Thank you so much for visiting, reading and commenting! Kaiser, Bedhead and I appreciate it and hope you’re having a great holiday. Let’s all raise our glasses to the year in gossip and best wishes for a happy scandalous 2012. Have an excellent New Year!

Here are our most popular posts of 2011 based on number of comments:
1. Brad Pitt backtracks: “It is not that Jen was dull, but…”

2. Brad Pitt talks about “feeling pathetic” in his marriage to Jennifer Aniston

3. Jennifer Aniston named “the Hottest Woman of All Time” by Men’s Health Mag

4. Angelina Jolie: “I’m still a bad girl, it just… belongs to Brad and our adventures”

5. Halle Berry on Nahla’s race: “I feel like she’s black, I believe in the one-drop theory”

6. Eddie Cibrian cut child support at same time he “bought” $85k ring for LeAnn

7. LeAnn Rimes bought Eddie Cibrian a Porsche for Christmas, and that’s not all

8. Heidi Bivens’ mom confirms Heidi’s “complicated” meeting with Jennifer Aniston

9. The Royal Wedding Open Post: When Baldy Met Glossy

10. Woody Allen’s son disgusted by his dad marrying his sister & won’t talk to him

Update: Here are the most popular stories based on number of pageviews, not comments. Disclaimer: The Goop story had so many hits because some huge newspaper website in the Netherlands linked it.

1. Gwyneth Paltrow goes topless, wears fishnets for Vanity Fair: Goopy or cute?

2. Prince William is worried about Kate Middleton’s dramatic weight loss

3. Jim Parsons’ boyfriend called off their wedding because Jim doesn’t want kids

4. Mila Kunis’s cell phone pics of Justin Timberlake were reportedly hacked

5. More “Blake Lively” naked photos released, is it really Blake?

You may know about this story already but it’s news to me. Woody Allen and Mia Farrow’s biological son Ronan Farrow, 23, is a former child prodigy and now works as a Special Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ronan is so gifted that he graduated Bard college at 16 and then went on to Yale law school, which he graduated at 21. Apparently Ronan threw himself into his studies and later his career, and hates his dad and doesn’t even talk to him. Who can blame him when his father married his own sister? Soon Yi is 41 now but she was just 21 when she allegedly first started seeing Woody in 1991, who was 55 at the time. As background which you probably already know, Soon-Yi was adopted by Farrow and her then-husband, Andre Previn, in 1978 when she was about eight years old. Farrow and Previn split up and she got together with Allen in 1980, when Soon-Yi was about 10. Once Soon-Yi was legal (or maybe before), Woody was all over that. It’s interesting to hear how his son feels about it. Again, these quotes are older but they’re new to me.

‘He’s my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression,’ Ronan has said.

‘I cannot see him. I cannot have a relationship with my father and be morally consistent… I lived with all these adopted children, so they are my family. To say Soon-Yi was not my sister is an insult to all adopted children,’ – Via The Daily Mail. Quotes are from several years ago.

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“Ronan grew to hate his father,” continued the source. “He was disgusted by Woody and his relationship with Soon Yi.”

“Ronan couldn’t care less if Woody’s proud of him or not,” added the source. “The only person who matters to him is his mother.”

[From The Daily Mail and The National Enquirer, print edition, December 19, 2011]

I guess this story of Ronan’s estrangement from his dad came out again after the news late last month that Ronan had been awarded a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford for a year. There also was a PBS special on Woody called American Masters that aired recently, and Woody “never mentions Ronan in the entire three-and-a-half hour series,” according to The Daily Mail. For her part Mia Farrow has acknowledged no longer speaking with her daughter Soon-Yi, who is still married to Woody Allen. Mia said of Soon-Yi in 2006 “It’s been a long time now. And I really don’t think of her as my daughter any more. I can’t. She isn’t. She’s estranged – and strange.”

Woody and Mia had son Ronan and they also adopted two children together. Mia had three biological children and three adopted children from her relationship with Andre Previn prior to Woody. After Mia and Woody split up, she went on to adopt six more children to bring her total number of kids up to 15. That must have been a pretty crazy household.

