• Scientology flack Creepy McReminds-Me-Of-Tom-Cruise (real name Tommy Davis) walked out on Martin Bashir on Nightline, saying he wouldn't discuss "disgusting perversions" of his faith. Or, if you notice, deny said "disgusting perversions" about Xenu and volcanoes (because they're probably true.) Page Six reports that he then came back to the ABC studio 45 minutes before the show was set to air and tried to get it canned. Security guards and staffers, probably ridden with thetans, told him he couldn't speak to Bashir or the executive producer and that the show would run unchanged. This made Davis sad. As senior church members probably aren't allowed to savagely beat junior minions any more, we can only guess how he dealt with this crimp in his Sunday evening. [Page Six]
  
  
• Brooke Hundley, the 22-year-old ESPN production assistant who Steve Phillips was fired for sleeping with, has also been hefted out of the network. Perhaps not surprising considering she went 431 kinds of crazy after she got dumped by Phillips, and blew the whole thing. Most importantly though, the Post has a new insult-to-injury description of the pudgy paramour: "schlubby seductress." [New York Post]
  
  
• The stalker Justin Timberlake had to restraining-order last week apparently has eclectic taste in music. And by music I mean musicians. TMZ points out that Karen Jane McNeil also had a restraining order filed against her by Lars Ulrich of Metallica back in March. She's not allowed within 150 yards of the band, their families and the people who run the fan club (the last one just makes me sad at the caliber of modern stalkers). She's also banned from going near Axl Rose. Kenny Loggins, watch your back! [TMZ]
  
  
• Diane Von Furstenburg got mugged in Madrid while in town to pick up an award. "I just got robbed in the street in front of the Thyssen museum . . . My wallet, cash and all my credit cards!!" Tweeted DVF. Before adding "I am totally fine!! I hope it the worst thing that will happen to me. Getting a big prize tomorrow so going to sleep now." [Page Six]
  
  
• Ah, Phil Spector. You just can't stop underlining the kind of charming eccentricities that landed you in jail for murder. He once sent his friend, celebrity lawyer Marvin Mitchelson his romantic version of how a pre-nup should read: "1. If I like it, it's mine. 2. If it's in my hands, it's mine. 3. If I can take it from you, it's mine. 4. If I had it a week ago, it's mine. 5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way. 6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine. 7. If it looks just like mine, it's mine. 8. If I think it's fine, it's mine. 9. If it is near me, it's mine. 10. If it's broccoli, it's yours." [Page Six]
  
  
• Talking of potential pre-nups: Renee Zellweger plans to spend the holidays in Philadelphia with the family of her boyfriend Bradley Cooper. "Renee and Bradley are crazy about each other," says 'a source'. Come on source, come up with a more original line than that. How about "Renee and Bradley fucking loathe each other but are desperately insecure and always have to be dating someone else famous"? Whether it's true or not it beats the same old "this definitely solidifies how serious they are" and "they're really trying to keep this under the radar," crap we get every time Mr. or Mrs. Source-Close-To picks up the phone on this kind of story. [NYDN]
  
  
• Ivanka Trump will stay kosher for Jared Kushner. Also, the swag bags at their wedding featured flip-flops with the tag "Ivanka and Jared - what a pair" on them. Which goes to prove that swag at every event, even the joining of extraordinarily rich families, now sucks. [Cindy Adams]
  
  
• A-Rod and Kate Hudson celebrated the Yankees' win by going to Serafina on the Upper East Side. A few tables away was Hideki Matsui, also celebrating. For some reason the civilized nature of these celebrations upsets me. [Page Six]
  
  
• Teen Vogue are working on a new reality TV show because they miss having Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port around the place, apparently. [Page Six]
  
  
• Ricky Gervais will present the Golden Globes. And has a "free rein," which seems to predict at least one or two awkward moments. [Sky News]
  
  

He had been suspended since last week, when it was revealed that the 22-year-old production assistant, Brooke Hundley, had gone a little bit loopynuts after being dumped and Phillips had to go to police. "I have extreme concerns about the health and safety of my kids and myself," he said in a statement, because Hundley became "obsessive and delusional". Which means she called his wife (who filed for divorce on September 14th) repeatedly and then sent her a letter describing graphic details of the affair.

Tonight a spokesman for ESPN, Josh Krulewitz gave a statement: "Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN. His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways." You have to hope his wife was less cold.

He's taking the traditional route in such pants-down circumstances: a representative for the former Mets general manager told the Associated Press that Phillips is checking into a "facility" in order ''to address his personal issues.''

If Letterman drops this into his monologue, he has nuts of steel.

