Carmen Baldwin, 18-months, definitely takes her looks from both sides of the family!

Hilaria Baldwin took to Instagram recently to address the people out there that think Carmen takes her looks from Alec’s side of the family. Hilaria agrees that she definitely does take some of her looks from that side of the family, but Carmen also has some features from Hilaria’s side, as well. Hilaria showed off a picture of Carmen beside of her nephew to show off the point she’s trying to make. She captioned the photo:

“We always read your comments about how much you think Carmen looks like Alec’s family…and she definitely does…. Especially some expressions in her eyes. But we always marvel at home how much she resembles the children in my family. When we are asked who she looks like, we always reply that she looks like my little nephew, shown here on the left. We even have photos of him as a baby in our home and people always think he is Carmen. Don’t they look like they could be siblings? I have to say, I love being a tía (auntie) as much as I love being a mama. Here is my little man and my little lady #angels”

So, which side of the family do you think Carmen resembles the most?

William Shatner was unable to attend his friend Leonard Nimoy’s funeral, held early Sunday morning in LA, because he was honoring a previous commitment at a Red Cross charity event on Saturday night in Florida. In the comments on our coverage of that story yesterday, many of you pointed out that both Nimoy and Shatner are Jewish, and that the dead must be buried as quickly as possible, often in under a day’s time, under the Jewish religion. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but from my brief Wikipedia research, funeral ceremonies are thus not as central to Jewish mourning as they are to Christians, as their dead are not embalmed and are buried quickly. Jewish mourners also sit Shiva where they go into mourning for seven days, at which point they receive visitors.

I mention all that because Shatner received a lot of flack from the press, and on Twitter, for missing Nimoy’s funeral by just a few hours. Shatner is 83 years old and he had a very valid reason for not being able to attend his friend’s funeral, and even if he didn’t, it’s not our business. People mourn in their own way. What’s more is that we may be judging Shatner’s behavior through a Christian lens that just doesn’t apply. In a new interview with Insider Edition, Shatner further explained his decision, which I don’t think was necessary at all but he’s being asked and he obliged. The people who are trolling him on Twitter and in the media are never going to understand anyway.

My understanding is mourn the dead but celebrate life. I chose to celebrate life by going to the Red Cross gathering in Palm Beach, raised a lot of money for the Red Cross. In that ceremony, in that time, I asked over a thousand people to remember Leonard Nimoy and Maury Hurley, another wonderful writer and another dear friend of mine who died this week. And to take a moment to remember them, but also remember them by doing good deeds. And those good deeds will be remembered long after any other kind of memorial.

[From Inside Edition, received via email]

Not only that, Shatner spent a lot of time on Twitter answering fan questions about Nimoy and remembering his dear friend. Plus he lost another friend this week! That’s so sad. My heart goes out to him, and to Nimoy’s family. I lost my dear grandma Gert to COPD, like Nimoy she contracted it decades after she quit smoking.

On a lighter note, here is one of Shatner’s recent tweets, a defaced Canadian five dollar note altered to look like Spock. It’s not illegal to deface bill notes in Canada. (This is their seventh Prime Minister, Sir Wilfred Laurier.) I get the impression there are about to be a lot more of these in circulation.

“@CBCToronto: ‘Spocking’ Laurier on $5 not illegal, says Bank of Canada http://t.co/nMtkt8dxPt #cbcto #LLAP pic.twitter.com/LuOKswno9I” Go forth

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 3, 2015

photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet

Guess who just got named Godmother of this little one….. (ME) @jaime_king @kyle_newman

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Mar 1, 2015 at 9:39pm PST

For the past year (has it been that long?), Taylor Swift has been all about her girlfriends. Previously, she was all about Harry Styles, Conor Kennedy, Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Jonas, to name a few. But Swifty was tired of people calling her out for writing blind-item songs, so she decided something super-special: NO MORE BOYS. Ever. She’s all about the ladies, but only in a friendship way. She’s spent the last year acquiring a clique of model/actress/singer girlfriends and she’s spent the last six months bragging about her new clique.

