Recently in Controversy Category

Oh, this is amusing.

A photo of Isaiah Washington, in character as Dr. Preston Burke, was flashed to on a recent episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and apparently the actor - fired after the show's second season - is none too pleased.

Here is a statement from his rep via Towleroad.com: "Isaiah has no plans to go back to Grey's Anatomy ... That being said, we were more than a little surprised that ABC used his likeness in a promo for the show, and indeed advanced his character's storyline. Mr. Washington's attorney has contacted the Screen Actors Guild and ABC as to the appropriateness of that action."

Seeing as Isiash's "Grey's" follow-up, "Bionic Woman" was short-lived, I'd think he'd be happy to have any prime-time exposure.

Star Jones may have been low-profile in regards to her split from Al Reynolds but she blasted Barbara Walters Wednesday over what Babs wrote about Star in her new book "Audition: A Memoir."

Barbara writes in the book that she knew about Star's secret gastric bypass surgery long before she admitted it to the public. She said she and the rest of panelists on "The View" lied to keep it a secret because Star clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"She decided to have a gastric bypass operation, but then she decided not to tell anybody," Walters said in an interview this week on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "Then we had to lie on the set every day because she said it was portion control and Pilates. Well, we knew it wasn't portion control and Pilates."

In the book, Barbara wrote of Star's stormy departure from "The View" : "I still feel it might have been easier for her to find a new position if she had left the program in the graceful way we had suggested."

Star had this to say: "It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book," she told Us Magazine. "It speaks to her true character."

Star was referring to an affair Walters had with a married senator during the 1970s.

My take: Star is a troubled and angry woman who would like us to believe she is taking the high road in her various controveries. There doesn't seem to be anything authentic or honest about her and my feeling is that Barbara wrote nothing but the truth.

I make no secret of this: I think Jim McGreevey and Dana Matos McGreevey are vile people. But that doesn't mean I don't find it entertaining to watch these two completely obnoxious people tear each other down in public. So their divorce trial (yeas, really, they are not yet divorced) should be a blast!

This dysfunctional pair, who have not lived together in the 3.5 years since McGreevey proclaimed himself to be "a gay American" and resigned as governor of New Jersey, were both in court Tuesday to finally begin to end their marriage.

The petty pair took different routes entering court: ''It's a beautiful day,'' Jim McGreevey said as he entered alone through the back entrance of the courthouse. Dina Matos McGreevey had no comment when she arrived with her lawyer through the front courthouse entrance.

The trial will be closed to the media initially because the judge will be hearing testimony on the custody of their 6 year old daughter. In addition to custody, the other issues to be decided involve alimony, and child support, and whether McGreevey, now openly gay, committed fraud by marrying a woman.

I posted yesterday about Reichen Lehmkuhl's split from model Ryan Barry and his posting of Ten Rules for Dating In Hollywood as well as the remark: "You Shady Lying Sack of (expletive). You're BEYOND Gross. What an Idiot I Have Been!"

He now regrets displaying such raw emotion online and posted the following statement on his MySpace page: We all experience pain, but venting on MySpace isn't right. I'm sorry and I regret it. I was emotional and I don't feel any of the things I've said. And whoever I've dated that it could have been directed toward is and was never the way I may have described. I was venting on life and frustration and I apologize for offending anyone or for making myself look childish.

On the page, Reichen indicates that he is also on his way to Brazil. That would certainly cheer me up!

The answer seems pretty obvious to me: nothing.

Straight couples enjoy a kiss in public and that's great. If they are making out like crazy then they deserve a few remarks like "Get a room!" But I don't think anyone would call the police on 'em!

Make that couple a pair of guys and it's a different story. Last Friday night, ABC's "20/20" did one of its always intriguing "What would you do?" segments where they hire actors to do something provocative - for hours sometimes - as they film the reactions from passers-by.

Check out the clip:

William Baldwin, star of ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money," has joined brother Alec in publicly dissing broter Stephen's anti-gay views: Alec Baldwin has already come out against born-again Christian brother Stephen Baldwin's anti-gay politics in Out Magazine. "My brother Stephen does not have a political bone in his body... He hides behind the Word and whenever you confront him he'll hide behind some verse. He'll say, "All that really matters to me is that the Lord said blah blah blah blah" and he'll fill in the blank... I don't love my brother any less, but I think he's very confused."

"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno spoke with KMXB radio in Las Vegas about the "gayest look" controversy involving Ryan Phillippe. Lucky for us, Andy Towle transcribed it and has an audio link on his Towleroad blog.

