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white house vistors
Dear Mr. President: Please Stop Palling Around With This Man
Barack Obama's bizarre alliance with NBC continued last week when the White House invited network chief/seasoned clubrat Ben Silverman over for a highly publicized meeting just in time for the launch of Silverman's shitty new show, The Philanthropist. More » -
bio/pic
He's All Ears
Denzel Washington: He can do Malcolm X, and apparently, as evidenced in this still from last night's Letterman, he can do Barack Obama. [Jezebel] -
grumpy old men
Angelina Jolie's Dad Sure Is Mad at the President
Jon Voight is very mad at President Obama. In a speech at a Republican fundraiser last night, the actor called Obama a false prophet who fancies himself "Julius Caesar", thinking he will pacify nations with his words. Which is wrong! More » -
television
Obama's Ratings Slide Ends with Fox on Top
The president's its third televised news conference in as many months ended with ratings down 42 percent from their February peak of 49 million. The obstinate bastards at Fox win! Just look: More » -
tv
Instead of Barry, Fox To 'Lie' To Us
Are you excited for Barack Obama's network-bankrupting fourth prime time national TV address, in honor of his 100 days of Presidenting? Fox isn't! They will be playing their regular Wednesday programming. More » -
midweek madness
This Week In Tabloids: Angelina's Pregnant, Lindsay Refuses Rehab
Welcome back to Midweek Madness, in which we search for worthwhile "news" in In Touch, Star, Life & Style, Ok! and Us. [Jezebel] -
the cinema
Movie Deal for Staggeringly Wrong Political Journalist
He said Matt Drudge and Karl Rove held the key to the presidency. His last book was embarrassingly wrong. Barack Obama won by studiously ignoring his advice. Someone put Mark Halperin in pictures! More » -
trade roundup
Eldersex Is Comedy Gold
Today little men take on big roles, J.Lo finds her vampiric costar, Gore Vebinski takes a breather for himself, Leah Remini glows like moondust, and old people get it on in hilarious fashion. More » -
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health
Jeremy Piven Says Barack Obama Has His Back
Producers still want vengeance against Jeremy Piven for dropping out of Speed the Plow due to "mercury poisoning." They've been thwarted once, and the actor now claims history and Hope are on his side. More » -
videuhoh
Obama's 'Special Olympics' Leno Gaffe
In an otherwise agreeable appearance on the Tonight Show, the president compared his bowling to "like Special Olympics, or something." This is why presidents avoid late-night TV. More » -
Defamer Decides 2008
Obama not here for french-fry free-rides. [Boston Phoenix via Wonkette]
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feuds
Etta James Prepares to Go 'Full Bale' On Beyoncé, Obama
Etta James has watched Beyoncé play her and serenade her without so much as a peep, but now that the younger singer has sung James's classic "At Last" for President Obama, asses must be whipped. More » -
oscars
When Oscar Hype Goes Wrong, Vol. MMCXLIII: How Obama Helps 'Slumdog'
Variety isn't the first publication to parallel America's bright new political era with this year's Oscar derby. But, bless their hearts, they may very well be the last. More » -
sex fantasies
Alan Cumming On Barack Obama Just As Filthy As It Sounds
Alan Cumming thinks he has found a man whose wang is bigger, wider, and even more America-shaping than Billy Crudup's cerulean love-stick: our president, Barack Obama. More » -
crushes
"Malia Obama-Jonas"...has a nice (purity) ring to it. [HuffPo]
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Defamer Decides 2008
Inauguration Ratings Offer Missing Link Between Ronald Reagan and 'American Idol'
Tuesday's inaugural festivities were as close to a must-see civic event as our nation as seen in almost 30 years. At least until American Idol came along later Tuesday night. More » -
clips
Beyonce Brings It At Obamas' Inaugural Ball First Dance
We'll make this brief: Beyonce brought it. Diddy checked his BlackBerry (you'll see him in the background). Michelle Obama wore Jason Wu. And everyone was brought to tears. At left. At last. [Jezebel] -
snap judgments
Inaugural Guests, From Malia To Jay-Z
