Seriously, at this point what’s the difference between Taylor Momsen and a teenage runaway who supports herself by hooking? Because there’s absolutely no visual difference at this point. I just saw these photos of Taylor Momsen walking around the Brooklyn set of Gossip Girl today, smoking. Her character was not smoking, Taylor was. Because she’s 16 years old. Because she doesn’t give a f-ck. Because she’s a pantless brat. Because she wants to be the next Lindsay Lohan.

Ordinarily, I dislike the anti-smoking zealots because, hey, I used to smoke all the time, and I don’t like to hate on smokers. Sure, it’s a bad habit. So is drinking and using drugs and having unprotected sex and texting while driving. And all of those things also kill people, as do cigarettes. But there’s something about smoking that brings out the really hardcore zealots. Anyway, I digress – Taylor, 16 years old, pantless, smoking. I really think this has become a Lohan situation. In a few months, I predict Taylor will be living alone at the Chateau Marmont, buying rounds of tequila shots for “industry” types who will treat her just like they’ve treated Lindsay.

Taylor, I beg you. Put down the cig. I know you don’t give a f-ck about anything or anyone, and I know you’re totally punk because you wear your Chanel eyeliner with a dog collar or whatever, but just ease up on the cigs. I get it. You want to be Lindsay, with a smoker’s rasp at the age of 18, and sun-and-cigarette damaged skin by the age of 20. Just buy some Nicorette or something.

P.S. Is it just me or is that a really fat cigarette? Is she smoking Camel Wides?

Taylor Momsen in Brooklyn on January 27, 2010. Credit: Pacific Coast News.

People Magazine is finally running the Rebecca Gayheart-is-knocked-up story, which basically means someone officially connected to Rebecca and Eric Dane okayed the release of the information. Which means Rebecca’s pregnancy is official. I know, I know. Rebecca is barely B-list, but her husband is high B, perhaps even A-List (in the television world, because of Grey’s Anatomy). This would be such a non-story if not for a few other significant events.

The rumors about Rebecca’s pregnancy have been swirling for a while – almost as long as the minor scandal of the naked-hang-out tape with former beauty queen/maybe hooker Kari Ann Peniche. The other rumor swirling is that Rebecca is still on drugs. We already knowshe’s still smoking. I hate to be a judgy bitch (that’s a lie), but I find it revolting that she’s still smoking. I don’t judge smokers as a rule – but the exception I make is for dumb pregnant women who smoke in this day and age.

Out on a stroll in Los Angeles last weekend with husband Eric Dane, Rebecca Gayheart showed in public what the couple’s close friends have known for some time: that she’s expecting. In February, Dane, 37, told Ellen DeGeneres that he and Gayheart, 38, wanted a baby. “They’re definitely happy,” a source tells PEOPLE. “They’ve been trying for so long.” Reps for the pair have not commented.

[From People]

Well, congratulations and God bless. A shiny new baby will solve any pesky little p.r. problems for the next year or so. Now Rebecca needs to quit the smokes, quit the drugs, quit the liquor and take her prenatal vitamins. Judging from the bump Rebecca’s been sporting, my guess is that she’s probably in her fourth month, but that is just a guess. I’m hoping this pregnancy actually makes Rebecca clean up her issues, and I hope mom and the baby are happy and healthy. Fingers crossed.

Rebecca Gayheart is shown out on 9/23 and 9/25/09. Credit: WENN.com

As Katherine Heigl promotes the hell out of The Ugly Truth, she’s been forced to talk about some subjects that she’d honestly rather not. I think first up for Heigl’s worst topics is her smoking habit. Personally, I’m not a hater (about that, anyway). It’s tough to quit, and it’s even tougher to get to that place where you think “Okay, I can quit now and really stick with it”. Think about this way – could you “quit” caffeine? They’re similar addictions. I know some (many) think smoking is worse than illegal drugs, so whatever… agree to disagree.

The second weird topic for Heigl is the whole baby thing. The one thing I’ll never understand is why everyone is always asking Heigl about babies. She’s obviously still a smoker – she will have to quit before she gets pregnant. I guess the tabloids (and perhaps, we, as a society) look at someone like Katherine and we’re all “she’s married now, she should have babies next!” According to In Touch Weekly, this is just what is going through Katherine’s mind too – according to their sources, Heigl has informed Grey’s Anatomy producers to prepare for a pregnancy:

According to an insider, Katherine has informed Grey’s Anatomy producers that she and her husband Josh are trying to start a family, so that her pregnancy can be written into the show’s storyline.

