Donatella's Excess, Excessively Expensive Items

cityfile · 06/04/09 07:09PM

• Versace CEO Giancarlo di Risio is expected to hand in his resignation tomorrow. He's leaving after reportedly clashing with Donatella Versace "over her lavish lifestyle," not surprisingly. [NYT]
• The second season of The City has started filming inside Elle's offices. [WWD]
• Rosa Cha has launched a line of bathing suits that sell for as much as $3,200 apiece. And you can't even get them wet. But that isn't stopping women from buying them, supposedly. [NYP]
• If that bathing suit sounds appealing, you're probably the sort of person who'd also be interested in buying these $340 Hermès cotton boxer shorts for your husband. [FWD]
• Karl Lagerfeld is hitting the big screen. Or his voice is, at least. He'll be playing a villain in an animated French movie. [Fashionista]

Geeky Obama Intrigued by Pyramid-Building Aliens

Ryan Tate · 06/04/09 06:26PM

The Twitterati tried on new roles: A Salon correspondent got a science fiction lecture from the president; a Wired reporter reviewed an X-Ray and a doctor lamented the lack of strange women.

Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition

cityfile · 06/04/09 05:26PM

• The bistro inside Andre Balazs's Standard Hotel will be called the Standard Grill and will probably open its doors "in the next couple of weeks." [Eater]
• A Q&A with Michael Psilakis of Anthos and Kefi fame. [RG]
• Frank Bruni checks in on Sue Torres's Mexican spot Sueños. [NYT]
• Eight bars that provide free food along with the drinks. [TONY]
• For $105, Morimoto will provide you with sushi and sake "while cruising New York Harbor on an 80-foot schooner." Sounds like a blast. [GS]
• Everything you were told about eating healthy was probably wrong. [NYDN]
• Don't forget that tomorrow is National Donut Day! Both Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme have specials in honor of the grand occasion, naturally. [ML]

Lydia Hearst Denied

cityfile · 06/04/09 03:27PM

Have you seen those bus posters featuring a scantily clad Lydia Hearst? The ads are promoting an indie movie called The Last International Playboy and while the stick-thin socialite only has a minor role in the movie—she strips and gets hot and heavy with a guy and a girl in the opening scene—she's front and center in the press campaign, not surprisingly. Tragically, though, the oft-nude publishing heiress reports she's been the victim of censorship! Although the ads appear on NYC buses, they've been banned in Seattle, Chicago and Dallas, she says. Guess we have a different tolerance level when it comes to these things! [NYO]

Bars Too Cool For You

Hamilton Nolan · 06/04/09 03:15PM

Did you know that any bar worth drinking in is now a speakeasy that would never tell the likes of you its secret location? If you didn't already know, then how do you ever expect to get into one?

Mozilo Charged

cityfile · 06/04/09 02:02PM

The SEC filed filed civil charges this afternoon against former Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives at the company. The three stand accused of committing fraud by misleading investors; Mozilo also faces insider trading charges for selling Countrywide stock based on nonpublic information and collecting around $140 million in the process. His status as the most overly tanned CEO in American corporate history? That remains undisputed. [WSJ, NYT]

Bob's Back: Madoff Fundraiser Emerges From His Cave

cityfile · 06/04/09 01:10PM

Robert Jaffe was one of Bernie Madoff's most prominent fundraisers. Shuttling between Boston and Palm Beach, the well-coiffed, car-collecting financier with a weakness for $5,000 suits was responsible for raising countless millions over the years, funds he funneled into Madoff's $65 billion scheme. Jaffe is currently facing multiple lawsuits, and investigations by multiple state and federal agencies are still pending. He's also been almost entirely rejected by the people he once called his friends and clients: Back in December, for example, he nearly took a beating when he turned up at a party and came face to face with Nine West founder Jerome Fisher, who lost $150 million to Madoff's scheme. But while Jaffe faded from sight soon after and retreated to his $17 million mansion—and even had to sacrifice his weekly manicures because he was reportedly "too embarrassed to show his face"—he's back!