Is this a genuine case of a straw breaking the camel's back, or a flimsy excuse for NewsCorp to give its employees something to celebrate right before the Christmas party? (Speaking of: we have it on very good authority that HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman belted a killer rendition of It's Raining Men at karaoke that night!) Anyway, you decide:
When Arsenio Hall lost his talk show in 1994, [Regan] campaigned for the slot. "When (a Fox executive) finally told her she wasn't getting the job, we all heard her screaming in her office. 'You know why? Because he has a small dick, and he's afraid I'm going to eat it. And then I'm gonna eat his testicles. Then I'm going to eat into his body cavity ...
In a Talk of the Town piece in next week's New Yorker (online now), Jeffrey Toobin talks to the man behind the O.J. Simpson not-confession If I Did It, Pablo Fenjves, who got to know Judith Regan when they were colleagues at the National Enquirer in the 1970s. (He wrote "human-interest" stories for the paper.)
Yeah, we think that foxy, unstable publisher bears a striking resemblance to someone else we know. Not her actions or anything. God forbid!! No, just her looks. Who could it be?
And now let's get back to the serious questions affecting this country: questions about Anderson Cooper's sexual orientation.
News comes today (via the Daily News, natch) that nine Fox affiliates are refusing to show Judith Regan's OJ interview. Last week, Bill O'Reilly came out against the interview and book, promising never again to buy a product from any of the interview's sponsors. Fellow Fox "journalist" Geraldo Rivera joined O'Reilly in lambasting the interview, saying "I will bash this project every minute I have the opportunity to bash this project."
Post scourge Andrea Peyser, however, is sticking by her employer's guns:
Thanks, tipster! Boy, having an editor here who used to work in publishing sure is paying off.
Did you accidentally ingest poison this morning? Well, stop hunting around for the ipecac: Judith Regan has thoughtfully shared her opinion on the whole OJ-interview thing with her Newscorp buddies at the Post and it's the foulest, most sick-making thing we've ever read. REALLY. In it, she defends her decision to profit off of murder and suffering by telling a long sob story about how she, too, was the victim of spousal abuse. So try to follow the twisted logic here: Judith Regan is shoring up her position as an "advocate for women who have been victimized" (uh, except for the ones who've worked for her) by extracting a hedgy, if-I-did-it confession that will be 'duh' news to everyone. Also, If I Did It is a historical document, like Mein Kampf. Well, we're totally buying it! Blechh. Ok, but here's the money quote:
"We hope Ms. Regan takes full accountability for promoting the wrongdoing of criminals and leveraging this forum and the actions of Simpson to commercialize abuse," the Post (btw, way to cross-promote!) quotes Denise Brown (Nicole's sister) as saying about the whole OJ/Judith Regan/most unholy ReganBook yet thing. You tell 'em, Denise! Wait, we seem to remember seeing Judy and Denise's names together somewhere before . . . oh, maybe in this 2004 Larry King interview.
When asked in 1963 why he wasn't joining the march on Birmingham against segregation, Heavyweight Champion of the World Sonny Liston is reputed to have replied, "Because I ain't got no dog-proof ass." It was a remark as glib and charmless as the man himself, but we couldn't help recalling it when we saw the following job listing for an "Executive Assistant opportunity for high-powered Publishing CEO/Media Personality/Radio Host/Producer!"
• And the award goes to... People magazine, who won the Getty Images' first pictures of baby Shiloh for a mere $4.1 million. Props to Getty for making them scramble and outbid each other until 6 in the morning. [Page Six]
• While you organize a hunger strike until People publishes the pics, do enjoy the questionable image at right. At any rate, the baby's lips look real. [Dlisted]
• Former ReganBooks slave Bridie Clark pulls a Weisberger and skewers Judith Regan in her forthcoming roman a clef, Because She Can. If the movie looks half as good as Devil Wears Prada, we approve. [Lowdown]
• Crazy Barbara Davis defends her greasy grandson Brandon's comments about Lindsay Lohan's firecrotch, telling people that Lindsay and Brandon are dating now. Not true, says Lohan's rep, but delusional old ladies sure are cute. [Page Six]
• Delusional teen talents are cute, too: Lindsay Lohan drops out her latest project, Bill, because the directors aren't as awesome as Brett Ratner. [IMDb]
• Nicole Kidman schedules her June 25 wedding to Keith Urban for the evening hours, so as to thwart the paparazzi. If she'd just give in and let Getty take some pictures, Nicole could use the money to feed all of Angelina's Namibian leftovers. [Scoop]
• Born-again Christian Stephen Baldwin is irrelevant because the Lord wants it that way. [R&M]
• Elapsed time since Britney and K-Fed were last photographed together: 97 days and counting. [Us Weekly]
In what may be the most oddly compelling interview we've seen in a while, Janice Dickinson, the world's first supermodel (and living proof that plastic surgery for necks is nowhere near as advanced as plastic surgery for faces) talks to The Book Standard about her latest work, Check, Please!, a dating guide. Janice, who actually seems more intelligent than her interlocutor, shares her insights on the following topics:
• Congrats to playboy rocker Lenny Kravitz, who has been sued for the third year in a row over the leaky toilet in his old Soho penthouse. The lawsuit is now at about $800K — for that kind of money, we sure hope that toilet held the vomit of some really hot supermodels. [TSG]
• If, unlike Tom Cruise, you chose not to eat your baby's placenta, consider it as a hair product. [Malcontent]
• A photographer tries to burrow his way into Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Namibian birthing compound, only to receive a solid beating from their security guards. [TMZ]
• The indie snobs at Pitchfork aren't that superior to a bunch of 10-year-olds. In fact, we prefer the little kids' reviews. [Stereogum]
• A note to LA: Judith Regan's all yours. Enjoy her fury, relish her bitchitude, and listen closely for tales from her well-abused PAs. [LAT]
• Will we ever fully understand the sad death of ElleGirl? [FishbowlNY]
• Paris Hilton has switched from her beloved Sidekick to a BlackBerry. Get hacking. [Valleywag]
• Does Jann want to sell off Wenner Media? [WWD]
• And does Time Warner no longer want to sell off part of AOL? [NYT]
• Former Regan Media flack Paul Crichton could be considering suing his old boss Judith over her characterization of his departure. Oh, the fun never stops over there. [Radar]
• Washington Post Magazine Reader Peter Carlson discovers the charms of erstwhile New York Presser and onetime Spicoli gondolier Matt Taibbi. [WP]
• ABC went with Vargas and Woodruff only after the network couldn't reach a deal with Charlie Gibson. [NYT]
• And apparently there's this cool blog revolutionizing Hollywood coverage. [LA Mag]
• First twin Jenna Bush loses her wallet, complete with a shitload of cash, at Lower East Side hipster den Happy Endings. Apparently the innocent girl was merely fleeing someone's greasy advances. The poor thing just can't have a peaceful night hanging out by the venue's bathrooms, can she? [Page Six]
• Contrary to other reports (reprinted here, to boot), former HarperCollins PR director Paul Crichton did not leave under investigation for unauthorized spending. Like any good overlord, Judith Regan just prefers to smear him as such. [Lowdown (2nd item)]
• The assumedly faux TomKat wedding registry at Neiman Marcus just might be real. How painfully budget. [Scoop]
• Bungalow 8 gatekeeper Armin Ariri now has an acting career, presumably because some ugly producer just wanted to get past the velvet rope. [Page Six]
• Actress Heather Locklear and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora may be headed for divorce, perhaps because Locklear refuses to try for another child in lieu of reviving her career. As if there were any hope after LAX. [R&M]
