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4 Charming 'SNL' Stories From Amy Poehler & Seth Meyers

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As part of the promotional push for her new book, "Yes Please," Amy Poehler sat down with Seth Meyers at New York's 92Y on Wednesday to discuss her career, their friendship and "Saturday Night Live." Poehler and Meyers were both hired before the start of the 2001-02 season, and shared the Weekend Update desk from 2006-08. Ahead, four of the best "SNL" anecdotes they shared with the 92Y audience (but not that one about Jon Hamm making Amy Poehler laugh while she was pregnant, because she might have told that one a billion times in the last month).

1. Amy's Sarah Palin rap was one of Seth's favorite "SNL" moments

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"I was on the show for 12 and a half years, and there were maybe 10 times where you thought you fucking nailed it. That you wished no part of it had gone different," Meyers said. "It's like when baseball players hit the ball and flip the bat because they know it's going out of the park." That's how Meyers felt about Poehler's Sarah Palin rap during Weekend Update, which she performed while being nine months pregnant and in front of Palin herself.

"I was an animal. It's really fun to be that pregnant because you freak everybody out," Poehler said.

2. Amy thought Ashlee Simpson's lip-sync flub wasn't a big deal

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It's a story Poehler recounts in "Yes Please": This is what the reaction was like backstage when Ashlee Simpson was caught lip-syncing during her "SNL" performance.

"We were about to do a Merv the Perv sketch. I was dressed as 'Kill Bill.' Rachel Dratch was Raggedy Ann. And Maya Rudolph was in a pregnant cat suit," Poehler said. "They ran by, and it was one of those things where it was so hectic that we hid under the table." Poehler recalled how Lesley Stahl happened to be backstage as well, as "60 Minutes" was following Lorne Michaels around for a segment on the "SNL" executive producer. Her recollection from under the table: "A thin lady with heels ran by."

For Meyers, things were a little different. "I was getting hair and makeup, so I didn't see it. It was like being in the town next over when Godzilla attacks. People ran by [screaming]," he said.

Despite the chaos, Poehler felt the incident would blow over.

"I remember drunkenly at the party being like it's not a big deal, nobody's going to care," she said before mimicking her drunk voice. "'Who cares? Nobody is going to talk about it tomorrow.'"

3. Johnny Knoxville apparently brought loose pills to "SNL"

johnny knoxville snl

When Johnny Knoxville hosted "SNL," Rachel Dratch threw her back out after sneezing during the read-through couldn't move. Fortunately, Knoxville was there to offer some assistance. "He reached into his pockets and pulled out 12 loose pills," Poehler said. "None of them were downers. All of them only wanted to make you want to party."

As it turned out, Dratch didn't need Knoxville's pharmaceuticals. She received help from the NBC doctor. "She brought the Vicodin, and Rachel didn't want to take one," Poehler said. "Everyone else was like, 'You should take one.'"

4. Amy & Seth's first show was after 9/11, and it started with a "beautiful joke"

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Poehler and Meyers both started on the show in 2001, and their first read-through was supposed to happen on Sept. 11.

"It was a very strange time to be starting a new job at a weekly comedy variety show," Poehler said. "There was a lot of talk about comedy being over. There was a lot of, 'Will we ever laugh again?' That happened, of course, when JFK died. There were all these proclamations about when will we ever be able to get back. That felt truly ... it really felt like we were never going to get back anywhere close to where we were. The wound felt so psychic. I was living in New York for six or seven years, so it was my hometown at that point."

Poehler recalled how the aftermath of the terrorist attacks mixed with the jitters associated with starting a new job created an odd juxtaposition. "It was just that combination of, 'Where are the bathrooms? And are we gonna die?'" she said. "Also there was anthrax in our building, which was great too."

The season premiere aired on Sept. 29, 2001 with Reese Witherspoon as host. Paul Simon sang "The Boxer" at the beginning of the show as a group of first responders and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appeared on stage. After Simon's song, Lorne Michaels came out.

"It was a beautiful New York moment and there was that great joke where Lorne says to Mayor Giuliani, 'Can we be funny?' And Mayor Giuliani says, 'Why start now?' It's so hard to write a joke like that. What fucking joke do you open with?" Poehler said. "It's so self-effacing and funny. The mayor gets the laugh. It's just a beautiful joke. We wanted the mayor to be in charge."

After the show, Poehler and the cast went to the after-party with some of the first responders. "Those guys were a blast," Poehler said. "They were just full of life, having seen so much sadness. Life and death, sadness and happiness live right next to each other. If you're lucky you get to serve them both. That was an amazing time to be on that show for sure."

Adam Seymour, Artist, Paints Grindr Profiles, Conversations

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Did this man paint your Grindr profile?

No one can deny that the social networking app has changed the way that queers talk, meet and engage in sex. Now, various Grindr profiles and conversations have become the subject of artist Adam Seymour's new series of paintings.

Called "G-Force," the series takes intriguing and compelling Grindr profiles and conversations that speak to Seymour on some level and and turns them into elaborate paintings. In order to understand "G-Force" better, The Huffington Post chatted with Seymour this week.

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The Huffington Post: Where were you and what were you doing when you had the thought "I should start painting Grindr profiles"?
Adam Seymour: During my art studies, watching others paint serious conceptual art and still lifes, I looked through the images saved on my phone to find some painting inspiration. I had always sent humorous Grindr screenshots to my mates and thought this would make an interesting, talked about exhibition. Choosing to paint this subject matter reflects my playful artistic style. People tend to take themselves too seriously, both online and in the art world.

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What draws you to a profile and makes you want to paint it?
I look for peculiar or extreme aspects to the profiles I chose for this project. Humorous tag lines, etc. I was also looking for a diverse collection of people to represent a cross-section of the Grindr-using homo community.

In the end I even had friends sending me screenshots of interesting profiles and conversations to add to the collection.

Do your subjects ever learn about your paintings? What have some of the reactions been?
A few have, yes. I've told a few friends I have painted their profiles, and mostly they think its pretty cool.

