Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Adrian Grenier and Jessica Stam hosted Monday night's Charity: Water ball at the Metropolitan Pavilion, but a certain amount of attention was siphoned off by some of their guests. MTV was there to film an episode of The Hills spin-off The City, trailing Whitney Port — in a ball gown—and Olivia Palermo as they traipsed among the cocktail-sippers. 'I'm sure MTV is all about building wells in sub-Saharan Africa,' sniffed one attendee .." (Style)



(image via newsday)

"'Tis the season to be lunching, and the usual A-list suspects were out in force today with plenty of glad-handing and air kissing all around. Maybe it's because this is (mercifully) the last full week of work for the year or perhaps it's just because everyone is tired of all the doom and gloom .. (Table 1.) Tom Brokaw and Meredith Brokaw with Toni Goodale and her hubby. (Table 2.) Jack Rovner (he's Bon Jovi's manager in case you were wondering) with another hip-looking fellow. (Table 3.) 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong and gossip guru Richard Johnson. The prince of Page Six promised he'd talk with us for an upcoming 'So What Do You Do?' We're calling you January 2...(Table 4.) Barbara Walters, looking resplendent in red (loved that Chanel tote!) with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lady love Diana Taylor." (Lunch at Michael's/FishbowlNY)

"The talk around town at the parties is still about WHO LOST (ed: From Madoff). The list is growing and many of them are prominent New Yorkers who had exposure of varying degrees, all of it a lot of money to most of us and much of ita lot of money to the losers, as well as in some cases: all the money. Have a look. Then there’s the mail we’re getting are reports of WHO and How Much (guesses). More than a few who aren’t among the losers are quietly pleased to see certain people 'get theirs.' However, what most of us don’t realize is that despite the arrogance of certain reported “losers” this is often the nature of our relationship to money and this is very bad for all of us. The collateral damage to the local economies of New York and Palm Beach, as well as the enormous damage to the charitable foundations whose incomes are depleted or devastated will affect millions of us.
(NYSocialDiary)

"Sirius Satellite Radio shareholders have approved the issuance of up to 3.5 billion more shares for a reverse stock split, as the company tries to gain to flexibility to pay down its crushing debt, according to a report that aired on CNBC .. The plan increases the amount of common stock from 4.5 to 8 billion, splitting Sirius’ common shares by a ratio between 1-for-10 to 1-for-50. Secondly, the reverse split would reduce the number of outstanding shares to a range of 65 million to 320 million shares from the current 3.2 billion shares." (Paidcontent; Also: WSJ)

"How does Roberto Cavalli plan to spend his time to New York? With his hands covered in glue in East Harlem, for starters. Last night, affable Italian designer headed uptown to engage in a crafts project with local children benefitted by Free Arts NYC .. The affable Italian designer spent last night making scarves with children aged 6 to 12 at Little Sisters of Assumption community center. 'We discussed fashion, and he talked about believing in himself so that he could do anything,' said (Mary Alice Stephenson). 'Many of the kids knew people he's dressed, like Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera. They actually knew who he was, which was fantastic. Their moms and the sisters came along to meet him!' Cavalli shipped fabric and embellishments over from Italy, and he gifted the children with packages overflowing with art supplies. 'Many of these kids use art as a way to express their emotions and heal,' said Stephenson. 'They had him sign their scarves. Overall, it was very cool to have Roberto Cavalli there on 115th Street!'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"Pakistan's President Zardari is trying to avoid a conflict with India without completely alienating his own powerful army. The attempt may be doomed. His crackdown on Islamists suspected of planning the Mumbai attacks has already made him many enemies within the military." (Der Spiegel)



"Lily Allen has landed herself in hot water with her record bosses - and has placed the blame squarely on her producer pal Mark Ronson. The Smile singer is facing the wrath of the big wigs at EMI after her version of Britney Spears's new single Womanizer was leaked online .. Allen, 24, had recorded the song in a tribute to Spears and sent it to Ronson to play on his New York-based internet radio show, Authentic S, after he asked her if she had any new material. But Britney is signed to rival label Sony BMG, so Lil's bosses are furious she has released a popular track by one of their artists ..fans of the show took their chance and recorded the song and leaked it on the web. Speaking on her MySpace blog, she added: 'It wasn't my intention for it to have whizzed round the world like it has. I had asked him to talk all over it so it wouldn't get ripped, but he didn't. Thanks Mark - for getting me in serious trouble with my record company.'" (Thisislondon)

"WILLIE Nelson and Notorious B.I.G. are joined at the hip. The cast of 'Notorious,' the new biopic about the slain rapper, was doing press at Legacy Recording Studios in Midtown - where Biggie recorded 'Ready To Die' - when they were stunned to find the country legend there working on some new tunes. 'It was a really weird coincidence because Willie is all over the movie,' an insider said. "He was the favorite musician of Biggie's mom, Voletta Wallace, and was one of Biggie's inspirations." (Page Six)

"Short on Southerners and with fewer Republicans than first advertised, Barack Obama's Cabinet is mostly picked and likely to give him a reasonably good start at governing from the center. If anything, liberals have reason to worry that his choices suggest less change than the rhetoric of his campaign had indicated. Or perhaps now that he has assembled a fairly conventional roster, his intention is to use them as protection for governing from the left. Time will tell." (Craig Crawford/CQPolitics)

"ASMALLWORLD has expanded. With a couple new additions to their team, including the always lovely Serena Merriman joining Sabine Heller, they have launched their first edition of 'ASMALLMAGAZINE' available online to members only. Within the issue today, there is the article 'Remember my name: Top Fame Gamers' in which they take a look at some of the top hundred players from Fame Game (and many writers and contributors on this site) to get the dirt. Here’s what they came up with .." (Guestofaguest)