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Category Archives: Celebrities
A MySpace Comeback?
Think you saw the end of MySpace? According to new owners Justin Timberlake and brothers Tim and Chris Vanderhook, you’ve only seen the beginning. The revamp is going to be extensive, but in the words of the conglomerate’s newly appointed entertainment chief, “the revolution is coming.”
If you’re like me, you remember MySpace in what (I had assumed) was its peak. All the cool kids had one, and it was the perfect platform for posting good pictures of yourself, bad pictures of your enemies and whatever songs you wanted to with no regard for copyright infringement. Then Facebook came along, and all of those things became easier, so we all migrated away from MySpace and it became a ghost town of a social network… like Friendster.
But in the mid-2000’s, something started happening on MySpace. Music artists—popular ones, indie ones and undiscovered ones—all started using MySpace as the method of choice for sharing new music and connecting with fans. It became something of an arts community for the rest of us.
Last summer, the “new” MySpace began rolling out, with an updated music player to better facilitate this type of musical community. But, there’s more, we’re assured by the new management.
It’s also rumored that MySpace will begin hosting original video content as well as expanding its current music sharing capacity.
LeBron James “Rings” in the New Year
Lebron James and longtime girlfriend (now fiance!) Savannah Brinson
Former Cleveland Cavalier’s player LeBron James spent New Year’s Eve with his family, enjoying dinner at a nightclub in South Beach. But he made the night memorable by proposing to his long-time girlfriend Savannah Brinson. The two have two children, Lebron Jr. (Age 7) and Bryce (Age 4), both of whome were able to be there for the proposal and who, when Savannah said yes, were picked up and spun around by their father in a joyful celebration of the moment.
Fellow Miami Heat player Dwayne Wade was hosting the party as a birthday party for James, who celebrated his 27th birthday on the 30th. Sixty friends and family members, including fellow Heat player Chris Bosh and Queen Latifah attended the party.
This sweet and down-to-earth news sounds like a more authentic celebration than the way some other celebrities rung in the new year—It’s reported that Kim Kardashian was paid over $600,000 just to attend one party.
Other celebrities also celebrated engagements over the holiday, including Aretha Franklin, who is now anticipating marrying her “longtime friend and confidant” William ‘Willie’ Wilkerson next summer.
How did you celebrate the New Year? It’s one of the most popular times of the year for engagements, even for the rest of us—not just NBA stars and music icons.
Katy Perry and Russell Brand Split
Pop Star Katy Perry and Comedian Russel Brand Are Filing for Divorce
We were all sad to hear it: Katy Perry and Russell Brand were one of those couples we all loved—because we thought they were a little different. There was something lovably and related about the eccentric couple—the Russel Brand, the British comedian and Katy Perry, the pop artist with a quirky and upbeat style seemed to be happier and, in a strange way, more stable than all the flimsy Hollywood relationships that plaster the front of the tabloids.
But, in the end, it’s not so. Katy and Russell have decided to file for divorce after 14 months of marriage and a whirlwind courtship. Russell just filed for divorce after the couple spent the last month denying rumors of a split.
The couple was married in a traditional Hindu ceremony on October 23, 2010. Other than her participation in the wedding ceremony, Katy admitted that she hasn’t ever been “really involved” in Russell’s Hinduism. Katy comes from an evangelical Christian family with very strict values and beliefs, and she says that despite her strict fundamentalist upbringing she’s “very accepting” when it comes to religion and that she supported Russell in his religious beliefs.
The couple seems to have arrived at the decision to split after months of speculation and rumors. “Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage,” Russell said in a press release on Friday, “I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends.” This is good news for all of us who feel that Katy and Russell make a great couple—they can continue to grace our entertainment headlines as friends despite their split—we hope.
What’s next for Katy and Russell? Time will tell. Katy recently told Barbara Walters on the news legend’s yearly “most interesting people” episode that she’d like to have children and that wanting a family is one of the best reasons to get married.
Alec Baldwin Gets Kicked Off a Plane?
Alec Baldwin spoofs the pilot who refused to let him fly
I’m convinced this story is so popular because so many people can relate to it. Earlier this week Alec Baldwin, known for his current role on NBC’s show 30 Rock, was asked by a pilot to get off a commercial airplane that was about to taxi away from the gate.
