Lisa Kudrow in the Criterion Closet! She loves Bette Davis, Albert Brooks, Katherine Hepburn and well-written movies. She only picked a handful of movies though, usually artists fill their bags with like ten box sets?? [OMG Blog]
I can’t even watch the Whalefall trailer, the description was enough and I’m not going to see this. I agree that the ocean is simply none of our business. [LaineyGossip]
Jennifer Lawrence cracked the Summer House leak case. [Socialite Life]
Jodie Comer in a lacy Givenchy. [RCFA]
Nancy Mace came in last place. [Jezebel]
Review of Lorne, the doc about Lorne Michaels. [Pajiba]
Donald Trump’s sarcastic “thank you, darling” to a reporter is getting a lot of attention for being sexist. Is this news? That man has been violently misogynistic this whole time. [Buzzfeed]
If the Knicks win the Championship, do you think Timothee Chalamet & Kylie Jenner will get married or have a baby or both? [JustJared]
Episode guide for Love Island USA. [Hollywood Life]
Green Day is making a movie? [Seriously OMG]

The thing about Bill Gates is that he’s smart enough and rich enough to hire the best lawyers, best publicists and best crisis managers to help him manage his current crisis. The other thing about Bill Gates is that he was stupid enough to compulsively cheat on his wife with dozens of women and stupid enough to get involved with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein’s sweetheart plea deal and house arrest. The dichotomy of man in a nutshell. So, Gates had months of lead time to get his story straight, and on Wednesday, he appeared before a closed-door session of the House Oversight Committee, where he was asked about his extensive connections to Epstein. Bill’s team worked long and hard to come up with some reasonable explanations for all of it. Blackmail! Falsified kompromat! Only three years of contact! Bill was slow to realize the extent to which Epstein was trying to use him! Sure, Jan.

Bill Gates said he told members of the House Oversight Committee during closed-door testimony on Wednesday, June 10, that Jeffrey Epstein tried to blackmail him over his infidelity to his then-wife, Melinda French Gates.

“I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage. These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” the billionaire Microsoft co-founder said in his opening statement amid the committee’s ongoing Epstein investigation, according to a copy of Gates’ planned remarks that he also shared online.

“As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him,” Gates said he told lawmakers. “He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda.”

Gates said he “should never have met with Epstein” — whose vast network of influential friends and associates has drawn scrutiny in recent years — and reiterated that he “never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct,” echoing his past statements about their relationship. Gates noted that he never went to Epstein’s infamous island, his Florida home or ranch.

“I have never victimized anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated,” he insisted. Gates, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has repeatedly apologized for having spent time with Epstein and has said that he met with the convicted sex offender solely to obtain support for his global health philanthropy.

“I was introduced to Epstein in 2011 through people I trusted in my professional and philanthropic work,” Gates, 70, said. “Epstein claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services.”

Gates admitted to some naiveté regarding Epstein. He said he was initially “aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed. I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.” He said he and Epstein were connected for a handful of years, starting with “preliminary meetings” three times in 2011 and twice in 2012, where he talked about the “goals” of his work.

“We began more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014,” Gates added. “The discussions focused on identifying potential giving structures, such as donor-advised funds, and how to enroll individuals he claimed were interested in making significant contributions. I made it clear to Epstein from the outset that he would never play a role in any of the work or receive any compensation.”

But in 2014, Gates said that after “Epstein brought together a group he described as potential donors, I realized that our prior discussions — which should have translated into meaningful philanthropic support — were a dead-end… It was clear that no one in the group was interested enough to move forward,” Gates said. “At that point, I concluded Epstein would never deliver on his promises. I told him we would go no further and stopped communicating or meeting with him. No vehicle for charitable giving was ever created and no funds were raised.”

He said their interactions ended in December 2014 — “four years before new reports in the press and unsealed court documents shed light on the extent of his crimes.”

“It was during the same time period that an employee was in the process of transitioning out of my private office. This employee engaged Epstein to negotiate and advise him on the terms of the separation. I did not ask — nor did I want or need — Epstein to be involved in this matter,” Gates added.

