Newsletter Thursday, June 09, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Thursday, June 09, 2016 [Intro for June 9, 2016] [Maria Sharapova ] Dear Gossips, When it was announced yesterday that Maria Sharapova had been banned from tennis for two years, Jacek texted me, optimistically, like, yes, they shut her down. Then I told him to go read her [Facebook post]. Because that is not the tone of someone who’s been shut down. In fact, if you just read her side of it without reading the tribunal’s judgement (she’s appealing the decision), you’d think she was practically innocent. As The Guardian notes, the “[tribunal verdict shreds]” her defence. And yet, Nike, Head, and Evian have decided to [resume their partnerships] with her. So, even though she can’t compete professionally for two years – which could very likely mean the end of her playing career – they still believe she can endorse their products. That their relationships will continue to be mutually beneficial. That she can still make money and still make them money. Because, I guess, people will still buy what she’s selling. Maria Sharapova, a “[world-class cheater]”, is still a viable spokesperson. As you know, Maria, even though she hasn’t won nearly as many tournaments as Serena Williams – the F-CKING LEGEND – always, always earns more in endorsements than Serena. If it was Serena who’d been caught doping, do you think she’d be able to keep her sponsors? Please. They would have burned her alive. What are the chances that Maria Sharapova will continue to earn more in endorsements than Serena even though she’s now been banned from the sport for two years? I wouldn’t bet against it, would you? Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:08 PM [Ginnifer Goodwin’s great baby name leads to Americans withdrawal] [Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas] Ginnifer Goodwin and her husband Josh Dallas named their new baby Hugo Wilson Dallas. I really, really love Hugo, even though one of my strongest aural memories of it is Perpetua ‘yars’-ing the name in Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s a good name, works well with their first son, Oliver Finlay, and, though I’m not personally a Goodwin or Once Upon A Time fan, I appreciate that there’s no-muss-no-fuss about the announcement. Whereas we still don’t know about the name of Matthew Rhys & Keri Russell’s baby, born earlier in May. And it is making me a little nuts. If you’ll allow me to digress for a second, my addiction to these two is in large part due to the chemistry between Phillip and Elizabeth on The Americans, and obviously we love when onscreen chemistry is SO strong it has to spill over into real life. Then there’s the part where we’ve been watching this child be hidden behind grocery bags or laundry baskets or, most amusingly in last night’s finale, by some really awkwardly-clutched dry cleaning. And given that it was a real blue-balls finale, all things considered, I’m desperate for anything I can get along the Matthew-Elizabeth-Keri-Phillip continuum. Incidentally, I know you’re biting your nails about the fate of Martha and want to discuss the gross minutiae of bio-terrorism. Email me and we’ll discuss, and know that we’re going to have delicious new ways to discuss TV on the site coming soon. And if you know the name of this baby could you please let me know? P.S. Well done, Goodwin & Dallas. Sorry if you got a little overshadowed here. Also attached - Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys out in New York last week with their baby. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:25 PM [Sam for Taylor?] [Sam Hunt attends the 2016 CMT Music awards at the Bridgestone Arena on June 8, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee] Maria wrote to me last night. Title of email: Taylor’s Blank Space. Message: She should write [Sam Hunt] in... Calling the gossip genie. I can see why that would make sense. Sam Hunt is 31 years old, probably the biggest rising star in country music right now. If you can still call him a rising star. My sources in Nashville tell me that they’ve never seen anything like the effect he has on his audiences – and they’ve seen a LOT. That level of devotion and hysteria that his fans have for him is next level. And the demographic is attractive. Not only are the little girls and the teen girls following him obsessively but they’re bringing their mothers and aunts and grandmas along too. Not unlike [Taylor Swift]. Also, like Taylor Swift, my sources tell me that Sam’s real goal is pop music and many in Nashville would not be surprised if he makes a move there once he solidifies his country base. And dating Taylor would certainly help with that strategy…if she’d want to be used like that. What Sam could learn from Taylor is in the small details. Taylor Swift is great at the big sh-t. The declarations on stage, the inspirational messages. But she’s also really, really great at the more intimate gestures, and this is part of the reason why people have been so supportive. Taylor is one of the best in the business at the radio industry meet and greet. She has put in her time with these people, people who want to play her songs because they remember that she made the effort. Even the most hardcore Nashville Swift skeptics – and they definitely exist – concede that she makes their jobs easier because she understands the importance of building these relationships. And she continues to do it, even now that her reach has extended globally. Sam Hunt, though? Hasn’t quite learned this lesson yet. Multiple sources have told me that they’ve observed that he’s actually quite “bratty” about these events. Some say it seems like he feels like they’re beneath him. If Taylor Swift is the standard here, he might want to start modelling more of her approach. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:02 PM [Leonardo DiCaprio, please be smarter than this] [Leonardo DiCaprio rides his bike in NYC, June 7, 2016] In an interview with The Guardian, screenwriter David Franzoni (best known for co-writing Gladiator) talked up a film he’s writing about the Persian poet and scholar Rumi, one of the most often translated and widely read poets in history. He’s sometimes called the “Shakespeare of the Middle East” which is backwards because he precedes Shakespeare by a few centuries. Really it should be that Shakespeare is the Rumi of the West. But, as Franzoni points out, he’s the kind of towering literary figure, like Shakespeare, that remains interesting to people because of the scope of his genius. He’s a ripe cinematic subject. So naturally they want to cast [Leonardo DiCaprio] as Rumi, a Persian, and [RDJ] as Rumi’s mentor and friend, Shams of Tabriz, also a Persian. You can’t talk about making a movie to challenge the “stereotypes” of Muslims—translation: “We’re not making a