Yesterday's news, brought to you by Newsday

Posted By Blake Hounshell Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 4:59 PM Share

Newsday blogger John Riley slams John McCain's (stupid) new ad, which rips Barack Obama as a "celebrity" à la Britney Spears and Paris Hilton:

Anyone with even a vague sense of pop culture knows that Britney and Paris are yesterday's news. Here's a link to Forbes' Celebrity 100. Paris and Britney don't even make the list any more.

Instead, the top 10, in order: Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce Knowles, David Beckham, Johnny Depp, Jay-Z, The Police, JK Rowling, Brad Pitt.

So, um, The Police are today's news? Somehow, I don't quite picture Sting being an effective tool with which to mock Barack.

EXPLORE:CULTURE, DECISION '08

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CIGRAINGER

6:38 PM ET

July 31, 2008

Did you forget the massive

Did you forget the massive reunion tour?

BLAKE HOUNSHELL

8:05 AM ET

August 1, 2008

no, but...

... I hardly think that a reunion tour qualifies as them as today's hottest celebs.

CIGRAINGER

6:34 PM ET

August 1, 2008

It's one of the highest

It's one of the highest grossing tours of all time, with multiple 75k+ fan shows, headlining festivals for two summers including Isle of Wight and Bonnaroo, and playing at music awards shows like the Grammy's (which is how they kicked it off). Maybe not tabloid-celebs, as Sting's tantra seems pretty tame nowadays, but they're one of the hottest tickets in the world at the moment.

Just because they're not drug addled, sexually deviant, and/or self-destructive doesn't make them any less of celebrities. Britney and Paris are more public mockeries than 'celebrities'.

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