AP - It's Paris Hilton's turn to tell her side of the story in a lawsuit claiming she didn't do enough to promote her 2006 sorority movie "Pledge This!"
AP - It's Paris Hilton's turn to tell her side of the story in a lawsuit claiming she didn't do enough to promote her 2006 sorority movie "Pledge This!"
AP - Detectives investigating the death of Michael Jackson are looking at his prescription drug history and trying to talk with his numerous former doctors, the Los Angeles police chief said.
AP - Detectives investigating the death of Michael Jackson are looking at his prescription drug history and trying to talk with his numerous former doctors, the Los Angeles police chief said.
AP - "The Road to Woodstock" (Ecco, 304 pages, $29.99), by Michael Lang: Former headshop owner Michael Lang had scant promotional experience when he dreamed up Woodstock as a massive festival different from anything before it. As this memoir released 40 years later makes clear, it's a wonder that Woodstock even happened at all.
The mayor of Gary, Ind. says Michael Jackson's father will attend a memorial service for the pop icon in the family's hometown. Mayor Rudy Clay said Thursday that along with Joe Jackson, Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:01 am
E! Online - Review in a Hurry: Supremely dorky high-school valedictorian Dennis (Paul Rust) decides to tell it like it is in his commencement address, trashing bullies by name and declaring his love for head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). We've seen nerds pine for less-unattainable-than-expected hotties before, but rarely does it feel this real...and funny.
Every piece of haute couture clothing is the product of hours upon hours of manual labor. Chanel gave us exclusive video footage of its seamstresses turning a Karl Lagerfeld sketch into a finished dress and jacket with a five-figure price tag. Each pattern is made and cut by hand. Each sequin is painstakingly sewn on by hand. Every inch of piping and each seam is hand-pinned. Watch the entire process in the video.
No one is going to London anymore, but Dr. Conrad Murray says that he's owed plenty just for coming to California.
A lawyer for the cardiologist, who was hired by Michael...
Are you sick of hearing about the Moneyball movie that Columbia put on ice three weeks ago following concerns over Steven Soderbergh's screenplay? Of course you are! Which is really too bad, since the studio has tapped Aaron Sorkin to revamp Steve Zallian's earlier script in the hopes of reviving the project. Brad Pitt is reportedly still attached, though Soderbergh is no longer involved. [THR]
Patricia Arquette is done trying to divorce Thomas Jane.
Less than a month after the Medium star and her famous siblings were spotted at the launch party for Jane's new HBO series,...
Because the man simply isn't busy enough these days — what with his upcoming album, new record company, and war on T-Pain — Jay-Z is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Random House shingle Spiegel & Grau to write a book "commenting on and telling the stories behind his lyrics," reports the Observer. But that's apparently not all! Jay's literary agent, Matthew Guma, purportedly approached publishers earlier this summer with plans for the Jiggaman to pen three books — the one being acquired by S&G, plus a memoir and a business book. Also, look out for his impending Joyce Carol Oates dis track.
"Well, that's the last time I try to be a good sport. Even my wife told me that I looked faintly ridiculous, and she was trying to make me feel better." —Bill Keller, answering Time's "10 Questions" and addressing his ill-fated appearance on the Daily Show a month ago. [Time]
Tom O'Neil, the Los Angeles Times blogger who has never met a story he couldn't work an awards reference into, wrote a fascinating column today that explains how he came into possession of the Emmy Award that Bette Midler won in 1978 for Best Variety Special and, ultimately, how he came to discover he had purchased hot goods. He then reached out to Midler's people and returned the stolen statuette. Now that's what we call journalism! [Gold Derby/LAT]
Pedro Espada, who returned to Team Democrat today, has in the past been vocal about his support for David Paterson's marriage-equality bill. Though Espada has said previously that he would use a leadership position to call a Senate vote on the issue, judging by all the photo ops he's made with gay foe and fellow "Amigo" Ruben Diaz Sr. in the past week, LGBT advocates probably shouldn't hold their breath.
Whitney Port's City sidekick, Erin Lucas, announced last week she won't be part of the second season of the reality series. "I decided to do something different," she told us this week at the launch party for Alizé's online reality series, Concrete and Cashmere (on which Lucas is a guest judge). "I have a project in the mix, but I want to get into more hosting. That's really what I love." She also admitted she hasn't spoken to Port in months, though she claims there's no hard feelings and she'd give Port a big hug if she ever saw her again. "We were [close], but things change," she said. "There was a falling out" — reality-TV gold. However, we spotted The City crew filming at a Gen-Art benefit two weeks ago, which Erin attended along with Whitney. And you know what? There was no hugging. "I wasn't filming [that night], I was just there," Lucas tried to explain. She said running into the old camera crews and co-stars was awkward. "But Sammy's still one of my best friends." So why'd she give it up? "It was just hard," she said. "It was a chapter in my life and it was nothing but positive. I'm glad I did it, but on to the next thing. I'm kind of a gypsy. I released a statement a couple of days ago, but this is the first interview with people asking me about it, so I don't know what to say." Life is hard when no one gives you a script.
Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen — or, if we must refer to them by their street names, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester — were filming a scene in front of Karen Millen in Soho today. A crowd of teen girls and photographers surrounded them, and Intern Molly was among them. According to her, not a lot happened, just some "walking back and forth." But the pictures she took for a slide show tell a different story.
Wass Stevens, New York's most prominent club doorman, was arrested yesterday after he (allegedly!) beat a college kid with the metal end of a velvet rope after he tried to get into Avenue, but became "belligerent" when Stevens denied him entry. It looks like Stevens' crime wave continues. A friend of Cityfile just sent us this photo of the nightlife fixture sitting on his motorcycle and chatting on his cell on the corner of Broadway and Astor. "I'm pretty sure it's a traffic violation to park on the sidewalk like that," she writes. "He's right in front of a police van, too." If you had doubts that Wass had balls of steel, well, consider the matter settled. Further evidence of his criminal tendencies below.
