How Alan Rickman Won Over Harry Potter FansIn the LiveJournal Harry Potter fandom community, the consensus was that Rickman was a terrible choice for Severus Snape. We were so wrong.
Robert Pattinson Is Being Hunted by New York’s LadiesThey vant to suck his blood. Also, Rihanna demonstrates that sparkly nipple pasties are a surefire way to draw attention away from your domestic-abuse scandal, and Bradley Cooper is coming to town!
Eric Nederlander Just Can’t WinBroadway scion Eric Nederlander is divorcing his second wife just seven weeks after having a daughter with her. Theodora Richards is now vice-president of creative direction at some jeans company. Maxim gave Nas’s new album two and a half stars despite the fact that it’s not even done yet. (They did the same thing to the new Black Crowes record.) Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez flipped out at a midtown bar after a female fan chatted up her boyfriend. Lorne Michaels is in talks with a major Vegas casino to create a live SNL revue starring former popular cast members.
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Alan Cumming Got a Whole New Face!
When last we saw Alan Cumming, he was as nubile and smooth and hairless as, well, Alan Cumming usually is. Which is why we were shocked to see this photo of him backstage at Cynthia Rowley last night. Would he be playing the aged protagonist in some supersecret sequel to the Harry Potter movies? OMG, was Harry Potter going to grow up gay like Dumbledore? Google: No! Cumming grew the beard for his role as Boris in Chekhov’s The Seagull at the Classic Stage Company. “I’ve been putting conditioner in it,” he told the AP. “It’s finally past the scratchy phase.” All the better to tickle theater critics with, then.
Alan Cumming At G-Star [AP]
Related: Plimpton’s Cute, Posey’s Ragged, and Price Is Scared [The Cut]
party lines
Al Roker Always Thought Dumbledore Was a Bit SwishyAl Roker sees everything coming, not just storm clouds. When we caught up with him at the Quills Literary Awards last night, we asked him what he thought of J.K. Rowling’s revelation that Harry Potter character Albus Dumbledore was gay. “I was not surprised because I always got the sense there was actually something between him and Hagrid,” said Roker, who is a fan of the books. “Either that or it was Hagrid and the hippogriff. One or the other.” Oh, Al, you kidder. A hippogriff couldn’t mate with a giant! (For the record, Joan Allen told us, “It never entered my mind to think about [Dumbledore’s] sexuality.” Some people just don’t have dirty minds.) What we really wanted to know from Roker, though, was obviously how his new friend at the Today show was doing. You know, the only other guy on the show who is bald? Yeah, Tiki Barber. We kind of wonder how he’s fitting in, you know, learning how to baste things instead of score touchdowns. “He’s funny, he’s great, he’s on his game. And he’s been a heck of an addition to the touch-football team,” Roker assures us. Only “I wish he would wear some sweaters for men.” —Amy Odell
Find out about Gay Talese’s guilty pleasures and where Steve Schirripa is partying these days at our complete coverage of The Quills Awards.
company town
Topshop Signs a Lease in NYC?FASHION
• Breaking rumor alert: After months of hinting, Topshop has possibly, maybe signed a New York lease. Anglophiles and Kate Moss–ophiles, rejoice! [Fashionista]
• First he’s out as the designer of Dior Homme. Now, Hedi Slimane’s been replaced by none other than BFF Karl Lagerfeld as the photographer of the ad campaigns. Oh, cruel fashion world! [WWD]
• Giorgio Armani’s raking in the dough. The designer sold back a 5 percent stake in his company to Giorgio Armani SpA for about $110 million. [British Vogue]
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Crowds
Harry Potter fans thronged the Union Square Barnes & Noble Friday night, in advance of the 12:01 a.m. Saturday release of the seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Is it just us, or is it starting to seem like New Yorkers spend all their free time these days waiting on line to buy things? Feh.
The Scene at Harry Potter Midnight Madness, Union Square [Vulture]
