Drew Barrymore’s Garden TroublesThe actress, whom we loved in the HBO movie last weekend, has to contend with co-star Jessica Lange’s competition. Plus, the rest of today’s gossip!
Taylor Momsen Doesn’t TippleYou know, because she’s on Percocet. Otherwise, the 15-year-old would be the life of the party.
ByTim Murphy
gossipmonger
J.Lo and Marc Anthony’s Problems ContinueThe couple had trouble getting into one of the inaugural balls last night. Also, Sheryl Crow had an awkward interaction with an ex, and Russell Simmons got caught stealing!
Most of Today’s Gossip Items Involve Sarah PalinAre you surprised? But the scenes from Larry Flynt’s porn satire of her actually sound really stupidly funny. Plus a pinch of Palin-free news in our gossip roundup.
Christiane Amanpour Is Kinkier Than We ThoughtDid Blair kick Kati off ‘Gossip Girl’? Does Gwyneth really eat? Is Diane Von Furstenberg really a dominatrix? (Christiane Amanpour says so!) The answers to these questions lie in today’s roundup of gossip.
in other news
Moby Loves It When We Call Him a SlutMoby is still talking about the time when we called him a “stealth slut.” But he protests that he’s not the sluttiest guy around! Wilmer Valderrama, for example, has defiled many more young actresses. Maybe.
gossipmonger
Has Al Gore Been Touching Bono in a Bad Way?
Bono says that being with Al Gore is like “being with an Irish priest.” Mel Gibson supposedly distanced himself from Heath Ledger after Ledger chose to play a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain against Gibson’s counsel. Celebs like Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey may like Hugo Chavez because of his drugs.
gossipmonger
Giants Player Has ‘Abandonment Issues’New York Giant Osi Umenyiora, who is dating Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks, says he’s a difficult guy to love because he has “abandonment issues.” Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy, was arrested for doing 39 mph in a 30 mph zone in Florida. An upcoming reality show on the Mojo Channel forces a handful of semi-prominent New Yorkers to survive without their cell phones and computers. Julia Stiles sat down and ordered a bunch of food at Indochine but requested that it all be doggy-bagged so she could take it home. CNN has been getting better daytime ratings than MSNBC over the past two months, though Fox News still does better than both. Georgina Chapman on fashion: “I’m like a magpie. I like anything that sparkles.”
gossipmonger
The Seth Tobias Case Gets (A Little Bit) HairierA gay porn star named Angel is now claiming that he used to shave deceased gay hedge-fund manager Scott Tobias’s genitals. New York Giant Michael Strahan said that he wouldn’t mind dating Tony Romo’s girlfriend, Jessica Simpson. Oprah Winfrey showed up to watch Chaka Khan’s Broadway debut in The Color Purple. Robert Kennedy wants Hillary Clinton to remain in the public life even if she loses her presidential bid. Donna Karan failed a bunch of her classes at Parsons, including typing and draping. Jim Neal is coming to New York to raise money for his Senate run in North Carolina (he’s gay!).
gossipmonger
Chris Rock Has a Good Question About Giuliani“Everyone says Giuliani was great on 9/11,” said Chris Rock during his show at MSG on New Year’s Eve. “What about on 9/10?” Joshua Jackson refused to let anyone sit with him and girlfriend Diane Kruger at the Soho Grand’s New Year’s Eve party. ABC anchor Bob Woodruff has made a full recovery from his Iraq injuries and recently went skiing. Eddie Murphy’s ex-wife Nicole Murphy hung out at the Plumm with New York Giant Michael Strahan while Murphy was getting ready to marry Tracey Edmonds on an island in the South Pacific. Britney Spears’s latest team of lawyers dumped her after a “breakdown in communication.”
gossipmonger
Martha Stewart: Donald Trump Is Not a Good ThingThe other day on Martha Stewart’s show, Joan Rivers told the host she had received several Trump Steaks for Christmas. “I thought, ‘I can’t eat Donald Trump,’” she said. “They said, ‘No, he owns the company. They didn’t slaughter him.’ ” “Too bad!” Stewart responded. Don Imus called out Tom Brokaw for not sticking up for him during the “nappy-headed hos” fiasco. Apple Martin was very nice to the staff at the West Village boutique Ink Pad, but daddy Chris Martin wasn’t.
