Read more posts by Chris Rovzar

Filed Under: blake lively, fashion, gossip girl, the greatest show of our time

Karolina Kurkova Had a Baby Boy!

Model Karolina Kurkova gave birth to a boy on Thursday, October 29, the first child for her and her fiancé, film producer Archie Drury. The couple named their newborn Tobin Jack Drury. He weighed in at six pounds, three ounces. Welcome to the world, little Scorpio with model genes! [People]

Read more posts by Sharon Clott

Filed Under: archie drury, karolina kurkova, pregnant models, tobin jack drury

A general view of atmosphere at the "Michael Jackson's This Is It" New York premiere

Rihanna to Give First Interview About Chris Brown Assault

ABC will air an interview with the pop singer about her February assault at the hands of former boyfriend Chris Brown.

Tila Tequila Auctions Off Plaster Boob Cast For Charitable, Discerning Masturbators

Reality show human Tila Tequila is attempting to raise money and awareness for breast cancer the only way you’d expect her or anyone else to — by auctioning off a plaster cast of her boobs:

The exhibitionist reality show star, who’s embroiled in a domestic abuse lawsuit with ex-boyfriend Shawne Merriman, is auctioning off a painted plaster cast of her breasts to help raise money for breast-cancer awareness for the Keep a Breast Foundation. The price of Tequila’s boob job was at $44,500 with eight days of bidding still left.

Complete this sentence: If you spend $50,000+ on a plaster cast of Tila Tequila’s breasts, you are a __________.

a) Creep

b) Charitable Contributor

c) Conversation piece enthusiast

d) Charitable Contributor who doesn’t realize there are other ways to contribute to charity

e) Website called Goldenpalace.com

f) Other (explain in comments)

Jury Seated for Joe Bruno Trial

This afternoon, twelve jurors and four alternates were selected for the federal corruption trial of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. The Times' Nick Confessore had a good piece this morning explaining how the entire system in Albany is now on trial. [NYP]

Related: Read Geoffrey Gray's 2008 profile of Bruno. [NYM]

Read more posts by Chris Rovzar

Filed Under: bruno corruption trial, courts, joe bruno, oh albany!, politics

African musicians going political

The Curious Case of Brian Schroeder [Crime]

Did you hear about Brian Schroeder, the Harvard Law School grad who set fire to the 9/11 chapel early Saturday morning, either as part of a "drunken prank" or because "someone slipped something into his drink"? The good news is Schroeder finally scraped together $3,000 in bail money and got to go home last night. The bad (though hardly surprising) news: Not only is Schroeder quickly turning into this week's tabloid whipping boy, his job offer at the law firm Sidley Austin—which coincidentally once had its offices in the World Trade Center—has been rescinded. But at least now he'll have plenty of time to continue his world travels. [NYDN, NYP, NYDN]

And Now: A Very Creepy Ad

This ad is for Auckland boutique Superette. The tagline is, "Be caught dead in it." Oh man. A pun. We are just dying to shop there now. (Except not, obviously.) [Copyranter]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: advertising, make it stop, superette

Mel Gibson's new baby!

Victoria Beckham’s Softer Haircut; Lancôme Working With L’Wren?

HAIR
• Victoria Beckham stepped out in a new face-framing shaggy haircut to cheer on the Los Angeles Lakers this weekend with her family. Do you like the softer look on Posh? [Telegraph UK]

• Andre Agassi used to wear a hairpiece. Are you shocked? [StyleList]

MAKEUP
• A preview of Georgia May Jagger's campaign for Rimmel London reveals that she's promoting a shade of matte red lipstick. [Elle UK]

• Lancôme’s artistic director, Aaron de Mey, hinted that the beauty brand may have a collaboration in the works with L'Wren Scott. [WWD]

• Makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, who counts Kate Moss and Gwen Stefani among her clients, is the creative director of a new makeup line named Myface Cosmetics. [Telegraph UK]

