Forbes Announces World’s 100 Most Powerful Celebrities – 2011 Edition

Forbes is known for having its own unique type of clout and power.

They rank not only celebrities, but also powerful business and political figures on their respective top lists.

But this week their focus was on celebrities.

The Celebrity 100, which includes actors, Television personalities, models, athletes, authors, musicians and comedians, is a measure of showbiz related income and media visibility over the last twelve months.

Forbes also measures social media power by looking at each celebrity's presence on Facebook and Twitter. The criteria for being included on the list do NOT fall solely on money.

Today they released their “World’s 100 Most Powerful Celebrity” list and the results… well, aren’t as surprising as you might think - at least for the top 10.

But how powerful are the top 100? The combined earning power of celebs on this elite list tops $4.5 billion in earnings from record sales, concert tours, movies, endorsements, advertising, product sales, playing sports, and modeling.

Lady Gaga came in at #1 with $90 million in earnings and bumped Oprah Winfrey into the #2 spot. But don’t feel bad for Winfrey – she made over $250 million the last 12 months.

Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber came in #3 earning well over $50 million over the last twelve months and an estimated $150 million over the last three years. Bieber’s command of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pushed him onto the list for the first time in the 17-year-old’s career.

U2 came in as #4. The Bono centric band is well known for their worldwide social awareness and charity work. Singer and AIDS activist Sir Elton John came in #5.

A summary of the top 10 spots is below and you can see the entire list on the Forbes web site.

1 – Lady Gaga - $90 M
2 – Oprah Winfrey - $250 M
3 – Justin Bieber - $53 M
4 – U2 - $195 M
5 – Sir Elton John - $100 M
6 – Tiger Woods - $75 M
7 – Taylor Swift - $45 M
8 – Bon Jovi - $135 M
9 – Simon Cowell - $90
10 – LeBron James - $48 m

A complete list can be seen on the Forbes site here.

There were a few surprises this year including Glenn Beck, Adam Sandler, and Jay Leno. I guess we don’t see exactly how they are among the most powerful, but who are we to argue with Forbes?

And Donald Trump made the list but Charlie Sheen didn’t. Go figure.

It seems the farther down the list you go things become a bit more of a popularity contest, but we congratulate all of them for their efforts and input into the industry.

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InfoStar’s Office Closed May 21 For The End of The World

To whom it may concern,

InfoStar would like to alert our readers that on May 21st, 2011, our offices will be closed.

We will also not be blogging or Tweeting that day because Harold Camping, the founder of the Christian broadcasting ministry Family Radio has informed us that the end of the world will be arriving.

Although we have been told this doomsday event will not arrive until 6:00 P.M. we feel it only humane to give our employees time to prepare for the approaching rapture.

Our management, staff, and editors regret any inconvenience this may have on our readers and twitter followers, but feel these steps are necessary to prevent eternal damnation or injury from burning Hell fire and falling brimstone.

Also, in the event that Camping is using Pacific Coast Time instead of Central, or Eastern Time, we feel by closing for the entire day we will eliminate any confusion or miscalculations of the upcoming judgement day.

Employees are required to remove ALL food items from the refrigerator in the break room, and take all personal items worth more than $100 from their cubicle in case there is vandalism or looting.

Our offices will reopen on Monday, May 23rd at our usual time.

Thank you,

InfoStar Management

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Video - Bill O'Reilly vs. Jon Stewart – Who Do You Think Won?

Last night we got to witness two American icons going head to head.

This has only happened one other time in cable television history.

Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”, and poppa bear Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox’s “O’Reilly Factor”, faced of last night to discuss the invitation of rapper Common as a White House Guest.

Stewart accused Bill, and Fox News Channel, of creating a controversy for ratings, and O’Reilly… well, we’re not sure what Bill was trying to argue.

When O’Reilly actually let Stewart speak, there was enough hypocrisy to go around for everyone.

So, instead of giving you a blow by blow we’ll just let you watch the video and form your own opinion.

Personal Note:

InfoStar’s only bias is….. wait for it…… We hate Bill O’Reilly and the entire family at Fox News – other than that we feel we can be fair and balanced.

Watch Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly Interview about Common




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Survivor “Redemption Island” Winner – Rob Mariano - Video

It took him four attempts to finally win the Survivor crown.

He has spent over 115 days playing the game.

And last night Boston Rob Mariano finally smelled the sweet taste of victory on Survivor Redemption Island.

In what host Jeff Probst called the closest thing to a perfect game he’d ever seen, Boston Rob took home the $1 million dollar prize.

On top of that, he also won Sprint’s $100,000 award for best player selected by fans voting online. Not bad for the 35-year-old who married another Survivor winner - Amber.

In the end it came down to Rob and crazy Phillip Sheppard the “Special Agent” with Rob getting all but one vote for the win. He told Jeff Probst,

"You don't know for sure until the votes are read, but I had a pretty good feeling. I played my heart out. I love this game, but you've got to get lucky along the way, too. I know what it takes. It's really, really difficult. I'm really, really happy things happened the way they did this time."

