A major manufacturer and purveyor of celebrity, E!, has published an account of celebrity Janet Jackson's enema.

How celebrity is maintained

Just think of the number of people who believe that this would be worth public attention. The item is credited to Marcus Errico, who cites a Newsweek story. Did Mr Errico discover the story by reading Newsweek? Or did someone at Ms Jackson's office take the time to write a press release about it, and then, to transmit it to reporters at E! (and, perhaps, other publicity outlets)? In any event: at least one editor at E! made a decision to publish the item. That makes at least two (but very likely many more) working, paid media professionals who believe that when a pop star squirts coffee into her rectum, it's news.

The only surprising thing is that, evidently, there is no product tie-in: no mention of which brand of coffee—Starbucks? Chock-Full-O-Nuts? Folger's?—has been endorsed by Ms Jackson as her preferred enema.

[ Thanks to Wanna Write? for the pointer to this item. ]

This brings to mind the late Anthony Newley's remark about a former wife: «Joan Collins is a commodity who would sell her own bowel movement.»