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Tara Lipinski And Johnny Weir Gave Everyone A Reason To Watch The Super Bowl

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The Patriots and Seahawks never even stood a chance.

Once NBC announced that Olympians Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir would be added to the pre-game coverage, the Super Bowl was basically over. After the news broke, Lipinski tweeted that they would definitely bring the sparkle:




But that's not all they brought.

There was Blue Steel ...




Some random jumping ...

Winning!

A photo posted by JOHNNY WEIR (@johnnygweir) on






Plenty of tackle practice ...

Tackle practice @johnnygweir

A video posted by Tara Lipinski (@taralipinski) on






Lots of color coordination ...

Game Day #SuperBowlXLIX @johnnygweir

A photo posted by Tara Lipinski (@taralipinski) on






Fully inflated footballs ...

How do you walk into a hotel #SuperBowl #Patriots #Seahawks @johnnygweir

A photo posted by Tara Lipinski (@taralipinski) on






... And, of course, plenty of sparkle.

Big day for #taraandjohnny @johnnygweir

A photo posted by Tara Lipinski (@taralipinski) on






Let's hear it for your 2015 Super Bowl champions!

Here's The 2015 Super Bowl In Gifs

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The 2015 Super Bowl is in full swing. Marshawn Lynch is eating skittles, Kim Kardashian is taking selfies and touchdown dances are happening. Whether you haven't been tuning in or just want to relive the magic, check out how the game is looking gif-wise.

Idina Menzel sings the national anthem


John Legend Performs "America The Beautiful"


Coin toss time


Jeron Johnson's penalty


Kate Upton's "Game of War" commerical


Interception!


And another view of that interception


Kim Kardashian's big tragedy


Kim K takes a tennis selfie


Budweiser puppy!


Touchdown!


Touchdown dance


Marshawn Lynch eating skittles


Touchdown!


Coca Cola's "No one likes U" commercial


Hi John Travolta


Steven Tyler chews with his mouth open


Gronk touchdown!


Chris Matthews touchdown!


Tom Brady is stunned



Check back for more gifs as the game goes on!

Aasif Mandvi's 'Halal In The Family' Web Series To Fight Islamophobia With Comedy

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Is laughter the best medicine for Islamophobia?

“The Daily Show” star Aasif Mandvi wants to find out.

The comedian is attempting to “challenge stereotypes and misinformation about Muslims” with a new web series called “Halal In The Family.”

A parody of the quintessential American sitcom "All In The Family," "Halal" follows the lives of an “all-American Muslim” family, with Mandvi starring as the dad. Each of the show’s four planned episodes focuses on a different challenge facing the American Muslim community today -- like government surveillance and spying; online bullying and hate networks; media bias; and "the use of anti-Muslim prejudice for political gain."

Mandvi writes:

Halal in the Family will expose a broad audience to some of the realities of being Muslim in America. By using satire we will encourage people to reconsider their assumptions about Muslims, while providing a balm to those experiencing anti-Muslim bias. I also hope those Uncles and Aunties out there will crack a smile!


The web series traces its roots back to a “Daily Show” skit called “The Qu’osby Show,” a parody of “The Cosby Show.”

Production has wrapped up on the project. Mandvi is now trying to crowdfund money to cover the costs of promoting “Halal in the Family.” He wants to make sure the show reaches Americans who have “little to no exposure” to Muslims. The show's publicists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“In order to change the conversation about Muslims in American media we need a diverse, unified movement of people who are willing to take a stand against anti-Muslim bias,” Mandvi writes. “By fueling a portion of this project with donations from across the country we will demonstrate that thousands of people are fed up with the treatment of American Muslims.”

In an interview with HuffPost Live, Mandvi admitted he isn’t the most devout of Muslims. Still, he said, religion will always be a part of his identity.

“Religion is so much more than the god you pray to. The religion that you associate with, it's culture, it is family, it is background. That is something that I have always grown up with," he said.

Muslim activist Linda Sarsour, an adviser to the project who has seen all the episodes, called the show "brilliant" and "funny."

"[It] brings you the most pressing issues impacting American Muslims from bullying to discrimination to surveillance," she told HuffPost in an email. "Comedy allows people to put their guard down, it's less aggressive and you can weave important issues and political statements throughout. I am excited for its release into the living rooms of my fellow Americans across the country."

Americans’ opinions of Arabs and Muslims have become increasingly negative in the past decade. According to research conducted by the Arab American Institute, only 27 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Muslims, while 42 percent believed police are justified in using racial profiling to target Arab Americans and American Muslims. The negative feelings are strongest among Republicans and senior citizens, Reuters reports.

Taylor Swift Won't Perform At This Year's Grammys

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Taylor Swift won't be a last-minute addition to the Grammys' roster of performers. "Since my whole life is wrapped up and entangled in the planning of The 1989 World Tour right now, I'm not going to be performing on the Grammys this year," Swift wrote on Tumblr. "I need this time to focus only on the tour."

Fortunately, Swift is still vital to the broadcast. In addition to being nominated for three Grammys herself, she'll present the award for Best New Artist (Iggy Azalea, Sam Smith, Bastille, Brandy Clark and Swift-fave HAIM are up for the honor). Swift also noted that she'll engage in her customary "dance party/rage fest" from the audience.







Scheduled performers set for Sunday's Grammy Awards include Madonna, Sia, Ed Sheeran, Adam Levine & Gwen Stefani, Eric Church, Pharrell, Usher, Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett, and many others.

