Not since Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons have two journalists (Breitbart feeds stories to Internet scandalmonger Matt Drudge and Ebner wrote for Spy) gathered more mean-spirited gossip about celebrities they condemn as sick and depraved. This diatribe is so unrelentingly negative that it loses all power to persuade. Breitbart and Ebner cover a variety of subjects they stand against, among them celebrities voicing their political views, a woman's right to choose, single motherhood and celebrities adopting children. In a chapter devoted to anonymous nannies discussing disrespectful kids of anonymous movie stars, the authors suggest mandatory Norplant and vasectomies for Hollywood parents. Hugh Hefner can't win for being wild or conservative; the authors blast the "fossilized relic embalmed in nostalgia and Viagra" for watching a bestiality video 30 years ago, and then condemn him for his intolerance of illegal drugs. Peculiarly, the authors adore gay porn director Paul Barresi, who paid off the "she-males of the night" that Eddie Murphy frequented so they'd change their stories. But when Murphy's lawyers didn't compensate Barresi, he turned all his records over to the authors. Barresi went on to warn Michael Jackson that his latest videographer was also a gay porn director. But when Jackson wouldn't pay for the information, Barresi leaked the story to the tabloids. Instead of calling Barresi a blackmailer, the authors announce that "he has a code of ethics emphasizing loyalty and respect." Most of the gossip isn't new (e.g., Greg Allman was an uninterested father; Whitney Houston, Nick Nolte and Robert Downey Jr. have had drug problems), and without any illuminating backstories, this is a sour and joyless read.
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“Literary assassinations don’t come any more vitriolic than Hollywood Interrupted…fascinating stories and explosive revelations…” (
Daily Record, 24 April 2004)
“… capitalises on our base interest in the more scandalous antics of the showbusiness elite…” (Birmingham Post, 17 April 2004)
“…makes for a riveting read.” (Hotdog, May 2004)
"...a wildly... entertaining jeremiad against the entertainment industry...against the perverts, flakes, egomaniacs, junkies, bullies and criminals..." (Rick McGinnis/Metro Toronto)
“…lifts the lid on some of Tinseltown’s weirdest and most notorious celebrities…” (Western Daily Press, 3 April 2004)
"...the industry has never been without a scandal, as this jaw-dropping book reveals..." (Hot Stars, 3 April 2004)
ANY ENTERTAINMENT hack worth his saltpeter understands that he is compromised - effectively neutered from word one . . . in toto, entertainment journalists are disgruntled; they are professionally castrated. And to top it off, these masochists are in turn, castigated and hated by the stars they've just fluffed up."
So write Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner in "Hollywood Interrupted." Hmmm . . . interesting point. As a lowly gossip columnist myself, I'd say the authors hit the nail on the head.
This book, which will land on the best-seller list next week, is an unabashedly right-wing, conservative one-note samba on celebrity culture. Is it the truth? Sure - from the authors' point of view, but with no balance. All stars are the devil here. I can't say I enjoyed this one; it's tone is often nasty and even petty - "the aging actress" . . . "the portly actor . . . " But as an antidote to much of what passes for entertainment coverage - or even this column - "Hollywood Interrupted" has appeal and certainly it has shock value. After a while, however, shocks lose impact. Chapter after chapter on those bad people in show biz! And it's not as if anybody's going to stop attending the movies, buying records or being fascinated with celebrity just because these writers are able to reveal clay feet under every heavenly Hollywood body. (The New York Post, Liz Smith, March 15th)
Not since Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons have two journalists (Breitbart feeds stories to Internet scandalmonger Matt Drudge and Ebner wrote for Spy) gathered more mean-spirited gossip about celebrities they condemn as sick and depraved. (Publishers Weekly, February 2, 2004)
CELEBRITIES are skewered like shish kabobs in Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner's upcoming book, Hollywood Interrupted (Wiley). The veteran journalists air embarrassing anecdotes about everyone from egomaniacal producer Robert Evans to Tinseltown train wreck Courtney Love to fallen power agent Michael Ovitz. The authors disclose a previously unheard 1993 wiretap of Evans chatting with Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in which Evans seems to be ordering up a 17-year-old girl he calls "the little one." A chapter titled "Heroine: Love Means Never to Have to Say You're Courtney" was so damning in its details of Love's many meltdowns that her agents at Vigliano & Associates demanded that it be cut from the book (it wasn't). The tome also recounts how, after being terrorized by Ovitz's spoiled b rat childre n, the power agent's nanny quit and was subsequently blacklisted from working in Hollywood households. (The New York Post, Page Six, February 5, 2004)
Celebrity excess is being skewered in a pointed new book about the alleged bad behavior of some of Tinseltown's bigger names.
Hollywood Interrupted is the work of writers *Mark Ebner* and *Andrew Breitbart.* While writing the book, the authors parted ways with their literary agent, *David Vigliano,* over a less-than-glowing chapter they penned on another of his clients, *Courtney Love.*
Some examples: *Barbra Streisand*'s ex, *Elliott Gould,* is criticized as an absent parent.
*Cher* gets praised as "a wonderful mother."
*Suzanne Hansen,* a nanny who worked for power agent *Michael Ovitz,* claims Ovitz and his wife, *Judy,* spent so little time together that they communicated via notes sent through the office mail of Ovitz's Creative Artists Agency, where Judy also worked.
The authors recommend mandatory sterilizations for aspiring celebrities. (Daily News, Rush & Molloy, February 5, 2004)
"The perfect Oscar-Night side dish...Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner's Hollywood, Interrupted is a terrific book, both snappy and snappish.... The next best thing to a Los Angeles friend with a nose for juicy gossip. (The Wall Street Journal
"A Hollywood horror-fest. Celebrities are skewered like shish kabobs in Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner's... Hollywood, Interrupted." (Page Six, New York Post)
"Entertainment journalism has become a stampede of a-list a**-kissing. The authors of this bracingly impudent expose, however, have declined to pucker up." (Penthouse, February 2004)
"In this juicy Hollywood exposé, a pair of investigative journalists talks to the hired help, including former butlers and nannies, to peer inside the bad behavior of stars like John Travolta, Liz Hurley and Winona Ryder. Shockingly delicious!" (Star magazine, March 1, 2004)
The entertainment industry ...takes a beating in [this] scathing collection of revelations about ... scores of luminous entertainment media personalities. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
"This is a fun book!" (Jon Stewart, The Daily Show)
