Yet one more reason to be a tad suspicious of anything you come across on TMZ: Just 24 hours before Billy Joel and Katie Lee announced that they were separating, TMZ reported that they'd heard from a "source" that the Piano Man was looking to buy his wife a restaurant in the Hamptons, and was currently "eying a spot in Sag Harbour [sic]." Guess not! The site's very juicy exclusive is below.
In news that will probably leave you speechless with surprise, Billy Joel and third wife Katie Lee Joel confirmed this afternoon they're splitting up. "After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate," reps for the couple told the Daily News. "This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other." Naturally, the decision to part ways had nothing at all to do with the rumors that Lee's been dating designer Yigal Azrouël. They've been doing a very good job keeping that one under wraps, clearly. [NYDN]
• G. Kelly Martin, CEO of the drugmaker Elan and the former president of Merrill Lynch's International Private Client Group, has lowered the price of his duplex at 1040 Fifth Avenue. The 10-room spread, which Martin and wife Elizabeth Ann paid "between $2 million and $2.5 million" to acquire back in 1994, originally went on the market for $12.9 million in February. It's now listed at $10.2 million. [Cityfile, Real Deal, Corcoran]
• Calypso founder Christiane Celle and her husband, photographer Antoine Verglas, have cut the price of their penthouse at 129 Lafayette Street for the third time in three months. The four-bedroom apartment, which went on the market for $13.99 million in January, was cut to $11.99 million in March and then reduced to $10.65 million in May. It's now priced at $9.65 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Renée Zellweger has reportedly moved out of 240 Central Park South and is now planning to move to a brownstone on the Upper East Side. [P6]
• Rumor has it Billy Joel may be buying two of the three townhouses currently under construction at 26 Downing Street. [Curbed]
• Paris Hilton reportedly broke up with boyfriend Doug Reinhardt after she saw him partying with a "Texas beauty queen" named Kendhal Beal. The heiress responded by throwing a fit (and some fruit and ice in Beal's direction). But don't you worry about Paris. She's got her dependable sister by her side. And she's already moved on to someone new, namely soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. [P6, People]
• Madonna will be performing her Kabbalah rituals today with an extra bit of enthusiasm: Malawi's highest court has overturned its previous ruling and has granted her adoption of Mercy James. Justice to the people! [DM]
• Dr. Drew Pinsky of Celebrity Rehab is offering Lindsay Lohan six figures to appear on his VH1 reality show. But only because he cares deeply about her well-being, not because he's interested in ratings or anything. [NYP]
• Despite the fact his dad says they're planning a Kabbalah commitment ceremony and he's currently shacking up at her apartment, Jesus Luz tells a Brazilian TV station that Madonna is "just a friend." Also: He really doesn't mind it if you refer to him as her "boy toy." [NYDN]
• Kiefer Sutherland has apologized to Jack McCollough for head-butting him, and charges against the actor are likely to be dropped. Not that he's learned much of a lesson: He was spotted boozing it up on the LES with his daughter in tow last week. [NYP, P6]
• The celebrity crime wave continues: Kevin Bacon had his BlackBerry stolen from him last week. And Monica Bellucci and husband Vincent Cassel had more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash and jewels taken from them while they were attending the Cannes Film Festival. [NYP, DM]
• Mel Gibson has confirmed that he and his Russian musician girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, are expecting. [People, NYDN]
• Mariah Carey spent Memorial Day in Turkey. Why Turkey? Because a hotel paid her $1.5 million to perform, that's why. [P6]
Director Michel Gondry turns 46 today. Enrique Iglesias is turning 34. Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni is 58. Author Thomas Pynchon is turning 72. Model Josie Maran is 31. Advertising exec Richard Kirshenbaum is 48. Alex Van Halen is 56. Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey turns 58. Ted Sorensen, best known as JFK's speechwriter, is 81. Actress Melissa Gilbert is turning 45. Socialite Nina Griscom is 55. And Don Rickles, or "Mr. Warmth," is 83 today. A few of the people celebrating their birthdays this weekend—including Rosario Dawson, Emma Bloomberg, and Billy Joel—after the jump.
• Did Beyoncé really send a look-alike to stand in for her at an art museum in Vienna so she could go shopping instead? That's what many Austrians seem to think, and the museum now says it plans to issue a protest. And here we were thinking decoy body doubles were just for presidents and mafia kingpins. [AFP]
• James Gandolfini erupted at a group of paparazzi outside the Waverly Inn the other night. Fortunately—for the drama-loving masses, at least—they kept their cameras on during the episode and it was all caught on tape. [TMZ]
• Real-life roommates Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick might be splitting up, since Chace is reportedly looking for a loft of his own downtown. [P6]
• Mel Gibson and Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva made their first public appearance together last night at an X-Men screening in LA. [People]
• Strippers at Sapphire East's opening were supposedly told not to take their clothes off until after Samantha Ronson finished her set, since she's "so girl-crazy, she can't concentrate." [P6]
So wrong: While Billy Joel wonders if his third wife is cheating, and Bruce Springsteen's wife ponders whether he destroyed a marriage, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt prepare for a second blissful wedding.
• It looks like mischief runs in the family. Martha's daughter Alexis has been forced to pay $990,000 in back taxes and a $110,000 fine to the IRS, although she's blaming her accountant for the "mix-up." [NYP]
• Casey Greenfield gave birth to a baby boy the other day, but she still isn't saying who the father might be. [P6]
• Lindsay Lohan got a "post-breakup makeover" consisting of a new hair color and a new tattoo, in case you're keeping track. [People, NYP]
• Jennifer Lopez has so many wigs, she has an entire room devoted to them. Or so says Star magazine. [Star]
• Is Billy Joel planning to split up with Katie Lee? That's what the Enquirer is claiming this week, suggesting that Katie's "cozy relationship" with "hunky designer" Yigal Azrouel has caused Billy to consider dumping her. But not until his tour ends in November, which doesn't make much sense. [National Enquirer]
• A New Jersey man says Bruce Springsteen caused the breakup of his marriage. In divorce papers, he alleges Bruce and his estranged wife have been having an affair since the two met up at a local gym more than a year ago. [Star]
• Michael Phelps "skeeved out onlookers" at Marquee on Tuesday by drinking straight from a bottle of vodka and "dancing like a loon," all while making out with his cocktail waitress girlfriend. [NYDN]
• Breaking! Brad Pitt took sons Maddox and Pax to a Dunkin Donuts in Oyster Bay yesterday morning just like a "regular guy." [Star]
• Kenneth Cole has sliced $2 million off the price of his penthouse at 101 West 79th Street. Cole originally listed the four-bedroom apartment for $18.95 million. He just reduced it to $16.95 million, but it's unlikely Cole and wife Maria Cuomo will have much stuff to move out if they find a buyer. Although the fashion mogul has owned the apartment since '85, the family spends most of its time at homes on Sutton Place and in Westchester. [Cityfile, Carol E. Levy]
• Billy Joel has taken his Centre Island mansion off the market after failing to find a buyer for the $32.5 million property. Joel bought the waterfront estate, which is known as Middlesea, for $22 million in 2002. It's also where he tied the knot with Katie Lee back in 2004. [Newsday]
• Katharine Muir has listed her five-story, eight-bedroom townhouse at 42 West 71st Street for $7.3 million. [Cityfile, TE]
Two weeks ago the news surfaced that Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and his second wife, Paula Fortunato, were divorcing after five years of marriage. Much was made of Redstone and Fortunato's 39-year age gap and the couple's pre-nup, which will provide Fortunato with a $5 million fortuno for the five years she spent by the not-so-healthy billionaire's side. But she's hardly the only one who has been married to someone who could easily pass for her father or granddad. After the jump, a list of famous New York couples and their equally famous age gaps.
Last Friday, Howard Stern finally made an honest woman of his lady love Beth Ostrosky. US Weekly has the official photos from the wedding, which took place at Le Cirque and was attended by Barbara Walters, Billy Joel and Katie Lee, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, and Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, who officiated. What Howard's perennial sidekick Robin Quivers says was a "clever, creative, fun party" appears to have been marred only by Ostrosky's dress: The Georgina Chapman-created number, unlike the designer's usual romantic, ethereal frocks, looks like it should have been accessorized with platform stripper shoes and a pole—which, come to think of it, would have been entirely appropriate.
♦ Harvey Weinstein may be a million bucks poorer today. Or maybe not! After yesterday's email debacle, Harvey says he'll donate $1 million to the Robin Hood Foundation once he can verify that Scott Rudin's email is "authentic," which means he'll probably conduct an "investigation" into the matter until it blows over. [P6]
♦ Janet Jackson has been released from the hospital. But fiancé Jermaine Dupri doesn't seem too concerned. He hasn't missed any of his scheduled party appearances the past few days. [People, R&M]
♦ Britney Spears' lawyers have been working overtime to quash the sex tape she made with Adnan Ghalib. [The Sun]
♦ Salma Hayek was spotted in Paris with her ex Francois-Henri Pinault, which means it's time to start speculating about whether they're getting back together. [Daily Star]
Because nothing says rock 'n' roll like a group of grandfatherly types in suits, Michael Bloomberg, Clive Davis and Billy Joel gathered yesterday to announce the opening of New York's branch of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Opening in November on Mercer Street, the 25,000-square-foot space will contain memorabilia like Bruce Springsteen's first car, Elvis Presley's motorcycle jacket, and some stuff Joel "found around his house." [NYSun]
It's an age-old question that will probably never be answered: Does Billy Joel suck, or does he actually rule? Impossible to say, really. But, whatever your stance, do not pal around with The Piano Man and pretend you're best buds when actually you're a nasty music critic who's going to go back to his office and trash the guy's work. Because Billy is not having it! "I had no idea when you interviewed me that you considered much of my later work to be `sentimental rubbish', or that you thought songs like 'Uptown Girl' and 'We Didn't Start the Fire' were `abominations'. And your back-slapping, buddy-buddy style of conversation betrayed no indication that you actually compared talking with me to `sleeping with an inflatable girlfriend'," Joel wrote to New Zealand Sunday Times-Star scribe Grant Smithies the other day.
