Justin Bieber revealed this week that his surprise new BFF is Will Smith, who calls him weekly to check up on his continuing journey into the abyss and offer Obi-Wan like wisdom to the wayward young Jedi of soulless candy-colored pop.
They aren’t the only unlikely pals in Hollywood. Here are five other pairs of celebrity besties you wouldn’t have guessed even knew each other’s digits:
Snoop Lion and David Beckham
Fo shizzle: The co-stars of last year’s Adidas-produced short movie “The Cautionary Tale of Ebenezer Snoop” (the rapper plays the Scrooge role while the “footballer” is the “Ghost of Holiday Present”) and a similar Star Wars spoof two years ago share a mutual love of comfortable athletic wear, bling and fatherhood. “When I make my records, he’s one of the first people I send the record to before it’s done, even before the label gets it,” Snoop told the BBC. “He’s a great father, a great husband and a great friend. I love our friendship, and some people in life just come together for some odd reason.” Beckham has promised to teach Snoop’s kids to play soccer. Snoop has promised to teach Beckham’s brood how to rap.
Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson
Is Gibson a racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, rageaholic jerk, or a misunderstood pussycat? Making the case for the latter is Hollywood’s best-liked lesbian. The two met on the set of “Maverick” in 1994, where Gibson taught Foster poker, and they have been aces with each other ever since. After Gibson’s scary tantrum against ex Oksana Grigorieva (in which he predicted she would be “raped by a pack of n - - - - - - s”) was made public in 2010, Foster continued to defend him, and hired him for her film “The Beaver.” “He’s not a perfect person,” she told The Washington Times. “He’s a complicated person. That’s why I love him. He’s not just some guy who wants to pose for GQ. He’s lived a real life.” Real, scary, whatever.
50 Cent and Bette Midler
The Divine Miss M and the Bulletproof Mr. Cent have worked together on several charity projects, beginning a few years ago with a park restoration effort in Fiddy’s old hood of Jamaica, Queens. There have also been promises/threats that the two might someday work on a musical project together. “Look how beautiful things are and how nice it feels when [I’m around her],” Fiddy told New York Magazine to the sound of his street cred crumbling up and blowing away.
“I love him. He’s gorgeous,” Midler told The Sun. “Little Jewish lady and the great big rapper. He’s such a doll.”
Sir Elton John and Eminem
Back in 2000, Eminem was widely seen as homophobic, which is something that can happen when you rap about stabbing gay people. John came to the rescue in 2001, and their Grammy duet of “Stan” that year seemed to defuse the tension. But it wasn’t just a one-time publicity stunt: The pair have remained in close contact, with each lovingly calling each other a word that rhymes with runt. “I love him,” John told Rolling Stone in 2010. “I ask him how he’s doing and tell him how proud I am of him. He’s got a great sense of humor. When David [Furnish] and I had our civil partnership, he sent us a present. In a case, on velvet cushions, were two diamond c - - t rings. So there’s a homophobe for you.”
Today Eminem is a changed man: He merely raps about breaking a table “over the back of a couple of f - - - - - s.”
Russell Brand and Dame Helen Mirren
The two actors co-starred in the 2011 remake of “Arthur” and had, unlike anyone who saw the movie, an excellent time. Shaggy shag artist Brand tweeted a picture of her giving him a bath (“Sexxy!” said no one) and then gave her a pair of his undies. Mirren not only didn’t call the police, she told US magazine, “I am going to have them framed! And put them over my bed!” She also wears a safety pin he gave her, around her neck.
Brand told US, “I continue to be fascinated and infatuated with her, and the more time I spend with her and the more I get to know her, the more the fascination increases. She is an incredible woman.”
Somewhere, Katy Perry is grumbling, “If only I were 35 years older, our thing might have worked out.”