Perez Hilton on Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods's crashed SUV, photo released by Florida Highway Patrol

I’ll start off with the facts, for those unfamiliar: at 2:25 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, golf star Tiger Woods was involved in a single-person car accident. He smashed his Cadillac SUV into a tree and a fire hydrant. His wife used a golf club to shatter the back window and pull her husband out. Florida police have since closed their investigation of the incident, and Woods was fined $164, charged with careless driving and he received four points on his driving record.

Tiger Woods

There are less factual claims that Woods was having an affair, that the scratches on his face were injuries inflicted by an angry wife, and that the crash occurred after she confronted him about his infidelity and he sped off in his SUV.

Perhaps most shocking about the situation, though, is that Woods has refused to give details of the events leading up to the crash to major media outlets and reporters. He has only issued a personal statement on his website, in which he says:

“This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.”

Because of his silence, the public is now even more curious to know what exactly happened, and some people think Woods owes an explanation because he is, after all, a very famous public figure. Among those is celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton, known for his biting commentary, obvious subjectiveness, oh yea…and for drawing penises on people’s faces.

In a Sphere.com article by Buck Wolf, Hilton offers his advice to Woods, saying that “honesty is the only real form of damage control that works.” Hilton believes that if Woods had met the matter directly, “the whole thing would have blown over in a day.”

Now, normally I can’t stand Perez because I think he sensationalizes everything he blogs about, which is irresponsible and unnecessary. (And he is inaccurate a lot of the time). But, I think he has a point here. While part of me feels that Tiger Woods owes the public nothing because no one else was hurt and alcohol/drugs were not involved, I also feel like hiding the truth could quite possibly make things harder for him and his family. The article asserts correctly that “in the age of the Internet, celebrity secrets can’t be hidden for long.” Besides that, even more false and damaging rumors are likely to spread as people with no authority to analyze the situation speculate.

What do you all think? Will we ever find out what exactly happened that morning? Are we even entitled to know?

What do Victoria Beckham and UConn have in common?

Anyone who goes to UConn or reads their student newspaper’s “Instant Daily” column knows the running joke about tails. You know, the kind your dog or cat wags when it wants to be fed. There is a group of students who pin faux mammal tails to the back of their pants, walking around nonchalantly as if the bushy appendage swaying between their legs is the most common fashion accessory on the market. (Although, I have yet to see one of them on campus this semester…perhaps they all graduated?)

Well, it looks like the style might actually spread in the very near future, because former Spice Girl and trend-setting fashionista Victoria Beckham has been spotted with a Louis Vuitton Fox Tail Fur Tassels messenger bag, which comes from the company’s spring/summer 2010 collection that hasn’t hit stores yet.

Victoria Beckham, 35, at Heathrow Airport in London, Nov. 14

To be fair, she makes the accessory slightly less ridiculous by not attaching it to her body. But even so, I can’t help but think of those lucky rabbit’s foot key chains I collected when I was a kid. I have no idea how much a bag like this costs, but by virtue of the fact that it’s Louis Vuitton, I’m sure I can’t afford it…regardless of how tacky it looks. Also, I don’t know if it’s a real fox tail, or if it’s just fake fur. If it is authentic, I shudder at and condemn Louis Vuitton.

So for all the times we made fun of the tail kids, it’s going to get even more hilarious if this trend becomes popular. Will the new unofficial UConn uniform be a North Face fleece, UGG boots and a fox tail bag? God, I hope not. Here’s a short video made by a UConn student named Brian about the tails on campus, in case you have no clue what I’m talking about or just need a good chuckle:

Michael Lohan risks electrocution

This is why I still root for Lindsay Lohan. Yes, she has a major drug problem and has done a lot of irresponsible, rude, dramatic (etc. etc. etc.) things over the past few years. And yes, she is an adult and therefore has control over her choices and can’t blame her mistakes on other people. But seriously, you can’t be raised amongst this type of lunacy and grow up to be Mother Teresa. You know the cliché: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The above video is leaked footage from “The Michael Lohan Reality Project,” a television show that Lindsay’s dad had put a lot of effort into, in hopes of sorting through gossip in an attempt to save his daughter’s life. (Yes, I am slightly embarrassed that I know all of this). His efforts were in vain, though, because the reality show never got picked up. But someone posted this ridiculous clip onto YouTube yesterday. It shows Michael standing outside as a storm starts, praying aloud to God to save and protect his family. The audio is really low, but the visual is enough to give you major secondhand embarrassment.

