Is Benedict Cumberbatch learning a special piano piece to play at his wedding?

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Here are some photos of Benedict Cumberbatch at LAX late last night. Don’t ask me why he flew from London to LA again because I have no idea. I suspect – although this hasn’t been confirmed – that he will attend the LA premiere of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, which is scheduled for December 9th. He’s probably going to spend a few days shaking hands and attending screening for The Imitation Game too, I would assume. Maybe he’ll even be in LA later this week, when the SAG and Golden Globes nominations are announced (Wednesday and Thursday, respectively). He looks tired, doesn’t he? He must be exhausted with all of the flying and the hustling.

The Daily Mail had a funny/stupid piece of gossip this weekend about Benedict and his wedding to Sophie Hunter. We know that Bendy is tight with classical pianist James Rhodes, right? Right. Well, The Mail’s gossip guy says that Benedict is learning some special piece of music to play for his bride at their wedding and Rhodes has been helping him. A source says: “Benedict is good already, but with James’s help he is becoming brilliant.” Oh, Bendy…

And THR released the video of their “Actor’s Roundtable” discussion between potential Best Actor nominees this year. Bendy is there, as is Eddie Redmayne, Channing Tatum, Timothy Spall, Michael Keaton and Ethan Hawke. I’ve only watched a few minutes of this here and there, but the biggest surprise might be that Michael Keaton and Channing Tatum are sort of bros. Keaton comes to Channing’s defense at one point in a really lovely way.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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651 Responses to “Is Benedict Cumberbatch learning a special piano piece to play at his wedding?”

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  1. Christina says:

    He’s got 10 T shirts, I swear. No more, no less.

  2. PunkyMomma says:

    What’s he learning – “Rondo Alla Otter”?

  3. Koodles says:

    What is up with the flowers?

    • Mikasa says:

      Flowers for the SGF!! Lol

    • Ingrid says:

      They are of course for the little woman. Right, nannies?

      He needs to give them to Karon, though.

    • Kaiser says:

      One of the UK papers said that a fan gave him the flowers when he arrived at LAX.

      • Mikasa says:

        Woah, must be hardcore fan…to be able to await his arrival at LAX. Sorry, I take back my snarky comment bout the roses…it’s a very sweet gesture.

      • Kiddo says:

        Psst…Kaiserbatch. lol

        ETA: Kaiser, if he plays something on the piano, I hope Sophie will do some fishhead-interpretive-dance in accompaniment. The universe would never ask for another thing.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Kiddo, after such a dance, the universe would all just be swept up onto her comet.

      • icerose says:

        She can walk down the isle in a cosmic black wedding dress covered in white stars and after the vows be swept away on a flying wire whilst he plays Fly me to the Moon and let me Live amongst the Stars.

    • MissMary says:

      No idea but he’d have to chuck ’em at customs, so unless his SGF works for the TSA…

    • Lilacflowers says:

      Customs would never allow flowers to enter so somebody would have given those to him at the airport.

      • LadySlippers says:

        •Lilacflowers•

        True. Customs is very clearly anti-flower.

        Should we canvas our fellow brethren and stop this obvious prejudice against us? If we unite, perhaps we can make the world a better place for all flowers.

        😉

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @LadySlippers, I don’t think it is so much a prejudice against us or our brethren but against those pesty insect things that sometimes hide themselves among our petals and don’t have natural predators in distant lands so they then devour all our brethren without any deterrents.

  4. Miss M says:

    I wish he would throw shade at people who call him bendy.

  5. Maya says:

    He should call the special piece “Oscar desperation”.

  6. tasha_nat says:

    “…piano lessons so he can serenade his beautiful bride…”

    *ladylike snort*

    Oh, my dear otter. I don’t even know what to say anymore. I’ll just sit here with my popcorn and booze.

    • koko says:

      Excellent idea. I just found a recipe for marshmallow covered popcorn and needed a reason to try it. But what kind of booze goes with that?

      • tasha_nat says:

        That sounds delicious, like a fancier Rice Krispies treat. I would go for a viogner or a chenin blanc to go with that. If you have any leftover wine, I think it also pairs well with octopus.

  7. Ellie66 says:

    So if he gets a zit is that news too? I just don’t get the hoohah over him. Hmmm to each his own! Carry-on. 😉

    • Lilalis says:

      Celebitchy’s most commented posts in 2014, places 1-25: Something something Benedict Cumberbatch something.

    • EscapedConvent says:

      Perhaps not a zit—-that was covered in the first 10,000 comments. But if he sneezes tomorrow, or jumps on a couch….

    • briargal says:

      How about if he takes a crap?? This is getting so ridiculous!!!

  8. Mikasa says:

    Damn, he’s got a lot of luggage for someone who’s supposed to be flying back to London for the BIFA tonight! Unless he change his mind and use his LA trip as an excuse not to be seen with SH on the redcarpet, then Kaiser may be right about his schedule.
    And those roses are ugly, any color other than red, pink or white roses look fake….But if they’re for SH it makes sense!!

    • Lucifer says:

      they’re from a fan. The article mentions that. 😛
      no roses for Sodious please. She has enuf on her dresses

    • Old Enough says:

      He does tend to carry a lot of stuff. Apparently he went straight from the airport to the SAG screening and Q &A, then back to the airport to go to the BIFA awards. Might have been carrying 2 changes of clothing. And she was there at the awards in a Pleather dress. Not so much PDA filled but at least one smiley pic and he mentioned her (LAST) in his acceptance speech.

  9. Ingrid says:

    Oh joy, oh joy. BIFA Awards tonight.

    Interested in placing bets?
    1. She won’t show (they realized their mistake)
    2. She will be there and they will make the mess even worse
    3. She will be there and it will be PDA filled evening with a long, disgusting thank you speech to his “center”
    4. Neither will be there

    At this point, I hope it’s 4. I cannot watch this train wreck anymore.

    • NewWester says:

      Number 3, and besides the comments on Celebitchy are always better than most award shows!

      • Mikasa says:

        I hoping for number 2 to happen! But I’m betting on 4!!
        Looks like we won’t be getting no sodious episode tonight 🙁

    • MissMary says:

      If there’s one smart person on his PR team, whether it’s from the HW side or his own, they will tell the two of them NOT to try and look lovey dovey. If they maintain their status quo, it can come off as just “oh this is how they are” but if they are suddenly PDA central, it’ll look even worse. Steer into the skid, Benny!

      • Ingrid says:

        Always the voice of reason, MissMary.

        I’m hoping they’ll use his transatlantic trip as a (bad) excuse for her not to being there, like BC saying “I came straight from the airport”

      • MissMary says:

        We can hope… or “well she’s busy right now” or even, if gods forbid he’s turning BACK around to go to LA like some people think, “well, I’m going right back to the airport after this so…”

    • Ingrid says:

      Forgot to add:

      I love how the nannies defend SH’s behavior “She must have been tired. She’s very shy. She didn’t want to do the red carpet”.

      Tired, shy, didn’t want to = The words I use to defend my 5-year old cousin’s behavior at social events.

      She’s actually an adult. No adult gets to have a pass with bad behavior because she was tired, or shy, or just didn’t want to do it. You suck it up and behave like… an adult!

      • MissMary says:

        Word. No one is forcing her onto the red carpet. She even has an on-record “out” with BC saying she didn’t have to be at every event, etc. So acting shirty on a red carpet while your fiance is doing press? That is childish a.f.

      • Felice says:

        Oooooh good point about defending a five year old lol

        My mom would say I was hungry lol

      • Ingrid says:

        @Felice – *snort* I forgot to add this gem: “she was hungry because she’s pregnant”

      • Soothy says:

        Another comment bizarrely disappears. More of my life wasted.. Anywaaay try again..

        I’m assuming nobody is still trying to insist she’s shy after she chillingly put her hands in her pockets and gave a dead icy stare as she calmly strode off the red carpet post stop and showing utter disrespect of karon, and bc while we’re at it?

        Also, this ‘article’ is the biggest load of planted crap I’ve seen so far. Conveniently written by Charlotte griffiths who conveniently saw him at secret cinema too.

      • koko says:

        If you look back on other post…cough, cough Hiddles….you’ll see that nannies also defended his girlfriend/ fwb, whatever she is. It’s just what they do, if it makes them happy, well it doesn’t hurt anyone and everyone is more than capable of forming their own opinions about “her”.

    • Renee says:

      @Ingrid. Dear Universe, please don’t let it be #3. I’m hoping for #4. I can’t stomach this farce much longer. His speech will probably more of that romance novel crap. Actually I think I’m being unfair to the romance novel genre. BC is the one who looks and sounds ridiculous.

      And his song that he’s learning: “What I Did for Oscar.”

    • Cate says:

      2 for me, please no PDA fest…

    • Oh Hey says:

      Hoping for 1., he’s always somewhat more delightful when he’s alone. Or with his guy [real] friends.

  10. Intro Outro says:

    Hehe, it’s like a whole new vista of cheesiness 😀

  11. NewWester says:

    Forget getting a nomination for this movie, Benedict should get a nomination for the campaign for the Oscar nom!

  12. Mith says:

    Sir Peter Jackson will receive his “Walk Of Fame”-star tomorrow. Maybe Benedict is there to join the other castmembers to honour PJ.

  13. scarf girl says:

    Surely he won’t fly back for the Hobbit premiere after jetting back to London for tonight’s awards. Shall we go through recent Erdem collections just to see if we can correctly guess the gown?

    Seems so odd the Fail would base a comment from a 2011 tweet from Rhodes, now that I think about. Or they might be basing it off of their friendship. Idylly wonder whose PR is feeding them (the Fail) stuff, if they are making it up out of the air.

    Was hoping for an article about the Q&A from last night. Heavens I am grouchy. Returning to my coffee and Bradenburg concerto. Will pop over to Twitter in hopes the NYT has something interesting from their Arts section that they are highlighting.

    • Ingrid says:

      I’m going with PR feed because it’s *so specific* and the details are sort of right. Also, it followed Eddie’s wedding article. Stealing the thunder much, Benedict?

      Interesting that JR hasn’t tweeted about that article… Suspicious? Actually, he hasn’t tweeted anything abut BC in a month which is also weird. No even about TIG.

      • scarfgirl says:

        I have noticed that too. Not one tweet since stating BC would make the perfect Bond villain. Could be they are both so busy-BC with HC and JR with his current tour that neither have had time to see each other thus no tweets.

        Off topic- Amanda Abbingdon has been a delight on Twitter. Her tweets about Martin have been very sweet. So supportive (coughs into hand not like some other couples).

      • Alice says:

        I looked at JR’s twitter yesterday and he had one tweet that said batchlock. That’s it, nothing else.

      • Ingrid says:

        OT: I have always adored MF and AA. They may say some weird things but at least they are genuine (unlike some, *cough cough*) The photo from Hobbit premiere she posted <3

      • MissMary says:

        @Scarfgirl and Ingrid: MF and AA may say some effed up things but those two are legit adorable with one another (and AA being a MF fangirl before they met usually comes off kind of cute and not creepy since she was also still a working actress then, too, and not, you know, a BNF nanny). Even with the wtfery they sometimes spout, they are no doubt very supportive of one another in and out of their work lives.

      • scarf girl says:

        @MissMary and @Ingrid yes I agree. And while AA and MF have said things that make me cringe, I do respect that they are supportive of each other. And I love their work. I would watch Martin in anything and would really like to see Amanda onstage.

      • Felice says:

        They’re good people. They just don’t have filters.

      • j says:

        um neither Rhodes or BC are fond of the fail, but rhodes has an old tweet about teaching bc piano they probably found. I have a bridge I’d like to sell you guys…lol

        the fail has been trolling twitters for weeks b/c BC is clickbait but won’t play ball with them. his friends should remain silent on there imo

    • Koodles says:

      I looked at the erdem website. I found a black dress that looks like some one splattered yellow paint on it that she might wear. There was a navy blue dress with lace sleeves I liked, but too short for an awards show.

      Re the piano lessons, guess the cat is out of the bag if he wanted to surprise the woman he proposed to with a song at the wedding.

      If the wedding is happening, I’d say it is going to happen during the holiday break. He is just going to be too busy after the new year.

      I wonder if benedict will get a day or two off to clear his brain from role to role. I’m assuming he is going to be doing multiple projects at the same time next year.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Such a vomitworthy article, beyond the pale. Does anyone who “knows” him by his previous behavior think he would be able to serenade his bride without sobbing, being the soppy, emotional person he used to be? Ugh, seriously makes me sick…….who writes this shit.

  14. Lilacflowers says:

    Michael Keaton is a total rock star in that video. He looks great. He’s comfortable. He’s funny. He has no problem interviewing the others.

    • Kiddo says:

      Michael Keaton is great.

    • Ingrid says:

      I love the entire video. Timothy Spall is brilliant as well.

      Hawke and Eddie were the most blah in that interview. They are good actors but not that great interviewees.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Spall’s a storyteller. Ethan was good. He’s was engaging and contributed.

      • MtnRunner says:

        Spall’s “poo in the mud” story was the best! I also like how Hawke talked of how inspired he was by Keaton.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @MtnRunner, yes! And I liked how Keaton thanked him for the compliment at the end. Spall’s poo story came about because Eddie Redmayne said Spall’s performance in that play inspired him to be an actor. It was nice to see them paying tribute to one another.

      • j says:

        keatons a great actor, little difficult but at least not at norton-levels (that guy is something else!)

      • MtnRunner says:

        Likac, yes! I thought that was very classy of Keaton to make a point of thanking Hawke. Redmayne was delightful, I wish he hadn’t been interrupted by *someone* who couldn’t help himself…

      • KT says:

        Agree totally, Ingrid.

    • Lilacflowers says:

      I so want to see Keaton get his wish to play Ted Williams.

    • moodgirl says:

      Michael Keaton become more handsome with age. His smile is beautiful.

    • icerose says:

      Boston Critic Awards on line gave Birdman best director, Snowpiecer best Film ,Brendan Gleeson best actor for Calvary and Tilda best supporting actress
      Michael Keaton looks good but Timothy Spall had the best moments. But I kind of fell for Eddie Redmayne because he is so shy, self effacing and endearing

  15. Louise says:

    Michael Keaton is looking quite hot. I would. I might even have to make a decision between him and Jason Clarke. Yes, I am going to mention Jason Clarke on every Bendy posting. I can’t take no mo. Please just done day without an article about him. More Jason Clarke and Michael Keaton! Courtney should have married him not whatshisname.

