Katie Couric and Sean McManus: Chipper at CBS in Spite of It AllMore troubles for Sam Zell, Heather Mills is coming to town, and half of Bear Stearns employees are facing the ax. Click through to read the rest of our news roundup from the fields of media, law, finance and real estate.
gossipmonger
Somebody Get Jerry Seinfeld’s Cars Off the RoadJerry has more car trouble, Cindy Adams takes the stand, and Shelley Ross gets the last cackle in today’s roundup of all the dish from New York’s gossip columns.
gossipmonger
For Cecilia Sarkozy, Revenge Is a Dish Best Served During the Venetian HourCecilia Sarkozy, the ex-wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, is set to get married to PR exec Richard Attias in New York on March 22. (Friends say it’s a “revenge” wedding.) Shelley Ross was so hated in her capacity as executive producer of CBS’ The Early Show that CBS News president Sean McManus didn’t even wait to find a replacement before firing her. Colin Farrell tried hitting on model Meghan Lowther at the Rose Bar, but found out the hard way that she has a boyfriend. The April issue of Elle features an interview given by Michelle Williams right after she broke up with Heath Ledger. New York real-estate giant Steven Fisher, best known for turning the aircraft carrier Intrepid into a museum, is trying to get his own TV show. Gossip Girl’s Conor Paolo wants, uh, Daniel Day-Lewis to join the cast.
in other news
CBS Gives Katie Couric Another Thing Not to Smile AboutIf Katie Couric had a real Facebook page, one that just her friends could see, for the past couple of years you could just imagine that it would have this constant status update: “Katie Couric is disappointed.” After her ratings at CBS News slumped and the network became less supportive of her, you might imagine that she’s sort of just generally a little disillusioned all the time. So you almost forget that there might be specific things that she’s disappointed about. Like presidential primary debates, for example. Today, we learn from the Observer that she wanted to host one (as anchors tend to do — Anderson Cooper alone moderated, like, fifteen), but for various reasons a CBS debate never materialized.
intel
Anchor Dan Rather Left Out of ‘48 Hours’ Twentieth-Anniversary PartyEverybody who is anybody in television news — with one glaring omission — showed up for last week’s twentieth-anniversary blowout for 48 Hours, which, after 60 Minutes, is CBS News’ most durable magazine program. On hand for the party in the twentieth-floor lounge at 230 Fifth Avenue were CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, CBS News president Sean McManus, 48 Hours executive producer Susan Zirinsky, former CBS president Sir Howard Stringer, and former news president Andrew Heyward.
Missing was Dan Rather.
The original anchor of 48 Hours — who, along with Stringer, got the show off the ground in 1986 with a highly rated pilot, “48 Hours on Crack Street,” and pushed the network suits to put it on the weekly schedule — wasn’t invited. In an awkward phone call before the celebration, Zirinsky explained to Rather that he couldn’t come under the circumstances.
in other news
Dan Rather Rails Against ‘Corporate Overlords’ Colluding With ‘Powers in Washington’Part of what Dan Rather was hoping for, in his $70 million lawsuit against former employer CBS, was the ability to open to public scrutiny the company’s actions that led up to his ouster in 2005. So it’s no surprise that when the network asked Manhattan Supreme Court to keep documents concerning Memogate private, the former anchor got a bit upset. CBS originally said it would keep things public, but they have backed off that. Rather, who wanted the public to see all the information involving the media giant’s investigation into the origins of disputed memos about President Bush’s National Guard Service, railed against network execs. “It is a fact that corporate overlords working in secret collusion with the powers in Washington are intruding far too often in far too many newsrooms,” he said. “Corporate overlords? “Secret collusion”? “Powers”? What is this, a Wachowski movie? Whether or not he is right, Rather isn’t doing himself any favors in the battle to rescue his reputation. He, of all people, should know how much phrasing matters.
Rather: CBS Bosses Hiding Truth [NYDN via Jossip]
in other news
Katie Couric Thinks Cindy McCain Looks Like ‘a Husky’Harry Shearer has another funny outtake clip of Katie Couric, this time broadcasting from New Hampshire during the primary. Greatest lines include “Giuliani’s dead. I mean, you know what I mean,” “Oh shit oh shit oh shit,” “[Cindy McCain] looks like a husky!” and “I don’t know much about Huckabee.” Click above to view — it’s sort of boring and riveting at the same time. But it raises the question: How does Harry Shearer keep posting these things without backlash from CBS News and Couric herself? Unless Katie secretly likes this stuff slipping out
Katie Couric 1 [My Damn Channel]
Earlier: Katie Couric: ‘This Tart is Ready to Go’
early and often
Hillary on ‘CBS Evening News’: Motherly, TerrifyingIf you were watching CBS News last night (and we know that’s not all of you), you saw Hillary Clinton in her exclusive interview with Katie Couric. Hill had to get it out of the way before the CBS writers struck; otherwise she’d have to face the same fate that John Edwards and Michelle Obama did with The View (i.e. pulling out at the last minute and getting bitter estrogen whiplash for the rest of the race). For the interview, she decided to wear a smart black suit with turquoise earrings and a matching necklace. Mrs. Clinton looked good, we thought. And as the questions went on, we began to think that she was warm, smart, and almost motherly. Then the interview took an ugly turn.
