The Summer Is Getting REALLY Sticky and Unpleasant for Dick FuldThe Lehmann Brothers CEO says he’s “disappointed” by losses as rumors of the firm’s demise intensify, ‘Bazaar’ editor Glenda Bailey becomes a dame, and Britney’s NYC apartment goes on the market in today’s roundup of news from the realms of finance, media, real estate, and law.
early and often
Barack Obama Runs But Can’t Hide From Reverend Wright
The good news for Barack Obama: The latest Democratic race-based scandal comes during a five-week lull between primaries, so it may not actually result in any tangible loss until the April 22 Pennsylvania contest. The bad news: It might be something people still remember on April 22. Obama is feeling the heat right now for several particularly inflammatory statements made by his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, which have recently received renewed scrutiny in the media. Obama has come out against Wright’s remarks and dropped him from the campaign, but questions surrounding the closeness of their relationship and Obama’s knowledge of Wright’s more provocative statements continue unabated. How damaging to Obama will this controversy become? And are we committing guilt by association, or guilt by … guilt?
company town
Martha Stewart Gets Starstruck When It Comes to MadonnaFASHION
• Martha Stewart used her digital camera to snap pictures of celebrities at the Gucci event at the U.N. the other night. “It’s for my blog,” she explained. [WWD]
• Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes are getting kind of tired of Fashion Week. [The Cut]
• A twelve-page photo spread in the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar reenacts the two-hour delay of the Marc Jacobs show last fall, starring Helena Christensen, Allison Sarofim, Genevieve Jones, Cindy Sherman, Kim Gordon, and members of Jacobs’s own PR team, all looking visibly annoyed. Weird, and also kind of awesome? [Fashion Week Daily]
in the magazine
New ‘WSJ’ Luxury-Title Editor: Which Archetype to Assign?Today we learn that Tina Gaudoin will be the editor of a yet-to-exist quarterly luxury supplement to The Wall Street Journal. We imagine it will be sort of like the Times magazine T. Well, probably it will be exactly like it. But anyway, according to the memo obtained by Romenesko:
Tina will bring [the Journal] a valuable set of skills from her extensive career in the magazine world. She began her career at Tatler working as beauty editor. In 1992 she moved to New York to work on the re-launch of Harpers Bazaar. During her time in New York she also worked at Vogue as senior writer and then as a presenter on Barry Diller’s Q2 channel. Returning to London, she became deputy editor of Tatler before launching the women’s magazine Frank. After that she became editorial director of the iVillage UK web site . She joined The Times of London in 2003 as style director of its Saturday magazine and was named editor of the quarterly magazine The Times Luxx in June 2007.
So luxury-journalism experience luxury-journalism experience something about Barry Diller luxury-journalism experience. Hm. There doesn’t seem to be anything in there about whether she is qualified to run a luxury journalism title. That is, there’s no explanation of whether she has a ridiculously over-the-top personality and outrageously self-demanding personal (and sartorial) daily regimen. With a touching underdog story.
company town
Bush to Economy: ‘Hey, Did You Get a Haircut? Something’s Different.’FINANCE
• Bush acknowledges slower economy, but he stops short of warning about recession. Still, will he go for another round of tax cuts? [NYT, NYT]
• Financial titans Warren Buffett and Maurice Greenberg came under attack in the Gen Re trial. Neither stands as a defendant, but both were accused of being intimately involved in a fraudulent transaction worth $500 million. [NYT]
• Now that Jimmy Cayne’s out of the picture, which hedge fund will step in to buy Bear Stearns? [Deal Journal/WSJ]
gossipmonger
Donna Karan Accepts CougarhoodFifty-five-year-old Donna Karan’s boy toy is 30-year-old model J.J. Biasucci. Ethan Hawke allegedly started dating “secret” girlfriend (his former nanny!) Ryan Shawhughes before he was divorced from Uma Thurman. Steve Martin played the banjo and read funny poems at the Cutting Room. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin shared a happy dinner at BLT Fish. Eighty-eight-year-old Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau may step down from his post, which would allow Governor Spitzer to appoint Cyrus Vance Jr. Michael Kors served mini-cheeseburgers at his store opening in Soho. Madonna kicked 25 yoga students out of a studio at the Reebok Sports Club on Columbus so she could practice by herself. Howard Stern is annoyed at Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner for bringing paparazzi to his Upper West Side block.
