Whoopi Goldberg hosted the Oscars in 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002. She was the first woman to host the event, the first African American to host, the first Oscar winner to host, and the second African American woman to even win an Oscar, one of just four black female winners in the event’s 80 year history. She was shown accepting her award in the Oscar clip montages at last night’s Academy Awards, but wasn’t shown during one of her many hosting gigs.

Hattie McDaniel, the first black woman to win an Oscar, was also shown getting her Oscar in one of the clips. They didn’t show her walking all the way to the front of the room from the specially designated table for her and her guest at the very back. She won in 1939 for her hackneyed role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. It was a whole 50 years before another black woman took home a statue, and that was Whoopi. Halle Berry was of course shown giving her weepy over-the-top Oscar acceptance speech for best actress in 2001. She was the third African American woman to win an Oscar, and was followed by Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actress in 2006.

Whoopi talked about the apparent snub of her contribution to the event Monday on the roundtable talkshow she co-hosts, The View. Barbara Walters mentioned that she did see a clip of Whoopi accepting the award. Whoopi said that the video where the hosts were seen also failed to show Steve Martin, who hosted in 2001 and 2003 and Barbara said it was more of an Oscar memories video than one honoring all the hosts.

Whoopi said “Undoubtedly I pissed somebody off yet again.”

I definitely saw Ellen Degeneres hosting in one if the clips shown last night, and she was the second woman to host after Whoopi and only hosted once. Maybe the people who put the clips together were focusing more on the acceptance speeches and memorable moments and were under the gun and didn’t miss her on purpose. There weren’t many hosts in the clips unless something interesting happened.

The Academy’s clip montage team also failed to include a one or two second mention of Brad Renfro in their In Memoriam clip. A representative told TMZ that “It is simply not possible to include everyone in that segment.”

Here’s a link to an over four minute tribute to Brad Renfro, created by MissyVintage on YouTube. Just because someone dies of a drug overdose doesn’t mean their life was any less worthwhile than someone else’s. Not that the Academy was biased in excluding Renfro or Whoopi or anything.

Yesterday we got some heat for saying that Kathleen Turner seemed drunk on “The Today Show.” Many of you pointed out that she has a debilitating disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, and that any head-bobbing or speech slurring we picked out could be due to the effects of her medical condition and/or the medications she takes to cope with the pain. She’s been very outspoken about both the chronic pain she has and the way she’s tried to cope by self medicating with alcohol, a subject she covers in her new biography. Some of you commented that she looked fine in the video and that you could see nothing wrong with her while others said that she did look drunk and they recognized the signs from their loved ones.

Today on The View she again seemed a bit out of it, but she got through the interview fine and clearly explained herself, talking about her book and her chronic illness. She said that “living with chronic pain everyday is like torture… and that really led to the discover that alcohol kills pain. And then of course it went to excess, and I was drinking too much.” She said that when she did the play The Graduate she called a meeting with the cast and told them that she would take a pill every day, which sounded like Antabuse, so that they knew she could not drink.

Barbara Walters did question her directly about whether she still drinks and she admitted to wine occasionally. The moment where Barbara asked her about her drinking is at 1:05 into the clip, and she said she has “none of these urges” where she felt the “need to completely escape.”

As for Nicholas Cage being miffed about what she wrote about him, she repeated the same thing she told Matt Lauer yesterday. She said “I’m very sorry to have caused him any discomfort. It was over 20-some years ago, so it certainly wasn’t my intention to harm, and I think that’s all I’m supposed to say about it.”

Turner’s book, “Send Yourself Roses,” is currently available through Amazon.com.

Is conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh back on painkillers again? Huffington Post is reporting that Limbaugh got a little too up close and personal with Joy Behar, the stand up comedienne and co-host of ABC’s “The View.” At a movie screening in New York, Limbaugh reportedly ‘nuzzled’ with Behar as she was taking off her coat– much to her surprise.

Rush Limbaugh may be dating 31-year old blonde Kathryn Rogers when he is in Florida, but last night in New York he let loose and had a 64-year old redhead on the brain: Joy Behar. On their respective shows this morning, both Regis Philbin and Joy Behar discussed the way Rush (whose escort for the evening was 82-year old Cindy Adams) greeted Joy at last night’s screening of Bob Balaban’s “Bernard and Doris.”

Joy: “All of a sudden this humongous person comes up to me, from the left, a famous person — big guy — and snuggles and nestles my neck. Hello, Joy! And gives me the big kiss….squeezed me to death also.”

Regis had a different spin: “Joy Behar’s face was flushed. She enjoyed it. She LOVED IT!

