So nasty, you just can’t stay away

Celebs who are put up on pedestals are knocked down a notch or 10 on the website www.thesuperficial.com. To describe the site’s observations as “snarky” doesn’t quite do it justice: It’s swimming-with-sharks mean -- and that’s what makes it so very funny to about 2.5 million visitors a week.

Created by Irvine twentysomething Karl Wang in 2004 as part of his hobby of “making fun of people,” thesuperficial.com has quickly risen to the top of the Web’s gossip and entertainment sites. It was recently nominated for two 2006 Bloggies for best entertainment weblog and best humorous weblog. (The Weblog Award winners will be announced at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 13.)

Here’s a quick -- and printable -- snippet commenting on the recent arrest of British musician Pete Doherty (Kate Moss’ ex-boyfriend): “Doherty was jailed today after pleading guilty to possessing drugs for the second time in a week. Still no word on how Kate Moss could have let such a great catch slip away.”

On Eminem’s and Kim Mathers’ second run down the aisle: “... In debating whether to marry Eminem, I’d have to think ‘husband-to-be wrote songs about killing me’ would weigh pretty heavily on the ‘con’ side....”

The relationship between the site and its visitors, at times, seems symbiotic. Comments left by readers are often just as humorous and biting as the original post. When thesuperficial.com linked to a clip of James Lipton (“Inside the Actors Studio”) reciting the lyrics to Kevin Federline’s single “PopoZao” on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” one poster summed up the community’s sentiments: “Down with K-Fed! Long live J-Lip!”

The content cup usually runneth over when dealing with today’s stars. “Whatever happens is fair game,” says the publicity-shy Wang, who -- along with one other writer -- provides the majority of the entries on the site.

We know it’s shallow, but here’s hoping for another of Paris’ follies.

-- Christine N. Ziemba