6 degrees (no Bacon): Jewish celebrity roundup

Silverman’s dad rips JAPs

NEW YORK—Thanks to the cultural gem that is “Princesses: Long Island,” lately the term JAP—Jewish American Princess—has been bandied around with a vigor that hasn’t been seen since the lavish bat mitzvah and nose job-filled days of our adolescence.

Those not happy about the development have company in Donald Silverman, the father of JAC (Jewish American Comedian) Sarah Silverman. The elder Silverman finds it infuriating that anyone would proudly own a label that implies they are materialistic and shallow.

In fact, anyone who does is “being an asshole,” he told HuffPost Live.

While Silverman’s four daughters and five grandchildren “don’t wear jewelry or drive new cars,” he said, and therefore are anti-JAPs, we don’t doubt Silverman’s expertise in this area. He was Skyped in to the interview from Boca Raton, after all.

Winehouse’s brother: Bulimia killed her 

While the “Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait” exhibit, opening soon at London’s Jewish Museum, will show the public a different version of the singer’s life than the one we saw in the tabloids, her brother has come forward with a new angle on how she died.

While he doesn’t deny her very public struggle with drugs and alcohol, it isn’t what killed her, says Alex Winehouse. Instead, he claims, it was bulimia that actually led to his sister’s death. (The coroner’s inquest listed alcohol poisoning as the cause of death.)

“She would have died eventually the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia,” he told The Observer. “Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger.”

According to Alex Winehouse, his sister developed bulimia in her late teens, like her friends.

“They’d put loads of rich sauces on their food, scarf it down and throw it up,” he said. “They stopped doing it, but Amy never really stopped. We all knew she was doing it but it’s almost impossible [to tackle], especially if you’re not talking about it.”

Winehouse died in 2011 at age 27. Tragic, no matter how exactly it happened. 

Drake’s wait to party with Heat

Following the Miami Heat’s NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs, Canadian rapper Drake, an avid Heat fan and good friends with Heat superstar LeBron James (meaning he will probably become an avid fan of the next team LeBron decides to take his talents to), wanted to use his star power to get into the Miami locker room to congratulate the champs.

Alas, the television cameras caught Drizzy being rejected by the security guards. One of the guards said access was granted only to media, whereupon Drake responded, “I am the f***ing media.” Of course, that didn’t help his odds.

Drake had to wait until the after party, where the rapper performed while LeBron and co-star Dwayne Wade were drinking champagne and eating pizza next to him.

Moranis’ Jewish album

Don’t tell The Lonely Island, but there’s another comic album out this month, and it’s just as delightfully ridiculous—albeit a lot less raunchy and much more haimish.

Rick Moranis might not be the first actor you’d think would venture into the world of jokey music. In fact, it’s likely you would not think of him at all, seeing how he retired from acting in the ’90s. 

Recently, however, the star of classics such as “Spaceballs,” “Parenthood” and “Little Shop Of Horrors” released “My Mother’s Brisket & Other Love Songs,” a collection of tunes in which he seriously owns his Jewish heritage.

In addition to the title song, a ballad about his favorite Shabbat dish, other tracks have names like “Pu-Pu-Pu,” “Live Blogging the Himmel Family Bris” and “Belated Haftorah.”

“In the past if I were to have come up with stuff like this, this filter would have been on it,” Moranis told The New York Times, referring back to his days writing for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “We would come up with something, and one of us would say, ‘No, no, no, it’s too Jewish. Can’t do it; it’s too Jewish. 

“This time, because I was essentially going to make this record on my own, I could just say, ‘The hell with it.’ ”

It might seem like an odd career choice, but not so much when you consider his last project. In 2005 Moranis, who quit acting to spend more time with his family following his wife’s death, came out with “The Agoraphobic Cowboy,” a humorous country album that was nominated for a Grammy.

We hope he has the same mazel this time around.

Greenfield back with ‘Veronica Mars’

While most JAPs on TV today are no fun to watch, there is one we find vastly entertaining: “New Girl’s” Schmidt, played by Max Greenfield.

Before his days metrosexualing it up and shoving dollars in the douchebag jar on the Fox hit, Greenfield was known for his role as Deputy Leo on “Veronica Mars”—a role he’ll be reprising in the upcoming movie version of the UPN/CW show.

Greenfield announced the news two week ago week during a Google Hangout interview with Gold Derby.

“I’m really excited about it,” he said of the Kickstarter-funded project starring Kristen Bell. “It’s one of those few occasions where you’re working on something everybody is so excited to be there. Everybody is going to be going full force on this project, and it’s going to be like a fun reunion.”

De Niro respects Israelis

The celebrities on hand for President Shimon Peres’ 90th birthday festival two weeks ago left Israel with some unforgettable memories.

Sharon Stone spent her remaining time in Israel participating in a video forum with Peres and Arab youth from all over the world. Barbra Streisand filled Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium twice for her 99th and 100th live shows, which were praised by critics. 

Even Robert De Niro stopped by and shared his thoughts on Israelis.

“I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they’re energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people,” he said. “They’re nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation.”

‘Too Many Lenas’

Good news to all you Lena Dunham fans out there who just want more and more (and more) of her. A Brooklyn performance took the Dunham phenomenon to stage and multiplied her by five for the performance, “Too Many Lenas.”

The group depicting the many sides and quirks of Dunham goes by Caroll Simmons and identifies as a “pop-up performance collective dedicated to unraveling and exploring the legacy of filmmaker, writer and actor Lena Dunham.” For those who aren’t steadfast Lena fans, Caroll is the first name of Dunham’s father and Simmons is the last name of Lena’s mother. Creativity!

In “Too Many Lenas,” each character represents a separate “Lena trait:” apologetic, perfect, self-depicted, naked and urban. A sixth Lena serves as a mixed bag of the others.

David Bernstein, a young filmmaker and the brainchild of Caroll Simmons, reached out to some friends in January with an idea for a show called “Four Lenas.” And now we have 7!

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