Newsletter Monday, October 03, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Monday, October 03, 2016 [Intro for October 3, 2016] [Cast of Kim’s Convenience] Dear Gossips, Tomorrow is a big day for arts and culture in Canada. Kim’s Convenience, the first Canadian television sitcom starring Asian actors, will premiere tomorrow on CBC at 9pm. The show is based on a celebrated play by Ins Choi about a Korean family and their convenience store. The parents are immigrants. Their children were born in Canada. So it’s about how Mr & Mrs Kim relate to their children, a theme that’s relatable to almost anyone, except more often than not – in fact, almost always – the comedies that show us what that looks like look not like the Kims at all. [Jean Yoon says that], for her, and for her co-stars, the opportunity here is to not be an accessory but to be the main event: "In my experience, we're coming in to play roles that will further the plot, that would deliver information, that would set the hero up, but in this show we — the people of colour — get to be the heroes." Reviews for Kim’s Convenience have been solid so far. In America, audiences have embraced two season of Fresh Off The Boat (now in its third season). Hopefully we’ll do the same here in Canada for Kim’s Convenience even though its debut is happening on a night when many Canadians will be focused on something else: the Blue Jays and the Orioles, wild card game, in Toronto tomorrow night. I mean, I get it. It’s all one-game take all situation. So…set the PVR? Set a series recording? Kim’s Convenience on Tuesdays, CBC 9pm. [Click here] for more on Kim’s Convenience, including how the show was developed and information about the actors. Also below, short character videos about the Kim family. The name Janet for their daughter? It’s PERFECT. And the way Mrs Kim just takes over the manager’s office because she’s his “mommy”. This is totally accurate. Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:00 PM [Johnny’s apartment] [Johnny Depp ] A reader called Sarah emailed me a link to [Johnny Depp]’s LA apartment this morning. The penthouse is 11,500 square feet with 9 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. An 11,000 sq ft apartment! My entire house is smaller than one of the bedrooms! Anyway, Johnny’s listing it for $12.7 million. So…what does it look like? Well, as Sarah observed, it’s exactly what you’d expect it to look like: super arty and not very comfortable. I would be afraid to be alone in this place. I certainly would not want to have dinner there. Look at this dining room. At least I think it’s a dining room: Do you want to sit on those chairs? Do you want to enjoy a meal on those chairs? When I sent this to my friend Lorella, here’s how she described those chairs: “they look like the kind of chairs used for the interrogation of terrorists”. And a dining table top made of tiles doesn’t seem super practical. I would want to stab myself if the plates kept going off-balance from the grooves. Practicality, however, doesn’t seem to be the point here – both for dinner and for his life. If this is where he and Amber Heard spent time during their relationship, I can see why it didn’t work out. Feng shui is really important in a home. In particular, the dining table can hold a lot of good luck – or back luck. The dining table is for family. A dining table that’s not smooth? With so many breaks on the surface? Even if they’re in straight lines by design, it also means there’s not a lot of flow, which is directly related to harmony. It was evidently not a harmonious relationship. [Click here] and [here] if you have the money to buy. Or to see more photos of the apartment. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:55 PM [Scarjo’s headband] [Scarlett Johansson on the set of Rock That Body in New York, October 3, 2016] [Scarlett Johansson] is shooting Rock That Body at JFK airport in New York. It’s about a group of female friends on a stag weekend and sh-t goes sideways. If I had to guess I’d say this is the scene where Scarjo, presumably the bride, is saying goodbye to her fiancé? I’m assuming she’s the bride because she’s being made to wear a headband with two dicks on it. This headband is the real star of this post. Do you have friends who would make you walk around in a headband with a couple of cocks pointing out of it? Would you walk around in a headband with a couple of cocks pointing out of it? Depends on the colour. Hot pink is too easy of a colour. It lessens the offensiveness of the double dicks. If the headband were flesh-coloured, however, the shock value, I think, goes up. Please let me know if the headband comes in flesh colour. I want one. In other Scarjo news, [Variety announced today] that she’s one of five women who’ll be honoured at their annual Power of Women event on October 14, alongside [Helen Mirren], [Ava DuVernay], [Laverne Cox], and [Miley Cyrus]. The women will also be featured in Variety next week. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:41 PM [Amal & George’s second anniversary] [George Clooney and Amal Clooney attend the MPTF 95th anniversary celebration with 'Hollywood's Night Under The Stars' at MPTF Wasserman Campus on October 1, 2016 in Los Angeles, California] [Amal] and [George Clooney] were in Hollywood this weekend at the Motion Picture Television Fund’s Night Under The Stars event. It was their second anniversary on September 27th, also known as Gwyneth Paltrow’s birthday. [Entertainment Tonight] asked George about it on the red carpet. George being George came back with a quip: “And they said it wouldn’t last.” I don’t know if he wants to put that into the universe, given the year we’ve had in celebrity splits. That said, how many of you, a year ago, would have predicted a Brange breakup before a Clooney one? Warren Beatty and Annette Bening are still together. I guess that’s the closest comparison. Will the Clooneys be the same, or will they be, well, the same in the more standard celebrity way? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:16 PM [Smutty Tingles] Goats can climb trees?!? This is not a euphemism ([Dlisted]) Robert Pattinson looks very severe in these Dior ads ([Just Jared]) Big G and the Wild Child say goodbye to Canada ([Cele|bitchy]) Courtney Love and Frances Bean at Paris Fashion Week ([TooFab]) Tiger Woods hangs out with Paulina Gretzky ([TMZ]) This is terrifying…and it’s going to make her more famous than ever ([The Superficial]) Vanity Fair Italy has some low standards ([Hollywood Tuna]) OMG this coat! ([Go Fug Yourself]) Excuse me while I watch this all day and think of nothing else ([Jezebel]) [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:31 PM [Twigs & Rob & Drake] [Robert Pattinson and FKA twigs leave Drake's concert after-party at The Nice Guy in LA, September 29, 2016] Good things happen when these three are in a post together. [FKA twigs] and [Robert Pattinson] were at [Drake]’s after-party in LA the other night. That immediately reminded me of Coachella 2015 when [twigs and RP were seen dancing] during Drake’s set. We know twigs can groove. But we hardly ever see RP’s moves. Let’s revisit some of his moves: [ [ Well, he wouldn’t have been the only guy who was lit that night. Sadly I’ve not seen any dancing from this latest twigs/RP/Drake encounter. But I do want to mention that last week I posted [new shots of twigs and RP at LAX] and almost right away, those emails came in from the beautiful people who believe they were rigged, that they used old shots of RP and spliced them together with twigs to keep up the fraud that they’re together in order to hide the fact that he and Kristen Stewart are privately raising their babies. I can’t wait to read what comes in today. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 4:59 PM [Johnny Depp is omitted from his own movie] [ Pirates of the Caribbean 5 trailer still] You know a celebrity is in the doghouse when they don’t appear in their own trailer. The teaser trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: This Again Yarrr was released last night and it does not feature [Johnny Depp] nor does it mention his name by word or title card. Based on this, if you didn’t know the franchise, you would not know he’s in it. This is Disney trying to create a little space to get you hooked on something else before bringing Depp back in the first full-blown trailer and you’re reminded that the man whose alleged battered wife brought all the receipts is the star of this movie. (If it were me, I wouldn’t release a trailer with Depp until the Super Bowl, creating a demarcation between 2016 Depp and 2017 Depp.) This teaser isn’t actually bad, except that the Pirates franchise has already run aground with three progressively worse sequels so no one trusts #5 to be any good. But, to give credit where it’s due, I like the tone [Javier Bardem] is striking as the ghost-pirate Captain Salazar, and I like the way that black stuff is oozing from his mouth and wounds as he talks. The Pirates movies have always been good at fantasy/horror, and these half-decayed pirate ghosts are right up my alley. And [Orlando Bloom] is back for this one, but the teaser focuses on a new fresh face, Brenton Thwaites, the heavy-browed Botticelli boy from Gods of Egypt. Sorry, Orly, but we need a new generation of tween girls to get on board. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 4:19 PM [Jake in plaid] [Jake Gyllenhaal arrives at BBC Radio Two studios to promote Nocturnal Animals, October 3, 2016] [Jake Gyllenhaal] was photographed in London today heading to BBC Radio presumably to promote Nocturnal Animals. The film will be released in November but it will screen at the London Film Festival next week. It’s been quiet in Jake news lately – unless you count Tom Ford telling us that he [doesn’t shave his cock bush]. A couple of weeks ago it was announced that he and [Carey Mulligan] would be working on a film called Wildlife with [Paul Dano] directing and I’m sorry to say I was too preoccupied with my eye situation to notice. Paul co-wrote the script with [Zoe Kazan] (God I love Zoe Kazan) based on the Richard Ford book about an estranged couple and their teenage son. We don’t know yet whether or not Jake and Carey play the estranged couple but I do think it’s cute that they’ve finally found a project to work on with each other. Jake and Carey have been close for a while, and Jake and Carey’s husband, Marcus