I love a celebrity that practices what he preaches. Leonardo DiCaprio has championed a lot of environmental causes – Vanity Fair even put him on the cover of the magazine for it, along with an in-depth article about his passion for green causes. Leo drives a hybrid car and had solar panels installed on his home in Los Angeles. And to further walk the walk, Leo just purchased an eco-friendly condominium in the Battery Park City area of Manhattan.

Every time he comes home, Leonardo DiCaprio is practicing what he preaches. The environmentally conscious actor has bought an apartment in Riverhouse, an eco-friendly building overlooking the Hudson River. The purchase was confirmed on Friday by Christopher Daly, president of Sheldrake Organization, the developer of the Battery Park City complex. Occupancy is slated for this summer.

The 264-unit condominium glass tower overlooks the river and a park, and boasts low emission paints, a 24-hour fresh filtered air system, a water treatment facility and rotating solar panels. DiCaprio seemingly also will have everything at his fingertips. The David Rockwell-designed high-rise features an indoor 50-foot lap pool, media cafe, fitness center, landscaped terrace and dog spa.

[From the Huffington Post]

Riverhouse’s website states that 1 bedrooms start at $835,000; 2 bedrooms from $1,185,000; 3 bedrooms from $1,725,000; and 4 bedrooms from $2,975,000. They also say they’re “High performance Oxygen Green condominium residences.” The building sounds amazing – DiCaprio is certainly not roughing it by any means. The building’s main floors will also have a branch of the New York Public Library and a City Bakery. It sounds just as sophisticated as any other building a celeb would inhabit – and in a way that’s a good thing. DiCaprio is showing people that they don’t need to have a diminished quality of life in order to be good to the earth.

Here are some images from Riverhouse’s website. It looks like a really beautiful, well-thought-out design.

Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted out at dinner with a fair trade diamond dealer, and since we can assume he’s no longer doing research for a role he must be planning on getting engaged to his on-again girlfriend, Bar Refaeli, right?

Now that Leonardo DiCaprio’s romance with model Bar Refaeli, 22, is back on, he’s shopping for diamonds. Leo, 33, had dinner with a diamond dealer who specializes in fair-trade gems at Madeo restaurant in West Hollywood on January 17, according to a witness. “Ever since starring in Blood Diamond, Leo has become sort of an expert on the industry,” his pal explains.

[From In Touch, print edition, February 11, 2008]

DiCaprio is also considered an expert on environmental issues, and has been invited by the Green Party of Scotland to speak before their Parliament. They are anxiously awaiting a response.

DiCaprio was among the stars in the audience at the friendly Democratic debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Hollywood on Thursday. Other stars in attendance were Diane Keaton, Rob Reiner and Stevie Wonder.

I don’t see DiCaprio getting engaged at this point, especially considering how low-key he’s been in his relationship with Refaeli. We’ll have to wait it out and see what happens.

Leonardo DiCaprio is shown in the header image at Cannes on 5/19/07. Bar Refaeli is shown modeling lingerie on 10/18/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Russell Crowe sure has a mouth on him – but at least semi-interesting things pop out of it once in a while. Crowe recently gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly in which he was more than willing to chat about several of his famous co-stars – including some pretty personal stuff. He revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio was a virgin when Crowe first met the then-17-year-old. And apparently DiCaprio wouldn’t shut up about it.

“You know, I worked with Leonardo [DiCaprio] when he was 17,” Crowe recalls. “He was a virgin and he’d talk about that constantly.”

Of course, Leo has made up for lost time - what with his conquests of supermodels Gisele Bundchen and Bar Rafaeli, among others. So Crowe is looking forward to debriefing the lothario on their upcoming “Body of Lies.”

“I’m hoping … he can fill [me] in on what’s happened in between, maybe show some photos,” Crowe laughs in Entertainment Weekly. “I’m sure life’s different now.”

[From the New York Daily News]

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I don’t consider being a virgin at 17 to be anything bad. But then again I collect vintage candles and yell at my mom for listening to the television too loudly, so there you go. Crowe also talks about spitting on Denzel Washington. Because that’s always a good career move.

The Oscar winner, who talks to EW with Denzel Washington, remembers meeting his “American Gangster” co-star 12 years ago, on the set of “Virtuosity.”

“We had to do a scene where there’s a piece of cyclone wire fencing between us,” says Crowe. “I had to be really rabid and weird, and … a bit of spit comes out of my mouth … and it weaves itself neatly through the fencing and lands right on Denzel’s lip. … And I’m going, Oh man … I’m doing my audition, and I spit on Denzel Washington. I might as well just go home and hang myself right now. … He just kept on doing the scene, and at the end, they said ‘cut,’ and he’s looking at me and the spit’s still sitting there and he goes, ‘I love the taste of warm saliva in the morning.’?”