SKIN
• Naomi Watts's makeup strategy: Skip foundation and opt for raspberry lipstick. It brightens up your skin. [Girsl in the Beauty Department/Glamour]

Read more posts by Sharon Clott

Filed Under: aaron de may, andre agassi, beauty, beauty marks, charlotte tilbury, georgia may jagger, hair, l'wren scott, makeup, naomi watts, rimmel london, skin, victoria beckham

Toby Keith not who you think he is

Pattinson, Stewart just 'good friends'

PHOTOS: Star-Studded World Series

Jodie Sweetin Enters Autobiography Pun Hall Of Fame With New Book “Unsweetined”

Congratulations Jodie Sweetin — you’ve officially cracked our prestigious ongoing BWE.tv list of the 30 Worst Autobiography Pun Titles:

Unsweetined – amazing! When I say “Terrible Pun Titles,” I obviously mean, “I Love You For Having The Guts To Actually Call Your Book This”, so consider it a compliment, Jodie (who I assume is reading the blog at all times / refreshing to make sure her book cracked that historic pantheon).

Other titles I might’ve gone with:

The Sweetinest Thing

Sweetin’s Lowdown

How Sweetin It Is To Be Read By You

Sweetin Home Alabama, Is Not Where I Am From

Others? Leave ‘em in the comments. Or spend your time more usefully, if you can actually think of something more useful than this.

Your Name Here [Branding]

The GM Building may not be the GM Building for much longer. Naming rights are up for grabs now that the automaker has gone bankrupt. And it's quite an opportunity: "This is the first time since 1968, when General Motors completed construction of the 50-story tower at 767 Fifth Avenue, that the rights to dub perhaps the single most coveted skyscraper in the country—on Fifth Avenue, above the Apple cube, across from the Plaza and Central Park, in the center of what is arguably the country's, if not the world's, most glamorous shopping district—are available." Let's all hope that existing tenant Apple swoops in and lands the deal. Otherwise, the building named after a bankrupt automaker could go back to looking like this, which wouldn't be an improvement at all, now would it?  [NYO]

Loubs Don’t Project Comfort for a Reason

Christian Louboutin: "I would hate for someone to look at my shoe and say, 'Oh my God! That looks so comfortable!' That's not what I want to project. But I'm not a sadist. I don't believe suffering makes you beautiful. But comfort is not part of my creative process." [WP]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: christian louboutin, designers, quotables, shoes

'This Is It' wins weekend box office

A view of the entrance to the CIA headquarters

BEST DAY EVER: Tiffany Haddish Has Plenty Of Halloween Leftovers To Go Around

Al Roker lost control of the Ewoks on the Today Show set, and Barbara Walters just lost control of herself on The View. It was a pretty frightening day all around the TV dial on Friday, and Tiffany Haddish was there to bring you the best moments in this episode of Best Day Ever:

Best Day Ever returns with Doug Benson tomorrow night at 11pm on VH1.

Lady Gaga to Launch Clothing Line ‘at Some Point’

Flare asked Lady Gaga when she'd launch her own clothing line. She responded, “At some point, I will. Right now, I’m more concerned with using my fame to promote young designers such as Gary Card, an artist who designed a piece I used on stage.” She thinks her public wants her to do one because “There hasn’t been a commercial artist lately that has embodied avant-garde and couture so insistently as myself.” [Oh No They Didn't]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: just pants, lady gaga

Book artfully chronicles women's revolution (AP)

AP - "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present" (Little, Brown and Company, 480 pages, $27.99), by Gail Collins: In 1960, a secretary named Lois Rabinowitz was reprimanded by a New York City judge for appearing in court wearing slacks. Less than 50 years later in the same city, bus driver Tahita Jenkins was fired from her job because she refused to wear slacks.

Peter Brant, Big Spender [Divorces]

Model Stephanie Seymour and paper mogul Peter Brant have been in the middle of a nasty divorce the past few months, a feud that has required the police to intervene on more than one occasion. While the case plays itself out in the courts, a judge issued some "financial ground rules" recently, a ruling that requires Brant to pay Seymour $270,000 a month in alimony and child support. But that isn't all that much when you consider what Brant normally spends his money on:

The Brants live in a house on the farm described by Brant as being in the style of Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington...

