Gawker: defamer, mugshots

Phil Spector's Booking Shot

Ryan Tate — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:23:11 EDT

Following his conviction on second-degree murder charges in a Los Angeles court, music producer Phil Spector was immediately taken into custody. TMZ obtained his mug shot; click through for a larger version.

Spector's hair is obviously shorter than it used to be (compare mug shot, above, to second picture, below). It's also probably much closer to prison regulation.

Sentencing is May 29.

Nolte: He's Everywhere You Want To Be

Seth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:30:33 EST

Pictured is the customized credit card delivered to David Mackie, a 35-year-old salesman from Oklahoma who had the simple dream of wanting to see Nick Nolte's mugshot every time he paid for something with plastic.

A few days later, The Smoking Gun reports, the bank called to explain the card violated "image upload guidelines," and requested its return, for which he'd be gifted with an appreciatory "$50 customer goodwill statement credit." Luckily, however, Mackie preserved evidence of his auspicious efforts for posterity. It's fun for us, but a pale consolation prize for the man who dreamed of responding to merchants queries of "credit or debit?" with a satisfied, "Neither. Put it on my Nolte."

Nick Nolte's "Capital" Offense [The Smoking Gun]

Matt Dillon Busted For Driving 106 MPH Just So He Could Feel Something

Kyle Buchanan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:30:47 EST

In Newbury, Vermont, nobody touches you. They're always behind this metal and glass. Matt Dillon thinks we miss that touch so much, he drove at an insane 106 mph before being busted by police yesterday.

According to People, the actor was doing that speed in a 65 mph zone, and received a mugshot, fingerprinting, and citation for his efforts. He was then bailed out by a defiant-but-forgiving Thandie Newton, who he promptly violated digitally until gangbangers (freed by a Mexican-led jailbreak) beat him up and kidnapped the actress. "You're ours now, amiga!" they hooted, until Ryan Phillippe showed up to shoot them in the back. "Be my African princess," Phillippe insisted. "But I'm British," said Newton. It didn't matter. In Newbury, Vermont, they could not see past the color of her skin.

Matt Dillon Busted Going 106 mph [People]

Arrest Of Bill Pullman's Son Reveals The Ravages Of Moonshineface

Seth — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:07:32 EDT

We've learned of legal troubles befalling the House of Pullman—that's Bill Pullman, to be exact, former U.S. President during our darkest alien-invading hour—involving his son Jack, who was arrested Monday in North Carolina for "allegedly possessing moonshine and assaulting a government official." Witnesses say the three Xs on the jug Pullman was buzzing into while his friend plucked a washtub bass offered the first indications that illicit, home-distilling activities were afoot.

The chilling mugshot above reveals the wild hair-frizzing and pout-paralysis that are the most common physical side effects from abusing rotgut. For heaven's sake, just say no to white lightning: It's destroying the fabric of America.

[Photo credit: Asheville Police / Splash News Online]

Bill Pullman's Son Busted with Moonshine [People]

Nick Nolte Tells The Amazing Story Of The Infamous Mugshot That Wasn't

Seth — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Having played everything in his long career from Barbra Streisand's sodomy-repressing patient in The Prince of Tides to a hook-handed war diarist in the upcoming Tropic Thunder, it seems a small tragedy that the single image most associated with permagrizzled thespian Nick Nolte is his infamous mugshot. Generally regarded as the gold standard to which all celebrity booking photos are held, there was virtually no aspect of the portrait that failed to convey a purity of wrongness: the sunken features, the pained grimace, the waterlily print buttoned up to the neck, and, of course, that shock of stringy chaos atop his head, defying all laws of physics as if fashioned by some oversugared pre-schooler out of a box of golden pipe-cleaners. Entire post-graduate seminars were dedicated to exploring its mysteries and beauty. So imagine our shock when the model himself finally revealed the true story behind its conception on The Tonight Show. This wasn't a mugshot at all, it turns out, but Nolte's selfless contribution to the Sacramento Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund.

