For the past few weeks, newspapers in Connecticut have been buzzing about a wealthy man who used SeekingArrangement.com to meet young women for sex and who became the victim of an extortion attempt when a lady he encountered on the site vowed to publicly expose his taste for prostitutes if he didn't come up with $100,000. (The site, which is designed for sugar daddies and the women who love them, was profiled in New York Times Magazine last month.) Over the weekend, the name of the mystery man was revealed—he's DuPont heir and money manager Stephen Dent. And it turns out this isn't his first time he's been down this road. According to the police in Greenwich, at least three women he has met on the site over the past few years have tried to blackmail him. Even more surprising? He says he's coping with the saga just fine thanks to the "tremendous support he has received from his wife." [Greenwich Time]

• A.R. "Tony" Sanchez Jr., the heir to a Texas oil and banking empire founded by his father, has dropped the price of his 76th-floor apartment at the Metropolitan Tower at 146 West 57th Street. The five-bedroom spread, which went on the market for $15 million in June 2008, is now $11 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Entrepreneur Jerry Francesco and his wife, Lucille, paid $7.9 million for a 3,300-square-foot penthouse at the Brompton on East 85th Street. The couple is now suing the building they used to call home, One Beacon Court. [NYT]
• Samuel Nussbaum, an executive vice president at the insurance company WellPoint, has paid $2.095 million for a 21st-floor pied-à-terre at 70 Battery Place. [Cityfile]

Liza Minnelli's creepy ex, concert promoter David Gest, turns 56 today. Sportswriter Mike Lupica is turning 57. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is 76. Comedian Mort Sahl is 82. Model Laetitia Casta turns 31. Actor James Haven, the son of Jon Voight and brother of Angelina Jolie, is 36. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart is turning 26. Former NBC honcho Warren Littlefield is turning 57. Former MTV VJ Martha Quinn is 50. And Dr. Robert Jarvik—the artificial heart inventor who also appears in all those Lipitor commercials—turns 63 today.

• Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant will meet in Greenwich divorce court for the first time today. Expect some fireworks: Brant has already filed a motion demanding Seymour "undergo drug and alcohol testing"; for her part, Seymour is accusing Brant of "hostile, threatening and intimidating behavior." [NYP]
• Now that he's split from his wife, Sean Penn is supposedly dating Natalie Portman (again), since she "stimulates him in ways no other person has." [Star]
• Rumor has it Madonna and Jesus Luz are planning some sort of commitment ceremony at the Kabbalah Center sometime soon. [NYDN]
• Luke Russert was either the "It" boy at the White House Correspondents' dinner on Saturday night, or has been a major disappointment for MSNBC, depending on who you talk to. [NYDN, P6]
• Speaking of nepotism, Meghan McCain reportedly "lost it" and acted like an "insolent child" when a guard told her she couldn't bring two friends into the Correspondents dinner on Saturday. [NYDN]

Meghan McCain and Luke Russert act like bratty kids, Jimmy Fallon gets his college diploma, Lily Allen gets herself banned from the BBC for "using rude words," and Ryan O'Neal allegedly phone-sexes while Farrah dies.

Just in case you missed it, video clips from Barack Obama and Wanda Sykes' speeches at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday night. [YouTube, YouTube]

• The market has been up big the last few weeks. But the ride may be over. "The market has gone too far, too fast," as one fund manager puts it. [BN]
• Following the stress tests last week, a number of banks have been busy de-stressing: Both Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo raised billions late last week to satisfy new capital requirements mandated by the Fed. [NYT]
• Meanwhile, Bank of America, which needs to raise $34 billion (down from the $50 billion it could have been forced to raise) is looking to offload its stake in China Construction Bank, although finding takers isn't easy. [WSJ]
• Warning: Turning around AIG may take a bit longer than expected. [WSJ]

A Louisiana woman is suing Wal-Mart over an incident where a nutria, affectionately named "Norman" by store employees, "came from behind the Coke rack" and scared the shit out of her.

On Friday ex-New Yorker scribe Dan Baum began telling the story of his employment at the magazine through a medium rarely synonymous with narrative storytelling—-Twitter. As of this writing he's up to 1399 words!

Fresh from their latest round of conniptions and hissy-fits over Obama saying that "empathy" would be an ideal characteristic for his upcoming nomination to the Supreme Court, because Jesus hates empathy you see, conservatives are predictably aghast at Sykes' jokes and that Obama dared to enjoy them. Here's a sampling of commentary:

My experience following celebrity Twitters has shown that it's usually an exercise in crushing disappointment, often leading one to loathe the celebrity Twitter-er with the intensity of a million white-hot suns, but this is endearing.

So the weekend box office numbers are in and they've confirmed something I'd already suspected: I'm the only upright-walking mammal with at least twelve dollars of disposable income who hasn't seen Star Trek.

Remember John Gechter, the Christian college student who was suspended for doing gay porn? Well, according to a tipster, Gechter is a burgeoning international superstar thanks to his considerable "power bottom" skills.

Hi there! I'm Cajun Boy and I'll be filling in on the night shift this week while the lovely and gracious Ryan Tate takes a much-deserved vacation. Let's get acquainted!

Serious shit: apparently, Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign intended to bring the entire thing down onto itself.

High school sucks sometimes. Prime example: boy finds date, boy goes to the big dance, and boy probably returns home at a reasonable hour. What happens? Boy gets suspended.

Two of the largest, most storied baby-eating factories talent agencies in the world are merging. But sometimes, in order to birth a monster, the assistants must suffer. We have a few firsthand accounts.

As of 2:30PM today, on Google Trends, the following restaurants America is taking Mom out for dinner to tonight:

30 Million Americans (14%) 16 or older are illiterate. Which kinda makes reading Twilight okay.

Another "Media Is Dying, Here's How We're Coping" piece from the Times, another day. This time: the storied tradition that is Media Softball.