(Adds screenwriter in paragraph 3)
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - One day after "Zero Dark Thirty" failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers' contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency.
The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, said it was in touch with the filmmakers but had no immediate comment. Screenwriter Mark Boal said he had no comment. But attacks by Washington politicians may have damaged its prospects at the Academy Awards. "Zero Dark Thirty" was nominated for a best picture award, which it did not win. Also, in what industry watchers considered a snub, director Kathryn Bigelow did not receive a best director nomination.
The Senate committee launched its review of the film, a dramatization of how the U.S. government located and killed Osama bin Laden, after its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, expressed outrage over scenes that implied that "enhanced interrogations" of CIA detainees produced an breakthrough that helped lead to the al Qaeda leader.
In December, as "Zero Dark Thirty" was about to premiere nationwide, Feinstein joined fellow Democrat Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator John McCain in condemning "particularly graphic scenes of CIA officers torturing detainees" in the film.
A source familiar with contacts between the filmmakers and intelligence officials said the CIA did not tell the filmmakers "enhanced interrogations" led to bin Laden. Instead, the agency helped develop characters in the film, said the source.
The political fallout prompted Bigelow to write in an op-ed piece: "Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time."
The government cooperated as much, if not more, on "Argo," the film about the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Iran that won the best picture Oscar. Actor-director Ben Affleck and his team were allowed to film scenes in the lobby of the CIA building in Langley, Virginia; the "Zero Dark Thirty" crew did no such filming. (Reporting By Mark Hosenball. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

Of all the Oscar-related surprises of the last 24 hours, David Carr's comment on The Onion/Quvenzhané Wallis affair was one of the most bewildering things of all.

I expected that Seth MacFarlane's stint as Oscar host would result in a night full of obvious and lazy jokes. I didn't expect so much of the Oscar telecast to be quite so casually misogynist, but was I shocked that his generally unfunny remarks were shot through with so much genial ignorance and arrogance? Sad to say, not really.

Experiencing live events through a haze of social media is a whole new form of entertainment these days, and, as expected, my Twitter feed was more amusing than most of what transpired on the Oscar stage. Naturally, I expected The Onion's Twitter feed to be full of barbs meant to take celebrities and their egos down a few notches. Did I expect them to lob the c-word at a 9-year old girl? I did not. In fact, when a tweet that screen-grabbed The Onion's comment showed up in my timeline, I first thought it had to be a Photoshopped, made-up thing and could not really have come from The Onion, because not only was it horribly offensive on a number of levels, it wasn't funny.

Almost as surprising as The Onion tweet? The fact that the leading media columnist in America apparently doesn't understand how privilege works.

Well after The Onion apologized for the statement about Wallis (which had already been deleted), here's what David Carr of The New York Times had to say: "Onion to writers: Tweet incredibly edgy, funny stuff. If you go over the line, we'll just slide you under the bus."

There are a few things that need to be unpacked here, so I'll take them one by one.

1. No one was thrown under any bus. No individual took credit for that tweet, so how could one person be blamed for it? We still don't know who wrote it, and anyway, it doesn't really matter. This isn't about a witch hunt. It's about people holding an organization accountable for what it put out into the world (as happened during the recent New York Times-Tesla flap).

No writer was named by The Onion. No one was publicly shamed by the organization. Were there consequences internally? Apparently so, based on the apology, but that's how the world works. If a similar brouhaha developed over a New York Times tweet or story, there would no doubt be consequences at that publication. How does an unnamed writer (or writers) dealing with unspecified consequences constitute throwing someone under a bus? Did Times public editor Margaret Sullivan throw Tesla reviewer John M. Broder "under a bus" during that controversy, or did she discuss how the publication might have altered its approach in order to create a better offering to the public?

The latter is essentially what happened here, and, as was the case with the Times-Tesla flap, the depth of the anger had to do with the degree of trust and investment people had in those respective publications. The Onion isn't some minor-league publication; it's a big-time media concern these days, and big-time publications issue clarifications and corrections when something blows up in their faces.

2. It was "incredibly funny and edgy"? Many people, including many longtime fans of The Onion's comedy stylings, did not find it so. Isn't it worth considering why that's the case? Even if it amused Carr (as well as dozens of commenters on The Onion's Facebook apology, who continue to assert how funny the comment was), isn't it worth asking why so many people who generally support or tolerate "edgy" things thought it was problematic and indicative of larger cultural issues?

David Carr covers the media industry, and he usually displays more curiosity and skepticism than was apparent in that comment. I wonder if he's read any of the thoughtful, smart essays, tweets and posts that have been written about both MacFarlane and The Onion situation (like this one from novelist N.K. Jemisin, or this summary from Racialicious). There's a lot of grist for his mill there.

3. Many people, both inside and outside the media industry, have made astute observations about how the Oscar ceremony was disturbingly disrespectful to women and people of color, how Wallis was marginalized and condescended to before and during the ceremony (i.e., reporters have learned how to say Zach Galifianakis' name but they didn't bother to learn Wallis'?), and how the Academy Awards ceremony was designed to be "for guys" and yet left many men and women feeling disappointed, disturbed and dismayed. The whole thing blew up because that tweet was the tip of the an ugly iceberg -- or, in a more apt analogy, the straw that broke the camel's back. As Mslooola said, "There comes a point where you're simply FATIGUED. Fatigued that comedy has STILL not found a way to evolve from making you the punchline."

Yet Carr's tweet -- his only comment on The Onion matter so far -- indicates that he wonders how the writers are feeling, which strikes me as the least interesting part of this. The Onion's writer or writers had a degree power in this situation (more than 4.5 million Twitter followers, which is just one measure of its influence), and that person or people used it to lob an extraordinarily crude word at a child. Forgive me if I haven't spent much time thinking about how the whole thing affects them, and a good deal of time wondering if Wallis can be shielded from hearing that word for a long time to come.

