Horrifying Case of Left-Wing Terrorism, and Prince Harry's FAILED UK Trip, with Alex Phillips and Rob Shuter | Ep. 1359

35:17I didn't know her as you did, Alex, but it seems to me Anne would be looking at this conversation, looking at anybody having this struggle internally, even in the wake of her murder, and would be sticking by exactly what she said. Oh, Megan, she'd be telling us off, actually. If I'm honest with you, she'd be telling us to buck up, get on with it, stop being so silly, stop being so self-pitying. That's what was phenomenal about her. Yeah, gosh, I didn't even know her, but I feel like I've lost somebody too. And I'll miss her. And I trust not in the British police system, but in people like you to keep them honest as this goes forward about exactly what was behind this and how to stop more of it.

36:01Alex, thank you. Alex Phillips, everybody. Thanks so much. We hope to see you again. Thank you. Okay, we're going to bring in Rob Shooter. He's here to talk about another story out of the UK involving Prince Harry and a lawsuit that he and other celebrities just lost. I made a reference to it. We're going to talk about what this means. It was a devastating defeat for Prince Harry. And then wait until you find out where we believe the prince was staying after all his caterwauling about, I want to stay at Buckingham Palace, and they didn't accommodate me, and I didn't have the right security, and so on and so forth.

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37:53Joining me now, Rob Shooter. He's a celebrity reporter and author of the book, It Started With a Whisper, which, by the way, is a great summer read if you're looking for something fun, and also authors the naughty but nice Substack. He's also a former royal reporter, so he knows a lot about the UK and those people who live in these palaces over there. Rob, great to see you again. Hey, good to see you, my friend. Good to be back. So this loss, I mentioned it in my segment with Alex Phillips. This is a whopper, and Prince Harry may have to spend millions now, millions, because loser typically pays when you lose a lawsuit in the UK.

38:33And he, to put it frankly, got his ass handed to him by this judge. It was about reporting that it happened in the UK over the course of 18 years, Rob, 18 years from back when he was dating Chelsea Davey and all these other young sort of romances he had many moons ago. And he seems to have gone through every article ever written about his personal life and accused the journalists involved, mostly the Daily Mail owned by Associated newspapers, of using illegal means to to get these scoops. And Associated put its reporters up one after the other to defend these claims saying we did nothing illegal.

39:21This is not an illegal wiretap situation. We broke no laws. We actually just worked the story like shoe leather reporters got sources and managed to convince this judge that they had done absolutely nothing illegal. The whole thing was dismissed. There were claims by other celebrities, including Elton John, dismissed, all dismissed up and down. And now there's a real question about whether Harry risked too much because if the legal bills were as substantial as they reportedly are claiming with maybe 50 million pounds having been spent to defend these lawsuits, I think we can safely say that he does not have that to spare.

40:02So Associated Newspapers is probably going to seek this from all the defendants, like across across defendants. Elizabeth Hurley was another plaintiff, some others who I don't know as well. But you tell me what you make of this resounding beating he took. First of all, it was an absolute resounding beating. It was thrown out and the judge was almost annoyed that this had got as far as it had. People were perplexed when Harry started this, when he went after the Daily Mail. This was for stories a long time ago. Talk about holding a grudge. Talk about not being able to move on. Him and Meghan present themselves as happier than ever, living in Montecito.

40:45And here's Harry, still fighting battles from decades ago. So nobody really understood why he was doing this. I know from my sources, he was advised not to do this. Any reputable lawyer that he spoke to in London would tell him, this is almost impossible to prove and hence to win and you've got to provide some proof. Harry ignored all that. I think he proved how arrogant he really is. He is still angry about a story in a newspaper from 20 years ago and if you upset this prince, he's going to get you. Doesn't matter how long it takes. He's going to come for you. He went for the newspaper and then he went for the individual journalists and really went after them in the most vicious way And they all took the stand one after another.

41:35And some of them reasonably said, I don't exactly remember what happened 20 years ago. But what I do know is that if we were hacking his phone, that I would remember. And there was absolutely no evidence, a waste of time. Britain is in a very tough position at the moment. You just talked about the tragic passing of Anne. Police resources, the courts are backlogged. This was a total waste of time. And now it looks, thankfully, as if someone's going to have to pay a price and that person's going to be Harry. But it just goes to show you, does it not, Rob, how paranoid he is. He all of his problems are someone else's fault.

42:20And the media is number one on his list who he blames for Princess Diana's death. He blames for everything bad that's ever happened to him. Of course, he blames the royal family for half of this as well. And to the point where he's filed multiple lawsuits against journalists who have far less power than he does, because unlike virtually every other public figure, including Wills and Kate, he will never take it like a man and understand that the enormous privilege of having the palaces and the crown jewels and the name and the titles and all the access that gets you. does have a downside, and it allows newspapers who are very interested in you, which is also a blessing, to write things about you, and they may not always be flattering.

43:08That's exactly what it is, Megan. This Harry has turned into Britain's Blake Lively. If she doesn't like something, if he doesn't like something that you say about them, then you should be sued. You have broken the law. Yes. And that is absolutely ridiculous. Harry is cross because he's not getting the coverage that he wants. I don't think he really cares about 20 years ago. I think he cares now. But he can't do anything about what they write about him now. But he can try and do something about the past based on a really paranoid, twisted, warped sense of reality. But he's literally, as they would say in Britain, been handed his bottom.

43:50He has been handed his ass. And this has absolutely fell apart. Normally, though, with Harry, when things don't go well he blames somebody else remember when he blamed in his book he blamed katherine and william for him dressing as a nazi he did that in his book and so he blames people for every every individual action finally and i don't i i can't i've been trying to think about this megan i don't remember a moment in his life when he's really been held accountable he has and he's being held accountable by the courts and now it's going to cost him and he doesn't have it. He does not have this money.

