Newsletter Friday, June 17, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Friday, June 17, 2016 [Intro for June 17, 2016] [Nicole Brown Simpson] Dear Gossips, The most compelling thing on TV this week has been ESPN’s OJ: Made In America. Here in Canada, the series is airing on CTV and TSN – [click here for programming information]. Have you been watching? If you’ve been reading my blog a while, [you know how I feel] about sports documentaries, often the best storytelling in the business, and ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has been the gold standard. OJ: Made In America is a “[vital, living document]” about celebrity, law, race, and our culture of violence that some say [could win an Oscar]. One of the reasons OJ: Made In America has been acclaimed is for its focus on Nicole Brown. Too often, as we saw so recently at Stanford, it’s the star athlete who’s humanised, it was the rapist, Brock Allen Turner, who was given the benefit of kindness and compassion over his victim. As Jessica Luther notes [in her piece for espnW], victims of domestic violence in cases involving athletes must overcome a “hurdle of indifference”, in part because of the relationship we, as fans, have to the abuser-athlete. In OJ: Made In America, however, we are given the opportunity to understand Nicole Brown – her friends, her family, and her own diary present to us a portrait of a woman stalked by her own husband, terrorised by him for years, but who held on to herself throughout, who found ways to connect to others, to build relationships with people outside of her marriage, who did not live solely for HIM. At one point, one of her friends says that Nicole was unattainable for OJ, that no matter how much he hurt her and tried to manipulate her, he always knew that he never had total control of her. As [Jen Chaney writes in Vulture], in giving Nicole a voice, a luxury rarely afforded to the victim, OJ: Made In America directly challenges that “hurdle of indifference”, so that the victim can, at least, occupy more of the story than she is typically allowed. Which is why the Stanford victim’s statement made such an impact, and why I can’t stop thinking or talking about it and why I don’t want to stop thinking or talking about it. She refused to let the media and the judge and her rapist’s friends and family make it about him. She demanded that her experience, her trauma, and her future be considered too. When your torturer is an athlete though, or a movie star, a man relatable to other men, that’s a hard f-cking wall to break through. Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:51 PM [It’s Brenda Prue …so get happy!] [Holly Marie Combs and Shannen Doherty arrive ahead of opening night of Opera Australia's production of Carmen at Sydney Opera House on June 16, 2016 in Sydney, Australia] Every day this week I’ve been trying to end on some happy because happiness is so hard to find. Maybe this is just happiness for me and Duana but I have to believe that we’re together on this, with you, in our eternal love for 90210 and, for some of you, Charmed. So there will never be a time when we’re not interested, at least mildly interested, in Shannen Doherty, right? Because Brenda Walsh is one of the greatest characters EVER in the history of television. And the thing is, it could only, only, only have been Shannen. She was a pain in the ass to work with, we know this. But what gets often overlooked is that even the people who worked with her who were pained in the ass acknowledged at the time that that girl had it. When it was time to roll, she had it. (The problem was getting her to roll.) But no one has ever delivered a “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?” quite like Shannen Doherty. Shannen as Brenda will always make me happy. Here she is with Holly Marie Combs at the Sydney Opera House yesterday. Don’t ask me why they’re there. I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s Friday afternoon. All that matters is that I’ve just decided that I will be marathon-ing 90201 tonight. Have a great weekend! [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:21 PM [Smutty Tingles] Blasphemy indeed! ([Dlisted]) First sighting of Eva Mendes after having Ryan Gosling’s second baby ([Just Jared]) Brad Pitt looks hot at LAX ([Cele|bitchy]) I want this slouchy onesie that Rihanna is wearing in her new video with Carlton Harris ([TooFab]) How Jason Momoa got the part of Khal Drogo ([Pop Sugar]) OH MY GAWWWWD, Justin are you Oh kayyyy? ([The Superficial]) Not feeling the outfit with this hair ([Hollywood Tuna]) Hate this dress on Karlie Kloss ([Go Fug Yourself]) Seriously, the Rock is SOOOOO nice ([Pajiba]) [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:07 PM [Justin Theroux’s hair] [Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux have dinner in New York City, June 16, 2016] When I picture Justin Theroux, in my mind, his hair is always combed back. And he’s got quite a distinctive hairline. Last night he and Jennifer Aniston went out for dinner in New York. This is a different look. I dig it. And, ahem, it does more than just the job of making him look attractive. Also, is it just me or are you getting a Jax Teller vibe here – like when he wore his hair shorter after jail? Jennifer Aniston’s JT rides motorcycles too. And that shirt he’s wearing is vibing all kinds of Jax. Jax – and Charlie – preferred a looser fit in the jeans though. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:03 PM [Tupac biopic – first look] [All Eyez on Me teaser trailer ] Yesterday would have been Tupac Shakur’s 45th birthday. To mark the occasion, the teaser trailer for the upcoming biopic All Eyez on Me was released. When Lainey and I saw Straight Outta Compton for the first time in theatres, we couldn’t get over how much the dude playing Tupac looked EXACTLY like him. It took us a second to figure out if it was an actor or the freaking hologram he was that spot-on. So, when I heard the Tupac biopic was finally greenlit after rumours of it happening for years, I thought for sure they would go with Marcc Rose, the doppelganger from Straight Outta Compton. I was wrong. Watch the teaser and meet me on the other side. Apparently, Pac has multiple doppelgangers. Newcomer [Demetrius Shipp Jr] is taking on the role of the legendary rapper and the resemblance is uncanny. He definitely looks like him and seems to have some of his mannerisms down. The head tilt at the end is eerie. So, he’s got the look but can he act? Tupac had this charm, swagger and intensity about him that I would love to see on screen. His cadence is arguably (next to Biggie’s) the most famous in the genre. So, here’s my beef with the teaser: Demetrius Shipp Jr. says three words, “Let’s get it.” For me, those words weren’t very convincing. Did they do it for you? The film will live or die by Shipp’s performance and based on this clip, I’m not sure he’s going to deliver. I hope I’m wrong. The rest of the teaser is actually pretty good. It’s driven by a voiceover from Tupac’s late mother Afeni Shakur, played by The Walking Dead’s [Danai Gurira]. In a harrowingly relevant VO, she says, “Like all black men, you have a bullseye on your back. They are going to give you the tools you need to destroy yourself.” Tupac was gunned down on the Las Vegas strip in 1996. He was 25. Like Straight Outta Compton, this story has so many topical elements that will still hit home today. But I’m still worried they won’t get it right. The production has been plagued with many issues since the biopic was first announced five years ago. Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua was first attached to direct but dropped out during a legal battle between Pac’s mom and the production company over music rights. Then, acclaimed director John Singleton signed on in 2014 but he dropped out shortly after too. The film went through another director before it finally settled with Benny Boom, the music video director who gave us [Shake Ya Tailfeather]. His only film credits are 2009’s lackluster action comedy Next Day Air and the straight to DVD S.W.A.T: Firefight. Can you see why I’m nervous? If Antoine Fuqua and John Singleton passed on this, I think it’s a fair assumption that there’s something off with the script or the production in general. This all being said, I will definitely give the movie a chance when it comes out. If for nothing else, I’ll see it for The Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham playing Pac’s best friend Jada Pinkett Smith. [Their friendship is fascinating]. Plus, The Game has [already given All Eyez on Me a rave review]. He’s basically the Roger Ebert of our generation. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:52 PM [Smutty Social Media, June 17, 2016] [Mindy Kaling arrives at Kimmel in LA, June 16, 2016] Ben Mendelsohn is loved by Ryan Gosling and Mindy Kaling, and married to Emma Forrest. He’s winning life, basically. My favorite actor and all around rock solid dude Ben Mendelsohn on [@JimmyKimmelLive] tonight. [#Mendelvision] [ — Ryan Gosling (@RyanGosling) [June 17, 2016] [I can't with you Ben Mendelsohn] A photo posted by Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) on Jun 16, 2016 at 6:00pm PDT If you ever want to start a vicious fight in the comments section of social media, post a photo of a child in a car seat. [Happy napper! 