Because Carr has a lot of power himself, his tweet was the one that made me despair.

Carr is not dumb. As a media columnist, he's proven in other situations that he understands how power dynamics work. Why is he so blind to the hierarchies and power imbalances here? Why isn't he using his power to excavate and examine them, even a little bit?

A lot of comedy comes from playing around with and commenting on status and power, and one of The Onion's best-known gags involves taking Vice President Biden -- an icon of Establishment power -- and re-imagining him as a lovably foul-mouthed, working-class dude. It's funny because Biden is famous and important in real life, but The Onion writers give him a narrative in which he appears to have less power -- but their version of Biden is actually more likable and memorable than the real thing. That's clever.

There was nothing clever, witty or perceptive about the Wallis comment. The tweet that invoked her name -- and the treatment of women at the Oscars in general -- was about putting less powerful people in their place. When a more powerful entity attacks a less powerful entity -- especially a more vulnerable group that has been historically marginalized and demeaned -- why should we worry about how the more powerful feel? Shouldn't we just expect them to take their lumps when criticized?

As Emily Hauserpointed out, "Humor rooted in demeaning & belittling those who are routinely demeaned & belittled is a) lazy & b) part of the problem." It's true. Carr's comment smacks of siding with bullies, and we already have enough of that kind of exclusionary thinking floating around. Yes, we can "take a joke," whether those jokes are from MacFarland or The Onion, but not when they're "an ostensibly gentler way of saying, 'I don't think you belong here'" or when, in "the process of trying to satirize the media's cruelty towards women, they actually [end] up accidentally perpetuating it."

Though I don't particularly care how the person who wrote that tweet is feeling today, I truly don't wish that individual ill. It sucks to be in the center of an Internet shit-show, but speaking as someone who's been through my share of them, they can be educational experiences.

I'm hoping that The Onion writers and other funny people who wield power on Twitter realize how powerful they really are, and how much context matters. What was the narrative here? There really wasn't one in that tweet, so as a joke and a construct, it simply failed.

As former Onion staffer Baratunde Thurston put it in his savvy take, The Onion "largely satirizes media and the general public. Everyone fawning over a clearly lovely and innocent little girl presents an opportunity to go the opposite direction with something contrasting and clearly false. It was also a take on tabloid media extremism... but it was an extremely high-risk move and missed that target by WIDE margin. Limited upside. HORRIBLE downside."

Yes. Many, many people were smart enough to understand what The Onion is going for but how the publication missed the mark. Many people can laugh at what's funny about "Family Guy" and "Ted" while still thinking that MacFarlane's humor is lazier, mean-spirited and more sexist than it needs to be.

What we really need are powerful people in the media who can interrogate and examine the assumptions and dynamics that put MacFarlane in a position to demean so many. What we need are powerful media columnists who can help us understand why ABC and the Academy hired him, and how a well-regarded entity like The Onion could do something so unfunny and dumb -- and how these powerful players could be caught so flat-footed when large segments of both audiences responded with revulsion.

The whole melee has been a depressing reminder of how much still needs to be achieved when it comes to gender and race in the media and in Hollywood. Though I think Brokey McPoverty's spot-on Twitter feed and Black Girl Dangerous' incisive post are required reading, I also want to think the news here isn't all bad.

This is a teachable moment. As someone who has read Carr for years and who has respected his insights in the past, it would be great if he could be one of the teachers.

For married A-listers, there's no better time to gush about your spouse than during your Oscar acceptance speech.

Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway and Best Picture winner Ben Affleck gave sweet shout-outs to their significant others during their acceptance speeches at Sunday's Academy Awards, and they're not the only ones to get mushy after winning the golden statue. We pulled together the top 10 spouse thank-yous of all time, so get your tissues ready.

Watch the loving moments in the slideshow below.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

"Arrested Development" fans shouldn't hold their breath for more seasons on Netflix.

On a conference call with investors on Monday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said "Arrested Development's" revival on the streaming service happened under "unrepeatable circumstances," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"'Arrested' is a unique property. We don’t anticipate being able to do Season 5, 6 and 7," Hastings said on the call (via THR). "It is really a fantastic one off, which is coming together incredibly. I think it will be amazing for us, but think of it as a non-repeatable amazing."

Later on Monday, a Netflix spokesperson clarified Hastings' statements to Alan Sepinwall at HitFix.

"I think we all knew it was lightning in the bottle that we pulled it all together [for this batch of episodes]," the spokesperson said.

But, the rep added that Ted Sarandos has been the point person for the "Arrested" revival, and hasn't yet given up hope for more seasons. "If anyone can pull it together, it's going to be Ted. But by no means is this the end of it," the spokesperson explained. "We're definitely planning to do more with them. We have first rights, so it's not like you'd see it anywhere else. We're absolutely hopeful there will be more."

"Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz echoed the Netflix spokesperson's statements when he talked to USA Today in January. Hurwitz said that it was difficult to get all of the actors together for the project again, considering how successful many of the stars' have become since the cult hit ended its original run in 2006. "Contractually, we couldn't use all the characters in every episode; they were not free to do as much television as they want," Hurwitz told the paper in January.

Earlier in the month, at a panel for the 2013 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Hurwitz told reporters, "We couldn't afford to do the show with what these people are worth now. So it was this crazy idea of 'there'll be one king this week.'"

Hurwitz went on to say the Netflix installment is the "first act of what we hope to continue in a movie, which would be act 2 and act 3. These are episodes that set that up. It is not Season 4." But the "Arrested Development" movie is no guarantee, as USA Today pointed out.

