It's super-slow today, which is why I'm doing a non-story about Gwyneth Paltrow. I got on tip on my Twitter a few days ago that Gwyneth Paltrow was back in London, out-shining Kate Middleton with her grace and class and shiny hair. Gwyneth appeared on a BBC weekend show, Something for the Weekend, and she was apparently insufferable, like always. There was this minor story which came out of the interview:
Gwyneth Paltrow has put off pursuing a theatre role to focus on motherhood.
The Shakespeare In Love star longs to tackle a part on Broadway or in London’s West End but she has delayed her dream because of her commitment to daughter Apple, six, and five-year-old son Moses, her kids with rocker husband Chris Martin.
Speaking on U.K. TV show Something For The Weekend, she says, “Yes, I’d love to (appear in a musical theatre role). But not right now. My kids are still at that age where I want to be home for bedtime and on weekends and if you do a play you’re out when they’re home. So it doesn’t make sense now, but maybe, someday.”
I remember that before she had kids, Gwyneth did do a play in London (Proof, I believe), but I guess she's talking about musical theatre in this interview. But now we know - we can look forward to seeing Dame Goop on the stage when little Apple and Moses are teenagers, probably. In this same interview, Dame Goop also deigned to confirm that she will likely appear in both Iron Man 3, and The Avengers (which is like the "best of" all of the comic super-heroes). Gwyneth said: "I’ll probably be in Iron Man 3. I’ll possibly be very briefly in The Avengers. Maybe, we’ll see." If that's not enough, Gwyneth is also going to be making some appearances on this summer's Glee tour. Because she just has to be at home with her kids all the time! That's why she's everywhere lately. Look, I’m not judging, but she can’t have it both ways, can she? Miss Perfect “I Do Everything For My Children, Always” and “I’m so in demand, this book tour is so grueling!”
We’ve heard before that Italians are not keen on the show Jersey Shore filming on their shores. Italian pundits were up in arms when the news first broke that the show would film in their country. This full quote from an Italian journalist is worth revisiting “They embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized.” So it’s not surprising to hear that the mayor of Florence, Italy is trying to block permits for Jersey Shore to film at historic locations in his city, like the Uffizi gallery and Palazzo Vecchio. What’s more is that there’s a ban on filming the kids drinking alcohol at all. What are they going to do - blur it out?
TMZ reports that the show has delayed filming because the President of Italy is visiting Florence and that security is tight around his visit. I was going to say that Berlusconi can party with the best of them, but he’s the Prime Minister of Italy and they have a different President. It just goes to show how much I know about International politics. I think this is just a creative excuse for MTV and I would bet that it’s true that the mayor is doing everything he can to make filming difficult. Who would want their city associated with Jersey Shore? There are cities in Jersey that have turned them away too.
Benjamin Millepied is just as testy and surly with journalists as his baby-mama Natalie Portman. I will always say that if a celebrity wants their privacy, there are ways to go about it. If a celebrity wants to not answer a certain line of questioning, there are ways to avoid those questions, or simply not answer them in a polite, professional way. Journalists have a job too - they get paid to ask questions. Most journalists understand "Oh, please, I don't really want to discuss that. Next question, please." That's polite and professional. What's not polite and professional is throwing a hissy fit when a journalist deigns to ask you about the whole reason why you're famous: say, impregnating Natalie Portman. Such is the case with Benjamin.
Millepied was receiving some award a few days ago, and a reporter from the New York Times asked him a polite question about his baby-mama ("How's Natalie doing?" was the exact question). Instead of simply answering politely and vaguely, or even walking away, or just muttering something in French, Benjamin got butt-hurt and tried to have the NYT reporter bounced from the event. Ridiculous. The NYT piece is here, and here's the behind-the-scenes story:
Benjamin Millepied hasn’t helped dispel the stereotype that the French are rude. The future Mr. Natalie Portman had some in the media yearning nostalgically for “freedom fries” on Thursday night when he demanded that a correspondent for The New York Times’ Nocturnalist column be kicked out of a New York University fete after she innocently inquired about the state of his pregnant fiancée.
