Rihanna ‘meets Matt Kemp’s family’
Rihanna has reportedly met rumoured boyfriend Matt Kemp’s family in Arizona.
According to E! Online, the ‘Russian Roulette’ star jetted to the US following her performance at Germany’s Echo Awards in order to attend Kemp’s charity gala Ante Up For Autism.
“Matt was happy she came. It was an awesome show of support,” claimed one insider.
“Rihanna fit right in as if they all knew each other. It was comfortable.”
Kemp’s family and other baseball stars were reportedly among the 150 guests who attended the function on Saturday night, which raised $170,000 for the cause.
Rihanna and LA Dodgers player Kemp sparked speculation that they are dating in January after they were photographed holidaying together in Mexico. However, Kemp – who reportedly organised a celebration for the singer’s 22nd birthday last month – has previously insisted that the pair are “just good friends”.
Matt Damon reveals directing ambitions
Matt Damon has revealed that he hopes to move into directing feature films.
The actor, who won a screenwriting Oscar with Ben Affleck for Good Will Hunting, suggested that working with directors such as Paul Greengrass, Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers have prevented him from taking time off or stepping behind the camera himself.
“I want to direct someday and I can’t really pass up the chance to work with people I’m getting the chance to work with. Paul three times now, Clint twice, Soderbergh five or six times.
“As long as that keeps happening, I’m going to work with the Coen brothers on True Grit, I can’t be taking time off unless the work dries up,” Damon said at the UK press conference for Green Zone.
Green Zone, which sees Damon play a US Warrant Officer hunting for WMD in Iraq, opens in UK and US cinemas on Friday.
Foo Fighters ’start seventh studio LP’
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has confirmed that the band have started work on their next album.
The singer said that the follow-up to 2007’s Echoes, Silence Patience and Grace is now under way and that the group are hoping to return to the studio in September to begin recording.
He told BBC 6 Music: “Foo Fighters have just started writing and we’re going to start recording in September so life is full of music.”
Grohl is also due to head into the studio this summer to record the second Them Crooked Vultures full-length.
Sean Penn ‘not banned from Governor’s Ball’
Sean Penn has claimed that he was not banned from the Governor’s Ball on Sunday.
The actor was reportedly prohibited from attending the post-Oscars party after a confrontation with The Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro.
Shapiro is currently dating Penn’s ex-wife Robin Wright.
A representative for the Milk star has since claimed that the actor could have attended the event had he wanted. The Academy has also confirmed that the actor was never banned from the after party.
“Sean Penn chose not to attend the Governor’s Ball,” a representative of the Academy told OK.
The 2009 ‘Best Actor’ Oscar winner was later spotted alone at the Sunset Tower Hotel after party.
Celebrities? So last season, say Paris fashionistas
(Reuters) – Maybe it’s the effect of recession, maybe it’s simply a case of Hollywood fatigue — whatever the reason, buyers and designers at Paris fashion week are declaring the end of the celebrity cult.
Backstage at the shows, the talk was not of glitzy muses such as actress Lindsay Lohan, but of classic accessories, inspiration from the archives and long-lasting pieces to tempt choosy shoppers amid a slight recovery in spending.
“I think we’re moving away from (the star factor), it’s more about the product rather than celebrity endorsement,” said Sebastian Manes, director of accessories at Selfridges & Co. “I think it was very true for beginning of the century, but now we’re going for values.”
Pop stars and actors still filled the front rows at Stella McCartney Monday, but the spotlight was on mannish blazers and soft knits that normal women might actually like to wear.
“McCartney was the ‘wow’ of Paris for me,” Stephanie Solomon, fashion director at Bloomingdale’s, told Reuters. “She pared it down to what she does best.”
Quilted jackets and waistcoats, striped bumble bee A-line dresses and open-backed orange or fuchsia evening dresses with henna-tattoo lace detail played to McCartney’s strengths.
“This collection is a response to moving on, moving upwards, and, you know, really addressing what women are going to need in the future to make them feel better about themselves,” McCartney said after the show.
LIFE AFTER LINDSAY
Fashion house Emanuel Ungaro bet heavily on the star factor when it hired actress Lindsay Lohan as adviser last year, but the resulting collection was panned and sold less than expected.
At the autumn/winter show Monday, designer Estrella Archs tried to talk as much as possible about the Ungaro archives, and as little as possible about her short-lived collaboration with Lohan.
Polka dot dresses were paired with grass green or pink shoes and accessories; skimpy bustiers with snow leopard print trousers — not very autumnal in theme, but more wearable than Lohan’s buttocks-exposing mini-dresses.
At Loewe, British designer Stuart Vevers mixed the retro glamour of long leather gloves, fox fur and flecked veils with the industrial chic of chains and jagged cuts.
Celine designer Phoebe Philo and Cacharel’s Cedric Charlier also avoided risks. Philo stuck to Celine’s traditional minimalist style, while Charlier revived Cacharel’s romantic origins with pleated skirts and flower-patterned dresses.
“I think designers have taken note that people want longevity in their wardrobe. The brand is not enough,” said Danielle Merollo, director of personal shopping at Americana Manhasset, a luxury shopping center in Long Island, near New York city.
She expected autumn/winter sales to be stronger than last year, having already seen first signs of a improvement. In February, U.S. retailers saw their best monthly sales since the recession started to bite.
And just like last year, accessories were named as the top selling item by buyers in Paris, as shoppers look for ways to update their wardrobe on a budget.
“2009 was an amazing year, and the beginning of 2010 is starting very, very well,” Manes, the accessories buyer, said.
Robert Pattinson’s Twilight Uncertainty
Robert Pattinson has revealed that he didn’t want to do Twilight.
The British actor takes on the role of Edward Cullen in the vampire series, a role that has shot him to stardom over the last eighteen months.
