After a hectic awards season, it would make sense that E! Entertainment would take stock of all that happened and didn’t happen on their red carpet specials. One of the most glaring absences is the lack of a Brangelina interview with E!’s official red carpet host, Ryan Seacrest.
Seacrest famously asked rude questions of Brad and Angelina at the 2007 Golden Globes red carpet. Seacrest then made it worse by whining about Brangelina’s treatment of him during his radio show. Apparently for this year’s red carpet shows, Seacrest thought all would be forgiven. He didn’t take the hint when Brangelina ignored the E! box at this year’s Golden Globes, and instead Seacrest went racing after them. He got totally ignored, which was really funny. The next day he admitted that he shouldn’t have run after them.
After the Globes, Brangelina stopped by the E! box to talk to Guiliana Rancic at the SAGS, and at the Oscars, Brad only gave Seacrest a quick soundbite while Angelina ignored Seacrest again. Now there’s further proof that either Seacrest or E! executives were really chastened by the whole situation. According to 2007 tax filings, E! (and their parent company Comcast) donated $250,000 to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2007. Fox News has more:
You can’t blame a media outfit for trying: E! Entertainment Television, the sort of armpit of celebrity TV, donated $250,000 to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation last year.
Theirs was one of just four donations to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s joint charitable fund. The others were Angie ($1,194,911) and Brad ($956.961) themselves, and “Ocean’s Eleven” (Twelve and Thirteen, too!) producer Jerry Weintraub ($5,000).
Not even People magazine, often accused of getting exclusives from the couple by tantalizing them with remuneration, is listed in the now available federal tax filing from 2007.
Who knows what E! — which is owned by cable provider Comcast — thought it was buying? Maybe some extra face time on the red carpet? They certainly weren’t going to get it with headlines like this one from their online gossip back on February 20, 2009: “Angelina — From Sex Kitten to Emaciated Mama.”
It’s not clear whether E! curried any favor with the couple because of their donation. Other than using the Pitts to film a “Wild On…” episode on the beaches of Cambodia, or making an E! True Hollywood Story about the Darfur genocide, the payback results are unknown.
The E! donation certainly added to the stunning amount Jolie & Pitt gave away through this foundation in 2007: $3.4 million. Where did the money go? It’s nice to say it did not go to any kooky religions or cults. Instead, the couple put the money to causes they’ve been vocal about. The largest single recipient was Pitt’s Make it Right Foundation in New Orleans, which got $1,364,320 million. They also split $1 million evenly among three different UN based organizations working in Darfur, Pitt’s other pet cause. Another $400,000 went to Cambodia’s children’s causes, a country from which they adopted a child, plus $150,000 to a project in his name: the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center.
Pitt, by the way, is involved in two other charities as well: his Make it Right Foundation in New Orleans, with a $15 million endowment; and the Not on Our Watch group concerning Darfur.
From Fox News
I totally believe that this was E!’s way of apologizing to Brangelina for La Seacrest’s 2007 hissy fit. The celebrity couple must have known about the sizable donation as soon as it came in, and yet they’re still denying Seacrest more than a year later. Maybe Brangelina is hoping for another donation to make it all better? Or maybe Seacrest really is that big of a bitch to talk to on a red carpet. No amount of money will make it better.
maybe seacrest should make the donation…not E, i don’t see why they would do it to make up for his crappy interview, charity should be given because they care…not to score future “exclusive interviews/pictures”
I still don’t see why they had to donate. But since I’m not a worshipper, I guess I never will.
Asking them what they ate for breakfast isn’t rude, stupid? Yes.
La Seacrest = La Douchebag
Doubt it’s about Seacrest. E! probably gives to a number of different charities but theirs is the most famous.
Well considering that Brad was the only one of the 2 nominated, and Angelina was only there to support her partner, Ryan Seacrest should’ve only directed the questions to Brad. And as you can clearly see in the picture above, she was very polite and gracious to Seacrest, but I guess that drama queen wanted more, since she is the more fun half of the couple, who could blame him. But he should’ve understood why she stood in the background and let her nominated partner take the reign. And it didn’t help Gaycrest that her mom died just 2 weeks later, it only made him look more like a bitch.
Couldn’t E! just donate Seacrest himself, maybe to a charity far far away?
A while back two E photographers and maybe a low level producer were caught trespassing on Pitts property. I have a feeling this donation was the “out of court” settlement for the criminal charges. Could be wrong, but it makes sense.
Wow, E! truly does have its lips pressed to Brangelina’s a$$.
