President Obama charmed the ladies on "The View" on Wednesday and confidently showed off his command of the big challenges facing the nation today.
But the name Snooki didn't ring a bell.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who that is," the smiling but seemingly perplexed President said when asked about the big-haired "Jersey Shore" bombshell, according to several audience members interviewed after the show.
He may not have remembered Snooki, but he's used her as a punchline before. He drew big laughs in May at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with this riff:
"This next provision is called the Jersey Shore-Up. It reads: The following individuals shall be excluded from the indoor tanning tax within this bill - Snooki, J-WOWW, the Situation, and House Minority Leader John Boehner."
The Snooki situation aside, Obama revealed he wasn't attending Chelsea Clinton's upcoming wedding, said audience member Bonnie Schneider, 37, of Shamong, N.J. "Why would you want two Presidents there?" Obama said, according to Schneider. The Secret Service would "have to unwrap all the gifts."
It was one of many lighthearted moments as Obama made history - and caught some flak - by becoming the first sitting President to appear on a daytime talk show. His interview airs Thursday on ABC.
"He was a gentleman, very charming as usual," co-host Joy Behar said on CNN. "He seems at ease with whomever he is speaking to."
Obama also seemed unruffled by what Behar called a "pointed question" about jobs from Elisabeth Hasselbeck, an outspoken conservative who sparked outrage on Wednesday's show by suggesting that older women become lesbians because they can't land a man.
"The last 20 months has been a nonstop effort to restart the economy," the President said in a snippet aired by ABC.
Having Obama as a guest was reason enough for Barbara Walters to return to the show for the first time since May, when she revealed she needed heart surgery.
Uchitel Bails On Rehab
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Rachel Uchitel couldn't han dle Dr. Drew's drilling and went AWOL from the set of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."
After a particularly intense day of filming, Tiger Woods' famed mistress ditched the show's Pasadena Recovery Center set and hunkered down at the L'Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel, reports radaronline.com.
Uchitel, said to be in treatment for her alcohol and prescription pill problems, had a hard time dealing with the addiction and self-esteem talk and told Dr. Drew and show producers that she was quitting before she left.
The next morning, producers tracked her down at the hotel and convinced her to return to the show.
Uchitel is legally prohibited from talking about Woods, but it's said that the sex scandal was responsible for pushing her over the edge.
Season 4 of "Rehab" is expected to premiere in October.
CBS Has The Talk
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sara Gilbert, producer and co-host of the new CBS daytime show "The Talk," said she will share her life as a lesbian partner and mom on the air when it seems right.
But Leah Remini, among the six co-hosts, said she has no plans to make her religion, Scientology, part of the show. "Not at all," Remini told a session of the Television Critics Association, adding, "I love to make people laugh, entertain them. That other thing is something that is not even part of my discussion."
Gilbert spoke up for Remini.
"It's also really dangerous to look at people through one lens. ... Leah is a brilliantly funny, real, dynamic person with a lot of parts to her," said Gilbert, the former "Roseanne" co-star.
Asked about whether "The Talk" would echo ABC's "The View," another daytime talk show with female hosts, Gilbert said that shows can have the same format but differ in nature, citing the David Letterman-Jay Leno late-night programs.
Gilbert, who said she developed the idea to create a meeting ground for women and mothers, has two children with her partner, Allison Adler. The actress was asked why a news release announcing the CBS show listed the partners of the other co-hosts, all straight, but not hers.
Gilbert replied that the decision was hers and that a network press release wasn't the first place she wanted to launch a discussion of her personal life. As an actress, it hasn't been necessary to discuss her sexuality and it doesn't dominate her perspective, she said.
"I don't think of things as `out' or `in,'" she said. "I just think I am who I am. I'll share it when it seems right."
Julie Chen, who is giving up her "Early Show" co-anchor job to join "The Talk," said the focus will be determined in part by the level of media emphasis on "Sara Gilbert is a lesbian."