Here is a little excerpt: "You know, it's really odd how on our show we have plenty of gay guests and plenty of gay guests who you know - 'how's your relationship going, how's your family going' -- Melissa Etheridge, with everybody else. To me I never made fun of gay rights or even gay marriage. Do what you want to do. But to me -- fashion, lifestyle, hair, you know that kind of stuff -- you're a comic. Thats what you do. And what it was was Ryan Phillippe..."

Kevin Spacey just leaves me cold. That's probably why I find this item sp much fun to share: It seems that Spacey, whose new film "21" is currently nimber one at the box office, has dismissed the UK reality show "I'll Do Anything" as nothing more than a plug for Andrew Lloyd Webber.

John Barrowman, a judge on the show had this to say to Spacey during an interview on Capital Radio: "You know what, shut up! It's promoting theatre. Maybe he's a bit upset because his plays just aren't hits."

Ouch!!!

Jay Leno has apologized for last week's bizarre bit with Ryan Phillippe on "The Tonight Show" when Ryan was on to promote his new movie "Stop-Loss."

Jay brought up Ryan's early role as a gay teen on the ABC soap "One Life to Live" then inexplicably said to Ryan: "Can you give me, like - say that camera is your gay lover ...Can you give me your gayest look'? Say that camera is Billy Bob - Billy Bob has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming."

Ryan looked instantly uncomfortable and said: "Wow. That is so something I don't want to do. Are you just going to embarrass me tonight, or ... ?"

"No," said Jay. "I got more stuff. This is the least of it."

Earlier today, GLAAD slammed Leno with this statement: "We are proud of Ryan for refusing to participate in Leno's thoughtless attempt at humor," said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. "Under the guise of comedy, the talk-show host is demonstrating a lack of respect for the gay community and insensitivity to both his co-workers and the audience, to whom he owes an apology."

Then came this apology from Jay: "In talking about Ryan's first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong. I certainly didn't mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize."

In his Soap News column in the new issue of TV Guide, Michael Logan writes extensively about the Luke and Noah no-kissing controversy. Although "As the World Turns" executive producer Chris Goutman has been banned from speaking to the press about the storyline, Logan did talk to CBS daytime chief Barbara Bloom.
Bloom said: "I can assure you there is no homophobia on the part of the network nor are we pandering to any group. We have not censored ATWT or asked them to hold back in any way."

She doesn't say WHY for the love of God they are holding back but said: "I really hope the show will continue to evolve the Luke and Noah story, and that they culminate their relationship the way all couples in love do."
Logan brings up all the beyond annoying missed opportunities for a same-sex kiss: under the mistletoe on the Christmas episode and on Valentine's Day when EVERY other couple on the show kissed except for Luke and Noah.

"I understand why this makes people scream," Bloom admits. "The only thing you're going to get out of me is that the pacing is slower with Luke and Noah than with other romances on ATWT. That's good storytelling. We';re in the business of getting people to watch more."

Listen Barbara Bloom, let Luke and Noah kiss every now and then like friggen normal people and we will indeed watch more. You are testing the patience of many of your viewers with your "good storytelling."

Sorry about the lack of posts today everybody. We have had technical difficulties all damned day - the same day as our newsroom is dealing with buyouts and layoffs etc. So, not the best day at The Daily News. But hey, back to the business of blogging. I wanted to pop off a little bit about this whole business of Whoopi Goldberg being left out of a montage of past Oscar hosts on Sunday's telecast.

Whoopi is the first woman to ever host the Oscars and did so FOUR times. Then there is the fact that she is the only black woman to ever host, is an Oscar winner ("Ghost") and was nominated for best actress for her first film "The Color Purple." To not include such a historic figure is really an insult.

Whoopi grew emotional about it on Monday's "The View" when her fellow co-hosts expressed their outrage and support for her. She got up from her desk and gave each woman a kiss on the cheek. She told E! News:

"It moved me that they took time out to talk about it. Colleagues don't usually do that. I was moved. It was a big step for them. They could have ignored it."

Whoopi said she has never before been so emotional on television.

"I tried at first to laugh it off," she said. "They overwhelmed me, and that's the truth. And I didn't know how to deal with it. That is why I had to get up. I was thinking, 'I am not going to let this tear roll down my face.' I got up and kissed everyone to say, 'Thank you and stop!' It was just a lovely gesture on their part."