[From People]

You can read more of Gates’ statements at People Magazine. At one point, he claimed that Epstein had basically taken advantage of Gates’ laser-like focus on global health, saying in part, “I was so focused on the possibility of raising funds for global health that I allowed that goal to override my better judgment. That is a sobering realization, and it has reinforced for me the importance of being more attentive to how access and reputation can be manipulated by people acting in bad faith.” Gates was a shallow youth in his 50s when he was seemingly manipulated by a PDFile conman for years! When Melinda was divorcing Bill, she said she was quite open about how Epstein disgusted her, and she spoke of her disgust to her husband. Certainly, a billionaire like Bill Gates would have ample senior staff capable of running thorough background checks on his potential associates as well. That’s one of the reasons why Bill’s narrative falls apart. Sure, maybe he was “conned” – but he was surrounded by people who didn’t fall for Epstein’s con or whose job it was to protect their boss from sleazy PDFile con men. How in the world did it take three years for the veil to be lifted? Or maybe it was something else entirely. Once you start pulling at these strings, it’s difficult to believe a lot of Bill’s excuses.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

On Wednesday, Prince William did his first event of the week (I’m not joking) with a panel-discussion appearance at London Tech Week. The panel discussion was about one of William’s “key issues,” homelessness and how he’s the savior of unhoused people. What’s killing me is that not enough people are talking about what William actually SAID during the panel discussion and what he announced. This is typical of both William and the royal reporters who cover him – William is a lump on a log 99% of the time, and his few-and-far-between public statements are rarely significant. But what he announced this week was genuinely bonkers and I need genuine data-privacy experts to tap into this conversation.

So what was the big announcement? William’s homelessness project Homewards is launching something called the Homelessness Data Lab. They’re partnering with Salesforce and the UK property charity LandAid, and they’re going to access private citizens’ bank records, cell phone data and rental records to try to “predict” homelessness. The goals here are nebulous at best, and what William described at the tech conference sounds more like an illegal data gathering to monitor potential homelessness rather than offer support and solutions to homelessness. Well, if you can believe it, it gets a lot worse. Guess who’s also a huge cheerleader for AI?

Britain’s Prince William said artificial intelligence was being harnessed to identify people at risk of homelessness, enabling early intervention ​to keep them in housing or reduce the time they spend ‌on the streets or in temporary accommodation.

The prince told an audience at London Tech Week that it was an “unusual conversation” for a technology forum, but the types of ​data companies handled daily could give insights that made a ​real difference.

“I’m not sure you realise how much that data can ⁠be used to predict and see problems with potential homelessness before ​they arise,” he said.

The programme launched its Homelessness Data Lab at Tech Week ​in partnership with LandAid and Salesforce, supported by Bloomberg, VodafoneThree, Accenture, NatWest ​Group and others. The lab will analyse data to flag warning signs – such as a ‌missed ⁠bill payment, a phone being cut off or a child absent from school – to intervene to reduce homelessness, a problem Homewards said affected more than 430,000 people in Britain.

The prince said the data could help identify much ​earlier when somebody ​was getting into ⁠difficulties, allowing intervention that could help them stay in their homes, jobs and communities.

“Prevention is better than cure,” he ​said, appealing to other companies and organisations to join ​the 25 ⁠already working with the lab.

William was shown an “Economic Wellbeing Explorer” map that uses anonymised data from NatWest to pinpoint homelessness risks in Lambeth, London, one ⁠of ​the six locations Homewards works in.

“It’s game-changing stuff,” ​he told Tim Siret, an analyst at Smart Data Foundry, a subsidiary of the University ​of Edinburgh, which created the explorer.

[From Reuters]

Proponents of AI – mostly the people working for or investing in AI companies – swear up and down that AI can be used for everything, that it will save humanity, that it can do all of these wonderful things. When really, this is a prime example of what AI is actually being used for: data-mining people’s banking records, rental records and phone records. Unethical and illegal breaches of privacy, and spending millions of dollars on AI make-work to replace actual person-to-person contact within communities. Let me ask Prince William this: would he be okay with data-mining people’s medical records to “prevent homelessness”? Of course not, because that would be such an obvious breach of medical privacy, right? So why is everyone shrugging at Blundering Bill giving AI free access to private citizens’ banking and cell phone data?? Also: isn’t BlunderBill an environmentalist?? He should check out what AI is doing to the environment.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

After the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Knicks fans went into Madison Square Garden and literally burned sage. Knicks-fan witches were doing spells to cast out the evil spirits after Donald Trump napped through Game 3. Well, it worked. The Knicks pulled off a miracle in Game 4, and now the Knicks are three games to one against the Spurs. All they need is to win one more game and they’ll have their first championship since the 1970s.

