Despite what Entertainment Tonight was reporting, and what Us Weekly picked up, People insists Angelina Jolie has not given birth to her twins. But Us Weekly does claim to have their names: Isla Marcheline and Amelie Jane.
Who's going to be the first paparazzi agency to score pictures of Britney Spears and Mel Gibson on holiday together in Costa Rica? Entertainment Tonight has video of them boarding a plane, but nobody has tape of them since they arrived in CR.
• Miley Cyrus and her parents saw an opportunity to boost her profile with a Vanity Fair photo shoot that portrayed her as more than an innocent little girl.
• Vanity Fair saw an opportunity to sell magazines by shooting America's tween sweetheart as more than an innocent little girl.
They both exploited each other. Neither should apologize. Except for one little thing: that the the photos are, uh, actually quite terrible.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz, responding to criticism over Miley Cyrus' topless Vanity Fair photoshoot: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together, and we discussed the picture in that context before we shot it. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful.” [Us]
The Today show didn't even get around to mentioning it until its second half hour. CONTINUED »
Entertainment Tonight was drooling over its weekend scoop that Vanity Fair had pried Miley Cryus' top off for Annie Leibovitz's camera, airing promo spots about the June Vanity Fair that would feature Disney's cash machine in the semi-buff, from behind.
Parents hitting the blogs have called foul; some are labeling the whore affair child porn.
For its part, Miley's corporate parent is blaming Graydon Carter's book: "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," said a Disney spokesperson.
And while Conde Nast fends off the second unwanted scandal – that dares disprove the "all press is good press" mantra – following Vogue's race-baiting Giselse-LeBron cover, the CBS tabloid show also finds itself in familiar surroundings. CONTINUED »
Look how well American Idol producers got their contestants on message! Who's got a copy of the talking points memo Nigel Lithgow & Co. distributed to cast members instructing them on how to respond to David Hernandez's gay stripping days? "We live in a bubble," they say. How quaint. And kudos to ET's Kevin Frazier for following up with "worthwhile questions"; working for the tabloid machine must be soul crushing. [ET]
In an interview with a surprisingly sober Lindsay Lohan, laughable celebrity tabloid show Entertainment Tonight says "Lindsay's back and looking good" and is more than happy to publicize her Paper magazine spread and upcoming film and recording projects.
To their credit, they even mention the word "rehab!" But otherwise, it's as if publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik was there holding a "Leave Lindsay Alone!" agreement before the sit down began.
Heath Ledger's publicist Mara Buxbaum, along with Ina Treciokas, runs the New York office of public relations firm I/D PR. (On the West Coast, power publicist Kelly Bush leads the charges.) It's Buxbaum who sent out an email to other Hollywood rep firms, including PMK-HBH, 42 West, and BWR, calling on them to protest Entertainment Tonight and The Insider's decision to run video of Ledger at a 2006 SAG Awards party, which they paid $200k for, that showed another man snorting "something" off a table and Heath discussing his drug use.
To ET executive producer Linda Bell Blue and Paramount exec Brad Bessey, this email, which included both of their email addresses and a call to speak out, meant something else entirely: If they moved ahead with airing the video, they would effectively lose access to all of I/D PR's clients, as well as those of allied powerhouse agencies. Not that Buxbaum would go on record saying so.
So exactly who would the CBS-Paramount tabloid shows wave goodbye to? Here's a short list: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ellen Page, Mira Sorvino, James Marsden, Kevin Kline, Ethan Hawke (who Buxbaum just confirmed is about to be a daddy), Sarah Jessica Parker, Winona Ryder, Sean Penn, Diane Lane, America Ferrera, and Elijah Wood. Dozens – and dozens – more follow. CONTINUED »
The AP didn’t leak an internal memo this time, but it seems like now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Heath Ledger is a big deal.
The Associated Press ran a lengthy piece explaining why Entertainment Tonight held the tape of Heath Ledger hanging out at a party where there were—get this—drugs. (At moments like this, we’re content with our complete lack of social importance.)
According to the AP, other famous people like Natalie Portman and Sarah Jessica Parker asked ET to have a little class. Apparently those two didn’t get the note about what celebrity reporting is all about: not offending the PR agencies they need to be on good terms with in order to snag access to celebs. Heath's publicist Mara Buxbaum, at I/D PR, emailed fellow PR outfits like PMK-HBH, 42 West, and BWR, a note that called the video "shameful exploitation of the lowest kind"; those firms banded together to effectively threaten a boycott against the CBS-produced tabloid shows unless they pulled the video.
Well, on the plus side, unlike the Britney Spears saga, this story has a foreseeable end. There’s only so much to say about Heath Ledger these days: The dead rarely make news, unless Page Six spots them at a dinner.
Thank god you can't, legally, libel the dead, or the Post might have had to run their items by counsel before running them.
The Post says it was cocaine and heroin that Heath was on, forcing Michelle Williams to kick him out after multi-day binges. But the real hook here, as the Daily News is on, is the video tape of Heath rambling on, after the 2006 SAG Awards, at the Chateau Marmont, about his drug use; in the background, someone is snorting "powder" off a table.
