video After this morning's tragic announcement that 80s teen star Corey Haim had died of a possible drug overdose, Corey Feldman - the other half of the two Coreys - spoke to Larry King about his longtime friend and their tumultuous relationship. (more...)

video Tonight on Larry King Live, Eric Massa refused to answer the CNN host's question about his sexuality, instead side-stepping the issue by saying "It insults every gay American because it classifies people. Why would anyone even ask that question?" (more...)

video The guy who got Kanye'd at Sunday night's Oscars was a guest on CNN last night. And after a short interview, Larry King gave Roger Ross Williams his shot to give his full speech - before interrupting him again. (more...)

video The Best Documentary Short Oscars category has never been this exciting! After Elinor Burkett Kanye'd Roger Ross Williams last night, each get their chance to explain what the hell happened in dueling cable news exclusives. (more...)

video Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson wonders if Dick Cheney collaborates with Satan and throws around the word "Holocaust" when discussing the other side's health care plans. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has Super Bowls of Freedom and holds Prayercasts to stop the health care bill. So when they faced off on Larry King Live last night, why was it so...calm? (more...)

Larry King has been on a roll lately. Between confirming David Paterson’s blindness to calling Johnny Weir “fierce” and getting Toyota President Akio Toyoda to admit his fears of not being considered compassionate enough, Larry King Live has made for some must-see TV. Yesterday was no exception, with DNC Chair Tim Kaine and RNC Chair Michael Steele meeting for the first time in quite a while after circling each other on the cable news rounds for months to discuss the health care reform, Jim Bunning’s pseudo-filibuster and business as usual in Washington. (more...)

video The Sea World tragedy that took the life of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau continues to wreak havoc on the typically civil world of zoology. Last night on Larry King Live, Jack Hanna once again assumed his position as spokesman for the marine biologist community and, with the help of former Sea World head trainer Thad Lacinak, debated a second round with Jane Velez-Mitchell and fended off some personal attacks from animal rights activist Ric O'Barry. (more...)

video It hasn't been the best of winters over at Toyota, where a massive recall effort is in effect to fix broken gas pedal issues that have left many drivers speeding on the road without brakes, some without their lives. The president of the company, Akio Toyoda, visited Congress to testify at their investigative hearings on the matter yesterday, and, having been criticized for not seeming remorseful enough by some in the media, took to Larry King Live to give the apology another shot. (more...)

video It's entirely possible the now weeks-long debacle over the rumored but not-yet-seen NYT "bombshell" story about New York Gov. David Paterson may end up being the best thing that ever happened to him. New Yorkers love nothing more than public figures who give as good as they get and Paterson has certainly been doing that this week with a full court press pushback that landed him on Larry King last night. Here's part of the exchange (video after the jump). Who knew we had a Governor who read Kafka! (more...)

video Embattled New York Governor David Paterson was on Larry King Live tonight, and was faced with perhaps the most awkward question to date. Host Larry King asked how the Governor's blindness has impacted his story. "The fact that you've been, not a pun intended, blind to this. In other words, people have to read the headlines to you, right?" Yup. He really did ask that. (more...)

video First Lady Michelle Obama was a guest on Larry King Live last night to discuss her new anti-obesity, "Let's Move" campaign. Somewhat surprisingly, Obama was put on the spot by the CNN host with some tough-ish questions about Sarah Palin and tea parties, although the first lady has learned to give a good political answer. (more...)

video The story of embattled political soon-to-be ex-wife Jenny Sanford is one of the rarest incidents in American politics: a story that both sides can spin to fit their narrative. Sanford went on a media tour to promote her new book, Staying True, that hit all three major cable news channels and the unofficial fourth power in journalism, The Daily Show. And despite the vast ideological gaps among the mediums, every interviewer wanted her on their team. (more...)

video Just a few days after asserting that his past troubles with domestic violence, steroid use, alimony, and the IRS were "not an embarrassment" to the Democratic Party, Illinois Lt. Governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen took to a local bar to announce his exit from the race. Cohen's departure was to be expected after a shocking appearance on regional program Chicago Tonight, where last week he tried to dispel rumors of domestic violence, tax issues, attempted rape, steroid use, and not paying his alimony in time - by bringing his ex-wife, Debra York Cohen, on the air to confirm them all. There, host Phil Ponce did a superb job of carefully extracting from his subjects every last shocking detail, from his divorce proceedings to the legal albeit seedy fact that Cohen owns a pawn shop. (more...)

video Larry King hosted a military panel on his program last night to discuss the possible repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, which would have been a fairly routine discussion save not for the presence of Lt. Dan Choi, who came out as gay on The Rachel Maddow Show almost a year ago and is facing termination from his job despite being a West Point graduate, an Iraq War veteran, and an Arab linguist. King didn't back away from making the situation a little uncomfortable for Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis and Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, who had come to the program to support the policy, and while they held their ground, King tossing the ball to Choi (and General Wesley Clark) made for more than a few awkward transitions. (more...)