“They are ready for a child,” says the insider. “She gave her TV bosses a heads-up, just in case she gets pregnant soon.”

Katherine and Josh reportedly also plan to adopt a child from Korea (where Katherine’s sister was adopted from), but Korean law requires that a couple be married for three years prior to adopting. Since they’ve only been married for a year and a half, they’re trying for a biological baby first. Says an insider, “They are hoping for a big family.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, August 3 2009]

Meh to that report. I don’t buy that Katherine’s trying to get pregnant (because she’s still smoking), but I might buy that she and Josh are considering adoption. But why does it always have to be from South Korea? Just because her sister was adopted from South Korea? That rumor has been percolating for a while, and I’m not sure if anything will come of it.

Katherine also talked about her body image, dieting and pregnancy to Star Magazine. She claims she’s “scared” to get pregnant because she knows she’ll get fat:

Q: You are curvy, which translates as: You don’t diet yourself to death. Do you have a quick beauty fix?
KH: I stop eating! I’m not small-boned, and my bra size went from a B cup to 32DD when I was 18, so there’s only so much I can do.

Q: Are you and Josh thinking about babies?
KH: One day, sure. But pregnancy scares me. I know I’ll be one of those women who looks pregnant all over the body. I’ll get fatter and fatter from my toes up!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, August 3 2009]

So, which is it? Do you think Katherine’s trying to get pregnant, or trying to adopt? Or none of the above? I really don’t think she‘s into babies right now. Her career is going at a steady clip, and she probably doesn’t want to break that rhythm for a little while longer. And besides, it’s her business, not ours.

Katherine Heigl is shown outside The Late Show on 7/20/09. Credit: WENN.com

Last week, we got some of the first quotes from Katherine Heigl’s In Style cover interview. Dame Heigl was in her standard form, complaining about how romantic comedies today shouldn’t be “so Snow White and Prince Charming.” More of the interview was released, and now we have some more gems. In Style asked Heigl about her smoking habit – she’s one of the those rare celebrity smokers who doesn’t seem to care how often she’s photographed with a smoke. Heigl claims that she’s “ashamed” of her habit, and that smoking is “stupid”. She also tries to fight back against the claim that she has a nasty habit of biting the hand that feeds her:

Katherine Heigl isn’t proud of some her habits. In an interview with In Style magazine, the “Grey’s Anatomy” actress and star of the upcoming movie “The Ugly Truth,” says she is “ashamed” of herself for continuing to smoke, adding that “it’s so stupid.”

But one thing Heigl, 30, doesn’t feel any shame for his expressing her opinions – even when it gives her a bad reputation.

“I’ve got this moniker that I’m the foot-in-mouth gal, and I keep thinking, ‘In what way?’” she said. “Because I said something you don’t agree with? Because I said something you don’t like? I’m just telling you my opinion. I hate the idea that I can’t be honest about how I feel about things because it’s going to piss somebody off who feels differently. That seems preposterous to me.”

[From Fox News]

Well, there’s saying something that isn’t quite politically correct, and then there’s totally alienating people that would ordinarily want to work with you. Heigl walks that knife’s edge like a champ. If she doesn’t see anything wrong with it, then more power to her. My guess is that if she doesn’t learn how to reign herself in, she won’t have much of a career in several years. Which isn’t too horrible of a prospect, although I do think Heigl is actually a somewhat gifted actress.

The Ugly Truth comes out this Friday, and the press tour just keeps on rolling. There are some funny quotes in Entertainment Weekly (story via CNN) about how Heigl, Gerard Butler and director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) all came together. Apparently, Heigl was the first to sign on, then the director, and then Gerard. The director “skeptical”, saying “The guy from ’300′? In a comedy with Katherine Heigl?” So Gerard and Luketic went to dinner, and Gerard charmed him before they even ordered. Gerard says, “I was telling jokes and long, politically incorrect stories. When I saw the script, I was like, ‘OK, this is me.’” Gerard describes the combination of himself, Heigl and Luketic, “Three alpha, outrageous people.” Luketic describes the film this way: “There’s a lot of, shall I say, flagrant banging and swearing and climaxing and squealing.”