I've had some negative reactions from people who have been made to feel uncomfortable by seeing their profile in a second context. However, I believe, as my interpretations are highly stylized, that I have been respectful to the privacy of my subjects. It's interesting that this reaction occurs considering they have willingly uploaded the image themselves to the public realm.

I am now finding, as the project is gaining more media exposure, that friends are tagging the people whose profiles I've painted. I've even had people asking to buy their friends profiles as gifts for them.

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What are your thoughts on Grindr as a cultural phenomenon? Is it a "good" thing? A "bad" thing? Somewhere in between?
I think Grindr is great. It's the way I see people using it, wasting hours of their time, and projecting their own, sometimes very personal, issues into a public forum that can be counter-productive to healthy social activity between gay men.

But, If you don't invest too much of yourself into the app, you can reap great rewards, make new friends, get travel tips, or a quick blow job on your lunch break.

Do you use Grindr?
Yes I do. I find it really useful whilst traveling to meet locals and get tips. I've even been upgraded in hotel rooms, flights, etc from befriending local homos in the know.

For more from Seymour head here to visit the artist's website and his Instagram page, and check out more work in the slideshow below.

After Dark: Meet Frankie Sharp, Party Curator And Nightlife Personality

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This is the twenty-fifth installment in HuffPost Gay Voices Associate Editor James Nichols' ongoing series "After Dark: NYC Nightlife Today And Days Past" that examines the state of New York nightlife in the modern day, as well as the development and production of nightlife over the past several decades. Each featured individual in this series currently serves as a prominent person in the New York nightlife community or has made important contributions in the past that have sustained long-lasting impacts.

HuffPost Gay Voices believes that it is important and valuable to elevate the work, both today and in the past, of those engaged in the New York nightlife community, especially in an age where queer history seems to be increasingly forgotten. Nightlife not only creates spaces for queers and other marginalized groups to be artistically and authentically celebrated, but the work of those involved in nightlife creates and shapes the future of our culture as a whole. Visit Gay Voices regularly to learn not only about individuals currently making an impact in nightlife, but those whose legacy has previously contributed to the ways we understand queerness, art, identity and human experience today.


The Huffington Post: What did your journey to becoming one of the most prominent queer party promoters in New York City entail?
Frankie Sharp: It all started in San Francisco when me and my best friend Brontez (of the band Gravy Train) used to be lil' 20-year-old shitheads running around broke and conning older dudes into buying us drinks -- simultaneously making friends with every bartender in town so we could drink even more for free. I was working as a receptionist at a graphic and special effects firm in San Francisco making next to nothing and also doing nothing to feed my soul and creativity. Brontez was in this band having a blast, but I don’t think leading a very lucrative existence. We were splitting sandwiches and pizza slices. One night me and Brontez stepped into this dilapidated Hustler bar called “The Gangway.” We would spend time there with colorful older gays in wheelchairs, swapping stories about what being a young gay was like then and now. Eventually all of our friends who happened to be sex workers would start coming there too. We played the jukebox all night long -- they had the best juke box in San Francisco, mostly Dolly Parton. Our friends would join in with us and before we knew it it was our new new hangout spot. One night it occurred to us that we could do a party at The Gangway! We could get paid to be doing what we were already doing there... hangout, get drunk, make people laugh or just annoyed by us... and we even dared to charge a cover for this!

There was no real sound system and I DJ'd from iTunes. I would play the Gossip and Bis mixed in with Beyonce. Brontez played 45’s of Soul and Ska while basically in the nude. In San Francisco everyone played house music so as natural contrarians we wanted something else. We spent our “decor” budget on 99 cent store balloons and 25 cent McDonald's hamburgers to pass out because we thought it was funny. It started to become really successful, so much so that I was able to spend the extra money we made on being “irreverent,” like flying out Youtube superstars like KELLY. Remember that song “Shoes”? I even flew out Cazwell because I was such a lil fan boy of him when I was obsessed with NYC from afar and reading my Bible at the time, PAPER magazine. I was having fun, making money and, more importantly, everyone around me was having fun too.

But after five or six years of continuing to do this party in San Francisco and other parties along the way… I just started thinking I wasn’t going anywhere. I hit a plateau creatively, socially and financially. I was uninspired and exhausted. All of my artist friends had started moving east to New York and it seemed like they were all on their way to making their dreams come true. It was the right time for me to do the same, or at the very least figure out what my dream was.

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I moved to New York City on Sept. 11, 2009. I started off doing wholesale in fashion, which was a bore and frankly really stressful working from 9 a.m. (when I was on time) to midnight getting paid nothing. So I left that job and wanted to become a stylist. I wanted to be Mel Ottenberg and Nicola Formichetti. But I knew the road was a long one ahead and there were assistants ten years my junior with trust funds gunning for the same position and status. But yet, I started style assisting and doing weird odd fashion jobs in between, freelancing at trade shows and showrooms. I wasn’t happy working to make someone else’s dreams come true and style sssisting just continued to pay shit -- if at all. So I quit those jobs. On a particularly defeated day I went into Bedlam, a bar in the East Village that my ex from San Francisco managed. He suggested that I “throw one of my weird little parties” I used to throw in San Francisco. I thought "WHY NOT?” What did I have to lose?

I called the party “EVERYTHING” and thats just what it was. I had a special guest DJ alongside my own iTunes DJing. And we had everyone! Cody from SSION, Casey Spooner, Mykki Blanco… I had my friends HOUSE OF LADOSHA perform, Maluca, LE1F. All the same people I keep around me now. I remember meeting Juliana Huxtable for the first time ever and thinking I had met a star in the making. I gave her a hosting job there, just so I could have her closer. Andy Cohen would come often as he was friends with the owner of the bar and I convinced him to do a couple of DJ spots, which were awesome. It drew quite a crowd. "Rupaul’s Drag Race" started airing and I hired Manila Luzon for my birthday party, not to perform but to DJ. I liked the idea of these personalties curating the soundtrack instead of dong what was expected of them.

