Levi Johnston and his revenue-raising nut ad/Playgirl pose; David Letterman and his ratings-boosting Mea Culpa. The Fame/Disgrace line grows ever thinner. Jon & Kate have no discernible talents yet their Divorce From Hell hogs headlines. Is there any ‘disgrace,’ these days, that doesn’t pay?
The hero of my CELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE loses his virginity ‘on camera,’ and sex-texts his way into fame/disgrace in Bravo Sierra’s forthcoming film. This Master of Disgrace will be played by super-intense JULIAN BRAND (see his photo here & his clips on Vimeo.)
I believe Julian will make ‘Daniel’ worth watching– but what about real-life celeb.s who are, as my Daniel puts it, ‘born of their own disgrace’? Which scandal-stars do you bother to brake for? Which do you wish would Get a Life Sentence, already? When will the first Book Deal be signed for Letterman’s lovers? Will Dave L. eventually pay a ‘price’? When will Levi Johston–set to pose for Playgirl– wear out his welcome? (Not before my Bristol Palin roman a clef is finished and printed, I hope!) WDYT?
i feel sorry for the extortionist. he seems complex, a little tragic. how did a smart person think he could cash a $2M check? and dave’s behavior toward him was cold and humiliating.
Hi Complex:
Refreshing to see a compassionate view of the extortionist– it does sound like he’s had a hard lot and I agree Dave L. isn’t coming off well in all this no matter how high his ratings climb–
anyway, thanks & stay tuned… E
I know this is mean spirited but the celebrity wish most to be in Disgrace is Garrison Keillor.
Maybe it’s all those mornings waking up to NPR on the clock radio and knowing I had to go to work at my sucky job and listening to him on The Writer’s Almanac like he’d annexed all of American Literature.
And that closing benediction of his: ” Be Good. Work Hard. And Keep in Touch”
Who did he think he was, my Presbyterian Minister?
An ordinary garden variety sexual harrassment suit would slake my thirst. The trite kind where he fires a young woman whose advances he spurned. And maybe the revelation of an embarrassing personal detail.
Wow, Judith– I like your candor! Can’t recall what GK’s mini-scandal was all about; it was a couple years ago– was it ‘just’ a divorce? Just can’t remember, or maybe I am only imagining there was a scandal w/ him? What you mention– an intern? Clearly my brain is fried by too much blogging! But I appreciate your bold pronouncement here– and remember, no need to apologize for ‘mean-spirited’ impulses on the CelebsinDisgrace blog– just let those spirits run free and see where they lead…E.
PS: I do have to defend GK’s Writer’s Almanac– since he put me on there, briefly,
two birthdays in a row– But I agree with you about the Benediction schtick…
I wish Lindsey Lohan would seek out professional help instead of publicity. I recently saw photos of her where she resembled a worn-out Donatella Versace — fake tan, leathery skin, inflated fish lips. And Lindsey is only 22! If you’ve ever seen Lindsey’s parents interviewed on TV, it’s clear that this girl never stood a chance. Very sad story all around. I don’t enjoy watching someone self destruct in public.
Hi Caitlin: YES and you describe it so vividly; she has that trainwreck-waiting-to-happen aura that Britney S. owned last year; yet Britney seemingly pulled back from the brink– don’t know if LL has got it in her to do the same (still, when they carried Britney away on the stretcher I felt sure it was The End for her, but you never can tell…Anyway, yes, your perscription is right-on: Professional Help instead of Publicity (Britney got both, and seems to have pasted herself together for the time being…)
Thanks for the comment; you’ve got some star-level descriptive ability there; keep em coming– E.
Britney has relatively normal parents. Lindsey’s mom has been clubbing with her for almost a decade, and her father…ugh. He hangs out with Jon Gosselin and sends messages of support to his daughter via the media. Some dad.
I am VERY SAD that I know all of this. Someone please organize a PEOPLE Magazine intervention for me!
Yes, include me In if you find someone to Intervene PEOPLE-wise!
But meanwhile: fascinating to hear this about BS vs LL– hmmm; the Dad hanging out with Jon G. really says it all– and the Clubbing– at first glance I thought you meant the Mom hit her with a club rather than ‘hit the clubs’ with her–
either way, a lot to handle for a kid who probably got famous way too fast, a la Michael Jackson– Wasn’t LL super-young (also super-charming) back in the days of Freaky Friday? My brain is too full of these freaky facts– maybe an Exorcism is more in order than an Intervention–
But till then, there’s always the Celebs in Disgrace blog for free online therapy– good to hear from a celeb.-addict soul sister–
E
Lilo was a child star — soap opera, the PARENT TRAP remake, FREAKY FRIDAY, and then MEAN GIRLS, which shot her into superstardom.
