Levi Johnston threatened to sue, Conan O'Brien listened -- and last night he apologized for using an "imposter's" Twitter account to make fun of Sarah Palin's daughter's baby daddy.
William Shatner was back again to do a reading from the "real" Levi ... and this time, the Taco Bell inspired quotes are totally authentic.
Levi Johnston's manager has launched an ultimatum to Conan O'Brien's show over last night's William Shatner sketch: "If they don't retract, we'll sue."
NBC had no official comment, but an insider at "The Tonight Show" tells us they'll be addressing the issue on the air tonight -- and Shatner twittered he will be back for another appearance. Coincidence? We think not.
Yesterday, Shatner read what was represented as posts from Levi's Twitter account, making him look like a racially insensitive pothead -- but as we first reported, Levi's reps say the famous Palin-impaler doesn't even have a Twitter account ... or a Facebook, or a Myspace.
Levi's attorney tells us he's already dealing with Twitter over the fake account.
Wanna know why Howard Stern wasn't one of the big guests on Leno's "Tonight Show finale?" Just listen to what the King of All Media had to say about Jay on Letterman last night. Brutal!
Mel Gibson was on "The Tonight Show" to talk about his two latest projects -- his divorce from wife Robyn, and the pregnancy of his new GF, Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva.
While talking to Jay Leno, the conservative Catholic actually took the blame for his split from his wife of 28 years, saying "I did a pretty good hatchet job on my marriage myself ... put it here."
His kid with Grigorieva will make 8 for Gibson -- prompting him to call himself "Octo-Mel."
Jay Leno had to cancel two of his shows last week after being hospitalized with a 103 degree fever -- but the only thing sick about the "Tonight Show" host last night was his car.
Jay Leno went to the hospital today after complaining he wasn't feeling well.
Leno was not taken to the hospital by ambulance -- he either drove himself or was driven by a staffer. NBC officials have confirmed tonight's show taping has been canceled -- a repeat will air instead.
A rep for Leno says he's still in the hospital for observation.
UPDATE -- A rep for "The Tonight Show" says Leno will miss Friday's episode as well. But, the rep adds, "Jay Leno is doing just fine. He was kidding around with the hospital staff and running his monologue jokes by the doctors and the nurses. He's expected back to work on Monday."
The paparazzi around Hollywood hot spot Hyde are used to the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, but Britney Spears sends them into a frenzy. Rolling in her Porsche and wearing a hat (which we're pretty sure her grandmother knitted), Britney finally made it into the club after a few minutes of chaos. Maybe the audience at "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno is tougher than we thought, because Snoop Dogg was allegedly packing heat and in the possession of cocaine and pot after leaving a performance on the show. TMZ's Josh Levine got footage of the infamous rapper as he was released from the joint later that night. While everyone else is pointing and laughing, Rosie is taking a more direct approach with Brit's recent underpants faux pas. Rosie brought in some of her own underwear for Britney; maybe she can use it as a blanket to cover herself.
Forget the Democrats taking control of the House, or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepping down, the "biggest news in the country" -- at least according to Rosie O'Donnell and the gals at "The View" -- is Britney dumping K-Hole.
Rosie kicked off the episode talking about "the day after" and how she was "over the moon excited" -- a veiled reference to the election results from yesterday. But no, Rosie had other things on her mind -- Britney kicking K-Fed to the curb! Rosie shouted out the news and screamed out "Confetti!" as tons of streamers fell from the ceiling. You want election coverage, turn to CNN. You want Britney love, check out "The View."
Fed-bashing wasn't limited to The View. "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno took a shot at the former couple during his election night monologue as well.
Kate Hudson has tried it. Teri Hatcher did it on 'The Tonight Show'. Lisa Rinna even used it before getting into 'Dancing' shape. These gorgeous actresses and many others are shedding pounds and clothes doing Sheila Kelley's risque S Factor workouts.
Sheila Kelley, wife of 'West Wing' regular Richard Schiff, has enjoyed success with roles on TV shows like 'LA Law' and 'ER.' But the mother-of-two achieved nationwide notoriety for creating the controversial exercise program while writing, starring and co-producing the 2001 erotic film 'Dancing at the Blue Iguana.' Related link
Tony award-winning playwright Jeff Whitty doesn't find comedian Jay Leno very funny.
Whitty, writer of the Broadway musical comedy 'Avenue Q,' fired off a letter to 'The Tonight Show' host criticizing Leno's "gay-baiting" jokes.
