The next words are definitely "North Korea." (Twitter)

According to a U.S. state department official, VICE has not contacted them about their trip, nor does it vet private travel to the country, which two weeks ago scared the world by performing underground nuclear testing.

What could go wrong?


An obvious diplomatic choice.

According to VICE founder and host Shane Smith in a press release sent out today:

“Is sending the Harlem Globetrotters and Dennis Rodman to the DPRK strange? In a word, yes. But finding common ground on the basketball court is a beautiful thing. These channels of cultural communication might appear untraditional, and perhaps they are, but we think it's important just to keep the lines open. And if Washington isn't going to send their Generals then we'll send our Globetrotters – Cue music – ‘Sweet Georgia Brown.’ ”

The week-long trip will include a basketball camp for North Korean children and "engaging in community-based games to encourage openness and better relations with the outside world." And hilariously, the release added, "there may be a top-level scrimmage to be attended by Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea."

Rodman told reporters today, "“It’s my first time, I think it’s most of these guys’ first time here, so hopefully everything’s going to be OK , and hoping the kids have a good time for the game." And that's the last we'll hear from him for awhile, though we keep checking his Twitter feed for news about his decision to move permanently to the great and glorious sovereign country of strong leadership and bountiful food.

Though dangerous and extremely stupid (that's VICE's official motto, right?) this news has created quite a lot of buzz for a show we didn't even know was in the works. As The New York Time's staff Michael Roston asked on Twitter, "Hey @DennisRodman can you defend America in North Korea like you defended @Shaq in the 1996 NBA playoffs?" We actually think this is going to be more of a Rocky IV situation, with this guy playing North Korea's answer to Dolph Lundgren.

VICE debuts Friday, April 5th (11:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO, which will be the last time anyone sees the Harlem Globetrotters, so be sure to tune in!

Mr. Deen and not the reporter he slept with.

No, unfortunately it wasn't us. But The Canyon star and pornography icon James Deen has slept with at least one of his interviewers, according to a new Vice.com article.

In "Future Sex: An Interview with James Deen, America's Porn Sweetheart," Daniel Stuckey Kelly Bourdet asked the dreamy Mr. Deen:

Okay, I have one more question for you. Have you ever had sex with someone who interviewed you?

Deen: Yeah, actually I have.

Now comes the fun part where we try to find out who that person is!

Our money is on Gaby Dunn of 100Interviews.com, who definitely had a close encounter with Deen ... at his house:

Later, he reads the Hebrew tattoo I have between my shoulder blades by running his fingers across it through my apparently see-through yellow shirt without warning me. I want to sing the chorus of ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ by the Police.

“Oh my god,” I reply, bringing my notebook up over my face. “Stop. I am trying to just get through this interview.”

and:

He smirks and it’s totally killer. “I looked at your pictures first,” he whispers. I don’t hear him right away and then when I do, I gasp and get tongue-tied. He’s got me again. He laughs, “I am that sleazy. I totally am.”

and:

James shakes his head, “Just for that, now you’re getting finger-blasted,” he threatens, pretending to be tough. “Oh, sure,” I say, because now that we’re joking about it, it’s somehow less likely?

Other possibilities: Amanda Hess for Good Magazine, who also interviewed Mr. Deen at his home (and who quoted Gaby Dunn); Emily Heist Moss from GoodMenProject.com who wrote after meeting him wrote; "I feel strange, like in the last two hours my best hopes and worst fears about pornography have been confirmed"; or Ms. Bourdet herself.