Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Camera crews filmed Farrah Fawcett's funeral in downtown Los Angeles this afternoon, apparently for the sequel to Ryan O'Neal's "Farrah's Story" television special that sadly had the same Hollywood ending as his "Love Story" movie forty years ago. 

Tabloid Baby pal Brett Hudson (above, entering the cathedral), Farrah's "cancer buddy" when they both were treated at cancer clinics in Germany, met O'Neal at the reception following the services.  O'Neal was overheard telling Hudson that he telling Hudson that he is "in the sequel" to Farrah's Story, and he recognized him from Farrah's original documentary journal that O'Neal took over and recut with NBC News after her health failed.  Hudson was left on the cutting room floor. 

O'Neal was heard telling Hudson that he is "in the sequel." 

Hudson, of Frozen Pictures, is in production on a nonfiction film and documentary project about cancer, alternative treatments and the American medical system, called The Klinik.  He announced last week that the project will be dedicated to Farrah and address the issues she wanted to hit in her own project. 

** UPDATE: We've just realized that a staffer in the Tabloid Baby photo department erroneously substituted a photo of actor Ernie Hudson for Brett Hudson.  Brett did attend Farrah's funeral.  Read his thoughts on his blog at The Klinik website. 

Monday, June 29, 2009

It's taken them a few days to catch up, but the established mainstream media is beginning to clear the stardust out of their eyes andrealize there was something fishy about corporate, porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com scooping the world on the death of Michael Jackson. 

We laid out the evidence on Friday that under the leadership of shaved bronzed midget frontman Harvey Levin, TMZ took the same information that everyone else had and gambled that it spelled out that Jacko was dead-- thatthey ran the "Michael Jackson is dead" story before getting official confirmation, before knowing for sure.  The upside?  Well, look at how the mainstream media, from Brian Stelter in the New York Times to beaten beat writers in the Los Angeles Times, have responded with awestruck wonder at the supposed technological and journalistic brilliance of the jealous, corrupt mutts at TMZ for going with the story a good forty minutes before anyone else (see Dan Rather at Parkland Hospital).  The downside?  There's not much of a downside.  There was enough confusion in which smarmy sleazy Harvey could have slimed his way out of it, and gotten the attention just the same (see The Hitler Diaries). 

This afternoon, the Los Angeles Times website runs -- and Drudge headlines as a "whine"-- a "comment" piece entitled, "How would we have reacted if TMZ had been wrong about Michael Jackson's death?" 

Alexandra Le Tellier writes:

"TMZ would become the first outlet to announce the singer’s death.  What came next was a surprise.  Before the RIPs and the 'he touched us all' jokes, many users began posting jabs aimed at CNN -- more specifically, its irrelevance as a news source...

"...And who was TMZ’s source anyway?  The site’s managing editor, Harvey Levin, said he and his staff made hundreds of calls, but he didn't divulge whom they spoke to, which begs the question of whether they confirmed the news with a reliable, accountable source -- as is required by the Los Angeles Times -- or if they spoke to someone who was violating patient confidentiality. 

"When 19 employees at this same hospital, UCLA Medical Center, were busted in 2008 for snooping through Britney Spears’ confidential medical records, it was hard not to wonder why they’d have risked their jobs.  Were they looking for a story to sell just as their colleague, Lawanda Jackson, had done?  She was indicted in 2008 for selling information about Farrah Fawcett and accessing hundreds of other files.  If that’s the case here, are we seriously going to trust people who’re willing to break the law for some fast cash? 

“'A curious thing is at play here,' (NY Times syndicate ethics columnist Jeffrey) Seglin continues. ' Few people expect TMZ or Drudge or the National Enquirer to get things right or to report on issues of substance.  When they do, at least so far, it’s a bit of an anomaly.  So the consequences for getting it wrong among such sites do not seem terribly high.  If CNN, Fox … got such things wrong, the consequences would likely be higher...'

"Would TMZ take the same approach to a political figure, which in turn could pose a threat to national security?  Let’s hope we never find out." 

Though the article is deep in the Times' little-read Blog section and its writer is under the impression that TMZ got a legitimate scoop through illegal, paid sources, it's significant for a few reasons.  The writer quotes an ethicist from the national competitor in New York, whose kid TV writer led the TMZ cheerleading over the weekend-- a sign that after their initial starry-eyed reaction to being beaten on the story, the old world news media is gathering the forces to get back at the sleazy TV lawyer who broke the rules.  Drudge may call it a "whine", but obviously unhappy being lumped in with TMZ, he posted the link on his influential page, which means talk radio producers and other news organizations too lazy to come up with their own ideas will pick up the TMZ story. 

