Ashton Kutcher’s transformation into Steve Jobs for the upcoming movie jOBS was often difficult — but at least visually, the results are impressive.
The actor recently tweeted a portrait of a face that’s split between the image of the real Jobs and one of Kutcher’s portrayal.
It’s a pretty striking resemblance.
While the first preview clip that’s been released for the film shows Kutcher as Jobs in the late Apple founder’s younger days, the "split" picture features the actor mimicking the tech leader’s more recent look with wire-rim glasses and a graying beard.
What do you think of the likeness?
Are you looking forward to seeing Kutcher’s performance?
"Luck" last year are to blame for his show getting canceled ... claiming our facts were wrong.
Dustin just gave an interview to FoxNews.com, saying the "real" reason the show was canceled was due to a collaboration between PETA and TMZ ... and NOT because the public was upset that THREE horses died during production.
Hoffman said, "It’s completely distorted. Anyone who raises horses know they break their legs. The accusations they made were distorted."
He also directs people to the horse racing website Paulick Report for the "real reason the show was canceled."
Truth is, the TMZ stories are in sync with what was reported on the Paulick Report.
Here are the facts that we published on TMZ.com:
-- THREE horses died during the production of the show
(Confirmed by Paulick Report)
-- Horse #3 was euthanized on the set ... and production continued a few hours later
(Euthanasia confirmed by Paulick Report
-- HBO acknowledged the deaths ... and released a statement saying "accidents unfortunately happen."
And the kicker ... the ratings for "Luck" weren't that great to begin with ... and there were MULTIPLE reports that HBO used the horse deaths as an excuse to cancel the show without having to admit failure.
(You can also read about that on the Paulick Report)
Prolific Hollywood producer Tony Scott died before paying his agent more than $1 MILLION in commissions -- this according to new legal docs -- and now, the agency's going after Scott's estate for its money.
CAA filed the creditor's claim against Scott's estate in L.A. County Superior Court this week, claiming Scott died owing $70,426 in commissions for "Unstoppable," $450,000 for "Man on Fire," $110,096 for "The Taking of Pelham 123," $400,000 for "Deja Vu," and $10,000 for some video game project.
All told, CAA says Scott's estate owes $1,040,522.
And to give you an idea of how rich the "Top Gun" director was -- the docs show what he was paid for his directing and producing roles on each project ...
"Man on Fire" -- $8 million
"Unstoppable" -- $4.5 million
"The Taking of Pelham 123" -- $9.5 million
"Deja Vu" -- $10 million
Video game -- $250,000
And that doesn't take into account all of his profit-sharing percentages ... i.e. what he'd get paid in addition to his salary based on the success of each project.
Just wondering ... where have I heard this before HeHe
Lawsuit - Hollywood - Dead Person.
A story we've heard of 1,000,000 before. Hollywood is the crimson leader in dead lawsuits.
Man on Fire??? That was released in 2004. Could they not have brought that up in the 9 years before? Something sounds off. Why would you keep repping someone if they hadn't paid before, (maybe one movie but after that, it's insane.) that says more about the inefficiency of the company.
Director Tony Scott, who jumped to his death off a Los Angeles bridge in August, willed all of his estate -- worth just over a million dollars -- to his wife and twin boys, TMZ has learned.
TMZ obtained a copy of Scott's will, which was filed in probate court in L.A. County earlier this week -- and according to the documents he left everything to the Tony Scott Family Trust ... established in 2004.
The beneficiaries of the trust are his wife Donna W. Scott and his 12-year old twins Max and Frank.
In the probate docs, the value of Tony's estate is listed as $1,250,000 worth of personal property -- however, considering his success, it's likely Tony was worth millions more ... and his assets had already been made part of the family trust.
Tony's famous brother Ridley Scott was originally named co-executor of the will -- drawn up in 2004 -- but in April 2011 he amended it to make attorney R. Dennis Luderer the sole executor ... and Ridley the first alternate executor.
Tony , you will be sadly miss : All of us who enjoy good film making will miss his talents. We'll always wonder what demons drove him to jump to his death.
"Criminal Minds" star Thomas Gibson has struck a plea deal in his DUI arrest ... when it took FIVE cops to wrestle him to the ground -- TMZ has learned.
We broke the story ... Gibson was popped by cops earlier this month on suspicion of DUI -- when cops say he drunkenly tried to drive his Audi SUV through a part of Downtown L.A. that was sectioned off for a half-marathon.
But today, Gibson pled "no contest" to one count of alcohol-related reckless driving -- and in exchange, prosecutors dropped the DUI counts.
The night of Gibson's arrest, multiple officers took him down while he screamed, "I am not resisting ... I am not resisting."
Under the plea deal, Gibson was sentenced to 36 months probation, $300 in court fees and one year of alcohol education classes.
Some people cope with breakups by crying into a pint of ice cream or writing chart-topping kiss-off anthems (cough,Taylor Swift). But for Paris Jackson,that's not enough -- the Gloved One's daughter wants to completely forget a relationship gone sour! Michael Jackson's middle child recently tweeted some pretty cryptic messages about wanting a certain someone wiped from her memory. While Paris doesn't give a name, she asked if it was possible to have the memories from a past relationship or an entire individual erased from her mind. She's even considering seeing a hypnotist for help!