Chen, who will remain a contributor to "Early Show" and host of CBS' "Big Brother," said the show will be a discussion of motherhood and more. All the hosts, including Sharon Osbourne and actresses Holly Robinson Peete and Marissa Jaret Winokur, are parents.
"This show should feel like you're watching six women talking about what everybody's talking about," whether it's Mel Gibson or the Arizona immigration law, Chen said. "But we don't have an edit button."
Chen, wife of CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and mother of a 10-month-old son, hesitated when the group was asked to identify something annoying about their partners.
"I have to pick this very carefully," she said, joking that the wrong answer could get the show canceled before it even airs.
In an earlier session, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler was asked about cynics who might question the hiring of the CEO's wife in another network show.
Tassler replied that it was Gilbert's idea to approach Chen about the daytime show. "The Talk" was one of several pilots under consideration by CBS to replace "As the World Turns" when the soap opera concludes its 54-year run in September.
"Julie has a terrific reputation," Tassler said, adding, "I made the decision. I don't think Leslie's unhappy with the decision."
UPDATE! Lohan Copes With Twizzlers
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Lindsay Lohan is coping with incarceration with the help of a Hershey's snack.
"She's good," her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, said after visiting the actress at the women's jail on Wednesday. "She's eating some Twizzlers."
Lohan, 24, is expected to be released by Sunday or Monday after serving two weeks of her 90-day sentence for violating probation in a drunken driving case. She'll next be headed for an L.A.-area residential rehab center.
"She looks gorgeous. … She's writing a lot. She's creating art," says Holley. "She's a beautiful, talented, creative woman, and she's going to come out and surprise you all!"
Meanwhile, ith jailhouse rumblings that Lohan is getting special treatment behind bars, authorities want to set the record straight about one thing: The star got to keep her lanky hair extensions only because they were too hard to remove.
According to the Los Angeles Times, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said that most inmates at the Century Regional Detention Facility will have their extensions removed upon entering–but only if the fake locks are actually detachable. Lohan’s, he said, are bonded to her hair, sewn too close to the scalp to remove.
Lohan, 24, has been jailed at the women’s facility in Lynwood, Calif., since July 20 for a 90-day sentence for violating probation in a DUI case. Her term is being reduced due to overcrowding and she has less than a week left behind bars
New "Jersey Shore" Cast Member Is From New Egypt
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Jersey Shore" is finally getting another honest-to-gawd Jersey girl for its cast.
Deena Nicole Cortese is the new addition to the "GTL"-lovin' posse, seen here as she tapes season three of the MTV series in Seaside Heights.
The 23-year-old from New Egypt, NJ, is said to be replacing original cast member Angelina Pivarnick, who will not return for a third season.
The revelation comes hot on the heels of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's recent appearance on ABC's "The Week," during which he said that the "Jersey Shore" cast -- and at the time, only one of them, Sammi Giancola, hailed from the Garden State -- shines a "negative" light on New Jersey.
"What it does is it takes a bunch of New Yorkers . . . drops them at the Jersey Shore and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey," Christie groused.
Now that Cortese is palling around with the "Jersey Shore" cast, viewers are due to get more insight into what actual Jersey kids do "down the Shore."
Cortese -- who has described herself as "f- - king classy" -- graduated from New Egypt HS in 2005, before attending Brookdale Community College, where she was a cheerleader.
Her "in" to the controversial show was a friendship with cast member Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi.
They've "known each other for a couple of years," Cortese's mother, Joann, told Radar Online. "I'd say they're pretty close . . . Nicole lives all the way upstate and it's hard, but they keep in touch."
Cortese is physically a perfect fit with the rest of the cast -- she looks like a mix between fake bake Snooki and busty Jenni "JWOWW" Farley.
Her expletive-laden MySpace page is littered with provocative photos in which she's scantily clad, rarely seen without a bottle of liquor in hand and kissing other girls. She also boasts of being "addictive & expensiv3 lik3 cocaine!"
