FameCrawler : fraud

Bristol Palin & Levi Johnston - It's A Boy?!

PlumberGate: Joe The Plumber IS Related to Charles Keating, and Also Owes Back Taxes!

sweatpantsmom — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:25:00 GMT

It just keeps getting worse for good ol regular Joe the Plumber. In my earlier post I mentioned some rumors swirling around the internet about the world's most famous drain cleaner (aka Joe Wurzelbacher.) According to The Huffington Post, the rumor concerning Joe being related to Charles Keating is true. So when McCain, in his odd, snarky, annoying way, blurted out to Joe, "You're rich!" I guess he wasn't kidding.

Robert J. Elisberg of The Huffington Post writes:

You see, Joe Wurzelbacher is apparently related to Robert Wurzelbacher. Who is the son-in-law of (are you ready...?) Charles Keating!

Yes, that Charles Keating. The Charles Keating of the Keating 5 Scandal. For which John McCain was reprimanded by the United States Senate, for his involvement in attempting to illegally influence government regulators. The Charles Keating who John McCain has been trying to avoid have mentioned. So, he basically mentioned it 24 times.

Anyway, back to Robert Wurzelbacher, Joe the Plumber's father. You see, Robert Wurzelbacher was an executive of American Continental Corporation, the parent company of Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings. That's the bank which caused citizens to lose their life savings and cost U.S. taxpayers $3.4 billion. As part of that scandal, Robert Wurzelbacher pleaded guilty to three counts of misapplying $14 million and served 40 months in prison.

And now, Lincoln Savings, Robert Wurzelbacher and Joe the Plumber are back with John McCain.

"Congratulations! You're rich!," indeed.

Elisberg adds: "Never mind that Joe the Plumber has state tax liens files against him. As the court representative says, Joe the Plumber might not even be aware of the lien."

So what started off as a story about a father trying hard to provide for his family is turning into something else, and no doubt there will be plenty more information being leaked. (No pun intended.) We'll see if PlumberGate will send McCain's campaign down the toilet. (Pun totally intended!)

Joe the Plumber Videos!

John McCain Bingo!

Source

Joe the Plumber: The Videos!

Whit Honea — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:03:00 GMT

Hey Joe, where you going with that 15 minutes of fame?

Yes, it's Joe Plumber, the family man of the hour in all of his video glory.

Here is his post debate interview:

If the above video isn't working blame the leftwing embedding codes of MSNBC and use this link to watch it.

And here is the thing that started it all:

John McCain Does The Monster Mash

Sarah Palin Porn Star Revealed (Photos)

Bristol Palin & Levi Johnston - It's A Boy?!

Photo

Joe the Plumber: Republican Plant and Relative of Charles Keating?

sweatpantsmom — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:50:00 GMT

If you watched the third and final presidential debate last night you know that there were many mentions of "Joe the Plumber." Joe is actually Joe Wurzelbacher, an 'everyman' who appeared out of a crowd at an Obama campaign appearance and asked the senator about his economic plan. Joe says his American Dream is being able to provide for his family and send his son to college. But some are saying that Joe isn't who he appears to be.

Here's the buzz from the internet:

Wurzelbacher, who says he was playing football outside with his son when he came upon the crowd gathered around Obama, was planted by the Republican party. This would explain how conservative sites got stories posted about him in advance of the debate and how easily everyone else found him for interviews.

Wurzelbacher is not a registered voter.

Wurzelbacher may not be licensed in his home state of Ohio.

Wurzelbacher may be related to Robert Wurzelbacher of Cincinnati, Ohio, who happens to be Charles Keating's son-in-law. Keating was implicated in the Keating 5 scandal.

Wurzelbacher already owns a few companies, which would contradict his claims of being a plumber looking to buy a small business.

(One thing that is on the record: Wurzelbacher compared Obama to Sammy Davis Jr. in an interview with Katie Couric. Ouch.)

So is any of this true? I'm not sure, but some things are suspicious. For instance, how was it that a newspaper was present when Joe was watching the debates (they took the picture above) if Joe didn't know his name would be mentioned?

I'm sure the National Enquirer is already hot on Wurzelbacher's trail, so expect to hear more on Joe the Plumber soon. In the meantime, I'd like to get Joe's number - my bathroom faucet is leaking.

UPDATE: Turns out that Wurzelbacher IS related to Charles Keating!

UPDATE: MSNBC has confirmed that Wurzelbacher has no plumbing license.

Related Posts:

Joe the Plumber Videos!

John McCain Bingo!

Kurt Cobain DOESN'T Live. In Other News, Courtney Love Is Batshit Crazy.

