Welcome to the Smart Set. Every morning we bring you the gossip coverage, filtered. Today: Alan Ball is stepping down as True Blood showrunner, the Stanley Cup is coming to Capitol Hill, and Sean Young's history of awards season mayhem.
There's talk that Natalie Portman may have secretly gone and married fiancee Benjamin Millepied because they were both spotted wearing new bands on the their ring fingers. Could such things be true? Portman's rep didn't respond to requests for comment. So maybe! [New York Daily News]
HBO confirmed that True Blood creator Alan Ball is stepping down as showrunner of the series at the end of the upcoming fifth season. In a statement, HBO was adamant they knew this was a possibility when they signed Ball to a new multiyear contract back in June, and that he was not ripping the jugular out of their dixie-set vampire show. As for Ball's reasons, Roger Friedman suggests "exhaustion, and maybe [a feeling] that the show seemed like it had tired blood last season," played a role in the decision. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Uma Thurman is once again pregnant. This is her third child, but first with financeer-type husband Arpad Busson. [People]It's worth noting that Sean Young's unpleasant ouster from the Governors Ball on Sunday night was not her first brush with awards season mayhem. In 2006, she used Jennifer Aniston's arrival as a chance to unsuccessfully attempt to crash the Vanity Fair after-party. Then, in 2008, she voluntarily checked into rehab after heckling Julian Schnabel at the DGA Awards, an incident that was tragically not captured on tape. [Page Six]
81-year-old billionaire George Soros is once again trying to have a lawsuit brought by his 28-year-old Brazilian soap star ex Adrianna Ferreyr dismissed. Ferreyr has said Soros went back on a promise to buy her a $1.9 million Manhattan apartment. In newly-filed court papers, Soros apparently argues she wasn't allowed to live there because they were already broken up by the time he bought it. He's also pushing back against her claim that he "threw a lamp" and "attempted to choke to her," noting that in a police report detailing the alleged incident, there was no mention of choking, and she also said the lamp fell. [Page Six]
The Stanley Cup is coming to Washington tomorrow, courtesy of Sen. John Kerry. Hooray! But there's one catch -- per Kerry's invitation, "only the "New England Delegation and staff" will be allowed to view Lord Stanley's Cup, which will be on display from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's hearing room. We understand that the Boston Bruins are reigning champions and all that, but why can't the other delegations pop in, just to look? [Heard on the Hill]
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