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Tom Hiddleston will pee on you in a heartbeat if you get stung by a jellyfish

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Embed from Getty Images Tom Hollander is best known – by me – for playing Mr. Collins in the Keira Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice. He also has a part in The Night Manager, starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie. They filmed TNM all over Europe and the Middle East, and the cast seemed to have a rare day off while they were filming in Mallorca. So they all went swimming together. And Hollander got stung by some jellyfish. And that’s when the story gets really interesting. You see, Tom Hiddleston is a good friend. He will pee on you in a heartbeat, that’s how lovely he is. Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Tom Hollander – who also appears in ITV drama Doctor Thorne – said the incident happened in Mallorca while the whole cast were hanging out. He recalled: “Here I was sitting by the seaside with Hugh Laurie who is one of the most entertaining people you’ll ever meet in your life and Olivia Colman, Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Debicki… “The jellyfish incident was a sad tale because otherwise it was paradise until we went swimming and I, because I’m a gentlemen, lent Elizabeth Debicki my goggles which I’d brought to Mallorca because I knew about the jellyfish problem but she didn’t have any so she wore them and I swam into all the jellyfish. And I don’t know if you’ve ever been stung but it’s really, really painful. Guess who peed on me? Tom Hiddleston, he saw this, he is heroic and sort of Bond like. He’s officer class, he’s someone you want to stand next to as you go over the top in the First World War. Out of the corner of my eye someone with sharp strokes cutting through the water, Hiddleston had seen I was in trouble, he came out to me, I was standing on a rock submerged in just a few feet of water and he said, ‘It’s alright. Stand back, I know what to do’. And he said, ‘Where is it?’ I said ‘It’s all warm now.’ Tom had done what he needed to do which was to p**s all over me. And I’m sorry to say, it doesn’t actually work.” [From The Express] I’ve always thought that the urine-on-a-jellyfish-sting was true, but I looked it up and apparently there’s no scientific basis for it. In fact, urinating on a jellyfish sting can actually make the sting/pain worse. Which I didn’t know before now. Hiddles didn’t know either, which is why he peed on a friend. Poor Hollander! Not only did he get stung by a jellyfish, he’s now going to be stalked by Dragonflies because he’s been marked/sprayed by Lord Dragonfly. Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN and Fame/Flynet.

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Duchess Kate blogs from Kensington Palace about children’s mental health

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Today is the day. Right at this very moment, our Duchess Kate has turned into a blogger and blog editor. Like many professional bloggers, she’s working from home. Unlike most professional bloggers, Kate’s home is a palace. Kate invited editors and writers from the Huffington Post UK to Kensington Palace today so they could work together to “guest edit” a day of HuffPo UK devoted to children’s mental health. If you follow @KensingtonRoyal, you’ll see that the younger royal’s Twitter feed has been taken over with at least two dozen tweets about Kate’s work. That Twitter feed also posted some photos of Kate in this Reiss blouse at the palace, hard at work. If only we could ALL look this glamorous whilst blogging. Oh, and to start her day, Kate posted this essay about the importance of mental health. Do you think she wrote this herself? Not to be a hater… but I do not believe she wrote this. It is such a privilege to have this opportunity to be Guest Editor of the Huffington Post today, and to celebrate the amazing work being done to improve and understand the mental health of young children. Young Minds Matter, being launched today, is a new series where issues and work around the mental health of young children will be explored. Shortly after I got married, I started working with charities helping those affected by issues such as addiction, family breakdown and vulnerable children. As was to be expected, I often heard some heart-breaking stories about lives that had been torn apart, with devastating impacts for all involved, particularly children. What I did not expect was to see that time and time again, the issues that led people to addiction and destructive decision making seemed to almost always stem from unresolved childhood challenges. It became clear to me that many children – even those younger than five – have to deal with complex problems without the emotional resilience, language or confidence to ask for help. And it was also clear that with mental health problems still being such a taboo, many adults are often too afraid to ask for help for the children in their care. It is time for this to change. The mental health of our children must be seen as every bit as important as their physical health. For too long we have been embarrassed to admit when our children need emotional or psychiatric help, worried that the stigma associated with these problems would be detrimental to their futures. Research published today by the Huffington Post indicates that around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children. Like most parents today, William and I would not hesitate to seek help for our children if they needed it. We hope to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings, and to give them the tools and sensitivity to be supportive peers to their friends as they get older. We know there is no shame in a young child struggling with their emotions or suffering from a mental illness. Of course, for some parents and carers seeking help is not so easy. When families are short of time or money it is not always easy to know where to look for help or advice. That is why we need schools and communities to play their full role to help children who are struggling in ways that are not always easy to see. In the series of articles we have commissioned, you will be introduced to some extraordinary people and organisations. You will hear from a recently bereaved wife, confronting the reality that the depression that led to her husband’s suicide was with him as a 10-year old boy. You will hear from people who have fought back from their own serious illness to lead a change in the way we speak to children about their feelings and challenges. You will meet some of the extraordinary researchers who are asking important questions about the mental health of young people, and are getting answers that will be of real benefit to all parents and teachers. I am so grateful to all those who have participated in this series and to all those who will contribute after today. I am also hugely grateful to all of you who will take the time to read, to watch, and to listen to these stories. Together, we have the chance to make a real difference for an entire generation of young children. [From HuffPo UK] “Like most parents today, William and I would not hesitate to seek help for our children if they needed it.” I sometimes wonder about this. Because from what little we know about how the Windsors reacted following Princess Diana’s death, I really don’t think William or Harry ever, ever got any therapy or grief counseling or anything like that. I believe the Windsors are very anti-counseling, anti-talk-therapy, pro-stiff-upper-lip. And I wonder if Kate sometimes wonders if William needs counseling now to deal with his issues. And if William won’t accept help, what would he do if his children needed help? Photos courtesy of WENN, @KensingtonRoyal Twitter.

