In the End, Shouldn’t Palazzo Chupi’s Units Go to People Who Really Appreciate Them?Schnabel raises the price on his pink palace, a New York ‘Times’ journalist is jailed in ZImbabwe, and a Starbucks worker fights for her rights. And regrets? Citigroup has a few in today’s roundup of news from the fields of real estate, media, law, and finance.
company town
Buyout Exodus at ‘Newsweek’A dating blogger seeks a book deal, trading desks think recession, and Jean Nouvel wins the Pritzker in our daily roundup of media, finance, law, and real-estate news.
early and often
Media Panel Stretches Blog Metaphors, Blows Kisses at ObamaAt a NYU Media Talk last night focusing on “Publishing and the Election,” Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter called Thomas Payne “the original blogger.” We bet he didn’t have to deal with unending pajama jokes!
company town
Just in Time for ‘Times’ McCain Scuffle, ‘Time’ Editor Says Papers Shouldn’t Endorse CandidatesMEDIA
• What is the New York Police Department’s policy for awarding press credentials? Journalists wonder the same thing. [NYT]
• Time managing editor Rick Stengel ponders why newspapers endorse political candidates at a time when news consumers doubt the objectivity of the media. [Time]
• Details of the deal that Newsweek struck with George W. Bush’s former brain have emerged: It’s a two-year, sixteen-column contract. [NYO]
ink-stained wretches
‘Newsweek’ Editor Tries to Appeal to Black-Turtleneck-Wearing Columbia JerksLike many before him, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham went to speak to the students at the Columbia Journalism School and found that kids today are nothing but a bunch of ungrateful no-goodniks with no respect for their elders. Did anyone in the room even read his magazine, he asked plaintively, according to the Observer? “No!” a black-turtleneck-clad pupil shouted back. They all read the Economist now, the student explained. (Obvs! Because it has way better fonts and is funny in that British-y way, you know, like with the “sir” thing.) “The success of the Economist — the fact that you read it, a black-turtlenecked guy at Columbia,” Meacham sputtered. Then he began, sadly, to plead. “Look, I need you,” he said. “I need — I’ve got people out there risking their lives right now … I’ve got four people in Baghdad who could be killed at any moment … and how to get you past this image that we’re just middlebrow, you know, a magazine that your grandparents get, or something, that’s the challenge. And I just don’t know how to do it, so if you’ve got any ideas, tell me.” The students suggested he try “re-branding.” Hey, maybe he could hire Jay-Z!
Jon Meacham’s Cri de Coeur [NYO]
gossipmonger
Cameron Diaz to Invade ChelseaCameron Diaz is looking to buy an apartment in West Chelsea and also hooked up with Felicity’s Scott Speedman in the Bahamas. Samantha Stein-Wells, daughter of murdered real-estate broker Linda Stein, is turning her 35th birthday into a charity event in her mom’s name. Padma Lakshmi told Dave Zinczenko that she’d cover her body in chocolate if he put her on the cover of Men’s Health. Portfolio magazine named Newsweek fashion scribe Dana Thomas its European editor. Michelle Williams has pulled out of her upcoming movie with Ryan Gosling because she’s too beat up over Heath Ledger’s death. Maybe-pregnant Angelia Jolie went shopping at a baby boutique in Tribeca.
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Clay Aiken vs. ‘Newsweek’ Reporter: A Catfight?Every journalist who has to talk to celebrities at some point has to deal with attacks. A star will tire of the reporter’s probing questions and will suddenly lash out. There are a few traditional means of doing this. First, and most common, is the “Why did you decide to do this for your job? There are hundreds of people dying in Iraq and you are asking me about my sex tape?” approach. Then, sometimes, there’s the “I’m calling my publicist and none of her other clients will work with you if this is how you operate,” tactic (otherwise known as “I’M TELLING MOM!”). And finally, there’s the “I thought you were better than this!” routine, which celebrities always think will work, but never does, because, hello, we’re reporters and you can’t appeal to our sense of shame because we don’t have one. This last mode was the one taken by Clay Aiken when Newsweek sent cute boy reporter Ramin Setoodeh to interview him about debuting in Spamalot this week, and to ask him about the whole incident with Kelly Ripa last year. (You remember, when she snapped at Aiken for putting his hand over her mouth, by saying, “I don’t know where that hand has been,” and then Rosie went bananas about it on The View and called Ripa a homophobe?) The minute Setoodeh brought it up, things went very downhill very fast:
What about the Kelly Ripa thing?
I’m not going to discuss it.
Did you think it was homophobic?
I’m not going to discuss it.
What do you want to talk about?
