ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

May 1st 2008

Leona Lewis Designs A Vegan Fashion Line

Filed under: green and famous — parrish @ 3:29 pm

Looks like someone is giving Natalie Portman a run for her money!!!

The word on the street (and by street I mean web) is that pop star Leona Lewis is in negotiations to launch her very own vegan fashion line. Leona has been an animal rights supporter for years and hopes her fashion line will give fellow vegans more options!

A source tells British magazine Hello, “She’s always adored animals since she was a little girl and has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. The reason she doesn’t wear diamonds is because she doesn’t know how they have been sourced. It was for this reason that she is determined to set up her own ethical fashion range and sell the goods at high street prices.”

Well coming from a chick who keeps a vegetarian lifestyle, wears no leather and is worried about how diamonds are sourced, I trust that her line will not only be sensitive to the animals, but sensitive to the earth as well. Sounds to me like there’s just one question remaining – Leona, will you marry me?

thanks: trendmill.com

April 30th 2008

Will Carrie Underwood Go Vegan?

Filed under: animals, food & drink, green and famous, healthy living, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 9:54 am

Vegans everywhere might just have themselves a reason to say YEE-HAW!!

Singer Carrie Underwood– whom Ecorazzi has continuously praised for her vegetarianism and charitable nature – recently made comments about her desire to give up dairy. Is Carrie trying to make the vegan plunge?

Underwood confessed her “inability” to give up the misfit food group, stating, “Cheese is ruining my life! I’m trying to talk myself into being lactose-intolerant. I mean, it’s basically moldy milk, and it doesn’t smell that great. But it’s so good! Oh, jeez, I’m thinking about it now.”

Now I know she’d have to give up a little more than just cheese to be a true vegan, but every little step counts, right?  Perhaps Carrie will soon be getting her vegan card and joinging the likes of Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman and Alicia Silverstone. Only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Ps. If you’re fighting the cheese blues, read Marilu Henner’s Total Health Makeover. I haven’t eaten dairy since. No joke!

via: starpulse.com

April 1st 2008

Natalie Portman Goes On The Atkins Diet

Filed under: animals, not green — parrish @ 8:56 am

In a shocking turn of events, long-time vegetarian and recent vegan Natalie Portman has given up Tofurkey and gone back to the real stuff.

Earlier this week, on a popular late night talk show, Natalie announced that she’s “through with all this stupid vegetarian stuff”, explaining, “I just woke up one morning really craving red meat.”  A few days later she had made the switch and was even photographed in a popular West Hollywood burger joint wearing an “Atkins Addict” t-shirt. When asked if her shirt was a joke, Portman snapped back, “Nothing Dr. Atkins has ever done is a joke. He and I both strongly believe that a protein-rich, high fat diet is the key to good health.”

Fellow actor and vegan mentor Tobey Maguire could not be reached for comment, but friends close to the actor say that he is “inconsolable” and “barely able to get out of bed.”

No word yet on if Natalie will endorse any of the Atkins bars or food products, but a representative for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said, “Natalie has graciously apologized for her years of low protein induced bad decision making and has even offered to speak at one of our conventions in Fort Worth, Texas.  As you can imagine, all of us here at Ecorazzi are surprised and disappointed in Portman’s new lifestyle decision. As you can also imagine:

It’s worth noting that today is April 1st.

March 29th 2008

Natalie Portman Wants You To Get Out And Vote!

Filed under: green and famous — michael @ 9:57 am

Natalie Portman’s new public service announcement about voting is neither partisan nor related at all to the current presidential campaign. Instead, she’s simply encouraging people to get out and participate in the democratic process. The video is tethered to a new documentary Chicago 10, about protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Portman also directs people to check out Takepart — a website that promotes discussion of political issues of concern. See the clip below:

March 10th 2008

Brad Pitt’s Celebrity Dinner Club With Bono Opened Hollywood To African Charities

