Currently Booming: 'RHOC' Brooks Ayers and Ex Vicki Gunvalson Sought Help

Currently Booming: Brian Williams Already Throwing His Weight Around at MSNBC

(Photo: Twitter)

Brian Williams has only been back on the air for a few short weeks and already he is making his presence felt behind the scenes at MSNBC. Williams, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, caught a break earlier this year when the network decided to shift him over to the ratings-challenged MSNBC rather than flat out firing him. Williams was sidelined with a six month suspension after being caught embellishing several of his news reports and rather than returning with a bit of humility, his known ego is still front and center.

According to a report by Page Six, "Brian has been going to town at MSNBC, He’s dictating personnel changes.” Pat Burkey — Williams’ executive producer at NBC’s “Nightly News” who remained when Williams was suspended and Lester Holt got the gig — was relegated this week to executive producer in charge of afternoon news coverage at MSNBC. “Pat’s going with Brian, but it’s being looked at like a demotion,” said a source.

That situation is only one example of Williams insisting that MSNBC cater to his demands and his co-workers are reportedly furious because it has cost several people their jobs. Are you surprised that the network kept Williams on board at all?  It seems an incredibly tough task to expect a credibility-challenged former anchor to save a network that itself is known for credibility issues, doesn't it?

Currently Booming: Anna Duggar Reportedly Living in Florida With Parents- Will She Leave Josh for Good?

(Photo: Instagram)

It sounds like hunkering down with the Duggar clan was a little too overwhelming for Anna Duggar, the young wife of Josh Duggar. Since her husband admitted to paying for sex via Ashley Madison (a bombshell that came just months after he also admitted to molesting his sisters) she has quietly taken her kids and moved in with her parents in Florida. Apparently, Anna's parents' home is kind of like a retreat for the young mom of four who is left to pick up the pieces after being deeply humiliated by Josh.

While the family supported Anna bringing her four kids to spend time with them, a new report by In Touch claims that her parents will ultimately encourage her to work out the problems in her marriage with Josh. He is currently in a religious rehab of some kind, seeking help for his addiction to sex and Anna does intend to eventually visit. 

“She’s looking forward to seeing him in a month or two when the first spousal visitation is allowed. She just prays that he gets the help he needs so they can go on with their life together, despite everything he did to her.”

I have to admit, I'm actually pretty surprised that the controlling Duggars even allowed Anna to take the kids and go even temporarily. While she is supposedly playing the role of dutiful wife, as demanded by them, this girl obviously does have a bit of a backbone if she is challenging them on anything. Do you think that she will dare to actually leave Josh for good?

Currently Booming: Brian Williams Debuts on MSNBC

(Photo: Twitter)

Brian Williams made a somewhat triumphant return to the anchor desk yesterday when he took over the afternoon coverage on MSNBC. Williams first task is to report on Pope Francis' visit to the United States which means that he was brought in the door with a decent breaking story to kick off this phase of his career.

By now everyone knows that the former NBC Nightly News anchor sat out a six-month suspension for lying on air about his active involvement in several of the stories that he was hired to report on. While Williams never fully admitted to lying it is obvious that he had developed quite a pattern of "misremembering". While many insiders believed that he would and should ultimately be fired from NBC, the powers-that-be opted to reassign him to the ratings-challenged MSNBC instead.

In other words, this guy with serious credibility issues has been brought in to help save a network that also has credibility issues. That seems like a pretty tough task to master, doesn't it? We know that Williams is scheduled to handle any breaking news between the hours of 3-5 p.m. weekdays on MSNBC. Do you support NBC giving him an opportunity to redeem himself and if so, do you think that it's a realistic possibility that he can do so and give MSNBC a boost as well? Or is his coming back just a pipe dream?

You can check out Williams first broadcast on MSNBC right here.

Brian Williams 'Misremembering' is Limiting MSNBC's Katrina Anniversary Coverage

If you have watched any news coverage over the last few days then surely you realize that his weekend marks the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Back in 2005 the monster storm wrecked havoc on New Orleans and left the ninth ward only slightly intact. Most news coverage has sent anchors back to the once-devastated area to see how things have been rebuilt and sadly, in many cases, how they have not. When NBC opened a full investigation of Brian Williams reporting they quickly realized that he had a bad habit of "misremembering" many prominent stories and embellishing to make himself part of the drama. This included his coverage of Katrina and MSNBC's programming is now affected by that.

