Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"ALEX Rodriguez has his priorities - and they are not his children. The Yankee slugger, who ditched his wife of six years, Cynthia, after becoming besotted with Madonna, is a 'soul-less' man who is 'abandoning' his kids on Thanksgiving for his lover, according to what Cynthia is telling friends. 'Access Hollywood' reports that Cynthia, who's in the final stages of her divorce from A-Rod, wrote an e-mail to a confidant noting: 'My 6-foot-3, 220-pound soul-less, soon-to-be ex-husband is abandoning his kids on Thanksgiving to be with Madonna . . . She called and he ran on her command back to New York City . . . Gross!'" (PageSix)

"Speaking before Clinton arrived at the Plaza for an awards ceremony for a Randall's Island sports foundation on the evening of Nov 24, (NYC Mayor Michael) Bloomberg told the crowd of wealthy donors and prominent New Yorkers, 'I assume she is going to be secretary of state. It has not been officially announced I gather, so we can't presume. But let's assume for the sake of argument that Hillary Clinton is the next secretary of state. I think she is going to be a wonderful secretary of state. I've had the luck of working with her for the last seven years and there has never been a senator that I've ever met -- with the possible equal exception of Chuck Schumer -- Hillary has always been there for the state even when she was campaigning for president, when I needed something for the state' .. When Clinton spoke later in the evening she talked about 'hot spots' and African countries, but only to say that her friend and donor, Susan Patricof, to whom she was presenting an award, had visited such places in the course of her charitable activities." (Observer)

"Many of the Republicans emerging as potential members of the Obama administration have professional and ideological ties to Brent Scowcroft, a former national-security adviser turned public critic of the Bush White House. Mr. Scowcroft spoke by phone with President-elect Barack Obama last week, the latest in a months-long series of conversations between the two men about defense and foreign-policy issues, according to people familiar with the discussions. The relationship between the president-elect and the Republican heavyweight suggests that Mr. Scowcroft's views, which place a premium on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, might hold sway in the Obama White House. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was deputy national-security adviser under Mr. Scowcroft in the George H.W. Bush administration, is almost certain to be retained by Mr. Obama, according to aides to the president-elect. Richard Haass, a Scowcroft protégé and former State Department official, could be tapped for a senior National Security Council, State Department or intelligence position. Mr. Haass currently runs the Council on Foreign Relations." (WSJ)



(Irina Pantaeva and Roland Levin via gawker)

"Well-liked Siberian model Irina Pantaeva is heading for splitsville with her longtime discoverer/husband, Roland Levin." (Musto)

"Ted Kaufman, a Democrat and a long-time adviser to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., has been tapped to fill his former boss’s soon-to-be-vacated seat in the Senate — an interim appointment that appears made with an eye toward a 2010 Senate bid by the incumbent’s son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden. Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat, announcement her pick of Kaufman on Monday." (CQPolitics)



(Harriet Mays Powell, Teri Agins, and Linda O'Keefe via JH/nysocialdiary)

"I went to lunch at Tiffany. Longtime readers know this is the closest thing to a holiday commercial tradition that exists in New York .. It has a certain air about it. Very relaxed and comfortable, mind you. But luxurious too ..This luncheon is for the fashion media – the people who write about Tiffany. The magazines, some television, this reporter. Wendy Moonan and Guy Trebay were there from the Times. Pamela Fiori from Town & Country, Amy Fine Collins from Vanity Fair and Virginia White from Vogue, James Reginato from W, Teri Agins from the Wall Street Journal; Dana Cowin from Food & Wine, Sophia Chabbot from WWD, Liz Smith of Wowowow.com and her syndicated column, Hal Rubenstein of InStyle, Cricket Burns from Quest, Marian Etoile Watson from Fox-TV, Jill Newman from RobbReport." (NYSocialDiary)

"A few familiar faces popped into The Oak Room at The Plaza for a Pre-Thanksgiving Sunday Brunch .. Martha Stewart was free from her busy schedule of center pieces and cupcakes to stop by for a mimosa and a snack. With the holidays right around the corner, it’s safe to say that Martha had tons to chat about with the other guests including Katie Lee Joel, Vera Wang, Tori Burch, Celerie Kemble, Lauren and Joey Allaham, Carol McFadden, Dennis Paul, and John Stossel." (Guestofaguest)

"Socialite Rank—the menacing website that stacked socialites against each other in a controversial weekly rating system—closed for business. A month or so later, after much speculation and finger-pointing, its founders were exposed to be nearly identical Russian step-siblings Olga Rei and Valentine Uhovski (sometimes called Valentine Rei) , who were both 23 at the time. Immediately after the site shut down, the duo, who identified themselves as former child stars in Russia, talked about making their clever social experiment into a book. They planned to call it The Year of The Rank; a documentary was rumored." (Observer)

"Sir Paul McCartney has thrown some cold water on hopes that Beatles’ recordings would finally make it to iTunes, saying that negotiations with Apple Inc. have stalled, AP reported. As has happened many times before, fans of the band’s music thought they might finally be ready for the digital age last month." (Paidcontent)