Travolta’s revolt!

Here’s another one to have just lost it with media. John Travolta is the latest one to feel the media is apparently stepping on his toes. The Face Off actor defended fellow actor and believer of Scientology, Tom Cruise, who was criticized for his comments in a talk show. Refusing to accept that being a celebrity denied one of his rights and privacy, John seconded Tom’s right to speak his mind, and did he speak his mind too! John has kept his bathroom and bedroom right off limits for the paparazzi! Now, how deprived are we going to be?!

Abhi is daddy’s boy!
The ideal son, that’s what Abhishek Bachchan is bent on proving! He totally adores his dad and almost always has a wistfully twinkling glint in his eyes every time he speaks of dad. Attributing perfection to Big B, he generously rates him a 100 on 100 for his overall personality! Extolling his father’s performances, some of which were scheduled to be screened at the renowned BAFTA awards, he’s hoping with all his heart to someday grow up to be like his dad. Wonder what happened to Jaya mama’s boy?

Believe it? Or not?
Looks like folks out in the West just can’t get enough of the blue eyed beauty. After Provoked and The Last Legion, Aishwarya Rai has been reportedly chosen for a popular television science fiction series in the United States. Titled Heroes, it’ll have Ash play the role of a character named ‘Shanti’, who possesses supernatural powers. Her contract is believed to last eight entire episodes, but the busy actress’ business manager kept up with denying any such plans, dismissing all of it as gossip. Oh well, only time will tell…

Sporty is a good sport!
Melanie Chisholm popularly known as Mel C or ‘Sporty Spice’ of the British girl group of yesteryears, Spice Girls, has finally agreed to the reunion. Still wanting to keep intact the magic they created, Mel C earlier initially opposed the idea, but now she’s prepared herself for it. After the group witnessed weak sales and split, leaving each to pursue respective solo careers, Mel now feels that the group owed the world a last ‘thank you’ and ‘good bye’ and this ‘get-together’ was the ideal way to show that gratitude. Whatever your reasons Mel, we couldn’t be happier!

Bips has had enough
Bipasha Basu has had a lot on her mind since the past few days. She’s waiting for boyfriend John Abraham to return from his shoot in Hyderabad to settle matters once and for all. Rumours have it that their relationship has been sailing stormy waters lately, and the gossip mills working overtime weren’t helping. Meanwhile, media is happy to play matchmaker for Bips, linking her to a whole lot of potential suitors, right from Saif to Dino Morea. But for love’s sake, let’s hope this love story meets a happy ending...

No son for Aniston!
It seems that Jennifer Aniston’s not ready to tie on an apron and get her manicured nails dirty in baby poo yet. Everyone was taken by surprise when OK! Magazine proclaimed that Jen was all set to adopt in the wake of Sheryl Crow’s union with her adopted son Wyatt. In fact, they even stated that the adoption process for a boy was ‘100 percent’ on track. However, sources close to the Hollywood star claims the statements aren’t true at all. Somebody’s loss, somebody’s gain, we believe...

Pamela – Forty and flirty!
Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson may be pushing forty and but she still knows how to party! PETA held an advance bash to celebrate her fortieth birthday which is to be on July 1 at a Florida hotspot. And boy, did she party?! To top it all, she stunned them all in her breathtaking red satin off -shoulder drape proving that 40 is the new 20! However, after making the shutterbugs happy with the ritual cake-cutting photo-ops, she went back to work on her upcoming film. Pam’s sure got her priorities in order this year!

Beauty for the beasts!

When a Playmate gets serious about saving the Bunnies...

Pamela Anderson has perhaps been the world’s ‘biggest’ babe ever since C.J. arrived on Baywatch and began running, in slow motion. Where in the past year we saw a Kazakhstani – Borat – fall in love with Pam and travel across the United States for her, this year we will see her reprising the role of a blonde, in Blonde and Blonder. But in between her professional commitments, Pamela Anderson has spared precious time for a cause she truly believes in. From promoting vegetarianism to fi ghting for her furry friends, this PETA activist’s messages have reached out to audiences worldwide. Th e sexy Playmate talks of her crusade in this B&E Special.

