Salon.com > dennis rodman

Trump, rejoice! “Celebrity Apprentice” ratings slightly up

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:20:00 +0000

After Donald Trump's "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" got off to a weaker-than-usual start this season, we speculated that his political advocacy might have damaged the series (on which he doesn't appear, much, but for the very beginning and the end of each two-hour episode).

Instead, after Trump's speech at CPAC at the end of last week, in which the real-estate magnate took Mitt Romney to task for not talking enough about his success, "Celebrity Apprentice" improved from the previous week both overall and in the prized 18-49 demographic. Indeed, the series won the 10 p.m. hour among that demographic by the largest margin of the season against "The Mentalist."

With just about everything else at NBC flatlining, Donald Trump -- and competitors including Dennis Rodman and Gary Busey -- shall stay employed for weeks to come.

Dennis Rodman is waiting for the new pope in a popemobile and flower coat

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:10:00 +0000

It is becoming clearer and clearer that Dennis Rodman, the self-appointed harbinger of world peace, is really just the harbinger of Dennis Rodman. TMZ reports that Rodman is currently in Rome awaiting an unlikely audience with the not-yet-elected pope, planning to ride around the holy city in his own popemobile (The AP reports that the vehicle is stuck in northern Italy due to snow). Gawker notes that he's also donning an impressive flower coat:

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Rodman hopes to help Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana become the first black pope. His favorite pope, however, is John Paul, whom he describes to TMZ as "a pimp."

Rodman arrives in Rome weeks after his trip to North Korea, where he became the first American to have an audience with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Of the dictator, whom he sees as an all-around nice guy, Rodman told TMZ that "They say this leader is Hitler or something. I mean, the guy is only 28 years old...and I think whatever happens happens."

Dennis Rodman plans to meet the new pope

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Only a few weeks after his questionable attempt to spread world peace via bringing "basketball diplomacy" to North Korea, eccentric 90s-era basketball star Dennis Rodman has announced an ambitious follow-up: an audience with the new pope. Rodman, who came back to the U.S. singing praises of one of the most reviled men on Earth, Kim Jong Un, told TMZ, "I want to be anywhere in the world that I'm needed ... I want to spread a message of peace and love throughout the world."

Rodman is on his way to Rome and lands tonight, and says his "people" are in touch with contacts at the Vatican. But assuming that the Vatican is, indeed, interested in entertaining Rodman (a source told TMZ that it's not), logistics are going to be Rodman's first hurdle: The papal conclave just started its voting process, making tonight the earliest the new pope could elected be elected--though due to the lengthy process and voting requirements, even that's unlikely.

Richardson: Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic attempt in North Korea is “healthy”

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Former New Mexico governor and U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson has visited North Korea eight times over the past two decades and become one of the most outspoken American thinkers on the hermit kingdom. In an early visit in 1996, he helped negotiate the release of an imprisoned American citizen, and in January he toured the country on a controversial mission with Google chief Eric Schmidt.

The country is in the news this week for threatening a preemptive nuclear strike on the United States after new U.N. sanctions, and after Dennis Rodman's own bizarre visit. We asked Richardson how seriously we should take North Korea's saber-rattling, and if Rodman's visit helps or hurts U.S. relations with the autocratic country.

How worried should we be about this North Korea threat of a preemptive nuclear strike after the U.N. Security Council passed new sanctions? Should we be scared?

My view is that it’s typical North Korean bluster, however the intensity is the strongest I’ve seen, so I do think we have to be cautious and be prepared.

Dennis Rodman thrown out of a bar for yelling about what a great guy Kim Jong Un is

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:10:00 +0000

The bizarre story of the bizarre ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman visiting North Korean dictator Kim Jon Un just gets, well ... more bizarre. Rodman, who has returned from North Korea from a "basketball diplomacy" mission, came back to the United States singing praises of one of the most reviled men in the world, calling him "an awesome guy."

Now the New York Post reports that on Sunday Rodman was so vocal about his friendship with the Communist leader that he was thrown out of the Time Hotel in Midtown. “He was at the bar at Serafina for three hours,” one source told the Post. He continued:

“He kept saying what a nice guy Kim is, and how Kim just wants to talk to President Obama about basketball. He was waving around a signed copy of the dictator’s huge manifesto, telling everyone they should read it.”

