A diner at the Waverly Inn overheard Judith Regan claiming that Rupert Murdoch is regularly hit by wife Wendi. Marilyn Manson may or may not have been asking for coke and Adderall in the bathroom of Bette last week. Helena Christensen's 7-year-old son, Mingus, is a chess genius. Howard Stern thinks Beth Ostrosky has invited too many people to their wedding. Lance Armstrong chatted with Blackstone's Pete Peterson at the Four Seasons. Cindy Adams claims that Colin Powell told friends that he sympathizes with General Petraeus but that he's "digging his own foxhole" (or some approximation thereof).

Kid Rock's model girlfriend May Anderson was spotted getting "cozy" with rocker Jamie Burke. Patricia Arquette told Debra Messing that she was having trouble controlling her breasts in the bathroom of the Emmys. Also at the awards, Jeremy Piven chatted up a dozen women, and Milo Ventimiglia "got a lot of support" (whatever that means!) from Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere. The night before the Emmys, NBC party boy Ben Silverman threw a Vegas-themed party with a live tiger. The Chateau Marmont in L.A. allegedly banned Britney Spears for "weird" behavior, including smearing a plate of food all over her face. Tom DeLay ran into Al Sharpton at the Grand Havana Club, where the duo discussed their upcoming debate. A number of the "live" performances at the VMAs, including Kanye West's, were actually shot earlier in the week. (Speaking of Kanye, he gave a sarcastic shout-out to the Post on the Jimmy Kimmel show for giving his album a B+.) Trump Vodka label beat Grey Goose in a taste test sponsored by Spirit Journal. An upcoming biography of George H.W. Bush contends that people want the elder Bush to clean up his son's presidency. Aussie actress Radha Mitchell says she's sick of having to stay in shape to get movie parts and wants more opportunities for fat actresses. Plastic-surgeon heir (is there such a thing?) Dan Baker Jr. has gone from dating Sophie Dahl to Charlie Chaplin's daughter Keira Thompson.