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American Morning

90-Second Pop, Culture Watch

Aired July 09, 2003 - 07:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Dusty Baker's comments are among the topics in our "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at the world of popular culture on speed dial this morning.
B.J. Sigusmund -- sorry about that, B.J. -- entertainment reporter for "Newsweek," Scott Brown comes to us from "Entertainment Weekly," and Toure, he's is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."

Good morning to all of you.

And, B.J., you know, I'm going to throw this to you. I don't know why, just deciding to. Let's talk about Dusty Baker, and I know every bone in your body is saying, "No, I don't want to talk about this!" But...

B.J. SIGUSMUND, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER "NEWSWEEK": I can talk about it.

O'BRIEN: Do you think he just shouldn't have said it?

SIGUSMUND: Yes, it's clear he shouldn't have said it, and with everything that's been written, people have understood that there was nothing malicious about it, though. And what I think this proves is that in today's politically correct culture with racial politics being what they are, you just have to watch everything you say and be prepared to stand on -- you know, stand up and face the consequences if you say something wrong.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR "ROLLING STONE": I mean, this is sort of like black empirical knowledge that black people sort of talk about among themselves. It's meant for the kitchen table. It's not meant for company, you know. It's not untrue, but it's not something that you want to have to defend against scientific evidence, because you're not going to be able to. But this is the sort of thing that we know and we talk about.

SIGUSMUND: I think...

SCOTT BROWN, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Here is a guy -- you know, here is a guy who -- you know, President Bush, he's over in Africa right now. He's talking about what an evil slavery was. And, you know, here is a guy who was bold enough to find a silver lining. You know what I mean? Because, you know, what would baseball be, you know, without slavery if it weren't, you know, just a bunch of white guys playing night games?

O'BRIEN: Well, Scott, since we have you up here, let's talk a little bit about the current issue of "Entertainment Weekly," and you say that Ashton Kutcher punked the world. And translate for me into English exactly what "punked" means.

BROWN: What punking is?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BROWN: Well, punk, I suppose in summation, is to pull a prank on somebody.

O'BRIEN: So, are you saying that this whole Ashton-Demi thing might actually not be true love but some sort of fabricated relationship...

TOURE: No, no, no.

BROWN: No, no, no, I...

O'BRIEN: ... brought to you by publicists? Is that what you're saying?

BROWN: I know it's difficult to believe.

TOURE: No way!

O'BRIEN: I'm shocked.

SIGUSMUND: You know, I did a story on Demi's comeback for "Newsweek," and one of the top publicists in all of showbiz said, "B.J., there are no such things as coincidences in this business. This is what we do."

O'BRIEN: Are you surprised that people fell for it then, if you're saying it's all a prank?

BROWN: Well, no, not at all actually. I mean, actually, you know -- and by saying it's a prank, I'm really saying it's a prank. I'm just saying that, you know, I think we all think that this guy, here his whole bread and butter is playing pranks on people, and, you know, this would be the grandest prank in the history of pranks.

TOURE: Just as long as you don't demystify Penelope and Tom. I still believe in them. It's a beautiful thing.

BROWN: I would never take that away from them.

TOURE: All right, thank you.

O'BRIEN: I want to take one moment to talk about a show that I love, because we have been talking about TV shows that we love, "Top Model". And last night was the finale of...

TOURE: You love that show?

O'BRIEN: I love Tyra Banks, and I love that show. I want to read you a quote from Tyra. She said... TOURE: Who are you rooting for?

O'BRIEN: All of them. And I love the cat fights, too. "One thing about intelligence" -- this comes from the hostess, Tyra Banks -- "is that it can intimidate people." And I just want to say, Tyra, girl, you're reading my mind. Why do you love that show?

TOURE: It's a big problem for her.

BROWN: That is a smart girl. That's the first thing they did.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Hey, but you know what? She is running this show. She is doing very well. I don't know...

(CROSSTALK)

SIGUSMUND: Well, you know what? She was kicked out in the finale last night. She made it to the top three. But I think it was not her intelligence that got her kicked out, really. It was just she showed off a little bit. She spoke to the judges about fashion. She intellectualized beauty. And Janice Dickinson, one of the judges, went like this, woo, like, it's all going over my head, I have no idea. And shortly thereafter, that girl was cut.

BROWN: Yes, but she's a model, you know. She's supposed to show off, you know? And so, she's showing off her brain. So what? I don't know. I've got to defend her.

TOURE: What was that weird...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, you know what? We are out of time, so we're just going to chitchat about this off camera.

SIGUSMUND: OK.

O'BRIEN: I think you guys loved the show, too. I know. All right, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

TOURE: Thanks, Soledad.

