Prince Harry won one of his phone hacking lawsuits in England, this one against Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes The Daily Mirror. A judge ruled that Harry be awarded about $180,000 in damages, and that Harry’s personal phone was “targeted” between 2003-2009. Further, the judge said that Piers Morgan, an editor at the time, “clearly knew about” the hacking.
Some people wonder what the point of dredging all this up is, especially when Harry is out of the UK and the royal institution and should be focusing on his future as a philanthropist, but to me it shows that the way of doing things with the royal family is fundamentally broken. These people already make deals and trade access with the press, but it’s not enough, the press then hacks their phones to scoop stories about them beyond the agreed-upon bounds of their informal arrangements.
This is basically Harry’s way of showing how corrupt the British press is—anyone familiar with the News of the World phone hacking scandal already knows that—and how it’s never enough for them. They will always use any means necessary to produce more stories—more content. People are just fodder, no matter what they’re going through. As a royal he couldn’t say anything, but as a private citizen, he has as much right as anyone else to defend his privacy and hold these institutions accountable. (Pajiba)
I don’t think I trust TikTok for anything but animal videos, but the latest viral beauty trend is “underpainting”, which is just putting your blush, concealer, etc, under your foundation. This is actually how I first learned to apply makeup, I feel like this was big in the Nineties? (Popsugar)
Mandy Moore was unrecognizable at the premiere of Dr. Death’s second season. I don’t think I’ve seen her with her hair slicked back like that in a long time. Is it just me, or does she look like Charlotte Casiraghi? (Go Fug Yourself)
Tesla has recalled almost all of their US cars because the autopilot system doesn’t adequately ensure drivers are paying attention while using it. I mean…you call something “autopilot” and people are probably going to assume the car can drive itself. Thanks to decades of use in other forms of transportation, like flight, autopilot actually means something as a concept. What Teslas do is fancy cruise control—the car isn’t driving itself. Beyond recalling the cars, they should be forced to change their marketing by like, the FTC. It’s willfully misleading to call the system autopilot when it is not, in fact, autopilot. (Celebitchy)
Andre Braugher passed away earlier this week at the age of 61 after a short bout with lung cancer. He was a great actor, the kind of performer who made everyone around him better, but Captain Holt was an all-time role, actually one of television’s best dads and/or bosses. The Brooklyn Nine Nine team paid tribute to him with a highlight reel of Holt’s best moments. I legit will watch “best of B99” compilations whenever I need the pick-me-up. I know on one level it’s copaganda, but it’s also one of the best ensemble comedies ever. For me, this tops The Office, EASY.
