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*** THROUGH TIME AND SPACEY: A Retrospective ***
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| >> The usual suspect << |
| A world of endless surprise |
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In 2004, Kevin Spacey’s ludicrous tale of tripping over his dog in the park in the middle of the night was given an airing live on the BBC’s Today. Newspapers and TV all sniggered when covering it but, aside from a few inverted commas in their copy, his version of events (which was such obvious horseshit) went unchallenged.
Long-time Popbitch readers will remember that we gave you the real story: Spacey picked up a star-struck waiter, took him for drinks (in the bar below our office, no less) pushed his luck a little too far and got a punch in the chops for his troubles. Yet no-one picked it up, affording Spacey another 13 years of blind eyes and turned heads.
In which time Spacey was appointed a visiting professor at Oxford University, where it was his job to take workshops of keen, young wannabe actors (and you can make an educated guess about which sorts of students were the focus of his attention while he was there).
Now the showbiz world is feigning surprise about it all, as always. Which leads us to think that one of two things must be true. Either Popbitch makes you more knowledgeable about the workings of the entertainment industry than actually working in the entertainment industry.
Or, everyone is lying. Again. |
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| The waiter at the centre of the ‘mugging’ story initially thought he was serving Russell Crowe. His manager was the one who let him know he was actually serving Kevin Spacey. |
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| >> The ‘flix is in << |
| Not quite so quick to act |
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Netflix wasted no time in announcing the end of House Of Cards in light of the emerging Spacey allegations, immediately suspending the production of season six – which rather gives the impression that the whole thing caught them unaware.
And who knows? Maybe it did. But Spacey’s reputation is pretty well-known in the industry. Earlier this year, execs on an upcoming Gore Vidal biopic (in which Spacey plays Vidal) held a pre-production meeting to discuss what to do if Spacey ever got too handsy with any of the pretty young things on set.
The producers of that biopic? Oh, just a little up-and-coming studio by the name of… Netflix. |
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LA SOIRÉE is back for its 8th Christmas season! At the Aldwych Theatre – posh new venue, same cheeky show, from 24th November. Book before 15th November and save £10.
[ Get your tickets now!] |
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| >> Dressing down << |
| Democracy in action |
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It’s no real surprise that the Old Vic has set up a specialist hotline for possible Spacey issues. Let’s just hope they have call waiting.
One actor who’d been in a show during Spacey’s tenure told us that beyond the rotating cast of “beautiful young men” they saw emerging from his office, Spacey apparently always made a point of sharing the regular dressing room with the lads when he was performing in a show. He did so as a “democratic” gesture – which presumably had nothing at all to do with the shower cubicle in the corner of the room… |
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| Long time readers may remember an old Big Question from 2004, where we asked which actor had the industry nickname “Handball” because of his penchant for having young men cup his balls while he masturbated. You can probably guess now. |
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*** END OF TIME AND SPACEY: Normal service resumes ***
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| >> Food fight << |
| Have your cake and beat it |
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Anon writes:
“I can confirm your story about Harvey Weinstein’s employees being terrified of eating around him. He actually fired a good friend of mine and her team once in Cannes for eating cake.
“He installed my friend, a script supervisor and her team in a hotel suite during Cannes film festival, with the demand that they stay inside the room working and not to leave until he returned. A few hours later, ravenous, the group tried to order room service but found out that the hotel reception had barred them from ordering anything, under Harvey’s strict instructions.
“Unable to leave (and terrified they would be seen by Harvey if they tried) they scoured the room for food. They soon found a chocolate cake inside the small fridge in the room and assumed it was left for them. The group divided the cake up and carried on working.
“Harvey returned soon after and, discovering they had eaten the chocolate cake, proceeded to fire them all on the spot. Apparently it was his cake and his only. The team all packed up to leave and he hired an entirely new team within about two hours of the cake fiasco.
“As stupid as it sounds, it’s true. And it’s one of many food-firing incidents associated with Harvey apparently.” |
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| Nominative Determinism Of The Week: the founder and Chief Investment Officer at Foxborough Wealth Management in New York… Gerard Stocks! |
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| >> Smoke alarm << |
| Final nail in the coffin |
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It’s tough to pick sides in a fight when both people scrapping are vicious, petty, temperamental pigs – and producer Scott Rudin is not someone we would ordinarily choose to celebrate.
However: times are tough, and he did get a good one over on Harvey Weinstein.
Rudin and Weinstein butted heads so often and so forcefully during the production of the Virginia Woolf biopic The Hours that Rudin refused point blank to work with Weinstein again.
Still, not wishing to forget his manners, Rudin sent Weinstein a little gift after the project had wrapped. A crate of cigarettes. Along with a wish that Weinstein would smoke himself to death.
FYI: If anyone kept a copy of the fax that Anthony Minghella sent to Harvey Weinstein when the budget of Cold Mountain got cut, we’d love to see it: hello@popbitch.com |
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| Strictly star Anton Du Beke releases his debut album later this month. He says its highlight is a cover of Me And My Shadow. (That bad, eh, Anton?) |
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| >> The grate Pretenders << |
| Rockin’ in the UAE world |
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Chrissie Hynde kicked up a bit of a fuss in Dubai last week after she cut a gig short because audience members were filming it on their phones. And while you may feel that she had a point, she was probably a little unwise to draw too much attention to herself.
Authorities in the UAE are not overly keen on Chrissie. Not after she staged a protest in the emirate a few years ago. About the halal slaughter of Australian sheep. |
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Lose Weight Without Willpower! Popbitch readers have been loving Slimpod: “It’s as if something has reached in and turned down the volume on my appetite. It’s a much more natural way of losing weight than a diet. Simply life-changing!” Using the promo code GOPOPBITCH gets you 20% off any programme.
[Visit Thinking Slimmer] |
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| >> Electile dysfunction << |
| The United States of AMI, pt.4 |
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We sent an email out about this on Tuesday, but given that this week alone we’ve seen Roger Stone permabanned from Twitter, Donald Trump’s approval reach an all-time low of 33% and Paul Manafort get arrested on charges of conspiracy against the United States, there honestly isn’t a better time to read the final part of our four-part series on the history of the National Enquirer.
The whole story starts here (and we really recommend you read the entire thing to get a sense of how weirdly intertwined it all is) but if you just want to learn why the coverage of Paul Manafort’s sex life will be a good gauge of Donald Trump’s chances of surviving his term, we’ve got you covered…
[Read Part Four on Popbitch] |
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On this week’s Media Masters podcast: Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News, who argues that there has never been a better time to be a reporter, and (in light of the Weinstein and Westminster allegations) discusses sexual bullying and harassment in the media.
[Listen/Download at Media Masters] |
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| Thanks to: Riquelme, AM, RT, gentlemanthug, meow, TW, NW, LOC, ulysses, NG, T, monstris, N, SG, CL, mount_st_nobody |
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Old Jokes Home:
I had an operation to improve my hearing, where the surgeon grafted pig’s ears to side of the head.But all I could hear was crackling.
Still Bored?
Want something light in this period of dark, dark news? This 80s Europop remix of Dua Lipa’s New Rules is an absolute joy
[Listen on YouTube] |
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