Courtney Love has told TMZ that the Muppets "raped" the memory of her late husband Kurt Cobain by using Nirvana's hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in their 2011 movie.
The eccentric Hole frontwoman claims that she has absolute control over the usage of Cobain's catalog, but she might not be telling the whole story. Love apparently sold half of her remaining rights to the music to Primary Wave Music and gave the company the exclusive right to distribute Nirvana's complete catalog.
Not only did the company have the legal standing to license the song for the barbershop quartet rendition in the movie, but it even sought and obtained permission from Nirvana's surviving members, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. Even better? Grohl is in the movie.
In 2005, Love sold 25 percent of the rights to the Nirvana catalog, pocketing a cool $50 million in the process. Five years later, she was offered $162 million for the rest of her majority stake, an offer she said she was considering because the songs and their royalties were "cursed."
Regardless of what Love owns and what she has sold, both she and her daughter will likely still benefit financially from the inclusion of the 1991 song in "The Muppets."
Love's loose usage of the word "rape" recalls another recent scandal. Actress Kim Novak set off a firestorm of controversy in January by saying she felt as though she was raped while watching "The Artist." The Oscar-winning film used a score from "Vertigo," an Alfred Hitchcock film in which she acted.
"It was very painful. When I said it was like a rape, that was how it felt to me," Novak said last week when clarifying her comments. "I had experienced in my youth being raped, and so I identified with a real act that had been done to me. I didn't use the word lightly. I had been raped as a child. It was a rape I never told about, so when I experienced this one, I felt the need to express it."
The Denver Post reports Peyton Manning has narrowed his list of free agent destinations to four teams and could make a decision as early as Wednesday. The Denver Broncos are reportedly one of Manning's top two choices. The Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans are rumored to be next on the list, in varying order. Manning could also pull a last-minute surprise and sign with the Arizona Cardinals.
Other teams that were interested, like the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans, are not expected to be in the running. The possibility of a team emerging out of left field to sign the quarterback remains small, mainly because Manning's courtship has been largely conducted in the public eye.
The four-time MVP was released by the Indianapolis Colts on March 7. Since then, he's turned the tables on free-agent wooing, vetting the teams himself instead of the other way around. Reports are that Manning spent six hours with each team. He was interested in personnel, philosophies and team direction. He called around the NFL to check out the reputations of potential teammates like Brandon Marshall (who was later traded from the Miami Dolphins to to the Chicago Bears) and scouted destinations with his wife and twins in mind.
The end of the process will reset the natural order. Manning will now have to hear what his final list of teams can do for him in terms of guaranteed money, contract length, assurances and team restructuring.
Will he choose the freedom of Denver, where John Fox is expected to give him free rein over the offense? Or will the cold weather and altitude keep him away?
Will he make a triumphant return to Nashville, near where he starred in as a college quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers? Titans owner Bud Adams has made no secret of his desire to acquire the quarterback and teaming up with running back Chris Johnson could bring back to mind Manning's early days with Edgerrin James.
Or will Peyton follow the recent trend of athletes and take his talents to South Beach? Miami was the early front-runner for Manning's services and were long thought to be the best fit. Did the trade of Brandon Marshall help or harm the team's chances?
I was thrilled to watch the KONY 2012 video. I began traveling to LRA territory in northern Uganda and Congo in 2007 and I have seen first-hand the anguish and pain their atrocities have left behind. While in Gulu, Northern Uganda, I visited a site run by Healing Hands where I sat down with more than a hundred LRA abductees. It was there that a young man told me of being forced by the LRA at gunpoint to kill his mother, father and siblings and then being abducted to serve as an LRA soldier. I was awed by the courage, resilience and determination in these children -- and I was inspired to do what I could to help others like them.
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The LRA conflict in Uganda has now ended. Today northeastern Congo bears the brunt of LRA activity (alongside Central African Republic and South Sudan) -- and it was in Congo, several years ago, where the LRA's 'Christmas massacre' took the lives of 400 civilians, and made refugees out of 20,000 more.
Last month, I was in Dungu (in far northeastern Congo) where the LRA militias remain active. I met scores of villagers who had suffered from recent attacks. The local UN military base 'threat level' was four out of five ("five means all-out war," I was told). Just last month several thousand citizens in the region were displaced and several people were killed.
I believe there is no mission more urgent than to help children who are suffering and I applaud Invisible Children for raising the awareness of Kony (and the issue of child soldiers) to such an extraordinary level. The next step after awareness is action. There are many steps that we can take to end this nightmare. Among the most important is funding remarkable local organizations.
Westerners are not and will never be the 'saviors' of Africa. That idea has been tried and found wanting. It is ineffectual at best and deadly at worst. The organization I founded, Eastern Congo Initiative, funds Congolese-led organizations that rescue child soldiers from the bush and provides them with education, medical assistance, job training, and counseling. We support the work being done by highly capable and determined Congolese, to make their communities a better place.
