Graydon Carter has such a hard on right now, as Vanity Fair releases its most Vanity Fair-esque piece to date on the defrauded, jet-setting Raffaello Follieri. What makes the seven-page article so perfectly VF, with its mix of celebrity and scandal and a dash of eau de creep? CONTINUED »
You know why employees shouldn't keep blogs? Because inevitably their employers will find them, read them, and use them against their underlings. It's the same reasoning why starlets shouldn't keep diaries: Because federal officials might raid the home of your scandal-plagued ex-boyfriend, confiscate your journals, and then use your words to prosecute him for fraud. Such is the new saga for Anne Hathaway, whose secret scribblings are now in the possession of the FBI. Why she left them at Raffaello Follieri's $37,500-a-month Trump Tower residence (that he didn't pay for out of his own pocket, of course), is anyone's guess. Let's just hope that the line, "Dear Diary, Raffaello is taking me on an all-expenses-paid holiday to St. Tropez" isn't followed by "and we hope Ron Burkle doesn't notice the charge."
In what promises to be more weeks and months of forcing folks like us to report on him, celebrity ex-boyfriend and accused professional swindler Raffaello Follieri might score himself a plea deal. Follieri, who's sitting behind bars because he could not find anyone to pay the $21 million bail, could serve a reduced sentence of just five to 6.5 years if he just pleads guilty and saves the public the cost of a full-blown trial. But that would involve caring about the little guy who's getting screwed out of his tax dollars, and concerning himself with matters like that isn't exactly Follieri's M.O. [NYP]
As if you expected People magazine to turn America's Victim Anne Hathaway into a knowing party to ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri's cons. "Even as some friends say they warned Hathaway about Follieri, she stuck by him for months as allegations of his wrongdoing swirled," the magazine reports. "But when Hathaway learned that Follieri's charitable foundation was under investigation by the New York State attorney general for tax irregularities, the actress broke off the relationship. Says a pal: 'That was the last straw.'" This is beautiful, touching stuff — especially when you consider what the alternative copy could've looked like: "Hathaway was an oblivious dolt who relied on her good looks to charm her way through life. She only broke off the relationship when she realized the lavish vacations would be coming to an end and the bad press could affect her career." But that's really more Star's territory, which always enjoys a nice backyard BBQ where women are served up well-done.
Bonnie Fuller, whose employment at American Media might very well consist of finding a new job, recording video segments, and blogging for Huffington Post, weighs in, as she so often does with women in peril, on Anne Hathaway, who must trudge along with promoting Get Smart while the press gleefully rips ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri to shreds. But to Fuller, who invented the "Just Like Us!" feature while running Us Weekly, Hathaway's struggle isn't about a Hollywood star down on her luck, but is instead the story of so many women who get duped by "good guys."
Yes, Ms. Hathaway's multi-million dollar swindling scam of a relationship makes her just like us! CONTINUED »
While Glamour's Suze Yalof Schwartz yammers on about lab-made diamonds and prints an interview with Joan Parker, brand ambassador for lab-made diamond company Gemesis, she inserts this aside: While interviewing Parker at Michael's restaurant on Monday, she sat across from embroiled and arrested businessman Raffaello Follieri, ex-bf to Anne Hathaway, who, she says, "didn't look that sad (about the break-up) or worried (about the impending arrest)." The following morning, federal agents arrested him and charged Follieri with 12 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. Hope the Pan Roasted Atlantic Cod was delicious!
It's not that Anne Hathaway's ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri is a con artist. It's that he's a bad con-artist. How to tell? He was arrested! That's sort of the biggest criteria for finding out if a con artist is bad at his game. The second piece of criteria? Going to prison, which is where it sounds like he's headed.
