AP - Amy Winehouse pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting a theater manager at a family Christmas show. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 20 Jan 2010 | 3:40 am
"It's going to be a very juicy book," Jason told us. "I love my family. I wish they loved me the way I love them. If they want to play with fire, they are going to get burned."
5. It's about time men break the glass ceiling of Hollywood messes. Did you know heirs earn only 50 cents on the fameball dollar compared to their female counterparts? [Disclaimer: I made that up.] Send some of those drugstore perfume endorsements Gummi's way, ladies.
(AP)
AP - A month after her sudden death, Brittany Murphy's mother and husband say they are convinced the actress died of natural causes, not drugs or an eating disorder.
AP - A month after her sudden death, Brittany Murphy's mother and husband say they are convinced the actress died of natural causes, not drugs or an eating disorder.
The Observer spills 2000 epic words documenting the peculiar eating habits of the modern food snob, for whom a successful meal consists of "Oh wow, this didn't make me vomit, hooray!" (Actual quote.)
The disgusting animal byproduct trend arises at the juncture of cultural enlightenment (During my trip to Vanuatu, I ate everything on my plate!) and locavorism (a culinary discipline that allows carnivores to win back some of vegetarians' moral high ground):
Prime beef? Hopelessly minor league, not to mention kind of unenlightened. Call yourself a chef? Let's see what you can do with a whole (locally raised, hormone-free, of course) carcass. Let's see you braise a kidney.
"Cooks like to eat funky, weird shit, and cooks like to send other cooks out funky, weird shit."
And so is the "hipsters acting like old people" thing:
"All these people who are 20 being like, ‘I eat everything!'; and people who are 60 saying, ‘I haven't eaten sweetbreads since I was a little kid!'"
And though cultures that eat brains and innards often do so out of necessity, (example: slave cultures developing methods for eating sweetbreads and pig feet since it was all that was left) on the trendy, Manhattan-y end of the spectrum, it's actually a sign of wealth:
Only in Manhattan could we pay premium prices for something once considered a culinary castoff. Farmers and purveyors used to send innards in bags attached to the carcasses for free, but offal has become a specialty item that is, in some cases, more expensive than filet mignon.
In sum: At some point, you will arrive at a dinner party and a man in a pirate costume will serve you the brains of baby cows, fried in peanut oil. (Actual anecdote.) You will eat it. You will not like it. But you will pretend you do, to avoid seeming like a foolish, racist rube. It will be something like this:
Norm Macdonald dropped by The Tonight Show last night with a six-month-old gift basket that has since become brutally irrelevant. Meanwhile, David Letterman responded to Jay Leno's "state of the network" speech, as he called it, and Stephen Colbert continued to prepare for the Winter Olympics by warming up his NBC-bashing muscles. Finally, Craig Ferguson tries to rise above the late night wars. Watch our compilation to see what you missed.
Strip-ers: NBC has picked up a comedy pilot from veterans of The State Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant. The co-creators and stars of Reno 911 will star together in The Strip, a multicamera comedy about a former child star (Lennon) who owns a Hooters-style eatery in a strip mall just outside of Las Vegas. Like Dickie Roberts, only funny, and with much shorter shorts. [THR]
The Greatest Dad of Our Time: In a bit of news that will be of particular interest to our siblings at Daily Intel, Gossip Girl has found Serena van der Woodsen's dad! If we just told you it was a Baldwin, would you be able to guess which one? Time's up, it's Billy Baldwin, the one who was last seen as the transsexual-loving Attorney General on Dirty Sexy Money. Let's hope, for Serena's sake, he hasn't taken any parenting tips from his brother. [Michael Ausiello/EW]
I Have a DreamWorks: DreamWorks has found a screenwriter for its Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic in Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar for writing The Pianist. The studio picked up MLKJ's life rights in May, making it the first studio to make a film about the civil rights leader with full rights to his speeches. It may be a little early to start talking cast, but it's never too early to talk NOT casting. We can all agree on NOT casting Will Smith, right? [Variety]
Animal Cruelty:Keinohrhasen, a German romantic comedy that translates to Rabbit Without Ears, is getting the remake treatment from Newmarket Entertainment. The film centers on a lady killing journalist who reconnects with his old friend Anna after being sentenced to 200 hours of community service at her daycare. Any movie that continues that absurd glorification of journalists is a movie we can get behind. [Variety]
Heaaaaarts: Summit Entertainment has picked up the right to the upcoming zombies romance movie Warm Bodies. Jonathan Levine, who wrote The Wackness, has signed on to write the film, which is being adapted from Isaac Marion's book. The story is about a zombie going through an existential crisis who starts a relationship with a human. Yeah, you read that right. [Variety]
Stop, Drama Time: ABC snagged two drama pilots today, one about medicine and one about crime-solving. Off the Map comes from Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes and revolves around three doctors who leave the U.S. to work in a clinic on a tropical island where they encounter things they've never seen before. Body of Evidence is about a neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner who has a unique way of solving crime that often puts her at odds with her bosses. Ah yes, the rogue doctor/cop/medical examiner. We know the character well. [THR]
"The ball kid peed on himself. It was unfortunate," Young said.
"It took a while to replace him. Then they had to put the sawdust down, or whatever you put down when somebody throws up.
"Then they had to use the blower (to dry the court) but the blower had no gas in it, so that took even more time."
Miraculously, there are no videos of the potty pants event online—a small consolation for our soggy, hopelessly humiliated friend. [TheAge]
Cable news caught special election fever last night, with each network bringing out the big guns to analyze Scott Brown's defeat of Martha Coakley. For those of you who couldn't watch every network's coverage, we provide this helpful summary. Included herein: Bill O'Reilly and Larry King ask questions about health care; David Gergen is mean to Larry King; Greta Van Susteren and Keith Olbermann think Brown's victory speech was tooo looong; Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd think Democrats totally blew it; and Chris Matthews wore a sweater.
As the credits of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" began to roll and the Bobby Fuller Four's "Let Her Dance" blared through the theater at a recent showing of the movie, a young girl leapt to her feet... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 11:17 pm
AP - As the credits of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" began to roll and the Bobby Fuller Four's "Let Her Dance" blared through the theater at a recent showing of the movie, a young girl leapt to her feet and joined the on-screen characters, dancing in the aisle.
