The fact that Casey Affleck is still out here making movies and promoting them is proof that cancel culture has no real consequences. It’s just something that a-holes complain about because they don’t want to be called out for being awful people and having terrible opinions. Casey, who has been sued by two different women for sexual harassment and is still conducting lighthearted interviews, was asked about the fact that he was thought to be the person throwing out the lifesize cardboard cutout of Ana de Armas. If you’re not familiar with that, here’s the tweet:

UPDATE: The person throwing away the Ana de Armas cutout is allegedly Ben Affleck’s brother, Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck. https://t.co/4va2EcyZSt

— Ana de Armas Updates (@ArmasUpdates) January 19, 2021

After that tweet came out outlets noticed that the guy was wearing a shirt from a landscaping company so it was more likely that Casey’s brother, Ben, asked a worker to get rid of it. The landscaper does look like Casey, I see it. For someone who hates being talked about Ben Affleck sure doesn’t act like it. He had to have known that the cutout stunt would make headlines. (We talk about this in our podcast coming out Sunday morning, check it out!)

Casey told ET he’s not sure if Ben and Ana will get back together but that she’s a great actress and person and he thinks she’ll win an Oscar this year. Plus he’s been single in lockdown and doesn’t recommend it.

“No, that’s not me, and I can’t even really say if they have totally broken up for good or whatever. I would leave that to them to speak to,” Casey told ET’s Rachel Smith. “A bunch of people sent that picture to me and I was gonna tweet some, like, joke, response or something. And then I couldn’t think of one and a joke didn’t seem appropriate. And I don’t have Twitter so that wasn’t going to work. But it definitely wasn’t me.”

“The reality is, I think that this year has been really hard on people in relationships. I wouldn’t know because I’ve been single, but I bet there are a lot of people that have, you know, it’s been challenging to relationships,” he continued. “And I think that Ana is just the sweetest, funniest, smartest, most charming person. I think she won’t have any problems meeting somebody else.”

Casey also raved over Ana’s acting skills, going so far as to predict that she’ll “win an Oscar next year.”

“I saw her performance as Marilyn Monroe in this movie called Blonde, which hasn’t come out, and I would bet a lot that she’s gonna pick up every single award,” he explained. “She’s gonna have a good year. I’m not too worried about her.”

“I think she’s a catch in every way. And I’ll be there to carry Ben through it, but I don’t think he’ll have any problems [either],” he added. “My advice to them would be like, ‘Yes, think long and hard about it, because quarantine is not fun if you’re single.’”

When asked if Ana and Ben could reconcile, Casey told ET that he has “no idea,” but will “be sorry if it doesn’t work out.”

“I think she’s really, really great,” he raved. “People don’t know her too well because she hasn’t, like, been out there [in the spotlight] for so long. But she’s just incredibly sweet, such a sweet person and so talented.”

[From ET Online]

He says on one hand that Ana will meet someone else and on the other that she might get back with Ben. It sounds like Casey and Ben don’t talk much. You also know that Ben is not happy that Casey is talking on his behalf. GMAFB with this lonely dude act. At least he’s not complaining about the way the press treated him after we learned he was an abuser. Maybe that’s because he barely faced any consequences, although I like to think women who might have otherwise dated him have steered clear. He should give his brother advice on how to deal with the media.

photos credit: Avalon.red and Backgrid

Last week came the rumor that No Time to Die, the Bond film that started the chain reaction of shifting release dates last year, would move once again from its April 2021 release date. Well, it’s happened, and No Time to Die has moved to October 8, 2021, which will make this movie almost two entire …

I’ve been a Democrat for as long as I can remember, but even I sometimes get mad at the Democratic Party for not holding well-earned grudges and exercising punitive measures on Republicans who will continue to screw us over every chance they get. The Trump years were traumatic especially because Congressional Republicans were in lockstep with him 99% of the time. Mitch McConnell wielded his Senate Majority Leader position to screw over President Obama’s presidency, then Mitch pushed through Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, two of the most appalling SCOTUS choices ever. Barrett was pushed through just weeks before the election. All that and a million other examples of McConnell and the Republican Senate caucus screwing over progress, all because they had a narrow grip on power.

Well, now the Democrats have a narrow hold on the Senate. We have the majority in the House. We have the presidency, and we fought hard for all of it. So of course, McConnell wants to suddenly remember Senate-minority rights and the sanctity of the filibuster. F–k that noise. And guess what? Democrats might actually be ready to tell the Turtleman to eat sh-t.