  16. Louise says:

    Ok, what the hell is Channing wearing compared to the other guys and Keaton is off the charts hot! he’s 63!

    • Lilacflowers says:

      An ill-fitting dirty t-shirt and an ill-fitting jacket and he’s slouching. The others are all upright.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        In the photoshoot pictures, he is wearing a beautiful suit. Maybe it wasn’t ready for the roundtable if that was first or something happened to it during the photoshoot if that came first.

  17. Felice says:

    Well he did it for his lover-sister in August Osage County.

  18. Alice says:

    The Sunday Express described his look at LAX as glum and fed up. But, obviously, because he was missing Sophie, as they explained. Why do they keep printing that crap? No shame? Is there any proof at all that they have spent any time together in the past month apart from brief, awkward RC appearances. Wouldn’t they be photographed eating out, buying towels, leaving his house, etc., if they could stand being together? The constant “missing her” refrain makes me want to barf.

    • Ingrid says:

      Shhhhh… We will get staged pap pics if we are questioning their lack of down time together.

      I loved the irony of Express article. His expression at the airport is exactly the same as in the picture with SH. LOL.

    • Renee says:

      It does amuse me that since the engagement, there haven’t been any sightings of them together. Odd. But every single thing about them is odd.

      • MissMary says:

        Now you’ve done it, lol… if PR reads that, we’ll have “pap pics” of them shopping, walking down the High street looked constipated, admiring a christmas display while standing ten feet apart…

      • Froop says:

        Didn’t they go on yet another romantic break to the Isle of Wight together a couple of weeks ago? I’m surprised there hasn’t been any pap pics of them yet. There will probably be some of those after Christmas.

      • Soothy says:

        Nobody said she was anywhere near him on that ferry. People just assumed.

      • Alice says:

        @froop. HE went to the Isle of Wight. No confirmed sightings of her.

      • Froop says:

        But would he go by himself? She was with him in Edinburgh, Paris, then Brighton. They like their breaks away, despite him being such a ‘homebody’ *cough*
        There was a guy on Twitter who said he was with ‘family’. Could have been her, not necessarily his mummy.

      • Soothy says:

        Well, for a start, the suggestion she may not have been there doesn’t mean he would by default be on his own. He does have lots of other friends and family who he regularly saw a few months ago before she came on the scene and I’m sure he still does. She’s not the only person in his life (thank god).
        And there was no confirmation she was with him in Paris or Brighton. Probably was, but nobody knows for sure.
        And nobody knows who she is. A random bloke would not look at her and make the connection, and even if he did, she’s not his family.

  19. Lucifer says:

    New jacket and pants. IMPROVEMENT

  20. Alice says:

    LADIES!!! Hurry on over to imdb and the “Bye-Bye, Benny” thread. There are some cracks starting to show.

    • Ingrid says:

      Wow. Well this is an interesting development. The OP of that thread was the same who only a week ago attacked us and called us delusional.

      #HellIsFreezingOver

    • Froop says:

      Lady Kather has always been one of his IMDB certified lunatics. Just wait until Marylou wades in.

    • Lucifer says:

      serious cracks!!

      • Lucifer says:

        “he only cares about the opinion of this second rate wannabe golddigger scottish uppercrust “director” he always calls his “fiancée”, as if making clear that it is her function in relation to the fans and the public that really matters. ”

        whoa.. thats a GEM

    • MissMary says:

      0_0

      Is it the holidays come early? That’s a bit surprising… Wasn’t she an ubernanny?

      • Alice says:

        I think a lot of people were loathe to voice doubts before because they were intimidated by the TRUE LOVE gush-a-rama. Now, with all the evidence piling up, they’re coming out of the woodwork.

      • j says:

        @missmary

        the op of the thread, going by past posts, is not an uber-nanny but pretty dang unhinged :O

    • Soothy says:

      I’ve seen some crazy fans on the web,but MaryLou takes the biscuit.

    • Ingrid says:

      And MaryLou has arrived… Advising people to get medical help and so on. LOL.

    • Felice says:

      Takes one to know one.

    • Claire says:

      can you please recap what they’re saying so some of us don’t have to go over there?
      interesting it’s begun with them now they look more like a couple

  21. blended says:

    out of all the disappointing things he’s done in this string of disappointing things (much of which were done because of HW’s decrees), the wedding mention in last night’s q&a is the most disappointing to me. simply because he didn’t have to say it. it was literally a throw away line to a non-specific question. if scolded, he could have told PR,’well i didn’t mention the fiancee because it never came up’, or ‘i was too occupied thinking about the film to say the canned answer.’ but he decided to give into it and play along.
    tonight will be painful to watch.

    • Froop says:

      He’s doing it a lot, throwing in a little soundbite mention of the wedding/engagement. It always sounds jarring and never fits.

    • scarf girl says:

      Blended, I hate to bring you down further, but remember nominations have not even been announced yet. What will it be like if (and I think he will) gets the AA nomination? Such a tight race this year. I fear the wtfery will be a clusterf of epic proportions. Doesn’t first round of nominations come around Jan 15, when he should be shooting Sherlock Christmas special? Will be interesting to see if random sightings of the Octopus and the Otter in their natural habitat start to occur.

      Edited for poor sentence construction in original post.

      • blended says:

        yeah i’m bracing myself. SAG and GG noms are next week.

      • scarf girl says:

        Oh, I forgot about those Blended. December will be bad won’t it? With ER’s wedding to compete with as well. 😯

      • blended says:

        i’m hoping we won’t hear too much during the holiday break. i pray that ben not only takes some time off, but also spends it with his family, and people he ACTUALLY loves.

      • Josa says:

        At this point, I hope he gets a nomination, he deserves it since he has already done so much campaigning for it. Seeing everything unfolded the past month, I kinda feel sorry for him. On the other hand, if he doesn’t get the nomination, does that mean he can stop campaigning? If so, maybe it isn’t so bad, that he can get off Harvey’s train sooner and return to his normal life.

  22. Koodles says:

    God, why does he always wear his sunglasses at night, in a freakin building. They are not really hiding your eyes, kid. Everytime I see that it just gets that song “sunglasses at night” stuck in my head for a freaking day….rant over.

    • Soothy says:

      Reminds me of the curb your enthusiasm quote.

      “Only two kinds of people wear sunglasses indoors – blind people and assholes”

      Sorry, Cumbs, I don’t really think you’re an asshole.

    • Nya says:

      A lot of celebrities wear sunglasses when paparazzi around. I’ve been at LAX when the paparazzi show up and its completely blinding with all the flashes. Sunglasses really help.

  23. Soothy says:

    I asked this question before but I don’t think I got an answer.
    Genuinely..how much say does BC have with regards to what HW wants? Could he actually say, ‘nope, not doing that’?

    Going to LA for half a day is nothing short of insane.

    • blended says:

      when it comes to making appearances, no ben has very little say. he just has to do it, even if it means transatlantic flights just for a few hours in one place. this happens every awards season by the way. lots of the contenders do this, but it’s especially hard for the ones who don’t live in LA or NY.

      • Soothy says:

        So where does he stand with dodgy publicity campaigns? Could he say no to those?

      • blended says:

        judging from how utterly miserable and angry he looked during the media blitz of a couple of weeks ago, i would say he has to go along with whatever image HW wants to mold him into. i think i’ve said this countless times and i’m sounding like a broken record: if you say no to harvey weinstein, be prepared for the consequences. if you are already an established star (like meryl) you can have your way. ben is in no position to fight HW. he can kiss his career goodbye if he doesn’t do as he’s told.
        in a way ben gets off easy. the rumours about what he makes the women do will make your skin crawl.

      • Angie says:

        @blended I was thinking about that, too. He doesn’t live in the States, now he’s going to do Dr.Strange, also he may have more Hollywood projects hopefully after a nomination, how is he going to cope with that…

      • blended says:

        dr. strange is filming in london, so that should be fine for him. but he will be required to do media/cons all over the world, including a major push in asia. i hope he’s ready for it.

      • moodgirl says:

        Apparently not.

    • Ingrid says:

      Soothy – I think you just answered your own question: “Going to LA for half a day is nothing short of insane.” And yet he did it and there’s no way he chose to do it. Harvey’s craziness was behind that.

      (Or he’s trying to stay away from Sodious as much as possible. Cannot blame him. )

      ETA: Dodgy campaigns: He can say no but Harvey is persuasive and manipulative. BC is naive and easily fooled. Bad combination.

      I think he chose the lesser of two evils: The enGAGment or Eddie smear campaign.

      ETA2: Clive Owen’s campaign story if someone hasn’t seen this (Harvey was the producer of Closer)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3eU4YnqRXI

      • Soothy says:

        How could HW have the power to end BC’s career though?

        I’m not sure TWC produced closer, Ingrid.

      • Angie says:

        Just saw Clive Owen’s story at SoGo, so all I can say is well, at least he’s flying first class and I hope he could just drink a bit and try for a sound sleep, NO wedding planning in the dreams of course.

      • Ingrid says:

        @Soothy -Thanks for the correction. I read that somewhere (SoGo?). Should always check the facts.

        But the story is still relevant. Harvey even made Meryl campaign last year with the Emma Thompson smear campaign.

      • blended says:

        @soothy i’m not sure what answer you are looking for. harvey is one of the most powerful men in hollywood and this has been alluded to by even meryl and jlaw in their speeches. ben has very little power, if any. in a hypothetical situation, HW could say to ben, ‘i could tell those major studio execs that you were a nightmare to work with, and you wouldn’t even campaign for your own movie’. hollywood operates like a giant club of old white powerful men, who only do favours/business transactions for each other. i dunno what else to tell you.

      • Soothy says:

        Well, that’s what I wanted to know. I just wanted to know how he logistically could end someone’s career purely because they didn’t want to dance to his tune, like some mafioso goon.

      • blended says:

        lainey had a blind about HW a couple of years ago, and she said it was the only time she has been threatened with legal action over a blind. lainey covers her bases so she won’t get sued, but she rarely talks about HW’s sordid world nowadays. she used to do a lot before,

    • gg says:

      My theory is, every time Benedict calls Turing a “gay icon,” Harvey makes him do a one-day junket to L.A. to press the flesh

  24. Ingrid says:

    SunnyMarch has a new project and it made The Brit List (UK equivalent of the Black List):

    “The Nine Lives of Louis Wain” by Simon Stephenson (Knight Hall Agency)
    Producers: Shoebox Films/SunnyMarch
    Genre: Biopic
    Summary: An emotional tale of love, art and obsession following the rise and fall of the eccentric Louis Wain, the Victorian painter of cats.

    http://variety.com/2014/film/news/brit-list-matinee-idol-gateway-6-lead-list-of-best-unproduced-screenplays-in-u-k-1201362678/

    Benedict is really putting his career on hold. That Big Issue interview, what a load of bullsh*t

    • Cate says:

      That does sound rather interesting (very quirky!) I have to admit. It doesn’t say he has anything to with it directly though? Or is he supposed to star in this by default? Maybe Adam did all the work for this? *Tries to picture Benedict as a Victorian painter of cats*

      • Ingrid says:

        No, but he will be one of the producers. Maybe “name only” but I would expect him to be more involved producer.

      • Soothy says:

        *is excited by the idea of Cumbers working with lots of kitties*

      • Cate says:

        Ah okay, I see Ingrid! And I kind of want to see BC in that part too Soothy… (I could now make a very lame joke about BC and him being surrounded by, well, you know…) But I won’t, hahaha.

    • Froop says:

      Love the sound of this one. I love artist biopics.

  25. ellesbelles says:

    The whole thing feels so contrived now. I’ve reached engagement critical mass. I’ll be glad when award season is over

  26. Cate says:

    Edit, wrong reply.

    • Soothy says:

      Oh that OP is a total nutjob, and so are the nannies on that thread too, but there are a few decent sane people trying to make a good point and getting shouted down by the general rabid nuttery. I admire them for even trying.

      Oh and major lols for MaryLou heading out psychiatric advice to other people.

      • Cate says:

        Ugh, I just edited the wrong reply! But yeah Soothy, I was talking about that IMDB Bye Bye Benny thread. They are seriously too intense. No sense of humor either… *Shivers*

      • Soothy says:

        Yep. I gave up on imdb aaaaagges ago. Didn’t really post much at all but I found them frightening and crazed. This business has really brought that to the surface in a big way. But I do admire the sane people sticking it out.

  27. Koodles says:

    . Everyone have their snackies and drinks of choice together and awaiting the show?
    It’s only about noon where I’m from, so no drinkie drink for me yet.

  28. tasha_nat says:

    That IMDB thread is delicious. The redditors are also starting to poke fun at the piano lessons: http://www.reddit.com/r/Cumberbitches/comments/2oijwr/benedict_is_learning_how_to_play_piano_so_he_can/

    Some sanity! There may still be hope!

  29. A. Key says:

    Jake Gyllenhaal should be at that roundtable.

    Michael Keaton <333

  30. Felice says:

    He’s there at the BIFAs but I don’t see her yet.

    He looks HOT!!!!

    Black on black

  31. scarf girl says:

    Well, Twitter report. BC on red carpet at BIFA. All black suit which I do not find attractive on any man except for Johnny Cash. There is only one man in black.

    Octopus not present. Or does not appear to be doing red carpet. Karon is there. She really should get a cameo as Captain Marvel’s mother.

    On a much less light hearted note: while looking at the Twitter search feed saw tweet that someone’s drama teacher has been invited to the Otter/Octopus enGAGment party. So I ask you: harbinger this depressing relationship moving forward to a conclusion, or PR counter to ER’s wedding party prior to his wedding? Fellow commenters I leave it to you.

    • Felice says:

      Grain of Salt but wow….he’s really going to marry that soul sucker…..but why would a random drama teacher be invited when it’s a such!private!affair?

      • Soothy says:

        Do you really think that’s proof he’s going to marry her? An unsubstantiated tweet from god knows who?

      • scarf girl says:

        Never mind. She is there and also in black. Yes I think he is going to marry that woman.

        The picture I saw drew my attention to her mid section. That is all I am going to say.

      • Pinky says:

        Thank god I wasn’t the only one to notice that.
        I can’t stop staring at it now.

      • scarf girl says:

        Slow down guys. I said originally take it as you will. Do I take it as conclusive proof? No. Did I Twitter dive and see if it was a fake account, nanny, or otherwise crazy person? No. Just reporting what I saw to throw it out there.

        But yes, I do believe there will be a party because real or PR, this storyline has to follow through to a certain degree.