Oprah And 'Selma' Director Ava DuVernay Are Teaming Up For Drama TV Series

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"Selma" director Ava DuVernay is headed to the small screen for a new drama series on OWN with Oprah Winfrey. The series will be based on Natalie Baszile's first-time novel Queen Sugar, which tells the story of a young black mother who uproots from Los Angeles when her late father mysteriously leaves her an 800-acre sugarcane farm in Louisiana. DuVernay, who previously worked with Winfrey on "Selma," will write, direct and executive produce the series while Winfrey will executive produce and appear in multiple episodes.

"From the moment I was introduced to the book, I was captivated by the idea of a modern woman wrestling with identity, family, culture and the echoes of history," DuVernay said in a statement. Winfrey also echoed her love for the book upon first reading it, saying in a statement, "The story’s themes of reinventing your life, parenting alone, family connections and conflicts, and building new relationships are what I believe will connect our viewers to this show.”

The Golden Globe-nominated director previously hinted at her first television project last December in an interview with The Guardian, saying it would be an eight to 10 episode series about "the black experience in America." The number of episodes of the untitled series have yet to be revealed, but production is expected to begin later this year.

DuVernay also recently announced that her next film will be a "sweeping love story and complex murder mystery" set against Hurricane Katrina. While DuVernay was not nominated in the Best Director category at this year's Oscars, "Selma" is up for Best Picture.

David Duchovny Wrote A Novel Called 'Holy Cow,' And It's Totally Bizarre

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We’re living in what might be deemed a golden era of Hollywood literature. Female comedians from Mindy Kaling to Amy Poehler have been producing funny memoirs that transcend the celeb tell-all genre, and several notable male celebs have recently tried their hand at serious fiction and poetry -- with mixed results. B.J. Novak’s short story collection, One More Thing, received plaudits; James Franco’s Palo Alto and more recent poetry collection were received with more bemusement than admiration. Surprising everyone, America’s beau Tom Hanks published a short story in The New Yorker late last year, and though the quality left much to be desired, it was far from a catastrophe.

Perhaps even more surprising, however, is the entry of David Duchovny, known to most red-blooded Americans as Mulder from “The X-Files,” into the ranks of writer-actors. His debut novel, Holy Cow, is out Feb. 3.

Coverage of the book has repeatedly cited Duchovny’s “master’s degree in English literature from Yale,” though of course, non-celebrities who receive degrees in English are not generally considered likely to turn out high-quality works of fiction, especially on their first try. Still, could Mulder Duchovny have been the novelist we were waiting for this whole time? Is his new book more Novak or Franco, or, like Hanks, somewhere oddly in between?

Though it was published by the prestigious Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and not, notably, by Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Younger Readers, early coverage billed it as a children's book. Kirkus described it as more of a “pseudo-children’s book that smart adults should greatly enjoy.” Okay.

Appropriately, the book seems to have no real idea who its audience is or what it’s actually about (vegetarianism? religion? peace in the Middle East? the foibles of Hollywood?). Something of a mash-up between Animal Farm and "Chicken Run," Holy Cow is the story of Elsie Bovary (yep), a milk cow on an upstate New York farm whose life changes when she learns about industrial meat farming. She hatches a plan to flee to India (where cows are sacred), and is joined by a pig headed for Israel (where pork is unclean) and a turkey headed for Turkey (he, well, hasn’t thought it through fully).

Along the way, we’re treated to excessively goofy, Pixar-esque dialogue (Elsie and her bff Mallory call everything “cray cray” and “amazeballs,” while the turkey tries on affected accents that would be far more humorous aloud), truly painful farming puns, asides about Elsie’s transparent attempts to make the book more marketable, and extended rants on animal rights. If you’re thinking that the juvenile tone and made-for-animation humor might sit oddly with the long screeds about the cruelty of leather and turkey sandwiches, you would be right. Even more confusing is the sharp left turn the novel takes into the religious conflicts of the Middle East -- apparently there’s a meat-based solution to the centuries-long clash between the Jewish and Muslim peoples! Thank goodness.

The sheer absurdity of this roller coaster of a book makes for some knee-slapping moments, however. Here are 11 incredibly ridiculous lines from David Duchovny’s book that suggest he shouldn’t quit his acting career just yet:

***


Most people think cows can’t think. Hello. Let me rephrase that, most people think cows can’t think, and have no feelings. Hello, again. I’m a cow, my name is Elsie, yes, I know. And that’s no bull.

***


Humans love us. Or I thought so, we all thought so. They love our milk. Now personally, I think it’s a little weird to drink another animal’s milk. You don’t see me walking up to some human lady who just gave birth, saying, “Yo, can I get a taste?” Weird, right? Not gonna happen. It’s kinda nasty. But that’s why you love us. The ol’ milk. Leche.

***


Life on a farm. It’s pretty chill. Spend a lot of time out in the field hanging with my bffs, getting the hairy eyeball from the bulls.

***


Then we moo-ve on. Boom. Didn’t see that coming, did you?

***


Selfies, they call ‘em, and that makes sense ‘cause even though they’re sending these pictures to others, it still smells like selfish to me. Is that why they call it an “I phone”?

***


See what I did there? I left you on a poetic cliffhanger. And a chapter title again. Gives you a chance to take a break, maybe dog-ear a page, get something to eat, and when you come back the chapter heading will refocus you on the story. Like a Jedi, I tell you, a Jedi.

***


Dogs are the broccaflower of the animal kingdom.

