U2’s Bono, Denis O’Brien and others to plan massive testimonial bash for Irish rugby hero Brian O’Driscoll

Brian O'Driscoll

The fact that U2’s frontman, Bono and a group of businessmen are planning two testimonial dinners for Irish rugby hero Brian O’Driscoll suggests that he’s planning on retiring soon.

The Irish rugby team captain is currently on hiatus due to a busted ankle but during his time off business head honchos Denis O’Brien, Dermot Desmond and Michael Smurfit Jr, along with Bono are planning events to honor the top player.

Actress Amy Huberman, O’Driscoll’s wife, who recently announced she was pregnant, dodged the retirement question earlier this week when the Irish Independent cornered her.

When asked about O’Driscoll she said “Brian had surgery during the week so he's at home with his feet up.”

The reporters then pressed her on O’Driscoll’s professional plans. She grinned “I am not saying anything on that, I'm afraid.”

The first celebration of O’Driscoll’s career will take place on 18th March, at the Grosvenor Hotel, in London. The event will “recognise his career and his contribution to rugby both on a national and international level”. Another will take place in Dublin later in 2013.

The Testimonial committee head Harry Keogh, of London private bank Coutts said "We wanted to honour Brian for his achievements as one of the greats of international rugby and we are delighted that he has accepted the offer of a testimonial event both in Ireland and England."

O'Driscoll said "The call from Harry was so unexpected, but the two events will give me a chance to reflect on my career and a sport that I love whilst raising funds for three charities whose causes are very close to my heart."

A hundred percent of the proceeds from the Dublin event will go to Temple Street Children's University Hospital and ISPCC Childline.

U2’s bassist Adam Clayton sells his Manhattan penthouse for $8.6 million

Adam Clayton (Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

If you’ve got an extra eight-plus million bucks to spare, you too can live like a rock star! U2 bassist Adam Clayton has put his New York City pad on the market for $8.695 million and address doesn’t get much better – it’s in the gorgeous El Dorado building on Central Park West.

The place has three bedrooms, four baths and every room is renovated to perfection, including the stunning chef’s kitchen. Clayton purchased two apartments in the building where bandmate Bono also used to live and combined them into one gorgeous, sprawling place with a 38 foot entrance gallery and Central Park Views.

Clayton stands to make a tidy profit on his real estate investment.  He bought the first apartment back in 1993 for $620,000 and the second place a year later for $430,000.  Merging the two cost a few pennies for sure, but he’s profit will still range in the healthy seven figure range.

No word on whether Adam plans on buying another NYC crash pad. If you want to gawk at the place he’s saying bye-bye to, click here.

Bono was left in a panic when he ran out of cigarettes at a celebrity party he was hosting

Bono

The U2 front man threw an exclusive bash after the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London on Tuesday for a host of celebrities including Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Carr and Liam Gallagher but was dismayed when he ran out of cigarettes for those of his guests who enjoy a smoke.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, after an initial panic an enterprising butler popped out to the local corner shop on behalf of the guests.

Bono also invited a host of Olympians including Greg Rutherford, Louis Smith, Christine Ohuruogu to the party at PR guru Matthew Freud’s London home and while they don’t smoke, they were thrilled to find a games room downstairs complete with ping pong table.

After a few competitive games, the entire group returned to the party.

Bono was recently linked to a role on ‘American Idol’ after exiting judge Jennifer Lopez tipped him for the judging panel, saying they needed someone big to replace her.

When asked who should take her place on the show, she said: "I think Bono or Bon Jovi or Mick Jagger. You know me, I think big."

U2’s Bono and wife Ali bonded with Matthew McConaughey in Ibiza

Bono, wife Ali join Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila in Ibiza

Bono and his wife Ali usually spend their summer vacays in the south of France, but this year they’ve also added Ibiza to their itinerary.  While there they met up with Matthew McConaughey and his pregnant wife Camila, as you can see from our picture, with Bono taking plenty of protection from the scorching sun with his hat and black shirt.

Here’s no surprise – Simon Cowell would love to have Bono appear on his reality singing competition The X Factor.  Bosses at American Idol and all the other shows feel the same.

“Bono is one of the top choices each year when shake-ups on these shows come around. He has repeatedly shrugged off talk of appearing as a judge as he hasn’t the time and it’s not really up his street at the moment,” a source told The Irish Sun.

“As far as producers are concerned, who better in the world to judge you than someone considered a kind of God of the music world?”

The Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am was more "intimidated" by U2 than Michael Jackson

Will.i.am and Bono

The Black Eyed Peas star has produced a whole host of high-profile artists' work but was incredibly nervous about being in the studio with the 'One' hit-makers.

He said: "I recorded for a month with U2. Even though I worked with Michael Jackson, their U2-ness intimidated me. I didn't know how to suggest a song from scratch.

"So I co-produced 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight' and kept 'I Got A Feeling' for us."

The 'My Humps' hit-maker also spoke of an astonishing encounter with a fan who proved she knew his lyrics better than him.

