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Jay-Z describes his bizarre strategy for beating stage fright

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Many, if not most, professionals suffer from a fear of public speaking, often resorting to deep breathing, picturing the audience in their underwear, or even prescription drugs.

Performer Jay-Z has his own creative strategy for dealing with stage fright.

The New Yorker recently cited a 2010 NPR interview in which Jay-Z tells host Terry Gross that when he's scared on stage he tries to act tough... by grabbing his crotch.

This defense may have grown out of his initial inexperience on stage. Most hip-hop artists, Jay-Z says, start out with a hit record and little to no experience performing live.

"And then you throw this person on stage who has never been on stage before, you know, because the music leads. So they don't have any experience on how to perform in front of people, hold the mic, you know, all these different things that you need to know as a performer.

"So when you get up there, you feel naked, right? So when you feel naked, what's the first thing you do? You cover yourself.

"So that bravado is an act of, 'I am so nervous right now, and I'm scared to death. I'm going to act so tough that I'm going to hide it. And I have to grab, you know, my crotch.' That's just what happens."

It's hard to imagine using the same technique while leading a Powerpoint presentation for your coworkers. (It's even harder to imagine it working.)

Yet Jay-Z's admission reminds us that even the most successful people suffer from performance anxiety. They've had to come up with creative ways of not only managing that terror, but making it look like they're pumped to be up there.

Fortunately, there are mellower ways to mask your nervousness — like speaking slowly and maintaining eye contact. And of course, if you're lacking confidence, there's no harm in faking it.

SEE ALSO: Beat your fear of public speaking with these 7 science-backed strategies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Richard Branson hates public speaking — here's how he gets over it











A teen mom who barely spoke English when she was discovered is the new face of Victoria's Secret

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This April, Victoria's Secret announced its latest lineup of supermodel "angels."

These women would be designated to be the faces and bodies of the world famous lingerie company.

One of these women is Lais Ribeiro, a Brazilian stunner who has been strutting the runway for several years.

But now that she's been deemed an "angel" by Victoria's Secret, it's likely that she'll go from a recognizable face to a household name.

SEE ALSO: Meet the former professional basketball player who is the new face of Victoria's Secret

Ribeiro was born in Brazil.

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According to The Daily Mail, she barely spoke English when she fist started modeling.

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 Source: Daily Mail



When she was just 18, she gave birth to her son, Alexandre. Now he's pretty grown up. She posts Instagram photos of him frequently.

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 Source: Daily Mail



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: This non-airbrushed lingerie campaign is trying to take Victoria's Secret down










1,000 studio workers behind 'Revenge of the Sith' gathered to watch this epic Darth Vader scene get shot

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"Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakes" is coming out December 18. 

That's a long time for a "Star Wars" fan to wait. And it's been a while since the last "Star Wars" movie came out in 2008. So to hold you over, let's relive the last film in the prequel, "Revenge of the Sith," specifically the last 15 minutes of the film, a moment Star Wars fans waited decades to witness and producers pulled out all the stops to pull off.

(For more "Star Wars" recaps, check out the on-going series, "Star Wars" Rewind).

2005’s “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith” would mark the final film in the saga George Lucas would be involved in. “Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones” were fine, but for the most part “Star Wars” fans were left feeling unsatisfied. "Episode III" would hopefully give fans the answers they had been wanting for decades, and some redemption for Lucas.

“Revenge of the Sith” had a mature feel compared to the previous two films and captured the horrific fall of the Jedi. In it, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) finds himself moving closer to the dark side as Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) — who we come to learn is the Emperor, Darth Sidious — convinces Skywalker that he’s the greatest Jedi of them all. This leads to Skywalker leading the rise of the Empire.

But it’s the final 15 minutes of the film that set it apart from the others in the prequel.

In it, Anakin loses the light saber battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and is left for dead as he burns alive on the volcanic planet of Mustafar.

revenge of the sith 6The Emperor saves Anakin and what follows is something “Star Wars” fans waited decades to see — Anakin turns into Darth Vader.

Industrial Light and Magic’s Rob Coleman was the animation director on all of the “Star Wars” prequels and he is on the commentary for the Blu-ray version of “Revenge of the Sith.” He said the Darth Vader sequence was one he’d “been thinking about since I was 13 years old.”

Visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett described the idea behind the setting for the construction of Anakin into Vader in the commentary: “We wanted to get that interrogation look with this ridiculously hot top light,” he said. “Uncomfortable and very unsympathetic.”

revenge of the sithThen there was showcasing the iconic Vader mask and helmet.

revenge of the sith 2“I love this idea of getting inside the mask,” Guyett said in the commentary. “And the other touch was seeing him breath for the first time. I remember we did the shot and George came back and said, ‘Just disturb the smoke enough above the mouth piece so you can see him breath for the first time.”

revenge of the sith 7But perhaps the most memorable moment was the filming of Vader when his construction is complete. James Earl Jones, who voiced Vader in the original trilogy, returned to do the dialogue in this scene. And according to producer Rick McCallum on the commentary, Christensen was inside the Vader costume for the scene.

“I went to go pick up Hayden in a golf cart [to bring him to the set] and he insisted to play this,” said McCallum. “He wanted to be in the suit.”

The scene was shot 10 days before principal photography on “Revenge of the Sith” wrapped, and McCallum recalls the incredible sight when he got to the set with Christensen.

“There were about a thousand people on the stage,” he said. “Everyone from the studio. We opened the stage doors and I let four hundred to five hundred people in, as many as we could get in. People were sitting on the floor. George did a couple of takes, Hayden got off [the set], and everyone just came up and touched him."

revenge of the sith 8"Most of these people honestly had gotten into the film business because of ‘Star Wars,’" said McCallum. "It was just a great day.”

Though Lucas took a lot of heat on the internet following the release of the prequels as many thought they didn’t hold up to the original trilogy, it’s hard to argue that the ending of “Revenge of the Sith” is completely satisfying.

Along with seeing the creation of Darth Vader, we see the birth of Luke and Leia Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 being handed over to Captain Antilles who erases their memory in order to protect the whereabouts of the twins, and how the twins are split up to protect them from Vader ever finding them, following the death of Padmé (Natalie Portman) during child birth.

The film concludes with Kenobi giving Luke to his uncle and aunt on Tatooine, where 20 years later the Jedi master and future apprentice would find each other in “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.”

revenge of the sith luke

“I always wanted to end the movie on the twin suns, it was such a strong image in ‘Episode IV,’” said Lucas in the commentary.

a new hope lukeAbout the ending to “Sith,” Lucas added, “There’s something very satisfying about having all the little pieces wrapped up.” 

Watch Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader:

 

SEE ALSO: George Lucas was scared to death to shoot this epic scene in "Attack of the Clones"

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A new documentary tells how a comedian-turned-activist raised one of the darkest issues of our time

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Barry Crimmins, subject of the documentary "Call Me Lucky," is the epitome of a "comic's comic" — but that's far from his only identity. 

