Newsletter Tuesday, July 19, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Tuesday, July 19, 2016 [Intro for July 19, 2016] [Kanye West and Taylor Swift ] Dear Gossips, Twenty-four hours before Kanye West’s wife gave us Gossip Christmas, she tweeted this to her followers: Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍 — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) [July 17, 2016] Does Mrs West follow Chinese astrology? Because Taylor Swift was actually born in the Year of the Snake. Here’s what my Ma, the Chinese Squawking Chicken, [horoscoped for Snakes] in this, the Year of the Monkey: “… there is a bad star that could present problems. So don’t ask for or expect too much. You may run into minor issues with the law. You might find that your plans are often derailed and that things don’t come easy. But the key here, this year, is to be happy with average. Average this year means you’ve won. And if you can be satisfied with average this year, you’ll harvest luck for the coming years.” We’ll talk about how Taylor can “harvest her luck” later on. For now, this is about Snakes. And another Snake: Kanye West. Yes. Kanye and Taylor are both Snakes. And a Snake + Snake combination is not compatible. This has to do with pride. Two Snakes together will clash because Snakes are known for their egos. They will, in other words, be a “bad star” for one another. You know what sign is a good match for Snakes? The Monkey. Kanye West’s wife was born in the Year of the Monkey. But one of the most perfect matches for Snakes, typically, is actually the Rooster. Guess who’s a Rooster? Tom Hiddleston! Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 11:30 AM [Gaga is single] [Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney] That’s what they’re all doing this week, getting under the nuclear gossip cloud created by Taylor Swift and Kanye West and his wife. Did that make sense? Whatever. My point is, since that story is dominating headlines and attention, if you’re a celebrity and you have some bad news to share and you don’t want people focusing on you, drop your load now. Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson are done. And so are [Lady Gaga] and [Taylor Kinney]. They’ve been together 5 years. He proposed in 2015. They were together through award season, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, as she was nominated both for co-writing a song and for her performance on American Horror Story. Up and down those red carpets they kept talking about their wedding plans. Well… but…acting doesn’t seem like, um, so much of a sidejob anymore. [Page Six reported] (again) this week that Gaga has accepted the role vacated by Beyoncé in Bradley Cooper’s version of A Star Is Born. It’s a different focus. And a different goal. Gaga wants to be a movie star first. And, well, you know, besides. If you were paying attention. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:44 PM [Smutty Tingles] Sasha finally stops hoarding her Gwyneth Paltrow observations in [this week’s Sasha Answers podcast]. I lost my mind over the Rick-rolling ([Dlisted]) Jakey goes back to Broadway ([Just Jared]) New couple alert! ([Cele|bitchy]) An engagement nobody cares about ([TooFab]) Rumours about Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s marriage ([Celeb Dirty Laundry]) Taylor Swift’s best friend goes for a low blow ([Pop Sugar]) Kate Beckinsale in a bikini ([Popoholic]) Katy Perry’s Hard Candy controversy ([TMZ]) I hate JLO’s makeup like this ([Go Fug Yourself]) [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:05 PM [Will there be a Swift reinvention?] [Taylor Swift ] As mentioned [in today’s open], born in the Year of the Snake, [Taylor Swift]’s luck is on average this year. Taylor Swift will never, ever be out of luck. And the system has set it up so that Taylor Swift is capable of harvesting her luck better than others. What, then, does a “luck harvest” for Taylor look like? USA Today interviewed several people in the industry for an article this morning about whether or not Taylor’s “[good girl rep has been frayed]” by the Day Of The Receipts. Everyone agrees across the board that, again, she’s going to be FINE. Nobody needs to fret about whether or not Taylor Swift can make it through this mess. She’s already made it through. But there’s a difference between making it through and turning it to her advantage. And what would be most interesting about this situation is if Taylor were to turn it to her advantage as a reinvention. Up to this point, and still yesterday with her Instagram defence, Taylor’s played the innocent, always innocent, always infallible in every situation. As Vulture argued yesterday though, innocence is “[nothing more or less than the price of fame]”. Taylor Swift is too famous to be innocent now. And Kanye West and his wife’s machinations have made it so that her image of innocence is no longer tenable. Just like it became untenable a few years ago to repeatedly express shock and “oh my gosh” when she was winning awards at awards shows. Instead of seeing that as a setback, however, isn’t it instead even more…freeing? Vulture notes that this situation has offered Taylor “a chance for her to abandon a posture which has increasingly limited her range and interest as an artist”. This is an exciting possibility. Think about movies and television and the interesting characters – they’re never “innocent”. They’re complicated and frustratingly flawed. And that’s why you can’t take them places in the story. Otherwise, there would be nowhere to go. So, for Taylor, there’s potential here, if she can find it. Not only in terms of her image but also for her life. But first… The overexposure has to be addressed. Taylor said it herself in that recorded conversation with Kanye West. She was aware that she was nearing the point of overexposure. We are WAY beyond that now. Part of it is thanks to the Wests, but before that, most of it was her own doing. The super public flaunting of the new relationship. And all that culminating in #Taymerica – photos that she and her friends shared themselves on their social media accounts. It’s time for a pullback. It’s time to make us miss her. The most successful stars understand this. The importance of being missed. If, like I said yesterday, she can help herself. Comic-Con starts this week. [Tom] is expected to attend. I mean, does she stay in Australia and wait for him to come back? Is that when she returns to the States, after a week with him? Or…will Swoki be in San Diego? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:07 PM [“I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon”] [Matt Damon covers GQ Magazine] “[In your face, Charlie Murphy.]” So here’s Matt Damon on the cover of the new issue of GQ ahead of the release of Jason Bourne. The article is a series of quotes. Matt’s talking about himself. And a lot of his famous friends are talking about Matt. The best anecdote comes early in the piece, from Julia Stiles featuring Prince. Julia Stiles: After The Bourne Ultimatum came out, there was a premiere in London. Prince actually came to it, then got tickets for the cast to come see him [perform]. We were summoned into a room to meet him [after the show]. Matt said, “So you live in Minnesota? I hear you live in Minnesota.” Damon: Prince said, “I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon.” F-ck it’s good to be Matt Damon. To have a story like that to tell? I would KILL to have a story like that to tell. And the reason why I know it’s true is because that is just so Prince. Not just the part about living inside his own heart …which… COME ON…but also the way he adds Matt’s full name to the end of his statement. Like “In your face, Charlie Murphy”. This is how Prince spoke. A speech quirk just like his written quirk, when he’d obsessively short-form many of his words with numbers or individual letters. Anyway, the rest of it is all in service of proving the piece’s hypothesis which is that Matt Damon is the most well-liked person in Hollywood. The reason why it’s a good read is because of all the famous names involved, trying to articulate, in their own ways, with their own flair, why Matt Damon is awesome. Some are better than others. Some WORK HARD at it. You know who works the hardest? Ben Affleck. Ben’s attempts at being the quippiest and the funniest are the most obvious. Needless to say, it doesn’t work out the way he had hoped. But it’s endearing all the same his devotion to his best friend. Also he’s not as annoying as Bill Simmons. The highlights for me are Scarlett Johansson: “The most amazing gift about Matt's physical appearance is that he can walk into the hair-and-makeup trailer looking like someone who slept directly on his face for seven hours and emerge a bona fide movie star. He has a great makeup artist.” Tina Fey: “People would be like, “[Matt and Ben] are so cute!” And I'd be like, “They're J.Crew sweaters. When you see all the colors next to each other, they look cute, but when you get one home, you're like, ‘Damn, I just got an orange sweater.’ ” But now that is withdrawn. In person, Matt holds up.” (Matt’s follow-up to that quote is terrific too.) And, of course. Because OF COURSE. Julia Roberts: “Matty's a good boy.” She’s the only one who refers to him as “Matty”. And she follows that up by offering, simply, that he’s a “good boy”. It’s so f-cking patronising, God. I love her so much. [Click here] to read the entire article and to see more photos. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:30 PM [Josh & Diane are broken… for Norman Reedus?] [Joshua Jackson and Diane Kruger] Late last year, while [Joshua Jackson] was on a trip around the world, [Diane Kruger] was reportedly messing around with [Norman Reedus] [at a dive bar in New York]. Both subsequently denied that she was cheating on Josh but. But. Last week, Norman Reedus fans were sending me emails about Rosetta Getty’s July 4th party in Tuscany. All kinds of famous people were there. Norman was there: [Squad #rosettagettyxtuscany @bigbaldhead @millajovovich #rosettagettyxtuscany2016] A photo posted by Balthazar Getty (@baltgetty) on Jul 1, 2016 at 7:55pm PDT And Diane Kruger was there too – you can see the back of her head in this photo as she’s seated next to Norman: [About last night: ever chic @sarahharrisuk at the annual @rosettagetty Tuscany party #rosettagettyxtuscany] A photo posted by PR, EVENTS & SPECIAL PROJECTS (@zoecommunications) on Jul 3, 2016 at 7:53am PDT Intriguingly, while there were better pictures of Diane at the event, and official ones, they ended up getting taken down. This one I’ve just shown you might not stay up much longer after I post my article. Cut to yesterday and [PEOPLE’s exclusive], a statement from their reps: "Diane Kruger and Josh Jackson have decided to separate and remain friends”. Ten years is a long time for celebrity love. It was probably unrealistic to expect that they’d continue. That said, if their relationship had run its course, did Norman Reedus speed up the process? All those coincidences totally, in my mind, add up to a conspiracy. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:14 PM [The case of Swift v Kanye?] [Kanye West and Taylor Swift] Will [Taylor Swift] sue [Kanye West]? His wife revealed in her GQ interview that her lawyers had already sent him a warning to try and shut down the release of that video. And she claims she didn’t know that she was being recorded. And over the last 24 hours there’s been all kinds of speculation about wiretapping and consent and which states have what recording consent laws and whether or not she would be able to build a case. But should she build a case? [US Weekly reports] that the Wests are expecting Taylor to sue. That [Kanye’s wife] knew it would be a possibility and did it anyway. And that’s key here in Taylor’s decision. She certainly has the resources to sue. And she may have legal justification. But even if she won, and generally the courts certainly favour the Taylor Swifts of the world, would it make up for what she potentially might have to lose and what she would give away as a gain, specifically for Kanye and his wife? She has a reality tv show. They could dedicate an entire f-cking season to the lawsuit on that show. Or, even better, they could spin off a brand new show – it’s not like that family doesn’t have 8 shows going at the same time already – that focuses on Kanye, his wife, and their legal battle with Taylor Swift. Going to court against Kanye would extend and, probably, heighten the already obnoxious level of fame enjoyed by his wife. No one is living for this more than Kanye West’s wife, her mother, and their extensions. And Taylor would simply be a “co-star” in that “narrative” instead of being what she’s used to being which is the Best Girl. To say nothing of how the public would benefit. How GOSSIP would benefit. I mean, f-ck yeah I want her to sue him. Their lawsuit would be monumental. It would be the greatest nuclear war between two giant celebrities who’ve never been romantically involved. Like Homer might come back to the dead to write their epic. From a PR perspective though, I don’t see how anyone could recommend that she moves ahead with it. The thing about Taylor though is she always has to win and she’s not used to not winning. Can she see though that she 1. will never really be a loser and 2. can win back in other ways that don’t involve lawsuits? As I keep saying, it’s going to be ok. SHE is going to be OK. We don’t need to worry about Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift will very easily and very soon take back the “narrative”. More coming later. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:39 PM [After the Gossip Christmas] [Kanye West and Taylor Swift] I call it Gossip Christmas. There can be many Gossip Christmases throughout the year though. Duana tells me that some people are now calling it the Day Of The Receipts. I like that too. And whatever you want to call it, it was a day that was GREAT for Gossip. It was a day that will be remembered and studied. It’s already being studied. Even The New York Times posted an analysis of the Day Of The Receipts, highlighting the difference in these two adversaries locked in what’s become the most volatile celebrity gossip battle of our time and their different styles of engagement: “[Ms. Swift is a covert operator, Mr. West a namer of names.]” So many great articles have been posted in response to what went down. Some have decided to approach it like a film studies class, with The Ringer’s analysis of [Kanye West’s wife’s editorial skills] breaking down each specific cut and how the decision behind each cut of her video was specifically designed to make a point about [Taylor Swift]. Some posit that this war over the word “bitch” is actually a war over “narrative” – a word used by Taylor herself in her defence post on Instagram in which she ends by declaring that she would “very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009”. Oh…but didn’t she? She dedicated her Grammys acceptance speech for Album of the Year this year to [Kanye West]. She may not have named him (because, see above, she’s “covert” like that) but it was basically an oratory subtweet. So, as The Atlantic suggests, is she really mad at the narrative or is she “[mad, explicitly, at not being in control of this narrative]”? That control is the problem. Taylor’s image and message has always been to “live by the heart”. Even though what I personally enjoy about her most is that she’s actually quite cunningly business, for whatever reason, this is a side that Taylor doesn’t often want to share. Like somehow it would mean less if people thought she actually had to strategise about her career instead of letting it come to her on clouds. That’s what Vox argues is “[more damaging]” to Taylor about this entire mess. Not that she may have lied about how Kanye’s song came to be but that their “interaction… confirms that underneath the thick coating of bubblegum pop known as Taylor Swift, there’s a shrewd, savvy woman who puts a lot of effort into shaping and maintaining her public image — a person who