[From Huffington Post]

The HuffPo posted this video of Joy discussing her unexpected brush with Limbaugh on Friday morning’s episode of “The View.” I can’t read minds, but I wouldn’t say that she “loved it.” In fact, the whole thing seemed like it shocked and embarrassed her.

This would be a most unusual pairing: Limbaugh has been the abrasive voice of conservative talk show radio since the late 1980s. In 2003, the host tearfully admitted, on-air, that he had been abusing prescription pain killers (after the National Enquirer had already reported it). He came under fire recently for his claims that Michael J. Fox was exaggerating his symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for sympathy. Joy Behar is quite vocal about her liberalism, and recently grilled Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on “The View” about his stance on abortion. Joy claims that after Limbaugh held her in an extended hug and nuzzled her neck, he advised her to “be bold.” “It was the best advice anyone has ever given me,” she said, rolling her eyes. Behar has a live-in boyfriend and has vowed never to marry again.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Remember when Rush kissed Mary Lynn Rajskub of 24?

Sometime co-host Kathy Griffin has reportedly been banned for a second time from appearing on that post-menopausal bitch-fest, The View. Seems that every time Kathy comes on the show, she uses it as fodder for her stand-up comedy routines, in which she mercilessly skewers the celebrity guests and hosts—including Barbara Walters.

Kathy Griffin is an outspoken comedian who has apparently stepped over the line, at least where Barbara Walters is concerned. Griffin does a dead on impersonation of Babs. She has been performing her standup act in a sold out run at Madison Square Garden. Her final show is tonight, and she had planned to be a guest on this morning’s broadcast of the popular talk show, The View.

Griffin apparently received a phone call yesterday from the shows producer Bill Geddie. He informed her that they have canceled her scheduled appearance because she was too mean to Barbara during her last special on Bravo.

The comedian said that she had been banned once before, but was incredulous to have been rebanned. Griffin is likely to use this momentary setback as fodder for her stand up act. Babs may regret the slight because of the ensuing fallout that is likely to occur.

[From Bitten and Bound]

Barbara Walters really needs to get over herself. It’s obvious that Kathy Griffin idolizes Walters, and is poking fun in the same, good-natured way a kid sister picks on her older sibling. Griffin herself has admitted to antagonizing Walters on the set because she loves trying to “shock” her. It also happens to be hilarious. Besides, Griffin isn’t the first comedienne to mimic Walters—Gilda Radner did a killer impression of Babs on Saturday Night Live back in the ‘70s. If Walters had been hosting this piece of crap show back then, Gilda probably would have been banned, too.

Jessica Seinfeld appeared on The View today, and she answered Barbara Walters question about whether she plagiarized Missy Chase Lapine’s book, The Sneaky Chef, by immediately launching into a diatribe about how people are jealous of the success of her book and “must be looking for cracks” to exploit.

Seinfeld came out with a book called Deceptively Delicious this fall about sneaking vegetables into your kids food by pureeing them up. It was a huge success thanks to Oprah, who featured Seinfeld and her duplicitous recipes on her show this October. Seinfeld has a marketing background and no experience as a chef. Missy Chase Lapine, the author of the earlier book The Sneaky Chef, which is suspiciously similar in both concept and content to Seinfeld’s book, is a chef on the faculty of The New School in NY City

When addressing the plagiarism charge on The View, Seinfeld appeared defensive and annoyed, like she was trying to hold back her feelings. After explaining that people try to cut you down when you’re successful, she quickly added while gesturing wildly with her hands that “I never saw her book, I never saw her recipes.”

Barbara Walters - “There were those who said you copied [the Sneaky Chef] so that must have been very upsetting.”

Jessica Seinfeld - “Well, I can understand why she would have been upset.

You know, first of all when you have a huge success, you know this, people tend to look for the cracks, look for anything that could break you down a little bit. You know there’s always a negative when there’s a positive. This was such an immediate success, this book, that I think that probably people were looking for things to pick apart. But anyway I can understand why she would have been frustrated. She did a book with a similar topic a few months earlier and, you know, it must have been hard to see how quickly my book took off.

(Gestures wildly) I never saw her book, I never saw her recipes nor as a person would I ever do something like I was accused of doing, but you know what ..”

Sheri - “You just got three kids and you were trying to get them to eat their vegetables”

Jessica - “I really didn’t have to do this book, it was something I really wanted to do, and I really wanted… ”

Barbara - “As we said you didn’t exactly need it to feed the family.”

