Everyone's freaking out about "planking," after an Australian kid died while attempting to lie face down on a balcony railing seven-stories up. How did a years-old meme become the hottest new deadly internet thing? It wasn't the internet's fault.

Update: The rumors are true, confirms staff blogger Jeff Bercovici. We (and others) hear a rumor that Conde Nast is folding long-suffering $100 million business magazine and object of our fascination, Portfolio.

Curious as to how Mike White (the multi-hyphenate behind films like School of Rock and Nacho Libre) ended up a contestant on The Amazing Race? White talked to Defamer about what exactly got him running.

Tales of tantrums can get exaggerated in the telling, but having now heard the audio, we can safely say Christian Bale's Terminator Salvation freakout on a DP who wandered into his shot is certifiably insane.

When we intuited that Mickey Rourke was having second thoughts about a Wrestlemania appearance that would obliterate both Chris Jericho and his Oscar hopes, we weren't far off the mark. Rourke's publicist just told us:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button grazed history last week with 13 Academy Award nominations. But could it seize Oscar legend by the throat on Feb. 22 with 13 losses? We think so!

Uh. David Paterson was going to appoint Caroline Kennedy to the Senate tomorrow, or this weekend, but now he can't, because she dropped out of the "race."

Six years ago, before John Krasinski was John Krasinski, his crazy dream of filming the story collection Brief Interviews With Hideous Men was little more than just that.

Sundance affords as many opportunities for career setbacks in 10 days as it does for meteoric advancement — not even Robert De Niro or Dakota Fanning could get out of Park City alive.

Join us as we liveblog tonight's Golden Globes, the awards ceremony that Hollywood has begun to take semi-seriously (though not seriously enough to actually air it live in the town it's designed to honor).

That "sold" sign on the Web space across the street from Defamer HQ finally came down today, with new, conservative neighbors Big Hollywood moving in at last. Let's go meet them, shall we?

Reactions to Jett Travolta's death on Friday surged forth over the weekend, with paramedics, publicists, anti-Scientology advocates and the usual exploiters lending voices to the noise. We sort through it after the jump.

The first tragedy of 2009, and an especially sad one: TMZ reports that Jett Travolta, 16, died today while on vacation with his father John and mother Kelly Preston.

Kathy Griffin isn't just a frequent subject of our fair site—she's also a Defamer reader. And so, who better for us to interview to help make sense of the crazy Hollywood year that was 2008?

The accompanying video really requires no comment beyond a statement of its simple, almost otherworldly concept: Andy Warhol interviews Steven Spielberg. On a hotel bed. Bianca Jagger looks on. And something is swallowed.

It's December 23rd. Do you know where your presents are? If you have not made your obligatory trips to the Grove or its fraternal Armenian twin The Americana at Brand, we'll save you some time.

Studios found no happy surprises beneath the Chrismukkah bush today, as snowed-in audiences opted out of Will Smith's messianic broodiness and Jim Carrey saying "yes" more times than Tara Reid at the Promises buffet line.

Australia is SO MAD at Nicole Kidman right now. And it isn't because she honored her home continent with an eponymous bomb, or even because of her proximity to Fergie's labia.

The sordid saga of wiretapping, divorce-aiding, dead-fish wielding private eye to the stars Anthony Pellicano finally ended today with his sentencing to 15 years in federal prison.

The Oscars producers—that would be the dynamic Dreamgirls duo of producer Laurence Mark and director Bill Condon—opted not to go with our suggestions of Mickey Rooney or Korean singing sensation Dong as emcee.