The Best and Worst Press Release of All-Time
Over the course of any single day, Gawker receives numerous press releases, many of them ridiculous and sad. This one may be the most ridiculous and sad we've ever seen. Poor John Ratzenberger. Apparently some LA-based flack named Charmaine Blake, "the most famous publicist," is on a date right now with Cliff Clavin from Cheers and couldn't resist blasting out a poorly written press release under the table on her Blackberry. FROM: CharmaineBlakePR@aol.com TO: CharmaineBlakePR@aol.com SUBJECT: Media Alert: John Ratzenberger on a DATE with Charmaine Blake NOW Charmaine blake, the most famous publicist. is dating John Ratzenberger from the hit show "Cheers!" John Ratzenberger and Charmaine Blake are on a date RIGHT NOW (5:21 PM 6/30) at Wolfgang Puck's Cut in Beverly Hills. John and Charmaine have just arrived to wine and dine the night away! Wolfgang Puck will be joining the two personally for dinner as well! ALL MEDIA PRESS COVERAGE WELCOME! CUT BEVERLY HILLS Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, California 90212 P: 310-276-8500 F: 310-276-8502 Charmaine Blake Charmaine PR Firm Publicist, CEO Poor John Ratzenberger. He's probably trying to put the pieces of his life back together after his ex-girlfriend was almost inspired by a country song to set his car on fire, and now he's on a date with the craziest, drunkest, most publicity-hungry publicist in town. She also has a blog, which is always a sure sign of mental instability. This is why LA sucks! via Alex Blagg's Tumblr MORE >>
Owner of Puking Subway Dog Treated Roughly
All she wanted to do was get her poor little puking pug dog out of her tote bag on the L train. But then the cops arrived. And they were mean. Was arrested by police at L train today - ffor a 15lb pug that I took out of his tote bag for throwing up and overheating. Held for very long time - photos and video and about 12 cops involved. Pug okay,. but me, very sad, Her pug dog threw up in its tote bag on the L train between First Avenue and Bedford Ave, then when she got off the train a cop came up to her and asked her for her ID and she didn't have the ID and the cop cuffed her and pushed her against the wall and said "If you're going to act like a woman I'm going to treat you like a woman," and people were taking pictures and they arrested her and gave her three tickets and said they were going to have her puking pug dog put down but when she finally got to the police station the dog was just behind the desk and the cops were playing with it. The state of her fellow subway riders is unknown. [Free Williamsburg via Animal NY] MORE >>
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to My Argentine Mistress
It turns out Mark Sanford left some things out of his big long weepy affair confession, including three New York encounters with his mistress. It turns out he felt the need to break up with her twice! Imagine that. The South Carolina governor had previously copped to five encounters, all in South America, with Argentine TV reporter Maria Belen Chapur. Now he tells the Associated Press — in a "lengthy and emotional" interview! — that he met with the woman three other times: Two nights in Manhattan in September 2008. Three nights in the Hamptons in November 2008. One night in New York in 2009 with a "trusted spiritual adviser," to end the affair, which his wife found out about in January of that year. Wait, didn't Sanford say he went to Argentina earlier this month to end the affair? Yes, yes he did, even though the affair was supposed to be over after that trip to New York. So what was Argentina really about? Something, perhaps, that would endanger his reconciliation efforts and marriage counseling with hero wife Jenny. Or maybe Sanford resumed seeing Chapur at some point in 2009 after his January confession to his wife, and had to break things off again, in person. This would explain why Jenny moved out only "several weeks ago" despite knowing of an affair since January. Sanford's initial public mea culpa was forced by an imminent story in the local newspaper, so it's no wonder it was incomplete. One wonders what goods the press used to force the governor's candor this time around. (Pic: Sanford interview with the AP in his Columbia, SC office today. By AP.) MORE >>
Vibe Folds (Updated)
Vibe Magazine—one of the biggest music magazines in America—is folding. The entire music magazine landscape is full of the dead and dying. [UPDATED below.] Wikipedia sums up Vibe unexpectedly well: The magazine owes its success to having a broader range of interests than its closest competitors The Source and XXL which focus more narrowly on rap music or the rock & pop-centric Rolling Stone and Spin. It also differs from the more staid Essence, Ebony or Jet publications by attracting younger readers of many ethnicities. It was essentially the black version of Rolling Stone, and its readership grew broader as hip hop became pop music. (Kind of fitting that their last issue had Eminem on the cover). But Vibe hasn't been doing well for a while now; in February, the magazine cut its circulation and frequency, and salaries. Now the music industry is crumbling, and the magazine industry is crumbling, and the music magazine industry is really crumbling. The recent dead include Radio and Records, Performing Songwriter, and Blender. Vibe probably had the most demographically diverse readership of any major music magazine. Now, the hip hop magazine world is ruled by the shaky Source and XXL, with strong online competition; the trade music sector is still topped by Billboard, incredibly shaky as well; the pop music mag sector is ruled by Rolling Stone, which is a shell of its former self; and Spin, Fader, Paste, and everyone else are just trying to protect their own audiences from the free, and many times much better, online intruders. Hard times. [Jeff Bercovici at Daily Finance with the scoop.] UPDATE: We're waiting to hear back from Vibe ourselves, but their latest Twitter message pretty much confirms the worst. UPDATE 2: Here are the statements from Vibe's editor, and a staff memo from the CEO. From editor Danyel Smith: On behalf the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today. We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It's a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine's sixteenth anniversary, it's a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you. Danyel Smith the former Chief Content Officer VIBE Media Group & Editor in Chief, VIBE Staff memo from Vibe Media CEO Steve Aaron: Dear VIBE Team: It is with a heavy heart that I share some tough news, VMG is closing down effective today, June 30th. It's been an 16 incredible years since VIBE's inception. There are very few magazines with the richness of history and breadth of talented visionaries who created the powerful lens in which VIBE viewed and shaped urban music and culture. Ever since I first set foot in this courageous... MORE >>
Wait, Did Geraldo Just Ask the Fox News Audience to Kill a Child Molester?
Last night on Fox News, Geraldo Rivera took a hit out on David Earls, a convicted child-rapist whose atrociously low sentence Bill O'Reilly has been demagoguing. Earls is a bad man. He raped a little girl and got a ridiculous one-year sentence. But it's still astonishing that last night two grown men openly discussed on national television whether or not it's OK to just up and kill him. O'Reilly, cognizant of the criticism he received for his role in turning George Tiller into a national villain who was then gunned down by an abortion opponent, managed to struggle through the moral logic of Thou Shalt Not Kill. But Rivera, with a wink and a nod, basically said "Yes." The only reservation he has about someone taking his advice to go out and kill Earls is that they might get hurt themselves. Here's the gist of the exchange: O'Reilly: If Earls ever walks out of jail and gets killed, who are they going to blame? Rivera: ... I can only tell you ladies and gentlemen, that I will not weep if something happens to David Earls. I do not encourage vigilantism. I think it is something that puts your own life at risk. I do not advise it, I do not counsel it. I will not, however, weep if David Earls is found sometime on a country road. O'Reilly: We obviously don't want anyone to do anything. That would be as morally wrong as what Earls did—to take Earls' life. You can't do that. Rivera: I don't agree quite with your moral reasoning. You're more moral than I am. These men actually want people to die. MORE >>
The Three Stages of Madoff Victimhood
Bernie Madoff's been sentenced to die in prison. Now, all those victimized by him have found peace. Just kidding! They're all in anguish. Seriously, we're worried about them. The victims are dealing with their rage in three distinct ways: 1. Trying—and failing—to forgive. Julie Behar lost $2.6 million; her children lost their trust fund; her mom lost millions as well. But now she's started saving again, concentrating on her children's futures, and hoping for the best. She knows that holding anger in her heart is no way to live. How about it, Julie—do you think you can forgive this man? "I'M NOT accepting Bernard Madoff's apology." Ah. I see. Okay. 2. Trying—and failing—to move on. Let's just focus on what we need to do now, okay? The past is the past. There are so many things to do now. Phyllis Molchatsky lost $2 million and may lose her house, but she's moving on by...losing her faith in the government, the SEC, the American Way, and god. "I think part of me died that day I learned of the fraud, along with so many hopes and dreams for the future." Oh. Well. That's depressing as fuck. 3. RAGE! This rage is Biblical: "I told the judge that when Bernard Madoff leaves prison, which means after his death, that he will then go down to the depths of hell where he'll join those other people who are in the mouths of Satan," Burt Ross, the former mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who lost $5 million with Mr. Madoff, told the crowded press corps outside the courthouse. You people will die of stress before Madoff does. [Read em all! And weep.] MORE >>
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