Although The Times noted the international incident briefly in Saturday’s paper, a source familiar with what happened tells us the New York City Ballet dancer’s behavior was even more boorish than the newspaper reported.
The 33-year-old Millepied — whose status in the city has risen appreciably since he paired off with Portman — was at New York University’s Kimmel Center where he received a “Medal of Honor” from NYU’s La Maison Francaise.
There, a source says Millepied “grew increasingly testy” with a petite reporter from The Times as she asked him a handful of softball questions related to the evening, his background and career.
Our insider says the reporter, who was not Nocturnalist columnist Sarah Maslin Nir, playfuly asked Millepied if he had done anything “armylike” to receive his award. She was riffing on the fact that in the U.S., the Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration bestowed by the government to brave American soldiers, not French ballet dancers.
But Millepied either did not get this or chose not to be amused.
“You’re being funny?” we’re told the Francophile “snarled” at the reporter, in a performance worthy of a Darren Aronofsky film.
The worst was yet to come. As Nir wrote in The Times, shortly after her reporter politely asked, “How’s Natalie doing?” “Mr. Millepied stormed off, oozing exquisite hauteur. The kind, we suspect, that can emanate only from a ballet divo engaged to a megastar.”
Although our source says reporters had not been warned in advance to refrain from asking about Portman, Nir wrote that shortly after Millepied stalked away, “we were told by the organizers that our inquiring after Ms. Portman’s health was ‘inappropriate’ and that Mr. Millepied wanted us out.”
“Later still, we were told we could stay if we didn’t report,” Nir continues. “We left.” Bravo.
Perhaps Millepied’s tights were in a twist because he remembered a February Times article in which Dance magazine Editor Wendy Perron noted that the Millepied’s work as a choreographer “has been very spotty” and that he was “the next tier” from the top in terms of his work.
Neither Nir, nor a rep for Millepied could be reached for comment by deadline.
Oh, for goodness sake. It kills me when celebrities act this way, and it's especially stupid when it's someone like Benjamin - you know, someone who is slightly famous in one particular area, to one specific group of people (the ballet world), who suddenly becomes a much bigger celebrity simply because of WHO HE IMPREGNATED. With that new-found fame, Benjamin got TONS of additional offers and work (including that twirling gig for YSL), so he just needs to suck it up and learn some professionalism instead of wandering around throwing fits like a butt-hurt baby. I should note something else too - this is not Benjamin's first tangle with the paper of record. The NYT tried to profile him several months ago, and he was a total dick to them then too.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Natalie Portman compared herself to Audrey Hepburn and suggested that she (Natalie) was thinking about leaving Hollywood: “Audrey made some good choices in life… More and more I realize how unimportant it is to be in the history books or anything like that. Putting time and energy into your children - that’s valuable.” If you want to leave, leave. Don't compare yourself to Audrey Hepburn as you're going, though.
This weekend was a roaring one at movie theaters, where Thor easily secured the #1 position with an estimated $66 million in U.S. ticket sales (with international sales boosting it to a total of $242 million), which qualifies it as a fairly successful “summer” movie. Between this film, the Iron Man franchise, and the inexplicably successful X-Men movies, Marvel Studios really has the box-office sewn up as far as comic-book adaptations go, while any viable D.C. Comics titles loom far off in the horizon with the Superman reboot and The Dark Knight Rises still in their pre-production phases. At any rate, Thor and his abdominal muscles pretty much killed it this weekend, and while I was pretty skeptical about a newcomer (or, at least, a virtually unknown actor) carrying a major studio tentpole, I will concede that an effective marketing blitz (and inflated 3D prices) really did the trick in boosting Thor to this point:
Reviews have been good, and British Kenneth Branagh’s direction and Aussie newcomer Chris Hemsworth in the title role of The Mighty Thor earned a 92% rating currently on Rotten Tomatoes. The good-looking Hemsworth allowed for heavy PR to drum up appeal among women with his shirtless clip a popular choice for talk shows with large female audiences who also were targeted with a Royal Wedding blitz. To solidify male appeal, Paramount had spots during the Super Bowl and NCAA Basketball, the UFC Marathon and UFC Fight Night Live Premiere. And, to appeal to the feeble-brained, Thor ads aired on the finale of Jersey Shore.
