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Tag: Barbara Walters

  • Caitlyn Jenner Receives Barbara Walters’ Top Honor, Walters Rocks Leather Pants at 86

    Caitlyn Jenner was named Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of 2015. Walters hailed the former Bruce Jenner as a “symbol of hope for the transgender community.” She made the announcement on her annual 10 Most Fascinating People special that aired last week.

    “Our choice for the most fascinating person of the year was once called the world’s greatest athlete,” Walters, who is 86, began. “Traditionally that title was given to the man who won the Olympic decathlon. When Bruce Jenner won it in 1976, it was a huge accomplishment that had everybody talking. But it was nothing like this. When Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn Jenner, there was a seismic shift in the gender universe.”

    Her “celebrity has helped launch a national discussion about transgender rights,” Walters explained as video highlights from Caitlyn’s year appeared on the screen. “She has become a champion for the transgender community, raising awareness and advocating for acceptance.”

    “Famous and familiar, she raised awareness and acceptance of transgendered people,” she continued. “Through her own transformation, Caitlyn Jenner transformed society this year, and that, for us, makes her the most fascinating person of 2015.”

    Caitlyn Jenner topped a list of nine additional “fascinating people,” including Amy Schumer, Misty Copeland, Bradley Cooper, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Ronda Rousey, Donna Karan, and Tracy Morgan.

    Not everyone was thrilled about Caitlyn Jenner’s top spot on Barbara Walters’ list. Equally as disturbing to some were the black leather pants the 86-year-old wore on the show.

    The leather pants were different, that’s for sure, but Barbara Walters managed to pull the look off with grace–even with countless viewers likely doing a double take and asking, “Is Barbara Walters wearing leather pants?”

    What’s your take on Caitlyn Jenner topping Barbara Walters’ annual list?

    And what did you think of Babs rocking those leather pants?

  • Amy Schumer Makes Barbara Walters’ 2015 Most Fascinating People List

    Amy Schumer has definitely had a fulfilling year. She’s ending it with quite an honor, too. When Barbara Walters announced her list of 2015’s Most Fascinating People, Schumer made the cut.

    In addition to her comedy sketches that are raunchy but hilarious, Amy Schumer hit the big screen this year with Trainwreck. She is working on a new screenplay with BFF Jennifer Lawrence.

    Entertainers know they’ve made the grade when asked to host SNL. Yes, Amy Schumer did that in 2015, too.

    In recent days, Schumer has made news for posing nearly nude–wearing nothing but undies and a pair of heels–for the 2016 Pirelli calendar. Annie Liebovitz created the masterpiece.

    Just today–in the aftermath of Wednesday’s deadly massacre in San Bernardino, California, Amy Schumer posted a series of Tweets against gun violence.

    Yes, there’s way more to Amy Schumer than just her often-vile tongue. Barbara Walters clearly recognizes that, and surely others do, too.

    In addition to Amy Schumer, fellow SNL alum Tracy Morgan also made the list of 2015’s Most Fascinating People, as did ballet dancer Misty Copeland, UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, actor Bradley Cooper, fashion designer Donna Karan, and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.

    Are you surprised Amy Schumer made the list?

  • Melania Trump Tells The Donald To Tone It Down On Campaign Trail

    Melania Trump doesn’t travel the country with her candidate husband, Donald Trump.

    But, Melania Trump has a great reason.

    As Donald Trump’s third wife and mother of his youngest child, Barron, Melania Trump is choosing to be where she is needed most: At home.

    In an interview with Barbara Walters that aired on Friday night, Melania Trump explained why you don’t see her on the campaign trail as much as the other candidates’ wives.

    She said, “It’s my choice not to be there. I support my husband 100 percent, but … we have a 9-year-old son together, Barron, and I’m raising him.”

    My family has the honor of being interviewed for a full hour by the legendary Barbara Walters tonight at 10PM on @abc2020

    A photo posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on

    She added, “This is the age he needs a parent at home.”

    However, that doesn’t mean Melania Trump thinks Donald should be at home.

    Signing a copy of Crippled America for Bill!

    A photo posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on

    She said, “I encouraged him because I know what he will do and what he can do for America. He loves the American people and he wants to help them.”

    However, when it comes down to the really heavy talks that Melania Trump has with her husband, it seems she isn’t afraid to put her two cents in.

    While it seems many of Donald Trump’s fans were attracted to him because of his unapologetic comments and ideas, Melania Trump thinks maybe he should tone down the bluster a little.

