Random Celebrity News

For some values of random, celebrity and news. It's been a while and there's been a bit of build up in my digital fridge. At the Fiction Horizon, Sydney Sweeney Sparks Backlash After Cozy Moment With Freed Israeli Hostages Leaves Fans Divided.

"Sydney Sweeney is facing strong reactions online after meeting with two Israelis who were previously held hostage by Hamas. The moment came to light after pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs shared a photo of the actress standing with Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or. According to the group, the pair were taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks and later freed from Gaza in June 2024 during an Israeli military operation. In the photo posted by StandWithUs, Sweeney stands between them, smiling, with her arms placed behind their backs.
. . .
not everyone reacted positively. Many users criticized Sweeney for appearing with a group tied to pro-Israel advocacy. Others brought up her rumored connection to music executive Scooter Braun, who has previously helped raise funds for both Israeli hostage families and Palestinians in Gaza. One comment simply read, “Ewww.” Another said, “That’s the disappointment of the year.”

AlphaFox @alphafox "If you missed the full Sydney video, here you go:" At BIS, Paige Spiranac Says She’s Getting Death Threats Over Cheating Scandal. Some people take golf seriously. I don't

Paige Spiranac was recently caught in some controversy. She was accused of cheating during a tournament, confronted about it right on the green during match play, and reduced to tears. And now, she’s saying things have gotten even worse for her.

During the Internet Invitational, a Barstool Sports-sponsored golf tournament featuring 48 influencers competing for a $1 million prize, Spiranac was caught on camera during the final match brushing down tall grass in the rough. The move helped improve the lie for her teammate Malosi Togisala.

Even the most casual of golfers knows that improving a lie in any manner is a violation of golf rules. You can’t alter the course conditions. How Paige, an accomplished golfer, wouldn’t know that is anybody’s guess.

From Atop Da Hill, Lady Gaga Suffered Psychotic Break After Filming ‘A Star Is Born. How could she tell?

Lady Gaga says she had a “psychotic break” after filming “A Star is Born.” In an interview published Thursday by Rolling Stone, the “Abracadabra” singer said she was on lithium while filming the Bradley Cooper-directed movie to treat and prevent manic episodes.

Once the movie finished filming, Gaga went on a world tour to support her “Joanne” album, where she said that her mental health had taken an extreme hit.

“There was one day that my sister said to me, ‘I don’t see my sister anymore.’ And I canceled the tour,” the singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, told the publication. “There was one day I went to the hospital for psychiatric care. I needed to take a break.”

Mike Cantrell at PJM hears  Billionaire Elon Musk Strikes Back Against Billie Eilish for Calling Him 'Pathetic Pu**y' Maybe, but he's a rich pathetic pussy.

Billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk struck back at pop superstar Billie Eilish after she recently launched an unhinged rant against him, calling him a “f***ing pathetic p***y b***h coward” for not bankrupting himself to help the poor. Eilish should probably stick to making music, because her foray into politics continues to make her look painfully uneducated. 
. . .
On Monday evening, Musk responded to Eilish’s comments, saying, "She's not the sharpest tool in the shed." When the topic is politics, especially poverty, the issues run far deeper than the singer understands. First of all, while the rich certainly should, morally speaking, use their wealth to improve the world around them, that moral duty doesn’t require them to support someone from cradle to grave.

Pro Football Network, BKFC Ring Girl Makes Feelings Known on Working for Co-Owner Conor McGregor

Alyssa Spivack is an Argentinian social media influencer, model, and BKFC ring girl. She is also a licensed Florida realtor and an ambassador for companies like Fashion Nova and Impossible Kicks. Currently, she has over 219k followers on Instagram and over 156.9k followers on TikTok. Recently, during an “Ask me anything” interaction with her followers, Spivack was asked, “What’s it like working for Conor?” She replied, “I love working with BKFC! @thenotoriousmma definitely brings an incredible energy to the fights that is totally unmatched! Always a fun time.”

McGregor uses his flamboyant style and social media presence to promote BKFC fights and events. He is also seen drinking, dancing, and partying with the ring girls and other BKFC members and fighters, sometimes even feuding with some, like Mike Perry. “The Notorious” has not been active inside the octagon since his 2021 leg injury. However, the buildup for his fight with Michael Chandler has been going on for a long time, and recently, both have teased that it will happen soon.

Mike Cantrell again,  Actress Raises Concern With Nude Content, Erratic Behavior in Strange Social Media Posts. Since when is that unusual in Hollywood? 

