Remember when Katie Holmes was a ninja? How she left Tom Cruise without Tom Cruise knowing? Secret cell phones and lawyers undercover and a new security team, all in place well before she blindsided him: I’m leaving you.

Then it was every day paps with Suri in New York, part protection …      

Eva Mendes spoke to Extra yesterday, because for some reason, Eva is back to talking to the press in a big way. For much of 2014, Eva went radio silent. We found out later that she went underground as soon as she started showing with her pregnancy, although we didn’t learn about the pregnancy until she was like seven months along. Before her pregnancy, Eva was more pap-friendly, and she played the game of “not talking about Ryan Gosling while still making references to him constantly.” Well, that’s what she’s reverted back to. And during her Extra interview, she talked about her style – she prefers dresses to pants – and her theory on how to keep her man happy.

Motherhood is putting a lot of things into perspective for Eva Mendes, including just how appreciative she is for her own mother. The actress revealed that her sleepless nights and long days with her baby girl Esmeralda can be grueling, but she also confesses that it’s made her praise her mom that much more.

“Now I understand so much, my mother’s never gotten more ‘I love you so much mommy’ texts, I mean, randomly… ya, I get it now,” she told Extra during an interview, and adds that although the 6-month-old sleeps through the night now (yay!), there are still a few nights when baby Esme throws mama for a loop.

“But you never know, right, something random can happen and she’s just suddenly not sleeping through the night and you’re like, wait, I thought we were sleeping through the night, what’s up?!” She laughed, “Why does it always happen at three or four in the morning?!”

Mendes also revealed her secret rule to keeping one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men happy at home—and unfortunately, it may be a tough pill to swallow for some of us. Most of us. “You can’t do sweatpants… ladies, number one cause of divorce in America, sweatpants, no!”

[From E News]

Are you kidding me? “You can’t do sweatpants… ladies, number one cause of divorce in America!” If sweatpants are causing divorces, maybe we should rethink MARRIAGE entirely. While she said it in a joking manner, I get the sense that she really does feel that she “can’t” wear sweatpants. Because she’s all about “pleasing her man” or whatever. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying any woman is a horrible person for putting in some effort with their style or trying to look nice for their husband/SO. But there are times when sweatpants are awesome. There are times when a woman wants to hit the “off” switch and not feel the need to “look cute” for her significant other and she should be able to do that without it being a divorceable offense.

Oh, and all of this comes from a woman who thinks turbans are the height of sophistication.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty, Fame/Flynet.

Alison! Happy 40th Birthday from Dominique! Wishing you continued youth at heart this decade. By request, here are shots I’ve yet to post of Idris Elba and Sam Heughan.

And for Emily who has taken matters into her own hands – Happy Birthday! Stephen Amell and Robbie Amell are atta…      

Here are some more photos of Kate out and about yesterday in England. Polka dots! I still don’t care for them, but I still have to give her props for making public appearances, especially since we were being told a month ago that Kate would be winding down her public schedule. There’s a rumor (?) that she’s going to be making some kind of public appearance tomorrow, and she’s also confirmed – with Prince William – for three events on March 27th. This second pregnancy has been so different from her first one, hasn’t it? When she was pregnant with George, she couldn’t wait to wind down her meager schedule. People Mag also had a glowing story about Kate’s “magic dust” charisma during this visit to Woolwich – go here to read.

As for when Kate is actually due, before yesterday, I had only heard “whispers” from various royal sources. Some claimed end of April, some claimed it could even be beginning of May. But while Kate was out yesterday, she confirmed her due date (sort of) to a commoner:

Prince George will be a big brother sooner than later! Kate Middleton revealed that she is expecting her second child to arrive by the “mid-to-end” of April.

The Duchess of Cambridge broke the news to volunteers at Brookhill Children’s Centre in Woolwich, where she attended a coffee breakfast before watching a training session and visiting an on-site nursery. “I told her she is beautiful and that she’s got a tiny little bump,” volunteer Christie Osborne, 49, told reporters following Middleton’s visit. “I asked when her baby is due and she said mid-to-end of April.”

While Middleton revealed her due date, she did not reveal the sex of her second child.

