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Brangelina Used “Star Wars,” “Mission Impossible” Stunt Photog for ($10Mil or More) Wedding Pix

Roger Friedman
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Brangelina Used “Star Wars,” “Mission Impossible” Stunt Photog for ($10Mil or More) Wedding Pix

When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married last week, they used an unusual photographer to shoot the event. They didn’t go to Annie Leibovitz, for example, or Mario Testino or Mark Seliger any of the other photogs who’ve shot them for magazine covers or ads.

Instead, the man behind the lens was Brit David James, the famed still photographer who is currently working on “Star Wars 7” for J.J. Abrams. James is famous for shooting many big films including “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”

Brad and Angelina knew him already. James did the stills for Angelina’s upcoming film “Unbroken.” It’s unknown whether he did the job for free. But the credit reads David James/GettyImages. And the pictures were sold to People magazine and Hello! in Britain for upwards of $10 million. The money, I’m assuming, goes to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation for distribution to worthy causes.

In 2008, People and Hello! paid a record $14 million for exclusive of Brad and Angelina with newborn twins Vivienne and Knox. But we’ve had a recession since then. And Time Inc. was spun off as its own company– no Time Warner deep pockets to help them now.

Stay tuned…

Ashlee Simpson: Why Sell Wedding Photos? She’s Married an Heir to a Fortune

Roger Friedman
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Ashlee Simpson: Why Sell Wedding Photos? She’s Married an Heir to a Fortune

Let’s gossip a little this morning. The New York Daily News is very upset that Ashlee Simpson, sister of Jessica, couldn’t sell her wedding photos to Evan Ross. Pish, posh. In this case, no one has to sell anything. Ashlee, you see, has hit the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Evan Ross is commonly described as the son of Supremes singer Diana Ross. But listen, Evan’s dad was Arne Naess, Jr. Arne died in 2004 in a rock climbing accident. But he was already worth at least $100 million. He was the heir to a huge Norwegian shipping fortune. When he divorced Diana in 1999, after 14 years of marriage and two sons, he settled $25 million to her plus support.

It’s not like Diana’s any slouch either. She made good money as a Supreme and continues to tour as a top tier star performer. But Diana didn’t write her own songs, so she doesn’t get publishing royalties. And most of her big hits came before 1972, so she’s currently getting screwed by Spotify, Pandora, and all the digital downloading services.

In other words: Diana’s marriage to Arne Naess Jr. in the mid 1980s was a huge windfall for her. She already had three daughters. But in her mid 40s, Diana gave the billionaire heir two sons. (The other is Ross Naess. Evan took Diana’s name as a performer.) The sons don’t have to work a day in their lives. Trust me. If Ashlee Simpson can make this marriage, her second before age 30, work, she’s in good shape.

A pre-nup? I’d say that Diana Ross won’t have Evan singing “You Keep Me Hanging On” if the marriage doesn’t work out.

And Arne Naess? He had seven children in all, including European pop singer Leona Naess. Arne Naess Jr. died in 2004, a year after his father, Erling Naess. Erling’s brother, Arne (referred to as Arne Sr.) lived until 2009 and was a famous Norwegian philosopher and environmentalist. But it was Erling, Arne’s father, who built the shipping fortune under the company Anglo-Norness. The company was sold in 1973 for $208 million, or roughly $1 billion in today’s currency.

And Diana? She lives in the toniest neighborhood in ritzy Greenwich. Connecticut. Her 12,500 square foot estate is on five acres, with four acres of adjacent waterfront property. She tried to sell the place in 2007 for $39 million but couldn’t. Since the recession, the property is valued at $14.5 million. Diana had her tax billion lowered in 2010.

Presumably, the mansion is filled with gold. Records, that is.

As for Ashlee, long since passed are the “SNL” lip synching scandal and the nose job. She and sister Jessica have really turned lemons (or tuna, as in Chicken of the Sea) into lemonade.