What is my point, you may ask? My point is that this is just a phase! Tay-Tay changed the narrative from bunny-boiling serial dater to nouveau feminist and president-elect of Girlz Only Club, but it will be interesting to see if she outgrows this new persona in a few years as well. In the meantime, all of her new BFFs are thinking that they’ll be Best Friends 4 Eva. Which is why Jaime King has asked Tay-Tay to be godmother (or as Tay-Tay writes it with a capital-G, “Godmother”) to her baby.

Jaime is 35 years old and this is her second pregnancy, after years of really difficult fertility issues. She announced her second pregnancy a few weeks ago, and I’m really happy for her. But I hope she didn’t choose Taylor Swift as godmother to this baby ahead of some friends she’s had for a lot longer, you know? I’m sure Jaime has friends that she’s known for 10 years or more, but did they get pushed aside so Queen Bee Swifty could force her way into Godmother duties?

Also… I know the Instagrams are supposed to be cute and a celebration of The Bump, but it looks like Taylor is the father, right? This looks the photoshoot of two people who made a baby together. (There’s also a Rosemary’s Baby vibe, right? TaySwifty’s Baby)

And @taylorswift will forever be looking over our new baby @kyle_newman -we all love you!!!! Xx

A photo posted by Jaime King (@jaime_king) on Mar 1, 2015 at 9:40pm PST

Photos courtesy of Instagram.

As I previewed yesterday, Kanye West went to Oxford to give a lecture to some-odd 1800 students, faculty and journalists. The lecture/discussion was organized by the Chairman of the Oxford Union Guild, who told journalists that he spent “many hours negotiating against the odds” to get Kanye to come to Oxford. Really? It took that much effort? Anyway, Oxford’s The Tab live-tweeted Yeezy’s speech and the tweets are… works of art. Some highlights, taken entirely from @TheTabOxford (SPOILER: Kanye was dropping some Yeezy-style Zen Koans on everybody):

His college experience: “If I could have done it again I would have gone to the Art Institute over the American Academy”

He could have been Picasso: “My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater. That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone who has done so much, and that’s a mentality that suppresses humanity”

Civilization: “We have the resources as a civilisation to make a utopia, but we’re led by the most greedy and the least noble”

Obama calls him: “Obama calls the home phone, by the way.”

We are family: “People ask me how my daughter is doing. She’s only doing good if your daughter’s doing good. We’re all one family.”

Race is like crabs: “We have the ability to approach our race like ants, or we have the ability to approach our race like crabs.”

Race and class: “We’ve had Cosby Show, Obama’s president, Beyonce’s great…that’s passed. But you’re still taught the division by class, especially in UK.”

Humble-bragging: “Chris Rock & everyone else at every single media publication called My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the best album of the last 25 years. One of the best thing about the album was Nicki Minaj, and that she kicked my ass, on my own song, on the best album of the last 25 years. I was exiled from my own country, came back with my magnum opus, and I was beat by a girl.”

His reputation: “People say I’ve got a bad reputation. I think I’ve got the best reputation in the building.”

This is amazing: “Beauty has been stolen from the people and is being sold back to them as luxury.”

This is also amazing: “Clothing should be like food. There should never be a $5000 sweater. You know what should cost $5000? A car.”

[From The Tab Oxford Twitter]

Is Kanye a megalomaniac? For sure. Is he on the line between genius and insanity? Kind of. Does he need to settle down? Yes. But I have to say, I enjoy him. I really do. No other celebrity, rapper, musician, actor, whoever would have been able to go the Oxford Student Union and give the kids these kinds of quotes. God help me, I am a Yeezy Apologist.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.

It’s been DAYS without a Benedict Cumberbatch post! I missed him. Benedict and Sophie Hunter were photographed in California a few days ago (I think?), going on a whale-watching trip. Go here to see the photos. This didn’t seem as obviously pap-friendly as the now-infamous Jaguar advertisement/photoshoot, but I do have to wonder: how do the paparazzi know that Bendy and Sophie are going whale-watching? Seriously? I would understand it if they were pap’d at the Ivy or on Robertson, but it feels like someone is giving a tip-off to someone else. Speaking of Benedict’s publicist, E! News says that Benedict and Sophie are now in Tahiti for a 10-day vacation/honeymoon.