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Star: Tom Hiddleston is trying to get back together with Jessica Chastain

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Even though I’m pretty sure that Tom Hiddleston is still “secretly” dating Elizabeth Olsen, I still enjoy random gossip about other people Tom might be dating. People like… Jessica Chastain? There’s actually a somewhat long history of people thinking Hiddles and Chastain were a thing. The rumors began circulating back in January 2013, and it was said that they had been secretly dating for several months, and that Chastain had even spent some time in England with Tom and his family. Then the dating rumors began percolating once again when Tom and Jessica were filming Crimson Peak in early 2014, especially when Tom helped Jessica celebrate her birthday. But soon after, we learned that Jessica was still dating her Italian boyfriend, Gian Luca Passi di Preposulo. At the end of the day, do I think it’s possible that Jessica and Tom had a fling at one point, years ago? Sure. Anything’s possible. But I think once she got to know him better, she started to find him exhausting (I may be projecting here). I also think they probably are good friends at this point. But according to Star Magazine, Chastain is the one who got away. Jessica Chastain has broken her rule about not dating actors for Tom Hiddleston once before, and now the newly single actor, 34, is asking Chastain to do it once more after reuniting on-screen for Crimson Peak. “Tom realized what a mistake he made,” a source tells Star. “He’s been hitting Jessica up ever since, saying that she’s the one who got away and begging for a second chance.” The only problem? Hiddleston is looking for love in all the wrong places. Since their split in early 2013, Jessica has happily moved on Italian fashion executive Gian Luca Passi di Preposulo, who was none too pleased to hear that Tom was back in the picture. “She tried to let Tom down gently because they really are such good friend… but I think she secretly liked that Gian Luca got a little jealous.” [From Star Magazine, print edition] Do I believe that Tom is actively pursuing Chastain whilst carrying on with Elizabeth Olsen? Not really. Although I do think something fishy is going on between Hiddles and Olsen and it’s not just “oh, they want to keep it quiet.” I’ll also give you this: I think if Chastain wanted Hiddles, she could have him. Like, he would be really into it. So I do believe that Star’s version of their dynamic is probably close to true but otherwise… not so much. Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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Ian McKellen: Hollywood still discriminates against gay people & black people

