First, let’s talk about these amazing photos!!! Jon Stewart was out and about in NYC yesterday with his dog, Champ. Champ only has three legs!! OMG. I didn’t know Jon Stewart had a three-legged dog, but that is just… adorable. It makes me love Jon even more, and I’m already pretty much crazy in love with him.

Anyway, the latest controversy with/about Jon is that Donald Trump is trying to start something with him. And I do think that’s how it’s going down – Jon was just minding his own business, doing The Daily Show and doing his thing and Trump was looking for a new victim to bully now that the overwhelming majority of people think Trump is a frothing-at-the-mouth wingnut (especially after his call for armed revolution against… a duly and fairly re-elected president). So Trump tried to start something and Jon Stewart had some fun with that:

Jon Stewart has a lot of fans — but Donald Trump is not one of them. After a bit of back-and-forth between the two, beginning with a tweet from the real estate tycoon and culminating in a joke at his expense during the Daily Show on Wednesday, May 1, Trump again took to Twitter to voice his less-than-favorable opinions of the comedian.

“If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his heritage!” the Celebrity Apprentice boss wrote on Friday, May 3.

“Jon Stewart is a total phony — he should cherish his past — not run from it,” he added. “As I’ve said many times before, Jon Stewart is highly overrated.”

The drama between the two started on April 24, when Trump insulted the Daily Show host’s intelligence on Twitter. “I promise you that I’m much smarter than Jonathan Leibowitz — I mean Jon Stewart,” he wrote, prompting some followers to question whether he is anti-semitic.

In response, Stewart called out Trump on his show, joking that the business magnate’s birth name was “F–kface Von Clownstick.” The Donald was not amused.

“Amazing how the haters & losers keep tweeting the name ‘F**kface Von Clownstick’ like they are so original & like no one else is doing it…” he tweeted, adding that Stewart had stolen the moniker “from some moron” on Twitter.

“He’s an overrated a–hole,” he told a follower of the comedian. “Total phony.”

[From Us Weekly]

I’m fine with this. I’m fine with Donald Trump attacking Jon Stewart and I’m fine with Jon Stewart defending himself by making fun of F—kface Von Clownstick. I think this is a fair fight as far as “celebrity battles” go. What bugs me is when people treat Trump like he’s a legitimate political player with something to say about government or the economy. He’s not. He’s a petty windbag and a C-list celebrity who starts feuds and then whines when people disagree with him.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

This was all over the news last week, but for whatever reason, none of us wrote about it. I think CB and I included it in the links a few different times. Anyway, Hugh Grant and Stephen Colbert were taking part in a charity fundraiser in which they basically sat around the Montclair Film Festival and talked sh-t. Which is always fun!

Jon Stewart was asked something like “Who was your least favorite guest on ‘The Daily Show’?” and Jon replied that the worst guest was definitely Hugh Grant in 2009, when he was promoting Did You Hear About the Morgans. Jon said Hugh “was giving everyone sh-t the whole time, and he’s a big pain in the ass.” When Jon played a clip from the film (a clip in which the studio had sent over), Hugh complained, “What is that clip? It’s a terrible clip.” Stewart replied, “Well, then make a better f–king movie.” Jon told the audience at the film festival that he would “never” have Hugh back.

Well, after that story percolated for a few days, someone must have told Hugh Grant. And instead of getting all pissy about it and threatening to sue, Hugh acknowledged his mistake. Hugh’s on Twitter! And he tweeted this:

[Via Hugh’s Twitter]

Is it wrong that I think that was a completely appropriate way to deal with that situation? I mean, obviously, Hugh is a dick. He’s always been kind of a douche, but he’s also well-known for being able to turn on the charm and wit… when he feels like it. Obviously, Jon Stewart didn’t publicly bad-mouth Hugh when this incident actually happened, and the only reason it came up now was because Jon Stewart was doing a charity appearance and someone reported on his comments. Hugh handled the criticism appropriately and said he was in the wrong. This is how professionals SHOULD act, I think – God knows, everyone has an inner bitch they have to unleash at times, but it’s nice to see someone acknowledge it and take the blame.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