And for the last of the Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigl news, apparently as the two actors were doing press on Saturday at the Four Seasons, the hotel had to be evacuated because of a bomb threat. Oh my God, someone was trying to hurt my Gerard!

Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler got their own dose of Ugly Truth while promoting their new romantic comedy of the same name Saturday in Bever;y Hills, Ca.

The pair were evacuated from the swanky Four Seasons just before 2 p.m., according to reports, after a bomb threat was phoned into the celeb-fave spot.

Butler mingled with fans outside and was even spotted taking photos with Italian soccer team members from AC Milan, staying at the hotel while facing David Beckham’s LA Galaxy.

Heigl was reportedly whisked away promptly. No threat was found after a sweep of the premises.

[From Radar]

Heigl was whisked away promptly? Who is she, the president? Does she have a bulletproof Cadillac standing by at all times? You can tell a lot about a person by how they behave in a bomb threat situation – and it looks like Gerard Butler won. He kept his cool and was magnanimous even as he was awaiting the “all clear” in the parking lot or wherever. Meh. Heigl probably called in the bomb threat because she wanted a smoke break.

Katherine Heigl is shown smoking on 2/28/08 (sunglasses on head, credit: WENN.com) and 11/12/08 (sunglasses on, credit: Fame Pictures)

Two years ago, we covered a story that the Motion Picture Association of America was considering banning smoking in all but R-Rated movies, unless the person portrayed was an actual historical figure who smoked. This was based on a recommendation from the Harvard School of Public Health, and it was a controversial one that didn’t come to pass.

Some argued that there are characters who are likely to smoke and that it looks conspicuous to have them drinking but not smoking. Others thought it was a good idea as smoking shouldn’t be glamorized on screen as it was in the past. Screen legend Humphrey Bogart died at the age of 57 from lung cancer after years of making smoking look romantic on screen. Many of you thought that banning smoking in all but R films is too extreme, though, and said that friends and family were more likely to influence you than a character in a film.

Recent film He’s Just Not That Into You has come under fire from the American Medical Association for showing characters smoking. The AMA says the movie not only portrays smoking, but that it uses blatant product placement for specific brands. They’re demanding that filmmakers reveal if they were paid to include shots of the easily recognized packs. A spokesperson for American Spirit cigarettes, which are shown in the film, says that they weren’t contacted about the product placement, that they don’t condone it and that they definitely didn’t pay for it:

The American Medical Association Alliance said it intends to lodge an official complaint on Thursday with Warner Brothers and its corporate parent, Time Warner, over “disturbing images of specific cigarette brands in this youth-rated movie,” said Melissa Walthers, director of the health advocacy group’s effort to reduce teenage smoking.

Among other things, the group wants Warner publicly to certify that it received no payment for the product placement and is asking all Hollywood studios to ban filmmakers from showing specific tobacco brands in their work. “There is absolutely zero artistic justification for this,” Ms. Walthers said in a telephone interview, adding that various studies estimate that smoking in films prompts 200,000 young people annually to start smoking.

“He’s Just Not That Into You,” a PG-13 hit which has sold more than $100 million in tickets worldwide since its release on Feb. 6, does not depict anyone smoking, and there is a prominent story line placing cigarettes in a negative light. A character played by Jennifer Connelly leaves her husband (Bradley Cooper) not because he cheated on her — which he admits to her that he did — but because he lied about quitting smoking.
But there are numerous shots of Natural American Spirit Lights, easily identifiable by their bright yellow box. The alliance, the 27,000-member volunteer arm of the A.M.A., also spotted a “highly recognizable red Marlboro carton,” although a person who worked on the film disputed this.

As for the story line discouraging smoking, Ms. Walthers said, “It doesn’t really matter if the story line is negative or not in terms of the impact on kids.”

Ms. Walthers has an ally in the fight that may strike some as unusual: Santa Fe Tobacco, the maker of Natural American Spirits. “We respect artistic license, but we have to agree that our cigarettes should not be shown in films,” said Mark Smith, a spokesman for Santa Fe Tobacco. “It is something we absolutely do not condone.” He added: “We were never contacted about using our brand in this film, and we sent no product.”