Cintra Wilson wrote a profile of Agyness Deyn, née Laura Hollins, for today's "Style" section in the Times. After asking her several questions like, "Do you have a collaborative creative process with designers and photographers with whom you work closely?" and getting answers like:
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I just like to experience different feelings, even if it’s, like, uncomfortable?”
Wilson concludes Deyn Hollins (dammit!) comes off as a bit "dim." But surely that means something. Hollins's rise from punky unknown fish-and-chips shopgirl in Manchester to famous model signifies important things about not only Hollins, but the times in which we live.
[T]his dimness, I suspect, is strategic. I’ve seen this before; actresses sometimes evade answering questions by obfuscating them in colorful fogs of positive nonsense. It is understandable: actual information limits the ability to be all things to all people, so vagaries protect the brand.
Hollins won't talk about future acting or music projects. (She's been rumored to have a starring role in the BBC's Dr. Who.) Her agent says she'll model forever. But beneath Hollins's very deep dimness, it sounds like she has different ideas about that:
“You know, even though I’m in fashion, I don’t, like, do fashion,” she said. “Fashion isn’t me, even though I work in it. It’s just materialistic stuff. I just want to do whatever makes me happy.”
So does that mean when she steps out of the house in studded high-top Converse, a mass of cowlicks on her head, a giant white T-shirt with the cover of an Elastica album on it, and jeggings she is not, in fact, trying? Good to know.
What did belts ever do to you, Pete Wentz? Why did you turn your ample tattooed back on such a convenient pants-holding device? Are you raging against the Beltinistas or some...
This week, after months of advertising, the Sci Fi network becomes Syfy, and it’s not hard to see why. Sci-fi is a genre, not a name; Syfy is a copyrightable word, and a brand-new one, with undetermined associations or attachments. NBC Universal, the network’s owner, says it wanted to freshen up the brand. They also wanted to “broaden” its appeal, which is to say that they’d like to soft-pedal any association with little green men — not to mention the little gray men who watch them on TV.
So why does this sound like the dopiest idea ever to touch down on planet Earth?
For one thing, there is that awkward spelling. One’s first instinct is to pronounce it to rhyme with “beefy.” (All that’s missing is a capital F in the middle, in the manner of FedEx or MySpace — the voguish style that copy editors call “CamelCase” because it has a hump in its back.)
Now, let’s say you see an ad for the network on a bus shelter, and puzzle it out. Your thought process goes like this: “Seefy? What’s Seefy? Oh wait… sigh … fi… I get it. Like science fiction.” All you do is translate the new name into the old one. This is not rebranding. It changes no association in the consumer’s mind. It just adds a layer of translation to trying to figure out what the hell that word is.
The brands, slogans, and package designs that really stick with consumers are pretty rare. If a marketing team is lucky enough to create an identity that does resonate, especially one that becomes familiar enough to achieve catchphrase or pop-culture status, that brand identity is absolute gold. You don’t discard a slogan that’s achieved high earth orbit. You wring every possible bit of juice out of it. The day M&M’s quit using “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand,” they threw away a slogan absolutely everyone in America had come to recognize. Not smart.
A few companies have figured this out, even if it took them awhile. Starting in the sixties, Coca-Cola backed away from its hourglass green bottle, never mind that the object was one of the most recognizable trademarks on earth. Finally, in 1993, some smart guy in Atlanta wised up, and ordered Coke’s twenty-ounce bottle reshaped to evoke the old ones. And what happened? Coca-Cola instantly saw a spike in sales, and stole back a significant bit of market share from Pepsi. They didn’t have to rename it KokhyKohla to do it, either.
The problem, for Sci Fi/Syfy, is that their name is ultra-familiar — but for what its executives perceive as the wrong thing. An association with science fiction, because of its geeky connotations, may limit the network’s ability to branch out. But frankly, that is not a problem that can be addressed by misspelling the name. If you want to get out of the science-fiction genre ghetto, guys, you’re really going to have to stop making series like Battlestar Galactica and showing Star Trek reruns.
• Actually no one asked Gwyneth Paltrow about her digestive system; she just volunteered the information. In short, it has been through a three-week liquid-only cleanse and feels great...
Review in a Hurry: Supremely dorky high-school valedictorian Dennis (Paul Rust) decides to tell it like it is in his commencement address, trashing bullies by name and declaring his love for head...
George Clooney is in a rebuilding period.
While touring L'Aquila, capital of the central Italian region of Abruzzo, where a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on April 6 killed nearly 300...
As any subscriber to Bobblehead Monthly will tell you, the apex of this decade's bobblehead movement was when NBC released the now-legendary Dwight Schrute edition. Since then, the industry has suffered from a clear-cut case of overexposure. That said, if we were heading to Comic-Con later this month, we'd definitely wait in line to get our mitts on one of these limited-edition Benjamin Linus bobbleheads. Although, we'd vastly prefer one of Frogurt. [Daily What]
This week Dolce & Gabbana publicist Ali Wise was arrested for hacking into the voicemail of interior designer Nina Freudenberger. Freudenberger has taken out a restraining order against Wise, though it remains unclear why the publicist enacted the hacking scheme in the first place. The designer posits it may have involved "someone she'd dated in the past." That person remains unknown, too. Wise may have hacked into other phones as well. [DI]
Bernie Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, had a nice little chat with the Daily Beast today. Gent that he is, Beast contributor Allan Dodds Frank inquired after Bernie's well-being in the aftermath of being sentenced to 150 years in prison. How's the old man taking it?
