Keith Olbermann Takes His News Corp. War to the People“Page Six” claims that the MSNBC host won’t work with “citizen journalists” from MySpace because the Website is owned by News Corp. Plus everything else that’s in today’s gossip columns!
Adam Duritz Probably Should Have Married Jennifer Aniston When He Had the ChanceCounting Crows lead singer Adam Durtiz laments the fact that he’s 43, single, and sits home a lot. Alan Greenspan is worried about the economy, but he can’t be that worried: He celebrated his 82nd birthday the other night with a pricey dinner at Le Perigord. Jimmy Kimmel says he bought his ex-wife an engagement ring from Costco. Bill Clinton says his favorite movie of the year was Michael Clayton, but that he hasn’t seen There Will Be Blood. Defense attorney Mickey Sherman says he uses Otter’s “It’s the system’s fault!” speech from Animal House to justify defending shady clients. Tina Fey thinks she’s funnier than Jon Stewart.
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Kristin Davis Is Not a Slut, Okay?Kristin Davis got annoyed that Evan Handler’s wife jokingly referred to her as a “slut” when Handler had to film sex scenes with Davis on Sex and the City. Real-estate developer and Observer owner Jared Kushner recently replaced his dinner table with a Ping-Pong table and says more people come visit him now. Carly Simon says she never slept with Mick Jagger, but Bianca Jagger doesn’t believe her. Folk legend Pete Seeger is still annoyed that his protégé Bob Dylan switched to electric guitar back in 1965.
Gwen Stefani says that she thinks celebrity gossip is gross, but she’s addicted.
in other news
Remembering Bobby Van’s Glory DaysBobby Van, the founder of the popular eponymous restaurant chain, died earlier this week, “Page Six” reports.
While his name lives on at the Bobby Van’s in Bridgehampton, as well as at four steakhouse outlets in Manhattan and two in Washington, DC, Van, who had unhealthy appetite for booze and cocaine, was forced out of the business many years ago. “He was reduced to driving a cab. He was on dialysis,” said a source who spent many a pleasant evening at the original East End restaurant.
Van was 64. “Page Six” noted that Truman Capote often went to Van’s Bridgehampton restaurant to drink his favorite drink, an “orange thingee” (four parts vodka, one part orange juice), and that James Brady, George Plimpton, and John Knowles were regulars as well. But that’s not the half of it.
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Mr. Big Almost Gets Beat UpChris Noth was accosted by an angry trucker in the Bronx who wanted to know when he was going to marry Carrie. People were afraid to talk to Javier Bardem at the New York premiere of No Country for Old Men because he was so crazy in the movie. Dr. Ruth gave a copy of Sex for Dummies to Ivana Trump and fiancé Rossano Rubicondi while eating lunch at Michael’s. Anna Wintour had a meeting yesterday with Mayor Bloomberg. Ethan Hawke wowed the crowd at Off Broadway play Jump by breaking out a Karate Kid kick during an audience-participation bit. Zac Posen’s mom claims that her son can remember every outfit he’s worn to every party over the past 27 years.
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J.Lo’s Pregnancy SpoilerJennifer Lopez will supposedly announce that she’s pregnant during her show at MSG on Saturday night. Jessica Simpson’s people say she didn’t drink and dash at the Box — her friend just accidentally took the receipt slip with him. Rosie O’Donnell did an impromptu ten-minute stand-up set during a show by Roseanne Barr at Comix. (Rita Crosby was there, despite having been served a subpoena earlier in the day.) Mariah Carey doesn’t know how many bathrooms are in her Tribeca penthouse. Howard Stein, the nightlife honcho behind eighties hangouts Xenon and Rock Lounge, died at 62. The Port Authority says the quality of its toilet paper is much improved, contrary to what Larry David said on last week’s episode of Curb. GLAAD forced “Page Six” to apologize for calling the pre-op transsexual who has a reality show on Fox a “she-male.”
