The Sweet Smell Of Succession

There’s a new lifeline on the rebooted series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: ‘Ask The Host’, where the player gets to ask Jeremy Clarkson for his opinion on the answer.

The first contestant to use it when they were filming the pilot chose to ask Clarkson who he thought wrote (feminist favourite) The Bell Jar.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t know.

While filming Taboo, Tom Hardy had to spend a great deal of time on set stark-bollock naked and was pretty unabashed about who saw what. One of the crew members who was writing prop letters for an upcoming scene found it rather off-putting to have a nude Tom Hardy standing behind him, watching him work, dick and balls dangling.

Which ex-pro football pundit is offering his services to current league players as a betting front? As active players are banned from placing bets on their own sport, he’s suggesting they use his bookie account as a conduit.

We mentioned last month that Radar Radio had suspended broadcast while they were weighing up their options. They’ve since weighed them, and… they’re not good.

Owner Ollie Ashley got some of the station’s key staff in to a budget hotel last week to tell them that Radar would be closing down entirely at the end of May.

It seems like the sensible thing to do. Not only is it thought to be making a seven-figure loss, about 2/3s of the station’s DJs quit in the wake of sexual harassment allegations – and it’s pretty hard to run a radio station with no DJs.

Perhaps if the business model had involved paying their talent, rather than filling the building with expensive marble and 70-inch flat screen TVs, then they might have had something worth saving.

HBO has an upcoming drama on their slate called Succession. It’s the story of an ageing media billionaire (played by Brian Cox) who wants to step down from his global empire, but faces a dilemma in appointing someone to follow him.

It’s due to be broadcast in the UK too. In fact, it’s just been bought for TV by… Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Atlantic!

Since Deutsche Bank announced that it would be making cuts to its investment banking department in Wall St this week, media watchers have been eager to see what will happen to the DB team that sits at the centre of the ongoing Kushner/Trump/Mueller investigation.

Weirdly enough, one of the major targets for personnel cuts is… that exact team!

Bank sources say that they are under threat of being completely disbanded – which isn’t going to do much to help quell anyone’s suspicions.

What could have happened to prompt such drastic action? Word is that the team has just become the subject of a second, as-yet-unreported investigation.

Now that Bill Cosby has been found guilty, attention will no doubt turn to others in the crosshairs of #MeToo. Fashion photographer Bruce Weber is currently being sued by male models who worked for him, alleging sexual misconduct on his shoots.

The story that’s emerging of Weber’s MO is that when he took a fancy to one of the male models on a job, he’d suggest that the two of them went for a walk. If, by the time they’d returned to his studio, the boy hadn’t offered the photographer a blowjob, there would be no photoshoot for him.

We took a bit of time off from Nick Cave spotting, as its been a rough few years for the great man – but we’re pleased to tell you that he seems to be in good spirits and is as wonderful to watch as ever.

Nick’s been out playing frisbee with his young son in the sporadically nice weather, and he’s installed a lovely old bench in the communal garden shared by him and his neighbours in memory of his late son, Arthur.

It’s been dubbed Arthur’s Seat by the locals.

We’re probably in the wrong business sending out free weekly gossip emails. There’s a killing to be made if we sidestepped into celebrity real estate full-time.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen a real uptick in the number of famous people trying to flog their homes. This week, you have your pick of TV chef James Martin’s house, which is up for sale.
[See on OnTheMarket]

As is the old flat of BRIT award-winner Tom Odell.
[See on PrimeLocation]

FYI: If you’re a celebrity and want to sell your gaff, email us. Our prices are very competitive.

They might treat millennials with total disdain, but it seems that Martin Clarke – the MailOnline’s head honcho – is really getting into the lifestyle.

When he’s in the New York offices, Clarke has taken to secretly huffing on a Juul, the chichi vape contraption that looks like a USB flash drive. They’re currently unavailable in the UK because of their high nicotine content, but they’re all the rage in American high schools – inspiring a big panic about how the kids are all getting hooked on them.

Given that they come in a range of colours that look like they’re pulled straight from a Farrow & Ball chart, and feature such refined flavours as crème brûlée, mango and cool cucumber, maybe Martin will find he has more in common with the kids of today than he first thought?

Astonishingly, this doesn’t appear to be a Nathan Barley spoof
[Stare slack-jawed at Propela]

A bunch of waxy, slimy and otherwise gloopy things getting squished by hydraulics
[See on YouTube]

The lowdown on Shazzer from HQ Trivia
[Read on HuffPo]

Feeling peaky? Bit of a cough? It’s probably that heavy weekend… but just in case, don’t worry, you can write your will for free in 15 mins thanks to some clever Popbitch readers
[Write your Will for FREE at Beyond]

Did Paul Ryan fire the House chaplain for tax cut blasphemy?
[Read at Vanity Fair]

Want to be interviewed like an 80s pop star with old Smash Hits questions?
[Talk to the Smash Hits Bot]

Zuckerberg gets the bad lip sync treatment
[See on YouTube]

This month, the Popbitch Drinking Den was fuelled by 8o8 Whisky, with mixers from Peter Spanton. If you don’t know them, take a look here.
[8o8 Whisky]
[Peter Spanton]