CULTURE

Now an international sex symbol, it wasn't always easy for Christina Hendricks, especially growing up being bullied like crazy in high school, where she was part of the goth and theater crowds. View the slideshow to see photos of Christina Hendricks.

The light bulb. Penicillin. The airplane. Each is one of the greatest inventions known to man. But, to many women, the hands-down greatest invention of all time is Spanx. Spanx will surely make an appearance under the dresses of Oscar-nominees on Sunday as it is a red carpet staple.

Billy Crystal is the second most seasoned Oscar host of all time (behind Bob Hope). Sunday's show will be his ninth.

Sacha Baron Cohen, British stand-up comedian and actor, has not been barred from attending the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, reports the Hollywood Reporter.

It seems that literally everyone cannot stop talking about Christina Aguilera and her noticeable weight gain over the past few months , so it comes as no surprise outspoken radio host Howard Stern pressed Adam Levine when he stopped by to chat on The Howard Stern Show about his plus-size fellow coach on The Voice.

Cohen had plans to attend Sunday's Oscars as the title character from his new film The Dictator.

Kate Walsh leaves very little to the imagination with her Shape magazine March cover photo. The 44-year-old actress posed nude for the cover, with her bended legs and arms strategically placed.

Robyn Coles, the hat designer that premiered her collection of Autumn/Winter 2012 hats at London Fashion Week is gaining tremendous popularity. What is the reason for her overnight popularity explosion? It could be the gorgeous hats she displayed, or it may be linked to the way her models displayed them...completely naked.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has banned Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen from attending the 2012 Oscars ceremony in fear he will show up dressed as the character from his upcoming film, The Dictator.

One of the top paid actors of Bollywood and a role model to millions, Saif Ali Khan might have got himself into a big mess. Mumbai police Wednesday registered a case against the actor under section 325 of the IPC for allegedly assaulting a patron of the Taj Mahal Hotel in south Mumbai.

Among the younger lot of royals from across the world who tied knots in the past two years, including the famed Prince William and Kate Middleton of Britain, Swedish Crown Princess Victoria has come up with the good news first.

Twelve soldiers of the Indian Army were killed after being trapped in avalanches that hit two army camps in Kashmir, an army official told media Thursday.

Frank Carson, a Northern Irish comedian and actor, best known for his catchphrases It's a cracker! and It's the way I tell 'em!” has died Wednesday, aged 85, after a long battle with stomach cancer.

Gucci kicked-off the Italian fashion season with its sheer and see-through dark glamour ensembles at the Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012 Wednesday.

The island’s western province recently held the two-day traditional Pasola war festival in the remote village of Kodi Pangedo, where spectators gathered to watch highly skilled Sumbanese tribal men, in two groups, on horseback flinging spears at each other.

Tibet's prime-minister-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, urged Tibetans to not celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, amidst a rash of self-immolating monks and rising tensions with the Chinese government. However, traditional and spiritual rituals continued as planned.

Lindsay Lohan is at the home-stretch of her five-month long probation. According to Reuters, Lohan acquired the probation because of a theft conviction last year, after she admitted to stealing a gold necklace valued at $2,500 last January and two drunk driving cases. She was sentenced to 480 hours of community service.

Jamie Lee Curtis returned to TV for the first time in seven years.

Stephen Colbert pitched his idea for a children's book about an animated flagpole's identity crisis to Where the Wild Things author Maurice Sendak in a Jan. 25 Colbert Report segment, and now it is slated to be published in late spring.

Gender-bending Serbian model Andrej Pejic has scored his first beauty campaign with Jean Paul Gaultier for the designer's second men's fragrance, Kokorico. But will he play Prince Charming or the femme fatale?

Divers recovered three bodies from the Costa Concordia shipwreck on Wednesday, but were forced to suspend attempts to reach the remaining five due to bad weather.

From the streets of Rio de Janeiro, the 2012 Brazil Carnival put on a good showing for greater events to come.

2012 Oscar nominee The Descendants strips Hawaii of its exotic tropes and offers a glimpse of paradise rarely seen by tourists.

Justin Bieber has landed his second book deal after his first literary success, First Step 2 Forever: My Story, which sold over a million copies in 25 languages. According to MTV, Bieber's upcoming book Justin Bieber: Just Getting Started is scheduled to be released in September by publishing giant, Harper Collins.

The first annual Gaon Awards were handed out in Seoul on Wednesday.

Robert Pattinson has opened up about performing sex scenes in his new steamy film, Bel Ami, where he plays the part of a young man in 19th century Paris, who manipulates influential and wealthy women (not including Kristen Stewart) to rise to power.

On the renovated 13th floor of an imposing government building sits Clocktower Gallery, wedged on Leonard street somewhere between Tribeca, City Hall and Chinatown; on Tuesday, Feb. 21 Taraka Larson presented a lecture on the formation of Now Age aesthetics and their implications for Ghost Modernism-an examination of the Symbol's loss of power and it's occult move to kitsch, all within an architecture of Utopia.

Style icons Kate Beckinsale, Rooney Mara and more stepped out on Tuesday night in Beverly Hills to celebrate the Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.

Biel reportedly showed off her new diamond with Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig.