Bret Michaels Not Ashamed to Take the Pity VoteHe told his ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ competitor Holly Robinson Peete that his recent health problems very well might have put him over the top.
A-Rod Will Carve Madonna’s BirdHe’s ditching his own kids to spend Turkey Day with her and hers! Plus, Michael Eisner’s daughter-in-law induced pregnancy to have the child before Thanksgiving … good planning! In the very thankful gossip roundup.
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.
21 questions
Sarah, Duchess of York, Wears Her Hair LongName: Sarah, Duchess of York
Age: 48
Job: Author, royal, and philanthropist. Her Sarah Ferguson Foundation will be the beneficiary of Thursday night’s La Dolce Vita Gala at Cipriani Wall Street.
Borough: Manhattan
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
I feel Eloise and I are similar in spirit.
What do you actually do all day in your job?
I connect dots. By that I mean my mind is like an idea factory, constantly on overdrive. So my job, in a sense, is building bridges that link a good concept with the right people and resources. In my work for the Sarah Ferguson Foundation, I get personally involved in raising funds for school-building projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia. As co-CEO of Hartmoor, my multimedia lifestyle company, I’m constantly developing ideas for new products, film, TV, books, and the Web, and then search my rolodex for the right contacts. I’ve got a great team around me, but I am a very hands-on type of person and in truth I’m never, ever idle.
Where do you get your coffee?
Starbucks.
intel
Fergie to Release ‘Hart Moor’ in 2008Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has finished her historical novel, Hart Moor, she told us earlier this week at the Quill Awards. It’s scheduled to come out next year. “It’s my first historical novel, but I have written 24 books and I’ve written 12 children’s books,” she explained. Fergie spent three years on research (she was paid a reported $1.8 million for the book from St. Martin’s in 2005, before it had even been started). “It’s about my heritage: a redhead,” she said. “It’s set in 1759.” We hear Fergie’s been in talks to make it into a movie as well, which is very exciting. The British royal has managed to keep her profile up even after she left the ruling family. She’s done a lot for charity work, and she’s won children’s-book awards. If she makes an Oscar-winning movie, somebody get this lady a Nobel Prize! —Amy Odell
party lines
Park Avenue, Buckingham Palace Love 50 Cent
50 Cent played Cipriani Wall Street, the latest installment in the restaurant’s benefit concert series, this one supporting his G-Unity Foundation and the Duchess of York’s Sarah Ferguson Foundation. It was one of the first times, we suspect, the famously nine-times-shot rapper performed for a crowd of fortysomethings in evening gowns and suits, but he was comfortable with it, he said. “The size of the audience changes, but not the actual demographic of people who will be here.” The crowd was clearly comfortable with it, too; the I-bankers and socialites stood and danced for most of the hour-long set, fists in the air, and sang along with every song. Apparently his music is popular on Park Avenue: They all knew the words. Fergie, too, was excited. “I’m 47, I’m a mom,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what age you are, you can still get out there and have a good time.” Another reporter asked her a follow-up about “Fifty Cent,” but the Duchess made a quick correction. “No. No, no, no,” she said. “Fitty.” Henry Higgins would be proud. —Bennett Marcus
gossipmonger
Breaking: Less Than Pure Ethics at the ‘Post’!Conflict of interest alert! The Post’s state editor, Fredric U. Dicker, has been getting paid to make speeches by the New York Bankers Association. Citigroup’s head of wealth management, Todd Thomson, left the firm yesterday, perhaps because he flew his friends around too often on the corporate jet. The Bachelor’s Lorenzo Borghese is dating the show’s runner-up, but he also hit on Tinsley Mortimer’s sister Dabney. Jared Leto got angry and Sienna Miller partied with Diddy and Josh Hartnett at Sundance. Also, Jared Leto was not pleased to hear that fellow Scarlett Johansson pal Justin Timberlake was to perform at a party he was at. Jay McInerney and Anne Hearst celebrated their marriage in Palm Beach with a gaggle of society folk.
