U.N. Traffic Does Not Part for Clive OwenAnd Marilyn Manson has swine flu. Which goes to show that all celebrities are only human — except Michael Jackson, who thought he could heal Hitler.
ByKatie Goldsmith
gossipmonger
Would You Have Sex With Lady Gaga?That’s what one British tabloid wants to know. It’s kind of a really good question, when you think about it.
Amy Winehouse Reportedly Stole Coke From Kate MossWe’re not sure why this matters, as there’s no chance Kate is going to get it back. Plus, Jessica Simpson is thin again and Kevin Federline is getting fatter in today’s roundup of celebrity ephemera.
Whitney Port Is Moving On Quite NicelyThe ‘City’ star was spotted “getting smoochy” with Robert Buckley. Plus: Beyoncé buys a bling-y bra, and much to the tabloids’ consternation, Jennifer Aniston is still not pregnant.
PETA Causes a Ruckus in the House of Donna KaranA PETA protester accosted designer Donna Karan inside her Central Park West apartment after an assistant mistakenly let her in. Kyle MacLachlan and his wife are expecting a child. Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Moore, and a host of other stars all turned out for Madonna’s “Raising Malawi” (Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did not, however, after learning that the event was sponsored by Gucci). Rachel Zoe came to Fashion Week with eight suitcases, two of which were for accessories. R.E.M. played a series of impromptu shows on the Lower East Side earlier this week.
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Sarah Jessica Parker Doesn’t Hate All of Her CastmatesJames Mackenroth, a contestant on the upcoming season of Project Runway, may have been voted off in part because of a staph infection made worse by his HIV. Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Hudson filmed a scene for the Sex and the City movie together at the Carlyle Hotel, and SJP gave JHud a CD! A-Rod and Martha Stewart posed for photos together at Nobu 57. Contrary to a previous “Page Six” report, attendees at the Rolling Stone reunion in San Francisco actually did drink the Champagne that Jann Wenner sent. James Gandolfini pulled out of appearing at a John McCain fund-raiser in New York because of “scheduling conflicts.” Anderson Cooper thinks Britney Spears is underreported on.
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Girl Trouble at CNBCA number of female anchors at CNBC are annoyed at the preferential treatment given to Money Honeys Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett. Kate Moss and Pete Doherty may be back together. Anna Wintour canoodled with Shelby Bryan at day one of the U.S. Open. Bill and Hillary Clinton may be buying property on Martha’s Vineyard next to Ted Danson. Mets shortstop Jose Reyes partied with girls at a club in Bridgeview. George Lopez’s bodyguard assaulted a Post reporter at a showing of Superbad. (Related: George Lopez has a bodyguard?) Several New York nightclub owners decided to party this summer in Europe and South America. Amy Winehouse’s father-in-law is urging her fans not to buy her albums until she cleans up her act in rehab. The Lohans are finally allowing estranged father Michael to visit Lindsay in rehab.
new york fugging city
The Fug Girls: Team K-Fed?If you’d suggested last summer — or even this past spring — that sleazy miscreant Kevin Federline would someday have the favor of both public opinion and his mother-in-law, we’d have smiled supportively and sent you to Promises. But as the ugly custody battle between Britney Spears and her infamous sperm donor rages on, with K-Fed’s lawyer now sending legal papers to Brit’s bodyguard and former assistant, the man who once accurately rapped that he’s “America’s Most Hated” has gone from poster boy for bottom-feeders to potential Father of the Year.
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Bella Abzug Was Not in ‘The Apartment’Congresswoman Bella Azbug was once asked to be a stand-in for Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment, but she declined. On the set of her first movie, Kim Cattrall was told she resembled Marilyn Monroe, “not in looks, of course, but in lack of talent.” Harold Ford and three blondes hung out at Blue Ribbon Sushi till 2 a.m. Chris Robinson is happy that ex Kate Hudson is dating Dax Shepard because now he has more time to hang out with their 3-year-old son. The kiddie imprint of Simon & Schuster is releasing a guide to orgy etiquette. Ted Turner still owes merely $642 million of the $1 billion he pledged to donate to the U.N. a decade ago. Elton John once tried to commit suicide by sticking his head in an oven, though he used a pillow and put the gas on low.
