Victoria Beckham’s family sat front row to support her New York fashion week. I’m impressed with how David supports all of Victoria’s fashion endeavors. He should do that, and he doesn’t deserve a medal or anything. But how many retired professional athletes would do the same? Not many. David is genuinely proud of his wife. Oh, and Harper Seven is three years old now! DListed has a photo of adorable Harper juxtaposed next to scary Anna Wintour.

VB’s done the publicity rounds en masse. She spoke with the New York Times in a video interview. Her new London offices are gorgeous. Victoria talked about her need to streamline and use minimal decor at work because she’s so “messy” at home. She also has a new interview with The Independent, which ends with this sentence: “As always with Victoria Beckham, when she talks about her brand, you get the feeling she’s talking about herself.” That’s some serious shade. VB talks about why she’s qualified to dress women:

On her progress: “I have a different way of expressing myself because I haven’t had that formal training. I’ve learnt a lot, in the last seven years. I’ve learnt a lot very, very quickly. And I continue to learn. When I first started, I used to wear lots of tight dresses. Lots of heels. And I do still dress like that, but I suppose as time has gone on, I’ve loosened up a little bit. I spend a lot of time in my shop, talking to my customer, finding out what she wants. Times change. Certain things I wore then felt right then. But it wouldn’t feel right now.”

VB’s connection to women: “Even if I wouldn’t wear something myself, I think I know how women feel, how women want to look. I can really relate to women, I get on very well with women … Some women don’t. I want to empower women, make women feel the best version of themselves.” Her models “are 5ft 11in — but they’re women, too. Maybe a lot of people aren’t going to be nice about models for the obvious reason … I mean, we look at models and say, ‘Oh, she’s so pretty! She’s got a great body! Good for her!’ Some people might think … ‘Cow!’”

Her changing personal style: “As you get older, you get a different kind of confidence. I’m busier now — so I couldn’t totter around in a tight dress and a pair of heels! I think I feel a little more relaxed. I suppose if I’m being honest, I would have been scared, right at the beginning, to wear lots of layers and to wear a flat shoe. I would have been scared to do that. Now I’m not.”

[From The Independent]

If you read the whole interview, it’s obvious the journo isn’t enthused about Victoria as creative director of her own line. I get it, but the journo was rude. VB doesn’t design her own clothes, although she’s heavily involved in saying what she wants and trying everything on herself. The clothes aren’t fashion forward, but they reflect current styles. I’ve included some runway examples in the gallery. The new line favors muted colors, color blocking, asymmetrical hemlines, and drapey, twisted fabrics. The ideas aren’t completely original, but the clothes are still nice quality.

Here’s a quick flashback to how VB dressed in 2008 — this is one of the only photos where her rack wasn’t on display. What a change!

Here’s Victoria this weekend at her NYFW show.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Before Fifty Shades of Grey was released, Sam Taylor Johnson was already talking about the sequels. She made it sound like the studio was already exploring the possibilities and that she, Sam, would be up for directing the sequels if that’s what the studio wanted. But now that the film is a smashing financial success, everyone involved is reassessing. There’s a UK report that suggests that no, Sam doesn’t want to direct a sequel, especially if E.L. James still gets to exert the same level of control over the script/story.

The Sun has reported that Sam Taylor Johnson is keen to leave the franchise due to her constant on-set feuds with the author, despite previously claiming that she had ‘signed on’ to work on the sequels. A senior film insider told newspaper’s Dan Wootton: ‘Sam won’t be back for the Fifty Shades sequels. She wants out and Universal knows that’s the right decision. Her relationship with Erika has become absolutely toxic – they despise each other and blame each other for the problems with the film.’

Sam and E.L. – who signed a £3 million deal with Universal and Focus Films giving them the rights to her trio of books, which also gave her creative control of the movies – are said to have clashed numerous times about sex scenes as the author wanted to make the movie racier. The source also claimed that most of the rows between the two were due to the author’s wishes for the film to be as explicit as the book.

‘But Sam pushed back because she wanted the movie to be more than just a collection of S&M scenes,’ they added.

[From The Daily Mail]

It makes sense. It’s not even that unusual – most of the time, when a smaller-budget film has become a smashing success, the studio usually changes directors. Think of what happened with the original Twilight franchise: the original director, Catherine Hardwicke, was pushed out quickly in favor of a series of male directors.

