Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Shepard Smith Reveals He's Gay













Hey, everyone.
You know that one person at Fox News that you actually like? Yeah, No, Maybe so...Why? Well, here's one that I like: Shepard Smith. He's funny, witty, sensible, smart, cool and a really good (if not very good) journalist. Oh yeah, and--as revealed yesterday, he's gay.
Smith revealed his coming out in an interview with The Huffington Post in response to years of allegations that he was really truly not straight (after all, he has been featured on the Power 50 list by Out Magazine at that time then) as well--in turn--as years of rumors that former CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes showed antipathy towards his sexuality and tried to keep him from opening the door the public to advance the network's front as an clean All-American news network.

The quote:
“No, never. He treated me with respect, just respect,” He said. “I wasn’t new in the business when I came here ― I’d been doing reporting for 12 years ― but I wasn’t old in it either, and he gave me every opportunity in the world and he never asked anything of me but that we get it right, try to get it right every day. It was a very warm and loving and comfortable place.”

To be honest, this was a shock to me. In the years I've watched Fox News (on-and-off of course) I've never noticed him as anything other than a broadcast journalist that was seemingly straight as an arrow, married to a woman with kids, loves the long hair and boobies. And I've never even heard of the rumors of him being gay until now. But then again, I also once thought that Superman was real, McDonald's was the best food ever and Batman & Robin was one of the most kickass movies ever. (Clearly, I'm not the best at seeing into things under a microscope.) But enough about last year...

This news came out like a true bombshell and I thought this was just clickbait the afternoon I read about it. And considering that Fox News Channel is extremely well-known for Christian-bred, All-American, clean-and-civil, no-new-religion-or-sexuality, "Will someone please think of the children" attitudes and values in its programming and reporting (you know, bullshit), you honestly can't blame me.
But since this is Shep Smith, one of the few Fox News personalities that many people besides it's demographic (decrepit white OAPs) truly like and respect, coming out (and still probably having a job there)--especially at a time when the most crazy, out-of-left-field mind-fuck of an election season is still ongoing (as of posting this), this was super big to everyone. But...I don't mind it at all. For him to make such a huge bold leap to come out (especially on FUCKING FOX NEWS in 2016) doesn't make a big deal me concurrently. Sure it feels like all this makes him like a WWE face: awesome, entertaining, kickass, badass and with adoring fans watching every week. (Hell, even before this, he's just like that.) but, I didn't feel shocked for hours on end. I just read an article (at HollywoodLife of all places!), reacted a bit to it and moved on with my day. Other things were on my mind. So I applaud him for coming out.

As for the part about Alies treating Shep with respect as a journalist, I respect him for it. I still hate his guts after his sexual harassment scandal, but treating him as a person (let alone a journalist) instead of someone who he and most definitely the viewers as something he truly shouldn't be really gives him an ounce of respect from me. An OUNCE... That fucker is still scumbag for that scandal.

Even if he looks more hetero than Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy, Bill Hemmer or that fucking annoying and asine blowhard Sean Hannity, it's still something that no one seen coming (like a true promo made to turn that face into a heel) and will change a lot at Fox forever. And speaking of heel, I have a big feeling that a lot of Faux Noise's audiencd will see the newly-homosexual Shepard "Pie" Smith, and think of him as a heel they never dreamed of: evil, cunning, manipulative, bad at jokes and wearing a lot of leather...and ruining the news of Trump whining about the Presidential race being against him and what Obama is up to under taxpayers' money with his "f@#&¤+" face. Oh, Fox News audience...you people make me sick.

Maybe he might get demoted or outright fired sometime later in the future or the execs will support him in PR mode and THEN demote him or or outright fire him quietly sometime later in the future. There are new execs there and changes are probable so Who knows? Until then, congrats to Shep for coming out. I'm not as celebratory as a lot of people are now, but this is worth clapping into thin air for.
And Shep, keep up the good work. And I mean real good work from that goofy SS Enterprise ripoff set called the Fox News Deck, not the crap almost all the other ones are doing.

