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Melania Trump’s speechwriter falls on her sword for plagiarized RNC speech

Early Tuesday morning, some Trump campaign staffer had a full-fledged meltdown on MSNBC and threw a hissy fit about how Melania Trump’s plagiarized RNC speech was barely a one-day story. Not so much. Like so many scandals these days, the scandal absolutely could have been minimized into a one-day story if someone had simply stepped up in the first hours and said, “You know what, this was a bad move. We apologize, our bad.” It became a week-long story because the Trump campaign and other Republicans (Trump surrogates, mostly) couldn’t get their f—king stories straight. No one could come up with a plausible lie or, failing that, no one could properly sort out the blame for the plagiarism. I hope people are watching, because THIS is how Trump handles a minor crisis. Imagine how he would handle an actual crisis. Anyway, we now know who was responsible for the plagiarized text in Melania’s RNC speech. The first reports came out in the NYT on Wednesday morning, and by Wednesday afternoon, the story was confirmed: THE BALLERINA DID IT. I’m not joking. At first, Melania’s RNC speech was written by two long-time Republican speechwriters, Matthew Scully and John McConnell. It seems that Melania didn’t like the speech they wrote, so she approached one of her husband’s ghostwriters, a former ballerina-turned-ghostwriter named Meredith McIver. McIver largely discarded the first draft and she worked with Melania to make a more tailored speech. McIver came forward with a personal written statement distributed by the Trump campaign: My name is Meredith McIver and I’m an in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization. I am also a longtime friend and admirer of the Trump family. In working with Melania on her recent first lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.” Yesterday, I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family but they rejected it. Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and we learn and grow from these experiences.” I asked to put out the statement because I did not like seeing the way this was distracting from Mr. Trump’s historic campaign for president and Melania’s beautiful message and presentation. I apologize for the confusion and hysteria my mistake has caused. Today, more than ever, I am honored to work for such a great family.” [Via The NYT] Once again, it sort of feels like the campaign is throwing Melania under the bus. The Trump Org. just distributed a statement saying that Melania was the one studying Michelle Obama’s speeches and telling her speechwriter which passages she wanted to copy! I can see how this is an honest mistake between Melania and Meredith, but there’s a larger problem: that no one in Trump’s campaign looked at Melania’s speech before she gave it, and no one thought to double-check it. Disorganized. Chaotic. Shambolic. Unprofessional. These are just some of the words that come to mind when thinking about this Republic National Convention. Photos courtesy of WENN.

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Benji Madden: Cameron Diaz is ‘a modern day feminist’ who shares positivity