Idol Contestant Sues Show
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The American Idol reject who stormed the stage during the competition's live TV finale in May is preparing to file a $300 million lawsuit against show producers, accusing them of "exploiting" his sexuality.
Former contestant Ian Benardo, who failed to pass auditions when he tried out for the talent show in 2006, interrupted funnyman Dane Cook's comedy skit when he ran on stage and grabbed the microphone from the actor at the Los Angeles event.
Calling it "a Kanye West moment", Benardo began to hurl abuse at exiting American Idol judge Simon Cowell, insisting he was going to replace the music mogul on the program because, "I'm more entertaining than you."
But in new legal papers filed with the New York State Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday, Benardo claims he was put up to the stunt by Idol executives who invited him back for this year's final and asked him to be "outrageous" and "gay".
The documents state that producers had previously "exploited... my sexual orientation" when he auditioned for the contest, by ordering him to "gay it up".
Benardo insists he was given similar orders when he returned in May.
He goes on to accuse Cook of threatening him after the incident, claiming Idol bosses warned him he was "not safe" and advised him to leave the Nokia Theatre immediately.
According to TMZ.com, Benardo is now set to take the battle to court and is seeking damages for emotional injuries suffered and loss of employment opportunities as a result of the incident.
Representatives for both American Idol and Cook have yet to respond to the legal action.
Gibson Talks To Police
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A sheriff's official says Mel Gibson has met with detectives to hear his accusations that his ex-girlfriend
tried to extort money from him.
Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the interview was on Sunday. He says detectives only spoke to Gibson about his accusations against Oksana Grigorieva.
The sheriff's department also is investigating Grigorieva's accusations that Gibson abused her during a confrontation in January. No one's been arrested and no charges have been filed.
UPDATE! Simpson Considered For Idol?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Auditions for the next season of “American Idol” began this week in New Orleans as the short list of possible judges to fill Simon Cowell’s empty seat kept growing. The latest name being considered: Jessica Simpson.
“Jessica has been approached about ‘American Idol’ but nothing has been confirmed yet on either end,” a source close to Simpson told TODAYshow.com.
If Simpson does get the “Idol” green light, don’t expect her to be the permanent replacement for Cowell. “She’s not his replacement — they’re two entirely different personalities,” according to a source who’s quoted in the new issue of Life & Style magazine. “This is part of a massive overhaul of the show. There may be more judges, more opinions.”
Chris Isaak , Harry Connick Jr. and Justin Timberlake are also said to be in talks with the show. Reps for “American Idol” wouldn’t comment about any new potential judges, but they did confirm there’s no new judge in place.
“The only person who’s been to auditions in New Orleans is Ryan Seacrest,” a rep for the show told TODAYshow.com. “That’s normal, though — this is just the round where the group gets culled, then there’s a producer round and then in late August the judges see potential ‘Idols.’ Hopefully there will be a new judge in place by then.”
NBC Confirms Carell's Departure From The Office
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
NBC may wish Steve Carell was just joking, but a network executive said "The Office" star has consistently told NBC he's leaving after this coming season.
In the network's first acknowledgment of Carell's plans, NBC Primetime Entertainment President Angela Bromstad said Monday the actor's seven-year run as erratic Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott will end when his contract expires in 2011. But Bromstad said the show will go on.
"We've been lucky to have had him as long as we've had. These things happen when you have such a major movie star in a show," she said.
In an affirmation of NBC's faith in a post-Carell "The Office," Bromstad said the sitcom will remain in its 9 p.m. EDT Thursday time slot. It's the linchpin of NBC's schedule on a key TV night of advertising revenue.
"Not to diminish the departure of Steve, because that will impact the show, but we have tremendous faith in the writers and actors to keep it alive," Bromstad said.
Carell, 46, who's become a busy big-screen actor during his "Office" tenure, has said in interviews he plans to leave the series to better balance his work and family life. He's married with two children.
