We’ve seen Jaden Smith, now 14, make his film debut in The Pursuit of Happyness with dad Will in 2006, and in The Karate Kid in 2010. Now Jaden is following in his dad Will’s footsteps by becoming a rapper. He has his first video out, a kind of monotonous song called “The Coolest” in which he barely varies his tone while he sings about how great he is. I don’t think Jaden has his dad’s talent for making music, but maybe he’ll surprise us. His sister Willow is a little popstar in her own right, and she had her first song out before she turned 10. Here’s a little about Jaden’s single:
[Jaden] gives it plenty of attitude as he raps about how girls are attracted to his wealth in The Coolest.
Jaden’s flash tune comes amid the crippling economic crisis enveloping much of the world’s population.
With a laidback vocal style, he proffers a list of reasons that make him the coolest kid on the block.
He teams his bravado lyrics with cocky smiles and a couple of glittery diamond ear studs…
Despite boasting about his riches in The Coolest, Jaden recently revealed he’s brought up in a strict household.
So much so, he claimed Will and Jada refuse to let him watch TV.
He said: “I stopped watching TV when I turned, like, ten because my parents were like, ‘TV’s really bad for you,’
“I’ll watch movies I like to see, Steve Jobs interviews, something that’s going to make me smart and then go to sleep.
“I always have to go to sleep with the TV on though.”
I don’t have a problem with the lyrics. A lot of rap music involves bragging about being rich and getting women. I do have a problem with a 14 year-old kid putting out a rap song, but this kid had been famous for years, and his sister became a singer when she was much younger. There were kiddie rappers in the 80s when I was a kid. It just seems like the Smiths want their kids to be in the family business and they don’t see or try and mitigate the pitfalls of show business for children. They treat them like adults. On the plus side, Willow and Jaden are confident kids and they seem fearless. Still, they’re kids, especially Willow. It makes me uncomfortable that Will and Jada didn’t use their wealth and experience to help their children have a more normal childhood. Instead, they taught them how to be famous and rich too. Hence this song featuring Jaden rapping about it.
These photos are from the Toronto Film Festival at the premiere of “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.” Credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com
I have a confession to make. I’m sure I told you already, but I used to fangirl all over Ben Affleck. This was in 1997 after Good Will Hunting came out. Now I’m more into Matt Damon, but back then Ben was my boy. He’s just so tall, dark and handsome and he seemed smart and aware of his image – that is until he started making a bunch of crappy movies and stepping out with J.Lo and that giant pink diamond he gave her. There were a good few years when he was my Fassbender, and I’ll always have a special place for him in my fangirl archives.
So that’s why I’m so thrilled to see Ben looking like a million bucks, having a spectacular career comeback, and looking truly happy with his wife and three kids. Ben has found his groove as a director and he is hot again in so many ways. Affleck covers the upcoming issue of Details to promote his film Argo, based on the true story of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The interview and the photos make me swoon again. He’s thoughtful and well spoken, and it was such a pleasure for me to read. My Ben crush is back! Here are some excerpts:
DETAILS: —but by 2003, you were the star of two potential franchises, Daredevil and The Sum of All Fears, that didn’t go forward. We probably knew more about your romantic life than you would have preferred. And then Gigli. I don’t think a lot of people would have said, “By 2012, this guy will have directed three very good movies.”
Ben Affleck: In our culture, we get very much into shorthanding people. And I got shorthanded as That Guy: Jennifer Lopez, movies bombed, therefore he must be a sort of thoughtless dilettante, solipsistic consumer blahblahblah. It’s hard to shake those sort of narratives. If you were looking at that one-liner on me in 2003, which was definitely the annus horribilis [laughs] of my life—it’s funny how that rhymes with Sacha Baron Cohen’s pronunciation of “ah-noose”—
DETAILS: Well, you were kind of in that place.
Ben Affleck: Exactly! I made a bunch of movies that didn’t work. I was ending up in the tabloids. I don’t know what the lesson is, except that you just have to find your compass.
I liked Sum of All Fears. Daredevil I didn’t at all. Some movies should have worked and didn’t. At a certain point, it’s just up to the movie gods. Anyway, this image becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I just said, “I don’t want to do it anymore. This is horrible. I don’t want to be in this spotlight, this glare, in this way. It’s tawdry, it’s ugly, it’s oppressive, and it’s inane. So I’m going to try to get away.”
And most of the way I did that was by not acting. I said, “I’m going to steer myself toward directing. I’m going to do something that takes me toward a place where the work that I do is reflective of what I think is interesting dramatically.”
