Ken Baker

It all started when celebrity journalist Ken Baker saw Saddam Hussein getting a dental exam on TV. “I thought, Hmm. You don’t see people getting their mouths examined on TV very often. Then I thought, What just happened? This is weird.” Hussein’s capture, carefully packaged for television and announced just when missing WMDs were becoming a problem for the Bush administration, struck Baker as a Hollywood-style PR stunt–and as executive editor of US Weekly, he’s seen his share of those. Hollywood Hussein: How the U.S. Really Captured Saddam Hussein is his satirical envisioning of a back story in which George Bush hires paparazzi to dig up Hussein, and engages a hotel heiress/celebrity to distract the public from the real news of the day. It’s funny, outrageous, and disconcertingly plausible.

Do you think Bush is a smart guy?
He’s Paris Hilton smart. Paris has taken over Hollywood. Everyone thinks she’s an idiot, but guess what? She made eight million dollars last year. She’s going to double that this year! She’s twenty-four, she has made movies, a television show, she has her own fragrance, her own fashion line. George Bush, I don’t think he’s that much of an idiot. When you look at his political gamesmanship, it’s manipulative, it’s well crafted, it’s staged. It’s Hollywood.

What’s your impression of the Bush Administration’s use of propaganda?
I disagree with his position on abortion and on tax breaks for the rich, but it’s the propagandizing that really bugs me–the spin, and the stealth spin of things. They’re using all the same techniques of marketing and publicity that Hollywood PR firms use, and they pass it off as “leveling with the people.” I wanted people to read my book and think, That was funny, and you know what? That all could have happened. Look at the FEMA situation. If you could have a guy whose biggest job was making sure show horses look pretty, and he’s in charge of our country’s disaster management, then who else is working for them?

In your book, Hussein observes that “Americans will forgive celebrities for anything.”
Absolutely. They have their crises. They get caught cheating, they get arrested for drugs, for throwing telephones at people. So Hollywood PR professionals have to do a lot of clean-up, management, and fixing of situations. The White House is doing the same thing right now, and no one’s really writing about it. That’s the disgusting thing. The mainstream media is so psyched out by the Bush spin machine!

We understand that you’re friends with Paris Hilton. How did that happen?
We’re Hollywood friends, which means it’s in our mutual best interest to know each other. I get exclusive access, and her relationship with US Weekly is really important to her fan base. But it has developed into more than the usual business relationship. She says, “You get me,” and I happen to have a lot of respect for her. She’s a great celebrity, and you have to calibrate the expectations of what that entails–which basically is being fabulous, being beautiful, shocking us, entertaining us, and being true to your brand. I feel like I’ve been able to become a better celebrity journalist for having known her–like a sportswriter traveling with the team on the bus, you get a better appreciation for the game.

Ken Baker will appear at Bar Lurcat September 30 from 7:30-11 p.m. 1624 Harmon Pl., Minneapolis; 612-486-5900.