The 14-year-old also posted the ambiguous messages,advising, "if you think of something you love like a 'precious gem' , treat it like a gem and not a rock .. maybe then it won't crack or break."
Uh oh! Sounds like a broken heart to us. We don't know who the mystery man is, but it sure sounds like he didn't treat Paris right!
Check out all the details in the video below
Just a thought : Paris follow your heart and live your dream ..."OTHER'S" had their chance now it's your time to look at what you want for yourself later .I don't know anyone that can answer that for you, Maybe your grandmother "IF" not some one that really knows what you are about and your dreams.In life you can't blame others for what has happen .But look around and see and hear .Do make sure you listen to a person that is good for you in this world .Be proud and LOVE YOUR SELF FIRST.You can not run... remember this ,because when you look in that mirror you will see only you .Be good
Justin Bieber opens up about his breakup with Selena Gomez , discusses the song he wrote about their split, and defends Chris Brown in a new Billboard cover story.
He also premiered the song, called "Nothing Like Us." Bieber is struggling to cope with the end of his relationship with Gomez.
"I’m not in the happiest place that I’ve ever been," he says. "I’m trying to get through what I’m going through. Like I said, I have my really close friends to cheer me up and keep me going."
When the interviewer points out that the track is less "angry" than it is "sweet," Bieber explains, "Because at the end of the day, there’s nothing like us, you know? That’s just it. It is what it is. People are going to relate to that."
Asked about all the speculation pertaining to what happened between him and his ex, Bieber replies, "There’s so many rumors. People say I call Selena every day and she won’t pick up the phone or I’m chasing her down, and these are all fake stories."
Bieber explains, "I don’t go on blogs or anything like that. I hear things. People tell me if something happens on the Internet. It gets back to me, definitely."
He will not attend the Grammys next month, but he had an interesting answer when asked whom he’ll be rooting for that night.
"Chris Brown. I’m a fan. His music is really good. That’s what they should focus on: the music," says Bieber.
Listen to "Nothing Like Us" below and tell us what you think!
The two Australian DJs who pranked Kate Middleman’s hospital last month will keep their jobs, the radio station said on Monday. Mel Greig and Michael Christian , who had their "Hot 30 Countdown" radio show suspended after the hospital nurse who transfered their call committed suicide, will continue working at 2Day FM in Sydney.
However, the duo’s show has now been officially canceled.
The station’s parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, said in a statement, "We look forward to Mel and MC returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents," adding, "We will discuss future roles with them when they are ready."
Jacintha Saldanha committed suicide three days after the prank call, in which Greig and Christian sought information on a pregnant Middleton’s condition by pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
What do you think about the deejays keeping their jobs? What !!! This is what happens when a society makes stupidity and cruelty a valid basis for humor. Too much of today's "entertainment" is built on the art of debasing other human beings for fun and money. See the tabloids.
Lance Armstrong came clean to Oprah Winfrey about his use of blood doping products during the seven straight years he won the Tour de France, but U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart tells CBS "60 Minutes" that he didn’t’ tell the full truth.
Tygart says that Armstrong did dope upon his return to cycling in 2009, and he was a heavy user of EPO, not a small one, as he claimed to Oprah. He also said he wrote a letter to Armstrong, saying he has a deadline of Feb. 6 to cooperate fully to USADA's investigation in exchange for possibly reducing the length of his lifetime ban from sports. An attorney for Armstrong told USADA that the cyclist cannot accommodate the Feb. 6 deadline, but the cyclist will cooperate with efforts to "clean up cycling." It's just that they believe the sport's governing body and world anti-doping officials should take the lead in the cleanup.
Here’s a sampling of comments from Tygart's interview with the news magazine show, which will air this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
Tygart on Armstrong’s clean claims in his return to cycling: "Just contrary to the evidence. ... His blood tests in 2009, 2010—expert reports based on the variation of his blood values—from those tests, one to a million chance that it was due to something other than doping."
On Armstrong’s use of EPO: "He used a lot of EPO. You look at the '99 Tour de France samples and they were flaming positive, the highest that we've ever seen. And he's now acknowledged those were positive."
On Armstrong’s claims that what he was doing wasn’t cheating: "It's amazing ... you could go to almost any kindergarten in this country or frankly around the world and find kids playing tag or four square and ask them what cheating is. Every one of them will tell you it's breaking the rules of the game. No real athlete has to look up the definition of cheating. And it's offensive to clean athletes who are out there working hard to play by the rules that apply to their sport."
On Armstrong’s notion that the doping he was doing was nothing special: "It’s simply not true. The access they had to inside information, to how the tests work, what tests went in place at what time, special access to the laboratory. He was on an entirely different playing field than all the other athletes, even if you assume all the other athletes had some access to doping products."
The entire "60 Minutes" interview with Tygart will air Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, Tygart isn’t the only one who doesn’t believe that Armstrong's clean claims upon his return to the sport in 2009. Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion who finished fourth in the ’09 event that Armstrong finished third in, bases his suspicions on observations he made while racing alongside the American in key mountain stages.
"I can still remember going toe to toe with him, watching the man I saw on the top of Verbier in 2009 to the man I saw on the top of Ventoux a week later when we were in doping control together," said Wiggins, speaking at a Team Sky training camp in Mallorca.