Madoff “is doing OK,” said Sorkin. “He understands there has been closure.” And, said Sorkin, “He has felt ashamed and upset about his victims since Day 1."
Well, that's good ... Wait, sorry, what?
Which Day One is Sorkin referring to, exactly? The one twenty-odd years ago when he said, "Hey, I'll just take money from this person and tell this person it's their returns" or the day he stopped trading altogether? Or the day he said to the little old lady whose husband had just died, "Your money is safe with me" and then took the rest of her money from her? Or the actual day he confessed? Ugh. Confusing!
"Guys, guys. Don't make me have Merkel help with the stage setup from now on, okay?"
John Heilemann just alerted us to this scene from the G8 today in Italy. It seems a Getty photographer managed to catch Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Silvio Berlusconi in their preferred natural states.
Although these elegant bags have been handmade in the same workshop for more than 70 years, they've managed to remain under the radar until fairly recently. And with only one or two new styles created each year, these bags rise above the tide of flashy trends and join the zone of discreet luxury. Here are five reasons why we love Valextra:
1. No logos ever.
2. It's the anti–"It" bag! No frills and dangly bits — just clean simple design.
3. They are heirlooms — classic pieces that you will pass on to your daughter.
4. It’s the Hermès of Italy.
5. The 60 people who work on each handbag ensure perfect craftsmanship.
Handbag shown ranges from $1,500 to $2,500, available at Barneys.
About two months ago, Mary-Louise Parker expressed regret for agreeing to film a scene in Weeds while in the nude. At the time, she confessed to More magazine that "I didn't think I needed to be naked. I fought with the director about it, and now I am bitter." Well, from the looks of her NSFW photo spread in the new issue of Esquire, it appears that she didn't experience the same issue with the photographer who conducted this particular shoot. As a supplement to the interview, Esquire shot a video of (a clothed) Parker reading aloud from a copy of Alice In Wonderland alongside a giant teddy bear and a plate of milk and cookies. We're not quite sure that this two-minute video will hold up to Tim Burton's upcoming, trippy feature film, but one thing is for certain: Mary-Louise Parker's version definitely won't give you any nightmares.
Good move signing Michael Phelps to that 90-year endorsement deal, Subway — with years and years worth of these awesome Phelps/Jared commercials sure to come, there’s no way American consumers are ever gonna get tired of these two! They are literally our generation’s Newman & Redford.
In the latest Phelps/Jared bon mot, a splitscreen of their parallel lives reveals that Phelps is a hard-working, cross-training swim machine, and Jared is a lazy, boring-ass turd (their words, not mine). You can always be yourself at Subway! Especially if you’re a lazy boring-ass turd who watches tv and feeds fish all day (also their words):
SKIN
• Kate Winslet: "I have wrinkles here, which are very evident. And I will particularly say when I look at movie posters, 'You guys have airbrushed my forehead. Please can you change it back?' I'd rather be the woman they're saying 'She's looking older' about than 'She's looking stoned.'" [E! Online]
HAIR
• More college-age guys and men in their thirties are shaving their chests, armpits, and groins, the Times reports. [NYT]
• In case you missed the hair at the couture shows this week, a model wore hair balls at Jean Paul Gaultier. [Glamour]
MAKEUP
• DuWop's instructions for applying Twilight-inspired Lip Venom glosses: "This product should be shaken before use to represent the blending of the human and vampire worlds and applied repeatedly until lips are plumped." [Shop DuWop via Spoiled Pretty]
FRAGRANCE
• Karl Lagerfeld says he would have suggested Penélope Cruz to star in his latest perfume campaign for Chanel instead of Audrey Tatou. [WWD via Cityfile]
This Russian ad features a bunch of adorable old ladies singing “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” Whatever they’re selling, I’m buyin’. [My Russian is a little rusty, but it appears to be "English." I'll take seven.]
The Real Housewives of New York City are back in the news (not that they ever left, really), since production on the next season of the show has been held up while four of the five ladies bicker with Bravo over how much they're going to get paid. The only one who's agreed to participate thus far? That would be Kelly Bensimon, the least-liked member of the cast, at least according to the poll on Bravo's website. We'll all have to hope the dispute is resolved shortly and Kelly gets to reunite with her castmates in the near future. But in the meantime—and because we know you want to keep Kelly by your side all summer long—we took a bit of audio from her totally insane interview with ObsessedTV and turned her into a 12-second ringtone. Just because your fave NYC housewives won't be on the air for the next few months doesn't mean you can't be reminded of Kelly's generous spirit every time your phone rings. (Oh, and yes: that is the Exorcist theme playing in the background. For some odd reason, we though it was fitting.) Click here to download the ringtone. Or click on Kelly's pic above. Enjoy!
Jim Carrey may have played the Grinch, but now he's about to be the grandpa!
The star's 21-year-old daughter, Jane Carrey, is expecting her first child with fiancé Alex...
In the unlikely event that you decided not to take a bathroom break during Texas Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee's never-ending eulogy at Michael Jackson's funeral on Tuesday, you might've heard her mention plans to introduce a congressional resolution to honor the deceased King of Pop (this would've been shortly before the TelePrompTer instructed her to "Please end your comments"). Well, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scuttled the whole thing as it might "open up to contrary views that are not necessary at this time to be expressed in association with a resolution whose purpose is quite different." By this we can only imagine she means that such a resolution might spark a debate among House Republicans over who can do the best moonwalk.
