• Ray Rice Hit NYC Clubs to Celebrate His Lifted NFL Suspension

    Last Friday, Nov. 28, Ray Rice's suspension from the NFL was lifted on an appeal, and apparently he was in the mood to celebrate. Rice was spotted hitting up Bounce Sporting Club in New York City late Saturday night. The fallen NFL star stayed chatting and chilling with fans until the wee hours of Sunday morning. According to a TMZ report, security attempted to keep the fans from bothering Rice, but he was loving the attention. Rumor has it his wife Janay Rice was also with him, but that has yet to be confirmed. We can tell you with certainty that Janay's interview with "Today's" Matt Lauer these past two days has been seen in part by nearly everyone. This morning's installment included Ray taking part in the interview while standing at a kitchen counter with Janay and her parents. He, of course, apologized for knocking his wife out last February in Atlantic City after a night of hard partying. He believes that therapy has really helped him and claims he is ready to sacrifice whatever is necessary to take care of his wife.
  • Janay Rice's 'Today' Interview Insinuates NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Repeatedly Lied

    After six months of silence, Janay Palmer Rice finally had a chance to sit down and address everything that has happened since Ray Rice knocked her out cold in an Atlantic City elevator earlier this year. Instead of splitting from Rice, she instead married him and has decided to support him, even once that surveillance tape went viral in September. Janay agreed to an interview with "Today's" Matt Lauer, in the hopes that people might understand how this one horrific instance of domestic violence does not define what her marriage is really like. Janay repeatedly called Rice's actions "a mistake" and reminded viewers at home that no one is perfect. She also insisted that, aside from this one incident, Rice has never been the least bit violent with her at all. She expressed serious upset at how the Baltimore Ravens organization treated them once it released Rice from his contract and believes that eventually he will be allowed to prove himself again in the NFL. Lauer also asked about what Rice told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when the incident first happened. Goodell has claimed that he never saw the tape until it went viral last September and that he had no idea how violent the altercation actually was. Janay balked at the notion that Rice might have minimized the attack, telling Lauer: "No. Not in any way. And, you know, I feel like if they wanted to know more details then they would have asked. But there were no further questions. It — it's been consistent with everything that he's been saying since February. I can't say he's telling the truth. You know? I know for a fact that he told — that Ray told the honest truth that he's been telling from February. So — I think they did what they had to do for themselves."
  • Jamie Horowitz Proposed Cleaning House at NBC's 'Today' Before Being Ousted

    The internal politics and constant discord behind the scenes at NBC's "Today" have become almost as big of a story as anything reported on camera. NBC has spent the last two years scrambling to try and reclaim its former top spot in the morning ratings war. In September, Jamie Horowitz started to observe Today's daily show so that by December new changes could be implemented at his request. A few weeks ago, he gave a five-hour presentation to NBC News head Deborah Furness, and in the end Horowitz was out of a job instead of anyone else. News leaked out recently that Natalie Morales and Willie Geist had been fired by NBC, and while those reports were later discredited, that is exactly part of what Horowitz had in mind. He also wanted Matt Lauer's co-host, Savannah Guthrie, let go to make room for Hoda Kotb instead, and if you are a fan of Al Roker, then you would have been out of luck because Horowitz would have fired him as well.
  • Reporters Like Don Lemon, Matt Lauer Fighting for 1st Exclusive Interview with Ferguson PO Darren Wilson

    Since shooting Michael Brown Aug. 9, Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson has managed to disappear completely off the grid as he waits to find out whether or not an indictment and formal charges will be coming. His is a case that has led to rioting in the St. Louis suburb, and what started as a violent altercation between Wilson and Brown has morphed into a full civil-rights debate. An interview with Wilson would no doubt equal blockbuster ratings, and we are hearing that he has quietly met with a few possible contenders. According to The Huffington Post, several journalists — including Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon and Matt Lauer — have talked to Wilson off the record. These meetings are standard procedure because they help the subject — in this case Wilson — figure out who they feel the most comfortable with. Cooper has already confirmed that Wilson has declined his request for an actual on-camera interview. Lemon confirmed that there was a meeting, but has said little else.
  • Janay Palmer Tries Downplaying Being Knocked Out by Ray Rice in Matt Lauer Interview

