Garrett Issues An Apology - Updated

photo credit: Reality TV World

This afternoon Garrett posted this apology on his new Instagram page:

To those who I have hurt and offended:

This is all new to me. I went on the Bachelorette for the adventure and possibility of falling in love, not fame. I did not know what to expect once the show aired.

I am sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my "likes" on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive. garrett_yrigs12 was my former Instagram handle and I decided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself. I am not perfect, and I will never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informed and aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram, but in life.

I never realized the power behind a mindless double tap on Instagram and how it bears so much weight on people's lives. I did not mean any harm by any of it. My Instagram "likes" were not a true reflection of me and my morals.

I am not the negative labels people are associating me with. For those who do not know me, I am a sincere, genuine, loving, light-hearted, open-minded and non-judgmental individual. I like to make new friends with anyone I meet and I want everyone to find their happiness. I love to laugh often and enjoy seeing others do the same. I hope that some day you can get to know the real me and the man that I am.

Let my mistakes be a lesson for those who mindlessly double tap images, memes and videos on any social media content that could be many things including hurtful, degrading, and dehumanizing. I do not want my social media to define who I am, and I will take better care moving forward to support all walks of life. Again, I sincerely apologize and am sorry for any hurt, damage, or offense I may have caused.

I'm not sure I'm buying the part about not going on the show for fame. I've said many times before that getting famous, specifically gaining enough Instagram followers to make money with ads, is now the main reason why anyone goes on the show. Garrett was savvy enough to apply for the show, then successfully navigated the lengthy and complicated casting process. After all that we're supposed to believe he was still so sheltered and naive that he had no idea that being on The Bachelorette could result in him being famous? Nope. Not buying it. 

Still, I give him credit. He's owning what he did and I'm sure the past few days can't have been fun. Presumably he spent a few uncomfortable hours with ABC and/or Warner Brothers lawyers and PR people as everyone tried to figure out how to handle this mess. Is it over now? We'll see.

See my previous post about Garrett here. 

Saturday morning update: It's crazy days here in Bachelor Nation. Garrett has now deleted his new Instagram account, which is where the above apology had been posted. In other Bach'ette news, apparently Leo (yes, the one with the hair) appeared in what could be called a soft-core porn film titled "High Heel Homicide."


photo credit: ABC.go.com

 

His full name is Leandro Dottavio; you can see his IMDB page here.

This Day In History, 1983: Total Eclipse Of The Heart

🎶’Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler was released in the U.S. 35 years ago today, May 31, 1983 pic.twitter.com/ryW9co0Vca

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) May 31, 2018

One of my favorite songs. 

The Michael Moore Treatment?

I know Roseanne. And I know Trump. And they are about to rue the day they knew me... pic.twitter.com/vW81Gq7s1i

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) May 30, 2018

Is Donald Trump (or Roseanne) about to get the Michael Moore treatment? Looks like it.

Meghan Again

Issue dated June 11, 2018: The new Duchess of Sussex


It's Meghan again, making two royal covers in a row, although in my Guessing Game post I thought the magazine would still be focusing on the wedding. I struck out on the sidebar stories, and in particular I wish People would stop doing weight loss stories and I really wish they would stop putting women in swimsuits on the cover.

See the Guessing Game post here.

Last year at this time: Issue dated June 12, 2017

Who Is Garrett? - Updated (And A Spoiler)

Now that ABC has figured out what to do about Roseanne (they fired her, or to be more specific, they cancelled her show. Read about it here) the suits can turn their attention to The Bachelorette and figure out what they're going to do about Garrett Yrigoyen. After one episode of Becca's season Garrett is clearly a front-runner, having received the First Impression Rose and the first kiss. (And word on the street is that Garrett lasts a *long time* on the show.) What's the problem? People.com explains it like this:

Garrett Yrigoyen, one of Becca Kufrin‘s Bachelorette contestants, has come under fire after allegedly liking offensive posts on Instagram that mock the trans community, a Parkland high school shooting survivor, undocumented immigrants and more.

The California native’s Instagram has since been deleted, but screenshots taken by former Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey show messages that are claimed to be from as recent as November 2017. (From a post titled Bachelorette's Garrett Yrigyen Under Fire for Allegedly Liking Hateful, Transphobic Memes, read it here. The Huffington Post also has a long story about this, including screen shots of the deleted posts. Read it here.)  

As I'm writing on Tuesday evening there has been no comment from show producers, ABC or Yrigoyen himself, although there are plenty of comments on Garrett's new Instagram account (gy_yrigoyen,) and on Becca's (bkoof.) 

After the debacle of contestant Lee Garrett on Rachel's season last year, who was found to have a history of racist tweets and stirred up drama on the show, you would think ABC would have done a very deep dive into the social media accounts of all the men they cast on the show, as pointed out by People executive editor Kate Coyne: 

I’m forever a @BacheloretteABC / @BachelorABC fan. But HOW HARD IS IT TO THOROUGHLY CHECK SOMEONE’S SOCIAL MEDIA HISTORY before casting? Reporters do it in an hour. Casting racist, bigoted chauvinists is not “good TV.” It’s irresponsible & gross. #dobetter https://t.co/mxUVZHT9YX

— Kate Coyne (@KatePeople) May 29, 2018

We won't see this addressed on the show because filming was completed a couple of weeks ago and this stuff didn't bubble to the surface until this past week-end. There's also no way to change the outcome. What happened, happened. ABC can tweak the editing a bit but if Garrett does make it to Hometown Dates, Overnight Dates or the final episode, his entire narrative will be overshadowed by this unsavory revelation. What will ABC do about Garrett? We'll have to wait and see.

