Remember when I was asking for random hair advice last week? (I’m getting a little desperate since I don’t trust my hairdresser anymore, my hair is dry and I need to make a change.) Well I took your advice and did not mess with henna at all. Thank you for that! I went with a semi-permanent color, L’oreal Healthy Look dark blonde (not a plug, I picked it out myself), which turned my red-blonde hair mousy brown. (Some people have said it looks dirty blonde.) At first I didn’t like it but it wasn’t tragic or anything and it also made my hair much healthier and shinier, so it’s growing on me. Plus it’s washing out gradually. I’ll use it again but just go with a lighter color next time.

All of that is preface to these photos of Sandra Bullock at CinemaCon, where she’s promoting her comedy The Heat, with Melissa McCarthy. Sandra’s hair is so freaking gorgeous I want it exactly, even though I know her shade of brown won’t go with my coloring. I’m taking this photo to whichever hairstylist I bet on and asking for this cut. This is how you do straight ironing with a center part. In terms of what she was wearing – I like it! I also like that she sort-of coordinated her look with Melissa McCarthy. Do you get the impression that they called each other up and decided to both wear all black outfits with black pants? I do. Melissa looks great too. I love her sneakers! I want a pair like that.

Also there was Kristen Wiig. This movie is by the director of Bridesmaids, and I’m guessing Wiig was there for support since she’s not listed on IMDB for this film. She wore this really unfortunate, busy, floral print dress. Kaiser, Bedhead and I had an e-mail exchange wondering if she was pregnant and hiding something or that’s just a terrible dress. I voted terrible dress.

In The Heat, Bullock and McCarthy play two mismatched cops who have to team up on a case. The trailer makes it look hilarious! I’m including it below, and it made me laugh out loud multiple times. Warning that is the the RedBand trailer and contains a lot of F-Bombs. (Thanks to Lainey for linking it) This movie isn’t out until late June though, damnit. I would love to see it now.

Photo credit: WENN.com

It seems like there’s some sort of drama with The View’s co-host panel every few years. There was that huge fight between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck in 2007 over the Iraq war, with Rosie’s feelings getting hurt and causing her to quit when Elisabeth wouldn’t apologize. Prior to that there was a big thing with Star Jones getting fired, with Barbara Walters later calling Star “greedy” because she was getting freebies for her wedding by plugging companies on air. Apart from some fights with guests and among panel members, I guess things have been semi-stable for a while, but that’s about to change. Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been fired for being too right wing and extreme and Joy Behar is retiring. You just get the impression that there’s a lot of bad feelings on that show and that Barbara Walters is a lousy boss. Whoopi Goldberg kind of confirmed that, hilariously:

“Let me tell you this about The View: I take a paycheck every other week. That’s all I do. I could give a sh-t what comes. I do my job — I have a contract. That’s where I stand. I don’t give a f-ck,” Goldberg said.

When producers announce replacements for Hasselbeck and Joy Behar (the co-host recently announced she’s leaving the program after 16 years), Goldberg promised she will be courteous as ever. “I try to,” she said. “Whatever y’all want. Just make sure my check doesn’t bounce!”

Goldberg added that she’s not involved in any casting decisions. “I don’t care. That’s not my job,” she explained. “My job is to show up and be cute by 11 o’clock and get the f-ck off that show by 12. And that’s what I try to do.”

The EGOT winner said she plugs her ears when people discuss rumored replacements for her co-hosts. “I think it’s the only way to keep your sanity because these are not decisions that I get to make,” Goldberg told Us. “It ain’t my show. It’s Barbara’s show.”

[From US Weekly]

That’s one way to deal with a job you don’t like to do, just get in and get out. It’s a pretty sweet job if you look at it the way Whoopi does and don’t get caught up in the drama. She reportedly makes $2 million a year and all she has to do is show up for an hour every weekday and talk about stuff. Whoopi has admitted that she was broke back in 2007 when The View recruited her to replace Rosie O’Donnell. She said “I’m not ashamed to say I need help” and admitted she was begging for auditions before she got that gig. I remember when Whoopi was the sh-t in the late 80s and early 90s and when she made so many movies funny and watchable. She’s still a spitfire and she knows what she has to do to keep the money flowing.

