Six Degrees (No Bacon) / Jewish Celebrity Roundup

Madonna’s Israel adventures, Samberg advises Harvard grads, Bialik quits Facebook

By Six Degrees (No Bacon) Staff

NEW YORK (6NoBacon) — Madonna is debuting her MDNA Tour in Tel Aviv on Thursday, and the Queen of Pop brought her entire family to celebrate the occasion.

The family — boyfriend Brahim Zaibat and children Lourdes, Rocco, David and Mercy — landed in Israel last Friday. While Madonna spent most of her time rehearsing or attending Kabbala events, her children visited the Tel Aviv beach and Mini Israel park.

Meanwhile, one of Madonna’s dancers, Lilou, upset some in Israel by tweeting that he was in the Al Aksa mosque in Jerusalem, but “Dont want say israel, but PALESTINE.”

Sacha Baron Cohen, as himself for once

Sacha Baron Cohen’s newest comedy, The Dictator, has been a relative success at the box office, and the man behind Borat, Bruno and Ali G finally talked to BBC as none other than himself. Baron Cohen talked about why comedy is an inherent part of Jewish identity, stating that “there is an emphasis on comedy within Judaism.”

Did Howard Stern lose his ‘nice’ groove?

As the newest judge of America’s Got Talent, Howard Stern has surprised everyone by being, well, nice on national TV. Even when he made a contestant of the reality show cry — 7-year-old rapper Mir Money, who was jamming onstage when Stern almost immediately pushed the “X” button of rejection — Stern went up on the stage to give the kid a hug. Awww.

Babs’ Israeli birthday magician

Barbra Streisand celebrated her 70th birthday last month, and one of the attractions of her birthday party was a magician — from Israel. Israeli mentalist Lior Suchard told the Israeli magazine Pnai Plus that he surprised Babs.

“I’ve known her for two weeks and she already told all of her friends about me,” Suchard says. “There’s a magic to it. This is a mythological woman to me. It’s not like meeting Seinfeld.”

Bar wants your number

Bar Refaeli continues to wow American audiences. After topping the 2012 Maxim Hot 100 list, the Israeli supermodel appeared on Conan O’Brien, where she told the red-headed host how she rarely gets hit on. She recalled a man at a bar who bluntly gave her his phone number; had she been single, Bar said, she would have awarded his bravery with a phone call.

Samberg’s tip to Harvard grads

Andy Samberg may be leaving “SNL,” but he could have a future as commencement speaker. Samberg’s speech to Harvard‘s graduating class this year became a viral hit (like every other video Samberg is in), as the Jewish funnyman offered imitations of Mark Zuckerberg and Nicholas cage.

Andy Samberg speaking at the Harvard University Class Day ceremony, on May 23. (Photo: Courtesy of Harvard University)

Among his departing words to grads: “2012 is a great time to be graduating from college. Sure, the job market’s a little slow. Sure our health care and Social Security systems are going to evaporate in five years. Sure, you’ll have to work till you’re 80 to support your 110-year old parents who will live forever because of nano-technology… but that doesn’t matter,” he said. “My advice to you is simple: Relax, dude! You just finished college at Harvard. You worked so hard. Trust me, you’re going to kill it. I went to Santa Cruz, then transferred to film school, and I’m rich!”

Like Charlotte, Kristin is also dating Jewish

In Sex and the City, her character Charlotte York-Goldenblatt married a Jewish man and converted. In real life, Kristin Davis may walk the same path. Davis reportedly has been dating screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The West Wing, The Social Network and other successful TV shows and movies.

Bialik leaves Facebook with a bang

Mayim Bialik, the actor behind Blossom and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler of The Big Bang Theory, decided to quit Facebook after a controversial photo of her wearing a sheer shell under a sleeveless dress drew criticism from modesty-obsessed Jews.

“I think it is really sad that social media has beaten me down, and I wish I was more resilient,” she wrote last week in a post on the Jewish parenting blog The Kveller.

But don’t worry, she still will have a presence on Twitter.

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