(Alright, just because he's gay doesn't mean I like him. I've liked him a lot way before then.)

Monday, October 10, 2016

Bye Bye Bushy: Billy Bush Suspended from "Today" INDEFINITELY after Trump's "Grab Em by the Pμ$$y" debacle


Lemme tell you something. Back when this guy was a co-host on Access Hollywood, I kinda liked him. He was talented, likable, smooth and knew how to report the entertainment news stories (no matter how stupid) in his own way. Hell, I'll even admit, I never knew he was a member of the almighty stupid Bush family. But ever since (or maybe even before) Billy Bush made the move to New York and began working at Today,  I've liked him a lot less.

When he fell for the bullshit lie told by national idiot of the moment Ryan Lochte after Lochte's drunken vandalism at a local gas station during the Rio Summer Olympics--and tried to pass it off as an "embellishment", my likeness towards Bush plunged to outright dislike. And his argument with co-host Al Roker after the fact (especially after telling Al to calm down) dropped a bit more to contempt. It's since then that I wished he'd be fired or at least suspended for not dishing out the verbal ass-whupping Lochte deserved and standing by his fib that threw the Today show (and NBC by extension) into embarrassment and dislike (and just of the many in recent years).

And it seemed like it all would blow away for Bush so he can go back to what he loves to do (or got paid a boat-load of money to do)...
That is until last Friday when a video was leaked showing Bush and (surprise surprise) Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump caught on hot mic (a term for "mics left on") spouting crude remarks about women; this video took place in 2005 when Bush was co-host of Access Hollywood and Trump was host of then-NBC-hit The Apprentice.

Here is the video, as released by The Washington Post, in all it's gross-y glory:

Okay...
Here's the most notable of Trump's words:
"I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful ... I just start kissing them," he told Bush. "It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p---y."

The remarks from both "men" were just trash from start to finish.
I'll get to Bush in a moment.

When I thought Trump said everything during his campaign run that'll make eveyone blush, angry and vomit, I was wrong. Funnily enough, these words here way before even his first Presidential campaign attempt. But all the same, it's still disgusting. The "Nancy" comments (of course referring to Bush's former co-host Nancy O'Dell; she left AH in 2009 to host Entertainment Tonight) were just sickening, not only because O'Dell was married (as well as Trump himself, as he married current wife Melania months earlier) but also because of the "grab 'en by the pμ$$y" line, which until now was a line I never thought I would hear out of someone's mouth (even after the start of being less prudish in my life). (Hell, not even an HBO show could have had this line written before). And the line about chomping down Tic-Tacs before trying to kiss her was just gross (no wonder they immediately denounced the controversy). No wonder he failed; he has no regard for personal space, tactfulness (apologies is that's not a word), women who are married to other men, women in general or respect towards anyone under the social and economical ladders. And his apology has no weight, honesty, legitimacy or substance. No one can accept that.

Honestly, though, all of this doesn't totally surprise me. Everything at this point of his campaign has killed my attempts at shock bit by bit. But what surprised me was that the people who supported him up to this point have finally dropped or rescinded their support. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THROUGH THE TIMES HE:
-PLANNED TO BUILD THAT WALL;
-BADMOUTHED A MUSLIM GOLD STAR FAMILY;
-CONTINUING HIS STUPIDLY SHIT-TALKING ROSIE O'DONNELL;
-BADMOUTHING FEMALE TV PERSONALITIES LIKE MEGYN KELLY (You remember "Blood coming out of her wherever");
-MOCK ANYONE (INCLUDING TED CRUZ'S FAMILY);
-EVERYTHING ABOUT NUCLEAR BOMBS AND WARS;
-TWEETED CORNY-ASS SMARTASS REMARKS LIKE AN 80S MIDDLE SCHOOL BULLY TO ANYONE HE CROSSES PATHS WITH ON TWITTER;
-AND MOST ESPECIALLY TO OPEN HIS MOUTH TO SPEW SEXIST, RACIST, HOMOPHOBIC, XENOPHOBIC AND ISLAMAPHOBIC STATEMENTS IN THE WORST WAYS POSSIBLE ON TV,
YOU STILL STOOD BY HIM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN?!?! UNTIL AFTER THE 147TH TIME HE SAID DEPLORABLE REMARKS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TOWARD WOMEN (THIS ONE ABOUT A FORGOTTEN SOAP OPERA STAR AND A POPULAR HOST OF AN ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM MOST PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT), YOU NOW DECIDE TO AT LEAST CUT DOWN YOUR SUPPORT OF HIM?!?! Just fuck off. You fucking people just disgust me.
But Trump's words still leave with a barrage of nothing, as his campaign continues to self-destruct even a several weeks before the General Election. So this is just Spring Cleaning for Hitler (or some shit) to me at this point.

