Superstar of the Week: Katie Holmes
On June 29th, Katie Holmes filed for divorce from her husband Tom Cruise. Eleven days later, July 9th, New York courts finalized the divorce and Katie Holmes became a free woman. On November 18th, 2006, Holmes and Cruise wed in Italy. We all remember the early stages of this relationship when Cruise jumped on couches, professed his love for Holmes, and made a fool of himself on media outlets across the world. While it was fun to make jokes about Holmes being brainwashed into the Scientology lifestyle in order to remain Tom Cruise’s wife, it appears these jokes were closer to reality than we thought. While she has not publicly said why she left Cruise, all signs point to a struggle between Cruise’s Scientologist lifestyle and Holmes’ refusal to go along with the cult/religion as the reason for their divorce.
How does the finalization of a divorce make one a Superstar of the Week? This was not a mere divorce; this was an escape. Katie Holmes, and her six-year old daughter with Cruise - Suri, escaped the dangers of the cult known as Scientology. This escape ranks right up there with slaves escaping to the free North via the Underground Railroad or Andy Dufresne’s escape of Shawshank State Prison as one of the most inspiring escapes of all-time. Congratulations, Katie. Enjoy having your life back and stand tall as a spokesperson for those who have drank the kool-aid and lived to tell the tale.
Jerk of the Week: DirecTV
On July 10th at 11:59PM, 14 channels went black on DirecTV as a dispute between the satellite provider and media conglomerate Viacom reached a breaking point. DirecTV pulled Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic, CMT, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, Teen Nick, TV Land, Spike TV, Logo, BET, and Centric from their lineup. According to DirecTV, Viacom pulled these channels after DirecTV refused to raise prices 30% on customers in order to pay for Viacom’s demands. Viacom committed a horrible act to the customers of DirecTV. DirecTV is doing everything in the best interest of the customer. So, why would I call DirecTV a jerk? Maybe because DirecTV is lying with every word they speak.
The expiring contract DirecTV had with Viacom saw DirecTV paying Viacom much less than every other major satellite and cable provider around. Viacom merely wanted DirecTV to begin paying the same amount as every other provider. Considering that DirecTV uses the majority of these networks as selling points to potential customers, it only sounds fair that DirecTV would pay the same rates as their competition for the rights to show these channels. DirecTV does not believe it is fair though and so they removed the channels from their packages. However, customers are still paying for these channels because DirecTV makes sure to put the classic “channel lineup subject to change” in small print of every contract alongside the list of fees that come with canceling service before the end of your contract with them. Jerk move, DirecTV.
The constant defense from DirecTV is that they do not want to raise prices on customers. I have had the same package with DirecTV since becoming a customer in 1999. My package has lost channels (G4 anyone?) while rising in price from $65.99 a month to a current charge of $74.99 a month. No notice. No warning. This was just DirecTV taking a quarter here, fifty cent there, throughout 13 years of loyalty. Loyalty that did not come with free NFL Sunday ticket at anytime because I was not a new customer. Loyalty that did not come with a free DVR upgrade or HD upgrade because I was not a new customer. DirecTV has simply offered a good service for 13 years with a little of little jabs here and there that finally cannot be ignored. It is true that DirecTV would have to price package prices in order to meet Viacom’s requests, a price increase of $0.02. That is considerably less than the unannounced price increases over the years. It feels very weird to defend a multi-billion dollar conglomerate but the reality is that Viacom is in the right. DirecTV has undercut this company for far too long and is now balking, at the expense of their own customers, when finally asked to pay what is fair.
With no end in sight regarding this matter, I think DirecTV is in the running for Jerk of the Week for the foreseeable future. As long as DirecTV is charging customers for channels no longer received without a semblance of remorse or, better yet, compensation, DirecTV can expect customers to find other providers with which to do business.
Babe of the Week: Hillary Scott
A Very Special Finger Wag of Shame to… the late Joe Paterno
On July 12th, former FBI director Louis Freeh revealed the findings of his investigation into Pen State University’s actions regarding the actions of Jerry Sandusky during the period where Sandusky was an assistant coach for the Nittany Lions football team and child rapist. We all know the sorted details of the Jerry Sandusky case. While associated with Penn State University, Sandusky molested and abused numerous children over at least a 15-year period (1994-2009). Sandusky is currently awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse with a potential 442 years behind bars awaiting him. The Freeh report offered nothing new regarding Sandusky’s actions or the cover-up conducted by Penn State President Graham Spanier, senior vice president Gary Schultz, or Athletic Director Tim Curley. However, the Freeh report finally offered clarity to legendary Penn State head coach Joe Paterno’s role in the case. With this revelation, Joe Paterno is officially on the same level as the scumbags not given the same benefit of a doubt.
In the report, Freeh concluded that Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz were concerned that Sandusky be treated “humanely” without the same concern for the victims. Freeh and his firm found that Schultz, Spanier, Curley and Paterno “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade.” The report concluded that the four “concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities.” In addition, the report said that the four men “exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky’s victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being.” They “empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University’s facilities and affiliation with the University’s prominent football program.” Instead of stopping a child molester from harming innocent victims, these four men all worked to protect the image of Penn Statue University in order to save the university from a public backlash that would affect enrollment at the university and recruitment of future Penn State athletes.
Now that Joe Paterno is officially as despicable as the other men involved in covering up Jerry Sandusky’s heinous actions are, Paterno deserves as much ridicule as Spanier, Schultz, and Curley. Of course, Paterno passed away in January so he escaped the ridicule, right? Wrong. While Joe Pa is no longer here on Earth, his legacy remains and it is now beyond repair. It is only a matter of time before Penn State removes the statue of Paterno in front of Beaver Stadium. The Big Ten Conference removed Paterno’s name from the conference championship trophy. The Maxwell Football Club discontinued the Joseph V. Paterno Award presented to the college football coach of the year. The media and those in power are quickly erasing Joe Paterno from the college football landscape because of his role within this scandal. While I agree with removing his name from prestigious awards and his image from the campus of Penn State’s most prolific spots, I disagree with the notion floating around of removing Joe Paterno completely from the record books. Joe Paterno did a lot of bad things in covering up this crime. However, that does not change that fact that Joe Paterno coached Penn State for 46 years and won 409 games. Joe Paterno does NOT deserve the Chris Benoit Treatment from college football. It is fair not to celebrate the man. However, it is completely unfair to ignore and erase his accomplishments.
Joe Paterno receives the Finger Wag of Shame from me for the official confirmation of his role in the Jerry Sandusky case. While his accomplishments should remain for the world to see, Joe Paterno’s image as a good and decent man is dead and gone without only the scars from a pedophile’s crimes and the horrendous cover-up left to remain.
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