Cele|bitchy

Daniel Radcliffe in character as a young Allen Ginsberg: does he pull it off?
Sean Penn is a d-bag most of the time, but he did one nice thing one time
Jessica Simpson is gross: “Apparently, I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so…”
Kirk Cameron on the backlash to his anti-gay remarks, it was “inappropriate, insensitive”
Demi Moore is photoshopped into a 20 year-old model in her new ads (update)
Beyonce shows off her postpartum weight loss in blue Victoria Beckham: lovely?
Jennifer Aniston claims she only spends $200 a month on her beauty treatments
Richard Gere on ‘Pretty Woman’: “I’ve forgotten it, that was a silly romantic comedy”
Elle Macpherson: “My face looks like the face I have, very natural”
Oprah and Rosie O’Donnell are bitchfighting over Rosie’s cancelled show

Daniel Radcliffe in character as a young Allen Ginsberg: does he pull it off?

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 08:54 AM PDT

These are some new photos of Daniel Radcliffe in character on the set of his new film, Kill Your Darlings. The film's premise: "A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs." DanRad is playing the young Allen Ginsberg, Ben Foster is playing the young William S. Burroughs, and Jack Houston is playing Jack Kerouac. I'm also including a photo of Michael C. Hall in character as David Kammerer, an older man who followed and stalked Lucien Carr (allegedly). When Kammerer came on to Lucien Carr after a night of heavy drinking, Carr stabbed him and pushed his body into the Hudson. That's seriously the plot of the movie! It's about the murder and then Lucien Carr's murder trial. Weird.

Anyway, DanRad is playing Ginsberg. Here's what Ginsberg looked like when he was young:

Like a young Jeff Goldblum, basically. And I don't think Ginsberg was as short as DanRad, but there's nothing that can be done about that. So… what are your thoughts on the pale Englishman playing the famous American poet? It's not terrible. DanRad is almost always adorable, and you really have to work to make him look like hell. Add to that the 1940s costumes, and I'd hit it. I'd hit it if DanRad wasn't in character as a gay man, I guess. I guess the better question would be – can Daniel pull off this kind of character? Can he sustain an American accent? Does he have the necessary depth to portray the author of "Howl" (before he wrote "Howl")?

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

Sean Penn is a d-bag most of the time, but he did one nice thing one time

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 08:18 AM PDT

These photos are of Sean Penn last week in Argentina. WENN notes that Penn is "visiting the Casa Rosada"!!!!! Did anyone get a little jump? Who out there loves Evita? On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada?!?! Sigh… Sean Penn wishes he could pull an Evita Peron. Anyway, Sean was in Argentina because he hates the United Kingdom and their colonialism and Prince William specifically, I think. Penn went to Argentina to advocate for the return of the Falkland Islands to Argentina. This really happened:

Sean Penn has waded into the debate over the Falkland Islands by backing Argentina and accusing the British government of “ridiculous colonialism”. The outspoken Oscar-winner met with Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner in Buenos Aires to offer his support in the sovereignty dispute.

Using the South Atlantic islands’ Spanish name, he urged British officials to enter into negotiations with Argentina as the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War approaches.

He says, “I know I came at a very sensitive moment in terms of diplomacy between Argentina and the U.K. over the Malvinas. I hope that diplomats can establish true dialogue in order to solve the conflict. The world today cannot tolerate ridiculous demonstrations of colonialism. The way of dialogue is the only way to achieve a better solution for both nations… It’s necessary that these diplomatic talks happen between the United Kingdom and Argentina. I think that the world today is not going to tolerate any kind of ludicrous and archaic commitment to colonialist ideology.”

Both countries’ governments claim responsibility for the Falkland Islands.

[Via WENN]

So, as you can imagine, a lot of British people hate Sean Penn now. And Prince William – who is currently training in the Falklands – probably isn't pleased. Do I need to talk about this any further? Eh. Sure, Penn has a point about colonialism (which we as Americans are not innocent of either), but why did Sean Penn even wade into this debate? He's not affiliated with any organization (except for the Haitian charity he started), and his only political agenda is his own personal one. I don't understand why we needed to hear Sean Penn's thoughts on this or any subject.

