| | | | What I learned this weekend... | | -- President Trump says he's "the least racist person you will ever interview..."
-- Because of Trump's comments about Haiti, Conan O'Brien is heading to the country for a special show...
-- Senator Jeff Flake is planning a floor speech to rebut Trump's anti-media attacks...
-- Jeff Bezos keeps in touch with WashPost staffers on an email chain called the "Pancakes Group..."
-- Leslie Jones is 👍 when it comes to playing Oprah on "SNL..."
-- Hotel rooms in Minneapolis are already sold out for Super Bowl weekend. Jamie is a lifelong Eagles fan, so we're planning on being there somehow! Gotta beat the Vikings first... | | | Over the weekend, POTUS continued to spar with "Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff, calling the book "fake" and Wolff "mentally deranged" (without naming him). But here's the thing: Trump keeps behaving in ways that back up Wolff's thesis. The president's reported racist remarks, rogue tweets and shrinking schedule have all made headlines in the past seven days... | | | When Trump initially tweeted on Saturday night about the "deranged" author who "knowingly writes false information," Wolff declined to comment. But on Sunday morning, Wolff responded with a tweet of his own. "It seems possible my book is helping push the President to a crack-up," Wolff wrote. "If so, what happens?" | | New: Graydon Carter tells Michael Grynbaum he stopped reading "Fire and Fury" halfway through:
"It was too depressing. It's what I got away from." | | A fresh quote for the morning shows... | | | On Sunday night POTUS briefly talked with reporters while arriving for dinner with Kevin McCarthy. "I am not a racist. I'm the least racist person you will ever interview, that I can tell you," Trump said in response to a Q... | | Trump also denied saying countries in Africa are "shitholes:" "Did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments? They weren't made."
Numerous sources have told news organizations that yes, in fact, the "shithole" comments were made. Senator Dick Durbin has confirmed this, as well. But on Sunday, Senator Tom Cotton went from "do not recall" to "I didn't hear it," and David Perdue went from "do not recall" to "this is a gross misrepresentation." Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Fox that "I don't recall him saying that exact phrase." CNN has a helpful page about the "conflicting memories..."
Pardon my skepticism. But the right time for denials was on Thursday, in the minutes and hours after the news reports came out... | | Rand Paul on "Meet the Press:" "I think some people in the media have gone completely bonkers with, you know, just ad hominem on the president."
That's one POV. Here's another: Members of the news media have been standing up for core American values amid this "shithole countries" controversy. That's what I've heard when I've been reading and channel-surfing. "I'm the son of an immigrant." "America is a nation of holers." Or as Chuck Todd said to Paul, "That's the story of our country..." | | When to use the word "racist" | | | Racist: "Should the news media be using that charged word for the president of the United States? Only when absolutely warranted. Which it clearly is," Margaret Sullivan says in Monday's WashPost... | | --> Was this week a turning point in how newsrooms report on Trump and racism? Here's what Van Jones and David Zurawik told me on Sunday's "Reliable..."
--> Jones' argument: Not only were Trump's comments racist, they were also "inaccurate..." | | | Erick Erickson tweeted Sunday: "It's weird that people in the room don't remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base..." | | W.H. disputes WSJ's quote | | Thursday: Trump really seems to enjoy his interview with four reporters from the WSJ. The interview comes out, and no one objects. Friday: Other WSJ reporters publish a story about Trump lawyers arranging a $130,000 payoff to a porn star one month before the election. Saturday: Sarah Sanders calls the WSJ "fake news" and says the paper misquoted the president.
It's definitely a curious timeline. But for the record, Sanders tells CNN that the W.H. started asking for a correction on Friday morning, before the porn star story came out.
In any event, the WSJ is standing by its original quote. And both sides have released audio tapes. At issue: Whether Trump says he probably has a good relationship with Kim Jong Un, currently, or whether Trump would probably have a good relationship with him, sometime in the future. Read Rob McLean's full story here...
