<![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, defamer debunker]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, defamer debunker]]> http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/defamerdebunker http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/defamerdebunker <![CDATA[Kristen Wiig's Steamy Night With Joe The Plumber An Internet Hoax!]]> An internet report from a self-proclaimed "McCain strategist" claiming Joe the Plumber got busy with Kristin Wiig following the SNL afterparty—and also discussed becoming the next Bachelor with Ben Affleck's agent, Patrick "Something"—is now looking more and more to be a hoax, hoisted upon a gullible and Wiig-hungry gossip nation. The report came from a man calling himself Martin Eisenstadt—the proprietor of his very own, very-hard-to-come-by website bearing that name—and was picked up by the likes of Slate before internet skeptics and lovers of Sue the Surprise-Loving Lady alike started poking holes in the story:

After spending a couple days looking through yards of info regarding the racist, homophobic, transgenderphobic conservative blogger M.Thomas Eisenstadt, I've pretty much reached my conclusion on the subject:

There is no M. Thomas Eisenstadt.

There is no Eisenstadt Group.

There is no Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy.

Basically, the conclusion I've pieced together is this: Someone started a blog called www.michaeleisenstadt.com. [...]

Now, of course, there is a real Michael Eisenstadt, who works for the Washington Institute. I am 100 percent sure that these two are not one and the same, and I'll get back to that later.

So who is the man claiming to be Martin Eisenstadt and posing with the potent proletarian symbol on the website's photos? A crazed, potentially dangerous plumber-stalker? A fame-hungry, election bottom-feeder? Both? Developing...

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<![CDATA['People' Non-Exclusive! Angelina Jolie Still Pregnant! Must Discredit 'ET!']]> No sooner had we endured the traffic overload at the Petit Trésor website long enough to order a pair of custom-bedazzled Isla and Amelie onesies for the proud parents, came shocking news over the Biological MaternityWatch transom suggesting the Chosen Twins were in fact still resting comfortably inside their mother. People.com debunks:

Contrary to a flurry of recent reports that Angelina Jolie has delivered her twins, PEOPLE confirms that the rumors are not true.
"Angelina has not given birth. She is fine, enjoying her home and her family in France," a rep for the actress tells PEOPLE.

You'll forgive us if we don't know who to believe anymore, as if we thought we could rely on anyone for accurate news on the contents of Jolie's womb, it was the expert celebrity birthologists at ET. As of post time, no correction has yet been appended to their website, and so we're left at this point with no choice but to split the difference, and assume just one Chosen Blob poops among us, possibly named Gigi or Madeline.

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<![CDATA[A rumor circulating today that Paul Newman...]]> newman.jpgA rumor circulating today that Paul Newman has died (gah!) is debunked by Hollywood's Original Blogger™ Army Archerd: "NEWS FLASH: After hearing reports of Paul Newman's death from Associated Press and CNN, I found out that acting legend Paul Newman is doing just fine, according to Joanne Woodward. In fact, he's racing around cars in Texas!" Got it? That reads "Texas," not "Heaven." [armyarcherd.com]

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<![CDATA[What Was With That Weird Tae Kwon Do Dude On 'Conan' Last Night?]]> Because we here at Defamer are always willing to do our part to dispel myths, hoaxes, and pretty obviously arranged comedy bits on late night TV, we now reach deep into the "Yo Defamer — WTF???" submission box hanging outside HQ, and fish out an index card dropped by one of our confounded readers:

What was that guy on Conan last night???Weird,some tae kwon do dude with NO sense of humor...made me laugh uncomfortably

Funny you should ask, Late Night audience member. That guest, seated alongside Will Ferrell and Rashida Jones, was officially billed as "Fred Simmons, the King of the Demo," a martial arts instructor from Concord, NC. He was, in fact, comic actor Danny R. McBride, who you might recognize from Hot Rod, and who you can catch in upcoming releases Drillbit Taylor and Pineapple Express. (Not to be confused with the stuntman/Underworld screenwriter Danny McBride.) McBride created the role of the bumbling Simmons for The Foot Fist Way, a movie from 2006 that will finally hit theaters on April 11.This Conan appearance was an Andy Kaufmanesque attempt at viral marketing for the upcoming release. So feel free to laugh away, feeling little to no agitation or discomfort!

