Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"It’s a strange paradox for a great wordsmith, but whenever Obama makes an important policy speech these days he leaves everyone totally confused. His first health-care press conference back in July triggered a season of raucous political Rorschach and left his hopeful followers utterly baffled about what they were being asked to support. Now White House envoys are being dispatched all over the globe to explain what the president really meant about the date when troops will or won’t be pulled out of Afghanistan. Hillary, you go to the Hill! Take Gates and Adm. Mullen with you. Holbrooke, off to Brussels! And you, Gen. Petraeus, you go on 360 and hit Anderson Cooper with jargony dog whistle caveats like 'the pace of the drawdown is conditions-based' ... have come to the conclusion that the real reason this gifted communicator has become so bad at communicating is that he doesn’t really believe a word that he is saying. He couldn’t convey that health-care reform would be somehow cost-free because he knows it won’t be. And he can’t adequately convey either the imperatives or the military strategy of the war in Afghanistan because he doesn’t really believe in it either. He feels colonized by mistakes of the past. He feels trapped by the hand that has been dealt him." (Tina Brown/TheDailyBeast)



"Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston had a heated confrontation over Brad Pitt which ended up in a screaming match and tears, author Ian Halperin claims. He said the two superstar actresses met at a deserted Hollywood restaurant after Pitt and Aniston's 2006 divorce. Halperin, whose book, 'Brangelina: The Untold Story of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,' was just released, told Page Six: "Jen was upset and shouted at Angelina . . . There was an altercation, it got pretty heated . . . It reduced Jen to tears' ...Halperin said he learned of the secret meeting between the bitter rivals from an ex-Jolie associate. He also claimed that before meeting Pitt, Jolie had set her sights on two other married men: "She said she wanted to go after either Bill Clinton or Johnny Depp.' No rep for Jolie could be reached." (PageSix)



(via fashionweekdaily)

"In the early throes of the recession last year, Art Basel dialed down the partying—but this year the bacchanalia appears to be coming back. Art collectors, dealers, celebrities and hangers-on have a dizzying number of social events to choose from, with everyone from art dealer Larry Gagosian to cyclist Lance Armstrong throwing dinner gatherings and parties. (Sleep is apparently optional, with many starting as late as 11 p.m. and a few winding down as the sun is coming up.) A year ago, with galleries and artists stressed about a sales downturn, the mood was more subdued, veterans say. Late Wednesday night, singer Santigold, in a sparkly top and silver pants, performed underneath al fresco chandeliers at the Raleigh Hotel in South Beach at a bash thrown by New York art dealer Jeffrey Deitch. Throngs of partiers sat at VIP tables or stood in the sand underneath palm trees, holding their stiletto heels and sweating in the late-night humidity while sipping pink Campari cocktails. 'There's no compromise,' said Mr. Deitch of his annual Art Basel fetes, which always feature an up-and-coming musical act. 'We go all the way with parties.' Earlier that evening, guests like Scott Stapp, lead singer of rock band Creed, and hip-hop/fashion mogul Russell Simmons posed for photos at a party on a balcony at the Mondrian South Beach Hotel. The host, Mr. Simmons, who collects works by artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Barbara Krueger, was raising money for his charity, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. He said he'd been inundated with calls from friends wanting to know where the cool events were this year. 'I get a lot of young-party-people emails,' he said." (WSJ)



(Theo Wenner and Lola Schnabel/NICK HUNT/PatrickMcMullan.com via fashionweekdaily)

"'This is turning into something else,' smiled Jefferson Hack at the penthouse of the Delano last night. 'I just wanted this to be a simple.' The editor celebrated AnOther magazine's Art Editions with Sir Norman Rosenthal, and the eager guests kept pouring into the space on the top floor, while Olivier Zahm used the bash as a headhunting opportunity for his own Purple party downstairs. After all, Leo Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Scott, China Chow, Christian Louboutin, Magnus Berger, and Liberty Ross all made it out to the event for views, salads, and éclairs ... A few blocks off, the W turned into the most popular catering hall in town. It felt like guests had to attend three wedding ceremonies at once. Eva and Michael Chow served up lots of noodles to Pharrell and Larry at the Gagosian dinner, while Solea fed Ai Weiwei and friends. But it was Vito Schabel who took up the most hotel real estate. He arrived last Friday to install the Bruce High Quality Happy Endings exhibit and hosted a backyard dinner for friends like sister Lola, Alex Dellal, Terrence Koh, John McEnroe, Mirabelle Marden, Stephen Dorff, and Yvonne Force Villareal." (FashionweekDaily)



"The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Opening Night Gala 2009 was fun. Honorary Chairs and Honored Guests were Pauletta and Denzel Washington. Gala Co-Chairs were Simin and Herb Allison, Kathryn and Ken Chenault, Katherine Farley and Jerry Speyer, Agnes and Gerald Hassell, Gabriella Morris and Dennis Brownlee and Joan and Sandy Weill." (NYSocialDiary)



(Johan Lindeberg, Stefano Tonchi, and Jefferson Hack via style)

"Over on Miami Beach, AnOther Magazine held a rooftop bash at the Delano, putatively for its new art editions. Truth be told, it's editor Jefferson Hack's first time at Art Basel, and, he explained, 'having a party just seemed the best way to meet everyone in one go.' Plenty of Brits were there to lend Hack their support, including his co-host, the U.K. art-world mandarin (and former exhibitions director of the Royal Academy) Sir Norman Rosenthal. 'This is the British player par excellence,' Rosenthal announced, as White Cube gallery's Jay Jopling approached, then offered a seasoned vet's sum-up of Art Basel: 'It's another big, enormous art fair with lots of stuff and a few good things.'" (Style)



"Naomi Campbell was up to her usual tricks at Art Basel in Miami. The surly supermodel had her bodyguard deflect would-be photographers while at Miami magazine's charity auction at the Epic hotel, hosted by Gateway co-founder Ted Waitt. 'She was pretty rude, didn't bid on anything, and spent the whole time clinging to her boyfriend [Russian real estate mogul Vladislav Doronin],' a spy said. 'Who shows up to a charity event with a bodyguard?' Campbell also got into an argument with a younger woman at The Wall nightclub in the W hotel later that night." (PageSix)



"What they all did do was pay the poor Philippine and Pakistani work force below survival wages, confiscate their passports in cahoots with the Dubai authorities, and work them literally to death. So, it couldn’t happen to nicer people, and I hope they eat lotsa sand and they can also drink it if they like. They’ve literally held workers hostage for a very long time and in conditions far worse than those in Gitmo—without the water boarding—so don’t cry for the Dubai Brothers as yet. They’ve been pocketing their percentages for years and will show up around June in order to inspect more horses arses." (Taki Theodoracopulos/Takimag)