V magazine just named Lea Groesland as this year's winner for the magazine's annual model search. The Norway native's prize includes a contract with Ford Models and an upcoming spread in V. She is the third winner of the contest, following Amanda Laine and Addison Gill, who both went on to walk runways in Milan and Paris during their first season after being crowned champions. As for Lea, we'll just have to see what runway she lands on first. [Style File, VMagazine/Twitter]
Front Page: Activists, pundits still grappling with satire -- Universal launches its Sacha Baron Cohen pic "Bruno" today, and various activists and industry pundits are grappling with one key question: How do you respond to a satire whose intent is to offend across the board?
Lehman Brothers Holdings, the ghost company liquidating what is left of Lehman Brothers, paid its advisers $262.6 million for nine months of work, according to a filing with the SEC. Also: "Bankers, accountants and lawyers may reap record judge-approved charges of $906 million by the time Lehman’s bankruptcy ends." Someone at Bloomberg has written 3,000 words explaining why this is totally cool and even awesome, if you want help barfing up your lunch. [Bloomberg]
Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton wrapped up his couture stint shooting the fabulous people in Paris. He caught fashion editors, stylists, photographers, and designers heading to shows, sitting front row, and lounging backstage. It's hard work but someone has to do it. The shots elevate street fashion into an art form, with dazzlingly bright colors, daytime dresses that are jaw-droppingly lavish, and elusive figures dashing away from the camera (Olivier Theyskens!). But be warned: You will experience a sudden urge to shoe shop after viewing these.
AP - Imagine rooting through a shoe box of faded photographs of folks you know or thought you knew. Memories tumble out in an almost dreamlike haze sad, funny and more than a little wistful.
US actor John Malkovich is pictured upon his arrival to the 44th Karlovy Vary festival on July 8, 2009. Malkovich said Thursday that he will tour Europe with his new play-opera about a serial killer. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 9 Jul 2009 | 8:56 pm
We live for paradoxes like the one presented by “Robot” and its video. Abetted by a young fellow named Buckshot, KRS-One — the great rap curmudgeon and self-declared arbiter of hip-hop “authenticity” — makes a typical argument (preordained, impossibly broad, supposedly self-evident) about the state of rap music: specifically, that many MCs are robots, replicants who rely on technological gimmicks like Auto-Tune. The paradox is, of course, that the song and the cleverly robot-themed video are themselves gimmicks. Which is great: Rap grew out of gimmicks — rhyming, record-scratching, samples, and indeed, the very idea of hip-hop authenticity. But more important, the song and its clip are more appealing and poppy than anything we can remember KRS-One doing in years. (We look forward to his and Buckshot’s album collaboration, Survival Skills, due in mid-September.) Still, Kris, we have to ask: If rap’s such an institution, why are you always trying to tear it down?
God, we love Lady Gaga. She did a press conference about the show she's doing in Malta wearing a mask that covered her entire face — not unlike what we've seen on the runways of Martin Margiela, Junya Watanabe, and John Galliano in the past, just to name a few. "It’s not just a mask, it’s a contemporary art piece," Gaga tells the foreign reporters. And, you know, it's about time someone took this trend from the runway to "reality." Because it's a great way to get out of putting makeup on and a great solution to hangover face. One reporter asks who her favorite fashion designer is. "I love all designers. I appreciate a life devoted to fashion. Right now I’m having a very strong obsession mostly with, um, clothing found in sex shops. I would venture to say all that clothing was designed by gay men." Watch the video to hear her talk about her "life of solitude" and her ass.
Actress Kelly Preston, whose son Jett Travolta died earlier this year, will talk publicly in October about how she and her husband, actor John Travolta, have dealt with their grief.
UPDATE: And...he shoots, he scores. More than a year after reaching a tentative agreement, DiCaprio and his neighbors finalized the terms of their settlement and a judge has dismissed the...
Front Page: Soderbergh out as director; Pitt still attached -- Sony is still game on making the baseball pic "Moneyball," tapping Aaron Sorkin to polish an early script by Steve Zaillian.
The week after Independence Day has seen a lot of action nationwide on the gay-marriage front. In Washington, D.C., same-sex marriages performed elsewhere began to be officially recognized on Tuesday, paving the way for what some say is likely the next battle over full legalization. Yesterday, Wisconsin became the first state with a constitutional ban on such nuptials to allow certain domestic-partnership benefits to committed couples. In Maine, opponents to the recently passed marriage-equality legislation say they've attained enough signatures to get a a referendum on the ballot this fall.
Meanwhile, tensions are running high between gay groups and the Perry vs. Schwarzenegger federal suit over marriage equality. Former rivals from the days of the Bush-Gore Supreme Court battle, David Boies and Ted Olson have teamed up against California's Proposition 8 to try to bring same-sex-marriage rights before the Supreme Court. Gay groups like Lambda Legal, Freedom to Marry, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have publicly stated they are against "ill-timed lawsuits" that could set the agenda back by years, because "without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage." In fact, some of those groups have filed legal motions to intervene in the trial, allegedly to aid and participate, but more likely to trip it up in litigation before it can proceed. This spurred a nasty backlash from Boies and Olson's team.
On top of that, the state of Massachusetts is suing the United States on behalf of the 16,000 same-sex couples who've wedded there. They are challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which says that those marriages don't need to be recognized by other states.
And, as you know, here in New York a marriage-equality bill that was introduced by the governor and has been passed by the State Assembly sits languishing outside the State Senate door as the circus enters its third act.
