Where's Jerry? Read the MDA press release

WORLD’S TOP TELETHON EMBRACES SHORTER FORMAT
TO INCREASE AUDIENCE AND INCOME

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 6, 2010 – The Muscular Dystrophy Association today announced an important change to its perennial Labor Day Telethon, which for 45 years has galvanized tremendous public support for MDA’s lifesaving mission. The Association will shave more than 15 hours off its previous 21½-hour Telethon format. The move is central to a strategy to increase audience for and income from its 2011 Labor Day telecast. The 2010 Telethon raised $58.9 million.

“Ever since pioneering the Telethon as a fundraising, education and sponsor-recognition program, MDA has enjoyed unparalleled support from television and cable stations across America,” said Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA president & CEO and Telethon executive producer. “Our ‘Love Network’ of some 170 stations annually helps us reach an audience of some 40 million Americans. The stations’ efforts, and those of our national, regional and local sponsors, have been truly outstanding.

“What we’re doing now has amazing potential,” Weinberg added. “The shorter format means every hour of our show will be in the extended prime-time window of 6 p.m. to midnight in every time zone. This means our live, or tape-delayed Sunday broadcast with live local segments, will be even more attractive to stations that otherwise primarily would be running repeats from last season. The talent we’ll be attracting will be even bigger, since every moment of our prime-time show will have a tremendous audience.”

With its unrivaled Telethon track record, the Association could very well experience a net gain in total markets reached by its venerable show in 2011. There are more than 1,200 television stations serving communities across America, and it should be much easier for stations to clear six broadcast hours for proven live programming, than it has been to clear nearly two days of programming for the Telethon.

Weinberg explained, “The combination of buzz surrounding the new MDA Labor Day Telethon, and the tremendous good will that stations, on-air personalities and sponsors have consistently enjoyed by partnering with MDA, are a powerful combination. That’s why we’re so optimistic about the new show’s ability to increase audience reached and income in 2011.”

“There’s nothing like our Telethon,” noted Lee Miller, longtime Telethon producer. “In 2010, some 65 top acts performed, including some amazing production numbers by Tyce Diorio of “So You Think You Can Dance” as well as top Broadway and Las Vegas show segments. Our 2011 prime-time focus should make it easier to fill every moment of the show with the best headline entertainment.”

Rich MDA Telethon History

Over the years, countless megastars have appeared on the Telethon to help families affected by muscular dystrophy. And the surprise Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis reunion organized by Frank Sinatra still is one of the 10 best television moments of all time.

The who’s who of historical MDA Telethon appearances by contemporary stars includes: Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Adam Sandler, Nigel Lythgoe, Nancy O’Dell, Donald Trump, Neil Patrick Harris, Larry King, Jimmy Fallon, William Shatner, Alison Sweeney, Wayne Brady, Drew Carey, Regis Philbin, Dr. Phil, Howie Mandel, Jason Alexander, Jann Carl, Woody Harrelson, Billy Crystal, Alan Alda, Tom Arnold, Terry Fator, Carrot Top, Martha Stewart, Bill Cosby and Don Francisco of “Sabado Gigante.”

Consider contemporary musical acts, too, and it’s easy to see why the MDA Telethon is so much a part of Americana. The Telethon audience has enjoyed Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Clint Black, Cher, David Archuleta, John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting, Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Train, Aretha Franklin, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Elton John, Wynnona Judd, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Paul McCartney, Mindy McCready, John Mellencamp, Reba McEntire, Carlos Santana, LeAnn Rimes, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton, Sugarland, Spice Girls, Stevie Wonder, Donny and Marie Osmond, Clay Aiken, Chicago, KISS, Jon Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Ray Cyrus, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers and the Rolling Stones. Even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, performed on the MDA Telethon.

About MDA

The Muscular Dystrophy Association pioneered cause-related marketing decades ago, and annually orchestrates thousands of special events in communities across America with the help of outstanding local, multiregional and national sponsors. The first organization with a national Telethon, MDA also is the first nonprofit to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association (“for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity”).

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.

Steve Friess snitches and turns in his uncle

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY SCREENGRAB

Remember Steve Friess?

He's the Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author, concert promoter and comp queen whom we first encountered a little over a year ago when we emailed him to ask why his colleagues were not investigating the recent, mysterious death of local superstar Danny Gans and he responded by going on line and attacking us in a public obscene rant. In the months to follow, he led a campaign to stop our investigation, helped spread disinformation about Gans' death, called us "homophobes" for criticizing him (all the while running a photo on his blogsite showing him lifting former Hefner girl Holly Madison in an over-the-threshold pose while in his second unofficial marriage to a man-- a producer at the local NBC affiliate), attempted to have our site shut down after we posted his photo (we were forced to use approximations), wrote that Michael Jackson's death was the best thing to happen to his music and then, while covering the investigation into Jacko's death for the New York Times, capitalized on the demise by promoting a "tribute" concert to his music-- all the while acting as a mouthpiece for casino mogul and Danny Gans employer Steve Wynn and reviewing musical acts despite a severe hearing impairment-- a morass of conflicts of interest that led him to represent all that was wrong with the lazy, corrupt media of Sin City and led us to name him Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year.


