There’s nothing Keith Olbermann likes more than a gay Republican senate sex scandal. Which he proves by gleefully introducing this clip of Larry Craig’s lover same-sex urinal buddy describing their “intimate” encounter in the men’s lavatory.
While David Carr ushers in the third New York Times (one, two, three) piece dedicated to the Maria Bartiromo/CNBC/Citibank scandal, today we also hear from Post walkabout Cindy Adams on the matter:
SPEAKING of lots more, there’s lots more on this long-going tete-a-tete 40,000 feet up twixt CNBC’s married Maria Bartiromo and her good friend, very good friend, like very very good friend Todd Thomson. They’ve been gossip for 18 months. Thomson was just bounced from his Citigroup top job for, among other things, lending her his company’s plane. On one flight from China where he told underlings to find their own way home, he told them to do it on the company’s dime so he could fly high in the sky with his American pie.
“Lots more,” like, oh, they were having an affair? Ya don’t say, Cinds. About the only folks not reporting that “news” is CNBC. But it’s nice to see your octogenarian audience clued in.
You gotta hand it to Lindsay — she’s not going down without a fight. Between the drunken emails, the tumultuous relationship with occasional BFF Paris, and the most forgiving AA sponsor we’ve ever seen, Lindsay “Firecrotch” Lohan has put up a more than “adequite” showing this year.
But, in the end, it just wasn’t enough to overtake the ever-modest Britney Spears, (whose vagina has graced the pages of this blog more times than we’d care to relate), for the title of “Most Contraversial Celebrity of 2006.” And Spears, whose 2006 highlights range from using baby Sean Preston as an airbag to unceremoniously dumping Kevin Federline via text-message, has more than outdone herself the past few weeks. While Fed-Ex was out touring to promote his trainwreck of a rap album, Brit was cozying up to J.R. Rotem, a buddy of Federline’s who may or may not have sampled Paris Hilton’s blind stars along the way.
And she’s planning a comeback album, y’all!
Honorable mentions go out to Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Paris herself for their invaluable contributions. Next up: The battle between Dina Lohan and Anna Nicole Smith for “Worst Mother of the Year” accolades.
Kevin Federline is prepared to wax nostalgic on Britney Spears, if the new issue of Star is to be believed. Ahem. The book K-Fed is planning will supposedly tell all on Britney’s drinking, drugging, and lesbian tendencies. And he’s ready to go forward with it — unless, so the story goes, Spears pays out a bit more than the prenup stipulates.
“Kevin is either hoping a publisher will pay him big money for the book,” a source told the tab, “or that Britney will cough up more cash than what’s in their prenup [an estimated $360,000 in spousal support plus $7 million from the sale of their Malibu, Calif., home] to keep him from spilling the beans.”
Federline wants sole custody of their two children as well as a settlement of at least $20 million, reports Star, and is alleging that he can “prove that Britney is an unfit mother” by revealing her partying ways both while she was pregnant and when their babies were born.
And if concert ticket sales are any indication, one lucky publisher is sure to have a bestseller on its hands.
Exclusive
In our never-ending mission to chronicle the philandering of top level executives at media companies, we’re pleased to bring you word that E! network president Ted Harbert is said to be sleeping with Chelsea Handler, the host of The Chelsea Handler Show, which appears on – you guessed it – the E! channel.
But don’t get too excited: It’s not like Harbert is cheating on his wife of nearly 30 years or anything. Well, technically he is, but they’re separated and on their way to a finalized divorce in the coming months. But it’s certainly worth noting that it was Harbert who personally greenlighted Handler’s show, which, ironies of ironies, carries the tagline “From one-night stands to kinky classrooms to a spa day with Gary Coleman, this broad’s not afraid to get to the bottom of things.”
And here you thought Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng owned the media-chieftan-sleeping-with-talent scandal.
Tonight, you can look forward to the second of the two-part series WCBS is running on Golan Cipel, the man who was either ex-New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey’s lover or sexual harassment victim. After fleeing the U.S. to salvage career and realizing there’s no hope of that once you’re at the center of a gay sex scandal, Cipel returns for a walk-through of the two-bedroom condo where McGreevey claimed the two made love — and where Cipel claims he was on the receiving end of unwanted advances. But the fun doesn’t stop there, where McGreevey left off. Tonight’s segment has Cipel chronicling additional instances of sexual harassment from the Gay American. And really, if you’re not going to be able to catch O.J. Simpson’s faux confession, this is the closest you’re gonna get to scandal porn. Can we say Sweeps Week?