    Getting ready for @nbcsnl commercial.

    A photo posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on

    When Melania Trump was asked if she gives him campaign advice, she shied away from the question. But, Donald was quick to speak in her place.

    He said, “She’s told me a couple of times during the debate, she was very happy with my performances, if you would want to call them a performance. But she said, ‘You could tone it down a little bit on occasion,’ which I understand.”

    He could totally tone it down. But, that just wouldn’t be as much fun, now, would it?

    Barbara Walters didn’t stop with Melania Trump. She also interviewed Donald Trump’s four older kids, all of whom revealed a surprisingly accessible and caring side to Trump that we just don’t see.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVz-XYZP_f0

    Did you watch Barbara Walters’ interview with Donald and Melania Trump? What surprised you about their family? What didn’t?

  • JonBenét Ramsey’s Father Talks In Depth About the Murder Of His Daughter With Barbara Walters

    JonBenét Ramsey, the child beauty pageant princess who was found murdered in her basement in 1996, would have been 25 this year. Many still vividly remember the scandal that erupted following her murder — which was never solved.

    As part of a Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals series, which aired on cable’s Investigation Discovery Nov. 2, JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, opened up about those difficult days following her murder when he, his now-deceased wife, Patsy, and son Burke were the center of an intense investigation.

    Ramsey said his greatest priority was to shield his son from tabloid headlines that accused Burke of the murder of his six-year-old sister.

    “We tried to shield him from that,” John said. “Friends would ask us, ‘What can we do to help?’ We said, ‘Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it.’ A lot of them did that.”

    For the first time since the death of JonBenét Ramsey, Burke, now 28, spoke about those horrifying days, saying that he has since moved on.

    JonBenét was found dead in her parents’ Boulder basement the day after Christmas 1996, an apparent victim of sexual assault. For months after the discovery of the body of the child beauty pageant contestant, her parents and her brother were investigated but never charged in the crime.

    In Walters’ sitdown with Ramsey, he said he believes law enforcement botched the investigation. He also spoke about the untimely death of his wife Patsy in 2006 from ovarian cancer. His new wife, Jan, talked about how she dealt with the controversy despite some people telling her that she was “marrying a killer.”

    Walters’ next installments in her scandal series with feature the trials of O.J. Simpson, the murder of John Lennon, Jim Bakker’s sex scandal and imprisonment for fraud, and the Menendez brothers.

  • Kelly Ripa to Receive GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award, Anderson Cooper to Present It

    Kelly Ripa will receive the Excellence in Media Award at the upcoming GLAAD Media Awards in New York City. Her good friend Anderson Cooper will present the award to the Live! With Kelly and Michael star. Ripa learned this exciting news on Monday.

    “For over a decade, Kelly Ripa has greeted millions of viewers with messages of acceptance and inclusion,” GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “By sharing inclusive stories with her audience and loudly voicing support for her LGBT friends and fans, Kelly is helping to drive acceptance forward.”

    Kelly Ripa will be in good company when receiving this Excellence in Media Award. Past recipients include Diane Sawyer, Tyra Banks, Julianne Moore, Glenn Close, Barbara Walters, Judy Shepard, and Russell Simmons.

    The GLAAD Media Awards are scheduled for May 9th at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Ross Mathews will host the event. Distinguished guests will include Laverne Cox, Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor, Jonathan Groff, and Homeland’s Rupert Friend.

    This isn’t the only honor Kelly Ripa celebrated on Monday. On Sunday she won Best Entertainment Talk Show Host with cohost Michael Strahan at the Daytime Emmys.

    Just days ago Kelly Ripa shared some emotional words in honor of the late Dr. Frederic Brandt. The renown cosmetic surgeon took his own life earlier this month.

    Hopefully her Emmy Award and Excellence in Media Award from GLAAD will help lighten the heavy heart she has felt since her dear friend’s passing.

  • Georgia Fualaau, Sister Audrey: Parents Vili Fualaau, Mary Kay Letourneau Introduce Them in Barbara Walters Interview

    Georgia Fualaau and her sister Audrey Fualaau were introduced on TV Friday night during an interview on 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Now why do their names sound so familiar?

    It was back in 1996, when their father, Vili Fualaau, was just 12 years old, that he had a relationship with his teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau. That affair resulted in Audrey Fualaau’s birth nine months later. Yes, Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau are Audrey and Georgia Fualaau’s parents.

