<![CDATA[Gawker: al roker]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: al roker]]> http://gawker.com/tag/alroker http://gawker.com/tag/alroker <![CDATA[Lady Gaga Looks Disconcertingly Normal in Beyonce Video]]> Beyonce and Lady Gaga leak a clip from their forthcoming music video; Levi Johnston disguises himself as the Unabomber; at least one member of Congress thinks Carrie Prejean should run for office. Welcome to Tuesday's gossip.

  • Lady Gaga and Beyonce made a music video! It's for Beyonce song Video Phone. It alludes to Reservoir Dogs, Beyonce wears a Zorro mask and carries an assault rifle, and Gaga wanders around looking totally normal. All in all: Headtrip. Also, between this and her own video, Gaga's been showing a lot of her very, um, vampy face lately. Is it part of her campaign to convince us that she is a tranny? [fig.1, below] [MTV]

  • Nicole Kidman had an awesome time with her baby weight because it gave her boobs: "They're not very big, my boobs, so they just became normal size. I loved it! I felt very Woman," she told Ladies' Home Journal. But here's the thing: ShowBizSpy quotes Nicole's quote in LHJ, but when I went to LJH's website, I couldn't find the passage! It is possible that boring Nicole's boring yammering about Keith Urban caused my eyes to glaze over, rendering me temporarily illiterate during my attempt to read the profile? Does the pregnant-boob quote really exist? Inquiring minds want to know. [ShowBizSpy] [LHJ]

  • Levi Johnston dressed up as the Unabomber after his tragically not-penis-showing Playgirl shoot yesterday, but he messed up the disguise by choosing a hooded sweatshirt that said ALASKA on it. [fig.2] There are only two Alaskans in all of New York this week, and one of them is Sarah Palin, and to be her you'd have to have tits, so we know it's you, Levi, you cannot hide. UPDATE: I am informed that Levi's shirt in fact reads ALASKAN BREWING COMPANY, the beer of choice for rugged Alaskan frontiersmen. [TMZ]

  • Brangelina are designing snake-inspired jewelry for charity. The line—entitled The Protector—features silver baby spoons, an eggcup, a tooth box (eery?), and diamond-encrusted pendants and rings, all themed with coiled snakes. The proceeds will go to child education in wartorn regions, where snakes sometimes reside, but sterling silver eggcups rarely do. [ShowBizSpy]

  • Adam Lambert wants more tattoos, but he doesn't have any ideas what to ink on his body next. It's the perennial conundrum of ostentatiously "unique" vapid people: an insatiable desire to express oneself, but no dust bunnies worth expressing in one's empty little head. [ShowBizSpy]

  • This is horrifying: Tila Tequila (93 lbs, 4'11") has submitted photographs of her black-and-blue bruised arms as evidence in her lawsuit against ex-boyfriend and NFL star Shawne Merriman (280 lbs, 6'4"). Naturally, TMZ has compiled them into a gallery, along with pictures depicting the enormous size difference between these two humans. The San Diego County D.A. never filed criminal charges against Merriman, which makes the whole case even weirder. [TMZ]

  • Spencer Pratt went on a Twitter rampage yesterday after his and wife Heidi Montag's interview with Al Roker was cut from The Today Show "due to a change in the show's schedule," according to a spokesman. Roker and Speidi sparred months ago when Al called Spencer a "jerk" on the air and Heidi almost cried. Among Spencer's myriad raging tweets: "WEATHERMAN I thought you were out of town today getting your stomache stapled again?" and "is it true you have been married 6 times? I'm sure all your wives left you when they realized you were abusive to women! Sicko!" I really hope whoever cut Speidi did it for the express purpose of pissing Spencer off, because the effect was pretty glorious. [NYDN] l

  • Aaron Carter owes more than one million dollars in back taxes, which is apparently why he cried so hard when he got kicked off Dancing with the Stars. How can he possibly owe this much money? There is no way he's even earned that much money in his life, is there? [TMZ]

  • Janet Jackson blames Dr. Conrad Murray for her brother's death, because he "was the one administering" the fatal propofol. She also says she found out about Michael's death after her assistant saw it on CNN and called her, which is testament either to the brutal speed of 24-hour media or the callousness of Jacko's inner circle for not calling his family members sooner. [NYDN]

