Wintour Minion Reveals Nothing

cityfile · 02/18/09 02:46PM

Remember back in January when Times fashion queen Cathy Horyn tore Vogue to shreds, calling it "stale and predictable," among other things? Well, if you should happen to ask Vogue's Sally Singer what she thought of the piece, keep in mind she has an airtight excuse that will allow her to duck out of answering the question. "I was in India when Cathy's piece came out, so I didn't read it at the time." Good one! Oh, and if you're wondering what it's really like to work for Anna Wintour, Sally will have you know that it really is a bed of roses. "She's fantastic because she's clear. The thing about Anna that's so good to work for is she knows what she wants." And here we were thinking Anna was a timid, cautious woman full of self-doubt!

More Bad News for Goldman

cityfile · 02/18/09 02:36PM

Jon Winkelried suddenly announced yesterday he was retiring, and now there's more bad news for Goldman Sachs: CNBC's Charlie Gasparino reports that a number of partners at the firm have been forced to borrow money to cover margin calls. Several senior execs used Goldman stock to buy into hedge funds and the like, but with shares down 50 percent since last spring, "Goldman Sachs is in the awkward position of making margin calls on its own partners, who can't meet those calls because their alternative investments are underwater and they don't have enough cash on hand." How crappy a situation is this? Talk to Sumner Redstone. [CNBC]

How Mark Zuckerberg TOSsed Facebook Under the Bus

Owen Thomas · 02/18/09 02:29PM

Only lawyers and nerds get excited about debating a website's terms of service. And yet Facebook managed to turn a change in its legalese into a PR nightmare. Here's an anatomy of the debacle.

More Viacom Layoffs Today?

Hamilton Nolan · 02/18/09 02:20PM

In your gloomy Wednesday media column: More rumored Viacom layoffs today, Newsweek staffers are mad at the boss, Playboy might have to sell Playboy, and more!:

Pinch Jr. Joins the Times, Playboy Now Up for Sale

cityfile · 02/18/09 01:27PM

• Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the son of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., is joining the paper next week as a Metro reporter. [NYO]
• Following a huge fourth quarter loss, Playboy says it's now up for sale. [Folio]
• It's rumored that Viacom is laying off staff today. [Gawker]
• Newsweek staffers are unhappy about recent changes at the mag. [NYP]
• Sean Delonas is in hot water for his cartoon in the Post today. [E&P]
• Mort Zuckerman says he can fix the Daily News by printing it in color. [MM]
• Vanity Fair is shutting down its German edition. [WWD]

The Wednesday Party Report

cityfile · 02/18/09 01:01PM

Giorgio Armani celebrated the opening of his new Fifth Avenue flagship last night with a party at the store. The designer was accompanied by his niece Roberta Armani; guests on hand included Leonardo DiCaprio (left), Carine Roitfeld, Victoria Beckham, Martin Scorsese, Michael Bloomberg, Caroline Kennedy, Joel Klein, Cindi Leive, Fern Mallis, Andre Leon Talley, Ricky Martin, Rachel Zoe, Nina Garcia, John Mayer, Mario Testino, Josh Hartnett, Liam Neeson, Richard Meier, Alicia Keys, Chace Crawford, Milla Jovovich, Thom Browne, Kevin Liles, Molly Sims, Mira Sorvino and Christopher Backus, Sally Singer, David Hershkovits, Jim Moore, Hal Rubenstein, Patrick McCarthy, Emile Hirsch, Natalia Vodianova, Zani Gugelmann, Kate Lanphear, Horacio Silva, January Jones, Elsa Pataky, Zoe Saldana, Solange Knowles, Marcus Schenkenberg, and Olivia Palermo. [PMc, Wireimage, Vogue UK, FWD, NYM]

The Ever-Darkening 'Sex Diaries'

Richard Lawson · 02/18/09 12:37PM

So yesterday's installment of New York magazine's "Sex Diaries" was insane right? It ended in actual domestic abuse. These things used to be kind of filthy fun, but these days they're just scary little downers.