Kaia Gerber wore Valentino to The Shards premiere/event. [JustJared]
Jake Johnson is low-key the greatest Xennial heartthrob. [Pajiba]
Nicole Kidman’s love languages & witchcraft. [LaineyGossip]
The DEA called Donald Trump a liar. [Jezebel]
Elon Musk is a loser. [Buzzfeed]
What’s up with FX’s The Shards? [Hollywood Life]
Bret Michaels had emergency surgery. [Seriously OMG]
Lupita Nyong’o and her Odyssey press tour fashion. [RCFA]
AI has destroyed the “terribly Photoshopped movie poster” industry. [OMG Blog]

Obviously, we’re still talking about The Instagram Carousel That Brought a Nation To Its Knees. Last Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex posted photos from her family’s summer holiday. Nothing has been the same since, at least in royal media. Royalists are furious that Meghan’s photos are so happy and joyful. Royalists are furious that the Sussexes own a second home in Portugal. Royalists are furious that Prince Harry is clearly very close to the Spencer family, and that the Sussexes stayed at Althorp for several days without paparazzi getting any photos. And obviously, royalists are furious that Meghan posted a photo of her husband and children walking together and carrying flowers at Althorp. That’s all the photo shows – there’s no photo of the private island where Princess Diana is buried. There’s no photo of Diana’s gravestone. There’s no explicit message about Diana – just a photo of Diana’s son and ginger grandbabies carrying flowers and walking on the Spencer family’s ancestral estate. Well, the Daily Mail’s Maureen Callahan is furious on behalf of King Charles and Prince William! From “Meghan’s vulgar act at Diana’s sacred resting place vindicates Prince William’s suspicions. King Charles must now come to grips with it all.”

Just when you think Meghan can’t go any lower, she outdoes herself. If there’s one place above all that Harry and the British royal family would consider sacred, you’d think it would be Princess Diana’s burial site, located on an island at her ancestral home of Althorp. But what did Meghan choose to post on Thursday? A photo of Harry and their son, Archie, carrying huge floral bouquets as daughter Lili trailed behind, the sun dappling just so — art-directed, it seems — that appears to have been taken on the grounds outside the house on Althorp Estate, albeit not on the island itself.

The implication is hardly subtle: Was Harry taking the children to visit Diana’s grave? Meghan hasn’t denied it. Neither has Harry. People magazine, the American outlet said to be preferred by Meghan and one that has historically been kind to her, reports that the Sussexes stayed at Althorp during their visit to the UK two weeks ago, as guests of Diana’s brother Charles Spencer.

So much for not being able to safely return to the UK without royal protection. So much for not being able to set foot in Harry’s homeland without swarms of paparazzi putting Harry’s wife’s life in danger, as he has so often claimed.

Why would Meghan do this? Perhaps Meghan’s decision to post this picture of Harry and the children at Althorp, seemingly on their way to Diana’s grave, is an act of defiance. After all, it was widely reported that the immovable conditions of Harry, Meghan and the children meeting with King Charles were no leaks and no photos. If one considers that admonition literally, then Meghan has abided. If one also considers the spirit of this requirement, as I do here, then Meghan has breached it.

Consider that Prince William has visited Diana’s grave, surely with Catherine, Princess of Wales and their children. Have we ever, ever, seen a photo of them at Althorp? Of course not. William and Catherine are decent, serious people who understand that some things are sacred. Diana was buried on that island, at her family’s private residence, precisely to keep her gravesite from becoming a circus, a tourist attraction, a commodity.

For Meghan to share this, in my opinion, is beyond callous. It’s vulgar. It’s as obscene as that video she took in Paris, seemingly filmed from the back of a chauffeured car near the tunnel where Diana died — Meghan’s feet up on the backseat, crossing them as if in bored repose. She posted that to Instagram too, and William was said to be fuming. What must his reaction be now? Diana was his mother too, but the way Harry carries on, you would think he was the only brother to suffer her loss.

What must King Charles be thinking? He allowed his traitorous son — one whose claims of royal family squabbling have been injected back into the news cycle by none other than Oprah Winfrey — back into his life with, reportedly, one request: Do not break my trust. This act, which has sparked revulsion online and among good people everywhere, seems to be further proof that William is right: Harry and Meghan cannot be trusted.

