Gordon Ramsay, not to be outdone by rival chef Jamie Oliver, recently announced that he, too, would soon be establishing his first Hong Kong restaurant. Slated to open in September, in Central’s LKF Tower, it will be a collaboration between the hottempered celebrity and local operator Dining Concepts but its name and style of cuisine have yet to be revealed. The announcement follows hot on the heels of another Ramsay revelation, his new haircut: a style that looks as though it has been created with a pudding bowl and a rusty potato peeler. Ramsay once raised two lambs for The F Word kitchen, naming one of them after Welsh warbler Charlotte Church …
In 1999, aged 13, Church was asked to sing at news tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s wedding in New York, and was offered a performance fee of £100,000. In 2011, following Murdoch’s News International phone-hacking scandal, Church told the Leveson Inquiry that her management had pressured her into waiving the fee in return for the promise of good press in Murdoch’s papers. In an episode of her television talk show, The Charlotte Church Show, she mocked Catholicism by dressing up as a nun and branding the Pope a Nazi. On the receiving end of the slur was German-born Benedict XVI …
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger would not have got much popeing done between 2005 and 2013 if he’d introduced himself with his full job title: His Holiness Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God. During a visit to Venezuela in 2006, he was presented with a portrait of 19th-century South American independence leader Simon Bolivar, by leftist populist leader Hugo Chavez …
Before losing his long battle with cancer, aged 58, Chavez described the microblogging service Twitter as “a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution”. The Venezuelan president had a Twitter account with more than three million followers, and a team of 200 to sort through comments left for the leader. Revered by some and reviled by others, Chavez was championed by various Hollywood stars and was called “one of the most important forces we’ve had on this planet” by a good friend and long-term supporter, Sean Penn …
Known for his social and political activism, Penn won an Academy Award in 2008 for his portrayal of gay-rights icon Harvey Milk, using his acceptance speech to endorse same-sex marriage. “I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone!” Penn celebrated his 50th birthday with family and friends in Dublin, Ireland, at a party organised by U2 frontman Bono …
When questioned on his faith and his perception of Jesus, avid philanthropist and mega rockstar Paul David Hewson – himself often accused of having an arrogant god complex – replied, “[Jesus] went around saying he was the Messiah. He was crucified because he said he was the Son of God. So, he either, in my view, was the Son of God or he was nuts.” Along with rapper Jay-Z, Bono is one of the celebrity owners of The Spotted Pig, a New York gastropub that was scheduled to open a branch in Britain until the name was controversially trademarked by Gordon F***ing Ramsay.
