Celebrity

Category: Privacy

PREACH IT! The real deal behind celebrity sex tapes [poll]

Wilkinson-web Hey, lookit: Now that we have cover art of the Kendra Wilkinson sex tape, we have a reason to write about sex tapes today. God bless the visual arts.

Wilkinson is a reality-TV mainstay and former Playboy housemate now married to Hank Baskett, an NFL athlete who makes her pray before meals. Wilkinson, now 24, and Baskett are married and have a little baby. But before all that wholesomeness, Wilkinson, like so many 18-year-olds who are too beautiful for their own good, made a private sex tape with some dude.

Vivid Entertainment has plans to release said sex tape -- apparently against Wilkinson’s horrified will -- once some unspecified “legal issues” have been worked out. Wilkinson reportedly has been trying to block release of the tape; according to Life & Style, Wilkinson’s husband is "totally upset and embarrassed," and worried that the footage could sack his career.

Right about now is when we’re all supposed to take to the Twittersphere and cluck something about that poor, exploited Kendra. Except, as it turns out, the story has blossomed into an excellent illustration of how celebrity sex tape deals really work. For one, Radar has reported, Wilkinson -- before she tried to block the tape -- tried mighty hard to take it public, via her former manager.

Kevin Blatt, a celebrity sex-tape broker, told Radar: "I deal with a lot of unsavory people ... 

Continue reading »

PREACH IT! Sandra Bullock calls checkmate in a tough public relations game

Bullock people Sandra Bullock: We salute you. Your People magazine cover this week has to be one of the most ninja public relations moves we’ve seen out of an A-list celebrity since Angelina Jolie hooked up with the United Nations.

Not that we’re saying you announced your baby, Louis, as some sort of calculated image rehab; we don’t mean that at all. Sister, you don’t need image rehab. No, we here at Preach It! congratulate you on keeping such a tight lid on your private affairs until just the right moment, and then springing forth like an amazon on horseback. Too, too magnificent.

Your new triumph represents the pinnacle of how the wronged-woman game should be played in this town. You have set a new bar. At first we thought that maybe Tiger Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, was neck and neck with you in that department, but no. Sandra, you just knocked that formidable Swede right out of the running. Let’s examine why.

For weeks, Elin has epitomized the estranged classy broad. As Tiger’s myriad skanks paraded before the gossip blogs, Elin also let herself be photographed -- but only doing things like getting on a plane. To, you know, fly away from Tiger.

Elin-son Elin also bailed on Tiger’s much publicized “press conference” at Sawgrass in February, and skipped his return to golf when he appeared during the Masters, distancing herself both physically and psychologically from a poisonous situation. Now we hear that Elin is definitely, definitely, definitely divorcing Tiger -- but we're not getting the news from her. No. That would be beneath her. Instead, word is coming from high-class minions such as Donald Trump.

Sandra, meanwhile, holed up completely following the Michelle “Bombshell” McGee revelation; photographs of Bullock outside of her home were virtually nonexistent for weeks. She stepped out briefly to visit friends, but the only really solid shot of her before now was during a hike earlier this month -- without her wedding ring. Like Elin, Sandra used fancy friends to do the talking for her, namely, her good buddy George Lopez. Also like Elin, Sandra has said zip about her problems with her husband -- until Wednesday. When asked about Jesse James’ seeming preoccupation with Nazis, she said, "The photo shocked me and made me sad. This is not the man I married. This was stupid, this was ignorant. Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, anything Nazi and a boatload of other things have no place in my life."

Thank you both, ladies, for showing how to play through pain with style.

-- Leslie Gornstein

Top photo: The latest People magazine features Sandra Bullock and her newly adopted son, Louis Bardo Bullock. Credit: Jeff Christensen / Associated Press

Bottom photo: Elin Nordegren sits with her son Charlie during a semifinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla., on April 2. Credit: Lynne Sladky / Associated Press

Click and scroll down to tour the Preach It! archives. Want the headlines? Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter (we're @LATcelebs) or show us you like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ministryofgossip.



Jude Law wins lawsuit against UK tabloid [Poll]

Jude law Jude Law has won damages and legal fees in a suit against Hello!, a UK celebrity publication, after the tab published pictures of three of his four kids while they were vacationing with him and Sienna Miller in the Caribbean in January. 

