Celebrity Mound

While most stars were loading up on swag from the Oscar gifting suites, Sarah Palin left one of them with less than when she arrived.

The former vice-presidential candidate made a $1,700 donation to the Red Cross for Haiti and Chile at a swag suite at LA’s Interior Illusion store Wednesday.

A spy said, “She picked up a ton of gifts, but she gave the lot to the Red Cross, along with a cash donation. The only thing she took for herself was a bottle of Ty Ku sake.” Palin attended an “American Idol” show and appeared on Jay Leno’s “Tonight” before heading back east to pitch a reality-TV show.

Sarah Palin showed up at a celebrity gift suite with two daughters, her brother and a small entourage in tow and loaded up with free cosmetic and fashion items being given away in connection with Oscar-week festivities. But she also left a check for charity, organizers say.

Lorna Khoo of Cardstore.com and various other vendors exhibiting their wares at the Silver Spoon gift suite said the former vice presidential candidate visited the suite on Wednesday morning and snapped up organic soaps from Wembe, personalized stationery from Cardstore.com, leopard-print wedge sandals from Bandals, and a slinky robe from Jenna Leigh lingerie.

“I gave the same robe to Jennifer Aniston,” said Jenna Leigh, the designer whose label bears her name.

The 46-year-old politician, who was in town to perform a standup routine on Jay Leno’s “Tonight” show, also picked up under-eye cream and a deep moisturizer from Bloom cosmetics, according to those present.

“She has great skin,” gushed a Bloom rep.

Silver Spoon spokesman Ben Russo said Palin made an unspecified “sizable contribution” to Red Cross Haitian relief before leaving the suite. Although Silver Spoon is not affiliated with the Red Cross, most Hollywood gift suites feature an opportunity for visitors to donate to a charity, if desired.

“Silver Spoon was very grateful (Palin) brought awareness to our Red Cross relief effort,” said Russo. “We were happy to supply her and her family with some of our sponsor product.”

Gift suites spring up all over town during Hollywood’s award season, offering free merchandise to any celebrities who happen to drop by in exchange for the promotional value their star power brings.

Candy Spelling, newly named “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Niecy Nash and actor Jason Priestly also stopped by the Silver Spoon swag suite, held inside a swanky furniture store on Santa Monica Boulevard called Interior Illusions.

Palin aide Jason Recher had no comment.

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, will return to her broadcast roots and take her conservative message to Fox News as a regular commentator, the cable channel announced Monday.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Palin said in a statement posted on the network’s Web site. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

Fox said that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis on the cable channel, as well as Fox’s Web site, radio network and business cable channel.

She also will host occasional episodes of Fox News’ “Real American Stories,” a series debuting this year that the network said will feature true inspirational stories about Americans who have overcome adversity.

“Governor Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the FOX News lineup,” Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.

Palin, 45, is hugely popular with conservatives and has more than 1.1 million Facebook followers.

She stepped down as Alaska governor in July, 17 months before the end of her first term in office and less than a year after she vaulted to overnight fame as John McCain’s running mate.

The bombshell resignation stunned even supporters and fueled widespread speculation on her next career step – with predictions ranging from seeking the presidency in 2012 to hosting a conservative talk show. She told Barbara Walters in November that a 2012 presidential bid was not on her radar but added she wouldn’t rule out playing some kind of role in the next presidential election.

Since resigning, Palin has had colossal success with her best-selling memoir “Going Rogue,” released four months after she left office. She finished a nationwide tour in December after hitting some of the political battleground states from the 2008 election and drawing thousands of fans.

If she were to seek the presidency, her new job would provide yet another stage from which to advance her conservative platform. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who sought the presidency in 2008, also hosts a talk show on Fox News and hasn’t ruled out another run for president.

Palin majored in journalism with an emphasis on broadcasting at the University of Idaho and worked part-time as a weekend sportscaster in 1988 for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, using her then-maiden name Heath. The station’s sports director, John Carpenter, said the young broadcaster left after a few months because of the low pay.

Carpenter said he was sorry to see her go. She was a hard worker who enjoyed the entire process, not just being in front of the cameras, he said.

“She knew sports, she could talk sports, she looked OK on TV,” Carpenter said. “She had the aptitude, no question.”

Palin’s upcoming commentary career had her Facebook fans giddy with excitement Monday.

“Tell ‘em like it is girl!!!!!!,” one person wrote on a post.

“I look forward to seeing you on Fox….but I hope it doesn’t prevent you from running in ‘12!,” another wrote.

Sarah Palin said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that it’s heartbreaking to see the road that Levi Johnston, the father of her grandson, has taken and that the soon-to-be Playgirl model hasn’t seen his baby in awhile.

In an episode that aired Monday, the two women also talked about the controversy surrounding Palin’s possible appearance on the show last year and touched on whether the former Alaska governor planned to run for president in 2012.

Palin and Winfrey embraced as the one-time Republican vice presidential candidate walked onto the talk show stage. Palin’s 413-page book, “Going Rogue,” will be released Tuesday and she begins a book tour Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The new memoir doesn’t mention Johnston, who has sparred repeatedly with his former mother-in-law-to-be. Johnston and Palin’s daughter Bristol Palin are parents to son, Tripp.

