Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Former U.S. President Bill Clinton called on guests at an amfAR AIDS research charity gala in France to give more to good causes during the recession. The glitzy party, held late on Thursday and hosted by actress Sharon Stone, is held every year during the Cannes film festival to raise funds for amfAR. Clinton joined Stone, rapper 50 Cent, actor Robert Pattinson, singer Annie Lennox and members of the cast of Quentin Tarantino's film 'Inglourious Basterds' at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc to make the keynote speech to 800 guests. 'When times are tough you should give more, not less,' he told diners in a giant marquee. 'If it hurts a little more, we will still be happier,' he added." (Reuters)



"ROBERT De Niro is a new grandfather. The Oscar-winning actor's son, Raphael De Niro, and daughter-in-law, Claudine DeMatos, became the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy yesterday. Little Nicholas De Niro weighed in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Mother and child are doing fine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Raphael is head of Douglas Elliman's De Niro Group, where Claudine is a senior v.p." (PageSix)



"Founded in the decade before the Civil War as the Northern voice of union, the Republican Party today is more electorally dependent on the South than at any point in its past. In the House and Senate, nearly half of all Republicans were elected from that region, defined as the 11 states of the Confederacy, plus Kentucky and Oklahoma. In each chamber, Southerners are a larger share of the Republican caucus than ever before. Similarly, beginning with the 1992 presidential election, the South has provided at least 59 percent of the Electoral College votes won by the GOP nominee, including by George W. Bush in his 2000 and 2004 victories. That percentage is nearly double the South's share of all Electoral College votes and by far the most that GOP presidential nominees have relied on the region over any sustained period. Republican strength in the South has both compensated for and masked the extent of the GOP's decline elsewhere. By several key measures, the party is now weaker outside the South than at any time since the Depression; in some ways, it is weaker than ever before." (NationalJournal)

"Paris Hilton, Eva Green and Sharon Stone were among the celebrities who turned out for the star-studded amfAR gala in Cannes. The black carpet for the glitzy dinner and auction to benefit Aids research, held at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes as part of the Cannes Film Festival, was awash with bright colour as stars strutted their stuff in tropical shades .. Sharon hosted the auction with Hollywood heartthrob Josh Hartnett, which included one of former US President Bill Clinton's saxophones, David Furnish's watch and two kisses from Twilight star Robert Pattinson, which sold to two lucky winners for 28,000 dollars each. Sharon urged people to give generously despite the global economic slump. 'Looking down at the price of my own shoes, we in this room cannot pretend that we have nothing to give,' she said." (ThePressAssociation)

"Wednesday night, Aaron Gell of now-gone-for-good rag Radar hosted the inaugural event for ASSME, The American Society of Sh*t-canned Media Elites, at Ella, an East Village bar. The burly man at the door checked IDs, but he didn't check pink slips--half the people there still had jobs .. Then there was the Gawker table, or rather the ex-Gawker table. Kaila Hale-Stern, one of the original Gawker Stalkettes, got laid off. 'On the last day of the last quarter. By phone!' Hunter Walker, who says he's 'underemployed' at Mediabistro, was fishing for quotes. Nick McGlynn, who used to be the video guy, was taking pictures for his website. Then Sheila McClear, the most high-profile former Gawker writer, showed up. 'I'm actually looking forward to stopping,' she said. 'My boss [Gabriel Snyder] asked me to do a post. I told him no. Assign it to someone who you didn't fire.'" (Fashionweekdaily)



"Last night I went with a friend over to La Grenouille on East 53rd Street between Fifth and Madison. Grenouille, as it’s referred to by its clientele, is a special restaurant like no other in New York. Its arrival four decades ago came on the heels of Monsieur Henri Soule who brought haute cuisine francaise to New York in the late 1930s. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, there were several restaurants of this style – Pavilion, Cote Basque, Caravelle, etc. and La Grenouille which opened on a wintry night in December 19, 1962. It was started by a man named Charles Masson and his wife Gisele. Haute New York has dined there ever since, along with its European counterparts. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the lunchtime haunt of the Seventh Avenue contingent also – designers, manufacturers, the social ladies and their pets, who determined the fashion of the day, and John Fairchild who determined all of it." (NYSocialDiary)



"That’s designer Genevieve Jones ... looking sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for the very, very rich. Designers and socialites gathered at the Fendi Store on Fifth Ave last night to drool over the new Fendi Bicycle. Zac Posen, Kat De Luna, Fabiola Beracasa,and Arden Wohl are just a few of the guests who enjoyed cocktails and canapes, courtesy of Fendi and Vogue." (Guestofaguest)