gossipmonger
The Nine Media Lives of Tina BrownTina Brown signed a deal to develop story ideas and shows for HBO. Donny Deutsch celebrated his 50th-birthday party at the Jazz at Lincoln Center with lobster tail and foie gras. Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman are having trouble yachting around on their Caribbean honeymoon because there’s a massive fuel strike on St. Barts. (Weinstein’s friends also sent him a lot of video congratulations on the day of his wedding.) Lydia Hearst is mad that her name is being attached to Darfur awareness events without her permission. Gay activist Allen Roskoff keeps George Bush toilet paper at his Jane Street apartment.
company town
Bloomberg’s Baby Problems: They Just Keep Popping OutFINANCE
• Another woman joined the federal discrimination lawsuit against Bloomberg LP. After her first child in 2005, her pay fell and her colleagues turned into sharks. One supervisor even asked, “What is this, your third baby?” [NYT]
• More of the same on the Street: Bank of America wrote down $3 billion, Bear Stearns $1.2 billion, and British bank HSBC took the cake with $3.4 billion, largely due to U.S. mortgage weaknesses. Meanwhile, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein laughed in everyone’s face, predicting no more write-downs (not that they lost much in the first place) at the Teflon bank. [NYP, NYT, NYT, DealBreaker]
• Is the credit crunch just like Enron all over again? So says Bethany McLean, the reporter who first broke Ken Lay’s fraud wide open. [Fortune]
gossipmonger
Halle Is Berry SorryHalle Berry apologized for making an anti-Semitic joke as a guest on the Leno show. (NBC deleted it from the telecast.) Governor Spitzer hung out with his Horace Mann classmates at his 30th reunion. Renée Zellweger chooses to live in New York and Connecticut instead of L.A. because she hates the paparazzi out there. (She and George Clooney also send each other six-page politically charged e-mails.) Jennifer Lopez is refusing to pay a New York limo company $16,000 in fees she owes. The Devil Wears Prada producer Wendy Finerman bought a twelve-room duplex on 84th Street with her banker husband. Jay-Z says he’s not so good at retiring and blames the media for the breakup of most celebrity couples. Meryl Streep walked her puppy on the West Side Highway in sweats and a hat. Soap star Nathaniel Marston of One Life to Live was arrested for assaulting three people on Tenth Avenue in what was evidently a drug-fueled rage.
gossipmonger
Cisco Adler Plops Down Near Another Hot BlondeA-Rod and ur-agent Scott Boras dined at Nello’s. Eva Mendes hopped in the wrong limo. New York’s First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer told attendees of a More-magazine convention that the best advice she ever got was “either piss or get off the pot.” Cisco Adler and Lydia Hearst were cozy at Bungalow 8. Jann Wenner was widely mocked at the 30th reunion party of the Rolling Stone staff from 1977 (everyone gave him the finger in the group photo, and no one drank the Champagne he sent). Joaquin Phoenix hung up on a reporter from Time Out after she asked him what he did to prepare for his roles. Single-again Nick Cannon hung out with a bunch of beauty-pageant queens at Tenjune.
gossipmonger
Judd Apatow Gets the Last LaughRight before Undeclared was canceled in 2002, creator Judd Apatow sent a Fox executive a note saying, “I don’t understand how you can [bleep] me in the [bleep] when your [bleep] is still in me from last time.” Christian media-watchdog group Renaissance complained that the female anchors on Fox News wear really short skirts. While taping 30 Rock recently, Tracy Morgan didn’t know his lines, didn’t listen to the director, and got into arguments with cast members on set. Stifler from American Pie and Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite sent out an invitation for their joint birthday party at Room Service to a bunch of modeling agencies. Famed British chef Fergus Henderson is cooking at the Spotted Pig tomorrow. Penélope Cruz and new man Javier Bardem acted “touchy-feely” at the New York Film Festival.