 

Wrongly Arrested Black TV Actor-Producer Now Has Permanent Record on LA Sheriff Site

Roger Friedman
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Wrongly Arrested Black TV Actor-Producer Now Has Permanent Record on LA Sheriff Site

Charles Belk was wrongly–and quite disgustingly– arrested last week in Beverly Hills. His crime? Walking while black. The BHPD saw Belk — a TV producer and actor — in Beverly Hills and decided he fit the description of a wanted bank robber. They arrested him. The story made headlines. Belk — who has an MBA from the University of Indiana and a certificate from the Harvard business program– thought when he was finally released that there would be no record of what happened. Wrong. There is indeed a permanent record now in the LA Sheriff Dept. website. I’ve just seen it, and anyone can access it.

Here’s what Belk has written on Facebook tonight:
This is really disappointing!

I discovered that I still have an Arrest Record although the Beverly Hills Police Department detective that signed off on the Detention Certificate looked me dead in my face when he handed it to me and said, this indicates that we did not arrest you.

I’m a fairly smart man and I thought that “Detention” was a little strange seeing that I had been finger printed and mug shots were taken and I saw them entering it all into their system. But, I also thought to myself (in the state of confusion that I was in at the time), hey, maybe they just going to erase all of this.

Then when someone recently showed me this Arrest Report on the Los Angeles Sherriff Department site I think I lost my breath for a second. I was in total disbelief. How could he present me with this detention certificate and make it seem like everything was ok.

I now have to go through the trouble of filing a form to have it expunged from my record, and, apparently it still goes into a federal database that will always come up anytime anyone runs a background check on me and include the Department of Justice reports.

I did absolutely nothing….NOTHING. And now I have a record in the federal data base! Just because I #fitthedescription.

I plan on trying to do something about it. And if you feel so incline to take a voice in this and think that either the Beverly Hills Police Department should figure out how to resolve this for me, completely, or that the department of justice should have an easy process for all innocent people to not have something like this in their file, please let them know and send them an email, today.

Joan Rivers Faces Her Greatest Challenge Ever as She Comes Out of Coma

Roger Friedman
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Joan Rivers Faces Her Greatest Challenge Ever as She Comes Out of Coma

It’s hard to believe that you could write a sentence like “Joan Rivers is in a coma.” It sounds like a joke waiting for a punch line. I’m sure the minute she can, Joan will write one. Overnight her friends and family are praying like mad as doctors “awaken” Joan from her induced coma. The fear, says a friend, is that she had a stroke or that there’s some brain deficiency. But there IS brain activity– all signs are that Joan should come out of it. She may have a lot of rehab. But Joan Rivers is a fighter. In two years she’ll have a book out about this experience. We can only hope. So stay tuned. When Joan’s beloved husband Edgar committed suicide in 1986, she thought the recovery was a challenge. But this will be her biggest and best fight. Sending the best thoughts and wishes to her family…

Watch the Downton Abbey Season 5 Trailer–A Fire, and Some Assignations

Roger Friedman
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Watch the Downton Abbey Season 5 Trailer–A Fire, and Some Assignations

MDA Non Telethon Results: Ratings Disaster, Raised $2 Mil Less Than Last Year

Roger Friedman
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MDA Non Telethon Results: Ratings Disaster, Raised $2 Mil Less Than Last Year

A year ago today, right around now, I told you that the MDA non-telethon raised $54.1 million. This morning, a year later, the number is $52.3 million. It’s about $2 million less than in 2013. And most of it, as it was last year and the year before, comes from corporate sponsors.

The ratings weren’t very good either for the “Show of Strength”: 1.57 million people watched at 9pm, and then the number fell to roughly 1 million. Of that group, o.2 were in the key demo 18-49. Of 30 different measured time slots, MDA was the lowest rated broadcast show except for “Bob’s Burgers” reruns on Fox.

The show, which no one saw, was like watching linoleum chip very slowly from a 1950s kitchen. Loved all the reading on screen. It was like a film strip or an overheard projector. I guess ABC gets credit for public service for the night. They would have been better off showing just the Dharma Initiative films from “Lost.”

