Ann Curry has already been screwed over once by NBC. Now she’s determined for it not to happen again. With CNN reportedly wooing the anchor, sources tell Radar Online that Curry wants out of her NBC contract. Big time. “She has formally asked her attorney to explore exit options from the network,” the Curry insider claims . “However, NBC bosses have indicated they are unwilling to release Ann from the contract. If Ann were to just quit, there is a non-compete clause, which would prohibit her from working for another news outlet for two years.” Because Curry was demoted from The Today Show, she believes NBC breached the terms of her deal and she ought to be released. The CNN gig is especially attractive to the reporter because former NBC boss Jeff Zucker is now in charge there. He wants her to lead a program at 8 p.m. every night. In other morning show news: Folks are screaming at Matt Lauer . Robin Roberts will not return to Good Morning America until mid-2013.
Hottest. Beer. Pong. Team. Ever. Stacey Keibler and Michael Phelps didn’t merely attend the same party over the weekend, they teamed up as partners in the classic drinking game, smoking the competition, according to the former’s Tweet. “Dominating. #TeamBaltimore #geometry @M_phelps00 #goodtimes,” wrote Keibler as a caption to the following photo. Both stars hail from Baltimore, but don’t start getting any ideas of a relationship outside beer phone. Keibler is very muchw with George Clooney , although Phelps appears to have split from Megan Rossee . “Things happen for a reason… #notme,” he Tweeted earlier this month.
The Jackson Family Reaches A Resolution Earlier this year, this spun out of control at the Jackson family estate when tensions exploded regarding who should have control over the late Michael Jackson’s estate….and his children. The very public family feud went on for weeks, escalating when MJ’s daughter Paris allegedly got slappy happy with her auntie Janet and Katherine Jackson went into hiding. Now, months later, the family seems to have been able to come to a resolution. via THG No one in Michael Jackson’s family will be prosecuted over the infamous fight that went down in Jily at Katherine Jackson’s home, according to reports. MJ’s kids Prince and Paris Jackson got into it with the King of Pop’s sister and their aunt Janet Jackson, who was reportedly trying to snach Paris’ phone. The younger Jackson then told Janet to get the eff out. Paris charged at Janet, who was restrained by Randy; a physical confrontation then erupted with Randy and Jermaine on one side, and Trent on the other. It all boiled down to the family’s beef with Michael’s estate. In the aftermath, Janet issued a statement on Michael’s will, while Jermaine offered an olive branch. In any case, law enforcement is taking no action. Because the family closed ranks and no one would speak to cops about the melee – none of them returned detectives’ frequent calls – there’s no evidence of anything. Glad they could work things out….at least for the time being.
The former Common Law star Michael Ealy, 39, and Khatira Rafiqzada, 31, wed in a ceremony in Los Angeles. The couple have been dating for almost four years. “Michael has always been a private guy, and he wanted to enjoy his time as a newlywed with his wife privately,” his rep said. “Now that some time has passed and the holidays are here, he wanted to share the news with his fans that he is married and very happy.” Ealy earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2007 for his work on the Showtime dram
This is totally out of character for me, but I am actually very affected by the shooting that happened Friday, which is weird as I am normally the first to mock tragedy to get a rise out of people for no reason other than personal enjoyment, laughs and giggles….but the fact that they were kids, little fucking kids and is just too fucking twisted for there to be any spin on it…even “last day of school” jokes don’t make me laugh….the whole thing makes me fucking sick to my stomach. That said, here’s an interesting article that I read earlier today – that in the wake of the events, I think is a good story, written by Liza Long, a blogger over at Anarchist Soccer Mom who will be getting a book deal now that this has gone viral…in what I think may be the first viral article…something I find relatively exciting…because it means people still read…you should read it…because guns aren’t the issue…violence behavior and mental health is…. Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants. “I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises. “They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.” “They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!” “You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.” I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me. A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan—they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me. That conflict ended with three burly police officers and a paramedic wrestling my son onto a gurney for an expensive ambulance ride to the local emergency room. The mental hospital didn’t have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist. We still don’t know what’s wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He’s been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work. At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he’s in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He’s in a good mood most of the time. But when he’s not, watch out. And it’s impossible to predict what will set him off. Several weeks into his new junior high school, Michael began exhibiting increasingly odd and threatening behaviors at school. We decided to transfer him to the district’s most restrictive behavioral program, a contained school environment where children who can’t function in normal classrooms can access their right to free public babysitting from 7:30-1:50 Monday through Friday until they turn 18. The morning of the pants incident, Michael continued to argue with me on the drive. He would occasionally apologize and seem remorseful. Right before we turned into his school parking lot, he said, “Look, Mom, I’m really sorry. Can I have video games back today?” “No way,” I told him. “You cannot act the way you acted this morning and think you can get your electronic privileges back that quickly.” His face turned cold, and his eyes were full of calculated rage. “Then I’m going to kill myself,” he said. “I’m going to jump out of this car right now and kill myself.” That was it. After the knife incident, I told him that if he ever said those words again, I would take him straight to the mental hospital, no ifs, ands, or buts. I did not respond, except to pull the car into the opposite lane, turning left instead of right. “Where are you taking me?” he said, suddenly worried. “Where are we going?” “You know where we are going,” I replied. “No! You can’t do that to me! You’re sending me to hell! You’re sending me straight to hell!” I pulled up in front of the hospital, frantically waiving for one of the clinicians who happened to be standing outside. “Call the police,” I said. “Hurry.” Michael was in a full-blown fit by then, screaming and hitting. I hugged him close so he couldn’t escape from the car. He bit me several times and repeatedly jabbed his elbows into my rib cage. I’m still stronger than he is, but I won’t be for much longer. The police came quickly and carried my son screaming and kicking into the bowels of the hospital. I started to shake, and tears filled my eyes as I filled out the paperwork—“Were there any difficulties with… at what age did your child… were there any problems with.. has your child ever experienced.. does your child have…” At least we have health insurance now. I recently accepted a position with a local college, giving up my freelance career because when you have a kid like this, you need benefits. You’ll do anything for benefits. No individual insurance plan will cover this kind of thing. For days, my son insisted that I was lying—that I made the whole thing up so that I could get rid of him. The first day, when I called to check up on him, he said, “I hate you. And I’m going to get my revenge as soon as I get out of here.” By day three, he was my calm, sweet boy again, all apologies and promises to get better. I’ve heard those promises for years. I don’t believe them anymore. On the intake form, under the question, “What are your expectations for treatment?” I wrote, “I need help.” And I do. This problem is too big for me to handle on my own. Sometimes there are no good options. So you just pray for grace and trust that in hindsight, it will all make sense. I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness. According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do. When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. “If he’s back in the system, they’ll create a paper trail,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you’ve got charges.” I don’t believe my son belongs in jail. The chaotic environment exacerbates Michael’s sensitivity to sensory stimuli and doesn’t deal with the underlying pathology. But it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise—in fact, the rate of inmate mental illness is five times greater (56 percent) than in the non-incarcerated population. With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—Rikers Island, the LA County Jail and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation’s largest treatment centers in 2011. No one wants to send a 13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, “Something must be done.” I agree that something must be done. It’s time for a meaningful, nation-wide conversation about mental health. That’s the only way our nation can ever truly heal. God help me. God help Michael. God help us all.
From Miley to Demi and everything in between, MTV News lists our top five for tonight’s show, airing at 9 p.m. ET on VH1. By Jocelyn Vena Kelly Clarkson Photo: Michael Tran/Getty Images
No longer ‘Miss Independent,’ the pop queen announces that she and boyfriend Brandon Blackstock are set to tie the knot. By Rebecca Thomas Kelly Clarkson Photo: Michael Tran/Getty Images
In interview with Oprah from weeks before their reported split, Bieber opens up about what attracted him to Gomez. By Jocelyn Vena Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber Photo: Michael Buckner/ WireImage
Michael Lohan is adamant that he didn’t cheat on Dina Lohan when he knocked up Kristi Horn during their marriage 17 years ago, because they were on a break. MiLo’s secret love child Ashley Horn was revealed on TV last week. Michael Lohan, Love Child He long denied that he was the father, only to be put in his paternal place by a DNA test while the cameras rolled. It was unexpected and awkward, to put it mildly. Now he’s doing damage control amid backlash. The father of Michael Jr., Cody, Ali and Lindsay Lohan – plus another baby soon with pregnant Kate Major – says Ashley wasn’t the result of “cheating” or “an affair.” ” Dina and I were separated and living separately at the time for 8 months,” he tells TMZ. Michael also says he saw Lindsay Lohan on Good Morning America and is calling BS on her claim that she was in the dark about the love child this whole time. “Dina has been telling our children that Ashley is my daughter for years, without even knowing the results,” he says. “So how could this be news to our children?” We can’t believe we’re saying this, but … Michael Lohan is right.
