More photos from the LA premiere of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. This doesn’t come out for another two and a half weeks, but the press tour started over the weekend and I’m sure we’re going to have Avengers stories and interviews every damn day from here on out. As for the ladies of the Marvel world, I actually thought Scarlett Johansson was the best-dressed at last night’s premiere. Her styling wasn’t so “Elsa Pataky” and it was more like ScarJo. This black (mullet) dress is Stella McCartney. Easily one of the best Stella dresses I’ve seen in a while.

I’m still not feeling Chris Evans and his neurotic chunk-butt, but Bedhead loves him so I’ll try to say something nice: he looks good with a beard. I actually think he looks BETTER with a beard. And for my money, he had the best suit out of all the Avenger dudes.

It just occurred to me as I was looking at the Robert Downey Jr. photos that it seems like Pepper Potts is not in Age of Ultron? Gwyneth Paltrow is not listed for the cast. So Ultron has NO PEPPER. And thus, she did not go to the premiere. So just make due with RDJ and Susan Downey. I feel like they could have coordinated better?

Mark Ruffalo is still the best, right? Right. Mark brought his whole family to the premiere.

Jeremy Renner, the forgotten Avenger. He looks pretty good.

And here’s Jaimie Alexander in Mugler. Is it wrong that I actually like this? She’s also showing off her engagement ring from Peter Facinelli – you can see a better photo of the HUGE ring here.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The LA premiere for The Avengers: Age of Ultron was held last night with much fanfare. I’m breaking up the pics into several different posts, just because there are SO MANY PHOTOS. I was kind of hoping that Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba would come out for the first premiere, Tommy especially. Both Tom and Idris allegedly have cameos in Ultron, but neither came to the premiere. Which is probably why Chris Hemsworth has such sad eyes. Poor Hemsworth! Missing his BFF. Thank God Elsa Pataky was there to keep Chris looking pleasant enough. Everyone’s talking about Elsa’s dress and how low-cut it was. I don’t think it’s the best design for her overall, but her body looks good. I like how she’s growing out her hair too.

Here’s Elizabeth Olsen, aka the Scarlet Witch. Olsen wore Galvan, and it’s kind of boring.

Cobie Smulders wore a blue and white Bibhu Mohapatra dress. This isn’t my favorite but she looks fine. It’s kind of a boring dress on a boring girl, right?

Linda Cardellini was only recently revealed to be part of this film. No one knows for sure who she’s playing. It’s all a big conspiracy/secret. Her dress is Yanina Couture.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

New mom Blake Lively covers the May issue of Allure and opens up about family life with husband Ryan Reynolds and their 3-month-old daughter James.

On how motherhood has changed her: “I feel like I’ve figured out the most important thing to me. And everything supports that… And also, having a child makes you realize that we pass on for a reason. You think, ‘I have to go, because it makes room for you.’”

On breastfeeding: “[It’s] a full-time job. I’m, like, driving down the road, pumping.”

On her baby bump reveal on Preserve: “My brother took that photo—he’s an amazing photographer. That moment was really neat, and I was scared to take that picture because I’m very private. I had a feeling that we weren’t going to get away with our privacy for a while. That was my way of owning that moment. I can’t be someone like Beyoncé and be like— [her 2011 VMAs announcement],” she joked. “But it was important for us. It was a struggle, because we want to keep our privacy, but we also don’t want our lives to be exploited by other people. So we did it simply; it was a quiet way, an elegant way.”

On the concept of “having it all”: “Most of the things I do are all-consuming, but somehow I find a way to do it all. It’s not having it all; it’s about doing it all, but it’s dangerous to dilute that to a catchphrase. Having it all could be having a happy, healthy family, and you could be a mom who stays at home, and that is the most admirable thing you could do. Or it could be having a profession that you really believe in, and not having a family, and doing what fulfills you… If it’s not a part of a conversation with someone face-to-face, those bites are why women tear each other apart or why the media will tear people apart.”

For more from Blake, go to Allure…

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Here are some photos of LeAnn Rimes at LAX on Saturday. She looks like she’s about to go to Coachella, right? That was what I assumed, but nope – she was heading off to perform at (this is not a joke) the Gold Country Casino in Oroville, California. Shockingly, while she complained about it on Twitter, LeAnn didn’t invent some mysterious ailment to get out of performing. Shocking, I know.

