We forgot to cover Michelle Williams’ appearance at the Met Gala during yesterday’s fashion frenzy, so here are some photos. Michelle was wearing this black Saint Laurent mullet dress that was more pretty than punk. Her hair looked very cute while tousled around a rhinestone headband, but I’ve grown rather bored of the book-clutch trend. Is that still a trend?

Meanwhile, Michelle’s love life has been met with much speculation over the past handful of years. Most recently, she dated Jason Segal for about a year before they broke up in February, possibly because Michelle wasn’t ready to commit, or maybe it had something to do with Segal’s alleged love of alcohol. Who knows.

Now it looks like Michelle has a new guy, and they were spotted leaving the Met gala together on Monday evening. The Mail has some photos of Michelle holding hands with this dude, who looks like he could be the scrawny, coffeehouse-dwelling kid brother of Seth Rogen. Here are the details:

Michelle Williams bolted from a 2013 Met Ball after-party with a mystery man looking a bit bedraggled after earlier flaunting her dress on the red carpet.

The 32-year-old Brokeback Mountain actress was spotted early Tuesday leaving the fashion world’s annual event in New York City with a bespectacled, bearded, curly-haired man.

The two clutched hands as they hurriedly made their way to the unidentified man’s vehicle.

It seemed to be a nail-biting experience for the actress, as she kept her right hand up to her mouth as they departed.

The Shutter Island star looked like she had a long night and slumped in the passenger seat pulling a coat over herself once inside the car.

She appeared on the red carpet for the fundraising gala on Monday night wearing a black strapless Yves Saint Laurent gown with a literary Olympia Le-Tan clutch and Fred Leighton jewels.

Michelle had been cutting a lonely figure of late since her February breakup with boyfriend of one year, actor Jason Segel.

[From Daily Mail]

Man, Michelle really has had an hankering for slightly goofy looking dudes ever since she and Heath Ledger broke up. First there was Spike Jonze, then Jason, and now this dude. Good for her — I hope she finds the right guy who will make her happy, if that’s what she wants.

Update by Kaiser: The Mail has ID’d the guy as an artist named Dustin Yellin, but they don’t know if Dustin & Michelle are together.

Here are some photos of Michelle at last month’s Tribeca film festival for the premiere of A Case of You. I’m so glad she’s growing her hair out. Short hair is cool, but Michelle had definitely fallen into a bit of a style rut.

Photos courtesy of WENN

So this is where Gwyneth Paltrow chose to go instead of the UK premiere of Iron Man 3. These are photos from last night’s Tiffany’s Blue Book Ball in NYC. How is this more important (to Goop) than the premiere of her film in her hometown? I don’t get it. Gwyneth wore this rich-looking blue Ralph Lauren gown which… I don’t know. Would this design flatter ANY figure? Because it certainly does nothing for Gwyneth’s body. The fabric is gorgeous, though, and the color is pretty on her. Satin (or silk-satin, as I’m sure this is) makes even the most toned ladies look lumpy, though. Also: side-part! HUZZAH. She’s still flat-ironing for every event though.

We don’t have all of the photos of some of the high-profile ladies, but you can see pics of Kate Hudson and Jessica Biel, etc here. Here’s Michelle Williams in Katie Ermilio – I like it!

Here’s Sarah Jessica Parker in “vintage Vicky Tiel gold strapless gown styled with a Yeojin Bae black blazer and a Tiffany & Co. clutch and jewels.” I actually think SJP looks really good here. That blazer and dress is a good combo!

Doutzen Kroes in the same Dior gown that Natalie Portman wore to the 2012 Golden Globes.

I love Carolyn Murphy (right?), but she looks tragically underdressed for this event.

Carey Mulligan in Victoria Beckham. Love Carey, but hate this look on her. This is awful.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

At this point, I think all of us have gotten used to the familiar tradition of Celebrity Mothering. As soon as a (usually B-list) celebrity has a baby, suddenly they are in the Mom Business, and they start mommy-blogging, mommy-shilling or developing some projects involving motherhood and babies or whatever. Jessica Alba is a good example of this. Nicole Richie is another great example. Gwyneth Paltrow is too, although I think her shtick is less about motherhood (motherhood plays a part, though) and more about Gwyneth wanting to “advise” peasants on what they’re doing wrong. I can’t go onto People Magazine without seeing some B-list or C-list “mommy” doing some blogging for the site, and on and on.

