We've come to the conclusions that the Lohan family can't survive without being involved in some sort of public feud. The latest was with America's hero, Anderson Cooper, but this time they're keeping it inside the family and battling father Michael Lohan. Oh boy.
Upon news that Lindsay's girlfriend Samantha Ronson plans to write a tell-all, Michael went into a tirade accusing Sam of using LiLo for fame. Mike's not so self-aware, is he? In response, Lindsay pulled her dad aside and had a mature talk about how his actions hurt her. Just kidding, she went to Access Hollywood to announce that her father is "out of control."
So now it's Samantha's turn, and she unleashed her anger via MySpace, Brooke Hogan-style.
Kudos to Ryan Seacrest brand extension the E! channel, which is making no secret of its programming mantra: Our stars must go to prison. At PaidContent's EconCeleb conference — where the paparazzi panel bitched at each other over celebrity rights and Harvey Levin explained his moral compass — E!'s CMO Suzanne Kolb weighed in on shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Simple Life, and Living Lohan*, where it's common practice for talent to spend some time behind bars. "A lot of our talent have gone to jail and we’ve been very clear on that." And that wasn't even the most amusing line of the whole panel. That award goes to Access Hollywood executive producer Rob Silverstein: "Access Hollywood follows the same guidelines that NBC News follows when it comes to reporting any news story." Wait, so that means checkbooks are kosher, right?
Last night kicked off Access Hollywood's four-part interview series with Barack Obama, wife Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha. Not only was it more evidence that Obama is now a big contributor to the celebrity news cycle, but it was a rare opportunity where the presidential hopeful allowed his daughters to be hit on by the press. Maria Menounos was with the family in Butte, Montana, where they were celebrating July 4th and Malia’s 10th birthday.
And it will be the absolute last time anyone gets access to his kids. CONTINUED »
Why can't separate units of the same corporation get along? You don't seen Time Warner's People and TMZ.com feuding with each other. But yesterday's Access Hollywood "promo" of Angelina Jolie's interview with the Today show has the morning show's exec producer Jim Bell furious with his NBC counterpart.
Today released footage to corporate cousin Access so exec producer Rob Silverstein could tease the interview, providing the tabloid TV show with a buzzworthy nugget while synergistically promoting its morning show pal.
But then Access posted an entire transcript of the interview, even though it was Today who flew Natalie Morales to Cannes for the interview, meaning Bell & Co. footed the bill. Relays Page Six: "'Jim and Rob exchanged words. Rob had to be told off, but the situation was resolved favorably.' Today reps said the show 'is always happy to share the wealth of our many exclusive interviews throughout the entire NBC Universal family.' Silverstein said, via a rep, 'All 5-foot-7 of me on a good day would never dare take on 6-foot-5 Jim Bell.'"
The interview from this morning's Today is below. CONTINUED »
At last night's Leatherheads premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O'Dell fancies herself a star instead of someone supposed to interview one. CONTINUED »
Access Hollywood is giddy to announce they've got Project Runway winner Christian Siriano on blast to cover Nickelodeon's 2008 Kids' Choice Awards. He'll be on the red orange carpet handing out Fierce Fashion Awards and says, "I think it's fabulous that I'll be on the red carpet checking to see if anyone is a hot tranny mess. Watch out - you know I'll be fierce with my comments."
Adds supervising producer Ryan Patterson: "Christian IS fierce, fabulous and ferosh and he is a pop culture catchphrase machine. He also really knows fashion - he's a style stud who will standout on the carpet with his one-of-a-kind hairdo and electric personality and most importantly, he'll be able to spot out whose fashion is a 'hot mess' and whose fashion is 'fierce.'"
Adds Jossip: Nobody should speak like this.
Nothing quite says “I’m concerned about Britney Spears and her health” like giving an exclusive to Access Hollywood. And Adnan Ghalib is obviously very concerned.
We can’t figure out who tracked down whom at the Ed Hardy fashion show in LA; both parties are obviously very desperate for credibility. It doesn’t really matter who initiated it, though, as long as the interview is awesome.
[Photo]
Reports Access Hollywood:
Move over Judge Judy … Judge Larry is coming to town!
Judge Larry Seidlin, the wisecracking, emotional judge from the Anna Nicole Smith case, is shooting a pilot for his own TV show, “Access Hollywood” has learned.
The show will be produced by CBS Paramount. No other details were available.
It's sad when it's NBC Universal's tabloid show that breaks the news that CBS Paramount's The Insider or Entertainment Tonight should've had. What happened to corporate nepotism?
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 »
If we had a scoop that a C-List celeb was pregnant … say, Natalie Morales or Lisa Loeb … we would tell you. Even if we thought you might not care that much, we would take the eight minute to bang out a little song and dance about how happy/sorry we are for the soon-to-be parents.
But not Access Hollywood! They (claim to have) sat on their "Tori Spelling is Preggers" story for a whole month. "Out of respect for the family." Since when to celebrity reporters have that?!