God, I’ve loved this week. So many Michael Fassbender photos! So many new Fassy interviews! Tuesday night, Fassy was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and that interview was absolutely charming. Fassy discussed his rock star dreams and “double-axing”. Then, last night, Fassy appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. This was another good interview, and just like Fallon, Jon Stewart managed to avoid talking about The Fassdong. It’s good that interviewers are moving beyond Fassy’s “impressive sausage.” In this interview, Fassy and Stewart talk about New York acting classes versus London acting classes, and there are several funny jokes about the Queen’s Jubilee.

You know what I kept noticing? Fassy strokes his beard a lot. I get that his beard is new and he can’t help touching it. But the way he strokes it is really, really distracting, right? Or maybe that’s just me being a Fassloonie and salivating at the thought (never mind the image) of Fassy stroking anything.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News, Fame/Flynet.

Here are some photos of Brad Pitt entering The Daily Show’s studio yesterday. As we discussed yesterday, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill have been all over the place promoting the DVD release of Moneyball, and incidentally campaigning for their Oscars. They already did Inside the Actor’s Studio, and the Today Show. I’m surprised Jonah Hill didn’t join Brad for this Daily Show appearance, but maybe Jon Stewart just wanted Brad all to himself. I’m including the videos from Brad’s appearance…

Part One – Brad and Jon are talking Moneyball, baseball and Oscar campaigns:

Part Two – Brad talks about New Orleans and Make It Right.

This was one of Brad’s better interviews, honestly. He was funny and accessible with Jon, and I hope Brad comes back to The Daily Show again.

I’m also including some interviews Brad and Jonah did with Vanity Fair for The Hollywood Issue. These aren’t all that groundbreaking or anything, but they’re interesting for the stans.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane was on Piers Morgan last night. I’m not a real “Family Guy” fan, but I recognize how gloriously obnoxious and funny it can be and I love how it pushes boundaries. There was a joke on “Family Guy” back during the Writers Guild strike of 2007-2008 making fun of Jon Stewart for continuing to produce shows instead of honoring the strike. (I can’t find that footage from “Family Guy,” so if any of you have seen it, please comment with a link!) After that happened, Jon Stewart personally called Seth MacFarlane up and bitched to him about it for an hour. On the show last night, Morgan questioned MacFarlane about this phone call with Stewart, and MacFarlane was all “how did you find out about this,” but he actually talked about it in a 2008 Time interview*. (I was ready to blame wiretapping.)

During the taping for tonight’s Piers Morgan, the muckraking Brit sprang questions about a never-revealed war of war of words between guest Seth MacFarlane andThe Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart. According to Morgan’s crack investigators, Stewart called the Family Guy creator up in 2008 after MacFarlane lampooned Stewart for continuing to air The Daily Show during the 2007 Writers Guild strike. MacFarlane described Stewart as “angry” and himself both “shocked” and “frustrated” during the hour-long the telephonic ambush. He explained, “I think [Jon’s] response was ‘Who the hell made you the moral arbiter of Hollywood?’”

When Morgan noted, “There’s a certain irony in Jon Stewart ringing up and haranguing you for mocking him, isn’t there?” MacFarlane responded, “If I say yes, he’ll crucify me on his show for a year.” MacFarlane, who admitted he was outmatched by Stewart’s phenomenal debate skills, was surprised Morgan even knew about the altercation, saying, “My publicist has forbidden me to talk about this ever since it happened.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Well MacFarlane did talk about this in 2008 as we mentioned, and after he told Time I bet that was when his publicist told him to can it.

I used to not get the appeal of this guy that so many of you adore, but now that I’ve seen him interviewed I get it. He has an infectious enthusiasm, and he’s open, funny and smart. I like what how he explained his position on this to Morgan. “In that situation I think it is incumbent on people in a certain position to stand up for the people who haven’t made it yet, if that can, if it’s low risk.