Woody and Soon-Yi Previn are shown in Rome on July 21, 2011. Woody is holding the hand of his adopted daughter, Manzie. They are also shown at Cannes on May 11, 2011. Ronan and Mia Farrow are both shown in 2009. Credit: WENN and Fame

While Woody Allen was filming Midnight In Paris, the tabloids went wild with the speculation that poor Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was such an inept actress that she needed 35 takes to film just one scene that involved a baguette and no dialogue. Now, the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival has commenced, and Allen (along with most of the principal cast) is on hand for the screening of Midnight in Paris, which contains a very wide-ranging cast including, of all people, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Adrian Brody, and (of course) Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Allen addresses (among other things) those rumors about Carla’s alleged skills as an actress as well as paparazzi fallout:

THR: What led to your casting Carla Bruni?

Allen: With Carla, my wife and I were having brunch with the Sarkozkys about a year and a half ago. I had never met them before. He was very charming, very nice, and then she walked into the room. She was so beautiful, so charming and charismatic, I said, ‘Would ever think of being in a movie? Just a small thing, for fun, for your own amusement. I knew she wouldn’t be available for three months of shooting, but I knew she had been before audiences before, playing the guitar, singing, making recordings. She said, ‘Yes, just once in my life I’d like to do it, so I could tell my grandchildren I was in a movie.’ So I said, ‘I’ll make it very simple, just a couple of days work. Something I know you can do, not something we have to work six weeks on. If you can relax and enjoy yourself, you will be fine.’ And she said, sure, she’d love that. And so she came in. She was no problem, she was very natural. The tabloids kept printing that I was doing a million takes with her, but I wasn’t at all. I was doing the normal amount of takes. I certainly don’t do a million takes with anybody, and I was only doing a normal amount with her. Her husband came to watch her work one night and thought she was just great, beautiful and a natural actress. All of the scenes that I wrote for her are in the picture and she did them well. It was a very pleasant experience doing the picture and very pleasant working with her.

THR: Did you realize when you cast her, she’d be a magnet for the paparazzi?

Allen: We have that all the time, whenever we are working in the street. When I was working in England with Scarlett Johansson, the tabloids were all over the place. When I was working in Barcelona with Javier and Penelope, the tabloids were out en masse. And when I work in New York, and there is someone in the movie of interest, they just come flocking. Here, interestingly, her first scene was in the Rodin Museum, so we had that privately to ourselves. So the paparazzi couldn’t get in there. Of course, then when we were working on the street, they were there, but that does happen. It happened with Marion Cotillard and Owen Wilson just as much.

See, I was really skeptical when the Daily Mail quoted a source saying that Allen “wasn’t particularly enthused” about Carla’s on-set performance. Mostly because Woody Allen never looks particularly enthused about anything. Even when he cracks a smile, the guy looks positively miserable. Anyway, Owen Wilson fans will be pleased to know that Woody wanted to cast Owen so badly that he rewrote the main East Coast character to suit Owen’s West Coast personality:

THR: The movie has a very eclectic cast — how did it fall into place?

Allen: I was certain I wanted Rachel McAdams. I knew that. She had always been what I conceived of for her part. The lead was a more East Coast character in the original script (casting director) Juliet Taylor suggested Owen Wilson. I had always been a fan of his, but always felt that has a very West Coast persona. He belongs very much at home on a beach or with a surfboard. So I rewrote the script, making the character a West Coast character. I sent it to Owen and I was very lucky he wanted to do it. Once I had them, I thought about Marion Cotillard. I guess she is the first person you think of when you think of France and getting an actress who is great in the same sense that when I was making Barcelona, I thought of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem because they are the internationally known giants of that country. The same thing here. Marion is not just a local French actress, she’s a great, internationally known movie actress. And she was available and willing to do it.

THR: Is that unusual for you, to rewrite a character to suit an actor?

