Gawker: defamer, red carpet

Three Worst Red Carpet Flubs By Ryan Seacrest

Ryan Tate — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:06:06 EST

It's not that we don't sympathize with Ryan Seacrest. The Oscar red carpet is a relentless stream of thin-skinned celebrities. But the celebrity interviewer seemed especially cringe-inducing this year.

Maybe it was a lack of preparation. Cultural insensitivity. Or maybe Seacrest is just getting tired of this sort of work. In any case, he was off his game. Examples:

Weird foreign kids who don't speak English confound poor Seacrest

What was Seacrest thinking? He was unprepared to read the names of some Indian kids from the cast of Slumdog Millionaire. The logical thing to do, then, would be to ask each child to quickly say his or her name. Instead, he briefly held an illegible piece of paper up to the camera. Then he asked the disappointed kids to all shout their names at once. They wisely ignored him.

There was some awkwardness over English, which some of the kids did not speak, and which Seacrest made them feel pretty much as terrible as possible about. (After we posted about this last night, commenters pointed us toward the other Seacrest flubs.)

Seacrest asks whether Slumdog cast real-live SLUM-DWELLERS

The host was fascinated that director Danny Boyle used actual slumdogs or whatever. Boyle reminded him that they try to think of the poor kids as normal human beings instead of total freaks. Then his eyes asked if Seacrest couldn't do the same.

Seacrest asks Marisa Tomei where she's been the past 15 years

Yes, she's made movies since My Cousin Vinny, Ryan. Dig the death stare at the end.

Jack Black's Belligerent Bar Interview

Ryan Tate — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:32:27 EST

He's red-cheeked, in a bar, vaguely aggressive and verbally erratic, so maybe Jack Black is a little sauced. More likely, he's just being Jack Black. Very Jack Black. (Click for clip.)

Ryan Seacrest's Awkward Slumdog Interview

Ryan Tate — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:09:34 EST

Indian names baffle E!'s Ryan Seacrest, so he just held a sign up to the camera to introduce children from the cast of Slumdog Millionaire. Sad. Then things got more weird.

The red-carpet interviewer tried to get everyone to shout their foreign and strange and difficult long names at the same time, a futile effort. "That didn't go well," he said. Indeed! Nor did the next thing.

But then Seacrest was quiet for a little while and let the kids talk, to adorable effect, thus rescuing the moment. Clip above.

(NB to Seacrest: Next time an Indian film is widely favored to win Best Picture, maybe brush up on those tricky South Asian pronunciations.)

Red Carpet Oscar Fashions

Richard Lawson — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:38:00 EST

Evening! The celebrities are stumbling down the red carpet into the Kodak Theater for the Academy Awards right now. Keep checking here for updates on all the fashionz. Also, someone please smack Ben Lyons.

All images via Getty and AP

Miley Cyrus has 'Gone Green', and is thus wearing a dress made entirely of kale.

Emile Hirsh: Tiny nom nom nom snack.

TV Guide host Lisa Rinna has just returned from a vacation on the surface of the sun.

Virginia Madsen: Divine

Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black (with Cleve Jones) is just too good looking to be a writer. But he is!

Oh, Zac Efron

Zac's professional girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens, wears John Galliano for the Glad Family of Products.

Slumdog Millionaire stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto should be made into a stew, because they are delicious. Mulligatawny!

Benjamin Button nominee Taraji P. Henson looks like a black version of my dear friend from college, Jackie. Hi black Jackie!

Melissa Leo: Princess of Power!

"Halo! I am Heidi Klum! German noodle, kitten kaboodle! In Germany we have flamingos that we call Standy Birds. Halo Standy Bird, you are me! I'm German!"

Sarah Jessica Parker just wants someone to marry her. Someone, you know, real.

Some detailing on that dress. And on that relationship.

Viola Davis looks terrific. And like an Oscar. I hope she wins.

Sigh, Diane Lane. Unfaithful was a long time ago.

Amy Adams: The Devil's wife.

Marisa Tomei couldn't decide which white-ish dress to wear, so she wore all of them.

Amanda Seyfried: B'oh!

Ohhhh the vampire! Eat me Robert Pattinson! Eat meeee!!

Leslie Mann, funny wife of Judd Apatow, skinned a disco ball.

Beyoncé. My friend Kelly tells me she'd "put a ring on it." I'd put a bag over it.

Mickey Rourke will show you to your table.