***


I knew it was cray cray, but I had to see what the story was. Curiosity killed the cat, not the cow, so I figured I was safe.

***


We had the foresight to register Tom as a comfort turkey, an emotional-support fowl [...] He had taken the course on the phone, and had learned some rudimentary therapeutic insights. Which made him very annoying. He kept lapsing into a German accent and saying things like “Zat pig has ein ‘edible complex’” or “Tell me about your mother.”

***


“I like me a feisty bitch,” the dog growled comically. “Well, all right now. Look at you standing tall on your hindies -- you go, girl. Can I holla at ya? Can I holla? Can I holla?”

***


My editor says, “Sugar, there’s no way Hollywood will make a movie about a Jewish pig in Israel being stoned by Muslims. Too many hot buttons. Too niche. Too indie. We have to think tent pole. Not Sony Classics. Can’t the pig go to New York, you know, and meet a girl? Kind of like "Babe" meets "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?”

11 Rare Beatles Pics You've Never Seen Before That Just Surfaced

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From the archive of manager Bob Bonis, rare photographs of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have been put up for sale on Ebay. These photographs, taken in the mid-'60s over the years Bonis managed the two bands, have existed in a private collection for 50 years until their Ebay unveil on Feb. 2.

Below are 11 of the Beatles photographs along with a few descriptions provided by the Bob Bonis Archive.



1. Bloomington, Minnesota. Aug. 21, 1965.

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In a beautifully intimate moment in the middle of 25,000 fans, Paul McCartney turns away from the audience and beams when he finds Bob Bonis ... the Beatles’ genuine affection for their tour manager and friend is lovingly captured here.




2. Portland, Oregon. Aug. 22, 1965.

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With many of the Beatles’ second U.S. tour dates being grueling double-headers, the boys often found strange ways to entertain themselves between shows, as this extremely rare and unguarded photo of John Lennon dressed as Lawrence of Arabia showcases.




3. Heading to a show in Cow Palace outside of San Francisco, California. Aug. 30, 1965.

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Also on the plane from Hollywood with the Beatles was Joan Baez, who visited them backstage in San Francisco. In the weeks before, the Beatles had played 16 shows in nine cities to more than 300,000 screaming teenage fans.




4. Heading to St. Louis, Missouri. Aug. 21, 1966.

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5. Detroit, Michigan. Aug. 13, 1966.

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6. Houston, Texas. Aug. 19, 1965

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Predominantly teenage girls suffering from Beatlemania (thanks to the recent release of the film HELP!), began tossing jellybeans on stage because George Harrison had mentioned he loved the softer (and totally unavailable) British version, jelly babies, in an interview. Along with a barrage of hard candy, fans threw paper, cups and even a few dangerous objects. Entertainment reporter Jeff Millar noted, “Nobody missed a note as cups caromed off their faces. George Harrison adroitly dodged the largest object hurled, apparently someone’s right tennis shoe.”




7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Aug. 16, 1966.

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8. St. Louis, Missouri. Aug. 21, 1966.

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These few moments of peace turned out to be fleeting, as once the Beatles took the stage, they were pummeled with a downpour. Though the venue had constructed a makeshift shelter out of slivers of corrugated iron, rain still dripped on the amps and created a downright soggy attitude in the band. Paul McCartney called the show “worse than those early days” at the Cavern Club, one of the very reasons he finally agreed with the others to stop touring forever.




9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Aug. 16, 1966.

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10. Bel Air, California. August, 1964

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With such an intense schedule, downtime was a luxury, yet this mini-vacation almost didn’t happen. In town for their Aug. 23 historic show at the famous Hollywood Bowl, the boys soon found out that L.A. wasn’t exactly willing to roll out the red carpet. Lockheed Airport in Burbank refused to let their plane land, and The Ambassador Hotel cancelled their reservations out of fear of being inundated with crazed fans. Luckily, British actor Reginald Owen offered up his Bel Air manse for the bargain price of $1,000.




11. Seattle, Washington. Aug. 22, 1964.

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When the plane finally landed in Vancouver, it was incredibly late. John quipped at the press conference before the show that it was “because of the hair—have to be deloused before you can get in.” In reality, the pilot was missing a necessary stamp on his passport and had to return to Seattle to get it. Perhaps flying the most famous foursome of all time made him just a little nervous.

Jeff Bridges Has 'Plenty' Regrets About 'The Giver'

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Jeff Bridges spent 20 years developing the big-screen adaptation of "The Giver," and ultimately he had to give up some of his control to get it into theaters. He starred in the film and acted as a producer, but he told HuffPost Live on Monday that the process didn't go completely as he'd hoped.

"It did kind of go against my fur a little bit," Bridges said. "I mean, it just -- it did."

Bridges opened up about "The Giver" during a conversation with host Ricky Camilleri about his new film, "Seventh Son," which hits theaters Feb. 6. Bridges originally wanted to adapt Lois Lowry's novel into a film starring his father Lloyd Bridges, and he said the biggest challenge was letting someone else take the reins on a project so dear to his heart.

"It was difficult because I love the book, you know, and I'd been through many, many scripts trying to get the book right, and I knew there were all these fans. And then finally Harvey Weinstein said, 'Oh, I'll make that,' but I knew getting Harvey involved [meant] I was going to have to let go of my vision, because he had ideas," Bridges said.

One of those ideas was casting Brenton Thwaites, an actor in his 20s, for the role of Jonas, who is 12 years old in Lowry's book. Bridges said Thwaites did a wonderful job in the role, but he added that casting an older actor went "against [his] notions."

