The plot thickens at Entertainment Tonight
I’m glad I don’t work at “Entertainment Tonight” right now (but if they want to offer me a great salary, I *am* available!).
First they dished the “exclusive” news that Angelina Jolie had given birth to her twins and that the information came from a special source who was right in the delivery room and said mom and babies were doing just fine. Even when doubts sprouted up and the story was denied by Angelina’s rep, ET held firm to their news, which had been posted on their site, and then even went ahead and reported the details on their television show later that evening.
Then Brad Pitt’s people denied the story as well, and ET quickly discovered that they had been hoaxed. Investigations showed that they had been mislead by someone impersonating Angelina’s assistant and good friend, Holly Goline. Someone had sent emails as Holly, informing the media show of Angie’s supposed birth. ET pulled the story and replaced it with their explanation for the mix-up, but they must have felt foolish having aired the segment already.
They’ve stated they’re investigating what happened and that they take this hoax very seriously since it damaged their integrity.
” ‘Entertainment Tonight’ takes this very seriously and is, of course, concerned that the show may have been victimized by someone allegedly posing as a member of Ms. Jolie’s team,” the statement said. “We are actively investigating the matter and are reaching out to law enforcement agencies.”
However! The plot thickens because CNN has a story claiming that ET already knew the story was fake when they went to air. They had been duped when they posted it online, but they had been informed of the truth before they reported it on television. Why would they have done that? No other news to fill the gap?
Sounds like they had one embarrassing mishap and made it worse.
Read the full story here.
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POSTED IN: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jolie-Pitt Pregnancy
22 opinions for The plot thickens at Entertainment Tonight
Terry
Jun 5, 2008 at 10:35 am
ET just got caught big time and they are too embarrased to admit it. That story was written by an Associated Press writer. AP printed the false story and is furious with ET, so they are doing this work to prove ET wrong so they (AP) don’t look bad. They have been running stories since last week pointing out the problems with the story.
AP has a reputation and want to protect it, unlike ET who has lost all credibility. It is only entertainment, but AP is a serious news organization and they don’t like to be made fools of. They seem to have put a lot of work into this story. Funny, if this was not about Brad and Angelina, I wonder if this we would be seeing this type of fuss. Thanks.
Mary Ann
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:20 am
I am getting to the point of only believing what I see at Pittwatch. Sherry does a great job of keeping on top of all Jolie-Pitt news.
Carrie
Jun 5, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I see here a lot, an assumption that all of the entertainment “news” organizations are irresponsible “paps” that make no attempt to get things right, and are all speculation. While I think some of these organizations like National Enquirer and Star are notorious about printing rumors, they do so fairly carefully and if you read between the lines… often give clues that it is all speculation. These people were claiming the pregnancy was twins months ago, and guess what? True. My point with this is that these are not just reckless stories. ET has been around 27 years. They didn’t go with this story with no support and now they are “too embarassed” to come clean. There was a serious breach here, and they are trying to figure it out. There may be all sorts of legal implications to this story, if they have emails or messages from imposters. I’m all for saying “wait till we hear it from People” because they are the best, but I think there is more to this story than just another pap screw up.
BlessBrangelina
Jun 5, 2008 at 3:16 pm
@Terry
I think the whole media would be making more of a fuss if it wasn’t them!
@Carrie
you just because Star and X17 got ONE thing right doesn’t automatically make all of them right all the time! Think about the other times they have been seriously WRONG!
Also WHY would B&A not announce this birth. Afterall they did so within a few hours with Shiloh !!!!!
irma
Jun 5, 2008 at 4:15 pm
ET’s credibility was tainted but I saw a segment when Mary Hart retracted the story. I feel bad to ET but they should verify everything first before making an announcement. I hope, this be a lesson & they should learn from their mistake. I hope, the person who impersonated Holly will be caught.
I still watch ET, I prefer ET than Extra.
God bless the Jolie-Pitt’s.
angela
Jun 5, 2008 at 7:31 pm
i love watching all those gossip news but i don’t usually believe it.
Carrie
Jun 5, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I know they got this wrong. We all do. Brad Pitt wouldn’t be in Italy or Switzerland if the babies were here.
Lily
Jun 5, 2008 at 9:06 pm
My guess is that the imposter was pretty good - ET wouldn’t just print or run the story without having seriously checked the source. But whoever did this is probably very clever and it was probably an honest mistake on ET’s part. Well, everybody makes mistakes! I personally don’t think this undermines their credibility since they relatively quickly retracted their story and apologized.
BlessBrangelina
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Carrie,
Ahh, no. Just because they copied X17’s scoop that’s not make them credible.
Where were you when they got the marriage thing wrong? What about all the times that Angie has been at death’s door, only for us to see her out and about healthy, and spending time with her family!
You don’t think their stories are reckless? What about the story of Zahara’s so called origin? Was that a responsible story about a 3 year old?
ET behaviour is worse than Star’s in that ET should have known better. In particular when all the celeb news outlets were informed that this imposter was around. When the story was denied by both star’s managers. And according to the AP they called the real Holly and she said she did not contact them. They went ahead with the story anyway!
