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Amber Heard & Johnny Depp’s restraining order hearing has been postponed

Jun 17, 2016 marc

I was being completely selfish about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s scheduled restraining order hearing. All I kept thinking was, “Is every entertainment journalist and gossip blogger going to have to hang around for hours on a Friday afternoon and evening to learn the details about the hearing?” But it looks like the much-anticipated hearing has been postponed. And Amber Heard wants you to know that it wasn’t her call. The postponement came after a conference call between Depp’s lawyer, Laura Wasser, Amber’s lawyer and the judge. Wasser asked for the continuance and Wasser also wanted the judge to give both sides to talk about a settlement. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s hearing on domestic violence claims has been pushed to August, and a temporary restraining order against the actor has been reissued, PEOPLE has confirmed. The former couple were set to face off in a Los Angeles courtroom to address Heard’s domestic violence restraining order request. The hearing “was advanced and vacated,” the L.A. County Superior Court said in a statement after a phone conference involving Depp and Heard’s lawyers. The official hearing on Heard’s permanent restraining order request has been rescheduled for Aug. 15 and 16, but a status conference has been set for Aug. 2. Heard and Depp are not required to attended the status conference. A source tells PEOPLE that Depp’s attorney Laura Wasser asked for a continuance to postpone the hearing. [From People] It doesn’t surprise me that the hearing has been postponed, although it would surprise me if Amber and her lawyers were seriously considering a settlement. Just my opinion: Amber has Depp by the short hairs and she could probably run the table for a possible settlement, but everything seems to indicate that she wants her day in court. Will Amber hold out until August? It could go either way, depending on Depp’s ability to agree to Amber’s terms, I would guess. In the lead-up to the postponement, Amber and Johnny’s teams were sniping at each other in the press too. TMZ reported earlier Thursday afternoon that Depp wanted the postponement and he was willing to come to the table and negotiate a settlement for everything, including spousal support. Amber’s team then leaked stories about how she would never settle and that Depp is “terrified about what she’ll say on the stand.” There was also some question about why Amber was in LA this week when she had told everybody that she would be in London for costume fittings. According to TMZ, she returned to LA early because the Aquaman/Justice League costumers thought she was too skinny for a fitting. Apparently, she’s lost 20 pounds in the past few months just from the stress. And here are some photos of a very slender Amber out in West Hollywood yesterday: Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

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J.K. Rowling on reaction to new Hermione: ‘I thought that idiots were going to idiot’

Jun 7, 2016 marc

Character portraits for the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were released over the weekend and they are all lovely; take a look on Pottermore. As we reported in December of last year, Olivier-Award winning actor, Noma Dumezweni, was cast as Hermione in this production. After the announcement, people with nothing better to do complained to the Twitterverse about her casting. The issue was not her credentials but the fact that she is not white and that somehow flies in the face of the characterization of Hermione. At the time, J.K. Rowling gave the following statement in support of the casting choice: Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione ? https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015 JK wrote the story upon which Jack Thorne’s play is based. HPatCC takes place 19 years after the gang has graduated Hogwarts. Harry is married with three children and the youngest, Albus, is reluctant to carry on the family legacy. The story is a continuation from the books, not the movies so it really doesn’t matter who played the part in the movie, even if they did a wonderful job in that role. Now that the dust up on social media has died down, JK expressed her annoyance about the controversy and did so in classic JK fashion. JK Rowling has revealed her frustration at online reaction by “a bunch of racists” to news that the role of Hermione will be played by a black actress in the eagerly awaited new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The production, which has broken records by selling 175,000 tickets in 24 hours, is tipped to be the theatrical event of the year. But the Harry Potter creator criticised those who have suggested that Hogwarts’ studious heroine could not be played by the Olivier-award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni. “With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot,” she said in an interview with the Observer. “But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.” While the vast majority of people responded positively to the casting decision, Rowling said: “I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’ – that is, lost colour from her face after a shock – that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with. But I decided not to get too agitated about it and simply state quite firmly that Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm.” Dumezweni was cast by the play’s director, John Tiffany – known for the productions Black Watch and the musical Once – who has collaborated with Rowling and the playwright Jack Thorne, writer of This Is England and The Last Panthers. Tiffany said he was surprised by the opinions expressed online, but had stopped reading the comments. “I am not as Twitter-familiar as Jo and Jack, so I hadn’t encountered its dark side, which is just awful. But what shocked me was the way people couldn’t visualise a non-white person as the hero of a story. It’s therefore brilliant that this has happened.” [From The Guardian] I always cast books in my head and producers never go with my picks when they are made into movies. Shockingly, I am able to get over it and see the film without bias. I remain at a loss over the criticism of Noma; I would be thrilled to see someone of her caliber perform. Elphaba in Wicked needed to be green, it was a huge point in the story but Hermione’s skin color has no affect on her. I think I’ll save my outrage for the fact that I will never get tickets to this show and not the fact that Hermione is not alabaster or Ron not-ginger enough. Embed from Getty Images Photo credit: WENN and Fame/Flynet Photos and Getty Images

