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Lindsay Lohan’s Confessional

She’s not a ‘huge drinker.’ She’s only done cocaine ‘four or five’ times. And rehab’s ‘a joke.’ Marlow Stern on the biggest revelations from Lohan’s lengthy interview with Piers Morgan in The Mail on Sunday.

“I met Lindsay Lohan for the first time on the day of this interview, in a borrowed luxury townhouse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York,” writes Piers Morgan. “She was wearing bright striped pyjamas, smoking a cigarette and talking very fast.” Thus begins a 90-minute interview between Morgan, host of CNN’s Piers Morgan Live, and the troubled actress. The sit-down was conducted about a month ago and published in The Mail on Sunday.

People Lindsay Lohan

Actress Lindsay Lohan, a cast member in “Scary Movie V,” at the premiere of the film in Los Angeles on April 11. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

The discussion between Lohan and Morgan touched on a variety of topics, including her drug history—cocaine, ecstasy, etc.; her relationship with Samantha Ronson; whether her parents are culpable; why she needs therapy; and more. Here are the most eye-opening revelations.

Classics Revised

Gatsby Before He Was Great

What Fitzgerald’s first version reveals about the great American dreamer.

EVERY TWO dozen years or so, an adaptation of The Great Gatsby appears on the silver screen: in 1926, 1949, 1974, and now. If this fourth effort, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is to serve a purpose at all, it would be to send us back to the brooding grandeur of the original text, containing “a great deal of underlying thought of unusual quality,” as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s editor Maxwell Perkins had described it.

So-books

Warner Bros. Pictures

But the book that rolled out under the night in roaring 1925 was not the original. The Great Gatsby actually began with a manuscript that Fitzgerald had submitted a year earlier with the title “Trimalchio,” after the parvenu who threw wild orgies in Petronius’s Roman novel Satyricon. As it turns out, the cleft between this first draft and the finished one is what separates the great Gatsby from the vague Gatsby, since even Fitzgerald once called his man of mystery “blurred and patchy.” Crucially, in “Trimalchio,” nothing is known of Gatsby’s past until he gushes about it after Myrtle’s death, already late in the novel. So Fitzgerald got to work. He carved up Gatsby’s overdue confession, cast it throughout the book, and reported to Perkins that he had at last brought Gatsby to life.

Culture

Already Famous

Do the Tonys care about originality?

EVEN IF you haven’t made it to Broadway lately, you’ll likely recognize the names of this year’s Tony nominees for best musical: Bring It On, A Christmas Story, Kinky Boots, and Matilda. For the first time, each of the nominees is based on a movie or a text with an already famous film adaptation.

begley tonys

Joan Marcus

Regurgitating blockbuster material has become standard for Broadway—and it seems to pay off. In 2010, for instance, all the nominees for best musical were of the “jukebox” variety—squeezing one artist or era’s hits into a plot. Textbook example: the ABBA hit parade Mamma Mia! The last truly original—not book-, not movie-, not pop-song-inspired—musical to win was In the Heights in 2008. It saw moderate success and closed after almost three years. By contrast, The Lion King opened in 1997 and continues to gross over $1.7 million per week on average.

Direct to Video

6 Best Music Videos of the Week

Jason Derulo busts out his dance moves. Mika draws out his inner Goth. WATCH VIDEO of the most entertaining, breathtaking, and bizarre music videos released this week.

In this week’s top music video picks, we take a journey through a surprisingly joyful Gilligan’s Island shipwreck, a futuristic society, and a very bad day. From hip-hop to electronic and indie rock, and featuring artists like The D.O.T. and Sub Focus, see which music videos are becoming viral.

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Empire of the Sun: “Alive”

A new documentary gets up close and personal with tennis's top duo. Nicholas McCarvel on what he learned about their mystery sibling, Serena’s outbursts—and an alter ego named Taquanda.

There is a moment most of the way through Venus and Serena, a new documentary about the Williams sisters, in which Serena lists the different personalities she sometimes takes on.

Serena and Venus Williams

Serena Williams (left) and Venus Williams smile together on the podium after receiving their gold medals in women’s doubles at London’s 2012 Summer Olympics. (Elise Amendola/AP)

There’s Psycho Serena (“She’s awesome”), which is her on-court demeanor. Then there’s Summer (“She helps me out a lot”), who does menial tasks and errands. There’s fashionable Serena, who films the tennis star’s appearances on HSN. There’s Megan (“She’s really mean … you don’t want to run into Megan”), who seems to be a cast member from Mean Girls. And then there’s Taquanda (“Taquanda is rough … She’s not Christian”). Then Serena adds, “She was at the U.S. Open in 2009.”

