Here is Glee’s Lea Michele on the cover of the June issue of Women’s Health Magazine. There’s no interview excerpts yet, so unfortunately we’re just going to have to make do with some recent stories about Lea.

As some know, Lea was named one of Time Magazine’s “Most Influential” people a few weeks ago. The big dinner was held last week, and Lea attended, as did people like Betty White, Sarah Palin, Ashton Kutcher, and Prince, amongst many others. According to Page Six, Lea “was not suffering from humility” when photographer Patrick McMullan took her photo at the gala event, then asked for her name. Lea replied “Sarah Palin” and McMullen was like, “No really, what’s your name?” Lea tried it again: “Taylor Swift.” Allegedly, McMullen then said “F-ck you” and walked away, although some sources don’t report that. Page Six did note, however, that Lea “seemed really annoyed he didn’t know who she was.”

So Lea got called out on a lot of blogs for acting like a don’t-you-know-who-I-am diva when, seriously, most people couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. So now, days after the event, Lea finally took to her Twitter to apologize/clarify, tweeting: “Big apology to @PatrickMcMullan. Totally didn’t expect you (or anyone) @Time 100 to know who I was w/all the amazin people there:)” and “Made a silly joke that didn’t go over, so sorry. It was such an incredible night and I was beyond honored and thrilled to be there:)”. Ha! Well, at least she apologized.

Am I the only one who is still annoyed by her though? I only know her from random interviews and red carpets, but I don’t care for the way she presents herself. She comes across like a pageant girl – all big teeth and fake smiles who will shank you as soon as she gets the chance.

Women’s Health cover courtesy of CoverAwards.

Oh noes! HuffPo just compiled the worst grouping of criticism about my girl, Gabourey Sidibe. I’ve defended Gaby so many times – partly because I hate the way everyone gangs up on her, and partly because I’ve always thought she comes across as a really sweet, funny, positive young woman. Not so much, if these reports can be believed. And I tend to think they could be – these are anecdotal stories from Washington reporters. I’m not saying Washington reporters don’t lie, I’m just saying that I don’t see why they would lie about this.

Washington Post columnist/blogger Jonathan Capehart took to his blog to complain about how “mean” Sidibe was when he approached her at the Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend:

It’s always a let-down when folks you’ve admired or respected from afar turn out to be jerks in person. Case in point: Gabourey Sidibe, the Oscar-nominated actress in the title role of “Precious.”

Y’all know how much I loved the powerful film from director Lee Daniels about an obese New York City teenager enduring unspeakable abuse at the hands of her parents. After Oscar night, I wrote, “I was rooting for Gabourey Sidibe for best actress. But the moment edgy comedienne Mo’Nique won the Oscar for supporting actress, I knew that the divine Sidibe was toast.” But after meeting Sidibe at the White House Correspondents dinner and hearing about others’ negative encounters with her, I’m putting down my pompoms.

I was thrilled to spot her at a table laughing uproariously with the man sitting to her right. “I know you’re having a good time and I’m sorry to interrupt,” I began. My next sentence didn’t come out because Sidibe shouted over the din, “Yeah, come back in five minutes!” Thinking she was joking, I laughed and pretended to walk away. When I noticed that the look in her eyes meant she was serious, I walked back to her and said, “I just wanted to congratulate you on your nomination. I thought your performance was spectacular. I even wrote a column about it.” After wishing her good luck, I rejoined my friends.

Back at the table, I sheepishly related the incident to my colleague Jo-Ann Armao. “Oh! She’s horrible,” Armao said in her wonderfully blunt way. She told me that she saw Sidibe at the pre-cocktails and told her that she’d seen “Precious” three times (an amazing emotional feat that only adds to my awe of Armao) and that she thought Sidibe’s performance was “incandescent.” What was Sidibe’s response? “I guess I should say, ‘Thank you.’”