People bring up 2003, and I get it. Jennifer Lopez, and Gigli, and all this shit just kind of blew up. But, you know, in 2003, Barack Obama was a state senator in Illinois! Okay?
DETAILS: A lot can happen.
Ben Affleck: A lot can happen. And a lot has for me. Maybe not as much as has happened for Barack Obama! But you know, it really does feel like ancient history.
DETAILS: I was fascinated that you chose to play the 1950s TV Superman, George Reeves, in Hollywoodland. Because he was, among other things, an actor frustrated at the limits of being a superhero.
Ben Affleck: You know, putting on the uncomfortable, cheesy suit—I understood that. And I understood what it was like to feel limited by perceptions and having ambitions to do things that were more interesting.
And also, I got married, and I got older. And had kids. You know, the current of the river of life moves you downstream anyway. But I definitely reject the narrative that says, you know, Bad Guy Turned It Around. My life isn’t Behind the Music. I wasn’t a criminal!
DETAILS: Since Good Will Hunting, the pairing of you and Matt Damon in people’s minds has never quite gone away. Did you ever feel, “This comparison is not helping”?
Ben Affleck: It’s interesting. At the time, I didn’t even realize that it was being used to promote a movie. I was 25, and I was naïve enough to think, “Well, Entertainment Weekly is just really interested in this!” And, you know, we really were friends and roommates, and we did write the movie together.
I started to realize that people conflated us, or particularly me, with the characters. People assumed that I was the amiable, dim-witted friend, right? [Laughs] Which wasn’t exactly what I was going for! Matt and I have had a friendship for 25 years. We don’t get wound up about that stuff. You learn to roll your eyes.
When I was doing The Town, I’d tour the actors around Boston. I was with Blake [Lively], and I saw Matt’s childhood home. And I said, “Oh yeah, that’s where Matt grew up.” And she said, “Who?” And I said, “Matt Damon.” And she said, “Oh my God! You know Jason Bourne?!” She really didn’t know. And I thought, “There it is. The first age of people who are adults who missed the whole Matt-and-Ben propaganda campaign!” Mostly, it just made me feel old.
DETAILS: You’ve got three young kids now, so I imagine you’ve had to learn to conserve your resources.
Ben Affleck: Absolutely. Anytime you think, “I’m wasting my time here,” the first thought you have is “I could go home and be with my kids.” Now, you may go home and be with your kids and very quickly start thinking, “I wonder what’s on the work front?” Because running around after three kids is very trying. Now everything has to compete with being with my family. I don’t want to be a stay-at-home dad. Work is very important to me. I like to work. So does my wife. But I need my work to mean something to me in order for me to not be home with them.
The thing about Blake Lively gives me pause, but Ben has told that story about her before. I think he meant that as a young person she didn’t have the same cultural references as he did and he found that surprising. (I think those two got a little too close on set, but I have no idea whether it went beyond that.) Matt Damon said something similar about a young Starbucks barista he met – that she only knew him from his most recent movie and that he realized there are so many young people like that. We’re old, I’m in Matt and Ben’s generation and I feel it every time I look at Facebook and decide not to get too involved. I liked the Internet when it was more recreational and required less of a commitment from me, you know?
As for Ben using Obama for a comparison – he quickly backtracked and realized that he’s not saying he’s achieved anything on that level. In his way, in his industry, he’s getting there. I really want to see him on top, and I want to see Argo do well. Here’s the trailer, it’s a very ambitious mix of humor and drama and it looks amazing. I’m going to get Kaiser to go see this with me so she can explain the complicated parts afterwards. I’m not even kidding.
Note by Kaiser: I’d really like to see Argo, and I think the film will probably benefit from it’s (now) surprisingly topical nature. In the wake of the assassination of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, many are referencing the American embassy attacks in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, as well as the fall of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979 (which is the fertile ground in which Argo is set).
Ben and Jennifer Garner are shown out with their daughter, Seraphina, on 9-12-12. Adorable! Credit: FameFlynet Photos from Details credit: Mark Seliger
The big premiere of X Factor starring Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid and of course Simon Cowell as judges, is tonight. As part of the build up, Simon has strategically been releasing stories about Britney, because he knows that people are just waiting for her to stir up controversy and/or mess up somehow. Last week, Simon admitted to TMZ that the stories about Britney walking off the X Factor set on her first day were true. This is in contrast to denials made at the time. Simon told TMZ that they tried to smooth the story over with the press, but that it did happen and that Britney had a panic attack. Britney also told Elle Magazine, which she covers this October, that she suffered panic attacks on her first day on set. She said she was “extremely nervous. Like, I was having panic attack after panic attack.”
