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American Morning

90-Second Pop, Culture Watch

Aired September 29, 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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's "90-Second Pop" time, a lightening-fast look at the world of pop culture. Our experts give us 90 seconds each on three hot topics.
With us this morning, B.J. Sigesmund, staff writer for "US Weekly," Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and Andy Borowitz, humorist and columnist with "The New Yorker."

Thanks, guys, for being here. We're going to be quick today, all right?

Ben and Jen on, off, is Jen heartbroken, is there a wedding? What is going on, B.J.?

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": So, let's just say, well, last week there were a lot of reports, as you saw, about them getting back together maybe and thinking about it. You know, they applied for a license for a gun together. They bought a pickup truck together.

COLLINS: Oh, isn't that sweet?

SIGESMUND: And yesterday, there was speculation in one of the papers about a possible wedding that was going to take place in Carmel, California yesterday. But we have not seen that confirmed yet.

The thing is, from the very start, from the day they met on the set of "Gigli," there has been a lot of...

COLLINS: Which is a whole other story.

SIGESMUND: Well, exactly. People have been wondering what was real and what was not real about this relationship from the very start. And that is what continues to drive all the speculation around this couple.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: But are we driving now, or is the train just sort of sputtering into the station? I mean, it had such an energy before, and now it's like, who cares? No matter what happens from here, everybody's a loser. We're a loser for talking about it.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: So, let's stop. Should we move on?

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: All right, let's move on. TOURE: No, no, no.

BOROWITZ: And I would just say my spies tell me that in the week they were apart, J. Lo had a couple marriages that didn't work out.

COLLINS: Oh, no!

BOROWITZ: So, she's eager to get back.

COLLINS: Really?

SIGESMUND: They're saying they're tired of Ben and Jen. But then any time there's another turn of a screw...

COLLINS: You're right.

SIGESMUND: ... people want to know the next details.

COLLINS: You're right. OK, well, let's talk about another couple. Toure, help us out with this one. Speaking of living happily ever after, we have Jessica Simpson, right? And...

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Well, we don't know if they're going to live happily ever after.

COLLINS: This is true, after that show...

TOURE: The office pool around the nation is: When will they break up? How long will he put up with all of this.

COLLINS: Nick Lachey, we're talking about.

TOURE: I mean, at my house, Jessica Simpson is a term for being dense. So, it's like, oh, honey, that's so Jessica Simpson.

SIGESMUND: It's like senior moments.

TOURE: Exactly.

COLLINS: Because, you know what?

TOURE: For juniors.

COLLINS: I've got to ask, you know, after watching this, I will admit maybe 15 minutes or so, now that it's out, you know, is this going to help them or hurt them?

TOURE: I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I don't think sitting on the couch and going, honey, look at how dumb she is this week, makes you want to go and buy the records.

BOROWITZ: They're apparently happy with it, because I heard that they agreed to let MTV actually cover their first son's bar mitzvah, which I think is great. Who knew? SIGESMUND: In all seriousness, though, this is making them bigger celebrities.

TOURE: But if you don't like them...

SIGESMUND: She now has an album in the top 10.

TOURE: But if you don't like them, then this doesn't help.

SIGESMUND: People love to hate celebrities.

BOROWITZ: She has that tuna fish and (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TOURE: I know. But they you to pay $15 to go and listen to them all of the time. Like, if you're not willing to do that, then I don't know. I'm wondering if at the end, they're going to go, perhaps we shouldn't have done that.

COLLINS: Right, and maybe there will be a little bit too much exposure, like we've seen of Ben and Jen.

TOURE: Yes.

COLLINS: We'll have to see.

Andy, let's talk box office here a little bit. The Rock's new movie, a little bit of a surprise, 18.5 million...

BOROWITZ: The Rock, you know -- 18.5.

COLLINS: ... we've got to say, called "The Rundown."

BOROWITZ: "The Rundown," you know, I did some homework on this. The Rock's new movie, if this is true, it's the biggest opening for a fall release starring an actor named after an inanimate object.

COLLINS: How about that!

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: But I love the Rock. I mean, you know, last week and all the guys had to suffer through that "Tuscan Sun" thing with Diane Lane. It's payback time. It's payback time. We all went to see the Rock.

SIGESMUND: That movie is actually doing better, though, per theater than the Rock's movie. "Under the Tuscan Sun" I think is surprising a lot of people and doing decently.

BOROWITZ: Well, if your girlfriend makes you see that, if you're in a multi-plex, it's great if you can be in the theater next to the Rock, because then you can hear the Rock's movie through the wall, which is a good thing.

COLLINS: Man. All right, guys, you did it. Hey, we were quick this morning. Thanks so much for being with us. BOROWITZ: And so informative.

COLLINS: Yes, and so informative. B.J. Sigesmund, Toure and Andy Borowitz, thanks, again, guys.