Access Hollywood says Spelling confirmed to them in person a month ago that she was expecting all while smiling a lot and be really obnoxiously creepy.
Access Hollywood has been holding our tongues for weeks. But now we can finally confirm the good news that Tori Spelling is pregnant.
Access found out last month in Jamaica during the Access Hollywood Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Tournament where Tori and husband Dean McDermott took part in the festivities.
Why, we wonder, can they just now confirm it? Because she hit the three month mark when it's safe to tell people? Or did they get wind that Page Six had the scoop? Since the Post quotes their source as "friends of the starlet" we can only assume it was not Access Hollywood who tipped them off. (We may also go so far as to say it may have been Tori's rep who turned around and told Access Hollywood to go ahead with the story? We're just speculating.)
Anyways, not a huge deal (more of a little conspiracy theory, really) but, it's just sort of obnoxious when reporters suck up to celebs to get an "exclusive," promise to make them look all good and gushy, and then wait a month on the story … only to publish it so they don't get scooped by another gossip column. Where's the loyalty to the readers?
You guys want to know the very moment Tori Spelling is with child, right? Ok, you probably don't … but this did just shave a whole third off everyone's designated bump-watching time.
Actress and husband Dean McDermott are expecting their first child [Access Hollywood]
TORI'S EXPECTING [Page Six]
Last week, NBC fired 14 people from the Access Hollywood staff. And NBC didn't even give them the Bonnie Fuller "I'll shake your hand while you pack up your boxes" send-off — NBC just locked them out of the building as they were returning from lunch. (We're not sure if all 14 of them had lunch together, but if so, we assume it was at NBC's suggestion.
"It was really awful. Their ID cards wouldn't open the gate, and then a security guard came over and told them they were no longer employed there," one insider told Page Six. "Of course, the bosses waited until they'd finished producing the day's show before canning them."
Among those who were locked out were senior field producer John Davis, field producers Jennifer Lavin, David Garner and Jason Miller, and segment producer Lizza Morales. The show's host Nancy O'Dell was reportedly sobbing over the news, while Access Hollywood spokesman Joe Schlosser responded to Page Six inquiries by laughing.
The thing is, though, Scholsser didn't realized the staffers had been locked out. The loss of their jobs was hilarious, until he heard that part. He's not completely heartless.
NBC AXES 14 AS THEY EAT LUNCH [Page Six]
• The new CW attacks MySpace with ads. Oh ye advertisers of way too much faith. [TV Week]
• Was the People, National Enquirer, Us Weekly catfight not enough to getchya all riled up? Well, we promise, this one will leave you pretty sticky. [Star]
• The only reason to give Paris Hilton money to come on your show is if she promises cry because somebody called her a fart in a mitten. [Scoop]
• Doesn't the Internet have any thing more sexy and exciting to offer? Like "rock star seeing socialite" or "Long Island wannabe seeking dirty old rich guy?" [VV]
• Not satisfied with the complete and utter takeover of Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein ventures into television, attempting to bring culture and class back to a completely whored out medium. Good fuckin' luck dude. Does he know the Carter family has their own reality series? [NYP]
AccessHollywood.com's report last wek that Katie Couric wouldn't go to the Middle East to report wasn't a NBC Universal swipe at their ex-Today show anchor — it was just a regular, run-of-the-mill error.
On Wednesday, Access Hollywood's website posted an item quoting Katie Couric from May 30, when she was still co-anchor of the Today show, reacting to injured CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier; Couric said she would not go to Iraq, being a single mother of two children who already lost a father, and all. That quote, it turns out, was taken out of context in the AH item: At the Television Critics Association's annual event on July 16, fully representing her new post at CBS, Couric said she would go to the Middle East, especially in light of the current Lebanon situation.
It wasn't until the Drudge Report blared the AH item did anyone really notice the contradiction – and some folks updating Katie's Wikipedia entry – and set Katie's publicist Matthew Hiltzik reeling.
It took two hours between the article's initial filing on Access Hollywood's website for a corrected version to appear, we're told. But on a slow gossip Saturday, Page Six took the incident one step further — alleging (via a NBC source) that the item was a deliberate move from inside 30 Rock to bitchslap their former morning darling.
But after speaking to a NBC Universal insider with knowledge of the situation, we've learned nobody inside NBC chief Bob Wright's camp had anything to do with the AccessHollywood.com item. The erroneous posting was, in fact, just a screw up due to not fully vetting the interview transcript from May and failing to include Couric's most recent comments. So no, there's no conspiracy here. And we, of all people, we're hoping for one.
Which Anchors Put Themselves In The Line Of Fire? [AccessHollywood.com]
'ACCESS' BLOWS KATIE QUOTES [Page Six]
It was only Tuesday we were telling you the story of Billy Bush's hissy fit over Us Weekly's Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson scoop. Access Hollywood's Billy, who regularly hates on Janice Min's ode to eating disorders, accused the editor of using the mutual representation at Dan Klores to secure a backdoor scoop, delivered on a platter by also-anti-Us Joe Simpson.
