Demi Lovato’s triumphant return to public life continues, this time with a visit to Andy Cohen’s radio show, Radio Andy. Things got deep quick when the singer described the moment she came out to her parents as sexually fluid about three years ago.
Lovato, who just brought the house down at the Grammy Awards, was talking about having kids when the subject arose. The singer revealed she is hoping to start a family this decade but isn’t sure whether she wants to do it with a man or a woman.
“I’m still figuring it out,” she told Cohen. “I didn’t officially tell my parents that I saw myself ending up possibly with a woman until 2017.”
The conversation with her parents went well, she explained: “It was actually emotional but really beautiful. After everything was done, I was, like, shaking and crying. I just felt overwhelmed. I have such incredible parents. They were so supportive.”
According to Lovato, it was her mother’s reaction she was most concerned with. “My mom was the one that I was super nervous about,” she said. “But she was like, ‘I just want you to be happy.’ And that was so beautiful and amazing. I’m so grateful.”
During her chat with the radio personality, Lovato also revealed that she considered putting her music career behind her after an overdose almost two years ago. “I think as time goes, on I’ll be able to give more details, but it was a general thought,” she said. “We didn’t know what was going to happen. We didn’t know how healthy I would be when I left. It was a scary time in my life for sure.”
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After Lovato’s heart-wrenching performance at the Grammys, where she debuted her new song called “Anyone,” Selena Gomez spoke out on Instagram Stories to lend her support. “I wish there were words to describe how beautiful, inspirational and DESERVED this moment was,” she wrote over an image of the performance. “Demi I’m so happy for you. Thank you for your courage and bravery.”
Instagram/@DemiLovato
Clearly, Lovato’s hordes of fans aren’t the only ones happy she is continuing to create music. And thankfully, we will all get to see her perform the national anthem on Superbowl Sunday.
Much to the delight of royals fans, Meghan Markle put her maternity leave on pause over the weekend to make an appearance at Trooping the Colour, wearing her wedding dress designer, Givenchy, and sporting a new ring that many believe was a gift from her husband, Prince Harry. It was the first time we’ve seen the Duchess of Sussex since she and Prince Harry introduced the world to their son, Archie Harrison. “This is similar to the Duchess of Cambridge’s maternity leave where she made a few appearances at family and personal events (Trooping the Colour and Wimbledon) but did not carry out any official duties as a member of the Royal Family during maternity leave,” a source toldElle.
Sources also tell Elle that Markle and Prince Harry are happily settling into parenthood. “[Archie] is the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t be happier,” one insider said. The report also mentions that the Duchess of Sussex is breastfeeding and that Prince Harry is very involved with everything, including diaper changes. He’s “enjoying every minute of it,” according to a source, and “Meghan is radiant, taking each day one day at a time…what strikes me most is this authentic peacefulness that has settled within her.”
Prince Harry’s good friend, Nacho Figueras says, per Elle, “I met the baby in London before playing polo with [Prince Harry] in Rome, and he was very good with the baby. He’s a natural, he knows what to do. He’s already an amazing father.”
Sources tell Elle that the Sussexes are enjoying their new home in Windsor, and that it is “providing the family with so much happiness”: “It is quiet and out of the hustle and bustle of London. For them all to be able to walk freely and enjoy the beautiful area is such a sensational treat.”
As for Markle, a source says she may make “intermittent appearances” while her maternity leave continues—and we may even get our second Archie sighting during his christening in a few weeks. We can’t wait.
This week, Madison High School in Houston instituted a new dress code policy—for parents.
Principal Carlotta Outley Brown sent a letter to parents on April 9 in which she outlined the new guidelines, and the stipulations immediately struck both local leaders and activists on social media as racist.
“No one can enter the building or be on the school premises wearing a satin cap or bonnet on their head for any reason,” Outley Brown wrote. “You also cannot wear a shower cap of any kind in the building.” In addition, the school banned: hair rollers, “pajamas of any kind,” jeans that are ripped to show too much skin, “leggings that are showing your bottom and where your body is not covered from the front or the back,” low-cut or revealing tops, “sagging pants,” and short-shorts and mini-dresses.
The rationale, according to Outley Brown’s letter? “To prepare our children and let them know daily, the appropriate attire they are supposed to wear when entering a building, going somewhere, applying for a job, or visiting someone outside of the home setting.” If the parents don’t follow the rules, she added, they will not be allowed inside the building. The Washington Postreports that the incident that spurred action from the school was a parent who arrived in a T-shirt dress and headscarf.
The outrage was swift; the new guidelines reek of racial undertones and class bias. Women of color in particular wear head wraps and scarves either as an aesthetic choice or a part of their haircare routines. “Having body parts exposed is one thing. Turning someone away because their hair’s in rollers…is a little ridiculous,” Zeph Capo, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers told CNN. “This is an issue of a principal issuing a dictatorial edict rather than having substantive conversation. Some of that stuff seems a little classist.”
