Eggs Over Uneasy – Popbitch

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“If someone called me boring, I’d say, ‘You just don’t know me.’ Because I’m fucking not” – Sam Smith

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* Fannying about with Jeremy Corbyn

* The hottest name in Hollywood

* Charts: Post Malone v Camila Cabello

>> Red-handed <<

Creative wronging

The recent revelations about Labour MP Jared O’Mara’s startling choice of language and imagery came as little surprise to his fellow students on the Creative Writing MA course at Sheffield Hallam. They remember him as being “very angry”, “chippy” and “resistant to criticism”.
One particular incident sticks in their collective mind. When asked to read out a piece he had written so that the class could offer their critique, he chose to read a very aggressive (and seemingly autobiographical) account of having a wank while sitting in the pub.

Today is the 30th anniversary of Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé releasing Barcelona. And what better way to mark the occasion than for the Spanish government to also release Barcelona (and Girona, and Lleida, and Tarragona…)

>> Food for thought <<

Eggs over uneasy

As more accusations come tumbling out about Harvey Weinstein, still we keep hearing “But why did nobody say anything?” So perhaps it would be useful to illustrate exactly how scared people were of breaking rank at Miramax.
Every week, Harvey held a production meeting where everyone in production (men and women) gave a status update on the progress made on each project. This meeting would be fully catered; a lovely breakfast spread put on. Yet every week, no-one would dare to touch it.
Why? Because everyone was convinced that Harvey would fire them if he ever caught them eating.
And if they were that frightened of his reaction to a sandwich, it’s maybe easier to understand why so few people fancied their chances with a sexual harassment suit.

The only person who would ever eat at those meetings was Meryl Poster, the co-president of production. She’d been Harvey’s assistant in the late 80s/early 90s (so presumably had enough dirt on him to be able to fill her plate as high as she liked)

>> Big Questions <<

Who’s asking what this week?

Once part of a beloved double act; now rarely seen on television – which TV personality has been taking up a worryingly regular seat in the pub most afternoons (and leaving it unmistakably damp when they go)?

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>> Grind ‘er? <<

Barely even know ‘er

Robert Rodriguez was full-throated in his criticism of former associate Harvey Weinstein, wasting no time in calling his behaviour “truly disgusting”.
And he’s not wrong to do so, but quietly he must be a little glad that the heat is off him now – because Rodriguez knows only too well what it’s like to be persona non grata around the Weinstein Company offices.
While making Grindhouse back in the mid-00s, Rodriguez’s own inability to keep it in his pants ended up causing huge headaches on set. His not-exactly-secret affair with lead actress Rose McGowan caused so many problems with the film’s producer that they had to shut down the set for weeks to get it sorted.
That producer? His wife, Elizabeth Avellan – who co-produced such Rodriguez classics as From Dusk Til Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City and… their five children.

Banksy is planning a big show at Christmas in the West Bank at his Walled Off hotel.

>> Euro-crass <<

The vision thing

Jeremy Corbyn must have been pleased at the standing ovation his speech got in Brussels last week. Not least because it was finished in a fraught rush on the train there.
According to a Popbitch reader who was sat in the same Eurostar carriage as Corbyn, there was a lot of fretting and fuss coming from JC’s table en route. In particular, there was a lot of heated discussion about the word ‘vision’ and whether or not they should remove every single mention of it from the speech.
It sounded like it was going to go on indefinitely until one female advisor got so tired of press supremo Seumas Milne’s constant interjections that she insisted everyone “stop fannying about” over individual words as they had 26 pages of the stuff to get through.

Danny Dyer, Richard Blackwood, Lee Ryan – now Hannah from S Club is joining EastEnders. (Which one of you lot is in charge of casting over there?)

>> Alan’s sugar <<

Sweet on May, less on Johnson

For some political balance, someone who was seated next to Tory MP Sir Alan Duncan at a function recently asked the right honourable gentleman for his opinion on Theresa May, his party’s beleaguered leader.
Hoping that he’d spill a little something juicy, they were disappointed to hear Duncan diplomatically explain the various issues he had with her style of leadership, her lack of core ideology and her unending dependence on bad advisors.
So they asked him for his opinion on Boris Johnson instead.
Which was, simply: “Cunt”.

The Q3 RAJARs have just been announced. Five Live looks like a big loser, with listening figures at their lowest since 2004.

