In March’s issue of Elle , Gossip Girl star Blake Lively shows off her ridiculously good looks and fashion sense, modeling a red-hot Michael Kors swimsuit, suede and patent leather sandals by Pierre Hardy, a Blumarine jacket and other items. Items most mortals couldn’t afford, and wouldn’t help us look as good as her anyway. Oh well! Did we mention she also dates Ryan Reynolds? Some people … On top of all that, Blake actually seems like a cool girl and pretty down to Earth for a star on the rise. Excerpts from the 24-year-old’s interview with Elle … On the men in her life : “I’ve had four boyfriends in my whole life. I’ve never been with anyone that’s not a boyfriend. If I spend time with a man, it’s because I think there’s somebody that I know well who has been a friend for a while.“ On not having a stylist : “When I go to an event, I’ll send Christian (Louboutin) a picture of my outfit and say, ‘What shoes do you think I should wear with this?’” On kids : “I hope to have a few girls one day. If not girls, they better be trannies. I have some amazing shoes and bags and stories that need to be appreciated.” On reports that she and Ryan are apartment hunting : “Newspapers say a lot of stuff. I wish I could afford half the places I hear I’m looking at. Sign me up!” Click to enlarge the Blake Lively pictures below:
There’s a strange twist to the death of Don Cornelius. As previously reported, the Soul Train creator took his own life early this morning via a gunshot to the head, as his son discovered his body and called 911. But it’s another relative who will soon make news as a result of this tragedy. According to documents obtained by TMZ, the music icon passed away with a pair of life insurance policies in his name – and because the suicide took place more than two years after he signed them, they cannot be challenged by California law and around $300,000 will be handed out to Don’s ex-wife, Viktoria. Who Cornelius despised. The couple got divorced in 2009, following a conviction for Don on a charge of domestic abuse and an allegation against his wife that she pepper sprayed him on numerous occasions. Meanwhile, countless music industry folks expressed their sympathy for the Soul Train creator via Twitter, but we’ll give the final word here to Aretha Franklin. “It’s so shocking and stunning. God bless him,” the artist said. “He created a solid and broad foundation for young people and adults alike to socialize, dance and have good clean fun. He united the young adult community single-handedly… Everybody loved Soul Train and appreciated Don!”
First Lady Michelle Obama cajoled Jay Leno into eating healthy foods for the first time in … oh, ever during her visit to the Tonight Show on NBC Tuesday. Promoting her “Let’s Move!” campaign to get kids excited about fitness and healthy diets, Michelle brought out some food to make an example out of Jay. As both Jay and Michelle joked repeatedly about his eating habits, Leno sampled apples, sweet potato fries and a pizza made with eggplant, peppers and zucchini. Could’ve used some sausage, but even Jay conceded it wasn’t bad. Michelle Obama Tonight Show Interview, Part II Michelle Obama encouraged Jay to dip his apple in honey made from beehives in the White House garden: “It will help it go down easier,” she said. “’White House honey’? That just sounds bad,” Leno replied, adding, “You know, with a different president that could mean a whole different thing.” In California to promote her initiative and attend a pair of fundraising events, Michelle also talked about her daughters and her husband’s reelection campaign. She even praised Mitt Romney singing at a recent event. Classy woman. Watch the first part of Michelle Obama’s Tonight Show interview below: Michelle Obama Tonight Show Interview, Part I
But she doesn’t ‘encourage’ Ava and Deacon to watch them: ‘I think it’s weird,’ she says during ‘MTV First: This Means War.’ By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Reese Witherspoon Photo: MTV News Hopefully you tuned in to MTV on Tuesday night for “MTV First: This Means War ,” during which acclaimed actress and MTV Generation Award winner Reese Witherspoon presented an exclusive clip from her upcoming film and stuck around for a lengthy chat to discuss her diverse career and various leading men, the most recent being Robert Pattinson and “War” co-stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy. Witherspoon also talked about being a mom to daughter Ava, 12, and son Deacon, 8, and whether they have started to watch any of her movies together. “Not really. I think it’s weird,” Witherspoon admitted. “I don’t encourage it, but if it comes on, we’ll watch it. They kind of find it entertaining. They’re kind of fascinated with a movie I did when I was 14. They really want to see ‘The Man in the Moon,’ because that’s sort of starting to be the age that they are.” Seeing as how many celeb kids choose to follow in their parents’ footsteps, we asked Witherspoon if her children caught the acting bug or talked about wanting to act. “It just doesn’t enter the picture. I encourage their artistic abilities at home, but they’ve never said that it’s anything they wanted to do,” Witherspoon said. The busy actress and mom also dished about her encounter with Kate Middleton at the California launch of Tusk Trust, an organization designed to preserving Africa’s culture, back in July. “That was very cool,” Witherspoon gushed of meeting the Duchess of Cambridge. “There’s such a history there, and I think there’s also a fascination with [Kate]. She carries herself so beautifully, keeps her composure, and under a lot of stress, I’m just kind of fascinated with how people handle different modes and lifestyles and all that. She’s very smart and sweet.” Stick with MTV News as we roll out more from our exclusive “MTV First: This Means War ” interview with Reese Witherspoon! Related Videos MTV First: This Means War
This dude truly ain’t shyte . According to the Fresno Bee, Neng Yang had been a teacher at Freedom Elementary in Clovis, CA since 2007. But earlier this month, a mom noticed that her daughter wasn’t on the playground having PE with the other kids. When she asked about it, her daughter said she’d been playing “the lollipop game” alone in the classroom with her teacher, in which he blindfolded her and let her taste different lollipops. Based on her description, authorities were worried abuse was involved, so they searched Yang’s classroom — and found cell phone photos and video of the girl “working her jaws” on Yang on several occasions dating back to Jan. 3. Yang’s now in jail awaiting a hearing — he could be charged with child molestation, sexual abuse of a child, and possession of obscene materials, and get up to 30 years in prison. As often (and disturbingly) happens, Yang was a trusted teacher before the arrest. And the abuse has shaken his community for reasons beyond the obvious: says one parent, “I’m Hmong, he’s a Hmong teacher. It’s a setback for us.” A Facebook commenter also called Yang a “disgrace to the Hmong community.” Nearby Fresno, CA has one of the biggest Hmong populations in the country, but Clovis is overwhelmingly white — and for a relatively small minority, a sexual abuse case centering on one of their own is doubly upsetting. Ultimately, though, everyone’s trust has been shaken. Says mom Natalie Torres: “I couldn’t believe they said that ‘everyone on staff can be trusted’ after this. That trust issue will be in the back of my mind, no matter what school my son goes to.” Which is a reminder that child abuse harms not just the victims themselves, but everyone around them, who will now have to worry about teachers playing the “lollipop game” — or something similarly awful — with their kids. We are absolutely SICKENED by this story. To victimize a child is the worst atrocity in the world. Put this dude on an express train to hell. Source More On Bossip! Which One Would You Wife? The Ladies Of “Basketball Wives” Season 4 Another Day, Another Reality Show: The “Mistresses Of Atlanta” Want To Be On TV Too! Check Out The Full Cast Of Hoes Ladies Inside True Or False??? Did Wiz Khalifa Make Amber Rose Get A Face Tattoo So He Knows It’s Real??? Hoes Struggling To Be Housewives: You Won’t BELIEVE Who Kimmy Cakes Has Her Eyes On And Got Rejected
High school students focus heavily on President Obama’s stance on education reform. By Gil Kaufman President Obama delivers the State of the Union address on Tuesday night Photo: CBS One of the most important lessons high school-age members of the Junior State of America learn is the value of vigorous yet civil debates about the state of government and foreign affairs. That’s why a handful of JSA members contacted by MTV News on Wednesday (January 25) had widely divergent but measured reactions to President Obama’s State of the Union address. “The most significant part of his speech for me was his take on education,” said Saaye Arumugam, a 17-year-old high school senior in Miamisburg, Ohio. “During