Thor launched in 1962 and has endured for almost half a century across comics, toys, animated series, and now a movie. Like Iron Man, Marvel thought Thor deserved to be made in its own right and lends a long history to The Avengers. (Aka Marvel’s Avengers Assemble strategy. Expect to see agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., previously seen in the Iron Man movies, foreshadowing the coming of The Avengers). The challenge for Paramount was to market a reverse superhero story: a hero becomes a man. “Our challenge was to emphasize what was unique about his character and define him for audiences,” a studio exec told me. So the TV ads reminded: “The world has many heroes but only one is a God.” This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard with the powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
Elsewhere, the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson homoerotic picture of the decade, Fast Five, held onto #2. Even though it’s springtime, the weekend’s two wedding-themed movies didn’t fare so well, with Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed (starring Kate Hudson and her nympho ways), scoring #3 with $13.7 million and #4 with $13.2 million, respectively speaking. Meanwhile, The Beaver opened in 22 theaters with only $104,000 total under its already dubious belt. In other words, it probably won’t be opening next weekend in your nearest multiplex, and now Jodie Foster has only herself to blame (and not race psychology) for wasting a $20 million budget on a movie about a guy who’s so depressed that he can only speak though a puppet. Hopefully, this also means she’ll stop praising Mel Gibson for awhile too.
Lady Gaga had a new interview with E! News this weekend. I don't even know what to say about Gaga at this point… I used to like her, but over the past year, the bitch has changed. Maybe it's because she's back with Luc, who is likely a bad influence on her. Maybe it's the idea that I have of her: that she's a terrible cokehead. Maybe it's that Gaga started believing her own hype, and she honestly thinks she's some incredibly original pop artist/messiah. I don't know. It's probably a combination of all of that, and then some. All I know is that I'm over her, and her first two singles off of Born This Way suck. Here's video of the interview, plus some E! transcribed highlights:
Gaga on "Judas": Gaga says it’s “essentially about me going back to an ex-boyfriend and still being in love with someone that betrayed me, someone that was bad for me. I try to write from a really honest place when I write pop music, and then carry the message of the song into a more deep and more symbolic visual. That’s really what the video is, the video is a metaphor for forgiveness, and for betrayal and darkness being one of the challenges in life as opposed to being a mistake. The name Judas is something that bears such an intense connotation. I often feel misunderstood, and I think my fans do. I think [the video] liberates the word in a lot of ways…takes it out of the negative and into the positive.”
On the music video for "Judas": It marks Gaga’s directorial debut with “sister” Laurieann Gibson, the pop star said it “came out even more incredible than I ever thought it would…it’s so beautiful, it’s like a fresco come to life.” And as for the final imagery in her video, well, she figured she may as well beat her critics to the punch: “I figured if I’m gonna get stoned for making this video, I’ll stone myself first.”
Gaga on her career: “In a lot of ways I’m really delusional about my success, and sometimes I feel like an underdog in so many ways,” she said. “My biggest fear is that I’ll die before I get all my ideas out. I have nightmares about it. I have recurring nightmares where I’m late, I’m late to turn something in.”
Gaga on where she’ll be in 10 years: “Maybe with a f–king rock on my finger and a baby. I don’t know. With a few more albums under my belt…I don’t so much think about 10 years from now as I do about 10 minutes from now. I could never explain to you the amazing life-changing experience that has been the last three years of my life. I was in New York City singing in bars, busting my ass and nobody believed in me. And all of a sudden I have to catch a plane to sing for 60,000 people in Guadalajara. I can’t even conceive of it.”