Wednesday morning update (and spoiler alert): Garrett is "under fire" this morning, with several big media sites covering the story:

The Hollywood Reporter: 'Bachelorette' Frontrunner Under Fire for Liking Controversial Social Media Posts
Eonline: The Bachelorette's Garrett Yrigoyen Under Fire for Alleged Instagram Activity
TV Guide: The Bachelorette Frontrunner Garrett Yrigoyen Slammed for Ugly Social Media History
Cosmopolitan: This Season of 'The Bachelorette' Already Has Its Problematic Guy (And It's Going To Be a BIG Problem For The Show)

Here's the spoiler: The reason this is such a big deal is that spoiler sites are claiming that Becca is in fact engaged to Garrett. If he was just another contestant who gets eliminated at some point, he could go away relatively quietly and the story would die down. But Becca has been making the media rounds, including Good Morning, America and Live With Kelly and Ryan yesterday, talking about how happy she is to be engaged to her new fiance, and by extension, how wonderful he is. There are also 10 more episodes of the show left to be aired, all of which, unless ABC goes back and re-edits the whole show, will feature Garrett in a "winner" edit intended to show what a great guy he is and building up to the emotional finale when he and Becca get engaged. (And, as stated above, they can tweak the editing but they can't change the outcome.) There's going to be a substantial disconnect between the "isn't he great" narrative that will play out on the show (and again, remember, everything was filmed weeks ago before any of this came out) and the "Garrett Under Fire" narrative now playing out in the real world in real time.

Is Becca engaged to Garrett? Probably. Is she aware of the controversy now surrounding him? Almost certainly, and show producers and the network have to be as well. (If nothing else, the sites listed above are all calling producers and the network for comments.) They would probably like to address the issue publicly but it will be very tricky to do that without revealing/confirming that Garrett is the winner, if in fact he is.

Is Becca having second thoughts about Garrett? No way to know but it's possible. Stay tuned.

Wednesday afternoon, update #2:

I reached out to ABC, which airs "The Bachelorette," and Warner Bros., which produces the show, to see if either had a response to Garrett allegedly liking sexist, transphobic and anti-immigrant memes. Both said they will not be commenting.

— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) May 30, 2018

Amy is a Hollywood/entertainment reporter for the LA Times; apparently neither the producers nor the network will comment about Garrett. Becca was asked about it in a couple of interviews yesterday and today but her answers were bland and scripted. She has to be careful. She didn't know about this during filming because it hadn't happened yet; if she acknowledges that she's in contact with Garrett now she (may possibly) be giving away the ending. However she feels about Garrett at this moment, she can't be happy that her season has been hijacked by this controversy. 

This Day In History, 1972: The Duke Of Windsor Dies

#OnThisDay in 1972 The Duke of Windsor, former King Edward VIII died. He was King and Emperor from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December. He is The Queen's uncle. ©BBC pic.twitter.com/EYZvoDU74r

— ♔ Royal_Reporter (@Royal__Reporter) May 27, 2018

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

The Royal Wedding: Lots of stories came out of the big wedding, including the American bishop who gave the sermon, the photographer, cake baker and florist, Clare Waight Keller, who designed the dress, Meghan's mother and/or her father, all those cute little kids, etc. Would People go with a 2nd royal wedding cover in a row? Possibly
Hugh Grant: Married for the first time at age 57
Melania Trump: She hasn't been seen publicly in over two weeks, there are rumors that she's moved back to New York
The Obamas: The Netflix deal
Adam Rippon: Won Dancing With The Stars
Harvey Weinstein: Arrested
Alicia Silverstone: Getting a divorce
Bachelor Nation: Becca's season premiered last night and three of her men are in the news this morning: Garrett, for offensive comments/likes on Instagram, Colton, for dating gymnast Aly Raisman, and Lincoln. Lincoln's thing is too weird to actually write out in words, at least on my blog, you can read about it here. In other Bach news, former Bach'ette Ali had a baby, Arie & Lauren set a wedding date and Ashley I & Jared are finally dating. Arie & Lauren also gave a strange interview to GQ, of all places. Read it here. 
Nicki Minaj: Dating Eminem?

Note: Stories that actually appear on this week's cover will be highlighted in green.

Wednesday morning update: The new cover features Meghan, the new Duchess of Sussex, with no reference to the actual wedding. Do I get half credit for the first item on the list above? Sure, why not. I highlighted it in a lighter shade of green. See the new cover here.

