Brian Williams won’t be buying Lana Del Rey’s next album.
In an email to Gawker chief Nick Denton, the NBC Nightly News anchor slammed Del Rey’s “Saturday Night Live” performance last weekend as “..one of worst outings in SNL history.”
Denton promptly plastered Williams' email on his site — ruining NBC PR’s Martin Luther King Day and sending them scrambling to scrub the internet for traces of the newsman’s blunt remarks.
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A flak for the network pressed the gossip hub to take down the missive, writing, “That was sent in confidence as friends and absolutely never intended to be public. A speedy removal would go a long way in maintaining the trust and respect we have for your site.”
So far, Gawker appears to have ignored the request — beyond posting it alongside Williams’ message for the world to see and enjoy.
Also read: 'SNL': Lana Del Rey Ripped for Performance
It was impolitic, but Williams was only repeating the critical consensus when he skewered the internet sensation’s off-key belting.
Perez Hilton, for one, tweeted “Just watched SNL. Not only was @LanaDelRey vocally WAY off, but watching her utter lack of stage presence was cringe-worthy. #DontBuyTheHype.”
However, in ripping Del Rey, Williams was also criticizing his own network and his profane communique was informal in a way that is wildly at odds with his well-coiffed, stentorian voiced persona.
Williams doesn’t exactly drip with gravitas when he writes, “In my humble opinion as a loyal customer (you know I love you but the Blog View button will be the eventual cause of my death) and while I know you're in the midst of an editor change, weekends have been allowed to go awfully fallow — and it was a fallow holiday period for those of us who check your shit 10 times a day by iPhone.”
Time for Denton to post some Bob Schieffer texts.