Robert Pattinson Is Being Hunted by New York’s LadiesThey vant to suck his blood. Also, Rihanna demonstrates that sparkly nipple pasties are a surefire way to draw attention away from your domestic-abuse scandal, and Bradley Cooper is coming to town!
Leighton Meester Is a Text AddictThe ‘Gossip Girl’ star spent a party in her honor on her BlackBerry, and more bad behavior in our daily gossip roundup.
ByTim Murphy
gossipmonger
‘Gossip’ Girls Are Causing Mayhem in the Village!Blake walked her dog off the leash while Jessica ran up a $3,000 tab at Bagatelle! And everybody laughed at Bill Clinton’s quip about his own horniness! In today’s gossip roundup!
ByTim Murphy
in other news
Janet Jackson Teaches Larry King ‘The Dance of the Video’
Since both Janet Jackson and Larry King have been around since roughly forever, we assumed they were around the same age. Sure, they don’t look it, but that’s because, we figured, Larry has aged naturally while it’s safe to say that Janet has had some work done. But last night when Janet gave a suspendered Larry lessons on how to do the dance from her new video, it became clear that they were in fact from different generations. “What’s this dance called?” Larry asked, clearly assuming that it would have a name, like “The Mashed Potato” or “The Freddy.” Janet stared at him blankly. “It’s…the dance of the video,” she said. “The Dance of the Video!” Larry proclaimed, striking a pose. “I bet this is how Gene Kelly started.” Click the photo to watch.
Janet Teaches Larry King Dance Moves [CNN]
gossipmonger
Nick Lachey and JCPenney Do Not Mix, Even If Paid to Do SoNick Lachey threw a hissy fit at a JCPenney party on Hudson Street, despite the fact that he was being paid to be there. Michael Strahan says he loves girlfriend Nicole Murphy, but isn’t sure about marriage. Execs at Sony are annoyed that Michael Jackson’s Thriller 25 is on the Billboard oldies’ chart instead of the Billboard Top 200 chart, despite the fact that it has six new songs. Nelly picked up the coat-check girl at Plumm. Outkast’s André 3000 is looking for an apartment in the city and just toured a multi-million-dollar penthouse on West 13th Street. Justin Timberlake gave menu recommendations to patrons at his Southern Hospitality.
company town
Jane Fonda’s Vocab Malfunction Might Affect FCC’s Ruling on Janet Jackson’s NipplesLAW
• Jane Fonda’s vocabulary malfunction on NBC’s Today show last week might influence the legal battle between CBS and the FCC over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction in her 2004 Super Bowl halftime appearance. [Legal Intelligencer]
• New York City criminal-defense lawyer Jeffrey Schwartz receives support for representing the accused murderer of a 7-year-old girl. [NYT]
• Are television shows the reason lawyers get a bad rap? [Law.com]
in other news
Gossip Columns Write the Sweetest ValentinesValentine’s Day is a very special holiday for certain people in New York. No, not cabdrivers with the late shift, you nasty readers. Gossip columnists! See, the way all other journalists can just phone it in over Christmas and New Year’s with needless roundups and lists, these guys can devote half or all of their columns this week to silly celebrity fluff about love. If you’re Rush and Molloy, for the last few weeks you’ve been having your stringers ask every starlet they see about their February 14 plans. If you’re Cindy Adams, you just call up Baird Jones, that mysterious nightlife crawler, and have him go through his massive database of celebrity tidbits and cull out the funniest ones having to do with love (and then you throw his name in there once or twice so he can get his requisite fee from Webster Hall). Anyway, most of these items are predictable and trite, but some are actually kind of funny. Below, we’ve gathered for you the best (okay, most salvageable) Valentine’s Day moments from the New York gossip columns! Today, as your boyfriend gives you a dozen red roses from the deli next to his apartment and takes you to the Olive Garden for an “ironic” romantic date, just think: It could be worse. You could be famous.
• Teri Hatcher knows that her daughter, Emerson Rose, was conceived on Valentine’s Day! Because she and her first husband Jon Tenney “had sex once that year.” Dude, can’t your daughter read by now?
• Bar Refaeli says, “I don’t need a big bouquet of flowers.” She told “Rush & Molloy”, “Maybe just one flower that you picked out on the street. Just write a card — no gifts, no dinner. I like simple things.” Damn, you’re Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend. What a waste!
gossipmonger
Seinfeld Loves BozoJerry Seinfeld says the first comic he found funny was Bozo the Clown. Model Agyness Deyn celebrated her 25th birthday at Don Hills by throwing cake at the crowd. Neil Strauss offers pick-up tips to Rush and Molloy. Pegu Club bartender Erin Williams is currently in Kittila, Lapland, competing in the tenth annual Finlandia Vodka Cup. Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman got married to a Utah redhead a foot taller and eighteen years younger (and he lost his virginity – thanks for ruining our breakfast, “Page Six”!).
party lines
Janet Jackson Tells Us Why She Won’t Get MarriedWe’ve loved Janet Jackson ever since Control, partly because she seems to have remained relatively sane despite growing up in America’s most baroquely fucked-up family. Er, the nipple thing aside. So we were pleased when last night at the Bryant Park Hotel, before a special intimate (read: we weren’t invited) screening of her forthcoming film, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, we got to ask her a question worthy of James Lipton: What did she learn about acting from playing Penny on Good Times when she was 11?
party lines
Richard Branson Forgives Colbert, Considers Janet Jackson as BallastRichard Branson was late to his own party at the Box for Virgin America Airlines’ inaugural flight from LAX to JFK. He blamed, no joke, flight delays. Daily Intel caught up with him and asked about the now-famous incident when he angrily splashed Stephen Colbert with a glass of water during a taping of the Colbert Report. Turns out all is forgiven. He and Virgin America CEO Fred Reid also have plans for hotels in space and fond memories of the time Branson threatened to throw Janet Jackson off a hot-air balloon. It’s all after the jump.
gossipmonger
Don’t Cry for Us, O.J. SimpsonO.J. Simpson had a ghostwriter for his never-released memoir, If I Did It (who’d have thunk it!) and even practiced a crying scene for his TV interview with Judith Regan. Barry Bonds’s ex-mistress, who has alleged that the slugger has used steroids, is shopping a tell-all and nude pictorial. Enrique Iglesias wishes he were gay. Nathan Lane wants to start a heterosexual pride parade, with George W. Bush as grand marshal. Jay McInerney is sick of telling people he broke his foot chasing after a taxi. Madonna didn’t invite Janet Jackson to sit at her booth at Butter, though she did hang out with Shakira. Also: Ashton, Demi, and Penélope were there. The flowers at the Waldorf-Astoria wedding of billionaire Russian heiress Angelina Anisimova and real-estate developer Ryan Freedman cost $1 million. John McCain didn’t wash his hands before leaving a restroom in East Hampton.
party town
Pushy Famous People Try to Sell You Stuff• “Cartier Celebrates Love” event. The Cartier Mansion, 2 E. 52nd St., nr. Fifth Ave., 6:30 p.m. Expected guests: Elie Wiesel, Spike Lee, Rachel Weisz, Julianne Moore, Djimon Hounsou, Usher, and others. Each of those people are affiliated with a specific charitable cause and Cartier bracelet; every time “their” bracelet is sold, 10 percent of the money goes to the corresponding charity. All of the causes are quite worthy, but it nonetheless seems like Elie Wiesel’s at an advantage: Who’s going to turn him down?
Or check out our Agenda listings for tonight, selected by New York’s culture editors.