Pali Research's Richard Greenfield, the guy who three months ago predicted Up would be a commercial failure, has admitted he was "dead wrong" after the movie made $265.9 million and became Pixar's second-biggest hit behind Finding Nemo. Miraculously, he continues to be employed. [NYT]
• More data about the Biggest Television Event Ever™: Some 31 million people tuned into the Jackson memorial on TV, and video sites report that they delivered more than 10 million live streams on Tuesday. [THR, VB] • One TV person not pleased with all the Jackson coverage: Conan O'Brien, whose new Tonight Show has seen ratings drop as a result. [NYT] • News Corp. has paid more than $1.6 million to settle court cases involving reporters in Britain who hacked into public figures' cell phones. [Guardian] • Is Liberty Media going to bail out Harvey Weinstein? Let's hope so. [NYP] • None of the major media companies appear keen on buying Twitter. [LAT] • Comedy Central has ordered up a sitcom starring Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder, which will be produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. [B&C] • The title of Michael Moore's new movie: Capitalism: A Love Story. [NYDN]
George Clooney and Bill Murraytoured the earthquake-stricken Italian village of L’Aquila today with some of the G-8 leaders’ spouses. During the event, though, it seems Clooney and Murray had a mano á mano gesture-off. Don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? These pictures should do the trick:
“Hey Murray, what do you say we show these people how we throw down in Hollywood? Gesture-off. You ready?”
“Please, Cloon-dog. I was born ready. Your move.”
“Boom. Nose scratch. Beat that, Billy Boy.”
“Easy. Forehead rub. This is child’s play.”
“Ok, fine. Let’s step this thing up. The two finger point with a slight head turn. Give up?”
“Gee, George, maybe I should give up. But first, can you hold my… INVISIBLE CUP?!”
“Woah, the invisible cup. I haven’t seen that since the Danson-Ritter battle of ‘88. You win, Bill. I’ll back off.”
“I can’t believe I lost. Now I have to hold this guy’s mic.”
And that, ladies and gentleman, was my dumbest post yet. Thanks for watching.
Oh noes!
Are Denise (Catherine Bell) and Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico)—our favorite couple on Lifetime's military melodrama Army Wives—really, truly over? Now that the...
Earlier this week, Dolce & Gabbana publicist Ali Wise was arrested for breaking into interior designer Nina Freudenberger's voice mail, both the Post and the Daily News reported this morning. But neither paper gave a reason as to why she would do such a thing. This struck us as odd, and against our better judgment we began to wonder: Had Freudenberger stolen Wise's boyfriend? Or was Wise like an aural version of a Peeping Tom? Was that even a thing? We decided to ask Wise herself, but she didn't answer her phone, and a Dolce & Gabbana rep said they had no official comment. So we asked Freudenberger.
"Honestly?" she said when we reached her at her office for her interior-design business, the Cultivated Home. "I have no idea why. I have never met her personally, [and] we don't have friends in common, really."
Well, we said, adjusting our monocle. It obviously has to do with a boy.
Freudenberger, who went to the police after figuring out someone had been going through her voice mail and e-mails, and now has a restraining order against Wise, allowed that it was possible Wise's interest in her had something to do with "someone she'd dated in the past." But "not Jason Pomeranc!" the Thompson hotel owner, with whom Wise has had, according to multiple items in "Page Six," a somewhat tempestuous relationship. "Everyone thinks it's him, but I've never met him, either."
Pomeranc might want to check his phone for bugs, too, however, as it seems Freudenberger might not be the only person Wise has been checking up on. A tipster tells Cityfile that "Wise's antics go beyond what's stated" in the complaint, and Freudenberger says she's received multiple calls and e-mails from people who suspect they, too, have been Wise-cracked.
"I'm just the tip of the iceberg," she said. Chilling.
Well, we know we're changing our number. And readers, while we've not yet solved this mystery, we can tell you this: If Ali Wise isn't hacking into your phone, you're nobody.
In Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie ostensibly designed to expose real American homophobia, some of the most damning footage comes from a cage-fighting match in Fort Smith, Arkansas, during which Brüno, disguised as cage-fighter "Straight Dave," upsets the audience when he starts making out with his opponent. Chairs and epithets are hurled, and while there's obviously no excusing either, Newsweek today has the details of how the scene was shot, which sort of makes the reaction seem slightly less spontaneous.
According to Newsweek, audience members, baited by this flyer and expecting to see "Blue Collar Brawlin'," were deliberately kept waiting for 90 minutes at the door. Once inside the venue, they were served $1 beers as part of a promotion that was only advertised to last an hour; they were made to believe the deal was always just about to expire, but it continued the whole night, as per the instructions of the filmmakers who later reimbursed the catering company.
Again, there's clearly no excusing F-words or thrown chairs — but if someone made you stand in line for 90 minutes to see one movie, then showed you a completely different movie (Transformers, for example), plus you were drunk, you might be a little upset, too.
I was just in an elevator with a news ticker, and ever-so-briefly did a double-take when I saw this headline:
Buffett Calls For Second Stimulus
Even slow-minded, always-hoping-for-the-joke me realized after about two seconds that the headline was actually referring to Warren Buffett, but for that slightest of moments, I was savoring the mental picture of Jimmy Buffett on stage in front of 60,000 Hawaiian-shirted fans slowing things down a bit mid-”Cheeseburger” to address his Parrot-headed faithful about the long-term dangers of incomplete government economic intervention, ultimately declaring that a second stimulus package is an absolute necessity.
He would then complete the final chorus, chug a Land Shark on stage, and launch into “Fins” while encouraging the fans to get their fins up.