Agree with you, Sauro. His questions weren’t rude. If they don’t want reporters asking about their kids, then they should stop talking about them, period. I wouldn’t have donated (read kiss their a$$) over that. Ridiculous. His job IS to ask questions.
It was a legal settlement by E! for E! staff trespassing on their property/home in Los Feliz in 2006 when Brad and Angelina were not there, breaking a lock on a gate, looking in windows, trying to access the home’s interior and taking photos, and the E! staff was caught by contractors on the site and then arrested by police.
If E! were giving money to apologise for Ryan Seacrest then they should give it to the public at large, he really is pretty awful.
But have to laugh at Fox News calling E! the armpit of celebrity TV, they themselves are after all the armpit of TV news.
I didn’t know about the break in on the Jolie Pitts’ property. That’s so TMZ. I agree with Kap though thatthe donation was probably recourse for that.
After the first red carpet encounter with them in 2007, didn’t Seacrest whine about how rude she was on his radio program and then her mother died a few weekes later? If my mother was dying, Ryan Seacrest would be the last person I’d want to see. He’ll probably never gain her favor because of that.
Why is is necessary that everyone has to talk to Ryan. Who is he. He wants to be Dick Clark. The difference is Dick could get an interview with anyone. Why?.. he had class. Ryan wants to be the STAR. If you are interviewing STARS.. then you can’t be one too. He is an ass. He was so rude to Miley (and I don’t even like her), and Freda Pinto.. Asking inappropriate questions. These Entertainment Interviewers need to learn to ask more interesting question. Angie/Brad have been asked the same stupid questions.. How many kids will you have. Are you going to adopt.. Will you get married. Same things over and over. How many times do they have to give the same answers. Ryan is not popular. Most Celebs don’t like talking to him. I loved the interaction between he and Alec Baldwin. Alec showed how dumb he is. If E decided to donate that was their choice. I am sure no one asked them to. Ryan needs to stay off the red carpet. Bring back Joan and Melissa. Never thought I would ever say that. If you look at the foreign press interviews they are so much more interesting then the American one. Sorry but true. The American press is still hung up on the same stupid stuff. Look at the Tabs Same old same old. No wonder their sales are down. But of course Brad/Angie will get the backlashe because this organization decided to do this. Not right, but nothing new.
“Angelina — From Sex Kitten to Emaciated Mama.”
She IS emaciated…and I have Comcast cable – I hope that some of that apology cash didn’t come from my payments.
Ryan DID NOT ask a rude question! He asked about what they had for breakfast!! “Cereal. We had cereal.” It was Angelina who was a rude cow. I am so mad at E! for kissing the a$$ these two and now they are just going to be brazen in their holier-than-thou attitude. YOU ARE NOT ABOVE DOING PRESS — news flash. No other stars were rude. and believe me, many many others were asked dumb questions. And they handled it with grace bc they are appreciative of their fame. DUMB MOVE, E! YOU HAD NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR.
i’m with suge… the pair were acting like pompous divas… when will stars realize that they are nothing without the public and should probably cater to our every whim… and when they turn on you, it’s over… just look at tomcat… 😀
the author of this post makes the most vague connections when analyzing a story. they also have a habit of making unsubstantiated informaion sound like fact. i would say the conclusion they came to about this story is probably not the case. i would also say that Seacrest’s interview of Brad and Angelina in 2007 at the Golden Globes was not nearly famously rude…it was awkward at best.
Right on L.
Taken from CB, Oscar highlights era, article also written by Kaiser:
“So Ryan, continuing his rude tour of the red carpets, decided to do an “in depth” interview with the kids from Slumdog. They are very, very young, and several of them didn’t speak English. So, of course, Ryan shoved his microphone in front of their faces and asked them questions like “What has this experience meant to you?”
After the Slumdog kids came and went (with considerable grace, considering), Freida Pinto and Dev Patel came up. Freida was radiant in a gorgeous blue Galliano, but all Ryan wanted to talk about was if Freida and Dev were dating. He asked the question several different ways, and Freida and Dev tried to laugh it off politely, but Freida especially seemed annoyed. Ryan ended the interview by asking her how many men are calling her, and she shot back “You should call me, Ryan” and walked away. Very classy, Freida.”
I had to work so was unable to watch, so I didn’t see this firsthand or anything. However, I think it is ridiculous that Seacrest can’t even ask a sensible question, like something re the dress designers, or something about the actual movies the stars are working on/nominated for. I enjoy reading about some of the personal stuff, but can’t we be just slightly more professional? Does what the Brad/Angie clan eat for breakfast have anything to do with it? This is why I don’t watch E! anymore. Stupid Seacrest.