Embed from Getty Images Benji Madden has a new extensive interview in Newsweek for the 20th anniversary of his band, Good Charlotte (with his twin brother, Joel). Good Charlotte returned from a multi-year hiatus to release a new album last week. I’m not too familiar with Benji and apart from the fact that he seems to be genuinely in love with and supportive of his wife, Cameron Diaz, I don’t have a strong opinion about him. A quick glance at our archives reminds me that he’s dated several famous women including Paris Hilton and Holly Madison and apart from hearing about his other occasional hookups, I haven’t heard a bad word about him in the 10 years I’ve run this site. No scandals, no paparazzi beat-downs, no DUIs. That’s really saying something. So he seems like a serial monogamist and a standup guy. He’s also very supportive of Cameron, and they’ve each gushed about each other on their social media and to the press. That’s all background to this interview, which just impressed me with how wise and thoughtful he sounds. I mean I don’t agree with him about Cameron Diaz, but he comes across extremely well. On how the music industry can be hard on artists My brother and I feel blessed to have survived and still have loving, connected relationships with each other, with our wives, with our family. We feel like: “Hey, there are a lot of artists who might be able to use our experiences.” We’ve been able to withstand a lot of things in the industry because we had each other. We feel protective of other artists. This is not a business that is set up in favor of artists. It’s important for artists to value themselves—whatever that means. Everyone’s going to take that in a different way. If you don’t value yourself, you will be bought and sold. On the public’s obsession with celebrity I think it’s a very unhealthy trend that will eventually be broken when people realize how hollow it is for our minds, it’s very cancerous…it’s like fast food. Fast food companies are trending down, lots of places are going out of business. People figured out: “This is killing us, it’s f-king terrible.” The celebrity obsession is doing the same thing for our minds—it’s very hollow and I think that trend is going to break soon enough. On how Cameron uses her platform for good I’m extremely proud of what she uses her platform for. She just released The Longevity Book, and before that she had The Body Book [a lifestyle guide to diet and health], and she spent thousands of dollars doing all the research, to get information to share with women who don’t necessarily have the resources to get that information. She’s a modern day feminist—she wants to change the conversation that’s being had about women and ageing. With The Body Book, she wanted to share all this information she has gathered over the years with women so they can live happy, pain-free lives. I’m proud of her because of what a light she is in a world where it would be so much easier to use that stage to promote products. But she’s using that platform she has to share positivity. It’s been one of the most inspirational things in my life watching a woman be so courageous…she’s got so much integrity. I’m a lucky guy that I get to experience that. [From Newsweek] He talks a lot about the industry and about how music gets made and artists are managed, and I didn’t excerpt that as it’s not relevant but it’s worth a read. Benji wants to empower young artists to do it on their own and not get chewed up by the industry, which can be brutal. Getting back to Benji’s thoughts on Cameron, she tried. I covered a lot of the press she did for The Longevity Book and she made some misinformed statements about women and aging, but she tried and she meant well. She’s not an authority on health or aging but she used her platform to try to be. It’s true that she’s not just shilling products, and that’s something. Also, of course I disagree with Benji’s opinion that celebrity obsession is terrible for us. Using his same fast food analogy, you can go to McDonalds and get something to eat once in a while, you just balance your calories and get your nutrients from other meals. Just because you like to follow celebrity news doesn’t mean you’re not informed about more serious events or that you don’t care. Sometimes we need a diversion. Here’s a video that Cameron shared of Benji. She left this gushing caption about how proud she is of him, which seems to be mutual. One of my favorite things about being married, is how much pride I take in my husband @benjaminmadden… He makes me proud everyday.. One day it might be how generous and giving, another how gentle and thoughtful. Or when he is fiercely protective of the people he loves and cares about… And everyday single day I am so incredibly proud of his integrity as a human being.. But TODAY what I'm most proud of is his talent… his gift…. Today his band @goodcharlotteband released their first album in 6 years #YouthAuthority .. What makes me even more proud is that he has released it on his own independent label MDDN… And it is so damn GOOOOOOOOD… Its so full of love and hope and truth… about forging and holding onto love… I wish that everyone could write music to express their pain.. their fears… their hopes and dreams. Baby you amaze me… CONGRATS!! @goodcharloteband @mddnco #youthauthority #proud http://apple.co/YouthAuthority A video posted by Cameron Diaz (@camerondiaz) on Jul 15, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

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Michelle Obama in a $1950 Delpozo dress in Madrid: overpriced, fug or cute?

Since yesterday’s Michelle Obama fashion post was so popular, I thought you guys might enjoy another one. As I said yesterday, MObama arrived in Spain this week with her mom and her two daughters. The ladies were on a tour to support the Let Girls Learn initiative. They got a great reception in Spain, and Spain’s Queen Letizia came out to support Let Girls Learn and the Obamas. After Letizia and Michelle both made speeches, they did a photo-op stroll at Zarzuela Palace, where they were having lunch. It was a nice moment, especially because Letizia is a fashion-plate like Michelle, and because Letizia seems looser and more comfortable around FLOTUS. Letizia often comes across as rather pinched, you know? But she seemed relaxed around Michelle. I imagine most people feel relaxed around Michelle, she just seems like a nice person. Even Queen Elizabeth felt comfortable enough to put her arm around MObama. But we need to talk about the fashion! Because Michelle’s dress is bad. And overpriced. Why can’t I stop comparing Michelle to the Middleton women? Earlier this week, Michelle almost had a Middleton-esque Marilyn Moment coming off the plane. And now Michelle is acting Middleton-esque by spending WAY too much on ugly dresses. Many of you though Pippa Middleton’s little summer dress should have cost $60 instead of $1800. So what do you think about Michelle terrible Delpozo dress, which costs $1950? WAY TOO MUCH. First off, it’s just not a good dress. It makes Michelle look thick-waisted, which she isn’t at all. The empire waist is just awkward, the “wings” at the back are terrible and basically this doesn’t look like it should cost more than $100-150. If that. That being said, Delpozo is a Spanish label, and I’m sure Michelle was just trying to honor her host country. Letizia’s dress was Nina Ricci by the way. It’s a really simple and flattering look, I think. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Pacific Coast News.