[From The Daily Mail]

It’s true that King Charles “ordered” (or shall we say, requested) that Harry and Meghan not post any photos of their meeting at Highgrove. Meghan adhered to that request. Incidentally, I think that’s why these people are so mad, because Meghan didn’t also post some nice photo from Highgrove which they could scream about. Instead, it very much looks like Meghan went out of her way to snub the Windsors, or as Meghan says, “my husband’s family.” And why would Charles care about photos from Althorp? He does care, but not in the way Callahan believes. Charles is mad about the Althorp photos because they show that the Spencers are more welcoming than the Windsors. As for the Althorp photos… again, it’s a pic from the larger Althorp estate, where tourists are welcome. It’s not offensive or vulgar or some kind of etiquette breach. Speaking of vulgar, remember when Prince William’s office posted cards to “Granny Diana,” allegedly made by his children? That was something.

Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram and As Ever’s Instagram.

When Christopher Nolan was promoting The Odyssey a few weeks ago, he shared a really funny story about his son humbling him. You see, Nolan closed himself off in his office to adapt the screenplay for The Odyssey, and his son came into the office and wondered where his father had put all of his Oscars (for Oppenheimer). Nolan told his son that he removed the Oscars from view because he didn’t want the pressure of writing a complicated script while eye-to-eye with all of that hardware. His son replied, “But you didn’t win for writing.” LMAO. You can be one of the greatest living directors and your kid is still going to kneecap you. I bring up this story because someone else had a complaint about Nolan’s writing: Emily Wilson, who did the 2017 translation of The Odyssey. Wilson wrote a scathing “review” of the film and one of the understatements of the year is that she loathed the screenplay. From the Guardian:

Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 translation of Homer’s Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan in early publicity for his hugely successful adaptation of the poem, has roundly criticised the film, saying “it has nothing convincing to say” and that its “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth”.

In a scathing essay for the London Review of Books, Wilson writes: “I had hoped that Nolan’s affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters. But The Odyssey features his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality … the film’s vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas – although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.”

Wilson adds: “Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great. It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours. It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”

Wilson also noted Nolan’s admiration for the opening line of her Odyssey translation: “Tell me about a complicated man” – but added: “I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script.”

Wilson, who is department chair and professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, also went on the attack in an interview with the Sunday Times, saying: “It didn’t land emotionally for me at all. Which I think is partly about the fact that, unlike Homer, it’s not very well written.”

“The characters don’t have the kind of depth the Homeric characters have. I felt, ‘Do I really care if this guy gets back to his wife?’ You haven’t given me any reason to.”

Nevertheless, Wilson acknowledged the impact the film is already having on cultural awareness of ancient Greek literature as well as cinema itself. Saying “the release of The Odyssey is still an event to celebrate,” she suggests: “This epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas … translations of Odyssey, including mine, are flying off the shelves … [and] perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language and history departments.”

“Nolan,” Wilson says, “is doing his best to get the general public reading again, and I am grateful.”

[From The Guardian]

Fair or not? I think it’s fair. I would even go so far as to say that Nolan has never been a great screenwriter. His dialogue is often clunky, he uses amateurish tricks to introduce exposition and move the story along, and his female characters are always underdeveloped (if he even remembers that women exist in the first place). There’s a reason why his son’s burn came so easily – Nolan is a genius in many ways, but writing is not one of those ways. That being said, I actually think it was smart for Nolan to basically “dumb down” such complicated source material and make it digestible to a modern audience while still retaining the core story. Of course a literal classics professor and translator isn’t going to like that, but Wilson gives Nolan his flowers for reintroducing Greek mythology to a mainstream audience in 2026.

“There are no sex scenes and all the food looks horrible” – magnificent line.

lmao Emily Wilson went to TOWN on Nolan's The Odyssey https://t.co/ZYV2UERMR5 pic.twitter.com/Ic25VvzR4b

— Corey Atad (@CoreyAtad) July 27, 2026

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Just last week, we discussed a random update about the celebrity daughter we’ve always known as Suri Cruise. Suri was born in April 2006, and the first six years of her life were spent with both of her parents, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. Then in 2012, Katie escaped, filed for divorce and managed to extricate herself and Suri from Tom and his cult. It’s generally believed that Tom basically has had nothing to do with Katie and Suri ever since. Katie took her divorce settlement and bought a place in New York, and she raised Suri in the city. We got periodic updates over the years regarding Tom’s lack of involvement in raising Suri, and in 2024, we heard that Suri dropped the name “Cruise” during her high school graduation. She’s about to head into her third year at Carnegie Mellon, where she’s majoring in Theater, and she’s spending the summer doing local theater (in Pittsburgh) and performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Well, it turns out that Suri has legally changed her name. She’s officially Suri Noelle.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter Suri has legally dropped her father’s last name.