Oh, and Sam’s rep has issued a statement about all of this too, saying: “The studio have not committed to a sequel as yet….All press reports are pure conjecture as the studio have not committed to a sequel as yet. We will not be making any further comment.” Meaning that the studio hasn’t let Sam into their discussion yet. Of course Universal is going to make a sequel – they’re minting money. But they’re totally going to find a new director – probably a man! – to direct the sequel. And they haven’t told Sam yet, which is depressing. I hope Sam doesn’t get screwed over after she managed to “handle” E.L. James and make a financially successful and watchable film based on terrible source material.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

And now for everything that reminds us that Saturday Night Live is never quite as good as we want it to be.

Actors impersonating characters

During the “Weekend Update” bit several actors appeared as famous SNL characters. Emma Stone impersonated Gilda Radner’s “Ros…      

It’s become a somewhat annual tradition for the gossip-well to run dry just before the Oscars. Things should pick up next week, I promise! But for now, let’s talk about Jennifer Aniston’s big 46th birthday party last week. E! News says Aniston “organized an epic celebration” with all of her celebrity friends, including Jimmy Kimmel, Courteney Cox, Malin Akerman, John Krasinski, Tobey Maguire (and wife Jennifer Meyer), Lake Bell and many more. They partied at the Roosevelt Hotel’s Spare Room. According to Us Weekly, they played games, bowled, and enjoyed the fully stocked bar. Sounds like a nice birthday party.

Justin Theroux was obviously at her b-day party too, because I guess he doesn’t need to be in NYC for season 2 of The Leftovers. Yet! Many of us also assume that Justin will be on the red carpet with Jennifer at the Oscars this Sunday, as she was asked to present. She made it to all of the big awards shows this year, by hook or by crook – she was legitimately nominated at the Critics Choice, SAGs and Golden Globes, and now she’s presenting at the Oscars. Speaking of her previous appearances, In Touch Weekly had a story last week about Jennifer being “hurt” by the criticism of her “saggy” bust at the Critics Choice and SAGs. A source claimed that Jennifer is really “sensitive about them not looking as good as they once did.” The source also claimed she was thinking about getting a breast lift. But Jennifer’s rep, Stephen Huvane, told RumorFix that the rumor was “completely ridiculous.” For what it’s worth.

And finally, there are some UK tabloid reports that Justin and Jennifer have finally worked through their pre-nup issues and it should be smooth sailing to the wedding. Yeah right. Apparently, Justin asked for a “cheating clause” which would have had Jennifer paying him $2 million if she cheated on him, but that’s now off the table. Sources claim that their pre-nup now says that if they divorce, Justin will only walk away with $1.5 million of Jennifer’s money. I don’t know, this whole story sounds completely made up.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Like Saturday Night Live itself, the 40th anniversary celebration show was a mixed bag. Here’s everything that was good.

Andy Samberg’s digital short

Because they are ALWAYS good, but this one, sung with Adam Sandler featuring an assist from Chris Parnell, highlighted the his…      

During a Monday appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, newlywed Benedict Cumberbatch dished on his recent wedding and impending fatherhood.

The Oscar nominee – who wed Sophie Hunter on Valentine’s Day – started off the interview by apologizing to Kimmel for not inviting him to the ceremony.

But there were no hard feelings.

In the spirit of Cumberbatch’s working honeymoon, the pair drank piña coladas to a tropical island backdrop.

“Later we’ll make love,” Kimmel joked.

The host went on to congratulation the Imitation Game star‘s “Cumberbun in the oven” and asked if the baby will take his last name.

“Poor child, I think it’ll have to,” said Cumberbatch, remaining mum on the baby’s gender. “That’s kind of the tradition.”

Kimmel went on to suggest choosing a name beginning with a Q so the child would go by “Q. Cumberbatch.”

“Too soon,” the actor, 38, responded with a laugh.

Regarding last year’s Oscars prank on U2, Cumberbatch said, “There was a lot of vodka being passed around on the red carpet, which I think is one of the reasons I did the photobombing. I blame it on the vodka.”