Jessica - “No, we’re doing alright. (Laughs)

[Transcribed from The View video segment available on the Huffington Post and shown below]

So instead of acknowledging Lapine’s case against her, which is incredibly strong, Seinfeld simply said she must be jealous. Her husband responded earlier to the plagiarism allegations in an appearance on David Letterman by calling Lapine a “wacko.”

The two books are not only similar in their idea of getting kids to eat vegetables by working them into foods they will eat, like adding cauliflower to mashed potatoes, they include remarkably similar food combinations and even some suspect wording. The NY Daily News noted how similar the recipes really were:

Seinfeld writes about having an epiphany that, “While I was cooking dinner, pureeing butternut squash for the baby and making mac and cheese for the rest of us, I had the crazy idea of stirring a little of the puree into the macaroni. … The colors matched -you couldn’t really see the squash in there -and the texture was perfect.”

Lapine, who founded the Baby Spa natural products line, writes: “If you want to hide something in macaroni and cheese, you have to match the color of the dish. You could easily introduce white bean puree in the mac and cheese.”

Seinfeld and Lapine both have recipes for mashed potatoes with hidden cauliflower, grilled cheese with secret sweet potatoes, green eggs made with pureed baby spinach, and carrot-laced tacos.

[From The NY Daily News]

I’ve already written about this, but there’s no way all those same recipes are a coincidence. One or two might be explained away by similar thinking, but four recipes that are nearly the same?

Jessica Seinfeld told The Wall St. Journal when the allegations first came out that “I’ve never held that book in my hands, and I swear that on my life.” That’s quite different from saying she’s never seen it.

There’s no official lawsuit against Seinfeld yet, but I hope that she gets the pants sued off of her.

Jessica Seinfeld is shown on 11/15/07 at the “7th On Sale” Black Tie Gala, thanks to PR Photos.

Here’s the video, thanks to The Huffington Post:

For two days Jessica Simpson will be co-hosting on “The View.” I am guessing the other ladies are looking forward to a mind that is free of clutter, thoughts and political views. While Elisabeth Hasselbeck is off giving birth to baby number two, the ladies will delve into the usual topical conversations with a variety of co-host replacements.

“Jessica Simpson is set to sit in with the ladies of “The View” this November when she spends two days as a guest host. The actress and singer will guest-host on the ABC daytime talker on November 15 and 16. The show’s regular hosts are Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepard.”

[ET Online]

November 15^th and 16^th Jess is set be a part of the team of celebs to fill in. Samantha Harris (Dancing With the Stars) and Kassie DePaiva (One Life to Live) are signed up to help out. Kassie will be the first to keep Elisabeth’s seat warm. The bevy of celeb stars starts Wednesday Oct. 24^th. I know everyone will be setting their TiVo.

She is no stranger to the couch. She made an appearance on the talk show before just after her divorce and the entire John Mayer debacle. She delved into deep issues like shoes, dressing like a man to avoid the photogs and “all kinds of stuff.”

The View: How do you avoid the paparazzi?

Jessica: I don’t. I can’t.

The View: Is there a way to escape them at all?

Jessica: Not really. The whole, like, back door, hiding in trunks, wigs, disguise, dressing up like a man.

The View: Do you do that?

Jessica: Yeah, of course.

The View: On the other hand — on the other hand, I hope the day never comes when they’re not there. Then you say why don’t they care about me a little bit? You’re right.

Jessica: I might go through a little bit of withdrawal because I love fashion. So I like to, you know, sell my own boots and stuff. I use it for that. I look at it as a positive thing because I have a sunglass line coming out, all kinds of stuff.

Deep…very deep.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Jessica Simpson is shown at The Operation Smile 25th Anniversary Gala on 10/5/07. Thanks to PRPhotos.

It’s not everyday that Barry Manilow gets a mention in the New York Daily News, or on a bunch of blogs. But he’s thrown an awesome hissy fit, and that’s just where it landed him. Manilow, famous for that incredibly annoying “Copa Cabana” song that makes you want to find him and cut off his tongue, was scheduled to appear on “The View” today. Manilow didn’t want to be interviewed by Elizabeth Hasselbeck, due to her vocal right-wing, pro-war beliefs. A few sources said he refused to go on if she was there and a few more have said he just didn’t want to talk with her. It’s hard to say.

“Barry Manilow balked at the thought of being interviewed by ‘The View’s’ Elisabeth Hasselbeck, so the producer of the show tossed his appearance. Manilow, who has been on the show before - once he hugged Hasselbeck - was to be on today’s show. But the visit was scrapped when he asked to chat with anyone but Hasselbeck.

