Bonnie Fuller has real insights into what Britney Spears might really be suffering from, going beyond our diagnosis of just bat-shit crazy.
According to Fuller, Spears has "histrionic" personality disorder and is probably bi-polar, too.
After all, she's speaking with an English accent, wearing a pink wig and according to some sources, her mood and her personality can do a 360° switch in a matter of seconds.
So her personality can make a "360° switch" in a matter of seconds, meaning she acts the exact same way from one moment to the next?
Since we're a marginally better source on usage, trust us, Britney is just bat-shit crazy.
Green might not have been Time magazine’s person of the year, because green is a color, and it was a stupid idea.
But green still is an adjective that comes up a lot. And if the Huffington Post has anything to say about it, it will become synonymous with sexy, which will encourage unsexy people to recycle.
The site just released their “7 Sexiest Green Celebs of 2007” list. Considering it’s January 7, this list is about a week late. And if the Huffington Post really cared about the environment, shouldn’t it be the “7 Greenest Sexy Celebs of 2007”? What’s important here: The environment or sex appeal?
Well, either way, now that stars care about the environment, being green is totally palatable. If Sheryl Crow is conservative with her toilet paper and she’s famous, that means environmentally friendly track marks will get you on the cover of Us Weekly.
The Easiest Job In The World Watching The View and waiting for Sherri Shepard to say something stupid and/or offensive to white people, black people, Christians, Jews, scientists and/or historians. Today it’s about how she would beat her child if she weren’t at a “rich white folks' store.” Don't let the man keep you down, Sherri! Casting department of the View: You’re doing A+ work. [HuffPo]
PET NAMES Rachel Sklar's vernacular so far includes: Brian Williams as "BriWi," Katie Couric as "KaCo," and, as of today, Tom Brokaw as "ToBro." What's next? Diane Sawyer as "DiSaw" and Robin Roberts as "RoRo"?
After the Iowa caucus, many candidates will have to admit their adolescent aspirations for president are both absurd and financially unfeasible. But before they go back to political obscurity, we’re taking a quick look at a few of the wackos who want to rule the free world this week.
Who: Joe Biden
Current Job: Democratic Senator from Delaware.
Currently Polling: 4% [CNN]
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Why does everyone still care about Britney's erratic behavior? Why do magazines with her face on the cover continue to fly off the racks week after week despite bearing near-identical headlines like "Children In Danger!" and "Where's Mommy?" Because, as it turns out, people have found that reading about rich, famous people who just can't seem to get their shit together actually makes them feel better about themselves.
At least, that's how shameless Britney detractor (and HuffPo contributor) Bonnie Fuller sees it. As the Star chieftain writes:
Every time that our girl Brit cluelessly tries to whitestrip her toddler's teeth instead of brushing them or runs a red light with the court-appointed monitor and her two sons all strapped in her car…give yourselves permission to pat yourselves on the back for a change. You may not be the perfect mom, but you ain't Britney.
Thanks for that explanation/rationalization, Bonnie! We feel truly enlightened. After all, who knew muckraking stories about Britney skipping court-ordered drug tests in favor of "major" liposuction on her tummy and upper thighs could be so damn uplifting?
Apparently, those neither related to – or infatuated with – Brian Williams took issue with the glowing review of his acting stint on HuffPo. (You know, the one that called his acting "nuanced, subtle, and wonderful," praised him for taking risks but not crossing any lines and, oh yes, just happened to be written by Williams' own daughter?)
Anyway. We're willing to forgive the outrageous display of nepotism—we are, after all, talking about the Huffington Post—but not the flowery, over-the-top language. As for not crossing any lines? Apparently that's one trait that doesn't run in the family. [Mollygood]
When Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer admitted that he had no plans to ever pay his bloggers, there was some outrage from the reporters and pundits who had grown accustomed to getting money for their work.
But the fact is, The Huffington Post offers her bloggers something which can be more valuable than money: Web traffic.
Consider Valerie Wilson’s blog on the Huffington Post. She became a writer on the site literately three hours after her 60 Minutes segment. She’s written three posts on the Huffington Post, mostly about her book, and her experience trying to promote it.
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Yesterday, fresh on the heels of officially announcing CBS defector Betsy Morgan as HuffPo's new CEO, Arianna Huffington delivered the keynote address at The Webby Awards and managed to promote new media (specifically the Huffington Post) as the wave of the future while slamming everything from the New York Times to Bob Schrum ("Schrum lost the Al Gore campaign and he was rehired to lose the the Kerry campaign.") Some of the highlights!
"The Huffington Post has more stringent fact-checking than the New York Times."
"[MSNBC has] become the network of blondes covering missing blondes."
"Every story does not have to have two sides. That's bullshit."
"Political ads still look like the 1950s because the consultants are from the 1950s."
And, of course, our personal favorite, Arianna's thoughts on the meaninglessness of political polls: "It's just bored and lonely Americans who have nothing better to do at dinner than talk to pollsters for no money."
Even crazier? Those bored and lonely Americans also happen to constitute the majority of HuffPo's readership! Or, at least, they used to.