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Over the holidays, I finally got around to seeing Mr. Holmes, the critically acclaimed film about Sherlock Holmes’ last case. Ian McKellen was the ancient Sherlock, and he was actually quite brilliant. So brilliant, I kind of wonder why he wasn’t a bigger part in the awards discussion. Ian has been nominated for two Oscars in his life, along with a slew of other awards for stage and screen. Most of those nominations and awards came after Ian came out of the closet. But I’m willing to acknowledge that Ian is sort of gay unicorn, much like Neil Patrick Harris: they are out gay men accepted by the “mainstream” to a large extent, possibly because they’re white men. Why do I bring this up? Ian has said some words about #OscarsSoWhite, and he draws a larger correlation with the groups shunned by the industry: women, LGBT and actors of color. Sir Ian McKellen has told Sky News he has “sympathy” for black people in Hollywood who feel discriminated against but added that gay people are also still being “disregarded”. The 76-year-old, who is gay and a co-founder of the rights group Stonewall, said criticism surrounding the lack of diversity among nominees at the Oscars is “legitimate”. Sir Ian said: “As a representative of the industry they’re in, it’s receiving complaints which I fully sympathise with. It’s not only black people who’ve been disregarded by the film industry, it used to be women, it’s certainly gay people to this day. And these are all legitimate complaints and the Oscars are the focus of those complaints of course.” [From Sky News] I don’t have a problem with what he says. He’s practicing “yes and” activism/alliance and he seems open to intersectionality. He’s not saying it’s a competition to see which is the most aggrieved group, he’s just saying that these groups (black people, LGBT and women) are largely disregarded by Hollywood stories. And he’s right. In another interview Monday, this time with the Guardian, Ian pointed out something really interesting: no openly gay actor has won the Oscar. He said: “No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar; I wonder if that is prejudice or chance.” He pointed out that Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sean Penn have all won Oscars for playing gay men but, “What about giving me one for playing a straight man? My speech has been in two jackets … ‘I’m proud to be the first openly gay man to win the Oscar.’ I’ve had to put it back in my pocket twice.” Damn, that actually tugged on my heartstrings a little bit. Even if Ian never wins the Oscar for acting, I have to think he’s got one coming for lifetime achievement, right? Embed from Getty Images Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet and Pacific Coast News.

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The Oscars are ‘almost at a point of crisis,’ Oscar voters claim they’re not racists

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Here are some photos of Michael B. Jordan at the Louis Vuitton Menswear show in Paris yesterday. Look at this young man’s smile. He’s lovely, isn’t he? He’s always thoughtful and professional and hard-working. And despite the fact that he’s shown over the course of four years that he’s just as much of a star as Ryan Gosling or Bradley Cooper, Michael has never been nominated for an Oscar. I still feel strongly about this: Michael gave a heartbreaking, star-making performance in Fruitvale Station, and it still upsets me that the Academy didn’t recognize it. When he reteamed with Ryan Coogler for Creed, once again people raved about his performance, how good he is, how talented and multifaceted as an actor. And once again, MBJ was ignored. This is part of the reason why #OscarsSoWhite is a thing. This is just one example of how the Academy has been ignoring great work from racially diverse artists. We’re now one week removed from the Oscar nominations announcement, and one of the most interesting things is that the #OscarsSoWhite discussion just keeps getting bigger and bigger. While I personally don’t think that a boycott will do much, I’m glad the boycott conversation is happening because it’s the vehicle by which we’re having this larger conversation about race, representation, diversity and equality in Hollywood. The Hollywood Reporter is using the boycott conversation for the same reason, and in this week’s issue, they’ve got several pieces about #OscarsSoWhite. Here’s a short column by Dawn Hudson, the CEO of the Academy: There’s not one part of the industry that doesn’t need to be addressed, and it’s been this way for 25 years. The needle has hardly moved. It’s cultural, it’s institutional, it’s our society at large, it’s our education system — all of it — before you get to an industry that’s supposed to reflect this beautiful world. And the industry has been building up over a very long time, starting with white men running the studios who hire other people who look like them. It just hasn’t changed that much, and it won’t until there’s a concerted effort on every single front: talent, the executives in the studios, the people we mentor. If you have a person of color directing a film, there’ll be more people of color on the crew and in the movie. You have to overindex now on every hiring opportunity you have. You have to look at women and people of color every time there’s an opening and really not stop until you’ve worked to find qualified candidates. That’s for directing, crewing up, filling a marketing position, finding interns, hiring your next assistant. If you did that, it would go a long way. At the Academy, the people we’ve hired in the past four years have been between 45 and 50 percent people of color. Our staff also has worked very closely with the executive committees in all the Academy branches to identify talented artists of color to make sure they’re being considered for membership. That has resulted in every class in the last four years being more diverse than the previous classes. We are stepping up our efforts in every area. You’ve already seen a change in membership and new members. You’ve seen a change in our staff. But I was devastated that the acting nominations were all white. There are a lot of artists of color who have put out really good work in more films than in other years. This feels like an inflection point, almost at a point of crisis. Everyone is talking about this. It’s not going to be overnight — just the pace can go faster. As [Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel] said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” [From THR] “Almost at a point of crisis”? Good. I say the conversations should keep happening. Let the pressure keep building and building until the Academy really does feel like there’s a genuine crisis. Because THR also published another story which included interviews with voting Academy members, including actress Penelope Ann Miller. Here’s what she said: “I voted for a number of black performers, and I was sorry they weren’t nominated. But to imply that this is because all of us are racists is extremely offensive. I don’t want to be lumped into a category of being a racist because I’m certainly not and because I support and benefit from the talent of black people in this business. It was just an incredibly competitive year. I loved Beasts of No Nation, and I loved Idris Elba in it — I just think not enough people saw it, and that’s sometimes what happens. Straight Outta Compton was a great film; I think it just lost some Academy members who are older. There were a lot of omissions of white people that I think were just as disappointing — I’m sure [Spotlight’s] Michael Keaton is bummed, you know? There were an incredible number of films in 2015 that were primarily about white people. Talk to the studios about changing that, not the Academy. There’s only so much we can do. I think when you make race the issue, it can divide people even further, and that’s what I worry about.” [From THR] She’s basically saying that sure, she voted for some black people so that means she’s not racist, but of course it’s no big deal that no actors of color were nominated because their performances just weren’t up it. And maybe Michael Keaton is bummed a little bit, but he was still nominated last year, an honor that was not bestowed on David Oyelowo for his extraordinary performance in Selma. And Keaton gave a great performance this year in a film that’s nominated for Best Picture, because of course it is – all of the Best Picture nominees this year are about white people. #KeatonIsBummed is the new #OscarsSoWhite. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

