Well, maybe "creepy" isn't the right word. But there's something both comforting and unsettling about how calm all involved seemed to be, even as Captain Chesley Sullenberger said that the aircraft couldn't make it to an airport runway. I guess maybe there just wasn't time to panic. Though something tells me that if I'd been up there, I'd have made the time.
Variety isn't the first publication to parallel America's bright new political era with this year's Oscar derby. But, bless their hearts, they may very well be the last.
Micropayments are the future of content! If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one. Walter Isaacson, a former managing editor of Time, is the latest to pick up this tired banner.
You know what's really great about being wealthy and white? When you do something very bad, a judge will still probably allow you to go home to your comfy bed! Judge Jed Rakoff ruled today that Marc Dreier, the lawyer accused of bilking clients out of $400 million, can remain confined to his home on a $10 million personal recognizance bond. Dreier will have to pay to have armed security guards with him at all times, and they'll be entitled to use "reasonable force" if he tries to flee. And if Dreier gets bored sitting at home, he'll always be able to have nice, long chats with Bernie Madoff. [AP, WSJ]
• Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co. filed lawsuits against each other yesterday over distribution rights to the Sundance hit film Push. [THR]
• Shake up at Condé Nast: New Yorker publisher Drew Schutte is out and will be replaced by Condé Nast Traveler publisher Lisa Hughes. [NYP]
• The New York Times Co. is cutting staff at its About.com unit. [Reuters]
• Walter Isaacson has a few thoughts on how to save newspapers. [Time]
• The House has voted to extend the deadline to switch to digital TV. [NYT]
• Katie Couric will be hitting the catwalk during Fashion Week. Yay. [WWD]
2/3 — I was doing my almost daily walk to Birds to drown my disappointment with life and who should we see sitting like a normal person at an outdoor table in front of the Bourgeois Pig? ANTHONY KIEDIS, of course. His face looked very gaunt and he was chatting with another man I didn't recognize. But, I will say that Anthony Kiedis still made me a little warm in the pants, even if I do prefer John Frusciante's musical talents. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer readers; send your sightings to tips@defamer.com.]
You're not the only having a tough time these days. Celebrities are suffering amid the economic downturn, too, especially the ones signed lucrative deals to lend their names to lines of clothing, perfume and accessories. AdAge reports that Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line is now homeless, the result of Steve & Barry's bankruptcy last November. (The chain's implosion has also mucked up lines by Amanda Bynes, Venus Williams, and surfer Laird Hamilton.) As for Daisy Fuentes, who is pictured here at an event for Carson Kressley's QVC clothing line, she's suffered the shame of having her line downgraded from Kohl's to Walmart. Is there no justice in the world? On the bright side, AdAge describes her as a "Latina lifestyle icon," which should count for something, we imagine.
Any armchair economist can sit down today and point out last year's indications of a New Depression. The one he'd likely miss occurred when Isla Fisher nabbed the lead in Confessions of a Shopaholic.
Every celebrity believes that if they unleash their genius unto the world in the form of a fashion line or fragrance, their many fans will make it a natural hit. They're so wrong.
The spritely, genial season of The Real World: Brooklyn ambles on. Last night we watched Scotty seduce ladies, Chet seduce Pete Wentz, and Ryan get seduced, sorta, by New York. The girls were there too.
It looks like Martha Stewart won't be using a Turbochef oven when she settles into her Greenwich kitchen this evening to bake her usual batch of 17 apple pies. On Tuesday, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia slapped Turbochef with a lawsuit for allegedly reneging on a deal to hand over $3 million in Turbochef stock and $5 million in cash in exchange for Martha promoting the line of stoves on both her and Emeril Lagasse's TV programs. (Martha bought out Emeril last year.) MSLO's lawyers claim Martha followed through on her end—and it appears she once had a cozy relationship with the Turbochef folks—but the relationshop later soured and now Martha is asking for $15 million in damages. Let's all hope that MSLO prevails, so the company can finally invest in some much-needed office decorations. The full lawsuit is after the jump.
In an astonishing feat of detective work worthy of the Hardy Boys, Mayor Bloomberg has announced the source of that mystery maple syrup smell. Click for the answer!
1. Have you recently learned 6,575 new things about people courtesy of those '25 Things About Me' Facebook notes? 2. Yea, annoying right? 3. The trend pieces are here. 4. Hey it's a trend!
Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo carrying grocery bags on Madison Avenue ... Woody Allen attending last night's Knicks game ... Hugh Jackman getting into a car outside his Perry Street apartment building ... Chanel Iman arriving at JFK ... Spike Lee walking on Central Park South ... Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen going to lunch at Soho House ... Kirsten Dunst crossing the street in Tribeca ... Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda walking in Brooklyn ... Julianne Moore hailing a cab in the meatpacking district ... Josh Hartnett jogging downtown ... Rachel McAdams dressed up on the Sherlock Holmes set in Brooklyn ... Joan Cusack walking into a hotel on Central Park South ... Edie Falco pushing daughter Macy in a stroller at JFK ... Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto shopping at Fred Leighton on Madison Avenue ... and Kate Winslet leaving her apartment in Chelsea.