    Janay Palmer has spent the last few months basically hiding out, not allowing the general public to have much more than a slight glimpse into her personal life, and who can blame her? After that now-infamous elevator surveillance video went public, showing her now-husband Ray Rice knocking her out with one punch, it was a real turning point in her life. Palmer chose quite quickly to stand by her husband and support him, even going so far as to lambaste the NFL for punishing Rice for his violent actions. It was pretty clear Palmer was taking the "stand by your man" approach to the whole scandal and, in doing so, she kept her silence for the most part. At least until NBC's "Today" managed to grab the first official interview with her. Make no mistake, it is actually Rice that NBC wants to hear from, and while he never signed on the dotted line with the network, he was there when Matt Lauer sat down with Palmer in the couple's Maryland home late last week. How much he actually said is still unknown, but Lauer appeared happy with the outcome of the chat.
  • Amber Vinson, 2nd Dallas Nurse Stricken with Ebola, Slams CDC's Criticism

    Amber Vinson was the second nurse who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to become infected with the Ebola virus. She raised eyebrows for taking a flight from Dallas to Ohio, and then back again a few days later while supposedly having a low-grade fever. Vinson was finally declared Ebola-free and released from the hospital last week, and while she asked for her privacy, I think many expected to hear from her because the CDC momentarily let her be its fall girl. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said Vinson should never have flown and that it would have been against its guidelines. But it neglected to mention how nervous the whole situation had actually made her because the nurses who cared for Duncan were never trained until the moment they had to suit up to actively care for him. Vinson told Matt Lauer in an interview this morning on "Today": "The first time that I put on the protective equipment, I was heading in to take care of the patient. We didn't have excessive training where we could don and doff, put on and take off the protective equipment, till we got a level of being comfortable with it. I didn't have that, and I think that's very important for hospitals across the nation, big and small. Once Nina came down with it, my contact at the health department called me and gave me a list of things to look out for, symptoms to look out for and numbers to call if I showed any symptoms. I never had a number to call the CDC directly. I would always call my contact at the health department. And then when I was in Ohio, and I was scheduled to leave, because I was so afraid of what could potentially happen, I did ask them, 'Is there anything that you guys can do to send for me? Do I need to leave earlier?' Because you know, I was worried." Lauer quickly reminded her of how the CDC allowed her to be painted as careless and foolish ,and it was obviously still a sore spot for Vinson, as she explained: "It made me feel terrible, because that's not me. I'm not careless. I'm not reckless. I'm an ICU nurse. I embrace protocol, guidelines and structure. Because in my day-to-day nursing, it is a matter of life and death. And I respect that fact. I would never go outside of guidelines or boundaries or something directly from the CDC telling me that I can't go, I can't fly."
  • Will Pippa Middleton Become Newest 'Today' Correspondent?

    Apparently, Pippa Middleton made such an impression on NBC after sitting for an interview last summer that the network has been courting her for a job. Kate Middleton's younger sister taped an interview with Matt Lauer for "The Today Show" that aired in June and the ratings were spectacular. The numbers confirmed what the network had already known: Americans love royals, even if they are only a married-in extension of the monarchy. Kate's marriage to Prince William has caused enormous interest in Pippa and NBC is hopeful that they will be able to add her as a new correspondent to Today. According to a new report by Page Six, Pippa has been working on a test piece in Utah and, if all goes well, then it will sign her to do special reports on subjects like health and fitness.
  • After Latest Scandal, Is Matt Lauer the Most Disliked News Anchor in the US?

    Every few years it seems Matt Lauer gets hit with some really harsh criticism as well as questions regarding his true character. The "Today" show anchor was at one point a beloved member of America's top morning news team, but his personal currency has dropped in recent years. Just this past week details in his marriage became public knowledge and once again it is making the newsman look bad. Back in 2006, Lauer's wife Annette Roque filed for divorce and claimed in the official documents to be suffering "cruel and inhumane" treatment at the hands of her husband. The divorce petition was unsealed this week, leaving Lauer wide open for public scrutiny again. Does this scandal make him the most disliked anchor in the U.S.?
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