Do you think we'll see more "Arrested Development" after Season 4/Act 1 on Netflix or is this the end? Would it be too much of a good thing? Share your thoughts in the comments.

"Arrested Development" Season 4/Act 1 premieres on Netflix in May.

Kavinsky has cut a famously mythic figure in the world of French electronic music, folding himself into his alter-ego, a Ferrari Testarossa-driving zombie from a bygone decade.

It helped that he is perhaps only known to wider American audiences by a song on a movie soundtrack, "Nightcall," from the Ryan Gosling and auto-porn vehicle "Drive." That haunting tune also offers the centerpiece for Kavinsky's own soundtrack, though its corresponding movie has yet to make it out of the producer's mind. "OutRun," Kavinsky's debut studio LP, landed in stores Monday.

In person, however, Kavinsky (born Vincent Belorgey -- he changed the name because he didn't think it fit the whole zombie-DJ-producer narrative) is disarmingly casual. He freely dispatches electronic dance music poster-boy David Guetta as a horrible reference and says Guetta -- also French -- ruined Kid Cudi's career, but does so in as not-flashy a manner as possible.

"OutRun" offers a similar picture: It incorporates bouncy electro-pop vibes, horror-inspired tension fit for a car chase, tempered, vocal laden vignettes and even a dash of Mobb Deep (Havoc appears on "Suburbia"). It's worth a listen, even if "Nightcall" -- included again here -- remains its high point.

HuffPost Entertainment grabbed a drink with Kavinsky in advance of the album's release to discuss his overall vision for "OutRun," the weight of Daft Punk comparisons and why he's always been "a Queensbridge guy."

This album has a lot of range, when taken together. You have a songs like "Rampage" which may remind you of Justice, and "Suburbia" which blends in some hip-hop. Was that diversity a goal?
Yes, but I think it's a continuation. They're not really that different -- they have the same guts behind them. I want it to be like a soundtrack for a movie. I wanted a ballad, like "Nightcall," and then something rough. I try to have all the tracks in the right place, so it's like you see a movie.

You've said many times that you're influenced by movies. When you write music, do you actually see a film in your mind?
Yes, totally.

So you'd say you work in images, more than sound?
Absolutely, that's the only way for me to work. I can't make something from nothing and just create music like this [snaps]. It really helps me a lot to get some images in my head. Then I can work. And I prefer to make an image with my own story, rather than someone else's. So that's why I made the story.

When did you finish the album? Obviously some of the songs have been released for some time, but when did it all come together?
Clearly not so long ago. It was about one year ago or eight months ago.

By that point "Nightcall," was extremely popular. Did that change how you thought about the album?
Yeah, it kicked my ass a little bit, to finish it.

Some people thought there never would be an album.
Even me! Of course Sebastian did a lot for me to get a vision for my work and a new look at what I already had on the table. He would say, "OK, maybe that track, or this one." But me, myself and I, just by myself in the studio? I would never know what to do more or do less. I really needed -- and he is one of my best friends -- I needed help. So when I asked him and he said yes, he helped me finish the work from 2005 until now.

From 2005 until now, you could always tell yourself you were working on the album. Is it hard not to have that excuse now?
I really decided to work on the album after "Nightcall." Until then I was just trying to keep my work on EPs. People still seemed like they were listening to my music, so I wasn't really sure why I needed an album, to be honest. I can say now, that it's better to finish my album, because of "Drive." But it could be bad for me, because now everybody has been waiting for it. And if it's bad or they don't like it, they will kick my ass, I think. They'll be like, "This is what we were waiting for? What the fuck!"

It was interesting because since "Nightcall" came out, a lot more Americans have discovered the music of you and your friends, like Pedro [Winter] and Mr. Oizo. Is that something you realized, in Paris?
I know people listen to Justice. Daft Punk, maybe? [Laughs] I did a lot of DJ sets here with my label here with A-Trak, Fools' Gold, with my boy DJ Mehdi.

Right, but when you were doing those shows, there was a strong base, but now A-Trak is doing shows for 25, 30,000 people, so the scene has gotten a lot bigger.
Yeah, of course. Even for my friends like Justice, we're a really small circle of good friends.

You even lived with Gaspard [Auge, of Justice].
Yeah, you know about that? I was with my girl and it was a big mess, so I grabbed my bag and said, "OK! That's what you want? I'm leaving." And she said, "Where are you leaving to?" "Oh." So I called Gaspard and they [said to go over and live there]. And I lived there for one year. It was a big time.

I just interviewed Justice and we spoke about how they're frustrated when their music is labeled as "dance music." I know you were frustrated when your music was labeled as "electro" by iTunes. Do you think people in America still think of you as a dance outfit?
My point was really to say that my music is definitely not for clubs. If you put it in a club, everyone is leaving. I really wanted to say, "OK, I play DJ sets but my music will definitely not be club music." I prefer you put my music on at home, or the best is in a car. You get that submarine sonorisation, it's the best way. But yeah, if my music was labeled as dance? That would be a nightmare for me.

But still, a lot of people who book acts like Justice in America will put you guys at a festival with, say, Kaskade.
Then maybe this album will be the way to say, "No!"

One thing that I read over and over was folks saying your album will be "the best since Daft Punk's 'Alive.'" Is that funny for you, as someone who knows the guys, that any French artist has to be compared to Daft Punk?
For me, it's not a problem. I prefer that than David [Guetta]. [Laughs] Of course, I have Twitter and when I read this, I'm like, "wow, what are they going to think about my album when they're waiting for some Daft Punk." So I'm freaking out a little bit, because Daft Punk is still playable in clubs. I really don't know shit about their albums. I don't want to ask them to have me listen, and I don't even know if they would make me listen. I'm honestly very flattered that people can make these comparisons.

