Remember when Kanye West announced that he would run for president in 2020? And people were like “whatever, Yeezy” and “like Kim Kardashian would ever be our First Lady.” I said at the time that of course the whole thing was crazy, but that we shouldn’t dismiss the idea of a Kardashian – or a Kardashian-like figure – as FLOTUS. Personally, I would 100% prefer Kim Kardashian as FLOTUS rather than Melania Trump. Kim would actually move into the White House and keep her eye on the security costs. Kim would love being America’s Hostess. She would love putting together state dinners and White House events. She would even carve out some progressive policy positions as FLOTUS. Sorry, I know I’m defending Kim Kardashian pretty hard right now, but seriously, that’s how much I f–king hate the fact that we’re dealing with the Trump family.

I bring up the Kardashians because one of President Obama’s former advisers compared the Trumps to the Kardashians. And I think the reference is unfair… TO THE KARDASHIANS. Apparently, a lot of people are concerned about the ethical minefield of, say, the President of the United States using his Twitter bully pulpit to tweet-harass a private company for canceling his daughter’s fashion line. Add to that the ongoing debacle over Melania Trump wanting to “profit” from being FLOTUS, and here we are.

On Wednesday, President Trump lashed out at Nordstrom on Twitter for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s brand from their stores. The previous day, his wife Melania refiled her $150 million libel lawsuit against the Daily Mail’s parent company, saying she has lost “major business opportunities” because of retracted claims that her old Slovenian modeling agency was also an escort service. Now, watchdogs and former presidential ethics advisers are speaking out, saying the Trump family is trying to use the White House to expand their business empires, the Guardian reports.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Obama’s former chief ethics adviser Norman Eisen said, “The Trumps are using the White House like the Kardashians used reality TV, to build and vastly expand their overall business enterprises.” Likewise, George W. Bush’s former ethics adviser Richard Painter said the language of Melania’s Daily Mail lawsuit suggests she may be “in an unprecedented, clear breach of rules about using her government position for private gain.”

Per the Guardian: “An AP review of business filings has found that Melania Trump has not stepped away from companies that manage royalties from her name-branded products. As of Tuesday, she was listed in New York filings as the CEO of Melania Marks Accessories Member Corp, the holding company of Melania Marks Accessories LLC, both of which remain active. Those companies managed between $15,000 and $50,000 in royalties from her accessories lines, the Trumps’ May 2016 financial disclosure filing shows.”

The general counsel of the watchdog Project on Government Oversight, Scott Amey, called Melania’s ongoing businesses “another example of the first family blurring the line between public service and private business interests.” The Guardian also notes that while the president has handed over daily management of his real-estate, property-management, and licensing business to his adult sons and a longtime employee, he clearly “continues to financially benefit from his global business empire” in a “break from past practices.”

[From NY Mag]

As many have pointed out, there’s a belief that Easy D Trump is some kind of evil genius who throws so much deplorable sh-t out there, we are incapable of focusing on just one thing. I’ve said before: it’s ALL evil. It’s all deplorable. Focus on ALL of it. And Easy D is no genius. He just thinks no one cares, or no one is paying attention, or that he can do whatever he wants. I understand the comparison Norman Eisen is making between the Kardashians and the Trumps, and in strict terms, I agree – the Kardashians used a reality show as a platform to branch out and expand their other businesses, and that’s what the Trumps are doing with the White House. But Kim and her family have been private citizens this whole time, AND THEY PAY TAXES. They’re not public servants with all of the ethical responsibilities that entails.

Oh, and Kellyanne Conway – adviser to the president – is telling people in interviews to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” These tacky grifters.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

I haven’t had to get on a plane in years. I’m thankful for that. I drive everywhere I need to go, and I know that makes me very lucky, because all of the drama is going down at airports these days. This story is about Jason Derulo, a very popular pop star. Derulo travels a lot, and he travels with an entourage (like most pop stars). Derulo and his entourage were trying to board an American Airlines flight from Miami to LA yesterday. Derulo flies American Airlines almost exclusively, he claims. He flies so much that he has a “Concierge Key,” which is a preferred-member status thing that gives him perks like free checked bags and priority boarding. Apparently, all American Airlines saw was a group of black guys who needed to be screamed at. This is according to Derulo. This story is super-involved and I’m using People Mag’s account of it, because they spoke to Derulo.