44:28He comes out and criticizes the decision, which is over 400 pages long. Clearly, this judge put a lot of thought into it, paid very close attention to the testimonials that were offered. Harry had more than ample opportunity to prove that these scoops were gotten through illegal means. He was unable to do it and he calls it a complete and obvious whitewash. We came to court seeking justice and accountability. We have received neither, which for a royal, which he technically is still a royal, is those are fighting words because they're taught to be respectful of the systems, you know, to be to tread lightly when you're talking about folks like judges.

45:08But no, he let him have it because he lost this one and he can't take it. Meanwhile, this guy who supposedly hates this royal family so much that he needed to leave, You know, Megxit, we talked about Brexit with Alex. This was Megxit. He and his wife fled first for Toronto, then for, sadly for us, America. And he goes on a podcast on July 13th, just yesterday. And when asked about what his occupation was by the podcaster Joe Marler in a show called We'll See You Now, listen to how he answers. Okay, how about this one? Occupation. uh full-time dad uh british army veteran prince of england duke but uh for today um i don't know what do you want juke we go with the juke yeah yeah obviously uh for today as well because of where we are okay yeah sure the inventor would you call yourself the inventor or the inventor of of the victors games yeah inventor uh founder founder founder that's probably the better word All right.

46:18Okay, fair enough. Oh, Lord. He's just like his wife. Founder. I'm a founder. But how about that Prince of England? Duke. He settles on Duke. That's his current occupation. It is? He doesn't have a job. He's never had a job. He was in the army for a while. I think we have to tip our hats to that a little bit. But he did get special treatment. Let's be very clear about that, too. He doesn't have a job. He doesn't know what it is to get up and work every day. He doesn't know what it is to hustle every day. He has extraordinary privilege. And it's just too bad that he's decided to squander it and to waste it.

46:55And that's what I think makes people so angry here, is that Harry is always complaining, always moaning, and you just want to shake him. Because I think if any of us had 10 % of what he has been given, our lives would be just so much different. And so it's so frustrating. The Bricks have had it with him. I think any hope of this trip being a comeback has failed miserably. And it's his own fault. And I'm also too perplexed about why he's doing these interviews. Like, he never leaves an interview and you like him more. Even people that are friendly to Harry see the most basic questions. What do you do for a living?

47:39What do you do? And he's a prince of England. But it also tells you how much that actually means to him. He pretends it doesn't mean anything to him. He pretends that he doesn't care. It is in his soul. It is in every fiber of him, Meghan. He is a prince of England, and how dare you forget it? And how dare the other royals not treat him as one? That's where all the anger comes from. He still needs it. So you mentioned this trip, because what's happened is he's over there in the UK making the rounds. There was a big row, as the Brits say, about whether he would stay at Buckingham Palace and whether he would get the full protections that a working royal would get or even like a British prime minister.

48:26And the answer was no, you will not. You're not a working royal and you're not a prime minister and you can pay for your own security. And the British taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for that. He threw a hissy fit, as he has every time. They ultimately did invite him to stay at Buckingham Palace. He didn't get back to them in time. Finally, they said, we no longer can accommodate you because this is not something we can turn on a dime. It's not like me saying, Rob, you want to come stay with me at the Jersey Shore? No problem. We don't have to worry about layers and layers of security and guns and all the stuff and the staff at Buckingham Palace.

48:57So anyway, he was aggrieved. Well, there are reports now that he and Meghan, so she did tag along for a meeting with the king, with the two grandchildren. That was her ticket in. And there are reports that they stayed at the home of Charles Spencer, Diana's brother, which, okay, before you start crying in your soup for the poor Sussexes, look at this guy's estate. Hold on, we're gonna show you. it i think it's nicer than buckingham palace i think it's bigger the grounds are spectacular we'll put it on the board in a second but it this this is just the pond this is reportedly um where princess diana is buried and by the way i can give you my own little exclusive report here um a source tells me that megan was there in 2023 and that at the time charles spencer diana's brother was very concerned about her time on this island where Diana's buried.

49:58She and Harry took the rowboat to the island to see where Diana was, you know, her remains were. And that was when they were filming material for Netflix. Look at this home. It looks like Downton Abbey. It's bigger than Downton Abbey for the listening audience. Poor Harry wound up here, possibly, Rob. We're supposed to feel sad for him. It's so ridiculous. It's such a rich people trouble. Booking the Palace is not a hotel. So when you phone up a hotel, you can get a room tonight. You can get one in a couple of hours. It's just not set up like that. And I know it feels a little petty, a little weird that they didn't have room for him.

50:36It just needed a little bit of notice and he didn't have the decency to tell them that. So ultimately he couldn't stay there. My sources is saying he stayed at Althrop Park, which is just a magnificent home. And it's where Diana grew up. It's also where she is buried. I hope they didn't take photographs of the grave. I hope we don't get pictures of the children by the headstone. But with these two, you never really know. And so the brother has every, Diana's brother has every reason to be nervous. You don't know what these two are going to do. Yes, he was. He was reportedly, according to my source, nervous.

51:14The first time back in 2023 that they were going to film Diana's grave or themselves inappropriately on the grounds of where she grew up for Netflix. That's, I mean, what he thinks of them. So while he gave Harry a landing pad, he's clearly got their number. Now, you've got some exclusive reporting out about because Meghan and Harry reportedly think this was a huge win that King Charles agreed to meet with them. They, of course, lured this elderly man in with the promise of seeing his grandchildren, whom have been withheld from him for all these years because they have these petty grievances, these champagne caviar problems.

51:55Well, Rob's got exclusive reporting on It's What You Didn't See. That puts the lie to that claim. We've got much more to go through. Rob Shooter stays with us. Also, what Wills and Kate are up to. And then we'll get into some politics. Stay tuned. High prices might be here to stay. Gas, groceries, insurance. If you're a homeowner, you may have thought, should I refinance to pay off this credit card debt? Well, then you second guess yourself because of that low mortgage rate you currently have. Listen, that low rate, it's not saving you if you are drowning in credit card interest at 25 % or more, as too many people are.