You're really into hip-hop, especially the classics. Are you interested at all in the blends of hip-hop, trap and other dance movements?
It's good to see that hip-hop can be everywhere. We have one of the most famous guys in France, Patrick Bruel. He's a big acoustic guitar guy. I really hate his music. It's shit like you can't even imagine. And everybody loves it. Even that kind of guy is featuring French rappers on his album. So rap isn't like before, when it was like "Oh, you listen to rap?" Now your mom, your dad, everyone is listening to rap and they don't even know it. It's cool and not cool.

The culture is a bit diluted.
Yeah, yes yes. I agree with this.

Did you see the Skrillex and A$AP Rocky song "Wild For the Night" by chance? A-Trak peformed it with Rocky on Letterman.
Skrillex … is a cool friend of mine. A$AP Rocky … I don't know. I know the name. I bought his stuff just to see what the fuck this is, because everyone is telling me about him. At the time I was thinking about who I should feature on the rap songs on the album, and everybody was telling me, A$AP Rocky, Kanye or Kid Cudi -- well, no, I have no idea where Kid Cudi is, maybe he did too much [Guetta].

But it became clear to me that I didn't want some guys of the moment, but some guys from my heart, some guys that were with me for all of my youth. So I asked A-Trak, who knows everybody, so I asked him to check with Mobb Deep and he said, "Well, I can check with him," because Prodigy was in jail. So we got Havoc.

Didn't he get out of jail while you were making the album?
Fifteen days! Fifteen days after we finished the track. I thought about trying to get Prodigy on it but it was good as it was, so I was just frustrated as a little kid. I just wanted to be able to say "Mobb Deep" on my album, so I asked if we could say Havoc of Mobb Deep, and they said it's too long. But I'm proud of it. The guy did an effort to write in my sense, with the story of the man and the car.

Did you have any preference between New York and West Coast rap, when it came to the classics?
I'm not too into West Coast rap. I like "The Chronic," of course. I'm always a QB guy. I'm not from Queensbridge, but I always listen to stuff from New York, like Biggie, Nas, stuff like that.

A lot of producers like "The Chronic" because it's an especially clean-sounding record, production-wise.
For me, I didn't know about samples. So I thought they were playing everything. One time someone played me something and I said, "What about that funk behind there?" And they said, "It's a sample, man." And I was like, "Oh yeah? What's a sample?" So it's great. That hip-hop took me to all that George Clinton, and everything.

So because of hip-hop, I fell in love with the samples. It showed me so much music I didn't know. So it keeps my iTunes library and guides my influences, so thanks, to rap.

Add a longtime friendship with Andy Strunk, who has Down Syndrome, to the list of reasons to love Jennifer Lawrence.

On Sunday night, Lawrence took the award for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, and as usual, charmed viewers through the night. HuffPost declared her the winner of the entire event.

Strunk, who is 23, has been friends with her since they were students at Kammerer Middle School.

"We are like best friends," Strunk told the Courier Journal. "She's kind... I think she has spirit."

In a YouTube video, Strunk and his mother talk about Lawrence, who lived in his neighborhood growing up. Several photos show them together.

In a more recent photo, Lawrence hugs Strunk at an unspecified red carpet event. These days, Strunk follows her career, fashion and dating life, and she often sends him gifts in return.

Recently, he received an autographed Silver Linings Playbook poster. According to Wave, Strunk keeps a collection of memorabilia featuring the star in his bedroom.

Naturally, he couldn't wait to see her in the Academy Awards ceremony, for which he dressed up in a tuxedo.

"It's the best night of my life," Strunk told the Courier Journal.

H/T Reddit

Alicia Silverstone will be returning to TV as the lead in Lifetime's "HR," Deadline reports.

The actress, who most recently visited her "Clueless" co-star Jeremy Sisto for a stint on "Suburgatory," will play "the uptight Director of Human Resources for a global company who, after a head injury alters her outlook on life, throws standard corporate practices out the window and inspires the business to strive for new ambitions and profits."

Deadline reports that although the pilot was initially ordered last year, the pickup was contingent upon casting a recognizable lead, so the network spent time making sure that they'd found the right actress for the job.

In other pilot news ...

"Pan Am" star makes "Two Wrongs" for Fox. Kelli Garner will play Jenny, one half of the comedy's central couple who have to contend with the fact that boyfriend Nick's parents don't like Jenny all that much -- especially after she left him at the altar seven years prior. [The Hollywood Reporter]

"Malcolm in the Middle" star joins Amazon comedy pilot. Chris Masterson will play idealistic cub reporter Scott West in "The Onion Presents: The News," a new scripted comedy about the inner workings of The Onion News Network. [Deadline]

Patrick Flueger joins NBC's "Hatfields & McCoys" pilot. "The 4400" alum will play Jack McCoy, "a street-smart, hot-headed guy who is fiercely loyal to his family and love of Pittsburgh, where he runs a sports bar." His "Scoundrels" co-star Virginia Madsen is once again playing his mother. [THR]

Note: Do not read on if you haven't seen Season 3, Episode 15 of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," titled "The Real Housewives Of Paris, Part Un."

Before we discuss tonight's episode, we must take a moment to discuss Brandi's dress -- or lack thereof -- at the Oscars Sunday night.

So I think the issue here is quite basic: the dress simply didn't fit. I fear that Brandi thinks she can wear any style dress in the smallest size available because she is so insanely thin. But that's really not the case - she still must account for proportions (like the fact that she is very tall and has ginormous boobs). I am genuinely disappointed in her selection. As Sarah Jessica Parker said in a "Sex and the City" episode, "This is Vogue! Show some respect!" Well Brandi, you were at the Vogue of all award shows Sunday night and you did not show that red carpet any respect. Yikes.

