Archive for January, 2009

Matt Damon campaigned aggressively for Barack Obama last year. So why wasn’t he in Washington D.C. last week for the historic inauguration?

“[My wife] Luciana and I decided we wanted to go,” he tells the Miami Herald. “But when I called my contacts from the campaign, they just started laughing: ‘We worked on the campaign for 2 1/2 years, and we’re not going. Forget it.’

“But then they called me back the next day and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got two tickets for you, in the bleachers, and you’ll actually be able to see Obama take the oath. Just $25,000 apiece.’”

It was then that Damon (who lives with his wife and three daughters in Miami Beach) knew, “I’m going to watch. From my couch.”

Damon — whose latest Untitled Jason Bourne Project is now in production for a 2010 release — also spoke out about how his famous assassin character is nothing like James Bond.

“They could never make a James Bond movie like any of the Bourne films,” Damon said. “Because Bond is an imperialist, misogynist sociopath who goes around bedding women and swilling martinis and killing people. He’s repulsive.

“Steve [Soderbergh, who produced Damon’s 2005 spy movie, Syriana] told me that years ago he was offered a Bond movie,” the actor went on. “He told them he’d do it if they gave him creative control.

“‘Absolutely not,’ they said. They have a formula, they stick to it, and it makes them a lot of money. They know what they’re doing, and they’re going to keep doing it.”

When he does a Bourne film, Damon later added, he never feels like he’s “slumming.”

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Sting is a British citizen but also a New Yorker, and he wouldn’t have missed the inauguration of President Obama for anything.

“The minute we got off the plane, you could really sense the buoyancy,” the former Police chief told us before he went onstage at the Creative Coalition Ball last night. “It’s a feeling we haven’t felt here in a long time.”

Elvis Costello and soul man Sam Moore joined the Stingster in rocking the gala, which held the mother lode of politically minded celebs including Diddy, Heather Graham, Tobey Maguire and Ron Howard.

The now-brown-haired Sting helped many of the same stars usher in the age of Obama on Monday, when he performed at the stroke of midnight for the Huffington Post party at the Newseum. There, 2,000 guests, including Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack, Ben Affleck, Ed Harris, Jessica Alba and Ashton Kutcher, did a 10-9-8 countdown and cheered like the place would blast off. Demi Moore stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

Earlier Tuesday, Sting and wife Trudie Styler had defrosted at the Creative Coalition/BGR Group’s post-swearing-in bash, where Styler told us it’s okay to let off some steam about the past eight years.

“It’s fine for us to have our feelings about what Bush has done to this country,” she said.

Anne Hathaway, who also braved 12-degree temperatures, confessed to relief at the Bush bye-bye.

“When I saw that helicopter take off, it was a very fun moment,” she told us.

There was some naughtiness in the celebrity section at the inaugural, Tim Robbins admits. “When Bush’s chopper flew overhead, people started singing that chant [from the old Steam song], ‘Na na na, na na na, hey hey goodbye.’ And it fanned out across the Mall.”

Earlier, when conservative pastor Rick Warren gave the invocation, some booed, but others shushed them and said, “Be kind.”

Alan Cumming confessed, “Susan Sarandon and I brought our [gay rights] rainbow flags and were waving them. The police made us remove the poles but let us keep the flags.”

It is, after all, a free country. Some celebs had paid $50,000 for the privilege of being close to the podium, and others were guests who had helped get him there. Tim Daly told us, “I couldn’t believe I was next to [Bruce] Springsteen!”

Many were moved by Obama’s exhortations to be the best we can be. Josh Lucas told us, “The thing that moves me so much about President Obama is, of course, his astonishing integrity, but also, him as a husband and a father.”

The day’s hilarity and drama were chronicled by director Barry Levinson for “Poliwood,” an upcoming documentary produced by Creative Coalition head Robin Bronk with Daly and Robert Baruc.

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It’s no secret that 50 Cent has an amazing body … and at Sundance, he seemed particularly keen to prove it.

The brawny hip-hopper invited a handful of pals, including actors Tom Arnold and Mekhi Phifer plus Gatecrasher’s Sean Evans — to join him on a 20-minute cardio session led by Fitty’s trainer, Jay Cardiello.

“It’s intense, and there are no weights involved. And some of it’s like girly stuff, like just kicking your leg, but it’s muscles you don’t really ever work at,” 50 said during the sweat session at Sundance’s Vitamin Water House. “Men don’t usually go to the gym and say, ‘I’m going to develop my ass. This’ll be the J.Lo workout.’

“I’ve been doing [the routine] for a while. I did that this morning before you got here. And I weight-trained.”

“So that was your second workout of the day?” inquired the now desperately tired Evans, struggling to feel his legs.

“Yep. And it’s not even noon,” 50 laughed.

After the workout, 50 and producing partner Randall Emmett hosted a private screening of “The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay,” one of the first movies under their new film company, Cheetah Films. As Seth Green, Russell Simmons and Chris Masterson filed into the house’s private screening room, 50 revealed why Jay was so important to him.

“Jay was a mentor. He’s the first person I went into the studio with the intention of producing a song for an album, which was never released because Jay’s touring schedule was so hectic he wasn’t able to focus on it.”

The rapper added: “After Jay, I went to Columbia Records, but that didn’t work … Columbia Records was too scared to even talk to me.

“So I learned to market myself, like Jay had done. A lot of the major labels and companies were ignoring me because they were only looking at my street life. It makes me rub it in now. Right in their faces. I want to go into their offices and say, ‘I remember you. Didn’t they fire you yet?’”