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Jay-Z didn’t attend the Met Gala because there was ‘no big reason for him to go’

May 4, 2016 videos

Yesterday I noted how weird it felt to see Beyonce flying solo at the Met Gala. She seemed oddly vulnerable walking the carpet alone. While her sister was there, they didn’t walk the carpet together and they only spent time together inside the event. On the carpet, Beyonce seemed almost cautious, and like she was making a statement by going it alone. Page Six made a big deal about how Beyonce wasn’t wearing her wedding ring too. Sources claim Bey decided not to wear her ring because she didn’t think it “meshed well” with her Becky-skin Givenchy gown. So why did Jay-Z skip this year’s Met Gala? After the elevator drama post-Met Gala in 2014, Jay and Bey made a point of going to the 2015 Met Gala together as a show of solidarity. But post-Lemonade, Jay couldn’t be bothered? Beyoncé completely nailed her 2016 Met Gala look. There was just one thing missing when she hit the red carpet on Monday, May 2, in New York — her husband, Jay Z. Although fashion’s biggest night comes on the heels of Bey’s much talked-about visual album, Lemonade, sources tell Us Weekly that the rapper’s absence is no biggie — he’s simply just been there, done that. “He’s done it before,” the insider explains to Us. “There’s just no big reason for him to go.” [From Us Weekly] Suspicious? Yeah. Anyway, as I said, Bey and Solange spent a lot of time together inside the event. Solange didn’t bring her husband to the gala, but Alan Ferguson did come out for the post-gala parties. Beyoncé attended the Met Gala and after parties sans husband Jay Z. The singer first posed at Gilded Lily for the Balmain bash, where she hung out with the fashion house’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, and her little sister Solange, who arrived with her husband, Alan Ferguson. “I don’t know where Jay was and I definitely thought it was interesting he didn’t come,” said one partygoer. “It definitely fuels speculation about the relationship, but I think that’s probably the point. People at the Met were talking about it.” But the chatter didn’t bother Beyoncé one bit. She celebrated with Champagne and “was in high spirits hanging out on the banquette with Olivier. She seemed to be in a very good mood,” a different source said. Bey later headed over to Up & Down, where DJ Jus Ske played Beyoncé’s song “Formation” as she arrived with Solange. [From Page Six] I get the feeling that the message – if there is a message – is that Jay-Z is still on notice to a certain extent. Like, Lemonade was about how he cheated, how Beyonce was mad and wanted to destroy everything, but she forgave him and worked through the drama. But he’s still on notice. And hey, maybe he truly didn’t want to go to the gala this year. Suspicious. PS… I absolutely love her party-pants!! Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN.

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Emma Watson needs a better explanation for her Lancome skin-whitening ads

Apr 3, 2016 marc

Several years back, Emma Watson got a lucrative beauty contract with Lancome. She became one of their “faces,” and she appeared in print ads for many different Lancome products. Her contract is done at this point, and I have no idea if Lancome simply didn’t renew it or if Emma just didn’t want to be in their advertising anymore. But this week, people started discussing a print ad from 2013. The print ad (seen above) features Emma as the “face” of a skin-whitening Lancome product being sold in Asia. As you can imagine, the reaction was really, really bad. People have been itching to write off Emma as just another non-intersectional white feminist, and this gave them a perfect opportunity. Beauty companies have long sold “skin lightening” products in countries with large (or nearly exclusive) populations of non-white women. Lancome is not the first nor will they be the last. Colorism, racism and the white-dominated hierarchy of beauty standards all come into play when we talk about skin lightening. We’ve talked about it before too, with Freida Pinto talking openly about her disgust for Indian society’s obsession with getting lighter skin. Anyway, the conversation centered around Emma and how she’s basically Peak White Feminism because she has profited from selling this bulls—t. So Emma’s publicist came out and this was literally the only statement made. “I cannot comment on my client’s previous contractual arrangements with Lancôme. However, my client no longer participates in advertising beauty products, which do not always reflect the diverse beauty of all women.” [Via People] If it sounds like Emma’s people are sort of throwing Lancome under the bus, that’s because I think they are. I also think there’s a very real possibility that Emma’s images were used by Lancome for skin-whitening products without her explicit or implicit endorsement. Oh, and a Lancome representative told People: “Blanc Expert was created by Lancôme 20 years ago. It helps brighten, even skin tone, and provides a healthy looking complexion. This kind of product, proposed by every brand, is an essential part of Asian women’s beauty routines.” [Via People] That pisses me off more than Emma’s rep’s statement. Skin-lightening products are not now and never have been an “essential” part of Asian women’s beauty routines and f—k you very much for saying so, Lancome. As for Emma and white feminism… I find Emma less harmful than someone like Lena Dunham, honestly. I think Emma is trying and she’s attempting to educate herself beyond the narrow feminist beliefs she held just a few years ago. Does she deserve some backlash? Sure. Does she owe her fans a better explanation of why her image ended up on skin-whitening ads? Yes. But Lancome is the villain here, make no mistake. Photos courtesy of Lancome, WENN.