HerBadMother — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:01:00 GMT

So, that story we reported yesterday, about Courtney Love being all freaked out because Kurt Cobain - dead now, what? 14 years? - bought a house in Jersey? MAY just be a figment of her deluded imagination.

According to TMZ, 'a wacked out Widow Cobain was photographed going to the police station on Friday to report she's been the victim of a massive identity theft. Although sources tell TMZ Courtney is simply delusional. Ya think?!'

The identity thefts in question are both her own and that of Cobain - who, most would agree, could not (and, indeed, would not have) have purchased a home in Jersey from beyond the grave. But is she just imagining the thefts? Dunno. Does she seem of sound mind?

From her blog:

God people are batshit. And im not the one who is.

and i hear now i am "Bi Polar" uhhhh...thats more nuts than I will ever be.

I may be Eccentric, i certainly speak my mind and am slow to put out a record i need to mean the world to ME, and im sur ei am quite Nuerotic but "Bi Polar" .
Thats just slander.I shoot straight from the hip and spellcheck has NOTHING to do with REALITY

gotta go its fucking late and we wrote yet another magical song tonight.

nam myoho renge kyo and may all impediments create JOY in you.

Okay, Court. Whatever you say. (*Backing away sloooowly.*)

Kurt Cobain Lives!

HerBadMother — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:07:00 GMT

Kurt Cobain is, apparently, alive and well and just bought a house worth over 3-million dollars. In New Jersey.

Shocking? Courtney Love is certainly shocked - and more than a little pissed. Not because the love of her live and father of her child cheated death and/or has risen from the grave - which, I'm sure, is the fondest wish of more than a few throwback grunge-o-philes who believed that Cobain was the Second Coming - but because she's pretty sure that the whole thing is a fraud.

Which, yeah, probably. Resurrection is pretty rare these days.

Anyhoo, Courtney's sure that it's not really Kurt and she's pretty choked about it. From PerezHilton.com:

According to Courtney, someone used the dead rocker's social security number to buy a $3.2 million house.
How is that even possible????

“I would like to know how," says Love. "He should probably get his ass back home if that is the case.”

Courtney also claims that thieves set up 188 credit cards in her name!

"I knew it had been going on since when I went cuckoo — bananas — in 2003," explains Love. "It was fraud after fraud. But nobody believed me until now. I did a check on my deceased husband’s social security number and he has a house in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He bought it last year."

Courtney met with police this week to investigate her claims.

“I know who they are," she says ominously. "Taking a child’s money and future is a really horrible thing.”

Taking a child's money and future is a terrible thing. So is impersonating dead rock idols. (Which raises the following question: who out there in America actually believed that they were selling a house to/granting a mortgage to Kurt f*cking Cobain? And how stupid are they, exactly?)

The really terrible thing, though? Pissing off Courtney Love. Have you seen her lately? Girlfriend looks as though she's living on crack and the odd handful of popcorn. I'm guessing that she can only take so many shocks before her malnourished/overdrugged brain implodes and her head collapses into her skull. And that would suck for her. More than Kurt Cobain rising from the dead and moving to Jersey. Really.

Michelle & Matilda Arrive In Perth

Church Prophesies Heath Ledger's Death

HerBadMother — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Is this creepy, exploitative, spooky, or all of the above? Some crazy-assed church in Nigeria (no, NOT the Church of Scientology; they haven't infiltrated Nigeria because, um, Nigerians have no moneys) is claiming that their 'prophet' prophesied the death of Heath Ledger - now known to be from an accidental overdose - after seeing it in a vision.

According to the Synagogue, Church of all Nations website:

“I (Prophet TB Joshua) was shown in a vision in the morning concerning a personality that would go on a long journey – a journey of no return. So we lift up our voice and pray. If it is the will of God, let the will of God be done. A personality, a famous person, a well known person that would just leave this earth and go on a journey forever. It is a personality that is not old. People still want him. We have to pray that the will of God should be done.”

These were words of prophecy uttered by Prophet T.B. Joshua in The Synagogue Church Of All Nations, Lagos Nigeria during the Sunday Service on the 13th January 2008.

He later referred to this particular prophecy the following Sunday, 20th January 2008, saying:

“Remember the message I gave last Sunday. I don’t want to repeat it because it is not something to be excited about. It’s in the record. I will not stand here and begin to repeat that message again. If there is something to be excited about, I will repeat it. I just want to remind you. Let’s come together. On Tuesday, you have to fast and pray”.