At this point, it's safe to say that the greatest thing to come out of Tiger Woods's fall from grace was the discovery of a Hong Kong-based media company that produces amazing CGI reenactments of real world events. On the heels of its inspired retelling of the Woods saga, Next Media has turned its eye toward NBC and the results are stunning. Watch for the moment when Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno and Jeff Zucker turn into superheros and start brawling. And then watch it get better as David Letterman shows up and starts pummeling Zucker with a folding chair. Are you paying attention CNN?
Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban and Alicia Keys are just a few of the performers who will be featured, according to MTV Networks, an integral partner in the two-hour event.
Sure, Jay Leno can laugh about it now.
"The very funny Chelsea Handler is here tonight," the outgoing prime-timer told his audience Tuesday. "Actually, she was just here...
Stewart starts by spoofing the cable news habit grading of grading presidential administration, offering up his own complicated formula for quantitatively assessing Obama's first year. Funny! Consider that barrel effectively machine-gunned with an M-16. Who wants cod for dinner?
Larry Wilmore followed and did his thing, which is basically: Talking to white people like they are all racist. This was pretty funny too!
Well, we've come to the end of the first year for President Obama and if there's one thing we learned it's this: Negroes aren't magic... Admit it Jon, you thought he was a magic negro. You know, your Bagger Vances, your Green Mile Guy. You thought he would just cast a magic spell and fix the nation.
It feels like just yesterday John Roberts screwed up Obama's swearing-in and we are all really happy and filled with hope and change. And it might as well been yesterday that the LA Times wrote:
Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," said that it may still be too early for Obama-based material to emerge...
"There also has been more of a track record with Bush, when there were eight years," said Cameron. "A lot of comedians are still feeling their way. There's still the 'Obama walking on water' jokes."
But it was really May 4, 2009.
Just hours after Scott Brown's victory over Martha Coakley, Virginia Senator Jim Webb is calling on the Senate to wait for Brown to take office before any more votes on health care legislation are held. In a statement, Webb tried to convey to his fellow Democrats just what Brown's victory means.
"In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process," Mr. Webb said. "It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated."
You know those Senators who Democrats were afraid would move further to the center if Brown won? Yeah, Jim Webb is one of them. Senator Harry Reid also put out a statement tonight saying that Democrats have no plans to drag out Brown's swearing in.
"The people of Massachusetts have spoken," Reid said. "We welcome Scott Brown to the Senate and will move to seat him as soon as the proper paperwork has been received."
NEW YORK - Prosecutors say they've found two more women who say they were molested by The Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life." Joseph Brooks was already accused... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 9:18 pm
"I was very surprised and, yes, you have a beautiful bottom end," Shania Twain told American Idol auditioner John Park.
And then it got weirder from there.
Maybe...
You have to give Robert Halderman credit for trying. The former CBS producer who attempted to extort David Letterman was last seen putting forth a novel defense: Tiger Woods paid his mistresses to keep quiet about their affairs, so it shouldn't be illegal for Halderman to ask Letterman for money to keep quiet about his affairs. Anyway, Halderman says, he wasn't blackmailing Letterman, he was simply trying to sell him a screenplay. Judge Charles Solomon was having none of it, saying, "Since the defendant is not being prosecuted for authoring either a book or a screenplay, his constitutional right to free speech has not been impacted." So on we go to a trial and Halderman gets to make his movie, even if it's from a jail cell.
LOS ANGELES - Marc Webb has caught the job of "Spider-Man" director. Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced Tuesday that the "(500) Days of Summer" director will helm the next... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 8:32 pm
Jared Leto doesn't usually talk about the time he and his family lived in Haiti.
"I tend to keep my life stories to myself," he told me earlier today. "You've got to...
Scott Brown won today's special Senate election in Massachusetts. It's too soon to predict what this means, exactly, for health-care reform and a host of other issues. But here are some safe bets:
1. Health-Care Reform, of Course, Is in Big Trouble: The ongoing process of reconciliation between the passed House and Senate bills is now in question. Without a filibuster-proof 60-member Senate majority, it will be hard to get any bill through that institution again. The alternative, coaxing the House into approving the Senate bill already passed, faces major hurdles: Namely, pro-life or wavering Democrats who don't like certain elements of the Senate bill, and will be even more rattled after seeing a supposedly liberal state reject a Democratic successor to Ted Kennedy, the champion of health-care reform, in favor of a Republican.
2. Olympia Snowe Will Become Mighty Again: If the strategy of getting House Democrats to accept the Senate version of the health-care bill doesn't work — and since the House only passed its version of health-care reform by 220 to 215 votes, it very likely won't — Harry Reid will have to pull another Ben Nelson. That is, kowtow to the every need and desire of the one member of the Senate with the most leverage. That person is independent-minded Maine senator Olympia Snowe, who was the only Republican member of Max Baucus's finance committee to vote a version of the bill onto the floor. Baucus abandoned her when he and Reid saw they could get all 60 Democrats in line, but Snowe's main sticking point, a public option, is not in the Senate version of the bill.
3. Senate Democrats May Stall: In an effort to avoid either of the above scenarios, there's always the chance that the (still) Democrat-led Senate could avoid seating Scott Brown for a good two weeks. That's about how long it takes to certify an election, which is officially required before anyone can be sworn in. This tactic might give the reconciliation process enough time to complete itself, but will certainly leave Republicans howling. Why? Because Ted Kennedy himself was sworn in the day after he won his first election to that very seat. As Talking Points Memo points out, the current situation is subtly different. But that subtlety would no doubt be lost in the controversy this tactic would no doubt stir up.
4. Democrats Will Point Fingers: In the couple of weeks leading up to the special election, as Coakley's numbers crashed, desperate finger-pointing began among Dems. Coakley advisers blamed the national party. Party officials blamed what they saw as a less-than-rigorous campaign attitude. Rahm Emanuel is said to have blamed Coakley's team. We blamed Ted Kennedy himself. And all the while, a gleeful GOP tried to make the election a referendum on Obama's policies, and liberalism itself. It's this last thing that is going to make the White House — and both Senate and House Democratic reelection committees — to try to isolate the race as an inept, one-off flub.
