Last year, stories about the marriage trouble of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty began appearing in The National Enquirer. I tended to believe what little I read about the situation, thinking that The Enquirer was likely paying some well-placed sources for their information. The stories were less about Annette and Warren’s marriage and more about how their oldest daughter, Kathlyn, was planning on becoming (or perhaps already became, I don‘t know) a man. Kathlyn even asked to be called Stephen Ira. The sources had Annette being a supportive mother, while Warren seemed to be having real difficulties with the situation. The situation put a strain on their marriage… to the point that when Annette was promoting The Kids Are All Right, her publicist informed all journalists that Annette would not be answering any personal questions. I think this is also why Annette has been keeping a low-profile during the awards season too – she simply does not want to talk about what’s going on in her family. Anyway, The Enquirer has a story in this week’s issue, all about how Julianne Moore has helped bring Warren and Annette back together:

The battling Beattys began drifting apart under the pressure of 73-year-old Warren’s fading career and their daughter Kathlyn’s shocking announcement that she wanted a sex change, sources say. When Annette confided her problems to Julianne Moore, Julianne stepped up.

“Julianne became Annette and Warren’s unlikely family therapist,” an inside source told The Enquirer. “She reminded Annette that she could weather any storm with Warren because of their love and commitment. Julianne spent time with the entire Beatty family before the premiere of The Kids are All Right, and when she got Warren alone, she worked on him too.”

At that point, Annette and Warren were fighting so much over Kathlyn and Annette‘s career successes, they were even sleeping in separate bedrooms. But “Julianne bluntly told Warren that he needed to rein in his ego over Annette’s success… as for Kathlyn, she told Warren ‘God doesn’t make mistakes.’ Now thanks to Julianne’s counseling, Warren has realized that he needs to gracefully let Annette have her moment in the sun.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition]

Eh. While I don’t doubt that Julianne probably offered advice and acting as a sounding board to Annette, I doubt Julianne would push her nose up into Warren’s bidness. I even doubt how truly damaged Warren and Annette’s marriage really was – I bet there were fights, sure, but do I think that it was anything earth-shattering? Probably not.

But I do buy that Annette and Julianne and tight. I want them to be tight. I want them to be older, wiser, hipster girlfriends, you know?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Since we’ve already covered the worst and the Orange Goop of the Elle “Women In Hollywood” event, let’s be nice and cover some of the better dressed women of the evening. I should admit something, though – some of these women I like so much, I don’t even care what they’re wearing. Although, I have to admit – the ladies who have been in the business for more than a decade (in some cases, more than three decades), they know how to dress for an event. They know what is appropriate, and they know they don’t need a quick hit on a fashion blog that badly. Diane Keaton, up there with Harrison Ford, is one of my favorites. Her style is funky, but she’s been doing it so long that I appreciate the fact that she keeps it real. She’s not a ball-gown/cocktail dress kind of woman. Thank God. And Harrison looks cute too! I also loved what Annette Bening was wearing:

Classic, demure, age-appropriate, business-y, yet kind of sexy too! I want it.

I love Sofia Coppola’s outfit too – little Elle Fanning’s dress is kind of over the top and little-girlish, but hey, she’s a young girl. Stephen Dorff looks great!

Go, I just adore Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka. She’s adorable. And this is the perfect little party dress for a young girl. So sweet!

I kind of hate this dress on Kat Dennings – the fit is off, the color is off, the makeup is off. And yet… I still really like her.

I think Diane Kruger looks stunning. Great little dress.

Speaking of stunning, look at Jodie Foster! Great, simple dress, and she’s not posing like a truck driver (like she often does). She looks fantastic.

I don’t love Hilary Swank’s dress. I find the whole thing kind of meh, especially the combo of her jewelry with the dress. Eh.

And finally, a little Jake Gyllenhaal. He was there to honor The Goop. He’s been looking really good lately!

Photos courtesy of Fame.

This seems kind of like the gossip world is making a mountain out of a molehill, but there could totally be something there. According to Page Six, when Annette Bening was at the Deauville Film Festival to promote The Kids Are All Right, she imposed a “media blackout” on any questions about her husband Warren Beatty or their marriage. Now – lots of celebrities do this. When you get to a certain status in Hollywood, most media outlets will let you get away with it too, for fear that you’ll rip away their access. It’s not always about “conspiracy!” or divorce. But it could be!

