Happy Fourth of July! May we suggest two ways to celebrate?
1) Visit DrudgeReport.com, where Matt Drudge has made his site all red-white-and-blue instead of its regular, uh, red-white-and-black.
2) Take a look at this “Signing the Deceleration of Independence” cheese carving in Times Square, created by Troy Landwehr (for Cheez-It, of course). “The cheddar has been pasteurized and will not melt,” he says.
Ah, the Fourth of July!
A day to celebrate alcohol, explosives, and tasty grilled meats. Oh, yeah, and something about our independence from England.
Below, some things we think you may enjoy this Independence Day. And, no, there are no babies, fireworks or red coats involved. There are, however, drag queens, Asian filmmakers and the unavoidable hipster.
God bless America!
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That Christie Brinkley is a publicity whore is one way to explain why she demanded her divorce proceedings be open to the media, despite protests from soon-to-be ex-husband Peter Cook and the attorney representing her children Sailer, 10, and Jack, 13. Or, you know, she finds so egregious Cook’s violations of their marriage — the $3k/month on porn; the posting of his own nude photos on websites for swingers; his sleeping with Diana Bianchi, an 18-year-old employee at his architecture firm, then paying her $300k to keep quiet — that she wants them made a matter of public record, where Cook can be humiliated for all to see. Including her kids’ Google searches.
Nevermind that Brinkley is being described in open court by her husband’s attorney as a woman who, “for goodness sake,” is “on her fourth husband” and that everybody’s time is being wasted because of the “the self-indulgent wrath of a woman scorned.”
It could be argued Brinkley is going for the sympathy vote, hoping the tabloid press — and even CNN and Fox News, who will of course be breathlessly reporting from the trial — will be nice to her so she can win the trial, at least in the court of public opinion. Except what are the chances of that happening?
The press loves to paint a woman as a vindictive wench, even if her husband may epitomize true scum. Need evidence?
Just look at what People magazine, the most likely of the tabloids to treat Brinkley with a modicum of respect, chose to headline their article — filed under “Nasty Breakups and Divorces: — as: “Peter Cook on Brinkley: ‘Shrek Was More Believable.’”
And with that, it’s clear which way the tide is already turning … and what type of shape Brinkley will be in by the time the dollar figure for alimony is set.
On that note, we’re done for the day, taking off a smidge early to get our Independence Day celebration going.
Thomas Beatie, the “pregnant man” who captured (or repulsed) Americans and appeared on Oprah to tell his story, has given birth to a healthy baby girl, via C-section. ABCNews.com promptly included him in its photo slideshow of “Medical Marvels,” which warns “viewer discretion advised,” right next to “the Elephant Man,” a girl with an enormous tumor on her face, a 15-year-old girl with clubbed feet, and the “Tree Man” whose body is covered in gnarled growths.
There’s this rumor going around that OK! magazine owner Richard Desmond is hiring Bonnie Fuller, she being the former American Media editorial director and Star leader, to run his American exclamation point tabloid.
Fuller, who just left a $2 million-plus payday with David Pecker, is starting her own company, Bonnie Fuller Media, which by all accounts is some sort of digital (and maybe some TV) venture with backing from former Viacom exec Russ Pillar.
The rumor says there are “protracted talks” between Fuller in Desmond, who is said to be looking for a high-profile EIC to replace Sarah Ivens, who’s been running the tabloid since it launched on American shores. The U.S. OK!, which Desmond reportedly sunk $100 million into (though, because he pays in British pounds, he gets everything half off), has seen circulation increase, but not enough to really compete with more established players like In Touch or Us Weekly. Which might explain why we’re also told Desmond made overtures to Us editor Janice Min, who declined.
So is Fuller taking over at OK!? No, say well-placed informants. But it’s true Desmond did reach out to her.