    Mary Kay Letourneau was a married mother of four at the time she and Vili Fialaau began their illicit relationship. Daughter Georgia Fualaau was born when Letourneau was behind bars for her sexual relationship with the then-young boy.

    Both girls are now older than their father was when he and their mother began their relationship.

    “Probably why I looked so forward to getting married is because I already knew what kind of father he was,” Mary Kay Letourneau told Walters of Vili Fualaau, who is now 31. “Just knowing his personality and how invested he was in being a father.”

    Both Audrey and Georgia Fualaau now attend school in the same school district where Mary Kay Letourneau was a teacher.

    Their mother says the girls “seemed unfazed” by their parents’ scandal.

    Mary Kay Letourneau says Audrey and Georgia Fualaau became aware that their family was different when they visited their mother in prison.

    “There was never a sit-down chat, ‘Now is the time we’re going to talk to our children about this,’” Letourneau explained. “They seemed to already know… because they grew up with it… There’s just never been a ‘Wow, we better explain.’”

    So why have Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau chosen to introduce both Audrey and Georgia Fualaau to the media now?

    It’s their 10-year anniversary.

    “It is our 10-year anniversary, and we already know that no matter how protective we are, that there’s going to be a wave of intrusion in our life right now that we can’t stop,” Letourneau reflected. “So it’s about doing the most responsible thing to protect our girls for the inevitable.”

    Do you expect that Audrey and Georgia Fualaau will experience some serious fallout in the coming days, following Friday night’s interview with Barbara Walters?

    Have Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau done a positive thing or made a stupid mistake in being so open with the media?

  • Georgia Fualaau, Audrey Fualaau Not Fazed By Parents’, Mary Kay Latourneau And Vili Fualaau, Relationship

    Georgia Fualaau and Audrey Fualaau, the teenage daughters of Mary Kay Latourneau and Vili Fualaau, seem to think that their childhood was not all that abnormal.

    Even before her interview with the scandal-ridden couple, wherein the world was to meet Georgia Fualaau and Audrey Fualaau, Barbara Walters noticed the air of normalcy amongst the unlikely family.

    She said of Georgia Fualaau and her sister that they seem to think their childhood was pretty normal.

    Even Georgia Fualaau and Audrey Fualaau’s mother, Mary Kay Latourneau, recognizes that growing up, the girls didn’t really notice anything out of the ordinary.

    “There was never a sit-down chat, ‘Now is the time we’re going to talk to our children about this,’ ” Letourneau, now 53, said. “They seemed to already know … because they grew up with it. … There’s just never been a ‘Wow, we better explain.’ ”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clM8yhJ-fkk

    Of course, Mary Kay Latourneau and Vili Fualaau made headlines when their relationship was made public after she became pregnant with their first child. Latourneau, then 34, was a married mother of four and Vili Fualaau was only 13.

    Latourneau had their first child, Audrey Fualaau, after serving a few months in prison for child rape and getting out on parole.

    After her release, Latourneau was caught with Vili Fualaau again, this time landing her in prison for several years.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu-UE-7rIbw

    Mary Kay Latourneau and Vili Fualaau’s second daughter, Georgia Fualaau, was born behind bars shortly after that.

    The couple reunited and wed after Latourneau’s release in 2004.

    Mary Kay Latourneau said, “Probably why I looked so forward to getting married is because I already knew what kind of father he was,” Letourneau told Walters of Fualaau, now 31. “Just knowing his personality and how invested he was in being a father.”

    What kind of life do you think Audrey and Georgia Fualaau really had through all of this?

  • Vili Fualaau, Mary Kay Letourneau Celebrate 10th Anniversary Of Scandalous Marriage

    Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau have had a surprisingly long marriage, considering the circumstances at the beginning of their relationship.

    Vili Fualaau was only 12 years old and in Letourneau’s sixth grade class when he began having sex with Letourneau, his teacher.

    The relationship between Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau, a married mother of four, became headline-making scandal after Mary Kay became pregnant and they had to go public with their relationship in 1997.

    At 13, Vili Fualaau became a father to the couple’s first daughter, Audrey. After Letourneau was paroled, she was ordered to stay away from Vili Fualaau, but the couple was caught in a car together shortly after with money, passports, and baby clothes, and Letourneau was sent back to prison.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoJIbt3ZMcA

    However, during her parole, Mary Kay Letourneau managed to get pregnant with their second child. At 15, Vili Fualaau became a father to their second daughter, Georgia. She was born in prison.