  • Signs of the apocalypse: Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) says Carrie Prejean should run for political office, because she "has the ability to draw crowds and if she has a strong message to go with that, who knows what she can do? She has star power which can open doors." [TMZ]

  • Figure 1

    Figure 2

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5406393&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[In a Galaxy Far, Far Today]]> [Al Roker, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee Gifford make the scariest crew of the Millennium Falcon this side of the Kessel Run on the Halloween edition of the Today show. Image via INF]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5393865&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA["I Get It. Florida. Flo Rida."]]> [Inglorious Basterds director Quentin Tarantino gets blown away by the rapper during his performance outside the Today show. Image via Getty]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5337793&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Are Meredith Vieira and Al Roker Going to Kill Each Other or Just Acting?]]> On the Today show this morning, Meredith genially asked weatherman Al Roker, who is black, if he knew about the weather in Africa. Because her kid's going there! Al, though, took jokey offense, and the scene got pretty uncomfortable

So for the next hour or so he continued to rib her about being selfish and self-involved, giving her weather updates for the places where her other kids live (Stanford and Northwestern, good job Mer!). At one point an exasperated Meredith just looked over at him and said "I hate you." Yeesh.

Was it all theatrics? Were they just making fun coworker morning blather jokes? Or does the awkwardness and the tenseness hint at a rift between the two sunshiny morning folks? We hope it's the latter because maybe that means the problem will grow and swell and eventually burst, raining a parade of embarrassment and discomfort on everyone, most of all poor caught-in-the-middle, good-God-I've-been-doing-this-a-long-time Matt Lauer.

You two don't play nice now, y'hear?

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5320325&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Al Roker Has His Katie Couric Gotcha Moment with Heidi & Spencer]]> Heidi and Spencer Pratt, the soulless blobs from The Hills and I'm a Celebrity... were on the Today Show this morning discussing their behavior on the latter show, and Al Roker, finally sensing an opportunity, went in for the kill.

He asked the wretched pair over and over again if they were "proud" of their behavior on the show—which involved slapping bottles out of Frangela's hands, claiming that they were tortured by NBC, and being baptized by Stephen Baldwin. Spencer just smirked and acted the cocky fool he always does while Roker barraged him with thinly-veiled insults and the flesh-bearded reality star eventually got lost in a thicket of his own doublespeak. Meanwhile Heidi just seemed meek and silly and as lost as she always does. Trenchant, hard-hitting stuff, Roker. Really good (maybe sexist?) stuff.

Next up is Willard Scott, who will totally nail a duck in the park with a question about Iran-Contra before hurling a jar of Smuckers at it and running away.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5291230&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Friars Roast-Crashing Tom Cruise Reunited with Glib Tormentor Matt Lauer]]> If Brooke Shields and Tom Cruise could patch things up after Cruise called her a pseudoscience-worshiping devil-thetan incubator (we're paraphrasing), then surely, we thought, Cruise and Matt Lauer could eventually let bygones be bygones. You may remember how the actor and anchorman tussled back in 2005 when Cruise accused Lauer of not personally, personally understanding either Ritalin, postpartum depression, or why the son survived in War of the Worlds. Now, we hear, the Friars Club Roast of Lauer that just concluded in New York featured a surprise, couch-jumping guest. Says KTU reporter Paul Westcott:

Cruise showed up to the roast, and they just hugged it out — literally!

A Photoshopped montage of fake Lauer/Cruise buddy pics followed their embrace. Cruise joked that he and Lauer actually speak 3-4 times a day, and that Lauer gave him some great advice: "Hey Top Gun — you think when people come on my show, they don't want to hear about dopy movies?"

In a hilarious tweak of Scientology, Cruise was cut off when Lauer's Today Show partner in crime Al Roker came on stage and joked that Cruise couldn't stay long because "the spaceship is about to leave soon."

Sadly, their weak sauce banter was no match for the acerbic Katie Couric lines that followed:

*"Wow, I haven't received as much applause since I told [my bosses at CBS] that I was considering leaving."