G-Unit founder 50 told how he enjoyed his time at Sundance. “I like the parties, because it’s something to do different than sitting in the theater seats. After watching five or six movies, people start to feel a little drained.

“I’ve seen a few movies, but I got to the premiere, they start announcing all the people who are there, and I’m like ‘What the hell? I’m 50 Cent! I’m here! Tell everyone I’m here,’ ” he joked.

At that point, Gatecrasher’s man wanted to clap for 50, but, still suffering post-workout trauma, couldn’t lift his arms.

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Snipes was at Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge at the Sundance Film Festival the other day scooping up “Reebok NFL gear, boots for his whole family, a Bang & Olufsen headset and a year’s subscription to Netflix,” according to our spy. “He passed on a number of free goodies, but he didn’t ask the value of any thing he left with.” The previ ous night, Snipes was spotted at Greenhouse for the “Brooklyn’s Finest” after-party, where we’re told “he showed no sign that his pending jail time bothered him.”

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RENÉE Zellweger (above), who hasn’t been romantically linked to anyone since she divorced country singer Kenny Chesney, had a date Saturday night with MSNBC legal correspondent Dan Abrams, who has a thing for actresses. The two were spotted at a cozy table for two at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor. Abrams has previously dated Elisabeth Rohm of “Law & Order,” Jaime Murray of “Dexter” and Elle Macpherson, who once had a three-picture deal with Miramax.

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The actor-turned-rapper threw a fit before performing at Lavo in Las Vegas Friday night. “He was waiting for Casey Affleck” - who’s directing a documentary about Phoenix’s venture - “and when the film crew arrived late, Joaquin flipped out,” said our insider. The spy said Phoenix yelled at the crew, “Thanks for being late and [bleep]ing everything up.” He then threw a CD on the floor and stormed out. “He came back five minutes later and did the sound check,” said the source, who added, “Nobody can tell if he is for real or if this is all a big joke.”

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Alyssa Milano has received a restraining order against a man she says has repeatedly tried to contact her and showed up at her home unannounced.

Records show a judge in Ventura County granted Milano a three-year restraining order on Dec. 23 against Jeff Turner, who lives in Northern California.

Milano wrote in court documents that Turner had hiked miles to try to meet her and repeatedly called to get access to an event where she was appearing.

Milano, who recently announced her engagement to Hollywood agent David Bugliari, is best known for her roles on television series such as “Who’s the Boss?” “Charmed” and a recurring role on “My Name is Earl.”

Senator Ted Kennedy — who is battling brain cancer — collapsed after suffering a seizure at a luncheon honoring President Barack Obama Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

Paramedics rushed to the Capitol building, where the lunch was held shortly after Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, and took Kennedy away on a stretcher. ABC News reports that the senator’s seizures lasted several minutes, and continued as he was being taken out.

Dr. Edward Aulisi, Chairman of Neurosurgery at Washington Hospital Center, released a statement to Entertainment Tonight blaming the fall on fatigue.

“Senator Edward Kennedy experienced a seizure today while attending a luncheon for President Barack Obama in the U.S. Capitol. After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue. Senator Kennedy is awake, talking with family and friends and feeling well. He will remain at the Washington Hospital Center overnight for observation, and will be released in the morning,” his doctor said.

Obama was not in the room at the time, but he spoke a few words after returning.

“First of all, I know that while I was out of the room, concern was expressed about Teddy,” Obama said. “He was there when the Voting Rights Act passed. And, along with [Representative] John Lewis, was a warrior for justice.

“And so I would be lying to you if I did not say that right now a part of me is with him. And I think that’s true for all of us,” Obama added. “This is a joyous time, but it’s also a sobering time. And my prayers are with him and his family and [his wife] Vicki.”

Senators John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and Orrin Hatch walked with Kennedy down to the ambulance.

“He was starting to do okay by the time he got wheeled into the ambulance,” Hatch told ABC News. “He was [conscious], he was speaking.”

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Michelle Obama celebrated her husband Barack Obama’s Inauguration in a dazzling white Jason Wu gown.

Michelle donned a $3,510 dress made from the 26-year-old Taiwan-born designer for a November interview with Barbara Walters. The Journal reports Wu’s evening wear sells for $3,000 to $6,000.

What’s in a dress?

Michelle’s choice is “a balancing act between being a queen and a commoner,” Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a historian who’s written about first ladies, told The Dallas Morning News. “The inaugural gown is a metaphor for the first lady role.”

He added: “They reflect around the world an image of our country.”

Earlier today, Michelle stepped out in a gold sheath and matching jacket from Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo for Barack’s swearing-in ceremony. To stay warm in the 30-degree weather, she paired her outfit with olive green gloves from one of her fave shops, J. Crew.

(Her daughters also wore threads from the chain shop to their dad’s Inauguration. Malia chose a royal blue jacket, while Sasha bundled-up in a pale pink coat.)

Meanwhile, the president hit the town in a custom tuxedo made by Chicago-based designer Hart Schaffner Marx . (The brand’s suits typically retail at Nordstrom for about $895.) Obama hasn’t purchased a tux in 15 years, it’s been reported.

Barack and Michelle are expected to hop between the 10 official balls scheduled for tonight. They’ll share a first dance to Beyonce’s performance of Etta James’ “At Last” at the Neighborhood Ball.

But after tonight’s glitz and glamour, it’s down to business.

The new president called America “in the midst of crisis” between the economy woes and war in his speech from the Capitol this afternoon — but promised action.

“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real,” he said in front of a crowd of thousands, including celebs Oprah Winfrey and Anne Hathaway. “They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.”

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