Rush & Molloy: Nello's Bribes Everyone!
Page Six's crazy—like a fox, perhaps—item today that laid bare some alleged misdeeds of the New York Post has reverberated far and wide. Even New York Daily News' gossip queen Joanna Molloy has been touched by the scandal! We asked Ms. Molloy what she thought about the allegations, particularly those that had to do with Richard Johnson's admission that he accepted $1,000 from restaurateur Nello Balan, presumably in exchange for favorable treatment. Turns out this was sort of a habit of Nello's!
She emails:
Nello sent us a bag of money a couple of years ago. George [Rush] thought it was eggplant parmesan or something after we ran a Paris Hilton sighting at Nello's. January 2005. He got upstairs and opened it and there was about $600 in there. (I guess he thought we came cheaper than PAGE SIX, ha.) Anyway, George called Nello's manager and had him send the guy back to pick up the money. We found it all so odd because, frankly, we still gave a tumbling toss then about Paris Hilton's whereabouts and were appreciative of the sighting of her with that big, perspirey third-Greek-rich-guy-she's-been-with, Chris Contogouris.
Earlier: Jared Paul Stern's Lawyer: "They've Libeled Him Again"