gossipmonger
Tony Bennett Marries Down … in AgeRenée Zellweger bought an employee at Saks Fifth Avenue in Southampton a pair of Manolos the two had been eyeing together. Top Chef gay-bashing victim Josie Smith-Malave spoke at a fund-raiser for potential mayoral candidate and current city comptroller William Thompson. Kaz Bayati, the owner of Persian eatery Persepolis, claims his quote in support of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in AM New York was taken out of context. Anna Anisimova finds it strange that people care how much money she spends on Hamptons rentals. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has scheduled a meeting with Angelia Jolie to discuss “global diplomacy,” and he’ll write about it on his blog. Tony Bennett officially ended his marriage to Sandra Grant Bennett and married the younger Susan Crow, though Grant is still bitter she didn’t marry Joe DiMaggio instead.
gossipmonger
Judith Regan Says Murdoch’s Wife Smacks Him AroundA diner at the Waverly Inn overheard Judith Regan claiming that Rupert Murdoch is regularly hit by wife Wendi. Marilyn Manson may or may not have been asking for coke and Adderall in the bathroom of Bette last week. Helena Christensen’s 7-year-old son, Mingus, is a chess genius. Howard Stern thinks Beth Ostrosky has invited too many people to their wedding. Lance Armstrong chatted with Blackstone’s Pete Peterson at the Four Seasons. Cindy Adams claims that Colin Powell told friends that he sympathizes with General Petraeus but that he’s “digging his own foxhole” (or some approximation thereof).
gossipmonger
Roddick Calls Federer a ‘Robot’Nicole Kidman may be playing Vanity Fair–style arbiter Amy Fine Collins in the film adaptation of her memoir. Rupert Murdoch may be trying to lure CNBC “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo to his new Fox Business Channel, though the Post isn’t making matters easy by writing negative items about her. The Suffolk County D.A. has seized over 45,000 pages of legal papers in its investigation of the Fire Island double voting scandal. Mischa Barton may or may not have had a wardrobe malfunction at a Save the Children event at Lincoln Center. Andy Roddick referred to Roger Federer as a “robot.” Authors of a book about Doris Duke are claiming that Bob Balaban, director of an upcoming movie about the tobacco heiress, may have committed copyright infringement. Rudy Giuliani played golf — though presumably not well — sans Secret Service at the Noyac Golf Club in Sag Harbor.
gossipmonger
Diddy DissedDiddy’s longtime girlfriend Kim Porter has finally moved out (and on). Henry Kissinger is bummed he isn’t portrayed in Frost/Nixon. Chris Tucker impersonates Bill Clinton, and the former president can’t get enough. At Bergdorf Goodman last week, Beyoncé was barefoot and Katherine Heigl was hot. André Balasz has taken over the Chelsea Hotel and is setting his sights on the Pacific. White House in Hampton Bays paid Diddy $200,000 to host his Independence Day Party there. Ashlee Simpson might be at the Blackbook party in the Hamptons tomorrow. Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s on crutches, blames running into furniture for her injury; Helen Hunt, also on crutches, won’t say why.
company town
Hedge Funds Open to Petty CommonersFINANCE
• Steve Schwarzman’s company may be public, but the Blackstone head retreated and declined to ring the opening bell at the NYSE this morning. [NYP]
• The Supreme Court made it harder for investors to sue companies and executives for suspected fraud. [NYT]
• The Wharton School hired a marketing guy as its next dean. Rich alums, hold on to your wallets. [DealBook/NYT]
gossipmonger
Boobs at ‘Jane’Jane magazine asked girls to bare their breasts for a picture spread but canceled after a staffer mistakenly unveiled the identities of the participants. Jake Gyllenhaal and David Fincher had some “artistic differences” on the set of Zodiac. Phillip Bloch was not impressed by how Vogue’s André Leon Talley styled Jennifer Hudson’s thighs at the Oscars. Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselback got into (another) fight at The View, which ended with Hasselback (again) in tears. Graydon Carter and Jim Kelly hosted a book party for Kurt Andersen at the Waverly Inn, and a lot of media bigwigs showed. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are not looking to buy an apartment in the Dakota, according to a rep. Spike Lee hung out with Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall.