Senate Democrats are signaling they will reject an effort by Mitch McConnell to protect the legislative filibuster as part of a deal to run a 50-50 Senate, saying they have little interest in bowing to his demands just hours into their new Senate majority.

McConnell has publicly and privately pressed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to work to keep the 60-vote threshold on most legislation as part of their power-sharing agreement. Democrats have no plans to gut the filibuster further, but argue it would be a mistake to take one of their tools off the table just as they’re about to govern. Many Democrats argue that having the threat of targeting the filibuster will be key to forcing compromise with reluctant Republicans. They also believe it would show weakness to accede to McConnell’s demand as he’s relegated to minority leader.

“Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and he should be treated like majority leader. We can get sh-t done around here and we ought to be focused on getting stuff done,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “If we don’t, the inmates are going to be running this ship.”

“It would be exactly the wrong way to begin,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “We need to have the kind of position of strength that will enable us to get stuff done.”

Four years ago, as McConnell himself came under pressure from former President Donald Trump to gut the filibuster, 61 senators signed a letter to Senate leaders emphasizing the importance of protecting the supermajority requirement. And even now Democrats like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia say they want to keep the filibuster, emphasizing that it drives compromise.

[From Politico]

Obviously, I’m not a Senate parliamentarian, but I do think that after years of Mitch McConnell playing his Treason Turtle games as majority leader, no one should give two sh-ts about his threats, pleas or turtle tears. F–k sh-t up, get sh-t passed with a simple majority, you know, the way things used to be done before the GOP became the Party of Sedition.

In early 2017, Republicans ‘broke the filibuster rule’ to install a Trump-appointed right-wing Supreme Court justice after stonewalling President Obama’s moderate nominee for the best part of a year, and as far as I can tell they remain absolutely thrilled about doing it. https://t.co/ZaqCPxEbUz

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 22, 2021

Democrats in the Senate majority represent 41 million more people than Republicans.

Why aren’t we able to legislate like it? Because the filibuster—a Jim Crow-era relic which is nowhere in the Constitution—gives Mitch McConnell a pocket veto.

Eliminate the filibuster.

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) January 22, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

On Inauguration Day, I watched part of it on MSNBC and most of it online, on the NBC YouTube live stream, which worked really well as I was writing and editing at the same time. I imagine many people were doing the same – watching on a combination of TV and live streams. And yet… President Biden’s inauguration still scored better TV ratings than Donald Trump’s “American Carnage” Struggle Inaugural in 2017. Hahahahahaha.

President Biden’s inaugural address on Wednesday attracted about a million and a half more viewers than tuned in for Donald J. Trump’s inaugural speech four years ago, according to preliminary data from Nielsen. Nearly 40 million people watched Mr. Biden’s address on the major cable news stations and the three big broadcast networks. In 2017, 38.3 million viewers watched his predecessor’s first speech as president, the Nielsen data shows.

CNN was the ratings leader, drawing roughly 10 million viewers from roughly 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., when Mr. Biden took center stage. Only 2.7 million watched Mr. Biden’s address on Fox News, the lowest of the major networks and a sharp reversal from four years ago, when nearly 12 million viewers tuned in to Mr. Trump’s preferred cable news network.

Although significantly pared down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony had more star power than in 2017. Lady Gaga sang the national anthem, and Jennifer Lopez performed “This Land Is Your Land” shortly before Mr. Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. Jackie Evancho, a former contestant on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” sang the national anthem at Mr. Trump’s inauguration four years ago.

The numbers held steady for Mr. Biden’s festivities throughout Wednesday. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., an average combined audience of 29.4 million viewers were watching the six networks on Wednesday, versus the 27 million who watched four years ago. In the five-hour block, CNN had the biggest audience (7.7 million viewers) among the major broadcast and cable networks, and Fox News had the smallest (2.1 million).

[From The NY Times]

Does this really matter? Of course not. We only care because Donald Trump and his fascist minions were obsessed with always being Bigly, the most-watched, the “strongest,” the biggest spectacle. And it turns out, more people wanted to see a humble, nice old guy from Delaware make a speech about how we should be decent to one another. Plus, Lady Gaga. I’m sure people tuned in to see Gaga, J.Lo and that other rock star, Kamala Harris. Anyway, I’m sure the viewership was even bigger once they take into account live streams, so there. F–k you Donald Trump.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Dear Gossips, The Outfit of the Week and, so far, the Outfit of the Year, was worn on Inauguration Day this week, when Joe Biden became President of the United States and Kamala Harris was officially sworn in as Vice President. This outfit, and obviously the person wearing it, caused an immediate fr…