These photos are from March and April. Credit: WENN.com

Well it looks like Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith aren’t really the committed couple having sex on a moment’s notice they tried to portray a few years ago. You can revisit those asinine moments here and here. That was in 2009 and 2010, and a lot can change in a relationship in three years. So now Will is probably off having hot sex with randoms instead of with Jada, and Jada is kind of talking around it.

In an interview with the Huffington Post earlier this month, Jada was asked if she and Will had an open relationship, and she didn’t say “no.” She also got really intense when she said that she told Will he could do what he wanted, only she sounded mad about it and then explained why she wasn’t going to ditch Will for cheating. At least that’s what I read into it. She said, in part, “I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay’… I don’t think it’s easy to be married to anyone. I think that you have to go into a relationship knowing, especially when you’re dedicating yourself to someone for the rest of your life, this is a life partnership… And so that’s something you can never take away.” That’s not a denial that they have an open relationship

Anyway Jada thought that she didn’t explain herself well enough in that interview, so she went on Facebook to try and clarify what she said and she made it way worse:

Open marriage?

Let me first say this, there are far more important things to talk about in regards to what is happening in the world than whether I have an open marriage or not. I am addressing this issue because a very important subject has been born from discussions about my statement that may be worthy of addressing.

The statement I made in regard to, “Will can do whatever he wants,” has illuminated the need to discuss the relationship between trust and love and how they co-exist.

Do we believe loving someone means owning them? Do we believe that ownership is the reason someone should “behave”? Do we believe that all the expectations, conditions, and underlying threats of “you better act right or else” keep one honest and true? Do we believe that we can have meaningful relationships with people who have not defined nor live by the integrity of his or her higher self? What of unconditional love? Or does love look like, feel like, and operate as enslavement? Do we believe that the more control we put on someone the safer we are? What of TRUST and LOVE?

Should we be married to individuals who can not be responsible for themselves and their families within their freedom? Should we be in relationships with individuals who we can not entrust to their own values, integrity, and LOVE…for us???

Here is how I will change my statement…Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.

Siempre,

J

[From Facebook via Bitten and Bound]

Oh give me a break with those “there’s a war going on, why are you interested in little old me” excuses. You know who did that? A bunch of celebrities, but dumbass Billy Bob Thornton is the first one who comes to mind. Jada is basically saying the same thing here that she did in the Huffpo interview, that they trust each other. Nowhere does she deny that either of them sleep with other people, and that’s their prerogative! If they have an understanding about it, good for them. But if Jada was so ok with that, why does she feel the need to keep justifying herself? She should have just let it slide after she said all that stuff in the Huffpo interview. As it is, she opened up the whole issue again. Maybe that’s what she wants though. Maybe this is her way of keeping Will on notice.

These photos are all from 4-3-13. Credit: FameFlynet

First of all, head over to The NY Daily News to see the full face photos of Pamela Anderson, 45, with a makeover. We have some of those photos here, one is above, but you don’t really get the full effect. I’ll wait for ya! She looks kind of cat-like and she still has those crazy evil villainess eyebrows, but she looks way better, right? She toned down the horrible dark trashy eye makeup and she did something different with her hair. She’s dressed respectably too. This is how Pamela looked just last month. (below.) This was her default setting for the past 20 years.

In terms of her (new) face, she’s Botoxed to hell and back and she looks a little crazy, like Kylie Minogue in the throes of her bad plastic surgery a few years back, but still this is an improvement.

Pamela was seen at the International Beauty Show in New York City on Monday. She was promoting a haircare line called Obliphica, so their people probably did her makeup like this. She was interviewed by Buzzfeed and they have some more photos too. She looks way better in their photos. Their savvy interviewer noticed the “makeunder” and broached the topic, and Pam just kind of went on about how much she loved her trashy makeup.

When in your life did you first feel beautiful?
Pamela Anderson: Well, it wasn’t today (laughs). I’m kidding. Oh, god, I don’t know if I ever really felt beautiful. I always feel like I don’t — I don’t, really.

