MARIE HAVENS / PatrickMcMullan.com== == (PatrickMcMullan.com via AP Images)

Deadline Hollywood added even more intrigue to the situation over at the Today show when it reported that they heard that CNN’s Anderson Cooper was asked about replacing Matt Lauer. Our silver foxy fake boyfriend (he’s already got one) every morning on NBC? I’ll take that.

“After their initial approach to Cooper, I hear NBC reached out to Lauer to get his blessing about the changeover. But I heard they got pushback from theToday veteran, who contacted Cooper to express his disapproval,” writes the blog. Other names that have been floated around are Ryan Seacrest and Willie Geist, who’s already got a spot on the show during the third hour.

However, NBC execs — who seem to be doing a lot of this lately — deny that Matt Lauer is being pushed out of the anchor spot, Ann Curry style.

“Matt Lauer is the best in the business. We want him in the ‘Today’ show anchor chair for many years to come,” Alex Wallace, the executive in charge of the Today show told the AP. The AP also confirmed a meeting between Cooper and the network through an anonymous source.

Lauer has seen his popularity drop precipitously since the Ann Curry debacle. Though he says he tried to convince the network to handle that differently, another story in New York says otherwise. Today has five million viewers, the majority of them are women. And many of those viewers were just as upset about the way Curry’s ouster was handled, and have turned against Lauer and the show as a result. The ratings have dropped behind GMA, and Lauer’s popularity have fallen behind that show’s host, George Stephanopoulos.

“The cyclical nature of television is also likely hurting Lauer. It’s a rare personality that stays beloved forever,” the AP continues.

Lauer’s contract with NBC is up in 2014. Would you like to see the Coop in that anchor chair instead?

An undated photo of Christopher Dorner. AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department

A ex-California police officer who is now the subject of a huge manhunt sent a strange manifesto to CNN’s Anderson Cooper that included praise for members of the media, including Soledad O’Brien and Tavis Smiley.

According to The New York Times, Christopher J. Dorner is suspected of killing three people including the daughter of a a former Los Angeles police captain and a Riverside police officer who was at a traffic light. That officer’s partner was wounded in the attack; two others were wounded as they tried to approach Dorner.

The suspect is a former Navy reservist who was kicked off the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 for filing a false report against a fellow police officer. He posted a manifesto on his Facebook page in which he threatens to kill other police officers. At the moment, the search for Dorner continues in Southern California and police say he’s armed and dangerous.

Dorner’s manifesto to Cooper includes high regard for the work that O’Brien and Smiley are doing. Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and Brian Williams are also complimented. TVNewser quotes the document, which they rightly call “rambling”:

“I hold many of you in the same regard as Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings. Cooper, stop nagging and berating your guest, they’re your (guest). Mr. Scarborough, we met at McGuire’s pub in P-cola in 2002 when I was stationed there. It was an honor conversing with you about politics, family, and life.”

He criticized Cooper for treatment of his guests.

Dorner is obviously a troubled man who can use some help. Let’s hope he gets it before someone else is injured or killed.

Jordin Sparks in an Instagram with her dog Minnie.

A day after a firestorm of social media anger was unleashed upon Instagram over its new terms of service, the company has said that it’s going to re-think its policies, particularly the one where they say advertisers can co-opt user photos without compensation to the user.

In a blog post titled “Thank You, We’re Listening,” co-founder Kevin Systrom tried to address the issues that caused so much trouble.

“To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear,” he writes.

“Let’s say a business wanted to promote their account to gain more followers and Instagram was able to feature them in some way. In order to help make a more relevant and useful promotion, it would be helpful to see which of the people you follow also follow this business. In this way, some of the data you produce — like the actions you take (eg, following the account) and your profile photo — might show up if you are following this business,” he continues. He says that users own their content (that hasn’t changed) and privacy controls remain the same.

CNET editor Dan Ackerman, talking with CBS News, says this sort of confusion is bound to happen when lawyers write these terms of service. The broad “land grab” nature of the text causes issues. And there’s the ongoing push and pull in the data privacy debate. People are putting lots of stuff out there for all to see, but want to maintain some osort of control over their information. Meanwhile, these companies want to make money, and that data is incredibly valuable.

Even with reassurances, many people are planning to leave the service. A number of celebs have already vowed to drop Instagram, including Jordin Sparks and Kevin Hart. Not to mention celebs like Kim Kardashian and Anderson Cooper who have said they’ve got some thinking to do. If you’re also thinking about dumping the service, The Washington Post suggests that you first download your photos then take a look around at the alternatives. In fact, those alternatives — like Yahoo’s Flickr and Twitter with its new bells and whistles — may be the big winners here.

Will you be switching up your photo-sharing service?