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<![CDATA[Sunset Tower Probably Not Leaning, But Definitely Caught Nailing The CAA Death Star]]> Having received a tip that the building that formerly housed the 360 Restaurant and Bar is leaning, we threw it open to you, our intrepid readers, to send in photo evidence suggesting whether or not the angle was merely an optical illusion, or if in fact at any given moment There Will Be Blood patrons at the nearby Arclight Dome won't end up seeing far more blood than they had bargained for. More than one of you came through, and after a careful examination, we fail to see a significant tilt to the structure, and we thus really see no need for Hollywood locals to run screaming through the streets, at least any more than they usually do. And while we did request no Photoshop, one reader's submission so awed us with its erotic vision of the CAA Death Star getting the skyscraper-pounding it's long craved, we've included it above. The other photos are after the jump.

360lean.jpg

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<![CDATA[What Really Went Down With New Line's Severed-Finger Special Delivery]]> finger-newline.jpgAnd Hollywood Rumor of the Week honors go to the one currently catapulting around town and into our inbox, concerning a suspicious package sent to New Line president of production Toby Emmerich that reportedly contained a severed finger, resulting in their offices shutting down for a police investigation. What actually happened, as best as we can piece together, is described in the following e-mail from an operative:

A package addressed to Toby Emmerich was sent to the New Line mailroom shortly before lunch. Taped to the front was some sort of "confessional" letter from a crazed psychopath. New Line called the bomb squad. The bomb squad arrived, scanned the packaged with a portable xray, and saw "fingers" inside.
They then evacuated the building before opening the package discovering...plastic fingers. Apparently, the whole thing was a "pitch" to Toby. And just like when your guidance counselor told you that story about the kid who sent their shoe to Georgetown ("Hey, now that I've got my foot in the door..."), this one is a definite don't, fellas...

There are still several dangling threads to this curious case of overzealous pitchmanship: In one version, for example, the writer was merely trying to sell the studio on a Jane Austen adaptation, which would make his choice of a dismembered digit curious, to say the least. Nevertheless, there are lessons to be learned here about the creative deployment of body-parts in the service of furthering your screenwriting career: Next time, try a spandex singlet, beer helmet, and fake beard. It may not get your diet movie off the ground, but at least it ensures that all your hard work won't be detonated into confetti by a SWAT team who minutes ago put out an APB for The Finger-Chop Killer.

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<![CDATA[Reports Of Britney Spears Sucking Face In A Belgian Hotel Lobby Greatly Exaggerated]]> brit-antwerp.jpgWe tend not to take tips from mysterious European sources about the world's most famous celebutards lightly, ever since "The french" sent us a breathless missive fully anticipating Paris Hilton's 180° transformation from wayward flashbulb-whore to Mother Theresa-with-a-Kitson-clothing-line by several months. So when we received the following e-mail from an alleged waiter at the Antwerp Hilton, in which he described witnessing Patron Saint of Bad Mommies Britney Spears seducing another conquest in the hotel lobby, well, we thought what we had in our hot little hands was the kind of scoop lesser global Spears-tracking outfits would kill for:

HELLO,

YOU DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW !!!!!!
I SWEAR THIS ON MY MOTHERS GRAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I work as a waiter at the HILTON hotel at the Groenplaats in Antwerpen (Antwerp).

I saw Britney Spears making out with the leadsinger from the Crazy Banana girls. He was here 1 month ago as well to perform on the Groenplaats for the Eurogames in Antwerp.

They are both wearing a black leather jacket. And they have three big bodyguards !!!
They are making out like horny teenagers in the hotellobby !!!!!!!

I swear this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite many of the details checking out—Groenplaats did indeed host this year's EuroGames in mid-July—and an online report (in Dutch, but Evil Beet ran it through a translator) claiming she appeared at an Antwerp bar Monday with two bodyguards, distressedly inquiring, "Waar is the toilet?"—several reports debunking the Euro spottings have surfaced today, saying the singer was instead seen driving aimlessly towards Calabasas yesterday with both of her children in the back seat, hopefully tethered according to state regulations. We're not certain why our Belgian tipster would have sent us the misinformation—perhaps he's just a bored service personnel caught up in Belgian Britneymania who's convinced himself of seeing what wasn't there, or, more cynically, simply an exclamation-point addicted publicist for overseas novelty act the Crazy Banana Girls.

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