Mel Gibson hopes that taking on a cameo as a tattoo artist in the comedy “The Hangover 2” will rescue his movie career.
The actor, who was dropped by the William Morris Endeavor agency in July and has also faced allegations involving his baby-mama ex Oksana Grigorieva, has signed to play a Bangkok ink artist in the follow to the poplar Vegas-based guys outing.
“It’s a done deal… Filming is taking place on the Warner Bros. lot, where a Bangkok set has been built, and Mel is expected to film his role in two weeks. Then the production moves to Thailand at the end of October,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six.
The sequel to the 2009 comedy reunites the group, including Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis and Justin Bartha, as they take a boys’ trip to Thailand with a dangerous stop in Bangkok. Asian gangster Mr. Chow, played by Ken Jeong, will also return.
The 2009 movie helped upgrade Mike Tyson’s image from a troubled drug user into a comedic actor.
Gibson’s movie with Jodie Foster, “The Beaver,” is still to be released, but no date has been announced.
Kanye West says his artwork for his upcoming album has been rejected for the U.S. market.
The superstar rapper has issued songs free to the Web for his new release, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
But on Sunday, the artist said on Twitter that his desired album cover for “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” was “banned in the USA!!!”
Kanye wrote, “They don’t want me chilling on the couch with my phoenix!” and revealed a piece of graphic artwork in which a naked representation of the artist was in a sexually suggestive position with the mythological firebird in female form. In a follow-up tweet, West wrote, “In the ’70s album covers had actual nudity… It’s so funny that people forget that… Everything has been so commercialized now.”
A source familiar with West’s discussions with Universal Music Group’s Island Def Jam on the cover art spoke anonymously to the L.A. Times and said that the debate over the artwork was not one that was clearcut. West was strongly urged to use alternate art, the source conceded, but added that West “was told if he wanted to do it, the label would stand behind him.”
At issue, said the high-placed industry source, was whether or not mass-market retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart would carry an album featuring venomous nudes, and one that would no doubt inspire controversy.
A potential boycott from a major retailer would no doubt have a massive impact on West’s album sales, especially during the holiday season. “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is currently scheduled for a Nov. 22 release in the U.S.
Wrote West, “In all honesty … I really don’t be thinking about Wal-Mart when I make my music or album covers #Kanyeshrug!”
Oprah Winfrey has an ambitious plan for her last talk show.
She wants to end the same way she started – with the same audience members and the same guests that she had 25 years ago, according to the celebrity website janetcharltonshollywood.com.
She reportedly has staffers scrutinizing the tapes from that first show to locate as many people from the original audience as possible.
The subject of the first show was “Looking for Love” and Oprah hopes to have the same panel of ordinary people with their love stories 25 years later to have the show come full circle.
Lance Armstrong Tweets that he’s welcomed his fifth child, a daughter.
“Olivia Marie Armstrong has arrived!” he wrote early yesterday morning, keeping mum on the specifics. “Thanks to you all for the support and well wishes. Momma and Olivia (@Cincoarmstrong!) are doing great. She’s a beauty!”
This is the Tour de France champ’s second child with Anna Hansen, with whom he also has son Maxwell Edward, 16 months. Additionally, Armstrong is dad to twin daughters Isabelle and Grace, 9 next month, and son Luke, 11, with ex-wife Kristin Armstrong.
Armstrong, 39, announced the pregnancy in April.
— lsmith@denverpost.com