5. Harold Ford Jr. Will Indeed Run for the New York Senate: A Ford insider told the Post that "if Coakley loses, or wins by less than five, it increases the likelihood that he gets in." The logic being that with Ted Kennedy's seat being lost to a Republican in the bluest of blue states, no Democratic incumbent is truly safe in the fall — even against a fellow Dem. Of course, it goes without saying, that actual Republican foes to Democratic incumbents will feel extremely emboldened.
6. The Globe Will Get Warmer: As Matthew Yglesias points out, passing cap-and-trade in 2010 looked dicey as it was. With another GOP vote in the Senate, the likelihood of passing it gets even slimmer. (Yglesias also observes that after an initial couple of weeks of bad press, Obama will get a subtle boost because "It’s much easier to complain about 'Republican obstructionism' if Republicans have the 41 votes they need to obstruct.")
7. The Tea Party Will Roar: The symbolism of Coakley's defeat can't possibly be lost on the scattered pockets of extremely vocal Tea Partiers across the country. They will see this as a victory for the forces opposed to Obama's social-fascist agenda, and proof that those forces aren't just made up of ignorant white people from the South and Midwest. In fact, the Tea Party PAC contributed to the Brown campaign in a more targeted and organized fashion than we've seen thus far. Imagine the hand-scrawled posters now: "The Tea Party Has Returned to Massachusetts!"
Love running into movie stars on the street during filming and having their big tables full of bagels block you from getting into work? Then you'll be thrilled to hear that Governor Paterson's new state budget includes a renewal of New York's film production tax credit which will provide $420 million in tax rebates over the next five years. Participation in the program requires a certain percentage of the film's budget to be spent in New York and a thank you credit at the end of each film. More importantly though, this will ensure that when filmmakers are looking for a place to destroy on film, it will be New York.
Try, if you can, to set your minds back to the salad days of 2004.
It was an innocent time in late-night, when NBC execs weren't a go-to punchline, when David Letterman's only...
The AP has just called the Massachusetts special election to replace Ted Kennedy for Republican Scott Brown. The Times currently has Brown with 52 percent of the vote and Martha Coakley with 46 percent, with 79 percent of precincts reporting. The Boston Globe says that Coakley has called Brown and conceded. Now is the time for Democrats to panic.
Marc Webb just directed Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his most appealing role yet. Could his most heroic role be next?
Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have tapped the (500) Days of...
For a few months John Edwards seemed to slip from the public's mind, but thanks to a little story from John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's Game Change, Edwards is back! So this was the perfect time for a poll of his home state to see just what North Carolinians think of the former Senator and presidential candidate. The answer? Not much. Edwards's favorability rating came in at a dismal 15 percent. Polling firm Public Policy Polling said that makes Edwards the"most unpopular person we've polled anywhere at any time." Congratulations to former record holder Roland Burris, someone is more hated than you!
John Edwards Now Most Unpopular Figure Anywhere, Anytime: Pollster [HuffPo]
AP - Lawyers for Roman Polanski said Tuesday he should be sentenced in absentia to time served and accused the district attorney of playing politics with the case.
Mel Gibson isn't the type to use historically inaccurate languages in his historical fiction. Perhaps you saw Apocalypto and were pissed that you had to spend the whole movie reading? Well, Gibson plans to continue that tradition for his upcoming Viking movie by forcing Leonardo DiCaprio to learn some combination of Old English and Old Norse. "I think it's going to be English—the English that would have been spoken back then—and Old Norse," he told Collider. "Whatever the 9th century had to offer. I'm going to give you real." Leo better start studying now. [Collider]
Here is what the newly elected Senator from Massachusetts said as his daughters looked on in horror:
And as always, I rely on Gail's love and support and that of our two lovely daughters. So i want to thank Ayla and Arianna for their help as well. And just in case anyone who's watching throughout the country they're both available. No, no no. No. Only kidding, only kidding. Only kidding, only kidding. Arianna's definitely not available. But Ayla is.
Upset:Huge.
Turnout: High.
Democrats: Stunned, scrambling.
Teabaggers: More powerful than they seem?
Obama: "Not pleased" -Robert Gibbs.
Health Care Bill: Possibly screwed.
Ayla Brown: Single and ready to mingle.
Rachel Maddow: Sad.
Maddow's face upon hearing the news = Brown's daughters' faces upon hearing his acceptance speech.
AP - A hearing to determine whether to modify a court order preventing Charlie Sheen and his wife, Brooke, from contacting each other was postponed until Friday because Brooke Sheen underwent surgery for an oral infection.
Results from the Massachusetts special election probably won't be in for at least an hour, but if the recent behavior of Democrat Martha Coakley's campaign is any indication, she has already lost. Why else would a Coakley adviser release a memo blaming the national Democratic party for its troubles? The memo, which comes in response to D.C. chatter that Coakley's issues are her own fault, argues that much of Republican Scott Brown's success can be traced to his ability to capitalize on the failings of the national party (health care, cap and trade, Ben Nelson butt-kissing). There's some more blather about how Afghanistan and the underwear bomber harmed Coakley. Really, the memo looks suspiciously like the kind of thing you'd write after you've already lost.
A Democratic party official did some memo sending of his own in response to Coakley's adviser, blaming the campaign for not advertising, polling or conducting any voter outreach in the lead up to the election. "As Scott Brown himself conceded, this race wasn't defined by feelings about the president. This race was defined by the lack of defining done by the Coakley campaign," the memo said.
It must have taken something extraordinary to posses such a high-level Silicon Valley executive to aggressively publicize the oh-so-1995 website devoted to his relationship with girlfriend YaVaughnie Wilkins.
They've been dating for at least eight years (see website) and still no ring. Maybe the billboards, complete with a "you are my soulmate forever" proclamation signed "c.e.p.," is an attempt to placate a would-be spouse.
