The DIRT - 1/26

Jason Aldean releases his eighth studio album, Rearview Town on April 13th.

On Monday he'll debut the first single, '"You Make It Easy” live on Jimmy Fallon on NBC.He says the album blends some of the different musical genres that influenced him. "Growing up in Macon, Georgia, I had a chance to learn about so many different styles of music. Looking back on first playing in bands as a teenager, I was just soaking everything up. A lot of that comes out on this record...where I've been, and who I am now.”

Reba McEntire is the latest celebrity to portray Colonel Harlan Sanders, the famous face of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

She says, “I’ve held a lot of roles in my life -- sort of like the Colonel himself -- but this is certainly the most unique one yet.”

Reba will be hawking the chicken company's new Smoky Mountain BBQ fried chicken in TV and Internet commercials starting on Sunday.

Blake Shelton has chosen his buddy Trace Adkins to be his team's advisor on the new season of The Voice.

The two scored a number-one hit together in 2010 with "Hillbilly Bone."

Blake's past advisors include Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Michael Buble, Bette Midler, Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson.

The new season of The Voice starts on February 26th.

D.A. Of The Day 1/26

WEIRD NEWS: More Fun Than a Can of Snakes



Customs authorities in California weren't laughing when a man tried to pull off the old snakes in a can joke -- because he used some very real, very dangerous cobras instead of the cute toy ones.

Rodrigo Franco faces five months in prison after pleading guilty to wildlife smuggling -- a charge he was hit with when officials snagged a courier shipment bound for his house, containing potato chip cans with three live king cobra snakes and three albino soft-shelled turtles inside. Franco was allowed to keep the turtles, which are legal to have as pets, but was cited for receipt of the highly venomous cobras, which are banned.

Franco later admitted he received 20 king cobras in two other previous shipments, but all the snakes had died while being shipped.



WEIRD NEWS: Cash Cab Crash


A West Virginia man saw his robbery plan go to "hail" after he used a cab to get to a bank stick-up -- only to have the driver recognize his picture from a news report and tell cops exactly where to find him.

Ryan Michael Stepanian called a car service and said he needed a ride to a branch in Charles Town to take care of some simple banking business, then asked the cabbie to wait around and drop him off at a park afterward. Driver George Lyon didn't notice anything unusual in his passenger's behavior and forgot all about the trip -- until he saw a story online showing Stepanian's picture and describing the crime.

The driver quickly put two and two together and came up with 911, which he called to offer the suspect's address. Stepanian was arrested that day without incident.



WEIRD NEWS: Cops Arrest Man for 344th Time



To call Richard Powell a repeat offender would be perhaps the biggest understatement ever.

The 57-year-old Florida man was recently arrested for the 344th time. His lifetime of shenanigans has landed him in handcuffs for a wide variety of offenses, including robbery, assault, public drunkenness and stealing a milk crate. His most recent misconduct involved violating a previous order to stay out of Miami Beach, where he's gotten into a lot of trouble.

Police found Powell there yelling in the street and carrying a beer. He also had marijuana stuffed inside his shoes. He appeared before a judge this week and was sentenced to 90 days in the slammer.

HOTLIST - 1/26

Disney star Adam Hicks has been arrested on suspicion of armed robbery, TMZreports. Hicks, the star of Zeke and Luther, and his girlfriend allegedly stuck up people in the San Fernando Valley area. Two of the victims were women in their 70s.

In his first ever Instagram post, Tom Cruise revealed the name for the sixth Mission: Impossible movie -- Fallout. It hits theaters on July 27th.




Police were called to William Shatner's L.A. home Thursday night after a suspicious man was spotted on the property. But the man ran off before cops arrived. The star was home at the time but is fine.

Vanity Fair magazine botched the cover of their Hollywood issue and gave Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey some extra limbs.

The two stars appear next to each other and it's hard to ignore Reese's three legs. On the magazine's website, another photo shows Oprah with both hands on her chair and a third hand wrapped around Reese’s waist. Ooops!