Long Island congressman Peter King, the self-proclaimed leader of the "silent majority" pissed off at the glorification of Michael Jackson, appeared on The O'Reilly Factor yesterday to cling to the spotlight for a little bit longer. Bill O'Reilly dutifully played devil's advocate, pointing out that since Jackson was actually acquitted of the charges against him, maybe it wasn't entirely fair to call him a "child molester" and a "pedophile." No, it's still fair, King retorted: "I would say an adult male who sleeps with young boys is a child molester. If nothing else, he's molesting and abusing their psyche." [HuffPo]
Back in March, the New York Times Co. put its 1997 Dassault Falcon jet up for sale for $9.5 million. Several months passed without a buyer stepping forward, and now we hear the plane has been pulled off the market entirely. Did the company finally find someone to take it off its hands? Did Arthur Sulzberger Jr. decide to hang on to it? (Probably not.) Maybe the paper is planning to give it a good scrub-down before putting it up for sale again in the fall? We have no clue. But if you do, let us know! [Previously]
Rebel Democratic state senator Pedro Espada has announced today that he will rejoin the Democratic team and therefore break the 31–31 stalemate (which he could have done all along had he not insisted so stubbornly on being named president of the Senate in any power-sharing deal). Less than a day after Governor Paterson announced his appointment of a lieutenant governor to achieve that exact end, Espada claims that he's saving the day. (Of course — not that you need to be reminded — it was Espada who got us into this mess in the first place by defecting to the GOP team.) Espada told the Post he has a "handshake agreement" with Democratic leader John Sampson to "become the majority leader."
As part of the plan, Malcolm Smith, the current "majority leader" (according to the Dems), would be allowed to remain president of the Senate for the rest of the year, at which point he'd be replaced by Sampson. "Unfortunately, Dean rejected an opportunity to reach a compromise under which Republicans would have had equal access to all the resources of the Senate," Espada added. He'd hoped to remain Senate president and install his fellow Democratic "Amigo" Carl Kruger as Senate majority leader.
Espada is, of course, an unreliable and inconsistent ally, one whom the Democrats are likely extremely wary of welcoming back. This whole process has amounted to a grand power play on his part, and several Democrats have said they will not accept his return because of his behavior, and because of the multiple state investigations he's currently under.
Espada's fellow "Amigos," Ruben Diaz Sr., Hiram Monserrate, and Carl Kruger, had predicted that they would together be able to resolve the Senate stalemate by today. But this "resolution" doesn't take into consideration the fact that Paterson's lieutenant-governor appointee, Dick Ravitch, will be president of the Senate if his nomination passes legal muster. Paterson has yet to make a statement on this development, and the Republicans have canceled a press conference they'd scheduled for this afternoon.
AP - Harry Potter has kept his fans waiting for two years, the longest school break they have had to endure for a new movie adventure about the teen wizard.
A couple of months ago, Harvey Weinstein was showing off his slimmer physique, a look he achieved thanks to weight loss guru Dr. Louis Aronne, the author of the diet book, The Skinny. But judging by the pics that Dealbook posted this afternoon from the media mogulfest in Sun Valley, Harvey hasn't been making much time for the good doctor recently. Stress will do that to you, of course, especially when the economy is in the toilet and your peers keep alluding to "depleted cash reserves" and the like. Do note, though, that Disney chief Bob Iger looks as svelte as ever. Getting up at 4:30am every morning to work out isn't much fun, no. But it does keep you in size 30 Dockers. [NYT/Dealbook]
Michael Jackson's single white glove was his trademark -- an iconic image for a performer whose career constantly set, then redefined, pop culture trends. But there was a reason for wearing it, says actress Cicely Tyson.
Brace yourselves. We just may have pinpointed the whereabouts of Ruth Madoff. (She's been at an "undisclosed location" since she was forced out of her East 64th Street penthouse last week.) A reliable source who has been in touch with acquaintances of the family tells us she's been staying at the home of her niece, Diane Hochman, in Hewlett, Long Island.
Hochman is the daughter of Joan Roman, Ruth's sister. Joan's husband, Robert Roman, used to work at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities until he retired a couple of years ago. His responsibilities were then handed over to Seth Hochman, Diane's husband and Joan's son-in-law, who worked for his uncle, Bernie, until the firm came crumbling down. Confused yet? It's a tangled web.
We've made numerous attempts today to reach Ruth at the Hochman house to confirm she's there, but we've been getting voicemail. (Perhaps they know better than to answer the phone.) Hopefully one of the fine tabloids in town can do the legwork here and get someone out to Hewlett to surprise her on the front lawn.
Michael Jackson's dermatologist said Wednesday that he was not surprised to learn that investigators found numerous bottles of prescription drugs in the singer's home -- adding that he had warned Jackson about their danger repeatedly.
I’m enjoying Top Chef Masters so far, but last night’s “Magic” Elimination Challenge was by far the most arbitrary “Everyone gets one theme to work with” challenge in the illustrious history of arbitrary-ass Top Chef challenges. The guest judge/wizard described that magic is all about four things (and nothing else) — Illusion, Mystery, Spectacle, and Surprise — and surprise! Each chef was given one of the extremely comparable nouns as their theme to cook with.
In the grand tradition of “Vulture, Lion, Bear, Gorilla, Penguin”, here’s a list of some handy groups of random terms for future arbitrary Top Chef challenges. Feel free to leave your own in the comments:
Nickel, Dime, Quarter, Penny
John, Paul, George, Ringo
Index Finger, Middle Finger, Ring Finger, Thumb
A, B, Select, Start
Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Courier, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial
Alec Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Billy Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin
Helium, Oxygen, Neon, Xenon
Feudalism, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism
Die Hard, Die Harder, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Live Free Or Die Hard
Adjective, Noun, Verb, Adverb
Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig
Head, Thorax, Abdomen
Prince, Weird Symbol, The Artist, Prince Again
Yourself or Someone Like You, Mad Season, More Than You Think You Are, Exile on Mainstream
The Number 1, The Number 2, The Number 3, The Number 4
I remember before [we performed at Bill
Clinton's 1993 inauguration], Michael sent somebody to find out if
I had any foundation make-up he could borrow. I was using some
light Chanel foundation at that time, and Michael sent back a note
to say, thanks, but the foundation wasn't quite light enough...
