These are some new photos of Robin Wright in NYC yesterday. In the candid pics, Robin was arriving in New York with her young lover, Ben Foster. I like that they’re holding hands in some of the pics – he seems kind of protective of her, but not in “get behind me, woman” kind of way. The other photos – the red carpet pics – are from last night’s premiere of Robin’s new film, House of Cards. Ben was not on her arm on the red carpet – maybe they’re not at that place yet? I would love it if they walked a carpet together though.

Robin chopped her hair last year, if I remember correctly, but lately she’s been rocking an even shorter ‘do. What are your thoughts? I’m kind of meh on it. I’m not a total short-hair hater, but I just think pixie cuts and full-on “grown out buzz cuts” are particularly strong looks that not every woman can pull off. Robin comes close to pulling it off, and I’m sure she feels happy and comfortable with the short hair… but I remember how great she looked with longer hair. Right? This super-short hair emphasizes her more masculine features. It bugs me. I’m also bothered by the idea that “women of a certain age” NEED to have shorter hair – not every woman can or should rock this kind of hairstyle.

Meanwhile, Robin was in Washington DC a few days ago and she met with some of Pres. Obama’s staffers about the Congo:

Actress Robin Wright is hoping President Obama will do more to aid the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She went to the White House Tuesday to meet with officials from his National Security Council and push for a special presidential envoy.

Wright, who was married for 14 years to Sean Penn, told POLITICO she traveled to Eastern Congo last year and was struck by the corruption and violence.

“The minerals that come from the Congo are, shall we say, dirty — blood-diamond dirty,” Wright said. “I just feel it’s our duty to clean them up.”

On Tuesday she accompanied activists from World Pulse and the Enough Project to the White House, where they presented NSC officials with a petition with more than 100,000 signatures seeking the appointment of a presidential envoy.

“This moment is bringing the petition to the front lines, finally,” Wright said.

[From Politico]

I didn’t know Robin was involved in the Congo issue – that’s one of Ben Affleck’s big humanitarian issues too, isn’t it? Anyway, I like that she came to the White House with a set goal, a hard request and a major petition. Hopefully Pres. Obama will consider it!

PS… I really do think that the sex between Ben and Robin is probably HOT HOT HOT.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

It may seem like just yesterday that Robin Wright and Ben Foster stepped out together for the first time since they’d been quietly dating for almost a year. In fact, it was just last week. Most of us were thrilled that Robin found a new man that is not only hunky but is probably a lot nicer than her douchebag ex-husband, Sean Penn. Princess Buttercup deserves the world, you know? Now a story in this week’s Enquirer not only discusses Robin’s new relationship and namechecks Sean’s whiny, nobody-loves-me Esquire interview, but this story also claims that Robin and Ben are engaged and headed down the aisle! How exciting:

Sean Penn’s long-suffering ex-wife is finally having the last laugh!

After a bumpy 14-year marriage to the mercurial star, Forrest Gump beauty Robin Wright, 46, is planning to wed hunky 32-year-old actor Ben Foster, sources say.

The couple fell for each other in 2011 while filming the gritty cop drama Rampart, and they’ve carried on a discreet romance since then, insiders say. “Ben proposed to Robin a few weeks ago, and they’ve already set a wedding date for late spring 2013,” a close friend told the Enquirer.

“For the first time in ages, Robin feels happy and settled. She went through hell wiht Sean’s mood swings and violent temper, and never thought she’d find love again. But Ben worships her and gets along great with her kids.

While raising [she and Penn's] children, The Princess Bride star turned down numerious roles and graciously endured Penn’s reported womanizing and frat-boy antics.

Meanwhile, her whiny ex complained in a recent interview: “There is no shame in my saying we all want to be loved by someone. As I look back over my life in romance, I don’t feel I’ve ever had that.”

The source added: “Sean threw away his marriage to Robin, and now he’s crying about how he hasn’t been loved. Robin feels as if the tables have finally turned. She’s grateful to be movin on with her life.”

