Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Three weeks after the president's visit to China, the Obama administration is getting ready to announce a package of arms sales to Taiwan that could complicate delicate relations between Washington and Beijing. According to Taiwanese government sources, the package includes most of the items the United States and Taiwan agreed upon previously, but not F-16s or submarines. The sale could result in a stalling of the recently renewed military-to-military ties between the U.S. and China, which were restarted with fanfare this summer. 'There will be an arms package [sent from the White House to Congress for approval] but they never told us exactly what the items will be,' said one Taiwanese government source, who added, 'From other information that we gathered it seems to us the F-16 will not be in this decision or anytime soon.' Taiwan's deputy national security advisor, Ho Szu-yin, is in Washington this week and is said to be talking with the administration about the issue. The Obama White House has been extremely cagey about whether the Taiwan arms sales would continue, in what form, and when. Eager to set U.S.-China relations on the right foot, U.S. officials have kept Taiwan's diplomats at arm's length, according to Taiwanese sources, giving them little information on the arms-sales package. White House officials did tell the Taiwanese not to submit a request letter for the F-16s (so they wouldn't have to reject it), the sources said." (ForeignPolicy)



"Howard (Stern) said he read that Robert De Niro asked (Fifty Cent) for some business advice soon. 50 said that did happen and he just came up to him as a businessman. Howard read that 50 is worth $400 million. 50 said he's not up there with Howard and Robin but he's doing okay. Robin said they say that a lot of that money came from Vitamin Water. They claim that he didn't make a lot of that money from Vitamin Water and it wasn't as much as they think it was. 50 said they say a lot of things in the media and they're not always true. Howard asked 50 if he's being affected by the economy. 50 said he's still doing alright and he's getting into some new stuff. He said he has a lot of things in the work and the music isn't making him a ton of money so he's working on a new web site that will have people visiting to see music videos and stuff like that. Howard said he read that 50 has stopped spending a lot of money on jewelry. He used to keep everything he bought but now he'll sell some and get some new stuff. Howard also said that 50 has a house he bought off of Mike Tyson and it's too big for him. 50 said he wants something smaller than 18 bedrooms. He said that place has a night club and an indoor racquetball court. Howard said he must have to staff the house. 50 said he has 4 people there and he hasn't even been to the house that much. 50 said he paid $4 million on that place and put about $6 million into it. He was trying to sell it for $18 million but no one is taking it. 50 said it's tough in this economy to sell that place."(Marksfriggin)



"A nuclear explosion has occurred in the world of Hollywood public relations, atomizing the once-invincible PMK/HBH in the space of two short days. Out the door just walked Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, Daniel Craig and Anne Hathaway. Also Ridley Scott, Sam Mendes, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. Christian Bale and Jodie Foster, too. In choosing to merge with BNC, PMK/HBH made what is proving to be an ill-fated decision, driving away co-CEO Simon Halls and Jennifer Allen, both of whom resigned on Thursday, and Stephen Huvane, Robin Baum and Andy Gelb, who announced their decision to found a new firm, Slate PR, with Ina Treciokis. All of this happened over several continents and time zones: Baum was in Japan with her client, Johnny Depp. Treciokas was on business in London. Meanwhile, meltdown was happening in Los Angeles. The fallout from this merger will be definitive." (TheWrap)



"Justin Timberlake partied and flirted with a gaggle of gorgeous girls the other night, sparking new rumors that he and girlfriend Jessica Biel are on the rocks. Timberlake, who's repeatedly denied his relationship with Biel is in trouble, flirted with a string of women as he partied with Brett Ratner at Timbaland's album release party at Hudson Terrace on Tuesday. He later left with prolific womanizer Ratner and a group of pretty girls in tow. A source told Page Six: 'He certainly didn't look like a man with a girlfriend. He was partying in the upstairs VIP area with his best friend, Trace Ayala, Brett Ratner and a group of girls. 'The girls were all over him, fighting to give him their numbers, and he seemed to be enjoying it. There was one model-type blonde he chatted to for a while. At one point, a bodyguard did not recognize Ayala and kept him out of the VIP area, so Timberlake fired him on the spot.'" (PageSix)



(image via JH/NYSD)

"Lunch at Michael’s with Cornelia Guest. Cornelia has eight dogs. She’s an animal lady. Horses, dogs. She rescues/adopts dogs just like this writer. She lives here in the city and at her house in Long Island, but one of her dogs goes everywhere with her. We were meeting ostensibly to talk about a favorite venture of hers with is 'Paws for Patients.' We talked a lot about our animals, and animals in general – Cornelia has been vegan for about four years and even has a garden that provides produce for one of the top vegetarian restaurants here in New York ...Last night in New York. There were the Christmas cocktail parties. Georgette Mosbacher, that hostest-with-the-mostest, held her annual holiday do at her Fifth Avenue aerie (NYSocialDiary)



"Some big names are hot for George Stephanopoulos' ABC Sunday morning 'This Week' spot now that he's been named 'Good Morning America' anchor. ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper is vying with 'Nightline' co-anchor Terry Moran amid rumors an approach may be made to 'Washington Week in Review's' Gwen Ifill. Although Stephanopoulos hasn't said he'll leave 'This Week,' a source told us, 'George wants to carry on his Sunday show, but there's a feeling he may end up giving it up through tiredness. And there are already people lining up to take his place.'" (PageSix)



