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Despite Record November Earnings, Disney Is Considering Layoffs

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Walt Disney statur

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co, which reported record earnings in November, started an internal cost cutting review several weeks ago that may include layoffs at its studio and other units, three people with knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Disney, whose empire spans TV, film, merchandise and theme parks, is exploring cutbacks in jobs no longer needed because of improvements in technology, one of the people said.

It is also looking at redundant operations that could be eliminated after a string of major acquisitions over the past few years, said the person, who did not want to be identified because Disney has not disclosed the internal review.

Executives warned in November that the rising cost of sports rights and moribund home video sales will dampen growth.

"We are constantly looking at eliminating redundancies and creating greater efficiencies, especially with the rapid rise in new technology," said Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha.

In terms of profit margin, Disney's studio is the least profitable of the entertainment conglomerate's four major product divisions.

Its fifth division, the interactive unit that creates online games, lost $758 million over the last three years, according to the company's financial filings.

Disney could trim jobs at both the studio and interactive divisions as well as its music arm, said Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott, who has a neutral rating on the company's stock.

The media company is in what CEO Bob Iger calls a "transition year" after spending on projects such as the "Cars Land" expansion at the Disneyland Resort in California and a new cruise ship that launched last year.

"We invested a lot of money in our theme parks and resorts business," Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo told a media conference in December. "We want to execute against delivering the returns that we've been promising all of you for the years that we've been making those investments. We really want to hunker down on it."

Staff cuts are not a certainty at this point, the person added, although the company has a history of streamlining operations through layoffs.

In 2011, the interactive group laid off about 200 people at its video games unit after what Disney executives said at the time was a shift away from console games to focus on online and mobile entertainment. In September, 50 employees at Disney Interactive were laid off in a restructuring of the money-losing unit, according to one of the sources.

The company also made cuts at its publishing unit last year, and cut workers at its studio in 2011.

"This is not necessarily a negative thing," said Michael Morris, an analyst with Davenport and Company who has a buy recommendation on the stock but was not aware of the review.

"It speaks to a fiscally responsible management."

STUDIO COULD BE TARGET

Walt Disney increased its earnings by 18 percent to $5.7 billion in its 2012 fiscal year that ended September 29, on $42.3 billion in revenues.

The present review, headed by CFO Rasulo, has already identified areas to change in the company's travel policy, said one of the people. It is also looking at a hiring freeze rather than layoffs, said a second source.

Cuts are most likely at the studio, said two of the three people, where the strategy has changed to focus on fewer films and rely more on outside producers such as Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio, which finances its own films and pays Disney a fee to market and distribute them.

The film strategy shift began when Iger took over as CEO in late 2005. Under Iger, the company purchased "Toy Story" creator Pixar Animation and Marvel, which brought it characters such as "Thor" and "Iron Man" that featured in this summer's blockbuster hit "The Avengers."

Disney completed a $4.06 billion acquisition of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' Lucasfilm in December, and has said that it will begin producing new installments of the lucrative franchise in 2015, and make a film every two to three years.

The studio's 12.3 percent profit margin in 2012 was the lowest of Disney's four major operating units. The interactive unit lost $216 million last year.

Shares in the company gained 1.9 percent to close Friday at $52.19.

(Editing by Edwin Chan and Richard Pullin)

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'Texas Chainsaw' Massacres The Competition – Here's Your Box-Office Roundup

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texas chainsaw massacre 3d

Maybe 3D isn't dead.  

Or, Trey Songz fans came out in flocks.  

Either way, Lionsgate has another successful horror movie on its hands.  

"Texas Chainsaw 3D" didn't fare as well opening weekend as the 2003 remake ($23.1 million) but did earn more than its 2006 counterpart ($18.5 million), to show a film with 3D in the title may not hurt its viewing appeal. 

However, Lionsgate also has a history of successful horror releases at the beginning of every year ("Hostel," "My Bloody Valentine 3-D"). 