For last night’s MSG game, tons of celebrities were in attendance. Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, Mariska Hargitay, Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Hailey Bieber, Wu-Tang!!! All were there. So was Taylor Swift and two of the Haim sisters, Alana and Este. Not only did they sit courtside, they coordinated in specially-made t-shirts reading “Stevie Knicks,” “Knickole Kidman” and “Knickelback.” Travis Kelce didn’t come, he probably had other things to do, so Taylor had a girls’ night. She was also hanging out with Mariska, who seemed overwhelmed that the Knicks managed to pull off a come-from-behind win. I’m including some cool Knicks stuff below.

Stevie Knicks, Knickelback and Knickole Kidman pic.twitter.com/CUM4rwBzhJ

— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) June 11, 2026

security trying to protect her and meanwhile she dgaf shes too happy and too drunk pic.twitter.com/zKotlkALJr

— caio* (@mclr4n) June 11, 2026

timothée chalamet getting shirtless after the knicks win tonight pic.twitter.com/FjVDXGYmd4

— timothée chalamet nation (@timotheenation) June 11, 2026

“I love you so much, I'm so happy.”

Mariska Hargitay to Jalen Brunson postgame

A game-high 36 for JB in the Game 4 W! pic.twitter.com/Yfn64qpMpg

— NBA (@NBA) June 11, 2026

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

All week, I’ve been waiting for Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace to hype Trooping the Colour, which is happening on Saturday. Trooping is the annual “official birthday” parade of the sovereign, despite when the king or queen’s actual birthday falls on the calendar. King Charles is a Scorpio King, which explains a lot, but he still has to attend a birthday parade in June every year. Well, all of this, right here, is more than the British press is doing to hype this year’s Trooping. Those people screamed for years about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and how they should never, ever be allowed on the fakakta balcony. It’s now been five solid years of having a pale-and-stale all-white balcony and, as it turns out, people have completely lost interest. In fact, the only way to drum up any interest in Trooping is by dragging Prince Harry into it. From Hello Magazine’s “Will Prince Harry fly to the UK for his father King Charles’ official birthday this weekend?”

On Saturday, we saw the royal family gather together to celebrate the nuptials of Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling, and one week on they will gather again for Trooping the Colour, the event which marks the King’s official birthday. We expect to see King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla supported by senior royals like Prince William and Princess Kate and Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, but will Prince Harry be making an appearance?

At present, it is believed that Harry will not be jetting in from Montecito for the occasion. Since stepping down from his position as a senior royal, the Duke has missed multiple royal events, such as state banquets, commonwealth celebrations and the iconic Christmas Day church appearance.

However, he is expected to travel to the UK next month, but not for a royal occasion. The Prince’s Invictus Games are coming to Birmingham 10 – 17 July, and the Duke is likely to make an appearance and a speech, as he usually does. The last games were held in Canada, where he stepped out alongside his wife Meghan. It is yet to be seen if Meghan will make the trip to the UK with her husband.

[From Hello]

Not to be outdone, the Daily Express conducted a “poll” to determine whether Prince Harry SHOULD make an appearance at Trooping. The results of the poll showed that he absolutely should not!

Prince Harry has been urged to not make an appearance at this year’s Trooping the Colour, with many members of the Royal Family set to attend the event this week. The historic day, which is held annually to mark the monarch’s official birthday, is one of the biggest events in the royal calendar and will take place on Saturday, June 13.

The King and Queen will step out alongside fellow working royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony after attending the annual procession to start the day. Having now lived in the US since 2020, and no longer being regarded as a working member of the Royal Family, Harry has not attended the event in a number of years.

In a poll conducted by the Daily Express, royal fans were asked if they think Harry should make his first appearance at the event since 2019. Of the 4,910 people who cast a vote, a staggering 4,687 people voted that Harry should stay away from this week’s event. Just 205 people voted that he should make an appearance, whilst just 18 people shared that they ‘don’t know’ what Harry should do.

[From The Daily Express]

This is all they have – the only interest they can generate in the left-behinds is their association to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the ones who got away six-plus years ago. That’s the reason there were so many stories about Harry not getting an invitation to Peter Phillips’ wedding as well – that was the only way they could hype the wedding. It also reminds me of the poorly-received Scottish coronation in 2023, when the biggest talking point was “will Harry come back for THIS coronation??” He did not. It’s like the entire kingdom is built on buyer’s remorse – this is literally what they wanted, they schemed and manipulated to get to this place, a White Walker balcony. And they’re mad that no one gives a crap. They also stopped giving a crap about it as soon as they figured out that Harry and Meghan literally do not care.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster at last night’s NYC premiere of The Death of Robin Hood. In the film, Jackman – wearing a particularly crazy wig – plays an elderly Robin Hood grappling with his legacy of crime. This feels like capitalist propaganda, not to mention copaganda. Or to put it more specifically, Sheriff-of-Nottinghamaganda. There’s definitely an agenda at play!

