Actress Jessica Biel, who is often photographed by the paparazzi looking very unhappy next to professional jerk Justin Timberlake, blogged her first bloggy blog item on The MySpace yesterday! She’s down in South Carolina filming the movie Nailed with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tracy Morgan, and she’s only got a few minutes of rest while sitting in her trailer, probably drinking SmartWater, because that’s what celebrities like her do, so she’s punching out her very first item where she reports she is “thrilled to join the tech revolution!” And we are thrilled to welcome her! But for being such a novice blogger, Ms. Biel has already learned rule No. 1 of blogging: self-promotion. This medium is barely worth the effort if you aren’t going to rush from the gate and start plug-plug-plugging away at your own projects. CONTINUED »
Paris Hilton, the most dangerous thing to happen to reality television and the animal kingdom, is P.O.’d over a story that surfaced last week that she tried to buy a new puppy from The Puppy Store in Los Angeles for use in a photo shoot she was en route to, but was refused by a store clerk who was probably wise to her illegal dog owning ways. Page Six reported the professional red carpet walker “went ‘ballistic’ … She started screaming, ‘I love my puppies! I want my baby!’” But it’s all untrue, says Ms. Hilton! CONTINUED »
Like Eliot Spitzer once did, your “words have touched me,” wrote Ashley Alexandra Dupre on her MySpace blog on Saturday, in what’s her first public statement since her the ex-gov’s call girl scandal broke. (Well, the day it all went down, she did post: “Yeah, I did it.”)
To her supporters (fans?), she writes, “Thank you all so much for taking the time to send me a bit of strength and inspiration via e-mail or comment. … Your words have touched me, and I thank you for that … with all my heart, I love you guys!!! :)” And to the haters? “I love you too, because it makes me push myself and want it even more.”
Also, she’s sorry if your friend request got deleted! ZOMG, the MySpace is haaard!
It’s called “Operation Suck Less.” [THR]
If the rumor floating around is true, if, indeed, 50 Cent is about to ink a $300 million, 360 deal with arch-conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s Myspace to rival Jay-Z’s measly-by-comparison $100 million deal with Live Nation, then this would be huge, ground-breaking, major front-page news.
Adorable heterosexual Al Reynolds has adorable things to say about his adorable split from adorable Star Jones. You know, the type of cloudy, ambiguous things that could easily be taken out of context, or placed in context, to suggest he might be playing for another team. Things like: CONTINUED »
IT COSTS A LOT OF MONEY TO LOOK THIS CHEAP Tom from MySpace is No 8. on this list of rich people who look poor. That he did not beat the Olsen Twins (No. 6) or Amy Winehouse (No. 1) makes us give this list absolute credibility. [Nerve]
News Corp.’s digital unit, Fox Interactive, told investors it would miss projected earnings of $1 billion by a full $100 million, which sent analysts rushing to cut their recommendations. Rupert Murdoch’s Internet strategy rests, by no small amount, on his $580 million purchase of MySpace, which hasn’t seen the ad revenue dollars he would like.
Interesting, then, that instead of feeding MySpace into an obvious extension – political TV – with corporate cousin Fox News, the social network has instead inked a deal with MSNBC.com and NBC News, streaming the cable network’s shows on the site for the new “Decision ‘08.” (The dealmaking isn’t without precident: NBC and News Corp. did team up for Hulu.)
At least one thing doesn’t come as a total surprise: For now, you won’t find Keith Olbermann’s show on there.
Merchandising expert Lauren Conrad wasn’t happy with the cover Us Weekly gave her this week. She agreed to give Janice Min’s tabloid an exclusive interview (whatever that means with press-hungry reality tarts), and they had the audacity to write a cover line that made her look all woe is me instead of girl power. CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY WOULD DO THAT TO HER?!?!
So she took to, where else, her MySpace blog to set the record straight: “Hey! I just wanted to take a moment to clear something up. I recently did an interview to talk about the show coming back on and what everyone had to look forward to. Unfortunately it was turned into yet another ‘poor me’ story. The article itself is a nice one but it follows headlines that, in no way, represent my words or feelings. I do not feel betrayed by Audrina or Brody. I love them both and said nothing to contradict this. I understand that headlines sell magazines, but I value my friendships above magazine sales any day. On a more positive note, I got to see some of the first episode yesterday and it looks amazing. I’m sooooooo excited for everyone to see Paris. Best wishes and I hope everyone tunes in Monday.”
Unless you’re friends with Lauren, perhaps you weren’t alerted to the post the way you usually are — by MySpace’s PR team, which issues releases whenever one of its celebrity clientele does something meaningful like string words together. So how come tabloid TV producers and their kin weren’t notified?
We’re just riffing here, but a one Shelly Reinstein happens to work at MySpace PR. She used to work at Us Weekly. And her sister, Mara Reinstein? She still does.
After the jump, a photo of Lauren’s dog Chloe, just ’cause. CONTINUED »
That TMZ is engaging in yet another brand extension – there’s the website, the TV show, and you might even be able to count the two dozen emails they send each day as a unit unto itself – is of little import. But TMZ’s move to MySpaceTV, where it will have a dedicated video channel, is: It’s another team up between the Time Warner website (which is technically a project from subsidiaries AOL and Telepictures) and News Corp. TMZ’s television show is produced with Fox Television and broadcast on Fox-owned stations, and now it’s new web brand will sit on News Corp.’s social networking site. Jesus, Rupert, just make a bid for AOL already.