The network has struggled with ratings and credibility issues over the last few years and while some sweeping changes have been made in recent months, they are also stuck with Williams. Rather than NBC firing their fallen evening news anchor they instead have shuffled him over to MSNBC, which quite frankly, won't help their credibility issues.

According to a report by Page Six, "MSNBC is sensitive about Brian Williams and his reporting on Katrina. None of their anchors are there this weekend. Brian’s mid-September start date was carefully scheduled to avoid the Katrina anniversary, among other considerations.” Williams had spoken of seeing a dead body float past his hotel, the Ritz-Carlton in the French Quarter. He said that gangs had “overrun” the place and claimed that he got dysentery and the hotel had no medicine. But then-manager Myra ­DeGersdorff said the Ritz-Carlton was secure, there had been a medical unit on-site, and told the Washington Post, “Maybe he misremembered . . . It wasn’t impossible he could have encountered a body, but I don’t think it was in the French Quarter."

Supposedly the network is already ticked that they are stuck with Williams. Having to not report on such a significant story in American history has to be making the already bad blood even worse, don't you think?

Anna Duggar Likely to Take the Blame for Husband Josh Duggar's Cheating

Once the scandal first broke online it didn't take Josh Duggar long to admit that he had indeed cheated on his wife of seven years, Anna Duggar, while using an Ashley Madison account. The 27-year-old has spent the last few years peddling family values and pretending to be a Christian role model while poor Anna has delivered four babies in rapid succession. She has remained silent since her husband admitted to living a fairly active double life and insiders are now saying that regardless of what Duggar has done, divorce simply won't be an option.

According to a new report by People, "Anna Duggar will likely not be leaving her husband Josh despite his admitted infidelity, a source with ties to the family tells PEOPLE. “Anna will not leave him,” says the source. “As with her in-laws, she is turning more to her faith than ever, she and Josh are probably praying around the clock right now, I would assume.”  The source says that from their knowledge of the Duggar family, Josh and Anna, “no way is she leaving him” – and says it would not come as a surprise if “on some level” Anna tries to “absorb some of the blame.”

“Maybe not publicly, ever, but privately, there will be some suggestion of whether or not she should have been more aware of the pressures Josh was under, of the issues he was facing, and how she could have better counseled him or helped him,” says the source. “She is fully and permanently committed to her marriage and her children. And she’ll have the support of Jim Bob and Michelle and everyone else in their circle in terms of staying with him and making this work,” continues the source. “Divorce is not even something that will be discussed.”

Last spring Duggar admitted to molesting four of his younger sisters well over a decade ago and at the time his wife spoke out professing her support for him. As horrific as that situation was, Duggar hadn't done anything directly to Anna to cause her pain. This situation is entirely different and it's hard to imagine that she is being so forgiving of the hurt and public scrutiny that his cheating has brought to them.

While the Duggar family will no doubt push Anna to stay married, do you think that she is having second thoughts now? Is Anna trapped in this marriage and if so do you think that there's any chance that she'll break free of the controlling Duggar family?

Brian Williams Off Suspension, Heading to MSNBC in September

Brian Williams six month suspension without pay from NBC quietly ended last week. Back in February the popular news man was removed from the NBC Nightly News anchor spot because he was caught and later admitted to embellishing a story about being shot down in a plane in Iraq.  The network imposed a six month suspension and when they did some digging NBC turned up several other instances where Williams was caught being dishonest. His lies eventually cost him the coveted top seat at the network but Williams somehow still does have a job waiting for him over at the always-struggling MSNBC.

Rather than firing him outright, NBC news honcho Andy Lack instead decided to create a position for Williams at the sister-network. Beginning in September he will be in charge of breaking news segments for MSNBC. While Williams should be thanking his lucky stars that he has a job, rumor has it that MSNBC is none to happy to be stuck with him. The network's ratings are dismal and they are struggling with credibility issues as a whole so bringing in Williams, with his reputation in shambles hardly seems the best move.

Still, Lack is hoping that Williams presence will somehow not only steady the ratings, but also prompt people to tune in to watch his exclusive coverage of important breaking events. Do you think that Williams still has that kind of power? Or will his credibility always be called into question after his past chronic lying on camera?