[From Enquirer, print edition, January 14, 2012]

I hope this story is true, and I hope that Sean hears about it and starts crying into his beer because he ignored the best thing he ever had in favor of shagging supermodels and the like. Robin put up with a lot over the course of her marriage to Sean, so it must be amazing to be treated well by Ben. Or so I assume that Ben treats her well if she’s really planning on heading down the aisle so relatively soon after extricating herself from the Whiny One. Look, Robin and Ben even walk in step with each other.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

I guess we never discussed this couple when they first happened – I was looking through our archives, and we never got explicit about it. Maybe that’s because we haven’t heard anything about them in ten months? Perhaps. Back in February, Robin Wright and Ben Foster made their debut as a couple, sort of. They had worked together on Rampart, and while Robin was working in Australia, Ben came to visit her and they were photographed looking kind of snuggly and couple-y. So… they’re still together! They were photographed in Santa Monica a few days ago, I guess doing some Christmas shopping.

Is it weird that I don’t even think this is a typical “cougar” type relationship? Robin is 46 years old, Ben Foster is 32 – and, incidentally, I often mistake Ben Foster for Aaron Paul and vice versa. Why isn’t Ben Foster on Breaking Bad? Deep questions. Anyway, as I was saying – I don’t think this is a typical cougar-type relationship. Robin seems to have a low tolerance for stupidity or tomfoolery, post-Sean Penn. And Ben Foster… well, I don’t really have a read on the guy. All I know is that he used to date Zoe Kravtiz, right? And now Robin has a very Zoe Kravtiz-haircut. Hm.

Now, is this photo op a well-timed holiday “f—k you” to Robin’s ex, Sean Penn? Perhaps. It just two weeks ago when his Esquire interview came out and he was all whiney and passive aggressive, telling the magazine: “There is no shame in my saying that we all want to be loved by someone. As I look back over my life in romance, I don’t feel I’ve ever had that. I have been the only one that was unaware of the fraud in a few of these circumstances blindly. When you get divorced, all the truths that come out, you sit there and you go, What the f–k was I doing? What was I doing believing that this person was invested in this way?” So… I really hope that THIS is what Robin got Sean for Christmas. A photo op with a much younger and less whiney dude.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Sean Penn and Robin Wright did the breakup-and-makeup thing for years and years. It got so bad, I even lost track for a few years as to whether or not they were on or off. Like, I almost positive they were done and then they showed up together while Sean was promoting Milk in 2008-09. But shortly after that, I think they were finally over? Maybe? Like, summer 2009. Post-split, Sean drowned himself in booze and women (no different then when he was married), and he spent a lot of time in Haiti, working with his charity. And after their split, Robin had moved on with a new boyfriend, producer Greg Shapiro. When Robin showed up with Shapiro at the 2010 Oscars, according to reports, Sean got into it backstage with Shapiro, and Sean’s actions were so off-side, Penn was banned from the Governors Ball. However, through it all, Sean and Robin were said to be close because of their two kids, and they were committed to co-parenting (when Sean wasn’t in Haiti). So maybe it’s not shocking that they might have found their way back together?

Sean Penn and ex-wife Robin Wright may be headed toward reconciliation.

“They’ve been spending a lot of time together,” says an insider, who reveals that the couple originally grew apart due to busy work schedules and long stretched of time away from each other.

“They’ve been living the single life – and quit frankly, it doesn’t agree with either of them. They really miss their life together as a family.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

I’m not sure that I buy that they split up because of “work schedules”. I think they split up because Sean’s an ass and he was always screwing around on Robin and she finally had enough of all of it. While I believe that Sean has been drowning himself in young ladies since then, I’ll buy that he does miss Robin. She held him together, I think. She kept him sane and she definitely helped with his reputation.

UPDATE: Ah, I just saw this denial that Robin’s rep gave to RumorFix: “[Robin’s] on location in Australia, she’s shooting a movie with Naomi Watts. They’re just making up stuff; she’s been gone since mid January. Clearly there’s no photos of them together, so it’s clear…they’ve not been spending any time together.” I want to believe Robin isn’t messing with Penn again, but her history with him… it makes me believe that she’s capable of falling into his clutches again.