As part of the big build up to the X-Factor, The Daily Beast has a new profile of Britney’s fiance, Jason Trawick. It’s a well written piece that paints Trawick as a very decent, hardworking guy on one hand but also the architect of Britney’s comeback, and her guardian, on the other. Author Ramin Setoodeh dances around the subject of whether Britney is being manipulated by Trawick. Here are some relevant parts:
Trawick, 40, is often credited with performing a kind of Houdini act on Britney, 30. After her meltdown, which included losing custody of her kids, rehab, hitting paparazzi with her car, being institutionalized, and countless other crazy moments (like the disastrous performance of “Gimme More” at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards), he—in tandem with her father, Jamie Spears—seemingly helped Britney reappear on planet Earth, at least looking normal. He accomplished this turnaround first as the agent who signed her to William Morris Endeavor Entertainment in 2008. In 2009, their relationship turned romantic. In 2011, Trawick quit his job to focus solely on Britney—and last December, they got engaged.
It’s hard to tell who benefits from this relationship more. Spears is one of the most successful acts in the history of pop music. She’s worth an estimated $200 million and her seven albums have sold more than 100 million copies. But in 2007, after the sad series of bizarre personal episodes, Britney’s career hit a wall. (Through her publicist, Spears declined to comment. Trawick offered to look at questions over email, but never responded.) She returned in her 2009 Circus comeback tour, during which Britney stood glassy-eyed in sold-out arenas, lip-syncing her old hits. Some people noticed the new Spears looked vacant, but it didn’t matter. The tour, an exercise in voyeurism, grossed more than $131 million.
Since 2008, Spears’s dad Jamie has been the sole conservator of her estate. In April a court appointed Trawick as the co-conservator, a situation that arises when a court decides a person “can’t adequately provide food, clothing, and shelter” for herself, says Meg Lodise, a partner at a Los Angeles law firm specializing in conservatorships. In other words, Britney has all the rights of a child.
Nevertheless, she’s poised to debut as a judge on The X Factor this week, and sources say that Trawick was key in convincing her to accept a $15 million, one-year contract to join the Simon Cowell singing Olympics. During audition rounds, gossip sites were salivating at reports that Spears frequently had to abandon her judge’s perch for a break—it became part of the hype of the show—and, according to one TV source, Trawick was always waiting in the wings. To prove that she’s normal, he’s booked her first magazine covers and talk-show appearances in a while.
The Britney press tour kicked off with a story in Elle magazine—Elle released images and interview snippets last week. Trawick appears in one of the photos; they cuddle as he holds a guitar. He also let it slip to the writer that Spears pursued him, not the other way around. “OK, that’s enough information, sweetie,” Spears said, interrupting the story. A few days later, a source told Radar Online that Trawick was lying and that he “had feelings for Britney for a very, very long time.”…
Shy or not, Spears gravitated to Trawick’s outgoing personality, and she started to rely on him more and more. He’s not the typical Ari Gold agent, with the greasy handshake and temper tantrums. According to one close former colleague, Trawick is so easy going, he never even raises his voice. Trawick grew up on Long Island, with dreams of becoming a professional hockey player. When those didn’t pan out, he moved to Hollywood and worked his way up from the agency mailroom. He had a reputation for inserting himself into meetings, but because of his nonthreatening demeanor, nobody objected. Once he became a full-fledged agent, he started handling crossover talent, such as singers who were big enough to big actors and vice versa. His roster included Taylor Swift, Hilary Duff, Paris Hilton, and country star Dwight Yoakam…
Trawick’s former work colleagues liked him, too. But looking back, they noticed a drastic physical transformation once he started dating Spears. The Daily Mail reported he lost 50 pounds by cutting carbs from his diet. He traded his bulky plaid shirts for fitted suits. He always brought a heavy-duty hockey duffel with him to work, but he hit the gym more often and toned down. “If he was working out, he wanted her to join him,” says a source. In an effort to be healthier, he and Spears both vowed to quit smoking together. (He failed.). And nearly everyone I interviewed stressed how good a parental figure he’s been to her sons—Sean Preston, who turns 7 this week, and Jayden James, whose sixth birthday is Wednesday. On Halloween, he’d order their costumes online and he was constantly buying them toys, like Spider-Man and GI Joe action figures.
Let’s remember that Trawick is romantically involved with a woman who has the same legal rights as a child. It sounds like a potentially difficult situation.
We fans and viewers won’t get a glimpse of the real Spears until October. That’s when The X Factor transitions from taped auditions to a live competition, and we see what Spears looks and acts like without the powers of editing. If she self-destructs in front of the world again, X Factor ratings will go through the roof, but at the cost of her own well-being.