“EVERYTHING” at Bedlam was a success. I won the Paper Magazine Nightlife award for Best Party and Bar for Bedlam, garnered some fun press and had a great time along the way. But like things do in NYC, it started to dim.

But when it did, thats when The Westway opened. And that's when they called me. They wanted a “BIG GAY DANCE PARTY.” I, in turn, sent them a proposal on programming and budget and after twisting the arms of the very straight owners to call my party WestGAY, I bought our Pink Neon Sign and herstory was made. We had our first WestGay on Tuesday Feb. 14, 2011 -- Valentine's Day. Lady Miss Kier DJ’ed and House of Ladosha performed and I booked DJ magicians Nita Aviance and JonJon Battles. It was my childhood musical idol and my musical family together, which made it into one of the greatest nights I ever experienced. I knew something magical had just occurred. We're still going strong into our third solid year. And I think after talking about this for this interview, it's the HEART that keeps it going and its continued success. Im being reminded of that right now.

How have you seen NYC nightlife change and develop throughout the five years that you've been here?
The queer people in nightlife are back on the forefront. Unexpected artists are being celebrated, not only in our underground but in our mainstream. Or getting closer to mainstream anyways. Mykki Blanco, LE1F, Lafem Ladosha and even our dear Brooke Candy are all repping homosexuals and not afraid of it. I'm so proud of all of them. It's a wonderful feeling when your friends inspire you to be a better person -- to be a better creative mind and and better businessman and artist.

People in New York are ready and apt to have more fun, too. When I moved here everyone was wearing all black and looking amazing, sure, polished and chic. But it didn’t seem like anyone was really having fun. Maybe I was going to the wrong places, but it seems like NYC in the last couple of years got a lil' injection of Day Glow in their color palette -- it's nice to see people not give a fuck so much anymore. I like that change. And it also seems people are understanding that everyone who goes out now is a little A.D.D. We need to "have it all" in our big celebrations. We promotors and producers, charge a cover for. So it may seem like a lot when we have 100 “hosts," four DJs and performers but thats because we want to include everyone to put on the best show ever. Thats my intention, anyways. My weekly intention. (Yes, that was me honoring how much work I have to do week to week) [laughs].

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What was your initial vision for WestGay? How has it changed since it's inception and what do you see as the future of this party?
Every week is a circus. It's inspiring, fun and without one ounce of pretense. That's what I'm about, totally. I shudder at negativity, exclusivity and darkness. I want people to hear music that feels like life’s pulse while cruising cuties around them, pulling a look or not pulling a look while watching drag queens from our own city we worship or TV queens we love to hate or hate to love. Pop artists we hear about, rap artists from YouTube that impress me or make me laugh and everyone in between. I know I already mentioned her, but she’s a great example of evolution of “the Artist” -- I loved watching Brooke Candy perform at our 3rd or 4th WestGay and no one knew who she was, just this weird white girl in Corn Rows and a Pink thong-kini I used to get stoned with in Dolores Park in San Francisco and now she’s a multi-million dollar recording artist thats going to change the game next year with her album. Mykki played one of the first WestGays for a couple a hundred bucks and a bottle and now he’s playing alongside Bjork in Europe and Asia. Like WHAT THE FUCK?! It's awesome. WestGay is awesome. Life is awesome. And I want it to be awesome-er! I have plans this coming year to do just that. We ain't going anywhere!

You creeped into the Brooklyn queer scene with a Saturday at Metropolitan and now you have a huge Friday party cheekily called "GIRLS" at Lovegun. What are you trying to do with GIRLS? Why Brooklyn? Why now?
Metro was one of the first bars I ever went to when I moved to NYC. I love those boys over there. And I LIVED at the Sunday BBQ -- I was there every week! Brooklyn’s own particular brand of “rage” is “wasted and we don’t give a flying fuck” and I love that! I DJ metropolitan every other Saturday with my amazing sister and mega watt talent, DeSe. And it doesn’t matter if its Kylie, G-Unit, EazyE or Mariah Carey’s Christmas album being played, those kids go OFF! I love the non-pretense there.

Lovegun is a Friday rager for people who can’t be too hungover on Wednesdays from WestGay. However, it's less banjee/ballqueen/jersey beats than WestGay. It's a lil more house, disco and boy-cruisey of a good time then a turn up where everyone is doing death drops. Celebs on the DL hangout and it's just a fun, headless Friday night. It feels like a guilty pleasure. GOGO boys, beautiful lighting and everyone you know or want to. It feels like if a back room became a nightclub. Friedkins’s “Cruising" meets Gregg Araki’s “Nowhere.” Which actually describes me to a T.

NYC nightlife is currently undergoing resurgence. Where do you see yourself within this narrative of nightlife in NYC?
Like I said before, producers and other event promotors are catering to the A.D.D. of everyone's attention span now. Before I did WestGay I hadn’t seen someone do that many personalities at a Downtown Party on the payroll, with performers being flown out, TV personalities, weird celebrities, drag queens doing late shows and a big production since, I don’t know, Michael Alig? Mr. Black had that essence or close to it, I LOVED that night, but that was still different. Of course there were parties like Xanadude, Wrecked, Top8, and the Carry Nation but these were parties about the MUSIC -- which were amazing, but I'm talking about something else… the “circus” I keep referring to.

In NYC a few years ago, a ”club night" used to be one room, with a DJ or two and a couple of cuties hosting a well bottle and pretty uneventful night. But we would all go because there was no other option. I'd like to think that I brought back the mega programming a little. I know that sounds ego-y but I'm trying to sound objective. And I'm glad that everyone followed suit. I saw a flyer recently for a party and it sounded huge… four rooms, eight DJs and a performer? WORK! That sounds awesome, I thought. Then at closer inspection I just saw every DJ, host and performer who I've ever hired at WestGay for the last three years, just in one space. Which, truthfully, at first was curious to me and seemed lazy, then actually I thought it was pretty awesome. I'm glad people are going BIG these days and stopped being complacent. Hard work pays off and New York City deserves it. I hope we get more of that from fellow producers.