At the MSNBC after party, the partner of a “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” producer said to me, “Look! There’s Gabby Sidibe. I’m going to ask her to take a picture with me.” I warned him, “She’s mean.” To which he said, “I don’t care. I just want a picture.” I didn’t see what went down, but the dejected fan came back and said incredulously, “She said no.” No doubt the constant interruptions and jostling are bothersome. Her ever-shrinking zone of privacy must be irksome, too. And there’s no law that says Sidibe has to show grace to her fans or appreciation for their kind words. But a true star would.

At a dinner for the BET Honors back in January here in Washington, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Oscar-nominated actress and singer Queen Latifah. To be honest, I expected to get the Sidibe treatment. Instead, Latifah was as interesting as she was interested. She greeted fans who came over with a smile and warmth that made people happy they worked up the courage just to say hello. Latifah knows that without fans she has no career. Sidibe’s behavior shows she has yet to learn that.

[From Capehart’s blog post at WaPo]

Yikes, right? I mean, I can’t even find a justification for this, something along the lines of “she was just minding her own business, the guy sounds like an a-hole.” Because she sounds like the a-hole, and Capehart sounds like he was just trying to politely geek out on her because he liked her performance. And they were at a public function – one in which I’m sure Gaby was invited as a guest of a media outlet. The only thing I question is why Capehart – who is black, just FYI – decided that he should compare Gaby’s behavior to Queen Latifah’s? Is that the only other celebrity he’s ever met? Or is it because they’re both black women?

HuffPo also noted this incident, as recounted by MediaBistro:

So, who was the weekend’s biggest (no pun intended) disappointment so far?

FishbowlDC heard the same complaint throughout last night: Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, star of ‘Precious’ was “not so precious at all,” “anything but precious” and some comments were less complimentary than that.

When asked for a picture, the less-than-enthused newbie star could barely crack a smile. One photo-seeking fan said jokingly, “that’s all you’re going to give me,” to the pouty Precious. Gabby responded, “you’ll get what I give you.”

Later in the evening FishbowlDC overheard a Politico reporter asking Gabby for a quick interview. Gabby replied, “one question” and then proceeded to give the reporter a one-word answer. When asked a follow up Q, not-so-Precious said, “sounds like three questions, good night.”

Note to Gabby: You’re already 5 into your 15 minutes of fame so simmer down.

[From Media Bistro]

Ugh. It’s far more likely that Gaby is this person being described, rather than several prominent Washington reporters/bloggers all making up some sh-t about Gaby. So I have my own note to Gaby: it’s okay to be a bitch. It’s okay to stand up for yourself. It’s okay to not be in the mood for fans. But you still need to be a professional when you’re appearing at a public function in which reporters will note your every mood and action. If you don’t want to be bothered, don’t go. I don’t care if you’re uncomfortable, I don’t care if you have yet to learn how to handle your fans and your stardom. Buck up and be a pro, or don’t go. Your attendance is not mandatory. And if you continue to act like this, no will invite you anywhere anyway.

Call me crazy, but I’ve never really taken a side on the whole Tyra Banks-Janice Dickinson feud. I think Janice is crazy (like a fox) and mean as a snake. Meanwhile, I think Tyra is crazy too, although in a very different way from Janice. Tyra is, like, Oprah-crazy. Like, Tyra thinks she’s some television goddess, just like Oprah. Tyra thinks she needs to educate us on everything, even though Tyra’s not the brightest bulb either. Still, Tyra is pretty smart businesswoman who has a flourishing career, and Janice is still some crazy has-been.

One thing Janice is smart about is still getting press. She knows just what to say to get the most press hits. This time, Janice told a radio interviewer that she (not Tyra) made America’s Next Top Model a hit, and that Tyra is “huge” in person. So “huge” in fact that Janice claims she “used to think she was a man, I kept looking for… I was always looking, thinking, ‘Something isn’t right here’.”

There must be some pretty big beef between former supermodels Janice Dickinson and Tyra Banks, if Janice’s latest outburst is anything to go by.