My favorite part is at the 2:28 mark when he peeks open his eyes and asks the guy filming, “Is that enough?,” and the cameraman responds by suggesting Michael do another take. Obviously this prayer is completely genuine and well-intended!

I’m probably one of the few remaining Lindsay fans left in the world after all the stunts she’s pulled, and even I can admit that she hasn’t been looking too good lately. I see pictures of her and think “Ohhhh girl, get it together!” But then I read about things her parents have done and realize I’m really in no position to judge.

In addition to this bizarre video, Michael has been releasing audio tapes over the past couple weeks of phone conversations and voice mail messages by Lindsay and her mother (his ex-wife), Dina. The messages are terribly sad; Lindsay’s drug use is openly discussed and the severity of the situation is exposed. Michael said he released the tapes in order to help his daughter.

(audio of tapes won’t embed…click here if you want to listen to one of them)

Well, humiliating her and airing the family’s dirty laundry so that everyone can snicker is certainly the best way to go about helping. Oh, and did I mention that he demanded $100,000 as payment for giving the tapes to gossip websites?

Apple ........................................... Tree

A quick comment on Rihanna

Rihanna with Sway from MTV News

If you’ve turned on the television or picked up a magazine within the past week, you know that Rihanna is talking about the night her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown beat her for the first time since the altercation occurred in February. While Brown has already given multiple statements and video apologies, Rihanna has remained tight-lipped until now. Recently, she has been busy promoting the release of her new album, “Rated R,” which is set to hit stores Nov. 23. During promotional appearances and interviews, the subject of Chris Brown obviously came up. And, Rihanna sat down with Diane Sawyer on 20/20 for an in-depth discussion of the violent incident. I haven’t been keeping very close track of all these interviews, but from the bits and pieces I have seen, I must say that I think Rihanna is handling the situation with poise. During an interview with MTV News this past Monday, she said the following:

“One of the big things for me, I always want to help young women and give them insight into life experiences. One of those things is going through an abusive relationship like I did. But that’s one thing for me. So I don’t want to be the big domestic-violence spokesperson, because that doesn’t define who I am. But if I can help young women in any way, and that being one of the things they need help with, then I’ll do that.”

I think this quote reveals a lot of maturity, and can also be seen as inspirational for women. Rihanna is showing that while domestic violence certainly should not be ignored or overlooked, it also should not be something to dwell on. Rihanna, like all celebrities, is living her life in the public eye, and by showing us that she is healing and moving on gives a great deal of hope for other abuse victims.

That’s really all I wanted to say. I apologize if my posts over the next week are light…I’m doing the whole college thing, and my life is so way past overload right now that….I don’t even know how to finish that sentence!

Cover for Rihanna's new album

Double standards in Hollywood go unmentioned…..

…..and in other breaking news, the sky is blue. We also suspect that it may be up.

I recently read an article written by Lindsay Robertson on Yahoo’s “Movie Talk” page that discussed the issue of double standards in pop culture. Basically, Robertson questioned why actor Taylor Lautner has yet to come under criticism for appearing topless in his soon to hit theaters movie “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” which is the second story in the hugely popular book-turned-movie franchise. The main issue here is that Lautner is 17-years-old—legally still a minor.

Lautner in a scene from "New Moon"

As we have seen numerous times over the past few years, young female celebrities are often scolded for “bad” behavior that conflicts with the squeaky clean images their contracts, managers and employers work to convey. We can turn to one of the most inflated examples: Miley Cyrus’s “Vanity Fair” magazine cover photo, in which she appeared to be wearing just a sheet, revealing her shoulder and part of her back. For weeks following, parents, journalists and talk show hosts criticized Miley quite harshly, accusing the image of sexualizing children for profit and eventually forcing an apology out of Disney’s “Hannah Montana” starlet.

Miley's "Vanity Fair" cover

Or, remember the Vanessa Hudgens lingerie/nude picture scandal? Also a Disney star, Hudgens was practically crucified when personal pictures she had taken with her cell phone leaked on the Internet. Okay, we have to admit that sending racy picture texts to your boyfriend isn’t the smartest move when you’re an A-list celebrity, but my argument here is that these images were not intended for the public to see—they were private photos that someone got hold of and used for their own benefit, exploiting Hudgens in the process.

Hudgen's leaked photo (one of the more tame)

Lautner, on the other hand, admitted that he spent months getting in shape for his “New Moon” role. Subsequently, he looks ripped and fit as he willingly takes off his top to film scenes in the rain, so that water makes his muscles glisten ever so provocatively. Miley was just two years younger than Lautner when she showed her shoulder in “Vanity Fair,” and Hudgens was also a minor at the time the racy pictures were taken. So why aren’t we appalled with Lautner and forcing an explanatory statement out of him?