Now, the go-to guy for national media looking for Vegas stories who decides what Vegas events are national news and what are not (see Danny Gans) and uses his column in the Las Vegas Weekly to explain away his transgressions and conflicts, writes this week that he crossed the line again when he helped US Marshals arrest a family member "who could easily pass as my 25-years-older twin brother" and who was on the run to avoid a court plea and sentencing in an Internet kiddie porn case.

Read all about it. You be the judge.

UPDATE!!!


4 pm: Steve Friess reads Tabloid Baby! It appears that he posted a comment on our story-- then changed his mind and deleted it. Please, Steve, have your say! We know you're not shy. Your fellow Tabloid Baby fans want to hear from you!

(And we're not editorializing in referring to Friess as a "snitch." That's the word they use on the Las Vegas Weekly cover.)

Corey Haim and Danny Gans

The autopsy and toxicological test results on Corey Haim are not yet in, but already the death of the former child star is being attributed to prescription drugs and mentioned in the same breath as that of the Las Vegas Strip superstar Danny Gans.

California's Attorney General Jerry Brown has linked Haim to an "illegal and massive prescription-drug ring" and says his office is investigating "an unauthorized prescription under the former child star's name that was found during an ongoing investigation of fraudulent prescription-drug pads ordered from a vendor in San Diego."


Brown said: "Corey Haim's death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription-drug abuse. This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription-drug ring under investigation."

Haim, of course, is only the latest celebrity prescription drug-related death in the time since last May 1st, when Gans died suddenly at the age of 52 due to an overdose of Dilaudid. Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy's prescription-related demises contributed to Brown's interest in the prescription racket. Those deaths, however, were scrutinized and investigated by a responsible media as well as law enforcement officials.


The death of the Born Again family man Danny Gans has gone unexamined by a beholden news media in Las Vegas, where, according to local news nabob and New York Times stringer Steve Friess, "when left to our own devices, we do things a little differently."

It has been reported that Gans did not have a prescription for the drug that led to his death, and that he was an owner of a pharmacy supply house. There has been no investigation into either aspect of his life or death, and one would suspect that an honest investigation and accounting into the details of the pain and struggles of Gans' life and circumstances of his death would set him apart from the show business losers and freaks to whom timing and similarity have linked him so unfortunately.

Joey Voices is another next Danny Gans

In shying away from investigating the life and death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans, members news media, both local and national, hide behind the argument that "no one outside of Las Vegas ever heard of him."

If that is indeed the case, why then are so many aspiring entertainers in so many different parts of the country inspired by Danny Gans' work or aspiring to take his place in the show business pantheon?

In the months since Danny Gans' tragic death on May 1st, we've shined the spotlight on musical impressionists like Rick A. Ludwig and Larry G Jones, Paul Tanner and Frank Caliendo, all of whom cite Danny Gans as The Man they can only try to equal. Now we can add to that list the name of Joey Voices of Malden, Massachusetts.


Like Danny Gans, Joey Voices (aka Joey Noone) is a corporate entertainer and a man of many voices, from Joe Cocker to Michael McDonald to Cher to Dave Matthews to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson. Not only that, he is a self-described "Proud, Baptized, Born Again Believer in Jesus Christ"- and, as it turns out, was inspired by Danny Gans to follow his dream.

Joe Viglione found out when he interviewed Mr. Voices in The Malden Observer:

Malden Observer: How long have you lived in Malden?

Joey Voices: 37 years

MO: When did you start your career as “Joey Voices?”

JV: I started Joey Voices back in 2001 and for two years pieced together the show that I wanted to take on the road across America for corporate and private events. I got my first big corporate show in January of 2005 with Aflac in Indiana, and it was a great experience for me.

MO: What was the inspiration for this endeavor?

JV: I would do impressions of singers at my friend/neighbor/dentist’s office (Dr. Mark Gianatassio in Melrose) for his patients, and he told me I reminded him of Danny Gans out in Las Vegas. I had never heard of Gans before Mark mentioned his name. So I went out and saw him perform, and knew instantly that I could do that. So I put my own act together and continue to build on it.

Find more about Joey Voices at JoeyVoices.com.

Charge against Michael Jackson's doctor leads MSNBC to invoke cases of "Heath & Anna Nicole & Danny Gans"

The death of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans by overdose of a powerful opiate called hydromorphone at the prime of his life and career raised few, if any red flags among the members of the Las Vegas news media. The mysterious and untimely passing of the injury-riddled Born Again Christian athlete, corporate entertainment favorite and longtime Steve Wynn showpiece in the middle of the night, and all the strange occurrences before and after his tragic last breath rated little more than cursory coverage and police report transcribing, and the acceptance of one of Danny Gans' doctor's claims that the star may have died from the ingestion of a single hydromorphone (also known as Dilaudid or "drugstore heroin") pill left over from an unused five-year-old prescription.