The 20-year-old college student legally changed her last name to Noelle from Cruise, according to the voter registration records obtained by PEOPLE. Page Six was first to report the news.

Suri currently attends Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and registered to vote in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania during her freshman year in October 2024. Her registration reads Suri Noelle. Noelle is also Holmes’ middle name.

Cruise and Holmes welcomed Suri in April 2006, married in November 2006, and divorced in 2012.

Months before Suri registered to vote as Suri Noelle, she used the name for her high school graduation in June 2024. That same weekend, Cruise was seen attending Taylor Swift’s Eras tour at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Two months later, in celebration of her daughter’s accomplishment, Holmes made rare comments about Suri while speaking to Town & Country. “I’m proud of my daughter. Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her and I’m happy,” the proud mom told the outlet, adding, “I remember being this age, this time of beginnings. It’s exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that.”

[From People]

It’s crazy that the two biggest “celebrity babies” of 2006 ended up dropping their father’s surname and going no-contact with their deadbeat dads. Shiloh Jolie and Suri Noelle are icons! I would assume that Suri, like Shiloh, probably waited until after her 18th birthday to legally change her name. As with Shiloh, I understand why Suri did this. Suri has not had any kind of relationship with Tom since, what? 2012-13? She doesn’t know the man, why would she carry his name? Incidentally, “Cruise” started out as Tom’s stage name anyway. His birth name was Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. Like Suri, Tom uses his middle name as his surname.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

Clive Alderton has been King Charles’ long-time private secretary, which is a royal household’s equivalent of a chief-of-staff. Alderton was Charles’ private secretary and lead courtier before Charles was king, and Alderton was arguably the architect of the 2020 Sussexit terms, with a lot of help from Simon Case (who was then Prince William’s private secretary) In Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, he referred to Alderton as the Wasp. Even before Spare, many royal reporters knew about and talked around Alderton’s power, especially when it came to gatekeeping Charles from both of his sons. Well, interesting news! Alderton is leaving. He’s stepping down as Charles’ all-powerful private secretary.

The King’s most senior aide will step down next year, Buckingham Palace has announced. Sir Clive Alderton, the principal private secretary to the King and Queen, has worked for the royal couple for 20 years, including 11 as their principal private secretary, but will stand down around his 60th birthday in May.

Alderton, who has a remuneration package of about £300,000 a year, has received plaudits for helping to smooth the transition of the change in reign. He has helped the King deliver some of his most significant speeches, including his address to Congress on the state visit to the US in April this year and a landmark speech in Berlin when, in 2023, Charles became the first British monarch to address the Bundestag.

The Palace said that the King and Queen were “deeply grateful to Clive for his tireless support and wise counsel over the years and for the enduring loyalty that will ensure a smooth transition to his successor”.

Alderton was knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours list and his longevity has been a sign of the King’s affection. He is understood to be stepping down to retire.

Julian Payne, former communications secretary to Charles and Camilla, described Alderton as a “royal ringmaster” who “has had the great good fortune to be surrounded by some incredibly talented colleagues”. He added that Alderton was part of the “golden triangle, acting with the cabinet secretary and prime minister’s principal private secretary as guardians of our unwritten constitution”.

Valentine Low, former royal correspondent for The Times, wrote about Alderton in his book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, describing him as “smooth, charming and humorous”. Low added: “With his boyish face and floppy blond hair, he looks like a caricature of an English gentleman … Some people love Alderton, who fits the image of the polished diplomat-turned-courtier; others find him a touch too elusive. He has, they suspect, read his Machiavelli. ‘Clive is a schemer, a chess player,’ said one friend. ‘He is a figure from Wolf Hall or House of Cards.’”

