What is going on with First Man’s Oscar campaign? Will Ryan Gosling get an Oscar nomination or what? [LaineyGossip]
Kathy Lee Gifford is leaving the Today Show. [Seriously OMG]
Offset wants to win Cardi B back. Ugh. [The Blemish]
Wait, Mennonite parents stole a baby? [Starcasm]
Beyonce made a truck full of money performing at an Indian wedding. [Dlisted]
Dakota Johnson’s Gucci gown was just kind of sad. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Cynthia Erivo does look like a superhero here. [GoFugYourself]
Some good analysis about why Widows is such a great movie. [Jezebel]
Clint Eastwood is still a big fan of Bradley Cooper.[Just Jared]

For months, I’d been hearing about First Reformed and how it was a great movie and Ethan Hawke is brilliant in it and it’s going to be an undercover Oscar contender. I finally saw it and… good lord, I hope not. I’m not going to do a full review of it, just suffice to say that it was some haunting Protestant nonsense. I went into First Reformed blind – all I knew was that Ethan Hawke plays a minister. It was described as a “thriller.” It is not. It’s a deeply contemplative drama about religion, mortality and the environment. Amanda Seyfried is in it, as is Cedric the Entertainer (I honestly realized that was Cedric the Entertainer hours after I watched the film).

I’m not trying to say that First Reformed is utter trash – it’s not. It’s a quiet film with some very disconcerting moments. It raises some thoughtful issues. And Ethan Hawke’s performance IS very good. He’s aged into a very interesting actor, and it was fascinating to see him play this buttoned-up man in the throes of depression and grief, struggling with his faith and what to do with the last months of his life. And I’ll say this too: it took a lot more for Ethan to give such a quiet, thoughtful performance than it did for Gary Oldman to fart around in a fat suit as Winston Churchill in HIS Oscar-winning turn.

So should Ethan be a major Oscar contender for an imperfect film with a sh-tty ending? I don’t know. Ethan has been picking up awards for a few months – he’s already received the Gotham Award for Best Actor, the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Actor, and just this week, he was named the Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. While the Golden Globes skipped out on giving him a nomination, the Independent Spirit Awards nominated him and the film for several awards. He also just got nominated for a Critics Choice Award. The reason why I think Ethan will end up with an Oscar nomination is because he’s actually great at hustling – he wants an Oscar, and he doesn’t mind selling his film. So, we’ll see. Also: SAG nominations come out tomorrow, and it will be very interesting to see if he’s short-listed for a SAG.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, ‘First Reformed’.

Emily Blunt is a stylish woman, I don’t think that’s in doubt. She rarely phones it in, and you can tell that she pays attention to trends and what’s happening in fashion at the moment. She has a stylist, and I’m sure they work together to build “style stories” for promotional tours. But can I just say? I so rarely LIKE what Emily wears. I respect her as a Fashion Girl, and I rarely think she looks flat-out terrible. But I just think she has a bad picker when it comes to red carpet looks.

Emily’s look for the Paris premiere of Mary Poppins Returns is a perfect example. She chose a patterned Zuhair Murad dress with a built-in cape, made out of the same fabric. The pattern isn’t awful, the cut is flattering, and I enjoy capes. But altogether, I dislike this? The prominent flowers on her boobs, the detailing on the shoulder, the length of the skirt… I just want to start from the beginning and rework this completely. The biggest thing is that this should have been a full-length gown, and the white-and-red flowers on the fabric shouldn’t have been tailored to look like pasties.

Lin-Manuel Miranda looks nice on this promotional tour – I’m glad he’s not doing the “dude thing” of underdressing while his female costar is wearing couture. Lin seems to be wearing suits and beautiful dress coats.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and WENN.

Chrissy Teigen is covering the January issue of Elle UK. She’s polarizing, but there are plenty of people who respond to her like I do, with indifference. I appreciate when she speaks out against the administration or is particularly clever owning trolls, but I also find her tiresome in large doses. She finds a way to get in the press just about every few days somehow. To her credit, she usually comes across as genuine and not like she’s trying too hard. When you work online chatting to people for years you get exceptionally good at it. Anyway Chrissy talks about body image, about her pregnancy weight, and about her relationship with her husband John Legend, whom she married five years ago. I really like them together and Chrissy explains why they work so well – he’s quiet and thoughtful and she’s spontaneous and loud. We all knew this about them but it’s nice to hear it from her.