The rest of the box office was putty for Hollywood blockbusters. "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The Hobbit" and "Django Unchained" continue to flourish near the top of the box office, while the other Christmas release, "Lés Miserables," begins to ease up on its earnings. 

And, Matt Damon's fracking film sees a strong second week to make its debut among the top films. 

Out of the top ten this week are DreamWorks' "Rise of the Guardians" dropping seven spots in its seventh week. The animated film about holiday mascots has earned $278.5 million worldwide.  

Disney's re-release of "Monsters, Inc." in 3D also bowed out of the top ten in week three. 

Here are this week's winners and losers at the box office:

10. After a 25 theater start last week, Matt Damon's franking film, "Promised Land," opens into more than 1,600 theaters this past weekend bringing its gross to $4.3 million. 

9. Seth Rogen's "The Guilt Trip" drops one spot with $4.5 million. In three weekends the film has earned $31.2 million of its $40 million budget. 

8. "Lincoln" continues its slow descent out of theaters with another $5.3 million. Steven Spielberg's historical drama has earned $143.9 million in its nine-week U.S. run. 

7. Judd Apatow's latest comedy, "This is 40" takes in $8.6 million in week three. Though the film has far exceeded its estimated $35 million budget, its $54.5 million gross to date barely makes a splash in the box-office water when compared to 2011's "Bridesmaids" ($288.4 million worldwide). 

6. Tom Cruise's "Jack Reacher" earns $9.3 million in weekend three. That finally sets its domestic total of $64.8 million ahead of its estimated $60 million budget. This is one of Cruise's few films to not earn more overseas than at home. Worldwide, the film has made $120.4 million. 

5. Billy Crystal's "Parental Guidance" brings in $10.1 million. In two weeks, the comedy has earned $68 million worldwide on an estimated $25 million budget. 

4. "Lés Miserables" earns another $16.1 million. The film, which opened Christmas day, has now earned $170 million worldwide in two weeks. 

3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" earned $17.5 million in week four – more than any of "The Lord of the Rings" during the same week. Most of the film's $824.8 million worldwide has come from overseas ($561 million). 

2. "Django Unchained" narrowly misses holding off "Texas Chainsaw" with $20.1 million. That finally sets the film's gross ($106.4 million) over its hefty estimated budget of $100 million. 

1. "Texas Chainsaw 3D," the sequel to the 1974 classic, surprised with $23 million opening weekend. In comparison, that's more than previous horror films released by Lionsgate in the same month, 2009's "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" ($21 million) and 2007's "Hostel" ($19.6 million).

SEE ALSO: Mayor Villaraigosa is not pleased with his pal Charlie Sheen's recent Twitpic >

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Comedian Writes Elaborate Revenge Fantasy Involving Justice Scalia

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mindy kaling and justice scalia

Justice Antonin Scalia's reputation as a cranky yet comical figure has landed the jurist in the chick-lit world.

In her book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" comedian Mindy Kaling details some of her favorite revenge fantasies she thinks about while running, and the Supreme Court's most outspoken justice makes an appearance.

In her fantasy called My Husband Is Murdered In Central Park On An Idyllic Spring Day, Kaling describes a scene where she and her future, and imaginary, husband are jogging in the park when a "deranged man wearing an Antonin Scalia mask" shoots him in the head and "runs away, cackling like the Joker."

Kaling then goes on to describe how she stalks the Scalia impersonator for years before she eventually corners him in Miami.

"I find [Scalia's impersonator] snorting coke in the back room, a lair of sorts. He has framed pictures of all the people he's murdered. I choke him to death with his own mask."

It's hard to tell what Scalia would think about being the star of such a dark fantasy ...

DON'T MISS: Justice Scalia's Most Cantankerous Statements Of 2012 >

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Taylor Swift And Harry Styles Break Up After Blowout In The BVI [Report]

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After Taylor Swift, 23, and One Direction frontman Harry Styles, 18, shared a kiss on New Year's Eve in New York City following Swift's Times Square performance, the couple jetted off for a romantic holiday in Virgin Gorda — but not everything went according to plan.