Bridges admitted he has "plenty" regrets after the film's release -- and he wasn't alone; the film holds a 36 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes -- but he decided to "take an adventure" and see how the movie turned out.

"I just decided to do it sort of as a spiritual exercise in letting go," Bridges said. "It's like going over to another kid's house and it's not your house. ... We're going to play the same game, but it's his toys and his things. So I said, I'm going to lighten up."

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with Jeff Bridges here.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

Kenny G Says He Helped Create Starbucks Frappucinos, And Starbucks Responds

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Starbucks brings coffee consumers many different forms of liquid happiness all year long, from Pumpkin Spice Lattes to every sort of Frappuccino imaginable. But there's a hidden story behind the origins of the iconic Frappuccino that we didn't see coming -- and it involves a household name.

Insert Kenny G, renowned jazz player and early investor in Starbucks, who told Bloomberg News that he actually helped Howard Schultz introduce the Frappuccino to the menu.

starbs

"At the beginning Starbucks didn't have anything but coffee," said Kenny G, who added that another coffee company, Coffee Bean, was selling a "blended" sweet drink that people were raving about.

"And I would always call Howard and say, "Howard, there's this thing that they do there and it's like a milkshake, or whatever. I think part of the reason they did [the] Frappuccino was people like me giving them that kind of feedback. So, I'd like to think that I was partially responsible for that."


According to a Starbucks fact sheet, it was actually two employees that came up with the Frappuccino in 1993, after figuring out that customers wanted "ice blended drinks." The first Frappuccino officially hit the scene in 1994, after Starbucks tacked on the unique name from a company they acquired in Boston.

To clear the air, The Huffington Post reached out to Starbucks for a comment on the matter, and a spokesperson told us: "Kenny has been a dear friend of Starbucks since the beginning of the company and we are very appreciative of everyone, including Kenny, who've been a part of the success of Frappuccino."

There you (maybe, kinda) have it, folks!

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Stacey Dash Still Just as 'Clueless'

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Former actress Stacey Dash -- or, as I like to call her, the ghost of '90s past -- appeared on Fox News' Outnumbered on Friday to discuss last week's controversial order from the National Panhellenic Conference.

In a misguided attempt to reduce sexual assault, 16 sorority leaders instituted a ban, barring members of their UVA chapters from attending "Boys' Bid Night" fraternity parties on Saturday, and threatening sanctions if the ban was contravened. The prohibition triggered pushback from sorority members who argued that the ban encroached upon their right to act as autonomous agents. The move has also been criticized for how closely it echoes antiquated university policies, such as gender-based curfews and residential housing restrictions -- strategies which were gradually cycled out in the 1960s and 1970s.

In a stream of seemingly internalized misogyny, Dash offered this take:

I just think it's ridiculous, and I think it's a good thing for the good girls -- women, ok, sorry -- to be told, 'Stay home. Be safe.' The other bad girls -- bad women -- or the ones who like to be naughty might go out and play and get hurt.


To be clear, semantics matter.

Dash's reflexive use of the word "girls" may be written off as a Freudian slip, but as we know, these parapraxes might reveal subconscious thoughts and beliefs. And Dash's point to a toxic, albeit subliminal, phenomenon: the infantilization of adult women.

It is the conflation of femininity with childlikeness that subtly furthers the narrative that women are lesser entities -- bodies to be dominated. This social programming supports our culture's gendered hierarchy, reinforcing the primacy of men in a dangerous power matrix.

But it doesn't end there. According to Dash, there is also a hierarchy among women, between the "good girls" and the "bad" or "naughty" ones. But this is a false divide -- a schism borne out of the tension between pervasive rape culture and desperation.

The lie undergirding this misogynistic line of reasoning goes something like this: If you are a "good girl," then you have nothing to fear. Nice Guys will care for you, and the universe will reward you for being a respectable damsel. You will be spared. Conversely, if you are a "bad girl," you will, inevitably, suffer the consequences.

The truth is that the good girl/bad girl trope suffers from the same fatal flaw that respectability politics do: It wrongly assumes that violations of personhood are provoked by the individual being attacked. It works to challenge the virtue, decisions and humanity of the victim and justify the trauma sustained, effectively shaming the person for "bringing it upon themselves."

Because how dare women leave their home at night and go to a party and (gasp) drink?!

At least that's what Dash seems to think:

And then the other thing about this is it then blames the alcohol instead of the person who over drinks. So, you know, it's like the same thing with guns. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Alcohol doesn't get you drunk. You get yourself drunk.


Notwithstanding, the false equivalency between consenting to drink and consenting to assault let us pretend that controlling for such factors is possible. By that logic, we should ban women from attending university. Or, maybe, bar them from seeing male friends or relatives, since they are more likely to be assaulted by someone they know. Perhaps women should not go out at all.

Of course, I'm being facetious.

I'm just curious as to why victims are always expected to modify their behavior in hopes of deflecting abuse from a society that devalues them anyway. Why are we not working to change our cultural ethos? How many times must pundits scream "teach men not to rape," only to debate the same futile prevention tactics?

And for the black community, specifically, how long are we going to ignore the parallels between rape culture and state-sanctioned violence? When will we acknowledge that "she was asking for it," sounds eerily similar to "he should've pulled up his pants?"

When will we collectively stop being clueless?

