NEW YORK – Justin Bieber’s mom wants to set the record straight: She’s not interested in the political fray on abortion as she promotes “Crescendo,” a new film she hopes will raise $10 million for centers that help pregnant girls.
Pattie Mallette, an unmarried teenager herself when she had Bieber, signed on as an executive producer after the film was finished. She said Thursday that she connected personally with the story about a suicide and abortion attempt by Beethoven’s mother.
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“The press has been saying that I’m producing an anti-abortion film and taking this big stance. You know, I haven’t shared my stance with anyone and I’m not here to make a political statement, so there’s been a lot of assumptions made.”
Mallette, in numerous interviews and her autobiography, “Nowhere but Up,” has recounted her own suicide attempt, pressure to have an abortion when she became pregnant at 18 and struggles with drugs and alcohol before becoming a Christian.
The movie does include some producers who have anti-abortion beliefs, she said, but her goal is simple: to support residential programs like the one that helped her after her parents kicked her out of the house in Canada.
Mallette has had her share of mom moments of late with her only child, who at 18 is the youngest singer to have five chart-topping albums and will be both host and musical guest for Saturday’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” on NBC.
Like his Instagram photo (since deleted) of his butt crack. What ran through her head?
“I thought, I’m a mom, I don’t want to see that,” Mallette sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t want to see him doing that kind of stuff. But, you know, he’s 18. He’s making some of his own decisions and he’s going to make some mistakes and he’s going to make some good choices, too.”
Spears eyes Las Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS – After weeks of speculation, Caesars Entertainment is confirming that it’s trying to lure Britney Spears to Las Vegas for a recurring gig at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Spokeswoman Emily Wofford said Friday the company is in negotiations to install the pop princess on the Las Vegas Strip.
The 31-year-old “Scream & Shout” singer stoked residency rumors last week by responding with a “Viva Las Vegas” hashtag to a post from her dog’s Twitter account asking if puppies can gamble in Sin City.
Spears left her position on the television singing contest “The X Factor” in January, telling fans she wanted to refocus on her music.
Humanitarian causes appeal to Mira Sorvino
VIENNA – Mira Sorvino’s list of awards includes an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a host of nominations reserved for the world’s best actors and actresses. She’s had meaningful roles in more than 50 films and TV productions in a career that began two decades ago and is still going strong.
So why is she contemplating ending her acting career a few years down the line?
“I love acting, and that is my job right now,” Sorvino said Friday. At the same time, she describes her advocacy against human trafficking and modern-day slavery as “my calling,” and so important that “in a decade or so, I wouldn’t mind just switching to a career in humanitarian causes.”
Sorvino’s Oscar-winning role as a prostitute with a golden heart in Woody Allen’s “Mighty Aphrodite” might have cast the world’s oldest profession in comic light. These days, though, her fight against the sex trade and modern-day slavery has become a serious crusade off screen and on. She has served as U.N. Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking since 2009, and in her 2012 film “Trade of Innocents” — described as a “powerful, important movie” by Movieguide — she plays a woman chosen to extricate a little Cambodian girl from the grip of a prostitution ring.
While firm figures are not available, the U.S. State Department estimated in 2010 that 12.3 million people are enslaved worldwide.
– From news service reports
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