After a whirlwind wedding and the Oscars, Benedict Cumberbatch and his new wife, Sophie Hunter, have finally found some downtime to properly honeymoon! An eyewitness tells E! News that the Oscar nominee and his pregnant wife are on a 10-day honeymoon at a five-star resort in Bora Bora. But as soon as they got to the island, Benedict immediately put on his tourist hat (we’re assuming he left his Sherlock one behind)!

“Benedict looked so excited to be there and was snapping pictures with his camera,” the eyewitness tells us. “They were given pineapple-infused water and beautiful flower leis that they immediately put around their necks and smelled the fresh flowers.”

The amenities don’t stop there, of course. The source adds that the “first-class service” has everything they could possibly need delivered to their water bungalow in order to let them relax in private. In fact, they even had door-to-door service with a boat “dropping them right off at the deck of their water bungalow” from the airport.

“From the time they arrived, they rarely left their bungalow,” the eyewitness adds, noting that they arrived to Tahiti on Feb. 24. “Benedict had his arm around Sophie and was in awe of the beautiful water and their surroundings.”

Because Sophie is expecting a little Cumberbun, she was able to “put her feet up” while her The Imitation Game-starring husband enjoyed swimming with the fish!

“They lounged around on their deck everyday and went swimming in the clear water. They had breakfast on the deck in the morning and it lasted for hours,” the source tells us. “Then they napped on side by side on their chaise lounges. Benedict went snorkeling whenever he could and Sophie relaxed and put her feet up. She is well into her pregnancy and looked happy to have down time.”

This sounds like the vacation right out of our dreams. Although relaxing on a tropical island, the A-list duo did experience one day of rain, but they handled the dreary weather in the best way possible: massages in their room! These two really know how to make lemonade out of lemons.

“They really seemed in love and like perfect partners. He was doting on her and rubbing her back and her pregnant belly,” the eyewitness adds. “She was making sure he had sunscreen on and always re-applying it on his back. They had a lot of time alone and really enjoyed the slow pace of life and not having to do much.”

[From E! News]

This reminds me of the kind of press given to Duchess Kate visiting various hotels, resorts and spas. It has the same overenthusiastic “sponsored advertising” that is just tit-for-tat for celebrities ad royals. The hotel or resort will give Benedict and Sophie a reduced rate (or a free trip) in exchange for being okay with letting the hotel use their name in press releases. The only thing I find odd is that the name of the resort isn’t mentioned here – all we know is that they’re at a “five star resort” in Bora Bora. So who leaked all of these details? The resort? Or Bendy’s publicist?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

In The Hollywood Reporter’s Oscar edition a few weeks ago, Mo’nique wrote an essay describing what happened to her following her 2010 Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for Precious. Mo’nique rather famously refused to “play the game” and really campaign for her Oscar nomination. She didn’t attend many screenings, did very little press, didn’t shake a lot of hands, etc. There were even stories that Mo’nique wanted “appearance fees” for showing up to various events, and that when she did come to some events, she was rude and unpleasant. Frankly, I’m sort of surprised that she did end up winning the Oscar that year, but whatever. It seemed like Hollywood got caught up and for the past five years, Mo’nique has barely worked.

In her THR essay, she described being up for various notable parts (in The Butler, the Richard Pryor bio-pic, and Empire – although producers now claim she was never offered a part), but seeing those parts disappear suddenly. She wrote that Lee Daniels had told her that she had been “blackballed” from Hollywood because of her crappy attitude. When THR got in touch with Lee Daniels, he pretty much confirmed that he told her that too. Well, now Mo’nique is telling Good Morning America that she really doesn’t think she has been blackballed. Wait, what? Note: Mo’nique goes Full Kellan Lutz by referring to herself in the third person throughout this interview.

World News Videos | US News Videos

Mo’nique says, in part, that: “People were saying someone needs to teach Monique a lesson because she’s not playing the game. And she’s going to get in her own way of winning this award because it seems like she’s choosing her family over Hollywood…” Except that she really wasn’t choosing her family over Hollywood – I remember that awards season very well. She kept talking about how she was working on all of this other stuff and that’s why she didn’t want to campaign. When asked if she believes Hollywood has shunned her, she said:

“I had no idea because I don’t think that Hollywood has turned its nose up to me. I think that those are feelings that Mr. Daniels is having and then he said there were things that Monique, she didn’t thank the producers and the studio. And that’s just not things that you do. Well, it had nothing to do with the producers nor the studio. Mr. Daniels had a problem that I didn’t say his name the night of the Oscar awards.”

