The daily gossip: Pete Davidson defends Elon Musk ahead of SNL, a Portia de Rossi mystery, and more

Pete Davidson defends Elon Musk ahead of SNL, a Portia de Rossi mystery, and more

Pete Davidson.
(Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

1. Pete Davidson defends 'really nice' Elon Musk before his controversial SNL hosting gig

As the dreaded Elon Musk-hosted Saturday Night Live episode draws nigh, the show is out with its first teaser. "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is," Musk says in the clip. "I'm a wild card, so there's no telling what I might do." (The Atlantic claims Musk's "eccentricity is good fodder for sketch comedy," which is clearly … debatable). While some SNL members have made their disdain clear, Pete Davidson said no one discussed the controversy when they took Musk out to dinner pre-show, as is tradition. "I just don't understand why this is the dude everyone's so freaked out about," Davidson said. "I was like, 'What did he do? He's just like a really wealthy businessman that makes, like, nerd s---.' I don't know. He's really nice. I'm excited."

2. Where the heck is Portia de Rossi living while Ellen DeGeneres is at Courteney Cox's house?

Ellen DeGeneres is currently living at her friend Courteney Cox's house, but despite how it all looks, it's apparently not because anything is wrong between her and her wife, Portia de Rossi! "I should explain. I'm not having marital troubles," DeGeneres joked on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she introduced the Friends star as her landlord. "I'm not living with Courteney Cox because I'm kicked out of my house." She went on to explain that her curious living situation is because "we sold our house here in Beverly Hills and I needed a place to stay." Despite DeGeneres' insistence, the obvious question — well then where the heck is Portia?!?! — remains unanswered.

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People

3. Newsmax host insists he only wears 'the most prestigious brand in PANTS' after getting dunked on for his khakis

Conservative TV host Greg Kelly, who once complained that the impeachment of Donald Trump was racist against "white folk," was put on the defensive over his choice of pants on Thursday after posting a photo with said former president. "Those are BUGLE BOY jeans I'm wearing," the Newsmax host had tweeted, drawing attention to his multi-pocketed khakis. "Honestly one of the most f--ked up pairs of pants I've ever seen," one horrified onlooker wrote, while another observed, "It looks like a pair of cargo pants mated with some jodhpurs and its offspring got all of the worst jeans … er, um genes." Kelly followed up by insisting that the pants were very expensive — "the truth is, they're BALMAIN (the most prestigious brand in PANTS)" — which just goes to show, you really can't buy good taste.

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4. The Nanny's Lauren Lane claims Wallace Shawn once stuck his tongue in her ear

Today's "what did I just read" story comes from Vice, where actress Lauren Lane alleges that The Princess Bride actor Wallace Shawn "put his f--king tongue in my ear" when he appeared as a guest on the CBS sitcom The Nanny in 1994. As Lane recalled, the slobbery incident occurred when the two were hugging goodbye: "It was horrible," she told Vice, adding: "I did not expect it either … I mean, why would someone put their tongue in your ear?" Good question, so Vice asked Shawn: "In all my seventy-seven years I've never put my tongue in anyone's ear," he claimed. "Not that I condemn those who do, if there are any. If we were hugging goodbye, I might have kissed her on the cheek?"

Vice

5. The Queen is now selling gin to support her 'extensive art collection'

Remember that time when everyone (and The Daily Mail) was so mad about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry trying to trademark "Sussex Royal," and in doing so, cruelly placing the Queen "in an invidious position, given her long-held conviction of refusing to allow working members of the family to profit from their positions"? Well, People reports that the monarch has since started selling Sandringham-branded beer, brewed from plants grown on her Norfolk estate, as well as a Royal Collection Trust gin, which retails for $41 a bottle and will "help preserve the Queen's extensive art collection." Writes Celebitchy, "HOW GAUCHE! How tacky! I assume all of the royal reporters are up in arms about how dreadful it is that the Queen is monetizing the Crown in such a disgusting and cheesy way."

Celebitchy People

Jeva Lange

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.