      • InvaderTak says:

        I think calling her the sould sucker is unfair. We really don’t have a lot of genuine information about her perosnally. The villain here is and always will be HW. Not that I’m trying to defend her behavior at past apperances, but those things pale in comparison to what HW is most likely doing to BC’s life right now.

      • Mikasa says:

        Oh come on…any teacher would announce that so his students will pay more attention to him in class!! What’s weird is why an engagement party? Why not go straight and invite to an actual wedding or is it traditional in the UK to have an engagement first??

    • Pinky says:

      She’s there. wearing a black dress… Picture is on twitter already.

    • Lucifer says:

      whole dead sea of salt

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      She’s there wearing black dress… and there a photo of them laughing out loud… PR?? Or are they for real? Time wil tell…

      • Mikasa says:

        nah, I think Karon was doing somersaults on the redcarpet with her girls! LOL
        We’ll have to wait for his thank you speech for analysis.
        Can somebody post updates if you’re watching?? My net is a bit slow…

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        I’m watching it… just hope I won’t fall asleep,since I’m really tired….but I’ll tell if he thanks her….

    • moodgirl says:

      That’s old – I heard that same drama teacher stuff weeks ago.

  32. maudfricker says:

    She’s there wearing black

    • Felice says:

      A leather dress. And here I thought she was trying to forget her bondage roots that were deleted from imdb.

    • Froop says:

      Looks pregnant.

      • MissMary says:

        It’s the fabric and the way she’s standing. Unless she’s carrying fast-growing sprogs. Like super fast. 0_o Hips forward posture and a slouch, a dress made from Hefty’s finest… It’s not a good look for most figures. Even very slim ones.

      • Ingrid says:

        Dear God, I hope it’s a food baby because otherwise this is just so sad.

      • scarf girl says:

        Yep.

        Well, it would be that time for it to be this obvious wouldn’t it? And explains so much. If true, I ask this question to the universe: when will famous men learn to use birth control?

        Hope Ingrid is right and it is a food baby.

        Edited because iPhone wants good baby not food baby. I hate autocorrect

      • Cate says:

        I don’t know if that’s a food baby…

      • Oh Hey says:

        Said so from the beginning……she’s pregnant…if she was trying to hide it she wouldn’t be wearing a shiny dress……

      • Emily says:

        Would you eat a meal so large your stomach distends when you know you’re going to be photographed for the world to see? Probably not.

      • Alice says:

        @scarf girl. He didn’t seem to have a problem with longtermers, OP and AJ. Of course, they were both self supporting, working women. If you’re unemployed, looking for a rich meal ticket, well ….

        Sorry if that sounds misogynistic, but it happens.

      • moodgirl says:

        She doesn’t look pregnant to me.

    • Angie says:

      Funny that she doesn’t wear a gown with pockets/put her hand in the pocket this time but with a, seems like a clutch?

    • Lucifer says:

      ohh my eyes.. These weekends have become a rather tiresome one

    • Mikasa says:

      Yep. Denitely pregger…would be the right time to show a growing bump right about beginning of 2nd trimester and would go with the timeline that they got serious early september. So the worrying phase is over and the PR Plant has been planted with that online article…same as the sgf. Seems to be going according the plan. Congrats Mr. Tiejens!!

    • icerose says:

      and it is awful-she just looks frumpy

  33. Oh Hey says:

    Funny, she showed up on the red carpet wearing something shiny and looking like she has a belly. Humm. I wonder why …….

    • Soothy says:

      Well for a start, she could stay at home so to deflect the speculation. And IF she is pregnant, I feel very, very sorry for that poor guy. Would maybe explain why he looks so utterly miserable of late. Would be a horrible conclusion to his life long dream of always having a family and being happy.

    • Pinky says:

      Maybe she borrowed that fake pregnancy bump she used to roll around in to create some new gossip..

  34. Abigail says:

    Either she is standing in such a way as to thrust her stomach out, or she is photographed at a funny angle, or they might as well announce the pregnancy right now.
    ETA: Just saw a picture of them from the front, in which she doesn’t look pregnant.

    • Lucifer says:

      ^^^THIS

    • MissMary says:

      She does this “hips forward” slouch in a lot of pics, even before the enGAGment. It looks like a combo of “I’m too cool for this” and “I’m tall” and “I want to be a supermodel” postures all mashed together. It doesn’t help when she wears poorly fitting clothes.

  35. Ingrid says:

    ROFLMAO. So natural…

    http://cumberbum.tumblr.com/post/104601524161/benedict-cumberbatch-and-sophie-hunter-at-the-2014

    (Also, the “bump” might be just the material. IDK)

    • MissMary says:

      It looks like pleather (or naugahyde lol) and is NOT a flattering cut or fabric. If you don’t have a perfectly flat stomach (so few women, even slender ones, have one), it will show ever swell and dip. the pockets on the breast don’t help, either.

      • Lucifer says:

        besides,Who would wear those high heels in pregnancy?
        she showed her teeth. They’re learning

    • Lucifer says:

      no belly. Just a ill fitting dress. Matching black costumes. PR is working hard. HTHeir expresssion remains unchanged. Terrible

      • MissMary says:

        In the pic just posted with the big scary fake laugh happening, you can see her profile a bit more…same figure she had for the last public airing. No change.

      • Felice says:

        Too late…..

      • scarf girl says:

        Yep. Matching costumes, actress leaning her head in, lead actor and actress snapped laughing.

        All we need now is a candid walking by a baby or children’s store.

        Please let me come back to tomorrow’s thread and there be a more definitive picture showing no belly. Because totally leaning to shotgun wedding destination, with a massive PR component. Preference is the conspiracy train. I like the occupants.

      • Cate says:

        Seriously, it’s like clockwork. It’s really a bit creepy. She’s even showing her teeth! And btw, those teeth have been worked on. At least whitened, they weren’t bad before, but not like now. Maybe we really should stop suggesting stuff… 😉

      • Angie says:

        @Ingrid It’s a bit scary to me tbh,I’m wondering r these the same pics from different angle? Because she looks exactly the same in each one, like a wax …

      • Ingrid says:

        @Cate -Would they bother with the constant monitoring if there was nothing to hide?

      • Cate says:

        @Ingrid, I can’t imagine they would, no. This is so weird, I mean, people have been complaining a lot about them not smiling, not being relaxed. It’s been my biggest pet peeve as well and there it is, next appearance, smiling wide, no sour faces. I don’t even know anymore.

      • MissMary says:

        Maybe we should get all the skeptic blogs and posters to start wondering “Why aren’t they both riding on a Vespa with big red bows on their backs? If they were a REAL couple…” and see how long it takes them to be spotted around London doing that.

      • Claire says:

        like i said inthe last post, we need to start making a timeline of all this

    • Oh Hey says:

      Look from this angle, waist looks thicker and there’s a bump, someone her size should not have a bump like that… https://twitter.com/Anythingbatch/status/541672438812393473/photo/1

    • scarf girl says:

      I am really, really hoping it was just a bad angle and the dress.

      But so interesting that they are matching, as a couple, and she is trying to lessen the distance.

      At this point, fearing pregnancy and actual marriage. Really hoping I am wrong. But she looks fuller in her bosom as well.

      Oy vey.

      • Lucifer says:

        padded bra. NEED to wear those with a skin tight dress

      • Koodles says:

        I think that big a** bow is making her look bustier than she is.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Not wearing a padded bra with those nips showing through, which does happen when you’re pregnant. Or cold. Why does she never wear a coat?

      • Ingrid says:

        They are not the nipples, it’s the darting and bad material.

      • scarf girl says:

        It might be really cold inside and they are standing in front of the champagne tower, which might be chilled, but if that if a padded bra she is wearing Lucifer, then it is VERY lightly padded

      • Lucifer says:

        even light padded bras don’t show nippies. Thats the point of wearing them under tight dresses. As far as my knowledge about undergarment goes.

    • Mikasa says:

      Wonder what faces is Karon pulling to make them laugh?? Lol They look sweet tho, finally! Also why doesn’t that woman ever wear a bra? Surely she can afford one?

      • Soothy says:

        I don’t think they look sweet. They happen to be laughing in the same shot, so finally it’s been drilled into them. Even her appalling acting skills can manage that.

    • Angie says:

      Saw mentioned at SoGo about her breast too, but as I work in textile industry, that could be just leather, and it looks just normal from the front tbh.

      But she is definitely catching up? Remember the one in NY when she tilted her head towards B, you can tell how tense she was by the vein in her neck.

      No comment on the distance, thank God B doesn’t try to look to be closer to her if he doesn’t feel like doing it tbh.

      • Ingrid says:

        What I know is that this is one bad fitting dress and the material is very bad choice. Her breast-stomach ratio seems to be exactly the same. The fabric might accentuate things.

        #graspingatstraws

      • Curioser says:

        Are they faux pockets on her chest? Seriously? Is this meant to be a fashionable dress? Are faux pockets on a woman’s chest ever a good idea?

        And from the front she doesn’t look pg.

      • MissMary says:

        Ingrid: Her body is the same as it was for the other red carpets–you can see a better angle in some of the half-profile pics. It’s just a bad dress (or bad fabric for that style of dress).

      • Oh Hey says:

        MissMary you are such a killjoy….. LOL . I’m sticking with my pg assessment……

    • Emily says:

      They look like a real couple now. Congrats pr!

    • InvaderTak says:

      I’ll go with ill fitting dress and too much scutiny for $500 please Alex. The weight doesn’t show in the rest of her body, especially in her face. Her face looks the same as it has since last summer.

    • Ingrid says:

      Oh the body language 4.0 …. Nice try Sophie. I give you one point for really trying tonight.

      https://38.media.tumblr.com/96e978d67b54a045df4e0318ba6f7a57/tumblr_ng8btaqv6X1rnwoh4o6_1280.png

      Ben looks like he’s thinking “Don’t you dare to come closer”

    • Cee says:

      I know fashion is personal and whatnot, but that is the most hideous dress I have ever seen. EVER. It looks childish and matronly at the same time, wtf.

  36. ellesbelles says:

    *stormy face* I’m sick of her. Bish does not have more than 3 facial expressions. Smug, extra smug, and petulant 5 yr old

    ETA I actually love the cut of the dress, but really hate the fabric

  37. lindy79 says:

    THE SUNGLASSES!! ARRGGGGGH

    That dress….
    leather has zero give so the “belly” could be material. From the side it definitely looks like a bump but hey..

    i see she sticks to one nail colour and shoe religiously. How dull.
    (Sorry but nails and shoes are my thing lol)

  38. Ellen says:

    Sophie is so pregant. Her black dress shows her baby bump. Maybe she will smile more like miss misery of Monaco herself Charlene when she became pregnant.

    • MissMary says:

      Her figure looks the same as it did for LFF, NYC, the Hobbit… Poorly chosen fabric for the dress because it looks like it’s made from my grandpa’s old recliner, but her figure looks the same.

      • Oh Hey says:

        I love this twitter comment – “Subtle pregnancy announcement. Why not The Times of London?”

      • moodgirl says:

        Granpa’s old recliner! She doesn’t look pregnant to me. How long are they going to keep this up? I can see why she is there to make up for the shenanigans on the previous red carpets. If she didn’t show up here it would just be bad.

      • MissMary says:

        Moodgirl: If he’s not nominated, we’ll see this fall apart by spring. If he’s nominated, buckle up because this roller coaster is just getting started.

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        😀 Good comment…they should announce it on The Times,,,

      • Claire says:

        Ladies, the drama teacher party tweet…what’s the verdict on that, legit or not? Who did it come from?

  39. Toodles45 says:

    They do seem more at ease with each other. No petulant behavior yet. And look at that pic where they’re both laughing…well, well.

    • Lucifer says:

      they’re taking notes

    • MissMary says:

      Looks like PR is keeping up with fan posts! “Why don’t they look happy together? Why did she stomp off?” Next red carpet, “LAUgh DAMN IT!”

    • Ingrid says:

      Night is still young

    • Soothy says:

      Well, I’m more than a little surprised if people are going to change their minds on how much of a blatant set up this has all been just because she’s managed to show her teeth to the photographers to once. But then people are very easily swayed.

      • moodgirl says:

        I think I have enough information to keep my seat on the train.

      • ellesbelles says:

        I’m still on the train, I’m just exhausted by all of the machinations

      • Just here says:

        Even I admit it’s rather suspicious and convenient that *now* they look all chummy and happy together. Like their friends. Still no sense of amazing chemistry “This is the love of my life” vibes.

        *wobbles on her fence*

      • Soothy says:

        But he doesn’t look any different. He has the same dead eyes but the glare of her teeth and the whites of her eyes is throwing everyone off.

    • blended says:

      other than the one laughing picture, they still look stiff to me, with plastered on smiles. bodies are still far apart.

      • Curioser says:

        Yep, blended, the space between their bodies is the biggest thing for me. Still enough room to add a dancing Tom Hiddleston (liked that analogy so much, I’m using it).

        edited to add that I just saw a pic of them together backstage and neither of them are smiling, even SH has lost that smuggish tilt of lips. On red carpet they are ‘on’, off the red carpet, eh, not so much.

      • MissMary says:

        Naomi has a pic up via twitter that shows them walking into the event… they’re actually close (as it’s rather crowded) and sh is doing a big smile at someone past BC but he looks as thrilled to be there as one of us would finding out we needed a root canal. Maybe he’s super tired but… yeah no. seeing pics from inside the event too, still doing the “feet pointing away” body language, the distance, the stiff expressions. Hmmmm.

      • Angie says:

        And B just looks resigned, that sparkle is nowhere to see. God I miss that Ben so much, I’m really tired of this.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Agree with the body language being the biggest impact, so she can smile, maybe she got her new teeth or something, still look like they’re brother and sister and not madly in love. Christalmighty, people, her fake smile doesn’t change anything. Unfortunately for him.

      • Mikasa says:

        I totally agree this is over-the-top PR! Regardless of whether she’s pg or not.
        Amplify the make-up. Check
        Get rid of the florals. Check
        More intimacy. Check
        Stand closer. Check
        Smile! Check
        Chemistry. Err…ZERO!
        Also did see the pic of SH smiling at Ben? Look at Karon keeping a close eye on her as if she’s giving the stares saying ‘if you don’t play along this time, Ima b**ch slap you girl!’

      • moodgirl says:

        Mikasa you are hilarious!

      • gg says:

        Still 100% on train. they are fixing everything we have commented on
        1. sour facial expressions
        2. identical floral maxi dresses on Sophie

    • Ingrid says:

      Congratulations, PR! You have succeeded.