    Vili Fualaau and Letourneau were married after her second prison term when, at 21, Fualaau asked that the order keeping them apart be lifted.

    Now, the couple’s marriage, with such strained and unusual beginnings, has outlasted many a normal one.

    Vili Fualaau and Mary Kat Letourneau Fualaau sat down with Barbara Walters to discuss their life together and its scandalous beginning in an interview that will air on April 10th.

    Vili Fualaau told Walters, “I don’t think there’s ever a full 10 good years of marriage. You have your ups and downs in marriages. But, you know, what matters is how you pull through all the bad times.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFmCgFtOQbg

    Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau Fualaau live in Seattle now with their daughters. Vili works at a home and garden store and is a DJ on the side. Mary Kay works as a legal assistant, but she is hoping to return to teaching someday.

    What a crazy story! Will you be watching Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau Fualaau’s interview with Barbara Walters?

  • Monica Lewinsky To Join The View as Host?

    Monica Lewinsky To Join The View as Host?

    Monica Lewinsky has been doing far better these days. After years of trying to outrun her past and reinvent herself in businesses and career moves, the former White House intern — arguably the most famous former White House intern ever — is actually becoming sought after.

    According to a report in The Daily Mail, Monica Lewinsky was being courted by none other than Barbara Walters to help what is considered an ailing The View program.

    According to a source cited by the agency, Barbara Walters has told execs at ABC that they should look at having Monica Lewinsky on as a guest at the very least, if not go as far as consider her for a host position.

    Their source says, “Barbara believes that Monica, 41, could make The View competitive and compelling and while a lot of Washington’s elite may scratch the show off its must-visit press list, the younger demographic of online users would tune in daily to see what she had to say.”

    This rumor is especially compelling given that Barbara Walters had been asked by David Letterman about that very thing when she appeared on ihs show.

    Barbara Walters said, “I think it would be great if she were on The View. I wouldn’t expect it tomorrow.”

    Since that Letterman comment, Monica Lewinsky has given several high-profile speeches, including a TED talk on the topic of online bullying and social media shaming, a topic that she feels singularly qualified to speak on.

    But leave it to Page Six to spoil all the fun. The agency got in touch with Monica Lewinsky’s people and came away with this statement:

    “Monica has been invited as guest several times in the past few years, but has not gone on [the show].”

    So if Barbara Walters has bent anyone’s ear about Monica Lewinsky joining the show, no one has told Monica Lewinsky about it.

  • Betty White to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Next Month’s Emmy Awards

    Betty White will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award next month at the 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced this in a press release on Monday.

    “Betty White is an American institution,” Bob Mauro, president of the NATAS, said in the statement. “Betty’s career as a female pioneer has followed television from literally the beginning of the medium, winning her first Emmy Award in 1952, to the digital-streaming future, winning again in 2010.”

    Betty White has won five Emmy Awards throughout her career, and has received 21 nominations. She will follow in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Merv Griffin, and Regis Philbin when she receives the Lifetime Achievement Award.

    How amazing that the star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland is being honored in this way at the age of 93. She puts many younger actors to shame with her amazing outlook on life and seemingly boundless energy.

    “She is one of the most beloved female performers in the history of television,” Bob Mauro says of the actress.

    The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will take place on April 26th at 8:00 PM.

    Congratulations to Betty White on earning this prestigious award.

  • Cheri Oteri: Where Was She During ‘SNL 40th Anniversary Special?’

    Cheri Oteri was missing from Sunday night’s SNL 40th Anniversary Special, so no live replay of the Spartan cheerleaders (a role she played alongside Will Ferrell) took place. Fans are likely relieved, however, to learn that Cheri Oteri’s absence wasn’t from lack of an invitation, however. She wasn’t able to attend due to a scheduling conflict.

    Twitter blew up with fans who were understandably dismayed to learn that Cheri Oteri wasn’t on the long-awaited Saturday Night Live show. While visiting Watch What Happens Live on Monday night, she talked about her absence. It seems her scheduling conflict couldn’t be resolved until the eleventh hour, and by then it was simply too late to take part in or even attend the show.

    In addition to being a Spartan cheerleader with Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri was known for her Barbara Walters impersonation.

    Cheri Oteri recently recalled a time when Barbara Walters pulled her aside and asked her how she perfected the impersonation?