The willful and shameful avoidance of the Gans story and all its many avenues, including Gans' ownership of a pharmacy supply house, was made more obvious when compared to the national media's vigilant and responsible coverage of the death of entertainer Michael Jackson.


Now, the manslaughter charge lodged yesterday against Conrad Murray, the doctor who allegedly administered the fatal dose of drugs that Jackson ordered up, has again brought the Gans case into the national spotlight.

An item on the MSNBC.com website titled Murray's case up stakes in world of celeb drugs notes that

"...the state of California, weary of growing number of celebrity prescription drug deaths, is seeking some control over a festering doctor-patient dynamic that has taken bold-faced names from Heath Ledger to Anna Nicole Smith to Danny Gans."

While those among the Las Vegas news media would claim that Gans is an unimportant figure, known to few outside the market, others know better. In this case, the musical impressionist is mentioned in the same sentence as two legends, in a story about a fellow legend. Of the four cases, his is the only one that was closed along with all its mysteries left hanging. Yet, according to the MSNBC report, Gans' death, coming weeks before Jackson's, may have been a factor in the decision to prosecute in the Murray case-- "to put a dent into Hollywood's pill pipeline."

Danny Gans' tragedy may, in the end, help future celebrities. But most important: Will there ever be justice for Danny Gans?

Surely, some of the curiosity will spread. After all, they cared about Farrah's hair...

Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year

Steve Friess

We had our first encounter with Steve Friess a week after the death of Danny Gans. He'd written a column in the Las Vegas Weekly explaining why the sudden, mysterious passing of the Strip superstar was not a story worth covering. We emailed him to ask why he and his fellow Vegas journos were not doing the basic legwork on what, to all appearances, was a major cultural, economic and news story.

Within minutes, he emailed back:

""Uh, because until the toxicology reports come back it would be irresponsible and inappropriate for legitimate reporters to write baseless speculation? Because a man is dead and a family is in mourning and the state of the nation is not dependent upon exacerbating their grief? Because Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers have better uses of their resources than to 'investigate' something that public documents will reveal soon enough anyway?

"I looked over what you've been 'reporting.' It's all beneath contempt. Ginning up Robin Leach's 'rumors' when the rumors he's referring to have nothing to do with Gans' death, implying an inappropriate relationship with Alicia Jacobs, attacking the local press for having a modicum of dignity and restraint on a story that will come out anyway ... I need to go take a shower now. Blech.""

Then he whipped off a blog post that referred to our editor as an "asshole" and "vermin."

And so began our relationship with the Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, hearing-impaired music reviewer, Gay Vegas author, comp queen and concert producer that culminates in our naming Steve Friess Tabloid Baby's 2009 Journalist of The Year.

In the weeks and months to follow our first correspondence, Steve Friess made an attempt to close down our site because we ran his photo (forcing to use fascimiles), began a disinformation campaign to lead us and other journos off the track, and was revealed to have close ties to many figures in the Gans story, including Gans' boss Steve Wynn and Alicia Jacobs, the beauty queen-turned-local entertainment reporter who was Gans' close friend and the first person informed by Gans' manager of his death.

Then there was the Michael Jackson story. After writing that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music," and while covering the Vegas angle of the criminal investigation into Jacko's death for The New York Times, Friess inexplicably announced that he was producing and promoting a Jacko birthday "tribute" concert at the Palms Hotel, where he and his local NBC producer husband had honeymooned.

“In Las Vegas, when left to our own devices,
we do things a little differently.”
--Steve Friess, Las Vegas Weekly

In both the Gans and Jackson cases, Friess attempted to cover his tracks with unintentionally hilarious apologias in the Las Vegas Weekly.

So why does it matter?

Steve Friess, with his tendency to hurl insults, hold grudges and get himself into local gossip columns, is not merely a Vegas combination of Perez Hilton and Louella Parsons.

He is perhaps the most powerful journalist in Las Vegas.

As a freelance correspondent for major news organizations including The New York Times and USA Today, he is the filter through which distant editors can determine whether a story in Las Vegas is worth covering. In the case of Danny Gans, Friess made it clear that the story was not worth covering. And if his relationship with Danny Gans' boss Steve Wynn, or his even closer relationship with staffers on the local NBC affiliate (including his second "husband" and their BFF Alicia Jacobs) created a conflict of interest, so be it.

Steve Friess has no qualms about swinging his conflicts of interest in public, whether it's his political activism, favoritism, foul insults or kneejerk shouts of homophobia against anyone who questions his intentions or positions.

When local Greenspun Media laid off many reporters, editors and columnist earlier this month, Steve Friess, who attends fancy openings of hotels, gets himself and his family members free admission into any show on the Strip whenever he wants, squirrels away opening night mementos and souvenirs that one day will be worth thousands on eBay, kept his job. But then again, Steve Friess, who poses as a brave, independent journalist, is the ultimate courtier to the powerful whose blogsite always displays a link to his interviews with Steve Wynn.

Read our coverage of Steve Friess here.

