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The Smoking Gun
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journalismism
The Smoking Gun Is Just Three Guys
With just three guys in a plain office building on Manhattan's East side, investigative website TheSmokingGun.com revealed the LA Times' Tupac Shakur story was based on fake documents, exposed lying memoirist James Frey and found out that Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is into loofahs. The site modestly attributes much of its success to the recent digitization of court records and such, but it probably helps that its editor is a "veteran Mafia reporter" who knows where to look, and when, for the juiciest records: More »
eliot spitzer
"He Would Ask You To Do Things That, Like, You Might Not Think Were Safe"
Governor Eliot Spitzer apparently got one of those street-smart hookers with hearts of gold. He had, as the attached passage shows, a reputation as something of a difficult client. But "Kristen"? She straightened him out. The Smoking Gun has posted the Spitzer-relevant portions of the FBI affidavit detailing the operation of the Emperors Club, in case you were curious about how a governor goes about setting up a date while he's on a business trip. [TSG]
taking the a train
Dude Slapped By Girls On Subway; 'Post' Sounds The Race Alarm
If you miss the A train, you'll find you've missed the quickest way to a beating, unlike this poor guy, who was tag-teamed by a group of teenage girls on the subway line last month. The Smoking Gun has the full video, which the Post snapped up into a neat little interactive race-baiting package! When the paper first posted the story, it included the detail that the victim was "a white male," without identifying the race of the the ladies laying into him. The story has since been changed—now it's a complete and total mystery as to which participant was what color. Um, unless you watch the video or something.
In a fashion slideshow worthy of Style.com,The Smoking Gun has put together a seasonal retrospective of the most completely excellent T-shirts worn by alleged perps in their mug shots.
tragic tales
New Jeffrey Epstein Suit: "I Just Want To Model" Cried Alleged Teenage Sex Victim
Here's a story! Once upon a time a bad gal-pal told a 16-year-old girl that she knew this rich guy who helped girls become models. (A note from the real world: There are no older men who help girls become models. Except maybe Nigel Barker, fashion photographer and "America's Next Top Model" judge.) And so the girl showed up at this guy's huge house, up at 71st and 5th Avenue. She had brought photos of herself. The guy was wearing a bathrobe! He took her about the house, showing off the chandeliers and the gaudy crystal ball on the spiral staircase, and a statue of a dog and its poop. But oh noes! He also had a massage room! More »
legal eagles
When Journos Think They're Celebs, They Hire Marty Singer
You know how to tell when you've been working in celebrity journalism too long? When your first impulse after getting fired is to run and hire Marty Singer as your counsel—and today's Page Six suggests that fired TMZ TV producer Bryn Friedman is talking to good old Marty about her potential employment litigation. More »
America's princess claims "that she now she wants to build a 'transitional home' that would help female inmates upon their release from custody." You know, transitional women like the ones she was mocking in these videos that show her saying "We're like two niggers," and "I'm a little black whore. I get fucked in the butt for coke." [TSG]
lawsuits
Universal Sues P*r*z H*lt*n Over Aniston Pix
Oh, Jennifer Aniston's redacted nipples! We've never before been so happy to see them, as they herald a sparkly-new lawsuit. The Smoking Gun reports that Universal City Studios has filed a copyright infringement suit against Mario Lavandeira, claiming that the topless footage was stolen during production of The Break Up. Unfortunately, they're not seeking monetary damages, but they do request a court order "directing the U.S. Marshall to seize" the copyrighted material from Lavandeira. Hot! More »
gossip
Gossip Roundup: Foxy Brown Lashes Out Again
david pecker
David Pecker Has a Big ... Ego
From our friends at the Smoking Gun comes news that a lawsuit filed by AMI chief David Pecker against a www.davidpecker.com — which houses porn ads — has been dismissed. Pecker apparently thought that since the site has the word "pecker" in it, he was entitled to the domain. HA! More interesting, though, are the documents from the decision that TSG dug up—particularly the way Pecker describes himself. More »
judith regan
Jew Cabal Strikes Again: Ron Goldman's Dad Sues
Today, the Smoking Gun brings us the news that it's not just raining Jew-problems, it's pouring Jew-problems for Judith Regan. Ron Goldman's father is suing OJ for fraudulently profiting from the aborted tell-all that Regan was to publish; his lawyers anticipate adding Regan, HarperCollins, and NewsCorp to the suit.Additionally, they expect to depose Regan, Rupert Murdoch, and others involved in negotiations for the book and a related Fox Television interview.Ahh, if only 'depose' meant what we wished it meant, instead of the lawyer thing it actually means. Hey, one down! More »
the smoking gun
John Gotti Bookmark Makes Reading Fun, Creepy
You really can't have enough love for the kids at The Smoking Gun, whose propensity for creative gift-giving knows no limits. For their 2004 holiday gift, they sent out loofahs packaged as Bill O'Reilly Falafels; last year, we received bottles of Valerie Flame hot sauce. God knows what the 2006 season will bring, but in the meantime they've created a fantastic promotional gift for their new book, The Dog Dialed 911: 2000 authentic John Gotti prison-worn uniform bookmarks. Just like game-worn baseball cards, which feature a fabric swatches from athletes' uniforms, the Gotti prison-worn bookmark features a fabric swatch from a prison uniform actually worn by late don John Gotti while locked up at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. Gotti's widow, Victoria, who was not consulted on the matter, tells the Daily News, "I find it macabre, to say the least." Macabre, sure — but promoting literacy always comes first. More »
james frey
James Frey Still Plummeting
Smoking Gun editor Bill Bastone was on the Colbert Report last night, explaining the wonders of document retrieval and the information superhighway. When asked what was the biggest story they had ever broken, Bastone obviously said James Frey, whose Oprah-endorsed bestselling memoir contained several fabrications. Colbert referred to it as "the Oprah book": More »
james frey
Because today is Fake Writer Day, best-selling author James Frey is, alas, not all he claims to be. While we have no doubt that, as chronicled in his Oprah-approved rehab memoir A Million Little Pieces, he was chugging 5 O'Clock, smoking rock, snorting half of Colombia and popping pills of shit we've never heard of, the Smoking Gun reports that Frey was never quite the bad-ass Criminal he claims to have been.
More »
Happy Fake Writer Day, James Frey
Because today is Fake Writer Day, best-selling author James Frey is, alas, not all he claims to be. While we have no doubt that, as chronicled in his Oprah-approved rehab memoir A Million Little Pieces, he was chugging 5 O'Clock, smoking rock, snorting half of Colombia and popping pills of shit we've never heard of, the Smoking Gun reports that Frey was never quite the bad-ass Criminal he claims to have been.
More »
valerie plame
Best. Present. Ever.
Mr. Fed-Ex just came by with the most fantastic
