After spending months in hiding, Maxwell the Pig is back to promote Geico's new smartphone app. But he's undergone one major change: he has stopped shouting "Wheeee."
While it's always risky to change a spokesperson ... er, spokesanimal's ... signature move, this makeover is probably a good thing. For everything the smooth Australian accent of the Geico gecko is, Maxwell's shrill "wheeee" exaltations is not. So people who just got the ringing in their ears to stop can rest easy and watch CNBC without fear.
The spot, created by The Martin Agency, shows Maxwell using his smartphone on a plane that's beginning its descent. When flight attendants ask him to power down his "little word game" — poking fun at Alec Baldwin's Words with Friends incident last year— Maxwell explains that he's really just paying his insurance bill. And he does so without the Baldwin-esque vitriol. Or even a squeal.
At the opening of his new bar in Cabo San Lucas, Charlie Sheengreeted the crowd by calling them a "lying bunch of fa---t a--holes." After getting heat for his remarks, the actor quickly half-apologized: "I meant no ill will and intended to hurt no one and I apologize if I offended anyone ... I meant to say maggot but I have a lisp."
Storm lost half of her hair and had first- and second-degree burns on her hands, face, chest and neck.
Storm was grilling dinner for her kids and tried to relight her grill after the wind blew it out when there was an explosion. The ESPN anchor told co-host Josh Elliot at the Rose Bowl Parade, that there was a "wall of fire, like something you see in a movie," and then she noticed that she was on fire.
Storm's daughter, Hannah Beth, called 911. When Storm finally saw herself in the mirror for the first time she said she looked completely disfigured. But just three weeks later, Storm hosted the Rose Bowl Parade for her fifth year in a row after spending hours getting hair extensions and her make-up done.
Here are some screenshots of photos she shared with GMA:
But hair extensions and make-up made her looks the same as always for Tuesday's Rose Bowl:
On Sunday, Kanye West spilled the beans that Kim Kardashian, his girlfriend of about nine months, is pregnant.
And now the news of the baby-to-be has since sparked a renewed interest in Kardashian's infamous 2007 sex tape.
"Vivid says video-on-demand purchases of the sex tape have spiked 80 percent since Sunday night," reports TMZ. "The fattest increase they've seen since Kim's wedding to Kris Humphries."
TMZ spoke with Vivid Entertainment, which owns the "Kim K. Superstar" video, and learned "Kanye's been boosting biz for months now. We're told overall sales of Kim's sex tape — be it VOD, online, or DVD — have steadily increased every month since he and Kim hooked up last Spring."
TMZ reports that Kardashian's sex tape partner, Ray J, is still raking in the dough thanks to the renewed interest in Kim's ... assets.
While Kardashian may be trying to forget her sex tape past as she prepares for baby, the reality star has yet to say whether or not her unborn child will appear on her family's E! TV shows.
"Kim and Kanye are an incredibly dynamic couple, and their baby news is just so exciting," E! president Suzanne Kolb told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. "Like so many Kardashian fans, we love it when this close-knit family gets even bigger. We look forward to sharing the joy as they prepare for more diapers, more bottles and without a doubt, more fabulous baby wear."
The season seven finale of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians"in November saw the birth of Kourtney Kardashian’s second child with Scott Disick and earned 3.6 million viewers, making it one of the top 25 broadcasts in network history.
Kardashian, who married Humphries in a two-part E! special, has not been one to shy away from revealing her private life publicly on television.
While in Las Vegas hosting a New Year’s Eve party at 1OAK nightclub, Kardashian opened up about her pregnancy for the first time, revealing it's “not as easy” as she had thought it would be, and has, at times, been “painful.”
“When people say that pregnancy is fun and they love it, I would have to disagree,” Kardashian told Entertainment Tonight, adding that she’s been taking a lot of naps.
“Even my sister has made it look easy, and it’s not as easy as people think,” said Kardashian, before noting that she heard “it’s all worth it, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Watch Kardashian talk for the first time about her "not easy" pregnancy:
The over 5,000 fans at Kanye West's Atlantic City concert over the weekend were in for a big surprise when West suddenly asked his band to stop the music.
A beaming West said "Stop the music for a second. Can we make some noise for my baby mama right quick while she's here?"
