Taylor Swift Reportedly Turned Down Meghan Markle’s Personal Podcast Invitation

Even a personal plea from Meghan Markle couldn’t convince Taylor Swift to appear on the duchess’ now-defunct podcast, Archetypes.

New reports are offering more insight into Markle and husband Prince Harry’s ill-fated partnership with Spotify, which came to an abrupt end earlier this month.

Despite their own fame, the Sussexes were said to have trouble finding big guests to book on their flagship show.

A personal note from Markle wasn’t even enough to merit a real response from Swift. According to insiders at the Wall Street Journal, the pop star turned down the invitation via a representative.

Taylor Swift performs during the opener of her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17.
Taylor Swift performs during the opener of her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17.

via Associated Press

Beyond getting snubbed, sources say the royals struggled to find guests and “material consistent with their brand”.

Archetypes’ 12-episode run still featured A-listers like Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton, however.

Though there were discussions about a second season, plans did not move forward on a follow-up.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks at the One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit in Manchester, England, on Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks at the One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit in Manchester, England, on Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

via Associated Press

Spotify and the Sussexes announced they were ending their partnership in a joint statement on June 16, where each said they “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”.

Harry and Meghan’s camp called the move more of a pivot than a problem, with a representative for the couple’s production company Archewell telling WSJ: “New companies often make changes in their start up phase, both with people and strategy, and we are no exception. We’re more equipped, focused and energised than ever before.”

The Duke and Duchess announced their partnership with Spotify in 2020 after striking a deal which was reportedly worth millions.

Prior to that, the pair had teamed up with Netflix, producing the 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan and presenting the series Live To Lead, which featured interviews with late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

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Taylor Swift Asks Fans To Be Kind To Anyone They Think She Might Have Dated

Before performing Dear John, at her Minneapolis concert Saturday night, Taylor Swift asked her fans to show “kindness and gentleness” to anyone they think she might have written a song about.

“I’m 33 years old,” Swift said on Saturday. “I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together.”

Swift is in the process of re-recording her first six albums so she can own them. On July 7, she will release Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of her third studio album, which came out in 2010. On that album is the song Dear John, which fans believe is about Swift’s brief relationship with singer John Mayer.

After Swift released Red (Taylor’s Version) and fans flooded Jake Gyllenhaal’s Instagram with comments because they believed the breakup song All Too Well was about him, Swift is asking her fans to be kind on the internet.

“So what I’m trying to tell you,” Swift continued, “is that I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 million years ago.”

She then announced she would sing Dear John but only because she’s “proud of it as a song.”

Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012 that Dear John “humiliated” him and made him feel “terrible.” He called the song “cheap songwriting.”

When asked about his response during an appearance that year on Katie Couric’s talk show, Swift simply said, “Oh, come on.”

It’s unclear how Swift feels about Mayer and his comments now, but it seems like at least she doesn’t want her fans to bully him on the internet. Swift also told fans on Saturday night that she gets to witness her fans be kind to one another during each concert and watch them bond and give one another friendship bracelets.

“I was hoping to ask you that as we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend on to our internet activities,” she said.

“What I’m trying to say is I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music and I believe any artist who has the desire to own their music should be able to. That’s why I’m putting out this album.”

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Watch One Of Beyoncé’s Dancers Swoop In To Save Her From A Wardrobe Malfunction

Beyoncé avoided an onstage wardrobe malfunction this week thanks to a smooth move from one of her dancers on the Renaissance World Tour.

Queen Bey, during a concert in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, was on the verge of bringing her Break My Soul performance to a close when her shiny red dress seemed to slip.

One of her dancers with the Les Twins — a dance duo made up of Larry and Laurent Bourgeois — appeared to spot the near slip as he moved in to cover Bey from the audience’s view.

He went on to grab the singer’s hand and bring it to her dress before dancing aside, as Beyoncé confidently closed out the song.

Watch videos of the dancer’s quick decision-making below:

Members of the Beyhive praised the move, saying the dancer exhibited “KING BEHAVIOR” on stage.

Bey looks to continue the Renaissance World Tour in Germany on Saturday before heading to Poland. She’s then set to travel back across the pond to North America.

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Kelly Clarkson Spills On Her Taylor Swift Tweet That Ruffled Music Mogul’s Feathers

Kelly Clarkson has opened up about her viral 2019 tweet that showed love for Taylor Swift after music industry titan Scooter Braun acquired the masters of the singer-songwriter’s first six albums.

“We ran into each other, and [Braun] reached out at the time to my manager,” Clarkson told host Andy Cohen.

“I was like ‘It wasn’t anything against him.’ When she came out and said that and I heard about it, I was like ‘Whatever, rerecord them. Your fans will support you.’ Uh, they did — she has like every top record right now in the charts.”