In other Sean Penn news, he's not always a d-bag:

He may have a reputation as one of the most ornery actors in Hollywood, but Sean Penn also has a major soft (and generous) side, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

The ex-Mr. Madonna bad boy showed off that deep down he’s actually a nice guy after generously footing the medical bill for a wounded war veteran — to the tune of $15,000!

An eyewitness tells RadarOnline.com that Penn had a dinner party at his pad recently and one of his friends brought an Iraqi war veteran as her date. Long after the dinner and dessert was served, Penn got into a discussion with the guy who mentioned that he was drowning in medical bills incurred from injuries he got during the war.

"Sean really took an interest in this guy and was hanging on his every word. He became the guest of honor, really,” the source says.

The soldier shared that during his tour, he had suffered a broken tailbone, two broken ankles and problems with his eyesight, and claimed he was still suffering the aftermath of his injuries. Penn asked him how much money he owed in medical expenses, and the soldier estimated around $15,000.

The Oscar winning actor excused himself and left the room. He returned minutes later with a signed check — for $15,000!

"The guy was in total shock! He didn't know what to say and he started to tear up. He felt awkward accepting it and tried to give it back to Sean, but Sean refused,” the source tells RadarOnline.com. “He actually went out of his way to make sure the guy felt comfortable accepting it. It was really sweet!"

[From Radar]

Okay, that's nice. I wonder if someone working for Sean put this out there, or if it was really just someone at the dinner? I'm asking if Sean is actually engaging in trying to give himself a softer public image, or if he's just a guy who did a nice, decent thing and really didn't expect to get any recognition from it. I'm assuming the latter. Because I think Sean Penn likes that we think he's a d-bag. Because he is most of the time.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Jessica Simpson is gross: “Apparently, I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so…”

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 07:38 AM PDT

When I first read Jessica Simpson's quote about her amniotic fluid, I swear I actually dry-heaved. Dear God… is she trying to be the grossest woman alive? Is that her thing? Because she might achieve it. Like, I don't mind that she talks about burping and farting. Whatever, it's kind of gross and silly, but I get that Jessica is all about burping and farting. Then she upped the ante with the confession that she rarely brushes her teeth – gross. Since we're now faced with Preggo Jess, the TMI has just gotten overkill. While I found her "Swamp Ass" sweating story kind of charming, she quickly killed the charm by suffocating it with her enormous breasts. She started talking about her pregnant sex life and what it's going to be like for her in the delivery room… I just can't. If you have a weak stomach or a strong psychological gag reflex, don't read this story:

Though her extra large baby bump may indicate otherwise, Jessica Simpson still has about four weeks to go before she gives birth.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! Monday, the pregnant 31-year-old said she’s growing tired of her pregnancy curves. “I feel I have a bowling ball sitting on my hoohah!”

Simpson laughed. “Apparently I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so whenever my water breaks it will be like a fire hydrant!”

Simpson isn’t nervous about going into labor, though. “I’m ready to push!” she told host Jimmy Kimmel, 44.

Though Simpson and fiance Eric Johnson, 32, have temporarily put wedding plans on hold, the former NFL player “feels like my husband already,” the singer said. “We are just doing it a little bit backwards.”

The Fashion Star mentor appeared on the talk show just one day after her star-studded baby shower. “It was a Charlotte’s Web thing. We had a whole fair,” the Texas native said. “We had fried Oreos!”

Guests included mom Tina, sister Ashlee, and actresses Jessica Alba and Odette Annable. “Jessica received tons of gifts mostly wrapped in pink gift wrap and boxes,” a source tells Us Weekly. “There were several books, stuffed toys and clothes among other items.”

[From Us Weekly]

And she's not even due for another four weeks or so. GAH! It was the amniotic thing that gave my stomach a turn this morning, but Bedhead was more disturbed by the reference to fried Oreos. Which, granted, sound disgusting too. I don't want to get all Gisele on Jessica (heaven forbid), but I think Jessica is going to be in for a very rude awakening when she finally figures out how little the baby weighs and how much of her "baby weight" is actually fried Oreos and slutty brownies and Doritos and ham.