On her family: “My parents are pretty immune at this point to my performance art statements. My grandmother did call my father—because she’s blind…’Was [Gaga] wearing meat at the MTV Awards?’ I said, ‘Explain to grandma that it was a statement about equality.' She said that that was enough to her. It’s sacrilege to an Italian grandmother to wear prime rib…she doesn’t understand jerky. I’m like, it was cured!”
Gaga on her icon status: “I believe it takes a lot of time. The definition of iconography is repetition of imagery, I haven’t been around long enough yet. Give me at least 10 more years.”
Hahaha, my favorite part was, "Explain to grandma that it was a statement about equality." BITCH PLEASE. You wore a meat dress because you wanted to! Grandma is all "Dumbass."
As for "Judas" and how it's SO CONTROVERSIAL that THE POPE is going to condemn it and how IT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING FOREVER… when the video premiered last week, it elicited a collective "meh." The Catholic League (Bill Donahue, who will literally protest the drop of a hat) even made this statement: "In her "Judas" video, Lady Gaga plays fast and loose with Catholic iconography, and generates several untoward statements, but she typically dances on the line without going over it. Perhaps that is because the video is a mess. Incoherent, it leaves the viewer more perplexed than moved. The faux-baptismal scene is a curious inclusion, as is her apparent fondness for the Jesus character. But if anyone thinks the Catholic League is going to go ballistic over Lady Gaga's latest contribution, they haven't a clue about what really constitutes anti-Catholicism." Hahaha. Fake controversy.
Reese Witherspoon is just coming off her Internationalpresstour for Water for Elephants, and she was spotted with her family outside church yesterday wearing a soft cast on her left foot. The Daily Mail explains that these type of casts are used for ankle injuries, so it looks like Reese hurt her ankle somehow. We see her jogging outside a lot, and we could speculate that she tripped or somehow sprained her ankle while jogging, although it’s hard to tell.
Reese’s family was looking so smart and color-coordinated on Mother’s Day. Reese’s son Deacon, seven and a half, was adorable in his navy suit jacket, khaki pants and red tie. Her daughter Ava, 11, wore a navy fitted jacket with white slacks. Reese was in a light blue skirt with a blue and white striped short-sleeve blouse. Reese’s new husband, Jim Toth, was the most casually dressed in a navy polo shirt with khaki pants. Do you think Reese dresses him too?
I wonder how everyone ended up wearing the same color palette. I know when I get my son dressed I’ll sometimes pick out the same color shirt as I’m wearing and it’s like I do it almost subconsciously. Then my husband might put on a similar-colored shirt and we’ll go out like that all matchy-matchy. When you add in a couple of more people it seems more deliberate, though. It’s like they all match Reese’s leg brace. I can imagine Reese telling Jim, “wear that shirt, honey” although she would have picked out a button-down shirt for him for church. Still, this is an improvement over what he’s worn to church in the past. (Remember the shirt with the embroidered eagles paired with jeans and a trucker cap?)
Much like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry's style influences become apparent very quickly. Katy seems to mostly jack from Betty Page and Dita Von Teese, then add a dash of Japanese cartoons. Now, I'm not really claiming that Dita Von Teese is the first person in modern fashion history to ever do this vintagey-pinup thing, but Dita does it really, really well, she's super-committed to the look, and she's actually a student of the 1940s-1950s fashion era, to the point where she's likely an expert at this point. Anyway, Page Six has an interesting story about people calling Katy out on her blatant theft of Dita's look, in general and specifically on the cover of Vanity Fair:
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery — but Katy Perry’s new Vanity Fair cover appears to be an almost exact copy of a 2008 Dita von Teese pose.
Perry’s provocative pose on the cover of the June issue, shot by famed photographer Annie Liebovitz and styled by the magazine’s fashion and style director Jessica Diehl, has sparked whispers that the pop star is ripping off burlesque star von Teese’s style. Perry is also quoted in the magazine as saying: “I looked into what was out there and I didn’t see anyone like me . . . my style, my opinion.”
Yes, apart from von Teese’s almost identical pose, hair and outfit at a 2008 Wonderbra Lingerie Collection launch in London. Photos can still be seen on fan Web sites for the sultry star.