As soon as West announced the long-awaited news, the Twitterverse went crazy, Kardashians included.
Both Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian tweeted how excited they were for their sister:
Kris Jenner also tweeted about the news:
And Kim confirmed the news herself by posting this picture of her and her baby daddy on Twitter with the caption "New year, new beginnings":
"It’s true!! Kanye and I are expecting a baby. We feel so blessed and lucky and wish that in addition to both of our families, his mom and my dad could be here to celebrate this special time with us. Looking forward to great new beginnings in 2013 and to starting a family. Happy New Year!!! Xo"
Kardashian is currently 12 weeks along in her pregnancy. In case you were wondering, the superstar baby was conceived somewhere near the Vatican while the couple was in Rome celebrating Kardashian's 32 birthday.
West has rapped about his baby mama in a few of his songs, including "Clique" and "Cold."
In "Clique," West references the sex tape that initially made Kim famous: "My girl a superstar from a home movie." In "Cold" Kanye calls out Kim's ex Kris Humphries: "And I'll admit, I had fell in love with Kim Around the same time she had fell in love with him, Well that's cool, baby girl, do ya thang, Lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team."
Kardashian and Humphries' divorce is not yet finalized, despite the reality TV star filing for divorce from the NBA star last October after only 72 days of marriage.
West's ex, Amber Rose, is also currently pregnant with rapper Wiz Khalifa's child.
Jay-Z is reportedly set to help write the score to Baz Luhrmann's big screen remake of The Great Gatsby.
The rapper is apparently working with the Bullitts' Jeymes Samuel on music for the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Isla Fisher.
The news was revealed over Samuel's Twitter account: "Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby!" he wrote.
"It is too DOPE for words!" Neither the filmmakers nor the rapper have confirmed the announcement.
Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It is too DOPE for words!
Samuel, who is the younger brother of Seal, has built a musical reputation on the back of just a few singles: Supercool, Landspeeder, and Close Your Eyes. This last song features actress Lucy Liu and the rapper Jay Electronica, who is signed to Jay-Z's management company.
Samuel has also written and directed They Die By Dawn, a forthcoming western starring Idris Elba.
As for Jay-Z, Luhrmann is a long-time fan and the Australian director used one of the rapper's songs for The Great Gatsby's first trailer. Luhrmann also seems to have gone fully H.A.M.on the set of the film: "On my first day he had Jay-Z pumped up full, and we did the entire scene with ... Jay-Z in our ear on full blast while acting," Fisher told MTV News. "It was just so liberating."
After Bravo star Bethenny Frankel announced her split from husband of three years, Jason Hoppy, just two days before Christmas, the successful Skinnygirl creator headed to the mountains for some time with friends.
Frankel was spotted in Aspen, Colo., where the 42-year-old mother-of-one shopped at the Prada store, aprés skied at The Little Nell hotel and dined with friends at local hot spots.
On Christmas Eve, Frankel had dinner with a group at Italian restaurant Il Mulino, where one source told In Touch, “I didn’t see Bethenny eat anything, she looked really skinny.”
During a Christmas dinner the following night, another witness noticed Frankel's slim frame at pricey sushi restaurant Matsuhisa.
One Frankel fan tweeted about seeing the TV star in the small mountain town:
While Frankel didn't reveal her holiday whereabouts on her own Twitter account, she did drop hints such as posting this photo of her friend's husband in ski-wear, writing, "This is my friend's husband who came in the room & she asked if his outfit was from Gymboree. So I finally laughed."
Frankel's self-deprecating humor during this difficult time continued during the trip, as she posted a photo of her lunch with the caption, "This is where I am in my life right now":
But Frankel wasn't feeling sorry for herself the entire trip.
On New Year's Eve, the TV star rang in 2013 with two girlfriends at the members-only Caribou Club.
"She was wearing a black jumpsuit and was in great spirits," an eyewitness tells Business Insider. "People kept coming up to her to say hello but she stuck with two female friends. She was smiling the entire time and seemed to be enjoying the party."
When a partygoer asked Frankel what she was doing in Aspen, she responded, "I've been coming here for 20 years."
But one person at the bash Frankel did not engage with was her first husband, Peter Sussman.