Speaking of agendas, Hugh really brings Sutton everywhere these days. They hard-launched their relationship last year, after what was reportedly an affair which ended both of their marriages. While Deborra Lee Furness has been loud about Hugh’s betrayal, Sutton’s now-ex-husband Ted Griffin has been decidedly quiet. I’m not judging either way – I think Deborra has the right to speak out, just as Ted Griffin has the right to keep his situation private.

There are constantly rumors about Hugh, Sutton and Deborra in the American, British and Australian media, and I have no idea what to believe at this point. One rumor circulating this month is that Hugh wants to marry Sutton but she’s the one saying no. Given the way he treated Deborra, Sutton is probably worried about reaping what she sowed. But I actually think marriage is probably in the cards for these two. I can see how both of them would want to put a bow on it. It would be better for both of their images too – it would make it seem less like a torrid affair which ruined two marriages and more like “true love.”

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy Tom Sykes’ descent into full-on deranger lunacy. I’ve read Sykes’ stuff for years, back when he covered the royals exclusively for the Daily Beast. Back in the day, he actually had some decent exclusives and he could reveal more about how the royal sausage is made because he worked for an American outlet. But ever since he started his Substack and his YouTube channel, everything about his royal analysis has changed. The multiple rants about Meghan’s “Taco Bell” kitchen were the most recent peak of his new anti-Sussex perspective. But his new Substack piece is pretty wild.

So, there’s a new, San Francisco-based kids’ clothing brand called Lil Olives. On Lil Olives’ site, they’re using a child model with red hair and the child is posed with her face mostly shielded from the camera. The aesthetic is absolutely borrowed from the Duchess of Sussex’s Instagram. Or, as Sykes hysterically writes: “Meghan Markle’s Brand Faces Speculation as Lilibet-Like Image Appears in Doppelgänger Clothing Brand; Questions have emerged online after a Substack post suggested a child model used in a children’s clothing brand bore a resemblance to Princess Lilibet.” Yes, Sykes wrote a multi-page rant about how a kids’ clothing company used a ginger child as a model. I’m not joking.

Meghan Markle’s As Ever brand appears to have a doppelgänger, with strikingly similar branding and imagery that bears an uncanny resemblance to photos of her daughter.

Award-winning journalist Paula Froelich may have unearthed something that would have been better left unnoticed for the Duchess of Sussex. On Sunday, writing on her Uncensored Substack, she highlighted similarities between Meghan’s Montecito-based As Ever brand and San Francisco children’s clothing label Lil Olives, founded by Danya Ghutta.

Froelich compared the mission statements of the two brands, suggesting both read as though they may have been AI-generated, and noting that automated analysis flagged the texts as “almost exact” clones of one another, differing only in the products they promote.

But it’s the visual overlap that has drawn the most attention. A child model featured in Lil Olives’ “Buttercream Bloom Dress,” whose face is mostly hidden, except for one image in sunglasses, was flagged as having a near-identical look to Princess Lilibet, who has appeared in many photographs on Meghan’s Instagram, including a post last week for her fifth birthday.

The questions practically write themselves: is Lilibet being used as inspiration for another brand? Is this an AI-generated likeness? Is one brand borrowing from the other? Or is it simply an extraordinary coincidence?

The Royalist has reached out to both brands for comment, but Lil Olives has since appeared to signal at least a partial response by removing the images in question from its website following Froelich’s post, only adding to the list of questions and speculation.

…Lil Olives was created in August 2025, suggesting its founder may have been influenced by As Ever, which was launched a year earlier in 2024. That, in turn, has prompted the question of whether any of that inspiration extended beyond branding and into imagery connected to Meghan’s daughter.

To be clear, there is no evidence that Lil Olives used Lilibet’s likeness, and it would be inappropriate to speculate on that point given the legal and ethical sensitivities involved. It has also not been established that Lilibet modeled for the brand. If either were ever proven, it would obviously elevate the situation significantly.