The Tonight Show via AOL's Top 5

Non-Predatory Rip Torn Wins Apology After Unfortunate Mug Shot Misuse

STV — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:25:00 EDT

Anyone looking for an edge in what promises to be a bitterly contested election year should consider the strategy of Chris Monzel, a Cincinnati city councilman who this week apologized for "accidentally" classifying Rip Torn as a sexual predator during his successful 2007 reelection campaign. Apparently the incumbent's staff determined his tough-on-crime message would be best evinced by plastering a mug shot in one of its television commercials, which led to trolling the celebrity photos archived at The Smoking Gun. The rest is history — misbegotten, completely stupefying history:

In the ad, Monzel had a black bar put over Torn's eyes before using the picture. The goal, he said, was to show a generic criminal. But someone still was able to identify the actor. Monzel said he pulled the ad from local television and cable as soon as he was told Torn had been identified. ...

"It was briefly put out there," he said of the photo in the campaign ad. "We had used a mug-shot image and altered it so you couldn't really tell who it was."

Alas, Torn's camp fired off a letter demanding an apology that would cite, among other things, his years of military service and numerous acting awards. Months later, Monzel and Torn reached an accord resulting in Tuesday's contrite ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer: "That commercial discussed, in part, my efforts to get sexual predators off the streets. ... I wish to correct any implication that Mr. Torn has ever had any involvement in the conduct discussed in the commercial, and I apologize to Mr. Torn for any distress this may have caused him." However, we also hear Monzel privately declined to apologize for using Torn's likeness in his crusade to get hammer-wielding, Norman Mailer-biting character actors off the streets, so don't think for a second that this is over.

Monzel apologizes for TV ad [Cincinnati Enquirer]
TSG Mug Shot: Rip Torn [The Smoking Gun]

Fear And Loathing In Palm Springs With Former 'CSI' Star Gary Dourdan

Seth — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:22:00 EDT

As we write this, recent CSI casualty Gary Dourdan is likely recovering from an even gnarlier Coachella hangover than most: TMZ reports the actor was discovered by Palm Springs police asleep in his car at 5:21 a.m., upon which he was arrested on "suspicion of possession of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs," otherwise known as the bare minimum required to make a Jack Johnson set seem remotely exciting. His genuinely pained mugshot—we seriously can't stare at it for more than a few seconds—is pictured above. Developing...

"CSI" Star Popped for Heroin, Coke, Ecstasy [TMZ]

Beer Drops Keep Fallin' On His Head

Mark — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:00:22 EST

· Whew! For a minute there, we thought that Celebrity Rehab miracle worker Dr. Drew had somehow figured out a way to exorcise Andy Dick of the booze-craving demons that make him Hollywood's most lovable, semi-recovering addict. But once a bottle of beer, a bicycle, and an eager audience of photographers were introduced, even the good doctor's famed sobriety coaching never stood a chance. [via TMZ]
· A bold prediction: Bedazzled mugshots will be all the rage with the troubled starlet set in '08, a trend that will add some much-needed flair to the uniformly dreary prison-intake photography that was the hallmark of the previous year.
· Hunky SF mayor Gavin Newsom decides to marry an actress, but we've fallen so hopelessly out of touch with his ill-advised dips into the Hollywood dating pool that we mistakenly thought he was still shacked up with the one from CSI: Miami. We regret the error, and promise to pay more careful attention to the candidates for his eventual third marriage.
· How many dudes can Lindsay Lohan hook up with in a 24-hour period? This many.

Mischa Barton DUI Mugshot One For The Ages

Seth — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:49:08 EST

Pencils down, everyone! We have the Official Mischa Barton 2007 Drugs-And-Alcohol, Not Just Alcohol, DUI Mugshot for you courtesy of TMZ—and it's a doozy. We can practically hear Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" playing over it. Those of you who guessed half-smile, you win. Those of you who guessed Nick Nolte hair, you win too. And to astute commenter Muzzy Van Hossmere, who went all in with the "'crying from one eye' technique she perfected on The O.C.," well—you've won big, our friend. Your wall-sized, Warholian lithograph of the image, suitable for framing, is in the mail.