The couple arrived at Virgin Gorda — the third largest of the British Virgin Islands known for its "yacht clubs, quiet coves, safe anchorages and luxury resorts and villas" — on Tuesday, Jan. 1, and even posed for photos with fans at the local CocoMaya restaurant:

Taylor Swift Harry Styles

But on Friday, Jan. 4, Swift caught the first flight out of Virgin Gorda and headed back to the states after getting into a heated argument with Styles that ended the two-month relationship, according to a source close to One Direction.

Styles, meanwhile, island-hopped over to Richard Branson's private Necker Island as soon as Swift departed.

"Richard Branson heard Harry was staying nearby so invited him to come check out Necker," the source tells Business Insider. "So when Taylor left for the states, Harry went to Branson's island for the day to let off some steam."

While Styles only stayed on Necker Island for a short while and later returned to Virgin Gorda solo, a source says "he did plenty of partying and was definitely enjoying himself while hanging out with guests. He returned to Virgin Gorda in the early morning hours looking like he had a raucous night."

Photos of Styles in a hot tub alongside Branson and other island guests have just hit the web:

Harry Styles Richard Branson

After a kite surfing lesson, Styles even took time to pose shirtless with fans:

Harry Styles with fans shirtless

Apparently Styles had been meaning to check out Necker Island anyhow as he is currently scoping out locations for his 21st birthday bash ... in two-and-a-half years.

Swift has remained mum on the split, but did tweet this ominous message on Saturday:

Taylor Swift Tweets

She hasn't posted anything since, but the singer's (whose lucky number is 13) previous tweet was full of hope:

Taylor Swift Tweets

Looks like 2013 is going to be rockier for Swift than expected.

After taking a pre-Christmas couples ski getaway in Park City, Utah with besties Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, today both couples are reportedly kaput as Bieber and Gomez also departed a New Year's getaway in Mexico earlier than expected.

Whether Swift and Styles are as on-again, off-again as their pals remains to be seen.

Inquiries to reps for Swift and Styles have not yet been returned.

SEE ALSO: A timeline of Taylor Swift's age-inappropriate romances >

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Everyone Is Freaking Out About A Cryptic Tweet From Brad Pitt

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Actor Brad Pitt joined social media site Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, in the past 24 hours, and he's already causing freaking people out. 

The first tweet from the actor's verified account translates as "It is the truth. Yup, I'm coming." 

Brad Pitt Weibo

Since the message was posted Monday, it has been shared more than 50,000 times and has received more than 24,000 comments.  

Everyone is taking this to mean that the actor is heading to China, which normally wouldn't cause too much worry or concern; however, the actor is supposedly banned from the country. 

According to director Jean-Jacques Annaud and IMDB, both he and Pitt were banned from China because of their roles in "Seven Years In Tibet." The country was reportedly upset with the movie's portrayal of harsh Chinese rule. 

Since he joined Weibo, Pitt has amassed more than 150,000 followers.

Pitt's not on Twitter.

SEE ALSO: Mayor Villaraigosa isn't pleased with Charlie Sheen's recent Twitter pic >

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HOUSE OF THE DAY: Jerry Bruckheimer Could Drop $23 Million On A Fashion Mogul's Beverly Hills Pad

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guess cofounder $24 million beverly hills mansion

Film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer is ready to drop $23 million on a Beverly Hills mansion built by late Columbia Pictures founder Harry Cohn, TMZ reports.

But the deal isn't quite finished.

Bruckheimer reportedly made an offer on the home, which is being sold as part of the bankruptcy proceeding of Guess? founder Georges Marciano, who put it on the market for $24.5 million in May.

Though the judge approved his offer, interested buyers can still try and outbid Bruckheimer at an upcoming hearing, according to TMZ.

The home is located just north of the Beverly Hills Hotel on North Crescent Drive. It has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and 19,590 square feet of living space.

The estate was designed in 1927 by Robert D. Farquhar.



It was built by Harry Cohn, the legendary founder of Columbia Pictures.



Georges Marciano, the founder of Guess?, had lived here for years.



