Billy Joel Self-Pops Cherry for ObamaDid he REALLY have to put it that way? Plus, Tom and Gisele are probs getting married — awesome, you guys! In Monday’s gaggle o’ gossip.
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.
company town
The Return of Aleksey VaynerFINANCE
• Aleksey Vayner, everyone’s favorite bizarre self-promoting video maker, is back with a new Website and perhaps a book! Impossible may be nothing after all. [Gawker]
• Goldman Sachs set new records with their $20.2 billion bonus pool, including $67.9 million for Lloyd Blankfein, but rumor has it the bank decided to stiff their back-office employees. [NYP]
• Blankfein’s salary still pales in comparison to hedge-fund kings like John Paulson and Paolo Pellegrini, who raked in more than $1 billion each in 2007 betting against the housing market. [NYT]
in other news
Jude Law Brings His Pillbox Hat to Halston RoleIt looks like 2008 is the new 1978. That is, it will be the year of Halston. Not only will the fashion house, purchased last year by Harvey Weinstein with the creative help of Tamara Mellon and Rachel Zoe, show again at New York’s Fashion Week — but it turns out that a Weinstein movie is in the works about the iconic designer’s life. And Jude Law is in talks to play the lead role! Which not only means that we get to see Jude Law play gay again, but also that we’ll get to see a whole bevy of celebrities played by younger stars. We can see it now: Zach Braff as Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell, Anne Hathaway as Bianca Jagger and oh! Oh! Amy Winehouse as Liza Minnelli!!
Jude Law to Play Halston? [Fashionista]
The A to Z of What’s Hot for 2008 [Daily Telegraph]
Earlier: Can Harvey Resurrect Halston?
gossipmonger
Padma: When in Doubt, Suck Face With SalmanA prankster made lewd comments to Ann Curry and Matt Lauer during a media conference call between TV writers and the Today anchors. Banker Rafael Follieri, boyfriend of Anne Hathaway, flew commercial from Atlanta to New York despite supposedly owning a private jet. Padma Lakshmi was overheard telling someone she still was “still trying to work the secret to a great relationship out” hours before she made out with Salman Rushdie at Bungalow 8. (Rushdie also almost fell asleep during a play at the Guggenheim on Saturday.) Ivanka Trump couldn’t get into East Village dive Black and White because she didn’t have an I.D. The smoking hot ex–First Lady of France, Cecilia Sarkozy, is coming to visit New York with her kid.
in other news
Anna Wintour Has Great Weekend, Just As Rachel Zoe’s Goes Suspiciously PoorlyCrain’s ranked New York’s top 100 most powerful women yesterday, and there weren’t many surprises. Defying Keith Kelly’s best efforts to ruin Ann Moore’s weekend, the Time Inc. CEO found herself in the “Power 25,” right near the top. Joining her there were usual media suspects, like Hearst’s Cathleen Black, HarperCollins’s Jane Friedman, and the Times’ Janet Robinson. Oh, yeah, and Vogue’s Anna Wintour. You remember her, the one has-been Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe said was less “influential” than herself?
the week in beef
Cranky Fashionistas Hungry … for BloodNew York’s Fashion Week is over, and in the five minutes between the closing of the tents and the start of London’s Fashion Week, all the stylish folks have had just enough time to focus on their distaste for one another. Seeing as industry-standard diet of clen and champers does little to help one’s mood, we can’t be surprised at this week’s outpouring of bitchery. A quick rundown of the postshow battles:
Rachel Zoe vs. Anna Wintour
In Sunday’s Times’ mag, stylist and possible “raisin-faced” alien Rachel Zoe unwisely taunts Anna Wintour: “Anna Wintour is one of my heroes, but they say I’m more influential,” the stylist tells Lynn Hirschberg. “As great as it is, Vogue won’t change a designer’s business. But if an unknown brand is worn by a certain person in a tabloid, it will be the biggest designer within a week.” Oh no, she didn’t. But she did! And now let’s follow the backbiting path over to…