[From The Royalist Substack]

How can another little girl with red hair exist? I thought Princess Lili Diana was the only ginger girl in the entire United States!!! IT MUST BE AI! Meghan must have allowed Lili to model for a kids’ clothing company! Whatever this is, it’s bad news for Meghan, because EVERYTHING must be bad news for Meghan! Meghan thought that she had the only redheaded child in existence, well, joke’s on her! Meghan thought that she had cultivated an exclusive Millenial-core aesthetic which no one would ever copy, joke’s on her again!

PS… You can see the Lil Olives site here. They have tons of images of kids modeling their clothes and very few of the pics even seem inspired by Meghan? These people are so weird.

Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.

In recent years, 30 Rock’s 2006-2013 run continues to echo throughout the culture. 30 Rock might end up being the most prescient TV show of the 21st century. Not a week goes by where there isn’t some 30 Rock-esque storyline happening culturally, politically or socially. One of the running gags on 30 Rock was that Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski’s actor-characters (Tracy and Jenna) were idiots who were constantly getting into trouble whenever they opened their mouths. Well, welcome to this week’s 30 Rock storyline – the real Tracy Morgan made fun of teachers. Even more specifically: underpaid, under-resourced, underappreciated public-school teachers who are just trying to survive and educate the youths. Tracy did this in his Variety Actors-on-Actors piece with Marcello Hernandez, who is currently an SNL cast member.

Tracy Morgan is causing a stir after his diss of teachers during his Variety and CNN “Actors on Actors” appearance. The “Saturday Night Live” alum was paired with breakout cast member Marcello Hernández, who were discussing what it would have been like to be on “SNL” together or grow up together.

The Miami-born comedian then opened up about misbehaving in school. “They told me I did mischief in school. Mischief. I talk too much. I was excessive talking,” Hernández said dramatically, panning to camera.

“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” star pushed back. “You know who gave you that voice?” he said. “No, they didn’t understand you.
You had a sense of humor. And they couldn’t control that. God gave that to you.”

Hernández agreed. “And now look at it. I’m getting paid for mischief.”

Morgan responded, “And they still making minimum wage,” before taking a sip from his mug.

The comment seemed to take Hernández by surprise, saying “no” before laughing. But Morgan continued. “You know how much them teachers probably making right now?” Hernández replied, “Man, not enough.”

Morgan continued, “And I can’t stand teachers. You know why? Because they have a ceiling. They have a limit. That’s all they ever gonna be. Man, I teach my kids, sky’s the limits.”

The comment elicited a spit take from Hernández. But after Variety shared a clip of the conversation, users online were less amused.

[From USA Today]

This is insane and yet very on-brand for Tracy Jordan. I mean, Tracy Morgan. Someone get Liz Lemon on the phone, Tracy pissed off teachers!! I’ve cued the video, below, to the part about teachers. Marcello seems to think Tracy is saying it for laughs at first, but then he realized that Tracy was being dead serious. I’m not going to defend Tracy here, but I doubt this will blow up into a bigger thing, unless we really are living in a 30 Rock-ass storyline. I mean, what would Liz Lemon do? Send Tracy on MS NOW to tell Rachel Maddow that he actually loves teachers, except for science teachers because of [insert dinosaur conspiracy].

Screencaps courtesy of Variety’s YouTube video.

Last year, Serena Williams announced a partnership with Ro, a GLP-1 medication. Ro’s claim to fame is that it’s not specifically engineered as a diabetes medication, and usage is encouraged purely for weight loss. Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian invested in Ro, and Serena stars in Ro’s commercials and print ads. She’s given several interviews saying flat-out that she began researching GLP-1s after she struggled to lose weight after the births of her daughters. Ro worked for Serena – she’s lost a lot of weight and she looks fit and like she’s back to her pre-baby body. Serena came back to the tennis tour this week, and she says she’s only back to play doubles and have a good time. I watched her first match back and while there’s still some rust, Serena looks pretty sharp. Her perfect serve is still there, her power is still there, and she still has pretty good instincts at the net. Well, now is apparently the time where the sports world wrings their hands over whether GLPs should be categorized as performance-enhancing. Can these men just let Serena breathe for one week???

No one expects [Serena Williams’] comeback to stop at Queen’s, or with doubles, though she has not directly committed to playing singles yet. Immediately, Williams reclaimed her position as the most magnetic star in the sport. She also became by far the most prominent athlete to compete at the highest level of their sport having taken GLP-1 drugs, which anti-doping authorities have been monitoring since 2024.

They are not a prohibited substance, nor classed as a performance-enhancing drug. They may never be. Williams’ communication team declined an interview for this story, and to express her views on the debate about whether the drugs could be banned.