In addition to a fine of about $15,000, Hello! agreed not to publish pictures of Law alone or with his children in situations where they have "a reasonable expectation of privacy." Whether Law's fourth child is included in the decision -- well, maybe not?

The legal route is a departure from the orange-hurling tactics the actor used in November against NYU students apparently majoring in celebrity photography. 

We're almost afraid to publish this picture of Jude. Almost. But then we checked with our lawyers, who assured us there's no reasonable expectation of privacy on a red carpet. Whew. 

Your thoughts?

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photos: This picture of Jude Law was taken March 28, 2010, at the 2010 Empire Film Awards in London, where there were lots of other people around, and Law stood in front of cameras on purpose for publicity. Credit: Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images.

Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter (we're @LATcelebs) and Facebook.


Reports: Bullock divorce filing near, James ditches rehab

Bullock mug Let's get up to date on the latest speculation in the sad saga of Jesse James and Sandra Bullock

RadarOnline places Bullock on the verge of filing for divorce, and says the couple's prenup includes a no-money-if-you-cheat caveat. Of course, nothing's official till papers hit the court, and we haven't seen any court filing yet, nor have we seen a copy of the prenup.

James reportedly left rehab in Arizona, the New York Post says, supposedly after Bullock wouldn't take his phone call. If Us magazine's story about nasty phone fights is true, could you blame her? 

Incidentally, some of the worst paparazzi images ever emerged last week when Sandra headed to Holmby Hills to visit another human being.

A moving truck was seen for about an hour Friday outside the Orange County home shared by the couple, TMZ reported, and items including a couch, a love seat and "tons of boxes" were removed. James' mom was also spotted at the home. 

As always, we'll keep you posted.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Sandra Bullock arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party on March 7, 2010, in West Hollywood. Credit: Peter Kramer / Associated Press. 

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

Jesse James buys himself some time -- er, goes to rehab

Jesse James' maybe-mistress No. 4 develops a case of the dainties

Bombshell McGee's dad knew about Jesse James

Continue reading »

Jesse James and a paparazzo tangle -- and of course there's video

 

James wcc It isn't easy being Jesse James these days -- witness this exclusive KTLA video from paparazzo Ulises Rios showing a March 25 run-in involving Rios, Sandra Bullock's husband and another man on a street across from James' custom motorcycle shop.

Rios says he was stopped at a red light across from West Coast Choppers when James, in the helmet, rode his motorcycle over and parked in front of his car. In the video, the two appear to shout at the photographer in his car, and James' companion pulls out what Rios said is a knife and appears to hit the vehicle with it. Rios reported three slashed tires and other damage.

On the morning of March 25, a photographer called Long Beach police to report vandalism to his property. When they arrived, mutual citizen's arrests were made. James told police he was being stalked by a paparazzo, according to the New York Daily News. Authorities also ...

Continue reading »

Barbara Walters' '10 Most Fascinating People of 2009': observations, and a poll [Updated]

Tyler Hey, sports fans -- normally I write as "the Ministry," but this time I'm just me. Watched the Barbara Walters special Wednesday night, as I'm sure many of you did, and here are my thoughts on her chosen public figures, many of whom show up on this blog quite often.

Well, OK, Glenn Beck doesn't show up at the Ministry so much, but work with me, all right? If he gets naked next year, or reveals he had an affair with Tiger Woods, or posts another rambling, post-surgical YouTube video, he'll fit right in.

And yeah, I know Barbara and crew can edit and script and all that for dramatic effect, but let's do a willing suspension of disbelief, shall we?

Here's my takeaway, based on Walters' brief interviews.

Gaga Lady Gaga: Barbara sees her in a whole new light, and so do I. Maybe I just didn't "get her" before this? I still can't quite hum one of her tunes, but she seems thoughtful and sincere. Is she bisexual? Makes for a nice tease on the tee-vee, but really, who cares? I hope Gaga doesn't fixate on that as she moves ahead, and that others can find something more interesting to ask about.

Tyler Perry: The juxtaposition of this spotlight sit-down with the fact of his mother's death on Tuesday is heartbreaking. His proudest moment? He says it was being able to take good care of his mother. Forget about Barbara making Tyler cry -- he made me cry.

We could end it right here, but there are eight more interviews ...

Continue reading »

Transgressions R Us, Part 2: Tiger Woods drama die-hards only, please [UPDATED]

Australia

Hey, we're back! And you're back! Cool!

