The Internet Totally Loves That McCain Called His Wife A C*nt [John McCain]

Remember when John McCain called his wife the worst possible word? Not enough! But that's solved with this sketch from the same YouTube comedy group that made john.he.is, a clever and popular parody of will.i.am's "Yes We Can." In the sketch, a TV news team argues about whether to publicize that the Republican presidential candidate once called Cindy McCain a cunt. The self-aware humor of the team constantly reciting this fact, then saying how if only they were online they could drive the association into people's brains, actually doesn't get old! The clip is below, and warning: half the dialogue is, obviously, an extreme obscenity.

So! I'm not entirely convinced that anyone should care — when choosing a president anyway — that John McCain called his wife a cunt. But then again I'm not convinced anyone should care that Obama's pastor said "God damn America," yet that got loads of media play. Is it actually a decent public service, or at least a clever political/entertaining tactic, to bring up this sixteen-year-old outburst after TV media ignore it?

Elzabeth Hurley Still Not Enraging Denis Leary's Wife [Publicity Stunts]

Yesterday, Daily News columnists Rush & Molloy speculated that maybe, just maybe, the novel from the wife of comedian Denis Leary (above, right) is autobiographical, since it's about a wife whose famous husband is good friends with a hot Australian movie star, sort of like how Leary is friends with hot English actress Elizabeth Hurley (above, left). In the novel, the actor's wife is upset by his "schoolboy crush" on the friend. We wrote that Ann Leary had "sadly channeled her frustrations into a thinly-veiled 'novel.'" But she replies that Gawker is "crazy," and told Choire Sicha of the LA Times that we're just clawing for cheap attention. Well, that last part is true. But at least we can admit it!

While Ann Leary may not be genuinely upset at Hurley, it's impossible to believe she didn't see the PR value of writing a novel so seemingly parallel to her own life. And, as Sicha's story shows, she has not been shy about exploiting the opportunities that have arisen from the book: appearances on The View, Today and, if she chooses to accept, entertainment magazine Extra.

And Leary is clearly PR savvy. She wove a subplot into her novel about planting false rumors on the Web:

[Leary] wasn't angry about [the Gawker item], she said — in fact, she was validated.

You see, in her book, the angry wife sends in cruel and fake sightings of her cheating husband to none other than Gawker. "I think it's too bad that they're so desperately looking for this kind of thing," she said. "But it actually fits with the plot of my novel — how easy it is to place a rumor online and then to have it spin out of control."

Wait, so someone intentionally placed the false rumor about the Ann Leary/Elizabeth Hurley feud? Who would that be, exactly?

But they didn't have to. Anyone with a passing familiarity with the life of Denis Leary could pluck it right from the pages of the novel on his own. Setting things up that way was (perhaps incidentally) smart — the book gets buzz, cheap or not, and the hands of Leary and her publisher remain clean. It's a fine, if not particularly original, publicity strategy, and it's probably a mistake — don't I know it — to mistake it for vengeful axe grinding.

[LA Times]

Miley Cyrus Replacement Features Unremovable Top [Celebrity Science]

According to Walt Disney Co.'s new designated TEEN SENSATION Demi Lovato, "Disney... artists aren't as manufactured as they appear." In other words, they are only partially manufactured, which means Disney can't create a 15-year-old completely devoid of sex hormones to replace Miley Cyrus, whose Disney Channel ratings plunged after she posed sorta-topless in Vanity Fair and in her underwear for her boyfriend in pictures that leaked online. While Lovato is, unfortunately for Disney shareholders, no robot, she promised to remember to always ask, "'Is this something a 15-year-old should be doing?' and if it isn't, then I don't do it." How wholesome! A 15-year who will keep the intimate details of her life off of MySpace... Are you sure she's not a robot? Disney is a little defensive, according to the Wall Street Journal:

Disney officials say that their success is not the result of a child-actor assembly line...

...says [Disney Channel honcho Gary] Marsh, "We can't stockpile this type of talent because of their ages."

Wait, are you certain of that, Gary? Have you tried cryogenic technology? Genetic cloning?

[Wall Street Journal]

(Disney Channel photo via WSJ)

No One In Hamptons Tries Out For Gossp Girl [Gossip Girl]

"We were told to come 'dressed upscale and camera ready,' which had us a little nervous as to whether we'd be up to the competition — but then … there wasn't any." [New York]

Who Put These Bloggers In Charge? [Wtf]

As reported previously, the Associated Press is attempting to define "guidelines" to allow bloggers to quote its content, even though substantial quoting is already allowed under federal copyright law. The wire service will arrive at these guidelines after meeting with the Media Bloggers Association. And who are they? It's hard to say, even after reading the group's site and searching for more information elsewhere on the Web.

The association obtained credentials for some bloggers to attend the Scooter Libby trial. Founder Robert Cox claims the group "makes available" pro-bono legal services. There is some sort of partnership with Newsweek. Rabble-rousing blogger Jeff Jarvis is a member. But the association is a self-appointed representative of a hugely diverse group, and its legitimacy appears entirely self-assigned. Gawker Media, for one, is not aligned with the association, I am reliably informed.

The AP's decision to emphasize its meetings with this lone, opaque organization only makes its copyright crusade seem all the more surreal.

