The celebrities have descended upon Washington, D.C.
- Aretha Franklin is getting ready to sing for Barack Obama at the inauguration. She met him in 2005 at the funeral of Rosa Parks and says: “I think they expect between three and five million people at the swearing-in. Although I have sung for many, many people – hundreds of thousands – I have never sung for that kind of number, but I am absolutely looking forward to it.” [Times of London]
- Kerry Washington, who was the national co-chair for the Vote for Change initiative, is in D.C. for the inauguration and has already attended an Essence magazine lunch and hit some cocktail parties. [USA Today]
- Yesterday’s “We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial featured Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and U2. Watching in the VIP section: Blair Underwood and family; Jay-Z, Angela Bassett. [MSNBC Scoop, Washinton Post]
- In D.C.: J.Lo, Marc Anthony, Shakira, Rosie Perez, Wilmer Valderrama, George Lopez, Geraldo Rivera, Rosario Dawson and others at the Latino Inaugural Ball. Lopez and Anthony were seen kissing. [Politico]
- At the Declare Yourself event: Jessica Alba, Ben Affleck, Jamie Foxx, Hayden Panettiere, Rick Schroeder, Sarah Silverman, John Legend and Lindsay Lohan. [Politico]
- Oprah’s best friend Gayle King is in D.C. too, she went to the BET Honors VIP reception. She’s got her own XM radio show. [WaPo]
- By the by, J. Lo and Marc are showing “no visible signs of marital distress” despite the tabloid headlines. [MSNBC]
- Picture this: 50 Cent was performing at a Vitamin Water party at the Sundance Film Festival and it was Jim Carrey‘s birthday, so Fiddy invitved Carrey onto the stage where he busted out some dance moves. [Gatecrasher]
- Mariah Carey got wasted at a Sundance event her husband was DJing. [Gatecrasher]
- Kate Winslet says of The Reader and Revolutionary Road: “I’ve been very lucky this year. It’s extraordinary playing two such wonderful women.” Understatement! [Telegraph]
- Leonardo DiCaprio says of filming with Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes: “It felt like a kind of a family — a sort of weird twisted family.” [Mirror]
- Ashton Kutcher’s blog on The Huffington Post is about a Presidential Pledge. He writes: “We have gathered a group of individuals who share the courage to pledge to our president, and the world at large, what it is that they are willing to do, give, or sacrifice, in an effort to help their fellow man. Our hope is that this effort will inspire others to do the same, with individuals posting their initiatives within their communities. This is not a selfless utopian action. In fact it is a very selfish one. By improving the lives of those who surround us we will in effect improve our own.” [HuffPo]
- If you haven’t already seen the sad spectacle that is Joaquin Phoenix rapping, click for video. [E!]
- Also a sad spectacle: Joaquin’s beard. [People]
- Jeremy Piven‘s publicist is upset that the producers of Speed-The-Plow have filed a grievance against Piven and says it’s outrageous. “He withdrew from the play due to medical necessity on the advice of his doctors, Samantha Masts insists. She also notes he hasn’t even been paid for his Broadway stint yet. [UPI, E!]
- This long, long story is about how, with all of her projects, Victoria is beating David and emerging as the “winner” in the Beckham marriage. [Times Of London]
- Any chance Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin character will show up on Amy Poehler’s new TV show? “No, no, no.” [E!]
- The death of Mark Ruffalo’s brother, Scott, has been ruled a homicide. [Gatecrasher]
- Blind item! “Which odd couple better hope their mutual spouses don’t discover that they shared a recent night of passion in Las Vegas?” [Gatecrasher]
- Christina Aguilera and husband Jordan Bratman threw Where The Wild Things Are-themed birthday party for their son, Max, on Saturday. [People]
- Is Kate Middleton, Prince William’s ladylove, coming to New York? She’s spoken with Anna Wintour and Tom Ford and is thinking about working at a major fashion house. [Daily Express]
- Paris Hilton really is BFFs with the winner of her MTV show, Brittany Flickinger: “I love her. She’s slept at my house every night for the last four weeks.” But! Paris’s dream best friend? Angelina Jolie. “She’s strong but gorgeous and uses her fame for good to make a big difference in the world. That’s a great quality. I’d have a lot in common with her.” Um, LOL? [Pop Dirt]
- Isla Fisher is trying to plot her wedding to Sacha Baron Cohen: “[It] has been difficult to plan,” she tells Allure. “It is very important to me to have a beautiful ritual celebrated with all my family and friends… when you are in the public eye, to keep that private and to make it happen without it being really visible is really difficult.” Plus, Bruno could show up! [SMH]
- Kate Moss‘s birthday party was a “monumental medieval bash,” but the young lady at the door accidentally let some random people in and got yelled at by Kate. [This Is London]
- Jamie Hince has purchased some unconventional artwork for Kate Moss’s 35th birthday: A Parisian graffiti artist will spray the pieces directly on the walls of Kate’s house. [The Sun]
- Whoops! Katy Perry was accidentally given the International Song Of THe Year award in Cannes, due to an error in the vote-counting. The real winner? Rihanna. [News.com.au]
- Boy George is in prison, where, says an inmate, “He’s not been crying but seems to be in another world and sleeps a lot. They’ve put him in a cell with a Rasta guy to protect him and there is always a guard close by.” [The Sun]
- The Jonas Brothers are getting their own TV show, and it’s inspired by the Beatles… and the Monkees. The concept: The bros play boys in a band trying to live normal lives at a regular school, despite being trailed by throngs of ardent fans. A hard day’s night? [Reuters]
- By the by, Nick Jonas lost a ping-pong game to Sasha and Malia Obama. [UPI]
- Uh-oh: Three buses carrying this year’s 52 Miss America got lost on the ladies’ first night in Las Vegas. [UPI]
- Sexy spoiler alert: This season of Lost will be extremely Sawyer-centric. And! Oh! New video sneak peek! [E!]