Last week, Ariana Grande released the fourth single from her 2014 album, My Everything. The song is called One Last Time and is a catchy forgettable little tune about wanting to get an ex back. The video, directed by 29 year-old Max Landis (The son of director John Landis), features Ariana running through a montage of post-apocalyptic scenes on the earth’s last day. Spoiler: she ends up kissing a guy at the end as the sky lights up with pink fires, which are presumably from meteors which wipe out humanity. It’s a decent concept for a video and it kept me watching. The problem is, there’s already a music video featuring a woman running through scenes of post-apocalyptic chaos until the end, when she kisses a guy before the sky lights up with pink meteors which blow up the earth. That video is 2014?s You Are The One, by the Australian group SAFIA. SAFIA issued a statement on Facebook calling out Ariana’s video.

This might just be coincidence but to us it looks like either the people at Ariana Grande’s label or the film maker have seen our clip for ‘You Are The One’ & reworked the concept a little bit and then straight up stolen and copied some bits…(ESPECIALLY THE END!)

Wouldn’t be the first time uncreative talentless f*cks from big labels and/or big film firms steal ideas from small independent creatives who are trying really hard to make something different for a change…

[From Facebook via Contact Music]

SAFIA also posted a side-by-side of the end of Ariana’s video and their video. It was similar to these two screenshots from the videos.

In response to this, director Max Landis got equally pissy on Twitter. He accused SAFIA of stealing their video too (From Injured Ninja, this video is from 2011) and claimed that it was just a trope he was using. Here are some of his tweets on this and he’s written so much more on Twitter if you’re interested.

No but seriously for people who are saying we stole @SAFIAmusic ‘s video, they should watch @Injured_Ninja’s video
https://t.co/GPxnowixYJ

— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) February 17, 2015

Protip: don’t accuse someone of stealing for having similar tropes if you REALLY ACTUALLY STOLE YOUR VIDEO YOU’RE ACCUSING THEM OF STEALING.

— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) February 17, 2015

coincidences are coincidences
tropes are tropes
But those in glass houses shouldn’t throw meteors.

— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) February 17, 2015

Landis also tweeted “Everyone in the biz said “stay quiet, let it blow over” f*k that. i respect Ariana way too much to let her get called a thief.” For the record, Landis was getting called a thief not Ariana, and his argument is basically “you stole it too,” and “tropes are open to everyone.” That’s weak. Ariana’s videos is at least derivative of SAFIA’s, especially the ending. At least SAFIA’s video has a different ending than Injured Ninja’s.

I don’t care too much how this turns out, but I do think that Landis’ response was telling. Instead of admitting inspiration or apologizing he’s getting defensive and accusatory.

Here are the two videos:

Ariana Grande: One Last Time

SAFIA: You Are The One

photo credit: WENN.com

During a Tuesday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, mum-to-be Keira Knightley opened up about her first pregnancy and her birth plan.

“Sorry, but what is the plan apart from to get it out?,” Knightley joked when asked about her birth plan. “There isn’t an option to sort of keep it in, is there?”

“So, I’m assuming my plan is to get it out,” she added. “But apparently there’s more to the plan than that. I don’t know what that is. Still, my plan is to get it out. It will come out.”

The host went on to remind The Imitation Game star, 29, that “back in the day, people would be in the field and have a child.”

“Yeah, just drop it out and keep working,” Knightley quipped. “Pick it up…yeah, that’s my plan.”

The pregnant actress jokingly recalled a visit to her doctor.

“When can I drink?,” she asked her doctor. “Please? I just want a margarita! I’m up for an Oscar and I can’t drink!”

That said, Knightley and her husband, musician James Righton, are “having a great time,” she said. “I’m eating for two and he’s drinking for two!”

When asked about her baby’s gender, Knightley said, “No, I don’t know.”

