Weekend News Roundup! Oprah Has a Big Secret; Kanye Has a New Album This Summer; Olbermann Suddenly Has Some Time on His Hands

 

WHAT SECRETS HIDE BEHIND THAT BEATIFIC SMILE?

Happy Monday! Here’s our compendium of pop-culture news you may have missed while you were doing more important things over the weekend.

• Oprah Winfrey announced on Friday that she plans to reveal a big family secret on her show today, which biographer Kitty Kelley says involves a half-sister given up for adoption at birth. Oprah’s called the revelation “the miracle of all miracles,” but even her father doesn’t know what it is. [People]

• Keith Olbermann announced on the air Friday night that it would be his last night hosting his eponymous MSNBC show. He then made reference to Howard Beale’s infamous “mad as hell” speech from Network, a move that indicates he either never saw that film all the way through, or really didn’t understand it if he did. [Chicago Tribune]

No Strings Attached won the weekend box office with a modest $20.3M, followed by The Green Hornet with $18.1M. The Dilemma, The King’s Speech, and True Grit rounded out the top five, with under $10M each. [Box Office Mojo]

• Wrigley and GM have joined Taco Bell in pulling their ads from MTV’s Skins, which the Parents Television Council called “the most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on your children.” Haven’t they learned yet that drawing attention to the sexiness just drives ratings up? The PTC should try saying a show is “more wholesome than Seventh Heaven” if they don’t want anyone watching it. [Gawker, NYT]

• Kevin Smith has paid himself $20 for the privilege of releasing his new horror film, Red State, independently. “Indie film isn’t dead, it just grew up,” he informed the audience after the film’s first screening at Sundance. [THR]

• Infamous party crasher Priyantha Silva is at it again-he somehow got into the American Antiques gala preview, then fell asleep on a table. It’s been a busy season for Silva, who was also caught crashing a gala in November. [P6]

• Kanye West Tweeted that his next album will be out this summer. Across the continent, car stereos shivered in anticipation. [@KanyeWest]