My name is Heather, and I have a shameful addiction. One that makes me tape shows like Entertainment Tonight and Hollywood Insider. That has me reading US and People and OK! when standing in the checkout line. I secretly take sides in ridiculously contrived events such as Aniston vs. Jolie and Suri vs. Infangelina. I own a FREE KATIE! Tee shirt.
But the worst – and the best. And the least reliable – of celebrity gossip isn’t found on TV, in the tabloids, or in games of Telephone from friend to friend, starting in LA and ending here in Almost Canada.
It’s the celebrity gossip blog. The Internet has opened up a whole new world of rumor mongering and spiteful, malicious gossip. When else in history have we been able to know all the intimate details of a superstar arrest before the local news station? And with less fact checking?
Everything you ever wanted to know about your favorite or least favorite celebrities, and so much more than you ever wanted to know!
Before you go surfing, remember: the language and topic matter of these blogs is not meant for those under 18 or anyone with sensitivities to gossip or bad language!
Here are the Top Ten Gossip Blogs on the Internet:
1.) PerezHilton.com – They don’t get bitchier and meaner than Perez Hilton. http://perezhilton.com/
2.) Egotastic.com – Not to be out-nastied by Perez… http://www.egotastic.com/
3.) The Smoking Gun – infamous for breaking news about celebrity legal troubles, and posting all the related public documents. http://www.thesmokinggun.com
4.) Young, Black and Fabulous – all chatter about black celebs, focuses primarily outside of hip-hop http://ybf.blogspot.com/
5.) Gawker.com – Hollywood isn’t the only place with celebrities. These folks are sworn enemies of George Clooney: http://gawker.com/
6.) Defamer.com – Gossip, LA style: http://www.defamer.com
7.) Bloggers Blog – Who blogs about the bloggers? BB also watches blogs run by *actual* celebrities: http://www.bloggersblog.com/celebritygossip/
8.) Starbuck’s Gossip – If the gossip has to do with America’s favorite coffee, you’ll find it here: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/
9.) Pink is the New Blog – Fashion, celebrities, socialites, lover of the tacky and fabulous alike. Very gay positive. One of my favorites: http://trent.blogspot.com/
10.) Go Fug Yourself: Like to laugh at poor celebrity fashion choices? This one’s for you! http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/
It’s entirely possible that more “legitimate” gossip sources – can you believe I said that? – get their news from the bloggers, who have virtual eyes, ears, and camera phones everywhere.
Every once in a while, I enjoy some Random Blog Surfing. A great take off point for those kind of Internet journeys are the many Blog Search Engines proliferating on the net every day!
Try:
Blog Search Engine: http://www.blogsearchengine.com/category/gossip-celebrity-blogs/
About.com’s Celebrity Blog Watch: http://gossip.about.com/od/blogs/
Now, having sent you in the direction of lots of juicy celebrity gossip and innuendo – sometimes outright slander – I’d like to share with you the moral flogging I often give myself after reading this garbage. Celebrities are human beings, and talking guff about them is vicious and mean. Attitudes that make it okay to bash, mock, and spread rumors about other human beings, no matter what they do for a living are the same attitudes that make it okay to discriminate against people who are different from ourselves. To look at pictures of horror and death around the world and blow it off because it’s not on our front lawns. I urge you to ask yourself: how would you feel if these kinds of things were being said about you? If you were being stalked, hounded and chased by photographers who would stop at nothing to get a snapshot of you looking your worst, or of your kids, would it be as funny and amusing?
I think about this all the time, and the answer is that it would feel like crap. I would hate it. I feel badly that I find people who are prettier, richer, or more popular than I am being put in their place amusing.
But… some people seem to just beg for it. In fact, celebrities like Paris Hilton are quite simply, famous for being famous. They wouldn’t have anything to do if they weren’t constantly in the gossip rags, except spend their endless supply of money on increasingly freaky fashions!
It is, therefore, our responsibility as consuming Americans to consume everything in our culture, and everything includes the ubiquitous celebrity gossip blog.
Besides, pictures of red carpet wardrobe malfunctions are always funny.