So what happens when the celebrity mom is A-list and she has a full career as, you know, an actress? What happens when the celebrity mom is Michelle Williams?

Michelle Williams’ passion project won’t be shown on-screen anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the Oz the Great and Powerful actress is any less proud of it. Williams, 32, recently told Paper magazine that her biggest off-screen project right now is raising her 7-year-old daughter, Matilda.

“Raising the kid is the work, yeah. And it’s amazing, and it’s the ultimate creative act,” she told the publication at the Kate Young for Target party on Tuesday, April 9. “That’s my side project and my center project.”

Matilda is Williams’ daughter with her late ex, actor Heath Ledger.

Williams, who debuted an edgy new haircut at the star-studded event, added that for her, she enjoys concentrating all her energy into only a few things at a time.

“I wish I had side projects!” she said of pursuing other passions outside of work. “I’m kind of like a ‘one thing at a time’ girl. I can’t really take on [more]. I wish I was one of those people who’s also taking lots of photos and going to cooking classes. But I just work and raise the kid. That’s all I can do.”

The Blue Valentine actress quietly split with boyfriend Jason Segel earlier this year after just under a year of dating. The A-list couple maintained a low-profile romance throughout their relationship, with Segel only speaking vaguely about Williams in an interview with Extra last April.

“I think we would just very much like to be happy,” he said at the time. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

[From Us Weekly]

To be fair to Michelle, I think she’s telling the truth – she’s a single mom and an A-list actress, and I believe that she pretty much just spends her time working and mothering. To be fair to Michelle, I think she was just answering specific questions about her “side projects”. But I also think she was throwing some subtle shade: “I wish I was one of those people who’s also taking lots of photos and going to cooking classes. But I just work and raise the kid.” Ha! Hear that Goop? Michelle thinks your “cooking classes” are adorable. She wishes she had time to do that kind of stuff, but she’s too busy being an in-demand actress.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Here are some photos from last night’s launch of “Kate Young For Target” in NYC. Michelle Williams was the big “get” for the event and I’m assuming that she’s wearing Kate Young…? Probably. Many sites are calling this Michelle’s “new hairstyle debut” but her hair is only slightly different now than when we saw it last, in February. Basically, this is the same cut only she’s been growing it out for the most part. Back in February, Michelle said her hair was “midstage” between a pixie and whatever her ultimate hair goal is, and that it was “insufferable”. I’m struggling to understand where she’s really going, though. Is she aiming for a bob? Why is she cutting the one side so short? Why does she have the same hair as my skater-boy makeout partner circa 1993? Yes, I’ve had long hair most of my life so these short styles are so weird to me.

I’m also including photos of Maggie Gyllenhaal, who also changed up her hair recently. She cut it all off! Now Maggie has the pixie! Sort of. Is this a pixie? It seems so choppy and like her hair has too much fluffiness and body to really pull this off successfully, you know? Her hair isn’t “flat enough” to make this work.

Photos courtesy of C.Smith/ WENN.com.

AnotherMag has a video interview with Michelle Williams, [via E! Online] and I was surprised at how “normal” she sounds. The last time I remember hearing her, she was using that affected baby voice, probably a holdover from her My Week With Marilyn prep, and I’m glad she’s rid of it. (She didn’t sound like that during her Oscar red carpet interviews this year, but it was so distinct that I still associate it with her.) In the interview, she answers some questions that are given offscreen and she comes across very well. You still get the sense that she’s a vulnerable person, but she seems comfortable and sure of herself, and like she’s giving honest answers. She talks about her insecurities about acting, about preparing for different roles and about getting into character and not being able to stay in character because she’s a mom. It doesn’t sound like she misses it, but that it’s just a fact of life for her.

On staying in character
I think in some ways you can’t help but stay in character. It’s a shift, it’s slight, it might even be imperceptible to other people, but you feel different all day. But I think when you have a kid, you have a duty to shed that when you come back into your home life, or at least try to.

