CONTROVERSY
Gosh, what a sucky way to celebrate your birthday.
Despite not being in the Spider-Man franchise anymore, Tobey Maguire finds himself in a sticky situation as he is being sued for a nice chunk of change in the now exposed exclusive high-stakes poker circle with other known celebrities (Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon - just to name a few). Complete details of the incidents are pretty much scattered so it's still unclear.
Radar Online reports that Maguire is being sued for $311,000 he had won in Texas Hold 'em poker games from hedge fund manager Brad Ruderman, who is now currently in prison. Supposedly, Ruderman was gambling with money from his investors - around $5.2 million, which is only a small amount from the total amount he had stolen - and used to hold the poker games for about 3 years.
So not funny! Reports claim that actor/comedian Tracy Morgan was booed and bashed after a stand-up routine in Nashville, Friday 06/03/11 went out of hand. Comedy patrons were not prepared for the hateful tirade, whether or not he's joking, the 30 Rock star was spewing out against the LGBT community.
Unfortunately, not all members who witnessed the fiasco were disturbed. In fact, they actually followed up his insults with cheers, audience member Kevin Rogers (from Truth Wins Out) says. Alas, this is not-so-liberal Tennessee.
Rihanna has caused quite a stir with her latest “Man Down” video. It seems that almost all of Rihanna’s music videos lately have been extremely controversial. This one, however, undoubtedly takes the cake. In the video, Rihanna’s character is raped by a random man at a party. She goes home to get her handgun and the next day, she murders him. There are several messages that viewers can take from this music video, but overall the believed purpose of this video is to stimulate thoughts about the subject of rape.
Actress Gabrielle Union took to Twitter to share her thoughts on Rihanna’s video. She tweeted, “Saw ‘Man Down’ by @rihanna. Every victim/survivor of rape is unique, including how they THINK they’d like justice 2 be handed out. During my rape I tried 2 shoot my rapist, bt I missed. Over the yrs I realized tht killin my rapist would’ve added insult 2 injury. The DESIRE 2 kill someone whose abused/raped u is understandable, bt unless its self defence n the moment 2 save ur life, just ADDS 2 ur troubles.” Union later explained that she thinks the video did a good job of getting people to talk about rape. However, Union is right, self-defense in the moment is the only excuse for murder. Rihanna’s video just provokes further violence as Union said, and adds insult to injury.
For chocolate lovers, Cadbury is indisputably deeeeeeeeelish but could we ever imagine that this delectable treat was politically incorrect and racist?
Cadbury's regrettable advertisement caused controversy with camera-magnet and supermodel, Naomi Campbell.
After seeing the advertisement, she said, "I am shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humor in this. It is insulting and hurtful."
Activists like Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jesse Jackson were infuriated and even went far enough to threaten to boycott the entire company.
Erykah Badu had to pay $500 and spend six months on probation after being charged with disorderly conduct for being filmed outdoors in the nude for her music video for the song "Window Seat." The video shows Badu stripping as she walks through Dealey Plaza- the place in Dallas, TX where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. At the end of the video, Badu is shot and falls to the ground naked as blue blood spills out and forms the word "Groupthink." Pretty heavy stuff, Erykah. Did she not think it would get her into trouble? She's literally stripping as she walks past families with kids in broad daylight (the complaint was issued by a witness. Go figure). Watch the video and decide for yourself if she was being disorderly.
Michael Lohan, the father of actress (if you can call it acting) Lindsay Lohan, is being investigated for his dealings with a Hamptons nightclub. Lohan had recently become part of the management group of Controversy (aptly named) in Westhampton when an anonymous tipster called to report that he (i.e. Lohan) cannot legally be the holder of the liquor license due to his criminal history.
Luckily, when police investigated, it turned out that Lohan's name was not included on the license. Unluckily, while they were there, the cops discovered a zoning violation which will delay the club's opening. You win some, you lose some.
Michael Lohan who has been busted for DUI in the past is a partner in a new nightclub at the Annona restaurant in the Hamptons, named "Controversy.”
Michael says that the new nightclub will offer a driving service for those who have had “a little too much to drink”. He also claims that the club with “screen for drugs.” Ha, really?
Michael wants his 22-year-old son to help manage the place on weekends, saying “who knows…maybe it will become a family enterprise.”
What a surprise.
Tuesday, Tommy Ton of Jak and Jill tweeted something that raised quite a few curious eyebrows:
"I received some news tonight that is going to SHAKE the fashion world in the next two days. CRAZY!!!!"
Now, if one were as smart and saavy as we are, they'd note that Tommy Ton has a weird and twisted tie to the Vogue Paris team (via streetstyle encounters). And, with Carine's public scandal with Balanciaga - after being blacklisted from the Fall 2010 show - people are beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Whether you boldly admit to illegally downloading content from the internet or hide under a blanket with the lights dimmed urging your laptop to hurry with its download of an Eminem torrent fearful that some bootjack thug from the FCC will kick in your door at any moment, there is no escaping the controversy surrounding the appeal/disgust of illegal file-sharing.
At the center of the debate lies the notorious Sweden based peer-to-peer, file-sharing website, the Pirate Bay. The website’s operators, Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, have seen their share of lawsuits, injunctions, blockages, police-style raids, and have even been convicted of copyright infringement resulting in a sentence of a year in prison and a fine of 30 million SEK (approximately $3.6 million USD). In spite of all the opposition, the site is still in operation, openly providing copyrighted content to users for free.
When five men in blackface and afro wigs surrounded a white makeup wearing Michael Jackson impersonator on an Australian TV variety show, many thought the send-up of the Jackson 5 was a hilarious high-point of the night. Guest judge Harry Connick Jr. did not find it so amusing.
“Hey Hey It’s Saturday” is like many of the other shows that have popped up on networks all over the world where a panel of “judges” scrutinize wanna-be performers on everything related to their performance, like a singer performing off-key, or unrelated trivialities, like said singer having a bad hair-cut or a lazy-eye. The pompous narcissism held by these judges is reminiscent of Middle-Age royalty beheading a court-jester for performing less-than adequately.
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