MISS ALABAMA SAYS MEDIA UNFAIR TO MUSBURGER
Miss Alabama USA Katherine Webb was all anyone could talk about after Monday’s Alabama State/Notre Dame game, thanks to ESPN broadcaster Brent Musburger’s constant comments about her beauty (her boyfriend is Alabama State QB A. J. McCarron). On yesterday’s Today show, Webb said she was “flattered” by Musburger’s compliments and doesn’t understand why ESPN felt the need to apologize on his behalf. "I think the media has been really unfair to him," said Webb. "I think that if he would have said ... that we were hot or sexy or made any derogatory statements like that, I think that would have been a little bit different. But the fact that he said we were beautiful and gorgeous, I don't see why any woman wouldn't be flattered by that." [See yesterday’s About Last Night Morning for audio.]
MISS ALABAMA’S BEAU JEALOUS OF THE ATTENTION?
Meanwhile, TMZ reported yesterday that Alabama State quarterback A.J. McCarron is jealous that all people are talking about is his hot girlfriend Katherine Webb, and not about his accomplishments on the field Monday (his team won). In fact, he is so upset, Webb cancelled eight interviews yesterday because she feared the attention could hurt her relationship. Later she denied A.J. had anything to do with the cancellations, telling the site that she did it because she worried her relationship would be viewed as a “celebrity status” thing, and not real. “I want it to be about me and him,” she said. “He’s a guy I can see myself having a real future.
ROSIE O’DONNELL AND WIFE WELCOME BABY GIRL
Rosie O’Donnell is a mom again. The former talk show host and wife Michelle Rounds announced yesterday they are parents to a new daughter, Dakota. "we r thrilled to announce the arrival of r daughter Dakota - #withloveandthanks - AMEN," the 50-year-old posted on Twitter along with a pic. This is the fourth child for Rosie. She is already mom to Blake, Vivienne, Parker and Chelsea from her marriage to Kelli Carpenter. Rosie and Michelle tied the knot in June of last year.
BETHENNY FEELS LIKE A FAILURE
Bethenny Frankel was on Ellen yesterday, her first interview since filing for divorce from husband Jason Hoppy. “I’ve kind of had the best worst year ever…I feel like a bit of a disappointment to all of you. And I feel like a failure,” said a tearful Bethenny, about the breakup of her marriage. "I wanted the fairy tale. I thought I had it. And [daughter] Bryn is my fairy tale…I get letters from people saying, now I don't believe in love and that's just not true. Love is everywhere. It's the road and you're on it. It has peaks and valleys and that's what it is but I don't know how people go through this because this is excruciating. I have to say.” As for the divorce, Bethenny said, “the truth is, I wanted to rip the Band-Aid off so it could start to heal.” [See About Last Night Afternoon for audio.]
Q-In what city did Bethenny and Jason get married? New York City
KIM DESPERATE FOR DIVORCE
Kim Kardashian really wants her divorce from Kris Humphries to be final before she has Kanye West’s baby. Sources say Kim isn’t desperate to marry Kanye, but she is desperate to rid herself of her basketball player ex. She believes Kris is being “spiteful and vindictive,” by prolonging her misery, especially since insiders say there is no evidence that the marriage was a fraud. Insiders say even people close to Kris want him to settle but the problem is, Kim is adamant Kris pay her huge legal fees since she believes his challenge to the divorce was frivolous. If no settlement is reached, a judge will set a trial date next month.
BIEBER & GOMEZ ROMANCE KAPUT
It sounds like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are finally over for good. The on-again/off-again couple got into a huge fight while vacationing in Mexico December 30th, prompting Gomez to fly home to Los Angeles, and an insider says this time “Selena won’t forgive him.” Another source adds, “Selena is done with him.” Apparently Justin isn’t handling the split well. Said an insider, “he’s been really down about the breakup.”
Q-Selena voiced the character of Mavis, Dracula’s daughter, in what 2011 animated film? Hotel Transylvania
DONALD ANSWERS MAHER’S BIRTHER BET
Looks like comedian Bill Maher may have to open up his checkbook thanks to Donald Trump. On Monday’s Tonight Show, Maher said he’d donate $5 million to the charity of Trump’s choice (he suggested the Hair Club for Men), if the Celebrity Apprentice host could prove he wasn’t the “spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.” This, of course, was in response to the ultimatum Trump gave to President Obama during the presidential election. Well, apparently Trump took him up on his offer. On Tuesday, the real estate mogul’s lawyer sent Maher Trump’s New York City birth certificate, and urged the funnyman to make good on his offer. “Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan,” read the letter. “Please remit the $5 million to Mr. Trump immediately and he will ensure that the money be donated to the following five charities in equal amounts: Hurricane Sandy Victims, The Police Athletic League, The American Cancer Society, The March of Dimes, and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.” So far there has been no comment from Maher.