White Birch Farm is also the home of "Puppy," a very large sculpture by modern artist Jeff Koons. Brant pays maintenance of the sculpture of between $75,000 and $100,000 a year.

The Brants have a staff of seven in their home and another 15 work the farm. He contributes $500,000 a month to support the farm.

His financial affidavit shows that Brant spends about $30,000 a month on household supplies, which he states may be anything from "toothpaste to towels."

Brant donates $216,000 a month to the Brant Foundation, which maintains an art museum across the street from White Birch Farm.

This past summer Brant took his children on a one-week trip to the south of France. He chartered a 150-foot yacht for $300,000.

Then again, Brant's main occupation—when he isn't playing polo or looking after his collection of niche magazines like Interview—is selling newsprint, which isn't exactly a growth industry these days. Brant reports business has been down 20 percent over the past two years. So perhaps that explains why he objected to Seymour's shopping sprees, and says he would have preferred her to jump on a plane and go to Paris to buy clothes at discount, instead of shopping for full-price items at Bergdorf Goodman. But who knew Brant was such a fashionista?

He said he did not understand why she was paying retail at Bergdorf's when she could get clothes, at a discounted price, from the atelier in Paris of their friend, the designer Azzedine Alaia, who Mr. Brant considers to be the best couture designer of the 20th century," the judge writes in her decision.

Seymour, Brant divorce case reveals lavish lifestyle [Stamford Advocate]

Sony picks up 'Mother and Child'

Where Were You When The Mad Men Kennedy Assassination Happened?

It was a typical Sunday night my Upper West Side apartment. My 19 roommates decided to go out for beers, but I, still suffering from an all too eventful Halloween, decided to take things easy. I gathered up all the spare Snuggies in my apartment (~217), stacked them on top of last season’s “boot pile”, and began my Sunday evening television tradition. First, The Amazing Race kept me on my toes (not literally, I was sleeping on a Cherry Garcia neck roll), as yet another excited episode left me all too convinced that the Harlem Globetrotter team is the greatest thing to happen to America since bread was invented (sliced, rolled, any style really). Then, that dreaded 9 to 10 PM hour had me on the phone with my dear Mother, who engaged me in a rousing discussion that covered topics from “What’s more than numerous? Umpteenth?” to Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade”.

Finally, 10 PM had come. All phones were thrown out the window and I settled into my fleece bunker for the second to last Mad Men episode of the 3rd Season. Things were going smoothly — Pete Campbell was drinking cocoa, then subsequently was denies a promotion, Roger’s daughter was being a whiny bitch (seriously, just take your Van Cleef earrings like the old woman on the subway in Coming to America and be on with your business.)

Then, it happened.

Harry turned the TV on, and the next thing we know, Kennedy was assassinated (again, on a fictional television show.) And as though our shortness of breath were not confusing enough (after all, we knew the guy died, but it was like reliving it all over again), Matthew Weiner threw in some bonus footage of Duck crouching with no clothes on. It all happened so fast. I called my Mother again to make sure she was OK (and seeing that she was watching an old episode of House Hunters and doesn’t even watch Mad Men, thankfully, she was fine), and tucked my knees into my chest. Is this what it was like back then? Beautiful, wealthy people, rocked to their very foundation?

Meanwhile, Henry proposed to Betty after a light make session in her car. Is this how pretty people live? Just getting marriage proposals by older, slick salt n’ peppers everywhere they turn? Assassination, Shmassassishmashion, she needs to get in on that offer. When he was undressing her with his eyes at that wedding? Whoo, chile, it was like Kennedy got shot all over again (and then again).

Where were you when Kennedy got shot on Mad Men, Dan?