😍 #carpool #cutie] A photo posted by Reese Witherspoon (@reesewitherspoon) on Jun 17, 2016 at 8:57am PDT The only ceasefire on a family vacation is when a photo is being taken. [Oh look at us on our fun family trip. I don't know who is going to explode first, me or Mt. Etna (behind us). Why travel when you can fight in the comfort and privacy of your own home?] A photo posted by Jessica Seinfeld (@jessseinfeld) on Jun 16, 2016 at 4:32pm PDT I am a delicate flower and need complete darkness and complete silence when I sleep. I can’t even have a phone in the room. Why don’t I own an eye mask? [Worked till 3 am. No blinds in new apartment. Thank god for @jetblue eye mask. ☀️🙅🏼🙈] A photo posted by Hilary Duff (@hilaryduff) on Jun 17, 2016 at 7:04am PDT Britney’s security team doesn’t try to blend in at the beach. I wonder if it’s a preventative tactic – people are less likely to approach when they see a dude dressed like the Secret Service. [My security team is like family... I'm so grateful for them ❤️ This was such a wonderful day] A video posted by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on Jun 16, 2016 at 10:47am PDT Look how good her skin is up close. Her skin tone is so even. And no dark circles under the eyes. But how?! [Harlee's baaaaccck... #shadesofblue #season2 #HarleeSantos #NBC] A photo posted by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Jun 16, 2016 at 10:48pm PDT Ciara can’t score with Russell Wilson (literally this time). [Penalty Kick....#Blocked 😂] A video posted by Ciara (@ciara) on Jun 16, 2016 at 11:43pm PDT This weekend has to be better than last – it couldn’t possibly be worse. Here’s Billy Eichner’s game of “Bob Dylan or Anal Sex” to kick it off. Ok if u need a laugh enjoy 2 of the best BILLY ON THE STREET contestants of all time playing BOB DYLAN OR ANAL SEX? [ — billy eichner (@billyeichner) [June 16, 2016] [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:41 PM [The Beyoncé delay] [Beyonce and Jay-Z sit courtside for Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 16, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio] Beyoncé’s took Formation to Detroit on Tuesday. She now has a couple of weeks off before the tour heads to Europe. With that gap in her schedule, she and Jay Z were in Cleveland last night for Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Cleveland won, forcing a Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Sunday. Which, obviously, is what the league wants. It’s what the networks want. Which is why there’s an officiating controversy. All kinds of controversy actually. I’m not here to fight with you about the refs. I’m bringing it up because Ayesha Curry got into it over Twitter before and after the game. There was an [issue with her father being profiled by security]. At the end of the game she also tweeted, after Steph Curry was ejected (for throwing his mouth guard), that it had all been “absolutely rigged for money” and “ratings”. She ended up deleting those messages and attributing them to her emotions over the course of a rough night that began when she and other Warriors family members were held up, not able to get into the arena: 10 mins til game time and the whole teams families are sitting here on a bus. They won't let us in yet. Interesting tactic though. Again. — Ayesha Curry (@ayeshacurry) [June 17, 2016] Which brings us to the whole point of every story: [Beyoncé]. Team sources [told ESPN] that the bus was delayed because of congestion in the Cavs' underground parking garage thanks to the volume of usage just before the game. Part of this delay was because of the arrival of Beyoncé and Jay Z, and the Warriors' party was unable to make it into the arena for the start of the game, a Golden State source told ESPN. “Because of the arrival of Beyoncé and [Jay Z.]” Beyoncé, however, you’ll note, was wearing #DubNation blue. And with Beyoncé, you know, nothing is by accident. Is that ironic? PS her hair is perfect right now and I’m totally going to try this look at the MMVAs on Sunday night. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:14 PM [Emilia Clarke in Me Before You] [Me Before You movie poster] Movies about people falling in love when one of them is dying is a particular sub-genre of romantic drama, and the latest entry into the field is Me Before You, a tearjerker adapted by Jojo Moyes from her novel of the same name, and directed by Thea Sharrock, a stage director making her feature film debut. It stars Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke as the wide-eyed affection-object, and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games) as the suitably Byronic romantic hero—he’s the one who is living-impaired and we’re supposed to care deeply about their odds of falling in love when one of them is dying. The central conceit of Me Before You is that Lou (Clarke), a charming but uncouth young woman, meets Will (Claflin), a dashing but depressed young man, just when he’s decided to stop living. You see, Will was paralyzed in an accident and is now a quadriplegic, and despite having a family fortune to help him obtain top-line equipment and assistance—Lou is only one of his caretakers—Will wants to die by assisted suicide because he can’t stand being in a wheelchair. Not even Lou’s love is enough to tempt him to change his mind. Death, for Will, is preferable to a life spent in a wheelchair, even if that life is still full with family, friends, and loved ones. UPROXX’s Brian Grubb nailed the [representation issues] at play, and the need for more narratives about disabled people than just this one, so I’m just going to stick to what is specifically wrong with this