Story of The Year:The Death of Danny Gans
Mystery of The Year:What ever happened to Down Charleston Blvd?
Top Trend: Dying

The Review-Journal's #6 local story of 2009

"Throughout the paper today you'll find our annual Top 10 lists --
top news, top sports, top business and entertainment.
It is that time of year. Time to reflect on the past
and contemplate its lessons for the coming New Year."

--Thomas Mitchell, Las Vegas Review-Journal editor

Around a week before the end of every year, newspapers fill space left vacant by vacationing reporters with the year's Top 10 lists, ranging from notable deaths to top stories-- lists almost always written even farther in advance of the end of the year, and always missing some major passing or event that takes place in the weeks after the space-filler was written.

The Las Vegas-Review Journal is no exception. This morning's Sunday edition would have gone directly into the fireplace, if not for a bizarre anomaly among its list of the Top 10 Local Stories of 2009: The #6 story is one they barely covered and never investigated!

Yes,

6. DANNY GANS DIES

"Impressionist Danny Gans had been a fixture on Las Vegas marquees for more than a decade when his wife found him unconscious and not breathing in their bed in the early morning hours of May 1.

"Despite the efforts of his wife and paramedics to revive him, the 52-year-old never regained consciousness.

"Entertainers and fans mourned Gans, who had just begun a run at Encore after eight years at The Mirage, while medical examiners tried to determine what killed the star.

"Five weeks later, the coroner's office blamed the accidental death on a combination of heart and blood diseases along with a powerful prescription painkiller used to treat chronic pain, hydromorphone. Gans had battled a painful chronic shoulder injury that required surgery five months earlier."

Odd that editor and McCloud impersonator Thomas Mitchell, (who doffed his Stetson in respect to the holidays and womenfolk for this edition) would choose for the Top 10 a story that his rootin' tootin' team avoided covering or investigating in such a deliberate and embarrassing manner. The paper's obvious complicity in a coverup was even made public when the Review-Journal's publisher, Stephens Media, made a deal with Gans' family within a week of the local superstar's death to publish his autobiography!


Odd as well that "The King of Pop"-- the death of Michael Jackson --would rank two slots above Gans' death on the list. Not only was Jacko's passing an international story, but the initial coverage in the hours and days after he died showed how good, hardworking journos can investigate and answer questions about a celebrity's (and in Gans' case, business and religious leader) unexplained death without having to wait for a coroner to sort out the official story-- in direct contrast to the lax coverage of Gans' death led by Mitchell and his crew.

In the Las Vegas media, the Danny Gans story was the great unexplored story of 2009, and for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, whose publisher Stephens Media made a deal with Gans' family days after the tragedy to publish his autobiography, the great conflict of interest and missed opportunity.


From the morning Gans' death was announced by his manager Chip Lightman and boss Steve Wynn, the Review-Journal (and other local media outlets) remained at a distance from the story, as if the unexplained death of a seemingly healthy, athletic, prominent Born Again Christian family man who was a decade-long major economic force and most unique Vegas showman was somehow a private matter that did not even warrant a chat with the responding paramedics.

Just click here and peruse the past seven months of Tabloid Baby coverage to get an idea of the Review-Journal and cowboy editor Thomas Mitchell's crimes of omission.

So why would it make the Top 10?

And then we get to that problem of compiling Top 10 lists while there are still weeks left in the year, because the Review-Journal's neat encapsulation of the story misses the latest, explosive chapter: Lightman's recent interview, in the "competing" Las Vegas Sun, in which he contradicts the official timeline of what occurred on the morning of May 1st and opens the door to the possibility of a new inquest and investigation.

It was a timeline that the Review-Journal took at face value. It will be interesting to see whether the journalists at the paper will follow this latest lead, or if the Review-Journal is even in business to compile next yar's Top 10 list.

Steve Friess keeps his column

A lot of the Las Vegas print journalists who shied away from covering the very important Danny Gans story have little to show for their obedience, now finding themselves suddenly out of work. Greenspun Media, which runs the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Weekly, laid off many reporters, editors and columnists this week, the latest nail in the closing coffin of the print news business.

One person who's kept his job is Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess, who used his Las Vegas Weekly column this year to explain why the still-developing Danny Gans story (the sudden, unexplained death in his prime of the top star of the Vegas Strip) and later his blatant conflict-of-interest in producing a "birthday tribute" to Michael Jackson while covering the Vegas angle of the police death investigation for The new York Times. Friess' crush and partner in the project, a star of the Vegas production of Jersey Boys, lost his job over the spectacle. Friess did not.

Friess, as readers of this site are aware, is the Las Vegas media figure who not only attacked us in the most obscene terms, but made an active effort to have TabloidBaby.com shut down after we emailed him privately days after Gans' death to ask for his take on why the Las vegas media was not investigating the mysterious tragedy.

In the months to come, we learned more about Friess' various conflicts, including his relationship with Gans' boss Steve Wynn, that seemed to explain his extreme position.

