While you sat on the couch bleary-eyed and stunned that you lost your Oscar pool, the rich and famous schmoozed and drank til dawn. To share the experience, we have a gallery for you.
Another week, another lawsuit against a restaurant on behalf of waiters who claim they were denied minimum wage and stiffed on tips. This week's target for the very prolific lawyer Maimon Kirschenbaum: Japonais and its owners Miae Lim, Lester Burgher, Richard Wahlstedt and Jeffrey Beers. If you're keeping count at home, you can now add Japonais to a list that includes Nobu, Jean Georges, Le Cirque, Bouley, BondSt, Balthazar, 1OAK, One Little W. 12, 40/40, B.B. King's, Heartland Brewery, Haru, BLT Steak, BLT Prime, BLT Fish, and Wolfgang's Steakhouse. The full suit is below.
Looks like Steve Rattner has finally landed a job in Washington. Kind of. Bloomberg News reports that the Quadrangle Group co-founder will join the U.S. Treasury as an "adviser" to Secretary Tim Geithner on auto-industry issues. Okay, so it's not "car czar." But it's better than nothing, right? [Bloomberg via Dealbreaker]
One disturbing effect of the recession: It seems people are less inclined to buy plastic bags so they can pick up after their dog. According to the Sanitation Department, Manhattan saw an 88 percent spike in fines for "unattended droppings" last year, with Morningside Drive, Amsterdam Avenue, West End Avenue, Riverside Drive and Central Park West cited as the worst streets. [NYP]
Today we have an Oscar honoree stepping out on his wife, a diva being a diva, coked-out actresses and reality stars, and some bitchy B-lister saying mean things at fashions shows.
You've seen the slideshows of celebrities on the Oscar red carpet. Here's how various media moguls dressed up for the big occasion. Lots of really boring black tuxedos after the jump.
The hotly anticipated auction of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé begins today in Paris. Can't be there to in person to ogle the works by Picasso and Matisse? Christie's, which is spending a record amount to promote the auction, has posted hundreds of photos to Flickr. You can take a look around after the jump.
• Morgan Stanley exec Guy Metcalfe is finally on his way to unloading his five-bedroom apartment at 15 CPW, which he bought for $9.35 million in October and quickly re-listed for $16.5 million two-weeks later. After cutting the price to $13.75 million and then dropping it again to $12.5 million, he is now in contract to sell the 3,822-square-foot spread. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Thani of Qatar has lowered the price of his three-bedroom apartment at Trump Park Avenue, which he bought for $6.1 million in 2005 and listed for $14 million late last year. It's now on the market for $10 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• It turns out Sting won't be listing his Central Park West duplex for $26 million with Claudine and Raphael De Niro after all. Halstead's Mark Friedman will be handling the honors, and the four-bedroom apartment will be offered for a much more modest $19 million. [NYT]
Sex and the City's Kristin Davis turns 44 today. Dakota Fanning is turning 15. Guitarist Brad Whitford of Aerosmith is 57. Choreographer Elizabeth Streb is 59. Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell turns 44. Actor/director Peter Fonda is 70. Comedian Aziz Ansari is 26. Actress Emily Blunt is turning 26. And Marc Price, the actor who played "Skippy" on Family Ties is 41 today.
This ad came on during the Oscars and we're still baffled. It starts with Tom Cruise and Jimmy Kimmel in a steamy, tumbling embrace in Cruise's bedroom. Then it gets weird.
• The government is in talks with Citigroup to raise its stake in the beleaguered bank to between 25 and 40 percent. [WSJ, DB]
• Federal regulators plan to review the financial condition of 20 banks this week as part of a round of "stress tests." [NYT, BN]
• Regulators have seized Allen Stanford's companies in Antigua and Barbuda; Stanford has also surrendered his passport to U.S. authorities. [Reuters]
• Shares in UBS have fallen to an all-time low as the bank continues to reel from allegations of tax fraud. [Reuters, DB]
• Even Dubai needs a bailout these days: The UAE said yesterday it will give the once-highflying emirate $10 billion. [WSJ]
• Steve Feinberg's Cerberus is closing down its Hong Kong office. [FT]
• Hedge funder Richard Perry is cutting fees to keep investors happy. [WSJ]
• The SEC is now in hot water over its handling of insider-trading accusations involving former executives at Lehman Brothers. [NYT]
It's not that we don't sympathize with Ryan Seacrest. The Oscar red carpet is a relentless stream of thin-skinned celebrities. But the celebrity interviewer seemed especially cringe-inducing this year.
• Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer made their first awards show appearance together at last night's Oscars, sitting just 12 seats away from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, although they managed to avoid a run-in by skipping the red carpet and showing up at different pre-show parties over the weekend. [People, NYDN]
• Uma Thurman, Darren Aronofsky, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, and Daniel Craig all skipped out of the show early to head over to the Vanity Fair bash, where Graydon Carter invited Chesley Sullenberger and his wife Lori as surprise guests. [LAT, P6]
• Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise had an awkward encounter at CAA head Bryan Lourd's house party on Friday night, while Oprah and Gayle King held court at Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg's pre-Oscars bash, and everyone "partied like it was 1999" at Harvey Weinstein's gathering. [P6, P6, Fox 411]
• At the Spirit Awards on Saturday, Mickey Rourke "playfully mauled" Rachel Weisz and "made a grab" at Jessica Alba's chest. [People, NYDN]
• A full list of Oscar winners, in case you missed the action last night. [People]
