The hatred of all things Sarah Palin continues unabated.
The Huffington Post, in its continuing attempt to beat out The Daily Kos as the official source for Palin-bashing, ran a story describing the supposed antics of Governor Palin and her “entourage” at something called an “Oscar gifting suite.”
As Huff-Po “reports“:
Palin At Oscar Gift Suite: Sarah Palin And Entourage ‘Like Locusts’
Sarah Palin aligns her public image with the heartland, but it appears the former Alaska Governor has gone Hollywood. And when she leaves, she may be taking some of it with her.
While the group was loading up on freebies, the Los Angeles Times reported that, “Palin’s middle child, Willow, got her hair styled, receiving a blowout from Erick Orellana of the Chris McMillan Salon (Jennifer Aniston’s longtime hairstylist).”
The Times also indicated that Palin was supposed to donate $1,700 along with all of her gift items to the Red Cross, which is currently helping with relief efforts in Haiti and Chile.
But E! Online insists, “we can assure you she did not give up any of her swag.” They quote an unnamed vendor who claims that upwards of 20 people from the Palin camp swarmed the event. “They were like locusts,” he told the entertainment news outlet.According to AOL’s Pop Eater, publicist Ben Russo of EMC/Bowery said, “she kind of cleaned the place out.” They list out a number of her swag-grabs, including United Hair Care products, jewels from Pascal Mouawad, Skagen watches and a whopping 40 pairs of AIAIAI earphones.
It didn’t stop there. HollywoodLife.com reports that she also picked up a blue Kenya robe from designer Jenna Leigh, facewash and a pair of foam Bandal sandals.Another unnamed source, from HollywoodLife.com, says that the former Vice Presidential candidate was intent on spreading all that wealth around her own circle. “She insisted every person in her huge entourage get something, and there were assistants, nannies, security – insanity!” The same source also said that security swept the venue and would not allow photos, which are often expected by companies to use as promotion in exchange for the free products.
Oh, the humanity!
One small problem: None of it was true.
From “The Envelope” at the LA Times:
Sarah Palin at that gifting suite: Grabby? Not so much
Oh no she didn’t.
That’s what Silver Spoon, the company that hosted a pre-Oscars gifting suite attended Wednesday by Sarah Palin, said Thursday about the former governor of Alaska.
As in, oh no, Palin and company didn’t do all those “grabby ‘n’ whiny” things that were reported by an entertainment gossip site Wednesday evening and spread like wildfire online Thursday and into Friday.
“The stories currently circulating about Governor Palin’s attendance at our event are total fabrications,” partner Melissa Lemer said in a statement from Silver Spoon (read it here). [Updated at 11:11 a.m.: Lemer has confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that she issued the statement.]
“We would like an immediate retraction and an apology to The Silver Spoon, its vendors, and
especially to Governor Sarah Palin.”To paraphrase Lemer, who said she personally escorted Palin around the suite: Oh no she didn’t demand vendors open early just for her, didn’t scoop up 40 sets of headphones, didn’t behave like “locusts.”
Which is pretty much what the Ministry of Gossip reported in the first place.
Just Jared posted a pic Thursday of Willow Palin with her mom, and the Associated Press mentioned the Fox News commentator’s $1,700 Red Cross donation — and what one vendor called her “great skin.” The New York Post stayed calm on Friday as well. Palin supporters weren’t pleased with the negative reports; non-fans didn’t seem as bothered.
Said Lemer: “She never asked for anything but politely accepted the products. The governor and her family and guests were very gracious and respectful to everyone. We asked and the governor happily agreed to take a photo with the American Red Cross staff and the staff of The Silver Spoon. The governor stayed for a total of about 35 minutes, thanked everyone, made an
additional generous personal donation pledge to the Red Cross, and then departed.”
The Huffington Post, even after the story had been publicly de-bunked, printed no retraction.
And though some in the comments section pointed out that the story was a complete fabrication, it did nothing to deter the Huff-Po faithful from continuing their infantile onslaught.
At last count, the article garnered 3,484 comments.
