The daily gossip: Kanye West insists he isn't a celebrity, and more
5 top pieces of celebrity gossip — from a $1.9 million painting of Bea Arthur nude to the latest attempt at a Wonder Woman TV show
1. Kanye West isn't a celebrity, says Kanye West
He's sold millions of records and graced the covers of hundreds of tabloids, but you can stop thinking of Kanye West as famous. In a monologue on Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Times reports that the rapper insisted that he "ain't no celebrity." "I don't want nobody trying to run up on me with no cameras, trying to sell pictures," said West to a rapturous audience during an exclusive concert in New York City, in a statement that was immediately picked up by virtually every tabloid — which sounds a lot like celebrity stuff to us, but what do we know? West added that he "ain't doing no SNL skits," so you can go ahead and take him off your list of potential candidates to replace Bill Hader.
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2. Naked Bea Arthur painting sells for $1.9 million
From Paris Hilton to Kim Kardashian to Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham, it's safe to say that we live in an era in which people are happy to pay to see some naked psuedo-celebrities. But it's still legitimately surprising to see a bidder cough up a whopping $1.9 million for a nude painting of a star — and even more surprising when that star turns out to be The Golden Girls' Bea Arthur. According to the Daily News, John Currin's 1991 painting "Bea Arthur Naked" was auctioned at Christie's on Wednesday night to an unknown bidder. The portrait is "nostalgic and repelling," adds the auction notice, in case you were struggling to find the words to sum up that weird feeling you have right now.
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3. That Wonder Woman TV show might still be happening
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Most Wonder Woman fans had assumed that the dismal failure of NBC's poorly received Wonder Woman pilot had killed the character's chances on the small screen. But according to Entertainment Weekly, The CW is still trying to develop a Smallville-esque prequel — tentatively titled Amazon — about the early years of the superheroine. "It's being redeveloped," says The CW's Mark Pedowitz. "It's the trickiest of all the DC characters," Pedowitz adds, apparently overlooking the existence of Matter-Eater Lad.
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4. Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby got a so-so response from Cannes audiences
Echoing the collective shrug of most American critics, Baz Luhrmann's hyperkinetic take on The Great Gatsby played to a lukewarm audience at Cannes, where it was screened under the title Gatsby le Magnifique, because France. The Hollywood Reporter says that the end of the movie was met with "polite but muted applause," failing to live up to the enthusiastic receptions earned by movies like Moonrise Kingdom and Midnight in Paris in recent years. But don't feel too bad, Baz; the report adds that "the reaction wasn't as downbeat" as the abysmal reception of The Da Vinci Code in 2006 — which, while damning with the faintest of praise, is better than no praise at all.
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5. Emma Watson was inspired by the Kardashians for The Bling Ring performance
When you have to play a vapid, celebrity-obsessed character, where can an actual celebrity turn for inspiration? Emma Watson, who stars in the upcoming The Bling Ring, came up with the perfect answer: The Kardashian family. "I watched a lot of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Hills, and I tried to understand the psychology of this kind of girl as much as possible" said Watson in an interview quoted at People. "I didn't want her just to be a parody," adds Watson, so maybe the Kardashians weren't the best choice after all.
Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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