Barbara Walters‘ choices for her Ten Most Fascinating People always leave me puzzled. This year is no exception. So, who did Ms. Walters pick as the most fascinating person of 2012?
Before we get to the top of her 2012 list–let’s see who almost made it to the top of her list. On her top ten list were New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Prince Harry, Olympic Gold medalist Gabby Douglas, Academy Award-winning actor/director/writer Ben Affleck, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, The British boyband sensation One Direction, 2013 Oscars host and creator of television cult classic “Family Guy” Seth MacFarlane, and of course, Honey Boo Boo. Continue reading →
Barbara Waltersannounced her “10 Most Fascinating People of 2012” list and the British boy-band sensation One Direction made the cut. Here is who else made the list: Continue reading →
The feuding tale between the Mariah Carey vs. Nicki Minajjust got a little more bizarre as Barbara Walters has stepped in to try to make heads and tails out of this mess between the two American Idol judges.
‘Did Nicki really threaten to kill Mariah?’ is the question of the day. The answer is ‘yes’ according to the much respected news lady and co-host of The View. Continue reading →
Barbara Walters chose the late Steve Jobs as her Most Fascinating Person of the Year — marking it the first time that the program has honored a person who is not alive.
ABC reports that the Apple founder was selected much earlier in the year, when he first retired. But when he died, the show changed its rules to be able to include him.
We already knew 8 of Barbara Walter’s picks for the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2010. Those 8 were:
Cast of Jersey Shore
Kate Middleton
Sandra Bullock
Sarah Palin
Jennifer Lopez
Betty White
Justin Bieber
LeBron James
Tonight, we found out the identity of the last two. One, I had correctly guessed to be Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. The other one, who was Barb’s pick for the most fascinating person of 2010, I believe took every one by surprise: General David Petraeus.
General Petraeus is a United States Army general who serves as the current Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to replace former Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
Barbs explains General Petraeus is kind of a “rock star” in the military. Barb continued, “In life, it seems, there are people who break things and people who fix them. This man is a fixer. A lot depends on General Petraeus and his combination of humanity and strength.” It seems that in this war, it is a combination of compassion and firepower which is needed to combat the specific enemies facing the US in that terrain.
Petraeus believes in creating order by gaining the trust of the locals. In practice, this means constructing schools, teaching farmers new techniques, helping local businesses grow, bolstering the government to provide basic services to its own citizens, and maintaining peace to keep it from becoming a launching pad for terrorists.
Petraeus joins an eclectic and bizarre group for the title of “Most Fascinating Person,” as selected by Barb over the last 18 years of the list’s existence. Last year, first lady Michelle Obama was named the Most Fascinating person. In 2008, it was then President-elect Barack Obama. Past honorees include Laura Bush, J.K. Rowling, Nancy Pelosi, Paris Hilton, Camilla Parker Bowles, Lance Armstrong, Gen. Tommy Franks, Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela and more. Yep, you read that correctly. The top honorees over the years have in fact included both Paris Hilton and Nelson Mandela. If that does not spell eclectic and bizarre, I don’t know what else would.
If you missed The View today, you missed some major fireworks! But don’t worry, I have the video here for you to watch!
Bill O’Reilly was a special guest star on the talk show on Thursday and during a conversation about the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero things got so heated that Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walked off the set!
“The mosque down here on 9/11. That’s inappropriate,” O’Reilly said. “Sure, they have a right to do it,” he continued. “But it’s inappropriate because a lot of the 9/11 families who I know, say, ‘Look, we don’t want that.'”
When Joy, Whoopi and the other ladies expressed their opposition, he tried to shut them up.
“Listen to me because you’ll learn,” he exclaimed, shocking the audience, adding that he believes President Obama’s numbers are falling because of his unwillingness to comment on “the wisdom of” building the community center.
Goldberg challenged him: “You’re saying that Americans are not smart enough to recognize that while it is part of our Constitution to say freedom of religion and freedom to worship and there were 70 families who are Muslim who also died in that building. So you’re saying that his saying that they have the right to do it and not saying anymore is why his approval ratings have gone down?”
The exchange got more heated as time went on and the blowout came after O’Reilly said “Muslims killed us on 9/11.” Goldberg and Behar attempted to specify that it was an extremist sect within Islam and not the religion itself that attacked the U.S. When O’Reilly continued to argue his point, the enraged hosts walked off the set.
Barbara Walters had to turn to the audience and say “This should not have happened.”