Or maybe the guy just wanted to do something sweet for his special lady friend. It's been known to happen!
UPDATE: Here's a side by side picture of the Chuck E Phillips from his website, and from his official Oracle biography (click to enlarge):
As if the prospect of going to court wasn't enough of a pain.
Tomorrow's hearing in Colorado on whether to extend Brooke Mueller's order of protection against hubby Charlie...
At least that's the reason she supposedly canceled her 35th birthday bash at a Palm Beach club after invites were already sent...
Izzie Stevens is back in Seattle for a passing moment (Katherine Heigl filmed this one-off appearance on Grey's Anatomy before she went on maternity leave), and it couldn't come at a worse...
UPDATE: Fox has denied having anything to do with the purchase of the domain name or the Twitter account. Ownership of the account is now listed, according to register.com, as the more...
Big congratulations go out today to Nymag.com commenter samfb, the winner of our Vampire Weekend haiku contest. Samfb will attend an exclusive Vampire Weekend show this Thursday, presented by New York's 101.9 RXP, at the petite Studio at Webster Hall. Impressively, this is samfb’s first and only Nymag.com comment! Here's his winning entry:
Heartbreak, late for class
Sometimes being white is hard
Their songs always help
But since we had so many great submissions, we now turn the spotlight to a few runner-ups. Sadly, we don’t actually have any prizes for them, but their poetry is featured after the jump.
Screaming high school fans
Tix sold out to shows near by
Wife says I'm too old
It sure has been a busy day on the death front: We've already relayed the sad news that both Kate McGarrigle and Robert B. Parker passed away. Now comes word that Eric Segal, best known as the author of the screenplay and book Love Story, has passed away after suffering a heart attack. It was in that screenplay that he coined the popular (yet semi-reprehensible) phrase, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." He was 72. [Reuters]
From left, DSquared2, Alexander McQueen, and Gianfranco Ferré.
Last fall, zombie chic emerged as a big trend on the men's runways, with models made up to look pale and ghostly, or as though they'd been dead for five days. Fall 2010 includes similarly grim themes so far. Alexander McQueen put Sting on the invitation for his men's show, labeling him "The Bone Collector." The Timesnotes, "a fascination with skeletal remains haunted the collection." In related news, the models in the show were really, really thin! HAH. Moving on: DSquared2 made their models look like they had been splattered with blood, which is actually kind of gross, but hey! Also different! And we admit this is kind of a stretch, but Gianfranco Ferré sent one model down the runway in a leather crop-top sort of thing that reminds us of the top half of a butcher's apron, which McQueen showed for fall 2009, which a brutal killer might wear to, well, you know. In any case, that Ferré model kind of looks like he could be on his way to kill somebody.
Drugmakers are busy looking for a cure for female sexual dysfunction. Where will this "quest for a female Viagra" eventually lead? A few of the exciting options that may (or may not) be available to you in a few years:
There's LibiGel, a testosterone gel you apply to the skin; bremelanotide, a peptide solution that you have to inject into your vein with a hypodermic needle; and flibanserin, an antidepressant that comes in pill form, thankfully, but does something mysterious to human brain chemistry to create a sense of desire.
There's also the "Orgasmatron" (no, not that Orgasmatron), which a doctor/inventor has been testing out and makes jamming a needle into your arm before jumping into bed sound like fun. It's a "semi-permanent" device that involves implanting electrodes in the lower spine, costs $12,000, and could lead to "paralysis, infection, and/or incontinence" if the procedure isn't done correctly.
Last Friday, VH1 was kind enough to book me a ticket to Los Angeles for the Critic’s Choice Movie Awards, a glitzy, A-list awards show where some of Hollywood’s biggest names would sit together in the same room lightly but firmly patting each other on their geniously talented backs. While I wasn’t nominated for anything per se, I still busted 2 weeks worth of blog salary to envelope myself in a designer gown for my stint interviewing people on the red carpet.
The red carpet is an interesting phenomenon. There are dozens of journalists all roped off in their little area, waiting for their big celebrity scoop. Early on, publicists come by asking if you’d be interested in interviewing their clients, who, if they’re asking, usually aren’t a recognizable face. Would I have any interest in interviewing the writers for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? Not reeeaaaally, but I’d definitely hang out with the writers for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. (They are adorable is what I’m saying.)
As the night progresses, the more famous faces start to appear, most of whom breeze by the carpet for a few photos before heading inside. This is when, for me at least, I turn into what could only be described as an “insane person.” People are trying everything they can do to get the attention of our beloved bebronzed famous faces, and given that I’m 500 feet tall, very loud, and a rabid animal in times of intense pressure (listen to that laugh and tell me it isn’t Scooby Doo meets 28 Weeks Later), things can get a little intense. Apparently some of you may find this funny to watch.
The red carpet is the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And perhaps no video will ever tell you exactly what it feels like better than this one: BWE.tv Live on the Red Carpet, where we speak to Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson (sort of) and my own personal life hero, Quentin Tarantino (who, when prompted, graciously checked out my feet), among others. We also catch glimpse of such Hollywood Royalty as Morgan Freeman, Josh Duhamel (who might hate me now, even though my love remains strong), Tracy Morgan… and…
PAUL MC-F**KING-CARTNEY. (Paul McCartney.)
A lot of work went into making this video (firm handshake to videographer and editor Jenna Ennis!), so please watch it! And, as always, enjoy.
It should also be noted that, while we didn’t get into the admittedly packed after party, we DID spot Alfonso Ribeiro, aka “Carlton Banks,” ie “Alfonso Spears,” at Beso, Eva Longoria’s restaurant, later that night. In other words, probably our best sighting of the day.
Yesterday, David Beckham attended his own Originals by Originals David Beckham presentation for Milan Men's Fashion Week wearing baggy Adidas sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a black trench coat — an outfit that gave no shape to his ripped body.