Speaking about Mo’Nique, the critically-acclaimed director previously told CNN, “It’s show business. And you got to play ball.” Her response?

“I appreciate that comment,” she said. “Because he’s absolutely right. It is show business. A game does have to be played but why can’t we play the fair game? Why can’t we play the right game? If you’re asking am I willing to put my integrity on the line for Hollywood? No.”

She continued, insisting that she’s still getting calls for work, in spite of Daniels’ remarks.

“Again, if I had, the scripts and the calls would have stopped coming because Hollywood is a small community,” she says in response to the claims that she’s “soured” relationships. “They never stopped coming.”

“Please don’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique,” she continued before concluding, “Because Mo’Nique doesn’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique. You would be wasting your energy.”

[From E! News]

I really don’t understand this play from Mo’nique. She sounds as out-of-touch as she did during the 2010 awards season. She was the one who started this ball rolling when she wrote her essay for THR. Lee Daniels was responding to what she wrote about their conversations, and now she’s acting like he’s the petty drama queen, like he’s the one attacking her out of nowhere (when really, she’s the petty drama queen). I think she’s legitimately pissed off that Lee Daniels has promised her certain roles and then he suddenly recasts those parts (with Oprah, for the most part). This isn’t so much about Mo’nique and whether “Hollywood” has mistreated her, it’s some feud between Lee Daniels and Mo’nique.

The thing is, if you don’t want to play the game, fine, don’t play the game. Don’t promote your work, don’t shake those hands, don’t go to awards shows and don’t do press. Let your work speak for itself. The problem is not that Mo’nique won’t play the game, it’s that she plays the game very badly. She thinks she can reinvent the wheel and the only people who get to do that are the people who have already played the game, paid their dues and won many times over.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have an arrangement, similar to Brad and Angelina (although Brad and Angelina are no longer as stringent about it), where if one of them is working the other tries to be available to stay home with their children. Affleck mentioned this during a speech in 2012 in which he bemoaned the fact that his wife’s work schedule kept him from directing the Showtime hit Homeland. He said that “my wife and I have an arrangement where when she works, I don’t work and when I work, she doesn’t work.” Affleck has also said that he’d much rather be working than staying at home being a dad, although he does do that sometimes due to the arrangement with his wife.

That’s why, when Jennifer Garner goes back to work, she gets super excited and talks about it like it’s a great opportunity. It makes me a little sad for her, but then I remember her acting and don’t feel so bad. Anyway Garner is promoting her film Danny Collins, which stars Al Pacino as a famous musician trying to find himself in his twilight years. It also features Annette Bening, Christopher Plummer and Bobby Cannavale. Garner plays the wife of Pacino’s long lost son, Cannavale. You can see the trailer here and the film is out March 20. Here’s some of what Garner said in a recent press conference for the movie:

“I’ve been home for a long time,” Garner spilled. “It’s my turn and I’m going to go to work this spring. I think I’ll work the spring and summer, maybe the fall too, as long as some of it’s at home. I don’t think my deals are done yet so I can’t say, but yeah, I’m about to go to work.”

“I really choose by what I like,” Garner said at the Danny Collins event on Sunday, March 1. “I thought Alexander was a super smart script. Just [costar] Steve [Carell] alone would have been enough, gosh I love working with that guy, he’s just the best.”

“I have had the best luck with costars, I’m just saying. And I’ve only married a couple of them,” Garner continued, joking about Affleck, whom she met on the set of the movie Pearl Harbor, and first husband Scott Foley, whom she started dating after working together on the classic series Felicity. “But yeah that was fun for me. My kids really got a lot of juice out of the fact that I was in that movie. I heard about a little kid saying to their mom the other day at school. The mom said something about Ben and the little kid said no Sera’s mom is a movie star, and her dad just comes along. I was like that’s awesome, because she saw Alexander.”