Which leaves only one real question: CONTINUED »
Chaunce Hayden, the Steppin’ Out editor whose name regularly appeared in Page Six until he found himself embroiled in a false report about a Bam Margera and Lynsi Smigo sex tape, is the center of this Radar profile, which lists his various past careers: male stripper, car washer, failed punk rocker, bartender, swimming pool digger. Hayden acknowledges that nobody actually reads his publication, which is littered around New York and New Jersey, which might be a growing concern because until lately, it’s been his single entry into getting his gossip items, and his name, in the press. Then the Post banned him (Smigo has since filed a $10 million defamation suit against him and the paper); MSNBC blacklisted him after a he caused a commotion on Joe Scarborough’s show; he’s persona non grata at ABC, when he went on-air to report Diane Sawyer had just shushed him; and Howard Stern would like to see him dead after Hayden said, on ABC, that Stern should be looked at for insider trading for allegedly leaking details of his then-impending move to Sirius. Interesting, though, that Radar is reporting all of this. Not because the gossip industry isn’t the pub’s territory — it is — but because paragraphs like this: CONTINUED »
Social news website Mashable put together a list of celebrities with blogs, and then broke down the list into sections like Actors (Jackie Chan, Zack Braff), Athletes (Anna Kournikova), Musicians (Moby, Kanye West), Comedians (Margaret Cho, Rosie O’Donnell), and the people you care about: News (Brian Williams, Daryn Kagan) and Writers (Neil Gaiman, Kevin Smith). [Mashable]
Generally what a giant company employs illicit methods to build buzz about its product, it does not proceed to brag about them. But under CEO Dan Hesse, who insists on appearing in black and white commercials, nothing about Sprint makes sense these days.
In order to build interest about its new Samsung Instinct phone, the wireless carrier is asking filmmakers to plug the phone in a video they post on YouTube — the first 1,000 get $20 and the winner gets a $10,000 grand prize. Under normal circumstances, Sprint might be able to get away with the stunt by saying it merely aims to reward promising young directors with a little cash stipend while getting first-hand experience in product placement.
But they’re not even trying to hide behind an excuse. Instead, they think they’re in the joke! CONTINUED »
The left-leaning blogger Brian Beutler, the Washington correspondent for the Media Consortium, was shot in D.C. yesterday. “Some of the details of the incident are still sketchy. According to [MC project director Tracy] Van Slyke, Beutler was walking with a friend after leaving a bar in Washington’s Adams Morgan section when the two were confronted by a man demanding their cell phones near 17th Street and Euclid Street. It’s unclear as yet what happened, but the man fired several shots at Beutler. One bullet hit him in the spleen and he was hit twice in the shoulder. A D.C. police official said he wasn’t aware of any arrests made in connection with the shooting.” Though Beutler is expected to bounce from stable condition to full recovery, this whole thing is sad, because it’s quite likely he was not even shot for his political leanings. [TPM]
Before you get too excited, be clear that The Advocate’s Anderson Cooper cover story is not a coming out story. Sad, yes, but what can you do? Rather, the fag-rag’s dedicated it feature article on the always attractive silver fox.
For some silly reason, both Rumer Willis and Brittny Gastineau have not heard that Gossip boy Chace Crawford may not swing for their team. Learning this information will help them understand why he showed exactly zero interest in them at a birthday party they all attended, despite Rumer’s wearing “the shortest jean shorts.” Or maybe it’s because he has seen both Rumer and Brittny in daylight. You would’ve thought Rumer learned her lesson when a previous outfit consisting of a “see-through her white dress [and …] a black bra underneath” failed to earn his gaze.
The label A.P.C., whose clothes often rival Jil Sander for their slim fit, is coming out with a new line of overpriced denim called “Butler Worn Out.” The jeans, which feature a distressed, worn-out look, are named in part not for their look — which is usually achieved using sandpaper or some factory device — but the way their look is achieved: by having somebody else wear the jeans before you. You’ll even know the name of just who walked around in your pair before you, because the person’s name will be written inside the pants. We know these type of jeans by another name: used. [HS]
Oh, lord! The American “Family” Association refuses to give up their “good” fight against McDonald’s.