Jason Derulo claims he was cursed at by multiple American Airlines employees during a dispute over baggage fees, but says everyone’s tune changed once they found out he was famous. Derulo tells PEOPLE he was flying from Miami to Los Angeles and checked in for his flight with his group and their luggage. He says there was a dispute about the timing of their check-in, so it was decided that one member of the group would stay behind and take the next flight in order to check all the luggage. According to an airline source, the most elite passengers for American Airlines get three checked bags for free, but Derulo’s friend tried to check 19 bags, which led to an additional charge.

The singer says he was on the plane, getting ready to depart, when he received a call from his friend saying that American Airlines wanted to charge $4,000 for their bags. He explains, “We’d never paid for our bags because of our status—with all of our miles—so we’d never paid for bags. So $4,000 is obviously a huge sum. We were like, ‘No, we’re not paying that. We’ve got to turn the plane around.’”

In a statement to PEOPLE, American Airlines says Flight 275 “returned to the gate prior to departure. A passenger elected to deplane in order to travel with their checked bags. The passenger has been rebooked with his checked bags on a later flight this evening.”

Derulo claims that as he and his friends were disembarking, the captain came out and began cursing at them and ordering them off the plane. He says, “And that was really upsetting to me because I felt like he was trying to make it seem like we were delinquents, and he was kicking us off the plane, when it was us that asked to get off the plane. I was like, ‘Listen, sir, you’re not going to talk down to me; I’m not your son. Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice.’”

Derulo says when he got off the plane, he and his group were met by 15 police officers, which Derulo called “super embarrassing.” Derulo says at this point, another American Airlines staffer began cursing at him and that’s when Derulo decided to act.

“As you can imagine, I’m surrounded by 15 police officers, I’m not going to curse back because I know what’s going to happen,” he says. “So I pick up my phone, and I go live on my Instagram. So I go live, and I start to hear whispers happening, and as soon as they find out who I am, everything changes. Every single person becomes somebody else, and all of a sudden, we’re not in trouble anymore.”

Derulo says he doesn’t plan on dropping the issue. “I just want everybody to be treated with respect. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. I’m not asking for anything extra, I’m not asking to be taken care of.”

The police report filed by the Miami-Dade PD paints a slightly different picture. According to the report, an airline employee told police that Derulo and his group “smelled of marijuana and were getting aggressive” when they were checking in. The report also states that Derulo and his group refused to give their IDs to airline staff when they departed the plane and initially refused to do the same with police. No charges were filed and the case was closed.

[From People]

Cops claiming that a bunch of black dudes “smelled like marijuana” doesn’t have a racist tinge at all, does it? And why in the world would the group need to show ID as they depart the plane? And I agree with Derulo: you get what you pay for. He wanted to clear up a billing issue that probably should not have been applied given his membership status, and everyone freaked the f–k out. On Instagram, he called this “racial discrimination,” and I have to agree.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Corey is our resident This is Us fan so she covers the stories relating to that very popular, heart-wrenching show. I’m not yet watching it and am here for Chrissy Metz. We covered her first person essay for Glamour magazine last week and was just so impressed with everything she’s gone through in life, and how she’s come out the other side. Chrissy has really struggled in her life and career and is now achieving success at 36. She had her big break on American Horror Story in 2014 but instead of that being a springboard for more roles she didn’t get offers for so long that she had to move in with friends and eat ramen to survive. Many of you say she’s a standout on This is US. It’s so nice to see her on the cover of People and to hear more of her story. Chrissy dealt with profound depression and with so many challenges and it sounds like she’s now coming out on the other side of it.

“I’d be getting maybe two auditions a year, and I’d always see the same small group of girls,” says Metz, who was a size 12 when she was first scouted but dropped 50 lbs. at the recommendation of her then-manager before moving to L.A.