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Disney CEO Bob Iger is ‘not worried about’ Johnny Depp’s personal problems

Bob Iger is the CEO of Disney. Which means he’s getting a lot of the credit for the “success stories” in Hollywood these days. Disney owns LucasFilm, Marvel and Pixar, arguably the most successful properties in the film industry, domestically and internationally. So it’s no surprise that Iger was named The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Person In Entertainment. You can see THR’s Hollywood 100 list here. It includes people like Leo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jimmy Fallon and Lin-Manuel Miranda. My intention was just to glance through Iger’s extensive interview, but I ended up being drawn in and I read the whole piece. Iger talks a lot about Marvel, Rogue One, Shanghai Disney, the Orlando massacre and more. He says Rogue One is “actually going to be a fine film” and that Disney is truly working on another Indiana Jones movie. But here’s something that might interest you at a gossip level: Iger was asked directly about Johnny Depp. THR: Do you have Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean in the park? Iger: Yes. And Johnny Depp’s personal problems? Not worried about it. The scandal will pass? I don’t know whether it passes or not. We have Jack Sparrow. You think people separate. Right. [From THR] And that’s it. That’s the only thing he says about Depp. I give Iger some credit for not slamming Amber and for not giving Depp some ringing character reference or endorsement. But I do think Iger is kidding himself if he thinks the public will be able to separate Jack Sparrow and a drunk, abusive scarf monster. Also: this interview took place several weeks ago, during the heat of the Depp-Heard back-and-forth in the press. It also took place after Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass bombed at the box office. Disney has a lot of money invested in Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean, and while Disney will still be okay if Pirates bombs (they still have Stars Wars and Marvel, after all), Disney doesn’t want to eat the $320 million it cost to make POTC: Dead Men Tell No Tales. And that’s just the production cost! It will cost Disney tens of millions to promote the film. Iger is counting on the idea that by the time the film comes out (next summer), people will have forgotten all about everything. Is that what will happen though? Embed from Getty Images Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN, The Hollywood Reporter.

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Sources: Calvin Harris dumped Taylor because he couldn’t handle her success