DH: I remember it too vividly — I was watching the World Series and DVRing Mad Men, waiting until around 10:20 to watch the episode without commercials, and then suddenly, there it was: Archival footage of Walter Cronkite announcing that President Kennedy had been shot.

It seemed so surreal — was this actually happening? Was Mad Men really doing an entire episode about the Kennedy assassination? I mean, I know the show incorporates momentous 60s events all the time, but when it’s actually right in front of you, as those characters really are watching coverage of the Kennedy assassination and trying to take it all in, it’s just…it’s just really tough to take it all in.

I wrestled with the idea of staying home from work the next day, shaken and disturbed at the shocking historical turn that Mad Men had taken, but then I decided, you know what? This is American television. And on American television, there’ll be another episode next week, and more seasons after that, and we’re just gonna have to move on with our lives. I know a lot of our favorite characters were distressed by this, and they may never fully get over it, but the show will go on, and that’s what makes American television so great.

Alright, commenters — Where were you when the Mad Men Kennedy Assassination happened? How did you grieve? Who did you call? Did you work today? Let it all out in the comments.

Maybe Greenspan’s Manty Index Is Off Because It’s 30 Years Old

Fashion people and economists got giddy when sales of men's underwear went up 4.7 percent in the first half of the year. After all, Alan Greenspan postulated 30 years ago that sales of men's underwear rise when the economy pulls out of a low point. He reasoned men only invest in new manties when they're feeling flush, since dudes figure no one sees them anyway. However, Greenspan's theory, though newly popularized, could be flawed. In modern times people do see men's underpants, thanks to low-rise pants. Billboards like David Beckham's Armani ads have made sexy, stylish underpants a glamour item. Many companies are even making statement manties. So underwear may not have been a fashion item for men three decades ago, but it is now. Everyone looking to Greenspan's theory for signs of recovery now seems to have neglected to remember how old it is. But as we've said, it's way more fun to talk about underwear statistics than just boring regular statistics.

Greenspan’s Underpants [NYM]

Read more posts by Amy Odell

Filed Under: alan greenspan, economy, mantasies

What Does It Say About Me That I Know The Man Who Got This Bea Arthur Tattoo?

Friend, comedian and blogger Eliot Glazer tweeted an intriguing photo yesterday, that of an arm with perhaps the most glorious (depending on how you look at it) permanent homage to The Golden Girls of all time: A BEA ARTHUR MEMORIAL TATTOO. Witness:

While I have spent the last 27 or so hours refusing to believe this is a real thing that Eliot got on his actual arms, I have been assured by friends who have touched the above tattoo that it is, in fact, real. For a handful of money, a tattoo artist in Richmond, VA agreed to ink his arm with Bea’s sweet, if not terrifying, face. And today, confusion.

Sure, getting a Golden Girls tattoo is irrational and perhaps a bit over the top. But what does it say about me that I actually know this man? Today is going to be about reevaluating, I can tell you that much. And I know it’s 364 days away, but I might be Eliot’s tattoo come Halloween 2010.

Elton John Hospitalized for Flu, E-Coli

The legendary singer is recovering from a bacterial infection and the flu.

Spotted [Out & About]

Kate Winslet picking up son Alfie from school ... Roman Abramovich and girlfriend Dasha Zhukova leaving Nello's after lunch ...  Ed Burns taking his son trick or treating on Halloween ... Sandra Bernhard walking her dog ... Mark Ronson and sister Samantha leaving Bar Pitti on a Vespa ... Michelle Williams taking daughter Matilda to school ... Matt Damon and Emily Blunt filming scenes for The Adjustment Bureau in Chelsea ... Dustin Hoffman and son Jake attending a Knicks game ... Rachel Hunter standing on the set of Gravity ... Jude Law talking to his son on a stoop in the West Village ... Jimmy Fallon leaving last week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert... Gabriel Aubry getting out of a taxi with his daughter ... and Sienna Miller walking her dog in SoHo.

