Spanx founder Sara Blakely will join B 98.5 FM Morning Show host Vikki Locke from 7 to 9 a.m. Thursday morning.

Since her on-air companion Kelly Stevens is out for a while, recovering from serious injuries he suffered in a head-on collision on Georgia 400, Locke and Morning Show producer Jessica Forkel have reached out to welcome guest co-hosts. Longtime Channel 2 anchor Monica Pearson joined them the other day and was in the studio when Kelly proposed to his girlfriend Katie!

On Thursday Sara will discuss her business prowess and fashion savvy among other topics. Earlier this year, Forbes magazine announced that she had become the youngest woman on its “billionaires” list.

Sara received a very special gift from her BFF and fellow billionaire Oprah Winfrey when she “joined the club.” Tune in Thursday to find out what it was!

Continue reading Spanx founder Sara Blakely to guest DJ on B 98.5 »

AP

Jennifer Lawrence, who plays central character Katniss in “The Hunger Games” movies, is in Atlanta to film sequel “Catching Fire.”

She’s been in town for a couple of weeks and has been spotted a couple of times already enjoying Atlanta’s cuisine scene.

The other day she and fellow cast members including Philip Seymour Hoffman, who will play Plutarch Heavensbee in “Catching Fire,” had dinner at Lure. Tuesday night she had dinner at Watershed.

The new Peachtree Road location of Watershed, which moved from Decatur, has quickly become a go-to spot for visiting celebs. In recent months the staff has served its famous fried chicken and other Southern comfort vittles to a slew of bold names, including Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Jane Fonda and Vince Vaughn.

Continue reading “Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence spotted … where? »

Photo courtesy of the Georgia Aquarium and SharpShooter Imaging

Jennifer Lopez was here in Atlanta late last month to perform at Philips Arena with Enrique Iglesias.

(Here’s the concert review my colleague Melissa Ruggieri wrote after the show. And here’s a gallery of photos from the performance.)

Lopez is no stranger to Atlanta, having spent some time here last year filming the ensemble comedy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

Looks like J-Lo had time for a little fun during her more recent visit to town, during a family visit to the Georgia Aquarium. Here they are meeting harbor seals.

- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com

Continue reading Jennifer Lopez at the Georgia Aquarium »

Photo Credit: Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood appears on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show today to discuss, among other things, his Republican National Convention address involving an empty chair.

“It was an interesting reaction, actually,” Eastwood says during his visit with DeGeneres, according to an advance transcript provided by the show. “The Democrats who were watching thought I was going senile and the Republicans knew I was. It was actually, just trying to enjoy myself along the way.”

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airs at 4 p.m. weekdays on WXIA.

Eastwood stars in “Trouble With the Curve,” which was filmed in and around Atlanta and which comes out Friday. The movie’s director Robert Lorenz was in Atlanta recently discussing the film and said of Eastwood’s RNC appearance, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?” Here’s a link to our interview with Lorenz.

While he was in town Eastwood visited the East Lake Golf Club and checked out jazzman Joe …

Continue reading Clint Eastwood discusses RNC appearance on “Ellen DeGeneres Show” »

Trina Braxton strikes her signature pose.

Viewers have gotten to know more about Trina Braxton and her sisters on the WE channel show “Braxton Family Values.” Now they’ll have an opportunity to hear her sing solo.

Trina has just released the video for “Party or Go Home.”

“You have no idea how excited I am,” she told us the other day when we got together to talk about her solo singing career. “It’s like a new baby. This is not to be conceited but I listen to my song when I work out! It gives me that extra push on the treadmill or elliptical.”

She’s not unfamiliar with the recording industry, of course, having performed in a back-up capacity for her sister Toni. But recording on her own has been a new experience.

“When you’re doing it yourself, it’s humbling,” said Trina, who keeps up with her more than 173,000 fans (or “Boom Booms” as she lovingly calls them) on Twitter with regular updates. You can follow her here.

Here’s the video (look closely to see if you can spot other …

Continue reading Trina Braxton releases solo video »

“Hunger Games” cast members Woody Harrelson and Donald Sutherland are the latest to be spotted in Atlanta, as the sequel “Catching Fire” is about to film here.

