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Ebert Gives Thumbs Down To Disney Plans, Quits Show

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 22, 2008

Roger Ebert is leaving the balcony - but hinting that he's not finished with television.

The famed film critic announced Monday that he is cutting ties with the nationally syndicated program he and the late critic Gene Siskel made famous, a day after Richard Roeper said he was quitting the show.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Ebert said Disney-ABC Domestic Television, which owns "At the Movies With Ebert and Roeper," has decided to take the program in a new direction.

"I will no longer be associated with it," Ebert said.

He didn't immediately elaborate, but it was clear the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times critic wanted the show to remain as it was when he and Siskel, a fellow Chicago newspaper film critic, first hit the airwaves on PBS in 1975.

Ebert is a trademark holder on the signature "thumbs up-thumbs down" judgment that he and Siskel made part of each film review.

On Monday, he said he has plans for those famous digits.

"The trademark still belongs to me and Marlene Iglitzen, Gene's widow, and the thumbs will return," he wrote.

"Disney cannot use the 'thumbs,'" he said.

Ebert didn't elaborate on future possibilities. Nor did he say what - if any - role Roeper, whose work he praised, will have.

But Roeper, in his announcement he was leaving the program, hinted that perhaps his partnership with Ebert may not be over.

Simpson Makes Tearful Country Debut

Things got emotional at the Country Thunder USA country music festival in Wisconsin on Saturday night when Jessica Simpson, whose switch to country music has been an inspiration to us all, broke down in tears on stage during her set.

"This is my first time being on stage in three years," Simpson said. "Coming out tonight makes me extremely emotional." She said being victimized by gossip has made her life better. "I'm so happy I went through that because it makes life so much more beautiful."

The performer dedicated the song "You're My Sunday" to the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. "Tonight there's this guy here, he throws a football, and he's really good at it," Simpson said. "He's my better tomorrow and I wrote this song for him."

Omarosa 'Delusional,' 'Pathetic,' Wendy Says

Reality TV villain Omarosa sparred with talk show host Wendy Williams on Monday in a spat that at one point turned physical.

She appeared on Fox's "The Wendy Williams Show" to promote her upcoming book but instead spent more time trading insults with the radio personality-turned-talk-show host.

The altercation started when Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth first walked onto the daytime talk show and said she was displeased with Williams' introduction of her and would not be disrespected. Things got uglier when Williams grabbed Omarosa's book cover to hold it up to the camera, and Omarosa snatched it back.

"Omarosa wished her career was my career," Williams told the AP. "Omarosa is a delusional, D-list, pathetic woman."

The yanking gave way to Omarosa attacking Williams' appearance, asking the talk show host whether she had had a nose job and suggesting she shouldn't wear wigs.

But Williams didn't stay silent throughout the heated interview. She called Omarosa "a typical angry black woman" and suggested cosmetic injections could fix her wrinkles.

Today's Birthdays

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., is 85. Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta is 76. Game show host Alex Trebek is 68. Singer George Clinton is 67. Actor Danny Glover is 61. Actor-director Albert Brooks is 61. Singer Don Henley is 61. Actor Willem Dafoe is 53. R&B singer Keith Sweat is 47. Actor John Leguizamo is 44. Actor David Spade is 44. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 35.

Source: The Associated Press, McClatchy-Tribune

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