    “I said, ‘Well, usually you’ll give three very specific compliments, and then you go in for the kill.’ Like, ‘You’re an Academy Award-winning actor, you’re an accomplished concert pianist and you just put out your first hip-hop record. Why the porn?’ But she does it slowly. First she seduces them with compliments, and then she goes in for the kill, and I thought that was so interesting. And when I told her, she just looked at me like, ‘Hmm, do I do that?’” Oteri explained.

    Were you among those who missed Cheri Oteri on the SNL 40th Anniversary Special on Sunday night? If so, you’re definitely not alone.

    What was your favorite Cheri Oteri impersonation or character throughout her years–from 1995 to 2000–on Saturday Night Live?

  • Cheri Oteri Explains Her Absence From SNL 40th Anniversary Special

    Cheri Oteri was a notably absent Saturday Night Live alum from the show’s 40th anniversary celebration Sunday and Twitter lighted up wondering why she was not included in the festivities.

    Rest assured people, Cheri Oteri had a very good reason for not being there.

    It turns out she couldn’t make the show simply because of a scheduling conflict.

    Cheri Oteri appeared on Watch What Happens Live Monday night and said she couldn’t attend because of a scheduling conflict that couldn’t be resolved until the very last minute, when it was just too late for her to participate.

    Oteri, who appeared on Saturday Night Live from 1995-2000, is known for her outrageous impersonations, most notably of Barbara Walters, and a recurring cheerleading skit known as The Spartans with Will Farrell.

    Cheri Oteri explained how the famous skit came about to The Hollywood Reporter.

    “When we all first got the job, the new people ran down to the 8H stage, and we just started improvising,” said Oteri. “I was a cheerleader in high school, and I would stomp my feet and clap and kind of form a beat while waiting for my turn, and then Will started doing it. He started just doing it really seriously. And then we started laughing. We said to each other we should write a cheerleading sketch.”

    “Two weeks later, we were in my office, and I was like, ‘OK, do you want to write that baby sketch or that cheerleading sketch?’ So we started writing the cheerleading sketch,” she continued. “We thought it would be funny if these people had all this team spirit but didn’t make the squad. And they just decided to cheer anyway. They just keep showing up to places where they weren’t wanted to cheer, like the math team and Ping-Pong or chess.”

  • Scarlett Johansson Critiques Her Body — ‘I Wouldn’t Say It’s Particularly Remarkable’

    Scarlett Johansson, who gave birth to daughter Rose Dorothy just three months ago, thinks her body is just “okay.”

    On Sunday’s Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014 on NBC, the Lucy actress critiqued what the rest of us finds ridiculously fabulous — her famous bod.

    “It’s an okay body,” said the 30-year-old actress, who was number 10 on Walter’s list. “I wouldn’t say it’s particularly remarkable, though. I don’t like my thighs, my midsection.”

    Johansson, who reportedly married French journalist Romain Dauriac in October, also claimed she doesn’t consider herself to be particularly sexy.

    “I never put on a sexy face,” she told Walters. “So I don’t know what it means to act seductively.”

    On the other hand, the Avengers star said filming sex scenes is an exercise in freedom.

    “You have to be totally without judgment, and it’s sort of liberating,” said Johansson. “It’s challenging. You have to stay in the moment.”

    Whatever she may think of her body, she looks pretty fantastic just three months post-birth. She told Walters her secret to shedding the baby weight is breastfeeding.

    “I’m nursing and I love it,” she said. “It’s the best way to get back in shape.”

    Johansson told the 85-year-old journalist that, even though taking care of little Rose can be daunting at times, she prefers to be hands-on when it comes to caring for her daughter.

    “It’s wonderful, and exhausting,” Johansson said. “The love is just unbelievable. It’s very overwhelming.”

  • Whoopi Goldberg Reveals How She Lost 35 Pounds

    Whoopi Goldberg returned to The View today with a whole new panel, and she says there’s a reason viewers may have noticed that she looks a little different: she’s lost a significant amount of weight.

    “About 35 pounds. I happened to notice that I had begun to look like a linebacker. I happened to look over and there was Sherri, skinny, and I said, ‘What did you do?’ She said, ‘I’ve been doing Rocco DiSpirito’s one pound a day diet.’ I said, ‘Please, I want to do it too,’” she told ABC News.

    Though the show features a mostly new batch of ladies, including Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Perez, and Nicolle Wallace, veteran reporter Barbara Walters did make a cameo at the beginning of the season 18 premiere to welcome the newcomers.