A source said: “Images in this shoot appear to be a direct homage to Dita von Teese. It is surprising that Katy claims to be such an original in the interview.”
Von Teese herself appears to take the imitation as flattery. She told us at the party she hosted at Los Feliz to launch her Cointreau cocktail: “People have always copied my style. I used to have friends who would dye their hair exactly the same shade as mine. I see it as a compliment.” Of Perry, she added: “Katy and I are friends. She comes to a lot of my shows, but she [recently] came backstage and said: ‘I am taking all of this (gesturing at her hair and costume).’ ”
This isn’t the first time Liebovitz has been accused of borrowing iconic images for inspiration. Her 2008 Vogue cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen was said to be an homage to a World War I Army recruitment poster. Liebovitz argued she hadn’t seen the poster.
Reps for Vanity Fair and Perry didn’t get back to us. Leibovitz responded: “I’d never seen the Wonderbra ad. Katy’s is a classic pose as old as the hills.”
I went back and found the old 2008 images of Dita, and while I wouldn't say Katy and Annie Liebovtiz jacked the entire look and style, the similarities are certainly striking, especially when you're looking at hair, makeup and the color of the bustier.
It also sounds like Dita's not offended - but that she wants to make sure that people know Katy is copying her. Dita is so classy. I love her so much.
These are some photos from a dinner for Karl Lagerfeld, held in Paris last night. Several of Lagerfeld's girls came out to support him. Of course, there was Blake Lively, the newest (budget, cheap, mall girl) face of Chanel Mademoiselle handbags, as you may remember. Karl Lagerfeld has made Blake his special project - ever since signing her to the Chanel ad campaign, Blake has done several events with Lagerfeld, and has worn several Chanel dresses to prominent events (like the Met Gala). Even though the consensus around the majority of fashion people seems to be that Blake is a budget mall girl, Lagerfeld (and Anna Wintour) keep pushing Blake in our faces. As for Blake's Chanel dress - well, when I first saw it, I thought she was just wearing a pom-pom, and that seemed right to me. Blake Lively: Making Couture Look Like Pom-Pom Dresses Since 2007.
Vanessa Paradis was also at the dinner, looking prettier than I've seen her in a while - she doesn't look so sickly here, right? She looks healthy, like she's eaten a few meals and gotten some sun.
And then there's Rachel Bilson, trying desperately to be a Fashion Girl, trying desperately to have any kind of relevancy. Karl selected Rachel to star in the commercials he directed for Magnum ice cream. So, Karl gave Rachel a job. So she's indebted to him. I wonder if made her wear that hat just to amuse himself.
These are some new photos of Prince Harry, looking good enough to eat in Berkshire, England. He was photographed sauntering around in some loose chinos and a haphazardly buttoned blue shirt (swoon) and then in his polo gear. Hot. In the aftermath of the wedding, everyone is now focused on the royal wedding game for Harry. Who will he choose? Will he settle down any time soon? Will he throw Chelsy Davy overboard, realizing there are better (or simply "less busted") fish in the sea? Well, The Mail's Katie Nicholl had an interesting story about a week ago - Nicholl is the one journalist who consistently got the best "scoops" on Kate Middleton, mind you, so she's got some good sources. Anyway, her scoop is that Chelsy has no interest in royal life, and Chelsy is the one more likely to throw Harry over. Oh, and I think Harry keeps drunkenly proposing to Chelsy?
Chelsy Davy may have been back with Prince Harry for the big day – but there is no Royal Wedding on the horizon for them. Zimbabwean-born Chelsy, 26, returned to the UK from South Africa for the wedding and is said to be giving her on-off relationship with Harry another chance. But she has told friends: 'There's no way we are getting married. It's not a life for me.'