On returning to their various homes, those that switched on their television sets were met with BREAKING NEWS. Heath Ledger, the renowned, popular, Academy Award-nominated Australian actor was found dead in his Manhattan apartment, New York City. As they watched, shocked by these events, they must have recalled the message of prophecy spoken by Prophet T.B. Joshua the previous Sunday.

This prophecy and its fulfilment show that God Almighty is indeed sovereign. He is omnipresent, omniscient and holds the world in His hands.

Wow. They kind of lost me with the Bible camp campfire song at the end there. This prophecy and its fulfillment - Heath's death - show that God's got the whole world in his hands? I'm enough of an agnostic to simply disregard any and all claims of prophecy, but I'd have to go a step further here and say WTF? If the tragic death of a young father shows anything, it's that God's got a bad case of the dropsies.

Still, it's not quite offensive as the claim made the other day that we, as society, are thinking celebrities to death, and need to turn to The Secret to save them. Close, but not quite.

SCOAN website

Michelle & Matilda Arrive In Perth

Sassy Smith — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:32:00 GMT

Heath Ledger's ex, Michelle Williams and his baby girl Matilda, made their final, sad journey to say good bye and are now in Perth. Williams, dressed in all black, was seen holding Matilda, while the toddler carried a stuffed toy rabbit.

Reportedly security was tight as the pair arrived and Michelle did not make any comments concerning the funeral of her ex fiance. They landed around 3pm on a flight from Los Angeles via Melbourne.

More Details Confirmed For Heath Ledger's Funeral

Little Matilda: I Miss Daddy

Heath Ledger Autopsy Results Delayed

HerBadMother — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:38:00 GMT

The results of Heath Ledger's autopsy and toxicology tests were due to be released today, but sources say that these have been delayed.

Scopical News reports that The New York Medical Examiner's office has said that it was set to provide the results from the tests today, however that this had been delayed by 24-hours. No reason for the delay has been reported, but a representative from the office said that the report would be released tomorrow.

An initial autopsy of the actor found the cause of his death to be inconclusive, with further tests of tissue and toxicology samples conducted in the last two weeks. There's been rampant speculation that the actor died of some sort of drug overdose, accidental or otherwise, but his family and friends have vehemently denied that this is possible.

Whatever the case, we should know tomorrow. For better or worse.

"Explosive" Heath Ledger Drug Video Will NOT Air

Photos of Heath Ledger's Body May Be For Sale

sweatpantsmom — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Following on the heels of the Heath Ledger video controversy is this disturbing piece of news from New York Magazine: Photos of Ledger's body, taken when his body was found, are being shopped around for a six-figure sum. The article cites a quote from columnist Cindy Adams in which she cryptically writes, "Supposedly, his body was snapped," she writes, "and $300,000 is the price on that photo."

It's hard to imagine anyone thinking they could publish such photos without public outcry, but thank goodness there's always Entertainment Tonight and The Insider ready to sink to new lows in unethical behavior. Stay tuned to your TV sets.

Heath Ledger's Autopsy Results Expected Today or Tomorrow

[photo: NYmag.com]

Heath Ledger's Autopsy Results Expected Today or Tomorrow

Sassy Smith — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:32:00 GMT

The passing of Heath Ledger has been a shock to his family, friends and fans. Everyone wants answers as to why he died, I'm sure no one more than his immediate family and loved ones. Ledger's autopsy report is expected today or tomorrow.

Ellen Borakove, public affairs spokesperson at the New York Chief Medical Examiner's office said: "We're expecting something in the next two days."

I hope it brings closure that I'm certain his family so desperately wants.

More Details Confirmed For Heath Ledger's Funeral

Hollywood Memorial For Heath Ledger

Little Matilda: I Miss Daddy

More Details Confirmed For Heath Ledger's Funeral

HerBadMother — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:23:00 GMT

Heath Ledger will be buried next to his grandparents following a private funeral in his hometown of Perth, Western Australia.

His parents, Kim and Sally Ledger, have been keeping details quiet so as to ward off excessive media attention, and have opted out of a public funeral, preferring to invite only close family and friends to the Karakatta Cemetery in Perth.

According to The Daily Sydney Telegraph, Heath's family allegedly turned down an offer from his former school Guildford Grammar to use their chapel for the funeral (reported here.) However, the Ledgers have agreed to use the chapel if they choose to hold an Australian memorial service. They attended a private ceremony for the star in Hollywood on Saturday.

Michelle Williams flew to Perth last week with their daughter Matilda, presumably to attend the funeral and to be with Heath's family.

Hollywood Memorial For Heath Ledger

HerBadMother — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:05:00 GMT

Members of Heath Ledger's family gathered with Hollywood's brightest stars - including Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Naomi Watts - on Saturday to remember Heath Ledger.