With work slow, she took a job as a junior commercial casting agent but says having to backburner her own dreams “was like watching your boyfriend take another woman out every day.”

Depressed and “eating my feelings,” Metz gained more than 100 lbs. before a panic attack on her 30th birthday sent her to the hospital and snapped her back into reality.

She set about overhauling herself physically and emotionally, including following doctor’s orders to lose weight. “I was so gung ho, I lost 100 lbs. in less than five months,” she says. “All I did was eat a 2,000-calorie diet and walk 20 minutes a day.”

As the numbers on the scale fell, Metz regained confidence. Then she landed the recurring part on American Horror Story: Freak Show that would kick-start her career.

Playing a “fat lady” meant stepping into a fat suit. “It was sobering,” she says. “I thought, ‘What if I become that heavy and can’t walk around or get stuck in the doorframe? I was like, ‘I don’t want this for me.’ ”

The role also lead her to This Is Us. Baring her body and stepping on a scale within the first few minutes of the show’s pilot this past September, Metz — through her character — Kate instantly instantly became a fan-favorite.

“You don’t realize that somebody who’s average or even very fit could relate to someone who’s overweight,” she says of the feedback she’s gotten, “but it’s not about our size — it’s how we look at ourselves and how we feel about ourselves.”

As for what’s next, while Metz says she’s taking steps to lose weight, she does make it clear that the stops along her weight loss journey are “not for anybody but myself. … I want to have a fit, healthy body and not have to be put in a box. I don’t want to be limited by anything.”

[From People]

The more I hear from Chrissy, the more I like her. I really like how she frames her journey as personal and yet relatable. This line “it’s not about our size — it’s how we look at ourselves and how we feel about ourselves” is so true. So many of us struggle with body image and fitting in and we can relate. All this other stuff is superficial but representation matters and it’s nice to see Chrissy on TV and to hear someone be so genuine and open about their experience.

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: WENN and Getty

It was inevitable that Anna Wintour would feel the pressure to put a plus-sized model on the cover of American Vogue. Specifically, Wintour would feel the pressure to use Ashley Graham, who has been everywhere in the past year, from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition to fashion magazine covers around the world, to her new gig on America’s Next Top Model and more. But of course Anna Wintour would only allow Ashley on the cover of Vogue if Ashley had to stand sandwiched in between a bunch of size-zero models. Which is how we got this March cover: Ashley is the second model from the left.

The other models on the cover (from left to right) are: Liu Wen, Ashley, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Imaan Hammam, Adwoa Aboah, and Vittoria Ceretti. I feel so out-of-touch because I really don’t know Liu, Imaan, Adwoa or Vittoria. Weirdly, I like that I don’t know all of the names. I feel like Vogue made an effort to demonstrate racial diversity and size-diversity (with Ashley’s inclusion) and it’s doesn’t feel like tokenism either.

Anyway, you can read the cover story here. It’s not a series of interviews with these models, it’s more like “here are the freshest models this year and you’ll be seeing them everywhere now.” In reference to Ashley specifically and her status as a plus-sized model (a term she loathes), Vogue writes: “She has stormed fashion’s most formidable barricade: its cult of ultra-thinness. Today, as she enters the supermodel pantheon, Graham is convinced that the industry’s skinny worship is destined for the dustbin.” Sure. That’s why Vogue Photoshopped the crap out of her legs on the cover, right?

Photos courtesy of Inez and Vinoodh/VOGUE.

For some reason this week, media outlets have been obsessing over Meghan Markle’s style choices. Personally, I don’t think we have enough fashion photos of her in a variety of situations to really make any hard-and-fast decisions on her style. Plus, Meghan has been dressing like an “actress” for years, as opposed to dressing like a “future princess.” Future princesses have to wear British designers. Actresses have to wear sexy stuff. Future princesses should – ideally – look occasion-appropriate and modest. Actresses dress to steal the show, with the more exposed skin, the better. Anyway, Meghan has apparently added several British labels to her wardrobe and now people are trying to read the sartorial tea-leaves to figure out if Meghan is prepping a royal engagement. Who knows?

