Styles & Scenes

Bling and Blair for Michael Sheen

What's the connection between the African diamond trade and the seat of political power in Great Britain?

Michael Sheen, who plays a spot-on Tony Blair to Helen Mirren's amazing Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen," and an unscrupulous diamond dealer in the controversial "Blood Diamond."

In "Diamond," Sheen's character works with a powerful diamond cartel called Van Der Kaap and buys conflict stones from mercenaries, helping fuel the bloody civil war in Sierra Leone in the late '90s.

According to a movie blog, Sheen is grateful to be in a film that is drawing attention to "this part of the diamond trade."

This isn't the first unscrupulous role he's played. He was, after all, the fiddling nutso emperor Nero in "Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire," a British TV production.

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate has certainly had time to perfect his Blair mannerisms. He first played the grinning Prime Minister in a BBC TV show, "The Deal," in 2003, also directed by "Queen" director Stephen Frears.

At a recent LA screening of "Queen," he revealed his advice to a nervous Mirren: Get the accent nailed down straight off. And he gave her his voice/dialect coach's phone number. According to Mirren, that made all the difference in the world in her ability to portray the reigning Queen.

With Mirren seemingly a lock for an Oscar nod, and the film being talked about as a Best Picture,  could Sheen be a Best or Best Supporting contender? Stranger things have happened.

The classically trained stage actor has a daughter, Lily, with former longtime girlfriend Kate Beckinsale. And the Wales-born actor will brush up his Welsh accent for a new film, "Caitlin," in which he plays poet Dylan Thomas to Miranda Richardson's Caitlin Thomas.

Photo Credits: Michael Sheen, who also played David Frost, at the 2006 party for "Frost/Nixon" in London. Frost, Blair, Nero, now Dylan Thomas. Is there anyone this guy can't become?
Dan Wooller/WireImage

Bling King's private "Blood" letting

Russell Simmons, the Godfather of Hip Hop, who has - among his countless musical/fashion endeavors - a line of expensive street-wise diamond jewelry, will get to see "The Blood Diamond" way before Oscar pundits, awards predictors and impatient film critics.

Bonnie Abaunza, head of Amnesty International's Celebrity Outreach Program, based in Los Angeles, got to talk with Simmons at a recent star-studded dinner at New York's Museum of Modern Art for Bill Clinton's Global Initiative. And she set up a private screening of "Diamond"  for Simmons.

Warner Bros. arranged for rapper Kayne West - who wrote "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" about the misery diamonds have caused in Africa - to see the film.

"'Blood Diamond' is amazing. It's a very entertaining, dramatic and exciting movie. But it will definitely get audiences thinking about the problems of conflict diamonds and child soldiers," says Abaunza, who has seen an early cut of Ed Zwick's controversial film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The film is set during the Sierra Leone civil war in the late '90s.

"It's not a boring message movie," says Abaunza. "It's real entertainment. But it's a Trojan Horse. When people see this powerful film, they will be astounded by the acting and the action, but also by what they've learned. Hopefully, people will leave the theaters and start logging on to learn more about these issues and what they can do to help."

Among other activities, Amnesty International plans a series of 10 special screenings on 10 campuses around the U.S. The organization will take students to the theater and hold salons/meetings afterward to answer questions, educate and inspire future activists. The "Diamond" screening parties will be similar to ones done for "Hotel Rwanda". This dedicated web page for "Lords of War" featuring Nic Cage will be similar to the upcoming "Blood Diamond" web page.

So the "Blood"-letting begins.

Photo Credits: Russell Simmons, Petra Nemcova and Carmen Electra at the Iconic Gap event in New York. Will seeing "Blood" make him an Amnesty International activist?
Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Leo's on YouTube and he's got a new babe

The first trailer for "Blood Diamond," the film that has the international diamond industry shaking in their boots, is now up on YouTube.

Click here to see it.

The shot of Djimon Hounsou holding up the diamond and staring at it with wonder -  with an ominous  voice-over about 'a stone that will test the hearts of men' -  feels a tad "Lord of the Rings-ish," but the movie still looks pretty action-packed, dramatic and exciting.

And kudos to Leonardo DiCaprio for his very impressive South African accent. It's even better than Tim Robbins' in "Catch a Fire," and that's saying a lot.

Even more impressive than his S.A. accent is his new girlfriend Bar Rafaeli.

Bar who? Here's the scoop. She just turned 21. She's an Israeli swimsuit model and they've been dating for about six months. Wanna see more Bar?