Kanye West has a really, really long interview with Style.com this week, all about his collaboration with Adidas and his NYFW show last week. This is what bugs me about Kanye: he’s taken seriously within the fashion community, but he always acts like the world is against him. He has a massive martyr complex about everything, even when Anna Wintour is sitting right there, supporting his every move. Even when he gets a prime NYFW slot and he gets to work with some of the most experienced people in fashion, even when money is no object, Kanye is still positioning himself as an underdog. You can read the full Style.com piece here (it’s SO MUCH Kanye) and here are a handful of highlights:

He doesn’t read reviews: “I don’t read the reviews, because it’s some kind of backhanded compliment or something focusing on not the main point. It was really difficult to do this. It would be difficult to make a proposition this simple for any designer. So many people told me that it had to have logos or it had to have this, but I fought for exactly what I wanted in my closet. I fought for what was true to me … There are a lot of kids in the streets that have waited for someone to speak for them and what they’re doing and for them to connect with it directly. And that’s what I’m here to do. Just as the last photo showed you, I’ve got an army behind me, so unless the reviewer is recognizing the army, they’re not recognizing the tank coming. I mean, I don’t know if people felt this, but it’s too late. Like the Drake album says, if you’re reading this, it’s already too late. If you’re seeing this, it’s already too late.

The best red carpet look of all time? “I believe the category of ready-to-wear should be removed. I’m biased, but I think the best red-carpet look of all time—if not, one of the top five—was my wife’s look at the Grammys. You know what [Jean Paul Gaultier] just did. He said, “F–k the sh-t. I’m making real sh-t. I’m doing perfume and couture.” And by focusing on that, he delivered … I just think for me as a person that dresses the most photographed person in the world, I get bored with ready-to-wear really easily. Here’s this glamorous being, this modern-day Helmut Newton girl, and you just get this “mid” thing. I just feel like we’ve been hit with this barrage of extreme medium. And you never go and ask, “Hey, can I get an extreme medium?”

Kim is always his muse: “She was always my muse, now she’s become other designers’ muses. Or designers’ muses, because like I said, I don’t want to disrespect designers by calling myself a designer, I just think I have a vision of something that I want to do. But God has a special way to teach people through life. I guess I got a little more credit for my second collection than my first, for whatever that is worth. But soon as we started dating, fashion people were really opposed to the idea of reality stars. And all the relationships, the somewhat friends that I had somewhat built up, completely turned their backs on her and me. They already had their back to her, and now they turned it to me. The so-called traction that I was getting in the high-fashion world was completely thrown out the window and I was finally allowed to go to school, where every day I was in my mom [Kris Jenner]’s house, in my little brother’s old room, Rob’s old room, re-tailoring a Céline skirt, re-tailoring a Saint Laurent jacket, re-tailoring a Zara top, re-tailoring Wolford … And day by day by day, [Kim and I] learned, we got better. We looked at the photographs together and she improved my style, we improved each other.

Whether the NYFW audience was on his side: “This audience isn’t on my side, anyways. It’s the fashion audience. They’re not even on their own side.”

Chic: “I dislike the concept of chic being the highest compliment for a human being. I’d rather someone be nice than to be chic.”

The realization: “And I realized that it had all been a scam, that it had all been smoke and mirrors to present this concept that a straight black guy out of Chicago that’s a rapper, that’s married to a reality star, could somehow not design a coat, that can’t design a T-shirt, that can’t have enough of an opinion. You know, it’s like voting. Fashion is merely an opinion. And I’ve got a lot of opinions.

Racism: “Racism and the focus on racism is a distraction to humanity. It would be like focusing on the cousin from your mom’s side versus the cousin on your dad’s side. We’re all cousins. We’re all the same race. To even focus on the concept of race, it’s like—perhaps people give me an extra cookie for the fact that my color palette is so controlled and I’m black. When someone that’s like, racist, comes up to me at A.P.C. and says, “I thought it would be a bunch of animals on your shirts,” because they heard that I rapped. But it just makes the journey interesting. We came into a broken world. And we’re the cleanup crew. And we’re only cleaning up by helping each other.

[From Style.com]

Kanye actually makes several stabs at humility throughout the piece, although I have to admit, by “Chapter 3” of this interview, I did stop reading. The biggest headlines are about his “muse” Kim Kardashian and how he calls Kris Jenner his mom and all of that, but if you have a good 20-30 minutes, I would suggest reading the whole interview in depth. It’s a whole lotta Yeezy, but he’s always interesting. You don’t have to agree with him, you can laugh about what he says about fashion and Kim and art, but he IS interesting.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I understand opening SNL40 with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake. It certainly wasn’t a surprise though. This is a great example of choosing to give people what they want over what they need. Then again, the idea of a reunion show is a “want over need” situation to begin with. It …