Entertaining Posts: 11/15/11

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

"Situation" sues Abercrombie & Fitch over ad campaign

Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:42pm EST

(Reuters) - "Jersey Shore" star Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino on Tuesday sued retailer Abercrombie & Fitch over what he claims was a publicity stunt to sell clothes using phrases associated with the reality TV actor.

The complaint, filed by Sorrentino and his company MPS Entertainment in federal court in southern Florida, stems from an offer Abercrombie & Fitch publicized in August to pay cast members of the hit TV show not to wear the company's apparel.

The offer, which Sorrentino claims was false, made headlines worldwide because typically companies want celebrities to use their products for promotion, but the "Jersey Shore" cast is known for partying and other qualities with which the company said it did not want to associate.

In August, the company said it was "deeply concerned" that Sorrentino "could cause significant damage" to its brand's "aspirational nature." Sorrentino, however, thinks the company had something else in mind, according to the lawsuit.

"Starting in August 2011, Defendant (the company) embarked on a grand, worldwide advertising campaign using Sorrentino's name, image and likeness to create brand awareness for its products by falsely claiming that Defendant had offered money to Sorrentino if he would stop wearing Defendant's goods," the lawsuit states.

"That offer was never made to Sorrentino, nor was it ever conveyed to Sorrentino by a representative," the suit states.

The suit claims the company "has significantly profited off of the use of its false affiliation with Sorrentino, and it has wrongly used Sorrentino's name, image and likeness for advertising purposes in violation of applicable law."

The suit targeted two of the clothing retailer's T-shirt designs featuring the phrases "The Fitchuation" and "GTL...You Know The Deal," and claimed Abercrombie & Fitch "obviously intended to create a false association" with the "Jersey Shore" star when it released it's statement in August.

An Abercrombie & Fitch spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Sorrentino and MPS Entertainment trademarked his "Jersey Shore" nickname, "The Situation" and catchphrase "GTL" -- an acronym for gym, tan, laundry -- in 2009, after the first season of MTV's "Jersey Shore" became widely popular.

Sorrentino sells his own "GTL" and "The Situation" branded products, including T-shirts, on his official website.

MTV's "Jersey Shore" is a reality series following a group of young Italian-American men and women living, working and partying together.

The popularity of the show has earned great fame for its cast members, including Sorrentino, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio. All of them have branched out into endorsing and marketing their own products.

(Reporting and Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

"Breaking Dawn" sees its stars looking to new horizons

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:56am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As "Twilight" fans gear up for the emotional rollercoaster of weddings, babies and battles that is "Breaking Dawn - Part 1", the movie's three stars are beginning to look to new horizons.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1", opening in U.S. theaters on Friday, sees young lovers Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) finally marry in a wedding that has the "Twilight" fan-verse in a frenzy.

But wedded bliss doesn't last long for the young couple after Bella finds herself pregnant with a vampire baby that is slowly killing her. Back home, werewolf Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner, faces conflict within his own tribe as he chooses to protect Bella and her unborn child.

"Lots of milestones are crammed into this one and there's a very accelerated bit of life lived in this movie," said Stewart.

The end to the "Twilight" movie series eventually plays out when "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" reaches theaters in the summer of 2012. But with filming already wrapped up, Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner already are emotional about the end of the saga that turned them into worldwide stars and good friends.

"I'll never have anything like that again in any other aspect of moviemaking," said Stewart, 21. "It's a very shared love, but to share that with so many people, it is just so unique and it's so rare."

Lautner, 19, said the trio had become very close since making the first "Twilight" movie, released in 2008.

"We've gone through a lot with each other," he said. "We have a lot of fun making the movies, and it was definitely a bummer when it all finished."

But the young stars already have begun to move on. Lautner took a turn as an action hero in "Abduction" earlier this year, and he stars in the movie version of upcoming young adult sci-fi novel "Incarceron".

NO MORE WHITE FACE

Stewart, in 2010, played rock singer Joan Jett in "The Runaways" and a teenage prostitute in "Welcome To The Rileys". She will next be seen in the classic beat generation drama "On The Road," and in the lead role for 2012 fantasy "Snow White and the Huntsman."

