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On The Scene: Fox News Channel’s 10th Anniversary Bash

Always one to self-congratulate, Fox News tossed “fair,” “balanced,” and “and” to the wayside last night to throw itself a 10th anniversary bash. The red carpet was rolled out in front of headquarters at 1211 Sixth, and underneath a glammed-up tent Rupert Murdoch held court over minions Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Shep Smith, Bill Hemmer, Greta Van Susteren, Brit Hume, and Laurie Dhue. But there was more star wattage inside: Donald Trump, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, Ann Coulter, Tiki Barber, and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly all showed up to pay their respects. And so did we: Jossip loves a party that celebrates raping the competition into submission, so we grabbed photog Matthew Krautheim and hit the soiree. (Meanwhile, if there’s a missing Fox News pillow, don’t blame us.)

Geraldo Rivera and wife Erica Levy quickly tuned out once they realized the conversation wasn’t about Geraldo Rivera or Erica Levy.

Tiki Barber poses with Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera and Miss Teen USA 2006 Katie Blair. Minutes later you could find Bill O’Reilly posing with the two pageant winners, doing something we’re pretty sure would strip each of them of their crown.

You think we’d lie to you?

Mouths agape as Donald Trump walks over to Rupert Murdoch – but not before elbowing us in the stomach. “Silly, you’re so silly, such a silly goose,” Murdoch was saying.

We asked Shepard Smith if he could name the network’s biggest fuckups over the past 10 years. “There have been so many, I can’t think of just one. And I’ve had so many of my own.” He stopped listing them at “J. Lo.”

That’s NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly’s “It didn’t hurt to try” face after asking Kiran Chetry to unfasten one more button.

We wanted to ask about Bill Hemmer’s workout routine — but instead resorted to caressing his chest, abs, and thighs. She picked up where we left off.

One of the only photos of Alan Colmes and Sean Hannity together. Colmes mostly stuck to Ann Coulter’s side. Hannity made the bar his territory.

It’s not Ann Coulter’s politics that are frightening — it’s her body fat percentage.

MSNBC-to-FNC talent Laurie Dhue – whose website photos need some updating .. from the 80s – tried, unsuccessfully, to start a pillow fight. Miss Universe had more success a half hour later.

Gov. George Pataki made a late entrance, and a quick exit. But it was fun watching him run around the room shaking hands like he were Mark Foley at a junior high swim meet.

Once inside, we approached Rupert Murdoch to ask him about those little rumors about son Lachlan returning from Australia to re-enter the News Corp. fold. “That nonsense!” he stammered. Okay, but don’t you miss him, Rup? “Of course I miss him. He’s my son. I love him.” Cue: Aww!

Donald Trump posing with a bevy of beauties. This could be Any Party, Any Town, USA.

Little does Kiran Chetry know that there’s a Yahoo! Group devoted to her.

Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch were later seen high-fiving over the Chris WallceBill Clinton interview. “You see that shit? Was nuggin’ futs, Roger!”

Kathie Lee Gifford and Bill O’Reilly find they’ve run out of things to talk about. Katie Couric’s ratings slip is good for about 45 seconds of banter, at best.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped by to make Democrat-Republican jokes. And infuse the requisite awkward silence, clapping, and laughter into an audience of conservatives and their apologists.

Aside from the O’Reilly and Coulter types, it was Tiki Barber who was the event’s headliner. As is typical, our questions veered into the “Do you have a mirror above your bed?” direction, and he quickly turned away.

Kathie Lee Gifford made this same face last night. In the privacy of her own home. (We’ll be making that face later, when Fox’s publicists get ornery over this caption.)

Today show relationship expert Steven Santagati tried convincing us to take a photo without Kathie Lee Gifford in it. He also tried convincing us to plug his book The Manual — a true bad boy explains how men think, date, and mate. Well, one out of two ain’t bad.

Weekly Standard editor William Kristol (right): Less concerned with the midterm elections than he is the fingerfood.

We weren’t sure what the fuck that guy was doing in our photo. Or Constantine Maroulis.

Rich Lowry of the National Review and Vanessa Palo of the Metropolitan Opera were the only non-old-white-bald dudes there. And that includes Ann Coulter.

Dr. Paul Dobre and energy market analyst Phil Flynn are just jazzed about Fox’s new business channel.

Greta Van Susteren was happy our camera showed up. The perfect distraction to leave this conversation about which cuff links are best for interviewing foreign diplomats.

Rupert Murdoch spent most of the night not mingling with guests, but in the back on the couch with his best buddy. Both of them wondered how much longer they’d have to wait before the lap dances began.

Rivaling (our) expectations, Constantine Maroulis has not been relegated to Lizzie Grubman parties and backdooring his way into Broadway.

Talk Show host and former Seinfeld writer Spike Feresten was just chatting with wife Erika about homeland security. And how to bring down the Jon StewartStephen Colbert dynasty.

Media pundit Jim Pinkerton may look ominous here, but he was among the most personable of all the guests. And at 6′9”, taller than them, too. But only because we didn’t spot Lloyd Grove.

This time we didn’t even ask Bill O’Reilly if he read blogs. He doesn’t, he’s been gracious enough to tell us on many occassions. But he knows a little too much about RSS feeds.

Fox News anchor Brit Hume and wife Rhoda (the network’s vice president and Washington bureau chief) had to take a break from all the excitement. Pataki! Bloomberg! Murdoch! Little sushi appetizers!

This is about as meta as we can get: A photo of a TV of Fox News Channel’s closed-circuit broadcast of Rupert Murdoch addressing his troops.

Save the Date Events’ Stefanie Hirschorn, Laura Duhig, and Lauren Perez are here to critique the cater waiter service. They hid their scorecards in their cleavage, along with extra gift bags.

The Fox News Channel chyrons may be where aesthetics go to die, but under the tents on Sixth Avenue, things were looking fancy schmancy.

See? Fancy. Schmancy.

It wasn’t long before Bill Hemmer was tuckered out and had to leave. Congressman Peter King, meanwhile, showed up just in time for Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack.”

Karim of KarimTV got an “F” in third grade drawing. He’s spent his whole life making up for it.

Oct 5, 2006 · Link · Repond

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Comments (0)

No. 1
Amy says:

Love the pictures and captions!

Only one problem: Brit Hume’s wife is named Kim, not Rhoda.

Posted: Oct 5, 2006 at 6:46 pm


No. 2
Getting Better Everyday! says:

There’s no problem because Kim’s real name is Rhoda.

Posted: Oct 5, 2006 at 7:38 pm


No. 3
john says:

who give a shit what her name is

Posted: Oct 6, 2006 at 4:49 pm


No. 4
john says:

who give a shit what her name is

Posted: Oct 6, 2006 at 4:50 pm


No. 5
L.L. Fernsehturm says:

Hey, little do YOU know there’s a whole blog devoted to Kiran Chetry! It should be linked with this comment. And thanks for the heads up, I’ve just posted this same complaint…

Posted: Oct 13, 2006 at 10:18 am


No. 6
jonny877 says:

jonny155

Posted: Dec 7, 2006 at 5:50 am


No. 7
jonny14 says:

jonny19

Posted: Jan 19, 2007 at 12:47 pm

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