9 Weird Things Celebrities Have Been Doing

1. Taylor Swift invites 90 strangers to a pizza party at her NYC apartment That’s right…Taylor Swift, the American Pop Country singer/songwriter hosted a pizza party for 90 hand-picked fans. This celebration followed her live-stream announcement of her new album, 1989, and the debut of her hit music video “Shake it Off.”

DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/LP5/GETTY IMAGES FOR TAS

2. Kimye Dolls for North As if naming your daughter after a compass reading isn’t weird enough, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West gave their daughter dolls to match the celebrity couple’s appearances according to Khloe Kardashian’s Instagram feed.

Credit: Khloe Kardashian

3. Miley Cyrus at the VMAs Miley’s scandalous performance at the VMAs in 2013 is old news. This year, she rocked an edgy-chic look and kept it on throughout the night. But her date, who accepted her award, was a homeless man who spoke about “My Friend’s Place” in Los Angeles, accepted Miley’s award, and later turned himself in in his hometown of Salem, Oregon for violating his probation several times.

Christopher Polk/MTV1415

4. “I’m not famous anymore” Shia LaBeouf wore a paper bag to the premiere of his film “Nymphomaniac” in Berlin on February 9th in response to being caught plagiarizing parts of his short film Howard Cantour from Daniel Clowes‘ 2007 novel Justin M. Damiano. After apologizing, LaBeouf announced his retirement from the industry. 5. Lil Kim‘s new face Lil Kim’s purple pasty appearance at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards was shocking back then, but the rapper’s appearance then and now is even more alarming. Comparing her face from her stardom days to her mommy days will raise an eyebrow…or her face.

1999 and 2014

6. Taylor Swift makes fun of herself Swift’s new hit single “Shake it Off” is a great way to motivate girls to disregard what other people think of them. It is good to know that not every popular song today has to be about sex, love, money, and drugs. Weird.

Credit: Big Machine Records

7. Crowdfunding to keep Nickelback OUT of London The Alternative Press reported that a campaign has been launched by Craig Mandall, an avid Nickelback hater, to keep the band from performing in London. This has taken crowd funding to the next (weird) level. 8. Kim Kardashian allegedly forgets her baby The evidence would suggest that this is true, but it is not confirmed. From the video footage, it looks like Kim expected Baby North to find her way out of the hotel on her own. Weird, a 1-year-old can’t make her way out of a Parisian hotel and into a luxury bus?

Credit: Splash News

9. James Franco and Seth Rogan naked in the wilderness Were the two best friends really trying to survive or was it a spoof on the new reality TV show “Naked and Afraid?” Either way, the Instagram coverage took it a little too far.

Credit: @jamesfrancotv

Wal-Mart Points Finger at Victim

Tracy Morgan
Andrew H. Walker/Getty

On June 7th, 2014, Tracy Morgan was involved in a dangerous motor vehicle accident when his luxury van was overturned by a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike. The collision killed James McNair and injured comic, Ardie Fuqua, and Morgan’s assistant, Jeffrey Millea. Morgan’s sustained rib, leg, and brain injuries that he is still in rehabilitation for after almost four months. The car crash was a result of an allegedly fatigued driver who, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board, was going 65 mph in a 45 mph work zone and slammed into Morgan’s limo bus.

Prosecutors have charged Kevin Roper, the truck driver, with vehicular homicide and claimed that he had not slept in 24 hours prior to the accident. Wal-mart pleaded, “not guilty” to the allegations and their lawyers responded with the following:

“By failing to exercise ordinary care in making use of available seatbelts, upon information and belief, plaintiffs acted unreasonably and in disregard of plaintiffs’ own best interests. Accordingly, all or a portion of the injuries could have been diminished or minimized by the exercise of reasonable conduct in using the available seatbelts.”

In response, Benedict Morelli, a lawyer representing Morgan, stated, “When a tractor-trailer hits your vehicle, at a dead stop, at 65 miles an hour, seatbelts have nothing to do with it.”

Morgan is still undergoing treatment for injuries to his brain, including daily speech, cognitive, vocational and physical therapies according to a Daily Mail article. In response to the retail giant’s claim to share the blame, Morgan stated, “I can’t believe Wal-Mart is blaming me for an accident that they caused. My friends and I were doing nothing wrong.”

‘Electric Lady’ loses spark at the end of her performance

David Malkiewich displays a dollar bill he got signed by Matt and Kim at Hofstra University’s Fall Fest. Photo Credit: David Malkiewich

Saturday, September 20th was Hofstra University‘s annual Fall Fest celebration. Each year, famous artists are hired put on a show for students and their families as a part of the university’s homecoming weekend. Performers at this year’s concert included Matt and Kim, TLC, 80’s cover band Rubix Kube, and headliner, Janelle Monae. Every year, Hofstra encourages students to enter their name in a lottery to win meet-and-greet opportunities with the performers. This gives students a chance to speak with the artist briefly and get their photos taken with the artist by a professional photographer. I won the opportunity to meet the headline act, Janelle Monae; and senior, David Malkiewich, won the chance to meet Matt and Kim; however, the two experiences had little to nothing in common.

Janelle Monae’s performance was impeccable. She did a cover of Jackson 5 in addition to many of her own songs including one of her hits, Electric Lady. She was engaging, talented, inspiring, emotional, and a very genuine person. I was moved by her…I was not a fan before the concert because I was not familiar with her music, but after watching her perform, I knew she would be an artist I’d listen to and support in the future. With every song she belted and every word she preached to the audience, I was more and more excited to meet this astonishing woman.

At 7:50 pm, right before the end of Janelle Monae’s performance, students who won the meet-and-greet were told to check-in at a specific location. We were led to a tent behind the stage when Janelle was finished with her set to take photos. Everyone was raving about her performance while we anxiously waited to meet her. The woman escorting the group informed us that Janelle Monae wanted to take photos with students two-at-a-time so we paired up with complete strangers to share this rare experience.

We stood in line in the backstage tent and after a few minutes Monae walked through the door, halfheartedly shook hands with the first two students, struck a pose, and dismissed them with spiritless goodbyes. I was next and her lackluster demeanor made the encounter meaningless. It was like posing with a statue in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. I left disappointed alongside my partner for the photo. I could not believe that such an exquisite performer would be such a disappointing representation of herself backstage with so many eyes watching. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect Monae, a well-paid performer and advocate for social change, to have the same spark and charm backstage as she displays in her performances.

After my experience, I was curious to find out what other students felt like during their encounters.

“Matt and Kim onstage was the exact same Matt and Kim offstage. They love what they do, and they don’t let it get to their heads. They give back to fans tenfold what fans have given to them,” said David Malkiewich, student at Hofstra University and winner of the meet-and-greet experience with Matt and Kim, “After meeting them, I will support them exponentially until the day I die.”

What may seem like such a minimal event for performers such as Janelle Monae or Matt and Kim, can make a huge impact in the eyes of a fan.