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Breaking news and insight in the world of newspapers, magazines, television and the Internet with an emphasis on pop culture

Robert Pattinson, Dylan Penn Romance: Another Tabloid Fail?

Keith Girard
Robert Pattinson’s supposed romance with Sean Penn’s daughter Dylan Penn appears to be yet another tabloid fiction. Despite weeks of heated reporting about their budding romance, their relationship never moved beyond the “just friends” phase. Can we give it a rest? E! News Online appears to be the principal source of most of the unsubstantiated speculation about the couple....
MEDIA

Matt Damon Joins George Clooney as Commercial Pitchman (watch!)

Keith Girard
Matt Damon has jumped on the gravy train ridden by many actors to a quick payday. He’s joined his pal George Clooney in a Nescafe Nespresso commercial that will air exclusively in Europe, where George has been a pitch man for years. Damon, 43, was reportedly paid $3 million to appear with Clooney for about 20 seconds in the one-minute commercial....
MEDIA

Miley Cyrus Raps, Britney Spears Sings on New Song ‘SMS’ (listen!)

Keith Girard
Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears tear it up on another single, “SMS (Bangerz),” off Miley’s widely anticipated new album and the girls leave no doubt that Miley is gone heavily urban. She raps! Britney sings... sort of. The Internet lit up yesterday (Sept. 30) when a bootleg copy of the song briefly went viral. This is the official version. ...
MEDIA

Anna Chapman, Russia’s Red Hot Spy, Plays Today Show (watch!)

Keith Girard
Anna Chapman, the sultry Russsian spy who made headlines in 2010 after she was busted by the FBI, is back in the news, for what reason is hard to fathom. Maybe, NBC’s Richard Engel has a crush on her. The ratings starved “Today” show aired Engel’s interview with the red sex bomb this morning (Sept. 30), presumably from Moscow, since she’s banned for life from the United States. It was an absolute dud....
MEDIA

Kevin Bacon Makes What? Bacon Sandwich? Hilarious! (watch)

Keith Girard
Keving Bacon, like so many A-List American actors, has no problem ranking in a few extra dollars doing commercials overseas. They hope they’ll never been seen in the United States to avoid sullying their reputations as “serious” actors. But sometimes, that’s not the case. For the past two years, Bacon has been starring in advertisements for the UK’s largest mobile network....
MEDIA

New York’s Top Cop Cracks Down on Phony Online Reviews

Keith Girard
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is cracking down on search engine optimization companies that engage in a “black hat” SEO scheme known as “Astroturfing.” It involves placing phony reviews on Web sites to boost traffic. The investigation, known as “Operation Clean Turf,” discovered that companies have been hiring freelance writers to post glowing reviews online to game Google’s search engine rankings....
MEDIA

Miley Cyrus (Who Else?) Covers Rolling Stone Hot Issue Topless

Keith Girard
Miley Cyrus was the hands down performer to cover Rolling Stone’s annual hot issue. Was there anyone else? No one has been talked about more this year, and well, she’s hot as hell in a mostly topless photo spread. Move over Rihanna. Miley, 20, has all but knocked the Barbadian singer from her perch as the hottest woman in music with her MTV Video Music Awards performance and video for her song “Wrecking Ball.” See her photos here....
MEDIA

Fox News Host Foments Racist Backlash to New Miss America

Keith Girard
Nina Davuluri became the first American of Indian descent to be crowned Miss America in an unconventional year for the tradition-bound pageant, which saw its first tattooed contestant and first woman to compete with a knee brace. Predictably, Davuluri’s heritage sparked a series of racist responses on Twitter that have been getting the lion’s share of media attention....
MEDIA

Robert Pattinson Dior Ad Crashes Viral Video Charts at No. 1

Keith Girard
Robert Pattinson is being paid a bundle to represent Dior Homme, but the fashion and fragrance brand is getting its money’s worth and then some. Rob’s newly released Dior ad is topping the viral video charts for advertising on the Internet. The charts are usually led by clever software, technology and fashion apparel ads, but Pattinson’s Dior Homme fragrance campaign has broken the mold, according to Visible Measures, which tracks that segment of the market....
MEDIA

Tina Brown Out at Daily Beast; May Signal Internet Shake-Out

Keith Girard
Tina Brown who tried to carve an empire for herself at Barry Diller’s company as Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast and, for a time, Newsweek, is first big-name print star to fall on the Internet. Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp will not renew Brown’s likely million-dollar-plus contract when it expires in January. Her departure could signal the beginning of a major shakeout among high-cost Internet publications that have yet to see ad revenues come close to matching expenses....
COMMENTARYMEDIA

Miley Cyrus ‘Messed Up’ Quotes False; Another Major Media Fail

Keith Girard
Miley Cyrus may be a lot of things but she’s not apologetic about her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards, despite interview quotes sweeping the Internet that made her appear remorseful and to blame her on-stage vamping on “so many f–king issues.” The quotes were widely repeated by supposedly even the most “respected” media outlets including ABC news, “Extra-TV,” The HuffingtonPost, a slew of other gossip sites and even MTV, which hosted the VMAs. But none of those sites apparently check out the quotes with Miley or any of her reps....
MEDIA

Bizarre New Apple Mac Pro Ad Never Shows Computer (watch!)

Keith Girard
Apple has been hyping its neew Mac Pro computer since it was first announced in June at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, but a new spot designed to run in theaters is more like science fiction than advertising. Neither the product, nor the company is mentioned until the very end. Apple is touting the computer as the ultimate, from its shape to it’s powerful components. It’s even assembling them in the United States....
MEDIASCIENCE & TECH