When AJ Met Jason... Episode 3 - Updated

AJ and Jason are at it again. (Who are they? The background to this story is in a post I wrote on May 1, you can read it here.) Today's drama started with AJ calling the cops on Jason:

Yes, sadly, I had to call the cops on Miller about an hour ago. He was standing outside my home like a crazy person, in the middle of the street in the rain, filming my home. He saw me through a window and was smirking at me, like a clown in a horror movie. https://t.co/VQn1cgOYjW

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

In this tweet she's responding to someone who pointed out that if Mr. Miller wasn't on her property what he was doing was not illegal: 

I didn't say it was. But I felt unsafe. So I did the responsible thing. I also messaged to him to say the cops were on their way to give him a chance to leave before the police arrived. Then I called the police back and called off the dispatch, once he'd gone. https://t.co/RO981wa7UU

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

Indeed. He was insisting he had time-sharing w Will today, I had already informed he didnt, in writing. he came anyway and then wouldnt leave. Had no legitimate purpose for being in the street, filming. Likely scared the neighbors, as well https://t.co/clyzq4Wdel

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

To be clear, disagreement is over whether his wife (whom I personally fear is a danger to Will until she has been psychologically vetted) could participate in the time-sharing. He preferred not to see Will. He apparently isn't allowed to spend time w Will unless wife is present https://t.co/L2YIirkYRH

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

The man has refused to have one-on-one time w his son since November. It's all very, very concerning. https://t.co/XEYKoOop2p

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

To be clear, the reason I post about this is for my son's sake / my sake. He eases off when public attention is called to his conduct/actions/statements. It's not my preference to do this but it helps me have less stress and more time for Will & that's what matters.

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

Then Jason broke his Twitter silence with this:

1/

Friends:

Thank you so much for the support and encouragement these past few months, and especially the support we have received today, as those who know me are aware that what Ms. Delgado is stating is completely inaccurate...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

2/

From before our son’s birth, my efforts have been aimed toward addressing and resolving matters in a reasonable manner with his mother, as that is what is in the best interests of our child, who is now a wonderful 10 months old, almost 11 months...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

3/

Regrettably, Ms. Delgado has taken a different approach, attempting to publicly portray me in a negative light with my family, friends and employers.  She has made numerous false statements, has written inaccuracies in different public forums...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

4/

...as well as denying our son the right to spend time with me, his sisters and my wife. The most egregious denial to our son to spend time with me and his paternal family has been this weekend, as we have a written mediated Agreement clearly stating our son is to spend...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

5/

...extended time with me, his sisters and my wife for extended time on Friday, Saturday and today. That has not been possible, as each day Ms. Delgado has raised a different excuse for her violating the terms of the Agreement...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

6/

As Ms. Delgado launches her tirade of falsehoods on social media, and in her communications with me, there is a 10 ½ month old child inside her home I love with all my heart and whose wellbeing I am greatly concerned for...

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

7/I’ve tried to keep this family drama out of the public eye as much as possible because there is an innocent child involved (not to mention my wife and daughters), but I am compelled to address this very frightening situation because Ms. Delgado has decided to make it all public

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

8/

I now have no choice but to address this with the Judge on an emergency basis at the conclusion of this holiday weekend.

Thank you for all of your prayers,

Jason

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 27, 2018

And here's what AJ had to say about that:

BTW, same guy who says he doesn't want this to be public, is rage-tweeting.

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

Nothing says "I love my son so much" as "I love my son so much that I'll be in Miami all wkd but REFUSE to see him unless my crazy wife can be part of the time-sharing, too. Otherwise, catch ya next time, Will!"

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

Oh my God, this moron forgot the Mediation Agreement has a confidentiality clause.

He just gave me grounds to sue him.

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

(He's also lying -- nowhere does any agreement say the timesharing was to include his wife and his two daughters, who are Will's HALF-sisters, not sisters -- we don't have other kids together.)

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

Notice Miller doesn't dispute that he was standing out in the rain, creepily filming me through a window/filming my home, this morning.

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 27, 2018

With the Trump White House's Communications team in shambles, apparently Jason Miller is once again being looked at for Communications Director. He was first named for the job during the Trump transition in December, 2016, but when the story of his child with Delgado came out, he either withdrew his name in order to "spend more time with his family" or was informed by Trump's team that the offer was withdrawn. It's not clear which. (I wrote about that here.) Will he get the job for real this time? Stay tuned.

Monday night update: They really are trying to destroy each other. Earlier today, AJ posted this tweet:

Just so everyone knows how Satanic Jason Miller really is, he's having a reporter write about a pregnancy I lost over half a decade ago. Yes, really.

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) May 28, 2018

She was right. At 8.42 p.m. Page Six at the New York Post posted a story titled "Jason Miller isn't the first man to have a fling with A.J. Delgado." This is the story in its entirety: 

Donald Trump’s former communications director Jason Miller isn’t the first man to have impregnated A.J. Delgado, then broken up with her and ended up in court.

Six years before Miller and Delgado had an affair on the Trump campaign trail — resulting in the birth of her now-10-month-old baby, William — Delgado had a fling with John de Neufville of G2 Investment Group.

After Delgado became pregnant, and de Neufville moved on with a new girlfriend, publicist Ali Wise, he obtained a five-year restraining order against the Miami resident, alleging in court papers that she had sent him and his friends hundreds of hateful emails.

Under the terms of the restraining order, which expired in 2017, Delgado was barred from having a gun and required to inform the court any time she planned to come to New York.

In one email to a friend that was cited to the court, Delgado vowed to attend a gala in New York. “I look forward to seeing him and his 34-year-old hag dog there! I look forward to many ugly run-ins throughout this year.”

In another email, to de Neufville, cited in court papers, Delgado said of Wise: “There’s unstable and crazy — and then there’s Glenn Close-level psycho. How humiliating for you. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel, huh?”