Here are some photos of Robin filming The Grandmothers with Naomi Watts this week – Robin’s still got a great figure, doesn’t she?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

Thank you, thank you, thank all of you who agreed with me about Rooney Mara in yesterday’s post. She’s a smug one, and she thinks it’s fine to trash-talk her early jobs now that she’s a huge movie star. Well, I know one thing – she’s not going to get very far as a fashion girl. After Rooney’s goth-bridal Givenchy gown to the London premiere of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Rooney is now giving us full-on goth at the New York City premiere. Rooney wore this Prabal Gurung Spring 2012 dress which… I dislike. I don’t hate it passionately, and I think it could be interesting on a different woman. But on Rooney, it just feels like a costume, and like she’s trying so hard to be “dark.” Plus, will you hate me if I say that I don’t think Rooney really has the figure to successfully pull off this dress? Not only does she remind me of Gwyneth Paltrow intellectually, but her boxy figure reminds me of Goop too. Goop would try to pull off this dress. Goop would fail as well. Rooney’s hair looks slightly better, though. No bangs. What’s with her expression in all of these photos, though?

As for the other “stars” on the red carpet – Daniel Craig was there, looking delicious. I’ve been sad that Rachel Weisz hasn’t come to any of these premieres – I was looking forward to seeing them walk a red carpet together. Instead, Daniel posed with his arm around Rooney a lot of the time, and then he got to see Robin Wright. I like Robin’s dress, although it’s a bit boring. I still don’t like that choppy haircut, though.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The last time I remember seeing Robin Wright, she had blonde shoulder length hair that was choppily layered around her face. Her hair was short by Hollywood standards, and she deserves a lot of credit for not filling it out with fake long extensions.

Now Robin has cut off her hair to a short bob that makes her look a lot like Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie. This cropped ‘do is popular lately, with Katherine Heigl, Hayden Panettiere, Carey Mulligan, and Emma Watson all wearing variations of this style. Robin was spotted out in Paris on Friday, where the photo agency Fame notes that she is “working on a campaign for Gerard Darel designs.”

When you compare her new hair to the last time we saw her, at a premiere in April, it’s much better. The layers were too thin around her face and her hair looked as messy as her outfit.

If you compare her hair to the SAGs in January, it was better longer. She has angular features and longer hair softens her face. I have shoulder length hair, though, and it scares me to think of cropping it so short. It’s daunting to cut off your hair, although I guess when you’re as beautiful as Robin it’s not as big a risk as the rest of us.

Remember when she went brunette for a little while in 2009? That didn’t last long.

Photo credit: Fame Pictures (new photos) and WENN.com (older photos)

Last night was the New York premiere of The Conspirator, after this past weekend’s Washington, D.C. premiere. Robin Wright, the star of the film (she plays Mary Surratt), is going though a skinny-pantsuit phase. I didn’t care for yesterday’s funky gray suit, but I’m kind of liking this white Julien Macdonald one. The jacket is awesome, but the pants… well, I’m not a skinny pants person. I would enjoy seeing this suit with straight-leg pants. But as for Robin’s face… it’s exquisite. Just gorgeous. And I love that it looks real and untouched.

Alexis Bledel wore Oscar de la Renta. I know some of you like her, but to me she’s just a boring chick in a boring dress. If you’d like to see photos of Evan Rachel Wood’s premiere dress, go here.

And lastly, my lover James McAvoy, wearing THE SAME PANTS. The same pants as the previous premiere, the same pants he’s been wearing for every public appearance for months. The boy is cheap, and he LOVES those pants.

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

Sean Penn and Robin Wright (Penn) were on and off so many times that when Robin finally got around to officially filing for divorce last year, I ignored the story because I thought it was old news. But she did file, and she seems to be the one who left, who finally had enough. Anyway, I guess they had some sh-t to organize, because it took a while for their divorce to be finalized and for everyone to be in agreement about the assets and children and everything. I doubt this process was made any easier by Sean’s almost total move to Haiti, where he told Vanity Fair that Robin “is like a ghost to me now.”

After a few false starts, Sean Penn and Robin Wright’s divorce is finally behind them.

The former couple have reached a private agreement on child support, spousal support, split of assets and custody over their son, Hopper Jack, 17, according to court papers filed July 22 in Marin County, Calif.

Penn, 49, and Wright, 44, who are now legally single and free to wed others, also have a daughter together, Dylan, 19.