With his many freelance gigs, including that of music reviewer (despite a hearing impairment),, and the probability that the Weekly columnist gig doesn't pay much if anything, Friess is able to pose as a tough guy on his blogsite, listing the names of the newly jobless, criticizing his bosses for the way they were let go, and bragging, "I write all this knowing full well I may offend the powers... But I have been fired before and I feel a great kinship for the folks who have lost their jobs..."

The crusading journo has not yet announced that he'll produce a benefit concert for the group. It's an idea, though

No Steve Friess show for Danny Gans birthday

Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans' birthday went unmentioned in Las Vegas over the weekend. The musicial impressionist who died May 1st from an overdose of Dilaudid would have been 53 years old. Gans' spirit did hang over the city on Saturday, October 25th. As we'd reported, the coauthor of Gans' autobiography conducted his first official book signing at a Las Vegas shopping mall, and tickets went on sale for Garth Brooks' stand at Gans' theatre at the Wynn on the Strip.

The birthday was not noted or celebrated by Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess, who had used Michael Jackson's first post-mortem birthday as the excuse to produce the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened to Michael Jackson’s Music Show” at the Palms.


Friess, whose website features a misleading photo of him hoisting female sex star Holly Madison in a Honeymoon-in-Vegas pose, later published a tortured explanation of his conflict of interest-- he was covering the Jackson death investigation for The Times. His producing partner and star of the show was fired from the Strip prodution of Jersey Boys.

Gans' life, philanthropy and memory was celebrated at a charity road race earlier this month.

We are still waiting for our copy of the Gans book, The Voice in My Head from Amazon.com, which is posting a three-to-five-week delay in orders. The book is published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which consequently laid low on Gans death coverage.

Did his involvement in Vegas Jacko tribute get Steve Friess' producing partner fired from Jersey Boys?

Las Vegas Sun

Erich Bergen, who was the frontman and star of the Las Vegas Michael Jackson birthday tribute he produced along with Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess, has been fired from the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys-- and in the words of one Vegas columnnist, caused a media "kerfuffle" in the process.

Bergen, who portrayed Four Season Bob Gaudio in the show at the Palazzo Hotel & Casino on the Strip, has turned himself into a Vegas personality, performing at the Liberace Museum (his version of Britney Spears' "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" is a YouTube staple), and then going national with his flogging of the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened to Michael Jackson’s Music Show” while his partner Friess stayed in the shadows.


His surprise axeing was reported in the Las Vegas Sun and in an angry Twitter from Friess' BFF, beauty queen-turned-TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs:

I am SO FURIOUS! Just heard that my friend.
ERICH BERGEN was "let go"
from JERSEY BOYS!
Told not 2 return from his vacation!
Wow. BIG MISTAKE

When respected Las Vegas writer Richard Abovitz Los Angeles Times blog item expressed wonderment over such a fuss over a common cast change in an ensemble Vegas show, a supporting player at that, Freiss responded with a tantrum on his own Vegas blog.

Oddly, Friess, who claimed loudly that the mysterious overdose death of Vegas headliner Danny Gans was not a story worthy of investigating or reporting, claims that the departure of a supporting castmember of an ensemble show is actually big news:

"... it's odd to me that Abowitz overlooks the fact that Erich's name has been in the papers for most of the time he's been in Vegas, an unusual feat for even the stars of shows with more singular performers. He's been pivotal in turning the Liberace Museum's showroom into a hip place for young Strip talent to jam, he raised $103,000+ less than a month ago for Las Vegas schoolkids in a show that drew massive amounts of international news coverage and he was the mouthpiece for 'Jersey Boys' only a fortnight ago on one of the most-watched TV shows of the summer.

"When someone makes a name for themselves, we call them celebrities. And when celebrities are summarily dismissed from the jobs that made them celebrities, the public is understandably curious. Fame + Controversy = Newsworthiness. Is it really that baffling?"

The pompous use of the word "fortnight" notwithstanding, Friess neglects to address the elephant in the room: whether Bergen got the axe because of his association with Friess and his involvement in the controversial exploitation of Michael Jackson's death.

We've emailed Friess. He has yet to respond.


(Fame + Controversy = Newsworthiness? Unless it's Danny Gans, we suppose...)

Michael Jackson's brother hires Danny Gans' manager

There's no longer any denying an intimate relationship between the deaths of Michael Jackson and Danny Gans.


Gans' manager Chip Lightman tastefully chose the day of Michael Jackson's funeral to announce that he's been hired by Jacko's brother Jermaine to help launch a "comeback," beginning with convention and corporate bookings.


According to Norm Clarke in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lightman (known for phoning beauty queen-turned-TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs in the early hours of May 1st to inform her that her good friend had been pronounced dead only minutes earlier) has not booked any Vegas gigs. Norm says Lightman "employed a similar strategy with Gans, who went on to become a Las Vegas headliner sensation.

"Lightman said Jermaine Jackson, who had limited success as a solo act, is putting together a show based on his hits (two top 10 entries), Jackson 5 hits and a tribute to Michael.