[From E! News]

Crap, mid-to-late April means that The Great Kate Wait 2.0 is probably going to start on April 10 and she’ll give birth on April 29th and it will be a total clusterwhoops for gossip coverage AGAIN. I mean, I understand that she doesn’t want to give out the exact due date and she’s probably just repeating what her doctors told her anyway. I’m not blaming her – I’m blaming the crazy media overload that will accompany this news.

As for the sex of the baby… so many people think she’s having a girl this time. It was well known that William sort of hoped they would have a girl for the first pregnancy, but Kate “did her duty” and provided a male heir. So she has pretty good luck. I think she probably is having a girl. As for the name… I’d put $5 on something like Alexandra Elizabeth Diana. Or Victoria Diana Elizabeth. Something like that.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

Dear Gossips,

There was a LOT of Katie Holmes in Gossip yesterday. Like on top of what seemed like confirmation that she and Jamie Foxx are together, she posted a dance video to Instagram (which Maria covered in Smutty Social Media) and TMZ was all over her too…

Did that seem accid…      

Terry Crews is like a giant fountain of energy wrapped in a blanket of charisma. Terry’s enjoyed plenty of success, but he’s currently killing it as a sensitive tough guy on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It’s also difficult to forget those Old Spice ads from days past.

Terry is an unabashed feminist. Last year, he published a memoir called Manhood, which detailed his awakening to the need for gender equality. Along the way, he also stomped all over the traditional clichés of masculinity. Terry has a new interview with Dame magazine where he covers so much stuff — his feminine side, the misogyny of sports culture, and how male pride is a terrible thing. Oh, and he believes 50 Shades is truly dangerous:

Embracing his feminine side: “One thing I love, and that I’m starting to understand more, is that we really are both. Every man and every woman has both sexes in them. As manly as I am, with a one chromosome difference, I’m a woman. We have to embrace the duality that we are. When you’re in touch with that feminine side, you can empathize, along with having the strength. You become protective of people who are being wronged. When you’re too manly, there’s no grace, there’s no empathy. It’s all judgment. When you embrace either side of who you are, if you’re a woman and you embrace that manly part of you, or if you’re a man and you embrace that female part of you, it makes you a really whole, wonderful person.”

Misogyny, sports culture & 50 Shades: “Coming up in the sports culture, I saw it was nothing for guys to say things like, ‘Oh, you know she wanted it.’ I knew guys who had the attitude of, ‘You know you shouldn’t have walked out the door looking like that, girl,’ thinking they had the right to feel on her or to rape her, because of what she was wearing. Once I realized that I was part of that culture, I knew that I had to change it. This is the truth — thinking is the hardest thing you can ever do. For example, 50 Shades — can you just think about what it’s saying? Every art form has a message, and the message I’m getting from 50 Shades is that it’s OK to dominate and control women. And not only is it OK, it’s sexy. And even worse, deep inside, she wants it. That’s the most dangerous mind-set you can have, and our mind-set will determine where we end up. We can do something about this. I’m very optimistic because right now, we have more ways to go than we did before. Before, as a man, it was that Mad Men type of misogyny or nothing.”

On male pride: “My message to all men is that you have to kill pride. You’ve been taught that pride is a manly thing, that pride is a good thing. But the problem with pride is that it stops you from growth. When you’re so proud that you won’t change, you’ve got problems. Male pride causes wars; millions of people have died because of male pride, because one man would not back down. Male pride will say, ‘I’d rather blow up my whole family than have everyone look at me as though I’ve lost.’ That is so dangerous. I go back to the biblical story of Solomon. I look at male pride in that respect: a man who is proud would rather cut the baby in half and destroy it all, rather than save his own life and his own future. When you kill that pride, instantly, you become a better person, because now you’re listening. Now you don’t know it all. Now you’re humble. Now you can grow and get smarter.”

[From Dame magazine]

The whole interview is an engrossing read. Terry discusses the “pimp culture” he grew up with and how came to reject it. He also details his role with the Polaris Project, which aims to eliminate human trafficking.

What’s interesting about Terry’s views is that he’s changed over the years. During an interview with The Agenda (last year), Terry said, “I have been that guy where I felt I was more valuable than my wife and kids.” He grew ashamed of that attitude and learned from his mistakes. Terry vowed, “I’m not going to be silent” on issues of gender equality. Did you know he’s been married for 25 years to Rebecca King? Dude is doing something right at home, which isn’t hard to believe.