Delgado told me, “Some of the emails, I vehemently deny writing.” She also said she’d been dealing with the anguish of being abandoned by the unborn child’s father.

Miller wouldn’t comment, but a friend said, “Her ultimate goal is to destroy Jason and his family. It’s scary, the parallels of what happened to him and de Neufville.”

Delgado said, “I wouldn’t call twice in my life a pattern.”

In an earlier post I expressed some sympathy for Delgado and what she's going through, in particular her significant financial disadvantage compared to Miller, who apparently makes over $600,000 annually. Now I'm beginning to think they're both crazy, not very nice and possibly unhinged. This will not end well. 

The Hair

photo credit: pool/Getty Images

A different view of the hair. It's partly due to the angle of the camera, which was below Donald's head looking up, but still, I want to ask, where's the rest of the hair? In this picture, at least, it looks wispy, almost see-through. Is it possible Donald's Carefully Cared-for Hair is thinning?

Editors Are Important - Updated

Editors are important and the People.com site frequently appears to not have enough of them. Almost every story posted has some kind of typo or other. Mostly I just ignore them but this one I have to share, from a story quoting an Instagram post by Meghan Markle's wedding dress designer:

“I watched from the church as they went by and stood next to Lady Diana’s brother Earl Spencer,” she continued, referencing Early Charles Spencer who took over the family title when his father died in 1992. “Quite an incredibly poignant moment. (You can read the story here)

"Early" Charles Spencer? Really?

C'mon, People, get it together. I'll check later today to see if the typo gets fixed.

Saturday morning update: Nope, they never fixed it.

A Weird Day In Words

A bakery in Charleston, S.C. can't cope with "Summa Cum Laude" and the president's staff dumbs down his tweets with typos because his base voters think it's cool to be stupid. It's a weird day for us Words Geeks and it's not even 8.30 a.m. yet. Read about it here:

At the Washington Post: Proud mom orders 'Summa Cum Laude' cake online, Publix censors it: Summa ... Laude

At Talking Points Memo: WH Aides Routinely Write Out Error-Laden Tweets For Trump To Browse

This Day In History, 1999: Susan Lucci Finally Wins An Emmy

On May 21, 1999, @Susan_Lucci finally won a Daytime Emmy for her role as Erica Kane on 'All My Children' pic.twitter.com/y5eVaImT1D

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) May 21, 2018

The Royal Wedding

Issue dated June 4, 2018: Harry and Meghan's Royal Wedding


I had figured People would probably publish the new cover early, but I was thinking Tuesday, not tonight. Surprise, here it is, before I could even get my Guessing Game post published. I had started to make a list of potential cover stories, in addition to the big wedding, including the following:

Tom Wolfe: The author died May 14
Bill Clinton and James Patterson: Their new book, titled The President Is Missing, comes out on June 4. Publisher's Weekly released their review last week. (Read it here.)
The Bachelorette: Becca's season starts May 28
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend: Their son was born
Alec Baldwin: He and his wife also have a new baby boy

Last year at this time: Issue dated June 5, 2017

Our Old Friend Nacho!

Do you remember Nacho Figueras? He's an Argentine polo player, a *very attractive* polo player (that's the first picture I ever saw of him, above,) and I blogged about him a couple of times back in 2009:

June 20, 2009: Just For Fun
August 4, 2009: Still Thinking About Nacho

I may have been thinking about Nacho in 2009 but since then I've gone years without thinking about him at all, then, all of a sudden, today, in an article at people.com featuring the invitation to Harry and Meghan's reception, I came across this:

Prince Harry‘s friend, polo player Nacho Figueras, shared a photo of the program alongside a bottle of cologne and his Ralph Lauren tuxedo in an Instagram post that he has since deleted. (Read the people.com article here.)

Nacho! I went right to his Instagram account and although he had indeed deleted the picture mentioned above, I did find this:

My dear friend, I am so happy for you. You deserve nothing but the best and I wish you both the happiest of lives. Thank you for making us part of this very special day. Best part yet to come!! 💃🕺🏻 #royalwedding @delfinablaquier by @achevalpampa @pomellato Me @ralphlauren @kensingtonroyal

A post shared by Ignacio Figueras (@nachofigueras) on May 19, 2018 at 9:10am PDT

And from Google Images, some pictures of Nacho with the groom. Apparently they really are good friends:

He's Losing It - Updated

Things are really getting ridiculous. The Failing and Crooked (but not as Crooked as Hillary Clinton) @nytimes has done a long & boring story indicating that the World’s most expensive Witch Hunt has found nothing on Russia & me so now they are looking at the rest of the World!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

....At what point does this soon to be $20,000,000 Witch Hunt, composed of 13 Angry and Heavily Conflicted Democrats and two people who have worked for Obama for 8 years, STOP! They have found no Collussion with Russia, No Obstruction, but they aren’t looking at the corruption...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

...in the Hillary Clinton Campaign where she deleted 33,000 Emails, got $145,000,000 while Secretary of State, paid McCabes wife $700,000 (and got off the FBI hook along with Terry M) and so much more. Republicans and real Americans should start getting tough on this Scam.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

Now that the Witch Hunt has given up on Russia and is looking at the rest of the World, they should easily be able to take it into the Mid-Term Elections where they can put some hurt on the Republican Party. Don’t worry about Dems FISA Abuse, missing Emails or Fraudulent Dossier!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

What ever happened to the Server, at the center of so much Corruption, that the Democratic National Committee REFUSED to hand over to the hard charging (except in the case of Democrats) FBI? They broke into homes & offices early in the morning, but were afraid to take the Server?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

....and why hasn’t the Podesta brother been charged and arrested, like others, after being forced to close down his very large and successful firm? Is it because he is a VERY well connected Democrat working in the Swamp of Washington, D.C.?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

Yes, this really is a tweet storm from the current President of the United States. (And yes, there's a typo. It's in the second tweet.) He really is losing it.

