Hilary Swank is still floundering in the midst of the international scandal that resulted when, back in October, she received $1.5 million to attend the birthday party of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadryov, which included her warm wishes towards “Mr. President” and for which she later expressed deep regrets. In the aftermath, Swank allegedly reacted by firing her manager and many of her agents, and then she was summarily dropped by her PR firm. Yes, Swank has expressed her regrets, but after such an incredible mess, sometimes the best thing for one to do is just drop the matter and hope that people eventually forget that it ever happened.

Part of me wonders why Swank just won’t stop discussing this scandal, but she’s now promoting New Year’s Eve, which arrives in theaters on December 9 and I guess is as good a reason as any for her to continue discussing the faux pas heard around the world. I’ve come to this grand conclusion merely because Hilary apparently doesn’t have much else to discuss during her late-night talk show interview with Jay Leno, as evidenced her great enthusiasm upon discussing her parrot and the eggs that she ordered through the mail. You see, one of these eggs hatched into a chick, which turned into a rooster. Such riveting material, right? After she discusses the Chechen debacle at length, Swank actually imitates the rooster learning to crow, but here’s what she said about the relevant topic:

“I was invited by a Turkish real estate company to go and be a proponent of peace; help celebrate the rebuilding of a war-torn city. It was Grozny city, which is in Chechnya . . . I get offered appearances all the time . . . These people were trying to rebuild their lives too. Just seven years ago it was very war-torn and very dangerous. And I thought, ‘Absolutely, yes. That’s an incredible thing; I love to travel, I love to meet people. This is an exciting opportunity.’

“And then, once there, on the side of the stage, someone said, ‘It’s the president’s birthday; can you wish him a happy birthday?’ . . . I had never heard of him before. In fact, when they said his name, I couldn’t even say it. So I said, ‘I’ll just say Mr. President,’ is what I’m thinking in my head. So, I went out and said, ‘Happy birthday, Mr. President,’ after I said my whole speech about it’s great to be a proponent of peace and you guys are doing incredible things rebuilding this city. And then when I got back, only then was I made aware of who he was . . . Kadryov. Now I can say his name because of I’ve done my research. He’s a bad, bad guy . . . Human rights organizations had reached out to warn me before I went but I did not get those warnings, they weren’t shared with me, and so that went out into the press too, and I had never known, and I thank the Human rights organizations for trying to reach out, and for reaching out, even though I didn’t get it. And the silver lining is that I’m actually working with the Human Rights Watch now.

“[On a question about the backlash] It was all over the world, and shame on me. The bottom line is that I should know where I’m going and I should do better research, and I can definitely guarantee that I won’t go anywhere ever again without doing full research. I donated all the money, and like I said, there’s always a silver lining to things. I’ve learned a lot about the incredible things people are now doing . . . Again, I should know where I’m going . . . I actually didn’t know Chechnya was separate from Russia. Now I know all of that, but I had no idea.”

Oddly enough, Swank still appears to be slightly cloudy on the details, for Chechnya is its own republic even though it technically remains part of the Russian Federation. In addition, it’s interesting that Swank frames her rationale for attending on loving to travel and meet people for a good cause instead of the cool $1.5 million, but at least Swank has now articulated that she’s donated the money to a mysterious cause. Ideally, that cause would be the Human Rights Watch, but she probably would’ve mentioned it if that was the case. Swank still obviously places some blame upon her former manager, but she’s also grovelled quite well by accepting that she should’ve done her research. Mostly, it sounds like she learned her lesson here, and hopefully, that’ll be the end of the discussion. That is, until she decides to imitate a rooster again.

Photos courtesy of Fame and WENN

A few weeks ago, Hilary Swank was flown into Grozny to attend the 35th birthday party of Chechen despot Ramzan Kadyrov. It was a big event in which Kadyrov sat in a box seat, surrounded by thousands of well-wishers, and various celebrities like Swank and Jean Claude Van Damme went on stage to wish him a happy birthday. Kadyrov has been on every human-rights watch list for years – he is a known homicidal, genocidal douche and puppet of the Russian government, and Swank (and other celebrities) gave him legitimacy by attending his party like he was a legit world leader. Anyway, Hilary later apologized and claimed that she had no idea about any of this, that she didn’t realize she had been invited to this dude’s birthday party. Cue video of her standing on stage, wishing Kadyrov a “happy birthday”.

