Veteran journalist Tom Brokaw, 72, was taken to a North Carolina hospital this morning following an appearance on MSNBC, according to news reports. The former NBC Nightly News host has been working a grueling TV schedule covering both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. He was feeling light-headed and hospitalized as a precaution. On Thursday morning, he felt faint after appearing on the show Morning Joe , following his appearance Wednesday night on Hannity , on Fox News. An MSNBC spokesman said Brokaw was taken by ambulance out of an “abundance of caution” but that his condition does not appear to be serious. It is unclear when the newsman will be released. Maybe Bill Clinton’s marathon DNC speech on behalf of President Barack Obama just wore him out. Here’s wishing Tom a full and fast recovery!
The Mad Men cast has been Rick Rolled. Sort of. In a hilarious new video making its way around the Web, Jon Hamm and company perform Rick Astley’s 1987 smash “Never Gonna Give You Up” by dancing around and taking turns uttering words that add up to the lyrics of this classic tune. It’s a fun technique we’ve seen many times before, including with Barack Obama and Justin Bieber . Watch and enjoy now:
We officially totally hate Spencer Vegosen. That young man is the latest to be linked to Pippa Middleton, and the second just this week as the Duchess’ sister makes a high-society tour of New York. Pippa was first spotted with the junior tennis star yesterday, when the 28-year-old Brit and 24-year-old American got together to watch the U.S. Open . Here’s a photo of the rumored couple: Pip, who was also linked to Andre Balazs this week, may have found more suitable “love” with this rumored “match” … see what we did there tennis fans? Previously a top junior player, Spencer Vegosen is a Harvard graduate who is said to speak Mandarin Chinese, Classical Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. He may or may not have worked at Goldman Sachs and his father is the president of the U.S. Tennis Association … not a bad connection for tickets. Until the next edition of THG’s Pippa Middleton Romance Watch … [Photo: WENN.com]
The theatrical trailer for Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated Lincoln will debut at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Sept. 13 during a Google + Hangout with the director and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt , who plays Robert Todd Lincoln. Dreamworks Pictures and Google Play announced today that the trailer for the film, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th President of the United States, will be the first to launch during a Google + Hangout, which will be broadcast live on the ABC SuperSign in New York City’s Times Square. The event, which allows people to connect face-to-face-to-face via group video chat, will also feature a live conversation with Spielberg and Gordon-Levitt. The film is slated for a Nov. 16 release. Fans interested in participating are asked to upload a short video to their own YouTube channel with the #LincolnHangout tag explaining who they are, why they are interested in Lincoln and what they would like to ask Spielberg and Gordon-Levitt about the film. (The link above explains more about submissions.) Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Beyonce Knowles turns 31 years old today, but we all know she doesn’t need any birthday presents. The singer has mega riches, a loving husband, a wealth of number-one hits and, oh, right, Blue Ivy Carter , one of the cutest celebrities babies alive. One of Hollywood’s most beloved and respected stars, Beyonce serenaded President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at their inaugural ball in early 2009 and has gone on to become one of the most charitable singers on the planet. Have you seen her rendition of ” I Was Here ” for last month’s World Humanitarian Day?
Hollywood is still coming to grips with the loss of Michael Clarke Duncan , who died yesterday of complications that resulted from a myocardial infarction he suffered in July. An Oscar nominee and former bodyguard for such A-listers as Will Smith and Jamie Foxx, the 54-year old was well known and well loved. Below, we’ve included a number of Tweets/messages from the actor’s famous friends, as they bid farewell to this affable star… Tom Hanks : “I am terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike. He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of The Green Mile. He was magic. He was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned.” Tommy Davidson : “The MOST gentle of Giants.