Penelope Cruz ith Au'rey Hepburn. (That is how you type in a Spanish accent, btw.)

Angelina Jolie is wearing a black dress. Fascinating.

Jessica Biel goofed the floof.

Dark Knight fan Kate Winslet in her Harvey "Two Face" Dent costume.

Marion Cotillard will explode tonight.

Evan Rachel Wood is sad about being Evan Rachel Wood.

A teenage boy and his fifty-something-year-old father just fainted. Thanks, Meryl Streep.

Alicia Keys: Stunning.

Lovely old ladies being lovely and old together. I think I had Sophia Loren's dress for dessert last night.

Tilda Swinton's top half is full of raked leaves.

Anne Hathaway is too skinny. Her dates are too gold.

George Clooney Premiere Politics Leave Easterners United in Despair

STV — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:29:25 EDT

Hollywood narrowly averted A-list disgrace recently when it was revealed that George Clooney's aw-shucks humanitarian cred didn't quite extend to the extras from his new film, Leatherheads. In lieu of Universal's official launch March 31 at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the extras will stage their own red-carpet premiere in Greenville, S.C.. Reaction today is fierce along the Eastern seaboard, starting in Greenville itself, where one event organizer kept it real while Clooney's panicked flack urged calm:

"Decade after decade, for well over a century now, the lowly movie extras have been ignored," Robert McClure, a paramedic who expects to appear on screen both as a coach and a man who marks downs on the sidelines in Leatherheads, explained via e-mail. ...

Stan Rosenfield, Mr. Clooney's publicist, said he did not believe his client would attend the Greenville premiere. But he said Mr. Clooney planned to return to the Carolina upcountry next week as part of a whistle-stop tour — perhaps partly by railroad — planned to promote Leatherheads.

Frustration persisted in New York, however, where outrage at also being passed over (or at least distaste over the film's ad saturation) resulted in the violent defacing of Clooney's Leatherheads mug throughout the city's subway system.

[Photo Credit: Greenville Online]

A Premiere Far From Hollywood [NY Times]

Oscar Fashion Critic Kimora Lee Simmons Has A Very Limited Vocabulary

Slut Machine — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

As many already know, designer Kimora Lee Simmons covered the red carpet for E!'s Oscar pre-show last night, critiquing fashions (female and male) with Giuliana Rancic. Naturally, we assumed Kimora would repeatedly use the word "fabulous" to describe things, since she did write the book on it, but we had no idea just how limited her stable of adjectives is! (Just like Lucky magazine!) Sure, she's into excess, but Kimora's use of "fabulous" and "elegant" to describe everyone from Jennifer Hudson to Miley Cyrus was a bit much. Clip above.

Will Joan Rivers Terrorize Red Carpets For VH-1?

Seth — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:44:44 EDT

Many awards show viewers still long for the heyday of the late '90s, when unsuspecting stars would recoil in terror upon being accosted by Grand Frock Inquisitioner Joan Rivers, followed closely behind by loyal henchspawn Melissa, one finger held to her ear as she received instruction on the proper pronunciation of "Benicio Del Toro." Alas, after being bumped from their now-legendary E! gig, and banished from the TV Guide Channel kingdom for rumored "difficult" behavior, the only place Emmy watchers can turn these days for a Rivers fix is online, at VH1's Emmys With Joan. Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil wonders if the pair's seemingly shameful banishment to the slums of the blogowebs doesn't perhaps bode well, suggesting the network might take a short break from finding Flavor Flav the skank of his dreams to secure Joan and Melissa a spot on the red carpet:

What's key about current circumstances is that Joan and Melissa did their internet gig with VH1. That sure makes you wonder: is the music channel planning to get into the red carpet biz? If so, why weren't Joan and Melissa at the Emmys repping VH1? [...]
When I recently asked Joan's PR rep if the Rivers gals will work red carpets for VH1 in the future, she got noticeably nervous and replied: "No comment."

Mother and daughter are long overdue for a triumphant return to Hollywood's crimson thoroughfares, scene of such classic Joan Moments as the Golden Globes at which she barked, "I have two big names here, so could you just wait?" to Will Ferrell, whom she failed to recognize. Whether VH1 can accommodate Joan's long list of needs, however, is another matter, starting with her stubborn insistence that her trailer be stocked with 20 cases of the highest-grade mineral Botox the French Alps has to offer.

Will Joan and Melissa ever return to the red carpet? [goldderby.latimes.com]