Ashton Kutcher's life is about to go meta as the actor and social-media influencer takes on the role of Internet mogul Walden Schmidt on "Two and a Half Men," but no worries: Frequent Tweeter @aplusk isn't shy when it comes to sharing.
"I've been flirting with going back to TV for a while. When this opportunity came up, I thought to myself, 'Why not?' " Kutcher says of replacing Charlie Sheen after his disastrous exit from "Men."
"It's somewhere between an alien and Jesus Christ," he told Details about the new character, "but I can't be more specific than that.
While fans and media await the fall premiere, Kutcher is more jazzed about returning to the routine schedule of TV production, which will allow him to focus on tech projects within his company, Katalyst, and to participate in larger conversations about the role of social media in our lives.
"It's almost like a manifestation of God," he said. "People used to behave morally because they thought God was always watching — in some ways God today is the collective, and the collective is watching."
One such example of the collective eye: the recent Anthony Weiner dirty-photo scandal.
"You're in the openness of the Internet," said Kutcher, who's guest editing a special digital issue of Details magazine due out next week. "You have to check your moral compass every time you do something. But I also think there's some blatantly intrusive stuff people are doing ... not to say that Weiner should have been sending pictures of his [member] around."
We'll tweet our thoughts on that. Have some of your own? Leave them in comments.
Not everyone looks ravishing with a nearly done baby bump, but David Beckham wants fans to know his wife Victoria Beckham is one of the lucky ones -- the soccer star has posted a picture of a very pregnant Posh on his Facebook page.
"Took this pic of Victoria while she wasn't looking," Becks wrote Thursday. "She looks amazing, so close now to the baby being born."
While she wasn't looking, hmm? Nice house dress, lady! Incidentally, Victoria told People earlier this month that she would not be baring that bump for anyone but her husband.
“I’m not really one of those people that likes to go out and pose and flaunt being pregnant," she said. "Not like there's anything wrong in that."
Apparently hubby agrees.
Rumors that baby girl Beckham had been born on the 4th of July did the Twitter rounds over the weekend, but alas, the bun's still in the oven.
This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.
Oh, Princess Beatrice -- the hat she presumably thought was a lovely choice for Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding turned out to be a royal disaster, prompting the scorn of thousands of Facebook users. Their hate wasn't necessarily for all hats, but rather specifically for the one perched Friday on Beatrice's high-profile head.
The 22-year-old took a risk donning headgear that many thought would be more appropriate for Lady Gaga, and the risky hat choice quickly backfired for her on Facebook. Witness the emergence of "Princess Beatrice's ridiculous Royal Wedding hat," a group dedicated to her headgear that had received more than 18,000 "likes" just hours after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Has any topper since Aretha Franklin's unforgettable inauguration hat seen such biting abuse?
Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, stepped out at the fairy tale wedding in a sculptured ribbon topper made by London milliner Philip Treacy, a native of Ireland who trimmed the tops of dozens of guests at the wedding including Victoria Beckham, Zara Phillips and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
But when the hat-crowned Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugenie, 21, emerged from their ride, one comparison rang clear: The evil "Cinderella" stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella had arrived.
"She paired that disgusting hat with HORRIBLE make-up! The racoon eyes have to go! Not a fan of Eugenia's dress either! I'm sure these girls can consult a stylist, but maybe they should start with a mirror!" wroteTara Noe Armstrong.
"Later she sets the hoop on her hat on fire and has little tigers jump through it for the amusement of the guests at the reception," addedColleen Fagan.
"I am a fan of Philip Treacy and I loves me some crazy hats ... but Princess Beatrice's hat wasn't the best choice for a wedding -- anyone's wedding. Anything THAT high shouldn't be that solid. It is reminiscent of overdone fondant icing -- only beige. Ew...Anyway, I do respect Bea for recycling and wearing her grandma's 1961 theatre coat. {*stifled giggles*}," musedRichard Ian Tracy.
Rough -- but not as rough on the hat as the hat was on the eyes. What'd you think of Bea's headgear? Hot or hot mess? Tell us in comments.
[Updated, 3:30 p.m. April 29, 2011: At 3 p.m. PDT Friday, just 12 hours after the royal wedding ceremony began, the Beatrice-hat Facebook page had reached more than 35,000 likes and counting. Our MOG readers had quite a few pithy words to add to the conversation as well. Here's a sampling; check out comments to see them all, or add your own.
