Confessions of a Hollywood gossip queen
By Rebecca Verner, Blogger
June 29, 2007 | 1:53 a.m.
While stuck in Athens this summer, my obsession with celebrity gossip has reached a new all-time high. I consider E! News my daily attempt to keep up with current events. I loved it when Britney shaved her head. I’m in love with Lindsay Lohan, and I don’t think Paris Hilton should have gone to jail.
Some people think I’m crazy, but there is no way around my desire to find out what is happening among the Hollywood elite. Celebrity gossip is becoming a new and growing media outlet. The hundreds of sites featuring pictures of celebrities gallivanting around Los Angeles receive thousands of hits each day. My mouse is clicking a few of them.
The ability to post a picture almost immediately after it is taken adds to the excitement of celebrity gossip Web sites. I can wake up Sunday morning and see how all of my favorite people spent their weekends, as well as what they wore, who they were with and which pieces of clothing they neglected to wear.
I’d like to say Ohio University helped fuel my love for gossip through a little secret I like to call the Super 14 Meal Plan. I would eat the meals I chose to eat in the dining hall and save the extras for Friday mornings at Nelson Market. Yes, I used my meal plan to buy magazines. USWeekly, People, InTouch and OK! were my weekly leisure readings.
I relax through reading my magazines. My favorite place to read them is at the gym. These magazines become colorful picture books, providing me with the latest updates about all my friends. With my iPod blaring Amy Winehouse, I read again about how skinny Nicole Richie is, and I sweat. I completely turn off my brain from anything remotely difficult (no, thank you, algebra), and I sweat. It’s my favorite hour of the week, and I aim for four days of working out so I can read each of my magazines. Thank you, gossip magazines, for my good health.
I love a good celebrity feud -- Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell, for example. O’Donnell accused Trump of being irresponsible when the whole Miss USA rehab fiasco was in the news. Trump responded by calling O’Donnell a pig. The rest ensued like a fight between two first-graders during recess. Entertainment. Sure, it was embarrassing to see two adults name-calling, but I still looked forward to checking who might cave in and apologize first. Each feud becomes a story, each argument a different chapter in my book of Hollywood gossip.
The only thing better than a feud? A break up. Angelina Jolie’s stealing Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston was gossip’s gift to Earth. Of course, everyone feels bad for anyone in a difficult time, but because the media so often focuses on these celebrities, their stories become much more interesting and much less personal. Most of the things mentioned in my magazines are far stretches from the truth. I understand this. But I accept it because I love a good story. And Brad Pitt.
Finally, my favorite topic discussed in gossip magazines: Hollywood night life. I am a fan of the beautiful girls who wear the cutest clothes from Kitson as they make their ways to the clubs, and the male Hollywood heartbreakers who enter Pure alone through the front door and leave through the back with Scarlett Johansson in hand (yes, apparently our boy Justin had a good weekend recently). I could not keep up with these partying professionals. Most of the celebrities in my magazines probably make most of their money from being the magazines. Their job is to get themselves known. Their job is to create gossip.
I am a fan of celebrity gossip. I’m glad that I’ve found my way to unwind and truly enjoy the stories I hear. I’m proud to be questioned by my friends when rumors of Nicole Richie’s pregnancy arise (I still think no, we’ll find out soon though). I get my school work done and live an average life, but through my magazines and internet gossip havens, I am able to experience a taste of the Hollywood lifestyle -- a taste of the fun.