What Was the Washington Post Afraid Of?About to publish an investigation of a powerful executive’s alleged sexual misconduct, the newspaper pulled back. Irin Carmon tries to understand why.
Cindy McCain Betrays BeerThe aspiring First Lady drinks sake at Tao. Plus, Seth Rogen claims ‘Pineapple Express’ isn’t a stoner movie, Bill Clinton has a secret meeting at the Russian Tea Room, and more, in our daily gossip roundup.
Les and Julie Get His-And-Hers HaircutsThe nude photos of Kristin Davis that surfaced earlier this week were reportedly taken by a chef ex-boyfriend back in the early nineties. CBS’s Les Moonves and wife Julie Chen both got their hair cut together at the Frederick Fekkai salon in Soho. Anderson Cooper joked that he admitted to getting minor skin-cancer surgery under his eye so that people wouldn’t think he got into a fistfight with Charlie Rose.
intel
What Does Socialite/Planner Amanda Burden Do On Vacation?If you were a blue-blooded Upper East Side A-lister, glamorous Babe Paley’s daughter and on-the-scene Charlie Rose’s intermittent inamorata, wouldn’t a week in Montserrat seem the proper vacation? For Amanda Burden — who’s all that and also Bloomberg’s planning commissioner — it’s a different story. Turns out Burden was spending her downtime last week in Copenhagen, not so much seeing the sights as trailing new transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and two of her lieutenants as they studied public squares and waterfronts and bike parking, according to spokespeople at the Planning and Transportation Departments. Grants are paying for the trip for Sadik-Khan and her deputies; Burden, a source tells us, is traveling on her own time and nickel. There was no word on whether Charlie had joined her.—Alec Appelbaum
gossipmonger
Judi, Judi, JudiAmong the skits to be put on by the city’s political journos at the upcoming Inner Circle roast is one featuring Judi Giuliani as a blow-up sex doll. Us Weekly, Star, and other weekly tabloids are upping their negative coverage of Brangelina because they are sick of getting scooped by People. A handful of people are angling for a portion of deceased Dr. Robert Atkins’s $600 million estate. Mike Bloomberg’s 98-year-old mother sometimes pretends she’s not related to him so people don’t ask her to hook their grandkids up with jobs. NBC’s Today show is losing serious ground to ABC’s Good Morning America and even CBS’s Early Show in the ratings game. Charlie Rose and Amanda Burden may not be broken up, despite reports they are. Jay-Z has plans to ink a deal with Champagne label Ace of Spades to replace Cristal as his drink of choice.
grub street
Charlie Rose Stole Their Chicken (and That’s Not a Euphemism, Sadly)Yes, yes. We all know boldfaced names often get preferential treatment, and we know that loyal regulars do, too. So it’s no particularly great surprise that when Charlie Rose waltzes into a neighborhood joint in the West Village, he’ll be favored and flattered a bit. But recently, Rose went a step further, “accidentally” receiving nearly immediately upon his arrival a roasted chicken destined for — and long-ago ordered by — other diners. Here’s the truly delicious part: The patrons whose dinner he droit du seigneured were none other than New York’s Underground Gourmets, Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld. At Grub Street, read their tale of woe — and remember that the pen is always mightier than a fawning maître d’.
Charlie Rose, Chicken Thief [Grub Street]