--> More: On Sunday night, Trump said the paper quoted him "totally wrong." He was asked: "Have you talked directly with Kim?" And he didn't answer... | | This entire Sunday Business profile of Jeff Bezos is worth reading, but I wanted to highlight this part about the Washington Post:
"Every other week, he huddles on conference calls with The Post's leadership, and twice a year they visit him at his home. He communicates with the newspaper's top brass with an email list called the Pancakes Group. The Amazon chief once made members of the group flapjacks from a favorite recipe in 'Joy of Cooking' on their first visit to his house."
>> The story also says that Bezos "plans to host salon-style dinners" at his home in DC, which is being renovated right now. He is "drawing inspiration from the celebrated dinner parties thrown by Katharine Graham."
>> Great Marty Baron quote in the story: "It's a very big house. I hope he has a party for us in the house." | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday: The Guardian newspaper debuts in tabloid form...
-- Wednesday: "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" premieres on FX...
-- Thursday: The Sundance Film Festival begins...
-- Sunday night: The SAG Awards... | | | "When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn't suit him 'fake news,' it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press." That's what Jeff Flake is planning to say in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday... Excerpts were shared with reporters on Sunday... | | -- We now know what went wrong with Hawaii's false emergency alert... And Ajit Pai provided an update on the FCC investigation on Sunday... (CNN)
-- The aforementioned Graydon Carter is investing in an app called Zig. It "aims to simplify users' consumption of news..." (NYT)
-- "Lizzie Crocker, a reporter for The Daily Beast, has resigned after getting caught blatantly plagiarizing an article" by Alice Lloyd in The Weekly Standard... (The Daily Caller) | | They were just out "doing their jobs" | | | The next hearing in Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's case is on January 23. This story out of Myanmar needs international attention right now. "These are two young journalists with families, out doing their jobs, in what we all support: free and independent journalism," Reuters EIC Stephen Adler told me on "Reliable Sources." The pair were arrested a month ago, and now face 14 years of jail. Jackie Wattles has a recap of the interview here... | | Catch up on Sunday's show | | Chris Matthews was scheduled to be one of the four panelists on "Meet the Press" Sunday morning. But something changed over the weekend. Andrea Mitchell took his place. The Daily Caller's Amber Athey was the first to point this out.
The Q: Was his absence related to Friday's publication of an old video showing him joking about a "Bill Cosby pill" before interviewing Hillary Clinton? No comment from NBC... But an MSNBC spokesman said he's hosting "Hardball" this week like usual... | | Fox proving Obama's point? | | | "If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you, you know, listen to NPR." Barack Obama has made comments like this before. It's a pretty simple resuscitation of the "alternative realities" critique that comes up every day. But Fox News rarely passes up a chance to slam Obama. So this new quote from David Letterman's Netflix chat with Obama was turned into a segment on "Fox & Friends" two days in a row. On both days, the banner said, "Obama: Fox News fans on different planet." Misleading, eh? | | -- On Page One of Sunday's NYT: "In Some Countries, Facebook's Fiddling Has Magnified Fake News" (NYT)
-- An informative NYMag piece: "Concerns about Ronald Reagan's mental health were handled very differently than Trump's" (NYMag)
-- A thought-provoking column by Nellie Bowles: Should you turn your phone screen to grayscale to make it "less stimulating" ?! (NYT)
-- Eliza Dushku "accused famed stunt coordinator Joel Kramer of sexually molesting her when she was 12 years old..." Others supported her account... Kramer said "these are absolute lies..." (Deadline) | | Will we hear more about Viacom and CBS this week? As TheWrap first reported on Friday, Shari Redstone wants to stage a reunion.
The LAT's Meg James put it this way: While "there are no merger talks underway," Redstone "sees a merger as a compelling option for the two companies." She quoted a source as saying: "Shari is determined to get them back together. Everything else she could think of went nowhere." But "people close to the companies quickly cautioned that there was no timetable for a deal, or even if one would happen." Here's her full story... | | | "Mark Wahlberg is donating $1.5 million to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund in costar Michelle Williams' name," CNN's Ben Geier writes. "The donation comes in response to criticism over a gender pay gap for reshoots of the movie "All the Money in the World." Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for the reshoots while Williams made just around $1,000, or $80 a day." Read more... | | Conde cuts ties with Mario Testino and Bruce Weber | | An NYT investigation into sexual misconduct in the fashion industry found many allegations of exploitation by famed photographers Bruce Weber and Mario Testino. According to the story, Weber denied the allegations... and a law firm representing Testino challenged some of the accusers. Here's the full story.
