Afternoon Wire: Jesse Oxfeld still gets credit, Pieces of 50 Cent.....

And now the afternoon's worthy media news: According to Radaronline.com rapper 50 Cent tried and failed to get XXL Magazine to pull a feature article on the rapper's former manager who says that fitty may have James Frey-ed is book [Radar] It's a deal heavy day for the folks at Youtube. In your typical can't beat them so join them story, big media and music companies are officially bowing down to Chad Hurley and company [Results] ET's Mary Hart will continue to spit the rumors [Reuters] Out editor in chief Aaron Hicklin wants even more gay readers to read his gay articles and features [Mediaweek] Even with a new gig over at New York Magazine, Jesse Oxfeld can't seem to get away from Gawker. The site has yet to remove Oxfeld's name from their credits page, unless Oxfeld is ghost writing blogging for the site. [Gawker] Earlier: Gawker still has a thing for Jesse Oxfeld

Journalists are the new rappers

The Kenyan government hates journalist. The Village Voice suspended an editor for James Frey-ing their cover story. What next people what next? [NYT]

Riverhead Books: Goodbye Jimmy Frey and soooo long!

After all that was written, said and done, Riverhead Books said no thanks to fake writer James Frey. The man who pissed Oprah off but sold 1.7 million copies of his fake memoirs 'A Million littler pieces" because of the gab queens got the boot due to the controversy surrounding the book. But one has to ask why did it take Riverhead so long to drop the axe on Frey? Our guess: They were hoping to spin the negatives into positives to drive sales other Frey books but realized it could jeopardize their standing as a publishing company. And no book publishing firm wants to be known as the fake writer publishing firm!! Despite the controversy Frey's sales remain strong. "A Million Little Pieces" was in the No. 2 spot on The New York Times' latest paperback non-fiction bestseller list, just behind Elie Wiesel's "Night," which is Winfrey's latest Book Club recommendation. "My Friend Leonard" was in fifth place on the hardcover non-fiction list. [reuters]

We must lie to succeed.......Sometimes

We tried so hard to ignore this story because it's a total media overkill. What could one more blog possibly say about James Frey and his liar liar book that has not been said? Not only is the book selling out, because I mean we all want to read the lies ourselves, but his profile is getting even bigger. Hey he just may get GQ's man of the year!!!! [NYT]

No shit Oprah

Oprah finally woke up and smelled the bullshit cooking in James Frey's book. After calling in on Larry King Live and defending what the rest of America believed to be bullshit Oprah changed sides and questioned Frey on her show and made it clear that she was upset. Said 'O' on her show: "It is difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped ...Butt more importantly I feel that you betrayed millions of readers" Winfrey said to Frey, who wrote the hugely popular A Million Little Pieces. Said 'O' two weeks agon on LKL: "What is relevant is that he was a drug addict ... and stepped out of that history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves". Winfrey said in the surprise call two weeks ago. We wonder is Oprah's book club will ever be the same again? [AP via MSNBC]

James Frey's fellow junkies come to his defense....kinda

One of the men who served with Jim Frey in rehab is not only a state judge in Louisiana, but was convicted of mail fraud in June, so yeah he is credible. Milking his seconds of fame the Judge Alan J. Green said he is the character Miles in Frey's book and shared his thoughts on the book's content. "Over all, I think he gave a pretty accurate description," Judge Green said of the book. But, he added, "there may have been some differences in how I would have described things." The other Junkie offered up by the book's publisher is a guy named Richard who stated: "Mr. Frey's descriptions were "pretty much" accurate, but I am not sure about whether physical confrontations between patients were as prevalent as Mr. Frey describes. I saw a lot of edginess, people getting in each other's faces, but I don't remember any knock-down-drag-outs," he said. See what drug and alcohol abuse does to you? [NYT]

Oprah hopes for a ray of light

Talk show queen and James Frey supporter Oprah Winfrey hopes to make even more money with a planned "Rachel Ray" talk show. Said the cook: "I want the show to be fun -- a lot of laughter," she says. "I'm not interested in chit-chatting with experts or talking about anything serious, and I don't want any crying because that's not me. I want to stay true to myself." No woman no cry! [Reuters]