Actress Taryn Manning, most well known for her role in the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, is causing concern among many of her fans after she posted a bunch of naked images and videos that also show her exhibiting bizarre behavior. For a lot of folks, it echoes the weird content pop sensation Britney Spears has posted on Instagram in recent years, worrying fans that Manning might be heading straight into a serious mental health crisis. 

Things took a strange turn on Monday, when Manning posted a video on Instagram of herself dancing around barefoot with her breasts playing peek-a-boo from within an unbuttoned shirt. Not long after the initial clip, she posted another, this time doing a strip tease and ditching her top completely. She captioned the video, "We have zero control of the outcome. Your birthday suit is yours. Remember we only became self-conscious after EVE messed up. Go back to the roots. Be free again."

The Jerusalem Post admires how Scarlett Johansson refused to remove Holocaust plot from Eleanor the Great. Good for her. It must be nice to have FU money.

Scarlett Johansson, whose films have grossed more than those of any other actress in history, put her clout to good use to save Eleanor the Great, her directorial debut, after a backer pulled out at the last minute, demanding that she change the Holocaust storyline that is central to the plot.

The movie stars 96-year-old June Squibb, who plays the best friend of a Holocaust survivor and who finds an unusual way to honor the memory of her friend’s family: Stumbling into a Holocaust survivor’s group, Eleanor pretends that the survival story is hers. In an interview with The Telegraph done at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere, and published ahead of the film’s UK premiere, Johansson said that with just weeks to go before filming began, a backer demanded that the Holocaust references be cut, or they would pull their funds.

The article quotes Johansson as saying, “I mean, if they’d said, ‘I’ll only back this if you shoot in New Jersey,’ or ‘We need to get this done by the spring’, then that would have been one thing. But they were objecting to what the film actually was. It had to be about what happens when someone gets caught in the worst lie imaginable; if not the Holocaust, then what could it be? They offered no alternative. It was just, ‘This is an issue.’”

Twitchy says Amanda Seyfried Says Socialism Is a Gorgeous Idea Because She’ll Never Actually Have to Live Under It. You never lose money betting on the ignorance of Hollywood stars.

Amanda Seyfried is a Hollywood actress. She was in Mamma Mia and Ted 2 to name a few of her projects. She should stick to acting because her political opinions are garbage.

Variety @Variety "Amanda Seyfried says “socialism is a gorgeous idea” as she grapples with the current state of America: "How about we all don’t have any kind of agendas? How about our agenda is take care of each other? I know [socialism] doesn’t work perfectly, or that people understand what the word actually means. For me, it’s taking care of each other. If I have more money, I can spend more money on other people" https://variety.com/2025/film/news"

From NYPo, Zoe Saldaña sparks backlash for claiming her ‘Avatar’ character is ‘racist’ Everything is racist. Even blue aliens.

Zoe Saldaña made a bold statement about her “Avatar” character, Neytiri. “Let’s face it, Neytiri’s a racist,” the actress, 47, said in a recent interview with CinemaBlend while promoting “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” “And she just… and she loses sight because of this blind fury that she has,” Saldaña continued.

The Oscar winner explained how Neytiri’s behavior affects her relationship with Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington. “She loses sight that the person that she loves the most and respects the most in her life is her husband, and he is human, he’s a sky-person and I think it takes a lot of courage for Jake to be honest with her and to force her — even knowing that she is broken, that he knows that she needs to face this, because he sees in the direction that she’s heading and I think it’s much more familiar to him where Neytiri’s heading than for Neytiri herself,” she said.

Pop Culture, Kate Hudson Responds After Being Called ‘Monster’ by Real-Life Son of ‘Song Sung Blue’ Musician. Really, all she does is read the script.

Kate Hudson is weighing in after being called a “monster” by the real-life son of Song Sung Blue musician Mike Sardina. The actress, who plays Claire Sardina opposite Hugh Jackman’s Mike in the true story of Neil Diamond cover band Lightning & Thunder, has responded to criticism from Mike’s son, Michael Sardina Jr., who told the Daily Mail that the film is “all lies” and that he was “purposely cut out of the film,” despite being paid to consult on it.

“Honestly, I don’t even know — out of respect for our filmmakers, I’m not the right person to speak to it,” Hudson told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview, adding that she had gotten to know the real-life Claire throughout the process: “I’m so happy that I got to know Claire, who’s such a wonderful woman, and she’s so happy with the movie.”

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: All You Can Eat marinated and ready for consumption at The Other McCain.