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YouTuber Matthew Santoro claims abuse by Nicole Arbour: ‘men get hit too’

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I know popular YouTuber Matthew Santoro because my son watches his educational videos and often quotes facts from them. Santoro’s videos are similar to John Green’s channel MentalFloss in that he gives fast-paced and interesting facts. I know YouTuber Nicole Arbour because she’s somewhat of a professional troll. Her obnoxious video, Dear Fat People, earned her headlines around the world and a spot on The View, when she stirred up sh*t when The View ladies arguably disparaged nursing as a profession. (Here’s the background on that controversy.) One of Arbour’s latest videos, Dear Feminists (NSFW language), characterizes feminists as women who hate men and don’t shave their legs. I wish I was making that up. In December, Santoro recorded an emotional and revealing video about the abuse he suffered in a previous relationship. He made the video private at first but accidentally set it to public recently. The response was positive and so he decided to leave it up. In the video (above), Santoro cried as he revealed how a former partner controlled him, cut him off from friends and family and once hit him in the face, which he described as more devastating emotionally than physically. He emphasized that abuse knows no gender and encouraged victims to come forward. While he never named the person whom he claimed abused him, Santoro’s former partner, Nicole Arbour, responded by posting a comment on one of her recent videos, writing “Heard the little bitch I dumped months ago is still trying to use me to get attention on his vlog channel. Ew.” [via Raw Story] Here’s some of what Santoro said in the video, which was heartfelt and powerful and really moved me. On being isolated from friends and family I pushed my family away, I pushed my closet friends away. It wasn’t always explicit… this individual I was with was extremely jealous… I had to cut every female out of my life and it was because everything was made to be about her. I lost my closest friends because I was made to believe everybody else was a loser. Claims she hit him on the face Early in the relationship I had a verbal altercation [after] I had a panic attack… and I broke it off with this individual. This person prevented me from leaving their home and said “you’re not going anywhere” at which point I was hit in the face for the first time in my life. When someone you care about strikes you there are so many emotions… you feel sadness… shame… embarrassment. You think ‘was it my fault?’… luckily I was able to leave that night. He broke it off but took her back Through manipulation… about a month down the road [she] contacted me and told me that [she’d] changed… and I took her back. That is incredibly embarrassing to say. What people don’t realize is, when I took her back the real damage was psychological… I cut everyone out of my life and my business suffered… everything became about her. He was manipulated and controlled I allowed myself to be in a relationship where I was controlled, where I was manipulated, where I was made to do things and act in a way that I never would on my own. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I decided to break it off from her… I wanted my life back. I allowed somebody to emotionally and physically abuse me for almost a year of my life. It’s really embarrassing to say that, but it’s the truth. On why he made the video The reason I’m making this video is not to disparage anyone… it’s to tell you that domestic violence knows no gender [cries]. It happens to men and women. It’s something that men never talk about because we’re made to believe that we’re supposed to be strong. Men get hit too. Tell someone Men get hit too. Abuse knows no gender, it’s something that people don’t talk about… Whether you’re a man or a female, if somebody hits you, tell somebody. Tell a family member, tell a friend. Don’t bottle it up, because it will do damage to you that lasts for years. [From My Abuse Story video, by Matthew Santoro] Holy crap. I truly believe that this guy just helped SO MANY people by sharing his story so honestly. That must have been incredibly hard. After posting that really telling comment, Arbour recorded two videos in response to Santoro’s video. Arbour claims that she broke up with Santoro, not the other way around, and posted a brief video of the two of them together in which they’re goofing around and he play hits her, bites her shoulder and sort-of asks her to marry him. Here’s some of what she said: Claims it’s not true That [playful video with Santoro] was one week before I broke up with my ex boyfriend, who has recently put out a video, not saying my name but… insinuating that we were in a domestic abusive relationship, which was not true. It’s just not true. This sucks, because whether you like what I do or not as a performer… I’m a comedian… whether you like my act or my rants or not, I don’t care… but I had asked repeatedly while dating him that my private life not be put on the Internet and he repeatedly overstepped that boundary over and over. Claims he moved down the street from her after their first breakup We broke up briefly and he moved down the street from me after we broke up… in hopes that we would get back together and we did. We dated for a bunch of months after that and it was fine… Claims she broke up with him, he violated her privacy Something in my heart just didn’t feel it anymore… his lifestyle and the way that he wanted to be a youtuber and have everything public all the time wasn’t for me and I broke up with him and it was as amicable as it could possibly be at the time until his hurt over the breakup turned to anger turned to a whole bunch of lies… as my videos were doing well he suddenly [did] interviews about me and our personal life… I don’t want my real private life out there… Claims he’s just trying to damage her career His video that he put out is just another way to hurt me and my career that’s growing quickly. It is abuse… of his platform, it’s abuse to all the people who suffer from something. He didn’t suffer from domestic abuse. It didn’t happen. Don’t use kids to be a hate army. I think that’s what’s wrong with YouTube… the obsession with manufactured drama. He’s “taking a tiny little thing and spinning it” Crying wolf on a serious subject… and trying to fabricate a very large story and taking a tiny little thing and spinning it into something that just didn’t happen is sick. [From Abuse Story – My Side of Things by Nicole Arbour] Read those last lines “taking a tiny little thing and spinning it.” She never specifically denied hitting him. She did say that “it did not happen… there was no domestic abuse.” However not once did she say “I did not hit him.” After Arbour recorded that first video refuting Santoro, she recorded another video, claiming that “people are equating subscribers with truth” and saying that the court of opinion is on Santoro’s side because he has more followers on YouTube than she does. She then challenged Santoro to come on her channel and do a live stream polygraph test with the two of them. Again, I would have liked to hear her say “I never hit him.” I’m sure there’s more to the story than he’s claiming, there are always two sides to a story, but if she did hit him that’s pretty damning. Plus if he’s not telling the truth he’s an incredible actor.