A tipster saw Harrelson at the Atlanta Arts Festival on Sunday. He sat through a set by musician Erick Baker and then chatted him up afterward. That’s Harrelson in the white T-shirt in this photo.

One of my Twitter buddies saw Sutherland at the Ponce Whole Foods juice bar on Saturday.

Alan Ritchson and Lynn Cohen stopped in (separately) to Cucina Asellina in the past few days.

Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman also have been spotted in Atlanta. We’re told “Catching Fire” will film some scenes in Atlanta, at the Georgia World Congress Center and the Goat Farm Arts Center. It also will film in north Georgia.

Continue reading Spotted: “Hunger Games” cast members Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland »

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Oz on the set of his show.

First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Dr. Oz show to discuss healthy eating and wound up challenging him to a jump rope competition. (Actually they pointedly did not compete.)

Mrs. Obama called obesity and its related medical issues a national health crisis and said her interested in combatting childhood obesity started at home.

“It was really a personal issue for me,” she said. “As a mother with little kids when we were coming to the White House … I found we were eating out more than we probably should have… I wasn’t paying as much attention as I needed to to portion sizes and all the things that get out of hand.”

The family’s pediatrician alerted Mrs. Obama to possible changes in her daughters’ weight. Eliminating processed foods, adding more vegetables and keeping the girls active turned things around quickly, she said.

The First Lady said that at the White House the First Family eats a lot of fish and …

Continue reading First Lady Michelle Obama works out with Dr. Oz »

AP photo

Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen are in Atlanta to film “Scary Movie 5.”

The actress was spotted Tuesday in the Living Room patio at the Midtown W hotel. She was wearing a long, flowing dress and slipper type shoes, we’re told.

“She seemed happy and was having drinks with three friends,” our tipster reports.

The movie also stars Charlie Sheen and so far has filmed at the downtown location of Slice. E! Online posted photos of Sheen and Lohan and described the set as “trouble-free” so far.

Sheen has spent a fair amount of time in Atlanta in the past. He and his now amicable ex Denise Richards were here earlier this year with their kids while she filmed a role in Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Witness Protection.” They visited the Georgia Aquarium and posed for family photos in front of the whale shark tank during that visit.

Last year, Sheen was here with his Tiger Blood-Goddess-Winning road show, which he “performed,” if you can call it that, at the Fox Theatre. My colleague …

Continue reading Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen in Atlanta to film “Scary Movie 5″ »

Congrats Kelly and Katie!

B 98.5 FM host Kelly Stevens is still recovering following a head-on collision on 400 in which the wrong-way driver died.

The wreck left him seriously injured but thankful for every day, and aware of how short and fragile life is. So this week, with the help of his on-air companions Vikki Locke and Jessica Forkel - plus visiting “guest DJ” Monica Pearson, Stevens proposed to his girlfriend Katie Buser.

“Realizing that tomorrow is promised to no one and that life is way too short I decided to propose to Katie this morning…and thank God she said yes!” Stevens posted on his Facebook fan page. “Just wish it hadn’t taken a near death-experience to show me the way.”

Here’s a video clip in case you missed it!

Continue reading B 98.5 host Kelly Stevens proposes on air »

Director Robert Lorenz, left, and actor Clint Eastwood on the set of "Trouble With the Curve," which was filmed in and around Atlanta. It comes out Sept. 21. Photo credit: Keith Bernstein

Actors do all sorts of things to drum up publicity before movies come out.

They hit the road for national media blitzes, as Liam Hemsworth and other members of “The Hunger Games” did earlier this year, appearing at Lenox Square before throngs of screaming fans. (He’s back, by the way, to film “Catching Fire.”) Or they host charity events, like preteen star Bailee Madison did this summer, participating in a Roswell boutique’s lemonade sale to benefit cancer research as her Hallmark movie “Smart Cookies” was about to debut.

And sometimes they talk to empty chairs in crowded arenas on live national television. Oh wait. That’s just Clint Eastwood.

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?” quipped Robert Lorenz, director of “Trouble With the Curve.” The movie, in theaters now, was shot in …

Continue reading Clint Eastwood’s unorthodox pre-”Trouble With the Curve” media blitz »