And even though the TMZ gamble paid off in the end, the Jackson death stunt does not bode well for TMZ's plans to encroach further into Washington, D.C. politics and matters of national importance.  Its corporate overlords Time Warner and AOL may have found it cute when Harvey and his boys began comparing the pectoral muscles of congressmen or playing their curbside ambush games in Georgetown, but they wouldn't be happy at all if their bastard child jumped the gun on an assassination and caused panic and riots in the streets. 

Yeah, the maesltrom around the death of Michael Jackson has overshadowed what was, at least until about 2 pm that day, the biggest and saddest story to come out of Hollywood on Thursday, June 25th.  Farrah Fawcett's passing after a valiant battle against cancer put aside for the moment the unsavoury activities of her longtime beau Ryan O'Neal, includng his intentions to marry her and seal her estate on her deathbed.  ABC News and NBC News, taken by surprise by Jacko's drop, went ahead with their planned dueling Farrah soap operas, and in the end ABC's Barbara Walters' "get" of Ryan O'Neal and his compatriot Alana Stewart guaranteed that the show would stick to the official party line and play the Ryan-Farrah "Love Story" script to the fullest.  No need for reality to seep into a network mewsmagazine piece.  We didn't see Meredith Vieira's revenge hour, slapped up against Walters by NBC in a rage that ABC was stealing the thurnder they'd paid more than a million dolalrs for when they bought (and had their way with) Farrah's documentary. 

The only other real outrage in the story comes from the stately New York Times and their addled television writer Alessandra Stanley.  An idiot with a reputation for getting details wrong, Stanley, in a backhanded "appreciation" of Farrah's lifework, blew off Farrah's talent as an actress and stuck in a nasty barb while mistakenly (details!)  blaming her for the hatchet job NBC did on the documentary that was originally a journal about her treatment in Germany, not a sequel to O'Neal's weepy flick:

"NBC, never shy about exploiting a celebrity tragedy, overproduced and overpromoted her film in 'Farrah’s Story,' but never made the public service point that, besides abstinence, the HPV vaccine is the most promising form of prevention against this type of cancer, which in most cases is sexually acquired." 

Sexually Acquired? 

For the record, Tabloid Baby can report exclusively that Farrah made it clear to several Tabloid Baby sources that there was no chance she could have contracted her cancer through anal sex. 

Tabloid Baby pal Ray Richmond, recently freed from the shackles of The Hollywood Reporter, writes on his indispensable, informative and entertaining website, Man Bites Tinseltown (bookmark it!),  that Farrah's funeral will take place tomorrow, Tuesday at 4 pm at the Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels in downtown Los Angeles. 

Sunday, June 28, 2009

In the world of journalism, reporters and columnists look to the rung above them-- or even beneath them-- for what's already been published or posted, and accept the word as fact.  So it goes with the spreading story that the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com scooped the world on the death of Michael Jackson because of its superior sources and technology.  Though we proved on Friday that TMZ's early word of Jackson's untimely yet not entirely unsurprising bucket kick was based on a gamble-- shaved bronzed midget frontman Harvey Levin and his boy squad took the information everyone else had and ran with it before it was confirmed (an old, dangerous tabloid trick-- see the Bible, Tabloid Baby), the awestruck praise of the despised Hollywood sewer site is comin from "the top"-- in the form of a New York Times article that's been copied and commented upon by print columnists around the nation and world. 

We should mention that the Times story is written by Brian Stelter, a boy blogger turned news man who, coming from the Internet and helping his musty print bosses understand its importance, has made a cottage industry of elevating TMZ.com in the eyes of the mainstream media. 

Back in March, Stelter pushed the story that during the brouhaha over givernment bailouts, TMZ "drove mainstream coverage and Congressional outrage." 

It's an interesting situation we have here: The established, "mainstream" media doesn't trust Harvey Levin and TMZ enough to use it as a source on a major story like the death of Michael Jackson, yet it sources TMZ on other gossip items on a daily basis, praising the gutter operation and laying out the foundation for using it as a valid source in the future.  Of course, the fact that TMZ is a division of Time Warner has little to do with that. 

