Archive for October 23rd, 2008
Oprah Being Sued for $180 Million
To quote Bossip, quoting Biggie: it’s “mo’ money, mo’ problems” for Oprah.
The ‘media mogul’ and rumoured future US ambassador to Britain, Oprah Winfrey is being sued for $180 million by a Louisiana man, over claims that she provided false statements to the FBI regarding an extortion case in 2006.
Media Mogul Oprah Winfrey is being sued by a Louisiana man for $180 million, after claims the popular talk show host gave false statements to the FBI, which led to his being arrested in 2006. Keifer Bonvillain says that he was wrongfully accused of attempting to extort Winfrey. Bonvillain was arrested in December at his home in Houma, after allegedly recording a phone conversation with one of Winfrey’s production company employees and saying he wanted to publish a book using the information from the recorded material, as reported by Vibe.com.
Tags: Culture | Louisiana | United States | Oprah | Oprah Winfrey | Biggie | oprah sued | mo money mo problems | oprah lawsuit | tv host
O’Reilly’s Fox News Contract is $10 Million a Year
Controversial but top-rated cable news television host Bill O’Reilly has renegotiated his contract with Fox News that will see him paid $10 million a year.
No wonder he was so effusively upbeat and offensive on The View this week!
And to think that O’Reilly was there to promote his recently published memoir — a book written by a man so undeniably assured of his own self-righteousness, that only he could come up with such an inspired and hyperbolic title: A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity.
Sometimes, it’s almost hard to believe that O’Reilly is actually a real person, isn’t it?
Bill O’Reilly has re-upped with Fox News Channel in a multiyear deal that pays him about $10 million a year to host his top-rated news program, “The O’Reilly Factor.”
The former ABC correspondent has found unprecedented success at Fox, which he joined in 1996. “The O’Reilly Factor” has been the top-rated cable news program for 94 months, with an average nightly viewership of 4 million people.
“Bill O’Reilly is the most prominent and influential name in all of cable news, and his contribution to the network’s success cannot be overstated,” Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said.
Tags: New York | Culture | TV | news | television | Fox News | Fox | Bill O'Reilly | host | O'Reilly Factor | o'reilly fox news | A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity | o'reilly the view
Bono is NYT’s Newest Op-Ed Columnist
U2’s frontman and international activist, Bono, is the will be the newest Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, editor Andrew Rosenthal announced Wednesday.
Like Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter before him, New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal sees something special in a certain teensy Gaelic man who refuses to remove his sunglasses. That’s right, the Timesman announced last night his first acquisition for the paper’s Op-Ed pages for 2009: Bono. Yep, Bono. The activist-creator of Zoo TV will pen between six and ten pieces for the Grey Lady next year, Rosenthal told students Wednesday night at Columbia’s School of Journalism.
And Bono’s pay rate for penning his opinion in the venerable paper?
Absolutely free of charge.
That’s quite the score for the NYT; I will be interested to see what Bono has to contribute.
Of course, in belt-tightening times, it’s important to note that the ink of the high-holy U2 crooner comes free of charge: “Nothing,” said Rosenthal of Bono’s pay rate, noting that the Irish millionaire will muse on Africa, poverty, and, importantly, the music of Frank Sinatra. And while Bono may seem an odd choice for such a contract, Rosenthal did mention his current obsession with learning the guitar, and even shuffled freshly downloaded riff tablature together with his lecture notes. And though Rosenthal didn’t announce any other celeb contributors, he did allude to re-recruiting the pen of Queen guitarist Brian May, who just earned his doctorate in astrophysics, and expressed admiration for previous opinion writers Bruce Springsteen and Larry David.
Tags: New York | Culture | Ireland | Media | New York Times | Journalism | NYT | Bono | Vanity Fair | Op Ed | new york times bono | bono columnist | bono musician
William Shatner Hates on George Takei
Captain James T. Kirk is upset that he wasn’t invited to Mr. Sulu’s wedding.
According to a video posted by William Shatner, he’s taken umbrage with the fact George Takei didn’t make him feel welcome to attend Takei’s same-sex marriage to his longtime partner in September.
But Shatner has gone a step further and alleged that Takei suffers from a “sickness” and “psychosis” and that he has no idea why Takei harbours a grudge against him.
For Takei’s part, he claims that Shatner was invited to the wedding but never bothered to RSVP.
William Shatner is setting his phaser to stun against his old “Star Trek” co-star George Takei.
In a video posted on Shatner’s Web site Wednesday, he lashed out at Takei for not inviting him to his wedding last month. The 77-year-old Shatner said Takei, who played Enterprise helmsman Sulu, apparently harbors a grudge against him that kept him from being invited to Takei’s nuptials.
“The whole thing makes me feel badly,” Shatner said in the video. “Poor man. There is such a sickness there. It’s so patently obvious that there is a psychosis there. I don’t know what his original thing about me was. I have no idea.”
Takei and Brad Altman tied the knot Sept. 14. “Star Trek” alums Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig — who played Uhura and Chekhov, respectively — were among the attendees at the multicultural ceremony at the Japanese American National Museum. Takei and Altman had previously stated that Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk, was invited to their wedding, but he never RSVPed.
“It is unfortunate that Bill was unable to join us for our wedding as he indeed was invited to attend,” Takei responded. “It is our hope that at this point he joins us in voting no on Proposition 8, which seeks to eliminate the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry in California.”
So what was it that Shatner could have done or said that offended Takei?
The “Boston Legal” co-star also attacked Takei’s decision to come out of the closet later in life, saying, “Who cares? Be gay. Don’t be gay. That’s up to you, George.”
Yeah, that would do it.
Tags: Culture | sulu | William Shatner | Captain Kirk | george takei wedding | takei sulu | shatner takei wedding
Lil Wayne Has New Baby Boy
After previous rumours were dispelled about Lil’ Wayne’s daughter having died, finally there is some positive news for the rapper.
Lil Wayne welcomed the birth of his new baby boy, Dwayne Carter III, on Wednesday.
Congratulations to one of hip hop’s biggest stars right now – Lil Wayne. His new baby boy Dwayne Carter III was born October 22 at Cincinnati’s, Christ Hospital.
No information on the baby’s mother has been released.
According to US Magazine, Weezy’s rep confirmed his baby was successfully born at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Despite the release of his son’s name, no information about who the mother is has been issued yet.
Tags: Culture | lil wayne | new baby | lil wayne baby mama | lil wayne baby | lil wayne daughter | lil wayne daughter dies