It’s been a good week. We kicked the tiny fist man out of the White House. Michelle Obama stole the show looking like a plum Avenger. Seeing all the girl power on the inauguration stage just made me giddy. And I thought my week, nay my month, was absolutely made. Until I woke up to the headline that Netflix has officially announced that Bridgerton has been renewed for a second season. The second installment will follow the story of Anthony, the eldest Bridgerton. Netflix confirmed this in their press release with a letter from Lady Whistledown. Kathryn Drysdale, who plays Genevieve Delacroix the owner of Modiste, says that Season two will definitely follow the love life of Anthony Bridgerton, played by Jonathan Bailey. She says that Jonathan will be able to hold our attention in season two as he is sexy and a very good actor. Below is more on the story via The Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix noted that the Shondaland drama was on pace to be seen by 63 million households across its first 28 days of release. While the company, like other streamers, does not release traditional viewership data, it counts two minutes — aka long enough to illustrate the choice to watch was intentional — as a view.

Bridgerton has an impressive 90 percent and 83 percent rating among critics and viewers, respectively, on RottenTomatoes.com. The drama starring Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor serves as Rhimes’ first show for Netflix after the Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal creator departed her longtime home at ABC for a five-year, $100 million overall deal with the streamer in 2017.

Through the pact, Rhimes and producing partner Betsy Beers have big plans for Shondaland at Netflix and are prepping multiple other projects, including the Anna Delvy drama, Inventing Anna, which is due this year. Other titles in the works include Recursion, The Warmth of Other Suns, Reset, The Residence, anthology Notes on Love and a film and TV universe collaboration with Matt Reeves (The Batman).

As for Bridgerton, showrunner Chris Van Dusen (Scandal) has a long-term plan in place and hopes the drama runs eight seasons — one for each book in author Quinn’s series. Season two is expected to be based on Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

OMG I get to see more of Rege-Jean and I am here for it. Hopefully, Bridgerton being renewed for a second season won’t ruin Rege’s chances for at least a cameo in the next installment of the Bond Series. Although Anthony is my least favorite Bridgerton (he is such a bore), I am hoping they cast a dark-skinned Black woman or South Asian woman for his love interest, Kate Sheffield. I think that would balance the lack of dark-skinned folks being love interests in the first season of the show. With that being said, whomever they choose for Kate will definitely need to be as charming as Rege to offset Anthony’s stale personality. That’s not to take away from actor Jonathan Bailey, whom I think is a great actor. But the writers in season 1 didn’t give Jonathan much to work with. Hopefully, Anthony will be developed more and his personality fleshed out in Season 2. I also know that the Duke doesn’t make much of an appearance in the second book but I hope the writers find a way to bring back the Duke so I can at least enjoy the show.

My week has been made. I am excited that my favorite obsession will continue. And if Production Weekly’s report is correct, season 2 of Bridgerton will begin filming in March, in England if the pandemic allows. All I can say is 2022 is looking up. I will get seasons 2 of Bridgerton AND The Witcher.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bridgerton (@bridgertonnetflix)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bridgerton (@bridgertonnetflix)

Photos via Instagram and also credit Liam Daniel/Netflix

We’re in the midst of another royal era where, I’m sure, we’ll be told that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are Zooming their fingers to the bone. Since before Christmas, William and Kate have been in lockdown at Anmer Hall. This is after their Covid Choo Choo superspreader tour, after which (no coincidence!) many parts of the UK went into strict lockdown protocols. So Will and Kate are unable to be keen out in the open air, breathing their keenness on children and frontline workers. Poor sausages have to do two Zoom calls a week and I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it for MONTHS.

Anyway, the Duchess of Cambridge did a video this week where she thanked NHS staff from he University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, specifically the nurses. It’s a nice thing to do and I’m sure the staffers loved chatting with Kate, but most of the headlines today are about Kate’s hair and styling. Ooof.

Her hair does look nice? I prefer it without all of the bells and whistles and sausage curls. A clip of this conversation was posted on the Kensington Palace social media accounts, but I much prefer the full video which was released, Kate comes across much better. You can see that she’s consulting notes and talking points, but she does seem to be engaged in the conversation. It’s also notable to see… um, where in Anmer Hall these Zoom calls are taking place. The Cambridges really are keen to copy that other couple, you know? Kate especially liked the couch set-up that Meghan was using for her videos and Zoom calls.

Last week, the Cambridges did another Zoom call to launch a Bereavement support line. This video is poorly edited, my God. Good cause, but yeesh.