we sort of knew existed but never really had the proof. Until now.” VSB is, hilariously, calling that person “[Darth Susan]” and Kanye a seven month old baby who spits avocado for no reason. A couple of weeks ago, when we were still high from the spectacle of #Taymerica, I referred to Swoki Love as “[performative happiness]”. Here VSB similarly describes Taylor’s approach to any and all of her fights (and she’s involved in so many of them) as “White female performative faux melodrama — where status is cultivated and maintained through a state of perpetual exaggerated victimhood (which everyone laps up because “sad White woman” = “Let’s find our f-cking capes and save her!”) — than she is”. And The New York Times also suggests that [what’s unfolded between Taylor and Kanye] has “extended a narrative in which Mr. West, who is black, is painted as the predator and Ms. Swift, who is white, as the prey, a story with uncomfortable racial overtones”. Those “uncomfortable racial overtones” are reflected in how her supporters have defended her. This is a tweet from Joseph Khan, director of some of Taylor’s videos: Ain't the first time the Kardashians supported the murder of an innocent blonde woman. — Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) [July 18, 2016] And here’s what a “Swift source” [told PEOPLE]: "For seven years, Kanye has continued to attack Taylor, attempting to incite hatred for her at his live shows and on social media, even going so far as portraying her naked in his most recent music video.” Incite hatred is very specific wording, used frequently these days in headlines not related to entertainment. But, then again, I have always argued that the celebrity ecosystem is a mirror. And that gossip is not just a conversation about famous people but a conversation about where we live and who we are. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:24 PM [No Gossip Christmas for Leslie Jones] [Leslie Jones at The View in New York City, July 14, 2016] While most of us on social media were opening the gossip gift that Kanye West’s wife dropped on us yesterday, it was not Gossip Christmas for [Leslie Jones]. For Leslie Jones, it was actually hell. Here’s an actor who’s enjoying the best year of her career, with a leading role in the new Ghostbusters, and all kinds of degenerates are sending her the worst kind of f-cksh-t messages on Twitter. .[@Lesdoggg] Spent The Day Retweeting Her Racist Harassers And [@twitter] Won’t Do Anything [ via [@scheng_] — BuzzFeedEntmnt (@BuzzFeedEnt) [July 18, 2016] I saw Ghostbusters on Saturday afternoon. I booked the earliest tee time I could find that day so that I could make it for the 1pm show. It was sunny out. Didn’t care. Was happy to spend 2 and a half hours inside. And I loved it. I loved them. Watching them made me want to be 12 years old again so that I could dream about being a Ghostbuster. Being a Ghostbuster would have meant hanging out making science with my friends, kicking some ghost ass, and laughing, a lot. I hope there were a lot of 12 year old kids who felt that way this weekend. Especially kids like Leslie herself, the way she felt about [Whoopi Goldberg] when she grew up. Leslie was on The View last week. She got choked up when she told Whoopi how she used to watch her on TV as a kid. And what that meant to her – to see a woman who looked like her making people laugh, on the television. How important that was to her confidence, to her career. That’s why representation is critical. Leslie Jones turns 49 years old in September, and is just now experiencing the most success she’s ever had. But you know how it works in the business. You know that for women, the windows close – fast. And for black women, there aren’t many windows open to begin with. So… you know…let me be petty here because that’s how I was born: Taylor Swift is GOING TO BE FINE. And she’s going to have a lot of time to be fine. There is no way that Taylor Swift won’t come back from what she was served this weekend. We will live through at least 8 more Taylor Swift “comebacks”, guaranteed. Leslie Jones, on the other hand, only has so few opportunities in this system. Attached - Leslie at The View late last week. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 12:14 PM [July 19, 2016 – Smutty Shout-Outs] [Derek Forgie ] Derek Forgie is our Audience Coordinator at [The Social], an important part of our team. He’s the first person you meet when you come to our show. With his energy and enthusiasm, he makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable. Derek is a ginger, proudly. He is also the co-founder of [International][Kiss A Ginger Day], started in response to a dumbass “Kick A Ginger Day” movement on Facebook a few years ago that resulted in the bullying of red-haired students around the world. Kiss A Ginger Day aims to encourage ginger love. And it’s been such a success that Conan O’Brien even joked about it Derek is now hoping to participate in a different initiative. He’s entered his likeness in artist Douglas Coupland’s “I Am Vincent” project, a worldwide search for candidates who resemble Vincent Van Gogh. Would you please consider voting for Derek? Look at him! To vote for Derek, [please click here]. Right now he’s on the 6th page, top row, 4th from the left. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 12:01 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]