The Daily Tonic: The Berlin Wall 2.0

With news that he’s being lined up to take the top job at Ofcom, what can we expect from a broadcast regulator run by someone with such delicate sensibilities as Paul “Double Cunt” Dacre?

During his time at the Mail, the paper turned on Cherie Blair so vehemently that Dacre had to deny it was down to any sort of personal vendetta, insisting he had no agenda other than “good journalism”. But, behind the scenes, one of the reasons it’s always been suspected that Dacre had it in for her was that she once dared to breastfeed in front of him at Chequers.

In light of the latest Trump tax return revelations, today we want to know all about celebrities and their cash. Who are the big skinflints and who are the big spendthrifts? Do any have unusually modest tastes? Has any ever shown you a smart money-saving tip?

Today’s Question: Which celebrities are weird with their cash?

Tell your tales of famous people’s finances to us at hello@popbitch.com and we’ll send a little Popbitch goody bag to our favourites.

RW writes:
“I went to a Marilyn Manson album launch in LA in the 90s (a proper launch party, where the band were actually there). I was standing with a cheesy popstar and an older lady came over and sweetly told the popstar how much she enjoyed their music.

“Immediately one of the band came over, in full goth attire and said to me (very politely) ‘I’m sorry. My mother is SO embarrassing.'”

IB writes:
“Your story about David Hasselhoff’s autobiography brought to mind a deeply repressed memory of working as venue staff during his one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Perhaps due to a lack of content, every single one of his on-stage anecdotes would then be followed by a flashily made VT of him saying the same anecdote several years earlier, intercut with Baywatch slo-mo footage.

“The crowning moment was him repeating the same claim about single handedly bringing about the fall of the Berlin Wall, then getting stage hands to wheel out a model Berlin Wall that he stood on and subsequently kicked apart while crooning ‘Looking For Freedom’.”

AJ writes:
“I can’t believe no-one mentioned Grace Jones’ autobiography. There’s so many stories in it that it’s hard to separate the real from the half-truths, and the total bullshit.

“There’s a great bit where she claims she’s never late because she’s always late, so anyone who expects her to be on time is wrong.

“She also sang with Pavarotti very close to the day his father died. In rehearsals he made her stop because she had the same voice as his father and it made him cry.”

All ten tracks in today’s music quiz are by bands that contain siblings. You don’t need to identify the siblings individually, you just need to know the name of the band they’re in and the song of theirs we’ve included.

There are a couple of tricky titles in this one that might feel like traps, so just be warned. Otherwise, here you go…

[Ten songs; twenty points]

This Gawker investigation is worth a re-read now that we know Trump once made a $70,000 tax deduction for hair styling.
[Read on Gawker]

Steptoe And Son Night Fever
[Watch on Twitter]