Random Celebrity News

For some values of "random", "celebrity" and "news." First, BIC, continuing to demonstrate the callowness that has made her legendary, Rachel Zegler Claims ‘The Hunger Games’ Was First Story To Depict A Female Character That Was Anti-Establishment And Anti-Government

Rachel Zegler shared that she believes The Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins were the first stories depicting a young woman as anti-establishment and anti-government.

In a pre-recorded promotional video for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Rachel Zegler said, “The Hunger Games kind of started that era of like Divergent and Shadowhunters.”

She elaborated, “You know, it was like, she was really, Suzanne was the first to write this young woman who was anti-establishment, anti-government, and really standing up for what’s right in a really unconventional way without an era of sweetness. There was nothing cordial about her either. She was very rough around the edges. And it was amazing to read that.”

As for Zegler’s comments about Collins being the first person to write about young women being anti-government and anti-establishment, George Lucas might like to have a word given Princess Leia clearly was anti-government and anti-establishment in Star Wars.

One can even look at real historical figures as well and point to how absurd the comment is. St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France, led French forces against England as well as the Burgundians. She would eventually be captured by the Burgundians, turned over to the English, and martyred.

Hollywood Reporter reports Buffy St. Marie is the latest Pretendian, CBC Investigation Says Buffy Sainte-Marie Has Falsely Claimed Her Native Identity

CBC newsmagazine The Fifth Estate has aired its Buffy Sainte-Marie exposé. The hourlong documentary episode, presented by senior investigative reporter Geoff Leo, alleges that the singer-songwriter — considered the first Indigenous winner of an Academy Award — has been fraudulently posing as Native throughout her 60-year career.

While the specifics about Sainte-Marie’s background varied as they appeared in articles and other materials over the years — The Fifth Estate found news clippings referring to her as Algonquin, Mi’kmaq and Cree — eventually her accepted (and authorized) biography was that she was born in 1941 on Cree land in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and removed from her birth family and adopted by a white American family, the Sainte-Maries, as part of a government policy known as the Sixties Scoop. Later, as a young adult, she reconnected with the Cree people and was adopted by descendants of Chief Piapot according to Cree ways.

But The Fifth Estate unearthed Sainte-Marie’s purported birth certificate, which states that she was born in 1941 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to Albert and Winifred Santamaria — her supposed adoptive parents, who are listed as white. Although a representative for Sainte-Marie told the program that adopted children in Massachusetts were commonly issued new birth certificates with their adoptive parents’ names, Leo traveled to Stoneham to verify Sainte-Marie’s documentation, which appears to have been filed at the time of her birth and not later.

“It doesn’t appear that she was adopted in any way, shape or form,” Stoneham town clerk Maria Sagarino told Leo.

Vicky Taft at PJM,  West Coast, Messed Coast™: Julia Roberts Escapes Doom Loop City – Edition

Et tu, Julia Roberts?

The decay of doom loopian proportions continues apace in San Francisco where even actress Julia Roberts wants to get the hell out of town. Roberts had to take half a million dollars less for her 1912, five-story, 6,315 square-foot Presidio Heights home with stunning Golden Gate Bridge views.

She listed her house on October 8 for $11.8 million, and sold it for $11.3 in fewer than 30 days, according to SF Gate. She bought it in 2020.

From NYPo,  Scarlett Johansson takes legal action against AI app ripping off her likeness. She might regret this when the AIs take over the world. I'll bet they have a long memory.

Scarlett Johansson has officially taken legal action after an artificial intelligence app called Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar used the actress’ face and voice in an advertisement.

According to Variety, the 22-second clip, which has since been deleted from the internet, first appeared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday using an old clip of Johansson, 38, during a behind-the-scenes look at her film “Black Widow.”

“What’s up, guys? It’s Scarlett and I want you to come with me,” the “Avengers” star says before the clip transitions to a group of AI-generated pictures that resemble the star “It’s not limited to avatars only,” a voiceover continues, sounding very similar to Johansson. “You can also create images with texts and even your AI videos. I think you shouldn’t miss it ”

According to the outlet, the advertisement also features a disclaimer that states the ad features “images produced by Lisa AI. It has nothing to do with this person.”

According to Breitbart, Sheryl Crow ‘Really Scared’ of Artificial Intelligence

Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow says she is “really scared” of artificial intelligence (AI) being used in the entertainment industry.

The “All I Wanna Do” singer appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on November 2 and discussed one of the tracks on her latest album, Evolution, in which she expresses her worries that AI will seriously hurt music.

“It’s been so disturbing to me,” the singer told Fallon as she described her recent brush with the technology.

“I did a session the other day, and this young songwriter had this incredible song, but she needed a guy to sing on it so that she could pitch it to male singers in Nashville,” Crow explained.