So I guess we’ll have to see how Britney does on X-Factor, but at least part of that will be down to editing. Since producers acted like Britney was fine, they may just cut her walk-offs out of the show. It’s hard to tell now that Simon has owned up to it though. That was clever, and I know it will get me to tune in.
As for whether Jason is pulling the strings, maybe he is. Maybe that’s what Britney needs at this time. I don’t know. I just hope that if she feels like he’s controlling her she also feels like she doesn’t have to marry him.
Update: Here’s Britney doing the “Gangnam Style” dance on Ellen:
And here’s another video of Britney and Simon’s interview. She does seem nervous to me.
Here’s Britney at a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman’s for The X-Factor. She looks happier and much more relaxed than we’ve seen her in some time.
I guess this news is inevitable, but it still makes me sad. First of all, Kylie and Kendall Jenner aren’t scrapping high school entirely, like Paris Hilton (Paris has her GED now at least), they’re going to be homeschooled. Some of our favorite reality show-based sites, like Starcasm and Reality Tea, are phrasing it like they’re dropping out, and they pretty much are dropping out of attending a school but it’s not like they’re not going to finish high school – that we know of. A lot of Hollywood kids get homeschooled, and it’s a viable alternative to school in any situation, I don’t want to knock homeschooling at all. Given their mother’s priorities, do you think that education is valued in that household? At least Kourtney and Rob have their college degrees. (Rob said he was going to law school this year, but he lied, apparently.) So maybe it’s not that bad. Khloe was homeschooled too.
Here’s the story from Starcasm. They also point us to an interview these two gave last year in which the girls said that they loved going to school and that it grounded them somewhat. So much for that. Kylie is 15 and Kendall is 16.
The two youngest Kardashians Jenners, have stopped attending high school so they can have more time to develop their brands. They will still be home schooled, so don’t worry about them not learning trigonometry.
Kylie (15) and Kendall (16) Jenner won’t be attending Sierra Canyon High School this year so they can do fab magazine spreads and Kendall can pursue acting with a role on Hawaii 5-0. Not only that, but the two girls are getting bigger and bigger storylines on their family’s “reality” show.
Last year the girls talked to Celebuzz about how much they liked going to school because it helped separate them from their celeb lives, but it looks like they’ve now changed their feelings.
Last year:
Kylie: If we didn’t go to school it would be hard, but school brings us back.
Kendall: And we love going to school! We really do. We love being able to have that aspect still in our lives. It’s like being Hannah Montana and living two lives! We love it, and we love being able to have our friends. It is a little weird sometimes, especially when they come up to us, like our friends at school don’t expect us to be like that.
The teenage girls’ issues with school was the subject of a recent KUWTK episode when Kylie admitted that school felt overwhelming and gave her panic attacks. They talked with their parents about letting them quit school and learn at home at their own pace, and now it looks like that’s exactly what’s happening. Kendall even tweeted about being homeschooled this July, but has since deleted the tweet.
I guess it makes sense if Kylie gets panic attacks from school, and it seems like the right thing to do in her case. I don’t know why I care so much about these two. Maybe because they seem like they’re not lost causes yet, like they might choose a life for themselves that doesn’t involve the family business of packaging and selling every detail of their personal lives. They’re working as models, starring on a reality show and making bank from a very young age, so it’s not like this is a difficult choice for them.
Here are Kendall and Kylie at fashion week. Kylie walked for Avril Lavigne’s Abbey Dawn and Kendall walked for Sherri Hill. Credit: WENN.com
Bradley Cooper’s PR people are trying to repackage him as accessible, they’re trying to show us more of his personal “softer” side, and it’s working. I’m actually starting to warm up to the guy. He’s been very guarded and careful about his personal life in the past, and has come across as either milquetoast or douchey. Now he’s opening up and this is the strategy he should have taken from the get-go. The Hollywood Reporter has a new interview and profile with Cooper and I’ll be damned if I didn’t come away with more respect for him. Cooper went to the Actors Studio in New York after college and he was so talented and dedicated that James Lipton told his parents “Your son will go all the way.” Well he did, and THR is touting how Cooper is carefully choosing his roles to expand his acting repertoire, since he’s making bank from the Hangover movies and doesn’t need the money.
All that said, I’m focusing on Cooper’s claims that he’s been sober for almost 10 years because I don’t really buy it. I mean I believe that he might have given up drinking and hard drugs, but he looks like he’s hopped up on stimulants in some of his recent appearances, and I’ll cover that in a moment. Here are the relevant parts of his interview, with more at the source:
Hangover director Todd Phillips on Cooper
“He is ridiculously different in real life. People think he is just playing a version of himself, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. He is very vulnerable — insecure is not the right word — and that character is just straight-up confident. And there’s a warmth to him you would never know.”