Tonight's episode focused on getting the ladies from Los Angeles to Paris for the season's requisite group trip by way of air travel. I'm sure we all remember last year when Kyle arranged a Hawaiian getaway for Mauricio's birthday that shined the biggest light on Kim's serious addiction and horrendous taste in men. But Kim went through rehab and has been touting her sobriety (and her complimentary nose job) all over town, so now we have a new alcoholic to focus on: Taylor.

While the episode was not filled with any seriously dramatic moments or tension-filled scenes, it was entertaining in that it reminded me of the series' first season. Before there were fights about Radar Online and surrogacies (arguments that only occur because the ladies exist on a reality show that turns them into tabloid fodder), audiences simply witnessed the insanely excessive, totally absurd lives these ladies claimed to lead. As we move into new seasons, "Real Housewives" episodes inevitably feel more like you're on safari waiting to see a kill. But tonight's episode was reminiscent of the early days -- when watching these women was more like going to the zoo to observe animals in their faux-natural habitats. I'm not going to go as far as saying the ladies acted like mature adults; however, they were not as catty as high schoolers so there is no poll to accompany this episode. But let's take a look at what happened.

Kim opened the episode by articulating her concern for Taylor's drinking problem. As my distinguished colleague aptly put it -- you know it's bad if Kim Richards is the one staging an intervention. Taylor was strangely receptive to the conversation but witnessing Kim discuss her addiction and kind of make sense was so unnerving that I had to rewind the scene multiple times to digest the situation. Taylor seemed to take Kim's concern seriously and decided against going to Paris with the girls so she could stay in Beverly Hills and sort herself out -- and probably drink in privacy without fear of judgement. She's no fool!

Before moving on, I must take a moment to simply write down that Kyle's living room walls are decorated with rows of dead turtle shells. I can't. I just can't.

Next, we visited Ken and Lisa, who were preparing for their trip to St. Tropez to visit Ken's son Warren, who is kind of a stud. We learned that Warren married Lisa's friend Sue (WHO WAS A BOND GIRL!) back in the day, which was apparently "not the easiest of situations" for Lady Lisa though it all worked out eventually. For those who are interested, according to IMDB, Sue played the part of "log cabin girl" in "The Spy Who Loved Me."

Meanwhile, Yolanda hosted a housewarming party to show off the mansion she decorated for her ex-husband Mohamed. The girls all pretended that it was just a matter of coincidence that Yolanda, Lisa, and Kyle were going to be in Paris on the exact same days! Taylor teased what I imagine will become an upcoming conflict between her and Yolanda. Apparently Taylor has an issue with Yolanda's creepy husband David Foster. Honestly, who doesn't? More importantly, have you watched Yolanda's wedding video yet?! It's a must.

I'd also like to take a moment here to mention that both Mohamed and the Vanderpumps have swans in their yards. I think swans are becoming the new garden accessory or something. The equivalent in your lives and mine is probably like some fancy neighbors installing decorative mailboxes.

Yolanda's housewarming party was pretty boring except that Marisa arrived with the husband she seems to hate. Now I was prepared to share the many thoughts I have about how much I dislike Marisa, the way she treats her husband and her self-proclaimed "I'm like the guy" persona, but then we found out that her father-in-law died later in the episode, which is sad. So I will shelve my comments until next week.

Ken and Lisa landed in St. Tropez and stayed at Warren's home, where we learned that taste in real estate is clearly genetic. I wish Bravo showed more of Warren's house -- we only saw the driveway and backyard. Warren did mention that Ken and Lisa were staying in the guest house that was just past the tennis courts -- how fancy. Warren apparently made his fortune from properties he owns in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London. I assume he must own every part of Notting Hill.

Kyle, Kim, Mauricio, Yolanda and Brandi all traveled from LA to Paris in what looked like one piece. Ken and Lisa helicoptered to Paris and the joined the group on the balcony of Brandi's hotel room to watch Bastille Day fireworks over the Eiffel Tower. Kim was the last person up to Brandi's room and was acting like her usually spacy self -- having no idea when she arrived in Paris and cluelessly gazing into the distance. She also seemed to describe the city's impressive fireworks display with the following sounds: "Voom voom shabang!" I'm pretty sure neither of these sounds are applicable to fireworks. Until next week!

What did you think of tonight's episode? Did you like Brandi's Oscars dress? Do you think Kim was on something at the end of the episode? Sound off in the comments below.

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo.

ABC's "Gothica" has found its lead in Janet Montgomery, EW reports.

The British star will play Grace Van Helsing, the lead character in ABC's supernatural soap that weaves together the stories of Dracula, Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, the Van Helsings and the House of Usher in a modern setting. Montgomery's character will share an undeniable chemistry with Dorian Gray (Chris Egan) and is the ex-girlfriend of the troubled Victor Frankenstein (Tom Ellis), who is trying to bring his deceased daughter, Anna, back to life.

Montgomery recently headlined CBS' short-lived "Made in Jersey" and had previous roles in "Human Target," "Entourage" and "Black Swan."

In other pilot casting news ...

