Madonna is defending herself against criticism after she posted Instagram photos of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela that were altered to look like her own image on her new album.
Madonna’s cover for the album “Rebel Heart” is a closeup of her face with black string on it. Her social media posts show the faces of King and Mandela doctored to make it appear as though they have similar string on their faces. Some consider the posts offensive.
In a statement, Madonna said she was not comparing herself to them but acknowledging that they were rebels. She also said the images were fan-generated and defended herself against claims of racism, adding she also posted other famous faces who were not black.
FACEBOOK: Mark Zuckerberg starts reading program
Mark Zuckerberg is attempting to add a little more “book” to Facebook.
The Facebook founder and CEO announced on his page recently that he has vowed to read a book every other week in 2015, with an emphasis on learning about different beliefs and cultures.
Zuckerberg created a “A Year of Books” page and urged his friends to join him in the project. As of 7pm yesterday, it had 223,677 likes.
The first book in his program, Moises Naim’s “The End of Power,” available on Amazon.com, jumped from #203 to #30 in sales ranking. The book was first published in 2013.
BOOKS: Ali Smith’s ‘How to be Both’ named Costa prize novel of year
Scottish writer Ali Smith’s “How to be Both” has been named novel of the year at Britain’s Costa Book Awards.
The book, which interweaves the stories of a 15th-century artist and a modern teenager, was also a finalist for the 2014 Booker Prize.
The Costa prizes give 5,000 pounds (USD7,600) each to winners in five categories: novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children’s book. One will win the 30,000 pound Book of the Year prize on Jan. 27.
Smith is up against first novelist Emma Healey’s mystery “Elizabeth is Missing”; Helen Macdonald’s memoir “H is for Hawk”; Jonathan Edwards’ poetry collection “My Family and Other Superheroes”; and Kate Saunders’ tale for young readers “Five Children on the Western Front.”
The awards are open to writers based in Britain and Ireland.
TV: ‘Real Housewives’ star makes prison her new home
One of New Jersey’s “Real Housewives” has gone to prison.
Teresa Giudice surrendered at the Federal Correction Institution in Connecticut earlier this week to begin serving a 15-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud, her attorney said.
Giudice’s last meal before turning herself in was at a 24-hour diner near the facility, according to attorney James Leonard, who drove the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star from her home in northern New Jersey to the prison, about 90 minutes north of New York City.
Giudice and her husband, Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice, pleaded guilty last year to hiding assets from bankruptcy creditors and submitting phony loan applications to get some USD5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe Giudice also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes totaling more than $200,000.
MOVIES: Mariel Hemingway working on memoir and young adult novel
Mariel Hemingway has a lot to say about the pain of being a Hemingway.
Regan Arts announced that the actress has a memoir and young adult novel coming in April. The memoir is called “Out Came the Sun” and has the sobering subtitle “Overcoming the Legacy of Mental Illness, Addiction, and Suicide In My Family.”
As noted by the publisher, seven members of the Hemingway family have committed suicide over the past four generations, notably author Ernest Hemingway, Mariel’s grandfather.
Mariel Hemingway, known to many as Woody Allen’s young love interest in “Manhattan,” will offer “never-before-told stories” about her life and career, including experiences with “world-class” filmmakers and actors.
The novel is called “Invisible Girl” and is based on her childhood.
ENTERTAINMENT: Kevin Hart on Sony cyber-hack: ‘It’s not that serious to me’
Kevin Hart says the Sony cyberattack will not have lasting consequences on him or the entertainment industry.
The actor-comedian, who was mentioned in a disparaging way in leaked emails, says “things happen” in business, but “it has nothing to do with the entertainers.”
While promoting his Sony comedy “The Wedding Ringer”, Hart summed up the attack as “a bump in their road,” adding “it’s not that serious to me. That’s their deal.”
In one email, Sony CEO Michael Lynton called Hart a “whore” for asking for compensation for tweets.
In a separate exchange, producer Scott Rudin and Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal riffed about President Obama liking films with African American casts, including Hart.
“Ringer,” starring Hart as a best man for hire, opens Jan. 16.
COSBY SHOW: 3 new women in LA accuse Cosby of sexual assaults long ago
Three more women have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them years ago.
Attorney Gloria Allred held a news conference Wednesday in Los Angeles with the women who described unwanted encounters with the comedian between 1981 and 1996 in LA and Las Vegas.
Allred says the accusations are too old for criminal charges or lawsuits, but she reiterated her challenge that Cosby waive the statute of limitations to allow lawsuits.
More than 15 women have come forward with claims Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago. The star of the “The Cosby Show” has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations.
ADVERTISING: US brewery apologizes for using Gandhi on beer can
A brewery is apologizing to Indians offended that the company is using Mohandas Gandhi’s name and likeness on one of its beers.
New England Brewing Co. in Connecticut apologized over the weekend on its Facebook page for the India pale ale it calls Gandhi-Bot.
“Our intent is not to offend anyone but rather pay homage and celebrate a man who we respect greatly,” the company said.
Critics in the U.S. and India have complained about the commercial use of Gandhi, revered for leading India to independence through nonviolence.
Proloy K. Das, a Hartford lawyer, tweeted that Connecticut “should be ashamed to be home” to New England Brewing. MDT/AP
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