[From The Times]

So, here’s an uncomfortable admission: Tom Sykes was right??? Sykes has been following the internal drama within Buckingham Palace for a while, and he was basically the only one saying this month that all of the bulls–t in and around the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s UK visit was a “hawks vs. doves” situation within BP. Sykes wrote, in his Royalist Substack, that “the hawks, led by Clive Alderton… agree with William that Harry should not be allowed anywhere near the King and regard it as their duty to protect the sovereign from his own softer instincts.”

In that same Royalist piece, Sykes called Theo Rycroft one of the “doves” on Charles’ staff, and one of the biggest potential successors for the private secretary position. Rycroft was seemingly brought in last year specifically to deal with the fractured royal relations between the king and his sons, and if Rycroft comes in as the new private secretary, there could be some big changes in how the palace deals with both Prince Harry AND Prince William. But yeah, Sykes was right – in that same Substack piece, he wrote, “I would not be surprised to see departures from the King’s staff over the coming months as a result of all this. Some aides are very, very unhappy.” “This” being Harry and Meghan bringing the children to see Charles at Highgrove. Fascinating, isn’t it? Another piece of interesting gossip is that last year, Sykes pretty much admitted that Alderton and the “hawks” were behind the leaks about Harry’s meeting with Charles last September. Hmm.

Of course, it’s possible that this has nothing to do with internal royal-family drama – I find it interesting that Alderton is leaving one week after Keir Starmer was replaced by Andy Burnham. There’s likely a strong political element to all of this too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for over six weeks. In June, he collapsed in his Washington home, an ambulance was called and, in the 911 call, it sounded very much like McConnell had a cardiac event. Kentucky’s Gov. Beshear heard rumors (from federal officials) that McConnell passed away, and it absolutely looks like the state GOP is pulling some Weekend at Bernie’s situation around McConnell’s Senate seat. Two weeks ago, McConnell posted a health update and a proof-of-life photo. No one believed any part of it – the photo has uncanny valley vibes and the health update was a joke. Well, McConnell’s office just announced that they’re not going to bring that empty turtle shell to Congress to vote on anything. His doctors haven’t medically cleared him, which is absolutely a medical euphemism. McConnell’s office released a “fresh” proof of life photo too. LMAO.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader from Kentucky, who has been hospitalized for six weeks, said on Monday that he would not be returning to the Senate this week as lawmakers work toward their August recess.

In a statement from his office, Mr. McConnell, 84, also said that he would not be at this Saturday’s Fancy Farm, an annual state political picnic that he has attended for more than four decades and is a must for politicians in Kentucky.

“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders,” Mr. McConnell said in the statement. “Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday.”

The statement from Mr. McConnell’s office also included a photo of him smiling broadly and seated in a chair propped up by a pillow alongside his wife, the former labor and transportation secretary Elaine Chao.

In an accompanying statement, the office of the attending physician of Congress said that Mr. McConnell was continuing to recover from a fall at his home on Capitol Hill last month but that he was “not yet medically cleared” to leave the facility where he was being treated and return to the office.

The statement also said that physicians from the congressional unit visit with Mr. McConnell every day, “discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care.” It added: “Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls. His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility.”

[From The NY Times]

For argument’s sake, let’s say that all of these health updates are honest and above-board. If McConnell’s health and mobility is truly this bad – bad enough for a prolonged two-month hospitalization and zero medical clearance for work – why not step down for the final months of his term? You know what I mean? He’s not running for reelection, his party has moved past him and grown even more unhinged, and he’s miserable in every sense. Just “retire” early. But they can’t do that because all of these people are in too deep with whatever this is.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images and Mitch McConnell’s Senate Office.

Royal watchers are still reeling from the news about Clive Alderton’s departure as King Charles’ private secretary. Alderton was Charles’ private secretary before Charles was king, and Clive is generally believed to have orchestrated the years-long transition between QEII’s last years and the first years of Charles’ reign. In the coverage of Alderton’s retirement, there are consistent mentions of Prince Harry’s Spare, where Harry referred to Alderton as “the Wasp.” Interestingly, there are few efforts to examine Alderton’s many failures – of all of the “men in grey,” Alderton is arguably the person most responsible for the current state of the monarchy. A paranoid, petty and childish king estranged from his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. A deeply unpopular boozehound queen consort. A lazy and illiterate heir. A rapidly aging and dusty roll call of “working royals.” Still, the Mail’s Becky English is trying to polish this turd.