The President will go to great lengths for every pothead vote. In the run-up to the Democratic National Convention this week, Barack Obama is making sure every member of his coalition does his or her part. He’s even making personal calls, hoping to appeal to some of his more ardent supporters. Such as Kal Penn of Harold & Kumar fame:
Kanye West, G.O.O.D Music, State Property and President Obama make cameos during Jay-Z’s headlining set at Philadelphia Festival. By Nadeska Alexis Jay-Z and Kanye West perform together at the 2012 Made in America Festival Photo: Getty Images
The feature documentary had a limited roll out in Texas and other locations in mid-July, but after expanding to additional screens in the lead-up to the Republican convention, it has reaped more than $10.5 million to date at the box office. (The doc is second only, so far, to Katy Perry: Part of Me , which has earned in excess of $25.3 million domestically, as the top non-fiction film of the year.) Those box-office numbers could get a boost now that the anti-Obama doc has scored a high-power endorsement from conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The embattled News Corp. chairman gave 2016: Obama’s America his thumbs up via Twitter, even as questions arise about the veracity of the film’s assertions. Murdoch said via a Tweet : Just saw 2016. Truly scary if no answer. Every voter should see and decide for self what future they want for America. Obama’s America is based on Dinesh D’Souza’s 2010 New York Times -best selling book The Roots of Obama’s Rage . D’Souza and John Sullivan co-directed and co-wrote the film, and the filmmakers said that Murdoch asked for a screener of the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter . In part, the film scrutinizes Obama’s Kenyan-born father and his alleged anti-colonialist views. (What is now Kenya gained independence from Great Britain in 1964). The elder Obama’s views, according to D’Souza, explain why President Obama rejects “American Exceptionalism” and why the author-filmmaker believes he is aiming to “re-shape America” by reducing the U.S.’s overall global reach and influence. According to the AP, 2016: Obama’s America also asserts the president’s views were reinforced by his upbringing in Hawaii, which was effectively annexed by the U.S. after the overthrow of its monarchy in the 1890s. Obama’s father left his family when Barack was just 2 years old and visited only once when the future president was was 10, the AP reports , but D’Souza’s film argues that this absence actually reinforced the son’s ties to his father, who died in a car accident when Obama fils was in college. D’Souza interviews NYU psychologist Paul Vitz who studies the impact of absent fathers. Vitz says the void meant that “he has the tension between the Americanism and his Africanism. He himself is an intersection of major political forces in his own psychology.” 2016 also delves into a host of issues ranging from the Federal Deficit to Obama’s supposed “weirdly sympathetic” leanings to Muslim jihadists. While the debt has grown by $16 trillion under Obama, the film fails to mention the 2008 global financial crisis that preceded it under his predecessor, George W. Bush. And it does not mention his order to kill Osama Bin Laden in May 2011. [ Have you seen 2016: Obama’s America? Tell us what you think… ] [Sources: A.P. , THR ]
Guess the fact checkers were busy last night. Paul ‘Who Needs Medicare’ Ryan was spittin’ lies left and right during his speech on Wednesday night. He did uphold one promise tonight though…Ryan said before tonight’s show that “they wouldn’t let fact checkers get in the way.” The Wisconsin congressman and GOP vice presidential candidate repeatedly chided President Barack Obama for blaming the jobs and housing crises on his predecessor, saying that his habit of “forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago -– isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?” Ryan then noted that Obama, while campaigning for president, promised that a GM plant in Wisconsin would not shut down. “That plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight,” Ryan said. Except Obama didn’t promise that. And the plant closed in December 2008 — while George W. Bush was president. It was just one of several striking and demonstrably misleading elements of Ryan’s much-anticipated acceptance speech. And it comes just days after Romney pollster Neil Newhouse warned, defending the campaign’s demonstrably false ads claiming Obama removed work requirements from welfare, “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.” Ryan, for his part, slammed the president for not supporting a deficit commission report without mentioning that he himself had voted against it, helping to kill it. He also made a cornerstone of his argument the claim that Obama “funneled” $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for Obamacare. But he didn’t mention that his own budget plan relies on those very same savings. Sit your fake azz down Paul. Come November you’ll see how far all of this lying gets you. Source Images via WENN/Twitter
