Newsletter Friday, December 15, 2017

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Friday, December 15, 2017 [Intro for December 15, 2017]( [Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Coach Core graduation ceremony for more than 150 Coach Core apprentices at The London Stadium on October 18, 2017 in London, England](Dear Gossips, I wrote yesterday about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joining the Queen at Windsor Castle on Monday night to celebrate the holidays with the royal household. Apparently champagne was served and everyone drank from champagne flutes. I would love to sip champagne from a champagne flute served in a proper castle. I would also try not to steal the flute afterwards. A few years ago in Cannes, my friends, Lorella and Mio, and I went to a pretty fancy at a fancy house up in the hills. Every passed food item came with a crisp white linen cocktail napkin. Like proper linen! We’re the low classy assholes who started saving the f-cking napkins. Seriously, they were GREAT napkins. We ended up with over 20 of them, in pristine condition, and took them home. Anyway, with that mind, the [Daily Mail is reporting]( that Prince William and Catherine attended the Kensington Palace staff party on Wednesday night. (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were there but left early.) It was held off-site, at a restaurant in Notting Hill that currently doesn’t have a liquor licence. Which is why the event was BYOB. BYOB?!? I don’t understand. So you can bring in your own alcohol… but the royals didn’t bring in the alcohol for their staff and the staff had to bring their own alcohol? I’m sure someone somewhere is going to step in here and defend the royals. Like it was a liability issue or something. Fine. But then, maybe book a different venue that actually has a liquor licence? And remember, I’m saying this as a napkin-stealer. I am a napkin-stealer, which means I’m no f-cking aristocrat, and even I would be embarrassed if my guests had to arrive at a holiday appreciation dinner with a bottle of something tucked into a paper bag shoved into the inside pocket of their coat! Please let there be a clarification soon, a correction to the story. If I were them, I would not want my name on a story like this. Wait, no. I’m not them, I’m a goddamn napkin-stealer, and I wouldn’t want my name on a story like this! (Although it’s a delicious gossip story and I love it and I’m not sorry it happened.) Have a great weekend! Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 1:35 PM [Kevin Hart is guilty]( [Eniko Parrish and Kevin Hart attend the ](Kevin Hart cheated on his wife Eniko Parrish. He officially owned up to his infidelity in a new interview with The Breakfast Club but we already knew this. If you’ve been following Kevin Hart at all this year, you know that he’s been embroiled in multiple cheating scandals. In October, he posted an Instagram video apologizing to Eniko (who was pregnant at the time) for cheating but also for [being dumb enough to get caught on video]( – a video which was then used to extort him for money. Kevin calls out all of his stupidity in The Breakfast Club interview: “I’m guilty, regardless of how it happened and what was involved, the s–t that I can’t talk about, I’m guilty. I’m wrong… It’s beyond irresponsible. There’s no way around it. That’s Kevin Hart in his dumbest moment. That’s not the finest hour of my life. With that being said, you make your bed you lay in it.” Aside from the annoying third person reference, this excerpt is not bad. It’s hard to rage against someone who repeatedly admits they f-cked up and takes full responsibility, especially when it comes to infidelity. Kevin says, “I’M WRONG” multiple times. When Charlamagne asks Kevin what he was thinking when he cheated on his PREGNANT WIFE, here’s what he said: “You can’t even say what were you thinking? You weren’t thinking… You don’t plan to f-ck up. You f-ck up, and then you go, ‘Oh sh-t, I f-cked up’ … I’m gonna go home, I’m gonna address it, I’m gonna make my wife fully aware of what’s going on in the situation that I have now put us in and I’m hoping that she has a heart to where she can forgive me and understand that this is not going to be a reoccurring thing and allow me to recover from my f-cking massive mistake. That’s what I’m trying to do not only as a man, but within teaching a lesson to my son.” We’ve written a lot this year about Jay-Z’s 4:44. It’s Jay-Z’s apology album. It’s his version of what Kevin does in this interview. The difference is Jay-Z has never sounded like Beyoncé owed him her forgiveness. If Kevin had left it at the quotes above, I’d still think he was a sh-tty person but I’d be more willing to applaud his candor and contrition and move on. In 4:44, Jay-Z challenges the antiquated notions of masculinity and the psychology behind