Is it too early for an Oscar campaign? Never. Last December, we caught a first glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal in character for Southpaw. He plays a welterweight boxer (meaning he’s heavier than lightweight but not quite to middleweight status) whose life hits a few rock bottoms. His wife gets killed, and he loses custody of their daughter. He has to fight his way back on all levels. Back in 2010, Kurt Sutter talked about the screenplay as a continuation of Eminem’s 8 Mile tale. The movie was originally supposed to star Eminem!

Plans changed, and the movie is now a prestige film. The Weinstein Company acquired the pic, which means Harvey smells Oscar potential. As Pajiba put it, “Southpaw has it all, y’all. It’s Rocky plus a drug-addiction story, a custody battle, a dead wife, another complete body-transformation for Gyllenhaal, and a director (Antoine Fuqua) who got Denzel his Oscar in Training Day.” Southpaw is total Oscar bait even though it comes out in July. Some summer movies (2012?s Beasts of the Southern Wild) do make the Oscar lists. And the Academy loves boxers and body transformations, so “check, check.” After Jake lost weight for Nightcrawler and gained weight back for Southpaw, he officially joins the legions of Christan Bale, Jared Leto, and Bradley Cooper in their Oscar-seeking ways.

Jake hasn’t said much about this film yet, but his trainer is talking. Former pro boxer Terry Claybon, spoke with Yahoo! to reveal Jake’s transformation madness. When all was said and done, Jake lost 30 pounds. Then he gained it all back and added 15 more. He worked out with real boxers for six months. For three hours every day, Jake boxed. Then he did “three hours of strengthening, conditioning, and cardio at night.” Every morning, Jake did 1,000 sit-ups. He ended his day with another 1,000. That was before filming even began. Will Jake Gyllenhaal’s gloves reach the same notorious heights as the beige booty shorts? I’m always amazed at how actors will go to such lengths for a gold statuette, but hey. Their bodies, their future metabolisms.

P.S. Jake signed on to this year’s Cannes jury. He joins Sienna Miller, Guillermo del Toro, Sophie Marceau, and Joel and Ethan Cohen.

Here’s the Southpaw trailer, which looks like a tear jerker for sure.

Photos courtesy of Weinstein Films, Fame/Flynet & WENN

Proud stepmom Kelly Clarkson shared a sweet new snapshot via Instagram Wednesday.

“Big brother reading to his little sister One of my favorite things in life! #River&Seth #Greatest8yrOldOnThePlanet,” Kelly captioned the image of her daughter River, 10 months, and 8-year-old stepson Seth.

Kelly’s husband Brandon Blackstock is also dad to daughter Savannah, 13.

“They’re so great,” Kelly has previously gushed about her stepchildren. “And I never wanted kids before, but now I want, like, five.”

She went on to say how Seth and Savannah changed her perspective on family.

“I honestly never ever used to want to want kids because I’m kind of selfish with my career, but going to soccer games with Seth and doing homework with Savannah — I just really love it y’all,” she added. “It’s so cool. It sounds so cheesy but it’s such a bigger point to life. I really lucked out with the whole kid situation. They’re amazing.”

Big brother reading to his little sister One of my favorite things in life! #River&Seth #Greatest8yrOldOnThePlanet

A photo posted by Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) on Apr 22, 2015 at 12:12pm PDT

View image | gettyimages.com

Jay-Z and many of his rich, famous friends launched Tidal, a music streaming service, in late March. They did a big launch party/announcement which Gawker described as “bonkers,” in which some of the richest musical artists in the world stood together and asked for even more money from their fans. The thing is, I’m pretty sure Tidal might have worked out long-term if the app worked like it was supposed to and they actually had exclusive content. But that didn’t happen. Less than a month after the big launch, Tidal has “fallen out of the Top 750 on the Apple App Store.” Music sites are already writing obituaries for this rare financial fail from Jay-Z. So is it significant that Kanye West – arguably one of Jay’s closest business associates and friends – is acting like a rat jumping from a sinking ship?

Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal isn’t doing so well. It already bricked on the Apple app store, and it appears that the service has lost the social support of one of its biggest supporters yet: Kanye West has deleted his tweets about the company. Ye, who appears in the multiple commercials for the service and stood on stage next to Jay during the weird press conference, has erased any mention of the company on his Twitter feed. Not only that, but he changed his profile picture back from the Tidal logo to the George Condo, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy picture.

[From Complex]

So much for innovation, eh? It does sound like Kanye is done. And it sounds like Jay-Z won’t even be able to unload Tidal for a tidy profit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Jay will sell it, but he won’t ever get back the $56 million he put into it.