Photos courtesy of WENN

I have no plans to see Fifty Shades of Grey. I read the book and that was enough for me. For what it’s worth, I’ve heard that film is better than the book, that they strengthened the Anastasia character and made her likeable and charming. Which is nice, because Ana was awful in the book. She was flavorless, a dishrag, a whining, perpetually tear-stained mess. There were many treatises and “think pieces” written about Anastasia and Christian Grey’s relationship, whether it was truly consensual and loving, or whether it was an abusive relationship dressed up like BDSM. Since I can only speak to the book characters, I’ll just say that their relationship made me uncomfortable and yes, I think Christian crossed the line several times into fitting the description of an abuser.

I wasn’t alone – many people do believe the book and the film represent a glorification of abuse, and there were some protests against the film. When Dakota Johnson sat down for an interview with TV2, she was asked about the protests and the assessment that Ana was Christian’s victim rather than his romantic partner. Dakota disagrees.

Speaking in a video interview with Kjersti Flaa for TV2 about criticism that Christian’s treatment of her character is abusive, Dakota Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele, said: ‘I think that is an uneducated opinion. Maybe because I know more about the BDSM world, so it makes sense to me, but everything that these characters do, they make the decision to do it.’

Domestic violence campaigners in America and the UK called for a boycott of the film when it was released last month because they believed it ‘glorified’ and ‘romanticised’ abuse against women. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation launched a campaign titled Fifty Shades Is Abuse, which urged people to donate to local women’s shelters instead of buying movie tickets. In London, feminist campaigners, Fifty Shades Is Domestic Abuse, said the novel dangerously romanticises the idea that women can fix broken men.

Defending the film, Dakota added: ‘Christian doesn’t abuse Ana. She’s not a victim. She’s not a sad, weak-minded, passive person. She’s strong and confident and is exploring her body and her sexuality in a private environment with somebody that she loves. And, you know, it’s a movie.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Ana is “not a sad, weak-minded, passive person”??? YES SHE IS. At least she was in the book. She was always crying! She started guzzling endless amounts of alcohol to numb herself to Christian’s sexual and emotional demands. He literally orders her around, tells her what to eat, what to wear and he even tells her what birth control she should use. There were like a million examples of the Fifty Shades of Sketchiness in the book.

Now, all that being said… Dakota didn’t write it. The way I see it, she’s just defending her portrayal of a screwed up character in a screwed up situation. I don’t think Dakota should be slammed for this. Go yell at E.L. James.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

In December and January, the internet exploded with Kaley Cuoco stories. She said she wasn’t a feminist, then described all the ways she was a feminist as a way to explain why she’s not a feminist. At the end of the day, I said we should just stop arguing with her because there were only so many rounds we could go on that particular merry-go-round. I bring that situation up because something similar is happening with the ongoing Dolce & Gabbana controversy. At this point, I’m kind of like “ugh, stop arguing, these jagoffs are never going to ‘get it’.”

As we’ve been covering all week, the controversy began when Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce made some comments about gay marriage, gay families and children born via IVF. Their comments went viral and Elton John was one of the first to call for a boycott of D&G. Stefano Gabbana responded by calling Elton a “fascist” for daring to disagree, and for thinking that children born via IVF are just normal kids instead of “synthetic children” who will obviously be screwed up in life because their parents are gay. Well, here’s the next part – Stefano and Domenico sat down with CNN to defend themselves and they literally DO NOT GET IT. They do not understand why their comments offended so many people.

You can see the video here. They don’t understand that they are allowed their opinion, same as everyone else. They don’t understand that if they make bigoted statements about LGTBQ families and their children, people have every right to react. That is what happens in a free society. At one point, Gabbana says: “Boycott Dolce & Gabbana for what? They don’t think like you? This is correct? This is not correct. We are in 2015. This is like medieval. It’s not correct.” Yes, we are not in medieval times. It is 2015. Why are YOU still happy to treat gay parents like second class citizens? Dolce also says some words about how he, personally, “believes in the traditional family” but that he doesn’t “judge” people who go through IVF. How generous.

