Harvey Weinstein has always had a knack for making enemies. Add Project Runway host Heidi Klum to that list: she's decided he's the one to blame for the sixth season's legal limbo.

When someone sees another person break the rules and get away with it, does that inspire them to commit wrongdoing themselves? When people like Allen Stanford or Bernie Madoff are arrested, does that encourage people to play nice? These were the sorts of questions that a group of researchers at the University of North Carolina and Duke set out to answer.

In your rumormongering Thursday media column: rumors of layoffs and shenanigans at Viacom and Sesame Street (updated), Felix Salmon jumps the Fort Polio ship, Jay Carney flackery, and a journalism grad is broken:

Google cofounder Sergey Brin and wife Anne Wojcicki are so unconcerned with privacy that they're donating their newborn son's DNA to science. So surely they won't mind if we tell you the kid's name.

Met Museum Plans Major Layoffs [NYT]
The Met Drops a Cool Million for an Old Master [NYM]

Will tonight's Daily Show appearance cement Jim Cramer's reputation as the Bernie Madoff of the Media? The embattled business analyst turned up on recovered felon Martha Stewart's show this morning to lower expectations.

So the judges now have one magical veto they can use just once. Deal with it, America! They didn't use it last night, though. So poor Jasmine Murray and Gloria Estefan were sent home, weeping.

MTV is using rock stars and their super-sluttiness to teach all Brazilians about safe sex. Thanks, Madonna and Mick Jagger, you sluts! And thanks to everyone you screwed, as well.

What do you know! Everyone's favorite "broker to the stars" Jared Seligman turned up on Open House NYC to share some tips on how to increase the value of your apartment before putting it on the market. So what words of wisdom did he have to impart on the world? Clean up any clutter, fix your broken appliances, and remove the food from your kitchen, a task that is no doubt easier to handle when your clients include people like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who don't eat to begin with. [LXTV via Curbed]

FBI agents have raided the former office of Vivek Kundra, a D.C. official tapped to be Barack Obama's chief information officer. A Kundra lieutenant has been arrested on bribery charges. But Kundra's clear, we think!

We think you'll agree that this recap of Bernie Madoff's appearance in court today—which is narrated by a Brit and was broadcast on Al-Jazeera—is far more entertaining than the one you'll be seeing on American cable news networks this evening. [Al-Jazeera]

Could it be there's a vast conspiracy underway to sully the reputation of Ms. Olivia Palermo? Yesterday an anonymous tipster informed us that he/she spotted the young social/reality TV star at a certain discount clothing chain. Now Racked.com has several compelling reasons why this person's account may not have been entirely truthful! And here we were hoping that Olivia had suddenly caught on to the fact we're in the middle of a recession. [Racked, previously]

Soho House has posted a sign specifically forbidding "Pairs in the toilet." Romance is dead.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Oprah share one goal: They want to know what you're feeling. Zuckerberg prefers you tell him via computer, though, so why's he going on her show tomorrow?

All Tricia Walsh-Smith coverage [Cityfile]

OK!'s cover this week shows Suri Cruise and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt on an adorable playdate! Now, let's look at the two separate photos they stitched together to create this Frankenstein-like Photoshop:

Queer people are always causing all the problems on The Real World. Like how transsexual Katelynn goes go-go dancing instead of go-going to birthday parties. And how Pedro like died and stuff.

• Jim Cramer hits The Daily Show tonight. And in what can only be interpreted as an effort to dial down the ass-kicking headed his way, Cramer is now claiming Jon Stewart is "his idol." Good luck with that there, Jim. [HP]
• Should CNBC's Erin Burnett really be making appearances on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice? Maybe not: "NBC keeps testing the limits between news and entertainment in pursuit of cross-promotional synergy." [NYT]
• "Sully" Sullenberger has scored a two-book deal worth $3 million. [TDB]
• Ann Coulter "has been especially noisy in her self-promotion lately," which may have something to do with the fact her book isn't selling. [Portfolio]
• More and more TV shows are working the recession into storylines. [ABC]
• These are dark days for the newspaper biz, as you've probably heard. [NYT]
• More on Ross Douthat, the conservative blogger who has been hired by The New York Times to take over Bill Kristol's Op-Ed column. [E&P]
• Post staffers reflect on the life and times of Braden Keil, the paper's real estate columnist who died on Tuesday and who will be very much missed. [NYO]

Applause broke out in a New York courtroom — and across the nation — as U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered Bernie Madoff, who has confessed to a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, to jail. Immediately.

Meghan McCain went on Rachel Maddow's television program last night in a bid to become the Fresh New Voice of the GOP. Instead she made a fool of herself.