Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via idolator)

"JERMAINE Dupri has left the Universal Music building. Dupri was president of Island Records until he was unceremoniously booted on Wednesday. A source said, 'After [his girlfriend] Janet Jackson's album and tour bombed, he basically didn't come back to work. He still collected a paycheck, but didn't bother to do anything that he was supposed to do, like find artists, release records or actually show up. Executives tried to talk to him, but he just lost heart.' Dupri was widely blamed for Jackson's album flop as he insisted on letting her get her way on song selection and production of the release, 'Discipline.' The spy adds, 'Very few producers have turned into good executives, with the exception of Dr. Dre.' A rep for Dupri's boss, Island/Def Jam head L.A. Reid, declined to comment." (PageSix)

"Benicio Del Toro is making the media rounds to promote his upcoming film 'Che.' (Yesterday) morning he was in Manhattan and stopped by the 'Howard Stern Show.' In addition to talking about Del Toro's prowess as an actor, Stern touched on the all-star list of celebs Del Toro has been linked with romantically. Typically when Stern enters these waters, guests will clam up, but not Del Toro -- who was extremely comfortable and open in the interview (the second day in a row a very open guest has come into the studio). Here's some of the names ripped through: Alicia Silverstone (the two worked on a movie in 1997) Heather Graham -- He did not deny she broke off the relationship with him .. Amber Smith -- He didn't seem to know about her current role on 'Celebrity Rehab' Lindsay Lohan -- He did not confirm, or deny, this link .. Stern also mentioned that Elizabeth Hurley -- the hottest on that list if you're asking the guy writing this -- was attracted to Del Toro, but the Academy Award-winning actor never acted on it." (Blogs.Newsday)

"Today Michael Jordan was in New York City to promote the launch of the Air Jordan 2009. He was funny, knowledgeable .. but all I could focus on was his ridiculously well-cut suit and leather shoes. That's why the first chance I got, I asked the basketball legend what inspires his winning style off the court. Here's what he had to say: 'I can wear jeans one day, I can wear a tie one day. I can wear anything to express who I really am. And on a a day like today a suit expresses me. It shows a different side of me other than shooting a basketball. This is something I've learned over the years. My father always said you represent who you are when you walk in a room depending on what you wear. They may not even know you, but they will judge you by that first impression. It's going to be their representation of how you present youreslf. So that's how I live now. My style can be denim or sweats -- it depends on the situation. I'm versatile. And I buy all kinds of labels -- but I'm not going to give anyone an endorsement.'" (Papermag)

"AMC prexy Charlie Collier went right to the question on every reporters' mind at the start of the cabler's Television Critics Assn. panel on Thursday afternoon: The fate of the net's Emmy-winning drama 'Mad Men.' The period skein will return for its third season this summer as skedded, despite the prolonged contract negotiations between producer Lionsgate TV and creator/exec producer Matthew Weiner, Collier assured. 'As long as we get the writers' room up and running over the next few months, we're fine (for a summer launch),' Collier told reporters after the sesh, adding that he's optimistic that an agreement with Weiner will be reached soon." (Variety)

"While just about every top Wall Street executive — from Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and John Mack of Morgan Stanley to Bank of America’s Ken Lewis and JPMorganChase’s Jamie Dimon, has agreed to eschew a bonus in 2008, my sources tell me that a relatively unknown 49-year-old—Hugh 'Skip' McGee III, the former head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers—may now be the highest paid banker on Wall Street. He negotiated for himself a two-year, $25-million-a-year contract to remain global head of investment banking at the British bank Barclays plc, as part of the deal where Barclays bought (for a song) the remnants of Lehman Brothers’ U.S. banking business out of bankruptcy. 'I’m feeling nauseous right now even thinking about McGee’s deal,' said one of his former Lehman colleagues.'" (TheDailyBeast)

"In an interview with CNBC, (Jeff) Katzenberg, who was not specific about the size of his losses, said it was a 'disgrace' that Madoff was currently free on bail adding that his own losses have done 'extraordinary damage' to his philanthropic efforts. 'The first time I heard the name Bernie Madoff was about three weeks ago,' he said. 'What it has done to other people is terrible. It's destroyed many people's lives. People that I know.'" (Telegraph via Drudgie-Poo)

"French Justice Minister Rachida Dati recently gave birth to daughter Zohra, sparking rumors about the identity of the father. He is now believed to be PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, former fiancé of Salma Hayek and father of the couple's young daughter, Valentina." (Fashionweekdaily)

"There has always been a touch of glamour associated with foreign correspondents, able to live in far-away lands and report on wars and strife, as in the Alfred Hitchcock movie 'Foreign Correspondent,' quoted above. But today, Johnny Jones would likely be brought back from Europe in a round of cost-cutting at his newspaper, as foreign bureaus disappear at most American media outlets. But Phil Balboni, the man who started the New England Cable News channel when no one thought 24-hour regional news TV would work, thinks he can bring new life to foreign correspondents with an online hub called GlobalPost, due to launch next Monday. His ambitious goal is to make GlobalPost the nerve center for American foreign correspondents, just as Politico has thrived as an axis of political journalism." (PBS/MediaShift)

"Basic cable has been gaining on broadcast in ratings for years, but 2008 may be remembered as the year when cable also took the lead in prestige. While the broadcast networks struggled with development woes and ratings declines caused by the writers’ strike, cable turned out a slew of critically acclaimed shows that helped boost smaller networks’ profiles and, more importantly, build their brands. Three of the six major Emmy awards this fall went to basic cable programs, a number that was once unthinkable. Virtually every top 20 cable network now has at least one signature original show, from USA’s 'Monk' to TNT’s 'The Closer' to AMC’s 'Mad Men.' In 2009, those ranks will only grow as cable networks continue to chip away at broadcast’s overall viewer share. Cable is on pace to finish the year with record highs in adults 18-49, and that will increase next year along with the number of original shows." (Medialifemagazine)
"Now comes an equally disturbing piece from UPI's estimable Homeland and National Security Editor Shaun Waterman. In an analysis for ISN Security Watch, Waterman raises serious doubts about a little-noticed U.S. plan to arm Afghan militias to fight the Taliban, outside of army channels, much like the American tactic of pitting Sunni tribes in Iraq against al Qaeda guerrillas. What worked in Iraq -- and only temporarily, most say -- cannot be exported to Afghanistan, some reputable experts tell Waterman. 'At best, it would be a tactical gain, but also an immense strategic loss,' said Ali Jalali, a former Afghan interior minister and now a visiting professor at the National Defense University, noting that by fragmenting power and undermining the authority of the central government, the strategy in the long run could actually worsen the instability it sought to ameliorate. He called this 'effort to gain peace through manipulating tribal dynamics' a 'colonial approach.'" (Spytalk/CQPolitics)

"FRESH out of another stint in rehab, former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland is already losing his composure. The onetime heroin addict was with a female friend at Primo, a hip coffee shop on the Sunset Strip on Monday, when they got into a screaming fight. A spy said, 'Scott called the girl a piece of trash, so she threw her pack of cigarettes at his head, but missed. They landed on [producer] Darren Star's table.' The woman stormed out and Weiland raged after her." (PageSix)

"This is the unprettiest time of the year in New York. Leaves are gone, flowers gone, lights from the decorations gone. So it’s drab or grey or harsh and occasionally bright and sunny. Nevertheless, the town’s around. Judy Price, the founder and former publisher of Avenue magazine, and currently the founder and head of the National Jewelry Institute, gave a luncheon at her Park Avenue apartment for Daisy Soros ..She’s not so much effusive as jolly, as well as very sophisticated. Last year she privately published an autobiography that she wrote herself. She did it so that her grandchildren and their children would have a frame of reference as to where they came from and how their antecedents lived .. We were seated next to each other and so there was a lot of talk. Daisy told me she had many friends in Europe who suffered great losses with Madoff." (NYSocialDiary)

"Making the rounds are rumors that Warner Bros president of production Kevin McCormick may be moving to a producing deal because he and boss Jeff Robinov don't get along. And that Warner Bros execs Lynn Harris and Greg Silverman will take over Kevin's job. This would be huge news -- if it were true, and I'm saying it's not -- because McCormick is one of Hollywood's most popular execs. 'The rumor about Kevin has been spreading all day… and it is, honestly, nothing more than a rumor,' one insider informs me. I'm told that, just a few months ago, Kevin extended his deal very early. As far as Robinov and McCormick, they've always had a good personal relationship. But I'm told it’s certainly true that the first few months of Kevin’s tenure as president and Jeff's as president of Warner Bros Pictures Group were 'a little awkward' for both of them." (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)

"News Corp. announced in October that it was overhauling its mobile division after buying the remaining 49 percent state in Jamba from VeriSign. As part of the restructuring, News Corp. created the Fox Mobile Group, and planned aggressive new initiatives, including a new U.S. brand that was on target to go live in the next couple months. But today at CES in Las Vegas, Mauro Montanaro, Fox Mobile’s CEO and former Jamba CEO, told me the launch has been delayed because of the economic climate. Montanaro: 'We are revisiting the launch dates because after September-October, the economic crisis hit very hard. We have a name, and we have a whole plan, and now we are looking at when…It will be in the first half of the year.'" (Paidcontent)