Drama at Anna Wintour’s Costume Institute gala: Christina Ricci left early because she wasn’t seated with her boyfriend, and Jeff Zucker and Harvey Weinstein avoided each other because of Project Runway tension. (At the after-party at Bungalow 8, though, John Mayer “didn’t deny” that he was dating Jennifer Aniston.) And, in other gala news: Vogue editor Jill Demling told pals that her date, New York Ranger Sean Avery, won’t get any special treatment during his summer gig as a Vogue intern, and Liv Tyler showed up sans wedding ring. Judy Giuliani helped Rudy shop for pants off the sales rack at TJ Maxx in Bridgehampton. Lindsay Lohan will play a girl who fakes her pregnancy in her next movie.
Bill Maher may or may not have once dated TV Guide correspondent Zoe Alexander. Washington Post executive editor Len Downie may be taking the paper’s next round of buyouts. Married French political philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy may be having an affair with beer heiress Daphne Guinness. Larry Birkhead is dating a girl who looks like ex-girlfriend Anna Nicole Smith. Ivana Trump sang along to Diana Ross’s “Baby Love” while looking at younger husband Rosanno Rubicondi at a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall. Paramount’s Sumner Redstone says he considers Tom Cruise “a great actor and a good friend.” Denise Richards says she knew her marriage to Charlie Sheen wasn’t going to last when Sheen accused her of poisoning their daughter, Sam, with a vaccination. Roseanne Barr encountered a drunk heckler in Vegas. Christina Aguilera had a few rounds of drinks while out with her husband in L.A., maybe because beer can help lactation. Cindy Adams has a list of foods that famous people ate while pregnant. (Gwyneth Paltrow loved banana-toffee pie!)