Stylish Celebrity Escapism
Contributing Writers




May 20
'08
Ali Lohan teased by mean girls; gets homeschooled

Those Lohan women really have it rough. Lindsay’s getting sued right and left, Dina’s reality show Living Lohan is being widely panned (and by that I mean I’m assuming it’s going to suck so let’s just go ahead and say that) and Ali, the littlest Lohan girl (yet oddly the oldest looking of the three) is being mocked at school.

“A little while ago … a couple of girls in school made up a video of me and put it up on YouTube,” Ali – whose E! reality show, Living Lohan with manager-mom Dina, debuts on Memorial Day – tells PEOPLE exclusively. “They used disgusting words. Like if my mom ever heard me say that stuff, I’d be grounded for life! … They’re disgusting kids. I got really aggravated.”

School authorities were notified, the 14-year-old adds, “and [the students] got suspended.” Such problems are a thing of the past, now that the eighth-grader is being home-schooled (to accommodate her work and travel schedule). “You learn so much more – it’s just hard to focus when girls are giving you problems,” she says. “No one’s talking about you behind your back. It’s definitely easier.”

She may have a famous sister – and a burgeoning career of her own – but, Ali says, that’s not what makes her a target. “I don’t think it’s just because of my sister and who she is,” she insists. “I think it happens to all the other girls out there, because girls are just mean. It doesn’t happen with guys. When I asked [my little brother] Cody, he was like, ‘No, Guys don’t care!’ “

[From People]

Though I’m not inclined to be sympathetic towards any Lohan, simply as a matter of principle, being a teenager can’t be fun these days. There are so many more public ways to be mocked. When I was a senior in high school, two former friends wrote mean things about me in all the bathrooms. Yeah, classic. Unfortunately they were things that implied I was slutty – and they wrote them in the women’s restrooms. Yeah they weren’t the smartest girls, to say the least. I can only imagine how much it can suck to be a teenager now. Between MySpace and YouTube, you can really get hammered.

Obviously Ali Lohan would be a pretty big target. I’m sure being Lindsay Lohan’s little sister doesn’t help things, but Ali’s right, this happens to a lot of teenage girls. Maybe she should borrow a page from Mean Girls and feed them a bunch of fattening diet bars. Or go all Carrie on them. That’s probably a better movie to draw from.

Photos of Ali and Dina at a youth center in Harlem where they were shooting scenes for Livin’ Lohan on March 28th. Dina broke out dancing. We obviously haven’t seen the episode yet, but it looks positively mortifying. And I actually picked the least stupid photo of Dina. God I hate that mouth of hers. Images thanks to Splash.

Posted in Ali Lohan, Dina Lohan, Lindsay Lohan, Photos, School

Written by JayBird         12 Comments »
May 16
'08
Will Smith’s private school is accepting applications for Fall (update)


Update: This is indeed a Scientology school as many of you pointed out. Here are the full details.


Will Smith has started his own private school in Calabasas, California for children from pre-kindergarten to grade 6 called the New Village Academy. It emphasizes learning by doing, technology and individualized instruction. According to the school’s website, which makes no mention of Smith, they will provide every child with a laptop computer, including pre-k students, and serve an all-organic low-fat sugar-free menu. It will cost $12,500 a year for grades 3-6 and $11,500 for K-2, with financial aid available for families who qualify.

Smith homeschools his two younger children, Jaden, 9 and Willow, 7, and told People Magazine last year that he wanted “to design the system that revolutionizes public education.”


Now Smith has paid about $890,000 to lease an existing school for three years, and classes will start this year, according to the school’s website and the May 26 edition of The National Enquirer.

I have a masters degree in education and many members of my family work in the school system. While the concepts on the website for Smith’s school are well described and sound like a good approach, it’s hard to know how they’ll be executed or if the school will be any good. What’s more is that Smith has made some arguably controversial statements about education. He doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree and never went to college, which is certainly not a requirement for starting a school and he’s been wildly successful in other endeavors in life. He is getting help from qualified experts, and even held a roundtable discussion with education leaders to help come up with ideas for the school. I know I started my son on computer education at a young age, and I do agree with Smith’s general concepts. It might be a decent school.

