I actually liked Lady Gaga’s performance at the Oscars this year. She did a musical tribute for the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music. You could tell that Gaga took it seriously, that she practiced and rehearsed and wanted to get it right. She seemed nervous at first, but she hit all the notes and sounded really good… to me. Shonda Rimes disagreed, and Shonda publicly dissed Gaga on Twitter. But Julie Andrews thought Gaga was wonderful, and if Julie says it’s cool, then it’s cool. But now Stephen Sondheim is chiming in, because I guess we needed to know what he thought of Gaga’s performance? Sure. Well, it sounds like Sondheim just hates Gaga in general.

Lady Gaga’s Sound of Music tribute at the Oscars was not one of Stephen Sondheim’s favorite things. The legendary composer — who’s known for musicals including Into the Woods, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, and Company, among others — told the UK’s Times of London recently that he thought the performance was “ridiculous,” and not in a good way.

Sondheim’s partner, Jeff Romley, who is 36 years old to his 84, “would crawl a mile to see” Gaga, he shared with the paper. But the eight-time Tony winner is more difficult to impress.

“On the Academy Awards she was a travesty,” he said. “It was ridiculous, as it would be from any singer who treats that music in semi-operatic style. She had no relationship to what she was singing. What people liked was her versatility.”

[From Us Weekly]

I had to watch the video of Gaga’s performance again (go here to see) because I feel like I’m hallucinating. Nope… Gaga sounded really good. Truly. Did she sound as good as Julie Andrews in the original film soundtrack? No, she didn’t. But that’s a really high bar to set, you know? Gaga sounded better than the overwhelming majority of professional singers attempting that medley. I could see having some quibble about her relationship to the music, or her lyrical interpretation, but Gaga was not a “travesty” by any stretch of the imagination. God, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Team Gaga. Sondheim sounds like such a crotchety jackass here. Oh, and an 84 year old dude has a 36-year-old lover? Yeah, THAT is the travesty.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Poor Benedict Cumberbatch had a crazy schedule during the awards season. He kept having to fly back and forth to LA for several months, all while trying to film the Sherlock Christmas special. He just had to film one episode – they aren’t going to film the new “series” (three episodes) until next year, probably. But in December, we’re going to get some kind of Sherlock special, and as we saw from the set photos, it looks like the special episode is going to be VERY true to the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon. As in, it’s set in Victorian England. Some of the super-fans were trying to figure out how this could happen within the current Sherlock world, but Steven Moffat appeared at SXSW yesterday and he made it sound like it’s simply a one-off, with no connection to the normal Sherlock series:

For the eagerly anticipated Sherlock special episode, Holmes and Watson are essentially going back in time. Co-creator Steven Moffat has now confirmed the special will take place in Victorian London, validating fan assumptions about the episode. Last month the show’s stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were spotted filming Sherlock in 19th century clothes, causing fans to wonder if perhaps the crime-fighting duo attended a costume ball, or perhaps it was just some kind of dream sequence within the special. But no: The 90-minute episode literally takes place more than 100 years ago.

“The special is its own thing,” Moffat told EW before attending a panel at the South by Southwest conference on Monday. “We wouldn’t have done the story we’re doing, and the way we’re doing it, if we didn’t have this special. It’s not part of the run of three episodes. So we had this to do it – as we could hardly conceal – it’s Victorian. [Co-creator Mark Gatiss] and me, we wanted to do this, but it had to be a special, it had to be separate entity on its own. It’s kind of in its own little bubble.”

The special is pretty much finished, Moffat added, and he’s very pleased with the result. No air date is set by Sherlock networks BBC and PBS Masterpiece, but the special is widely expected to air in the UK around December.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

I feel like this is an interesting hint at the story: “We wouldn’t have done the story we’re doing, and the way we’re doing it, if we didn’t have this special.” I feel like that means the original story would have been too difficult for a modern adaptation. But they’ve already done The Hound of Baskerville, The Reichenbach Fall/The Final Problem, and they’ve done A Scandal in Bohemia/Belgravia. Those are some of the most iconic stories from Doyle’s canon. I wonder what they’ve adapted for this special… hmm….