Wait no! I'm wrong. Susanne Bartsch totally had that programming with Vandam. That basement with DJ Michael Magnan ruled then you could go upstairs to see Amanda Lepore, Kenny Kenny and Johnny Dynell. GOD I MISS THAT PARTY. I feel like everyone would end up there. You rarely get that party where just everyone shows up from all corners of Manhattan and surrounding. Vandam was that.



Lady Bunny said in her recent feature: "I performed recently at Frankie Sharp’s WestGay and was blown away by the great music, crazy antics and the frenzied energy of young, fucked up people just grinding on each other and feeling the pulse. I’ll always wanna be a part of a fun vibe. And if the kids were really wasted, I could blow them while they were passed out. Steal their wallets on a good night. The fact is, I can sit and whine that NYC’s golden age of clubbing is dead -- just as aficionados of the Mud Club, Studio 54 and other great clubs of the past could say before the Pyramid had even opened said the same. The truth is, I’m now 52 and not looking to get fucked up, fucked or turned out by any DJ every night of the week as I once was." -- Bunny seems to be implying that the WestGay environment reminds her of the debaucherous, "golden days" of clubbing that she came up in. How do you respond to this? Why is important to you to curate this sort of environment?

HUGEST COMPLIMENT EVER! I worship Bunny and respect her as a performer, personality, businessman and a kind New Yorker.

With WestGay, I just wanted to curate a place that felt grand that felt like anything could happen. We're very lucky with The Westway space. The Feng Shui of the runway, or The Ghetto Coliseum as I like to call it. Since the stage is in the middle of the mainroom the performers get love from all sides of them so it inspires a better and crazier show. The Djs are told to play WHATEVER they want and the GOGO boys often say its their favorite place to work and dance; the hosts swing from the railing and consume in abundance, which magnifies their already larger-than-life personalities. I think because it's a conscious free-for-all people go WILD! I don’t police anyone in that environment; I encourage clownery. The Cuckooness and Sexiness the better. I'm a nightlife maenad in a tux… do whatever makes you feel the best, whatever makes you feel dangerous… and whatever makes you feel HAPPY!

What is your ultimate goal as a promoter in NYC? What do you see coming from your time shaping life After Dark in this city?
My ultimate goal as a promotor and producer in NYC nightlife, is to continue making these environments that people fall in love with and fall in love with our city in general. It's the greatest place on Earth and I'm so honored and humbled to be recognized as an integral part of it. That already is a dream come true. I want to build bigger environments. We're taking WestGay on the road to Europe next year and I can’t wait to see how that transpires. And this is only one aspect of me. I can’t wait to show NYC and The World what else I have to offer it. I want to produce shows, musicals, I want to curate gallery exhibits, I'm working on writing again. I want to do it all! But isn’t that what New York and being a New Yorker is about? “Doing it all”?

What are your current parties, gigs and endeavors?
S/O to “WESTGAY" ALWAYS & 4EVA! EVERY TUESDAY AT THE WESTWAY 75 CLARKSON ST AT THE WESTSIDE HIGHWAY

S/O to “GIRLS”! EVERY FRIDAY AT LOVEGUN 617 GRAND STREET BTWN LORIMER & LEONARD

S/O TO "#METROSENSUAL" -- EVERY OTHER SATURDAY NIGHT -- WHERE I DJ WITH MY GORGEOUS SISTER DeSe - METROPOLITAN BAR 559 LORIMER ST

What do you hope to see as the future of nightlife in NYC?
Less ego. Less pretense. Original programming. More smiles. More dancing. More love. This is New York City. We invented nightlife, lets show it.

Missed the previous installments in this series? Check out the slideshow below.




Is Beyonce Releasing Another Album In Two Weeks?

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Beyonce surprised everyone when she dropped her self-titled album last December. Now, the Internet is convinced that she might be up to her old tricks and release yet another album in two weeks.

Here's all the "evidence" (that may or may not be real) that we have thus far:

A "release confirmation" and tracklist for a "Beyonce Volume 2" album has been floating around Twitter. The memo includes 10 new songs -- including new collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Justin TImberlake and Rihanna -- and 11 new videos. Vibe Magazine points out that a Beyonce and Rihanna collaboration has been in the rumor mill for months now. WonderingSound also notes that this could explain why Minaj’s "The Pinkprint," which was originally set for Nov. 24, was pushed back to Dec. 15. The document states that a digital edition of the album would drop on Nov. 14, and that a four-disc physical copy -- including "Beyonce" and a DVD from both her Mrs. Carter World Tour and the On The Run tour -- would get released on Nov. 25.

Would it be hard to doctor something like this document on Microsoft Word, feed it to the Internet and sit back and watch people go wild over it? Nope. But you know you want to believe it anyway:




The Huffington Post contacted Beyonce's rep and will update this post with a comment if one comes through.

Prince Delivers 'SNL' A Legendary Eight-Minute Medley

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Prince promised that his "Saturday Night Live" performance would go down in history, and his eight-minute long, four-song spanning set was nothing short of legendary. Mashing "Plectrumelectrum" "Anotherlove" and "Marz" from his "Plectrumelectrum" album with "Clouds" from his "Art Official Age" album, Prince, 3rdEyeGirl and singer Lianne La Havas destroyed the "SNL" stage. Prince switched between piano and guitar, rocking his third-eye sunglasses and adding visuals of clouds, lightning and technicolor displays. As "SNL" put it:




Watch the amazing performance below.

Chris Rock Tackles 9/11, Boston Marathon In 'SNL' Monologue

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Chris Rock began the night as host of "Saturday Night Live" with a controversial monologue that tackled both the Boston Marathon bombings and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.