J Crowley: Pretty sure that thing's a Stargate
shirley zager: She looks like a raccoon that mated with an octopus.
EC Hudson: It wasn't any more ridiculous that anyone else's hat - and it could double as a fun wedding reception game (toss a canape thru the loop).
John: I am currently at the eye doctor hoping he can restore my sight since I was blinded by Beatrice's bloody hat !!!!
lynn Roberts: Do they live in a house without mirrors?
Rick Baker: Those Brits like them some crazy hats, which actually is kind of unique and cool but that thing looks like the hood ornament on Santa's sleigh.
Sylvia Ubych:I thought she was a dear but when I saw the hat I thought she was more like a deer!]
[For the record, 5:32 p.m. April 29: This post originally referred to Philip Treacy as a British milliner. Though Treacy operates out of London, he was born in Ireland. Thanks to commenter @carl for flagging the gaffe.]
Photos: Princess Eugenie, top left, and Princess Beatrice made a fashion statement upon arrival at Westminster Abbey for the royal wedding ceremony. Beatrice's hat almost needed an invitation of its own, right, and within hours had a Facebook page of its own. Hmm -- it didn't look so risky when the ladies, bottom left, were still in the car. Credits: Ian Langsdon / EPA, top; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, right; Dan Kitwood / Getty Images, left.
Jesse Eisenberg hit the Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet in Los Angeles on Sunday, fresh off hosting "Saturday Night Live" in New York -- walking with an almost studied seriousness, as if he had permanently embodied the persona of prickly Facebook chief exec Mark Zuckerberg.
That'd be the Zuckerberg he finally met Saturday night in New York, of course -- but as himself he speaks quickly, with lots of intensity behind it, brows furrowed as between thumb and forefinger he crunches green leaves plucked from the hedge separating him from the media.
"When we were making it, I thought it was really good, but I've thought that about a lot of things that have never been seen," he said, acknowledging he didn't expect the amount of awards attention the film has garnered so far. "The cultural significance of it couldn't be planned for."
What about any responsibility to the real-life Zuckerberg -- did Eisenberg worry that the Facebook honcho was hurt by his portrayal?
"I'm in a unique position, because my job is to defend my character," he said after a pause. "If the movie was criticizing the character, which I don't think it was, from my very subjective point of view I was his champion."
Click the pic above or link below for more photos from the SAG Awards red carpet.
The peacock network worked "The Social Network" on Saturday night, as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg joined actor Jesse Eisenberg at the end of the monologue on "Saturday Night Live."
Eisenberg, of course, portrayed "a fictional character in a movie script," who happened to be named Mark Zuckerberg, in the Oscar-nominated film about the founding of Facebook. On "SNL" on Saturday night, Andy Samberg portrayed a guy in a hoodie who says, "I'm Mark Zuckerberg." And Mark Zuckerberg portrayed, well, Mark Zuckerberg, a guy who thinks "The Social Network" is "interesting."
Eisenberg and Zuckerberg famously had not met before Saturday night, though the latter did rent out a Mountain View theater the day "The Social Network" opened so 1,200 or so Facebook employees could check out the flick.
When you watched "The Social Network," were you channeling your inner Mark Zuckerberg? The Ministry certainly was, 'cause we love the bad boys and the strategy -- although we had a few heart-pounding moments for Andrew Garfield's Eduardo Saverin as well. But that was probably a gratuitous beefcake and cheesecake thing, to be honest.
Still! We now know that Eisenberg is actually one cocky dude and that there's no telling what a person will do to impress the opposite sex -- or not. See the video below to get Zuckerberg's take on that girl who doesn't exist, on building things for the sake of building things and on the precision performance of shirts and fleeces.
With its pedigreed writer, director and cast, "The Social Network" premiered to much fanfare on Friday in New York City -- where status wasn't just something to update on Facebook.
Held in the oaken walls of Manhattan's Harvard Club, the after-party drew the likes of Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield (a.k.a. the new "Spider-Man") to toast and mingle following the screening.
"Social Network" charts the rise of Facebook through the journey of creators Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, played by Eisenberg and Garfield respectively. Timberlake plays Napster founder Sean Parker.