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54:50Rob Shooter's back with me. He is the author of It Started With a Whisper. Great summer read, truly. Place your order now, you won't be sorry. And his sub stack is Naughty But Nice. the perfect name for Rob. Okay, Rob, so they got over there and she finally got what she wanted. She wanted time with the king. What is the point of marrying a prince of England if you're not going to get face time with the head royal in the palace? And King Charles, it's always difficult. I think many people can relate to this. If you have a sibling causing trouble in the family, I think the siblings are the first ones to want to do tough love.

55:27And the parent is the last one who wants to do the tough love because we're all softies for our kids. So King Charles still can be manipulated by Harry and certainly the promise of spending time with his grandchildren of whom he doesn't have that many. He only has two sons. So he's got William's three kids and now Harry's two who he doesn't know hardly at all was too much for him. And he agreed to see that this family of Sussexes. But you say this is actually not some huge win for the Duke and Duchess. Why? Yeah. So Meghan desperately needs to remind the world that she is associated with royalty.

56:06Her deals have really dried up and she didn't get any of those deals because of some talent. She got all those deals when she married him. She did not have a hundred million dollar deal before she became the Duchess. And so she's figured out she's not stupid. I've met Meghan several times. I've interviewed her over the years. She figured out that after everything failed, the way back is to remind the world again that she's a member of this royal family. It's so interesting to me. The one thing that makes her interesting is that she married a royal. So trying to run away from that is just a terrible brand strategy.

56:43It's an awful thing, too, on a human level, on a family level. But I don't think for one minute she wanted to meet the king so that she could fix this family. I think it was a business decision, a business idea. And so she desperately wanted a photograph. We know the world we live in. We know the world of social media. We want to see a picture of the king, of Meghan, of the children, of Harry, of everybody smiling. The palace said, absolutely not. This is not a state visit. This is not even an official visit. This is a family visit. And so there's no photographs and so because of that it's i think that's the clearest example i have of why this didn't exactly work out the way she wanted it to she she wanted the king's embrace and if she got that if she got that seal of approval that good housekeeping seal of approval she would be able to monetize that she would be able to use that to her advantage and the palace was very smart on this one they said come and meet him he's an old man he wants to meet the grandkids.

57:45He's a father here. He's not a king. He's a grandfather here. He's not a king. And because of all that, because of all the above, there will be no official photographer there. There'll be no photographs leaked. And so I think here that she didn't exactly get what she wants, and she certainly didn't win. A lot of us were frightened that Meghan would be able to manipulate the king. But I think in this instinct, nothing has changed. They met for an hour and a half. They had tea. They talked about stuff that had no big relevance. Small talk. There's no one better than the royal family for making chit-chat.

58:20If ever you've been around the royals, they say nothing. It's like cotton candy. They just talk and they don't say anything. And so he could sit there for an hour and a half and say absolutely nothing. So if she went in wanting to have a peace plan or a rehabilitation plan or maybe get him to advertise her jam, I don't know. None of that happened. So they certainly didn't win. So if the palace wanted to have a real reconciliation and to telegraph that to the world, what would they have done? It would have been a photograph. They would have had a BBC camera crew there. They would have done this not out in the country.

58:54This was an estate hours outside London. It would have been much more central. And so the fact it was at Highgrove, a beautiful place, a magnificent house to go to, it wasn't at an official palace. This is a private residence. It is owned by the royal family. It's not owned by the state. If they wanted to give a message that they're friends again, they would have had them visit them in Clarence House. They would have had them come to Buckingham Palace. I don't think they would have gone out on the balcony and waved to the crowd, but they would have had photographs taken. We would have had images of them arriving, smiling, leaving.

59:34And then afterwards, they would have put out a statement saying how wonderful it was to see them again and to see the grandchildren. No statement, no photographs, nothing. Meanwhile, has the king had any meaningful contact with these grandchildren since they were born? No. These two have had them shepherded away in Montecito where they're spending lots of time with, who's the guy, Tyler Perry, their celebrity godfather, but their actual grandfather, they don't know him at all and he doesn't know them. Yeah, it's real cruel because he is a king, but he's still a human being and he is a man. All my reporting on him throughout the years, and this is confirmed by other reporters too, he's a softy.

1:00:19He's quite a sweet guy. In fact, I think his softness can sometimes be used against him. He's a terribly decent man. Is he a strong man? Is he a man that you want in charge? Maybe not, but he's a very decent person. And for these two to be doing this to a man with cancer, he's doing better, thankfully. And nobody knows him better than his son. Harry knows all his weaknesses. He knows all the buttons to press. He would love to have a relationship with these grandchildren. He doesn't. They've Skyped. They've made some phone calls. But this wasn't what they wanted. They would love to be able to fix this on a family level, Meghan.

1:01:03But that's what the problem is here. Harry and Meghan are not interested in fixing the family. They want a professional relationship. It's about the money. It's about the association to royalty. It's about being close to power. And so they're both coming at it from a very different place. And that's why we're never going to get a solution. Poor Thomas Markle. If only he had some money to offer them. Maybe he too would get a visit from his daughter so he could know his grandkids. But he's not going to get any phone call, is he, Rob? Because he doesn't wear a crown. Yeah, not powerful enough. You know, Meghan has a long history of dumping friends, of dumping people when she doesn't need them anymore.

1:01:41And she certainly climbed the ladder doing that. She always wanted to be one of the most famous people in the world. She is that, but I would argue it's come at a really ugly cost. There's nobody left around them. They fell out with the Beckhams. Now this lawsuit could end their relationship with Elton John. Elton John has been very kind to this couple. He sent them his private plane to bring them to France on vacation. He performed at their wedding. Elton John was the wedding singer at the royal wedding. And now this lawsuit, it's everything they touch here. It just turns to you know what. It just, they're the chaos couple.

1:02:20It felt like the circus was in town. And I think that the best way to punish them if you're not close to them, if you don't like them, is just to ignore them. that's ultimately what these two can't stand and that's what the king did and i also think too i just have to say because it did make me giggle i used to work for princess michael of kent i was a publicist here in america so i've dealt with the british royal family i've worked with their press office they really are good at changing the narrative that they're real experts at spin and so while harry and the kids and megan were meeting with the king in windsor just outside London, William was at a polo match and he kissed Kate and that's the photograph that ran around the world the next day.