From People.com:

Friends and celebrity colleagues – including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Sienna Miller, Ellen DeGeneres and director Todd Haynes – gathered on the Sony lot in Los Angeles to remember Heath Ledger on Saturday, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The gathering also included Ledger's father Kim, industry luminaries and those connected to CAA (the agency that represented Ledger), including Cruise and Holmes, who costarred with Michelle Williams on Dawson's Creek. It comes a week after relatives and close friends – including ex-girlfriend Naomi Watts – paid tribute to the 28-year-old actor at a smaller service at an L.A. cemetery.

Details about Heath's actual funeral, which is to take place in Perth, Australia, have been kept under close wraps, but the tributes and memorials continue wherever Heath had friends or family or fans. Which is, it seems, everywhere.

Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda Rose will attend the funeral in Perth.

Heath Ledger's Family to Hold a Private Funeral in Perth

Karen — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:04:00 GMT

Heath Ledger's family has decided to hold a private funeral for him in his hometown of Perth, Australia, as planned. The actor's family has declined an offer to hold a memorial at his former private school, but may allow a public memorial in the school's chapel at a later date. That information leaked last week and I'm sure they decided to be even more private about the matter.

Guildford Grammar's director of community relations, Graeme Plumber, said that the school understood why the actor’s family took the decision of holding a private funeral.

The school thought that his family probably wanted ‘the dignity of a very private funeral after all the publicity’ surrounding his death.

Little Matilda: I Miss Daddy

Sassy Smith — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:02:00 GMT

What could be more heartbreaking than a sweet little girl crying out for her daddy? Heath Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda has been asking for daddy and her mom Michelle Williams is doing her best to shelter her.

Star magazine reported that Michelle was woken at 1a.m. by a knock at her hotel room door and given the tragic news about Ledger's death. A hotel source said, "Michelle was stunned at first; she didn't seem to take it in. Then she began weeping and gasped, 'No, no! Please tell me this is a bad dream.'

"She had stopped crying, but her eyes were red and puffy."

You know, it's such a double edged sword - Matilda is only 2, so on one hand, she's too young to even realize what's going on, although she misses her daddy. And yet, the fact that she IS only two, means she won't remember her dad, only what she hears from her mom and family members. While I'm quite certain they will keep his memory alive in her, and part of Heath is ingrained in his little girl - but it's not the same thing as actually having her daddy in her life.

Michelle Williams - "My Heart is Broken"

Sassy Smith — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:31:00 GMT

Grieving Michelle Williams has made her first public statement following the death of her ex, Heath Ledger. It literally made tears come to my eyes. Heath's publicist released her statement this morning:

"Please respect our need to grieve privately. My heart is broken.

"I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes two steps at a time and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up with the best memories of him."

Truly heartbreaking.

Heath Ledger Video Controversy Continues: Don't Believe What You See!

Sassy Smith — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:05:00 GMT

I find it funny - not funny 'haha'- but funny 'bullsh*t that ET and The Insider decided not to air the "explosive" video of Heath Ledger allegedly doing drugs because they wanted to show his family "respect." Which loosely translates to: Certain publicity companies would not give them [ET/Insider] access to their celebrity clients again. Thus, they opted to not show the video - although they did show clips, which were edited to seem like Ledger had a problem. Like I said, they just couldn't resist showing at least a portion of it. Gotta get their money's worth right?

Someone who has seen the full clip told Perez, that Heath, was NOT doing drugs. In the "edited" teaser version, Ledger says, "I used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years." That in and of itself, to any sane person, wouldn't be taken literally. He was 26 in the video, so that would make him 6-years-old when he started smoking pot? I hardly think so. What you don't see (what's been conveniently cut out) is Heath then saying, "and that's why I got this tattoo [an M, for daughter Matilda] to remind me never to smoke weed again."

The fact that Ledger may have smoked pot years ago, is honestly, water under the bridge. The video was TWO YEARS AGO and he certainly didn't die from smoking a joint. Video editing is a wonderful thing isn't it? You can make someone seem like something that they are not, nor have proven to be.

Photo source: The Superficial

Heath Ledger DIDN'T Have A Drug Problem. So Suck It, ET.

HerBadMother — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:31:00 GMT

It's fitting that, in the middle of the Entertainment-Tonight-Scuzzbags-Trying-To-Profit-Off-Of-Heath-Ledger-Drug-Rumors-Scandal, evidence has been emerging to suggest that he emphatically did not have a drug problem, and that he had turned his back on even casual drug use.