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Breaking: Lohans Not Best ParentsLindsay Lohan’s bodyguard claims Dina and Michael weren’t the best parents. Maria Bartiromo pissed off PETA by posing in a Michael Kors coat with fox-fur cuffs. The Box smelled like burnt hair for two hours after a patron’s hair caught on fire. Jay McCarroll’s friend says he has an Upper West Side apartment, contrary to what the designer told New York. Katie Couric belted out “Sweet Caroline” at a piano bar in Nantucket. Harvey Weinstein picked Clint Eastwood to compose the score for John Cusack’s new movie. City comptroller Bill Thompson says he was able to buy an apartment in Brooklyn shortly after graduating college in 1974, but his daughter couldn’t even afford to rent one. Chris Noth will be in the Sex and the City movie.
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Britney, Not OkayDuring a recent photo shoot for OK!, Britney Spears fondled herself, peed in public, and walked away with $21,267 in clothing. Jay-Z is considering jumping from Island Def Jam to Columbia Records, perhaps because Jermaine Dupri was named president of Island’s urban music division. A lot of coarse language will have to be edited out of the roast of Flavor Flav when it’s aired on Comedy Central. Lauren Bacall can’t find herself a man who isn’t already married. Judi Giuliani hosted a fund-raising cocktail party at the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park. Tom Brady and Donald Trump played golf at Trump’s club in Westchester. Scary Spice is starting to hint at “troubling aspects” of ex-husband Eddie Murphy’s lifestyle, but she hasn’t specific. An upcoming book on personal hygiene portrays the French as rather smelly.
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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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Regan Outfoxes News Corp.?Judith Regan has secret tapes that may help her $20 million lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch. The Land Rovers and helicopters used to launch a new Ralph Lauren cologne may have disturbed a community of East Hampton piping plovers. Cindy Adams, who has a vendetta against Larry David because he dissed her once, claims that Laurie had been stepping out on him for quite some time (and that he’s being set up with Ellen Barkin). Olivia Newton-John really liked Xanadu. OK! dropped $400,000 on sex pics of Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo, but the mag won’t publish them. Claire Danes may have landed the lead in the Pygmalion revival because the director directed her boyfriend in Journey’s End. Annie Leibowitz angered the Queen of England by asking her to remove her crown during a photo shoot.
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Since U Been Making Him MoneySony BMG chief Clive Davis doesn’t like Kelly Clarkson’s music, even though it makes his label a lot of money. Barbara Corcoran dropped trou for a bunch of people who commented that she’d lost weight. Ellen Barkin returned some diamonds she was loaned to wear to a Darfur benefit at Cannes at 3 a.m. Usher has taken to calling in radio stations to complain about hosts who make fun of his fiancée. President Bush promised a bunch of Vietnam vets that he’d read a book that alleges that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, among others, were responsible for keeping soldiers in Southeast Asia even after the U.S. withdrew from the region. In her new book, former venture capitalist Christine Comaford-Lynch compares Barbara Walters to a small action figure.
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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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Anand Jon Was Always CreepyDesigner Anand Jon, who’s charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, is a publicity whore and total creep. Among the dogs in Lindsay Lohan’s life right now are a Yorkie, a Jack Russell, and Jude Law. Uma Thurman and André Balazs officially broke up yesterday. Nicole Richie collapsed on the set of The Simple Life in Malibu. A woman once died in Jay McInerney’s bed. The Jewish Theater of New York wants the Times to fire drama editor Rick Lyman for allegedly passing on reviewing Last Jew in Europe because of pressure from the Polish government. NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter wrote a book about his hard-knock childhood. Country-music star Merle Haggard backs Hillary Clinton for president but is not ready to fully commit to her. Florida advertising mogul Jordan Zimmerman is backing Mitt Romney for president. Two more top editors from Life & Style quit.
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Kaplan to the Rescue!Former CNN and MSNBC honcho Rick Kaplan is coming to save Katie Couric’s CBS Evening News. Bono disagrees with an Ad Age’s cover story saying that his RED campaign has been a financial failure. Brandon Davis mocked Paula Abdul for having an Arabic-sounding last name. His real surname? Zarif. Two staffers quit Star’s beauty department. Leslie Stahl’s contract at 60 Minutes is almost up, and it’s unclear whether she’s staying. Stephen Colbert’s new Ben & Jerry’s flavor is called “AmeriCone.” (And we told you all about it on Tuesday.) Buddha Bar fired its CEO. Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown hung out at their kid’s birthday dinner.