Both men were regulars in the pages of Vogue and other magazines. In response, Conde Nast issued this statement: "We are deeply disturbed by these accusations and take this very seriously -- as previously noted in our statement regarding sexual harassment. In light of these allegations, we will not be commissioning any new work with them for the foreseeable future." | | While the media was talking about "Oprah 2020" last Monday, Oprah was taping this panel discussion with Hollywood A-listers about #TimesUp. It aired on "CBS Sunday Morning..."
--> Speaking of Oprah: Are journalists approaching the 2020 story correctly? Here's what Lynn Sweet and David Zurawik said on "Reliable..."
--> My prediction: We're going to be seeing a lot of Leslie Jones-as-Oprah in the coming months... | | "Let me just say what a thrill it is to be alive at a time where 'Porn Star Blackmails President' is like the fourth-biggest story of the week."
--Colin Jost on "Weekend Update..." | | Frank Pallotta writes: Steve Bannon is no longer a grim reaper. Bill Murray surprised audiences by playing Bannon on "SNL..." Kate McKinnon's Mika Brzezinski asked Bannon what he's doing now since leaving the White House... "I'm working on a web series for Crackle. It's called 'Cucks In Cars Getting Coffee,'" he said. "I'm also coming out with a new line of wrinkled barn jackets..."
--> "SNL" brought out another old cast member, Fred Armisen, to play Michael Wolff... | | "The Post" is out nationwide: | | Box-office circulation up for "The Post" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Steven Spielberg's "The Post" earned $18.6 million in its expanded release over the weekend, and a projected $22 million for the four-day holiday. That's a very solid number for an adult, character-driven drama. There was more good news for the film's distributor, Fox, as "The Greatest Showman" continues to hold up quite well, with the musical starring Hugh Jackman -- initially viewed as a disappointment -- likely to pass the $100 million threshold this week, while its soundtrack hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, a rare feat for a movie... | | | Writer Glynnis MacNicol emails: "At the sold-out 3:40 show of 'The Post' in Cobble Hill today, the audience burst into applause when Kay Graham (and her CAFTAN) said 'Let's go, let's, let's go... publish!'" | | | The next "Conan Without Borders" destination is Haiti. Conan O'Brien is taking his road trip series to the Caribbean island in a direct response to Trump's recent remarks about the country. The travel plans were just confirmed on Sunday, a spokesman for the comedian told me. O'Brien will travel there at the end of the week... There's no air date for the special yet... But he tweeted about the trip on Sunday to let his fans knows. EW has details here... | | "Handmaid's Tale" returns in April | | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: "Get ready to return to Gilead. Hulu has announced a premiere date for the second season of its award-winning series, 'The Handmaid's Tale.' The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning show will return April 25 with two new episodes, the streaming service said Sunday. Subsequent episodes will be released on Wednesdays." Her story has the new trailer, too... | | Netflix and the art of spin | | Brian Lowry emails: Netflix and the art of spin: Netflix canceled the comedy "Lady Dynamite," which, in the TV world, is no big deal. But the way THR reported the story underscores how the streaming giant endeavors to shape its coverage by withholding information. Specifically, without any ratings that might help explain the decision, reporters have to grasp at data points, like the show's Rotten Tomatoes scores, while echoing the company line. The headline says "cancelled," but the lead says "Netflix continues to refine its approach to scripted."
As the piece notes, it's not the first "refinement" Netflix has engaged in recently, suggesting greater sensitivity to viewing data than the service acknowledges... | | Rest in peace, Bobby Zarin | | | Lisa Respers France emails: Bobby Zarin, husband of former reality TV star Jill Zarin, died Saturday at the age of 71 after battling cancer. The couple came to fame during their appearances on the first four seasons on "The Real Housewives of New York City." Read more... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I love the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. Thank you! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