Michelle Williams, Heath's former partner and mother of his two-year old daughter Matilda, is fighting Us Weekly on their current cover stor, which alleges that Michelle had battled Heath on the issue of a drug problem, and that she had demanded he go to rehab or lose access to his daughter. Michelle says no way, totally untrue.

Mara Buxbaum, who was also Ledger's rep, just issued the following statement on Michelle's behalf:

"Much of the tabloid reporting is inaccurate. This fabricated story of Michelle Williams attempting to bring Heath Ledger to rehab is just one lie among many. The speculation is heinous. Let this family grieve privately."

Additionally, stories are emerging to suggest that unseen clips from that evil video purporting to show Heath in the middle of a drug orgy actually showed him explaining why he no longer touches drugs. Which makes that whole story even more heinous, if that's possible. More on this story here...

Source,

Heath's Shocking Drug Video - And The Shocking Vultures Who Want To Milk Every Cent Out Of It (With UPDATE)

HerBadMother — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:19:00 GMT

THIS story - even though it's undoubtably super-gossip-worthy - makes me sick: an "explosive" video has emerged, and is about to be released, that purports to show Heath Ledger at a wild, drug-fueled party - tables stacked high with drugs, that kind of wild and drug-fueled - talking about his drug use. And the bigger media outlets are already squabbling over who has the right to show the video.

UPDATE BELOW: THE EVIL WEENIES BACKED OFF.

Perez, for one, is a little bitched out about being told to back off:

We told you earlier today about Heath Ledger's shocking drug-fueled video, and now….

We've gotten a very stern letter from the lawyers for Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, who will be broadcasting the vid.

It reads:

"NOTICE OF ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT AND THE INSIDER’S EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS REGARDING PROPRIETARY MATERIALS OF HEATH LEDGER AT THE CHATEAU MARMONT ON APPROXIMATELY JANUARY 29, 2006

**************************

THIS IS TO ADVISE YOU THAT ET AND THE INSIDER HAVE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS IN AND TO PROPRIETARY MATERIALS OF HEATH LEDGER AT THE CHATEAU MARMONT ON APPROXIMATELY JANUARY 29, 2006

ANY BROADCAST OR USAGE OF THIS MATERIAL IN ANY MANNER NOT AUTHORIZED SHALL CONSTITUTE AN INFRINGEMENT AND VIOLATION OF ET AND THE INSIDER’S VALUABLE EXCLUSIVE AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS AND WILL CONSTITUTE INFRINGEMENT AND TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE BY THE INFRINGER, EXPOSING THE INFRINGER TO SUBSTANTIAL MONETARY DAMAGES.

THIS RESTRICTION APPLIES TO ANY AND/OR ALL UNAUTHORIZED USES OF THE EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL.

PLEASE IMMEDIATELY ADVISE YOUR AFFILIATES, LICENSEES AND SUBSCRIBERS OF OUR EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS AND THESE RESTRICTIONS."

Um, vultures much? I know that we're all of us - all of the gossip-slash-pop-culture-slash-entertainment-news sites - profiting from his death by reporting the news surrounding that death, but it seems to me to be crossing a line of sorts to start snarling and hissing and insisting explicitly that one has 'exclusive rights' to 'proprietary materials' of a dead man. (Full disclosure: Famecrawler writers did discuss the issue, but agreed that we wouldn't post this video, even if it were possible, just as we wouldn't post the Britney-in-ambulance video, among other things. We're grubby gossip-mongers, but we have limits). If I read them correctly, they're saying that they want to make sure that they make as much money as possible off of this video - a video which doesn't exactly do justice to Heath's memory - and that everybody else better back off so that they don't lose a cent.

Yuck.

UPDATE: The evil weenies decided to not air the video. Which, ha - and good. They're still evil for having purchased the video - for a couple of hundred thousand dollars in blood money - and for having aired teasers, but at least they've backed off before losing their souls entirely.

We at Famecrawler take some of the credit. Yay for public shaming of evildoers!

Read more about it HERE.

"Explosive" Heath Ledger Drug Video Will NOT Air

Sassy Smith — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:05:00 GMT

The pressure was too much perhaps? It seems Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have decided NOT to air the "shocking drug video" of Heath Ledger, which they reportedly paid over $200,000 for. Perez Hilton reports:

"Out of respect for HEATH LEDGER's family, "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media," they said in a statement.

We, here at Famecrawler, personally thought it was horrible that they even considered airing it - to us it was beyond disrespectful to Heath's memory and obviously to his family. However, those "celebrity news" programs, DID air a teaster of the video on their Wednesday evening show . They [ET & The Insider] just couldn't resist crossing that line could they?