The next day, Whoopi said she had gotten a call from the ceremony's longtime producer, Gil Cates who she quoted as saying: "'I would have called you Monday but I hadn't slept.' He said, 'Listen, I missed it. I didn't realize it wasn't in there.' ... I love Gil. He was the one who came to me and said, 'I want to put you in as first female host of the Oscars, let's make history.' "

This is a great clip of Kathy Griffin talk to Larry King last night. She is a hoot and enjoying all the controversy around her since her Emmy speech 10 days ago when she told Jesus to "suck it" and added that her Emmy was "my God now."
The Catholic League, which I would think would have many more things to worry about that what is said at a non-televised award show, has denounced Kathy - much to her delight.
"Of course I planned it all," she tells King. "Bill O'Reilly called me a pinhead. That's a badge of honor!"
Apparently, it's also been a career boost: "I now have my olwn 'E! True Hollywood Story." Before the scandal, it was only going to be a half-hour, now it's gonna be an hour."

On Sally Field's getting bleeped by FOX: "When Gidget is so shocking where you have to cut to black screen - that's ridiculous."

Barry Manilow, who said he did not want to appear on "The View" with Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the stage because of her conservative views, is explaining his feelings a bit more on his website: "I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled." he wrote to fans. "I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out. It’s really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those."
This doesn't exactly square with what was said yesterday by Barbara Walters and "View" producer Bill Geddie who said they cancelled the gig rather than letting any guest dictate such things. Geddie said: "You sit with one of us, you sit with all of us."
OK, so is Barry trying to drum up some extra publicity for his new album "Greatest Songs of the Seventies"? Maybe. But his previous albums of 50s and 60s tunes were huge sellers so I'm thinking he really just can't stand the thought of being on the stage with Rosie O'Donnell foe Hasselbeck.

Manilow is friends with Rosie and recorded "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with her for the album but it did not make the final cut.
"It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time," Manilow told Access Hollywood. "She is just inspiring because you know she’s not a singer. She knows that, but she just got behind the microphone and ripped away. She was great and in tune too. The problem was, as I put the album together, it became a very romantic album. And having this thing come crashing in out of nowhere, the tone just didn’t feel right. It’ll probably wind up being a bonus cut somewhere."

Did Barbara Walters slip Barry Manilow a $20 bill or something to get him to create a big stink about not appearing on "The View" if Elisabeth Hasselbeck was in the segment? I ask because ithe controversy made great fodder for her and "The View" producer Bill Geddie for the launch on Monday of "Barbara Live," Walters’ exclusive weekly live call-in show on SIRIUS.
Manilow did not want to appear with the ultra-conservative Hasselbeck because "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive," according to a statement the singer made to TMZ.com

Obviously, Walters and Geddie aren't going to have any guest dictate things like this and they talked about it on the show. Here are some excerpts:

WALTERS: Mr. Manilow…whom I like a lot.
GEDDIE: I like him too, and he’s always been great on the show, and he’s always supported The View for the past 11 years. I wouldn’t even be talking about this except that he called up TMZ. So, now, what are we going to do? Last Friday we got the word that he’s very close to Rosie, and he doesn’t want to appear…I [had] told his representatives that he would be on with all of you.
WALTERS: That’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Whoopi, Sherri and me.
GEDDIE: Yes. And he’s said he’ll appear with everybody but Elizabeth. Well, we don’t do that. It’s just not the way it works here, we support everybody. He said I’ll do Barbara and Whoopi, or I’ll do Whoopi and Sherri, or somecombination, but I won’t sit with Elisabeth. And I said ‘Well, then you won’t be on the show, it’s that simple.’ And that was the end of it. I would have thought, OK, fine. I don’t know what it is, ten years getting to this stage. He’s been on with us every year for the past ten years…and I figured OK fine, let him go to what he needs to do, it’s not that big a deal, he seems like a nice enough guy, he’s got an issue with Elisabeth but so be it. He’s not going to call the shots. You’re not going to tell me how to produce the show.
WALTERS: And if you disagree with somebody’s political point of view you don’t come on? We’re called The View because we have different points of view.
GEDDIE It got me thinking. You know, I’ve never heard Jane Fonda say ‘I won’t sit with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.’ I’ve never heard Susan Sarandon say that. If someone was conservative and said ‘I won’t sit with Joy Behar’ I’d react the exact same way. I don’t understand this when this became an issue for him, and why would you go off and then call TMZ and make a big column item. Is it all about publicity? Is this all it is?
WALTERS: Well also, Elisabeth Hasselbeck is not an enemy of Rosie’s. None of us are. If Elisabeth disagrees with Rosie, and Rosie disagrees with Elisabeth….nobody is to my knowledge is taking sides. All I can think of is that wonderful song (Walters breaks into rendition of ‘I Write the Songs That Make the Whole Sing’…adding her own lyrics) Provided They Happen to Be Liberals.’
WALTERS: (Laughing) That was awful, he should be mad at me for that.
WALTERS: Too bad it happened. Because we could have sung all of his songs, he’s been on with us for ten years.
GEDDIE: He’s always seemed like a nice guy, but I don’t get him on this. We’re The View, we have people with different opinions.
GEDDIE: You sit with one of us, you sit with all of us.

