Chaos in Chris Brown-Rihanna Mess | Gwyneth Doesn’t Want to Be Cheesy | Grammy Backstage Chatter | Streisand: Still No More Flowers for Diamond
Chaos in Chris Brown-Rihanna Mess
Day 2 of the Chris Brown-Rihanna episode was fairly calm compared to its opening gambit.
Rihanna is recovering from her wounds, whatever they are, while Chris Brown must deal with the fallout from a percolating scandal.
Already he’s been dropped from a Wrigley’s gum campaign. But that’s just the tip of what could be an ugly iceberg.
Brown is now scheduled for an arraignment in the first week of March. Some reports question whether or not some kind of plea bargain will occur before that date. In many cases, especially with celebrities, jail can be avoided with big fines, public acts of contrition, and heartfelt visits to Oprah.
RELATED: Click for latest developments in this fast-breaking story.
But those things can only work if everyone’s on the same page. It’s so far unclear if Rihanna will be willing forgive and forget. In the future both singers will be targeted for questions about what brought them in a rented Lamborghini to Hancock Park, got them into enough of a squabble to exit the supercar and have a fight on the street resulting in physical injury to Rihanna.
PHOTOS: Click for photos of Rihanna.
So far, publicists and lawyers have remained silent on the subject of what occurred. The only thing the handlers have going for them is that this happened in Los Angeles, where there is no tabloid press and an incurious mainstream press. If Chris and Rihanna had tussled in the New York tri-state area, I assure you, we would already know every detail of what happened.
RELATED: Who Is Chris Brown?
And while Rihanna is the alleged victim in this scenario, it’s not the first time she’s made news in the last year. Last August, she accused her business manager of leaving her with no money in the bank. A brief public scuffle took place in the press, although there was no immediate solution other than the business manager getting fired.
Gwyneth Doesn’t Want to Be Cheesy
So, why don’t Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Grammy winner Chris Martin of the group Coldplay take pictures together or walk down red carpets as a couple?
“It’s cheesy,” Gwyneth laughed when we talked about this big controversy backstage at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. When we ran into each other she’d just come off stage wearing a hot silver lame mini skirt. But she was also not with Martin, who was busy with Coldplay winning a Best Song Grammy for “Viva La Vida.”
“I mean, who wants to live like that?” Gwyneth said. She knows of what she speaks. Paltrow clearly doesn’t want a hot button celebrity life like former flame Brad Pitt and Angelina, aka Brangelina. There’s no “Chriswyneth” or “Gwis” in her future.
More importantly, the 1999 Best Actress for “Shakespeare in Love” wouldn’t reveal whether she’s a scheduled presenter for this year’s Oscars. “I can’t tell you anything,” she said, with a wink. My guess is Paltrow will be one of many famous names on the February 22nd ABC telecast, but the producers are keeping it all a secret. Paltrow did say she was still finishing up watching all her Oscar movies and hadn’t voted yet. She’d better hurry — ballots are due back at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences soon.
And who’s her pick for Best Actress? Well, she wouldn’t want me to say, but from what she told me, I could ‘read’ a lot into it!
Nicole Kidman, adding some real Hollywood glamour to the Grammys, happily accompanied husband Keith Urban to the show and then to the EMI party. “I’m a good wife, aren’t I?” she asked Keith rhetorically. This is one happy couple, by the way, and not some p.r. gimmick. Kidman has never seemed so serene…
…Rapper Jay Z is also an entrepreneur and a wealthy man who doesn’t take the word ‘no’ in New York. So he wasn’t too pleased when Staples Center security guards told me he’d have to wait with everyone else from the backstage area to reenter the arena during a commercial break. “He went nuts,” said an observer. “The guards all of a sudden got on their guard”…
…Paul McCartney spent most of the night in the audience with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. He seemed younger and happier than in some time. It was a big change from a couple of years ago when he came to the show solo for his Grammy nominated Best Album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Then-wife, the miserable Heather Mills, stayed home…
…Kate Beckinsale’s daughter, Lily, is going to be an actress. That’s what the 10 year old told me on Sunday night while her mom got ready to present an award on the Grammys. It makes sense: her father is actor Michael Sheen, who plays David Frost in “Frost/Nixon” and should have had an Oscar nomination. Lily is getting her wish. She plays the younger version of Kate in mom’s upcoming “Everybody’s Fine” starring Robert DeNiro…
…Robin Thicke, the blue eyed soul man, roamed backstage with both of his parents, Alan Thicke and mom Gloria Loring, the singer-actress and former star of “Days of Our Lives.” When Thicke spotted Stevie Wonder he literally jumped him with a bear hug. Stevie didn’t mind; the guy’s talented, after all…