infidelity. In this interview, Kevin Hart does a lot of explaining why he cheated, sh-tting on his first marriage, during which he also cheated, and proclaiming he’s a changed man. At certain points, Charlamagne Tha God and his co-host DJ Envy, who both admit to cheating on their partners, laugh hysterically at their situations. Granted, Kevin is a comedian and he injects humour into every conversation but when you’re owning up to cheating on your PREGNANT WIFE (I will not get over this), is laughing at the expense of her pain really the best look? To me, it felt like a group of guys justifying cheating with “hey, we all do it!” and laughing about how to fix the relationship after the fact. Call me old fashioned but I don’t think cheating should be an inevitable part of any relationship. And if this were three women sitting around joking about infidelity, I don’t think the response would be so positive. I’ve read a lot of takes on this Kevin Hart interview that celebrate his honesty. It’s not lost on me the importance of a man admitting to his failures and pledging to do better. It helps that Kevin Hart is charming AF. You want to like him, no matter how problematic he may be. So, here’s what I can’t shake: where’s the consequence? Kevin Hart is fine. This scandal has not jeopardized his career and has barely affected his reputation. Maybe this would have been a bigger deal in a year when the Hollywood Predator Advent Calendar didn’t exist but it feels like everyone is going to forget about this in a week when Jumanji comes out it’ll all be about The Rock and Kevin Hart’s bromance. Eniko Parrish has forgiven her husband as is her right. Maybe that’s why Kevin Hart has been so relatively unscathed by this whole mess. It’s hard to rage against a guy who’s admitting he f-cked up AND who has a wife posting things like thing on Instagram. [A post shared by eníĸo • нarт 💋 (@enikonhart)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 2:05pm PST You can watch the full Breakfast Club interview below. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 8:14 PM [Smutty Social Media, December 15, 2017]( [Will Smith and Ellen on Instagram](Will Smith has joined Instagram with some help from Ellen. You know what I’m curious about? How did he get “willsmith” as his username. Was his team holding it for all these years? Or does Instagram have a policy where celebs get first rights to their name? [A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 5:48am PST Hey guess who welcomed Will Smith to Instagram with a ME ME ME post. [A post shared by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 4:43pm PST Jada Pinkett-Smith elaborated on her thoughts on Tiffany Haddish and the Golden Globes. I went back and watched her video from the [#oscarssowhite boycott](. It all ties in. Actually I will... here we go... — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( I'm not upset about [@TiffanyHaddish]( or [@GirlsTripMovie]( not getting a nom... I'm discouraged about the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press/[@goldenglobes]( wouldn't even WATCH the movie. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( Girls Trip was one of the most successful films this summer & Tiff was hands down the funniest person on screen in 2017 and we couldn't get eyes on the film or a press conference. How could a nom happen & how much more critical acclaim must a movie have to simply get a screening? — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( But yet... Tiff has been asked to present at their ceremony. This isn't about shaming, this is about the need for discussion of an antiquated system. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( And I dare not invalidate all the many journalist and people from all walks of life who have supported this movie by defining the issue as simply... racism. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( Hollywood has systems in place that must learn to expand its concepts of race, gender equality and inclusion in regard to its perceptions of art across the board. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( The fact that the brilliance of [@TheBigSickMovie]( went unnoticed and the fact that one of the most prolific films of the year, [@GetOutMovie]( is considered a comedy... illuminates the depths of the sunken place... for real. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( Moments like this occur so that we have an opportunity to discuss, recreate and regenerate old paradigms. It's all about growth. Love. — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) [December 12, 2017]( There is no such thing as a good video from a holiday concert. They are always grainy and a little shaky and the singing sounds terrible (I should know, I had my sons’ school concert last night). And everyone is filming, zooming in on their own child. (But at this concert, do you think any of the parents were sneaking shots of Jennifer?) [A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 7:39pm PST “I hope he [chokes on his om pendant](.” [A post shared by Kelly Cutrone (@kellycutrone)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 5:16pm PST Diddy is the newest subject of [Vogue’s 73 Questions](. Ciroc, Fonzworth Bentley, playlists and outrageous party props – and he’s bringing back the White Party. When asked who is number one on the invitation list, he answered… oh I won’t spoil it to you. But I chuckled. [A post shared by Diddy (@diddy)]( on Dec 14, 2017 at 7:50pm PST Pepperony is 10. And Gwyneth has another great sweater. (I’m looking for a grey sweater – soft but not a turtleneck. It consumes me.) Speaking of G, goop has just posted its guide to Vancouver. It’s well-researched but very basic. And the restaurant choices are definitely lacking – Asian options barely get a pass. Not one dim sum place on the list. Maybe because they served the siu mai without lime. (This is going to piss [Lainey off all over again](, as it should.) [A post shared by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow)]( on Dec 15, 2017 at 7:35am PST [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 7:05 PM [Calvin Harris or Tom Hiddleston: who made Taylor hunch?]( [Calvin Harris/ Taylor Swift/ Tom Hiddleston](See? As much as she claims to not want to be “part of the narrative”, [Taylor Swift]( is just so great for gossip. Todrick Hall, a good friend of Taylor’s, was interviewed on the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show yesterday – video is below – and he talked about hanging out with her and how happy she is now: “I think she’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her. I love it. There was a time last year -- I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything, but she was dating someone who…I never actually met this person, but I could just tell every time I would talk to her, she would hunch over. And I sent her this picture of her as Quasimodo that I edited because I was, like, you cannot turn into Quasimodo for this guy. Every time you say his name, you hunch over. And now, she’s so happy, standing up completely straight and so tall and so confident. I just love it. I’m, like, so so happy for her and I cannot wait to see this tour.” OK so… who made Taylor hunch over last year? There are only two options, right? Calvin Harris or Tom Hiddleston? Given the lyrics to some of the songs on reputation, it sounds more like Calvin because Tom, as we know now, thanks to Getaway Car, was her jump-off to get away from Calvin: I wanted to leave him I needed a reason And then later: It was the great escape, the prison break The light of freedom on my face But you weren’t thinkin’ And I was just drinkin' While he was runnin’ after us, I was screamin', "go, go, go!" But with three of us, honey, it's a side show And a circus ain't a love story And now we’re both sorry (we're both sorry) Taylor and Tom were together right after she and Calvin broke up. Tom was her Getaway Car. She left it on the side of the road. As for why she needed a Getaway Car, in her song I Did Something Bad, she sings about a guy who talks sh-t: If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming Also: I can feel the flames on my skin He says, "Don't throw away a good thing" But if he drops my name, then I owe him nothin' And if he spends my change, then he had it comin' Calvin was talking a lot of sh-t and leveraging a lot of Taylor following their split. And yet… the biggest clue from Todrick about who made Taylor hunch over is that Todrick never met him. As [ELLE points out](, Taylor took Todrick to one of Calvin Harris’s shows when they were still together. Presumably he would have had opportunity to meet Calvin then whereas Taylor and Tom were dating for such a short period of time, Todrick may not have been able to get the chance. So now it becomes question of the specific kind of hunching Taylor was doing while she was with the person who made her hunch. We hunch when we feel dejected, when something or someone is bringing us down. We also hunch when we feel guilty, when we might be the person bringing something or someone down. And we hunch too when we’re bored. When something or someone isn’t bringing us up. Guilty and bored could totally apply to Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston. She used him as a jumpoff after Calvin Harris. And then she realised he was…too extra and thirsty …and being with him was bumming her out. Does that sound about right? [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 5:47 PM [Rihanna & Sarah Paulson]( [Sarah Paulson/Rihanna](Hollywood is full of unlikely friendships. [Tiffany Haddish and Barbra Streisand](. [Jessica Williams and J.K. Rowling](. [Martha and Snoop](. There’s a new celebrity