Background: I have been very, VERY critical of Michael Buble especially while he was dating Emily Blunt who is, as many of you know, in my estimation, as close to perfect as it gets in Hollywood... with the exception of Marion Cotillard. But this is another discussion. There were allegations of infidelity, of douchey behaviour, and I wrote about it extensively. And he knew.

Last fall, Buble was interviewed by Elle Canada. Click here to read the original article. Here’s the excerpt:

"The truth is," says Buble, "I've made my share of mistakes, and I've done things that were really classy and things that were not." It's the latter upon which some of his critics pounce -- like, for example a local gossip columnist who has described him in very unflattering terms. “Lainey doesn't like me very much," understates Buble. "You know, I've talked to people who know her; they say she's a really nice girl. If I got to know her, I'd probably like her. And I'd like to say that if she got to know me, I would hope she’d like me."

To me this sounded like a challenge. So our showdown would have to be during the Olympics.

Michael Buble is friends with my friend and colleague Ben Mulroney. Ben and I worked on Olympic Morning on CTV during the Games and he was scheduled to interview Buble that morning. When I’m not on the air, I usually hide in a cubicle to focus on my column. I told Ben however that I would make myself visible when Buble was around. Ben loves this sh-t. He was all over it. He couldn’t wait to watch me meeting Buble. Our producer seemed nervous.

It was a busy morning. I fell behind on my blog after filing my Globe & Mail article so I missed Buble when he arrived and was caught up on some article, probably about John Mayer, when he was in studio, and my next memory is seeing the side of his head as he walked past my work station on the way out. Ben parked himself next to me a few minutes later – where the hell were you?

This is when we had to pull out the high school styles.

I told Ben to text Buble and tell him that “Lainey wanted to meet you”. Buble replied half a second later: I want to meet her! I’m at the cauldron!

It’s the modern version of passing notes in class. I kinda love it.

There’s a long corridor we had to walk down to get to the stairs that took us to the cauldron behind the International Broadcast Centre. The walk is made longer by the fact that everyone stops to say hello. So we took our sweet ass time getting there and once again, me and Buble were not meant to be.

I went back to work. Ben was picked up to go to another shoot. When I saw him that night (at the Michael Phelps party) he told me that Buble had texted him later on to ask why I didn’t show up at the cauldron. I got all pouty about it, so Ben decided to take matters into his own hands, texting Buble back to set up a dinner for us on Saturday night. Buble wrote back right away and agreed.

Obviously we are both still in grade 10. And Ben our chaperone.

Saturday night. Joe Fortes. 8pm.

Ben and I get there first. Buble is still on his way. I wonder who he’s coming with. I half expect him to text Ben and bail, especially since he’s late. Ben left the table to call his wife. I’m alone... waiting...

And there he is. Michael Buble threw open the glass doors and entered alone. No assistant, no publicist, no manager, no sidekick, no wingman, no bodyguard. Just Buble and his arms open...

Lainey!

So we hug. And then 3 women surround him and want autographs. Which is what happened every few minutes or so throughout the entire night. And he welcomes it. Buble would be the first to tell you as he told me:

“I’ve wanted to be famous my whole life. So now that I’m famous, I’m not going to f-cking complain about it.”

There are those who pretend that it’s not what they live for. And they get all put out when their fame gets in the way of a dinner and a movie. This is not Michael Buble. But Michael Buble did come alone to have dinner with a gossip blogger. If you know celebrities, you know this is pretty extraordinary. Because they never do anything alone. Partly because they’re not confident enought to be alone and mostly because they can’t take care of their own sh-t.

Certainly Buble trusts Ben and Ben probably gave him some assurance that all would be civilised but still... Michael Buble has sold 25 million albums worldwide, his tour stops at Madison Square Garden next week, and he’s repped by Liz Rosenberg who also reps Madonna. I doubt very much coming along to dinner with an internet bitch who’s ripped him several holes was on her list of recommended activities.

Buble’s opening line?

Why do you hate me so much!?!?