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Charlie Sheen Calls Out LA Mayor For Hanging Out With Him And A Porn Star In Mexico

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Charlie Sheen Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Over the weekend, Charlie Sheen tweeted a chummy picture of himself with his arm around L.A. Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.

The caption on the photo read: "From Boyle Heights 2 Mayor of LA..! @hotelelganzo 2 party w/SHEEN at SheenZ..! Antonio Villaraigosa knows how to party!"

Well, the mayor did NOT like that very much and went on NBC 4 L.A. to clarify the now infamous photo, saying: "I had a three-minute conversation and took a picture with him, that simple. I take a picture virtually every single day, 50 times. And I took a picture with him ... I have never said no to anyone who wants to take a picture." 

But now, Sheen is calling BS on Villaraigosa's statements, telling TMZ the picture was actually shot in the actor's hotel suite at Hotel El Ganzo, where he had just opened his bar, Sheenz, earlier in the evening by greeting fans with an anti-gay slur he later apologized for.

"I memorize 95 pages a week, so the last thing that I am is memory challenged," Sheen continued to TMZ. "We hung out for the better part of two hours, discussing his L.A. roots, his poignant bullet campaign as well as his numeric 3 AM lawn-watering tactics."

In fact, Sheen says there were many women in the suite, including at least one porn star and "several other hot women."

While Villaraigosa is currently single following many extramarital affairs during his 20-year marriage, Sheen is now dating  24-year-old porn star Georgia Jones— who may account for the porn star present during the hangout.

But Sheen just wants to be friends with his mayor, adding, "He's a terrific guy, a great Mayor and he can drink with the best of 'em. Quite a memorable night indeed."

Watch Mayor Villaraigosa try to disassociate himself from Sheen below:

Whom do you believe?

SEE ALSO: Here's Al Roker's strict diet & exercise regimen to maintain his 130-pound weight loss >

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Here's What Famous Musicians Look Like Moments After A Show

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Matthias Willi & Olivier Joliat / The Moment After The Show, iggy pop

"That’s the only way to show how we really are" – sweaty, exhausted, but happy, actress and singer Juliette Lewis said about the idea of a photo collection capturing musicians moments after a concert.

Photographer Matthias Willi and journalist Olivier Joliat have persuaded about 100 bands to take part in their "The Moment After the Show" project since 2005.

They have also published a book with the photos, featuring Metallica, Iggy Pop, Gnarls Barkley, Faith No More among many others, and descriptions on how they managed to get each particular shot.

The authors kindly gave us permission to feature some of the bands' intimate moments here.

Iggy Pop



Juliette Lewis of The Licks



Robert Trujillo of Metallica



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Studios Moan That Facebook's New Anti-Spam Algorithm Is Killing Movie Advertising (FB)

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great gatsby dicaprio carey mulligan

Movie studios are questioning the effectiveness of the ad budgets they spend on Facebook, according to the LA Times.

Well, kinda.

The story quotes only one studio executive on the record — Dwight Caines, president of worldwide digital marketing at Sony Pictures Entertainment — and he gives Facebook a thumbs-up: "Facebook continues to be an important advertising partner ... They are on every campaign we do today."

The negativity comes from a movie marketing consultant and "other film executives [who] confide privately they are considering cutting their spending on Facebook ads."

Their beef is with the newly notorious algorithm that Facebook uses to prevent advertisers from clogging up your news feed with spam status updates. Some call it Edgerank, although that's not the name Facebook uses internally. The algorithm was changed last year to ensure that any given post by a brand reaches only about 15 percent of the brand's fanbase. If brands want to reach more than that they must either pay for promoted posts or write posts that are so interesting they will go viral on their own.

Facebook is forcing advertisers to be interesting, in other words.

And movie studios hate it, according to the LAT:

For example, 72% of movies and network TV shows experienced a drop in the number of people who saw new Facebook posts after the new algorithm launched, according to BlitzMetrics, a Facebook marketing firm that analyzed 9 billion page posts generated over a 60-day period before and after the change. 