Here's video of Jessica on Jimmy Kimmel:

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Kirk Cameron on the backlash to his anti-gay remarks, it was “inappropriate, insensitive”

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 07:27 AM PDT

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have a friend who went to see Kirk Cameron speak over the weekend at a Christian marriage event in Virginia. (It was not me. You could not pay me to do that.) She said that Cameron made some jokes about his Mike Seaver past, but that he didn’t say anything about gay people at all. She also added that there were protesters outside, which warmed my heart. (I found this article about it also.)

Anyway Kirk is promoting his documentary-style movie, Monumental, which basically proposes that the solution to all of America’s problems is to no longer separate church and state. (I honestly smacked my head after writing that.) As part of that, he’s got to eat crow a little for his earlier statements against homosexuality. As I said in my last story on this, I have no problem with a “hate the sin, love the sinner” approach to gay people. For people who think homosexuality is a sin, it’s cool if they say they don’t agree with being gay but that they have gay friends and love them dearly or whatever. That’s not what Kirk said. He called being gay “unnatural… detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.” Then later he defended himself by claiming that he’d been “slandered” and “accused of hate speech,” but he didn’t take back anything he said.

In a new interview with The Today Show, Kirk tried to go with the “hate the sin, love the sinner” tactic, since his last approach didn’t really work for him. He also claimed that he was taken out of context and called it “inappropriate and insensitive” to take him at his word.

“I was surprised, frankly, that people were surprised by the things that I’ve said,” he explained. “I have been consistent for 15 years as a Christian. I’m a Bible-believing Christian. What I would have thought was more newsworthy is if I had said something that contradicted the word of God, if I had contradicted my faith.”

So, given his comments, does Cameron, who had also come on the show to discuss his new documentary “Monumental,” actually hate gay people?

Absolutely not,” he said. “I love all people, I hate no one. … When you take a subject and reduce it to something like a four-second soundbite and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that’s inappropriate and insensitive. … To edit it down to that, it certainly didn’t reflect my full heart on the matter.”

Cameron feels that his opinions shouldn’t be interpreted as a trigger for bullying or violence against homosexuals.

“Nobody should mistreat anybody,” he said. “We all have our convictions formed by different things and mine are informed by my faith. They’re formed by the word of God, and I found that to be an anchor for me, a compass and a guide for me. When people start bullying one another and calling each other names for those different convictions, then I think you get into problems.”

[From The Today Show]

As I said before, I read his entire transcript on The Piers Morgan show where he made those original remarks. (And I just re-read them too.) He didn’t say he loved and/or respected everyone, including gay people. He wasn’t taken out of context, he went on at length about his point. His follow-up statement was more of the same. He’s being defensive about this because he has to. At least he’s paying lip service to not mistreating people or bullying them. In Kirk’s mind, he’s the one being persecuted, not the other way around.

Demi Moore is photoshopped into a 20 year-old model in her new ads (update)

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 06:32 AM PDT

When I look at print advertisements I’m often struck by how much the models’ faces are Photoshopped so that they vaguely look like celebrities. The faces end up looking so fake that it’s like they’re using interchangeable parts. Sometimes I question why they even need to use real women at all. At some point in the not-so-distant future, women’s faces in ads will be entirely computer-generated. In the mean time we have celebrities airbrushed beyond recognition, and models looking the same. Their faces are so dewy and smooth it’s like they come from the same alien planet, where humans were genetically engineered with reptilian skin and the perfect ratio of eyes, nose and mouth.

But I digress, this is about “Demi Moore’s” ads for Helena Rubenstein, which are causing a stink due to how unlike Demi Moore they look. (Update: earlier ads came out two years ago, but these are new. I was originally reporting this based on the images on E!, although different ads are available at The Mirror and on Jezebel.) Here’s E!’s report on it:

Before you get defensive, we’re happy to see Demi Moore back to work, and she is beautiful. We know that, you know that, everybody knows that, and that’s why we ask this question.

