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Variety critic writes about Renee Zellweger’s face & now everybody’s mad

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Last week, the second full-length trailer for Bridget Jones’s Baby dropped. I didn’t cover it because A) I didn’t think people would care and B) I found the second trailer even more depressing than the first trailer. While I am excited to see Renee Zellweger return to a celebrated and beloved role, as I see more of the plot, my excitement dies a little bit. I just think baby-daddy hijinks for a woman in her mid-to-late 40s is a bit much, honestly. Out of all the plot lines, they chose that? I understand that they’re basing it off Helen Fielding’s columns, but maybe they shouldn’t have waited so many years to make this one? Here’s the second trailer: So, yes, I have some complaints. At the heart of those complaints is just plain old disappointment though: the first Bridget Jones movie is as close to perfect as possible. It is arguably one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Renee was so good in it that she got an Oscar nom! But 15 years later, we’re getting this mess. And when one critic – Variety’s Owen Gleiberman – expressed his disappointment, he got into a world of trouble. Gleiberman wrote a piece called “Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?” You can read the piece here. It’s supposed to be a “think-piece” about how Zellweger has changed her face so drastically that she’s no longer believable as Bridget Jones, and this guy is personally offended by that. He goes on at length about the pressures of society, and how Zellweger used to be pretty in a normal, believable, girl-next-door sort of way but now she doesn’t look like herself because of her very noticeable plastic surgery and he just goes on and on about it. So, obviously, Owen Gleiberman got slammed all over the place for being sexist and ageist. If we’re saying that this dude never would have written a long-winded, body-policing think-piece about how Russell Crowe is no longer believable as a leading man because of how HE looks and how HE is ageing, I can see that point, and I agree with it. That is sexist and ageist if we’re just going to go on and on about only the actresses. But… I also think that Gleiberman had a (albeit minor) point? If actors and actresses want to drastically change their looks through plastic surgery, so be it. Live and let live, and your body, your choice. But of course people are going to comment. And some of us even made similar comments when we first saw the set photos of Renee-as-Bridget, that “she doesn’t even look like Bridget” and “why does she look so different?” Of course none of us wrote long-winded hot-take think-pieces for Variety analyzing all of the many ways in which her face disappoints us personally. Why is it odd for Renée Zellweger to look slightly different than she did 15 years ago, but not odd for Kate Beckinsale to look identical? — Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) July 2, 2016 @Variety It's called aging, any by the way, everyone is doing it. We aren't helping women become stronger by pointing out their ages… — Trevor Jordan (@VampirePangs) July 1, 2016 Dear @Variety and @OwenGleiberman .. What a load of sexist GARBAGE. Delete your account(s). — Lindazilla (@Lindazilla) July 1, 2016 Photos courtesy of WENN, EW, Fame/Flynet.

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Duchess Kate is spending more of Charles’ money on high-end clothes this year

