Let’s be generous to poor Madonna. If Kanye West hadn’t Kanye’d all over the Grammys, we probably would have given more attention to Madge and her somewhat desperate need to be the most controversial person in the room. We talked about her, for sure, but I think it makes Madonna sick that Kanye was and is still a bigger “controversy”. So Madge did an interview with Ryan Seacrest to talk about how she literally flashed her butt on the red carpet (NSFW photo here) and how we are living in The Golden Age of Butt so of course she had to ride that trend. Some highlights:

She claims she didn’t deliberately flash her butt: “I had an inspired wardrobe malfunction moment. As I was walking away, I wasn’t mooning – I just lifted my dress up. Mooning is like naked butt. Everyone’s seen my naked butt already… not for a while, not since the ’90s”

The Age of Ass: “It’s the age of ass, isn’t it? It was me having fun and being cheeky, no pun intended.”

Being in a harness for her Grammy performance: “The one thing everyone forgot to do, was tell me when I could sit up [in the harness]. So, I’m laying back there, like forever in this super extreme back bend, hanging over the audience. I was like ‘Can I sit up now? Is the camera off of me? No one said, ‘M you can sit up now’ in my ears. It was the one moment everyone overlooked. Eventually, I sat up and was like ‘Screw this, my back is killing me.’”

Whether she’s got a boyfriend: “Not really … not a special, you know… Not a steady dude, no.”

Whether she would have remarry: “I’m not going to say never, no. Maybe.”

[From The Daily Mail]

She’s so full of it if she’s trying to pretend like that flash was a “wardrobe malfunction.” She literally stood in front of a bank of cameras on the music industry’s biggest night and flashed her butt as soon as she got on the red carpet. And that’s who she is at this point – a 56 year old woman who meticulously plans out her stunt-queen moves to impress the kidz.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Robert Pattinson was at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday promoting Life with Dane DeHaan. Am attaching shots from the premiere too but mostly want to focus on the pictures from the photo call because of Pattinson’s pants.

He’s never worn pants better than he’s wearing them…      

When we last checked in Brian Williams, he had decided to “leave the anchor’s desk” but only for a few days. NBC has decided to do an internal investigation into the swirling claims that Williams has openly lied and “misremembered” several stories involving being hit by RPGs in Iraq, witnessing dead bodies floating down the street in New Orleans and rescuing several puppies. At worst, Williams is a liar and a fantasist who needs to be fired. At best…??? I don’t have an “at best”. At best, he’s got a terrible memory and/or he co-opts other people’s stories to make himself sound cooler.

So, what’s new today? Page Six is Truth Squading yet another Williams’ story, this time about how he was riding in a heliocopter in Israel and Katyusha rockets passed under the chopper.

Another of Brian Williams’ wild reporting tales is being called into question – this time it’s an account of his trip to Israel in 2006. In a 2007 interview, Williams recalled riding on an Israeli military helicopter that was flying just above rockets fired by Hezbollah as they were passing over northern Israel, according to The Washington Post.

“There were Katyusha rockets passing just underneath the helicopter I was riding in,” he told Fairfield University student reporter Emily Fitzmaurice. But he never disclosed that close brush with Hezbollah fire in an NBC News blog post he penned in July 2006. In that account, he was riding along with a “a high-ranking general in the Israeli Defense Forces” at 1,500 feet, and the rocket fire was happening on the ground below.

“They’re having some shelling right now,” the pilot tells me. “They landed about 30 seconds ago.” Williams wrote that he looked out his window and saw “smoke and dust” where the rockets landed.

“Then,” he said, “I noticed something out the window. From a distance of six miles, I witnessed a rocket launch. A rising trail of smoke, then a second rocket launch, an orange flash and more smoke — as a rocket heads off toward Israel.”

Williams never claims the weapons were “just beneath” his aircraft, as he did in the later interview. A month after penning the NBC News blog post on his trip to Israel, Williams told the story again on “The Daily Show,” saying the rockets passed “1,500 feet beneath us.”

“And we’ve got the gunner doors on this thing, and I’m saying to the general, some four-star: ‘It wouldn’t take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?’” he tells Jon Stewart. At the end of the interview, Williams boasts, “Anytime you want to cross over to the other side, baby, travel with me.”

[From Page Six]

Well… I don’t know. Out of all the Truth Squading on Williams’ various stories, I think this one is one of the weaker “he’s lying!!” stories. Then again, there seems to be a pattern emerging, right? Williams tells endless stories about his bravery and heroics in facing down danger at every turn, just to do his job. There’s a narcissism there and it disturbs me.