video CNN, like all the news networks, is devoting major resources to the Haiti earthquake tragedy and we're seeing excellent reporting. But through a series of Haiti-related occurrences, questions are being raised about the murky line between journalism and becoming part of the story. (more...)

video Empathy, sorrow and compassion are emotions one typically feels after watching a guest tear up on television. But every rule has an exception, and the appearance of Richard Henne (a.k.a. father to Balloon Boy) on Larry King is one such exception. CNN's Wolf Blitzer aired clips of tonight's coming interview with Larry King in which Henne gets remarkably emotional telling his side of the story, most notably, that there was no hoax. Video below. (more...)

video On last night's Larry King Live, Joan Rivers was not pleased about her treatment at a Costa Rican airport. Thanks to a mixup at the ticket counter, she was held back by airport security while her family flew home to the US. Rivers wasn't afraid to show her indignation: she called the agent who detained her a "moron idiot" and speculated that the woman was "premenstrual." (more...)

video A discussion of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and terrorism in general, turned into a heated debate between two Republicans on Larry King Live last night. Ben Stein and Rep. Ron Paul displayed their very different takes on foreign policy - until Stein called Paul's argument "anti-Semitic" and the segment took a turn. (more...)

video A lot is made here and elsewhere about the changing cable news business, which seems to show viewers want opinion more and more. Which made it refreshing to see Greta Van Susteren and Larry King on Fox News and CNN Saturday night, anchoring live special coverage of the attempted terror attack. (more...)

First, as far as I can tell, there was "Bad Shiksa" (FIRST!). Next there was "Eight Days of Hannukah" by Orrin Hatch, followed by a cover of Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song by Neil Diamond. Then there was Eli Roth and Harvey Levin looking ready to take their act to the Catskills — and now, not even halfway to a lit Menorah, comes "Kosher Face," the latest take on Jews and Lady Gaga and Jews and Hanukkah and Jews and media and Jews and comedy and Jews. And they call Hanukkah a minor holiday. Ha! (more...)

developing Now that the Salahis have broken their silence and told Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show, essentially, stay tuned for more, the question is: why did they change their mind after first agreeing to appear on Larry King Live? Gawker thinks they have the answer - that it was part of their Bravo contract - but Bravo is denying it. (more...)

video When you agree to an interview with CNN's Larry King, you better come correct, because that guy will nail you - with softballs. Author and preachy solo sex tape performer Carrie Prejean found that out last night the hard way, as she fell prey to the 'tough' questions from King and almost walked off set. (more...)

In the age of the Verified Account, we expect our celebrities and media personalities to be on Twitter. It's not only the quickest and easiest way for them to reach their audiences, but sometimes it provides us a small window into the minutiae of their everyday lives. "Famous people, they're just like us!" we like to think when Martha Stewart's dog pees in the house or Oprah says she's tired. But that's not why it's a category on our Power Grid. (more...)

opinion Wow. What a difference a year makes. Just twelve months after Barack Obama became the first Democratic Presidential candidate to win over 50% of the vote since 1964, it appears that conservatives are roaring back and that Obama is destined for the scrapheap of history reserved for one-term Presidents. To hear my fellow conservatives like Rush Limbaugh talk, it sounds like last year at this time America simply got drunk on some media-fed Kool-Aid and, now that the effects have worn off, a quick return to power is as inevitable as a soft ball question from Larry King. Conservatives, I hate to break it to you, but Barack Obama, barring an unforeseen disaster (Afghanistan?), has about as much chance of being a one-term President as Keith Olbermann has of leading the primetime lineup at Fox News Channel. (more...)

video Just as this White House vs. Fox News feud sounds like it may be winding down (or not...we'll see), CNN's Campbell Brown is weighing in on the issue. Building on her line of questioning with Valerie Jarrett earlier this week, Brown further reiterated her position that CNN does "news" - a day after Larry King devoted nearly an entire hour to the Michael Jackson "This Is It" premiere. (more...)

Chris Brown has a new single out today, "Crawl," which vaguely touches on his abuse of his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna. So today he's out making the media rounds, in an interview with Angie Martinez on New York radio station Hot 97. In much the same way his August Larry King interview didn't help his reputation, this one isn't going to do much for him either. (more...)

David Letterman's public apology Monday night for bad behavior is merely the latest in a long list of famous public apologies, mostly for similar bad behavior (Letterman has the rare privilege of adding extortion victim to the list), though a couple of times it's been the result of someone shooting their mouth off. Letterman joins a list that includes a whole lot of politicians — Bill Clinton, Jim McGreevey, Mark Sanford, Eliot Spitzer — and one or two jackass entertainers. Strangely, it was hard to come up with women for this list! Paris Hilton was a last-minute addition — if you can think of any let us know and we will happily add: women screw up too. Also interesting to note is how many of these apologies occur on late night television; Letterman also joins an esteemed list there, too, though up until last night he was on the other side of the couch. With that in mind, we bring you our Top Ten Public Apologies — from nappy-headed hos to "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" to Hugh Grant, the standard bearer of late night apologies, relive all your famous oh-no-they-didn't breaking news moments. No doubt there will be more. (more...)