the Bush administration with No Child Left Behind, the federal government perpetuated this idea that standardized education was the only route to gauge success. Obama addressed that critical thinking should outweigh this idea of standardized thinking and teaching to the test.” Obama called for states to require students to stay in school until age 18 and to replace teachers who are ineffective. The portion about lowering college interest rates also piqued the interest of home-schooled senior Chris Boyajian of Lumberton, New Jersey. “When he talked about college tuition and getting interest rates down on loans and getting tuition lower, that was important to me,” said Boyajian, 17. “[But] I didn’t agree when he said that college is for everyone. I think it’s not. There are some people who wouldn’t fit in college, but I did like what he said about getting interest rates down so we’re not paying two or three times the loan.” One reason Boyajian was so focused on the cost of college was because he’s planning to go to law school. “I’m trying very hard not to take out loans [for college] … I’m trying to pay with my family’s savings or merit-based scholarships.” Because their organization is based on civil discourse, a number of the JSA members said they were disappointed by the gridlock in Washington and not particularly optimistic about the president’s chances of getting his initiatives passed, especially during an election year. Englewood, California, senior Michael Escobar, 17, was hopeful that at least one would get pushed through: Obama’s call for a return of manufacturing to the U.S. “It’s essential for prosperity, and it rewards companies with tax breaks,” he said. “I will go to college soon and hopefully in the future there will be a job opening ready for me … A lot of students are investing a lot of money in bachelor’s and master’s, and there’s no guarantee of a job.” Escobar also paid close attention to the president’s plans to reform education, since he said he’s seen firsthand the effect of the cuts in education at his school and worries that the gridlock in Congress could stall Obama’s initiatives. “We have a lot of low-income families at my school, and it’s really frustrating,” he said about budget cuts to education. As a member of student council with access to budget and attendance information, Escobar said that since funding for advanced placement exams at his school dried up, some of the low-income families have to pay nearly $300 for AP classes out of their own pockets. “Colleges are asking for those most difficult courses, but there’s not enough funding for education to cover it.” Austin, Texas, high school senior Nick Goulding said he found himself getting increasingly irritated as the speech went on. “President Obama was saying the same things he’s been saying for three years ago now,” said Goulding, 18. “He’s trying to make people feel bad about being successful in America. When he was talking about millionaires and trying … to alienate them about their success. I don’t know why you’d want that in a president.” As an example, he mentioned his father, who came from a poor family and worked his way up to founding a very successful landscaping company. “Increasing taxes on those who are successful is counterproductive to what should occur in a free country.” And while Goulding was not enthused about the president’s call for a “Buffett tax” on millionaires and billionaires, he did appreciate how respectful Obama was when talking about the armed forces. “One of the few things I do attribute to the president as far as successes is killing Osama bin Laden and ending the wars,” he said. As a high school junior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, Julianna Ross, 16, also paid close attention to the bits about education reform, but she was focused on Obama’s plea for bipartisanship in Washington. “He basically said under our current system we can’t progress and we won’t make advancement on these issues,” she said, echoing her colleagues’ concerns. “One of the things we talk about at Junior Statesmen is fostering civil discourse … which has taught me to understand the opposing side … and learn how to compromise. That’s something that really needs to be implemented in the real world of politics.” Share your thoughts on the president’s State of the Union address in the comments below. Check back for up-to-the-minute coverage on the primary races and stick with PowerOf12.org throughout the 2012 presidential election season.