The process of divorcing hasn’t been without its hitches for the actors. In Dec. 2007, the two started divorce proceedings after 11 years of marriage, only to call it off four months later.

Penn then filed for legal separation in April 2009 before the couple again temporarily reunited in May. Wright later finally filed for divorce in August and told More magazine she had no plans to reconcile with the actor.

Since their most recent split, Wright has been enjoying her newfound independence and has said she’ll remain friends with her ex, though the feeling doesn’t appear to be mutual.

In an interview for Vanity Fair’s July issue, the actor reflected on his split. “[Robin] is a ghost to me now. We spent all those years together … Now she’s just gone.”

[From People]

I wonder if they were considering dragging it out even longer just so they wouldn’t have to deal with Hopper’s custody issues – they could just wait until he turned 18 years old. From reading Sean’s VF piece, I think Hopper might still be having health problems from a traumatic brain injury he suffered from a skateboarding accident, and that Robin seems to be the (only) one taking care of all of that.

Anyway, it seems like both Sean and Robin are trying to move on romantically. Sean is dating a 25-year-old model named Jessica White it seems, and Robin is keeping her sh-t pretty quiet, but she allegedly had or has a boyfriend already too. Or maybe she’s just holding out for Brad Pitt? They’re working together right now on Moneyball! Hm…

This is just an interesting little blurb from In Touch Weekly, of course. In Touch thinks that the newest drama in the Jolie-Pitt household is that Angelina is jealous of Robin Wright (formally Wright Penn). Brad and Robin are set to work with each other in Moneyball, which starts production any day now, if it hasn’t already. I have no idea who Robin plays in the film, if she’s Brad’s character’s wife…? Ooooh, Philip Seymour Hoffman is going to be in it too! F-ck me, I might watch this one.

In Touch Weekly – In L.A. recently, Brad and Angie had a “huge fight in the car” over a sex scene in Brad’s new movie, Moneyball. She’s also not happy about how much time Brad is spending with his costar, Robin Wright.

[From ITW via Jezebel]

I could actually feel this scandal, couldn’t you? I’m not saying Brad and Robin are going to have an affair, I’m just saying this rumor has the potential to be very interesting. Robin is a real woman, she doesn’t take sh-t (in the long-run). She’s got her own life, her own interests, her own drama. And I could see how that kind of independence would interest Brad. Hm…

Also, CB and I have been looking to see if we can publish these new photos of Angelina at the photo call in Mexico for Salt, but unfortunately, we don’t have access to them (I’m seriously about to cry about that – why the f-ck doesn’t every photo agency have these pictures?!?). Angelina went without her trademark black sack and went for a sweetheart neckline strapless white cocktail dress. She looks pretty!

Sean Penn did another extensive interview while working in Haiti. I think this Vanity Fair one is supposed to be a lot like the exclusive he gave CNN a few weeks ago – focusing on what he’s doing in Haiti, and how everybody else’s efforts are falling short and “dispassionate.” But this Vanity Fair piece is more all-encompassing – they get Penn to go on the record about his split from Robin Wright. Penn says, regarding Wright and the split: “She is a ghost to me now. We spent all those years together…. Now she’s just gone.” Or she was just tired of your sanctimonious ass. Or maybe because you abandoned your children for months to work in Haiti. Anyway, mostly, the piece is a love letter to Penn’s efforts in Haiti. The article is called “Welcome to Camp Penn” and VF put an excerpt online:

If it looks as though Sean Penn is just another Hollywood star courting headlines with a camera-ready cause, look again. With a midlife milestone looming (Penn turns 50 in August), his marriage to Robin Wright Penn seemingly finished (“She is a ghost to me now,” he observes), and a teenage son, Hopper, having recovered from a life-threatening skateboard accident, the Oscar-winning actor decided to redirect his focus and his priorities.

Instead of shooting another film or hawking his latest (Fair Game, in which he portrays Ambassador Joseph Wilson, playing opposite Naomi Watts as “outed” C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame), Penn ended up committing himself to the people of Pétionville, a once-affluent Haitian suburb where he now runs a camp for 50,000 displaced earthquake survivors.