Director David Fincher and scribe Aaron Sorkin welcomed a slew of lovely ladies, including ensemble members Rashida Jones and Brenda Song, dripping in Tiffany & Co. jewels. (Click the picture of Song at right to launch a photo gallery of red carpet arrivals.) Gina Gershon showed, as did "30 Rock" funny lady Jane Krakowski and Faye Dunaway.
Executive Producer Kevin Spacey chatted up Garfield while Timberlake stripped off his gray blazer and circulated in a vest and square-frame glasses, stopping for pictures with fans.
After tweeting a promise Thursday of pizza, water and "a suprise
2moro!" to her fans camped out at New York's Rockefeller Center, the singer delivered on that surprise Friday, performing the new tune "You and I" in front of a crowd estimated at more than 18,000.
Lady Gaga's half-hour live "Today" show performance -- which started in the heat and continued through the rain -- opened with the Gershwin classic "Someone to Watch Over Me" and included "Bad Romance," "Alejandro" and the new song, embedded below.
(The tune starts around the 2:30 mark in the video, for those of you on a time budget.)
Quizzed by host Meredith Viera, Gaga said yes, there are down sides to fame, but added that, "the kind of fame that I cherish is the relationship that I have with my fans, which is so pure and so wonderful....
For Lady Gaga, there's a whole lot of "like" in the world -- at least when it comes to Facebook, where the pop star has become the first living person to rack up 10 million fans.
(Or, um, Facebook followers. Or likers. Or whatever it's called on Facebook these days when you click that one button.)
"Thank you so much for all of your love and your support and for sticking by me through the fame, and 'The Fame Monster,' " Gaga says in a black-and-white video posted Friday on her Facebook page. She's currently on tour, hitting Boston for a second show Friday, Atlantic City on Sunday and Madison Square Garden for three shows starting Tuesday night.
Her online entourage numbers passed President Barack Obama's on June 25, USA Today notes, which means it's time to vote (after the break) in our nonscientific online poll and, if you feel like it ...
If at first you do succeed, try again -- with your sights set on something bigger and better.
Betty White fans have ramped up a new Facebook campaign, this time aiming to put her in the driver's seat at the Academy Awards. With "Saturday Night Live" hosting now on her resume, she'd fit right in with previous hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, both of whom have a long history with the late-night show. And with White's lauded comedic timing, perhaps she's just what next year's Oscar broadcast needs.
And if she needs to warm up before that global event? Well, another Facebook group is pushing for her to bump Jimmy Fallon from the gig and head up the Emmy Awards.
The Facebook page urging "SNL" to nab her as a host has logged more than half a million fans -- or, in new FB parlance, half a million people who "like" the idea -- between its launch in February and White's "SNL" performance Saturday. Apparently, that was enough to getLorne Michaels' ear.
How many people have to like you before Oscar might listen? We shall see. And just watch -- if White were to snake the Emmys gig from Fallon, perhaps the queen of England better start watching her back.
-- Christie D'Zurilla
Photo: Betty White attends the unveiling of the Betty White "Naked" hot dog at the opening of Pink's Hot Dogs at Universal CityWalk on April 19. Credit: David Livingston / Getty Images
Click and scroll down for all things Betty White from the Ministry Want the headlines? Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter (we're @LATcelebs) or get us in your news feed on Facebook, so that perhaps one day *we* will host SNL. (Yeah, right.)
“Primarily because every single time I see Betty White, or I hear Betty White, I am like, ‘Why don’t we get more of Betty White?’ She really is -- people use the word loosely, but she truly is -- an icon, and she’s a sharp old broad. She’s just so, so cool, and I can’t imagine anybody opposing Betty White hosting SNL. Who would that person be? Where would that person live? Seriously! I mean how many people can you name who have across the board appeal, from toddlers to old people? I mean if someone doesn’t like Betty White, you know that person has to hate sunshine and puppies. She’s stood the test of time, and she just keeps on going, and she’s just, she’s a delight every time you see her.”
-- My hair guy, Jon Patrick, who is also AnnaLynne McCord's hair guy, explaining why he, among more than 105,000 others, has become a fan of a Facebook pagesupporting a "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig for the comedy veteran
-- Leslie Gornstein
Photo: Betty White arrives at the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 23, 2010, in L.A. We apologize for including only one photo, because we know you really do want more. Credit: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images.
