Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(Liv Tyler and Thomas Whiteside via Papermag)

"Karaoke dinner parties are my favorite kind of L.A. social soiree. My besties Russell Steinberg and Tatiana von Furstenberg hosted the chicest dinner at their house last night and après chow-down, guests like Liv Tyler, Alexandra Kerry, Vincent Gallo, artist Konstantin Kakanias, designer Ali Barone, Donovan Leitch and Kirsty Hume, photographer Thomas Whiteside, Lisa Ann, Lem Jay Ignacio, screenwriter Collin de Rahm, Francesca Gregorini, Jason Blum and Russell and Tatiana's daughter Antonia Steinberg belted out songs on the Playstation Singstar by Courtney Love, Gloria Gaynor and Lynyrd Skynyrd." (Peter Davis/Papermag)



"When Peter Chernin announced last month that he was departing News Corp after 12 years there as president, chairman Rupert Murdoch pointed to the departure as an opportunity for change. On Thursday that change happened. Murdoch announced a major restructuring of the Los Angeles-based Fox businesses that will reward Fox Searchlight president Peter Rice for the success of films like 'Slumdog Millionaire' and 'Juno,' slim down the entire operation and leave Fox Broadcasting entertainment chairman Peter Ligouri out of a job. All to begin immediately. The shake-up nonetheless leaves Fox with one of the most stable and practiced team of executives in the media and entertainment business. Among the big changes: Hoping to cut down on the bureaucracy existing between the company's studio properties -- both film and TV -- the Los Angeles-based creative production divisions will be combined under a single unit, headed by Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, co-chairmen of Fox Filmed Entertainment." (TheWrap)

"Pleading guilty to 11 criminal counts Thursday was a great relief to Bernard Madoff, said his attorney, Ira Lee Sorkin. Sorkin refused to comment directly on whether Madoff’s involuntary winking and tics as he pleaded guilty signified stress, but said: 'I think he has accepted his fate and understands he may very well die in prison. This was a catharsis for him.'" (TheDailyBeast)

"Just back from 5 hours on the bike. 3 long climbs. The riding is amazing here in the south of France. Rode the Tour prologue again too." (Lance Armstrong/Twitter)

"Harry Reid is in a difficult spot. As Senate majority leader, he juggles a myriad of competing political interests. He also has to balance those against his own best interest as he gears up for a potentially tough re-election battle in 2010. Lately, the Nevada Democrat has been putting some daylight between his positions and President Obama’s. It’s a strategy that might help him avoid the fate of Tom Daschle, who was defeated for re-election in South Dakota in 2004 despite being the Senate’s top Democrat. Reid, 69, recently has made a point of saying he’s working with Obama, not for him." (CQPolitics)



(image via fashionweekdaily via patrickmcmullen)

"'The amazing Kreskin! I can't believe it, the amazing Kreskin!' Tom Hanks cried out on the red carpet at the Brooks Brothers-hosted Cinema Society screening of The Great Buck Howard. Kreskin, the object of Hanks' outburst, was the real-life inspiration for the film about an aging mentalist (don't call him a magician!) longing for his golden days of packed houses and Tonight Show appearances; the real man seemed on cloud nine as he greeted the likes of Hanks, Emily Blunt, and John Malkovich -- who plays mentalist Buck Howard in the movie. 'My alter ego,' Kreskin said as he met Malkovich for the first time, pumping his hand up and down in his signature over-the-top handshake ('He about tore my hand off,' Malkovich said later. 'It's like he was in the UFC.'). 'I am a tremendous fan!'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"IT'S tough being a fashion designer if you're not gay. That's what André Benjamin said at the Toronto launch of his preppy menswear line at the upscale Holt Renfrew store. Someone at the party asked the musician about his biggest challenge moving into fashion. First, he said, being an African-American was a challenge, as there's a perception out there that 'hip-hop stars will just throw their names on anything.' Then he added, 'I'm not a gay man.' Says Canadian columnist Shinan Govani: 'Basically the OutKast star says his challenges included a) being black, and b) not being gay.'" (PageSix)

"NBC wants to give Conan O’Brien all the help it can as the comedian prepares to take over as host of 'The Tonight Show.' It has delayed the season finales of 10 p.m. shows 'Medium,' 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' and the flagship 'Law & Order' until the week of June 1, when O’Brien succeeds Jay Leno. The new programming, which also includes the premiere of new scripted drama 'The Listener,' should give O’Brien some momentum, if NBC can dominate the 10 p.m. hour at a time when the rest of the networks will have already segued into summer reruns." (MediaLifeMagazine)



"Heading off to lunch with Joy Behar. I've been redecorating her apartment--it looks so fabulous!" (Robert Verdi/Twitter)



"In a contest of failed states, Somalia would win every award, boasting two decades of anarchy, more than a dozen transitional governments, and a population at war -- that is famine-prone. Writing in Foreign Policy, Jeffrey Gettleman called Somalia 'the most dangerous place in the world.' It might well be. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- countless foreign interventions, Somalia has grown into the world's newest terrorist hotbed. Concern is growing that Somalia's chaos is spreading. On March 11, news surfaced that U.S. citizens of Somali origin were being recruited and radicalized by Somali Islamist groups.
Yet in the face of all this, Somalia's luck has started to look up in recent months -- maybe. Ethiopian troops that had occupied the country since 2006 pulled out in January. A new president and prime minister have been elected. The country's raucous Parliament has been empowered and returned to Somalia from Djibouti for the first time since Islamists captured its administrative base city of Baidoa in January. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed might even be the right person to unite feuding factions of Islamists; the country's new president draws directly from the former Islamic government's ranks. The notorious Shabab Islamist gunmen were part of that former government, too. With a rare sense of hope in the air, the United Nations' top diplomat in Mogadishu told FP's Elizabeth Dickinson that the opportunity is real -- but the gains are fragile." (ForeignPolicy)

"Yesterday, as the world knows, Bernard Madoff went to jail. He left his cozy penthouse high above the town to go to court. From the courthouse he was taken into custody and by the end of the day, put behind bars. Slam-clang-boom. In some ways there is no punishment bad enough for Bernie Madoff who swindled thousands of people out of their money. Because of that he made a mess of and even destroyed many lives. He curried favor and in the end provided betrayal. I couldn’t help thinking about what it must have been like for him last night in his cell. Some think this is a sympathetic point of view. Some people think Bernie Madoff has the sociopathic ability to put anything out of his mind considering what he did to so many. I don’t think so, not in this case. That was when he had a life; he could put things out of his mind. He doesn’t have a life anymore. It ended last night .. last night he went from the longtime comforts of a very good life, albeit a life of crime; and in many ways a very luxurious, convenient, cushy life, to ... A cell. That’s when he found out his life is over and he’ll be living it." (NYSocialDiary)



"Getting a cast physical. Is it rude to ask for a massage?" (Rob Corddry/Twitter)



"Australian model-turned-DJ Sky Nellor reigns over the CHARACTER PROJECT at the Stephen Weiss Studio, 711 Greenwich St. Sponsored by USA Network and Vanity Fair, the party was the hottest in town last night." (GuestofaGuest)