Unfortunately for LeAnn, she had to leave Eddie and her stepsons behind. They had been enjoying a Spring Break holiday which involved LeAnn posting tons of Instagrams, of course. One of them drew special attention:

#boating #braids #veryhappychick @acaciaswimwear @naominewirth @lyndieirons #family #springbreak2015

A photo posted by LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (@leannrimes) on Apr 8, 2015 at 4:27pm PDT

It took me a second to figure out what we were supposed to be looking at. I think LeAnn posted it so we could look at her body (obviously), but the lighting drew attention to her stretch marks. Personally, I don’t give a crap about stretch marks – some women get them, some blessed people don’t. I would never “bully” LeAnn or anyone else for their stretch marks because it’s not something that can be helped (something that can helped = a terrible boob job). As you can see on the above IG, LeAnn posted the photo with a bunch of hashtags and then she wrote to her fans: “They don’t cover it all but (no pun intended) it doesn’t look good on women when you have too much material. I hope to help all women embrace their bodies and be proud of their curves, stretch marks…. Whatever! (Stretch marks I have) To have a ‘bikini body’ you must put a bikini on your body!!”

LeAnn has talked about her stretch marks before – go here to read. Eh. I mean, good for her and good for body-positivity. I guess this is LeAnn’s “fight” now: she’s an advocate for stretch marks. And bikinis.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Instagram.

On Sunday night, Drake performed at Coachella. In what was clearly a rehearsed bit, Madonna suddenly joined him on stage. He was seated and she came up behind him, pulled his head back and kissed him. Well, she INHALED him. She tried to eat his face, more like. Here’s the video:

Since this was obviously rehearsed, many wondered why Drake seemed to be so “grossed out” by the kiss after it was over. He grimaces and wipes his mouth as if he tasted something disgusting. As it turns out, he was grossed out, but not about Madonna as a person. He just thought her lipstick was gross.

Drake was not grossed out when Madonna planted a prolonged lip-lock on him at Coachella Sunday night … his reaction was all about lipstick aftertaste. Sources close to Drake tell TMZ … he loved the kiss. As for whether the kiss was prearranged, Drake says it wasn’t … the plan was for Madonna to dance around him while he sat in the chair.

Drake says he was not banking on a transfer of the glossy stuff and that’s why he blanched.

[From TMZ]

Bulls—t. I mean, it’s totally possible that she was wearing some cryptkeeper-tasting lipstick, but the rest of it is crap. Drake and Madge totally rehearsed the kiss and he was supposed to be into it. He pulled a face and that wasn’t what they rehearsed!!

Incidentally, Madonna recently named Drake as her “dream date”. She’s into him and of course she wanted to kiss him. I hope Drake does take her out on a date. Drake might want Madge to put on some weight though.

View image | gettyimages.com

Moments to write home about ???? ????????

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Apr 13, 2015 at 6:00am PDT

Photos courtesy of Getty, Instagram, Fame/Flynet.

At #Easter lunch with my amazing family and extended family. Loving on my precious nephew Boz! @imdeanmcdermott @scoutmasterson @thebillhorn @sethchernoff #TheFamilyYouChooseToCreateIsEverything

A photo posted by Tori Spelling (@torispelling) on Apr 5, 2015 at 4:42pm PDT

We’ve been on an unofficial moraTORIum lately and return with some somber news. This photo, which was taken on Easter, hails from Tori Spelling’s Instagram page. She’s sitting in a Benihana restaurant with her nephew. Tori posted several photos on Easter, one of which made reference to a “Benihana Burn!” Tori’s caption went unnoticed for over a week. Now a report has miraculously materialized to fill in the Benihana blanks.

The Mail’s exclusive report says that Tori and Dean McDermott were enjoying a peaceful Easter lunch with family when disaster struck. Tori reportedly tripped and fell onto a grill at Benihana. Her “heel caught” as she left the restaurant, and she “fell backward onto a hot hibachi.” She “shouted in pain” but tried to appear “brave” in front of her children. The Mail has photos of Tori checking out her arm outside the restaurant. She rushed to the hospital and needed immediate skin grafts to avoid infection and scarring.

Are you following so far? Kaiser, CB, and I spent too much time attempting to digest the logistics of this report. The story does sound embellished, and it almost certainly came straight from a Tori source. The delayed timing of the tale is too suspicious, sort of like someone was frustrated the press never noticed something was amiss. Honestly, I’ve lost track of how many times Tori has required hospitalization for medical conditions over the past few years. She gets sick a lot, which happens. But Instagramming hospital selfies seems like an attention grabbing tactic.

The Benihana hibachi is an interesting specimen. These things aren’t cavernous, unguarded pits in the middle of a room. They’re enclosed inside a table (Michael K at DListed posted a handy reference pic and analysis). It would take a freak accident to land atop the grill portion. All I know is that where every Tori goes, drama follows. There was also a bizarre story last week about Dean allegedly cheating again, this time with his ex-wife, Mary Jo Eustace. Tori can relax. Mary Jo knows she isn’t missing anything when it comes to Dean.