"How cool was it that Tom Cruise came? Matt, don't worry about that interview. Tom wanted to be the only man in the room who people thought was gay."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Katie, for a Suppressive Person, you sure can manage some zingers! Just don't be surprised when you get the obligatory letter from Bert Fields, and remember: you, too, can be kneecapped.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5068483&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Kathie Lee Gifford Imitates Al Roker Imitating Chinese Person, Adds Helpful Squinting Gesture!]]> In this clip from today's Today show, Kathie Lee Gifford relates a call she got from weather anchor Al Roker on the birthday she shares with her husband Frank. (They were born on the same day 23 years apart!) (That means he was sixty-seven when that whore flight attendant thing happened!) But the point is, according to Kathie Lee, Al delivered his gentle ribbing about her husband's advanced age in a highly authentic sounding Chinese accent. Which Kathie somehow found it appropriate to imitate on national TV because as we know Kathie Lee thinks racism is cute!

Oh well, you know what I say, a little harmless racism on the part of old people…what does it mean anyway? That she somehow thinks she is innately superior or that people of other cultures are not human? You guys, it is not like she's exploiting children or illegal immigrants or whatever.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5041366&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Ice-T and Al Roker Turn 'Celebrity Family Feud' Into Their Own Prime-Time Smut Showcase]]> The state of American game-show relations achieved a dizzying new high Tuesday night when Ice-T, Joan Rivers and their respective broods faced off in a very special episode of Celebrity Family Feud. It hardly seemed a sure thing at first; we doubted Ice and host Al Roker could outdo their tasteful wife-for-hire exchange at the top of the show, or that Rivers could overcome the tremulous, post-Russell Crowe Fucking SlutGate gunshyness in time to produce for a national audience. But the rapper more than picked up the slack in the very first feud, wringing potty-mouthed ignominy from Roker's loaded solicitation, "Name something that's slippery and hard to hold on to." And while we may never know the true degree of Ice's ensuing, bleeped filth or his earlier, "Watch it, Al" threat to Richard Dawson's debauched spiritual heir, the possibility that we could love again after The Moment of Truth was never clearer or more reassuring. [NBC via RedLasso]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=397085&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Kathy Griffin And Al Roker Lap Dance Their Way Towards A Legendary Moment In Live Television History]]> For any of you out there who still don’t “get” Kathy Griffin, we now present you with a single clip that will effectively prompt a lifelong love affair with the red-headed, fast-talking, Scientology-bashing spark plug of an entertainer that she is. On the Today Show this morning, giggly Al Roker had the pleasure of speaking with Kathy about her upcoming hosting job of Bravo’s inaugural A-List Awards and not-so-innocently asked her if there was really anything she wouldn’t do on camera, considering her reputation as a truthiness-telling comedienne who never holds back. What followed was a delicious and epic moment in television history, during which Roker was given a lap dance, off-screen staffers were overheard gasping, and images of a Roker/Matt Lauer/Halle Berry threesome in “the big bed” were thrust into our collective imagination.

After lifting our jaw off the ground upon hearing Roker's response to the Griffin bump and grind ("Anyone got any cigarettes?"), we had to relocate our jaw once again as Griffin swiftly switched subjects to her hosting gig and, in a well-executed non-seguitur, finally said what has needed to be said about to-be rap star Ali Lohan for quite some time now. Explaining that she was given the job due to Ali and Dina Lohan's conflicting schedules (a joke, people, relax), she went ahead and launched our inner monologue right out into America's eardrums: "Yeah, Ali was busy doing her hip hop CD, because, you know, she’s white and 14 and lives on Long Island, so hip hop speaks to her." Oh Kathy. What was Woz thinking?

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5013566&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Kathy Griffin Talks About Billionaire Ex-BF Steve Wozniak On Today]]> Kathy Griffin talked to Al Roker (and gave him a lap dance) on Today this morning, to promote her upcoming season of My Life on the D List. One of the 10 new episodes will feature a staged date with Britney Spears' ex-paparazzo Adnan Ghalib. Kathy's ex-BF, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, will also appear on the series, as the two were still dating at the time. They've since broken up, but remain good friends and she let Al know that she's ready to meet another billionaire. Clip above.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5013445&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[What Mics? 'Today' Team Yuks It Up Before Ledger Segment]]> Oops. The mics on Al Roker and his trusty 'Today' team failed to cut away during this morning's weather segment! What were formerly fat Al &#38; Co. dishing about when they thought they were off the air? Nastily enough, it involved Ann Curry, a massage, the phrase "oil all over me," and much giggling. Deep apologies to those of you who just ate. Unfortunately for NBC's morning trio, their little off-camera gaffe introduced a segment on Heath Ledger's maybe-masseuse-related death. Isn't that just hilarious?

