There’s three things I hate in Hollywood, and Ashley Judd has committed all of them. First, I hate celebrity memoirs. They’re egocentric, unnecessary, and almost as bad as a celebrity fragrance. Second, I hate when celebrities mention more famous people than themselves to get their name in the press. And third, I hate when celebrities blame the media for all the world’s problems. In her new memoir, Ashley Judd scapegoated Snoop Dogg, P Diddy, and the entire hip hop world, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, most rap and hip-hop music — with it’s rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as ‘ho’s’ — is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.” She then went on to blame the unequal treatment of sexes as the “root cause of poverty and suffering around the world.” Wow — that’s quite a lot of blame to place on Snoop Dogg and P Diddy. I don’t suppose she’ll be invited to any of their Hollywood shin-digs. I think everyone would agree that gender disparities around the world are something to be addressed, but singling out famous musicians to prove your point? It’s cheap and ludicrous. You really think misogynists around the globe are justifying their behavior with Snoop music?
Author: The Dishmaster
LeAnn Rimes is Skinny — And Angry
It’s no secret that I like my ladies curvy. So I was shocked to see the recent skinny pictures of LeAnn Rimes. I wasn’t shocked; however, to see how LeAnn Rimes handled the attention. Predictably — she’s angry. She wrote on her twitter page, “To those who have to turn to other’s lives and judge with no real knowledge of how anyone lives, you can you know what!” Perhaps I’m alone in this, but when someone tells me I look to thin, there’s a small part of me that enjoys it. Then I weigh myself, and if I’ve lost an unusual amount of pounds — I start loading up on carbs. Sure, I hate my gigantic ass — but I’d also like to avoid looking like a curve-less little boy. So what’s with the hostility, Rimes? Could it be at all possible that people are concerned about you, and they aren’t out to get you? Picture bloggers as your Jewish mother that likes to meddle in your business — or just picture my mother.
Kathy Hilton Says Kim Kardashian Copied Paris’ Life — DUH
According to the New York Post, Kathy Hilton was overheard telling friends at a party that Paris Hilton was the original reality television star and Kim Kardashian basically copied her entire life. I’m not sure why this is making headlines, especially since it’s already obvious. While it’s true that Kim Kardashian had some moderate notoriety as Robert Kardashian’s daughter, she only received press attention when she was photographed beside Paris Hilton at Hollywood parties. When Kim’s career took off, her friendship with Paris ended. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with following in someone’s footsteps, though. And Kim did a better job at sustaining her career than Paris. The only issue is that Kim never credited Paris with her success. Or the sex tape for that matter.
Star Jones on Joy Behar — No More Bad Blood?
Star Jones appeared on Joy Behar’s HLN show to promote her new book, Satan’s Sisters, and I was shocked to discover that she appeared agreeable and friendly. I’ve been picking on Star Jones a lot lately, mostly due to her poor behavior on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice. I was also shocked to discover that this interview took place at all. Star left The View in a very dramatic fashion, disclosing to the press that she was “fired” and announcing her departure before the producers had originally planned. Translation? — She pissed everyone off. Since then, she’s apparently become PR savvy, because everyone knows if you want to clear your image, you return to the scene of the crime. Since she’s likely banned from The View for eternity, Joy Behar’s show is the next best step. Watch the interview below.
Amanda Clark Covers Matisyahu’s “One Day” at Brick & Mortar Recording Studio
In honor of TOMS 4th annual One Day Without Shoes, Amanda Clark covered Matisyahu’s “One Day” on the rooftop of the Los Angeles Brick & Mortar Recording Studio. The special day was created by TOMS founder, Blake Mycoskie, who wanted to bring awareness to the millions of children that are forced to go without shoes. In the video below, you’ll see the talented Amanda Clark playing beside the two founders of Brick & Mortar Recording studios, Rob Columbus (playing the tambourine, shaker, and bass drum) and Minh Lee (playing guitar). Please forgive my good friend Rob’s ridiculous shirt in the video. He simply couldn’t help it. Enjoy!
Grey’s Anatomy Musical Episode — It Didn’t Work
I just watched this much talked about Grey’s Anatomy episode, and I really wanted to like it — I promise I did. Unfortunately, it simply didn’t work. The plot surrounded Dr. Callie Torres, who was near death following a car accident. In the process of trying to save her, just about every doctor breaks into song, which is loosely justified by Callie’s hallucinations. There’s a few problems with this. First, in order to justify awkwardly singing in the middle of a hospital operation, each song must take place in Callie’s presence, otherwise it’s not a hallucination, and it’s instead just a crazy doctor that should be fired for singing on the job. Second, the song choices should have been somewhat thematic. It just doesn’t make sense to sing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol and Breathe by Anna Nalick. It felt too random, as if they picked the songs out of a very large hat. I realize that Shonda Rimes has some very talented cast members whose voice she wanted to feature in her show. But if I were advising her, I’d tell her to take a note from Ally McBeal instead of Glee, and have the actors randomly sing at a bar after work instead. It would have made much more sense that way. Watch a clip of last Thursday’s episode below.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy & Kirstie Alley Take a Fall on DWTS
Just when you thought Maksim Chmerkovskiy was an invincible Superman-like dancer, think again. On tonight’s Dancing With the Stars, Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy tripped mid-dance and fell to the floor. Maksim blamed it on himself, saying, “his leg just gave out,” and Kirstie assured him that he need not apologize. If these two weren’t already my favorite dancers on the show, they certainly are now. It’s incredible that they immediately got back up and Maksim danced through his very obvious pain. Did I mention that Maksim was wearing a very revealing shirt tonight? That certainly helps with my overall assessment — not that I’m biased or anything. Watch below.
Glee’s Ryan Murphy Apologizes — Listens to Dave Grohl
Leave it to Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters to knock Ryan Murphy off his judgmental throne. After months of lambasting artists who refuse to release their songs to Glee, Murphy finally apologized. His apology followed Dave Grohl’s recent comments about Murphy, stating that musicians have every right to turn down his show, and they shouldn’t be personally insulted for doing so. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Murphy said he “didn’t speak with as much clarity as he would have liked.” He said he “completely understands when artists don’t want a show or another artist to interpret their songs. In fact, [he] respect[s] it.” Wow — that’s quite a change in “clarity” from his original “f–k you” to the band. At least he learned his lesson. I’d like to give Dave Grohl some much-deserved kudos for putting Ryan Murphy in his place. The drummer for Kings of Leon tried to do the exact same thing, and he failed miserably. In fact, the press called him anti-gay at the time, and he was forced to issue an apology. By the way, have I mentioned my huge crush on Dave Grohl?
Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood — Best Duet at ACM Awards
Having duets at the American Country Music Awards was great in theory, and rough in execution. Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood were the only two artists to get it right. Tyler entered the stage singing Underwood’s Undo It, and Carrie Underwood later sang Tyler’s Walk This Way. This idea of artists crossing genres should have been consistent with each duet, but the producers missed the mark. Instead, you had Rihanna singing California King Bed with Sugarland‘s Jennifer Nettles, but Jennifer Nettles didn’t sing a song by Rihanna. To further confuse the theme, Brad Paisley sang with Alabama, who are being labeled in the press as “rockers,” even though they are both clearly country music artists. That’s not exactly crossing genres. The ACM producers should call American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe to take some advice about executing performance themes. Watch Underwood and Tyler below.
Is Dilbert’s Scott Adams a Misogynist? — Maybe?
I’d like to begin this post by disclosing that on every standardized test I’ve taken, my reading comprehension score was very high. Having said that, I’m still struggling to understand the meaning of Scott Adams’ controversial blog post that caused an uproar amongst the feminists. To paraphrase this debacle, Adams wrote a post on his blog addressing the men’s rights movement saying:
“The reality is that women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It’s just easier this way for everyone. You don’t argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn’t eat candy for dinner. You don’t punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he punches you first. And you don’t argue when a women tells you she’s only making 80 cents to your dollar. It’s the path of least resistance. You save your energy for more important battles.”
When attacked, Adams removed the original post with no explanation, which reeked of guilt. He later wrote a lengthy post entitled, I’m a What?, which was meant to defend himself and explain the misunderstanding. After combing through this follow-up post, I confess that I have no better understanding of his argument, or what he was originally trying to portray. Personally, if I was accused of sexism and misogyny, you better believe I’d cut to the chase. In fact, I might just say, “I love women” and be done with it. But Scott Adams is different. So here’s what I’ve made of my limited understanding. His original piece was meant to poke fun at the men’s rights movement, which he labeled as a ‘bunch of pussies.” But which part of that original post was a joke? You can certainly oppose the movement on the basis of there being more important things to worry about, while simultaneously believing that women are treated more favorably than men. Furthermore, when he addressed the feminist blogs that attacked him, he said, “I was also labeled an asshole, which I have come to understand is a synonym for male.” This is probably not the best thing to say when trying to worm oneself out of a mess — guilty or not. So what’s the moral of this long, tedious story? Either standardized tests mean nothing, or Scott Adams needs to be more clear when attempting damage control.