She went on to say that her associate “Paid $5, put in John Mayer’s name, and she played it for me. There’s no way you could tell the difference, and it just blew my mind. And it didn’t just sound like him,” she said adding that even Mayer’s “inflections” came through with the recording.

“This is what AI can do, and it really scared me.”

Learn to code! 

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: Meanwhile, In The Mountains up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Tattoo Thursday

International News, Scarlett Johansson turns heads as she shows off stunning tattoo at star-studded event

Scarlett Johansson attracted massive attention during her appearance on red carpet for the premiere of Asteroid City in New York, putting her expensive body art on display in stunning white gown on Tuesday.

The "Black Widow" star, 38, looked drop-dead gorgeous onto the red carpet, offering fans more than they expected from the star.

Johansson dropped jaws as she graced the star-studded event in a white gown featuring a mermaid silhouette, a strappy halter-neck and a floral corsage fastened to the breastplate of the garment. The charming actress wore her locks swept back.

To elevate her look, she wore glamorous makeup blend featuring a flawless complexion, a dusting of rose blush and a glossy lip.

But, most attracting thing of her appearance was Scarlett’s epic back tattoos which were enhanced by the backless design of her dress. The actress showed off her stunning body art, a large sprawling rose, and a lamb illustration.

Her awe-inspiring appearance was to be a treat to her fans as they took no time to admire the star, with one writing: "I forgot to breathe she’s way to pretty."

Another penned: "She’s looking so flawless."

While the third one added: "She’s so wonderful,” and a fourth agreed, commenting: "Goddess."

She's pretty, but she ain't all that.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Natalya Neidhart up and awaiting your clicks at The Other McCain.

Who Says There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity?

Not ScarJoh! From BIC, ‘Avengers’ Star Scarlett Johansson Says She Was “Hypersexualized” By Hollywood As A Teenager Because Of Her “Older” Looks

In an assertion that comes as no surprise given the reputation of the industry, Marvel Cinematic Universe alumni Scarlett Johansson has claimed she was constantly “hypersexualized” by Hollywood during the teenaged years of her career thanks to her “older looks”.

The Black Widow star provided this insight into her early days in the industry during a recent appearance on fellow actor Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.

Complimented by Shepard on her naturally inviting and warm personality, Johnasson thanked her host before admitting that much of her public persona was the result of misrepresentation by the industry, expounding, “I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do.”

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I think people think I’m 40 years old,’” she added. “It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against.”

The reason for this treatment, speculated Johansson, was that “everybody thought I was older and that I’d been [acting] for a long time.”

“I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hypersexualized thing,” she told Shepard. “I felt like [my career] was over. It was like, ‘That’s the kind of career you have, these are the roles you’ve played.’ And I was like, ‘This is it?’”

 

“The runway is not long on that,” the actress continued. “So it was scary at that time. In a weird way, I was like, ‘Is this it?’ I attributed a lot of that to the fact that people thought I was much, much older than I was.”

Yet, despite this progress, the actress asserted that “We live in a patriarchy and I feel like there’s a fundamental reality of the woman’s condition that will always — even if those 600 men are not actively aggressive necessarily as much as they would have been a minute ago — it’s still fundamentally there.”

 

“It’s so baked into our culture and society,” she said. “It’s hard for me to imagine that ever being not an element.”

“We had our mothers who were like, ‘Use whatever you can to get the thing you need. Use your feminine wiles. Use your sexuality,’” detailed Johansson. “And then there’s our generation, I think that’s done that and also [said], ‘This doesn’t feel right, there’s gotta be some other way,’ and there’s the younger generation of women who are like 15 years younger than me,”‘You don’t have to take any of that crap. No pandering.’”

For what it's worth, my experience is that women often try to look older than their age up to about 22, and then switch to trying to look younger. You're mileage may vary.

She'd Play a Table or a Rifle Pretty Well, Too

She has great legs and a nice butt.  'I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal': Scarlett Johansson opens up about politically correct casting

Scarlett Johansson spoke candidly about her storied acting career and the growing 'trend' of politically correct casting in a revealing new cover story for As If magazine.

The 34-year-old award winning actress stunned in a retro inspired shoot for the outlet for its spring/summer 2019 issue, on newsstands now.

I know how to pretend that I’m cold. I can pretend that I can’t feel my feet or toes,' the actress continued. 'If I wanted to decide to be wet and cold in order to feel wet and cold I’ll make that choice myself, you know? But, sometimes directors imagine that they can do something like that.

The Tony winner noted that the landscape in her industry has changed quite a bit since she began as a child actor.