[From the New York Daily News]

That Denzel Washington is a good guy. If Russell Crowe spit within ten feet of me I’d launch a pack of rabid, wild dogs on him. You know he’s been around the block with some unsavory women. It’s a wonder Denzel didn’t get Chlamydia from the guy. Yes I know you can’t transmit it through spit. But I’m pretty sure Russell Crowe has so many other STDs that there’s nowhere left for the Chlamydia to go, and they get forced upwards. I’m joking, I’m joking. Mostly.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Russell Crowe with wife Danielle Spencer at the American Gangster New York Premiere on October 19th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Break ups and possible divorces are abound this month. Most of which can’t quite be confirmed. Those crafty celebs just love their air of mystery. Leonardo DiCaprio and Bar Refaeli are the latest to take a trip to spiltsville.

“LEONARDO DiCaprio is looking for a new model - he’s split with his post-Gisele Bundchen babe, Bar Refaeli. On Friday night at Sweet Paradise on Orchard Street, DiCaprio was with Josh Hartnett checking out the arm candy at the after-party for the new skateboarding film “Nothing But the Truth.” And, in an odd twist, Refaeli’s new squeeze is surfer Kelly Slater, who dated Bundchen after she and the “Titanic” star broke up.”

[Page Six]

Currently, Leo is said to be wooing Daya Fernandez. Daya is an actress hopeful who worked as an assistant to Tom Cruise during filming for “Vanilla Sky.” While he may be out kicking it with notorious horn-dog Josh Harnett, Bar is not sitting at home sobbing into her Ben and Jerry’s. She has been out partying and looking carefree without Leo by her side. Star Magazine reports that when her friends asked about Leo’s absence she replied with an airy, “Don’t worry about it.’ The two have been rumored to have broken up several times. Perhaps this is just another “break” for the two.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Leonardo DiCaprio is shown out with a crepe in Paris on 10/21/07. Thanks to Splash News.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s new wax version at Madame Tussauds looks pretty close to the real thing. He’s even got that little shadow goatee, and I love the little half-smile on his face. The best part of these pictures is the goofy chick hanging all over the statue. You know I would be doing that too and generally making an ass of myself if I was confronted with a life size replica of DiCaprio, or pretty much any other halfway decent looking male celebrity. It’s kind of instinctual, like how women whoop it up with their friends when there are strippers around while men get all quiet and glassy eyed.

DiCaprio is shooting a new film with Russell Crowe soon, in which they play CIA agents caught up in the Middle East conflict. His film about the environmental crisis, The 11th Hour, opens in theaters tomorrow. He told MTV news that he hopes that people see his films and learn something:

And as DiCaprio has become more concerned with world affairs, his choices of films like “Diamond” and the global-warming documentary “The 11th Hour” have allowed the young star to speak his mind — a trend he hopes to continue by using the untitled CIA flick to explore thorny Iraq war issues close to his heart.

“This is the way that people are educated about issues nowadays. This is the main avenue for learning in today’s world,” he said of the movies. “I would just hope that enough people go to see them, so the studios will be encouraged to make more films like that in the future and that there is an audience for them and they are profitable.”

[MTV.com]

I do agree that if you have a platform like film you should use it to educate people, but movies are generally for entertainment. I would say the “main avenue for learning in today’s world” is the Internet as it’s more participatory and self-driven, and pretty much contains anything you’re interested in learning about, including the intimate often-fabricated details of celebrities’ lives. That’s just my own personal bias I guess.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s new waxwork at Madame Tussauds made its debut in London, England today to the delight of giddy women everywhere. (There’s my personal bias again.)

Thanks to WENN for these pictures.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s celebrity friends and supporters were out at the premiere of his environmental film The 11th Hour in Hollywood yesterday. The documentary urges us to make a difference in the state of our planet now, in the 11th hour, as it’s almost too late. With existing technology and a concerted effort the film asserts that we can ensure that our planet remains sustainable. It’s not about saving the environment so much as ensuring the continued survival of the human race.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, DiCaprio explains that it takes him just 15 minutes to get ready for a premiere. He says the film explores how we can make a difference in our world and that by interviewing experts he thinks that 11th Hour explains it in a way that is unique while focusing on change:

“How long does it take me? Usually 15 minutes, something like that,” Leo says about getting red-carpet ready. “And then it’s about putting the suit on. I don’t have a stylist — usually it’s my assistant who tells me to put this on and I go, ‘Okay.’

