Let’s start with what I liked about Michelle Williams at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. I liked that she wore a bright color – this red/pink Valentino dress was vibrant, and the shade looked gorgeous on Michelle, who all too often wears pastels and pale, wispy colors that wash her out. I also loved Michelle’s hair last night – she gotten it to a great honey color that suits her skin tone, and the length, especially in the front, is great on Michelle. I also love that Michelle’s forever awards-show date is her BFF Busy Phillips. I know it’s partly a strategic move, and let’s not pretend that Michelle hasn’t had significant boyfriends over the years and all, but I just like that Michelle and Busy always do awards shows together. Their friendship seems genuine and sweet, and I’m guessing Busy is a true girl-friend to Michelle.

So, now on to what I dislike about Michelle’s look at her appearance last night. While the dress was a pretty color, the asymmetrical length threw me off, as did the lace detailing on her shoulders. The worst, though, was the shoe choice. As the cameras panned down, it really looked like Michelle was wearing stripper shoes. Also: dear God, Michelle’s little girl voice bugs me. It’s so affected. She’s making an effort to put present herself a certain way, that of an oh-so-fragile girl-woman, and the voice affectation is part of that. It drives me up the wall.

Speaking of affectations and Oscar campaigns, I think Lainey has been right-on with her theory that Michelle is following The Natalie Portman Method of Oscar Campaigning – it’s all about motherhood and being an “accessible” (FRAGILE!!) single mother for Michelle. So I’m including some photos of Natalie Portman from the SAGs too. She’s too precious (and a mother!!!!!) to walk the red carpet, but she was still at the show to present Best Actor, and she deigned to pose for photos backstage. Natalie wore this Giambattista Valli haute couture gown that reminds me a lot of her Oscar gown from last year – similar shade, similar drapey design with some fluffy detailing at the bust. It’s pretty.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame.

Last night at the Golden Globes, Natalie Portman made her first red carpet appearance since giving birth to baby Aleph. Natalie had her boyfriend/lover/fiancé/baby-daddy with her (I don’t know what to call him at this point), Benjamin Millepied. We haven’t seen or heard much about Benjamin in a while – I’ve read some stories about him giving up his New York ballet lifestyle to move to LA with Natalie and pursue a Hollywood career. Whatever is going on with him, his hair has improved a great deal since last year’s awards season, where he appeared to be wearing a series of pompadour wiglets. So… Benjamin looked nice.

As for Natalie, her dress is Lanvin. I know it’s syrupy and she could have easily looked like a walking bottle of Pepto-Bismal, but I kind of like the dress. The hot pink with the red accent on the bust is interesting and flattering to Natalie’s coloring. She wanted to keep it about the dress too, wearing simple earrings, a bracelet and some rings, styled with great makeup and a simple hairstyle. My only problem is the weird one-sided hip-bustle. It was noticeable when Natalie presented Best Actor – it didn’t even look like part of the dress, really. It was like something weird got caught up in the dress, although I’m sure that was just the Lanvin design. It still would have been an interesting dress without the bustle, I’m just sayin’.

Photos courtesy of Fame, WENN.

When Natalie Portman was preggo with baby Aleph, the tabloids began running a series of stories about how sketchy her fiancé/baby-daddy was and is. According to some sources, Benjamin Millepied is simply with Natalie because he’s a famewhore who wanted to launch himself to greater wealth and new platforms (film, television, etc). Some said he was just a user, a starf–ker, or “the ballet K-Fed”. None of that seemed to concern Natalie – she stuck with him, and ever since giving birth, she and Benjamin have kept a low profile. They’ve also moved from NYC (where Natalie gave birth) to LA. So what happened to Benjamin’s position at the New York City Ballet? Allegedly, he’s quit. He’s now decided to be a stay-at-home dad so that Natalie can “focus on her career.”

Natalie Portman’s fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, is hanging up his dancing shoes – to be a stay-at-home-dad! Benjamin, 34, is one of ballet’s most in-demand choreographers, but since 30-year-old Natalie gave birth to the couple’s son, Aleph, in June, his priorities have changed.

“Benjamin retired from his position at the New York City Ballet so Natalie could get back to her career,” a source tells In Touch. “He wants to support her.”

The source says that Benjamin thought it would be hard to give 5-month-old Aleph the attention he needs with two super-busy working parents. And with Natalie ready to work again, it was up to Benjamin to take over daddy duty.