Recently Scarlett not-so-gracefully bowed out of an upcoming project as a trans character following significant backlash that the role wasn't given to a trans actor.

At first the star dug in her heels and refused to give up the role but in time, the pressure got so intense that she relinquished the role.

She addressed was she called the 'political correctness' in casting without directly mentioning her controversial casting in Rub & Tug.

'You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job,' she said point blank.

She continued: 'I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons, yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions.'

'I think society would be more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do.'

The star, who has been in the industry for much of her life, went on to explain that as someone in front of the camera, she rarely ends up with the movie she thought she was making.

The end product that hits theaters is 'usually different from the movie I thought I was making. It’s very rare that it’s what I thought I was making. Sometimes it’s devastating, and sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise.'

All I can say, is if I have to watch a trans character in a movie, I want it to be played by ScarJo.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Kathy Zhu up and running on time and within budget.

ScarJo Submits to Transsexual Pressure

Scarlett Johansson Exits Trans Film ‘Rub and Tug’ Amid Backlash

Scarlett Johansson has exited the drama film “Rub and Tug” a little more than a week after her casting sparked backlash amid trans groups and activists, a source with knowledge of the situation confirms to Variety.

“In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project,” Johansson told Out Magazine, which first reported the news, in a statement. “Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive. I have great admiration and love for the trans community and am grateful that the conversation regarding inclusivity in Hollywood continues. According to GLAAD, LGBTQ+ characters dropped 40% in 2017 from the previous year, with no representation of trans characters in any major studio release.”

Given the fact that circa 0.3% of the population identifies as trans, and even allowing for "Hollyweird", it likely that the number of trans actor is very small, and the number of great trans actors is vanishingly small.

“While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person, and I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film,” the statement continues. “I believe that all artists should be considered equally and fairly. My production company, These Pictures, actively pursues projects that both entertain and push boundaries. We look forward to working with every community to bring these most poignant and important stories to audiences worldwide.”

And then there's the fact that people like to watch actors and actresses they can identify with, and very few identify with the trans (what do you call them, actors or actresses?). And there is that sex appeal thing, and by and large, trans is a turnoff to 99.7% of the population. Sorry, but you're as disabled as a paraplegic on "Deadliest Catch."

New Regency won an auction for the movie on July 2, and it was set to be directed by Rupert Sanders, who previously worked with Johansson on “Ghost in the Shell.”

“Rub and Tug” focused on Dante “Tex” Gill, a crime kingpin who used his massage parlor as a front for prostitution in the ’70s and ’80s. Gill lived his life as a trans man, which led many on social media to wonder why a trans actor wasn’t tapped for the role.

Because Scarjo and company bought the rights to the screenplay, and intended her to play it?

“Oh word?? So you can continue to play us but we can’t play y’all?” Trace Lysette, a transgender actress best known for appearing on Amazon’s “Transparent,” wrote on Twitter after the casting announcement. “Hollywood is so f—ed… I wouldn’t be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that’s not the case. A mess.”
. . .
It’s currently unclear where production stands on “Rub and Tug” after Johansson’s exit.

Hopefully it won't be done at all. Without Scarjo, the draw will certainly be far less. More at Althouse: Scarlett Johansson shrinks from criticism and backs out of playing the role of a transgender man.

The argument seems to be that at least all transgender roles should go to transgender actors. It's an interesting argument and it was effective, but it was only effective in scaring cisgender actors off of any transgender role. What will be the result of that victory? Will the transgender actors get what they want? The big goal is to get access to cisgender roles, to make it seem bigoted to exclude them. Obviously, there's the question what audiences will want to see.

Why should that bother them; they should buy all the tickets themselves.

 Quite aside from the goal of getting access to cisgender roles, there's the question whether there will be support and enthusiasm for movies about transgender characters if the actor isn't tasked with pretending to be transgender. There's no impressive stunt to perform. Maybe there will be more movies where some characters happen to be transgender without that needing to be the whole story. There could be an argument like what we've seen from black actors for many decades: It's wrong to limit us to stories about black people. Almost any role should be playable by a black actor.

In that light, Scarlett Johansson found herself in a position like that of the last white person cast to play Othello. Yes, there was a long tradition of eminent actors playing Othello, and maybe some day, black actors will get so many roles that it will be fine to have another white actor as Othello, but right now, we're in transition.

When will Hollywood wise up to the true cost of paying the Danegeld? I don't want to see Trace Lysette.  I want to see Scarlet.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Alexa Davalos" working, but the FMJRA post is conspicuously absent at The Other McCain.