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The Future of the Species Depends on Paris HiltonParis Hilton has landed a starring role in a movie set in the year 2056, “when a plague nearly destroys the human race and survival is dependent upon being able to finance a pricey organ transplant.” Anne Hathaway got into a fight with her boyfriend (who is being sued by Ron Burkle) during a screening of her movie in East Hampton, but she stayed with him at the after-party until the cops shut it down at 1 a.m. Madonna strolled into the Reebok Sports Club on Columbus Avenue without checking in. Tyra Banks and her family ate at Serendipity 3. The two assistants from Jane who were cast in SoapNet’s Fashionista Diaries have been moved to CosmoGirl. Usher’s pregnant girlfriend, whom he was slated to marry on Saturday until a last-minute cancellation, checked into a hospital for “pregnancy complications,” though it may just be a ploy to get him back. Ivana Trump is set to get married for a third time, to Rossano Rubicondi.
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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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The Continuing Education of Mrs. Ross ContinuesCourtney Sale Ross, founder of the Ross School in the Hamptons and the new Ross Global Academy charter school in the Tweed Courthouse, is not the easiest person to work for (as Phoebe Eaton reports in this week’s New York.) Construction on Ann Curry’s townhouse on West 71st Street has led to four lawsuits from angry neighbors. Bruce Willis got a make-out session with Courtney Love on his 52nd birthday. Michael Jackson is in talks to build a 50-foot robotic replica of himself in — where else? — Vegas. Governor Eliot Spitzer is liberal with the compliments. Former Studio 54 busboy and current Nobu managing partner Richie Notar will run Ian Schrager’s Asian fusion restaurant in the Gramercy Park Hotel. The former chef at 44 used to serve Calvin Klein McDonald’s French fries for lunch, and Klein was none the wiser.
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If Wolcott Did It…The owner of former meatpacking S&M club–cum–celeb hangout the Vault is shopping a dishy tell-all. James Wolcott got his hands on the O.J. Simpson book, wrote about it in Vanity Fair. Naomi Campbell is leaving her agency to join IMG. (She was also named ambassador to Rio by the Brazilian city’s mayor.) Being Anna Wintour’s assistant really is as difficult as Emily Blunt made it seem in The Devil Wears Prada.
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The Greatest Love of All Is Buying Someone’s UnderwearLove Whitney Houston? Then head to Livingston, New Jersey, next week, when an auction of Whitney memorabilia — undergarments and all — will take place. Tommy Lee and Kid Rock might come to blows now that Tommy is hooking up with Pamela Anderson. (They almost did on New Year’s Eve, but Kid showed up at the wrong room.) Bob Dylan would do well not to sue Harvey Weinstein over Factory Girl, as Dylan was threatening, now that the Weinstein Co. has acquired the rights to the singer’s biopic. If you spent $250 to hang out at Stereo on New Year’s Eve, you probably felt pretty dumb when you were kicked out of the club to make room for John Mayer and Jessica Simpson. (Simpson also took a little spill earlier in the evening, but so did her ex-boyfriend’s current squeeze, Vanessa Minnillo.) Celebrity “starvicist” (the Post’s nickname, not ours) Rachel Zoe is, fittingly, hawking a new, “slimmer” Samsung cell phone. (However, it’s our scoop, not the Post’s.) Producer Scott Storch gave Lindsay Lohan $1 million in diamond jewelry, though some say “he just wants to do her music.” Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz call it quits, but J-Timbs already has another lady on the go. Jimmy Fallon was a major dud as host of Eliot Spitzer’s inaugural concert. Mira Sorvino partied at a club with her 2-year-old and 6-month-old on New Year’s Eve. Denzel Washington turned down a love scene with Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief out of loyalty to his female black fans. Coming soon to a theater (or, more likely, DVD, or YouTube) near you: Brian De Palma’s first-ever film, which had a fairly limited release (one theater!) in 1968. The Giulianis, James Wood, and Jessica Alba all vacationed at the same Bahamas resort. Is Britney Spears in danger of being dropped by Jive Records? Cindy Adams thinks that’s why she “fainted” in Vegas. Billy Joel has recently recorded his first song since 1993’s “River of Dreams.”
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Now It’s Condi’s Turn to CryKatie Couric may have made Condoleezza Rice cry during an interview, and a tape of it may exist. Bob Dylan is suing the producers of Factory Girl for defamation over their portrayal of his relationship with Edie Sedgwick. John Mayer and Jessica Simpson might be dating after all — at least according to a spy who saw them making out at a New Year’s Eve party. Even Harvard alums aren’t immune to high-profile, high-cost divorces. In a shocker, Donald Trump was named “Most Annoying Money Personality” by AOL users. A former model is suing real-estate honcho William Haines for sexual harassment, despite his best efforts to quash the suit. Billy Condon made an embarrassing faux pas in his bid to garner support for a Best Director Oscar for Dreamgirls. Governor Eliot Spitzer watched the ball drop from his new home — the Executive Mansion in Albany. Access Hollywood host Billy Bush is looking for a new job, and it probably won’t be at NBC. MTV retread Kristin Cavallari has a new boyfriend, and her old boyfriend is jealous. Former trashy talk-show host Richard Bey will play a sanitation worker in his Off Broadway debut. Liz Smith has some New Year’s resolutions for 2006’s leading ladies: Lindsay, stay out of harm’s way; Britney, keep your panties on; Paris, get off the red carpet.
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Bob Dylan Criticizes What He Can’t Understand (At Least Until He Sees It)Bob Dylan claims that upcoming Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl falsely portrays him as the cause of Sedgwick’s suicide, threatens to sue unless he is allowed to see the film before it is released. Chuck Schumer wrote a book. An employee of Wyclef Jean was kidnapped in Haiti and held for ransom; he was released for free. An L.A. Times reporter scored an “exclusive” interview with Martin Scorsese, featuring quotes that are actually two years old. Popular Greenwich Village drinking hole Boxers lost its lease, is shuttering. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant partner, Phil Suarez, put on quite the culinary show at an apartment party he threw. Access Hollywood host Billy Bush might be leaving L.A. for the Today show here. Tom Brokaw made an “insensitive” joke about public housing that doesn’t really seem to be that offensive. Uma Thurman was bailed out of a stuck elevator by her buff bodyguard. Marc Jacobs and Jason Preston are officially broken up, according to Jacobs. The high-octane friendship between Paris Hilton and Britney Spears is over, because the latter was told to stay away from the former if she ever wants to make a comeback. Nancy Sinatra celebrated what would have been her father’s 91st birthday at his favorite restaurant, Patsy’s. Peter Boyle’s greatest regret was not taking the role of Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Mariah Carey is pitching a “lifestyle-type book-cum-pseudo memoir.” Let Meryl Streep eat steak!
cultural capital
A Series of Small Observations About Last Night’s Bob Dylan Tribute at Lincoln CenterSandra Bernhard (“Like a Rolling Stone”) is actually funny, even if it pains one to admit it. Medeski, Martin & Wood (“Buckets of Rain”) are just plain cool. Allen Toussaint (“Mama You’ve Been on My Mind”) has some sweet, sweet pipes. And plays a mean piano. Fine threads to boot. Natalie Merchant (“Hattie Carroll”) still has her voice. She also still looks like a bit of a bag lady. Warren Haynes (“I Shall Be Released”) has a roadie who looks disturbingly like Haynes himself. Phil Lesh ("Thunder on the Mountain”) carries a man purse, as spotted on Broadway post-show. Wonder what’s in it. The Roots ("Masters of War”) injected new meaning into an old warhorse by singing the first verse to the tune of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Cat Power ("House of the Rising Sun”) has a voice so enchanting, all she has to do is open her mouth and you’re hooked. Surprise guest Cyndi Lauper ("Ring Them Bells,” with Jill Sobule) is still a screwball. With a squeezebox. Jamie Saft ("Ballad of a Thin Man”) defies congruity with a two-foot beard and a prep-school haircut. Bottom line: Pretty much an excellent show.
— Duff McDonald
The Music of Bob Dylan [Music for Youth]
