Meghan McCain Has a Temper Just Like Her Father’sThe daughter of the presidential hopeful sulked outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the other night, and more in our daily gossip roundup.
Alex Kuczynski Faces Icky-Fat Real Pregnancy After AllShe gloated that a surrogate mom did it the first time, but now it’s her turn to get all moody and lumpy-bumpy. Plus, everyone important is in D.C. by now, and Cin’s there to harass them.
ByTim Murphy
tragedies
Star Jones: Displaced, LitigiousThanks to leaks and mold, she’s fled her Upper East Side triplex penthouse and is suing the condo board for $700,000.
ByJessica Coen
gossipmonger
James Franco Gets His Pick of Columbia FreshmenA bunch of girls screamed with lust for James Franco at Columbia, and we don’t blame them. Also, Alec Baldwin screamed at a limo driver while leaving the U.S. Open, in today’s gossip roundup.
Alec Baldwin Is Angry AgainAlso, Lindsay is still being lesbianish, Huma still loves Weiner, and Chace Crawford continues to be hot and available in our daily gossip roundup.
Eli Manning’s Little Town Blues Have Melted AwayEli Manning and Yogi Berra sang “New York, New York” together at Rao’s. Male madam David Forest says Marc Jacobs used to employ his services. Mariah Carey shot a video on the rooftop of Lenny Kravitz’s Crosby Street apartment. Mayor Bloomberg celebrated his 65th birthday with Steven Ratner and others at Michael’s. R.E.M. front man Michel Stipe got into a go-cart accident two weeks ago but is fine now. Blackstone Group co-founder Pete Peterson sold his River House digs to financier Jeffrey Leeds for $10 million.
gossipmonger
Elle Macpherson and Vito Schnabel Are Dating?!?!Jermaine Dupri ate French-toast sticks at a Burger King in La Guardia Airport. Forty-four-year-old Elle Macpherson is dating 21-year-old art dealer Vito Schnabel. CNBC has supposedly hired a new stylist to sex up the network’s on-air anchorbabes. Super Bowl winner Antonio Pierce refused a lap dance at Tens the other night to focus on the game. (It clearly worked!) Pedro Martinez became “visibly upset” after being told he’d have to wait for a table at Prime 112 in Miami (particularly because Star Jones came in and was seated right away).
backstage video
Tyra Banks and Vivica A. Fox Speak On the Fabulosity of KimoraAmid the usual chaos backstage at Baby Phat, Jada Yuan managed to catch up with not only label designer Kimora Lee Simmons, but also Tyra Banks, Robert Verdi, Star Jones, and Vivica A. Fox, who each testified to Kimora’s “fabulosity,” as Fox put it. “Kimora is big, she’s over-the-top, she’s a grande dame,” said Banks; “she taught me ‘off the hook’ and ‘off the chain’ — and the chain is actually diamonds, when it’s Kimora’s chain,” added Verdi. Indeed. Watch the video for more.
in other news
Star Jones Axed From truTVStar Jones will no longer have her eponymous show on the cable network after today. A letter from truTV general manager Marc Juris said that Jones and the channel, which re-branded itself from its older Court TV incarnation this month, “mutually agree” on the move. “Page Six” gives some insight on why it might have been “mutual”: Jones will continue to receive the rest of her $24 million paycheck as stipulated in her three-year contract, even though she will only appear on truTV from now on as a guest analyst. Jones was eliminated from the channel’s lineup because it is trying to switch its focus to purely tabloid coverage, and the lawyer was deemed too serious, according to reports. “Too serious?” we thought when we read this. “Star JONES?” But then when we reconsidered, it’s true: She kind of has gotten seriously lately. When we see her on the Today show, we sort of think of her as a reliable, insightful law analyst. Oh no! We used to only think of her with mockery and hilarity. Can we really have changed our mind because she lost some pounds? Are we really that weight-ist? Then we delved deep into our soul and realized it wasn’t the weight loss at all. It was the GLASSES. Getting those architect glasses was the smartest thing Star ever did. Since the beginning of time, human beings have been programmed to think of people with serious glasses as great thinkers. Benjamin Franklin? Spectacles. Eustace Tilley? A monocle. Abraham? Boxley plastic frames by Oliver Peoples. Now, everybody watch Star’s last episode today at 3 p.m. We can only hope, nay dream, she goes as bonkers as Connie Chung did on her final MSNBC show.
truTV Axes The “Star Jones Show” [TMZ.com]
gossipmonger
Heath and Michelle Disorient Their ChildHeath Ledger and Michelle Williams are creating identical bedrooms for their daughter at their respective abodes in Soho and Brooklyn. Sumner Redstone and his daughter have reconciled after a lengthy feud over money. A Detroit preacher has come to the defense of Star Jones, who was accused of skipping out of a charity event for overweight girls. Office mates John Krasinski and Rashida Jones canoodled at an SNL after-party. Brandon Davis was “surprisingly sober-esque” at the fifth-anniversary party for Butter, only falling down once. Philanthropist Loida Lewis sold her Fifth Avenue co-op for $33 million ($12 million less than the asking price).
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.
quote machine
Hilary Duff Has Our VoteNorm McDonald on the Internet, Adam Levine on Maria Sharapova (literally).
gossipmonger
Ba Ba Ba, Ba BarbaraleeHollywood players like Ben Stiller, Toby Maguire, and Steven Spielberg can’t figure out which Democrat to support for president, so they’re donating to multiple ones. (Tom Hanks, Will Smith, and Jennifer Aniston, however, are firmly in Camp Obama.) Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel was passed over for appointment as executive director of New York State Council of the Arts, perhaps because she has donated money to Spitzer, who’s now trying to look ethically pure. Gwen Stefani loves breast-feeding even though she’s been getting bitten. Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz refused to be photographed with their KY Intimacy Kit swag bags at Lollapalooza because they were scared of Joe Simpson. Tracy Morgan wants to get his SCRAM ankle bracelet “blinged out” at Jacob the Jeweler.
gossipmonger
Judi Giuliani, Puppy Killer?Vanity Fair’s forthcoming takedown of Judi Giuliani paints her as “opportunistic, puppy-killing homewrecker.” ABC News employees were reminded not to surf for porn on company time after it was discovered that an intern had nude photos online. Married cosmetics heir William Lauder may be the illegitimate father of a child with nightlife honcho Howard Stein’s daughter. Mets pitchers John Maine and Aaron Heilman partied at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone. New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane might not technically be married to the mother of his two children, journalist Allison Pearson. Penélope Cruz and Bono were spotted holding hands in St. Tropez. Star Jones claims women on TV get a raw financial deal. Rachael Ray and Ron Jeremy were in Saratoga for the opening of the racetrack.
gossipmonger
Reliving HistoryJeff Gerth and Don Van Natta’s Hillary bio will come out in August and may cause ethics problems for her in the Senate. Bonnie Fuller worried she showed too much chest on TV; also, she was cold. Hooters won’t host a PETA book party, prompting bad jokes from a PETA exec. Newt Gingrich and Lally Weymouth ate lunch. Thora Birch’s dad watched her shoot sex scenes. Martin Scorsese wants Leo DiCaprio to play stock swindler Jordan Belfort. And he’s also making a movie about Queen Victoria, says Liz Smith, with Sarah Ferguson as a co-producer. Sean Penn spoke at an antiwar rally in Oakland, didn’t make much sense. Whoopi Goldberg and Kiefer Sutherland had brunch.
gossipmonger
No Potatoes Dauphinoise for You!Famed midtown French restaurant Brasserie LCB was shuttered by the Health Department after the chef got into a spat with inspectors. Lindsay Lohan performed a stripper routine at the Box, and the crowd went wild. She also rebuffed a karaoke come-on from former flame Wilmer Valderrama. Richard Johnson and wife Sessa von Richthofen gave birth to a baby girl. Tom Brady and Gisele dined at the Spotted Pig on Saint Patrick’s Day. Hillary supporters with $2,300 to burn can go biking with Bill Clinton on the Upper West Side as part of a fund-raising effort.
gossipmonger
Isn’t It Rich?A new book alleges that Bill Clinton had an affair with socialite Denise Rich and that Nancy Pelosi knew about it. Barack Obama asked for Beyoncé’s autograph at a fund-raiser at L.A. Reid’s house on the Upper East Side. Star Jones signed a deal to host a show on Court TV. Katie Homes may have chosen her new upcoming movie, a girl-buddy flick, because it had no sex scenes that might make hubby Tom Cruise jealous. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas dined next to Barack Obama at the Waverly Inn. Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal may be hooking up. An intern claims Lizzie Grubman owes her more than $6,000 in back wages. Stewardess diddler Ralph Fiennes frolicked naked in a pool with four women at a hotel in Belgium.
gossipmonger
Death By ImplantsJosh Hartnett was involved in a bar brawl on the Lower East Side, but it’s unclear whether his posse started it. Siberia owner Tracy Westmoreland is the new nightlife correspondent for Fox News’ Redeye With Greg Gutfeld. (Also, Siberia is still open!) Naomi Campbell will have to sweep an undisclosed New York City facility for five days as punishment for assaulting a maid with a cell phone. Robert Downey Jr. plays a drunken journalist in Zodiac but wouldn’t want to be one in real life. Governor Jon Corzine’s ex, Carla Katz, is “getting cozy” with Newark mayor Cory Booker. Courtney Love claims Paris Hilton had a “big pile of white powder” in the bathroom of her birthday party on Oscar eve. A new Anna Nicole Smith rumor: death by implants.
company town
Star Takes the Stand, Forgets Her Past
LAW
• Back before Star Jones married a beard and was thwarted by Barbara Walters, she had to prosecute guys named T-Black and A. [NYP]
• With New Jersey opening the door to “irreconcilable differences” in divorces, New York may now be the only state that forbids “no-fault” splits. [New Jersey Law Blog via New York Divorce Report]
• New York State’s chief judge says underpaid jurists are at a new “level of frustration and anger and despair” over their meager paychecks. [NYLJ]
intel
’Twas Six Nights Before Christmas (a True Story in Verse)’Twas a mob scene at the Ziegfeld, a limited-engagement show. Sold-out Dreamgirls playing; a ticketless intern couldn’t go. But just as she heard this sad news from cashier, Who but Star Jones at her side should appear! “A ticket you say?” Star had just the thing. (Though she checked first with her Al, gave him a quick ring.) So instead of Al Reynolds, ‘twas a New York intern with Jones! Just two people between them, in the coveted third row. And as the lights went down and the curtain came up, That puckish Jones Reynolds gave our intern thumbs-up!
—Wren Abbott