The star’s latest ads for Helena Rubinstein’s 2012 campaign have been released, and all we can focus our attention on is the massive amount of Photoshopping going on.

Let’s see, there’s absolutely no wrinkles or facial lines whatsoever, her nose and chin seem a different shape and suddenly, her tan has vanished. Yes, people always notice these things.

We understand that all ads and widely distributed photos get some retouching done, it’s part of the biz, but it’s freakin’ Demi Moore. How much do you really have to fix?

[From E! Online]

Remember when Demi Moore got all up in arms over a photographer who claimed she was Photoshopped on the cover of W Magazine, because that was clearly someone else’s body? (Which she subsequently tried to obtain with a diet of Red Bull and ADHD drugs?) Well there’s not much she can say about these images, except for claiming that they used another model and just messed with her face so that she ended up looking like Demi.

In related Demi news, Star is reporting that she’s jealous of her daughter Rumer for still being friendly with her ex Ashton Kutcher. A source is quoted who says Demi “is not at all happy that they’re hanging out. It’s disrespectful and is not helping her recovery… it’s salt in the wound after everything that happened. Demi should be focusing on her recovery, and this is a completely unnecessary distraction.” I hope this isn’t true at all, but given all we’ve heard about how Demi is still fixated on Ashton, I can believe it.

Beyonce shows off her postpartum weight loss in blue Victoria Beckham: lovely?

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 05:41 AM PDT

Last night, Beyonce and Jay-Z went to a fundraiser hosted by Michelle Obama in New York. And then Bey and Jay went to Nobu. These are the photos from those outings. Before we start with all of the controversial stuff, I'd just like to say that I really, really like Beyonce's dress. It's Victoria Beckham! Bey in VB? Who would have thought? I can't believe that one of Posh's dresses looks so good on a woman with curves. And yes, Beyonce is doing all-blue as some kind of ode to Blue Ivy.

As for the controversial stuff and whether or not Beyonce is still carrying baby weight or if she ever really had "baby weight"… discuss. I think she looks pretty much the same as before. In some of the photo ops with Beyonce just after Blue Ivy was born, I thought Beyonce did look a bit "thicker". But I'm still not positive that the slight weight gain was evidence of a postpartum body, or if Bey had simply gone without a trainer for several months. But at this point, her body looks exactly the same to me. I'm sure she's double or triple-Spanx-ing it, for what that's worth.

Incidentally, Page Six reported yesterday that Jay-Z was negotiating Beyonce's next world tour, which may start this year. While I haven't seen that confirmed, Beyonce did announce that she's going to be doing three shows on Memorial Day weekend, in May.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Jennifer Aniston claims she only spends $200 a month on her beauty treatments

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:34 AM PDT

Last week, we covered a story from The Daily Mail, all about how much money Jennifer Aniston allegedly spends on beauty treatments. Personally, I wasn't really judging her for the (fake-sounding) story. If I had Aniston's money, I would be spending thousands of dollars on beauty treatments, massages, facials, spas, etc. Which is basically what The Mail claimed – that Aniston shells out about $8000 a month on all of her beauty stuff. But People Magazine caught up with Aniston, and she totally denied it:

What's the cost of beauty?

For Jennifer Aniston, it's a whole lot less than you may have heard.

The Wanderlust star tells PEOPLE she can only laugh about reports sweeping the Internet that she runs up an $8,000-a-month tab for her beauty regime.

"Although I am a sucker for an amazing moisturizer, love a great facial, have been using the same cleansing bar since I was a teenager and have always been a dedicated tooth-brusher, reports that I am spending eight thousand a month on a beauty regime are greatly exaggerated," she says.

So what's the true total? "By my tally," she shares, "this month I'm in for about two hundred bucks."

[From People]

Only $200? Rachel Green, please. This has me convinced that she actually is shelling out a ton of money in beauty treatments. For God's sake, her hair stylist, Chris McMillian is ON CALL 24-7 for her. The studios often foot the bill so her hair guy can travel with her when she's promoting her films overseas, at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars a week. Beyond THE HAIR, I'm guessing she does spend a lot on skincare, yoga, personal trainers, etc. Why does she feel the need to lie about it?