Cooper on getting sober at 29
“I don’t drink or do drugs at all anymore,” says Cooper, noting he gave them up at 29, when their toll was unbearable. “Being sober helps a great deal.”
Once, he relates, “I was at a party and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor — like, ‘Hey, look how tough I am!’ And I came up, and blood dripped down. And then I did it again. I spent the night at St. Vincent’s Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up.”
He adds: “I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day. I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realized I wasn’t going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m actually gonna ruin my life; I’m really gonna ruin it.’ ”
Friends repeatedly cautioned him, yet he didn’t listen. “Part of me believed it, and part of me didn’t. But the proof was in the pudding: I’d always gotten up at the crack of dawn, and that was out the window. I remember looking at my life, my apartment, my dogs, and I thought, ‘What’s happening?’ ”
It was then he decided to change, and the effect was transformative.
On preparing for The Pines
In preparing for the job, Cooper spent a month with the police, “going into these domestic disturbances, which are about 80 percent of the calls. There was one house with a fish tank that a shoe had been thrown through. Dead fish were everywhere — and kittens were eating the dead fish as we walked by.”
He won’t talk about his personal life
Cooper’s every action now is scrutinized — from his four-month marriage to actress Jennifer Esposito in 2006 (“She’s a wonderful woman,” is all he will say) to whomever he’s dating, including his current partner and Words co-star, Zoe Saldana.
He won’t discuss her or confirm they’re together (though he gushes about her work). “It’s not for me to say,” he notes.
Despite the demands of his A-list status, Cooper has retained a loyalty and decency that impress his friends (and he recently started working with the Paul Newman-founded Hole in the Wall Gang Camp).
“He is such an honest and straightforward guy; there’s not an ounce of duplicitousness in him,” says Phillips.
On his career
He has gone past the dark days of his youth and is moving toward a bright future, staking his reputation on movies he believes in — like Words. “He made a lot of calls for this movie,” notes childhood pal Klugman, adding it never would have gotten off the ground without him.
The director marvels at how the boy who attended his bar mitzvah has remained grounded and true. “He has so much chaos swirling around him. He goes from one movie to the next. It is a very surreal lifestyle. But look at the choices he is making — these are not the choices of a typical movie star. None of them are just paychecks.”
See, he seems like a hardworking, standup guy. If he plays his cards right he could continue to change public opinion. I still think he’s more of a talented character actor than a lead who can carry a movie, but I could be wrong. Limitless was kind of awesome. (Until it got complicated and had that magic ending.)
Speaking of Limitless, I don’t believe Cooper is “sober” per se. His pupils look like pinpoints in his recent appearances, particularly at premieres of The Words. My guess would be that Cooper is on a prescription ADHD drug like Adderall or Ritalin. (Which he may need and be legitimately prescribed.) That’s wild speculation on my part, though. Look at his eyes in the photos below, are those sober eyes?
Oh and here’s a link to the slideshow of Bradley Cooper’s photoshoot for THR. They’re making him out to be a cool everyday man’s man in a leather jacket at a dive bar. It’s not a bad strategy.
After I wrote all that, I found these quotes from Bradley’s Words co-star and rumored ex-girlfriend, Zoe Saldana, about him. She said “no comment” when asked about their relationship, but spoke fondly of him. “Bradley is a very dedicated and open professional. It’s really good when you can balance that with an actor as opposed to an actor that just comes prepared and just goes, ‘don’t f*k up my light’ and ‘this line is my close-up.’ We didn’t care where was the camera was. It was just like we were both part of this extensive conversation.” An extreme conversation that ended up in bed and didn’t last after filming wrapped.
We haven’t covered Courtney Stodden much lately, as we frankly got a little tired of her antics. As you likely remember and wish you could forget, Courtney is known for marrying a little-known 51 year-old actor when she was just 16. There was a lot of speculation that she was lying about her age for publicity, because people didn’t want to believe that her parents would be so hungry for fame that they would sign off on her marriage to a guy as old as her dad. They did, she was really 16, and she’s since turned 18. In the interim she’s of course tried desperately to be noticed by acting like an oversexed kitten in heat. She’s also tried to land some kind of reality show, and she was moderately successful in that she’ll appear on the upcoming season of VH1′s “Couple’s Therapy” with her husband, Doug Hutchinson. So now that she’s 18, what’s next for Courtney? P0rn of course, which seems like a logical next career step for her. I’m not even being sarcastic. Here’s more, thanks to TMZ:
Courtney Stodden turned 18 years old today … which means she can vote … or play the lotto … or accept any one of the FOUR offers she’s already received to be a HARDCORE P0RN STAR.
