Oprah’s talk show lasted 25 years, so it’s safe to assume she made plenty of mistakes along the way. Luckily, she learned from one pretty early. The mogul recently revealed on Entertainment Tonight, that back in 1988, she had her biggest on-air regret. And that would be the moment she towed lard on stage to represent the 67 pounds of weight she’d just lost (and never ended up keeping off). “The producers were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re gonna drag the wagon of fat?!’ I would’ve said ‘Don’t do it! It’s a great TV moment, but don’t do it!’ Big, big, big, big, big, big mistake. When I look at that show, I think it was one of the biggest ego trips of my life.” She also reveals to ET what makes her angry and her biggest guilty pleasure: Oprah Winfrey Is Forbes’ Top-Earning Woman In Entertainment Oprah Appointed CEO Of OWN Network
Country star, however, claims he made the choice to pull his ‘All My Rowdy Friends’ from ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football.’ By Gil Kaufman Hank Williams Jr. (file) Photo: Rick Diamond/ Getty Images ESPN officially parted ways with controversial country star Hank Williams Jr. on Thursday (October 6), just days after it suspended him for comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler. Williams’ signature song, “All My Rowdy Friends,” was initially pulled from this week’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast for one night, but the firing became permanent Thursday when the network formally severed ties with the notoriously rabblerousing singer. “We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr.,” ESPN announced in a statement. “We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.” The controversy began to bubble Monday morning after the outspoken Williams appeared on a Fox News morning show, during which he condemned a June golf outing involving Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Obama. “It’s like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he said of the bipartisan golf game. The hosts of the conservative network’s “Fox & Friends” morning program seemed surprised by the comment, with co-anchor Gretchen Carlson asking Williams to clarify what he meant by the inflammatory statement, saying, “You used the name of one of the most hated people in all the world to describe, I think, the president.” Williams responded, “That’s true … but I’m telling you like it is.” A short time later, Williams issued the first of two apologies , writing on his website, “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood … My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point.” That appeared to do little to quell the firestorm over his comments, leading to Thursday’s firing. Williams’ “Rowdy” has been part of “Monday Night Football” for more than two decades, and the singer was clearly stung by the sports network’s actions. In a statement denying that he’d been fired, Williams wrote , “After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision,” he said, employing the classic “you can’t fire me because I quit” argument. “By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and ‘All My Rowdy Friends’ are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.” Related Artists Hank Williams Jr.
He may get away with saying almost anything as Captain Jack Sparrow, but Johnny Depp is at the center of a controversy due to remarks he makes in the latest issue of Vanity Fair . In an interview with the magazine, the actor expresses his disdain for photo shoots by comparing them to rape , actually reiterating that word for emphasis. In response, RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) has issued the statement: “While photos may feel at times intrusive, being photographed in no way compares to rape – a violent crime which affects another American every 2 minutes. RAINN welcomes the opportunity to speak with Mr. Depp and educate him about the real life experiences faced by survivors every day, and ways that he can work with RAINN to help.” Do you think Depp should apologize for his word choice?
?uestlove tweets about controversial comment country singer made on Fox News. By Gil Kaufman Hank Williams Jr. Photo: Getty Images Country star Hank Williams Jr. spent Monday afternoon in damage-control mode, backtracking from statements he made that morning in which he compared President Obama to reviled Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The comments got Williams’ traditional “Monday Night Football” opening song, with its famous “Are you ready for some football?” refrain, yanked from the night’s Indianapolis/Tampa Bay game. “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood,” Williams said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point.” On Monday morning, Williams appeared on Fox News and referred to Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner’s June golf outing with Obama as one of the “biggest political mistakes ever” by the Ohio politician. “It’s like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” the country singer said of the bipartisan golf game. The hosts of the conservative network’s “Fox & Friends” morning program seemed surprised by the comment, with co-anchor Gretchen Carlson asking Williams to clarify what he meant by the inflammatory statement, saying, “You used the name of one of the most-hated people in all the world to describe, I think, the president.” Williams responded, “That’s true … but I’m telling you like it is.” In his follow-up statement, posted on his website , Williams explained his sentiments on the Obama/Boehner pairing: “I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites, and it made no sense,” he said. “They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.” ESPN announced that it was dropping Williams’ theme song from Monday night’s program but didn’t say whether it would re-appear at a later date. “While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to ‘Monday Night Football,’ ” the network said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result, we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.” Roots drummer ?uestlove commented on the flap on Twitter, writing, “Every ‘HITLER’ outburst i hear in the news shows me that people in fact do NOT know the evil Hitler committed … I’m borderline certain those who are (NOW) quick to use HITLER so carelessly, were probably part of the ’60 years ago never happened’ crew.”