On social media, the reaction was just as harsh, with parents pointing out that the dress code implies that some parents are better or more “appropriate” than others, simply on the basis of what they wear. “On today a high school in Houston, TX set this dress code for PARENTS. The other photo is the Principal who set the new rules,” activist Leslie Mac wrote on Twitter. “Reminder you can be Black and still create, write, enact & enforce anti-Black policies. nothing going wrong in that school has any connection to bonnets.” (Principal Outley Brown is African American.)
“I have on one of these banned items nearly every day at drop-off and often at pick-up. Am I not mom? Am I not a mother who kids in the school community should respect or even admire? This is the most racist/classist ish ever,” writer and activist Jamilah Lemieux tweeted. “No one would ever create such a dress code for class mobile moms who often wear the same sort of stuff, and the fact that so many of y’all are okay with the idea of instituting rules that are exclusive to folks that are/perceived to be poor or “low class” is just….”
As the dress code story went viral, others agreed.
The bottom line is parents who want to participate in their children’s education and be present at school shouldn’t be punished for aesthetic choices that a principal doesn’t agree happen to agree with. And when a set of policies seems to penalize black women in particular, that should raise a particular alarm.
“I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney’s Office,” Huffman said in an official statement. “I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions. I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community.”
She continued, “I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly. My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”
William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman with their daughters, George Grace Macy and Sofia Grace Macy
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If you’re unfamiliar with this situation, here’s a quick boilerplate: In early March news broke Felicity Huffman and Full House star Lori Loughlin were both being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud after it was discovered they illegally tried to secure their children’s college admission. Huffman allegedly paid $15,000 to an organization that helped her daughter cheat on the SATs. Meanwhile, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 to have their two daughters presented as recruits for the University of Southern California crew team, even though neither of them participates in the sport.
Lori Loughlin with her daughters, Isabella and Olivia
Getty Images
“There can be no separate college admissions system for the wealthy,” U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said at a press conference in March. “And I will add there will not be a separate criminal justice system either.”
This story is developing. We’ll update this post as soon as more information comes in.
They were an impossibly good-looking couple, forever rocking micro-shades, twinning with their similarly bronzed skin and early-aughts cool. Their divorce—and the woman who was rumored to have caused it—rocked the community. I’m not referring to Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. I’m talking about my parents and their scandalous separation.
My mother and father first split when I was 10 years old, in 2003. They told me it was amicable, that it wasn’t my fault, that they’d always be my parents. But their split was messy. For the first two years, they still lived in the same house. They dabbled in couples therapy, slept in separate rooms, and took turns having nights out with their single friends (dad’s night out was always Thursday, mom got the Tuesday shift). It wasn’t until 2005 that my father moved out and I realized what we were dealing with was more than just a new sleeping arrangement—that their break up was the real deal.
Then, as luck would have it, a certain celebrity—one that could be classified as the most famous in the world at the time—announced her own divorce, right as my parents began proceedings on theirs, forever tethering two conscious uncouplings in my mind.
I’d always loved Jennifer Aniston and considered myself a for-real fan. I was also nine years old and alarmingly invested in her marriage to Brad Pitt. Exhibit A: The letter to I wrote to Jen in 2002, saying, “Please tell your husband that I thought he did a very good job in Ocean’s Eleven and that it was one of my favorite movies.” I loved that, in her wedding vows, she promised to always make Brad’s favorite banana milkshake, that he made a cameo on Friends as the president of the “I Hate Rachel Green Club,” that they always showed up to red carpets looking like the all-American golden couple they were.
So when they broke up, I was stunned. But when I found out why they broke up, I was really stunned. The Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie alleged love triangle was my first glimpse of infidelity. And as the tabloids chronicled every single facet of the relationship’s demise (with vile headlines that often alluded to rumors about Jen’s unwillingness or inability to have children). I started to piece together the rumblings I’d been hearing in my own household, the whispers from all of the adults in my life. It was the inescapable and addictive news coverage of Jen, Brad, and Angelina that made me realize the glaringly obvious fact that my parent’s marriage had ended in a similar fashion.
PHOTO: Dan Callister
It didn’t take long for the media’s obsession with the end of the golden couple to turn into a full-on Jen vs. Angie feeding frenzy. Every tabloid pitted them against each other, and retailers like early 2000s celebrity-favorite, Kitson, sold “Team Aniston,” and “Team Jolie” shirts—most famously worn by Paris and Nicky Hilton on L.A.’s Robertson Boulevard.
It was this narrative—these two women as eternal mortal enemies—that both the press and I clung to. In my mind, my mother became Jennifer Aniston: the scorned girl next door. And my father’s new girlfriend, with her belly button piercing, skimpy clothing, and wild mane, became a stand-in for Angelina. So I swore loyalty to my mother and Team Aniston, opted out of seeing Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and cursed Angie’s name when the W spread of Brangelina playing house hit newsstands.