      Now the BC & SH good/bad photo ratio is at: 2/10,000

  40. Koodles says:

    If you look really close at the dress, it is a dark brown, not black. And wearing black shoes.

    • Angie says:

      I’m with Lucifer, yet to see HQ of tonight, but probably the same shoes she has worn 3 times.

      Sorry PR, thanks for the all pockets and not with a bag thing, but now you may hv to work on the shoes, or try to go back to gown to hide it next time LOL

    • moodgirl says:

      She needs a stylist but perhaps she won’t be around that long. At least she got the message that Erdem sucks on her.

      • MissMary says:

        Probably ran out of dresses. Or PR caught on we’re mocking her choices and told her to pick another designer before Erdem gets huffy.

      • Mikasa says:

        You know there was that article recently about how SH isn’t glamorous enough with BC on the red carpet….next minute…BooM!

  41. Renee says:

    Well, I’m thinking she probably is pregnant and they’ll go through with the wedding. Explains a lot of this if that’s the case. They seem to be making an effort to appear happier with one another.

    Eh, whatever. He’ll marry her. I do hope he’s happy with it all.

  42. Madly says:

    She doesn’t look preggers to me, just slouching and unfortunate clothing choices.

    What about Keira? Any disc enable bump tonight?

  43. Soothy says:

    I find it odd that her managing to smile is enough to sway people over into forgetting about the constant barrage of shameless publicity stunts that have surrounded this. And another thing to remember is the fact that they would’ve seen the gif of her being monstrous at last weeks red carpet and would obviously want to counteract that.

    • Mikasa says:

      We did do a goo job of spreading that. Big thanks to sockpuppet? for making the gif.
      Also take note of Karon in the pictures. She is the Boss. Not SH. She ain’t having none of that attitude ever again.

  44. InvaderTak says:

    So let me ask the ladies on the board who have been preggo: if that’s what’s going on here, should she be traveling so much in such a short span of time? I honestly have no idea, so I’m not trying to concern troll. It seems like an awful lot of stress and then couple it with the red carpet nonsense.

    • MissMary says:

      I traveled often in my first and well into my second trimester BUT… ymmv. It depends on the pregnancy and the woman. Some women find they get super travel sick while prego, some just don’t like the feet swelling that can happen, some are forbidden by medical need. But even in the third trimester, it’s possible to travel by plane and such–it’s really down to the airline and your own doc if you’re “allowed” to do it. And airlines can be convinced if you have a legit reason to be on that plane at 34 weeks (family emergency, you’re super famous, that sort of mess).

    • Oh Hey says:

      Where’s she traveling to that is so stressful? It’s probably five miles from her home…..Probably had morning sickness and that’s why the constant strop.

      • MissMary says:

        This. I was just thinking “wait, she’s just been in and around London…” So if she’s literally within miles of home, if a woman is pregnant, she can travel all she wants to unless there’s complications requiring bedrest. (lol I still don’t think she’s prego though, but if a person was pregnant, they are allowed to travel nine times out of ten).

      • Soothy says:

        Now come on. Even IF she is pregnant, let’s not excuse her disgusting and embarrassing behaviour by morning sickness. I’ve never been pregnant but I’ve got many friends who have and morning sickness does not make you treat people like that.

      • InvaderTak says:

        She was in New york and I’m getting my locations mixed up. So nevermind. I’ll get more coffee.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Oh, NY, probably no big deal, and it was obviously a command performance what with the last minute same dress and all.

    • Mikasa says:

      I’ve always been on the preggo car from the beginning. What baffled me was the wine glass in her hand last week, I kinda slipped off the car because of that. But pg or not, I still think this is all being used for pr and of course BC needs a bigger narrative to bump off redmaynes wedding!

      • Oh Hey says:

        Well, she was HOLDING the wine glass, I didn’t see her drink any, and he was holding it on the way down the stairs, maybe she was holding it for him? Maybe it was grape juice, maybe not drinking it?

      • Juliar Republico says:

        I agree. She was drinking just last week! And looked a little tipsy in a few pics. #DrunkBenophie 😉

        ETA When she held the wine glass, it was cradled in her palm. Oh, she had ownership of that vino;-)

  45. Angie says:

    And they r not going to let out any footage this time, I presume.

    Edit, OMG that photo with Emma Thompson, compared to those with her, it makes me so sad : (

    And I hv a feeling that she has begun to enjoy this, new dresses, the red carpet, the limelight, and all the people she gets to meet.

    • Ingrid says:

      Emma is my spirit animal. She’s just… I have no words.

      Like SoGo said, PR definitely gave SH a talk and told her to lighten up. And the change in behavior is unsettling.

      • Angie says:

        Tbh it’s just hilarious, do they genuinely believe by doing what they r doing, the monitoring, the patching up that everyone will eventually be convinced that it’s all soooo ture, it’s really a fairytale? It’s all too late, it’s just ridiculous and embarrassing to me.

        Well, I for one will never buy it. Not even a marriage could do. I will either feel sorry for Ben or nothing because maybe he just deserve it.

    • Cate says:

      I love her laughing there in the background, she’ll show up in all photo’s like that now. Great instructions PR!

      • MissMary says:

        reminds me of the KB pics from Monaco. The “Laugh and lean”!

      • Ingrid says:

        @MissMary – And at the time I though those photos were bad… Oh, the innocent little thing I was back then…

      • MissMary says:

        I laughed hard at KB’s “laugh and lean” but I’m wondering if it’s something you’re taught in PR accessory classes or something now…

    • Alice says:

      Oh, no, Angie, the shy, delicate flower hates all the attention. She’s just sucking it up and standing by her man like a good little girl.

  46. Madly says:

    One photo is not going to make me forget her tantrums in the past. Failure.

  47. Cate says:

    Like they are mentioning on SoGo now as well, the entire fandom was aware of that red carpet mishap. The gif version of it went more or less ‘viral’. So all this smiling all of a sudden shouldn’t be a surprise. Whatever PR is monitoring, you can bet they knew about that particular bit of red carpet footage. So damage control isn’t far-fetched I think.

    • Ingrid says:

      ITA 100%

      There’s video material from tonight’s red carpet (londonphile tumblr, cannot link, there’s two clips in one video).

      There’s a laugh! And eye-poking (Benedict’s new tell?) And just as it finishes, Benedict walks away and takes a deep breath and sighs if my eyes don’t deceive me.

      • moodgirl says:

        I NEED to see that.

      • MissMary says:

        Check out londonphile, SoGo, and it’s starting to pop up around on the BC blogs (mostly the skeptics but give it a few hours). it looks really…sad. Like for a moment it’s “Oh, maybe I’m wrong and this is real” but then he looks like he was just told his dog needs to be put down.

      • Lycopene says:

        To me, she looks quite obviously pregnant in the first red carpet clip, especially the side shot. That’s no model slouch going on there!

      • Angie says:

        Oh the getty footage is so telling.

        So sad.

      • MissMary says:

        Just saw some pics of the dress on a model… the model has a bump, too. it’s the dress, not sh. Posted link below.

      • Angie says:

        @ missmary saw it at SoGo too, and now they picked one on sale LOL

    • moodgirl says:

      It was also caught on camera in the UK so I’m sure it was noticed and talked about.

      • Toodles45 says:

        He honestly just looks relieved to get away from the cameras and flashing lights. Sophie then says something to him before they have to start posing again.

      • Soothy says:

        He’s very accustomed to cameras and flashing lights.

    • Oh Hey says:

      Oh. THAT’S why all the smilies tonight, Harvey Weinstein is in the house. Can’t be bad in front of the teacher, can we.

      • moodgirl says:

        Oh my! This explains everything. I feel like I need to be on my p’s and q’s all the way over here.

  48. Koodles says:

    And they have yet to look at each other in the face…..still team pr here.

    • Soothy says:

      She’s grinning like a hyena on mushrooms and he still looks like he’d rather be having a crack wax.

      • moodgirl says:

        She is overplaying it but she has to make up for her horrendous behavior on the last red carpet, HW had to hear about it and her tantrum looked really bad.

    • Cate says:

      On SoGo there’s now footage of them posing together. Someone please make a gif of the MAJOR side-eye our dear Karon is throwing SH there! Wow, she is having none of those fits anymore.

      • Claire says:

        Ask and ye shall receive. Thanks Karon!

      • MissMary says:

        I love Karon a little more each outing. I love the “bitch, don’t even…” look she has ready to go for anyone who tries to make this look bad, lol.

      • Alice says:

        I’m signed up on Team Karon, MissMary.

      • MissMary says:

        Karon’s also PR for Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie izzard… but I think is going to end up earning her a long spa week somewhere. she looks downright ready to spit nails in some of the pics.

      • moodgirl says:

        After this is over the only person deserving respect will be Karon. I admit she has earned it.

    • Alice says:

      @koodles You beat me to that comment. In one of the pics she’s grasping that clutch so hard she’ll squeeze the life out of it.

  49. solanaceae (Nighty) says:

    from newzcard: British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (R) poses with partner opera director Sophie Hunter (L) on the red carpet arriving for the British Independent Film Awards in London on December 7, 2014.

    OPERA DIRECTOR????? Now she works in Opera????????

    • Claire says:

      She did one gig in Africa, not sure if she actually directed and I don’t think it was a paying gig.

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        OPERA? She can barely sing, to direct an opera you have to know singing too, or not??

      • Soothy says:

        It’s a theme though, Nighty. She can’t act but that doesn’t stop her doing that.

      • Claire says:

        Nighty, I’m going off snippets I read. Can someone confirm whether she was actually the director? Or had a minor crew role?

    • Soothy says:

      Oh dear GOD.

      *kicks dog*

    • Tota says:

      No, she is not such a thing as an “opera director” (the person who directs the theatrical aspect of an opera). She was a collaborator in some projects of Andrew Staples (who’s really an opera singer/director) and participated in an two days installation in NYC based on “The rape of Lucretia”. But she hasn’t directed any opera production. It is fake or has been distorted to make her look important or serious.

  50. tasha_nat says:

    Can’t I just enjoy pretty pictures of Benedict without having her around?

    #StayAtHomeSophie

  51. icerose says:

    My boy got supporting actor-Andrew Scott

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      Hooray for Andrew .. Nice speech.. Proud of him..

    • InvaderTak says:

      Always excited to see him get recognized for something! He also joined the latest Bond movie! There was one pic from the announcement that was kind of sad/funny where he was standing off to the side by himself, looking lost.

    • Isadora says:

      Yessss… I was of course loyal to Fassbender (and “Frank”), but I’m really happy Andrew got an award! Also excited about the Bond announcement!

      Btw does anybody know if Fassbender (or Alicia Vikander or both together) attended?

  52. Soothy says:

    Ok, this is ridiculous. The mirror have an article kissing her boring arse already. This happened with the daily mail last week, less than an hour after the photos appeared, the article is there.
    Nobody can tell me that isn’t bizarre.

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      C’mon , the girl just stole the spotlight at the whole event…. Not the winners, she did it….

      *eyerolling..*

    • scarf girl says:

      No you are correct. It is bizarre no matter how you slice the pie.

      • Soothy says:

        The Mail have done it too. Another article just released all centred on her. She’s ‘beautiful’ again, apparently. They want us to know that they think that.

    • MissMary says:

      They had it ready to go. It’s part of the PR game no matter if this is a “legit” or “for show” relationship–it’s being used for PR.

      • Alice says:

        I look forward to the increasingly snarky comments.

      • Oh Hey says:

        I bet she never envisioned a life in which she’d be called ‘glamorous’ by all the major ass kissing papers. This must be really going to her head now.

    • j says:

      its really not, soothy. pr doesn’t have unlimited resources, but BC is great clickbait. what you are seeing is a circlejerk of bad reporting, no one is fact checking.

      but you cant run negative articles about her because you run the risk of a lawsuit (so little info on her everything negative would mostly made up in terms of backing it up) plus positive stuff is more catchy since theyre buying the ‘his fans are happy for him’ narrative

      • Soothy says:

        This doesn’t happen with other people though. It’s usually the next day these kind of articles happen, not literally the next hour. And the focus on HER specifically, as opposed to the talented and interesting people there is mind boggling.

      • j says:

        its really not?

        he’s a gossip/media draw, they have photags there, they prep 2 articles beforehand depending on whether or not hes solo. but she is more ‘interesting’ because so little is out there about her

        thats why the fail accidentally reported he was ‘sad and alone’ originally at the hobbit premiere first and then altered it. they jumped the gun

        essentially hw doesnt have major pr power in the uk, bc doesn’t either tbh, and they dont have unlimited resources to control every paper

      • Soothy says:

        There are many celebrities who are just as much of a draw as him and they don’t have the same immediate coverage.
        And the mail didn’t change that original article, they said he was lonely but also added the pic of her striding along the carpet on her own. Again, that was almost immediately printed.

        It’s a bit naive to assume that papers in the uk don’t have any connections with PR. I’m not saying that’s definitely what happened here, but it’s a possibility for sure. A strong one. The level of arse kissing that she is getting is just baffling.

      • j says:

        atm, everyone is pointing at pr with each tab article, even ones with garbled info (wrong dates, names) a real PR agency wouldn’t get wrong, but even a-listers dont have that level of control. it’s ludicrous

        the mail missed her at first and then amended it, which tells me they are not getting inside knowledge but were just ready to go. the mail has always run pointless articles on him at a pretty high rate, they were just being ignored before

        the better angle on this is that she is amazing tbh, the feel-good narratives sell. i mean, what else would you run? plus she’s the unknown quantity, over the last year, they’ve literally run stuff on his family tree 4 times. running out of new info

      • Soothy says:

        Are you really saying that you think PR companies don’t work with journalists to produce favourable articles? I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong.

        This level of attention on an unknown woman and trying to sell her as beautiful, gorgeous, clever, amazing is totally bizarre and very unusual. That’s a fact.
        They were on the front cover of the mail and the times just for turning up to the ES awards. The winners were nowhere to be seen. That isn’t normal.

      • j says:

        um, no, I think i’ve been pretty clear in that it’s not ALL of them ALL the time, which is where everyone seems to be at here. All sources are now being attributed to his/hw pr here, like he’s the wizard of oz LOL.

        Of course they were on covers, that was their first uk appearance as a couple, correct? sadly, that is newsworthy. Last year, a lot of ESA press focus was on helen mirren/ judges’ controversy, because, tbqh, those awards are not the olivers, so you gotta find a selling point

        the fairytale narrative, like I said, is the best sell. Just saying she’s there and breathing is boring, but there’s nothing the to safely hang your hat on for a negative spin, and if you do, you risk being shut out of interviews with him. This is a media common approach with unknown SOs and not unusual at all? Google Romain Dauriac, Scarlet J.’s man, for examples.