Sussman, a Hollywood producer, and Frankel were married from 1994 to 1997 when Frankel was in her 20s.
"They were on opposite ends of the room all night," an eyewitness tells Business Insider.
Frankel has previously said of her first marriage: "I loved him because of how much he loved me. I got married too young. I didn't wait for the great love of my life."
Just days after announcing the split from second husband Jason Hoppy, it seems the current love of Frankel's life is her two-year-old daughter, Bryn, who also made the trip to Aspen to spend time with her mom.
With the final season 3 episodes of "The Walking Dead" still more than a month away, we're looking for anyway to keep ourselves in check with Rick and the gang.
Since AMC's New Year's "Walking Dead" marathon was cut short – we're guessing in lieu of the recent Newtown shootings – we were excited to see that someone ingeniously mashed together the first two-and-a-half seasons with none other than the "Skyfall" theme.
And, it captures what has transpired so far throughout the show pretty perfectly.
If you're not caught up, don't watch as spoilers follow.
"The Walking Dead" returns to AMC Sunday, February 10 at 9 p.m.
A number of celebrities, including Prince William and Kate Middleton, as well as a slew of actors, are due to welcome new additions to their families in the next six months.
The spawn of model Amber Rose and rapper Wiz Kalifa, due any minute in early 2013
The baby of 'Boardwalk Empire' actress Kelly Macdonald and Dougie Payne, due in early January
The offspring of Shakira and FC Barcelona soccer player Gerard Piqué, due in February or March
The Qatar-owned media group Al Jazeera is in talks to buy Current TV, a struggling cable channel founded by former US vice president Al Gore, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The deal could allow Al Jazeera broader entry into US homes, by acquiring the cable group available in around 60 million American households, the report said.
Contacted by AFP, Current Media did not immediately respond to the report.
The Times said that if the deal is completed, Al Jazeera would create a new channel instead of using its existing English-language channel Al Jazeera English.
This would tentatively be called Al Jazeera America, the report said, and produce around 60 percent of its programming in the United States and draw the rest from Al Jazeera English.
The plan could put the broadcaster financed by the government of Qatar into closer competition with CNN and other news channels in the United States, according to The Times, which noted that Al Jazeera is offered only by a handful of US cable and satellite distributors.
Current Media, founded in 2005, operates Current TV, reaches households in Britain and the United States, and a youth-focused website Current.com, where users can submit their own content.
Founded by Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt, Current has won two Emmy Awards and other honors. It reaches 71 million households worldwide, including 60 million in the US market.
But The Times said a sale was being considered because of low ratings, with an average of just 42,000 people watching the channel last year.
After 27 years, Spin ended its print publication last month. It joins Newsweek and SmartMoney, which also decided to end their print editions last year.
Spin struggled financially over the past few years, being passed off from company to company since 2006. It was most recently sold in July 2012 when Buzzmedia bought the mag, reportedly for less than $5 million.
It was a humbling comedown for a publication that was once the national alternative to Rolling Stone.
In its heyday, Spin featured artists like Nirvana and PJ Harvey on its covers when more mainstream magazines often failed to acknowledge them. As a magazine, it essentially defined the grunge era of the early 1990s.
It was also THE place to advertise and promote new artists.
In early 2012, Spin completely relaunched, with a redesign, and switched from a monthly to bimonthly print schedule.
Even though Spin will no longer be seen on newsstands, its website and Twitter accounts will still be functioning as usual. And according to Mashable, the new owners may consider bringing the print edition back in the future.
"We’ve not ruled out bringing back Spin in print, but we're still determining those plans," a rep for the magazine said.
Lest we forget, we've gathered images of the 20 best covers in Spin's history.
Madonna was the cover model for the first issue of Spin in May 1985. She appeared on Spin's cover six times.
It took a while for Spin to get into its alt-rock groove. Mick Jagger appeared on the August 1986 cover. During the late 80s, the Jagger/Keith Richards feud was at its worst, almost causing the band to break up.
Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain and wife Courtney Love showed off four-month-old Frances Bean Cobain on this December 1992 cover. At this point, Spin was hitting its high point.
In early December, Burberry announced that 10-year-old Romeo Beckham, the middle son of David and Victoria Beckham, would be the new young face of the fashion line's upcoming spring/summer line.