After losing three mansions in his divorce, Kobe Bryant has a new mansion to call his own. He purchased this 6-bedroom home in 2008 for over $9 million. Kobe Bryant’s new home is located in California’s Orange County, and has reportedly been under construction for two years after being built from scratch. See more photos of Kobe Bryant’s new house at TMZ . RELATED POSTS: “Basketball Wives” To Give Vanessa Bryant An “Offer She Can’t Refuse” Kobe Bryant’s Wife Vanessa, Cashes In Big With Divorce Settlement: Gets $75 Million! Kanye West Co-Signs Kobe Bryant’s System [VIDEO]
San Diego auditions aired late-night Sunday after the NFC Championship game. By Adam Graham Jane Carrey on “American Idol” Photo: FOX It was a late night for “American Idol” on Sunday, as the show’s San Diego auditions didn’t air until after the New York Giants’ overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. That meant “Idol” didn’t start until nearly 11 p.m., and didn’t wrap until just before midnight. The show — which, in an “Idol” first, took place on an aircraft carrier, the USS Midway — introduced viewers to seven of the 53 singers who earned Golden Tickets to Hollywood Week. It also showcased a singer, Jennifer Diley, who gave season eight’s Katrina “Bikini Girl” Darrell a run for her money in the skimpy-wardrobe department. Sunday’s show also featured a pair of shout-outs to Fox’s yesteryear hit “In Living Color.” In the opening moments, Jennifer Lopez was referred to as a “Fly Girl,” her role on the former sketch comedy series. Later, viewers were introduced to Jane Carrey, daughter of actor and onetime “In Living Color” star Jim Carrey, whom Lopez said she remembered as a baby on the set of the show. Carrey, now a 24-year-old waitress in Los Angeles, sang Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About,” and though she appeared slightly timid, she did earn a pass to Hollywood from the judges. “Good melody, you’ve got to work on the volume,” Steven Tyler told her after delivering the good news. A phone call to her proud papa followed, and Ace Ventura himself gushed with pride and told her, “Oh my God, is this going to be an exciting year.” Carrey’s connections helped her stand out, as did those of Ali Shields. The 19-year-old from Lodi, California, appeared as a guest on “Ellen” after she wrote a song for the talk-show queen (and former “Idol” judge). That appearance gave her the confidence to try out for “Idol,” she said, and for her first song in front of the judges, she awkwardly sang/rapped Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now,” accompanied by a cringe-worthy booty-shaking bit of “ghetto dancing” (Randy Jackson’s words). She followed with an earnest version of Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star” that better showed off her vocal ability, and it earned her one of those pretty little Golden Tickets to Hollywood. Also passing through to Tinseltown was Ashley Robles, a 26-year-old single mother from San Diego, who works as a DJ and at an insurance agency when she’s not singing. Robles took a big risk by attempting one of the biggest ballads ever, “I Will Always Love You,” but she held her own and managed to scale the song’s landmark high notes with precision and grace. Jackson called her a “natural,” while Tyler predicted, “You’re gonna be big.” Tyler also had high praise for Aubree Dieckmeyer, a 20-year-old receptionist from San Clemente, California. Dieckmeyer sang a solid version of “Feeling Good,” a standard that she credited to Michael Bubl
David Edwards was out in Beverly Hills today. The comedian talked about his upcoming projects and joked with us about some of his favorite TV. “Like” Hollywood.TV on Facebook @ facebook.com
No matter how many gifting suites, D-list “celebrities” and/or head-splitting parties the malevolent forces of modern commerce may stuff into the wintry idyll of Park City over the next week, we’ll always have the movies. And as usual, “we” also means studios and distributors with money to burn and release slates to fill. Let the Sundance bidding wars begin! “This year’s Sundance Film Festival will be the biggest buyer’s market ever,” writes Steve Pond at TheWrap, and whether or not his prediction checks out, tires will be kicked and deals will be made — perhaps as soon as the credits roll on tonight’s openers The Queen of Versailles, Hello I Must Be Going , Wish You Were Here and Searching for Sugar Man . But with apologies to those films and other buzzy titles like Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer , Stephen Frears’s Lay the Favorite , Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in New York and the hip anti-rom-com Save the Date — and in grand Movieline tradition — here are five others likeliest to have buyers fanning themselves with their checkbooks. [Plot descriptions reprinted from the Sundance 2012 Festival Guide ]