He’s the man who delivered a King – and, for that matter, a Queen – masterminded the banishment of one particularly problematic relative, while cunningly corralling another. In short Sir Clive Alderton, Principal Private Secretary to His Majesty King Charles III, is arguably the most formidable and consequential courtier of the modern era. But to many readers of the Daily Mail, he will be simply known as ‘The Wasp’.

That was the ostentatiously offensive nickname given to him by the Duke of Sussex (or perhaps, more appropriately, his ghostwriter) in his vengeance-laden memoir, Spare – although one that, in the circumstances, must now surely be worn as a badge of honour? And while there are bound to be cheers from Montecito today when they learn that Sir Clive is sensationally set to retire after 20 years working as King Charles’ gatekeeper, the news will sadly leave Buckingham Palace without one of its ‘big beasts’.

For it can be confirmed that after two decades of the most loyal of service, leonine Sir Clive has announced that he will leave the royal household next May, a move that coincides with his 60th birthday (a revelation that has prompted some fans to enquire whether he has a Dorian Gray-style portrait in the attic). The feeling is that now is as good a time as any for him take a well-earned break: to start with he has helped to deliver a relatively problem-free accession (leaky pens aside) and a successful coronation.

The King has also just completed the ‘last of his firsts’ (starting with his first public engagements and home nations visits as monarch, to the big test so far of his reign, this year’s State Visit to the US, and his first to a British Overseas, Territory, Bermuda). He has also steered the King – and indeed the nation – through the dark days of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis in 2024. Charles himself, I am told, is in a ‘good place’ health-wise, as it stands. In all (and safely assuming that as a long-term diplomat Sir Clive’s pensionable age is 60), next year is a natural moment to move on.

While no-one, not even his most ardent admirers, would claim Sir Clive and his team have always got it right, there is no doubt that he was absolutely instrumental in turning the tanker round… Insiders would probably add to that the transformation of his wife, Camilla, from Duchess of Cornwall to Queen, something that was simply unthinkable when he joined royal service. While there will always be those who have strong opinions on the matter, few can argue that she hasn’t carried out her duties with enthusiasm, diligence and good humour and carved a space for herself in public life, tackling some truly thorny issue such as domestic abuse.
Needless to say, the King is a much, much happier man with his wife standing by his side.
That’s not to say, of course, backs haven’t been put up or hackles raised along the way.

There’s no doubt that Sir Clive relishes the game of diplomacy – ‘he puts the ‘M’ into Machiavellian,’ says one wag.

To say that Prince Harry hates his father’s gatekeeper is an understatement, and he didn’t hold back in his memoir, as he described the then triumvirate of powerful royal aides at the heads of each of the three royal households (Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace) as ‘the bee, the fly and the wasp’. Sir Clive, it seems, was the worst of the three in his book, being ‘arrogant’ and ‘great at pretending to be polite, even servile’, but would ‘put you on his list’ and ‘give you such a stab with his outsized stinger that you’d cry out in confusion’.

Harry firmly blamed the courtier for being a roadblock in attempts to reconcile with his father. While that may in part be true, friends of the diplomat pour scorn on this claim, suggesting no aide would be so arrogant to stand in the way of father and son on a personal basis. But, of course, if the prince behaved in such a way that would place his father in potentially constitutionally tricky waters, he would not be doing his job if he didn’t protect the monarch, they add.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Masterminded the banishment of one particularly problematic relative, while cunningly corralling another…” And “suggesting no aide would be so arrogant to stand in the way of father and son on a personal basis…” Basically, Alderton’s minions are frantically trying to recast his mismanagement of the Sussexit catastrophe and make it sound like Alderton isn’t one of the biggest reasons for the slow-motion crisis at the heart of the modern British monarchy. Alderton was likely the most venomous courtier arguing that Prince Harry and Meghan wouldn’t survive outside of the institution, and that Harry would eventually come crawling back, divorced and humiliated. That boneheaded call has tipped the monarchy sideways for nearly SEVEN YEARS. Instead of Alderton admitting that he made a series of catastrophically bad calls around the Sussexit, he’s continued to wield his influence to repeatedly hammer wedges between Charles and Harry. Don’t get me wrong, Charles has terrible instincts too, and I assume that Alderton was both influencing Charles and simply doing what Charles wanted. But it’s bizarre to watch royalists polish Alderton’s CV like he hasn’t spent the past decade driving the whole monarchy off a cliff.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

No one has seen Prince William since the Wimbledon men’s final on July 12th. But in recent weeks, the Kensington Royal Twitter account has been active – William tweeted about England’s World Cup semifinal loss and the passing of Kevin Keegan. The account also posted a photo and video for Prince George’s birthday, with zero signed messages from William and Kate. Well, on Monday, the Prince of Tweets issued a personal statement about the horrific wildfires which have been ripping through Spain and France. This was William’s signed tweet:

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the devastating wildfires across France, Spain and the UK. We are deeply grateful to the firefighters, emergency services and volunteers working tirelessly in extraordinarily difficult conditions. These events are a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate and the importance of protecting both people and nature. W

[From Kensington Royal’s Twitter]

Poor Bill is already getting slammed from both sides, which is always so funny to me. The right-wingers who hate anything to do with “environmentalism” already loathe William’s mentions of climate change. The real environmentalists are slamming William because they know he travels by private helicopters and private planes constantly, and that he’s a prime example of an eco-dilettante who play-acts environmentalism for clout. The sad thing is that William was actually correct to draw the line between Europe’s wildfires and extreme climate change. They’re just shooting the messenger because the messenger is tweeting from his sixth forever home, having flown there by a taxpayer-funded helicopter.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Last week, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted a video of the glaring and garish touches Trump has installed in the Oval Office. It’s best viewed with sunglasses on. And speaking of the bright side, our citizenry clapped back with excellent comments online. My favorites include Chris Meloni trolling with “Long live the queen,” Adam Kinzinger landing a droll zinger with “Think it needs more gold. Doesn’t look like there’s enough fake gold. If you could add some more gold,” and this gem from Rick Wilson: “It looks like Liberace and Saddam designed a 19th century New Orleans whorehouse, without the taste and elegance.” Design trends may come and go, but a well-written barb stands the test of time! Anyway, HuffPost hopped on the commentary bandwagon and asked professional interior designers to weigh in on Trump’s Oval Office makeover. Some goldlights:

An interior clashing with historical architecture: “My first impression was that the redesign completely ignored the architecture it sits inside,” said interior designer Sarah Boardman. “The White House is a blend of Palladian and Georgian neoclassical design, with beautifully restrained Irish influences, soft curves, elegant proportions and detailed plasterwork that already provide all the ornament the room needs.” She noted that past presidents have generally honored that foundation, even if they opted for slightly bolder carpets or richer fabrics.

A ‘let them eat cake’ redesign: “This redesign goes in the opposite direction,” Boardman said. “The gold isn’t integrated into the architecture — it’s layered on top of it. The appliqués and ornaments look like they were purchased in bulk and installed everywhere instead of being thoughtfully selected. It has far more incommon with French Baroque and Rococo, the Versailles ‘let them eat cake’ era, than anything in the White House’s actual design lineage.”

The spectacle of it all: “Covering its neoclassical detailing with gold appliqués and props turns it into a set, not a workspace,” Boardman said. “The addition of red ropes, the staged lighting, it all reads more like a soundstage than the People’s House.” … Designer and artist Isabella Segalovich similarly noted the attention-grabbing aspect of the space. “From a pure aesthetic standpoint, the amount of one particular gold shade essentially chokes space in the room, and doesn’t allow anything else in space to breathe,” she said. “Like so many other things Trump does, it’s a demand for our attention.”

It’s supposed to be the People’s House, not Don’s house: “The Oval Office is a public room, not a personal living room,” [Boardman] said. “It’s the inner sanctum of American leadership, and historically it’s been designed to project restraint, steadiness and quiet confidence. World leaders, children, military families, everyone who enters that room should feel safe and grounded.” … “If he could, I suspect he’d rebuild the West Wing entirely in gold, mirrors, and marble tile, a reflection chamber instead of a place of governance, but the White House was never meant to glorify one person,” Boardman noted. “Its architecture was built to outlast them.”

