feuds

Letterman Taunts Old Rival Leno

Ryan Tate · 12/10/08 06:19AM

David Letterman's rivalry with Jay Leno goes back more than 15 years, to when Leno outmaneuvered Letterman to host the Tonight Show, a job Letterman deeply coveted. Now Leno has ceded the Tonight Show timeslot to Conan O'Brien (rather than fight him from ABC), and accepted to a proffer from network suits to move to 10 pm to make a (still amorphous) show 1/10th the cost of a primetime drama and less likely to be TiVoed. And Letterman isn't about to miss the chance to get in a few digs about how this makes Leno a capitulating loser. (Video after the jump.)

Chelsea Handler Calls Tori Spelling a Faux Fag Hag

Kyle Buchanan · 12/03/08 07:22PM

Gay men used to be known for their powers of artistic discernment, granting a priceless cultural imprimatur on the only trends, films, and iconic women who deserved it. No longer! Now, when even a reality show fourth banana like Audrina Patridge can have gays flinging themselves onto the pavement of Santa Monica Blvd. in a desperate attempt to be her new BFF, the standards for gay adoration have reached a watermark so low that it wouldn't even reach the hem of $220 capri pants. Thus it is that Tori Spelling has seen fit to anoint herself as a modern-day gay icon, an honor that E! talk show host Chelsea Handler tells The Advocate is simply canny marketing:

Tricia Walsh-Smith Speaks

cityfile · 12/03/08 08:10AM

Remember Tricia Walsh-Smith, the former wife of theater mogul Philip Smith, and the woman who became an internet sensation when she took to YouTube to recount her messy divorce and her former husband's fondness for Viagra and porn movies? Tricia came to mind when we read the news last night that Philip Smith was named the new chairman of the Shubert Organization, "perhaps the single most powerful position in the theatrical world." The promotion suggests the tabloid frenzy earlier this year didn't put much of a dent in Smith's professional rep, something he was clearly concerned about when the couple appeared in court this summer. (The judge said Tricia's YouTube videos represented "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass and humiliate her husband.") But we thought we'd check in with Tricia and gather her thoughts on her ex-husband's big promotion. Here's what she had to say via email a few moments ago.

SAG Vs. Studios Getting Nearly As Ugly As Waxman Vs. Finke

Seth Abramovitch · 12/01/08 04:56PM

Just days after we learned the kinda-sorta true details of a secret summit called by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and attended by the A-list dons of Hollywood's acting Cosa Nostra, tensions between the union and producers have reached a rolling boil. With 120,000 strike-authorization ballots being readied for mailing—each sealed individually by the scarred, arid tongue of Rosenberg himself—both sides have issued blistering written attacks accusing the other of the kind of selfishness typically associated with junket reporters asking innocuous questions of Philip Seymour Hoffman. First came a Rosenberg-penned missive on Thanksgiving eve, in which the blustery thespians' rights crusader rebuked producers for relying on that old "there's a gigantic recession coming" excuse:

Shrinking A.P. Calls CNN's Wire Service 'Abysmally Written'

Ryan Tate · 11/30/08 11:06PM

The Associated Press is said to be planning staff cuts. Customers and readers are up in arms over its drift away from hard news. CNN, meanwhile, is fat and happy, and getting moreso by the day, investing in free food, holograms and international staff. So there was probably more than a little jealousy behind AP chief Tom Curley's disdainful swipe at the cable network's plan for a "CNN Wire" to compete with AP.

Nikki Finke vs. Sharon Waxman: The Grudge Match Continues

STV · 11/26/08 02:55PM

It took a rumored meeting of superstars like Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep to get us to care again about a potential actors strike, and a hasty bit of rumor-debunking this morning to dash all the intrigue. But after a retraction, a non-retraction, and a few sharp personal jabs between dueling industry journos Nikki Finke and Sharon Waxman, all we know is that this match in their ongoing feud deserves a bit of play-by-play.We amended yesterday's news of a top-secret actor's meeting to reflect Waxman's retraction, which occurred overnight after Nikki revealed how Waxman got punk'd. Except, Waxman noted this morning, she didn't retract the story; she was just correcting her errors and saved the piece to "draft." Right. Still, Waxman emphasizes, "the essence of the story is correct": A high-octane, strike-gauging meeting took place at SAG president Alan Rosenberg's request, though not at the time of federal mediation between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which would a serious no-no. But what about Finke's allegations?