Meanwhile, People Magazine is hoping that you’ll love every lukewarm morsel of their relationship.

Prince Harry and Suits star Meghan Markle have only been together since last summer, but the couple are already settled into a rhythm together. PEOPLE confirmed in October that Harry and Markle had been seeing each other for three months and since the start of the new year the pair have been, according to an insider, “inseparable” while using Harry’s cozy two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace as a home base.

“They are really just enjoying spending time together,” a second source tells PEOPLE of the couple, who vacationed in Norway together in early January and were last photographed hand-in-hand in London on Feb. 1.

Markle’s humanitarian work took her to India for a week in January. But with the actress not expected back on the Suits set until April, palace insiders predict Harry, 32, and his new love, 35, will soon jet off on a ski trip together.

“It just feels very natural for them both,” the source says of the relationship. “It feels easy — like they’ve known each other for a long time.”

[From People]

Oh, so they’re going on vacation together again? I wonder when this ski holiday will be? The date is probably TBD, they’re just waiting to see when Emperor Baby Fists schedules his trip to England and then suddenly Harry will be “on vacation” during those exact dates. As I’ve said before, that’s not the worst strategy. I hope all of the royals are “on vacation” when Trump visits. As for Harry and Meghan feeling like they’ve known each other a long time… those are the best kinds of relationships and friendships. When there’s an immediate “click” and you “get” each other so quickly. Sigh…

Photos courtesy of WENN, PCN.

Scarlett Johansson covers the March issue of Marie Claire. I still hate her Kate Gosselin hair, but at this point, I think I’m used to it? Like, Scarlett came out and suddenly had a lob, I would be floored. Anyway, Scarlett’s promoting Ghost in the Shell, the movie where she plays a Japanese character named Major Motoko Kusanagi. That was the character’s name in the original source material, but since ScarJo is a white woman playing this character, they changed the name to just “Major.” Allegedly, producers were concerned about the whitewashing complaints so much, they might have CGI’d Scarlett a bit to make her look “more Asian,” because Hollywood. I bring this up because Scarlett addresses the controversy for the first time in this interview, in between talking about breast pumps and such. Some highlights:

Her appearance at the 2015 Oscars: “I had to bring my breast pump, because I was nursing and every ounce is like liquid gold,” says the actress, who had given birth to her daughter, Rose, five months earlier. After the ceremony, she reunited with it in the company of mutual friends Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, but not for long. “Somehow, Mark got ahold of my breast pump—in a bag with all the milk, ice packs in there, and shit. He grabbed it out of my hand,” Johansson recalls. He was just trying to help, she explains, “but our cars got separated. Apparently, Kelly looked over, and she was like, ‘Wait a minute—is that Scarlett’s breast pump? We’ve got to get it back!’ because she knew how panicked I would be. We finally ended up at the same party three hours later, and Mark was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’”

On motherhood: “It’s very humbling. How’s your boobs? Are they square? That was always my favorite.”

On the controversy surrounding her casting as the lead in Ghost in a Shell: “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive. Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that—the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”

On being the highest-grossing actress in Hollywood history: “Just because I’m the top-grossing actress of all time does not mean I’m the highest paid. I’ve had to fight for everything that I have. It’s such a fickle and political industry.”

On being reluctant to discuss the wage gap: “Some people felt I should talk about my personal struggle in order to shed a spotlight on the greater issue. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I assumed it was obvious that women in all positions struggle for equality. It’s always an uphill battle and fight. My experience with my close female friends and family is that the struggle is real for everybody. Everyone has been discriminated against or harassed—sexism is real.”

On her daughter watching her in movies: “I don’t think she’s allowed to see any of the movies I’ve made, other than Sing. I’ll be happy when she’s old enough to show her movies where I kicked some a**.”

On no subject being off-limits with her friends: “I want to talk about what’s happening with your vagina. I want to know why it hates you or whatever. I want to compare and contrast notes. I want to talk about sex and all that stuff.”