This is Kanye’s deleted tweet:

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Lizzie McGuire alum Hilary Duff and former hockey star Mike Comrie have been co-parenting their son Luca, 3, in peace. But is there trouble in amicable paradise?

According to E! News, Comrie recently filed his divorce response in a Los Angeles Superior Court, and he is asking for joint legal and physical custody of their preschooler.

This raises the question if a possible custody battle brewing, since Duff’s initial file asked for primary custody of their son, with visitation rights for Comrie.

As well, Comrie, 34, asked that their assets and property be divided based on the terms of their prenuptial agreement.

After five years of marriage, the couple announced their separation in January 2014, and the Younger actress, 27, filed for divorce in February 2015.

“They remain best friends and will continue to be in each other’s lives,” Duff’s rep said in a separation statement, calling the split amicable. “They are dedicated to loving and parenting their amazing son, and ask for privacy at this time.”

Duff has since dished on their break-up.

“I don’t want to sound bitter because I’m definitely not, but I don’t know if people are meant to be together forever,” she recently said.

She added: “Things happen over a long relationship that you can’t always fight. A marriage of 20 years, the accomplishment of that must feel really great, but there are also huge sacrifices. I just always want to fight for happiness.”

Here are some photos of Queen Letizia of Spain at the Women Magazine Awards in Madrid a few days ago. Queen Letizia has been consistently active since she and her husband Felipe ascended to the throne last year. By “consistently active” I mean that she’s working a lot, making a lot of public appearances and looking fabulous for the most part. It’s been a while since a major European royal house has had such a young, attractive queen. But with Letizia, it’s difficult because the knives are always out for her in certain Spanish circles. There’s a cottage industry of Letizia conspiracy theories and attempted takedowns. Why bring all of this up? Because these photos have caused a new flurry of rumors in Spain and abroad. Rumors about Queen Letizia’s health and whether she’s too thin.

Queen Letizia of Spain has long been plagued by rumours of anorexia, and her appearance at an awards ceremony in Madrid yesterday did nothing to dispel them. Friends say the former TV journalist is naturally thin and point out that she has spoken publicly about her eating habits in the past, saying she maintains her figure with a healthy diet and is very concerned about nutrition. The 42-year-old wife of King Felipe and mother of two was born to a middle-class family. The Spanish media have likened her to Princes Diana, saying she suffers from ‘control issues’ and feels uncomfortable in the royal role.

[From The Daily Mail]

Is this body-shaming? Or legitimate concern? I think it can be both. Letizia looks noticeably thinner since becoming queen last year. But… people are acting like Letizia’s slender frame is the second coming of Giuliana Rancic. It’s not that. Letizia’s figure reminds me a bit of Kelly Ripa’s – like, I’ll buy that Letizia works out too much more than she’s not eating.

Also notable about these photos? Letizia debuted her sleek new bob this week. I don’t like it, and I think it’s contributing to how we’re seeing her weight. The bob makes her look older, more pinched. The makeup isn’t helping either.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

We’re still wait(y)ing for Duchess Kate to go into labor. And that’s on us, not Kate. I think Kate is feeling pretty peaceful right now. Her second pregnancy was a lot smoother than the first, she was happier and able to move around more, and from what we’re hearing, she’s been pretty active over the past week too. She spent last weekend in Bucklebury with her parents. She’s spent the last several days in London, running a few errands. William is with her now, having taken his paternity leave early (he left work on Tuesday). I assume that she’ll go into labor today, tomorrow or over the weekend. That’s just the vibe I’m getting, but hey, I’ve been wrong before. So while we wait(y), let’s go through some stories making the rounds (a lot of sites are doing these kinds of busy-work royal stories as we wait).

Her hair. There’s a rumor going around that Kate stopped by the Rossano Ferretti Hair Salon this week for a pre-baby blow-out and hair pampering. I’m assuming that just like with George’s birth, she has hair people on standby to do her hair at the hospital ahead of the big baby debut.

More than an heir & a spare? Kate’s dodgy uncle Gary Goldsmith tells Hello magazine that Will and Kate will probably go for three kids. He said: “I don’t think they’ll stop at two, so if it isn’t a girl this time round, people shouldn’t be too disappointed. I’m sure there’ll be a girl in the mix at some point….As long as the baby is healthy that is the important thing. Kate was a beautiful girl and if she were to have a girl, she’ll be equally as beautiful.”

The betting. The betting has gotten out of control. Most gamblers believe that Kate is totally having a girl and that “Diana” will be in the name somewhere. Other favorites these days? Alice, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Victoria and Alexandra. If it’s a boy, the top names are Arthur and James.

The bullish baby. The baby will be a Taurus. My dad was a Taurus and he was one of the most stubborn people in the world. They have good qualities too – they’re good in business, they’re loyal, they’re family-oriented.