1:03:02That's the picture. Wait, do we, I think we have that. Hold on, let's see that. It's a soundbite, that's seven, watch. ...to have him here in his busy schedule, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.

1:03:21clapping for him now they're kissing cheek to cheek each cheek that's how you win the story that's how you win the narrative you know Megan that I used to be a publicist before I was a reporter a gossip columnist one of my clients was Jessica Simpson and Jessica Simpson on the day that Nick Lachey's they broke up they had a very ugly breakup on the day that his new album came out, Jessica dyed her hair red, and she got all the press. She just went out of her way to steal a story. And this is what the palace did on the day that they met. And then the next day was Wimbledon, the tennis, and then we saw the royal family and the royal box too.

1:03:57This is how they win this argument, not by taking on the Sussexes, not by going after them, by ignoring them. So you're saying that the kiss, because we don't see them kiss each other a lot, We see them holding hands or whatever. But that kissing on the left cheek and the right cheek, that moment was prescripted in your belief because they knew it would get picked up everywhere. Yeah, absolutely. I've really done this a long time. A tip, everybody. If you see a celebrity and a photographer captures them somewhere and they're in full hair and makeup, it's probably staged. Now, if they're picking their nose at Starbucks or if they're squashing a spot on their face, that is probably a legitimate photograph.

1:04:36So 90 % of the photographs you see are staged. Look at them. It looks fabulous. Look at the angle. Look where the camera is. Look at the lighting. I know it's natural light. Oh, it's amazing. And she was not meant to go to this polo match. On the original schedule, Kate wasn't on that schedule. So in the last minute, they said to Kate, you know, Kate, maybe you should put on a pretty dress and go and kiss your husband. And she did it. And so this is what everybody's talking about. This moment was. They nailed it there. Everyone's rooting for them. And they're obviously the A-listers, whereas the Sussexes are D-list.

1:05:12They reportedly now I think it was you who reported that Meghan Markle was dying for an invite to Taylor Swift's wedding. and it was not forthcoming because, well, among other reasons, they don't know her or like her, but they're friends with the A-list couple. That's right. That's right. So I don't think not knowing Taylor and Travis would necessarily get you barred. My report is a lot of people at that wedding were asking the one question, which is, do you know them? Nobody knew them. Nobody, I spoke to four people who went to the wedding and they wanted to say thank you. they couldn't get near her because she had security around her and so they couldn't thank her for inviting them and then you know if you can't speak to the bride on the day of the wedding maybe that happens you text them the next day or you no one's got her phone number no one's got her email they have this anonymous 1-800 invite so there's so many people there that didn't know them i don't think that disqualified megan what disqualified her is the day before the wedding guess who appeared on Travis's podcast, The Prince of Wales.

1:06:15They have made a friendship. In fact, now we're finding out just a few months ago, Taylor and Travis were in London and they did pop into the palace and met them. It's come to the point with Harry and Meghan where you've got to pick sides. And so it's unfortunate when that happens, but some situations get so toxic, so ugly, you can't be neutral anymore. And who's going to pick them over the future king and queen? Every mistake, every mistake, Megan, they've made. Like they just, if there's a way to mess something up, Harry and Megan will do it. They can't help themselves. Yeah, they're their own worst enemies because they really are true narcissists.

1:06:54And so every decision is made from there. And like the others aren't. And therefore they can make decisions that are selfless that are actually for the benefit of others. It's just over time you get to see this and you know it when you see it. So they're their own worst enemies. I do want to get back to Harry and Meghan and the Wimbledon pictures of Kate and Will with the children, which are irresistible. But before before we do, let's spend a minute on the Taylor wedding, because I didn't know that you had reporting on that. That's very interesting that at least four people who are invited don't don't they don't know them.

1:07:26They don't they're not sure why they were invited. They don't know that they don't know a thousand people who knows a thousand people. If you're the most popular person. No, no, no, intimately. This wasn't a wedding. This was an announcement to the world that Travis is open for business. If you want to make a film, cast my husband. It actually reminds me, do you remember at the Lion King premiere in London where Harry turned up with Meghan and tried to hustle Disney executives into giving her a job? Harry was on an Oprah mic and Beyonce looked horrified. And she was in the Lion King and Harry's pitching his wife for jobs.

1:08:05And I think that's what this wedding felt like to me. Tommy Hilfiger was at this wedding. I guarantee you, the next fashion week, guess he'll be sitting front row at Tommy. It'll be Travis Kelsey. So this was like a branding opportunity. It makes me laugh that everybody talks about the privacy and they wanted this to be. You don't get married at Madison Square Garden with a thousand people watching if you want privacy. You just don't do it. And so I think the knock-on effects this is going to have for Taylor Swift might be quite significant, because the question that I'm hearing a lot now is, was this just an odd choice?

1:08:45Was this just a strange decision? Or did she trick us all along? Was this who she always was? And I think we know now, looking back, she's made a lot of money writing songs about romance, about loves, about breakups. She's never been private. She's always welcomed us into her life. And it's a similar way, though, that Harry has with his lawsuit. He wants publicity when he wants it. He wants publicity when he dictates the terms. He doesn't want it to be a two-way street. And so I think it's almost impossible now for Taylor Swift to argue that she's a private celebrity and we should give her her privacy.

1:09:20Oh, yeah. By the way, I mean, some people who are at the wedding are openly calling it extremely gaudy, that it wasn't classy. It was in your face and brash. And to your point about did anybody actually know the couple? Like, you'd have to know somebody pretty intimately to get invited to their wedding, typically. I mean, because even there's lots of people in my life who I'm friends with, but I wouldn't expect to be invited to their wedding. You know, like that's a next level of friendship. up. They seem to have invited every layer as long as you could do something for them. But I have to tip my hat to Charles Barkley.