friendship around that we didn’t know we needed. It’s a celebrity friendship as random as any of the above famous people whose names make no sense side by side. It’s also equally –if not even more—amazing. It’s Rihanna and Sarah Paulson. So far, we only know of this friendship because Sarah Paulson has told anecdotes about Rihanna [every time she’s done a late night show]( since Ocean’s 8 started filming. Sarah Paulson is obsessed with Rihanna. Sarah Paulson is all of us. The latest [Rihanna]( anecdote was on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week and it was about Rihanna’s text habits. [Sarah Paulson]( got a text from Rihanna and didn’t respond because there was an emoji in the message and Sarah decided that Rihanna would never use an emoji. As someone who also claims to be obsessed with Rihanna, I think this was a woefully inaccurate character assumption. To me, Rihanna seems like an avid emoji sender. I love emojis. Emojis take very little effort. I can tell you how I’m feeling in a split second, without worrying about grammar or misinterpretation. I frequently send Lainey and Duana emoji-laced sentences. They respond back with full, grammatically correct thoughts and feelings. Should we start separating our friends into emojis vs. non-emojis? I am a shameless emoji sender and I think Rihanna is too. She frequently uses them on her Instagram. She’s also a laid-back person who seems like she doesn’t exude effort unless absolutely necessary. She’s totally an emoji person. This seems very obvious to me, Sarah Paulson. In case you were wondering what kind of friend Rihanna is, even to the friends who don’t know her well enough to know her text style, she’s the kind of friend who sends free Fenty products. I would say that Sarah Paulson is a Golden Globe winning actress who got a congratulatory text from Rihanna so she doesn’t deserve any more blessings bestowed on her but she truly seems to appreciate how fortunate she is. She’s talking to Seth Meyers about Rihanna with a reverence I value. Lainey wrote about Ocean’s 8 yesterday and noted that Rihanna is the movie’s biggest draw. Of course, the cast stacked but she is the biggest star. She is RIHANNA and we should respect her as such. Sarah Paulson’s name is listed before Rihanna’s on the Ocean’s 8 poster but I don’t think that will stop her from fangirling about their friendship until summer 2018. I am so ready. Next to Black Panther, this is the 2018 press junket I am waiting for. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 4:08 PM [When Matt Damon talks…]( [Matt Damon leaves The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York City on December 12, 2017](Between Ben Affleck and [Matt Damon](, usually it’s Ben Affleck who’s the f-ckup, right? We know Ben to be the sloppy one. His personal life is all drama and he swings between comebacks and messes. Matt Damon, on the other hand, has enjoyed a much better reputation. He’s presumably more stable. He doesn’t hang out in casinos. The MiniVan Majority adores him for his wholesome image. And you know the MiniVan Majority. They wouldn’t care about Matt Damon defending whitewashing in a movie nor would they care about this: Matt Damon speaking over the only black person in the room so he can explain diversity to her is SO WHITE it hurts [pic.twitter.com/iaQStYZ0ij]( — Glen Coco (@MrPooni) [September 14, 2015]( Will they care about how he’s contributing to the conversation around sexual harassment in the industry? Probably not. But do you? Matt Damon worked with Harvey Weinstein and when that story broke he insisted he didn’t know and that he never saw anything happen at any parties. (Because sexual harassment always occurs when a room full of witnesses is present, obviously.) Matt Damon is also a very close friend of Casey Affleck, [alleged sexual harasser](. Now Matt Damon is promoting Downsizing. And during his interview with Peter Travers, he was asked about sexual misconduct in Hollywood and how Hollywood can move forward from the rot that’s been exposed in the community. Please [click here]( to either watch the video or read the transcript. Or both. Because the way I see and read it, there’s no room for different interpretations. And it really gives us a lot of insight into how much more we all have to do. Take, for example, what he says about Louis CK. Matt Damon read Louis CK’s apology and did not see it as problematic. Here’s how many woman read Louis CK’s apology: So that Louis CK statement uses the words "admired," "admiration," "power" or "powerful" in reference to him five times and includes the words "sorry" or "apologize" zero times. — Bonnie Stiernberg (@aahrealbonsters) [November 10, 2017]( Matt Damon read Louis CK’s apology and was like, oh yeah, it was good, we can work with it. And then, he goes on to insist that we need to delineate between rape and other