That decline took a toll on two factors marketers watch closely: reach and engagement. 

Twenty-three percent of the biggest studio pages saw a reduction in "engaged" users — people who click on a post, share it with friends or write a comment — because of decreased exposure in the News Feed, BlitzMetrics found. The drop in "reach" — the number of people who saw these updates from the most popular film and TV sites — was even sharper: 45%.  The change in the algorithm coincided with a push from Facebook to get studios to buy ads in the News Feed.

Movie studios have absolutely no excuse, of course. They make movies — a product that consumers remain genuinely excited to hear news about. If a studio is failing to write posts that its movie fans aren't interested in, then they have only themselves to blame. (Paramount's Star Trek Into Darkness page is a case in point — it's lousy with press releases and non-compelling content. It doesn't even show the trailer, even though that is available on iTunes.)

Facebook, on the other hand, does have a PR problem with some advertisers over Edgerank:

Up next: whether Facebook will stick to its guns, take some hits, and forces page owners to become more interesting. Or whether it will whither in the face of complaints from some of its biggest clients and allow them to post what they want, to whomever they want.

Facebook has made once concession already, creating a Pages Feed where fans can see every message posted by any brand they follow. The question is, will that be enough?

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Beyoncé's Clothing Designer Reveals Singer's Over-The-Top Etiquette

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beyonce

A fashion designer for Beyoncé Knowles said she and her younger sister, Solange, are the only celebrities who return clothes dry-cleaned and neatly packed in a box.

The sisters also include hand-written thank you notes, designer Rubin Singer told Glamour

"They are true ladies," Singer told the magazine. 

While Beyonce is a household name, she is usually quiet about her personal life. 

Other celebrities Singer has worked with include Alicia Keys, Glenn Close, Lucy Liu, and Heidi Klum, according to his biography. 

DON'T MISS: Here's What Famous Musicians Look Like Moments After A Show >

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MGM's $650 Million Financing Hints At June IPO

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bond 007 skyfall aston martin db5

It looks like MGM may finally be ready to go public as early as June. 

The studio which came back from bankruptcy only two years ago, flirted with the idea of going public last July; however, ultimately decided to hold off until receiving the final tallies on "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." 

Now that both films have performed massively at theaters, earning a combined $1.8 billion globally, it appears that time is coming. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has a group of banks lined up to lend it up to $650 million for financing.  

Those funds would be used to help it pay back money borrowed from both Sony and Warner Bros. to respectively head its successful "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit" releases.  

With its debts paid off, THR believes this will finally allow MGM to give the go ahead to moving forward with its long-planned IPO. 

Back in October, THR reported the IPO could top $3 billion– and this was before the release of "The Hobbit." 

The funds will also help MGM pay for future operations, movie, and TV productions meaning we could see future acquisitions or potentially more titles in the works. 

With the massive success of "Skyfall" and the well-received "Hobbit," MGM has the comfort of sitting on those two franchises through 2014 (Daniel Craig has signed on for two more Bond films and the "Hobbit" was turned into a trilogy last July

Other than "Bond" and "Skyfall," MGM has a "RoboCop" remake in its sights for the future.

SEE ALSO: The latest trailer for "Pacific Rim" >

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Check Out The Progress On Matt Lauer's New 30-Acre Horse Farm In The Hamptons

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Despite complaints from the neighbors, Today Show anchor Matt Lauer and his wife Annette have started construction on a 30-acre horse farm they are building in Water Mill.

The pair closed on the $3 million property in October, and are constructing an indoor riding facility and second barn, The New York Post reported at the time.

Due to zoning rules, Lauer can't build a home on the property. Good thing his $15 million Hamptons mansion is just down the road.

Aerial photographer Jeff Cully of EEFAS snapped these photos of the construction, and shared them with us. Looks like Lauer has some work to do before his horses can move in.

matt lauer hamptons horse farm

 

matt lauer hamptons horse farm

 

matt lauer hamptons horse farm

SEE ALSO: Meet The Fabulously Rich And Famous Residents Of Southampton

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Here Are The First Photos From 'The Walking Dead' Super Bowl Ad

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the walking dead walkers

AMC zombie sensation "The Walking Dead" is making its first-ever Super Bowl ad.