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=348956&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Lady In Pink Coat Phones God, Requests Apocalypse Be Fast-Tracked]]>

[The Today show's Al Roker and Meredith Vieira stand in the rain today; image via AP]

CaptainFantastic's fantastic new line beat out original, Last Vestiges Of Today Show's Dignity Disappear During Simultaneous Nero Wolfe, Willa Cather Homages

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=343920&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA["I Don't Want To Go Right From 'Codpiece' To Ann Curry"]]>
The fun just never ends on The Today Show, no matter how much you pray to your pathetic "gods." Here, Al Roker makes an inexplicable joke about Tiki Barber padding his crotch and makes Matt kinda uncomfortable. Thankfully, he spares Ann Curry the indignity of having her name mentioned in the same breath as genital sheaths, except he doesn't. Then we have "some serious news to get to."

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=327918&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[What Do Celebrities Blog About?]]> "That's how she rolls. Just when you least expect it, Mariska throws you a curve. Over the years, I've come to expect nothing less from the hardest working—and needless to say, hottest—perp-buster on TV." That's from the "blog" of T.V. star Mariska Hargitay, which is written solely by people who are not Mariska Hargitay (but who may know her!). "Preorder your 'XO, M' t-shirts!" reads another "blog" post. It turns out that a lot of celebrity blogs aren't blogs at all, but just a collection of markedly amateurish press releases. But! At the other end of the spectrum, some celebrity blogs are deeply personal, like Al Roker's. He recently wrote a moving eulogy of his mom there! Its gravity is only slightly undermined by the cartoon of Al in a prop plane buzzing around the screen. So what else do famous people do with their personal webjournals? Our Intern Mary applied her analytical tools to the most recent posts on 48 of these sites and came up with some findings.

celebblogClick to enlarge.

METHODOLOGY: We started with this list of 66 blogging celebrities, added a few faves, eliminated the Huffington Post bloggers, and excluded presidential contenders, because that shit is bananas. Here's the raw data:



  2. David Beckham - recent soccer game (self promo)
  3. Zach Braff - movies and playlists
  4. Mark Cuban - dancing
  5. No Doubt - recent recordings (self promo)
  6. Moby - indecipherable poetry
  7. Meredith Vieira - getting a mammogram
  8. Fred Durst - indecipherable rant
  9. Barbra Streisand - Rush Limbaugh - PR release
  10. Jeff Bridges - recent casting (honorable mention for rad site design)
  11. John Mayer - OJ Simpson watch
  12. Rosie O'Donnell - "feel alright" video
  13. Margaret Cho - Rosie O'Donnell
  14. Dave Barry - Fun pets
  15. Jamie Oliver - pubs
  16. William Shatner - ShatnerVision
  17. Alyssa Milano - Upcoming gigs
  18. Dave Navarro - The fastest Asian-American in the world
  19. Julia Sweeney -long-winded narrative of regular events
  20. Donald Trump - purely self promo
  21. Tom Green - video: hiding in a suitcase
  22. Kevin Smith - long-winded narrative of regular events
  23. Mariska Hargitay - purely self promo
  24. David Byrne - sexual selection and creativity
  25. Curt Schilling - purely self promo
  26. Anna Kournikova - purely self promo
  27. Roseanne - Karen Finley (awesome)
  28. Kanye West - the "illest" shoe award
  29. Billy Morrison - the Bahamas
  30. Jason Mraz - whining about jetlag
  31. Kathy Griffin - Catholic Chuch
  32. MC Hammer - "Look University"
  33. Pamela Anderson - purely self promo
  34. Al Roker - eulogy to mother
  35. Brian Williams - purely self promo (N.B.: Usually not self promo, actually quite good, we just caught him on an off moment)
  36. The Dixie Chicks - purely self promo
  37. Anderson Cooper - the GOP (written by minion)
  38. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen - purely self promo
  39. Victoria Beckham - purely self promo
  40. Bare Naked Ladies - photo of a ship
  41. Deepak Chopra - genetics
  42. Michael Moore - purely self promo
  43. Tommy Lasorda - baseball
  44. David Duchovny - purely self promo
  45. Jackie Chan - purely self promo
  46. Kirstie Alley - weight loss
  47. Neil Gaiman - writing
  48. Ru Paul - "THIS SHIT IS BANANAS!" (bonus points: old school blogger!)
  49. Mark Hoppus - purely self promo
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=312325&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Remainders: Alec Baldwin & Citizen Journalism]]>
  • Alec Baldwin leaves a voicemail for his daughter Ireland and calls her a "thoughtless little pig." Ah, fatherhood! So, who doubts our stalker sightings now? April 11, Alec Baldwin, screaming into a phone... Yup! (Us: 1. Kimmel: 0.) [TMZ]
  • Williamsburg residents not thrilled about Disco Biscuits and Umphrey's McGee concert at McCarren Pool in August. [Curbed]
  • Is Dave Zinzcenko going to star on a dating show hosted by Al Roker? This is not right. [Radar]
  • Was it necessary for the Daily Princetonian to run a story about Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui's sister, who's a Princeton graduate? Oh, maybe. [IvyGate]

    ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=253799&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Al Roker's Madcap Tour Through The NBC Studios]]> We're still reeling from the first installment of Al Roker's new vlog, in which he careens through the NBC studio, causing mayhem wherever he goes. There he is in the Green Room, showing us the not-so-appetizing buffet! There he is, terrorizing cameramen who don't want to show their faces! There he is, mocking Meredith Viera's boots (apparently she showed "a little something extra for the video blog")! And finally, he ends up backstage, "where they prepare the food," and yells out, "Wake the neighbors! Call the dog! The VLOG!" while swinging a baguette like a bat. The Carpetbagger probably has nothing to worry about.

    AllDay: Al's Video Blog: A Brief Studio Tour [MSNBC]

    ]]>     http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=241609&view=rss&microfeed=true     <![CDATA[NBC's 'Today Show' Snickers Over Gays, Butts]]>

    Here's an example of how an offhand remark can quickly escalate into something awkward—or worse. On this morning's "Today Show," Meredith Vieira and the kids were talking about Tim Hardaway, the former NBA player who isn't super fond of the gays. One thing leads to another, and all of a sudden we're talking about tire marks on Al Roker's butt. Nobody tell the dude from TV on the Radio.

    ]]>     http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=237041&view=rss&microfeed=true     <![CDATA[Media Bubble: Plenty of Free 'Time' To Watch Extra Hour of 'Today']]> MK-AI046_NBC_20070116202329.jpg
  • Another hour of "Today" just means more Al Roker to love. And, you know, Ann Curry. [WSJ]
  • Employees at Time Inc. have one more day to steal all the office supplies they can carry home; layoffs are apparently tomorrow.
  • The Dolans are gonna have to do better than thirty bucks a share if they want to take Cablevision private. [NYP]
  • If nobody buys Tribune, blame the online ad market. [MediaPost]
  • Is AMI moving Star back to Boca? Didn't we ask this last week? [NYP]
  • The Times soft-focus magazines vs. People: which side are you on? And, really, do you care? [WWD]
  • Janet Street-Porter may not be able to edit a bus ticket, but she's handy with the racism. Allegedly. [Guardian]
  • The Sacramento Bee will be sending out a daily memo on what stories are garnering the most online eyeballs. The paper claims that these statistics will not affect what and how they choose to cover, but we think the current headline "Britney Vagina Upskirt Paris Hilton Oral Sex Free Viagara" tells a different story. [Romenesko]

    ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=229257&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Today on 'Today': Star Jones, Obviously]]> Star Jones swanned her way to the Today show just now; the "fired" View co-host sat with Al Roker and spit out a bunch of saccharine reflections about the dramatics surrounding Tuesday's surprise resignation. No real bitchery, but definitely some Oscar-worthy "sincerity" about her time on the show — post-shitstorm, Jones said she received a heartfelt phone call from co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck, which was a testament to her little white heart.

    As for Barbara Walters, Jones said, "I still have her in my heart." But only because the lady can no longer fit in her stomach, of course.

    Earlier: Gawker's Slaphappy Coverage of Star Jones

    ]]>     http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=184525&view=rss&microfeed=true     <![CDATA[Today on 'Today': Whoa There, Al]]>

    Oh, Al Roker will talk to the Kentucky lesbians. But let them mention "fast women," and whoa! whoa! whoa!

    [via Good As You]

    ]]>     http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=184231&view=rss&microfeed=true