Link-pimping email from TODAYshow.com: "Hard to keep all these ladies straight, but this is the one who is on the front page of the NY Post today with people alleging he paid her for sex. She, of course, denies it."
Alicia Silverstone riding the subway and listening to her iPod ... Vincent D'Onofrio hailing a cab in SoHo ... Ryan Reynolds walking downtown ... Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey leaving a building together .. Amber Rose shopping in SoHo with a friend ... Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis on the set of their new movie, Black Swan ... Tara Reid arriving at MTV studios in Times Square ... Taylor Swift getting ice cream with Emma Stone at a Baskin Robbins on Wednesday night ... Celine Dion signing autographs outside her hotel ... and Young Jeezy posing for pictures with a fan on the street.
When your girlfriend makes you get Botox, you do it to get laid. If you keep going back, then you're vain. Also checking the mirror, dueling pop divas, a closeted reality star, and a coked-up actress. Time for your shot!
• Just four months after she won approval to tear down her Southampton home and build something bigger and better in its place, Tory Burch has put the Meadow Lane property on the market for $17.9 million. She has good reason to sell. In October, Burch went into contract to buy an even bigger property nearby for an estimated $45 million. [WSJ, Sotheby's]
• Barry Weiss, the music executive who replaced Clive Davis as the CEO of BMG in 2008, has picked up a new apartment. Weiss has paid $4.995 million for a penthouse at the Harrison at 205 West 76th Street. [Cityfile]
• Showtime chief executive Matt Blank has paid $11.2 million for a 10th-floor condo at the Superior Ink building at 400 West 12th Street. [Real Deal]
• Hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman may want to stick to finance in the future. On Tuesday night, Ackman personally auctioned off the guest suite he owns at The Majestic on Central Park West and ended up selling it for $320,000, just $20,000 above the minimum bid. [Curbed, previously]
If this doesn't elicit some kind of emotion from you, then remove yourself from the human race and cash in your soul now. On freezing days like today, this will make you feel warm.
It's been a year since Bernie Madoff was arrested and charged with running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. Madoff's life has changed a bit since then. These days he resides in a cell at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina, wears a khaki uniform with a number printed on the front (No. 61727-054), and works in the prison kitchen scrubbing pots and pans. But that doesn't mean he's necessarily unhappy. The Journal reports Madoff spends his free time playing bocce, chess and checkers and has made lots of friends behind bars. And he even likes the food, according to two lawyers who visited him. That's good to hear, isn't it? With 1,795 months of his sentence left to go, he'll have the pleasure of eating his next 166,000 meals there. [WSJ]
Goldman Sachs' decision to curb bonuses, and President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, are just two of the optimistic stories in today's optimistic papers.
• There's both good and bad news for Mischa Barton. The bad: She's reportedly drinking again and was seen "knocking back shots and drinking margaritas" earlier this week. (As you may remember, that sort of behavior led Mischa to spend some time in the hospital this past summer.) The good news: She supposedly looked "healthy" and "in control" while doing it, so it should be a few months before she hits bottom again and is forced to make a return trip. [P6]
• Think a good thought for Madonna. Louis Vuitton has decided to drop Madge as the face of the brand and replace her with 25-year-old supermodel Lara Stone. [Sun]
• The last 24 hours of Tiger: Holly Sampson, the porn star who had been suspected of having a tryst with Tiger, confirmed the rumor yesterday; meanwhile, Hollywood madam Michelle Braun says Woods spent $60,000 on hookers between 2006 and 2007, was into the "college cutie, girls-next-door look," and was a fan of three-ways, too. Luckily for Tiger, the reports about his dozen or so mistresses (and all the kinky specifics) may not spell disaster for his marriage to Elin Nordegren. Several tabloids report that Woods has come clean to Elin about "all" of his misbehavior in recent days and she's planning to stay with him.
That voice comes in the shape of actor Nancy Cartwright who is among other more minor celebrities. The leaked video is about raising money to build Scientology churches and convert as many people as possible. And is genuinely disconcerting.
Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry turns 66 today. Actress, comedian and TV host Mo'Nique is turning 42. Jermaine Jackson is 55. Motley Crew's Nikki Sixx is 51. Montana Senator Max Baucus turns 68 today. Mos Def is turning 36. One-time reality TV star Lisa Gastineau is 50. Bay boy Brit chef Marco Pierre White is 48. And '80s actresses Teri Garr and Donna Mills are turning 65 and 67, respectively. A handful of weekend birthdays are below.
British gossipmongers Holy Moly say the tabloids are preparing to out an even bigger married sports star as a serial cheater. The mystery man has had a year-long affair. Suggestions in the box!