After a month of waiting to see the full ad, Burberry finally released the spot. Romeo clearly steals the spotlight by playfully running around the very serious (and boring) adult models. His silliness makes for a very cute ad that shows off the fun, bright colors of the new collection.
From Jeff Zucker to Kathleen Kennedy, there are quite a few entertainment people who have their work cut out for them this year.
One has to rescue a failing cable network while another has to turn Twitter's global audience into piles of cash. One is banking on Johnny Depp to save his bacon while a fourth must succeed George Lucas.
Our friends at TheWrap compiled a list of 14 executives who have a lot on the line in 2013.
David Ellison: Skydance Productions
David’s sister Megan drew headlines in 2012 for bankrolling directors like Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master") and Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty").
Also armed with endless cash reserves, David, the eldest son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, can steal the spotlight in 2013 by delivering to Paramount an ambitious slate of movies.
His company is producing and co-financing four of the studio’s priciest releases next year -- zombie film “World War Z” (starring Brad Pitt), “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and a reboot of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan films. "Star Trek" is expected to be a hit. The rest will help determine Ellison's reputation.
Ted Sarandos: Netflix Chief Creative Officer
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings weathered a massive storm over the past year and a half after a series of corporate miscues unnerved both investors and customers. (Quikster anyone?)
Now Netflix's stock price is stable, and the company set a digital landmark by securing exclusive rights to stream future new releases from Disney. To be the next HBO, it needs original, exclusive content, and that’s where Sarandos comes in.
Netflix will debut several original series this year, led by “House of Cards” and the reboot of “Arrested Development.” If those succeed, Sarandos can complete the Netflix revival.
Nancy Tellem: Microsoft Entertainment and Digital Media President
Speaking of original, exclusive content… Technology companies are realizing they still need great movies, TV shows, and videos to lure users. That content can be expensive to buy, so firms like Amazon and Microsoft are testing the waters of creation. That’s where Tellem, the former CBS executive, enters the picture.
Microsoft has charged her with developing shows specifically for Xbox, one of Microsoft’s most popular products and a staple of living rooms across the nation. Microsoft, a software power, has not found a huge audience for its hardware -- the Windows Phone and Surface tablet. It needs a win somewhere else.
The movement's goal is to get Congress to pass legislation that will require gun buyers to pass criminal background checks and get military-style assault weapons off the streets.
Soon after, someone uploaded a mock video to YouTube pointing out that the very same actors and actresses backing the campaign have appeared on screen with guns.
More than 50 celebrities appear in the video including Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, and Jamie Foxx.
Not all of the celebrities in the video have appeared in films with guns and not all of the them are actors on the big screen.
Instead, some of them are comedians and television stars, including Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, and Conan O'Brien, who have all added the topics of guns and shootings to their arsenal of jokes.
The question posed by the video suggests celebrities endorsing gun control should also stop brandishing weapons in violent films and television shows.
Jamie Foxx appears in the video recounting the Columbine shooting in 1999.
Foxx's latest film "Django Unchained" celebrates him as "the fastest gun in the South."
Jessica Alba asks how many lives it will take to make a change.
Megan Fox has finally joined Twitter after being prompted by false rumors of her death that became a worldwide trending topic. “I’m incredibly late to the party,” Fox wrote, ”but I’m here nonetheless, so what now?”
Thanks to "X factor," pre-tax earnings for the TV production business of Syco Entertainment, the joint venture of Simon Cowell and Sony that produces the hit Fox show, more than doubled for the fiscal year ended March 2012.
Adele beat Taylor Swift for best-selling album of 2012. With 4.41 million copies sold last year, 21 beat out Taylor Swift’s Red, which sold 3.31 million.
Naomi Campbell was brutally mugged in Paris, leaving her in a wheelchair and crutches. One source said, “It was terrifying. Naomi believes the assailant had been watching her, casing her out, and waited for a moment to strike when she was alone. She was attacked in the street as she hailed a cab, and robbed. Her leg was injured as she was violently pushed to the ground. She was understandably very upset and shaken up.”
Jennifer Lopez has revealed what happened to the plunging Versace gown she famously wore to the Grammys in 2000.