Martin Bashir was grilling Scientology spokesthing Tommy Davis regarding Xenu, the intergalactic god who did or did not come to Earth 75 million years ago to bury his people in volcanos. Bashir asks Davis a very simple question: Do you guys believe in this crazy shit? Is Xenu and his people-pod volcano plot part of your religion? Etc. Watch what Davis does, starting at about 2:45 for context, but 3:40 if you just want to see him freak out and stomp off.

Why would Davis stomp off? Bashir wasn't asking him to explain Xenu, or justify Xenu, or even to provide context around Xenu. All he was asking was: Do you guys believe in an intergalactic God named Xenu? Is this part of your religion?

How is that an unfair line of inquiry? That's like feigning indignation at a line of inquiry asking whether or not Jews have horns. How can you? Of course we don't, you moron! But if we do, well, it's not a silly question, is it? Is it?!?

This is the layman's version, tweaked with more specifics for all employees, and oddly not Tweeted by Ric Bucher, only because he's currently being water-boarded across George Bodenheimer's desk. (Status on his punishment — "the memo spells it out." More vacation for Bucher! )

But for those ESPN employees who are still confused about whether they can optimize their personal brand for a life after ESPN by writing blogs that touch on sports topics not authorized by ESPN, here's the answer: the swift billy club of Bristol justice will rain down upon them. So run to the hills, Cohn Heads.

DJ Poon-to drop that shit:

SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES FOR ESPN EMPLOYEES

These guidelines apply to all ESPN employees who participate in any form of personal social networking. If you are an ESPN talent, or reporter engaged with social media, please also refer to those additional guidelines.

ESPN understands that employees may maintain or contribute to personal blogs, message boards, conversation pages and other forms of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) outside of their job function and may periodically post information about their job or ESPN's activities on these outlets. If an employee posts ESPN or job-related information, they are required to exercise good judgment, abide by ESPN policy, and take the following into consideration.

ESPN employees are obligated to be aware of and comply with any applicable provisions set forth in ESPN's Employee Handbook and The Walt Disney Company's Standards of Business Conduct. Employees may not disclose confidential or proprietary company information or similar information of third parties who have shared such information with ESPN. ESPN's intellectual property, logos, trademarks, and copyrights may not be used in any manner.

If an employee is engaging on external social media platforms personally, they should not use the company's name in their identity (e.g. username, "handle" or screen name), nor should they speak as a representative of the company. If a media inquiry is generated, please direct it to the Communications Department.

If you are an ESPN talent, reporter, writer, producer, editor or other editorial decision maker or a public-facing ESPN employee, you are reminded that when you participate in public blogs or discussion activities, you are representing ESPN just as you would in any other public forum or medium, and you should exercise discretion, thoughtfulness and respect for your colleagues, business associates and our fans. All posted content is subject to review in accordance with, ESPN's employee policies and editorial guidelines.

ESPN's Values expressly state that care and respect for employees and each other will always be at the heart of our operations and that we are passionately committed to teamwork. Employees are responsible for acting in a manner that is consistent with our company Values. To that end, employees are expected to be courteous, respectful, and thoughtful about how other employees may be affected by postings. Incomplete, inaccurate, inappropriate, threatening, harassing or poorly worded postings may be harmful to other employees, damage employee relationships, undermine ESPN's effort to encourage teamwork, violate ESPN policy or harm the Company, which may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. Employees bear full responsibility for the material they post on personal blogs or other social media.

For purposes of this policy, a "personal blog" or "social media" includes personal websites and all forms of on-line community activities such as on-line social networks, message boards, conversation pages, and chat rooms. If you have any questions regarding this policy and its application, please contact either your manager or the Human Resources Department

If only the rest of the Twitterverse would rise up and fight against the trolling censors of ESPN the same way the did for the Iranian protesters back in June. Everyone in the Twitterverse should change their time to EST and their location to Bristol.

Shep was doing a segment on Wal-Mart with Major Garrett reporting from the White House when things went haywire. For a moment it looked as though he might explode into a Bill O'Reilly-esque "We'll do it live!" moment, but he maintained his composure (sort of) and just sat there looking exacerbated and making mean faces at people off camera before finally noting that the whole show was "coming off the rails."

Possibly the most worthless, airtime-eating tactic in the history of television news, the "man on the street" interview typically involves some fresh out of college pretty face quizzing some slob with a room temperature IQ and a complete ignorance of current events about issues they have no business giving public opinions on, yet the tradition lives on at local news outlets across America. Occasionally, the person being interviewed will say or do something incredibly stupid, which then leads to a minor comedic moment. It is on these occasions that the "man on the street" interview actually holds some shred of value for the viewer, though it's still utterly worthless as a tangible journalistic tool.

It is with this in mind that we genuflect at the altar of Steve Ryan for refusing to take it anymore and physically assaulting an unruly street person. This, and the resulting looks of horror on the faces of the in-studio anchors at the desk when the director cuts back to them, may be the best moment in the history of television news.

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via Wonkette

You remember Griff Jenkins, right? He's Fox News' hipster ambassador, the innocuous-looking guy they send out regularly to carry on like an idiot around liberals, hoping he'll incite a riot so they can show the clip on their network and say, "look at how crazy these liberals are!"

And that's unquestionably what Griff, who brought his own red carpet to the event like a true journalist, was up to here when he had his "mess with a bunch of ACORN people" day crapped on by Adam Green of Open Left. Things just spiraled so horribly out of control in a matter of a couple of minutes that we doubt Griff was able to carry on. Poor Griff. Why don't liberals respect his First Amendment rights?

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Finally, it should be noted that Gawker's John Cook is still hot on the tail of elusive O'Reilly Factor producer/creepy stalker Jesse Watters, so keep an eye out Jesse, okay?

Video via Open Left

The social-media obsessive defended his network's coverage in no uncertain terms when in front of the camears. "The story was reported every hour on CNN in some form or fashion," he said during a forceful on-air monologue (see attached clip).

But Sanchez was reportedly more revealing yesterday when speaking to fellow Twitter fans at a conference on the microblogging service, disclosing he'd written an email memo to superiors, prodding them to significantly expand their Iran coverage. Wrote one conference participant:

After his comments on the panel, Sanchez described to me and others how his email about #CNNFail on Twitter went up to the highest levels of the network. And, after the network's business, PR and marketing staff was pulled in, coverage the next day shifted...During the panel, Sanchez that "at no time did CNN drop the ball" - based upon his remarks following, however, I have to wonder whether there was an appreciation in the C-suite at CNN that the online backlash on Twitter was a hint that Amanpour reporting live from Tehran wasn't capturing the whole scene, and that US citizens were hungry for more information about what was happening on the streets and rooftaps of Iran.

The double-talk has already been noted on — where else — Twitter. Wrote NYU professor Jay Rosen, "Rick Sanchez told a different story to CNN viewers than he shared with participants" at the Twitter-fest. Sanchez's bragging about his clout at CNN would seem less duplicitous if only he'd posted it to Twitter himself; he'd hardly be the first journalist to use the service for naked self-promotion.

After spending the first five minutes of his show on the revolution in Iran, O'Reilly set out to attack Joan Walsh and others on the "far left" who've dared to take issue with the inflammatory rhetoric he's used in the past when reporting on George Tiller. O'Reilly, pissed that Frank Rich and Paul Krugman have written recent pieces critical of him, even went so far as to call the New York Times a bunch of hypocrites over their condemning of his hate speech, because their reporting on the Bush administration's deceptions in regards to the Iraq War was hate speech that only served to incite the people who hate us overseas you see, thus leaving us vulnerable to attacks from Muslim extremists.

Yeah, go ahead and try to connect those logical dots.

One of O'Reilly's guests tonight was an anti-abortion journalist for the Kansas City Star named Mary Sanchez. In the wake of George Tiller's murder, Sanchez published a column about the incident in which she actually defended O'Reilly. She wrote:

Not long after news of the murder hit the Internet, liberal bloggers had assembled a video montage of Bill O'Reilly repeating "Tiller the Killer" on various broadcasts, along with other choice bits of blood-curdling vituperation. The point was to demonstrate that O'Reilly, by endlessly calling Tiller a killer, was culpable for inspiring Roeder's act of murder. I hate to be in the position of defending O'Reilly, but what he is guilty of is the lesser charge of propagating ignorance on an important issue.

In the segment below, O'Reilly starts out by noting that Sanchez is guilty of the crime of writing for a "liberal paper" that has dared to voice criticism of him in the past. Strike one. Then she had the audacity to express disdain for O'Reilly's fondness for "verbal confrontations," which provokes O'Reilly to dare her to cite just one example of his doing such a thing. Strike two. Sanchez then goes even further and states that there's no room for people to be "screaming about killing" in the national debate on abortion, an assertion O'Reilly calls "disingenuous" before adding, "that's not what this is about." Strike three.

He then ends the interview by calling Mary Sanchez "madam," that thing he always does when he has a female guest on the show that he loathes, which just so happens to also be the code word for all of his crazies to send her hate-filled emails and threaten to blow up the newspaper's offices.

Poor Mary Sanchez. That'll learn you for trying to defend Bill O'Reilly.

And here's O'Reilly lashing out at Joan Walsh and the New York Times in his "Talking Points" segment if you can even stomach it.

Video via Media Matters

On Saturday, as things turned from bad to worse in Iran as thousands of protesters took to the streets in anger to revolt against the sham election in that country, CNN, a cable news network that rose to prominence largely because of its reporting of strife in foreign lands, was virtually silent about the uprising on television and on the web. As pointed out by ReadWriteWeb's Marshall Kirkpatrick, "hours after Iranian police began clashing with tens of thousands of people in the street, the top story on CNN.com remains peoples' confusion about the switch from analog TV signals."

CNN's lack of coverage of the burgeoning revolution in Iran and the highly questionable re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arguably America's leading bogeyman at this moment in time, didn't go unnoticed on Twitter, where the hashtag "#CNNFAIL" spread like wildfire and was one of the site's trending topics for a large portion of the day.

In a story posted to their website tonight titled "Internet Brings Events In Iran to Life," the BBC said this:

All over the world people are monitoring unfolding events in Iran via the internet, where an apparently decisive election victory by the ruling party is being challenged on the streets.

Although there are signs the Iranian government is trying to cut some communications with the outside world, citizen journalism appears to be thriving on the web.

To that end, Twitter served as a vital mode of Iranian citizen communication and as a channel to the outside world after the government shut down much of the web and blocked virtually all cell phone communications. An example:


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In what could be viewed as a watershed moment for social networking and the internet in general, here you have an oppressive regime with little tolerance for dissent doing everything in its power to stymie an uprising and failing miserably because of the ability of individuals to bypass the state-controlled media outlets and communicate with each another directly. To think that the very social networking tools conceived as intangible ideas by young Americans just a few short years ago in dorm rooms and basements and garages have now come to fruition as something tangible with the power to influence the course of events halfway across the world—Well, it's kind of breathtaking.

Meanwhile, Howard Kurtz had Rick Sanchez and sportswriter Gregg Doyel on Reliable Sources for an utterly useless but incredibly ironic debate over Twitter's relevance. To his credit Sanchez, a mildly obsessive Twitterer, sort of gets it, mentioning that he interviewed someone in Tehran on his show that he'd met on Twitter, but no one on the show seemed to grasp the fact that the Twitter was in midst of handing CNN its proverbial ass as a news source before, during and after the airing of Reliable Sources.

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Finally, though there are some valid criticisms of Twitter, everyone working at CNN should be thoroughly embarrassed of their efforts over the weekend.

Titled : "An open letter to sports columnist Jay Mariotti, who resigned from the Sun-Times and lashed out during a TV interview announcing that newspapers were dead."

Read along, after the jump.

Dear Jay,

What an ugly way to leave the Sun-Times. It does not speak well for you. Your timing was exquisite. You signed a new contract, waited until days after the newspaper had paid for your trip to Beijing at great cost, and then resigned with a two-word e-mail: "I quit." You saved your explanation for a local television station.

As someone who was working here for 24 years before you arrived, I think you owed us more than that. You owed us decency. The fact that you saved your attack for TV only completes our portrait of you as a rat.

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, and this paper will not die because you have left. Times are hard in the newspaper business, and for the economy as a whole. Did you only sign on for the luxury cruise?

There's an old saying that you might have come across once or twice on the sports beat: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, because there are still readers who want the whole story, not a sound bite. If you go to work for television, viewers may get a little weary of you shouting at them. You were a great shouter in print, that's for sure, stomping your feet when owners, coaches and players didn't agree with you. It was an entertaining show. Good luck getting one of your 1,000-word rants on the air.

The rest of us are still at work, still putting out the best paper we can. We believe in our profession, and in the future. And we believe in our internet site, which you also whacked as you slithered out the door. I don't know how your column was doing, but we have the most popular sports section in Chicago. The reports and blog entries by our Washington editor Lynn Sweet have become a must-stop for millions of Americans in this election year. After a recent blog entry I wrote about the Beijing Olympics, I woke up at 5 a.m. one morning, when North America was asleep, and found that 40 percent of my 100 most recent visitors had been from China. I don't have any complaints about our web site. So far this month my web page has been visited from almost every country on earth, including one visit from the Vatican City. The Pope, no doubt. Hope you were doing as well.

You have left us, Jay, at a time when the newspaper is once again in the hands of people who love newspapers and love producing them. You managed to stay here through the dark days of the thieves Conrad Black and David Radler. The paper lost millions. Incredibly, we are still paying Black's legal fees.

I started here when Marshall Field and Jim Hoge were running the paper. I stayed through the Rupert Murdoch regime. I was asked, "How can you work for a Murdoch paper?"

My reply was: "It's not his paper. It's my paper. He only owns it."

That's the way I've always felt about the Sun-Times, and I still do. On your way out, don't let the door bang you on the ass.

Your former colleague,

Roger Ebert