Brad Pitt rejected by Barack Obama

Hollywood stars have long been known for throwing their support behind politicians. It can be helpful or hurtful, depending on the celebrity in question. Brad Pitt, who has become much more politically and socially active in the last few years, has followed many of his celebrity peers and thrown his support behind Barack Obama - even offering to campaign for him. Unfortunately it seems the Obama campaign doesn’t really have any use - or any need - for Pitt, and has politely declined his offer.

Would Brad Pitt be a liability for Barack Obama When the socially conscious star offered to help the Democratic contender’s presidential campaign, he was turned down, our sources report. The overture was made through intermediaries, and it’s not known whether the Illinois senator was even aware of Pitt’s offer to make appearances on his behalf.

Obama’s advisers felt Pitt was “a great guy,” said a knowledgeable source, but they didn’t want their candidate - who already has the endorsements of Pitt pals George Clooney and Matt Damon - to appear to be “too Hollywood.” What’s more, as politically correct as Pitt’s partner, Angelina Jolie, is now, the source ruminated that it might be hard for some Americans to forget that she used to wear a vial of blood around her neck. Pitt’s spokeswoman told us, “I double-checked with Brad, and he has no affiliation with a candidate at this time.”

[From the New York Daily News]

It makes sense that Obama wouldn’t want too many celebrities tooting his horn - and he has plenty of them on board already (besides Clooney and Damon). Politics are all about strategy, and it’s imperative that Obama come off as just as intelligent and serious as Clinton. Too much Hollywood and he might appear comparatively “fluffy.” Plus as great as Angelina is, she could be a major political liability, opening up anyone associated with her to unsavory digs.

George Clooney says that while he was a bit surprised that Obama’s campaign wasn’t interested in Pitt, it did make sense.

When we ran it by Clooney, he said: “That would surprise me” - and yet, he understood. “I saw it with my father’s campaign for Congress in 2004,” Clooney said of his dad, Nick. “Being a celebrity can actually be a liability.”

Damon echoed Clooney’s sentiments when he told us: “I’m supporting Obama, and I thought George [Clooney] said it really well when he spoke to the senator. He said, I’ll support you in any way I can, including staying at home and shutting my mouth.’ “I’d like to help him - I think he’s a wonderful man and would be a great leader, and I’d reiterate what George says: I’ll help him in any way I can, including getting out of the way.”

[From the New York Daily News]

I like that idea that the most helpful thing sometimes is just to get out of the way. It shows there’s no ego involved. Something tells me that as the primaries get closer, Obama may become a bit more interested in Pitt - at least if his poll numbers keep sliding.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Barak Obama campaigning in Miami recently. Image thanks to PR Photos.

 [Date: 30-Oct-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on October 31st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt to play the Unabomber

I’m pretty much convinced that Brad Pitt can pull of any movie role and still look sexy. The guy from Legends of the Fall Sexy. Thelma & Louise Sexy. Unabomber Ted Kaczynski Still sexy. I mean a little less so - what with the aviator shades and the hood - but hot, nonetheless. Brad’s production company “Plan B” is currently considering a script about the Unabomber. And though they point out that the company makes films in which Brad does not star, let’s be honest here: he’d be the Unabomber. Because no one could bring sex appeal to sweats and scruff like Brad Pitt.

Would Brad Pitt be a convincing Unabomber His production company, Plan B, is considering a biopic about Ted Kaczynski, the Harvard-educated, manifesto-scribbling, beard-sporting, imprisoned-for-life terrorist who killed three and wounded 23 with his letter bombs. The manhunt for Kaczynski was one of the most expensive in FBI history. There’s also a family angle to a potential film: It was Ted’s brother, David Kaczynski, an anti-death-penalty activist, who ultimately turned him in to the authorities. Pitt’s publicist, Cindy Guagenti, confirms that Plan B is “looking at” a Unabomber script, but stresses that the production company is not yet involved in a formal way. “It’s not a project they’ve taken on yet,” she says. “It’s something they’re looking at.” She adds that Plan B’s execs get “a million scripts thrown at them” and not always for Pitt. “He doesn’t star in everything they produce, clearly.” If it does happen, it won’t be soon. “He’s got so many movies lined up,” she says.

