Alessandra Ambrosio’s hot naked body is at the center of a nasty legal spat between Maxim magazine owner Sardar Biglari and former fashion director Wayne Gross. At issue, whether Biglari leered at the Brazilian model during a nude photo shoot for its upcoming issue. ...
Eminem, Fergie and Gwen Stefani may have been out of the running at the American Music Awards, but they cashed in where it counts, in the flood of commercials that appeared during the show for such brands as Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat. Of course, there was a time when music artists wouldn’t be caught dead selling out to “the man,” much less allowing their music to be used to sell Chevys. But times have changed. Artists for years now have been pushing themselves as brands. They are cashing in on commercial endorsements wherever they can find them to bolster revenues from declining record sales....
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and other celebrities are being portrayed as negative role models in a new anti-smoking campaign aimed at discouraging teens from taking up the habit, which is known to cause cancer and other debilitating diseases. The campaign also singles out Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Orlando Bloom, supermodel Kate Moss, singer Chris Brown and a slew of other celebrities. It calls them “unpaid tobacco spokespersons.” ...
Awra Damon, a CNN senior correspondent who has reported from the Middle East’s war-ravaged reaches, allegedly waged drunken war of her own against two emergency medical technitions (EMT) at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, biting one or both of them in a violent melee. The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed today (Aug. 4) by the two medical workers in New York County (Manhattan) Supreme Court. On the day of the incident, Damon was “seriously intoxicated” and “became unruly and violent,” according to court papers. ...
John Oliver has no qualms about exposing one of the media's dirty little secrets; how it's increasingly disguising advertising as news. The problem has only gotten worse with the rise of the Internet and it's a race to the bottom. He critices everyone, especially BuzzFeed founder and Chief Executive Jonah Peretti and Time Inc. Chief Executive Joe Ripp....
“Game of Thrones” depicts a fantasy world where life was nasty, brutish and short. But a conservative activist claimed today (July 24) a direct connection between the show’s incest scenes and today’s permissive attitudes about homosexuality. Media Matters For America, a non-profit progressive research and information group, condemned the attack. The group is calling attention to an article written by noted homophobic activist Michael Brown. He warns of looming “sexual anarchy” and the “normalization of incest.”...
Charlie Hunnam and Dutch model Doutzen Kroes star in a sexy new Calvin Klein television commercial that either directly rips off an old Paris Hilton beer ad, or is an astounding coincidence. The clothing brand is known for it’s over-the-top advertising, going back to Brook Shield’s controversial ads in the 1990s. ...
Google, which controls more than 70 percent of the search market, revised its search algorithm, known as Panda, this week and hammered gossip sites among other web outlets in a bid to control “spam.” Among sites that are seeing significant declines in organic search rankings are GossipCop, StarPulse and The Examiner. Changes to the algorithm, which determines where content appears in search results, have been highly controversial....
Celebrity gossip site TMZ, which reports celebrity legal problems with gusto, somehow missed a recent lawsuit filed in Los Angeles. Is it because a former TMZ employee is claiming the Web site is a “sexually abusive boy’s club?” The suit was filed by former TMZ producer Catherine “Taryn” Hillin, who is being represented by lawyer Jennifer Clingo. Apparently TMZ’s frontman Harvey Levin escaped her wrath. But she names as defendants TMZ Productions, EHM Productions, Warner Bros., and direct supervisor Evan Rosenblum....
Jill Abramson, executive editor at The New York Times, was ousted in what appears to be a palace coup. Her top lieutenant, Managing Editor Dean Baquet was tapped to replace her. The move was sudden and unexpected, according to media watchers. Billionaire Amazon chief Jeff Bezos bought the paper last fall from the Graham family for a bargain basement $250 million....
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett have finally decided to pull the trigger on a divorce after spending most of the last two years separated and seeing other people. Arnett was dating Billy Joel’s ex-wife, Katie Lee, a celebrity chef, and is now reportedly dating Erin David, a Hollywood producer. Poehler, 42, is reported to be dating comedian Nick Kroll, 35.
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Jon Stewart, the star of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” pays homage to his colleague Stephen Colbert as only he can–hilariously. Colbert will be taking over David Letterman’s seat next year. Colbert joined Comedy Central as part of the cast of a 30-minute sketch comedy series “Exit 57″ in 1995. But the show only lasted a year. When it was canceled, he moved over to “The Daily Show” as one of Stewart’s “correspondents.” ...