On how Instagram models set unrealistic expectations
People get FOMO, or they feel bad about their bodies, and I get it. If I feel bad seeing certain things, what about that girl who has no connection to this industry? It makes me sad, because that’s not really how it is.

On stretch marks and scars
‘Everyone Photoshops them out,’ she exclaims. ‘It’s insane. And I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re the only ones. I was on a Victoria’s Secret shoot and it was a big turning point for me to see those women with scars and stretch marks and bruises. Who’s to say it’s even a flaw?’

On fashion being more inclusive
Fashion is definitely kinder to women now. Some brands cater to a lot of different body types, so it’s obvious now who supports women and who doesn’t… I’ve never seen women have more fight in them than now. We’re ready to stir the pot and bring issues to light.

She loved being pregnant
I think it was mostly the eating binges, though. John used to make this sandwich and leave it for me at midnight. I’d literally just grab it in the night and eat in the dark. Miles was like 4.5lbs and I gained 60lbs. I had a good time!

She won’t let John work out in front of her
[John works out an hour before she gets up in the morning.] He can’t work out while I’m awake because I’ll stop him. I’m just bitter. Seeing your husband get fit while you’ve got your post-baby body, I’m like, ‘F-k you, take a day off!’

She weighs herself three times a day
Since I was 17, I’ve known my weight in the morning, after lunch and at night. And trust me, that number was wildly different then! But I wasn’t as happy.

Why her relationship with John works
He’s quieter than me, which isn’t saying much. But he’s more thoughtful, whereas I’m spur of the moment. I can’t hide things very well. If I feel it, you’ll see it on my face, but he’s better at covering. I was never that big into music. Still to this day, I’m very Top 40. And I’m more emotion-based than him. I can see everybody’s side of an argument.

[From Elle UK]

I like what she said about how her weight doesn’t determine her happiness and yet she still admits to being petty about John working out in front of her. I’m sure she’s telling the truth about both of those things. She’s fun, she’s outspoken and she’s living her life online and letting the world have a glimpse into it. Even when she’s like “look at my stretch marks” it doesn’t seem that calculated. Maybe that just comes with a lot of practice. As for weighing herself three times a day, I only do it once a day, but will admit to being way more influenced by those numbers than I should be. Reading that beautiful models feel insecure too helps me put it in perspective.

This series that Chrissy posted is FUNNY

View this post on Instagram

@elleuk @amcelle @gilles_bensimon #chairmodel #michaelscott

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Dec 10, 2018 at 3:36am PST

View this post on Instagram

where do I put this thing

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Dec 10, 2018 at 10:11am PST

View this post on Instagram

here looks good

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Dec 10, 2018 at 10:12am PST

View this post on Instagram

here looks good

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Dec 10, 2018 at 10:12am PST

photos credit: WENN

That was the question dominating Twitter yesterday. It started with Jacquees – a singer I barely knew existed – declaring himself as the “King of R&B.” The declaration sparked a debate that went from heated to hilarious and back around again. This debate has all the grown-ass men who have ever had a…

Megan Fox is back with a new Travel Channel show, Legends of the Lost. It’s sort of based on one of Megan’s big loves, which is “all of the Ancient Aliens programming.” If you’ve never seen Ancient Aliens, you need to, because those shows are super-enjoyable. How did the pyramids get made? Aliens. Who was Jesus? An alien. Why are the dinosaurs extinct? Aliens. And on and on. Well, Megan loves that show and she wanted to host her own version of it, so she pitched Legends of the Lost, with herself in the host/Indiana Jones role. She also executive produced the show, and she’s been promoting it for weeks. She chatted with the New York Times about ancient mysteries and Me Too and more. Some highlights:

How the show happened: A few years back, Megan Fox awoke to an epiphany: “I think that I can find the ark of the covenant,” she told herself. “I’ve always been really been passionate about ancient peoples and ancient religions and ancient magic practices, not knowing what to do with it. And so I started pitching a show. I feel drawn into archaeological mysteries, and I feel that I have a purpose there. If it’s to be a literal Indiana Jones, who’s to say?”

The book that changed everything: “I had never read Erich von Däniken’s book [“Chariots of the Gods”], and that’s the first time I had ever heard of the ancient astronaut theory [which posits that extraterrestrials brought their pyramid- and monolith-building technologies to Earth during prehistoric times]. It expanded my consciousness about things I had always questioned and provided a stepping stone to keep exploring.

