Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Blagojevich Appointee Will Be Denied Entry to Senate, Say Sources

Roland Burris Wow, is every aspect of the news more scandalous than celebrity gossip lately? It sure does feel like it. Okay, so remember how the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (pronounced Bla-GOY-uh-vich), was "allegedly" accepting bribes for who would get the Senate seat vacated by Obama? And that's super duper illegal and stuff? Well, he hasn't actually been convicted of this stuff yet, and he refuses to resign from him post despite his whole party begging him to, and he went right ahead and ap...

Matt Dillon Arrested for Speeding

Matt Dillon Arrested for Speeding in Vermont Pictures Photos But this isn't any ordinary speeding -- Dillon was going a whopping 106 mph on a Vermont interstate in a rented 2009 Chevrolet Impala. Talk about a badass ... I mean, if you're gonna drive over 100 mph, you just gotta do it in a Chevy Impala. It doesn't appear he was under the influence or on his way to get a blow job, so he'll probably get off with a slap on the wrist, although the law allows for him to be sentenced to up to three months in jail. He's scheduled to appear in court on Janu...

R.I.P. Claiborne Pell

Claiborne Pell The Rhode Islander who spent 34 years in the Senate and created the Pell Grants passed away in his home at the age of 90 after a long battle with Parkinsons. Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who served in the Senate with Pell, called him "one of our nation's most important voices in foreign policy for over 30 years ... Claiborne Pell was a man of extraordinary integrity, grace and decency," Biden said in a statement. "Because of Senator Pell and the Pell Grant, the doors of college have bee...

Ashlee Simpson Wentz Celebrates Being Able to Drink Again

56418722ashlee_pete11200915530pm Ashlee left the baby at home and took her new blond extensions and her hubby Pete Wentz to PURE in Las Vegas, where she downed champagne and partied the night away to ring in 2009. She's lost a lot of the baby weight, but you can tell she's still being careful to cover up her arms and her tummy. Which is totally fine by me! It's such a relief to find a celebrity who's actually human and doesn't lose the entirety of her baby weight in twelve days. That shit's insane anyway. [gallery]...

Charles Barkley Got His DUI on His Way to a Blow Job

Charles Barkley DUI Scottsdale Mug Shot 2008 Pictures Photos Heh. If you haven't read the full police report related to Charles Barkley's DUI arrest, I suggest you do, as it's a doozy (it's here). But, basically, Barkley was exceptionally cooperative and congenial with the police officers, and also very hilarious. They'd pulled him over for running a stop sign, but he'd picked up a chick on the side of the street before the arrest. Barkley told the arresting officer that he was going to drive around the corner and get a blow job from that chick. H...

Music Sales Continue to Slump in 2008 … and Taylor Swift Continues to Rock

You guys are demanding all killer no filler ... and the music industry hasn't quite risen to the occasion.
Music sales have continued to slump in 2008 as the increased number of downloads of digital tracks failed to make up for a plunge in the sale of compact discs. Year-end sales figures released Wednesday by The Nielsen Co. show total album sales, including album equivalents made up of single digital tracks, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5 percent from 500.5 million in 2007. Physical album sales fell 20 percent to 362.6 million from 450.5 million, while digital album sales rose 32 percent to a record 65.8 million units. Digital track sales, such as those conducted in Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store, were up 27 percent from last year, breaking the 1 billion mark for the first time at 1.07 billion. The report continues a troubling trend for the recording industry, which has a harder time maintaining profits when consumers buy single songs instead of albums. The number of transactions rose 10.5 percent to 1.5 billion, although the figure treats single track and whole album purchases the same. ... "You have to really be right about your hits. If you're going to invest that amount of time in them and not run as many records, you have to be way more right today than wrong," Kallman said. Nielsen SoundScan said album sales fell in every genre. Classical music saw the biggest drop at 26 percent, followed by country at 24 percent and Latin at 21.1 percent. Taylor Swift was the year's best-selling artist with more than 4 million albums sold ... "Taylor Swift is a great artist development story that started as organically as you can in the digital age," said Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of her label, Big Machine Records. "It involved online, non-stop radio tours and strategic TV opportunities which led to non-stop touring. But — most importantly — Taylor connected with her fans like no other artist in 2008."
I love how you just can't read about music right now without hearing about how freakin' awesome Taylor Swift is. It'll be interesting to see how the talent development scene changes over the next couple of years based on the kind of success Taylor's seen this year. />You guys are demanding all killer no filler ... and the music industry hasn't quite risen to the occasion. Music sales have continued to slump in 2008 as the increased number of downloads of digital tracks failed to make up for a plunge in the sale of compact discs. Year-end sales figures released Wednesday by The Nielsen Co. show total album sales, including album equivalents made up of single digital tracks, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5 percent from 500.5 million in 2007. Physi...

Welcome to 2009, Bitches!!!

dsc01551 IS EVERYBODY SO PSYCHED FOR THE NEW YEAR??? Okay, even if you're not, you should be psyched on Leo's New Year's tuxedo, which was purchased at the Build-a-Bear store for $5. And worth every penny. For the full run-down on the five (??!!) New Year's Eve parties Leo and I attended over the course of five hours, click here. I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve and have high hopes for 2009! What are your new year's resolutions??? Mine is to buy more tuxedos for L...