Mumford, are also known as very good friends. Will that be weird? Say, a possible love scene with your best friend’s wife? And a possible love scene with someone you see as a sibling? Look how adorable they are together! [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:38 PM [Nate Parker on 60 Minutes] [Nate Parker at Good Morning America in NYC, October 3, 2016] When [Nate Parker] [talked to Ebony] about his rape case in August, I called the conversation “[Nate Parker’s Official Celebrity Apology.]” Then, he said “sorry” five times. He apologized to survivors of sexual assault for being “insensitive” and “nonchalant” in his previous statements about the case. When asked about his plans to talk about consent and toxic masculinity in the future, he said this: “This is the first step. You will know my commitment by the next few steps.” So far, his so-called commitment to continuing the conversation about consent has been non-existent. At this point, I have no idea what he meant by “next few steps.” Since that interview, we’ve seen Parker dodge questions about his alleged rape while doing press for [The Birth of a Nation] at TIFF and now, there is the 60 Minutes interview where he explicitly refused to apologize and frankly, any semblance of the guy who gave that interview to Ebony was gone. Here’s how the 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper went down. Cooper asked about the victim’s suicide and if Parker would consider apologizing to her family. “I feel terrible that this woman isn't here… I feel terrible that, you know, her family had to deal with that. But as I sit here, an apology is – no.” Parker went on to acknowledge that he doesn’t want to play the victim himself but got choked up and tearful when delivering the following response. "You know, I was falsely accused. You know, I went to court. And I sat in trial. You know, I was vindicated. I was proven innocent." My gut reaction to watching a black man tearfully say that he was “falsely accused” would normally be empathy. But as Roxane Gay wrote about Nate Parker back in August, [empathy has limits]. The justice system has proven time and time again that “proven innocent” doesn’t mean a lot when it comes to rape cases. The details of this case in particular are so disturbing ([click here] if you want a refresher) that it’s unnerving to hear Parker talk about vindication in a triumphant way. But it is not surprising to me that Parker is doubling down on his innocence. He’s proclaimed innocence from the beginning. What surprised me about his interview was the seeming lack of any remorse at all. Anderson Cooper may not have pressed hard enough or asked some of the tough questions a female interviewer might have but he did push Parker to talk about his feelings of guilt – or lack thereof. Anderson Cooper: Do you feel guilty about anything that happened that night? Nate Parker: I don’t feel guilty. AC: Do you feel you did something morally wrong? NP: As a Christian man, just-- being in that situation, yeah, sure. I’m 36 years old right now. And my faith is very important to me. You know, so looking back through that lens, I definitely feel like-- it’s not the lens that I had when I was 19 years old. That answer is bullsh-t on a lot of levels. It’s bullsh-t that Parker is using his faith to dance around answering the question. It’s bullsh-t that he brings up being 19 again as though age is an excuse for his actions. Let’s not forgot that Parker himself admitted that he did not have verbal consent from his alleged victim. I’ll refer back to [Gabrielle Union]’s [poignant op-ed]: “… did Nate have his date’s consent? It’s very possible he thought he did. Yet by his own admission he did not have verbal affirmation; and even if she never said “no,” silence certainly does not equal “yes.” Although it’s often difficult to read and understand body language, the fact that some individuals interpret the absence of a “no” as a “yes” is problematic at least, criminal at worst. That’s why education on this issue is so vital.” The fact that Nate Parker cannot admit to any moral wrongdoing or feelings of guilt given everything we know is shocking to me. The fact that he can’t even say sorry to his alleged victim’s family for the pain they have been going through while he promotes his movie is appalling. There’s a guest column in Variety by Parker’s alleged victim’s sister called “[Nate Parker’s ‘Birth of a Nation’ Exploits My Sister All Over Again]” where she details the anger and agony of watching the men her sister accused of rape move on with power and privilege and the backing of a big Hollywood studio. The 60 Minutes interview was split in half between the conversation surrounding Parker’s rape case and talk of the movie The Birth of a Nation. Parker reiterated the sentiment that Nat Turner’s story is bigger than him. He’s right about that. The story of the Nat Tuner-led slave rebellion is bigger than Nate Parker but this movie that he wrote, directed and starred in is not. This 60 Minutes interview did nothing to change my decision to not support Parker’s movie. “I cannot value a movie, no matter how good or “important” it might be, over the dignity of a woman whose story should be seen as just as important, a woman who is no longer alive to speak for herself, or benefit from any measure of justice. No amount of empathy could make that possible.” – Roxane Gay You can read the 60 Minutes segment’s full transcript and watch clips [here]. Attached - Nate Parker at Good Morning America today. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:34 PM [Jennifer Lawrence in Paris] [Jennifer Lawrence attends the Christian Dior show of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 on September 30, 2016 in Paris, France] How much [Jennifer Lawrence] have we seen this summer? This is not a multiple choice question. There is only one answer: almost none. We talk about how movie stars just aren’t made anymore. Jennifer Lawrence is one of the few true movie stars to have emerged over the last decade. She’s a big deal. And yet, she manages to go undercover, to keep a low profile, to disappear, to remove herself from the scene when she wants to. Amazingly, she actually wants to. How many of them actually want to? Or maybe the question is how many can follow through with it knowing that they probably should? It’s not like over-exposure is a foreign idea to famous people. It’s that, too often, they can’t f-cking help themselves, especially the young ones. Jennifer is a Dior ambassador. She was in Paris on Friday to attend the Dior show, her first official appearance in months, ever since the X-Men press tour. There haven’t been very many pap sightings either. Jennifer spent several weeks in Vancouver recently shooting Darren Aronofsky’s new film and was photographed very briefly on a [rooftop patio] in August with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem but those shots didn’t really register since you could only see her head. You know who else is in that movie? Domhnall Gleeson. I love him. Jennifer and Domhnall, THAT is a great idea, don’t you think? This bra is also a great idea. I like that it looks like tape. And she’s got a gorgeous leather jacket to go over the whole outfit too. But those shoes, they’re scaring me. [VOGUE] crusaded for the kitten heel last month and a lot of people had [a lot of feelings] about it, mostly angry ones. Jennifer Lawrence is clearly subscribing to [VOGUE’s recommendation] to wear kitten heels with jeans. We here at LaineyGossip have made clear our vehement moral opposition to the kitten heel. I have practically memorised every word of [Duana’s anti-kitten heel manifesto] posted in 2012. F-ck the kitten heel. For life. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:02 PM [Solange’s Seat at the Table] [Solange] I want to thank Matthew and Tina Knowles for procreating. I want to thank them for creating two daughters who stand so proudly in their blackness and gift us with stunning pieces of art. This weekend, I was thankful especially for [Solange Knowles]. Solange’s bold and brilliant third album A Seat at the Table dropped on Friday. Starting from the title and dripping down to each of the 21 tracks, the album oozes food for thought and spills over with water for the soul. Not to be too cheesy but it’s straight up therapy. I’ve been in session all weekend. Solange called it an album of “self-discovery, empowerment and independence.” There are sentiments explored and lines spoken on this album I relate to so hard, it has quickly become one of my favourite albums, ever. For Solange, A Seat at the Table is a personal exploration of identity while at the same time being a declaration of anger and frustration at the current state of race relations in America. It’s an album she’s been working on for four years. A lot has happened in America in four years. We witnessed the second term of America’s first black president while the Black Lives Matter movement rose and black voices grew louder and louder against injustice. Culturally, we’ve watched people of colour battle against being ignored and underrepresented. It is obvious that A Seat at the Table was created under these circumstances. The proverbial “seat at the table” is one of inclusion, validation and acceptance. It’s one that black people have so often been excluded from. Solange is urging us all to pull up a chair. The opening song, Rise, sets the tone of Solange’s breathy vocals and calming vibe. This is basically a protest album but it’s also easy listening, smooth R&B. Those two things don’t usually exist in tandem. The second track is called Weary and starts with the line “I’m weary of the ways of the world.” On Mad, the song featuring Lil Wayne, Solange laments, “I got a lot to be mad about” but that “I'm not really allowed to be mad.” Wayne delivers his best verse in years in a cutting confessional about stereotypes and suicide. An ongoing theme on the album is exhaustion, an emotion black Americans know all too well. Multiple times, Solange sings about being tired. She’s “tired of explaining” on Mad and she’s just tired in general on Borderline (An Ode to Self Care). She’s also tired of people touching her hair on Don’t Touch my Hair. This song is my everything. It’s for every black woman who has had their head stroked and caressed by unwanted touch. The next time someone touches my hair, my response will be “don’t touch my crown.” Every