When I first met him I didn't feel
nervous because I kind of felt all my life was leading up to that
moment. As a fan, he was always in my life. I was 15 years when I
went to the Grammy Awards and saw him win all his Grammys at the
Shrine. He asked me, "What songs do you like?" and if I wanted to
do a video. And I said, "OK, well, can we put black people in the
video?" [Laughs] I was challenging him. And he said,
"Whatever you want." He was cool with me because I was...
The first time around I pursued Michael Jackson about a song parody, it was a shot in the dark. We're talking about the most popular and famous person in the known universe, and here I was, this goofy comedy songwriter. He not only returned our phone calls, but he approved it. He thought it was a funny idea. Then when we did the second parody, "Fat," he was nice enough to let us use his subway set for the video, so he's always been very supportive.
No, probably not. But comedian Grandma Lee is thus far the most likely America’s Got Talent contestant to have her video forwarded to you by relatives you barely speak with.
It was a familiar scene when I first watched this. I was booing loudly at my computer screen when she walked on stage… JUST like when I first saw that Susan Boyle video. I mean, look at her. There’s no way this old bag would even know how to operate her own VCR, nonetheless string together a set up and punchline. She probably can’t even eat solid food! Get back in your rocker, Grandma Lee! Then came the jokes:
She did tell some funny jokes and everyone in the audience gave her a standing ovation, so I’m going ahead and officially crowning her ‘America’s Susan Boyle’ [mostly so I don't have to worry about this anymore]. She’s a pistol, I’ll give her that.
Any other nominees yet for ‘America’s Susan Boyle’ or can I focus all my NBC reality show attention on The Great American Roadtrip hosted by what looks like Andy Richter’s long lost special needs brother?
Olivia Palermowalking in the West Village ... Anna Wintourleaving Monkey Bar ... Hayden Panettiere leaving her hotel ... Chris Melonieating at Pastis ... Pierce Brosnan carrying coffee on the set of Remember Me in Queens ... Kristin Cavallari arriving at MTV's studios ... Michelle Trachtenberg talking on her cell phone in the meatpacking district ... Wentworth Miller and Mariska Hargitayshooting scenes for Law and Order: SVU ... Columnist George F. Will having lunch lunch with a young blonde woman at Extra Virgin in the West Village ... and Taylor Momsen sipping Diet Coke on the set of Gossip Girl.
The main memory I have of Michael Jackson
is from when I was a kid. When you're a child and you see another
child on TV with other brothers who are basically children —
and I had two brothers — and you see what they're doing, and
listening to the music they're making, it kind of knocks you out.
That was the initial impact, that that was even possible.
Especially being a kid from Seattle, where you're nowhere near any
sort of media center and have no understanding...
I feel like there’s been an odd amount of backlash against Ricky Gervais in the past couple years, with a portion of the British press and a surprising number of my comedy-nerd friends acting vaguely sick of him, which continues to baffle me; The Office, Extras, and the Gervais Podcast remain three of the best things ever to exist, period, and no amount of Gervais-ubiquity could derail my enthusiasm for any of his future projects.
My point: A one-minute video of Gervais and Stephen Merchant ripping on Ralph Fiennes is enough to sell me on their upcoming movie, Cemetery Junction:
First the rumor went around that Michael Jackson was leaving the Beatles catalog to Paul McCartney in his will. Then the rumor was that McCartney was upset that Jackson didn't leave the Beatles catalog to the Beatle in his will.
Just a little over a year after releasing her fourth studio album, "New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War," Erykah Badu is back with the second installment tentatively titled "New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh."
Lynyrd Skynyrd considers its new album, "God & Guns" -- due out Sept. 29 on Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records -- to be "a tribute to the past and to the future of this band, too," according to frontman Johnny Van Zant.
Everyone’s favorite alleged kidnapper Danielle Staub from the Real Housewives of New Jersey threw out the first pitch yesterday for the Newark Bears. Apparently Joe Piscopo was busy. [That's right... Joe Piscopo jokes.]
Fangoria brings us the following bloody Megan Fox photo, and I don’t mean “bloody” like, what a child says when they’re imitating a British accent, but rather “bloody” like, she plays a demon who eats men in her next movie, Jennifer’s Body.
Topic of water cooler discussion (once you’ve covered last night’s Seinfeld) — would you still do bloody, man-eating Megan Fox demon?
Short Answer: Yeah, probably.
Long Answer: Yeah, I would probably still do bloody demon Megan Fox, even though she is a bloody demon.
Thoughts, other people at the water cooler getting water?
Fashion Wire Daily - Poetry was an apt way to describe the fall 2009 runway show from the house of Valentino, an elegant visual dissertation on the art of haute couture on Wednesday, July 8, in Paris.
Front Page: Broadway production to bow at Schoenfeld -- Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman will star in a Broadway production of Keith Huff's two-hander "A Steady Rain," bowing at the Schoenfeld Theater in September.
Police officers stand behind the closed gate of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch in Los Olivos, California on July 01, 2009. A group of businesspeople are proposing to build a replica of Michael Jackson's... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 9 Jul 2009 | 2:13 pm
Fashion Wire Daily - Lights, camera, Gaultier! French fashion's enfant terrible Jean Paul Gaultier found it, at the movies with a fall 2009 haute couture collection on Wednesday, July 8, inspired throughout by cinema.