As Robertson’s article quotes, Lautner himself said that the attention he’s gotten since images of his body hit the web can be unsettling: “It’s so uncomfortable knowing that so many people are seeing pictures of me shirtless… It’s weird. It’s kind of embarrassing.” Again, why isn’t his toplessness deemed a scandal?

Unfortunately, this isn’t just how Hollywood works. The double standard we see here is simply reflective of society’s patriarchal attitudes. Think about it: on a hot summer day, you constantly see guys taking off their shirts and walking around topless—and that’s totally acceptable. But if a woman did the same, she’d most likely be arrested for public indecency and labeled a tramp. The sexual double standard is nothing new, and while it’s extremely frustrating when instances like this surface, it’s certainly not a shock to anyone.

Boob update: It’s a draw

My thoughts exactly...

Disgraced beauty queen Carrie Prejean settled her fight with the Miss California USA pageant on Tuesday, and there was no controversial outcome like I had secretly hoped there would be. Both sides withdrew and agreed to drop their claims.

Pageant officials filed a lawsuit last month suing Prejean for the $5,200 they loaned her for breast augmentation, while Prejean counter-sued them for violating her medical privacy by telling reporters her breasts were fake. She also argued that the pageant discriminated against her religion over her anti-gay marriage remark. According to cnn.com, a pageant spokesman said that details of the case are not immediately available, but that Miss California USA and Prejean both dropped their lawsuits against one another. CBSnews.com reports that a joint statement says Prejean and the pageant “wish each other the best in their future endeavors.”

I figured I’d do this update post since I got such colorful responses from readers when I blogged a few weeks ago. Many of you were angry with or held strong opinions about the political background issues of the lawsuits. So, what do you all think about this outcome? How does it reflect on the controversies involved with Prejean, including gay marriage and religion?

This is just sad and disturbing

Clips from a home video of Anna Nicole Smith six months before her fatal prescription drug overdose are now being used in a criminal case against her former boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, and two former doctors, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor. Prosecutors argue that the three individuals “conspired to keep Smith in a drug stupor in the two years before her death,” according to cnn.com

Howard K. Stern, Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor (credit: eonline.com)

The 45-minute-long video, shot in August 2006 by Stern, shows Smith at what appears to be some sort of party. A nine-year-old girl named Riley is painting clown makeup on Smith’s face, while the fallen blonde bombshell mistakes a toy doll for her unborn child and attributes her bloated belly to gas. She cannot comprehend the situation and continually denies her pregnancy as Stern and Riley try to explain. At one point, Riley looks into the camera and says that Smith is “having brain trouble.”

Stern’s defense lawyer says that the video was all acting—Smith was merely putting on a show just like she had throughout her career and reality TV series, and the tape should not be considered evidence because segments proving this were edited out. But Riley and her parents, now key witnesses in the case, have testified that they saw Smith being drugged. Riley said that “she saw Stern pour a liquid ‘medicine’ for Smith before the video was recorded,” according to the cnn.com article. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said the video did not make a difference in his decision to send the case to trial.

CLICK HERE TO BE DIRECTED TO THE VIDEO CLIP

I honestly felt sick after I watched this video…it is really very upsetting. For this reason, and because the footage has been turned over to LA court, I decided not embed the clips. Anna Nicole is so tragically out of her mind, leading me to believe it’s highly possible she was drugged by her boyfriend and doctors. If I saw someone this messed up, my last reaction would be to fetch the video camera and record some memories. If Stern and the doctors did not have some hand in this state of affairs, then why wouldn’t they have intervened? Apparently there are more clips floating around on the Internet somewhere, but I’m not going to search for or watch them. However the court rules, I hope they do so carefully and fairly so that Anna Nicole can rest in peace.

Fact-check it! Indie movie explores celebrity journalism

“Everybody is naturally and powerfully attracted to fame.”

Official poster

This is the bold opening statement of a new British documentary entitled “Starsuckers,” directed by Chris Atkins. According to an AP article by Jill Lawless, the movie aims to argue that the public’s obsession with famous figures has led many reporters to abandon journalistic standards, and that the culture of celebrity has warped society’s values.

Atkins said he was inspired to film this documentary after noticing that much of the “news” in British tabloids was actually false information. To test this idea, he called up newspapers with fake showbiz news tips—Amy Winehouse’s hair catching on fire, Guy Ritchie with self-inflicted wounds, etc.—and waited to see if the stories would be printed without fact-checking. They were.