Meanwhile, we find that the unfiltered truth is coming from the independent sites run by real journalists, not TV lawywers like Levin.  For example, Rumor Rat, the mysterious celebrity news site whose Big Cheese is obviously a veteran with perscpective and experience and whose team has swarmed across Hollywood and nibbled away at TMZ and Perez Hilton, recognizes who the real rats are. 

Saturday, June 27, 2009

“In New York and Los Angeles, when a major stardrops dead of unknown causes, there is a repulsiveritual that takes place.  A certain breed of journalistwill begin a vigil outside the deceased’s residence,will rifle through their trash, will bribe all sorts of peoplefor all sorts of reasons and will call up anyone andeveryone even questionably related to the person foreven the most unlikely comment. 

“In Las Vegas, when left to our own devices,we do things a little differently.” 

Someone asked us about the parallels between the deaths of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.  We're more interested in the parallels between the news media's respeonse to the deaths of Jacko and Danny Gans (who imitated Jacko in his show): the biggest star in the world (consummate showman and Christian), and the biggest star in Las Vegas (consummate showman and Christian). 

The actions of public officials and the Fourth Estate in each case reveal a stark contrast in transparency and fulfillment of responsibility:

Michael Jackson, genius performer, dead at 50.Danny Gans, genius performer, dead at 52.Michael Jackson, found not breathing at home in his bedDanny Gans, found not breathing at home in his bed. Michael Jackson, pulled to the floor for CPR as a 911 dispatcher gives instructions. Danny Gans, pulled to the floor for CPR as a 911 dispatcher gives instructions. Prescription drugs are immediately suspected as the cause of Michel Jackson's death. Prescription drugs are immediately suspected as the cause of Danny Gans's death. Police say they want to speak to Michael Jackson’s many doctors immediately. Police do not seek out Danny Gans’ many doctors. Police impound the car of one of Michael Jackson’s doctors in search of drug evidence. Police allow Danny Gans’ wife to gather “all of her husband’s medications” for then to examine. The world media swarms onto the Michael Jackson story. The Las Vegas media tiptoes around the Danny Gans story. Michael Jackson’s “secret” dependence on prescription drugs is immediately laid bare by journalists and their editors, who can finally publish what they’ve known for years. Danny Gans’ “secret” dependence on prescription drugs is immediately covered up by journalists and their editors, who decline to publish what they’ve known for years or to investigate further. Michael Jackson’s family members, friends, doctors and colleagues say they knew about his drug problems, but were helpless to save him. Danny Gans’ friends and colleagues lie about him and claim ignorance, and the gullible and cynical local media print and broadcast what they know is not true. Respected publications like The New York Times and Los Angeles Times go with major front-page splashes on Michael Jackson’s death, with details about his final hours and many sidebars about his secret life and speculation about what killed him. Publications like the Las Vegas Review-Journal publish major front-page splashes on Danny Gans’ death, but report only the information that was handed to them. The Michael Jackson 911 tape is released immediately and analyzed by police, journalists and the public.  The Danny Gans 911 tape is kept under wraps. Journalists investigate the actions of the paramedics who treated Michael Jackson and get immediate answers, erasing any mystery. Las Vegas journalists go with the official statements, with one (who is a stringer for The New York Times) stating that it is improper to “harass” the paramedics who attended to Danny Gans, adding to more mystery. Police and the coroner hold a press conference in which journalists ask many obvious questions about Michael Jackson’s habits and cause of death. Police, the coroner and Danny Gans’ boss Steve Wynn issue terse statements regarding Danny Gans’ death. Police and the coroner answer all of the questions they can in the case of Michael Jackson. Local journalists ask no questions at all in the case of Danny Gans. 