On having Whoopi and Sherri as new co-hosts on The View:
WALTERS: We adore having Whoopi on and our ratings are higher than they were last year at the same time. Rosie O’Donnell, she was great…
GEDDIE: But this Whoopi/Sherri thing seems to be working out.
WALTERS: We kept hearing that if it weren’t for Rosie this show wouldn’t have made it, and Rosie was terrific. The fact that our ratings are higher now than they were last year, starting with Whoopi, then with Sherri Shepherd…. and its fun, we can disagree and we can have different opinions. It’s just terrific.

Keep reading...there's more after the jump!

Part of Sally Field's Emmy acceptance speech was completely cut from the telecast by FOX. The line the network felt people just should not hear was this: "If mothers ruled the world, there would be no God-damned wars in the first place."

FOX was not content to simply bleep "God-damned" which apparently is acceptable according to FCC rules, but by taking out the entire anti-war line, they censored the actress. I think they are bringing far more attention to what Field said by pulling this stunt.
I wonder if they would have bleeped if Sally had said: "I'm very supportive of this goddamed war!"
Doubt it.

Meant to blog about this yesterday but I took off to the newsroom and left my notes at home. Was watching "The View" to see if there would be any mention of Rosie's suggestion that Barbara Walters retire. But, no dice.
Then something even better happened: Elisabeth Hasselbeck was essentially told she was off-point by Whoopi Goldberg and to shut up by Walters.
The NY Post printed a blow-by-blow which I'm lifting from because it's got all the good details: The outburst began when Hasselbeck mentioned Monica Lewinsky in a discussion about presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon religion and how a small sect of Mormons still practice polygamy. The Monica reference triggered an avalanche of reaction from Whoopi Goldberg - and then Barbara.
"This is a good woman who has gotten a masters degree at the London School of Economics!" raged Walters, poking her finger at Hasselbeck's face. She pulled her hand back suddenly, took a flustered breath, and continued in a calmer tone. "She's doing her best to have a life. Enough with Monica, everybody can move on."
Goldberg requested that Hasselbeck - a conservative who famously clashed with Rosie O'Donnell last season - not bring Lewinsky up again.
"I'm asking you to do me a favor because there's no reason for it today," Goldberg said. "This has nothing to do with Bill Clinton."
Hasselbeck justified mentioning Lewinsky because the women were joking about Romney one day announcing he had a second wife.
"You're worried if some other woman would come out of the closet as the 'other woman,' " Hasselbeck sputtered. "It's not that much of a jump" to Monica. We've seen that before where another woman popped up" in the White House."
Walters, almost shouting, then said, "DO YOU THINK..." Then she took a breath and started again asking Hasselbeck if there would EVER be a Democratic candidate that you would NOT be against?

My take: I wonder if Hasselbeck is becoming a liability in the way that Star Jones did. I'd love to see ABC's polls on this. I don't sense that the studio audience connects with her anymore or respects her. Her upcoming maternity leave could come at a bad time for her because with Whoopi and Sherri Shepherd (not exactly a bleeding heart liberal) on board, the show might clearly be better without her.
There is precedent for this: When Deborah Norville went on maternity leave from "The Today Show" back in 1991, Katie Couric was the substitute co-host. Katie was so popular that Norville, unfairly tainted because she had replaced the beloved Jane Pauley, never returned to the show.

Now, you didn't expect Kathy Griffin to win and Emmy and not do something outrageous did you?
Some people are up in arms over what she said in her speech: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus...Suck it, Jesus. This award is my God now."
Wow. Tell us what ya really think Kathy!
Well, the TV Academy and E! announced today that they would not air Kathy's remarks, made after winning the Emmy for Best Reality Program. Catholic League President Bill Donohue called on the TV academy to "denounce Griffin's obscene and blasphemous comment" and is still demanding that Griffin apologize.
Hmmmm. Ever heard of free speech Donohue? I think the Catholic church has bigger problems right now.
Anyway, the controversy was among the hot topics discussed today on "The View" with Elisabeth Hasslebeck, predictably, incensed by Griffin's remarks with Sherri Shepherd also taken aback: "I was trying to text her to say, 'Girl, you know you shouldn't be saying that.'"
But Whoopi and Joy Behar think it's much ado about nothing.
Said Woopi: "[God] knew she was gonna make the joke and said, 'You kill me' and kissed her on the head."

