Howard Stern's favorite 79-pound porn star claims the fashion world is so obsessed with plus size people -- that the needs of TINY women have been ignored -- and now she's doing something about it.
TMZ has learned ... Lil' Lupe Fuentes has launched her own fashion line geared at the little people called Sexy Little Angel -- and the only sizes she offers are Small, Petite and Tiny.
Lupe -- who's 4'9" -- tells us, "In America, there are all of the plus size stores for those who are big, or overweight, when the ideal for many is to be thin and fit."
She adds, "I have nothing against women who are overweight, but I can’t shop in their stores."
Clearly, she's never been to Abercrombie, Guess, Splendid, Alice and Olivia, Forever 21, Baby Gap..
Showing posts with label Industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Industry. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Academy Nominates Surprising Music Industry Acts
Most of the focus Tuesday morning surrounded the big name nominees for this year’s Academy Awards – Portman, Bening, Firth, Bale and more – but amongst this year’s first-time Academy Award nominees were some surprising familiar faces from the music industry.
Trent Reznor, the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, along with Atticus Ross, were nominated for their Original Score for “The Social Network,” which many consider the duo the front-runners to win. Just last week, Reznor and Ross won a Golden Globe award for their score for the film.
“When David approached us to write the score for ‘The Social Network,’ we were intrigued and excited to see what we could bring to the project – but truly couldn’t imagine it would lead to an Oscar nomination. We are extremely grateful to the Academy and very proud to have contributed to David’s vision,” Reznor and Ross said in a joint statment to Access Hollywood on Tuesday.
Reznor seems to have found a second career in scoring films for director David Fincher – next up, he’ll be scoring Fincher’s U.S. remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
They’ll be competing against Hollywood legend Hans Zimmer for his score for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” and A.R. Rahman, who won two years ago for both Original Score and Best Song (“Jai Ho”) for “Slumdog Millionaire.” Rahman is back this year, re-teaming with Danny Boyle with his score for “127 Hours.” Also up in this category are John Powell for “How to Train Your Dragon” and Alexandre Desplat for “The King’s Speech.”
A surprising absence in the Original Score category was French DJ duo Daft Punk, who did the soundtrack for “Tron: Legacy.” Some critics point out that they might not have qualified because some of their score used music from the franchise’s original film, making it not entirely “Original.”
In the Original Song category, popular British singer Dido, along with her brother and frequent producing partner DJ Rollo Armstrong, received a nod for writing the lyrics to “If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” for which Rahman composed the music.
They’ll be competing against Hollywood frequents Randy Newman (“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3”) and Alan Menken and Glenn Slater (“I See The Light” from “Tangled”), as well as Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey for “Coming Home” from “Country Strong.”
Access has reached out to Dido & Rollo for reaction to their nominations. We hope to hear from them soon and we’ll update if we hear back!
Trent Reznor, the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, along with Atticus Ross, were nominated for their Original Score for “The Social Network,” which many consider the duo the front-runners to win. Just last week, Reznor and Ross won a Golden Globe award for their score for the film.
“When David approached us to write the score for ‘The Social Network,’ we were intrigued and excited to see what we could bring to the project – but truly couldn’t imagine it would lead to an Oscar nomination. We are extremely grateful to the Academy and very proud to have contributed to David’s vision,” Reznor and Ross said in a joint statment to Access Hollywood on Tuesday.
Reznor seems to have found a second career in scoring films for director David Fincher – next up, he’ll be scoring Fincher’s U.S. remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
They’ll be competing against Hollywood legend Hans Zimmer for his score for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” and A.R. Rahman, who won two years ago for both Original Score and Best Song (“Jai Ho”) for “Slumdog Millionaire.” Rahman is back this year, re-teaming with Danny Boyle with his score for “127 Hours.” Also up in this category are John Powell for “How to Train Your Dragon” and Alexandre Desplat for “The King’s Speech.”
A surprising absence in the Original Score category was French DJ duo Daft Punk, who did the soundtrack for “Tron: Legacy.” Some critics point out that they might not have qualified because some of their score used music from the franchise’s original film, making it not entirely “Original.”
In the Original Song category, popular British singer Dido, along with her brother and frequent producing partner DJ Rollo Armstrong, received a nod for writing the lyrics to “If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” for which Rahman composed the music.