He explained to NME magazine: "In Japan and this girl came up and says, 'I reckon in 'Boom Boom Pow' you say 'boom,' 101 times'. I was like, 'Yeah, right', but said, 'Thank you so much for listening to the song.'

"I got back on the train, counted my booms and she was right. We counted all the booms."

Adam Clayton gave his "absolute trust" to PA who has been accused of stealing $3.5 million from him

Portrait of Adam Clayton

The U2 bassist's former aide Carol Hawkins denies stealing 181 cheques from the musician over a four-year period and while giving evidence against the 48-year-old defendant at her trial he admitted being "extremely surprised" by the episode because she had previously accused others of being "greedy."

Speaking at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin, he said: "She had my absolute trust. We had been together a long time; working together. She had been very conscientious.

"I felt she looked after my money and on many occasions accused others of being greedy, so I was extremely surprised."

Adam even found a therapist for Carol - who worked for the 52-year-old star for 16 years - because he was so concerned about her welfare after she confessed to taking more than 13,000 Euros from him and claimed to be suicidal.

He added: "I was concerned for her health and recommended she see a therapist ... In the matter of the money, I accepted she was a distressed woman. Her marriage broke up; her children had gone away. I said we would have to verify the amounts she had been claiming."

Carol is alleged to have purchased 22 horses, exotic holidays and designer clothing with the funds, the court heard.

The mother-of-two - who was a signatory of Adam's bank accounts - is alleged to have written 181 cheques which she lodged into her own account, as well as her joint account with husband John Hawkins and a separate credit card account.

Carol is accused of taking the money between 2004 and 2008, including making a single withdrawal of 310,000 Euros.

Defence solicitor Ken Fogarty suggested to Adam that Carol had been authorized to spend the cash on more than just household necessities.

But the bassist replied: "I would buy the things I wanted around me, Carol Hawkins bought Corn Flakes."

During the four-year period the former PA is also thought to have earned 48,000 Euros a year and lived rent-free in the 'With Or Without You' star's home in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

U2’s Bono pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee

U2 frontman Bono and Queen Elizabeth II (AP Photo/Carl Court, Pool)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is celebrating 60 years on the throne this year, and Bono was among a group of superstars that attended an arts event in London to pay tribute to her reign.

Bono praised the Queen for her trip to Ireland last year, the first time a British monarch visited the Irish Republic.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary magic that you made on your trip to Ireland,” Bono told a room full of stars that also included Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey and Annie Lennox.

"And the queen spoke Gaelic, I can't even speak Gaelic,” he added.

U2’s Bono leaves poetry in Israel hotel room - “A Dog called Hope”

Bono (REUTERS/Andina Agency/Handout)

Bono spent some time in Israel earlier this month and was obviously moved by his visit – so much so that he wrote a poem and sketched a drawing for the staff at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem where he stayed.

The U2 frontman, equally known for his advocacy on behalf of the African poor, sketched a picture of a dog he called Hope. He characterized Jerusalem as a place where “hope springs eternal.”

Here’s what he wrote: "Hope is like a faithful dog, sometimes she runs ahead of me to check the future, to sniff it out and then I call to her: Hope, Hope, come here, and she comes to me. I pet her, she eats out of my hand and sometimes she stays behind, near some other hope maybe to sniff out whatever was.

“Then I call her my Despair. I call out to her. Here, my little Despair, come here and she comes and snuggles up, and again I call her Hope."

He signed his letter, "With great thanks for great room in great hotel in great city, Bono."

It’s likely that Bono’s wife Ali and their two sons Elijah and John were with them too, as the bottom of the picture contained their names.

Bono’s visit to Israel was under the radar until his note came to light.

Bono's handwritten note

Bono made a surprise appearance at restaurant Max Brenner in Tel Aviv

U2's Bono

The U2 star was joined by a party of 12 guests at the venue - famed for its use of chocolate - where he enjoyed an evening out where he kept his famous sunglasses on for the duration.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "Bono kept his sunglasses on at all times. He was extremely kind to the waiters and guests."

However, the 51-year-old singer - who is renowned for his charitable work and political campaigning - did not leave empty handed, taking some chocolate goodies with him as gifts from the restaurant staff.

Bono has been seen a lot in Israel recently despite his band not playing in the country since 1997 - it is believed he is there on either business or a charity trip.

Bono - who is an avid charity and human rights campaigner - has previously joked he understands why people dislike him and his band, but he thinks that is what makes him interesting.

He said: "We're the most loved and hated band on earth. A lot of the reasons people don't like us - apart from myself, which I understand because I have to live with me too - are actually what make us interesting.

"It's the tangents, the explorations, the making mistakes in public. The audacity of thinking you can get involved in something like debt cancellation and being slagged off by your mates.

"Our diversions make us interesting."

Jason Mattera interview with fake Bono pulled by websites - Conservative reporter face to face with wrong guy

Still from the video of the Jason Mattera interview

The conservative reporter Jason Mattera has been forced to pull an online video of an interview with a Bono impersonator.