Chinese Were The Only People Taken By Surprise When Chinese Democracy Finally Came Out

Richard Lawson · 11/24/08 02:11PM

After 17 years of false starts and whispery rumors, no one was shocked when Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses' (well, Axl Rose's at least) newest and much-delayed album, was finally released last week. Except for the, well, Chinese! As if they were living under some sort of all-the-way-around-the-world rock or something, this is apparently the first the Communist-y supernation has heard of the album. And they are not happy about it. The album's title is "venomously attacking China," according to national Chinese newspaper the Global Times. The album is laden with commentary on the Chinese government, referencing the banned spiritual practice of Falun Gong and featuring the 1989-y lyric: "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself." (If you're Great Wall's a rockin', you're probably doin' the knockin'! Of boots! Chinese boots!) But, c'mon, we've known the title of this thing for years, and the Chinese are just now getting mad about it? They could have been raging about this since, like, before the internet even existed! Where were the pamphlets about how the album is a Western tool meant to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn"? I mean, it's true! And it's also about rockin' out! Their reaction, though resoundingly nationalistic and scary, is probably kind of what Axl and his newish bandmates were hoping for here stateside. Instead all they got was a deliciously side-winding review by Chuck Klosterman, and sad opening day debuts at Best Buy. So, I guess it just goes to show that the world has changed a lot since last we Used Our Illusion, but China hasn't noticed. Because, you know, they've been focusing on slightly bigger things. China State Media Blast New Guns N' Roses Album [AP]

We Call Bullshit On Rosie vs. Barbara

Richard Lawson · 11/21/08 11:13AM

Have you heard the wacky news? Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters are "at it again"! No, they're not having creepy lesbian eldersex, they're a'feudin' and a'fightin' all over again. They haven't had a public dust up recently, not since Rosie was fresh off Walters' ladychat Hindenburg The View. Lots of folks seem to be buying into the latest war of words (I'm looking at you, Fox News)—which arose when comedienne Rosie said something about how the camaraderie on the show is false and celebrity interviewer Babs snapped back—but we think it's, well, a hoax. And a pretty obvious one at that. Hell, they have the same publicist, Cindy Berger from PMK/HBH. She probably got them on some sweaty, wheezy conference call and told them that since RoRo needed to promote her new Ed Sullivan-esque variety hour and Babs needed some View coverage since the election ended and lil' squeakers Elisabeth Hasselbeck no longer has Issues to spew her poison candy about, they should have a fake fight and get some attention. This whole thing just reeks of PR stuntery. Like the whole supposedly nasty Madonna/Guy Ritchie divorce, which ended quickly now that she's got just three US dates left on her tour and his RockNRolla has already opened in theaters. Or Andy Samberg and Mark Wahlberg, who had a staged animosity to get some sweet ass SNL ratings. And it doesn't really hurt anyone at this point, because neither of them, especially Walters, really has any credibility left to debase. Which makes the whole thing just a bit sad. Ah well.

Keith Olbermann Obnoxious, Couric And Letterman Agree

Ryan Tate · 11/20/08 11:45PM

Katie Couric is on the Late Show again tonight, to try and convince David Letterman that she didn't purposely steal John McCain for her CBS Evening News that night the Republican presidential nominee infamously flaked on Letterman. Of course this is a lie, assuming Couric is as ruthlessly competitive as any network news anchor must be in order to succeed. But her exchange with Letterman is worth watching if only for all the fun bashing of Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC shouting head who filled in for McCain. Click the video icon to watch.

Harvey Weinstein On 'Project Runway' Enemy Jeff Zucker: We Were Totally Not BFFs

Richard Lawson · 11/19/08 10:24AM

That whole Project Runway lawsuit, between the Weinstein Company and the television conglomerate they dissed, NBC/Universal, is never going to end. Well, not if Harvey Weinstein and NBC head brass Jeff Zucker can't play nice. The New York Times did a little status update for the lawsuit this morning (basically everything is the same: jilted ex-lover doesn't want to let the fashion design show go to its new middle-aged girlfriend Lifetime, because of first refusal contracts, allegedly) that brings up some bitchy new details about their relationship. Basically, Zucker thought the two honchos were besties that he'd never screw NBC over, but Weinstein says nuh-uh:

Project Runway Still Cruelly Withheld From Viewers

cityfile · 11/19/08 10:20AM

There's something surreal/delightful about a swishy dressmaking contest provoking such a momentous battle between a couple of bald, middle-aged, Jewish heterosexuals. Yes, Harvey Weinstein and NBC's Jeff Zucker are still squabbling about Project Runway, and, to the chagrin of the show's many devoted fans, seem no closer to kissing and making up. For those of us who haven't managed to quite grasp the intricacies of this particular catfight, today's Times breaks it down: Weinstein, whose company produces the series, tried to move it from NBC-owned Bravo to Lifetime, because he hates Bravo's president Lauren Zalaznick. But Zucker said, hold on, NBC has the right of first refusal to keep the show on one of its channels, and filed suit.