FYI: Dean gave a timely interview yesterday about his “amazing, absolutely amazing” marriage to Tori. Dean just happens to be promoting his upcoming cookbook called The Gourmet Dad: Easy And Delicious Meals The Whole Family Will Love. I’m assuming the book contains NO recipes from Benihana.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

As predicted, Bobby Flay and Stephanie March’s divorce has already gotten messy. We knew this was coming. Even as the rumors of their separation began to circulate last week, most media outlets noted all of the rumors about Flay’s wandering eye. Flay filed for divorce on Friday and over the weekend, there were the first moments of push-back from March’s camp. She’s being painted as a woman who has gone through some health struggles and is now taking care of an ailing mother. And even though March is famous for Law & Order: SVU, she really hasn’t worked much in the past five years or so. So even though there’s a prenup, March is looking to walk away with a nice settlement. But Flay isn’t playing. According to TMZ, they’re already fighting about money:

Bobby Flay’s estranged wife says the famous chef is a brute who’s using his fortune to bully her into an immoral settlement. Stephanie March has declared war on Bobby, who filed for divorce last week. Her lawyer fired off a letter to Bobby’s attorney, expressing outrage because the chef sent Stephanie a measly $5,000 check for monthly support. TMZ broke the story, they signed a prenup in 2005 which established support at $5k a month.

Stephanie’s lawyer returned the $5,000 check, along with some choice words — “We regard the support provisions of the pre-marital agreement as unenforceable (not to mention morally reprehensible).”

It gets worse. Stephanie’s lawyer says Bobby was “bullying through economic warfare” by cancelling the credit card she uses for household expenses, such as groceries and pet supplies. And there’s more. Her lawyer says Bobby’s trying to pressure her into issuing a joint press release saying the split is amicable. Her lawyer says that’s a lie, in no small part because Bobby’s demanding she sign a settlement agreement or else she can’t stay in the marital home with her sick mother.

Her lawyer ends by suggesting Bobby was unfaithful, but acknowledges he denies it. Her lawyer then says Bobby tried to sling mud by suggesting Stephanie had an affair, which she says is an absolute lie.

[From TMZ]

It’s smart of March’s camp to go to TMZ. For now, the New York-based outlets (Page Six, the NYDN) are still dutifully reporting whatever Flay’s publicist tells them. Like, a “source” went to Page Six yesterday and said, “Bobby is sad the situation has come to this and does not wish to add the unfortunate public airing of very private issues.” Of course, at the end of the day, all of the gossip outlets want to fan the flames. They want this to get messy. And it probably will get a lot worse. My gossip prediction? Some of Flay’s former employees are going to start telling their stories about what he’s like as a boss (with a staff full of young, attractive women).

As for the money stuff… I can sort of see the point of canceling the credit cards because she did sign the prenup back in the day. But now she wants the prenup nullified and she’s willing to wage this war in public. Flay has an empire and he could easily give her a generous settlement to make this all go away. That being said, I don’t really like “woe is Stephanie March” because she doesn’t believe she could live on $5000 a month. $5000 a month doesn’t go very far in NYC, granted, but I still don’t feel sorry for her.

Oh, and Flay told March that she has six months to move herself and her sick mother out of the apartment they shared in NYC. Now THAT is sympathetic.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Ireland Baldwin has entered rehab for what sounds like substance abuse issues. I first saw this story yesterday via Radar and thought the details sounded a bit dramatic. The report said Ireland was “kicking and screaming” (because she didn’t want to miss Coachella) as she entered a cushy Malibu treatment center. She did intake with the help of her mom, Kim Basinger, and checked in over the weekend. Ireland reportedly “did not think that she has a problem but she has been partying non-stop” and only sought treatment after family grew concerned. Ireland must have gotten wind of Radar’s report, which quickly spread to other outlets. She took to Twitter to explain her situation from rehab:

(1) Apparently I’m in rehab for intensive partying soooo I’m just going to lay pretty low for a bit and maybe get some frozen yogurt

(2) I checked myself into Soba for two weeks to just get away for a little bit. I’m not much a party cat but I am here deal with…

(3) some emotional trauma and getting the intensive therapy I needed in order to recover. Someday I’ll feel ready to share my story…

(4) openly without feeling the way I do. Right now I just needed a breather. I needed a chance to work on myself and gather all the tools…

(5) I need to overcome everything that I had been through and rid myself of all the pain I locked away in unreachable places.

[From Ireland Baldwin on Twitter]

Hmm. Radar’s report hinted that Ireland went in for alcohol rehab after “partying non stop.” Ireland seems to be poking fun at the “intensive partying” claim in her tweets, but it’s hard to read without context (or emoji). She claims to be getting some heavy therapy for emotional issues, which could be due to anything. Perhaps alcohol or drugs, or maybe it’s because she and Angel Haze probably broke up. They had a very intense romance last year, and they both suddenly stopped mentioning each other on social media.