grossness, which is what Louis CK falls under, “other grossness”, and from there, it’s this: “I’ve never met (Louis CK). I’m a fan of his, but I don’t imagine he’s going to do those things again. You know what I mean? I imagine the price that he’s paid at this point is so beyond anything that he — I just think that we have to kind of start delineating between what these behaviors are.” The price he’s paid? The price Louis CK has paid?! If we’re looking at this situation in terms of the price that Louis f-cking CK has paid, we’re not getting anywhere at all. And this goes right back again to Rebecca Traister’s essay that I linked to in [yesterday’s open]( because the point is not to talk about how one man’s actions are worse than another’s, the point is to understand that all of these actions originate from the same place and that the consequence of these actions result in stolen opportunities, primarily for women, reinforcing the gender inequality that persists in every segment of society. That’s the price that Louis CK’s victims had to pay. Which was to not sign with a certain manager, not apply for certain writing jobs on certain shows that were connected to Louis CK and his manager, and or not pursue comedy in a man’s world. THAT’s the price of payment that we should be talking about. Louis CK may not have raped anyone. He may have “just” pulled his dick out and jerked off in front of his colleagues, but in doing so, he violated their careers, he limited the choices they could make in their careers. That’s years of work and creative potential that is lost forever. But all Matt Damon – and frankly many others – can fixate on is differentiating between a dick pull and a sexual assault. And who does that benefit? It certainly doesn’t benefit women. Nor does it benefit women when Matt Damon – encouraged by Peter Travers, it should be noted – spends the next several minutes justifying how someone could continue to work with a man like Harvey Weinstein who has such a skeevy reputation. As IF that’s the priority here. But sure. Let’s definitely keep the conversation going in that direction because it’s so helpful. And when it came time to talk about what will change in Hollywood in light of all these sexual harassment allegations, how the WORKPLACE might be improved, you know what Matt Damon is predicting? This is what Matt Damon wanted to talk about: Confidentiality agreements. “I also think the day of the confidentiality agreements is over. I think it’s just completely over. Ten years ago, you made a claim against me and I had a big movie coming out, OK? I have $100 million or I have a movie that is personally important to me coming out, and close to the release of that film, you say, “Matt Damon grabbed my butt and stuck his tongue down my throat.” We would then go to mediation and organize a settlement. I’d go, “I don’t want this out there. Peter’s going to go out and talk to the press and run his mouth, and it’s going to be overshadowing the opening of this movie. How much money do you want?” The lawyers would get together, and they do this cost-benefit analysis, and they’d go, “Oh, this is what it’s worth.” And I look at the number and go, “OK, I’ll pay it, but you can never talk about this again. You’re f------ lying by the way, but never talk about this again. Now … with social media, these stories get — it’s like they get gasoline poured on them. So the moment a claim is made, if you make that same claim today to me, I would be scorched earth. I’d go, “I don’t care if it costs $10 million to fight this in court with you for 10 years, you are not taking my name from me. You are not taking my name and my reputation from me. I’ve worked too hard for it. And I earned it. You can’t just blow me up like that.” So I think once a claim is made, there will no longer be settlements. That’s just my prediction, I mean, just based on what I’ve seen.” Well, there’s your Casey Affleck defence. You know, in case you were wondering what Matt Damon’s first response would be. “You’re f-cking lying” is pretty telling, non? Which is why Peter Travers tries to save him here, with this follow-up question: Isn’t that a good thing? Women have been doing it, and they’ve been told they can’t express what happened to them. And of course Matt jumps back in to be all like, yes, yes, we have to listen to and believe women. But Matt, thirty seconds ago you were just describing a situation where “you’re f-cking lying” is your reaction! Does Matt Damon seem like in this interview that he’s preoccupied with the plight of sexual harassment victims? Or does it seem like he’s more invested in how to protect people who are gross but not technically rapists and those who’ve been falsely accused of sexual harassment?! This is why people have been smashing their heads into their desks the last few weeks. He’s that guy in your office who, during