Tatum

Oh no. I sincerely hope, for Audrina's sake, that this is a showmance entirely scripted and she's willing to look like an idiot in exchange for a storyline, and doesn't really believe men "change" for the right woman and certainly doesn't believe Brody has the emotional capacity to not only settle down but also raise a child that isn't even his. If so, she's dumber than I thought, and I always thought she was pretty dumb.

Even back when Laguna Beach was airing, the buzz around the forums was that Jason's grandparents had a lot of money and their kids (Jason's parents and possibly aunts/uncles) and the next generation (Jason's) were all living off the grandparents. I guess I have no way of knowing if that's true, but it didn't really surprise me. Maybe Jason is the type to consider his parents/grandparents' assets as his own?

I saw some blurb about WWE cutting a lot of lower level (and midlevel) wrestlers to make room in the salary cap to lure back John Cena, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, and the Bella twins. This came from one of the head guys' social media accounts so I think it's sort of legit. The men make sense, but were the Bella twins ever really moneymakers for the WWE? I remember reading on the Total Divas thread that the twins were not at all among the popular acts and were not a crowd draw. Spending lots of money to get them back, when they haven't been involved for like, 5 years and are now approaching 40, seems really odd. Not to mention, wasn't Nikki's neck injury like, career ending? And they want to come back now, after they've just had babies? Maybe they are looking at some kind of soap opera storyline between Cena and Nikki, but the timing is incredibly odd.

Yeah, it looks like neither Total Divas or Total Bellas will be renewed. https://www.essentiallysports.com/wwe-news-e-network-to-cancel-wwe-shows-total-bellas-and-total-divas-after-almost-a-decade/ Can't say I'm surprised. Ratings for Total Bellas were dismal, even for cable reality TV standards. We never even finished the most recent season, it was so boring.

Saw in one of the rag mags that JJ and Lauren have officially split. They were married for 10 years. I guess this is not surprising since they seemed to somewhat despise each other. I am sure Lauren can do better.

Wow, That's a new low. Even for her. Actually, I guess it's not as bad as continuing to have kids you have no interest in raising. But it's right up there.

Yeah, he is a DJ and he prob makes the same club appearance/social media stipends that the rest of the D-list famers get. I actually forgot about Justin Bobby. So okay, maybe three people actually earn a paycheck. As far as American Express, I just used that as shorthand for living on credit.

I'm calling shenanigans. No way do these two have that kind of cash to throw around on groceries. They were flat broke before the Hills reboot and MTV is notoriously cheap. Maybe they had one month where they spent $5,000 (probably mostly on high end liquor) and exaggerated it as though that is a regular occurrence. As far as a mortgage, don't they live at Spencer's family's beach house, rent free? At least they did for a long time. I remember someone posted about Stephanie doing a podcast where she said that the beach house was supposed to be a family vacation home but really it turned into Spencer and Heidi's primary residence, for which they did not pay a dime. Perhaps production shelled out for a short term Airbnb during filming if they had to be in Los Angeles? I would imagine they make some money off social media- people less famous than them manage to, although it's not LA bigshot money. I would bet none of these people, except for maybe Brody and Brandon, actually earn a livable (for their lifestyle) paycheck. I would bet their lifestyles are mainly funded by mom and dad (or grandma and grandpa in Jason's case) and American Express. I thought she seemed pretty into him in the San Diego episode, but I also imagine Brandon is just exhausting to be around. He seems like a pretty lethal combination of insecure yet entitled.

Oh for sure. I can't even imagine what it must have been like growing up for him. Pam and Tommy both seem like the kind of people who feel like it can't be "real love" unless there is a ton of drama. And when they got bored creating it with each other, they went on to create tons of drama with new partners. I believe Pam also accused Tommy of abusing her in front of the kids, which would not surprise me, since Bobbie Brown accused him of knocking her around and her three year old daughter intervened trying to help (luckily that seemed to shock him into stopping but that could have been so bad for the little girl). Heather Locklear wouldn't even talk about her time with him when she was interviewed in the 90s. I would hope Tommy would never hit a child but I wouldn't be shocked at all if he didn't mind hitting his wife/partner right in front of kids. Brandon has probably seen some shit for sure.

Think it was for her pothead hair company.

Hee! This is a very boring cast. I thought he was mostly harmless last season, but Brandon strikes me as incredibly melodramatic and self centered this season. I only saw one scene with him (in San Diego when he was freaking out over his missed phone call) and he reminds me of a kid playing house- like pretending he's this bigshot with extremely urgent phone calls. Whatever career he has likely comes from his parents' connections and he doesn't appear to have a very strong work ethic. I don't think Tommy Lee is a particularly good person (I believe he was verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive to most of his exes, at least in the 80s and 90s) but the guy does work. He takes his music seriously and is very talented but has also put in the time and practice. Brandon seems like the kind of person who likes to talk about how much he works without actually doing it.