When Winfrey asked about Johnston, Palin said she didn’t think “a national television show is the place to discuss some of the things he’s doing and saying.”

But Palin went on to say she finds it “a bit heartbreaking to see the road that he is on right now” and that “it’s not a healthy place to be.”

Bristol Palin and her son live at Palin’s home, she said, and have much family support.

“(Johnston’s) quite busy with his media tours and he hasn’t seen the baby for a while,” Palin said. “But we will let that be the discussion between Bristol and Levi as they work out their relationship.”

Palin also said Johnston remains a member of the family and that they can work out any troubles. She said she prays for him and that he has an “open invitation” to Thanksgiving dinner.

“He’s a teenager,” Palin said. “I don’t think he realizes quite yet what it is that he is being handled and orchestrated around.”

Winfrey began the interview by asking Palin if she felt snubbed at not getting an invitation to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last year. Winfrey said she didn’t have any candidates on her Chicago-based show during the campaign because of her support of President Barack Obama.

Palin said she didn’t feel snubbed and told Winfrey, “No offense to you, but it wasn’t the center of my universe.”

Winfrey also asked Palin if she was thinking about running for president in 2012.

“It’s not on my radar screen right now,” Palin said.

Check out: http://www.oprah.com

The rumors are true, according to Sarah Palin: The McCain-Palin campaign was not a happy family. In Palin’s new memoir, “Going Rogue,” she confirms reports of tension between her aides and those of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain. The vice presidential candidate confirms that she had wanted to speak on election night, but was denied the chance and says she was kept “bottled up” from reporters during the campaign.

Palin also writes harshly of CBS anchor Katie Couric, whom she describes as “badgering” and biased. Palin’s series of interviews with Couric were widely regarded as disastrous, leaving the impression of an ill-informed candidate who was unsuited for the job.

The 413-page book with 16 pages of color photos but no index comes out Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Associated Press purchased a copy Thursday. “Going Rogue,” with a first printing of 1.5 million copies, has been at or near the top of Amazon.com and other best-seller lists for weeks, ever since publisher HarperCollins announced that the book had been completed quickly and the release date was being moved up from next spring.

The book follows Palin from childhood to her departure last summer as Alaska governor. It includes much of what her admirers, and detractors, expected: tributes to family and faith and patriotism, and attacks against the media and other perceived opponents.

She writes about the “jaded aura” of professional campaign aides and how McCain’s entourage limited her access to the media, leading to allegations – unfounded, she says – that she was avoiding reporters.

And she says that most of her legal bills were generated defending what she called frivolous ethics complaints, but she reveals that about one-tenth of the $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod.

She said when she asked the McCain campaign if it would help her financially, she was told McCain’s camp would have paid all the bills if he’d won; since he lost, the vetting legal bills were her responsibility.

Written with Lynn Vincent, “Going Rogue” is folksy in tone and homespun. For example, Palin says her efforts to award a license for a massive natural gas transmission line through Alaska was turning a pipe dream into a pipeline. She writes in awe about how the McCain campaign had hired a New York stylist who had also worked on Couric.

Taken aback by all the fussing, she wondered who was paying for the $150,000 worth of fancy clothes given to her and her family members by the campaign. Family members were told it was being taken care of or was “part of the convention.” The designer clothing, hairstyling and accessories later grew into a controversy.

Palin shares behind-the-scene moments when the nation learned her teen daughter Bristol was pregnant, how she rewrote the statement prepared for her by the McCain campaign – only to watch in horror as a TV news anchor read the original McCain camp statement, which, in Palin’s view, glarmorized and endorsed her daughter’s situation.

Palin laments that she wasn’t allowed to bring up loads of family members to the stage while McCain gave his election night concession speech, the vice presidential candidate having found out minutes earlier that she wouldn’t be permitted to give her own speech.

She writes that ABC newsman Charles Gibson, who had an early interview with her, seemed bored by “substantive issues” stemming from her time as governor and that while speaking with her he “peered skeptically” at her over his glasses like a disapproving principal.

She writes at length about Couric. She says that the idea to meet with Couric came from McCain campaign aide Nicolle Wallace, who told Palin that Couric – also a working mother – liked and admired her. It would be a favor to Couric, too, whom Palin notes had the lowest ratings of the network anchors. Wallace said Couric suffered from low self-esteem. And Palin replied that she almost began to “feel sorry” for Couric.

She alleges that Couric and CBS left out her more “substantive” remarks and settled for “gotcha” moments. She writes that Couric had a “partisan agenda” and a condescending manner. Couric was “badgering,” biased and far easier on Couric’s Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden.

She writes warmly of her childhood and her mother’s “nurturing, hospitable” personality. Her priorities were set early – faith (she would read Scripture each night before bed), hunting, current events and sports (she even dreamed of being a broadcaster alongside Howard Cosell). She remembers being a voracious reader, favorites including John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl” and George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” Long before Tina Fey parodied her on “Saturday Night Live,” Palin enjoyed watching the show as a girl.