Q-What was the name of Bill Maher’s Comedy Central show, which eventually moved to ABC? Politically Incorrect
PUBLIC OUTCRY OVER ALL MY BABY MAMAS
The public seems to be up in arms over Oxygen’s upcoming show All My Baby Mamas. The series follows Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo and his 11 children with 10 different women. In promotional clips, the 36-year-old Lo, known for the song “Laffy Taffy,” calls the mothers of his children names like Jealous Baby Mama, Baby Mama from Hell and Shady Baby Mama. Also on the show is Lo’s 19-year-old girlfriend. Change.org has started a petition to get Baby Mamas cancelled, and it already has more than 30,000 signatures. In addition, the Parents Television Council called the show “grotesquely irresponsible and exploitative” and to boycott any company that advertises on the program. A premiere date has yet to be announced for the show.
SHEEN SAYS FORMER CO-STAR NOT CRAZY
Charlie Sheen doesn’t think it’s fair that the public has called his former Two and a Half Men co-star Angus T. Jones “crazy” for calling Men “filth.” “I get it, it’s a weird place and people tend to have different perspectives on life working over there,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. "He's a good kid and maybe he's just going through a phase but it's hard to comment on something if I'm not there.” He added, “I don't think he's crazy, I just think he's a little maybe over-influenced in some other beliefs. I don't know but it seemed like he was doing all right; I like the apology his lawyers wrote for him -- that was pretty good."
TWILIGHT LEADS WORST FILM NOMINEES
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 may have done huge business at the box office, but that doesn’t mean it was any good. The film leads the list of this year’s Razzie nominees, with 11 nods in 10 categories (they got two in the “Worst Screen Couple” category, one for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and one for Taylor Lautner and Mackenzie Foy). The Adam Sandler/Andy Samberg movie That’s My Boy came in second with eight nominations, followed by Battleship with seven. All three films are up for Worst Picture, alongside A Thousand Words and Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure. The 33rd annual Golden Raspberry Awards will be held Saturday, February 23rd, the day before the Oscars.
Q-What film won Worst Picture at last year’s Razzie Awards? The Last Airbender
JACK OSBOURNE’S WIFE CRITICIZES SWIFT’S LOVE LIFE
Jack Osbourne’s wife had some not-so-nice things to say about Taylor Swift and her love life. After hearing the country star had split from One Direction’s Harry Styles, Lisa Osbourne tweeted, “I usually find out when Taylor Swift breaks up with someone before I even knew they were dating. That’s how fast these things happen.” She then added, “'Either Taylor Swift is bat s**t crazy & causes every guy to dump her, or she has too high standards for these poor guys! droppin' like flies.”
GROUP CALLS FOR BOYCOTT ON DJANGO ACTION FIGURES
A new controversy has cropped up surrounding Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. First people like Spike Lee were upset over the depiction of slavery in the film, and now some groups are up in arms over the movie’s action figures including ones of the slave portrayed by Kerry Washington. The Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network called for a boycott of the dolls. “Selling this doll is highly offensive to our ancestors and the African American community,” Rev. K.W. Tulloss, NAC’s Los Angeles president, told the New York Daily News. Najee Ali, an activist from Project Islamic Hope, saw the movie and enjoyed it but added, “we cannot support this type of commercialization. I don’t see any dolls representing Hitler that came from Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.”
Q-What X-Men: First Class actor starred as a German lieutenant in Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds? Michael Fassbender
BRAVO STILL FURIOUS OVER LINDSAY’S DECORATOR BAIL
The Bravo network was so angry Lindsay Lohan bailed on the filming of Million Dollar Decorator that they tried to take back the furniture they bought for her, but Lindsay got the better of them. Lindsay participated in the show last year, and the network spent $250,000 to redo her Beverly Hills rental home, only to have Lindsay refuse to shoot the show’s big reveal. “Bravo, producers of Million Dollar Decorator and interior designers were so furious with Lindsay for bailing …they attempted to repossess the furniture and flooring that was gifted to her,” said a source. “But Lindsay was one step ahead of them and had everything from the house sent to an unknown storage location. Lindsay was quite pleased with herself and bragged to friends that she can get whatever she wants because she is a celebrity.”
