Friday Update: Gates Friendship With Epstein, Tom Arnold’s Drug Queenpin Sister, and Why Ellen DeGeneres Is Sleeping At Courtney Cox’s House

Uncomfortable Encounters

Bill Gates was friends with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein until his wife Melinda put the kibosh on their involvement after the couple visited his New York townhouse in September 2013. Gates had been paling around with the disgraced financier since 2011, visiting his Upper East Side residence three times and flying on his private jet dubbed “the Lolita express” at least once.  

Melinda reportedly was uncomfortable with Epstein and wanted nothing to do with him after the meeting, by 2014 the sex offender reportedly complained that Bill was shunning him. After his 2019 arrest, Gates said he “made a mistake” meeting with him and “wishes they never met.”

Mind Their Own Bee-siness

Liberal comedian Samantha Bee said conservatives were “fear-mongering” by introducing bills to bar biological men from women’s sports and child hormone treatment. 

“Let’s be real. Conservatives don’t actually care about this. They just want to politically profit from excluding trans people from yet another public space,” Bee commented. “At the end of the day, Republicans need to stop policing other people’s bodies, mind their own f***ing business, and let trans people live their lives.”

Scarface in a Skirt

Actor Tom Arnold’s little sister was making $200K a month, by pushing more than 10 pounds of crystal meth a week in the 1990’s during the height of his career. Discovery+’s new three-part docuseries “Queen of Meth,” depicts Lori Arnold’s rise as a drug queenpin and subsequent arrests that led to a fifteen-year prison stint.  “I’m just grateful she didn’t get murdered,” Tom commented.  

Just Friends

Ellen DeGeneres revealed why she’s been living in former “Friends” actress Courtney Cox’s home, and it’s not because of marital troubles with wife Portia de Rossi.  “I’m not living with Courteney Cox because I’m kicked out of my house,” she said. “We sold our house here in Beverly Hills and I needed a place to stay and you were kind enough to say, ‘Yes, stay at my house.’” Cox is currently living in London with her boyfriend.  

IRL

“The Wire” star Chris Canton thought he was going to die on a Baltimore street just like his character did on the HBO drama. “A shot rang out, and before I knew it I was blown up against a car,” he said. “I’m from [Baltimore], I love it … I’ll always embrace it. But something has to change.”

TLC Under Fire

Viewers are pressuring the TLC to cancel the series “Counting On,” after Josh Duggar’s arrest for possession of child pornography.  A Change.org petition is seeking the removal of the show in the belief that “The Duggar family should no longer have a platform.” According to the page, “This family should no longer be allowed to collect money from streaming services and television series. Enough is enough. Too many people have been harmed.”

Royal Watch

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are trying to keep the monarchy relevant with a newly launched YouTube channel. The inaugural 25-second video on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge channel features clips of their royal engagements and candid moments of the couple.  

Marie Finn