"It wasn't the same bike rider. You only have to watch the videos of how the guy was riding. I don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Just wondering : You didn't hear about the 10mil book deal he has going? You would come out singing too. It's all about the money. It's done let's do a better job of testing so it doesn't happen again or just move on then.
I wonder how much Oprah paid him.
Justin Bieber is being investigated on serious gun control charges -- Nerf gun control!
Here's the story. Justin was in Ottawa, Canada in November when a female employee of the venue where he was performing filed a police report, claiming Bieber -- or someone who was Biebs adjacent -- assaulted her.
The woman told Canadian cops she was hit by something.
We now know what the something was .... a kid-safe projectile from a Nerf gun. Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Justin was Nerf fighting with his 3-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister and apparently one of the darts hit the woman.
We're told the woman pitched a fit and told Bieber's people she was a security guard for the venue and was royally pissed off. She filed a police report and the cops are actually taking it seriously -- they've already interviewed some people at the venue.
Getting hit by a Nerf projectile is definitely annoying, but criminal? Be serious, eh!
Just a thought :
He might as well set up an account for those that come down with the Sue bug and try make money off him for the most ridicules things. If this person gets away with this stupid claim than EVERYONE who has been shot with a nerf gun can go on the Sue bandwagon as well. For crying out loud get a life. The people who do this look more stupid than him. It's sad and pathetic. HeHe
The 2008 Republican Vice Presidential candidate and onetime Governor of Alaska has left the cable channel, where she’s served as a frequent contributor since her time in elected office.
"We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with Governor Palin. We wish her the best in her future endeavors," said Fox executive Bill Shine in a statement on Friday.
Palin began with Fox News in January 2010, becoming a regular commentator for the top-rated news network.
She last appeared on the air in December. Rating dropped , Fox News dropped Palin , only fair HUH ???
"A source says Palin, who has been with the network for three years, was offered a new contract, but decided not to renew.
And that source was....Sarah Palin? Nice try. She was fired. Remember how she whined about the fact that FOX was cutting back her appearances? She whined about it on twitter. Repeatedly. You don't offer a new contract to someone you're trying to shove out the door. The woman is a loser who thought she could expand her brand by posting a few tweets a day. Turns out you actually have to work a little.
Natalie Wood's death has been reopened as a homicide investigation, primarily because of a book written by the captain of the boat where Natalie Wood spent her last minutes ... a book suggesting foul play ... this according to sources close to the investigation.
We've learned Marti Rulli -- who co-authored the book -- has been in regular touch with the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. over the last few months. She has given Sheriff's investigators documents supporting material in her book, and we're told the Sheriff is so impressed he has assigned 2 full-time homicide detectives to the case.
In the book -- "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour" -- Rulli and Splendour Captain Dennis Davern write about the night Natalie drowned. They say before Natalie disappeared from the boat, she was drinking and taking Quaaludes with her husband, Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.
According to the book, Wagner became enraged when he saw Wood and Walken speaking, and smashed a wine bottle, yelling at Walken, "What do you want to do, f**k my wife? Is that what you want?"
At that point, Walken returned to his cabin and Natalie and Robert went to their state room. According to the Captain, he heard a loud argument between the couple and thumping sounds, and eventually silence.
A short time later, the Captain went to the deck and was told by Wagner, "Natalie is missing."
The book claims Wagner refused to let the Captain call the Coast Guard.
Wagner told the Capt. the dinghy was gone, along with Natalie, but some doubted that because she was deathly afraid of dark water.
The death was ruled an accident, but Rulli was like a pit bull since the book was written in 2008.
We're told the homicide investigators have already traveled to Catalina, as well as New Jersey to interview Rulli. They've also gone to Augustine, Florida to interview the Captain, and they're going to Hawaii to look at the Splendour.
[UPDATE]
7:25 PM PST A source familiar with the investigation tells TMZ the Sheriff's Dept. has not called anyone a suspect in Wood's death. It is a general homicide investigation for now, and will take "a long time to complete." The source adds, supporting documentation in several books about Wood's death -- including Marti Rulli's book -- triggered the investigation because the witnesses accounts of circumstances surrounding Wood's death did not square with what they told officials immediately after her death.
We're told no one from the Sheriff's Dept. has spoken with Wagner, nor has an interview been requested ... at least so far.
7:08 PM PST -- Robert Wagner's rep released a statement to TMZ ... saying, "Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff’s department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept."
The statement continues, "[The Wagners] trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death."
Corin Nemec -- star of the '90s sitcom "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" -- is recovering from emergency surgery ... after he shattered his leg and lost TONS of blood in a bad boating accident this weekend.
Nemec says he was on board a Coast Guard vessel in Belize on Saturday morning -- on his way to shoot a scene for a movie -- when the boat crashed into a semi-submerged barge.
Nemec claims he suffered major injuries in the wreck -- and was transported to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery.
The actor -- who was working on the movie "Poseidon Rex" -- told a local news reporter, "We hit the sinking barge, and that is what filled the boat to one side immediately with an enormous amount of force, and that threw me into the side of the boat where I shattered my femur in 3 places."
41-year-old Nemec says the break was so bad, he lost over half the blood in his body -- and he required multiple blood transfusions to save his life.
"Everybody onboard that boat, including the gentlemen working for the Coast Guard, everyone is lucky to be alive," Nemec said.