Mattera is seen on the video conducting an ambush interview with the man who appears to be a Bono impersonator.

The clip was posted at conservative sites such as Breitbart.com and Glenn Beck’s The Blaze but was pulled after it became obvious that Mattera was not actually talking to the U2 frontman.

Rolling Stone reports that self-proclaimed bad boy reporter Mattera is currently promoting his new book ‘Hollywood Hypocrites’.
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In the video he confronts the Bono impersonator about his band allegedly dodging taxes on their royalties.
The impersonator then answers Mattera by explaining: “It’s “not my company. I have no say in what U2 does.”

The Rolling Stone report adds: “Which is true, of course, since he’s not Bono!

“Though it’s obvious that the Bono impersonator was having a bit of fun with Mattera, it’s not clear exactly what this guy was doing at an event dressed up as the U2 star.”

U2’s Bono is a bad influence on Brad Pitt

Bono and Brad Pitt at a ONE event in 2005 (Photo:WireImage.com)

Brad Pitt is talking up a storm these days, giving interviews left and right about how his kids want him to “give mommy a ring” – mommy being Angelina Jolie, of course – and finally make her Mrs. Pitt.

Yes, he says, they’ll get around to it eventually, but there are other things on his mind as well. Oscar nominee Pitt talked to the latest edition The Hollywood Reporter about how he got involved in philanthropic work, and it’s not hard to guess the fellow celebrity who really got him thinking how to make a difference in the world.

Yup, it was Bono, who Pitt met several years ago and sought out for advice on the humanitarian crisis in Africa after taking a trip to Casablanca and being shocked by the poverty he saw.

"I sought out Bono and sat down with him a few times and got involved in some of the stuff he was doing. But it all started before that. It started with private acts," Pitt told the program.

Bono and Pitt teamed up in 2005 to star in a series of anti-poverty and AIDS awareness aids championed by Bono’s African relief group ONE. "I've seen it, I've been there, and to walk away from it and turn my back makes me culpable. And I can't do that,” Pitt told the press at the time during a joint appearance with the U2 frontman.
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Bono’s words of encouragement for Pitt to get involved in activism might have inadvertently led to the creation of the Brangelina worldwide phenomenon. During Pitt’s time working with ONE he was also shooting a film with Jolie (and still married to Jennifer Aniston).

Jolie has traveled the world as a UN goodwill ambassador, shining a light on the world’s most deprived areas, and Pitt says that her work really made him think.

“That may have been one of the things that brought us together. Certainly, I've met very few people more dedicated than she is,” Pitt acknowledged.

The Jolie-Pitt clan has spent some quality time with Bono and U2 bandmate The Edge in the south of France, where they all own homes.

Denver Broncos Tim Tebow has much love for U2 and Bono

Bono and Tebow

Though Tim Tebow’s Denver Broncos got their tails kicked by Tom Brady’s Patriots on Sunday, quarterback Tebow is still the hottest athlete out there given his prior game exploits of tossing miracle touchdowns in the fourth quarter to notch five wins in a row for his side.

The evangelical cutie talks of his love for God on a regular basis . . . and apparently he thinks Bono’s pretty heavenly as well!

Tebow posted this pic of himself and the U2 star on his Facebook account a few days back. Though he recently admitted that Rascal Flatts is his favorite group, U2 must rank close behind. The photo was taken in May during U2’s tour stop in Denver.

Robin Williams often gets mistaken for Bono by drunk fans

Robin Williams and Bono

The 60-year-old actor was recently approached by a man in Paris who thought he was the 51-year-old U2 singer, but it only happens when people have taken "a lot of medication" or are "completely s**tfaced".

Speaking at the UK launch of Warner Bros' animated movie 'Happy Feet 2', he joked to BANG Showbiz: "I had a guy come up to me in Paris saying, 'Are you Bono?' Then he said, 'Oh no, you're not, you're Robert Windsor'.

"I only really get mistaken for Bono by people who are really hammered. They have to be completely s**tfaced to think I'm Bono. I suppose when I put on the glasses I look a bit like him. It's usually from a distance and by people who've had a lot of medication."

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Despite being mistaken for the Irish star, the 'Mrs. Doubtfire' actor – who is well known for being able to master a number of different accents and impressions – is unable to pull off an Irish accent to meet his high standards.

He added: "The Irish accent is one I just can't seem to get. I always start doing it and then it just f**king fades. It always ends up going into Scottish."

'Twilight’ star Taylor Lautner’s favorite band is Ireland’s own U2

Taylor Lautner

Twilight hunk Taylor Lautner has a favorite group, and even though he’s only 19, he’s got taste in music that goes well beyond the current crop of “artists” out there.  U2 is “my favorite band. Definitely,” he told The Irish Times last week.  Wonder what Team Edward thinks of that? . . .

Another hot star, Glee’s Cory Monteith, was impressed with Ireland during the Glee tour there earlier this year. "It was amazing. It's beautiful there. We stayed at a nice place and we played at this great arena, it was lovely. My only regret was that we weren't there for longer,” he said, according to the Sunday World.

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