Honestly, I think constantly entertaining your kid is a bad idea. Learning to entertain yourself and learning to enjoy your own company are solid life skills.

This is funny, but I don't actually believe Kail is an anti vaxxer. I think she just says that to try and get more clicks, either from the people who agree with her or the people who want to argue with her. It wouldn't surprise me if her kids actually were vaccinated.

I thought it was well established that their Indonesia wedding was not legally binding in the US, and Brody never completed the paperwork to make it official in the US. I think he at some point even said the marriage was always going to be symbolic only and that he never intended to be legally married in the United States. ETA: I believed they said on the show last season that by the time they got around to filing the paperwork, they were already considering (or had decided on) breaking up, but according the a post in the other Hills thread, Spencer told Cosmo that Brody was never going to get it legalized in the US because he did not want finances mingled. However, if Caitlynn did not know that and expected the legality in the US to be matter of quick paperwork, I don't find it that weird she refers to Brody as her ex husband. But I also think she's not over him. Once she is, she will probably just refer to him as her ex, and drop off the husband part.

Spencer talked about it in his Cosmo blog...I can't remember if Mischa says she no longer drinks at all, and doesn't like to be filmed drinking, or if she said she drinks but in extreme moderation and Spencer said she drinks a lot, but either way, his comment had to do with her drinking more than she claims to and not wanting the cameras around when she is. Now, Spencer Pratt isn't the most reliable source ever, but in this case, it doesn't seem to be that far fetched.

I am disappointed Mischa Barton is not back. Sounds like filming was not a good experience for her. On the one hand, she actually works, so I can see why hanging with people who are content to loaf around all day living off their parents and grandparents (while closing in on FORTY) would get old. On the other hand, reading between the lines, sounds like Mischa isn't prepared to be called out for the stuff she's still doing that she says she isn't doing, and instead of just saying she has decided she wants more privacy she has taken to calling her most recent (and likely only!) employer a "shit show" which, while accurate, is hardly professional, Mischa. No wonder you aren't getting work much. Mischa Barton kind of strikes me as someone who always sees herself as the victim and everything is someone else's fault. I thought I would hate Katelynn but I actually thought she came off pretty well in the San Diego episode. I have no patience for people who randomly insert themselves in other people's drama, so I actually cheered when Brody called out Audrina for scolding him over his unhappiness with Amber drinking, and watching her frantically backpedal. Although Brody, I don't have a lot of patience either for people who chose to date partners 15 YEARS YOUNGER and then complain that they're immature.

Right, and there is zero reason for Holly to resent that about her. It was opportunistic, sure, but Hef wasn't being "taken advantage of" and Kendra didn't owe him any gratitude. He wasn't offering her cars and cosmetic surgery out of the goodness of his heart or because he genuinely cared about her future, he wanted to get in her pants or at least let the world think he was. Hopefully Holly has realized over time just how insidious Hef was and how Kendra, although unfriendly and irresponsible, wasn't actually doing anything wrong in regards to what she got while living at the mansion. Holly has a lot of reasons to be angry at Kendra in general, but this wasn't one on them.

I am not sure on this one. I don't think Kendra called his bluff so much as she just knew what she wanted. Holly wanted love, attention, validation, and maybe Hollywood fame, and thought the best way to get it would be to mold herself into Hef's perfect woman and follow his every asinine rule and be pathetically grateful to him for the opportunity. Kendra wanted a nose job (or was it her teeth fixed? I can never remember), a new Escalade, and a nice room at the mansion. If Hef had said no, I'll give you a cast off truck and you can share a room with another snotty girl, I think Kendra would have walked, not because she was playing hardball, but because that simply did not appeal to her. Holly would have taken the deal, because at the time, the type of car and room wasn't what she was after- it was the chance to get her foot in the door, and she wouldn't have wanted to risk alienating Hef. Kendra was thinking short term gains, Holly was thinking long term gains, and in this case, Kendra's view was the smarter one. While I think he was predatory to both women, Kendra probably feels like they were more equals since she got what she wanted. I agree with this for sure: And I don't know that she's learned all that much either. Holly should definitely be single for awhile. Like, she needs to just take romantic relationships off the table for a solid year at least and learn how to support herself emotionally and not rely on men in her life to make her feel like she has value.

