“Widely viewed as the most golden of Roger Ailes’s protégées” is how the New York Times described daytime Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in a Style Section profile this weekend, though Kelly herself prefers to remain a “small-town girl” with a passion for her job and her family, two facets of her life she was advised she would have to choose between in the journalism industry. Needless to say, that advice went wisely unheeded.

The cable news primetime triumvirate has now completely weighed in on Ed Schultz‘s position in GQ‘s “Least Influential People Alive of 2011” list. Bill O’Reilly started off his “Reality Check” segment tonight with the news of Schultz blaming Anderson Cooper for the article, ending with a bit of open-ended advice: “if you give gutter snipes publicity, they win.”

If there’s one thing Ed Schultz hates, it’s being treated as if he was inconsequential. The flagship MSNBC host naturally did not take very well to being labeled one of GQ‘s “Least Influential” people of 2011, a satirical end of year list, but instead of keeping his wrath focused on the magazine, he wondered aloud whether the competition was somehow involved. Needless to say, Anderson Cooper was somewhat surprised to find out that he was behind the entire ordeal, according to Schultz, and put the host in his place in his “Ridiculist” segment last night.

On Thursday night’s The Ed Show, host Ed Schultz joined 99 percenters across the nation in celebrating Republican pollster Frank Luntz‘s admission that he’s “frightened to death” of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Schultz and guest Alan Grayson correctly assess Luntz’s fear as a positive sign that the movement is having a real impact, but they badly underestimate Luntz’s Jedi mind-trickery, declaring that it won’t work this time.

We have to guess that, when the editors of GQ put together their delightfully evil list of the “Least Influential People Alive,” they were just waiting, salivating, for some sort of reaction from those whose delicate egos they so callously bruised. Enter Ed Schultz. GQ included the liberal pundit on their list, asking readers, “Do you watch The Ed Show on MSNBC? Of course you don’t. No one does.”

Well, it would appear that Schultz is not too happy about that.

The host at the core of MSNBC’s primetime lineup, the head of Newsweek and the President of the United States are all among the “Least Influential People Alive,” at least according to GQ, set to dole out the full list of dubious distinctions next month. The ego-crushing list also includes some random no-brainers like Tim Pawlenty and Tia and Tamara Mowry, but also seems to consider President Obama among those least relevant.

A silly aside from Herman Cain in a GQ interview landed him in hot water with Democratic strategist Krystal Ball on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir Monday. Ball was offended by Cain’s joke that Michele Bachmannwould be tutti-frutti ice cream. “It’s very disrespectful. He picks on the one woman running and calls her tuty fruity. say what you will about her policies, that’s plain disrespectful!”

In an interview wherein Herman Cain is referred to as “the funniest, most outrageous guy on the GOP stage,” GQ‘s senior editor Devin Gordon joined correspondent Chris Heath and food critic Alan Richman to take a look at the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO’s thoughts concerning myriad important issues facing our nation today: Jobs! Muslims! Ice cream flavors! Pizza toppings!

In a wide-ranging interview with GQ‘s Mark Anthony Green, in which he hits on everything from skinny jeans to his friendship with Herman Cain, FOX News’ Sean Hannity dropped a few interesting bombshells, saying if he were President, he’d like Rick Perry as his Secretary of Defense (” I think he’d be pretty tough”), and [...]

One of the more bizarre but inevitable side effects of the Occupy Wall Street movement has been the blossoming of celebrity in otherwise barren Zuccotti Park, and, ironically, no greater personality has risen out of the movement than Community Affairs Detective Rick Lee, the “Hipster Cop.” Lee has been profiled in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and today graces the digital pages of GQ in an exclusive interview. But having ruffled the feathers from the more suspicious members of the movement, how does Lee come out, politically, from the fruits of his newfound fame?

Former governor of New Mexico and seemingly covert candidate to the 2012 Republican presidential nomination Gary Johnson may be polling in the single digits and only just managed to get himself on a debate state this week, but with that appearance made enough of a splash to have caught the media’s eye, and they are intrigued. Shortly after the debate, GQ published an extensive profile on Johnson that reveals he prefers events like the “Porcupine Freedom Festival” to actual fundraisers and seems to apologize every time he mentions he is running for President.

When Danish director Lars von Trier told press that he was a Nazi while promoting his movie Melancholia at Cannes this year, everybody pretty much assumed that it was the most wrong thing he could have said, a wincing Kirsten Dunst next to him and later the Cannes board of directors most of all. The film has since been well received in Europe and is soon to be released State-side, comments withstanding because von Trier isn’t planning on taking any of it back. That’s not to say he’s not embarrassed, though.

