There's not much fun to be had watching The Hollywood Reporter implode, but a morsel in today's Page Six does offer a puzzling clue as to what might be responsible. Hint: It's not the economy.
Harvey Fierstein, who plays Edna (while wearing a fat suit) in the about-to-close Broadway production of Hairspray, is also known for holding weekly poker games in the theater's basement. The Observer's Spencer Morgan attended recently. Aside from being attacked by a barrage of friendly "faggoty-ass faggot" remarks, he managed to glean—when his tape recorder and notebook wasn't being forcibly removed—that someone close to the production is summoning backdoor johnnys for his own entertainment...
A tipster wasn't naming names when s/he sent word of one film critic's rather vocal dissing of another, more "highly respected" critic at a press screening earlier this afternoon. But the math seems easy enough, even for us: A father, a son and a "pathetic old putz" who's no longer on the air? Show your work after the jump.
God, it's been a year. I've been keeping a little file of crazed "glaring omission" e-mails from both friends and foes. I've provided a mix n' match quiz. Who said what? It's up to you to guess. Featuring Julia Allison, Emily Gould, Ryan Adams, et al! There's a whole lotta dirt after the jump.
POP QUIZ—MIX N' MATCH 1.) "Jesus Christ, could you be any more of a bitch if you tried?!" 2.) "Seriously, dude, you should just quit... I can't imagine writing any of this shit is making you happy." 3.) "If you really believe what you just wrote you are half-way to soulless." 4.) "thank you for being a very noble and good person" 5.) "i want you to call your broker and buy a LARGE position in SORC tomorrow, after the market opens and BEFORE it closes. They report tomorrow after close and I expect them to beat earnings significantly, and I expect to see a huge short squeeze." 6.) "Did I mention how much sex I've gotten off of Gawker? It's weird. WEIRD!" WHO SAID THE ABOVE? GUESS! The answers are in no particular order, to protect the guilty parties. a.) Emily Gould, former Gawker b.) Ryan Adams c.) Rod Townsend, commenter d.) My boyfriend, after I leaked something off the record e.) Julia Allison f.) ?? Also, the above pic is one of Men's Vogue writer Hud Morgan that someone sent me. Not sure who, or why. But I enjoyed it. Oh, and also, thank you to the person who sent me six pictures of someone (himself?) receiving oral sex. Thank you. All of you! Here's how to get a reservation at the Waverly Inn:
We don't generally turn to inspirational humanitarian news for our gossip, but that's where we found sort of an accidental blind item hiding in plain sight over the weekend. According to the OC Register, a 17-year-old Zimbabwean boy named Beloved traveled to the States last year for reconstructive surgery on his face; he had been disfigured in a land-mine explosion when he was 10. The cost: $180,000, which a charity administrator named Jennifer Trubenbach had reportedly wrangled from a "movie star, whose face is a common sight in celebrity magazines." And why won't she name him? Because the next thing she knew, the star yanked the cash:
"Just found out the the former President of my company is a lesbian. She was married w/ 4 kids! HINT—I work in Publishing," whispers a snitch on the YouBeMom parenting messageboard. No, not Bonnie Fuller, the secret lesbian was an "editor," someone else chimes in. Or, wait: "Wasn't an editor, she was in Advertising.. she has her own company now." Despite the unholy thread that unspools, we still have no idea who the secret lesbian—posited to be somewhere inside Conde Nast—could be. In case you were wondering what else these moms have on their shriveled little minds:Other quality threads include,
This Craigslist-ad placer and "bestselling" author has been on the Tyra Banks Show, is willing to pay you $12 an hour (after you pay your own taxes), and just in case you didn't know what an assistant to a "well known author" does: "Did you see Sex in the City? Did you remember the role played by Jennifer Hudson where she's Carrie's assistant? Well, that's what I'm looking for." Oh, and don't reply if you are too good for "occasional light housework." (Even Louise from St. Louis organized Carrie Bradshaw's apartment!) Um, what else?
