News of the Week: April 06, 2004 Newsy Page: Kelly Osbourne in rehab, R. Kelly and Britney Spears get dirty, and New York teen wins one for gay rights.
He Was a Stalker Boi
Police arrested Seattle resident James Speedy last Wednesday for allegedly stalking 19-year-old Avril Lavigne. For the past year, the 30-year-old father has intimidated the singer and her family through menacing e-mails and letters.
The cops nabbed Speedy shortly after searching his home. They won't discuss specifics of the case or what they found in the fanatic's home, but they do admit that Speedy's messages placed "the family of Avril Lavigne, and Avril Lavigne herself, in fear." Speedy posted $5,000 bail and has since been released.
And this week's FCC casualties are...
Clear Channel Communications finally gave Howard Stern the boot after weeks of tension caused by the Federal Communications Commission's crackdown on indecency. The broadcast network gave Stern his pink slip after the FCC fined it $495,000 for airing sexually explicit content. "Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it. The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take," explained Clear Channel CEO and president John Hogan in a statement last week. Stern's response was a little less diplomatic. "This is not a surprise. This is a follow-up to the McCarthy-type 'witch hunt' of the administration and the activities of this group of presidential appointees in the FCC, led by 'Colin Powell Jr.' and his band of players," he said on his Web site.
Stern isn't the FCC's only casualty. Atlanta DJs Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler were also dropped by Clear Channel last week. The hosts of the popular radio show, "The Regular Guys," landed in hot water when they left a microphone on during a break and unknowingly broadcast a dirty conversation to thousands of listeners. Clear Channel was forced to drop the show because the DJs violated its zero-tolerance indecency policy.
Rather than risk getting a fine of their own, Victoria's Secret and CBS decided to nix plans for their televised fashion show. The hit runway special/peep show featured supermodels in tiny teddies and bra and panty sets. "We had to make the decision probably six to eight weeks ago when the heat was on the television networks," Ed Razek, chief creative officer for the lingerie line, explained last week. Guys everywhere are no doubt in mourning.
Sex Doesn't Sell Here
Southern teens and their parents are banding together to make modesty the new "sexy." Tired of ultra-revealing clothes being the only option at the mall, several church youth groups held modesty fashion shows at shopping malls in Atlanta last week. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 1,500 teens and parents went to the Pure Fashion show in Buckhead and the Modesty in the Mix show in Lilburn. "A bikini top is fine at the beach; it's not at the mall," said Pure Fashion organizer Skotti Stewart.
The fashion show organizers claim the trend is a backlash against the half-tops, miniskirts, and super low-riders they call Britneywear. Others say that it's just another case of one generation not understanding the other. Whatever you want to call it, it's catching on. Modesty shows are also being held in nine other states. Parents have started petitioning department stores like Dillard's to scale back on their revealing teen offerings. So if you notice a lot more turtlenecks and baggy jeans in the juniors section the next time you go shopping, you'll know why.
What We're Talking About This Week 1) Nick and Jessica Channeling Sonny and Cher
The comedic sketches didn't make us bust a gut the way SNL and Dave Chappelle do, but we loved Jessica's look-at-me-now spoof of her former Mousketeer competitors Christina, Britney, and Justin. (It's about time someone publicly called Timberlake out on his pseudo-gangsta accent!) Oh, and Nick did a good job, too.
2) Janet Channeling Condoleezza
Put in some false teeth and the pop singer is Rice's doppelganger. Who knew? Janet's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" may not have boosted her record sales, but it made for hilarious comedy when worked into a skit spoofing Condoleezza's 9/11 hearing.
3) MTV's I Want a Famous Face
Could the reality show's graphic footage of teens getting sliced, tucked, and sewn back up be any grosser? Enough said.
