TVSquad

First off, I love this blog and I frequent others in the network. Plus, I hate Access Hollywood and all shows like it. Now, I don't want to be offensive, and I don't mean to be and offer my heartfelt apologies in advance... BUT... A writer for a TV Blog calling a national TV anchor a fake journalist? Even on a crummy show like Access Hollywood, the guy's still reaching a lot more viewers and must have put in his licks somewhere...

And I think Access Hollywood has every right to get bent out of shape over the incident. Sure, they may be tabloid journalism at best, but they're still entitled to moments of indignity when their job is hindered by some stupid ass publicist. Maybe Jessica's married life isn't a burning issue or even important, but like it or not it's a show about celebrities' lives. We're not talking paparazzi here - this is a controlled environment set up when "our people talked to your people."

AH is right on their page when they say Jessica is a person who GOT famous by airing everything about her marriage - but now that things are on the rocks all of a sudden she's entitled to privacy? Sure, the question was off-topic, but do you think if it was George Clooney or someone with real class and intelligence they'd have their publicist run to the rescue? Why is Jessica Simpson immune from embarrassing and/or personal questions when every other celebrity is not? And Jessica didn't even do the good thing and flip out or walk off like most decent celebrities would - she hid behind her publicist.

"Fake" journalism or no, I know what it's like to get screwed in an interview by some stupid publicist. It sucks, and instantly creates an air of "I'm so important I don't have to answer your questions." They're taking it seriously because it's their job. The same way you can see your fellow bloggers across the network getting bent out of shape when people make brash accusations against integrity in the comments. The same way I'm sure, as much as I love this blog, this comment will be offensive and/or off-putting. If you want to see people who take themselves too seriously, head on over to sister blog Joystiq. I love them all, but they're getting a bit too self-righteous lately.

Thus ends my longest Weblogs, Inc. post ever.

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Tucker.. You are so right.

Billy is a highly qualified celebrity journlist. I mean he as a BA from Colby College in International Studies for crying outloud. And he has like only hosted the MISS USA pagent for the last 3 years..

This guy has worked his way to the TOP and deserves a little respect from Ms. Simpson.

I put him right up there with Ryan Seacrest.

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I agree with Tucker. It may be a dopey entertainment show, but I'm glad someone actually asked a question a celebrity wasn't expecting. I mean "real" interviwers like Diane Sawyer and Matt Lauer are more like entertainment reporters nowadays, so it's only fair that an entertainment reporter ask a question that stuns a celebrity. Lauer and Sawyer could have been tougher on their respective interviews with Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson.


The main reason I hate shows like these is that they provide an outlet for these stars to express their self importance and promote their shows, music or movies. The fact that someone actually took a star by surprise with a relevent question (she did say in an interview that she was seeking therapy) has actually made one of these shows interesting for me.

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Jason - you're missing my point. He could be Donald Duck for all I care, but don't call someone a "fake" journalist because of an instance in which they're clearly trying to be a "real" journalist. I guess I should take it all back - it was my bad, he shouldn't have overstepped his bounds and just stuck to talking about the shoes. Shame on you, Billy Bush, for trying to pretend like you're some high-falootin' journalist. Stick to reading the press releases, please.

Look, I'm not trying to defend "entertainment journalism" (especially when on an entertainment BLOG), but whether he went to Columbia University or dropped out of high school - give the guy a little credit for trying to ask a question viewers would actually care about.

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I stopped watching this show when I realized it was owned by NBC. They loose all credibility in the realm of entertainment, with that fact. It is not a news show, it's shameless propaganda. So the "fake journalist" nametag works for me.

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Seriously - if Billy B or ANY person who sits down to conduct an interview actually has the right to ask their own independent questions taken away, it's no longer called an interview, it's called a COMMERCIAL which Entertainment Tonight does on a regular basis. Good for Billy and Access Hollywood for literally exposing the whole PR machine for what it really is.

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I watched the "interview". Miss Simpson and her "peeps" as she referred to her spokewoman, were in the wrong. Billy is a totally innocuous guy. He asked about her trip for her alleged charity work... I wondered why the spokeswoman would not let Jessica asnwer that question, as one would think a celeb" would LOVE to talk about her charity "work". But Billy got shut down then too - then today the news comes out that Miss Simpson was meant to spend TEN DAYS with these children in Africa for Operation Smile, and instead spent only two - with the excuse that she "had become ill and could not get out of bed". HOWEVER, she was not too sick to go on a safari, which she did instead!!

I have always noticed that Miss Simpson has a FULLY different persona when the cameras are on than when they, well, aren't - so it was funny that Access Hollywood kept theirs running thorugh the whole deal - apparantly she was not aware, because when Bush got back to the "acceptable" questions, she turned right back into Miss "Ain't Ah Sweet"! And no, she's not.

If you want to know the truth about Jessica Simpson, wait on her at a restaurant when there are no cameras around. No fooling. We saw that real person in Oklahoma City during her "Reality" tour. When her waiter came to intruduce himself, and say he would be their server for the evening, etc, Simpson interrupted him, yelling,"Where is my drink! Why don't you know who I am?" and some other crap I shut out of my mind. She was really lucky that the man who waited on her is the of the sweetest, most laid back guys around, or this story would have been front page on every mag around. Incidentally, Nick looked humiliated over Jessica's behavior,(at the restaurant) and Ashlee was very kind, and fairly embarrased as well.

I'm not in the least bit surprised that Billy Bush had a bad day with her too - in the scale of "important people" in Simpson World, how much higher does Bush rate than a waiter doing his job in Oklahoma City?

Amy

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