Trying to buy some sway with the pope, because you told your investors you were the Church's financial manager, by donating $387,000 of your investors' cash to the Vatican? And when that didn't work, you hired a pair of monsignors to travel with you and then asked them to change into a more seniorial robe to send the impression you were down with god's No. 2? If this sounds like a caper out of one of, uh, Hathaway's movies, add to the film treatment many more hundreds of thousands of swindled funds that went toward funding a lavish lifestyle including a Trump Tower duplex, custom tailored clothes, and luxurious holiday travels, and you're really on your way to the bumbling about of Get Smart. CONTINUED »
Congratulations to the Wall Street Journal, which got through its entire lede about Italian "businessman" Raffaello Follieri, arrested today on conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering charges, without mentioning ex-girlfriend Anne Hathaway. [WSJ]
Is Good Morning America going easy on its celebrity guests? The morning shows have always been the place for creampuff interviews where talent can plug their latest TV and film projects while their publicists stand by ready to pull rank if an anchor so much dares as violate their "Do Not Ask About X" agreement. But perhaps ABC's morning show is all too eager to please A-list (and below) stars. CONTINUED »
Though she has a new movie out called Get Smart, over the Atlantic, Anne Hathaway is still "the Devil Wears Prada star." But it's also over there that news is breaking that she's split from boyfriend-of-four-years Raffaello Follieri, whose ability to bounce a bad cheque has Ed McMahon jealous. Hathaway's fans were hoping she'd, ahem, "get smart" by the time her movie Get Smart premiered, and now it appears she may have: He was nowhere to be found at the Los Angeles premiere last night, and rumor has it they split. Meanwhile, Hathaway's next film is Rachel Getting Married, so if she was going to follow the forecasting of one movie title, it's probably best she did it with the Steve Carrell comedy.
Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend of four years, Raffaelo Follieri, was arrested in New York Thursday for bouncing a check worth $250,000.
It’s reported Follieri, an Italian property developer, went willingly with police officers to work out the misunderstanding, so there were no handcuffs or loud sirens involved. That spared him of any humiliation until the gossip blogs could get wind of the story.
• In the midst of all the "Britney Goes Bonkers" and Lindsay Cokehands madness, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams quietly and amicably decide they just weren't ready for the responsibilities of a pretend-marriage.
• Find out what celebrities are really thinking about. And no, the answer's not (always) "nothing."
• Nicole Kidman admits to wanting a baby of her own ever since she was 17. Which is actually rather strange! Especially considering her initial choice of sperm donor.
• Anne Hathaway shows us why she glows in the dark.
• Class act Gisele Bundchen spends $1,000 buying luxury baby clothes passive aggressive baby "gifts" for her new boyfriend's ex-girlfriend when a simple but straightforward "Suck it! He's with me" card would have cost her only $2.99.
• Lil Kim misses her jail cell so much she just might come back and pay it a small visit.
• Jeez! Can't a famous actress go down on her boyfriend in public without the paparazzi making a federal case about it? A little privacy, people!
• Nappy-headed ho tall black woman sues Don Imus for defamation of character.
• In addition to training her 2 year-old son to fetch her cigarettes (or as Brit calls them, "Mom's Lollipops") Britney Spears is also (allegedly!) a perma-drunk, nanny-seducing lesbo.
• As it turns out, Jerry Seinfeld really is "Master of His Domain."
A lot of people put pressure on me. I put a lot of pressure on myself. There was a time when I considered stepping away from the [Becoming Jane] project because I really didn't want to fail.
…I know I'm not a good celebrity. I'm boring and closed and probably seem very safe.
–Anne Hathaway, confusing her lack of first-hand DUI/rehab/tabloid experience with being "boring" [via CNN]
• Usher insists that the nuptials are still on track despite ample evidence to the contrary (i.e. he's a philandering mama's boy who traumatized his fiancee by canceling his wedding just two days ago).
• If you missed Beyonce's fall (and the subsequent "I'm okay—wait, no I'm not" stumble) here's your chance to watch it all over again. And again. And again. She's so self-conscious!
• Actress Anne Hathaway ditches her own Hampton's premiere (of Becoming Jane) in favor of an embarrassing public fight with her boyfriend. She then recovers/overcompernsates by showing up "all smiles" to the "rager" of an after-party.
• In a misguided attempt to defend Anne's honor, Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir says, "If [Anne] seemed emotional it was because she had not yet seen the film in its entirety, and she found even the little she watched of the opening very moving." Riiiiight.
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