People magazine reported that the love birds were spotted in Paris in April strolling down the Champs-Elysees and dining at a Japanese restaurant. 

For the full story on how they met, you have to click here to go Bar's website (no, I'm not kidding) where you can read details of how they met (In Vegas at a party for U2), how he flew to Barcelona to see her, how he sends flowers and chocolates to her when she's in New York for audition. And on and on.

(News Flash: A reader says it's NOT her official site. It's a "fan site," and an eerily well informed fan site, I might add. See comments for more details.)

Oh, and there are also lots of photos of Bar, which I'm sure Leo also looks at a lot when the lovers are kept apart by work schedules.

One thing I can safely predict is that Leo won't be giving Bar any diamond rings. Not after the education he's gotten about conflict diamonds from shooting "Diamond" in South Africa.

Gosh, isn't is a shame Leo can't seem to attract decent-looking ladies. He's rich, famous and not bad looking. What gives? This new one is as much of a dog as that Brazilian double-bagger Giselle Bundchen. Thank God we don't have to look at her anymore.

Photo credits: Leo does a great Capetown accent in the new film, "Blood Diamond," shot in South Africa.
Eamonn McCormack/WireImage

Photo credits: Bar Rafaeli, Leo's latest squeeze, arriving at the Dolce Gabbana dinner in Milan during fashion week. Notice that she looks nothing like his last exotic Amazon.
Daniele Venturelli/WireImage.com

US government builds "Blood Diamond" buzz

“Blood Diamond,” Ed Zwick's film about the illegitimate diamond trade in '90s war-torn Sierra Leone  - starring Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou and Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly – is getting more free publicity than Warner Bros could have dreamed of.

With the film not yet screened for press, the studio's PR department is sitting back and reveling in the daily flurry of diamond news and headlines building the buzz for "Blood," set for release December 15.

Now even the US Government is helping promote the film.

After reviewing the problem of conflict stones entering the U.S. market, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) has recommended that the diamond industry and the U.S. government do more to stop these illicit gems from entering the U.S. marketplace.

The GAO report, released last week, acknowledges that the legitimate trade of rough diamonds can help African economies, but it adds that rough diamonds - which fueled severe conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola during the 1990s  - remain a major cause for concern.

"Although many of these conflicts have now ended and the international community has taken steps to gain control of the rough diamond trade, the United Nations (UN) and other sources report that illicit trading of rough diamonds still exists and could potentially finance civil conflicts as well as criminal and terrorist activities," the GAO report states.

Even the Department of Homeland Security is getting into the act.

According to a Reuters report, the department released a response to the GAO report, pledging to work with the State Department to record detailed information about diamonds entering this country, as well as conducting periodic random examinations of diamond shipments.

Duh. About frigging time. Doesn't it seem like inspecting rough and/or polished diamond shipments will do more to stop global terrorist networks than banning lip gloss and hair gel on airplanes?

After the GAO report was issued, Global Witness, which has long reported that the diamond trade is still funding civil wars and that al-Qaida uses diamonds to fund their terrorist activities, released a joint statement with Partnership Africa Canada calling for the U.S. to take swift action on the report’s recommendations. It's worth noting that both organizations were nominated for a joint Nobel Peace Prize for their work to expose the “conflict diamond” trade.

In response to the GAO report, the World Diamond Council has promised to work with the U.S. to improve inspection of rough diamond imports and exports. No, really. They've promised.

But U.S. consumers should be forgiven if they find these promises hard to believe. Especially after reading the diamond industry's Web site - part of a new multi-million PR campaign -  insists the problem of “conflict stones” portrayed in “Blood Diamond” is ancient history - all fixed, nothing to worry about, end of story.

Meanwhile, a WB rep says "Blood" will be ready for press screenings in a few weeks. Then the real onslaught of awards buzz should begin.

Photo Credits: Leo and Djimon in an action scene from Warner Bros' prescient new film, "Blood Diamond," which, thanks to a just released U.S. government report, may be the easiest film to promote in recent Hollywood history.
Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros. Pictures

De Beers vs Bushmen: who will win the bling PR war?

Diamonds - a staple of Hollywood award season attire - are having a rough time lately.

De Beers recently mounted a massive PR campaign to educate consumers about how good diamonds are for Africa and the efforts to control and/or eradicate the sale of "conflict" or "blood" diamonds.

