theinformer

Political commentator Tavis Smiley has caused a controversy on his TV show.  During an interview on his show, he called rappers Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye West the N word.  I’m pretty sure we all know what the N word is.  He was interviewing Sri Lankan, a pop singer, about the Grammys and how he would like to sing with Jay-Z, T.I., or Kanye West.  Travis responded by calling the rappers “them Negroes.”  This is not the first time that Tavis has been disrespectful of African American.  During Barack Obama’s race to become president, he tried to turn the public against Barack.

I find this very disturbing as an African American.  I also find it disturbing because Tavis Smiley is also an African American who could have easily been called the same thing in his life.  I don’t know if he were serious or not, but that’s not something he should have called them.  There are enough people using the word that he didn’t need to become one more person using it.  Does he have a problem with African Americans or something?  I remember watching a couple of episodes of his show where he was nothing but nice to the African American guests.  Now all of a sudden he is doing things like this.  He could be trying to get attention by doing these controversial things.  If so, he could have found a better way of getting attention.  This could cause him to lose any African American viewers he has to stop watching his show.  I’m looking forward to hearing the rappers’ response to what Tavis called them.  I know Kanye will have something to say because he usually does.

The View’s Elisabeth Hasselback, 31, is pregnant.  She and her husband former NFL player Tim Hasselback, 30, are expecting their third child.  They are expecting the baby in August.  She announced the news this morning on The View. They already have a girl and a boy.  Grace is 3 and Taylor Thomas just celebrated his first birthday last November 9.  Elisabeth claimed that she was pregnant without even realizing it.  She was pregnant for 2 months and didn’t realize it.  She thought she was just tired from the election.  The baby was a total surprise to her and Tim.

She got pregnant really fast.  I remember when she said she was trying to have a baby not too long ago and now she’s pregnant again.  She just left the show a little while ago when she had Taylor and now she will be leaving again.  I wonder how long she will leave the show this time.  I guess she and Tim want to have their family fast.  Maybe they want their kids to grow up together since their ages are going to be close.  They are going to have their hands full with 3 young children to raise.  I wonder if the third one is going to be a boy or a girl.  Congratulations to Elisabeth and Tim.  I wish them all the luck with their new addition to the family.

It has been reported that former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland has parted ways with her manager Mathew Knowles.  Mathew Knowles is the father of singer/actress Beyonce.  He managed Kelly since her days with Destiny’s Child.  He was also her manager while she pursued her solo career.  She released two cds that didn’t really sell that well.  After two cds, the two have decided to part ways.  The split is said to be amicable.  Kelly has had good things to say about what he’s done for her over the years.  She considers him a positive influence on her career.  She has also had great success with him.  She will always consider the Knowles family and Music World Entertainment (Mathew’s record company) to be her family.  Mathew also had good things to say about her.  He thinks she’s an incredible talent.  He will always consider her family.  Mathew will continue to manage Destiny’s Child as a group, but he will no longer be representing Kelly.

I think him favoring Beyonce’s career over Kelly’s had something to do with her decision to fire Mathew.  They both started out together, but Beyonce became a bigger star than Kelly.  Kelly’s cds also didn’t sell anywhere near as many copies as it could have because Mathew was promoting Beyonce more than he was promoting her.  I think it might be a good idea for her to get a new manager who will concentrate on her career and not their daughter’s the way Mathew did.  Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child) will be the next one to fire him as her manager since her career isn’t taking off either.  I love Beyonce’s music, but I can’t help noticing that Mathew did little to help Kelly and Michelle while he went overboard to make Beyonce a huge star.  If I were Kelly, I would have fired him as a manager a long time ago.

ABC Network has decided to put the TV show Ugly Betty on hiatus for a while.  They plan on putting Samantha Who? on in its place on Thursdays at 8:00 (EST).  A new series called In The Motherhood starring Chelsea Handler will follow Samantha Who? at 8:30 (EST).  Ugly Betty will be back on Thursdays in it’s regular time slot at the end of Samantha Who? and In The Motherhood’s run.