“Ben is super busy and I’m super happy for him,” the Valentine’s Day star said. “I chose to stay home this year and just said, ‘Go for it babe. Do it all. Do Gone Girl, do Batman, do The Accountant. Do everything.’ I want that for him and I’m happy for him. And he says the same to me. Except that he’s really busy. But he understands that when I really have to do it, we figure it out.”

“You’d be amazed how we figure it out,” she added. “I’ve never been away for more than I think four days. Maybe once I was gone for my kids for five days… I sit down at the beginning of the movie and say to the people making the schedule, ‘Let’s look at this.’ Then I figure out where I’m going to take the kid and when I can get home.”

[From US Magazine]

Those two figure it out because they have a lot of help, but they do mention that occasionally. No shade on having help and good for them for being there for their kids if that’s what they want to do. If they both want to work, that’s fine too. I get the impression that Ben would like to work at all times and that Garner makes him get a taste of life with the kids so he realizes how hard it is.

Here’s a photo of Garner out for a walk on 2-7. I’m pretty sure that’s her nanny and that she’s had the same nanny for four years, which is awesome for her kids.

View image | gettyimages.com

Photo credit: WENN.com, FameFlynet and Getty Images

Cameron Diaz covers the April issue of Cosmo UK to promote nothing. Really! Her IMDB profile shows no upcoming releases, and she doesn’t have a book coming out anytime soon. I sometimes joke about Cameron having a standing date with Cosmo covers, but maybe it’s true.

The interview is typical Cosmo stuff. Cameron pays lip service to love making (she’s married now, so let’s not be gross). She covers her love of exercise and cake (both good things). I tried to grab onto her discussion about how people make excuses not to exercise, but that’s not much fun. So I’m defaulting to her judgy take on social media. To be fair, I’m judgy about it too. I love seeing links to fascinating stories on Facebook or Twitter but cringe at oversharing. Let’s do this:

On getting busy: “It’s something healthy that we need to be doing for many different reasons.”

On regular exercise: “You have to just do it. Once you commit and really put in the effort, your body goes, ‘Oh, it’s not OK to be without this.’ People say, ‘My body rejects exercise.’ No, it doesn’t. Your mind rejects exercise.”

She loves cake: “Wellbeing is an equation. Remember, you don’t have to have the whole cake, you can have a piece. Don’t deprive yourself. Have fun. Just be self-aware. If your equation is 80% good, 20% bad most of the time, then a little movement toward the centre isn’t going to affect you much.”

On Facebook & Instagram: “I think social media is a crazy-ass experiment on society. The way people use it to get validation from a bunch of strangers is dangerous. What’s the point?”

[From Cosmopolitan]

I agree with Cameron (to an extent). Social media is an enjoyable way to share useful links and shoot the sh*t online. But some people do use Facebook and Instagram for validation. They try to convince everyone else that their life is omg, so amazing. Have you watched this short film about Fakebook? I find it hilarious, but my wall is mostly limited to dog photos, so what do I know? Cameron used to Instagram, mostly to promote The Body Book. Her Facebook profile still promotes the book, but she’s bored with social media for social purposes. Whereas her husband, Benji Madden, Instagrammed a massive “Cameron” tattoo last week. Poor guy.

Photos courtesy of Cosmo/Matthias Vriens-McGrath & WENN

Ryan Phillipe has a new interview in Elle to promote his new tv show, Secrets and Lies. I haven’t watched the show yet, but reviews say it’s tawdry, melodramatic, and uneven (although Phillippe tries to find a balance). Maybe the episodes will get better, and I’ll catch up this weekend. Juliette Lewis co-stars as a detective, which means Phillippe may have found some CO$ pamphlets tucked under his trailer door. I read stories about her doing so years ago, maybe she’s chilled out.

Ryan usually gives an interesting interview, mostly because he’s rather reclusive until he promotes a project. He rarely gets papped, and the way he and Reese Witherspoon have quietly co-parented their two children (Ava and Deacon) is impressive. Considering what we now know about the American Citizen, I feel like Ryan worked hard to keep the peace. I can’t say the same for how he trashed most of his movies last year, but that’s Phillippe. This interview is surprisingly deep with little bits of biting humor. He makes fun of his own drink order for not being “manly” enough and identifies as a feminist. Then this happens:

On Cruel Intentions: “Yeah Roger [Kumble], the writer slash director, really screwed up some kids, huh?”

