Celebrity News & Gossip

The horse race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker ended tonight, with The Hurt Locker coming out on top. Katherine Bigelow beat out her ex-husband James Cameron to become the first female to ever win an Academy Award for Best Director. Other top prizes went to Jeff Bridges for Best Actor (Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock for Best Actress (The Blind Side). Relive the 2010 Oscars blow by blow by entering our viewing party below.

The official Hope for Haiti Now telethon lineup has just been announced, and this show is going to be even bigger than we had imagined. Rarely, if ever, have so many of the world’s biggest musicians mobilized so quickly with Hollywood elite (plus President Clinton and Oprah) to lend a helping hand in a time of tragedy. If only George Clooney, the mastermind behind the telethon, had been responsible for the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina!

We already reported that the Hope for Haiti Now lineup will include Robert Pattinson, Bono, Jay-Z, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Sting, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Shakira. Now we can provide the full, official lineup. Of particular interest will be headliners Jay-Z and Bono (a rock/rap collaboration for the ages) and Justin Timberlake.

Performing in Los Angeles:

• Alicia Keys
• Christina Aguilera
• Dave Matthews
• Emeline Michel
• John Legend
• Justin Timberlake
• Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Kid Rock (Group performance)
• Stevie Wonder
• Taylor Swift

Performing in New York:

• Bruce Springsteen
• Jennifer Hudson
• Madonna
• Mary J Blige
• Shakira
• Sting
• Wyclef Jean

Performing in London:

• Beyonce
• Coldplay
• Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge (collaboration)
• Rihanna

Presenters and speakers in Los Angeles (except where noted differently) include:

• Anderson Cooper (from Haiti)
• Ben Stiller
• Brad Pitt
• Chris Rock
• Clint Eastwood
• Denzel Washington
• Drew Barrymore
• George Clooney
• Halle Berry
• Jon Stewart (from New York)
• Julia Roberts
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Matt Damon
• Meryl Streep
• Morgan Freeman
• Nicole Kidman
• Oprah Winfrey
• President Clinton (from New York)
• Robert Pattinson (from London)
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Tom Hanks
• Will Smith with Muhammad Ali

Turn on your television at 8PM EST to witness history in the making. Hope for Haiti Now will be on just about every channel, including VH1 and MTV. Donations will go to Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Wyclef’s Yele Haiti Foundation. Facebook and MySpace have signed on as official social-media partners to help drive donations.

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Voters for future film awards will think twice about praising Mariah Carey’s performance in Precious after seeing her acceptance speech at the Palm Springs Film Festival, except those who hope to see her embarrass herself all over again. Stepping on stage to accept Breakthrough Actress with director Lee Daniels—was he there to prop her up?—the superstar danced a little before pausing, sighing and announcing “Please forgive me, because I’m a little bit, um…” Following an unkind suggestion from the audience, she nodded “Yeah…”

Rambling on about the film, the book Push and meeting Lifetime Achievement Award winner Helen Mirren (coincidentally cast for Carey’s role in Precious before dropping out), Carey began applauding, dropped a finger snap and admitted she could be “difficult.” Several minutes—and attempts to applaud her off–later, she thanked the audience for “listening to her little spiel” and departed. Said Sean Penn later in the night, “Think anything’s going to make YouTube tonight?” Uh…yeah.

Other winners at the bash were Jeff Bridges, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner, Anna Kendrick and Morgan Freeman—all of whom are nominated for trophies at the upcoming Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. Check the stars out—and Carey!—on the red carpet in the gallery below.

Award season officially kicked into high gear today as the third set of nominations this week were announced. Frontrunners are beginning to emerge, as some actors have consecutively racked up nods from the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globes, and now the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Christoph Waltz’s performance as a snide Nazi in Inglourious Basterds seems to be a shoe-in for some hardware, as does break-out star Anna Kendrick’s straight-laced role in Up in the Air and Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictus. 

Here are all the Theatrical Motion Picture SAG nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
• George Clooney - Up In The Air
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman - Invictus
• Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren - The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan - An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
• Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

More after the jump.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie brought their oldest son Maddox to the LA premiere of Invictus last night. The couple rarely get to take the kids along to their own films—what with all the sex and violence and everything—but pals Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood’s a new film about courage, human rights and soccer in South Africa that was just perfect for a family night out. Also attending were Michelle Monaghan (looking packed in the back thanks to her drapey dress) and the ever-informal Kenny Chesney, who could have been mistaken for a barrier-breaking fan standing next to the dapper Morgan Freeman.

With its prestigious pedigree and positive message, Invictus has a good chance of scoring a trophy or two at the Critics’ Choice Awards this January. See more of the stars in the gallery below.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Move over Woody Allen and Soon-Yi, there’s a new twisted couple in town who’s about to steal your thunder. On the heels of the report that Morgan Freeman has been carrying on a ten-year affair with his step-granddaughter E’Dena Hines, the 71-year-old now reportedly plans to marry his 27-year-old semi-relative.

“Morgan has led her to believe he wants to marry her,” a source says. “Becoming Mrs. Morgan Freeman has been E’Dena’s goal.”

Will Morgan’s second wife Myrna Colley-Lee, who along with Morgan, raised E’Dena since she was a child, attend the wedding? Hmmm, better put in a call to Mia Farrow to see how to handle this one. [Photo: WENN]

Beloved actor Morgan Freeman could see a massive decline in his popularity. The National Enquirer has dropped a bombshell of an exclusive, claiming that the 72-year-old Academy Award-winning actor has been having a decade-long affair with E’Dena Hines —- his step-granddaughter. According to the paper, the alleged affair began when Hines was a teen and is part of the reason that both his marriage to wife Myrna and relationship with mistress Mary Joyce Hays (a former schoolteacher) is ending. Pictured above: E’Dena accompanies grandpa Morgan to last year’s premiere of The Dark Knight. Yikes. [Photo: WENN]

Despite denying the claims months ago, the buzz keeps getting louder that George Clooney will make a cameo in one of the final episodes of ER. Frankly, we’re surprised he’d bother—actors who graduate from the boob tube to silver screen stardom don’t usually care to return. Mork & Mindy’s Robin Williams may be up for the occasional crime drama guest spot, but most celluloid heroes are happy to keep their TV appearances to talk shows, SNL—maybe The Simpsons if they’re slumming. Here are ten leading men we’d be shocked to see follow in George Clooney’s (rumored) footsteps.

The conservative pundits were right! Barack Obama has stacked his cabinet with celebrities like Morgan Freeman, Barbra Streisand, George Jones, The Who and Twyla Tharp! Dude is crazy!

Actually, those five are the line-up of 2008 Kennedy Center Honorees, who were treated to a fine fete last night. Obama wasn’t present—though Streisand took a peck on the cheek from our current president, yow—but plenty of stars were there to salute and perform for the legends of film, song and stage. The ceremony won’t air on CBS until December 30th, so you’ll just have to check out the gallery to see who got gussied up for the event.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Following the recent tragic loss of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, there’s been a lot of tasteful talk about a Celebrity Death Trilogy. Much of the discussion revolves around Samuel L. Jackson, whose untimely passing would make the upcoming mortality-minded film Soul Men, starring Jackson, Mac and Hayes, mind-bogglingly eerie. But if there’s anyone we hope isn’t unduly superstitious, it would be retired CNN anchor Bernard Shaw.  Shaw’s departure would complete a Middle-Aged Black Male Celebrity triad  and put him alongside Mac and recently deceased comedy manager Bernie Brillstein in a trio of famous fallen Bernies. There’s also the unpleasant possibility that the grim reaper will get all Final Destination on Morgan Freeman for surviving his recent car accident. But that would be ridiculous.