And for anyone who watched Survivor this season, we got to see the new redemption island concept. It was a nice twist but it seemed that at one point there were more contestants on Redemption Island than there were back at camp. All-in-all it was a great season with a great cast.

The best part for us was watching veteran Russell Hantz voted off early and watching him cry. The second best moment was watching Phillip finally burn his pink underwear in the fire.

Related: Russell Hantz Voted off Survivor – Cries
Related: Survivor Russell Hantz Arrested

We really have come to hate Russell and hope he never appears on the show again.

What’s in store for next season?

Much of the same, as a new cast of 16 contestants meet in the South Pacific. Redemption Island will be back, and it looks like once again there will be two special guests join the teams. The show will begin airing this fall.

Watch the Survivor Winner Being Announced


Watch Phillip Burn his sagging pink underwear


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InfoStar’s Top 10 Influential Gay Celebrities - 2011 Edition

Wow, has it already been three years since we posted our original top 10 gay Hollywood list?

There have been a few notable newcomers over the last three years so we decided to update our list for 2011. The big change this year is we combined male and female into one category.

We are not haters. We applaud and appreciate these individuals for their efforts and courage to be who they are and do what they do. We should ALL appreciate them for helping to break down the barriers of ignorance and prejudice.

Regardless of how their names got here, these folks are some of Hollywood's most famous and influential talents, and have contributed to some of the greatest works in television, movies, Broadway, internet, social media, and overall charity, advocacy, activism, and awareness.

This list is intended to highlight those celebrities that have moved beyond the social stigmas and actually HELP to break down the stereotypes and ease intolerance.

Ellen DeGeneres
Came out in real life in 1997, and at the time, her relationship with actress Anne Heche made them a hot "celebrity" lesbian couple until their split in August 2000. Ellen is now married to Portia de Rossi and they both are tireless supporters of gay rights and awareness. Ellen frequently uses her show to highlight issues dealing with gay youth and teen suicide.

Elton John
Elton has been a staunch supporter of gay rights for decades. His “Elton John Aids Foundation” has raised millions of dollars for research and education. He helped bring awareness to the HIV epidemic 20 years ago when young Ryan White died from AIDS after a blood transfusion. He married David Furnish in 2005 and their son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born in December 2010 in California via a surrogate.

Chris Colfer
His role on Glee was one of the first for an openly gay actor playing a gay teenage student in a network series. Chris is proud of his sexual orientation and works hard to generate awareness for gay and lesbian rights through his charity work as well as draw attention to the bullying problem in this culture.

Jane Lynch
While her character on Glee is not portrayed as gay, in real life she is married to Dr. Lara Embry in 2010 and is an advocate for several gay and lesbian awareness groups and charities.

Neil Patrick Harris
Doogie Howser grew up to star in “How I met your mother” and is openly gay even though his character is a ladies man. Harris is married to David Burtka and they have twins via a surrogate mother. He was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2010.

George Takei
Played Enterprise helmsman Sulu in the original 'Star Trek' television series and several "Trek" movies, came out in 2005 at the age 68. He married his gay partner, Brad Altman, in September 2008 in California. George has been an advocate for gay marriage laws throughout the country and is currently a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign "Coming out Project”.

Rosie O'Donnell
When President Bush first proposed a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2004, the comedian and TV host immediately flew to San Francisco and married her long-time partner Kelli Carpenter. Rosie has worked to change laws to allow gay couples to adopt children, and created “Rosie's For All Kids Foundation”. She also created the LGBT family vacation company “R Family Vacations”.

Portia de Rossi
Starred in "Ally McBeal", "Nip/Tuck" and "Arrested Development". She came out in 2005 and is now married to Ellen DeGeneres. In 2010 she wrote a book about her life and battle with depression. She is a supporter of Family Health International, Locks of Love, and The Art of Elysium.

David Hyde Pierce
Played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the sitcom Frasier and has appeared numerous times on Broadway. Came out in 2007 and admitted a relationship with longtime friend Brian Hargrove. Publicly thanked Brian for his 24 years of support during a Tony Award acceptance speech. The couple married in May 2008. Pierce has been a major supporter of “Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS” and the Doe Fund, and was vocal during California’s Proposition 8 election process.

Sir Ian McKellen
Came out publically when he was 49 while lobbying against the U.K.’s “Section 28” that would have cut off education and assistance for gay and lesbian youth. McKellen is a co-founder of “Stonewall”, a LGB rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, and is Patron of LGBT History Month, Pride London, GAY-GLOS, and The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, and FFLAG.

Runners Up

Adam Lambert
Was runner up on season 8 of American idol and showed America that is was ok to be gay and flamboyant if you had the courage to be yourself. Since Idol, Lambert has gone on to be a much more successful musician and celebrity then the actual Idol winner. Can you remember the winner’s name? Can you name one of his songs?