Newspapers and media cover every aspect of Michael Jackson’s life, art, influence and legacy, filling column inches for days with fascinating detail about the troubled superstar. Local newspapers and media get reactions from people like Carrot Top and run out of Danny Gans coverage in a day and a half. Newspapers and media offer forums for fans to vent their grief and confusion over Michael Jackson. Las Vegas media outlets censor any correspondence criticizing their performance, publishing only letters that demand the Danny Gans details be kept private. The coroner says it will take four to six weeks for the toxicological report to reveal exactly what killed Michael Jackson, but with all bases covered and all secrets laid out, there will be no shock or mystery when the details come out. The coroner says it will take as long as six weeks for the toxicological report to reveal exactly what killed Danny Gans, and the local media close their notebooks and walk away, claiming they are helpless to report or publish any of the easily-verifiable information about the superstar until the government official hands them his statement.  When the coroner’s report turns out to be a politically-parsed, incomplete, confusing explanation that only deepens the mystery, the local media whine for a day and then drop the story. In the Michael Jackson case, members of the news media show what they do best, clearing away mystery, cutting through the spin and laying out the unpleasant truth. In the Danny Gans case, members of the local news media reveal their corruption, adding to the mystery, clouding the truth and holding back what they know to be true. Fans understand that the great Michael Jackson was only human and love him only more. Fans wonder if the great Danny Gans they loved was actually a fraud, and their perception of him darkens amid the coverup. Revealed as myth and man—thanks to the news media-- Michael Jackson’s legacy is burnished. Transformed from man to mystery—thanks to the local news media-- Danny Gans’ legacy is tarnished. 

Yes, in Las Vegas, when left to their own devices, they do things a little differently.  But is the public or the subject well-served by their fear to offend?  It seems that the responsible and aggressive coverage of the newspack in the Michael Jackson case puts the lie to Steve Friess' excuses and proves there's a big difference between Reporting 101 and bribery.  What do you think?  And can you think of other contrasts in the case?  Add your own! 

COMING SOON: Analysis of the Danny Gans 911 tape and investigator’s report... They closed the case after this?? 

Friday, June 26, 2009

The corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com has gotten credit by its mainstream colleagues-- the ones who often use the sewer site as a legitimate news source-- for breaking the news that Michael Jackson was dead.  However, TabloidBaby.com's investigation and common sense analysis of the situation makes it very clear that TMZ was ahead of the curve because they took the same reports everyone else had and extrapolated from them that Jackson had died. 

In other words, TMZ's shaved bronzed midget frontman Harvey Levin and his ill-wishing celebrity taunt team closed their eyes, put all their money on the number 86 and held on tight until they found out they were correct. 

In other words, they guessed. 

Sound like a conspiracy theory?  Speaking of conspiracy theories, there's precedent in network news and one of the greatest conspiracy theories of our time. 

Let's go back to yesterday afternoon...

Word that Michael Jackson had been rushed to a hospital in full cardiac arrest was a shocker when it was text-messaged to us yesterday afternoon shortly after 2 pm.  More shocking was the headline that appeared on the Drudge Report, stamped at 1:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time:

Meanwhile, other news organizations were reporting that Jackson had been taken to UCLA Medical Center in full cardiac arrest-- but no one would say he was dead.  There were reports he was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home, and other reports that the paramedics were performing CPR in the ambulance.  All signs pointing to a dead celebrity-- but no confirmation. 

By 2:20 PST, TMZ was reporting:

Michael Jackson Dies

That, although Jackson was not officially pronounced dead until 2:26 p.m.

Even after 2:30 pm, The Los Angeles Times website and CNN were reporting that Jackson was hospitalized in a "deep coma." 

Soon, the death was confirmed. 

Despite the time stamp and the Drudge links, the Los Angeles Times reports today that TMZ beat the lamestream news media by only a few minutes:

"At 2:44 p.m., it beat rivals by informing the world of his death, which occurred at 2:26 p.m. ...Yet the tabloid sensibilities of the site, which is owned and operated by divisions of Time Warner, and its accompanying syndicated TV show apparently made rivals queasy.  Many outlets around the world instead credited the news to the Los Angeles Times, which bannered Jackson's death on its website at 2:51 p.m."

While all this was going on, as the confusion reigned for more than thirty minutes, the tabloid veterans monitoring the coverage on the Internet and television simultaneously came to the same conclusion: TMZ.com did not get the scoop because its band of boys has better sources, paid sources or inside information at the notoriously-leaky hospital than their competitors. 

TMZ had the same information everyone else had. 

TMZ went with the death report on a hunch, figuring the odds were in their favor. 

Remember, they had this information to go on:Jacko had been hospitalized with cardiac arrest;

Jacko was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home;

Paramedics were performing CPR on the way to the hospital. 

Based on those reports, the tabloid television veterans monitoring the situation also assumed Jackson was dead.  TMZ, however, went with the news. 

Harvey Levin will claim it was great reporting and inside sources that gave TMZ the edge, but take our word for it: TMZ.com had the same sources as everyone else.  And no one else acceptd TMZ as a source and went with the story because they knew the game.  Even TMZ's sister network CNN didn't take their word for it because they know the imitation tabloid television game Harvey was playing. 