Goldman Sachs knows what it's giving out for bonus numbers now, but they've decided to hold back on saying exactly what size loads they're going to drop on their employees until after they declare what are expected to be jaw-dropping, record-breaking year-end earnings this Thursday. "We decided to delay telling people by a few days," spokesman Lucas van Praag tells the Journal, explaining that "it is important to have context of earnings before we start communicating compensation." Plus, let's face it, it's more exciting this way. In the meantime, Reuters is reporting that New York's financial industry as a whole is set to dole out $64 billion in bonuses this year, so Goldman employees can occupy themselves by fantasizing exactly what percentage of that gargantuan number is theirs.
A couple of weeks ago, a meme took the internet by storm, proving that Avatar was just the movie Pocahontas with a lot more blue, the folks over at the Moviefone blog have cracked yet another movie plot hyper-coincidence, albeit with a bit of a darker streak.
It seems the plot for 2008’s critically acclaimed, award winning hit The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke is nearly identical to 2009’s critically acclaimed, award winning hit Crazy Heart starring the slightly-less grizzly Jeff Bridges. What does this all mean? That if you want to win a best actor Oscar, you best be using the following formula:
Amazing that Fox Searchlight made both pictures, no?
The World Health Organization last summer finally definitively listed sunlamps as cancer causers. The FDA will soon begin debating how to warn indoor tanners of the cancer threats posed by sunlamps. Eighteen-year-old Katie Donnar, who found a growth of early-stage melanoma on her leg while using tanning beds to prepare for the Miss Indiana pageant, claims she would have benefited from a big, fat sign. "It seemed somewhat of a myth that I was putting myself at risk," she said. "The warning label was so small, nothing to make me stop and think, 'This is real.'" [HuffPo]
Vulture can report that Sony will imminently announce a deal with (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb to direct not one, but three Spider-Man movies in a rebooted franchise that will focus far more on the private life of Peter Parker.
Webb, whose (500) Days scored a Golden Globe nomination and whose name seems to have predestined him for this job, has long been a favorite of Columbia chairman Amy Pascal. We're told that last year she very nearly hired him to direct the adaptation of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball after she pulled the plug on Steven Soderbergh three days before shooting. She ultimately chose Bennett Miller (Capote), thinking that Moneyball might be hurt by Webb's whimsical style, but she views him as a latter-day Cameron Crowe for the economically and socially angsty Generation Y, and thinks he'd be perfect to explore the conflict within Parker.
Webb’s other big appeal? He's much cheaper than the old Spider-Man crew. The deal just now being sewn up calls for Webb to be paid roughly $10 million for the first film, with substantial bonuses built in if the picture reaches certain box-office milestones. (Coincidentally, Webb’s deal is being hammered out by the Gersh Agency, the feisty outfit which first put Tobey Maguire into the webslinger's suit a decade ago.) This is a big savings from how his predecessor Sam Raimi was compensated. Unlike the now-departed Raimi, Webb won’t be getting paid a percentage of the films' grosses. Compare that to Spider-Man 4, for which Raimi and star Tobey Maguire were expected to claim more than 25 percent of the gross.
It’s not just a case of Hollywood exploiting a young director; it’s a matter of survival. The ground has shifted dramatically as of late. With the recent dramatic collapse of the DVD market (sales were down 17 percent in the last three months, compared with the same time last year), Sony had become genuinely worried that with a high-price cast and director, the Spider-Man franchise wouldn't make the studio any money at all in theaters. In fact, we're told that only longtime producer Laura Ziskin and former Marvel Entertainment CEO Avi Arad are getting gross participation on the new films, and then only because their contracts stipulated as much.
Here’s the new music video for Timbaland and Katy Perry’s “If We Ever Meet Again,” coming just in time for the art thievery trendof 1999.
If you’re gonna go for the 1999 “high society larceny” motif, why not go the extra late-90s mile and toss in a bunch of 360 degree Matrix camera-freezes while sampling “Livin’ La Vida Loca”?
Premiering at Sundance this Friday is Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love, which follows the wealthy Italian Recchi family as they celebrate the birthday of their patriarch, Eduardo Sr., who surprises them with his pick to succeed him as head of his industrial company. Into this volatile mix is thrown Tilda Swinton, starring as Emma, a Recchi by marriage, who falls in love with her husband's business partner. Love hits American theaters on June 18, and its makers have given us first crack at the poster.
Madewell has avoided celebrity collaborations up until the fall 2010 season. But the J.Crew offshoot announced today that Alexa Chung, whose MTV show was canceled last month, will be the first celebrity to design a line for them.
“I was being offered so many collaborations for a long time, but I held off. I thought it would be quite a ‘sellout’ thing to do,” Chung told WWD. “But Madewell had a more organic approach. They seemed really interested in my ideas and it’s a brand that I really admire. Hopefully, the authenticity of this collaboration will be obvious.”
Suuuuure, she didn't want to sell out. But also, perhaps she can't now, because if an unemployed freelance model signs up to help Madewell put out a clothing line, that might not even qualify as selling out. Can an unemployed somewhat famous person even sell out? Or can they just pass it off as another job while hoping it boosts their fame while they're off TV? Someone ought to philosophize on that.
Anyway, Chung's line will include, according to WWD, "polkadot tea dresses, dungaree dresses, high-waisted skinny jeans, oversize wool jackets with velvet and lace accents, and T-shirts with Chung’s photographs and illustrations, about 20 styles in all." Chung describes the line as "things you wouldn’t mind getting dirty in and things that I actually wear." Emphasis on things she actually wears. Because about .00000001 percent of the population can pull off high-waisted skinny pants.
New York's most-loathed (we think? It's a tough call) Real Housewife, Kelly Bensimon, "will be featured on the cover and in a six-page nude pictorial in the March issue" of Playboy, according to Us Weekly, which reports that the photos were taken by her ex-husband, Gilles Bensimon. [Us]
Director James Cameron arrives at the premiere of "Avatar," at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California in 2009. Science-fiction epic "Avatar" surged past the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 3:10 pm
Front Page: Studio partners with E1 on smallscreen project -- Summit Entertainment is getting into the TV business.The theatrical studio has partnered with E1 Entertainment ("Hung") to develop a TV project based on Summit's 2009 feature "Push."