Update: He's also repeating himself. This tweet popped up almost immediately after I published this post, three hours after the last of the original six tweets above.

The Witch Hunt finds no Collusion with Russia - so now they’re looking at the rest of the World. Oh’ great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

I'll just keep adding the tweets:

I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018

The Empty Seat - Updated

photo credit: Getty Images

Sharp-eyed royal wedding viewers noticed an empty seat next to Prince William. Was it symbolically saved for the woman who wasn't there, William and Harry's mother, Princess Diana? It's a sentimental thought but no, it turns out there's a more prosaic reason. Apparently the seat was empty so as not to block the view of the Queen, seated directly behind it in the second row. Why not just put the Queen in the first row? I have no idea.

More royal wedding blogging to come? Probably.

Saturday night update: I love this picture:

photo credit: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Melanie's Back - Updated

Sunday morning update: Thoughts from London School of Economics Fellow and author Brian Klaas about why the "Melanie" typo matters: 

2. Trump, an unhinged, impulsive man who lies routinely and dabbles in conspiracy theories, is aiming to enter a summit with Kim Jong-un with basically no preparation. He often doesn’t listen to advisers. Trump rarely if ever reads briefings. He will likely shoot from the hip.

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 20, 2018

4. It’s insane to have grown used to a president who is so careless with words & official statements that highlighting them seems petty. One mistake, ok. But there is a pattern of reckless indifference toward the truth, facts, words. Precision matters. This isn’t the Apprentice.

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 20, 2018

6. So, no, I don’t care that Trump made a minor spelling mistake. I do care that presidential statements are treated as unimportant & disposable & unworthy of even the most basic checks, when foreign governments base their decisions off them. “Melanie” shows that carelessness.

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 20, 2018

This Day In History, 1986: Top Gun

🎬'Top Gun' premiered in theaters 32 years ago today, May 16, 1986 pic.twitter.com/hAq2ZO04WS

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) May 16, 2018

Drew Scott's Wedding

Issue dated May 28, 2018: Drew Scott


People goes with an HGTV/Celebrity Wedding for the main cover story this week, which was on my Guessing Game list, along with Dead Celebrity Margot Kidder. (I had Matt Lauer on the list a couple of weeks ago.) With the royal wedding just three days away I'm somewhat surprised there's not a single word about it on this week's cover, although most of the drama around Meghan's father happened after the magazine's Monday deadline. People continues to ignore all the president's women, including hospitalized First Lady Melania.

Next week it will be two wedding covers in a row because we know what the next big cover story will be.

Last year at this time: Issue dated May 29, 2017

Hannity & Trump

Do you remember Brangelina? Bennifer? Tomkat? The celebrity couples designated by those cute portmanteaux are all, alas, part of history now, but do not despair. There's a new celebrity couple to keep us entertained. All the details of their loving bromance are outlined in the New York magazine article titled Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime. (I first wrote about it a couple of posts ago, read that here.)

One of the wits in my Twitter feed decided these two need a cute two-names-into-one moniker (of course they do,) and what he came up with is one for the ages. What is it?

#Hump

This Day In History, 2006: The Final Episode Of The West Wing

photo credit: Outkick the Coverage

My favorite show ever. Every year when the new shows are introduced, I hope I'll find something to watch that will engage my interest the way The West Wing did. On September 22, 2016, I did a "This Day In History, 1999" post about the show's debut; you can read that here.

He Doesn't Live With His Wife??

There's a new article at New York magazine, titled Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime. (I know, yuck.) For me the most interesting part, that isn't getting as much attention as I would have expected, is this:

The talks may be more important for Trump than for Hannity in a therapeutic sense, even if it’s nearly impossible to accept what we’re seeing from the president reflects any kind of therapy. “He doesn’t live with his wife,” one person who knows both men said of Trump, explaining that he lacks someone “to decompress” with at the end of the day. (Read the article here.

There have been rumors that Melania doesn't even live at the White House, that she spends most of her time with her parents and her son at a house in the suburbs close to Barron's school. Her spokeswoman denied it but still. So far I haven't seen any pushback on this story, although it's still early on Monday. Stay tuned.  

Because We Like Magazine Covers

It's hard to drain the swamp...