Stodden — who married a 50-year-old actor when she was 16 — has been shamelessly teasing her lady parts for years … exploiting the hell out of her underage sexuality in the hopes of staying famous.
Now that she’s “legal” — at least 4 p0rno companies are hoping she puts her money (and a whole lot more) where her mouth is … offering her lucrative XXX contracts.
One of the companies is Brazzers.com … which says it wants to “showcase [her] talents” by featuring her in a scene with male porn star Keiran Lee … who Brazzers describes as the man with the “million dollar p3n1s.”
Stodden also got an offer from Babes.com … which says it already penned a porno movie specifically for Courtney based on her real life experience. The flick is called, “Happily Humping My Hubby.”
Courtney called into TMZ Live to discuss her potential new career, and she sounded super proud that she’d been “flooded” with “offers.” She said “I guess you could say that I’m free to, you know, put it all out there without any, you know, problems.” In response to whether she would go forward and do p0rn, she said “I’m not going to say ‘yes,’ and I’m not going to say ‘no.’” Then she got all giggly when Harvey joked that it sounded like a ‘yes’ to him. As to what her 53 year-old husband thinks about her potential new venture, she said “He seems a little frightened… like his little kitten has been unleashed. He’s asking me questions about it, and I tell him the same thing I’m telling you.” Yeah, she’s just figuring out who will pay her the most money and then she’s going to go for it. I bet her marriage will be over just as soon as she hits the big time, but I could be wrong. Doug could end up being as much of a pimp as her mom is. Hell Tooms might even star with her, since his TV career is floundering. Meanwhile Courtney’s parents are divorcing. I guess her mom moved out to L.A. to manage her daughter’s career and left her husband back in Washington. What does Courtney’s mom think about her daughter starring in blue movies? She’s probably fine with it as long as she gets her cut.
This photo is of Courtney “without makeup” according to her. Other photos are from 6-20-12 (yellow dress) and 12-6-11 (black dress). Credit: PCNPhotos and WENN.com
Just when you thought Rielle Hunter was going to fade into the woodwork after so thoroughly exposing herself as a narcissistic, opportunistic nitwit with the self-awareness of a flea – she’s back! Rielle wants to convince the world that she’s not the mean demon harlot she portrayed herself as in her own book. She actually believes she can rehabilitate her image and present a new, softer face to the world – through reality TV. Excuse me while I point and laugh. She’s approached producers for shows like Dancing With The Stars (they’d never take her), The Bachelorette (she’s too old and tainted), and Celebrity Apprentice, which might be considering her.
48-year-old Rielle is trying hard to land a gig and has approached producers for the Celebrity Apprentice, Dancing with the Stars and even The Bachelorette.
“Rielle admires Donald Trump and says that if he could turn villains like Real Housewives stars NeNe Leakes and Teresa Giudice into lovable TV personalities, then maybe he could do the same for her,” a source told the National Enquirer.
Rielle and John broke up this year after she published her book – What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter, and Me – in which she slammed his deceased wife Elizabeth Edwards.
The book was a major failure, selling a measly 6,000 copies and she was apparently shcoked and disappointed by the poor sales. Rielle was called a heartless schemer by the ladies of The View on her press tour. But none of that is sinking in and she’s determined to try and change the public’s opinion about her.
“Rielle’s reputation is pretty much mud in the public eye, but she’s delusional enough to think she can turn that around. And the truth is that if anyone can make Rielle Hunter likable, it’s Donald Trump.”
Apparently Rielle doesn’t understand how much she is hated across the country.
“She seems to have no clue about how the public perceives her. After what she did to Elizabeth Edwards, she’s delusional to think that America would ever tune in to see her dance, let alone find love,” a source told the Enquirer.
Shockingly, when a source from Celebrity Apprentice was asked whether Trump would consider Rielle for the show they replied: “Anything’s possible.”
Rielle needs to get on one of the Real Housewives shows, because she’d be perfect. She’d fight with everyone and be the villain without a single ally. Those bitches would put her in her place. Or maybe she could get a dating show with Kate Gosselin. Men would compete to stay single and get off the show, and two who are left would have to fight to see who ends up with Kate instead of Rielle. It could be called “Lesser of Two Evils.”
Also, I never read Rielle’s book because I didn’t want to support her in any way, so I’ll just defer to part of this thoughtful review on Amazon, from reader Todd Bartholomew:
“The beauty of ‘What Really Happened’ is that Hunter betrays herself as she really is. Even her worst enemies couldn’t have written a book that damages her as deftly as she slaughters herself.”
