I’m trying to remember the last time I saw Nikki Reed in a non-Twilight movie. Her IMDb page reveals a semi-steady workload of mostly VOD titles. She does do a lot of charity work. This photo shows Nikki at a Lindt Gold Bunny auction to benefit autism research. Nikki has a brother on the autism spectrum, so this cause is very personal to her.

Nikki also has a new interview with Yahoo! to promote her new partnership with Thrive Market, which is an online membership service that offers organic and non-GMO groceries at wholesale prices. They claim Whole Foods quality at Costco prices. For every membership sold, Thrive will donate one to a low-income family. The company website says a yearly membership costs about $60, and then you buy groceries at a discount. Nikki finds this Thrive partnership to be a personal cause too. She tells Yahoo! that she didn’t have healthy or organic foods available at all when she was growing up. This sounds like something Vivienne Westwood should read:

Nikki’s early career goals: “I wanted to be a vet and take care of animals. I didn’t ever think of myself as an actress.”

Her poor childhood: “I grew up eating off the dollar menu at every fast food restaurant. When you have a single mother that makes $15,000 a year for her two kids in a major city like Los Angeles, money runs out quickly. If my mom could have afforded it she would have bought healthy organic vegetables, but we didn’t have the money.”

Her career these days: “I do feel like it’s important for women in particular to focus on having a little more control over the roles that they choose. Creating something is oftentimes your best bet. I’m actually currently writing a feature that I’m planning on directing. I started in this business when I was only 13, and I’m still very young. At this age my primary focus and goal is chasing directors I want to work with and chasing material.”

[From Yahoo! Style]

Nikki also talks about her her endless supply of pets (including a horse with Ian) are taken care of by her mom. Nikki built her mom a guest house so she can always be present for pet care. Strange? It’s not quite a Katy Perry move. Nikki provides free room and board for her mom in exchange for pet care. I guess it works for everyone involved. Nikki’s very generous with animals and active with charity. I’m sure she’s geting a cut from this Thrive deal, but she’s also trying to bring attention to the free memberships for low-income families. Still … I gotta throw a little shade at Nikki and Ian Somerhalder’s red carpet behavior at last month’s Noble Awards. Who does this?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

Dear Gossips,

So about Going Clear which aired on HBO on Sunday…

Haven’t written about it because I haven’t seen it. And I haven’t seen it because it didn’t air in Canada. Canadian distributors have decided instead to give the film a proper theatrical run starting on May 8th.

Did you…      

Avril Lavigne went underground at some point last year. She had been behaving normally (for her), promoting her album and shooting music videos and dealing with her disastrous marriage to Chad Kroeger, and then… she went dark. There were rumors that she was dealing with some kind of health crisis. There were rumors about drugs and alcohol too. And rumors about her marriage. It was all a big question mark, but now Avril is talking. She got the cover of this week’s People Magazine to discuss how she has been battling Lyme disease. Yikes!

I’m so afraid of Lyme disease, probably because I live in a somewhat half-suburban/half-rural area with lots of animals and fleas and ticks. My dog has brought ticks into the house before, and they always freak me out. I have a friend with Lyme disease too, and it was devastating for her – she was in a wheelchair for six months and the doctors did next to nothing. She felt like she was dying. It sounds like Avril had a very similar experience. Some highlights from the People cover story:

She started getting really sick last October: “I could barely eat, and when we went to the pool, I had to leave and go lie in bed. My friends asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ I didn’t know.”

Being diagnosed with a severe case of Lyme disease: “I had no idea a bug bite could do this. I was bedridden for five months. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk and I couldn’t move. I thought I was dying. There were definitely times I couldn’t shower for a full week because I could barely stand. It felt like having all your life sucked out of you.”

Her fans: “They were asking about me since I was MIA, so I mentioned to one fan directly that I wasn’t feeling good. The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply.”

How she is now: “I’m 80 percent better. This was a wake-up call. I really just want to enjoy life from here on out.”

[From People]

Avril also told People that her mom moved in with her to take care of her and that Chad would come home in between Nickelback gigs to see her. While it doesn’t sound like her marriage is very strong, it does sound like Avril got some perspective. I feel sorry for her and it seems like her health really was in crisis. Poor Avril.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, cover courtesy of People.