With 10.5 million viewers tuning in for its 2012 mid-season finale — very healthy numbers for a cable series — the Super Bowl spot will reach 10 times more people. 111 million sets of eyeballs tune into the Super Bowl Bowl and pay extra attention to its commercial breaks.

Perhaps this is why the indie hit shelled out a record $4 million plus for a 30-second time slot. "These numbers are the highest ever paid for Super Bowl spots," CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said.

While we don't know much about the ad, actor Norman Reedus has been tweeting out costumes and scenes from the set while the cast has been shooting today — complete with dead zombies with arrows coming out of their heads.

The Super Bowl is a family friendly game and ads can get axed for being too sexual or violent, so it will be interesting to see how "The Walking Dead" toes the line.

Here's a gruesome snapshot from the Super Bowl shoot in LA:amc walking dead super bowl ad
And even more zombies:

amc walking dead super bowl ad

Reedus takes a shot with his Daryl outfit in the dressing room:

amc walking dead super bowl ad

SEE ALSO: Everything We Know About The Super Bowl Ad Lineup So Far

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Inside Kim And Kanye's New $11 Million Bel Air Baby Nest

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Kim Kardashian Kanye West House

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West want a little extra room once baby makes three.

Make that a lot of extra room.

The couple, who have been dating for nine months and are expecting their first child in July, have just purchased a 9,000-square-foot Italian-style villa in Bel Air.

But despite already boasting a gym, movie theater, hair and makeup salon, bowling alley, basketball court and indoor and outdoor pools, TMZ is reporting the couple want to gut it "and are designing a 14,000-square-foot dream home in its place."

Originally listed for $11.4 million in April 2011, the home received a price cut and Zillow reports the home was most recently listed for sale at $10.75 million.

Although the residence is super private, Kimye can now count Jennifer Aniston, Chris Paul, and Joe Francis among their neighbors.

Images courtesy of Zillow.

After looking at houses in Miami, Kimye decided on this Italian-style villa in the Bel-Air neighborhood near Los Angeles.



It has plenty of space in the driveway for the couple's countless cars.



And a huge pool in the backyard.



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Here's A Photo Of will.i.am Just Hanging Out With A Bunch Of Tech Bloggers Like A Normal Guy

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CES is known for pulling in celebrities to endorse products, but rarely do they grace the press with their presence. 

As I was working on a story in the CES press lounge, I noticed a crowd forming around a guy who looked kind of familiar.

It was pop artist will.i.am, just hanging out in the press lounge and talking to a bunch tech reporters. He's at CES to promote a new iPhone camera case accessory with a slide-out keyboard that he developed.

Apparently, he's a tech entrepreneur now.

Pretty cool.

will.i.am at ces press lounge

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First Photo: What Swimsuit Model Bar Refaeli And Danica Patrick Will Wear In Go Daddy's Super Bowl Ad

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Late last week, Go Daddy announced that it added supermodel Bar Refaeli to its Super Bowl spot alongside race car driver Danica Patrick.

Although Refaeli is known for her days as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, people expecting to see her in a bikini (or nothing at all, like the model in last year's Go Daddy spot) will be sorely disappointed.

Go Daddy sent Business Insider the first photo from its Super Bowl shoot, and the Israeli model will be wearing a cocktail dress (just like fellow SI swimwear model/Super Bowl star Kate Upton in her Mercedes spot). Patrick will be sporting her classic leather racing duds.

The ad is called "The Perfect Match" and was directed by Mike McGuire at Universal Studios in Hollywood last Friday. Go Daddy told BI that it plans to use the Deutsch NY-created commercial "to redefine SEXY. The new SEXY is about our customers' online success. Our thinking is, when smart meets sexy, your business scores."

