Bill Maher ain't shy, and to know his humor is not necessarily to love it.  Beware to those at the lashing end of his comedic whip, which is equal parts harsh, funny, and all-too-often true.  Maher is famous (or shall we say infamous) for the raw opinions he vents weekly on his HBO series, Real Time With Bill Maher, of note was his recent grilling of Director, Roman Polanski.

Unlike many stars in Hollywood who have rallied and petitioned in support of Roman Polanski, few outspoken celebrities have taken an outward stance against him.  Maher is decidely and quite publically against Polanski who is currently holed up in Switzerland whilst his fate looms ahead.

"I don't understand why Hollywood defends somebody like that... Why people I respect, like Martin Scorsese and Harvey Weinstein and Whoopi Goldberg . . . How can these people not see something so black and white? You cannot give a 13-year-old girl drugs and [bleep] her in the [bleep] . . ."  Delicately put.

No one is arguing that Polanski isn't a gifted filmmaker, a visionary, a true talent within his field, BUT COME ON!  To stand in support of him in this case is essentially standing in support of, well, as Chris Rock put it to Jay Leno, "Rape. It's rape! Rape is No. 2. It's murder, then rape..." He also pointed out to Leno, ""...we want to capture Osama Bin Laden, and murder him. We don't want to rape him - that would be barbaric."  Ummm, yeah.
 
Why it's taking A-list jokesters such as Maher and Rock to bring the rest of Tinseltown up to moral par reflects the sad fact that Hollywood's moral standard is sometimes completely wiggity-whack.

Gallery info: Bill Maher at the Zombieland Priemiere

Click any thumbnail to view all 6 photos in the gallery:

The death of film icon Patrick Swayze definitely left its mark on Hollywood. Many celebrities who were friends and colleagues to the late star have spoken out about his death and all of them are saying quite beautiful things.

Patrick's Ghost co-star Whoopi Goldberg said him, "Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can't ever repay. I believe in Ghost's message, so he'll always be near."

C. Thomas Howell, who was Patrick's co-star in The Outsiders, Red Dawn and Grandview, U.S.A. had much to say about his special friend: "I have always had a special place in my heart for Patrick. While I was fortunate enough to work with him in three films, it was our passion for horses that forged a friendship between us that I treasure to this day. Not only did we lose a fine actor today, I lost my older Outsiders brother. My heart goes out to not only his entire family, but all his fans as well."

Patrick's two most famous female leads also spoke out about his death. Jennifer Grey, who played opposite Patrick in the enormous hit Dirty Dancing released a statement saying, "Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace. Gorgeous and strong, he was a real cowboy with a tender heart. He was fearless and insisted on always doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified. When I think of him, I think of being in his arms when we were kids, dancing, practicing the lift in the freezing lake, having a blast doing this tiny little movie we thought no one would ever see.  My heart goes out to his wife and childhood sweetheart, Lisa Niemi, to his mom, Patsy, and to the rest of their family."

His other lady, Demi Moore, his Ghost co-star, said, "Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives. In the words of Sam to Molly, 'It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.' I will miss you."

As a huge fan of Patrick Swayze's for most of my life I'm still pretty much in shock over his death. I mean, I know he looked frail and quite sickly, but it's still incredibly sad. I think we all know what this means though. Who is coming over for the Patrick Swayze marathon? I'm thinking The Outsiders, Dirty Dancing and Ghost. We can sit down and miss Patrick together as we drown our sorrows in ice cream.

Gallery Info: Patrick Swayze photos.

Click any thumbnail to view all 16 photos in the gallery:

The comedian took to the pulpit in front of the crowd of famous faces. Sykes teased President Barack Obama about the numerous shirtless pictures of him in the media, his basketball games and managed to touch upon issues of race and politics with an edge that only Wanda can deliver.

Girlfriend did not pull any punches and I'm not doing them justice here in this blog post. You'll have to watch them for yourselves.

