Vv Magazine’s industry insiders and undercover scenesters fill you in on the best first-hand gossip from Hollywood, the media, and everything in between. A column that will make you lust for more… who are we talking about? We don’t tell – but we see and hear things and like you, we gossip about it. Check in every Wednesday for the latest from Scene & Heard!
50 Shades of CrayCray: How A BDSM Film Became A Girl Fight
It’s officially “50 Shades of Cray” this week, even though we’ve been buzzing around New York Fashion Week in search of the next big gossip. What was supposed to be a disaster turned out to be a smash hit, but the real dark side to 50 Shades is suddenly unraveling and revealing itself before the public eye, and it has nothing to do with the off-screen lives of actors Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. That’s right – the real juice is the stuff of Hollywood auteur legend and takes place between two commanding women, author E.L. James and director Sam Taylor-Johnson. Let’s get to it…
Fifty Shades of Grey director drops out of the BDSM franchise
Juice factor: 10/10
Serious rumours have abounded about massive blowouts between Fifty Shades Of Grey‘s director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer E.L. James, who penned the Twihard fan-fiction. Rumour has it that the female director has now pulled out — pardon the pun — despite dominating the box office all weekend and having already signed on for the sequel. Taylor-Johnson, best known as an acclaimed photographer and video artist, has openly discussed her creative feuds with the author, claiming the fights were about their sometimes opposing creative visions for the story. Two dommes always make for a fight.
Is E.L. James pissed that she gets painted as a sub while Sam Taylor-Johnson is a domme?
Juice factor: 9/10
Rumours are abuzz that tension between the two women stemmed in part from their very different romantic lifestyles in real life, with 47-year-old Taylor-Johnson notorious in art circles for marrying a much younger man – her husband is actually 24-years old. James, on the other hand, has been described by The Telegraph as a “shy housewife.” The public’s growing obsession with the two auteur’s opposing public images allegedly fueled James’ resentments towards Sam Taylor-Johnson’s visions of her story.
The real reason for the Christian Grey recasting?
Juice factor: 9/10
The creative differences between Sam Taylor-Johnson (a first-time studio film director) and E.L. James might have less to do with who’s really a domme and more to do with a single character: Christian Grey. When discussing the fights with James, Taylor-Johnson recently told a very telling detail to Porter magazine: “We would have proper on-set barneys, and I’m not confrontational, but it was about finding a way between the two of us, satisfying her vision of what she’d written as well as my need to visualise this person on screen. But, you know, we got there.” Did you catch that — “this person”? Hold that thought.
50 Shades’ E.L. James’s Robert Pattinson obsession
Juice Factor: 10/10
The real role-playing story no-one’s talking about when it comes to the BDSM book by E. L. James turned movie is how little-known model-turned-actor Jamie Dornan isn’t just playing BDSM-obsessed Christian Grey in the movie, he’s also playing into another fantasy of author E L James: her real-life obsession with Robert Pattinson. He was James’ first choice to play Christian Grey and while James pretended to be overjoyed when actor Charlie Hunnam, he clearly wasn’t meeting expectations. Although there was a lot of gossip surrounding Hunnam’s departure from the film, which was ultimately said to be due to a scheduling conflict issue, speculations are starting to boil again that Hunnam may have gotten the boot because James hated his growing bond with director Taylor-Wood. When model-turned-actor Jamie Dornan seemingly got the role out of nowhere overnight just before filming began, it seemed like a last-minute move to save the film, but now it’s rumoured to be because he’s the next best thing to a real life Robert Pattinson: British/Irish, a former model, ex of a low-key super star (in his case, Keira Knightley), and relatively unknown before his first blockbuster. And it doesn’t hurt that Dornan and Pattinson have been friends in real life for around 10 years. Yes, perhaps James really is the master fantasy maker after all…
Guess Who got a heart-shaped engagement ring for Valentine’s Day?