Semaglutides and tirzepatides, the two main classes of GLP-1 drug, have been on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) monitoring program since 2024. They work by mimicking the behavior of glucagon, a naturally occurring hormone that triggers the pancreas to release insulin, slow digestion and reduce appetite and hunger. People who take GLP-1s — Glucagon-Like Peptides — report significant reduction in “food noise,” the part of their mind that thinks about the next snack or meal. The reduction in food intake can lead to significant weight loss.

There is no timetable on the WADA process for establishing whether GLP-1s are performance-enhancing, a spokesperson for the organization said. Tennis anti-doping protocol is managed by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), but as an Olympic sport, WADA oversees its compliance with its code.

“The WADA List Expert Advisory Group has discussed their status, as well as other substances of the same class,” the statement said. “Semaglutide and tirzepatide were added to the Monitoring Program to track patterns of use in sports in and out of competition. The Monitoring Program includes substances which are not on the Prohibited List, but that WADA wishes to monitor in order to detect potential patterns of misuse in sport.”

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement that the pharmaceutical company, which produces and distributes GLP-1s, agreed with WADA’s decision to monitor GLP-1 usage: “We are supportive of the WADA recommendation, and we strongly discourage use/promotion outside the indicated population and approved label.”

To land on the banned list, a substance has to satisfy two of three criteria: The potential to enhance sport performance; the potential to be a risk to athletes’ health; the potential to violate what WADA defines in its code as the “spirit of sport.” There is a divide in the anti-doping world over whether violating the “spirit of sport” is too vague a criterion, and that enforcement should be based on science alone. For now, though, taking what WADA deems a shortcut in training can contribute to a substance landing on the banned list. It has shown increasing concern about the role of weight-loss drugs in sports. Minutes of a meeting of WADA’s Health and Research Committee last August show a discussion of “whether a new class addressing all types of weight management substances should be created, not only for weight category sports but also weight-sensitive ones (e.g. gymnastics, figure skating, cycling).”

How GLP-1s cause weight loss may further complicate whether they can be considered performance-enhancing. Fat loss is the main contributor. But studies of GLP-1 patients have shown that muscle loss also occurs, which for athletes, would do the opposite of enhancing performance.

[From The NY Times]

Further down in the article, they mention the very obvious work-around for tennis players, which is a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) – basically, if you can provide a doctor’s note for why you need to be on a certain drug, you’re basically allowed to take it. While Serena’s use of Ro has always been specifically for weight loss (in her own words), I think it would be pretty easy for Serena or anyone else to find a doctor saying that a GLP-1 is medically necessary for so-and-so. While it feels like they’re picking on Serena, I actually do think this is a larger issue which WADA will need to reckon with. The most interesting part is where people could argue against the performance enhancement aspect because GLPs lead to muscle loss. I would also argue that there’s anecdotal evidence that GLPs might negatively affect an athlete’s competitive drive – GLPs have been shown to suppress all cravings, not just for food, but also for dopamine. What if GLPs suppress the wacky brain chemistry which elite athletes need to train and compete at such high levels?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

The usual suspects are still trying to “take down” the Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever brand. They want As Ever to fail and it’s killing them that AE was probably one of the most successful startups of 2025. Well, this week, As Ever’s Instagram posted a sweet “hosting tips” reel from influencer Olivia McDowell. Olivia has highlighted As Ever’s products on her social media before, and this has the feel of As Ever contacting her specifically for her brand of sponsored content. Well, Tom Sykes is on the case! From The Royalist’s “Meghan Markle appears to be shifting strategy with her As Ever brand, slowly stepping back from putting herself at its center… Kind of.”

The Duchess of Sussex made a different kind of post this week on the brand’s Instagram. Instead of featuring herself, a video showed lifestyle influencer Olivia McDowell assembling perfect cucumber sandwiches, spreading As Ever jam on a croissant, drinking As Ever tea, and lighting an As Ever candle, all in what was captioned her “3 summer hosting tips.”

At the same time, As Ever’s Instagram Story couldn’t quite stay away from its founder. Meghan linked to her personal account, where she shared a “photo dump” captioned “Springing into summer,” including images of her lying on the grass, nature shots, Archie playing with Prince Harry, onion-cutting, Lilibet’s T-shirt, and a hug with her husband, but, notably, no As Ever content.

This appears to be the first time the Duchess has featured someone other than herself using the products she sells, and it comes just a few days after a report suggested that website traffic has not kept pace with inventory levels this year.