Carell voices the lead character in the new animated comedy "Despicable Me" and stars with Paul Rudd in "Dinner for Schmucks," out this week. His other film credits include "Date Night" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
The door is open if he wants to make return visits to the show, Bromstad said. He remains in business with NBC: Carell's company, Carousel Productions, has a TV production deal with Universal Media Studios.
Carell was on vacation and unavailable for comment, his publicist, Matt Labov, said Monday.
Whether Michael Scott's job will be filled by a promotion from within or an outside hire is under discussion. Bringing in a big-name star is an option, but "it's not the front-running idea," said Paul Lieberstein, a cast member and executive producer.
"Right now, we're still talking about a lot of scenarios. We're trying to get a sense of what the office is like without Steve. We want to be real: What would this office really do (if Michael Scott left)? We want to pursue this as honestly as Dunder Mifflin would," he said.
Nobody wants to see Carell leave, said Lieberstein, who plays Toby, the embattled voice of human-resources reason.
"But what we'll get creatively is actually very exciting. We don't have to do auto reset at the end of the season, but we get to move on," he said.
Fans have weighed in noisily about how the show will fare without Carell.
"I hear from both, from people who don't want to watch without Steve and from people who say, 'Great ensemble. Keep going,'" Lieberstein said.
"It's not obvious to me we should stop," he said. "When Michael Jordan left the Bulls, nobody said the Bulls should stop. They didn't say, 'Shut down the franchise.'"
Bromstad said the comedy still garners attention and "has a great patina" and talented cast that includes Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms and John Krasinski.
A regular Emmy nominee for best comedy series and winner of the award in 2006, "The Office" is holding steady in the ratings. It drew more 700,000 more viewers last season than it did two years ago, rare for a veteran show.
Christie Not A Fan Of Jersey Shore
Monday, July 26, 2010
"Jersey Shore" may have many fans, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn't among them.
During an appearance Sunday on ABC's "This Week," host Jake Tapper asked Christie if he thought the MTV program — which focuses on the escapades of a group of hard-partying 20-something Italian-Americans at a shore house — was positive or negative for his state.
Christie said the show is negative, and it "takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them at the Jersey Shore and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey."
Many Italian-American groups have said the show is offensive and relies on crude stereotypes.
The governor says anyone who wants to learn about "the real New Jersey" should visit and see what the state has to offer.
Jon Bon Jovi Mad At Being Left Off Forbes List
Monday, July 26, 2010
Jon Bon Jovi is furious that he failed to make it onto two widely followed 2010 Forbes magazine top celebrity lists according to the New York Post.
The singer was left off the much-publicized "Power 100" roster of the world's most powerful celebrities in June topped by Oprah Winfrey. Then he was aghast when he didn't make it onto the "Musicians' Rich List," led by rival rockers U2 last week.
A source told us: "Jon kicked up a huge fuss and got his people to complain. He couldn't understand why he didn't make the musicians list since Bon Jovi has been touring nonstop since February. Their contemporaries U2 and Bruce Springsteen were on the list. Even Britney Spears was No. 5, and she hasn't done anything this year."
Jon Bon Jovi Forbes' list of 12 of 2010's top-earning musicians came out on July 16. U2 was top with an estimated $130 million earned on worldwide tour. Next came AC/DC with $114 million and Beyoncé Knowles with $87 million. Springsteen came in fourth with $70 million, and Spears -- who's barely worked since her "Circus" world tour ended in November -- placed fifth with $64 million.
Forbes confirmed to Page Six that Bon Jovi's people had complained and explained: "Forbes estimated each act's earnings between June 2009 and June 2010 and included revenue streams such as concert dates, merchandise sales, licensing fees, music sales, and publishing royalties. Bon Jovi didn't tour for eight of those months." The group's two-year world tour started in February this year, with 28 dates played before the Forbes deadline.
But a Bon Jovi rep denied he was upset and claimed, "That's ridiculous. Last year, the band took an eight-month break from touring, so there was no expectation that they would rank on this year's list.