1:09:55Charles Barkley got invited and spoke openly about it. Listen to the soundbite. So you didn't get the invite to the royal wedding at Madison Square Garden there? I did. Oh, you did get the invite. You didn't go? I don't go to weddings. I don't go to weddings or funerals but I did get an invite and I politely declined because I thought it was going to be a crap show and like I love Travis and Jason and I've only met Taylor one time but yeah I did get an invite but I said hey you know what that's just too much I just want to hang out and play golf and I don't want to dress up and all that other stuff but I appreciate the invitation it was pretty special Rob, I don't think he knows them at all.

1:10:40I love Travis and the brother. He's talking about like sports-wise. He's not reflecting an intimate friendship there. And he doesn't know Taylor at all. One time and he got the invite. They don't know her. They don't know her. You just said it. You just made me really think about it. It's your wedding. This is not the Academy Awards. This is not a party. This is not the Grammys. It's your wedding. And on that one day, you couldn't have a moment for yourself and your groom. It had to be this production and it had to be this over-top extravaganza for people who you don't know. It's really telling, isn't it?

1:11:18It's a side of Taylor that I think is surprising to a lot of people. People that have covered her like me for a long time are a little less surprised about it. But even so, this was so vulgar. It was so over the top. It was so toned deaf. Yes, that's the word. It was so toned deaf. in the middle of a heat wave on the weekend of the 4th of July, one of the busiest travel days of the year here in America, they did a wedding on top of a transit hub, shut down streets, inviting people that they didn't know. Why? The whole thing was ludicrous. I did chuckle, though, because some of the celebrities I know who were invited, they actually wanted to be seen entering.

1:12:00It was sort of like they got the golden tickets and they were very disappointed when they drove up and their cars were put behind a curtain. That's why you saw people. That's why you saw Lina Dunham and Boryshka Hartatek wind down their windows. Did you notice that? We did not have to see them. Yes. We also saw, I think it was Seth Meyers who walked in, Jason Sudeikis, wanting to be seen. You could get into this. We never saw pictures of Julia Roberts or Beyonce, say, but there was a few celebrities who were absolutely disappointed when they got there and realized, no, I'm going to see me. I'm behind a tent.

1:12:39These people are so pathetic. Now, meanwhile, the guy who writes or wrote some of Taylor's songs, Jack Antonoff, he got married at the Jersey Shore. It was two or three years ago. It was very, I mean, like, I haven't even changed my hair in that time frame, okay? And it was three years ago. He married Andy McDowell's daughter. Forgive me, I don't know her name. I just know Andy McDowell, the actress. And they're already divorcing from the look of it. The reports are that she's removed all their wedding photos from her Instagram. They were married recently enough that their wedding photos were still up on her Instagram.

1:13:20She scrubbed them all. She did not, he was invited to the wedding. She did not go with him. Like these marriages, they don't last, Rob. These Hollywood types, these big music mogul types, they are operating on entirely different values than the rest of us. This wedding, I think, gave us all a reflection of that. Anybody that looks at love and romance and intimacy and privacy knows that that wasn't what happened at Madison Square Garden. I wish them the best. I do. You know, most Hollywood marriages don't make it. We know that they have a very strict and ironclad divorce, probably a very smart idea.

1:14:00But it doesn't look good, does it? It looks as if they went into this with different expectations. It definitely felt to me more like an announcement that we were now an A-list couple and we're open for business. And if you want to invest in us, please come along. I don't remember the Sussex feel. It felt like the Sussex feel. It felt like Griff did. Because aren't you reporting that like now Travis is getting invited to these like fashion shows and so, but they don't really want him. They're hoping he brings the missus. And he knows it. He's not dumb. If you like, you know, I have a lot of friends in New York who are event planners and PR people.

1:14:41They always invite Matthew Broderick because they hope he brings Sarah Jessica Parker. Like nobody wants Matthew Broderick at their event, but they want him to bring Sarah Jessica. She's Carrie Bradshaw. And so the same here with Travis. And Travis is not a dummy. He wasn't getting invited to this stuff. He has become the number one guest. If you're planning an event, if you're planning a party in New York, if you're planning a fashion show, he's going to be invited to every single event on the hope, the wish, the prayer that he brings the wife along. It's going to be a really good... Right, because he's got some fashion icon.

1:15:18You're absolutely... But these events, though, it just gives us another insight. They're not fashion shows. They're PR stunts. They're to get in the press. That's why the clothes are so ridiculous. We wouldn't buy those clothes. The more ridiculous, the more attention they're going to get. And I've got to say it, nobody knows how to get more attention than Travis and Taylor. They know how to do it. Well, I'm going to challenge you. This one person, she might. She's just as thirsty. She goes by the name of J-Lo, which is short for Jennifer Lopez. And I was saying I wanted to round back to Wimbledon.

1:15:56We love tennis in my family. We watch a lot of tennis, and my family plays a lot of tennis. I don't, but my family does. And we were watching Wimbledon, and who do we see paraded right down in the royal box but J-Lo, who doesn't know anything about tennis? She's not into tennis. Trust me, I've been at a lot of these big tennis events. She's never there. She just figured out that this would be yet another vehicle for her to use for PR. But she shows up in this enormous hat, like this huge sun blocking hat, which is a violation of all the protocols of Wimbledon and of tennis watching in general.

1:16:38Because at one wrong move and you're blocking half the people behind you from seeing the ball as it travels across the court. but there she was. And, and I thought the tell was in the fact that what two doors down from her in the same box was Ben Stiller. Now, what do we know about Ben Stiller? We just saw him recently second row at the NBA championships. And he gave an interview to all those guys, Barkley, et cetera, after one of the big matches or games. And they were like, Oh, you know, so you, how much did the, did the tickets cost you to get those great seats? You know, you've been a lifelong Knicks fan.

1:17:17And he's like, oh, and he was awkward, but he admitted, he goes, I didn't pay for these tickets. Celebrities don't pay. They, they got gifted to us because they want to see celebrities in the B roll. You know, like I think it was the Madison square garden owner that what's his name who, who, who gave it to Ben Stiller. And then suddenly Ben Stiller's front row in the Royal box at Wimbledon and two doors down from him is a girl who will show up to the opening of an envelope, Jennifer Lopez. This is how it works. This is how this is a dirty little secret of Hollywood. I used to work for JLo. I was JLo's publicist about 20 years ago when she was with Ben part one, not the second time.