Also: how much to you love/hate that Aniston actually granted a personal denial about this story? She and her spokesman won't deign to go on the record about any number of damaging or negative stories (like the whole "retard" debacle), but when it comes to something as superficial as how much money she spends on her beauty treatments, Aniston is front and center with a denial! Weird.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Richard Gere on ‘Pretty Woman’: “I’ve forgotten it, that was a silly romantic comedy”

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:25 AM PDT

Richard Gere is a Buddhist and a staunch advocate for democracy in Tibet and Burma (Myanmar). He is a serious dude, bordering at times on humorless. But back in day, Richard Gere was hot stuff. He was one of the sexiest men of the 1980s and early 1990s, and he did a slew of movies of varying quality. If asked to list their favorite Richard Gere film, I think most women would probably name Pretty Woman. Right? I would list Chicago (I loved him in that!) and Primal Fear (that movie holds up), but Pretty Woman would make my top three Gere films. I can't help it – whenever it's on TV, I watch it. I had a VHS tape of it, and I don't even know how many times I watched it. It's one of the most well-done romantic-comedies ever, and let's face it: Julia Roberts and Richard Gere were really wonderful together. It's a modern classic. Go ahead and yell at me, but can you really argue that Pretty Woman is – to this day! – not one of the most watchable and entertaining rom-coms ever?

… Well, Richard Gere doesn't think so. It sounds like he kind of hates his most classic film. In a new interview, he even blames the film for glamorizing Wall Street types. Ugh.

He won millions of fans due he role as Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman. But in an astonishing new interview, Richard Gere has blasted the movie, arguably the most famous of his career, labelling it a ‘silly romcom’.

The 62-year-old actor added to Australian magazine Woman’s Day magazine that he believes his character in the film even helped trigger the worldwide economic meltdown.

Speaking to Woman’s Day magazine, he said: ‘People ask me about that movie but I’ve forgotten it. That was a silly romantic comedy.’

He also says the character he played in the movie, Edward Lewis, glorified brash Wall St financiers.

Gere added: ‘It made those guys seem dashing, which was wrong. Thankfully, today, we are all more skeptical of those guys.’

In the outspoken interview, Gere also appears to dismiss the relationships he had with the likes of Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman and Priscilla Presley more than 20 years ago.

He said: ‘In the 1980s, relationships were all about status.’

But Gere has found true love with Carey Lowell, 51, his partner of 15 years and mother of their 12-year-old son, Homer James.

He said: ‘She has given me a very clear conscience of what is right and wrong. I would rather be loved than have money and all that other stuff. I know now that I would rather have something that is true, something that is based on real love.’

Promoting his new movie, the financial drama Arbitrage, he added: ‘This is a much more serious move that has some real cause and effect.’

[From The Mail]

Sure, it was "silly". But hearing Gere disparage one of his most celebrated films is like… I don't know… like hearing Jack Lemmon say that Some Like It Hot wasn't any big deal. Or hearing Ralph Fiennes say The English Patient was just some dumb World War II movie. Why can't Gere just let his fans have their little joys? And if Gere really feels that way, I hope he didn't keep the paychecks he got for Pretty Woman… and Runaway Bride… and all of the other "silly" movies he was somehow forced to do.

Oh, and it never occurred to me that Pretty Woman might glorify Wall Streeters. I think Pretty Woman stands up because it was one of the few films that explores businessmen's fascination with hookers.

Archive images from 'Pretty Woman' – additional pic by WENN.