The Rachael Ray sex scandal that broke this morning in Rush & Molloy via the National Enqurier is about to go deeper. If you’re just joining us, a one Jeannine Walz is claiming she was paid to take part in wild, “degrading” sex acts with Ray’s husband John Cusimano back in 2000. Naturally, Ray’s camp is denying the story, from the cocaine and pot use and spitting in his face to the $500, twice-per-month sex sessions. Even with the Enquirer running photos of Cusimano and Walz together, the burgeoning media mogul claims there’s nothing to see here.
Speaking through their rep, Ray and Cusimano told us they found The Enquirer story “absolutely laughable. It is obvious to us the lengths that tabloids go to create stories. It’s just sad when they take unwarranted shots at the people you care about the most.”
The Enquirer also features a photo of Cusimano and Walz - taken, according to the tab, in New York on Nov. 6. A friend of the couple said the photo looked staged and stated, in fact, that Cusimano and Ray “couldn’t be happier.”
Now we hear the Enquirer is about to unleash more photo evidence: some 21 photos in all with Cusimano and his sadist lover together. That’s a lot of Photoshopping, even for an AMI tab spending David Pecker’s dollars.
Exclusive
It wouldn’t be proper to begin the week without more news on the Us Weekly-Ken Baker scandal front. After last week’s merry-go-round with news of the magazine’s west coast exec editor refusing to pay a measily three-figure bill from publicist Jessica Meisels for help with his June charity poker event – and gossip columns from Page Six to Lowdown trying to get their newspaper inches involved – the tabloid went after Meisels where it counts: their editorial. At the end of last week, Us‘ New York office was last seen making ominous phone calls to Meisels, threatening to end its support for any of her clients. They also told her if she had a problem with anyone at Us, she should’ve gone to the magazine first, not the media blog you’re reading right now.
Which would make sense, if only Meisels was our source. But, hey, 1290 Sixth? She’s not — and we only tell you that in hopes you two can become friends again. But that doesn’t mean Meisels hasn’t been talking to us. Under pressure from Us‘ editors, she’s gone and denied our report.
Fingerprint Communications maintains a positive relationship with US Weekly and the magazine’s staffers. … Fingerprint Communications has worked on two events for Head To Hollywood including the poker event in vegas. Our fee for the event was paid.
But Jessica is just about the only one willing to speak on the record. Us‘ editor Janice Min, meanwhile, refuses to speak to us for publication. We’ve asked her – over the course of regular email chats discussing these matters – to confirm or deny the allegations we’ve exclusively reported (from Kitson’s legal claims to Baker’s unethical payola scandals), and not once has she provided an on the record response.
She did, however, tell the name-misspelling New York Times the magazine “absolutely [does] not” blacklist merchants or demand free merch in exchange for editorial. Cue laughter from one block south at People.
(Photos, L to R: Ken Baker and Carmen Electra at the June 3 poker event; Jessica Meisels at her birthday party with Nicky and Paris Hilton)
Earlier: Breaking: Us Weekly Threatening Jessica Meisels Over Ken Baker’s Unpaid Bills
Related: All Ken Baker, Us Weekly, and Jessica Meisels coverage
CBS News weekend anchor Russ Mitchell – at the center of a sex scandal in the midst of his engagement – is about to be a new dad. He’s already a father from a previous relationship, but we’re told exclusively that his new fiance Karina Mahtani (an associate producer for CBS’s Showbuzz) is expecting. A new baby on the way in the middle of such controversy over his secret engagement and trysts with other women? There’s no way it could get worse.
Unless, you know, there was yet another woman. As Page Six was first to report today, Lady No. 4 is a St. Louis native (like Mitchell) who owns her own advertising business there. The duo were spotted dining at a sushi restaurant on August 13 and sharing a parking lot kiss. Now we’ve exclusively learned this fourth woman is Sandy Stolberg (pictured). Surely it’s only a matter of time before Ladies No. 5 and 6 rear their heads.
