Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Komedian vs. Kardashian

Halloween was upstaged this year by the news of Kim Kardashian filing for divorce from hubby Kris Humphries after just 72 days of marriage. It was not only a trending topic on E! news, Perez Hilton, social media sites and all of the large media outlets, but some celebrities even escaped to their personal blogs to express their alarm about the alleged "marriage sham." 


On his blog, Take a Stroll...with Rob Delaney, the comedian announced his plan to sue Kardashian to stop her divorce from Humphries. And as if that didn't come as a large enough shock, he also plans to sue Ryan Seacrest (Exec Producer of the show), E! Entertainment Television, and Comcast for their promoting of what he calls a "sham marriage." 


Delaney has a standing argument and even has other celebrities backing him up. Actress, Zooey Deschanel posted an interview with Delaney on her blog HelloGiggles that also brings a comedic aura to the breaking news.  


Delaney's ability to propel this entertainment news in a comedic way reflects Jon Stewart's technique on The Daily Show. Comedy in general, acts as a bumper for comedians to deliver an issue in the boldest, rawest and more obscene way. Thus, using comedy to display news is successful because by going to the extreme, it grabs an audience's attention. It gets them to understand an issue for what it really is and in a way that they will not receive from major news conglomerates.  


He says, "It is alleged that Kim Kardshian was paid $18 million to participate in her own wedding. I feel like schools could use that money. Or health clinics in areas hit hardest by the recession. Or Pizza Hut. Or Bernie Madoff. Or my uncle Mitchell, who is a convicted sex offender making a living selling Percocet to the elderly in Rhode Island."


His comedian tang does not take away from the argument, though. It would not be unlikely for a dominating media conglomerate like E!, or a starlet like Kim Kardashian to delve into an opportunity that could both profit her and the network so favorably. Between the E! special: Kim's Fairytale Wedding, the upcoming season of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, and all the other promotions that have surrounded this marriage coming together and now falling apart, it would not seem out of the ordinary for a paycheck to be at the end of it. 


However, Kim's mother, Kris Jenner, came out with a statement today with E! News arguing this speculation saying that the couple did not make a dime off the wedding, but rather, spent millions. What is interesting though, is how quickly their image has transformed just in the past 24 hours from a heartbroken couple to "PR masterminds." 


The network also made a statement defending itself and producers whom have been targeted for having ulterior motives in this situation saying, "the Kardashians have authentically lived their lives on camera for a long time" and this was just another one of those instances.


And lastly, Kim resorted to her blog on Celebuzz to address fans about her decision to file for divorce. "I got caught up with the hoopla and the filming of the TV show that when I probably should have ended my relationship, I didn’t know how to and didn’t want to disappoint a lot of people." ...tis' the life of a work-a-shop-a-reality-tv-holic. 


So what does all of mean? This means we should prepare ourselves for Kardash-omination because we will be seeing even more of the Kardashians as they come to the defense for Kim. Something ironic about the situation though, is the fact that Ryan Seacrest was one of the first to break the news. E! reportedly held "emergency meetings" the day the news was broken to discuss how to "proceed" as a result of the shocking news about one of the stations top profiteers. For being a family so embedded in the network and for how much leverage they have gained as a result, it makes even me, an E! Entertainment and Kardashian goo-roo, a little skeptical of the alleged ulterior motives. 

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