New Moon hit the big screen back in November and despite getting mixed reviews by the critics it went on to gross over $706 million at the global box office.
Speaking to the Daily Mail the actor said: “At first I didn’t want to do a movie like Twilight. I specifically hadn’t done anything that anyone would see since Harry Potter because I wanted to teach myself how to act. I didn’t want to be an idiot.
“I was going to wait for another year to do two or three more little things and then do something bigger.
“Twilight came kind of randomly. It was a chance and as I didn’t have a reputation at all there was nothing for me to lose.”
The actor also admitted he didn’t believe that he was right for the role of Edward Cullen when he went for the audition.
“They actually asked me to take my shirt off at the audition. I thought, ‘If that’s the criteria, then you’ve got the wrong guy’.
“I knew about the audition five months beforehand, but I didn’t want to bother getting a six-pack or doing much else at all in preparation – but looking back, I might have combed my hair.
“I thought that I had to be this bland guy with his shirt off who people just project ideas onto. At first I thought to play Edward in an interesting way was impossible.”
But he is all set to return to the franchise this summer with Eclipse, the third movie in the series. Breaking Dawn is possibly in the pipeline.
Ke$Ha ‘Don’t Take My Lyrics Seriously’
Pop star Ke$Ha is urging critics not to take her lyrics so seriously – insisting she can’t understand why her songs are causing offense.
The singer scored a massive international hit with her 2009 single TiK ToK, but she’s come under fire for one of the lines which describes her brushing her teeth with Jack Daniel’s bourbon.
But Ke$ha is adamant she’s not trying to become a role model for young people – and hopes the song is just seen as a fun piece of pop.
She tells Britain’s The Times newspaper, “Everyone’s really offended by that (the Jack Daniel’s lyric). But come on, brushing your teeth with Jack Daniel’s what girl does that? People are like, ‘Do you really advocate brushing your teeth with bourbon?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, actually, I do, every day, for everybody. Especially eight year olds.’ I mean, what are you talking about? Of course I don’t. Come on”.
Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson join suspense film
Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson join Terrence Howard and Charlie Hunnam in the story of a man (Hunnam) standing on a high-rise ledge who insists he must jump by noon as the policeman below (Howard) tries to manage the situation.
The indie project comes from first-time writer-director Matthew Chapman.
Tyler’s credits include “The Strangers” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Wilson recently starred in “Lakeview Terrace” and “Watchmen.” He returns to theaters in June with “The A-Team.”
Kelly Osbourne Quits Drink for Luke Worrall
Ozzy Osbourne’s wildchild daughter Kelly is cleaning up her act – she’s quit booze for the sake of her model fiance Luke Worrall.
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy famously battled drink and drug demons, andhis 25 year old daughter has now given up alcohol in a bid to curb her own excesses.
And she admits she was inspired to get sober by Worrall – because beingin love has forced her to take care of herself.
She says, “He’s turned me into a better person. He really has. I didn’t care before I met Luke. I was out every night, drunk. I didn’t have somebody to be a better person for and then that all changed when I met Luke. I don’t drink at all. Even a glass of wine at dinner would probably mean me going home, getting s**t-faced (drunk) and then being on drugs and doing something stupid that I have to spend the next three months apologising for.
“I don’t like drinking that much as I hate throwing up and the taste ofalcohol. I’d look at somebody who has a half-empty glass in front of them and think, ‘How can they leave that?’ whereas mine, it’s like ‘Glug’ and it’s gone. ‘Can I have another one? I’ll be alright.’”
But Osbourne admits she’s struggling to stick to a teetotal lifestyle “In the culture in England it’s hard to explain to people you don’t want to drink, as they look at you like you’re f**king crazy.
There have been times the hotel I’m staying in has sent up three bottles of champagne andI send them back.
What am I going to do with it staring at me in a bucket? I don’t want it”.
Rapper Lil Wayne sentenced to one year in jail
(Reuters) – After whirlwind goodbyes to fans, diminutive U.S. rapper Lil Wayne was sentenced to one year in jail on Monday after he pleaded guilty on a gun possession charge in a 2007 incident.
Lil Wayne, 27, whose real name is Dwayne Carter and who also goes by the moniker “Weezy,” appeared in New York State Supreme Court wearing jeans and a grey hooded sweatshirt.
Justice Charles Solomon passed the sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon after a plea agreement in which Carter gave up his right to appeal over a case in which a gun was found in his tour bus in July 2007.
Carter remained silent during the hearing and nodded solemnly when led to jail in handcuffs. His sentencing had been postponed twice in the last month, once so he could get dental surgery and then because a fire shut the courthouse for four days.
Carter, whose album “Tha Carter III” was the biggest-selling U.S. release of 2008 and won him best rap album and three other prizes at the 2009 Grammy Awards, also recorded numerous videos in anticipation of jail time.
He was accompanied by rapper and Cash Money records co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams and a barrage of fans and media gathered outside the lower Manhattan courtroom.
Carter is headed to Rikers Island jail, where he will be held in protective custody and could be released in eight months with good behavior, said his lawyer, Stacey Richman.
“Because of who he is, the department of corrections would not have it (protective custody) any other way,” Richman said.
In the lead-up to sentencing, Carter sent a six-part series of videos on his life to MTV.com. “Road to Rikers” shows Carter before and after dental surgery, shooting music videos and relaxing at his home. MTV News reported that he filmed nine music videos in anticipation of his jail term.
“Even if he wasn’t going to jail, his work pace would be the same,” said Jermaine Hall, chief editor of Vibe magazine. “Wayne (Carter) feels like he’s a bottomless pit of great music.”
Carter also started a Twitter account last month. His most recent tweet, posted on Monday, said: “Law is mind without reason … I’ll return.”