“He understood that one of them was going to have to make a sacrifice, so he gave in.” Now that’s love!

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

I don’t think it’s sketchy that any man would want to take a step back from his career to focus on fatherhood – I think it’s a sign of evolved parenting, and a great and wonderful thing that more dads want to be involved in their kids’ lives in a big way. That being said, is there something sketchy here? The move to LA, Benjamin quitting the ballet, Natalie getting back to work…? I feel like there’s something else to this story. I feel like Benjamin is choosing to be a “stay-at-home dad” as a calculation so he can launch himself as a director/choreographer in Hollywood. And will Natalie help him along? I don’t know. This relationship was and continues to be baffling.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.

Ah, Ballet K-Fed. I’ve missed him! I haven’t written about Benjamin Millepied in forever! That was smart of him – he must have went away for a little while, kept his head down and stayed out of the spotlight. Smart. Best not to look overly eager or like you’re thoroughly enjoying your new-found celebrity. These are photos of Benjamin and Natalie Portman going for a run in Los Feliz yesterday. They must have moved out of NYC and transplanted to LA at some point, and surprisingly, they seem to be getting pap’d quite a lot in LA. Usually, the photos are so exclusive there’s no way that we can get them, but these running photos came out and we have access to them, so huzzah! If you’d like to see the most recent (blurry) pics of Natalie, Benjamin and baby Aleph, go here.

I like Natalie is out running and she looks like she hasn’t lost all of the baby weight – she’s lost almost all of it, don’t get me wrong. But she looks soft and like those last ten pounds are difficult to lose, and I like that. I like that Natalie won’t get to be “Oh, I lost the weight so easily, everything about motherhood is a dream, from the conception to every simper and pout of my child, you can have this life too!” No, those last ten pounds are putting up a fight, God bless them.

Do you think Natalie and Benjamin will ever end up getting married? Or was the engagement just a PR ploy for her Oscar campaign? We’ll see, won’t we?

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Over the past week, Natalie Portman has begun to get pap’d regularly. For more than two months after her son Aleph was born, Natalie was not seen at all, not by paparazzi, not even by random eyewitness reports. But I guess she’s happy with her post-pregnancy weight loss, because she’s been showing up around NYC in various outfits, showing off her “snapped back” figure. You can see her in a romper here – and these photos of Natalie in the coat are from yesterday.

Her baby-daddy and lover, the Ballet K-Fed/Benjamin Millepied has been getting pap’d a lot too, so I included some shots of him from the past few days. He always looks like he’s posing! And he always looks like he’s about to break out into a twirl. I wonder… I’ve heard some stuff about Natalie possibly making calls on Benjamin’s behalf, trying to get him work in Hollywood. Do you think that’s true? Does Natalie want her K-Fed to work? Or is he already working too much for her taste?

Natalie recently spoke about how she could easily be “crippled” by her own self-awareness. I thought I was going to roll my eyes, but I know what she’s trying to say: “I’ve tended to be overly self-critical and it’s taken me a while to escape that kind of crippling attitude. You’re constantly putting yourself up there to be judged and trashed. I’ve tried to stop thinking about that, so now I’m much more ready to try different things and be as daring as I possibly can.” She’s basically saying, “Haters are gonna hate.” But, you know, all fancy-like. That’s what a Harvard education buys you!

Meanwhile, Natalie might be lining up a new project – sources claim that she’s in talks to take the lead in an independent film, Adaline, which is about “a woman who was born at the turn of the 20th century. An accident renders her ageless, and after years of a solitary life, she meets a man who may worth giving up her immortality.” Will she try get Millepied the role of the dude? Hahaha.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.

Above is the new ad for Diorskin Forever, with Natalie Portman representing “the face” of the campaign. I honestly thought that Natalie had only agreed to be the face of Miss Dior Cherie perfume, not this Dior cosmetics line. Diorskin is described, no joke, as “the innovatively formulated Diorskin range, which is designed to seamlessly perfect the complexion and enhance the natural beauty of the skin, like the fibres of a Haute Couture gown. Dior’s research laboratories are consistently at forefront of cosmetic advances and once again Dior lives up to this reputation. The unique innovation – Skin Essence – contained within the Diorskin Forever Compact and Diorskin Forever Fluid, identifies the skin’s specific needs upon application.”