She met her future husband, Todd Palin, in 1982. He was good-looking and mature, like no one she had ever known. He was quiet, gruff, strong, spiritual.

Sarah Palin is said to have pocketed a $7 million advance for the 400-page memoir she turned in four months early, but she might not have such an easy time on the lecture circuit.

After quitting as governor of Alaska in July, Palin signed with the top-notch Washington Speakers Bureau, which also reps George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Condoleezza Rice, hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, LA Dodgers manager Joe Torre and magician David Blaine.

Palin’s bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert said: “The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot.”

Many big lecture venues are subscription series, “and they don’t want to tick people off,” said our source. “Palin is polarizing, and some subscribers might cancel if she’s on the lineup.” Other lecture buyers are universities, which have a leftist slant, and corporations, which dislike controversy.

“Palin is so uninteresting to so many groups — unless they are interested in moose hunting,” said our insider. “What does she have to say? She can’t even describe what she reads.”

Palin likely quit as governor just months after losing the election as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate because of money. “She knew that if she waited until her term ended in 2010, these opportunities would be gone,” said a source. “She would have lost millions by staying in office.”

Palin’s “Going Rogue: An American Life” is described by Harper publisher John Burnham as “her words, her life, and it’s all there in full and fascinating detail.” Harper wouldn’t discuss what Palin was paid.

Lynn Vincent, Palin’s collaborator, wrote the book so fast, publication has been moved up from the spring to Nov. 17.

(and no, in case you are wondering the pic is not of Sarah Palin, it is of a porn star that is a Sarah Palin look alike)

(source)

Levi Johnston went from being a podunk Alaskan guy who decided to warm his D up in the Governor’s daughter and ended up with a baby. Then, he became a national celebrity who, with a little spit n’ polish, cleaned up real nice and befriended Kathy Griffin. Slowly but surely, people starting realizing “Hol’ up, hol’ up: Levi’s actually a hot piece of A”, and ladies and gentleman, a real star was born.

In fact, Vanity Fair – the only magazine I will still gladly read on an airplane (sorry, Details, we used to have something, but $4 for some pics of gay guys wearing shoes ain’t gonna cut it) – scored an interview and photoshoot with the world’s most famous sperm donor. So why, then, did they decide to go with a photo where he actually looks EXACTLY LIKE Sarah Palin? Especially now, what with Kevin Federline being so fat… we need him. We really, really need him.

The Good News: While the main photo might not be all that, the video of the actual photoshoot is more than plenty Johnston for one day. Especially when it looks like Levi will actually be showing his Johnston in an upcoming Playgirl spread. On second thought, the only other magazine I’m willing to read on an airplane.

Sarah wanted to adopt the baby to save face, but Levi wouldn’t have it:

Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.

She’s like Angelina Jolie, except she’ll only adopt children who are also her grandchildren. Aww. And Levi, we’d watch it if we were you. If you see any slow-rolling Dodge Ram’s driving by, you’re proooobably gonna die.

Ahead, check out a behind-the-scenes video of Levi lookin’ all fine while wearing a suit.

Sarah Palin won’t be single anytime soon.

The former Alaska Gov. is denying two Alaskan bloggers’ reports that she and her husband Todd are divorcing. The bloggers claimed they were splitting after infidelities on both sides.

“Yet again, some so-called journalists have decided to make up a story. There is no truth to the recent ’story’ (and story is the correct term for this type of fiction) that the Palins are divorcing,” spokeswoman Meg Stapleton posted on Palin’s Facebook page Saturday.

“The Palins remain married [and] committed to each other and their family,” she said.

Palin’s attorney Thomas Van Flein also released a statement slamming the “vicious” rumor.

“I spoke to Sarah and Todd this morning,” he said in a press release Saturday. “They are not getting a divorce.”

(source)

AlaskaReport has learned today that Todd Palin and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are to divorce. Multiple sources in Wasilla and Anchorage (including a former Palin staffer) have confirmed the split.

A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage and the stress from that led to Palin’s resignation as governor of Alaska last week.

The Palins were noticeably not speaking to each other for most of last Sunday’s resignation speech in Fairbanks. Sarah ditched Todd (MSNBC) right after the speech and left without him. Sarah removed her wedding ring a couple of weeks ago.

Sarah has recently purchased land in Montana and is considering moving the family there. Sarah Palin is originally from Idaho.

Todd Palin told Fox News last week that he was heading back to his job in the oil fields of Alaska, yet Sarah recently signed a book deal reportedly worth $11 million.

Editor’s note: AlaskaReport was the first website to report that Sarah Palin was running for governor of Alaska and the first website to report that Sarah was picked as John McCain’s VP candidate.

Sarah Palin on “hurt feelings” – November 5th, 2008
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin says politicians need to have thick skin “just as I’ve got” Which of course is hilarious since she quit as Alaska’s governor complaining about her hurt feelings from Alaska’s bloggers reporting on her 21 ethics violations.

(source)