Former general manager of CBSNews.com Betsy Morgan will be announced today as The Huffington Post's new permanent CEO.
"Getting somebody like this to come to our site says a boatload about where the industry is going," said Kenneth Lerer, who has been acting as the chief executive of The Huffington Post and will move up to chairman.
And while Morgan's move arguably solidifies HuffPo's place in the blogosphere, it says even more about the direction CBS News is headed.
The View has always been about presenting a range of opinions. And today, the show appealed to range of fetishists. If you’re into BBW (Big Beautiful Woman), pregnant chicks or grannies, than this SFW clip from The View is for you. [Huffington Post]
In yesterday's HuffPo, writer Sam Stein delved into the mystery behind the "missing" John Edwards webisodes that suddenly (and inexplicably!) disappeared from the net without a trace.
Unfortunately, the overambitious piece quickly turns into a conspiracy theory ("Innocuous Videos Suddenly Shrouded In Secrecy!") whereas an inside source tells is this is less an instance of "campaign stonewalling" and more a "boring copyright dispute."
All of which makes great reading for those who enjoy curling up by the fireplace and immersing themselves in a real-life unsolved mystery fairly uncomplicated legal matter.
Will the Huffington Post ever pay for their celebrity penned diatribes? "That's not our financial model …We offer them visibility, promotion and distribution with a great company," says Huff-Po co-found Ken Lerer.
Well, you get what you pay for.
Naturally, our first reaction to Christopher Hitchens sort-of nude photo spread in Vanity Fair is sheer disgust, which is almost immediately followed by acute and pronounced nausea. However, we quickly recover well enough to actually read the article (something about Hitch getting an "extreme makeover) which only seems to exacerbate each of our aforementioned symptoms. Fortunately, there's hope! A well-timed article in "Meet The Press" manages to take the words (though, unfortunately, not the almost-vomit) right out of our mouths.
"Screw the Kurds!" writes ETP contributor Katherine Thomson. "Hitchens describing sack-waxing sounds like the stuff on which next year's Ellie win will be founded."
Sadly, however, it turns out we'll actually have to wait for the next issue to hear about Hitchen's award-winning scrotum. Meanwhile, the piece is not without its merits. For example, the picture of a balding, pot-bellied Hitchens smoking in the shower is just about the funniest thing we've seen all week.
And to think this portly adonis once remarked that women had no sense of humor.
The datestamp may read 2007, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well be 1997.
The Huffington Post will let anyone with a recognizable name write. Today in pseudo celebrities blogging from home, Candy Spelling passes on a story about a dog rescue "just for a break in the news cycle action."
Oh, Candy—you're like the crazy aunt we never had!
The day after Michael Vick pled guilty to dogfighting, Earl Ofari Hutchinson wonders if the Falcon's ex-QB was judged a bit too harshly:
Soon to be former Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick never had a chance. The instant word publicly leaked out that he'd be slapped with an indictment by the feds, he could kiss his football cleats good-bye. The indictment was just a formality. Those good government high school civics courses feed us the myth of the little constitutional admonition 'innocent until proven guilty.' But Vick was tried, convicted and sentenced in the only court that counts in the big money world of sports and celebrity hood, and that's the court of public opinion.
Seriously, what kind of society has no sympathy a multi-millionaire caught organizing dogfights?
YouTube isn't the only Web 2.0 outfit getting in on this exciting new thing called "politics." The Washington Post's Slate.com, The Huffington Post, and Yahoo and joining together for a Sept. 12 "cyber-faceoff." Ahem. Essentially, the eight leading Democratic presidential candidates (Republicans are still iffy) are squaring off in what we gather to be an IRC-style, Charlie Rosie-hosted issue-fest. Or, more likely, they'll be copy/pasting from their Microsoft Word talking point docs. [WaPo]
• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shows he's a team player.
• HuffPo names its "exciting new citizen journalism" project "Off The Bus." Now, everybody rejoice.
• Old people no longer have the time, energy or brute strength to pick up the Sunday Times.
• Meanwhile, 80% of male internet users aged 18-24 watch online videos at least once a week. 75% of the time, the video in question is either "porn or else some guy getting kicked in the balls."
• And it's time for both sides to begin their closing arguments in the Conrad Black trial. Black's attorneys expected to describe an acquittal as "a sound investment—I mean, 'verdict'" and then wink knowingly at the jury.
Earlier this week, we told you the New York Times was tapping TVNewser editor (and 21 year-old Towson University graduate) Brian Stelter as its newest media reporter. Which means Stelter's old job is up for grabs, and Mediabistro hasn't wasted any time looking for his replacement. And, from the looks of it, the pool of applicants isn't exactly limited to undergraduates this time around.
According to HuffPo, the people who have already applied to be the new Newswer include "a famous TV columnist with umpteen years of experience," "an executive producer at MSNBC," "a senior producer at CBS" and "a former managing editor of Cablevision."
In related news, our contract is up later this year, and we're already fielding offers from a variety of potential replacements including multiple high school dropouts, a college student who's "a journalism major and with a minor in communications, and [has] always enjoyed the Perez Hilton site" and the guy who sells us our morning coffee.