On celebrities being vocal about politics: “[I believe] that it is really important to hear people in various positions of power voice their opinions, their story. Why not? Why can’t I have the voice? Why can’t I use my platform? What’s the point of having it if you don’t use it? If you don’t want to get involved, please, the noise is loud enough. But if you’ve got something to say, say it.”

[From Marie Claire]

I think her answers about the wage gap and sexism are on-point – she shouldn’t feel like it’s her duty or responsibility to become the face of an issue if she doesn’t want to be. Plus, I think it’s discouraging when we expect so much from women like Scarlett and Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams and yet we don’t expect the men to say anything, whether it’s the men getting paid more or the men deciding who gets paid more.

As for what Scarlett says about whitewashing… no. Do better, Scarlett. You’re going to get a lot of questions about whitewashing in the next few months, and your answer needs to be more than “I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.” It needs to be more than a deflection to “at least this is female-driven franchise” too. That is white feminism – the belief that if it’s good for a white woman, no one should have any complaints. This could have been a franchise for a Japanese woman or a Japanese-American woman too and it wouldn’t have been a racial minefield.

Photos courtesy of Marie Claire.

I am absolutely not saying that we are in any way “out of the woods” politically speaking. The nuclear winter could still happen. Emperor Baby Fists could easily tweet his way into war, likely with one of our long-time allies (hey, Australia!). We’re still being ruled by fascists, white supremacists, misogynists and homophobes in this brave new kleptocracy/oligarchy. We are still being lied to on an hourly basis by public servants. Every new day brings a horror show. But every so often, we just need to stop and enjoy ourselves. We need to bask in the joy that comes from making fun of one of Emperor Baby Fists’ daily Twitter tantrums. This is what Trump tweeted yesterday:

Big increase in traffic into our country from certain areas, while our people are far more vulnerable, as we wait for what should be EASY D!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017

I guess the “Easy D” in this situation is “easy decision,” although you honestly never know with Baby Fists. The thing is, Easy D (AND I LOVE THAT HE CAPS-LOCKED IT) is also quite funny slang for easy d–k, gay or straight. Women can wait for Easy D, although most straight dudes would tell you that all a lady has to do is ask and she’ll get that Easy D, straight up (or anyway she wants it). Gay dudes are also all about that Easy D. So of course Twitter had a field day! Seriously, this is what social media is for. If we have an unhinged fascist as president, it’s our duty to make fun of him on his favorite social media platform. ENJOY THE EASY D.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning for Easy D.

— Tyler Coates (@tylercoates) February 8, 2017

I, too, have been open and vulnerable and waited far too long for what should have been easy d pic.twitter.com/mBE6G1L4WG

— @PiaGlenn (@PiaGlenn) February 8, 2017

Not because the D is easy, but because it is hard

— Bill Wasik (@billwasik) February 8, 2017

SPICER: I can’t do it. There’s no way to make “easy D” sound presidential.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: *smoking two cigarettes at once* Hold my beer.

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) February 8, 2017

When The Donald tries to slip you the ol’ Easy D… ??? pic.twitter.com/ZoZ5gFJ16X

— Jack Tweets ?? (@jackTweets11) February 8, 2017

Easy D pic.twitter.com/kwbq4qpwHW

— delrayser (@delrayser) February 8, 2017

Look me up on Grindr “Easy D” #easyd pic.twitter.com/KqXBUfNKi1

— Beer Breath (@Beer_Breath) February 8, 2017

“I’m told that D is abundant and of low value, period. Next question.” pic.twitter.com/CB1soGXh0X

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 8, 2017

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

This is the fourth Us Weekly cover IN A ROW to feature someone named “Trump.” Last week’s cover was about Melania Trump and how she lives a “separate life” from her husband. The week before that was devoted to the super-fun Trump kids, because the gossip industry wants to do anything possible to normalize a family of fascists. So, this week’s Us Weekly cover story is all about Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and how IT IS SO HARD to advise an unhinged lunatic being controlled by Vladimir Putin. Tuff stuff, peeps.