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

Thomas Markle: Meghan's father. This will be the last issue before the wedding, and I'm assuming People will have some kind of wedding-related story on the cover this week. It could be Meghan's father, there's (unconfirmed) reporting out there that he cooperated with a paparazzi photographer to take pictures before the wedding
Monica Lewinsky: She was uninvited from an event after it became known that Bill Clinton would also be attending
Hostages: 3 Americans were released by North Korea
Michael Cohen: Trump's lawyer/fixer is in a world of trouble
Donald Trump Jr. and/or Kimberly Guilfoyle: Dating
Vanessa Trump: Another gossipy item at Page Six, this time about her dating relationship with a Saudi prince before she married junior. Planted by the Trumps? Almost certainly
Meghan McCain: An emotional response on The View after a Trump staffer makes a tacky and unkind remark about her father
Sarah Palin: Responds to Senator McCain's statement that he regrets selecting her to be his VP
Kevin McHale: Confirms he's gay
Clara Harris: A True Crime story, she was released from jail after serving 15 years for running her car over her unfaithful husband
Drew Scott: The Property Brother is married

Monday morning update: Samantha Markle, Meghan's estranged (and strange) half-sister. She admits it was her idea for their father to pose for the pictures. She issued a tweet saying "The bad press over my father doing staged photos is my fault. The media was unfairly making him look bad so I suggested he do positive photos for his benefit and the benefit of the royal family. We had no idea he would be taken advantage of. It was not for money." (Read about it here.) Yikes. Poor Meghan. Being at the center of this enormous event would be difficult enough without having to deal with unsupportive (and not very bright) family members. The "family Meghan never had"? Harry was right.

Update #2: Taraji P. Henson. Engaged

Monday afternoon, Update #3: Melania Trump. Hospitalized for a surgical procedure, which apparently went well. She'll be hospitalized for the rest of the week.

Margot Kidder: The actress who played Lois Lane in the Superman movies has died at age 69.

There's also an update to the Thomas Markle story. It's now being reported that he won't be attending the wedding, due to embarrassment over the staged photos. He also apparently had a heart attack a few days ago, but checked himself out of the hospital in order to travel for the wedding. It's easy to snark about Meghan's family, especially her half-siblings, who come across as tacky and grasping, but at this point the whole thing is just sad. It wouldn't be easy for anyone to find themselves thrust into the royal media feeding frenzy, just because of who they're related to. Mr. Markle has my sympathy.

Wednesday morning, update #4: See the new cover here.

If They Go Low...

... we go to the polls.

.@Oprah's advice to grads: "If they go low -- thank you, @MichelleObama -- if they go low, go to the polls" (https://t.co/ajOz9IWnhp) pic.twitter.com/MGn6zGneTS

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 12, 2018

Yes.

And here's Oprah's speech: 

The House Butler At Mar-a-Lago - Updated

"He is a titanic ...  & I mean TITANIC fraud" - @SteveSchmidtSES on VP Pence
w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/nckqyVTBpb

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) May 10, 2018

In a blog post this morning I said that in an article about the break-up of the president and Rudy Giuliani, Rick Wilson was having fun with words. This afternoon, (possibly former) Republican strategist Steve Schmidt had his own fun with words while talking about Vice President Mike Pence:

"He is a titanic, and I mean Titanic, fraud, ...on his moral high horse, ...his moral preening is famous throughout the land, ...the most obsequious, ...his slobbering servility, ...the weakness that oozes out of this guy, ...he acts like he's the house butler at Mar-a-Lago"

Fascinating.

Friday morning update: More from Steve Schmidt. He's referring to the White House staffer who said that John McCain's thoughts about the nominee to head the CIA don't matter because "he's dying anyway."

Kelly Sadler, the WH Aide who joked about and revelled in joy  about the fact that John Mccain is approaching the hour that will come for us all is a disgrace. She is vile, cruel, and indecent.  She is a perfect fit for this loathsome cabal that is rotten from Trump down 1.

— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) May 11, 2018

They have no shame. I pray a righteous rage and anger is swelling in the hearts of every decent person in this country around the desecration of our country and values by team Trump. Let us repudiate these terrible people. Let’s do it with joy and gratitude for the privilege. 3.

— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) May 11, 2018

We Americans are connected to each other through the generations. We have work to do and it is time to begin it. We should be happy that looking back from the end of our lives that we will have played a part in washing away the sewer that is this administration.

— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) May 11, 2018

The End Of The Bromance?

Like a bloated, portly fake billionaire rolling off a hooker after a hot 45 seconds of passionate sex, Donald Trump’s ardor for Rudy Giuliani seems to have cooled.

How's that for a lede? Here's the second paragraph:

If the White House leaks are any barometer, it sounds more and more as if Donald wants Rudy to get his money off the nightstand and the hell out of his room at the No-Tell-Motel. This is what happens when you work for Trump, and Rudy is old enough, crafty enough, and knows Trump well enough to have known better.

This is from an article at The Daily Beast, written by "GOP Media Guy" Rick Wilson and titled "Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump: This Will End Badly. And Probably Soon." Wilson knows Giuliani from having worked for him 20 years ago and he's definitely having fun with words this morning:

…Trump has been mostly unable to hire and retain top-flight litigators because he destroys everyone around him. His record of stacking former staffers like cordwood as they are either fired, humiliated, shamed, permanently scarred, forced to cut off a finger by the Yakuza, morally compromised, or moved into the Witness Protection Program will go down in Presidential history. It’s no secret that he’s a spectacular liar at all times and on all subjects, leaving his legal team constantly wary they have a client who combines a stubborn streak and a self-destructive nature with an endless capacity to lie to them about his marital, financial, and political lies.

However, like so many others who should know better, Rudy staked his legacy on one last waltz with Trump, and may soon learn why no one else wanted the job.