Related: All Russ Mitchell coverage
Whenever you throw a 19-year-old hottie into a major sex scandal, nothing becomes more important than … her online social networking profile. When the Post yesterday broke the news (with a follow up today) about New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca and his alleged affair with college student Krista Guterman, one lass who knows Guterman came out of the Internet shadows and produced her Facebook profile, as well as scores of details as to Guterman’s own history. Perhaps it had a little something to do with Guterman allegedly sleeping with our informant’s boyfriend? She files:
The girl Krista, that he cheated on his wife with actually went to SUNY Oneonta with me. She hooked up with my boyfriend when i was with him amongst about 5 other guys and is notoriously known as a ” whore ” If anything LoDuca should be worried about getting tested. She left school because she was abused so bad for being so promiscious and got kicked out of her sorority. […]
Basically she met him [Lo Duca] at a bar on long island, the girl is a total head case she has been with 30+ guys in the past year. When she “dated” LoDuca she posted all over myspace and facebook that she was with him her favorite quotes on facebook even read ” OMG LOOK THERES PAUL LODUCAS GIRLFRIEND” and she compared her relationship with him to Jessica Simpsons song “Angel”.. I think it was more of him being the man that he is and just wanting a fling with an easy 19 year old ( which she 100% is ) . The girls reputation was basically ruined by me and my friends and sorority when she hooked up with my ex boyfriend in April and she had to leave college I guess some people never know when to stop.
After the jump some details for Guterman’s Facebook profile, where she lists her “Interests” as “My amamzing boyfriend Paul and the METS OBV!!!.”
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All those harsh emails penned by Keith Olbermann and reprinted by Lloyd Grove? Now they’ve got a blog of their own, penned by the very woman whose correspondence with Keith have drawn some ire from industry insiders. From slamming colleague Rita Cosby to sending on-camera personal messages to his female viewer, Keith’s notes expose more than his four-letter vocabulary: they also point to an off-air sexual relationship he maintained with “KarmaBites1.”
From what we’ve gathered, this lass started an email friendship with Keith that went on for over a year. Keith then invited her to New York for a week where he was quite the gentleman. That was until they consumated their anchor-viewer relationship (and she stole his tie was given his tie, which she considered auctioning off on eBay), when he supposedly told her he had a dead relative and could no longer see her again. And that’s when he stopped returning emails and phone calls — thus KarmaBites1’s bitterness toward the MSNBC host.
After the jump we’ve reposted some of their email communications.
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The tipster from this morning’s Clay Aiken item – where we learned American Idol forbade reporters from asking Aiken about his gay sex scandal during the finale – noted the grammar in the official memo to journos: “The interesting thing is that the directive says IF Clay appears, so it seems like his appearance may still be in question.”
Now TMZ is reporting, in addition to the estrogen-fest about to hit the stage tonight, that Clay Aiken is scheduled to perform. So let’s watch entertainment journalism at its best, where publicists are gods and reporters might as well be merely Moses delivering the sterilized gospel.
‘Idol’ Finale Performances Revealed [TMZ]
Earlier: ‘American Idol’ to Journos: When It Comes To Clay Aiken, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
You can’t even utter the name “Clay Aiken” without your brain firing the “gay sex scandal” synapse. And neither can journalists. But, according to a reality TV mole regarding Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, Clay’s off-camera (well, off TV camera) antics are not up for discussion.
As per a FOX/American Idol directive this afternoon, entertainment journalists covering the AI finale are being instructed that any attempt to question or solicit comment from Clay Aiken regarding his recent scandal will result in their being barred from the finale. …
The interesting thing is that the directive says IF Clay appears, so it seems like his appearance may still be in question. Clay’s name still has yet to appear on any call sheets or rehearsal information at the production office or Kodak.
It’s an intersection of national news story and New York bubbledom that we soil our tighty whities over. We’ve received word that none other than Dave Evans – Duke’s lacrosse team captain who was today indicted (the most recent of three players) in the rape scandal – had grand plans to move to our fair town and take up a gig with a major i-banking firm.