Arnold Klein admitted on Larry King Live that he once donated sperm, and said that Michael Jackson “loved those kids…and that’s the most important grouping.” He added, “The fact that I am very obviously their father is just splitting hairs.”
Kate Winslet announced she is officially retiring her boobs. From now on, seeing her naked will require one additional billionth of a second on the internet.
If you’ve been following the Lenny Dykstra financial saga, you’ll be interested to know that Lenny filed for (f***ing) bankruptcy. This whole situation is like a funnier Bernie Madoff deal, only less tragic and with constant, mumbled F-words.
I know the situation isn’t funny, but Eighth-Grade Me just couldn’t help but chuckle at this headline.
If you’re a band in the New York area, Silver Sound is holding a Music Video Film Festival and Band Battle in August, and is currently accepting submissions. Why should you do it? 1) There’s prizes, and 2) I will be emceeing the band battle, and I guarantee your band will never sound better than after 5 minutes of my painful, interstitial comedy. It’s like following the Beastie Boys, in reverse.
A wax figure of late pop singer Michael Jackson is unveiled at Madame Tussauds on July 2, 2009 in Washington, DC. A waxwork of Michael Jackson made to mark his planned "This Is It" London comeback concerts... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 9 Jul 2009 | 1:50 pm
Until now, the Brooklyn rapper Fabolous kept his private life under wraps. Not only did he stay quiet about getting shot three years ago—a rarity among rappers—he also chose to keep his relationship and the birth of his first child out of the public eye.
We were surprised that reality star Shanna Moakler firmly believes that the resigning Governor of Alaska has the positive potential to really make an impact Source: FOXNews.com | 9 Jul 2009 | 1:19 pm
I have memories of dancing around my
house to his music. There's video of me somewhere lip-synching
"Beat It" when I was probably seven, with a flashlight on my face.
The first time I saw the "Thriller" video, I was so excited. I have
such a fascination with Halloween and he was tapping into the whole
Halloween zombie vibe. For one Halloween I had to be a werewolf. I
remember going to Disneyland to see Captain Eo, which was
the coolest thing in the world. His...
Pearl Jam will celebrate Halloween early with two concerts at Philadelphia's Wachovia Spectrum to be held Oct. 28 and 30. The shows are part of a brief North American tour which also includes stops in San Diego, Seattle and Los Angeles.
When Genesis released "Genesis: 1970-1975," its third boxed set of studio albums, last fall, keyboardist Tony Banks told Billboard.com that "the next logical thing to do would be something with the live albums.
No one is going to London anymore, but Dr. Conrad Murray says that he's owed plenty just for coming to California.
A lawyer for the cardiologist, who was hired by Michael...
Patricia Arquette is done trying to divorce Thomas Jane.
Less than a month after the Medium star and her famous siblings were spotted at the launch party for Jane's new HBO series,...
What did belts ever do to you, Pete Wentz? Why did you turn your ample tattooed back on such a convenient pants-holding device? Are you raging against the Beltinistas or some...
• Actually no one asked Gwyneth Paltrow about her digestive system; she just volunteered the information. In short, it has been through a three-week liquid-only cleanse and feels great...
Review in a Hurry: Supremely dorky high-school valedictorian Dennis (Paul Rust) decides to tell it like it is in his commencement address, trashing bullies by name and declaring his love for head...
George Clooney is in a rebuilding period.
While touring L'Aquila, capital of the central Italian region of Abruzzo, where a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on April 6 killed nearly 300...
Jim Carrey may have played the Grinch, but now he's about to be the grandpa!
The star's 21-year-old daughter, Jane Carrey, is expecting her first child with fiancé Alex...
UPDATE: And...he shoots, he scores. More than a year after reaching a tentative agreement, DiCaprio and his neighbors finalized the terms of their settlement and a judge has dismissed the...
“Hey Murray, what do you say we show these people how we throw down in Hollywood? Gesture-off. You ready?”
“Please, Cloon-dog. I was born ready. Your move.”
“Boom. Nose scratch. Beat that, Billy Boy.”
“Easy. Forehead rub. This is child’s play.”
“Ok, fine. Let’s step this thing up. The two finger point with a slight head turn. Give up?”
“Gee, George, maybe I should give up. But first, can you hold my… INVISIBLE CUP?!”
“Woah, the invisible cup. I haven’t seen that since the Danson-Ritter battle of ‘88. You win, Bill. I’ll back off.”
“I can’t believe I lost. Now I have to hold this guy’s mic.”
Oh noes!
Are Denise (Catherine Bell) and Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico)—our favorite couple on Lifetime's military melodrama Army Wives—really, truly over? Now that the...
Back in March, the New York Times Co. 
Brace yourselves. We just may have pinpointed the whereabouts of Ruth Madoff. (She's been at an "undisclosed location" since she was forced out of her East 64th Street penthouse last week.) A reliable source who has been in touch with acquaintances of the family tells us she's been staying at the home of her niece, Diane Hochman, in Hewlett, Long Island. 
I’m enjoying Top Chef Masters so far, but last night’s “Magic” Elimination Challenge was by far the most arbitrary “Everyone gets one theme to work with” challenge in the illustrious history of arbitrary-ass Top Chef challenges. The guest judge/wizard described that magic is all about four things (and nothing else) — Illusion, Mystery, Spectacle, and Surprise — and surprise! Each chef was given one of the extremely comparable nouns as their theme to cook with.
She did tell some funny jokes and everyone in the audience gave her a standing ovation, so I’m going ahead and officially crowning her ‘America’s Susan Boyle’ [mostly so I don't have to worry about this anymore]. She’s a pistol, I’ll give her that.