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Maher’s Mouth Strikes AgainBill Maher is upset that Arianna Huffington removed comments advocating the death of Dick Cheney from her blog. Someone is buying Leonard Bernstein’s old apartment in the Dakota for $25.5 million, but brokers maintain it’s not Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Grey’s Anatomy producers are using Isaiah Washington’s recent gay slurs as leverage in salary negotiations. A dog bit Rachael Ray on the leg in Union Square. Will Smith hurt his shoulder. Kanye West is shipping a Welsh chef across the Atlantic just for a business meeting. Daniel Boulud leased a wine locker in his upcoming restaurant to a banker for $15,000 a year. K-Fed partied in Vegas while the kids slept with a nanny in a hotel room. More nude Britney Spears pics will soon be auctioned off to the tabloids.
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Do Not Get in Diddy’s Way at the GrammysAt Rolling Stone’s pre-Grammy party, Diddy bumped Grey’s Anatomy cast members T.R. Knight, Kate Walsh, and Sara Ramirez from their spot in the VIP lounge; Britney exes Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline hugged it out. Timberlake also partied so hard that he had to cancel a performance at Clive Davis’s party the next night. Singer Harry Connick Jr. says Anna Wintour is nothing like her character in The Devil Wears Prada. Also, Wintour-cinematically, a filmmaker working on a Vogue documentary lost footage of her at Bryant Park.
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Anderson, CelebutanteFox News compares Anderson Cooper to Paris Hilton, and CNN isn’t happy. (Which we imagine was the point.) Steve Madden will underwrite Fashion Week’s Designers for Darfur even though IMG backed out. Hillary Clinton is trying to infuse her campaign with some stand-up comedy. Jeremy Piven jokes that he’d like to settle down with a girlfriend if he weren’t “gayer than Liberace in 1972.” Parsons fashion chairman Tim Gunn to become chief creative officer of Liz Claiborne (but still do Project Runway). Bill Clinton will not be the next president of Harvard.
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Amy Sacco Is Still Probably Not Selling BungalowLindsay Lohan wrote a long and incoherent e-mail, which for some reason referenced Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Amy Sacco says she’s actually not selling Bungalow 8, the Observer’s reporting to the contrary notwithstanding. (Daily Intel readers already knew that.) Mary-Louise Parker may be dating her Weeds co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Pataki consigliere Charles Gargano says he’ll keep his seat on the Port Authority board, even with his man gone from Albany. Frustrated Knicks fans, here’s your chance to vent: Garden chief Jim Dolan is performing with his band tonight at B.B. King’s. (It is, however, a cancer benefit, so don’t be too mean.) Paramount/Dreamworks execs are pushing Beyoncé over Jennifer Hudson for a Best Actress Oscar nod, and Jennifer Hudson is okay with it. Lenny Kravitz went to the dermatologist. Anna Wintour found The Devil Wears Prada “entertaining” and has had the same haircut since she was 15, she tells Barbara Walters during her “10 Most Fascinating People” interview (in which Wintour actually does wear Prada). TomKat didn’t invite Oprah to their wedding, and they didn’t invite her to their post-honeymoon bash, either. Kevin Federline showed up at a book reading for the free booze. Jordan’s Queen Rania and King Abdullah are on the rocks. Damon Wayans was fined $320 for dropping the n-word sixteen times at L.A.’s Laugh Factory. Jessica Alba and the Duff sisters are hosting a New Year’s Eve party at a club in Miami and are doing it for free. Ellen Pompeo wants to gain five to ten pounds, because they’d go straight to her boobs, she told Playboy. Robert Evans is suing the electrical company that installed a screening room in his home that mysteriously burned down. Liz Smith cried at the end of Dakota Fanning’s Charlotte’s Web.
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You Will Not Get to See Britney and K-Fed Have Sex. And You Are Thankful.Breaking: There is no Fed-Ex–Britney sex tape! (At least not for public consumption.) Josh Hartnett is in New Zealand, no longer with Scarlett Johansson. Barbara Bush (the young one) was robbed in Argentina. Heather Mills didn’t much enjoy her marriage to Paul McCartney. Taye Diggs and Ashlee Simpson are “just friends.” Some people are mad about former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill’s new book. NBC has better morning-show and evening-news ratings than ABC, and don’t think the Rock Center folks let the Disney kids forget it. MSNBC correspondent David Shuster eats his blog, literally. Paris Hilton went on a charity date with the highest bidder (she also may or may not have thrown up on stage in Las Vegas). Debutante season is here! Wall Street bonus season is here! Liz Smith compares Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to David Gest and Liza Minnelli. Cindy Adams has a breakdown of what different stars will be doing on Thanksgiving. (Matt Dillon, believe it or not, will be eating.)
