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Ben Affleck is basically Hollywood’s walking plot twist. One day, he’s directing an Oscar-winning drama, the next, he’s going viral for balancing a tray of Dunkin’ iced coffees like it’s a high-stakes mission. He’s not just Batman, he’s the moody meme, the screenwriter-turned-superstar, and the guy who somehow juggles prestige films and tabloid chaos like it’s a full-time sport.

There’s something oddly comforting about how unpredictable he is. He’ll give a killer performance one week and look completely done with life in the next paparazzi shot. But behind all that Affleck-ness are some seriously strange, unexpected, and low-key fascinating facts.

From bizarre childhood moments to low-key genius-level achievements and strange side gigs, there’s more to Ben than brooding and Batmobiles. You’ve seen him on screen, in memes, and probably in your social feed more than once. Now, it’s...

On Friday, Bill Maher praised Donald Trump as “gracious and measured” following his visit to the White House.

Since before Trump’s first term, Maher has been a vocal critic of his policies and administration. However, on a new episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher lovingly detailed his visit with Trump on March 31.

Maher began, “Let me first say that to all the people who treated this like it was some sort of summit meeting, ‘You’re ridiculous.’ Like I was going to sign a treaty or something? I have no power. I’m a f—ing comedian.”

Maher said, “Just for starters: he laughs. I’ve never seen him laugh in public. But he does, including at himself. He’s not fake.”

In 2023, the comedian said, “I’m afraid of Trump on a personal level.”

Maher recalled a specific moment from his visit. “I don’t remember what we were talking about,...

Keith Olbermann isn’t buying Bill Maher’s recent shift in perspective of President Donald Trump.

During Maher’s Friday episode of HBO’s Real Time, he recounted his recent visit with the President of the United States, where he described him as “gracious and measured” and not like the “person who plays a crazy person on TV.” However, Olbermann believes the comedian’s sudden change in opinion “is so he can keep his HBO show.”

“Btw don’t overanalyze Maher prostituting himself to Trump,” Olbermann wrote in a Saturday post on X (formerly Twitter). “Maher works for the same fascists at Warner who took over and corrupted CNN.”

The American journalist further called Maher a “shameless opportunist with no real principles,” having known him “since 1978.”

During the Friday episode of Real Time, the comedian said he was “report[ing] exactly what happened” during his visit to the White House and...

Media firebrand Keith Olbermann has unleashed a scathing rebuke of comedian and HBO/Max host Bill Maher for Maher’s praise for President Donald Trump following a dinner set up by Kid Rock.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Olbermann dismissed the dinner as a transactional move to preserve Maher’s career, directly attacking Maher’s character and motivations.

“Btw don’t overanalyze Maher prostituting himself to Trump,” Olbermann wrote in a post. “Maher works for the same fascists at Warner who took over and corrupted CNN.”

Olbermann, who has had a long and often combative career in media, claimed personal knowledge of Maher stretching back nearly five decades.

“I’ve known Bill since 1978. He was a shameless opportunist with no real principles then and he remains so,” he added. “This is so he can keep his HBO show.”

The outburst came in response to Maher’s recent monologue on his...

Joy Reid’s exit from MSNBC triggered many conservative commentators to take cheap shots at her on social media.

Over the years, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly has criticized some of Reid’s comments on her cable news show. After chatter that the news network was making changes and axing Reid, Kelly took to social media to celebrate.

“Remember when Joy Reid laughingly mocked ‘white women tears’ as pathetic and offensive to her? Who’s crying now, Joy? Good riddance to the absolute worst person on television, and shame on NBC for letting it go on this long,” read Kelly’s post on X.

Kelly echoed her words about the former Reid Out host, quoting a video of Reid breaking down in an interview after her last show on MSNBC.

“Joy Reid has viciously mocked the tears of every white person she’s helped cancel over the years for some imaginary racial slight,...

Keith Olbermann, who dominated MSNBC as the host of “Countdown” from 2003 to 2011, railed against the network (via The Daily Beast) after it cut ties with hosts Joy Reid, Alex Wagner, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart and Ayman Mohyeldin. He posted on X: “An MSNBC purge so brutally racist it makes you think it was done by Musk.”

“They didn’t even try to hide the racism by firing an unnecessary white anchor like [Katy] Tur or [Stephanie] Ruhle as cover,” he added.

