The daily gossip: Leonard Bernstein's kids defend Bradley Cooper amid fake nose backlash, 'The Blind Side' star says lay off Sandra Bullock, and more

1. Leonard Bernstein's kids defend Bradley Cooper amid fake nose backlash

Has Bradley Cooper's Oscar campaign ended before it even began? Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein in the biopic "Maestro," which he also directed, but the trailer has sparked backlash after appearing to show him wearing a fake nose that's bigger than his own. There have also been questions of whether the Jewish conductor should have been played by someone who isn't Jewish. The non-profit StopAntisemitism slammed the film for casting "a non Jew" and sticking "a disgusting exaggerated 'Jew nose' on him." But Bernstein's family is defending the actor. In a statement, the late composer's kids said it "breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings" of Cooper's efforts, praising him for including them in the filmmaking process. "It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose," they said. "Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we're perfectly fine with that. We're also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well."

Twitter

2. "The Blind Side" star says lay off Sandra Bullock after Michael Oher allegations

Now would be a good time to remember that Sandra Bullock is just an actor, and movies aren't real. Earlier this week, "The Blind Side" subject Michael Oher alleged the 2009 film is inaccurate because Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy actually never adopted him but instead tricked him into a conservatorship. In the wake of the claims, there have been some calls for Bullock to lose the Oscar she won for her role as Leigh Anne. But Quinton Aaron, who played Oher in the movie, thinks that's nonsense. "To make a statement like that doesn't make any sense," he told TMZ. "Sandra Bullock didn't have anything to do with the real story that we're reading as of right now." Aaron added that "people just need to chill out," and Bullock "gave a brilliant performance" that shouldn't be "tarnished" by this situation. If anything, the only way to heal the nation may be to retroactively give Bullock an additional Oscar for "Miss Congeniality."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

TMZ

3. Jessica Chastain used to eat orange and banana peels to get attention

WTF, indeed. On the "WTF" podcast with Marc Maron, Jessica Chastain told an odd story about the lengths she went to for attention when she was a kid. After the actress noted she was quite "obnoxious" and "nerdy" in school, she recalled "sitting in the cafeteria and eating orange peels and banana peels because it made people notice me." Sure, they didn't notice her in a good way, but hey, it was something. "The other kids, they'd be like, 'Oh my god, look at her!'" she said. "I know, it's terrible. I just wanted people to notice me for being a weirdo, but at least then I was existing. I was something." Chastain sounded ashamed looking back on this now, although humiliating herself to gain the attention of her peers surely prepared her perfectly to campaign for an Oscar.

WTF

4. Alec Baldwin had to have pulled the trigger in "Rust" shooting, new report suggests

Alec Baldwin may not be out of the woods in the "Rust" shooting case just yet. Despite criminal charges against the actor previously being dropped, Baldwin could still face charges over the fatal on-set shooting in the wake of a new forensic report. "Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver," the report said, according to People. This finding came from Lucien Haag and Mike Haag, experts who were hired by the state of New Mexico, People noted. Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger of the gun that went off on set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. But this report contended that the fatal incident was "the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger."

People

5. "Barbie" becomes biggest Warner Bros. film ever at domestic box office

Batman who? "Barbie" has hit yet another milestone, as it is now the highest-grossing film in the history of Warner Bros. at the domestic box office. This title was previously held by Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," which grossed $533 million in 2008. "Barbie" has now taken in $537.5 million, according to Variety, and that's just domestically. Worldwide, the movie's haul stands at about $1.2 billion and counting, and it's sneaking up on "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" to potentially become the highest-grossing film of the year. The biggest Warner Bros. movie worldwide is still "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which made $1.34 billion, but "Barbie" may also snag that record before long. According to Variety, star Margot Robbie stands to make about $50 million off the film, which she also produced. So you're saying there's a chance for "Babylon 2"?

Variety