Nicole Kidman: Why She’d Like to Win Another Oscar

Roger Friedman
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Nicole Kidman: Why She’d Like to Win Another Oscar

My interview from early August with Nicole Kidman is up at http://hamptonsheet.com/september2014/celebprofile.htm

There are some enlightening moments from our talk, which we had between matinee and evening performances of “The Maids” at City Center starring Cate Blanchett. Just our meeting was a funny story. Nicole’s assistant had emailed me asking if we could do a phoner. I replied, it would have to be after 6pm as I was going to see “The Maids.” The assistant responded that they were going see “The Maids” too, so we could just work it out when we got there.

After the amazing performance, we were all shown backstage. Nicole, who really looked like a movie star, said to me, “Why don’t we do the interview right here? We could sit on the steps.”

The stairs didn’t look too promising for an Erdem original. I spotted an open door and thought that might be a suitable space beyond. Nicole spied it and said, “I think that’s Isabelle Huppert’s dressing room. She might not like that.” She laughed.

We settled on asking the theater manager if we could sit in the theater while the stage hands cleaned up for the evening show. Broadway producer Jean Doumanian and “Inside Llewyn Davis” star Oscar Isaac were sort of with us at that point, as fellow back stagers. They kind of followed us out. I asked them if they wanted to be in the interview. But four was a crowd.

When I last spoke to Nicole it was in Cannes, at the opening night ceremony. She told me then she was planning to get on the tour bus with husband Keith Urban and hit some cities. So when we sat down I asked her if she’d done that. “Yes, we went all over,” she told me. So why, right after I’d seen her in Cannes, were there rumors that she and Urban were breaking up?

She has no idea. And the truth is, we — dear readers– should realize stories like these are mostly made up, then take on a life of their own. Nicole and Keith are happy as clams. When I asked if she’d like another Oscar- — she has one for “The Hours”– Nicole said: “I’d like it so I could thank Keith.” She really means it, too. She wants to make that speech just so she can say, in front of millions of people, thanks to Keith Urban for their wonderful life. Isn’t that nice?

So read the piece at Joan Jedell’s Hamptons Sheet. Or maybe you’ll see the magazine all over the Hamptons. Nicole Kidman is a mensch. I can’t wait to see her new movie “Before I Go to Sleep.” The real charm of Nicole as an actress is that she will try unusual movies. She comes from a fairly intellectual family with an independent spirit. And she’s loyal to a fault. She’s also, let’s face it, gorgeous.

And PS on that last one. Everyone says to me, Tell me about the plastic surgery. Well, I was sitting a half inch away from her in that City Center seat. Her face looked “normal” to me. She does have an incredible complexion. But up close, away from make up and lights, she just seemed like Nicole, as real as ever.

MDA Concedes Tote Board Total Includes “Sponsor Partners” Contributions

Roger Friedman
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MDA Concedes Tote Board Total Includes “Sponsor Partners” Contributions

The soulless MDA “Show of Strength” two hour special is over in the East and Central time zones. On the website, MDA says it’s raised $42 million. But for the first time they concede that the total includes “contributions from our sponsor partners.” We won’t know until they file their 2014 Form 990 a year from now how much came in tonight. If it’s the same as recent years, the total from the public will be small.

I’ve reported that in the last few years, MDA has had a lot of trouble collecting money from pledges if it wasn’t taken on credit cards. And even that doesn’t amount to much. As for the show, it was a total bore. No host, nothing live, and many Power Point slide shows that were interminable. Everything that Jerry Lewis did to promote MDA awareness has been flushed down the toilet.

MDA also hooked themselves up to the ALS Water Bucket challenge (as if it weren’t hard enough to raise money for ALS research).

One thing I got out of the show, which has nothing to do with MDA: this guy Aloe Blacc could really be a big deal if he could find songs and settle on what he’s about. So far he’s had one hit with DJ Aviici, and one hit sampled from Elton John’s “Your Song.” He has a great voice, and really performs. He needs a great manager. And stay off the MDA Show of Strength.

