6 degrees (no Bacon): Jewish celebrity roundup

Keys keeping Israel gig

(6NoBacon.com)—This girl is on fire—and she’s a woman with her own mind.

Alicia Keys said May 31 that she will perform in Tel Aviv on July 4, despite calls from some artists to nix the Israel gig.  

“I look forward to my first visit to Israel,” the R&B singer told The New York Times. “Music is a universal language that is meant to unify audiences in peace and love, and that is the spirit of our show.”

The appeal to Keys to boycott Israel came first from author Alice Walker in an open letter posted on the writer’s website.

“It would grieve me to know you are putting yourself in danger (soul danger) by performing in an apartheid country that is being boycotted by many global conscious artists,” wrote Walker, who won the Pulitzer Prize for “The Color Purple.”

Britney to the rescue for Bynes?

The meltdown of the once beloved Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes feels like sitting next to a crying baby on a plane—it’s annoying, it’s painful, it’s slow and we are stuck with it for what seems like an eternity.

But hey, we may as well report about it.

The latest was Amanda unleashing an inexplicable Twitter war against Rihanna, saying, “no one wants to be your lover so you call everyone and their mother that I almost named my new dog Rihanna.” She later deleted the tweets, not before getting a response from RiRi: “Ya see what happens when they cancel Intervention?”

In addition, Amanda turned to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and “kindly” wished that he would kill himself.

So who can help her? Australian blog Celebrity Fix is claiming that Britney Spears offered to help Bynes.

“Britney had a brief conversation with Amanda the week before her arrest and promised to personally help Amanda get her career back on track by helping her record music,” Celebrity Fix said.

Spears also reportedly recommended that Bynes takes the steps she took to recover from her public breakdown a few years ago—having her parents take guardianship.

“Britney also opened up to Amanda about her painful breakdown and about how she was so against her dad taking out a conservatorship—but she told Amanda that it wound up being a life, career and fortune saver.”

Could this be what Amanda needs, or is it just more fuel for this incredible fire? We’ll find out soon.

Help a ‘Girl’ Sing

Zosia Mamet, who plays Shoshanna on “Girls,” is the latest star to create a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a project.

Her goal, Gawker reports, is to raise $32,000 so she and her sister Clara Mamet—daughters of the playwright David Mamet—can make a music video. For those not tapped out from helping Zach Braff make a movie, $8,000 will buy Zosia’s director chair from Season 2 of “Girls” with Shoshanna stitched on the back. And for a mere $2,500, a signed banjo is all yours.

The Cabin Sisters, as they call themselves, say their video for “Bleak Love” will “bounce from opulence to sparseness, French Baroque to a simple, timeless and heartbroken.”

In other “Girls” news, Michael Zegen, the Jewish actor who played the Jewish gangster Bugsy Siegel on “Boardwalk Empire”—will join the cast next season, Vulture reports.

No news on whether he’ll be wooing Marnie now that Chris Abbot has jumped ship, but at least we can take comfort in the knowledge that the show is replenishing its cute guy stock.

For a preview of what you’ll be getting, check out “Frances Ha,” in which Zegen stars alongside another cute “Girls” guy, Adam Driver.

Rogen wants more ‘Freaks and Geeks’

“Arrested Development” fans who have begun season four (or already finished it—all 15 episodes were uploaded to Netflix at once on Sunday) have had the pleasure of watching Seth Rogen play a young, non-bald George Bluth Sr.

It seems taking part in the revival of a prematurely canceled cult TV series has gotten the Jewish actor thinking about reviving another prematurely canceled TV series, “Freaks and Geeks.” That show, which launched Rogen’s career, as well as the careers of fellow Jews James Franco and Jason Segel, was canceled in 2000 after just one season.

Rogen would love to bring back the entire cast, plus creator Paul Feig and executive producer Judd Apatow, for a new season, according to Shalom Life.

“If they were able to do that, I would be very open to doing more ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ ” Rogen told the Canadian Press on June 3 while promoting his new film, “This is the End.”

There’s already one big player unwilling to commit: Feig, who has said it probably could never work.

“I’ve never seen a good reunion—in real life or on film,” he told Digital Spy. “There’s always something that’s wrong. Half the time you’re just thinking, ‘Oh, look how old they are.’ ” 

After watching “Freaks and Geeks” star Linda Cardellini play Sylvia Rosen, Don’s middle-aged lover on “Mad Men,” we think maybe he’s right.

Pooches saved in the Negev 

The winners of this week’s “aww” awards goes to three adorable puppies who were rescued in Israel’s Negev Desert. Wendy, Winnie and Willie were found abandoned in a box of rotten tomatoes in the southern Israeli town of Netivot and rescued by a couple working as volunteers for canine welfare. 

After much cleaning, the canine trio is ready for adoption—one is already claimed—and we have a plethora of heartwarming photos of the three.

For the latest Jewish celebrity news, visit JTA’s 6 Degrees (No Bacon) blog.