Reminding himself of his status: “In this context, the gold feels like a constant reminder to himself of status, power and opulence,” Boardman said. “It reads as compensation rather than confidence, an environment designed to mirror back a specific image, even when it clashes with the room’s history and purpose.” … “Heavy, bright, ornate gold in this quantity isn’t just decorative, it’s symbolic. In a political setting, that much metallic shine attempts to communicate dominance, hierarchy and self-focus. It shifts the Oval Office from a working space into a stage set.”

Callous timing: “Especially at a time when his policies are making it harder for everyday people to make ends meet, it’s of course highly immoral that he chooses to flaunt how much money he’s spending on these designs,” Segalovich noted. “To me, the most important thing we can tell about Trump through his design sense is not that it’s flamboyant, but rather, that it’s soulless.”

[From HuffPost via Yahoo]

Yeah, it’s not just the literal Versailles-inspired gold and mirrors overload that invokes “let them eat cake,” it’s the timing as well. We’re in a cost of living crisis of Trump’s own making, and Don’s like “I turned the Oval Office into my own gold snow globe!” Last year when he was only just starting with the gold glow up, I called the look “Ego Rococo.” Still works. Especially with all the designers in the article acting as quasi psychologists too, connecting Trump’s aesthetic choices to his inner insecurities. The idea that he NEEDS the gold as a reminder to himself of his importance, that stuck with me. It’s actually really sad, but I can’t muster any pity for him. Like his design choices, Trump is as subtle as he is sympathetic.

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Photos credit: Daniel Torok/Avalon

Here are some photos from the LA premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I’m including photos of Zendaya, Tom Holland and Sadie Sink. The amount of promotion Zendaya has already done this year is insane – she’s already done a full, month-long promo schedule for The Drama, then she and Tom Holland went to Europe to promote Spider-Man, then they both had to step away from Spider-Man promotion to go on the road for a month to promote The Odyssey. And now they’re back to promoting Spider-Man. And then Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are back at it at the end of the year to promote Dune 3!

I have a reason for detailing Zendaya’s crazy promotional schedule, because I think Law Roach and Zendaya’s hairstylist Ursula Stephen are overworked. Obviously, Law is a great stylist, and his collaboration with Zendaya has taken them both to the next-next level. But not every individual look is a hit, you know? As soon as Law and Ursula say something about “maybe we’ll give you slivers of wet-look bangs and stiffly mold them against your forehead,” Zendaya should have said “Why don’t you two sit this one out? Maybe I can manage on my own for one premiere.” Zendaya’s LA premiere look was absolutely awful, from head to toe. I truly cannot believe anyone let her out of the house like this. The dress is Ashi Studio. This is supposed to be on-theme – spiders, webs, spider sacs, blah blah blah.

Meanwhile, Sadie wore Prada – a bit too simple, but it’s a visual relief from Zendaya’s terrible look.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Anytime the Duke and Duchess of Sussex travel internationally, palace officials openly throw tantrums and try to make those international travels all about the Windsors and the UK. Remember when Meghan went to the Balenciaga show last year? Palace officials raced to express dismay about Meghan going to Paris, which was practically England, according to them. One former courtier cried: “If they really plan to spend more time here, it changes everything. It puts them back in the frame, and that’s not what anyone expected.” LMAO – Meghan went to Paris once and they were already hyperventilating about how she would inevitably set up shop in London again. Anyway, I keep hearing echoes of those sentiments in the conversations about the Sussexes’ second home in Portugal. The first reports of their Portuguese villa were in 2024, but this month is the first time anyone had photo confirmation of the Sussexes spending any time in Portugal. So… what’s funny is that People Magazine’s sources seem to be slyly confirming that the Sussex family has visited Portugal several times in recent years.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s recent family vacation offered a rare glimpse into one of the most private corners of their lives: Portugal.

While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have long kept their time there largely out of the spotlight — and are thought to maintain a vacation home in the country — a source tells PEOPLE the destination has become a special retreat for the couple and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.

“They love Portugal because Archie and Lilibet can simply be kids,” the source tells PEOPLE. “It’s always very low-key with beach days, playing and spending time together as a family.”

The glimpse Meghan shared on Instagram on July 23 backed up that picture of life in Portugal. Her “summer holiday” photo carousel captured the family playing on the beach, wandering through colorful markets and local shops, and dining at tucked-away neighborhood eateries.

“That kind of normal family time is really important to Harry and Meghan,” the source continues.