A lot of people think I’m a Taylor Swift-hater. I’m really not! I like to call her out on her bulls—t, of course, but I actually love her. I love that she rarely takes the high road. I love that she’s so smart in business and an absolute idiot when it comes to romance. I love that you can always count on Taylor to be a melodramatic narcissist. I even love the fact that absolutely NO ONE believed that Taylor and Calvin Harris’s split was going to be drama-free. Where’s the fun in that? So I had a smile on my face when I read People Magazine’s new exclusive story on The End of the Fairy Tale. Guess how Team Swifty is spinning the fact that Taylor got dumped again? Calvin Harris was intimidated by her success! Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift’s relationship ended because the DJ was “intimidated” by her success, a friend of the singer tells PEOPLE. “[Harris] said on multiple occasions that he was intimidated by Taylor, which is why he would not attend any events where she was being honored, or any award shows unless he was nominated,” explains Swift’s friend. Harris, 32, was notably absent when Swift co-chaired the Met Gala last month, as well as at the Grammys ceremony in February, and when the “Bad Blood” singer accepted an award named after her at the May BMI Pop Awards. But Swift is holding her head high, adds the pal. “Taylor is an independent young woman, and she realizes it will take a very secure man to handle her success,” says her friend. A source close to the DJ – whom sources confirm ultimately pulled the plug on the relationship – tells PEOPLE that the split “wasn’t a shock” for Swift because the couple had ongoing issues. “They come from very different worlds,” the source explains. “Taylor is used to being treated a certain way.” The Harris insider added that he didn’t feel like the relationship was “leading anywhere.” “It wasn’t an equal relationship. Their age difference might not be significant for many couples, but for them it was part of the problem too,” says the Harris source. “Taylor somewhat lacks real-life experience. They will not be getting back together.” Regardless, the insider says that Harris still has high praise for his ex, noting that the Scottish star “very much admires her as a person and what she has been able to do with her career. This is what drew him to her in the first place. She works incredibly hard for things that she believes in,” the Harris source says. He always saw that as an amazing quality. They are still friendly.” [From People] “She realizes it will take a very secure man to handle her success…” You guys, I’m telling you… I love Taylor Swift. SO MUCH DRAMA! She’s basically telling the world that she got dumped because poor little Calvin Harris felt emasculated by her success. She’s calling him insecure. She’s saying that he couldn’t handle the fact that she’s so rich, beautiful and acclaimed. Is that the truth? Does it matter? As for the quotes from Team Calvin sources… well, this was always the reason why Calvin and Taylor were perfect together. He gives as good as he gets, and he’s great at unleashing his inner bitch. “Taylor somewhat lacks real-life experience.” OUCH. He’s saying she’s immature, naïve and insular. “They will not be getting back together.” As in, she wanted to get back together and he didn’t. Meanwhile, the National Enquirer says that Taylor was convinced that Calvin was cheating on her after that now-infamous massage parlor incident. And sources claim Calvin was convinced that Taylor was cheating on him after he heard about her behavior with Tom Hiddleston at the Met Gala. There are a lot of people who think TIDDLES (Taylor + Hiddles) could be a reality soon. Still, other people want to see Taylor go for Prince Harry. I don’t see that, mostly because Taylor is SO not Harry’s type. Blake Lively is Harry’s type. I think TIDDLES is a better possibility than TARRY. Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.

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Madonna ‘insisted’ on having the Met Gala carpet to herself for photos

I’ve never been a die-hard Madonna fan. I liked her for many years, and if I have a reason to defend her, I will. But this current incarnation of Madonna is just really uncomfortable. Her appearance at the Met Gala was really messy, and when she tried to speak to the reporters, her face could barely function because she’s had so much work done. She’s clinging to her youth, absolutely. But even more than that, it’s like she’s clinging to this idea she has of herself, that she’s always going to be the most important, the most notable, the most scandalous and the most discussed person in the room. And is that the reality? People were discussing her Met Gala appearance, absolutely. But did she “scandalize” anyone? Or were we just like, “Oh, God. Please put it away”? Page Six says that Madonna and her people demanded that all other celebrities clear off the gala red carpet while Madonna strutted her butt cheeks. Ugh. A-listers, make way for Madonna. The Queen of Pop, squeezed into a peculiar posterior-baring bondage outfit, halted the red carpet at the Met Gala for her arrival. A source tells us, “Madonna cleared the red carpet to make her big entrance, even though she was not really dressed. All these A-listers had to wait for Madonna, who insisted on having the carpet to herself, to have her pictures taken.” Those held up and forced to wait on line while Madge did her thing included Katy Perry, Kim and Kanye, Naomi Campbell, Solange and all the designers. The source added that things got funny when Perry got impatient and started yelling out at limelight-loving Madonna, “Are we ready now? Can we go?” [From Page Six] Madonna making Kanye West wait is… appropriate. But pulling “rank” like that at the Met Gala is just so cheesy, especially in Madonna’s situation these days (her Sad Clown act) and especially considering her Givenchy ensemble was absolutely ridiculous. Oh, and Joan Collins (of all people) had some mean words to say about Madonna: “I thought it was a costume party, Halloween look, but it’s the Met Ball which is supposedly one of the most glamorous and fashionable events and I thought that the bottom thing coming out was a bit over the top… I am the least ageist person… if you want to do that, be prepared to be made a figure of fun because I don’t know anybody who hasn’t been laughing about it.” [From Express] Is this how Madonna “scandalizes” these days? By being the joke, by being laughed at, by being thought of as out-of-touch? It’s almost enough to make me feel sorry for her. But then I look at these photos – where Madonna looked like she was soaking up the flashes – and I don’t feel sorry for her. Photos courtesy of WENN.