1:18:00In fact, I wrote the breakup statements, my claim to fame. I was on the phone with Jennifer when they when they broke up. I know it was. And she was very specific about the wording and i think we did ask for privacy which means always the opposite i love celebrities that put out statements asking for privacy it's like when you do an interview and during the interview like i want some privacy so jennifer knows how this works jennifer enjoys being a celebrity like of all the people i've worked with or i've met jaylo loves being jaylo and so any opportunity for a camera a thirsty moment she's going to be there she i guarantee you she has no idea what she's watching she doesn't know where the ball go she doesn't know she knows nothing about the rules of tennis and i'm actually quite sure that she was probably miserable because if you don't understand the sport it can be a little bit boring and nobody around her is gonna gonna tell her so poor jaylo the only silver lining is it was a really long match and the thought of her having to sit there in that ridiculous hat for for two three hours gives me a little bit of joy.

1:19:07But this is how celebrity works. And JLo knows that. She knows exactly what she's doing. Yes. Well, she was outclassed, obviously, by Princess Kate, who was there with Prince William and two of the three royal children. They had Prince George, who's the heir apparent. They had Princess Charlotte. And they didn't have Prince Louis, who is always stealing the show. That kid is so adorable and so cute. But they had the first, the older two. And like, this is another example to me, Rob, of just hashtag winning because all they have to do is show themselves and they win. They win the PR battles. All of them, including the little guy who wasn't here, are gorgeous.

1:19:52They're so fun to watch on camera. Prince George, I have a soft spot for because his birthday is literally 24 hours before my Thatcher, who is the same age and has a bit of a resemblance to him, actually. And Princess Charlotte is like the spitting image, I think, of, well, I guess she's a good mixture of her parents, but I think she looks like Princess Kate. Yeah, I do. And behind the scenes, they were glad-handing, as you can see here. Of course, the winner, Yannick Sinner, came through. They easily made small talk with him. They were by far the bigger stars, even at Wimbledon. And they just, like, to your point of, like, they generate publicity just by showing up at these events and being their normal, charming selves.

1:20:33no one was thinking a thing about Meghan Markle or Prince Harry or their grievances around where they're staying or their, you know, let's face it, also D-list children. I'm sorry, I said it. You're going to get in trouble.

1:20:52Welcome. It's a day ending and why? I think what makes them so good at this is that they're so not trying to force any other agenda. They're not selling us a pot of jam. They're not selling us their grievances. They're not trying to score points against their dad. They're not trying to shame the British public into being potential racist. They're just there to do their job. Kate struggled with this job. Anybody that knows her, anybody that's reported on her, she really had to learn her craft. And to her credit, she did. She has spent hours and hours really learning how to do this. She is not a natural at it, but she did the work.

1:21:39Wow, you'd never know that. I know. It's just flawless now. But we all do the work, you know, to be mildly entertaining, talking about the royals for an hour with you, has taken me 30 years of work. And that's what I really appreciate, because I think Meghan and Harry just want the good stuff. They just want the glamorous stuff. They just want to turn up for the premieres. They don't want to do the work behind the scenes. And I think that Kate's different. She does do the work, and she also is extraordinarily good at knowing when she's overexposed. When it's enough, she can pull back. Harry and Meghan don't know when there's enough.

1:22:19In fact, I don't think there's ever enough of it. And so hats off to them. They're the secret weapon of the royal family. These two are the reason that I'm really optimistic about the future of the monarchy. And I can't wait to see what they do with it and what changes they make and the dignity that they do it with. It's lovely to see people like this in a world that celebrates Kardashians. Kardashians. It's lovely to see people like this in a world that celebrates real housewives. It's just so refreshing. And, you know, there's something lovely about being full of grace and charm and not anger.

1:22:59And so they can't beat this. And I think the best thing for the royals to do, for Kate to do, is just keep showing up and ignoring them. Let them go back to Montecito. Yeah, just being herself. I'll say this, what you were saying about how they put in the work, unlike the losers out in Montecito, that there was a quote that was on the internet the other day. I forwarded it to my family because I loved it. It was by Kobe Bryant. He was always saying things like this. This is right on brand for him. But here's the quote, quote, everyone wants to be a beast. Everyone wants to be the best, but very few people are willing to do what it actually takes because what it takes is boring.

1:23:38It is waking up at 4 a.m. It is shooting the same shot a thousand times. It is watching the film when you are tired. People fall in love with the result, but they hate the process. You have to fall in love with the boredom. You have to fall in love with the repetition. If you can find joy in the mundane work that no one else sees, the lights will eventually shine on you. That's it. Megan. That's it. That's the difference. That's the difference. And that's the difference in all of our lives. You don't have to be a princess you don't have to be a royal you don't have to be a star athlete to know that my friends that are the most successful are the ones that do the work in whatever field that is do the work and that's why shows like american idol are so annoying nobody's an overnight success nobody and if you are an overnight success it's going to be gone overnight too if you want to get there and you want to stay there do the work william and kate do the work and i think they're going and raise their children in a way too where they appreciate hard work and they appreciate duty and they appreciate service and they appreciate showing up i mean look at her the fashion alone and turning up and having the whole crowd stand for her because they love her they the brits absolutely love her and her children are charming and there's never any trouble with them the middletons are never getting in trouble there's not scandal there there's been a few hiccups along the way, but I think they've adjusted to that too.

1:25:04You know, nobody teaches you how to be famous, but certainly nobody teaches your family. And so it's just a, it's something to be really proud of. I'm so proud of them as a Brit. Yeah. Yeah. I guess you're just not, you're, the one downside of being a Royal is I guess you're not allowed to like have any Botox or, you know, laser. I don't know. It doesn't seem like they, they get any procedures because they're supposed to age normally, naturally, because that's the ultimate middle finger and showing of your power and wealth. Like I see it in social circles, like the ones who have true F you money, like blue blood money.