Carrie-Anne Moss Joins Marvel's 'Jessica Jones' Netflix Series

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Carrie-Anne Moss, best known as Trinity from the "Matrix" series, is the latest to join Netflix's upcoming Marvel series "A.K.A. Jessica Jones," and as a rather mysterious character.

Marvel announced on Tuesday that the "Matrix" actress would co-star in the new series, which will follow former superhero Jessica Jones as she attempts to rebuild her personal life and work as a New York City detective. Moss' character is described by Marvel only as "a no-nonsense woman who could prove a powerful ally to Jessica."

However, according to The Wrap, Moss will reportedly play a character named Harper, which may be a new addition to the Marvel universe. Den of Geek pointed out that there's no one by the name of Harper in the Alias comics the series will be based on (but perhaps the character is from The Pulse comics Jones also appears in). Regardless, we just hope is Moss will get to do some more bullet time.



Krysten Ritter will star in the 13-episode series as the titular character, along with "Doctor Who" star David Tennant as villain Zebediah Killgrave, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker. "A.K.A. Jessica Jones” will premiere on Netflix later this year, following Marvel’s "Daredevil,” which debuts on April 10.

For more, head to Marvel.

Why Emma Watson Is Every Woman's Girl Crush

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Chances are you know her name since chances are you have watched at least one, two, three, or all eight of the Harry Potter movies. What is truly fantastic about her is that she has successfully managed to eclipse the halo of Hermione Granger and step into her very own limelight by shedding the garb of her character and assuming the crown of a bona fide superstar.

She has newly assumed the position of UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador, and delivered not one, but two incredibly impassioned and captivating addresses to champion gender equality. At the tender age of 24, she has accomplished an astonishing amount with her characteristic class, poise, grace, humility, and gratitude. She is beautiful, incredibly intelligent with a degree in English Literature from Brown University, fearless, passionate, and eager to advocate for the rights of women worldwide. She personifies a classy, educated, and beautiful woman on her way to creating a groundbreaking impact on our world. For these reasons -- and many others -- Emma Watson is every woman's girl crush.

1. Her Keen Desire to Advocate for Women's Empowerment and Change the World

She has always been very vocal in fighting for women's rights. In the past, prior to her UN appointment, she has visited Bangladesh and Zambia to promote education for girls. Such an intense commitment to bringing this issue to the forefront as a young woman is incredibly impressive and deserves applause. At the launch of the HeForShe campaign, her incredibly moving speech influenced the world to aid in the support of women's empowerment. She and the entire team behind the conceptualization of HeForShe drove home an incredible point, that gender equality is an issue that affects all people, politically, economically, and socially, and thus should actively engage men in the discussion. She will be instrumental in the campaign potentially engaging a total of 1 billion men by July 2015. Just the first of many reasons we are enamored by her.

2. Her Total and Complete Re-Branding of the Definition of Feminism

In her speech, our girl crush, Emma Watson, made an impressively bold move by re-defining feminism as the "belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities" and declaring that the perception of "man-hating" "has to stop." A great majority of us women who did not identify as feminists before, listened to this definition, and ultimately changed our positions on the issue.

She accurately described feminists as people who believe and endorse gender equality, which of course includes a great many of the world's population. She made feminism "cool" in the eyes of the media, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is historic. An incredible number of men and women have branded themselves as feminists after her speech, and why not? Gender equality is an issue that we must all support and champion, because if we support men and women equally in their passions and quests to achieve their dreams, the world will progress at an astonishing pace.

3. Her Classy Personality and Humble Attitude in the Face of Much Success and Fame

As a very classy and balanced young woman, Emma Watson is in a league of her own in Hollywood. She chooses to defy conventions, and write her own story to be one of the greatest stories ever written in this world. She has constantly strived to cement her position as a celebrity of note, someone who will consistently champion her values and integrity. Hers is an example that young women admire because they recognize her purity in a world keen to have everyone hungry to succeed to conform to set expectations.

As a classy, humble, well-educated, and eloquent woman, she has carved a niche for herself that will only continue to grow and gain momentum in the years to come. Congratulations, Emma Watson. You are undoubtedly the girl crush of women around the world. Continue trailblazing the path to gender equality!

Bobbi Kristina Brown's Family Says She's 'Fighting For Her Life'

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Two days after Bobbi Kristina Brown was hospitalized, her family has released a statement to The Huffington Post, saying she's "fighting for her life."

The daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston was found unresponsive in her Roswell, Georgia, home on Saturday and taken to North Fulton Hospital, where she was reportedly placed in a medically induced coma. According to People, she is breathing with the help of a ventilator.

In a statement released Monday to The Huffington Post, the 21-year-old's family said, "Bobbi Kristina is fighting for her life and is surrounded by immediate family. As her father already stated, we are asking you to honor our request for privacy during this difficult time. Thank you for your prayers, well wishes, and we greatly appreciate your continued support."

Bobby Brown previously released a statement on Sunday, which read, "Privacy is requested in this matter. Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time."

Although a police report states that officers responded in "reference [to] a drowning" at the home of Bobbi Kristina, the circumstances by which she came to be unresponsive remain under investigation. According to Lisa Holland of the Roswell Police Department, "There were nothing there that indicated that anything out of the ordinary happened. There were no drugs out in the open."

'Spartacus' On Netflix: Your Guide To A Gladiator Binge

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"Spartacus" has arrived on Netflix -- hooray!

I've got your guide to binging on the gladiator drama right here: Read on for a roundup of links to reviews and interviews I published during the four-season run of the show.