And this woman wants to do reality television. Perfect.
Of all the Kardashian women, many of you find Khloe to be the least annoying. Some of you even like her. The few times I’ve seen whichever Kardashian franchise show was on at the time, I’ve found Khloe to be very matter-of-fact and outspoken. So in that respect she might be decent at hosting a talk show, since she would tell it like it is and wouldn’t shy away from controversy. Apparently Khloe wanted her own talk show, but her momager Kris somehow convinced Khloe to let her be involved as a co-host and make it a “mother-daughter” thing. Of course she did. This thing is reportedly moving forward as part of the Kardashian komplete package deal on E! Maybe they’ll edge out Chelsea Handler and just end up dominating the network completely:
KRIS Jenner wants her own daytime television show!
According to a new report, the reality TV matriarch, 56, is very interested in having her own TV talk show with daughter Khloe Kardashian as her co-host.
Khloe apparently wanted her own talk show, then Kris got into the idea, and now, they might have a show together!
“Kris thinks a mother-daugher talk show would be brilliant,” a source said.
“At first Khloe was interested in hosting her own talk-show, but Kris started toying with the idea of being her co-host.
“They want to make it family friendly and discuss all different types of subjects from infertility to sister rivalry.
“They also want to have celebrity guests on the show starting with Kayne and Kim! This will be part of their $40 million dollar deal with E!”
Showbiz Spy doesn’t have an original source for this story, but I’m assuming it’s one of the tabloids this week since they’re just coming out now. (I’ll update this once I get a chance to read most of them later today.)
I’ll buy that this is happening, and that the Kardashians are expanding their brand with a talk show on E! Remember when there was speculation that their stock was falling after Kim’s very short-lived exploited-to-the-max wedding? They weathered that storm way better than I thought they would. It was like a blip to them. Now Kim is dating Kanye and they’re riding the gossip press again like the monotone baby-talking Botoxed bitches they are. I’m actually impressed.
Khloe is shown at the airport in Vegas with Lamar on 7-17-12. Header image is from 10-22-11. Kris is shown alone on 6-28-12 and with Kim on 7-13-12. Kris and Khloe are shown at the airport on 5-21-12. Credit: WENN.com, FameFlynet and PCNPhotos
Earlier this week we heard that American Idol producers were looking for an entirely fresh new judging panel, with potential names being floated like Miley Cyrus, Adam Lambert and Katy Perry. It was assumed that Jennifer Lopez was out of consideration, either because she thought she was too big for the show (and her boytoy played hardball in negotiations) or because ratings were down and she was being asked to leave. In mid May, producer Nigel Lythgoe told TMZ that they did want Lopez back on the show. He also said that J.Lo was weighing her options, and seemed to suggest that the door was open to her. He added “It’s a business. She has to weigh everything. I know she’s gotten lots of offers to do movies and other things.” Well according to TMZ’s latest report, Lopez is still considering going back to her plush job on Idol. It’s all about whether she needs the job and her fat paycheck, and she’s going to play the waiting game with them. Read: she’s holding out for more cash. Here’s more:
Jennifer Lopez is telling friends … she HAS NOT made up her mind on her future with “American Idol” … and WILL NOT make a decision until after she finishes her current concert tour with Enrique Iglesias.
There are reports Jennifer has already informed producers she’s a no-go to return to the judge’s table next season … but sources close to J.Lo tell us the reports are absolutely not true.
We’re told Jennifer wants to “see where things are in her life” when the concert ends.
Translation: If Jen’s popularity is UP after the tour and she has more options, she’s more likely to bounce off the show. If she’s not … “Idol” ain’t a bad fallback gig.
It wouldn’t be the first time J.Lo waited ’til the last minute — last year, she held out until late August and finally gave in when producers agreed to fork over $20 mil for a 1-year deal.
The question is – if Lopez wants to come back will it be too late or not? They’re already talking about a whole new panel, and Lithgow has been joking about suggestions for stunt casting (including Charlie Sheen, but he’s surely not serious). Is Lopez going to be able to hold out for more money and is she worth it? TMZ claimed last month that she wants more than the $15 million that Britney is making for X Factor. It sounds outrageous to me.
