P. Diddy’s Mom Knows Her Way Around a Stripper PoleThe Scores girls have nothing on Janice Combs. Plus, Helen Mirren, Peggy Noonan, and Joe Scarborough confess to drug use; and more unlikely tidbits, in our daily New York gossip roundup.
ByTim Murphy
gossipmonger
Keith Olbermann Takes His News Corp. War to the People“Page Six” claims that the MSNBC host won’t work with “citizen journalists” from MySpace because the Website is owned by News Corp. Plus everything else that’s in today’s gossip columns!
Diane Sawyer Forgets to Ask Katie Holmes About the HubbaspermDiane Sawyer interviewed Katie Holmes on Good Morning America yet neglected to ask her about the rumor that she was impregnated with L. Ron Hubbard’s sperm. New York Giants Plaxico Burress, Antonio Pierce, and Ruben Droughns went to Home nightclub in Manhattan after flying back from Dallas and ordered $1,000 of Bacardi, vodka, and Champagne, but forgot to tip their waitress. Waiters at Brasserie 44 in the Royalton Hotel thought they discovered Frank Bruni’s notebook, but it turned out to belong to someone else (and they slipped in some Bruni ass-kissing to boot!). Jil Scott picked up a male model at an Allure fashion shoot and took him to Nobu. Keith Olbermann’s quote to Playboy that “Fox News is worse than Al-Qaeda” did not go over well with many of the magazine’s readers.
company town
Hey, HR! Lauren Conrad Needs a New Magazine ‘Job’FASHION
• Stella McCartney just had baby number three: Beckett Robert Lee Willis. [WWD]
• Mulberry’s new shoe line is set to debut on Valentine’s Day. [British Vogue]
• The Hills girls will no longer “work” at Teen Vogue. [WWD]
in other news
Fashion’s Favorite Twink to Head UngaroFrench design-house Emanuel Ungaro is expected to announce today that they’ve appointed New York design whiz kid Esteban Cortazar as womenswear chief. The choice of Cortazar, who says he’s 23 years old, is sure to surprise many in the fashion world because of his relative inexperience (though he’s been showing in New York since he was 18) and the fact that he’s been taking a break from fashion lately. He didn’t show last season, and you’re more likely to see him posing for pictures on the red carpet than one of his designs. (Or see him on Top Chef!) “Ungaro chief executive officer Mounir Moufarrige has a knack for making surprising designer choices,” reports WWD. “As president of Chloé, he picked the then 25-year-old Stella McCartney to succeed Karl Lagerfeld in 1997.” Ugh: young, cute, talented, and given opportunities beyond his years? We’re so resentful. He didn’t even have to date Harvey Weinstein!
Ungaro Taps Cortazar [WWD]
company town
Howard Stern Thinks Imus Will Make You HurlMEDIA
• Carson Daly is going scab! Good thing he doesn’t have any viewers, and unlike Ellen isn’t actually a member of the Writers Guild. [NYT]
• Howard Stern gets all collegiate about Don Imus’s return: “At this point, I don’t think he’s very relevant. People will tune out within a week. I defy you to listen. See how long you can keep listening. Time it. You’ll throw up. You’ll get sick. You’ll die.” [AP via Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• Knicks reporters — even bigger whiners than regular reporters. Daily News vet Frank Isola: “It used to be fun here. Now, there are some nights when you’re trying to talk your boss out of sending you here and maybe lie and tell him you’re sick or something.” [NYO]
gossipmonger
Benicio Del Toro Helps Out a Gay Meth AddictFormer New York Stock Exchange chairman Dick Grasso may or may not have had an affair and fathered a love child. Steven Spielberg ate at the Waverley Inn with his family and a whole lot of other famous folks. Denise Rich sang a Rolling Stones song to an audience that included Donald Trump Jr. and Ivana Trump at new venue Espace. Benicio del Toro appeared at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center as a sponsor for a meth-addict friend. One of Howard Stern’s sidekicks filmed a porno inside Stern’s studio with Ron Jeremy. Jay-Z may be “scrambling” because the lead single from his American Gangster album is not doing well.
company town
‘Times’ Laughs in Morgan Stanley’s Face (Well, Back)MEDIA
• Marcus Brauchli remains top editor at the Journal, but there’s a growing sense of inevitability that Robert Thomson, Sunday Times of London editor and Murdoch “old boy,” will challenge him for the position. (Related question: Does Murdoch have any “boys” who are not “old”?) [NYO]
• The Times’ third-quarter earnings almost doubled analysts’ expectations, giving the paper a chance to gloat about the big hit Morgan Stanley took a week ago by selling its stake in the company. [NYT, DealBook/NYT]
• Rick Reilly, previously the highest-paid writer in the history of Time Inc., will get $2 million a year for five years at ESPN. Who knew wussifying sports would pay so well? [NYP]
company town
Today, Andy Rooney and Charlie Gibson Equally UnfunnyMEDIA
• Don Imus, his big settlement with CBS finally behind him, is now looking to make a comeback on ABC radio. [NYP]
• Andy Rooney apologizes for crossing the line from crotchety to racist – sort of. [NYT]
• Charlie Gibson wants you to remember that he, unlike Katie Couric and Brian Williams, is humorless. [NYT]
party lines
At ‘The Good Night’ Screening, Celebs Share Their DreamsAt the Cinema Society’s screening of The Good Night, in East Hampton on Saturday, celebrities had dreams on their minds. That’s because Jake Paltrow’s film is all about them; the hero even falls in love with a girl who exists solely in his sleep. The part of said lass is played by Paltrow’s sister, Gwyneth, who showed up at the party and mingled with East End A-listers like Bob Balaban, Billy Joel, Stella McCartney, Donna Karan, and Ed Burns. “I actually keep a dream diary,” Christie Brinkley told Daily Intel. “I actually created a dream club, where we’d all get together and tell each other out dreams.” Wait, really? “Oh, it was way back in the day when I used to be on tour with Billy [Joel]’s band, so we would all get together for dream clubs.” Mm. Touring with a rock band doesn’t sound quite like we imagined it. —Alex Gartenfeld
Bonus Party Lines: Read more about what goes on in celebrities’ heads in our coverage of The Good Night screening.
show and talk
Stella McCartney Has Something Up Her Ecofriendly Sleeve
Stella McCartney popped by Bergdorf Goodman yesterday afternoon, peddling her new fall line to the adoring, middle-aged crowd mobbing the third floor. The collection, in typical Stella form, gave a nod to the environment: Polar-bear sweaters and oversize knit coats are her alternative to glamorous fur toppers. “I think it’s important to stress that you don’t have to be 100 percent perfect,” McCartney said of the fashion industry’s recent moves toward greenness. “Every little bit helps. We try to do what we can.” One way: She’s offering a new vegan cosmetics line, which she coyly whispered is now available now at Barneys and Sephora.
in other news
Al Franken Decides He’s Good Enough, Smart Enough to Run for SenateIt’s semi-official: Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. This info, coming from a “senior Democratic official,” retroactively explains the former Upper West Sider’s hasty exit from Air America earlier this week. (He’d already moved himself and his show back to his home state two years ago.) But those that expect the race to be a nice comic diversion from the other 2008 carnage should look elsewhere. Franken is not a novelty candidate — not that that would be a problem in Minnesota, post–Jesse Ventura — and Republicans there, rather than dusting off old Stuart Smalley clips, are already saying unfunny things like “Minnesotans will reject Franken’s divisive, scorched-earth attacks.” He was also a close friend of Minnesota’s liberal, lamented Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002; a Franken candidacy is likely to invoke the specter of the popular senator. At any rate, this should be interesting.
Franken to Run for Senate in Minnesota [USAT]