As Vanity Fair’s July issue reveals in detail for the first time, a week after the quake hit last January—killing an estimated quarter of a million people—Penn, a longtime political activist, joined forces with L.A.-based, Sarajevo-born philanthropist Diana Jenkins (creating the humanitarian organization J/P HRO, lined up crisis veteran Alison Thompson to assist in recruiting an A-team of relief volunteers, and flew from his home in Malibu to a ravaged hillside in Port-au-Prince—with a dozen doctors in tow.

Ever since, Penn, wearing camouflage khakis and carrying a Glock handgun, has been living in a tent not much larger than an army-surplus locker. And this spring the actor and his organization—who toil alongside Haitian colleagues, fellow aid workers, and army rangers—were designated by their fellow NGOs and U.N. officials as the “camp manager” of the Pétionville facility.

“I wanted to give back something more to help struggling people, but I didn’t know how best to do it,” Penn tells Douglas Brinkley. “I was for 20 years in a relationship with Robin and 18 years with children. I didn’t have time to commit to anything—for real—in places like Iraq, except to denounce the war. But now I’m single. I can lend a hand.”

For the past five months, Penn’s home base has been the sprawling tent city set up on the former Pétionville country club. (He has left only for a short fund-raising swing, to attend the Oscars in March, and to testify about Haiti on Capitol Hill in May.) As the camp has been buffeted by outbreaks of TB, malaria, dengue fever, and diphtheria, and as the rainy season threatens to bring new potential perils (mud slides, disease, civil unrest), Penn spearheads relief efforts, helps relocate displaced families, and works to arrange deliveries of emergency medical supplies—in one instance coordinating with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez to airlift in morphine and other drugs.

The U.S. military, it turns out, are among Penn’s strongest supporters. “My politics are not in line with Sean Penn’s,” states Major General Simeon Trombitas, a frequent guest at J/P HRO compound. “But we are allied in trying to save lives and alleviate human suffering. He is a doer and not a talker…and I respect that immensely.”

Lieutenant General P. K. Keen, deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command, concurs: “In a humanitarian crisis you can be a neutral—always pinching your knuckles white. Or you can operate an NGO the way Mr. Penn does.… He intuitively knew how to both work with the U.N. and break its bureaucracy down…. I applaud the leadership he has shown. He doesn’t have to do this.”

Says Penn of Keen, recalling a recent ceremony at which the general bestowed several commendations on Penn for his Haitian crisis work: “Keen gave me this look in the eye—a look of pride. It meant more to me than any movie award.”

While Penn has abiding respect for scores of his U.N. and NGO compatriots, he is careful to point out what he sees as an inherent risk whenever diverse, committed groups vie to make their mark on the world. “Many people in the U.N. and NGO disaster-relief community share much with Hollywood: envy, Schadenfreude, and the cover [that] bureaucracy gives to a cult of unimaginative ambulance chasers—all of whom want to claim it was they who ‘made the movie’ on Haitian relief.”

Penn insists he will remain in Haiti for the long haul. “There is no exit for me until there is more life than death,” Penn says. “I can always see light in any situation. It’s just the way I’m made. I’m capable of making foolish commitments. Of being a fool. But I can see the light very clearly in terms of the ‘big picture’ for Haiti.”

Adds Penn: “There is a strength of character in the people who have, by and large, never experienced comfort. That’s exactly the character that our Main Street culture lacks and needs in the United States. In other words, we need Haiti.”

While J/P HRO has helped bring about a real social-engineering achievement, Penn says that the displaced people of Port-au-Prince have given him a gift as well. “It’s a reciprocal thing. They have returned to me something I had lost—my humility.”

[From Vanity Fair, excerpt]

I said it in the other post, but I’ll say it again: I admire Sean for what he’s doing in Haiti. I appreciate when someone puts their time, money and efforts where their mouth is. And I think Sean is giving interviews to CNN and Vanity Fair to draw attention to a crisis that desperately needs more attention. However… my complaint with Sean in this piece is the same complaint I had with the CNN piece – humanitarian work is not either/or. Sean can be doing admirable work, and so can hundreds of other aid workers. What bothers me is that Sean (and others) feel there should be a comparison, perhaps to emphasis what good work he’s doing? I don’t know.

VF put up this video too: