The daily gossip: Neil Patrick Harris cold-shouldered Mayim Bialik, Prince William and Kate Middleton are hiring, and more

(Image credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

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1. Neil Patrick Harris cold-shouldered Mayim Bialik after she refused to give him a standing ovation
2. Prince William and Kate Middleton are seeking a discrete personal assistant
3. Salt Bae is charging diners $12 for a Coke at his new London restaurant
4. The Bachelor has found its new host
5. Daniel Craig, free of being James Bond, will now be Macbeth

published 29 September 2021

1. Neil Patrick Harris cold-shouldered Mayim Bialik after she refused to give him a standing ovation

We'll take brutal musical theater burns for $1,000. Mayim Bialik, the possible next full-time Jeopardy! host, shocked James Corden by revealing she doesn't like musicals, which nearly destroyed her relationship with Neil Patrick Harris. She explained she saw Harris in Rent as a teenager and told her boyfriend at the end she didn't want to give a standing ovation. Unfortunately, Harris read her lips and confronted her backstage, asking, "Why did you say you weren't going to stand up?" Bialik says they didn't speak for a "long time" afterward, though he later sent flowers as a gesture of forgiveness. Still, no word on whether Harris may have boarded the "Ken Jennings for Jeopardy! host" train out of lingering resentment.

Looking for a career change? Consider applying to be the personal assistant for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who posted a job listing for the position on Wednesday. Prince William and Kate Middleton are evidently looking to hire someone to manage their diaries, arrange meetings, and organize and assist with their visits, events, and travel (like, presumably, the couple attending the No Time to Die premiere). Notably, "the ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion at all times is essential" in a candidate. Though there's no salary posted for the role, the royals do cite "Kensington Palace" as the location and "37.5 hours per week" as the demand on your time. Read the full job posting here.

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Internet sensation Salt Bae is — let's admit it — kind of 2017. But the Turkish chef (whose real name is Nusret Gökçe) is back in the news, having recently opened his new steakhouse, Nusr-Et, in London. Earlier this week, a receipt totaling 1,812.40 British pounds (that's about $2,435 USD) went viral on Twitter, drawing reactions to Gökçe's steep menu prices, including charging $12 for a Coke, $59 for four Redbulls, and $846 for the giant tomahawk steak. "It's cheaper to fly and have food at Salt Bae's Turkish restaurant than to go to the London one," observed one horrified Twitter user. It's questionable if the prices are worth it, as critics have slammed the American branch of Nusr-Et: The New York Post's Steve Cuozzo even went as far as to label his local Nusr-Et "Public Rip-off No.1." But hey, maybe that's too harsh — the Turkish tea was complimentary!

A bunch of college football websites were forced to write about ABC's The Bachelor on Tuesday when ESPN analyst, former NFL quarterback, and Bachelor Season 5 alum Jesse Palmer was announced as the new host of the show. Palmer is taking the reins after former host Chris Harrison exited the franchise following his controversial defense of a contestant's decision to attend a racially insensitive party. "For more than 20 years, The Bachelor has brought the world dozens of unforgettable love stories, including at one time, my own," Palmer said in a statement, an apparent reference to Jessica Bowlin, his season's winner, who he did not propose to and split with after a few months (he's now married to model Emely Fardo). According to Variety, "insiders explain that the idea is for Palmer to continue with the franchise in the future, both on the flagship Bachelor and The Bachelorette," assuming he doesn't pull a Mike Richards.

Daniel Craig is clearly already enjoying his life post-James Bond, as he's headed to Broadway to star in a new production of Macbeth opposite future Lady Macbeth, Ruth Negga. Sam Gold — the Tony Award-winning director of Fun Home — is set to direct the production, which opens next April. It won't be Craig's first time on stage, nor his first starring in a Shakespeare production (he played Iago, the villain, in New York Theater Workshop's 2016 Othello); Negga, too, played the gender-swapped title role of Hamlet last year in an Off-Broadway production at St. Ann's Warehouse. Barbara Broccoli, who produced Craig's 007 movies with her brother, will also serve as the Broadway show's lead producer. "I'm thrilled that it's coming after Bond, because, obviously, after 16 years of working with this man, the thought of it all coming to an end has been really difficult to take," she told The New York Times.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.