Allen: That does happen, and I’m happy to do it if I can get an actor like Owen, who is a strong person to play something. Then I am perfectly willing to rewrite a character if I can rewrite it. Of course, there are some characters that you could never change. That would ruin the story. But very often you can adjust a character. If you have a strong personality, sometimes it requires an adjustment.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Ideally, Owen’s performance will be good enough that it will help revive his career after it went to the dogs with Marley and Me and Marmaduke, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one. For now and since it’s Cannes time, everyone wants to know whether the Sarkozys will attend the premiere, and even Woody admits that he has no idea if they’ll show up or not. While Carla hasn’t been snapped at the photocall, there’s still time for her to make an appearance at the premiere itself. In the meantime, here’s a look at the rest of the cast and some more on-set photos of Carla’s actressin’ skills.

Photos courtesy of WENN and Fame Pictures

I keep reading about Woody Allen directing a new film in Paris called Midnight in Paris, but the cast seems rather nonsensical to me. There’s Owen Wilson – who I believe is the “Woody” character, plus actors like Marion Cotillard, Adrien Brody, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen…and Kathy Bates? Anyway, somehow Woody talked Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, otherwise known as The First Lady of France, into taking a smaller supporting part in the film. I believe this is the first time a French First Lady worked on a film while her husband was in office. Expectations were high. And they’re just been deflated – it seems Carla can’t act her way out a paper bag. Not even in a scene without dialogue!

France’s First Lady Carla Bruni always struck us as ever-ready for her closeup, but apparently that’s not the case when it comes to acting. Some pretty hilarious reports are coming out of Paris where the stunning wife of Nicolas Sarkozy is doing a bit part as a museum curator in Woody Allen’s new film, “Midnight in Paris.”

According to London’s Mail Online website, Bruni required at least 35 takes to film a dialogue-free scene that required her to simply walk in and out of a grocery store clutching a baguette.

An onlooker quoted in the story says Bruni sacre-blew it because she was “struggling to avoid looking directly into the camera, which didn’t impress Woody Allen.” The source added: “The baguette scene could not have been simpler, but Carla wanted to make it a big one.” If she gave Allen a big headache instead, the director downplayed it. He reportedly “was very careful to show a lot of respect” to Bruni, “especially since she was surrounded by bodyguards.”

Allen was “particularly low-key” when Sarkozy himself showed up to check out his wife’s performance. According to the Mail, “he did not look particularly enthused by Carla’s acting.”

[From NYDN]

That’s hilarious. Carla has done very, very little acting, her career was always as a model and as a singer-songwriter, so I’d imagine that she wouldn’t be very “natural” trying to “act” for the camera, rather than “pose”. But 35 takes? On a scene without dialogue? Yikes. Do you think Pres. Sarkozy was like, “So, Carla, maybe just stick to singing and modeling from now on, eh?”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the infamous “Polanski petition” – of which many major American, British and French celebrities have already signed – is being circulated around the Cannes Film Festival. I suppose the petition’s instigator, Bernard-Henri Levy, hopes that the petition finds it’s way in front of someone else high-profile enough that his or her name will make the difference? Ugh. In any case, Polanski does have many defenders who are already speaking up on his behalf while they attend the Cannes Film Festival. One of those people? Woody Allen, who was involved in his own sketchy, gross scandal, although it wasn’t with an underage girl. It was with his step-daughter Soon-Yi, and she’s now his wife. Woody says that we should be over this whole Polanski thing at this point, because Polanski “did something wrong and he paid for it.” What?

Woody Allen has restated his support for fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski, who is in house arrest in connection with a 33-year-old sex scandal.

Allen said Polanski “was embarrassed by the whole thing,” “has suffered” and “has paid his dues.” He said Polanski is “an artist and is a nice person” who “did something wrong and he paid for it.”

Polanski pleaded guilty in 1978 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. He was taken into custody in September and is currently under house arrest in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Earlier this week, new allegations surfaced when a British actress claimed Polanski had sexually abused her when she was 16.