The green chiffon gown revealed most of her chest down to her navel, and transformed Lopez into a household name. Since then, she's starred in several movies and produced hit records.
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Lopez revealed what happened to the dress:
"I have that at home," she told the magazine. "The other day, my housekeeper put it on a mannequin in my spa, where I get my hair and makeup done. She sent me a picture. She was like, 'You like this dress?' Um, yeah, but I don't know if I like it out in the house!"
When the writer joked that Lopez's 4-year-old daughter Emme could inherit the dress, the singer was horrified.
There's a new challenger to Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem in the New Year's resolutions dieting campaign war: Medifast.
Medifast — which like Nutrisystem does meal plans — has a clever TV campaign running right now that includes a heartbreaking ad featuring customer Tina Shelley, who appears as both her former (fat) self and her new (svelte) self.
That kind of before-and-after comparison isn't new of course, but the editing idea in this ad is, and it will blow you away: She is shown crying over how thin she has become on the Medifast plan during a conversation she is apparently having with herself. The two images of her before-and-after body, in the same shot, are a jarring comparison. They appear side-by-side, seamlessly, and her appearance is so different that at first it looks as if they're using two different actors.
Only in the final shot, when thin Tina whispers "Thank you" to her former self for trying the Medifast plan (and fat Tina weeps with relief), does the viewer realize, "wow, that's the same person." You have to have a heart of stone not to get a little choked up.
It turns out the conversation, and the two versions of Tina, are completely real and done without any special effects beyond careful editing. Watch the spot and then we'll explain how it was done.
We talked to Eric Sorensen, creative director at the ad agency Solve, to find out how the ad was made. It's a simple idea that was very carefully executed.
Filming began in January of last year with a group of Medifast customers who were willing to commit to the diet. They were told to imagine themselves after they had lost weight, and then told to ask themselves about it, what it was like to be thin. On the set, the actual conversation took place with a nutritionist.
Then, nine months later, the folks who had lost the most weight were asked back. "You have to shoot essentially the same commercial twice, and you have to have the camera in the exact same location at the beginning and at the end," Sorenson says. Even the position of the furniture was logged.
With newly thin Tina sitting in the other chair, she then responded to the questions she had asked herself back in January. "It wasn't very scripted at all," Sorenson says. In the first session, Tina had experienced "a pretty emotional day on the set," Sorenson says, which naturally became TV gold once she returned in fall looking like a million dollars.
"I bought a swimsuit this year for the first time in like eight years," Tina tells herself. The effect is pronounced because Tina appears to have received a much more flattering wardrobe, hair and makeup prep in the second take -- but it's still cool.
Notably, there's no CGI. It's just very, very clever editing.
Here's a "making of" video, so you can see how it was done.
It will be the first marriage for Hobson, 43, and the second for Lucas, 68, who was previously married to film editor Marcia Lou Griffin and has three adopted children.
The couple first met during a business conference in Aspen in 2006, and have been dating long distance (he in California, she in Chicago) ever since.
"In addition to her gig with DreamWorks, Hobson also heads Chicago-based investment management firm Ariel Investments Llc. and is chairman of Ariel Mutual Funds," according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Ariel reportedly is among the largest African-American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the U.S."
A Chicago native, Hobson graduated from Princeton University in 1991 and soon after joined Ariel as an intern, where she later became president in 2000.
In addition to managing more than a reported $3 billion in assets, Hobson also regularly contributes commentary on financial issues on ABC’s "Good Morning America" and hosted a 2009 show on ABC called "Unbroke: What You Need to Know About Money."
While Hobson is keeping busy, Lucas, meanwhile, will have more time to spend with his bride-to-be in 2013 as the filmmaker sold his Lucasfilm production company to Disney in October for a whopping $4.05 billion — most of which he donated to educational philanthropy.
“As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy,” Lucas said at the time.
During a joint interview on OWN last year, Hobson told Oprah Winfrey of her relationship with the famed director:
"I think it works because we are extraordinarily open-minded people and we're open to what the universe brings us and I think we didn't have preconceived ideas about what a partnership should be and so we allowed ourselves to discover something that was unexpected."
Watch the couple's interview about their relationship below:
Now the couple just need to decide if they will spend more time at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch just north of San Francisco or in Hobson's hometown of Chicago ...
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