The motor-mouthed model-turned-TV personality doesn’t appear to have got over being axed from the America’s Next Top Model judging panel in 2005.

Speaking on Alan Carr’s Chatty Man, the catty woman said: “I made that show a hit. Can you imagine for five seasons just sitting next to Miss Tyra Banks and listening to her go off?

“You could land a helicopter on her forehead. It’s huge.”

Janice admitted she got the boot from the show after calling Tyra “fat”.

She continued: “She was huge! [Her legs] are huge. Well, she’s a big woman.

“I used to think she was a man, I kept looking for… I was always looking, thinking, ‘Something isn’t right here’.”

Meow!

[From AOL UK News]

Ugh. That’s kind of over-the-top bitchy even for me. It’s one thing to say “Tyra isn’t all that” or “I don’t like her face” but damn, bitch. You don’t have to be all “I think she’s hidin’ a little something in her drawers.” Of course, I do that with Lady Gaga, but Gaga did that to herself when she flashed us that time and we didn’t know what we were looking at! I feel confident saying that I believe Tyra has a vadge. I just don’t want to see it, and I don’t want the vadge authenticated in public in any way.

These photos and this story make me love Katie Holmes. The photos are from the weekend, when Katie and her “girls” went out to eat in Manhattan, and Katie had several glasses of wine. Her “girls” are her mom, her daughter Suri, and her stepdaughter Isabella. Ten bucks says that Isabella had a few glasses of wine too. Either that, or Bella promptly called her dad after dinner to narc on her step mom. Anyhoodle, I love when Katie looks animated. Anything to get her out of her morose, robotic Xenu stupor. Now, for this story – apparently, Katie and two girlfriends went to an actual movie theater to see New Moon. And then they talked through the whole thing! Hahaha! I bet the Twihards were about to kill Katie.

She may seem shy and reserved next to larger-than-life husband Tom Cruise, but it turns out Katie Holmes doesn’t know how to keep quiet when it counts.

Eyewitnesses tell Fox411 that Katie and a group of her girlfriends stopped by a movie theater near her Manhattan apartment Saturday to catch the latest installment of the “Twilight” series “New Moon” where they proceeded to ruin the film for moviegoers.

“Katie came into the movie theater with two of her girlfriends in a great mood,” sources tell Fox411. “They bought tickets in advance to see ‘New Moon’ like all the rest of the Twihards. They checked out the snacks and then they took their seats and kept talking.”

All that would have seemed rather normal, except for the fact that they kept on gabbing throughout the entire film!

“Katie talked through all of ‘New Moon.’ It was unbelievable – they talked nonstop about the movie and everything else. Some people wanted to tell them to be quiet, but when they realized who it was, they stayed silent. No one wanted to shush Katie.”

After the chatty escapade, Katie spent the rest of the weekend with her step-daughter Isabella and daughter Suri (once again spotted in cold weather with no coat). The three girls were spotted shopping Saturday, where Katie seemed completely unaware that she ruined “New Moon” for a few die-hard “Twilight” fans.

[From Fox News 411]

“No one wanted to shush Katie.” Probably because when they realized who it was, they thought to themselves “that poor girl… she probably never gets to speak at home.” That’s what I would think. Honestly, though, I hate when people talk in a theatre. It pisses me off to no end. That being said, if I went to see New Moon in the theatre, I would probably talk through it too. I would be yelling “Sparkles!” and “Oh, for the love of God, just do him!” So I give Katie a pass on this one. It’s good to see signs of life in her, isn’t it?

A very animated Katie Holmes, having lunch (with a lot of wine) with her mom, Suri and Isabella Cruise in New York, on November 22, 2009. Credit: Pacific Coast News.

This week, the Enquirer has yet another story involving Mel Gibson, Oksana Grigorieva, weddings, alcohol, babies and doom. This week’s story seems to contradict previous Enquirer reports (like last week‘s, about Oksana not wanting to sign a prenup), but it’s still interesting. The gist seems to be that Mel Gibson “pulled the plug” (hairplug?) on his alleged Christmas wedding with Oksana because he’s realized he still has “strong romantic feelings” for his estranged (ex) wife Robyn. Also, Mel has come to the conclusion that his relationship with Oksana is “doomed by her greed and ambition”.

“The light bulb finally went on,” a longtime friend told the Enquirer. “Mel realized not only was Oksana alienating him from his children, but she also was incredibly self-absorbed. Her career and not their happiness is her No. 1 priority.”

“His kids and friends have been telling him for months that Oksana was using him for money and fame, and finally he saw it for himself.”

“He has even begun to question whether the relationship will continue after the baby is born.”

Mel has begun to miss his old life with Robyn and their children. And he started to see Oksana as a career-obsessed control freak.

“While Mel was thrilled about their baby, he realized Oksana was more concerned about her career and status as an up-and-coming Hollywood star,” said the friend.

“He hated how rude she was to his children. And after Oksana established that she wanted a say in his financial decisions, he realized that marriage to this person would be a mistake.”

“Mel fears he’s actually falling back in love with Robyn… he knows his relationship with Robyn can never be repaired. But he sees how good he had it with her and ow much he took advantage of her. When they were together, Robyn took care of everything – finances, kids, family schedules. She rarely griped at him and gave him all the space he wanted professionally and personally.”

But Oksana is just the opposite, warns the friend.

“It’s ‘me, me, me!’ all the time with Oksana. Mel felt he had no choice but to put the brakes on the wedding – and he’s rethinking the relaitonship… Mel and Oksana are still together – but barely.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, November 9 2009]

Damn, is anyone else feeling for Oksana just a smidge? On one side, I do think she’s a golddigger who is in this for the money, to build her career and to have some financial security. On the other side, I f-cking hate a blatant hit piece like this, even if it does have some truth to it. So what if she’s trying to build her career? Good for her. She sounds like a cat being strangled, but at least she’s trying to bring some money in on her own. In any case, I don’t really believe that Mel is having second thoughts. I think even if he did acknowledge to himself that Oksana’s trouble, he would never admit it. His pride and ego are intertwined in the this relationship and making it appear to work.

Last week, Jaybird threw up the link for the story about Charlize Theron auctioning off her kiss for $140,000 at a San Francisco event. Charlize ended up kissing one lucky (and rich) lady for 20 seconds as the audience counted down. The whole thing was for charity – the money benefits the OneXOne Foundation, which works on poverty issues in Africa, specifically “water, hunger, healthcare, education and play”. This woman that Charlize made out with was actually bidding on a rather amazing package deal: a 2010 trip to South Africa, tickets to the World Cup, a safari, and a meet-and-greet with Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately for all involved, it seems that Charlize didn’t get Mandela’s permission for such a deal. And now Mandela is refusing to meet with the high bidder! Ruh-roh.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has accused actress Charlize Theron of selling a meeting with the former leader without permission.

Oscar-winning Theron, 34, raised £85,500 for charity last week by auctioning the chance to visit her native South Africa and meet the elderly former president. The sale hit the headlines when the actress agreed to kiss the highest bidder during a charity gala event in San Francisco.

Images were beamed around the world of Theron locking lips with the lucky female winner, who was due to travel to meet Mr Mandela, 91, during a trip timed to coincide with next year’s football World Cup.

But today a spokesman for the frail former freedom fighter said the meeting might not be possible because Theron had not sought permission from Mr Mandela before arranging the auction.

Achmat Dangor, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said: ‘There is a very rigorous process that is followed to secure a meeting with Mr Mandela, and as yet, we have not have had any such request from Charlize Theron.’

The winning bidder at the OneXOne auction may now be told she cannot meet Mr Mandela. Officials said the Foundation would consider any future request received from Theron, but that nothing was certain.

Mr Mandela, who turned 91 in July, has now fully retired from public life and only grants personal audiences to a tiny proportion of those who request them. His spokesman said he did not usually agree to be offered in charity auctions.

Mr Dangor added: ‘It should also be noted that even the charities that he created have never auctioned off time with Mr Mandela. We nevertheless wish Ms Theron well in her charity work.’

Theron is South Africa’s most famous Hollywood actress. She was born on a farm near the town of Benoni in South Africa’s Gauteng province and hit fame in the 1990s with a string of roles in films including The Cider House Rules and The Devil’s Advocate.

In 2004 she received a heroine’s welcome from Mr Mandela when she returned to South Africa after winning a ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role in the film Monster. Unable to control her emotion as she shook hands with the veteran freedom fighter in Johannesburg, she burst into tears and told him: ‘I love you so much.’

Despite Mr Mandela’s frail state, his Foundation continues to run charitable and community projects around the world. The former African National Congress activist continues to make occasional public appearances and statements. He lives in Johannesburg with his third wife Graca Machell.

[From The Daily Mail]

First of all, Charlize is an idiot to auction off a meeting with Mandela without his permission. That’s just rude. Secondly, Charlize is going to have to scramble to make it up to this high-bidder woman. Sure, it’s nice to make out with Charlize (I guess, but whatever, she seems like an ice princess to me), and it would be nice to go on a safari and see the World Cup and everything, but I’m sure that woman was really looking forward to meeting Mandela. That would be the only reason I would ever bid on such an item.

Speaking of Mandela, did anyone watch Endgame on PBS this past weekend? Between Jonny Lee Miller (as Michael Young) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (as President Mbeki), I was getting hot flashes as I learned about the secret talks to end apartheid. Good stuff!

If you were looking at Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman side by side, just judging them on their looks and what we think we know about them, who do you think would be the bigger bitch? I would have thought Daniel Craig, in all honesty. Daniel seems to have that snotty ugly-hot thing going for him, and his general attitude seems very prickly. Meanwhile, Hugh seems like one the sweetest men in the world. Turns out, Hugh is perfectly capable of being a big bitch. Thank God!

So it went down like this – during a performance of A Steady Rain, an audience member’s cell phone started ringing. And the guy didn’t pick it up or switch off his phone or anything. The motherf-cker just let it ring! So Hugh channeled his bitch, turned to the audience member and said “You want to get that? You want to get it? Grab it. I don’t care… Come on, just turn it off…Unless you’ve got a better story. You want to get up and tell your stories.” The audience applauds with the last line.

Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman have become the latest stage actors to confront members of the audience for leaving their mobile phones switched on when they were interrupted during a performance of the Broadway play A Steady Rain.

Jackman was playing a Chicago policeman during an intense moment of the Broadway play A Steady Rain when a phone rang in the stalls.

The star of the X-Men sci-fi films won a cheer from the audience as he interrupted his performance to tell the phone’s owner: “You want to get that? You want to get it? Grab it. I don’t care.”

Pacing around the stage and clearly annoyed despite his attempts at levity, when the ringing persisted Jackman pleaded: “Come on, just turn it off…Unless you’ve got a better story. You want to get up and tell your stories?”

A few seconds later another phone went off and it was the turn of Jackman’s co-star, Daniel Craig, to intervene. “Just get the phone,” said the current James Bond star.

New Yorkers are traditionally not easily separated from their mobile phones. Despite pre-performance warnings to switch them off, Craig was also interrupted by one during a monologue at a preview performance 10 days ago.

The British actor Richard Griffiths ordered a woman to leave the theatre or switch her phone off when it it started ringing during a West End performance in 2005.

The following year, he threatened to leave the stage when phone ringing three times interrupted a performance of the History Boys on Broadway.

[From the Telegraph]

That’s actually never happened to me during a play, only during movies. It pisses me off during movies too, but I can’t even imagine how difficult it is for actors doing a live performance to have to deal with these jackasses who are too dumb to turn off their phone. Yes, yes, everybody makes mistakes, and sometimes good people honestly forget to turn off their phones. But to let your phone ring and ring during a play? Dumbass.