A few hours ago I published a story about how Tucker Max attempted to use Sponsored Tweets to gain publicity for his upcoming book. His website implied that he created and published several controversial endorsement tweets that got him banned from using the company’s services. The Internet went wild with the news and a lot of people, including myself,  ran with the story even though it was missing some vital information. Such as the fact that the Tweets on Tucker Max’s site were never approved and published through Sponsored Tweets and he therefore created them via Photoshop.

Not only did those tweets not go live, but there was no way in hell they would have ever made it past Sponsored Tweet’s strict approval process. According to a Sponsored Tweet representative:

“We have several mechanisms in place to catch fraudulent activity before it posts. Most notably for celebrities, the suggested tweet goes to our account team. If it is a viable tweet that aligns with the celebrity, then we forward it to their management team. Once approved by all parties, only then are tweets coordinated through SponsoredTweets.”

What does this mean? Well in my article I said that I think Tucker Max is a douchebag and now more than ever I stand by that statement. But I also have to add that  he’s a brilliant douchebag and I hate him so so much for making me say the word brilliant next to his name. He just tricked the Internet into promoting his own book free of charge.

Let’s break down how he did it:

Step 1 — Create a Sponsored Tweet account and create ridiculously inappropriate tweets designed for celebs to promote.

Step 2 — Get banned for utter ridiculousness before the tweets ever see the light of day.

Step 3 – Discuss being banned from Sponsored Tweets with Forbes Magazine

Step 4 — Follow up Forbes interview with an article on TuckerMax.com with fake tweets

Step 5 — Watch as everyone on the Internet starts blogging and tweeting and sharing the story. For free. Completely for free.

So at the end of the day it doesn’t matter that he got banned from Sponsored Tweets or that his tweets were fake. He got exactly what he wanted: free publicity for his new book. He gamed the Internet, I totally fell for it and I apologize to everyone in the world for contributing to his continued success.

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MOST RECENT UPDATE:  After speaking with SponsoredTweets.com, clearing up their approval process and reflecting on what Tucker Max really did, I’ve written this post explaining how Tucker Max tricked the Internet into promoting his book.

UPDATED: Apparently Tucker Max’s tweets were REJECTED by SponsoredTweets.com before they were even published for ethics violations. In an effort to drum up publicity for his book he created screenshots that looked like real tweets.

Up until just a few minutes ago, I had nothing positive to say about Tucker Max. He’s  misogynistic asshole who’s gotten famous by being a giant dick. However, for the first time ever his douchebaggery did something positive. His Sponsored Tweets book marketing campaign hilariously exposed just how fake celeb’s sponsored tweets really are as well as the lengths they’ll go to make money.

In an effort to do some social media marketing for his upcoming book, Hilarity Ensues, he headed on over to Sponsored Tweets. According to Forbes:  The company offers a surprisingly easy-to-use service “that allows advertisers to pay powerful Twitter users to run promotions for them. The more followers, the more money: Kim Kardashian can run $10,000, Lance Bass is only $133.”

Skipping over the fact that anyone would pay Lance Bass anything to tweet is the fact that you can actually pay for celebrities to say whatever you want them to say. Literally, almost anything you want them to say. Unless of course you’re Tucker Max and you violate their ethics policy and get banned before any celebrity can tweet your endorsement.

In an effort to get publicity for his upcoming book release, Tucker Max attempted to take full advantage of the system. So much advantage in fact that his wildly inappropriate tweets for several celebs got him banned from ever using the service again before any of the tweets were even published.  (Check them all out right here.)

	How Tucker Max Tricked The Internet Into Promoting His Own Book
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	Melanie Brown Continues To Get People Riled Up About A Possible Spice Girls Reunion
	Spencer Pratt Used Lauren Conrad’s Birthday To Drum Up Publicity For Himself

For some reason they weren’t thrilled to see Kim Kardashian tweet: “Someone handed me Tucker Max’s new book. I did what I do with all big black things I get my hands on:  I put it inside my vagina.”

