Here's the Los Angeles Times' apology to Sean Combs for fingering him as involved in a 1994 assault on Tupac Shakur — an allegation made based on fake FBI documents journalist Chuck Philips received from con man James Sabatino. "In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job," said Philips in a statement. Interestingly, Philips is "an acquaintance" of Smoking Gun editor Bill Bastone, who helped expose the fraud. Says the LAT: "The two met not long ago for lunch, discussing their mutual passion for investigative reporting and other matters." The apology appeared on today's front page, below the fold.
Looks like the Los Angeles Times got hosed when Pulitzer winner (though not-always-trusted journalist) Chuck Philips accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of knowing about a 1994 attack on Tupac Shakur before it happened. Diddy, of course, denied the charge. As did the family of Chris Wallace/Notorious B.I.G. when Philips earlier accused the rapper of putting the hit on Tupac in '96.
And they had good reason: It's likely none of it was true. The Times got its info from FBI documents that are now being labeled as fakes, concocted by jailed con man James Sabatino, who tried to fictitiously insert himself in the lives of hip-hop heads.
Diligent reporting from The Smoking Gun reveals the docs aren't in any FBI database and that Sabtatino – "an audacious swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs's trusted emissary to Death Row Records boss Marion 'Suge' Knight" – was able to distribute them himself by conveniently redacting the names of the federal agents working on the case. Too bad there are other ways to search for the files in the FBI's records and, low and behold, they don't turn up.
And also, just like the documents involved in the fall of Dan Rather, their physical elements are a giveaway. Cue an internal investigation at the LAT! And, maybe, a major libel suit from Diddy! CONTINUED »
Former Knicks power guard and ex-childhood hero Charles Oakley was arrested in Georgia for driving erratically.
Well, he's not doing any worse than the current Knicks' line-up.
Thomas’s Criticism Caps Knicks’ Ugly Night [NYT]
Charles Oakley In Lane Violation [The Smoking Gun]
[Photo Credit: TSG]
Back in his TRL days, Carson Daly proved he was good at sucking up to celebrities. Turns out, he’s good at sucking up to executives too.
Daly will be the first late night talk show host to cross the picket line and resume production of Last Call With Carson Daly. The show is taping this week, and will begin airing Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Knowing that he couldn’t come up with jokes himself, The Smoking Gun has obtained an email Daly sent to his friends, family and doctor New York [Ed: If Carson finds doctor humor funny, reruns of The Colbert Report will be more entertaining] asking them call into a joke hotline.
CONTINUED »
How ethical is it behind the scenes at NBC's To Catch A Predator? Not very, according to The Smoking Gun.
In fact, excerpts from ousted producer Marsha Bartel's breach of contract lawsuit allege the show "violated 'numerous journalistic ethical standards' and many of the network's own 'policies and guidelines.'"
Bartel charges that many of the program's ethical lapses stem from its relationship with Perverted Justice, a shadowy vigilante group that the show uses to "troll for and lure targets into its sting.'
But, of course, that's not all. CONTINUED »
So, it has now been two full days since The Smoking Gun reported that billionaire and media member Jeffrey Epstein hired a gaggle of underage girls to act has personal masseuses/sex toys/petting zoo. Not to mention that little claim from a 16-year-old that Epstein held her down forcibly and had sex with her until she screamed "no!"
How, we wonder, are the papers going to cover this news?
Yeah. We guess a sex ring in Hollywood full of 14-17 year olds who are being paid by a billionaire to perform sexual acts on him, themselves, and each other, isn't significant enough news for the New York Times.
Billionaire In Palm Beach Sex Scandal [The Smoking Gun]
Earlier: What the Press Calls 'Epstein Sex Scandal' Sounds a Bit More Like 'Rape'
• Apparently, the new Atlantic editor James Bennet does have phone, and he's not afraid to use it. [NYO]
• Ok, seriously, Bush makes everyone want to puke. We want our news media to be fair, but they still have to be human. [Drudge]
• The Smoking Gun's Bill Bastone goes to NYU. So far we are the only bloggers left not to be invited back to our Alma Mater. Is it because we didn't go that whole "journalist" route? [WWM]
• People will seriously do anything to get on TV. And The Simpsons will to anything to get people to watch their show. [Boston Globe]
• OK! magazine reviews television shows without actually watching them. And nobody cares, along as we get Radar back. [WWD]
• You may be able to catch her lunching at Michaels, but today is your last chance for Rachel Sklar's Canadianist take on the incestuous world of New York media. [Fishbowl, NY]
• No way, that little James Frey story increased traffic to The Smoking Gun? We would have never guessed that in a million little obvious years. [Media Week]
• Spin it right round baby — the little music mag that is still trying to say it could may be getting a home. [WWD]
• Don’t worry New York Times, nobody really expects you to understand the ancient Chinese art of getting names right. [NYO]
• While we were out avoiding the reality that George W. Bush is still our president, some of the real journalists were actually paying attention. [Slate]
Steve Johnson is not about to let the blogosphere receive any undue credit — this man has made it his mission, that's for sure.
The Chicago Tribuneon is out reminding readers all this business over James Frey faking his way through his memoir A Million Little Pieces began not in realm of teen diaries and suicide prep sites but in that sick sad world called the mainstream media. MSM, for the ADHD-addled.
Yes, it was The Smoking Gun who broke the story. TSG, of course, is owned by CourtTV, and is not exactly a blog. CourtTV, of course, is owned by Time Warner (in partnership with Liberty Media). Lest you need a reminder, Time Warner is not, by any means, part of the blogosphere despite its BlogZone attempts.
Certainly we aren't so immersed in this media bubble that we don't realize the average American might not be privy to this information. But the average American that actually gives a shit where his information is coming so much so that he read any report that blogs broke the story? Yeah, he could probably figure out as much.
Now raise your hand if you didn't know TSG was run by CourtTV. Don't everyone respond at once, now.
So Johnson's big reveal? About as moot as reporting Jossip is bankrolled by two outrageously wealthy royals in the United Arab Emirates.
The real story behind site that fried Frey [Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune]
Related: All James Frey coverage
The crack smacking author of A Million Little Pieces, James Frey, responds to The Smoking Gun's claims that his entire book is one huge, coked out lie.
On his webiste, Big Jim Industries, he posts his poetic response, and last word on the matter:
So let the haters hate, let the doubters doubt, I stand by my book, and my
life, and I won’t dignify this bullshit with any sort of further response.
The site also includes a letter to Frey from TSG, which is unecessarily long, drawn out, and pretty boring.
From Bill Bastone & Andrew Goldberg/The Smoking Gun [James Frey, Big Jim Industries]
While we should be at temple repenting for our sins, instead we're at the keyboard helping remind Bill O'Reilly he should be doing the same.
Now there's a headline you won't see on Drudge.
Happy Anniversary, Bill O'Reilly! [The Smoking Gun]
Editorial Director