Added the witness, “Dennis was making a total jerk of himself. He wouldn’t leave, and he wouldn’t let anyone talk to him about shutting up, or what an oppressive country North Korea is. Eventually he had to leave the bar because the bartender was starting to get [bleep]ed-off.”

What other athletes might make U.S. ambassadors?

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:22:00 +0000

They're officially best friends now, and maybe it really will last forever. Together, the nose ring-wearing, cross-dressing former basketball star and the North Korean strongman — er, boy — just might change the world.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

They were certainly a pair of crazy, fun loving guys during their time together in Pyongyang last week. Dennis Rodman showed Kim Jong Un some of the finer points of basketball, and the North Korean ruler was so impressed he raided the country's stock of fine food and drink for a party that lasted well into the night.

"Guess what, I love him," the clearly smitten Rodman said. "The guy's really awesome."

So is Rodman, if only because becoming a diplomat without portfolio got him back in the limelight once again without having to put on a wedding dress. Let the rest of the cast on "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice" draw up plans for tasty meatballs. Rodman has far bigger things to do.

He wants President Barack Obama to give Kim a call and sort things out. Kim's a busy man, what with hosting basketball games and tending to his country's nuclear ambitions.

Imagine, though, if others follow his path. Here's what they might have to say after their own trips to the Hermit Kingdom:

Must see morning clip: Dennis Rodman on Kim Jong-Un: “He’s just a great guy”

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Dennis Rodman, aka the Worm, on a missing on "basktball diplomacy" has become the first American to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, the leader of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Rodman's opinion of him?: "I love him, the guy is awesome," he told reporters last week.

Rodman elaborated on his opinions in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on "The Week" yesterday. "I don’t condone what he does. But as a person to person, he’s my friend. What I did was history. He’s a friend to me. That’s about it,” said Rodman.

He also returned with a message from the dictator who has threatened to destroy the United States: "He asked me to give Obama something to say and do one thing. He wants Obama to do one thing, call him."

Dennis Rodman: Kim Jung Un is “great”

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:17:00 +0000

Fresh off a bizarre tour of North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters and Vice magazine, former NBA all star Dennis Rodman has quickly become the authoritarian regime's most high profile apologist in the U.S. and perhaps the world.

North Korea is known for its gulags, concentration camps, mass starvation, oppressive control of every aspect of its peoples' lives, nuclear war mongering, all in support of its cartoonish dictator's lavish life, but Rodman insists we simply don't undersand Kim Jong Un.

The kingdom is notoriously insulated and closed off to outsiders, putting Rodman in the unlikely position of being an expert on the country, by virtue of the amount of time he's spent there. "There is no one in the CIA who can tell you more about Kim Jong Un personally than Dennis Rodman," ABC News military analyst remarked. "And that is scary."

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" Sunday in wraparound sunglasses and a blazer with dollar bill prints, Rodman told host George Stephanopoulos that he considers Kim Jong Un a "friend" and that "he's a great guy, just a great guy."

Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea to engage in “basketball diplomacy”

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:50:00 +0000

Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman heads to North Korea today, the land of sexy leaders and a hostile communist regime. The eccentric 90s-era star will be the second high-profile person to visit the country since Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, who visited in January; the trip comes only two weeks after North Korea perform an underground nuclear test against the UN's ban of atomic and missile activity.

But this has not deterred Rodman or his team, which include three members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a film crew from Vice, who plans to use the footage for a series on HBO in April. Vice founder Shane Smith told the AP: "At a time when tensions between the two countries are running high, it's important to keep lines of cultural communication open, no matter how non-traditional those channels may be."

"It's important to show North Koreans that America is not their enemy, and playing a game we both love is a step in the right direction," he added.

Salon.com > dennis rodman

Trump, rejoice! “Celebrity Apprentice” ratings slightly up

Dennis Rodman is waiting for the new pope in a popemobile and flower coat

Dennis Rodman plans to meet the new pope

Top 5 investigative videos of the week: When drones attack!

Richardson: Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic attempt in North Korea is “healthy”

Dennis Rodman thrown out of a bar for yelling about what a great guy Kim Jong Un is

What other athletes might make U.S. ambassadors?

Must see morning clip: Dennis Rodman on Kim Jong-Un: “He’s just a great guy”

Dennis Rodman: Kim Jung Un is “great”

Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea to engage in “basketball diplomacy”