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The most recent pictures of Britney Spears’ va-jay-jay? We’re told they were snapped up “in the five-figure range” in a one day exclusive detail with CBS/Paramount’s Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, and then continued to sell well on a non-exclusive arrangement thereafter. And while the blogs also bought ‘em up, interestingly, the print tabloids did not. Something about editors being “too grossed out.” Which begs the question: Even Mark Pasetsky?

Sep 19, 2007 · Link · Respond

There are blind items. And then there are blind items where you pretend to cover your eyes with your hands except it’s obvious you’re peeking out between your fingers. Guess which scenario we’ve got here?

Asks blogger Kenneth in the 212: “Which TV insider has been known to make his own headline news with these superhot nude pics of himself on the gay cruising site Manhunt.net?”

We’ll let you visit that site for the NSFW photo hints, but in an entirely unrelated visit to memory lane, let’s once again ogle new Insider correspondent Thomas Roberts’ torso.

Sep 6, 2007 · Link · 1 Response

The Insider’s email news alert was so breaking, they didn’t have time for new hire Thomas Roberts to chip in with the copyediting.

Aug 24, 2007 · Link · Respond

We’re hearing openly gay – which must be mentioned, of course – former CNN anchor Thomas Roberts, whose torso makes us swoon, has inked a contributor deal with CBS Paramount’s The Insider and/or Entertainment Tonight.

What with E!’s Ryan Seacrest and Marc Malkin, plus Extra’s Mark McGrath, tabloid TV is becoming a gay teen’s haven.

Aug 23, 2007 · Link · Respond


Timeline.

January 11: Radar’s Jeff Bercovici gets some bad information and claims Pat O’Brien is being canned as host of The Insider.

February 8: We hear from a well-placed snitch that O’Brien is not out of a job. In fact, he’s being resigned with a new contract.

Today: Ben Widdicombe confirms O’Brien has re-upped, “for a chunk less change. Also, he’s moving to New York!”

Jun 11, 2007 · Link · Respond

Just how is Paris Hilton coping with her detainment? Um, who cares.

Where our hearts lie is with the tabloid press, who, at the same time, have both a news hole (Paris isn’t out partying!) and a news field day (Paris is in prison!). With the heiress checking herself into jail not even 48 hours ago, it’s time to check in with our tabloid TV pals to see what they’re working on.

Inside Edition: “Paris Hilton may be facing a serious threat at the Lynwood Correction Facility where she is currently serving her 45-day sentence for violating her probation. The women???s prison is rife with staph infection, with over 402 inmates diagnosed with the serious infection last year alone.”

Oh good, we knew there’d be scraps!

CONTINUED »

Jun 5, 2007 · Link · Respond



The video you’ll be talking about for the next 3.67 days is, undoubtedly, footage of Knight Rider David Hasselhoff intoxicated and eating some sort of drunk food a hamburger while his daughter films it, advising him that he’ll lose his The Producers gig if he drinks. It’s hysterical, entertaining, or worth the 30 seconds of your life that it takes to consume.

But that’s not even where the fun ends. Now the tabloid shows are feuding over the footage. Extra claims it’s their exclusive, but will let you see it. Meanwhile, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider claim its theirs, and are being passive-aggressive about letting you watch it.

CONTINUED »

May 3, 2007 · Link · Respond

• Hugh Grant left a British paparazzo “bruised, battered and covered in baked beans.”

• Could it be? Is Britney Spears really tipping off the paparazzi before she heads out for her daily errands? But wouldn’t that make her an opportunistic hussy promoting a comeback album, rather than a postpartum sufferer and devoted mother to two children we never see?

• And if rapper Eve described her leaked sex tape as “embarrassing,” she must be utterly humiliated by this whole “driving drunk and crashing her gold Maserati” incident.

• Joe Francis may have racked up more time in the slammer by (allegedly!) fondling the boobies of an uninterested 18 year old girl.

CONTINUED »

Apr 26, 2007 · Link · Respond

All those tabloid shows that insist on popping up around 7pm, just as you’re settling in for a couple Law & Orders on TiVo before Lost comes on? Yeah, they’re not doing so well. Ratings are dipping for all that syndicated fare, including daytime’s Live With Regis & Kelly and Dr. Phil. (Oprah, of course, is doing alright.)

But then there are two shining exceptions to the rule, and their names aren’t Inside Edition or Access Hollywood.

CONTINUED »

Apr 11, 2007 · Link · Respond



Exclusive

In the wake of Anna Nicole Smith’s death, do you know who’s truly suffering? Staffers at The Insider, that’s who.