Here's the photo.go daddy super bowl bar refaeli danica patrick 2013

SEE ALSO: Big Bang Theory Actress Kaley Cuoco To Star In Toyota's Super Bowl Spot

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Gangnam Style's Psy Just Filmed A Super Bowl Ad

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gangnam style psy

Psy, the South Korean global phenomenon who set social-media popularity records with his Gangnam Style YouTube music and dancing video, will star in a Super Bowl commercial for Wonderful Pistachios.

The flashy commercial, filmed yesterday in North Hollywood, is the brand's first Super Bowl ad and will be Psy's first ad aired in the U.S.

"The Super Bowl is way too big for me," jokes Psy (real name Jai-Sang Park). "I never dreamed of being a singer in America, so I of course never dreamed of being in a Super Bowl ad."

Psy's catchy, offbeat video poking fun at the upper-class lifestyle in South Korea has notched 1.1 billion YouTube views.

In the ad, Psy wears a pistachio-green suit and will display a special way to crack open pistachios.

Increasingly, advertisers in the Super Bowl, a pop culture event with social-media buzz, are latching onto pop culture figures guaranteed to garner more social-media chatter.

Beyoncé is the Big Game's halftime singer. Supermodels including Kate Upton and Bar Refaeli are starring in other spots. And Psy has now been snatched up by a Super Bowl ad rookie eager for attention.

Will Psy be wonderful for pistachios? Pop culture experts say his appearance will draw lots of attention -- but not necessarily the kind that Wonderful Pistachios wants.

"Pistachios will get a lot of attention for signing Psy, and when you're in the pistachio business, that's a good thing," says pop culture guru Robert Thompson. "But Psy already is becoming an old joke."

Consumers are desperately looking for fun, "and Psy is the royal court jester," says futurist Watts Wacker. But Wacker thinks Psy is a one-trick pony. "He'll end up as a Tiny Tim," Wacker predicts, referring to the campy falsetto singer of the late '60s.

However, executives at Wonderful Pistachios are ecstatic about signing Psy. "He's penetrated the cultural consciousness of the United States," says Marc Seguin, vice president of marketing for Wonderful Pistachios, the biggest nut brand for Paramount Farms. "We knew the Super Bowl would require something really special to stand out."

The ultra-familiar song Gangnam Style will appear with different words in the 30-second commercial, Psy says. He says he's also working on a new single that will be out soon.

This is the time of year that pistachio sales rocket, and most of that sales spurt is concentrated just a week or two before the Super Bowl, says Seguin. To nail home its relationship with Psy, the brand will place 50,000 pistachio displays with his image in supermarkets.

But Psy is clearly better known by young folks than old, says Thompson, who is a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. Thompson says he did an informal poll. All but four of his 110 undergraduate students knew who Psy was. But when he asked 20 of his neighbors -- older than 65 -- if they knew Psy, the results were disastrous.

Only one did.

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'Twilight' Leads The Razzies With 11 Nominations — Here's Today's Buzz

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  • Twilight"Twilight," "Battleship" and Adam Sandlerlead the Razzie nominations —an award intended to honor the worst films and performances across the globe. "Twilight" received a record 11 nominations.
  • "Dancing with the Stars" host Brooke Burkerevealed her thyroid cancer surgery scar on "Good Morning America," saying "I never thought I'd hear the word 'cancer' in relation to myself. The [thought] in my mind when I [heard the news] is that I'm a mother, I've got four children, I've got a family counting on me." But ultimately, she says "I think scars tell a story and I think I'm so fortunate."
  • Character actor Ned Wertimer, best known for his role as Ralph the Doorman on the long-running CBS comedy "The Jeffersons" has died at age 89 in a Los Angeles-area nursing home following a November fall at his Burbank home.
  • Kim Kardashian and Kanye Westtake their unborn child to Paris.
  • Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmelused his first 11:35PM monologue to rip Kim Kardashian. "“I understand what’s at stake here, and I don’t take this responsibility lightly, especially with the Kanye West-Kim Kardashian baby on the way,” Kimmel said. “This is the time I shine bright like a diamond,” he continued, referencing the Rihanna hit single.
  • Hide yo wife, hide kids: Snookialready wants another baby! Snooki says she and fiancé Jionni LaValle are currently focused on building their dream home but that “once it’s built, then we’re going to pop them out.”