The Human Rights Foundation claims that Swank was forewarned – by them. They sent a warning to Swank more than a week before the event. The HRF’s spokesperson Sarah Wasserman told The Wrap, “After five days of wall-to-wall criticism, [Swank's apology] is weak, especially since the Human Rights Foundation sent a warning directly to Swank through her manager on Sept. 26. Her claim of ignorance is laughable. Worse, the video of her birthday wishes shows her boasting about her knowledge of Chechnya and how she ‘reads’ and ‘does her research.’ The more important question now is, what is Swank going to do with the blood money paid from Kadyrov’s coffers? She sidesteps the issue completely.”

But Swank’s spokesperson did issue a statement days later, telling The Wrap that Swank “is donating her personal appearance fees from this event to various charitable organizations.” But until now, the amount Hilary Swank got was still unknown. Radar reports that Swank got the biggest payout of all of the celebrity guests – $1.5 million! However, Swank still claims that she only thought she had been invited to the event to attend “the opening of a residential and commercial complex in Grozny City on October 5.” Her rep says she went to the opening “because the construction project was described to her as a symbol of hope for the people of Chechnya, a region that had been devastated by war. Specifically, she was advised that the project was instrumental in the creation of jobs and other opportunities for the people of Chechnya.” So… Hilary thought she was getting paid $1.5 million to go to the opening of a residential complex? And then she just accidentally put on a ball gown and went to the birthday party? I still don’t understand this argument.

This Hilary Swank-debacle has changed one thing, though – two groups are now going to be offering “free, confidential services” to celebrities, advising them on what events to avoid in the cause of human rights. Celebrities can go to the Global Philanthropy Group or the Human Rights Watch if they think a gig is iffy and they want to know more about it. Or, you know, they could just do five minutes of research…?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

It worked for Robert DeNiro, Charlize Theron, Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, and now Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank is set to gain between 20 and 30 pounds for her role in the new film French Women Don’t Get Fat, an adaptation of the best-selling book.

Those concerned over Hilary Swank’s plummeting weight can rest easy—maybe. The two-time Oscar nabber is next set to pack on the pounds (and a lot of ‘em) to play the lead in French Women Don’t Get Fat, an adaptation of Mireille Guiliano’s best-selling book, which Swank will also produce.

“She’ll gain 20 to 30 pounds,” we’re told by a source close to the production. “It’s no sweat. She’s played a man before. She can handle anything.”

Some of Swank’s colleagues are more than concerned about her alarmingly thin frame, which is so tiny, some say Chad Lowe’s former wife is looking downright frail. But anything for a meaty part, eh?

While French Women is nonfiction, an early premise says Swank will play the manager of a champagne company dealing with French beauties who consume bread, wine and pastries yet never gain an ounce. And naturally, self discovery happens along the way.

[From E!Online]

Hilary’s been looking a bit anemic these days, ever since she played an aspiring boxer in “Million Dollar Baby.” Her physique has always looked a bit masculine- which is probably why she was able to play Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t Cry” so well. I’d be willing to bet that another 30 pounds on her frame would really soften up her face and jawline and make her actually look pretty.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Hilary Swank is shown at the Trump Hotel & Tower Dubai launch in Beverly Hills on 8/23/08. I like her a lot better with dark hair. Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN

Hilary Swank, 33, has been dating her Creative Artists agent probably since April of 2006, when they were first spotted exercising together and looking flirty. Their relationship went public in August, 2006 when they were photographed on a romantic holiday in Rome.

Swank’s boyfriend, John Campisi, 40, was only separated from his wife of 11 years at the time his romance with Swank was made public last summer. Not only had he not yet filed for divorce at that time, at least four months after he started cheating or “exercising” with Swank, he even had a toddler at home.

It was Campisi’s wife who filed for divorce after receiving the public humiliation of seeing pictures of her husband kissing and holding hands with Swank on a romantic vacation in Italy.

Now their divorce is about to be made final, and Swank and Campisi plan to get married as soon as he’s legally available. After that, Swank is planning for a baby:

Hilary Swank is planning to marry her boyfriend and former agent John Campisi as soon as his divorce becomes final in a few weeks – and she wants to start a family right away, say sources.

“Don’t be shocked if Hilary gets pregnant soon after she walks down the aisle with John,” a source told The Enquirer.

She’s now free to wed, having finalized her divorce from Chad Lowe.

“It’s just a matter of waiting for his divorce to clear the courts – it’s expected to be final by November,” said the source.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 1, 2007]

I’m thinking a guy who leaves his wife and child for you without settling his affairs at home first is not that great of a catch, but maybe it will work out for Hilary this time.