company town
Kanye West and His ‘Bazaar’ Angel MuralMEDIA
• Kanye West says Harper’s Bazaar “pissed me off” when they reported the rap star’s L.A. home features a giant mural of himself with angels. “That made me so mad. Because who would want to hang out with a guy with an 8-foot picture of an angel of himself?” Too bad Harper’s got almost every detail right, and Kanye is indeed featured in the painting. [WWD]
• CBS News writers voted to authorize their own strike. Watch out, Katie Couric! [NYT]
• Did Star really pull on an online poll because Ron Burkle, the billionaire investor the mag flattered with a recent photo spread, wasn’t doing well enough? Star claims they’re just planning to publish the results in the next issue — plenty of time to stuff the ballot box. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
gossipmonger
Ew, Lance Armstrong Is Hooking Up with Ashley Olsen?Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen hooked up at Rose Bar and then left at 2 a.m. The Jewish Theater of New York claims that the Times won’t review its plays because the paper is anti-Semitic; the Times says it won’t review its plays because they are bad. Kim Cattrall actually showed up to work before the other SATC cast mates for once. AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco was roasted by Bob Costas and Brian Williams, among others. Ivana Trump made a kind of funny joke about Harper’s Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey being the devil in Prada at Denise Rich’s Angel Ball. (Diddy also left the ball with model May Anderson.) Michael Jackson went to Brooklyn to shoot a cover for Ebony magazine and was sweet despite prattling on about how much he likes kids.
intel
‘Harper’s Bazaar’ Is Large, It Contains Multitudes
It’s hard to be a woman (well, we’re told), subject to the whims of fashion mags and their demanding editors. But this month it seems the ladies of Harper’s Bazaar are maliciously toying with their readers. First, on page 83, the magazine recommends the “Smart Shopping” tip of a Diane Von Furstenberg military-style coat, complete with double buttons and epaulets, depicted in a stylish red and available at Saks for a mere $575. Then, on pages 96–97, a “Buy, Keep, Store” guide — instructing readers on “what to run out and buy, what’s still right to wear, and what you can ignore — for now” puts in the “store” category those very same “military styles.” Why? (“Epaulets are too severe for fall’s soft shoulders.”) What’s an attentive reader to think? Why in one place does Bazaar hate epaulets but in another recommend DVF’s version? We’ve got no idea. And we’re sure the issue’s Von Furstenberg profile is a mere coincidence.
gossipmonger
But Does Jerry Like Laura Bush’s Corn?Laura Bush and the First Twins saw Grey Gardens (the twins laughed; mom did not). Paula Abdul was caught on tape sobbing and complaining about her former publicist, Howard Bragman. (She also claimed she doesn’t get drunk or do drugs). Hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent bought the late Pat Kennedy Lawford’s co-op for $12 million. Lindsay Lohan is set to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in 21st-birthday-party sponsorships because of her DUI arrest. A waiter head-butted a hostess at Alison in Bridgehampton. Mischa Barton called Cisco Adler after being rushed to the hospital for an allergic reaction, much to the dismay of her dad. A bunch of female celebrities, including Gabrielle Union and Erika Christensen, posed naked for a book. Michael Bublé tried hooking up with Emily Blunt at a hotel but failed. Red Eye contributor Rachel Marsden had to be escorted out of Fox News headquarters for “bizarre and erratic behavior.”
cultural capital
‘Times’ Couplets: Poetic Truths in the Paper of RecordWherein we arrange Times headlines in rhyme for your poetical amusement. Today’s message: Things just aren’t working out.
The Rules Are Different, but a Rivalry Remains
To Execute, or Not to Execute? That Is the Uneasy Question.
Approach Boss With Caution:
New Low on ‘Idol’?”
All Together: Let’s Go, Jack. Let’s Go, Jill.
A Talking Head Meets His Comic Doppelgänger, and Sparks Fail to Fly.
Innovator and Master, Side by Side,
Royal Ruffled by Aide and Partner;
Nowhere to Turn for Shelter—
Very Strange and Very Naked—
Apology Not Accepted.
in other news
Best New Year’s Resolution EverIf you’re still in the market for a New Year’s resolution — and, if you are, may we suggest you also resolve to be a bit less tardy next year? — we think we’ve found the ideal vow for you. The media-watchers at Women’s Wear Daily’s “Memo Pad” column asked various magazine editors and execs for their resolutions, and here’s Harper’s Bazaar publisher Valerie Salembier promise: She plans to “work tirelessly with the NYPD and other global law enforcement agencies to help stop the counterfeiting trade that hires children as their workers and funds terrorist organizations and drug cartels.” Wow. It’s got it all — exploited children, global counterfeiting, the war on terror, and Latin American drug dealers, not to mention the impressive stick-to-it-iveness suggested by her commitment to fight these scourges “tirelessly.” (Where, one wonders, will she find time to sell ads in Bazaar?) So we suggest taking this admirable resolution as your own. Hell, just throw in feeding the hungry, and it can double as your Miss America platform.
Memo Pad [WWD]