On his “Countdown” podcast, Olbermann continued to address the matter by saying: “When the company is in trouble, when a dollar might not be earned, you won’t hear crap out of [Rachel] Maddow or [Lawrence] O’Donnell, or [Chris] Hayes, or [Symone] Sanders, [Michael] Steele, or [Alicia] Menendez, or Jen Psaki. I will profusely apologize to anybody at MSNBC who stands up in defense of Joy Reid and says, ‘This stinks. This makes us white. This...

Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann is doubling down on his criticism of Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, calling for the news network to fire them both. Penning an article for Variety, Olbermann wrote about what MSNBC can do now that Donald Trump is returning to the White House and “Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski went on their show and welcomed our new insect overlords.” “I mean, obviously you have to fire Mr. and Mrs. Scared-Bro,” wrote Olbermann, who hosted Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011. “However: Continue their banal but largely benign political coffee klatch show without them and their insistence we all join their MSNVichy. Nobody will remember they were ever there.” Last month, Olbermann blasted the Morning Joe hosts after they revealed on-air that they’d flown to Mar-a-Lago to meet with president-elect Trump following his election victory. “Breaking News: I Told You So,...

What does MSNBC do now? After Trump accomplished the Undead thing and retook the White House? After Comcast announced plans to spin off the network (along with others) in such haste that its new company was named “SpinCo”? After Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski went on their show and welcomed our new insect overlords? After its audience vanished?

Nothing.

Stay the course. The audience is exhausted and needs a break. It’ll be back — and Resistier than ever. Suffer the ratings trough. I mean, obviously you have to fire Mr. and Mrs. Scared-Bro. However: Continue their banal but largely benign political coffee klatch show without them and their insistence we all join their MSNVichy. Nobody will remember they were ever there.

Plus, the next money is coming from more fervent opposition to Maga, not less. Wasn’t the Scarborough disaster (41% of the demo audience gone in three days) instructive enough?...

Updated: Comcast’s announcement Wednesday that it will spin off nearly all of its cable networks has left a host of questions as to the path forward, particularly given the intertwined nature of NBC News with MSNBC and, to a lesser extent, CNBC.

“I could be completely wrong. We could all be fired a year from now. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said on air this morning, before putting a more hopeful gloss on the pending change.

“What they are doing is what other media firms are doing — you spin off the cable channels which, seven years ago, were making a ton of money. Now they’re trying to figure out how to make them profitable.”

MSNBC and CNBC will be spun off along with other channels such as USA Network and Golf Channel into a separate company led by Mark Lazarus,...

The hosts of Morning Joe have fired back at critics of their meeting with president-elect Donald Trump, saying that the backlash is proof of a “massive disconnect between social media and the real world.” On Monday’s (November 18) show, Joe Scarborough and his wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski revealed they had met with Trump at his Palm Beach residence, Mar-a-Lago. “Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump but also talking with him,” Brzezinksi said. The announcement received immediate backlash, with former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann calling Scarborough and Brzezinski “confidence tricksters” and “grifters.” Meanwhile, media critic Jeff Jarvis called the meeting a “betrayal of their colleagues, democracy, and us all. It is a disgusting show of obeisance in advance.” Jon Stewart also blasted the Morning Joe hosts on Monday’s edition of The Daily Show. The...

Former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann has blasted Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski for meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at his Palm Beach residence, Mar-a-Lago. The Morning Joe duo, who have been strong critics of Trump’s over the past seven years, revealed the news on Monday morning’s (November 18) edition of their MSNBC program, explaining how they reached out to Trump’s team for an interview. “Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump but also talking with him,” Brzezinski said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “For those asking why we would go speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, why wouldn’t we? Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country.” “We talked about a lot of issues, including abortion,...

Updated, with Trump comment: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said that they met with Donald Trump on Friday, in what they described as an effort to restart communications with the president-elect after years of criticism and warning about his rhetoric and potential return to office.

At the opening of Morning Joe, Brzezinski said that, after expressing their desire to meet with Trump, they were given the opportunity “to do just that” on Friday. It was the first time they had seen him in seven years, she said.

Scarborough said, “We talked about a lot of issues, including abortion, mass deportations, threats of political retribution against political opponents and media outlets. We talked about that a good bit. It is going to come as no surprise to anyone who watches this show, has watched it over the past year or the past decade, that we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues,...

Peace in our time?

“Morning Joe” co-anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, two of the news media’s most vocal opponents of Trump policy in recent years, told MSNBC viewers Monday morning they are hoping for some form of detente.