Update 12/21: Instagram has announced that it will go back to the original language of its advertising policy. “Although some users claimed victory, it’s not clear that they won any real concessions from the company. What is clear is that the photo-sharing service has lost some of its luster, and it may need more than a new filter to win it back,” writes SocialTimes.

At the end of last week, Anderson Cooper had a few ladies from the cast of the all-black “Steel Magnolias” remake on his show and though most of the segment was about the movie, Anderson also had a bit of a one-on-one with Queen Latifah to ask about all the projects she’s working on. The Queen is rumored to be wanted as a replacement judge for Sharon Osbourne on “America’s Got Talent,” which prompted Andy Cohen and Anderson to ask Queen Latifah how she feels about these reality competition shows, and more importantly the amped up beef that’s brewing between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj on “American Idol.” When Anderson asked whether she’s #TeamNicki or #TeamMariah, Queen Latifah said this:

“I would definitely not take sides in ignorance, but that’s really not about them. At the end of the day they are both blessed to be in the position that they are….but Mariah? C’mon now. We’re talking about a hundred million right there. You gotta respect your elders to a point. That’s a grand diva, but I love Nicki too.”

Unfortunately, I think support for grand diva Mariah Carey is starting to dwindle just a bit, as she appears to be milking this situation for all it’s worth, calling in to “The View” to tell Barbara Walters Nicki Minaj threatened to shoot her and now she’s beefed up her security. Sigh.

Thankfully, the ladies of “Steel Magnolias” can prove drama doesn’t always have to unfold when multiple women are on-set together. After the one-on-one with Queen, Anderson also chatted with Jill Scott, Phylicia Rashad, and Alfre Woodard about their Lifetime original movie and they were all smiles. By the way, did you catch the remake premiere last night? Check out the clip from their appearance on Anderson’s talk show here.

What do you think about Queen Latifah’s respect your elder’s response?

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By day Anderson Cooper is a very professional, very qualified, super talented journalist who has dedicated himself to educating and informing the American people about the global and domestic issues that we need to know about. But you might not know that Anderson also moonlights as a lemonade sipping, shade throwing talk show host. I take that back. Perhaps Anderson doesn’t make a habit for reading people; but when it came to Star Jones talking about his personal decision to come out, he did not hesitate to shut her down.

Remember, earlier this year Anderson Cooper decided to come out, in his professional life, telling his colleagues and fans that he’s a gay man. There were several people who already knew this little tidbit, so it wasn’t earth shattering news; but for whatever reason, it was news that Star Jones had to speak on.

In a discussion with Andy Cohen, Anderson explained why Star Jones’ comments were surprising and hypocritical. Watch the video below.

Well, I’m with Anderson when he’s right. The trajectory of Star Jones’ career has been a bit sad if you ask me. She went from being a well educated attorney to a television personality, to a liar, divorcee to a reality show contestant. And in the midst of all of those shifts and turns, Star has managed to talk much trash. Now, I can see why she and Nene couldn’t get along on “The Apprentice.” Star just seems like the girl in high school who always wanted attention but didn’t necessarily know how to go about getting it in the right ways. Poor thing.

What do you think of Anderson’s response to Star? Was it too much or just enough?

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You know how some celebrities refuse to badmouth others, even when people try to coax them into it? Tamar Braxton is not one of them. During an appearance on “Anderson Live” to promote her new spinoff, “Tamar and Vince,” Anderson Cooper totally baited the outspoken Braxton baby sister into a discussion on hair weave, starting with the most offensive wearer of all, Nicki Minaj. Anderson asked what she thought of Nicki’s technicolor weaves, and though Tamar tried to preface her response with admiration for the rapper, she still went in.

“Well listen, I love Nicki, everybody loves Nicki. I love Nicki and I feel like I can speak about it because I’ve had a couple of bad wig moments myself. That is an atrocity. Okay, ain’t nobody got time for that. Neon hair?”

LOL at a couple of bad wig moments, although I must say, Tamar’s soft blonde waves are pretty on point in this segment. As for Nicki’s hair, I have to agree with Tamar’s next statement:

“Put that back in the box and put her upstairs boo.”

Bless her extra heart.

After going in on Nicki, the convo turned to the combination of faux hair atop Tamar’s head and she went in on somebody else for tweeting and asking what type of weave she wears. Apparently that’s a no-no in weave culture? Once they got past the hair weave killing, Anderson also managed to show a clip from Tamar and Vince’s new spinoff which airs in two days on WETV.

Check out the segments here. How are you feeling about Tamar’s appearance on “Anderson Live?”

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Source: Entertainment Rundown

Beyonce is starting to open up just a little bit more about motherhood now that Blue Ivy is 8 months old. When the singer had a chat with Anderson Cooper last month on his show, “Anderson Live,” her main point of business was her World Humanitarian Day, I Was Here, effort, but Bey also shared a little bit about Beyonce, the mother, and what kind of dad Jay-Z is.