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 September 29, 2003 - 07:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's "90-Second Pop" time, a lightening-fast look at the world of pop culture. Our experts give us 90 seconds each on three hot topics.
With us this morning, B.J. Sigesmund, staff writer for "US Weekly," Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and Andy Borowitz, humorist and columnist with "The New Yorker."

Thanks, guys, for being here. We're going to be quick today, all right?

Ben and Jen on, off, is Jen heartbroken, is there a wedding? What is going on, B.J.?

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": So, let's just say, well, last week there were a lot of reports, as you saw, about them getting back together maybe and thinking about it. You know, they applied for a license for a gun together. They bought a pickup truck together.

COLLINS: Oh, isn't that sweet?

SIGESMUND: And yesterday, there was speculation in one of the papers about a possible wedding that was going to take place in Carmel, California yesterday. But we have not seen that confirmed yet.

The thing is, from the very start, from the day they met on the set of "Gigli," there has been a lot of...

COLLINS: Which is a whole other story.

SIGESMUND: Well, exactly. People have been wondering what was real and what was not real about this relationship from the very start. And that is what continues to drive all the speculation around this couple.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: But are we driving now, or is the train just sort of sputtering into the station? I mean, it had such an energy before, and now it's like, who cares? No matter what happens from here, everybody's a loser. We're a loser for talking about it.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: So, let's stop. Should we move on?

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: All right, let's move on. TOURE: No, no, no.

BOROWITZ: And I would just say my spies tell me that in the week they were apart, J. Lo had a couple marriages that didn't work out.

COLLINS: Oh, no!

BOROWITZ: So, she's eager to get back.

COLLINS: Really?

SIGESMUND: They're saying they're tired of Ben and Jen. But then any time there's another turn of a screw...

COLLINS: You're right.

SIGESMUND: ... people want to know the next details.

COLLINS: You're right. OK, well, let's talk about another couple. Toure, help us out with this one. Speaking of living happily ever after, we have Jessica Simpson, right? And...

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Well, we don't know if they're going to live happily ever after.

COLLINS: This is true, after that show...

TOURE: The office pool around the nation is: When will they break up? How long will he put up with all of this.

COLLINS: Nick Lachey, we're talking about.

TOURE: I mean, at my house, Jessica Simpson is a term for being dense. So, it's like, oh, honey, that's so Jessica Simpson.

SIGESMUND: It's like senior moments.

TOURE: Exactly.

COLLINS: Because, you know what?

TOURE: For juniors.

COLLINS: I've got to ask, you know, after watching this, I will admit maybe 15 minutes or so, now that it's out, you know, is this going to help them or hurt them?

TOURE: I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I don't think sitting on the couch and going, honey, look at how dumb she is this week, makes you want to go and buy the records.

BOROWITZ: They're apparently happy with it, because I heard that they agreed to let MTV actually cover their first son's bar mitzvah, which I think is great. Who knew? SIGESMUND: In all seriousness, though, this is making them bigger celebrities.

TOURE: But if you don't like them...

SIGESMUND: She now has an album in the top 10.

TOURE: But if you don't like them, then this doesn't help.

SIGESMUND: People love to hate celebrities.

BOROWITZ: She has that tuna fish and (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TOURE: I know. But they you to pay $15 to go and listen to them all of the time. Like, if you're not willing to do that, then I don't know. I'm wondering if at the end, they're going to go, perhaps we shouldn't have done that.

COLLINS: Right, and maybe there will be a little bit too much exposure, like we've seen of Ben and Jen.

TOURE: Yes.

COLLINS: We'll have to see.

Andy, let's talk box office here a little bit. The Rock's new movie, a little bit of a surprise, 18.5 million...

BOROWITZ: The Rock, you know -- 18.5.

COLLINS: ... we've got to say, called "The Rundown."

BOROWITZ: "The Rundown," you know, I did some homework on this. The Rock's new movie, if this is true, it's the biggest opening for a fall release starring an actor named after an inanimate object.

COLLINS: How about that!

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: But I love the Rock. I mean, you know, last week and all the guys had to suffer through that "Tuscan Sun" thing with Diane Lane. It's payback time. It's payback time. We all went to see the Rock.

SIGESMUND: That movie is actually doing better, though, per theater than the Rock's movie. "Under the Tuscan Sun" I think is surprising a lot of people and doing decently.

BOROWITZ: Well, if your girlfriend makes you see that, if you're in a multi-plex, it's great if you can be in the theater next to the Rock, because then you can hear the Rock's movie through the wall, which is a good thing.

COLLINS: Man. All right, guys, you did it. Hey, we were quick this morning. Thanks so much for being with us. BOROWITZ: And so informative.

COLLINS: Yes, and so informative. B.J. Sigesmund, Toure and Andy Borowitz, thanks, again, guys.

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