Either they still don’t understand why people are upset, or this whole thing is just some stupid stunt. Either way, I hope we can stop arguing with them about it. In their original interview, they didn’t say “Oh, I don’t want to be a father, that’s not for me, I personally have traditional views on that kind of stuff.” They made sweeping and offensive generalizations about all gay parents and kids born of IVF, and it’s not “medieval” or “fascist” for people to react to their comments.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I used to think Miles Teller was hot in an offbeat/bro sort of way. Then he opened his mouth and it turns out he’s sort of a toolbox. But you know what? I still find him sort of hot. It would be a “no, no, don’t speak” situation. He’s really tall, and I always wondered what he’s got underneath those nice suits. And now I know: he’s packing. His body is HOT.

The above side-by-side comes from Miles’ appearance on The Tonight Show a few nights ago. Jimmy Fallon showed the side-by-side – which I assume Miles provided? – of Miles’ transformation for his film Bleed For This. Miles plays “five-time World Champion Boxer, Vinny Pazienza, who recovered after hurting himself in a near-fatal car accident in 1991.” This is also the film where Miles has a mustache. Or his sad attempt at a ‘stache, which just looked like a Bieber-esque dirt-lip. Jimmy Fallon teased him about it during the interview too.

So, Miles Teller… would you hit it? Just know, you could hit it without having to talk to him (I think he probably prefers that).

Some photos of Miles at the Insurgent premiere earlier this week:

Photos courtesy of WENN, NBC.

Call me crazy, but I’ve been missing Jennifer Aniston. All of a sudden, she got sort of interesting when she was hustling for an Oscar nomination. But since the Oscars (where she failed to get a nom but did score a presenting gig), she’s been really quiet. Which is her M.O. – she turns on the hustle and then she’s capable of “disappearing” or staying off the radar for months at a time. So I’m glad that she’s giving interviews again. Unfortunately, her new interview with Fashionista is all about…wait for it… hair. It’s just infotainment/product placement/shilling for Living Proof, the haircare company that she co-owns. Some highlights:

Her hairstylist & BFF Chris McMillan convinces her to try new things: “Oh god, yes. Always. Chris has that thing where he’s like Edward Scissorhands. He just sees hair and he wants to cut it. He would love for me to go… he wants to just cut it all off, kind of like a pixie, which I will never do. And he always likes to give it a good two inches every year, just a healthy cut. He’s also suggested going back to dark brown. We play with different things. I do listen to him sometimes.

Whether she ever felt the urge to go platinum: “No. No I don’t. I’m not a trend person really. I kind of wait for the trends to go. Platinum blond — unless it was a wig — no.”

The no-shampoo movement: “Silicone is a culprit in most shampoos. Over time, it builds up and turns into a hard coating and it cracks and breaks and snaps your hair. [People were] always saying, ‘Don’t wash your hair every day!’ but it was impossible — because of all the oils and silicone — it would create this greaseball head of hair within a day. The Living Proof scientists over there at MIT found a molecule to replace the silicone. Therefore, your hair is lighter and cleaner for days. I’d say I go every two to three days easily without washing my hair.

Whether she shampoos her hair after workouts: “No, I don’t. I actually don’t. A little sweat in the hair is nice. It’s like a little product. You just blow it out with your fingers and it’s actually just fun.

Why she wore her hair down at the Oscars: “I just wanted to be comfortable that day. The [Versace] dress just fit like a glove and I felt so comfortable. I don’t like [to wear] my hair up very much. I’m not an up-do kind of gal. I feel like if you’re wearing a gown with glitter, you want to have beachy, natural hair to kind of go against that. So that’s sort of my main thing, being me. Being comfortable.

[From Fashionista]

She was doing updos for some of the earlier awards season events, likely in attempt to show potential Oscar voters that she could be serious and award-worthy, that she wasn’t just a shallow lady with famous hair. But once she didn’t get the Oscar nom, the hair came down and it’s never going up again!!! What else… I agree with Chris, she should go dark brown (or even a warm medium brown) for a change. I think darker hair would make her look younger. I don’t think she should ever go platinum though – that’s a difficult look for many women, and I don’t really think Aniston has the skin to pull it off. As for Chris wanting to do a pixie on her… eh. I think pixies are “trendy” too, but thankfully the trend seems to be dissipating some.

Last thing: I think it’s gross to NOT shampoo your hair after a workout. But then again, I get really sweaty and I can’t imagine not properly washing everything after a workout.

Photos courtesy of WENN.