Welcome to "The Scoop" – the ultimate back-to-the office water cooler cheat sheet, your go-to source for all things everyone really wants to know! Get the latest on everything from the political swamp maneuvering in D.C. and Hollywood drama to jaw-dropping small-town shenanigans from Paula Froelich. Right here, right now |
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President Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom is being hailed as a huge success. The president and the first lady, Melania Trump, were treated to a three-day stay inside Windsor Castle, a full pomp and circumstance presentation, a huge state dinner and some personal time with the royals. Trump reveled in the fact that Britain rolled out the royal red carpet, giving him the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory and making him the first elected politician to be invited for two state visits. "This is truly one of the highest honours of my life," he said. But don't worry — there's still some gossip from behind the scenes! Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, were nowhere to be seen. The couple were front and center during the last state dinner hosted by the queen but this time were supplanted by Ivanka's half-sister Tiffany and her husband, billionaire Michael Boulos. So why wouldn't Ivanka and Jared, who love to be in proximity of power at all times, not be in attendance... |
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The specter of Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt both President Trump and the Royal Family. It was an inauspicious week for the Trump state visit, which came just days after the Duchess of Kent's funeral — where the disgraced Prince Andrew once again tried to put himself front and center. Andrew was seen attempting to goad Prince William into conversation — a failed attempt — but it served to remind the country of his ties and close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew was hidden away during the state visit, but more embarrassment was to come ... |
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Princess Catherine, ever the stateswoman, maintained a firm stiff upper lip despite the fact she is said to still be miffed over a slight Trump gave her 13 years ago. In 2012, Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales) was photographed sunbathing topless at a private villa in Provence, France. The photos were taken with a long-lens camera and published in the French outlet, Closer. "She had never been more mortified in her life," a royal source told me. To add insult to injury, Trump, who had yet to be elected, tweeted: "Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!" My source added, "The royal family never forgets a slight or an insult. Elephants have nothing on them. But for the country, Kate had to ... " |
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Despite her inner turmoil over President Trump, a true friendship between Princess Catherine and Melania Trump has developed. Whatever Catherine's feelings towards President Trump may be, she and Melania are becoming quite close. The two had so much to say to each other when Melania first arrived that Catherine broke protocol. After Catherine and William escorted the Trumps from the helicopter to King Charles and Queen Camilla, William stepped back, but Catherine and Melania were in such a deep conversation that Catherine forgot she needed to back away to make room for ... |
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It looks like Serena Williams joined her sister Venus Williams in England last week. Venus Williams, who, as I told you last week, took a jaunt across the pond after the US Open to visit some pals in the Cotswolds before her Italian wedding this weekend, met up with Serena Williams, where they stayed with some friends at a country manor. But Serena Williams took a detour... |
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Eyebrows were raised and concerns were expressed when "Euphoria" star Eric Dane missed the Emmys on Sunday. It had previously been announced the actor would present the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award on stage along with his former "Grey's Anatomy" costar Jessie Williams, but Williams ended up presenting the award alone. I'm told the reason behind Dane's absence is the progression of his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dane announced he had the degenerative disease in April and later told Diane Sawyer he has lost the use of his right arm... |
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Poor Jimmy Kimmel. The once funny host of "The Man Show" shot himself in the foot this week when he misread the room and did a political monologue on his eponymous show about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The late-night host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" went on air and said: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it." The reaction was swift and predictable. Blowback from Jimmy Kimmel's remarks on Charlie Kirk The next day, Brendan Carr, chair of the FCC, condemned Kimmel's remarks, calling them among the "sickest conduct possible," and suggested regulatory action could be taken against ABC/Disney affiliates. Soon after, Nexstar Media Group (which owns many ABC affiliate stations, including its station in Salt Lake City, as well as NewsNation) strongly objected and announced it would stop airing "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in its markets "for the foreseeable future." Shortly thereafter, Bob Iger, the head of Disney and ABC, suspended the show "indefinitely." Not to be outdone, Sinclair Media, which also owns many ABC affiliates, also announced it would only let Kimmel back on air if he issued a direct apology to Kirk's family and made a "meaningful" personal donation to not only Kirk's family but also to Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded. Read: Kimmel's goose is cooked. And I, for one, am not sorry to see him go. Kimmel is the latest personification of what is wrong with the entire late-night genre. |
