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| | Stephen Mangan: 'I?m not bowing down in front of King Charles' | | Added 2 days ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Stephen Mangan is a 56-year-old British actor and writer. He?s really well-known in the UK for his long history on British television, but he?s also done a lot of stage work and some film work. Plus, he?s a regular on chat shows because he?s so charming and funny, and I recognize him from his multiple appearances on Graham Norton?s show. While he?s described everywhere as ?English,? it turns out that his parents were Irish republicans and their republicanism affects him even now. Mangan was profiled by the Times of London, and they asked him if he would accept one of those British ?honors? like an OBE or CBE. Some highlights from the Times:
He became a first-time father at 39: ?Before that, being settled didn?t feel like a goal in my work or private life, but I look at friends who have children now in their twenties and think it must have been nice having kids when you were younger. I?ve an eight-year-old. I?m not quite in Mick Jagger or Al Pacino territory but .. I had a great time in my twenties and thirties, so it?s all worked out. It keeps you young hanging out with the parents of other eight-year-olds. I have to keep reminding myself a lot of them are twenty years younger than me, so if I start talking about Bagpuss they?re, like, ?What? Sorry?? ?
America isn?t for him. ?LA?s such a tense town. Everyone measures each other?s status on an hourly basis. Who?s up, who?s down, who?s important, who?s not ? it?s so tedious. I know I could probably have earned more money or been more famous or been in bigger jobs if I?d stayed, but the variety of what I do now fills me with joy. I suppose I feel I?m catching lots of little fish, instead of going out there to catch one big fish.?
His parents? early deaths. He runs ? ?I?m addicted? ? eats healthily and has virtually quit alcohol. His ageing role model is his 91-year-old Portrait Artist co-presenter and Primrose Hill neighbour Joan Bakewell. ?When I was cast I went round to her house and explained that I?d lived in the area for 25 years, and she said, ?Yes, it?s not been the same since Ted and Sylvia left.? ? She was referring to Hughes and Plath. ?I was, like, ?OK, you win.? ?
On the possibility of an honor: ?I wouldn?t do any of that. I?m from an Irish republican family. I?m not bowing down in front of King Charles.? Has he been offered something? He arches an eyebrow. ?I wouldn?t be at liberty to say.?
[From The Times]
I always like when British actors do this, announce that they?re not interested in playing games and sucking up to the Windsors or the establishment. Even though I love Emma Thompson, I?m constantly disappointed in how much she sucks up to King Charles and Prince William. Judi Dench as well. The honors/honours have very little to do with achievements at this point, especially when the Tory leaders made sure to give themselves knighthoods as they were all leaving. Not to mention, Charles passed out knighthoods to anyone who handed him a bag full of cash. It?s cool that Mangan is like? yeah, I would never bow to these people. Good for him.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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| | People: Blake Lively worked on her lawsuit for months, 'it's truly been so ugly for her' | | Added 2 days ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Unsurprisingly, Blake Lively covers this week?s issue of People Magazine. She filed her complaint with the California Civil Rights Department just before Christmas, and it?s more than likely that she will end up suing Justin Baldoni, his production company, his publicist and his crisis manager. It?s also quite likely that Baldoni will file a lawsuit against Blake and her team in the new year, at least that?s what they?re telegraphing. People?s cover story is mostly a recap of where we are now, including a comprehensive summary of Blake?s case, with Baldoni?s lawyer interjecting here and there. It also includes a summary of everyone lining up behind Blake. Including People Magazine, but they were always going to take her side. Here?s the part which came from Blake?s team:
The whole ordeal has been a nightmare for Lively, who shares children James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5 and 22-month-old son Olin with Reynolds, 48. Behind closed doors, says the complaint, she has suffered ?grief, fear, trauma, and extreme anxiety? in the alleged campaign?s aftermath.
She is seeking unspecified damages from Baldoni and Wayfarer for ?intentional infliction of emotional distress? and ?interference? in her other businesses, like her Blake Brown haircare company, which launched in early August and suffered a decline in sales by ?56-78%? amid the bad press and negative social media comments, Lively?s lawyers claim. ?The Baldoni-Wayfarer astroturfing campaign forced each of Ms. Lively?s businesses to go ?dark? on social media in August,? according to the complaint.
A Lively source says putting together the legal case has been painful but necessary work. ?Blake along with her team have been working on this lawsuit for months. It?s truly been so ugly for her. And insanely stressful. She?s never dealt with anything like this before,? explains the source.
What happens next? Lively?s legal team is currently evaluating her options while awaiting a decision from the California Civil Rights Department, which has 60 days to notify her if they will investigate the matter.
?If they find some barrier to it, a lot of times they?ll step in and try to mediate a solution with the employer,? says legal expert Gregory Doll, a California attorney who is not involved in the case. ?If not, they?ll give her what?s called the right to sue letter, which means that she can go to court now and submit her claim there.?
If she does sue and she and Baldoni don?t settle beforehand, they?d head to a trial. ?The most likely cases that don?t settle are the ones like this where it gets intensely personal between two people,? he notes.
Baldoni could countersue as well, something Doll says is very likely due to the bitter back and forth between the two legal teams: ?Based on what I have observed, it?s almost guaranteed that he will file a counterclaim,? he predicts.
But no matter what happens, Lively has a vast support system of family and friends who have her back ? especially her husband.
