Lifestyle
Kim Kardashian Posts Photo with Taylor Swift's Frenemy Karlie Kloss
Kim Kardashian posted a photo with one of Taylor Swift‘s famous frenemies — none other than Karlie Kloss, who stopped being good pals with the Swiftster years ago … interesting.
The reality star posted a selfie that featured herself, Karlie, Khloe and W Magazine’s Sara Moonves … who were all cozied up around this dude named Derek Blasberg … just another socialite. It was his birthday and the girls here came together to help him ring it in.
It might seem like NBD on its face, but considering the history here between Kim, Karlie and Taylor — who recently took a fresh shot at Kim K — ya gotta read between the lines.
Fact is … Karlie and Kim are known to not be on great terms with Tay Tay these days — Kim’s a no-brainer, obviously … but Karlie actually used to be real close buds with T-Swift once upon a time … that is, until they weren’t.
This all dates back to about 2018 or so when they had some kind of falling out — which seemed to be related to Karlie hanging out with one-time Taylor foe Katy Perry … this after being super tight with Taylor in the mid-2010s, when she used to run in her squad regularly.
Of course, since then … Katy’s become cool with Taylor anew — and we even saw Karlie hit up one of Taylor’s concerts last year … so it’s hard to say if their relationship is still icy or not at this point.
Still, the fact that Kim is definitely not cool with Taylor and went out of her way to throw this photo up in the midst of her renewed feud with T-Swift certainly raises some eyebrows.
As you know … Taylor breathed new life into her years-long beef with Kim, subliminally labeling her a bully in one of her new tracks — dating back to the whole “Famous” saga.
Kim hasn’t said anything about it explicitly since Taylor’s new album dropped last week — but this could be interpreted as a subtle jab at arch nemesis … with the message possibly being, I’m with your old BFF, Taylor. Take that!
Read into the tea leaves if you must … lord knows a helluva lot people already are.
Lifestyle
The original 'Harry Potter' book cover art is expected to break records at auction
Sotheby’s
The book cover art that introduced readers across the world to Harry Potter is expected to break auction records next month.
This past week, Sotheby’s announced the auction scheduled for June 26 in New York of Thomas Taylor’s original watercolor illustration for the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Published by Bloomsbury in 1997, the title kicked off the famous seven-book series.
In a statement shared with NPR, the auction house said the artwork is expected to sell for $400,000 to $600,000 — a record estimate for any Harry Potter-related material ever offered at auction.
With over 500 million copies sold worldwide across 80 languages, the Harry Potter series has become a global phenomenon.
Taylor’s illustration — which depicts the boy magician with his trademark round spectacles and lightning bolt-shaped forehead scar boarding the train to Hogwarts from King’s Cross Station’s platform 9 3/4 — was first offered at auction at Sotheby’s in London in 2001, according to the statement. At that point, there were only four published Harry Potter books, yet Pottermania was already taking hold: the artwork sold for a then-record-breaking 85,750 pounds.
Sotheby’s said it expects the return of the artifact to the auction block to do exponentially better this time around, as the appetite for Potter-related fare has only increased over the past couple of decades with the release of the blockbuster films and various spinoffs. In 2021, an unsigned first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for $421,000 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas — the current record for a Harry Potter-related item.
Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books & manuscripts, said in a statement that Taylor’s work “serves as the visual blueprint for the boy wizard who has since inspired millions worldwide.”
A rookie assignment
Getty Images
Illustrator Taylor was a 23-year-old recent art school graduate when he received the commission from Bloomsbury to create a cover illustration for a fantasy children’s book by the then-unknown author J.K. Rowling.
It was the artist’s first professional assignment. According to Taylor, he wasn’t given much in the way of creative license.
“I was actually asked to paint this scene by the editor at Bloomsbury who said, ‘could you please paint Hogwarts at King’s Cross Station and Harry approaching the Hogwarts Express?’ ” said Taylor in a 2022 video interview for the J.K. Rowling online fan community, The Rowling Library. “I was very new and just starting out, so I didn’t feel I could say ‘No, I think it should be something different.’ So I was just doing what I was told, really.”