MICHAEL SENDS CEASE-AND-DESIST TO DINA
Michael Lohan has had enough of his ex-Dina telling the press he raped her during their marriage. According to TMZ, Michael’s attorney just sent Dina a cease-and-desist letter claiming he’ll sue if she doesn’t stop. The letter was in response to Dina’s recent interviews with Entertainment Tonight and the New York Daily News in which she claimed Michael raped her in 1990 after a coke binge. Michael calls the allegations “false, defamatory and unlawful.”
NAKED PIC OF TEEN MOM JENELLE ON TWITTER/HUBBY OPENS UP ABOUT DRUG PAST
Teen Mom 2’s Jenelle Evans’ sure has some enemies out there. Her former boss, James Duffy, who she’s been engaged in an ugly war of words with for months, tweeted a naked photo of the MTV star earlier this week with the caption, “Jenelle, I didn’t have to pay you for sex, you did that free for daddy.” Although she didn’t respond directly to Duffy, Jenelle did tell a follower his tweets were “getting kinda old…I mean that’s all the ammo he’s got?! It’s (sic) hurts my loved ones. That’s what hurts.” Meanwhile, Jenelle’s current husband is opening up about his past drug problems. In an interview with Radaronline, Courtland Rogers says he has been to rehab twice for prescription pill addiction, explaining, “I am not perfect, but I’m working really hard now to live a good sober life for Jenelle and for my daughter.” He said he began abusing drugs after injuring his hip in a car accident when he was 15 and went to rehab at 19, and then again a few years later. Said Courtland, “I’ve sobered up now and I want to do right for Jenelle. I am a great guy with a good heart.”
KENDALL WANTS YOU TO ASK BEFORE YOU SNAP A PHOTO
Kendall Jenner fans (if there are any out there) be warned, you need to ask her permission before you snap a photo of her. “There’s nothing that irritates me more than when people take pics of me/my family/or anyone in this industry and do not ask,” the 17-year-old Tweeted earlier this week. “Don’t sit there taking pics of me as if I’m a statue, or an artifact in a museum. I can see you and it makes me uncomfortable. I’m a human being and it’s very rude not to ask. You wouldn’t appreciate it either.”
SNOOKI WANTS MORE KIDS
Snooki is loving motherhood so much, she’s thinking about adding to her family. “I already want another baby,” Snooki, who gave birth to son Lorenzo in August, tells Cosmopolitan magazine. Snooki and fiancé Jionni LaValle are currently in the midst of building a new home, but she explains, “once it’s built, then we’re going to pop them out.”
NED WERTIMER, THE JEFFERSONS’ DOORMAN, DIES
Ned Wertimer, best known for playing The Jeffersons’ doorman Ralph Hart, died January 2nd at a nursing home in Los Angeles. The actor’s manager said he died following complications from a fall at his home in November. He was 89.
MISCELLANEOUS MOVIE NEWS
Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln leads the list of nominees for this year’s BAFTA Awards. The film received 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis; Best Supporting Actress, Sally Field and Best Supporting Actor, Tommy Lee Jones. Surprisingly, Spielberg himself was snubbed in the Best Director category. Competing with Lincoln for Best Film is Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi and Zero Dark Thirty. Winners will be announced February 10th.
Josh Brolin, whose new film Gangster Squad opens Friday, has joined the cast of Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. He’ll play Dwight, a part originated by Clive Owen in the first film.
Michael Bay has tapped relative newcomer Jack Reynor to star alongside Mark Wahlberg in the fourth Transformers flick. Reynor is currently shooting the Vince Vaughn comedy Delivery Man, and stars in the upcoming Irish drama What Richard Did.
Tina Fey, who hosts Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, is in final talks for the female lead in the sequel to Disney’s The Muppets. She’ll join Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell as the film’s human stars. Fey is expected to play a Russian gulag prison guard.
TV TIDBITS
Jimmy Kimmel got off to a solid 11:35 start Tuesday, beating both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman in the overall ratings, as well as in the key adult 18-49 demographic.
Saturday Night Live has confirmed that Justin Bieber will host the February 9th edition of the show, and will also serve as the musical guest.
Netflix announced yesterday that the 14-episode fourth season of Arrested Development will premiere in May.
Salma Hayek will reprise her role of nurse Elisa in the series finale of 30 Rock. Her character almost married Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy during season hree. The series finale of 30 Rock airs January 31st.