Smith told Reader’s Digest in an interview in 2006 that he could learn anything he set his mind to and that formal education was not necessary:

RD: Have you ever thought about going back to college?
Smith: The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school. Traditional education is based on facts and figures and passing tests — not on a comprehension of the material and its application to your life. Jada and I homeschool our children, because the date of the Boston Tea Party does not matter.

RD: But there are some basics in education that need to be taught.
Smith: Of course there are. Reading, writing and arithmetic, because those are the languages of our country.

RD: When you say you homeschool, do you mean you actually teach them?
Smith: No, we have hired teachers who teach what we feel is important. For example, Plato’s Republic — kids need to know that. Why is that not taught in first grade?

RD: You think kids in elementary school should read Plato’s Republic?
Smith: Yeah. You cannot be an American without reading it and Aristotle’s Politics. That is what the forefathers of this country read, and they used them to create what I believe is the finest system of government that has ever existed.

RD: So, you don’t see any reason to go back to a formal education yourself?
Smith: I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class.

RD: They put physics in a book, but I know I could never be a physicist.
Smith: The first step is you have to say that you can.

[From Reader’s Digest via ICYDK]

The website for the school doesn’t say much about religion, except that it is tolerant of all beliefs, backgrounds, and cultural differences. Will and Jada may be closet Scientologists, but you hope that none of that will be pushed on the children in their school. It will be headed by Jacqueline Oliver, Ed.D, that former head of Gillispe private day school in La Jolla, CA. She has no ties to Scientology that I could find.


Update: This is indeed a Scientology school as many of you pointed out. Here are the full details.

Will Smith is shown with his two children, Willow and Jaden, at the Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards on 3/29/08, thanks to WENN. Thanks to the National Enquirer for alerting us to this story.

Posted in Jada Pinkett Smith, School, Will Smith

Written by Celebitchy         54 Comments »
Apr 26
'08
Brooke Hogan denied admission to 3 universities

A lot of people would probably like to ban Brooke Hogan from being within 100 yards of them. I sure would. Imagine if the whole world could get a restraining order against her. How glorious that would be. Well three Florida universities have managed to ban her – or at least deny her admission to their fine academic halls. I know, I’m jealous too. I wish I could not just ban Brooke from places but also banish her to places – several volcanic, deserted islands come to mind.

Brooke, 19, wants to film her family’s crap-ass reality show Hogan Knows Best on campus – and in the classroom - thus totally disrupting the lives of the thousands of other students for her benefit. Luckily the first three schools she applied to were smart enough to say no.

Hoping to film the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best with a nine-camera-wielding production team, the young member of the wrestler’s family was denied admission at those institutions [the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida] out of concerns that she and her crew might disrupt the others students’ academic lives, the Palm Beach Post reports.

The upshot was, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hogan (real name: Brooke Ellen Bollea) went to the southeast coast of the Sunshine State and toured the campus of Florida Atlantic University – where she met with Student Government president Tony Teixeira and sorority and fraternity members, as well as tooled around the grounds on two golf carts hired by the show.

No decision has been made regarding Hogan’s permission to film on campus – or even if she’ll be admitted as a student, says the newspaper, which does quote FAU spokeswoman Kristine McGrath as saying, “The university would not agree to an arrangement that would be disruptive to the academic setting.”

[From People]

All three of the universities that declined to accept Brooke said they declined to accept her because they don’t want a show filmed on their campus and in their classrooms. But here’s what confuses me: if Brooke applied to these schools and had grades good enough to get in, wouldn’t she have been accepted – but just told that she couldn’t film there? Something makes me think this is just some PR on the part of the Hogan family to cover up for Brooke not getting accepted into all three schools that she’s been blabbing about.

Here’s Brooke Hogan about to bust out of her top in a super classy dress at the Grammys on February 10th. Does she really look 19 to you? Images thanks to PR Photos.