The model will wear a dress from her forthcoming clothing line when she covers the Grammys red carpet for ET Canada. She doesn't want to spoil the surprise for her fans, but she's posted a blurry photo of a satiny blue sleeve on her blog. She has a name selected, but can't reveal it until she gets some legal branding issues worked out. [Oh So Coco]
Last week, in response to the surfacing of certain e-mails that revealed the New York Fed instructed AIG to keep quiet the details of their decision to fully reimburse banks that purchased credit-default swaps from the insurer to the tune of $13 billion — without, as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein confirmed during the Financial Crisis hearings last week, even bringing up the possibility of a discount on behalf of the taxpayers — the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has subpoenaed all documents related to the matter for review in advance of their grilling of former NY Fed president Tim Geithner next week. In a letter to the committee today, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said he "welcomed" the committee's attention.
Not that he had any other choice:
To afford the public the most complete possible understanding of our decisions and actions in this matter, and to provide a comprehensive response to questions that have been raised by members of Congress, the Federal Reserve would welcome a full review by GAO of all aspects of our involvement in the extension of credit to AIG. GAO is authorized to conduct this review under its current authority (31 USC 714(e)).
The Federal Reserve will make available to the GAO all records and personnel necessary to conduct this review. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Seriously, if Congress wants to go through 50 boxes of e-mails, including ones in which staff members debate where to order Chinese from, then be Bernanke's guest. As for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, while he has not yet sent out a Hallmark card welcoming the House into his Underoos, one could take this gesture to mean that he too feels he has nothing to hide, and that he has a perfectly good explanation for why he didn't know what the hell was going on in his own damn office. Either that, or he already has a stint on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here lined up, and can therefore no longer be bothered.
If you're looking to get caught up on the late-night chaos at NBC and you're fluent in Chinese, the Taiwanese production company that produced that very amusing Tiger Woods animation a few weeks ago has a new masterpiece. Conan and Jay morph into superheros about halfway through, which is sort of weird. And Jeff Zucker's animated likeness is about forty pounds lighter. But that's probably because the video shows the NBC CEO personally dragging Conan's set off TheTonight Show stage and replacing it with Jay Leno's set-up. The video is below.
Ashley Olsen at the Golden Globes (left) and the Art of Elysium gala (right). Same girl.
SKIN
• The number of people using skin-lightening creams has increased, and in response, the number of people who misuse the products has increased as well. The creams are dangerous because prescription ingredients are found in over-the-counter options, some of which are as cheap as $3.99. [NYT]
MAKEUP
• Ashley Olsen went for two dramatic beauty looks this weekend. At the Golden Globes, she kept her eyeliner heavy and her lips nude, while at the Art of Elysium's charity gala, she darkened her lips and her brows, which contrasted her lace Alexander McQueen dress. Which is better? [Nitrolicious]
• A new study has found that women who consider themselves good-looking are more likely to get angry easily. Women who found themselves attractive also had higher expectations of what they deserved. [BBC]
HAIR
• Mo'Nique lifted up her dress on the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday and revealed her hairy legs. As in hair that's longer than stubble. [NYDN]
• Rihanna's hair was extra shaggy this weekend. She's bringing mop tops back. [Just Jared]
Students at NYU Law couldn't come up with the cash to have Snooki from MTV's Jersey Shore make an appearance last week. But either undergrads at Yale have more of their parents' money to blow or they're simply more determined because they have two Jersey Shore cast members booked between now and the weekend. (Vinny will be there on Thursday; Snooki is scheduled to make an appearance this weekend.) "Will Snooki find love and existential fulfillment at Yale? Will she find a New Poughkeepsie in New Haven?" Maybe not, but the $10K she'll walk away with should be reward enough. [IvyGate, previously]
Over the weekend, the First Lady wore two new birthday outfits to celebrate her 46th. She also spoke at the Red Cross in quite a flattering dress and then put her sneakers on to volunteer at a soup kitchen. But our favorite public look of hers from other the weekend was yesterday's, when she celebrated MLK Day in black sequins with her hair in lovely little waves. The dress may have a bow at the neckline, but we'll let it slide this time, if only for the sequins. See the full looks in the Michelle Obama Look Book.
February's GQ is devoted to the 25 most stylish men in the world. Johnny Depp, though named the most stylish, appears on the cover not wearing any clothes — those things that comprise style. GQ calls him "a unicorn — a really glamorous, one-of-a-kind eccentric." David Beckham is also on the list and pictured in the issue from the waist up, shirtless. We eagerly await a follow-up story on the world's top 25 male torsos. [GQ]
Adis Medunjanin, the alleged accomplice of accused NYC subway-terror plotter Najibullah Zazi, was charged today with traveling from New York to Pakistan to receive training from Al Qaeda there "with the intent to kill U.S. service members in Afghanistan," said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Loonam in Federal Court in Brooklyn today. Medunjanin is connected with Zazi, who stands accused of the same and more, because they went to the same Queens high school. [NYP]
Joe Halderman, the man accused of attempting to blackmail David Letterman, won't be getting off thanks to Tiger Woods. A judge put the kibosh on a motion by Halderman's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, who'd argued that if Woods' mistresses had sought a payoff to keep quiet and they hadn't been prosecuted, Halderman should be free to do so, too. [NYDN]
The Blues Brothers. Wayne’s World. The Ladies Man. And now, the latest 90 minute featurette to be based on a 3 minutes SNL sketch, MacGruber. Will Forte plays the hapless action hero, the poor man’s MacGuyver, with Kristen Wiig by his side, and a very special star… the illustrious Val Kilmer as Villain.
And we never thought we’d say this, but we’re pretty sure Val Kilmer is way too good for this movie. Don’t get us wrong… we’re not above date rape jokes, etc… we just wish they were, kinda, hmm… funny. Someone’s last name sounding like the c-word? Alright. Will Forte jumping around naked while delicately holding his manhood? This might be the only reason to see the film.
Of all the SNL sketches to be turned into film, this one kind of disappoints us. We’re still holding out for the James Cameron directed What Up With That?
Oh, be warned, this is the restricted trailer. So it’s NSFW. If you’re under 18 and want to watch it, just say you were born in 1920.