Music Review: Carrie Underwood shows maturation (AP)

AP - Carrie Underwood, "Play On" (19 Recordings/Arista Nashville)

Cate Blanchett

Christopher Walken Reading “Poker Face” Shockingly Appears On The Internet

I cannot believe this clip of Christopher Walken reading the lyrics to “Poker Face” has made its way onto the internet and is being passed around.

This is the INTERNET, people — it’s a place to examine Renaissance paintings, to listen to classical concertos, and to ponder deep philosophical musings. Since when did wacky one-minute videos become part of the internet??

Frankly, I am shocked and appalled by this new revelation. Lord Phineas J. Internet III must be rolling over in his grave.

Slinging a guitar not your style? Try 'DJ Hero' (AP)

AP - I was never much one for "Guitar Hero." Playing "Smoke on the Water" 50 times while holding a pint-sized plastic guitar just never really got the blood flowing. I've been waiting for something better, and now it's here.

Music Review: 'Glee' soundtrack a treat for fans (AP)

AP - Various, "Glee: The Music, Volume 1" (Columbia)

Julian Casablancas will perform to European crowds on a tour starting at the end of November

Kelly Clarkson’s Stewie Griffin Costume Isn’t Not Creepy

Continuing what’s sure to be an exhausting day of celebrity Halloween costume choices from the weekend, here’s Kelly Clarkson performing in a not entirely unscary Stewie Griffin costume over the weekend:

I’d make a joke about the non-topicality of the Stewie Halloween costume craze, but I make it a point to intentionally pick an embarrassingly nontopical costume myself each year, so I’ll give her a pass (I’m really leaning towards Neo from The Matrix next year…)

Here’s a video of the performance to get the costume’s full flattering effect; note the similarities between other artists’ “wacky Halloween shows” and just any Flaming Lips concert:

Park Laurel Duplex Penthouse Goes into Contract [Buyers & Sellers]

• Less than two months after investor and philanthropist Ephraim Gildor put his duplex penthouse at the Park Laurel back on the market for $28 million, it looks like he's already found a buyer. The 7,758-square-foot apartment with seven bedrooms and terrace went into contract late last week. [Cityfile, PDE]
• Hedge fund manager Steve Eisman, who took a loss on the sale of his old apartment at 1125 Park Avenue back in August, has picked up something new. He's closed on a four-bedroom penthouse duplex at 1120 Park Avenue for $7.4 million, which is 36 percent less than the original asking price. [NYT]
• Christopher Nixon Cox, the grandson of Richard Nixon, has sold his two-bedroom apartment at 10 East 70th Street for $1.4 million. [Curbed]
• Renowned sculptor Louise Bourgeois has been identified as the buyer behind the purchase of costume designer William Ivey Long's townhouse on West 20th Street. Bourgeois' Easton Foundation picked up the building for $4.75 million and will reportedly use it as an exhibition space and archive for Bourgeois' collection of books and film. [NYT]

Author Ken Auletta searches for the Google story (AP)

AP - "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It" (The Penguin Press, 336 pages, $25.95), by Ken Auletta. Google is best understood in terms of billions. Three billion searches are conducted daily on the site. Company revenues last year exceeded $22 billion. It spent $1.76 billion for YouTube and $3.2 billion for the digital ad company DoubleClick.

Exclusive Tinseltown Tidbits

All the exclusive gossip you want to know about, brought to you by Foxnews.com's Pop Tarts.

Marie NDiaye is the first woman in a decade to win the Goncourt prize

Happy Birthday [One Year Older]

David Schwimmer turns 43 today. Sculptor Richard Serra is turning 70. Pat Buchanan is 71. Political author (and reformed right-winger) David Brock is 47. Nelly turns 35. Singer/songwriter k.d. lang is turning 48. Chris Walla, the guitarist from Death Cab for Cutie, is 34. Stefanie Powers, best known as Jennifer Hart from Hart to Hart, is 67. And Queen Sofía of Spain turns 71 today.