Ivanka Trump always envisioned herself as a mogul, not a punch line. But on February 4, the refined, professional daughter of President Donald Trump provided the setup for Saturday Night Live’s opening sketch. Alec Baldwin, in his now-infamous caricature of Donald, remarked that Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, one of his senior advisers, “make sure I don’t do anything too crazy” before asking if they were gone. Upon confirming they were home observing Shabbat, he summoned chief strategist Steve Bannon, cracking, “When the Jews are away, the goys will play!”

The bit wasn’t total satire. “Donald doing the most controversial stuff when Ivanka and Jared aren’t around — there is some truth to that,” a close Ivanka insider reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. And less than a month into her dad’s presidency, Ivanka, 35, is seeing firsthand that not everyone hails to the chief. While many assumed the former Trump Organization VP and her real estate investor husband, 36, would serve as calming forces for Donald, they have at times struggled to advise the short-fused tycoon.

It was during their Friday night quiet time January 27 that Donald, 70, signed the much-maligned order to temporarily ban refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Since observing the Sabbath means unplugging from technology — “We turn off our phones for 25 hours,” Kushner has said — the couple were somewhat unaware of the fallout from Donald’s decree when, the next night, she posted an Instagram photo of herself in a metallic Carolina Herrera gown with her tuxedoed husband. The backlash was immediate: A meme circulated of Ivanka side by side with a young Syrian refugee wrapped in a silver emergency blanket, and the Marie Antoinette–inspired hashtag #letthemeatcake trended on Twitter.

This first blow to Ivanka’s carefully cultivated image — “She doesn’t put a foot wrong,” family friend and Avenue columnist R. Couri Hay tells Us — was quickly followed by a second. On February 2, citing poor performance, Nordstrom announced it would no longer carry her fashion brand. “The transition has been difficult,” says the insider. But for Ivanka, no challenge is insurmountable. Notes a friend, “She’s staying positive and focused on what she’s trying to do.”

She’s also celebrating the small victories with her husband. The parents of Arabella, 5, Joseph, 3, and Theodore, 10 months, persuaded Donald not to overturn President Barack Obama’s order protecting the LGBT community from discrimination in the workplace. “That was all because of them,” says the insider of the scions. “They stood strongly against Donald repealing that executive order and told him they wouldn’t tolerate that.”

That’s not to say POTUS always listens to the duo. “Sometimes Jared and Ivanka are a big influence and sometimes he takes other opinions into account and does something they disagree with,” says the insider. “They win some and they lose some.”

[From Us Weekly]

Basically, we should feel sorry for Ivanka and Jared because they can’t control the president of the United States 24-7, and they completely overestimated their influence over him. Or they completely underestimated Steve Bannon’s influence over him. Pick your poison. Suffice to say, I have no sympathy for Ivanka. She’s chosen to put a glossy Stepford-Daughter face on her father’s racism, nativism and misogyny for years now. Here’s my question though: will Jared Kushner jump ship? I feel like he was not expecting it to be this difficult to manipulate his father-in-law.

Meanwhile, Ivanka’s Baby Fisted, Easy D-desiring father tweeted this yesterday:

My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017

He has no sense. Not only did he tweet this on his private account (hello, unsecure Android), he had the official POTUS account retweet it! And Sean Spicer had to comment on Nordstrom’s “unfairness” in the White House briefing! These people are petty grifters with zero ethics.

Taking a call in the White House with my personal assistant Theodore. ? pic.twitter.com/7BY5jef0gw

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) February 7, 2017

Photos courtesy of Ivanka’s Twitter, cover courtesy of Us Weekly.