But before Leo walks out the door, there’s one crucial tool he can’t forget: “What do I not leave the house without? My cell phone!”

As for the new movie, the award-winning environmentalist star gives ET the lowdown…

“It’s not just global warming, it’s not just a loss of biodiversity, it’s not just the pollution of our oceans and the clearing of our rainforests and all these complicated systems,” Leo tells ET. “[The movie] talks about the world economy, it talks about politics, it talks about personal transformation and environmental consciousness that we need to have in this generation to implement a lot of these changes that need to occur.”

The movie, which features Leo as narrator, explores what it will take for humans to make a difference ecologically before it’s too late. Top scientists like STEPHEN HAWKING and leaders like former Soviet Union President MIKHAIL GORBACHEV are interviewed for the documentary.

“It’s a very, very daunting issue and it was a lot to, as filmmakers, wrap our head around,” says Leo, “but thankfully we got some of the most important people in the forefront of a lot of these issues to really explain it in a way that I don’t think has been done before, and that’s what I’m proud of.”

[From ETOnline]

Here’s a clip especially created for YouTube with a preview from the film. The first expert who speaks really brings it home with this statement: “The environment is going to survive, we’re the ones who are not going to survive, or we may survive in a world we don’t particularly want to live in.”

Here’s the trailer for the film. It looks really moving.

The 11th Hour is out in theaters on August 17.

Pictured at the premiere are Leonardo DiCaprio looking like he’s lost a little weight, Kate Bosworth, looking healthy, and DiCaprio’s good friends and fellow environmentalists Tobey Maguire and Adrian Grenier. Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Leonardo DiCaprio is proving his geek credentials – getting into a fight with Nicholas Cage about a dinosaur head.

The bidding war between the two Hollywood stars was intense as the price soared for the 67 million-year-old dinosaur skull.

Only when it reached $276,000 did Leonardo DiCaprio blink - and Nicolas Cage walked away from the Beverley Hills auction with a ferocious-looking addition to his fossil collection.

As this recent battle of the celebrities for the head of a tyrannosauras [sic] bataar — the Asian cousin of T-rex — proved, dinosaur bones are emerging as the new, collectible must-haves for the multi-millionaires of Hollywood, Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

Daily Telegraph

Apparently these are the new must-have accessory, although I guess more for geek boys than fashion conscious ladies. Hopefully this doesn’t translate to fashion – I’m thinking the Flintstones here!

Dinosaur bones are a new form of wall art, an alternative to a Monet or Picasso. It must be cool to have one of these.

“Dinosaur bones and all sorts of fossils are increasingly hot right now. Hollywood heavy-hitters and the mega-rich types from the Middle East love this stuff,” said Josh Chait, operations director of the family firm (auctioneers IM Chait).

“When you already have a Warhol or a Monet on the wall, you tend to want a change from traditional artwork and people are turning to natural history for that.”

Daily Telegraph

This is a great trend for Hollywood to get into. Hopefully when they turn into old bones themselves, or even just tire of the trend, they’ll donate the bones to a museum. A Chicago museum recently paid $8.3million for a dinosaur skeleton, so if they could get some for free, everybody wins!

Picture note by Celebitchy: Composite picture includes an illustration of the Tarbosaurus bataar, also known as Tyrannosaurus bataar. It was one of the last surviving dinosaurs, and lived in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia. It was a carnivore and is a close relative of the T-Rex. Thanks to Dinosaur-World for the picture and description.

A new book is coming out that details a Globe journalist’s unscrupulous attempt to get Tobey Maguire’s mom to out him while commenting on his close relationship with fellow star Leonardo DiCaprio. Page Six notes that Tobey’s mom said they were close friends who shared a bed, hung out with gay guys and sometimes wore ribbons in their hair, but that it didn’t mean anything:

In “Tabloid Prodigy,” out this month from Running Press, Kast writes how she tracked down Maguire’s mother, Wendy, a secretary, and “told her that I was working on an article for a gay pride magazine about sexual expression among Hollywood stars. I asked her if she’d be willing to share any thoughts about her son’s close bond with Leonardo.”

Wendy Maguire responded to Kast, “I figured this subject would come up sooner or later . . . Those two are just free-spirited guys. Most of the friends they hang around with are gay. They’re comfortable with that. But I think Leo and Tobey are the crossover between men and women. They have feminine traits they are willing to accept. They aren’t ashamed to have any sort of title, even if that means someone calling them gay.”

Kast continues, “Wendy continued to recount her liberal views, divulging details of how the two friends ’shared a bed and wore ribbons in their hair.’ ” While Kast wasn’t about to claim the stars were gay, “Wendy had provided exactly what the editors wanted - insinuations.”