Good grief, when I became friends with Kenneth Walsh last week, I had no idea he'd become so controversial!
But his posting of nude photos of Thomas Roberts on his Kennethinthe212 blog a few days ago has caused quite a debate between those who are enjoying the photos and those who are upset with Kenneth for posting them in the first place.
Here is a video post from Japhy Grant of The Modern Romantic who I met at the NLGJA conference and has some interesting points to make. Take a look...

p.s. I know this has nothing to do with anything but doesn't Japhy have the prettiest blue eyes???

Meanwhile, over at Popnography.com, one of new favorite bloggers, Shana Naomi Krachmal weighs in with some thoughtful comments and people are posting some interesting comments. Check them out...

Also, over at AfterElton.com, the topic is also on people's minds...In its coverage of the Roberts photos, the site Sitting In A Tree takes the NY Post to task for refering to a gay man as "a toe tapper" which, I agree, is quite offensive as does Gawker...

I guess the moral of this story would be this: if you have a job on television, don't post nude photos of yourself on a gay cruising site because they will get out!
I'm not going to post them, sorry, but I'm sure the more resourceful of you can find Thomas Roberts in the buff for yourselves on the Kennethinthe212 site.
Kenneth, who is a new friend of mine, is like my evil twin. He can say or post things on his blog that I would never consider but I admire his guts and witty way with words. Anyway, Kenneth posted this little blind item a few days ago posing this question: "Which TV insider has been known to make his own headline news with these superhot nude pics of himself on the gay cruising site Manhunt.net?"
Roberts, a former CNN Headline News anchor and openly gay, started his job on "The Insider" just this week. On Thursday night, he handled the show's "Rumor Report" segment but did not mention himself! He was very charming in his segment with Judith Light (he helped her pick out a gown for the Emmys) and he also interviewed Laila Ali.
Anywho, Kenneth's blind item has quickly gathered steam with New York Magazine and the New York Post's Page Six quickly pouncing on it. The Post said "The Insider" would not confirm or deny that the man in the photos is their new anchor and a spokesperson for the show would not put them in touch with Roberts.
When we asked about the risqué online profile, the rep told Page Six, "We have hired Thomas Roberts from CNN for his journalistic strengths and integrity. It is unfortunate that after four days on the job at 'The Insider,' he has become a victim of this malicious personal attack."
On his blog today, Kenneth wonders: Since when is pointing out that someone has a hot naked body a "malicious personal attack"? You know what they say: don't shoot the messenger.

I''ve seen the pics. Wow. Amazing body. This should only help the show's ratings!

What is it with this dude?
First Idaho Sen. Larry Craig pleads guilty following an arrest in a public restroom and now is trying to take back his plea. Then he announces his resignation from the senate under heavy pressure from his eager-to-distance itself Republican party but now he is reconsidering THAT if he manages to be cleared of all charges.
Should a U.S. Senator really be so indecisive?
I'm happy to see him out since he has supported an anti-gay agenda and clearly has some issues to deal with personally. He needs therapy and a marriage counselor and should be spending time on himself rather than in the U.S. Senate where, clearly, no one cares about him.
Craig's spokesman, Dan Whiting, told CNN that the senator "is fighting these charges and should he be cleared before then, he may - I emphasise may - not resign."

I wonder what has Larry Birkhead more ticked off. Rita Cosby's scandalous new book alleging that he was having an affair with a man, or that the man was Howard K. Stern! Birkhead, who was proved in April to be the biological father of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, told Larry King Tuesday night that he will sue the author and publisher of the new book, "Blonde Ambition."
"I've instructed my attorney to sue Rita Cosby, the publisher and any source that spits out some of that false, defamatory information that's in there," Birkhead said on CNN's "Larry King Live." "If I were Rita Cosby, I'd be very concerned."
Cosby's book claims that not only was their an affair between the two men, but that an intimate moment between the two was caught on videotape.
Said Birkhead: "That's totally false and it's defamatory. I've heard the sources from that, and those sources are people that don't -- that haven't been in Anna's life and haven't even met me."
Birkhead said Cosby's comments are "crazy ... she says she's never seen the video that she reports in her book that exists, and now she's backpedaling, saying, 'How else could you explain two guys that are enemies now get along?' and trying to make sense out of something that she never verified in the first place."
Birkhead told CNN Cosby never called him to verify the allegations or told him she was writing a book.

Note: the US Magazine includes photos of Burke, Stern and Smith at The Abbey following the 2005 Gay Pride Parade where Anna Nicole was grand marshall.