Her Grammy wow just a peek at movie
Some were confused, others offended by Nicki Minaj’s over-the-top performance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, but the singer-rapper doesn’t understand what all the hubbub is about. “I don’t know what is the big issue?” she asked.
The 29-year-old said her five-minute live rendition of her songs “Roman’s Revenge” and “Roman Holiday,” which included dancing priests, an exorcism and levitation, was just part of a movie she’s writing.
“You know how people write plays and movies? That’s what I did. I wrote that and I gave the world a tiny little preview of what was to come. And so I have to perform it on the set in which it would be in the movie, right?” she said.
It’s bye-bye for Buchanan
MSNBC dropped conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on Thursday, four months after suspending him following the publication of his latest book. The book, “Suicide of a Superpower,” contained chapters titled “The End of White America” and “The Death of Christian America.” Critics called the book racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic, charges Buchanan denied.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin said last month that he didn’t think Buchanan’s book “should be part of the national dialogue, much less part of the dialogue on MSNBC.” The network said on Thursday that “after 10 years, we have decided to part ways with Pat Buchanan. We wish him well.”
Buchanan, in a column posted on Thursday, called the decision “an undeniable victory for the blacklisters.”
Penn pals with Chavez, rips GOP
Actor Sean Penn criticized Republican presidential candidates during a visit to Venezuela on Thursday, saying that right-wing policies in the United States aim to benefit the wealthy.
Penn made the remarks after meeting with socialist President Hugo Chavez at Venezuela’s presidential palace, when he was asked by a reporter about criticisms of Chavez by some Republican candidates.
Penn said he doesn’t think “the use of those exploitive sort of demonizations will be very beneficial to this crew of candidates.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Hal Holbrook is 87. Mystery writer Ruth Rendell is 82. Actor-comedian Barry Humphries (aka “Dame Edna”) is 78. Football great Jim Brown is 76. Actress Brenda Fricker is 67. Actress Rene Russo is 58. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 50. Basketball great Michael Jordan is 49. Actor-comedian Larry the Cable Guy is 49. Actress Denise Richards is 41. Rock singer-musician Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) is 40. TV personality Paris Hilton is 31.