        So tl dr yes some of the articles are pr, but probably at least 50% are the tabs taking leads and info from each other on what sells and not wanting to be locked out of interviews.

      • Soothy says:

        Oh come on now, ‘first uk appearance as a couple’. Lol. He’s an mostly TV actor, he’s not Prince William, they’re first painful london red carpet appearance is not important front page news.

        And neither am I saying that articles are always influenced by PR. of course not, but it does happen more than you realise and there’s something decidedly odd going on here. There appears to a real agenda to make a big deal over HER and it’s embarrassing.

      • J says:

        For the mail, yes, their first public appearance is front page news, the paper is trash

        for the times, it depends on what type of other news they have. for example, zachary quinto had a large photo on the front page once for literally no earth-shattering reason. when we don’t have anything good on, we go with what sells on the cover.

        i am absolutely not naive to what pr can and won’t do and how the press works. all im just saying this is pretty common with an unknown so and it’s impossible for them to be controlling as much as assumed

  53. Ingrid says:

    Uh-oh, Weinstein is there apparently. No wonder they are behaving…

  54. Lucifer says:

    New mirror article says they met in 1999. #killme

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      That’s true,, they worked together in Burlesque…

      • Alice says:

        2009. Of course, I worked with someone in 2008, never saw them again until a couple of months ago. Does that mean I’ve known them for six years?

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        Apparently, yes….
        Wait, according to the Mirror they met in 1999…. :O
        “Benedict and Sophie first met when they starred in the 1999 movie Burlesque Fairytales, and reportedly only started dating this year.”

  55. solanaceae (Nighty) says:

    Varieties Award on… present by Keira..

  56. ellesbelles says:

    The Variety vignette reminded me just how f***ing beautiful he is

    • ellesbelles says:

      holy shit he said her name

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      He thanked her: to my friend Adam, my mother, my father and my fiancée Sophie…

    • Ingrid says:

      He read from the paper? WTF? I think someone is not trusted to wing these things anymore…

      But a beautiful speech…

      • Alice says:

        I noticed that. He’s never used notes before, has he? And had to say MY FIANCEE, Sophie. In case they hadn’t heard.

    • blended says:

      he said her name with his parents and adam. it was very brief and obligatory imo.

      • Soothy says:

        There was never any way he wasn’t going to say it. It would’ve looked too weird if he hadn’t.

      • MissMary says:

        People wondered why he didn’t mention any of them at the last award he picked up, he gives ’em a run through now. I’m surprised how cursory it was esp as he tends to be so verbose about how his parents supported him, etc.

      • Ingrid says:

        @MissMary – Shhhh… *whispers* But you are right.

      • Oh Hey says:

        What exactly has she done for his career so far? She didn’t need to be acknowledged as a contributor, did she? #feelingmean

      • MissMary says:

        The only thing I can think of is her presence has helped allay some of the “he’s gay!” rumors in the demo HW is targeting with TIG, and it’s given him some talking points in American media where he’s not well known outside Sherlock fandom. If he wasn’t linked to her, he’d never have been in People or InStyle.

    • ellesbelles says:

      This award show is really dull. I’m thrilled at some of the winners, namely Andrew Scott and Imelda Staunton, but the overall feel of the show is a yawn fest

      • MissMary says:

        It’s another PR awards thing, not a “wow, you really like me!” one but more a “we need your names and faces out there for awards season” thing.

      • icerose says:

        I actually like the MC he is very irreverent-and his opening comment on the films and on Benny going unnoticed was quite biting.

    • Mikasa says:

      did he at least look at her when he thanked her???
      OH NO……Drunk Uncle Cumby forgot to thank EMILY!!!

  57. blended says:

    he looked very nervous, and admitted to it during the speech. the part i found interesting is the part where he talked about the spirit of independent film making, and the freedom to do what you want without anyone telling you what to do (i’m paraphrasing). seemed like a message to HW.

    • Soothy says:

      Can anyone find that quote verbatim?

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        Radiotimes.com – transcript of speech…

      • Soothy says:

        God, it’s made me irrationally peed off that she was mentioned in his speech with his parents and adam (and way to be classy, radio times, you left adam out of the transcript, but of course remembered her). Of course he was going to thank her, I’m not surprised, but she’s been around since June? And due to (his, of course) work, wouldn’t have been around him much and left him on the dust in front of cameras last week on a red carpet. But she’s in his ‘home team’? Erm no.

        And yes, I think this part is very interesting
        “”All of us as freelance artists and filmmakers crave autonomy, and to be indepdennt and free from outside controls, anything that makes us depedent on politics or money or an outside authority.”

      • blended says:

        YES! i think that was worded intentionally. a subversive message to those who are pulling his strings.
        she was thanked last though, so that must mean something.

      • Soothy says:

        @blended

        Yeah, seems a rather clear message to me. Particularly as TIG started off as an independent movie. I think he’s genuinely angry it’s been drowned in all of this tack.

        Oh and btw, the typos in the quote are from the RT. I just copied and pasted. Useless nitwits.

      • Cate says:

        @Soothy, that bit IS interesting. Although I kind of think he’s bit full of it with ‘us freelance’, erm, I somehow don’t see him as a struggling freelance artist anymore and not as a freelance filmmaker YET. But it’s a nice thing to say, although hearing him say it sounds a bit pretentious. But my dear BC, HW doesn’t care about all that, sorry…

      • KT says:

        Well, I am surprised he remembered anyone, as he seemed very nervous.

      • Soothy says:

        Why was he so nervous anyway? He’s never been this nervous about collecting an award before?

      • KT says:

        I don’t know, Soothy. He seems to get nervous/anxious quite a bit. Not a knock towards him personally, of course, no one wants to be nervous or full of anxiety, so I suspect he can’t help it.

  58. Toodles45 says:

    Apparently he thanked Sophie (along with Karon and his parents) in his speech.

  59. scarf girl says:

    Do you guys know someone on Twitter actually suggested SH and BC had should be lead couple in 50 shades of grey? Really.

    • ellesbelles says:

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH *gasp* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH *wheeze choke* ahahHAHAhahahahahahahaha

      no.

      • scarf girl says:

        Yep. She is a TV and Film marketer in NY who appeared to be live blogging BIFAS.

      • ellesbelles says:

        she has all of the cold fish traits of Anastasia, but as much as I love Ben, hes not Christian material. It would make that s**t show even more awkward than it already is going to be

    • tasha_nat says:

      Vomit. That thought made me feel very dirty and I now want to scrub my brain.

      Ewwwww.

      • scarf girl says:

        Yep. I said something like “umm, no” which prompted her to block me. I guess some people really dig the Octopussy video? To each their own. If the Octopus and the Otter make you happy, let me not interfere with your Waterworld fantasy.

    • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

      She already has the faux leather dress, just needs the whip…

    • Mikasa says:

      Umm…clearly they haven’t seen her mime film and octopussy video!!

    • Isadora says:

      Come on, it’s perfect!! The Jawseyes, his controlling ways (at least regarding their red carpet poses and the way he talks about her), then saying absolutely cheesy, cringeworthy things. She seems to be either shy or in a huff. They even have the perfect hair (he somewhaty gingery, she brown with bangs). It fits right with the PR mess. 😀
      And nobody should suspect anything why she behaved the way she did to the older lady, that is very close and in a business relationship with her guy. Oops. (Sorry Karon, I just had to do it.)

      • scarf girl says:

        Isadora thank you for bringing me over to the dark side. And now, the image of the Octopus and Karon are seared into my mind.

  60. Pinky says:

    So.. What do we think of JR’s last tweet? Am I the only one reading something into that?

    • Felice says:

      Endurance?

    • Mikasa says:

      what did he say? Twitter makes my net slow so I can’t check.

      • Ingrid says:

        @JRhodesPianist · 37m 37 minutes ago
        Endurance is rarely acknowledged/rewarded yet the bravest & often hardest thing to do. We’ve no idea what people must do simply to show up.

        @JRhodesPianist · 35m 35 minutes ago
        Simple bloody endurance. It’s fucking heroic.

        Very vague… but interesting…

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        “Endurance is rarely acknowledged/rewarded yet the bravest & often hardest thing to do. We’ve no idea what people must do simply to show up.”
        second comment: Simple bloody endurance. It’s f*cking heroic.

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        I think it’s related to himself .. previously he speaks about being home: Fun gig in soho. Ultra-kind audience. Which is such a treat. Home now for carbs and warmth. Same again tomorrow. And next week. Red bulllll!

      • Ingrid says:

        He is calling himself heroic? I don’t think so. He is talking about someone else.

      • Soothy says:

        I don’t think it’s bc related but I also don’t think he’s talking about himself. Pretty sure he wouldn’t class himself as heroic.

    • MissMary says:

      He has several very intense performances this weekend and next so it’s probably to do with that more than anything.

  61. Alice says:

    Gugu Mbatha-Raw. – most beautiful, best dressed woman in the room. Look and learn, Sophie.

    • blended says:

      she is stunning! but won’t receive even a fraction of the attention the a certain ‘fiancee’ will get.

    • icerose says:

      yes I had the same thought when she went for he award-beautiful dress

    • 'P'enny says:

      I remember her in Doctor Who playing the sister of David Tennant’s no2 Freema Ageman at the time.

      I find it amazing that Dr Who had casted both Carey Mulligan and Guba in small supporting roles, just for one episode and they have both gone on to very big things.

      • Alice says:

        Yes! That’s where I first saw both of them and they both hooked me then and there. So happy for their successes.

  62. Ingrid says:

    Well as it turns out, Harvey couldn’t bought this award for his golden boy. Thank you for your integrity, BIFA!

    • blended says:

      maybe my imagination but not that much applause for ben when his name was called out as a nominee.

      • icerose says:

        you were right-Gleason got the most applause but Spall did quite well.

      • j says:

        the whole thing seemed kinda lifeless in general tbh

      • blended says:

        but brendan gleeson got a pretty big round, as well as spall. gleeson won, by the way.

      • KT says:

        Younger (under 45-ish) UK actors making Hollywood plays are generally frowned upon there. I think he’s getting off rather lightly, given he’s got a Oscar campaign going and just signed with a comic book franchise. But all will be forgiven if Hamlet is decent.

        [Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with that particular mindset. It’s less about ‘art’ and more along the lines of snobbery.]

      • icerose says:

        @KT or maybe people were clapping for the actors they thought deserved best actor.I also think a lot of it is about the press overkill as it has gone beyond over exposed to comical. Even Charles Dance got some humour out of Benny when he gave a technical award.

      • KT says:

        It could be, icerose, but he was rather good as Turing.

        Generally speaking, there is still that idea that you can’t be a real actor if you deal with Oscar campaigns–that is the press overkill you’re speaking of–and to a lesser degree, big ’empty’ US franchises in the UK.

    • ellesbelles says:

      I’d like to see Ben and Kiera acknowledged but not to feed the TWC dragon

    • icerose says:

      @Ingrid to true

      • KT says:

        He’s actually excellent in the Imitation Game. Same for Keira, who was also nominated.

        As I said below, there is probably a feeling the film ceased to be independent once Weinstein got his paws on it, which I rather agree with.

    • 'P'enny says:

      HW bought the Variety award instead…

      I’ve never really heard of these awards till today, so odd.

      However, surprised Tim Spall didn’t win. 🙁

      • icerose says:

        I have been aware of them for ages. Tom gave an award for them a couple of years ago and is a big BFI supporter. I really like the humour and informality.
        Pride was always my choice but I did not expect it to win. Did Imitation Game win anything and did Charles Dance take the micky out of Benny at one point.

      • Maggie says:

        The BIFA awards were created in 1998 and the awards are selected by a committee so I doubt anyone can buy these awards. They honour independent film in Britain and if you think about it logically, Benedict has done an awful lot to promote Britain in the film industry. His award was well deserved.

      • blended says:

        this is a legit award ceremony in the uk. don’t know why you would find it odd.

      • icerose says:

        @blended In terms of picking films I want to see BIFI and Cannes are the two that do it for me.

      • icerose says:

        Jude Law, Kenneth Brannagh also received that award more recently so it is really about actors who appear in international films and receive a lot of attention that reflects positively on the UK,
        If the film /actor was nominated then it is considered an independent film and I doubt that it would have lost out because of the Oscar buzz. Brendon Gleeson also won the Boston critics award which is interesting as well.

  63. InvaderTak says:

    I love her, but Emma Thompson looks, well, deranged. Is this awards show boring or is it just me?

    • Oh Hey says:

      Slightly tipsy?? I love her, she can do no wrong, IMO…..

    • ellesbelles says:

      its totally dull.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Yuck, presenter was beyond rude at the end ,”shit you turned out wasn’t up to scratch”. Not really necessary to say to the un-winners, was it?

      • icerose says:

        Very British humour with a little bit of bite and I loved the free Benedict Cumberbatch doll comment but it did make me wonder if Benny has taken over from Barrowman as the inside business joke.

      • ellesbelles says:

        @OH the whole thing felt like a disaffected hipster type thing.

        (Come over! I’ve made tea and I’m watching Wallender on Netflix xx The curls and wide eyes are in full effect)

      • Oh Hey says:

        Elles, I would love to – but I think I may have some Deep Blue Sea tonight on Amazon, or perhaps another round of Tennessee Williams, after I check to see if my fire extinguisher is still in working order. Wallender’s on Amazon too….but not enough of him….

      • ellesbelles says:

        I listened to Tennessee Williams again and blushed so hard

        Deep Blue see isnt on netflix I dont think. I may try Archipelago tonight

    • Soothy says:

      I find her annoying. She’s a bit ‘ooh, I’m SO eccentric!’

    • 'P'enny says:

      she’s batshi%, always has been, always will be. I really like her, but she is crazy funny.

    • icerose says:

      she is always a little bit off the wall but she was being very satirical and it was quite funny. I actually enjoy these awards more than the Oscars as everyone feels more real and they do not go on as much.

    • MissMary says:

      I think Emma Thompson has reached the stage in her life and career where she’s like “eff it, this is me, if you don’t like it, bugger off.”

  64. icerose says:

    Emma Watson was brilliant

  65. MissMary says:

    The new rumor starting, thanks to the engagement party tweets, is “omg they’re having a surprise wedding”. Nice thing to start getting around so close to ER’s wedding. Curiouser and curiouser (but not really…we all know what’s up. And how tacky would it be to tread on his ‘good friend’s’ spotlight if they did lose their minds and get married during the holidays? Tacky tacky tacky.)