Through a string of staged stunts, Atkins captures how dignity, accuracy and the law are forgotten or ignored when it comes to the pursuit of flashy entertainment stories. In one instance, Atkins secretly filmed reporters as he offered to sell them celebrities’ medical records. Such an exchange is illegal, but this didn’t seem to faze the journalists, nor did the possibility that the information they were buying was phony.

Chris Atkins, 33

“We’re trying to turn the tables — to put the boot on the other foot,” said Atkins of his stings, which also included covertly filming celebrity publicist Max Clifford as he talked about the famous clients who pay him handsomely to keep damaging stories about them out of the headlines. (Lawless, AP)

Atkins also directs his condemnation towards reality TV, which he believes actually distorts truth and instead overwhelms viewers with situations and values that are anything but realistic, leading them to adopt irrational beliefs about the world outside the small screen. The documentary follows a boy named Ryan from Nevada, who at the tender age of five already has hired agents to book him auditions and public appearances.

Critics of the film are saying that Atkins doesn’t give people enough credit–that the public is aware that much entertainment news is inflated or false just by the nature of the subject. Others see the staged stunts as hypocritical because they manipulate people just as misleading headlines do. In addressing this argument, Atkins said, “There was subterfuge involved to serve a wider public interest.”

That “wider public interest” is the grim reality that celebrity journalism is still journalism, and when one beat gets away with selling inventions, reporters on other beats are likely to follow suit. “It’s the same journalists who write about Amy’s hair who write about weapons of mass destruction,” Atkins said.

“Starsuckers” was set to premiere today at the 53^rd annual London Film Festival. I’m really interested to see how people reacted to it and I’ll probably post some reviews in coming days. As a student about to graduate with a journalism degree, the issues this documentary raises are ones that I will have to face in the near future. I think that reporters have a bad reputation because of a few irresponsible people, but, when the job is done well, journalism can provide society with something very crucial: information that affects them that they otherwise would not know.

Diversity lags in Hollywood

Statistics released on Friday, Oct. 23 by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) show that minority, senior and female actors are underrepresented in film and television roles. A Variety.com article written by Dave McNary says that minority performers reached a high mark in 2007, with 29.3% of total roles, and then declined last year to 27.5%.

I created the following chart for comparison, using data from the 2000 U.S. census report and the new SAG statistics:

	U.S. population	TV and film roles
Caucasian	75.1%	72.5%
African-American	12.3%	13.3%
Latino-Hispanic	12.5%	6.4%
Asian-Pacific Islander	3.7%	3.8%
Native-American	0.9%	0.3%

As you can see, the numbers are different, but not all too far off. In fact, African-American actors are actually over-represented in Hollywood as compared to the 2000 population. Still, SAG president Ken Howard said that changes need to be made.

“The diverse and multicultural world we live in today is still not accurately reflected in the portrayals we see on the screen,” he said. “We will continue to work with producers, hiring executives and industry professionals in accurately portraying the American scene by ensuring equal access to employment opportunities for all of our members.”

Concerning the battle of the sexes, the SAG stats said that male actors fill the majority of roles, especially in the supporting category, with about two roles for every female role.

And concerning age, roles for both male and female actors over 40 have increased slightly, but still remain at a low percentage in the greater scheme, especially for women—females make up 28 percent of film and TV roles.

In addition, SAG reported that people with disabilities are “virtually invisible” on screen, while 20 percent of the U.S. population is disabled.

The following is a picture from a new FOX television show, “Glee,” which I’ve recently gotten hooked on. If you’ve watched before, you can tell they deliberately used a diverse mix of people to add to the storyline and even poke fun at some of the under-representation and stereotypes this SAG report cites. Has anyone watched the show? What do you think of the characters and plot so far?

Why are these boots made in her size?

Halloween is my favorite day of the entire year, so I thought that this week I would do a fun post on celebrity costumes. And oh my, look what I found: Miley’s 9-year-old sister, Noah Cyrus, at two different Halloween parties, wearing outfits that are a bit…mature. When I was nine years old, I dressed up as the pig from the movie “Babe,” complete with pink snout and curly tail. I wonder what kind of movies were the inspiration for these costumes…

First of all, I’m not even sure what either costume is supposed to be. And, Halloween shouldn’t be an excuse to wear this much makeup. Also, somebody should check that cup for alcohol, because I’ve seen a lot of girls at frat parties striking the same “leg out” pose in photographs. (I kid….I know Billy Ray would never allow this.) Anyway, I have a feeling these pictures are going to spark controversy on the blogosphere in coming days. I can’t wait to hear what parents have to say about Noah’s costumes!