Daniel Radcliffe has been hanging out around town, “arm in arm” with a transvestite named Our Lady J, and is apparently “fascinated by the drag culture.” Economist Nouriel “Dr. Doom” Roubini “was mobbed by a swarm of young women” the other day while giving a seminar on the economy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rihanna was planning on wearing thigh-high, lace-up Louis Vuitton boots, but Madonna wanted to wear them, and “insisted that nobody else could be seen or photographed in them.” We think she did Rihanna a favor.
At Jay McInerney’s book party at ‘21’ Club, Brooke Shields deftly avoided reporters’ inquiries about Kiefer Sutherland’s head-butting incident. Bill Clinton accidentally wandered into ambassador John L. Loeb Jr.’s cocktail reception at the Metropolitan Club. Caroline Kennedy smiled for some Japanese tourists’ snapshots as she lunched at Jerry’s Café on Chambers Street. Geoffrey Rush celebrated his Best Actor Tony nomination for Exit the King at Bar Centrale. Meryl Streep has plans to appear on 30 Rock. Sarah Jessica Parker just joined the New York City Ballet’s board, and will host next week’s Spring Gala, where Samantha Ronson will be the featured D.J. Liam Neeson gave tribute to his late wife, Natasha Richardson, as he was granted an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Queen’s University Belfast.
Larry Poston, of Waverly Inn and Pastis fame, has joined forces with Johnny Swet, of Freemans and Balthazar, to open a new restaurant on West Ninth called Hotel Griffou, named after the building’s original 1870 inn that was frequented by Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mae West. The Lohan clan (minus Lindsay) is pretty worried about 15-year-old Ali, who’s been sporting skimpy outfits and skipping school to hang out with her party-loving big sis. Lady Gaga, always a fan of showing some skin, had an accidental breast-baring moment while filming a video for hip-hopper Wale’s track “Chillin’” on a construction site in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Kelly Bensimon couldn’t get enough of singer Gavin Degraw at his W Atlanta-Midtown show. She inched her way up to the stage, then joined his after-hours bash at Whiskey Park. Lance Bass took stabs at a piñata for his 30th-birthday bash at 1Oak. Leslie Mann has high hopes for Zac Efron. She thinks he’s the next Tom Cruise.
Katy Perry dropped her BlackBerry to jump into her back-on boyfriend, Travis McCoy’s, arms, when he showed up at Mr. West Wednesday night. The rumored Gossip Girl spinoff is a no-go, but Anna Sui is launching a Gossip Girl–inspired collection for Target. At a recent Highline Ballroom show, Hayden Panettiere discussed David Duchovny’s stint in rehab for sex addiction last year, giggling, “Well, if I had to be addicted to something, it would be sex!”