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US: Kelly Ripa may quit Live if she doesn’t get one of her friends to co-host

I saw Live with Michael and Kelly yesterday and while I haven’t watched this show enough to have a frame of reference it looked like things were back to normal. They came out holding hands, they were joking around about eyelash extensions and butt padding and they seemed to have a great rapport. At times Kelly looked uncomfortable but you had to be looking for it. If it wasn’t for all the stories you wouldn’t know that they were having issues and that Michael is leaving in just two weeks. They never brought it up. He’s leaving early though, whether that was due to Kelly throwing a fit or just an executive decision it’s hard to tell. Kelly’s issue seems to be more with the ABC executives who kept her out of the loop than with Michael, who was just following orders not to tell her. Kelly is said to still be playing hardball at ABC after staying away for five days. Us is reporting that she’s threatened to quit if she doesn’t get one of her friends, either Anderson Cooper or Andy Cohen, to cohost. A source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly that Kelly Ripa “is talking about leaving” Live with Kelly and Michael after Michael Strahan announced his exit from the show for a permanent gig at Good Morning America. (Strahan was originally supposed to make the move in September, but the show announced this week that his last day on air will be May 13.) Although Ripa, 45, returned to the show after a four-episode hiatus Tuesday, April 26, the source says she still feels “blindsided” that producers and Strahan, 44, broke the news to her just moments before the April 19 public announcement: “She considers it a sign of disrespect.” Now, the 15-year Live vet will wait to see who producers seat beside her to help weigh her options for the future. They’re considering actor Jerry O’Connell, says the source, but Ripa “hopes Anderson Cooper or Andy Cohen gets the job.” Unfortunately, it’s not likely that one of Ripa’s pals will come aboard, due to their prior commitments (the CNN journalist is covering the election and the Watch What Happens Live host is under contract with Bravo), so the show may not go on for Ripa. Says the source, “Unless one of them can come on, she doesn’t really want to do it.” [From US Magazine] This is likely a negotiation tactic to make sure that Kelly has a say this time, because if she really means this it’s short-sighted for a couple of reason. One, just because she’s good friends with someone (she has known both Cooper and Cohen for years) does not mean they’re the best choice for a co-host. Working with a friend can bring up all sorts of problems you wouldn’t have with someone you only know in a professional capacity. And two, both of those guys are super busy with their own shows as US points out. This sounds like Kelly is just trying to get her way, but keep in mind that it could also be a planted story meant to make her look like a diva. We know the network is not above that, think of how TMZ got the news that Kelly’s finances are overextended. People reports that both Cooper and Cohen will come on as guest hosts following Strahan’s exit and that additional hosts will include Josh Groban and Seth Meyers. It’s unknown when a permanent host will be chosen and a source tells People “They’re prepared to keep cycling people through even if its not resolved by the fall.” E! Online has a think piece about this while debacle. (I really like their editorials lately, they seem to be going in a new direction.) They have quotes from a media expert who says that the way this has played out so far “it looks like Kelly won” against the network. Their source also gives ABC credit for letting Kelly say her piece at the beginning of her return show and not trying to censor or pre-tape her remarks. Also, Bellamy Young of “Scandal” was a guest on Tuesday’s show and she said that although there was tension backstage it all felt completely professional during her interview. Kathy Lee Gifford, who was replaced by Kelly on Live 15 years ago after she put in 15 years with Regis, has some advice for Kelly which sounds like delicious shade. She said “Be totally professional. I would keep anything that is going on between you private. It’s nobody’s business but yours. But always, always be professional at your job. That’s what you’re hired to do.” You know Kathy does not consider it professional to take a bunch of days off work and then insist that a friend be hired to work with you. Photos credit: WENN.com and screenshots from ABC