It was not clear whether Allen was aware of the new allegations when he made the remarks in an interview Saturday with France Info radio from the Cannes Film Festival. Allen had previously signed a petition calling for Polanski’s release.

Allen’s relationship with actress Mia Farrow ended in scandal and New York tabloid headlines in 1992, when she found out he was having an affair with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, then 22. Allen married Previn in 1997.

[From Huffington Post]

Apparently, Charlotte Lewis’s claims have made little to no impact on the Polanski-love felt in Cannes. Although I think it’s popular opinion that all of these people have signed the petition because they feel the same way as Woody Allen – that Polanski has already “suffered” et cetera – I really think many of them signed because they consider Polanski a genius, and that genius should be made certain behavioral allowances. That’s just my theory. Because I think the other argument, the one that Woody is making, about Polanski suffering and already paying for his crime(s) is bullsh-t.

Woody Allen came out of the courthouse $5 million richer. American Apparel began illegally using his image on billboards last year, and Woody was not happy about it, so he decided to sue. In the process of the negotiations, American Apparel tried to smear Woody’s name by bringing up his divorce from Mia Farrow, and his marriage to Soon-Yi Previn.

It seems American Apparel’s numskull attorney didn’t help much, because Woody Allen came out victorious. The $5 million will be paid by American Apparel’s insurance company.

Both sides announced the settlement – to be paid by American Apparel Inc.’s insurance company – on the morning a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan.

Reading from a statement outside court, Allen said he hoped the outcome “would discourage American Apparel or anyone else from ever trying such a thing again.” His lawyers said the $5 million appeared to be the largest amount ever paid to settle a lawsuit brought under state privacy statutes.

American Apparel president Dov Charney told reporters it wasn’t his decision to settle. The Los Angeles-based company’s insurance company “controlled the defense” in the case, he said.

“I’m not sorry for expressing myself,” he said.

Allen, 73, sued the trendy clothing company last year for $10 million after the advertisements turned up on billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site. Using a frame from the film “Annie Hall,” the ads depicted Allen as a Hasidic Jew – long beard, side curls, black hat – and featured Yiddish text meaning “the holy rebbe.”

Court papers filed on Allen’s behalf had described the actor-director as one of the most influential figures in the history of American film and said he believes maintaining strict control over his image has been critical to his success.

The papers claimed Allen hasn’t done commercials in the United States since 1960s, when he was a struggling standup comic. The billboards, he says, falsely implied he endorsed a clothing line known for its racy advertising – a “blatant misappropriation and commercial use of Allen’s image.”

[from Huffington Post]

Of course he had originally sued for $10 million, but $5 isn’t too shabby, and according to his lawyers, it’s the largest amount ever paid under state privacy issues. American Apparel was not pleased with the suit because they took the billboards down after a week.

This is one of those ridiculous situations where you just have to think, “who decided this was a good idea?” Not only did they use Woody Allen’s image, but they also used an image from Annie Hall – technically they would also have to pay royalties for that, as well (if they had done it legally, of course).

You know what I find to be the single most grating thing about reporters? They way they’re always asking questions and talking to you and stuff. It’s like, can you please keep a ten foot distance like everyone else? What’s wrong with you? I honestly don’t understand why journalists insist on all the queries. Shouldn’t they have better things to do?

So naturally my heart goes out to poor Evan Rachel Wood. She was at the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday night for the screening of her Woody Allen film “Whatever Works,” when a reporter actually had the gall to come within five feet of her (presumably), and ASK A QUESTION. Where do these people get off? Evan naturally did what any well-heeled young lady would do: covered her face and angrily stomped out of the event. You go girl! Don’t you dare give in to that bitch and answer a question!

EVAN Rachel Wood plays a bubbly blonde in Woody Allen’s bum bling “Whatever Works,” which kicked off the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday — but she was neither bubbly nor a blonde at the after- party. The actress, sporting a red dye job, agreed to pose for photos, but stormed out with her hands over her face almost immediately after being asked a simple question by a reporter. Her publicist later explained that she was feeling “overcrowded.” Allen didn’t stay long either, with his rep also chalking up his early exit to his “feeling claustrophobic.”