Your options on the the homepage of Sponsored Tweets today include:

Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian,  P.Diddy,  Kris Jenner,  Snooki,  Nick Cannon,  Tyrese,  Jamie Oliver and the most heartbreaking, Michael Ian Black. (I really thought he was better than that.)

Like, really? You’ll hand over control of your Twitter account to a company that lets anyone with a credit card and an approved tweet endorse things for you. Do you have any concept of  pride or dignity? Do you even read your own Twitter feed?

So why are you still reading? Go get your credit card out and go crazy. It’s not everyday you can make Snooki tell everyone to add you on Pinterest.

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After the Patriots lost, Todd Krim tweeted, Sorry @TheConnorCruise maybe next year!!! Seems like playful ribbing, right? Not to uber-sensitive Connor, who sent Todd a furious text. Thankfully, Todd shared that text, and the following correspondence, with the New York Post‘s Page Six:

Connor: That was a gay ass [bleeping] tweet… U don’t say [bleep] like that about my team the second they lose. Low.

Todd: Umm ok… Dude I was [bleeping] joking.

Connor: That was [bleep]ed… Idgaf.

Yes, he used the little-known acronym for “I don’t give a fuck.” Teenage drama is so intense!

What’s bizarre is that after the Patriots’ loss in the Super Bowl, Connor posted this totally reasonable tweet: Ahh this hurts. But the Giants played a better game and my hat is off to them. Better luck next year #Patriots4Life So maybe he’d been having problems with Todd beforehand. Regardless, Todd announced that he’ll no longer be working with Tom Cruise’s son, despite Connor’s (new) publicist-approved apology:

“What I texted was unacceptable. It is not a reflection of who I am and what I feel, and it certainly won’t happen again.”

However, now Todd’s turned the other cheek, and is even scolding others for drumming up more drama. Today he clarified,

Everyone @theconnorcruise apologized to me for his texts which I accept so the matter is closed as far as I’m concerned. Let’s move on!

And when another user mocked Connor for needing “Daddy’s” protection, Todd added,

@JustinABrenner Justin please drop this subject. I’d really appreciate it.

Guess he doesn’t want to dwell on his (totally awesome) bitchslapping of an entitled celebrity kid.

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will be back in uk next month to see my spice girls,can”t wait,missed them all sooooooo much!!!!! girlpower all the way babay!!!

That’s all she would say on the subject, and there’s been no corroboration from the other Spice Girls. Interestingly, most of them are working on clothing lines: Emma Bunton with children’s clothes, Victoria Beckham having stars like Michelle Williams wear her designs, and Geri Halliwell resurrecting her famous Union Jack dress. (Melanie Chisholm is working on her solo career.)

Geri did speak about her career goals recently, but when she mentioned the same Diamond Jubilee, there was nothing charged behind her words: Talking about the iconic Union Jack design, she said, “We have the Olympics [coming up], we have the Diamond Jubilee; we have a lot to feel good about.” When asked about the Spice Girls musical, she said, “The storyline is brilliant, of course fantastic music. Hopefully it will make everyone smile and relive the past.” She predicts it’ll come out at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. If anything, the only hints from Geri were about her own solo album.

So, it could be that Mel B is just trying to get attention by stirring up rumors of a Spice Girls reunion. But let’s put on our optimistic hats and assume that there is some grand performance in the works. If that’s the case, then I agree with E! Online that she’s probably talking about rehearsals; after all, next month is already March, and it’s reasonable that something celebrating the Queen of England would require three months of rehearsal.

Plus, there are two parts to her tweet that have me thinking this could be legit: For one, she says “missed them all soooo much” about the girls. Now, it’s not surprising that the ladies stay in touch over Twitter and in-person; you can find a smattering of photos online of them out and about getting dinner and such. But the tweet seems to refer to something more than just seeing the girls, i.e., actually working together again.

Furthermore, Mel ends the tweet with “girlpower all the way!”—why invoke the group’s catchphrase/mantra if you’re just talking about the good old days?

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He tweeted out a seemingly positive message to LC, though he quickly had to explain himself since his and her fans probably called bullshit immediately:

@LaurenConrad Happy Birthday! Thanks for helping me find my miracle wife @heidimontag !