He's not a household name; his work has never been plastered all over Comedy Central; and you won't find a catalog of his hits on Spotify. 

But in the comedy world, Crimmins is a prolific figure. A Golden God. And his fearless comedy is just the tip of the iceberg — he's also a political activist whose work has made a difference and even saved lives.

Bobcat Goldthwait's "Call Me Lucky" is part loving tribute, part exposé, and altogether an exhilarating film that could only be made by somebody as close to the story as the director. 

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Crimmins was more than a friend to Goldthwait — he was his mentor. Goldthwait and all the other comedians featured in the film (including Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Meaney, and Dana Gould) speak so passionately about Crimmins and his impact on comedy, it's as if they're eulogizing a loved one.

It's just that even though Barry is still alive, his legacy extends further than the man himself.

Crimmins was about as outspoken as one can be regarding US government and politics, and sometimes his comedy sets would turn into enraged rants without a hint of funny.

Some would say he considered himself a political activist before a comedian. Crimmins wasn't afraid to lay into Reagan, or the Bush administration, or whichever entity was infuriating him at the time. 

The film takes a dark turn when Crimmins himself delves into his troubled past and reveals the source of his anger at the world, and how this trauma directly influenced his career path. 

Perhaps the greatest and most impactful moment of Barry Crimmins' career is that he singlehandedly took on the fight against child pornography, and won. When Crimmins discovered that pedophiles were using AOL chat rooms to share horrific child porn, he took the fight to AOL, but they didn't listen.

Crimmins took it upon himself to go undercover, collect mountains of evidence, and take his grievances literally to the Senate floor on July 25, 1995.

The scene in which Crimmins rails off against AOL's top lawyer in front of a panel of clueless senators is unforgettable entertainment as well as an important cultural moment that helped shift a serious conversation into the digital age.

Goldthwait's first foray into non-fiction is a far cry from the darkly hilarious "World's Greatest Dad" and even farther from his more recent bigfoot-centered horror flick "Willow Creek," but it's easily his most polished and passionate film yet.  

It's certainly a comedy documentary, but it has also a narrative drive full of shocking revelations that make the story that much more compelling and engaging.   

The film is truly like a punch to the gut — its reveals are devastating and the details infuriating, but Barry Crimmins is such a lovable figure that he forces you to take it all in with a smile.

"Call Me Lucky" is an excellent documentary, and a brilliant portrait of a man whose name you won't soon forget. 

"Call Me Lucky" opens today in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and Washington D.C. and expands the following week. For theater information click here.

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NOW WATCH: This drummer created a whole song by only using the sound of coins










Here's what will happen to Jon Stewart's famous 'Daily Show' set after his final episode

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Daily Show Studio

Good news, "Daily Show" fans. Jon Stewart's set won't be destroyed or left to collect dust in some warehouse. Instead, it will live on and will be open to visitors.

Comedy Central is donating the set to Washington D.C.'s First Amendment museum, the Newseum, after Stewart's final sign-off on Thursday after hosting Comedy Central's fake news show for 16 years.

“From ‘The Daily Show’ anchor desk, Jon Stewart dissected the news with blistering wit and wisdom as millions watched,” said the Newseum's Senior Vice President of Exhibits and Programs, Cathy Trost,  said in a statement.

The Daily Show Jon StewartShe continued, “He also was a voice for a strong and free press, and against the silencing of journalists by repressive regimes. We are thrilled to accept the donation of these artifacts to the Newseum collection, because they are part of America’s cultural and media history, telling an important story about how political satire and news as humor made ‘The Daily Show’ a trusted news source for a generation."

"The Daily Show" set will join other important holdings at the Newseum, including actual 12-foot-high sections of the Berlin Wall; the Journalists Memorial, which celebrates those who lost their lives reporting news, and the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs ever assembled.

A new "Daily Show" set will debut when Trevor Noah takes over the show on September 8.

SEE ALSO: Director of 'Going Clear' calls out Jon Stewart for not bringing up Scientology during Tom Cruise interview

MORE: 8 moments that made 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart' one of the most important shows on TV

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ridley Scott is about to show us a world where the Allies lost World War II










3 epic moments when Jon Stewart nailed the most pressing science issues of our time

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Jon Stewart signed off as host of "The Daily Show" on Thursday night after an iconic run of over 16 years.

He will be dearly missed, but not just because he made us laugh.

If anyone had the ability to show us that ignorance isn't limited by political boundaries, it was Stewart.

In the nearly two decades he spent on the show, Stewart brilliantly called attention to some of the most glaring moments when public figures chose hype over basic science, sometimes endangering lives in the process.

Here are a few of the highlights:

1. He nailed the insane reason we still need to talk about climate change

Yes, 99.9% of the scientific literature shows that climate change is real and worsened by the things we do every day, like driving cars and burning fossil fuels. Yet political representatives who continue to deny that very real science continue to serve on government science committees. 

Burn Noticed Stewart

In September of last year, Stewart nailedRepresentative Larry Bucshon (R-Indiana) for saying the science on climate change "still isn't clear." 

Plus, he said, climate scientists just want to line their pockets. 

Stewart points out that Bucshon's 3 biggest campaign donors are the world's leading coal industry backers: 

  • Murray Energy Corporation, also known as America's single largest underground coal mining company
  • Koch Industries, which oversees crude oil refineries that produce more than 600,000 barrels per day
  • Peabody Energy, just the largest private-sector coal company in the world

"If scientists could be bought," said Stewart, "these companies would have already made it rain in nerd town."

2. He took down liberals who deny science 

Jenny McCarthy

In June of last year, Stewart shed some light on a group of people who put hundreds of lives at risk by claiming that vaccines are dangerous.  

Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee talked to Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit explained that part of the reason doctors are seeing a comeback of diseases like mumps, measles, and rubella in allegedly progressive suburbs of states from California to New York is that thousands of parents in these areas are choosing not to vaccinate their children — against all scientific evidence.

"It's happening in my community?" asks Bee. "People who.... juice?"

Yep.

Next, Bee chats with Sarah Pope, a lifestyle blogger and anti-vaxxer. She gives Bee some of the typical responses of science deniers.

"You can line up the doctors from here to down the block refuting me, and I'm not going to change my mind," she said.

Then, Pope adds that the historic drop in diseases like measles and polio is not a result of vaccines, and was instead likely caused by something else, like getting horses off the streets.

Here's a chart that shows why she's wrong:

Vaccine efficacy chart

"The good news about vaccines," says Offit, "is that they're not a belief system. They're an evidence-based system."

3. He pinpointed exactly why health care just can't work as a free market

Steven Brill Daily Show Obamacare

Last January, Stewart had guest Steven Brill, author of Time's in-depth health care analysis "Bitter Pill," on the show to talk about Obamacare.

He told the story of a cancer patient who was recently forced to pay $13,700 up front for a drug transfusion which was only part of a much bigger $83,000 payment. Yet the transfusion, says Brill, cost the pharmaceutical company just $300.