    • Oh Hey says:

      Well, MissMary, it’s the timing, no offense to Eddie but since she’s preggers they have to do it quickly. No, really…

      • MissMary says:

        I’m not holding my breath on the preggers rumor (esp after seeing the dress on a model and it STILL had a bump). And why rush to marry even in the unlikely event she got pregnant? His own mother was damn near crowning when she married his dad.

      • Oh Hey says:

        He’s too much in the limelight right now, were it not for awards season and the biggest film he’s ever done, he might not feel pressured to do it but if he didn’t he’d look like a cad, and his reputation would take a big hit. Sounds old fashioned but lots of people think that way still. And I think he’s a bit gullible and impressionable, that would stick with him.

    • Alice says:

      I can’t find that tweet. Any links?

    • Claire says:

      So what’s the verdict on the engagement party tweets, fake or real? And who are they from?

      • MissMary says:

        People seem to think they’re real since they mention a unique first name that is a known friend of SH’s in Scotland, and the tweet poster is from the same area.

    • moodgirl says:

      But Ben IS treading on ER’S spotlight, and with gusto.

    • moodgirl says:

      MissMary, Soothy – Now, imagine how things would be if BC had NOT announced his engagement two days before embarking on a PR trip to LA for the awards season. None of this would be happening. A few magazine articles but no covers, very few talk shows, no spot interviews on Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood, no huge online movement except for us. NOTHING.
      Even if he had dragged her along as a date or girlfriend 90% of the publicity they are receiving would not exist. None of it.

      Now, there are some REALLY intelligent people on this site. Put your heads together and tell me if this engagement was done for PR purposes. It could be no other way. When you add in the details that we know from the beginning of the year the lovey dovey couple reeks of desperation. He can marry her if he wants but it’s still PR. They can honeymoon in Hades but guess what? PR. PR. PR.

      One more thing: Wanna bet that HW showed up because he got wind of the way SH showed her behind on the previous red carpets and he wanted them to get their crap together? Maybe that is why we are all smiles and Karon looks so no nonsense. I am afraid of him all the way over here.

      • MissMary says:

        HW was at last year’s BIFA, iirc (I can check when I’m off my phone and on my laptop). I absolutely believe this was PR, no matter if they “started legit” or what. too much has been done that’s just too wtf for it to be anything else at this point, for my estimation anyway. You’re right–if this wasn’t being done, no matter it’s legitimacy or authenticity, he’d barely be getting US press.

      • Ingrid says:

        I have been saying this for weeks. So I agree 100%.

        PR plans the campaigns. It’s not like they went “let’s do some interviews and see what happens”. They have to make sure their star is being talked about. I don’t think for a second this was a happy accident. They don’t happen. Everyting points to PR.

        I recommend everyone to take a step back to see the forest from the trees because sometimes you get caught up with little details. And what you will end up seeing is one rotten forest. Truly shocking.

      • Soothy says:

        I had my doubts and was pushed very much into sideeye with the LFF behaviour. But now.. There’s just so much that doesn’t add up to a natural courtship at all.
        I just hope he’s happy. He can be a prize ninny but I get the feeling he’s a very nice guy and I don’t want him to be sad. But he’s looked mostly sad for the last couple of months. People in love glow, even when they’re tired.
        And these strange quotes are not from the same man who hates the media and wants to protect his privacy. Neither is the timed and public announcement.
        Would a private man who’d just begun dating someone, choose to sit in the front row of a world famous tennis match? I’m thinking, no.

        I just hope he makes all the right decisions for himself.

      • Emily says:

        I was telling someone this earlier today.

        A fiance garners far more attention than he could have mustered on his own. Only his fanbase would care if he’s casually dating a girlfriend. It’s why he continues to bring her up in this context even when unasked. He’s gunning for A list. Putting his name out there for middle america.

        X2 on HW

      • KT says:

        I’d take it a bit further, it’s more than about the A-list.

        He can’t have another lead bomb, and certainly not one he is so invested in. He tends to get a bit obsessed with his subject matter (and it sticks).

        Really, really easy for Weinstein to sell that angle to him. I mean, I’d buy it, and it is true–Oscar campaign promo does have a significant effect on box office for movies like this.

      • moodgirl says:

        @Soothy – “Would a private man who’d just begun dating someone, choose to sit in the front row of a world famous tennis match? I’m thinking, no.”

        And then complain about being spotted.

      • moodgirl says:

        Now I understand the “No backstory” comment. This relationship didn’t really exist in real time so they don’t have a “story” like every other couple in the world. This is why there is so much confusion – and why he doesn’t talk about and is so vague concerning the details of their courtship.

        He talks about how busy they were so he is surprised that they met again but he NEVER says HOW they re-met. Every couple has a story about how they met. Their PR plan is to use the media, like Vogue, to create an artificial back story. It’s obvious that they worked out the timing. Also, if SH is so educated and is a fantabulous director, why can’t she give an interview? Easy, because BC is the one to control the narrative that PR created for the backstory, it keeps the story straight.

        I have a friend who is Indian and had an arranged marriage but she still has a back story about how their relationship progressed from meeting up to today.

      • Lucifer says:

        right when i thought BC could not drown any further. Shame on him for trying to steal ER’s thunder. BUt guess what benny boo, ER is in LOVE. we can see that in his eyes. U r NOT. Being in love is a BLESSING and you don’t have that. Now u r a thunder-stealer . that’s all you are.. #SHAME

    • j says:

      um, that just sounds like someone who had no idea ppl were this nuts over it if it’s even true

      like, some of this is getting really far fetched imo

      [ER is doing just fine LOL]

  66. scarf girl says:

    Lots of details leaked. Place of enGAGment party: Scotland. Attire: celebratory. Name of drama teacher someone claims to have fact checked against Octopus Facebook account to confirm connection.

    Even if she is preggers, the amount of PR involved in this relationship is astounding.

    • MissMary says:

      Someone on another site pointed out that even with details, it should be taken with a huge grain of salt esp as it’s so obvious PR is a big part of what’s going on, no matter the authenticity of the relationship. More details mean more spin.

    • Soothy says:

      Wow. So all of his friends and family have to go to Scotland? I take it mummy needed to have the glory.

    • InvaderTak says:

      Oh wow. And still no word from his family. I might be reading too much into that, granted, but it still seems strange as they all seem pretty close and his parents are famous anyway.

    • Leo says:

      Where did you see that the party is held in Scotland? The girls said nothing about that.

      • MissMary says:

        @Leo: I misspoke–the OP of the tweet is apparently from Scotland, according to SoGo, and lives where SH’s family is apparently from.

      • scarf girl says:

        I might have accidentally made that up? Fact checking myself and will pop back.

        MoodGirl-for comparison where did you here that? Don’t want to name Twitter accounts as the girl who,posted name of teacher and dress code appears to be youngish, but also think there were two girls.

      • MissMary says:

        @Scarf Girl: IDK about moodgirl but there’s a few posts about it on Sogo including a comment or two about where the girls are from (in general terms, not specific locations).

    • moodgirl says:

      I heard that drama teacher rumor weeks ago.

    • Claire says:

      I don’t know what to believe anymore then.

    • Claire says:

      I still want to know: who is this info coming from (either on twitter or which tabloid?), and does it sound real or fake/dubious?

      • scarf girl says:

        Claire, I will confirm that I either pulled the Scotland thing out of my rear due to a brain fart (similar to my Rita Skeeter/Rita Hayworth moment) or I read a tweet that had been deleted. The tweet that I saw today-can’t speak for mood girl-was one that was easily found on Twitter during BIfAs. Popped up during a BC search. Stated she wanted to be her drama teacher because drama teacher invited to engagement party. I saw tweet, posted, and moved on. During another Twitter search, saw the thing about celebratory wear and something on SoGo where someone had delved deep (or written a post insinuating they delved deep) about name of drama teacher, comparing friend lists (which I don’t know if Octopus Facebook account open to public to be able to do that) and location of girl posting the tweet in proximity to area of Scotland where Octopus family lives.

        So I apologize deeply for any contribution I have had in spreading misinformation. Truly. That is not my intent of being on this board. Please forgive me one and all.

        Also acknowledge I have spent dear heaven way too many hours following the live Twitter feed of an award show. I mean, I do this regularly during award season but I feel like I need to step away.

      • Claire says:

        hey no need to apologise. so you think the tweets were genuine/factual then? It sounds pretty legit. amazed her old drama teacher is bragging to students though.

      • moodgirl says:

        No apologies necessary, we are all just speculating. And don’t step away from Twitter- I don’t know how it works and something big might come up. 😅

      • scarf girl says:

        Claire I honestly don’t know. Mood girl seems very certain that she heard this rumor a few weeks back. It seems odd to me that two girls would happen to tweet this information on the day of the BIFAs when BCs name would be trending. But at least one girl’s account looked legit-as in not made up on the fly.

        And honestly, ER and his fiancée were in the papers for throwing a huge wedding party recently for their family-apparently the actual wedding will be very small and they wanted a way to be inclusive. So I think, given the PR aspect of this relationship between BC/SH, they would need to throw some sort of celebration. And the timing of all of this seems perfect.

        I didn’t want to dig too much in the girls’ Twitter because that feels wrong to me. Kinda like fact checking the name of the drama teacher against a friend list. I am not throwing shade if anyone has done that-just for me that reaches a level beyond mild curiosity.

        It is one thing to come here, and chat and interact with people who are side-eyeing this relationship and calling out PR antics. It is another to go digging too deep.

      • scarf girl says:

        Moodgirl I now only search for BC information on days I know there is an event. But that is because the nannydom is strong on Twitter and I can only handle so much. Also don’t follow any BC accounts. However, my searching has dropped off considerably for these reasons:

        1) noticed weird tweets around the last graham Norton show appearance. Example: woman claimed to see BC with a mystery woman walking on a specific road in London. Woman was to,d to remove tweet by fans because you could find BC house. But what struck me as odd: woman was a very inactive tweeter, and suddenly she pops in Twitter to say she saw BC with a mystery lady? Weird behavior in my book. Looking back I think PR.
        2) last London event (think it was the Isle of Wight sighting day of ESA awards) he was also definitely placed in a crepe restaurant in Cardiff. Odd.
        3) the Twitter information about BC/SH or rumored SH really died down after enGAGment. Like, no info at all. It went from a substantial fervor of tweets to nil. Which for his privacy is good. But hindsight, were some of these tweets plants to drive girlfriend fervor?

        And now, tinfoil hat again on, seat taken on conspiracy train. Thanks Moodgirl for bringing me back around.

        To others apologize for long posts.

      • MissMary says:

        @Scarfgirl: 0_0 ya know… I don’t do twitter that much outside of work related stuff (I do dabble but not as much as I used to lol)… and that’s pretty telling, what you just ran down.

      • KT says:

        Why such ineffective techniques? Far better ways to fan rumors PR-wise, and if she was supposed to be secret, why was she out in the open first?

        I’m thinking it was a real relationship but she hates the type of attention he gets and the events he goes to, etc., and he rushed into an engagement, and now there’s issues.

        And, yes, they are using it for PR, just like Redmayne is using his.

      • moodgirl says:

        There is basically nothing about them outside of red carpet events. No walking down the street, grocery store, shopping, not a thing. If there is something it is ambiguous, like him on the ferry or in the bar. If people are together, they are together – they are supposed to be engaged. You shouldn’t have to ask people if they saw her or have a big debate if she was there.

      • scarf girl says:

        KT I am not sure I would call this ineffective. From June through October Twitter was in a frenzy of BC sightings and playing the “is it SH” game with every person who reported a BC sighting. London theatre sighting; Richard III after party; Secret Cinema; grocery store outing after JR. wedding; Edingurgh botanical gardens; Brighton cafe sightings; walking down the street with some mystery lady etc. The responses would inevitably spill over into Tumblr. And be blogged. And reblogged. Not saying all of these were PR plants. But maybe some PR whipped it a little bit? Played into it? Clearly behavior at LFF indicates the couple knew they were being observed. And to give into cynicism, this is the most re logged celebrity of tumblr. He knows how is fan base communicates.

      • moodgirl says:

        One of my favorite quotes from SoGo, I believe it wholeheartedly:

        “My theory is, Weinstein strongly suggested Ben get “boo’d up” for awards season, but it was Ben who picked Sophie Hunter. Looking back, it’s obvious Ben was looking at other women to be his awards season date, but for whatever reason, the other women didn’t work out. I doubt Sophie was anyone’s first choice.”

      • KT says:

        @scarf girl: But the fanbase is the wrong target. This is an Oscar campaign: the aim is to reach the casual movie-going public and the voters, not a teeny online fanbase with negligible impact.

  67. solanaceae (Nighty) says:

    On the interview on the red carpet does he get asked whom he’s spending Xmas with and his answer is Sophie?

    • moodgirl says:

      Um, what else can he say? And who would be so nosey to ask such a personal question.

    • lola says:

      He said her name? Twice in one night?

    • Alice says:

      Actually, the interviewer wanted to ask him to give a Christmas greeting shout out, but he’d barely said the word Christmas when BC jumped in with “Sophie”. Then he caught the guy’s intent and waved “Merry Christmas.”

      • Claire says:

        um, wow. was the exchange as awkward and contrived as you make it seem heh?

      • moodgirl says:

        See, it’s just too contrived. This about a woman whom two weeks ago it appeared he physically couldn’t get her name past his lips.

      • Soothy says:

        Huh?

      • Ingrid says:

        There’s an other interview on tumblr where he says “i hope my family would have been here” and then corrects it with “rest of my family.” Freudian slip again.

        Also mentions family members who are no longer with us.
        Cannot post the link, on my phone

      • Claire says:

        Thanks for that Ingrid. All of this is so consistent with him not being in love or even liking her…so why the engagement party? I just don’t get it.

      • Alice says:

        @Ingrid. It’s very weird that Wanda, Timothy and Tracy have gone into witness protection with Irene Adler.

    • haberdasher says:

      Take another listen. I believe he said “selfie,” not “Sophie,” and it was in context. I thought sounded odd at the time so went back and re-listened: the interviewer asked for an Xmas greeting shot (paraphrasing, here) and BC asked (a bit skittishly/bemusedly — he seemed off his game, certainly ETA: or rather a bit put off) “a selfie?” and the interviewer clarified that he wanted him (BC) to look into the other camera… and so on… Figured it tied into the general furor re. selfies, about which no more need be said.