movie, which is a lot. On a technical level Sharrock’s direction is merely adequate—she certainly did better work with the television adaptation of Henry V she directed for the BBC’s The Hollow Crown. And in other departments, this is the kind of movie where we know the heroine is a whimsical person because she wears fuzzy sweaters and colorful tights. Maybe Jojo Moyes’ book is better but her script is one-dimensional and contrived. The main problem is the wheelchair, and the body of the person in it. People recoil from Will as if he’s a leper—of course there are rude people who stare at people in wheelchairs, and ask inappropriate, invasive questions, but to act as if this is the only type of person differently-abled people meet is ridiculous. Will’s life is filled with disgusted strangers, overbearing parents, and the impossibly simple Lou. Any suggestion that there may be a life, however unexpected or different, worth living in a wheelchair is ignored to feed Will’s suicide story. It’s just gross. There’s no other way to describe it, except “offensive”. By the time we get to the inevitable ending, any goodwill the actors could possibly dredge up is long gone. A movie about a person struggling to come to terms with an unimaginable reality is one thing, but Me Before You isn’t interested in actually exploring that headspace, it just wants to insert wheelchairs into a paint-by-numbers tearjerker that only ends the way it does because it is structured to actively prevent change. A movie about a moron and a selfish git is inherently unromantic, and the dramatic beats are so false as to border on satirical. Me Before You is like a two-hour SNL skit parodying a bad romantic drama starring a baby-person and a sociopath. This movie can go f*ck itself. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:56 PM [Amber & Johnny: not today] [Amber Heard at an office building in Los Angeles, June 16, 2016] Amber Heard and Johnny Depp will not be appearing in court today. [According to PEOPLE] his lawyer, Laura Wasser, asked that the hearing be postponed. It will now happen in August, unless the two manage to work out a deal by then. Which, apparently, is what Johnny's been trying to negotiate. Because that's what people in his position do. It's what all the money wants him to do. And by money I mean all the people from agents to managers to studio executives to producers who need him to make more money. Who, in pursuit of that money, will overlook or excuse or even cover up the situation so that Johnny's reputation can be restored. Six months from now, why not put him in a romantic comedy or drama, doesn't matter. Get him to take a role that doesn't require black teeth and a mask. Pretty him up - as much as possible, considering - and remind the world that we once wanted to f-ck him. In the meantime, from now until August, Team Depp TMZ has two more months to take down and/or revictimise Amber Heard. Did Amber ever send a naked selfie? What are the chances that will turn up on TMZ? TMZ's latest on Amber is that she couldn't be deposed last week when Johnny's lawyer tried to schedule her because she was supposed to be in a costume fitting for Justice League in London but that ended up getting cancelled because [she's lost too much weight] - 20 lbs. There's a subtext I'm reading here too about whether or not she'll be able to continue in this role. And what her roles will be going forward. Her opportunities before were already limited. And now, all it would take is a phone call from Johnny, non? Attached - Amber Heard out in LA yesterday. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:28 PM [Zoe Saldana drops no mics in Allure] [Zoe Saldana covers Allure Magazine ] My problem with Zoe Saldana is that she is so goddamn likeable. She’s on the cover of Allure for a story with the headline, [Star Trek's Zoe Saldana Drops the Mic] and for the first half of the piece, she comes across as an authentic human being, not a Hollywood robot. While there really isn’t a “mic-drop moment,” you want to invite her and her husband over for dinner, even if they’ll just talk about their twins the whole time. She appeals to the gossips by revealing that Cindy Crawford and Jessica Alba reached out to her when she got pregnant to share mommy advice but she keeps it real for the MiniVan Majority when she says she still hates changing diapers. She’s seems genuinely relatable when she recalls growing up in Queens with her sisters. Zoe describes her mother as “the goddess of 'I could give two sh-ts about what you have to say about me; I do it all my way.'" So you get the feeling Zoe approaches life with the same zero f-cks attitude and it’s refreshing. She shares about the time she fought for childcare on set and bit back at a director who tried to reduce her to a hot chick in her “underwear holding a gun.” The takeaway is don’t f-ck with Zoe Saldana on set. She will speak her mind. She’s a woman of colour in Hollywood headlining massive blockbusters. I really want to give into her