Now the international diamond cartel has hired some hot new corporate communications guns, including one exec head-hunted from a global pharmaceutical company called AstraZeneca.

Judging from that company's recent problems, I'd say De Beers got themselves an expert corporate spinner to help them fight the negative publicity expected from Warner Bros’s “Blood Diamond” (Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly) that focuses on the link between diamonds and bloody civil wars in Africa.

But someone else has joined the fray.

Last week the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana took out an unprecedented large ad in Variety, asking for help from DiCaprio. In the ad, Bushman Roy Sesana wrote: "Friends have told us that you are in a film, “Blood Diamond,” which shows how badly diamonds can hurt. We know this. When we were chased off our land, officials told us it was because of the diamond finds. Please help us, Sir. We know you are a famous and respected man, and that if you speak up for us many people will listen. We just want to go home, and hunt and gather and live in peace like we have always done."

And on behalf of the Bushmen, Survival International has asked Linda Evangelista to step down as the new face of De Beers. Don't laugh. SI already has Colin Firth and Julie Christie on the Bushmen's side. Christie has said, 'Diamonds as the cause of misery and suffering are not a thing of the past. The Bushman evictions in Botswana are a clear demonstration that local people are still suffering because of these stones.” And SI already convinced supermodel Iman to step down as the face of De Beers a few years ago.

That said, Iman is married to David Bowie and is very wealthy in her own right. Good luck getting Linda to turn down that big fat spokesmodel contract. The early ‘90s era supermodel, who once bragged that she didn’t “wake up for less than $10 grand a day,” now has a.. how shall I put this, slightly less stellar modeling career. 

Gosh, this Hollywood diamond war is getting so exciting. Will the Bushmen of Kalahari make a trip to Hollywood? Can the displaced tribe and their celebrity supporters  persuade A-list actresses to boycott the bling and not wear dazzling diamonds to awards shows?

Hey, these dudes have already taken out an ad in Variety. I’d say anything is possible.

Photo Credit: Leo and Djimon star in "Blood Diamond," the movie about conflict diamonds financing bloody civil wars that has De Beers execs shaking in their designer boots.
Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. Pictures.

Will "Blood" kill diamonds at the Oscars?

Is the international diamond industry getting really, really, really nervous about the impact of "The Blood Diamond” on their Christmas and Valentine’s Day gem sales?

You bet. Almost three months before  the Warner Bros film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimoun Hounsou, is due for release (Dec. 15), the World Diamond Corporation has launched a major offensive campaign with a big ad in large newspapers (and on their website) explaining that the "conflict" or "blood diamond" problem has been solved.

The ads mention the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a plan put in place to certify a stone's origins, insuring that no conflict stones enter the marketplace. The KPCS is currently under review with results on the program's effectiveness due out this fall.

Why is the WDC trying to fend off criticism so early? Have they seen any film footage? No, according to studio sources.

But the diamond industry seems to be shaking in their bright shiny shoes, worried that consumers will believe that conflict diamonds are still being smuggled and sold. Or worse, that they will read about the stones being a viable currency funding international terrorist forces  such as Al Qaeda  and Hezbollah.

“If they want to educate the public, that’s great. The more information on conflict diamonds that gets out, the better,” says a source close to the film about the WDC's pro-active ads.  “Unfortunately, their ads do not tell the whole story, that, despite their attempts to police their industry, there are flaws and loopholes in the Kimberley Process.”

Amnesty International and Global Witness still warn of ongoing inadequacies in the diamond industry’s ability to curtail or control "blood diamond" sales.

Whatever happens to the diamond market, it will be interesting to see how A-list actresses will cope with questions about their bling in December, when "Blood Diamond," and other Oscar hopeful films, are released.

Here's a sampling: Did the jeweler who loaned you that million dollar necklace mention how many people had their hands hacked off for it? How do you feel knowing that your pretty ring could have funded Hezbollah? Or that those fabulous chandelier earrings may have bought arms for Osama?

May I suggest that any Oscar-hopefuls planning on wearing diamonds on the carpets have a prepared answer to these inevitable questions, along with the notes on who designed their gowns and made their shoes.

Otherwise, they'll risk looking stupid, vapid and uninformed. And that sure won't help an Oscar campaign, now will it?

Photo Credits: Thanks to "Blood Diamond," diamonds may not be as prevalent in the 2007 Awards Season. Even Teri Hatcher, selecting a ring at the Diamond Information Center's Pre-Oscar Suite at the Soho House last March, may think twice about bling.
Wire Image/Amy Graves

Hollywood braces for "Blood Diamond" War

Get ready for the big "Blood Diamond " PR War between Team De Beers and Team Zwick.

Nelson Mandela will act as a spokesman for the international diamond cartel to  defuse any negative publicity caused by Ed Zwick's new film “The Blood Diamond,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimoun Hounsou, due out in December.

The film, a fictional tale, is set during the all-too-real ‘90s decade of African civil wars when rebel armies seized control of diamond mines, traded conflict diamonds for arms and murdered, raped and mutilated thousands of innocent people.

The film’s barely finished shooting but the World Diamond Council has already asked Zwick, the film’s producer/co-writer/director to add a disclaimer at the end that puts the nasty rough diamond trade in the past and the current industry in a better light.

Honest, those creepy rebels with nasty amputation habits are gone. Today's mining conditions are way improved and diamonds are now carefully documented thanks to the Kimberly Process, a voluntary industry agreement made in 2000, which tracks and certifies the movement of rough diamonds.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International don’t buy it. But if you do, I’ve got some great New Orleans property near some lovely new levees you might also like. Zwick’s response? He gave it to E! Online yesterday.

A bitter battle is clearly brewing. But how will Team De Beers, headed by Mandela, do against Team Zwick? Let’s compare the players. Ready for their turn at bat are the “Blood” actors, all politically active and involved with a variety of humanitarian causes.

DiCaprio is outspoken about ecology and global warming issues. His website was redesigned and launched in 2004, the same year he joined the boards of NRDC and Global Green USA. Hounsou was born in Benin, near Niger. He participated in Amnesty International’s Live for Darfur concert series last fall. It's safe to say that he has strong opinions on the illicit diamond trade’s impact on Africa peoples. And Jennifer Connelly was just named Amnesty International USA's (AIUSA) Ambassador for Human Rights Education last winter.

But Zwick may also have a trump card, an actress who could give his team an unbeatable hand....

Mandela to defend De Beers from bad "Blood"

The international diamond industry must be getting pretty nervous about “The Blood Diamond.”

Word is that Sitrick and Company, Tinseltown’s top spinmeisters, have been hired by De Beers, the world's largest supplier of rough diamonds, to deflect the negative image of their industry portrayed in the upcoming film which stars Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio  (“The Aviator”), Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind”) and Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (“In America”).

“Diamond,” produced by Ed Zwick, will not be released until Jan 12, 2007. It’s the wrenching story of two South Africans, a mercenary (DiCaprio) and a fisherman (Hounsou) during the savage ‘90s Sierra Leone civil wars when rebels seized mines to sell “conflict” or “blood diamonds” to buy arms, murdering and mutilating (hand/arm amputation was a popular rebel sport) thousands of innocent men, women and children.

So guess who Sitrick plans to trot out to help stop the bad bling publicity? 

None other than South Africa’s activist and first post-apartheid president Nelson Mandela.

“Mandela is going to say that all that stuff seen in the film is in the past, that there are no more conflict diamonds in circulation and that the diamond industry is economically good for South Africa,” a smiling inside source revealed. “And who in their right mind is going to argue with Nelson Mandela?"

Who indeed.

But “Blood Diamond” will be one of those “important issue" awards season frontrunners. Diamonds used to fund wars and fuel massive slaughters is pretty nasty stuff. Imagine what this negative buzz could do to the bling quotient on the 2007 awards season red carpets.

The Academy/Globe consideration screenings in November may start the bad press that could hurt December diamond sales, not to mention Valentine's Day.

As far back as September 2005, De Beers’ honcho Jonathan Oppenheimer warned an industry convention that the movie was likely to attract a huge audience. "Can you imagine its impact on the Christmas-buying audience in America if the message is not carried through that this (conflict diamonds) is something of the past, that this is something that has been managed and taken care of?"

But it shouldn’t be a shock that Mandela would take the diamond dudes side. After De Beers chairman Harry Oppenheimer's death in 2000, Mandela recognized his support for democratic and philanthropic causes in a Time magazine obit, hailing him as "monumentally instrumental in helping our country become the economic leader it is today."

Gosh, who can argue with that?

Photo Credit: Nelson Mandela - seen at the 46664 HIV/AIDS Awareness Concert in 2005 - may show up in Hollywood to help De Beers fight any bad publicity due to "The Blood Diamond."
WireImage/Shayne Robinson