  68. Ingrid says:

    LA critics best actor: Tom Hardy, Locke (suprise) and runner up Keaton.

    BC has 0 wins so far if we are not counting the bought ones

    • MissMary says:

      NY Film Critics didn’t give him or TIG any awards, either!

      • Ingrid says:

        Nor did Boston online, national board of review, spirit, BIFA

      • InvaderTak says:

        O/T sort of: Boston Online gave Snowpiercer the best movie award. Really? I was ok, but just ok. The plot holes were gaping and I didn’t think the acting stood out from the crowd much. That was a big huh? from me.

      • KT says:

        I didn’t care for Snowpiecer either.

        Question: was TIG eligible for the Spirits? I thought it was but now am I not so sure about funding, since it made into the BIFAs, which requires at least 1/2 your funding to come out of the UK.

      • Ingrid says:

        @KT – There’s mixed information about Spirit eligibility. But the bottom line is, jury decided it wasn’t worthy of nominations. Budget and US participation requirements were both met. Maybe they wanted to tell Harvey to f*ck off…

        Of course critic’s awards tend to lean towards more left-field options (this year especially) and big awards tend to be more conservative. The broad picture for BC does not look though. He’ll get the noms but won’t be winning any (or maybe GG, Keaton is on comedy category).

    • InvaderTak says:

      Is that any kind of indication though? Should we wait for SAGs and GGs before we declare that this was all for naught?

      Also: yay Hardy-boy!

      • MissMary says:

        I mean, it’s not set in stone, but it’s interesting that, for someone so heavily vetted, he’s getting zero noms from some of these groups. I mean, he and TIG could clean up at GG, SAG, and sweep the Oscars even without the critics awards.

      • Lucifer says:

        Quote from Sanskrit literature
        ” Too much of anything is a SIN”
        BC, u hear me?
        u r SO spiritual (snort)? Do u get this?

    • blended says:

      now we know why HW is pushing his golden boy hard.

    • KT says:

      He’s actually outstanding in the Imitation Game, so I don’t think it’s fair to say Weinstein ‘bought’ all his awards.

      Ironically, snubs may have less to do with his acting and more to do with how much people dislike Weinstein or don’t view anything he gets his hands on as independent, regardless of what level of involvement he had in the production.

      And yes, InvaderTak, you’ve got to wait for the SAGs and GG. Most of the awards listed, particularly the NBR, aren’t Oscar indicators at all.

    • moodgirl says:

      Can’t we count the bought ones, please? There may not be anything else in the end.

  69. lindy79 says:

    If they are having an engagement party, you would think they’d have asked people not to put details on social media or not discuss it with people who aren’t invited. I’ve been to parties/weddings recently where they’ve politely asked for pictures etc not to be posted.
    If they are that private you’d imagine they’d have asked the same and anyone not doing it runs the risk of being uninvited.

    • j says:

      it sounds like some girls heard their teacher say it

      so it’s either bs or the poor teacher wasn’t thinking or was overheard, which happens

      • moodgirl says:

        There was another where someone played the drums so they were asked to play behind James Rhoades at the reception. They were called down as well.

      • MissMary says:

        Wasn’t that Tor, aka Cumberbuddy? Or someone accused her of saying that anyway, since she’s a session drummer IRL (and posts about it–it’s not secret).

      • Claire says:

        i’m pretty sure that was a hoax and they were talking about something else entirely? or joking?

      • moodgirl says:

        Wasn’t it Cumberbuddy who tweeted BC yesterday and he answered that he was planning his wedding on the plane? There is some controversy that either that was a setup or they picked her intentionally because the other questions were no nonsense, so he didn’t have an opportunity to discuss his engagement without her.

      • Alice says:

        @moodgirl. How coincidental that out of the hundreds, thousands of questions tweeted, they just happened to pick cumberbuddy’s. Universe was not paying attention.

      • Oh Hey says:

        BC doesn’t do Twitter, so he says, she’s making stuff up…….

      • MissMary says:

        it was part of the q&A, Oh Hey. He was answering live feed tweets for an event.

    • Claire says:

      it sounds pretty legit, but who knows anymore. I like to think not, but this is more and more tipping over into the “real but effed up” side.

  70. Annie says:

    Long time lurker here with no vested interest in Ben’s personal life – happily married senior – yet I am sensing things and feel I need to say my piece. Although Ben will probably never read or hear about this, it gets it off my chest.

    Dear Benedict,
    I know that you feel you needed to get your ducks in a row as far as wife and family in addition to having a woman on your arm for the Oscar PR. I also sense that you feel that you’ve seen everything that’s out there, that you’ve given up on the fairytale romance you once believed in, and that Sophie meets your needs and “fits” in with your life so you’re going forward with this. I also sense that, while you may like or even love her, you are not ‘in love’ with her.
    But, dear one, would you please pay attention to the nagging feelings within yourself, telling you that there is something wrong with this decision? Would you also please pay attention to the close family members who are trying to dissuade you from making a huge mistake? You also say that you meditate. So, after you have cleared your mind, can you just listen to the voice within yourself? Follow that intuitive guidance instead of the ego voice in your head, and all will be well.
    If you follow through with the wedding, unfortunately, it will be a disaster both financially and emotionally, Plus, you will not have any children with Sophie Hunter.
    On the other hand, I see another woman who could be the love of your life and give you a son when you are about 42. This, of course, is only a probability since you have free will.
    I tend to be intuitive, but my guidance is always related to my own life and no one else. So I’m as surprised as anyone that I am seeing and sensing these things, but since my intuition has always been accurate, I feel it is correct in this case also.
    I feel that you are a good man with a good heart, so I do wish that you will find the true love and happiness that I was fortunate enough to find in my own life.

  71. Kate says:

    BC is going to implode if he doesn’t win his Oscar for all this hustlin’ he’s had to do…

    • scarf girl says:

      Shut out of LA Critic Awards and Vanity Fair has Oscar vote split between Keaton and ER. Race far from over but he is painted as the underdog.

      • Ingrid says:

        ER may have peaked too soon. Maybe that’s true for BC as well. Underdog status can sometimes work in your favor but not when you are downgraded to it.

        Keaton’s campaign seem solid. Not too aggressive and none of these idiotic publicity stunts. Just being charming and talking about his work.

        Hollywood knows how Harvey operates. I would think most of them are smelling the enGAGment stunt. It’s too obvious. Not that they care about it that much, it just gives an air of desperation and dishonesty. Like: “Well isn’t that convenient!”

    • blended says:

      i don’ think he expects to win. he’s gunning for just a nomination right now, which is still not even a guarantee.

      • moodgirl says:

        I think he wants to win.

      • KT says:

        I think he’s more realistic than people think and is just looking for a nomination, since that works nearly as well as a win anyway.

        Wonder why VF has Eddie as a lock? His campaign has been more aggressive in terms of US visibility, but he’s been shut out of everything award-wise as well.

        I suppose there’s no clear front-runner based on awards, now that I think about it. It’s all over the place.

  72. Mikasa says:

    I’m just curious if her ‘tantrum’ from last week have anything to do with this engagement party (if true). I’m guessing she wasn’t getting what she wants or he didn’t have free time for a party? Or they must have had disagreements on the creative direction of their wedding – BC seems to think he’s doing the planning but of course I’m sure sodius would want her own avant garde expertise implemented to the wedding ceremony.

    • MissMary says:

      It’s either very convenient timing or very pointed talking-to from HR that got them all smiles on the red carpet tonight and SH doing the laugh and lean in a few of the pics. Even if the relationship is “real,” there’s no denying there’s a heavy dose of PR going on, and even if it’s authentic and they’re in love 5evah, her having a stomp and flail on the red carpet looks bad for him to some voters for these things. So it’s “interesting” that, this outing, they’re smiling and she’s standing by his side, looking more supportive and pleasant.

      • blended says:

        if he looks happier, it’s most likely due to finalizing dr. strange. their body language is still rigid as ever, they can’t look at each other, and are standing without touching torsos. watching the red carpet video you can see that they are still just posing and smiling, and he’s still directing her on where to look.

      • Soothy says:

        Can people direct me to where he ‘looks happier’?

      • moodgirl says:

        I love where she is grinning, looking behind in Karon’s direction. Karon appears as if she could kill SH, no smile at all. BC is looking at the camera. I have yet to find a photo where BC and SH are looking at each other, don’t even mention looking at each other lovingly. Just nothing. And Karon looks homicidal, like she is about to go off on someone.

      • Alice says:

        @moodgirl. Which pic is that? I missed it.

      • moodgirl says:

        I think they knew HW would be there and straightened up. It would explain the difference between the unmitigated attitude on the red carpet of the first two occasions and the grins on the third. It also explains the look on Karon’s face, like she had double dared them to act up.

      • moodgirl says:

        On SoGo.

      • Felice says:

        Actually he wasn’t there after all.

      • Soothy says:

        Are you sure he wasn’t there? He was there last year.

      • Felice says:

        No tweets or photos.

        Update: He’s at Elephant Man in NY

      • Mikasa says:

        I’ve just looked through the pics again and to be fair…BC doesn’t look much different from previous redcarpet photos with SH, other than he looks more relax. I’m assuming he got some sleep during his flight? SH on the other hand is a walking contrast from her usual self which makes me wonder what changed? Did she finally get that job she wanted? Or because her soon to be hubby is getting a bigger paycheck from Marvel and an afford better dresses that are not floral?? Btw, did she attend the afterparty?

      • Lucifer says:

        i cant believe MIssmary is in the REAL camp 🙁

    • Claire says:

      Ok time for another poll: who thinks the engagement party tweets/talk is real, who thinks it’s fake/setup?

      • Megan says:

        Still team fake. I think the fact that we have seen such an abrupt turn around from last week has just made it more obvious.

      • Froop says:

        Real. She’s a real person, a friend of SH’s on FB. Did anyone see the theory that they’ve asked people to wear ‘celebratory dress’ and it might be a secret surprise wedding?

      • Mikasa says:

        I think it might be real. I don’t think pr can control everything on social media, hence the messy patch up work on this enGAGment. They need the engagement party because they could use more publicity, 1. They are running out of red carpet events 2. It’s to combat Redmayne’s real wedding 3. We might finally hear some comments from his parents, even if its from a random guest 4. Majority of his friends and family don’t know her and needs a grand introduction fit for a princess!

      • moodgirl says:

        Fake. Someone stated that, since they want everyone in celebratory outfits, should she wear a clown costume. Someone took a look at her facebook page, found a name, and intentionally created havoc. It’s as real as everything else that surrounds these two immature weirdos. Just like the where is waldo tweets.

      • Soothy says:

        @moodgirl

        That’s more than a little far fetched.

      • Claire says:

        ^I’m happy to consider the theory they picked a name from FB if her teaching position at the school is publicly stated, either on FB or somewhere else online. Do you know either way moodgirl? (I’m a conspiracist, but a scientific one.)

      • MissMary says:

        I’m still firmly on team fake. I may have to eat my words one day but for now, team fake.

      • scarf girl says:

        Fake. For them both to have tweeted at exact same time, discussed retweets…..

        But would it shock me to hear there is an engagement party? When Vanity Fair puts him as the underdog, ER has more momentum and a real relationship? Would it shock me to see a party around the holidays? Not a bit. If the performance is not getting him the nomination, going to have to keep momentum up.

      • Claire says:

        hi scarf girl, do you remember day/time of tweets? was it just over the weekend or last week? sorry for drilling you like an investigator btw.

        Also, I wasn’t able to determine from moodgirl the origin of the sogo drama teacher item a few weeks ago. Was it an anonymous item? (If it was, it plays into my old theory his PR was using eggs and no sogo as a kind of PR dropbox)

        Figuring out the times of all this would help sway me as to whether it’s fake or real; for now it’s up in the air

        Also, is VF putting him as the underdog for a nomination or the award? I expect him to be the underdog for the award, but not for nominations.

      • scarf girl says:

        No, do not apologize Claire. The tweets were both today. There are links to one on the SoGo blog if not both. I didnt catch the first drama student engagement party story on SoGo Moodgirl referenced but that makes me suspicious. That and one of the girls specifically mentioned the retweet. After all, are the odds high they both popped into their drama teacher on a Sunday?

      • moodgirl says:

        It was anonymous and people were really drilling it. No one was buying it. The fact that it is not new and I remember is already suspicious.

      • Claire says:

        Ah scarf girl you and I think alike! Good good good 🙂

        I asked for that very reason: if it was during the week, ok, during class. Only reason it’d be on a Sunday is if there was a school performance and say, she got the invitation in the mail on Friday. Still possible. (As a former drama student we only did Saturday weekend shows, but every school is different.)

        If the invitations went out weeks ago that might explain someone leaking to Sogo then (someone rubbing it in? a PR plant? if real, most likely case is Sophie herself considering how it’s now probable she’s been polishing up her CV). If tweets are factual, only thing I could think of is the party is extremely imminent and she blabbed during said hypothetical Sunday performance.

        Sorry, what do you mean the girl mentioned the retweet? As in they spoke to one another?

      • scarf girl says:

        Right now underdog for the award ( was my takeaway).

        Mood girl I am glad you r ember these things. I don’t drop by SoGo that much and don’t go beyond the first few posts.

        Claire, yes, I also suspect his PR used Eggs and now SoGo. Just like here- have you noticed there is more “pro” and nanny traffic in the comment section during the week? More unfamiliar names?

        If you guys think I have had far too much Irish tea on the conspiracy train let me know. I will promptly cut back.

      • Claire says:

        Thanks moodgirl. Another theory given that info: the two girls go to the school and they found out via sogo that Outbreak Monkey’s drama teacher was invited, and then said, “hey that’s our teacher!!!” and then both tweeted during Sunday afternoon girl talk time. they’d not be insincere, but not necessarily factual.

        I still keep coming back to the theory his PR has been dripping leaks to eggs/sogo for maximum coverage throughout the fandom though. That doesn’t tell us whether the dripped leaks are factual or fabricated though.

        Also, another possible nickname. Award Season Sophie. Acronym spells…

      • Alice says:

        If I were known as Sophie Hunter’s drama teacher, i wouldn’t go out in public, much less to a party with real actors. It would be too embarrassing to have them think I had something to do with her career path.

      • Claire says:

        scarf girl you’re doing fine. only ting i’d say is more traffic in week is likely due to higher traffic in the week and/or after articles are published and get traction, leading more people to search for him.

      • moodgirl says:

        @scarf girl – Feel free to give your opinions, there is no need to apologize for anything. We are all friends here. Except the nannies.

