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The Word: Matthew McConaughey picks a side in the Redskins debate – Metro US

The Word: Matthew McConaughey picks a side in the Redskins debate

Oh, Matthew McConaughey. Sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut. As a lifelong fan of the Washington Redskins, the “Interstellar” star hopes that all the hubbub about the team’s name and emblem being insensitive and maybe needing to change will just blow over. “I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me a little fire and some oomph. But now that’s in the court of public opinion, it’s going to change. I wish it wouldn’t, but it will,” he tells GQ. But what really bothers him? The trendiness of it all. “What interests me is how quickly it got pushed into the social consciousness. We were fine with it since the 1930s, and all of a sudden we go, ‘No, gotta change it’? It seems like when the levee breaks, everybody gets on board,” he says. I could list some other things “we” were fine with since the 1930s that eventually needed to be changed, but I don’t think it would sink in.

McConaughey then goes on to employ the ever-popular “some of my best friends” defense, adding, “I know a lot of Native Americans don’t have a problem with it, but they’re not going to say, ‘No, we really want the name.’ That’s not how they’re going to use their pulpit.” And, to cap it all off, he pulls in a wonderful little switcheroo and starts talking about the second amendment. “It’s like my feeling about gun control: I get it. You have the right to have guns. But look, let’s forget that right. Let’s forget the pleasure you get safely on your range, because it’s in the wrong hands in other places.” Dear lord, I hope this isn’t a subtle signal that he’s going to go into politics at some point. But, go Redskins? I guess?

You’re going to find this very hard to believe, but Keira Knightley insists she couldn’t find a guy to take her to the prom. First of all, they have proms in the U.K., too? And Second of all, are you kidding me, young British teenagers 10 years ago? What’s wrong with you. So instead, Knightley ended up going with a female pal. “Neither of us got invited by anybody else. No guys came anywhere near us,” Knightley says. “But she [wore] black tie because it was black tie.” Well, at least someone treated her like a lady.

Speaking of being a lady, Knightley will be making her Broadway debutnext year in a production of Emile Zola’s “Thérèse Raquin” for the Roundabout Theater Co.’s 50th anniversary season. She’s no stranger to the stage, though, having appeared in a number of West End productions previously. But still, Broadway!

Somebody clearly watched a lot of the “Every Simpsons Ever” marathon on FXX in August. Actor Frank Sivero is miffed at the long-running cartoon for ripping off his “Goodfellas” character, Frankie Carbone, for one of its animated mob henchman, and he’s suing Fox for $250 million, according to Deadline. To break that down, that’s $50 million for the loss of his likeness, $50 million “improper appropriation” of his “confidential idea” and $100 million for “improper interference,” plus an additional $50 million in damages because why the hell stop there? Not sure what’s taken him so long, but Sivero also asserts that “Simpsons” producer James L. Brooks promised him future work with the series and a movie deal. Sure he did.

Why can’t we get this kind of lineup on the “Top Chef” judging panel? The Bravo series’ host, Padma Lakshmi, took a break from critiquing cooks to pass judgment on some rather fierce competitors at the Turn It Up For Change Ball in NYC this week, an HRC benefit where drag queens, vogue dancers and all sorts of fabulousness worked the runway. Her other judges included drag legend Lady Bunny, Jennifer Hudson, ubiquitous socialite wunderkind Peter Brant Jr. and Courtney Love. And you know, when you say list them all together like that, it sounds like a Stefon routine or something out of one of Drew Droege’s “Chloe Sevigny” videos. Speaking of, how was Ms. Sevigny not a part of this?

Here’s a little fresh Internet to brighten your day: Funny or Die has a new episode of Zach Galifianakis’ cringe-inducing faux-talk show, “Between Two Ferns,” this time featuring “Fury” star Brad Pitt. “You play a lot of people that are Nazi-haters, which is weird to me,” Galifianakis tells Pitt (identified on-screen as “Bart Pit” from “12 Years a Salve”). “Because you look like Hitler’s dream.” Other moments of wonderful awkwardness include Galifianakis gifting Pitt a bong, asking him if it’s hard to maintain a suntan while living in Angelina Jolie’s shadow and introducing Louis C.K. mid-interview to do a little stand-up. But it’s his last question — which prompts quite a response from Pitt — that steals it.

Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter:@nedrick