1. “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.” This is according to Justin Bieber himself, who, entourage at his side, visited the Anne Frank House on Saturday while on tour and scribbled the message in the museum’s guest book. The teen heartthrob, who, aside from the unnerving display of egocentrism, lacks any kind of historical awareness, should probably get one of his cronies to write a more appropriate message next time. Maybe this is what happens when you are forced into show business as a young child, without any choice in the situation? [Vulture]
2. Rick Ross, the rapper whose lyrics insinuating rape in a recent verse have caused controversy, has finally issued a formal apology — of course, only after he has come under constant scrutiny and was dropped by sneaker company Reebok. “To every woman that has felt the sting of abuse, I apologize,” said Ross (or most likely his publicist) in a statement. “I recognize that as an artist I have a voice and with that, the power of influence. To the young men who listen to my music, please know that using a substance to rob a woman of her right to make a choice is not only a crime, it’s wrong and I do not encourage it.” [Pitchfork]
3. Baseball drama “42,” about the legendary Jackie Robinson, made a surprising dent at the box office this weekend, taking in about $27.3 million. Legendary Entertainment, according to the New York Times, “spent a relatively modest $38 million to make the film, which performed best among older men, the hardest demographic for studios to reach.” Coming in second place was “Scary Movie V,” a movie we didn’t even know existed, bringing in $15.2 million. [Artsbeat]
4. Late last week, legendary comedian Jonathan Winters died in his sleep from natural causes. He was 87 years old. Winters, “a pioneer of improvisational standup comedy,” was known as a master mimic, and became famous for his routines on the Jack Parr show, among others. Rubber-faced comedians like Robin Williams and Jim Carrey have admitted their debt to Winters over the years (Williams helped Winters get cast in the final season of “Mork and Mindy”). “First he was my idol, then he was my mentor and amazing friend,” Williams wrote. “I’ll miss him huge. He was my Comedy Buddha. Long live the Buddha.” Winters’ wife, Eileen, died in 2009. He is survived by two children, Lucinda Winters and Jay Winters. [AP]
5. Coachella headliners Phoenix brought out R. Kelly as their special guest, and together they launched into mash-up versions of “1901″/”Ignition” and “Chloroform”/”I’m a Flirt.” Phoenix has a new album, “Bankrupt,” out of April 23, and R.Kelly… well, we’re sure he’s doing things we don’t want to know about. Watch the video below. [Stereogum]
Previously: Rachel McAdams, Rick Ross, Guggenheim Fellowships, B.J. Novak, Major Lazer
Image: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