The inauguration this year seemed to have more famous faces in one place than ever before. In the gallery below, take a look at the celebrities and politicians with the best seats in the nation. [Jezebel] -
just like us
When Stars Themselves Get Starstruck
Celebrities are used to being gawked at, but yesterday, following the inaugural celebration "We Are One" at the Lincoln Memorial, performers got starry-eyed themselves when meeting the president-elect, as seen in the gallery below. [Jezebel] -
pop politics
Sorry, But the Obama West Wing Will Never Happen
The West Wing—the talky, nostalgic-for-something-that-never-existed TV drama—was a fantasy of the kind of square-jawed, earnest, softly progressive Democratic administration we hoped Clinton's would be but wasn't. So now we're asking Barack Obama for it. More » -
feuds
Hathaway Vs. Obama: It's On
Just before Anne Hathaway received Mary Hart's advice to shut up and bleach, the actress was on the Palm Springs red carpet with stern words for onetime paramour Barack Obama. More » -
Defamer Decides 2008
2008: The Year Pop Culture Won the Presidency
Join us in looking back at the trends, names, faces, places and unhinged absurdity that made our Defamer Decides 2008 coverage an unparalleled historical record of American presidential politics at its finest. More » -
the view
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: A Nightmarish Year In Review
Peer into The View, and soon The View starts to peer into you. Before long, you may develop a sudden affinity for pirate shirts and a tendency to shout "William Ayers!" -
rick warren
An Easily Flattered Melissa Etheridge Forgives 'Big Fan' Rick Warren
Looks like Melissa Etheridge has finally found some common ground with her archenemy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck: they both love Barack Obama's controversial invocation speaker, Pastor Rick Warren! -
the view
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Ready to Gloat About Obama's Invocation Speaker
Yesterday, Barack Obama's inauguration committee announced its choice for invocation speaker: controversial Saddelback founder Rick Warren. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, no doubt expecting a bomb-laden address from William Ayers, couldn't have been more pleased. -
barbra streisand
When Bush Met Babs: A Defamer Romance
A momentous power summit accompanied last weekend's Kennedy Center Honors, where Barbra Streisand had her first-ever audience with President George Bush. Video from the event features Streisand — a vicious Bush critic who spent much of the recent election cycle as the Obama campaign's Deputy Director of Fundraising Medleys — welcoming the outgoing president to not only within bitchslap's-length, but actually close enough to share a skin-searing bipartisan kiss. -
barbara walters
Barbara Walters Tries, Fails To Sell Her Dog to the Obamas
Clearly, the most pressing aspect of President-elect Barack Obama's transition is what kind of freaking puppy he will be getting his daughters Malia and Sasha — and everyone's weighing in with their opinion. Frequent watchers of The View know that Barbara Walters is borderline obsessive about imploring the Obamas to adopt a pooch similar to her Havanese dog Cha Cha (short for "Cha Cha Cha," natch), so when it was announced that Walters would be interviewing the couple for a special to air this week, we immediately combed through the transcript to see if she would take the opportunity to push Cha Cha on them once more. More » -
midweek madness
This Week In Tabloids: Brangeliniston Vs. Twilight
If it's Wednesday, this must be Midweek Madness, in which we devour the celebrity tabloids with a hunger for "news." There's no new issue of OK! today, because last week was a "double issue"... not that we noticed. As for the other mags, it was almost a Brangeliniston sweep this week, with Brad and Jennifer on three of four covers, sometimes joined by Angelina. Only Life & Style bucked the trend, for a new trend: a story featuring the stars of Twilight. Does it matter that the article has zero substance? Only the newsstand sales will tell! Intern Margaret was stuck on a train for an hour and a half, hence this delayed — but incredibly informative — edition of Midweek Madness… We're all aboard Life & Style, In Touch, Us and Star, after the jump.