John Oliver has no f—ks to give. John Oliver – who is an Englishman and an American citizen – was asked about the royal baby and he told Page Six: “I don’t care. I think people around the world care more about royal babies than British people do. It’s one of the only things we produce of international value anymore. It shows how far our empire has collapsed that people tend to look at us whenever members of the royal family are born, die or get married.”

Sigh… I’m kind of hoping Kate goes into labor today, has the baby quickly and we can manage to do all of this without some wild media extravaganza.

Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of Hello.

Yesterday, I talked about the drunkening of Chris Evans, who has been partying his chunk butt (thanks, Kaiser) off during the Age of Ultron tour. Evans is still beloved by fans and still a fragile creature. But he’s drinking on the job, and perhaps the alcohol is revealing his true personality. I don’t doubt that all of the Avengers are enjoying the occasional shot, but Evans has been acting wasted. Some people are content to watch Evans turn into Happy Fun Guy instead of Neurotic Downer Guy. He’s acting unprofessional at best.

Things got worse during an interview with Digital Spy where Evans and Jeremy Renner act like a couple of sexist tools. (These two hit bars together sometimes, so it was a bad idea for Marvel to pair them.) The journo asked what they thought of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow coupling up with Bruce Banner/The Hulk in this movie. Their responses were awful.

Kids watch these interviews, and here’s Captain America and Hawkeye tossing sexiest slurs around. Renner calls Black Widow a “slut,” and Evans doesn’t only laugh like it’s the funniest joke in the world. Evans happily admits that he would have given the same answer. But he would have used the word “wh0re” instead! Evans knows kids look up to him. Drunkface don’t care. Here’s the transcript and video:

Journo: “Fans were pretty invested in the idea that Natasha was with either of you guys. And now she’s with Bruce.”

Renner: “She’s a slut.”

Evans: “AHHAHAHAHHA. [left boob grab] I was gonna say something along those lines. A complete wh0re.”

Renner: “A trick, man.”

Evans: “HAHAHAAHA.”

Journo: “Whatever movie it is, she’ll just be the sidekick?”

Evans: “Right, just flirting with everybody.”

Renner: “She has a prosthetic leg anyway.”

Evans: “HEHHHAAH. Leading everybody on.”

[From Digital Spy on YouTube]

So … all a joke? Jokes can still be sexist. This is pretty gross. I’m struck with how comfortably Evans and Renner toss “wh0re” around like it ain’t no thing. Neither of them displays any awareness of how inappropriately they’re behaving, but I’m more disappointed with Evans. Renner’s always seemed a little shady (even before his divorce mess) to me. Both of them know better, especially in front of kids and BETTY WHITE. Ugh, fake Evans faked it until drunk Evans came out to play.

P.S. Did you know that the Evans beard has a Twitter account? The beard just tweeted, “I spend most of my time very close to @ChrisEvans mouth and can confirm that dumb sh*t comes out of it sometimes. I’ve had a word with him.”

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

Robert Downey Jr. walked out on an interview yesterday with a British reporter. I recognize this reporter too – Krishnan Guru-Murthy is sort of a famous UK presenter/interviewer and he’s the same guy who hammered Quentin Tarantino (QT gave as good as he got) several years ago about QT’s love of film violence and love of the n-word. In this interview, RDJ is pretty game for the first half, like it’s completely normal to have a sober, intellectual conversation about Iron Man and comic-book movies in general. Skip ahead to about the 3:45-minute mark to see the lead-up to RDJ walking out, which you can see RDJ start to get prickly about politics.

I was sort of on RDJ’s side at first. I mean… yes, he’s promoting a Marvel movie and who cares about a quote he gave about politics five years ago? Then again, people bring up that quote (where he said going to jail made him more conservative politically) a lot about RDJ, and I think he explained it in the most non-committal, uncontroversial way possible, after all, he has to sell this movie to political liberals and conservatives. After that, the interview turns very, very awkward and you can see RDJ looking off-camera to his publicist (or the film’s publicist).

At the end of the day, I want to believe that it was the sort of slimy, awkward, ultra-personal way Guru-Murthy asked about RDJ’s drugged-out past that sent RDJ packing. After all, we know RDJ will talk about his past, sometimes without even being prompted by an interviewer. He’s talked about his past in many, many interviews before. If Guru-Murthy had simply fed some of RDJ’s past quotes back to him and asked, “Do you still believe this?” or “Do you still feel this struggle?” it might have been gone over a lot better. While I support Guru-Murthy’s right – and any journalist’s right – to ask any celebrity any question, I also think it’s fair game for a celebrity to walk out on an interview this creepily awkward.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

View image | gettyimages.com

On Tuesday night, Ben Affleck finally commented on the days-old controversy that he asked the PBS show Finding Your Roots to remove a segment referencing his ancestor who had owned slaves. Affleck framed it as a collaborative decision, similar to the way he would influence a director to edit scenes for a film. He failed to acknowledge showrunner Henry Louis Gates’s concerns over compromising journalistic integrity, and he dismissed the show as not “a news program.” He also made it clear that he did influence Gates to edit his ancestor, stating in part that he felt vulnerable and embarrassed. “The assumption is that they will never be dishonest but they will respect your willingness to participate and not look to include things you think would embarrass your family.”