Brill said the reason health care will never work as a free market is simple: "The cost has shifted to the taxpayers — which I think is a good thing. But it's outrageous that we haven't done anything to control those costs."

Then, Stewart brilliantly came back at Brill with a common conservative argument: If we simply create a free market for health care where patients can pick-and-choose their coverage, it will result competition and, therefore, better options.

Here's Brill's response: "Everyone says, 'Well it's a marketplace.' That guy [the cancer patient] has no choice in buying that drug. His doctor told him, 'This will save your life. You don't take it, you're gonna die.'"

Doesn't sound like a marketplace.

SEE ALSO: Jon Stewart nails the insane reason we need to keep talking about climate change

DON'T MISS: Watch John Oliver skewer the cozy relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies

Join the conversation about this story »










Jon Stewart and Wyatt Cenac cleverly showed they're 'good' on the final 'Daily Show'

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Thursday night marked the final episode of Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show.”

To bid him farewell, many of the former correspondents made an appearance to do their shtick one last night with the host.

Outside of the raucous applause for the the likes of Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell, the audience was also excited to see that Wyatt Cenac got an invite.

Cenac was a correspondent on the show from 2008-2012, but he recently made headlines when he told comedian Marc Maron on his podcast about a time he and Stewart had a blowup at a staff meeting regarding a segment perceived as racially insensitive. 

It had to do with Stewart doing an impression of Hermain Cain, who was seeking a 2012 Republican nomination. At the meeting Cenac discouraged Stewart from the host’s plans to do the impression again. Cenac told Maron that Stewart “kept shutting him down” about it.

According to Cenac, the argument escalated to Stewart shouting expletives at him several times with the disagreement continuing when Cenac followed Stewart to his office.

Stewart later apologized. In the podcast, Cenac said Stewart and he exchanged emails recently and that Stewart “kind of apologized as much as he could, for if I felt hurt.”

Things must have been patched up enough for Cenac to appear for Stewart's final show.

FullSizeRender(6)The bit was very brief, with Cenac appearing  just outside the show’s studio. (However, he was inside, all the correspondent reporting is done behind green screen.)

Stewart asked if Cenac was coming in? Cenac said very matter-of-fact that he might. “I’m thinking about it,” said Cenac. “I got some balls in the air.”

Stewart then asked him, “You good?” Cenac responded, “Yeah, I’m good. You good?” Stewart responded, “Yeah, I’m good.”

The “You good?” is a sly reference to Maron’s podcast. The comic usually asks his guests following a lengthy chat “We good?” as a way of making sure the two are leaving the podcast on good terms.

It seemed those watching the show were as happy as the studio audience about Cenac's appearance. Cenac received the third most tweets during the show Thursday night (behind Colbert and John Oliver), according to Amobee Brand Intelligence.

Watch Cenac and Stewart's bit from Thursday's “The Daily Show” (via Vulture):

 

SEE ALSO: Here's every guest who showed up for Jon Stewart's final episode

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Things you may not know about Jon Stewart and how he got to 'The Daily Show'










There's one very memorable scene in HBO's new Kurt Cobain documentary

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After receiving three Emmy nominations following its airing on HBO in May, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” is back in theaters Friday. 

The documentary has a treasure trove of never-before-seen material that looks back on the childhood and private life of the legendary lead singer of Nirvana, who tragically took his own life in April 1994 at the age of 27. 

But there’s one particular piece in the film, directed by Brett Morgen (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) that no one, not even Cobain’s family or closest friends, ever knew existed. 

Morgen had been working on the project for five years when he finally got the call. In 2013, he was granted access to a storage space where Cobain’s most intimate materials — journals he wrote and paintings he created — are kept.

“One of the things that would change the direction of the film was a box that I found that said, ‘cassettes,’” Morgen told Business Insider.

montage of heck finalSurprised to find the box, as no one told him any audio was stored there, Morgen tracked down a few cassette decks and began transferring them into digital files. 

Hidden among the hours of recordings of Cobain playing music and joking around, he came across a story Cobain taped in 1988.

“I knew instantly it was different because he was performing it and was doing multiple takes on it,” Morgen explained. “It was a little more narrative than most of Kurt’s art.”

The story Cobain tells in the recording is of his first sexual encounter, which then leads to the first time he contemplated suicide. 

Morgen brought the recording to the Cobain family, who had never heard it. He even brought it to the attention of Cobain’s biographer, Charles R. Cross, who wasn't aware of its existence, either.

Morgen knew it needed to be in the film, but how could he make it work visually for the movie?

Morgen is famously known for using animation in his work. In "The Kid Stays in the Picture," he used effects to bring still photography to life in his story of Hollywood mogul Robert Evans.

robert evans

And the 2007 film, "Chicago 10 a look at the anti-war protestors put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention  is entirely animated. 

But Morgen admits he initially had no intention of animating the Cobain audio.

“We were going to animate his art and his journals (made for the film by artist Stefan Nadelman), but there was never a discussion about animating Kurt,” he said.

But then he came across the work of Dutch artist/filmmaker Hisko Hulsing and his animated film, "Junkyard.

“I felt that he had a similar dystopian view of the world that Kurt had, but a much better craftsman than Kurt,” said Morgen of Hulsing. “But the view and the tone had a lot of similarities, a lot of darkness and twisted reality.”

Junkyard finalMorgen asked Hulsing to join the project to animate the Cobain audio story. Hulsing also animated another audio sequence later on in the film in which Cobain is recording the mundane moments of his life while living at his girlfriend’s house in the ‘80s.

“I’ve never been a Nirvana fan,” Hulsing admits. “I think I was 21 when ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ became a hit and I just had a dark, psychotic adolescence, so it didn’t strike a right cord for me.”

But Hulsing said he agreed to come on because he was fascinated by Morgen’s mission to celebrate Cobain’s life, not mythologize his death.

kurtcobain06 Wendy O'Connor HBOMorgen played Hulsing an edited version of the audio that was more polished and streamlined than the original recording he discovered in the cardboard box. Morgen also came up with a shot list for Hulsing to follow while making the animation, and the two went back and forth for months on storyboards.

From his small studio in Amsterdam, Hulsing compiled a team of 27 people (18 of them animators) and for four months they worked on not only the Cobain audio story, but also on the other portion of the film Hulsing was responsible for. For the 85 shots that were Hulsing's responsibility, they produced 6,000 animations and 60 oil paintings on canvas. Some of those canvas paintings were as large as six feet.

Hulsing would then take a digital picture of the canvas, input the animation that would go in front of it, and send it to Morgen back in L.A. for approval.

