Celebrity couples
Singers Madison Beer, 16, and Jack Gilinsky, 18, reportedly are a romantic item and may be the youngest Jewish double-celeb couple ever. Mini bios: Beer, from Long Island, is a protégé of Justin Bieber’s; he saw her sing “At Last” on YouTube and tweeted her performance to his 25 million Twitter followers. She is now managed by Scooter Braun, 34, who discovered Bieber, also on YouTube. Beer now has 1 million Twitter followers of her own. Gilinsky, from Omaha, is half of the rap-pop duo Jack & Jack, best known for the 2014 song “Wild Life,” which hit No. 2 on iTunes.
The engagement of actress Alison Brie, 32 (“Community,” “Mad Men”), and actor Dave Franco, 30 (“Now You See Me”), recently became public. They’ve been a low-key item since 2012. Franco, who was born and raised in Palo Alto, is the brother of actor James Franco, 37, who posted a sweet photo of the two on Instagram, along with the caption “Congrats Davy and Allison!! Engaged!!! “I WUUUUUV YOU.” The Aug. 22 post came right after E! TV reported that Brie was engaged and wearing a very classy engagement ring. The ring was spotted at a screening of her new film “Sleeping with Other People,” which opens Sept. 11. It’s a romantic comedy about a nice womanizer (Jason Sudeikis) and a serial cheater (Brie) who form a platonic relationship that helps them reform their ways. Natasha Lyonne, 36, and Amanda Peet, 43, co-star. Franco, whose mother is Jewish, told Conan O’Brien in 2014 that he’s “proud to be Jewish.” Brie, whose mother is also Jewish, told podcaster Marc Maron in 2013, “My mother, God love her, is a very proud Jew and would always make sure we knew we were Jewish.”
Briefly noted
If Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 73, wins the New Hampshire presidential primary (or any other) next year, he’ll be the first Jew to win a major party’s presidential primary or caucus. Milton Shapp, the late governor of Pennsylvania, failed even to win his home state primary when he ran in 1976. In 2004, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, now 73, dropped out of the race after losing the New Hampshire primary (after serving as the first Jewish vice presidential candidate when he ran with Al Gore in 2000).
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8, and the first week’s guests include Scarlett Johansson, 30, on Wednesday and Amy Schumer, 34, on Friday. Travis Kalanick, 39, head of Bay Area-based Uber, will appear on Thursday. Kalanick’s mother is Jewish, but so far as I know, he’s never spoken publicly about his religious or ethnic identity.
“Rosenwald,” a documentary by Aviva Kempner, 68, opens in San Francisco and the East Bay on Sept. 11. Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) donated much of the fortune he made as head of Sears to a fund that aided black artists and built thousands of schools and YMCAs for African Americans. The film played at the recent San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, with coverage in J. on July 23 (www.tinyurl.com/j-rosenwald).
A feature on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” called “How Long?” involves a staged situation where someone (working for the show) seeks assistance from people passing on Hollywood Boulevard. Hidden cameras film the scene as a clock ticks off how long it takes before someone helps. On Aug. 24, the segment involved an actor in a SpongeBob suit falling on his back and pleading for help to get back up. Seven minutes go by. Several people take photos; one jogger just jumps over the prone SpongeBob. Finally, two yarmulke-wearing teenagers come along and help him up. SpongeBob joins hands with the teens and their friends and sings “Hava Nagila” as they all jump up and down in a hora-like circle. Kimmel’s comment: “It turned into a bar mitzvah out there.” View on YouTube at www.tinyurl.com/pakuucz.
Columnist Nate Bloom, an Oaklander, can be reached at [email protected].