Did John Mayer hook up with Ricki Lake at the Sunshine and Sachs holiday party? Probably not! But that's what Page Six insinuates in today's bizarre/gossipy item entitled "RICKI, DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER.' Writes Richard Johnson (and, to a lesser degree, Paula Froelich) and co:
John Mayer…made a beeline for Ricki Lake at the Sunshine Sachs p.r. company’s Christmas party. The two talked about Lake’s new documentary, “The Business of Being Born,” before Mayer confessed, “I’ve had a crush on you for two years.” Helpful publicists then herded the two to a back table, where they exchanged numbers. Lake soon left and went to the Rose Bar, where Mayer texted her throughout the night.
A few minor points to consider.
Psssst! Have you heard the latest (unsubstantiated) rumors about the always-gargantuan, and sometimes-philanthropic Kimora Lee Simmons?
Everyone's favorite Bauer pub (Hint: Not Life & Style, the "other" one) recently hired a private investigator to get to the bottom (or was it the top?) of longstanding rumors that Cruise is a high profile closet-case. The best he could come up with? "The rumors about Tom being gay come from his detractors—most of whom are former Scientologists."
Weird that so many former Scientologists are, coincidentally, same-sex oriented! And here we thought L. Ron Hubbard's disciples were all latent heterosexuals—like John Travolta.
Have we (as we speculated last week) finally seen the last of Tucker Carlson's bow tie and annoyingly conservative ideals? Possibly, but MSNBC is keeping things ambiguous for now.
Rumors have been flying recently that Tucker Carlson could soon be on the way out at MSNBC. In a report that aired this morning on NPR, Phil Griffin, a senior vice president at the cable network, described Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as part of the MSNBC "brand". Asked whether Mr. Carlson was also part of that brand, Mr. Griffin replied: "He is right now."
That is, assuming MSNBC's definition of "ambiguous" roughly translates to "You have until the end of the day to clear out your things."
Have you heard? Tennis star Serena Williams and rapper Common are totally maybe-dating! Or, as an anonymous Page Six "spy" puts it, "They were very friendly, arm-in-arm … They were keeping it cool, but you could tell Common likes himself some Serena." Yeah, he does!
But for those still unconvinced, the spy adds, "I asked a friend of his [Translation: A random guy at the party] and was told they are dating."
Which, apparently was sufficient evidence to warrant Page Six's running the item (provocatively titled "Uncommon Love") without first seeking an obligatory "Common and Serena are just friends" statement from either side's publicist.
Rachael Ray sets the record straight by denying persistent rumors that her marriage to fledgling musician-slash-attorney John Cusimano is in jeopardy. Says Ray: "I love him desperately and I would never be stupid enough to give up free legal advice, a rock star, and a great cook, and handsome guy at that."
And we admire the woman's conviction although, frankly, we're not entirely sure about the whole "rock star" part. That said, Rachael raises a good point: why would she ever consider dumping a negligibly talented guitar player who's rumored (but not conclusively proven) to have a "thing" for spitting in other women's faces?
Especially when he's also a lawyer and could totally destroy her in the divorce settlement.
"Kisses like a fourth grader." "Passive in bed." "Inspires Academy Award caliber fake orgasms." These are just three of the serious allegations levied against billionaire Ron Burkle by his opportunistic former mistress, Chevyn McClintock (who, incidentally, is shopping a memoir). And while Burkle is, undoubtedly, less than pleased by the questionable and totally irrelevant charges, McClintock will not be silenced.
She told [Page Six] that when she recently sent Burkle the chapter he appears in, she got angry calls from him. "He told me, 'Chevyn, if you're smart you won't go through with this. It's not in your best interest.' . . . But it'll be published even if I have to publish it myself . . . He will not intimidate me further."
And there you have it. The indubitable McClintock will stay her course, and continue her selfless, one-woman crusade to alert any/all potential Burkle bedders of the magnate's inability to master first base. And if that should happen to result in a profitable book deal, so be it!
The best thing about so-called "indefinite pregnancies" is you can never really be "wrong." You can only be slightly preemptive, which is to say, the very first to start insinuating equally unsfounded rumors that rely heavily on words like "miscarriage" and "rhymes with shmashmortion."
Regardless, take a look at the most popular rumored unborn baby toters of recent (and ancient) history. It's totally preggers! By which we, of course, mean "full of promise, consequence or results."
From our mailbag:
When I walked in [to Hyde the other night] I saw Jenna Jameson with Aubrey from that one group Danity Kane. So I couldn't stop staring at Jenna Jameson the whole night except when Chris Crocker would get naked dancing to Britney (disgusting).* Jenna Jameson and Aubrey didnt leave each other's side the whole night. I thought it was really cute until they started making out…they were MACKING DOWN…Jenna doesn't surprise me, but does this mean Aubrey's a lesbian??
Hmm, probably not. But it just might mean she's given up her dream of getting impregnated by Diddy then happily abandoning her short-lived musical career in favor of coasting off the child support checks and parlaying her moderate notoriety into a three-deal cover spread with OK! magazine.
We do wish Aubrey the best of luck with her latest venture, however: Finally convincing the good folks over at WireImage to list her name alongside "actress" Jenna Jameson's.
*Agreed!