The image is lovely, and Natalie’s skin is gorgeous, naturally, but even more so when she’s made up. There’s something weird going on with her eyes, though. I almost didn’t recognize her. Anyway, I’m assuming that this ad was shot months and months ago, before Natalie was showing with her pregnancy, and before John Galliano’s anti-Semitic douche explosion, which caused Natalie to publicly bash the designer and refuse to wear Dior at the Oscars. Some sites are even wondering if Natalie has already withdrawn from her Dior endorsement, even after Galliano was fired, but thus far, neither Dior nor Natalie has spoken about her long-term work for the brand.

In other Portman news, there’s a new interview with her where she just sounds kind of weird and extremely sheltered:

Natalie Portman enrolled at Harvard University in 1999. The 30-year-old star studied psychology while still working as an actress, and completed her bachelor’s degree in 2003. Despite being 18 when she started university, Natalie was shocked by the level of independence she had to maintain.

“College was a good transitional experience for me, because I was really babied and taken care of by my parents,” she told Psychologies magazine. “I’d never walked down the street on my own until I went to Harvard. I’d never even had my own set of keys.”

Natalie says her educational experience made her less worried about what people thought of her. The brunette beauty revealed Harvard softened her defensive side.

“I’ve always been the kind of girl who wanted to please people, to get along, to not give the impression that I’m internalizing all the confusion and craziness of my profession,” she explained.

“When I went to Harvard, I was able to unlearn a lot of that defensive-protective side. I’m still learning to be more myself and have fewer masks. Of course you can’t forget that deep down I’m an actress.”

[From Music Rooms]

She had never had her own set of keys before she went to college? She had never walked down a street alone before the age of 18?!? Oddly enough, this may explain why she comes across so poorly at times, why she seems like she‘s putting on airs or why she seems to act “above it”. She didn’t have a normal childhood, and she didn’t transition from childhood to adolescence to young-adulthood in the same way as other people. She was coddled and babied until she was technically an adult, and that has to mess with her head. By the way, Natalie is an only child: this kind of thing gives old children (like me) a bad rep.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Natalie Portman gave birth to her son nearly three weeks ago, but until now, we haven’t heard much about what she named the little boy. Some people said that not announcing the name is a Jewish tradition…? If it is, I guess I understand. Plus, Natalie and Benjamin both have been in hiding since the birth – there have been no paparazzi photos that I’m aware of either of them. So… if we ever did find out the baby name, how would Natalie do it? A simple confirmation to People Magazine would have been my guess. But this works too – an Israeli talk show host announced the name in Israel. That name? Alef. It’s Hebrew. I’m assuming it’s pronounced Ah-LEAF. Correct me if I’m wrong.

After almost a month of waiting, Natalie Portman and her fiance Benjamin Millepied have reportedly let the news slip about what they named their baby boy, who was born in mid-June.

According to the Israeli TV show Good Evening with Guy Pines (remember, Natalie was born in Israel!), Natalie and Benjamin have chose the name Alef for their son!

Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It has been said that the letter represents the “oneness of God” and is related to the element of Air.

Natalie and Benjamin declined to confirm the name.

Now that we know baby Millepied’s name, we’re simply waiting for those first baby photos!

[From Holly Baby]

Ah, so naming your baby Alef is like naming your baby after a LETTER? Like, Alpha? Or Kay. Or Jay. Or Dubya. I thought Alef was going to be, like, the Hebrew version of “Alex”. It’s kind of let down for me, because there are some really lovely Hebrew names for boys. Noah, Abraham, Jonah, Isaac, etc. But no, we’ve got Alef.

Sidenote: It seems the baby name speculation involved the names “Alf” and “Arthur”. Alef is certainly better than those picks.

UPDATE: Someone close to Natalie (re: her publicist) confirmed the name to People Magazine. It’s “Aleph” not “Alef”. One of the meanings of Aleph is “primordial one that contains all numbers.” THAT is what they should have named him. Primordial One Numeric Millepied. And to those of you yelling at me for my lack of knowledge about Hebrew… yeah. You’re right. My bad!

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

Yay! I had a premonition this past weekend that we would be hearing this announcement in the week to come. Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied have welcomed a baby boy. What’s a baby swan called? A gosling? No, a cygnet. So, welcome the Black Swan cygnet. Unfortunately, Natalie and Benjamin didn’t release a named yet (they could do worse than Cygnet Millepied, honestly – little Cyggie!), but I suspect that Natalie and Ben will pick something pretty normal for their kid.

