ARMSTRONG ADMITS TO DOPING
According to the AP, Lance Armstrong did indeed admit to Oprah Winfrey yesterday that he used performance enhancing drugs while competing professionally. It is the first time he ever admitted to cheating. Earlier in the day Lance apologized to the staff at Livestrong. Oprah’s interview with Lance will air Thursday on OWN.
CROWE DATING DITA VON TEESE?
Russell Crowe has set his sights on a new woman. According to the New York Post, the Les Miserables star has been getting cozy with burlesque star Dita Von Teese. The paper claims Crowe, who separated from his wife-of-nine-years Danielle Spencer in October, was spotted with Dita at New York’s Four Seasons Hotel in December, where they allegedly got a romantic couple’s massage together. This isn’t the first woman Crowe’s been linked to. Back in December he was also spotted with Billy Joel’s ex-wife Katie Lee, but he denied there was anything going on between them. In fact, in response to the story he tweeted fans, “As soon as I finish this job & can get home, my priority is to try to bring my family back together.”
Q-Can you name Dita Von Teese’s rocker ex-husband? Marilyn Manson
ROYAL BABY DUE IN JULY
St. James’s Palace officially confirmed yesterday that Prince William and Kate Middleton will welcome the newest member of the Royal Family in July, and despite speculation, the Palace insists they are not expecting twins. “Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in July,” a St James’s Palace spokesman said. “The Duchess’s condition continues to improve since her stay in hospital last month.”
LINDSAY FIRES LONGTIME LAWYER
TMZ reported yesterday that Lindsay Lohan fired her longtime lawyer Shawn Holley, the same woman that has basically kept the Mean Girls star out of jail for years. According to sources, Linds hired attorney Mark Heller to represent her in her New York assault case, and then subsequently had him take over her legal issues in LA as well. Heller sent Holley a letter of termination yesterday, just one day before a scheduled hearing in Los Angeles regarding charges Lindsay lied to cops with regards to her summer car accident. Lindsay is now telling friends she never authorized him to do so, even though she signed the letter. She reportedly wants Holley back, and has instructed Heller to send another letter to Holley cancelling the first.
COOPER NOT DATING LAWRENCE
Silver Linings Playbook co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are both single at the moment, but don’t expect to see them hooking up anytime soon. Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell actually asked Cooper if there was any chance of a romance with Lawrence and his answer was a definite no. “If it didn’t happen by now, it’s not gonna happen,” said Cooper, who is 16 year older than Lawrence. “I could literally be her father.”
Q-Cooper and his Hangover co-star Justin Bartha appeared in another movie together, a 2006 romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. What was the name of the film? Failure to Launch
ROBIN ROBERTS ANNOUNCES GMA RETURN
Robin Roberts is coming back to Good Morning America. The anchor appeared on the ABC morning show via video link yesterday to announce she’ll return in a few weeks. “I am so happy to be sharing this news with everybody. I met with my doctors last week. My blood count continues to improve,” she said. “What all of this means is my doctors were waiting for this information to tell me I can begin the process of returning to the anchor chair. I’m coming home.” Roberts, who’s been off the air since getting a bone marrow transplant back in September, said she has already started getting her body readjusted to waking up early. “I have to get back on GMA time,” she said. “One thing I have not missed is that alarm clock.” She’s expected to start a dry run next week, but won’t be on TV just yet. Her doctors want to see how her body reacts to being out and about. [See yesterday’s About Last Night Morning for audio.]
FOSTER INSISTS SHE’S NOT RETIRING
During Jodie Foster’s much talked about Golden Globes speech Sunday night, the two-time Oscar winner seemed to hint that she was ready to retire from acting, but backstage she assured reporters that’s not the case. "I could never stop acting. You'd have to drag me behind, like, a team of horses," she said. "No, I'm not retiring from acting. And, you know, I'd like to be directing tomorrow . . . I'm actually more into it than I have ever been." She added that the point of her speech was "that people change. Change is important. And, you know, hopefully I'll be doing different things than I did when I was three years old and six years old and ten years old and 20 years old . . . My work is evolving."
Q-Foster received her first Oscar nomination for playing a pre-teen prostitute in what 1976 film? Taxi Driver
STARS REACT TO FOSTER’S SPEECH
Meanwhile, Jodie Foster’s speech, in which she came out of the closet without actually saying she was gay, provoked a lot of positive reaction on Twitter Sunday night. Comments included: “jodie foster – rather amazing speech,” Rosie O’Donnell; “f**k yeah Jodie Foster your speech was amazing,” Kelly Osbourne; “Jodie Foster. You are perfection I love you,” Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson; “Thank you #JodieFoster for your sharing your grace & grit over 47 yrs, and most of all tonight. #AnExample #GoldenGlobes,” Chelsea Clinton; “I'm a big #JodieFoster fan, especially 2nite. Her speech tells LGBT youth: America has evolved, b proud of who u are!!,” Kathy Griffin. Backstage at the Globes, winner Lena Dunham only had praise for Foster, telling reporters, “I thought Jodie Foster’s speech was mind blowingly beautiful. … It was really a complex, interesting assessment of what it’s like to have a creative career over a long period of time.”
TARANTINO DROPS THE N WORD AT GLOBES
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained has gotten a lot of criticism about its use of the “N” word, and when he was asked about it backstage at the Golden Globe awards he shocked reporters by actually using it in their presence. The director, who had just won the award for Best Screenplay, was asked if he was ever shaken by the use of the word in the film, and replied, “If somebody is out there actually saying when it comes to the word n—–, the fact that I was using it in the movie more than it was being used in the antebellum south in Mississippi, then feel free to make that case. But no one’s actually making that case. They are saying I should lie, that I should whitewash, that I should massage, and I never do that when it comes to my characters.” Reporters were said to be taken aback by his comments. When Don Cheadle entered the room he tried to lighten the mood. He took the stage and immediately told the press, “Please no n—– questions. Black people questions are all right.”
Q-For which film did Tarantino win his Best Screenplay Oscar? Pulp Fiction
CORONER EXPLAINS WHY WOOD’S DEATH CERTIFICATE WAS AMENDED
A newly released report from the LA Coroner’s Office reveals that officials changed Natalie Wood’s death certificate in 2011 because officials felt some of the bruises on her upper body may have occurred before she went into the water and drowned back in 1981, but ultimately there was no way to determine that. The death certificate was amended to list cause of death not simply as drowning, but to “drowning and other undetermined factors.” The certificate was also changed to add that the circumstances regarding how Wood got in the water were “not clearly established.” Wood drowned off Catalina Island, after traveling on a yacht with husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken. Regardless of the change in her death certificate, Wagner is not considered a suspect in Wood’s death.
ROMNEY TURNS DOWN DANCING
Ann Romney will not be showing the world her dancing talents. According to TMZ, the wife of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in talks to join ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, but ultimately turned down the offer. A rep for Ann confirmed the report, telling TMZ, Ann Romney was approached, but she declined. She will not be appearing on Dancing with the Stars.”
TV TIDBITS
Matt Damon will guest star on an upcoming episode of House of Lies. He’ll play a version of himself, and will seek the expertise of Galweather & Stern to set up a charity that will exceed the philanthropic work of his frenemy George Clooney. The gig will reunite Damon with his Ocean’s co-star Don Cheadle, who just won a Golden Globe for his work on the Showtime series.