"Jermaine, who sang Michael's favorite song, 'Smile,' at his brother's memorial, plans to hire some of Michael's musicians, said Lightman.

"...Jermaine recently announced he was organizing a tribute to Michael in Vienna, Austria, and promised 1 billion TV viewers. But no family members agreed to participate.

"Larry King's wife, Shawn, was initially involved, but pulled out."


Another connection: Shawn King was set to perform with Danny Gans at the Wynn Resorts' Encore Theatre on May 2nd.

Lightman has been booking some acts into Gans' theatre at the Encore. We reported in July that he'd floated the story that he'd talking to a representative of Jackson's brothers about having them take over the empty stage.

"Appearance of conflict": Steve Friess attempts to reconcile his roles as Michael Jackson reporter and exploiter

Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess knows he violated journalistic ethics when he produced his “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened to Michael Jackson’s Music Show” at the Palms over the weekend. This morning, in a piece called "What did I just do that for?", he calls his actions “journalistically complicated,” admits that he’s “duty-bound to stay out of the news, not to make it, to observe and analyze, not to participate,” that “the two roles caused me plenty of angst,” and that “I also knew there could be an appearance of conflict.” But no worries. Steve Friess reasons his way out of the mess! And he also promises to open his books to us... It seems that Steve Friess always has a lot of ‘splaining to do. He’s a music critic who has a severe hearing disability; a media critic who sleeps with a local television news producer; a supposedly unbiased Vegas correspondent for many out-of-town outlets who’s known to cadge free show tickets whenever relatives are in town, then mentioning the show on his blog to legitimize the scam. He’s also the guy who called us “a**hole” and other names and then attempted to have the TabloidBaby.com site shut down, after we emailed privately to ask why his colleagues in the local Las Vegas news media were not investigating the recent, very mysterious death of Strip headliner Danny Gans. In the weeks to follow, he and other Gans friends would campaign to mislead and distract from the facts about Gans’ death. After it was revealed that Gans died from a dose of Dilaudid (AKA “drugstore heroin”), he followed up with an apologia in the Las Vegas Weekly (which looks like an alternative paper but is really a screeding and story dumping ground for reporters and columnists for the daily Review-Journal and Sun and establishment freelancers like Friess) that was meant to put the matter to rest, but instead was viewed as an instant camp classic of hilarious, infuriating, self-deluding justification.

"The records of revenue and expenses will be available soon for any legitimate journalist who asks.”

This morning, it’s Michael Jackson, and how he came to cross journalistic lines, violate basic journalistic ethics and reveal a gross hypocrisy by promoting a Michael Jackson “tribute” show while simultaneously covering the federal probe of his death, and negotiating and schmoozing with Jacko’s father and associates after writing that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music." Friess claims it was magical serendipity after a performer named Erich Bergen, whom Friess says he befriended after devoting a column to him) “tweeted something vague about wanting to do a tribute show… and I called Erich to find out more.” And just like that: “I was suddenly co-producer of a benefit that, at that point, we thought would maybe fill the Liberace Museum showroom. “Whoa! Aren’t I a journalist? Aren’t I duty-bound to stay out of the news, not to make it, to observe and analyze, not to participate? “Fair questions, all. And given what has happened to the Jackson story since then—that the death is considered a homicide and that a Vegas doctor is at the probe’s epicenter—those questions are even more pertinent. But when this started, it was a few days after Jackson’s death, and nobody I knew imagined it would be a criminal matter. It took weeks before any national media outlet recruited me to dig into Dr. Conrad Murray’s background and a month before his office and home were raided…” As Fries says: “Whoa!” “When this started, it was a few days after Jackson’s death, and nobody I knew imagined it would be a criminal matter”? Friess has tried that line in his own column, and still rings demonstrably untrue. The LAPD was all over Jackson’s death from the moment his doctor, Conrad Murray, ran away from the emergency room of UCLA Medical Center within minutes of the official death call. Police towed Murray’s car from Jackson’s driveway that very first day with full knowledge that Jackson’s death was suspicious and by the time Friess announced his Jacko show, the investigation was in full swing and publicized widely Friess gets to the point when he claims: “When I informed my editors at various outlets of the concert, they just told me not to write about it in their publications. Good help, evidently, is hard to find in Vegas.” Once again, Tabloid Baby was the only journalistic organization to criticize Friess for covering the investigation of Dr. Murray after celebrating Jackson’s death in print and then churning up a money-making scheme to capitalize it. Friess ignored our requests for comment. At one point, he emailed us an hysterical attack. Yet, he reveals this morning that he took our criticism to heart: “The two roles caused me plenty of angst. I knew there was a distinction between a charity show and a death investigation, but I also knew there could be an appearance of conflict. I don’t dismiss such concerns— they’re valid and part of every journalism school’s curriculum— but it’s telling that every nonjournalist I groused to viewed one as having little to do with the other. Did putting on a show have any bearing whatsoever on the criminal probe, or vice versa? Of course not. I agree that journalists shouldn’t become involved in political causes, but must we never do charitable works?” Let’s put aside the encouragement Friess says he received from the “nonjournalists” he associates with in Las Vegas. “Did putting on a show have any bearing whatsoever on the criminal probe, or vice versa?” We’d say the question deserves more debate than the “of course not” Friess inserts before the reader can make up his or her mind: Steve Friess was assigned by the New York Times on July 28th to cover the probe of Las Vegas doctor Conrad Murray in regard to alleged illegal prescriptions and the possible homicide of Michael Jackson. Friess, who wrote on his blog that he spent time “chilling” in the newsvan of the local NBC affiliate (“Miles’ TV station”—Miles being his unofficial husband). On July 11th, Friess’ friend and mouthpiece Norm Clarke had written in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “How widespread has the practice of doctor-shopping become in Las Vegas? Will the investigation into Jackson's prescription drug abuse lead back to the Las Vegas medical community, given Jackson spent a good deal of time here in recent years?” Surely. a probe that exposed widespread prescription abuse among Las Vegas entertainers would harm Friess' show. Any local show business criminal probe, especially one related to Michael Jackson, could have bearing on his ticket sales. Friess went beyond reporter’s role on August 19th when, on his blog he criticized ABC News for assigning a reporter to cover Dr. Murray's movements.