Cobin Nemec as 'Parker Lewis'
He played Steven Staynor in "I Know My First Name is Steven". He was just a kid then. Sending wishes for a smooth and swift recovery.
The PICs
Ashton Kutcher stars as Steve Jobs in the movie jOBS, and the first clip has just been released. In it, we see Kutcher as the late Apple visionary in his younger days, passionately discussing the potential of personal computers with the company’s co-founder Steve Wozniak (as played by Josh Gad).
The movie opens in April. Do you think Kutcher nailed it ?
It's a big leap from model to actor, should have stuck to modeling.
The guy who voiced Charlie Brown in multiple Peanuts specials has been arrested in San Diego after authorities say he stalked someone.
56-year-old Peter Robbins -- who voiced CB in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" -- was busted at the San Ysidro Port of Entry this weekend after a background check revealed an active warrant out for his arrest.
According to the AP, Robbins is set to be arraigned Wednesday for making a threat to cause great death or bodily injury and stalking. It's unclear who Robbins is accused of stalking and threatening.
A rep for the voice actor had no comment.
You're in trouble, Charlie Brown.
Peter Robbins,Peter Robbins the actor who as a child voiced that round-headed kid in Peanuts TV specials and movies, was arrested Sunday in San Diego on stalking charges.
The 56-year-old Robbins was taken into custody by border security at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Angelica de Cima, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement that officers ran his name through the computer, which turned up a felony warrant for crimes against a person.
Per the San Diego County Jail website, the actor was booked into the clink shortly before 4 a.m. on five charges: four felony counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and one felony count of stalking. He's currently being held on $550,000 bail.
If only Snoopy could bail him out.
Robbins' credits include such Peanuts TV movie classics as 1965's A Boy Named Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1966's It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and 1967's You're in Love, Charlie Brown. Recently, he did voice work on Peanuts-related phone apps.
A manager for Robbins could not be reached for comment. His arraignment is set for later today.
Tell me please ... who's next . HeHe Wow, first Elmo and now Charlie Brown?
Another voice actor caught in the act.
Good grief.
You Block Head
That's what happens when you pay 5 cents for psychiatric counseling.
Prince is back with a rockin’ new song called "Screwdriver." On Wednesday, the music icon released a video for the track that’s half-lyric video, half-live performance.
Check out the video below, and tell us what you think! Prince doesn't exactly follow standard operating procedure, so it's entirely unsurprising that he plopped a new single online without any real lead-up. "Screwdriver," a jangly tune that follows last year's "Rock and Roll Love Affair," made it to the internet late on Monday.
The lyric video (available above) features Prince and his band performing the song. Prince is wearing a spirit hood and the style of the clip almost renders him unrecognizable, but his iconic mannerisms and voice are incriminating enough. A preview of the clip was previously updated to a seemingly (but assuredly not so) random YouTube account.
For those who haven't been following along, the Guardian has a nice sunnary of Prince's recent riddles . A week or so ago a mysterious new YouTube account was created under the name 3rdEyeGirl. The name matches a Twitter handle started at the beginning of the month that features the following bio: "International Art Thief. Everything you think is true. Underground. Soon to be above." Across both platforms a number of brand new recordings from Prince have started to emerge, which is a bit odd considering Prince is notoriously anti-YouTube and is known for blocking unauthorised recordings (he once angered Radiohead by blocking live footage of him covering the band's Creep at Coachella).
So are these authorised accounts? 3rdEyeGirl are rumoured to be Prince's new backing band (guitarist Donna Grantis, drummer Hannah Ford and bassist Ida Nielsen)...
In November, Prince released a music video for "Rock and Roll Love Affair." That song -- and, presumably, "Screwdriver" -- will be included on his new album, which has neither a name nor a release date, but seems all the more probable given this new development. A new website, 20pr1nc3.com, has also been launched to that effect. Prince is currently on the cover of Billboard, and the magazine will honor the singer at this year's Billboard Music Awards .He's also the subject of an an upcoming tribute concert at New York's Carneegie Hall ..
What do you think of the Prince song? Let us know in the comments.
of the National Anthem at Monday’s Inauguration Ceremony was apparently lip-synched, although there are conflicting official versions of events. VIDEO BELOW
On Tuesday, Master Sgt. Kristin DuBois of the U.S. Marine Band, which performed with Beyonce, informed reporters that the singer had decided to sing to a pre-recorded voice track rather than perform live.
"We performed, live, the band. But we received last-minute word that Beyonce was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track," said DuBois. "Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know what the reason why."
But things got murkier late Tuesday, when a Marine Corps spokesperson backed off the original statement, saying that because the pop superstar had not rehearsed with the band, it was determined that the band’s pre-recorded track should be used during the performance
for President Obama.
"Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance," said Capt. Gregory Wolf, "no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."
It should be noted that Wolf did not deny the reports that Beyonce had indeed lip-synched to pre-recorded vocals.
Meanwhile, representatives for Beyonce and the Inauguration organizers have not responded to requests for clarification. News that Beyonce may have lip-synched surprised many, especially given the fact that Beyonce emotionally ripped out her earpiece at one point during the performance. It’s standard procedure for all the music tied to the festivities to be pre-recorded in case conditions including poor weather complicate things for the live performers.
What you think ?
