After much anticipation and endless rumors, fans everywhere rejoiced at the sight of N SYNC during Sunday’s VIdeo Music Awards. As for the content and quality, it’s fair to say Timberlake killed it, and the others are . . . a little rusty. But I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Speaking of gift horses, I was hoping for a longer reunion beside his former bandmates, but I’m sure Timberlake wants to be careful about distracting from his newly branded image that’s he’s worked hard to solidify.
Lamar Odom’s Drug Abuse — Did the Kardashians Leak This Story?
Despite popular opinion, TMZ is a credible entertainment news outlet. Its founder, Harvey Levin, is an attorney, and as an attorney, he’s well aware of defamation, and a slew of other causes of action related to lying or publishing inaccurate information. So when TMZ exposed Lamar Odom’s alleged drug abuse, I immediately hypothesized the source of the leak, and all signs point to the Kardashians. How else would they know that Khloe Kardashian hired a private investigator who “stood guard” outside Lamar’s rehab facility? This certainly could have come from a reliable “friend,” but TMZ is far too smart to risk legal liability unless it came from the Kardashians themselves.
And now for my larger point. If the Kardashians did in fact leak this, then I’m inundated with unfavorable adjectives that I will leave out of this article. Why would anyone think its okay to publicly expose someone’s drug addiction? Lamar Odom has his own career, his own children, and his own family to worry about, and this revelation does nothing to ensure his recovery. If it’s a PR move to preempt a divorce fallout from the cheating rumors flying around, then it’s nothing short of evil. Perhaps I’m wrong. I realize they all willingly chose to expose their private lives for public gain. But there’s a line in the sand, and if I’m right, this crossed it.
Why Did Molly Ringwald Stop Working With John Hughes?
“Eventually, though, I felt that I needed to work with other people as well. I wanted to grow up, something I felt (rightly or wrongly) I couldn’t do while working with John. Sometimes I wonder if that was what he found so unforgivable. We were like the Darling children when they made the decision to leave Neverland. And John was Peter Pan, warning us that if we left we could never come back. And, true to his word, not only were we unable to return, but he went one step further. He did away with Neverland itself.” Molly Ringwald on why she chose to stop working with John Hughes and how it affected him.
Is Lady Gaga The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?
Tabloid Gossip — Your News Now
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- ‘Prison Break’s’ Wentworth Miller proudly declared his homosexual status. Stuff
- Simon Cowell proudly pranced beside his baby mamma. People
- Lamar Odom might have drug problems. TMZ
- Kelly Clarkson isn’t pregnant. But she is eloping. NYND
- Eva Longoria & Ernesto Arguello hit the splits. ICYDK
- Harry Styles doesn’t mind if Taylor Swift writes songs about him. LAT
- Is Jason Segel dating Cameron Diaz? Celebslam
- Melanie Griffith thinks Hollywood is superficial. Moviefone
- Is Kristen Stewart dating Lane Garrison. SugarScape
- Kanye West & Kim Kardashian revealed their daughter’s photo. HIPHOPWIRED
- Alec Baldwin welcomed a baby girl. PopCrunch
- Mike Tyson admitted he lied about his sobriety. Huffington Post
Simon Cowell v. LeAnn Rimes — Is Society Sexist?
When the news first broke that Simon Cowell knocked up his good friend’s wife, I thought, “There has to be some reasonable explanation.” Then pictures surfaced of Cowell kissing Lauren Silverman, while her husband was presumably close by. To top it off, Cowell took these couples trips with his then fiance, Mezhgan Hussainy. And despite all this damning evidence, I was still convinced of Simon Cowell’s innocence. Then I was hit by a thunderbolt. I suddenly realized that LeAnn Rimes was not afforded this same naive insanity or the benefit of any doubt. She too had an affair with a married parent, and the public trashed her with tramp status and cast flames upon her for eternity. Sure she handled it horribly, but so has Cowell. Just days after Lauren Silverman’s divorce with Andrew Silverman became final, he’s been seen publicly parading his love, holding hands with Silverman and openly kissing her in French restaurants. So what’s the difference here, and why is Cowell getting the get-out-of-jail-free card that LeAnn can’t kill someone for? Well . . . it starts with a P and ends with and S, and it rhymes with Venus. You do the math.
