He might be back together with Selena Gomez , but all is not perfect in the world of Justin Bieber. Police are reportedly investigating a member of the singer’s entourage, believed to be his bodyguard, after a man approached Justin at a Best But in San Fernando Valley last night and snapped a picture. Insiders tell TMZ that the bodyguard flipped out at the move, ordering the fan to delete the photo and threatening him until he obeyed. The individual felt so uneasy about the confrontation that he called the cops and filed a report when they arrived on the scene. No word yet from the superstar’s camp regarding the incident, but they have a lot to deal with these days. New Justin Bieber weed photos are allegedly circulating, as are claims that the singer was caught with Sizzurp .
A photo of President Barack Obama skeet shooting at Camp David has been released following a claim last week that he engages in the activity regularly. It is the only known photo of Obama with a gun, and also comes amid a White House-backed push for stronger gun control regulations in the U.S. The photo shows Obama targeting clay pigeons at the presidential retreat last August, which he said he does “all the time” during stays at the compound. The comment, in an interview last Sunday, was a response to a question of whether he had ever held a firearm . Obama told the New Republic: “Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations.” “And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.” Given the current political atmosphere and polarizing gun control debate , some questioned whether the claim was an embellishment or even true at all. Politicians who use firearms often advertise that fact to gun owners, but in four years in office and two national campaigns, Obama has never brought it up. “If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this?” asked Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). “Why has he not referenced it at any point [during this] gun debate?” “Why have we not seen photos?” Asked about the president’s interview, Press Secretary Jay Carney responded “I would refer you simply to his comments,” he said. “I don’t know how often.” Carney noted that when Obama travels to “Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs.” Some Obama supporters have already brushed off critics as “skeeters,” a play on the “birthers” like Donald Trump who doubted he was a U.S. citizen. “Attn skeet birthers. Make our day – let the photoshop conspiracies begin!” senior adviser and 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe wrote on Twitter. Conspiracy or not, and no matter how curiously timed the photo’s release may be, what can’t be refuted is the President’s commitment to reform. Obama signed several executive orders strengthening regulations of guns and revealed proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. The gun control push began in response to the December mass-shooting of 20 first graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. What do you think? Do you support tougher gun laws? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
Jessica Simpson has a pregnancy pal in BFF Cacee Cobb! C-squared is expecting her first child with new husband Donald Faison, she announced today, following Jess’ lead in breaking the news via social media. “Looks like @donald_faison and I are going to have a little stormtrooper of our own!” Cobb, 31, captioned the baby- and Star Wars-themed photo above. After announcing their engagement in 2011, Cacee Cobb and Donald Faison , 38, married at Zach Braff’s home in California on December 15. The baby-to-be is Cobb’s first child and Faison’s fifth; he has three kids with ex-wife Lisa Askey, and a son from a prior relationship. Congrats!
A photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger getting down and dirty is worth a healthy amount, according to a really popular source that deals in such things. The Arnold Schwarzenegger sex photo , which was discovered in a storage locker earlier this week, could fetch $150,000 minimum, YouPorn believes. In fact, they’d pay that for it right now, sight unseen! As celebrity news site TMZ first reported, entrepreneur Jeremy Frommer purchased storage lockers owned by deceased Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. In them, he found a virtual treasure trove of celebrity erotica, including unpublished nude photos of Madonna, Lauren Hutton, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. YouPorn is interested, offering $150,000 up front . No one has seen it, but the nude Arnold pic supposedly shows him in the act. YouPorn writes, “Let’s face it. The real value here is in Schwarzenegger’s ‘Schwanz.'” It’s unclear if Frommer plans to take the deal. It’s also unclear if the photo will fetch more than the total gross box office receipts of The Last Stand . Suffice it to say, he’s a tad rusty as an actor these days.