The duo, who have in recent years grappled with hurtful invective from President-elect Donald Trump, visited him and members of his team at Mar-a-Lago Friday, they revealed in Monday’s broadcast — marking the first time they have met with him in person in seven years.

“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” Scarborough said, citing issues such as abortion and the potential for retribution against political enemies and the media. “What we did agree on was to restart communications,” said Brzezinski.

The development may come as a surprise. In 2018, Trump prompted shock when he made remarks about Brzezinski’s appearance. “Crazy Mika...

Call it a blue wave. A host of actors, directors, musicians, journalists and other prominent people are dumping X (formerly Twitter) and flocking to social media platform Bluesky.

In the past week, an increasing number of bold-faced names have announced that they plan to post less on X, or leave the platform altogether, citing myriad issues with the social media company, including far right content, hate speech, transphobia, racism, harassment, pornography, crypto scams, bots and the political views of owner Elon Musk, the billionaire oligarch who is a vocal supporter and financial backer of Donald Trump.

Musk’s ownership of X and his updates to content moderation on the platform have been pushing brands and media groups closer and closer to the exit. This week, The Guardian media group announced that it will stop posting on X, describing the site as a “toxic media platform.” On Nov. 4, the Berlin Film...

Keith Olbermann has entered the chat.

The veteran media personality took to his Countdown podcast to detail a past “wholesome” relationship with New York Magazine D.C. correspondent Olivia Nuzzi amid the reporter’s current scandal with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Olbermann’s comments come as Nuzzi is on leave from the magazine after her editors learned of a personal relationship she had with the former White House hopeful, who is married to actress Cheryl Hines.

“The New York Post has advised me it intends to write a story saying that Olivia Nuzzi and I used to date. Fact check: true,” Olbermann posted on X on Tuesday. “We didn’t do much to keep it quiet. I just assumed nobody cared. Certainly it has nothing to do with the Rfk stuff. I also assumed it had been covered online somewhere. Nearly all of it was really nice and (god help me) wholesome.

Chicago – Last week, the world woke to the news that Phil Donahue, talk show pioneer in the 1970s and beyond, had passed away at age 88. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took an Exclusive Portrait of the talker in 2010, and the Portrait is republished as a contributions memorial to Phil Donahue.

Midwestern at heart, Donahue was born in Cleveland, and found his way to Notre Dame University, where he graduated in 1957. He began his broadcasting career in Cleveland, but his break came as nationwide notice was focused on his interviews, subsequent work as a news anchor in Dayton, Ohio, and as a stringer for the Walter Cronkite-era CBS Evening News. His Dayton radio show “Conversation Piece” early on scored a triple historical talk coup with then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson and activist leader Malcolm X.

Phil Donahue in Chicagoland, 2010

Photo credit: Joe...

Ana Navarro is known best these days as a co-host on ABC’s “The View,” but she isn’t likely to bring up the connection when she hosts an evening of the Democratic National Convention this week.

Although “The View” operates under the aegis of ABC News, Navarro is not held to the same standards as its full-time journalists, because she is an opinion-focused contributor to the program, according to a person familiar with the matter, not a traditional journalist who is expected to avoid any potential appearance of bias. ABC News declined to make executives available for comment, but her role at “The View” is not expected to be referenced publicly.

Her appearance at the convention this week has generated some scrutiny on social media as well as stories by outlets such as Fox News and Entertainment Weekly.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me,...

You can always tell who lost a presidential debate by which party is slamming the moderators afterwards. And in the wake of Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s first 2024 presidential debate, many progressives are focusing their fire on CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, calling out the duo for not fact-checking Trump in real time during the 90-minute face off.

Thursday’s clash featured a performance by President Joe Biden that many are calling disastrous for his reelection chances, with CNN’s own post-debate panelists suggesting the president should consider withdrawing from the race.

But Biden’s behavior also distracted viewers from Trump’s numerous untruths, such as falsely claiming (per The Guardian, The Washington Post and New Republic) that Dems support post-birth abortion, that he had “best environmental numbers ever,” that Nancy Pelosi declined an offer to deploy troops on Jan. 6 (that’s not her purview, for starters,...

Craig Kilborn had a successful run as host of The Late Late Show, but left in 2004 due to feeling unfulfilled with late-night TV. Kilborn's departure wasn't due to conflict, but a desire to leave the repetitive late-night format; he enjoyed retirement with wine and good food. Kilborn now hosts a comedy podcast, The Life Gorgeous, showcasing his wit and vast knowledge in a freewheeling, ever-changing format.