And then, today, we see Us Weekly and Access Hollywood joining hands to deliver the news of Nicole Richie's breakup with DJ AM.
Granted, Us doesn't co-credit AH and AH doesn't co-credit Us, but Page Six has blended their scoops together in blissful merriment.
So is the feud softening or, as we're hoping (just to keep this interesting), they both happened upon the story independently and refuse to acknowledge one another? Either way, we're just glad there's more to the story than Nicole's eating habits.
Richie's New Single Life [Page Six]
Related: Janice Min's insider scoop on Nick & Jessica
Did Us Weekly get the Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson scoop because the divorcing couple and editrix Janice Min are all repped by Dan Klores PR? The official line, of course, is "No," but Access Hollywood's Billy Bush has a different tale to tell.
While all the weeklies and tabloid TV shows were preparing to relax for a long Thanksgiving weekend, Us Weekly had the breakup story ready to run — and their Thanksgiving Eve announcement with Jessica and Nick's publicsts forced Bush's show, along with Extra, The Insider and all the rest, to cancel their pre-taped holiday shows and play catch up.
Billy Bush's long standing vendetta against Us Weekly is widely known, so he could be pushing his own agenda here. But daddy Joe Simpson has never been an Us Weekly fan – only a year ago he promised never to talk to the magazine again – and so suddenly he was giving them the exclusive.
It makes you wonder. For a few seconds.
Yes, yes, we know this item is from last week, but how often do you expect us to read Billy Bush's blog? But we're willing to visit the Access Hollywooder's online space to hash out a Nov. 24 item, wherein he calls out Joe Simpson for, well, begin Joe Simpson: aggressive, backstabbing, manipulative and a liar.
Remember when just last week Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson announced their official separation to Us Weekly? So does Billy Bush.
Joe said some demonizing things about US Weekly to me in an interview over a year ago ("never again" was his position on future collaborations) and again face to face in late October, over drinks at The Cheesecake Factory in Sherman Oaks, CA. While sipping margaritas, he swore his daughter and Nick were together to my face, claimed US Weekly West Coast editor, Ken Baker, had called him a 'liar', how he was miffed that Ken didn't believe that Nick and Jessica's Eurpoean trip was something other than a poorly planned distraction (neither did I…nobody did).
Now, the day before Thanksgiving, he has faced the truth and immediately started looking forward. He has realized his kids NEED US Weekly and so does he….so now, he tucks tail, gives THEM the scoop (and thus the olive branch) and starts charting a new course, which will heavily involve US Weekly, make no mistake…and the main man in his daughter's life is back to being him.
Which, when you think about it, explains just how Joe could also turn his back on OK!, which infamously forked over $200,000 for six exclusive cover articles only to see their arrangement flogged by Us Weekly.
Billy's Blog [Access Hollywood]
Earlier: Nick & Jessica's breakup ruined Thanksgiving
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
Jessica Simpson's seeing a therapist didn't only grab Tom Cruise's attention, but pretty much the entire gossip industry. (Aside from that angry Vogue publisher and Tom himself dumping his publisister, it's been a slow week, mmm-kay?)
Her revelation to Teen People that she sought professional help to get through the relentless press coverage of her marriage to Nick Lachey was of particular interest to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush, who you might recognize as the president's regularly uninvited cousin.
So, camera crew in tow, he went out to Lancaster (north of Hollywood) to find out. Sure, he shot her questions about her clothing line and award-winning breasts (In Touch honored her with best cleavage), but the real story was about her rendezvous with the psychiatric community.
Unfortunately, her publicist (Cacee Cobb?) wasn't having it.
“You went into therapy. What was behind that decision because a lot of people do?†he asked, only to find Jess reluctant to answer the question.
“I mean, hmm, I don't wanna… Everybody's asking that question,†she softly said.
“I would stay away from that,†a publicist said from off-camera.
Silly publicists, forgetting it's people like Billy Bush (and people with worse hair!) who keep their clients in business. But Billy's therapy agenda just wasn't going to happen, as evidenced by pubby's continued defenses:
• “This is just about the line and that's all we're talking about. That's why we're here today. I need you to stay with that,†the publicist insisted.
• “I totally understand but that is the focus of why we're here today and that's all we're talking about today,†the publicist said.
• “That's just not why we're here. If you want to keep talking about the clothing line, that's fine. But that's all we're doing,†the pub said. “That's all we're doing.â€
• “That's it. No other questions,†the publicist interrupted one final time.
And with that, the interview ended — and Billy Bush left Lancaster with the veins in his forehead pulsating with speculation about her failed marriage to Nick Lachey.
And us? Well we're left wondering where the hell Jessica's publicist is when she's wrangled away for a Perez Hilton photo op.
Jessica Simpson won’t talk about Nick [Access Hollywood]