"IT was 45 degrees yesterday in DC.Plus, EVERY OTHER performer in every other inauguration has managed to sing the Star Spangled Banner live, including an unknown and untrained sharecropper's daughter named Juanita Booker for Ronald Reagan's Inauguration in 1981.People need to stop enabling and mollycoddling this ersatz celebrity.She can't hold a candle to Aretha Franklin who was able to sing the National Anthem LIVE in much colder weather four years ago."
Its also the fact that she accepted compliments for it. She never meant for anyone to know, which makes it even worse.
The Mayor of Las Vegas is making a serious plea to Prince Harry now that he's back from Afghanistan -- COME BACK TO VEGAS, ASAP!!!
Harry completed his 5-month military stint in the Middle East this week ... and once he got out of the war zone, he finally broke his silence about his Sin City naked photo scandal to the U.K. media ... saying, "I probably let myself down."
But TMZ spoke with Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman ... who thinks Harry deserves a Vegas do-over ... and tells us the city is ready to roll out the red carpet for His Royal Highness when he's ready to come back.
"We’re absolutely excited he’s home," Goodman says ... adding, "Prince Harry is always welcome in Las Vegas. When he was here everyone was talking about it. We welcome him back with open arms."
It's no surprise ... considering the city reportedly enjoyed $23 million in free publicity that was generated by the naked billiards scandal.
Hahahaha! Stop living in a fairy land . The mayor is like the serpent trying to lure Harry into her den of iniquity. I think Harry's learned his lesson. More Prince, less Army, at least in Vegas.
Conrad Muray went from star prisoner to star witness at the L.A. County Jail today ... when a FIGHT broke out between his lawyers during a jailhouse visit ... TMZ has learned.
Sources close to Murray tell us ... Murray had been complaining about pain in his right arm and shoulder for the past couple of days ... and today, two of his attorneys (who are each working on different cases) raced down to the jail to check in on The Doc.
The first to arrive was J. Michael Flanagan -- who reps Murray in all matters relating to the Michael Jackson manslaughter case. JMF arrived with his 30-year-old son Ryan, who's also a lawyer but isn't working on the Murray case.
After the Flanagans began to visit with Murray in the jail, Murray's other attorney, Valerie Wass, showed up. Wass reps Murray in all matters relating to the California Medical Board and the appeal of his criminal conviction.
According to our sources, Wass claims she tried to enter the visitation room to speak to Murray, but was physically blocked -- and pushed -- by Ryan. Wass claims Ryan and his dad proceeded to shout at her until they left.
We're told Valerie eventually got to meet with Murray --and immediately afterward, she filed a battery report against Ryan.
As for The Doc, one source tells us Murray witnessed the whole thing -- and if there's an investigation, he could play a key role in the case.
Laughing my a** off : Maybe the "Dr." should have given them something to calm them down!
If there's a musical act "headlining" the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, it's Beyonce. The singer's performance of the National Anthem was a capstone to the official proceedings of the inauguration, and served as the marker between the events on the steps of the capitol and the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Beyonce was hardly the only performer to make an impression over the weekend. Kelly Clarkson sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" immediately after Barack Obama delivered his inaugural address and James Taylor sang "America the Beautiful."
From our earlier reporting:
A host of other musicians and singers were spotted st events surrounding the actual inauguration. Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder and Usher were among those who scored inauguration weekend gigs.
One of the President's favorite genres was celebrated at the Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball, where rappers 2 Chainz and MC Lyte and singer John Legend were honored at the Sunday night event.
Their speeches were far better received than an impromptu one by rapper Lupe Fiasco, who was reportedly pulled from the stage after an anti-Obama rant of sorts at the StartUp RockOn concert.
Four years ago, Aretha Franklin sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters" chorus performed "The Star-Spangled Banner." Barack and Michelle Obama Famously danced to Beyonce's cover of Etta James' "At Last" at an inaugural ball.
LONDON — Capt. Wales is coming home to be Prince Harry once again. The Ministry of Defense revealed Monday that the 28-year-old prince is returning from a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps. It did not immediately divulge his exact whereabouts. In interviews conducted in Afghanistan, the third in line to the British throne described feeling boredom, frustration and satisfaction during a tour that saw him fire at Taliban fighters on missions in support of ground troops.
When asked whether he had killed from the cockpit, he said: "Yea, so lots of people have."
He also spoke of his struggle to balance his job as an army officer with his royal role – and his relief at the chance to be "one of the guys."
"My father's always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that," said Harry, the younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. "But it's very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army. Everyone's wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing."
Stationed at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British base in the southern Afghan desert, the prince – known as Capt. Wales in the military – flew scores of missions as a co-pilot gunner, sometimes firing rockets and missiles at Taliban fighters.
"Take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose," he said. "If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game."
Harry's second tour in Afghanistan went more smoothly than the first, in 2007-2008, which was cut short after 10 weeks when a magazine and websites disclosed details of his whereabouts. British media had agreed to a news blackout on security grounds. This time, the media were allowed limited access to the prince in return for not reporting operational details.
A member of the air corps' 662 Squadron, the prince was part of a two-man crew whose duties ranged from supporting ground troops in firefights with the Taliban to accompanying British Chinook and U.S. Black Hawk helicopters as they evacuated wounded soldiers.
He said that while sometimes it was necessary to fire on insurgents, the formidable helicopter – equipped with wing-mounted rockets, Hellfire laser-guided missiles and a 30mm machine gun – was usually an effective deterrent.