And it stayed that way for years. I saw The Breakup opening weekend, every time someone praised Angelina’s philanthropic work I retorted that she was a homewrecker. Obviously, I knew nothing of the situation other than what the rags were reporting, yet I stood by Jen despite a few questionable romantic choices (John Mayer? Really?). In my real life, I grew older and even closer to my mother as I continued to keep my distance from my Angie and held tight to the vision of my parents’ divorce I’d stolen from the headlines years prior.
PHOTO: Jean Baptiste Lacroix
Then something funny happened. In 2016, Brangelina parted ways. At first, I was thrilled. Remember that New York Post cover that came out with Jen laughing about their separation announcement? That was my reaction, except I was laughing even harder. But then it didn’t take long for the rumors to emerge that their split was prompted by Brad’s on-set affair with French actress Marion Cotillard while filming another sexy spy flick, Allied. Though it seemingly proved to be nothing other than gossip, it struck an emerging-feminist nerve: During all my years of anger, there were two people I was never mad at: Brad and my father.
As a young girl who loved (and still absolutely loves) her dad, the tale of Brangelina provided me with the perfect way to avoid assigning my father any blame. It made the women in my father’s life the center of the drama, absolving him of any misdoing. Much like how, in the media, we were all so obsessed with the Jen and Angie feud, that Brad got out of it nearly unscathed. In all the T-shirt making, where was the “Team Fuck Brad” top?
But with the demise of Brangelina, I no longer felt vindicated. I just felt sad. This was a real marriage that ended, and all the press could do was start circulating “will they or won’t they” articles about a Brad and Jen reconciliation. I no longer found comfort in the narrative the media had created, instead I was outraged, that these women’s pain was made into the story of the ages. And I was angry at myself, for deriving so much pleasure from it.
While the media hasn’t retired the lonely ex versus the hot replacement girlfriend storyline, as women in Hollywood come together to say Time’s Up, they’re also calling bullshit on this narrative. Take Olivia Munn and Anna Faris, who didn’t let themselves become Jen and Angie take two after Anna’s divorce from Chris Pratt. When rumors swirled Olivia and Chris were having an affair, she posted an Instagram text exchange with Anna and captioned it, “Not every woman is scorned and upset after a breakup,” Munn wrote. “Not every woman is ‘furious’ at another woman for dating her ex…So even if I was dating [Chris], some tabloids got me and [Anna] all wrong…women respect and love each other a lot more than some people like to think.” But it’s not the women’s responsibility to dispel the rumors, it’s society’s obligation to wake up and realize that pitting women against women is a bad look—plain and simple.
So I’m sorry, Angelina, and Jen, too, for perpetuating a story you never chose to be a part of, and were never given the opportunity to excuse yourselves from. I’m on both your teams.
To say Leighton Meester is excited for her new show, Single Parents, is an understatement. Not only is the cast and crew “super funny and super nice,” but she gets to wear jeans and sneakers on set—a big departure from the regular two-hour fittings she did on Gossip Girl years ago.
But most important, the ABC comedy is about a subject matter she knows well these days: the challenges of parenthood. The show is about single parents specifically, yes, but Meester—who has a three-year-old daughter, Arlo Day, with husband Adam Brody—still finds ways to relate. “Angie is a paralegal and a mom and has very little time to do anything,” Meester says. “We use comedy on the show to explore co-parenting and being single parents. I can only imagine it is the hardest job in the world, because being a parent is the hardest job in the world.”
That said, she knows every parent’s experience is different. “Nobody can tell you what parenthood is going to be like,” she says. “You think you know, and then it’s just so hard. I feel so, so lucky that I have help and a husband. I feel stable, but there are so many people who don’t have that. In a really tender way, Single Parents explores how parenting is an emotional roller coaster.”
Here, Meester opens up her own experience, how she’s seen Hollywood change since her time on Gossip Girl, and more.
PHOTO: Mitch Haaseth
Meester on ‘Single Parents’
On Single Parents, Taran Killam’s character is the type of dad who makes Play-Doh from scratch. What kind of parent are you in real life?
Leighton Meester: I have so much respect for people who do that, but no. People don’t get paid to raise their children; if they did, they’d be making a lot of money doing all the secretarial work, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking…even just listening. For me, being home is amazing and being at work is amazing. But I don’t think there’s a balance. I’m lucky I can breathe between each project and appreciate both.
You bring up an interesting point—the trope of how women balance it all. Men rarely get asked that.