    “Thank you, my pals,” she said from a throne brought to the stage just for her. “This is wonderful, but it’s unnecessary because, of course, you have my blessings. Now go out there and let them see why we have the best show on daytime television.”

    Goldberg and Walters were the subject of some rumors earlier this year after it was reported that Goldberg walked off set one day muttering that she had been “working with a cranky 85-year-old woman who’s mad about everything for 2 years, and I need a break.”

    “Someone has tried to stir this pot before. This is absolutely absurd. Whoopi is a consummate professional and has an enormous amount of respect for Barbara with whom she has a professional and personal relationship. Unless you were there and heard it first hand, this is nothing more than mean and hurtful rumor,” an ABC exec said in a statement.

  • Melissa Rivers Orchestrated ‘Perfect’ Funeral for Her Mother

    Melissa Rivers was the orchestrator of everything surrounding her mother’s funeral in Manhattan on Sunday, and one of Joan Rivers‘ closest friends, Margie Stern, said Joan would have been very proud of her daughter.

    “Melissa is amazing,” Stern told People magazine. “I told Melissa, ‘Your mother would be so proud of you.’ She handled everything. She did everything exactly as her mother would have wanted.”

    Joan’s funeral was a star-studded affair that drew paparazzi and hundreds of fans to areas outside Emanu-El Temple, where the service took place.

    The funeral itself was attended by dozens of A-list celebrities including David Letterman, Kathy Griffin, Matthew Broderick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Sawyer, Geraldo Rivera, Donald Trump, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Rosie O’Donnell, Charlie Rose and Kelly Osbourne.

    Howard Stern provided a sweet and, at times, irreverent eulogy, and Melissa read a letter to her mother.

    “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Cooper and me,” Melissa said.

    Film and Broadway star Hugh Jackman — who rode his bicycle to the service— sang a tune from The Boy from Oz.

    “Joan, this is for you,” Jackman said before performing. “But since you asked for it, you already know that.”

    Stern said Melissa attended to every detail of her mother’s funeral and it was perfect.

    “I’m in awe of the way she handled everything,” she said.

    “Every minute of the service was perfect, warm, touching, often slap-your-knee hilarious, and was never as she’d joked, over the top or so filled with A-listers that the importance of the occasion was outshone by idiots posing on a red carpet,” said Joan’s friend, Linda Stasi, in an article for the Daily News.

    The funeral came a little over a week after Rivers was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital in respiratory and cardiac arrest following a routine throat procedure at a nearby medical clinic.

    Melissa and her son, Cooper, immediately flew in from California to be by her mother’s side as she was reportedly placed in a medically induced coma.

    According to Stern, Melissa took great care to be sure her mother spent her final hours in comfort and looking beautiful.

    “That was hard. But she was in a room with flowers and music. It was fragrant. It was amazing,” says Stern, who was at the hospital “all day, every day.”

    “Joan looked beautiful at the end,” said Stern.

    Rivers died on Sept. 4 at the age of 81.

  • Whoopi Goldberg Among Legion of Celebrities Mourning Joan Rivers at Funeral

    Whoopi Goldberg Among Legion of Celebrities Mourning Joan Rivers at Funeral

    There wasn’t the reported red carpet outside New York’s Temple Emanu-El Sunday for the arrival of mourners Sunday, but Joan Rivers’ funeral was very much the star-studded event the legendary comedienne envisioned.

    Whoopi Goldberg, who said “Joan made me laugh harder than anyone I’ve ever known,” joined dozens of A-list celebrities from the worlds of Hollywood, theater, fashion and media.

    Howard Stern delivered the eulogy, while Broadway singer-actress Audra McDonald offered her rendition of the gut-wrenching song, Smile.

    Leading off the service was a men’s choir singing some of Rivers’ favorite Broadway tunes. Hugh Jackman was also expected to sing at the end of the service, according to The Seattle Times.

    They were among the many A-list celebrities who came to mourn the 81-year-old trailblazer who died Thursday, a week after she stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure at a Manhattan medical clinic.

    Other mourners included Rivers’ dear friend Kathy Griffin; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker; and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

    Theater legends, including Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming and Tommy Tune, were also in attendance.

    From the music industry, record producer Clive Davis was in attendance; and from the fashion industry, designers Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors paid their respects.

    Television stars Barbara Walters, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer, Giuliana Rancic, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Andy Cohel, and Late Night band leader Paul Shaffer, as well as moguls Barry Diller, Donald Trump and Steve Forbes, were among the many who came to mourn Rivers.