On balancing work and motherhood
I guess realizing that there is no such thing as a perfect balance. It’s not like riding a bicycle, you don’t want to just figure it out and stay on track.

I find that when I’m working, there are only two things: there’s my work and the kid. Everything else has to fall away.

On which mementos she keeps from sets
From Blue Valentine I kept my wedding ring. I actually kept it on for a while. After the shooting had stopped, I was still wearing it – I couldn’t quite take it off – and now I keep it above the kitchen sink where I do dishes, as a little memento.

On being insecure as an actress
Every day feels like the first day, and everyday you think ‘They’re going to fire me, I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know how to do this, I don’t know why I’m here, Everybody’s going to find out.’ But the comforting thing is everybody feels like that, every actor that you talk to says ‘I have no idea what’s going on…’ the feeling is a very common one… if it felt safe it wouldn’t feel exciting.

On feeling at home
I think I do feel at home on a set now. Certain sets. Most sets. There’s a few places, a few settings that I feel at home in. I feel at home in my home. I feel at home in nature. I don’t know… in some ways I feel like maybe that feeling is something I’m still looking for.

[From AnotherMag via E! Online]

I’m wondering if this interview was conducted before or after her split with Jason Segel and if that kind of prompted her to give that quote about “everything else falling away,” as if her relationship faltered because she didn’t have room for it. Even if it was before her official split with Jason they were probably on the outs at the time.

This was promotion for her role as Glinda in Oz The Great and Powerful, which is out this weekend. You know, I could have sworn that the movie already came out and that it was a dud at the box office, but I just checked Box Office Mojo and was surprised to not find any numbers. I was confusing it with Jack The Giant Slayer, which looked better than this mess (I didn’t see Jack), and topped the box office with a weak $27.2 million over the weekend. So things may not fare much better for Oz. I mean James Franco is the lead, can you see it doing very well?

After I wrote this story, Kaiser pointed me to the covers for the Magazine. The Daily Mail explains that AnotherMag is a biannual British fashion magazine, and I get that they were going for very different styling looks here, but it’s all kind of overplayed and bad. The feather-in-braids look is potentially offensive to Native Americans. Did Michelle see that coming at all and did she push back against that kind of styling? I mean that’s on the magazine for doing that, but I wonder if she even realized it was happening and/or if she just felt like she had to go with it. The header image (above) makes her look like Scarlett Johansson. It’s kind of funny that they put her in 1950s widow styling at one point. That seems fitting.

Here are some photos of Michelle Williams at last night’s UK premiere of Oz the Great and Powerful. She’s wearing Burberry Prorsum, one of my favorite labels to see on any red carpet. I’ve been staring at these photos of her dress for a while, trying to figure it out. Is her entire dress made up of peacock feathers? Or are they faux peacock feathers? Whatever is happening, it’s a gorgeous and lux effect. My least favorite part of this look? Her hair. But I won’t complain about it too much because Michelle recently admitted that she’s growing it out and this current mid-stage is “insufferable”. I don’t really understand why she felt the need to give herself such a close crop in the back, but whatever.

This publicity tour for Oz comes during the same week in which Michelle’s breakup with Jason Segel was announced. Coincidence? Or is all part of Michelle’s PR? And trust me – Michelle engages in PR and media games just as much as any other celebrity. I feel the same way about Jennifer Garner – it’s not that I don’t believe Garner loves being a “normal mom,” etc, I just think that some part of it is also a media strategy, an angle, a public persona. And so to with Michelle – her public persona is The Widow Ledger, the Brave, Fragile, Virginal Single Mom. When Michelle first began dating Jason, Us Weekly ran a suspicious story which completely white-washed Michelle’s post-Heath dating past and promoted this “Brave, Fragile Widow” image (which went hand-in-hand with her Oscar campaign last year too). And now that Michelle and Jason are over, a new strategy is in play:

From the outside, it seemed as though Michelle Williams couldn’t get enough of boyfriend Jason Segel. In reality, the actress may not have seen him as forever material.

“She cares a great deal for Jason but is not ready to make a commitment,” a source tells PEOPLE. “Maybe if they were together day-to-day, she would have more confidence in a future. But not at this time.”