1:25:41They don't do a thing to themselves. They're like, I don't have to suckers before that money. We don't notice it. I just look at the money. I know. Anyway. Um, Okay, all of this has brought me to Blake Lively, who is way more in the Meghan and Harry camp than she ever could be in the William and Kate camp. And she is out there now having clearly lost this ridiculous attempt at PR rehab, which was her lawsuit, trying to turn her loss into a win by trying to get Justin Baldoni to pay her. We finally have the number eight million dollars in legal fees that she claimed she had to expend just to have his one counter claim for defamation thrown out.

1:26:31She filed 13 claims. Ten of her claims were thrown out. He didn't have to pay legal fees. She didn't have to pay his legal fees for any one of them. He filed one and she got it thrown out. He's got to pay all of her legal fees for this one because of this wacky California law having to do with sexual harassment victims of which she's not one. That claim was thrown out, too. But anyway, she claims getting rid of that one claim cost her eight million dollars. And now we finally have his responsive pleading saying, that's ridiculous. He's not going to pay her$8 million. And they're pointing he and his team to the New York Times, which also was sued by Baldoni for defamation because they filed this lawsuit that was basically stenciled by Blake Lively.

1:27:20And they got sued for defamation and they got it thrown out. And their legal fees were, I think, memory serves, don't have a paper in front of me, $200 ,000, Rob. Yeah. Cost him$200 ,000 to have it thrown out. She wants 8 million. So once again, to the end, she looks like a money grubbing, you know what? Yes. It's shocking to me that you can go through something like this, this really long drawn out process and not learn anything about yourself. Blake has exposed everything that I think people whispered about for a long time. people knew in the business that that she was really really awful they knew that when whenever in my office there's an opportunity to interview a celebrity i try to share the wealth i try to give it to different person every time when i when i walk into the office into the newsroom and say we've got an interview with this celebrity who wants to interview them everybody puts their hand up the one exception is blake lively nobody on my team ever wanted to talk to her then nobody wanted to go to the premieres or interview her on the red carpets because she was awful to them.

1:28:26She was just outright rude to them. And so I think all that has now been made very, very clear. And you would think that Blake would pause and think about that. And this lawsuit now, this is about hurting him. She's really angry that he won, basically. He won. And she's really, really angry. And so what is she going to do? She's going to kick him one last time somewhere where it really hurts in his pocketbook. He does not have the money she and Ryan has. And so she just wants to punish him. But in the process, I think she's going to end up punishing herself again, which has been the ongoing theme of the last couple of months.

1:29:04Every time she, last couple of years, every time she tries to hurt him, she ends up really, really hurting herself. They have padded these expenses. Like it's ridiculous. Every time she called her lawyer, he has to pay for that a narcissistic celebrity calling a lawyer for three hours he's got to pay for that a question she has that could have been answered in an email or a text she had to get on the phone and have therapy and talk and so it's really inflated it's really wrong i hope it it doesn't stand there's a really wacky wacky law in california which needs to be addressed here The one thing that I think is in his favor, though, is whatever he has to pay her, she's going to have to pay a lot more in the court of public opinion.

1:29:51She's done. She is absolutely done. And to the very last - Is she considered box office poison now? Poison. Absolute. Casting directors don't want to meet with her. Would you want a director in a movie? If she doesn't like what you're telling her to do, she might say you sexually harassed her. like like she has said awful things about someone she worked with none of which were true and so who's gonna ever trust her again would you want her in your movie what about a kissing scene an intimate scene in the movie no no no i wouldn't trust her no and so she has set herself up now for failure let's be clear about this her career wasn't that hot she's not made 20 blockbuster movies she's not scarlet johansson she's made some really sort of weak films this film is arguably her most successful film she's she's ever made and she blew it she could have made a sequel the last two years instead of talking about this she could have been talking about her hair care her products she could have been selling us moisturizer she could have been selling us a new movie she chose to to do this it was her decision the results have now have now come out and it's shocking to me after all that, Megan, she still has to have that final jab, that final petty, pettiness that we all see through.

1:31:11And it might cost him. She should have just walked away. It's like, did it, was this not painful enough? Like, did you, did you not see yourself dragged enough as the bad facts came out about you? Like, finally, it's mercifully over. Walk away. know when to walk away it's like a bad gambler right harry she didn't know when to walk away harry's lawsuit reminds me of this so much it was all based on narcissism it's all based on you said something you wrote something that i didn't like and now i'm going to go after journalists most journalists do not have the resources that that we might have and so so it was just it's messy ultimately though the good news here is that we all now know the truth Blake's poison.

1:31:57Well, and listen to what Brian Friedman, the lawyer for Justin Baldoni, happens to be my own as well, wrote in the motion responding in their in their responsive pleading. Quote,

1:32:39and$500 ,000 in expenses and costs for a total fee of$8 million. Brian argues and is pleading that the case was overstaffed. They billed multiple lawyers for the same hearings, numerous charges for lawyers conferencing and strategizing with one another, that it was overstaffed and billed more than 7 ,000 errors by 82 individuals, which is roughly 20 times what is typical in a comparable litigation. And he points out that the New York Times requested one hundred and eighty one thousand dollars, not even two hundred thousand in attorney's fees after defeating the same claims. It's really it's unbelievable.

1:33:21It's meantime, she's reportedly irate because Justin Baldoni is speaking, Rob. He and his wife, Emily, breaking their silence. They've said nothing for this whole time to their credit. Blake Lively was at the time 100, but me too, I'm a me too victim. So is my mom. Listen to my mom. Me too glory by, you know, relation. And here are Justin and his wife, Emily, talking about this experience. Sat 15. We are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many things that have happened to us. gratitude has saved us it has um and i also feel that it's important as we say that in that gratitude it it doesn't negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years um and we've had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like how could something like this even happen?