Craig Kilborn is a Renaissance man when it comes to his body of work, appearing as a sports commentator, comedian, actor, and host of The Late Late Show. Kilborn's first introduction to national audiences came when he appeared as an anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, alongside hosts Rich Eisen, Keith Olbermann, and Dan Patrick, where he introduced his deadpan style of comedy and rapid-fire wit to morning audiences. Not content with sports talk, Kilborn moved onto late-night TV, taking over the brand new The Daily Show as host.

In response to the online backlash he’s received for his criticism of President Joe Biden, Daily Show host Jon Stewart has decided to take a masterclass in speaking truth to power — and who better to emulate than his old pal Tucker Carlson?

It has been 19 years since the Daily Show host went on CNN’s Crossfire and took Carlson and co-host Paul Begala to task for fomenting partisan discord. After Carlson remarked that Stewart was funnier on his Comedy Central series, Stewart shot back, “You’re as big a d–k on your show as you are on any show.

Tucker Carlson recently visited Russia to interview the country’s president/dictator Vladimir Putin and Jon Stewart has some thoughts. The Daily Show host addressed the Carlson incident after explaining the backlash he received about his show last week from Democrats.

“It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and then brain,” Stewart said, apologizing to those he upset with his “both sides rhetoric.” He added, “I can do better. I can haz learning. I can haz it. But I don’t even...

Nope, Jon Stewart isn’t walking back his criticism of President Joe Biden last week during his Daily Show return. If anything, Stewart kind of doubled down during his second episode Monday night, before spending the bulk of his opening segment tearing into Tucker Carlson’s Russia propaganda tour.

Stewart opened his second show back on the Comedy Central late night series by diving right into the backlash to his first (specifically citing this Hollywood Reporter story). Stewart had generated plenty of headlines — and big ratings — in an episode where he mocked Biden for his apparent age-related cognitive issues. Some progressives have slammed the segment, accusing Stewart of inadvertently helping Biden’s presumed election rival, Donald Trump.

“The response to the first show last Monday was universally glowing — Ok, maybe not universal,” Stewart said (video below) while showing screenshots of critical tweets. “But [the backlash was] on Twitter! Everything on Twitter gets a backlash.

With his very first episode back, Jon Stewart has successfully returned The Daily Show to the cultural conversation — by drawing fire from Democrats.

Stewart’s return to Daily Show hosting duties Monday night opened with a 20-minute monologue going after Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Stewart especially mocked the current president after his disastrous press conference last week where Biden struggled to assure Americans that he was still cognitively capable of performing his duties.

Stewart seemed wholly aware his comments would lead to some left-side backlash, with correspondent Jordan Klepper asking Stewart on-air afterwards, “Did you save democracy yet with your ’90s brand of snark and both-siderism?”

And that’s precisely the sort of blowback that happened, with everyone from progressives to Elon Musk to the White House weighing in.

Mary Trump — a vehement critic of her uncle — wrote on X: “Not only is Stewart’s ‘both sides are the same’ rhetoric not funny,...

One-time fans who perhaps remember comedian Jon Stewart only taking satirical swipes at conservatives while host of The Daily Show were shocked and aggrieved when he returned to host the program after almost nine years on Monday to take aim at President Joe Biden.

During an “Indecision 2024” segment that anchored the first half of the show, Stewart aired exasperation over Donald Trump and Biden being the oldest-ever candidates for president, breaking a record they themselves set in the 2020 election. (In his usual self-deprecating style, he also took a moment to...

SmartLess, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, On Purpose with Jay Shetty and Normal Gossip are among the titles in contention for the 2024 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards.

The category, which will be voted on by fans from Feb. 5 through Feb. 18, also includes popular podcasts Crime Junkie, The Daily, My Favorite Murder, New Heights, The Retrievals and Scamanda. Las Culturistas, hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, took home the top prize last year.

Other competitive awards span 29 categories, including comedy, crime, news, tv and film, sports, food and business.

In the Icon Awards categories, which honor those who have made groundbreaking contributions to the industry, Wrongful Conviction hosts Maggie Freleng and Jason Flom will both be honored with the 2024 Social Impact Icon Award. Jonathan Goldstein, host of the Heavyweight podcast, will be honored with the 2024 Pioneer Icon Award.