After mentioning Sunday's New York City Marathon, Rock went on to joke about why he thought the Boston Marathon was so "scary":

"That was probably the most sadistic, frightening terrorist attack ever. Just think about it. 26 miles. 26 miles is a long drive. If you call up one of your friends, 'Hey man, I need you to pick me up,' 'Where you at?' [and he says] '26 miles away' you better get Uber."

The 49-year-old comedian then switched gears with a bit about how he'll never visit the new Freedom Tower after 9/11:

"I am never going in the Freedom Tower. I don't care if Scarlett Johannson is butt-naked on the 89th floor in a plate of ribs. I'm not going in there."

As Uproxx noted, the monologue was divisive among viewers, but not everyone was offended. Cast member Pete Davidson, whose father was a firefighter who died on Sept. 11, tweeted support for Rock on Sunday:




Watch the full clip above.

British Pop Star Katie Melua Finds Spider Living In Her Ear

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Can you hear me now?

Good! Hopefully that means there isn't a spider living in one of your ears.

On Oct. 27, after hearing a "rustling" sound in her ear for a week, British pop singer Katie Melua went to the doctor to have it checked out. When they looked into her ear canal, this is what they found, staring right back at them:

So I had a rustling in my ear for a week and went to the doctor to have it checked out this morning. THIS little fella is what they found!

Video, jonka Katie Melua (@katiemeluaofficial) julkaisi laitteella




Melua, 30, believes the spider crawled into her ear canal when she used some old in-ear monitors to "block out sound on a flight," according to an Instagram post. The spider set up residence for a full seven days. But other than the "occasional shuffling noises," the pop star told her fans, "it was no hassle at all."




Ear canals actually serve as pretty comfy homes for critters, says Philip Koehler, Ph.D., an entomology professor at the University of Florida. Koehler told HuffPost that insects -- or, in this case, arachnids -- "are probably entering the canal as harborage, for heat, and/or for moisture."

Here's another picture of the spider, which Melua said on Instagram was actually "pretty small":




Melua's spokeswoman told MSN that the singer released the spider in her garden, where hopefully there's more to eat.

It's Time To Get Really Excited About 'A Most Violent Year'

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Director J.C. Chandor is so excited for audiences to see "A Most Violent Year" that he's even doing press for the film's debut trailer.

"To get the chance to tell this kind of story with a really nice budget and make a really nice period piece that not a lot of people are getting a chance to do these days?" Chandor said to HuffPost Entertainment on Friday after landing in Los Angeles from Mexico. "I'm really grateful that I was able to get the opportunity in the first place."

Set in New York in 1981, the year of strife referenced in the title, "A Most Violent Year" focuses on Abel and Anna Morales (Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain), a pair of upwardly mobile 30-somethings who try to stay clean in an increasingly dirty city.

"We're catching them at a very pivotal moment in their lives," Chandor said of his main characters. "The film is playing off a lot of traditional themes in a gangster film, but it also plays against that in a lot of ways."

Chandor, an Oscar nominee for writing "Margin Call" and the writer-director of last year's "All Is Lost," said he set his crime drama during the time period because of its significance to New York history. Though murders were down slightly from the prior year, violent crimes, rape and robbery all hit 15-year highs in 1981.

"There was something fascinating to me about the changes that have taken place in New York City in really a relatively short period of time," Chandor said. "I was looking for crime statistics. I realized all the budget cuts and horrible things that happened to New York during the 1970s actually peaked in 1981. The cool thing about 1981 is that it's also a real transition year: Ronald Reagan took office, Ed Koch was re-elected as New York City mayor, it was the first couple of years of rap exploding."

Not that Abel and Anna are interested in those cultural landmarks. "They're doing everything they can to isolate themselves from the difficulty of the period," Chandor said. "The city slowly fights back, and creeps into their life."

a most violent year

Chandor had been working on "A Most Violent Year" for two years, even before "All Is Lost" made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. At that time, Javier Bardem was attached to play the lead role, but the Oscar-winning actor and Chandor had reached a creative impasse that proved insurmountable. "We sort of, by that point, realized the direction I wanted to go, which was a little more grey, was different from Javier, who wanted it to be a very black-and-white situation," Chandor said.

Fortunately, Chastain was there to help. During that year's Cannes Film Festival, she suggested Chandor meet with Isaac, her former classmate at Juilliard. Isaac was just coming to prominence thanks to the Joel and Ethan Coen film, "Inside Llewyn Davis," which also bowed during Cannes.

"I didn't get to meet him there, but I did get to sit down with him in the coming weeks and I really slowly realized there wasn't anyone else to get the part," Chandor said. "Making the character a little younger and casting someone at a pivotal moment in the beginning of his career was fascinating to me. It became a no-brainer, but Jessica gets a casting director credit for it."

It would be yet another credit for Chastain, whose appearance in "A Most Violent Year" marks her fourth onscreen in 2014, following "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby," "Miss Julie" and Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar." But having Chastain and Isaac -- himself a key part of "Star Wars: Episode VII" -- in the lead roles proved beneficial for Chandor in more ways than just the pair's growing name recognition.

"There's an amazing familiarity and intimacy between the two of them before we even started shooting," Chador said of his stars. "Just the way they moved around each other. Also, like old classmates, they were very competitive with each other in a fun way. That's something this couple is like, too."

Co-starring David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola and Albert Brooks, as the Morales' legal counsel ("There are no forks in peoples' eyes," Chandor said of Brooks' performance, referring to "Drive"), "A Most Violent Year" is out on Dec. 31. The film's excellent first trailer, featuring Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," can be seen above.

Kathy Kinney, Who Played Drew Carey's TV Nemesis, Looks Back On Iconic 'Mimi' Role (VIDEO)

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Nearly 20 years ago, the country was introduced to one of the most outrageous, brash, clownish women on television. "Mimi Bobeck" was Drew Carey's blue-eye-shadow-wearing coworker and arch nemesis on "The Drew Carey Show," a part played by the comedic Kathy Kinney. It was Kinney's break-out role, and one that she says she is still recognized for two decades later, even without any of Mimi's signature heavy makeup.