Here's an animated rendition of Cobain as a teenager.

cobain bedBelow is an excerpt from Cobain’s audio story in "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck," accompanied by select GIFs of Hulsing’s animation from the sequence in the film.

cobain friendsTrevor was a guy I hated but resorted to becoming friends with because he was the only person I could get pot from. He was the kingpin. Trevor, Ace, John, Darin, all white-trash low-life scum of the earth, according to the jocks. They had been going to this girl's house after school and they invited me. We got to the door and a very fat girl let us in.

cobain funny girlIt wasn't obvious to me for over an hour that this girl seemed kind of quiet until one of the guys pointed out that she was in a Special Ed class. I'm sure a lot of kids would call her a retard and some just slow, and at the time, and still to this day, I would call her quiet and illiterate. But not retarded.

cobain stairsThe object of the guys who'd been going there for the past month was to steal booze from the downstairs basement of her house. While others distracted her, one would go down and take a fifth and then exit the downstairs. We did this routine every other day and got away with it for, oh, about a month. 

And during that month happened to be the epitome of my mental abuse from my mother. It turned out that pot didn't help me escape my troubles too well anymore, and I was actually enjoying doing rebellious things like stealing booze and busting store windows.

cobain stealBut nothing ever mattered. I decided within the next month I would not sit on my roof and think about jumping but I'll actually kill myself. And I wasn't going out of this world without actually knowing what it was like to get laid. 

cobain contemplateSo one day after school I went to the girl's house alone and invited myself in and she offered me some Twinkies and I sat on her lap and I said, "Let's f---."

cobain girlAnd I touched her and she went into her bedroom and got undressed in front of me and I watched and actually realized it was actually happening. So I tried to f--- her but didn't know how, so I asked her if she'd done this before and she said, a lot of times, mainly with her cousin. 

I got grossed out very heavily with her smell and her sweat reeked, so I left. My conscious grew to where I couldn't go to school for a week and when I did I got in-house suspension for skipping.

cobain classAnd that day the girl's father came in screaming and accusing someone of taking advantage of his daughter. And so during lunch rumors started and by the next day everyone was waiting for me to yell and cuss and spit at me, calling me "the retard f----r." 

cobain bottleI couldn't handle the ridicule. So I got high and drunk, I walked down to the train tracks and laid down and put two big pieces of cement on my chest and legs and waited for the eleven o'clock train.

cobain trainAnd the train came closer, and closer, and closer and went on the next track besides me. And it stood over me over.

cobain tracksDetention from school had an effect on me, and the train scared me enough to try to rehabilitate myself by lifting weights and mathematics seemed to be improving so I became less manically depressed. I still didn't have any friends because I hated everyone for they were so phony.

Hulsing said the bleak look he gave the animation came from what he observed looking at photos of Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain grew up.

"Images and videos of Aberdeen clearly show that it's often grey and rainy," Hulsing said. "I believe that the somber palette adds a lot of darkness and hopelessness to the story of young, suicidal Kurt."

cobain aberdeenHulsing also said that Cobain’s blank facial features in the story came from how he and Morgen believed Kurt felt in his social setting. "He's hanging out with a group he's not a real part of," he said. "Kurt's own voiceover already explains his own state of mind as a teenager, the way he felt rejected and ridiculed, I didn't want to overdo that."

cobain blinkThere were also some visuals that don’t match what Cobain says, particularly the line when he goes to the railroad tracks to commit suicide: “Put two big pieces of cement on my chest and legs and waited for the eleven o'clock train." According to Morgen, that was intentional. "I decided to take that one moment and deviate from Kurt's narrative just a bit to kind of embrace the subjectivity of the sequencing and acknowledging that we are interpreting these events," he said.

The music played over the telling of the story is a string arrangement of the Nirvana hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit," arranged by composer Jeff Danna. "There was already some existing music of strings playing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,'" Hulsing said. "So [Morgen] put that under my moving storyboards in the beginning and it really worked for Brett, so later he had a new composition done."

kurtcobain10_TheEndOfMusicLLC_HBOLooking back on making the film, Morgen said Hulsing’s work was always the wild card. 

"Once we saw the final assembly edit, Joe Beshenkovsky, who edited the film with me, both of us felt we were pretty comfortable where we landed," said Morgen. "But at the same time we knew Hisko was just getting started [on animating]. There was this fear: 'Hisko is going to be our Achilles heel if he doesn't deliver.' It's not like we could cut out the sequence. I've had some treacherous experiences with animation not really working out the way you'd hoped."

But when Hulsing delivered the first drawings, all the anxiety rushed away. 

“He gave me a gift," Morgen said. "He was really committed to the work. He really wanted to get it right and I really appreciate that about him."

Hulsing said with a chuckle about the experience, "I'm still recovering."

Hisko Hulsing Jaroslav ReptaWhat’s fascinating to learn about Cobain’s audio story is that it may not be true. 

“I met Krist Novoselic, the bass player for Nirvana, at Sundance and he said that he knew Kurt very well from a young age and he never heard that story before," said Hulsing.

Morgen and Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, also questioned the story’s veracity at a Q&A following the film’s screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. 

But, Morgen told BI, whether it’s real or not doesn’t interest him. 

“I’m not a writer or a historian,” he said. “I’m making a movie and it’s a depiction of his art, so I’m out for an emotional truth.”

SEE ALSO: Dave Grohl isn't in HBO's new Kurt Cobain documentary, but he wanted to be

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: New HBO documentary reveals what controversial singer Kurt Cobain was really like











The 5 moments everyone is talking about from Jon Stewart's final 'Daily Show'

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FullSizeRender(3)More than 50 people appeared on Jon Stewart's final "Daily Show" episode on Thursday, but which ones most stood out for viewers?

Amobee Brand Intelligence shifted through the more than 280,000 tweets during the episode to figure out which guests most popped on Twitter — a pretty good indication of who got viewers' attention overall.

Here's the most-tweeted guests of Stewart's final "Daily Show" episode:

1. Stephen Colbert, 6,669 tweets

 The former correspondent flipped the tables on Stewart when he went off the teleprompter to thank the host for his professionalism, kindness, and tremendous know-how in doing his job. He also got Stewart to cry.

2. Bruce Springsteen, 2,772 tweets

 The New Jersey rocker and his E Street Band closed out the episode. "This is by request of the man himself," Springsteen said. They went ton to play "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "Born to Run."

3. John Oliver, 1,341 tweets
john oliver returns to host the dailyThe former correspondent had replaced the host at "The Daily Show" desk while Stewart shot his movie, "Rosewater." Now hosting his own show at HBO, he gave Stewart grief for dealing with the limitations of basic cable and then prepared to host the show one more time.

4. John McCain, 1,062 tweets

McCain appeared as part of a montage of politicians and journalists, McCain appeared with a Jon Stewart puppet. That, of course, was a reference to the McCain puppet that Stewart once had on the show.

5. Wyatt Cenac, 945 tweets

Cenac recently made headlines when he revealed that he left "The Daily Show" over a disagreement with Stewart over the host's imitation of Herman Cain. While Cenac didn't enter the studio, the two confirmed that they were "good."