Change in late-night TV People used to flock to late-night television after a long day of work to relax and have a laugh before bed. Now, it's to maybe have a chuckle and get jacked up about the day's news… not really what America needs when it's getting hit by politics at all angles at all times every day, ratcheting up national anxiety to levels not seen since the Cold War. Nor is it conducive to a good night's sleep. And the audience is going elsewhere. Just look at Kimmel's ratings. He got 1.77 million viewers on average in the second quarter this year — a steep drop from his high of 2-3 million viewers during 2017. When he started 21 years ago, Kimmel, who is paid a whopping $15 million per year, wasn't necessarily political. But, as most television hosts realized in 2016, Trump drove ratings, so Kimmel, along with Stephen Colbert and his other late-night cohorts, followed the flock. And they never stopped railing on Trump, despite national exhaustion. However, this Trump presidency has been different — offering no "Trump Bump" for their ratings — so why continue? |
And why choose Charlie Kirk's assassination as a moment to grandstand his political rantings? People from across the aisle were appalled at Kirk's murder. Jamie Lee Curtis, a staunch Democrat, even broke down in tears about it, decrying the "lack of humanity," and former President Barack Obama, who urged Americans to "respect the right of other people to say things we profoundly disagree with" and called Kirk's killing "horrific and a tragedy." The country is obviously raw right now — Kirk's killing came days before the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks and caps a year of despicable political violence across the aisle. |
Political violence impacting both parties In April, Republican Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's mansion was torched. Last year, there was an assassination attempt on President Trump. In July of this year, Vance Luther Boelter shot and killed former Minnesota House Speaker (a Democrat) Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home. That same day, he also wounded State Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife. When the state of the world isn't funny, why not offer comfort or some actual laughs instead of polarizing? And yet our late-night comedians either aren't paying attention to the fuel they are adding to the fire, or the fact that the numbers show their dwindling audiences want something else. Look at Nate Bargatze. The comic, popular in the "flyover states," hosted the Emmys this year and promised the audience the show would be politics-free. It was — and it earned him 7 million viewers — the highest rated Emmys in years. |
Or take a page from the late, great Johnny Carson, who told Mike Wallace of CBS: "I'm not a political animal. 'The Tonight Show' is to amuse people, to make them laugh. I don't want to make them angry at me because of my political opinions… If you get too political, it puts up a barrier. People don't tune in to hear a political lecture. I don't think you can ever win if you get too political on a show like mine. Because half the people are going to be with you and the other half are going to say, 'Why don't you keep your mouth shut?'" Carson is not wrong. Take, for example, Stephen Colbert. After flogging the political horse into the ground, Colbert's "The Late Show" was cancelled. While he and Kimmel both blamed politics, it was more about the math not adding up. Colbert did lead the late-night pack with 2.5 million viewers — but he also employed an insane 200 people on a show which lost $40 million annually. For this utter financial failure, Colbert was rewarded with a $20 million a year. So it came as no surprise, except to Colbert and his friends, that his contract was not renewed. |
And while Kimmel may eventually end up back on air — he is only suspended, after all — the entire late-night genre, as it stands, is in perilous condition. As the Wall Street Journal noted: "Digital advertising revenue hasn't made up for the fall in ad dollars going to traditional broadcast programming. Spending on linear advertising for the late-night segment on ABC, CBS and NBC fell from $439 million in 2018 to $221 million in 2024, according to Guideline, an ad-tracking platform." But here's the deal: It doesn't have to be this way. As Carson once told Mike Wallace: "Why do they think that just because you have a 'Tonight Show' that you must deal in serious issues? It's a danger. It's a real danger. Once you start that, you start to get that self-important feeling that what you say has great import. And you know? Strangely enough, you could use that show as a forum. You could sway people. And I don't think you should as an entertainer." And so I say, can we please just go back to entertaining? Can I please just have a laugh before I go to bed? Hear, hear. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation. |
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