She's worked with photographers like Mario Testino, designers like Karl Lagerfeld, and magazines like Vogue Paris, but yet, Ellis Faas still remains somewhat below the mainstream. The Dutch makeup artist quietly debuted her self-titled makeup line at Bergdorf Goodman (first counter in the United States) and is banking on striking a chord with the city's beauty mavens. Her line of what she calls, "Human Colors" is inspired by "colors that by nature, exist in every human body." That translates into diverse shades of foundation that look natural and practically absorb into the skin, three textures of lipsticks in 27 shades, and the sexiest shadows. We chatted over tea and coffee about what it was like to work with industry heavyweights right out of the gate and why photo shoots shouldn't take sixteen hours.
What was it like to work with Karl Lagerfeld?
He's a very sharing person. He always wants to show you a new book or piece of art. He's very nice and trusted me. I remember the first show I ever did was Fendi. It was like, 60 girls, but my naïveté made it not scary. The press was scary. They kept asking me all these questions, and I was giving one-word answers.
Oh, God. You were pretty much our worst nightmare, then!
[Laughs] Yes, but now I know you have to create a story.
Insiders know of you and your work, but not the general public. With a collection hitting Bergdorf, do you feel like you've arrived?
Never. You're still growing. Plus, I don't want to be a star. Our company is very small. My brother has been my agent for years. There is no marketing, there are no tricks.
What do you think is more intense, runway work or editorial?
Well, it depends on the photographer! I like the old photographers — the ones that have been around for a long time and know what they're doing. I'm fast and I don't fiddle because I feel like the makeup loses its poetry. I feel the same way with pictures. Either you get it or you don't.
What products are essential in any makeup case?
I feel if the skin looks good, then the rest looks good. You should always have foundation and concealer. Lash curlers are handy, too.
What beauty products do you use?
I use Eve Lom cleansing cream. I'm not very loyal when it comes to moisturizers.
Where do you shop for beauty products?
In Europe, there are all these niche stores. They have really nice stuff.
What makeup trends do you hate?
I hate people telling other people what to do. As a makeup artist, I don't even know what makeup artists are saying. They're trying to create mystery when there is no mystery. You can do anything as long as the technique is good.
What was the first designer item you bought?
Yves Saint Laurent lipstick. It was fuchsia. I got it for my birthday because I liked the look of the container.
The problems appear to be piling up for John Utendahl, the banker best known for being the longtime boyfriend of Tyra Banks. Last Monday, the Postreported that the financial firm he founded, Utendahl Capital Management, had been forced to lay off staff, possibly because of the downturn in the economy. An exec at the firm denied the report, characterizing it as "malicious claims made by a former disgruntled employee." But new problems for Utendahl surfaced just a few days later.
Last Thursday, Utendahl was slapped with a lawsuit by a Texas-based real estate exec—and longtime Utendahl associate—named Richmond McCoy over a $250,000 personal loan that McCoy said he'd extended to Utendahl and which, he claimed, Banks' boyfriend had failed to repay
A day later, though, McCoy abruptly withdrew the suit.
Perhaps Tyra, who took home $30 million last year and was named the "top-earning woman on primetime" in 2009 by Forbes, stepped in to help her man? Who knows, but the legal docs are below, if you're interested in having a look.
Last week Sarah Jessica Parker was confirmed as the head designer of Halston Heritage, Halston's secondary line featuring the label's archival looks. WWD reports that her titles are president and chief creative officer. She's taking an equity stake in the firm, joining investors Harvey Weinstein and Tamara Mellon, and will sit on the board with chief executive officer Bonnie Takhar. The appointment underscores the legitimacy celebrities have attained and are attaining as designers. No one used to take them seriously, but they "could soon refuse to get out of bed for less than a top design contract," notes WWD. Parker's equity arrangement with Halston makes her position as its celebrity designer unique. It's unclear if she invested any of her own money, but if she fails, her bank account could take a hit. And wouldn't we all feel just so badly for her if she cheated herself out of any more money?
"I tend not to just endorse something," Parker told WWD. "I like feeling the stakes."
Asked why she would be qualified to be president and chief creative officer of a fashion firm, Parker didn’t mince her words. “I would say it’s a good question and it’s a fair question,” she said. “You could make many arguments to why I am not qualified. I would say that I am very aware of the enormity of the titles, and how important they are, and my response is that they [the board] felt confident in their decisions.
Parker's appointment is coming off strikingly differently in the media than Lindsay Lohan's gig as artistic adviser of Emanuel Ungaro. After Lindsay signed on, it took, oh, seconds for gossip columns to print reports of unrest at the house over her arrival. But everyone at Halston seems to be just dandy with Parker's new role. Parker's reputation and manner as a human being are far different than Lohan's, which surely aid us in taking her more seriously in the beginning than Lohan. But despite how well Lohan is doing at Ungaro or how seriously people are taking her, she is still Parker's predecessor. Mounir Moufarrige was the first CEO to install a celebrity in a top post at a high-fashion label. Though he's since departed from Ungaro, he famously declared the days of "designers in their ivory towers" over. He argued that as long as a famous person headlined a label and brought it publicity, it didn't matter how ridiculous it seemed — the attention and money would follow and the bottom line would be met. Everyone thought he was crazy. Everyone probably still thinks he is.
But maybe he was right. Maybe labels can do just as well with a celebrity executive face while trained designers work behind the scenes. And maybe fashion executives are beginning to take celebrities more seriously in this capacity. WWD suggests Parker could one day take over design at Halston's main line, currently designed by Marios Schwab. But for now, maybe she can class the celebrity-as-serious-designer profession up a bit in the wake of Lindsay. Walk the runway after a show (if she has one) without crying seemingly for no reason, resist the temptations of glitter nipple pasties of unorthodox shapes, etc.
Front Page: New York beefs up incentives program -- While New York and California struggle with budget problems, the outlook appears sunny for the film production incentive programs in both states.
