Wild horses couldn’t keep us from seeing “The Butler.” Reviews are mixed, but we can’t imagine that we won’t find SOMETHING to love about this movie. Hopefully there will be plenty of personal observations and juicy behind-the-scenes details about the private lives of eight presidents and how they reacted to current events. The cast is amazing – we just hope the script lives up to expectations.
#lancearmstrong #janetcharlton
We hope the arrogant Lance Armstrong doesn’t think he’s doing some wonderful thing by finally confessing to Oprah that he doped when he won those seven Tour de France titles, that have since been taken away. Years of outright lying and belittling and threatening people around him – and maybe even blackmailing- are not easily erased. The only reason he’s talking now is because he MIGHT lift his lifetime ban from sports. In order to do that, he’ll have to reveal HOW he got around the tests and WHO helped him. That means he’ll probably lose the few friends he has left. We look forward to seeing him squirm.
#oprah #janetcharlton
Oprah finally figured out how to get people to watch her hard-to-find OWN network. She’s having another Favorite Things gigantic giveaway show on November 18. Designers Tory Burch and Michael Kors will help her shower audience members with prizes and this time she selected a deserving group to receive the gifts: military spouses from each branch of the armed forces! (Above, Oprah photographed by Terry Richardson for Harper’s Bazaar)
Ouch! Oprah Winfrey’s feet are rebelling on the set of The Butler, now filming in New Orleans, Louisiana. She wears huge bouffant wigs and appropriate vintage clothing and shoes for her role as the wife of the White House butler played by Forest Whitaker. The movie spans several decades and Oprah has a massive wardrobe with appropriately painful shoes. Even her striped flats were hurting her as she arrived on the set today, so she took them off until the cameras rolled.
Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News
#rihanna #oprah #janetcharlton
Rihanna’s frank discussion with Oprah about the night she was assaulted by her boyfriend Chris Brown is sadly in character with the way many women react when beaten by their loved one. Shockingly, Rihanna described the vicious attack as a “cry for help.” She, like many women, didn’t want to believe that the man who had been their best friend and lover was capable of such deliberate brutality. So they try to conjure up an excuse, or even blame themselves. He couldn’t help it – he lost his temper. He didn’t mean it. She worried about HIM being called a monster! It’s awful to suffer the humiliation of being beaten, AND lose the person you love in one fell swoop. Rihanna desperately wanted to find a reason to forgive him because she still loved him. Horrified fans made that difficult to do at the time, but if Rihanna doesn’t wise up and realize that Chris is an arrogant and brutal man responsible for his own actions, she still might take him back.
We just figured out WHY LaToya Jackson was mysteriously MISSING during the Jackson family squabbles over the past few weeks. Usually LaToya is very free with her opinions. The reason for her reticence is because she was negotiating with Oprah’s OWN network to have her own reality series and didn’t want to jeopardize the deal. Now that papers are signed she has her own show “Life With LaToya,” that will hopefully be more interesting and realistic than her brothers disastrous scripted reality series, modestly titled “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.” The show lasted for only six awkward episodes on A&E, and went off the air in 2010. LAToya, 56, IS more watchable than her brothers, but is her private life really all that intriguing?
Both Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey are bound to be INFURIATED by a new book coming out that’s documenting the bad blood between them. Author Edward Klein pointed out in “The Amateur” that after Oprah publicly endorsed Obama on her show, she expected VIP treatment in the White House. Obama himself was affable and strategized with Oprah, but Michelle was increasingly standoffish. Michelle had an assistant return Oprah’s calls, and kept a close eye on her husband. Privately she seemed to think Oprah wanted to use her white House ties to promote herself and perk up her ratings. The final blow came when Michelle implied that Oprah was too hefty and inappropriate to join her battle against childhood obesity. Despite Michelle, Oprah remains a huge supporter of Obama.
Oprah is NOT happy with Rosie O’Donnell. First of all, Rosie’s show isn’t pulling in the ratings that Oprah’s OWN network desperately needs. In order to boost viewership and create excitement, Oprah suggested that Rosie invite people she has famously feuded with to be on the show – like Barbara Walters, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, or Bill O’Reilly. She wants conflict. Oprah remembers the humongous ratings she got when Sarah Palin guested on her show and wants more of THAT, but Rosie is resisting. A major ego clash is predicted.
Ellen DeGeneres is obsessed with the idea of becoming the #1 talk show host now that Oprah is off the air. Ellen’s wife Portia de Rossi, however is not so thrilled with Ellen’s ambition. Besides working on her daily show, Ellen constantly has other projects that take up most of her spare time. She has so many work commitments that Portia feels left out – they can rarely even plan a vacation together. Portia would LOVE it if Ellen would leave the show when her contract is up and semi-retire, but it’s doubtful that Ellen can resist the lure of becoming the new Oprah.
Oprah is still frantically trying to resuscitate her OWN network so she’s going to start giving away more freebies. During the run of her Oprah show, the most popular segments were celebrity interviews and “My Favorite Things” where the audience walked away with a bag of gifts. Oprah is developing a weekly show for OWN in which a different celebrity each week will give away THEIR favorite things (tech items, beauty products, fashion etc.) Her friend Gayle King may or may not host – the details are still being worked out.