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Media

The Rise And Fall Of Katie Couric

Katie Couric is reportedly close to being pushed off the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News after less than two years. Resented by coworkers and aging viewers, regretted by the executives paying her exorbitant salary and ignored by the younger people she was hired to attract, Couric must sometimes miss the days when she was a perky, fearless anchor key to making Today the most profitable program in television history. Back then, the New Yorker called the anchor America's "imaginary friend" while others admired her interviews as surprisingly tough (she once asked Pat Buchanan, "Are you trying to drive the President crazy, or are you just on a big ego trip?") Why does American all of a sudden hate "America's Sweetheart?" More »

5:55 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Ryan Tate
76 views, Comment

things we actually like

Math Bus: Dirty Tax-Doing Girls

"It's the Math Brothers favorite time of the year. Why? Cuz it's TAX SEASON! Boo Yah. In this special episode the Math Bros cruise around the campus of illustrious Columbia University to find some unsuspecting ladies who will do their taxes." This porn parody is funny until you realize that's because of all the hours you spent getting familiar with Bang Bus. More »

5:00 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Nick Douglas
76 views, Comment

Guy Liveblogging Clinical Test Of Viagra Knockoff

"I am selling my cock to science to pay the rent." Sex blogger Philip Clark writes about taking part in a drug trial. I'm waiting to see "Oh god the pain why did I ever sign up!" [Hot Action]

Comment

Why Superman Will Always Suck

A point-by-point explanation of why Superman is the worst superhero. It's not just because he's indestructible! Highlights are below. [Bam Kapow]

4 comments

Slate

Jack Shafer Doesn't Want Your Stupid Webby Award Anyway

"It's with great shame that I confess that Slate is a nominee" in the Webby Awards, says Jack Shafer, the site's lead destroyer of all fun. He's upset that so many people get to come home with a trophy: 600 winners and over 1100 pre-announced "honorees," out of almost 10,000 contestants who paid $275 or more each to be considered. He estimates the awards show pulls in $2 million (which honestly doesn't sound like that much to me, considering costs). Of course Shafer's hate-on, like any promising Slate piece, has a caveat. More »

12:00 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Nick Douglas
379 views, 14 comments

Latest by donmiguel: Thank ye all, ye copy editors. Without you we'd be, well, just lame. more »

YouTube

Plane Crash Fetishists Reveal Dark Things About All Of Us

A pilot called "Crashman" uploaded his edited, scored videos of plane crashes to YouTube. "I expected to be excoriated by this wider, larger general public as a ghoul, an exploiter of the suffering of others...But, and I had expected this too, neo-Ballardians began to show themselves, finding subtle excitements and even strange beauty in the videos, that uneasy, disquieting splendour inherent in the slow-motion breakup of a speeding aircraft." See six of his videos below. [Ballardian via Boing Boing] More »

9:11 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Nick Douglas
2,065 views, 52 comments

Latest by raincoaster: @drugman: For all I know, except that the name matched that of someone who was indeed serving there at that time, or at least was reported as having returned from there a short time afterwards. And I did lie by more »

Family Photos

Tori Spelling Steps Into Pregnancy Photo Spread Spotlight, Minus Glossy Magazine Covers And Public Interest

FROM DEFAMER.COM: Major names like Britney Spears and Demi Moore have memorably posed for controversial pregnancy pictures in the past, but something tells us Tori Spelling's decision to bare her knocked up belly won't stir up quite as many arguments. It's pretty simple: we don't want. More »

8:30 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Molly Friedman
3,213 views, 19 comments

Breaking

Katie Couric Leaving: Report

After barely 18 months on the job, Katie Couric is reported to be on the verge of leaving CBS. The Evening News anchor is costing her network $15 million per year, and she is likely to exit CBS well before her contract expires in 2011, possibly early next year, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. A parting of ways will mark the embarrassing end to CBS' big bet that viewers wanted to move beyond staid news anchors to sunnier fare, like Couric's fireside interviews and lighthearted banter. More »

8:22 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Ryan Tate
2,734 views, 41 comments

Latest by donmiguel: Alas, poor Couric. I knew her well. more »

GAWKER STALKER

Latest Gawker Stalker Sightings

Submit your Sightings: stalker@gawker.com

Bill Clinton
Avenue Of The Americas & 51st St
Just saw President Bill Clinton walking down the street secret service in tow on 51st & 6th leaving a taping of Elvis Costello's new television show at Rockefeller Center.
MC Hammer
145 W 44th St
MC Hammer in fine looking dark suit, hopping in a town car with his lady friend.
Colin Quinn
8th Ave & 56th St New York N.y.
Saw colin on the corner of 58th and 8th. He was crossing the street and talking on his...
Chrisian Siriano
E Houston St & Lafayette St
Saw the "Project Runway" winner leaving the W Hotel in Union Square. He is CUTE! As a button. And friendly. Shook my hand and everything, no airs, uses Chapstick!!! I'm now a bigger fan than I was before.

Publicity Stunts

Feds To Your Phone: "WTF BIO-TERROR!"

Smallish 51Cdab75F02F10B5D0172Cf0Db68Ddfb

The FCC just announced it wants to partner with your mobile phone company to deliver critical text messages in times of emergency, like terror attacks, imminent hurricanes or child abductions. The phone companies are all totally into it. The best part is that, in a basement somewhere, there's going to be some federal bureaucrat guy who actually gets to send these things: More »

8:04 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Ryan Tate
826 views, 18 comments

trend

Overanalyzing the "Bromance"

We thought we went over this a few years ago with that New York Times "Man Date" article. But now the Seattle Times has taken it a step further with a trend piece dissecting the bromance - close friendships between hetero dudes. More »

7:30 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Noelle Hancock
2,126 views, 23 comments

Ivanka Trump At Airport, Has "Rectangularly-Shaped" Bottom

Emailed stalker sighting: "Just saw Ivanka Trump going through security at LaGuardia. Pretty in person, with perfect skin, she has nice legs but a surprisingly rectangularly-shaped bottom. Traveling with a very inbred English-upper-class-looking public school boy."