Are you ready for some insanity? When Hank Williams Jr. stopped by Fox & Friends this morning to discuss politics (absurd in itself), few could have imagined the views that the country music singer and longtime voice of Monday Night Football espouses. Williams described this year’s “Golf Summit” between President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner as “One of the biggest political mistakes ever.” Sadly, that was Hank’s high water mark for intelligence: Hank Williams Jr. on Fox News When the co-hosts asked Williams to explain, he offered this scintillating insight: “Come on! Come on! It would be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu!” To the Fox News panel’s credit, they were clearly dumbstruck, turned off and unsure of how to respond to such an outrageous comment in a live interview. Still, you have to question the wisdom of having this guy on your show in the first place. You can’t find an intelligent conservative voice to talk politics? Your take: Is Obama a socialist? UPDATE: ESPN has yanked Williams, saying in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”
Bravo is attempting to put The Real Housewives of New Jersey rumor mill to rest. With chatter surfacing over whether a number of castmates will get the boot – Jacqueline is the leading contender – the network released the following statement today: “Bravo is not firing anyone from The Real Housewives of New Jersey. This is completely inaccurate information from sources who are unreliable and making up rumors. All five cast members will be featured on season 4. No decisions have been made about season 5 at this time. We are looking forward to the season 3 finale this Sunday at 10 p.m.” But what if one of the Housewives quits?!? Or all of them? We can dream, can’t we?
Mark Zuckerberg presents new Timeline feature and explains Ticker during live stream. By Kara Klenk Mark Zuckerberg presents at the Facebook f8 conference Photo: Getty Images Brace yourselves, social-media butterflies: The “new” Facebook is about to get even newer. At Thursday’s (September 22) f8 conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed tons of new features and changes aimed at making the social network even more engaging. But who (besides us) had the time to watch the almost two-hour live stream of the conference’s keynote address? (Ironically, most people were probably busy liking pictures of pandas on Facebook.) So here is a breakdown of some of the major changes coming to Facebook and what they’ll mean for you: Introducing Timeline Zuckerberg could hardly contain his giddy laughter while showing us his own Timeline, Facebook’s newest profile feature, complete with photos of his dog and some exotic dishes he’s eaten. His taglines for the feature are: All Your Stories, All Your Apps, Express Who You Are. The new feature will grant something many angry users have been demanding: control. Zuckerberg said users will decide “what you show, how you display it and who can see it” on their Timeline. You will be able to add specific photos, links, check-ins, likes and more that represent your interests and passions, making it a lot like scrapbooking online. Everyone will have a Timeline, which will look sparse at first, so more private people will probably keep it bare while others can fill it up with their very latest music interests, relationships, etc. But if you thought people were revealing too much information before, get ready for more verbs! Rather than being able to just “like” things, now you can actually “do” them. Statuses will be active, i.e. Jack is hiking Mount Washington, Sara is reading “Twilight: Breaking Dawn,” Kara is screaming at her computer; well, it’s unclear how specific the verbs will get. Getting Ticked Off Many users were angry with Wednesday’s redesign and specifically questioned the right-hand corner feed (“Why is there a feed inside my feed?”). But Zuckerberg explained that the Ticker is used to express “lightweight activity,” such as friends liking things or commenting on a photo. The goal is for the News Feed to contain more interesting items like status updates, photos and videos. If you use a lot of apps or games, most of your activity, unless you choose otherwise, will end up in your Ticker but not in the News Feed of your friends, so you can play around on Facebook as much as you want without annoying your buddies. Changing the Music Industry Facebook has been working with a variety of music applications like Turntable.fm and IHeartRadio to seamlessly integrate their applications into Facebook and remedy outstanding issues using their Open Graph