"The Killing" star joins NBC's "Ironside." Brent Sexton will co-star alongside Blair Underwood, who takes the titular role in the remake of the Raymond Burr hit. Sexton will play Robert T. Ironside's ex-partner, Gary, who blames himself for the shooting that left Ironside in a wheelchair. [Deadline]

"Heroes" star has "Doubt" with David Shore. The ABC pilot centers around Vince, a former cop who is now a street-smart lawyer who knows how to game the system. Grunberg will play Vince's older brother, Mark, who is "developmentally disabled as a result of a childhood accident but high functioning. He works as the receptionist at his brother's law firm and believes Vince can save the world." [The Hollywood Reporter]

"Delirium" finds its male lead. Daren Kagasoff ("The Secret Life of the American Teenager") will play Alex, "a young, handsome police officer with a secret agenda, who finds himself intensely attracted to Lena (Emma Roberts)" in the Fox pilot about a futuristic world where love has been made illegal and romantic feelings can be removed with a medical procedure. [Deadline]

Vegetarian rocker Morrissey canceled his scheduled performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" this week due to an appearance on the show by the cast of "Duck Dynasty."

The singer, who was slated to perform on the late night talk show to kick off his already-postponed tour, released a statement on Monday saying he "cannot morally be on a television program where the cast members of Duck Dynasty will also be guests."

The statement continued: "Morrissey would be honored to play the show, if 'Duck Dynasty' were removed."

The A&E reality program focuses on a family that became wealthy by making duck-call tools for duck hunters. The former Smiths frontman is a staunch animal rights activist.

E Online reports that Morrisey also stated:

"As far as my reputation is concerned, I can't take the risk of being on a show alongside people who, in effect, amount to animal serial killers. If Jimmy cannot dump Duck Dynasty, then we must step away."

According to the Associated Press, a source close to Kimmel said the singer's performance would be rescheduled.

Morrissey has been in the headlines this month for hosting the first all-vegetarian concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Amy Winehouse's ex-husband has told of his regret at introducing her to hard drugs - but has claimed her addiction worsened when they were apart.

Blake Fielder-Civil said the pair spent only four months in which they were taking drugs together as "addicts", due to his spells in jail.

He spoke in an emotional interview on ITV's Jeremy Kyle Show today, telling of his tears and disbelief when prison staff told him Amy had died.

Blake - who was married to the singer for two years - said of their heroin and crack use: "Out of maybe a six or seven-year relationship that me and Amy had on and off, there was drug use for about four months together."

He continued: "We used heroin together as addicts for like four months, then I went to jail. Then it got a lot worse while I was in jail and then when I came out of jail I was told that if I loved her I'd divorce her and set her free and I did."

The 34-year-old said he had used heroin "three or four times" before she was introduced to it. He said they were in an east London hotel room.

"I was smoking it on foil and she said can I try some and I said... I might have put up a weak resistance - the fact is whatever I said she did end up having some," he said. "I have to be really sort of conscious about what I say - I don't want to feel like I'm shirking responsibility. The fact is what I'm saying is of course I regret it, not just 'cos of the damage it's caused Amy and the loss of life, but the damage to her family but also to my family and also to me."

Blake told how he and Amy had discussed getting back together.

He went on: "She said that her doctor had said to her, you're never not going to be in love with Blake, and Amy had said 'yeah I know' and she asked me if she could come and visit me and I'd written a letter saying 'I don't know what we're going to do, of course I'm always going to love you'. And then we had a correspondence for about a week where we sort of ummed and aahed about it and then in the end it was sort of like what are we doing?"

Amy died in July 2011 and a second inquest found last month that she died from accidental alcohol poisoning.

PHOTOS: Amy's most iconic moments...

If Miles Teller is the next Vince Vaughn, his "21 and over" co-star Skylar Astin might be the next Andrew McCarthy. The New York City native, 25, broke out last year after playing the boy next door in "Pitch Perfect" and brings his nice-guy charm to "21 and Over" as Casey, one of two college students who help an old friend (Justin Chon) celebrate his 21st birthday with a night of debauchery that's depraved enough to come from the minds of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore ("The Hangover").

Astin, who made his acting debut alongside Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher Jr. in the original production of "Spring Awakening," spoke to HuffPost Entertainment about playing good guys, his 21st birthday and the status of "Pitch Perfect 2."

Between this and "Pitch Perfect" it's hard to imagine you'll ever have to buy a beer again, at least in college bars.
Oh my gosh. I never even thought about that. I've seen it with other people too. I saw it with Adam Devine, because he was so popular with his TV show "Workaholics" when we were filming "Pitch Perfect." The guy couldn't go anywhere without people trying to feed him booze or whatever. Just throwing things at that guy.

Does that make you nervous?
It's fine. I don't know which one I'd prefer: to be perceived more like Jesse from "Pitch Perfect" or Casey from "21 and Over." People are either going to want to be my girlfriend or be my buddy. I think it's cool. As long as it's positive, I'm happy. As long as I'm not the lead in a fighting movie and everyone wants to fight me every five seconds. If people want to cheer me or give me a hug, that's fine.

You rose to fame partially on the back of your skills as a musical performer -- on stage in "Spring Awakening" and then in "Pitch Perfect." Did you view this film as a chance to show your range?
You know what's interesting? I filmed and was cast in this movie before "Pitch Perfect." I know most people would think it's the other way around, since that's when they are being released, but I actually went straight from this set to film "Pitch Perfect." So, in so many ways, I thought I was going to be introduced as this guy. Then, here I am being introduced as this sweetheart who sings and wears his heart on his sleeve. But I wouldn't change it at all. I think it's great. Now, thinking about it in the reverse, I think it's kind of cool. Everyone who got to know me from "Pitch Perfect" will now get to see a different side of me. [Laughs] Literally and figuratively.

Literally, indeed. The movie opens with a shot of your bare backside. You're wearing nothing but a tube sock. When you read that in the script were you like, "Um"?
When I read it in the script, I just wanted to be in the movie. At that point I wasn't attached. I had to earn this thing big time. But yeah, sure, of course. That was the audition scene, so I remember playing it as if it were really going down. It adds such a real element, though, when you're actually on set. You've got to take off the robe. It's a "Boogie Nights" feeling. You're like, "Oh my gosh, this is going down." It was hard! But we both got over it. We were big troupers about it.