I’ve grown to like Zoe Kravitz more and more over the years. Do I think she’s a world-class actress? Eh, not really. But she’s an interesting celebrity and I like seeing her choices, her friendships, her fashion and her boyfriends. She’s more interesting to me than most of the 20-something starlets out there. Zoe covers the new issue of Complex – you can read the full piece here, plus see the latex-themed photoshoot. It’s sort of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with a dash of Fifty Shades of Grey. The interview is wide-ranging, with discussion about her parents, her past eating disorders and an acknowledgment that she’s benefitted from nepotism. Some highlights:

Her “normal” life: “When I was younger. I really wanted to prove to people I was a normal human being, that I was cool, chill. When kids were mean, the first thing they’d say is, ‘She thinks she’s so f–king cool because her dad is famous,’ I just wanted to fit in.”

Lenny Kravitz was a super-embarrassing dad: “He would come pick me up from school sometimes when he was in town in a sports car and a netted shirt, and I’d be like, ‘Ugh.’ That was when ‘Fly Away’ came out.”

Her struggles with eating disorders: “I had a really hard time when I was 16, 17, 18. I started with the eating disorder in high school… Just [a hard time] loving myself.” In high school, she became anorexic and bulimic—“awful diseases” she’d battle to various degrees until the last two or so years. And here, she’s willing to acknowledge to a certain degree her pedigree playing a darker kind of role: “I think it was part of being a woman, and being surrounded by [fame]… I don’t think it was about the fame, but I think it was definitely about being around that world, seeing that world. I felt pressured.”

Playing an anorexic in ‘The Road Within’ in 2013: “My parents got really scared for me to go back down that road. It was f–ked up, man. You could see my rib cage. I was just trying to lose more weight for the film but I couldn’t see: You’re there. Stop. It was scary.” She got sick after filming wrapped. She didn’t get her period regularly because she was too malnourished. Her immune system shut down, her thyroid was thrown off.

Moving past her eating disorder: “It made me not only confront my demons, but also realize and accept an insecurity that’s still there, and [that it’s] easy to fall back into that pattern. I feel like something has left my body, like some part of me is gone now, something that was making me so insecure. And it feels amazing.”

She admits that things were handed to her: “It was very easy for me to get an agent when I wanted to act, for obvious reasons. And I don’t know, maybe it’s not because they thought I was talented—I wasn’t the most talented girl in the world when I was 15. It was because my parents were famous, and they were like, ‘Cool, maybe we can make money off of that.’ I know so many talented people that do the most amazing things but they need to work at a restaurant. I don’t. I can make all the art I want and get paid to do it—it’s f–king crazy. I’m so thankful for it.”

The situation with Drake: They’re “very good friends… I’m very flirtatious. [But] he’s family to me. He’s a really, really awesome dude. We inspire each other. We play each other music.”

[From Complex]

I think she’s totally hitting it with Drake. Now, I don’t think she’s his girlfriend or anything, but my guess is that they have some kind of friends-with-benefits situation. And I’ll also believe that she has the same kind of situation with Chris Pine (get it, girl). But even Zoe admits that guys don’t ask her out and she’s constantly being told, “You’re so cool that I can’t handle it.” I believe that.

As for her eating disorders… I didn’t realize she was struggling with anorexia and bulimia so recently. Like, it sounds as if she only got her health on track in the past two years. I’m glad she’s doing better and I hope she’s surrounding herself with positive people.

Photos courtesy of Complex.

Lupita Nyong’o covers the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK. It’s a beautiful cover, right? She’s so flawless. It’s like she’s being lit from within. This Bazaar feature is called “The New Face of Beauty”. You can read Bazaar UK’s excerpts here and here are some highlights:

The buzz around her: “You know, I thought it would come to an end after the Oscars. I thought the Oscars would come and go and then all of a sudden everything would be back to normal and I’d be back in my apartment.’

The Oscar season: “You know what kept me sane? Not knowing. Having never really experienced that before… because this was new territory I had no normal. I had no sense of what was normal in that world. It was all new. I don’t think [I would attend that many events again]. Not to that extent.”

What kept her sane: “Emma Thompson, Emma Thompson, Emma Thompson, Emma Thompson. It was such a relief… witnessing her going through that whole thing with an ease and a playfulness and just abandon. That is like the person I want to be. I want to be that comfortable even in this very alien environment that you get put in.”

Her emotional awards speeches: “I wish that I took it more lightly sometimes because it costs a lot. Which is why I can’t do those speeches every weekend, because it costs a lot to share from such a deep place, if you will. But I don’t know how to speak from any other place. Kenyans are very ceremonial. There is a formality that comes with gatherings and comes from our colonial conditioning… Oratory is something that’s really important to Kenyans, the way one speaks to the masses, it’s an art almost.”