      • KT says:

        Spreading ‘secret wedding’ rumors this way is far too unreliable. Too big to be left to chance if that’s their play, and they easily can drop through more stable outlets.

        You’ve either got a genuine slip-up from someone who knows them, could have been as simple as a person leaving something out on a desk, or two ‘detectives’ making assumptions or winding fans up.

      • Lucifer says:

        FAKE FAKE.
        They know we do our RESEARCH. So they conveniently tipped tat frnd to tweet.

      • Claire says:

        I agree KT. I haven’t paid much attention to your posts for some reason (maybe post more often? 😉 ) but I always pay attention to your reasoning.

      • Claire says:

        Another suspect thing – though this may mean nothing because maybe they, or whoever wrote it is a knob – but ‘celebratory dress’ is not an actual dress code.

        Do people make up descriptions of dress codes for their engagement parties? I have no idea: I’ve never seen it even among wealthy people.

        Formal, semi-formal, white tie, morning dress: these are all dress codes on the upper end of the formality scale.

        The closest word to celebratory is ceremonial, and that refers to professional dress like court judges, military officers, religious figures, what a monarch would wear when sitting on the throne. I doubt that’s it.

        moodgirl’s contribution is crucial here. Moodgirl, would it be too much trouble to do a little sleuthing and find out exactly when it was? They’ve only been engaged 4 weeks and unless it was in the past couple weeks or the day after they were engaged, it means the engagement (or secret wedding) invitations went out when he was in the US. No proper company in charge of such matters would use “celebratory dress” unless it was insisted upon. The only plausible scenario if this is real is if “celebratory dress” is her words or of someone in one of their families. For a situation where at least one family saw it a socially impressive thing to announce in the Times, it makes little sense they wouldn’t take care to get proper attire terms spot on. You’d also think someone who thinks she’s so high on the social ladder would know ettiquette 101 and have proper attire terms down if she was behind it.

        So I’m skeptical even more than I was before, but again, like MissMary said, prepared to eat crow.

      • Claire says:

        Here’s a quick but maybe not easy way to prove my theory wrong: does SoGo have the ability to see where her visitors are from? Ask her when in the past few weeks she’s had hits on her blog from Scotland/northern England.

      • Claire says:

        Another suspect thing – though this may mean nothing because maybe they, or whoever wrote it is a knob – but ‘celebratory dress’ is not an actual dress code. Do people make up descriptions of dress codes for their engagement parties? I have no idea: I’ve never seen it even among wealthy people. Formal, semi-formal, white tie, morning dress: these are all dress codes on the upper end of the formality scale.

        The closest word is ceremonial, and that refers to professional dress like court judges, military officers, religious figures, what a monarch would wear when sitting on the throne. I doubt that’s it.

        moodgirl’s contribution is crucial here. Moodgirl, would it be too much trouble to do a little sleuthing and find out exactly when it was?

      • Claire says:

        (part 2 of my comment) They’ve only been engaged 4 weeks and unless it was in the past couple weeks or the day after they were engaged, it means the engagement (or secret wedding) invitations went out when he was in the US. No proper company in charge of such matters would use “celebratory dress” unless it was insisted upon. The only plausible scenario if this is real is if “celebratory dress” is her words or of someone in one of their families. For a situation where at least one family saw it a socially impressive thing to announce in the Times, it makes little sense they wouldn’t take care to get proper attire terms spot on. You’d also think someone who thinks she’s so high on the social ladder would know ettiquette 101 and have proper attire terms down if she was behind it.

        So skeptical more than I was before, but like MissMary, prepared to eat crow.

  73. **sighs** says:

    You leave for half a day and holy crap! The leather makes anyone look preg. Why wouldn’t they have an engagement party? It’s got to look real, right? I wonder if his family is actually invited? 😛
    Good on you, pr, for taking notes!

  74. Oh Hey says:

    Not that further evidence is needed, but look at BC and his friends, actually kissing Andrew Scott, alive, close body contact, affectionate, when he can barely make eye contact with TWILWIPT.
    https://twitter.com/andrwscttonline/status/541749752459956224/photo/1

    • moodgirl says:

      There’s a photo on SoGo where SH is leaning so far away from BC that, if he let go, she would fall over.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Saw that – what COULD she find so repulsive about him? I would be all over him like white on rice, not in a gross way but at least showing some true affection, as he does with his friends. I’d have to be peeled off him. Jesus, what a cold fish.

      • Alice says:

        If it was a whirlwind romance they should be giddy with the newness. If they’ve known each other long enough to get engaged they should be comfortable and relaxed. Neither seems to be happening.
        If they do marry, I hope he doesn’t follow his mother’s example and stay in a dead marriage until the right one comes along and gives him the courage to leave.

      • moodgirl says:

        I think I would be gross about it. 💋💕👙👯💏👅

    • Claire says:

      TLIMLATM???? BBQ!!

    • Isadora says:

      Sheriarty 5evaah!!!!111 *lol*

      No, it’s really lovely, they seem to get along well and I fondly remember the marvellous Reichenbach Fall epsisode that got me hooked on Sherlock in general (it was the first episode I ever saw and I still think it’s the best).

  75. Alice says:

    I do think the negative comments on the DM article outweigh the positive. Lots of fake, fake and one poster said “DM, stop trying to make Sophie Hunter. Ain’t gonna happen.” 245 thumbs up for that, so far. Apparently, quite a few don’t buy it.

    • moodgirl says:

      Ouch. But kind of funny.

    • Claire says:

      ‘stop trying to make fetch happen’

    • Lucifer says:

      did clooney get this amount of bash during his engagement?sorry i was not around at that time. can u guys tell me?

      • Oh Hey says:

        I didn’t read this site when Clooney got engaged but I can say I found absolutely nothing weird about his engagement. He finally found someone better, smarter and more accomplished than he was, someone he could respect, and he was blown away enough to change his ‘never get married’ mantra and seize the day. I can’t see him spending his life with the likes of Stacy or any of the other short term girlfriends, I have no problem believing that this match will last because he is completely and utterly besotted by Amal, and she’s deserving of it. I don’t get that from Benny, at all ,and Sophie is not deserving of any of the fake accolades now being attached to her. So not the same thing, at all.

      • Lucifer says:

        can’t agree more to u @ohHey.. I lve amal.. EDUCATION has the highest impact on people’s lives IMHO

  76. InvaderTak says:

    “ive found where my energy is, where my stamina is, where my start is. where my now and 5pm is. and its called keurig. It is my coffee maker”

    Jacked from a tumblr post. Best parody so far.

  77. Soothy says:

    See the end quote. Never have I seen such baiting of the press since I last read a Kardashian interview.

    http://www.news.net/article/2429009/cumberbatch-gets-special-award-at-bifa-ceremony

    And as I said upthread, it’s a very sad situation indeed, if this is the case. But I fail to see what his strange deliberately cryptic comment could otherwise mean.

    • Soothy says:

      Looking at it again, I guess he could be referring to the engagement, but that doesn’t make sense as he’s done anything BUT keep that private. He’s sold it with every weird comment and the timed public announcement, so how can he turn around and say it’s private? That’s why I leapt to the pregnancy idea.

      • Ingrid says:

        He’s going back to “it’s private” because no one is buying his frankly disgusting “openness”. The entire last night was full of PR adjustments.
        Smile!
        Laugh!
        Look happy!
        Sit next to each other!
        “My fiance, SOPHIE”
        “It’s private”

        PR knows about ESA disaster, it was everywhere. They had to make adjustments.

    • Ingrid says:

      *barf*

      1. If there’s a baby: If he wants to keep it secret why would he do such baiting? He wouldn’t say things like that, right?
      2. If there isn’t a baby: Shame on you!
      3. He could be talking about the engagement. He most likely was advised to be more coy because people were giving him side-eye for his more open comments.
      4. It’s a written quote. Be very skeptical. Context, people!

      Even the Daily Fail says he was talking about the engagement.

      • Soothy says:

        Here’s the video…judge for yourself.

        It’s not so much that he’s been ‘open’ about the engagement. I’d find it very weird though, considering he’s always been very private. But it’s more the fact his comments and quotes are so clumsy, unnatural and plain bizarre. That little soundcloud speech just blew my mind. 100% weird.

        http://www.itv.com/news/2014-12-08/benedict-cumberbatch-triumphs-at-bifas/

      • Ingrid says:

        To add: He uses the word “obviously” (twice) which would refer to a thing everyone knows. Right? And “as far as my life goes”. So I would say he’s talking about the engagement and he got my memo: Only way this to be believable is to say “it’s private”. Thank you PR for reading my comments. Last night was textbook, congrats!

        “I’ve obviously had the most important news of my life as far as my life goes. But that’s also sort of private, I don’t want to talk about that too much, but my engagement to the woman I love is obviously the most important thing of 2014 for me. – Benedict Cumberbatch”

      • Claire says:

        Ingrid, if it’s true he’d probably want to keep it secret until any wedding and/or to buy time so it can be announced at a strategic point in the Oscar race. I think questioning the baiting is off the table at this stage. It’s safe to say he’s happy to bait, as he did at that restaurant and the bizarro world Edinburgh non-existent paparazzi event that was written up in Vogue, as well as the rumored proposal in the DM. If you look at it that way, his people have been consistently dropping everything in the press a few weeks before it happened. Everything surrounding his publicity of this relationship screams bait and switch, coy to not be coy.

        If this pattern plays out and there’s a formal announcement before the end of the month, I have officially lost all respect for the man and you’ll no longer see me here. I won’t even watch any of his work anymore. He’ll no longer be the great actor leveraging his crap relationship for an Oscar with the probable permission of his fake and/or temporary partner, but a real grade A sc*****.

      • Claire says:

        Ingrid, to play devil’s ad, here’s my problem. Let me break it down:

        “I’ve obviously had the most important news of my life as far as my life goes. But that’s also sort of private, I don’t want to talk about that too much, but my engagement to the woman I love is obviously the most important thing of 2014 for me.”

        He refers to 2 things: the most important thing of 2014, and of his life. I know the man loves to ramble himself into contradictions, but it sounds like 2 separate things. The other possibility of course is it’s scripted to be ambiguous to get people talking. Still scummy, but a better scenario ethically as long as he doesn’t marry her and there’s no kid and this all goes away.

        A second thing: we all know having a kid is going to be the most important thing of his life, with getting married a possible second (but likely third to that Oscar LOL).

        I just keep asking myself…what happened to that goofball actor I liked who was wary of fame and readily acknowledged he wasn’t particularly attractive?

      • Claire says:

        Sorry I’m rambling, Ingrid. If we follow the pattern I talk about in my message upthread and it plays out in this case, his PR cottoned onto the fact rumors about him go like this:

        twitter/tumblr > tabloids >wider public

        They’re feeding rumors to the tumblr gossip blogs where the fan fury causes a stir, which justifies it getting picked up by the tabloids, before it then come to fruition officially weeks later. It happened with the engagement (which that Helen woman blamed on tumblr, remember?), and now with an engagement party and possible runt.

      • Ingrid says:

        @Soothy -Thanks for the video. #SoMuchEmotion #FeelTheLove #Headshaking

        It was very much a cleaned up quote. May I point out the ending. He first rambles on about the engagement (the quote) and then says “It’s hard to pick favorites”. Ummm.. you just did… so that wasn’t it?

        #EvenHeDoesntKnowAnymore #WhatAMess

        @Claire -Feel better? LOL. *hugs* I agree with you on everything and I don’t have anything to add. Spot on. Regardless of what this is, it’s a f*cking mess and my respect for him has plummeted quite badly.

      • Claire says:

        Hi Ingrid! Okay so it is about the engagement then? great. Still, not holding my breath for anything with this guy.

        i’m still hoping once he has his career settled he’ll have a nice relationship that he values so much that he truly does keep it private like he seemed to say he would before this began.

        Also hilarious we thought the quote meant one thing, but it turned out to be mean the opposite: he doesn’t know what his favourite moment of 2014 was HAHA. Funny as f*** it’s almost up for debate with him.

      • Soothy says:

        @ingrid

        Nothing about this makes any sense. It wasn’t much more a month ago that she was sitting in the back of a car pretending to use her phone like a fool while being papped and he scurried into a restaurant on his own. Now it appears she’s got quite the thirst for red carpets and photographers seeing as he’s gone to every single one and you can’t keep out of the limelight. But apparently, according to him, there was no need to ‘show off’ on red carpets until they were engaged, which would explain the very obvious game with the press and fans they played at the LFF, would it? Her striding out of the hotel into the press, three minutes before him and arriving onto the red carpet in chauffeur driven car right in front of press and fans, three minutes before him, and her own escort all the way down the red carpet. But of course that wasn’t showing off.

      • MissMary says:

        Legit sounds like waffle!batch to me… he bobbled on the response and tried to make it fit the narrative.

      • solanaceae (Nighty) says:

        @Claire that actor is gone wih the tentacles…

      • Green Eyes says:

        @Soothy and the ITV clip: Body Language 101. When he discusses the most wonderful thing of 2014 being his engagement he looks down and left. He’s lying. If he were being honest, he would have looked the interviewer right in the eye.

      • Lindy79 says:

        How can he look so unenthusiastic about it? It’s truly baffling!

        Private doesn’t equal being stone faced, he seems to think it does. Smiling is a perfectly natural expression for someone who has just gotten engaged.

        Keira was private about her engagement doing press for a movie but she was beaming anytime anyone asked about it while also saying “it’s private”

        That’s my biggest issue with this. Even if he’s tired, if it’s really a high and best moment for him, he should be beaming anytime he talks about her/it.

        I’m not able for this f*ckwittery, I really am not.

      • Claire says:

        This deserves its own Twilight Zone episode. Like really really.

        Also, in case you ladies are still wondering about the so called engagement party, I wrote a few notes on it upthread. I might repost on any new thread: I found a couple things that are suspicious.

      • Angie says:

        @Claire ITA, tbh I haven’t been reading anything from him for some time, I watch some footage now and then but almost with the sound off, not to mention anything in print, it’s just too embarrassing.

        At this point, everything is possible, so I keep on preparing myself for the worst scenario, as you said, the pattern. I’m getting tired of the mess actually, kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop every day. Maybe my patience will run out first, lol, who knows.

      • Oh Hey says:

        Once again, Benny, who are you trying to convince? Repetition doesn’t make it any less weird……

  78. joe spider says:

    So Ben got a “Variety”award? To be honest I haven’t seen a lot of variety in his acting so far.