The podcast Rotten Mango will receive the Innovator Award presented by YouTube, which...

Sports Night's cult status can be attributed to its wonderful characters, with Josh Charles' portrayal of Dan Rydell being particularly special. The series boasted a perfectly balanced ensemble, but Dan was the utility player who could fit into any story, making him a factor in every plotline and a key part of the show's overall success. Charles' performance as Dan was impressive in its balance, seamlessly switching between over-the-top comedic moments and deeper, more dramatic aspects of the character that were ahead of their time.

Sports Night is still a part of the television lexicon, 25 years after its debut on ABC, for a myriad of reasons. The series introduced TV viewers to a then still nascent Aaron Sorkin, who had penned the Academy Award-nominated films A Few Good Men and The American President -- the former based on his successful Broadway play -- but had yet to become a bona fide superstar.

Keith Olbermann had blunt words for Bill Maher follower the latter’s announcement that he is bringing back his HBO talk show, “Real Time With Bill Maher,” despite the ongoing WGA strike. The political commentator and “Countdown” podcast host took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell Maher “fuck you.”

“Without writers, the new weekly Scab edition of ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’ will be 83 seconds long,” Olbermann wrote. “As somebody who’s known you since 1978: Fuck you, Bill, you selfish and unfunny scumbag.”

While Maher is the first late-night host to bring his show back amid the strikes, he’s certainly not the first TV host. Drew Barrymore has been facing backlash since announcing that her eponymous daytime talk show is returning amid the strikes, and ABC’s “The View” is already airing new episodes. CBS’ “The Talk” is also returning later this month.

“Can’t wait to tell...

Fans are mourning the loss of Bob Barker after the longtime host of “The Price Is Right” died Saturday at age 99.

Upon news of Barker’s death, celebrities began taking to social media to pay tribute.

Read More: Bob Barker, Longtime Host Of ‘The Price Is Right’, Dead At 99

Current “Price Is Right” host Drew Carey, who took over the show after Barker’s retirement in 2007, honoured his predecessor via Twitter.

Very sad day for the Price Is Right family, and animal lovers all over the world. There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t think of Bob Barker and thank him. I will carry his memory in my heart forever.#RIPBobBarker

We love you

— ʎǝɹɐƆ ʍǝɹᗡ (@DrewFromTV) August 26, 2023

Adam Sandler, whose character was famously punched out by Barker in “Happy Gilmore”, also took to Twitter to describe him as “The man. The myth. The best.

With CNN facing a storm of criticism for its handling of a town hall event with Donald Trump, the network’s star anchor Anderson Cooper addressed the backlash on air Thursday night.

The cable news network has been on damage control since Wednesday night’s calamitous town hall moderated by Kaitlan Collins, an event that saw the former president repeat a number of lies about the 2020 election, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the pandemic, as well as peddle conspiracy theories and disparage and defame a sexual assault victim who had just this week been awarded a $5 million settlement against him. Pundits from across the political spectrum were almost unanimous in thinking that the event was a huge win for Trump and an unmitigated disaster for CNN.

On CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°, Cooper opened the show by directly addressing the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the town hall, acknowledging...

For the third time today, a prominent figure at CNN attempted to reframe the network’s roundly-criticized town hall with former president Donald Trump on Wednesday night, an event moderated by Kaitlan Collins.

Collins anchored CNN’s 9 p.m. hour tonight, opening the show by making the case that the town hall “was a major inflection point in the Republican party’s search for its next nominee and potentially the starting line for America’s next presidential race.” She noted that Trump is the Republican front runner.

“About last night,” Collins began. “The 70 minutes I spent on stage in New Hampshire with former president Donald Trump was a major inflection point in the Republican party’s search for its nominee and potentially the starting line for America’s next presidential race. It’s important to remember that he is, right now, the GOP frontrunner, a race that he is running,...

In the aftermath of the shock ouster of NBC Universal’s CEO, industry executives present a tale of two Jeff Shells. To some, Shell’s acknowledgment that he was departing because of “an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company” came as a bolt from the blue. To others, not so much.

“I’m totally flabbergasted,” says an executive who says he was close to Shell. “Jeff was supposed to be the buttoned-up guy.” Asked if he had suspicions of improper conduct, a former NBCU executive says, “No, not at all. Not even a whiff. Not even an inkling.” Another, though not a fan of Shell, says, “I’ve never seen any of that [kind of behavior]. Never. I’ve never even seen him be flirtatious.”

