Former publicist says stars are doing more acting than you think
How fake are celebrities? You never know, but former publicist Rob Shuter just unloaded gossip about Taylor Swift and Planet Hollywood star Jennifer Lopez.
Shuter worked in PR for Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Diddy and Alicia Keys. Now a gossip writer, he spilled the beans on New York magazine’s “Sex Lives” show.
No. 1 revelation: Paparazzi photos of celebrities are routinely set up. Here’s how it happens.
“I will call (a chosen photographer) and say, ‘At noon tomorrow, (the star) will be in Central Park. Go through the entrance at 74th Street. She won’t look at you. Be in the bush,” Shuter says.
Then the star appears at the predesignated location in full hair and makeup, with the publicist on hand to advise them like this: “You’re gonna walk to that bench, and if you look to the left in that bush, there is a photographer — don’t look!’”
Photographers earn money from those staged shoots — but they have to split it with stars they are in league with.
How much money is on the table? Simpson’s dad once earned as much as $20,000 per photo by shooting and selling pictures of his daughter in a bikini, Shuter says.
He claims Swift is so controlling about which photographers take supposedly private photos of her that the singer’s people ruin photos of competing paparazzi by holding up flashlights and sun-glinting mirrors to block their lenses.
Staged shots serve purposes. When J-Lo was filming “Made in Manhattan,” she and co-star Ralph Fiennes “hated each other,” but they lunched publicly in front of the paparazzi, Shuter says.
Other Shuter insights:
• You can tell which nude celebrity photos are staged, because the pictures appear flawless, and there are only a few of them released publicly.
Shuter says there were only a few full nude Justin Bieber pictures leaked, and his body looked “fluffed” — a contrast to Orlando Bloom’s nude photos, which came out by the score and Bloom appeared unprepared.
• Stars still date models by picking them out of model books, much like regular people use Tinder or Grindr.
• And Swift (who just had a breakup with Tom Huddleston) seems attracted to guys in her shadow.
“She’s gonna find somebody who does what they’re told,” Shuter believes.
TV NEWLYWEDS DID VEGAS
Newlyweds Kym Johnson and Robert Herjavec (ex-“Dancing with the Stars” dancers) hopped onstage at The Venetian’s “Human Nature: Jukebox” to do the twist and the whip/nae nae.
BRITNEY’S FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Britney Spears stargazers have a new place to seek their icon: Sushisamba in the Palazzo.
“The owner knows me very well, and the service is really quick, and he knows what I like, and he’s perfection,” the Planet Hollywood headliner said in a Q&A video for fans, announcing her favorite restaurant.
By the way, I was wrong about something the other day.
After seeing Spears on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” I wrote Spears should choose between appearing prudish or profane, instead of straddling both.
But Spears has made quite the iconic career for herself, balancing public sexuality within boundaries.
More to the point, the late, influential therapist Albert Ellis always advised people to stop “shoulding” on themselves and others.
I’m sorry I “shoulded” you, Spears. Just because I wish a thing doesn’t mean you “should.”
Note: No one asked me to apologize or take back what I said. It legitimately eats at me I “shoulded” somebody. Haste makes waste.
FYI: The R-J’s Mike Weatherford returned to Spears’ show for a “B-” review and gave his opinion why it’s still around, writing, it’s “not so much something you watch as something you share” on social media.
SIGHTINGS
Singer Ashanti ate sea bass, snapper and chicken at Tao restaurant in The Venetian Tuesday night.
MGM comedy club owner Brad Garrett partied with comrades Tuesday night at Topgolf ultra-range, sharing sliders, margarita flatbread, crispy rock shrimp and Johnnie Walker Black.
Doug Elfman can be reached at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman. On Twitter: @VegasAnonymous