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2016 has brought us a “new and improved” Duchess of Cambridge, or so her PR would have us believe. Five years into her role as duchess, Kate is supposed to be feeling more comfortable in her royal role. We’re also supposed to believe that she’s successfully transitioned from her mass-market High Street looks to more expensive and sophisticated designer clothes. Personally, I don’t see much of a difference in her style in the past few years other than the price tags. Which I suspect is the point of this piece at the Daily Mail. While Prince Harry is shopping the bargain bins at Waitrose, Kate is spending her father-in-law’s money on undercooked cinnamon bun hats and doily dresses. She was once hailed ‘Queen of the High Street’ for championing mid-range clothes within reach of the average woman’s budget. But the Duchess of Cambridge has been re-crowned the ‘Designer Duchess’ after replacing her trusted Zara dresses and Topshop bargains with haute couture. Once a reluctant style icon, Kate –who famously wore a £50 blue Zara dress the day after her wedding – is now almost exclusively choosing high-end gowns, coats and shoes. And the 34-year-old’s new tastes do not come cheap. Much of her working wardrobe is paid for by the Prince of Wales, who funds William, Kate and Harry’s official activities. Royal accounts published last week show Charles’s ‘other expenditure’, which includes money spent on Kate and his sons, rose 9.5 per cent in a year to £3.2 million – although aides refused to specify how much of that went on Kate’s wardrobe. The transition has come with the help of an in-house tailor and her personal dresser, 29-year-old Natasha Archer, also based in Kensington Palace. The most expensive item Kate has been seen in this year was a £7,000 pale blue Catherine Walker coat dress, which she wore to the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral last month. While her clothes are now of a better quality, she is increasingly ‘recycling’ outfits she has worn before, including a £2,000 cream-coloured Alexander McQueen coat dress seen at Trooping the Colour in June. And she has finally ditched her trusty £145 LK Bennett court shoes in favour of pumps by Milan-based Gianvito Rossi, costing about £450. ‘Kate is wearing pricier pieces for semi-formal engagements,’ says Susan Kelley, editor of the website What Kate Wore. ‘We’ve seen her in three Dolce & Gabbana lace dresses in the past year which cost more than £6,000 in total. Now, almost all of her special occasion dresses are upscale, luxury labels.’ [From The Daily Mail] I understand that her wardrobe is supposed to be seen as a “years-long transition,” rather than an overnight change from middle-class girlfriend to high-end duchess. But what strikes me about Kate’s wardrobe is that you really can’t tell which pieces are high-end and which pieces are mass market, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Some women – the Diane Krugers and Cate Blanchetts of the world – can make inexpensive clothes look rich. Some women – like Kate – make high-end pieces look mass-market. One of the biggest issues with Kate’s clothes is how much she’s spending on personalized tailoring, most of which is unneeded. Or worse yet, the tailoring actually screws up the look. And you have to look no further than her absolutely awful bespoke piece at the Battle of Somme centenary event last Friday to see that this is Kate’s (expensive) vision for how she’s supposed to look. All with Charles’ money! Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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Stacey Dash: Jesse Williams is a ‘perfect example of a Hollywood plantation slave’

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Just know, I was looking to avoid covering this, but it’s the Friday before a long holiday weekend and there isn’t much else going on. I’d actually like some commenter-thoughts on this one: in the future, is it smarter to simply avoid Stacey Dash stories completely, no matter how hard she’s trolling? Or should we cover those stories because we need to say (repeatedly) that Stacey Dash is a terrible person filled with terrible ideas? The BET Awards were held last Sunday, and one of the best moments from the show was Jesse Williams receiving an award for his humanitarian work, and his work with Black Lives Matter and the Advancement Project. Here’s his speech again: @iJesseWilliams full speech. P R E A C H!!!https://t.co/CESmMrtmWA — 100% (@goafgang) June 27, 2016 It was a powerful speech that touched on many issues, from police brutality to the exclusion of black women from the narrative of civil rights movements, from savage inequalities in education to the systemic appropriation of black art and talent. Many were moved to tears by Williams. But not Stacey Dash, master troll and Fox News idiot. Dash got on her Patheos blog to complain about Jesse’s speech and insult him for daring to be a black man at an awards show recognizing diversity in the arts and making a speech about the racial problems we still have in this country. How dare he, right? Here’s part of what Dash wrote (I’m leaving her typos): You’ve just seen the perfect example of a HOLLYWOOD plantation slave! Sorry, Mr Williams. But the fact that you were standing on that stage at THOSE awards tells people you really don’t know what your talking about. Just spewing hate and anger. Because you my man are just like everyone else hustling to get money. But your cognitive dissidents has you getting it from THAT BYSTANDER whom YOU DONT NEED. Yes. BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION is WHITE OWNED. GET over yourself and get on with it! That chip on the shoulders of people like you will weigh you down and keep you from flying free. But true freedom is never free. You have to know how to fly. If anyone is making you feel this way its you. Living in a psychological prison of your own making. If anyone is GHETTO-IZING anyone, it’s people like you letting the BETs and other media outlets portray us in stereotypes. [From Dash’s Patheos blog] A few points. You’re not your. Cognitive dissonance not cognitive dissidents. As for the rest of it… I don’t even want to waste my energy trying to figure out the pretzel of logic she uses to claim that Jesse William is the one ghettoizing people and stereotyping people. How is Jesse Williams a “plantation slave” for working with black activists and making a speech about how much work is left to be done? Who can tell anymore? A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Photos courtesy of WENN.

