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Did TMZ Knowingly Infringe On A Gossip Blog's Brand Without Permission?
While TMZ isn't exactly known for being on the cutting edge of originality, a segment that aired on last night's program came uncomfortably close to pushing the boundaries of brand (if not copyright) infringement. As we show in the attached video, TMZ aired a segment featuring American Idol finalists David Cook and David Archuleta being mobbed by a posse of paps while making their way through New York's JFK Airport. And, as you might expect, Idol winner David Cook drew the lion's share of the attention, while David Archuleta was left fending off the advances of one particularly enthused paparazzo. TMZ called this moment of potential embarrassment for Cook their "D-Listed Moment Of The Day." This immediately caught our eye because, naturally, we have been longtime fans of the catty gossip blog D-Listed. We reached out to that site's proprietor, Michael K, to find out whether or not he had any knowledge of this usage and he had this to say: "No. I have no idea what that shit is. I'm not involved in it." This news is a tad ironic, considering that D-Listed began its life as The D-List before "Kathy Griffin threatened to kill [their] asses", but it's interesting nonetheless. Making matters even more compelling, it's not exactly like TMZ can claim that they have never heard of the blog, considering it currently occupies a space on their blogroll. As they say, developing...
when celebrities attack
Top Five Classic Celebrity Paparazzi Attacks (As Inspired By Sienna Miller's LAX Handbag Assault)
Casual nudity enthusiast Sienna Miller became an official card-carrying member of that elite group of celebrities who unleash their hate of paparazzi by way of physical assault. As the Daily Mail reports, Miller swung her pricey purse at one pap's face yesterday at LAX, possibly because he was a resident of Pittsburgh, or maybe she simply mistook him for Jude Law (as the pictures show, there is a resemblance to the nanny-loving baldie). But Sienna's moment of outrage prompted us to recall our all-time favorite When Celebrities Attack moments in time, from Woody Harrelson's caught-on-tape choke-hold to Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz's romantically executed freakout years ago. Our five top picks after the jump: More »
trade roundup
Finally, 'Sea-Monkeys: The Movie'
· Baby-faced Freaks and Geeks (and Bones) star John Francis Daley and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein will rewrite Hours of Fun for Disney, a great premise about what happens when all those back-of-the-comic-book novelty items actually live up to their promises. Oh man, Sea-Monkeys: The Movie! We're so there. [THR]
· So beyond four more years of Family Guy and its offspring, what else does Seth MacFarlane's $100 million deal mean for you? How about a Family Guy movie?! Don't say you came out of this empty handed. [TV Week]
· Jennifer Love Hewitt's legendary, spirit-channeling rack will live on the syndicated afterlife, as Sci Fi Channel and WE have jointly acquired rerun rights to the CBS drama. [Variety]
· Worried that a PG-13 rating will water down Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the next installment of the cyborg-killing-machine franchise? Says Salvation-producer Victor Kubicek, "The PG-13 has increased in intensity." [Variety]
· This is great: An FCC ruling has deemed TMZ and The 700 Club "bona fide newscasts," making them exempt from political equal-time requirement laws. We guess that makes Harvey Levin the Walter Cronkite of the exposed ladyparts generation? "And that's the way it's shaved." *Long sip from sippy cup.* [Variety]
Abigail Breslin Politely Endures Shameless Shmoozing Of Actors Twice Her Age
Unless you're a fan of both mixed martial arts and directors who employ frenetic quick cuts as a means to hide razor-thin plots, you've probably never heard of Sean Faris, the 28-year-old star of this spring's Never Back Down. Seems as if Sean is conscious of this fact and, like any other enterprising young actor trying to make a name in Hollywood, he's actively taking steps to change that. You know, get out on the town, do a little presenter work at the Young Hollywood Awards, network a little. However, all of his good intentions went astray at the end of the evening when he made the all too common mistake on hitting on one of the other presenters. Usually, this would be a "no harm / no foul" kind of situation; however, in this instance, the presenter he was hitting on was 12-year-old Abigail Breslin and the incident was captured by the all-seeing, all-knowing eye of Harvey Levin. More »Harvey Levin 'Cunt' Slip Puts Exciting New Spin on Legalese
Our trip yesterday into the Harvey Levin Conscientiousness Archives suggested to us that there is a pure, classy heart sequestered somewhere the yapping-asshole exterior that will even exploit someone's dead mother for the greater TMZ good. A late-night tip from a curiously minded YouTube devotee, however, allays our doubts about Levin's character once and for all, assuring us that only a true paragon of taste and justice would ask citizen jurors of The People's Court if they want to "go inside the cunt." Are you kidding, Harvey? We'd follow you anywhere. [YouTube]Harvey Levin: Portrait Of A Gossiphound As A Young Man
Back in the early 1970s, when Lindsay Lohan's firecrotch was but a twinkle in young Harvey Levin's eye, the gossip kingpin was a politically-active student at the University Of California Santa Barbara. This recently resurfaced newsclip (exact origin date: unknown) shows the future TMZ boss speaking to a local television crew on the campus of UCSB in the wake of the Isla Vista riots. As evidenced in the clip, Levin demonstrated not only an early penchant for dealing with the media, but also, dare we say, a slight case of Napoleon complex (at least when it came to dealing with trash-talking, beanie-wearing beatniks). However, we are sad to report that the clip shows no sign of his now-ubiquitous Starbucks sippy cup. [YouTube]