[From New York Magazine]

Plan B is the company that Brad and Jennifer Aniston started together when they were married, and they both still have a stake in it - though it doesn’t appear they ever work together on the same projects in front of or behind the camera. I think a Unabomber film could be pretty interesting. Enough time has passed where it’s no longer quite the sensitive issue that it once was. But there’s a lot the general public doesn’t know about Ted Kaczynski, and it could make for a good film. Plus Brad Pitt trudging around a mountain all scruffy, pounding out angry letters on his old typewriter with the funky “i” key That’s hot.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Brad and Angie at the “Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford” - New York City Movie Premiere. Image thanks to PR Photos.

 [Date: 29-Oct-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on October 30th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Did Brad Pitt say they were moving to Europe because people are more aware

Brad Pitt has supposedly said that he and Angelina Jolie are planning on moving to Europe and possibly making it their home base. The two have spent a good deal of time there, particularly when Angelina was pregnant with Shiloh. It’s a little hard to tell if the quotes were taken out of context, but Brad seems to imply that Europeans are more aware of the rest of the world, and that’s part of their reasoning for wanting to move there.

“While we are very nomadic, we would like to have a base in Europe. More attention is paid here to what is going on in the world and it is easier to get to Africa and Asia from here,” he told XL Semanal, the weekly magazine supplement of the ABC newspaper.

“We want our children to have a broad vision of the world. Spain, Italy and France have lots of quality of life and that is healthy,” he added.

“We still have not finished. We are very lucky to have the means to give someone an opportunity,” he said.

“But it is more than that. I can’t imagine my life without our children. If someone is thinking of adopting, I couldn’t encourage them more,” he added.

The Hollywood couple reportedly moved recently from New York, along with their four children, to Los Angeles where Jolie is shooting Clint Eastwood’s new drama “The Changeling”.

[From the Turkish Press]

I don’t have any real opinion on Brangelina - they have pluses and minuses like everyone else - but they do seem to be a little ostentatious about their worldliness at times, and that bugs me a bit. Like I said, this quote could be made up or taken out of context, but considering how much traveling they do, it does sort of make sense. I would think no matter where they live, they’ll never settle down enough to have a clear “home” so it’s probably a moot point. In all likelihood, it’ll just be another place where they own property.

 [Date: 23-Oct-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on October 24th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

A philosophical analysis of Brad Pitt taking Pax and Zahara to preschool

Pictures of Brad Pitt taking Zahara and Pax to school just do not get old for me. They pretty much look the same each time - he’s holding their hands, the kids have those cute backpacks on, and Zahara is smiling. I still like to see them.

We don’t often get philosophical about the celebrities here, but the point to all this intrusion into their private lives is to feel like you somehow know them. Most of the time you just know the assumptions that other people make about famous people based on known circumstances about their lives. The things they say are usually over analyzed and taken out of content, with negativity fueled by jealousy over how pretty, rich and thin they are. Stories in one celebrity magazine get repeated in another without being sourced, and it becomes truth to the public, even though it was once cooked up by someone pouring over photos searching for something to gossip about.

Then you see pictures of them doing ordinary things, especially with their children, and you kind of realize that they serve a purpose in society. We need to have these beautiful people to look up to and at the same time see how much like us they are. If only we could revere the poor, the average, the differently-abled, maybe we’d see how lovely and special even the smallest most ordinary moments in all our lives can be.

Thanks to WENN for these photos. And thanks for listening to my diversion from the usual gossip. I realize this is not that deep or revelatory, but I gossip about celebrities after all.

Pax is wearing a faded vintage T that says “Respect your mother” while Zahara is wearing a “Black Sabbath” shirt.

 [Date: 23-Jun-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on June 23rd, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt filming scenes for his movie in Canada

Brad Pitt was photographed yesterday filming scenes for his new film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Montreal, Canada. Pitt was filming outdoor scenes for the movie.