    And as per her wish, a large contingency of paparazzi lined the street across from the temple amongst hundreds of fans from around the world.

    The comedian shared her last wishes in her 2012 book I Hate Everyone … Starting With Me:

    “When I die — and, yes, Melissa, that day will come; and, yes, Melissa, everything’s in your name — I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action….I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing Mr. Lonely. I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce’s.”

    Those words were reportedly printed in the funeral program.

  • Barbara Walters And Whoopi Goldberg Feuding?

    Barbara Walters is the subject of a nasty rumor this week after it was reported that she and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg are involved in a feud.

    The news comes after a test taping which included CNN’s S.E. Cupp, when Whoopie and Rosie O’Donnell exchanged words with Cupp over the issue of abortion. Goldberg allegedly walked off the set, saying she had been “working with a cranky 85-year-old woman who’s mad about everything for 2 years, and I need a break.”

    ABC execs say that the rumor is just that and are doing damage control to keep the show from getting negative press.

    “Someone has tried to stir this pot before. This is absolutely absurd. Whoopi is a consummate professional and has an enormous amount of respect for Barbara with whom she has a professional and personal relationship. Unless you were there and heard it first hand, this is nothing more than mean and hurtful rumor,” a rep said in a statement.

    The show has not been without controversy in recent months. With Sherri Shepherd leaving and Elisabeth Hasselbeck rival Rosie O’Donnell making a return, former co-host Jenny McCarthy has spoken out about her time at the table, saying she didn’t feel like she could be herself there.

    “It’s like halfway into it, it was probably around February, I went, ‘God I’m not allowed to be the best of me here.’ I feel like to have a voice, to be able to speak without having to interrupt people … It’s very difficult, and I don’t like doing it, it’s very uncomfortable, so I felt like, ‘You know what? Maybe this is just a stepping stone for me to go somewhere where I can actually be my full self,” she said.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Scarlett Johansson Plans to Marry Fiancé Romain Dauriac in August

    Scarlett Johansson is apparently planning on getting married next month.

    The 29-year-old actress was overheard telling fellow guests at a dinner thrown by Martha Stewart on Saturday that she and French journalist Romain Dauriac — with whom she is expecting her first child — will marry in four weeks, the New York Post’s Page Six reports.

    The wedding venue is still unknown at this time, but The Avengers star will likely either marry in her fiance’s native Paris, or in the Hamptons, where they have been hanging out this summer.

    Johansson and Dauriac were joined at the dinner held at Stewart’s East Hampton estate with fellow guests and Hampton regulars — Howard Stern, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Barbara Walters, Rachel Zoe and Harvey Weinstein. The dinner was held to celebrate the launch of Dom Pérignon’s P2-1998 champagne — a vintage that retails for $400 a bottle.

    The nuptials will likely be rather simple — the actress has admitted she would probably “wing it” on her wedding day.

    “I don’t plan anything. I’m terrible at planning. Yeah, I’m not gonna plan anything – I like to wing it!,” Johansson told Access Hollywood.

    This will be the second marriage for the Lucy star. She was married to Ryan Reynolds from 2008 until 2011 and has admitted she finds it “easier” to date someone who is not a celebrity.

    “It is [easier to be with someone who isn’t famous], but it’s more than that. We do different things. He’s [Romain] in the whole art-scene world. So it’s nice, because we can enjoy each other’s worlds, but we don’t have our crazy conflicting schedules and all that other stuff to contend with,” she said in Vanity Fair’s May issue.

    Image via YouTube

  • Jenny McCarthy Reveals New Gig Following Departure from ‘The View’

    Jenny McCarthy has revealed what her next gig will be following her departure from The View.

    McCarthy announced Monday during an appearance on Good Morning America that she will be hosting an exclusive limited-run, live show on SiriusXM.

    The new show entitled, Dirty, Sexy, Funny with Jenny McCarthy, will reportedly feature the fearlessly frank star discussing topics such as parenting, sex, dating and marriage, and of course, chats with celebrity guests and friends.

    “It’s no secret that I love to talk. I’m excited to do it on SiriusXM without having to interrupt anyone or keep things clean. You can bet your sweet ass this show will live up to its title,” McCarthy said in a statement.

    Confirmed guests on her new show include Chelsea Handler, Perez Hilton and her fiancé, Donnie Wahlberg.

    Last week, McCarthy confirmed her exit from The View, and told fans to stay tuned for news of her future plans.