Meanwhile, Benedict was seen jogging in Cotswolds a few days ago, looking like an ‘80s reject. GO HERE to see the photos. I kind of love that Benedict wears dated ‘80s fleece jackets. I feel like his mum probably gave it to him.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

New Avi Alert #LipLinerOnFleek

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 16, 2015 at 8:16am PDT

Kim Kardashian posted this Instagram yesterday. I sometimes worry that the Kardashian and Jenner sisters are in the midst of some kind of lip injection war. They’re trying to see who can “get away” with having the most ridiculous and obvious lip augmentation around. For a while it was Kim, then it was Khloe, and currently the reigning lip augmentation champion is Kylie Jenner. But Kim wants a shot at the title again, so that’s why we’re getting lip-close-up selfies. If you note the caption, Kim is trying to make us believe that this is just about lip liner. Sure. Also: I hate “fleek.” Stop trying to make “fleek” happen.

What else is going on in Kardashian World? Well, Kanye went overboard yesterday on his Twitter – go here to see some of his NSFW tweets. Kanye posted screencaps of one of Kim’s naked photoshoots and Kanye brushed off his CAPS LOCK to tell everyone “I’M SO LUCKY” and “CONGRATS BABY ON 30 MILLION TWITTER FOLLOWERS” and “CONGRATS BABY ON THE SHOW PREMIERE LAST NIGHT.” I’ll give him this… I believe he really loves her. For real. He’s crazy, he’s a megalomaniac, he’s an unrepentant narcissist, but he does love her.

Meanwhile, Kim also ‘Shopped/edited some photos of North West to make her eyes light-colored instead of brown (North’s natural eye color). When I was a lot younger, I toyed around with the idea of getting colored contacts, so I kind of wish I had easy access to this kind of technology back then, just to see what I would have looked like with a different eye color. At the end of the day though… Kim is still digitally altering her baby’s photos. I wonder what kind of long-term damage Kim is going to do to North sometimes. I mean, Kim is probably going to raise North like Kris Jenner raised her girls. Which means North will grow up believing that her natural beauty is something that can and should be altered, often through surgery.

Baby Wolfie #NoTheseAreNOTContacts #JustAnEditISawOnline

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 16, 2015 at 10:02am PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.

You have to hand it to Kathy Griffin. She’s received more press in the past week than she has in years, and she’s earned it. Kathy is really dishing on her brief experience on Fashion Police, which she quit last week, stating in part that she didn’t want to contribute toward a “culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference.” Right before she quit, Kathy said that Fashion Police wanted to start a segment called “wh*re score”, which she disagreed with. She also said that she wouldn’t have said the rude and arguably racially insensitive joke about Zendaya’s dreadlocks that landed Giuliana in hot water, adding that “some dude wrote it for her.”

In an appearance on The View yesterday, Kathy elaborated on her reasons for leaving The View. It was about the scripted kind of canned nature of the show, which she called mean without directly using the word. Kathy of course knew about Fashion Police ahead of time, but she thought she could change the show and was told that they would be accommodating. She said a lot in a very short period of time, I was impressed by how well spoken and well reasoned she was. (You can watch her interview at :20 into the episode on Hulu and there are two segments on YouTube.)

On why she issued a statement
I did a statement because I felt like Fashion Police just wasn’t the thing for me, you know what I mean? My style is improvisational and off the cuff, and they have a formula that worked so well with Joan and so well for so long and it just didn’t fit my thing. After awhile, I kind of felt like I was being forced to comment about pictures of beautiful women in perfect dresses and say bad things.

The days of Bjork are over—and the swan. As a feminist and a comic, it just didn’t feel like the right fit for me.

On how her comedy is different
I love to make fun of Anderson Cooper and I’ve made a cottage industry out of New Year’s Eve, but I would never say Anderson isn’t a great journalist. But sure, I’m going to give him a hard time and I’m going to tease him. I’m a professional comedian, it’s what I do, but it’s in context.