While some commentors doubted whether Pitt and his family were back in Prague post-Cannes for Shiloh’s birthday, there were pictures by INFGoff that showed Pitt visiting the Go-Kart Centrum in Prague on Sunday with “Wanted” cast member Common, and “Oceans 13″ cast member Scott Caan. The photos were far away or I would have published them here. He was also seen tooling around on his motorcycle in Prague on Friday. I think that I saw photos of Pitt’s brother, Doug, and his sister there too, but am having trouble finding them again.

The Jolie-Pitts sure jet around the world. I’m not sure if Angelina and the kids are there in Montreal with Pitt, we’ll have to wait and see.

There’s more of the same stories about Brad and Angelina this week. Angelina’s brother talked to some other magazine about how his sister never eats because she is used to going without in her fieldwork for the UN and feels guilty for eating, and there’s another rumor that the hot couple is engaged and is planning a secret wedding. Since I’ve heard that before multiple times, and the source is the notoriously wrong British Grazia Magazine, I’m kind of skeptical.

Thanks to Splash News for these photos.

 [Date: 30-May-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on May 31st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt was once a wake n bake all day pot smoker

This is a screencap from Brad’s 1993 film True Romance
The National Enquirer leads with a cover story this week about how the drug dealers to the stars tell all. There are several blind items that kind of elude me that I’ll mention at the end of this post. Some of the details seem like they’re rehashed from interviews with the stars, while others are new.

Among the tidbits that are new to me is a supposed suicide bid by a coked-out Charlie Sheen. Sheen, who has since quit drugs, once threatened to kill himself in front of two prostitutes he was having sex with, claims a supposed drug dealer. He put a gun to his head and said he was going to shoot when he backed down and raged that he wasn’t going to do them the courtesy.

Brad Pitt was a heavy dope smoker in the late ’90s, they say, with tons of bongs and pot around his place:

The late ’90s marked a time of hardcore marijuana use for Brad Pitt, said the dealer, who reveals details Brad has kept secret for all these years.

“Pitt was heavily into marijuana then. You’d walk into his house, and there were different grades of dope and lots of bongs and smoking paraphernalia sitting on a table,” the dealer divulged.

Back then, Pitt was notorious for lighting up a joint as soon as he woke up, a routine called “Wake ‘n Bake.”

Pitt was also a regular customer at a now-closed drug pharaphernalia shop called 2000BC on L.A.’s trendy Melrose Avenue, said a former employee.

“Brad once came in and spend $1,500 on a dozen bongs to give for the cast and crew of a film he’d just finidhed,” the employee recalled.

[From The National Enquirer print edition, May 28, 2007]

That reminds me of Pitt’s character in 1993’s True Romance with Christian Slater, and these pictures are screencaps from that film. It would be rather fitting if all the bongs he bought for cast and crew were for that movie, as he played a pothead.

Blind Items mentioned in the article include a pretty juicy once about a Hollywood druggie family:

• An entire A-list family bought their drugs from the same dealer… “The couple’s kid was scoring between $3,000 and $6,000 worth of crystal meth a week from me, so he had to be dealing too,” the dealer - who passed a lie detector test - told The Enquirer.
  “The old lady, who was once one of Hollywood’s more gorgeous actresses, initially wouldn’t take the stuff from me. She’d have her kid get it. But then we became close friends and I did coke with her.”
  “The famous husband has been a cokehead for 25 years. He spent $12,000 to $15,000 a week with me for years.” [From The National Enquirer print edition, May 28, 2007]

And there’s another vague blind item:

• “One crack-using actor kept trashing hotel suites in Maui. Finally, we partied on a private beach, where he held an orgy one night.”

Those blind items might not be true, but I’m really wondering who the famous family is.

The article also repeats the story where Angelina is quoted in an interview as saying “I’ve done just about every drug possible. Cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy, LSD.”

Compared to Angelina, Brad’s few lost months in a pot haze seem rather tame.

Thanks to SimplyBrad for these True Romance screencaps.

