Marc Jacobs is having a big week. First, he's showing his fall collection on Friday, so, ooooh!. (Try getting into that one.) Second, he's rumored to be taking public, at the show, his three-way romance – bear with us – with long-time boyfriend Jason Preston and porn star Erik Rhodes. (Rhodes says they're not dating, but he will be attending the show. As a friend. And Friday just happens to be his 26th birthday.)
And third, well, is that little matter of extortion.
In order to use the 69th Regiment Armory, on 26th Street, to show each season, Jacobs allegedly had to pay off the armory's superintendent, James Jackson, some $40,000 in cash and gifts, including a Bowflex machine. In return, Jackson, who was arraigned on extortion charges yesterday, assured Jacobs the date he needed, early access to the venue, and a breezy paperwork process.
Now New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo is on the case, upset that anyone would ever feel required to pay off a public official to use public space.
Other designers, meanwhile, aren't exactly empathizing with Jacobs. While his payments may have been forced, they may have also secured him exclusive access to the armory during Fashion Week, preventing any other designers from showing there. That doesn't really elicit sympathy.
• Gwyneth Paltrow pulls a Madonna and puts British culture on a pedastal above American.
• Keith Urban is out of rehab and back to brunch with Nicole Kidman.
• Paris Hilton ditches Kim Kardashian for being too popular.
• Tracey Morgan disinvited from Christmas tree lighting by Mayor Bloomberg for all those DUIs.
• Marc Jacobs' ex-boyfriend and former rentboy Jason Preston spotted making out with Perez Hilton, the celeb blogger who claims his sex life is nonexistant.
• If Nikki Finke is to be believed, the flick from the anti-Semitic actor-producer is going to perform better than a feel good movie about killing for diamonds.
• Jake Gyllenhaal finds love with a M.M. that isn't Matthew McConaughey?
When Jason Preston busted out his forearm as a billboard of free advertising for his boyfriend Marc Jacobs, everybody cooed and gurgled over their cutie pie relationship.
Things were truly heavenly for Marc and his glam, tan boytoy, as they graced carpet after carpet together, expressing their disdain for other gays. Preston even boasted on his Friendster profile that he likes sweet guys who know how to be a "HOT FUCK." Aww, that's so cute.
Well, it was cute anyway. Marc and Jason are duzo, yo, and Marc blames the crumble on Jason's party life.
But Jacobs tells Pride magazine that their relationship is now more over than pashmina shawls. "I wanted things to be a certain way, and it's just not working," he said, sadly. "I wanted him to be there when I wanted him to be there. I have to be in bed at 11:30 and he's 25 and wants to go to clubs every night. . . . I adore him. But do I want to control him? No."
Though, if we dare say, somebody needs to control this dude. He's gone so far as to post responses to this mess on his updated (though still "in a relationship" tagged) Friendster profile. And insulting gossips, which, everyone knows, is the best way to get gossiped about.
It's funny how you think you know somebody and then they turn out to be someone you never expected. It sucks because I believed in him, I believed in us.
Yeah, that sucks. Too bad you have a tattoo of your ex's name on your arm and told the rest of the guys in your dating pool how much you hate them for being gay.
Design for living [Michael Musto, Village Voice]