So, obviously, NBC is finally putting together a list of people who could possibly take over the NBC anchor desk if (and when) they need to fire Williams. According to Page Six (not the most reliable, granted), the shortlist involves Willie Geist, Carl Quintanilla and Lester Holt. NBC is also considering Matt Lauer, which… I mean, that would be the end of NBC Nightly News, if people had to see Lauer’s smug mug in the evening. For the love of God, just give it to Lester Holt!!! Holt is amazing. Holt should be running NBC News anyway. He’s a quality journalist, he has gravitas, he has a great voice and he has on-screen presence. I like Willie Geist, but he’s not anchor material. I feel like Quintanilla is too young too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel hit the beach with her 4-year-old daughter Bryn in Miami on Sunday (February 8).

Sporting a navy blue two piece paired with a white straw hat and shades, the Skinnygirl Cocktails founder, 44, enjoyed some fun in the Florida sun with her playful preschooler.

The returning Housewife, who split from ex-husband Jason Hoppy last year, addressed her critics on The Meredith Vieira Show on Jan. 13.

“I feel like, who cares, they are always going to say something,” said Frankel of those who call her too skinny.

She added: “I do have a brand called Skinnygirl, so I am going to get beaten up for it. It would be bad if I were overweight and had a brand called Skinnygirl, could you imagine?”

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Here are some new photos of Uma Thurman at the NYC premiere of The Slap last night. The Daily Mail pointed out that there’s something different going on with Uma’s face, and I have to agree. Uma is 44 years old and she’s always been a beautiful woman, but I have suspected for a while now that she’s been experimenting with Botox and perhaps some fillers here and there. I’ve seen photos of her at various events in the past few years where she seems a little bit frozen or tweaked, but I honestly didn’t think it was anything major. But this is new.

While I’m no kind of expert on this stuff, I tend to think Uma went overboard with the fillers, and perhaps got some ‘Tox on her forehead. It’s a weird combination of unmoving cheeks and an inability to move one’s eyebrows.

To be fair to The Daily Mail, they’re not the only site pointing out that Uma looks way different. And now several sites are making a reference to Renee Zellweger’s dramatically different look, which she revealed over the course of several months last year, and comparing Renee and Uma. I don’t think Uma went and got a radically different face like Renee. It wouldn’t actually surprise me at all if Uma’s different look was all non-surgical, which is what we’re supposed to call fillers and Botox. Fillers and Botox are non-surgical “injectibles.” What I’m saying is that all of this will probably wear off in a few months, hopefully. Note: Uma doesn’t seem to be wearing much makeup here and that might be messing with how we’re looking at her too.

And just to show you how new this is, here’s a photo of Uma looking pretty normal just a few weeks ago:

More photos from last night:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Shannon! HAPPY (belated) 40th Birthday from Kyla, Sooz, Sherri, Jen, and Corrina. I am SO sorry this was late. By request, here’s Chris Pratt…dancing. And braiding.      

The Imitation Game actor Benedict Cumberbatch and fiancée Sophie Hunter bumped up the red carpet at the EE BAFTA British Academy Film Awards in London, England on Sunday (February 8).

The parents-to-be opted for a matching black look, with The Hobbit star, 38, in an Alexander McQueen tuxedo and the singer-actress, 36, donning a floor length black halterneck dress with bow back by Maison Margiela. The mom-to-be competed her look with stand out diamond earrings.

The couple’s pregnancy news was announced in early January.

“I am delighted to confirm that Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are expecting their first child,” his rep said in a statement. “They are both over the moon.”

The happy news came just two months after the Sherlock Holmes star announced the couple’s engagement.

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Dear Gossips,

Time to talk about the Tiger. My ma, the Chinese Squawking Chicken, was born in the Year of the Tiger. As you know, the Year of the Goat/Sheep is underway. The Goat/Sheep comes before the Monkey. And the Monkey is the Tiger’s antagonist. So while this year won’t be s…      

Warning: spoilers for the latest episode of The Walking Dead, which aired Sunday, follow
Just when you thought that The Walking Dead had killed off their last major character for the time being, they came in with a doozy on their mid-season return. I’m grateful that I was able to watch this show during the day, because it was incredibly hard to take. I had nightmares about it last night.

I’m not going to do a full recap of episode 509, What Happened and What’s Going On, I’m assuming you’ve seen it already. There’s an excellent recap on i09 if you’re interested.

The episode was a departure from what we’re used to seeing. It was full of bizarre scenes and dream sequences and kept teasing a burial, which I assumed was Beth. The burial was in fact of fan favorite character Tyreese (Chad Coleman), who was bitten by a walker and succumbed. Much of the second half of the show was taken up by Tyreese’s fever dreams. Tyreese hallucinated that there were other departed characters in the room, like The Governor telling him he had a debt to pay, that douche Martin warning him that he was weak, and Beth, Mika, Lizzie and Bob telling him that it was ok to let go and go to the other side. Just remembering the episode has put a pit in my stomach again.

This was a powerful episode and while Tyreese’s death makes some sense in the scheme of the plot (he was too sensitive, he was conflicted) it still feels so manipulative. I wish they would have killed off Eugene, Abraham or the sneaky preacher, but of course no one would have cared about any of those people.