Whitty is upset over Leno's ongoing quips at the expense of homosexuals. In a letter posted on Whitless.com, Whitty specifically cites a 'Tonight Show' skit involving a horse made up in a "gay" way, in what Whitty calls a "tired mockery" of 'Brokeback Mountain.'
"I know you know gay people, Mr. Leno," Whitty writes in his letter. "Are they just jokes to you, to be snickered at behind their backs?"
While 2005 was plenty of fun, it did have the misfortune to follow censorship panic-laden 2004: the year of Janet's boob. Some of that backlash continued on into 2005 and kept pulses racing, censors fainting and corporate sponsors dropping the axe.
Without further ado, the top five censored moments of 2005:
Amid rumors that cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants was promoting a homosexual agenda, comedian Robin Williams worked up quite a routine for the 77th Annual Academy Awards. The comic went to 'Hairspray' songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and asked them to put together a song for the telecast lampooning the whole affair (Shaiman wrote the music to Williams' 'Blame Canada' in 2000). Williams was taken completely by surprise when the song, "Stink Beneath the Ink," was axed by show organizers two days before the broadcast.
However, the irrepressible Williams did manage to get his song out to the masses by performing it for Jay Leno on 'The Tonight Show' a few days later. Among the banned lyrics:
"Pinocchio's had his nose done, Sleeping Beauty's popping pills The Three Little Pigs aren't kosher, Betty Boop works Beverly Hills. Superman is hooked on steroids, Tinky Wink (sic) is in the pink Damn it to hell, wake up and smell the stink beneath the ink. Chip 'n' Dale both are strippers, Scrooge McDuck is really tight Bugs Bunny's a cross-dresser, Snow White has been up all night. There's something fishy about Nemo, Batman & Robin share a sink Winnie the Pooh, we know what he's into. The stink beneath the ink."
Although his most famous outburst of 2005 (on NBC's Katrina telethon) wasn't censored at all, outspoken rapper Kanye West did have his share of artistic troubles to overcome. MTV and many FM radio stations censored many of his most popular songs including 'All Falls Down' and 'Gold Digger.' Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Kanye commented on his 'controversial' lyrics, saying, "On MTV, when they played 'All Falls Down,' they bleep out where it says 'And the white man gets paid off of all of that.' And on Canadian radio, I found out that on 'Gold Digger,' they bleep out when I say 'Leave your ass for a white girl.' I understand the word 'ass.' But white girl? That line would only be offensive to black guys that left their black girlfriends for white women. But I don't have anything against interracial relationships. If that's what you want to do, that's what you're going to do. I just talked about it." Music videos
One of the biggest surprises of 2005 was an insider's look at the craft of stand-up comedy, a shockingly offensive documentary called 'The Aristocrats.' The film features 100 of the top comedians in the world all telling the same joke, while delighting in who can deliver it in the absolute raunchiest way possible. In the course of exploring the filthiest way to tell the joke, a clear picture develops about what Americans find funny and what Americans find uncomfortable.
Unfortunately for 'The Aristocrats,' the national theater chain AMC refused to show the movie in any of its 3,500-plus screens. The theater company tried to avoid an overt ban, by claiming the film had a very limited appeal, causing comedian and co-producer Penn Jillette to comment to MSNBC, "It's the kind of thing that makes you go 'Come on, play fair.' It's not like we're trying to slide this by anybody by calling it 'Love Bug 2: Herbie Takes It Up the A--'." Video 'Aristocrats' Trailer
The blonde bombshell made headlines recently when she was summarily cut out of an NBC broadcast of the Elton John special 'Elton John: The Red Piano.' But just two days before, the network had sent out preview copies of the program to media outlets and critics, making the omission rather blatant. The number in question featured Anderson pole dancing wearing a G-string and silver pasties.
In reponse to the uproar, NBC released the following statement: "We believed the content was not appropriate for 8PM / 7 Central time and decided to pull the song from the special." The opinions of millions of teenage boys notwithstanding, they may have been onto something. Celeb spotlight Pam Anderson
Without a doubt, the top censored moment in 2005 was the short run of the infamous Carl's Jr. Paris Hilton spot. In the ad for Carl's BBQ Six Dollar Burger, the lithesome heiress lathered herself in suds and most of America into a frenzy as she redefined "hotness" for whole a generation of hamburglers to come.
While only a 30-second version of the ad enjoyed a brief television run, the hubbub was so great that Carl's Jr. parent corporation, CKE Restaurants, put up a website devoted to the full, uncut 60-second version of the spot which was deemed far too hot for TV at SpicyParis.com. Oh, and then there was the parody (also on the same above web page), which we found almost as entertaining. Video The 30-second version of Paris' commerical