Breaking: Despite her best efforts to convince us that she was merely retaining water and overeating, JLo and her thinspirational husband might actually be "expecting!" We're shocked too, but Us Weekly nails the exclusive, "confirming" the pregnancy by quoted TRL host Damien Fahey as saying, "If I were a betting man, I’d definitely bet she was pregnant."
For her part, Lopez and Marc Anthony continue to maintain their vows of secrecy, holding off on any announcements until they're through milking the attention, scoring lucrative cover deals and drumming up publicity.
Which is to say, nothing's really "official" until her water breaks.
From P6: "IT would be so much easier putting out this column if we could just print whatever rumors we hear with out checking to see if they're true. That is apparently what Gawker.com does." Oh, SNAP!
Yesterday, we talked (at length!) about the widely reported Politico scoop claiming that Hillary Clinton pressured the editors at GQ to kill a story about her campaign, using an upcoming cover story on her husband as leverage.
At the time, we chose to focus on the Clintons' role in the dispute, although GQ's unwillingness to stand by their piece—and wimpy refusal to stand tall in the face of obvious external pressure—was also duly noted.
Which is why we're puzzled at new reports alleging that GQ editors leaked the story to Politico themselves. If true, all we can say to them is well done, sirs! You've done your very best to portray Hillary Clinton as a quintessential schoolyard bully. And as a consequence, you come off looking no better than the prototypical geek who—try as he may—can't seem to hold onto his groundbreaking story proverbial lunch money.
Only days after originally claiming Oscar De La Hoya enjoys fishnets, stilettos and long walks on South Beach former stripper "model" Milana Dravnel is suddenly sounding less like a pole dancer and more like Jacoby & Meyers. "I was pressured into going public with the photos by certain individuals who had improper motives and acted solely for their own financial gain. I have not received any money from the sale or use of these photos,” she explains. [Mollygood]
Despite recent pics of J. Lo's protruding belly, hubby Marc Anthony stubbornly refuses to admit a tiny fetus is to blame. Instead, Anthony would have us believe that Lopez has simply put on a few, a flimsy explanation that we will readily believe, provided it spares us from the mental anguish of picturing the unborn child's conception. [Mollygood]
You know that time back in 2004 when Kevin Spacey explained a prominent shiner by saying he got "brutally mugged?" And then, not long afterwards, he pulled a Paula Abdul and said he actually just fell down and "tripped over his dog?" Well, now it turns out he was probably just suckerpunched in the face by a non toe-tapping male waiter who wasn't interested in splitting a side order of rough sex. [Queerty]
Paris Hilton tells Elle UK that she's totally ready to have a baby next year. And perhaps even sooner, if we are to believe the words of a self-described friend/anonymous source.
"Paris told me, 'I want lots of babies and a more simple life away from the celebrity spotlight," says a friend. "[She also said] I did a lot of soul-searching about my partying and then I heard Nicole was pregnant and I decided it's time for me to grow up and take responsibility - and the best way to do that is to become a mother.'"
But can we really trust this so-called friend? Something tells us we ought to give this a bit more thought.
Observation #1. Only Paris would use the words "The Simple Life" to describe her own existence without even a hint of sarcasm.
Observation #2. Only Paris would decide that the best way to "grow up and take responsibility" would be to accidentally-on-purpose become pregnant.
How does OK! editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens know she's on the brink of success? Because all of the most prominent gossip columnists keep whispering that she's on the verge of getting fired. Which means she's really made it! Either that or, you know, she's really about to get fired.
How is mudslinger Ed Klein able to rationalize writing "such salacious details" about Katie Couric knowing she's a single mother of two daughters? "Those kids have been reading about their mother for the last 2, 3 years, explains Klein. "I'm only saying what they already know."
Yes, because everyone knows unsubstantiated gossip is totally justifiable when it's 2-3 years old!*
Meanwhile, bonus points to Klein for admitting that his entire bio consists of nothing more than tawdry rumors that have been previously reported and, presumably, disproved. Sounds like real groundbreaking stuff!
* Also, three years ago daughter Caroline was only 8! But apparently it's never too early to start reading recycled rumors about your mother's supposed promiscuity.
Don't you just hate it when you make some sort of dumb joke about how you "can never find extra-small condoms," and then all of a sudden, BAM! First, the gossip columns start reporting about how you're "under-endowed" and then a rep from LifeStyle condoms offers you a job modeling their "snuggle fit" prophylactics.
Yep, it must really suck to be Enrique Iglesias.
He must just go home to his giant diamond-encrusted mansion, tell his personal gourmet chef, "No Pierre, I'm not hungry tonight," and then cry himself to sleep every single night over those totally believable extra-small-penis rumors.
You know, when he's not having marathon sex with Anna Kournikova.
Yesterday, we told you about the upcoming unauthorized bio-slash-hatchet job on Katie Couric (written by professional mudslinger, Ed Klein) that claims she and her former Today show colleagues weren't exactly sitting around, braiding each other's hair when the cameras were off. In fact, Klein goes so far as to suggest that relations between Couric and Lauer were decidedly unfriendly, and claims Lauer even threatened to quit Today if Katie's $65 million contract were renewed.
Naturally, we were taking all of this with a grain of salt (seeing as Klein has about as much credibility as Joe Isuzu*) until we came across this interview Matt Lauer gave to Good Housekeeping magazine, in which he admits to being a "cheesy dad," a point he illustrates by sharing the following cheddar-laced anecdote.
Editorial Director