We had some fun last time, yes?

~~ Hmm. *You* are back too, oh respecter of Tiger Woods' privacy. Didn't we go over this once before? ~~

It's game day, and the Ministry is Coliseum-bound, but we wanted to make sure folks started the weekend up to date on the condition of the S.S. Tiger Woods, which, you may recall, sustained some damage below the waterline this week

Rules remain the same -- if you're above all this, what the heck are you doing here? Gold star for you; now scram.  Wanna know what's been going on in Tiger Town? C'mon out behind the gym for a few minutes and we'll hook you up.

~~ Privacy fans? This is where you click out. For real. ~~

Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. Even if the one is, you know, Tiger Woods.

Let's meet a few of those needs, shall we?

Continue reading »

'Family Ties' mom Meredith Baxter is a lesbian: 'It was a later-in-life recognition'


"Family Ties" mom Meredith Baxter has done an end run around those who would have outed her, revealing to the world that she's a lesbian.

Baxter This is shaping up to be private-people, public-revelations day here at the Ministry.

"I did not want some tabloid to take a story and make it up," she tells Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. "So I wanted it to be in my own words." She approaches it all with a quiet, no-big-deal manner.

The interview starts out a bit surreal (Are we post-"Ellen" yet?) but finally the nerves are banished, and she's charmingly funny at the end.

"How do you feel now that we've talked about it?" Matt asks. "I'm gonna die!" Meredith blurts. And when Lauer points out that she did indeed survive, she says, softly, "Yeah, ha, are we done? Thanks, Matt. Thanks for being the guy."

And though the interviews with "Today" and People magazine are what will blanket the nation, Meredith's chat with the Advocate, where she talks about being "America's mom" and also a gay mom is pretty rockin' too. 

Continue reading »

Tiger Woods: 'Personal sins should not require press releases' -- but here is his, plus that voicemail recording

Swing

Tiger Woods has spoken out. Sort of. In a long, sort of vague statement on his website.

But the Ministry figures that on the Tiger scale of self-revelation, the statement this morning is the equivalent of standing on the 18th green in front of a hushed crowd and screaming, screaming, screaming.

Wonder if he can shout down the sound of this voicemail message? Yeah, turns out the official statement isn't  the only place he's spoken out. (When the Ministry heard the Jaimee Grubbs recording at USMagazine.com it felt like a gut punch, so if you really dig Tiger and want to respect his privacy, just pretend it's not out there. There are some things you can't unhear.)

Some excerpts from Woods' statement:

"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect."

Given the fact that David Letterman's first mea culpa backfired on him a bit, when audiences initially thought he was joking, Tiger's controlled approach makes sense. Then again, Letterman is used to delivering a monologue, and Tiger is used to walking down the fairway on a Sunday when the odds are against him, summoning his concentration and often pulling off the impossible.

And this does make life easier for Golf Digest, given the content of its January cover featuring Woods and President Obama.

"Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. ... The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect."

Sorry, dude. You might've thought you could buy your Privacy -- but this is how the world is for the rest of us. It's just exponentially louder for you because nobody knows who the rest of us are. And Tiger? Don't be super shocked when your statement -- which the Ministry thinks is just fine -- doesn't make everyone else shut up.

"Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions."

No, they shouldn't. Unless, of course, you're the most famous athlete in the world -- and one who to this point has appeared to be perfect -- in which case you have to meet the world halfway.

"I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology."

Tiger seems to have figured out his only way to take this match. America loves to forgive.

Today he's got his red shirt on. For the win.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Tiger gets his red shirt on during the Australian Masters last month. He won. Credit: Andrew Brownbill / Associated Press.

The story thus far, courtesy of the Ministry of Gossip:

A ticket for Tiger Woods, another attorney and another 'other woman,' Jaimee Grubbs?

PREACH IT! Hey Tiger? Gonna take a Big Bertha to your plea for privacy

PREACH IT! And Leslie Looked Upon the Ministry Readers, and She Saw That She Was Good (an introduction to Ms. Gornstein and her mission)

'Overwhelmed' Rachel Uchitel hires celebrity attorney Gloria Allred

Tiger Woods' charmed life may be feeling the squeeze

Tiger Woods says 'all my fault,' praises wife, hires attorney

Tiger Woods, his wife, that odd little car accident -- and Rachel Uchitel

Tiger Woods slightly injured in accident near his home


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