a discussion about sexual harassment, is worried that he can’t flirt with a woman in a bar anymore. THAT is the priority. THAT is the problem. Seriously, [watch this interview](. Or at least read the transcript. Maybe cancelling Matt Damon isn’t the answer, but can we all agree he needs some more training? [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 3:33 PM [Deadpool trolls the Disney-Fox merger]( [Ryan Reynolds on Twitter](Yesterday it was announced that Disney and 20th Century Fox are merging, after a month of speculation and on/off talks. The deal comes as Fox spins off its movie and TV divisions, handing Disney their studio and television package which includes the FX networks, National Geographic channel, stakes in Sky and Hulu and regional sports channels, including some international sports networks that can help fuel Disney as ESPN falters thanks to American cord-cutting. (What are they going to do when streaming services expand in foreign territories and people in India and China start cutting the cord, too? Oh what’s that? X-Men vs. Avengers is happening? Well never mind.) This merger is f*cking terrifying for a number of reasons, not least of which is the loss of a major film studio, which hasn’t happened since RKO collapsed in the 1950’s. The closest we’ve come to a studio folding was MGM’s bankruptcy earlier this decade, which MGM survived through co-financing deals with other studios. MGM saw a reduction in status, but 20th Century Fox as we’ve known it since 1935 is gone. It’s not a studio anymore. It’s a production company siloed under Disney management. Or it will be, once the deal works its way through the regulatory process. It’s one thing for Disney to buy up production companies focused on specific genres, like Pixar, Marvel, and LucasFilm. That’s scary in a “one ring to rule them all” kind of way, and it has a huge amount to do with why everyone is chasing branded IP like it’s the last glass of water in the desert, but other studios have assets to compete (at least in theory, as no one has yet been able to deliver with the consistency of Disney). And this is swiping a competitor right off the playing field. It might not happen overnight, but eventually there will be lay-offs—in the hundreds, at least—as Disney reconciles their bureaucracy with Fox’s, and eventually they will start exerting creative control over Fox processes. I’ve mentioned several times this year that the film industry cannot sustain this pace of releasing nothing but blockbusters, four, five, six at a time. Well, here’s one way to fix it—buy out your competitor and control their slate, too. Sure, all the Marvel toys go back in the same toy box, but now there is less competition in an already rarified marketplace. And that [sh*t they pulled]( with the LA Times? You really think they won’t try that again after this deal gives them almost FORTY PERCENT of the market share? Not to mention what this could force other studios to do in order to stay competitive with Disney. The IP arms race just became a super-conglomerate arms race. Disney is setting up to take on Netflix as the go-to streaming platform of choice. The Fox deal gives them home video rights to the original Star Wars trilogy, it gives them Alien and Titanic and Avatar. The proposed Disney streaming service just got a lot richer. But what about everyone else? Several studios are not in good health. Does Netflix step in and buy Paramount? Does Amazon buy Sony? Could Apple take over Warner Brothers if the US government quashes the AT&T/Time Warner merger next year? Maybe that doesn’t sound bad to you, but I worry about an environment in where the producers and the providers are the same, narrowing consumer choices when it comes to where and how to get their entertainment. And what happens if one of these companies proves bad at running a movie studio? Disney, at least, is in the same business as 20th Century Fox. But Silicon Valley and Hollywood have, to date, fundamentally misunderstood each other. If a tech company buys a studio and it fails… But hey! Spider-Man and Deadpool can be friends now! Everything will be fine and this is in no way a bad thing! Stop worrying, Sarah! Nerds are, indeed, very excited by the prospect of all the Marvel chickens coming home to roost. Disney chief Bob Iger even says Deadpool can [remain rated R]( under the Disney banner. (They’ve released R-rated films through Touchstone and Miramax in the past, it’s not unfamiliar.) But those decisions will come later, after the dust has settled, and the Marvel brass start making decisions for characters they’ve watched others bungle for over a decade. Maybe they’ll keep loudmouth Deadpool, a character that works on his own terms, but do you really think Marvel-Disney will make anything like Logan? Their formula depends on mass audiences and wide appeal, antithetical to R-rated