Trump follows a clear pattern with his employees, hangers-on, camp followers, and six-degrees-of-separation edge cases who trail him like chunks of matter kicked off some fecal comet hurling across the political firmament. The pattern is abundantly evident at this point, and it’s one Rudy should realize applies to everyone in Trump’s sphere of crapulous influence.

Read the entire article here.

Breaking The Ratings - Updated

That middle-of-the-night "look how great I am" pageant Trump staged at Joint Base Andrews last night? Don't misunderstand. It wasn't for the hostages' benefit:

The White House carefully choreographed the event, hoisting a giant American flag between two fire trucks on the tarmac and inviting reporters to witness the return.

The image-conscious president told reporters, “I think you probably broke the all-time-in-history television rating for 3 o’clock in the morning.”

...The highly public and politically tinged display stood in stark contrast to the low-key and very private reception that the State Department had envisioned and carried out from the moment it took custody of the men, in keeping with a tradition of trying to protect potentially traumatized victims from being thrust into the spotlight so soon after their ordeal.

Department officials took great pains on the prisoners’ release in North Korea, as well as on their flights to Japan and Alaska, to keep them sequestered not only from the two journalists traveling with Pompeo but also from staffers not immediately involved in their cases. The trio, along with medical personnel that included a psychiatrist, were cloistered in the middle of Pompeo’s plane in a small section of 12 business class-size seats that was cordoned off by curtains on both ends. From an AP article, read it here. 

Thursday night update: Washington Post reporter Carol Morello was one of two reporters who accompanied secretary of state Mike Pompeo to North Korea. Her write-up of the trip is fascinating, you can read it here. For me, one paragraph stood out:

We were warned we couldn’t speak to the prisoners once they came aboard to fly to freedom, or even watch from a short distance. Pompeo was adamant that their privacy would not be invaded.

"Their privacy would not be invaded"? Really? I wonder how the secretary felt about the garish and well-lit ceremony they landed into at Andrews. 

Looking Good At 92

Dressed-down Queen looks engrossed as she takes in the action at the Royal Windsor Horse Show https://t.co/n49l8LRqEe pic.twitter.com/wDu53qYNiu

— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) May 9, 2018

This is about as casual as it gets for the Queen, and doesn't she look great? Is she thinking about what she'll wear to the big wedding next week? I like to think so. This picture was taken today at a horse show, here's the full outfit, with a padded vest added for warmth:

Melissa McCarthy

Issue dated May 21, 2018: Melissa McCarthy


Melissa McCarthy is front and center this week, promoting her new movie that opens Friday. I'll point out that she appears to have lost a lot of weight; I'm also happy to report that neither the cover headline (other than a subtle "feeling great") or the teaser story at people.com mentions her weight at all. That's progress, and a nice change from her two previous covers:

Issue dated June 22, 2015


Issue dated July 7, 2014


Here's what I said back in June, 2015, when I posted her second cover:

Melissa's movie got good reviews and opened big over the week-end so no surprise that she gets the cover this week. This is the second time in three weeks that People has featured a woman who isn't a size 2 on the cover, and the second time in a year for McCarthy. It's nice that this year's headline doesn't mention the fact that McCarthy appears to have lost weight, but both headlines subtly call attention to her size. Last year she was "succeeding in Hollywood on her own terms," now she's "making her own rules," both of which translate to being a movie star who isn't skinny.

I had both royal stories on the Guessing Game post, read it here.

Last year at this time: Issue dated May 22, 2017

An Uncontested Divorce? - Updated

Did Donald Trump Jr. make his bride Vanessa sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) when they got married? My guess? Yes. Is she wishing she'd been able to make him sign one? Probably.

Page Six, the New York Post's gossip page, has an unflattering article about a man Vanessa dated when she was very young. She was from a wealthy family, he became a gang member and criminal. It's not a pretty story, but it was a long time ago. Why publish this stuff now? Josh Marshall, at Talking Points Memo, has a theory, and note that in the third sentence, he's referring to Trump Jr.'s estranged wife:

For decades Donald Trump used The New York Post as a press tool to pump up his brand and attack enemies. The New York press world and the high octane real estate families who are fodder and enablers of it are all notoriously corrupt. And now – surprise, surprise! – The Post appears to be in the lead with dramatic dirt on Trump’s estranged wife – specifically, that in high school she dated and had a years-long relationship with a member of the Latin Kings, a notoriously violent Latino street gang which is the bigger brother, as it were, of MS-13, the street gang with roots in Central America and among Central American immigrants which Donald Trump endlessly cites as an example of the need for his draconian immigration policies.

… She has been married to Donald Trump Jr. for years and they have five children. I don’t want to paint her as a victim here. She’s been part of the Trump viper clan for years. But this is hardball and it’s no accident the Post is coming up with this stuff.

This is the latest in a string of attack pieces the Post has written about Vanessa Trump. It is almost certainly the case that these stories are being pitched to the Post as part of the Trump’s divorce strategy, either as payback or to make her seem like a bad mother or just to leverage the settlement. The Trumps play very rough. They have a longstanding relationship with the Post and its owner Rupert Murdoch. They play rough.

Thursday afternoon update: Apparently Jr. is now dating Fox News Host Kimberly Guilfoyle. Read about it here. 