Who do you admire in the media today, style- and beauty-wise?
PA: I love Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch. I love those kind of timeless beauty icons…Marilyn Monroe. Dita Von Teese!

You’re something of a beauty maximalist. So do people ever try to make you under?
PA: Actually a lot of people, especially when I was on Baywatch. They were insisting that I didn’t wear eyelashes, but I said, “I have my look, this is what I’m comfortable in.” Sometimes my eyelashes would roll up onto the beach and that’s all that would be left of me. But I was determined to be glamorous. Oh, I loved it, I LOVED it. I thought, “If you’re going to be on TV, and if you’re gonna be out and glamorous, the natural look can stay at home. If we’re gonna do this, let’s have fun with it!” I actually just did a shoot lately, and they took all the makeup off and put me in a ponytail, and I said, “Well, OK, we’ll try that.”

How did you feel about it?
PA: Well, everyone was happy about it and liked it, and so, well, we’ll see what it looks like. It was Mario Testino, so I can’t argue with him! And he loved it, so, we’ll see.

So people try to tone down your sex appeal because you’re known for being so hot?
PA: I don’t know if it’s because I’m so hot, but they definitely try to tone down my sex appeal. I think it’s time, though — you know, you grow up and you change your look. I feel different from how I did in my Playboy days. Now, I think I’m in charge of toning down my look or not. I feel like as I’m getting older, this is my version of toned down (gestures to hair and outfit). I like it.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?
PA: I do, actually. I do. I think I’m in control of what I do and what I’ve done. I think that’s the ultimate feminine power. Do as you want. Be who you want to be, and not for anybody else. As days go by, women are more and more empowered.

[From Buzzfeed]

Maybe it’s just because the Buzzfeed person, Amy Rose Spiegel, asked such great questions, but I really liked Pam’s answers here! She was self-deprecating and funny and I found myself warming to her much more than I have in the past. That could be due to her makeover, too, it makes her look vulnerable and more accessible. Makeup does wonders and Pam should stick with this look. You know she won’t though. She loves “glamour.”

Photo credit: MaxNY/Spartano/FAMEFLYNET PICTURES

This is just a reminder that no matter how many awesome perks must come with the job, it still sucks in some significant ways to be famous. Take Hugh Jackman for example, a super nice committed family man and an all-around good guy. It doesn’t matter how much integrity someone has, if they’re famous they can be targeted.

On Saturday Hugh Jackman was working out his hot body at Gotham gym when a 47 year-old woman named Katherine Thurston followed him into the gym and and tried to come at him with an electric razor. She was Hugh’s known stalker, and she reached into her waistband, pulled out an electric razor (reportedly filled with pubes, ew!) when a gym employee stopped her, so she threw the razor at Hugh instead. She told the cops that she hated Hugh’s whiskers and wanted to be his second wife. Crazy. In response, Hugh said “Here’s a woman who obviously needs help, so I just hope she gets the help she needs.” He also added that “the primary concern is my family.” He’s so nice.

A California woman obsessed with Hugh Jackman attacked the Aussie actor with an electric razor in a West Village gym because she didn’t like his whiskers, prosecutors said Sunday.
Katherine Thurston, 47, told cops she came to New York two months ago determined to become the married “Les Misérables” star’s second wife.

“I want to marry him,” Thurston told NYPD Detective Frank Francisco, according to a criminal complaint. “This is not against the law. It is not against the law to have two wives.”

Thurston was arraigned Sunday night in Manhattan Criminal Court on misdemeanor charges of menacing, stalking, harassment and trespassing. She was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon — the black electric shaver she went after Jackman with.

Jackman, 44, was not injured in Saturday morning’s frightening fan-gone-wild incident at the Gotham Gym on Washington St.

“The most important thing is the security of my family,” Jackman said Sunday night outside his West Village home. “I’m very appreciative of what the DA is doing.”

Jackman was at the gym buffing up for his recurring role as the superhero Wolverine in the latest installment of the “X-Men” film series when the bizarre crime unfolded.

Katherine Thurston, whose dream is to marry Hugh Jackman, appears in court Sunday on charge of attacking him with electric razor at a West Village gym.