It was an impressive array of celebrities in the audience, but none whose smiles were bigger than the President and First Lady Michelle Obama.



Click the continue reading link below to view the second part to the video.

Gallery Info: Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Wanda Sykes, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Chace Crawford, Matthew Settle, Tyra Banks, Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Miranda Cosgrove, Glenn Close, Matthew Modine, Brad Hall, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt, Bradley Cooper, Eva Longoria, Gordon Ramsey, Ludacris, Kal Penn, Kyle MacLachlan, Mariska Hargitay, Al Sharpton, Richard Belzer, Kristi Yamaguchi, Amber Tamblyn, Whoopi Goldberg, Alicia Keys, Dwayne Johnson, Donatella Versace, Jon Bon Jovi, Katie Couric, Dule Hill, Elizabeth Banks, BJ Novak, Meghan McClain, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Christian Slater, Rashida Jones, Ed Westwick, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Jason Wu, Barbara Walters, Sting, Trudie Styler, Natalie Portman, Samuel L Jackson, Biz Markie, Connie Britton, Padma Lakshmi and Forest Whitaker at the 2009 White House Correpondents Dinner.

Click any thumbnail to view all 125 photos in the gallery:

As if it's not enough for these folks to be given kudos in a splashy Time magazine cover and article that explains exactly why they're the 100 most influential people in the world, they all get to enjoy a big party celebrating that fact. But that's OK, because I guess they've earned it. Or at least I know my girl Suze Orman has.

Among those listed, new talk show host Jimmy Fallon was all smiles in his trim tuxedo, Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg represented for The View. They even let Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck show up to play with the big girls.

And Claire Danes was psyched to be there. But not enough to give us a second peek at her nipple. Too bad.

At a party for the world's most easily influenced people: Ali Lohan. Kidding! But for reaslies. She's mighty impressionable.

Gallery Info: Jimmy Fallon, Stella McCartney, Sanjay Gupta, Claire Danes, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Barbara Walters, David Lauren, Lauren Bush, Leslie Mann, Arianna Huffington, Sherri Shepherd, Suze Orman, Galye King, Hugh Dancy, John Legend, Ann Coulter, Patrica Clarkson, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Van Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Favreau, Judd Apatow, MIA and Diane Sawyer at the Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World party.

Click any thumbnail to view all 60 photos in the gallery:

'View' Shocker: Whoopi Goldberg Smokes The Pot [Defamer]
'American Idol' Auditions Finally End; Still No Star In Sight [B-Side Blog]
All 10 Super Bowl Movie Trailers In One Convenient, Nostalgia-Molesting Blog Post [Best Week Ever]
Ricky hates Ebola and Posh! [Lainey Gossip]
Looks Like I Have to Keep My Day Job [Evil Beet Gossip]
Why The 100K Dress Isn't Over [The Daily Beast]
Karissa and Kristina Shannon are Super Bowl Whores [Yeeeah!]
'SNL' Taunts Blind Governor, New Jersey [Pop Eater]
Shout Out To Serena & Vanessa Williams [Concrete Loop]
Rachel McAdams filming Sherlock Holmes in NYC [ICYDK]
Naomi & Liev: Bicycles Built For Coo [Jezebel]
Bailed Out Bankers To Be Hauled Before Congress [The Huffington Post]
Comcast Broadcasts Super-Porn [IDLYITW]

This year, Hugh Jackman is taking on the daunting task of hosting the 81st Annual Academy Awards. The past ten years, the task of Master (and/or Mistress) of Ceremonies has been filled by comedians.

Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres have all taken to the stage to entertain Academy Award audiences. This time, it's Hugh's turn to give the job a try.

Let's hope he keeps those high-kicks coming! But until then, we're paying tribute to past hosts with a look back through our photo gallery of past hosts.

Click on any photo to see the full gallery of Hugh Jackman, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres.

Click any photo to check out all 35+ photos of Oscar hosts in the gallery!

