Grapevine: Piers Morgan denounces Taylor Swift
Piers dumps on Taylor
In the escalating did-she-or-didn’t-she brouhaha over Kanye West’s lyrics about Taylor Swift, 26, in his single, “Famous,” British celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan now weighs in with his own tart denunciation of the blond singing sensation. This comes after Kim Karadashian West, Kanye’s wife, posted a video Sunday showing Kanye getting permission from Swift for the disputed lyrics. (Swift says Kanye, 39, left out a key line about the rapper making her famous, which she wouldn’t have approved.) Morgan, who praised Swift to the skies in a recent Daily Mail column — vigorously defending her against “Kim Kardashian and all the other poisonous, green-eyed monsters out there” — now finds he has egg on his face and is not a happy reporter. He told “Good Morning Britain,” according to the newspaper, that Taylor should be renamed “Pinocchio Swift.”
Chris Hemsworth returns to fourth ‘Star Trek’ film
Paramount Pictures announced Monday that Chris Hemsworth will return for the fourth “Star Trek” film. The studio said Monday the next chapter will focus on Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk crossing paths with the father he never met. Hemsworth, who was in the 2009 “Star Trek,” will reprise his role as Kirk’s father, George Kirk. The name of the film nor release date were announced. The third film in the series, “Star Trek Beyond,” will open Friday.
Gaga replaces Beyoncé
Lady Gaga, 30, not Beyoncé, will step into the lead role in the remake of “A Star is Born.” First-time director Bradley Cooper, 41, wanted Beyoncé, but the $8 million fee the 34-year-old demanded made execs at Warner Bros., well, gag, so the search was on for a new star. “Bradley flew out to direct Gaga in the audition himself, and she knocked it out of the park,” Page Six reported Monday, citing one of its famous anonymous sources. “Then he personally took the tape to Warner Bros. to get approval.” This will be Hollywood’s fourth shot at “A Star Is Born.” Barbara Streisand starred in the 1976 version, and Judy Garland’s 1954 vehicle was a remake of the 1937 original.
With friends like this ...
Republican presidential aspirant Donald Trump’s co-author on “The Art of the Deal” says a Trump presidency would mean “the end of civilization,” according to People.com. Journalist Tony Schwartz, 63, told “Good Morning America” on Monday he wishes he hadn’t written the 1987 New York Times bestseller, and he called Trump, 70, an “insecure” man with a limited attention span. Schwartz said he hadn’t spoken up before because he and the businessman “had a successful experience together,” but that now he felt he had no choice. “I now feel it’s my civic duty,” Schwartz said. “I have nothing to gain from this.”
More Kardashian news
Kim Kardashian West reportedly now has a personal security force of some 25 bodyguards she can draw on, according to reports in Page Six. When the 35-year-old reality TV and social-media queen showed up for a party in Long Island’s fashionable Hamptons on Saturday, she was escorted by at last four bodyguards — one of whom told the Revolve House hostess that he was packing a gun on his ankle. “They’re off-duty cops,” an unnamed source told Page Six. “It’s like a small police force.”
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Tuesday’s birthdays
Fleur DeForce , 28
Jared Padalecki , 34
Benedict
Cumberbatch , 40