He told cops Thurston was already outside the gym when he arrived at about 8 a.m.

“We’re going to get married, right?” Thurston told Jackman before following him inside.

She then allegedly pulled the razor full of hair out of a bag and charged after Jackman, but her attack was foiled by personal trainer Michael Castillo.

Castillo booted Thurston from the gym. She was arrested a few blocks away.

“I hated him having those whiskers,” Thurston told police.

Thurston, who was being held Sunday night on $15,000 bail, claimed she started emailing Jackman about a year ago.

On March 6, Thurston went to the school where Jackman’s 7-year-old daughter, Ava, is enrolled and confronted the actor’s wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, outside.

“I’m going to marry your husband,” she told Furness, according to police.

[From The NY Daily News]

Well I hope this lady gets put away and gets some medication. I guess there are some serious drawbacks to being so accessible and known. It’s one thing to have the paparazzi know how to find a famous person, it’s another when some sick fan gets it in their mind that they’re meant to be with them.

Is it wrong to include shirtless pics of Hugh Jackman with this story? Because I feel like I can’t help it. I hear Hugh Jackman and gym and my mind just goes there.

These photos are of Hugh working out in Sydney, Australia last summer. Credit: FameFlynet. He’s also shown on the beach in Barcelona in June, 2012. Credit: WENN.com

Emma Watson was the recipient of the “Trailblazer” award at the MTV Movie Awards last night, presented by a lovely Eddie Redmayne rocking the hell out of a leather jacket. His whole outfit was like catnip to me, but I digress. Emma was super cute in a short Maxine Simoens white and black contemporary gown with some cool architectural details along the neckline. When I saw this dress on camera last night I thought it was by Brood, as I covered it when Emma wore a similar dress by that designer last year. Emma loves contemporary, edgy kind of sci-fi little dresses and this is better than anything we’ve seen her in to date, in my opinion. It’s not as busy as her previous dresses but it still has plenty of eyecatching details.

Emma was so pretty last night and I especially liked her simple hair and understated makeup. Her shoes are by Proenza Schouler and they’re hot in my opinion. They could have overwhelmed the dress but instead they match the look without looking too “matchy”.

In terms of Emma’s speech, she was visibly moved that she had won an award for her career (at 22!) and I found myself rooting for her. She opened up a little bit, saying that she was more like Hermione than we might have known, admitting “I was completely the eager beaver in school. I was the girl in the front of the class who was the first person to put her hand up, and it’s often not cool… I’ve often gotten teased mercilessly, but I’ve found that ultimately if you truly pour your heart into what you believe in, even if it makes you vulnerable, amazing things can and will happen. I’m so honored to be receiving this and I promise to keep making the best work I can for all of you.” Here’s Emma’s speech. Oh and this clip doesn’t have Jonah Hill’s awesome intro for Emma, in which he claimed that they were going to costar in 50 Shades together and that his safeword was “tangerine.” Hilarious.

Also there we have Chloe Moretz in Louis Vuitton, surprisingly, although I guess I should have known since this denim dress looks like one of their fug patchwork purses. I was trying to figure out when Chloe, 16, went dark with her hair. She’s had dark hair for the past few months, and I think it’s so pretty. It’s very flattering and suits her coloring. I like her styling here.

Kylie Minogue looked bizarre in an alternating silver and blue stripe and see-through mess Paco Rabanne dress. It looks like Kylie gained a little much-needed weight, which suits her well, but that might just be the effect of this ugly dress. You can do better Kylie!

Melissa McCarthy is probably in David Meister here, he’s her go-to designer, (although I can’t confirm that) and I like that she went with a pantsuit instead of a dress. Those stacked necklaces are cool and standout well with the simple black outfit she’s wearing. I don’t like her shoes, though, they look a little “panto”. Her hair is so pretty. She surely has extensions, but they look natural.