The responsibility she feels: “I don’t feel like the responsibility I feel comes from any place other than my gut. I feel a responsibility to speak about certain things because I wish someone had spoken about them for me. I know I’m in a unique position where lots of people all over the world are seeing me and connecting with me, and perhaps because of my demographic and how limited representation is for my demographic, I do feel not a responsibility but an impetus to speak. It’s an impetus… It’s 2015, man. We could all use some diversity. It can get tedious to have to explain that I speak English because Kenyans speak English.”

[From Bazaar UK & E! News]

I love her but I wish she had more to discuss than winning the Oscar last year. But Lupita is thriving, thank God. It would have been awful for all of us if her career just withered after her Oscar-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave. Lupita has spent the past year quietly working and building up a portfolio of projects. She filmed a part in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She’s doing voice work for one of the adaptations of The Jungle Book. And just a few days ago, she arrived in Uganda to begin filming Queen of Katwe. Queen of Katwe is based on the true story of chess wunderkind Phionah Mutesi, who trained to become an international chess champion. Lupita will play the girl’s mother and David Oyelowo plays the chess coach.

A few days ago, Lupita was the guest of honor at a fundraiser for the Maisha gardens in Buziga – you can see some photos from the event here. Apparently, Lupita was a huge hit and everyone wanted to talk to her. I think Ugandans are very proud that Lupita has come to their country to film a movie.

Here’s an exclusive first look at my @bazaaruk @LancomeUK @Lancomeofficial cover!

A photo posted by Lupita Nyong’o (@lupitanyongo) on Mar 31, 2015 at 12:00pm PDT

Cover courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar UK, Instagram.

I’ve been waiting for the anti-Angelina Jolie people to point out the super-obvious conspiracy theory that Angelina clearly only had her ovaries removed because Unbroken is coming out on DVD this week. Totally. Or, you know, she had a legitimate cancer scare and decided to undergo the surgery she had been planning on doing for the past two years. In any case, yes, Unbroken is out on DVD now. To promote the release, Angelina sat down with Elle to talk about the film, directing, Louis Zamperini, and how it’s not enough to just be informed of all of the bad sh-t happening in the world. Some highlights:

She’d rather direct than act: “I prefer directing to acting. There is huge freedom that comes from being behind the camera. It brings a lot of responsibilities as well, but is intensely rewarding. Particularly the chance to help draw out the best in young actors, like Jack O’Connell in Unbroken, who is a remarkable talent.”

Whether she wishes she could redo some scenes: “I tend not to look back and dwell on a project once it is finished. But I do remember how intense the atmosphere was on-set filming some of the tougher scenes [such as] when Louie is being brutalized. It was very moving how always, after those scenes, the actors involved would check [and make sure that] everyone was okay and look out for each other.”

The lessons from Louie’s story: “Like many of the greatest human stories, it is about the capacity of regular men and women to rise above adversity. It reminds us never to give up, and that having the spirit to fight is what really matters. It is powerful because it speaks to the potential inside all of us…I do believe in the old saying ‘What does not kill you makes you stronger.’ Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.”

If she could redirect the nature of news/gossip: “It is not really the nature of the news, but what we do with the information we have. We know more than ever before in history about conflict and injustice happening across the world, but the will to translate that knowledge into pressure and action at a global level somehow seems to be lacking. Time and again, after massacres and atrocities, the world says, ‘never again.’ But in Syria today, to take just one example, these things are happening with impunity in the full knowledge of the world. We need a greater focus on solutions—not just on information.”

[From Elle Magazine]

Can I just say? I appreciate Angelina so much for never taking a pot-shot even when she’s been handed a golden opportunity. No, Angelina will not trash-talk the mainstream media or the gossip media. No, she will not make some kind of roundabout statement that is ultimately self-serving to her image as a celebrity. She’s not playing that game. Instead, she reminds us all that it’s not just about awareness and knowledge… it’s about gaming out solutions to these complicated problems.

As for the Unbroken DVD… I saw Unbroken in the theater and while I would love to support Angelina, I’m not going to buy the DVD. It was a really sad movie and there were script and editing issues. Save your money for the Selma DVD (God, Selma was such an incredible movie).

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Getty.