    “So grateful to have worked with Barbara Walters in her last year, as well as many producers and co-hosts, and after much consideration, I’ve taken a new job that will allow me to do what I do best — which is talk without having to interrupt anyone,” she said on the June 7 episode of The View. “I will be announcing it in the next few weeks and I couldn’t be more grateful for the fans like you guys who supported us, so stay tuned… even if it does compete with The View.”

    Last week, Rosie O’Donnell‘s return to The View was confirmed. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and Whoopi Goldberg — who will be the only returning host in the fall — have all commented, and McCarthy shared her own thoughts on the controversial move to bring O’Donnell back.

    “I love Rosie. I have been a fan of hers forever,” she told Us Weekly over the weekend. “I knew they were looking to bring some heat to the table and there is no doubt that with Rosie there will be some heat. They are definitely going in the direction of fire.”

    “It’s going to be some exciting television,” McCarthy continued. “I will be there with my beer and popcorn at 11 in the morning. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”

    Image via Jenny McCarthy, Instagram

  • Elisabeth Hasselbeck Rants On Rosie O’Donnell’s Possible Return to ‘The View’

    Elisabeth Hasselbeck might want to just chill out a bit while on her vacation.

    The Fox & Friends co-host called into her new show — interrupting her vacation — to let the world know how she really feels about Rosie O’Donnel‘s possible return to The View.

    Hasselbeck got straight to the point, bringing up her infamous fight with O’Donnell, which led to the comic’s exit from the show.

    “What could ruin a vacation more than to hear news like this?” Hasselbeck asked co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. “I know Rosie very well. We worked quite closely. Talk about not securing the border! Here comes in to The View the very woman who spit in the face of our military, spit in the face of her own network, and really in the face of a person who stood by her and had civilized debates for the time that she was there, coming back with a bunch of control ready to regain a seat at the View table.”

    Take a breath, Elisabeth, take a breath.

    O’Donnell‘s possible re-hiring is “not surprising” to Hasselbeck.

    “I think this has been in the works for a long time,” she told her co-hosts.

    Hasselbeck, who is well-known for her staunch support of American troops, insinuated that the reunion show was a precursor to O’Donnell’s return to The View.

    “I’ll go back to the reunion show for [Barbara Walters]. How odd is this, when you have the woman, who again, insinuated that our own troops were terrorists in Iraq at the time, then left the show…to have such ease the day of Barbara’s goodbye show was shocking to me? She walked around with a lot of control and I had the chance to talk to her,” said Hasselbeck. “Rosie herself told me, on-set, while we were mic’ed up, that she produced the reunion show to have everybody together and it was her idea. Now, would you think that the woman who left in the way that she did would be producing Barbara’s goodbye show? Here’s the shocker: It was actually her hello show.”

    Hasselbeck said she will be “very interested” to see how O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg might get on together if O’Donnell does indeed return to the show.

    “I don’t think it would be wise for Rosie O’Donnell to challenge Whoopi Goldberg on anything. I really don’t,” she cautioned. “And I would also say that after years of being there, Rosie found out one thing about me: Don’t mess with a pregnant mama and do not mess with our military when it comes to this girl sitting next to her.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Sarah Palin: The Newest Edition To The View?

    Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has hinted that she may want to join ABC’s morning talk show The View.

    Last month, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy announced that they would not be returning to the show, leaving room for new hosts to take their spot at the round table.

    “I hear everyone recently got canned from The View, maybe a show like that needs a punch of reality and a voice of reason from America’s heartland to knock some humble sense into their scripts,” Palin told The Hollywood Reporter. “You know, someone willing to go rogue.”

    Palin, who is no stranger to television, also suggested that she may like to have her own political talk show. “Maybe,” she said, when asked about the possibility of having a show either on television, radio, or the Internet. “But the politics would have to be interspersed with a whole lot of fun and real life and inspiration showcasing American work ethic, because those topics are all pretty much the antithesis of today’s politics, which I find incorrigibly disastrous!”

    “It’d be so much fun to shake it up taking on issues that make audiences objectively consider all sides, and I’d do it with my own real-life groundedness, candor and commonsense that I’m known for,” Palin added. “Media needs that today, versus the condescension that oozes from TV and radio.”

    Barbara Walters announced that she will be retiring and will not be returning to the show, leaving Whoopi Goldberg the only current host coming back for the new season. Different names have been tossed around as possible hosts including Rosie O’Donnell and Mario Cantone.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons