Megyn Kelly's tearful apology about growing up in a different time when "blackface" was a character, worked about as well as Harvey Weinstein's apology for sexual harassment saying that's how life was in the 70's. She reportedly has been axed at N.B.C. From the Daily Mail:

This move comes just 48 hours after the embattled host made remarks in which she defended blackface on Today. Kelly tried to deal with the scandal by delivering a tearful apology on-air and welcoming two black panelists to discuss the fraught and horrifying history of the practice, but it did no good.

'Megyn Kelly is done. She is not ever coming back,' said an NBC executive with knowledge of the situation. 'We are just working out timing of the announcement but mark my word – she is gone and will never be seen on NBC live again.'

She's also parted ways with her talent agency, and may find it difficult to get another one. The Mail reports she may return to Fox News. [More...]

It's that time of year again. Tonight is the finale of the sixth season of El Señor de los Cielos (ESDLC 6). The show has been somewhat of a rudderless ship this season, due to the disappearance of lead actor Rafael Amaya midway through filming. Amaya plays Aurelio Casillas, loosely based on deceased trafficker Amado Carrillo-Fuentes. Some reports say Amaya contracted an illness in a bat cave while filming an episode of the show in Turkey and he's still gravely ill. Other reports speculate there were contractual disputes with Telemundo and he's out of the show permanently. Telemundo has said nothing and the show just keeps on trucking.

Until this week, there have been no sightings, even on social media. He wasn't at the wrap party for the show in August. But here he is, at an event with a Mexican political consultant for the new President, posted on her FB page on Sept. 19. So we know he's alive.

To cover Amaya's absence, Telemundo's writers put Aurelio in a coma at the end of July, so all we see is someone lying immobile in bed with a head swathed in bandages. Then they brought in an actor to play his half-brother that no one ever knew he had. [More...]

CBS announced today it will put $120 million in trust for Leslie Moonves in the event he is not terminated for cause. You can read the document filed with the SEC today here.

Moonves' 75 page employment agreement from May, 2017 specifies what constitutes termination for cause in Paragraph 10 (a): [More...]

The only thing that's changed about Omarosa since her days on the Apprentice is she's learned how to modulate her voice a bit, so she isn't always screaming at the top of her lungs.

Here's a smither of her taped call with Trump and another with John Kelly.

As for the big taped call no one has heard that she now claims she has heard (since her book was printed), it's a tape that has been talked about for years. I remember an Apprentice employee claimed to have heard many of them on seasons I and 2. Mark Burnett threatened to sue any employee for $5 million if any Apprentice tapes were released. Media Matters offered to pay the $5 million in damages if he'd release it to MM, but he got no takers. [More..]

James Corden for Mayor of the World.

During one of the worst and most shameful weeks in recent American history, evoking nothing but disgust for the vulgarian in the oval office and his wife who is either beyond tone deaf or truly doesn't give a sh*t (as evident from the jacket she wore to board a plane taking her to the border for her photo op and unsuccessful attempt at damage control), James Corden got to escape to London, where he put on joyful shows all week.

The highlight of the week was Thursday night and the carpool karaoke with Paul McCartney. It began traditionally, and then broke the mold. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but it was an absolute joy to watch. [More...]

I'm actually watching Sean Hannity tonight. He says he is going to address his relationship with Michael Cohen. Alan Dershowitz, who was Hannity's guest along with Joe DiGenova, in a segment trashing James Comey, answered a question about Comey with a light rasp on Hannity's knuckles by volunteering that Hannity should have disclosed his relationship with Cohen when he had Cohen on the show. Hannity responded that his and Cohen's relationship was so minimal -- it was about real estate.

As for diGenova, he had nothing to say other than Comey should be charged with crimes and Hillary should have been made to have pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor before the election over the emails. What planet do these people live on? [more...]

Stormy Daniels is interviewed by CBS "60 Minutes" tonight.

Daniels talks to Anderson Cooper about the relationship she says she had with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007, revealing details that bring her story up to the present.

Trump has denied the affair. From the CBS description, it sounds like the line of questioning will concern the payment. Her lawyer seems as much her fanboy as her lawyer on his twitter feed. The accolades for her go on and on.

Here is a February, 2018 interview with Stormy in which she "tells all" and says she can describe "Trump's junk" perfectly. What more do we need to know? The sad truth is that Trump's supporters don't care about his alleged past infidelity. They didn't care about the Billy Bush tape and they won't care about this.

Sam Nunberg wasn't done when he got off TV Monday night. At 11:30 pm, he called New York Magazine. Here's a transcript.

He thinks Jared stole money from the pile that Brad Parscale got from the campaign for his digital marketing work. He admits he has no evidence of this.

He claims he and Roger Stone were responsible for Trump's win. He hates Lewandowski and Hope Hicks (who he basically said rode Lewandowski's coattails to inch her way up.)

Here's the list of people whose communications he says were sought by Mueller. I wonder why Jared and Parscale weren't on it.

Nunberg has been stewing in resentment for a long time. I read a similar interview with him days before his meltdown. (Haven't found it again yet, I'll update if I do.)

The Grammy's red carpet is already streaming live. You can watch here.

The Grammy's Premiere Event starts at 3:30 ET live, hosted by Paul Shaffer and 70 awards will be given out.

The actual "Grammys" begin at 7:30 pm ET and can be viewed online in numerous places, including Grammy.com and CBS.

James Corden is hosting again. JayZ seems to be the featured nominee this year. It's a big year for rap. And for white roses, in solidarity with the T.U. movement.

The Golden Globes are on. There is not much point in a red carpet when everyone is wearing black, so the show dyed the carpet black.

I felt sorry for some of the foreign male winners who had to give a speech and had no stories of mistreatment to share. It sounds oddly out of place when someone simply says "I'd like to thank my wife and kids."

Is anyone watching the show?

I think "The Post" is going to win. Hollywood may be changing, but power is power and Spielberg and Streep are a tough duo to beat.

MSNBC Loses, CNN gains. Within 24 hours of MSNBC announcing it would not renew veteran journalist Joan Walsh's contract, CNN has hired her.

I'm glad CNN acted so quickly in hiring Joan. I've always liked her. In the early days of blogging, Salon, along with Newsweek and the Washington Examiner, were among the few media organizations that would actually pay bloggers to write articles. Joan was the editor of Salon at the time. (See, “McCain and Palin go to Dobsonville”.)
[More...]

Tavis Smiley is angry at PBS, which he says performed a sloppy investigation of the harassment allegations against him, and then suspended him.

Put simply, PBS overreacted and conducted a biased and sloppy investigation, which led to a rush to judgment, and trampling on a reputation that I have spent an entire lifetime trying to establish,” Mr. Smiley wrote early Thursday.

Variety has more details, including this statement posted by Smiley on his FB page:

In a statement posted Thursday evening on Facebook, Smiley said, “I have the utmost respect for women and celebrate the courage of those who have come forth to tell their truth. To be clear, I have never groped, coerced, or exposed myself inappropriately to any workplace colleague in my entire broadcast career, covering 6 networks over 30 years.”

The allegations: [More...]