• The Golden Globe Awards will introduce a TV special achievement trophy at next month's telecast and name it after its first recipient -- comedic icon Carol Burnett. On Tuesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the Carol Burnett Award -- the small-screen version of the group's film trophy, the Cecil B. DeMille Award -- will annually honor someone "who has made outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen." The first Carol Burnett Award will, fittingly, go to Burnett, a five-time Golden Globe winner who was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, The Carol Burnett Show, which ran for 11 years and received 25 Emmy Awards. The 85-year-old Burnett will be on hand to accept the award during the Jan. 6 ceremony on NBC. In a statement, association President Meher Tatna hailed Burnett for breaking barriers while making people laugh. In addition to her work in TV, theater and movies, Burnett has established scholarships around the country, including the Carol Burnett Musical Theatre Competition at the University of California, Los Angeles, her alma mater. She also founded the Carrie Hamilton Foundation to honor the memory of her daughter, who died in 2002.
• White House counselor Kellyanne Conway teed off Tuesday on Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calling her "a 29-year-old congresswoman who doesn't seem to know much about anything." Conway's assessment of Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist who has become a target of Republican ire even before being sworn in, came a day after Ocasio-Cortez accused outgoing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly of "cowardice." On Monday, Ocasio-Cortez called for Kelly to apologize for an October 2017 incident in which he called Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., an "empty barrel" and accused her of grandstanding at a public event in Florida by taking credit for securing federal funding for a new building. Video of the event showed his criticism to be inaccurate. When Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., wrote in a tweet Monday that Kelly owed Wilson "a long overdue apology," Ocasio-Cortez agreed, tweeting that Kelly "was straight up exposed for lying about @RepWilson in comments aimed at discrediting her," adding that refusing "to do so isn't a sign of strength -- it's cowardice." During an appearance on Fox News' America's Newsroom with Bill Hemmer, Conway defended Kelly, calling Ocasio-Cortez's comments a "slur" against the retired Marine Corps general. Speaking later to reporters at the White House, Conway dubbed Ocasio-Cortez "one of your new favorite flavors in Congress."
A Section on 12/12/2018