On the difference between standup and Fashion Police
You’re kind of vulnerable. You’re there with the microphone and the audience, and you’re hoping to take this audience on a ride. It’s a little different than what felt to me, sort of like a dog pile. Right now, on the red carpet, all these women look so great. I was hoping that we could talk about the events themselves and the shows and stuff like that. And so I didn’t want to say that Meryl Streep didn’t look great, because she looked great. So sometimes it just felt disingenuous to me. But certainly, in my repertoire, I’ve said heinous things, I’m well aware of that, trust me!

How she felt during Giuliana’s patchouli oil segment
I didn’t know she was going to say that, because some dude wrote that for her, which I didn’t even feel they really needed. I think that everyone should have just improvised… the show is very formulaic and that’s their thing.

She asked Lena Dunham for help with her statement
When it came time to leave they were very nice to me and they weren’t mean and evil. So I actually called I actually called Lena Dunham. I went,’ Okay, Joan was 27 years older than I am, I’m 54. I need like a younger woman feminist to help me craft a statement. She was super generous. I wanted to say it as a comic and a feminist. I’m still going to give people crap…

On what’s next for Fashion Police
Since I don’t work there anymore that’s like asking me what’s going to happen on Ray Donovan, because I don’t know. I think that they had a very strict lane that they wanted to be in. And you guys know my work. I have 23 specials and I say my personal encounters with people and I go for people. But like, I wouldn’t hold up a picture of Kim Kardashian and say ‘She’s ugly, goodnight.’ I wouldn’t hold up a picture of Oprah and say, ‘She’s fat, goodnight.’ I would say, [does impression] ‘Oprah said, John Travolta’s here!’ The behavior and the stuff to play with, and that’s really kind of what I do.

On if she thought she could change the show
I was told that they would happily sign onto my style. It’s kind of like buying a house you don’t really know until you spend the first night there… I really didn’t know until I took the seat. No harm, no foul. It just wasn’t the right thing for me.

[From The View and via US Weekly]

Kathy ended by saying that “there’s a lot of stuff that I said before that I wouldn’t say now and there’s stuff I probably wouldn’t say in five years that I say now. Comedy has to evolve.” The show has a formula that works for them, they have a way they do things, and they weren’t going to change overnight. I really liked the simile that Kathy used about how it’s like buying a house and you don’t know how well it’s going to work out until you try it. In an interview on Howard Stern yesterday, Kathy said something similar, that she probably shouldn’t have taken the job so soon after Joan Rivers passed and that she was just “trying to be me.”

After watching her on The View, I came away with a lot of respect for Kathy and felt like I understood why she left. I also think she made it pretty difficult for Fashion Police to continue business as usual. She just called out their whole style multiple times and in many different ways. I really wonder if they’re going to just hire new hosts and try to pick up where they left off, or if they’ll consider her feedback and try to change.

photo credit: WENN.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Here’s a photo of Scott Disick on Saturday night in Atlantic City. He was hosting at The Pool After Dark club. Scott kept it together for still shots, but he was reportedly downing tequila and beer all night. TMZ published a profanity-filled video of Scott screaming that London could suck his “d*** and balls” for telling him not to swear during an appearance there. The next morning, he was spotted stumbling around the Harrah’s hotel lobby. An employee escorted Scott to his room, and he slept through check-out time by 6 hours.

Things must have gotten even more messy because TMZ says Scott checked into rehab on Monday. Not just any old rehab. He entered a facility in Costa Rica, which is known for its alternative treatment for substance abuse. This rehab uses the herb Ibogaine, a hallucinogen (derived from plant roots) to fend off addictive cravings. Here’s the lowdown:

Scott Disick has decided to go to rehab, after an insane, tequila-fueled weekend.

Disick checked into Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica. He says, “I realize my issues are bigger than me and I’m ready to truly remedy this struggle I continue to battle.”

Scott was in Atlantic City over the weekend where he did multiple shots of tequila right out in the open. He then went on a rant onstage and ended the night at 8 AM, where he was stumbling in the hotel lobby without shoes. At 5 PM people went to his room to do a welfare check when he was MIA.