You mention having to earn this role. Was that really difficult?
There were a lot of hoops to jump through, sure. But Jon and Scott were always game. Sometimes when you audition for people, you get this feeling like, "Do they even care about finding the right person or are they here with their arms crossed?" When you audition for Jon and Scott, you could tell they just wanted to find the guys. They could have been the most famous person in the room or the most capable person in the room. I needed that. I needed someone to take a chance and cast someone who hasn't done dozens of leading roles in huge movies. It made it a little more difficult to lock it down, but at least I had them on my side. They were the most creative people in the room. They provided a really great environment to take risks and make funny choices.

The movie is about celebrating a 21st birthday. Do you remember yours?
I remember parts of my 21st birthday. Sure. I actually had it on the rooftop of my New York City apartment. I had a bunch of friends over. Which is, by the way, a really dangerous place to have a party, on a rooftop. Just like most things in New York do, it took on a life of its own. We took a little field trip from the party. I don't think everyone at the place was able to get into certain bars, so I remember going to really ordinary places, but we were all kind of trashed. I remember running around a grocery store. Typical people going a little wild. But it wasn't like this. It was a fun night.

You have talked about the possibility of "Pitch Perfect 2" before. Do you still think that could happen?
I don't know. You know what I realized? Sequels are just as hard to make happen as the first movie itself. It's just a different set of responsibilities. To get that cast together -- I wonder? I think a script has to be written first. Between Anna and Rebel and the rest of the girls, if it can work out, it will work out. I will definitely not be the one to hold it back, but I guess we'll just see what happens.

"21 and Over" is out on March 1.

Back in September, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong made headlines for an unfortunate outburst, in which he clarified that he's not Justin Bieber (lest there was any confusion).

"One minute left, one minute (expletive) left. You're gonna give me (expletive) one minute? ... I'm not (expletive) Justin Bieber, you (expletives)!" he yelled during a performance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, before smashing his guitar.

And now, in a new Rolling Stone cover story, Armstrong opens up about the incident that led him to seek treatment for years of alcohol and prescription drug abuse.

"I couldn't predict where I was going to end up at the end of the night," he tells the magazine. "I'd wake up in a strange house on a couch. I wouldn't remember how. It was a complete blackout."

"I remember tiny things," Armstrong, 41, says of the meltdown in Vegas. "The next morning, I woke up. I asked [my wife] Adrienne, "How bad was it?" She said, "It's bad." I called my manager. He said, "You're getting on a plane, going back to Oakland and going into rehab immediately."

Though the band postponed the start of their 2013 tour in order to focus on Armstrong's well-being, they bumped up the release of new album "¡Tré!" in December and have since added new tour dates for March and December.

"I just wanted to thank you all for the love [and] support you've showed for the past few months," Armstrong wrote on his Instagram account in December. "Believe me, it hasn't gone unnoticed and I'm eternally grateful to have such an amazing set of friends and family. I'm getting better everyday."

For more on Armstrong, visit RollingStone.com and pick up the latest issue, on newsstands Friday.

No hard feelings here.

Jennifer Lawrence's ex-boyfriend Nicholas Hoult, from whom she split in January after two years together, is proud of her Oscar win. The "Warm Bodies" star, 23, opened up about his former love to E! News while attending the premiere of his new film, "Jack the Giant Slayer," in Hollywood last night.

"I'm very, very happy for her," Hoult said of 22-year-old Lawrence nabbing the Academy Award for Best Actress. "I'm thrilled!"

Hoult also admitted that he and Lawrence are "still friends" and he thought "she was fantastic" in "Silver Linings Playbook."

Plus, he's looking forward to reuniting with her and the rest of the "X-Men" cast on the set of "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

"It'll be great to be back with everyone," Hoult said. "I know it's a particularly exciting thing for me on that one is having Hugh Jackman and those guys back because those are the guys I grew up watching in X-Men films."

In a world of celebrities misbehaving, it's nice to report on A-listers who take some time out of their busy schedules to do some good. It's even better to whip up these stories when one of those famous faces is Canadian.

Over the weekend, reports the Daily Mail, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively swapped their haute couture for sweats, T-shirts and no makeup and surprised patients at a paediatric hospital in Sudbury, Ont. The pair are staying in the area while Reynolds shoots his latest film, Atom Egoyan's 'Queen of the Night.'

According to Health Sciences North Hospital spokesperson Dan Lessard, who spoke with The Sun, the actors were "wonderful" with the children. And, apparently, the A-list pair wanted to keep the visit out of the media spotlight.

In an email to a Facebook fan page for the couple Lessard went on to say: "I can tell you the visit was really appreciated by the kids, their parents, and the staff on the unit."

Northern Life, the local newspaper, spoke with one of the mom's the couple met with. Says Sarah Lavallee: "Ryan and Blake were both very kind to us. They introduced themselves right away and asked how my son was doing. He is only three months old, and wasn't really able to appreciate the visit like the older children, but it's something I can tell him about when he is older."

The pair look super cute getting to know the hospital patients, non?

Seattle-based hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, known for their same-sex marriage anthem "Same Love," have released a public service announcement video for the "You Can Play" project, a national organization that is "dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation."

The pro-LGBT athlete group celebrates its one-year anniversary next week and comes at a time when the professional sports world is seeing increased discussion about homophobia in sports and combating the issue.