protocol. Huh? Basically, Facebook is making it a lot easier for apps like Spotify to work on your profile page, and they will be more interactive. You can now easily see what your friends are listening to and listen to it with them, creating a space where friends can connect and share music freely. Zuckerberg wants to tap into the feeling of “knowing you helped a friend discover something new, that they like your taste in music.” The more music people listen to and the wider the variety, the more likely people are to buy music so artists can be fairly compensated, explained Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek. With Spotify already boasting 400 million user playlists, they’re well on their way to accomplishing Ek’s goal to “light up the world with music.” Watch With Friends Facebook is also aiming to make the way you watch TV and movies sharable and interactive. On the newest new version of the network, interesting patterns will be highlighted and immediately accessible. So if you see that seven of your friends are watching “Glee” on Hulu, you can click and watch right along with them. Think you’re going to like these new changes? Let us know on Facebook! Related Videos The Diary Of Facebook
Raven Symone is now slim and trim but clearly that’s not enough to keep your show on the air! It has been announced that ABC Family has decided to cut Raven Symone’s new show “State of Georgia” short. Apparently, the show was not bringing in the numbers the network projected. The last time Raven was a big hit on TV was when she was on the Disney Channel, which is a totally demographic than any channel except Nickeloden? Nevertheless, Raven’s been doing this Hollywood thing for a while and we’re pretty sure we won’t hear about her tanking – Those Cosby and Disney checks are probably still rolling in StronG!
Twins Tia and Tamera Mowery are killing it as reality stars, and “Tia & Tamera” will be back for a second season. According to Deadline.com, the Style network show is a hit and became the most watched show in the history of the network. Check out more details about the twins’ good news right here. RELATED POSTS: 7 Women Who Could Replace Stacey Dash On “Single Ladies” Tia Mowry Dishes On How She Keeps Her Marriage Sexy After Giving Birth [EXCLUSIVE]
MTV parent company Viacom recruits DJ Pauly D, Julianne Hough and others to answer ‘What will you do to remember?’ By Gil Kaufman Lady Gaga speaks in the “I Will” 9/11 Commemoration PSA Photo: MTV News All this week, Americans will be taking time out to reflect and remember the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. As part of that commemoration, MTV parent company Viacom has teamed with artists including Lady Gaga , Nas , DJ Pauly D, Julianne Hough and Drake Bell to launch a national day of service campaign that asks, “What will you do to remember?” The multiplatform public service campaign is designed to inspire Americans to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks by committing to good deeds, charity or volunteer service. Working with MyGoodDeed and HandsOn Network, organizers of this year’s September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, the “I Will” campaign asks participants, “Ten years later, what will you do to remember?” Beginning on Tuesday (September 6) through Sunday, Viacom’s networks will air specially produced “I Will” public service announcements featuring artists and actors, including Gaga, Fran Drescher, Pauly D, Nas, Hough and Bell, along with Viacom employees. “We were in disbelief,” Lady Gaga says in the promo, remembering how she as a New Yorker witnessed the attacks. “We all watched the second tower fall together.” “You almost feel a sense of helplessness,” Pauly D recalls, before pledging, “I will call all my family members on that day.” In addition to airing a series of PSAs across its Viacom networks, the company’s digital properties will also support “I Will” with a widget that allows visitors to upload their personal response to the question, “What will you do on 9/11 in tribute?” “Everyone was affected by the tragic events of September 11, which claimed the lives of so many family members, friends and colleagues,” said Philippe Dauman, president and CEO of Viacom, in a statement. “A decade later, we hope that our audiences and the entire Viacom family will pause to reflect on the profound impact of that day. We are proud to join this call to action and encourage everyone to make a personal tribute.” What will you do to remember 9/11? Share your thoughts below, and visit 911day.org to upload your video response. Related Artists Lady Gaga Nas
