We may be about the enter the “born again” phase of Justin Bieber’s career — which, honestly, I didn’t think was going to arrive at least until he turned 23. Canada’s goodwill ambassador has reportedly been devoting his time to celebrity pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church. And by “devoting,” I mean he “exiled himself from friends, alcohol, weed and everything else that doesn’t involve the good Lord” for two weeks at Lentz’s Rancho Mirage compound near Palm Springs, at least according to TMZ. Hillsong, by the way, allegedly practices tithing, requiring members to donate 10 percent of their income to the church. Not that I wish ill on the kid — really, I don’t! — but I’d rather the hard-partying pop star with a Napoleon complex not go all Kirk Cameron on us. Come back to the bong, Bieber. All will be forgiven. Chris Hemsworth is officially People magazine’s new Sexiest Man Alive, and unfortunately it looks like the “Thor” star plans on using his newfound powers for evil, not good. “I’ll put it on the mantelpiece just to remind [my wife] in the the coming years,” he tells the magazine about how he plans to use the accolade. “I can just say to her, ‘Now remember, this is what the people think, so I don’t need to do the dishes anymore, I don’t need to change [diapers]. I’m above that. I’ve made it now.” I’d rethink that strategy if were you, buddy.
Dating Robert Pattinson has earned FKA Twigs a lot more negative attention online than she’d anticipated, but she swears being bullied by “14-year-old kids that should be in bed” is totally worth it. “Vacuous attention, it feels disgusting. It’s like a hangover. It’s weird,” she tells USA Today. “I know that’s not really because of me or what I’m doing, [but] the positivity that I get from [my relationship] makes the more challenging aspects … very worth it.” If you say so.
It might not break the Internet, but Ellen DeGeneres is looking to at least break her friends’ mantels this Christmas, thanks to her latest attempt at a pop culture holiday card. The gag greeting, unveiled on her talk show, features DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi Photoshopped onto Kim Kardashian’s body from, you know, that photo. DeGeneres and de Rossi have previously used Kardashian as a holiday foil, making a card that spoofed Kanye West’s nude motorcycle riding in the “Bound 2” video. Anyway, now they’re wishing you a shiny New Year, so there you go. Speaking of Kim Kardashian, remember when she and Kanye West were on the cover of Vogue earlier this year? And it didn’t really do much for sales, as it turned out? Anna Wintour, as it turns out, is and was a bit conflicted about the whole thing. “Now and again one has to do things like that,” she told CNN’s Alina Cho during a chat at the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently. “I think if we just remain deeply tasteful and just put deeply tasteful people on the cover, it would be a rather boring magazine. Nobody would talk about us.” But shouldn’t you also be concerned with what it is they’re saying about you? “Frozen” and “Veronica Mars” star Kristen Bell has teamed up with a cappella group Straight No Chaser for the new instant holiday classic we all deserve, “Text Me Merry Christmas.” The ridiculously catching tune addresses our growing dependence on mobile technology in place of good old fashioned personal communication, but it’s also kind of sweet. Could’ve done without the a cappella, though, honestly. Still, ’tis the season! Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter: @nedrick