"If guys get injured, we come straight into the overhead, box off any possibility of an insurgent attack because they look at us and just go, `Right, that's an unfair fight, we're not going to go near them,'" Harry said.
Harry shared a room with another pilot in a basic accommodation block made from shipping containers, and passed the time between callouts playing video games and watching movies with his fellow officers. His security detail accompanied him on base, but not when flying.
"It's as normal as it's going to get," Harry said of the arrangement. "I'm one of the guys. I don't get treated any differently."
But he said he still received unwanted attention at Camp Bastion, which is home to thousands of troops.
"For me it's not that normal because I go into the cookhouse and everyone has a good old gawp, and that's one thing that I dislike about being here," he said. "Because there's plenty of guys in there that have never met me, therefore look at me as Prince Harry and not as Capt. Wales, which is frustrating."
Ever since Harry graduated from the Sandhurst military academy in 2006, his desire for a military career has collided with his royal role. After his curtailed first Afghan deployment, he retrained as a helicopter pilot in order to have the chance of being sent back.
The speed and height at which Apaches fly make them hard for insurgents to shoot down, but Harry's squadron commander, Maj. Ali Mack, said the prince had still faced real danger.
"There is nothing routine about deploying to an operational theater – where there is absolutely an insurgency – and flying an attack helicopter in support of both ISAF and Afghan security forces," Mack said.
The danger was underscored soon after Harry arrived at Camp Bastion in September, when insurgents attacked the adjacent U.S. base, Camp Leatherneck, killing two U.S. marines and wounding several other troops.
Harry said he would have preferred to have been deployed on the ground with his old regiment, the Household Cavalry, rather than spending his tour of duty at Camp Bastion, a fortified mini-city replete with shops, gyms and a Pizza Hut restaurant.
Harry said it was "a pain in the arse, being stuck in Bastion."
"I'd much rather be out with the lads in a PB (patrol base)," he said. "The last job was, for me personally, better."
Despite the frustrations of base life, Harry said he relished the flying: "As soon as we're outside the fence, we're in the thick of it."
"Yes, OK, we're supposedly safe, but anything can go wrong with this thing, but at the end of the day we're out there to provide cover and protection for the guys on the ground," he said.
Many of Harry's family have also seen combat – most recently his uncle, Prince Andrew, who flew Royal Navy helicopters during the 1982 Falklands War. His grandfather, Prince Philip, served on Royal Navy battleships during World War II.
Older brother William, who is second in line to the throne, is a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot. He, too, has expressed a desire to serve on the front line, but officials consider it too dangerous.
Harry said he thought William should be allowed to serve in combat.
"Yes, you get shot at. But if the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot at on the ground, I don't think there's anything wrong with us being shot at as well.
"People back home will have issues with that, but we're not special. The guys out there are. Simple as that."
He said that while William was envious of his Afghan experience, his elder brother's job had its advantages.
"He gets to go home to his wife and his dog, whereas out here we don't," Harry said. "We're stuck playing PlayStation in a tent full of men."
After the respite from scrutiny, the prince is returning to a Harry-hungry media eager for images of the eligible bachelor, and stories of his off-duty escapades.
Just before he went to Afghanistan, Harry hit the headlines during a game of strip billiards at a Las Vegas hotel.
He apologized for the incident. "It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince," he said.
But the prince did not attempt to hide his frustration with the intense coverage he faces.
"I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down," Harry said. "But at the end of the day I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect."
Later in the year he hopes to join a group of injured servicemen on a charity race to the South Pole, and in July he is due to become an uncle when William's wife Catherine gives birth to her first child.
Harry said that he "can't wait" to be an uncle, but hoped that Kate would be given privacy during her pregnancy.
And he conceded that he felt more comfortable as Capt. Wales than as Prince Harry.
He said he tried to balance three facets of his life – "one in the army, one socially in my own private time, and then one with the family and stuff like that."
"So there is a switch and I flick it when necessary," he said.
"Army comes first. It's my work at the end of the day."
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This story is based on a pool report from Afghanistan .
Prince Harry opens up in a series of new, rare interviews about his infamous naked photos, the experience of killing insurgents in Afghanistan, and his frustrations with the media.
The royal spoke with reporters while winding down his often harrowing four-month combat deployment to Camp Bastion, where he served as an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner.
On the topic of his nude romp in Las Vegas last summer, Harry says, "I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down."
"But at the end of the day, I was in a private area and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect," he explains. "It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince. It’s a simple case of that."
The rationale is rooted in what Harry says are the three different versions of himself, which he describes as the "three mes."
"One in the army, one socially in my own private time, and then one with the family and stuff like that. So there is a switch and I flick it when necessary," explains Harry.
He was not happy about media coverage of his private partying.
"The newspapers knew that I was going away to Afghanistan, yet still published the photos," says the prince. "So the way I was treated by them I don’t think is acceptable."
Partly because of his suspicion of the media, Harry reads about himself in the press.
He explains, "If there’s a story and something has been written about me, I want to know what’s being said, but all it does is upset me and anger me that people get away with writing the stuff they do."
Harry says his father, Prince Charles, tells him not to read it because it’s "rubbish."
But the royal seems to be most comfortable with his military role, enjoying the camaraderie with his fellow soldiers and telling the journalists, "It’s a chance to be away from you guys. A chance to be away from everyone."