Perez Hilton
An openly gay and flamboyant gossip blogger, TV personality, and founder of PerezHilton.com who stirred controversy during a Miss USA telecast that led to a national discussion about gay marriage. Known early on for his sometimes hurtful doodles he scrawled over pictures, and for outing celebrities, people either love him or hate him (most celebrities hate him), but the infamous blogger has forced a national dialog on many aspects of gay Hollywood.

We know there are many names that could have been on this list, but we wanted to highlight those we felt have added constructive ideas to our world and created an opportunity for national discussion on important issues.

Remember -

It’s better to be out then in, it’s better to love then to hate, it’s better to try then to do nothing, and it’s better to do something rather than stand by and watch.

Thank you all for your hard work, dedication, and courage to be who you are.

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Hellz Bellz X Mata Hari: S/S 2011

Expanding Hellz Bellz, Lanie has teamed up with Mata Hari to create a luxury limited edition hand bag. The collection consist of three hand bags and a clutch made from high quality leather and stainless steel cone studs.

Justin Bieber Scores MVP at the NBA All-Star 2011 Game – Video

If you know anything about Justin Bieber, you know he loves to play basketball.

Bieber did not disappoint at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game last night.

The Biebs worked his rival Scottie Pippen with some amazing moves, including one three pointer that made him look like a pro.

Bieber's celeb teammates included Ty Burrell, Zac Levi, singer Trey Songz, rapper Romeo Miller, Jason Alexander, and Rob Kardashian.

Among other former NBA stars on the West team were Jalen Rose, A.C. Green, Rick Fox, Swin Cash. The West was coached by Magic Johnson and managed by Jimmy Kimmel.

Bieber scored 9 points, 3 rebounds and had 4 assists and impressed the staff enough to win the nights MVP Award.

Who knew the kid had that much game?

Bieber had just landed in L.A. after a thirteen hour flight back from his movie premier for “Never Say Never” in France and had just two hours to get ready for the game.

Justin Bieber Cover and Interview for Rolling Stone

Justin Bieber is everywhere these days. Now out with a hit movie “Never Say Never 3D” and ready to jet to Europe for his international concert tour leg, he still found the time to cover for Rolling Stone.

The cover picture is classic Rolling Stone and Bieber’s interview with Vanessa Grigoriadis is own of the more interesting.

It starts with Bieber driving Grigoriadis around Atlanta in his Land Rover while talking about his movie, concert tour, sex, dating, puberty and life in general.

The big news for Justin’s millions of fans is that at one point he opened his laptop to reveal a background image of him and Selena Gomez on the beach – when he realized the interviewer could see it he quickly closed it.

Another high point is Bieber railing on the United States health care system and current political landscape. This does not seem to be that adorable little boy sitting on his stool playing guitar anymore, but rather the making of a new mature image – the Land Rover helps.

Look for the digital version and print copy out on February 18th. There is also a short video of Justin doing his photo shoot. Check it out at Rolling Stone Bieber 2011.

If this is any indication…

No, am not really superstitious but don’t they generally say well begun is half done?!?

Now, not that I have an ambitious list of new year resolutions – mine remains little changed year on year (and here it is for posterity) – but I’d rather have the “firsts” of the new year spent well as a good omen for times to come…However, how do I deny destiny its self-assumed right to come in my way :D?

So here is the list of things already gone wrong in 2011:

• My first meal of 2011 consisted of a comforting quantity of chocolate – snickers to be precise! Cutting down on carbs and staying in shape has been my resolution every year since teenage! Alas!

• I decided to cook for hubby and myself on the first day of the year. If that does not sound disastrous enough…I burnt the pressure cooker so badly. The only positive I see in this is I was able to do some damage control and most of the biryani could be salvaged from total burn down – and I learnt a new kitchen tip – soaking the burnt cooker in baking soda and hot water overnight removes the black residue completely!

• Containing avarice could have been on my wish list had I not gone shopping on the very first weekend and reduced my bank balance by a considerable margin.

• Let’s come to the first working day for the year – I reach office late because the PM decides to travel the same route as mine around the same time as I do.
• As if reaching office late on a day I wanted to leave early is not reason enough to make me feel guilty, I have to approach my manager for 3 days’ leave this week!
• And did I mention that I forgot my ID card at home today!

Phew! Compare this to the rather placid new year beginnings I have had in the previous years. I wonder what kind of a roller coaster 2011 is going to be!

Leaving with you a new year greeting that has remained very close to my heart...

“How beautiful the turning of the year!

A moment artificial yet profound:

Point upon an arbitrary chart

Passing like a breath upon the heart,

Yearning with anticipation wound,

New hope new harbored in old-fashioned cheer.

Even when the boundary line is clear,

We recognize the oneness of the ground.

Years, like circles, do not end or start

Except we lay across their truth our art,

Adjusting dates as they go round and round

Revolving to a tune long sung and dear.”

Happy New Year folks!