But let's back up for a minute. You may be asking, "Are you serious? Why would I want to watch 'Spartacus'? Isn't it pretty much just people boinking and cutting each other's limbs off?"

Well, sure, amputations and sex are not exactly uncommon on the show, which ran for 39 blood-soaked episodes on Starz. But there's much more to "Spartacus" than sex, togas and violence. It's one of the most enjoyable dramas of the last decade, and I have been banging the drum for it since it debuted in early 2010.

Now that you can enjoy all of it in one lengthy, bloody binge, I'm here to spread the news again: This show worth taking a chance on. Here are the most important things to keep in mind as you begin your binge:

  1. The pilot episode, which I called "clunky" and "derivative" in my first review of "Spartacus," isn't a great advertisement for everything that follows. Keep watching anyway.


  2. It gets better fairly quickly. Subsequent episodes do a better job of setting up the characters Lucretia and Batiatus, the ambitious owners of the captured Thracian warrior, who is swiftly put to work in the arena. In the early going, Lucy Lawless and John Hannah, who play the scheming Roman couple, were the main reason I stuck with the show; from Day One, they were clearly having a blast depicting the couple's twisted yet weirdly loving relationship. The show swiftly began to excel at writing to their strengths, and during its run, "Spartacus" generally did a phenomenal job of casting actors who knew exactly how to play their colorful roles. There's a reason you keep seeing various members of the "Spartacus" cast in films and all over TV; these actors often have a lot presence, know how to kick ass and, given the right material, know how to deploy sly wit.


  3. Try to stick with "Spartacus" for at least four episodes to see whether it's for you. After four installments, if you simply find that the show's mix of drama, violence, melodrama and heightened "Spartacus"-speak isn't for you -- if the tone and the world just don't appeal to you -- well, fair enough. Thanks for giving it a shot.


  4. If you stick with Season 1 for four episodes, you are likely to develop a "Spartacus" addiction well before the energetic and engaging final third of the season. Fair warning: Your binge is likely to be life-consuming by the last few episodes of that first season. As they unfold, your jaw may hit the floor once or twice.


One of my favorite things to experience as a "Spartacus" evangelist is the string of texts, emails or direct messages I get when a friend begins a marathon of the first season. The progression of messages generally goes something like this: "Seriously, you want me to stick with this? Really?" "Sigh. Well, okay, I guess the gladiator battles are pretty good." "Haha, Lucy Lawless is killing me." "Okay, this is kind of fun." "Wait, am I developing feelings for these people? What is happening?? I'm confused!" "I … what … no!!" "Did that just happen? What the hell!?" and then a final string curse words.

At that point, I say, "Welcome to the 'Spartacus' fandom."

Will you experience this expansive range of reactions? Will you plunge directly into the next episodes once Season 1 ends, even if it's 3 a.m.? Based on anecdotal evidence, yes -- that is a realistic possibility. If you do stick with the show, here's what you'll find.

"Spartacus" is bawdy, lusty, over the top, bloody, adventurous and exciting, but all of that stuff is merely the icing on the cake. Underneath all of those colorful elements -- which make the show a lot of fun to watch -- is a meticulously constructed drama with a fantastically committed and ferocious heart. You might not guess this during the first episode or two, but "Spartacus" ends up being one of the most fervently and unabashedly political dramas I've ever seen. Creator Steven S. DeKnight worked on several Joss Whedon shows, and as I said more than once in my reviews, DeKnight learned well from his mentor.

We're still talking about "Buffy" decades after it debuted not because it had cool monsters, but because those monsters were smartly deployed in an intelligent, empathic, character-driven drama. Via the Scooby gang's heartbreaks and triumphs, we explored ideas about loyalty, maturity, friendship and moral consequences; we laughed and cried and were shocked at what the characters were capable of. Whatever you think of the heightened tone or the stylized language of "Spartacus" -- and I happen to enjoy those things a lot -- the gladiator saga is similarly obsessed with meaningful, difficult ideas. Underneath its well-executed surface pleasures, it has a lot to say about exploitation, oppression, altruism, greed and exclusion.

I enjoy on-screen orgies and decapitations as much as the next person (and one of the delightful things about this occasionally bonkers show is that a single scene can contain both those things), but there are serious ideas baked right into the premise of the show. "Spartacus" examines the idea that the enslavement of others, in body and mind, is a poison, and that poison is damaging not just to the enslaved but to those who treat others as objects to be owned and exploited. Like every retelling of the tale, this "Spartacus" saga has resonance for those of us living in the modern era. The 39 episodes of the show aren't just a thrill ride; they examine the idea that those who exclude others from the political process and ignore demands for autonomy from the oppressed put themselves and their societies in danger. Scan the headlines: You might find that the moral questions and power dynamics that "Spartacus" ruthlessly examined have quite a bit of relevance today.

No spoilers, but here are some thoughts I shared in my post on the show's series finale: "We know that this lusty drama is also tender. We know this violent drama is deeply humane and compassionate. We know that the ornate, profane language is also poetic. We know the violence and the sex are there for specific purposes, and the characters are often smart as hell. We are well aware that this saga of sex, swords and conquest actually has something important to say about freedom, oppression and equality."

If you stick with the show, you will, as every fan does, come up with a list of flaws and things you could have done without. Yes, it doesn't have a "Game of Thrones" budget and at times, that shows. Sure, some characters could be grating and some sub-plots were repetitive. But no show is perfect, and those minor stumbling blocks never interfered with the great pleasure I took in the show's unique fusion of bold action-adventure, canny melodrama and profanity-laced humanism.