There’s been criticism that Walking Dead is killing off too many black characters. Remember that poor first guy, T-Dog? T-Dog was a cardboard cutout of a character, and WD has worked to diversify following criticism of how they handled T-Dog’s death. Other black characters who have died include of course Bob, and at least one secondary death, Oscar (killed after Tyreese was introduced). So now that Noah has been introduced it seems a little suspicious that Tyreese was just killed off.

Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd addressed the criticism that the show is quick to kill black characters. She said that they don’t discriminate when it comes to who lives and dies.

“Look, this is something in this world that we should be cognizant about, so my feeling is: Sure, let’s get it out there, let’s talk about it,” Hurd told me. “We’ve killed a lot more white characters than African-American characters. And not only that, I think it’s important to point out that we did cast two African-American actors in roles that were not African-American. In the comic books, Bob was white. And the character of Noah was not an African-American. We just cast the best actor.”

Hurd wouldn’t comment on any new actors coming on board, but pointed out that, “Noah is still alive and so is Seth Gilliam, playing Father Gabriel. And obviously both Sasha and Michonne. And let’s not forget the character of Glenn has been on the show since the very beginning.”

[From E! Online]

It’s worth nothing that Tyreese was also killed off in the comics, and earlier than he was here, so that surely factored into the decision to let him go. However, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is a character that never even existed in the comics and he’s still around. I was starting to warm to Tyreese to the point where I considered him on par with Daryl. I was as upset by Tyreese’s death as I would be by Daryl’s death, and Daryl isn’t even in the comics.

Cinema Blend has an interesting take on the Tyreese/Daryl dynamic. They claim that Daryl’s existence could have necessitated Tyreese’s death, because they have the same place in the hierarchy with Rick.

On Talking Dead, Coleman seemed touched by all the fans upset over Tyreese’s death. He said that Andrew Lincoln called him after taping wrapped to congratulate him on his acting and let him know that he’d miss him. Talking Dead also had on WD director Greg Nicotera, who explained this arty episode as similar to a Terrence Malick film. I just found it sad and pointless and I’m questioning whether I want to keep watching the show. You can see a bonus clip from Talking Dead here. Chad Coleman sings at about 2:30 and it’s glorious. I hope he gets another reoccurring role on a major TV series soon. He’s an incredible actor.

As we kept discussing during our Grammy coverage – because it was literally the most interesting thing about the Grammys – Kanye West threw some major shade at Beck. Beck won Album of the Year for his album Morning Phase and that meant Beck beat out Beyonce’s self-titled album. Kanye “jokingly” jumped on stage with Beck, like he was going to pull an “Imma let you finish” but ‘Ye laughed and went back to his seat. But it wasn’t over. On the E! post-Grammy show, Kanye spoke about how Beyonce should have won and Beck should have given her the Grammy, saying in part:

“I don’t know what he said, all I know is if the Grammys want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain’t gonna play with them no more. ‘Flawless,’ Beyoncé video. Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé, and at this point, we tired of it… Because what happens is, when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration and we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day and they listen to that Beyoncé album and they feel like it takes them to another place…Then they do this whole promotional event, they’ll run the music over somebody’s speech, the artist, because they want commercial advertising. Like, no, we not playing with them no more. By the way, I got my wife, my daughter and my clothing line, so I’m not going to do nothing to put my daughter at risk but I am here to fight for creativity. That’s the reason why I didn’t say anything tonight. But you all know what it meant when ‘Ye walks on the stage.”

[From E! News]

Beck handled the whole situation with a surprising amount of grace, discussing how much he loves Beyonce and Kanye, and even calling Kanye a “genius.” Just my opinion: Kanye already looked like a crashing bore and Beck came out of the night looking gracious and kind. But Shirley Manson – best known perhaps as the frontwoman of Garbage and one of the best frontwomen to come out of the 1990s music scene – decided to chime in on the whole situation. She wrote on Facebook:

Dear Kanye West

It is YOU who is so busy disrespecting artistry.

You disrespect your own remarkable talents and more importantly you disrespect the talent, hard work and tenacity of all artists when you go so rudely and savagely after such an accomplished and humble artist like BECK.

You make yourself look small and petty and spoilt.

In attempting to reduce the importance of one great talent over another, you make a mockery of all musicians and music from every genre, including your own.

Grow up and stop throwing your toys around.

You are making yourself look like a complete twat.

Ps.I am pretty certain Beyonce doesn’t need you fighting any battles on her account. Seems like she’s got everything covered perfectly well on her own.

[From Facebook]

Word. I love her for “daring” to tell Kanye that he’s acting like a douchenozzle because he IS. It would have been fine if he had done the stage-rush thing and it would have been fine if he said “I thought Beyonce should have won, but Beck is a great artist too.” I would have even been fine with Kanye talking about racism in the context of the Grammys, like the fact that the Grammys tend to award white artists much more than black artists in general. But, the way Kanye went about it… it was rude and Shirley is dead-on. He does look “small and petty and spoilt.”

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.