Though you might assume two megastars like the Carters would have nannies around 24/7 to handle some of the non-pleasantries of parenthood like changing diapers, Beyonce insists she and the Jigga man love it all.

“Actually, [Jay-Z] is very good,” she told Andersoon. “We both [change diapers]. I love changing diapers, I love it. I love every moment of it, it’s so beautiful. I love it all.”

Staying true to her talents, Beyonce also says she has a tendency to belt out lullabies for little Blue, saying:

“I make up actually a lot of crazy, corny songs.”

For now, that’s as far as it goes though, considering Blue Ivy probably wouldn’t know what to do if she saw her mother in full-blown, Sasha Fierce performance mode.

“I’m Mommy and when [Blue] sees me — today was the first time she saw me perform in rehearsal — she was very confused.”

Check out the clips of Beyonce’s interview below which will air during season 2 of “Anderson Live.”

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Source: Lavalizard.com

Beyonce’s push to make an impact on World Humanitarian Day this year seems to have come out of the blue, but in an interview with Anderson Cooper on AC 360, the singer finally explained what inspired her to encourage her fans to do something for someone else this year.

Beyonce talked about being drawn to raise awareness after finding out about the 22 humanitarians who were killed in an explosion in Baghdad, and when Anderson asked why she attached her song, “I was Here” to the effort, she said this:

“[The song] says, ‘I want to leave my footprints in the sands of time’ and it basically is all of our dreams, I think. And that’s leaving our mark on the world. I feel like we all want to know that our life meant something.

“We all have our purpose and we all have our strengths and I don’t know if it’s selfish or unselfish, but it feels so wonderful to do something for someone else. And I think for the U.N to want to include the whole world was something important, and that’s what I represent.”

U.N. under-secretary-general and emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos joined Beyonce on AC 360 and talked about the organization’s goal of reaching one billion people on August 19 when Beyonce reveals her new “I Was Here” video. Speaking on the United Nations‘ involvement in the campaign, she said:

“This is really about saying to everyone out there that this is a day that’s both a commemoration because there are a lot of people who lose their lives trying to help people. But it’s also a celebration of the things that people do.”

Check out a clip from the interview below. Are you planning on participating in World Humanitarian Day?

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neontommy.com

I’ll be honest with you, I’m usually behind on a lot of pop culture things.  I’d never heard of  the word “ratchet”  until I started writing for this site; I’m still not sure if I’m working my twitter correctly (but I’ll pub it ’til no tomorrow though @kkoger!), and I honestly just found out who Kat Stacks was 6 months ago.

So when I was taking a break from work and scrolling on the internet, I came across the Chris Brown and Drake bar brawl.  Feeling exasperated that I was late again, I looked at the time and saw that these reports were posted just 20 minutes before I saw them.  Sadly, I was excited that I was finally first in the know, but then when I started reading more and more about what happened, I got really disappointed.  But, don’t cry for me, Argentina.  I was more sad for these talented men who allowed something that I’m pretty sure could have been settled without bottles thrown; and to realize that innocent people were hurt in the cross hairs of such… irresponsibility on all parties who were concerned.

But, seeing all of this made me wonder, what other beefs have I missed out on?  While researching, I found some of the most side-eye beefs ever.  A caveat, this isn’t a normal list of beefs.  Some of these beefs are ideals, some of these are people vs. their own situations, and so on.  But, I hope you enjoy this trip down down beef lane.

Source: blogs.orlandosentinel.com

Not too long ago we talked about our love for our favorite silver fox reporter Anderson Cooper. The white hair, the blue eyes, the boyish grin and giggly laugh, we love it all. But make no mistake about it—AC is no punk.

During an appearance on Kathy Griffin’s new show on Bravo, Anderson explained how he got buck with a passenger on American Airlines who was trying to snap a pic of him on the low with an iPhone. He told her:

“I’m sitting there incredulous that he thinks I don’t see him …  and he’s still taking the pictures. “Normally I would just be like, we’re not gonna win this one. But lately I’ve become emboldened, and I grab the guy on the shoulder, and I said something to the effect of, ‘B*****, what the f*** are you doing?’”

Whoa there. That is definitely not the Anderson we see reporting the news on CNN. Since Andy mentioned that it was 6am we’re guessing a) he’s not a morning person, b) he hadn’t had his coffee, or c) he just wasn’t in the mood, but whatever the reason that passenger definitely got more than a pic that morning.

Anderson said after the moment passed he couldn’t believe he snapped on the guy like that but that didn’t stop Kathy from calling him the white 50 Cent. Check out this clip of him retelling the story on her show. What do you think about his reaction?

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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