Whether the public owes her a retroactive apology in the wake of Me Too: “I mean, that’s a lovely sentiment, and I appreciate that. [Long pause] I don’t know that I want to feel anything about it because my words were taken and used against me in a way that was — at that time in my life, at that age and dealing with that level of fame — really painful. I don’t want to say this about myself, but let’s say that I was ahead of my time and so people weren’t able to understand. Instead, I was rejected because of qualities that are now being praised in other women coming forward. And because of my experience, I feel it’s likely that I will always be just out of the collective understanding. I don’t know if there will ever be a time where I’m considered normal or relatable or likable.

She doesn’t know if she would be seen as a sympathetic victim: “Even with the #MeToo movement, and everyone coming out with stories — and one could assume that I probably have quite a few stories, and I do — I didn’t speak out for many reasons. I just didn’t think based on how I’d been received by people, and by feminists, that I would be a sympathetic victim. And I thought if ever there were a time where the world would agree that it’s appropriate to victim-shame someone, it would be when I come forward with my story. No [there’s nothing I want to say], because I also feel like I’m not the universal hammer of justice. This is not to say that other people shouldn’t do what they feel is right. But in my circumstance, I don’t feel it’s my job to punish someone because they did something bad to me.

Raising three sons: “I’m the window through which they see all women now. I’m the introduction to the divine feminine. And if they feel safe with me as the main woman in their life, it’s likely they’ll feel safe with women in general. If they see their father being respectful of me, it’s likely that that’s what they’ll think all men should do. It sounds simple. It’s probably not.

[From The New York Times]

“Let’s say that I was ahead of my time and so people weren’t able to understand. Instead, I was rejected because of qualities that are now being praised in other women coming forward.” I don’t know, I think she’s right? We saw it unfold in real time, and of course Megan wasn’t a perfect victim and of course she *also* behaved unprofessionally, etc, but the truth is still the same: Michael Bay sexually harassed her and then when she tried to talk about it, Steven Spielberg ordered Bay to fire Fox. And that’s just what we know about, because she talked about it at the time. She was ahead of her time, however messy. Justice 4 Megan Fox.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

From its first trailer, First Man looked like a surefire Oscar front runner. Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling, period piece, Great Man biopic—it appeals to several Oscar fetishes. But the box office for First Man has been lackluster, stalling out just below its break-even point. And with that lack of b…

Doesn’t it feel like Kevin Hart’s withdrawal as Oscar host was kind of met with a collective shrug? I mean, it made headlines and people were like “good, he’s a homophobe,” but it wasn’t treated as a massive scandal or anything. Mostly, I think the takeaway is “the Academy needs to do better staff-work research on who they hire as Oscar host.” That’s all it would have taken – someone’s assistant doing a few hours of research online to see what scandals and controversies were out there about Kevin Hart. It also seems to be kind of a non-story that it’s been days since Hart withdrew and the Academy is still scrambling to figure out what to do. They didn’t have a Plan B at all. They put all their hosting eggs in Kevin Hart’s basket. Variety has some inside info on what’s going on behind the scenes.

Kevin Hart’s abrupt departure as Oscars host has left the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences scrambling to find someone to take the gig. As of now, the situation remains fluid as the group’s leadership explores options, including going host-less, individuals familiar with the situation told Variety. The Academy was blindsided by Hart’s announced departure Thursday night, according to two insiders. The Board of Governors will convene on Tuesday night at a previously-scheduled meeting where the matter will inevitably be discussed.

“They’re freaking out,” said a top comedy agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity. There were no contingency plans in place by the Academy or broadcaster ABC, according to another insider. The show’s producers are back to square one.

Late night hosts might seem an obvious choice, given their national profiles and history with the show (think Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart and David Letterman). But the Academy is now said to be gun shy about going with someone anyone who might be too edgy, noted an industry source. Then again, going too safe could be fatal for the show’s record-low ratings — the telecast was watched by 25.6 million people in March, a 19 percent drop from the previous year. Another option being tossed around is not having any host at all, but rather “a bunch of huge celebs, something ‘SNL’ style, and buzzy people” to keep the show moving, the insiders said. A stunt like a group monologue was floated, one source added.