As for Bush, being Trump's "wingman" throughout this ordeal was just pathetic. I don't care if he was a millionaire who would destroy him in some way later on, letting Trump get away with all that was not a good idea. And agreeing with it and adding his own words (like "Trump scored" after saying he'd take a run at "the girl in purple") was just distasteful. His line about getting Zucker to hug Trump was sad, but the line "How about a little hug for the Bushy?" was admittedly laughable.

Plus the fact that the girl in purple, soap opera star Arianne Zucker, was also married and in the same space as the two, who has now unfortunately also heard about this controversy. As well as O'Dell who now has to deal with a hot-mic video about being sexually harassed by her co-host and a creepy old lurch behind her back for the rest of her life.

And then there's people defending the two frat boys and their words by calling it "common locker-room talk". I may have been a kid back when I last went into a school locker room, but if you're openly willing to defend a man who said all he said ike the creepo pushing 60 that he is saying things like "run to her like a bitch", and "grab her by the pμ$$y", and another man for encouraging and agreeing to those words, fuck off. You're a fucking jackass who apparently accepts verbal mincemeat about sexual assault. I don't care if men have said things like this in locker rooms before! Saying sexually deplorable things about women is just plain bad (the same thing goes to women talking bad about men too). And forget free speech; free speech shouldn't excuse shit like this. Feee speech shouldn't be the response for "grab em by the pμ$$y" and things like that.

And don't even start about Bill Clinton. If/when evidence is released about him sexually aasaulting or downright raping women, I'll join the bandwagon and verbally shit on him. But until then, shut the fuck up about that.

It's good to see both women taking the high road by responding to the controversy with class and grace.
O'Dell said in a statement via ET's website:
"Politics aside, I’m saddened that these comments still exist in our society at all. When I heard the comments yesterday, it was disappointing to hear such objectification of women. The conversation needs to change because no female, no person, should be the subject of such crass comments, whether or not cameras are rolling. Everyone deserves respect no matter the setting or gender. As a woman who has worked very hard to establish her career, and as a mom, I feel I must speak out with the hope that as a society we will always strive to be better."
Wonderfully well-said.

Zucker also responded with this equally wonderful statement:
"I am a strong, independent, hard working mother, business woman and partner to a great man,” she wrote. “I have grown to learn that the words of others cannot effect the value of my self worth or define the content of my character. How we treat one another, whether behind closed doors, locker rooms or face to face, should be done with kindness, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, there are too many people in power who abuse their position and disregard these simple principles and are rewarded for it. In understanding the magnitude of this situation, I choose to stand tall with self respect and use my voice to enrich, inspire and elevate the best of who we are as people.

And so, I'm happy Bush is suspended, because any company who employs him should not be acceptable towards language like this. It hurts their ethics and is not a good look for them. Some people have said that's stupid (paraphrasing), but that's how business (especially regarding on-camera television) and NBC and Today cannot deal with any more drama this year alone.

As for Trump? He will not be president. He can fuck off. Old ass creep...