I said this in an earlier post, but even when Holly had written the first memoir, which would have put her at least 3-5 years removed from mansion life and presumably with a better hindsight view, she still seems convinced Good Ol Hef was being benevolent, "allowing" Holly to stay in his crumbling, stained, frozen in 1985 mansion, purely out of kindness, and Holly owed him endless gratitude. Yes, Holly was an "adult" (by which I mean she was over 18, she was very sheltered and not at all street smart and savvy), but the fact is, Hef preyed on her. He found a gullible, insecure young woman he could easily manipulate and mold into his perfect partner. There was no kindness, no altruism in his invitation for her to live there. I would say he preyed similarly on Kendra, who was even younger and also insecure and not in the best situation in life, but I think Kendra saw the situation for what it was (or at least a closer version). She had something he wanted, and he had something she wanted. I would argue that he was still taking advantage of her, but at least Kendra recognized it as a business transaction, not charity. And certainly not love. I think Kendra has a fondness for Hef and I am not sure she should, but I think she did always have a more realistic idea of life as Hef's paid girlfriend than Holly did.

That's how I see it too. Although I think Kendra is not a very nice person and is tacky in general, I have no problem with her "let's call a spade a spade" approach to mansion life. She set her price and seemed completely happy with what she was paid. I thought Holly was wrong to be offended that Kendra didn't pay her dues first- you're selling something, be it your body, your time, your image, etc. you have a right to set your own price. Hef certainly could have told Kendra no way or made her a counter offer. Holly was, at the time, ridiculously grateful to a lecherous old guy letting her stay in his house in exchange for posing as a part of his harem. Her memoir (at least the first one) read like he was doing her a kindness or being charitable. It was cringe worthy.

I don't know what this means? Cate probably isn't a good candidate for therapy. She wants a quick fix. I hear it all the time..."I already tried therapy" or "therapy didn't work for me." Well, no, if your expectation was you'd meet with a therapist and after a session or two, the therapist would be able to tell exactly what ails you, how to fix all your problems, and how to instruct you to do it in a way that guarantees you will do it, then yeah, I can see how you'd be disappointed with therapy. It's probably the same with Cate. Therapy is a long, slow process with lots of trial and error. I think Cate wants to feel better, but in the age of instant gratification, she's not willing to put in the time or the work. Much easier to run off to a spa or buy more crap.

But the reverse is true also- she never accused them of not offering this service to her either. I have no doubt that Cate didn't use it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't offered to her. Look, there are a ton of unscrupulous adoption agencies, and by multiple accounts, Bethany is one of them. That said, if there was ever a time Bethany would be motivated to play by the book, it would be when the birth mother's experience was being televised for a nationally airing show. I didn't watch much of Teen Mom, so I don't know what Cate's comments were then, but if Dawn led her to believe she'd be able to see Carly whenever she wanted, the comments Cate made during filming of 16 and Pregnant are pretty much contradictory to that. It seems to me more likely that as Cate got more attention and validation from her logic challenged fans, she started to think she should be given access to Carly, not stemming from Dawn intentionally misleading her before the decision to place Carly was final.

Bethany is supposed to do this, in fact, that is part of the fees they take from the adoptive parents to provide counseling for the birth parents. Bethany has been accused of not doing this before from other birth mothers (and adoptive parents mad that they paid for a service that Bethany pocketed) but do we know for sure Bethany didn't offer this to her? Bethany may be shady AF, but considering the exposure they got, I would expect them to at least do this for Cate.

I don't think you're remembering the events of the episode correctly. Cate never indicated she expected in person visits. Dawn asked her specifically what her expectations were and Cate said phone calls, pictures, and sending presents at Christmas, all of which was provided to her, at least before she blew it. I just went back and watched and Cate doesn't mention in person visits during the parking lot hand off either. She was very emotional and I felt awful for her, but the issue of when she'd see Carly again was not discussed. All she said was, maybe one day when she's older, I'll get to know her. I also did not even see Dawn at the handoff. Cate also says that she thinks one day Carly is going to come to her and Tyler and say thank you, and that she is at peace with her decision. It's not impossible that Dawn is a lying liar who took advantage of Cate, but I just see nothing to indicate this.

I don't remember them talking about it. Cate was already 16 weeks pregnant when they started filming and they had clearly decided on adoption. Given though how non supportive Butch and April were about adoption (I'll never forget Butch, a guy who has almost no hand in raising his kids because he's been either high or in jail most of their childhoods, and a guy who has no interest in his adult children or grandchildren that aren't on TV, telling Tyler he wasn't "manning up" by keeping Carly), I am sure abortion was never a possibility for Cate. C&T were actually both very good kids in the original 16 and pregnant and early TM. They clearly recognized that they were ill suited to raise a baby and seemed honestly thankful for B&T. And B&T, I believe, truly cared about them. I don't think Teresa was keeping in touch with Cate out of obligation- I think she honestly wanted to know how Cate was doing. While I believe their (C&T) extended families made B&T uneasy, I think B&T found the original arrangement of one in person visit a year and pictures once or twice a year completely feasible and would have done it without question if C&T hadn't blown it.