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10 of the Most Incredibly Unlikely Celebrity Feuds in History

By Alison Herman on

Yesterday saw the latest flare-up in what’s apparently a nearly two-decade war between Roseanne Barr and writer Jamaica Kincaid. As Roseanne tells it, Kincaid resigned in protest when then-editor-in-chief Tina Brown invited Barr to guest-edit an issue of the New Yorker in 1996, which is why Barr now considers Kincaid a “repugnant classist.” We didn’t know the two women had even heard of each other, let alone hated each other, but it turns out plenty of famous people have beef, and not just Kanye and Taylor Swift. Here are some of the most unexpected celebrity conflicts, from authors to actors to everything in between. … Read More

Celebrity

In Defense of Lip-Synching: 5 Artists Who Could Have Used the Help

By Caroline Stanley on

Everyone is freaking out because Beyoncé lip-synched “The Star-Spangled Banner” at yesterday’s inauguration; you can even compare a clip of her rehearsing with the final version. As Kristin DuBois, a representative for the United States Marine Band, explained, “All music is pre-recorded for the ceremony because there are so many eventualities and conditions that day. We performed, live, the band. But we received last-minute word that Beyoncé was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track. Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know what the reason why.”

Interesting. But if history has shown us anything, it’s that when you’re performing at a major public event, sometimes erring on the side of pre-recorded caution can be a good thing. Don’t believe us? Here’s all the proof you need. … Read More

Celebrity

Zooey Deschanel’s Most Redeeming Moments

By Chloe Pantazi on

A proponent of polka dots, fake eyelashes, and crooning with a ukelele on YouTube, it’s no surprise that Zooey Deschanel quickly became the media’s favorite person to hate. When her critics wrote her off as an indie sex symbol and paragon of cutesy hipsterism, we went along with them without objection. We readily hated her in (500) Days of Summer, for her proximity to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but most of all for her wishy-washy character, Summer. And we tired of seeing Deschanel in sweet-singing girlfriend roles opposite funny men like Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell. And when she did take the lead in the zippy sitcom New Girl, it seemed (at first) that she was just extending the same ditzy doll character we’re so used to seeing her play. Since reading Amanda Hess’ Slate article in defense of the actress, however, we’re beginning to think we’ve been unfair to Zooey. Here, we look back at some of her most redeeming moments. … Read More

Celebrity

Celebrities and the Countries From Which They’ve Been Banned

By Jennifer Lewis on

Once upon a time, two of your doting Flavorpill staffers were banned from a “ruin pub” in Hungary. The whole debacle was a bit of a silly misunderstanding, but hey — at least we weren’t banned from the entire country, eh? The same can’t be said for the following celebrities, who have somehow landed themselves on a handful of nations’ naughty lists. We’ve got everyone from drug addicts to human rights activists to drug rights activists. Check ‘em out after the jump, and hit the comments to tell us your thoughts and dreams. … Read More

Celebrity

Photos of 32 Famous Actors and Their Doubles

By Jennifer Lewis on

[Editor's note: In celebration of the holidays, we're spending the next two Tuesdays by counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #11, was originally published July 6th.] If you’re anything like us, you often find yourself struggling to catch tiny glimpses of stunt doubles’ faces in action movies. There’s no way Tom Cruise is capable of all those impossible missions in Mission: Impossible, right? Thanks to a post on good ol’ Reddit, we were recently graced with 17 fascinating photos of actors side-by-side with their stunt doubles. Some look exactly alike, while others — er, we’ll let you judge stuntman Will Arnett’s hairline and stuntwoman Jennifer Lopez’s gender for yourself. We did a bit of digging to bring you even more photos of actors with their stunt doubles and stand ins, so check ‘em out after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know who wins and loses the lookalike contest. … Read More

Celebrity

The Most Adorable and Heartbreaking Photos of President Obama's Big Year

By Caroline Stanley on

Earlier today we learned that President Obama had been named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” — for the second time! As managing editor Richard Stengel explained, “Obama is the first Democratic President since FDR to win more than 50% of the vote in consecutive elections and the first President since 1940 to win re-election with an unemployment rate north of 7.5%. He has stitched together a winning coalition and perhaps a governing one as well. His presidency spells the end of the Reagan realignment that had defined American politics for 30 years. We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America.”

In light of this news, we decided scour the Internet for a few of the most memorable photos snapped of the President over the course of 2012. From an adorable photo of Obama playing with a tiny Spider-man in the Outer Oval Office to the heartbreaking shot of him surveying Hurricane Sandy damage alongside New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, click through to check out some of our favorite presidential shots of the past year. … Read More

Celebrity

A Selection of Hilariously Unlikely Celebrity Doppelgängers

By Jennifer Lewis on

Folks, our friends at BuzzFeed recently discovered something remarkable: Ricky Gervais, at one point, looked exactly like David Bowie. Can you believe it? Of course we’re well aware that everyone has a doppelgänger or six running around, but Bowie and Gervais? We definitely didn’t see that one coming. Inspired by such an unlikely set of matching faces, we decided to do a bit of digging and unearth even more pairs of odd celebrity doppelgängers. Check ‘em out after the jump, and hit the comments to offer up any other unexpected couples. … Read More

Celebrity

Intimate Black and White Photos of Marilyn Monroe

By Caroline Stanley on

Before she was a famous star, Marilyn Monroe made $10 an hour modeling for pin-up artist and photographer Earl Moran. Here find some of the best shots that resulted from their… Read More

Celebrity

“Brown Sugar” Inspiration Selling Mick Jagger’s Love Letters

By Judy Berman on

What’s it like to be romanced by Mick Jagger? It’s a question we imagine many women asked themselves in the ’60s and ’70s. And now, we stand a chance of finding out. The Guardian reports that Marsha Hunt, the singer/actress who was the mother of Jagger’s first daughter and the inspiration behind “Brown… Read More

Celebrity

Extremely Serious Photos of Extremely Silly Actors

By Jennifer Lewis on

If you’re a frequenter of Flavorwire, you’ve probably already come across our series of extremely silly photos of extremely serious artists, writers, and historical figures. Now, to shake things up a bit, we’ve gathered extremely serious photos of extremely silly actors. Why? Well, believe it or not, these kinds of photos are actually pretty rare — comedians and comic actors are generally photographed looking goofy. After the jump, check out our selection of very serious, black-and-white, no-funny-business photos of very funny actors, and hit the comments to name your favorites. … Read More