 [Date: 21-May-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on May 22nd, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitts new Tomb Raider tattoo (update: is of Oetzi iceman, & new pic)

Brad Pitt sported a new tattoo on his inner left forearm of an outline of Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider character. Sky Showbiz points out that he was seen out with the tattoo yesterday, and I’ve tried to find the high resolution versions to no avail. I did find some pictures from 5/14 that show that same arm without the tattoo, so it seems to be recent. Note: This is no longer true, I found pictures from 5/14 with the tattoo, as shown below.

Last March Pitt was seen with a tattoo on his lower back that was said to be a Sanskrit Buddhist blessing meant to protect his adopted son, Maddox. It is similar to a tattoo that Angelina has on her back.

Angelina has many tattoos, including the coordinates of Zahara and Maddox’s birthplaces, a large tiger on her lower back, and the inscription “Know your Rights” on the back of her neck.

That’s a cute new tattoo that Brad’s sporting and I’ll be looking for a better picture of it.

Yesterday a story came out that Angelina said “Parents do separate” when talking about Brad Pitt. The quote was taken out of context, and she said a lot of flattering things about Pitt and their family in the interview, so it seems to be the tabloids making up a story where there is none.

Thanks to SkyShowbiz for the pictures and story.

Update Here’s a picture from 5/14 in which the side outline of the tattoo is visible on his forearm. I’ve been pouring through pictures and he’s been wearing long slevees so it’s hard to find. The tattoo is real and is not Photoshopped, as someone speculated in the comments. Thanks to Splash News for this picture. There are three versions with closer views below.

Update 2: Thanks to eagle-eyed commentor Alison, who points out that the tattoo is an outline of the iceman, Ötzi, who was found in an Italian glacier in 1991. He is thought to be around 5,300 years old and is Europe’s oldest natural human mummy. A picture of the outline of Oetzi from the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology website is show to the left. Thanks again to Alison for this link.

The tattoo does bear a resemblance to the swinging ponytail image of Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider character, and maybe that was deliberate.

 [Date: 18-May-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on May 21st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt and Maddox in Prague

Brad Pitt and Maddox were photographed out for a walk in Prague, where they are staying while Angelina Jolie films her new thriller Wanted. Angelina has been rumored to be threatening to quit the movie as the throng of photographers surrounding the couple has been out of hand. One scaled the wall to get into the villa where they’re staying.

In a new interview discussing his green housing development in Lousiana, Brad says that he can’t understand why people are invading their privacy so zealously in the Czech capital. Their residence in Prague has even been added to tours of the city. He says his family is treated like everyday citizens in the French quarter of New Orleans, where they’ve lived off and on for the past few months:

“Let me tell you, we’re in this house in Prague right now and there’s about 12 cars of paparazzi outside and some tourists with video cameras,” Pitt said Wednesday in a phone interview. “I can’t describe why we’re allowed to live a more normal life (in New Orleans).”

The thing he misses the most, he said, is bicycling through the streets of New Orleans at night.

“Living in the French Quarter is a thrill for us,” he said. “We have some semblance of real family life. People have been very, very gracious with us. If we’re on the front deck, people go by and say, ‘Hi.’ Then they go on their way, very friendly.”

[From Nola.com via I’m Not Obsessed]

Pitt’s green low-income housing project in New Orlean’s 9th ward is underway. He donated $100k to fund a design contest for the project, and there was a ceremony today to announce that Home Depot has become a big contributor, pledging $9 million.

Brad went on to say that New Orleans is the “most unique city” in the US and that he loves it there and will be back. He says that the priority in New Orleans should be helping people get homes post-Katrina, and that they hope to have a single-family home up for the hurricane’s second anniversary. The development will eventually have five houses, 18 apartments and a community center.

Thanks to SplashNews for these pictures of Brad and Maddox. Brad is said to be picking up Maddox from the “Lycee francais” school in Prague. Cambodian-born Maddox turns six in August.

 [Date: 11-May-07 ]

Written by TechniCool on May 11th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Brad Pitt.

Did Clooney tell Brad Pitt not to bring his kids over Of course not.