- Here’s an interview with Lost‘s Michael Emerson, aka Benjamin Linus. [E!]
- Hmm, Jay Jopling, the dude that Lily Allen’s been hanging all over, is actually married to edgy British artist Sam Taylor-Wood, and now she’s facing a £100m divorce. [Daily Mail]
- Even though Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr. have become friends while shooting Sherlock Holmes, Downey is angry that Ritchie is making him wear four-inch platforms in his shoes to give his character some height. A source says: “Rob is stumbling around a lot and cursing Guy over the silly shoes.” [The Sun]
- ZOMG, Courtney Love is trying to set up Frances Bean with Twilight‘s Robert Pattinson! [Daily Mail]
- Portia de Rossi says marriage has changed her life. “It’s legal, and it’s real, so there’s that kind of formality to it that makes it very valid,” she says. “I think the emotions that went with that as a gay woman kind of surprised me – that I would be that relieved to have my mother be present at the ceremony to bless the union, and to call [Ellen] her daughter-in-law.” [People]
- Congrats to Brothers & Sisters star Rachel Griffiths, who is pregnant with her third child. [UPI]
- The Michael Jackson musical, Thriller Live, has hit the boards in London’s West End, but doesn’t reference Jackson’s backstory. Plus! Producer Paul Walden speaks of MJ in the past tense, saying, “Here was an artist who had an amazing career.” [Wall Street Journal]
- FYI: In NYC’s horse carriage battle, Liam Neeson is all for them and Alec Baldwin is against. [Page Six]
- CNN’s Soledad O’Brien lives in a NYC apartment building where one of her neighbors has a mastiff. Apparently O’Brien is not a fan of the dog due to its “size, slobbering, shedding, drooling, gassiness and odors” — and got the animal — and its owners — kicked out of the building. Sad face! O’Brien has a cat. [ Gothamist]
- Brody Jenner and his Playboy Playmate girlfriend like to stay home and bake cookies. Her Christmas gift to him was a custom surfboard emblazoned with a photo from her Playmate of the Year spread and the Playboy Bunny logo. Classy! [People]
- Alex Trebek is hosting something called Canada’s Next Prime MInister. Is that how they do it up north? [Yahoo News]
- Eliza Dushku is developing a biopic about the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and her brother, Nate, will star. Keeping the homoeroticism in the family! [E!]
- John Cleese, 69, has a 27-year-old girlfriend named Barbie, and she’s telling this paper about seeing him naked and having sex with him and says he has the “package of a 19-year-old.” [Mirror]
- Look for Cher to star in a comedy in which Johnny Knoxville is her love interest. She’s 62; he’s 35. Fox 411]
- Madonna’s new promo shot in which she is wearing thigh-high bondage boots and white fishnet tights, a thong and a top that resembles a surgical bandage is really not that raunchy, considering. [Telegraph]
- Check out Eddie Murphy getting friendly with a blonde on the dancefloor. [Concrete Loop]
- Apparently what the world needs now is another Gordon Gekko movie. [Telegraph]
- “They photoshopped the crap out of me! I don’t care — whoever she is, she looks great!” — Kelly Clarkson, commenting on the photograph on the cover of her new single. [Gatecrasher]
- “When I started filming Lost I was 24 and I’ll be 30 this summer… When you’re in your 20s, men tend to see you as a piece of ass, and women will probably regard you as young and cute. But once you reach your 30s, suddenly people are going to take you seriously and women are more like, ‘She’s reached maturity and she’s going to start sagging like the rest of us!'” — Evangeline Lily. [Mirror]
- “I always wanted to kill Hitler, I hated him. As a child studying history and looking at documents, I wondered, why didn’t someone stand up and try to stop it?” — Tom Cruise. [Reuters, USA Today]
- “This is me saying this is who I am. This is my story. After all the years of reading scripts and reading lines, this is my chance to do something straight from the heart and put it out there. When I was young I liked punk rock music but then I discovered rap. I love the storytelling aspect of hip-hop.” — Joaquin Phoenix. [People]
- “Obama’s a unique figure in history. The fundamental American-ness of his story and the fact that he represents for many, many people an image and a view of the country that felt like it was so long missing in action…This place we’ve been talking about, singing about… it’s alive. It isn’t dead. It exists… There’s always tomorrow and, hopefully, you can use the word ‘hopefully’ now. You can live here, and use the word ‘hopefully’. So that’s pretty nice.” — Bruce Springsteen. [Guardian]
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