1:34:29Let alone disguise as a fight for women. So much to unpack. And the truth is, reality is that there's been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family. We don't even know this is the right thing to say. But we just know we need to share something. What I will say is that there have been so many

1:34:58painful things that have been spoken into existence. Untruthful. Over the last couple years. And that created so much noise, and we didn't want to add to the noise. So we just wanted to let the justice system run its course.

1:35:19And the truth and the facts have spoken for themselves. and here we are we are healing and if you've ever been through something traumatic you know that healing isn't linear it looks different every day um and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters and it's this it's this the kids it's our family yeah it's our friends it's our community our faith been there for us it's our faith i think we're closer and more devoted and steadfast in our faith than we've we've ever been wow so i know and i know you've got reporting on her reaction to that blake and yeah ryan's first of all let me just say that's the way to do it you put out a video you sit there you tell the truth.

1:36:16You're not over lit. You're not overly made up. Two people, they're in their kitchen or at their home, and they're talking directly to the camera, and they're saying really beautiful things. If I was Blake Lively, I'd be really worried because that's just the beginning. This is David and Goliath. When this case began years ago, I thought Blake was going to absolutely win this because she's Blake Lively, and she's got all the resources in the world, and she can sit down and do interviews and her husband's a very famous gentleman too and has a lot of money Justin Baldoni and his wife have acted I think with such grace that video is just the beginning I hope they they keep doing it I think it was really smart but they didn't sit down and do an interview I don't think they want questions at the moment they just want to say it the way they they want to say it got picked up by every every media outlet in the world so that's the way that that you do one of these reactions, one of these videos.

1:37:13Blake saw that. So my sources tell me she absolutely saw it. She saw it many, many times. Her team will probably tell you she's too busy. She's too glamorous. She's too busy being a mom to pay any attention to this. Don't believe it. She's absolutely lived and breathed this for the last two years. In fact, that$8 million is basically him having to pay her for breathing every day. Like it literally every day of her life has been about this trial. And I think that's what she's trying to bill him for, which is so ludicrous. But she's watched it. She's watched it several times. She's angry at the minute, my sources tell me.

1:37:47The one that's really angry is her husband, Ryan, who thinks of himself as a PR marketing genius. And the fact he was arguably beaten to the punch here, they say in PR, whoever tells their side first is often the one that wins. And so now they're going to be playing catch up. I'm pretty sure at some point they will respond. They haven't responded yet. but you know Ryan's writing a script as we speak and it will be in the teleprompter and it will be the opposite video to what we just saw. That's such a good point. You can't, now they can't do their own direct to camera, low makeup video. Now they just look like glommers.

1:38:25So yes, and now they've just decided to say, oh, we're silent. That's our powers and our silence. You know, like, okay, sure, sure. I agree with you. They handled it beautifully. They came across as very classy. And I think it's very interesting and effective to have Emily quietly and expertly slide in the dagger with this sort of a side of disguised as a fight for women. That's the line. Well done. That's the line. Well done. Wow. You know? Okay, now wait. Before we go, I've got to ask you about Snow White. It's not going well. Snow White is not doing well. Not Snow White. Supergirl, which is the new Snow White.

1:39:08That's why I said it. Supergirl is the worst earning DC movie since 2004's Catwoman. DC Comics, right? Is that what that stands for, DC? Yep. Okay. Right now, Supergirl is the worst earning DC movie in 22 years. This is via Forbes. Since the infamous Holly Berry starring Catwoman of 2004, widely regarded as one of the worst superhero movies ever made. it is it reportedly cost 108 million i made 108 million globally and still needs another 22 million to get close to uh the most terrible releases of the past few years right still needs another 22 million i don't know i don't know what that means uh but in any event it's not doing well and they say that they spent almost well it was um 300 million basically to make this if not more because there was over$100 million to actually make it.

1:40:07And then there was all the money that it took to market it. $170 million to produce,$120 million to market. So yeah, making$100 is not so great, Rob. Yeah, that's what Hollywood's all about. We often think it's about awards or quality. It's about money. And if this movie was an awful movie, but it made a billion dollars, everybody would be jumping for joy and then make another one. Sex and the City wasn't very good, but it kept making money until it did it. That's why we have three awful movies. So it's not about the quality here. It's not about that this is not a very good movie. It's not. But if it had been a bad movie that made money, executives would be jumping up and down and she would be toasted as the new Angelina Jolie.

1:40:49It's about money. And that's a lot about show business. It's a lot about entertainment, is that you could be a pretty bad singer, but if you make money, you'll keep singing songs. And so this one was a double-edged sword here. It lost a lot of money. Why is it? Like, why? Why did it fail so miserably? I think that, A, it's just the wrong movie for the wrong time. I think this is a movie that is trying to push an agenda, arguably a political agenda, that is no longer accepted. And this is the problem that a lot of Hollywood movies and music have. It takes a long time to make a movie. It takes a long time for it to come out.

1:41:29So if you start something when we are at the peak of a political moment, by the time it comes out, that moment might have passed. And so I think this had just missed the moment. And it just wasn't very good. It was dull. It was boring. I was so aware that it was a super girl and that seemed to be more important than any plot. But it was a girl telling it. And so I think that ultimately, too, I looked at the research here. I looked at the box office. Women didn't show up. That's why this movie didn't do very well. Women didn't show up. Yeah. We don't want to be lectured to like this. We certainly don't want a character running around reminding us there's no male figure.

1:42:10There's no romance in it. And that's empowering. I think my character swings both ways. OK. All right. Goodbye. Goodbye. We know what we're being spoon fed. It's the same way like the left assumes that Latinos are all against a strong border. No, they're not. It's the opposite. Right. And they think women are going to want to, they're going to feel empowered by watching this two pound, odd looking young person who's lecturing us about, you know, her character's what nine non-binary, whatever she says it is, as our new female role model. It's a no. It's a no. It's a no. Rob, we got to go. It's been a pleasure.

1:42:41Thanks so much for being here. Good to see you. Take care. Rob Shooter, everybody. Check out Naughty But Nice. And also, it's starting with the whisper. Back tomorrow with Adam Carolla. See you then. thanks for listening to the megan kelly show no bs no agenda and no fear