Friday, December 19, 2025
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No Happy Ending for Writer Jeffrey Toobin: Fired from the New Yorker After Masturbation Scandal, CNN Next?

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This comes as little surprise but Jeffrey Toobin has been fired from The New Yorker.

The magazine conducted an investigation after Toobin was seen pleasuring himself during a Zoom call with New Yorker and NPR staff members. It turns out he got bored and flipped to a porn site and forgot to mute the video/audio on the New Yorker call.

He was immediately suspended from the literary magazine. He was also put on a voluntary leave at CNN, where’s the legal analyst. Will CNN finish him, too? It’s likely. It’s hard to imagine Toobin on panels on live TV where this come come up.

“I am writing to share with you that our investigation regarding Jeffrey Toobin is complete, and as a result, he is no longer affiliated with our company,” read a memo from Stan Duncan, Condé Nast’s chief people officer. The Daily Beast obtained the internal memo.

What a fall from grace for Toobin, who basically had it made in New York media circles. He’d even survived a scandal involving an affair and a pregnant mistress (he denied fathering the baby). Toobin is married to Amy Bennett McIntosh since 1986, although it’s equally hard to imagine she will continue with him after this. The Toobins have two adult children in addition to the 12 year old son Toobin fathered with the daughter of CNN’s Jeff Greenfield but wanted aborted back in 2008.

Toobin wrote on Twitter:

“I was fired today by @NewYorker after 27 years as a Staff Writer. I will always love the magazine, will miss my colleagues, and will look forward to reading their work.”

Nicole Kidman’s “The Undoing” Doing Pretty Well on HBO: Episode Three Brought in over 1 Mil Viewers Across Platforms

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Nicole Kidman has really struck gold with “The Undoing.”

Even though Nielsen screwed up the monitoring of Sunday night’s ratings, HBO tells me Episode 3 went through the roof. According to them, viewership Sunday night totaled 1.7 million across the linear premiere, two replays and digital, up 18% from episode 2 and 21% from the series premiere on Oct. 25. Viewing for the first episode has quickly passed 6 million.

Not bad. “The Undoing” is very different than Kidman’s previous HBO hit, “Big Little Lies.” This is a murder mystery, not social commentary. So many pundits and reviewers tried to turn it into that, and then double down on criticism. We are living in a strange time in which any fiction is instantly turned into a flashpoint. No one knows how to enjoy an old fashioned whodunit anymore.

I don’t know who killed Hugh Grant’s mistress in “The Undoing” because I’ve not been given the final episode yet. But just about every character is a candidate. And since the audience is growing week by week, I think viewers must be hooked. And PS this miniseries is going to get a ton of Golden Globe awards. It’s a no-brainer. (And a brainy one at that!)

HBO Rock Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Grabs Few Viewers as the World Turned to Biden Victory Speech

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Talk about bad timing!

At the exact moment the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s lame induction ceremony was starting in Cleveland, Joe Biden was coming to the microphone in Wilmington, Delaware.

What do you think people watched? The HBO special or President-elect Biden making his victory speech?

Uh. That’s right. Fewer people watched the virtual RRHOF ceremony than saw the farm report last Saturday at 8pm.

The Hall special managed to find just 283,000 viewers. Biden? North of 25 million. Oh well.

Maybe it was the inductees: Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Three are dead (Whitney, Biggie, T Rex). The Doobie Brothers were 10 to 15 years too late. Depeche Mode? Ok. Nine Inch Nails? Really? Landau and Azoff certainly deserved it.

But the RRHOF induction ceremony is largely irrelevant. So many great acts from the 70s are missing that it’s become kind of a joke.

Anyway, it’s over. Again. It will start all over again soon. Who’s not in? Sting as a solo act, Carole King ditto, Carly Simon, Billy Preston, Todd Rundgren, Rufus and Carla Thomas, J Geils Band, Motown great Mary Wells, and so on and so forth.

HUGE Ratings for Dave Chappelle “SNL” with Foo Fighters Post-Biden-Harris Victory Announcement: 2nd Highest in Three Years

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“Saturday Night Live” scored HUGE  ratings this past weekend with host Dave Chappelle and musical guest Foo Fighters.

The total viewers came to just over 9 million with 2.62 million of those in the key demo.

I told you this would happen.

Despite being delayed because of a college football game, “SNL” scored so high because of the Biden-Harris 8pm victory speech. The audience was salivating to see what the show would do. Luckily, it was a top notch episode.

According to NBC PR : “This is the highest “SNL” 18-49 rating in three-and-a-half years, since May 13, 2017 (with host Melissa McCarthy & musical guest Haim, 2.74). Excluding the historic Dec. 21, 2019 telecast hosted by Eddie Murphy with musical guest Lizzo (9.981 million), it’s the most-watched “SNL” since that same May 13, 2017 telecast (10.382 million).”

So it’s the 2nd highest audience in three years. Which is pretty damn good. Well played, Lorne Michaels!

Just to underscore: this episode had the third highest rating in at least a decade. That’s how pumped the audience was to see the end of Trump on “SNL.”

See all the great sketches from last Saturday here.

Sources Say “Jeopardy!” Producers Want GOAT Ken Jennings to Succeed Alex Trebek, He Was Being Groomed for Job

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I’m a little bemused by the NY Post story today that George Stephanopolous wants to host “Jeopardy!” Maybe for a day, but George already hosts “Good Morning America” every morning on ABC and has to be available for the serious stuff on ABC Evening News. Plus, “Jeopardy!” is produced in Los Angeles with “Wheel of Fortune.” They’re a package.