-Ashlee Simpson and her short husband Pete Wentz are bringing their hair product over to guest-star as a felonious Bonnie and Clyde-type couple on CSI: NY. God, poor Gary Sinise. It's bad enough an actor of his caliber had to take on a TV job to pay the mortage on the mansion but now he has to put up with lame guest-stars as ratings gimmicks. Then again, it's CSI:NY. They don't even have the cheese factor of a David Caruso.

-Body-conscious Brooke Shields will not let anything get between her and her Lipstick Jungle. Seriously she's not letting that show die. It's not going to be on NBC anymore, but executives are apparently looking at getting it on Bravo or Lifetime. "We have not struck the set," NBC exec Angela Bromstadt says. "But everybody is a professional and everyone knows the reality." Now it's just sad. Kim Raver is too hot of an actress to be outshone by Flip This House. Janet from 90210, however, should fit right in.

-Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 100th annual National Board of Review ceremony the other night and called that drunkass Josh Brolin by his dad's name - James. "That's how f--ing famous I am!" Brolin joked, adding: "I just whispered in her ear, 'What's the matter with you?' She said, 'I don't know -- I'm high!'" Whoopi apologized later. Who give a shit? The other night he was at an award show drunk off his ass and screaming about all the people he hates. Oh sorry, Josh, you were sober enough to notice this time. Please. Whoopi, you just do your thing.

Sure she's irritating, but that doesn't mean she should die. Right? Anyone? The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck reportedly receives more death threats that anyone else on The View, according to co-host Whoopi Goldberg. That must mean they're backing the mail truck up and just opening the rear door so they just cascade in a tsunami of mail into her dressing room.

"Politically we could not be more opposite, but I respect her tremendously. Truth is, we could not have a dialogue without Elisabeth. It's not that we have to agree, the important thing is that we have the conversation," Whoopi said at a panel discussion on Monday night.

Truth. Heady political discourse (*eye roll*) is always good. And that show probably wouldn't have the ratings it does if Eiisabeth didn't chime in every so often with something designed to make liberal people clench their teeth and send her another death threat.

Click on any image in the gallery for more pictures of Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

-Britney Spears and her legal team are doing their best to get the pop star cleared of her charges related to a hit-and-run incident. Claiming that the "Oops" singer isn't yet ready to stand trial, Michael Flanagan requested a stay in the proceedings. "[Spears] is currently unable to participate meaningfully in this matter," he writes, citing her current conservatorship.

-Elisabeth Hasselbeck is frustrated with the political leanings of her co-stars on the View during this presidential election. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the bubbly blonde is upset. However, the source revealed, "It's not as bad as during the Rosie [O'Donnell] era." Bad...don't you mean glorious?

-Jessica Szohr of Gossip Girl is making like a real-life Manhattan socialite, caught mixing and mingling with Roberta Armani, Zani Gugelman and model Eugenia Silva at Bagatelle, says Page Six. The $3,000 tab racked up by the table was picked up by the mystery man who flirted with the CW star all night.

-The star of The Hills who has recently relocated, just landed an endorsement deal. Divine Rights Denim chose the reality television fixture to be the new face of their jeans. Director of sales for the company said, "[Audrina Patridge] has that flavor to her." By "flavor," she's obviously referring to the fact that Audrina's skin looks like he soaks overnight in beef bouillon to maintain that delightful fake tan of hers.

-Joan Rivers is furious that AOL censored a comedy routine she did with her daughter for myhollywood.com. In her bit, Joan said that Tom Hanks has "Nazi Germany" hair, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has a Hitler mustache if she doesn't wax and referred to Heidi Klum as a "Super Nazi." In response to having her segment booted, Joan told Page Six, "I was shocked that the suits at AOL have no humor."

-Exes John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston are back in contact after breaking up only weeks ago. A source told the Daily Mail that the Friends star drunk-dialed the singer, who was happy to hear from his ex. Jennifer probably heard that Whoopi Goldberg was moving in on her turf and panicked.