line of this song made me want to yell “PREACH!” at my phone. Solange also makes a point to celebrate black success by bringing in Master P to narrate the album. There’s a song called F.U.B.U, a shout out to the 90s clothing brand that stood for “For Us By Us.” Master P intros the song by talking about building a successful independent record label. In an interview with Stereogum about the album’s influences, Solange explains why Master P is so influential to her. It started with seeing his [display of wealth on MTV]. It really impacted me that, out of all the houses on MTV Cribs, this was a black man from New Orleans, and he got this by completely staying firm in his independence.” This is the power of representation. As a teenager, Solange saw a self-made black man on TV succeed and it stayed with her. She’s 30 now. We all remember the first person of colour we saw on TV and thought, “Hey if they can do that, maybe I can too!” For me, it was Oprah. I opened this piece talking about Solange’s parents Matthew and Tina. They were two of the biggest inspirations on the album and they also provide poignant interludes. My favourite is Tina Taught Me, where Tina gives an impassioned monologue on the frustrations that come with expressing black pride. “It’s such a beauty in black people and it really saddens me when we're not allow to express that pride in being Black; and that if you do then it's considered anti-white. No! You just pro-Black. And that's okay. The two don't go together. Because you celebrate Black culture does not mean that you don't like white culture; or that you putting it down. It's just taking pride.” I love every word of that. Matthew’s interlude called Dad Was Mad is a harrowing recount of the brutal racism he faced during his childhood, like getting spit on by the KKK. The influence Solange’s parents have on the album is potent. You could say the same about Lemonade. Matthew and Tina are rumoured to have influenced that album in a different way but their experiences shaped it nonetheless. I hesitated to bring up [Beyoncé] and Lemonade because I think the comparisons are unfair. These artists are so different. Each of their works is so uniquely their own. Beyoncé is the Queen, yes, but Solange is the rebellious little sister, still royalty and a princess in her own right. However, there is something to be said about how political both albums are and how much they both speak up for black women. Solange talked about the comparisons and how Matthew and Tina influenced her and Beyoncé in a new interview with [The Fader]. “We have the same mother and the same father. We grew up in the same household, and so we had and heard the same conversations… It shouldn't be surprising that two people who grew up in the same household with the same parents who are very, very aware — just like everyone else is — of all of the inequalities and the pain and suffering of our people right now, would create art that reflects that.” Before this album, you might not have known a lot about Solange’s music. Your knowledge of Solange might have been limited to what happened that time in the elevator. You might only have known Solange as Beyoncé’s fashionable, more hipster sibling. With this album, Solange solidifies herself as an important voice in music. Along with the album, Solange released a [112-page digital book] of liner notes, lyrics and photos. Last night, she dropped two stunning visuals for Don’t Touch My Hair and Cranes in the Sky. Both videos are below. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:31 PM [October 3, 2016 – Smutty Shout-Outs] [Rafael Nadal for Denise] “To our amazing, warm, fierce, funny Denise on her birthday. Today, we celebrate all the things that make you the incredible person you are. A niece who gives Uncle Bob the tough love and reality checks that he needs, and who manages the additional complications with grace. A mother who abdicates her bed to make room for kids and one lucky dog, and who defends the Sislets from their enemies, whether they're four-legged and furry or two-legged and just an asshole (though we guess you should probably only chase one of those two varieties away with a baseball bat). A formidable contestant in the Sislympics. A HELL of a listmaker, and perhaps the only person alive who could defeat the TIFF ticketing system. And a bringer of joy to anyone lucky enough to have earned your friendship, and who will be granted your unending compassion and empathy, nights of wine and chips, the right to bask in your infectious excitement, and the occasional scandalized JAYSUS. So coming out of a year where you sang along with Garth and Beyoncé, completed your first 5K, got to the bottom of hip issues (much to the dismay of your budding comedian, who won't get to do any more Voltaren routines), and basically being on a date with Coach Taylor, it's a good thing that this new year has some pretty amazing things coming up too, starting with a trip to Disney. To kick things off right, here are Rafa, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Stephen Amell, Chris Hemsworth and Idris Elba." [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:14 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]