It’s not news to anyone that Kanye West is one of the most egomaniacal, attention-hungry stars of our day. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that — in a lot of ways, it just comes with the territory, and it’s part of the Kanye package we all know and (to varying degrees) love. With the recent release of “Theraflu,” in which Kanye talks about his affection for his oft-rumored love interest Kim Kardashian, the critics are abuzz with questions — is this real, or yet another ploy for attention from two celebrities famous for their love of the spotlight? We’re not sure, but so we can all get a little perspective on the topic, we’ve put together a little retrospective of Kanye’s attention-grabbing antics for your reminiscing pleasure. Click through to see a very brief timeline, and let us know if we missed your favorite controversy in the comments.
Imagine if you were Facebook friends with the most beautiful woman in the world. Sounds fun, right? That’s what it feels like scrolling through Beyoncé’s personal Tumblr, which features photos of her — many, many photos of her — smiling and happy in various fancy and exotic-looking vacation spots. There are also plenty of adorable shots of her hanging out with Jay-Z, and one where’s she’s dressed up like Spider-Man. We don’t know about you, but this is how we plan to spend the rest of our day — voyeuristically poring over personal photos of Bey, and pretending like we actually know her. [via Vulture]
Spotted by PetaPixel, Celebrity Camera Club is a highly-entertaining new Tumblr that collects photos taken of famous people taking photos. While we were impressed to find images of everyone from Barack Obama to Stanley Kubrick snapping pics, we couldn’t help but notice what a large portion of the collection was dominated by famous musicians. Whether it’s just another creative outlet or the thrill of being on the other side of the lens for a change, we can’t really say, but we’ve posted some of our favorite photos of these cultural icons and their cameras after the jump; click through to check them out, and be sure to head over to Celebrity Camera Club to view the full archive.
Early this morning, Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari put on his best Tom Haverford face and did something hilarious — he became Central Park’s “Ambassador of Spring.” What does this excellent title entail, you ask? Well, the almighty Ambassador is the first person to hop on a lawn mower and mow Sheep Meadow after it’s been closed for the winter season. This “First Mow” ceremony was introduced by Central Park Conservancy President, Doug Blonsky, and the NYC Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Adrian Benepe. The former has a stellar mustache and the latter kept referring to Aziz as “Tom” whilst cracking jokes about his days as a park ranger, so we’re pretty sure that, with these two fellows combined, our endless search for New York’s very own Ron Swanson can finally end. We salute you, Mr. Blonsky and Mr. Benepe! Click through to check out our exclusive photos of Aziz Ansari becoming your “Ambassador of Spring,” being all-around awesome on a lawn mower, and actually doing Tom Haverford’s job, for once.
Forbes is always good for a ranking of some aspect of fame you’d think would be entirely impossible to measure. So it was with great interest that we read through their list of the most overexposed celebrities, the result of an E-Poll Research study, and found many of the usual suspects: two Jersey Shore cast members, Lindsay Lohan, all three Kardashians, including Kim at #1. What we didn’t expect to find were so many former tabloid staples whose, er, star has already pretty much fallen: the Octomom, Paris Hilton, Levi Johnston, and Kate Gosselin. Also worth wondering is why a whopping eight out of the top ten are women, especially considering that Charlie Sheen didn’t make the cut. Check out the list after the jump, and visit Forbesfor more details on the results.
We don’t usually report on celebrity relationships here at Flavorwire, but the news that Michelle Williams and Jason Segel are apparently now a couple is way too exciting not to share. Right? They’re both just so talented, and while we never would’ve put Nick Andopolis and Jen Lindley together in a million years, we love the thought of Segel making Williams (who always seems a bit sad to us, or maybe that’s just our inability to shake Blue Valentine) laugh and have some fun. Remember, this is a man who has an entire room in his house devoted to puppets. He’s like a human joy machine.
“Friends for years through Williams’ BFF and Segel’s Freaks and Geeks costar Busy Philipps, their relationship only recently turned romantic,” says Us Weekly (so, grain of salt), who spotted them “taking a romantic stroll after a meal at Frankie’s Spuntino in Brooklyn,” and then the following day, hanging out with Williams’ 6-year-old daughter, Matilda. They’ve also been spotted eating out together in LA. So… Do you find this unconfirmed pairing as thrilling as we do? Let us know in the comments!
We recently heard a rumor that Lana Del Rey and Marilyn Manson are dating. Gasp! Whether or not it’s true, we’ve decided to take the opportunity to look back at the weirdest and most unlikely couples in the music industry. Though we know our understanding of celebrities is limited — we see them as figures crafted by marketing teams and stylists, and their appearances might not totally match their true natures — they do seem to have a knack for twisting themselves into seemingly bizarre romantic pairings, whether for media attention, true love, or just boredom, we’ll never know. Click through to see ten of the most unlikely celebrity couples with at least one musical member, at let us know if we’ve missed the one that shocks you most in the comments.
Twitter is freaking weird. Where else can you share your thoughts on celebrities with the knowledge that they may actually read them — or even respond? It’s all sweet and uncomplicated when you’re tweeting your admiration, but when you’re criticizing — or just plain hating — things can get a bit sticky. Famous people have feelings, too, after all. Last night, in celebration of Twitter’s sixth birthday, they aired those reactions in a very funny Jimmy Kimmel Live! video where they read some of the meanest tweets they’ve received. Joel McHale calls out a detractor who pronounces him a “huge d-bag” for not spelling out “douche”; Roseanne deadpans, “Hey Roseanne, get a life”; and Anna Faris learns that if you replace the “I” in her last name with a “T,” you get “farts.” But Will Ferrell pretty much steals the show, because he’s on the toilet. Watch, chuckle, and then think before you call a comedian names on Twitter. Because, you know, she’s probably funnier than you.
He may be sharing wigs with Miss Piggy, but there is at least once celebrity who wasn’t pleased with Anderson Cooper this week. MIA watched the documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: ‘War Crimes Unpunished’ last night on British Channel 4 and was inspired to defend herself against those who would criticize her representation of the country’s Tamil population. “@AndersonCooper called me a terrorist for speaking out, and expressed support for the SLgov [Sri Lankan government] when this [killing] was happening,” she tweeted, suggesting that he watch Killing Fields to “show the world what happens when respected journos get it wrong.”
Cooper, meanwhile, seemed fairly surprised by the accusations and shot back with a delicious bit of snark: “@miauniverse, you are mistaken. I never called you a terrorist. I don’t even know who you are other than the lady who sang at superbowl.” He also pointed out that he didn’t say any of the things MIA accused him of saying, but merely that his CNN blog linked to articles that did. Ever the diplomat, Cooper ended the interaction on a conciliatory note: “I can understand your frustration if someone wrote untrue things about you, and I’m glad you were able to respond. … and the brutal war in SL has not gotten enough coverage in US, and I know that very upsetting.” In the end, MIA seemed to accept Cooper’s overtures — making this perhaps the quickest, most civilized and politically aware celebrity feud in recent memory. Well done, everyone! [via NME]
The Internet is a terrifying place for anyone with even the smallest amount of name recognition. After all, look what it did to Rebecca Black, and she wasn’t even remotely famous or popular before Reddit, 4chan, and Tumblr got a hold of her. It stands to reason that celebrities are at least a little aware of the crazy stuff we do with their likenesses online, but it’s still always a bit of a shock to hear an actor actually talking about a meme or a fan work. We put together some of our favorite instances of this particular phenomenon – just don’t freak out when you find out that your favorite TV or movie stars know about the fan fiction you write!
