Twitter rant suspension
ESPN suspends Olbermann for one week following his Twitter exchange with Penn State students regarding a story about a Penn State charity event that raised more than $13 million to help support children fighting pediatric cancer. Olbermann later apologizes for his posts via Twitter. ESPN:
It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN. We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday. The annual tradition of THON [the fundraising event] and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded.
@lisaadeleon …Pitiful
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
.@dave_seidel No, Son. I said PSU students were pitiful. Had nothing to do with fundraising #AlsoPSUReadingComprehensionAppearsToBeWeak
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
.@dave_seidel Again – get your $ back – you didn't learn how to read. PSU students are pitiful because they're PSU students – period.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
New accuser
Thomas claims Cosby took advantage of her when she sought his help as an aspiring actress in 1984. Thomas alleges that after Cosby gave her a glass of Chablis, she woke up in bed with Cosby naked trying to force himself upon her.
I was beginning to think though…that whole keeping-your-silence is a form of acceptance. It’s not supporting the women who are coming forward. It’s not helping … and if enough people make enough of a fuss, maybe we can get a culture that starts to listen.
Issues apology
Rancic offers an on-air, minute-long apology to Zendaya regarding her comments about the artist’s dreadlocks.
This incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes — how much damage they can do. And I am responsibile, as we all are, to not perpetuate them further.
No federal charges
The Justice Department says its independent investigation finds “insufficient evidence” to charge Zimmerman with federal civil rights violations in the shooting death of Martin. Attorney General Holder says the evidence did not meet the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution. The decision closes the federal investigation.
This young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
The Martin family says they are “disappointed” by the decision.
Lawsuit response
Purina responds to the class action lawsuit that alleges Purina’s Beneful brand dry dog food causes illness and death to dogs. Keith Schopp, Purina’s vice president of corporate public relations:
We believe the lawsuit is without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves. Beneful is a high-quality nutritious food enjoyed by millions of dogs each year and there are no product quality issues with Beneful.
The Talk interview
Somers says she is madly in love with Hamel.
He’s is on hormones and I’m on hormones. What is it about men four in the morning? I am really awake around eight or so. We have busy mornings.
Oscar snub statement
The Academy issues a statement regarding the omission of Rivers from the Oscars In Memorium segment.
Joan Rivers is among the many worthy artists and filmmakers we were unfortunately unable to feature in the In Memoriam segment of this year’s Oscar show. She is, however, included in our In Memoriam gallery on Oscar.com.
Addresses dreadlocks criticism
Zendaya responds to criticisms of her dreadlocks on the Oscar red carpet via Twitter:
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) February 24, 2015
Oscar snub response
Melissa Rivers responds to the omission of Joan Rivers from the Oscars In Memorium segment via a post on Joan River’s Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/joanrivers/posts/10152801239368040
Defends Obama
In an interview with Couric, Axelrod speaks out against Rudy Giuliani, who has implied that Obama doesn’t love America.
I don’t know anybody who has…a deeper feeling about this country than the President. And I don’t know anybody who’s expressed it more eloquently over a long period of time. So I really wrote it off to, frankly, a fading politician trying to light himself on fire and make himself relevant.
Ban seeks action on barrel bombs
A report by the UN chief Ban to the Security Council lists five priorities for action including the lifting of sieges on 212,000 people, ensuring access to medical aid to all of Syria, and rebuilding the education system. He also says the 15-member council must address barrel-bomb attacks on civilians and ending the practice of denying services as a weapon of war. Ban says barrel bombs are used against civilians in Aleppo, where the United Nations is seeking to freeze fighting as part of peace efforts. Ban:
This conflict has become business as usual.
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On Air interview
Seacrest interviews Martin during On Air With Ryan Seacrest about his Latino reality show La Banda.
This is very interesting: the audience is going to dictate who is going to move forward to the next step. The audience is going to dictate what artist is going to go and meet us the judges. So that is something that has never happened in a reality show. The power of the masses, the power of the fans, they are going to say who is going to be in the show.
On Air interview
Seacrest interviews Robinson during On Air With Ryan Seacrest about his role in the film Hot Tub Time Machine Two.
What my characters does is he take songs that should have been released and he gets the melody right, but he doesn’t quite get the words right. And he’s conflicted over that. He’s conflicted over his originality issues.
On Air interview
Seacrest interviews Puck during On Air With Ryan Seacrest about his menu for the Governors Ball.
I ran out of bread. so what better way to replace it with pizza dough? So I baked the pizza with some onions, I put a little creme fraiche, and smoked salmon on top of the little caviar. So it’s not such a bad thing!
‘We fully support him’
Jenner’s sister Mettler says she fully supports Jenner’s transition from male to female.
Oh my god yes, Bruce and I talk all the time. We are all very close. Bruce often comes to visit me here, we are best friends. We fully support him.
Jared Leto interview
Leto speaks to Billboard magazine about the movie Suicide Squad and his part as the iconic Joker. Unlike his Oscar-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club for which he had to lose 40 lbs, this time he needs to put on weight.
Do you mind if I eat a little? I’m trying to gain a lot of weight. It means I have to eat every couple of hours – and I’m terrible at eating a lot.
On Air interview
Seacrest interviews Millan during On Air With Ryan Seacrest about dog training and how to stop your dog from tackling you as soon as you get home from work.
This is what I would suggest to people to build as a habit: First you enter into your house and ask for calmness. But first you ask the dog to be calm, then you ask the dog to be excited, then you finish with calmness. That way you have the two worlds: the calm world and the excited world.
Glamour interview
Ahead of her appearance at the Brit Awards, Blige chats to Glamour UK about British soul singer, Sam Smith.
Sam is just unlike a lot of new artists. He has so much humility, he’s so grateful and he’s still so taken back from all of this but at the same time he’s very confident and decisive. I’ve watched him be so decisive and I love that about him – I’m like ‘I wanna be like that’ (laughs).
‘Blackballed’
Mo’Nique claims she has not gotten roles since winning an Oscar because she is being ‘blackballed’ for not playing ‘the game’.
What I understood was that when I won that Oscar, things would change in all the ways you’re saying: It should come with more respect, more choices and more money. It should, and it normally does. I thought, once you won the award, that’s the top prize — and so you’re supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize. I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, “Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed.” And I said, “I’ve been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?” And he said, “Because you didn’t play the game.” And I said, “Well, what game is that?” And he gave me no response.
The Edit interview
The actress models a series of high-end garments for The Edit.
I never exercised my whole life, but now I do yoga. I was always borderline chubby, because I like my food and frankly, I like my wine.
She adds that her career is going from strength to strength and says she is the busiest she has ever been:
The funny thing is that I really don’t even understand how [it all] came about. Maybe because when you don’t want something as much, you’re not desperate.