As Meghan and Harry peace out, there’s been a lot of analysis about who stands where and who got the head nod. One thing I’ve been keeping an eye on is not what Meghan is wearing, but who. Let’s start with the blue Victoria Beckham dress, the one that popped in That Picture. In January 2020, The Sun ran a story about the Sussexes accusing Victoria Beckham of leaking stories to the press, and Harry confronting David about it. At the time, it sounded like BS and the way the story was framed, that Victoria was “mortified” and “hurt,” made it sound like Harry and Meghan were being accusatory. The Beckhams, who do not have a positive relationship with The Sun, would never jeopardize a relationship like this to leak tabloid stories. They were invited to both royal weddings and support Harry and William’s causes. That is years of goodwill. Also, from a business standpoint, as IF. Why would Victoria ever do that when Meghan is an ambassador for British fashion?
Anyway, at the time, they couldn’t outright deny it because then there’s just more press, but I do think Meghan’s conscious of her designer choice – the supposed drama with the Beckhams never happened. And considering that the Beckhams have made a transition to the US market and now straddle both worlds, living in London and still appearing on Ellen, the relationship will probably continue.
The next dress I want to talk about is the green Emilia Wickstead, the one that will literally go down in history because of this mess. Emilia was on the shortlist of possible wedding dresses for Meghan, but as we know, she went with Givenchy. Then there were some negative quotes attributed to Emilia about the fit of the dress and Meghan’s hair. Emilia responded to the reports, not exactly denying she ever said it, but rather highlighting her admiration for Meghan etc. (Read this for a refresher.) Since then, Meghan has worn Emilia Wickstead, so obviously she didn’t hold a grudge. And choosing this green outfit, an eye-catching piece, for one of her last royal events, is also a statement. These relationships will outlast this period of drama.
Jason Statham is my favourite because he says lines like “I've swallowed enough microchips and sh-t them back out again to make a computer. This arm has been ripped off completely and re-attached with this f-ckin' arm.” (Spy, an underrated movie.)
There’s a story about him in The Hollywood Reporter today and it’s more than the usual “actor moves to a new agency” blurb. First off, there’s a dispute about how it went down: the agency says they fired him, his sources said he quit. Why would an agent fire a money-maker like Jason Statham? According to this report, he was set to appear in a movie with Kevin Hart called The Man From Toronto. The pay was $10 million, but at the last minute Jason demanded a guaranteed R-rating. The studio pushed back, saying that they would only pay that kind of salary for PG13, which would attract a wider audience. His agency was pissed that he was jeopardizing their relationship with the studio and being difficult. Sh-t went down.
Thank you to all who wrote in to tell me that Zach Braff looks like Brad Falchuk! Now that I’ve seen it I can’t unsee it.
Julianna Margulies has joined Instagram. Lovely. Now TELL US WHAT HAPPENED WITH ARCHIE PANJABI.
When Steve Carrell left The Office, there was a huge spot to fill, both in the cast and in the fictional world. There’s an new book out, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom from the 2000s, that explores how the “regional manager” decision went down in the writers’ room and with the network. One thing that is interesting is that the network pushed Ed Helms because of The Hangover, believing he had more star power. But did the movie make Ed Helms a star? It definitely did it for Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis and Ed works very steadily, but I don’t know if he hit the same way.
