AWARDS

Diablo Cody inks out her husband

The stripper-turned-screenwriter pulls a midseason 'Wino Forever.'

By Mark Olsen, The Envelope

December 4, 2007

Things move awfully fast in Hollywood during awards season.

At Monday night's screening of "Juno," screenwriter Diablo Cody – she of the storied blogger/stripper past, heavy awards buzz, new studio deals aplenty, EW's Smart List and a breathless profile last Sunday in the august pages of the New York Times – sported what seemed to be a new tattoo.

For years, on her upper right arm and furled around a bound pinup girl in a bikini, Cody displayed a sailor-style cursive script that announced she was "Jonny's Girl."

But at the premiere, the inked significant other was obscured under a bright burst of roses. (The scantily clad bondage babe appeared untouched.)

Is there domestic strife in Cody-ville? And what is the toll of constant campaigning for a couple on the awards circuit?

Who can forget how director Alexander Payne and actress Sandra Oh dutifully promoted "Sideways" during the 2005 race, all the while pining for a divorce they promptly settled just weeks after the Oscars?

In the fast-paced life of a Hollywood hipster, inking over one's significant other is nothing new. Johnny Depp's inventive re-write, from "Winona Forever" to "Wino Forever," is the stuff of pop culture legend.

In this instance, it was another Jonny who got inked over, just months after "Juno's" debut on the festival circuit: Cody's husband, Jon Hunt.

We note this in no small part because their courtship and relationship is such a large part of the narrative in Cody's book "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper." The tattoo itself is even featured prominently on the book jacket.



Even the sympathetic portrayal of a stepmom (played by Allison Janney) in "Juno" is partly inspired by Cody's own adventures as stepmother to Hunt's daughter.

No one here is making sport of the emotional discontent of other human beings. We leave that to the experts.

But when a public figure's self-created mythology becomes such a foundational part of their persona – bound up as it is in Cody's case in confessional self-promotion -- it all comes to seem like, well, fair game.

A request for official word on the true meaning of Cody's new body art has so far been met with a resounding non-response.

(Photo courtesy Amazon.com)