The anti-gay non-profit began ramping up efforts last May, when they blasted the fast food chain’s commitment to queer causes, like their sponsorship of pride parades. Not ones to be bullied, McDonald’s executives refuses to back down, which has since spurred the AFA to up the ante a bit.
Realizing that their members aren’t the most intellectually evolved, the AFA has spelled out their beef with the beloved American restaurant:
We don’t know how they do it, but they do, and it. Is. Fucking. Astonishing.
The maniacs at Fox News somehow put together an earnest segment in which giggly hack Laura Ingraham talks to ACTOR Stephen Baldwin about just why the heck these loudmouth celebrities think they can go around expressing their opinions. We’re pretty good at sensing irony, and there is NONE in either of their voices. Not even when Stephen, who, by the way, is the one not as smart as Alec, not as handsome as Billy and not as rugged as Daniel, says, “Here’s what’s freaky to me: The media and Hollywood is so convinced that mainstream America cares what it thinks.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God, we hope this guy’s not kidding when he says he’s leaving if Obama wins.
We’re hearing big news out of Bauer today: The New Jersey tabloid publisher is moving Richard Spencer to the position of editorial director of Life & Style, though he’ll remain editor-in-chief of In Touch. Filling in, then, for Spencer’s open EIC slot at L&S, which he took over when Mark Pasetsky vacated the position, is Donna Armstrong, who was running Australia’s New Woman magazine after leaving Britain’s More, both published by Emap. Dan Wakeford and Michelle Lee, who were the deputies at both tabloids, will stop splitting their duties and move back to In Touch.
Tommie Smith, the Olympic gold medalist who, along with fellow Olympian John Carlos, staged the Olympics’ most infamous political protest, the iconic image of which can be seen plastered on dorm room walls from coast to coast, has changed his tune about mixing politics and the Olympic Games. International disapproval of the Chinese government has led to numerous protests and threats of protests over the upcoming games in Beijing, but the former track and field medalist says athletes should focus on their events.
Nickelback, the maybe-Christian rock band that makes us want to take a hammer to our radios, is thisclose to signing one of those 360 deals with Live Nation, the troubled concert tour and music marketing company that’s firing everybody, including its chairman.
This, from FoxNews.com gossip Roger Friedman, which makes the report questionable — since Friedman also reported it was Nickelback who had the hit “The Reason.” Except they didn’t; Hoobastank did.
Like fellow Live Nation transplant Madonna, Nickelback is currently on Warner Music, which means if Friedman’s other reports about Warner planting negative items about Madonna and her supposedly struggling tour are true, then the Canadian rockers should expect the same when their next tour dates are announced. Something tells us tens of millions of dollars from Live Nation will soften the blow.
We recently took the torches to Equinox, the upscale fitness club that costs about 20 percent of your apartment rent, for kicking members out of their New York facilities so staffers could attend a company picnic last month. And while it turned out that the closure didn’t affect us, which made us pretty much stop caring about the matter, the bad taste in our mouth returned when this notice appeared in our inbox:
Why get upset about gym celebrating America’s independence? Because four days prior, they sent this: CONTINUED »
Just in time for the holiday weekend when nobody will care, Lenny Kravitz issues a statement denying he’s sleeping with Alex Rodriguez’s wife Cynthia while A-Rod himself diddles Madonna. “There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself,” reads the statement. “This is unequivocally 100% not true. Cynthia is a friend and is here with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex’s trainer, his wife and their baby girl.” [Us]
If legislation passes requiring New York’s chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menu, will the city’s residents actually change their eating habits?
According to Men’s Fitness, NYC is the 19th fattest city in America. So makes for the PERFECT NEWSPEG to have Slate send out Christopher Flavelle for some man-on-the-street interviews to see whether anyone thinks having this information available while ordering will change what we feast on.
The only problem with Slate’s methodology? It’s unclear whether they asked actual New Yorkers. They went to Times Square, after all, and the people eating at chain restaurants there are, uh, often tourists. Like the guy, pictured here, wearing the ridiculous vest. (If he’s a New Yorker, we’re moving.) CONTINUED »
Editorial Director
