Oprah: Where's Stedman?

Oprah is really into Barack Obama right now!

She’s bringing her show to D.C. and will be hosting it live from the Kennedy Center during the Inauguration.

Winfrey is also hosting an exclusive inauguration-night party in Washington at an undisclosed location with her best friend, Gayle King who has been by Winfrey’s side at all Obama events.

The big question everybody seems to be asking is where is her boyfriend, Stedman Graham?

“Why wasn’t he there with her election night?” a spy asked. “I mean, he does live in Chicago” reports Page Six.

Good question.

Sounds like there’s trouble to me!

Marisa Miller Covers DT

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Marisa Miller of the Victoria’s Secret and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is the hot cover model for Spain’s DT magazine.  And, yes that’s a camoflauge bra.

Image via HP

Consumers Union to Buy Gawker Blog Consumerist

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, planned to announce on Wednesday that it had acquired Consumerist.com, a blog formerly owned by Gawker Media.

Consumerist is one of several sites Gawker has sold this year, including the political gossip blog Wonkette and the travel site Gridskipper. The blog offers consumer tips, like how to return products and how to confound a telemarketer, and covers shopper complaints, like excessive retail markups.

New York Times

The Obamas Moving to D.C. This Weekend

The Obama family will move to Washington D.C. this weekend!

“The president-elect will be here in Washington to continue work on an economic recovery plan,” the Obama team announced.

He, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters Malia and Sasha will stay at a Washington hotel through Jan. 15. From there, they will move into the Blair House, which is the president’s guest house and stands across the street from the White House. Inauguration events begin Jan. 20.

The transition team added: “[Obama] will also be here for the beginning of school.”

 Barack Obama FAIREY (Hope) RARE Campaign Poster 24 x 36

Jennifer Aniston Spends New Year's with Courteney Cox & Her Family AGAIN

Jennifer Aniston arrived in Los Cabos over the weekend where she plans to spend New Year’s with Courteney Cox Arquette, her husband David and their daughter Coco. 

How excited is David Arqutte right now?

Jennifer just spent Christmas with the Arquettes and now this?  Do Courteney and David ever get any alone time?

Well, there is good news for the Arquettes!

Aniston’s boyfriend John Mayer flew to the Mexican resort town with his brothers on Saturday and plans to stay there through the New Year, according to sources.

As you may recall, the duo did not spend Christmas together.

Rod Blagojevich Announces Roland Burns As Appointment for Illonois Senate Seat (Crazy Video)

Governor Rod Blagojevich held a press conference where he put forward Roland Burris as his appointment for the vacant Illinois Senate seat. This press conference is being called the craziest press conference of 2008. To the the clip!

Britney Spears & Beyonce: Diets That Work from Us Weekly!

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When I first saw this cover, I thought I was seeing last week’s Us Weekly cover.

So, I checked and I was wrong.  Us Weekly featured the biggest loser star and how she lost half her size.

But, there’s the problem.

I believe many newsstand buyers will see this cover and have a similar reaction to mine.  “Oh, I bought Us’ diet cover last week.”

Another issue I have with this cover is the Britney Spears’ photo.  She’s unrecognizable and that’s bad.  Us is also talking about how she lost the belly fat and Brit’s belly is covered.   However, upon closer inspection she looks incredible.  (photoshop?)

I would also have inset before pictures as that gives readers a reminder of how these stars used to look.

What does Us Weekly have working for it this week?

Like I said last week, this is the time of year celeb weeklies do diets and they often do quite well.

Plus, you do have two A-listers (when you look closely at Britney) on the cover making this a pretty safe bet.

Most importantly, there are no other diet covers in the category yet.  Up next?  People Magazine!

Bottom Line: Better than average.

DRAMA: Nicole Richie Pregnant, Katie Holmes Falls Apart

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My first reaction.

Great cover.  And, that’s the most important reaction — especially when you’re selling on the newsstand.

It’s a nice surprise to see Nicole Richie and pregnant again no less.  Plus, Harlow is absolutely adorable. 

Moving to Katie Holmes.  Another strong story.   Tomkat is back in the news and everybody is talking about them so this makes sense as a large inset.  I can’t wait to see the photos.

But, here’s my issue with the cover.

Look at the last line of the Nicole Richie story – boy…girl…or both (twins run in the family).  As a reader, I’m totally thrown off by this and I’m not totally believing the story.

Bottom Line: The good news is that many readers don’t read the last line in the dek.

Angelina Jolie vs. Jennifer Aniston: Bride Wars!

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CoverAwards’ Celebrity Weekly EIC of the Year Richard Spencer does not disappoint this week.

He comes out strong with this perfectly timed Angelina Jolie vs. Jennifer Aniston cover story.

It’s a great way to take advantage of the feud that has only become red hot the past week – especially with Jen topping Brad at the box office.

While Jen & John’s romance looks shaky, that’s not a well known fact at this point.

And, the dek on this cover brings it home.  Of course Jen wants to walk down the aisle first!

Bottom Line: A great start for In Touch in 2009!

Ashlee Simpson & Pete Wentz's Baby Gets Full Cover Treatment

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Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz released their baby’s picture online, which is inset on L&S’ cover.

This was a surprise to most industry watchers who thought they would be selling the baby photos, with many pointing to OK! Magazine already closing the deal.

But, in a strange twist, Simpson & Wentz simply asked fans to make a donation to a charity.

Many of the other editors probably passed on using the pic because it was posted online.

So, Life & Style’s Dan Wakeford makes a very shrewd move.

The mag used the photo on the cover and went for it!

While Ashlee hasn’t been a big seller recently, I think this is one of the smartest decisions I’ve seen in a long-time.

Life & Style’s counter intuitive move will pay off – especially if nobody else goes for it!

Stay tuned.