 

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert made Jon Stewart tear up during his 'Daily Show' goodbye speech

MORE: Jon Stewart issues final 'Daily Show' request: 'If you smell something, say something'

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The Republican presidential primary debate was the most-watched in history

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Republican debate

The first Republican presidential debate is shaping up to be the most-watched primary debate in history — for either party.

A total of 24 million viewers tuned into Fox News Channel for the debate, 7.9 million of those were in FNC's target audience demographic of adults, aged 25 to 54 years old, according to Deadline.

For context, the first Republican debate of the 2012 campaign drew 3.2 million viewers for FNC.

Big numbers were expected for the debate. Earlier, the New York Daily News reported that early Nielsen numbers revealed that the debate earned a 16.0 or a total of 16% of U.S. homes with a television were tuned into the debate on FNC.

According to the newspaper, CNN reported that the highest-rated Republican primary debates in 2011 and 2012 were both watched by 5% of U.S. homes with a TV.

donald trump jeb bushThe tripling of that number by Thursday's debates is being attributed to Donald Trump's participation. The real estate mogul has been leading in the polls amid several controversies.

Additionally, a Fox News representative told the paper that so many people tried to watch the debate online that the "overwhelming demand caused server issues in the debate live stream."

CNN and CNBC will air the next Republican presidential primary debates on September 16 and October 28, respectively.

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump: My Rosie O'Donnell scorn was 'the biggest event' of the debate

MORE: Here are the best quotes from the GOP debate

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NOW WATCH: Meet the real people who want Donald Trump to be president










The 25 richest self-made billionaires

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bill gatesThere are two types of billionaires: those who inherited their wealth, and those who built it from nothing.

Our friends at Wealth-X, a firm that does research and net worth valuations on ultra-high net worth individuals, focused on the latter to compile a list of the wealthiest self-made billionaires in the world.

From tech mogul Bill Gates to Alibaba founder Jack Ma, here's who made the list. 

25. Len Blavatnik

Estimated net worth: $20.1 billion

Though he's known as one of Britain's richest residents, Blavatnik is a native of Ukraine. He earned degrees at Moscow State University, Columbia, and Harvard Business School before founding Access Industries in 1986 and investing in aluminum and chemical companies. In recent years he began investing in tech, with stakes in Spotify and Beats. Blavatnik also owns Warner Music, which he bought in 2011 for $3.3 billion.

Source: Wealth-X



24. Li Ka-Shing

Estimated net worth: $20.1 billion

Ka-Shing is one of the richest men in Asia, but his power far exceeds his wealth. He's known for investing in new, blossoming tech startups and was an early Facebook backer. Recently, the company he chairs, Hutchison Whampoa, bought the UK's second-largest mobile operator, O2. Last year he invested $23 million in plant-based egg-replacement company Hampton Creek through his firm Horizon Ventures.

Source: Wealth-X 



23. Patrick Drahi

Estimated net worth: $21 billion

The third-richest person in France, Drahi founded Altice, a multinational cable and telecommunications holding company, in 2002. Altice operates throughout France, Belgium, Israel, Portugal, and the Dominican Republic, and garnered international attention for its $1.8 billion IPO in January 2014. Drahi is coming to the US soon, too — he's taking over American cable company Suddenlink.

Source: Wealth-X



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There may be a 'Training Day' TV series on the way

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The 2001 cop drama "Training Day," starring Denzel Washington as a crooked LA cop and Ethan Hawke as his rookie partner, might be headed to television.

Deadline is reporting that “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are shopping around a series idea to the broadcast networks. Fuqua would executive produce and potentially direct the pilot.

The movie followed a day in the life of Jake Holt (Hawke) as he goes through a training course with a rogue narcotics officer (Washington). Written by David Ayer (director of "Suicide Squad"), Washington’s performance led to a Best Actor Oscar win.

According to Deadline, the series would take place 15 years after the events in the movie, set in the LAPD with the rookie cop being black and the veteran corrupt cop being white.

Fuqua’s latest movie, “Southpaw,” recently opened in theaters. His next movie, a remake of “The Magnificent Seven,” will be released in September 2016.

SEE ALSO: MEET DAVID AYER: The hard-edged director of "Suicide Squad"

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Celebrity Gatekeepers: 7 personal assistants to Hollywood stars explain what their days are like

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bethenny frankell

While the celebrity lifestyle may appear to be filled with glitzy red carpets and A-list events, there's plenty that goes on behind-the-scenes that isn't quite as glamorous.

Behind most celebrities is a team of people working to make sure everything looks perfect and runs smoothly in the hectic life of a star. In addition to agents, managers, publicists, and a glam squad, many stars also have a personal assistant managing the logistics of their hectic lives.

From booking flights to planning meetings and anything in between, assistants are the backbone of the busy schedules of many stars and entrepreneurs..

In New York, assistants for many leading celebrities and business moguls participate in a professional group called New York Celebrity Assistants.

We spoke with seven assistants from the association and learned about what it's like to work for a high-profile employer in New York City.

SEE ALSO: The 11 assistants who run Hollywood

MORE: 9 things I learned working as a celebrity assistant

Meghan Herd helps handle the chaotic life of "Real Housewives" mogul Bethenny Frankel

"No two days are ever the same" when working for Skinnygirl Cocktails founder Bethenny Frankel, Frankel's executive assistant, Meghan Herd, tells Business Insider. 

Herd began working for the entrepreneur and star of Bravo's "The Real Houswives of New York" in 2013, after deciding that she "needed a change" from her job as an assistant to a number of leading musicians.

As Frankel's assistant, Herd says she now wears "many hats." 

"Whether I am trying to get a seat on a flight an hour before take-off, getting a table at the hottest new restaurant or making sure the office is running smoothly," Herd says, "I am proud of getting things done when somebody says it can’t be done." 

Herd occassionally appears alongside her employer on "Real Housewives," and in an interview with Hollywood Life, Herd describes the experience of handling Frankel's chaotic travel schedule as being "like that scene in 'Home Alone' — we're just running to the gate everytime."

 

 



Vanessa King has worked closely with Julianne Moore for nearly ten years

2014 was a busy year for actress Julianne Moore.

As the assistant to Moore and her husband, filmmaker Bart Freundlich, Vanessa King acted as a “sort of Mission Control” for the actress’s travel plans and schedules during the hectic award season that culminated in Moore’s Oscar win for Best Actress.

King started the job nearly a decade ago, after leaving another assistant gig with the family who lived across the street from Moore. “I ran into Julie on the street,” King says, “and she asked if I was interested in working with her.” 

Today, King works out of her employers’ luxurious West Village apartment, acting as a contact point for business matters and charities — such as The Children’s Health Fund and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, in which Moore is actively involved.



Gail Abrahamsen is the right-hand woman to "Shark Tank" star and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran

Gail Abrahamsen became the personal assitant to real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran in 2005, and her job has grown in responsibilty as Corcoran's star has risen in recent years with her recurring role as a judge on ABC's "Shark Tank."

Handling Corcoran's three email accounts, Abrahamsen responds to over 300 emails per day. "Many hours are spent managing her endless media/TV appearance requests and making sure all are on the calendar (our bible)," Abrahamsen says. 