?Ryan is always her rock,? says a Lively source, who adds that the actress has been focusing on her family after filing the complaint. ?For now, she?s said what needed to be said.?
[From People]
I?m on Blake?s side about so much of this situation, but this caught my eye: ?like her Blake Brown haircare company, which launched in early August and suffered a decline in sales by ?56-78%? amid the bad press and negative social media comments, Lively?s lawyers claim.? If Blake Brown launched in August which she did on purpose to promote her haircare line alongside It Ends With Us then what metrics are they using to determine that sales of Blake Brown went down? Declined compared to what? You can believe Blake and be on her side and still think that there are some really interesting legal issues contained in this complaint.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.
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| | Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie finalized their divorce after eight-plus years | | Added 2 days ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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This past fall was the eight-year anniversary of Angelina Jolie filing for divorce from Brad Pitt just days after he attacked her and their six kids on a private plane. Their divorce was bifurcated in 2019, but they spent the bulk of the past eight years in a dispute over money and custody of their children. It?s been a long road, especially when Angelina went to the California Supreme Court and successfully voided a joint-custody ruling from a compromised private judge. In recent years, the divorce negotiations seemingly stood at a stand-still because Brad has been suing Angelina over the sale of her half of Chateau Miraval, and Angelina?s countersued. Recently, in the winery dispute, Angelina successfully got the court to order Brad to turn over all of his communications with his publicist and crisis management team. Weeks later, the Jolie-Pitt divorce has been settled. Coincidence?
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reached a settlement in their divorce eight years after the Maria star filed to end their two-year marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, signed off on their divorce on Monday, Dec. 30, according to Jolies lawyers.
?More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family, Jolies lawyer James Simon tells PEOPLE in a statement.
This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.
A source close to Jolie adds, She doesn?t speak ill of [Pitt] publicly or privately. She?s been trying hard to be light after a dark time.
[From People]
Again, I love how Angelina?s lawyers are so much more proactive these days with giving statements to the press. She?s needed that for years. TMZ had some additional information Angelina signed off on the divorce on Christmas Day, and the paperwork was filed yesterday. According to TMZ?s sources, Angelina is ?forgoing spousal and family support from Brad.? Which could mean that he?s giving her a lump-sum settlement (I think that seems likely). There?s also not an agreement over custody, but Knox and Vivienne are 16 years old now and most family courts would say they?re old enough to decide which parent they want to live with and see. TMZ also says that Brad and Angelina recently ?exchanged final financial disclosures.? Interesting.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.
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| | Prince William & Kate intend to bypass the 'men in gray' even more in the future | | Added 2 days ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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The first three months of 2024 were pretty bonkers for people who follow royal gossip. A missing Princess of Wales, a mysterious health crisis, a cobbled-together frankenphoto released officially by Kensington Palace, and photo agencies issuing kill orders on an official palace-released photo. All of this happened in a bizarre period of time for Prince William and Kate?s office as well Kate had been without a private secretary since the fall of 2022, and William?s private secretary left after William shared his plans to hire a CEO. William and Kate?s office seemed like it was being run by clowns as they staggered from self-made crisis to self-made crisis. I still believe that the situation at KP got so dire that King Charles had no other option than sending in royal fixers to ?manage? the mess in March. Well, you would think that William and Kate would have learned a lesson about their poor management skills and childish antics. But no apparently, they?re still committed to bypassing ?the men in gray.?
The mysterious image of men in gray suits who operate the monarchy behind closed doors has long intrigued the public. Princess Diana reportedly feared these gray men palace courtiers and aides and their influence over her personal life. Prince Harry has also publicly discussed his struggles with some of his familys courtiers, referring to three of them by unflattering nicknames in his memoir Spare and describing them as middle-aged white men whod managed to consolidate power through a series of bold Machiavellian maneuvers.
A royal expert recently suggested that after analyzing Prince William and Kate Middletons actions over the past year, which have seen the couple face significant challenges, it appears that the future King and Queen plan to manage their roles more directly, possibly avoiding these gray men entirely.
As William and Kate juggle their royal duties with raising their young children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six theyve made it clear that family is their top priority, according to royal expert Jennie Bond, formerly the BBCs royal correspondent, in an article for the i newspaper. This is a significant shift from the House of Windsors culture during the late Queen Elizabeths reign, who was known to prioritize her monarch duties over motherhood, reports the Mirror.
Bond believes this change, along with a recent hire in their office, indicates that William and Kate plan to do things differently when William ascends the throne. The Waleses have stepped outside the Palace walls in more ways than one, says Bond.
Theyve appointed a former CEO of Tescos to head up their Royal Foundation and are planning a more corporate approach for their private office. While plans are on hold as the Princess recovers, its clear that the couple intends to bypass some of the gray men at the Palace and take more direct control of their affairs.
[From The Daily Mirror]
I actually think Bond is correct, in that William and Kate still intend to do things in their own clownish, mismanaged way. There were several moments during the year where I thought William in particular was rebelling against his father after Charles cleaned up William?s mess. William and Kate?s September ?cancer-free? video was also a ?fk you? to Charles, done without Buckingham Palace?s input. There?s a real push-pull on William these days as the courtiers try to prepare him for kingship and he has to be dragged kicking and screaming into those preparations. It will just get worse in 2025.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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