Lara Flynn Boyle and Matthew Perry: More Than Friends?
Lara Flynn Boyle just keeps us guessing. While her on-again-off-again beau Jack Nicholson accompanied her to last week’s private screening of Men In Black II at director Barry Sonnenfeld’s house in East Hampton, we hear Boyle’s been getting cozy on the West Coast with Friends star Matthew Perry. A source tells us they started seeing each other after bonding during the MIB premiere party on the Santa Monica Pier on June 26. Boyle and Perry, both 32, have certainly had their share of celebrity romances. Perry was linked to Julia Roberts in 1996 and former ABC entertainment president Jamie Tarses in 2001, and in the last month alone, he’s been spotted with Heather Graham, Amanda Peet, and tennis champ Jennifer Capriati. In addition to Big Jack, Boyle’s fueled the gossip mills with links to David Spade in 1999, followed by Harrison Ford a few months later, and then, about a year ago, Eric Dane, the hunkster who played Dr. Wyatt Cooper on the defunct TV medical drama Gideon’s Crossing. Coincidentally, Nicholson is currently shooting Anger Management, which co-stars Krista Allen, another gal recently attached to Perry.
Lizzie Grubman Goes Bargain Hunting
It appears Lizzie Grubman is ready to pay her debt to society. Sort of. A source tells us that during plea-bargaining discussions, the possibility of community service came up, at which point Grubman’s attorneys suggested the embattled P.R. princess put her skills to work for the Fresh Air Fund. Prosecutors were unimpressed, insisting that the gig would be too easy for Grubman since she’s already done pro bono work for the nonprofit children’s group. Instead, our source says, prosecutors would like to see Grubman undertake some “hard community service,” like working at a maximum-security prison. Assistant district attorney Joy Watson would say only that “no agreement whatsoever in regards to a plea bargain has been made.” Grubman lawyer Stephen Scaring declined to comment. The case should go to trial in the fall. If convicted, Grubman could face up to eight years in jail, although most observers believe she won’t have to serve any time behind bars.
Calvin Klein Plays House
Calvin Klein can’t seem to make up his mind when it comes to the layout of his new triplex in Richard Meier’s building on Perry Street. So he’s asked John Pawson – the minimalist architect behind Klein’s stores in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Seoul, among others – to construct a temporary layout, complete with stairs and walls. Before anything is permanently installed, Klein will get a feel for his new place with a full-scale wooden replica fitted into the raw space. Estimated cost? $250,000. But that’s mere pin money to the fashion icon. He reportedly bought the place for $14 million – and that doesn’t include Pawson’s $9 million decorating budget.
Don DeLillo Gets Writer’s Block
Don DeLillo’s play Valparaiso got great reviews in Montreal and San Diego, but the playwright is trying to shut out New York critics when it hits town this month. Rude Mechanicals Theater Company, which is producing the show at the Blue Heron Arts Center, isn’t comping any press tickets. “They said I could buy one if I agreed not to write anything,” one journalist told us. A rep for the theater said there are no press tickets because the New York show is a workshop and not a full-scale production and that the company disinvited critics as soon as it learned of the no-media clause in DeLillo’s contract.
Food for Thought
Something smells fishy at Citarella. The gourmet grocery has apparently served up a lawsuit against the Latino advocacy group Workers in Action Committee after it staged a protest and distributed flyers outside the Upper West Side store in support of three former workers. According to WAC, Facundo Bravo, an eight-year veteran, arrived at work one day to discover he was being replaced as pasta manager. WAC says management ordered Bravo, Jose Mercado, and Jesus Mercado to train Bravo’s successor, who just happened to be Italian. When they refused, says WAC, they were fired and are still owed vacation pay. Citarella did not return calls for comment.
Too Kool: Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has no problem with American money, he just doesn’t like Americans. During a meeting with U.S. journalists in his Rotterdam office recently, he launched into a diatribe, snarling that “Americans are anti-European.” We’re also told that after we revealed details of his proposed Whitney Museum expansion last month, the small-scale model in his office was covered with garbage bags, and visitors must now sign confidentiality agreements.
Sam I Am: He may be the new “It” man of insider trading, but there are still some who haven’t heard of Sam Waksal, even in his own backyard. The embattled ImClone honcho was spotted last week buying a bag of groceries at Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton, telling the cashier to add the tab to his house account. The clueless cashier asked him to repeat his name. Looking quite perturbed, he grunted, “Waksal – W-A-K-S-A-L!”
With Catherine Townsend.