When and why did you join PETA?

I have been active with PETA since the early ’90s. Because of the popularity of Baywatch, I knew that I could use my fame to draw attention to – and help stop – cruelty to animals. So I bombarded them with letters until they took me on board!

What was the one incident that made you sit up and take notice of animal rights?
My crusade started when I was 10 years old and I walked into the shed behind our house on Vancouver Island, Canada, right aft er my dad had returned from a hunting trip. I opened the door, looked up, and there, hanging upside down, was a once-beautiful deer, her fur and body drenched in blood. I remember shrieking and running as fast as I could. I made a vow then to try to stop the needless suff ering of animals. I knew that I had a mission, and I wanted to make a diff erence.

What have been your eff orts to further the cause both in your daily personal life and to make others aware?
For starters, I never eat meat. And I don’t buy leather shoes or fur-trimmed jackets or buy lipstick that was tested by blinding rabbits. It’s not hard, it just means being aware of what I’m buying and supporting, learning which cosmetics brands are cruelty-free, and reading labels to fi nd pleather – not leather – boots and bags. I really believe in teaching by example: If others can look at me and see how easy it is to take simple steps to reduce suff ering, they’ll be inspired to make kind choices too.

How is it possible for you to make a style statement without contributing to animal ill treatment?
My friend Stella McCartney doesn’t use a stitch of fur, leather, or merino wool in her designs. Th at’s the trend: Th e most innovative designers are refusing to work with animal skins, and they’re proving that it’s easy to create a look that kills without killing animals.

Do you plan to visit India to campaign for PETA?
Not currently but you never know!

What’s your opinion on the recent boycott of the Indian leather industry by Kenneth Cole and Liz Claiborne?
I applaud these kind companies – both of which are major retailers in the United States – for taking a stand against cruelty, and I predict that others will follow as they learn more about the suff ering caused by India’s leather trade. During PETA’s investigations, they have seen animals transported in suff ocating conditions: Fift een to 20 cows, or more, are crammed into trucks meant to hold only fi ve or six. Many animals die en route. Animals who are too sick or injured to walk are dragged and beaten. At municipal slaughterhouses, animals are slaughtered in full view of each other, which is illegal, and cows look helplessly on as their companions slowly bleed to death.

Unless the industry takes immediate steps to reduce this suffering, I’m sure that other retailers and designers – as well as caring consumers around the world – will also stop buying leather from India. We have so many other choices these days. Th ere was a time when animal abuse in the skin trade, and other industries for that matter, went unchallenged, but more and more people are willing to take a stand and boycott cruelly produced products.

How do you manage your career while battling hepatitis?
I feel great – thanks to my healthy lifestyle and vegetarian diet. But animal rights is my passion, so I’d like to keep the focus on animals and what people can do to help them. I do hope that your readers will learn more about these issues and how small changes, like buying non-leather shoes or eating more vegetarian meals, can make a world of diff erence to animals. I think we all have the responsibility to choose on the side of compassion whenever possible, because the animals don’t have a choice.

How long have you been a vegetarian? How has it benefi ted you? People find it tough to reconcile that a sexy actor like you sports a vegetarian lifestyle! Comment.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a teenager. Being a vegetarian is what keeps me feeling sexy! A meat-based diet is loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol, which packs on pounds and makes you feel sluggish, but a vegetarian diet is healthy and slimming, and of course humane.

One of the most controversial things you’ve done is posing nude in Stella McCartney’s boutique window. What was it like? Did you feel weird being stared at, or was it worth it? How did the organisation benefi t?
If a cause is important to me, I’ll do whatever it takes to make a diff erence. And I think that actions like posing nude in Stella’s store window, where we re-created PETA’s “We’d Rather Bare Skin Th an Wear Skin” ad campaign, are very powerful. Th ey make people take notice, and that’s what’s needed – to get people to look, think, and take action. Posing nude can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it’s nothing compared to what the animals killed for their fur go through.

What do you feel about celebrities wearing fur?
It’s terrible when stars like J Lo and Beyoncé wear fur – I worry that their young fans will see them and not think about the cruelty that goes into every fur coat or piece of fur trim.

Fortunately, thanks to groups like PETA, more and more people are thinking about these issues. Most of us now know that animals killed for fur suff er horribly – they are skinned alive, clubbed to death, crushed in steel-jaw traps, and genitally electrocuted, sometimes just for a little trim on a coat collar. In China, even cats and dogs are routinely bludgeoned, hanged, or strangled with wire nooses, so that their fur can beturned into trim and trinkets.

Th ese days, with so many choices available to us, there’s just no excuse for wearing real fur. If you don’t wear fur, please talk to others, so they’ll know why you made your compassionate decision. We all have to do our part to put this cruel industry out of business.

What do you think is the biggest learning you’ve had from your lifestyle? Do your children understand your philosophy? How important is it for children to know this?
I’ve learned that one person can make a huge diff erence for animals just by forgoing meat, leather, and other animal products. My boys understand this because I’ve taught them kindness and respect for animals and have raised them to make compassionate choices. I think that it’s important to teach kids empathy for animals, because kids naturally love animals and if they knew how they suff ered before they were turned into burgers or a belt, they’d never eat meat or wear leather again.

In what other ways can you spread the message?
Well, as you know, I’ve done numerous actions with PETA to help get the word out. I traded in my red Baywatch swimsuit for a lettuce-leaf bikini for an ad promoting vegetarianism. I’ve narrated exposés of the leather trade in India and the meat industry in the US. Earlier this year, I spearheaded a petition drive against the annual seal hunt in Canada, where baby seals are still beaten bloody on the ice for their fur. I’ve fi red off letters, posed for posters, called on designers to create animal-friendly fashions, and even written an opinion piece for Th e Wall Street Journal, urging advertising executives to stop using unwilling animal actors to sell products.

Everyone can do their part – whether it’s something as bold as attending a demonstration or as simple as making a vegetarian meal for a loved one. Every little bit helps – the important thing is to just do something.

Blah-Blah!

Sheryl Crow’s toilet talk

One person, really struggling hard for environment’s sake, is songstress Sheryl Crow. In her latest blog entry, she made a peculiar plea to the readers – to use a ‘fabric sleeve’ as a pseudonapkin (designed by her – in case you were thinking of purchasing some) and to also utilise just one square of toilet paper per rest room visit! While Crow did retract the latter part of her statement later and claimed to have said that only to make people take notice of her cause – global warming – the damage was done. For as of now, Sheryl Crow’s image of a sane woman has officially been flushed down the drain!

Daddy’s home!

Well yes, ill health has its benefits too! For after his beloved Rosa brokeup with him and his heart-ache landed him in hospital, the dapper star got to stay at home for quite a while, which resulted in getting him some quality time with his children Sarah and Ibrahim. And as he endured lengthy shootings in New York for Ta Ra Rum Pum, the two child actors, Angelina Idnani and Haji Ali, kept reminding him of his own kids back home. Intending to maintain such strong bonds with his kids, Saif ’s now seriously planning out his time...

Of love, handles and Lovely Singh!

Kick-ass Kareena has lately been setting the silver-screen afire with her hot number in the film Kya Love Story Hai… And news is that she did the number as a friendly gesture for director Lovely Singh (who happens to be a close pal), though she did refuse to wear revealing clothes for the same. Well, at least there’s someone who knows how to handle love-handles!

No kidding, this time!

After her recent visit to an orphanage in Russia, the former Baywatch star, Pamela Anderson obliged her online diary by chronicling the same… Apparently, she was touched and inspired to meet kids as old as her own two boys, Brandon and Dylan, but unlike them, they had nothing to really call their own. Although her entries indicate a very humane face of the star, it also perhaps portends yet another celebrity adoption. You know… it’s the ‘in thing’.