Mickey Rourke Drank and Drugged to Quench the Fire InsideThat’s what Alec Baldwin said! Plus, Eva Amurri and Julianne Moore are putting themselves and others at risk. And a depressing Gary Coleman item that we put at the very bottom.
Hathaello Checks Out Miss Sixty
FASHION
•Lela Rose thinks she’s still in the running to design Jenna Bush’s wedding dress, despite a first family visit to Oscar de la Renta last week. [NYDN]
•Anne Hathaway totally lied when she said she wouldn’t be attending any fashion shows this week. She and Raffaello Follieri were at Miss Sixty. [The Cut]
• Sheryl Crow enters the fashion arena, with an affordable denim line by the same people who make Victoria Beckham’s dVb line. [WWD]
company town
Semel Out at Yahoo, Microsoft In?FINANCE
• Courtenay Semel’s dad, Terry, is out at Yahoo. And Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid for the company might just be déjà vu. [NYT, Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Recession-has-already-started watch: The economy lost 17,000 jobs in January, the first time since the lovely tech-crash days of 2003 that total payrolls have shrunk. [Reuters via NYT]
• One of the few lucky bankers with a bonus burning a hole in your pocket? Try London restaurant Vivat Bacchus’ new “Bonus Tasting Menu” for a mere £1,000. [DealBook/NYT]
gossipmonger
City Free of ‘Sex and the City’ Movie! …For NowMets pitcher John Maine asked an attractive clubgoer at Touch if he could try on her black dress in the bathroom. Sex and the City wrapped up shooting in New York with a party at the Royalton Hotel. Bill Clinton swapped seats with Oscar de la Renta so he could sit next to Penélope Cruz instead of Anna Wintour at the Spanish Institute Gold Medal Gala. Lame duck Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is annoyed that his name wasn’t included in a recent Post article about 2009 gubernatorial contenders. Tommy Hilfiger made $8.5 million when he sold the East Hampton home he bought a year and a half ago for $26.5 million. Bobby Cannavale dropped his 47-year-old girlfriend for 22-year-old Alison Pill. Fans of Law & Order: SVU are annoyed that Richard Belzer doesn’t have as much screen time as he once did.
in other news
Oscar de la Renta: Designer, CroonerPicture, if you will, the Dominican Republic, specifically, the island of Hispaniola. Turquoise water laps at white sand, palm trees flutter in the breeze. Julio Iglesias, his 64-year-old body oiled and clad only in a bright banana hammock, lounges on the beach. Nearby in his abandoned studio, the designer Oscar de la Renta, Julio’s closest friend and next-door neighbor, croons “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” into a recording microphone for his first, self-titled album, This is the picture De la Renta paints for us in today’s Wall Street Journal. (Well, except for the banana hammock.) You heard that right, ladies! Everyone’s favorite inaugural-ball gown designer has recorded an album. Sadly, it was released privately, but the folks at the Journal have made several mp3s available on their site, and we strongly recommend the Elvis cover. It’s very charming in, um, an outsider-art kind of way? Seriously, we don’t know why iTunes is missing out on this: Oscar could become the best-selling artist for menopausals since Andrea Bocelli!
Why is This Man Still Fashionable? [WSJ]
company town
Did ‘The New Yorker’ Rip One of Its Cartoons Off ‘The Far Side’?MEDIA
• OMG, plagiarism in The New Yorker’s cartoon issue? [Gelf]
• Washington Post chief Don Graham has 300 Facebook friends. Poke away! [Washingtonian]
• Fox 9’s license is up for renewal, and a bunch of incensed New Jerseyans are fighting the station for failing to live up to its Jersey-side obligations. After all, the channel is based out of Secaucus but bills itself as “My9 New York.” [NYT]
in other news
Cindy Adams Pirro-uettes Over Pals’ Marriage WoesHey everybody! Have a nice weekend? Get some rest? Watch a football game? Good for you. Unfortunately, not all of us had such a great time. Jeanine and Al Pirro let slip that they are getting a divorce. You remember Al and Jeanine — he was the guy who sabotaged his wife’s political ambitions by earning a tax-evasion conviction and fathering a love child, and she was the one who was caught on tape asking Bernie Kerik to bug her husband’s yacht to catch him philandering? Hm. Maybe it wasn’t so much that the pair had a bad weekend — more like they’ve had a bad decade or so. Former Westchester D.A. Jeanine failed in her runs for U.S. senator, lieutenant governor, and state attorney general, and real-estate broker Al spent over a year in the clink, starting in 2000. It looks like their divorce has already been hashed out so at least this part might run smoothly, though All-Purpose Divorce Spokesman Raoul Felder claims “it’s mutually assured destruction” (Felder, of course, represents neither party). It’s times like these, when tabloid superstars hit rock bottom, that we turn to the one name we can trust: Cindy Adams. What does Lady C, who was pals with both parties, have to say about the Pirros’ great love?