Elle Macpherson: “My face looks like the face I have, very natural”

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:18 AM PDT

Why is it when a celebrity’s Botox wears off that they feel the need to declare how “natural” they are? That seems to be the case for Elle Macpherson, who admits to having tried everything, but claims she’s “very natural” and hasn’t had plastic surgery. She’s kind of dancing around the issue, but I get it – her Botox has worn off and she’s not getting a follow-up dose and so that’s “natural” to her. In her circle of friends, it probably is natural. I was ready to call B.S. on this story that Elle hasn’t had plastic surgery, but then I looked up old photos of Elle and she does look almost exactly the same as she did 10 years ago! I think she had some injectables and she’s not denying it, but I buy that she’s all-natural otherwise. She’s a supermodel, after all. Here’s what she told The Sun, which offers no context for these quotes as is standard for them, but at least we know they didn’t get them off a tapped phone conversation:

VETERAN supermodel Elle Macpherson has insisted she never had a boob job — or any kind of plastic surgery.

Aussie beauty Elle, 47, nicknamed The Body, said: “I’m a 34C, absolutely natural.

“The face looks like the face I have, very natural.

“Not falling into the plastic surgery thing is my trick.”

Elle admitted experimenting with Botox in the past.

But she said: “It didn’t really work for me. I tried a bit of everything. You name it, I’ve tried it. This is as about as natural as you can get.”

[From The Sun]

She’s 47? I would have put her at an amazing-looking 42. I just looked her up and she turns 48 at the end of this month! Whatever she’s doing it looks good, but I don’t buy that she looks “very natural.” Maybe that’s just because she started out looking ethereal and she’s continuing to highlight her best assets with makeup. For instance here she has a lot of highlighter under her eyes. Her forehead looks Botoxy to me, but that’s not “plastic surgery” per se. Maybe she also gets peels and laser treatments. I do buy that her boobs are real. Some women are just lucky that way.

It’s possible that Elle gave these quotes to People Magazine. They have a new bikini photoshoot with her, and while you may think that her incredibly banging body is the product of some Photoshop, they have a video online that shows that she really looks that great. It also shows that only her mouth moves when she talks. Just sayin’.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Oprah and Rosie O’Donnell are bitchfighting over Rosie’s cancelled show

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 04:15 AM PDT

Yesterday, we briefly mentioned that Oprah had unceremoniously yanked Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show from the OWN network after six months of disappointing ratings. Originally, Rosie and Oprah had signed a deal with the hope that Rosie could help save Oprah’s (clearly dying) network, but it just didn’t work out that way. Certainly, it didn’t help that the show had a small budget and was based in Chicago (where Rosie relocated), and most celebrities weren’t willing to fly in just for an interview while reportedly being asked to travel in coach class. Matters were made worse when Rosie’s show premiered to lackluster ratings that only grew worse after several format changes that started out as an hour-long comedy format with a live audience and ended up as a closed-studio, interview only show that featured the likes of a bunch of C-listers like Kat Von D., Jaleel White, and Dance Moms, not to mention Chelsea Hander and her neverending stream of little people jokes.

Furthermore, Rosie herself seemed to clash with most if not all of Oprah’s former staff, who Rosie took over as part of the deal along with Oprah’s old studio. Soon, Rosie fired Winfrey’s longtime stage manager, clashed with Winfrey’s former director, and humiliated her bandleader because he wasn’t able “play obscure Broadway songs off the cuff right when she named them on live TV.” Here are some more details that are excerpted from The Daily Beast’s discussions with several jilted staffers:

Through all the changes, some 30 employees from producers to writers had left because of budget cuts and possibly because of a boss who couldn’t decide what she wanted and frequently humiliated them in public. “It was such a f#*king hellhole,” says one former staffer.

What went wrong? Multiple insiders interviewed for this story say that both Ro and O are to blame; the network never fit O’Donnell, and O’Donnell wasn't able to make the splash she was supposed to. At first, the new Rosie Show was a lot like the old Rosie O’Donnell Show, which is to say it featured the Rosie that America used to love. Rosie cracked jokes with her live audience and belted out Broadway numbers. She ended each episode with a game show that paired her celebrity guests (Roseanne, Sharon Osbourne, Valerie Harper, etc.) with regular people. The critics–those who could find OWN on their TV dials–offered a smattering of raves.

OWN wasn’t so sure, however. The premiere debuted with only 497,000 viewers, and by the end of the first week, Rosie had tumbled to less than half that audience. One issue was the time slot. OWN wouldn’t air Rosie during the day, because it didn’t have any original daytime programming. That also meant most of Rosie’s core demographic–soccer moms–would be eating dinner during its airtime.