Filed under: newspaper — michael @ 2:07 pm

The NY Times is running a wonderful in-depth article on celebrity activism — with everything from Natalie Portman’s involvement with Finca to George Clooney’s latest role as an “UN Ambassador of Peace” under the microscope. If you’re looking for some interesting history on philanthropy in Hollywood, I can’t think of a better way to catch up. Particularly intriguing are the back stories of how some of today’s largest charity efforts came to be. Some started under the simplest of circumstances. Take for instance a dinner party at Brad Pitt’s home in 2004. From the article,

“In 2004, Brad Pitt invited Bono to his home to address a group that included Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Justin Timberlake and the architect Frank Gehry. Bono offered a potent magic: you could write a kind of song, or make a kind of movie, that would save children in Africa. And there was Africa itself — the real thing, the continent of suffering and want, as against the glittering bubble of wealth and fame in which celebrities live. In 2005, Bono enlisted Hollywood’s leading figures in an advertising campaign to promote increases in development assistance for Africa.”

Those are some pretty powerful dinner parties. And then there’s the moment when George Clooney was asked to butter up first lady, Laura Bush, to help with aid in Africa. Clooney was overheard saying, “I just don’t feel it’s right for me to meet the first lady. I’ve been very critical of her husband in public; I think there’s something unmanly about meeting with his wife first.”

Check out the rest of the article here.

March 6th 2008

Tobey Maguire Turned Natalie Portman Vegan. For Now.

Filed under: animals, food & drink — michael @ 12:13 pm

In our ever-continuing, long-winded debate over Natalie Portman’s food philosophy, we’ve finally received word from the actress herself that she is in fact a vegan. She’s been one for about the past month. And Tobey Maguire is to blame.

With our article yesterday on the webslinger’s demands that no one enter his home with leather accessories of any kind, having Maguire be an ambassador of veganism (not be confused with Jerry Mcguire’s “Ambassador of Quan”) makes sense. As we mentioned earlier, Portman did not originally consider going vegan with food (she’s long been against buying clothing made with any animal products) because as she said, “It’s really hard for traveling, especially if you want to maintain your protein levels.” Which of course, several vegans in the comments took to task saying that it was entirely easy and possible. Here’s what Portman said in a recent interview with Marie Claire:

“She grabs an energy bar from the display basket and studies the contents of the label. She wonders if the energy bar contains milk. That’s Tobey’s fault. For the past ten days she’s gone from being vegetarian to vegan. ‘I was around Tobey Maguire in rehearsals [for upcoming film Brothers] and he’s vegan and I was, like, this is nice. I’m honest about caring about animals. You know, eggs and milk products, there’s a lot of animal discomfort in that, too. I don’t know if it’s a permanent thing.’

So, there you have it. Whether she’s vegan one day or vegetarian the next, I think we can agree that as an individual the world could use more people just like her. But seriously, what do you think?

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February 25th 2008

Portman Created Vegan Shoe Line Because Target Just Wasn’t Cutting It

Filed under: animals, fashion — michael @ 11:58 am

The Times has a great interview with Natalie Portman; incidentally conducted while shopping for ingredients for vegan cupcakes at a Whole Foods. Anyways, as expected, Portman goes into the ‘why’s behind her new shoe line and the inspiration for the idea. Here’s a highlight:

“Basically, I did it out of a lack of choice. Stella McCartney does great shoes, but they’re expensive and very fashiony. I wanted a mary-jane shoe without leather. I’ve been getting stuff from Target, which is de facto vegan because it’s so cheap. But I did need some shoes that weren’t made of canvas or plastic.”

While we wouldn’t call $250 shoes an inexpensive option, I guess compared to Stella McCartney’s prices they’re a steal. I also found it interesting that all profits from the shoes will go towards the Nature Conservancy. Nice touch.

Oddly, the author says Portman is wearing a “jade cashmere sweater” during the interview. She may be mistaken, but we’re pretty sure cashmere goats might object to a vegan wearing their coats.

via The Times

February 13th 2008

Natalie Portman’s Stylish Vegan Shoe Line Launches!