“My argument is that you’re the most successful guy on that network and arguably the most successful television personality in the genre…. He was not pleased. I think his response was, ‘who the hell made you the moral arbiter of Hollywood.’”

I really like Stewart’s humor and politics, and I get the urge to continue to put out shows during a long strike, but MacFarlane made a very good argument here. He also stood up for the union during the strike. Here’s a link to a video of him speaking at a WGA event in 2007. He said “A novelist receives fair royalties for their books, a musician receives fair royalties for their songs, screenwriters deserve fair royalties for their work.”

*Thanks to VideoGum for a lot of the background links!

I have no idea why I’ve been covering so much Olivia Munn stuff. To me, she’s almost exactly like Kate Bosworth or Rachel Bilson – which is to say, completely useless, a talent less famewhore. But unlike Bilson and Bosworth, Olivia is rather new to the famewhore game. It seems like it’s just been within the past year that she’s really begun to go to every single event, and tried to get her name in every single story. Maybe she got a new publicist or something. Maybe she’s trying to show Justin Timberlake that she’s got the right stuff to be his A-list girlfriend.

Anyway, these are photos of Olivia at last night’s first annual comedy awards. For the most part, it was a sausage party of male comedians, but there were a few women there, and they were all dressed in suits or business-cocktail kind of outfits. Olivia was the only one wearing a bright pageant gown. And why is she there again? Oh, right. Because she’s “funny”. Because her schtick is “the hot girl who cracks jokes”. Right.

A little Jon Stewart, if it makes you feel better. But I’m still mad at him for hiring Olivia for The Daily Show. She’s really ruined it, hasn’t she?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The Rally to Restory Sanity/March To Keep Fear Alive is coming up quickly! Only two weeks to go, bitches. Anyway, The Daily Show last night was epic – it’s their last show until they go to DC, one week from now. On last night’s episode, Stephen Colbert video-bombed Jon in the opening minutes of the show. Jon and Stephen discussed how the Fear rally didn’t have a permit, and they decided to join their rallies into “The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear”. That was good enough… but then a special quest star came on via video link around the 6 minute mark.

OPRAH!!! When Jon was on Oprah’s show a few weeks ago, she told him that she was hurt that she had never gotten an invitation on his show, and he basically told her she was always welcome. So she “snuck on set” and left tickets for every audience member to come to the DC rally! That’s so OPRAH! It was actually very cute.

For more information about The Rally to Restore Sanity, go here.

As we previously covered, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez went on a radio show last week and preceded to go off on Jon Stewart, calling him a bigot and a fancy-pants elitist because Jon is Jewish, and from Jersey, apparently. Jon then gently mocked Sanchez over the weekend as Jon hosted a charity event for autism. It seemed like it could have been over there, but this week has brought a new crop of Sanchez vs. Stewart news. First off, Jon discussed the situation on Monday’s Daily Show, telling the audience that Rick had called him personally to apologize for his comments, and that we should be going easier on him. Of course, he also had a lot of funny sh-t to say too:

Chuckle. So it could it have been over there. But it wasn’t. Rick Sanchez decided to release an oddly-worded statement to the press:

“On October 4th, I had a very good conversation with Jon Stewart, and I had the opportunity to apologize for my inartful comments from last week. I sincerely extend this apology to anyone else whom I may have offended.

As Jon was kind enough to note in his show Monday night, I am very much opposed to hate and intolerance, in any form, and I have frequently spoken out against prejudice. Despite what my tired and mangled words may have implied, they were never intended to suggest any sort of narrow-mindedness and should never have been made.

In the aftermath of these comments, CNN and I have decided to part ways. However, I want to go on record to say that I have nothing but the highest regard for CNN and for my six wonderful years with them. I appreciate every opportunity that they have given me, and it has been a wonderful experience working for them. I have tremendous respect for everyone there, and I know that they feel the same about me. There are no hard feelings – just excitement about a new future of opportunities.

I look forward to my next step with great anticipation. In the meantime, I will continue to promote my book, Conventional Idiocy, in the hopes of broadening the discussion to get a better understanding between all Americans, regardless of race, creed or religion.”

[From PopEater]

Did he fall on his sword hard enough for you? Eh. I agree with him that his words were “tired” and “mangled” but… was he really lashing out at Jon Stewart, or was he trying to attack CNN and “the powers that be” that gave his temporary timeslot away to Eliot Spitzer? Page Six thinks it’s the Spitzer thing:

Eliot Spitzer isn’t ready for live TV, sources say. CNN’s “Parker Spitzer” is pretaped and edited because the ex-gov and Kathleen Parker can’t take cues or stick to timing. A rep for CNN denied the show is pretaped to edit flubs. But an insider said watching the inexperienced duo bumble during rehearsals drove primetime fill-in Rick Sanchez over the edge, leading to his charge that CNN is run by bigots.

“Timing was a big factor in Sanchez’s blowup,” our source said. “He was frustrated that he was constantly being overlooked, he thought his race had something to do with it.”

Sanchez’s rep had no comment. With former CNN President Jon Klein and gaffe-able Sanchez gone, morale is higher at the network that prides itself on straight news.

“It was really the end of the Klein era when Sanchez was fired,” a source said. Klein was booted a week earlier. His replacement, Headline News honcho Ken Jautz, is universally liked for working his way up in news, unlike his predecessor, who was considered a gimmicks guy.

[From Page Six]

See, that actually makes me feel sorry for Sanchez. It must suck to see people promoted over you who have no idea what the hell they’re doing. That being said, I don’t think Rick knew what the hell he was doing in general, even if he did comprehend the basics of being on television. Oh well. Let’s see if Rick ever gets work again. It should be interesting.

Last Friday, CNN finally got around to firing their resident doofus, Rick Sanchez. Sanchez made a name for himself on CNN by saying really dumb sh-t, and for this now infamous, hilarious video of cops laughing at him while they taser him. Anyway, Rick was finally sh-tcanned because he totally went off on an anti-Semitic rant during a radio interview. He was being asked about Jon Stewart, and somehow that got Sanchez thinking about how Jews control the media (audio at Gawker here, I also put the full interview at the bottom):

CNN’s Rick Sanchez was fired Friday after telling an interviewer that ‘The Daily Show’ host Jon Stewart is a bigot and that “everybody that runs CNN is a lot like Stewart,” The New York Times reports. Sanchez, a daytime anchor on the network, was making an appearance on comedian Pete Dominick’s satellite radio show Thursday when he made the disparaging comments.

After calling Stewart a bigot, Sanchez, who is frequently mocked on ‘The Daily Show,’ continued his tirade. Even when Dominick pointed out that Stewart is Jewish and a minority too, Sanchez kept going, saying, “I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah.”

Audio of the interview went viral immediately and it wasn’t long before the anchor was let go from the network. Late Friday, CNN released the following statement: “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.”

Sanchez appeared on Dominick’s radio show as part of a tour promoting his book, ‘Conventional Idiocy.’ He hasn’t responded to requests for comment about the interview or his dismissal.

[From PopEater]

Ugh. Well… at least CNN fired him, right? Of course, they should have done that a while ago. Anyway, last night Jon Stewart and many, many other celebrities took part in an autism charity event last night, and Jon managed to get in a few digs about Sanchez:

Jon Stewart stayed mum during the recent commotion over at CNN, where Rick Sanchez was fired this week (after a six-year career at the network) because of inflammatory — now infamous — remarks he made on a satellite radio program about Stewart’s ethnicity and upbringing.

However, at a fundraiser in New York City last night, the stand-up comic in Stewart couldn’t resist making a few cracks about the controversy.

Playing emcee for the taping of Comedy Central’s ‘Night of Too Many Stars’ (airing Oct. 21), the ‘Daily Show’ star entreated viewers to donate to the cause of autism education, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Then he qualified the request, joking: “If you went on radio and said the Jews control the media…you may want to hold on to your money.”

In a clear reference to Sanchez (and his caustic public comments saying that people who are Jewish wield power at TV networks), Stewart added, “All he has to do is apologize to us, and we’ll hire him back.”

The aptly titled ‘Too Many Stars’ benefit was indeed lousy with comedy’s biggest names, including appearances by Tina Fey, Chris Rock, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan.

David Letterman made a punchline out of the CNN brouhaha, too, telling the crowd he was in town just “helping Rick Sanchez clean out his office.”

And making an appearance at the performance, even wry, retired anchor Tom Brokaw reportedly ribbed Sanchez while onstage.

[From PopEater]

I like the second one – “All he has to do is apologize to us, and we’ll hire him back.” It’s good that people are already making fun of Sanchez, because he totally deserves it, and laughing about it is better than having a “serious discussion” about anti-Semitism and the media. I just listened to the full interview excerpt (below), and this guy’s stupidity knows no bounds. He thinks he doesn’t have the career he wants because “guys like Stewart” keep him down – it’s like he’s never acknowledged that his own prissy martyr complex and unending stupidity is one of the big reasons he doesn’t have the career he wants. Here’s the interview:

I apologize in advance for the somewhat crappy video below – I couldn’t find any clips of Jon Stewart’s appearance on Letterman last night on YouTube. Anyway, I always love when Letterman and Stewart are together. Jon so clearly admires Letterman professionally, and I think Dave gets a kick out of Jon. Just my personal opinion? Jon is cooler and more awesome than Dave. I can’t help it – no one cracks me up like Jon, and it helps that he’s a really nice guy too. Anyway, during the show Jon and Dave started talking about Jon’s recent (awesome) appearance on Oprah, and that lead to a discussion about Dave’s history with Oprah. It was really funny:

Talk show host David Letterman had a legendary 16-year-long feud with his rival, Oprah Winfrey. But what was the cause of their mutual animosity? Most people think it was started when Dave hosted the Academy Awards in 1995. He kicked off show by making a really awkward (and unfunny) joke, where he pretended to introduce Oprah to Uma Thurman.

The “joke” was that he repeated their odd names again and again: “Uma … Oprah! Oprah … Uma!” he said, continuing the leaden gag for what seemed like an eternity. Every since then, people have assumed that this is why Dave and Oprah disliked each other. But on ‘Late Show’ (weeknights, 11:35PM on CBS), Dave revealed the actual reason — he stole a free lunch from Ms. Winfrey!

Letterman related the tale to guest Jon Stewart. “She hated me,” he told Jon. He then discussed an incident that took place “long before” the infamous Oscars failure.

Apparently, Oprah and her boyfriend were at an expensive French restaurant when Dave and his then-girlfriend Regina showed up. David then came up with a “clever” idea.

“This is hilarious,” he said to his girlfriend. “I’m gonna make Oprah buy us lunch.” Oh, man! Don’t mess with the queen of showbiz like that! But the impressive part is that Letterman actually managed to pull it off. He simply told the water that the “lady” at the next table had agreed to pay for his meal. Then, upon leaving the restaurant, he waved cheerfully at Ms. Winfrey — sealing the deal (at least in the waiter’s eyes) that the two of them had an arrangement. Thus was lunch stolen from one of the most powerful women in America.

But was some free French food worth starting a feud spanning nearly two decades? Jon Stewart didn’t think so. “Oh, for f#ck’s sake,” he said, after hearing about the prank. … On the other hand, Oprah is worth at least $1.5 billion, so she can definitely handle picking up the tab from time to time. However, Dave also has a fair amount of money himself.

[From TV Squad]

Yeah… do you really think Oprah was pissed about Dave’s dine-and-dash? Perhaps. I really do think that she just didn’t give a crap about David in general and she was just being a good sport when she finally gave into Letterman’s nightly pleas.

In addition to Oprah, Jon and Dave also discussed Glenn Beck too (video courtesy of Mediaite):

Love the comparison of Beck to a comic. Excellent.

Jon outside of the Ed Sullivan Theater on Sept. 28, 2010. Credit: WENN.