These are photos you’re already seen of Lopez performing in Brazil on 6-27-12 and also on the beach with Casper and her kids on 6-25-12. Credit: PacificCoastNews
Melanie Griffith, 54, is working again after a three month stint in rehab for pain pill addiction in August, 2009. She’s been sober for nearly three years now and is now starring in a play in Burbank, California. It’s called “No Way Around But Through” and was written by and co-stars Scott Caan. I saw an interview with the two of them on Extra last month and they were so flirty with each other. After that, The Enquirer ran a story about how Melanie was flirting with Scott to get back at Antonio, who has been seen out with various other women who are not his wife. There’s plenty of speculation that Melanie and Antonio’s divorce is imminent, but I’m hoping that they pull through. I like both of them, and I don’t want to think of Antonio as a cheater.
Anyway Melanie did an interview with the L.A. Times to promote her role. She talked a lot about aging in Hollywood and how she’s discouraged by the lack of roles for women in their 50s. It made me sad for her. She always strikes me as fragile, and you can tell that it’s affected her. She also explained how her daughters convinced her to go to rehab in 2009. Melanie only mentioned Antonio once, in passing, and it kind of confirmed my suspicions that they’re either separated or going through a very rough patch. Here’s more.
You got great reviews on Broadway when you played Roxie Hart in “Chicago.” Why haven’t you done more theater, or are you planning to?
I would love to. I really love it. It’s so much more challenging than film. And the way the film business is these days, it’s pretty bad. And the things that are written now are not very good, not many. And the good ones go to the chosen few of the year or the decade. And there certainly aren’t a lot of movies written for women who are in their 50s. I think that’s always a shame; it should be done more.
I know you’ve been pursuing a number of projects recently, but I haven’t seen you around lately. Are you diving back into your career or were you doing that all along?
I have four kids, and Stella, my youngest, is 15, and she’s going into 10th grade in September, so now I can start thinking about going back to work. I really love working. It makes me feel like an even better person when I work. I function much better if I have a really rigid schedule. When I’m left to my own devices, I can just be all over the place.
Plus just getting older in this town is very hard on your self-esteem if you pay attention to what people say or read what people write. That’s why I really like doing theater. I think theater actors are a whole different breed.
Has it been hard for people to look past your girlish roles of the past when they’re casting?
I don’t know. And I really don’t care. Honestly. At this point, I would be really, really happy if I could do more work, if I could make more movies. But I don’t want to say that I would be grateful. I would be really happy to be working and be able to do my craft. But I’m not desperate anymore or feeling weird about myself because I’m not working in this business. I’m older and wiser and there’s a lot more to life.
You’ve struggled with sobriety over many years. How have you managed to succeed?
It’s exactly what I used to hear, when they would say, “It takes what it takes and you’ll know when you know.” What happened to me three years ago was the tipping point for me. It was when I finally went, oh, OK, I get it.
The family intervention?
No, it wasn’t an intervention, well, sort of, in a way. My daughters really sat me down and said, look, Mom, this is what it is. Dakota and Stella, both. I don’t want to say what really happened, but they were the ones who said, “You really need to get help,” and I heard them and knew what they meant. And I saw it and I did it. But I couldn’t have done it without them. I really couldn’t have. And I’m so grateful. I see now I just didn’t get it before. It doesn’t mean that I’m stupid. It’s just that that’s what the disease is.
Both Melanie and Antonio have talked to the press prior to this about her latest stint in rehab. He opened up in an interview with AARP last year, saying that they’d all worked together as a family to help Melanie get sober. Melanie disagreed with that though, (and I just found this out) she was interviewed by AARP separately and said that Antonio “was in London at the time” that she went to rehab and that “We had two family weeks there, but we didn’t follow through.” Maybe I have a mistaken impression of how together they are. Maybe Antonio likes to present an image of a doting husband and family man when he’s off on trips hooking up with randoms. Melanie went on in that interview to praise him and say that he has been supportive, but she hedged a little.
“Antonio was supportive to the extent that he can be, but if you’re not an alcoholic or drug addict, and you find out that your wife is a bad one, it’s hard to deal with. … I wish he would go to a meeting with me or to Al-Anon, but it’s very foreign to him. Addiction runs in my family but not in his.
“I don’t mean that against him. I would like him to do more, but it’s a difficult thing to have happen in any family, and in that way he has been totally by my side. He really is the greatest guy.”
Well I’m glad to see Melanie working again, and sober. She was honored at The Munich Film festival on Monday for her long career. These photos are from that event, where she dressed like it was still the 90s in a v-neck leather mini dress, too much jewelry and a little black cardigan. It’s kind of a fug look, but it could be worse I guess.
They also premiered her new movie at the festival, a psychological thriller called The Grief Tourist. She looks very happy, but I have to say, where’s Antonio? We always see her at his events supporting him. The last time we saw Antonio he was partying in Cannes without Melanie.