Bereavement is never easy, especially for frontline workers during these unprecedented times.

It is so important to have services like Just ‘B’, who provide a listening ear for those coping with the loss of colleagues, loved ones, and people they care for. pic.twitter.com/5pmr0IiNDw

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) January 15, 2021

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Kensington Palace.

Following the Capitol siege – which was an inside job – the complex web of city and federal jurisdictional authority ordered 20,000 National Guardsmen to protect DC, the White House and the Capitol. The National Guardsmen arrived after the siege, with the intention of protecting the city and the federal buildings from another armed insurrection of white supremacist terrorists. They succeeded. The show of force was enough in DC and across the country – the Nazi neckbeards stayed home and wept into their machine guns. Following the inauguration, it seems like Capitol Police somehow thought they had the authority to tell the National Guard to, like, stand down and go sleep in a parking garage. This sh-t got fixed in a matter of hours though and no one is sure who ordered what or why.

Thousands of National Guardsmen were allowed back into the Capitol Thursday night, hours after U.S. Capitol Police officials ordered them to vacate the facilities, sending them outdoors or to nearby parking garages after two weeks pulling security duty after the deadly riot on Jan. 6. One unit, which had been resting in the Dirksen Senate Office building, was abruptly told to vacate the facility on Thursday, according to one Guardsman. The group was forced to rest in a nearby parking garage without internet reception, with just one electrical outlet, and one bathroom with two stalls for 5,000 troops, the person said. Temperatures in Washington were in the low 40s by nightfall.

“Yesterday dozens of senators and congressmen walked down our lines taking photos, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service. Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us and banished us to the corner of a parking garage. We feel incredibly betrayed,” the Guardsman said.

All National Guard troops were told to vacate the Capitol and nearby congressional buildings on Thursday, and to set up mobile command centers outside or in nearby hotels, another Guardsman confirmed. They were told to take their rest breaks during their 12-hour shifts outside and in parking garages, the person said.

Top lawmakers from both parties took to Twitter to decry the decision and call for answers after POLITICO first reported the news Thursday night, with some even offering their offices to be used as rest areas. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted: “If this is true, it’s outrageous. I will get to the bottom of this.” And Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted that the Capitol complex remains closed to members of the public, “so there’s plenty of room for troops to take a break in them.” By 10 p.m., Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said the situation was “being resolved” and that the Guardsmen would be able to return indoors later in the night.

“Just made a number of calls and have been informed Capitol Police have apologized to the Guardsmen and they will be allowed back into the complex tonight,” added Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both of her legs in combat. “I’ll keep checking to make sure they are.”

A Guard source confirmed late Thursday night that all troops in the parking garages were ordered to return inside the Capitol. Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the Guard’s Inauguration Task Force commander, confirmed in a statement to POLITICO a little after midnight that the troops are out of the garage and back into the Capitol building as authorized by the USCP Watch Commander. They will take their breaks near Emancipation Hall going forward.

[From Politico]

Politico goes on to cite the Capitol Police as the reason why there was so much confusion – the Capitol Police had requested that the National Guardsmen get reduced hours away from the Capitol complex, but no one is taking credit for the apparent order to force National Guard into parking garages in the dead of winter. I’m glad this was taken care of within hours and that the Guardsmen are back inside the Capitol where it’s presumably a lot warmer. I would imagine that many NG units will be sent home soon enough, but perhaps that order won’t come until we see how the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump plays out. I imagine there will be some terrorists who want to “protest” the trial.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I didn’t cover President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech, but I didn’t overlook it or anything. His speech was very good and very “Joe.” He said nothing about malarkey or shenanigans (it was implied) but he did make some very matter-of-fact statements about race, racial justice and white supremacy, including the explicit denouncement the “racism, nativism, fear, demonization” which led to the Capitol siege. He also said: “A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.”

All of which was expected and welcome. After the past four years (five, if we’re counting the 2016 campaign), we’ve seen a lot of white supremacy, racism, nativism, fear-mongering and yes, domestic terrorism, almost all of it promoted, incited, nurtured and empowered by Donald Trump and the current Republican party. So it’s a bit weird to hear Republicans go on the record saying variations of “Joe Biden called all Republicans racists!” Dude, why are you raising your hand?? Here’s Karl Rove getting personally offended when someone is like “white supremacy is bad.”