[From Page Six]

Apparently the Tribeca Film Festival is held in a matchbox. I could see how that’d get a little uncomfortable: hundreds of people shoved in there. Sure, you could remove the matchsticks and give them a little more space, but that’d kill the ambiance. It’s funny, because I’ve wandered around the area and most of the theaters look to be a regular size. Nothing gigantic mind you, but I think you could fit at least a couple dozen people in them and only be elbowed in the eye two or three times throughout the course of the night. I wonder why in the world they chose to hold such a big event in what was clearly an empty can of baked beans, judging by Evan Rachel Wood and Woody Allen’s reactions.

Or maybe they could just calm the hell down and be gracious! That film must have been a blast to shoot with the rampant (and apparently contagious) claustrophobia hopping around. Good luck promoting your movie; I’m sure it’ll get a lot of great press.

Here’s Evan Rachel Wood at the premiere of ‘Whatever Works’ during the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival held at Ziegfeld on Wednesday. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Last year Woody Allen sued American Apparel for using his image on billboards without his permission. Now the company is using several ridiculous tactics and arguments in its attempts to protect itself from losing up to $10 million. They’re trying to bring up irrelevant old scandals, like Allen’s divorce from Mia Farrow and subsequent marriage to her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. And this makes it okay for American Apparel to illegally use Woody Allen’s image how?

Actor-director Woody Allen has accused a clothing company of trying to harass and intimidate him with a “scorched earth” approach to defending itself against a $10 million lawsuit. In papers filed Wednesday by his lawyers, the 73-year-old Allen said American Apparel Inc. went too far in requesting information about his family life, personal finances and career.

Allen sued the company last year for using his image on the company’s billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site. Allen, who does not endorse products in the United States, said he had not authorized the displays, which the Los Angeles-based company said were up for a week. The new court papers said American Apparel has “adopted a `scorched earth’ approach,” issuing broad document requests and subpoenas to many people close to him, including his sister.

Allen’s lawyers said the company was seeking to “tarnish Mr. Allen’s reputation a second time” and called it a “despicable effort to intimate” him. American Apparel lawyer Stuart Slotnick said the company plans to make Allen’s relationships to actress Mia Farrow and her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, whom Allen married, the focus of a trial scheduled to begin in federal court in Manhattan on May 18. “Woody Allen expects $10 million for use of his image on billboards that were up and down in less than one week,” Slotnick said. “I think Woody Allen overestimates the value of his image.”

He said the company’s belief was that “after the various sex scandals that Woody Allen has been associated with, corporate America’s desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is.” Allen’s lawsuit said the billboard falsely implied he sponsored, endorsed or was associated with American Apparel. Slotnick said it was not a cheap shot to bring up Allen’s sex life in a lawsuit over the billboard and Internet ads. “It’s certainly relevant in assessing the value of an endorsement,” he said.

[From the Huffington Post]

Allen has made it clear that he does not engage in any form of product endorsement in America. Yet one of the company’s many ridiculous defenses is that, “corporate America’s desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is” is absolutely irrelevant and ridiculous. Allen already said he doesn’t endorse products in The U.S. – that’s the point. And even if he did, it doesn’t change the fact that he did not endorse American Apparel.

All ignorant lawyer Stuart Slotnick is doing is backing up Woody’s claims. And he further puts his foot in his mouth when you consider the fact that even though “corporate America’s desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is,” American Apparel sure had quite the desire to use Allen’s image, even if it meant doing so illegally. So he completely nullifies his point on both counts. The upside is that Allen’s certain to win, considering American Apparel hired a numskull attorney that can’t even think through a logical argument. All he’s been able to come up with to defend the company is Allen’s unrelated scandal from 15 years ago. Something tells me Stuart Slotnick graduated bottom of the class.