While we’re still sorting out which Wall Street financial house has the unlucky fortune to be associated with Evans (perhaps we’ll let Dealbreaker.com in on the fun), we do know he was already apartment hunting, looking for a three bedroom flat in the $4-5,000 range somewhere in Greenwich Village, Union Square, Central Park South, Midtown, East Village, or SoHo.
It was as recent as May 4 that Evans made an inquiry into available spaces. We called Dave for comment, but all we got was his voicemail — but his greeting message promsied to get right back to us. Either way, we’ve got a feeling his legal troubles might keep his dream of a Scores expense account on the back burner for a little while.
From PRNewswire’s ProfNet, appearing today:
**2. TODAY/RETAIL : Children’s Clothing Retail - Star Magazine (US)
I am looking for a retail analyst who follows children’s clothing. I want to know if a newly formed company is getting ready to launch a new line of outfits for kids, and whether bad PR surrounding its creator will affect its success.
We’re not retail analysts or anything, but let’s just say that when your soon-to-be ex-wife Denise Richards accuses you of looking at pre-teen and gay porn websites while your name is attached to a line of children’s clothing, yeah, the bad PR is going to play a role.
Earlier: Charlie Sheen & Denise Richards’ Underage (and Gay) Divorce Proceedings
Related: All Charlie Sheen coverage
You’ve seen the blog. You’ve seen the T-shirt. (Perhaps you bought the T-shirt?) You’ve even seen that Village Voice kiosk tagged with the “Save Jared Paul Stern” flyer. But The Movement is expanding, folks, to regions where only the brave set foot: Conde Nast, the New York Times, and the New York Daily News.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any evidence The Movement has reached any place it really counts, like the New York Sun, New York University’s Washington Square News, or, namely, the New York Post.
Dear Arthur, Si, and Mort [Free Jared Paul Stern]
You knew they were just moments away. Ladies and gents, the Jared Paul Stern groupies have landed, and they want you buy their swag. And read their blog. Which is only a marketing tool for their shirts. Which is only a marketing tool for Jared Paul Stern. And his shirts. Now if we find out that JPS’s Skull & Bones line of tees is producing these shirts, we’re gonna die in a pool of irony.
In the meantime, we’re sending out the interns to tear down these “Free Jared Paul Stern” signs, ironically tagged on Village Voice kiosks.
Free Jared Paul Stern [Blogspot]
Andrew Ross Sorkin, on a mission to make his NYT blog Dealbook extend its appeal beyond say, Wall Street, takes a baby step outside his bounds today to weigh in on “Paid $ix,” the Jared Paul Stern-fueld fiasco taking place at our fair New York Post. Utilizing, we assume, this new fangled technology called “LexisNexis,” Sorkin busts out the stats on just which moguls – including scandal figureheads Ron Burkle and Ron Perelmen – Richard Johnson & Co. have been aiming their WMDs at in the last year with a handy-dandy list of the number of P6 mentions.
Donald Trump: 87
Ronald Perelman: 43
Stephen Schwarzman: 8
Richard Branson: 5
Ted Forstmann: 5
Carl Icahn: 5
Henry Kravis: 5
George Soros: 5
Ronald Burkle: 4
Bruce Wasserstein: 4
Wilbur Ross: 3
To which we only have this to say: There’s plenty of Bruce Wasserstein to go around — and no reason for the Adam Moss slave captain to qualify for a mere four mentions. We’re dismayed.
The Page Six Mogul Index [Dealbook]
As with any good news, there must come bad news — or at least that’s the way it works for Clay Aiken fans.
Since his gay sex scandal with Green Beret-cum-up-and-coming porn star John Paulus broke, his publicist was quick to plant him eating out with bevies of ladies all over (or at least he’s rumored to be rumored to be seen with bevies of ladies). Now what’s his record label RCA’s plan to avoid fan backlash? Flip into disaster mode faster than Brad Grey and pull Clay’s album from its release list.
When an fresh list of upcoming releases hit RCA’s website over the weekend, the line up included Clay’s sophomore record. Less than 24 hours later, Claynation noticed the June 20 date had been pulled. First the Brokeback Mountain snub, now this? It’s only a matter of time before Jesse Metcalfe never sees a soundstage again.