Karl Rove on Biden speech: “The racism thing to me is — I was offended” pic.twitter.com/7SL8IDDY3n

— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) January 21, 2021

Again, white supremacist terrorists laid siege the Capitol, murdered a cop, erected gallows, smeared feces on the walls and tried to murder Speaker Nancy Pelosi and VP Pence. We’re allowed to condemn them and the hateful ideologies which empowered them. Sen. Rand Paul was another one who raised his hand when Biden talked about racists:

Sen. Rand Paul on Fox News: “If you read his speech and listen to it carefully, much of it is thinly-veiled innuendo calling us White supremacists, calling us racists, calling us every name in the book, calling us people who don’t tell the truth.”

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 21, 2021

It’s not “innuendo.” Pres. Biden said flatly that there’s a rise in far-right extremism and white supremacist ideology. And Rand Paul, Karl Rove and other Republicans all said “HEY HE’S TALKING ABOUT ME.” Is… is this how they’re going to play it now? Whenever Biden says anything about racism, Republicans willfully conflate that with the GOP writ large? I mean… maybe they’re not wrong! But still.

One of my favorite comedians did a bit on this:

Joe Biden offended me and my family pic.twitter.com/z49vNCXUNt

— blaire erskine (@blaireerskine) January 21, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kylie ? (@kyliejenner)

Kylie Jenner is a 23-year-old billionaire. Since I will never be a billionaire, it’s hard to imagine what things weigh on one’s mind at that level of wealth. It turns out, small things still bother Kylie, like when the Internet makes fun of her water pressure. She interrupted her vacation to address it. It all started when, for some reason, Kylie posted a video of her marble shower to her IG stories:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kylie Jenner News (@kyliesnapchat)

People are fascinated with wealth and fascinated with the Kardashian/Jenner lifestyle in particular, so I’m sure they think they’re doing us a favor by posting little glimpses of their lives . Only the KardJens never seem to realize that the only reason we want to see their stuff is to make fun of it. Like what’s the point of having a giant marble shower room if it offers the water pressure of a garden hose with a kink in it? Or so the internet thought – out loud:

Kylie Jenner lives in a $35m mansion, and this is the water pressure… pic.twitter.com/Y429ggJOOv

— Coral DeVille (@CoralDeVille) January 17, 2021

Kylie Jenner’s shower: pic.twitter.com/U64brZpfYT

— ???? (@AVFC_Luke) January 17, 2021

me judging kylie jenner’s $35mill shower from the comfort of my parent’s house pic.twitter.com/XtEfCR30VS

— sask (@uncommonsense) January 18, 2021

the plummers after the installed a shower w/ that sucky water pressure in kylie jenner’s mansion pic.twitter.com/KmyFD48GMZ

— yeehaw??? (@holymolymemes) January 18, 2021

kylie jenners shower: pic.twitter.com/dQMUvmIje2

— ? kayla (@KIWIBL00M) January 18, 2021

It was funny! We had a good time, jokes were made, we laughed. But Kylie saw it and wasn’t haveing it. Now Kylie and sister Kendall are currently vacationing in Mexico. So I guess, COVID and travel restrictions are not on their pretty little billionaire minds. But apparently, there isn’t enough to do in a $7K a night villa in Costa Careyes, so she’s been reading all the comments about her low water pressure and felt the need to respond. And what a response it was. Kylie dropped everything to defend her shower! Only her “defense” was to show a video of another shower. The shower in the video is her office shower, she said. And even though Kylie loves all her many, many showers the same, her everyday shower is way better than her dumb office shower. And just wait until you see the water pressure!

kylie jenner really posted a video showing her shower after everyone mocked the water pressure of the one she posted the other day

I love the internet pic.twitter.com/Y6ae8nGiQd

— ?????? ?? ia? (@yoonsepiphany) January 20, 2021

I shouldn’t be surprised, what else would a vacationing billionairess do? I guess if one finds it important enough to post a 10-second video of their weak shower, they would find it important enough to redeem themselves by posting another shower. I hope Kylie will forgive me if I don’t feel admonished for having mistaken her office shower for her home shower, perhaps another bathroom fixture video will set me straight. Honest question – why does one need a shower that large? I get if someone likes to have sex in showers, but do yourself a favor and get a second shower-head on the opposite wall or someone is always going to have a cold butt. Am I completely aging myself to think about all the storage both bathrooms could have had if those showers were half their size?

Also, when did Kylie film this? This vacation article came out on Tuesday and that revenge shower video was filmed Wednesday – did she actually fly home just to spite us? I wouldn’t put it past this family.

Thanks to Buzzfeed for the story

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kylie ? (@kyliejenner)

Photo credit: Instagram