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It’s Not Easy Being a PatakiBreaking: Tinsley Mortimer shops for her own groceries! Kevin Federline is broke, steals food and booze from a restaurant. Emily Pataki failed the bar exam. How Kennedyesque. Former Tom Cruise sparring partner Brooke Shields is going to his wedding, perhaps as a publicity stunt. Nicole Kidman probably isn’t pregnant, Ivanka Trump maybe had a boob job, but Tom DeLay definitely nominated about-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Time’s Person of the Year. Dave Chappelle bowed out of a gig for HBO, and HBO isn’t happy. Axl Rose brought some strippers to Soho House. Borat’s cultural learnings may soon be available in a Barnes & Noble near you. (Meantime, he’d do well to avoid getting into a fight with fellow Kazakh Wladimir Klitschko.) Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at a London concert; the crowd liked him. George Gershwin and Ed Bradley were honored at Lincoln Center, where it is discovered that Mr. Gershwin used to be quite the ladies’ man. Liza Minnelli played a $1 million bat mitzvah pro bono. A former America’s Next Top Model winner ditched Tyra Banks as her manager, changed her last name. Angelina Jolie was going to adopt an Indian kid, but Madonna scared her off.
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Danny Meyer Reviews His Critics, InhospitablyDanny Meyer doesn’t much appreciate the (mostly laudatory) reviews given to his restaurants by Frank Bruni et al, and lets them know it in his new book. Sean Lennon isn’t exactly a hit with the critics, either. Kevin Federline is trying to sell some amateur video footage to make some extra dough. (No, it’s not that kind of footage.) City Council speaker Christine Quinn cut the check-in line at JFK, and it angered her fellow passengers. Netscape founder James Clark’s divorce cost him $125 million; his new girlfriend won’t be nearly as fortunate. Media prankster Joey Skaggs is getting into the watch business. Katie Holmes couldn’t stick to Victoria Beckham’s recommended post-pregnancy diet of edamame, pretzels, sushi, and Diet Coke. John Krasinski loves David Foster Wallace. Dustin Hoffman makes sure that the hired help get to watch a screening of his movie. Leonardo DiCaprio is GQ’s Man of the Year. (GQ likes Lindsay Lohan, too). Arab royalty laughs at President Bush in Qatar, raises a lot of money for Asia. Former Hell’s Angel Chuck Zito — a.k.a. the guy who beat up Jean-Claude Van Damme — is launching his own radio talk show for men. You know, unlike all the other radio talk shows. A wealthy businessman was turned down by the co-op board at the Carlyle because he’s too much of a playboy. Know any unemployed grandmothers? The New Jersey Nets are hiring.
cultural capital
K-Fed Rocks Near-Empty Webster Hall
Aspiring rapper and Britney Spears barnacle Kevin Federline played his first New York show this weekend — it kicked off the tour promoting his self-released debut, Playing With Fire — and Webster Hall Saturday night was a curious sight indeed.
An informal survey of the crowd yielded a foursome who confessed that they were friends of K-Fed’s manager and had gotten free tickets; two judgment-reserving girls who also had free tickets, which they’d won from TRL; a priceless foreign couple who admitted they’d first heard of Kevin Federline “this day”; and one couple with mixed intentions. (She: “I’m not a fan, just really into the tabloids!” He, glumly: “My girlfriend made me come.”) And though the venue may have been sorely undersold — estimates put the sparse crowd around 250, a sixth of the Webster Hall’s capacity — the impenetrable bunch of hopped-up fans pressed against the stage were an undeniably ecstatic bunch packed five rows deep.
it happened this week
Regrets
In a pre-election week punctuated by acts of contrition, none was sorrier than John Kerry’s mea culpa for seeming to instruct a group of college students to do their homework lest they “end up in Iraq.” Having single-handedly halted Democratic momentum, Kerry said, “I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted.” President Bush, who has lately donned a hair shirt over piddling aspects of his handling of the war, nevertheless vowed never to fire Rumsfeld or Cheney. Congressman Charles Rangel said he was sorry for calling the veep a “son of a bitch,” but showed no pangs of conscience for observing that Cheney hadn’t “shot anyone in the face lately.” Remorseless campaigner Andrew Cuomo showed he had no hard feelings toward ex-rival Mark Green by accepting a $50,000 donation from Green’s developer brother, Stephen, before scolding current opponent Jeanine Pirro’s “shameful” paying of her driver $148,000 in county-funded overtime.