We hear the entire stage crew staff – some 17 or 18 people – was just given the ax by exec producer Linda Bell Blue. (Cost cutting measure in resigning Pat O’Brien?)

So what’s to happen to the show? An, ahem, insider tells us it might move to the set of Entertainment Tonight – a fellow Paramount/CBS Studios product, and Bell Blue’s stomping ground – but nothing has been decided yet. The Post, meanwhile, reports the show is moving to New York.

As for Blue Bell? We’re told “she cried” when news of Anna’s death hit the wires. Our tattler suggests a few possible reasons for the tears:

1) Linda was genuinely sad about the death;
2) They were tears of joy, celebrating a huge return on an $800,000 investment in Anna. All that money for exclusive interviews with the deceased is just now realizing its value, as The Insider will have hoards of unseen footage of a breathing Anna;
3) Tears of guilt, because the $800k in payments to the former Playmate only helped feed her addictions;
4) She felt like she lost a sister: “Anna Nicole once told Linda Bell she thought they looked like sisters,” says our source;

Oh, and one other reason Bell Blue might be devastated? She’ll have to find a new celebrity to mop the floor with during sweeps.

Feb 9, 2007 · Link · Respond

Despite reports from Gatecrasher and Radar that Pat O’Brien is being ousted as the host of The Insider, an insider tells us he’s not out of a job.

We hear Paramount plans to keep him around, resigning a version of his 3-year/$4 million contract, which should keep afloat his budget for leaving coked up voicemails.

Feb 8, 2007 · Link · 2 Responses

It’s official. Pat O’Brien, (a.k.a. “King of the Drunk Voicemail”) will be departing The Insider to explore his “wild” side when his contract runs out, most likely to be replaced from the much-less-wild Lara Spencer.

Although we assumed the “creepy mustache” was the driving factor in this decision, Dr. Phil apparently also contributed to O’Brien’s image problem.

It was a mistake, the source says, to force O’Brien to talk about the scandal on Dr. Phil only a month after he went into rehab. “Paramount really fucked him over,” he says. “He was 30 days sober, and all of a sudden he has to talk about this stuff on national TV. That’s not a recovery plan.”

Because typically, when celebrities screw up, they never simply issue a public apology and then check themselves into rehab.**

Which means, we had it right to begin with: creepy ’stache all the way.

**except for Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, Brandon “Beached Whale” Davis and pretty much everyone else we can think of.

Jan 12, 2007 · Link · Respond

A quick note of congratulations to The Insider’s Marc Malkin, who we hear ran – and, more importantly, finished – the San Francisco Marathon, raising a heap of cash for the AIDS Project Los Angeles. The West Coast’s most well-connected gossip finished his the 26.2-mile race in under 5:30, thanks to plenty of Gatorade and preztels, the brand of which we’ll find out for you so we can give a nice corporate plug.

(On a more depressing note, former Wired deputy editor William Goggins did not make it across the finish line. He collapsed and died of apparent heart failure at the 24-mile mark.)

Aug 1, 2006 · Link · Respond

It was the breakup heard ’round the world, except we were too busy filling our bellies with sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie to care: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson are over, officially, forever and ever.

But let us just remind you: Jessica’s new publicist Rob Shuter as of the Friday before last assured us on Tuesday that all was fine in Nick and Jessicaville. And then, on Wednesday night, he drops the deflated bomb that they had split. Just in case you need any more reason not to trust publicists.

And, in case you need any more reason to believe Jessica’s father Joe is the devil incarnate, let’s also point out that he released the news on Wednesday night, which meant the staffers at Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and the rest of their ilk had to work on Thanksgiving instead of letting their pretaped shows run.

Holiday Killer [Page Six]
Earlier: Jessica Simpson’s exhaustion of PR reps continues

Nov 28, 2005 · Link · Respond

After a five-year hiatus from television, Kathie Lee Gifford is set to make her return next month. If Teri Hatcher can return, anyone can, right?

Gifford will be covering Broadway as a special correspondent for Paramount’s tabloid show The Insider, hosted by everyone’s fav mustached rehabber Pat O’Brien. Producers think the time is right for Broadway coverage to be included in their show now that big name celebs, like Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington (and Rosie O’Donnell!) are taking to the stage. Because, as you know, this is something v. v. new.

Either way, it’s great news for Kathie Lee because as Mark McGrath showed us, tabloid shows are where careers are resurrected.

Aug 16, 2005 · Link · Respond