While most stars were loading up on swag from the Oscar gifting suites, Sarah Palin left one of them with less than when she arrived.

The former vice-presidential candidate made a $1,700 donation to the Red Cross for Haiti and Chile at a swag suite at LA’s Interior Illusion store Wednesday.

A spy said, “She picked up a ton of gifts, but she gave the lot to the Red Cross, along with a cash donation. The only thing she took for herself was a bottle of Ty Ku sake.” Palin attended an “American Idol” show and appeared on Jay Leno’s “Tonight” before heading back east to pitch a reality-TV show.

(source)

Over the past year, dozens of celebrities from Kristin Cavallari to Steve-O to Kim Zolciak have posed for the “NOH8″ photo campaign in an effort to overturn Proposition 8 and legalize same sex marriage in California.

The latest high-profile figure to take part in the initiative is a little more surprising: Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my mother for posing for the NOH8 campaign,” daughter Meghan McCain tweeted on Wednesday morning. “I think more Republicans need to start taking a stand for and civil rights in this country and set the example that this is not a partisan issue.”

Cindy McCain’s position stands in contrast to her husband’s, the former GOP presidential nominee, who opposes gay marriage.

Sen. McCain’s office issued a statement Wednesday evening affirming his own stance on gay marriage without addressing the ad campaign directly.

“Senator McCain respects the views of members of his family,” spokesperson Brooke Buchanan said. “The senator chaired the effort to successfully pass Arizona Proposition 102, the Marriage Protection Amendment, and his opposition to gay marriage remains the same. Senator McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman.”

The photo shoot took place in the desert outside of Los Angeles last week. Cindy McCain’s desire to participate took photographer Adam Bouska by surprise.

“I was shooting the cover for Meghan’s tell-all political book that she’s writing, and her mother just came along for support, and suddenly asked if it was okay if she lent her face for the cause,” Bouska told Pop Tarts. “We were definitely surprised. We always knew where Meghan stood on the issue (she was one of the first to pose and show her support in June last year), but we weren’t sure about Cindy. She said it shouldn’t matter what political party you are part of, that shouldn’t be the issue that divides you.”

Bouska also said the response he has received since releasing Cindy’s photo has been overwhelming.

“Many people feel that she is taking a more progressive stance on gay marriage than Obama,” he added. “I hope this will help people see that it is okay to be gay and a Republican. There are so many bigger issues like war and health care we have to worry about; we shouldn’t have to be wasting time on this. It is basic human rights.”

Meanwhile Meghan McCain is slated to be the keynote speaker during February’s National Equality Week at George Washington University; although there was a misunderstanding as to whether or not she was still invited to attend given her opinion on the issue of gay marriage.

The GW College Republicans withdrew their co-sponsorship of the event after learning that she would be talking about Marriage Equality Week, not “what it means to be a Republican,” as they originally were told.

McCain thought this meant her speaking engagement had been canceled, but later tweeted that “until further notice” she was still scheduled to speak at the university.

“The event is still occurring,” Rob Noel, Communications Director at GW Republicans, said. “[But] the GW College Republicans will not be co-sponsoring Meghan McCain’s visit to GW to deliver the keynote address during Marriage Equality Week. Ms. McCain’s views on marriage equality align with neither the Republican Party nor her father’s personal stance. Though we fully supported John McCain’s candidacy for President, we feel that Meghan McCain’s last name is not near as important as the message she advocates.”

(source)

U.S. Senator John Kerry’s elder daughter, Alexandra, who made a red-carpet splash at the Cannes film festival five years ago in a see-through dress, was arrested in Hollywood on Thursday on suspicion of drunken driving.

The 36-year-old aspiring filmmaker was stopped by police, jailed briefly on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and released on $5,000 bail, Los Angeles police said.

A statement issued on behalf of the Massachusetts senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, said Kerry’s daughter was pulled over for an expired automobile registration “and was released after the results of a breathalyzer test at the police station were under the legal limit.”

“Senator Kerry supports his daughter and will have no further comment on a private matter,” the statement said.

Celebrity news website TMZ.com reported that Kerry was stopped for a traffic violation and placed under arrest after failing a field sobriety test. According to TMZ, she refused to take a preliminary alcohol screening test at the scene, before a formal blood-alcohol test conducted later at the police station showed her to be just under the legal limit.

Police can still arrest a person on suspicion of drunken driving if officers believe the motorist is impaired.

“It depends on the expertise and opinions of the officers at the time,” said police spokesman Gus Villanueva..

The case was later turned over to prosecutors who will decide whether to formally charge Kerry or dismiss the matter. A spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office said the case was under review.

Kerry raised eyebrows during her father’s unsuccessful White House campaign with an appearance in a see-through gown at the Cannes film festival, where her short film, “The Last Full Measure,” premiered that year.