Which recently separated newspaper publisher has been seen regularly in the company of a woman from an even more famous dynasty? They're longstanding friends; she's still married; and she's too preoccupied with an illness in the family to think about the future. But that hasn't stopped the speculation. (Okay, so the newly separated newspaper publisher is pretty obvious: the New York Times' moose-loving Arthur Sulzberger. But the identity of his supposed lover is a surprise.)
Our hard-partying reporter has no trouble finding bedmates among his media colleagues, but he plays fratboy when trawling for one-night stands on the notorious Manhunt. "I'm a writer, runner, ex-football player and Zeta Psi brother, bar-hopper, people-watcher-and I'm a blast," he writes. There's nothing that shocking in the profile: he lists the usual menu of kinky gay sex; and he's not the only person to have been caught out with an online ad. Here's the mystery: this journalist is on the biggest and most sensitive story of his career, and he's been rooting around in other people's personal lives. How on earth does he have time to trawl gay hookup sites? And why would he leave so many clues as to his real identity when he's so much in the public eye?
Klutzy Adam Penenberg, in a boring story about personal privacy for Media Post, gives away a juicy tidbit about one of his former bosses at Forbes. The magazine decided against a probe into the chief executive of Kroll Associates, the private investigators, because of a fear that he might possess photographs of a high-ranking Forbes executive's mistress, and expose the relationship.
Eonline gossip Ted Casablanca brings us the tale of an aging Hollywood swordsman, his tween son, and the babe who bagged them both. "If this one’s true, Butch Spit-Spat should haul out a friggin’ movie about it—after all, isn’t that something he does rather well?"
Which magazine boss, managerial successor to the flamboyant characters who used to run his shop, is more colorful than one might imagine? Word is he's dating one of his daughter's classmates.
Regarding today's earlier obnoxious Craigslist posting for a "writer/lit type" with "social grace and great references" to help out with a veryveryvery important book launch: the self-consciously and famously classysassycool Accompanied Literary Society fits the bill for the event in question. (It's run by downtown doyenne Brooke Geahan.)"Emmy Award-winning author and architect James Sanders will provide an introduction to the night's program as we celebrate the launch of two critically acclaimed new novels, The Jewish Messiah [by Arnon Grundberg and Sam Garrett], and The Border of Truth [by Victoria Redel]... wiith live klezmer music from the Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar!" The date and time line up, too. Accompanied, we've got your number! (Click to see the flyer for this esteemed event.)
"As I have mentioned, the Bear and I were introduced through Sam, perhaps as a means to get me off his (Sam's) back, but I suspect more as a goodwill gesture toward Bear, whom even Sam kissed up to.
According to her HuffPo bio, "Linda Keenan worked 7 years as a head writer/senior producer for various programs on CNN. Before that, she worked as a writer/producer for Bloomberg TV." Now she's a mommyblogger. Which makes her more than qualified to present a series of amusing blind items about childish behavior by famous television newsanchors. After the jump, we solicit your guesses and present a couple of ours.
"WHICH big Hollywood actress is about to come out of the closet?" today's Page Six just asks. "She's been living with her girlfriend in a small town, where all the neighbors know, and the two are now engaged to be married." Is "outing" celebrities inherently trashy? Is it just an excuse to be kind of homophobic while pretending to be interested in "the truth"? Who cares! Here's a poll!
The Times "City Room" post on the "fraught world of the personal assistant" has turned into a commenter blind item party full of hilarious tales of terrible mistreatment from potentially murderous former PAs. Won't you help us identify a couple of the assistees?
Today's Page Six asks: "WHICH designer who's gone 'round and 'round the revolving rehab door gets his fix from a model—who's been in rehab herself, though for a different problem?" Um, we spent like an hour working on a poll for this but all the answers had poor Marc Jacobs in them so we didn't bother? (Despite this AP photo from the other night, and despite the coverline of this 2002 issue of Women's Day ("Tragic Linda Evangelista In Rehab"), we're pretty sure the god-like Linda Evangelista never actually did.) So?