"You know someone who’s gay, they just haven’t told you yet," Macklemore says in the video campaign. "Don’t let being gay hold you back, and if you’re straight, do not hold others back...Anti-gay language has no place in sports, or music."

Check out the video above and for more information about the "You Can Play" project, visit their website, here.

(h/t Towleroad)

Could things be looking up for Lindsay Lohan?

TMZ reports that despite the fact prosecutors think she may have been drinking when she crashed her car on the Pacific Coast Highway last June, they are reportedly offering her a plea deal on her three misdemeanor charges-- including lying to the police -- that somehow doesn't involve jail time.

Sources connected to the case told TMZ that a bottle of alcohol was found next to Lohan's Porsche and that her breath smelled of alcohol, but police did not do a sobriety tests at the scene of the crash. According to TMZ's sources the Los Angeles City Attorney is prepared to offer the 26-year-old actress 60 days of in-patient rehab treatment, which is four months fewer than their original offer, which she rejected in January. Lohan will also be required to attend AA meetings once out of rehab, and complete community service.

The plea bargain meeting between prosecutors and the actress's attorney, Mark Heller, is scheduled for today, and if Lohan takes the deal, it will mark the sixth time she's attempted rehab, but she might find it more appealing than the 245 days in jail she faces if the case goes to trial.

Earlier this month, Lohan's lawyer filed a motion to dismiss and also included a letter to the prosecutor requesting that Lohan's case be put on the "slow track" in order for her to pursue "certain activities which will benefit her" and enable her to be a "productive and responsible…contributor to society," reports E! News.

In the letter, Heller reportedly stated that Lohan is determined to get her life together and to do so she plans to attend psychotherapy sessions, and she even wants to start a foundation benefiting young people.

Though we've heard these promises before, it seems the prosecutor is willing to listen, and Lohan might yet again avoid jail time.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Two female California state lawmakers have condemned Oscar host Seth MacFarlane's comments during Sunday's awards presentation as degrading toward women and asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to use better judgment in the future.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, both Democrats who lead the Legislature's women's caucus, sent a letter to Academy President Hawk Koch on Tuesday, requesting that the organization disavow MacFarlane's behavior.

They objected to the comedian's focus on the physical appearance of several actresses and quips about nude scenes.

"Furthermore, there was a disturbing theme about violence against women being acceptable and funny," the lawmakers wrote. "From topical jabs about domestic violence to singing about `boobs' during a film's rape scene, Seth MacFarlane crossed the line from humor to misogyny."

MacFarlane's performance has drawn multiple critics since Sunday's show. Blogs compiled highlights of his punch lines, which included a song that referenced leading ladies who have bared their breasts on film that were accompanied by reaction shots from those actresses.

He also made light of a domestic violence incident between rapper Chris Brown and singer Rihanna, and joked about the heavy accents of several Latina actresses.

"On Oscar night, when Hollywood seeks to honor its best, Seth MacFarlane's monologue reduced our finest female actresses to caricatures and stereotypes, degrading women as a whole and the filmmaking industry itself," the letter stated.

Lowenthal and Jackson, both Democrats, asked Koch to respond. Academy spokeswoman Toni Thompson had no immediate comment.

In their letter, the lawmakers noted the Violence Against Women Act currently under debate in Congress and a resolution that the Legislature passed supporting the act's reauthorization. Better judgment is needed in the academy's future decisions regarding its awards show hosts and their material, they said.

"This should be a celebration of artists in the filmmaking industry, not an offensive display of disrespect toward women that sets the fight for gender equality, dignity, and respect back decades," they wrote.

A repeat hosting performance by MacFarlane doesn't look likely. Asked Tuesday on Twitter if he would host the Oscars again, he replied, "No way. Lotta fun to have done it, though."

After going through a very public breakup and taking on her most risque role yet, Selena Gomez is apparently ready to drop a new album.

Gomez on Tuesday took to Twitter to tease details of her fourth studio effort and hinted to fans that the album may be ready sooner rather than later.

Gomez's new album will follow 2011's "When the Sun Goes Down," which spawned the mega-hit "Love You Like A Love Song." That single landed at No. 10 on Nielsen and Billboard's Top 10 Streamed Songs of 2011 and was the singer's biggest radio success.

Back in November, Ryan Seacrest first revealed that Gomez's next album was slated for March, The Hollywood Reporter notes. That means a new single could premiere within the next four weeks.

Regardless of when it drops, the "Spring Breakers" actress guarantees this album is going to be very different. She has channeled her personal experiences into her music and is willing to be more candid.

"I think for me it was actually interesting to see that towards the middle of me recording my record, a big turn happened to me and it was incredible to see how I applied that to music because I've never done that before and it's great," Gomez told MTV News last month. "I think the older I'm getting the more I'm just kind of like I'm cool to share my side of the stories as much as I can, so I'm having a lot of fun."

The 20-year-old has already shared some photos from her recording sessions while in the studio with Rock Mafia.

In a new interview, Morrissey suggested a larger gay population could be a solution to much of the world's political turmoil.

In a frank discussion with Rookie Mag writer Amy Rose, the former Smiths frontman describes war as "the most negative aspect of male heterosexuality."

He goes on to note, "If more men were homosexual, there would be no wars, because homosexual men would never kill other men, whereas heterosexual men love killing other men ... Wars and armies and nuclear weapons are essentially heterosexual hobbies."

The 53-year-old singer-songwriter, who is both vegan and a staunch animal rights activist, sparked controversy this week after he nixed a planned appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" when he learned that the cast of the A&E reality series "Duck Dynasty" would also be appearing on the same night, according to the Washington Post.

Of his vegan diet, Morrissey told Rose, "The most political gesture you can make is to refuse to eat animals. It was so when I was a teenager, and is still the case now."