Mischa Barton Busted for DUI [TMZ]

Presenting Your Michelle Rodriguez Back-In-Jail Mugshot Keepsake For The Holidays

Seth — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:43:43 EST

True, celebrity mugshots bring us joy all year round, but there's something about the final few of the year, as reassuring as a Happy Everything card dropped in our mailbox from an old friend, that truly touches us in the most tender quadrants of our hearts: a happy reminder that regardless of what strife is thrown at us, life in Hollywood will go on. And so we share with you this booking photo of stalwart recidivist Michelle Rodriguez, who checked herself into former Hilton-rehabilitating facility Lynwood on Sunday for the first of a Kiefer-eclipsing 180-day sentence for failing to perform court-ordered community service and drinkin' on the SCRAM.

Unlike some of her cokepant-wearing, freeway-current-disregarding compatriots, whose debts to society were deemed sufficiently paid in under 90 minutes, Rodriguez will be serving all 180 days (that's six months!), more than enough time to compose several collections of verse, and mount a fairly ambitious, all-girl production of The Music Man, in a continuation of the important jailhouse arts initiative program she began during her last stint behind bars.

Former 'Lost' Star Reports to Jail [AP]
Rodriguez to Spend Xmas in the Pokey [TMZ]

Mickey Rourke Arrested In Miami For Scootering Under The Influence

Seth — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:40:03 EST

While his smirking mugshot, featuring low-grade Noltian hair and a short Van Dyke, isn't likely to send our commenters into a lather the way Shia LaBeouf's did, there's still something unmistakably titillating about Mickey Rourke's DUI booking photo. Perhaps it was the circumstances around the arrest, which could only have been more adorable had the actor been stopped winding through Miami streets early this morning on a miniature clown bicycle:

Actor Mickey Rourke is in a Miami jail after being arrested for driving under the influence while riding a Vespa scooter erratically in Miami Beach.

The police officer stated that Rourke got off the 2007 green Vespa scooter after being stopped and stated, "What the (expletive) did I do?"
The officer said Rourke had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. After failing a field sobriety test, Rourke was arrested on charges of driving under the influence.

He remains in the Dade County Jail and his bond has been set at $1,000.

The scenario seems somewhat harsh for such an accomplished actor's Vespa-swerving crimes—and it's rendered all the more tragic when one imagines the other dozen or so detainees cowering silently on the far end of the holding cell, lest they rouse the loudly snoring Sin City star from his sleep and be forcibly subjected to another sparring match, or worse, the actor's rambling anecdotes about how Kim Basinger's skin tasted like "a combination of mangos and moustache wax."

Actor Mickey Rourke Arrested In Miami Beach [local10.com]

There's Nothing Like A Calming Aqua Palette To Take The Edge Off Nolte's Crazy

Mark — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:25:27 EDT

While the recently disseminated mugshots of Chris "Formerly of HBO" Albrecht and David "Bud Bundy" Faustino did little but remind us of the vaguely depressing fact that the rich and famous don't photograph any better than the average person with a camera jammed in their face at their lowest moment, in the right hands, these booking photos can aspire to something like Art. (Though we might argue that Nick Nolte needed no such help.) BoingBoing points us to the "Warholized" version of some of notable jailhouse subjects featured in the Hollywood's Most Wanted exhibit currently on display at the ArcLight, where moviegoers waiting for their screening to start can wander over from the nearby display exposing Shrek the Third's cinematic secrets and experience Mel Gibson's impishly unrepentant grin in a new way.

Hollywood's Most Wanted [hollywoodmostwanted.com via BoingBoing]