James Franco Gets His Pick of Columbia FreshmenA bunch of girls screamed with lust for James Franco at Columbia, and we don’t blame them. Also, Alec Baldwin screamed at a limo driver while leaving the U.S. Open, in today’s gossip roundup.
Nina Garcia’s Bathing Suit Is Like Her Invisibility CloakWhen she wears it, she says, the only people who see her are Tinsley Mortimer and Marjorie Gubelmann. Meanwhile, this past weekend boldfaced names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Peter Cook feigned invisibility — but you would have seen them if you were there. Because in the Hamptons, there’s nowhere to hide.
Ramona the PestIs Real Housewife Ramona Singer the “most hated woman in New York”? Which famous-for-being-rich couple had to borrow cash to pay for their wedding license? And what other screen star may have had an affair with JFK? All this and more in today’s roundup of the best of the gossip pages.
Nina Garcia, Joe Zee and Anne Slowey Are in the Running Toward Becoming the Top Reality Stars of ‘Elle’Nina Garcia, of Project Runway fame, will no longer be the most famous editor at Elle. That is, if Elle creative director Joe Zee and fashion news director Anne Slowey have anything to say about it. WWD is reporting that the two Elle staffers are in negotiations to appear on the new Tyra Banks reality show about wannabe assistants at a fashion magazine that was announced yesterday, tentatively, and might we add creatively, titled Fashionista. That’s pretty gutsy of them, to allow two different reality shows to co-exist at the same publication. To have three reality stars living in the same house, so to speak. Won’t there be an awful lot of tension and competition over things like who got more airtime who the editors are making look like the mean one and who looks thinnest onscreen and who better put down that
company town
Lies and the Lying Arabs Who Tell ThemMEDIA
• The New Republic pulled back on its long-embattled “Baghdad Diarist” series, admitting they could no longer stand behind the author, an army private serving in Iraq. Meanwhile, The National Review suffered its own Middle Eastern credibility scandal and struck back in a novel way: “As one of our sources put it: ‘The Arab tendency to lie and exaggerate about enemies is alive and well among pro-American Lebanese Christians as much as it is with the likes of Hamas.’” Yikes. [NYT Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• Big layoffs ahead at NBC News? “There are going to be firings very soon — everybody is terrified,” according to a “former network insider,” who claims tens of millions in cuts will happen in the next two weeks. [Jossip]
• New NBC programming honcho Ben Silverman is looking to clear up a conflict of interest and cash in on his old production company, which Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter to Rupe, is buying for around $200 million. Not bad for a guy who built his career on stealing foreign shows like The Office and Ugly Betty and then repackaging them for the U.S.[NYP]
party lines
Trendy Moms Leave the Kids at Home to Watch ‘Nanny Diaries’
Several of Manhattan’s chicest moms, including Nina Garcia and Cynthia Rowley, ditched their kids to catch a private screening of The Nanny Diaries. Peggy Siegel, the iron-thumbed PR doyenne who hosted the event, was on vacation in Italy. But even though it was after midnight over there, she still insisted upon babysitting her own kiddies, aides John and Andres. Their BlackBerrys lit up all night (“Is everything all right?” “How is the dinner?” “WHAT IS GOING ON?!”) as they tried to keep tabs on stars like Laura Linney and Alicia Keys. Meanwhile, Rowley was feeling pangs of guilt after the movie. “How can you feel good about watching it?” she asked Daily Intel. “I definitely felt like I should be at home eating peanut butter out of a jar and singing songs in French to my kids!” —Jocelyn Guest
Bonus Party Lines: What made Nina Garcia nearly “drop dead,” and other quotes from the Nanny Diaries screening.
