Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(Angie Harmon via fashionweekdaily)

"Leave it to John Varvatos to motivate the masses into emptying their pocket books for a good cause in the middle of a recession. Hundreds of stylish patrons including Angie Harmon, Bridget Moynahan, Melissa Joan Hart, Justin Chambers, Jim Belushi, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Jamie King, Gina Gershon, Lisa Rinna, Shannen Doherty, Eric Dane, Heather Thomas Brittenham, Brendan Fraser, Tracey Ross, Stacey Keibler and Ryan Eggold packed into the 'Bring Your Heart to Our House' 7th Annual Stuart House Benefit on Sunday afternoon to support the program of the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the richest man again, overtaking investor Warren Buffett, as the global financial meltdown wiped out $2,000bn from the net worth of the world’s billionaires, Forbes Magazine said. The number of billionaires in the world fell by nearly a third to 793 in the past year, with large numbers dropping off the list in Russia, India and Turkey. Mr Gates regained his title as the richest man in the world, with $40bn after slipping to third last year when he was worth $58bn. Collectively, the top three billionaires lost $68bn in the year to February 13, when Forbes took a snapshot of wealth around the world to compile its annual list of billionaires." (FT)



"British comedian, Russell Brand stopped by (The Howard Stern Show) to promote his new book, 'My Booky Wook,' .. Russell told the crew how he lost his virginity in Thailand when he was 16 - his father took him there on a sex tour in which they shared prostitutes: 'I must some say, at some times, it was tricky...it was weird to hear [his] sex talk.' Russell said it was one of the experiences that led him to heroin: 'It smashes you into nothingness...a brown blanket of nothingness' .. Howard went through a list of Russell's reported romantic conquests, and Russell commented briefly: Kate Moss ('There were liaisons...I only saw her a few times.'), Amy Winehouse ('No no. Amy's a friend of mine.') and Courtney Love ('She's a friend.').
" (HowardStern.com)



(Chanel Iman via style)

"At last night's cocktail party in honor of her foray into shoe design, Tabitha Simmons was a little anxious. 'I haven't had a party since my sixth birthday,' the stylist and Vogue contributing editor sighed from a velvet chair at Lapérouse. 'And I was nervous then, too' .. A few of the attendees, Karen Elson, Elizabeth Saltzman Walker, and Coco Brandolini among them, almost forgot to check out the footwear as they toured the swank Parisian eatery's decadent maze of tiny rooms. (Rumor has it French senators would seduce young women in these halls with diamonds, which the savvy maids would scratch on the mirrors to ensure they were the real deal. The mirrors still being in place, Brandolini tested her heels on the glass to ensure it could handle that kind of abuse.)" (Style)

"In 1992, then-CIA director and now-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates conceded that the agency had thought the Soviet Union’s economy was far stronger than it actually was. 'I would contend also that our quantitative analysis always considerably underestimated the real burden economically of the Soviet military,' he said in a speech at the time. That rueful admission resonates today, with a reeling world economy again forcing economic matters to the forefront of intelligence concerns. In an annual global threat briefing to Congress, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair said in prepared remarks that 'the primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis' .. CIA Director Leon E. Panetta acknowledged the agency would probably need more analysts. 'The Directorate [of] Intelligence has an awful lot of capable analysts who already focus on economic issues,' Panetta said. 'It may require some additional strengths as we deal with different issues, but I think right now, we’ve got a pretty good crew that can develop that briefing.' The CIA is advertising on its Web site for economic analysts." (CQPolitics)

" I went to dinner at Swifty’s with Ginny Mancini who divides her time between Manhattan, West Los Angeles and Malibu on weekends. Mrs. Mancini is the widow of the great Henry, the fabulously successful composer who had a disposition as bright and serene as his tunes ..The Mancinis were a prominent couple in the movie world and in the music world, from the high social film colony to the hip. They were very popular and they returned the grace. It was also time at the very end of the culture and influence of the studio system and their stars. The Reagans’ Presidency created a bit of renaissance of that social order that harkened back to an earlier era. But it was the final flickering of the candle .. Also a little bit more Hollywood last night at Swifty’s, just a table across the room, Gale Hayman was entertaining Rob Wolders and Shirlee Fonda who are in from Los Angeles having attended the opening of Jane Fonda’s new show on Broadway '33 Variations.'" (NYSocialDiary)



(image via Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE)

"Word of the latest high-profile departure at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center had insiders and observers again buzzing about the venerable film organization today. Kent Jones, associate director of programming at the Film Society and editor-at-large at Film Comment, and a filmmaker, has resigned after 10 years at the organization. En route to the airport for an international flight to Vienna where he will be presenting his recent documentary, 'Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows,' Kent Jones spoke briefly with indieWIRE. Not ready to detail his upcoming plans for pursuing more writing and filmmaking, Jones noted that he’d been with the organization for ten years and that it was time for him to move in another direction. The news of Jones’ resignation came in the wake of a series of recent layoffs and resigations at The Film Society. As was recently reported in indieWIRE, the economy lead the Film Society to cut its staff by nearly 25% one month ago, including the job of producer of arts programming Joanna Ney, after the departures of Jeanne Berney, Blair Hartley, Nancy Kelly, and Maria Laghi." (IndieWIRE)

