George Clooney might have a gazillion bucks in the bank but he’s apparently a union man through and through.
In a two-page letter released Thursday, Clooney adopted a neutral stance in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.
“What we can’t do is pit artist against artist,” he wrote.
AFTRA has already reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios. SAG wants AFTRA members to vote against the deal, saying its approval will handcuff SAG at the bargaining table. Both unions’ current contracts are set to expire Monday, leaving Hollywood on edge about a possible replay of the 100-day writers strike that ended in February. Results of the AFTRA vote are expected July 8.
Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin and others have joined hundreds of actors in signing an online petition urging actors to ratify the AFTRA pact. Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen and Holly Hunter have endorsed a SAG ad calling for AFTRA to return to the negotiating table to get a better deal.
Clooney called the fight counterproductive. “Because the one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson vs. Tom Hanks only strengthens the negotiating power” of the studios, he said.
Clooney also called on higher-paid actors to chip in a greater share of union dues and for 10 A-listers — “people that the studio heads don’t often say ‘no’ to,” he suggested, listing only Nicholson and Hanks by name — to sit down with studio heads once a year to “adjust the pay for actors.”
The idea of millionaire actors unionizing, let alone going on strike, has always struck me as ludicrous. But Clooney’s instinct here is right: if they’re going to organize, the big money stars ought to take care of the little guys. It makes sense to have a system in place for the folks struggling for scale jobs trying to get regular employment. Not so much one that has the likes of Clooney and Hanks walking a picket line.
Aging movie star Jack Nicholson tried to put together a video endorsement of Hillary Clinton using clips from his old movies, but just ended up creating this weird creepy thing that doesn’t really help the struggling Democratic presidential nominee.
The idea was that Nicholson’s characters would say things that, ripped from the original context, sound vaguely supportive of Hillary. But of course no one can forget the original context.
“I, by choice, am not an activist at this point,” Nicholson said. “I think Sean Penn is the greatest living American in a certain way, because he’s a man of action. … I feel by being a neutralist in this area, in my actual field of endeavor I can be more effective.”
#25 - “You only lie to two people in your life, your girlfriend and the police. Everybody else you tell the truth to.”
— Jack Nicholson in the April 1994 issue of Vanity Fair.
#24 - “These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.”
— Bill Cosby, addressing a Washington, D.C., crowd in 2004.
#23 - “The virginity issue. There are so many emotions involved that I would like to be able to wait until I know I’m with the right person and I’m married.”
— Britney Spears in a 2002 interview with Britain’s Daily Star.
#22 - “I just want one day off when I can go swimming and eat ice cream and look at rainbows.”
— Mariah Carey on MTV’s TRL in 2001, before entering rehab for exhaustion.
#21 - The jury “was not my class of people. There was not a producer, a press agent, a director, an actor.”
— Zsa Zsa Gabor to People in October 1989, after a jury found her guilty of slapping a Beverly Hills cop.
#20 - “That’s hot.”
— Paris Hilton’s trademark, dating back at least to the first season of The Simple Life in 2003. She eventually had the expression copyrighted.
#19 - “What are you looking at, sugar-tits?”
— Mel Gibson, to female deputy last summer after being pulled over for speeding and drunken driving.
#18 - “And if they want to hear that I’m dead, sorry, folks. I’m not. And I don’t plan on it.”
— Elizabeth Taylor on Larry King Live, May 30, 2006.
#17 - “I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime of the Super Bowl. It was not intentional and is regrettable.”
— Justin Timberlake, in a statement after the 2004 Super Bowl spectacle with Janet Jackson.
#16 - “I’m in shock. And I’m so in love with my brother right now.”
— Angelina Jolie, thanking brother James Haven while accepting the supporting actress Oscar for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted.
#15 - “For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can’t part with you, which is why I won’t exclude you from this stage in my life.”
— Charlton Heston on Aug. 9, 2002, revealing he has Alzheimer’s.
#14 - “Psychiatry is a pseudoscience. … You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do. … Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, you don’t even — you’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is.”
— Tom Cruise to Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today, June 24, 2005.
#13 - “I’m too much of an erratic moody baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
— Kurt Cobain’s suicide note from April 5, 1994.
#12 - “Retire? I’m going to stay in show business until I’m the only one left.”
— George Burns, at his 90th birthday tribute, George Burns 90th Birthday Special, taped Jan. 11, 1986.
#11 “Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight. OK? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is whack.”
— Whitney Houston in 2002 on ABC’s Primetime.
Seriously, “What are you looking at, sugar-tits?” for the win!!
#10 - “The heart wants what it wants. There’s no logic to those things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that’s that.”
— Woody Allen in Time in 1992, about his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the daughter of former girlfriend Mia Farrow.
#8 - “I never wanted to be the lesbian actress. I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.”
