Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"MILEY Cyrus had better be careful. The precocious 15-year-old Disney star showed up to LA Fashion Week Wednesday to catch her 20-year-old boyfriend, Justin Gaston, walking in the Christian Audigier show - and eyebrows rose at the pair's behavior. According to an eyewitness, Gaston and Cyrus - who was there with her mother, Leticia, and her manager - 'were all over each other backstage.' The heat extended to the runway where, every time Gaston walked, he would blow a kiss and wink at his teenage girlfriend, who in turn, 'licked her lips seductively as he passed her.'" (NYPost)

"Why Madonna and Guy Were A Bad Idea: First of all, he's way homophobic. And let's face it: To be married to Madonna and not care for the sight of gays makes as much sense as a diabetic in a candy shop ... She's now a director. That type of thing generally sits on the husband's last nerve like a 400-pound serial killer. And she's trying to do edgy, sexy stuff too. Again: Bad idea!" (Musto)

"There couldn't have been a more picturesque setting for the unveiling of Propr, the casual clothing line created by David Arquette, David Bedwell and Ben Harper on Wednesday night. The entertainment and fashion elite gathered for an outdoor cocktail party hosted by Luau Restaurant (owned by Andrew Hewitt of Il Sole fame) and spring fashion show at the Beverly Hills home of Arquette and Courteney Cox. The fashionable affair attracted a smattering of big stars including Heidi Klum, Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, David Spade, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Dern .. While the crowd doted on little supermodel-in-the-making Coco Arquette hamming it up on the catwalk, followed by a high-energy synchronized swimming performance as a prelude to the big runway show, a very polished Jennifer Aniston (clad in black leather Martin Margiela and Rick Owens), discreetly sat in the back row, patiently awaiting the new designs. "I think it's fantastic that David is doing this. It's always admirable to step out of your comfort zone and do something creative,' the actress commented." (Fashionweekdaily)

"On Tuesday night, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists gathered at Anna Wintour's town house to present their L'Oréal/Fashion Fund Special Project designs ... Leighton Meester was all about paying lip service ... and not just to her designer escort, Jason Wu. 'I just can't concentrate,' she blurted out mid-interview. 'I see a really cute guy over there.' The gentleman in question made a beeline over to the Gossip Girl star. 'Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere? Are you an actress?' he asked, grabbing Meester by the waist and passionately kissing her. 'I'm sorry,' she said, briefly coming up for air. 'This is my boyfriend. We play this game all the time.'" (Style)

"No one on John McCain’s team will ever admit this (before the election, at least), but his campaign is rapidly curling up into the political fetal position. Two weeks ago, they stopped seriously contesting Michigan, once a promising and electoral vote-rich target that Democrats have carried for four straight elections. This week, they added Wisconsin and Maine – two more traditionally blue bastions – to that list. That leaves only Pennsylvania and Minnesota as the only two blue states that McCain is now actively seeking to win over, but his polling numbers in both of those states have collapsed in the last two weeks." (Observer)



"Tongues were twisting Wednesday night at the Cinema Society and Mulberry-hosted screening of Synecdoche New York, the directorial debut of writer Charlie Kaufman ... Cynthia Rowley, in a black dress from her spring line, came to the screening to support her friend Philip Seymour Hoffman. 'He really dressed up tonight!' she joked, pointing to the actor, who was sporting jeans and a scruffy blonde beard." (Fashionweekdaily)

"For civilians, attending the presidential debates is damn near impossible. But big campaign fund-raisers like Anna Wintour don't have to hold out a flimsy shred of hope on some college-student ticket lottery. The campaigns get to dole out a significant number of the tickets, and Barack's camp evidently gave one to Anna. (Either that or some poor assistant probably had a really awful day procuring one.) We wonder if this is the campaign's way of making up for that time they misspelled her name on the invitation for the big Runway to Change fund-raiser." (NyMag via Observer)

"On a shady lane in New Hope, Pa., a quiet revolution in American culture may be taking shape. Here, a family of four lives in a white, colonial-style house in a manner that once would have been considered All-American but more recently has been seen as just plain weird: They're frugal." (BusinessWeek)

"Obama bests McCain 50 percent to 42 percent in Prince William County, a Washington, D.C. suburb that voted for George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004. Between 1976 and 2004, Prince William County supported Republican presidential candidates by an average margin of 18 points.Obama also has opened up a wide 53 percent to 37 percent advantage over McCain in suburban St. Louis County, which does not include Missouri’s largest city, St. Louis. In 2004, Sen. John F. Kerry, the Democratic nominee, carried St. Louis County, the most populous county in the state, 54 percent to 45 percent. In Ohio’s Franklin County, the state’s second-most populous county after Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County, Obama leads by a narrower 45 percent to 40 percent margin. Kerry carried Franklin County 54 percent to 45 percent in 2004. InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery explained Obama’s success in these areas is a result of his strength among independents and voters between the ages of 30 and 44." (Politico)

"... That Hulu-like private-equity set-up for the much-hyped MySpace Music isn’t on the front burner and may not ever happen, according to sources familiar with the situation. There are several reasons that boil down to this: News Corp and MySpace don’t see the need to try to do something as complicated as a full spin-off given the way MySpace Music has taken off in terms of downloads and advertising interest. This is not a case of market fright—private equity investment interest is there— but of the company deciding there’s no compelling reason to make the move at this point. As someone in the PE community told me, 'They didn’t even shop it that hard.'" (Paidcontent)



"While many of us struggle through the financial crisis, spare a thought for the wealthy. The A-listers who received an invitation to socialite Nicky Haslam's credit crunch-busting party were instructed to wear diamonds - and dress only in couture. The bash for 1,500 of his close personal friends, at a Roehampton villa last night, is thought to have cost (USD $344,000), though Haslam, 69, is cagey about sums. And guests such as dames Vivienne Westwood and Judi Dench, Sir Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese and Uma Thurman were requested to do it justice by dripping in jewels and wearing heart-stoppingly expensive outfits - black for men, violet for women. Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said it was more 'stress code' than dress code. However, guests managed to look as if they were having a good time, with Paris Hilton and Jemima Khan working the room, while Princess Michael of Kent glided on the dancefloor." (Thisislondon)