You’ve got to respect the interviewing skills on display over at GQ. A couple weeks ago they got Mila Kunis to talk about commie-hating (enough to be declared a full on patriot hero over on Fox News) and now they’ve asked Larry King how many women he’s made out with. Yes, prompted by King’s decision to begin a stand-up tour, the magazine decided to have a little fun with him make a whole interview out of “sleepover games” like Would You Rather? and F**k, Marry, Kill. We’re not sure what any of that has to do with stand up comedy, but it certainly makes for a fun interview.

Louis C.K. is one of the funniest comedians working today and his FX show Louie is one of the best comedies on air. I’m not even gonna put a “Columnist” tag on this post since that’s not opinion, that’s fact (ok, fine, it’s my opinion, but it’s pretty darn close to a fact). That doesn’t mean he’s perfect though. He can make mistakes and he’ll admit them. One such mistake? Getting drunk on a plane and Tweeting graphic insults about Sarah Palin just days before going on The Tonight Show and guesting alongside Bristol Palin. In an interview with GQ, C.K. describes why he regrets saying what he did.

Often, when we’re nearing an election year, voters are asked which candidate they’d most want to grab a beer with. And while it might be fun to attend a Lady Gaga concert with Tim Pawlenty or go surfing with Barack Obama, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain seems like he’d be a lot of fun to hang out with over a drink or seven, plus there’s a good chance he’ll bring pizza. After reading GQ‘s Q & A with the Republican presidential hopeful, we’re even more inclined to want to pick his brain over a large pepperoni and jalapeño (don’t judge).

You remember Ted Haggard. He’s the former leader of the New Life Church who was forced from the pulpit amid charges he used drugs and paid a masseuse for gay sex. Haggard’s hardly running from the limelight, however, telling GQ earlier this year he’s bisexual and now, doing a cameo in a preview for a yet-to-be-filmed “Christian sex comedy” called “The Waiting Game.” Yes, really.

For most Americans up-to-date on current events, the recent wave of Middle East reports has been both jarring and commendable, with journalists routinely putting their lives on the line to bring home the most compelling reports. But not all in the media managed to avoid falling victim to their own cynicism from their nice comfy offices, in particular GQ editor Jim Nelson. In this month’s issue, Nelson chose to mock “important-looking Caucasians” and that “handsome young black reporter” on cable news for daring to care about foreign developments.

With violence in Egypt currently at the front of many people’s minds due to the horrific attack on CBS’ Lara Logan in Cairo, GQ‘s interview with Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot seems more relevant than ever.

You’ve got to feel for Billy Ray Cyrus: Not only is the singer / songwriter going through a very public divorce and dealing with his 18-year-old daughter Miley Cyrus‘ very public indiscretions (funny how that girl always seems to have a camera handy when she’s getting into trouble), but he’ll be forever tied his 1992 mega hit “Achy Breaky Heart.”

GQ writer Chris Heath sat down with Cyrus for the magazine’s March issue to discuss his recent heartbreak – with as few Achy Breaky-inspired puns as possible, much to Heath’s credit. As it turns out, Cyrus has quite a lot to get of his chest.

Sometimes these things just speak for themselves. Here’s a hilarious post from FishbowlNY about a New York Times writer who’s leaving the Gray Lady for… well, just read on:

It’s no secret that Fox News’ Megyn Kelly is a bit of a sex symbol– her America Live desk would probably not be made of glass if that weren’t the case. But this week she’s taken a leap from the coy to the boldly forward with a sexy photo shoot in GQ in celebration of being named one of 2010′s premier media personalities, and the results lie somewhere between the impressively attractive and the uncomfortable superficial.

While vice-presidential loser Sarah Palin takes up considerable real estate in high-profile corners of media, the vice-presidential winner largely gets treated like a loser. But lately he’s been out there setting things straight in The Atlantic, on Morning Joe, and now in GQ. In an interview titled “$#!% Joe Biden Says,” the veep discusses everything from high-school girls to 2012 to double-dating with the Obamas.

It’s pretty safe to say that Chris Albrecht helped change television. He was the one who persuaded HBO to start making original programming and then shepherded in such groundbreaking shows as The Sopranos and The Wire. It’s also safe to say that he has a troubled past almost as interesting as those belonging to the antiheroes those series made famous. Now working at Starz after losing his job over an incident and reports of others involving violence against women he was involved with romantically or professionally, Albrecht has given a pretty fascinating interview for the November issue of GQ.

MSNBC’s resident former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough is the subject of a lengthy, glowing profile in this month’s GQ. Tagline: “If everyone on television were like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, television would be a much more civilized place.”

But what may be most interesting is how he describes his employer – the “liberal TV network” MSNBC.

Most people accused of kidnapping a co-ed in 1983, forcing her to take bong rips, and subsequently making her pray to a presumably pot-inspired deity named Aqua Buddha would want to take advantage of every opportunity presented to them to clear their name. Rand Paul is not one of those people.