films. Ryan Reynolds, for his part, has been cheerfully skeptical of the merger and what it could mean for Deadpool going forward. He’s making jokes, but there is a very real chance he’s out of a job if Marvel decides down the line that his version of Deadpool doesn’t fit into their master plan. It will be very interesting to see how this all shakes out once the dust settles. I have a sneaking suspicion people won’t be nearly as happy as they think. Consolidation has never been a good thing for the movie business. Apparently you can’t actually blow the Matterhorn. [pic.twitter.com/2bEAAcZrUv]( — Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) [December 14, 2017]( [Source]( [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 2:46 PM [Angelina’s not invited]( [Angelina Jolie attends the 'Light After Darkness: Memory, Resilience and Renewal in Cambodia' discussion at Asia Society on December 14, 2017 in New York City](The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences [released its shortlist of films]( contending for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar yesterday: Chile, A Fantastic Woman Germany, In the Fade Hungary, On Body and Soul Israel, Foxtrot Lebanon, The Insult Russia, Loveless Senegal, Félicité South Africa, The Wound Sweden, The Square These nine selections will be trimmed down to five when the Academy announces its official nomination list in January. My pick on this list right now would be A Fantastic Woman. If you haven’t already, you should try to see it. Diane Kruger won Best Actress in Cannes for her work in In The Fade and she’s been campaigning subtly but pretty hard. Don’t count her out for a Best Actress nomination. She could have a chance. You know who’s also been campaigning hard though? And not so subtly? Angelina Jolie for Cambodia’s entry, First They Killed My Father. FTKMF was nominated for a Golden Globe earlier this week but it did not make the Oscar shortlist. Which means Angelina will not be going to the Oscars as a nominee. I texted Sarah about this last night with the question: are they anti-Jolie or anti-Netflix? She thinks it’s a bit of both? Streaming has broken through at the Emmys for television but in film, as you know,[as we’ve discussed]( all [year long](, the film community hasn’t quite caught up. And there are [factions within the film community]( that do not want Netflix to strengthen its position. This happened with Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts Of No Nation a couple of years ago and it could have played a factor in why FTKMF didn’t make the cut. Of course there’s also the question of Angelina’s popularity within Hollywood and whether or not she had the benefit of campaign support from some of the other high profile, big name players. You’ll recall, after World War Brange, it was widely assumed that Brad Pitt got Hollywood in the divorce. Angelina was in New York yesterday to speak at Light After Darkness: Memory, Resilience, and Renewal in Cambodia at the Asia Society. Of course her intention in making the film was to tell the story of the Cambodian people and so, no doubt, this was never juuuuust about winning awards. But the awards also give the project more profile. And it’s not like we didn’t see her out here doing podcasts and hosting screenings and showing up on the award season circuit. The Academy, clearly, wasn’t convinced. Which is a bummer for gossip. Because it means we won’t see Angelina on the Oscar hustle. After the Golden Globes, she won’t be walking very many red carpets. First They Killed My Father might not be the biggest snub in the Foreign Language Film category though. France’s BPM (Beats Per Minute), about AIDS activists in Paris in the 90s, which has been named Best Foreign Film by several critics associations, including New York and LA, and considered [one of the favourites]( to go through, was also left off the Oscar shortlist. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt’s been doing some campaigning of his own. He produced The Lost City Of Z and earlier this week, he was at a Producers Guild Of America screening with director James Gray and the cast including Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, and Sienna Miller. Rob, James Gray, Charlie, Sienna & Brad Pitt at [#LostCityOfZ]( panel [#fyc]( [#Oscars]( [pic.twitter.com/aBwAUaIfII]( — ma (@Ibabysky) [December 14, 2017]( Remember, there are rumours going around about Brad and Sienna. And they’re about to pick up again, heads up. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 2:29 PM [December 15, 2017 – Smutty Shout-Outs]( [John David Washington for Ashley](Ashley! Happy Birthday on Sunday from Kate who requested your Five: John David Washington, Taika Waititi, Oscar Isaac, Lenny Kravitz, and Jason Momoa. [Click here for the rest of the photos.]( Posted at 1:57 PM [Privacy Policy]( - [Unsubscribe](