"My father’s always trying to remind me about who I am and stuff like that. But it’s very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army," says Harry. "Everyone’s wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing. I get on well with the lads and I enjoy my job. It really is as simple as that."
But serving aboard a high-tech helicopter is not all fun and games.
Harry acknowledges that he’s personally had to shoot at Taliban insurgents during his stint.
"If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game, I suppose," remarks the prince. "Take a life to save a life… Everyone’s fired a certain amount."
The people behind the new "Smurfs" movie really blue it -- at least according to a construction worker, who says an on-set accident left him all smurfed up ... and now he's suing for $15 million.
Ryan Rodriguez filed the lawsuit against Columbia Pictures, Sony Entertainment, famed toy store FAO Schwarz, and more.
According to the lawsuit, FAO Schwarz in NYC was leased by Sony and Columbia as a shooting location back in May 2010. (For you saps who've never been, FAO Schwarz is the place where Tom Hanks played the giant floor piano in "Big").
Now the sad part -- around May 20th, Ryan claims he fell off scaffolding inside FAO while doing construction on the set and "seriously and permanently" injured himself. He says the accident pretty much ruined his life and he hasn't been able to work like he's used to.
Ryan claims Columbia, Sony, FAO Schwarz and the other defendants are responsible for the accident -- by failing to provide a safe place to work -- and now, he wants $15 million in damages.
A judge has yet to rule. Calls to Columbia, Sony, FAO, and Gargamel were not returned .
Michael Jackson's former assistant is delusional if he thinks he'll win his new lawsuit against AEG -- this according to the entertainment group, which tells TMZ, the guy's a disgrace to MJ's memory ... and doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.
TMZ broke the story, MJ's former assistant Michael Amir Williams has sued AEG, claiming he lost out on a massive paycheck because AEG negligently employed Dr. Conrad Murray for MJ's "This Is It" tour ... the doctor who eventually killed MJ with a fatal dose of Propofol.
But a rep for AEG tells us, "This lawsuit is clearly frivolous; it is literally barred by at least four different legal doctrines."
According to AEG, Williams doesn't have a case because he was never a beneficiary of MJ's contract with AEG Live ... nor can he legally bring a claim for MJ’s wrongful death.
The rep adds, "The idea that Mr. Williams purports to sue on behalf of the many persons who did enter into relationships with AEG Live and Jackson ... and with whom AEG Live parted ways with the utmost friendship and respect, is disgraceful."
As far as AEG is concerned, Williams' lawsuit is a desperate and shameless money grab ... nothing more ... and he's destined to lose in court.
"This is just the latest wrongful death lawsuit with someone hoping to profit from Michael Jackson’s tragic death in the same way they profited from his life."
Money do strange things ....hehe .
Why doesn't the guy just write a book, that's what everyone else does who wants to cash in, and besides, MJ isn't around to dispute anything, so he can take liberties to sensationalize it. Not that I think that's the right thing to do, but why not.
Karherine Jackson is reaching out to the man who killed her son because she needs him badly for something ... TMZ has learned.
Katherine is in the throes of a wrongful death lawsuit against AEG, claiming the company negligently hired Dr. Conrad Murray and failed to properly supervise him.
Here's the problem. She needs Murray on the record, explaining how the arrangement went down, so she's subpoenaed the jailed Doc. Katherine wants Murray to acknowledge AEG masterminded the plan to bring him on board.
It's ironic, to say the least, but Katherine is dealing with some bad options. She can go after Murray, but he doesn't have a pot to piss in. Or, she can try to bring him into the fold in order to go after the deep pockets -- AEG.
Now the real problem -- Murray's not cooperating. His lawyers, Valerie Wass and J. Michael Flanagan, are fighting the subpoena, trying to get it tossed on technical grounds.
So Katherine can persist ... and a judge could order Murray to tell all. But she doesn't want to unnecessarily antagonize the Doc, because a hostile witness is often a bad witness.
Wondering will this ever stop ???
Ah! How much more money do these people need? Conrad Murray might have been a poor excuse for a doctor but the fact is he was fully qualified, licensed doctor when AEG hired him. They hired him because Michael demanded it. Katherine should perhaps sue herself and her husband for their poor parenting skills which also indirectly led to Michael's death. Maybe she should also sue Michael's estate, because Michael was the person most responsible for his death.
Friday marks the release of "The Last Stand," an Arnold Schwarzenegger comeback vehicle in which the heroes include a well-armed citizenry, federal restrictions on paramilitary weaponry are openly mocked, and gunplay is frequent and plentiful.
So much for Hollywood toning down gun violence out of sensitivity to the public mood in the wake of the Sandy Hook schoolhouse massacre.
There's been a lot of talk about how Hollywood would have to become more sensitive and less violent following the outrage over the latest school shooting, either voluntarily or under the threat of federal regulation. But given how past efforts to reform Hollywood content have fared, here's how much change we're likely to see: Nada.
Sure, there may be some quick cosmetic fixes, though even the moment for those is quickly passing. After the Aurora cineplex massacre, Warner Bros. yanked the trailer for "Gangster Squard ," edited a sequence of a movie-theater shooting out of the promo and the film, and delayed the movie's release from September to January. The watered-down film opened last week and did just middling business. Beyond that, however, we may hear some noise from studio executives about changes, but even while they're saying the right things, they'll be releasing movies like "The Last Stand " and "Bullet to the Head," the Sylvester Stallone vehicle opening February 1.