When Corcoran requested a lavish launch party for her book, "Shark Tales," in 2011, Abrahamsen managed to come through with all of her employer's eclectic demands — including finding a model to dress up as a mermaid and two twin girls to greet her guests in swimsuits. 

Whether planning out her employer's many speaking events or tracking down a "lost heirloom pearl necklace at the XpresSpa in JFK airport," Abrahamsen admits that there's "never a dull moment" on the job.

"Every day is a new adventure at Barbara Corcoran Inc.," she says.

 

 



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Jon Stewart's final 'Daily Show' is the series' second-most watched episode

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Even with all the excitement surrounding Jon Stewart's final episode of "The Daily Show," it came just shy of being the series' most-watched episode.

A Comedy Central press release reports that 3.5 million people tuned into "The Daily Show" on Thursday night, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings. A total 1.8 million of them belonged to the advertiser-desired audience of Adults, aged 18 to 49 years old.

barack obama jon stewart lastFor total viewers, that made Stewart's farewell episode second behind the 3.6 million viewers who tuned into President Barack Obama's appearance on the October 29, 2008 episode.

The network points out that Thursday's episode still beat out several other talk show host departures in both total viewers and the advertiser demo, including "Late Night with Conan O’Brien" (February 20, 2009), "The Colbert Report" (December 18, 2014), "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (December 19, 2014) and "Chelsea Lately (August 26, 2014).

Additionally, Hulu counts an extra one million full episode views of Stewart's farewell on its service.

The finale was the No. 1 most socialed episode of the series. On Twitter, 117,000 people wrote 233,400 tweets on Friday and 4.3 million people saw those tweets for a total of 26.4 million times.

SEE ALSO: The 5 moments everyone is talking about from Jon Stewart's final 'Daily Show'

MORE: Here's what will happen to Jon Stewart's famous 'Daily Show' set after his final episode

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Things you may not know about Jon Stewart and how he got to 'The Daily Show'










Hillary Clinton broke protocol to take a selfie with Kim Kardashian during a star-studded Hollywood fundraiser

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Hillary Clinton hit Hollywood Thursday night for a $2,700-per-ticket fundraiser at the home of Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, and his wife, F-Cancer founder, Yael Cohen Braun.

The 250 attendees included the likes of  Tom Hanks, Usher, Jessica Alba, John Travolta, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the Kardashians.

While "people were clearly warned not to snap a pic with Hill," according to TMZ, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and Kris Jenner all ignored the rules.

"When Kim approached, Hillary's security broke protocol and stood down, with Hillary's blessing," reports TMZ. "Our sources say the two talked about Hillary's plans for child care. But the take-away moment was when Hillary gushed over North, saying she's seen a bunch of pics and the kid is adorable."

A pretty epic photo followed, with Kim writing: "got my selfie!!! I really loved hearing her speak & hearing her goals for our country! #HillaryForPresident"

I got my selfie!!! I really loved hearing her speak & hearing her goals for our country! #HillaryForPresident

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Aug 6, 2015 at 8:40pm PDT on

 

Kris Jenner made sure to get in on the action, too, captioning the below photo: "An Honor to meet you Hillary Clinton! Great evening... #ohjustchatting"

An Honor to meet you Hillary Clinton! Great evening... #ohjustchatting

A photo posted by @krisjenner on Aug 6, 2015 at 8:13pm PDT on

The night's host and hostess also appeared to be cleared of any protocol with Clinton, posting plenty of pics from the evening:

A very surreal night. Thanks for everyone who joined us. #HillaryforPresident

A photo posted by Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) on Aug 6, 2015 at 11:46pm PDT on

 

I was so proud of my wife tonight. She is incredible. And our future president saw that. #HillaryforPresident @yael

A photo posted by Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) on Aug 6, 2015 at 11:47pm PDT on

 

A night of great friends @howuseeit @enmemetemps @brandoncreed

A photo posted by Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) on Aug 6, 2015 at 11:49pm PDT on

The night raised approximately $1 million to fund Clinton's bid for the White House, according to The Wrap.

Braun, 34, is Justin Bieber's ever-present, longtime manager. Braun now owns two record labelsSchool Boy Records and Raymond-Braun Media Group, a joint venture with Usher.

Cohen, 28, is the South African founder of the nonprofit "F--- Cancer," which is a cancer education organization she launched in 2009 after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

SEE ALSO: Justin Bieber's Manager Scooter Braun Marries 'F-Cancer' Founder Yael Cohen In Star-Studded Ceremony

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 11 little-known facts about Hillary Clinton











6 ways 50 Cent says he tricked the world into believing he was rich

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In the wake of filing for bankruptcy, rapper Curtis Jackson, aka "50 Cent," has pulled back the curtain on his seemingly lavish lifestyle.

Before filing for bankruptcy, 50 Cent was hit with a court order to pay $5 million to Lastonia Leviston. The woman had won the payment in court after the rapper allegedly released a sex tape of her to embarrass the rapper's nemesis, Rick Ross, who had fathered one of her children. 

Leviston's lawyers believed 50 Cent's bankruptcy was a way to avoid paying Leviston, so they took him to court again. But on the stand, 50 Cent indicated his wealth was little more than an illusion. In other words, he merely led the public to believe he was a baller. Jackson says he did this because the whole music industry is about aspiring to something greater.

Here are six ways 50 Cent says he embellished his hip-hop lifestyle, according to a transcript of the testimony he gave in the Leviston lawsuit:

1. He recycled his gold chains.

SXSW was fun shout out to hang W/ #smsaudio

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Mar 12, 2014 at 3:14pm PDT on

 

50 Cent claims he could barely fill a jewelry drawer, let alone a whole jewelry chest. He said that he only actually owns "two or three chains" at "$30,000, $40,000" each. But, how does he make it seem as if he has more? The rapper says he takes those chains to a jeweler who can transform them into new, unrecognizable pieces of bling.

Lawyer: How many chains have you got?
Jackson: Two or three chains.
Lawyer: I'm sorry?
Jackson: Two or three different chains. What I do is take the jewelry back to the jeweler and they redo the jewelry with the same gold from the last thing. During album cycles I change, so you'll see a whole lot of stuff. But I take it back and have them change it into new stuff.
Lawyer: You have 30 to $40,000 in gold chains?
Jackson: Yes.

2. He traded in cars to get new ones.

Times are hard out here LMAO #FRIGO #SMSAUDIO

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Jul 13, 2015 at 9:43pm PDT on

Ten days before his testimony, interviewer Nick Grimshaw said 50 Cent bought a $300,000 Rolls Royce on a whim right before an interview. (Above, 50 Cent makes light of his bankruptcy with photo of himself with a smart car.)

But, according to 5o Cent's testimony, that story wasn't exactly true:

Lawyer: It is a false story in the sense it never happened?
Jackson: No, I got the car. But I took two cars that I had that back.
Lawyer: So the story that came out, you know the story, which is you just decided you just had to get a Rolls Royce and you bought one --
Jackson: That is the guy's interpretation of it.