The incident occurred when the plane’s crew was closing the doors of the craft in preparation for taxing and taking off. As usual, the crew asked all passengers to turn their cell phones off once the doors were closed. Baldwin did not turn his phone off—because he was busy playing Words With Friends, the popular mobile game by Xynga, similar to Scrabble.
I feel like I can relate to Baldwin’s experience—it never really seems like turning off my cell phone is that vital to the functioning of the plane or the safety of our flight, plus the boredom of the flight begins to set in the moment they request all electronics be turned off. And really, asking someone to leave the plane because they didn’t turn off their device right away seems a little extreme. And hey, we all love Words with Friends.
Baldwin even mocked the event by appearing on NBC’s show Saturday Night Live during Seth Meyer’s signature segment Weekend Report, a mock news broadcast. During his appearance, Baldwin dressed as an airline pilot and pretended to be the pilot who had asked Baldwin to leave the plane. During the bit, Baldwin, as the pilot, issued a “formal” apology to Baldwin, the passenger, for asking him to leave.
The humor was tongue-in-cheek but now Baldwin is in trouble with somebody else—Greyhound buses—for making a crack about having to ride the bus instead of flying and implying that busses were an inferior form of travel. For Baldwin it seems impossible to please all of the people some of the time or to please some of the people all of the time.
Manufacturing Dispute Puts a Damper on the Oscars?
R.S. Owens & Company manufactures the 13 inch golden Oscar award statues given to winners at the Academy Awards, but this year there is a slight problem—a dispute between the company’s management and workers might mean that no new Oscars will be manufactured before next year’s awards ceremony.
The dispute is over a potential pay freeze and cute in benefits for the company’s manufacturing employees, and in the midst of the negotiations all manufacturing has stopped, meaning no new product off the company’s floor until some sort of agreement is reached.
Luckily, the academy says that they have enough on hand to proceed as usual—with or without newly minted Oscars. But the problem is more far reaching than just the Academy Awards—the same company also manufactures the awards that are handed out at the MTV Awards and the Emmys.
The next Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 26, and although the Oscars are good to go without a new set of awards, not all of American’s favorite awards show may have a “closet full” of their award statuettes ready, as an Oscar representative told the Huffington post the Academy does. Depending on how long the pause on production lasts, could 2012 be the year with no awards to give? And would our favorite awards ceremonies be as grandiose without the coveted prizes to be handed over as honors are awarded?
This potential shortage is important to American consumers because they represent an American tradition, and this news is significant to those in the manufacturing industry because the prominence of the product brings these negotiations to the forefront of news, for better or worse. What’s your opinion on these negotiations—or on the potential of annual awards shows without their symbolic awards?
Kim Kardashian Lawyers Up
In the last week, things have gone badly for Kim Kardashian as she copes with a divorce after just 72 days of marriage and a $20 million dollar wedding. Or has it gone badly? Some have speculated that the Kardashians were just after some easy publicity and the $17 million dollars the family made on the wedding after selling the rights to networks and enjoying donated wedding services and products from companies hoping to get in on the event viewed here and abroad.
So far, all of the speculation about sought profit and publicity has been just that—simply speculation. Although it’s easy to believe for anyone who knows anything about the Kardashians, there was no insider information saying that this was anything but a legitimate marriage gone sour after just two months.
Until now.
Publicist Jonathan Jaxon has come forward. Jaxon claims to have represented Kim for two years, ending in 2009. He told sources that Kim got married to honor contracts—media contracts with companies like E!—designed to keep the Kardashian media franchise going.
In response to Jaxon’s claims, Kim has hired a lawyer to seek a minimum of $200,000 of damages for damage to her reputation and told TMZ that she barely remembers him and that he was never her personal representative. She remembers working with him on a blog but asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement at the time.
Jaxon says he has a contract, but that it is unsigned by both parties. Marty Singer, the lawyer Kim hired to represent her has filed paperwork temporarily putting a gag order on Jaxon and noting that, “everything that he is saying is false and nonsense. This guy is in it to promote himself for his 15 mins of fame.”