SIGUSMUND: Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired July 9, 2003 - 07:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Dusty Baker's comments are among the topics in our "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at the world of popular culture on speed dial this morning.
B.J. Sigusmund -- sorry about that, B.J. -- entertainment reporter for "Newsweek," Scott Brown comes to us from "Entertainment Weekly," and Toure, he's is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."

Good morning to all of you.

And, B.J., you know, I'm going to throw this to you. I don't know why, just deciding to. Let's talk about Dusty Baker, and I know every bone in your body is saying, "No, I don't want to talk about this!" But...

B.J. SIGUSMUND, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER "NEWSWEEK": I can talk about it.

O'BRIEN: Do you think he just shouldn't have said it?

SIGUSMUND: Yes, it's clear he shouldn't have said it, and with everything that's been written, people have understood that there was nothing malicious about it, though. And what I think this proves is that in today's politically correct culture with racial politics being what they are, you just have to watch everything you say and be prepared to stand on -- you know, stand up and face the consequences if you say something wrong.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR "ROLLING STONE": I mean, this is sort of like black empirical knowledge that black people sort of talk about among themselves. It's meant for the kitchen table. It's not meant for company, you know. It's not untrue, but it's not something that you want to have to defend against scientific evidence, because you're not going to be able to. But this is the sort of thing that we know and we talk about.

SIGUSMUND: I think...

SCOTT BROWN, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Here is a guy -- you know, here is a guy who -- you know, President Bush, he's over in Africa right now. He's talking about what an evil slavery was. And, you know, here is a guy who was bold enough to find a silver lining. You know what I mean? Because, you know, what would baseball be, you know, without slavery if it weren't, you know, just a bunch of white guys playing night games?

O'BRIEN: Well, Scott, since we have you up here, let's talk a little bit about the current issue of "Entertainment Weekly," and you say that Ashton Kutcher punked the world. And translate for me into English exactly what "punked" means.

BROWN: What punking is?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BROWN: Well, punk, I suppose in summation, is to pull a prank on somebody.

O'BRIEN: So, are you saying that this whole Ashton-Demi thing might actually not be true love but some sort of fabricated relationship...

TOURE: No, no, no.

BROWN: No, no, no, I...

O'BRIEN: ... brought to you by publicists? Is that what you're saying?

BROWN: I know it's difficult to believe.

TOURE: No way!

O'BRIEN: I'm shocked.

SIGUSMUND: You know, I did a story on Demi's comeback for "Newsweek," and one of the top publicists in all of showbiz said, "B.J., there are no such things as coincidences in this business. This is what we do."

O'BRIEN: Are you surprised that people fell for it then, if you're saying it's all a prank?

BROWN: Well, no, not at all actually. I mean, actually, you know -- and by saying it's a prank, I'm really saying it's a prank. I'm just saying that, you know, I think we all think that this guy, here his whole bread and butter is playing pranks on people, and, you know, this would be the grandest prank in the history of pranks.

TOURE: Just as long as you don't demystify Penelope and Tom. I still believe in them. It's a beautiful thing.

BROWN: I would never take that away from them.

TOURE: All right, thank you.

O'BRIEN: I want to take one moment to talk about a show that I love, because we have been talking about TV shows that we love, "Top Model". And last night was the finale of...

TOURE: You love that show?

O'BRIEN: I love Tyra Banks, and I love that show. I want to read you a quote from Tyra. She said... TOURE: Who are you rooting for?

O'BRIEN: All of them. And I love the cat fights, too. "One thing about intelligence" -- this comes from the hostess, Tyra Banks -- "is that it can intimidate people." And I just want to say, Tyra, girl, you're reading my mind. Why do you love that show?

TOURE: It's a big problem for her.

BROWN: That is a smart girl. That's the first thing they did.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Hey, but you know what? She is running this show. She is doing very well. I don't know...

(CROSSTALK)

SIGUSMUND: Well, you know what? She was kicked out in the finale last night. She made it to the top three. But I think it was not her intelligence that got her kicked out, really. It was just she showed off a little bit. She spoke to the judges about fashion. She intellectualized beauty. And Janice Dickinson, one of the judges, went like this, woo, like, it's all going over my head, I have no idea. And shortly thereafter, that girl was cut.

BROWN: Yes, but she's a model, you know. She's supposed to show off, you know? And so, she's showing off her brain. So what? I don't know. I've got to defend her.

TOURE: What was that weird...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, you know what? We are out of time, so we're just going to chitchat about this off camera.

SIGUSMUND: OK.

O'BRIEN: I think you guys loved the show, too. I know. All right, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

TOURE: Thanks, Soledad.

SIGUSMUND: Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.