"Any credible reporter could have quizzed me"

Then again, Friess admits more while again attempting to justify his actions:: “True, we relied on contributions from many whom I cover, but that cut both ways. Erich did virtually all of the asking, often leaving me out of it to avoid being denied because of something I had written. My coverage has accrued me plenty of detractors in the hotel and show industries, a fact I wear as a badge. I avoided offering myself for interviews until the last week, when Erich became overwhelmed with creative duties. Not because I feared journalistic criticism—any credible reporter could have quizzed me, but only one, my own Weekly colleague John Katsilometes, did—but because I thought I could harm the effort.” Again, Friess is not being candid. The credible journalists at TabloidBaby.com have criticized and quizzed Friess for weeks, sending him lists of questions and interview requests that he ignored before Katsilometes took them to the source. Thanks, Kats.

“I co-produced this show to learn what it takes to put on a production like those I cover. To me, this was the equivalent of a cop reporter going to the police academy.”

Friess winds up with two final stabs at justifying his actions. One is an alternative reason for putting on the show: “I co-produced this show to raise money for kids, but also to learn what it takes to put on a production like those I cover. To me, this was the equivalent of a cop reporter going to the police academy. In this crash course, I learned the costs of everything involved with putting on just one show, much of which never occurred to me, and discovered all the legal and logistical elements of such an effort..." The other is an ungracious attack on those who didn't go along with his plans, as if his use of obscenity would somehow prove he's still got his journalistic cred: “…I also learned who in Vegas is for real and who is full of shit. That means those of you who claimed you could get us Celine Dion, Brandon Flowers and even Taylor Dayne. That means you, ‘journalists’ from TMZ, who promised coverage when really you were gunning so obviously for an entirely different story. That means you, singer Earl Turner…” Friess ends with a promise, though with a caveat that he’s bound to use as an excuse: "The records of revenue and expenses will be available soon for any legitimate journalist who asks.” As soon as this item posts, we will “ask” for the revenue and expense report. We expect that Friess will refuse us. We will, however, obtain the records and present them to you. So in the end, does Steve Friess realize that his actions in the Danny Gans and Michael Jackson cases hurt his credibility and legitimacy? Sure. But in Las Vegas, does it matter? Probably not. Friess can say anything he wants in today's column because he's protected by the code he revealed in his Danny Gans apologia: "In Las Vegas, when left to our own devices, we do things a little differently.” Read Steve Friess’ entire Michael Jackson apologia here. We welcome your comments.

The Kats' out of the bag about Steve Friess' Las Vegas "tribute" to Michael Jackson

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Rolling out act after self-congratulatory act while a flurry of tweets about its wonderfulness was unleashed by its producer and his friends, beauty queen-turned televisioon entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs and Norm Clarke of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson’s Music Show" went off as scheduled at the Palms resort in Las Vegas yesterday-- but not without some serious questions aimed at its producer and promoter, Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess.

The questions came from Tabloid Baby.

Friess gave his answers to the Las Vegas Sun.

One thing the Danny Gans case has made clear is that journalists working in Las Vegas read Tabloid Baby, and while some curse us for calling them out on their cowardly refusal to investigate the big questions while hyping some questionable enterprises, they do take our criticism to heart-- and when they can slip it past their editors, take up our challenge.


In this case it was John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun who, in a promotional piece on the Jackson "tribute," cornered Friess about his obvious conflict of interest, if not the bizarre notion of his producing a "tribute" that he insisted was not a tribute to Jacko the man, even though the tribute took place on Jacko's birthday, with Jacko's father as a guest.

Kats gets Friess to answer the questions we have asked in this space, and in many unanswered emails to Friess, including:

Was Joe Jackson paid to attend the tribute?

How much does he plan to raise in total?