Scott has had multiple problems with alcohol and has vowed to maintain his sobriety, especially after his girlfriend Kourtney gave him an ultimatum.

As for his treatment, he says he is doing Iboga treatment, which involves roots from a small African tree that supposedly helps people battle addiction.

As for the facility, Rythmia is located on a private estate offering a “luxurious world-class experience” including a five-star restaurant, full-service spa with mud bath, and fitness center.

[From TMZ]

Scott’s been on a downslide ever since both of his parents died in late 2013, which left him devastated. He was hospitalized last year for alcohol poisoning (on his birthday). Last fall, Scott checked into rehab, saying, “I thought I was going to die.” He also spoke of not being able to break his routine and being “sick of hearing myself talk about the problems I have that I don’t fix.”

E! says this Costa Rica center isn’t new to Scott: “He’s been there recently once before and he liked it. He believes in it. He doesn’t have to be dragged there or anything. This is his thing and really wants to do it. He’s working on his issues.” People adds that Kourtney is beyond tired of Scott’s excuses, and he “has to realize that his actions have consequences that go far beyond himself.”

Of course — because this involves the Kardashian Klan — some outlets question Scott’s motives. The New York Daily News spoke to an “insider” who says Scott must certainly be getting paid to endorse the rehab, but there’s no evidence to support this claim. Yes … Kris Jenner will use Scott’s plight for press and ratings, and god only knows this family doesn’t provide any type of support system. But I can buy that Scott legitimately requires alcohol rehab. Let’s hope he finally gets the help he needs.

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet & WENN

Last year, Suki Waterhouse complained to The Guardian that “actors take all the modeling jobs and magazine covers.” She may have had a point. Suki swiftly transformed herself into a legit actress and is scoring magazine covers all over the place. She did grace the April cover of Vogue in a model capacity. But this April cover of Lucky mag is different because she’s promoting a small role in Insurgent. She plays Dauntless member Marlene, who is absurdly happy in the face of danger.

Lucky released one excerpt so far from their interview, and it’s a doozy. Suki names her pimples. She raved, “If I have a spot, I name the spot. I introduce it to my friends on a night out. If my friend has a spot, I ask them if I can borrow it. ‘Can I pleaaaase borrow it? I really want it.’ You have to own your spots. Show them off. I’ve had some great spots — I named one Greg; another one was Trevor. Tortola was a good one.” Wow. Suki suddenly seems much younger than her 23 years. I have no idea what she and Bradley Cooper talk about, but it can’t be pimples.

Suki also features in the April issue of GQ. They describe her as model, actress, and BCoop’s girlfriend. She takes much of her clothing off because that’s how GQ rolls. You can see the shoot here. I never saw her as an incredible model, but pose-harding with an atomic wedgie takes talent. No model should ever have to do that.

GQ describes Suki as “homecoming-queen hot” and “Hollywood’s next bro-down girl.” In the brief interview, Suki dishes on her awesome karate skills. She brags about beating up a childhood friend to the point of a knocked-out tooth and “snapped” Achilles tendon. Suki then laughs, “Isn’t that disgusting?” Ummm. How are we just finding out about Suki’s bizarre personality? She kept it under wraps, and now it’s just out there.

Photos courtesy of Thomas Whiteside/GQ & WENN

You know what Ansel Elgort reminds me of? The snotty rich-kid characters in John Hughes films. Like, he’s a baby version of James Spader’s Steff in Pretty in Pink. I’m just going by looks here, but am I wrong? Even his name seems like the name of a snotty rich kid. If you’re around teenage girls, you probably know him from the Divergent franchise and The Fault In Our Stars. He got the cover of the April issue of Seventeen to promote Insurgent. Thoughts on the cover? I actually like the idea of a major magazine aimed at young women putting a dude on their cover. Like, this isn’t “Seventeen for Boys” this is just straight-up Seventeen. As for the interview… Ansel just turned 21 years old, and he gives somewhat weird/charming interviews. He doesn’t sound like a bad kid at all, he just likes… romance, date nights and buying red snakeskin Louboutins for his mom.