They’ll be competing against Hollywood frequents Randy Newman (“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3”) and Alan Menken and Glenn Slater (“I See The Light” from “Tangled”), as well as Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey for “Coming Home” from “Country Strong.”
Access has reached out to Dido & Rollo for reaction to their nominations. We hope to hear from them soon and we’ll update if we hear back!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monkees Founder and Music Industry Legend Don Kirshner Dies
Don Kirshner, the businessman and songwriter who helped create The Monkees and launch the careers of several iconic performers, died Monday in Florida. According to a press release, the 77-year-old passed away from heart failure.
Known as "The Man With the Golden Ear," Kirshner was born in 1934 in New York City. He entered the music business in the late '50s as a manager for singer Connie Francis, but soon transitioned into providing what he saw as the industry's most pressing need: connecting performers with songwriters.
In the early '60s Kirshner founded Aldon Music, a publishing company that worked with a number of then-unknown performers, including Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond and Carole King, connecting them with resources including studio musicians, producers and songwriters. Kirshner and his staff also cranked out a series of hit singles for groups ranging from The Drifters to The Ronettes. Aldon Music was the single most dominant force in pop music for several years, eventually being bought out by Columbia.
In 1966, in the wake of The Beatles' emergence, Kirshner switched directions. Combining The Beatles' template with his own knowledge of hit-making, Kirshner created a new model for music marketing that would serve as a reference point for countless musicians and labels in the ensuing decades, ranging from boy bands to image-conscious rock groups.
The project? The Monkees.
Filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, who created The Beatles-inspired group specifically for a television series, asked Kirshner to write the music. He was soon hired on as a full producer and helped pen several hits including 'I'm a Believer.' He also consulted in The Monkees' branding and distribution, and when he stepped away from the group the following year, their sales and popularity dropped significantly.
In the '70s, Kirshner produced the highly successful 'Don Kirshner's Rock Concert' on ABC, a live-performance revue that served as an answer to other shows' reliance on lip-syncing and other staged performances.
Kirshner is survived by his wife, Sheila, to whom he was married for 50 years, as well as two children and four grandchildren.
Known as "The Man With the Golden Ear," Kirshner was born in 1934 in New York City. He entered the music business in the late '50s as a manager for singer Connie Francis, but soon transitioned into providing what he saw as the industry's most pressing need: connecting performers with songwriters.
In the early '60s Kirshner founded Aldon Music, a publishing company that worked with a number of then-unknown performers, including Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond and Carole King, connecting them with resources including studio musicians, producers and songwriters. Kirshner and his staff also cranked out a series of hit singles for groups ranging from The Drifters to The Ronettes. Aldon Music was the single most dominant force in pop music for several years, eventually being bought out by Columbia.
In 1966, in the wake of The Beatles' emergence, Kirshner switched directions. Combining The Beatles' template with his own knowledge of hit-making, Kirshner created a new model for music marketing that would serve as a reference point for countless musicians and labels in the ensuing decades, ranging from boy bands to image-conscious rock groups.
The project? The Monkees.
Filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, who created The Beatles-inspired group specifically for a television series, asked Kirshner to write the music. He was soon hired on as a full producer and helped pen several hits including 'I'm a Believer.' He also consulted in The Monkees' branding and distribution, and when he stepped away from the group the following year, their sales and popularity dropped significantly.
In the '70s, Kirshner produced the highly successful 'Don Kirshner's Rock Concert' on ABC, a live-performance revue that served as an answer to other shows' reliance on lip-syncing and other staged performances.
Kirshner is survived by his wife, Sheila, to whom he was married for 50 years, as well as two children and four grandchildren.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Exploitation Remains an Issue in South Korea's Entertainment Industry
She was a young actress with designs on mega-stardom. But to realize her dreams, Jang Ja-yeon was resigned to take her place in the seamy realm of the South Korean sexual casting couch.
In the end, the disgrace proved too much. In the seven-page note she wrote before her March 2009 suicide, the 27-year-old TV sitcom regular described how her manager forced her to have sex with industry VIPs such as directors, media executives and CEOs, many of whom she cited by name.