[AP]

Sad John McCain Can't Work The Google [The Olds]

Paparazzo Purposely Got Run Over By Spears, Say LA Authorities [Paparazzi]

Britney Spears is at all times, in public at least, surrounded by a gang of ex-con illegal-immigrant paparazzi with no regard for traffic laws, so it's probably no surprise that the Los Angeles district attorney's office now says one of the paps intentionally got himself run over, presumably so he could sue the singer. The unidentified photographer asked county prosecutors to investigate an incident in which, he claims, Spears ran over his foot with her SUV. He wanted her brought up on charges. The DA looked into it — Spears had a parking lot hit-and-run incident once — and found that, actually, if the collision happened at all, it was the photographer's fault:

After reviewing police records and a videotape of the incident last year, Deputy District Attorney Joseph D. Shidler wrote Friday that the "only way the victim's foot could have been where the video indicates it to be was by the victim placing it in that location."

Apparently the video showed enough to place blame on the pap but did not actually show the alleged run-over. It did show a lot of "noise and confusion" surrounding the vehicle, which was going "extremely slow."

Note to paparazzi: If you've been run over by Britney Spears' car, and there's not a single video or photo definitively proving it, it didn't happen, period. No one is going to believe that not a single cameraman in that desperate hive managed to get a shot of your foot being crushed.

[AP]

Uncensored Katie Couric Is Kind Of Hot [Celebrity Science]

So we were vaguely aware Katie Couric had a YouTube channel, but had no idea the CBS Evening News anchor put so much energy into it. It's almost as though she feels stifled at work! Can't imagine why that would be. Anyway, Los Angeles Times writer Matea Gold watched all the videos so you don't have to, and wrote up the highlights, which we've assembled into a quick montage after the jump. Couric snaps Larry King's suspenders, chats up the paparazzi, sings with Bette Midler, makes a Saturday Night Live joke and hangs out barefoot with a bunch of mom bloggers.

Ripped out of the context of the Evening News, Couric is charming and fresh, particularly when filmed next to stodgy Charles Gibson of ABC News. But it's not clear Americans want their TV news anchors charming and fresh, and that's probably why CBS producers have not promoted the YouTube channel, which has received just 19,000 views (some individual clips did better).

But the success of attractive, downright whimsical anchor Anderson Cooper at CNN should help producers make up their minds. For all his blushy, coquettish on-camera moments, there's little doubt Cooper would be taken seriously reprising the sort of coverage that raised his profile in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Nor does arguably hunky (*chokecough*) Keith Olbermann at MSNBC have trouble getting his "special comments" taken seriously, despite his repeated silly antics, like impersonating a pirate version of Rupert Murdoch.

Likewise, it's no sexist knock against Couric's potential as a newscaster to say she reveals attractive, inviting, authentic glimmers of herself on the YouTube channel, one that might serve the former Today host well in an environment more receptive to her talents than the Evening News has thus far been.

[LA Times]

Paul Janka's Attempted Date-Rape Brush-Off: the People Respond [Snark Break]

In small towns, shame is used to regulate people's behavior. In New York, we have Gawker. Welcome to the town meeting! Guess what—it's not okay to try to force a girl to do things she doesn't want to do. OK? It's also not okay to grab them! Something like that happened to me once, and it was scary! So what did everyone have to say about the Paul Janka debacle—in which, after reading an account of a tipster's night with him (he grabbed her, touched her, and wouldn't let her leave) he responded with, "I'd say going on a date under false pretenses is pretty underhanded, wouldn't you? I'm not interested in disputing her account, tit-for-tat. Suffice it to say she's spun it to serve her interests." Here are some of the quality comments from the Paul Janka debate.

From MeterReader:
"I use to WORK with this asshole and I can say that this surprises me not in the least. I'm not blaming this girl and I hope like hell they charge PJ, but why does there need to be a continued "Is he really like this?" fascination with the guy? Yes. He is really that much of a smug, sleazy SOB, so can we please stop spelunking into his UES cave of doom?"

From allyzay:
"i am hoping that she has contacted an authority besides gawker?"

From RStewie:
"Well, I hope she's going to press charges. This world does NOT need another smug asshole getting away with this bullshit just because "she should have known she was only on that date to fuck him." Which is basically what he's saying...I guess her meeting up with him was quasi-consent in his mind?"

From SusanKeats:
"@KillBuzzington: Given the fact that she clearly had no idea that he was going to be physically aggressive at all, I don't think it's fair to blame her choice here (Nor, actually, do I think it is ever fair to blame the victim of a sexual assault). I think probably what she was thinking was less that she was going to hang out with a pile of shit, and more that she was curious as to what somebody known for being really smooth with the ladies is like on a date. Kind of a "how does he do it?" type attitude. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe she's a bit more masochistic than that, but I personally think it would be interesting to see what exactly it is that makes this guy so "successful" in dating. (Answer, as it turns out: rape.)"

From Multiphasic:
"She went to his apartment?" seems to be the mantra here, as if one should assume that once that front door clicks, the pants tumble down like the walls of Jericha, and it's praise the Lord and helloooo Mr. Happy! As opposed to the possibly more logical assumption that a guy might want to, I donno, watch a movie or make her dinner."

From HeatherNumber1:
"@clevernamehere: She's going to get a whole lot more of the 'You went upstairs to his apartment?' attitude found here if she presses charges."

From Eringowaaaah:
"As someone who's been there, my advice to Emily is to stop emailing Gawker and go to the cops. The longer she waits, the less chance justice will be served."

Lost Love Letter [Sad]

A friend found this sad postcard this morning, abandoned. It is a love letter, dated May 26, 2008. It is addressed to "My dearest Mike" and signed "Love: Annie." It was found in the saddest place in the world: the platform of the Nassau Ave G Station. He would like to know if it is yours. Email us if you are Mike or Annie or maybe if you just would like to adopt a stray kitten.

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