Harvey, who has a history of imitating other people's tabloid strategies, often to disatrous results (see the OJ Simpson trial), was playing Dan Rather. 

On November 22, 1963, CBS News reporter Dan Rather was the first to report the death of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy after he was shot in Dallas, after hearing an unconfirmed report from a priest.  The news went out, and Rather, knowing he could be wrong, prayed that he was right and that JFK was dead, so he wouldn't be fired (he writes about it in his book). 

It’s got to be thirty years, since the death of John Lennon, that we’ve gotten into the car and turned on the radio to hear the music of a single artist on every station.  In the past 24 hours, the selection of Michael Jackson songs across the dial has been awe-inspiring and emotional. 

We grew up with Michael Jackson’s music, can remember the first time we heard I Want You Back bursting out of the car radio speakers, saw The Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan Show.  and his world-stopping performance at the Motown 25th Anniversary special on CBS.  But that was long ago, and by the time the tabloid television industry was launched and moving into its heyday in the late 1980s, Michael Jackson’s glory days were behind him and he was descending into a kind of public madness that was not only tolerated but in many ways encouraged until August 7, 1993, the day he stepped onto a jetliner to embark on a concert tour in another part of the planet the very day that police in Los Angeles began investigating a thirteen-year-old-boy’s allegations that the self-proclaimed king of pop had molested him during a four-month romance.  That was the day all the Home Alone with McCauley Culkin comedy segments, Elephant Man parodies and plastic surgery jokes stopped being funny and the Michael Jackson story became a crime story. 

Now he was Jacko, and for the next ten years, as he paid off a pack of pubescent circle jerk buddies and sank deeper into a drug-addled seclusion that was as obvious and unspoken as the paedophilia traits of the past decade, Michael Jackson wasn’t funny any more. 

We heard all the stories.  We had all the information that we couldn’t air.  And when a vengeful prosecutor who couldn’t get the god the first time managed to arrest and try Jacko for child abuse in 2003, everything was fair game. 

But it wasn’t.  The Jacko molestation case ended our editor’s sideline as a cable news television “talking head.” 

“I was sitting in some satellite studio with an IFB in my ear and a monitor in the corner, arguing with some woman in New York over what Michael Jackson had been doing behind closed doors at Neverland," he recalled today. " During the commercial break I realized I didn’t know what the f*** I was talking about.  I didn’t know what went on behind those closed doors.  Neither did the woman I was arguing with.  We were filling time.” 

One tabloid television veteran made Jacko’s prosecution her industry, and while serving as a supposedly unbiased television reporter, twisted every line and repeated every rumour fed from the DA in a determined drive to put Jacko behind bars. 

When the prosecutor couldn’t get a conviction, her career, for all intents and purposes, ended. 

Jacko’s story is dark and because of his bizarre life, overdose death and molestation accusations, the celebrations and vigils that have carried on into a second day seem slightly twisted.  Unless you concentrate on the music-- or discard the factoids that have become facts over the years, and reason that, in the words of a tabloid television godfather, Jacko is “the most maligned, persecuted and slandered person in our time.” 

The world circus that's only just getting underway is the perfect tribute and one Jacko would appreciate.  It's bound to exceed that of John Paul II.  This is bigger than Elvis, who was considered a has been when he keeled over and didn’t even make the lead of CBS News.  Already the conspiracy rumours are out there—that it’s an impersonator who died on Carolwood Drive, and that the real Jacko hightailed it to Bahrain to get out of those fifty concerts at the O2 Arena. 

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Entertainment Tonight is running and distributing what's billed as Michael Jackson's final photo, which is slightly misleading as it depicts Jacko's lifeless corpse being wheeled into UCLA Medical Center.  A study of the photo reveals one detail that's yet to be commented on: Michael Jackson is missing the tip of his nose. 

With his many plastic surgeries, Jacko did much damage to the cartilege in his nose and was rumoured to use putty or a prosthetic to replace the destroyed end of his schnozz (in fact, during a dance move in a 2001 concert in Madison Square Garden, Jacko supposedly flicked the nose tip into the second row). 

It appears that the tip was lost as paramedics worked valiantly to get his heart started, perhaps in a kiss of life. 