According to the Internet Movie Database, she is in pre-production as co-writer and director of a film based on Jessica Shattuck’s novel “The Hazards of Good Breeding.”

Kerry had minor roles as an actor in the David Mamet films “State and Main” and “Spartan.” She also appeared in several episodes of the short-lived TV political drama “Mr. Sterling,” which starred Josh Brolin.

(source)

Just when you thought you’d seen the last of controversial former Miss California Carrie Prejean – she’s back!

The embattled beauty queen, who caused a furor at this year’s Miss USA pageant for her comments against gay marriage, gave a speech Friday at the “Values Voters Summit 2009″ in Washington, D.C.

She made a plea for civility to the GOP crowd, saying “We obviously have not seen it from the Left.”

“We need to be the example of respect, of tolerance, and just how to be civil, can we do that?,” she said.

Nearing the end of her remarks, Prejean broke into tears as she described the divine path she’s traveled since she was pulled into the political boxing ring.

“Even though I didn’t win the crown that night I know that the Lord has so much of a bigger crown in heaven for me,” she said.

Prejean took first runner-up in the competition, and later said she believed she’d lost out on the top title because of the flap following her response to a question from Perez Hilton on same-sex marriage.

“I never asked to be thrown into politics,” she said Friday, ” … but you know what, I’m proud of the stance that I took and I’m glad that God upheld me for such a time as this.”

The conference was also attended by Republican bigs Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Bill O’Reilly.

(source)

TMZ has obtained and posted the audio of President Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass.” It appears the initially off-the-record slam came during the chitchat preceding an official CNBC interview yesterday. CNBC’s John Harwood asks Obama if his daughters were as upset about as his kids were about West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. “I thought it was really inappropriate,” Obama says. “She’s getting an award. Why are you butting in?” Swift, the president notes, seems like a “perfectly nice person.” When Harwood questions why Kanye did it, Obama says point-blank: “He’s a jackass.” It didn’t take long for Obama to figure out that he said something he maybe shouldn’t have. “Where’s the pool?” Obama jokingly asks, as if to make sure no one heard him. “Come on, guys, cut the president some slack. I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate.”

The tape is pretty funny – you can listen here:
http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/15/obama-calls-kanye-a-jackass/

(source)

Mary J. Blige, Former U.S. President, Bill Clinton and Matt Damon

Elvis Costello and Matt Damon

Matt Damon, Luciana Bozan Barroso

(source)

NBC’s “Today” show has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent – former first daughter Jenna Hager.

The daughter of former President George W. Bush will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education to television’s top-rated morning news show, said Jim Bell, its executive producer.

Hager, a 27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when Bell contacted her.

“It wasn’t something I’d always dreamed to do,” she said. “But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change.”

She’ll essentially work two part-time jobs as a correspondent and in her school, where she will be a reading coordinator this year.

Bell said he got the idea after seeing Hager in two “Today” appearances. She was on the program two years ago to promote her book about an HIV-infected single mother, “Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope,” and it went so well that a short interview was stretched to nearly a half hour. She and her mother, Laura Bush, also co-hosted an hour of “Today” around the time their picture book came out.

She “just sort of popped to us as a natural presence, comfortable” on the air, Bell said. Hager will work out of NBC’s Washington bureau.

“I think she can handle it,” he said. “I think she knows something about pressure and being under some scrutiny. When she came here for a handful of appearances, she knocked it out of the park.”

He expects her first story, most likely concerning education, to be on sometime next month.

A first television job on “Today” is, in her father’s world, sort of like a run for president as a first attempt at elective office. Hager said that people on the show “have always made me, whenever I’ve been there, feel very comfortable.”

Bell said Hager won’t be covering politics. He said he didn’t consider the job as a down payment for a future interview with her father, who has been living quietly in Texas since leaving office earlier this year. Attacks on NBC News by conservatives for the liberal bent of MSNBC also had nothing to do with it, he said.

“I hope to focus on what I’m passionate about because I think I’d do the best job on them – education, urban education, women and children’s issues and literacy,” said Hager.

Married to Henry Hager in May 2008 at her family’s ranch in Texas, she doesn’t plan to do is talk about her experiences as the daughter of a president.

“I don’t think it’s that interesting,” she said. “I’m pretty normal.”

(source)

Those rumors of an imminent Chelsea Clinton wedding have picked up steam. A Post reporter yesterday spotted preparations in full gear for a very large gathering on Chappaquiddick island. A big stage was being built and a large tent, capable of seating hundreds, was going up near the property’s breathtaking water view. Martha’s Vineyard has been abuzz all summer with speculation about Chelsea’s supposed nuptials with her investment-banker boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky. But so far, there have been nothing but denials from the Clinton camp, and talk that President Obama was going to attend seems to have no foundation, as he returns to work today. Still, rumors persist that Chelsea’s daddy, Bill Clinton, has rented property on the island.

(source)