movie about terrorists”—and then try to whitewash important Muslim historical figures. Rumi and Shams were real people. They were demonstrably not white. And don’t give me any Indo-European light-skinned crap—they weren’t white. Full stop. The end. If you cast DiCaprio and RDJ as Rumi and Shams, you are actively whitewashing these roles. “That’s the level of casting we’re talking about,” says producer Stephen Joel Brown, and you can hear the excitement in his voice. And sure, DiCaprio and RDJ are two of the most talented and popular actors working today. Any filmmaker in their right mind would be excited to get them attached to their project. But Brown and Franzoni are clearly not in their right minds, because they’re talking about whitewashing widely known historical figures in 2016. At this point they’re willfully tuning out the ongoing discussion about diversity and inclusion in the film industry. That conversation has gotten so loud and so prevalent that no one making these kinds of casting decisions is doing so blindly—they know what they’re doing. No one can claim ignorance, not after two years of #OscarsSoWhite and all the scrutiny being brought to bear on hiring and casting practices. (Hardcore side-eyeing Marvel and Sony, too, for [whitewashing] Spider-Man’s friend Ganke Lee, who should be Korean-American.) There is clearly no one in the room willing to call this out as a bad idea, probably because there’s no one in the room but white dudes who don’t think twice about hiring other white dudes. And so the status quo is maintained. [Source] Attached - Leo riding around NYC on his bike the other day. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:17 PM [Famous friends vs non-famous friends] [Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro ] Oscar winner [Benicio Del Toro] was asked this week about his friend [Johnny Depp] being accused of domestic abuse by his estranged wife [Amber Heard]. “What I know, there’s a lot of trouble from the girl that sounds a little manipulative,” the Oscar winner told the Daily News’ [Confidenti@l] Tuesday at an event sponsored by Heineken. “It sounds a little bit like there’s something really twisted about that girl ... but I don’t know the specifics.” But Del Toro called his “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” co-star “a nice guy, very caring, very smart” — and seemed wary of the circumstances around Heard’s abuse claims. “It seems the fact that his mom passed away and she filed for divorce two days later and then she wants money and she's saying she got hit, it’s almost like, wait, I saw them not too long ago. Maybe it was January, a dinner for the Oscars or something like that,” Del Toro told Confidenti@l. “He was there with her and they were fine.” Benicio describing Amber as “manipulative” is consistent with Doug Stanhope’s claims in [his essay for The Wrap] that she’s blackmailing Johnny. Only Benicio won an Oscar. So that must mean what he has to say is even more believable. You know, while he’s at an event sponsored by beer, discussing a friend he saw a few months ago but he’s not entirely sure exactly when, with an actual drinking problem. This makes total sense and, why don’t we all go home now because Benicio has just decided it for everyone, end of story. Or, you know, you could consider the account of someone who was quite close to both Amber and Johnny and who was on the phone with Amber the night Johnny allegedly assaulted her. iO Tillett Wright, not an Oscar winner, wrote about why she called 911 on Johnny for [Refinery29]. iO credits Johnny for helping her through dark times. She loves him as a brother. And she calls him out as her brother for kicking Amber, yanking her by the hair, smashing his face into hers, and trying to smother her with a pillow. She also calls out those who are doubting Amber’s accusations, despite having submitted as evidence photos, texts, and witness statements. But, again, the fact is, iO’s never won an Oscar. She has, however, done a [TED Talk]. Does that count? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:57 PM [Team Depp TMZ vs Amber Heard] [Amber Heard and Tasya van Ree] Earlier this week, Team Depp TMZ somehow managed to dig up the fact that [Amber Heard] [was arrested] at the airport in Seattle in 2009 during an argument with her then-partner [Tasya van Ree] allegedly for pulling her and then striking her in the arm. She did not end up being charged because, [according to TMZ] the prosecutor decided not to pursue the case as Amber and Tasya lived in California. Two years later, Amber’s lawyer wrote to Seattle police requesting that those records be deleted since she was never prosecuted. Tasya released a statement yesterday in support of Amber with her account of what went down: "In 2009, Amber was wrongfully accused for an incident that was misinterpreted and over-sensationalized by two individuals in a powerful position," her statement, which was obtained by [E! News], began. "I recount hints of misogynistic attitudes toward us which after appeared to be homophobic when they found out we were domestic partners and not just ‘friends.' Charges were quickly dropped and she was released moments later." Ree continued, "It's disheartening that Amber's integrity and story are being questioned yet again. Amber is a brilliant, honest and beautiful woman and I have the utmost respect for her. We shared 5 wonderful years together and remain close to this day." Well, TMZ’s been doing such a great job attacking Amber’s credibility, they’re now going after Tasya too. Just this morning [they posted this]: Amber's ex-domestic partner, Tasya van Ree, minimized their altercation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, saying it was "misinterpreted and over-sensationalized by two individuals in a powerful position." She's referring to the cops who arrested Amber for allegedly grabbing and hitting Tasya. Officer Beverly Leonard was the actual arresting officer. She proudly posted pics of herself and her partner a few years back. She's also posted pics of herself at Pride weekend. Leonard also supported an organization in Seattle that helps women who were victims of domestic violence. A source close to Beverly says the now-retired officer is indignant ... saying the arrest had nothing to do with homophobia ... she was arrested for breaking the law. Although Tasya claims the incident was minor, police documents show there was actual property damage ... Tasya's pendant was broken during the scuffle, and the documents also show Tasya was extremely upset with Amber for the alleged attack ... so claim the responding cops. I don’t actually know why [Johnny Depp] is paying his legal team. He doesn’t need one when TMZ’s doing everything for them. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:51 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]