Really! Would Brad be going to sports meets and Art shows if he had premature babies around?? I know people h8te him for imagined wrongs, but he is not irresponsible.
It took them 5days to release a statement that they may have been duped. As far as I know they haven’t actually retracted on tv yet, which is abominable. And they need to apologise for the stress to Angie.
Carrie
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I think ET is a good organization, and I think this kind of thing could border on criminal behavior. I also imagine that they are concerned that someone may have stolen information or had illegal access to email or a Blackberry. I think ET may have actually been working with the Jolie-Pitts in the last few days.
BlessBrangelina
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:34 pm
@Irma
I missed your post! When did ET retract the story?!
@Lily
They didn’t retract almost immediately. As of Wednesday (5days later), they released a statement that they may have been hoodwinked! And if they have retracted it on tv too, then they have just done so! Am sorry that is not immediate!
It would have been best for them, if they had acknowledged straight away that they may have made a mistake. Like the others! There was no shame in that, a lot of people trust ET. They would have understood. But they didn’t and seemed to suggest that Angie should prove them wrong!! :(
Lucy
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:35 pm
This is very bad journalism. ET should check out the source first and confirm the story. I also think somebody owes Holly Goline an apology big time. Anyway, do these people not believe what Angelina said in Cannes, that she is not due for a few months? She said this in May and the news broke out Sunday before Shiloh’s birthday. See, nobody ever listens to Angie.
BlessBrangelina
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I know ET had credibility, heck out of all the celeb news shows I trusted them the most.
That’s why this leaves a such a bitter taste. They behaved abominably. If they are helping with the investigations then that’s great, but it will take a while for the distaste to fade. For me anyway!
The one am doubting is you citing Star as credible because they got one thing ?right!
BlessBrangelina
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Exactly Lucy!
BradPittWantsMe
Jun 6, 2008 at 12:08 am
You know, this is probably way more prevalent than we can even imagine. In fact, probably 50-75% of the stories we read the news and magazines are probably the results of just such scams. Just think of the celebrity look-alikes who impersonate the celebrities just for the fun of it. I think I would like to see the reps for Angie & Brad be a bit more forthcoming about many of the stories. Their continuous “no comment” encourages too much speculation.
irma
Jun 6, 2008 at 6:38 am
People believed what they want to believe. unless, it comes from Brad & Angie’s mouth nothing can be credible anymore. People are obsessed about The Jolie-Pitt’s.
I don’t think Brad will be leaving her side if she gives birth to their twins, since, we haven’t seen Angie for 2 weeks, it makes the rumor more prevalent. Angie needs rest & for her safety she needs to be out of the limelight for a while, the papz needs to back off for now. God bless the Jolie-Pitt’s.
kim
Jun 6, 2008 at 7:10 am
Well despite the fact the story was wrong, it gave us something to talk about when not much else is going on except waiting. You have to look at all the rumors with humour, we can’t take our interest in the Jolie-Pitt’s so seriously we have our own life’s to be serious in. This is suppose to be for fun.
Mary Ann
Jun 6, 2008 at 7:27 am
Kim you are so right about us having our own lives to be serious about. But this is fun too.
Sherry, Maybe you could start a new thread on why are there so many people all over the world so interested in this couple. I for one would love to see all the thoughts on this. No matter what site you are looking at if there is a story about the Jolie-Pitts there are hundreds of comments offered.
susie
Jun 6, 2008 at 7:30 am
I’m with Kim on this one. It’s done and it was what it was. ET is probably hoping people will forget and let it go. Hopefully they will learn the lesson and thoroughly check the “sources” in the future. In the meantime let’s focus on sending positive energy and prayers for the JPs (Angie and the twins in particular). Enjoy the weekend, everyone!
Lou
Jun 6, 2008 at 11:29 am
What I am now finding intresting and really wrong is that some news outlets are suggesting that Angelina Jolie should come out of “hiding” as if its her fault that ET reported a story that was not checked.
baby dalailama
Jun 6, 2008 at 2:23 pm
hi guys don’t you just know they must be soooo happy they have that beautiful, PRIVATE place to call home for the forseeable future…they don’t care what ET or anyone else is saying about them and neither should we.
isacutie
Jun 6, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Let’s just hope that ET (and other news organisations) have learned their lessons.
In the JJB forum, I’ve read that an LA Times blogger said something to the effect that if only Angie would show up, then all these rumours would be put to rest. My thinking is, why does she need to put the rumours to rest? Why can’t the people just believe their reps who said the stroy isn’t true. Is she implying that Angie and Brad are liars? Angie has every right to disappear if she wants to. For all we know, she really wants to make sure that things go well for the remainder of her pregnancy and so she’s really keeping herself at home resting. And even if she just does not want to go out and satisfy the paps and the tabs, that is her choice. Why people would keep insisting that she shows herself just beyond me, I really don’t believe she owes any of us that.
As I’ve said before, I think most of us fans of the JPs are really just hoping that she’ll be healthy and be able to deliver safely. While we do want to see them, I think most of us can make do without seeing them and especially Angie during this time. I think they will make an announcement once the babies come. There may be no pictures, but there’ll be an announcement. I think they know their fans would want to know, and I don’t think they’d disappoint.
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