I think we’re done.
ink-stained wretches
Low Temperatures, High Drama: Inside the Iowa Press Corps
As you know, everyone who’s anyone in politics is in Iowa right now. But so is everyone who’s no one! That’s right, we’re talking about the press, the unwashed mass following the candidates around, scribbling and taping and snap-snapping as Hillary, Obama, McCain et al spout platitudes, stuff themselves full of local cuisine and generally attempt to maintain a grip on the love handles of the elusive midwestern vote. That’s who we want to know about. We’ve had enough of Billary and FreJeri Thompson and KuciniHottie. What about the writers, anchors and bloggers who make them who they are?? (Or at least tell us who they want them to be?) For those of you with a lurid curiosity about these sick characters, we did some digging into what the Iowa press corps is up to. And not just the Dana Milbanks and the Adam Nagourneys. (Spotted! The NYT staff having dinner at Lucca, the Italian place in Des Moines’ “East Village” that Ad Nags raved about in the travel section a few weeks ago.) We mean everyone. Take Jodi Kantor from the Times, for example.
company town
Hedi and LVMH: Together at Last!FASHION
• Hedi Slimane is back in talks with LVMH to launch his own fashion house. Everyone, commence jumping up and down. [WWD]
• IMG is behind Bravo’s new model show but won’t be giving the winner a contract. [Fashionista]
• Not even Cavalli can rev up H&M’s sales. [NYP]
company town
Rove, Regan and Rather: Crazy? Or Crazy Like Foxes?MEDIA
• How did Judith Regan’s high-level lawyers let her bat-shit-crazy legal complaint get through? Oh that’s right, she’s Judith Regan. [Legal Pad/Fortune]
• CBS finally got around to filing their motion to dismiss Dan Rather’s suit. The network claims they are “mystified” by Rather’s “bizarre allegations,” and that the lawsuit amounts to a “regrettable attempt by plaintiff Dan Rather to remain in the public eye, and to settle old scores and perceived slights, based on an array of far-fetched allegations.” [NYO]
• Karl Rove signed on to become a regular contributor to Newsweek. Maybe they should consider changing their slogan to “fair and balanced”? [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
ink-stained wretches
Who Hasn’t Had Sex With Alan Cumming?Last month at the Condé Nast Traveler Awards, actor Alan Cumming told a little story about how he once missed a flight because he was at his hotel in New York, having sex with a journalist who had just interviewed him. Reeeeeeally, we said to ourselves. Who could it have been? We tossed out a few guesses: Was it the journalist to whom Cumming said, “You’re into your cock, aren’t you?” The one who began his profile by saying, “I like Alan Cumming. I like him”? Or the Newsday writer who lingered lustily over Cummings’s physical description? No, no, and no. “The thing is I enjoy New York Magazine online trying to work out who that person might be,” Cumming told us last night at the Ace Accessories Awards. “They’re all wrong so far, though, I have to say.”
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Election 2008: And the Winner is… New York?This weekend’s epic Newsweek story about Mayor Bloomberg reveals how closely and specifically Hizzoner and his aides (Kevin Sheekey in particular) have been considering a presidential bid. Sheekey has thought about the amount of money it would cost ($1 billion), the strategic advantages Bloomberg would have (nominees from both parties are sure to have racked up high negatives by next year), and the timing that would make it perfect (after the March 5 primary, when both parties’ candidates would be finally set in stone). He even has thoughts of how to tackle the Electoral College in the case of a close race.
in other news
Will Rick Smith’s Replacement Bring New Webergy to ‘Newsweek’?Newsweek CEO Rick Smith only privately announced that he was stepping down yesterday, but Jeff Bercovici already has the memo. And you thought disgruntled ex-Journal reporters were the only things flying into Portfolio’s hands! Quoth the missive:
Effective the first of the year, I’ll give up most of my many titles and step back into the singular role of Chairman. That transition will allow me to devote more time to a lengthening agenda of corporate and non-profit board work, but also to remain actively engaged at the magazine as well.
gossipmonger
Cautious CooperAnderson Cooper showers in his underwear at the gym to ward off camera-phone-wielding fans. Tyra Banks and Russell Simmons dined-and-dashed at the Brooklyn Diner. Robert De Niro may be mad at David Bowie because the rock star is kicking off his High Line Festival three days after Tribeca ends. (As New York’s Vulture reported yesterday.) LL Cool J may star in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Taki Theodoroacpulos won the U.S. National Judo Championship in 70-to-75 age bracket. In his upcoming tell-all, Michael Strahan compares playing pro football to being stabbed repeatedly. Former O.C. stars Adam Brody and Benjamin McKenzie witnessed a fight at Gold Bar. Susan Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amuri, is pleased with her two sex scenes in Fred Durst’s directorial debut, The Education of Charlie Banks.