His career: “I’m still acting, and I still love it, but I really want to try–and be willing to fail–in a bunch of different realms. I produced a documentary, a surf movie about the genocide in West Papua, that won a bunch of awards. And now, I’m really involved in helping to liberate a small country. That takes time away from acting, you know. I’m raising kids, as a single father, and I’ve got this startup. I get comments all the time on social media like, ‘What ever happened to him?’ or ‘Where have you been?’ Like, I’m doing stuff! It may not be stuff that you see, but I’m doing stuff.”

On women: “I’m very feminist, man. I was raised by four women, my dad worked the 4 P.M. to midnight shift, so I was basically raised by four women. I’m so pro, pro female. There were some people laughing at Patricia Arquette’s statement at the Oscars, but, in the state of California, women make 83 cents on the dollar compared to the man’s full dollar. I mean over time, and over bodies, that adds up! It’s not equal!”

On depression: “Depression has been a huge obstacle for me ever since I was a child. As you get older I think it decreases some, but I’m just innately kind of a sad person. I’m empathetic, and I take on the feelings of others and transpose myself into the position of others. I see it in my daughter. She has it, and I wish to hell she didn’t. It’s just, some people do have this pervading sort of sadness, or they’re so analytical that they can kind of take the fun out of things because they think too much. I’m thankful in some ways to have a level of sensitivity but it can also become a burden at times, you know? But, that being said, if it was a choice between being this way or being completely ignorant I’d prefer to suffer through the sadness than to be a complete moron with no feelings.”

On social media sniping: “My skin is so thick at this point. I’ve been in the entertainment industry for 23 years so there’s nothing anyone can say that I haven’t heard or thought myself. You just keep movin’, you know? That noise is so quiet at this stage of my life. Who am I trying to really prove anything to at this point in my life? Myself, my kids, my family.”

[From Elle]

Ryan Phillippe is “really involved in helping to liberate a small country“? I’ll just leave that right there.

The stuff Ryan says about depression is sobering. He rarely smiles in public, and I always assumed this was a carryover from his intense, teen heartthrob persona. Now he reveals his innate sadness and near crippling empathy. He’s so empathetic that it pains him to see his daughter take on the same empathetic quality because …. wow. This interview presents a whole new Phillippe, and he sounds very relatable. Sad, but relatable.

Photos courtesy of WENN

This ^ is the print ad for Kristen Stewart’s latest Chanel campaign. A while back, Karl Lagerfeld made her the face of Chanel’s Paris-Dallas collection, and that campaign was a mess. But Karl liked Kristen so much, he chose her to take part in the latest Chanel handbag advertising. Kristen is one of a trio of faces, including Vanessa Paradis and Alice Della. You can see the other ads here at Chanel’s Twitter. I swear I follow fashion but Alice Della is a complete unknown to me.

Kristen models Chanel’s new 11.12 bag, which is just a slightly updated version of the classic quilted Chanel purse with a chain shoulder strap. The most notable thing about this image is probably that Kristen’s hair is totally different here. She hasn’t had a rock n’ roll mullet since she filmed The Runaways, years ago! For what it’s worth, I always thought the mullet sort of suited her, and I guess Karl Lagerfeld agreed (he shot this campaign). He must have demanded that she wear mullet-y extensions.

What else is going on with K-Stew? Well, she’s not just going to be sitting around her LA loft, working on art projects and making short films about water. Kristen signed on to an untitled drama also starring Laura Dern and Michelle Williams. K-Stew will be playing “a lawyer from Boise, Idaho, who takes a teaching job several hours from her house.” The film is set in Montana. Which means there probably won’t be a lot of pap photos. Which is fine.

Chanel also released this video of Kristen looking down and then looking into the camera. I don’t know… she’s a pretty girl, but she does tend to look pretty dead-eyed, even in motion.

#CCtheMuse #CCtheVip

A video posted by CHANEL (@chanelofficial) on Mar 2, 2015 at 9:55am PST

Ads courtesy of Chanel, additional photos of Kristen in Chanel at the Cesars, courtesy of WENN.