“Manilow’s spokeswoman and a ‘View’ source said show executive producer Bill Gedde canceled the visit - not Manilow. ‘His views don’t coinicide [sic] with hers,’ she said.”

[From the Daily News]

I would guess Manilow was fine before because the situation was different before. It seems that even celebrities that used to keep their politics to themselves have felt the situation reaching ridiculous and intolerable levels, and are speaking up. I’m not sure that it’s appropriate to ask Hasselbeck not to be on her own show, but I understand not wanting to get into a fight with her. Manilow posted a message on his website yesterday addressing the issue.

“‘I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy [Behar], Barbara [Walters] or Whoopi [Goldberg] but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck,’ he wrote. ‘Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request, so I bowed out.’

“A spokesperson for the chatfest declined to comment on Manilow’s exit.

“Manilow had appeared on ABC’s daytime talker twice in the past year without any such requirements, most recently last November. Of course, that was before his pal Rosie O’Donnell blew up at Hasselbeck over the war in Iraq and exited the show in May.

“Said Manilow: ‘It’s really too bad, because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album, so I hope you can catch me on those.’”

[From E! News]

We’ll get right on that Barry. Thank God he’ll be on a bunch of other shows – if I didn’t hear him sing “I Write the Songs” or “Weekend in New England” I would just freak the hell out. So though I don’t really care about Barry Manilow (except to mock, which is almost too easy and not all that fun anymore) it’s interesting to see a celebrity stand up for himself and his beliefs. Now if only a few more people would say that directly to George Bush.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Barry Manilow performing yesterday on the Today Show. When I was a kid I always thought he looked like a parrot. Can you see it?
Images thanks to PR Photos.

In her first show on “The View” on Tuesday, Whoopi Goldberg defended dog fighter/football player Michael Vick, saying that he came from the Deep South, and dog fighting was part of the culture there.

“‘He’s from the South, from the Deep South … This is part of his cultural upbringing,’ Goldberg said of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, whose recent fall from grace has been one of the most stunning in the history of U.S. sports.

“‘For a lot of people, dogs are sport,’ Goldberg said on the show. ‘Instead of just saying (Vick) is a beast and he’s a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned.’

“Veteran ‘View’ co-host Joy Behar took immediate issue with Goldberg.

“‘What part of the country is this? … How about dog torturing and dog murdering?’ she asked.”

[From Reuters]

Whoopi, I love you, but that’s waaaaaaaaaaay off base. First off, there’s reason to believe that dog fighting is considered barbaric by most of the country.

“Goldberg’s comments were denounced by Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, who disputed that dogfighting was a cultural fixture of the South or any other region.

“‘To suggest that there is some ethnic group or racial group or regional group that finds this acceptable is just not accurate,’ he told Reuters, adding that public opinion polls show opposition to dogfighting ‘is a universal value in America.’ He noted that dogfighting is outlawed in all 50 states, and a felony in all but two — Idaho and Wyoming.”

[From Reuters]

Secondly, just because something terrible is considered okay in one region doesn’t mean it is acceptable behavior. There were a lot of things that used to be considered okay in the Deep South that weren’t as common in the rest of the country. If we sat back and said, “Well it’s okay there so don’t be mad” the south would be a very different place today. And it couldn’t have been considered that okay, because Vick has pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges, and admitted that was involved in an interstate illegal dogfighting ring called Bad Newz Kennels. Vick also admitted that he helped kill dogs that underperformed.

Whoopi seems reasonably intelligent, so part of me is wondering if she really believes this, or is just trying to stir up some publicity for her new gig. If so, it’s clearly working – tons of papers and blog have picked up the story. There certainly aren’t a lot of people out there willing to defend Michael Vick right now, so that gets her some attention. It seems like she’s trying to make it clear that she’s going to continue Rosie O’Donnell’s role as instigator of controversy – though to what extent remains unclear.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Whoopi at the 6th Annual Tribeca Film Festival - Vanity Fair Party on 4/24/2007. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Well it’s not much of a surprise, but ABC announced that Whoopi Goldberg will fill Rosie O’Donnell’s position as the moderator on “The View.” Whoopi makes a lot of sense in that position, as she is similar to Rosie, though she strikes me as someone who is less easily baited. Like O’Donnell, she’s also a known commodity, and very liberal.

“I have known Whoopi for years,’ Walters said in a statement released to ABCNews.com today. ‘She is brilliant, funny and irrepressible, and is an enormously popular and talented star. We are delighted that she is going to join the program as our moderator. This is going to be a great new chapter for ‘The View.’”

Goldberg, 51, has sat in as a guest host since O’Donnell’s departure. She joins Walters and current “View” panelists Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar.

“This is a big old thrill for me,” said Goldberg, who appeared with her new colleagues toward the end of the show. “The thing I’m looking forward to the most are the hot topics and everyone trying to get in at the same time.”

[From ABC News]

Whoopi has been an outspoken opponent of the Bush administration and the Iraq war, so we’ll obviously see some more fighting with Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Somehow I don’t think it’ll be quite as personal as the Rosie v. Elizabeth matches, but who knows. Rosie could be a little immature and sink to name calling and the like. I can’t see that coming from Whoopi. But anything could happen, and “The View” certainly likes to boost its ratings with fighting co-hosts.

Nothing was said of the other vacant position, so no one knows if they’ll fill it or leave it open. Technically it’s Star Jones’ position that’s still open. Meredith Viera and Star left at about the same time, after Rosie had already been slated to fill the moderator position, which was Meredith’s. There was a lot of talk that comedian Sherri Shepherd would fill the other position, but no other names were mentioned by Barbara Walters.

“With her household-name status and vocal criticisms of President Bush, Goldberg will likely give “The View” the star power and sound bites formerly supplied by O’Donnell. On today’s show, she hinted that like her predecessor, she won’t shy away from contentious topics, regardless of whether or not her co-hosts share her opinion.

“’I’m going to be a little meaner than normal,’ she said jokingly.

“’Just be yourself.’ Hasselbeck said.”

[From ABC News]

Hopefully the show will take a slightly more sophisticated route this next season. All of the drama, in-fighting, and diva-like behavior really detracted from the smart things the co-hosts had to say. I know Rosie’s feud with Donald Trump helped her career (and probably his too) but I think it came at the expense of some dignity, for all involved. With any luck this coming season will be a little more mature, and a little less bitchy. Not that there’s anything wrong with bitchy.

Star Jones’s article for Glamour magazine is out, and she finally admits that she had gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. Star said that she decided to have the procedure after she gained 75 pounds in 17 months. After her fourtieth birthday, things slid downhill, and a lifetime of using food to comfort herself caught up with her. Here are some of the highlights from Star’s article.

On the physical effects of her weight:

“My weight gain began to take a physical toll: I couldn’t breathe without sounding winded; walk without getting tired; sleep without snoring; or take a flight without using a seat belt extender.”

On how she saw herself:

“I used to look in the mirror and take pride in my figure, but that was when I was legitimately a full-figured woman. I’d gradually gone from full-figured to morbidly obese.”

On why she didn’t talk about her surgery:

“Although I’d shared my decision with friends, family and my colleagues at The View, I wasn’t ready to invite the world into my process for a number of reasons: First, I didn’t know if the surgery would work. I had never stuck to a diet or committed to exercise for more than a month, and I had spent my entire adult life telling everyone that I was fine with the way I looked. I also never thought I’d have to explain it. I actually thought that I could say, “None of your business,” and people would say, “OK, she wants to remain private.” If that isn’t evidence of someone not living in truth, I don’t know what is.”

On therapy:

“We started with my need to control everything in my life yet not being able to control my weight… My therapist helped me discover I needed the adoration of others to feel good about myself. I learned that I couldn’t control what others thought; that I had to establish my own truth; that no matter what my truth was, some people were still going to see things differently; and that if I knew the truth, that was all that mattered. So I decided it was time to share my complete weight loss story because I now know that transparency is not humiliating—it is humbling.”

On hypocrisy:

“After I left The View, many women told me they felt empowered by my honesty over having been fired—but wished I was willing to be as honest about my weight loss. They were right: Gastric bypass surgery saved my life, and though I still believe wholeheartedly that health decisions are private and should remain between a doctor and his patient, keeping this decision private started to feel hypocritical and cumbersome. I couldn’t justify it any longer.” [From Glamour Magazine]

I’ve admitted that, though I don’t know why, I like Star Jones. Or at least I like to hear about Star Jones, but I was in college during most of her tenure on “The View” so it’s not like I saw her everyday like a lot of the people who find her irritating. I’m glad she came clean about her surgery. She was right that a person has a right to privacy about medical issues, but she had made so much of her life overly-public, that it was hypocritical to keep this to herself. To me, it came off as kind of vain, at least at the time. Especially because she talked about having a boob job after she’d lost weight, and even called into the show the day after her procedure to discuss it. So that came off as tacky. I’m guessing one of the real reasons she’s come clean about all this is that she has a new show on CourtTV this fall, and her producers knew audiences wouldn’t take her seriously if they thought she was still so vain and materialistic. Who knows if she’s really changed or if this is a PR move.