O’Donnell was confused, too. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be and was losing confidence in the funny material that once made her great. She started spinning in different directions (should she be more political?) and frequently lost her temper, according to staff members.

There was another tricky problem. Market research had indicated that even the show’s gay-friendly audience was tiring of all the gay references and hearing O’Donnell talk about being a lesbian, but O’Donnell disregarded that critique. On a recent Friday night, she advertised on Twitter that she was doing a special where she talked about being gay in America. The show ended up being an interview with Randy Roberts Potts, the grandson of televangelist Oral Roberts, and it featured clips of Rosie talking to her staff about coming out. During another episode, she implied on TV that one of the younger staff members was gay, when he had never talked about his sexual orientation. The incident left him upset and embarrassed.

When O’Donnell returned from Christmas, she ordered that her staff build her a new set. She wanted a smaller, more intimate talk show. A few episodes later, she completely removed the audience. She traded down for a tiny side studio, with no band and no announcer. Without an audience, O’Donnell looked and sounded deflated. Although early test research indicated that O’Donnell didn’t rate well when she spent too much time interviewing celebrities, the new format had that as the focus. O’Donnell spent nearly an hour grilling the character actor Dermot Mulroney about his life, his childhood, his marriage, and fame. If the interview weren’t tedious enough, she had him play his childhood cello. (He wasn’t very good.) The full hour with Tony Danza wasn’t much better. Last week, Rosie had Liza Minnelli on, and the two women gushed about each other for the entire show. The interview was so toothless, it felt more like eavesdropping on two patrons having lunch at the Sizzler.

[From Daily Beast]

Rosie has apparently taken the cancellation very poorly, which is sort of understandable, but she apparently fled Chicago and refused to tell the staff the bad news herself. So they had to find out via the press release, which seems to only add insult to prolonged injury. Now the inevitable bitchfight between Rosie and Oprah has commenced:

It’s becoming the battle of the talk show queens, as Rosie O’Donnell and Oprah Winfrey aren’t talking to each other after Ms. O’s decision to cancel Ro’s talk show on her embattled cable television network, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

Winfrey did call Rosie to tell her that the show was being canceled and “it was a very strained conversation, obviously,” according to a source close to the situation. “Oprah wanted to handle the announcement of the cancellation in a professional and dignified manner. Rosie thanked Oprah for the opportunity and ended the conversation very abruptly. OWN’s public relations team and Rosie’s publicist handled the language in the press release. Rosie didn’t like the initial language of the press release because she felt that it placed sole responsibility of the failure of the show on her. Oprah didn’t need to get Rosie’s input or approval for the press release, but she was trying to be gracious. Up until the moment that the press release was sent out, Rosie wanted changes made, but Oprah instructed the release to go out, because it needed to go out, and she was just over the drama,” the source added.

In a statement announcing the cancellation of Rosie’s show, Winfrey said: “I thank Rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. She has been an incredible partner, working to deliver the best possible show every single day. As I have learned in the last 15 months, a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. I’m grateful to Rosie and the dedicated Rosie Show team for giving it their all.”

[From Radar]

Radar goes on to mention that Rosie had instructed her own “people” to call Oprah in an attempt to dictate what the press release should include, but since Rosie refused to call Oprah herself, O just released the announcement on her own grounds. It sounds like Oprah at least handled the statement itself in a diplomatic manner, and I don’t see how Rosie could’ve possibly made it sound any better with all of her (likely) crazy demands.

However, Oprah’s troubles continue even after getting rid of Rosie and (unfortunately) firing that show’s staff. TMZ reveals that about 30 other people at OWN got laid off today, and those workers range from high level executives to newcomers. It sounds like the entire network is on the outs and won’t last much longer. At least Oprah seems to realize that these decisions must be made for the sake of business, but of course, Rosie is probably taking this all too personally.

Oprah shown in NYC on 3/1; Rosie shown in NYC on 1/10; Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Cele|bitchy

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