Tobey’s rep said the story was ridiculous while Leo’s rep said it was “made up” and “untrue.” When I heard this story I was reminded of an old picture of a naked Tobey hanging out with David Blaine and Leonardo DiCaprio in what looks like some kind of tea house or asian-themed spa. It could be Photoshopped, but if it’s not Tobey is well endowed. I doubt these guys were anything more than friends though. They are both in serious relationships now, with Tobey having a new baby at home and Leo rumored to soon be marrying his model girlfriend.

Tobey and Leo are still close friends. They were out to dinner last night along with Lucas Haas, but they left separately and refused to be photographed together.

Tobey Maguire was videotaped smacking a camera out of a fan’s hand recently. Commentors noted that it looked like the guy touched him and he was responding to that. Tobey later posed happily for a picture with that same fan to let him know there were no hard feelings.

Tobey has spoken about how he tries to save money, saying he uses his frequent flier miles to fly first class instead of buying a ticket outright. He is also said to enjoy shopping at Payless for shoes. He’s not doing it just to be frugal, though, he is a devout vegetarian and has given up all clothing that contains leather and animal products. Payless has the all-synthetic shoes to go along with his lifestyle. [From Globe print edition, April 30, 2007 via Sammie’s Effluvia]

Header image from StaticBeth.com

Please do not read this article if you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated film The Departed. This movie is so good that I screamed while watching it on a plane over the holidays, waking up the guy in the seat in front of me. Even if you don’t intend on seeing it, believe me you will find it worth your while.

Martin Scorsese has semi-confirmed the news that there’s going to be a sequel to the film The Departed, making filmgoers scratch their head and wonder how he’s going to pull it off. Just about all of the lead characters meet violent ends in the film, which help it pack such a cinematic punch.

Screenwriter William Monahan, who wrote the first Departed screenplay, is said to be working on the follow up, which will include Mark Wahlberg’s Oscar nominated potty-mouthed character, Sergeant Dignam, as well as bring in a new character played by Robert DeNiro.

At least one article I read said they haven’t ruled out a prequel, which means more tortured Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio eye candy. Indeed, the film it was based on, 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, had its own prequel successor.

I would like to see a bonafide sequel, though, because the end left me wondering who fathered Madolyn’s baby and if she had anything to do with clueing Wahlberg into Damon’s role as the mole. (I said there were spoilers, sorry about that. Let me know if I missed something in the plot that would explain how Wahlberg found out. I was really tired when I watched it.)

The Departed is a critical and commercial success, having pulled in $125 million in the US, and received five Oscar nominations. It is considered the front runner for best picture at the Oscars.

Here are some pictures from the film, courtesy of All Movie Photo.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been linked with 21-year-old Israeli model Bar Rafaeli since April of last year.

They were rumored to be having trouble when he was seen arguing with someone over the phone at an after party for the premiere of his film Blood Diamonds in London on January 21st. Rafaeli was not there and Leo was in a bad mood when photographers tried to get pictures of him leaving a club afterwards. Friends claimed DiCaprio finds Rafaeli “clingy” and that they had hit a rough patch.

DiCaprio sparked more rumors of trouble in his relationship when he said that hot British TV presenter Cat Deely was “lovely” and that “This country [England] churns out some of the loveliest women in the world.”

Now Rafaeli is rumored to have said goodbye to DiCaprio because she’s fed up with his partying and busy schedule:

The stunning Israeli model is said to have brought an end to their six-month relationship because she was unable to cope with the Titanic star’s hectic work schedule and constant partying.

A friend of the model tells News Of The World, “Bar is a professional model so she has to be healthy and look great every day, so there is no way that she could keep up with that kind of decadent lifestyle.

“When they were apart she worried about what he was up to and in the end decided it would be easier and less painful just to say enough is enough.”

DiCaprio has recently been in London celebrating his recent Best Actor Oscar nomination for Blood Diamond.

A member of his entourage adds, “Leo was gutted when Bar told him it was over. But he is at the top of his game at the moment and there’s no danger of his changing his ways any time soon.”

[via Gossip Rocks]

I would like to see DiCaprio get married and start a family. He was with Gisele for years, and although he has a penchant for models and going out, it seems like he’s capable of a long term relationship and commitment.

Guys at the top of of their game like DiCaprio seem like they’re ready to get married at about 35/36. DiCaprio is 32, so he has a few more years left in him before he settles down. I’m not saying marriage is for everyone, just that DiCaprio seems like the type who would take to it nicely, kind of like Ben Affleck after all his tough times.

Of course UrbanDK would say that DiCaprio got dumped because he’s looking like a porkchop lately, but he’s still a babe to me.