"Goldman Sachs became the world’s most important firm in a spectacularly dull, purposefully frumpy, desperately anonymous tower. Inside, it smelled like cigarettes in the 1980s and homemade chocolate chip cookies on the 30th floor. Babies cried in the first-floor day-care center; Jon Corzine worked outside in a Town Car parked on the curb after his ousting; and Hank Paulson felt sad when birds flew into the windows. But in a few months, Goldman, the historic Financial District’s last remaining great American investment bank, will be out. Wall Street will have finally left Wall Street. 'It’s all Times Square when you think about it,' Tom Wolfe complained recently. 'It’s Morgan Stanley across from the Pink Pussy strip club, or whatever it’s called.'" (Observer)



"Opening Friday at the IFC Center is My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, Werner Herzog's sardonic, nutso, reimagining of an actual true crime in California perpetrated by a disturbed young man who ran his mother through a sword and then (possibly) held hostages in his flamingo-decorated house in a police stand off. Michael Shannon perfectly inhabits the role of Brad, the large, shambling, mentally unstable crackpot holed up in his home while a detective (Willem Dafoe) outside interviews Brad's fiancé (Chloe Sevigny), his theater director (Udo Kier), who rehearsed him in a production of Electra, and the neighbors (Loretta Devine, Irma Hall) who witnessed the killing of his mother (Grace Zabriskie). Everything here is surreal, deadpan, dark, more similar in tone to Herzog's 1977 Stroszek, and there are many scenes of inspired weirdness." (Papermag)



"A few years ago, Lukas Lundin, a mining executive, rode his motorbike 8,000 miles from Cairo to Cape Town. His journey, which took just five weeks, meandered through 10 countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana. He was amazed to discover that 85 per cent of the roads he travelled were tarred and of high quality. Many had been built by Chinese companies. That was 2005. Since then, China’s interest in Africa has intensified. In November 2006, Beijing hosted a lavish Sino-African summit at which it promised more than 40 of the continent’s leaders a new era of co-operation. Giant elephants and giraffes appeared on hoardings across the capital to mark the occasion. Beijing has offered more than long-necked symbolism. In 2006 alone, it signed trade deals with African countries worth $60bn. Investments, which often include a resources-for-infrastructure element, have poured in thick and fast. China’s stock of foreign direct investment has shot well past $120bn. In 2006, Angola temporarily overtook Saudi Arabia as China’s main supplier of oil, and Africa now accounts for nearly 30 per cent of China’s oil imports ... Beijing’s engagement with Africa has caused much hand-wringing .. Such objections are overdone. They are often disingenuous. China is no philanthropist, but its rise may still represent Africa’s best hope of escaping poverty. In the eight years to 2007, before the financial crisis, African countries were growing, on average, by more than 4 per cent a year, far higher than previously. That was thanks partly to better economic management, debt relief and increased capital flows (some from China), but also to the higher commodity prices driven by Chinese demand." (FT)



"'It was a real accomplishment that this film was even finished,' explained Lily Cole at last night's screening of 'The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,' hosted by The Cinema Society and Sony Pictures Classics and held at the Crosby Street Hotel. 'Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Firth wanted to help,' smiled director Terry Gilliam. Buzz for the film began back in 2008 due to Heath Ledger's untimely death, which occurred on a break from filming Gilliam's project. In June, Peter Biskind's widely-read Vanity Fair piece, The Last of Heath, made the anticipation even more heated. After Adam Duritz closed out the press line, the crowd of Moby, Olivia Thirlby, Lee Pace, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Michael Stipe, Daniel Benedict, Olivia Palermo & Johannes Huebl, and Bettina Zilkha settled into the screening room for popcorn, bottled eau and a healthy dose of pure fantasy. 'We're going to get started, because I hate being late,' said Gilliam before the lights dimmed. 'We were waiting on Courtney Love, but she's not in the car yet!'" (Fashionweekdaily)



"Anyone who works in media these days — especially online — knows that it can be an all-consuming lifestyle, caught up in the immediacy of the 24-7 news cycle and very much given to being swept up by the wildly fluctuating highs and lows of the moment. That’s why it’s so nice to step back and enjoy an evening with friends and colleagues, and remember why you like your job in the first place. Last night’s party at the Plaza was a night for just that, as our founder Dan Abrams and his father, the esteemed First Amendment lawyer Floyd, along with his lovely wife Efrat, welcomed a convivial array of guests from across the mediasphere to a really fun gathering to celebrate the growth of Mediaite. It was, simply put, a good time. Guests included Ann Curry and Meredith Vieira (fresh from their own NBC party at 30 Rock), whom I walked in with to a first glance that included John Carney from Clusterstock, Cindy Adams and Dan Rather. New media mixed with old in a room where Cathie Black and Kate White mixed with Rex Sorgatz and Rick Webb (or at least stood near them); and new colleagues reconnected with former coworkers (for me, Danny Shea and Katherine Thomson from the Huffington Post, for Mediaite TV editor Steve Krakauer, TV Newser editor Chris Ariens)."