“Bringing in other personalities to carry your brand is running the classic playbook,” Warren Johnson, founder of PR and influencer agency W Communications, told The Royalist, adding that “the team need to stop the As Ever brand from being a personality cult.”

Johnson noted that similar strategies have been used by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company. “It’s a smart move. The question will be whether the team stick with the strategy for long enough to see the benefits, or whether we see another erratic pivot feed the ‘Diva Duchess’ tag that they are desperate to overcome,” he added.

…While a brand like Goop has collaborated with figures including Kourtney Kardashian and Stella McCartney, Meghan has chosen Olivia McDowell as one of the first personalities to represent her brand. McDowell has around 295,000 Instagram followers (fewer than As Ever and Meghan) and regularly encourages her audience to shop items she herself purchases, with her most popular recommendations including a shoulder bag priced at $1,920 and a tote bag for $570.

In a way, this aligns with Meghan’s own product inventory, which is also far from inexpensive. While a decade ago the Duchess described $100 candles as “obnoxious,” As Ever now sells a set of four candles for $256. The Sussexes’ “favorite” jams are available as a $36 bundle of three, while flower sprinkles are priced at $15. Maybe the Duchess is trying to find an appropriate market for these products, and McDowell, who has quite expensive tastes and an aesthetic lifestyle, fits that narrative.

[From The Royalist Substack]

“This appears to be the first time the Duchess has featured someone other than herself using the products she sells…” No it isn’t? While Olivia’s video might be the first one which is explicitly some kind of sponcon collaboration with As Ever, both Meghan and As Ever have highlighted other people using AE products or tips learned from With Love, Meghan. Those photos and videos were usually posted on Instagram Stories last year, because I remember that the As Ever team highlighted a bunch of really good ones of normal women trying out various products and one-pan pasta and what have you. Basically, they’re desperate to use every single Instagram post as evidence of Meghan’s “failure” when really, this is just business as usual for a growing brand. Meghan isn’t “stepping back” – she’s the face of her brand, she’s running the show and she’s the one choosing the aesthetics and the sponcon. Also, it looks like Sykes needs to get his eyes checked because Meghan did include a jar of jam in her photo dump on Tuesday as well (see below).

Olivia McDowell x As ever

Olivia’s summer hosting tips with Meghan’s As ever brand! #AsEverByMeghan pic.twitter.com/o0IYgxNPiD

— ChrisBaronSmith (@ChrisBaronSmit1) June 8, 2026

Photos courtesy of As Ever’s Instagram.

There’s nothing that angers Hollywood executives more than a small-budget film finding huge box office success. The fact that there are currently two inexpensively-produced films raking it in at the box office has turned into a full-on catastrophe for many studios. These are the same studios who just want to make sequels, remakes and anything with a known IP. Those studios will cut $150 million checks for Play-Doh: The Untold Story or Avengers 7: Nobody Wants This. But those studio heads would have balked at the very idea of spending $750K to make Obsession, or $10 million for Backrooms. Well, Tom Cruise’s CAA agent Maha Dakhil is getting studio lashings for admitting what should be obvious: that the success of Backrooms and Obsession is amazing for the film industry and that directors Kane Parsons and Curry Barker are ushering in another age of exciting, small-budget films which speak to a younger audience.

Maha Dakhil just can’t catch a break. The outspoken CAA super-agent who represents everyone from Tom Cruise to Natalie Portman to Anne Hathaway, recently told attendees as part of a Forbes Iconoclast Summit in New York on June 3 that filmmakers don’t necessarily need film executives to execute their vision.

“We are seeing that we don’t even need studios to green-light ideas. We just need talent and courage,” said Dakhil who, we are told, was referencing the breakout hits “Obsession” and “Backdoors” which have prompted all sorts of chest-beating within a Hollywood desperate for any hopeful news about the future of moviemaking.

Well, it turns out Dakhil’s comments rankled some actual studio executives, some of whom sit on the greenlight committees for major studios. Says one: “Is Tom Cruise going to self-fund? Is the Church of Scientology going to pay for everything he does? How do you make ‘Digger’? Who pays for that?”

“Digger,” of course, is Warner Bros.’ upcoming Cruise movie that costs anywhere from $125 million to $200 million, depending on who you ask. A Warners rep says the budget of the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed, black comedy is $125 million, while a studio insider says it is “pushing a $200 million, which is insane.” Either way, it represents a figure that can only be approved by a … studio. Asks another top manager, “Does CAA really want her out in the world talking like that?”