On whether a guy can be just platonic friends with a girl: “If a woman is really pretty, it’s kind of hard. I’m not going to lie. Actually, that’s not true. Me and Shailene [Woodley] have a really platonic relationship. I’ve never once wanted her sexually, which is nice. But for me, if a person is someone I’m attracted to, and she’s my best friend, hopefully we’re dating.”

On his dream date: “I like romantic dates—going on a long walk in Central Park and then taking the subway downtown and going out to eat and ordering oysters. After that, you walk around again and talk. Morning dates are nice, too. I love doing romantic s***. It’s fun. It’s like you’re living in a movie.”

On spoiling the women in his life: “I like to buy girls shoes and jewelry. I buy stupidly expensive shoes. I got Louboutins for my mom and my girlfriend before. My mom was like, ‘I can’t wear these; they’re too high.’ I was like, ‘Mom, you have to try them – they’re so cool. They’re red snakeskin!’ She still wears them every so often but she can’t walk in them.”

On whether he ever got into any trouble in high school: “[My friend] Jordan and I used to throw eggs off my roof and hit cars. We got in trouble with the police when I was 15. They came to our door. I told my dad, ‘We were throwing eggs off the roof and you were out of town and they got really mad at us and said if we did it again we would get in trouble, but we’re never going to do it again.’ I said it all in one sentence. He was like, ‘Okay.’”

[From Seventeen]

If you were 15, 16 years old, would you be into this? I think it’s unfair to judge him at my age (30-something) because he really does just look like a baby to me. But if I was a teenage girl… yeah, I would probably be into this. I would probably think it was so cool that he buys red snakeskin Louboutins for his mom and that he buys his ladies “shoes and jewelry.” Is it sweet? Or is he just… unusual?

Photos courtesy of Anne Menke/Seventeen.

You know what sort of surprises me? Cressida Bonas’ transition to “celebrity/actress/model” is really working. Like, she’s pulling it off with some legitimacy. You would think that a 26-year-old former royal girlfriend would be able to get some attention, of course, especially since she’s pretty and blonde and well-connected, but Cressida really is “starting” a whole new career and it’s working. She’s already scored her first film acting role (in Tulip Fever), she’s already being groomed by Harvey Weinstein (ew), and she’s already headlining a major fashion campaign for Mulberry.

Cressida came to LA last month on behalf of her Mulberry contract. She wore the same Mulberry dress (the Buttercup Dress) in two different colors to two different events. Not surprisingly, her Mulberry commercial/video features Cressida in the same dress. She also shows off her impressive dance moves – remember, Cressida studied dance at university. She really is a trained dancer and she moves very well.

It’s a cute ad. I end up watching a lot of these commercials/short video ads and I enjoyed this. I prefer this kind of thing to, say, Matthew McConaughey sitting in a Lincoln and talking about the cosmos. The song in this Mulberry ad is ESG’s “Dance”. Cressida told WWD: “It was so much fun. I had a choreographed routine, but a lot of it was improvised because the music just makes you want to dance naturally.”

Here are some more photos of Cressida acting like she’s too big of a star to pose on the red carpet for the McQueen exhibition last Thursday:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Congratulations are in order for Vin Diesel and Paloma Jiménez.

The Furious 7 star, 47, and his model girlfriend, 31, have welcomed their third child, he announced via Facebook Monday.

The actor announced the birth by posting the first photo of his newborn, while hovering over the new arrival and his girlfriend, who appears to still be in the delivery room bed.

The proud papa captioned the photo with some lyrics from Louis Armstrong‘s hit song, What a Wonderful World: “I hear babies crying/ I watch them grow/ They’ll learn much more/ Than I’ll ever know/ And I think to myself /What a wonderful world,” he wrote.

The newborn – whose gender and name have yet to be revealed – joins big brother Vincent Sinclair, 4½, and sister Hania Riley, 6½.

The longtime couple, announced their pregnancy news just last month.

News broke a couple of days ago that Rihanna has signed on to be the new face of Dior and will front the brand’s upcoming Secret Garden campaign. She is the first black woman to represent the House of Dior. And here are some shots, taken March 10th but only released today, of Rihanna at Ver…