New York Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. doing a little shopping at the Duane Reade on West 72nd Street on Saturday afternoon ... Rachel Weiszwalking to a yoga class in SoHo ... Scarlett Johanssonleaving her apartment ... Agyness Deyntalking on her cell phone ... Whitney Port arriving at JFK with a friend ... Taylor Momsen shooting scenes for Gossip Girl with Connor Paolo on the Upper East Side ... Denzel Washington arriving at the Late Show with David Letterman ... Mischa Barton on the set of Law & Order: SVU ... Catherine Zeta-Jones leaving her apartment to go shopping ... Ashlee Simpson leaving her apartment ... and Pete Wentz carrying coffee in the East Village.
Fashion Wire Daily - Just when everyone in Milan has gone retro and back to their Italian craftsman origins, along comes Donatella Versace and takes us into the future.
Reuters - Italian fashion house Versace will launch its first luxury cellphone, entering a blooming sector for designer brands. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 19 Jan 2010 | 11:13 am
Belgian actress Yolande Moreau (C) poses with French actors Sara Forestier and Eric Elmosnino on January 5 in Lille, northern France, before a press conference presenting a movie by Joann Sfar "Gainsbourg... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 11:11 am
Got mah super skin-tight bobsledding suit on, now I’m just gonna bend really far over in front of these cameras and hope my ass doesn’t split through my…OH GOD!!!
No one saw that, right? Like, no one’s gonna take that video of my ass splitting through my bobsledding outfit and post it on the internet set to music for hundreds of thousands of people to watch instantly, right? Ok whew. That was a very specific thing to wish — good thing it’s not happening.
The University of Alaska-Fairbanks released this new entrance video for their ice hockey team. Why should you care? Because the video involves a giant polar bear cleaving a ship in half then flying a jet to the tune of “Danger Zone” and blowing up the Ohio State University, then Notre Dame, then the entire world.
It’s Coke commercial meets nuclear holocaust! Now WHO’S READY FOR SOME HOCKAYYYYYYY?????
Reuters - Designers at Milan menswear fashion week opted for comfortable and practical chic for next winter, preferring to tread a sensible path away from sharp suits and flash to woo buyers hit by the credit crunch. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 19 Jan 2010 | 10:05 am
The Sigourney WeaverSNL was bizarre — the monologue was about thirty seconds long and made no sense, the cold open featured an obligatory but toothless Conan/Leno sketch that made fun of Larry King more than anything about NBC, and the first block of sketches included a third installment of the Keenan lovemaking tapes, a new version of the female bowlers / clueless announcer sketch (with darts), and the following video, another Laser Cats installment featuring a James Cameron cameo (more like James Cameoron, amIright???)
I really loved the first Laser Cats, and each time there’s been a sequel, part of my brain begins to analyze whether or not there’s a need for more jokes about cats shooting lasers, but the feeling always quickly gives way to my intense enjoyment of watching cats shooting lasers. And kittens hatching from alien egg boxes. And those kittens then shooting lasers:
Thoughts on this weekends SNL? High/low points? Leave ‘em in the comments.
Conan O’Brien is close to signing a $40 million deal to walk away from the Tonight Show. I’m starting to think — and bear with me here, it might sound totally crazy — that NBC really screwed up. I don’t know, I’m just throwing some wild theories out there.
Barack Obama’s State Of The Union Address has been set for January 27th, thus sparing the president some violent impeachment protests from rabid Lost fans.
A group of hackers in Russia tinkered with an electronic roadside billboard to have it display hardcore pornography. Frankly, Japan’s a little jealous that Russia beat them to this ridiculous tech-and-porn related internet story.
NFL Championship Weekend will be the Saints vs. the Vikings and the Colts vs. the Jets with the Super Bowl hanging in the balance. C’mon Saints… I’m sure every sportswriter in the country has their “New Orleans has fallen on tough times lately…” column rarin’ to go and their fingers on their ‘enter’ buttons…
Country singer Carl Smith, the former husband of June Carter Cash, has died at the age of 82. I’ll bet a bunch of my Facebook friends will randomly be fans of his today.
Saturday marks the end of 2D screenings of the science fiction epic, which dramatizes the forced eviction of a people, a politically sensitive subject in China.
Chinese actress Nan Yu and Chinese director Wang Quan'an (right) celebrate with their Golden Bear prize for best picture for their movie "Tu Ya De Hun Shi" (Tuya's Marriage) at the 57th Berlinale International... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am
Visitors arrive at the Berlinale Palast cinema in Berlin on the opening day of the Internanional Berlin Film Festival Berlinale, in 2005. Top Asian directors will open and close the Berlin film festival... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am
Singer Lily Allen arrives for the GQ Awards at the Royal Opera House, London, in 2009. Lily Allen, Lady GaGa, Pixie Lott and Florence And The Machine will turn this year's Brit Awards into the battle of... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 4:17 am
Scottish singer Susan Boyle waves upon her arrival at the Narita International Airport in Narita city in Japan, in 2009. Lily Allen, Lady GaGa, Pixie Lott and Florence And The Machine will turn this year's... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Jan 2010 | 4:17 am
Sure, Jay Leno can laugh about it now.
"The very funny Chelsea Handler is here tonight," the outgoing prime-timer told his audience Tuesday. "Actually, she was just here...
"I was very surprised and, yes, you have a beautiful bottom end," Shania Twain told American Idol auditioner John Park.
And then it got weirder from there.
Maybe...
Jared Leto doesn't usually talk about the time he and his family lived in Haiti.
"I tend to keep my life stories to myself," he told me earlier today. "You've got to...
Marc Webb just directed Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his most appealing role yet. Could his most heroic role be next?
Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have tapped the (500) Days of...
As if the prospect of going to court wasn't enough of a pain.
Tomorrow's hearing in Colorado on whether to extend Brooke Mueller's order of protection against hubby Charlie...
Izzie Stevens is back in Seattle for a passing moment (Katherine Heigl filmed this one-off appearance on Grey's Anatomy before she went on maternity leave), and it couldn't come at a worse...
UPDATE: Fox has denied having anything to do with the purchase of the domain name or the Twitter account. Ownership of the account is now listed, according to register.com, as the more...
Last Friday, VH1 was kind enough to book me a ticket to Los Angeles for the 
The problems appear to be piling up for John Utendahl, the banker best known for being the longtime boyfriend of 
