Why don’t celebs think before they speak?

Tom HanksFamous people can’t help talking cobblers, can they? In today’s Metro, Tom Hanks is interviewed to publicise his new film Charlie Wilson’s war.

He is asked what it was like working with Julia Roberts and his answer is as follows…

She’s magnificent. She has priorities that go far beyond making movies and yet she knows exactly where she is – in the zeitgeist of the business

OK, let’s look at one part of that quote a little more closely. According to Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts is ‘in the zeitgeist of the business’. Does he even know what zeitgeist means?

This is the first movie that Julia Roberts has made (and I’m not counting voiceovers) since Ocean’s Twelve, which came out in 2004.

Far be it for me to disagree with Tom Hanks, but I thought everyone had to be talking about and what you represent if you are part of the zeitgeist.

And on another point, to be ‘in the zeitgeist’, is, I think, impossible.

Wouldn’t it have been nice, if he’d just said. ‘She’s cool and great to work with’ and be done with it?

Front page dudlines!

Barack ObamaLast night I watched the BBC Ten O’Clock News and they were confidently running the story that Barack Obama had continued his winning streak by defeating Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire poll.

So you can imagine my confusion when the radio came on this morning with the news that Clinton had actually won the vote.

It means that all the UK newspapers look very silly this morning with pictures of Obama on their front pages, having assumed that pollsters had got it right.

It’s not exactly on a par with the 1948 US election, but it’s the same principle. Back then, Harry Truman was aiming to be re-elected, following WW2 and there was widespread speculation that his use of the H-bomb would end up derailing his campaign.

The vote went down to the wire and the pro-Republican newspapers were so sure that Truman’s opponent, Thomas Dewey, was going to win that they ran front pages like: “Dewey Defeats Truman”. Needless to say, they ended up with egg on their faces.

These sort of mistakes rarely happen nowadays, although the Daily Mirror produced a corker back in 2003.

Before their marriage descended into a public slanging match, you may remember that Heather Mills and Paul McCartney had a baby together. The Mirror, keen to get the scoop ahead of its rivals, proudly proclaimed “It’s A Boy” on its first print run, having got some ‘insider news’.

How silly did they look just a couple of hours later, when the Press Association reported that Paul and Heather were celebrating the birth of their new baby, Beatrice. Yup, that’s right, a girl!

Someone do something

Britney SpearsLet’s face it, Britney Spears in on the road to somewhere pretty awful unless someone helps the girl.

In the past year, she’s got divorced (for the second time), checked in and out of rehab umpteen times, lost access rights to her kids, shaved her head in public and made a pretty pitiful attempt at relaunching her career.

The latest news that she threatened to kill her kids and herself is the proverbial icing.

The thing that interests me is that no-one seems to want to help her, not her mum, her friends or even other celebs.

At a time when she is most in need, she seems to be trying to cope alone – a place surely no-one wants to be.

Contrast Britney’s situation with that of Amy Winehouse. OK, so Amy hasn’t got quite as many problems, but she’s gone through a publicly tough time recently and people are queueing up to help her.

She was pictured relaxing at Bryan Adams’ pad recently, while there have been other pop stars willing to at least lend a little help and wisdom (although I’m not sure if Pete Doherty would have been top of my list).

Even Sadie Frost has extended her hand of friendship – hmm, not sure if that’s not another poisoned chalice.

What can we learn from this? Is Amy more talented? Is Britney beyond help? Or is she just unlucky? Let’s just hope that those who are in a position to help Britney, and aren’t doing so, don’t regret it when she emerges from the car crash.