The Huntsman Daughters Last Stand; Jay-Z Returns To Being Jay-Z
Welcome to the Smart Set. Every morning, we bring you the gossip coverage, filtered. Today: Jon Huntsman's daughters had another silly viral web video ready to go, Steven Soderbergh's new leading lady knew nothing of his work, and Jay-Z enjoys some alone time in a crowded room.
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Gina Carano -- the martial arts lady Steven Soderbergh inexplicably cast as the lead in his new spy movie Haywire -- says she had no idea who the director was when he called to offer her the part. See, this is why Steven Soderbergh has to stop signing his correspondence 'Best Wishes, the Guy Who Directed The Limey'. (In Soderbergh's defense, at the same Lincoln Center sneak preview of the film, he told the audience that casting Carano was "total happenstance," and that he only the only reason the movie exists is because he thought it would be a lark to direct "an action flick that looked beautiful." So put that in your 7-1 career MMA record and smoke it.) [Page Six]
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Between his wife giving birth, firing half the staff of his clothing company, and inconveniencing the parents of various New York City newborns, Jay-Z hasn't had much time for Jay-Z this year. He rectified that last night by going stag to the reopening of his nightclub 40/40. Somehow, a lurid Paramount thriller from the 1980s did not ensue: according to a witness, Mr. Beyoncé "mostly enjoyed the company of male friends in private areas of the crowded club," and showed everyone pictures of his famous baby on his digital camera. [E Online]
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Jon Hunstman's daughters had another bit of viral video catnip all ready to go before their dad announced he was dropping his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. There is not a comically oversized moustache in sight, but there is a reference to the honey badger and a prolonged bit of stage business involving a Mitt Romney doll. [ABC4-Salt Lake City via The Reliable Source]
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The Kardashian family's deal to create a Kardashian-centric fanzine/glossy/quarterly literary review for American Media Inc. is apparently "dead." It seems Kris Jenner's demand for "absolute editorial control" killed the deal, along with AMI's realization that going forward with the would hinder Radar, The National Enquirer, and Star's ability to run juicy scoops on their new corporate siblings. [Page Six]
David Axelrod is going to be "launching" a University of Chicago-based knockoff of Harvard's Institute of Politics in 2013, after he's done leading Barack Obama's reelection bid. Axelrod indicated to Politico that he wants the institute to "put Chicago on the political map" as something other than a place young politicos can spend some time and then be fully licensed to yell, "That's the Chicago Way!" at terrified unpaid interns. [Politico]
Adele has a new boyfriend named Simon Konecki. Simon is quite the catch: in addition to being 36, and a "charity entrepreneur," he's also unmarried, and has been for the last four years. Adele has made that point in a new post on her blog, in the wake of an Us Weekly article that said he was still hitched. [Gatecrasher]
