Tonight we received an urgent email from the PR firm representing shithead Libyan Dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam: We incorrectly reported Beyonce performed for him this New Year's! She actually performed for Col. Gaddafi's other shithead son, Hannibal.

This weekend, Foster wrote an admirably sprawling analysis of speculation by Mediaite's Rachel Sklar that Saif al-Islam paid Beyonce to perform at his New Year's Eve party in St. Barth last week. Turns out it wasn't him. And Ethan Wagner, of the PR firm Brown Lloyd and James, sent us an email letting us know that...

I wasn't pleased to read the accusations in your piece. I'm quite familiar with Gawker's style of journalism and you are entitled to print your opinions about Saif, however inflammatory they may be; in using the obscene language that you do to describe him, I am assuming you're not familiar with the direct, personal role he has played in securing the release of western hostages, distributing aid among Africa's poor, and fighting for human rights in the region; rather, you've opted to smear him with profanities because of your perceptions of his father and his country.

Pretty much spot on, except for one quibble: Foster smeared Saif al-Islam not because of his "perceptions" of Col. Gadaffi, but because Col. Gadaffi is in fact a ranting, terrorist-backing shithead of truly staggering proportions. It is as if God literally took a pile of shit, fashioned it into the shape of a head, placed it gingerly on the neck of Muammar al-Gaddafi, then let him run a good-sized country using only the worm-addled brain contained therein. Not a "perception": A cold, hard, metaphorical fact.

But the main point of Wagner's email was that Saif al-Islam was not serenaded by the hottest woman on the planet this past New Year's. He was in fact being a shithead in New Zealand, on the opposite side of the globe, when we placed him in the audience of a the banging St. Barth Beyonce blowout. Wagner included a few helpful links proving it and demanded that:

you print a correction, on the same page where your original story ran, clarifying that your original story about Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was incorrect; I see that you've done something similar already for Paul Allen, and while you may have a higher opinion of Allen than you do my client, responsible journalism and objective fairness demand that you at least take similar action to clarify that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was not involved in any way.

So, consider it corrected: Saif al-Islam Gadaffi was not the shithead who threw the infamous Beyonce bash. It was his younger brother, Hannibal! And if you thought Saif was a shithead, just check out the amazing amount of shitheaded things 33 year-old Hannibal (nee Moutassim) Gadaffi has done in his short, useless life:

  • 2009:Involved in domestic disturbance incident with his wife Christmas day that looks suspiciously like he punched her in the face. A witness claims he saw his wife "bleeding heavily from her nose and face. Her nose was clearly broken and it looked like she would need surgery." When police arrive at his hotel room, Hannibal runs the Libyan embassy to demand diplomatic immunity.
  • 2008:Arrested by Swiss police for allegedly beating his servants with a belt and clothes hanger.
  • 2005:Arrested for allegedly punching his wife, model Aline Skaf, in a Paris hotel while she was 8 months pregnant and brandishing a 9mm handgun at her.
  • 2004:Leads police on a chase down Paris' Champs Elysees in his Porsche. Avoids charges after Libyan diplomats apologize.
  • 2003:Involved in a brawl in Rome that leaves six photographers hospitalized
  • 2001: Attacks three Italian policemen with a fire extinguisher, then demands dilomatic immunity.

So, hopefully that's all cleared up now.