This may not be good news for Ugly Betty.  I wonder why the network decided to sacrifice Ugly Betty like that.  It is a show that has been on for years.  Was the show in ratings trouble?  Why couldn’t Samantha Who? stay on Monday nights?  Did the network think that Samantha Who? was more valuable than Ugly Betty?  They must have lost faith in Ugly Betty to take the show off for a new show.  This might be a bad thing for Ugly Betty because it might be hard for the show to get its audience back.  Pushing unseen episodes to the summer might be the death of the show.  I remember when ABC used to promote the show to no end.  Now it’s taking it off as if it was the worst rated show on the network.  I am a fan of Ugly Betty and I would hate to see this show go off just because the network wanted to promote Samantha Who? and In The Motherhood.  What’s going to happen if Samantha Who? and In The Motherhood tank in the ratings?  I wonder what they will put on hiatus then.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop held on to the top spot for another weekend.  It made over $21 million at the box office.  It is on its way of passing the $100 million mark.  It has mad $64.8 million in its two weeks.  The third installment of the Underworld series Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was a close second with just over $20 million.  I haven’t seen any of these movies so I don’t know if they are any good.  The other new release Inkheart starring Brendan Fraser, didn’t do well at the box office.  It debuted at number 7 with just over $7 million.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button returned to the box office after dropping out of the top 10 last week.  It re-entered at number 9.  Slumdog Millionaire moved up in the top 10 five spaces to number 5 with over $10 million.  It has opened up in wider release.  It opened up in more than 1400 theaters.  I guess the Oscar nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire helped the movies at the box office.  Oscar buzz also helped The Wrestler and Frost/Nixon even though they didn’t make it in the top 10.  Marley & Me finally fell out of the top 10 after being there for more than a few weeks

Here’s the list of the top 10 movies:

1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop - $21.5 million
2. Underworld:  Rise of the Lycans - $20.7 million
3. Gran Torino - $16 million
4. Hotel for Dogs - $12.4 million
5. Slumdog Millionaire - $10.6 million
6. My Bloody Valentine 3-D - $10.1 million
7. Inkheart - $7.7 million
8. Bride Wars  $7 million
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $6 million
10. Notorious - $5.7 million

Molly Ringwald (40), who stars on the ABC Family Network’s The Secret Life Of An American Teenager, is pregnant.  In fact, she’s having twins.  The twins are going to be a boy and a girl.  She and her husband Panio Gianopoulos (33) already have a 5-year-old daughter named Mathilda Ereni.  Molly is due to give birth to the twins in August.

Molly is filming her second season of The Secret Life Of An American Teenager.  According to a spokeswoman for the show, Molly’s pregnancy will be written in to the show.  I don’t watch the show, but I do know that she is going to be a grandmother.  It should be interesting seeing a mother and daughter pregnant at the same time.

I remember Molly from her 80’s movies.  In the 80’s, she was part of the brat pack.  She starred in three John Hughes movies.  She is best known for her roles in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty In Pink.  She also spoofed herself in Not Another Teen Movie.  I know she’s age appropriate, but I find it hard to believe that Samantha, Claire, and Andie (Molly’s characters in her 80s movies) is going to be a mother of three.  I still see her as the teen in those movies even though she’s older than I am.

Congratulations to Molly and Panio on their new arrivals.  I think it’s wonderful that they are having twins.  Since I have a twin (sister), I love to hear when people are pregnant with twins.  I am interested in finding out what she’s going to name them.  We all know the trend in Hollywood is to give their babies strange names. 

Mariah Carey is singing a duet with her new husband’s (Nick Cannon) brother.  His name is Reuben. He is Nick’s younger half-brother.  Mariah is planning on recording a duet with Reuben on his debut album.  The album is expected to be released some time this year. According to a source who spoke with E! Online, “They are meeting at the end of the month with Mariah’s record label, Universal Music Group, to seal the deal, and Reuben is thrilled.”

I am excited that Mariah will be recording a new song.  She is one of my favorite singers and I’m always happy when she’s got new music out.  I wonder what type of music Reuben will be recording.  Since Nick recorded a rap cd years ago, I wonder if Reuben is going to do the same thing.  If he doesn’t, I wonder if it will be an R & B cd.  Either way, I’m looking forward to hearing a new song with Mariah in it.

