Madonna’s Pollution Solution
Madonna is a professed lover of the planet.
In July 2007, she headlined the Live Earth concert in London, which was designed to draw attention to climate change, and told the audience, “If you want to save the planet, I want you to start jumping up and down.”
The press was informed via a statement issued by her spokesperson that “Madonna’s agreeing to sing at Live Earth is merely one of the first steps in her commitment toward being environmentally responsible.”
However, according to the Carbonfootprint Web site, Madonna’s upcoming “Sticky and Sweet” concert tour is expected to generate in excess of 1,635 tons of carbon pollutants as a result of her travels.
To break it down, 95 tons of carbon is expected to be emitted via the exhaust of her private jet as it flies to venues in Europe and the U.S. And when her entourage of 250 staffers joins her via commercial airplanes, another 1,080 tons of pollutants will be spewed into the air. Another 460 tons of carbon is expected to be emitted from transport of her cargo, which includes 30 wardrobe trunks and 4 large freezers.
The group of fellow travelers is essential to the material girl since it includes her 9 wardrobe assistants, 12 seamstresses, 12-piece band, chiropractor, personal trainer, masseuse, 16 caterers and approximately 100 technicians and dancers.
At the Live Earth event, Madonna performed a song “Hey You,” which she wrote just for the environment. Included in the lyrics are the following words:
“First love yourself,
Then you can love someone else.
If you can change someone else,
Then you have saved someone else.
But you must first love yourself,
Then you can love someone else.
If you can change someone else,
Then you have saved someone else.”
I guess lyrics like that give you a license to pollute.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Lindsay Lohan’s Leap of Faith
It could be that the Liz Taylor comparisons are affecting Lindsay Lohan in ways that are more than just fashion related.
According to sources, Lohan has decided to convert to Judaism.
Back in 1959, a 27-year-old Taylor changed her religious affiliation from Christian Science to Judaism following the passing of her third husband, Michael Todd, who tragically died in a plane crash.
Lohan has indicated that the motivation for her religious conversion has to do with her relationship with her companion, Samantha Ronson, who is of the Jewish faith.
Lindsay was raised a Roman Catholic, and her father, Michael Lohan, classifies himself as a born-again Christian.
“She’s exploring right now,” Michael told E! “She’s explored the Church of Scientology, she tried Kabbalah, and now this. I think it’s just another phase. But either way, she’s involving God in her life, and I’m happy about that.”
John Edwards’ Hollywood Production
Lost in the flurry of reporting about former Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards’ extramarital activities are questions surrounding campaign fund impropriety.
Records indicate that an Edwards PAC, the One American Committee, which was set up to fight poverty, spent $114,000 for the production of several short Web-based videos.
The videos were produced in 2006 by Rielle Hunter; the same woman with whom Edwards has admitted having an affair.
Hunter reportedly pitched the Web video idea to Edwards in a New York City bar.
IMDB shows Hunter’s professions as writer, actress and producer, having had written, acted and produced a short film, “Billy Bob and Them,” under her own production company, R. Hunter Films.
One key question is: Why would Edwards direct his PAC to pay an arguably inflated price to a relatively inexperienced individual to have her work on such an important project?
It may turn out that Hunter was paid a far larger sum. According to Fox News, Fred Baron, a Dallas lawyer and former campaign finance chairman for Edwards, gave money in the $15,000 a month ballpark to Hunter.
Edwards claims he had no knowledge of Baron’s payments and that he learned about the cash given to Hunter from the press.
Hunter now lives in a rented home that is worth several million dollars. The residence is located in a gated section of Montecito, an exclusive area of Santa Barbara, California.
Andrew Young (a top Edwards aide who claimed to be the father of Hunter’s child) and his wife are reportedly roommates of Hunter at the Montecito home.
Hunter and business partner Mimi Hockman apparently set up Midline Groove Productions in 2006 to produce the Edwards Web videos.
Midline Groove’s Web site has since been pulled from the Internet, although Hockman is still shown as owner of the company’s domain, midlinegroove.com.
The videos, too, disappeared from the Internet, only to resurface via an anonymous posting on YouTube.
Midline Groove Productions was described on its now missing site as “committed to projects that reveal truth.”
In a 2007 interview with the TV show “Extra,” Hunter shared her feelings about working with Edwards.
“He was very authentic. He was inspirational to me,” Hunter said. “I was around him a lot. It was great. We went to Africa. The whole experience was life altering for me.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood @ http://www.youtube.com/user/NMHollywood
Hollywood Miffed Over McCain Ad?
It seems that certain Hollywood folks are in a snit.
John McCain’s latest ad portraying Barack Obama as a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears-type celebrity has hit some Tinseltowners smack in the ego.
Norman Lear, the same fellow who tried to make people feel guilty for driving SUVs, insinuated that the ad lessened the stature of the presumptive GOP nominee.
“I didn’t think McCain could look silly,” Lear told the L.A. Times, “but that ad diminishes him and makes him look silly.”
Interestingly, Obama was a seer of sorts when he spoke at the Gridiron dinner in 2004. He said, as quoted in the Chicago Sun Times, “It’s like I was shot out of a cannon. I am so overexposed, I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse.”
In the past, contributions have come McCain’s way from Harrison Ford, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, Michael Douglas and Lear.
But predictably, these days Hollywood isn’t liking the “maverick” Republican as much as it used to, since it now has a candidate whose more appealing claim to fame is having the most liberal voting record in the Senate.
Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman called the McCain ad “inauthentic.”
Bragman even coined a new term to express his displeasure, saying, “All this feels very Roveian to me.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
-
Archives
- November 2009 (1)
- October 2009 (5)
- September 2009 (10)
- August 2009 (4)
- July 2009 (4)
- June 2009 (4)
- May 2009 (2)
- April 2009 (2)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (3)
- November 2008 (5)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