The stars tweeted about the goof. Reese Witherspoon said, "I guess everybody knows now...I have 3 legs. I hope you can still accept me for who I am. And I will never apologize for snuggling @Oprah ... if you get the opportunity, I highly recommend it ;)"

Oprah replied, "I accept your 3d leg. As I know you accept my 3d hand."

Vanity Fair did not overlook the five women who lodged complaints against James Franco. Just two weeks ago, after the Golden Globes, they digitally erased Franco, even though he sat for the photoshoot and an interview. The magazine confirmed, "We made a decision not to include James Franco on the Hollywood cover once we learned of the misconduct allegations against him.”

Doing This Might Be Bad Karma BUT It's GREAT For Your Health

It may be bad for your karma to say terrible things about people behind their backs . . . but it’s GREAT for your health.

A new study from the University of Pavia in Italy found that gossiping about other people immediately makes your brain release more oxytocin.

And more oxytocin can help relieve stress . . . relieve pain . . . increase weight loss . . . fight depression . . . and make you generally happier.

The researchers found gossiping makes your brain release more oxytocin than any other type of conversation. And they think it’s because it helps people instantly BOND more than any other type of conversation.

Women Say That THIS Is The Sexiest Job A Man Can Have...

Either lots of women got really TURNED ON by their tax refunds this year or the world has become even stranger than we thought.

A new survey had women rank the SEXIEST JOBS for men. And the number one answer is . . . accountant. It got 21% of the vote.

Here are the nine sexiest jobs for men: Accountant . . . CEO . . . doctor . . . lawyer . . . construction worker . . . firefighter . . . I.T. worker . . . gardener . . . and police officer.

The survey also found the four least sexy jobs: Garbage man . . . customer service worker . . . deliveryman . . . and postal worker.

Read more about this HERE.

THE DIRT - THURSDAY, JAN. 25

BRETT, CHASE, LINDSAY: Perform at NHL All-Star Game



Brett Young, Chase Rice and Lindsay Ell will be part of the festivities for this Sunday's NHL All-Star Game in Tampa, Florida.

Chase will perform as the players are being introduced, Brett will sing the national anthem, and Lindsay will take on the Canadian national anthem.

The All-Star Game will air live at 2:30 p.m. [CST] on NBC.

GRAMMY PREVIEW: Best Country Solo Performance

Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road," Alison Krauss's "Losing You," Miranda Lambert's "Tin Man," Maren Morris's "I Could Use a Love Song" and Chris Stapleton's "Either Way" are up for Best Country Solo Performance at this Year's Grammy Awards.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from New York City at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.





Sam Hunt - "Body Like a Back Road"
Sam has a total of two nominations for the song this year. In addition to Best Country Solo Performance, he's also up for Best Country Song.
"Body Like a Back Road" is the only song in the history of Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart to stay at number one for more than 24 weeks.
He's been nominated two other times but hasn't won yet.





Alison Krauss - "Losing You"
This is Alison's only nomination this year.
The song is from her album Windy City.
She's won 27 Grammy Awards, the most of any female artist.





Miranda Lambert - "Tin Man"
In addition to being nominated for Best Country Solo Performance, "Tin Man" is nominated for Best Country Song.
She has a total of 16 career nominations.
She's won twice.




Maren Morris - "I Could Use a Love Song"
This is Maren's only nomination this year.
She's had five career nominations and one win.
Maren will perform alongside Eric Church and Brothers Osborne in a Grammy tribute to victims of gun violence.




Chris Stapleton - "Either Way"
Chris has three nominations this year.
He's also up for Best Country Song for "Broken Halos" and Best Country Album for From A Room: Volume 1.
He has 10 career nominations and two wins.
He's performing on the show with Emmylou Harris.



BONUS VIDEO



Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton performed George Strait's "All My Exes Live in Texas" at last week's Crash My Playa event in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

D.A. Of The Day - THURSDAY, JAN 25th

WEIRD NEWS: Beaned Burrito!