We reported exclusively yesterday on the hypocritical tabloid war between ABC News and NBC News over the right to suck as many ratings points as possible out of Farrah Fawcett.  With Farrah's sad death, they moved their plans forward:

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC and NBC are airing special tributes to Farrah Fawcett. 

ABC's "20/20" will air a Barbara Walters Special, "Farrah's Love," Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern.  At the same hour, "Dateline NBC" will air "Farrah Fawcett: The Life and Death of an Angel. "Friday at 9 p.m.,

NBC will rebroadcast "Farrah's Story," a two-hour documentary about Fawcett's battle with cancer that originally aired last month. 

Of course, with the death of Michael Jackson trumping all, the network plans may change again. 

Oh, what a bad day this has turned out to be, and in the TabloidBaby world, the bad news comes in threes with genuine sadness over the death this morning of Farrah Fawcett, the release, due to our diligence, of the 911 tape of Danny Gans' wife calling in to report her husband wasn't breathing, and this afternoon, the bizarre news that Michael Jackson had dropped dead. 

Danny Gans

In vast contrast to Gans' overdose death, the circumstances of Jacko untimely, if not entirely surprising, passing is already being combed for every detail, with reports of the paramedics' attempts to revive him and a family spokesman already shouting loud and clear that like Elvis before him, Jacko was abusing prescription drugs and being supplied with the killing medication by "everyone around him."  Gans, who was as big a star as any in Las Vegas, should have gotten the same respect and treatment from his local media. 

As for Jacko, whatever circus surrounds his death and funeral, he surely deserves and will appreciate it. 

Thanks to the persistence of TabloidBaby.com correspondent on the scene, police in Henderson, Nevada have released the incident report and 911 tape from the morning of May 1st, when paramedics were called to his home to find Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans dead of what would be revealed as an overdose of the powerful opiate Dilaudid. 

According to the five page report written by Detective ChadMitchell, Gans' wife Julia said her husband had been asleep since the afternoon of May 31st. 

At about 6 pm, she asked her son to awaken Gans, but that he decided not to wake him up because he was snoring. 

Four hours later she went to the master bedroom and found Gans asleep in bed-- lying on his back with his feet slightly elevated.  Gans was still snoring.  Julia Gans said she thought nothing of it because he often snored when he slept. 

She said she awoke at 3:40 am and realized he wasn't snoring. 

The report says Julia Gans couldn't tell if he was breathing or if he had a pulse.  She called 911 and was given instructions on how to administer CPR.  She pulled Gans off the bed, put him on the floor and performed CPR until Henderson police arrived. 

Danny Gans was dead. 

Julia Gans told Henderson Police investigators that at the direction of the police she had gathered and placed all of her husband's medications so they could be examined. 

Henderson Police collected the evidence she gave them, and according to the report, noted "nothing remarkable" about the number of pills that were found and counted. 

Coroner's investigators examined Gans' body and noticed that his faced was swollen and red.  They found nothing during the examination that suggested foul play. 

Police also released the 911 tape in which Julia Gans calls the dispatcher and says she can't tell if her husband is breathing. 

While the local Las Vegas news media has willfully ignored, underplayed and failed to pursue leads in the story, we revealed on Monday that the Henderson Police had not closed the books on the Gans case, despite the controversial and incomplete conclusion (accidental "toxic reaction") from the Clark County Coroner on June 9th. 

Farrah Fawcett's star rose to the stratosphere after she posed in 1976 for a poster wearing a one-piece swimsuit.  It's gone down in pop culture history as the famous "red swimsit poster." 

Only it wasn't red. 

As you can see in these photos, The swimsuit was actually burnt orange.  Burnt orange and white are the school colors of The University of Texas at Austin, where Farrah was the most beautiful girl in the Delta Delta Delta sorority when she was discovered by Hollywood. 

Color bleeds in various printings of the poster evened it out to "red." 

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DANNY GANS

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"Sad, funny, undeniably authentic, Tabloid Baby tells the tale of what befell too much of mainstream television news over the past couple of decades as the bad drove out the good." 
--Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes

"Burt was there for the birthing of tabloid, he became the heart of the genre, and now he's written the bible." 
--Maury Povich

"Dear Burt: While you always had quite a flair for the dramatic, you never had much regard for the truth... Apparently you can't be bothered to read anything carefully.  Maybe that is why you, like O'Reilly, make half your crap up. 
Glad to hear you finally got sober." --  Barry Nolan, 04.12.08