MDA Scandal: Magazine Refused to Feature New Book by Former Chapter Prez About Son’s Battle

Roger Friedman
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MDA Scandal: Magazine Refused to Feature New Book by Former Chapter Prez About Son’s Battle

EXCLUSIVE June Kempf served as president of her local MDA chapter on Long Island for two years, after many years of service. If you Google her name and MDA, you’ll see many references. Her son Jonathan, who is now deceased, was an MDA Ambassador and one of “Jerry’s Kids.” When I wrote about MDA recently, June responded with the comment below. She also told me this afternoon that when she published her E-book “Yo, God:  Jay’s Story” in February, she queried Quest, the MDA magazine, about doing a feature or mention of it. They refused, saying they had no room in the magazine. I’ve seen the email exchange. It’s quite stunning that MDA wouldn’t be sending this out to their subscribers. The book is now available in print as well, on amazon.com, at bn.com, and at June’s website, http://www.specilkdstori.com/home-page/

MDA shut down her chapter on Long Island without any notice. This is what she wrote to me last month:

“As a thirty year volunteer and past president of the Suffolk County MDA chapter, I am absolutely devastated over the cruel way they not only terminated Jerry Lewis but cut out long time devoted people and patients without warning.
This cold-hearted organization simply closed the doors on our chapter. Fellow volunteers showed up for a meeting one day to find the desks were gone and offices emptied.
People who had come together year after year working the telethon from our local center, who were raising children with this dread disease and who had formed deep friendships were thrown out on the street and told to go to another county. When two volunteers showed up at the neighboring county, they were told they were not needed.
I too lost a child from Duchenne MD (read Yo God Jay’s Story on Amazon,Barnes and Noble and Tower) and my son served as a local ‘ambassador’ for fundraising events where you could feel the love.
In the beginning, MDA funded all PT sessions (weekly). They supplied equipment and paid for motorized wheelchairs in the amounts not covered by insurance,as well as clinic visits. But each year, these benefits were reduced and focus redirected to research. We can only wonder about the progress in that area.
I do continue to donate a few bucks every year, but before I send another penny in after reading this article and the above testimony, I think we need a serious investigation.”

Neil Young’s Super MP3 Player, Pono: Won’t Be Coming in 2014

Roger Friedman
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Neil Young’s Super MP3 Player, Pono: Won’t Be Coming in 2014

I was among those cheering on Neil Young for his Pono MP3 player. When he ran his Kickstarter campaign last winter, I championed it. And Neil raised around $6.25 million. He promised that Pono orders would be fulfilled this fall. Well, Labor Day is Monday and there is no Pono. There won’t be this year at all.

According to the Pono website, the super MP3 player that would offer lossless music (as opposed to the highly compressed sound of actual MP3 or Apple’s system) will be seen sometime in “first quarter 2015.” People who pre-ordered Pono will get a signed certificate from Neil by December 15th.

Today, Pono announced it was extending its deadline on a second crowdfunding campaign, which offers equity in the company for a minimum $5,000 investment. This is separate from the Kickstarter raise. This one has raised $7.1 million through a firm called Crowdfunder. This is 179% of their goal, which was $4 million, so Pono and Crowdfunder have extended the deadline til September 30th. There’s no question that Neil Young’s name — and those of the celebrity musicians he’s enlisted– has attracted money.

If Crowdfunder is accurate that means Pono has a little over $13 million. Is that enough money? And does it matter? Both Apple and Samsung offer plenty of lower priced, better looking devices. And aside from that, most young people– the target audience– don’t even use stand alone players anymore. Their music is on their phones. Ask the kids.

Not only that– it’s still unclear how Pono is going to operate vis a vis an online music library. Their whole shtick is FLAC– original digital recordings. The only company with a real library of that stuff is the excellent HDTracks.com owned by Norm Chesky. But Pono has no deal with HDTracks, which already operates on existing devices. Where is all this lossless music going to come from?

We all love Neil Young the musician and activist, and wish him well. But Pono is starting to sound like a big problem. It won’t be long before the fans who put up $399 and $499 start questioning where this thing is, and what the heck is going on.

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