Hilary Swank is shown yesterday at the launch of the Guerlain fragrance Insolence, which she represents. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Back in late April we reported that Hilary Swank was seen out jogging with a new guy, and that he may have been a friend or trainer. She had filed for divorce from Chad at that point, but they made a couple of public appearances and people speculated that they were trying to rekindle their relationship. It didn’t mean much that she was exercising with someone else, although she did help the guy change into a new shirt and they looked pretty happy together.

Hilary told Vanity Fair in July that Chad was an addict and that’s what caused the rift in their relationship. (A commentor speculated that Chad Lowe is gay and helped Hilary get her start in showbiz after she became his beard. Another guy from a different IP address or maybe the same guy using a different computer or whatever claimed that Chad tried to pick him up at the gym. I don’t know if it’s true, I just report it.)

It turns out that guy she was exercising with was her Creative Artists Agent, and that he’s married with a little kid. (cough *scumbag* cough) They’re now together and were spotted in Rome getting all kissy-face:

Good for Hilary for finding love again after maybe being the beard to a skinny gay guy for so long, but a married guy with a little kid? That’s just wrong.

Here are pictures of Hilary and hew “new” boyfriend, John Campisi, exercising in late April. Maybe that’s all it was at the time. Probably not.

It looks like Vanity Fair’s strategy of denying stars the cover unless they dish lots of dirt has worked, because Hilary Swank blabs in an upcoming interview with the magazine that her ex, Chad Lowe, is an addict! She says he’s been sober for three years, but that his battle with substance abuse caused a serious rift in the relationship that they couldn’t repair.

It sounds like once Chad beat whatever drugs he was on things were never the same between them and it was impossible to overcome.

For an actress with two Oscars Hilary Swank doesn’t get a lot of attention in the press. This revelation will make people interested in her for a week or two. She’s sporty, down to earth, and normal and people don’t think that’s particularly exciting. She should follow this up by going shopping on Rodeo Drive and having dinner at The Ivy with a hot new guy.

In the upcoming interview, Hilary addresses the problems between her high=profile Hollywood career and her soon-to-be ex-husband’s lack of prospects, saying, “I think that any frustration for him stemmed from the lack of opportunities in his own career.”

Swank, 32, says she’s wary of the dating scene, “I thought of it – of that whole world – I can’t imagine it! I can’t imagine going out right now and trying to find someone else to be with.”

Relationship guru John Gray recommends that men and women do the opposite of their natural instincts when trying to recover from a breakup. Women should start dating right away while men should take time to nurse their wounds instead of jumping into another relationship. Maybe Hilary should take a page from Charlie Sheen and start looking online.

Here is Hilary in new ads from Clavin Klein and at a party for the perfume giant Guerlain, which she also represents, on 6/14. [via]

We weren’t holding our breath, but we were kind of hoping Nick and Jessica would get back together. Jessica wore her wedding ring around her neck for a while, and Nick told Rolling Stone that he still loved his wife of two years, but ultimately Jessica’s immaturity and Nick’s wild oats won out and now the two are officially divorced. The divorce was made final on June 30. No word yet as to the settlement amount. Jessica’s dad tried to low-ball Nick into accepting a $1.5 million settlement, while Nick is said to have asked for a more realistic $8 million that he lowered to $5 million.

Nick is dating MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo while Jessica may be with her co-star in the upcoming film “Employee of the Month,” comedian Dane Cook. Cook was involved with someone else at the time of filming, but is now single and said to be getting cosy with Jessica.

This is sad news for Nick and Jessica fans, and should serve as a warning to all women who try to hold out before marriage and then get married young because they can’t wait.

Here is Jessica in NY on 6/28. She’s wearing the deadly long jeans/platform sandals combo that caused Britney’s near baby-drop. Nick Lachey is shown performing a private concert for Q-100 listeners on 6/29.

Hillary Swank was spotted jogging with some guy. That may or may not mean that she’s dating him.

Here’s the recap on Hillary Swank and Chad Lowe:

On March 30th we reported that Hillary Swank and Chad Lowe were supposedly over for good because someone said so and that there was “competition between them” according to some tabloid. This was a week after a report came out that the two were going to renew their vows.

Swank and Lowe were spotted massaging each other and geting all cosy on a flight recently, which means they’re probably back together:

That’s kind of sweet, and it may work out for them this time. Swank seemed committed to trying to make it work, and it must be hard to maintain a relationship in Hollywood.

Just a week ago we reported that In Touch claimed that Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe were going to renew their vows. It turns out In Touch was wrong, and they’re really over, uh maybe:

It can be hard to make a relationship work when a woman is much more successful and high-profile than her husband. If this is true, it’s too bad that they couldn’t work it out. It certainly seemed like Hilary wanted to try.