A South Carolina man is facing an assault rap after committing assault with a wrap -- a burrito that he hit his boss with during his shift at a Taco Bell.

Police in the town of Spartanburg say officers were called to the eatery on Monday, after a supervisor reported telling the worker to "stop being a crybaby" for complaining about being given a morning shift -- then found herself beaned with the food-filled treat. While she wasn't seriously hurt in the beef, she did complain of pain from hot cheese splattering onto her neck, arm and leg.

The irate worker, whose name was not released, didn't stop there. He also took off his headset, broke it on his knee, and stormed out, cursing.

WEIRD NEWS: Something Fishy -- In His Pants!

A Florida man is on the hook for some pretty serious charges after he was hauled in for robbing a high-end pet store -- by shoving some expensive exotic fish down his pants.

Cops reeled in Cruz Garcia Junior after he entered Pet Safari this month and reached into a tank to grab several Electric Blue Acaras and Blue Ram Cichlids while his accomplice, Crystal Dixon, tried to distract the clerk on duty. After Garcia snagged the fish, valued at about $20 apiece, he allegedly complimented the store and made his way out, but as the clerk put it, “I immediately went to where I saw them last and I noticed there were droplets of water coming from the tank."

Rob Shaw of the Clearwater Police Department says, “I think it’s the first call you ever heard were somebody stuffs live fish down their pants and flees the scene."


WEIRD NEWS: Goodbye, Big Mama

A Texas family mourning the loss of a loved one thought the best way to honor her was with a lengthy newspaper obituary -- even though she was a chicken.

The Sword family adopted their beloved pet chicken, Big Mama, in 2013 from a veterinary college that had taken her from a family that no longer wanted her. She quickly became part of the Sword family and happily joined the rest of their flock of chickens. The obituary, printed in The Eagle newspaper, reads, "Not many chickens deserve an obituary, but she does... Big Mama flourished in her new life, growing into the beautiful Rhode Island Red chicken we knew she could be. She is survived by her flock: Bubbles, Runt, Mrs. S, Funky, Lucky and Blondie."

HOTLIST - THURSDAY, JAN. 25TH

An Oprah Winfrey Presidential run in 2020 is looking less likely.

The media mogul triggered a lot of speculation about a possible run after her impassioned speech at the Golden Globe Awards this month, but has repeatedly denied having plans to throw her billionaire hat in the ring. In an interview with In Style magazine, which was conducted before the Golden Globes but published today, Oprah said, "I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it."

She added that someone had reached out to her offering to run her campaign, but insisted, "That's not for me."

Jessica Simpson is in trouble for using social media to share an unauthorized image -- of herself!

An agency that represents some of America's best-known paparazzi just filed a lawsuit against Jess for posting a candid shot on Instagram and Twitter, without cutting a check for the shutterbug who snapped it. Splash News and Picture Agency is asking for unspecified damages from the star's team, which published the pic even though London's Daily Mail had paid for exclusive rights.

Splash says that, by printing the photo and removing the copyright notice, Jessica made it possible for anyone to use it, and destroyed its future value.

Illusionist David Copperfield tweeted a lengthy statement yesterday (Wednesday) in support of the #MeToo movement saying it is "crucial and long overdue," but then warned about rushing to judgment about false allegations. It's now clear he was referring to allegations made against himself.

Copperfield said, "We all want people who feel they’ve been victims of sexual misconduct to be empowered, and as a rule we should listen, so more will feel comfortable coming forward. It’s important." Shortly after he sent the tweet, a woman came forward with a decades-old assault claim against him. Brittney Lewis, who was a 17-year-old aspiring model in 1988, says she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Copperfield after competing in a modeling contest in which Copperfield was a judge.

Lewis claims that Copperfield put something in her drink and then assaulted her before she blacked out. She says she filed a complaint with the FBI in 2007 and is not seeking money.

Here's The Bare Minimum You Have To Do To Make It Look Like You Tried On Valentine's Day

Hopefully you have not forgot that Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. That’s step one. Now we’ll get into the rest of the steps it takes to just "show up" for Valentine's Day but not make it SUPER obvious.