call girls gone wild
New York's Star Call Girl Was A Joe Francis Favorite On The 'Girls Gone Wild' Party Bus Long Before SpitzerGate
It's not breaking news that boinking a politician can really boost a call girl's career, but Eliot Spitzer's speed dial favorite Ashley Dupre is sure milking her fifteen minutes for all they're worth (and, apparently, they're worth a lot). Ashley, aka "Kristen," has gone from cokehead hooker to pop star and potential Penthouse pet in under a week, and it was only a matter of time before Girls Gone Wild parolee Joe Francis dug his grubby claws into her newfound fame. After recently offering Dupre $1 million to ride along on one of his pervy bus tours and getting denied, the annoyingly clever Francis dipped into his sticky archives and managed to dig out five-year old footage of none other than Ashley herself. To see how Ashley partied at 17, check out our clip, via TMZ, after the jump. More »
dirt sandwich
Sally Struthers Doesn't Mind Being Photographed, No Matter How She Looks
If there's one thing you can count on in a world that's wild at heart and weird on top, it's that the celebrity infotainment shows will come up with at least a handful of moments every week that'll make you groan, chuckle and hurl simultaneously. As always, we make Intrepid Defamer Videographer™ Molly McAleer watch all of these shows so you don't have to. Highlights/lowlights from last week's tabloid television shows include Sally Struthers being blasted by The Insider and TMZ accusing Katherine Heigl of "calling in the gays" when she invited Grey's co-star T.R. Knight over to her house. Enjoy!
dirt sandwich
Defamer Debuts 'Dirt Sandwich', Your Weekly Romp Through Trashy Tabloid TV
There once was a land — a magical land — where a squarejawed titan named John Tesh and a leggy vixen named Mary Hart reigned supreme. Together, they blazed a pioneering trail in which the worlds of journalism and entertainment converged into 30 minutes of televised bliss each and every weeknight. But much like other creations that were born of the purest intentions (think: The Coreys, Britney Spears and Napster), copycat competitors soon entered the fray and everything quickly turned to shit.
Today, the state of celebrity infotainment is at a crossroads, a crossroads at which the likes of Harvey Levin, Billy Bush and Mark McGrath are honored as the Father, Son and Unholy Ghost of the genre. As new celeb-centric shows spring up with greater regularity than lesions on Paris Hilton's nether regions, we here at Defamer are proud to present a new weekly video feature that we are calling Dirt Sandwich. Culled together by Intrepid Defamer Videographer™ Molly McAleer, each episode will place an unforgiving spotlight on the week's lowest and highest moments (which, as you'll soon discover, are often one and the same). Enjoy!
love sucks
Harvey Levin Loves His Cup: A Hip-Hop Sonnet
If there's one double-edged curse/blessing plaguing us all, as a species, it's probably our capability to love too much: An overprotective parent's smothering love of a child. A neglectful husband's love of golf. And then there's that thing going on between Harvey Levin and his sippy-cup. Wherever Harv goes, the smooth black cylinder goes with him, its thin, green, periscopic straw peeking out, waiting to satisfy the TMZ chief tactical engineer's frequent thirsts.
More »
TMZ's all-seeing cameras, dutifully stationed in the areas around Hollywood's hottest nightclubs, capture new, utterly shocking footage reportedly showing (things get a little grainy and confusing in the melee, but we'll take their word about what's actually going on) a former Malcolm in the Middle star taking a couple of punches behind LAX. Disappointingly, Frankie Muniz was not involved in the brawl. [TMZ]
our glittery gangland
Double Shooting At Les Deux: Watch The Bloody Aftermath!
Always first on the scene when gunfire is exchanged, weaves yanked, or drunken opinions expressed outside Hollywood's most action-packed drinking establishments, TMZ's cameras captured footage of the disturbing aftermath of a shooting that took place near Les Deux last night.
not exactly as rare as a unicorn sighting
Breaking! All-Seeing Live Webcam Spots Paris Hilton On Robertson Blvd.!
Following a very successful Thanksgiving Friday run monitoring The Grove's fountain with a live webcam in case a celebrity strolled by and paused from shopping long enough to gawk at its majestic dancing waters, TMZ is—right now!—STREAMING LIVE from in front of Kitson on Robertson Blvd. While the site says that it's already caught Paris Hilton and some paparazzi on the stream, their fingers are undoubtedly crossed that the stakeout might yield something more exciting for reuse on tonight's installment of TMZ TV, like Hilton's Bentley crashing through the boutique's window, fittingly injuring some tourists buying an autographed tube of the heiress's Can-Can body lotion. More »
Now, officially, we have seen everything: TMZ, perhaps hoping that Britney Spears will suffer another break with reality and head over to The Grove to drown herself in the mall fountain's dancing waters as Black Friday shoppers gape at her latest cry for help, is running a live video feed from L.A.'s most meticulously engineered retail destination. Stay tuned for a cameo by a trolley full of tourists who think they might have just seen Hayden Panettiere duck into the American Girl Place superstore! [TMZ]