What does Annette Bening have to hide? Reporters at the Deauville Film Festival in France — where Bening was promoting “The Kids Are All Right,” the movie in which she plays a lesbian mother — were shocked when organizers warned them not to ask the actress any questions about her family, and specifically about her husband, Warren Beatty.

“The blackout immediately amped up speculation by the press corps of an impending split,” said one journalist.

Beatty has been notably absent as Bening has traveled the world promoting her latest film, which features a steamy Sapphic sex scene with Julianne Moore. The couple has barely been seen together except for a sighting at the Ago restaurant in LA on Aug. 7.

The National Enquirer reported last month that Bening and Beatty are fighting and finger-pointing over their daughter, Kathlyn, 18, and her plans to have gender-reassignment surgery. Kathlyn, the eldest of four kids, allegedly has been living as a man for two years under the name Stephen Ira, and is now in college awaiting sex-change operations. The Enquirer reports Bening has agreed to pay for the surgery.

“Annette accepts that Kathlyn wants to surgically become a man, while Warren is still trying to come to terms with it,” a source allegedly told the weekly.

Bening’s publicist Simon Halls told Page Six: “Ridiculous. She was there to promote two films and that’s what she did.” Reps for Beatty didn’t return calls for comment. Stephen Ira couldn’t be reached.

Meanwhile, the Deauville Film Festival, in its 36th year, appears to be a victim of tighter budgets. “Where are the stars? The studios have opted to go to closer-to-home Toronto instead,” said one source. “If the festival goes on like this, it won’t go on much longer.”

[From Page Six]

Yes, that National Enquirer story is one I haven’t really been following – Warren and Annette’s oldest, Kathryn, is probably trying to get a sex change operation to become a man (stories here and here). I think the Enquirer’s reporting is probably right on the money, and they probably paid some source for details. I’ll also buy that Warren is probably not handling it very well, where Annette is more “live and let live.” But would this be the way their marriage ends? Eh. I think Warren is kind of dotty at this point, and honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he was sick or dealing with some senility issues. I think he needs Annette now more than ever.

header: Warren and Annette in June, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Warren Beatty was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the American Film Institute last night. Beatty’s former co-stars Halle Berry, Jane Fonda, and Diane Keaton were among the speakers at the event. Each told stories of their experiences working with the 71 year-old Hollywood legend:

Several generations of actors – from Robert Downey Jr. to Angela Lansbury – turned out at the Kodak Theatre for the 71-year-old, who’s been a movie star since his 1961 vehicle opposite Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass and a Tinsel Town force since his groundbreaking Bonnie and Clyde – which he starred in and produced in 1967.

But other distinctions were singled out, too. Halle Berry, Beatty’s 1998 Bulworth costar, referred to him as “the greatest white rapper of the past 15 years.”

She further revealed that, when it came to their working together, “there was the usual discussion with the studio if there should be a scene to spice up the movie – if somebody should go topless. But I have to say, to Warren’s credit, he put his foot down and he insisted on keeping his shirt on for the entire movie.”

The evening also touched upon Beatty’s two other great passions: politics and the ladies – though, as one guest speaker, Jane Fonda, told the crowd, when she long ago met (and screen-tested) with Beatty in the 1950s, “I thought he was gay. He was so cute, and all his men friends were gay, and brilliant. He had a way of collecting really brilliant gay men friends. And he liked to play piano in a piano bar – I mean, what were the odds he was straight? Shows you how dumb I was.”

Recollecting the memorable scene in 1981′s Reds when her character is reunited with Beatty’s after a long and potentially tragic period of time, Beatty’s former real-life romance Diane Keaton recalled how Beatty the director pushed her in take after take to find the real emotion of the moment, despite her resistance.

“Finally,” said a now very emotional Keaton at the Kodak, “there was this sweet anguish of love when I saw your face, in a moment shared in time together. Thank you, Warren, and congratulations.”

[From People.com]

Beatty credited acting with introducing him to his wife of over 15 years, Annette Benning, 50. He said “I love my profession, because it’s introduced me to the person who’s given me the most important thing of all, which is her love and the love of our four children … Annette.”

Here are pictures from the red carpet including Molly Ringwald, Chevy Chase, MC Hammer, Robert Evans, Warren Beatty and Annette Benning, Diane Ladd, Jane Fonda, Art Garfunkel, Faye Dunaway, Eva Mendes, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson, Robert Downey Jr., Lainie Kazan and Kelly Lynch.