My birthday wish for @LaurenConrad is for her to find true love like #Speidi

I wasn’t being sarcastic! I really do wish the best for @LaurenConrad on her birthday! #forgiveandforget

Mentioning the friend that Lauren lost because she chose him over her, and trying to get “Speidi” trending again even though it’s a horrid piece of pop culture slang we’d rather forget? Yeah, not helping Spencer’s case.

Ultimately, Lauren ignored Spencer’s attempts at reconciliation since she has a job as a style guru and seems to be doing pretty damn well without the crutch of reality television. Instead, she posted photos like this one of her wearing a birthday hat and trying to open a Hello Kitty champagne bottle, and joked that no one had wished her a happy Groundhog Day.

But according to a friend, Lauren really just didn’t take her former on-screen enemy seriously because Twitter isn’t the place for genuine apologies. “Lauren loves using Twitter to interact with her fans and promote her brands,” the source said, “but obviously she doesn’t think it’s an effective way to apologize or try to mend bridges… In this case, like others, she’s going to continue to do what works best with Spencer and that’s obviously to ignore him.”

Heidi Montag must be in on the reconciliation idea, too: They sent some flowers off to former co-star Kristin Cavallari, who’s pregnant with her first child. “Heidi and Spencer actually sent me flowers, which was really sweet,” she recently told Us. The way they left things on The Hills, Spencer got kicked off after threatening the producers, and Heidi was convinced that Kristin was doing drugs. But apparently bygones are bygones for Kristin; maybe it’s the baby that has her so forgiving.

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Awkward family photos. Look @billyraycyrus always giving face! she wrote, referencing her dad Billy Ray Cyrus‘ feathered hair and sexyface from the days when his single “Achy Breaky Heart” dominated the airwaves and no one knew the name Hannah Montana.

Miley herself was born in 1992 when “Achy Breaky Heart” was first released, so we’re assuming that she’s the smallest gal in this photo (on the right, near mom Tish). I can’t tell for sure, but I think that means the two boys on the left are her older half-brothers Christopher Cody and Trace; and the girl holding Miley is her older half-sister Brandi. Miley was the first child of Billy Ray and Tish, with younger siblings Braison and Noah being born over the next few years.

It’s sweet that Miley can reminisce on memories like this with her family. In late 2010, it seemed as if her parents were going to split up after 17 years of marriage, but about a year ago, in March 2011, they called off the divorce. It seems as if the Cyrus clan has been happy ever since.

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Remember when Mario Lopez was the coolest cat in town. No one could sit backward on a chair quite like Slater could. Sure he was a misogynist pig, but it was the ’90s and the only thing that really mattered was who got to deliver Mrs. Belding’s baby in the elevator. Then Saved by the Bell ended and Mario Lopez resurfaced as America’ most generic TV host. Forget his macho swagger and his neon sleeveless tanks, he was all boring and all grown-up.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still yearn for the days of yesteryear. When people looked at him and thought, “wow, Mario Lopez is totally tubular man!” (If I recall correctly, that’s how they spoke in the ’90s.) In fact, I think we have pretty good proof that he wishes he was still Slater.

Meet Julio César Chávez Lopez, his foul-mouthed Twitter-savvy dog.

While Mario has to tweet things like:

@JulioCCLopez gets to tweet things like this:

It’s like he gets to live in the best of both worlds: advertiser-friendly reality TV show host world and 15-year-old teenage boy forever world.

[Photo via Petsugar]

Post from: Crushable

I guess Kim Kardashian’s mother never taught her not to spread rumors, especially when over twelve million people are listening in. Last night Kim shared her concern over the possible demise of Cher on Twitter, tweeting, “Did I just hear Cher has passed away? Is this real? OMG.”

For future reference, if a celebrity as big as Cher has really died the news will be on a gossip site within an hour of anyone outside their family finding out, so if the news had reached Kim through a source other than one of Cher’s kids, she probably should have waited for the news to break online before she alerted her legion of followers.