Jang’s death stunned this nation transfixed by celebrity and all its trappings. Since 1990, a half-dozen TV and film actresses have committed suicide over the stress that comes with success in South Korea. The aftermath of Jang’s suicide triggered a federal government investigation into “slave contracts,” in which young talent, mostly women, become locked into exclusive contracts by their agents requiring them to work long hours for low pay, receive unwanted plastic surgery and, in Jang’s case, turn to prostitution.
Nearly two years after her suicide, critics say, little has changed in the cutthroat “Korean Wave” of TV, film and music that each year draws thousands of young hopefuls ready to endure whatever it takes — including sexual abuse and exploitation — to make it big.
While the film and music businesses in such nations as India and the U.S. can also be shady, scholars worry over the perverse treatment of women in South Korea’s relatively small but growing entertainment industry, which is making a cultural impact throughout Asia and the West.
An April 2010 survey conducted by a human rights group here found that 60 percent of South Korean actresses polled said they had been pressured to have sex to further their careers. In interviews with 111 actresses and 240 aspiring actresses, one in five said they were “forced or requested” by their agents to provide sexual favors, nearly half said they were forced to drink with influential figures, and a third said they experienced unwanted physical contact or sexual harassment.
Though two of Jang’s former managers were each sentenced to 12 months in jail last October for extortion, nearly two dozen executives named in the actress’ suicide note — now known as the “Jang Ja-yeon paper” — were never charged.
Other cases have surfaced. A government review panel in Seoul recently ruled that many entertainment contracts illegally infringe on performer privacy and limit an individual’s ability to change agencies.
Critics say the entertainment industry scandal runs to the very roots of Korean culture, in which powerful authority figures, beginning with the military regimes overthrown a generation ago, feel unchecked in their dominance.
“Nowadays in South Korea, money really does matter,” said Lee Myoung-jin, a sociology professor at Korea University in Seoul. “To cash in on stardom and wealth, young people do whatever their agents say. There are people out there taking advantage of the situation. It’s a tragedy.”
Jang’s life story plays out like a TV soap opera, the venue of her first success. Orphaned as a child when her parents died in a car crash, she set her sights on the movie industry. After making her debut in a 2006 television commercial, Jang’s first big break came when she landed the role of a vindictive schoolgirl in the popular TV soap “Boys Over Flowers.”
But off-screen, her life was anything but rosy. In her suicide note, the actress described being at the mercy of studio bosses who forced her to have sex with clients and once to serve drinks on a high-roller golf trip to Thailand. “I was called to a bar and pressured to accept a request for a sexual relationship,” she wrote in her suicide note.
When police later raided her manager’s office, they discovered a shower and bed in a “secret room” they believe was used for Jang’s forced dalliances. After the actress asked to terminate her contract, she was allegedly threatened and beaten, according to her last note. On March 7, 2009, Jang called her sister to lament of her “overwhelming stress.” Hours later, the sister returned to the family home to find Jang’s body hanging from a stairway banister.
In a newspaper op-ed published days after Jang’s death, a former national broadcasting official cited the immense pressure on celebrities to keep in the public eye. He said those “who do not make frequent appearances are treated as losers. To avoid this, they often have to go too far.”
The governmental Fair Trade Commission met in July to investigate the “slave contract” phenomena after three members of the now-disbanded male pop-idol group called TVXQ filed a lawsuit to end a 13-year exclusive contract with their manager. The panel ruled that the management’s contract was illegal and suggested an ongoing problem in the industry.
A former English tutor for the popular South Korean pop band Wonder Girls also claimed last year that members were mistreated during a North American tour — kept in isolation and denied medical treatment. The band has denied the claims.
But Jang’s suicide hit hardest. Even 22 months after Jang’s death, bloggers still rue the death of a fragile celebrity many believed was destined to become one of South Korea’s biggest movie stars. When she took her life, Jang was awaiting the release of her first two films, which were later both well received. In the first two days after her death, nearly 1 million fans visited her website.
Activists say there are probably other actresses like Jang caught up in the secret web between power and celebrity in South Korea. But they don’t expect the situation to improve soon. Many actresses, they say, fear reprisals as well as public shame if they come forward.
Said Lee Eun-sim of South Korea’s sexual violence relief center: “Jang’s death was the tip of the iceberg.”
In the end, the disgrace proved too much. In the seven-page note she wrote before her March 2009 suicide, the 27-year-old TV sitcom regular described how her manager forced her to have sex with industry VIPs such as directors, media executives and CEOs, many of whom she cited by name.