And by the way, I can't think of many shows that did a more responsible job of depicting sexuality, nudity and rape. I've seen a lot of mockery of the sex on "Spartacus" by those who haven't seen it or haven't seen much of it. I haven't seen a ton of clear-eyed assessments of how intelligently these elements were deployed during the show's run. When it comes to those subjects, "Spartacus" regularly put far more expensive and widely praised shows to shame.

In the 15 years I've been a critic, there have been any number of debates about how sexuality, nudity and sexual violence have been employed on television. Many programs have lazily used those things to give their stories "edginess" or "darkness," or to give their program an unearned aura of adult sensuality. All too often, it's clear that many storytellers don't give depictions of sexuality or sexual violence any real thought; the same tropes, cliches and predictable points of view are shown again and again (so much so that it's worth celebrating when a show like "Outlander" does something radically different). It gets tiresome to have to point out depictions of sexuality and sexual violence that are exploitative, incomplete, clueless or simply offensive; they keep turning up with exhausting regularity on networks and shows that should really know better.

"Spartacus," on the other hand, is frequently exemplary in these areas, in part because of its consistent devotion to its premise. The whole show is about the use and abuse of bodies and a system that allowed an exclusive ruling class to have absolute power over every aspect of the lives of the less powerful. We saw characters freely enjoy each other's sexuality without shame, but DeKnight and his writers never forgot that every character existed within a power hierarchy that they rarely controlled.

The show was wonderfully respectful of female desire and agency, whether the women were in bed or in battle; it was also realistic about the fact that women (of all classes) had little power, and the less powerful the woman, the more common and accepted the abuse of her body and spirit. "Spartacus" isn't feminist because it handled rape with rare sensitivity: This drama -- which, by the way, successfully appealed to a dude-heavy audience -- is feminist because it depicted the gamut of the female experience with intelligence, nuance and compassion. The women were allowed to be as lusty -- and as angry and as devious and as kind -- as the guys.

"Spartacus" never shied away from depicting how excruciating it could be for all of the slaves when their sexuality and their desires were ignored, exploited or used against them. It frequently depicted physically strong male gladiators being used as pawns for their owners' amusement, and showed that it cost these men parts of their soul when they were viewed as nothing more than pieces of meat.

Everybody was objectified on "Spartacus," and the show sustained an impressive balancing act: It both gloried in the physical specimens on display (every viewer, whatever their sexuality, got an eyeful), and it also showed how thoughtless and cruel objectification can be, in the wrong hands.

It's also worth noting that DeKnight put gay characters at the center of the overall narrative and made sure their adventures were just as important as anyone else's. Sex between men and sex between women was shown regularly. As DeKnight told me in one interview, in the early seasons, he was "inundated with mostly guys saying, 'I love the show, but can you cut it out with the gay shit?'" DeKnight said. "And my reply was always 'No. If you don't like it, stop watching the show.'"

That's the thing about "Spartacus": It always had an agenda, one that prized human dignity, egalitarian ideals and bravery. It did its own thing, and it didn't necessarily care whether it was everyone's cup of tea. It was bonkers at times, but it owned that bonkers-ness and had fun with it. And as wild as things got, the show could also be restrained and heartbreaking when necessary. Five years after it debuted, I wish I had the time for another binge. Soon.

As you embark on your "Spartacus" journey, here are a series of reviews and interviews to read:

Kim Kardashian Would Like To Take A Selfie With Jesus


How Gisele Bundchen Knew Tom Brady Was The One

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It's not hard to see that Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady make a perfect couple. Even the supermodel knew he was "the one" after she met him.

"I knew Tom was the one straightaway," Bundchen told Vogue U.K. for the March 2015 issue of the magazine. "I could see it in his eyes that he was a man with integrity who believes in the same things I do."

The 34-year-old began dating the New England Patriots quarterback in 2006 after the two were set up on a blind date. They married in 2009 and are parents to Benjamin and Vivian (she is also step-mom to his son, John).

Motherhood has always been something Bundchen, who is one of six children, had always wanted. Privacy is something else.

"I'm a model as a job, I'm Gisele, the daughter of Valdir and Vania, I'm a woman, I am a model. When I go home and shut the door, that's it. If I want to expose something, it should be my choice," she told the magazine. "My earliest memory was going to my grandma's house, milking the cows and collecting the eggs from the chickens. If I could choose, I'd be bare feet, with animals all around me and living in a tree house. Like Tarzan and Jane, that's my dream. I'm at my happiest around nature."

gisele

Bradley Cooper Says Playing Chris Kyle Changed His Life

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"American Sniper" was life changing, Bradley Cooper stated Monday at the annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills. And he wasn't talking about the film's unbelivable box office success. Even though "American Sniper" is now the highest-grossing war movie of all time (recently beating out "Saving Private Ryan"), Cooper took a much more emotional approach when a room full of journalists asked him if he was surprised at how heated the discussion about the film has become.

"You never know when you make a movie if anybody’s going to see it. So to have the audacity to think that it would cause any sort of effect would be pretty presumptuous," Cooper said.

"You also never think about whether you’re going to wind up here," Cooper said, referring to his place in the Best Actor race. "But you hope people are going to watch it and hope that it has some impact."

