The staff of his awful show is now trying to deflect blame from him for sending a production assistant down to Lakeland, FL to bail out Mercades Nichols, ringleader of the 8 teenage girls who viciously beat up one of their classmates and took video of it. According to People:
An employee for the daytime talk show posted bail for one of eight central Florida teenagers jailed for allegedly participating in a videotaped beating, Phil McGraw’s spokeswoman, Terri Corigliano, confirmed Saturday.
“We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show – assisting with clothing allowance, lost wages, accommodations, travel and necessities,” Corigliano said, according to the Associate Press. “In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines.”
Nichols’ bail was set at $33,000, which means that this “certain staff member” had to lay down over 3 grand to get her out. What, did he take it out of petty cash? Good ol’ Dr. Phil didn’t know anything about it?
It’ll be interesting to see if McGraw owns up to this attempted ratings ploy, or if his folksy aphorisms about taking responsibility for yourself apply to everybody but Dr. Phil.
Ashlee Simpson is engaged. And, depending on who you ask, knocked up.
She and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz announced their intentions last week, but it didn’t take long for those pesky pregnancy rumors to resurface.
Soon-to-be-grandpa Joe Simpson, a former Baptist minister, must be so proud. First Jessica saved herself for marriage only to divorce before she turned 26, and now his youngest — at the ripe age of 23 — is the latest on the list of shotgun brides.
Ironically, two years ago, when Ashlee was “pre-engaged” to her bandmate Braxton Olita, Joe advised her to play the field and she told him to butt out of her relationship and respect its “deep commitment.” Something only a 21-year-old can say with a straight face.
Remember how Victoria Beckham quit the Spice Girls because she wanted to be a fashion designer? If not, it’s your lucky day because I have a memory like an elephant. In February:
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’m not in the music industry any more. I’m in the fashion industry.
“I’m putting together a team of people now so it will be my main project when I finish this tour in a month.”
Turns out, much like ombre maxi dresses (oh they may be hot right now, but trust me on this one), Posh’s dVb line of jeans was a passing fad.
The denim has been pulled from Los Angeles stores Kitson and Fred Segal after she refused to make any public appearances to promote the line:
“We asked her PR people so many times for her to appear but she didn’t,” said Kitson owner, Fraser Ross. “Celebrity lines are no different from an album or music tour. They have to be promoted to sell.”
Maybe the jeans came only in Posh’s size 00. Might have been a contributing factor to poor sales?
Granted, there’s nobody terribly famous in the picture … but I figure it’s just a matter of time before Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere, Danny Glover, and Tim Robbins start kvetching.
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