Crisis Averted: Your Celebrity News Has Arrived

Image courtesy of @TylerCameron3

The Bachelorette’s Hannah Brown and Tyler Cameron are cozying up in Florida and former star of The Bachelor Nick Viall has something to say about it. Cosmopolitan

E’s Morgan Stewart is dating Dr. Phil’s son, Jordan McGraw. E! Online

Vanessa Hudgens landed in hot water over her controversial Coronavirus comments. USA Today

Lana Del Rey and her boyfriend split. The Sun

Former Lost star Evangeline Lily refuses to social distance, despite being immune compromised. Just Jared

Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington were almost cast in Clueless. Too Fab

More evidence has been revealed Lori Loughlin’s trial. CNN

Victoria’s Secret is capitalizing on the inclusivity movement instead of setting the standard. Daily Mail

Chris Evans seems like a good dude. Gossip Cop

Tori Spelling posted a racist photo, and the Internet is dragging her for it. DListed

Lily Allen might be married. Hollywood Life

Fiona Apple’s New Album on the Horizon — Gives Detailed Interview With The New Yorker

Photograph by Malerie Marder for The New Yorker

Those who know me might be surprised to discover that Fiona Apple and I actually have something in common— and no, it’s not her artistic genius. I too have had an unforgettably awful conversation with Quentin Tarantino, and while I’ve never had the desire to do drugs, that conversation could have been an PSA for anyone even considering it.

In a new interview with The New Yorker, Apple says she was inspired to get sober after spending an “excruciating night” with Quentin Tarantino and her ex-boyfriend, director Paul Thomas Anderson, while listening to the two brag. Apple goes on to detail some disturbing moments in her relationship with Anderson, which provides stark insight into her personal life, along with many other very deep confessions.

Her upcoming, highly-anticipated album, “Fetch the Bolt Cutters.” promises to have all the passion and raw emotion that the classically trained pianist is known to deliver, and its journey began in 2012. Its title is a reference to The Fall, a British police procedural starring a sex crimes investigator. Her interview is especially worth the read given Apple’s talent for lyrics. Every single word that comes out of her mouth is cutting in its profound honesty, including her take on comedian Louis CK, whom she encouraged to dig a little deeper with some more self-scrutiny claiming that if he could not, he is “weak.”

To read the rest of the interview, click here.

Dixie Chicks Perform “Gaslighter” on Ellen — Kill It

I love just about everything the Dixie Chicks have ever made, and I was devastated when they took a 14-year hiatus following the success of what I think was their best album, the Rick Rubin-produced, Grammy-winning Taking the Long Way. The trio have since gone through three divorces, and the Natalie Maines divorce was especially ugly. Her ex-husband attempted to void their prenuptial agreement while also upholding its validity when it served him — most notably trying to stall the release of Maines’ new music, claiming the lyrics might violate the confidentiality clause of their prenup.

While I don’t know the outcome of their legal battle, I do know that their new song, “Gaslighter” has some pretty serious tea in it, so I’m guessing he lost. Watch/listen below.

Harry Styles Visits Howard Stern: Talks 1D, Taylor Swift, and Getting Robbed

Harry Styles stopped by Howard Stern for an in-depth interview, and if you weren’t a fan before, you should be now. Styles handled himself with incredible grace, proving that being young and famous isn’t necessarily a recipe for insanity. Composed and self-assured, he politely addressed Zayn Malik’s abrupt exit from One Direction, his industry inexperience during his rise on ‘X Factor,’ Taylor Swift writing a song about him, and his bold fashion choices.

Though I’d love to tell you his new album ‘Fine Line’ is as good as his interview —it sadly falls short. The sound quality/musicianship coupled with his voice is excellent, but the songs are simply not strong. I’d guess that with each record, his sound will improve. He’s still young.

Listen to his full interview below, along with his excellent cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” Kudos to Styles for employing many female musicians (Sarah Jones is an excellent drummer) and for avoiding any and all shade traps from Stern.

Jessica Simpson is Still Having a Rough Go of It

I’m rooting for Jessica Simpson. I’ve always been a fan, I watched newlyweds, and when she and Nick Lachey split up it felt like the end of an era. But they were young, and they didn’t stand a chance with the monkey of Hollywood on their back.

Since the show has ended, Jessica Simpson has had great success as a businesswoman and mother of three, and Nick Lachey has started a family of his own. It therefore baffles me why Jessica Simpson would take the route of writing a memoir, especially if she is not in the mental place to do it.

Though I know absolutely nothing about her on a personal level, it took me two seconds to watch her interview on The Today Show to surmise that even though she proclaims to be sober, something is awry. I by no means want to pick on her, but I also want to make it clear that I’m not buying what she’s selling, literally and figuratively. 

Demi Lovato Delivers a Haunting Grammy Performance

It ain’t over till it’s over, and Demi Lovato is living proof of that. Following a highly-publicized overdose, Lovato took the stage at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards to deliver a haunting performance of a song she wrote just days before nearly losing her life to addiction. She clearly struggled at the beginning, but being a true pro — she collected herself for a restart, and the result was stirring. Watch below. The lyrics were clearly a cry for help.

Julianne Hough is Weird AF

Perhaps Julianne Hough’s overly-reported spiritual awakening could have been geared toward fighting NBC alongside Gabrielle Union instead of a faux exorcism that seems so inappropriate I almost upchucked. The Dancing with the Stars alum/former America’s Got Talent host engaged in a energy treatment at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and in the video below, you’ll see Dr. John Amaral get much to close to her rectum as she contorts her body.

I don’t trust this procedure, and I no longer trust celebrity endorsements given how absolutely insane celebrities are. Furthermore, though I previously stated that Julianne Hough is free to keep quiet regarding her firing from AGT, I’m changing my mind. If you’re going to tour the world with wacky behavior and claim to be on a journey to self-discovery, maybe start with fighting the powers that be alongside other females instead of giving a dough-eyed, innocent grin as you worm your way out of joining the movement.

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Gonna tell my kids this is “The Exorcist”… (Policy Guidline Disclaimer: I aspire to such flexibility and mind body connection and hope to have similar orgasmic experience at Kinrgy. Love and light.)

A post shared by Jackie Schimmel Haas (@jackieschimmel) on

New Year, New News

Photo via @wilmervalderrama

Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev are engaged after one year of dating. Us Magazine.  

Wilmer Valderrama  and his girlfriend of seven months Amanda Pacheco are engaged. People

Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden are parents. LA Times

Actress Michelle Williams is engaged and expecting her first child with Tony Award-winning director of Hamilton Thomas Kail. Billboard

Leonardo DiCaprio has become Jack Nicholson. Mirror

Halsey and Evan Peters are heating up. NYP

Kathy Griffin tied the knot with her longtime beau. Just Jared

Dua Lipa and Anwar Hadid are making waves. Daily Mail

Tyler Cameron is dating Kylie Jenner’s BFF. TMZ

The Affair’s Sarah Treem Responds to THR Article – Not Good Enough?

Core cast of The Affair on Showtime

We’ve learned a lot about what went on behind the scenes of Showtime’s The Affair, and though there’s still many mysteries afloat, one thing we know for sure is … that show was a mess. For those who have not yet read The Hollywood Reporter’s somewhat thorough account of the insider drama, here’s some nutshell bullet points to catch you up:

  • Despite having agreed to on-set nudity, Ruth Wilson felt its use in certain scenes was gratuitous, and she made her discomfort known. She also took issue with her male co-stars’ comparative lack of nudity.
  • Ruth Wilson felt Showrunner Sarah Treem applied undue pressure for her to appear naked, using a tone-deaf approach akin to men from the 1950s telling her she “looked beautiful” in an effort for her to disrobe.
  • Monitors were left on, which showed the sex scenes to someone not involved in production. (Note: this complaint was also raised against the female Showrunner of Showtime’s Smilf, Frankie Shaw).
  • Wilson objected to the content of certain scenes, including one that felt “rapey.” That scene was ultimately performed by a body double who later sued for alleged mistreatment.
  • Last and perhaps most important, executive producer Jeffrey Reiner is alleged to have told Girls creator Lena Dunham and executive producer Jenni Konner something disturbing about Wilson, in addition to showing a graphic photo of another actress that was taken on set.

Sarah Treem’s defense of the last and perhaps most disturbing item is so anger-inducing she released a follow-up defense to Deadline, stating that “not much of [her] perspective made it into the story, nor the perspectives of many of the half dozen senior level producers, director and other key crew members who spoke up.” So did her follow-up, first-person response serve to exonerate her character? In short, no.

The Deadline article is largely about the ins-and-outs of Treem’s complicated relationship with Ruth Wilson, who by Treem’s account “had been disagreeing on the character’s choices since the second episode.” Treem furthers that she “tried to protect [Wilson] and shoot sex scenes safely and respectfully.” She altered scenes entirely, even it removed their original intent.

While it might be true that Treem had pure intentions and did the best she could to illicit comfort, she obviously failed in doing so, and it’s not my job to assign fault. All I can say is, if Ruth Wilson did not feel comfortable, then I respect that something on set was perhaps not up to snuff, instead of pointing fingers and implying she’s difficult. She’s a brilliant actress, so she’s obviously doing something right. Treem’s essay is more about defending Treem’s creative integrity than her moral integrity.

The Deadline piece doubles down on Treem’s statements to The Hollywood Reporter about her handling of the immensely disturbing Reiner incident. Treem stated that she “asked Showtime if we could shut down production for weeks” and “asked for sensitivity training.” She wanted “Reiner to address the cast and crew.” Instead, she “was told that Showtime had to be the one to handle it.”

If we take Treem’s words at face value, it’s still not good enough. Reiner’s behavior should be subject to a zero tolerance policy. Sensitivity training?! Treem should have asked for his removal. How much sensitivity training does an adult male need to know he shouldn’t show compromising pictures of another actress from a sex scene on a closed set? Her defense sounds painfully similar to the don’t-blame-me-blame-the-network defense from The Chi’s Lena Waithe (another Showtime series).

It should be noted that being a Showrunner is an EXTREMELY difficult job. Treem has admitted to its challenges in a very powerful, revealing essay for Red Online about “having it all.” When that article is cross-referenced with the issues on The Affair, it is not surprising that she was perhaps unable to get ahead of the on-set issues and react appropriately. Had she shown an inch of that vulnerability in her Deadline article, I’d be way more forgiving. She said that the Reiner incident overlapped with having had a new baby, and the Red Online article indicates that this was a trying time in her personal life, and she should have asked for more help. But there’s no “I wish I would have done things differently” in the Deadline piece. Instead, she points fingers, avoids responsibility, and implied Wilson was the issue.

Julianne Hough is not required to Stand by Gabrielle Union

The greatest trick the devil ever played was pitting women against one another to benefit men. The second greatest trick the devil ever played is demanding women unite to go against men, and punishing them when they don’t. When Julianne Hough was asked about Gabrielle Union’s controversial firing from America’s Got Talent, she said a whole lot of NOTHING, and even threw in the laughable non-word “integrily.”

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