"Steven Adler and his friend, Chip Z’nuff, stopped by (The Howard Stern Show) to discuss the current season of VH1's 'Sober House' and told the crew he was off heroin and was doing great. Howard asked if it was hard to be kicked out of Guns N' Roses, so Steven said Axl Rose was wrong: 'And Slash was wrong for not sticking up for me.' Steven bragged that he later sued the band after being kicked out - and lost most of the money to his addictions. Howard said he was surprised to see Steven looking 'almost healthy,' and Steven agreed: 'Yeah, isn't it weird?'" (HowardStern)

"Europeans accounted for more than a third of acquisitions in the US defence market during 2008, continuing the steep upward trajectory of the last three years. The lure of the world's largest defence market remained strong, although exchange rates made deals both attractive and necessary. The wave of European acquisition funds that entered the US defence market in 2007 (and to a less degree 2008) followed a tentative trickle from 2005 onwards. Jane's research indicates that Europeans accounted for 12 per cent of acquisitions in the US in 2006, and 31 per cent and 35 per cent in 2007 and 2008 respectively .. A weak dollar was clearly a factor. The greenback started 2006 at USD $1.18 against the euro, slid to USD $1.31 by the start of 2007 and dipped to USD $1.58 by mid-April 2008." (Janes)



"As a close friend of Madonna, we weren't exactly surprised by Gwyneth Paltrow's latest fashion accessory - a red Kabbalah wristband. We spotted the actress arriving at Claridge's last night with the band on full show." (Thisislondon)

"Barry Eisler’s path from CIA operative to best-selling novelist is strewn with a decade of judo mats, jazz bars, legal opinions and 50 rejection letters. His debut, 'Rain Fall,' introduced John Rain, a half- Japanese, half-American killer who specialized in 'death by natural causes.' Rain used tactics derived from the author’s own three years in the Central Intelligence Agency, black belt in judo and interest in what he calls 'forbidden knowledge, stuff governments want only a select few to know.' Now, after six thrillers featuring his beloved assassin, Eisler presents a new cast in his latest book, 'Fault Line.'" (Bloomberg)



"The shadow of a possible hostile takeover loomed over Lions Gate Entertainment on Wednesday after activist investor Carl Icahn announced that he had broken off talks with the Vancouver-based independent studio over his desire to be given seats on the board of directors. Icahn and the studio had been talking about the issue over the past three weeks. The investor had been seeking two board seats, having recently upped his stake in the movie studio to 14.5 percent. He has made common cause with another significant stakeholder Mark Rachefsky, who has long owned nearly 20 percent of the company’s stock. While Lions Gate had been signaling that talks were proceeding amicably and that it hoped it would reach agreement with the investor, Icahn torpedoed that notion on Wednesday, releasing a statement that read: "We have recently been engaged in discussions with Lions Gate regarding the possibility of having a number of our designees added to Lions Gate's board of directors. 'Those discussions have been terminated because agreement could not be reached concerning certain aspects of the standstill agreement that Lions Gate demanded as a condition to installing those board members.'" (TheWrap)



"Last night, newish late night host Jimmy Fallon welcomed Kevin Rose and Alex Albretch of Digg to Late Night. As The Observer noted in January, Mr. Fallon is heavily wooing the geeks to watch his show, even appearing on Messrs. Rose and Albretch's DiggNation Web show before he took to the air on NBC Mr. Fallon used the segment to chat with his fellow techies about Twitter (one of Mr. Fallon's minor obsessions) and what exactly Digg does. 'It's like making your own newspaper!' Mr. Fallon explained, as if anyone wants to make their own newspaper nowadays." (Observer)



(Beth Ditto and The Gossip via style)

"How do you follow up a mega-party featuring a performance by Amy Winehouse? If you're Karl Lagerfeld — and you're looking to top the Winehouse-fueled spectacular you orchestrated for Fendi last year—you tap another of fashion's musical darlings and let her loose. Beth Ditto, the Kaiser's on-trend pick for the Italian company's Wednesday-night blowout, didn't disappoint. Performing with her band the Gossip, Ditto inspired mosh-pit levels of excitement in a room packed with exhausted showgoers. 'I was so tired today,' Julia Restoin-Roitfeld said from her perch on a banquette at the VIP Room Theater in Paris. 'I call it fashion week fatigue. But this? This is amazing.' Ditto took to the stage after midnight, which, while later than advertised, didn't bother guests like Kate Moss, Jamie Hince, or Angela Lindvall — perhaps no surprise there. Fresh-faced and shimmery in a sequined cocktail dress, Ditto treated fans to her trademark energetic screaming, flailing, and rolling around. When she had a little trouble removing her sequined boy shorts—stripping being one of the singer's signature stage moves—she asked Ellen von Unwerth to hold her mic while she got them off. At one point, Ditto even brought the youngest member present from the Fendi clan onstage for a little swing dancing. 'I love you, Beth,' Moss screamed from a balcony. The frenzy ended when the singer collapsed in a sweaty heap on the illuminated floor wearing nothing but her intimates and a destroyed fishnet body stocking." (Style)