The Sussexes have been linked to Portugal for several years, with reports suggesting they purchased a vacation home near the CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club on the Alentejo coast. While they have never publicly confirmed those reports, the country has increasingly become associated with the family’s most private getaways.

Harry also has close family ties to Portugal. His cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, split their time between the U.K. and Portugal after Brooksbank accepted a job there in 2022. The couple, who share sons August and Ernest, own a home at the CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club, a luxury development on Portugal’s Alentejo coast south of Lisbon.

Portugal also offers a practical advantage. Just a roughly 2½- to 3-hour flight from the U.K., it allows the family to be far closer to Harry’s home country than when they’re in California. Sources close to the Duke of Sussex have long said he hopes to spend more time in Britain with family, friends and the charities and organizations he continues to support, though ongoing security concerns have complicated those plans.

[From People]

See what I mean? This was not their first family trip to Portugal. They absolutely bought a home there a while back and they’ve vacationed there before this month with no leaks. Does this mean that the British tabloids are going to start sending paparazzi to Portugal? Surprisingly, I doubt it. Most people knew/believed that the Sussexes were in Portugal ahead of their UK trip, and none of those media outlets sent any photographers. No freelancers got photos either. Either the Sussexes are good at hiding, or the broke-ass British tabloids can’t afford to send people to stalk the Sussex fam. I mean, the Mail is already spending a fortune sending their reporters to Montecito every other month, so maybe that’s what’s taking up so much of the budget.

Additionally, I don’t think the Portuguese villa is about “staying close to England” or whatever. Sure, it’s nice to have a home base in Europe, but this isn’t about soft-launching a “half-in” return to the UK. It’s more about “Sussex Global” versus the Brexit-stagnated UK. I hope Meghan launches As Ever within the EU.

Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.

I’ve never been opposed to men getting hairplugs or toupees, just don’t be cheap about it. Go to Turkey and get the most natural-looking hairplugs ever. Or buy a really good toupee, one that doesn’t look like a cheap rug. Well, John Cena has always been pretty open about his hair transplants. His first transplant was apparently in 2024, but he recently underwent a second transplant. Cena spoke about the process with People Magazine, and he apparently brought his hair guy to Comic Con??

John Cena is getting candid about undergoing two hair transplants. Chatting with PEOPLE at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 25, the former wrestler, 49, opened up about his new shaved hairstyle, which he said is going “great” in the wake of his second round of hair loss treatment.

“The objective is to get more hair, and this was the best way to do it, talking with Ken Anderson, my doctor over there,” he said, gesturing to his doctor nearby. “I love the guy. He’s totally changed my life.”

According to Cena, he was so impressed with the doctor, who runs the Anderson Center for Hair in Georgia, that he returned 15 months after his first procedure for a follow-up.

“I went back to him like, ‘Man, you did great. I have this one small, small, small spot. Can you do it?’ ” Cena recalled. “He’s like, ‘I can. My best results are — if you’re bold enough to shave your head, I can keep the follicles.’ ”

The actor explained that Anderson can more quickly plant hair follicles during surgery if a patient has a shaved head.

“My first operation was 13 and a half hours. The second one was eight hours,” the Peacemaker star said, calling his doctor “a master.”

“And I’m rocking this hair thing with the promise that he’s working,” he added of his shaved look. “I have full trust and faith in him with this process.”

Cena has previously been candid about his hair restoration journey. In June, he opened up on Facebook about undergoing his second round of follicular unit extraction (FUE), a form of hair transplant surgery that utilizes small-diameter surgical punches to extract individual follicular units for hair restoration, according to the American Hair Loss Association.

[From People]

I’m including the photos from Comic Con, where you can really see that he’s got plugs. That being said, I have faith that his hair will “grow in” and look nice. I honestly didn’t know or forgot about his first transplant surgery, which is the way to go – more men should get transplants before their hairline reaches a crisis point. That is, if they’re already open to that path, you know? There’s nothing wrong with being bald or having a receding hairline. A lot of guys pull it off! You know what though… I wonder if American hair-transplant technology is as good as other countries’ work in this field. Obviously, Turkey has become THE place for hair transplants, but I feel like there are probably a ton of quieter international surgeons doing most of the celebrities. Like, where does [name redacted] go? Brazil? Argentina?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.