67 comments

Art

Buy That Famous Janet Jackson Cover (And Some Nudes)!

The newsmaking Christie's auction featuring the nude photo of French first lady Carla Bruni is coming up tomorrow. But she's not the only draw! The extensive photo collection has lots of other iconic pop culture shots, including the original photo of that famous Janet Jackson Rolling Stone cover (pictured). It also includes artistic nudes of stars like Kate Moss, Lauren Hutton, and Naomi Campbell, spanning four decades. You can see the whole collection here [via UD]. After the jump, one sample: a 1999 Irving Penn portrait of supermodel and Tom Brady girlfriend Gisele Bundchen [NSFW], which can be yours for as little as $30,000: More »

6:14 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
3,397 views, 22 comments

Latest by drugman: And to think of all the dead and unborn ugly people in cryogenic storage. Seems like a waste, if it comes at the expense of losing these ones. more »

Hipsters

Brooklyn Hipster Kickball: The Prom Pics

It's totally fun to point and laugh at Williamsburg as a post-collegiate paradise that takes kickball and Japanese sneakers way too seriously. However, keep in mind: when looking through these photos of last year's Brooklyn Kickball Dance, you may have the same realization I did: Damn, used to date that guy. Related: is the "Brooklyn Kickball" ankle tatto real? More »

6:03 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Sheila
4,105 views, 33 comments

wit n wisdom

10 Things Karl Lagerfeld Could Do Without

FROM JEZEBEL.COM: We don't always get around to reading Hong Kong's Prestige Magazine — uh, okay, we didn't know it existed until we learned that a friend of ours was working there — but the recent Karl Lagerfeld cover interview, conducted by said friend, Stephen Short, is nothing less than magnificent. More »

6:00 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Moe
8,257 views, 130 comments

frivolous lawsuits

Perez Hilton Sues Over "Loss of Reputation." Heh.

For once, Perez Hilton is the one doing the suing. The Smoking Gun has obtained a 9-page lawsuit filed by Hilton accusing Florida blogger Jonathan Lewandowski of slander. (The irony!) More »

5:40 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Noelle Hancock
2,976 views, 31 comments

Trends

Brutal Cheerleader Girl Fights an Increasing Trend

YouTube is encouraging teen girls to brutally beat each other and tape it! But seriously, girls between the ages of 13-18 are vicious and should be locked up anyway. And God knows how they're hazing in sororities these days.
More »

5:31 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Sheila
2,942 views, 32 comments

Neighbors

Is Dov Charney Neglecting His Chihuahua?

A Los Angeles neighbor of American Apparel hipster-in-charge Dov Charney writes in after seeing our item about Dov's charming front yard "Fuck off" sculpture. Turns out that while he's often seen wandering around talking on the phone and scratching his balls, Dov may be letting his primary occupation, assisting young models, interfere with an equally important obligation: taking care of his poor little chihuahua, named "HedKayce." Dig it! The full email, after the jump. More »

5:24 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
2,141 views, 26 comments

we are all bloggers now

Next on the Chopping Block: Copy-Editing!

The Los Angeles Daily Journal—a legal paper, apparently—has just fired its entire copy desk. Like, all of them. Writers writing their own headlines! And, uh, copy-editing themselves! It sounds positively hellish. Don't the bosses know that reporters can't spell? Or come up with pithy photo captions? [LAObserved]

5:19 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Pareene
719 views, 28 comments

You have got to get on Sam Zell's Christmas Card list

"Both real estate moguls, [Tribune Co. head Sam] Zell and [U Michigan atheletic director Bill] Martin got to know each other as competitors. Each year, Zell sends out small statues - each about a foot tall - that play songs the Chicago businessman wrote himself. Martin insisted on showing them off. For example, one is a replica of the torch from the Statue of Liberty with a rolling ticker that displays the entire Declaration of Independence and a recording of Zell's new lyrics to 'This Land is Your Land.'" [Michigan Daily]

4:50 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Pareene
262 views, 8 comments

Latest by Chairman Meow: These have been online for a while: [yegsz.com] more »

open caption

Bloomberg Is Giving Us This, When He Should Be Giving Us This

[Tyra Banks shoveling dirt with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg for a segment of her talk show today; image via Splash]

4:44 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Richard
1,271 views, 43 comments

Making It

We brought Lori Gottlieb's Atlantic article, "Marry Him! The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough," to your attention already. It advised, among other things, to "Settle! That's right... Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go... Marriage isn't a passion-fest; it's more like a partnership formed to run a very small, mundane, and often boring nonprofit business." Oh, how we laughed, but now who's laughing all the way to the bank? Gottlieb, since "Spider Man" actor Toby McGuire's production company optioned the book and movie rights to her article. Settle that! [Variety via NY Observer]

20 comments

cover lies

Well Isn't The Cosmo"Sexy Issue" Just A Sexy Breath Of Fresh Sexual Sexy Sex Air!

FROM JEZEBEL.COM: Oh goody it's the Cosmo "Sexy Issue"! We've been waiting all year for Cosmo to finally address the underexplored topic of s-e-x. More »

4:30 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Intern Cheryl
7,917 views, 145 comments