Here are the results from a survey by Groupon that figured out the bare minimum amount of effort you need to put in to make it look like you tried on Valentine’s Day.

1. If you’re a man, spend $179 on gifts and dinner. If you’re a woman, spend $74.

2. Write at least FOUR sentences in a card.

3. Even if you’re planning a night out, make sure to buy SOME gift, even a small one. 26% of women and 19% of men would be disappointed if they didn’t get anything.

4. And make sure to plan some activity, even if it’s just dinner at home. 71% of people say it’s more important that you planned something than what it is specifically.

Read more here...

Here's The Top 10 Things That Stress Us Out At Work

71% of people say they’re stressed at work, according to a new survey. That’s crazy. So what’s making everyone SO insanely stressed? Here are the top 10 answers . . .

1. Deadlines, 30%.

2. Their job’s life-or-death implications for another person, 17%. Obviously this doesn’t apply to a lot of us, but it matters to people like police officers, firefighters, and soldiers.

3. Competitiveness, 10%.

4. Physical demands, 8%.

5. Working in the public eye, 8%.

6. Growth potential, 7%.

7. Risk of dying on the job, 7%.

8. Hazards we encounter, 5%.

9. Meeting the public, 4%.

10. Travel, 3%.

Read The Whole Story HERE...

The 10 Highest Paid TV Casts of All Time!

The “Big Bang Theory” cast is making BANK . . . and they have been for a while. So, E! News was inspired to put together a list of ‘The 10 Highest-Paid TV Casts of All Time.’

It doesn’t really cover WHOLE casts, it’s basically just a rundown of the biggest negotiated paydays. Here’s the list:

1. Charlie Sheen. He was the highest paid actor on TV during his “Two and a Half Men” era. He earned $1.8 million per episode in his final season and then took home $2 million per episode of “Anger Management” after it passed its 100th episode.

2. Ray Romano: “Everybody Loves Raymond” paid him $1.8 million per episode.

3. Kelsey Grammer. He earned $1.6 million per episode of “Frasier”.

4. Tim Allen. He earned $1.25 million per episode for “Home Improvement”.

5. Jerry Seinfeld. He reportedly turned down $5 million an episode to continue “Seinfeld” after he wanted to end it. But he didn’t miss out on much, because he still took home $1 million per episode by the end.

6. Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt. They earned $1 million per episode for “Mad About You”.

7. Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow. They got a 5,000% raise from the start of “Friends” to the final season when they each took home $1 million per episode.

8. Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons. They’ve been making $1 million per episode of “The Big Bang Theory” for several seasons now.

9. Michael C. Hall. He earned $830,000 per episode for “Dexter”.

10. Ashton Kutcher. He took over “Two and a Half Men” after Charlie was fired, and he got $755,000 per episode. He appeared in 84 episodes.

Getting a BIG Tax Refund? That Might Not Be A Good Thing...

If you’re getting a really big tax refund this year, we’re not trying to crush your joy. But here’s why it ISN’T always a good thing . . .

When you get a big refund, it’s usually because you had too much money withheld from your paychecks. Maybe because you filled something out wrong on your W-4. And it IS nice to get that big chunk of money.

But a lot of people end up using their refund to pay down credit cards, which rack up interest all year. And if you had a little more money in your pocket, maybe you wouldn’t have NEEDED to use your credit card.

Or if you REALLY want to be an adult about it, that extra money could have automatically been deposited into a retirement account. Here’s why it makes sense . . .

Let’s say you get paid twice a month, and got a really nice refund this year of $1,200. That means you overpaid by $50 per paycheck.

If you invested all that money and kept doing it for 30 years, you’d put away $36,000. But because of compound interest, you’d actually end up with a lot more than that.

If your 401K or IRA made 6% a year, you’d actually end up with about a HUNDRED-THOUSAND dollars after 30 years. About 60 grand of it would come from the compound interest alone.

Get all the details here....