And finally Alexis Knapp was there. She’s Ryan Phillippe’s random baby mama and she dated Seth MacFarlane for a hot minute. I didn’t know she was in Pitch Perfect, I have to see that! Kaiser is getting me excited for it. She wore this horrible pepto-pink dress with pagoda sleeves (I looked it up) and some kind of white Rorschach pattern across the front. Maybe with some different styling or shoes she could have made this dress work somewhat, but as it is it’s too childish looking. Just because people gush over a hairdo on Pinterest doesn’t mean you should wear it on the red carpet. Not cute.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Sometimes people get mired in their own misery, I get that, but I still can’t help rolling my eyes at Bethenny Frankel’s latest dumb statement. At 42, Bethenny is currently divorcing her husband of a whole three years, Jason Hoppy. This was her second marriage, she was previously married for a year, from 1997 to 1997, to an “entertainment industry executive” named Peter Sussman. Bethenny and Jason have a three year-old daughter together, Bryn, and chronicled their brief marriage on Bethenny’s reality show, “Bethenny Ever After”, the title of which became ironic after it ceased airing last year. (Bethenny now has a new talk show coming out called “The Bethenny Project”.) I only saw some segments of her reality show and was struck by how poorly Bethenny and Jason communicated, and how much they argued over trivial things. It doesn’t seem surprising to me that they didn’t last. Only Bethenny thinks that her personal pain is the worst thing that could happen to anyone. She really said something similar to that, and I don’t think I’m misconstruing it:

The 42-year-old reality star expressed her grievances to morning anchor Greg Kelly on Thursday while guest-hosting on “Good Day New York.”

“It’s rough,” she said. “I have to say, divorce is the most difficult thing you could ever go through in your entire life.”

While the creator of Skinnygirl cocktails expected the road to divorce from her husband of two years, Jason Hoppy, would be a bumpy one, she didn’t know how bad it would feel.

“I never heard how excruciating it is,” she described.

Frankel went on to say that the whole experience of divorce was a “brutal, unnatural situation” that she “never thought” she’d find herself in.

But amid all the rain Frankel’s found sunshine in her “amazing” 2-year-old daughter, Bryn.

“Kids make you do things you’d never do,” she said. “They bring out the best in you.”

And divorce can sometimes bring out the worst.

After Frankel filed for divorce from Hoppy in early January, he counter-filed three weeks later with aggressive demands. Her scorned ex’s papers requested primary custody of Bryn, child support, medical and dental expenses, and exclusive use of the couple’s Tribeca loft in New York City.

Some can speculate his demands are the result of a broken and bitter heart as Hoppy was spotted in a New York City park with Bryn on Monday still wearing his wedding ring.

“We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority,” Frankel previously said in a statement. “This is an immensely painful and heartbreaking time for us.”

[From The NY Daily News]

I get that divorce can be really difficult and gut wrenching and that, in this lady’s charmed life, this is the most difficult thing that’s happened to her. For people who have suffered tragedies though, that sounds ridiculous. What about car accidents, serious health problems, having a close loved one or – god forbid – a child dying? There is some sad, scary sh*t that can happen in life and it can happen randomly. Somehow a rich and semi-famous lady going through a divorce doesn’t seem even close to the “most difficult thing.” That’s not to lessen her pain, but she should have phrased it differently and made it more personal. As it is, she sounds kind of clueless and self-centered. I watched the interview (available on NYDN) and she didn’t qualify it or anything either.

Bethenny and Jason in May, 2012

Photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet

Tom Cruise wore a fancy turtleneck to the LA premiere of Oblivion. Tommy likes his t-necks like he likes his Xenu: TIGHT. [Pop Sugar]
I’m so grateful that Rachel McAdams is no longer blonde. [LaineyGossip]
Robert Pattinson has watched Say Anything too many times. [I'm Not Obsessed]
In Touch Weekly says Kim Kardashian is getting paid to get fat. [Amy Grindhouse]
Chris Brown & Rihanna are still together. Today. [Bossip]
Lisa Vanderpump talks about her DWTS elimination. [Reality Tea]
Alec Baldwin has strong feelings about Rupert Murdoch. [Moe Jackson]
Dear American businesses: embrace your gay customers. [Gawker]
Jay-Z drops a new track about his Cuba trip. [The Frisky]
Sweet kitty sleeps on her own head. Adorable. [OMG Blog]
I like Karlie Kloss’s short bob. It’s pretty cute. [Yeeeah]
Here’s Nicki Minaj’s new video for “Up In Flames”. [PopBytes]
Angelina Jolie is at the G-8 conference. [Wonderwall]
Nicole Richie proves that Virgos are weird (and I’m a Virgo too). [Seriously OMG WTF]
AJ McLean got hairplugs. At least he’s honest about it. [Limelife]
Lady Gaga is a neverending Dramz Machine. [Life & Style]
Skrillex versus Mozart. [Hollywood Rag]
Crap, there might be issues with the Arrested Development movie. I just blue myself for nothing. I’ve made a huge mistake. [The Loop]