3. He doesn't actually own all those cars.

I go 0 to a 100 real quick, nah what I'm talking bout? #smsaudio #animalambition

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Jun 6, 2014 at 1:45pm PDT on

 

50 Cent once took Forbes magazine on a tour of his car collection, which consisted of three similarly painted blue vehicles, including a Range Rover, a Lamborghini Murcielago, a Bentley Mulsanne, and a Yamaha motorcycle. 50 Cent had really become good at presenting a lavish, mogul lifestyle to the press. But here's what he says the truth about his cars really was: 

Lawyer: Have you filmed yourself showing all your cars or showing a lot of cars that you now say aren't yours, but have you made films showing off all the cars that you own?
Jackson: You mean like MTV "Cribs," maybe.
Lawyer: I mean like you standing in front of a camera saying this is my Lamborghini and this is my Rolls and this is my Ferrari?
Jackson: I did it once.
Lawyer: You did that?
Jackson: Yes.
Lawyer: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls, Chevy Blazer or Suburbans, I'm sorry, they were specially equipped and cost a few hundred thousand dollars each?

Jackson: Yes.
Lawyer: You did all that and said those cars were yours?
Jackson: Yes. At that time, those cars were rented.

Below, watch 50 Cent show off his rented cars on another TV show:

 4. He says he never actually placed a $1.6 million Mayweather/Pacquiao bet.

Floyd Mayweather Manny PacquiaoOn March 3, 50 Cent talked to "The Breakfast Club" morning show on Power 105.1 in New York and said he was betting $1.6 million Floyd Mayweather Jr. would defeat Manny Pacquiao in the boxers’ much-hyped bout that happened in May. Mayweather did win, and though Jackson has said he won the bet, even on “Conan” (video of that portion of the interview has since been taken off the show’s website), according Jackson’s testimony he never placed the bet.

Lawyer: Is it correct, sir, that you publicly stated -- and you said it on Conan O'Brien the other night -- that you bet 1.6 million dollars on Floyd Mayweather to win the fight that took place in early May?
Jackson: Yes.
Lawyer: You said you won that bet?
Jackson: Yes.
Lawyer: You won one million dollars?

Jackson: No, I didn't say that.

Lawyer: You didn't say that on the Conan show?
Jackson: No.
Lawyer: Okay. So what did you win on that bet?
Jackson: I didn't win anything on that.
Lawyer: Huh?
Jackson: I didn’t win anything on that, actually.
Lawyer: Did you make the bet?
Jackson: No.
Lawyer: You never made the bet?
Jackson: No.

5. He doesn't own flashy watches.

New Rolex,no time to Play games. Hustler 101 class in session. SMSaudio

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Dec 17, 2012 at 9:20pm PST on

Jackson has flaunted expensive watches on his Instagram account, while on the red carpet, and performing at concerts. But according to his testimony, the rapper/actor said he only owns three or four watches and that “they are not big name watches.”

In fact, he told the court that the watch he was wearing that day was a Casio G-SHOCK, which retails between $100 and $450, according to its website. Jackson went on to say that in the hip-hop culture, “People only follow things that they think is the next level” but that it’s all deceiving, just like a music video. “They say action and you see all these fancy cars,” he explained, “and when they say cut everything goes back to the dealership.”

I'm a be honest I'm so confused. HELP I'm trying to get dressed #smsaudio

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Aug 13, 2013 at 3:49pm PDT on

 6. The 64 carat ring is not his either.

On September 3, 2013, Jackson posted two pictures on his Instagram account of him holding what he describes as a 65 karat Cartier ring.

Cartier Cat 65k google that lol#smsaudio

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Sep 3, 2013 at 9:19pm PDT on

 

In one picture of him wearing the ring the caption reads, “I’m the coolest man alive ask around my hood.”

I'm the coolest man alive ask around my hood. #smsaudio

A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Sep 3, 2013 at 9:01pm PDT on

 

In the testimony, at first Jackson cannot recollect the ring. He even states, “I don’t think it is possible to fit 65 carats [on a ring].”

However, when he’s shown a picture of the ring on Instagram he admits that he did post it and that he did not own it. “It was a borrowed piece of jewelry from a jeweler,” Jackson told the court.

50 Cent's attorney has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: 50 Cent's comments on 'Conan' are coming back to haunt him in court

MORE: 'Bankrupt' rapper 50 Cent has a 24-bathroom house with a nightclub in it

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An inside look at how 'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart went from unknown stand-up to America's favorite fake newscaster

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Tonight, Jon Stewart will host his final episode of "The Daily Show." He's been at the show's helm for 16 years, from the end of the Clinton years to the close of the Obama era.

In that time, he's established himself as a national icon, taking to the air every night at 11 p.m. to, as New Yorker editor David Remnick put it, "expose our civic bizarreries." 

In honor of the end of his Emmy-winning tenure — though not, he reminds us, his actual end ("Guys, let me make something clear," he reminded his audience at a recent taping, The Week reports. "I'm not dying.") — we looked back on the incredible and winding career of the legendary comedian.

SEE ALSO: An inside look the historic career of 'unlikely ballerina' Misty Copeland, who went from 'pretty much homeless' to dance superstar

Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz was born in 1962 in New York City. His mother, Marian, was a teacher who later became an educational consultant. His father, Don, was a physicist. (His older brother, Larry, was 2 at the time, and went on to work on Wall Street, and is the former COO of NYSE Euronext.)

Sources: The New Yorker, Moment



The Leibowitzes moved to a middle-class neighborhood in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, where Stewart grew up. His was one of the few Jewish families in town, and he was often teased as a kid, according to the New Yorker's Tad Friend. "He recalls being called 'Leibotits' and 'Leibosh--s,' and getting punched out at the bus stop when he was in the seventh grade."

Source: The New Yorker



When Stewart was 12, his parents divorced. According to The New Yorker, he was "deeply shaken by the breakup, and by his subsequent failure to find common ground with his father." In the 2002 profile, Stewart told Friend that his father had never seen him perform.

Source: The New Yorker



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Here's why I refuse to read Harper Lee's record-breaking new book

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Less than a week after Harper Lee's new novel, "Go Set A Watchman," hit shelves, 1.1 million people had already done something I refuse to do: They bought (and probably read) the book.

That makes it the fastest-selling book in publisher HarperCollin's history. 

For me, the reasons to abstain from reading it are both moral and nostalgic. I don't want to see one of American literature's greatest heroes turned into a racist — especially when questionable events suggest the 89-year-old author may not have wanted the book published. 

Some might call "Go Set A Watchman" a sequel to Harper Lee's classic novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird." The latter follows the tribulations of Atticus Finch, an honorable, albeit court-appointed, lawyer, through the eyes of his young daughter, Jean Louise (more affectionately known as Scout). Atticus uses his talents to defend a black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl in the 1930s deep South.