Watch This!

The Week in Viral Videos

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Obama gets funny at ‘Nerd Prom,’ Jason Collins comes out, and San Diego high school students get suspended for twerking. WATCH our countdown of the week’s best and buzziest videos.

10. ‘This Is Freaking Awesome’

Twenty dollars may be a lot of money for the average 9-year-old, but for mini-rap-star Sophia Grace and hype girl Rosie, it’s just another day at the “Thrift Shop.” The duo first stole hearts and took names with their Nicki Minaj “Super Bass” tribute on Ellen and have returned to take on Macklemore.

She's Back

We Love Drunken Reese

The actress was handcuffed after a wine-soaked tirade against a police officer. Then humiliating video of the incident leaked. And she’s never been more likable!

Reese Witherspoon got arrested for being a belligerent drunk, and it is the best thing that could have ever happened to her.

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Adrian Sanchez/AFP/Getty

Typically, when a celebrity is arrested, especially when drinking and even more especially when drinking and driving are involved, it’s a publicity nightmare. Words like “doomed,” “career-ending,” and “toxic” may be thrown around. But as more reports about Witherspoon’s run-in with the police emerge, including recently leaked video footage of the whole ordeal, the words being used to describe the would-be fiasco are “terrific,” “fantastic,” and “funny.” The Atlantic wonders, “Is it wrong to be charmed by Reese Witherspoon’s drunk-driving tirade?”

Shake It, Shake It

This Is How You Twerk

The suspension of 33 high schoolers for a homemade ‘twerking’ video has sent the Internet into a butt-thumping tizzy. What’s this bootylicious bouncing all about? The Daily Beast breaks down the art of the twerk.

The twerking-induced suspension of 33 high school students in San Diego has brought the crazy, sexy, coolness of butt-jiggling to center stage. As the booty-shaking storm heats up, some are still scratching wondering: What is it?

I can't stop twerking, Big Freedia dancers

New Orleans bounce artist Big Freedia's dancers perform during the 2012 Hangout Music Festival on May 20, 2012 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (Erika Goldring/Getty)

The Wikipedia definition of twerking is, oddly, perfect. “Twerking is a dance move that involves a person shaking their hips and bottom in a bouncy up and down motion causing it to shake, wobble, and jiggle.”

‘WTF’

Marc Maron in Real Life

Marc Maron takes his popular podcast ‘WTF’ to IFC in his new scripted comedy, ‘Maron,’ out today. He dishes to Jean Trinh on angry comics, his love for LCD Soundsystem, and more.

“I’ve been on Conan O’Brien like 47 times, and you don’t know who I am, right?”

Marc Maron

Stand-up comedian and podcast host Marc Maron poses for a portrait April 11 in New York. His new TV series “Maron” premieres tonight on IFC. (Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

Marc Maron says this to his veterinarian the opening moments of the first episode of Maron—premiering on IFC tonight at 10 p.m.—in an attempt to impress her as she takes a look at his cat. However, this statement isn’t a fictionalized or even exaggerated part of his new scripted show; Maron has been on O’Brien’s shows more than any other comedian. A veteran in the comedy game, he’s performed stand-up around the country and has recorded specials for HBO and Comedy Central Presents. With a strong cult following backing his popular podcast, a new TV show based on his life, and a memoir, Attempting Normal, released earlier this week, it’s safe to say Maron isn’t an unknown.

Lately

TODAY'S STORIES

Homage to James Turrell’s Light

Homage to James Turrell’s Light

Jean Trinh explores LACMA’s retrospective on James Turrell’s career and talks to the artist about light-play.

Cinema

Cannes' Great Directors Polanski and Jarmusch

Listen Up

10 Great Bands You've Never Heard

Direct to Video

8 Best Music Videos of the Week

The American Dream

Cannes Standout ‘The Immigrant’

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Jimmy Fallon's 'Game of Desks'

First it was 'The Jersey Floor'. Then there was 'Downton Sixbey'. Check out this clip from his epic new parody, in case you missed it Friday night.

  1. Will & Jaden Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff & Alfonso Ribeiro Rap! Play

    Will & Jaden Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff & Alfonso Ribeiro Rap!

  2. 'Arrested Development:' F*** Yea! Play

    'Arrested Development:' F*** Yea!

  3. The Amanda Bynes Meltdown Play

    The Amanda Bynes Meltdown

Elsewhere

Fashion Beast

Elsewhere

The Royalist