charm. But then, she casually quotes Nina Simone and the tone changes. Here’s where it gets annoying that Zoe Saldana is so likeable. The last time I wrote about Zoe, it was her first appearance since the [controversy surrounding her role as Nina Simone in Nina]. I made it very clear that I don’t think Zoe was the person to play Nina Simone. I made it very clear that the fact that she had to be plastered in dark makeup and wear a prosthetic nose was messed up. In response to the controversy about her appearance, Saldana said this: "There's no one way to be black… I'm black the way I know how to be. You have no idea who I am. I am black. I'm raising black men. Don't you ever think you can look at me and address me with such disdain." Zoe is black. That’s not the debate. Everything she says here is right but the problem isn’t that she is black. The problem is that she is a light skinned, thin actress with features that are the exact antithesis of what Nina represented. It’s also annoying that the writer of this piece clearly doesn’t push Zoe to answer the tough questions about her role as Nina. Instead, they reduce the controversy to this: The very idea that Saldana could be considered too pretty to play Simone seems to make the actress more sad than defensive. "I never saw her as unattractive. Nina looks like half my family!" she says. "But if you think the [prosthetic] nose I wore was unattractive, then maybe you need to ask yourself, What do you consider beautiful? Do you consider a thinner nose beautiful, so the wider you get, the more insulted you become?" Here is where it becomes painfully obvious that Saldana just does not understand. She talks about the difficulties of being a non-white, non “traditional” actress in casting rooms but that directors like James Cameron, J.J. Abrams and Ben Affleck have looked at her and said, “’Why not you? You're "traditional." You're everything.'" No director in Hollywood today would ever say this to Nina Simone. I’m going to be gross and quote myself for a second so humour me. I wrote, “Zoe Saldana is not white but she’s arguably been given opportunities because her beauty is more palatable than an Adepero Oduye or an Uzo Aduba.” And this is exactly what Zoe doesn’t understand. She’s coming from a place of privilege whether she realizes it or not. She also defends her decision to play Nina by saying that if she didn’t, the story would not have been told. She implies that without her, no one would know who Nina Simone is. "The fact that we're talking about her, that Nina Simone is trending? We f-cking won…For so many years, nobody knew who the f-ck she was. She is essential to our American history. As a woman first, and only then as everything else." First of all, Nina was a BLACK woman above everything else and second, the exceptional documentary What Happened Miss Simone? was nominated for an Oscar a few months before Nina came out. We were talking about Nina Simone without Zoe’s misguided film. The piece ends with a note that Zoe Saldana would like to move on from this controversy and focus on her new Ben Affleck-directed film Live By Night, the new Star Trek, the second Guardians of the Galaxy and the onslaught of Avatar sequels. I’ll just be over here, trying really hard not to like her in any of those movies, for Nina. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 4:51 PM [On the timing of the Swoki] [Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston cover The Sun] In the previous post, Kathleen just wrote about Kanye West’s wife calling out [Taylor Swift] in the new issue of GQ. That interview and Taylor kissing [Tom Hiddleston] on the rocks in Rhode Island landed online pretty much at the same time. And you know what made the bigger splash: Swoki! Obviously! This is great gossip gameplay, on so many levels. Although Mrs West is never a lead character on my blog, I will acknowledge that she knows how to “break the internet”. She must have known, when she gave this interview, that these were the comments that would be extracted and disseminated. At the time, then, she would have thought that she would win the hand. And then… And then Taylor produces pocket aces – a new boyfriend, right after her old boyfriend tried to convince the world that he dumped her, covering not one but two grudges with a walk on the beach. She handled [Adam Harrison] and she muted Kanye West’s wife. As Allie Jones [wrote over at The Cut], the timing is not a coincidence. I mean, sure, Mrs West’s revelations about the feud between Kanye and Taylor have received some coverage. But compare that to the coverage of Swoki that we’ve seen this week. You have to live on the internet to know about what Kanye said to Taylor and what Taylor did or didn’t say to Kanye and, also, you would have had to take the time to use part of your brain and read about it. Swoki? Swoki was not just online, Swoki lives everywhere. And Swoki requires just your eyeballs. For the Instagram generation – a demo that Mrs West exploits pretty much