But other veteran execs involved with the breakout projects have been publicly making the rounds praising the films on panels, and even chastising Hollywood studios, with no blowback. Jason Blum, an executive producer of “Obsession,” likened Barker and Parsons’ films in a recent talk at the producers guild to nothing less than the ’70s new wave of cinema.

And Peter Chernin, the former Fox exec turned producer who co-financed “Backrooms” with A24, told “The Town” of the big studios, “You can’t just live on sequels, you can’t just live on IP… [the major studios] should be taking risks.” (Chernin also told CNBC of any impending copycats, ″I guarantee you 80% will be failures… Your job is to innovate… not to just jump on a bandwagon.”)

One unintended consequence of the back-to-back success of “Obsession” and “Backdoors” is the casting of a spotlight on Hollywood’s generational divide. Across the industry, on the Monday after “Backrooms” opened, boomer studio honchos sat down with their younger millennial and Gen Z staff and earnestly asked their advice on how to harness the power of YouTube. To some, it feels like a classic bandwagon moment that a generation of top executives will undoubtedly squander.

One meme that was making the rounds featured a suited executive standing over his assistant with the line: “My boss making me find the next Kane Parsons or Curry Barker by EOD.”

[From Page Six]

The thing about Tom Cruise’s agent speaking positively about Obsession and Backrooms is that I can pretty much guarantee that Cruise agrees with her. Tom Cruise is Mr. Hollywood, and while he loves a big, costly studio production, he absolutely supports ALL unique filmmakers, even the young guys working with indie budgets. I bet Cruise has already called Parsons and Barker to congratulate them. That’s what it should be like, rather than all of this sniping and jealousy. ALL of the studios should have seen Obsession and Backrooms’ success as a hugely positive moment for the industry as a whole.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Earlier this week, we discussed the guest list at Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding. Considering there hasn’t been a “royal wedding” in eight years, it was actually a nice reminder that no one in the British upper class can find flattering and occasion-appropriate clothing. The wedding photos were very fun! It was also fun to realize that one of the Princess of Wales’ exes was invited to the wedding. Back in the day, then-Kate Middleton dated Rupert Finch, probably in her first year at St. Andrews. Finch is now married to an aristocrat who co-founded Beulah London, a British label popular among royals and aristocrats. Well, people are still trying to make a meal out of “Kate and one of her exes attended the same wedding.”

Kate Middleton recently crossed paths with former boyfriend Rupert Finch at a royal family wedding. The encounter took place as the Princess of Wales and Prince William attended the marriage of Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling alongside a close-knit group of family members and friends.

The royal gathering brought together several well-known figures from the extended royal circle, such as Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne, who married NHS nurse Harriet Sperling in an intimate ceremony. Among the guests was Rupert Finch, who arrived with his wife, Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs, the co-founder of fashion label Beulah London.

For royal watchers, Rupert’s appearance attracted extra attention because he briefly dated Kate while they were both studying at the University of St Andrews, before she began her relationship with Prince William. Despite their shared history, insiders say there was no discomfort between the former couple. “Everyone’s very mature about moving on, and there’s no embarrassment, just kindness, between Kate and Rupert,” a source told Woman’s Day.

According to the insider, both have built happy family lives since their university days. Kate, Princess of Wales, and Prince William are raising Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, while Rupert and Natasha have three children of their own. Sources close to the royal circle said the reunion felt completely natural and comfortable, with no awkwardness between anyone involved.

Sources say Rupert’s connection to the royal world extends far beyond his brief romance with Kate. His wife Natasha has become a familiar figure in royal fashion circles through Beulah London, a label Kate has worn on numerous occasions over the years. Princess Beatrice and other members of the royal family have also been seen wearing the brand’s designs. “Rupert isn’t just Kate’s university ex,” the insider explained. “He’s been part of the royal-adjacent social circle for almost two decades thanks to his wife.”

[From Reality Tea]

I don’t believe there was any scandal or drama around Finch’s attendance either, for what it’s worth. The gossip isn’t “oh, hard feelings, it’s so scandalous for exes to run into each other!” The gossip is “let’s think back to Kate’s pre-Waity days, and examine what her life would have been like if she hadn’t been singularly devoted to landing William.” She would have been a lot happier, although she and Finch were probably too similar, given their current spouses. They were both looking for someone titled. Plus, Carole Middleton wouldn’t have been happy if Kate settled down with someone like Finch, even if he does resemble Roger Federer.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty Images, Avalon Red, Cover Images.