How much money will go to ""production costs" and expenses?

Either Katsilometes asked the questions or Friess used the friendly reporter to give his answers, unchallenged.

Writes Kats:

"Friess finds himself performing something of a moonwalk between the Jackson death investigation and the Palms benefit. His role in covering the Vegas angle of the Jackson story has coincided with his involvement in organizing a charity show that is essentially authorized by the Jackson family. Friess, who writes regularly for Las Vegas Weekly (a Greenspun Media Group publication) among his freelance gigs, allows that it has been an interesting summer ever since the details of Jackson’s death spilled out to include Las Vegas.

“'There’s no doubt it’s weird for me,” Friess said today. 'When this was conceived, it was just a couple of days after his death. Nobody believed it would be a homicide at that point, that it would be anything this controversial connected to Las Vegas... Journalists don’t have to divorce themselves from their communities.' (Friess plans to write of his shifting between journalist and benefit producer in next week’s L.V. Weekly.)

"Friess finds himself performing a moonwalk
between the Jackson death investigation
and the Palms benefit. His role in covering
the Vegas angle of the Jackson story
has coincided with his involvement in
organizing a charity show that is essentially
authorized by the Jackson family."
--Las Vegas Sun

"Soon after Jackson’s death, Friess was approached by Bergen, a friend who is a lifelong Jackson fan, to assist in organizing the benefit show. Bergen has invoked an audio clip of himself at age 4 singing 'Man in the Mirror' during his performances at the Liberace Museum and has written a piece for the Sun relating Jackson’s influence on his career. It was Bergen who first thought to turn Jackson’s untimely death into a means of raising money for local arts programs, and both organizers have said that the show is to honor the creative work, not the mercurial and ultimately tragic lifestyle, of Jackson.

"At this writing, about $90,000 in advance ticket sales have been raised, Friess said. The goal is $100,000... Friess says that all money taken in after production costs will be donated to the Public Education Foundation to fill such needs as instruments, maintenance of instruments, sheet music, supplies and specialized tutoring (the books will be opened to anyone who wants to review how the money was allotted, he said, adding that the Jacksons did not ask for fees to appear at the show or dedication ceremony)."

If Steve Friess is indeed writing another apologia for his actions in the Las Vegas Weekly, we hope it is as amusing and mind-boggling as his "A Fine Restraint" excuse for not investigating the death of local superstar Danny Gans.

Meanwhile, we should point out that Michael Jackson's death was suspicious from the start, his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray of Las Vegas, was sought for questioning from day one, after he disappeared from the emergency room hours after Jacko's death, and Friess, who wrote in the Weekly's July 2nd issue that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music," was covering the Las Vegas investigation of Murray weeks after he began producing the birthday part for the man whose "baggage" he claimed "imprisoned and stigmatized" his "product."

Money questions haunt the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson’s Music Show" in Vegas

With Las Vegas columnist Norm Clarke confirming that Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson "has committed to attending" the controversial “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson’s Music Show" at the Palms on Saturday afternoon, new questions are being raised about the "costs" of the concert and what the pre-net money is being spent on.

The show's producer and promoter, Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess, promises in a recent press release that "100% of the proceeds after costs benefit music education programming in Clark County Public Schools" --while at the same time "raising funds to help kids across the U.S."

As more local entertainers are joining the afternoon lineup on August 29th-- Jacko's birthday-- it's unclear how much money is being spent on the show and "after party"-- and whether anyone is being paid for appearing. The involvement of Joe Jackson brings the issue to a head, in light of reports that he was paid by the city of Gary, Indiana to appear at a Jacko tribute there.


Friess, who had celebrated Jackson's June 25th death as "the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson's music" and led the media coverup in reporting the prescription painkiller death of local superstar Danny Gans, was among the first in the nation to rush to capitalize on Jackson's death by scheduling the tribute show for a "tribute" show that he has pointedly insisted "will commemorate and celebrate Jackson’s art" and not his life.

Friess has claimed that he hopes to "to raise $100,000 for public schools music programs," but he has not revealed how much he hopes to raise through ticket ales and donations.


On Monday, August 17th, Friess wrote on his blogsite about his meeting with Joe Jackson at the Palms, and while he did not go into specifics about what it took to get Jackson to "promise to get to the Palms for at least the end of our show" and "the after-party," he did admit to blurring his roles as journalist and concert producer by selling to the New York Daily News the personal information Joe Jackson revealed during the negotiations.


The afternoon event at the Palms Hotel & Casino has grown in scope as it is being bunched with other local tributes, including the declaration of "Michael Jackson Day" in Las Vegas and the appearance of Joe Jackson and former manager Frank Dileo a special celebrity star tribute at a theatre at the Palms.


Friess has raised eyebrows as he covers the Las Vegas angle of the Jackson story for The New York Times while doing business with Joe Jackson and other members of the Jackson family. He recently criticized ABC News for stationing a stringer outside the home of Dr. Conrad Murray, who's being investigated in Jackson's death.

We've reached out to Steve Friess for comment, but he has not responded.