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Emily, Levi's interview with Tyra Banks yesterday may have been catnip for haters, but it was mostly just a sad, sordid business. In the clip below (via HuffPo), Levi is just a moose caught in headlights. His affect is a combination of uncomfortable and dim, and it seems like his sister Mercede is running the show (which may explain the choice of interviewers). When asked why he no longer sees Tripp as much as he wants to, Levi told Tyra, "I think [Bristol] and my sister have got in some fights, and I don't think she trusts my sister." While he remained mum for the second part of the show, Levi did say that he and Bristol didn't always use condoms and that Sarah Palin did not force him to propose—nor did she force him to get "Bristol" tattooed on his ring finger. If Levi's learned anything from this experience, it's not to get someone's name etched on himself. "I wouldn't recommend it," he said. Check out Levi and his family below, and pray that Levi chooses to pull back from the press (and chooses to use condoms consistently). He would benefit from an injection of normalcy in his life, even if Sarah Palin continues to be in the public eye.
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Here's a clip of the frantic females fleeing the scene at the America's Next Top Model auditions on Saturday. Tyra is "concerned" about the situation, according to CNN. Who wants to bet that there's a very special Tyra Banks Show addressing the melee? Thanks to BuzzFeed for the tip.
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How ‘bout that stampede at the America's Next Top Model tryouts in New York City this weekend? If ever there were a green light for inside-the-beltway crowing at the fallen northern metropolis, this is it. Money quote from the New York Daily News report (complete with video, and screams):
Screaming as they ran for their lives, hundreds of hotties in heels toppled over barricades along W. 55th St. … By the time the model madness ended, six women were injured and two women and one man were busted for inciting a riot, authorities said.
"The girls were running like it was 9/11 part two," said Jennifer Brown, 27, of Kensington, Brooklyn. "I feared for my life."
Apologies for disrespecting those whose modeling dreams were crushed Saturday, but HA! Compare that to the civil proceedings that went on in our nation’s capital earlier in the month: Several thousand women—literal “shorties” this year, at the behest of the ever-enterprising Tyra Banks—tried out without incident. The Washington Post writeup painted a rosy picture:
"D.C.'s off the chain," casting director Michelle Mock-Falcon happily wrote in a text message to the show's producers … Proving that nothing -- bank failures, real estate foreclosures or a stock market freefall -- can dampen the spirit of young people with a dream, women from the Washington region and beyond waited patiently for hours in one line, then a second, and yet another, to get into the secret chamber for their casting call.
And, I submit, the caliber of analytic thought at the DC tryouts was exceptionally high:
“What is the craziest thing you have ever done?" was one question. Apparently, these women were not particularly crazy in the grand scheme of crazy: "Coming here" was a common answer.”
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Both Us Weekly and People put falling star Jessica Simpson on their covers this week, where they're defending her from nasty Internet chatter about her recent weight gain. (The smack talking was set off by these photos. Obviously, if the haters were going to be mean about something, it should have been the belt.) People went the uplifting, school-marm route ("She's Proud of Her Body: Stop calling her fat! Inside the bold choice to lead a real life") while Us practiced it's more typical schizophrenia, simultaneously sympathizing ("Jessica's Agony: Bullied for her weight") and twisting the knife ("Suddenly back with a trainer"; "She's tortured by food"; "Did Tony cheat?")
While I can't help but feel some sympathy for Simpson—I'm sure getting skewered for looking like a regular person isn't pleasant—when I think about how tiresomely manipulative the whole drama is, my compassion dissipates. Bottom line: Getting called fat is the best thing that could have happened to Simpson’s career, which is in desperate need of a boost. (The photos that started it all were taken at a chilli cookoff where she was performing.) As Oprah has taught us, nothing generates goodwill quite like courageous, highly public struggles with one's weight. The tabloids and Simpson have taken note and jumped on some Internet trash talk, hoping to reap the benefits in copies sold and minutes in the spotlight.
It worked for Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who were both recently involved in "You call me fat, I earn public sympathy" kerfuffles. Banks appeared on the cover of People ("You Call This Fat?") in January 2007. Besides aiding Banks' ongoing, ultra-serious mission to become Oprah's heir apparent, it helped drum up interest in yet another cycle of America's Next Top Model. After pictures of Hewitt in a bikini made the rounds in December 2007, she landed on the cover of People ("Stop Calling Me Fat"), possibly her biggest brush with relevancy since Party of Five. Eight months later, Us Weekly put her on their cover for losing "18 lbs in 10 weeks" because, obviously, it's great to be comfortable with your body, but better to be a size 2.
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