People used to make fun of Brooke Shields’ stage mother back in the day, but no one messed with Brooke and she turned out fine. She graduated from an Ivy League school, carries herself with class, and has a career that has been around almost as long as I’ve been on this earth! That says something about her childhood. She appeared nude as a teen and did some crazy things professionally, but personally her mother kept a tight rein on her.
As a teacher, I can say that consistent parental involvement and love totally makes a difference in a child’s life. When a parent views the kid as a moneymaking machine or ticket to fame (a la Lilo), it’s a recipe for disaster.
YES– I forgot about PARENT TRAP– plus MEAN GIRLS– you really are a font of celeb. info! Yes, Brooke S’s mom did get a bad rep.; the Stage Mom role is a tough one to play. I get confused, though– I thought Brooke S. and her mom were estranged for a time. But I may be confusing her with another Mom/Daughter– anyway, Brooke does seem unusually OK for a child star, and she even survived that plane crash this week!
Keep the freaky facts coming; don’t fight it– you are a genuine Celeb. Scholar! What do you bet American colleges will offer degrees in that subject before long– xx E
I’m rooting for Levi. The PG pose is a great career move as the dangle of his flag announces “I will do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g for money.” Blue jean ads, cameo role in horror/soft porn flick, his own fashion line: Le Disgrace’, a drawn out, on again off again, affair with Lindsay Lohan, and a bonus back studio faceoff between Lilo’s mom and Sarah will all follow. Sarah’s Levi- causticity-glands will reach full boil out of sheer jealousy; for Levi is Sarah’s skyrocketing double; he shares her smalltown american sheer-ambition-in-a-vacuum, and yet, he is unfettered by her pretensions to govern. By August 2012 Sarah will have engineered a temporary reunion between Levi and Bristol. It will last through November before Levi signs a contract to host his own cable reality/porn series on a set characterized by scalloped red white and blue curtains and linens.
In my book, Letterman gave the b-e-s-t e-v-e-r public confession of a private dalliance. Lovely to see a little unfawning honesty starve out that public prurience disguised as moral outrage that feeds on secrecy and shame.
Yes! Great idea. It’s time to see Garrison K. take a fall. We must poke a hole in that great and ever inflating sanctimonious blimp of common decency. It hath swelled too large for our tiny human sea.
Whoa– Epic comment, Meiosis– Thanks and JUDITH, I hope you see you have found a soul-mate on Garrison K.–
I like the Levi prediction myself, but I want Bristol to be part of it; a Reality TV show for the two of them; if they were to join forces, Sarah wouldn’t stand a chance. Bristol is a fiction obsession of mine for the past year; I can feel how bad she’s wanted to rebel against her mother, big time. Part of the whole initial attraction to Bad Boy Levi. Bet Mama Sarah wishes she’d never dragged that boy onto the National Republican Convention stage and into the limelight. This comment does raise the intriguing question: what next, Levi? After Playgirl, what’s the next circle of Hell for Sarah & co? You can bet we’ll be covering it on the Blog. I always brake for Levi!
Letterman: not sure I’m as knocked out by his honesty as all that. He didn’t have much choice but to joke his way through this one. I just wonder why he and his lot ever get ‘married.’ If he was really so honest, I think he’d just declare himself a randy old Goat and have at it w/o a nice wife at home to horribly hurt. But I sure agree with the well-stated line: “public prurience disguised as moral outrage that feeds on secrecy and shame.” Yep: the American Way…
Keep the comments coming, Meiosis; I like how you’re seeing/imagining the Big Picture here on this tiny island blog in the human sea… Elizabeth
Yoou are right, of course: a little honesty in the first place would have obviated the entire scandal. I think candor was the word I was looking for. And I was so grateful Letterman spared us the public apologies, which aside from being singularly unfunny, always leave me the impression they’ve been rehearsed–in delicto, probably. “Creepy” got it just about right, and I admired him for staying there.
Meiosis– Hi again and yes, I agree with you here; ‘candor’ is more fitting; ‘honesty’ would have helped earlier on but once he was ‘caught’, David L. did have the sense to go with candor. And the show biz instinct to spare us the apology routine. Yes, ‘creepy’ is another good c-word here!