Media Mole Rodeo: The Banshee Screams in New York
Your lurid first-hand accounts involving the New York media world continue to horrify and transfix us. As your anecdotes of media twattery proceed to pile up, we grow ever closer to the moment where the best bit of gossip is given its due, and its gossiper given a prize, if you consider free drinks with a bunch of Gawker editors and Paula Froelich a prize. So if you havent' already, tell your tale out of school here. After the jump, a lovely tale about uberflack Peggy Siegal, with special guest appearances by Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep, Patrick McMullan and that chick who wrote Devil Wears Prada.
I spent some time as a temp working for publicity at 20th Century Fox. There are many a story about the X-Men, blind items about hacky directors and their young model girlfriends' carelessness with million dollar necklaces, and who is a bitchy Nobu-demanding diva (and her little dog too), but that stuff is so standard at this point in time.
I did get to work at the VIP screening of the Devil Wears Prada, attended by Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep, Martha Stewart and Candace Bergen. The event was organized by notorious NYC publicity doyenne Peggy Siegal, and of course there was massive drama, and of course it all centered around the seating. We spent the hour before the screening in the theater, changing every single reserved sign on every single seat, while Ms. Siegal flapped around screeching about who could sit where and next to whom. By far the biggest issue was where to seat Anna, and of course, keeping her as far away from Lauren Weisberger as possible. Anna ended up with Bee on the left (on the aisle for a quick entrance and exit), with Candace behind her, Meryl behind Candace and Martha on the opposite side. Lauren ended up waaayyy far in the back right corner. I don't think she showed, which was probably for the best. I felt so bad for Anna because when she sat down, the entire theater all just turned around and stared at her until the lights went down. This was a VIP screening, you would think people would have some modicum of tact. The dinner afterwards was another seating debacle, and the hotel staff made us scrap the seating arrangement Peggy had spent a week on because we couldn't get the placecards around in time. Of course this sent her into a livid rage and she went around screaming at her interns, the Fox interns, the hotel event planners, etc. Patrick McMullan was also in a tizzy because after the screening he had Meryl and Anna posing for the million dollar shot together when Peggy whisked Anna off. The one that got away...