[Jezebel] -
barack obama
And I'm Barack Obama: The post-election afterglow scored a direct hit last night on 60 Minutes, where the President-elect and wife Michelle's rangy hour-long interview with Steve Kroft drew 24 million viewers. The 6.4 rating is the newsmagazine's highest in nine years, and what did we learn? There will be Republicans in his Cabinet, no new dog would survive the grueling transition process to the White House, and college football needs a playoff system. Also, if you stuck around to the end, Andy Rooney bemoaning frivolous TV news. And here we thought Obama had dispatched all those mavericks. [The Live Feed] -
miley cyrus
'Stage-Parenting Tips For Barack Obama,' By Billy Ray Cyrus
When it comes to satisfying their children's tween dreams, Barack and Michelle Obama have been fairly generous, arranging a Jonas Brothers meet-and-greet on the set of Ellen that found Joe practicing his phone breakup techniques on Malia and left Sasha, weirdly, with a purity ring on her left thumb. Still, there's one place that even the Obamas deem too frightening for their girls: the set of Hannah Montana! After Billy Ray Cyrus issued an invitation for the younger Obamas to make an appearance on the show that was greeted with a firm "Uh...," Miley's father attempted a retraction tinged with some unexpected advice: More » -
midweek madness
This Week In Tabloids: Brad's Trapped, Jen's Devastated, Obamas Are Just Like Us
If it's Wednesday, this must be Midweek Madness, in which we scour the celebrity tabloids in search of "news." It's still OBAMANIA in magland; of the five weeklies we cover, only one — In Touch — didn't have a story about the Obamas and include a picture of them on the cover. As for the other big stories this week, the tired old love triangle involving Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is still making news, and Angelina might still be knocked up with her seventh child. Intern Margaret assists as we try to comb through Star, Us, OK!, In Touch and Life & Style, after the jump. [Jezebel] -
lindsay lohan
Lindsay Lohan Filled With Pride Over Nation's 'First Colored President'
Though Lindsay Lohan has recently revealed herself to be a stickler for semantics, we have a feeling there's a word or two in her recent interview with Access Hollywood that she might want to take back right around now. More » -
handy guides
Television for News Junkies Who Are Tired of Watching the News
So the election is over! What good news for us and what terrible news for... um, news. All the CNN and MSNBC and Fox junkies who were glued to the tube while the election Wehrmacht rolled its ruinous iron wheels over the land will now be leaving the news behind and returning to their regularly scheduled shitty programming. Or at least the people in charge of that shitty programming hope so! It's kind of a crock theory because news nets' ratings weren't that high that they seemed to be distracting a huge amount of TV watchers, and regular television was in a decline long before people started caring about politics anyway. But there must be some folks who traded their CSI for their POTUS and would now like an inroad back to the glorious world of primetime entertainment TV, hopefully with a methadone-dash of politics thrown in to add a bit of spice. And we've got a guide to Politics-related television for them, after the jump! How handy! More » -
huxtables vs obamas
Are The Obamas Possible Because Of The Huxtables?
It's strange that there's an ongoing debate about who — or what — in arts and entertainment made it possible to elect Barack Obama. Was it Oprah? Tiger Woods? Will Smith? Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock playing presidents in movies? According to a story from the New York Times, both Bill Cosby and Karl Rove seem to think it all comes down to The Cosby Show. Yes, folks, apparently, if there were no Huxtables, there'd be no Barack Obama. [Jezebel] -
short ends
Smile With Your Ears
· Tyra went to Disneyland to help Minnie and Mickey work on their runway walks and general fiercitude. That's right, terrorists: Feast your eyes. Ain't never gonna take this away from us. Ain't never! More » -
obamamania
David Geffen: You've Got Me to Thank for Obama
Though Hillary Clinton was once seen as the inevitable pick in this year's presidential election, the first stain on her pantsuit may have come as early as February 2007, when gay mafia don/beach hog David Geffen broke ranks with the Clintons to endorse Barack Obama. "I don't think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is — and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? — can bring the country together," Geffen told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd then, as his second assistant provided a helpful yes-man chorus of "Oh snap!" and "No she did not just say that!" Now, the LAT's Patrick Goldstein has caught up with Geffen to get his thoughts on Obama's once-unlikely victory, and Geffen dropped this tidbit about his own kingmaking ability: More » -
the dark knight
Why So Audacious? Perhaps we spoke too soon about the tenuous connection between The Dark Knight and The President-Elect, as we've just stumbled upon this Obama-evoking Joker design from artist James Lillis. It's no DJ AM, but it'll do. Click through for full-size. [/film] -
the dark knight
When Oscar Hype Goes Wrong, Vol. MMCXLI: 'How Obama Helps Batman'
It's never too early in Oscar season to feast on half-baked pundit delicacies like those of Dave Karger, the Entertainment Weekly awards maven who earns a living composing items like today's "How Obama Helps Batman." But even despite its modest size and airy texture, this morsel is next to impossible to get down [spoilers follow]: More » -
larry flynt
Larry Flynt Shares His Hope For a Jugs-Friendly Obama Administration
We know, we know: as you've read through our raft of election-related stories, your anxiety mounted as the pressing question, "But what does Larry Flynt think about all this?" remained unanswered. Now, though, you can relax, as an email has landed in our inbox entitled, "HUSTLER Publisher Larry Flynt’s Statement On Obama Election." The pornographer's missive was surprisingly well-written and earnest, but only Defamer has the original, revision-heavy first draft: More » -
Defamer Decides 2008
Cable News's Electoral Votes Give Obama Gigantic Ratings Mandate
Last night's election coverage had it all: Holograms! Crying Oprah! A Michelle Obama dress we weren't too crazy about, but we think we like it better today? Anyway, the point is that there was something for almost everybody, and to judge from the new, complete ratings (with all cable networks added in), almost everybody tuned in: More »












