Stephen Colbert isn’t really a right-wing-bashing liberal in conservative clothing, although he plays one on his Comedy Central television show. Yet right-wing talking head Rush Limbaugh thinks the fat-head skewering character is real. D’oh! On his radio show today, Limbaugh wailed that CBS’s decision to replace David Letterman, no right wing radical, with Colbert is equivalent to declaring “war on the heartland of America.”...
Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central second fiddle to Jon Stewart, is getting his shot at network television in David Letterman’s job. Question is will he take it in New York City, or will he move the show to Los Angeles? New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made his pitch today (Apr. 10) to keep the show in the Big Apple....
Amy Poehler makes flacking for a clothing brand fun for everyone on the set. Old Navy released outtakes from a recent commercial shoot, showing Amy ad-libbing and mugging in a series of quick-takes for the cameras. Amy signed on with the brand with the proviso that she would help write and direct the spots. She follows comedian Melissa McCarthy, who repped for the brand last year. ...
Stephen Colbert, the Comedy Central curmudgeon, finally goes where few in the media dare to tread. He calls all the “trash journalism” circulating on the Internet be even so-called high-minded sites like The Huffington Post. He blasted the self-proclaimed Internet newspaper for its trashy content and its penchant for “aggregating” news from other sources and presenting it as its own....
Amy Poehler, who cut her comedic teeth on “Saturday Night Live” and now stars on sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” is joining the Navy. Well, not the seagoing Navy, but Old Navy, the preppy clothing brand. Poehler follows another comedian, Melissa McCarthy, who appeared in ads during the kick-off of the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday shopping season, known as “Black Friday.”...
Rush Limbaugh is throwing his hefty media weight behind embattled Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer with a bizarre argument over Arizona’s anti-gay bill that stands the notion of “bullying” on its head. The bill, which would allow store owners to ban gay patrons on religious grounds, is awaiting Gov. Jan Brewer's signature to become law. Picking up a popular catch-phrase of the day, Limbaugh declared on his radio show that Brewer is being “bullied” into vetoing the measure to “advance the gay agenda.”...
Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Heidi Klum were all poster girls for the ubiquitous “Got Milk” campaign over the past two decades. But “Got Milk” has finally got up and gone. The Milk Processor Education Program officially ended the campaign today (Feb. 24). It’s iconic posters were a rite of passage for a slew of celebrities and sports figures, not to mention the subject of countless parodies....
Bethenny Frankel, who parlayed a stint on “The Real Housewives of New York,” into her own personal brand, has lost the flagship of her media empire. Her daytime talk show was cancelled today (Feb. 14) and will end its run at the end of the current season. It would be unfair to call Frankel a flop. Her show scored modest successes with 25-to-54 viewers desired by advertisers....
Sports Illustrated’s decision to put a Barbie Doll on the cover of its 50th Anniversary swimsuit issue has to be a hoax; otherwise it’s a cruel joke for women who have grown up under the stigma of the doll’s impossible feminine proportions. The cover is expected to be officially unveiled on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tonight (Feb. 13) The magazine will hit newsstands on Tuesday (Feb. 18). The doll has been under attack by feminists and child psychologists....
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a co-host on the Fox News show, “Fox & Friends” (and a size 2, mind you) slammed high school student Jewel Moore’s suggestion for a plus-size Disney princess to help women with their confidence. Hasselbeck, a conservative who often riled liberal co-hosts on “The View,” led the debate on today’s (Feb. 6) show....
Miley Cyrus gets a major make-over for the cover of fashion trade bible W magazine, channeling a mix of Madonna, circa 1980, and Courtney Love. She’s naked natch, shielded only by a pillow. If the cover is real, that is. The image went viral on the Internet today (Jan. 31), apparently leaked by somebody… Miley?...
Scarlett Johansson has been caught in a tizzy over fizzy water. She’s been signed to rep for SodaStream machines, but the Israeli company that makes them is under fire for building three factories in the West Bank. The supposedly environmentally friendly company has been accused of taking advantage of Palestinians who have few other employment opportunities....
Lena Dunham, the controversial star of the hit HBO show “Girls,” finally got her photo opportunity Vogue, the fashion bible. But at least one of the resulting images is gross. It’s so digitally altered, Lena looks like she has only one arm. Dunham, 27, is the magazine’s cover model for the upcoming February issue. Photos from the spread became available today (Jan. 16)....