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Kesha loses injunction to break her contract with her alleged abuser Dr. Luke

Feb 21, 2016 videos

In 2014, Kesha went into a facility to get help for a bad personal situation. She was drinking too much and abusing drugs, plus she had mental health issues, an eating disorder and she was dealing with some intense issues from her relationship with producer Dr. Luke. Later that same year, Kesha filed a civil lawsuit against Dr. Luke claiming that he mentally and physically abused her, drugged her and sexually assaulted her. She wanted to be let out of her recording contract. Dr. Luke countersued and claimed Kesha had made the whole thing up and that he would not be letting her out of her contract. Well, Kesha went to New York Supreme Court on Friday to find out that the judge had thrown out Kesha’s injunction. Basically, Dr. Luke won because this judge, Justice Shirley Kornreich, has a totally Pollyanna idea of how the music industry really works. Here’s part of People Magazine’s report: Kesha’s lawyers fought for a preliminary injunction that would allow her to record and release music without Dr. Luke, 42, whom she is also suing for allegedly drugging and raping her. The singer also alleges he has abused her verbally and emotionally for a decade. (Luke has vehemently denied the allegations through his lawyer, Christine Lepera, who has told PEOPLE: “Kesha and her mother are engaged in a campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements about Dr. Luke to third parties, including scurrilous and false statements of purported physical and mental abuse of Kesha.”) However, Justice Shirley Kornreich recounted that both Sony and Luke provided affidavits that they would allow Kesha to record without the producer. “Your major issue is your client is saying she cannot with Mr. Gottwald. Reading these papers, I notice that Sony and [Dr. Luke’s record label] Kemosabe Records say they don’t care if Gottwald has anything to do with anything with the recording,” the judge said to Kesha’s attorney, Mark Geragos. “They are willing to allow her to record without any involvement of Mr. Gottwald … and there are papers from Mr. Gottwald that say he will agree to allow her to record without his involvement … She doesn’t have to work with him.” But, Geragos responded, arguing that it was an “illusory promise…If he’s the one in charge of the company that does all the things to produce it … she can record right now, but no one is going to hear it,” he said, reiterating his assertion that Kesha’s future in music is in jeopardy because the typical lifespan of a pop artist’s career is short and that he believes her album won’t be promoted in an attempt to sabotage her career. Geragos added: “She has a window in which she can produce music, that it can get out there, that it can get promoted … His end game here is to destroy her… She is set up to fail.” The judge disagreed, citing the companies’ competitive objective to make money and the clear terms of the contract, which require Kesha to record six more albums. “You’re asking the court … to decimate a contract which was heavily negotiated and signed by two parties in an industry where these kinds of contacts are typical; you’re asking me to decimate all that law,” said the judge. “Now the other side has come forward to say, ‘We will let her record without Dr. Luke.’ I don’t understand your problem … It’s not in [the company’s] best interest to not make money and not promote a recording artist.” Upon the judge’s dismissal of the request for the injunction, Kesha broke down in tears, holding her face in her hands while mom Pebe and boyfriend Brad Ashenfelter did their best to console her the bereaved pop star excused herself from the room for a spell with a bodyguard. Lawyers also argued over dueling counterclaims, but the judge has yet to make a ruling, reserving to decide on the matters at a later time, perhaps when more evidence has been presented. [From People] “It’s not in [the company’s] best interest to not make money and not promote a recording artist.” How naive. The judge assumes that every person in the music industry has simple, straight-forward capitalist motives and that there’s not a history of music producers and labels actively thwarting a singer or songwriter’s career over personal or professional drama, regardless if those un-capitalist motives end up losing money. Even if you’re not familiar with the music industry in general, watch 20 Feet From Stardom and listen to Darlene Love’s story about how her early career was ruined because of a sh-tty contract and a producer who was a petulant sadist. That sh-t STILL HAPPENS. For a while on Friday, #FreeKesha was trending on Twitter, and many women in the music industry tweeted their support for Kesha – go here to see. Kelly Clarkson sounds like she has some stories about Dr. Luke that I would be interested in hearing. This feels like… the beginning of something. Like, Dr. Luke might be Cosby’d in public. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