It’s been a big year for Natalie Portman: an engagement, an Oscar and now a baby!

The actress and fiancé Benjamin Millepied have welcomed a son, PEOPLE has exclusively learned.

Portman, 30, met choreographer Millepied on the set of Black Swan, for which she later won an Oscar for Best Actress.

In December the couple announced that they were engaged and expecting their first child.

[From People]

No jokes about how Sarah Lane did 90% of the pushing, okay? My guess is that Natalie is going to be one of those Gisele-type mothers who goes on and on about natural childbirth. As is her right, I suppose. It will be interesting to see what information Natalie releases in the days, weeks and months to come. I suspect we’ll hear the name at some point, but Natalie will probably save most of the info for when she’s promoting her next movie, right?

In any case, mazel tov to the happy family!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Ooooh, scandal! The print edition of Us Weekly has an interesting little “behind the scenes” story about this year’s post-Oscar Oprah episode. For years, Oprah managed to do a “morning after” the Oscars show, usually with all of the newly-minted Oscar-winning actors. I noticed that on this year’s show, it was very heavy on the Hathaway and very light on the Natalie Portman. I just figured that it was nothing, though. Turns out, Natalie Portman was scheduled for the show, but she cancelled at the last minute, leaving Oprah at the lurch.

And the award for most blatant blow-off goes to… Natalie Portman! Portman had committed to appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s post-Oscars special, but as the May 22 episode of “Oprah Behind the Scenes” reveals, Portman cancelled just two hours before the taping in LA.

“She’s in a hotel room 15 minutes away,” a staffer sobbed. “But she’s not coming… because she’s pregnant and exhausted.”

The insult to injury? Unlike Winfrey, 57 – who was truly ill and went to bed early – Portman was pooped from partying! As Us Weekly reported, she was out dancing with Madonna at 4 a.m.

[From Us Weekly, print edition]

Not even Julia Roberts stands up Oprah! I mean, on one side, I can understand that Natalie wanted to go out after her Oscar win, as is her right, and why not party until the wee hours? And if she didn’t feel like going on Oprah, fine. But what bugs is that Natalie AGREED to come on and simply didn’t feel like pulling it together for Oprah. Meh… maybe Oprah should have invited Sarah Lane on instead. From what I gather, Lane gave the bulk of the Oscar-winning performance! (haha, let’s see how many people yell at me for that)

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This could have been a half-decent scandal, but Page Six is making it sound like nothing much happened. A few nights ago, Natalie Portman went to the American Ballet Theatre’s new show (which her baby-daddy Benjamin Millepied choreographed – partially). Natalie might have run into Isabella Boylston, the chick who was Benjamin’s girlfriend when he began work on Black Swan – Isabella was the chick that got dumped in favor of Natalie (and her industry connections). Page Six doesn’t say whether or not the two women actually came face-to-face though.

There appears to be no tension between Natalie Portman and the American Ballet Theater’s Isabella Boylston, the ballerina dumped by choreographer Benjamin Millepied when he met the “Black Swan” star, who’s now his fiancée. A heavily pregnant and glowing Portman accompanied Millepied to ABT’s performance of his new piece in the company’s repertory program Tuesday night.

But first she watched his former girlfriend dance as a lead in a work which included most of the company. Boylston also performed in the last piece. Missing was soloist Sarah Lane, who caused a controversy when she said she did most of the dancing for the “Black Swan” part that won Portman an Oscar.

Lane said earlier this year, “I’ve been doing this for 22 years, and to say that someone trained for a year and a half and did what I did is degrading not only to me but to the entire ballet world.”

While ABT reps didn’t get back to us, we’re told Lane was due to take to the stage last night.

[From Page Six]

Oooh, so Sarah Lane didn’t show up. Wait, if Benjamin choreographed at least one of the pieces, did he cast it too? Did he cast his ex-girlfriend Isabella and his current pregnant girlfriend’s former body/dance double Sarah Lane? I guess my question is – does Benjamin screw around on Natalie with any ballerina he can get? And, does the Black Swan-dance double controversy hurt Benjamin within the ranks of the ballet community? If ballerinas are boycotting anything to do with Benjamin (and Natalie!), he might have a bigger problems.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.