[From Variety]

“But the Academy is now said to be gun shy about going with someone anyone who might be too edgy…” Yes, lord help us if the Oscars host makes any jokes about anything other than the weather. I mean, I still think that Ellen DeGeneres will probably be asked to step in. I don’t want to see Jon Stewart host again, because he’s still on my Sh-t List for all the dumb crap he said about Trump and Trump supporters. David Letterman would actually be an interesting choice, but I bet he’d say no to doing it again. The whole “bunch of huge celebs” idea could turn out interesting, or a shambolic mess. I do feel like there needs to be at least one person “in charge” on stage.

… You know what? Just hire Jennifer Lawrence to do it. I’m being serious! Jennifer would do it better than most. Hire Jennifer and, like, a dozen women to just model couture and make jokes and introduce categories. Jennifer Lawrence, Tiffany Haddish, Taraji Henson, Natalie Portman,Tina Fey, Anne Hathaway, and more – just invite them and let them riff, two at a time, on stage. I don’t know? My idea isn’t any better or worse than “NO EDGY KEEP IT SAFE.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Sophia Bush quit working on Chicago PD in 2017. She made it clear in interviews that it was her idea, that she gave producers ample notice and told them clearly what was wrong on set, but that nothing changed so she left. She said that it was a very unprofessional work environment and it’s thought that some of that had to do with her costar, Jason Beghe. Beghe was reprimanded for outbursts on set and issued a statement apologizing and revealing that he was in anger management treatment. So it looks like executives decided to keep the abuser on set and let one of his victims leave when she brought up the issues that they likely already knew. In a new interview on Dax Shepard’s podcast [via US Magazine], Sophia got into some more details of her exit and they’re damning:

[Sophia Bush], 36, joined Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, published on Monday, December 10, and revealed that after visiting Onsite, a friend’s wellness retreat, she “unpacked” what was going on with herself.

“I realized that as I was thinking I was being the tough guy, doing the thing, showing up to work, I programmed myself to tolerate the intolerable,” the activist stated. After that, she began saying no – and ultimately quit her job on Chicago P.D. “I quit because, what I’ve learned is I’ve been so programmed to be a good girl and to be a work horse and be a tug boat that I have always prioritized tugging the ship for the crew, for the show, for the group, ahead of my own health … My body was, like, falling apart, because I was really, really unhappy.”

Bush went on to explain that the conditions of working in Chicago’s extreme weather was difficult and people were getting sick all of the time. However, the writers in Los Angeles would tell them that the “snow looks so cool on camera…

“I internalized and sort of like, inhabited that role of ‘pull the tug boat’ to the point where just because I’m unhappy or I’m being mistreated or I’m being abused at work, I’m not gonna f—k up this job for all these people and what about the camera guy whose two daughters I love and this is how he pays their rent? It becomes such a big thing. When your bosses tell you that if you raise a ruckus, you’ll cost everyone their job, you believe them.”

After complaining multiple times, she sat down with her two bosses following the table read of the season 4 premiere. Although she had signed a seven-season contract when landing the gig in 2014, she was ready to go and was giving them an entire season to either change things or find a replacement.

When her bosses told her there was “no way” she’d be able to get out of her contract, she gave them a choice. “I said, ‘OK, you can put me in the position of going quietly of my own accord or you can put me in the position of suing the network to get me out of my deal and I’ll write an op-ed for The New York Times and tell them why…’”

“[It] was a consistent onslaught barrage of abusive behavior,” Bush stated, without naming names. “You start to lose your way when someone assaults you in a room full of people and everyone literally looks away, looks at the floor, looks at the ceiling, and you’re the one woman in the room and every man who’s twice your size doesn’t do something.”

[From US Magazine]

I like how matter-of-fact Sophia is and yet she’s not naming names, which would absolutely be her prerogative, she’s just clearly stating what happened. It’s outrageous that when she said she’d like a better work environment she was told that she would cost people their jobs if anything changed. That’s a classic abuser tactic. The fact that she ended up leaving and that nothing was done shows how such a toxic environment happened in the first place. We wonder why there aren’t better depictions of women on television and in film but it’s not only about barriers to entry, it’s about unsafe work environments and a culture that does not value workers, protects abusers and blames the victim.

photos credit: WENN

I mean, I thought the belly-cupping during the royal tour in Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand was extra. Turns out, for Meghan Markle, that was simply entry-level belly-cupping. Last night at the British Fashion Awards, Royal Meghan took it beyond extra to extreme. If you’ve been following th…