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People Mag writer calls out celebrities & publicists in a hilarious resignation letter

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Sara Hammel may be my new hero. Hammel was, up until recently, an award-winning entertainment journalist working for People Magazine. Hammel had been working for People Mag for 14 years as a freelance writer, and she had covered some really big entertainment stories, like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ Rome wedding. Well, after 14 years, she had enough. Enough of the celebrities, enough of their bats—t crazy publicists, and enough of the not-so-subtle changes with how People Magazine functions as an entertainment news source. So when Hammel resigned, she did so in a letter which is being called “bridge-burning” and “scorched earth.” And not only that, she made the letter public, so anyone can read it. Here you go: Dear People Magazine, I quit. It’s not me, it’s you. It’s been a wildly dysfunctional 14 years, and you’re an entirely different magazine than when we first got together. I swear half the current staff doesn’t know my name, despite my contribution to something like fifteen hundred stories in your celebrity annals, so here’s a refresher: I worked inside your London, Los Angeles and New York bureaus, covered breaking news in nine countries, and dealt with too many celebrities to remember (I know this because I was cruising through your archives recently and found my name on files I had no recollection of writing, and interviews with people I have no memory of meeting, like Ellen and Portia together, plus both leads in Nip/Tuck and that guy from Burn Notice). My first celebrity assignment for you was Spice Girl Geri Halliwell in 2002. My last was Robert De Niro in April 2016. In between, there were memorable encounters galore, including making the gorgeous and empathic Mariska Hargitay ugly-cry (turns out she cries at like every charity-related event, phew), enduring an Oscar winner’s public bullying over an intimate dinner, facing a personal crisis at Tom Cruise’s wedding in Rome, getting basically, kind of spat on by a snotty J. Lo (okay, it was like a very wet pffttt in my general direction, really obnoxious), having fun with endless lower-key celebs like Rosario Dawson and Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Douglas, observing just how stiff and awkward George Clooney is around kids, insulting Sheryl Crow’s baby, and getting groped/harrassed by an A-list [omitted] performer in New York and Paris (that’s not to be flip—it was violating as hell. I’m still pissed I didn’t jab him in the balls with my pen). This is just what the entitled stars and their bat—t crazy publicists put me and many other talented, hard-working reporters through. You people, as it turns out, are worse. Stupidly, we expect loyalty and support from you after years of service. We are naïve. Despite your nicey nice, glossy and chirpy veneer, some of us think of you more as the Leo DiCaprio of magazines, using up every beautiful model that crosses your path (“beautiful model”= “award-winning journalist” in this scenario), discarding them, and pretending you leave no wake behind you. I’m oddly surprised my tenure here is ending not with explosive hatred stoked by a cold dismissal from an insensate behemoth (i.e. you)—a fate I watched ashen-faced friends and colleagues endure before my eyes during the Los Angeles bureau’s 2008 culling—but with a slow fade-out and a final venting of my gossip-weary spleen. Then again, that’s why I’m happy being freelance. I’ve survived something like eight rounds of layoffs where talented colleagues were bitch-slapped into oblivion and, I hope, will never give their nights, weekends, relationships and sanity again to keep up with an email chain about whether Jennifer Aniston is pregnant at 47 because of those tummy photos and what kind of mom will she be, when really she just had an extra burrito at lunch; but oh, wait, the rep says it’s just a rumor so there’s no story this week after all. Read the rest in my mini-memoir. I will say, what happens after that is that my debut teen mystery, the one I spent my adult life making into a reality, but which, despite the schlock regularly featured in its pages and online, People decided to ignore—more to the point, they ignored me entirely—even after I toiled away for them for 14 years. They wouldn’t even give me a digital post that I wrote, sourced, and agreed to remove the name of my book from (LOL). That book is called The Underdogs. I’ll leave you with the kicker: As I was crafting this letter, a Tweet came through from one of your top editors, Kate Coyne, crowing about her full-page People feature promoting her brand-new book, accompanied by a colorful screenshot. “Don’t ask how, but I got in touch with someone at @people—now I’m in the new issue. So grateful!” You should be, Kate. Enjoy it while it lasts. Sincerely, Sara Hammel [Letter via the NY Post] That’s some good dirt! I want to know the identities of those two blind items: who is A) the Oscar winner who publicly bullied Hammel over an intimate dinner and B) the A-lister who groped and harassed her? I love all of the named shade too – while I love J.Lo, I have no doubt that she’s spat/phlegm’d on reporters. And I think the whole idea of Clooney being really awkward around children is HILARIOUS. Granted, I’m awkward with kids too, but I’m not George Clooney! As for the email chains about Jennifer Aniston’s burrito baby… that’s a very “how the sausage is made” story about editorial decisions, isn’t it? That People Mag reporters are email-chaining about Aniston possibly being pregnant at 47 is… sad, I think. Covers courtesy of People Magazine.

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Snooki & JWoww: Return To The Jersey Shore House… With Their Kids!

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Snooki and JWoww have come a long way from their alcohol fueled drama in the Jersey Shore house.  For six seasons, we witnessed their ups and downs and it made for some of the best reality TV scenes ever. There was no reality show on the air quite like it, but by the time the final season rolled around, it was pretty stale.  It probably didn’t help matters that Snooki was pregnant with her first child. This changed the dynamic of the show. Snooki changed from an immature young woman into a very strong woman with a family in mind.  No one was surprised when it was announced that Jersey Shore was coming to an end in 2012. There’s only so many times you can watch the same group of people get drunk and make fun of themselves.  Snooki & JWoww’s spin-off lasted  for four seasons and it chronicled the two best friends as they navigated a more mature lifestyle.  Snooki & JWoww recently took a trip to the Jersey Shore house where it all began, but they took their kids with them.  That’s wrong on so many levels. Remember the smoosh room? Let’s hope that room has been steam cleaned.  That was the go-to place when people in the house wanted to indulge in some sexual activity, so we can only imagine the horrors that could be hiding in there.  View Slideshow: 15 Stars Whose 15 Minutes of Fame Are Already Up JWoww’s husband, Roger took to his wife’s blog to speak about their experience and made it clear that he wasn’t fond of the kids going to the house.  “For reasons unknown my wife and Nicole took our kids to the Jersey Shore house today and let them pose for a photo op in the “Smoosh Room” or as I like to call it the DNA Daycare,” Roger revealed on the blog.  It seems like Roger has finally found a sense of humor. Remember he would fly off the handle at JWoww whenever she tried to have a joke with him? Roger closed off his post with more hilarious comments about it all. “I’m in a full Haz Mat suit now waiting in the driveway to power wash my kids off and scrub them down with bleach when they get home. Child protective services will be waiting for you as well @jwoww.” “Our daughter’s face says it all.” What do you think of it all? Should the kids have visited the house? Hit the comments below! View Slideshow: Jersey Shore Cast: Where Are They Now?

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Matt Baier: I’m Not Evil! My Son is a Liar!