Maybe it's the suspenders. Or maybe it's the fact that this snazzy 75-year old shops at Juicy Couture, but for whatever the reason, "celebrity" douchebags alike think that Larry King can save them from their swift decline into official American public scum. (more...)

VIDEO Last night Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on Larry King to look back at his week at the United Nations and talk about nukes, which he's hinting more and more that he'll have soon. The two also talked about Neda. Oh, and the Holocaust. (more...)

video CNN, 9:06pmET (Tuesday): We missed this on Tuesday, but there were so many jaw-dropping moments in Larry King's interview with Tyra Banks we had to put up something. The chyron here spoils the big surprise - Tyra reveals her real hair! But what we don't get from the image is when she forced King to touch it. Also - Tyra's past life as a 'fat person.' (more...)

VIDEO Long before The Daily Show, long before The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live was making fun of the news in a way that no one had ever seen before. Suddenly, establishment journalists like Barbara Walters were fair game. Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd riffed on the seething hostility between co-anchors. Heck, they even took on the 70s trend of sign language interpreters popping up in newscasts. Oprah, Dateline, Geraldo Rivera... SNL's had distinctive takes on almost every major media presence over the years. And SNL's news spoofs aren't just entertainment: it's arguable that more Americans made up their minds about Sarah Palin based on SNL's Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview than on the original interview itself. Stephen Colbert and John Stewart have done a lot in the news satire biz, but they still have some catching up to do. In honor of the premiere of season 35 of SNL, we've pulled together 35 of SNL's choicest news anchor spoofs and Weekend Updates, spanning all seasons. Shoot us a comment or a tip if you think we've missed a good one. We're seriously counting on a good Glenn Beck skit... Here it is. (more...)

video Media blitz tours are apparently all the rage for former Presidents. Or at least former Democratic Presidents -- George W. has been mostly AWOL in Texas since departing Washington last January. And Bill Clinton appeared to be staging a small one of his own last night with appearances on Larry King and The Daily Show last evening, and ABC this morning and his own Letterman spot tonight. (more...)

Mediaite's Power Grid is a pretty good tracker of who's making a splash in the week's news cycle -- and who's sinking. This week, we tell you how Larry King, Fareed Zakaria, Ann Coulter, and seven other media personalities are doing, and why. Click through people's names to see their stats for the week in more detail. (more...)

When Chris Brown told Larry King that he didn't remember brutally beating Rihanna, the man who went out and partied wearing a $300,000 necklace saying "oops" (left) shortly after the beating raised a lot of eyebrows. As Gossip Cop points out, Brown recently acknowledged his responsibility to People: "'I was distraught . . . I went to my mom on the same night and told what happened and broke down.' Let’s recap: He told his mom, also a victim of domestic violence, exactly what he did to Rihanna."

Though Brown has since claimed to be the victim of unfair editing, that he would ever try the "don't recall" tack is highly suspicious, and reeks of an unwillingness to take responsibility. It does, however, put him in a long lineage of American politicians, who use the legally shrewd but morally dubious strategy whenever they want to duck out of a screw-up without setting themselves up for perjury charges further down the road.

Politicians of all stripes tend to be slippery. But given the preponderance of conservatives who've used this particular tactic, we have to wonder: is Chris Brown, who criticized the Republican National Convention for its lack of diversity, a closet Republican?

(more...)

video Larry King's pre-taped exclusive interview with Rihanna-beating Chris Brown is in the can, and CNN has released a short preview ahead of its Wednesday night premiere. And despite what had to have been heavy coaching, the disgraced pop star comes off looking like a bigger douchebag than before. (more...)

VIDEO Besides her Meet the Press appearance on NBC this weekend, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow was also the featured guest on the Web only "Take Two" segment. Maddow began her TV career without a television set, and for the beginning of her MSNBC hosting duties, her disinterest in the other cable news networks was evident. But as she weighed in on her 9pmET competition yesterday, it's clear that has changed. (more...)

video Wow. Kathy Griffin may be out to single-handedly save us from the summer news slump! Or at least is aiming to turn celebrity news coverage into some sort of performance art. Last night Griffin filled in for Larry King (a bit like the low-rent version of when Joan Rivers used to fill in on Johnny Carson) and welcomed Sarah Palin grand-baby daddy Levi Johnston as her guest. This, of course, as a follow-up to Johnston attending the Teen Choice Awards as Griffin's the night before. (more...)

VIDEO Mediaite has obtained a transcript from former Sec. of State Colin Powell's interview on CNN's Larry King Live tonight, in which Powell comments on the Professor Gates story, as well as Sarah Palin and more. He seems to take Sergeant Crowley's side in the Gates situation. (more...)

Make no mistake about it -- CNN is owning the Michael Jackson coverage. Their lead anchor, Anderson Cooper is anchoring from LA, and the prime time shows have interrupted wall-to-wall Jackson coverage only long enough to update the Farrah Fawcett story. But at what cost? (more...)