Adrian Grenier Reduced to Luring Women With BoozeMeanwhile, Cameron Diaz has signed on to play Seth Rogen’s love interest, and this thing with Kate Hudson and A-Rod is STILL happening, in today’s gossip roundup.
Kate Winslet’s Captivating Cleavage Takes Another VictimIt’s like the Bermuda Triangle of boobs — people just get lost in there. Plus, how Kim Kardashian maintains her butt and Mayor Bloomberg stays rich, in the gossip roundup.
Who’s Vivi Nevo?We’re still not totally sure, but it sure is fun to say his name.
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Tim Russert’s Son Luke Eyed for NBC Reporting GigThe son of late ‘Meet the Press’ host Tim Russert may get a gig on NBC. That and gossip about Ron Perelman, Patricia Duff, Lauren Conrad, and Bill Murray in our daily gossip roundup.
Gwyneth Paltrow And Chris Martin Had Lunch With Guy RitchieGwyneth, Chris Martin, and Guy Ritchie had lunch at Fresno in East Hampton sans Madonna. What could they have been talking about? Plus, Jill Zarin decided she hates “eye lockers,” Peter Cook got a too shiny manicure, and more you missed if you weren’t in the Hamptons this past weekend.
Regis Philbin Wears a SpeedoThat’s right. The Rege fancies a banana hammock. Reflect on that for a moment, then click through to read about all of the other things the rich and famous did in the Hamptons this past weekend.
New York’s Greatest Divorces: Your Handy GuideChristie Brinkley and Peter Cook’s divorce will be messy, sure — but they’ve got nothing on Donald, Ron, and Rudy. Let’s talk about legends, people.
Jimmy Cayne and Richard Fuld Disinvited From the Billionaire PartyHow humiliating is it to be dropped off Forbes’ annual list of the world’s billionaires? Just ask Jimmy Cayne and Lehman Brothers’ Richard Fuld. Cayne, who stepped down from Bear Stearns earlier this year, and Fuld, who it was just announced raked in a paltry $40 million in 2007, were notably absent from this year’s list, which was released yesterday. Does this mean they will be turned away from Steve Schwarzman’s next birthday party? Will it be like, I’m sorry, sirs. Only billionaires are allowed here? If that’s the case, it’s going to be a pretty small crowd, unless Schwarzie plans to hold his fiesta in Moscow. This year, the Russian capital eclipsed New York in the amount of billionaires per capita: We have only 71, with an average net worth of $3.3 billion each, whereas in Russia, 74 billionaires, with an average net worth of $5.9 billion each, are whooping it up with the caviar blini. So other than deadbeats Fuld and Cayne, who else is keeping us down?
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Chris Rock Has a Good Question About Giuliani“Everyone says Giuliani was great on 9/11,” said Chris Rock during his show at MSG on New Year’s Eve. “What about on 9/10?” Joshua Jackson refused to let anyone sit with him and girlfriend Diane Kruger at the Soho Grand’s New Year’s Eve party. ABC anchor Bob Woodruff has made a full recovery from his Iraq injuries and recently went skiing. Eddie Murphy’s ex-wife Nicole Murphy hung out at the Plumm with New York Giant Michael Strahan while Murphy was getting ready to marry Tracey Edmonds on an island in the South Pacific. Britney Spears’s latest team of lawyers dumped her after a “breakdown in communication.”
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Georgina Chapman and Harvey Weinstein Take the Celebrity Wedding to Connecticut (Updated)Today People brings us all the details of the glamorous nuptials of Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman and producer Harvey Weinstein. They do a pretty decent job, as wedding announcements go. Guests at Harvey’s Westport estate included Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Cameron Diaz, Renée Zellweger, Naomi Watts, Anna Wintour, Rupert Murdoch, Ron Perelman, Quentin Tarantino, Graydon Carter, Karolina Kurkova, and Helena Christensen. Yeah, it was one of those. “The wedding was the most elegant, loving affair I’ve ever seen,” one guest (no doubt a socialite friend of contributing reporter Jeff Slonim) told People. “The room was full of incredible people who were there to toast the couple, who looked totally in love.” The party tents were decorated with fir trees, crystal chandeliers, mirrors, and pink flowers. A ten-minute fireworks show erupted after the couple exchanged their vows, lighting up Long Island Sound.
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Ron Perelman and Ellen Barkin: The Middle East of MarriagesThey’ve been divorced for more than a year, but a new skirmish has broken out in the seemingly endless war between Ron Perelman and Ellen Barkin. Today comes the news that Perelman is suing his ex-wife, saying she used money from the production company he set up for her, Applehead II, to pay her brother a $250,000-a-year salary and, perversely and awesomely, to finance a suit against Perelman himself. But Ron is refusing to let the marital terrorist win!