Joseph Kony has been one of the most infamous and most wanted men in Africa for decades. His vicious cruelty has caused untold pain over the last twenty years. Because of Invisible Children, a hundred million more people in North America now know his story.
While most career advice focuses on how to succeed, we can all learn valuable lessons by dissecting career failure as well. Workplace experts offer insights into some of the top ways workers undermine their own careers and jeopardize their career development.
1. Not Taking Your Education Seriously
If you party too much in college and end up with a run-of-the-mill 2.5 GPA, you’ll be passed over for the best entry-level jobs, says New York City-based executive recruiter and coach Brian Drum of Drum Associates. Not finishing your master’s degree is another way to hurt your career development goals, adds Anne Angerman, a career coach with Denver-based Career Matters.
2. Not Having a Plan
In the current poor job market, you may have defaulted into a career you aren’t crazy about. That’s OK, as long as you develop career plans to get where you want to be. “Think of every job you take as a stepping-stone to your next job,” Drum advises.
3. Lying
You’ll lose professional credibility in a hurry if you lie, from exaggerating on your resume to getting caught fibbing on Facebook. “If someone calls in sick to work and then that evening posts a photo on Facebook of their extra day vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, that’s a big problem,” says corporate etiquette specialist Diane Gottsman of the Protocol School of Texas in San Antonio.
4. Sullying Your Reputation on Facebook or Twitter
Social media can harm your reputation in other ways, too. Personal posts and tweets from work -- when you’re supposed to be doing your job -- can tag you as a slacker. And the content of your posts or tweets can come back to haunt you as well -- you never know who might stumble upon those bachelor-party photos. “You need to assume that every boss and potential employer knows how to use Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and post from the standpoint that everyone is watching even if in reality they’re not,” Gottsman says.
5. Not Respecting Professional Boundaries
Sharing TMI about your personal life with colleagues is unprofessional. “Your coworkers don’t want to hear about your fights with your husband,” Angerman says. On the other hand, if you’re ultraprivate and work with a chatty group, join the conversations occasionally so coworkers don’t resent you.
6. Gossiping, Slandering, Excessively Criticizing
If you publicly bash fellow employees, the boss, the board of directors or even your competitors, you’ll be perceived as negative at best and a troublemaker at worst. The ramifications can be broad and long term, Gottsman says. “Industries are tight,” she says. “You don’t want to be the one who started that rumor about the head of your industry.” As far as bad-mouthing competitors -- what if your company merges with a competitor, or you want to work for one someday?
7. Carrying on an Inappropriate Relationship with Your Boss
A romantic entanglement with a boss can do real damage to your ability to collaborate with peers. "When you get involved in a drama or in something unethical that can be brought out in the open, you're asking for trouble," Gottsman says. Even getting too chummy with a boss can cause jealousy (as well as other potential problems). When it comes to your boss, keeping things professional is always the wiser choice.
8. Not Controlling Your Alcohol Intake or Libido
Getting drunk at the office party or on a business trip damages your credibility. Ditto a romantic, ahem, “indiscretion” that your colleagues know about.
NFL superstar wide receiver Brandon Marshall -- who was JUST traded to the Chicago Bears -- has denied punching a woman in the face at a NY nightclub ... despite detailed reports to the contrary.
According to reports, Marshall was outside of a club in Chelsea, NY around 4AM Sunday morning ... when he got into an argument with a group of people ... and allegedly threw a punch that connected with 24-year-old Christin Myles. It's unclear if Marshall intended to strike the woman ... or if she was collateral damage as Brandon was trying to hit someone else .
Either way, Myles says she suffered a black eye ... and filed a police report the next day. According to the NY Post, Myles was nervous about filing because of Brandon's high profile status.
But Marshall's lawyer says the 6'4", 230-pounder did NOT strike Myles ... however, he claims Brandon's wife was injured in a DIFFERENT brawl that went down at the club.
Attorney Harvey Steinberg explains, “While attempting to leave to avoid the melee, [Marshall’s wife] was struck in the face by a thrown bottle. She suffered serious injury." He continued, "The mayhem continued outside.’’
David Axelrod will not be appearing as a guest on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” despite reports last week that he was scheduled to do the show in the next few weeks.
“He's not scheduled to go on at this time,” said Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for President Obama’s reelection campaign.
Maher, who donated $1 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, has increasingly become a target of right-wing attacks over the last week in response to the left’s attacks on Rush Limbaugh. Maher has come under fire for calling Sarah Palin a “c**t” during his stand-up act and a “dumb tw**t” on his HBO show, among other sexist comments.
Axelrod has used the Limbaugh affair to attack Mitt Romney, slamming him for having “essentially refused to comment on what was a really egregious set of comments by Limbaugh” and saying “he’s afraid to challenge a guy who’s the de-facto head of his party.”
The Daily noted this when reporting last Wednesday that, according to an HBO spokeswoman, Axelrod was scheduled to appear on Maher’s show in the coming weeks.
Axelrod’s cold feet are not the only sign that the right’s attacks on Maher seem to be gaining some traction.
If you ask the rich about the biggest problem created from their wealth, they will usually say their kids.
Most of today’s self-made rich didn’t grow up with money (surveys show 75% of millionaires didn’t inherit their wealth). And today’s rich parents expect their kids to grow up with middle-class values– just as they did.
It’s a noble goal. But when those parents are flying the kids around on a private jet or giving them a Mercedes for their Sweet 16, it should come as no surprise that their kids lack the same work ethic and hustle as a middle-class kid.
And so wealthy parents today face an inevitable choice: leaving boatloads of money to kids who aren’t good with money.
Gina Rinehart, the Australian mining billionaire, has cracked open the debate with a strange court battle winding its way through the Australian legal system. In short, Ms. Rinehart inherited a mining empire from her dad. Her three kids were also left with a stake in the family trust. Yet Ms. Rinehart shut them out of their ownership stakes, and now the kids are fighting back.
Court documents cited in the Australian media show that Ms. Rinehart believed the kids weren’t fit to manage their fortune. She said none had ever held a real job, unless it was given to them by the family. “None of the plaintiffs (her children) has the requisite capacity or skill, nor the knowledge, experience, judgment or responsible work ethic to administer a trust in the nature of the trust in particular as part of the growing HPPL Group,” she claimed in court papers.
She added that the kids are “manifestly unsuitable” to manage the fund and that it would be in the “best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work.”
Unfazed by the attack on him by his own party for raising rail fares, Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi today justified the move saying it was a "conscious decision" in the best interest of the Railways.
Talking to Times Now, Trivedi said that nation comes first, family second and party third. When asked whether he would quit as railway minister, he said, "No comments." His party Trinamool Congress was upset with the fare hike proposal and demanded a rollback.
Earlier, in a press conference after the presenting the Railway Budget, he said the party leadership was not aware of the provisions made in the Railway Budget.
"It is a very big misconception that the Railways is run from the Writer's Building (headquarters of West Bengal government). She (Banerjee) did not know anything at all and there was no interference by her in any aspect of the budget," Trivedi said in reply to a volley of questions after he presented his maiden Railway Budget in Parliament.
Asked about Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay's demand for a rollback of the fare hike, he said, "Political parties have a right to their philosophy. There is nothing wrong in it."
"Whatever decisions we have taken are conscious decisions, which we have taken with full responsibility in the interests of the Indian Railways and the country." He said Mamata Banerjee only spoke as chief minister of a state about projects relating to Bengal, like any other chief minister.
The Milwaukee Bucks have traded Bogut and forward Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown, sources confirmed to ESPN.com.
Bogut was drafted first overall by Milwaukee in the 2005 draft and has averaged 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds over his now seven-year career.
Bogut's durability has been called into question as the 7-foot Australian has not played since injuring his left ankle in a game Jan. 25.
In return, the Bucks welcome the instant offense that Ellis provides to pair with star point guard Brandon Jennings.
Ellis, a veteran also in his seventh year, has career averages of 19.6 points and 4.4 assists and is already used to sharing the backcourt with a dynamic player, having worked alongside Stephen Curry since the 2009 season.
The Warriors are also bringing back a fan favorite in landing Jackson. The volatile veteran was a key player on the Golden State squad that knocked out the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.
Discovery Channel has terminated its relationship with Bear Grylls, the British television personality and star of the network’s Man vs. Wild. The severing of the relationship, which began back in 2006 when Man vs. Wild launched on Discovery, comes after the network has allegedly been unable to get Grylls to participate in two unannounced projects he was contracted for, say sources. The sixth season of Man vs. Wild wrapped in August.
“Due to a continuing contractual dispute with Bear Grylls, Discovery has terminated all current productions with him,” a network spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter.
A representative for Grylls confirmed that the Man Vs. Wild star has parted ways with Discovery.
"Bear's goal has always been to make life-empowering shows for his many fans around the globe, and he has taken great risks to bring Discovery such award-winning programming over seven seasons," said Heather Krug in a statement to THR. "Unfortunately, Bear and Discovery have not been able to come to mutual agreement on new programming, and he disagrees with Discovery's decision to terminate current productions. Bear has loved the Man vs. Wild journey and looks forward to producing further cutting-edge content again soon for his loyal audience."
This is not the first time Discovery has had a disagreement with its talent. In 2010, the network sued Deadliest Catch Captains Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand for allegedly failing to complete work on the spinoff Hillstranded. The $3 million lawsuit prompted the Hillstrands and Captain Sig Hansen to quit, though a month later the dispute was settled, the suit was dropped and all three returned to work on the show.
Grylls, 37, has parlayed his fame as an extreme outdoorsman into an international media career. He’s written nearly a dozen books, many of them survival guides. His memoir Mud, Sweat and Tears – due to be published in the U.S. in May – already is a best-seller in England and Australia. He’s landed numerous endorsement deals including with Dockers and Degree deodorant. There's a Man vs. Wild video game, he has an iPhone app, and his clothing line is sold at REI and Walmart.