Prince Harry invited Chelsy to the wedding as his 'plus one', and he has told friends he wants to make their five-year relationship work. But she is putting her job first – she starts work as a trainee solicitor at London law firm Allen & Overy in September. A friend says: 'Chelsy and Harry are back together and it was very significant that she was his plus one for the day. Harry adores Chelsy and really wants things to work. He has brought up marriage in the past – usually when he's drunk – but Chelsy's the one to quickly play it all down. She has watched what Kate has gone through and how much she has had to sacrifice, and says it's not for her. Chelsy thought the wedding was wonderful and she had a ball, but there's no way marriage is on the cards for her. She wants her freedom and to start a career. That's her focus at the moment, she and Harry are going to see how things go.'
Chelsy was invited to Friday's wedding reception, wedding breakfast and evening dinner where she was seated at the top table with Prince Harry. At the all-night disco at Buckingham Palace, she and the Prince spent much of the night dancing together. When they finally left at three in the morning, Chelsy accompanied Harry to the Goring Hotel to continue the party.
'They were all over each other and Harry went back to Chelsy's flat before sneaking out and going home. They were very much an item, but who knows what will happen now,' says a source. 'They have a very turbulent relationship.'
While Chelsy prepares to start work, Prince Harry has another eight months at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk, where he is training to be an Apache helicopter pilot.
'Harry's got to get his head down so he completes his training but he is much happier with Chelsy moving back to London,' the source said. 'She wants to make it work – she has missed Haz – but the truth is she really doesn't like the attention that comes with dating a prince.'
So, basically, Chelsy is in the game for now, and she and Harry have some kind of crazy connection and he's totally besotted with her, but she never wants to marry him, and she doesn’t take his drunken proposals seriously. Chelsy could be Harry's "Camilla" - the lover he keeps coming back to, over and over throughout the years. I really hope he doesn't do that, though. I hope that at some point in the near future, both of them realize that they really do not have a future together, and they both move on.
More photos from the polo game, including a gorgeous one of Harry playing with a dog! Sigh… I love him.
After a lot of speculation, Paula Abdul has joined Simon Cowell’s X Factor as a fellow judge. Accompanying her on the panel will be Cowell, British singer Cheryl Cole and American music producer Antonio “L.A.” Reid. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and British TV presenter Steve Jones will co-host the show, which premieres in September and just started filming on Sunday, with Paula there.
The ‘X Factor’ judging panel is complete, with the final chair to be filled by Paula Abdul, who just closed the deal in last-minute negotiations, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Abdul will take her seat alongside Simon Cowell, reuniting the former ‘Idol’ stars once again. Cheryl Cole and Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid have already been named as the other ‘X Factor’ judges.
Meanwhile, Pussycat Doll and former ‘Dancing With the Stars’ champ Nicole Scherzinger has been hired to host the U.S. talent competition when it premieres on Fox in September.
But Scherzinger will have a co-host, according to EW.com: Steve Jones, British TV personality. Jones, 34, is a Welsh-born former model and a virtual unknown in the U.S. (Of course, Ryan Seacrest was largely unknown when he was tapped to emcee ‘American Idol,’ and the gig seems to have worked out for him!) Jones reportedly was down to the wire competing for the ‘X Factor’ job against ‘High School Musical’ star Corbin Bleu.
Scherzinger, 32, wowed producers when she was a guest judge on a recent episode of the ‘X Factor’ in the U.K., where she also released a hit single this year, ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath.’
Abdul, 48, reportedly hammered out her new contract just in the nick of time: The judging rounds of ‘X Factor’ begin taping in Los Angeles today. [Sunday]
Well Paula will certainly make things more interesting, if not harder to understand. Cowell needed a big name to join him on the panel and while Reid and Cole are both famous they don’t have Paula’s name recognition. I like her and find her very sweet, but she’s definitely loopy as hell. She’s a fun sidekick for Simon though and he’ll be recreating the most interesting judge dynamic from Idol by having her join him on X Factor. Idol producers really screwed up the panel by bringing in Kara DioGuardi in 2009 and kind of forcing Paula out. I kind of understand why they did it though. She can’t be easy to work with.
These photos are from outside the X Factor taping on 5/8/11. I find them kind of mesmerizing and I love Paula’s goofy purple dress and shoes. They’re perfect for her. Credit: WENN.com
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