I agree with Suge — I don’t recall Ryan Seacrest asking “rude questions” — he asked Angelina what she fed her children that day or something stupid like that. It was an inane question but not “rude.”
The big deal I think was that Angelina’s mother was very ill at the time, so that explained her somber mood. It was probably Ryan’s later criticism of her response that caused them to snub him. Seacrest probably did not know what had been going on with her mother.
I think it’s lame and obvious E! just wants back in the couple’s good graces for further interviews – not because they actually care about the cause. Lame.
Ryan is such a jerk for talking smack about the JP. When this first went down Angelinas mother was dying for petes sake, still this creep went on to bash her for not kissing his gay arse.
I’ve posted the link to the video of that red carpet video before, His questions were inane, but not terribly rude, and they were both perfectly polite to him. AJ did stand further away from him and seemed surprised to be the target of questions when it was Brad who had the nod that evening.
It was the events of the next day that were rude, when, just because they didn’t suck up to him, he decided to criticise AJ specifically. Unlike Suge, I didn’t watch all of the Seacrest interviews from the 2007 Oscars, so I don’t have them committed to memory – but i did see that interview.
The explanation that the donations does seem to be more restitution from the trespassing incident does seem to be the most logical to me.
How exactly did Baldwin slight Seacrest? Sorry to have missed it.
a$$ kiss much? geeze.
L and Jane deserve a shout-out.
My god I am so sick of Brad and Angie. Get over yourself and talk to the press when you are at a press event. They think they are so must better then anyone. Brad is an adulterer and Angie collects kids now instead of knives and cut marks. Secreast asks stupid questions but they ALL do. Answer them and move on or get out of the game.
I fail to see why anyone other than Jolie and Pitt would donate to the Jolie-Pitt foundation other than to just kiss their ass.
I don’t think the donation was for the ‘slight’, otherwise secreast would have been told not to be ‘rude’ again this year. He asked lame questions, a rude question would have been about their allegede adultery. Brangelina can’t take it when someone is not fawning all over their a-ss-es. They are so full of their own shaite.
I saw the Seacrest interview with the Slumdog kids and that wasnt’ rude either. He didn’t know that a few of the children didn’t speak English and some of the childred DID speak English. It is not an easy job to stand up there on the carpet and think of good questions off-the-cuff. Your mind has to work quick and yeah, so maybe some questions seem dumb to us but in the moment, he (and other interviewers) are just trying to be witty and think of questions to keep the conversation going. Also they have a duty (like reporters)to ask questions that they know the public wants to hear about. Because everyone is interesting in Brad, Angelina, and their kids, that is why he asked the questions.
Honestly, all these “snubs” to Ryan just show how petty Angelina is.
Agree with Kap and Mairead – restitution for trespassing seems the most likely explanation for this donation.
some of these presenters on e! tend to think of themselves as stars (i remember watching the daily ten when one of the top 5 stories were about themselves) and seacrest really think he’s a big star. fair enough he presents american idol and has his own radio show but thats no excuse for his ego. and i don’t think people were companining about his questions-it was the fact that seacrest, on his show whined on about miserable angie when, you know, her mother just died, that pissed people off. i hope he’s learned his lesson.
I don’t blame Angie for ignoring him. He asks inane questions and publically dissed her for not being all bright and cheery when her mom was dying… I’d ignore him too – just because he’s so damn annoying!
Just because her mother was sick is no excuse for her to be rude and smug. Sad, yes. Rude, no. If anything having your mom dying should give you a sense of compassion for others and the frailty of human life. If something incredibly sad happened to me, I’m not going to act rudely to others–that is just not the natural reaction.
Angelina was just doin’ a Chris Brown and making excuses for her actions after the fact!
i don’t think asking what the kids had for breakfast is rude, but bitching about it on the radio the next day is. no wonder they don’t talk to him now.
Sinead:
You should watch the interview on youtube before assuming that Angie was rude during the interview. Although you could tell she was not 100% herself and a bit distant (we later found out it was because her mum was sick), she was polite during the interview – although she did seem somewhat surprised that Ryan was paying more attention to her even though it was Brad that had released a movie.
The issue here, is what happened AFTER the interview. The dude went on his show and ran his mouth off. He should have kept in mind that exclusive interviews with Angie comes with a career boast and success fore him and kept his opinions to himself.
And why is Ryan is special? Why should Angie be crucified for not granting E! an interview. She spoke to other networks after all. So the comment by Muffett about them not talking to teh press is a lie. They DID speak to the press, just not E! news. So sue them
I watched the interview LIVE ON TV. I don’t need to go watch it on you tube to know she was rude.
If you blow up the session pictures in flickr you can see the original music…