I was wondering how Ireland was doing last week after reports that she would attend acting school in NYC despite saying, “I absolutely hate New York.” She also (oddly) changed her Instagram name to “Beatrix Kiddo.” Those details are likely incidental. Let’s hope Ireland gets the help she needs in rehab. Where’s Alec Baldwin in all this? He hasn’t said anything.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

Sometimes, I’ll read a gossip story and I just have such major question marks floating over my head. Maybe I don’t know enough about child development to know what makes a child gifted or special. But this story about Prince George feels… weird…? First of all, it doesn’t come from Duchess Kate or Prince William or random, unnamed royal sources. This story comes from a “luxury travel advisor” named Claudia Gordon. Claudia recently had “lunch” with Duchess Kate. Which is hilarious to me for some reason. THIS is how Kate spends her time, people. She’s not making “secret trips” to charities. She’s lunching with luxury travel advisors to plan out her first, second and third post-baby vacations. Maldives again? Perhaps some five-star luxury hunting lodge in Kenya so William would have something to “do”. Anyway, Claudia gave an interview and she gushed about Prince George and how brilliant he is.

Prince George genius? At just shy of 2 years, Prince George has already proven himself to be a baby genius. When the royal toddler heard that his dad Prince William was visiting China, he immediately went to look for him – inside a china cabinet.

Luxury travel adviser Claudia Gordon had the good fortune of sitting down for lunch with Princess Kate recently, during which the pregnant princess shared the cute tale.

“I asked her if Prince George was excited about the new prince or princess that was coming and she said yes and that he is a toddler and is talking and walking,” Gordon told the Florida News-Press. “Then she told me that his daddy, Prince William, was visiting China. After hearing this he went to the china cabinet, opened it and proclaimed ‘daddy is not here.’ ”

Added Gordon: “She said they would work on his geography.”

[From People]

It’s a cute story. It really is adorable. It’s the kind of story that a mom would tell her friends (friends = luxury travel advisors). But does it mean that George is a genius? Er? Not really. It’s just a cute story. That being said, I have high hopes for George. I hope he will be smart and compassionate and that he won’t take after either parent with their dull-as-dishwater personalities.

As for the new baby, the latest from the London gambling houses is that boy or girl, the baby will be called Sam, perhaps after Will and Kate’s friend Sam Waley-Cohen. I’m fine with Sam, which is how I know they won’t name the baby Sam. They named their firstborn George Alexander Louis, you know? The name will be super-conservative and probably sound “dated” to us. They will not name this baby Sam, Simon, Colin, Katniss, Maddie or Bella.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

I still can’t with Scarlett Johansson’s Elsa Pataky styling. Why did you do this to your hair, ScarJo?! Oh well… it will grow out. As you can imagine, the press tour for The Avengers: Age of Ultron has begun in earnest. For the next month, it’s going to be endless premieres, press events, interviews and photo-ops with all involved. It was also just announced that Scarlett will be hosting Saturday Night Live on May 2 (Ultron comes out the previous day). It will be ScarJo’s fourth time hosting the show – she keeps getting asked back because (to her credit) she’s really good on SNL. She’s funny and she’s good at impressions and accents.

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of new interviews with ScarJo, so here are some assorted quotes that I found interesting:

Her stunt work while pregnant: “I don’t think you’re allowed to ride a motorcycle when you’re so pregnant, but I did. I did all of the motorcycle riding. I embarrassingly rode some sort of mechanical-bull type of motorcycle, which goes nowhere and doesn’t look cool, at all. But, I had some very professional and amazing motor-cross morphing done that makes Black Widow look like a total badass.”

The experience of motherhood: ” I’m such a newbie at this. I always really hate it when actors or people in the spotlight make giant grandiose statements about parenthood because it’s so, so personal. And I don’t profess to know anything more about parenting than anybody else.”

How baby Rose has changed her life: “I have a greater responsibility now so that will definitely affect my schedule. Before (Rose), I just made the choices that were affecting me but now I’m responsible for somebody else. Eventually I will have to work less and it might even make me more discerning. We’ll see, but I think having any kind of huge life-changing event happen to you, such as having children, and it’s such a different life now in the best possible way, is very, very inspiring. I think it will hopefully enrich my work as well as my understanding of myself. That’s the hope anyway, you never know.”

[From Daily Telegraph & People Magazine]

I like ScarJo more for saying that she wouldn’t be making any “grandiose statements” about motherhood. Because that’s what so many celebrity moms do, especially the judgy-mother-mafia of LA. Scarlett loves her baby and enjoys motherhood. Beyond that, do we really need to hear about Rose’s magical bowel movements or how motherhood aligns the cosmos? No, we do not.

As for Scarlett riding a motorcycle – I was confused on that point? Is she saying that she rode a motorcyle for-real in some scenes and in other scenes, she just rode the fake-cycle?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN.