That time Jason Priestley punched Harvey Weinstein in the face. A recollection from cartoon voice actor Tara Strong led to the Beverly Hills 90210 star bragging about a nonsensical confrontation at a 1995 Golden Globes party that ended with a fist to the face. (These anecdotes continue to emerge even as Weinstein is lawyering up in this city to fight a $14-million sexual assault lawsuit from an unnamed actress.) Priestley clarified that his ending up in Canadian TV wasn’t a result of being blacklisted.

“Intrigue Grips Toronto Elite After 2 Deaths.” A front page New York Times headline lands atop Catherine Porter’s report about the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman. Confirmed by police as the result of “ligature neck compression,” the case has been taken over by homicide investigators. TVO's Steve Paikin tweeted (but then deleted) rumours of a criminal investigation into the Shermans. Frank D’Angelo, who ended up in the brewery business with Barry, and more recently in show business, was among those paying a personal tribute.

One leader exploiting Star Wars is probably enough. Andrew Scheer shared a “Leader’s Schedule” for Friday, the day Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit theatres, showing his day's events crossed out after 4 p.m. so he could catch the flick. Replies were littered with Liberal supporters who figured it was a shitposting parody of Justin Trudeau’s itinerary. Scheer had to issue a clarification after someone accused him of mocking Trudeau's decision to take sick kids to a preview screening:

Fake News about Jagmeet Singh leads to some sketchy mea culpas. The Globe and Mail offered a print correction for a Brian Gable cartoon lampooning NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, although the work remains unmodified online. Tom Parkin picks apart the process, which involved two article revisions before error was admitted, as a case study in damaged democracy. (And now, enquiring minds can't get immediate confirmation about whether Singh was engaged or married over the weekend.)

Shit Account Tourney bracket is at risk of being rattled by the Twitter rapture. Enforcement of new anti-abuse rules, which will consider behaviour “on and off the platform,” now hovers over the “Excrement Eight” field in the contest for shittiest account of the year. Purged or not, British parliamentarian turned media provocateur Louise Mensch has advanced to the final four, following a close race with Mississauga prophet Stefan Molyneux.

Fashion Santa 3.0 has been shuffled out of view. Yorkdale seemed to have high hopes for the long-haired bougie replacement for last year’s young lumberjack replacement for the original Fashion Santa. That first santa, Paul Mason, ended up in a legal battle with the mall. Now, it appears there will be no subsequent Fashion Santas, because of a legal settlement that gives Mason the rights to the character. Mason explained the situation to TMZ, in possibly the longest airport ambush interview ever:

Liam falls down as Ontario’s top baby boy name. Benjamin is the new champ among registered provincial births in 2016, ranking alongside Olivia, which has been the biggest girl one since 2008. The province credits Netflix series The Crown for a more recent boost in royal names like Elizabeth, Margaret and Winston. Lincoln also made its first appearance in the top 20—perhaps a belated tribute to onetime lieutenant governor Lincoln Alexander, or maybe it’s just the influence of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard.

Word of the moment

PENNY-ROUNDING

A study from UBC is making the disputed claim that Canadian grocers are pocketing $3.27 million a year because of the discontinuation of the one-cent piece.




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