Conan O’Brien has boldly been taking his TBS talk show to places where no other talk show has gone. In the last year, he has been to Cuba, San Diego Comic-Con, Taco Bell headquarters and tonight at 11p he is traveling to Armenia with his assistant Sona, whose family comes from there. Even though she is Armenian, she has never been. O’Brien offered to take the journey with her and the nation will never be the same.
While the two of them are in Armenia, he will attempt to speak the language as he shops at one of their markets. When he is shopping, he gets to try their Viagra and Sona better run. She doesn’t, and together they find themselves among some sheep herders. He is unimpressed by the way they dress, but he does like how he is dressed for his Armenian soap opera debut.
It wasn’t all about laughs, the two of them also went to Genocide Memorial. Sona lost family members during the Genocide and she was able to find the marker for the town where they came from. It was emotional moment for the two and it will be one for us too.
Conan is a master when it comes to remotes and his show. He knows how to bring the humor, but also to show us a place we’ve never seen before through his eyes. We learn more about it through him then we could on our own.
When it comes to Armenia, we’ve seen it before, but through The Kardashians’ eyes. Does that mean that after tonight he will be known as Konan? Sorry, I couldn’t go without making a joke about that.
In all seriousness, tonight’s Conan is one not to miss, so don’t miss it.
After weeks of speculation, Charlie Sheen finally admitted that he is indeed HIV+. He told Matt Lauer on Today that he received the diagnosis around 4 years ago, on the heels of his infamous 2011 meltdown.
The actor revealed that back then, he had been suffering from crushing headaches and after several days of sweating uncontrollably in his bed, he went to the hospital. After several tests, doctors gave him the news that forever changed his life. Finding out that he was HIV+ led him into a descent of “profound substance abuse and fathomless drinking.”
He also says that since he learned he had HIV, he has still hired prostitutes. Sheen claims that he told them of his status and wore condoms when he was with them. He also told Lauer that one of those women went into his bathroom, took a photo of his medicine bottle and threatened to blackmail him with it.
Blackmail seems to be the reason why he is coming out now after all of this time. There were two reports in the last several weeks, claiming an A List actor had HIV. Many speculated it was him and yesterday National Enquirer outed him. Just as they broke the news, Today announced that they were having him on the show.
Sheen told Lauer that he has paid off several people. The sum for the alleged hush money, he says is around 10 million dollars. He explained that he doesn’t care if they take the money from him, but they are taking it from his 5 children and 1 grandchild.
When it comes to recent rumors that he had unprotected sex with women and did not tell them of his status, he denies that. He admitted to having unprotected sex with two women, and those two women knew that he was positve and were under the care of his doctor.
Does he know how he got it? He says that he is not really sure, but denied using intravenous drugs.
But it his drug use that has doctors worried about him. His doctor, Robert Huizenga, told Lauer he fears that if Charlie is on them, he will forget to take one of his 4 daily pills. If he does forget a pill, it can change how he reacts to the Cocktail and can change how healthy he currently is with the Virus. The doctor also told Lauer that there is very little chance of him transmitting HIV, if he has protected sex.
And that is where my problem with him lies. I have been doing AIDS Advocacy since I was a teenager, and I can’t believe that he has says that he has knowingly had unprotected sex since he knew he was HIV+. It is just something I can’t comprehend. I really can’t even express my feelings about that revelation from him.
But I need to also look at the positiveness that could come out of all of this. In recent years, AIDS and HIV is barely talked about like it has been in the decades past. There is a younger generation growing up, not knowing how this could be easily prevented. I mean, it is not 100% effective, but condoms do help. That is why I suggest that every single person has a box readily available and make sure that the rubbers are not expired. I also suggest that if you are going to have sex with someone new, both of you should get tested before you do it. It is good to know what both of you are bringing to the party.
Hopefully, schools will be talking to their students about this today and until there is a cure. Yes, there is the cocktail, but it is not cheap and can lose its effectiveness with a missed dose.
Back to Sheen, it is good that he came finally clean with his diagnosis and let’s hope he does some good with it. You can tell by his stuttering, throughout the 20 minute combined interview, this was not easy for him to do. I don’t think we’ve ever seen him as nervous as we did today. If I could give him a hug, I would. I know he needs one.
When it comes to his career, I highly doubt it is over. Look at everything he has done since he was teenager, and we have forgiven him. I don’t think we will stop now. As much as we want to hate him, we can’t. We really want to, but we can’t.
What do you think of all of this?
To read the letter that he gave to Matt Lauer yesterday, then click here!
On Friday, the world was shocked as terrorists stormed into Eagle of Death Metal’s concert in Paris and shot it up, killing over a 100 people. We all united and said a prayer for everyone who was there and those who were affected by the attacks.
A few months ago, the California band released a cover version of Duran Duran’s Save a Prayer, and yesterday Simon Le Bon announced on Twitter, “@EODMforNo1 @DuranDuran will donate all proceeds due to us, from this version. Considering options that are useful, peaceful & uniting”
Even though the song has been around for 33 years, it has never had more power than it does today.
UPDATE: Duran Duran issued a statement on their decision to donate all of their publishing proceeds from Eagles of Death Meatal’s cover of their song.
We are honored that the Eagles of Death Metal covered “Save A Prayer,” and included it on their most recent album. In fact, it was a thrill playing the song together recently on TFI Friday in London. We bumped into the band on Friday afternoon of last week, when we were all on our way to Paris on the Eurostar. We were opening Al Gore’s Climate Change concert broadcast there, and they were playing at the Bataclan. What happened that night defies any kind of comprehension. The tragedy that unfolded at their show, and around the city, brought immeasurable sadness to so many and shocked the world. We wholeheartedly support the campaign that the fans have mounted to show solidarity to the band that they love. We will be donating all of our royalties from the sale of this version of the single. There are a number of causes under consideration, all of which are peaceful, effective and unifying.
Family Guy has been having a lot fun making fun of Bill Cosby since before the scandal and they’ve been having even more fun since it broke. Yesterday, they reworked the opening of The Cosby Show and had all the leading ladies passed out while he did his danced around in a colorful sweater. If only they brought Phylicia Rashād, Lisa Bonet and Tempestt Bledsoe into the mix, I would’ve been OK. But why did they have to add the late greats Bonnie Franklin and Bea Arthur? What did they do to deserve that? It’s not like they can defend themselves. Just like…
