Celebrities

Piers Morgan - will he lose his CNN show?

It has taken several weeks for Piers Morgan to become entangled in the phone hacking net, but it now looks probable that he’ll receive an invitation from John Whittingdale MP to appear before the Culture, Media and Sport select committee. That is an extremely perilous position for the ex-editor of the News of the World and the Daily Mirror to find himself in.

Morgan’s eventual summons was probably inevitable, but he has not helped his cause by allowing himself to be drawn into  spats with Louise Mensch MP and Paul Staines, aka… Read More

Amy Winehouse arriving at the BRIT Awards in 2007 (Photo: GETTY)

It is extremely sad to read that Amy Winehouse has been found dead at 27. Agonising for her family, first, and a great loss for music. It deprives pop music of an extraordinary female voice, rich and full of soul. She had a rare talent and her career held such promise. Who knows what she could have achieved musically, had she carried on? Just think of Back to Black (2006). This album, her last studio album, is brilliant – a “marvel” and “a desperately sad and stirring… Read More

The Rev Hugh Grant was not always so preachy

I’ve just had a look at the BBC News’ website. Number 2 and 3 on its “most watched/listened” list are clips of Hugh Grant holding forth on phone hacking and the amoral media. Public appetite for celebrity, it would seem, has not been dented by recent events. Viewers, listeners and readers would rather turn to the foppish Peter Pan of Four Weddings and a Funeral for his take on the crisis engulfing the fourth estate than to some unknown media analyst. I’m sure Rupert Murdoch will take note, as he plans the… Read More

Dry your tears, those mourning the loss of Hermione Granger, a rare role model for girls everywhere. Emma Watson has joined the rest of the Harry Potter gang in taking her bow, but here comes the Iron Lady! Clever, controlled, and charismatic: Meryl Streep, this short trailer shows, plays Margaret Thatcher as the irresistible prima donna of world politics. From the start, as she takes her cues from her trusted “image consultants” (I recognise my old friend, the late Gordon Reece, in the trailer), this woman has a mission, and it’s more ideological than egotistical.

The amazing Streep, who mastered a Polish accent for Sophie’s Choice and a Swedish one for Out of Africa, has no problems getting the Baroness’… Read More

Casey Anthony: a liar, a bad mother and probably, but not certainly, a killer

Just about every talking head on cable television is spitting with outrage about the acquittal of Casey Anthony on charges of murder and manslaughter. Having predicted she would be convicted, pundits are now declaring her to be the new O.J. Simpson.

The 25-year-old’s daughter Caylee, two, whose decomposed body was found dumped in woods in Florida in December 2008, almost six months after she was last seen.

Anthony failed to report that her daughter was missing for 31 days. She repeatedly lied about what happened, suggesting a fictitious babysitter… Read More

She's a Dame and should be proud of it

Jenni Murray is now a Dame of the British Empire. Few broadcasters deserve the honour more: for decades Miss Murray has presented Woman’s Hour, one of Radio 4’s flagship programmes. Unlike other Radio 4 programmes, that are more hit-and-miss, Woman’s Hour is unfailingly satisfying and has won itself a special place in the hearts of British women – and increasingly men. For this success, Miss Murray deserves much of the credit: I can’t think of many other broadcasters, male or female, who exude her air of warmth and authority.

I still… Read More

Teetotal: Daniel Radcliffe was selected to play Harry Potter in 2000 (Photo: WARNER BROS)

Child stars often suffer a disrupted upbringing, as we’ve discussed here before; several have died young or been transformed into wretched slaves to booze or drugs as a result. Think of River Phoenix, Dana Plato and the doomed Disney star of the 1940s, Bobby Driscoll.

Daniel Radcliffe, the Harry Potter actor, seemed to be coping well with the demands of early fame and success. Yet the 21-year-old actor was once so reliant on booze – whisky mainly – that he’s given it up… Read More

John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Photo: Rex)

You know what? I think the answer’s probably no. But why let that get in the way of the delicious schadenfreude I’m feeling right now over the recent claims by his former personal assistant Fred Seaman – and the apparent discomfort it is causing lefties.
In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn’t the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.

He says, “John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on… Read More

John Galliano: one of his alleged victims thinks he's ill (Photo: Reuters)

It’s terrible what booze and benzodiazepines can do when mixed together. On their own they’re bad enough, but taking Valium on top of alcohol really is to heap Pelion on Ossa. They’re both whopping central nervous system depressants, you see, so if you mix them their effects are greatly amplified. If you were depressed in the first place, you’ll end up more depressed; if you were anxious, you’ll be more anxious.

This may be the pattern John Galliano is hinting at. The designer is appearing at the… Read More

The most pompous man in pop

I bow to no one when it comes to hating Bono, the most pompous man in pop, poncing around his high-heeled cowboy boots as he sings naff songs about Martin Luther King and lectures the entire human species about Africa and stuff. But there’s one group of people even smugger than Bono, and that’s the Bono Pay Up protesters, who this week will make Glastonbury smell even more sanctimonious than it normally does by waving placards calling on the U2 singer to pay his taxes in Ireland rather than the Netherlands. They imagine they’re being… Read More