It was cute.

What happens when you tell a douchebag he’s been a douchebag and he agrees that he was a douchebag and says he’s not a douchebag anymore? Where does the conversation go from there? If you keep telling him he’s a douchebag after he acknowledges he’s a douchebag, YOU become the douchebag.

Buble has very publicly, across many platforms, with many other members of the media, owned up to being a douchebag. It was the same with me. He told me, just as he told Jian Ghomeshi and George Stroumboulopoulos and even Oprah, that he was insecure and jealous and controlling, that he did indeed really suck, that he thought he could get away with his bullsh-t, and that ultimately when it ended with Emily Blunt he had to work on himself. He says he has and that he’s better.

So either you believe him or you don’t. But you can’t keep calling him a douchebag.

Did I buy Buble’s contrition? Do I buy his transformation?

I believe it more than I don’t believe it. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I didn’t appreciate the effort, because I did. Am I prepared to make an editorial declaration that Michael Buble will never f-ck up again? Of course not. And if he does I’ll start ripping those holes again. Do I think he’s trying very hard? Yes. Do I want him to succeed? Actually...yes. Because I’m vain enough to want him to have been sincere and also because, cynical as I may be, even I don’t think there’s really a point to anything if you can’t believe in change.

So what’s he like?

Well, he’s kind of ... goofy. Funny too. In between dorky jokes, he also has a twisted, perverted sense of humour. And he gets a little bit defensive when people (like me) think he sings corny songs and therefore might not be as much of a real man as the next man. Buble’s attitude is – I don’t have to smash things together to prove I’m not a pussy.

Then Michael Peca came and sat down next to him. Like divine intervention. This is the part of the story when Jacek gets really jealous. There’s nothing more dude affirming for Canadian men than an audience with NHL players. And Buble knows almost all the NHL players.

As for the fiancée – she was in Australia working during the Olympics. Luisana Lopilato is hot. A huge star in Latin America and Spain. He’s really, really into her. She’s also 22. When I made a face about how young she is (Buble is 34) he told me she’s super mature and has been taking care of her own sh-t since she was a child. He also said she was the adult in their relationship. Being around him for a few hours, it’s easy to assume the adult role in any relationship with Michael Buble.

I was supposed to hit up Club Bud at the Commodore later that night. Buble said he would come. But he refused to get in a car. Vancouver was a f-cking mob scene during the Games. Especially on Granville Street. And the party was on Granville. I did not want to be responsible for getting Michael Buble trampled. But traffic was horrible. Buble didn’t want to sit in a cab for half an hour to travel 3 blocks. He insisted on walking. He loves being famous. I was stressed about him getting attacked. So I had to call ahead for security and they met us two blocks away and they led us through the crazy crowd up to Club Bud and once inside he found out Jon Hamm was there so he introduced me to Jon Hamm like this:

I want you to meet Lainey. She writes a GOSSIP BLOG LaineyGossip.com and she has a big crush on you and put you on her free to f-ck list.

Wanted to DIE.

Anyway, Buble was quickly surrounded at the party by hockey players and athletes and other celebrities and, aside from an equally awkward introduction to Kristi Yamaguchi, we didn’t see much of each other until he left. He made a point of coming over to say thanks, and we hugged, and he was gone. We didn’t exchange information, I haven’t heard from him since. But he gave an interview to the New York Post this weekend and somehow I made it in there. Click here to read.

As mentioned earlier, Michael Buble is currently touring. I still can’t say I’m a fan of the music. It’s just... not my style. They say however that he’s much better live. So I think I’ll check it out live especially after reading this hilarious review of his show in the Miami Herald the other day.

And heads up Canada – Buble has been nominated for 6 Juno Awards this year and is scheduled to perform at the Junos on April 18th in St John’s, NFLD. Drake too!

Photo attached of Buble with Mark Salling from Glee who joined us midway through dinner with Matthew Morrison. They talked about what an episode with Buble would be like on Glee and I can’t remember the details because that was when my food came.