"I'm recognized more often than I expect," Kinney tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" "I really enjoyed playing that character. Halloween every day, that's what it was like."

drew carey show

She was used to spending hours in the makeup chair, but in her personal life, Kinney takes a very different approach to cosmetics than the heavily adorned Mimi. "I barely, barely wear lip gloss," she says. "I think I look very Amish and plain."

kathy kinney

For nine years, Kinney played Mimi -- a role that she says was supposed to be "a one-shot deal" -- and became close with cast members like Carey and Diedrich Bader, who played Drew's buddy Oswald. "We did become a family," she says. "We don't get to see each other as often [now], but when we do... you always remember, 'Gee, I love you.'... We do still see each other. We are bonded, all of us, forever."

But with the series now behind her, Kinney has taken on a character that's vastly different from the insult-hurling, over-the-top Mimi. She portrays a bespectacled redheaded Irishwoman named Mrs. P. on the free children's online storybook video site MrsP.com. "It's me reading classic children's stories to children," she explains.

kathy kinney

It's a project Kinney hold close to her heart. "I think that everything that I am and everything that I've achieved in life is because of what I read. Because I'm a reader. I'm an obsessive reader," she says. "I'm not talking about Stephen Hawking [books]... I'm just talking about trash. I'll just read anything because it exercises my imagination."

Kinney also writes, and a few years ago, she released her first book, Queen of Your Own Life. "I think it's a great bathroom book, frankly," she deadpans. "I always tell everybody, 'Keep it in the bathroom and just read a little bit at a time.'"

At the heart of the book is a lesson that the star has learned throughout her 60 years. "Women have a tendency to compare their insides to someone else's outsides. And when you do that, you're always going to lose that game," Kinney says. "I'm really grateful that I'm one of the women who's getting better as I get older."

"Oprah: Where Are They Now?" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on OWN. Find OWN on your TV.




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Christian Bale Won't Play Steve Jobs After All

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Less than two weeks after Aaron Sorkin said that Christian Bale would play Steve Jobs in the screenwriter's forthcoming biopic about the late Apple co-founder, Bale has dropped from the project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bale "came to the conclusion he was not right for the part and decided to withdraw" before negotiations began. Sony, the studio releasing the film, had no comment on the THR report when contacted by HuffPost Entertainment.

Bale becomes the second high-profile star to bail on Sorkin's film within the last month. Back in October, Leonardo DiCaprio, who had been in talks to play Jobs, pulled himself out of consideration as well.

"We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that’s Chris Bale," Sorkin said to Bloomberg Television in a recent interview when asked about the Jobs role. "He really is a phenomenal actor."

It's unclear who will replace Bale as the lead of the film, but other actors once rumored included Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Last week, it was also reported that Seth Rogen was in talks to play Steve Wozniak, but that casting has not been confirmed at this time.

Danny Boyle, meanwhile, is still set to direct the film. He replaced David Fincher, who was initially attached to the project. When Fincher departed back in April, THR noted that he had wanted Bale to play the lead role as well.

For more, head to THR.

Dina And Caroline Manzo Get Blunt About Family Feud

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Dina and Caroline Manzo are both getting blunt about their ongoing family feud, but each woman has a different version of events.

Dina discussed her family feud -- involving Caroline, their sister-in-law, "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Jacqueline Laurita, and their brother, Chris -- during Part 1 of the "RHONJ" reunion, which aired Sunday. As a result of the tension, Dina does not have a relationship with her nephew, Nicholas.

"Nicholas doesn't know me," she said. "I have to say what hurts me more is my daughter [Lexie]. [Chris is] her godfather and she grew up with him. I'm more bothered for the kids that understand. She's so innocent in all this. Lexie's such a good girl. I invited everybody to Lexie's graduation party and [they didn't come]."

Dina said she doesn't know if she will go to the wedding of Caroline's daughter, Lauren, since she was not invited to the engagement party.

Caroline went on "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen and gave her side of the story, saying Dina wasn't invited to the party for good reason.

"Over the past four years, five years, Dina has never attended any family function at all," Caroline attested. "We've got nieces and nephews that are 3, 4, 5 years old, 9 months old, that she doesn't know. She didn't go to my brother Jamie's wedding. Babies were born, baptisms, graduations, birthdays ... Not just [in my family]. Not just Chris. My nieces, my nephews, along the line. To single that out is insane."

Apparently, Dina told Chris she could only have a relationship with him without Jacqueline.

"This is a man that has a son that has special needs, and you're saying for him to leave his wife in order for you to have a relationship with?" Caroline said. Adding: "I want my family back. I have done everything in my power to make that happen and so have the rest of us. Dina has to grow up."

RadarOnline.com reported Jacqueline may return to "RHONJ" as a full-time cast member next season after making cameos during Season 6. Dina has criticized Jacqueline for teasing their family drama as a Season 7 storyline.

"I will not be doing this for a storyline and 'Housewives,'" she said in a YouTube confessional. "This goes much deeper and is much more important to me than that."

Tom Hanks Is Writing A Book Of Short Stories

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Tom Hanks, who needs no introduction unless you've literally never seen a movie, will add "published author" to his long list of accomplishments sometime in the near future. Just weeks after The New Yorker published his first short story, the actor and filmmaker has inked a deal with publishing house Alfred A. Knopf.

The collection of short stories will be inspired by his longtime fascination with typewriters -- evidenced by an essay he's written about the benefits of different models, and an app he's announced that creates a typewriter-like experience for its users -- and will relate directly to photos of his typewriter collection. Let the "You've Got (Typewritten) Mail" jokes commence.

Hanks will join a glut of actors-turned-short fiction writers, including James Franco (author of Palo Alto) and B.J. Novak (author of One More Thing). The former's attempt to write books led to an onslaught of jabs about keeping his day job, while the latter's was generally well-received. The fate of Hanks' collection -- which hasn't been given a title yet -- remains to be seen. But if the stories don't differ much from the one he published in The New Yorker last month, which Slate described as "shopworn ideas about technology [...] wrapped in too-clever lit mag-ese," the outlook isn't great.