“He’s Just Not That Into You” came to the studio a year ago after Time Warner ceased operating its New Line label as a stand-alone unit. As it struggled to absorb New Line projects — some of them in disarray — scrutiny of “He’s Just Not That Into You” by Warner’s standards department came later that usual in the production process, according to two studio executives who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The Motion Picture Association of America in May 2007 said it would consider portrayals of smoking alongside sex and violence in assessing the suitability of movies for young viewers. Meanwhile studios, under pressure from health groups, have been trying to pressure filmmakers to trim tobacco sequences from their movies, but have balked at an outright ban, citing the need for artistic license.

[From The NY Times]

I can get very sick from secondhand cigarette smoke so anything that discourages people from smoking is welcome, but I also see where filmmakers are coming from. They want to portray people accurately, and people smoke. Producer Drew Barrymore smokes, a lot of her friends are likely to smoke, including actress Jennifer Aniston, and she probably doesn’t see why she shouldn’t show that in her films. To her, it’s representative of what people she knows are doing. It’s not something she probably even thinks twice about including in a movie. Maybe she’ll be more thoughtful about it now, though.

For those of you who have seen the film, did they show smoking in a positive, negative or neutral light? How often was it shown? It sounds like they showed smoking but also discouraged it, given the quote that “It doesn’t really matter if the story line is negative or not in terms of the impact on kids.” That comes across as a little extreme from the AMA, but you understand their concern.

Photos thanks to Allmoviephoto.

PETA picks a lot of small fights with celebrities over things that seem pointless and a often trite. Like they went after Sharon Stone for insisting that a live spider have its pincers removed before filming a scene with it in some B horror movie in the early 80s. PETA said she had a “heart of stone” for forcing the spider to be an “amputee,” calling it a “tiny insect” even though it probably looked like one of those spiders that’s as big as your hand. They partially make up for their insistence on even arachnid’s rights by also issuing amusing press releases, like one in which they ooffered to give Stone a free brain scan to see if she had some abnormality that was causing her to completely lack empathy for people and animals.

There are plenty of other groups that could get publicity for their cause by calling out celebrities on bad behavior, but they usually take the high road, or just don’t bother, assuming that they’ll come off as radical and reactionary as PETA usually does. The American Cancer society is definitely an organization that could get plenty of well-deserved press. They could issue statements pointing out the various celebrities puffing away and discussing the damage they’re doing to their health, the environment, bystanders and their skin. They could say how counter productive and hypocritical is to smoke and then to turnaround and spend thousands on high end skin care, botox, and dermatology procedures.

Instead they’re going after Michael Jordan for smoking cigars. Maybe the people at the American Cancer Society are old and think he’s still a major celebrity. I mean, he is, but let’s pick on the constant smokers instead. They seem to be taking offense because he’s an athlete, but the little ash-dropping starlets need some smack-talking too. They’re missing a real opportunity here.

The ACS is fuming over several photos TMZ posted earlier of MJ playing softball with a fat stogie hangin’ out of his mouth. Now, the ACS has unleashed a mouthpiece of their own, their former president Cary Presant MD, who told us, “When high profile athletes publicly display unhealthful habits they can mislead young people to emulate their behavior. According to the American Cancer Society tobacco use in this country is responsible for 1/3 of all cancers and remains the most preventable cause of death in our society. 8.6 million Americans suffer from chronic smoking-related disease. Since 1964 smoking has cause more than 12 million premature deaths in the U.S.”

[From TMZ]

Katherine Heigl, Jennifer Aniston, Mary-Kate Olsen, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Lily Allen – they’re all smokers, and they’re all a lot more visible than Michael Jordan at this point in time. Maybe not Lilly Allen, but you get my point. American Cancer Society staff could definitely take some lessons in self promotion from PETA and start targeting some more talked-about celebrities. Unfortunately those lessons also come with a heavy dose of humility and some snickering when those organizations seem to overstep their bounds.

Update: The American Cancer Society doesn’t normally comment on celebrity smoking, but they were asked specifically by TMZ what they thought of those pictures, which were pointed out to them. They say someone from TMZ called them, a volunteer gave a pretty low-key standard response that smoking is bad for your health, and it turned into this big thing. I would credit peachfish but she/he wasn’t that gracious at pointing out the error, which was TMZ’s, not ours.

Lilly Allen is shown smoking a joint or hand-rolled cigarette at Glastonbury on 6/29/08. Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson are shown taking a cigarette break on 8/15/08. Britney is shown smoking on 8/9/08. Amy Winehouse is shown smoking on 6/9/08, but that’s the least of her problems. Credit: Fame