Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"The story centers around Darnell Riley, an extortionist, debt collector and double-murderer who is currently incarcerated for holding Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis at gunpoint for six hours, sexually humiliating him on camera, and demanding more than $500,000 to keep the video offline. Riley inexplicably worked his way into Paris Hilton’s social circle. (When Hilton learned that he had killed two people, she supposedly replied, 'That’s hot,' according to one of Ebner’s sources.)... book follows Riley’s rise from teenaged jewel thief to Hollywood high-lifer who cavorted—or supposedly cavorted—with the likes of Mickey Rourke, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey, Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, Fergie, Naomi Campbell, Christina Ricci, Pauly Shore, Donatella Versace and Pamela Anderson." (TheDailyBeast)



(image via fishbowlla)

"The Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages division of PepsiCo decided on Saturday to run the commercial, which resembled a skit from 'Saturday Night Live' featuring a character named MacGruber who parodies the old ABC series 'MacGyver.' The commercial — in which MacGruber endorses Pepsi and changes his name to PepSuber — also ran during the episode of 'Saturday Night Live' shown on NBC the night before the Super Bowl, as one of three Pepsi-Cola spots that looked like MacGruber skits. The three spots, it turns out, are the first in a collaboration between PepsiCo and Lorne Michaels, the longtime executive producer of 'Saturday Night Live.' The deal was arranged by Mr. Arnell and Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, part of the NBC Universal unit of General Electric. 'I didn’t think there was any compromise involved,' Mr. Michaels said in a telephone interview on Monday .." (NYTimes)



"VF's new Hollywood issue includes Bruce Feirstein's cynical look at next season's NBC nighttime schedule (ed note: see above). (I understand that one show was supposed to be titled, 'Where In The World Is Ben Silverman?' -- for obvious reasons -- but Graydon Carter watered it down because Ben is his pal...)" (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)

"Sean Combs was supposed to co-host a birthday party for DJ Clue at club M2 on West 28th Street Monday night with Kobe Bryant after the historic Knicks/Lakers game in which Bryant scored 61 points. But nobody warned Combs that the New York Police Department had an undercover gun detail searching guests as they came into the club .. Combs 'stormed off and started to text DJ Clue asking, What the [bleep] is going on? and asked if he could go in the back entrance.' When told that the cops would have to search him and his friends there as well, Combs decided not to attend the party. His rep had no comment." (PageSix)

"From the looks of things, John McCain is adjusting to life back in the Senate. He’s now part of a group of Republican senators who hope to offer an alternative to the stimulus bill President Obama wants. It usually takes a while for senators who run for president to raise their profile when they return, and at first McCain was no exception. Two weeks ago, at Obama’s inauguration, he was walking through the halls of the Capitol all by himself, a large cup of coffee in hand, fending off reporters with a practiced, 'I don’t have any comment today, thank you' .. Today, he was back in two familiar venues — the Senate floor and a press conference — pitching a stimulus bill heavier on tax cuts and housing relief, and lighter on spending, than the Democratic package. Cheaper, too: $445 billion, compared to the $884.5 billion cost of the Democratic bill. He was a little rusty, but otherwise he was more or less the same McCain the Senate knew before he left for the campaign trail." (CQPolitics)



(image via Caroline Torem Craig/Papermag)

"Last night we braved the icy, snowy, frigid weather to catch a really exciting Zombies-influenced singer Melanie Fiona at the Canal Room. PAPER, Universal and Steve Rifkind were the hosts of the evening and we had a great time despite getting pushed and shoved out of Jay-Z's way by one of his ruder hangers-on." (Papermag)



"In many ways, the men who made The Godfather—director Francis Ford Coppola, producer Al Ruddy, Paramount executives Robert Evans and Peter Bart, and Gulf & Western boss Charles Bluhdorn — were as ruthless as the gangsters in Mario Puzo’s blockbuster. After violent disputes over the casting of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, they tangled with the real-life Mob, which didn’t want the movie made at all. The author recalls how the clash of Hollywood sharks, Mafia kingpins, and cinematic geniuses shaped a Hollywood masterpiece." (VF)

"CEO Jeff Bewkes said on the Time Warner call that Google has demanded that it either spin off AOL as a separate public company or buy Google’s 5 percent stake at fair-market value; Google recently wrote down its AOL investment by nearly $750 million. Google has the right to make such demands according to the agreement the two companies entered into when Google purchased its stake." (Paidcontent)

"WHILE other Oscar parties are powering down, Harvey Weinstein is gearing up. He's got a nomination for Best Picture, 'The Reader,' a nomination for his picture's Best Actress Kate Winslet, a nomination for his picture's Best Director Stephen Daldry. So he is now looking to produce a Best Party. 'Whether we actually do this, we're deciding right now,' he told me. 'It's a question of getting all the nominees together. The idea is, no staged playlets like we did before. Just a straight all-out, have-a-good-time party. I'm thinking late at night after all other events are over. Start 10-11 at night and go to 3 in the morning. It'll be especially good for all the New Yorkers in LA.'" (CindyAdams)