Etta James contextualized yesterday’s little catfight in today’s N.Y. Daily News:
James told the Daily News Thursday she meant no harm when she poked fun at the President and ripped Beyoncé for her performance of James’ hit “At Last” during the inauguration.
“I didn’t really mean anything,” James said. “Even as a little child, I’ve always had that comedian kind of attitude. … That’s probably what went into it.”
Still, James acknowledged being miffed she wasn’t invited to perform her signature song for Obama’s first dance with his wife on inauguration night.
James said she was “feeling left out of something that was basically mine, that I had done every time you look around.”
Could be. But if she was indeed kidding, she has an incredibly dry sense of humor (listen here for the original audio).
Still, don’t forget this: “You guys know your president, right? You know the one with the big ears? Yeah, wait a minute, he ain’t my president. He might be yours. He ain’t my president.”
Salty, no matter how much she wants to say she was joking.
And sidenote: Etta James didn’t write “At Last,” nor was she the first person to sing it. It leapt up the Billboard charts in 1941, then was covered by Nat King Cole in 1957 before Etta made it famous again in 1961. So let’s not get territorial here.
BUMP: We’re finalizing the “Deceiver March Madness” brackets soon, so put your suggestions in the comments. The four brackets will be “Stars and Starlets”; “Political Animals”; “Activists”; and “Douchebags.” (Note that political animals can include real politicians as well as politically outspoken celeb-u-tards.) We’ll start with 16 Deceivers in each bracket, just like the real thing.
JANUARY 5, 2009: Personally, we can’t decide which famous people have been making the hottest hypocritical messes of themselves. There are just too damned many candidates to choose from.
So help us out, would ya?
In about two months we’re going to be hosting a “March Madness” bracket-style poll. It’ll run during the same weeks as the NCAA basketball tourney, but votes — not hoops — will decide who moves on from one round to the next.
The “winning” celeb will get a framed certificate, which we expect will be promptly turned into some publicist’s kindling.
And every time you vote, you’ll be entered in a drawing for real prizes! Gift cards that you definitely want. Trust me.
So who’s the biggest Deceiver of them all? I dunno. You’re going to pick.
And the Selection Committee at Deceiver Central Command hasn’t even filled the bracket yet. So we’re accepting nominations. Leave ‘em in the comments — tell us who deserves to be in the field of 64, and why. And feel free to drop in a link to your favorite Deceiver stories from the past year.
If you’re wondering whether or not PETA will make it, I think it’s a safe bet. We may actually give PETA celebs their own bracket.
I know you were all avid readers, but Michael Lohan has decided to stop blogging — just not before he gets in one final potshot at Samantha Ronson:
Before I go, however, I must say that I received a text message from a very close and dear friend of Lindsay’s who I trust and admire. The text said, “between you and me you are doing the right thing. From what I hear, from Lindsay’s nearest and dearest friends, Lindsay is worse off than ever since she she has been with Sam. I told Dina that Lindsay needs you back in her life, and I think you know that I was the one who really helped Linds get into rehab.”
Without divulging this person’s identity, let me say that I know this person and I trust him/her very much. As a matter of fact, I spent time with him/her and wish that he/she was still part of Lindsay’s life.
For the record, when it comes to sexual preference, I am not biased. What matters most is the substance of an individual rather than their preference.It is the love and intent behind the relationship that matters. Something I can not give much credence to when it comes to Samantha. Just look at Samantha’s tax returns before she “engaged” Lindsay, and then after! Look at Lindsay’s career before Samantha and after! Look at all the things Lindsay accomplished and had going for her before Samantha and after. And finally, consider how Lindsay spent every holiday with her family before she met Samantha and then after. Would Lindsay ever leave her little sister in LA with Jenni, and leave with Samantha like she recently did when she went to Boston?! NEVER!
For starters, that’s a lot of text for a text. And I’m amazed (and a little creeped out) that Lindsay’s closest buds are texting her dad when she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to communicate with him.
Second, “I am not biased” my azz.
I have no idea whether Sam is a stabilizing influence on Lindsay. But I can say without a shadow of a doubt that she has to be better than Michael Lohan.
Last week I told you about President Obama’s thermostat-cranking habit, which is the reason he’s been seen in the Oval Office in his shirtsleeves. That would be fine by me, if it weren’t for the way he lectured us all on the campaign trail about being more responsible with our personal energy use. But some have complained on aesthetic grounds, saying that this jacket-optional policy is disrespectful to the office of president or something.
Take, for example, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. He told Inside Edition:
“There should be a dress code of respect. I wish that he would wear a suit coat and tie…
“The Oval Office symbolizes… the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I’m going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it’s appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President.”
Well, alright, if you want to be an old fuddy-duddy. Seems to me that “Keeping my jacket on” shouldn’t be quite as high on Obama’s list as things like “Making sure at least one or two of the people I appoint to my administration have paid their taxes” and “Not setting terrorists free to kill more people” and “How about let’s not tax the hell out of everybody.” You know, little things like that. I don’t care if he wears a Captain Kirk shirt and a Napoleon hat to work, as long as he starts getting his act together. But if you want to sweat his dress code, go ahead.
…
Huh? The Huffington Post found what?
Oops! So hey, why don’t we let Obama wear what he wants? As long as he keeps his hands off the thermostat.
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