Posted in Brooke Hogan, College, Education, Reality Shows, School

Written by JayBird         18 Comments »
Jan 29
'08
Mischa Barton says she was “actually really academic”

Mischa Barton has been doing the Sundance press circuit over the last few days, promoting her movie “Assassination of a High School President” – which is actually getting some good reviews. But what she really wants you to know is that her empty-headed, party girl image is undeserved. I never knew Mischa Barton was so freakishly intelligent. According to an interview she just gave, she’s down to earth and smart. Mischa described herself as, “really academic.” And by that, it appears that she meant she has at some points in her life gone to school. She doesn’t give a single example of how she was academic, nor does she say anything that would lead a reasonable person to believe she possesses an ounce of intelligence beyond the very basics that get you through life. You know, the breathe in, breathe out, repeat thing. Not dodging in front of fast moving cars. She seems to grasp the basics that have kept our species alive, but not much else.

Mischa Barton didn’t seem so smart when she was arrested recently for suspicion of DUI. However, the star of the upcoming (and very buzzed about) “Assassination of a High School President” insists that despite her character’s mischievous ways, she was actually “academic” in her school days.

“I went to public school in New York until I was about 15, so I had a definite school experience, the whole nine yards,” the now super-blond starlet told Pop Tarts, curled up on the couch in her Uggs at Sundance.

“But I loved school, though. I was actually really academic, so I liked it … it was a lot of fun.”

[From Fox News]

School does tend to be a lot of fun when you skip most of it to film an occasional scene with a cute boy and hang out with your on-set tutor. Mischa goes on to talk about her upbringing in the film industry. Be warned, she uses the word “kinetic.” I think she most likely learned it from her Word-a-Day toilet paper.

And even though Mischa spent several seasons on the small screen as Marissa on “The O.C.,” the actress definitely seems to prefer doing films.

“I started doing film when I was 1, and I love it — it is the best experience for me,” she said. “Each film that you do — it is like a little group that you make friends with and you have that for life. When you go on a television series, it is a different thing. Of course you have it for life, but it’s a long-running show and it’s not the same kind of temporary kinetic energy that you get from a movie.”

[From Fox News]

Mischa you probably didn’t get that same “temporary kinetic energy” from your television show because you were supposedly a nightmare to deal with. You showed up late, hung-over, (sometimes still drunk…), were a total diva, refused to work with people, and generally made everyone’s lives such a living hell that they killed of your character by having her tumble off a hill in a car. Working on a film is probably a better fit for Mischa, since people only have to tolerate her for much shorter periods of time.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Mischa with all of her free swag from Sundance. Splash notes: “Actress Mischa Barton has her hands full with some Sundance freebies including a Nintendo Wii Guitar Hero game and a couple of umbrellas as she makes her way through Los Angeles International Airport. Barton was attending the festival in Utah to promote her new movie ‘Assassination of a High School President.’” Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Posted in Mischa Barton, School

Written by JayBird         See post for comments
Oct 12
'07
Maddox leaves Lycee Francais school after a month

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I like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt well enough, though I don’t think they’re the second coming like a lot of people, but they’re pretty good, especially as celebrities go. The two have constantly said that their kids are the center of their lives, and considering how many of them they’re racking up, one would hope it’s true. Yet they haven’t curbed their jet setting lifestyle or established any type of clear home base for the kids, and that’s kind of worrisome. Most people agree that kids thrive on routine with a little variety thrown in, and not the other way around. After a just a little over a month at his new school, Maddox has been taken out of Lycee Francais de New York. Angelina is filming a new movie in Los Angeles, so the family is now heading there, and the kids are being yanked around again.

“After a little over a month, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, 5, had his last day at his $18,000-a-year Lycee Francais de New York in NYC yesterday, walking out with a goodbye card as a souvenir as mom Angelina Jolie escorted him home. This is at least the fourth school change for Maddox, who has also been a student in New Orleans, Prague, and L.A.

“Since the oldest member of the Jolie-Pitt brood started classes on September 4, his stay had caused a frenzy. Parents began crowding the school in the morning, taking pictures. The Lycee’s director of operations, Dan Cooke, even penned a letter September 14, urging them to respect the family’s privacy.