So, seriously: sources tell me that Alex Trebek’s successor is likely Ken Jennings, considered the Greatest of All Time GOAT player of the game. Jennings was hired last January as a consulting producer to groom him for the job. My sources say everyone connected with the show, all the producers, “love him.”

It makes sense. Jennings is already part of the family. Since Trebek died, he’s expressed his deep sorrow and admiration for Alex. Trebek remains on the air with new shows through Christmas. My guess is that after two weeks of holiday reruns, Jennings will be announced as the new host in early January 2021.

 

Sting’s “Duets” Album Postponed Until March, But Watch Rocker’s Performance of “Englishman in NY” for Cancer Charity Fundraiser

 

President-elect Biden Announces COVID Task Force And it Doesn’t Include the “My Pillow” Guy or Anyone from Clorox

President-elect Joe Biden has announced the members of his COVID task force. And guess what? They are all doctors and scientists.

Not included: the guy from “My Pillow” or anyone from Clorox.

Dr. Anthony Fauci can’t join until Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in on January 20th. He’s still the head of the NIAID and he’s still got to deal with Trump and Pence until then. Dr. Deborah Birx is shopping for scarves.

Here are the members of the task force. Note: this is what it means when you say “I’ll get the best people.”

· Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

· Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School who is a prolific author.

· Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

· Eric Goosby, global AIDS coordinator under President Barack Obama and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.

· Celine R. Gounder, clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

· Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health issues.

· Loyce Pace, president and executive director of the Global Health Council, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to global health issues.

· Robert Rodriguez, professor of emergency medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine.

Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Beth Cameron, director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration, are serving as advisers to the transition task force.

Sting’s “Duets” Album Postponed Until March, But Watch Rocker’s Performance of “Englishman in NY” for Cancer Charity Fundraiser

It’s good news and not exactly bad news for Sting’s legions of fans.

The superstar rocker was supposed to release his “Duets” album at the end of this month. But with many configurations of CDs and LPs, “Duets”– featuring Annie Lennox, Mary J. Blige, Eric Clapton, Sam Moore, etc — has been delayed until March 2021. His PR says there were manufacturing delays due to the pandemic, which is all too common right now.

The good news is that Sting will appear tomorrow night– Tuesday, November 10th — on the 15th annual Taste of Hope cancer charity fundraiser. This annual event is usually in person at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th St. A hundred or more four star restaurants serve up their delicious fare to a packed room of donors.

Alas, the event has moved online tomorrow night, where donors will get to see Sting perform one of his hits live from Italy. WCBS-TV’s Chris Wragge is hosting as usual. Many celebs will make appearances including comic Mario Cantone, and actors Giancarlo Esposito, Harry Lennix, Amy Ryan, Peter Onorati, Alyssa Reiner and David Alan Basche, and even football great Harry Carson.

The event honors chef Michael White — of New York’s Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini, Nicoletta, Costata and The Butterfly — and Harlem restaurant star chef Joseph JJ Johnson, who’s got the very popular “Field Trip” with locations in Rock Center and Queens.

Taste of Hope has already raised more than half of its goal this year, and there’s a bargain busting silent auction going on right now. (Everyone knows the best deals are at silent auctions.)

As for Sting, fans may have to wait for that “Duets” album but this performance tomorrow night is special! Plus, it’s for a good cause.

 

 

Seven Weeks of Alex Trebek “Jeopardy!” Episodes Left, Beloved Game Show Host Taped Up til December 25th

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Answer: What is Superman?

Alex Trebek taped enough episodes of “Jeopardy!” that we’ll be seeing him right through Christmas Day. That’s about seven weeks of new shows.

For a man with Stage 4 Pancreatic cancer, that’s quite an accomplishment. Trebek was literally making episodes right up to the end.

“Jeopardy!” is currently the number 2 show overall in syndication, averaging 5 million viewers every night. Expect that number to increase sharply now as fans brace themselves to say goodbye.

Choosing a successor to Trebek won’t be easy. Producers would be smart to have rotating guest hosts for a while before settling on someone. They should definitely let Will Ferrell fill in if he wants to do it.

Here’s Will playing Trebek and Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, who we lost last week:

 

 

 

 

“Saturday Night Live” Scores with Dave Chappelle’s Edgy Hosting and Foo Fighters’ Unexpected Great New Song

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“SNL” was stellar last night. Dave Chappelle’s opening monologue was just what we needed, edgy and truthful. Foo Fighters were sensational.

— keep refreshing for ratings update–

My favorite performances were Kate McKinnon as Giuliani, and Maya Rudolph as Aunt Jemima. (Rudolph has really been killing it this season considering she’s like a regular and guest star.) But the whole show felt 100 times better than recent installments. Still missing Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant. The show felt very unrehearsed, maybe because they were changing things up til the last minute.

I LOVED the new Foo song, “Shame Shame” which has echoes of David Bowie’s “Fame.” And “Times Like These” from 2002 is a classic.

Former President George W. Bush Calls Joe Biden, Kamala Harris with Congratulations, Says Goodbye to Donald Trump

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Former President George W. Bush has congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and bids goodbye to Donald Trump in a message this afternoon.

Bush writes, “Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”

That’s pretty gracious from a man who stole his own election in 2000. It’s also a message to Donald Trump: start packing.

PS Since the Bush post, Trump has Tweeted: “Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!”