Who: A fixture on the New York social scene, Palermo is best known for her role alongside Whitney Port on the now-canceled MTV reality show The City.

Backstory: The daughter of a Connecticut real estate developer named Douglas Palermo, Olivia moved to New York to attend the New School. Attending class, though, soon took a backseat to making a splash on the social scene and she quickly finagled her way on to the society "It" list with some help from a publicist and some heavy-hitter friends. Palermo's social maneuvering finally paid off when she was cast in MTV's The City, a spinoff of The Hills. Cast as the show's bitch, Olivia spent two seasons "working" alongside Erin Kaplan at Elle magazine before the series was canceled in October 2010.

Drama: Palermo was at the center of vapid socialite controversy in March 2007, when a blog posted a suck-up email which may or may not have been written by Palermo. Concerned that she'd alienated some of the city's more notable social fixtures, the pathetic missive attributed to Palermo was sent to 70 scenesters ("I would be honored to have the opportunity to start fresh with you all and hopefully one day, call you my friends"). Palermo's family immediately declared the email a forgery and hired a lawyer, claiming "identity theft." (The whole incident was apparently interesting enough to merit the cover of New York magazine.) A month later, Olivia's well-publicized grudge with fellow socialite Tinsley Mortimer came to a head when the Tinz reportedly shoved Palermo at a charity event.

Personal: Palermo's boyfriend is Johannes Huebl, a male model originally from Germany. (He's pictured on the right alongside Palermo.) Her most recent ex, Brad Leinhardt, is the founder of the fashion line Izzy Gold. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment on Leonard Street in Tribeca.

Vital Stats


Full Name:
 Date of Birth: 02/28/1986
Place of Birth: Greenwich, CT
High School: St. Luke's School
Residence(s): New York, NY (Tribeca
Filed Under:Socialites, Fashion, Media


[Photos via Getty Images]