Vincent Margera, the uncle of Jackass star Bam Margera, died on Sunday morning at 59.

Erykah Badu has mastered the modern art of giving interview. A mixture of wit and earnestness, of insight and leftfield references, hers is the kind of rare personality that should earn an open invitation to the talk-show circuit regardless of promo and just 'cuz, a la Amy Sedaris on Letterman. Badu is cool to death, she makes music that is cerebral, challenging and sometimes extra-terrestrial. But make no mistake, this woman is a star's star.

The celebrity foodies among you will be pleased and scared to know that homebot Martha Stewart is "poised for multi-platform expansion opportunities" now that she has acquired Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans-based food empire for a cool $50 million. BAM!, we say predictably. The only losers in the deal? Those Penn students who were complaining a few weeks ago about a false rumor that the entertaining multimillionaire Emeril would be their commencement speaker this year. Instead, they got stuck with boring multibillionaire Mike Bloomberg. Enjoy the following clip involving Emeril and bologna, back before he totally sold out:

Last night was the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave gala in... Manhattan. Yeah, no. we know. But I guess there aren't any spaces in Brooklyn that are nice. So instead, it was at 7 World Trade Center on some really high floor. Below, Ground Zero looked like a little deserted Erector Set. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgard were supposed to be there. But they had some other benefit to attend. John Turturro was supposed to be there too but wasn't. You know who was? Lou Reed. And you want to know something else? Turns out he's not a nice guy! Nikola Tamindzic was our witness.