As half-soberly reported in the wee hours of this morning, former Page Sixer Ian Spiegelman and hebrophobe writer/flack Doug Dechert came to blows last night at Soho House. What follows is a recap of what went down, complete with the requisite "he said, she said" accounts and an analysis of the "fucking pussy" factor.

Shockingly enough, Spiegelman has been none too pleased by the fact that Dechert had him fired from his gig at the Post nearly two years ago, nor was he beaming when Dechert had later threatened to "push his Jewish schnoz into his face." He aired his beef with Dechert two drinks into Young's party, asking Dechert whether the "racist, fucking anti-Semite piece of shit" in fact still wanted to push/bash his nose in. Spiegelman proceeded to lightly bump Dechert, initiating some sort of violent lambada, but Dechert refused to shove back, instead telling Spiegelman that "he was not going to start shit with his punk hot-head ass" because "I don't believe in fighting in clubs." He punctuated this retort by telling Spiegelman in no small terms that if he did want to fight, he better come outside ready to get his ass beat.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Marty McFly Spiegelman proceeded to shove Dechert with both hands, calling him a "fucking pussy" and declaring his intent to "shove his eyes into his nose." Before Dechert could take the bait, Toby Young's saintly/emasculating wife intervened to halt the fight, noting that a book party was neither the time nor the place to settle such a gentlemanly dispute. Dechert later told us that Spiegelman "has it coming and deserves to get clocked," but Dechert didn't act "because there's no rush." Spiegelman claims that Dechert should be thankful for the breakup by Young's wife, lest Spiegelman "beat the fucking piss out of him."

Alleged extortionist and party co-host Jared Paul Stern, for one, would have liked to see who the better pugilist was in person. "I was looking forward to the fisticuffs," he said—a statement with which Toby Young clearly agreed: "Let 'em fight!" he concurred. "It's great publicity!" Sure, but for what? Was anyone there promoting a book or something?

—Reportage by Neel Shah

Earlier Toby Young's Book Party: Best Fight Ever.
Elsewhere: Near-Fight Breaks Out at Toby Young Book Party [FishbowlNY]