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Leonardo DiCaprio Takes Private Jet to Accept Environmental Award

May 21, 2016 celebrityabout

This week, Leonardo DiCaprio was bestowed with a prestigious award for his environmental activism by New York nonprofit Riverkeeper. Awesome. Except that he arrived to the city via private jet. Maybe not so awesome. The actor was in France for the Cannes Film Festival when he jetted off to NYC, and then returned to the South of France the next day in another private jet. Needless to say, many fans weren’t thrilled, because that’s a lot of gas for just one dude. Nevertheless, DiCaprio’s rep explained that the Oscar-winner was due back in Cannes to speak at the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala and had few options for transportation. “He was asked to speak at both Riverkeeper and amfAR events, but the only way to attend the two fundraisers was to hitch a ride with flights that were already planned,” the rep told Us Weekly. “Leo helped both events raise millions, donated his own funds, auctioned off his house and had speaking roles in both programs.” Yeah, but still. The optics. During the gala, DiCaprio auctioned off a stay at his Palm Springs home for $336,000, which benefitted the charity. DiCaprio dedicated a good portion of his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards this year to the subject of climate change. “Climate change is real. It is happening right now,” he told the audience. “It is the most urgent threat affecting our entire species.” “We need to support leaders around the world… who speak for all of humanity… I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take this award for granted.” After the speech, he received a standing ovation and the adoration of environmentalists everywhere.

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Is Garner competing with Affleck to see who can get the most publicity?

Mar 2, 2016 videos

Jennifer Garner timed her Vanity Fair cover so that it came out on the Friday right before the Oscars. The last time she was at the Academy Awards was in 2014 when she was a presenter, and Affleck was her date. (That was the year following his 2013 win for Best Picture, for Argo.) This year she was a presenter again and she flew solo. So she wanted people to know about it, so she got some publicity ahead of the Oscars. It’s also interesting to me that Garner’s publicity blitz for her Christian movie, Miracles from Heaven, out March 16th, comes as Affleck is furiously trying to promote Batman v. Superman, out March 25th. Warner Brothers is said to be running scared because Deadpool changed the entire superhero genre with an insanely successful dirty, funny R-Rated movie made on a $58 million budget. Batman v. Superman is an old school dark superhero movie that looks like it takes itself too seriously. It may also end up being the most expensive movie ever made. Just a few months ago we heard that the production budget was up to $410 million. So there’s a lot riding on Batman v. Superman, including Affleck’s career. He wrote it after all. You get the sense that Garner is trying to steal his thunder, which I don’t blame her for. It’s clever, she’s not being openly disparaging of him despite the digs she got in during her interview and she’s getting her side of the story out there. Radar claims that Affleck’s team is livid about her VF interview because Garner confirmed that Affleck was with the nanny – even though she tried to soften the blow by saying they were separated at the time. They quote a source who claims Affleck and his team are “furious,” but that he “can’t do anything until after his movies come out.” He also has Live by Night slated for release, but Radar is wrong, it’s not out until 2017. So maybe that’s all conjecture, but it’s hard to see how Affleck’s people would sign off on Garner’s VF interview. In the latest news about these two, Affleck has a contest through Omaze which offers a ride in the Batman to the film’s premiere to a random person who donates to his charity, The Eastern Congo Initiative. He visited Warner Brothers Studio tour and surprised fans with a ride in The Batmobile. You can see that video here, it was actually really cute. Meanwhile Vanity Fair has released a video of Jennifer Garner reading Go The F-k To Sleep in her saccharine sweet way. This book came out in 2011 and yet another celebrity reading it seems hackneyed. I really do get the impression that she’s competing with him now, and that she’s going to show him that she can fight back and come out of it smelling like roses. Embed from Getty Images This is Affleck outside the Four Seasons hotel yesterday. He looks hungover. photos credit: WENN and FameFlynet

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Cheryl Boone Isaacs calls for more diversity within the Academy’s voting blocs

Jan 19, 2016 videos

As we discussed earlier, Chris Rock is currently feeling the pressure to possibly pull out of hosting the Academy Awards. Also feeling pressure? Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy and an African-American woman (the first African-American woman to hold that position). Cheryl was openly critical of her organization last year when the #OscarsSoWhite debacle first broke, but now it’s the second year in a row with no actors of color up for any awards and with all of the Best Picture nominees being films about white people. Boone Isaacs released a statement last night about the ongoing controversy: “I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond. As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly. “This isn’t unprecedented for the Academy. In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.” [From USA Today] My thought: she’s doing what she can do. She’s not in charge of who gets hired for what project, and she’s not the face of diversity at a studio level. But she can change the makeup of the Academy voters and she can change the way minorities are represented within the Academy. I would also make a suggestion that Boone Isaacs put her finger on the scale about some things, and actively participate in some Oscar campaigns for more diverse films, like she could host Academy screenings for films that are more diverse and give those films the stamp of approval, you know? Meanwhile, David Oyelowo presented Boone Isaacs with an award yesterday for MLK Day. Oyelowo was notably snubbed for an Oscar last year for his work as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, and he had harsh words about the Academy (not really Boone Isaacs specifically). Some highlights: “The Academy has a problem. It’s a problem that needs to be solved. A year ago, I did a film called Selma, and after the Academy Awards, Cheryl invited me to her office to talk about what went wrong then. We had a deep and meaningful [conversation]. For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable… The reason why the Oscars are so important is because it is the zenith, it is the epitome, it is the height of celebration of artistic endeavor within the filmmaking community. We grow up aspiring, dreaming, longing to be accepted into that august establishment because it is the height of excellence. I would like to walk away and say it doesn’t matter, but it does, because that acknowledgement changes the trajectory of your life, your career, and the culture of the world we live in… This institution doesn’t reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation.” [From The Hollywood Reporter] That made my chest hurt. David really did want an Oscar nomination. Despite what people say, everyone really does want the nomination. They want to be acknowledged by the most prestigious film organization in the world. They want to feel like their voice, their art, their story is being represented. And for a second year in a row, they were told to suck it. Embed from Getty Images Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.