British sources are quoting George Clooney as saying that Brad Pitt’s children are not welcome at his famous Italian bachelor mansion and that he gets nervous around kids:

The 45 year old has banned his buddy from bringing his and Angelina Jolie’s five kiddiewinks to his Italian villa this summer.

He told The Sun: “I’ve told him he can’t bring his children.

“I get nervous around kids.

“I’m not ready for that kind of life.”

[From Sky Showbiz]

Sky Showbiz had that questionable quote from Clooney and attributes it to The Sun, while The Mirror runs the same story and doesn’t source the quote.

In fact I couldn’t find this story in the online version of The Sun.

It turns out it’s a quote from an OK! interview and of course it’s been misconstrued, with the quotes taken out of order. When you read the full interview it sounds like Clooney is just joking around about Brad not bringing his kids. He also said that thing about not wanting a family and getting nervous around kids way before he talked about Brad not coming over. Those two quotes are not related at all.

Do you think you’ll ever have children
I don’t know why everyone wants me to become a father - I’m so selfish and I get nervous around kids and I know I’m not ready for that kind of life. I’ve settled into a very comfortable lifestyle and I really don’t want to change things. I’ve learnt enough about myself to know that my work is the main thing which drives me and that a woman who comes into my life is going to have to deal with that which isn’t easy.

Would you not be happier with a woman at your side
It’s not a question of happiness, it’s a matter of what you want most out of life and how you need to live to get where you want to go. I would love to be the kind of man who can pursue both, but I haven’t been able to do that in the past, which can be very painful for you and the woman in your life. I’ve found my life is a lot more satisfying and interesting if I’m free to pursue it exactly the way I want, which is to make movies, hang out with my friends and live very freely. I need that.

And you still have a reputation for partying
I don’t live at full tilt the way I used to. You begin to hate waking up with the kind of hangover you get from going on huge benders with your buddies. Also, since my neck surgeries, I’ve been forced to take things easier and not beat up my body the way I used to. I’m more cautious.

Is your Italian villa still important to you
Oh sure, I love it there! Except I’ve been talking about it so much that everyone knows where I live now. I have the feeling they’re handing out tourist maps in Italy about how to get to George Clooney’s house!

Are you treated any differently there
The good thing is the local people treat me very well as one of their own. I can still go to most restaurants in the area, speak to the regulars and feel very much at home. No one cares about the film business there, it’s all about food, wine and women and the beauty of being there. It doesn’t get better than that!

Will you be taking your Ocean’s Thirteen cast to your villa again when you’re promoting the film
Some will probably visit me later. I guess Brad will, but I’ve told him he can’t bring his 15 children with him!

Is it true when you shot Ocean’s Twelve, you, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon had so much fun that the film suffered
We did do a lot of drinking and partying but that had nothing to do with how the film turned out. What hurt Ocean’s Twelve was that we had some problems with the script that never got solved and we just drank to make us forget that we probably didn’t have as good as movie on our hands as we hoped for. We all wanted another crack at it and we came up with a really good idea for Ocean’s Thirteen which is more about revenge. We thought this could be areally fun film to make and I’m confident we’ve got our mojo back on this one.

[From OK! Magazine UK print edition, May 8, 2007 via ClooneyStudio]

Today’s Sun does run another quote from Clooney from that same interview where he says that he doesn’t go on benders anymore and hates waking up with a hangover.

Maybe The Sun ran that earlier quote about Clooney saying Brad can’t bring his kids over, and then replaced it with the hangover story, which was more accurate.

These papers really need to quote their damn sources properly, because the news today is going to be that Clooney dissed Pitt’s family, and that’s not what he said at all.

I really liked how candid Clooney was about wanting to remain single and making his work his priority. He is a notorious playboy, but he makes it sound like a reasonable personal choice. (Of course we’ll be back to dissing him for it next week.)

Here are pics of George and Brad in Oceans 11 and Oceans 12 thanks to AllMoviePhoto. Oceans 13 is out on June 7th.

 [Date: 04-May-07 ]