But I wouldn't give "Watchman" the honor of calling it a sequel to "Mockingbird." 

Set 20 years after "Mockingbird," the newly released book tells the story of Scout's return to Alabama as an adult who's been living in New York City. There, Scott confronts the hard truth that her father has become a Klan meeting-attending, anti-Brown v. Board of Education racist — the kind of man who makes comments like, "Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?"

The reviews I've read offer enough of a glimpse to keep me from reading the whole book. 

When Lee initially submitted "Watchman" in 1957, her shrewed editor wagged her finger, told Lee to rewrite it from a child's perspective, and sent the author on her way.

Forty million copies, a Pulitzer Prize, and millions of high school students souls' touched later, I'd say Lee's editor made the right call.

Needless to say, Atticus' unwavering belief throughout "Mockingbird" that Tom Robinson, the accused rapist, deserves a fair trial didn't go over well in Jim Crow-era Alabama. His children faced torment at school and in the community, and the night before the trial, Atticus even confronted an angry mob. 

This all happens to a man who told his son:

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.

gregory peck atticus finch to kill a mockingbird

In light of "Watchman's" release, "Mockingbird" could be taken as a commentary on a child's naivety about her father and the ways of the world. Lee, however, has contended the book showcases a deeper meaning. 

“The book is not an indictment so much as a plea for something, a reminder to people at home," she said in 1963, according to The New York Times.

Also, Gregory Peck is a total babe in the 1962 film adaption as a socially conscious lawyer, complete with three-piece suit and glasses. Racism just wouldn't become him.

Just as Atticus underwent a transformation in "Watchman," his creator has undergone one herself since writing her rejected manuscript. At 89, Lee is deaf, blind, and largely confined to a wheelchair. Not to suggest the elderly are incapable of making informed decisions, but curious circumstances surround the public outing of "Watchman."

First, when the news broke, Lee's lawyer released a statement on her behalf, according to The New York Times“I hadn’t realized it [the book] had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it.”

Carter became the family's lawyer after Lee's now-deceased sister gave up the position when she turned 100. Ever since, personal and professional skirmishes seem more common for Lee than ever.  

go set a watchmanHarperCollins also admits, as of February 2015, that it had no direct contact with Lee and simply communicated through her lawyer, The Daily Mail reported. 

Although some friends and fans argue Lee's mind is sound, the state of Alabama did conduct an official inquiry into the book's publication by interviewing Lee and those who know her, according to the Times.

All that could mean Lee never wanted the racist version of Atticus to see the light of day.

His character's decline from the paragon of fatherhood and fairness to an opponent of civil rights makes me sad — as does the mere implication an 89-year-old author may have been coerced to release an unpolished version of her masterpiece at the expense of her reputation and her fans.

In "Watchman," Scout seems to feel the same way about her father that I feel about book: “I’ll never believe a word you say to me again. I despise you and everything you stand for.”

Join the conversation about this story »

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Tidal looks like a time bomb — here's what went wrong with Jay Z's music-streaming service

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Kanye West Jay Z Tidal

It seemed like a happy marriage in January this year when rapper Jay Z bought Aspiro, the parent company of the streaming platforms WiMP and Tidal. All the products were rolled into one premium music-streaming service, called Tidal.

The new company, which relaunched on March 30, said it would offer customers higher-quality listening than the other streaming services on the market while helping subscribers discover music through curated playlists.

The goal for Jay Z: challenge far more established streaming giants such as Spotify and, hopefully, win.

A billion-dollar roster of artists joined the endeavor, including Coldplay, Deadmau5, Daft Punk, Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, Jack White, Madonna, Usher, Arcade Fire, and Rihanna. Also on board was Jay Z's wife, Beyoncé, among many other artists who assumed co-ownerships of Tidal.

Jay Z touted Tidal as the artists' platform, reportedly offering millions of dollars and equity stakes in the company to some choice talent.

Artists initially praised Tidal for presenting their music in such a high-quality format. And musicians would be paid "double the royalties of other streaming services," according to former Tidal CEO Andy Chen.

Chen told the International Business Times in November, "It's a win-win for everyone."

Maybe not. Tidal had a rough launch less than six months ago, and things have been turbulent ever since.

Now the company looks like a time bomb.

jay zWhat went wrong

For starters, Tidal's biggest selling point — high-fidelity audio — requires a $20-per-month subscription.

Tidal's cheaper $10-per-month service doesn't offer much incentive to switch from a different option, because it is nearly identical to its similarly priced competitors.

"They probably could've did something more exciting," rapper 50 Cent said in a radio interview in May. "Why would you actually buy Tidal to get something that would be everywhere else?"

Interest in the app has been crashing, too. According to App Annie, it was not among the 500 most downloaded apps in the US earlier this year and as of Tuesday was the 107th most downloaded app in the music category.

Another problem, often overlooked, is that Tidal's high-fidelity service streams songs at 1,411 kilobits per second. That is roughly 40 megabytes of data for one 3-1/2-minute song. Some subscribers could end up maxing out their data plans if they're not careful.

andy chen aspiro ceo tidal

The revolving door

Tidal's executive suite has been unstable. Chen exited as CEO in April amid reports of further shake-ups within the ranks.

Peter Tonstad stepped in as interim CEO but left less than three months later.

"It was a wasted opportunity," streaming expert Russ Crupnick told The Wrap, referring to Tidal's rough start. "I think they had a window in which people were listening, but unfortunately that opportunity was squandered."

Last month Tidal lost yet another key executive in US sales and marketing manager David Solomon, who was hired to pump up Tidal's US presence.

Most recently, the company's senior vice president of label and artist relations, Zena Burns, quit two months into her tenure. Jeff Geisler, the chief marketing officer for Roc Nation — another of Jay Z's companies — left last month, though it's not clear whether he worked directly with Tidal.

What could happen if Jay Z leaves

For what it's worth, Jay Z and his associates have offered no indication that they plan to give up. Last Friday, Tidal neither confirmed nor denied reports Jay Z was thinking of jumping ship, responding on Twitter with only a loosely quoted Mark Twain reference:

"Lies can spread around the world while the truth is putting on its slippers."

Madonna, a co-owner of Tidal, told the Associated Press last week, "It's just the beginning, so we're working out a lot of kinks."

Jay Z may not leave right now, but mounting legal troubles are adding to the pressure. Tidal is entangled in a $50 million lawsuit filed by Cash Money Records over a Lil Wayne mixtape that was streamed exclusively in July. Cash Money says Tidal's use of Lil Wayne's music was "a desperate and illegal attempt to save their struggling streaming service."

With Apple Music's relative success and Spotify still enjoying a huge following, the streaming space could prove to be a tough code for Tidal to crack. And Jay Z's rumored departure could strip away some huge name recognition from the app and possibly cast its future to the wind.

Business Insider has reached out to Tidal for comment.

SEE ALSO: Jay Z's sports management company is being sued for $20 million

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