A Little of the Old In and Out



In: David Patrick Columbia's List. What do our pal Michael Gross, Susan Fales-Hill, Baroness von Langerdorff, Peter Duchin, Olivia Chantecaille, and the gloriously sexy Phoebe Eaton (Who, incidentally, profiles Gifford Miller in this week's salmon-colored weekly ) all have in common?

They are on The List, of course, compiled by our favorite social chronicler, David Patrick Columbia. Today, in memoriam, NYSocialDiary admits Armand Deutsch, former MGM producer, behind the velvet rope:

"I met Ardie, as he was always known, twenty-one years ago when I went to interview him late one Sunday afternoon in October for a piece I was writing on Truman Capote. He and his wife Harriet were by that time very prominent because of their friendship with Nancy and Ronald Reagan. They lived in a rambling one story house off Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills.

"Ardie and Harriet Deutsch in 1951 (the year they were married).We had the interview in the Deutsches' screening room, which was a separate building and called the Whim House. It was a very imposing screening room -- large enough for at least a couple dozen guests and with side tables covered with silver frames of the Deutsches' many famous friends, including the President and the First Lady. As a matter of fact, at the end of the interview, as Ardie and I returned to the main house, Mrs. Deutsch, on hearing him enter, informed her husband that she was on the phone, 'with Nancy,' she added."

Nobody does it better.



(image via urbanmecca)

Out: Kimora Lee Simmons at Radio City Music Hall. One never can get enough of Kimora. She's a fly bitch! with the "bat wings" and "turkey neck," she's like a living breathing aviary all wrapped up in Frankenstein-like package, stitched together by Russell Simmons, who, by the looks of him lately, could use a robust multivitamin. This, from Fashionweekdaily:

"Never one to be press shy or anything less than ostentatious, Kimora Lee Simmons will mark a milestone when she presents her spring Baby Phat collection in New York on September 10 at 9pm. Her show will take place at New York's Radio City Music Hall, making her the first designer to stage a fashion show at the legendary space.

"'Not only are we making fashion history, but this way everyone invited will be able to get in and, more importantly, get a seat,' noted BJ Coleman, the PR director for Baby Phat. 'There will be no standing.' The approximate 3,000 seat capacity venue will hopefully fit the bill this time around, and do away with the drama many editors -- including a very public Andre Leon Talley -- experienced at Sky Studios last season when they could not get in. Coleman went on to say that having the show at Radio City was the right synergy, as Kimora was inspired by Hollywood glamour for her spring collection. 'This event really represents all that is glamorous,' he noted. 'It�?s meant to have a real red carpet feel.'"

Leaving aside the exquisite irony of a PR man named "BJ" (Or should we just call him "Beej"?), Radio City Music Hall glamorous? See, ysomething somethng new every day in this business. We were laboring under the misguided impression that Radio City represented sweaty German tourists who don't know any better.



(image via jsonline)

In: Russ Feingold, The Howard Dean Mantle. A week ago, in this space, The Corsair predicted -- incorrectly -- that Governor Bill Richardson would lay claim to the valuable political real estate in the Democratic Party to the left of Hillary Clinton. Apparently, Richardson wants to fight it out with The Senator in the vital center; perhaps he will let her win some early states, then get competitive when the big show goes out West, where Richardson is formidable. This leaves, to be sure, a nebulous void on the left, come 2008.

Now, on Sunday on the Meet the Press (hosted by the very well prepared David Gregory), Russ Feingold, an old fashioned but sturdy Midwestern liberal a la the beloved Senator Wellstone, took hold of the reins of the vacant Howard Dean mantle. As ultraleftish Tom Hayden, formerly Mr. Jane Fonda, writes in HuffPo:

"Sen. Russ Feingold unveiled his proposal for withdrawal from Iraq at several Los Angeles events this week, sounding like Howard Dean in 2003 by telling Democratic activists and potential funders that the Democratic Party is 'too timid.'

"Feingold is the first U.S. Senator to offer a specific proposal for withdawal by the end of next year. In doing so, he may change the dynamic of the Senate Democrats who are dominated by the pro-war views of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

"If Feingold's proposal, which he floated in a series of speeches around the country, receives a warm response from Democratic and independent audiences, it may force other senators to re-position themselves on the war.

"Feingold acknowledges that he is 'considering' a presidential run in 2008..."

No shit, Sherlock.



Eew. (image via gothamist)

Out: Liza Minelli, Mean Drunk. That Liza: She's got a wicked left hook. And her uppercut ... it "speaks" with bad intentions (The Corsair rubs his jaw, ruefully). That is, if there is any truth to this highly dubious story. Highly dubious, but funny. According to Lowdown:

"Comes now Imad Hamdi to fill the dismal news void surrounding the brief, unhappy union of Liza Minnelli and David Gest and all the resulting litigation and unintended comedy.

"Hamdi, the ex-couple's former head of European security, is hoping to make a literary splash as his erstwhile employers - and one of their former bodyguards - fight over the corpse of their marriage.

"'I've written a book called 'Liza and Her Diseases,' Hamdi proudly told me yesterday from London ... The 27-year-old Hamdi, a staunch supporter of Gest, otherwise earns his keep protecting Saudi princes, unnamed celebs and other VIPs who 'rely on my discretion.'

"Hamdi is 6 feet tall and 250 pounds, a self-described second degree black belt in kyokushin, or full-body contact karate. He surfaces every so often to claim on television that the 5-foot-3, 58-year-old singing star beat the living daylights of her defenseless husband, and to maintain that she once socked the hulking Hamdi so hard in the gut, 'she winded me.'"

Rib-busting ox-strength. Liza likes her gin and tonic with just a little spritz of anabolic steroids and chimpanzee hormonal extract.



(image via fashionweekdaily)

In: Vibe. Is Vibe worth $100 million? Is any magazine? Granted, Vibe has other multimedia purposes, but a hundred mil? Especially when New York Magazine is only worth $55 million? Quincy Delight Jones seems to think so. According to TheDeal (link via iwantmedia):

"Vibe magazine founder Quincy Jones is attempting to repurchase the hip hop publication, joining with hedge fund BayStar Capital to offer $100 million to owner Freeman Spogli & Co., according to a person familiar with the matter.

"Baystar managing partner Larry Goldfarb declined to comment. Calls to Vibe and Brad Freeman of Freeman Spogli were not returned.