A different portrait emerges from other NBCU sources. Shell “always had a crush on someone,” says one (female) former insider. “I knew he had crushes and said inappropriate things.

As the news that both Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were out at their respective networks hit the front pages this morning, a slew of boldfaced names began to react, chiefly to Carlson’s departure.

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy used it as an opportunity to plug his own network.

“For a while Fox News has been moving to become establishment media and Tucker Carlson’s removal is a big milestone in that effort,” he said in a statement. “Millions of viewers who liked the old Fox News have made the switch to Newsmax and Tucker’s departure will only fuel that trend.”

Related: Don Lemon Exits CNN; Host Says He’s Been Terminated By Network After 17 Years

Keith Obermann, who is no stranger to cable news and a multiple-network guy himself, wrote, “I’d just like to congratulate @TuckerCarlson on getting fired from the middle @cnn and from the left...

Exclusive: Veteran sports and news broadcaster Keith Olbermann has signed with Buchwald.

Olbermann is the host of the podcast Countdown with Keith Olbermann for iHeart. The podcast, which averages more than 1 million downloads per month, includes a news-driven mix featuring his trademark “Special Comment” segment, and his readings from the works of James Thurber.

Olbermann’s career spans multiple networks including ESPN, CNN, Fox Sports, TBS, Current TV and MSNBC, where he hosted the long-running nightly news and analysis program Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He helped launch startups like ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Net and Rko Radio, and hosted news, politics and sports programming for ABC.

He also anchored election nights for MSNBC and the World Series for Fox.

Olbermann is the winner of three Edward R. Murrow Awards and author of six books, the first of which was published when he was 14.

All inquiries from members of the press directed to Twitter’s official press email now receive the same automatic reply: a poop emoji.

Elon Musk, who bought the social media company for $44 billion last year, relayed the update on his own Twitter feed over the weekend. The 51-year-old billionaire’s report drew 80,000 likes and thousands of retweets and replies, some of whom posed the rhetorical question of how young Musk must be reveling in a poop joke. (Others noted that the barnyard stance on press relations for such a vast and influential platform is also not exactly the stuff of comedy).

Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has elicited rounds of media backlash with several moves, including suspending journalists’ accounts and continually goading the media. “Some of the smartest people I know actively believe the press … amazing,” he wrote last month in one characteristic tweet.

Last December, the accounts of journalist Aaron Rupar,...

The battle for cable-news viewers is coming to March Madness.

CNN intends to run a new promo during the heavily watched NCAA men’s basketball tournament that throws a sharp verbal elbow at Fox News Channel and the legal defamation case filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems. The promos will air starting this weekend on TNT, TBS, TruTV and CBS, all of which carry the games under a joint rights agreement held by the owners of those networks, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, which is also the parent of CNN.

Fox News Channel is not mentioned in the promo script, reviewed by Variety, but the references are clear. “What should you expect of a news network?” asks the narrator. “Some bury the truth, while we fight to reveal the facts. The only side we are on is yours.” Viewers see images of CNN correspondents and anchors such as Abby Phillip and Clarissa Ward.

Fans, admirers and former colleagues honored broadcast legend Barbara Walters, who died Friday at age 93, hailing her talent and skill as a journalist and the barriers she blew open for women in media over her decades in the business.

“Barbara Walters never flinched when questioning the world’s most powerful people. She held them accountable. She cared about the truth and she made us care too. Fortunately, she inspired many other journalists to be just as unrelenting. We are all better off because of her,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote.

Moments after the news broke, Oprah Winfrey posted a touching tribute on Instagram. “Without Barbara Walters there wouldn’t have been me—nor any other woman you see on evening, morning, and daily news,” she captioned a photo of them together. “She was indeed a Trailblazer. I did my very first television audition with her in mind the whole time.”

“Grateful that...

News media and entertainment personalities were quick to react to the news of Barbara Walters’ death on Friday evening. The TV interviewing icon was 93.

Her colleagues in the news business, from ABC News and “The View” to the many actors and entertainers who were inspired by her pioneering journalism, remembered her as “breaking the glass ceiling” and “paving the way for so many,” as Rosie Perez said.

Disney CEO Bob Iger was among the first to post on Twitter, saying, “I have sad news to share today. Barbara Walters passed away this evening at her home in New York.”