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Star: Tom Hiddleston is trying to get back together with Jessica Chastain

Jan 29, 2016 celebrityabout

Even though I’m pretty sure that Tom Hiddleston is still “secretly” dating Elizabeth Olsen, I still enjoy random gossip about other people Tom might be dating. People like… Jessica Chastain? There’s actually a somewhat long history of people thinking Hiddles and Chastain were a thing. The rumors began circulating back in January 2013, and it was said that they had been secretly dating for several months, and that Chastain had even spent some time in England with Tom and his family. Then the dating rumors began percolating once again when Tom and Jessica were filming Crimson Peak in early 2014, especially when Tom helped Jessica celebrate her birthday. But soon after, we learned that Jessica was still dating her Italian boyfriend, Gian Luca Passi di Preposulo. At the end of the day, do I think it’s possible that Jessica and Tom had a fling at one point, years ago? Sure. Anything’s possible. But I think once she got to know him better, she started to find him exhausting (I may be projecting here). I also think they probably are good friends at this point. But according to Star Magazine, Chastain is the one who got away. Jessica Chastain has broken her rule about not dating actors for Tom Hiddleston once before, and now the newly single actor, 34, is asking Chastain to do it once more after reuniting on-screen for Crimson Peak. “Tom realized what a mistake he made,” a source tells Star. “He’s been hitting Jessica up ever since, saying that she’s the one who got away and begging for a second chance.” The only problem? Hiddleston is looking for love in all the wrong places. Since their split in early 2013, Jessica has happily moved on Italian fashion executive Gian Luca Passi di Preposulo, who was none too pleased to hear that Tom was back in the picture. “She tried to let Tom down gently because they really are such good friend… but I think she secretly liked that Gian Luca got a little jealous.” [From Star Magazine, print edition] Do I believe that Tom is actively pursuing Chastain whilst carrying on with Elizabeth Olsen? Not really. Although I do think something fishy is going on between Hiddles and Olsen and it’s not just “oh, they want to keep it quiet.” I’ll also give you this: I think if Chastain wanted Hiddles, she could have him. Like, he would be really into it. So I do believe that Star’s version of their dynamic is probably close to true but otherwise… not so much. Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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Barbie got a major makeover, she now comes in different body types & skin colors

Jan 29, 2016 marc

Here is this week’s Time Magazine cover: THE NEW BARBIE. Or at least your choice of what kind of Barbie doll best represents your dreams and journeys. Yes, after decades of size-0, thin-thighed, blonde Barbies, Mattel has finally changed their doll in some fundamental ways. The new Barbie will be offered in seven different colors/races, with many different hair colors and three new body types: petite, tall and curvy. Mattel will still be selling OG Barbie, but now kids will have more options. You can choose dark-skinned and petite Barbie, or tall and brown-skinned Barbie or curvy, white and brunette Barbie. All in all, there are 33 different dolls which will come out in stages. I’ll call them Bootilicious Barbie, Realistic Thighs Barbie, Nerd Barbie, Blue-Haired Hipster Barbie, Jennifer Lawrence Barbie and Ariana-Grande-Proportioned Barbie. The different body types are getting the most attention, but I genuinely appreciate the fact that they’re making Barbies with different skin tones and the dolls still get to be called BARBIE. They’re not going to call the different Barbies different names, like one called Destiny or one called Kim or whatever. All Barbies, in all sizes, in all colors. The Time Magazine piece about Mattel’s Barbie Revolution is pretty interesting – go here to read. They’re not even really pretending that this change came from completely pure, representative intentions. You see, Mattel has seen steadily declining sales of Barbies, but from 2012-2014, sales fell off a cliff and Lego became the biggest toy company in the world, dethroning Mattel. Lego prioritized the “Lego Friends” line, which teaches girls to build and probably worked really well for parents who want to encourage their daughters to pursue STEM fields. Meanwhile, Barbie was still the same-old, same-old and that was a big problem. So the head of the Barbie brand, Evelyn Mazzocco, decided to rebrand Barbie for millennial moms. You can read about the strategy in Time Magazine here. So, is this too little, too late? I personally think that Barbie has lasted so long because of fashion, and as long as they keep making great clothes for all Barbie sizes, I imagine Barbie will last for another 50 years. I’ve read the treatises about why Barbie isn’t feminist or why she’s blah blah blah, but for me, it was about the fashion and it was about having a womanly-proportioned doll to dress up. Photos courtesy of Mattel, Time Magazine.