The rumors of Cher’s death continued to spread, but eventually Kim realized they were completely false and informed the Twitterverse saying, “Can’t believe people would make up a sick joke like Cher died. These people need to get a life! Thanks twitter for clearing that up!” Yes, Cher’s publicist has confirmed she is still alive, and hopefully will take the opportunity so few have to use Mark Twain’s famous line,” The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

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Post from: Crushable

Now, this was not solely Fiddy’s idea. It actually came from a Twitter follower named @MyBestAssets, who challenged him: Lets bet. If the Giants lose the Superbowl, u must post ur d*ck on the twitter. If they win, I’ll post my boobs & face. Bet? When he responded yes, she wrote, Ok It’s a bet. See your d*ck on twitter Feb 5. Lol

The best part of this is, 50 already won a football-related bet: He got $500,000 in the NFC Championship game! But we’ve learned something new about this strange rap star. Apparently he’s always game for a challenge, especially if you have a nice rack to put forward as collateral.

And yes, that’s Fiddy resting his weary neck on his piles of cash from the bet he already won.

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Update: Demi’s reps have released several more statements to various outlets, including Perez Hilton, saying, “The story was fabricated. It is completely untrue.” Furthermore, BlindGossip added this update after speaking with Demi’s team:

Demi Lovato’s PR team has asked BG to let its readers know that, as of today, 1/25/2012, Demi Lovato is not a resident at an in-patient treatment center. They will not confirm her sobriety and will not be releasing any statements about her sobriety or her personal health. Demi will be publicly seen and photographed out in Los Angeles later today when she goes to a medical appointment.

We’ve updated our post to reflect these changes and Demi’s current situation. I’d like to point out, however, that the most interesting part of the story was not whether Demi was back in rehab, but the idea of a gossip site directly addressing the stars it’s writing about. I’ll be curious to see if more sites pick up that method in the future.

Now Demi Lovato quitting Twitter doesn’t seem so sudden: BlindGossip reports that the troubled Disney starlet has checked into Passages, a treatment center in Malibu, to get help for alcohol abuse and cocaine. But the most interesting facet of the story is that BlindGossip, a site that primarily publishes blind items about Hollywood stars, claims that they helped to get Demi back in rehab.

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One of their blind items, published on January 19, took the unexpected tack of directly addressing the drug-addled starlet in question. After running through the relevant details about the actress spouting a sober message while doing coke at parties, BlindGossip wrote:

Let’s cut to the chase, and get more direct: Look, we know that you and your friends are reading this. It is absolute madness for you to think that this will end well. You are a beautiful and talented girl, but you ARE going to lose your fans and your career and probably your life if you keep this up.

Remember how upset one of your siblings was when someone picked on them? Do you realize how much more emotionally destroyed they would be if you actually died? You should think about that, because that is exactly where you are heading right now. We don’t care if you lie to people about what your problems are. We don’t care if you pretend that you are going on vacation. Just get yourself back into rehab (or treatment, if it makes you feel better to call it that), and get well. Now.

As they explained, they knew that Demi and her friends read BlindGossip religiously, so they figured that the best move was to call her out. And it worked: Demi was allegedly furious about them pulling her sister into it — see below — but it also got her friends to forward the blind item on to her parents/management.

Readers first started to catch on that it was Demi because of photos that surfaced the week prior of her and friends partying at Beachers Madhouse. Then there’s the sibling angle. Fans pointed out young actress Madison de la Garza, Demi’s half-sister through their mom. Madison plays one of Gabrielle Solis’ (Eva Longoria) overweight children on Desperate Housewives; in real life, she’s been bullied for her weight. She’s also appeared on two of Demi’s projects: Princess Protection Program and playing young Demi on Sonny with a Chance.

However, it should be noted that Demi’s rep has apparently denied the entire story, according to GossipCop. But we’re not sure if we can entirely believe the rep, since the statement is startlingly casual for a celebrity story: “It is a crock of shit.” That’s the kind of thing we’d expect from Demi’s Twitter… if she were still tweeting.

Update: Demi did her first interview since this fiasco, with MuchMusic… but she doesn’t address the rumors here, nor that never-ending cocaine allegation. What gives?

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Post from: Crushable