Hoodie Allen And Ed Sheeran Team Up As Superheroes In Silly New Music Video

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We're all about this fun and catchy display of teamwork.

Rapper Hoodie Allen and British pop sensation Ed Sheeran have released a playful new video for their track "All About It."

The two don superhero costumes, smash watermelons and set off rockets while their catchy collaboration plays in the background. And if they look like they're having a blast, there's a reason: The "No Interruption" vocalist and the fiery-haired musician are friends.

“The ‘All About It’ video was definitely one of my favorite videos to shoot," Allen told BuzzFeed News, "because I got to hang out with my friend, and act silly and outrageous in costumes."

Allen's Twitter account shows the two of them clowning around on set:




After this video, these two are a pair we can get down with.

Tom Cruise Isn't Jumping On Couches Anymore, He's Hanging Off Planes

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In case you didn't know: Tom Cruise does his own stunts.

And for his latest trick, the 52-year-old actor -- wearing a tailored gray suit and dress shoes -- clings to the fuselage of an Airbus A400M as it soars 5,000 feet in the air, according to The Daily Mail. Why did he do this, you may ask? Well, for his most recent turn as spy Ethan Hunt in "Mission: Impossible 5," of course.

Granted Cruise was strapped in with two safety harnesses as he flew over rural British airspace, but, come on, who allowed one of world's most beloved and revered actors to do this? (We'd like to check their heart rate.)

It's nothing new for the action star, though: Cruise dangled 1,700 feet from the side of the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, for 2011's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol."

"The reason that I do [the stunts] is, it's a challenge, but it's also a part of storytelling," Cruise said during a press conference for "Ghost Protocol." "It's something that I do because I feel for the audience, that they'll really enjoy it more if they see me doing it in the camera. And I think that it adds a wonderful element of storytelling and that's really the reason why we push ourselves both in telling the story and in doing those things to make it as exciting for the audience as possible."

To see photos of Tom Cruise hanging on for dear life, head over to Daily Mail.

Are The Beatles & Jay Z Really The Biggest Artists In Music History?

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There are few artists who exist on the same plane as the Beatles, but when it comes to determining the most productive, best-selling musicians, Jay Z is right up there with the boys from Liverpool.

Concert Hotels gathered the Billboard chart history of every artist who has achieved at least five No. 1 studio albums, producing an interactive infographic. When sorted by greatest number of No. 1 albums, the Beatles take the top spot with 14. Jay Z comes in a close second with 12 albums (not counting his "Watch the Throne" album with Kanye West), followed by Barbara Streisand, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen with nine albums. However, when you switch to "hit rate," or greatest number of No. 1 albums out of the number of albums they have released, Beyonce takes the top spot, going six for six. Kanye West comes in second with six out of seven, Jay Z falls down to the fourth spot, and the Beatles to the ninth spot.

So what matters more: the greater quantity or consistency?



via Concert Hotels

Rare Photos From 45 Years Of Martin Scorsese Movies

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"Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective" was published by Abrams last month, and its a must-read for cinephiles of all ages. Written by Tom Shone, the book includes anecdotes about all of Scorsese's films and rare, behind-the-scenes photos from his life as a filmmaker. HuffPost Entertainment has 10 of those pictures to share below, from Scorsese's assistant director work on the 1970 documentary "Woodstock" through 2013's "The Wolf of Wall Street." Enjoy!

Susanne Bartsch Curates MoMA PS1 HalloQueens! Halloween Ball And Afterparty

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Wherever you spent your All Hallows Eve, we bet it wasn't as glamorously over-the-top as this.

New York City nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch pulled out all the stops this year, curating not only the annual MoMA PS1 Halloween ball but a massive after party at the Anable Basin Warehouse a half mile away.

With this being the third year that Bartsch collaborated with MoMA PS1 for the HalloQueens! ball, thousands of outlandish attendees poured through the doors of the main event and the after party throughout the night until close to sunrise.

We were there, along with photographer Santiago Felipe, to catch all the action at the otherworldly warehouse space following the ball itself. Bartsch lined up a number of her usual artist party collaborators to build installations for the event, including gage of the boone, Muffinhead, Scooter LaForge and one-half NelSon.

The host list for the warehouse after-party was also extensive, encompassing Joey Arias, Jeremy Kost, Earl Dax, Michael Musto, Ryan Burke, Domonique Echeverria, Amanda Lepore, Daughters of Devotion, Erickatoure Aviance, Dylan Monroe, Trey LaTrash, Merrie Cherry, Jessica Love and Thorgy Thor, among others.

Check out a selection of images from the warehouse after party below.



Moving Student Photos Document School-To-Prison Pipeline

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In Washington, D.C.'s public schools, African-American students are almost six times as likely to be suspended or expelled as their white classmates. Students with disabilities are also disciplined at higher rates than their peers.

But a group of local students is hoping to use their artwork to change that.

Students participating in a program with the nonprofit group Critical Exposure contend that disciplinary practices in the District's public schools contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, which pushes minority and vulnerable students out of school and into the penal system.

For the past two years, Critical Exposure has brought students together to document the problems in their school district through more than just data and numbers. The students use photography and multimedia projects to depict the difficulty their peers face in finishing school as a result of tough disciplinary policies. Some of the student photographers have been suspended at some point during their educations, and many have seen friends and peers suspended for minor infractions.

“They see what happens when students get 10 days out of school with suspensions, how students get in trouble with the criminal justice system and juvenile justice system and how it snowballs from there,” said Adam Levner, the executive director and co-founder of Critical Exposure, in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.

Scroll down to see the students' photos.

Levner said that members of his organization's 2012-2013 after-school fellowship class identified the school-to-prison pipeline as a problem they wanted to document. The 2013-2014 fellows then chose to continue the project, while other program leaders brought the idea to individual schools as well. (The current class of fellows has not yet decided what it will be documenting.)