Several years ago, Angela Bassett had some harsh words to say about Halle Berry’s Academy Award-winning role in Monster’s Ball. Bassett said that she had been up for the role, but had refused it because she thought the character was basically a bad stereotype. This was greeted with many asking themselves “What is Angela Bassett talking about?”

I bring this up because Bassett seems to make a habit of complaining about the roles offered to, written for and given to African-American actresses. There’s a lot to complain about, for sure, but Bassett’s attitude may be the reason she, in particular, is lacking juicy roles. Bassett’s most recent comment was about Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in which there’s only one black character. The Telegraph has more:

Although Woody Allen’s latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, has been seen by the critics as a welcome return to form for the director and won its star Penélope Cruz a Bafta award, Angela Bassett, the acclaimed black actress, has her reservations about its cultural authenticity.

“I mean, to have one black cast member for the whole film seems rather strange, and, oh yes, she’s a prostitute, of course,” said the actress who portrayed Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With it? “Don’t get me wrong, I love Spain and it looked beautiful, but that part of the world is so diverse and, really, what is that about?”

Although Allen has succeeded in signing up Sir Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin to appear in his next film, which is set in London, the 50-year-old American actress added that she had herself no desire to work for him. “I wouldn’t want to,” she told Mandrake at the premiere of Notorious, a film about the late rap singer the Notorious B.I.G. “He’s a little weird.”

Miss Bassett is not the first person to point out the prevalence of white faces in Allen’s films. When Spike Lee, the black director, was criticised for allegedly not featuring many white characters in his films, he was quick to point out that Allen had very few blacks in his.

Allen robustly disputes that he is a racist. His wife is Soon-Yi Previn, whom he married in 1997. She is the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, his former wife. When they married, Allen was 56 and Miss Previn 22.

From The Sunday Telegraph

I’m actually a big Woody Allen fan. I like films with a lot of dialogue and interesting, neurotic characters. But I’ve never fooled myself into thinking that Woody’s films are any kind of racially representative universe. Woody’s films usually only have two groups represented: Semites and non-semites. Does this make Woody a racist? I doubt it. It just means he probably has no history in which to base a really well-written African-American character. But give Woody some credit. Though Vicky Cristina was lacking good parts for African-Americans, it had juicy roles for two Spanish actors – Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

The race debate comes out nearly every year around the Oscars, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In the past seven years, African-American actors have picked up major prizes around the world, like Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, just to name a few. Perhaps Bassett should just stick to the larger argument: African-American women, as well as all women of color, should have better characters, better writing, and more work. Don’t beat up on Woody Allen, when he’s just one of many who haven’t written enough roles for women of color.

Angelina Bassett is shown at the Critics Choice Awards on 1/8/09. Woody Allen is shown at a press conference on 9/21/08. Credit: WENN

He’s worked with Diane Keaton, Dianne Wiest, Judy Davis and of course Mia Farrow, so Woody Allen must know talent when he sees it. However, in a recent press event promoting his new film, “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” the iconic writer/director gushes about current obsession Scarlett Johansson, calling her “one of the great American actresses.” Hmm. Did I miss something?

For years, Scarlett Johansson has been dubbed Woody Allen’s, muse and while the veteran director greatly admires his “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” starlet, he made it quite clear that Johansson is not his central source of inspiration.

“It is silly — she’s in no way my muse, but she is one of the great American actresses,” Allen said at the film’s recent Los Angeles premiere.

[From Fox News]

I have to disagree with Woody on this one. It’s not that I dislike Johansson – she’s a fantastic looking woman and seems like a nice person. However, in every movie, she has that same, blank-stare expression and monotone speaking voice. Sometimes, it works for her character, as it did in “Lost in Translation” and “Ghost World,” where she played disaffected young women. But in “Girl with Pearl Earring” and “The Other Boleyn Girl,” she seemed way out of her league acting-wise, with her mouth hanging open and a robotic line delivery that was just too distracting. Maybe Woody is seeing something I don’t. If anyone can clear this up for me, please do- I just don’t get all the praise for her acting.

Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Allen and Rebecca Hall are shown at the LA premiere of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” on 8/4/08. Credit: Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos