Welcome to the March 19, 2015 edition of Outrage Watch, HitFix's (almost) daily rundown of all the things folks are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story: Ellen DeGeneres is on board with Elton John's Dolce and Gabbana boycott while Zoe Saldana…isn't, apparently.
“No! Not at all,” she told E! News on the GLAAD Awards red carpet when asked if she would be boycotting the designers after the two came out against gay adoption and in vitro fertilization in an interview with Italian magazine Panorama. “That would be the stupidest thing if it affected my fashion choice…People are allowed to their own opinion, however, I wouldn't have chosen to be so public about something that's such a personal thing.”
The “Avatar” actress added later: “Obviously it caused some sensitivity, but then again if you continue to follow the news, you see they all kinda hugged it out, so why are we making a big deal about it?”
And to The Wrap: “Why are we still talking about it?”
“An *eyeroll* is really as much energy as I have left for Zoe Saldana,” wrote one Twitter user.
“Zoe Saldana Won't Boycott Dolce & Gabbana, is Super Casual About Hate,” snarks Jezebel writer Collier Meyerson.
DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi, meanwhile, can be counted among the celebs who will be boycotting D&G. As DeGeneres told Extra on the GLAAD red carpet: “I would say the word ignorant, you know this isn”t just about gay couples, it”s a lot of people who are trying to have children. There are a lot of people who use a surrogate and their partner can”t have a baby for one reason or another. It”s unbelievable that somebody would be that ignorant, and why now?”
And to E!: “I'll never wear their clothes ever, ever again.”
Want more? There's plenty of indignation to go around. See below for a full roundup of today's kerfuffles.
Outraged: Kevin Hart
Target: Comedians Mike Epps and Aries Spears
Why: After Epps and Spears publicly gave Hart flak for, among other things, being more of a good salesman than a great comedian (Epps actually likened him to Kim Kardashian) and relying on his team of writers to make him famous, Hart hit back at the comments during an interview on SiriusXM's Sway in the Morning.
“Do we see the level of ignorance we”re dealing with right now?” Hart said on the program. He added later of his social media following: Who is your best promoter other than you? So when you say Kevin Hart”s a great marketer, am I not supposed to be? I”m not supposed to put myself in a powerful position so studios gotta leverage relationships and deals with me to step into a brand that I”ve built? 50-plus million people? That”s mine!”
[The Wrap]
Outraged: Stephen King
Target: After Maine's Republican governor Paul LePage accused the bestselling author of not paying incoming taxes in Maine, King responded with an angry tweet asking LePage to “man up and apologize” while also confirming with the Portland Press Herald that he and his wife did, in fact, pay roughly $1.4 million in state taxes in 2013 and 2014, in addition to the $3 million to $5 million they donated to Maine charities annually.
As of Sunday LePage still hadn't apologized, prompting King to tweet the following:
No apology from Governor LePage. Some guys are a lot better at dishing it out than taking it back.
– Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 22, 2015
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A politician not apologizing? Impossible.
Outraged: Sarah Johnson, investor and daughter of San Francisco Giants owner Charles B. Johnson
Target: Worldview Entertainment
Why: Johnson is seeking $70 million in a lawsuit filed against partially-dismantled film financier Worldview Entertainment over the “nearly $25 million” she invested in the company in 2011. Among other claims, Johnson is charging co-founder Maria Cestone, former CEO Christopher Woodrow, COO Molly Connors and former CFO Hoyt David Morgan of “fraudulently inducing Plaintiff to invest millions of dollars…[and] engag[ing] in gross mismanagement and breaches of fiduciary duty” and “shameless dereliction of duty” in running the company. Johnson is also asking for $50 million in “punitive damages” and attorney's fees.
[Deadline]