John Rich Sounds Off on AIG Bailouts and Declares That the USA 'Beat Hitler’s Ass' and Will Save the World Again | Jessica Stroup Wants to Be in 'Gossip Girl,' Shenae Grimes Sports a Baby Belly Bump?! | Scott Weiland Loses It While Lil’ John Has a Jessica Simpson Moment
It’s no secret that the United States is amid a problematic period, but country crooner John Rich wants you to know that we’ll bounce back -- in a big way.
"Everybody knows America's in tough shape right now, but I can tell you another thing. We beat Hitler's ass, we beat Imperial Japan. The United States has saved the world a couple of times and nobody argues that fact," Rich told Tarts at Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards. "But we will persevere, we will get through it. Everybody's going to pull together and keep working hard and you’re going to look up one of these days and the clouds are going to break it's gonna be sunny again. But right now every American has to be vigilant, you need to read the news, you need to listen to your friends and neighbors, you need to talk about what's going on and nobody needs to BS anybody."
VIDEO: Watch John Rich's latest music video on Fox Nation.
But speaking of the news, Rich doesn’t exactly agree with what stems from the majority of news outlets.
"There is bias in this country and its okay to have your own opinion and to pick a side if you want to. But I don’t think what's going on right now is a political thing; I think it's an American thing. I don't care what side of the fence you’re on, nobody is popping open a bottle of champagne toasting the news every night to what they’re seeing going on with some of this absolute nonsense," he added. "As a guy that grew up in a trailer park in Texas, it really offends me some of the things that I see."
More specifically, Rich is mighty peeved with the current bailout baloney.
"The Government signing over 200 billion dollars with no strings attached to AIG and then they bonus the hell out of each other, yeah that's a problem," Rich exploded. "Can I get a ‘hell yeah’ on that one? People right now are going ‘damn straight’, I promise you.’
Also showing his sense of American pride was fellow country veteran Trace Adkins who performed at the show with the West Point Glee Club and is heavily involved with the Wounded Warrior Project. But despite an apparent drop in patriotism since 2001, Adkins insisted that country crooners haven’t faltered in their duties.
"In country music we haven’t slipped, we are still just as dedicated and available to the troops as we’ve ever been," he said. "I’m proud to be part of this community; we do make sure we’re here for our troops."
Jessica Stroup Wants to Be in 'Gossip Girl,' Shenae Grimes Sports a Baby Belly Bump?!
While there has been a few whispers that some of the "90210" stars may "cross-over" into Melrose Place, starlet Jessica Stroup has high-hopes of moving into another of CW’s hit television shows.
"I want to be on 'Gossip Girl,' I said from the start that maybe my character could take a Spring break to New York or something," she told Tarts on Thursday while joining Nature’s skin-care brand to announce "Return to Origins Recycling Program" in celebration of Earth Month.
The itty-bitty beauty also recommends embracing Mother Nature to get in tip-top shape for summer.
"I love running in the mornings; just get out in the sand. The resistance in the sand is going to make that work-out twice as hard," Stroup advised.
Speaking of "90210" starlets and their bodies, is there something that Shenae Grimes isn’t telling us? We couldn’t help but notice that the 19-year-old was kinda sporting a bit of a belly (baby???) bump while attending the "Valentino" documentary premiere party in Los Angeles last week. Hmmm, we’re assuming it was just a bad angle but we’ll leave it open to interpretation. …
Scott Weiland Loses It While Lil’ John Has a Jessica Simpson Moment
Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland certainly raised a lot of eyebrows last weekend when he turned up to the Float and 207 Grand Opening at the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego looking less than hip n’ happening. So is the self-confessed former drug addict engaging in other bad habits?
According to insiders, Weiland was totally "jittery and couldn’t sit still."
"People would ask him questions (a simple ‘how are you’ or someone saying hello) or ask him to stand somewhere for a photo and it would take him a while to process these minute requests," said our inside source, adding that his performance was amazing but the second he came off-stage he was acting very, very odd again.
However Weiland wasn’t the only musician causing heads to turn. We’re told Lil' Jon hit up the Hard Rock’s restaurant before his performance but when he saw that the roasted chicken he’d ordered came with gravy, the rapper ordered BBQ sauce. When the BBQ sauce came out, Lil Jon then had to ask what the difference was between that and the gravy. Hmmm, you’d think that someone from Georgia would know that and a friend was later overheard explaining. So just as Jessica Simpson once wondered if it's tuna or chicken, the 38-year-old learned a life lesson in the difference between ketchup and gravy.
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