Jessica Szohr Reads Chick Lit Aloud to Her BoyfriendWhich is unfortunate, because we wanted that relationship to last. Plus, Jim Cramer threatens to open up a can of whoop-ass on Jon Stewart, and more in our daily gossip roundup.
ByKatie Goldsmith
gossipmonger
Whitney Won’t Catfight Olivia for RatingsEven though ‘The City’ producers supposedly want them to. Plus, Madonna’s new family unit brunched in the meatpacking district Sunday. In the gossip roundup.
Let Ashley Olsen Be a Little Girl and Lick Her FingersShe’s getting flack for not washing her hands after the movies, but maybe she likes to lick the butter taste like us! Related: We wish we could’ve soothed the Cuddle Guv’s stage fright. In the I’m-Fried Day gossip roundup.
ByTim Murphy
gossipmonger
‘21’ Had to Go Ahead and Spill That Dubya’s Never VisitedYou were almost in the clear, guys, but now he might show up. Also, Taylor Momsen, you are so not as famous as you think you are in Maryland. So declares the gossip roundup!
Catfight! Cindy Adams vs. Olivia PalermoCindy Adams discovers young socialite Olivia Palermo, and it’s almost too much for the famed gossip columnist to handle. Don’t go into the light, Cindy!
The Annals of Socialite Upstarts: Out With Olivia Palermo, in With Emily Brill?So January was cold, and February was short, but now it’s finally March. And you know what that means? It’s party time! No, not for you. For people who matter. We know since SocialiteRank.com shut down nearly a year ago, you haven’t been as able to keep track of what’s been going on with Tinsley and Zani and Margherita, but, trust us, they’re still out every night, flawlessly executing that arm move that Ellen Page has been trying to imitate! See, March is when the events for young socialites really begin in earnest. Last night saw the Riverkeeper benefit at the Hearst Tower, hosted by the ecocharity’s junior council. Scheduled next week is the American Museum of Natural History’s Winter Dance and the Frick’s Young Fellows’ Ball. A quick peek down the list of all the host committees show that, this year, all the fun is dominated by one set of friends. Claire Bernard, Maggie Betts, and Jamie Johnson are on the committees of all three of the above events, and they are joined here and there by Amanda Hearst, Hudson Morgan, Annie Churchill, Andrew Black, Derek Blasberg, and Byrdie Bell. This is a little bit of a shift away from the Tinsley-Dabney-Lydia axis, but it’s essentially the same gang. Which isn’t surprising, only…where’s Olivia Palermo?
gossipmonger
Tinz and Olivia Hate Each Other More Than They Hate GenocideTinsley Mortimer and Olivia Palermo hate each other so much they couldn’t jointly host a benefit for Darfur. John Mayer took Mandy Moore to lunch (at La Esquina) and Cameron Diaz to dinner (at Indochine) on the same day. New School president Bob Kerrey, a former governor and senator from Nebraska, might move back to run Chuck Hagel’s senate seat. Ivanka Trump instituted a “no midriff, no bikini bottom” rule for her October Stuff magazine cover. Former Jets QB Joe Namath is now a grandfather, though his daughter is only 16. Billy Joel thinks his Hamptons benefit concert was overpriced — and not that good. A Mr. Chow is opening in Vegas. Giants safety Will Demps is done with groupies. A Maxim writer thinks Sanjaya and Adrian Grenier are doppelgängers.
intel
Olivia Palermo’s Dad Tries for Bankruptcy, FailsUp-and-climbing socialite Olivia Palermo may still be smarting from her feud with rival Tinsley Mortimer, as “Page Six” reports today, but she’s got bigger problems, ones that have million-dollar price tags. Palermo’s pop and personal slush fund, real-estate consultant Douglas Palermo, recently lost a hefty bankruptcy case. Palermo senior’s appeal to get out of paying over $2.75 million to a creditor was rejected after the judge found that Palermo had used multiple fake organizations to obscure his actual worth from lenders. Instead of paying his bills, Palermo joined private clubs and sent his children, Olivia and Grant, to expensive schools. He also issued “hundreds of checks” to his Korean dry cleaner, which he used as an “unofficial credit line,” and skimped on alimony payments. That’s gotta sting for flashbulb-friendly Olivia — if dad’s in debt, does daughter have to … work?
Doubet LLC vs. Douglas E. Palermo [U.S. Bankruptcy Court]
Socialite Snit Scars Benefit [NYP]
Related: The Number One Girl [NYM]
party lines
The Hard Life of a Party Reporter: Choppering Upstate for LunchWe’re not going to say we weren’t tempted when the Champagne company offered to fly us by helicopter for a lobster lunch in the courtyard of an old Vanderbilt mansion upstate, but we also remembered that we are reporters. We only gave in to temptation when we were promised there would also be plenty of socialites in attendance for us to make fun ofreport on. This proved not to be true: We counted just Valesca Guerrand- Hermès, Genevieve Jones, and floral designer/man- about-town Antony Todd, though Olivia Palermo was perpetually supposed to be on the next helicopter over. Still, we got the lunch.
gossipmonger
Not Super EnoughThe Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation wanted to donate the late Superman’s wheelchair to the Smithsonian, but the museum wanted more stuff. Katie Couric is dating a 33-year-old triathlete named Brooks Perlin. Scorned socialite Olivia Palermo gave an interview to New York about her relationship with Tinsley Mortimer and socialiterank.com without the consent of her publicist. Naomi Campbell was in talks with MTV to film a reality show but suddenly went MIA. CNN is prepared to pay Anderson Cooper $50 million over the next five years. Reports conflict on whether Marc Anthony and J.Lo have split. Stevie Wonder had to buy back a Grammy he won in 1974 because he never reported it stolen in the first place.
gossipmonger
He Blew His Nose, and Then He Blew His MindKeith Richards snorted his father’s ashes. Ed Koch still hates Rudy Giuliani, now via e-mail. Paula Zahn and Richard Cohen have filed for divorce. Insiders blame the “Pale Male and Lola incident.” Cynthia Nixon rooted through a trash can in Riverside Park last week. Felix Rohatyn had an enthusiastic love life in his office at Lazard Freres, says a new tell-all about the firm. Julia Child didn’t care for the gays, according to a new biography. Kate Moss probably won’t make FHM’s sexiest-women list, but Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller are expected to rank high. Don’t forget, Jane Pratt had sex with Drew Barrymore.
intel
New York Rap Institution Turns to the Ivy LeagueNew York’s most revered independent rap label is banking on a pair of Ivy League rappers to resurrect it. Rawkus Records — founded in 1995 by Horace Mann grads Brian Brater and Jarrett Myer with $10,000 from Rupert scion and Harvard dropout James Murdoch — introduced Brooklynites Mos Def and Talib Kweli to a mass audience, made it into the big leagues, and then disappeared, dropped by Geffen Records in 2004. But this week saw its first major release since then, with School Was My Hustle, by the two-man act Kidz in the Hall, coming out on Halloween. The duo’s 22-year-old emcee, Penn alum Naledge, admires the label’s history. “You bought their records because of the brand,” he says. “It wouldn’t matter what the artist was; you knew if it was Rawkus, it was top-shelf.” And founder Myer thinks Kidz lives up to the tradition. “Right now,” he says, “investing the right artists can make Rawkus way bigger than it ever was.”
— Amos Barshad