Kanye West Talks Love to Kris Jenner — WATCH NOW
Softer interviews always generate more information from the subject. Sure you can ask hard-hitting questions, but an interviewer is more likely to get telling answers when the subject is relaxed. For Kanye West, that held very true during his sit-down with Kris Jenner. His typical hot-headed persona took a back-seat while he described his relationship with Kim Kadashian, whom he clearly loves. Watch it below.
Ben Affleck is Batman — My Wings Just Broke
Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water, Ben Affleck bit a chunk out of his re-branded career. In case you missed it, he’ll star alongside Henry Cavill as the new Batman, in a Batman v. Superman showdown. The internet became instantly aghast at the revelation, with many referencing his Daredevil flop as evidence that he’s far from an action hero. If you’re asking for inside knowledge behind this decision, you need not look far. Affleck has a long-standing relationship with Warner Bros., who chose him for the role.
When I heard the news, I was both shocked and saddened. For someone who spent what seems like an eternity rebuilding his image after a series of horrible career (see Gigli, Daredevil, and Paycheck, and Jersey Girl) and personal life choices (see JLO), it astounds me that he’d accept this offer. He doesn’t need the money, and it resurrects a memory he worked hard to erase after incredible success as a director (see Town and Argo). It’s not only terrible timing, it feels as if he’s sold-out once again. Did his itch for leading-man status overwhelm his clarity? Did he get the wrong advice? Sure Christian Bale did it, and Christian Bale is a respected actor. But Christian Bale came from a relatively unknown place when he began that role, and he hadn’t had a series of flops in that genre. I wish Ben Affleck the very best. He’ll need it.
Stop-and-Frisk Gets Stopped: Grab the Facts Now
On August 12, after a 10-week trial, a Federal Court found that the NYPD violated the 4th and 14th Amendment rights of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, largely black and Hispanic men, by stopping them without reasonable suspicion.
The suit was brought by various plaintiffs after growing constitutional concerns about the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policies under Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. The number of police stops climbed steadily after Bloomberg took office in 2002, climbing from 97,296 to a peak of 685,724 in 2011. Approximately 88% of these stops did not result in an arrest or summons, and more than 86% of those stopped were black or Latino.
At trial, 12 plaintiff-witnesses described 19 out of more than 4 million stops which occurred between 2004 and 2012. The plaintiffs argued that their testimony proved that the NYPD “laid siege to black and Latino neighborhoods… leaving people afraid to leave their homes,” and that the NYPD used “race as a proxy for reasonable suspicion.” But the City countered that the plaintiffs “failed to show a single constitutional violation much less a widespread pattern or practice.”
The plaintiffs’s case was aided by a smoking gun: a taped statement in which an NYPD Deputy Inspector told another officer to stop and frisk “the right people, at the right time, at the right location.” When the officer asked for more specifics, the Deputy Inspector replied, “I told you at roll call, and I have no problem telling you this, male blacks 14 to 20, 21.” Ouch!
The City tried to mitigate this statement by explaining that the officer was so advised “not because law abiding blacks are more suspicious generally but because robberies and grand larcenies in (the area) were reportedly being committed by black males ages 14-21.” But that doesn’t seem very reassuring in the face of such a blatant directive to stop young male blacks.
The case also included testimony from New York State Senator Eric Adams, a former NYPD officer, who said that on two occasions Commissioner Kelly publicly stated that he uses police stops to “instill fear” in young blacks and Latinos, and that every time they leave their homes they will be stopped. Ouch, again!
After finding the City liable for systemic constitutional violations, the Judge – with encouragement from the U.S. Justice – Department appointed a monitor to oversee the NYPD. All along the City has maintained that a monitor is an unnecessary interference which will hurt police morale and create even more paperwork for the officers.
The newly appointed monitor is Arnold & Porter’s Peter Zimroth, the husband of actress Estelle Parsons (who played Roseanne’s mother in Roseanne).
In spite of this huge blow, the City – or at least the current administration, there will be a new mayor by next year – maintains that the NYPD’s policies are both lawful and effective. Last week it filed a notice of appeal in this as well as a related stop-and-frisk case.