Clay’s release date removed from RCA website… [Clayboard]
RCA Records [Official Site]
Earlier: Clay Aiken caught in a gay web of scandal
Earlier: The FTC battle to declare Clay Aiken gay
Oh, Rolling Stone magazine. When not endorsing Madonna’s geriatric routine or crowning Bono as the king of rock again (again), it’s a great place to breed a gossip-worthy love affair. Just look at Jann Wenner’s celebration of traditional family values: hanging on to wife Jane while shagging partner Matt Nye in full view of the Michael’s crowd.
With the bar set so high, we thought fellow Wennerites might have a hard time topping the boss’ feats. Luckily, there’s Jodi Peckman to prove us wrong.
Who’s Jodi Peckman? She’s the Rolling Stone photography director that might just earn herself a second go-round in the Wenner firing machine. You see, back in 1998 the 20-plus year RS vet was unceremoniously flung from Jann’s den of systematic order when he learned she had spent the last year shagging Sid Holt, then Rolling Stone’s managing editor. Surprise, surprise: Holt got the boot too. (Technically, Jann got rid of Holt, while Holt’s replacement Bob Love summarily ousted Peckman.)
Peckman dallied around the photo offices of FHM for a bit until Maximer Ed Needham headed to Rolling Stone and brought Peckman in through his velvet rope. Holt, the one-time Us Weekly editorial director who joined Wenner in ‘84, has since moved on to plusher plains at VNU, where he went from AdWeek Group editor-in-chief to director of VNU Business Media in January ‘05.
All was rainbows and snowflakes from there, right? Uh, no.
You see, Peckman and Holt (whose personal motto is “More. Better. Faster.”) have been continuing their affair, and it’s a not-so-well-kept secret at 1290 Sixth. Everyone on staff knows they’re sleeping together — some even having been privy to nude photos Peckman had photog Isabelle Snyder take as a gift for Holt, which we’re told were only recently removed from a web gallery, much to the dismay of staffers.
Well, not everyone on staff knows. There’s one guy in in particular still in the dark: Jann Wenner.
Granted, even we’re reluctant to believe Jann is out of the loop. But then again, he does think reality TV could save his magazine, so we can roll with it. And it’s Jann’s obliviousness that’s keeping Peckman on his payroll.
Meanwhile, she and Holt continue to canoodle (oh you know we had to say it) on company time, taking lunch dates at China Grill or Brasserie — and never Michael’s. For after work drinks, it’s “some place close to Grand Central, on his way home to his wife and kids, or close to her place in the East 60s, for a quickie, [at] Gino’s [or the] Four Seasons.” Oh, we didn’t mention Holt is married with kids? Our bad. (Quick tangent then: When Holt’s wife learned of the affair, she kicked him out, forcing him to move in with Peckman for a short time. Wifey has since taken him back, “stupidly,” according to our insider.)
So how is Jann still not in the know? Perhaps it’s his own denial.
No one wants to tell Jann, he has some odd fondness for her. They hang out with Sheila Rogers, Karen Johnston, [Wenner mouthpiece] Cathy O’Brien, [former editor of now defunct Sync] Tony Romando (I think they even went to his wedding together) — I bet even [former Wenner PR flack] Stu Zakim knew. They are not what one would call discreet.
And what about current managing editor Will Dana? Check! Will is a willing participant in the “cover up.”
Now, while our insider claims “EVERYONE knows” (except Jann) about Peckman and Holt, the question arises: Why is our source so willing to dish? Sure, our source might have an agenda to push, but we’re content in knowing maybe this person just wants to turn Jann’s world of “everything in its place” into a clusterfuck. And for that, we applaud. (It’s probably time we mention that when asked about all of this, Rolling Stone’s spokesperson issued a standard, “No comment.”)
One last bit: In the enusing melee of all this, there is one person with a smile on her face. That’s former RS fashion director Patti O’Brien, who got booted when (get this) Jodi wanted her office. Last we heard, O’Brien relocated with the same masthead position to, of all things, Men’s Journal – a Wenner title – replacing Vicky McGarry.
BONUS: After the jump, some fun facts we’ve gleaned about both Peckman and Holt.
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Editorial Director