Natalie Portman is officially a Parisian now, I guess. That might explain why we’re rarely getting pap photos of her these days. Natalie’s husband Benjamin Millepied took a job as director of ballet at the Paris Opera, and they moved their family to Paris for a few years (at least). Natalie gave a new interview to the Wisconsin Gazette to promote her Miss Dior contract, and she ended up saying a few words about how much she loves Paris and how chic everyone is:

Her French destiny: “I think it was destiny that brought me to live in France. My father named me Natalie as an homage to a song by (legendary French singer) Gilbert Bécaud. I shot my first film with French director Luc Besson. And now I’m living in Paris with my French husband and our son and immersing myself in the language and culture. It’s very inspiring to live in Paris, I feel very lucky.”

How her life has changed since moving to Paris: “It’s so interesting to plunge into another culture and experience a different way of living. The city is so rich in terms of the architecture, the bookshops you find at every corner, the way everyone dresses so well. No Parisian ever walks around in shorts and even the children look very chic (laughs).

Is she fluent in French? “It’s improved a lot and I’ve been taking lessons and studying as often as I can. I feel I’m getting to the point where I’m slowly becoming more comfortable speaking French and being fluent in the language. I’m hoping that one day I will be able to work in a French film and do the role in French. I would really love to be able to do that, and I’m very motivated to get to that level.

[From The Wisconsin Gazette]

She sounds happy. I’m a little bit surprised that she did uproot her family to go to Paris for Benjamin’s work, but then again, it IS Paris. It’s not like Benjamin took a job in Dullsville, Middle America. And I’m sure their son Aleph will benefit greatly from living in another country for years during his childhood.

As for this: “Everyone dresses so well. No Parisian ever walks around in shorts and even the children look very chic.” Really? No Parisian ever wears shorts? I don’t wear shorts either but that’s mostly because I don’t have the legs for shorts. But there are high-fashion shorts by French designers, oui?

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

View image | gettyimages.com

When I hear news of how Teresa Giudice is doing in federal prison, I imagine her as a castmember on Orange is The New Black. She’s staying in the same federal correctional facility in Danbury, CT as Piper Kerman, after all. So when Teresa’s husband Joe admits that she made him wait an hour to see her while she had her hair done, I picture her in Sophia’s makeshift salon. When Joe says that Teresa has a group of friends, she’s Red, doling out favors in exchange for loyalty, ruling with an iron fist and eventually losing power when she makes a false move. That’s probably not so far from Teresa’s life on the outside, considering how she ended up in prison in the first place.

Anyway Joe did an interview with Extra! He revealed that Teresa has women she hangs out with, and that she maintains her beauty routine, sometimes at the expense of her once-weekly visit with her daughters. My favorite part of Joe’s interview is when he admits that they haven’t reached a deal with Bravo yet for Teresa to return to Real Housewives of New Jersey when she’s released early next year. Joe says “The numbers would have to be very big in order to go back.” I hope Bravo calls their bluff and doesn’t hire Teresa again, but we’ll see. Here’s some of what Joe told Extra! His interview will air tonight. You can see a clip on Extra’s site. Joe looks as hungover and confused as usual.

How he appreciates Teresa now
When you have four kids, you have to stay strong. Her being away definitely makes me appreciate her way more, a lot more, and you know everything she did.

On how often the family visits
[The kids] email her all the time…every day, so, they email more than me. We try to make it up there every weekend and we bring her mom up every weekend.

On having to wait while Teresa had her hair done
She made us wait an hour to make her hair, to do her hair. That was a little annoying

On Teresa’s posse in prison
She’s got a little group she hangs out with and does her thing with every day, and who she goes to the gym with and who she hangs out with, and who does her hair and who does her nails… they have their little thing going every day.

On if Teresa will return to RHONJ
The numbers would have to be very big in order to go back so um, we’ll see… as of right now there’s nothing

[From Extra! Quotes via E! and People]

I don’t understand why Teresa would make Joe and her daughters wait an hour while she had her hair done. Did they come unexpectedly when she already had the dye applied? Did she expect a camera crew there? That whole scenario sounds fishy to me, but so does practically everything about these people.

E! also has details of Teresa’s exercise routine, which includes “cardio, bikes, weights and Pilates.” Their source claims that Teresa “Does not miss a day, she does it religiously. She is extremely fit right now.” So Teresa is hanging out with a bunch of friends, getting her hair and nails done, and doing pilates in prison. Such just punishment for scamming creditors out of millions.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

As soon as South African comedian Trevor Noah was named as Jon Stewart’s successor for host of The Daily Show, people starting pouring over Noah’s comedic and social media history. The results were… interesting. By Tuesday, the new story was “Is Trevor Noah a racist/anti-Semite/misogynist?” Because of course. For what it’s worth, I think most of Noah’s “questionable” tweets are just sort of hacky, like the kind of old-school jokes you would hear at a Don Rickles show. But some of them are… eh. It’s worth noting that Noah is actually one quarter Jewish (his mother is half-Jewish). Here are some of his questionable tweets:

Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man. #BeatsByDreidel

Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn’t go down easy, just like jewish chicks. #ElClasico

Merry Christmas everyone. May Black Santa bring you all that you deserve.

“Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I’m sexy!” – fat chicks everywhere.

A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you’ll probably never get to ride it.

South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful.

“I actually prefer the women’s league to the mens.” – Nobody ever, about any sport. (except maybe, beach volleyball)

Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn’t look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!

[From Trevor Noah’s Twitter]

Is he an anti-Semite? Eh. I think he feels – probably correctly – that he can joke about Jewish people because he’s one-quarter Jewish. Same with any racial jokes – he’s half-white and half-black and he grew up in South Africa, for goodness sake. But I’ll admit that some of the jokes about women bugged me.

So, what has the reaction been? On the internet at large, some people are already hating on him and some people are already defending him. The national director of the Anti-Defamation League basically said that Noah is a comedian making jokes and people should calm down, but that if he does cross the line, they’ll jump down his throat. And Comedy Central released a statement as well:

“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.”

[Via E! News]

I kind of think Comedy Central should have expected this and perhaps Trevor should have expected it too and gone ahead and cleaned up his Twitter days before he was announced as Stewart’s replacement. Part of the reason why people have jumped all over these tweets is because Trevor Noah was and is such an unknown. If Amy Poehler or Tina Fey or Jason Jones or someone like that had been named Stewart’s successor, no one would be picking apart a few jokes made a year ago because those comedians are already “known.” There was a gossip vacuum and Noah’s social media served as the perfect filler.

Photos courtesy of Comedy Central, WENN.

Olivia Wilde covers the April issue of Shape magazine. I have to hand it to Livvy, who gave birth to little Otis Alexander Sudeikis 11 months ago. I expected her to immediately start acting like an mommy expert, but she’s been really cool. She simply breastfed in Glamour and hasn’t been too preachy. Olivia talked about the dual importance of selflessness and loving oneself in order to be a good mother. Otherwise, she’s kept to herself.

Olivia looks fantastic on this cover, although I’m so weary of commenting on postpartum bodies. But Olivia wants to talk about it, so let’s let her take it away:

Her post-baby bod: “I am not in perfect shape. In fact, I’m softer than I’ve ever been, including that unfortunate semester in high school when I simultaneously discovered Krispy Kreme and pot. The photos of me in this magazine have been generously constructed to show my best angles and I assure you, good lighting has been warmly embraced. The truth is, I’m a mother, and I look like one.”

On the aftermath of birth: “Many people aren’t familiar with the post-birth experience — and why should they be? But let me tell you now: First of all, you haven’t seen your [vadge] in months, even though it’s all her fault you’re in this situation. Now that you can finally confirm that she is, in fact, still there, she isn’t the gal you remember/ I [also] joined the ranks of millions of new mothers when I moaned, ‘Why do I still look pregnant? Is there another one stuck in there?’”

Getting back to the gym: “It felt like leaving a karaoke bar to go take a physics exam. If I wasn’t at work, I just wanted to stay home and party with my little man — and by ‘party,’ I mean, of course, endless rounds of the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider.’ Also, I like beer. And pizza. And these two ingredients are not found in the purely fictional book I like to call How to Look Like You Never Made a Human: A Guide to Socially Acceptable Motherhood.”

Her dream: “I believe in a world where mothers are not expected to shed any physical evidence of their child-bearing experience. In that same world I believe there is space for exercise to be as much a gift to your brain as it is to your body. I don’t want to waste my time striving for some subjective definition of perfection. I’d rather rebuild my strength while dancing my ass off … literally.”

[From Shape]

Olivia also talks about how “breastfeeding helps, in the most intense way” to help the uterus snap back and burn some calories. That was my experience too, but as solid food came into play for the kid, it was super easy to gain the weight back. You can only eat for two for so long.

On everything else she says … I admire Olivia’s spunk, but I feel like she’s trying way too hard to be the cool girl. Not that I don’t believe she loves beer and pizza while staying in phenomenal shape. But because she’s humblebragging. There’s no shame in admitting she worked hard in the gym to achieve that body. And I do take issue with the idea that you can “look like” a mother. What does that mean?

Photos courtesy of Shape, Fame/Flynet & WENN