I have sad news to share today. Barbara Walters passed away this evening at her home in New York. pic.twitter.com/fxSyU6BQk4

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) December 31, 2022

Fellow TV icon Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to Walters on Instagram, writing: “Without Barbara Walters there wouldn’t have been me — nor any...

Piers Morgan’s Twitter account was hacked overnight and spewed a series of crass and racist comments for nearly an hour before it was shut down and wiped clean.

The feed for British TV commentator’s program on Sky, “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” posted a screenshot of his now-blank profile, stating, “In case you were wondering, @piersmorgan has been hacked.”

In addition to removing the F-word and N-word strewn comments, Twitter wiped clean all other posts Morgan has shared with his 8.3 million followers since he joined the platform in November 2010.

“Any chance of getting him back, @elonmusk?” the “Piers Morgan Uncensored” post asked Twitter’s owner.

Also Read:

4 Winners – and One Loser – of Big Tech 2022 | Pro Insight

The incident began late Monday, and Twitter users, including journalist Yashar Ali, quickly began posting screenshots of some of the racist and abusive posts with comments that it appeared Morgan’s account had been hacked.

Click here to read the full article.

Chris Licht has responded to criticisms of CNN’s changes to news coverage, calling some of it “uninformed vitriol” and declaring that much of what “passes for news is name-calling, half-truths and desperation.”

In a new interview with The New York Times published Sunday, the network’s chief executive opened up about his departure from late night, his relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and his (publicly criticized) moves during the first eight months running the media company. That includes revenue losses, the complete reduction of Hln, the shuttering of CNN+ after less than a month and other, more recent layoffs, which he at one point told staffers would not happen as a result of the Warner-Discovery merger — and now have him feeling like “I have to win that credibility back” with staffers.

While talking to the Times, CNN’s chief...

Click here to read the full article.

Twitter temporarily banned the “free promotion” of specific third-party social media platforms through link sharing as well as social media link aggregators, the company announced Sunday, before walking back the policy that night.

“We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter,” the Twitter Support account tweeted out during the day. “Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.”

As of Sunday night, the tweet had been removed, and the status of the policy remains unclear.

https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1604531261791522817

Social platforms that were prohibited as of Sunday included Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel,...

Twitter has reinstated the accounts of the prominent journalists who were suspended Thursday after billionaire and self-avowed free speech enthusiast Elon Musk silenced several of his high-profile critics.

New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, Mashable’s Matt Binder, CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan, The Intercept’s Micah Lee, political commenter Keith Olbermann, independent journalist Aaron Rupar, and freelance journalist Tony Webster were removed from the platform Thursday night.

In response to Breitbart‘s Rebecca Mansour concern over the suspensions, Musk declared a “7 day suspension for doxxing.

Fourth Update, Saturday, 3:35 Pm Pt: Journalists’ account may have been reinstated, but that doesn’t mean they are functional.

CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan appeared on the network Saturday and noted that he did not post a direct link to @ElonJet at all and has declined to remove a tweet in dispute. “There is an option to appeal, so that is what I am doing. We’ll see what’s happening,” O’Sullivan said. He said Drew Harwell of The Washington Post also is appealing.

“We’ll see what happens. It is all getting a bit absurd,” O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan’s tweet, posted on Thursday, read, “Earlier today, the Mastodon account tweeted a link to the ElonJet account on its platform. Linking to ElonJet accounts on other platforms is against Twitter’s new rules that were put in place yesterday.” The tweet then had a link to “another...

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Elon Musk took to Twitter Friday night to announce that he would be reinstating the accounts of multiple high-profile journalists who were suspended from the platform Thursday.

On Dec. 15, former MSNBC and ESPN host Keith Olbermann, CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan, New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, Matt Binder of Mashable, freelance journalist Aaron Rupar and Tony Webster were among those suspended from Twitter.

A few hours after the news broke Thursday, Musk began a poll on his account, asking his nearly 122 million followers whether he should “unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time” now or in seven days. More than 58 percent of the 3.7 million people who voted on the poll said now, resulting in Musk reinstating them.

While it was not clear why the accounts were suspended in the first place, some of the journalists had...

Elon Musk’s flagship company Tesla’s stock hit a new two-year low of 150.04 on Friday morning, prompting renewed concerns that the billionaire’s recent acquisition and chaotic management of Twitter is crumbling the bedrock of his financial empire.

The stock dive took place the morning after Musk booted several prominent journalists from the platform, and after Musk spent the better part of this week offloading more than 22 million shares of Tesla stock, worth over 3.5 billion. Musk has now sold almost 40 billion worth of the electric vehicle company’s stock in the last year.

NBC News has temporarily removed journalist Ben Collins, who covers disinformation and extremism and their intersection with digital venues, from regular reporting on Twitter and Elon Musk according to a person familiar with the matter, citing remarks on social media that the NBCUniversal news organization felt were not consistent with its editorial standards.

NBC News declined to make executives available for comment, noting in a statement that it would not comment on personnel matters. The decision regarding Collins was previously reported by the online news outlet Semafor.

NBC News made the move earlier in December after cautioning Collins several times about his commentary regarding Twitter and Musk on several occasions, according to this person. Collins remains on staff and has been active on Twitter in recent days.

Meanwhile, Musk’s moves to silence a cadre of prominent journalists on Twitter has opened a widening schism between the social-media property and several mainstream media outlets.

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A number of high-profile journalists and commentators were suspended by Twitter on Thursday night with no warning, and without any obvious sign of what caused the suspensions.

Among those suspended were former MSNBC and ESPN host Keith Olbermann, and CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan. Other journalists suspended Thursday included New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, Matt Binder of Mashable and freelance journalist Aaron Rupar.

It is not immediately clear why Twitter, now owned by billionaire Elon Musk, suspended them, though some of the journalists covered and have been in some cases critical of Musk. Olbermann, shortly before being suspended, tweeted a link to a Mastodon social account that tracked Musk’s private jet (the Elon Musk jet account had been active on Twitter, until Musk changed the terms of service earlier this week to ban accounts that share real-time...

“The View” hosts were quick to call out Republicans’ hypocrisy on Monday, as they discussed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo comments on the Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout prisoner swap.

After 10 months in a Russian prison, WNBA player Griner was brought back to the U.S. in exchange for the Russian arms dealer. Pompeo made his feelings clear, saying that this swap sets a dangerous precedent and will make it “more likely” celebrities will be taken hostage.

Whoopi Goldberg, however, wasn’t having it and reminded viewers that former President Donald Trump freed 5,000 Taliban members for no reason during his presidency and faced little to no blowback.

“I do want to point out that ‘You Know Who’ traded for no one and gave 5,000 Taliban guys,” she said. “How come no one is bitching about that?”

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Ted Cruz attended the Astros World Series Parade on Monday, only to be heckled and assaulted by the Houston crowd.

After being booed and flipped off by crowd members, one attendee threw a White Claw can at the senator as he rode by on a military jeep.

In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died This Year!

Ted Cruz pulled off what I thought was impossible- getting booed at a championship parade. pic.twitter.com/B4oVgP404Q

— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) November 7, 2022

Video footage of the incident shows the can hurdling towards Cruz and the senator deflecting it with an outstretched arm. The men accompanying Cruz begin pointing to the perpetrator in the crowd. In the video, the crowd can be heard booing loudly.

Beer flies at Ted Cruz during Astros World Series Parade pic.twitter.com/lRALgyXCe2

— Alien Truther Wildwest (@wcgroovy) November 7, 2022

The Houston Police Department said Cruz was hit...

Elon Musk took over Twitter this week and promised to make the social media platform the place to go for free speech. The tech boss raised eyebrows after he tweeted, then deleted, a tweet that amplified an unfounded claim around Paul Pelosi’s brutal attack.

Hillary Clinton’s verified Twitter account tweeted an article to a Los Angeles Times story about the suspect that attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband in their San Francisco home.

“The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow,” read the tweet by former Secretary Clinton.

The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must...

When Alex Wagner debuts her new MSNBC show on Tuesday, she will be taking on an unusual arrangement that came about following Rachel Maddow’s contract renewal with NBCUniversal.

While Maddow, the network’s top-rated personality, will continue to host her show on Mondays, Wagner will fill the 9 p.m. Pt slot the rest of the week.

Comparisons are inevitable, but while Alex Wagner Tonight will share the same executive producer with The Rachel Maddow Show, Cory Gnazzo, and Maddow has figured in promotions for the debut, Wagner said, “This is going to be a different show.”

“We are trying to figure out the ways we can carry through some of the incredible intellectual rigor and informative analysis that Rachel has established in the 9 p.m. hour, and how we can make a through line with what we do Tuesday through Friday, and also add in some new elements that are reflective of my experience,...