There’s so much drama going on with Madonna’s charity in Malawi I don’t know where to start. Basically a lot of money was embezzled from the charity either with or without Madonna’s knowledge/nod and wink, and Madonna backed down on plans to fund a large multi-million school there. The school was thought to be Madonna’s way of placating the government after she adopted two children from the country without abiding by their long standing foreign adoption laws. So Madonna just spread some money around (a lot less) to other schools instead. Last week she went on a tour of Malawi in order to tout the charity work she eventually did, which was much different than what she promised.

Ahead of her trip, Madonna sent an embarrassingly personal, handwritten letter to the new President of Malawai, Joyce Banda, requesting a meeting. Madonna addressed the President by her first name and congratulated her on her new job as if it was a secretarial position. Madonna’s letter included misspelled words and platitudes like “Wish you the very best!” and “Best of luck to you!” It was way too informal and is said to have offended Banda, who did not meet with Madonna. The nation’s education minister made it clear that Madonna had slighted them, telling BBC “She promised an academy and we agreed on standards but she just changed her mind on the project without consulting us.”

Well it got worse for Madonna from there. When she was set to leave the country she was made to wait in line at the airport and get frisked with the rest of the peasants instead of breezing through security like she expected. Apparently the orders came on high for Madonna to receive the full tourist treatment, and President Banda pretty much confirmed it in a statement referencing “blackmail.” She also made it sound like Madonna demanded VIP treatment. This is kind of priceless, and of course Madonna has fired back already:

The pop star has come under fire by government bigwigs for purportedly pushing for VIP treatment during her recent visit to the country amid escalating tensions between the singer and local officials after she pulled back on plans to build a multimillion academy for girls.

The situation—which officials alluded to as “blackmail”—came to a head after Madonna and her entourage were reportedly denied expedited traveling privileges at the airport and were required to queue up alongside other passengers and frisked, per published reports.

“Granted, Madonna is a famed international musician,” Malawi President Joyce Banda’s office said in a statement. “But that does not impose an injunction of obligation on any government under whose territory Madonna finds herself, including Malawi, to give her state treatment. Such treatment, even if she deserved it, is discretionary not obligatory.”

The statement added: “Kindness, as far as its ordinary meaning is concerned, is free and anonymous. If it can’t be free and silent, it is not kindness; it is something else. Blackmail is the closest it becomes.”

An unnamed aviation official was quoted as saying that the airport had received “a directive” that Madonna and her entourage—which included her four children, Lourdes, Rocco, David and Mercy—were asked to pass through “the ordinary passenger terminal on their way to their jet.”

The 54-year-old pop star, however, refutes allegations that she made VIP demands.

“I did not ever ask or demand special treatment at the airport or elsewhere during my visit,” she said in a statement. “I will not be distracted or discouraged by other people’s political agendas. I made a promise to the children of Malawi and I am keeping that promise.”

The singer had initially pledged to build a multimillion-dollar school for girls in the southeast African nation, but government officials later accused her of backpedaling on that promise, choosing instead to merely build what they described as “classrooms at existing schools.”

A representative from Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, subsequently defended the pop star, saying that the foundation had reportedly pumped $400,000 into building 10 school blocks, providing a productive learning environment to 4,000 children.

[From E! Online]

Ok, so Madonna’s charity did eventually donate some money to Malawai’s schools, but even her charity rep admits it was $400,000, not the $15 million she promised. Plus, she asked people to donate to her charity, remember that? So a bunch of manager types got rich off Madonna’s charity, Malawi received less than 3% of the amount that they were promised, and they probably didn’t get a fraction of the amount that came from the public. Madonna said on CNN in 2009 that she would donate $250,000 to Raising Malawi, so it’s not like all those missing millions came from her. Malawian officials are pissed, and they’re letting Madonna know about it.

