The Independent]

Idris has already made it pretty clear, in interview after interview, that he’s completely “over” these rumors and dream-casting sessions. I feel sorry for him, in a sense, because it feels like “He Should Have Played James Bond” has been hanging over his career for years now. Clive Owen was like that for a few years too – everyone thought that Clive should be Bond, and then when he wasn’t, I tend to believe it affected his career. Besides, at this point, Idris is 45 years old. Daniel is making his last Bond movie now, so we’ll say that they’ll introduce a new Bond in maybe two or three years? Which would make Idris 48 years old. Please don’t make him do those crazy-ass stunts at that age!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and WENN.

Wednesday marked the first table read for season six of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Right before the read, there was a panel discussion about the new season. Among the things we learned was that B99 wants to develop a storyline dedicated to #MeToo. As we know, Terry Crews, Sgt. Terry Jeffords on the show, has been at the forefront of the movement. The show wants to support him and all the victims but their main goal is to get it right for victims’ sake.

“I like to call it the Summer of Freedom,” Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews said during the NBC show’s panel at TCA, when asked about having come forward with his own report of having been sexually harassed in Hollywood.

“This is all about freedom and being able to tell your story,” Crews said at TCA today “Feeling safe and having friends and family on [Brooklyn Nine-Nine] I felt secure enough I could tell my truth and still go to work. It made a difference.”

“Each and every person…gave me the strength, along with all of the women who came forward in the #MeToo movement, that’s where I got a ton of my strength from,” he said, noting he had been talking to the cast about his experience the day before he decided to go public with his tweets.

“This is just the beginning and this is going to be a new day,” he predicted optimistically. “From now on the town will be safer for my wife, my son and my daughter.”

Series EP Dan Goor said they were interested in doing a #MeToo episode, continuing the show’s trend of doing more issue-oriented episodes. “They are really hard to do, but we’re happy with the way they turn out.”

“The challenge is to stay true to the show and feel funny, but give a weight to the issue and explore it in a fair way. I can’t promise, but we’re really interested in trying to do a #MeToo story,” he elaborated, saying they are in active talks about it in the writers room.

Added Samberg: “We are not going to do unless we have the right take that does it justice.”

[From Deadline]

Spoilers for past episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine
One of the things B99 does masterfully is to give a difficult subject the weight and attention it deserves without the whole episode being a complete tonal shift. It’s very much like M*A*S*H in that way. Issues they’ve covered in the past include police racial profiling, coming out to biased parents and dealing with their fellow officers in a crisis situation. And they don’t resolve complex issues in 30 minutes. In the profiling episode, which was inspired by an incident that happened to Terry on a plane while he was still playing football, the resolution was Capt. Holt supporting Jeffords. But the larger story, Jeffords’ case against the other officer, is ongoing. Diaz and her mom are still not speaking as her mom comes to terms with her feelings about Diaz’s bisexuality. Having just read (and possibly grabbed my Doug Judy doll to have good cry over) that the entire show supported Terry, we know this issue is important to all of them. If and when this episode airs, I have no doubt they will do the subject justice.

Other stuff to come from the panel (spoilers)

A little love flowing back and forth between Andre Braugher and Sterling Brown:

Those two gentlemen are absolutely extraordinary! It was a joy to play with them, and I’d be delighted to do it again! “99!” #Brooklyn99 https://t.co/O5ECkoNyVZ

— Sterling K Brown (@SterlingKBrown) August 8, 2018

Multiple assurances that the show will remain the same and NBC will not butcher the hell out of it to tow a corporate line.

There will be a Halloween Heist episode.

Gina Rodriguez is in talks to make another guest appearance. Adrian Pimento (Jason Mantzoukas) will likely be back. Marc Evan Jackson’s Kevin will definitely be back, which seemed obvious to me because I see him as a permanent member of the cast (he’s not. He bounces between B99 and The Good Place and is marvelous on both).

But, of course, the most important thing we learned yesterday is – the return of Doug Judy! And if I know Dan Goor like I think I do (not at all, actually) he will talk Craig Robinson’s current costar, Adam Scott, into coming with him.

B99 should be coming our way mid 2019. It’s too far away for my taste but just knowing it’s out there lets me sleep at night.

That’s a wrap on our #TCA18 panel! Now off to the first table read of Season 6. Can we get a NINE-NINE?! #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/P4UyUZPC3U

— Brooklyn Nine-Nine (@nbcbrooklyn99) August 8, 2018

Photo credit: Twitter and WENN Photos

I go back and forth on Jennifer Lopez, as many of you know. Like, I genuinely adore her and want the best for her. But I also acknowledge that she has a terrible picker and that this whole “I’m a romantic who is in love with love” sh-t is getting really tired. I also go back and forth on J.Lo’s relationship with Alex Rodriguez. On the plus side, she’s not dating a loser backup dancer who gets pap’d outside budget “massage parlors.” On the other hand, A-Rod is a narcissist who has cheated on every girlfriend/partner he’s ever had, right? So… yeah. I haven’t known what to make of the fact that J.Lo and A-Rod haven’t announced their engagement yet. As it turns out, it might be some kind of positive growth from Jennifer?

When it comes to Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez is adamant about doing things right. That means not hurrying down the aisle with the retired baseball star, 43.

“They were ready to get married early on and talked about it. But Jennifer decided she wants to do it differently this time,” a source reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly of the thrice-wed singer, 49. “She’s been down the marriage road and doesn’t know if she wants to do it again.”

Nor does she want to rock the boat. “Everything is working out so well, she doesn’t want to jinx it or change anything,” the close pal adds. Besides, the duo “already act like they’re married,” a second insider says. “They’ve been combining their finances.”

For now, Rodriguez and Lopez are relaxed. “They are very happy and have a great relationship,” the source continues. “They’re committed to each other and their families, and that’s what matters most.”

[From Us Weekly]

Should we celebrate that Jennifer isn’t hellbent on marching down the aisle with this one? Or should we play a game of wait-and-see? Because I’ve been feeling all along that A-Rod and J-Lo will get married and formally become J-Rod (JA-Rod? A-Lo?). I think it’s just a matter of time, but I do think that it’s a good sign that neither one of them seems to be pressing the marriage issue? They’re letting the relationship unfold somewhat organically, with a traditional timeline. I don’t hate it. Even though I think A-Rod will absolutely break her heart.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and WENN.

I am obsessed with this woman. I sent this to Kathleen yesterday and she wrote back and said she’s obsessed with her too. I want to interview her, I want to know her, I want to you to know her, I want all of us to celebrate her. You know who’s celebrating her? Missy is 100% celebrating her. She is t…