For Pattinson, 25, there's one thing he won't miss as "Twilight" draws to an end.

"Putting a bunch of white face make-up on so you notice all the wrinkles you're getting. After awhile, it's kind of depressing," the British actor said. "I'm looking forward to not seeing that anymore."

Pattinson branched out in circus romance "Water for Elephants" opposite Reese Witherspoon earlier this year and has two other movies under his belt -- "Bel Ami", in which he plays a young Parisian seducer, and "Cosmopolis".

He is still surprised by fan response to the first three "Twilight" movies based on the best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer. Combined, the three films have made more than $1.8 billion at worldwide box offices.

"I'd be curious how long it would go on for if we just kept making sequels. That would be so strange if it went on for ten years or something," Pattinson said.

"Breaking Dawn", directed by Bill Condon and produced by independent studio Summit Entertainment, has generated mixed reviews.

Todd McCarthy at The Hollywood Reporter criticized the "dirge-like" pacing and "banal" script. But Variety's Justin Chang said Stewart and Pattinson "have merged so completely with their roles and each other that the sight of the duo's matrimonial bliss -- delicately shaded by that sense of transience and loss that attends even happy life transitions -- delivers a genuine emotional payoff."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Drake finds new groove on "Take Care"

By Sabrina Ford

NEW YORK | Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:42am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite the success of his hit debut album "Thank Me Later," rapper Drake feels the record never showed his best work. The follow-up "Take Care," available in stores and online Tuesday, is another story.

The 25-year-old rapper-singer, born Aubrey Drake Graham in Toronto, Canada rose to stardom under the tutelage of rapper Lil Wayne, who signed Drake to his Young Money record label in 2009, and "Take Care" tells of his rocket ride to rap stardom.

Drake had released three, free mixtapes online including 2009's "So Far Gone" before "Thank Me Later" hit record stores and websites and went on to become the third best-selling U.S. album of 2010. He told Reuters that the transition from making free music for the Web to the regimented market of album sales proved very difficult.

"With mixtapes it's complete creative freedom and there's just no politics, there's no sample clearances there's no producer agreements...all these little things you learn about when you make your first album that has to be sold in stores," explained Drake.

He still believes "Thank Me Later" was an "inconsistent" album because he hadn't quite found his groove creatively in the world of major record labels.

"I pulled from a lot of different places and it was like, 'Oh Timbaland wants to work, and this guy wants to work, and Kanye wants to.' So I tried different things," he said. "On this album, you'll be able to tell that I realized what works for me."

BACK TO ROOTS

On "Take Care" Drake has found what works, and that is collaborating with fellow Canadians Noah "40" Shebib, Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels, and The Weeknd, who produce the bulk of the record. The album also features a song with R&B legend Stevie Wonder who, Drake said, "is like family to me now."

He said the majority of the album he recorded at home in Toronto, which made him realize how far he had come on his journey from aspiring artist to hip-hop star.

"I thought about how I got there, what happened," he said. "Why did I drop out of school? And how did I ever dig my mother out of this hole of debt we were in? I just address it all on the album. I tell every story I can remember leading up to this moment right now and tried to vividly capture this rise."

The result is "sonically, a very consistent piece," he said. "I'm excited for the world to hear it. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do."

While Drake has enjoyed massive success early in his career and earned the support of many of the biggest names in hip-hop, he tries to avoid getting caught up in his own hype.

"I don't take compliments well," said Drake. "I don't like 'best rapper' conversations. I always feel weird when people are like, 'You and Jay are my favorite rappers' or 'All I listen to is you and Pac.' That throws me off because I feel like I have so much work to do and so much to accomplish."

On his to-do list is a return to acting. Before he was the rapper Drake, Aubrey Graham appeared for eight seasons on the TV teen drama "Degrassi: The Next Generation."

When Drake was the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" last month, he appeared in two well-received sketches.

"(Acting) is something I'm very, very eager to do especially after 'SNL.' I'm really dying to get back into it," said Drake. "I'm definitely well on my way to finding key roles that will allow me to birth, or rebirth, an acting career."

His dream role? "I want to be on 'True Blood,'" said Drake, a huge fan of the HBO vampire series. "I'm down, whatever they want to give me!"

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)