“We were initially disappointed at Ms. Barkin’s attempts to further enrich herself after the divorce,” Perelman spokeswoman Chris Taylor said. “We are further disappointed to learn of her additional actions to further enrich herself, her family and friends.
Will peace ever come to this tumultuous nation?
Revlon chief Perelman sues ex-wife Barkin, her brother over money from film firm he financed [IHT]
Related: Scenes From a Broken Marriage [NYM]
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64 New Yorkers Make ‘Forbes’ 400You haven’t, by any chance, been feeling rich lately, have you? Sort of feeling a little bit smug that the burst of the real-estate bubble won’t splatter all over you? At least a little bit excited that in November, your every-other-Friday paycheck will come three times instead of twice? Well, just in time for all that, Forbes has released its annual list of the 400 richest people in America. And guess what? Sixty-four of them are New Yorkers! The top 100 billionaires, in fact, include household (okay, apartment-hold) names like shareholder activist Carl Icahn, Revlon CEO Ron Perelman, designer Ralph Lauren, Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse oh yeah, and Mayor Bloomberg, who at $11.5 billion is America’s 25th richest man. According to Forbes, he more than doubled his wealth from last year, which was enough to leapfrog over rival media magnate Rupert Murdoch in the ranks.
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Still Barkin Up Ron’s TreeEllen Barkin claims that Ron Perelman owes her another $3.4 million because he promised to fund a production company for her and her brother. (She already got $40 million in the divorce.) Lindsay Lohan was dropped as the potential face of Louis Vuitton after stealing a lot of clothing during an Elle photo shoot. Sagg Pond in the Hamptons was jokingly renamed On Goldman Pond after Lloyd Blackfein and other GS employees bought houses on it. Some staffers at the Russian Tea Room claim the restaurant is haunted. Sumner Redstone may sell Paramount to settle family squabbling. Keith Richards did snort his dad’s ashes — just not with cocaine.
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Damn You, John StosselAt Live Earth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and John Stossel continued their public feud over global warming. Ron Perelman and Gina Gershon are hanging out on Perelman’s yacht off the coast of Italy, but they may not be dating. Eliot Spitzer and Charles Schumer are weekend telephone buddies. Former Bronx congressman Mario Biaggi no longer holds a grudge against Rudy Giuliani, even though Giuliani successfully prosecuted him for bribery twenty years ago. Al D’Amato is happy he’s going to be a father again. Mel Gibson bought a $39.5 million estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. NBC accidentally featured Katie Couric in a Today-show promo. Hillary Clinton is hosting three Hamptons fund-raisers the first weekend of August.
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Tavern on the Green’s Ronny Webb Likes to See You Smile
Fifty-four-year-old Ronny Webb worked at El Morocco and the Rainbow Room, eventually making $40,000 per year as a hotel-restaurant manager, before he decided to “take a step down” and pursue what he says is a less stressful existence. For the past five years, he’s been making cash money as a butler for billionaire Ron Perelman (something he’s not allowed to talk about) and as a captain at the city’s most profitable restaurant, Tavern on the Green. (Apparently, attempting to track-down 2 percent milk and off-the-menu spaghetti for Robert De Niro’s wife and kid is considered low stress.) We asked him more about this lark of a job.
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Gore and Sting, BFFAl Gore hung out at Sting’s apartment on Central Park West after the Live Earth concert. Roger Clemens got his hair highlighted for $120 at the Pierre Michel Salon. Jane Pratt feels vindicated now that Jane magazine has folded. Newly IPO’d billionaire Stephen Schwarzman and his wife dined at Club 55 in St. Tropez. A movie starring Alec Baldwin is set to hit theaters, even though he doesn’t want it released because he thinks it’s so bad it’s “unrecognizable.” Jon Bon Jovi took a helicopter to Ron Perelman’s party in the Hamptons. Teri Hatcher acted like a diva at Eva Longoria’s wedding. A clubgoer caught Paris Hilton smoking pot.
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Ron Perelman Is Making Up for Lost TimeRon Perelman wasn’t the ladies’ man he is now when he was in high school. Harold Ford Jr. wants to be governor of Tennessee. Lindsay Lohan turned 21 yesterday, looking healthy and acting rather adultlike. Jackie O. didn’t like it when Caroline gained weight. Anna Wintour’s stylist is working weekends at a salon in Bridgehampton. Zach Braff and Drew Barrymore made out at Beauty Bar. Mice, dead and alive, are wreaking havoc at the new New York Times building. Padma Lakshmi is finally divorcing Salman Rushdie, and a billionaire or an unidentified chef may be to blame. Europe is the new Hamptons for celebrity Fourth of July celebrations.
