Yesterday Questlove, the drummer from The Roots, posted the above photo to his Twitter account. This is a real menu from the NBC cafeteria in New York, and the conclusion that everyone came to after seeing it is “THAT’S RACIST”.  And you know, in a way, it does feel a little racist that they’re serving what’s widely considered to be “black people food” in an NBC cafeteria and saying it’s to celebrate Black History Month. All that’s missing from that menu is a watermelon slice and a grape soda, you know?

Well, the NBC cook in charge of making the menu has now had to make a statement in response to all of this and she really doesn’t see what the big flippin’ deal is:

“All I wanted to do was make a meal that everyone would enjoy — and that I eat myself. Questlove, who I serve every day and who enjoys my food, requested the neck bone [cooked in] the black-eyed peas and fried chicken, then got off the line, saying, ‘This is racist.’

“The next thing you know, people were taking pictures of the sign and asking all the other black people in the cafeteria if this was racist. They said that it wasn’t.”

So there you go. The black people at NBC except for Questlove do not think this sign is racist. I don’t know how I feel about it. I wouldn’t be offended if they attempted to serve corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, but that’s a tradition. Saying “Hey, we’re going to make food that black people eat in the south because it’s Black History Month” feels just a little different.

So what do you guys think?

Leann Rimes had one of her fans arrested yesterday. Not a stalker, a fan. Leann was leaving a doctor’s office in Beverly Hills to a swarm of paparazzi when Queen on the Scene, LA’s celebrity-loving homeless woman, ran up to Leanne to give her props. Here’s what went down:

Rimes was snapped holding her arms up in front of her face as she tried to fend off the superfan, telling her to “get out of the way”. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department soon came to Rimes’ aid and arrested the woman for “aggressive solicitation”, forcing her to leave her baby stroller full of possessions on the sidewalk.

The thing about Queen on the Scene, is that most celebrities play along with her because she’s clearly a crazy homeless woman who thinks she’s doing you a favor by getting the paparazzi to pay attention to you. She is, like Angelyne or that guy Norwood with all the Davids on his lawn, one of the things that makes Los Angeles feel like a real hometown. I’m not going to call Leann a bitch (although that is what I typed at first), but like… that chick needs to lighten up.

Scarlett Johansson, who kind of seems to have been more of a model than an actress the past couple of years, just shot an ad campaign for a clothing line called Mango that I had never heard of before today, but am now in love with. I am coveting that blue dress so hard and I wish I had the shoulders to pull off that trench coat-looking dress. And of course Scarlett herself is as gorgeous and hatable as ever.

Betty White has been so awesome these days that it’s going to suck even harder when she dies (I know that’s morbid, but c’mon. I know there’s someone else out there who was thinking the same thing.) I think she’s getting funnier as she gets older or something, it’s just ridiculous. Case in point: The teaser for her new Snickers Superbowl ad. Her face, her outfit, her impressive knee flexibility for a person her age… how can you not love this bitch? I can’t wait to see* the rest.

*I don’t watch foolsball. I’ll wait until it’s on the Internet.

My favorite show, The View, has announced their newest series of guest co-hosts and it’s really just more of the same. But in a good way.

Joining the ladies will be Meghan McCain (barf, but it’s sometimes fun in a “I hate the world” way to listen to her talk), Valerie Bertinelli, and Victoria Beckham, who apparently just does guest spots on talk shows and competitions now. And of course, Kate Gosselin, the woman with the seven-thousand dollar extensions who used to bone that wild moose, will be seated at the table on March 11th.

If you don’t normally watch The View, I don’t want to know you, but also, you should still probably tune in to check out Kate. Last time she was on the show she was in the midst of her divorce and for the most part, was respectful of her disgusting husband. Now she’s a completely single woman, she’s got her own TV show in the works, she’s got that fly-ass weave and her ex-husbro is dating a 25 year old girl that he was seen making out with all over Sundance. If ever there was an opportunity to see Kate Gosselin become unhinged, this is it. And if she’s smart, she will. Homegirl has to stay relevant if she wants to keep feeding all those kids.

There’s been a lot of talk this week about how craptacular Taylor Swift’s Grammys performance was and it got to the point where head of her label had to release a statement. Unfortunately, Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta couldn’t get his message across without taking a swipe at other artists.

“This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Mmm mmm mmm. Kelly Clarkson wasn’t going to have any of that. The original American Idol winner took to her blog to put the big wig in his place:

Wow …..Dear Scott Borchetta,

I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’. Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well.

Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is “I’ll kick butt next time” or “every performance isn’t going to be perfect” ……I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.

Sincerely,

One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes 

Very well put and also: TRUE! How many artists throughout the years have gotten crap for a bad performance? Pretty much everyone in any artistic field is criticized for their work at some point. I love that Kelly’s calling this guy out because yes, it’s mad unprofessional to blame your artists’ problems on America’s tastes. If the girl didn’t sing right, she didn’t sing right. Also: I am really over seeing everyone throw themselves on the ground over Taylor Swift. Forget that I don’t really care for her music, when was the last time someone’s had their ass so universally kissed? The girl’s 19. Someone’s got to be mean to her at some point. She’s not a kitten, she’s a human and one in the entertainment industry at that. She will be exposed to a million more Kanyes and bad performances before her time is up, so let’s just let it run its course and stop acting like everything that happens to this girl is some horrible attempt to bully her in to a silent death.