Filed under: animals, fashion — michael @ 9:08 am

As we mentioned back on Christmas Day, the beautiful Natalie Portman has helped create a new vegan shoe line. Yesterday, the actress kicked off the launch with a party at Te Casan in New York City. Ironically, while Portman follows a vegan lifestyle when it comes to fashion sense (no products made from animals), she’s admitted that she’s not quite there on the food side of things. Which makes this quote from the shoe site all the more puzzling:

“As a vegan, it’s been challenging finding designer shoes made of alternative materials. This collection offers a great selection without compromising quality or style.”

What do you think? Is Natalie a full-fledged vegan now or living by the fashion definition?

Portman’s shoes will be available online at TeCasan.com and at the NYC boutique located at 382 West Broadway. 5% of shoe profits from her line will go towards charity. Jump over to JustJared for all the photos.

December 25th 2007

Razzi Snap: Natalie Portman Announces New Vegan Shoe Collection

Plus, stars help out on Christmas Eve and Melanie Brown avoids being labeled a Scrooge

Filed under: animals, donations, events: la, fashion, green and famous, music — michael @ 3:51 pm

First off, Merry Christmas to everyone! If you’re not the December 25th celebratin’ sort, my best wishes as well for whatever festive engagement you’re enjoying this time of year. While some of you are busy opening holiday gifts, you might want to start next year’s list early since…

Natalie Portman has announced a new line of shoes in conjunction with Te Casan. The shoes, which are available for pre-order on January 15, are vegan and 5% of profits will be going to charity. Additional details are not available (such as price), but it comes as no surprise that Portman would consider entering this arena. The actress, though herself not a vegan in the food sense, has long made it a rule to purchase fashion that does not come from animals. [natalieportman.com via justjared]

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Spencer Pratt, and Ross McCall spent Christmas Eve volunteering at the Los Angeles Mission in downtown LA. “I have made it a point to come to the Los Angeles Mission at Christmas,” said the 28-year-old Hewitt. “There are so many hurting people on the streets of our city, but when I’m here I get to see the smiles of the children and the great food for everyone. I think they are getting real help from the staff and volunteers. I come to give something back, but invariably I get more blessing than I give.” [via tmz]

Finally, Spice Girl Melanie Brown avoided a potential PR bah humbug by agreeing to donate to charity a $20,000 fee she received as part of her participation in a Make-A-Wish foundation fundraiser. The singer had originally planned on taking the money for personal gain, but smartly did an about-face once she was critcized for the move. Said one source, “All Mel B did was sing a couple of Christmas songs, sign autographs and mingle in with the crowd collecting donations in a plastic bucket. Many people felt she should have waived her fee. It’s the least she could have done to help the needy kids.” [via starpulse]

It’s amazing to me that people like this need to be told “this is the right thing to do”. Alas. All’s well that ends well.

On that note, enjoy the rest of the holiday season — and don’t forget to give when you have the chance, love those around you, and get some good rest and relaxation. 2008 is going to be a busy year!

December 6th 2007

Charity Beat: Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman Sign Kites For Afghans

Filed under: campaigns, donations — michael @ 4:48 pm

Celebrities such as Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Madonna, and Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal have given their signatures to 25 authentic Afghan kites that will go up for auction. The money raised will benefit the the Afghanistan Relief Organization; which directly supports the training of teachers and the building of libraries and education facilities in the newly developing country. [via DVDfeed]

Chef Jaime Oliver raised more than $456,000 at a dinner last night for his Fifteen Foundation. The organization helps train unemployed young people to become chefs and work in the restaurant business. Oliver will use the money to build a training kitchen above Fifteen to help the local community, and increase the number of apprentices each year to 45. [via Bloomberg]

U2 frontman Bono is joining artist Damien Hirst in organizing a charity art auction at Sotheby’s for Valentine’s Day ‘08. Expected to go under the hammer are pieces by Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Matthew Barney, Georg Baselitz, Cecily Brown and Douglas Gordon. All of the art presented will revolve around the RED theme and benefit HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa. Sotheby’s expects the auction to raise more than $40 million dollars. [via International Herald Tribune]