The Because of You singer added that Braun, who sold Swift’s masters in 2020, believed she was “attacking him.”

Clarkson later described Swift as a “genius.”

“This woman is brilliant … she would’ve come up with that on her own and she maybe already had before I even tweeted it,” Clarkson said.

Swift, has so far dropped two rerecorded albums, including Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version). She’s set to release her third rerecorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), on July 7.

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Jon Hamm And John Slattery Speaking About Their Friendship Could Not Be Any Cuter

Jon Hamm and John Slattery have dished on their bromance, with some especially heartwarming comments.

The pair shared the screen together on the hit US drama Mad Men between 2007 to 2015 and have stayed close friends ever since.

Last year, they appeared together in the crime comedy Confess, Fletch, while Slattery has also directed the new comedy Maggie Moore(s), starring Hamm and Tina Fey.

In a new interview with People, Hamm said their working relationship meant they could “grow to hate each other or grow to love one another”.

“We became great friends,” he said.

Detailing their friendship, he continued: “When we’re hanging out together—on the beach, in the city, out in L—it’s truly a gift,”

“When we also get to extend that into working together, that’s icing on the cake.”

Slattery added: “The older I get, the more I’m aware of the passage of time.

“Knowing this whole thing is finite and there’s a winnowing list of people with whom you want to spend your life. I just enjoy Jon’s company. I value it.”

The pair value their close friendship with one another
The pair value their close friendship with one another

Bravo via Getty Images

Earlier this month, Slattery said he couldn’t be happier for Hamm, who announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Anna Osceola in February.

“I mean, they’re lovely. Together, they’re great people,” he said. “I’m extremely happy for them.”

Noting that he “couldn’t be luckier” in his own 25-year marriage to actor Talia Balsam, Slattery added: “I hope he has the same luck as I did.”

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Indiana Jones Director Has Something To Say About Negative Reviews For Latest Film

Indiana Jones director James Mangold has had his say on the less favourable reviews of the latest instalment in the movie franchise.

Outlets including the BBC, The Times and The Telegraph gave the franchise’s last hurrah just two stars in reviews published after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although it currently has a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it also marks the lowest score of all five films.

Speaking to Variety about the film’s critical reception, James appeared unsurprised.

He said: “When you’re in franchise land, it’s very hard for critical thinkers to overlook what I’m sure their editors want, which is this business prism of how does it rate to the other ones?

“I always thought if I were second or third best to one of the greatest films of all time, I’d be good. I mean, it all vaporises later. Either the movie will live or it won’t.”

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is the first film in the series not to have been directed by Steven Spielberg, and follows 2008′s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

There’s also a star turn from Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays Indiana Jones’s goddaughter Helena Shaw.

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny hits cinemas on 28 June.

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Foo Fighters Reveal Themselves To Be Glastonbury’s Mystery Band ‘The Churnups’

Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters have been unmasked as the mystery band playing the main stage at Glastonbury festival.

Rumours were flying around after an unfamiliar name appeared on Friday’s schedule to play the Pyramid Stage at 6.15pm – after Texas and ahead of Royal Blood and headline act Arctic Monkeys. Pulp were another name in the mix.

The game was given away shortly before the big reveal on the Foo Fighters official UK Twitter account (and perhaps Grohl being spotted backstage).

The set opened with the 2002 hit, All My Life.

“You guys knew it was us the whole time, didn’t you?” laughed Grohl. “It’s nice to see your faces again.”

A mini-greatest hits set also included Learn To Fly, The Pretender and Best Of You.

Of Hawkins, Grohl told the audience: “We wouldn’t be here without him.”

The American rock band are also dropping a brand new album in June, titled But Here We Are, and coincidentally had a huge Glastonbury-sized hole in their touring schedule.

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Jon Hamm Opens Up About Engagement To Anna Osceola

Jon Hamm, who got engaged in February, is finally in “a pretty good place”.

While the 52-year-old Mad Men star met Anna Osceola while shooting the show’s finale in 2015, they were only first linked romantically in 2020. Hamm said finding the right partner wasn’t easy, but that his 35-year-old fiancée is one he can finally “lean on”.

“I think when you’re figuring out relationships, there’s a reason that that’s a genre unto itself in television and film,” he told People in an interview published Wednesday. “It’s a bumpy road towards relationships, but we do get better at it, I suppose.”

Osceola, a fellow actor, most recently starred opposite Hamm in the 2022 detective comedy, Confess, Fletch. Hamm previously dated Jennifer Westfeldt, but notably split with her after 18 years in 2015 — the year he met Osceola.

“I feel like I’ve figured out some things over the course of my half a century on the planet,” he said. “So I’m in a pretty good place now. Hopefully I’m learning.”

Hamm, whose parents divorced when he was two years old, didn’t have it easy. He lost his mother to colon cancer when he was 10, and later his father died when he was 20. Hamm found solace in acting at college, and revealed in 2017 he finally started going to therapy.

Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola first met while shooting the “Mad Men” series finale in 2015.
Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola first met while shooting the “Mad Men” series finale in 2015.

Evan Agostini/Invision/Associated Press

“It’s only been in the last couple of years, me kind of sitting down and really thinking about all that stuff, that’s made the relationship that I’m in now even more meaningful,” he told Howard Stern in 2022, adding he was open to “being married, having kids…happiness”.

While still challenging, Hamm finds life easier and more rewarding with Osceola by his side.

“You’re in it, it’s your life, and so you wake up and you deal with what comes at you,” he told People. “That’s certainly the case with us. The funny thing about this career is that there’s no rule book. You really have to lean on one another for…support and…any kind of advice.”

The trauma of losing one parent as a child and the other soon after oddly made Hamm the best candidate for his fractured Mad Men character of Don Draper. Hamm, who previously revealed he regularly abused alcohol in the past, is fortunately much happier today.

Living with another actor, meanwhile, has shown to be uniquely challenging on its own. Hamm said that he and Osceola handle those hurdles “day to day”, specially when the lines between work and home life appear too blurry to distinguish.

They currently star together in Maggie Moore(s) directed by Mad Men alum John Slattery.

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Kelly Osbourne Calls Prince Harry A ‘F**king T**t’ In Podcast Rant

Kelly Osbourne isn’t mincing words about Prince Harry.

The former reality show star bluntly mocked her fellow nepo baby while being interviewed on the I’ve Had It podcast.

Osbourne’s harsh comments came after podcast co-host Jennifer Welch brought up the Duke of Sussex’s nonexistent role in King Charles’ coronation.

“I don’t care what my fucking son did, if I was getting crowned — he would sit in the very front row,” Welch said.

Osbourne didn’t agree, saying: “I think Harry’s a fucking twat.”

But she didn’t stop there.

“I think he’s a fucking twat,” she repeated, before piling on. “He’s a whining, whingeing, complaining, woe is me. ‘I’m the only one that’s ever had mental problems. Like my life was so hard.’”

Osbourne noted that “everybody’s fucking life is hard”, before going even further with her attack.

“You were the prince of a goddamned country who dressed up as a fucking Nazi and now you’re trying to come back as the Pope. Suck it,” Osbourne added.

You can hear her complete comments below, starting around the 38-minute mark.

Attacking the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is sort of an Osbourne family tradition.

Back in 2018, Osbourne’s mother, Sharon Osbourne, was caught on tape claiming that Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, wasn’t really Black.

And Kelly Osbourne isn’t the only celebrity who recently had harsh words for Prince Harry.

Last week, sports writer and Spotify executive Bill Simmons called Harry and Meghan “fucking grifters” on his podcast after it was announced that the production company founded by the couple would be parting ways with the streaming platform less than a year after the debut of their podcast “Archetypes.

“‘The fucking grifters.’ That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,” Simmons said. “I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”

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Craig Doyle Speaks Out On This Morning Presenting Role, Amid Schofield Replacement Rumours

Craig Doyle has spoken out on his role guest hosting This Morning, amid rumours he could be set to replace Phillip Schofield full time.

The Irish presenter has emerged as one of the frontrunners to land the job, as ITV chiefs search for a permanent co-host for Holly Willoughby following Phillip’s exit from the daytime show.

In an interview with The Times, Craig revealed his love of presenting the show, admitting he feels “grateful” for chance to front it.

“I love doing the This Morning show,” he said. “It’s great fun and I feel so grateful at this stage in my career to get an opportunity to do a show this size.”

“Given that I’m on my second or third lap of this industry, to get an opportunity like this is fantastic.”

He continued: “It’s a very important television programme as it’s the backdrop for a lot of people’s morning,”

“From anecdotal evidence, I know that it provides company and it’s almost a friend to a lot of people. There’s a familiarity, an everydayness and a brightness that makes it enjoyable.”

Craig also praised the way the show’s wide mix of topics “encapsulate life”, suggesting it mirrors the way people can be “in the supermarket and one minute you’re talking about your kids and the next, you’re in work, discussing financial projections”.

Craig has proved popular with This Morning viewers
Craig has proved popular with This Morning viewers

Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Craig – who has proved to be very popular with This Morning fans – stepped in to host for two days during Holly’s first week back following Phillip’s exit from the show last month

Phillip subsequently left ITV altogether after admitting to an affair with a younger colleague on the show.

Craig has previously served as a guest host on This Morning on Fridays and during school holidays, presenting alongside the likes of Josie Gibson, Rochelle Humes and Alison Hammond.

Holly is currently presenting with a rotation of different members of the This Morning family until a permanent replacement for Phillip is found.

This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV1.

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