There were some decent parts in Affleck’s statement in which he acknowledged that he shouldn’t have done that, but overall he went on a little too long and made it about him. He also worked to get people to understand his position instead of trying to convey an understanding of why this was a problem.

In a new comment to Facebook, Affleck changes his tune somewhat. He says that some sites framed it as “censorship” (we did that, as did Gates in his original emails to Sony head Michael Lynton) and that it wasn’t like that, it was just no big deal.

Thanks for the comments here. To clarify, because I see this story being framed as “censorship” on some sites, when I told Skip I was uneasy about the slave owner, he told me he had not included it in his preliminary cut because there wasn’t much detail – a name and no details, so he wasn’t going with it to begin with. He also told me they would do a book later with a more complete story, and I said I would be happy to participate and talk about the issues more broadly.

[From Facebook]

So in his original statement, Ben said this: “I lobbied [Gates, he calls him Skip] the same way I lobby directors about what takes of mine I think they should use.” Then in his follow up, he claims all he did was tell Gates he “was uneasy” and then Gates told him it didn’t matter because he had already removed that part. This is despite the fact that Affleck’s segment on Finding Your Roots was largely about race (see NPR’s coverage for more) and despite the fact that Gates’ emails to Lynton contradict this. Gates was incredibly concerned about being asked to censor the show, and not once did Affleck acknowledge this. PBS is conducting an internal investigation to ensure their editorial standards haven’t been compromised, and their statement says that “We have been moving forward deliberately yet swiftly to conduct this review.” Affleck must know this.

Affleck’s statements don’t add up. Either he lobbied for this change and it was a big deal to him because he felt embarrassed and vulnerable (his first statement) or he just told Gates he was “uneasy” and Gates told him he didn’t plan to include that information anyway. It’s possible that Gates got an email from Affleck, emailed Lynton, and then played it off like it was no biggie to remove that part and he meant to do it anyway. If that’s what happened why didn’t Affleck explain it that way in the first place? He could be telling the truth in both statements, they’re not necessarily contradictory, but he’s handled this all very poorly.

Oh and Affleck also posted another comment revealing his ancestor’s name. He said “Lots of people here have been asking who the guy was. His name was Benjamin Cole – lived in Georgia on my Mom’s side about six generations back.”

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

A few days ago, I wrote about how Kim Kardashian was named as one of the recipients of Variety’s Inspiration Impact Awards, which highlight various celebrity women and their work in New York, especially with charity. Kim isn’t even a New Yorker, nor is she really well-known for working hard for charities. It just seemed like Variety was giving her the award as some sort of tacky “please come to our event” thing. In any case, Variety celebrated this year’s honorees with multiple magazine covers this week. It really feels like “one of things is not like the other” when Kim is lumped in with Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Rachel Weisz and Lena Dunham. You can see Variety’s package here. Here are some highlights from Kim’s piece:

Why Kim is so charitable: She started working with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles seven years ago – she not only donates proceeds from her eBay auction store to the nonprofit, but she also carves out time to regularly visit patients and their parents, especially during the holidays.

Losing her father to cancer: “My father passed away from cancer. I remember what it was like when my dad was going through it. You see the kids that are so strong. They feel so helpless. You want to do anything to help them.”

What happens when she visits the kids: On some of these visits, Kardashian West will sit at the patient’s bedside alone. Other times, she’ll bring along her husband, Kanye West, or her sisters. She’ll arrive at the hospital armed with presents such as iTunes gift cards or beauty products. “We’ll sit and paint our nails together,” Kardashian West says. The kids, who are excited to see the E! reality star, will ask that she post their selfies on Instagram, where Kardashian West has 30.1 million followers. “They love to see their pictures on social media,” she says.

[From Variety]

Yeah… okay. I honestly don’t have any shade for her work with Children’s Hospital LA. I just wasn’t aware that she really was spending so much time there (I’d sort of like to see the receipts on that, but whatever). It’s nice that she visits the kids and brings presents and hangs out with them. Does she deserve the cover of Variety for it? Eh.

Photos courtesy of Variety, Fame/Flynet.