On Monday, I covered Chris Evans’ attendance at the Super Bowl. Evans is a big Patriots fan, and he was there with his brother and some dude friends. While I wasn’t surprised that Jenny Slate didn’t join them – who even knows if she likes football? – I did say in that post that it feels like we haven’t heard much about them in a few months. I wrote: “does anyone else wonder if Chris and Jenny Slate have cooled off a bit? I’m not sure if they broke up, but it definitely seems like they’ve either gone deep undercover or they’ve just cooled off in general.” Well, I was right. They’re done. We first learned they were together back in May of last year, shortly after she announced her divorce from her husband. Was Chris “the other man” in her marriage? Um, I always thought so. And so from that sketchy beginning came a relationship that didn’t even last one full year (officially).

Chris Evans and Jenny Slate have called it quits less than a year after they started dating, PEOPLE has learned. The former couple met on the set of their upcoming drama Gifted earlier this year, where sources told PEOPLE their connection was undeniable. When they weren’t busy filming, Evans and Slate would spend much of their free time hanging out together.

Evans, 35, is a native of Sudbury, Massachusetts, and Slate, 34, grew up just outside Boston in the suburb of Milton. They stepped out together for the first time back in June at the premiere of her animated movie The Secret Life of Pets.

The Girls star gushed about Evans on the film’s red carpet, telling Entertainment Tonight, “It’s kind of like I got my dream seventh grade boyfriend. We didn’t know each other growing up, but we grew up about a half hour away from each other. We’ve been friends for a while.”

[From People]

That quote about her “dream seventh grade boyfriend” still makes me cringe. Like, best case scenario, Jenny was using Chris to fulfill some kind of childhood fantasy about a “dream boyfriend.” Worst case scenario is that she cheated on her husband and ended her marriage so she could get with a messy dude who seems to move through women pretty quickly. In any case, I’m not surprised that they broke up. Oh, well.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

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This story had me giggling yesterday. As we discussed, if you try to get J.K. Rowling’s attention on Twitter, be prepared for what happens. A fan made a really nice meme about how distraught they will be when J.K., whom they obviously feels very strongly about, dies. But who wants to talk about how people will react when you die? So J.K. made a little joke of it on Twitter, because she’s marvelous like that:

This is very sweet, but I won’t be offended if you untag me when making plans for my death. pic.twitter.com/LfLSTuTxQO

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 7, 2017

That’s funny. In typical J.K. fashion it’s topical, clever and doesn’t actually discount the fan’s emotions (despite what the Daily Mail thinks). How else do you respond to someone discussing your demise? “Aw, that’s so kind of you. I can’t wait until I die now!” Of course, it got play and people wanted to talk about it. Most made references to her Harry Potter series and others merely lamented, “death can’t take you from us.” But regardless of how many homages and kind messages are put up, let’s remember, people are discussing her death. So J.K. had kind of had it:

Yes, let’s talk more about when I die. It’s cheering me right up. https://t.co/o8qrudMvW0

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 7, 2017

Seriously, tweet whatever you like. I just don’t want to be tagged in on the funeral plans. It’s… weird. https://t.co/d98WEwsvKl

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 8, 2017

I don’t talk about my death but I do discuss my funeral all the time. I have plans and I want to make sure they are carried out. Like I want an open casket but I don’t want the top of the casket open, I want to bottom, showing a glorious pedicure and a kick @ss pair of shoes. But I don’t think I would be as keen on my friends sitting around discussing my eternal departure. So I understand J.K.’s desire to be untagged. Plus, this is social media and there is a very short step from “How I will honor the woman who brought me Harry Potter” and the trolls who will post “How I want that wizard woman and her politics to die”.

Speaking of people who think they have what it takes to engage J.K. on Twitter – they still don’t. I tried to warn them, but they didn’t listen:

Nicolas Flamel doesn’t die in the Potter books. Seriously, read before you burn, it’ll make attacking me so much easier. pic.twitter.com/cU8AOMS21F

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 2, 2017

Her very next tweet was this response to someone asking about the fate of kreacher, the house elf post books:

He died, aged 666. https://t.co/MATq0L4sP3

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 2, 2017

She wins. Every. Time. Have a care, those who want to go toe-to-toe with La Rowling about her politics, she’s brought backup:

@jk_rowling hahaha

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 6, 2017

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Photo credit: Twitter, Getty Images and WENN Photos