There are two perhaps uncomfortable truths at work here. One is that there are too many vested interests at work, and too much money at stake, for any substantive change to occur. Remember, a year ago, Hollywood and Silicon Valley were arguing over SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act), with the content industry on the pro side and the Web industry on the anti side. The bill was shelved and nothing changed. So it will be with this issue; it's still two very powerful lobbying groups (in this case, the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Rifle Association) that will fight each other to a stalemate, resulting in the preservation of the status quo. The NRA wants as few restrictions as possible on the gun industry, just as the MPAA wants as few restrictions as possible on the entertainment industry. Both are likely to get their way.
One irony of this situation is that what ordinary Americans think may be of less consequences than the desires of people overseas. The last two products that America successfully exports are weapons and entertainment (or, if you like, depictions of those weapons being used). Foreign audiences love violent American movies as much as we do, maybe even more. The overseas market for Hollywood movies is now bigger than the domestic market, to the point that catering to foreign tastes, not American tastes, is what underlies decisions about which movies get made. Americans may or may not be squeamish about watching gun violence, but foreign viewers are as bloodthirsty as ever. So there's no incentive for Hollywood to change its game.
And for all its willingness to demonize Hollywood as a more likely cause of gun massacres than, say, the easy availability of guns, the NRA recognizes that violent Hollywood fare is also the best advertisement for its constituents' wares.Exhibits at the NRA museum in Fairfax , Va. are built around guns featured in violent Hollywood movies like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction"." In public, the NRA and Hollywood may not get along much; aside from Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris, Gerald McRaney, and Tom Selleck, few movie and TV stars over the past 20 years have come out publicly in favor of the NRA's stated positions. Of course, many of the most conservative stars, including Heston, Norris, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger, have starred in some of the most violent, trigger-happy movies of recent decades. The other uncomfortable truth is that we, the moviegoers, don't really want movies to change. At the very least, we're ambivalent about the idea. A New NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds the NRA more popular than Hollywood (the gun group gets a 41 percent positive rating and a 34 percent negative rating, contrasted with a 23 percent positive rating and 46 percent negative rating for the entertainment industry). Yet the same poll also says 56 percent want stricter laws on gun sales, a position the NRA opposes.
Similarly, a poll taken by The Hollywood Reporter at the end of December, a couple weeks after Sandy Hook, found that 44 percent of parents had become more aware since the shooting of the violent content of the fare their kids watched. Some 70 percent of respondents over age 30 felt there was too much violence in film and TV advertising. Thirty-four percent of all respondents thought there should be more restrictions on such advertising, but 75 percent of respondents did not think that the Federal government should pressure Hollywood to tone down the violence. Forty-six percent said Hollywood should make fewer violent movies, but 48 percent said content shouldn't change.
It could be that those who wanted Hollywood to make less violent content were sincere, or they could have been saying what they thought pollsters wanted to hear. Over the same period that the survey was taken, moviegoers voted with their wallets and spent $63 million to see "Django Unchained" and $44 million seeing "Jack Reacher." The following week, Texas Chainsaw 3D" debuted at No. 1 Guess we're not that skittish about enjoying movies depicting gun violence -- or any other kind of violence -- post-Sandy Hook.
The conservative media watchdog group the Media Research Center did its own study of the top five films from last weekend -- "Zero Dark Thirty," 'A Haunted House," "Gangster Squad," "Django," and "Les Miserables" -- and counted 65 scenes of violence, including 38 scenes of gunplay, and 185 victims. To the MRC, this was a sign of Hollywood's hypocrisy, since so much of Hollywood (including "Django" star" Jamie Foxx) has advocated for gun-control measures while appearing in movies like these that seem to glorify gun violence. Then again, to borrow the argument Kathryn Bigelow has used to defend the torture scenes in "ZDT," depiction does not equal glamorization or endorsement. And moviegoers seem to get that, given the ambivalence toward movie violence expressed in the recent polls. No ticket-buyer who goes to see any of these five movies seems to think he or she will incur mental damaged or be influenced to pick up a gun and start shooting people.
One result of President Obama's 23-point executive order mandating a to-do list of mild gun control measures will be a public health study of the causes of gun voilence , including video games . The video game industry's response, through lobbying group the Entertainment Software Association, has been much like the MPAA's -- it says it will cooperate with the government but notes that violent video games are just as popular in other countries yet don't result in epidemics of real-life gun massacres in those countries .
It's worth noting that no one in the administration has actually called for regulations on video games or movies; they've only urged the ESA and the MPAA to police themselves. It's similar to what happened after 9/11, when studios voluntarily went to great lengths to change individual movies that might hit a raw nerve -- erasing the Twin Towers from "Zoolander," or postponing the release of Schwarzenegger's terrorism-themed "Collateral Damage" for five months. Studios also said they would work with the government to make more patriotic movies backing the war on terror.
Remember those movies? No? Because they never got made. The changes Hollywood did make were largely cosmetic and lasted only a few weeks at best. After that, it was back to business as usual. Not even the worst terror attacks in American history could make Hollywood change its ways. Its doubtful that one of the worst elementary school massacres will have any great impact either.