"Next year, different story -- their current tour is No. 1 in North America right now and No. 2 worldwide."
Amanda Bynes Unretires
Monday, July 26, 2010
Amanda Bynes's message going into this weekend was brief: "I've unretired," the 24-year-old Tweeted – apparently reversing her month-old announcement that the funny everygirl on Nickelodeon's sketch comedy series All That and her self-titled spin-off had decided to leave showbiz.
"Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," Bynes wrote in June. "If I don't love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don't love acting anymore, so I've stopped doing it."
She added, "I know 24 is a young age to retire ... I've never written the movies and tv shows I've been a part of. I've only acted like the characters the producers or directors wanted me to play."
Reflection is nothing new to the Southern California native. Last December, she'd told Cosmopolitan magazine, "I'm at that stage where I'm still young and maybe naive, but I'm figuring it out."
Bynes can next be seen in the high-school comedy Easy A, due to open Sept. 17.
UPDATE! Conflicting Reports Over Zsa Zsa's Condition
Saturday, July 24. 2010
Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter on Friday denied a report that her mother was critically ill and not responding to human contact.
"She is not in a coma. She is not on any kind of death watch. She is responsive and on medications. All vital signs are still going strong, and she is talking," Constance Francesca Hilton said in a statement to Reuters. "There are no surprises."
Hilton issued her statement while visiting her mother at the Los Angeles hospital where Gabor is recovering from hip surgery earlier this week.
The surgery was successful in treating her broken hip, but according to her ninth husband, Prince Federic von Anhalt, Gabor suffered a concussion as a result of the fall and doctors are concerned that her condition will worsen.
"The doctors want to observe her over the weekend to make sure her condition improves, but right now it is not looking good," von Anhalt told Reuters.
John Blanchette, Gabor's publicist, told The Associated Press earlier Friday that the actress may also have suffered a stroke during surgery. He also said that von Anhalt noted she "was bleeding excessively" and not responding to the surgery.
"She hasn't talked. She wasn't speaking. They were worried about that. They took her off morphine to see if that might be the cause," Blanchette said. "She's vacant."
Pot Found On Bret Michaels Tour Bus
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Authorities pulled over Bret Michaels's two tour buses Wednesday night in northeast Indiana and drug-sniffing dogs allegedly found marijuana and other unspecified drugs onboard.
The dogs "alerted for the odor of narcotics coming from the front bus," says Deputy Aaron Long of the Dekalb County Sheriff's Department. An additional search was conducted on the second bus where the dogs also detected drugs.
Deputies had stopped the vehicles after noticing a trailer connected to one of them lacked a license plate light. No arrests were made. The case will be forwarded to the Dekalb County prosecutor's office for review.
Sara Gilbert, producer and co-host of the new CBS daytime show "The Talk," said she will share her life as a lesbian partner and mom on the air when it seems right.
Lindsay Lohan is coping with incarceration with the help of a Hershey's snack. 
Jersey Shore" is finally getting another honest-to-gawd Jersey girl for its cast. 
A sheriff's official says Mel Gibson has met with detectives to hear his accusations that his ex-girlfriend
NBC may wish Steve Carell was just joking, but a network executive said "The Office" star has consistently told NBC he's leaving after this coming season.
"Jersey Shore" may have many fans, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn't among them.
Jon Bon Jovi is furious that he failed to make it onto two widely followed 2010 Forbes magazine top celebrity lists according to the New York Post.
Amanda Bynes's message going into this weekend was brief: "I've unretired," the 24-year-old Tweeted – apparently reversing her month-old announcement that the funny everygirl on Nickelodeon's sketch comedy series All That and her self-titled spin-off had decided to leave showbiz. 
Authorities pulled over Bret Michaels's two tour buses Wednesday night in northeast Indiana and drug-sniffing dogs allegedly found marijuana and other unspecified drugs onboard. 