Picture courtesy of google.com

The Academy Award nominees were announced today.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got 13 nominations including nods for best actor, best supporting actress, and best picture.  Slumdog Millionaire got 10 nominations including a nod for best picture.  The movie didn’t get any acting nominations.  As expected, Heath Ledger was nominated for best supporting actor for his work in Dark Knight.  I was surprised that Mickey Rourke received a best actor nomination for his work in The Wrestler.  He hasn’t done much work in years so this was a great comeback for him.  The awards will be given out on Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Here is the list for the major categories:

Best motion picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Frost/Nixon; Milk; The Reader; Slumdog Millionaire

Best actor:

Richard Jenkins (The Visitor); Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon); Sean Penn (Milk); Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Best actress:

Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married); Angelina Jolie (Changeling); Melissa Leo (Frozen River); Meryl Streep (Doubt); Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Best supporting actor:

Josh Brolin (Milk); Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder); Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt); Heath Ledger (Dark Knight); Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Best supporting actress:

Amy Adams (Doubt); Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona); Viola Davis (Doubt); Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Best director:

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire); Stephen Daldry (The Reader); David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon); Gus Van Sant (Milk)

You can check out the rest of the list at imdb.com. 

I wonder if there will be any peace in the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie home if one wins the award and the other doesn’t.  To be a fly on that wall.  I guess we’ll find out when the awards are given out in February.

The Razzie Award nominations were announced this week.  This isn’t exactly an honor to receive a Razzie nomination.  In case you don’t know, A Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Award acknowledges the worst movie, actors, etc. in Hollywood.  It’s the opposite of the Academy Awards, which recognizes the best in Hollywood.  The Razzie Awards are usually handed out around the time of the Academy Awards. The Love Guru was the big “winner” with 7 nominations.  I was surprised that Cameron Diaz got nominated for What Happens In Vegas.  I was also surprised that Meet Dave didn’t get a worst picture nomination.  It was one of the biggest flops in 2008 so I thought it was a shoo-in to get nominated for worst picture.  The Razzies will be given out February 21, 2009, which is the day before the Oscars.

Here are the nominees for Razzie Awards:

Worst Picture:

The Love Guru, Disaster Movie, Meet the Spartans, The Happening, The Hottie and The Nottie, In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Worst Actor:

Mike Myers (The Love Guru), Ben Kingsley (The Love Guru), Eddie Murphy (Meet Dave), Al Pacino (88 Minutes and Righteous Kill), Larry The Cable Guy (Witless Protection), Mark Wahlberg (The Happening and Max Payne)

Worst Actress:

The cast of The Women, Jessica Alba (The Love Guru), Cameron Diaz (What Happens In Vegas), Paris Hilton (The Hottie and The Nottie), Kate Hudson (Fool’s Gold and My Best Friend’s Girl)

Worst Screen Couple:

Eddie Murphy alongside himself in dual roles in Meet Dave, Paris Hilton alongside her co-stars in The Hottie and The Nottie, and Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher in What Happens In Vegas

You can check out the rest of the list at www.razzies.com.  I am curious as to who will “win” these awards.  It’s likely that some of the people with multiple nominations will walk away with a Razzie.  I have a feeling that The Love Guru will be the big “winner” at the Razzies.  I wonder if any celebrities will show up.  I remember Tom Green and Halle Berry showed up for them.

As I mentioned in my Gossip Girl Star Gets Divorced article, Kelly Rutherford is getting a divorce.  It looks like it’s starting to get nasty.  Kelly’s estranged husband Daniel Giersch, wants to stop Kelly from taking their son, Hermes, to New York City where she films Gossip Girl.According to reports, Rutherford and Giersch have been having bad fights.  He has even tried to hit her.  He is a boxer and a kickboxer so she felt her life was in danger.

He has threatened to kidnap their son in order to teach Kelly a lesson.  He wants her to know what it’s like to have their son taken away from her the way she plans on taking him away from him.

Giersch has made claims that their son is stressed out because of Rutherford.  He believes that she can’t be a good mother because she’s working too long on the set of Gossip Girl.  She has denied the claims.

I feel sorry for Hermes and his soon-to-be-born sibling.  They are going to really go through a hard time because of Kelly and Daniel’s divorce.  Hopefully for the kids’ sake, they will find a way to come to an amicable agreement over the kids.