…Stevie’s wife, designer Kai Milla Morris, brought their two little boys—very cute—and Stevie’s daughter, Aisha, was in the front row of the Staples Center to see dad perform with the atrocious Jonas Brothers and then solo on his hit, “All About the Love Again.” The hot designer Kai also got to meet fashion icon Gwnyeth Paltrow…
…Josh Groban confirmed that he performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” without any rehearsal on Saturday night at Clive Davis’s dinner. “I met the band about two hours before we went on,” he told me. “I said, Do you know the song? It’s pretty standard. And we took it from there.” They pulled it off like pro’s…
…Longtime famed and beloved Grammy producer Pierre Cossette, making the scene with wife Mary and best friend, “Moon River” singer Andy Williams and his wife. The show is now run by Pierre’s son John and producer Ken Ehlrich, off a can’t lose plan devised by Pierre years ago…
…Katy Perry’s parents are just nice, normal folks from Virginia. I met them at the EMI party at SLS Restaurant. Katy’s mom is a black haired, black eyed knockout, you can see where the “I Kissed a Girl” singer gets her looks. Dad is cool. They said Katy was always writing songs from a young age, nothing about her success surprises them. Katy was many degrees more normal than her press or publicity. Just shows you what Hype creates…
…The Perry’s got to meet another Perry, famed producer Richard Perry, whose dozens of top 10 classic hits include everything from “You’re So Vain” to Rod Stewart’s first album of ballads, all the hits by Pointer Sisters, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, and Carly Simon…
…Late night talk show host Craig Ferguson traded jokes with American Cinematheque host and organizer Martin Lewis…
…Spotted: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban chatting with Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel in the backstage corridor…
Streisand: Still No More Flowers for Diamond
Remember when Barbra Streisand sang “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” to Neil Diamond? It was a huge hit record in the 1980s.
You’ll be happy to know Barbra still doesn’t bring Diamond flowers — or anything else. When the Grammy academy honored Neil as Person of the Year last Friday for its MusiCares charity, Streisand was nowhere to seen or heard.
Instead, Faith Hill was elected to sing the famous duet with Diamond during the singer’s portion of the show.
MusiCares dinners always feature a selection of stars performing the honoree’s hits, followed by a performance by the guest of honor.
And so it was with Diamond, whose tribute kicked off with teen popstars the Jonas Brothers giving a flat and lifeless rendition of Diamond’s forgettable “Forever in Blue Jeans.” You could hear the adults in the room stifle surprise since all most of them know of the Jonases is their heavy marketing program. If you’re old enough, the name Dino, Desi and Billy would come to mind.
Luckily, the second number was a sensational, emotional dramatic reading of “Holly Holy” by Jennifer Hudson. It would be the first of her many incredible performances over Grammy weekend, and signaled that she has reserves deeper than anyone could imagine. Bravo!
Most of what followed was superior including Kid Rock’s energetic “Thank the Lord,” Urge Overkill on “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” Coldplay’s terrific acoustic take on “I’m a Believer,” and Raul Malo’s show stopping “Solitary Man.” Cassandra Wilson and Terence Blanchard did “September Morn” justice. Josh Groban was spot on on the overblown “Play Me.”
There were some missteps: Adele, now Grammy’s Best New Artist, was so nervous she told me later that she could not keep “Cracklin’ Rosie” on course. Eric Benet, who should be a bigger R&B star, had a bad song choice on “Turn in Your Heartlight.”
As usual, some of the show didn’t jibe with what was expected. No one, including Diamond, performed “Song Sung Blue.” Likewise, “I Am, I Said,” “Longfellow Serenade,” and “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” aka “Hot August Night” were all left off the program. “Red Red Wine” was performed indecipherably by an East Texas band Diamond discovered by accident on a wrong number phone call. (No kidding.)
Luckily, Neil finally took control of the show with early gems like “Cherry Baby” and “Sweet Caroline” and the bombastic “Coming to America.” His swell control of the stage tempered Jimmy Kimmel’s difficult sell of two live auction items (an Acura TL that finally went for $57,000, and a first class roundtrip junket to London for a Britney Spears show for $30,000). The auction was also notable for MusiCares director and NARAS president Neil Portnow buying a 1957 white Thunderbird donated by Diamond to the auction for $75,000. “From one Neil to another, I hope you’ll go for a drive in it with me,” Portnow said to Diamond onstage. The singer said he’d be happy to do it.
Leave a Reply