He read Rowling’s manuscript on the train after that meeting — one of the very first people to do so.
“It was a stack of paper. It was only printed on one side. Chapter 11 wasn’t there, because the author was changing something, so it was missing Chapter 11. And it had a few notes and things in it as well. So it was a very, very early printout,” Taylor told The Rowling Library.
After delivering his painting to the publisher, Taylor said for a few months he used the blank underside of each manuscript page for sketching. “And then I think I put the rest of it in the recycling bin,” he said. “Of course now I really regret that.”
Mixed feelings
Taylor has gone on to become an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. His titles include the series Eerie-on-Sea. Bloomsbury reissued Philosopher’s Stone as part of its 25th anniversary commemorative reprint of the Harry Potter books in 2022.
But Taylor said he long had mixed feelings about this early, giant success.
“Normally when you start out as an illustrator, you kind of hope that your first work will be a bit forgotten and then you’ll develop and get better and better,” Taylor told The Rowling Library. “But of course, in this case, this first piece of work has sort of followed me my entire career. So I look at it and I think, ‘Why did I paint that? Why didn’t I paint something more exciting?’ “
But he said he’s finally made peace with it — in part because of how prized his Harry Potter book cover painting has become at auction.
“It is quite striking when I see an auction catalog, and then there’s a first edition Charles Dickens, and then Beatrix Potter or something, and then there’s my picture,” he said. “It is fun to see it appear in places like that.”
Indeed, Taylor’s artwork will be go under the hammer in June as part of a sale that includes works by such literary greats as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe — and a handwritten manuscript by none other than J.K. Rowling.
Lifestyle
Tom Brady Shuts Down Jeff Ross Over Robert Kraft Massage Joke
Netflix
Divorce talk was fair game, but Tom Brady was not having it when folks brought up Patriots owner Robert Kraft‘s massage scandal … with the former MVP calling on Jeff Ross to “don’t say that s*** again” amid his roast on Sunday.
TB12 was a good sport for the majority of the Netflix event … laughing it up as he was on the receiving end of incessant blows throughout the night.
But there was one topic the dude did not want to be mentioned — the Pats owner’s 2019 incident.
Brady approached Ross mid-speech … telling him on a hot mic the matter was out of bounds.
Many compared it to Will Smith’s Oscars moment with Chris Rock … although the future Hall of Famer never got physical.
Netflix
As we previously reported, Brady has been a good sport for the majority of the event … even letting his former coach, Bill Belichick, rip into him for some good-hearted fun.
Kim Kardashian, Ross, Julian Edelman and more ripped into Brady … but the show is still going on, so we’ll keep you updated.
Lifestyle
Bernard Hill, who starred in 'Titanic' and 'The Lord of the Rings,' dies at 79
Joel Ryan/Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
English actor Bernard Hill, best known for roles in Titanic and The Lord of the Rings, died on Sunday. He was 79.
Hill’s agent, Lou Coulson, confirmed his death to NPR. Coulson said Hill was with his fiance and son at the time.
Hill’s acting career spanned over 50 years both onscreen and on-stage. His latest role aired Sunday as the main character’s father in the BBC show The Responder.
Lindsay Salt, the director of BBC drama, described Hill as a one-of-a-kind actor.
“His long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent,” Salt said in a statement.
One of Hill’s most memorable performances was in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic. Playing Captain Edward John Smith, Hill showcased a chilling combination of shock and guilt as water gushed into the ship’s wheelhouse.
In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hill showed his versatility as King Théoden of Rohan. In one scene, Hill’s character is weak and decrepit. In another, he is leading a cavalry charge with the iconic words “Arise! Arise! Riders of Théoden!”
Hill, a native of Manchester, England, was also praised for his role as Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff, a British show about a group of men navigating Liverpool during a time of high unemployment and a struggling economy.
Over the decades, Hill received several nominations and awards for his performances, including an award from the Screen Actors Guild for his role in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
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