6 Degrees (no Bacon): Jewish celebrity roundup

LaBeouf skywrites apology

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Shia LaBeouf, the 27-year-old “Transformers” star, has been the center of a plagiarism controversy.

LaBeouf’s recently released short film “HowardContour.com” appears to be a near replica of veteran cartoonist Daniel Clowes’ 2008 comic “Justin M. Damiano.” Clowes apparently was blindsided by the plagiarism, telling Buzzfeed that he had no idea of the film’s existence until it was released online in December.

LaBeouf has been tweeting bizarre apologies for weeks, many of which turned out to be plagiarized themselves from sources as diverse as Robert McNamara and Mark Zuckerberg. But LaBeouf topped himself, literally, when he took to the skies tweeting an image of a sky-written message—because clearly writing “I am sorry Daniel Clowes” in the sky above Los Angeles was a logical response to the situation.

There was one flaw in LaBeouf’s plan: Clowes lives in the Bay Area, hundreds of miles north of the L.A. ether.

Harry Styles’ New Year’s resolution: Learn Hebrew

Hebrew school-dreading children everywhere may have a new and very surprising source of inspiration. According to the Daily Star, boy band One Direction’s Harry Styles has taken up Hebrew lessons.

“Harry’s made it his mission to learn to speak and write Hebrew,” a source said, adding that the British cutie plans to devote 2014 to picking up the language. “So far he’s learned to write his name and One Direction in Hebrew.”

It isn’t the first time that Styles, 19, who is not Jewish, has shown an interest in Jewish culture. In 2012 he got a tattoo of his sister Gemma’s name in Hebrew, he occasionally tweets Yiddish and Hebrew phrases, and in August he was spotted at a Manhattan kosher eatery. Apparently he’s had some guidance from his Jewish pal Ben Winston, who bought him the kippah he wore to that very meal.

“Ben has been helping him with Jewish cultural tips and Harry has even taken the prayers at their house on the Sabbath,” the unnamed friend said.

We hope he sticks with his resolution—at least long enough to be able to throw around some Hebrew on stage when One Direction hits Israel later this year.

Seinfeld reveals new collaboration with Larry David

Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David have teamed up for a new project, and it’s big. And, well... that’s it.

Other than the fact that the thing is about “intentional mumbling” and that we will see it “eventually,” Seinfeld revealed little else about the script while answering audience questions on Reddit.com. Reddit’s AMA, or “Ask me Anything,” feature allows members of the popular social website to ask questions to significant figures. Seinfeld opened up to questions on Monday.

Although he was reticent about the new mystery project, Seinfeld was more vocal on other topics. In the interactive interview, the comedian spoke about going for bagels and lox with his kids, scrapping an episode of “Seinfeld” in which Jerry buys a handgun, his favorite supporting character on the show (Newman!), and much more.

Oh yeah, and there was also that plug for season 3 of his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, with a debut episode featuring Louis C.K. It’s no “Seinfeld” part 2, but it’ll do until “eventually” finally hits.

David Copperfield engaged to model girlfriend

 Mazel tov to David Copperfield and Chloe Gosselin on their engagement!

 The 57-year-old Jewish illusionist formerly known as David Kotkin and his new fiance, a 28-year-old French model, have a 3-year-old daughter together named Sky.

It’s the second time Copperfield has popped the question to a model. Back in the ’90s, he was famously engaged to Claudia Schiffer for six years before the relationship fizzled.

“Oh, that was a long time ago,” he told Hello! Magazine. “Now I’m engaged and in a committed relationship with Chloe in my mind and my heart.”

No news on wedding plans yet, but we’re betting on Copperfield Bay, the magic man’s very own 11-island archipelago in the Caribbean where Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem were hitched.

DiCaprio defends ‘Wolf of Wall Street’

Leonardo DiCaprio has responded to critics who say that “The Wolf of Wall Street,”Martin Scorsese’s new flick about the ‘90s recklessness of Wall Street bankers, condones the horrible behavior of its characters.

In the film, DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a real-life stockbroker (raised by two Jewish accountants) who partied hard and defrauded clients. After being convicted of stock fraud and forced to pay restitution to victims, Belfort wrote a memoir on which the film is based.

The movie delves deeply into Belfort’s party-boy lifestyle, with its drugs, yachts and doing drugs on yachts—not to mention his scornful attitudes toward women (the movie contains a marital rape scene). Some critics see Scorsese’s glamorous portrayal as tantamount to an endorsement of Belfort’s behavior, which cost his clients millions.

“This film may be misunderstood by some,” DiCaprio told Variety. “I hope people understand we’re not condoning this behavior, that we’re indicting it. The book was a cautionary tale and if you sit through the end of the film, you’ll realize what we’re saying about these people and this world because it’s an intoxicating one.”

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