— Ellen DeGeneres in Time magazine, April 14, 1997, just before her Ellen sitcom character came out as gay, too.
#7 - “This town is a back-stabbing, scum-sucking, small-minded town, but thanks for the money.”
— Roseanne Barr, in an ad she took out in The Hollywood Reporter for the magazine’s 60th anniversary in October 1990.
#6 - “In the end, you have to come clean and say, ‘I did something dishonorable, shabby and goatish.’”
— Hugh Grant to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, July 10, 1995, explaining his June arrest for lewd behavior with a Los Angeles prostitute.
#5 - “Well, I can wear heels now.”
— Nicole Kidman to David Letterman on Aug. 2, 2001, after her split from Tom Cruise.
#4 - “I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you … I bid you a very heartfelt goodnight.”
— Johnny Carson, saying his final goodbye on The Tonight Show, May 22, 1992.
#3 - “Why can’t you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone.”
— Michael Jackson, defending his practice of letting boys share his bed in a Feb. 3, 2003, interview with BBC/Granada’s Martin Bashir.
#2 - “I’m tough. I’m ambitious. And I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, OK.
— Madonna in People, July 27, 1992.
#1 - “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
— Princess Diana, in a 1995 BBC interview, on her marriage to Prince Charles. They divorced in 1996, and she died a year later. The third party, Camilla Parker Bowles, became Charles’ wife in 2005.
source: Top 25 Celebrity Quotes of All Time [usa today]
An unauthorized biography of Jack Nicholson, titled ‘Five Easy Decades’ and releasing this October, claims that, in addition to the six children he is known to have, Jack also has a handicapped son who he has kept hidden.
The book claims,
“There are two other possibles whom those closest to Jack whisper about, including one young man who lives with handicaps brought on by his actress mother’s drug abuse . . . These are among the closely held secrets he has generally succeeded in keeping from his fans.”
For his part, Jack is denying this shocking claim. His lawyer, Abe Somer, tells Page Six,
“The allegations of the handicapped son are false and inaccurate. There is no handicapped son of Mr. Nicholson.” He declined to comment on McDougal’s allegation of a second unknown love child, adding, “Let’s respect his privacy.” Somer also said Nicholson has four, not five, illegitimate kids.
Author Dennis McDougal says his information “comes from a very good source, but she … would not let me use her name.”
Jack’s children were born as follows:
His first child, Jennifer, was born during his six-year marriage to actress Sandra Knight.
After a fling with his ‘Five Easy Pieces’ co-star, Susan Anspach, Jack had a son named Caleb in 1970. Caleb was later adopted by ‘Lost in Space’ star Mark Goddard, who married Anspach four years later.
Jack had a daughter with a former Monkey Bar waitress, Jennine Gourin, and according to McDougal, bought her silence with a settlement “rumored to be in the mid-six-figures.”
Lorraine, 16, and Raymond, 15, were born to Jack’s ex-girlfriend, actress Rebecca Broussard.
Jack has admitted to sleeping with lots and lots of women, once stating, “I’m interested in sex. I’m preoccupied with sex. I love it.” He also revealed his dislike for condoms, saying using them was like wearing a “warm garbage bag.”
Sarah Silverman regrets poking fun at Paris Hilton on the eve of her June jail stint after watching footage of the MTV Movie Awards. Silverman, who hosted the awards show, joked about Hilton’s prison term, while the hotel heiress sat awkwardly in the audience.
Cameras captured a hurt Hilton as she squirmed in her seat - just hours before she began her prison sentence for a probation violation at Century Regional Detention Center - and Silverman admits she has felt terrible ever since.
“I thought, ‘She’s got to know there’s going to be a joke about her,’ so I went for it.
But then I looked down and saw a man in her face with a camera. I was there to be funny and I was, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel bad about it.”
A forgiving Hilton admits she knows Silverman was just trying to land a few laughs:
“She’s a funny comedienne and hopefully she won’t be as mean the next time she sees me.”
More than anything I just wanted to post the joke because it was so damn funny:
Update (Allie): I must admit, I look for reasons to post this video as well. I also like to bring attention to the look on Jack Nicholson’s face, cause it’s priceless!
I know Jack Nicholson is rich and has that whole dark sunglasses, you can’t handle the truth thing going on, but how can this be? The man is surrounded by beautiful young women on a boat in the South of France looking like he got bigger breast implants than Brooke Hogan.
In a two-page letter released Thursday, Clooney adopted a neutral stance in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.
“I, by choice, am not an activist at this point,” Nicholson said. “I think Sean Penn is the greatest living American in a certain way, because he’s a man of action. … I feel by being a neutralist in this area, in my actual field of endeavor I can be more effective.”
“I thought, ‘She’s got to know there’s going to be a joke about her,’ so I went for it. 