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Cheryl Boone Isaacs calls for more diversity within the Academy’s voting blocs

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As we discussed earlier, Chris Rock is currently feeling the pressure to possibly pull out of hosting the Academy Awards. Also feeling pressure? Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy and an African-American woman (the first African-American woman to hold that position). Cheryl was openly critical of her organization last year when the #OscarsSoWhite debacle first broke, but now it’s the second year in a row with no actors of color up for any awards and with all of the Best Picture nominees being films about white people. Boone Isaacs released a statement last night about the ongoing controversy: “I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond. As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly. “This isn’t unprecedented for the Academy. In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.” [From USA Today] My thought: she’s doing what she can do. She’s not in charge of who gets hired for what project, and she’s not the face of diversity at a studio level. But she can change the makeup of the Academy voters and she can change the way minorities are represented within the Academy. I would also make a suggestion that Boone Isaacs put her finger on the scale about some things, and actively participate in some Oscar campaigns for more diverse films, like she could host Academy screenings for films that are more diverse and give those films the stamp of approval, you know? Meanwhile, David Oyelowo presented Boone Isaacs with an award yesterday for MLK Day. Oyelowo was notably snubbed for an Oscar last year for his work as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, and he had harsh words about the Academy (not really Boone Isaacs specifically). Some highlights: “The Academy has a problem. It’s a problem that needs to be solved. A year ago, I did a film called Selma, and after the Academy Awards, Cheryl invited me to her office to talk about what went wrong then. We had a deep and meaningful [conversation]. For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable… The reason why the Oscars are so important is because it is the zenith, it is the epitome, it is the height of celebration of artistic endeavor within the filmmaking community. We grow up aspiring, dreaming, longing to be accepted into that august establishment because it is the height of excellence. I would like to walk away and say it doesn’t matter, but it does, because that acknowledgement changes the trajectory of your life, your career, and the culture of the world we live in… This institution doesn’t reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation.” [From The Hollywood Reporter] That made my chest hurt. David really did want an Oscar nomination. Despite what people say, everyone really does want the nomination. They want to be acknowledged by the most prestigious film organization in the world. They want to feel like their voice, their art, their story is being represented. And for a second year in a row, they were told to suck it. Embed from Getty Images Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.