Dating for a year, PEOPLE confirmed on Tuesday that the pair called it quits, citing long distance as the primary reason.

“Jason never got rid of his place in L.A., and Michelle’s life with [daughter] Matilda was and has always been in New York,” a second source says. “While Jason made every effort to make them a priority in his life – and they were top priority – he still couldn’t drop everything and leave his life and career in L.A.”

The road to romance has not been an easy one for Williams, 32.

The actress’s ex, Heath Ledger, was found dead of an accidental prescription drug overdose in 2008, less than a year after they split. Left to care for their daughter alone, Williams stayed out of the spotlight, but began dating director Spike Jonze for about a year. Following their split, she didn’t have a public romance again until Segel, 33, in 2012.

[From People]

Will people stop liking or caring about Michelle if they learn that she’s slept with more than two dudes since Heath? Really? Is that what Michelle’s publicist thinks? Because Michelle was dating other men after she and Heath broke up, and she also dated Cary Fukunaga after Spike Jonze. But I guess they don’t count because it wasn’t a “public romance”. As for the “reasons” why Michelle and Jason split – sure. That’s coming from her publicist, you know. Which makes me suspicious because… why does Michelle need to put that out there? But sure, I’ll buy that she didn’t feel like doing the long-distance, bicoastal thing. How long will it be until Michelle is talking about Heath and how fragile she is again?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Michelle Williams and Jason Segel are no more! Sad. They had been dating for a year – almost exactly. Jason was/is tight with Michelle’s BFF Busy Phillips, and Busy introduced them last year during the awards season, when Michelle was up for an Oscar for My Week With Marilyn. Once they got together, they seemed incredibly tight, with Jason coming to Brooklyn often to see Michelle and spend time with Matilda, and Michelle and Mattie going to LA to spend time with Jason. There were even widespread reports of an engagement, and I genuinely thought it would happen for them. Alas…

Michelle Williams and Jason Segel are back on the market. The Oz the Great and Powerful actress, 32, and the How I Met Your Mother star, 33, quietly ended their romance earlier this month, sources tell Us Weekly.

Though the two seemed happy together as recently as January, when they were photographed on vacation in Cancun with Williams’ BFF Busy Philipps, an insider tells Us that their romance couldn’t survive the long distance. (Williams lives in New York with daughter Matilda, 7, while Segel is based in Los Angeles, where his CBS sitcom is filmed.)

Us Weekly broke the news of the couple’s undercover romance in March 2012. In June, a source told Us that Williams and Segel were “totally in love. Jason is obsessed with Michelle.” He had also taken a liking to his girlfriend’s daughter (with her late ex, Heath Ledger). “He’s been doing all sorts of ‘dad stuff’ with her, like drawing and playing music,” the insider said.

The stars kept a relatively low profile throughout their relationship, rarely acknowledging the romance in public. Segel spoke vaguely about Williams last April, telling Extra, “I think we would just very much like to be happy. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

[From Us Weekly]

Yeah, one of the biggest reasons why I though Michelle and Jason would last the test of time is because she seemed okay with Jason spending a lot of time with Matilda, and he seemed to enjoy the idea of being Matilda’s step-dad. I would love to know what really happened, because I’m not sure if I’m buying the whole “different cities” excuse.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Here are some photos of James Franco, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams at the Moscow photocall for Oz the Great and Powerful. Yes, Franco has tucked his jeans into his combat boots. That’s the artistic way to wear combat boots, don’t you know? Poor Mila and Michelle are like, “Ugh, this douche” — see how Mila is leaning away from him? Mila even has her own douche at home, so the fact that she’s unconsciously shrinking away from the Franco really says something. But both girls both look pretty cute. I think Mila’s grey, ruched dress would have looked a lot better without all of those front, lateral ruffles that are a bit much, but the animal-print shoes are an interesting addition. Michelle’s wearing a black Victoria Beckham getup, which is deceptively intricate with a suit-like top and a three-tiered skirt. She looks fresh and great here.

That’s not the real story though. Franco has taken the peroxide plunge in a very bad way. Take a closer look:

Pretty bad, right? I hope this new change is for a role. A lot of you begrungingly admit to finding James hot, but does he still do it for you while looking like your friendly neighborhood meth dealer? It honestly looks like he’s been hitting the Sun-In pretty hard and didn’t get the bleach job done at a professional salon. Like, he probably got stoned off his ass and decided to make his head into an art exhibit. Not pretty.