Andre Azoulay grew up in Essaouira, which used to have a big Jewish community

Singing rabbi Haim Louk, who played with a Moroccan orchestra, drew thunderous applause

Gosselin 'Slows Things Down' With Hailey Glassman

Cipriani Gets Conspiratorial; Rudy Gets Bumped [Gossip]

• In a new interview, embattled restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani says he has no plans to return to NYC anytime soon since he's convinced he'll be arrested if he does. He's also convinced that his problems stem from going up against Roland Betts, the co-founder of Chelsea Piers and one of George Bush's oldest friends and who, Cipriani suggests, set out to destroy him. [P6, VF]
• He may have been mayor for eight years, but Rudy Giuliani was reportedly bounced from the prime Yankees seats next to the team's dugout for game one of the World Series because Michelle Obama was in town and the White House didn't want them sitting together. [P6]
• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took their older kids trick-or-treating, and one child even appeared to be in a "store-bought costume." Hopefully, Angie will take the time to sit down at her sewing machine next year. [Us]
• Fame-obsessed father Jon Gosselin thinks he's simply "misunderstood." In a public forum last night with his new BF, fame-obsessed rabbi Schmuley Boteach, Gosselin announced, "I'm not a fame seeker." Then he announced he planned to "privately" apologize to his ex-wife and said that he and girlfriend Hailey Glassman haven't broken up, they're just on a break. [People, Us]

• Lohan family drama update: Michael says he still plans to "kidnap" Lindsay and send her to rehab; Dina says she's slapping her ex-husband with a cease-and-desist letter to prohibit him from playing her voicemail messages on television, and also says he's six months behind on his child support payments; Lindsay took to Twitter to say her dad is a "lunatic" who "should be behind bars"; and both Lindsay and sister Ali are say they plan to file orders of protection against their dad. [P6, People]
• Depressing family news wasn't the only thing on Lindsay's mind this weekend: She was also supposedly spotted making out with Gerard Butler in Morocco on Saturday. Then she freaked out when someone pointed a toy gun at her. [DM, NYDN]
• Anna Wintour's daughter, Bee Shaffer, has found a job. [P6]
• Elton John is in the hospital with the flu and an e-coli bacterial infection, and has been forced to cancel the last part of his tour. [People]
• Ryan Seacrest has a stalker. And it's a guy. [People, TMZ]
• The National Enquirer reported that Josh Duhamel slept with a stripper, and now Fergie was spotted partying in NYC for Halloween. Uh oh. [Radar]
• Actor/anti-Semitic ranter Mel Gibson is the proud father of baby number eight. His girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, gave birth a month early. [Radar]
• Why is Nic Cage broke? According to Cage, he owes $6.3 million in back taxes because his business manager "sent him on a path toward financial ruin." [People]
• Brooke Hundley, who the "pudgy paramour" who bedded ESPN analyst Steve Phillips, has apparently been calling around to PR firms trying to get someone to rep her. [P6]
• Christopher Walken did a dramatic reading of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" on a British television show. Awesome. [BuzzFeed]
• Swiss authorities rejected bail for Roman Polanski on Friday, saying he's a flight risk, but Polanski's lawyer plans to file a new cash bail offer on behalf of the director today. [MSNBC]
• Colin Farrell and his girlfriend, Alicja Bachleda, are the parents of a baby boy named Henry Tadeusz. [Us]
• The Michael Jackson flick This Is It made $101 million worldwide at the box office this weekend. [MSNBC]

Inside Heidi Klum's Infamous Halloween Party

Get the exclusive dish on Hollywood's hottest Halloween bash.

Def Jam still a power at 25

Heidi Klum: Queen of Halloween

2 actors do all the work in play 'Love Child' (AP)

AP - Families of all kinds — biological, theatrical and even ancient Greek — are lovingly lampooned by two Broadway veterans in the zany farce "Love Child."

Linda Hogan Slams Hulk Hogan's New Book As Being Full of Sensationalist Lies

It seemed like Linda and Hulk were putting their post-marital beef behind them, but it may not be so.