"Some impact" is an understatement. "American Sniper" has sparked debates and outcries from both sides of the political aisle. A U.S. soldier wrote an article for Salon titled "I was an American sniper, and Chris Kyle’s war was not my war."
Rolling Stone called it "almost too dumb to criticize" and Michael Moore argued that director Clint Eastwood "gets Vietnam and Iraq confused in his storytelling." Sarah Palin slammed "Hollywood leftists" as being "not fit to shine Chris Kyle’s combat boots," and the list goes on.

But rather than comment on the drama behind the reactions to the film, Cooper got personal. "The responsibility to play a human being when his family is still alive and it’s still fresh was a huge endeavor and something that I knew was going to be important. I treated it in way I hadn’t before," he said. "Kyle was murdered two years to the day today, on Feb. 2, 2013."

Even Cooper's preparation for the role was different. He had tons of source material and wasn't just using his imagination. "[Kyle's] wife, Taya, gave us everything. I had thousands of hours of footage of him. So it was a completely different thing of allowing him to come inside me, basically," Cooper said.

"I just really loved this story," he continued. "And it’s changed over the years. He was murdered a year and a half into our development and it changed everything. It became a different movie. It became more about the plight of the soldier and his family."

Cooper said he was unsure if he's even fully absorbed the impact this film has had on him. "I don’t think I’ll realize it fully until maybe later in my life," he said. "It was life changing. Completely."

Neil Patrick Harris And David Burtka Take Architectural Digest Inside Their New York Townhouse (PHOTOS)

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Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are giving Architectural Digest readers some major real estate envy, showing off their five-story Manhattan townhouse in the magazine's March issue.

The couple, who tied the knot in Italy last September, told the magazine that they began searching for a New York abode once Harris' stint on "How I Met Your Mother" began to wrap in 2013. Although they'd been living in Los Angeles for nearly a decade by that point, Harris and Burtka always intended to head east with twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, and eventually settled on the townhouse, which is located on Fifth Avenue in New York's Harlem neighborhood.

Check out the cover, then scroll down to keep reading:

architectural digest

“I assumed the show would be a short chapter,” Harris is quoted as saying. “But the plan was always to come back to New York when the show ended and raise our family.”

Among the many highlights of the stylish new home are the kitchen, which features a Caesarstone-top island and Holly Hunt pendant lights, and the den, which is dedicated to Harris' passion for retro magic.

The newly relocated couple's respective careers remain in high gear. Both men appeared on "American Horror Story: Freak Show" in the later episodes of the smash FX series.

Harris will host the Academy Awards next month and is currently developing an NBC variety show, which is slated to debut later this year, while Burtka will return to Broadway in "It Should Been You," David Hyde Pierce's new musical comedy which co-stars Tyne Daly and Sierra Boggess, this spring.

Check out the full Architectural Digest interview here.

Reese Witherspoon Started Her Own Company Because Women 'Deserve Better' From Hollywood

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Reese Witherspoon is a woman who leads by example. Two years ago, she started her own production company after seeing six of her favorite actresses "fighting over a really crappy role in a movie," she told journalists at the annual Oscar Nominee Luncheon Monday in Los Angeles.

"We deserve better," she said. "It’s great to speak up, but what I really think is you’ve got to do something."

Last year, Witherspoon produced the acclaimed book adaptation of "Gone Girl," as well as starred in and produced another best-selling book adaptation, "Wild." That latter film scored Witherspoon an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, her first since winning in the same category at the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony for "Walk the Line."

"I set out with the idea that I wanted to develop material that has strong female leads. I wanted to make movies about what I want to put out into the world -- put some good into the world," Witherspoon said.

The two female-driven films are quite different in terms of story, but both feature hyper-independent women and have added to the ongoing conversation about feminism and women's roles in film.

"Wild" is the true story of Strayed, who set off alone to hike 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in the wake of her mother's death.

On Monday, Witherspoon called “Wild” the greatest gift of her professional life. "I’ve never been so challenged before -- physically, emotionally -- by a story and also by a director," she said, referencing filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée.

"I feel like I really fought for this movie to get made. And it was hard. But it’s so rewarding. All those days hiking up mountains and crossing freezing rivers carrying equipment," Witherspoon said. "It feels very hard-won. I get more emails and letters about this film than any other movie I’ve ever made."

Mary Lambert On Body Acceptance And 'Little Hacks' To Keep Perspective

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Mary Lambert is an outspoken out advocate for LGBT rights and mental health awareness. The singer is also championing body love, but admits true body acceptance has taken her some time.

"I just had this revelation like two nights ago -- I was crying so hard because I realized I had so much work to do with feeling comfortable with myself," the Grammy-award winning singer told HuffPost in a Monday interview.

Over the course of her "six years of growth," Lambert felt "miserable," and went through "every diet possible" trying to change her plus-size body. Today, the songwriter's proud to be in a much happier space.

"I am now... so body positive and just about self-care," she said, pointing to a song titled "Body Love" in her repertoire.

Lambert said she still has days of insecurity and self-doubt, but recognizes that it's a process.

"I've only gotten to a place where I tolerate my body," she said. "Dang... I have so much work to do!"

The songstress shared a few "little hacks" she's developed along her road to body positivity. For instance, a way to reconnect with your body when your mind might be obscuring the view.

"I think a lot of us have some form of body dysmorphia... You're looking in the mirror and you're kind of disassociated in some way," she said. "I think a good reminder is to actually, physically touch yourself. 'Ah, okay, this is what my arm feels like. It's not what I'm mutating in my head. I'm not some sort of scary monster.'"

Sing it to us, please?

Watch more from Mary Lambert's conversation with HuffPost Live here.

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