Yesterday Radar Online reported that Madonna had fired the Kabbalah cult from managing her charity. Is this damage control or is she finally breaking away from Kabbalah?

Joyce Banda meeting Queen Elizabeth II last June.

Madonna is shown performing in NY in November. That’s her boyfriend with her, Brahim Zaibat. He’s 25, tops. Credit: Pacific Coast News. Joyce Banda and Queen Elizabeth II photos from WENN.com

These are photos of Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback) out in LA a couple of days ago. Avril is sporting some really ratty too-long extensions here. She shaved half her head in September so it’s not like it’s grown out to nearly her waist in the interim. I love how they’re color coordinated in all-black with bleached blonde hair. They look sympatico.

As you once knew and have forgotten by now, these two are engaged. Because when you get two washed up Canadian musicians with inflated senses of talent and self worth together – magic happens. These two consider their love story magical, too. Avril and Chad were in a joint interview with Ryan Seacrest when they discussed how they met (in the studio!) and how they just knew they were meant for each other, from the very start. They also divulge that they’re planning a small-ish wedding but that it will be “spectacular” and have some kind of theme, which Avril is trying to keep a secret from Chad. I’m guessing it will involve black skulls and pink hearts. Here’s more, thanks to US Magazine:

“When you’re sitting there across from someone singing into the microphone and you’re singing a love song, you start to develop feelings for them,” Kroeger, 38, told Ryan Seacrest in a joint interview with Lavigne on Tuesday, April 9. “And it just kind of blossomed into this kind of thing and the next thing you know … we started dating [last summer].”

Lavigne added that fellow Canadian Kroeger was quick to make his feelings be known — and she immediately reciprocated.

“We started dating and the next day he was like, ‘You know I’m gonna marry you,’” the “Complicated” singer recalled. “And I said, ‘I know.’ It was one of those things that we just knew.”
Kroeger and Lavigne, 28, announced their engagement last August after just one month of dating, surprising both family and fans.

“Things just clicked real quick,” Kroeger had told radio station K104.7 in April, prior to their engagement. “And then she wanted me to sing on one of [her songs] and then we just started flying on all these different songs.”

Lavigne’s interpretation of their whirlwind relationship is likewise simple. “Well that’s how we met — in the studio — and I was really excited to work with him because he’s also a musician,” she told Seacrest of how their relationship developed. “[We] wrote a bunch of songs together, became really good friends and now we have a wedding.”

Indeed! As Lavigne prepares to launch her first album since 2011′s Goodbye Lullaby (the pair collaborate on several songs, including the new single “Here’s To Never Growing Up”), the couple is also planning a “spectacular” wedding together, Lavigne told Seacrest.

“It’s kind of just a lot of close friends and family. It is smaller,” she said of their plans. “[But] it’s gonna be quite spectacular and there’s a theme to it. But Chad doesn’t even know everything.”

Agreed Kroeger: “Every man knows that we get very little participation in the planning — and these are good things.”

[From US Magazine]

I’m being sarcastic in that intro, as is my default setting, but this is kind of sweet! I don’t expect these two to last more than a couple of years post-wedding, but it’s still sweet. I remember covering Avril’s first wedding, to another Canadian singer, Sum 41′s Deryck Whibley, back in 2006. Those two were even conveniently papped on their honeymoon in Portofino, Italy. I know it’s been seven years and a lot can change in that time, and a lot did change for Avril. She divorced Deryck Whibley after about three years, dated Brandon Davis, got serious with Brody Jenner before eventually realizing that was a bad idea, and then quickly fell in love with Chad Kroeger. This is a woman who seems to get serious fast. She’s still just 28 and this will be her second marriage. I’m thinking she shouldn’t make it official, but I do want to see the photos! This is going to be one trashy Ed Hardy wedding. What do you think the theme will be though, Nightmare Before Christmas? That might be cute.

These two in September in Paris. Romantic.

Photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet