Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(Photo illustration by Hamish Robertson/Patrickmcmullen)

"During the campaign, Barack Obama was accused of being the biggest celebrity in the world, but it turns out that he’s really just the biggest celebrity magnet in the world, with a pull that attracts stars from lists A to Z. Here’s a photo-collage of the D.C.-bound bold-facers who’ll be mingling with the Obama masses next week." (VanityFair)



(image via fashionweekdaily via patrickmcmullen)

"'I just love your show,' Heather Graham gushed to a man bag-toting Alec Baldwin as she intercepted the 30 Rock star en route to his seat at last night's National Board of Review awards. This sort of inter-celeb mingling was typical, as the tables at Cipriani 42nd Street were so stocked with A-listers that it's tough to imagine an event that could top it ..Julian Schnabel appeared during Naomi Watts' speech, settling down into a table anchored by Josh Brolin and Diane Lane. He looked longingly at the chocolate-covered strawberries. Emcee Whoopi Goldberg called Brolin to the stage to present--mispronouncing his name in the process. 'Josh Browlin?' he said upon taking the podium. 'That's how f*cking famous I am.'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"SEN. John McCain might regret choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, but an even worse decision will deprive his fellow Americans of what would have been the best season of 'Dancing With the Stars' ever. Our impeccably placed source says, 'Just before Thanksgiving, Cindy McCain started talks with producers to appear as a dancer on the show. She wanted to do it very badly.' But this week, Sen. McCain 'put the kibosh on it.' Reps for the show and McCain didn't return calls." (NYPost)

"The one-time Junk Bond King was always closely aligned with Hollywood and directly contributed to the rise of Big Media's infotainment monopoly by plotting the corporate mergers that became today's Viacom and Time Warner. Now I'm hearing from sources that current-day philanthropist Michael Milken is 'spending a bundle' trying to get George W Bush to pardon him by January 20th. My insiders say the amount is in the seven figures to highly connected consultants and attorneys. It'll be interesting in today's climate of economic crisis to see whether Bush succumbs to this influence peddling for Milken who was the poster boy for Wall Street greed in the 1980s." (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)



(Doubt's Viola Davis at Cipriani via Caroline Torem-Craig/Papermag)

"Awards season is upon us, and as such the stars such as Salma Hayek, Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Heather Graham, Tim Robbins, Josh Brolin, and others, dutifully flocked to Cipriani 42nd St. for the National Board Review Awards, sponsored by Bulgari." (Papermag)

"The magazine and newspaper trend of going web-only has now come to radio, as Indie 103.1, a Los Angeles FM station, is no longer on on the dial. The five-year-old radio station stopped broadcasting over-the-air on Thursday, saying that it couldn’t continue surviving playing a mix of alternative and punk on terrestrial radio. It was either go web-only or 'play the corporate game,' a statement on the station’s site says, pinning the problems radio faces on the way audiences are measured. Billboard says that’s an allusion to Arbitron’s new radio audience measurement system PPM, which based reports on listeners wearing monitors as opposed to listing radio usage in Arbitron diaries." (David Kaplan/Paidcontent)

"Kimberly Dozier is a CBS News correspondent who was critically injured in Baghdad on Memorial Day 2006 by a car bomb that killed four others - her two-person crew, an American soldier and an Iraqi translator. She was the featured guest at a dinner Wednesday of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, which is based in Washington and keeps its members in the loop of global affairs. Dan Sudnick devotes much of his professional life to helping the survivors of those who died while serving in the Armed Forces, and since 2003 the chief focus has been Iraq and Afghanistan ... Dan and I had lunch Thursday at the new Bourbon Steak restaurant in Georgetown. The luxurious dining room – we had a cozy booth - belied the subdued nature of our conversation, just as Kimberly’s recollection of getting blown up by 500 pounds of explosives was in contrast to the comfort of host Susan Rappaport’s Georgetown living room." (WashingtonSocialDiary)

"IT'S official - Whitney Houston 'will, barring any physical ailments, perform at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party,' a rep for Davis told Page Six. This will mark the first time Houston, whose golden voice was once ravaged by drug use, has performed onstage in front of a crowd in years. The party Davis is co-hosting with NARAS at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 7 will also feature performances by Jennifer Hudson - who hasn't sung since her mother, brother and nephew were slain in October .. Davis' office is apparently getting calls from people with offers of over $20,000 to attend. But it's a no go - if you're not on the list, you're not getting in." (PageSix)

"Howard (Stern).. opened Robin Quivers's birthday gift: 'Wow. There's three bottles of wine in each box.' Howard read the accompanying note, which explained that the wines were hand selected by Robin. Robin said the wines in each box were all the same, so Howard could drink one now and store the others and try them years later so he could taste how they'd aged." (HowardStern/rundown)