SEE ALSO: Inside Kim and Kanye's new $11 million baby nest in Bel Air >

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A Leaked Photo Of Beyoncé's February GQ Cover Hits The Web

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After Beyoncé's upcoming GQ cover found its way to the web, Condé Nast has revealed the high-res image of its leaked February issue.

Earlier, a user Instagrammed a sneak peak at the singer gracing the magazine's upcoming cover, and Lovebscott originally posted the image.

One year after giving birth to Blue Ivy, the Queen B is showing off a trim, curvy physique.

Tuesday, GQ will reveal its full photoshoot with Beyoncé.

The issue hits stands January 22.

Beyonce GQ official

SEE ALSO: Go inside Kim and Kanye's $11 million Bel Air baby nest >

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BUSINESS INSIDER SECRETS REVEALED!

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business insider, bi office profile, bi, may 2012, dng

A couple of years ago, I revealed a lot of internal information about Business Insider--the sort of information that most companies paranoically guard for a litany of stated reasons.

I said that, if nothing horrible happened, I might one day do the same thing again.

Well, nothing horrible happened.

(At least nothing I'm aware of.)

So, when FOLIO called and asked if I would be willing to share the Business Insider story in a keynote presentation at its MediaNext conference, I figured I might as well open the kimono again.

(FOLIO, after all, was kind enough to title my session: BUSINESS INSIDER: From Upstart To Powerhouse. How could I refuse a request like that?)

So, I gave the presentation this morning.

I included a whole bunch of previously secret information.

And on the theory that other folks might be interested--namely you, our readers, who make all of our success possible--I've published the presentation here.

There are a lot of slides, but few words, so it should be an easy flip-through.

Here are some of the secrets I revealed:

  • Business Insider's audience continues to grow rapidly: We're now read by 23 million unique visitors a month.
  • Five years ago, when we launched, we had about 1,000 visitors the first day. Now we regularly have more than 1 million a day.
  • The key to success in digital is producing great digital content--full stop. Not great print content. Not great broadcast content. Great digital content (which is very different). If you don't have great digital content, nothing else matters.
  • Contrary to what you occasionally hear, "social" is not the be-all and end-all for digital news sites (in fact, the importance of "social" is grossly overstated). Business Insider readership is a healthy mix of 1) regular readers who come directly to the site, 2) readers who find stories via social and other referral links, 3) readers who find stories via search, and 4) regular readers who find stories via email, RSS feeds, and other distribution channels.
  • About 30% of our traffic is now mobile (including both tablets and smartphones.) The iPhone is the dominant mobile device used by Business Insider readers, followed by the iPad and Android devices.
  • Mobile has extended Business Insider readership to "18x7": Readers who used to just read us in the office on weekdays now read us during their commutes and in bed. And they also read us over the weekend.
  • "Mobile First," one of the hot memes of 2012, is actually a dumb strategy. Our readers love their big screens. And they like reading Business Insider on all screens. The smart strategy is not "mobile first," but "mobile, too."
  • The economics of digital cannot support the print business (so newspapers should stop hallucinating that they will). But that's okay! Because the economics of digital CAN support the digital business.
  • Business Insider's newsroom is vastly more efficient than the newsrooms of some "hybrid" (print/broadcast/digital) companies. Our editorial team is exceptional at producing excellent digital content. As a result, we have vastly more digital readers per editorial employee than news organizations that specialize in other media.
  • Digital news organizations today are like CNN in the 1980s (scrappy upstarts, big hair).  But don't forget: Major new media organizations take decades to build. In 10-20 years, digital news organizations will have 1) hundreds of millions of readers, 2) hundreds of editorial employees, and 3) hundreds of millions of revenue.

Thank you again for reading Business Insider and for helping to make our success possible. We listen closely to what you tell us, and we will keep striving to make the site better every day.







See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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