Jang’s death stunned this nation transfixed by celebrity and all its trappings. Since 1990, a half-dozen TV and film actresses have committed suicide over the stress that comes with success in South Korea. The aftermath of Jang’s suicide triggered a federal government investigation into “slave contracts,” in which young talent, mostly women, become locked into exclusive contracts by their agents requiring them to work long hours for low pay, receive unwanted plastic surgery and, in Jang’s case, turn to prostitution.
Nearly two years after her suicide, critics say, little has changed in the cutthroat “Korean Wave” of TV, film and music that each year draws thousands of young hopefuls ready to endure whatever it takes — including sexual abuse and exploitation — to make it big.
While the film and music businesses in such nations as India and the U.S. can also be shady, scholars worry over the perverse treatment of women in South Korea’s relatively small but growing entertainment industry, which is making a cultural impact throughout Asia and the West.
An April 2010 survey conducted by a human rights group here found that 60 percent of South Korean actresses polled said they had been pressured to have sex to further their careers. In interviews with 111 actresses and 240 aspiring actresses, one in five said they were “forced or requested” by their agents to provide sexual favors, nearly half said they were forced to drink with influential figures, and a third said they experienced unwanted physical contact or sexual harassment.
Though two of Jang’s former managers were each sentenced to 12 months in jail last October for extortion, nearly two dozen executives named in the actress’ suicide note — now known as the “Jang Ja-yeon paper” — were never charged.
Other cases have surfaced. A government review panel in Seoul recently ruled that many entertainment contracts illegally infringe on performer privacy and limit an individual’s ability to change agencies.
Critics say the entertainment industry scandal runs to the very roots of Korean culture, in which powerful authority figures, beginning with the military regimes overthrown a generation ago, feel unchecked in their dominance.
“Nowadays in South Korea, money really does matter,” said Lee Myoung-jin, a sociology professor at Korea University in Seoul. “To cash in on stardom and wealth, young people do whatever their agents say. There are people out there taking advantage of the situation. It’s a tragedy.”
Jang’s life story plays out like a TV soap opera, the venue of her first success. Orphaned as a child when her parents died in a car crash, she set her sights on the movie industry. After making her debut in a 2006 television commercial, Jang’s first big break came when she landed the role of a vindictive schoolgirl in the popular TV soap “Boys Over Flowers.”
But off-screen, her life was anything but rosy. In her suicide note, the actress described being at the mercy of studio bosses who forced her to have sex with clients and once to serve drinks on a high-roller golf trip to Thailand. “I was called to a bar and pressured to accept a request for a sexual relationship,” she wrote in her suicide note.
When police later raided her manager’s office, they discovered a shower and bed in a “secret room” they believe was used for Jang’s forced dalliances. After the actress asked to terminate her contract, she was allegedly threatened and beaten, according to her last note. On March 7, 2009, Jang called her sister to lament of her “overwhelming stress.” Hours later, the sister returned to the family home to find Jang’s body hanging from a stairway banister.
In a newspaper op-ed published days after Jang’s death, a former national broadcasting official cited the immense pressure on celebrities to keep in the public eye. He said those “who do not make frequent appearances are treated as losers. To avoid this, they often have to go too far.”
The governmental Fair Trade Commission met in July to investigate the “slave contract” phenomena after three members of the now-disbanded male pop-idol group called TVXQ filed a lawsuit to end a 13-year exclusive contract with their manager. The panel ruled that the management’s contract was illegal and suggested an ongoing problem in the industry.
A former English tutor for the popular South Korean pop band Wonder Girls also claimed last year that members were mistreated during a North American tour — kept in isolation and denied medical treatment. The band has denied the claims.
But Jang’s suicide hit hardest. Even 22 months after Jang’s death, bloggers still rue the death of a fragile celebrity many believed was destined to become one of South Korea’s biggest movie stars. When she took her life, Jang was awaiting the release of her first two films, which were later both well received. In the first two days after her death, nearly 1 million fans visited her website.
Activists say there are probably other actresses like Jang caught up in the secret web between power and celebrity in South Korea. But they don’t expect the situation to improve soon. Many actresses, they say, fear reprisals as well as public shame if they come forward.
Said Lee Eun-sim of South Korea’s sexual violence relief center: “Jang’s death was the tip of the iceberg.”
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