Even as retirement looms, Steven Soderbergh still has a feature in the pipeline destined for the big screen. But as his theatrical career apparently heads toward its sunset, the Oscar-winning filmmaker is taking a swing at the movie-making machine that has left him – at least now – not wanting to make more pictures. [ Related: Soderbergh’s Liberace Pic ‘Behind The Candelabra’: What’s ‘Too Gay’ for Hollywood? ] Soderbergh’s retirement has been discussed since he first announced it in 2011. In that time he has brought a number of films to theaters including Contagion , Haywire , Magic Mike and the soon-to-be released Side Effects next month. He also is finishing the Liberace feature Behind the Candelabra starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon for HBO. “The worst development in filmmmaking – particularly in the last five years – is how badly directors are treated,” he said to Vulture. It’s become absolutely horrible the way the people with the money decide they can fart in the kitchen, to put it bluntly. It’s not just studios – it’s who is financing a film. I guess I don’t understand the assumption that the director is presumptively wrong about what the audience wants or needs when they are the first audience, in a way. And probably got into making movies because of being in that audience.” Soderbergh recalled when filmmakers were allowed more latitude and noted that seasoned audiences had spotted the trend and have turned to television instead. “It’s true that when I was growing up, there was a sort of division: respect was accorded to people who made great movies and to people who made movies that made a lot of money,” he said. “And that division just doesn’t exist anymore. Now it’s just the people who make a lot of money.” Continuing he added that television, which has become an increasingly important outlet for auteurs, indie filmmaker and even veterans of Hollywood and the measure of success both creatively and in absolute numbers is more flexible. “I’ve said before, I think that the audience for the kinds of movies I grew up liking has migrated to television,” he said. “The format really allows for the narrow and deep approach that I like. Three and a half million people watching a show on cable is a success. That many people seeing a movie is not a success. I just don’t think movies matter as much any more, culturally.” Side Effects will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next month. [ Sources: Vulture , The Guardian ]
Twenty years after John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson , as Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, became arguably the most iconic hitman duo in contemporary cinema, it’s hard to imagine any other actors tackling those roles — especially the Royale with Cheese conversation. But the new issue of Vanity Fair serves as a reminder that their Pulp Fiction parts almost went to other actors. The magazine’s annual Hollywood issue includes an oral history on the making of Quentin Tarantino’s violent 1994 masterpiece that recalls Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein was seriously opposed to Travolta being cast as the marvelously mooky Vega. “John Travolta was at that time as cold as they get,” Tarantino’s William Morris Endeavor agent Mike Simpson tells the magazine. “He was less than zero.” When Tarantino, who was dead-set on Travolta playing the role, submitted a term sheet that included his final choice of actors for the movie, Weinstein approved all of his choices except for the onetime Saturday Night Fever star. Two much more bankable actors, Daniel Day-Lewis and Bruce Willis , had read the script and expressed interest in playing Vega, and Sean Penn and William Hurt were also on Weinstein’s short list. But Tarantino and his agent proved to be even more stubborn. When negotiations over Travolta came down to the wire, and Weinstein attempted to put off casting the actor, Simpson told the movie mogul: “You’re going to agree to it right now, or there’s no deal.” Weinstein blinked, and former Miramax production head Richard Gladstein says that 20 minutes into a screening of the finished film, Harvey cracked, “I’m so glad I had the idea to cast John Travolta.” Jackson, on the other hand, almost lost the role to Paul Calderon ( Out of Sight , 21 Grams ) and had to fly in for an eleventh-hour audition. He wasn’t happy about it, especially after one of the producers confused him with actor Laurence Fishburne ( The Matrix ). That actually turned out to be a good thing based on this distillation of the audition: “I sort of was angry, pissed, tired,” Jackson recalls. He was also hungry, so he bought a takeout burger on his way to the studio, only to find nobody there to greet him. “When they came back, a line producer or somebody who was with them said, ‘I love your work, Mr. Fishburne,’” says Jackson. “It was like a slow burn. He doesn’t know who I am? I was kind of like, Fuck it. At that point I really didn’t care.” Gladstein remembers Jackson’s audition: “In comes Sam with a burger in his hand and a drink in the other hand and stinking like fast food. Me and Quentin and Lawrence were sitting on the couch, and he walked in and just started sipping that shake and biting that burger and looking at all of us. I was scared shitless. I thought that this guy was going to shoot a gun right through my head. His eyes were popping out of his head. And he just stole the part.” Lawrence Bender adds, “He was the guy you see in the movie. He said, ‘Do you think you’re going to give this part to somebody else? I’m going to blow you motherfuckers away.’” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Like those vintage 1980s Reese’s Peanut Butter cup ads built around the “Two great tastes that taste great together,” tag line, this photo tweeted by J.J. Abrams ‘ Bad Robot production company is a cool visual mash-up of the filmmaker’s past and future work. No pressure, Mr. Abrams! If you’ve never seen the Reese’s ads, here’s a particularly gooey one. For the record, I have never seen an actual human walking in public while eating from a container of peanut butter, emblazoned with the words “peanut butter.” If you have, please record your sightings in the comments section below and I’ll get the folks at Fringe on it right away. They’ve got some time on their hands. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
According to Manti Te’o , he is not gay. In fact, he is far, far, far from gay . But Ronaiah Tuiasosopo? The man who has admitted to being behind the Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax that rocked a school and a country? Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview Tease In a preview of the interview that will run later this week, Dr. Phil appeared this morning on The Today Show and said of Ronaiah: “Here we have a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love,” he says, adding of the taped Q&A: “I ask him straight up… was this a romantic relationship with you? And he says, ‘Yes.'” So Phil followed up: “I said, are you then, therefore, gay? And he says, ‘Well, when you put it that way, yes.'” But the psychologist said Tuiasosopo then “caught himself” and clarified: “I am confused.” That much is certain. Phil says the 22-year old admitted to running the scheme, accepting responsibility but also saying a handful of life experiences have “damaged” him across the board. That much, sadly, is also certain.