Here’s a few photos of Franco acting as Grand Marshal for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. I’ll be he turned that little, unassuming race into a work of pure art.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Here are some photos of Michelle Williams going into the Ed Sullivan Theater last night, about to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote Oz the Great and Powerful. Michelle’s suit/dress thing is Dior – it’s cute and conservative, but I think it’s got built-in hip enhancers or something so that size-zero ladies look like they have Kardashian hips. Weird. Anyway, the real story is that Michelle seems to be growing out her beloved pixie cut and that her hair is currently in sort of an awkward stage (IMO).

Unlike Miley Cyrus, Michelle Williams is destined to go long again. After rocking a famously admired blonde pixie for years, the Oscar-nominated actress, 32, is growing out the locks, she told E! News.

“I think I’m ready,” the Oz the Great and Powerful star, whose locks do indeed appear longer, said. “It’s on its way, slowly but surely.” Williams added that the short-to-long process has daunted her for years.

“That’s why I’ve stayed with short hair for so long,” Jason Segel’s love said. “The mid-stage is insufferable. It’s really hard on your self-esteem.”

One person who may cheer William’s longer tresses? Daughter Matilda, 8.

“What Matilda would love is for her mom to grow out the cropped hair, though that’s unlikely to happen any time soon,” Williams told ELLE back in November 2011. Indeed, it seemed that Williams’ Twiggy-like look was a tribute to Matilda’s late father, Heath Ledger.

“Straight men across the board are not into this hair!” Williams told ELLE. “I cut it for the one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it.” Ledger died of a drug overdose in January 2008 at age 28.

[From Us Weekly]

Whenever I’m bitching about bangs, inevitably some bangs-defender trolls me (on every single post), writing something like “I don’t understand why you hate these bangs so much? Why have you never explained that?” Because I explain it all the time. Because bangs rarely look good on adult women (but there are SOME exceptions). Because too many women get bangs that are too thick, too long or too short. And because of what Michelle is describing so perfectly – it’s insufferable HELL trying to grow out an unflattering short-hair or bangs look once you’ve realized you’ve made a terrible (bangsy) mistake. I’ll admit that I’ve often thought about trying a shorter haircut (not as short as Michelle’s, but still- short). Then I remember the last time my hair was cut above my shoulders (more than a decade ago) and I remember what a terrible time I had growing that crap out. I’m not saying all women should have long hair (definitely not), but I wish more women would be realistic about how long it’s going to take to correct a bad haircut or styling choice made on impulse. Think of how awkward Michelle Obama is going to look as she tries to grow out her midlife-crisis hair.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flyet.

Here are some photos from last night’s LA premiere of Oz The Great and Powerful. The title needs a colon, right? I think it originally had a colon or a comma, but at some point Disney took it out because colons are for nerds and nit-pickers? Anyway, I have no idea what to expect from the film. It seems like an ill-conceived “re-imagining/prequel” and I don’t think it will do well at the box office, but we’ll see. It kind of cracks me up that The Brilliant Artist Known As James Franco is in a weird Disney movie. But let’s talk fashion!

Rachel Weisz wore Victoria Beckham!! Are you surprised? I thought this was Narciso Rodriguez at first. Rachel seems to prefer (for the most part) very clean looks, and I think she looks beautiful here, regardless of my qualms about the color.

Michelle Williams (I think she plays Glinda?) in Prada. It’s… eh. I feel like they only tailored the shoulders and bust and then the rest of the dress is one size too big. She looks pretty, for sure, but I’m not crazy about this. Maybe if the skirt was slightly fitted and if it was knee-length? Also: Michelle and Anne Hathaway have the same haircut right now.

And I have to admit that Mila Kunis was kind of my favorite in Dolce & Gabbana. The dress seems like a throwback to her Black Swan days (it’s such an obvious ballerina dress), but I love the way she’s styled. I love the big, bold earrings and her hairstyle is gorgeous. This is my favorite look!!!

Photos courtesy of WENN.