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It’s been a particularly bad week for Matt Baier’s public image, which is surprising, as his reputation has been about on par with that of Chris Brown mixed with a leaking bag of garbage for as long as he’s been in the spotlight. Still, Amber Portwood’s fiance found a way to sink lower this week. You almost have to admire him, but then you remember that no one should ever admire him for any reason. It all started when Baier’s estranged son called him “the ultimate con artist” in a scathing interview with Radar Online. Chris Baier, 26, says that Amber and the average Teen Mom viewer are clueless as to the depths of his father’s shadiness, and to prove it, he offered up a seriously disturbing example. Chris says that he’s struggled with drug addiction throughout his adult life, and that his father co-opted his story in order to help him win over Amber Portwood (a recovering addict herself) and appear more sympathetic to MTV audiences: “He asked me to tell him all about my problems with drugs. When I saw him on MTV, he was talking about all of my drug problems that I told him about, and made believe they were his problems,” “The truth of the matter is, he’s an evil, evil man, and when he did evil things, he was stone cold sober.” Chris says. “All he does is use people and hurt them. He’s a horrible, nasty person, the ultimate con artist.” Harsh words to say the least.  Not surprisingly, Matt says his son’s story is utter nonsense.  “What actually happened is he was contacted by the press numerous times in the last six moths or so and offered money to say bad things about me,” Matt says. “It’s important to note my son has a bad drug addiction, and he was completely strung out when he started talking about six months ago. “He was in trouble with the law and in between places to live. When you’re offered an amount of money by anybody when you’re in that situation it’s really tough to turn down.” But as the saying goes, there are three sides to every story: Matt Baier’s version, and the versions of the two people who say he’s lying. The Ashley’s Reality Roundup spoke with the journalist who interviewed Chris Baier, and she claims that Matt’s explanation for his son’s comments makes zero sense: “Chris hasn’t used in years!” Radar Online’s Donna Thomas says of Matt’s allegations. “He wasn’t paid a dime, and wasn’t looking for money, he’s a really nice kid…He’s had some issues with drugs, but it’s the past, he has a good job, and a girlfriend and he’s on the right track, he doesn’t want Matt to destroy anyone else, that’s all!” So yes, yet again Matt comes off looking incredibly shady. The situation has left many wondering if Amber and Matt will still get married, and the answer is yes. Yes they will, because Amber has learned to turn a blind eye to her fiance’s true nature.

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Taylor Swift ‘feels completely free to be herself’ when she’s with Hiddles

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At this point, I’ve lost count of how many media outlets are openly questioning Tiddles. If Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift wanted their new love to look authentic and realistic, they’ve done a terrible job. If their relationship is supposed to be the biggest conspiracy of the summer (nay, the year!), then they’ve succeeded. E! News keeps running pieces about how and why Tiddles is all for show. Multiple outlets keep claiming that Tom is just doing all of this to campaign for James Bond, which makes zero sense. And now there are reports that Tiddles is taking a short breather, than Taylor has flown back to America and Tom is laying low in London. But as I asked yesterday, will they reunite for the Fourth of July? Taylor loves to host big Independence Day parties and post all of the photos to social media. Speaking of social media, Taylor and Tom have been mostly absent from their social media accounts since their love-bomb. Will this holiday weekend bring the first Tiddles-on-Instagram photos? God, I hope so. I hope Hiddles gets in the swan float. PLEASE??? What else? A million bulls—t stories, honestly. The Sun claims that Tom is now “in the running” to replace Calvin Harris as the bulge of Armani underwear. That’s following Tom’s sad W Magazine editorial? Yikes. Of course, other dudes on the shortlist include Joe Jonas (??), Chris Pine and Liam Hemsworth. If Tom ends up with an Armani contract, I will laugh and laugh. Hollywood Life also claimed that Taylor is currently writing songs about how she’s never felt love like this before. A source tells Hollywood Life: “When she’s with Tom, she feels completely free to be herself and doesn’t feel like she has to hold anything back. Tom really encourages her to be as authentic and as true to herself as possible. She feels like he really values her feelings and her opinions. He’s incredibly supportive and she feels more confident within herself. She now wants to take that same confidence and apply it to her music and to her songwriting. With Tom, she feels like she can do anything, that anything is possible. She’s never felt this way before with anyone. She’s on cloud nine.” [From Hollywood Life] Of course she’s on cloud nine… for now. Soon enough, it will be all tears and accusations and real-estate-stalking. But this story brings me to another point: can Taylor Swift write music about being happy and in love, or is she like Adele in that her best songs are about being heartbroken? What does Taylor Swift’s Love Album sound like? Who even knows? As for the LOVE, the NYDN’s horoscope person analyzed Tom and Taylor’s signs and found that they’re actually well-matched. Tay’s a Sagittarian and Tom’s an Aquarian, which means “they are career focused, but what’s fabulous for these two is that they have a mutual respect for each other’s goals, and the difference they want to make in the world through their careers.” LOL. Meaning their love will last as long as it takes to mutually further their careers. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.