Couric: [Warmly, almost pityingly] If it’s not you, how disappointed will you be?
Clinton: [Matter-of-factly] Well, it will be me. But of course, I’m ready to support the Democratic nominee, whoever it is.
Couric: [Still warm, definitely pitying now] I know that you’re confident it’s going to be you, but there is the possibility it won’t be and clearly you have considered that possibility.
Clinton: [With a voice like a crackling glacier] No, I haven’t.
The Huffington Post has the clip. It’s too bad. We understand the need for her to maintain her sense of inevitability in the primary, but it seemed a little demented. We love Hillary, and she was really personable until that moment, after which she suddenly turned into the kind of thing we would imagine during sex in order to delay orgasm.
Couric To Clinton: Has She Considered Not Getting The Nomination? “No, I Haven’t.” [HuffPo]
company town
Judith Regan: At What Price, America?MEDIA
• Jeff Bercovici wants to know: “What’s Regan’s price for selling out her country?” After all, if Regan’s info on Giuliani is that damaging, shouldn’t she divulge it in any case, no matter how much Uncle Murdoch is willing to offer? [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• Dan Rather’s lawyers are getting fed up with CBS nondisclosure agreements. “Who do these guys think they are? The National Security Agency?” [NYO]
• Intrepid Observer reporter spends 45 minutes staring through a window just to see who showed up to a lame Times party. Now that’s journalism! [Media Mob/NYO]
company town
Kanye West and His ‘Bazaar’ Angel MuralMEDIA
• Kanye West says Harper’s Bazaar “pissed me off” when they reported the rap star’s L.A. home features a giant mural of himself with angels. “That made me so mad. Because who would want to hang out with a guy with an 8-foot picture of an angel of himself?” Too bad Harper’s got almost every detail right, and Kanye is indeed featured in the painting. [WWD]
• CBS News writers voted to authorize their own strike. Watch out, Katie Couric! [NYT]
• Did Star really pull on an online poll because Ron Burkle, the billionaire investor the mag flattered with a recent photo spread, wasn’t doing well enough? Star claims they’re just planning to publish the results in the next issue — plenty of time to stuff the ballot box. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
company town
Rove, Regan and Rather: Crazy? Or Crazy Like Foxes?MEDIA
• How did Judith Regan’s high-level lawyers let her bat-shit-crazy legal complaint get through? Oh that’s right, she’s Judith Regan. [Legal Pad/Fortune]
• CBS finally got around to filing their motion to dismiss Dan Rather’s suit. The network claims they are “mystified” by Rather’s “bizarre allegations,” and that the lawsuit amounts to a “regrettable attempt by plaintiff Dan Rather to remain in the public eye, and to settle old scores and perceived slights, based on an array of far-fetched allegations.” [NYO]
• Karl Rove signed on to become a regular contributor to Newsweek. Maybe they should consider changing their slogan to “fair and balanced”? [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
in other news
Koppel Offers Dan Rather Support, Well-Thumbed Copy of ‘The Secret’Ted Koppel got kind of gushy about Dan Rather at a Fordham University forum put on by the National Academy of Arts and Sciences this morning. According to TV Week, Koppel said he “hurt” for the former CBS News anchor, who recently filed a $70 million lawsuit against the network and Viacom. Koppel characterized the situation as “a travesty” and said he hopes the lawsuit will give Rather “relief from his [emotional] pain.” And why wouldn’t it? Personally, we can’t think of a better way to heal one’s emotional pain than a nice roll around in a giant pile of money.
Koppel on Rather Suit: Squeezing Out of Newsman was a ‘Travesty’ [TV Week]
in other news
If Rather Burns Down CBS News, Couric Will Rise From AshesMost people seem to think Dan Rather is nuts for filing his vengeful $70 million lawsuit against CBS. And frankly, amid all of the hubbub and surprise, it’s hard to remember the facts. But Mary Mapes, the 60 Minutes producer who fell on her own sword for Rather during the whole Bush–National Guard reporting mess, walks readers through it pretty simply in her Huffington Post blog, and she raises a good point. Rather, she says, is right in wanting to defend his reputation over this point – and might do some serious damage.