You’re waking up to rampant grabs for exclusive news that Angelina Jolie is once again pregnant … with twins! Star magazine’s senior exec editor Martin Gould sent out a late-night email claiming its their exclusive and “PLEASE ENSURE YOU CREDIT STAR AND LINK TO THE STARMAGAZINE.COM” (o-kay!).
Photo agency Bauer Griffin is hyping its own website scoop: “Sources have told only Bauer Griffin Online that not only is the pregnancy rumor true, and it’s twins, but that Angelina was spotted at the OB GYN office of the doctor who helped Nicole Richie.” That doctor is Dr. Jason Rothbart, whose fees just doubled.
Us Weekly seems to be falling behind, with only a Jan. 16 item that quotes George Clooney shooting down rumors of the pregnancy. Clearly he’s a stupid moron!
Even the disreputable photo agency X17 is claiming an “X17 XCLUSIVE,” with the balls to say that “other news outlets have been speculating that Angelina Jolie is once again with child, but an X17online inside source confirms that she’s not only pregnant, she’s expecting twins!” How xclusive!
Most surprising, however, is neither TMZ.com nor People have yet to post a story about it. It’s as if they’re waiting for a confirmation or something! And Bauer’s Life & Style and In Touch, which last week published one of its regular Angelina “Pregnancy News” cover stories – which is suddenly more relevant than the “Britney Spears: ‘I’m Not Crazy’” cover that hit newsstands Wednesday – is also absent from the conversation. And they live for Brangelina!
And if you think the new MySpace Celebrity has any updates for you, well, you’re probably one of those people who never decamped MySpace for Facebook.
You know when you watch the BBC, how you always feel smart because of those accents and when you dick around on MySpace, you always feel stupid because the layout was designed by a six year-old?
Well, prepare to feel smart and stupid at the same time, because the BBC has made a sharing arrangement with RupertBook. The BBC will make some of its content available on MySpaceTV, which is the second most popular video site after YouTube.
This is great. Now sex predators can meet teens and learn about international relations all in one easy portal.
50 Cent is going to interview Paris Hilton for Myspace’s celebrity-on-celebrity interview series. Some wonder how they’ll fill the time, but they share a past and possibly probably a rash. It shouldn’t be a problem.
MySpace agreed to work with attorney generals of 49 states to improve measures to protect children from sexual predators. The site will create a task force to find effective ways to verify ages of its users. Hopefully these measures will include ways to stop over-zealous moms from encouraging teen suicide.
In the meantime, a couple in Queens was arrested for raping teenage girls they met through the site.
Facebook may invade your privacy, but at least it doesn’t invade your nether regions.
FLOP.COM Still unsure how to capture this burgeoning Web 2.0 audience, Conde Nast stuck its tail between its legs in revamping the tactics of social scrapbooking site Flip.com. With audience way down, the better-than-bourgeois magazine publisher is turning the site into a web application that can be embedded into MySpace and Facebook profiles. [CNet]
Harsh truth time: Facebook will be more popular than MySpace. It has better page layout, a wealthier base and more potential. MySpace is still good for music though.
But these harsh truths doesn’t stop USA Today from running a puff piece on the pretense that MySpace still stands a chance:
The goal is to make MySpace the starting point for people on the Internet, where they can check in on the activities of friends, peruse e-mail, get the latest on news and weather, and post their favorite photos and videos. “We’re offering one place where people are in control,” [Chris] DeWolfe coolly explains at an L.A. restaurant near MySpace’s offices, cradling a cocktail.
Thanks, but no thanks. Our starting point on the internet doesn’t have flash ads.
God, MTV.
First we hear that The Hills is fake, and now Tila Tequila is straight. What’s next, the Real World isn’t real?
A source close to the Shot At Love production claims Tila is not bi-sexual at all. In fact, she’s got a BF, and is just using her sexuality to springboard her career [Ed: since when is looking slutty on a social networking site a career?]. Get out!
Reports Page Six:
Tila has and has had a boyfriend for over a year, and she’s not really bi. She’s made out with some girls in her past, as all girls have, but she is not bi at all … This is a massive scam . . . That’s why they are not continuing with the show [for a second season], because she won’t dump him.
We know, we know. This looks bad. But if the source at Page Six thinks all girls have made out with other girls, Tila Tequila might still be a bit bi-curious.
The New York Times most emailed list is a funny thing. Global political importance does not make an article most emailed, and neither does good writing.
The most emailed list is determined by demographics. Tech lovers have more of a propensity to email articles than people following the news in Iraq. But every once in a while an article comes along that is so disturbing and astonishing that demographics disappear, and it becomes something everyone should read. CONTINUED »
So apparently Rupert Murdoch is in talks to take over LinkedIn. When Murdoch put his Midas media touch on MySpace, we were irked, but he can have LinkedIn.
Every few weeks, a random person asks us to “connect” on LinkedIn. And what does this connection do for us? Do we get to see their relationship status? Pictures of them binge drinking? Learn about their favorite books? No. At best we discover what this person majored in in college.
So enjoy LinkedIn, Rupert, because a social networking site without incriminating photos is no friend of ours.
Like so much MTV programming, the channel’s partnership with MySpace to “rap” with young people about the 2008 election is now irrelevant.
That’s because Facebook, the only social networking site people use, has collaborated with ABC to do the same thing. ABC has just forced its reporters to join Facebook, and Facebook has integrated ABC news coverage on its site.
ABC and Facebook will sponsor a Republican and Democratic debate three days before the New Hampshire primary.
And yet somehow, Facebook status updates continue to reference binge drinking, not the value of a free democracy.
Editorial Director