party lines
Fox Business Network: The Victory PartyLast night’s launch party for Fox Business Network had so many media and business moguls, you couldn’t throw a canapé without mussing up the rug of some very important dude. Seriously, our throats were burning from inhaling the perfume of wealth and success. In one corner of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur, Liz Smith chatted with Mel Brooks and Harvey Weinstein. (Apparently, Harvey loves the channel. “I love Roger Ailes,” he said, though he would not tell us what he liked the best or whether he ate Money for Breakfast.) In another corner, Oscar and Annette de la Renta greeted Regis and Joy Philbin. And kingly in the middle of it all, like a pair of samurai and their husbands, were Rupert Murdoch, Les Moonves, Julie Chen, and Rupert’s wife, Wendi Deng. “Wendi, we love your bracelets!” we cried in unison, suddenly morphing into Blair’s sidekicks in Gossip Girl. “They were only twenty dollars,” she exclaimed. Wow, we thought. Wendi is so down-to-earth! “But this wasn’t,” she laugh-cackled, flashing us her index finger, which was adorned with what looked to be the actual Hope Diamond.
gossipmonger
Scores Stripper Not So Sure About Drag De La HoyaThe Scores stripper who had the photos of Oscar De La Hoya in drag is now saying she cannot “personally verify the authenticity of the images,” likely because she was threatened by De La Hoya’s lawyer. Lever House owner and real-estate mogul Abe Rosen is forcing tenants (including art collector Robert Wilson) out of his nine-story building on 67 Vestry Street to turn it into a luxury condo building. Miss USA Rachel Smith says she wants to be taken seriously as a TV reporter and not “end up like Katie Couric.” Donald Trump denied having once punched his second-grade music teacher, despite having written about the story in a book. Bruce Willis and his eight-person entourage were denied entry to Socialista at 3 a.m. Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line predictably does not include diamond grills. Dates with some hot firefighters are being auctioned off for charity at Turtle Bay Lounge tonight.
it just happened
Roger Brings Fashion to Its FeetThis just in from the tents — Anna Wintour brought Roger Federer (you remember her fevered crush on him?) to the Oscar de la Renta show this afternoon, where the Polyphonic Spree played [Ed. note: WTF?]. Federer, who triumphed over Novak Djokovic yesterday in the Men’s Final at the U.S. Open, got a standing ovation upon arrival. Now, we’re pretty sure that these fashion people didn’t even know there was a sporting event going on elsewhere in the city last week, so it makes us wonder: Did Anna send out a memo in advance? That’s a risky maneuver among all those models near the end of Fashion Week. Clapping, after all, could burn all the calories they have left.
Earlier: At ‘Men’s Vogue’ Dinner, Roger Federer Makes Anna Wintour Giggle
Roger Federer Makes Anna Wintour So Very Happy
Katie Couric Orders Takeout From IraqOscar de la Renta doesn’t want any socialites at his Fashion Week show because they never actually buy his clothes. (Also, some models for Marc Jacobs are annoyed that he tapped The Hills star Lauren Conrad to stomp the catwalk for him). Kate Hudson is trying to get in touch with Owen Wilson, but has been rebuffed. New York Ranger Sean Avery claims he dumped Elisha Cuthbert, and not the other way around. East Village hipster hangout Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction is for sale for $5.5 million. Tommy Lee may or may not have had sex with a blonde girl in a room full of people at Dune in the Hamptons. Katie Couric placed an Italian food takeout order for her daughters in New York from Iraq.
Thy Neighbor’s Wife, and Thy OwnNan and Gay Talese are at work on his and her memoirs about their allegedly open marriage. Jon Bon Jovi is not pleased an energy drink named Mijovi is selling well near his New Jersey residence. Ted Koppel dropped the asking price for his Potomac, Maryland, residence from $4.1 million to $2.3 million. Hillary Clinton complained about the traffic in the Hamptons during her fund-raising stint out east. Stand-up comic Phil Stellar entertained an audience at the Ziegfeld after a movie projector broke during a showing of Hairspray. Meryl Streep says she was kicked out of Yale Drama School for not working hard enough. Gwyneth Paltrow uses face cream that contains snake venom.
company town
It’s Expensive Being Rupert MurdochMEDIA
• Did Dow Jones cost Rupert Murdoch an extra $1 billion just because he’s Rupert Murdoch? [Slate]
• Rik Hertzberg to blog for The New Yorker. From YearlyKos. And without fact-checking. [
gossipmonger
Lindsay, NudeA Website claims it has nude photos of Lindsay Lohan taken by boyfriend Calum Best. Don Imus may be returning to radio in September. Former Mafioso club promoter Chris Paciello is out of jail and now hanging out with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Equinox is planning to open a $5 million gym in East Hampton, complete with spa and valet parking. Luciano Pavarotti is fighting pancreatic cancer. Jessica Alba and Cash Warren are apartment-hunting in New York. Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucas Hass, and Q-Tip cruised lower Manhattan on bikes. Brandon Davis has been cut off by his parents and is asking friends for loans. Dane Cook wants you to know he is straight and alive, contrary to Internet rumors.
show and talk
What to Wear to Turks and Caicos
Behind closed showroom doors (and in the Santa Monica airport), designers have been showing off their resort and cruise collections the last few weeks. The lines are bright, colorful, and chock-full of obscenely expensive bikinis. We hit up the target demographic Fabiola Beracasa and Byrdie Bell to see what the ladies planned to buy for their next vacations.
party lines
At the CFDAs With DVF and Her FriendsNo one was expecting a tie in the top category at the CFDA awards last night. Oscar de la Renta was on his way to accept his Womenswear Designer of the Year award when emcee Ellen Barkin realized he wasn’t the sole winner. “Oh, wait,” she said. “There’s more writing here. It says Proenza Schouler. It’s a tie! We have a tie.” De la Renta couldn’t disguise a little disappointment, but he gracefully kissed the young upstarts and gave his speech. “I have never had so much fun working so hard in all these years,” he said. The Proenza boys, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, stood behind him looking stunned. As they started to speak, Hernandez’s pocket began to ring. “Oh, my God, that’s my mom,” he said, laughing. He checked his phone. “It fully is.”
show and talk
Walking the CFDA Red Carpet With Jack, Lazaro, and Oprah
The big winner at the CFDA awards last night was well, actually, it was two winners: The venerable Oscar de la Renta shared the Best Picture–ish womenswear award with Proenza Schouler whippersnappers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Ralph Lauren won for menswear, Derek Lam for accessories, and Lauren was awarded the first-ever Fashion Legend Award. But the real question remains: What did they all wear? Our fashion folks can answer that for you, no problem. Check out our CFDA slideshow to see what Ralph, Derek, Jack, Lazaro, Oscar, Anna, Oprah, Tinsley, and many, many others wore on last night’s red carpet.
The 2007 CFDA Fashion Awards [Slideshow]
gossipmonger
Martha Stewart Is Scared of WestchesterMartha Stewart cancelled a book signing in Westchester because she didn’t want to deal with questions from residents as to why she was trying to trademark the name “Katonah.” Ellen Barkin played coy when asked about whether she slept with George Clooney. Some critics disagree with Out magazine’s decision to put Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster on the cover. The Clintons are going on vacation to the Dominican Republic to hang out with the de la Rentas. Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts are pushing up their nuptials so they can tie the knot before Watts gives birth. An NBC flack snapped back at CBS producer Steve Friedman for his comments about the Today show’s slipping ratings. Woody Johnson is making his 60th birthday party a costume affair so feuding family members Libet and Casey won’t recognize each other.
Dear God, Not the McSweeney’s!Clinton Hill: Living in a storefront means big windows and your very own pull-down gate. [ClintonHillBlog]
Dyker Heights: You’ve never heard of this neighborhood, but you’ve gotta see the Christmas lights. [Gowanus Lounge]
Harlem: Finally, white people have a place to turn for answers about neighborhood real estate. [Bagel in Harlem]
Park Slope: Mail carriers no longer making it to the top of brownstone steps; issues of McSweeney’s lost to the elements. [Brooklyn Record]