WITH DEBORAH SCHOENEMAN
House Mates: Law Unto Herself
Nicole Kidman just keeps us guessing. Spies tells us that the Oscar winner and Jude Law made quite the spectacle of themselves during a late Saturday-night visit to Soho House. They made googly eyes, played with each other’s hair, held hands, and oh-so-gently stroked each other’s arms, legs, and backs. “It was in front of everyone,” one tipster reports. “They were definitely not trying to hide anything.” As usual, their reps insist they have never been more than just friends since getting acquainted during the filming of Cold Mountain.
Let’s Talk About Sex
About 1,000 people flooded the American Museum of Natural History on June 18 for the premiere of the final season of Sex and the City. But Kristin Davis had her eyes on the buffet. “Yeah, biscuits!” she shouted. “I haven’t eaten in so long!” Sarah Jessica Parker & Co. won’t finish filming until February. “You guys think this party is our last hurrah,” Davis said. “But it’s not. We’re on episode seven, and we have to shoot twenty. I have to get some sleep and learn my lines.” Sheryl Crow expects to appear on the show. “I’m sure they’ll ask me,” she said. “I just want to play a Manolo Blahnik saleswoman.”
Prude Awakening: Wall Street Cover-Up
John Ashcroft would feel right at home at Deutsche Bank. A group of executives from the bank recently rented out Spring Street, the Soho restaurant formerly known as Théo, for cocktails and dinner for about 100 people earlier this month. But they made one very odd request: that white canvases be strategically draped to hide various graphically detailed scenes of fornicating couples painted on the wall. The bankers were afraid that some female clients might be offended. But the décor is hardly hard-core porn. The images are hand-painted replicas of etchings by Giulio Romano, originally commissioned by the Vatican in the sixteenth century.
Trend Watch: Tome Of His Own
Bobby Trendy, the flamboyant decorator that Anna Nicole Smith’s reality show brought to the boa-loving masses, is shopping a book, Bobby Trendy’s Luxurious Guide to Life. “It looks very prominent at this time,” he announced last week after meeting with Miramax, one of thirteen prospective buyers. “Everything I do turns to sold!” The book will feature decorating tips and dish on clients like Carmen Electra, Jamie Kennedy, and Mandy Moore. He’s also written “little parodies of Anna,” though he denies she launched his career. Quite the opposite, in fact. “I made Anna famous,” trilled Trendy. “I raised her to my level.”
J.Lo and Ben: Le Déluge
Had enough of Ben and J.Lo? Well it’s only going to get worse. We hear that Hollywood’s endlessly chatted-about couple have finally agreed to be interviewed together. They’re close to signing off on a deal that includes a sit-down with Access Hollywood anchor Pat O’Brien for an hourlong Dateline special to coincide with the July 30 release of Gigli, their much-anticipated (and mysteriously delayed) romantic comedy. It was on the set of Gigli that they met and famously fell in love two years ago. They’ve also been promised plenty of play on Access Hollywood and are in discussions about no fewer than five segments on the Today show.
Broadway Baby: Screen Dream
Jason Patric is the latest movie star hoping to make a leap from the big screen to the Great White Way. We’re told that the Narc star is in talks to appear opposite Ashley Judd in an upcoming Broadway revival of the Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Patric would play Brick, the emotionally distraught former high-school football hero whose marriage to Judd’s Maggie the Cat is on the rocks. It’s the same role that made a star of Paul Newman when he played opposite Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 film adaptation. Casting director Pat McCorkle confirmed that Patric is very much in the running, but said other actors are also being considered.
Unreal World: Girls, Girls, Girls
Share-house strip-a-thons in Southampton? It could happen. Girls Gone Wild producer Joe Francis, who faces a possible 30 years in prison for featuring underage teens in his raunchy spring-break videos, will fly his private jet—with Playboy Playmate Shauna Sand and indefatigable starlet Tara Reid in tow—to the East End for Fourth of July festivities. He’s already sent a scout to secure a $30,000-to-$50,000 house in Bridgehampton for the week. And he’s throwing a massive party at Tavern nightclub on Saturday night. Francis’s rep confirms he’s coming, but “he’s definitely not shooting there.” However, a camera crew from a new WB reality show will be filming. “There will definitely be a wet T-shirt contest,” the show’s co–executive producer, David Schulhof, assures us. Barbara Kopple, eat your heart out.
Power Lunch: Beach Bubba
We doubt Bill Clinton will ever give up his McDonald’s completely. But he’s trying. Sources tells us that Bill and Hillary are on the South Beach Diet, the weight-loss program that’s become all the rage among the body-conscious. One of our spies overheard Bill crediting the diet when someone complimented him on looking so good at Hillary’s book party at The Four Seasons. “He also said all his friends in Hollywood are on it,” the spy reports. Dr. Arthur Agatston’s The South Beach Diet has been a best-seller since it was published in April. We’re told that the Clintons were hooked shortly after a friend gave them copies of the book.
Summer of Love: Rudy and Judi Go House Hunting in the Hamptons
Rudy Giuliani and Judi Nathan are ready to trade up from Nathan’s humble Noyack condo. Our spies recently spotted the newlyweds checking out a $1.5 million–plus estate in Sag Harbor. While house-hunting, Nathan rode with the broker in one car while Hizzoner followed in a sedan with two armed guards. It won’t be their first joint real-estate venture. A year ago, they scooped up a nine-room prewar Upper East Side co-op for $5.25 million.
What: Dance at Sunset Beach Barbeque and Dancing, benefiting AIDS CommunityResearch Initiative on AIDS. Hosted by Andrew Balazs, Ross Bleckner, CocoBrandolini, Bob Colacello, Kaite Ford, Marjorie Gubelmann, Kelly Klein,Leslie Klotz, Jenny Landy, Adam lippes, and Alex Von Furstenberg.When and Where: Friday, July 4th at Balazs’s Sunset Beach in Shelter Island.Festivities begin at 3pm.Tix: Call 212-924-3934, x107