This Day In History, 1945: The War In Europe Ends

General Eisenhower’s message reporting Victory in Europe, this week 1945: pic.twitter.com/0snNskzU4A

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 5, 2018

The war in Europe actually ended on May 7, as shown in Eisenhower's telegram, above. The New York Times announced the news the following day: 

New York Times, tomorrow 1945:
“The War in Europe is Ended! Surrender is Unconditional”: pic.twitter.com/29MmsDDf2n

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 8, 2018

Be Best? - Updated

From Axios:

The most striking thing about anti-cyberbullying tips released by Melania Trump Monday was just how much was taken straight from a 2014 FTC pamphlet. Reporters and bloggers immediately seized on the similarities, which included a near-identical cover and almost verbatim passages.

Why it matters: The effort has been greeted with skepticism since it was announced, given the President's propensity to use his Twitter account to mock and pillory political opponents. 

The guide, titled "Talking with Kids About Being Online," is very similar to the FTC's earlier "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids about Being Online," though the former includes a foreword from the First Lady. Read the entire post here. 

In other Melania news, CNN is reporting that her approval ratings are a lot higher than the president's: 

In a poll conducted by SSRS last week, 57% say they have a favorable impression of [Mrs.] Trump, up from 47% in January. This is the biggest number Melania Trump has experienced in any CNN polling, and higher than any favorability rating earned by President Donald Trump in CNN polling history going back to 1999. Read the story here. 

She's more popular than he is? He can't be happy about that, and I can't imagine it will make him any more enjoyable to be around. 

Tuesday morning update: Melania is taking some heat this morning. Apparently the original language on the new Be Best webpage claimed the booklet was "by" Melania and the FTC. Later they changed it to
"promoted by." 

From Buzzfeed:

On Monday, Trump launched her “Be Best” initiative to promote children’s health, focusing on well-being, social media and online activity, and opioid addiction. As part of that, she and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a 27-page document outlining her plan to help parents talk with their children about being safe online.

But the document copies sections almost word-for-word from a FTC pamphlet published in January 2014 as part of the agency’s “Net Cetera” campaign, which began under President Barack Obama in 2009. After tweaking some language and graphics and adding an introduction from the first lady, the White House uploaded the new document, “Talking With Kids About Being Online,” to its website as the only external resource for Trump’s new Be Best website.

… But the updates appeared to be minimal, stoking concerns from online observers that Trump, who copied from Michelle Obama for her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, was again plagiarizing for her newest initiative. On the cover page, a graphic for a mobile phone was slightly altered to show a more modern device, while certain headlines were changed with no additions to the underlying content. The 2014 headline for discussion on “Sexting,” for example, was updated to read “Sexting: Don’t Do It” in the current version. The paragraph explainer that followed was exactly the same.

…Nat Wood, an associate director with the FTC, said the agency worked with Trump to update and redistribute the earlier edition and that many organizations modify and reprint its materials. Wood added that the FTC was not involved in Be Best beyond revising the booklet.

After BuzzFeed News inquired about the content of the booklet, Be Best's website changed the language describing it from "a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the FTC" to "a FTC booklet, promoted by first lady Melania Trump" (emphasis added). Grisham and Wood did not immediately respond to request for comment on the change. Read the article here.  

How similar are the two booklets? The BBC provides an example, with the original on the left and Melania's version on the right; read the article here:



Tuesday morning, update #2: The White House is doing some damage control, with a statement from Melania's Communications Director Stephanie Grisham: 

Yesterday, First Lady Melania Trump unveiled Be Best, her initiative meant to support children and the many issues they are facing today.

After giving a strong speech that was met with a standing ovation and positive feedback, the focus from opposition media has been on an educational booklet, “Talking with Kids About Being Online” produced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2009.  Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within.  As she said in yesterday’s speech, she is going to use Be Best to promote people and organizations to encourage conversation and replication, and helping the FTC distribute this booklet is just one small example.

Despite providing countless outlets with ample background, information, and on-the-record comments from the FTC, some media have chosen to take a day meant to promote kindness and positive efforts on behalf of children, to instead lob baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives.

As stated by Nathaniel Wood, Consumer and Business Education Division Associate Director, FTC, “We frequently work with members of Congress, the White House, other government agencies, and the private sector.  As a small and independent civil law enforcement agency, the FTC encourages our partners to help spread our message to consumers.  We were excited that Mrs. Trump distributed this important information about staying safe online.  We look forward to continuing to work with her and others to help parents and children use the Internet safely and responsibly.”

Our office will continue to focus on helping children and I encourage members of the media to attempt to Be Best in their own professions, and focus on some of the children and programs Mrs. Trump highlighted in her remarks yesterday.

As a tweet from Ben Mathis-Lilley points out, Grisham's statement ignores the fact that the Be Best website originally claimed the booklet was created by Melania and the FTC. That's the part that's driving the criticism.

This is not what the White House's website initially said; it said that the booklet was created "by Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission," language that was changed after the close similarity to the earlier, non-Melania document was pointed out. https://t.co/VArZB6YvnX

— Ben Mathis-Lilley (@BenMathisLilley) May 8, 2018

David Frum weighs in too:

This is the last page of the BeBest reissue of the FTC pamphlet, redated as May 2018.  Certainly looks as if the White House was trying to pass it off as new & original work pic.twitter.com/RYtzOT3T6R

— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 8, 2018