CBS's Entertainment Tonight paid $200,000 for the video, thinking they had an instant ratings-win on their hands. At 3:30am EST, the network's VP for business and legal affairs, Joseph Jerome, even sent out a notice to bloggers, always keen to beat the mainstream media with their own scoops, that they had "EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS REGARDING PROPRIETARY MATERIALS OF HEATH LEDGER AT THE CHATEAU MARMONT ON APPROXIMATELY JANUARY 29, 2006," and, "ANY BROADCAST OR USAGE OF THIS MATERIAL IN ANY MANNER NOT AUTHORIZED SHALL CONSTITUTE AN INFRINGEMENT AND VIOLATION OF ET AND THE INSIDER'S VALUABLE EXCLUSIVE AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS AND WILL CONSTITUTE INFRINGEMENT AND TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE BY THE INFRINGER, EXPOSING THE INFRINGER TO SUBSTANTIAL MONETARY DAMAGES."
But then they backed down, bowing to … public pressure? Gross out factor? The understanding that they'd never get access to any other client that Ledger and Michelle Williams' I/D PR represents?
By 6:46pm EST, ET publicist Kristin Miller, also a fan of caps-lock, was issuing a release announcing the recanting of their decision to air the video: "Out of respect for Heath Ledger s family, Entertainment Tonight and "The Insider" have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media."
No worries, however: Australia's Channel 9 also has the video, and insists on airing it. See you on YouTube.
We've made a habit of chiding entertainment programs like Access Hollywood and even TV Guide Channel's The 411 for blasting press releases to our inboxes announcing the most inane "scoops." But we've never seen one as pushy as the release Entertainment Tonight sent this afternoon about Mary-Kate Olsen's statement regarding Heath Ledger.
Oh, sorry, make that "MARK-KATE OLSEN."
MARK-KATE OLSEN RELEASES HEATH LEDGER STATEMENT TO ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
January 25, 2008 (Los Angeles, CA)– Mary-Kate Olsen exclusively tells ET, "Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time."
* MUST CREDIT ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
* MUST MENTION TUNE IN TO ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2008
* FOR MORE ON THIS AND OTHER STORIES, VISIT WWW.ETONLINE.COM
So, uh, we MUST CREDIT ET? And we MUST MENTION to our readers that they need to TUNE IN tonight? Even though Mary-Kate's statement was released everywhere, including, probably, other universes?
Consider the incredulous look on Mary-Kate's face the same one we're making right now.
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?
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.
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 »
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 »
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 »
As we do our best to avoid All Things Anna Nicole, one peculiar incident has perked our interest. It's no secret that Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have beaten this story to, ahem, death, but MSNBC's Rita Cosby has also been on the beat. And perhaps she's been going at it a little too hard.
A report from ETonline.com about the private gathering at the Villa Florentine after Anna's funeral – where ET cameras were the only ones allowed inside! – called out Cosby for being booted from the affair because she wasn't on Howard K. Stern’s guest list (as ICN fills in). The quote from the article is:
At one point in the reception, MSNBC's RITA COSBY — a guest of Virgie's — allegedly snuck into the affair, but was quickly escorted out.
Except you'd be hard pressed to find that quote again — as it's been removed from the story. The only way we happened upon it was via ETonline.com's search feature.
Looks like there was one hurried call from one pissed off MSNBC publicist.
Entertainment Tonight yesterday titillated its website readers with "EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS" of Britney Spears on a rampage, taking an umbrella to a SUV after supposedly meeting with ex Kevin Federline after exiting rehab for the second time, with yet another pack of lens men capturing it all.
Not that you couldn't access most of those photos on the blog of X17, the paparazzi agency ET bought them from, but it turns out those photos weren't so exclusive, after all.
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Were it not for publicists reminding us, we might forget such important events like the Women In Communication Matrix Awards and Bentley Motors' East Side House Settlement Gala Preview of the 2006 New York International Auto Show. It also slipped our minds that Entertainment Tonight – the bastion of primetime-ish celebrity newsdom – is turning 25. They're having a little get together in Beverly Hills next week, and they'd love for you to come.
You are invited to The Museum of Television and Radio's seminar celebrating 25 Years of "Entertainment Tonight"
Panelists: Linda Bell Blue, Mary Hart, Mark Steines, Leonard Maltin, Jann Carl
Guest Moderator: Henry Winkler, Actor/Producer
With its fast pace, colorful celebrity interviews, exclusive access to upcoming industry projects, and up-to-the-minute reports on the current show business scene, Entertainment Tonight has been a favorite place to go to catch up on everything that's hot and happening in pop culture. Covering television, film, music, fashion, and special events in a widely imitated format, the program is currently in its 25th season, having broadcast more than 7,000 shows, and remains the #1 syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in the world. Join the Executive Producer and some of the ET anchors in a discussion of what it's like to put together one of the medium's most successful magazine series.
And unlike Mediabistro's editor parties, Entertainment Tonight is inviting students (with valid college ID, of course). If you do happen to go, we're expecting a full photo report on how many years Mary Hart knocks off by appearing on a fuzzy lense camera.
The full call to action, after the jump.
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Editorial Director