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Chuck Schumer, Lady’s ManAfter college, Chuck Schumer picked a girl over a scholarship. 50 Cent is really rich. Gay activists don’t like John Travolta in the Hairspray movie because he’s a Scientologist, not because of his performance. Brian Grazer is getting divorced. Eliot Spitzer banged his head on the trunk of his car. Rufus Wainwright defends Anderson Cooper’s lifestyle and choice of gym. Maggie Gyllenhaal might come to Broadway as Nellie in South Pacific. Kevin Spacey partied at Lotus. Lily Allen put on a bad show at the Roseland Ballroom, then she hung out with Josh Hartnett. At Graydon Carter and Anna Wintour’s party for Nicholas Coleridge’s A Much Married Man, Ron Perelman thought the book was about him.
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Wang vs. WangDesigner Vera Wang is suing another Vera Wang for copyright infringement. Bonnie Fuller is looking to branch into TV, and her NYU film-student son may be involved. Silly Billy, the clown from weird documentary Capturing the Friedmans, now goes the name by Dr. Blood. André Balazs and Naomi Campbell might be dating. An upcoming bio of Condi Rice claims she’s accrued power personally but not professionally. The broker for Bob Guccione’s East Side mansion (current asking price: $50 million) quit. Ellen Barkin reiterates that she regrets marrying Ron Perelman. Gisele will jump ship to H&M when her contract with Victoria’s Secret expires. Court TV is going through a rebranding process.
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Vanity CareLimos parked outside Graydon Carter’s Waverly Inn delayed an ambulance en route to nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital. Former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill cut down his use of the company’s corporate jets right before 17,000 people were laid off. Michael Chabon is proud to have been branded an anti-Semite by the Post. Ellen Barkin is writing a novel based on her marriage to Ron Perelman. Bonnie Fuller is branching into TV. Barbara and Lauren Bush sang karaoke. The famous hawks living at 927 Fifth Avenue will soon be in a kids’ book. Jay Leno confused two Mexican comedians. Joe Francis says his Girls Gone Wild videos don’t feature black girls because they ask for money, not because he’s racist.
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Jim Cramer’s Wisdom Is More Valuable Than Ron Perelman’s Boat
A quiz: Which is worth more, a three-night, all-paid, all-access, five-star trip to this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including an all-you-can-party-with-celebs pass on Ronald Perelman’s 188-foot yacht, or, a chance to have dinner with Mad Money moneyman Jim Cramer? The answer: Mad Money, baby. A bidding war erupted last night for the Cramer prize — a chance to have dinner with the investment guru (also a New York columnist) and watch a taping of his CNBC show — at the fund-raising gala New York first lady Silda Wall Spitzer threw last night at Christie’s for her charity, Children for Children. Howard Milstein — president of Emigrant Savings Bank, managing partner of Milstein Properties, and, last night, the man sitting at Governor Spitzer’s left — won the Cramer night with a bid of $20,000. Perelman’s Cannes-party donation — donated anonymously — fared far less well, going for only $12,000 to some guy in the back whose identity we couldn’t really figure out. Perelman wasn’t there, but somewhere, he must have felt slighted. Adding insult to injury: This auction was in the same room where Perelman’s ex, Ellen Barkin, last year hawked all the fancy jewelry he gave her. The price for those? $20.3 million. —Geoffrey Gray
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Big HouseV.C. Fred Wilson sold a townhouse on West 10th Street for $33.14 million — a record for private property below 14th Street. Beyoncé and her mother won the $1.5 million lawsuit filed against them regarding their House of Dereon fashion line, but the plaintiff plans to appeal. Robert Rodriguez left his wife of sixteen years for Rose McGowan during the filming of Grindhouse, but the split was amicable. The split between golfing great Greg Norman and his wife, Laura, however, is less so. Millionaire Miami developer Thomas Kramer was arrested during the birthday party of Fairchild Corp. CEO Jeffrey Steiner for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in the bathroom. Lindsay Lohan and Steve Aoki are hanging out a lot. This here New York Magazine is moving downtown, but no one knows what to do with the signs on top of the current building.
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Bill Clinton’s Handshakes Are Still FetishizedMike Bloomberg, Ron Perelman, and David Koch are the three most philanthropic New Yorkers, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Bill Clinton gave Cindy Adams a tutorial on shaking hands. An old man yelled at Edie Falco. Peter Fonda says stage actors “have intercourse with the audience every night.” Donald Trump wants to dump Nancy O’Dell as the host of Miss USA. A random model — Amber Valletta — doesn’t care for New York. Josh Hartnett and Maria Sharapova considered doing karaoke on Thursday night. Steve Schwarzman grew up poor.
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It’s Good to Be the MoMA Director
MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry is a wealthy man with even wealthier friends. Not only does he have one of the highest salaries in the museum biz, but, as the Times almost gleefully reports today, some of those rich friends set up something called the New York Fine Arts Support Fund (we’ll say!), which showered him with over $5.35 million in gifts from 1995 to 2003. Contributions to the fund came from such massive last names as Rockefeller, Gund, and Lauder, and it was put together with the express purpose of luring Lowry to MoMA. Just how hard were they working to lure him? Check out this one: In 1995, MoMA picked up the down-payment for an apartment Lowry bought; the trust then took care of the mortgage repayments. In 1999, the trust bought that apartment from Lowry, who pocketed $1.3 million on the sale. Did he spend that profit — on an apartment he hadn’t paid for in the first place, keep in mind — on a new place to live? Of course not. The museum then gave Lowry another free apartment, this one in Museum Tower. The man has to live somewhere, after all. Now, finally, we understand the $20 ticket prices.
Donors Sweetened Director’s Pay at MoMA [NYT]
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Giuliani Not the Only GOPer Who Knows His Campaign Faces ProblemsSome Republicans think his business and the press will keep Rudy Giuliani from running for president. Robin Williams made friends with a bunch of former enemies in the New York Film Critics Circle. Ron Perelman brought rabbis over to bless a plot of land he purchased on the secluded Harbour Island in the Bahamas; locals, having never seen a rabbi, thought they were terrorists. Dita Von Teese left Marilyn Manson because he was partying too heartily with Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, and Evan Rachel Wood. Word association with Forbes publisher Steve Forbes: Nancy Pelosi: “Trouble.” Hillary Clinton: “Future Trouble.” Speaking of Pelosi, daughter Alexandra’s latest documentary features a telling interview with outed pastor Ted Haggard. Claire Danes’ new boyfriend, Hugh Dancy, seems to be more interested in boys than in poor Claire. Simon Cowell prefers Kelly Clarkson to Bob Dylan. Britney Spears went out drinking, shacked up with model Isaac Cohen at the W Hotel on Monday. Bill Nighy prefers his matzo-ball soup without matzo balls. Coke-loving, hooker-loving Pat O’Brien is out at The Insider. Amy Sedaris was listening to “Desperado” when she lost her virginity; an 11-year old Tracy Morgan had “Superfreak.” The guy behind the N.J. sale of Whitney Houston memorabilia may not actually own all the stuff he’s selling. Paris Hilton pleaded innocent to her DUI charge from September. Katie Couric is having a 50th birthday party at Tiffany this weekend. Cross-town goalie rivals Henrik Lundqvist and Marty Broedeur avoided each other at Tao. PETA claims that the makers of POM pomegranate juice fund experiments in which the arteries of male bunnies are severed so that researchers can study the effect of the juice on male impotence.
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Ron Perelman’s YearOft-divorced billionaire Ron Perelman had lunch on Tuesday with former Law & Order star Elisabeth Röhm, but he’s spending the holidays on a yacht in St. Barts with psychologist Anna Chapman. Mickey Rooney’s “manager” son, Chris Aber, is a control freak. The Catholic League is giving the Weinstein brothers flak for releasing a slasher flick on Christmas Day. (In other Catholic League–related news, president William Donohue claims that Pope Benedict is not, in fact, gay.) Some Dems are annoyed that President Bush has turned the board of the supposedly nonpartisan Kennedy Center into a GOP stronghold. (Also, Jessica Simpson does not want her botched singing performance there two weeks ago to air). A lot of media bigwigs and politicos, including Hillary Clinton, Tom Brokaw, and Arianna Huffington, ate at Michael’s. Gay activist Allen Roskoff made fun of gay, unsuccessful attorney-general candidate Sean Patrick Maloney in his Christmas-party invitation. Paris Hilton has been attending acting classes to prepare for her next movie. D.J. AM doesn’t miss dating Nicole Richie, but his wallet does. Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford are hosting a New Year’s Eve party together. Liz Smith anoints the gift card the hot Christmas present of the year.
