Shia LaBeouf continues string of bizarre outbursts
Remember back in February when Shia LaBeouf wore a paper bag over his head at a Berlin film conference which read, “I am not famous anymore”? He’s not doing a very good job at keeping himself out of the spotlight. Just a week before his meltdown at the Broadway show, the 27-year-old actor was involved in another altercation, as seen in a video TMZ posted online Sunday. The video shows the Fury actor outside of a New York City strip club appearing to prepare to get into a fist fight with an unidentified man, while taunting him and getting held off by a security guard.
Last week, LaBeouf was taken into custody after a drunken outburst at a Broadway performance of Cabaret. He reportedly smoked cigarettes and yelled at the cast during the performance, and was taken out of the theater by police, shouting insults and profanities at the officers. He was released Friday morning. In LaBeouf’s defense, Funny or Die TV host Billy Eichner may have jokingly tweeted it best: “I guarantee you there were at least three middle aged women at tonight’s performance of Cabaret talking more during the show than Shia.”
It has now been reported that LaBeouf is ‘receiving treatment for alcohol addiction.’ – Ian Zelaya
Actor Gary Oldman apologizes for ‘Playboy’ comments
Actor Gary Oldman has apologized for defending Mel Gibson’s 2006 drunken anti-Semitic rant and saying that Jews run Hollywood.
In an open letter to the Anti-Defamation League sent last week, and published online by Deadline.com, Oldman wrote, “I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print – I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter.
“I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life.”
ADL said in a statement issued after the letter became public that the apology was “insufficient.”
“While his apology may be heartfelt, Mr. Oldman does not understand why his words about Jewish control were so damaging and offensive, and it is therefore insufficient,” the statement said. “His reference to the Neal Gabler book he was reading only reinforces the notion that Jewish directors, producers and financiers are there in Hollywood as Jews. They’re not, and the book does not draw that conclusion.” Gibson had said during the rant that “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” – JTA News and Features
Idina Menzel talks dating after divorce
Idina Menzel has a simple phrase to describe entering the dating world as a single mom after she and Taye Diggs ended their 10-year marriage last December: “It all sucks,” the Broadway star told Valentine in the Morning on his radio show last week. “I don’t want to keep introducing him to people and having him form bonds and then take ‘em away, you know,” Menzel said, referring to the couple’s 4-year-old son Walker. “It’s bad enough his mom and dad are getting divorced.”
Menzel, who voiced Elsa in Disney’s Frozen and the powerhouse voice behind the film’s anthem “Let it Go,” knows what it’s like. “I went through it when I was 15 years old,” Menzel said. “I keep telling myself, because I feel so badly for him, it’s better that he’s 4 1/2 than when he’s 15. He has two parents that love him very much and we want to be great moms and dads. At 15 I was too aware, I thought I was an adult, and I got in the middle of everything and I took on the stress for both of them.”
Menzel and Diggs met as co-stars in the original Broadway production of Rent in the mid-90s. They married in 2003 and their son was born in 2009. – I.Z.