Juice factor: 8/10
Although we’ve never taken her to be a traditionalist, Lady Gaga pulled a value hat-trick this past weekend by posting a close-up of her new heart-shaped engagement ring, which she received from actor Taylor Kinney on the most cliche of engagement days, Valentine’s Day. We never expected Lady Gaga to be the marrying kind, and we always assumed she was more of a Halloween enthusiast than a lover of V-Day. With a diamond heart now resting on her wedding finger, we’re predicting a tamer, new side of Gaga. Keep in mind, in a recent pre-engagement interview with Howard Stern, the pop star claimed she could never have a regular ol’ white wedding.
Justin Bieber makes his REAL comeback at New York Fashion Week.
Juice factor: 9/10
These days, anyone can watch runway shows via livestream or a Style.com slideshow, so the real stories of fashion week happen backstage, at the parties, and on the streets. That’s why we gotta give credit where credit is due: Justin Bieber has more smarts than we thought. As everyone knows, the Biebs ignited his return to the spotlight by starring in Calvin Klein’s latest Marky Mark-inspired campaign. Despite what bloggers and Twitter’s peanut gallery are saying about the crotch-stuffing scandal, if you’ve been in New York recently like we have, you’d know the massive billboard of JB in the iconic massive ad space owned by Calvin Klein has a dominating presence in lower Manhattan. Somehow, Justin Bieber and his crotch seem like belieb-able style icons when they’re that big. That’s likely why JB’s the man of the hour at New York Fashion Week, where the Canadian has been out-and-about sporting bold retro red leather jackets and flashing teen stash like its the new mullet — and mullets are about to get BIG. Fashion insiders are already abuzz about him, so we predict a full recovery for the Biebs’ reputation and he’ll have the fashion industry to thank. We’ll keep you posted on how that materializes next.
Taylor Swift’s real best friend REVEALED!
Juice factor: 7/10
Everyone claims to be Taylor Swift’s best friend and, frankly, who can blame them? Being Taylor Swift’s best friend would be bliss — adult sleepovers, dance parties, and roasting ex-boyfriends to sick beats. Lena Dunham even laid claim to being the only BFF Tay-Tay lets wear her nightgowns for sleepovers, and the ex-country crooner’s recent joint cover shoot and story with Karlie Kloss for Vogue certainly positions the two leggy blondes as bossom besties. On Sunday, however, Swift revealed that her real best friend is still her childhood BFF Brit Maack. Tay-Tay took to Instagram to reveal a pic of herself and Maack with the caption ”YEAH I WILL” — her answer to Maack’s request that the super star be her Maid of Honour at her upcoming wedding. We can’t imagine how the paparazzi will crash that otherwise civilian event, knowing it’s the perfect opp to photograph notoriously romantically unlucky Swift as “always the bridesmaid.”
Madonna calls Fifty Shades of Grey’s oral sex unrealistic: “no guy goes down on a girl that much.”
Juice factor: 8/10
50 Shades of CrayCray is almost a wrap – but not without the Material Girl! From showing off her butt cheeks on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards a year late to the “Year of the Butt” trend, Madonna seems dead-set on convincing us her overtly sexual ways are as relevant as when she was “Like A Virgin.” When asked by Billboard about her thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey, which debuted in as an adapted screenplay in theatres Valentine’s Day weekend, Madge declared the storyline “not very sexy,” at least if you’ve had enough sex to know better. “It’s pulp fiction. It’s not very sexy, maybe for someone who has never had sex before,” Madonna continued. “I kept waiting for something exciting and crazy to happen in that red room thing, and I was like, ‘Hmm, a lot of spanking… I also thought, ‘This is so unrealistic because no guy goes down on a girl that much.’ I’m sorry, but no one eats pussy as much as the guy in that book.” Um, we just want to point out that Madonna read the book — the whole thing. We stopped before chapter 1 ended. Madge, you gotta get out more! We’re getting worried.
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What had your blood boiling and your mouths gasping from this week’s Scene & Heard column? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us at @ViewtheVibe.