>> Law and disorder <<

A small change in fortunes

One huge positive to come out of the recent trend of unmasking celebrity sex pests is that it has put the high-powered lawyers of Hollywood in a very precarious position.
In fact, in the last two years alone, two of the biggest behemoths of 21st century celebrity litigation have accidentally ended up mangling their reputations trying to defend the indefensible.
It takes a little while to explain but if you want to have your spirits boosted by the story of how disgraced date-rapist Bill Cosby and serial sex offender Harvey Weinstein have managed to blunt the teeth of Tinseltown’s most powerful lawyers, read on…
[Read ‘The Harder They Fall’ on Popbitch]

Celebrate Christmas with HonestBrew’s Craft Beer Advent Calendar 2017. 24 unique beers. Buy now for yourself or someone you love. Limited edition/special pre-order price – £64.90.

[Buy It Now!]

>> School’s out <<

Barlow’s bad cameras

Last week we told you that Gary Barlow kindly donated his old CCTV system to Frodsham High School as a way to say thanks for all the free use of their badminton courts he got while he was between jobs (a.k.a. his solo career).
We’d like to retract it. We’re not sure quite how kind the gesture was after all, as the system he gave them didn’t seem to be much cop. Frodsham High was closed in 2009 – mainly due to low attendance numbers, budget concerns and… security issues.
Nice one, Barlow. You dick.

Ear-plugs at the ready: Gary Barlow is planning a collaboration with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball.

>> Nominative determinism <<

The hottest name in Hollywood

Usually when we write about nominative determinism each week, it’ll be something along the lines of Ofsted’s National Director of Social Care being called Eleanor Schooling. Or that Julie Brander is a senior account executive at corporate PR giants Weber Shandwick.
But this week has seen the release of a film with a truly inspired bit of casting.
Only The Brave is based on the true story of a historic wildfire that threatened a town in Arizona (the deadliest event for firefighters since 9/11, no less). It stars Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Andie Macdowell and Miles Teller.
But the name of the actor they’ve cast to play the town’s mayor?
Forrest Fyre.

Biscuit Preferences Of The Stars: Alan Moore – “I must state that I despise the Hob-Nob for its faux-rustic pretension and generally regard it as the biscuit equivalent of Alex James out of Blur”

>> Suburban Decay <<

The United States of AMI, pt.3

For part three of our four-part series on the story of American Media Inc, we need to take a look at the extremely sexy world of magazine distribution channels.
Sure, that might not sound as engaging as part one (the one about a botched Mafia hit-job) or as juicy as part two (about America’s most disgraced and disgraceful lawyer) but it does centre around a man with a name that sounds like a willy – so that’s something.
It also highlights how the publisher of Donald Trump’s little-read vanity mag Trump Style is involved in this whole sorry mess, and how he used a massive media empire to make a Playboy playmate disappear.
[Read Part Three here]

Are we at a tipping point for online abuse? Will killer robots change policing? How extremists use the Internet and can we do anything about it? All this and more at Open Rights Group’s OrgCon 2017, London NW1, Sat 4 Nov. £40 tickets – just £18 with code POPBITCH

[Book here]

>> Hmmms <<

Halloween, Hanks, hearse

Top DJ/producer Mike Mago has teamed up with London’s electro pop prodigy Tiggi Hawke on his latest banger

[Hear on YouTube]
Is this Ivanka Trump’s secret sex playlist on Spotify?

[Read on HuffPo]
Halloween Dog Parade

[Watch on YouTube]
Halloween Sound Board

[Play around here]
An oral history of Tom Hanks’ David S Pumpkins

[Read on Vulture]
UPS drivers posting pictures of the dogs on their rounds

[See on Facebook]
Local News Of The Week

[Read on Birmingham Mail]

Thanks to: GH, KA, NG, NS, RL, TP, TM, JC, AM, LH, C, RL, CM, gentlemanthug, danceswithmustelids, theriotact, RJ

Old Jokes Home:

It’s hard to find a funny chemistry joke any more.

All the best Argon.Still Bored?

This week’s Media Masters podcast features Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music, talking about what it’s really like working with stars like Beyoncé, Adele and Harry Styles – and how they deal with the darker side of fame…

[Listen/Download on Media Masters]

Fancy Another?