exclusively – Swoki won the pot. Pictures are everything. Words are… well… words are sometimes too much for some people. That’s what adds another dimension of brilliance to this dick fight. Words are, typically, between these two adversaries, Taylor Swift’s domain - her lyrical jabs, her revenge songs. And pictures are, typically, between these two adversaries, Kanye West’s wife’s domain - her selfies, her body, her breasts, her ass. But Mrs West tried to use words to take down Taylor. A LOT of words! Like paragraphs full of words! Too many words to fit on her Twitter and words don’t work on Instagram. You know what works on Instagram though? This: [Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston caught romancing at Misquamicat beach,at Rhode Island. . . . . . #taylorloki #taylorswift #calvin #swift #swifthiddleston #tomhiddleston #loki #favouritegod #newcouple #love #breakup #songs #album #selenagomez #justinbeiber #kimkardashian #hailey{NAME} #gigihadid #bellahadid #kendalljenner #kyliejenner #taylor #twitter #tumblr #instagram #instamood #romance] A photo posted by Taylor Swift ❤ Tom Hiddleston (@taylorloki) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT And this: [Tom singing Enchanted by Taylor Swift and describing how they first met😍😍😍] A photo posted by Taylor Swift ❤ Tom Hiddleston (@taylorloki) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT And this: [Taylor Swift is clearly on cloud 9 with TomHiddleston. No doubt anymore about their relationship ... they left Taylor's Rhode Island home and boarded her private jet for parts unknown. Her last name isn't Swift for nothing #taylorloki #taylorswift #taylortom #tomtaylor #calvin #swift #swifthiddleston #tomhiddleston #loki #favouritegod #newcouple #love #breakup #songs #album #selenagomez #justinbeiber #kimkardashian #hailey{NAME} #gigihadid #bellahadid #kendalljenner #kyliejenner #taylor #twitter #tumblr #instagram #instamood #romance] A photo posted by Taylor Swift ❤ Tom Hiddleston (@taylorloki) on Jun 16, 2016 at 1:49pm PDT That’s the latest. Swoki getting on her private plane heading to… New York? London? For the weekend? If they drop one more set of handholding shots this weekend, Kanye West’s wife’s interview will be buried. This has been an impressive display of public relations strategy and manipulation from Taylor Swift. But if we’re going for perfect next time, if she might consider a suggestion on improving from a 95% grade to a flawless 100%, I would recommend not deleting the history. Calvin Wilson as soon as he found out about Swoki, removed all pictures of him and Taylor from his social media accounts. Which is such a suck ass thing to do, and totally in character for a guy with four names. But Taylor did it too. She has also wiped her social media of any trace of Harris Adamson’s face. Don’t you think it would have been so much funnier, so much more superior, if she had left it all up there while he was pouting in his room, ripping all their memories to shreds? If while he was eliminating her from his contacts she continued to keep those photos up, not because she cares but because she’d either forgotten they were there and/or couldn’t be bothered? It’s a small thing. But there’s always room for improvement. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 4:14 PM [Kanye West’s Wife vs Taylor Swift] [Kanye West and Taylor Swift ] (Lainey: it’s our policy here at LaineyGossip.com to not post about [Kanye West]’s wife and her family. It is, however, our policy to post about [Taylor Swift] whenever and however we can. So, what happens when a story involving Taylor Swift is brought to us by Kanye West’s wife? Well, Kathleen's focusing on Taylor Swift.) I made that bitch famous The line is now infamous. One of the most infamous faces on the planet is on the cover of GQ this month. She’s practically naked but this time no one is talking about her body. Instead, we’re talking about her husband, Taylor Swift, and that line, AGAIN. If it wasn’t already abundantly clear from the [gloriousness that is Swoki], this latest feud is proof that Taylor is the gossip gift that keeps on giving. I had to take a break from obsessing over Taylor and Tom [when the GQ feature] on that Kardashian was released. It’s SO good for one reason only: she goes IN on Taylor Swift. She calls out Taylor for not only knowing about Kanye’s song Famous ahead of its release but also for lying and “play[ing] the victim.” I don’t think I’ve ever liked a Kardashian this much. THIS is really, really good for gossip. I’m going to rely heavily on direct quotes from the article because it is all almost too good to be true. Here’s what Kanye’s wife says about Taylor’s knowledge of the song: “She totally knew that that was coming out. She wanted to all of a sudden act like she didn't. I swear, my husband gets so much sh-t for things [when] he really was doing proper protocol and even called to get it approved…What rapper would call a girl that he was rapping a line about to get approval?” She swears Taylor and Kanye had a phone call about the song and that Taylor was well aware of the explicit lyrics. Supposedly, Taylor even LAUGHED about it. “I mean, he's called me a bitch in his songs. That's just, like, what they say. I never once think, [gasping] ‘What a derogatory word! How dare he?’ Not in a million years. I don't know why she just, you know, flipped all of a sudden.… It was funny because [on the call with Kanye, Taylor] said, ‘When I get on the Grammy red carpet, all the media is going to think that I'm so against this, and I'll just laugh and say, ‘The joke's on you, guys. I was in on it the whole time.’ And I'm like, wait, but [in] your Grammy speech, you completely dissed my husband just to play the victim again.” First, I’ll point out that the use of the word “bitch” in hip hop is a more nuanced and complicated conversation than I think Mrs. West has the capacity for but when it comes to the rest of it, I think I actually believe her. I believe that Taylor could have laughed off the lyric but after hearing the song (and the subsequent online backlash) she backpedalled and turned her response into a feminist declaration. When Lainey wrote about Taylor’s Grammy speech, she noted that by taking a jab at Kanye while she was accepting Album of the Year, she invited the association. [She linked herself to Kanye forever]. Which brings me to Taylor’s official response to the GQ article. Here’s what her rep wrote, in its entirety: “Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West. However, that does not change the fact that much of what Kim is saying is incorrect. Kanye West and Taylor only spoke once on the phone while she was on vacation with her family in January of 2016 and they have never spoken since. Taylor has never denied that conversation took place. It was on that phone call that Kanye West also asked her to release the song on her Twitter account, which she declined to do. Kanye West never told Taylor he was going to use the term ‘that bitch’ in referencing her. A song cannot be approved if it was never heard. Kanye West never played the song for Taylor Swift. Taylor heard it for the first time when everyone else did and was humiliated. Kim Kardashian's claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true, and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone.” God, this is too good. OK, let’s start with “Taylor cannot understand why [they] will not just leave her alone.” See Grammy acceptance speech. If Taylor really wanted to be left alone, she shouldn’t have used the biggest platform in music to call out Kanye. Moving on, I love the condescending tone of “she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under.” HA. So, we’re left with a classic he said/she said. Kanye’s wife swears iconic hip-hop producer Rick Rubin and “so many respected people in the music business” heard Taylor approve the song. She swears the phone call was recorded (because Kanye documents everything, obviously) and that Taylor’s lawyers sent a letter asking them to destroy the footage. I’m not a lawyer but I have seen every episode of The Good Wife so I’m pretty sure if Taylor was recorded without her consent, there’s no way that footage is ever coming out. So, with everything that we know, while I would love to go hard on Team Kanye and I think Taylor is downplaying how much she knew, it may just be a case of broken telephone. GQ diplomatically puts it like this: Kanye and Taylor (or Kanye and Taylor's rep) may both be telling the truth here—as they see it. Maybe the duo talked “sex” but not “bitch.” Maybe he misinterpreted her noncommittal politeness as implicit accord. Maybe they both hung up pleased they were finally on the same page. Can someone just ask Rick Rubin what really happened so we can all leave Taylor alone? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:55 PM [JLO during the nomination period] [Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart on the set of Shades of Blue in New York, June 16, 2016] [Jennifer Lopez] is back on the set of Shades Of Blue for the show’s second season. As mentioned a few times already, she’s been [campaigning for an Emmy nomination]. Voting for Emmy nominations began this week, on Wednesday, and will continue until June 24th. The nominations will be announced on July 14th. If she isn’t nominated, is it considered a snub? I don’t think so. JLO is coming into this category up against some established television characters off of just one season so far. That said, she certainly has the profile for consideration. One way or another, they’ll get her to that show. But… Does he have to come? Slum Bear was with JLO yesterday. They were holding on to each other’s thighs. Casper auditioned for a role on Shades Of Blue last year and didn’t get it. [He auditioned again for a different role] and was successful the second time. Was it kinda like, what can we find for him where he’ll make the least impact but keep her happy? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:40 PM [Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Dory] [Ellen Degeneres at the Los Angeles premiere of Finding Dory, June 8, 2016] Well here’s a sequel guaranteed to break summer 2016’s case of sequelitis. Thirteen years after Finding Nemo, Finding Dory is a nearly equal companion piece. Though it doesn’t reach the ecstatic highs of Pixar at their best (Inside Out, Wall-E, Toy Story 3, Up), Finding Dory is a very fun, funny, and occasionally touching movie about friendship, forgetfulness, and fish. Little kids will delight in it and grown-ups will find plenty to make them laugh, too. And the animation is, as we expect from Pixar, top notch and beautiful. But before we get to Dory, first there is Piper, a short film about a young sand piper. It’s way, WAY better than that lava song mess that preceded Inside Out last year, with almost photo-real animation and an adorable protagonist. It’s the directorial debut of Pixar animator Alan Barillaro, and it’s a nice companion piece for Dory, especially as it sports some of the same comedic editing cues. Finding Dory takes us back under the sea, to the barrier reef where Marlin and his son Nemo live, along with their forgetful friend, the blue tang Dory. [Ellen DeGeneres] once again voices Dory, and Albert Brooks is back as Marlin, but Nemo had to be recast since the original voice actor is now in his twenties (we’re all old), and is now voiced by Hayden Rolence. Dory opens by briefly recapping that Marlin and Dory ventured across the ocean to find Nemo, but we quickly shift perspective to focus on Dory, who suffers short-term memory loss. Intercut throughout the film are flashbacks to Dory’s childhood, when she was an impossibly cute baby fish that is approximately 98% eyes. Dory doesn’t dig as deep as the top shelf Pixar movies—it feels two drafts away from being truly great—but there is a correlation between Dory’s forgetfulness and people who live with learning difficulties. Dory’s parents are anxious and sheltering, worrying constantly that Dory’s amnesia will prevent her from living a full, independent life. The metaphor stops short of being on-the-nose, though, and for the most part Dory works as a gentle lesson in being kind and understanding that not everyone approaches problem-solving the same way. Marlin, in particular, is taken to task for being unkind to Dory. As Dory begins to remember flashes of her childhood, and how she got separated from her parents, she sets off on her own adventure across the ocean to reunite with her family. Finding Dory is less concerned with the actual trip, though, and the “travels across the ocean” portion of the movie is just a quick cut scene with the surfer turtles. It’s a weak point in the movie because Dory hop-scotching across an aquarium park stretches credulity in ways that Dory and Marlin doing the same in the ocean in Nemo didn’t. But the characters Dory meets in the aquarium make up for it. Finding Dory is a VERY funny movie—what it lacks in emotional depth it more than makes up for on the laughs-per-minute count. DeGeneres is great as Dory, nailing not only the comedic timing of jokes but also Dory’s loneliness and sadness, and she’s surrounded by an excellent vocal cast. Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) voices a near-sighted whale shark, Destiny, and Ty Burrell voices her tank-neighbor Bailey, a beluga with impaired echolocation. They’re delightful, and Burrell intoning, “My beautiful gift!” deserves a special award. [Idris Elba] and [Dominic West] get in on the action, too, as a pair of snarky sea lions, and they’re clearly having fun and get some of the biggest laughs in the movie. But the standout is Ed O’Neill as Hank, a grouchy, touch-shy “septapus” who just wants to live alone in a tank. Hank and Dory are the odd couple trekking through the park to find Dory’s parents, and the movie is at its best when they’re bouncing off each other. Finding Dory will please everyone. No, it’s not as sharp as Pixar is capable of being, but it is still fantastically funny, with just enough of a moral to give it a point. It’s fast paced—almost too fast paced, really—which will keep small children engaged from start to finish, but the humor and Dory’s backstory will engage older audience members, too. Finding Dory is one long-awaited sequel that doesn’t disappoint. Attached - Ellen Degeneres and wife Portia de Rossi at the LA premiere of Dory last week. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:13 PM [June 17, 2016 – Smutty Shout-Outs] [Congratulations, Maria! ] Maria! Congratulations on your graduation! Doesn’t matter when you did it, or how you’re classified, you GRADUATED. And you did it on top of all the sh-t you were served. So please don’t let me hear you qualifying your achievement ever again. Girl, you look great in that cap and robe. Just for you, here’s Sebastian Stan. Have a great weekend celebrating YOU. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:02 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]