“The next stop for the Brangelina clan? L.A.! Jolie begins shooting the Clint Eastwood mystery The Changeling on Monday, while Brad Pitt will start production on the crime thriller State of Play on October 22.”

[From Us Weekly]

It’s hard to say if it would be better for the kids to have one home base and see their parents less, or if they should have tutors that go with them everywhere so their educations aren’t disrupted, or if bouncing from school to school is the best option. None of the options are really ideal. I just remember how the new kids in school were always treated as outsiders and a little weird – now imagine you’re the child of famous parents, and you’re the new kid a couple times a year. That’s got to make it hard to make friends and feel like there’s people you can trust. I really don’t think it’s fair to tell people not to care about their careers, but I think that if you’re going to have kids, you need to be willing to sacrifice a bit. Having to leave a new school after just a month makes it seem like the only sacrifice is coming from Maddox.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s the goodbye card given to Maddox by his classmates today on his last day of school. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

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Posted in Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Brangelina, Education, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, School

Written by JayBird         See post for comments
Sep 26
'07
Maddox’s school has to tell parents to stop taking pictures of Brangelina

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Poor Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. They’ve been seriously inconvenienced lately when dropping off their oldest son Maddox at Manhattan’s ultra-posh Lycee Francais school. People are asking them for pictures, autographs, or just having the general nerve to say their names. But if nothing else, these are random street hooligans, right? Well, no. They’re other Lycee Francais parents. A little embarrassing. Considering how fancy the school is, you’d think the parents would be a little more annoyed by the Brangelina hubbub than the other way around, but sadly that’s not the case.

“The New York Observer reports that the Lycee’s director of operations, Dan Cooke, had to ask parents to leave Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie alone. He wrote in a letter, ‘Regretfully, I have seen some parents taking pictures, asking for autographs, talking to the media and even shouting at Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt for recognition. Therefore, in the best interests of the school and safety of your child(ren) I must ask for everyone to please respect the family’s privacy and discontinue these practices.’

“Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have made concerted efforts to ensure that the chaos [sic] that surrounds them is kept to a minimum when dropping son Maddox, 5, off for classes. Cooke explains in his letter:

“‘I’m sure you are aware the school has received much media attention recently during the arrival and dismissal times because of the presence of celebrities Ms. Angelina Jolie and/or Mr. Brad Pitt. I want to make you aware that before the first day of school I met with their security team to discuss the best manner in which for them to drop off and pick up their son. Our foremost goal was to cause the least amount of disruption to the school and to ensure the security of all of our students and families.’”

[From US Weekly]

I expected Upper East Side parents to have a bit more decorum about them, just not give a damn, or if nothing else be righteously annoyed by the Brangelina spectacle. Turns out they’re just a bunch of screaming girls at a Beatles concert like the rest of us. Too old a reference? Okay, turns out they’re just a bunch of screaming girls at a Justin Timberlake concert. That could really make those parent open houses awkward. Someone says hello to Brad Pitt, Brad’s security team knocks the parent over and confiscates their cell phone… and their camera… and their binoculars… okay I guess these people really are freaks.

It actually is enough of a problem that Maddox has become afraid of the paparazzi and all the screaming at school lately.

“A source tells the Observer that the constant attention of the paparazzi (and eager parents) has already had an effect on adopted son Maddox. The normally happy Mad got scared and started to cry when his kindergarten class was asked to bring in a picture of themselves.”

[From US Weekly]

Maybe he’s just crying because he’s got that silly Mohawk in all those pictures and he’s too embarrassed to bring one in? I’m kidding, the Mohawk is adorable. He’s probably actually crying because all of the family photos are in Us Weekly.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Angelina and Brad picking Maddox up from Lycee Francais. You can see that it looks like there’s a lot of students lined up to look at them, though no visible parents. Images thanks to the Daily Mail.

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Posted in Brad Pitt, Brangelina, Education, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Parents, School

Written by JayBird         See post for comments
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