Source: www.celebitchy.com

I didn’t realize that the “Alicia Keys is a lesbian” rumors had reached such a crescendo that she actually felt the need to address them in the media. But apparently they have, and Alicia says she’s not bothered by the rumors, but she’s “as straight as they come,” according to the Sun. Apparently Keys was “rough around the edges” and that’s why everyone thought she was gay. Didn’t realize that.

R&B superstar ALICIA KEYS can understand why she was labeled a lesbian at the beginning of her career – because she was ‘rough around the edges’. The singer’s sexuality was the subject of much speculation after the release of her 2001 debut album Songs In A Minor.

Alicia is adamant she isn’t gay but realizes her appearance and attitude may have led people to draw their own conclusions. She said: “I was definitely rough around the edges. I look back at certain interviews and I’m like, ‘Damn! Did I have to look that hard? Did I have to do my hair that way? I could see why people couldn’t see the diamond in the rough. I didn’t take it to heart. I know what I am. I know it’s not true.”

[From the Sun]

Somehow I did not pick up on that at all. Keys never came off as uber-feminine, but I liked that about her. She was also dating her high school boyfriend for a seven years or so time, and was last linked to rapper Krucial. I didn’t realize it, but according to Wikipedia she graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan at sixteen and was the class valedictorian. She also had a full scholarship to Columbia, but dropped out to pursue her music career. Normally I’d say that was a dumb move, but it seems to have worked out pretty well.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Alicia leaving “The Live Lounge for Jo Whiley” in London on November 2nd.. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Source: www.celebitchy.com

Today in impossibly ridiculous news that you’re supposed to believe: Tom Cruise is going to play Hugh Hefner in an upcoming biopic. Umm… trying not to make poorly veiled closeted homosexual jokes here… restraint is not my strongest suit…. crap. Okay how about this: many gay actors have shown us that it’s possible to play straight, and vice-versa. See how I didn’t say anything about your client probably being gay there, Tom Cruise’s lawyers? Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think that even if there had never been a single gay rumor about Tom Cruise, I still couldn’t buy him as Hugh Hefner. They’re just so… opposite. I mean both odd, but in very different ways. And something about Tom makes me think he’d be judgy and preachy about Playboy. If he’d ever opened one to know.

Tom Cruise is set to play Hugh Hefner in a new biopic of the Playboy founder’s life. The 45-year-old actor, who has an 18-month-old daughter Suri with his actress wife Katie Holmes, is hot favorite to portray the 81-year-old lothario in upcoming movie ‘Playboy’ and is reportedly excited about the prospect of bringing Hefner’s “colorful life” to the big screen.

A source close to the actor said: “Tom knows of Hugh’s colorful past and thinks he would be the perfect person to bring it to the big screen. He also thinks the role would be a challenge for him, and would remind people of his versatility as an actor. At the moment people are concentrating on his personal life, and his marriage to Katie – but he wants to remind them that he can act too.”

[From AZcentral]

I think people are well-aware that Tom Cruise can act. He’s been acting like he’s in a marriage for a little over a year now. Kidding, of course. Tom’s an okay actor, and I people remember that about him. It’s just that he shines in a very specific kind of role… and Hugh Hefner just isn’t that type of character. Tom needs to jump on top of moving trains and fall out windows and things like that. Occasionally romance Renee Zellweger in a way the audience only sorta buys. He is not the kind of guy you want to see chasing fake bunny tail. Fake alien tail, fine. But rabbits are out of the question.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Tom and Katie at the 23rd Annual Museum Of The Moving Image Black Tie Salute Honoring Tom Cruise on November 6th in New York City. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Source: www.celebitchy.com

The Writer’s Guild strike really is showing no signs of letting up. The WGA has publicly asked the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to “meet us halfway.” That doesn’t seem to be happening at all. Instead of ceding to the writer’s very reasonable demands, many studios have chosen to exercise the force majeure clause in their actors’ SAG contracts, which lets the studios suspend the actors for half-pay for up to five weeks if production on their shows shuts down. They can also suspend them with full pay or choose to release the actors from their contracts altogether. If the strike isn’t resolved by the end of the five weeks, it’s likely that they’ll eventually fire thousands of employees, instead of meeting the WGA halfway.

UNIVERSAL
The casts of The Office, 30 Rock, Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica were informed Thursday that their contracts have been suspended for the next five weeks, now that Universal Media Studios has opted to exercise what’s known as the force majeure clause in their Screen Actors Guild agreements. Regulars from those NBC and Sci-Fi Channel shows will collect half of their usual salaries. Obviously, this will be less financially painful for some, but it won’t be pleasant for anyone.

SONY
Has suspended the casts of Fox’s Til Death and CBS’ Rules of Engagement without pay—a decision that has both SAG and the American Federation of TV & Radio Artists up in arms because Sony’s move both cuts the actors’ pay and, because it’s not outright terminating the contracts, prevents them from working for another studio.

WARNER BROS.
Joining the worst-case-scenario fray also this week was Warner Bros. TV, which, according to the Hollywood Reporter, circulated a letter to production and facility employees informing them that production on all series will be shutting down within the next six or seven weeks—assuming the WGA strike continues—and that layoffs will probably be necessary. But, labor relations senior VP Hank Lachmund wrote, the studio anticipates that “such layoffs, if they occur, will be temporary and that many employees will be recalled to work at some point after the WGA work stoppage ends.”

[From E! News]

It’s probably looks like I’m very biased towards the writers – which I am to an extent. But more than anything I’m against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. They make ridiculous amounts of money off the writers’ talent. They make it off a lot of peoples’ talent. But the writers are the foundation. They generally create the show itself, come up with all the concepts, and decide what’s going to happen with a show. It’s not just about writing dialogue. They provide the building blocks for members of the Alliance to make money. Certainly each needs the other to survive, but I can’t help but root for the comparatively little guy. Let’s hope the strike gets resolved soon so that the paycheck-to-paycheck employees are taken care of.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Sarah Silverman picketing at Universal Studios on Wednesday. Header image of Matthew Perry picketing. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Source: seriouslyomg.com

He is so weird, I am shocked that Michael Jackson went shopping by himself without bodyguards. Did he think he would not have gotten recognized because he wore that scarf that he probably stole from one of his kids.
But it was really nice to see him signing autographs!