Since then, Critical Exposure students have testified at public hearings about the issue and had a series of meetings with D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. They also successfully worked this year to establish a pilot restorative justice program, which emphasizes discussion and conflict resolution over suspensions and expulsions, at a local high school.

Malik Thompson, 19, was involved with Critical Exposure throughout his high school career. He has experienced firsthand the impact of "school pushout." Following his older brother's death several years ago, when Thompson was in the ninth grade, he says he stopped going to his citywide, application-only high school. After several months of truancy, and what he describes as “minimal efforts” from school administrators to draw him back in, Thompson says he received a letter from the school informing him that he was no longer enrolled.

“Basically, I was kicked out,” Thompson told HuffPost.

The next year, Thompson became involved in Critical Exposure after seeing a flyer at his new school. He is now an intern at the Gandhi Institute in Rochester, New York, a nonprofit that helps promote racial justice and nonviolence education. There, he facilitates workshops for young people in schools while leading photography and videography efforts.

Thompson, who ended up finishing his high school career in a home-school program, also advocates for the expansion of restorative justice programs in schools.

Restorative justice, he said, "creates [a culture] where the entire student –- like what happened outside the school and during school -- is acknowledged and taken into account."

Thompson continued, “I think more programs like Critical Exposure should exist where young people have avenues to begin to experience their own power, to work collaboratively together with adult supporters in order to make change in their world."

"Critical Exposure was essential to me becoming the person I am today," he added.

Below are photos from Critical Exposure’s students, representing how they see the school-to-prison pipeline in their everyday lives, provided to HuffPost by Critical Exposure. All photo captions were written by individual photographers, but have been edited and condensed for clarity.

This Is Why There Are No Sex Scenes In 'Nightcrawler'

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Jake Gyllenhaal is winning rave reviews for his kinetic performance in "Nightcrawler" -- he may even break into the Oscar race -- but there's one thing you definitely won't see in the acclaimed new film: Gyllenhaal's character having sex.

Though Gyllenhaal's freelance journalist, Lou Bloom, succeeds in propositioning another character, played by Rene Russo, for some intimacy in "Nightcrawler," the act does not appear on screen. HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri asked Gyllenhaal and "Nightcrawler" director Dan Gilroy about the omission during a Monday interview.

Apparently when it comes to Gyllenhaal's creepy character, the mere idea of him in bed is much more interesting than anything the production could have dreamed up.

"I can tell you that there were financiers who wanted to put up the money if we put the sex scene in, and I specifically said no," Gilroy said. "I said, 'There's nothing we could show that would match whatever you're imagining is going on behind closed doors.'"

See Gyllenhaal and Gilroy discuss the absence of sex in "Nightcrawler" in the video above, and click here for the full HuffPost Live conversation.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live's new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

'RIP Taylor Swift' Mural Mourns The Death Of New York City

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When Taylor Swift was named New York City’s “global welcome ambassador” last week by the city’s tourism board, Kara Mullins and Osvaldo Jimenez had an idea.

The couple commissioned local graffiti legend Chico (aka Antonio Garcia) -- who they knew through mutual friends -- to paint a memorial for Swift on the gate outside their vintage clothing store, La Petite Mort, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side:

We here at LPM have nothing but love for Taylor Swift. Rather, our comment is on the whitewashing and gentrification of New York. While we realize and appreciate that New York is ever changing, when a starving artist once representative of the New York spirit is replaced by the modern 19 million dollar condo owner who drinks lattes we have to shake our heads. We worked with a true NY graffiti legend (Chico LES) to paint our take on the situation. Chico got his start painting memorial murals in the lower east side in the 80's. While Taylor Swift is alive and well, and we wish her no harm, she did kill off yet another piece of that broken New York spirit. The idea of her being our spokesperson is DEAD and we expressed that through a ny artist. RIP TAYLOR SWIFT. #RIPTAYLORSWIFT #chico #chicoles #nyambassador #taylorswift #w2ny #bodegas #stoops #lattes #houston #graffiti #newyork #nyc #les #fbf #instagood #lapetitemort #LPM #37orchard

A photo posted by La Petite Mort (@lapetitemortnyc) on



"We here at LPM have nothing but love for Taylor Swift,” Mullins and Jimenez explained in an Instagram post. “Rather, our comment is on the whitewashing and gentrification of New York. While we realize and appreciate that New York is ever changing, when a starving artist once representative of the New York spirit is replaced by the modern 19 million dollar condo owner who drinks lattes we have to shake our heads.”

“While Taylor Swift is alive and well, and we wish her no harm, she did kill off yet another piece of that broken New York spirit,” the post continued. “The idea of her being our spokesperson is DEAD and we expressed that through a true NY artist. RIP TAYLOR SWIFT.”

Chico got his start painting memorials in the LES back in the 1980s, and “RIP Taylor Swift” is a sendup of his own work, Mullins explained to HuffPost on Monday. In other words, “RIP Taylor Swift” really means “RIP New York.”

Even Chico, Mullins added, has been “priced out” of his New York City apartment. He painted the Swift mural last week before leaving the city and moving down to Florida.

Critics, however, have charged that a boutique clothing store in the LES can hardly cry about gentrification. “La Petite Mort sells $550 used Versace dresses where $20 girdle stores used to thrive just a decade ago,” wrote the Daily News’ Linda Stasi.

Mullins said that her store also sells cheap clothing like dresses for under $50, as well as work by local artists for as little as $1. They sell the expensive stuff to pay the ever-rising rent in the neighborhood.

Jimenez, her boyfriend and store co-owner, is a born-and-bred New Yorker from the South Bronx who has lived in the LES for the last two decades. He compared selling expensive vintage clothes to drug-dealing.

“Drug dealers used to just sell crack in the LES until a more upscale clientele moved in,” he said. “And then in order to survive they had to start selling cocaine. This is our coke."

La Petite Mort doubles as an art gallery, and later this month, Mullins and Jimenez said they will host a Chico for a retrospective of his work.
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