LM: I’ve never heard a man get asked that question. I’ve been in interviews with male co-workers who are fathers, and I get asked that question and they don’t. I was doing the pilot of a show and, harmlessly, once a day someone would say, “Who’s taking care of your kid?” I asked my husband, “Do people ever ask you that on set?” He said, “No. No one’s ever asked me one time who’s taking care of my kid.” It’s not offensive; I completely understand the instinct, because it is typical that moms do the majority of the child-raising and housework. Even though men are working the same amount, if not at times less. [Laughs] And women are making less! Parenting is more than a full-time job. You don’t get a day off. But my paid work is getting hair and makeup done, being creative, talking to adults, sitting down to drink coffee instead of chasing somebody…it’s like a vacation.
So what do you say then when people ask how you balance it all?
LM: I don’t think there is a balance. That term is not real. We still aren’t forgiving enough of mothers, of working mothers, which is the majority of the population. I think as a society, particularly in the United States, we need to realize that mothers need to work. We don’t have an option most of the time, because one parent working isn’t enough. Most people can’t afford to stay home, but you have to pay a lot to put your kid in daycare. I consider myself so lucky in every way in life, and playing this role definitely enlightened me.
How method did you get for this role? Did you ever say to your husband, “Go take a vacation for three days so I can be alone with our daughter?” [Laughs]
LM: I would never say that, are you crazy? [Laughs] No, we both try to work when the other one isn’t working as much as we can. Inevitably you end up with your kid alone, and it’s hard to do anything beside watch your kid. You can’t shower, you can’t eat, you can’t clean. You don’t go to the bathroom alone. You go to the bathroom with a person looking at you. Every time.
You’ve been in this business for a long time. How has Hollywood changed?
LM: The last couple years everything has boiled over. It took us the entire existence of humanity for people to sort of, kind of, say women demand respect and dignity and equality in every way. We’re still not there, but we’re seeing more women who aren’t in their twenties just have scenes talking about other men. We see women who have flaws that aren’t just superficial or quirky or cute. They have deep flaws, like any other male character that leads a show. I think [television today] reflects society a lot more. It’s important to use that to send a message. It starts with casting, with the writers’ room, with the people working on a show, and what you put out there.
The Hollywood Reporterreported a few months ago that your cast is all getting paid the same. Is that correct?
LM: We’re all getting paid the same. It helps that a lot of us have the same agent, but of course it’s a good thing. They were like, “It’s only fair.” I don’t know if that would have been the case three years ago, five years ago. It isn’t unheard of now to talk about what you’re making with the other women you’re working with. And men! A couple years ago I was working with Adam Pally, who I love, on Making History on FOX. Right off the bat he was like, “How much are you making? I’m making this much.” It’s the same thing with this cast. It’s about being transparent.
Your first TV role was Law & Order. What do you remember about that?
LM: Law & Order is everyone’s first role! Every single person I’ve met from New York was on that show. That was a fun experience, because it was the first time I was ever on a set. I played a girl whose mother was battered, and I had a friend who died, and she was in an exorcism I think. [Laughs] It’s been a while since I’ve watched it. The truth is, if I’m being totally honest, a set by and large—at least for dramatic situations—isn’t really built for kids. But on Single Parents, we have a lot of kids and I’m amazed with them. They’re more professional than I am! I’m making stupid jokes, and they’re like, “Get to work.” [Laughs] On top of that, they go to school between scenes while I, like, take a nap in my trailer. They work hard, but as long as you have the right environment it’s OK.
PHOTO: Pablo Tomatis
Meester on the set of ‘Gossip Girl’
We can’t end this interview without talking about Gossip Girl. Do you look forward to the day when your daughter can watch it?
LM: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer that. I meet young women now who are watching it for the first time, and I’m like, “Whoa.” It still speaks to a lot of people, so I’m proud of it. It was, in many ways, my college and a first job. It was my twenties, from 20 to 26. It was so much of my growth. I was working five days a week—15-, 16-hour days, every day. Many days I didn’t see the sun because we were in a studio from 5 A.M. to 8 P.M. or 9 P.M. But I was in New York, which is the best place to live when you’re 20, 21. And the clothes obviously were amazing. I will say, because of that experience, I’m looking forward to wearing jeans and sneakers at work. It’s definitely more Angie’s speed [on Single Parents]. It’s way more comfortable. On Gossip Girl, we’d do two-hour fittings every week. We’d be wearing ball gowns, but there was a blizzard outside and we’d have to pretend there wasn’t and wear uncomfortable shoes. [Laughs] But still, so beautiful.
If Gossip Girl came on TV, or you stumbled upon it on Netflix, would you stop and watch?
LM: To be honest, I didn’t watch it to begin with because I was making it. I just didn’t have the time. Now, I’m just like, “I don’t have time to watch an hour show.” It’s hard to keep up with a show that’s an hour. I’m better at bite-size pieces. Maybe when I get more free time some day. I don’t know when it will come, but it will come someday.
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