How excited was Glenn Close yesterday to earn immortality on the Walk of Fame? Excited enough to carnally plunge onto Hollywood Blvd., which we take to mean "pretty excited." Get a room, you two.
The romance between Wall Street high rollers and contemporary artists was always going to be a Faustian pact, even though the Chelsea denizens who rode the wave of stratospheric prices haven't wanted to contemplate that fact. But they no longer have a choice as it becomes increasingly obvious that the collapse of the financial markets has pulled the art market right down with it.
Samantha Geimer, who last year seemed to be totally over that whole drugged-sodomizing-when-she-was-13 thing, is the latest voice calling for the dismissal of Roman Polanski's 1977 rape conviction.
How many financial fraudsters are on the run, or at least appear to be? At least two as of this afternoon! There's Marcus Schrenker, the financial adviser accused of defrauding investors through three of his companies, who tried to fake his death over the weekend by bailing out of his plane (which crashed in a Florida swamp) before taking off on a red motorcycle. Schrenker remains missing—some suspect he may have fled the country—but if he gets caught, he'll have quite a movie to sell to Hollywood, won't he? Schrenker isn't the only crook to have mysteriously disappeared. Robert Jaffe, the Bernie Madoff middleman from Palm Beach, who, last we heard, was selling off his wardrobe to a consignment store, failed to show up at a meeting with Massachusetts regulators today. There isn't an arrest warrant for Jaffe yet. ("What happens now is yet to be determined," says an official.) Let's hope that changes. It isn't every day that you get to see a police car chase a vintage green MG through the streets of Palm Beach.
1/12 — MICHAEL CERA sat next to me today during lunch at the Mustard Seed Cafe in Los Feliz. He was sitting with two guys and I did overhear the Arrested Development movie being mentioned a few times, though details were unfortunately out of ear-range. He was wearing a plaid shirt tucked into some pants that were far too short, and when he was done with his sandwich, he rode off on a bike, making me think he truly is as awkward and adorable as the characters he plays. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer readers; send your sightings to tips@defamer.com.]
Cinema Society, Nextbook and Grey Goose hosted a screening of Defiance last night with an after-party at Shang inside the Thompson LES. Host Andrew Saffir and the film's stars, Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, and director, Edward Zwick, were joined by Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Naomi Watts, Olivia Palermo (left), Jason Pomeranc, Agyness Deyn, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Donna Karan, Martha Stewart, Jay McInerney, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Villency, Amy Sacco, Russell Simmons, Zani Gugelmann, Ivanka Trump, Andre Balazs, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Ann Dexter-Jones, Ellen Barkin, Paula Froelich, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen, Larry Gagosian, Bettina Zilkha, Carson Kressley, Jennifer Creel, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Rachel Roy, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Douglas Hannant, Rosanna Scotto, Heather Matarazzo, Joshua Bell, Leelee Sobieski, Jill Hennessy, Debbie Bancroft, Marina Rust Connor, Nina Griscom, Caroline Murphy, Judah Friedlander, Patrick McMullan, Liam McMullan, Mary Alice Stephenson, Dan Abrams, and Dave Zinczenko. [PMc, Wireimage, The Daily]
Conflicting reports emerged late Monday from SAG's emergency national board meeting, where at least one member says Doug Allen is out as the union's chief negotiator.
• MSNBC is planning to broadcast the inauguration live in 27 movie theaters around the country. The tickets are free; the popcorn and soda are not. [THR]
• The White House has requested 10 to 15 minutes of airtime on Thursday evening so George Bush can give a "farewell address" to the nation. [NYT]
• Chris Rock has signed a book deal with Grand Central Publishing. [PW]
• Is Blake Lively's appearance on the cover of Vogue a bad sign? [NYP]
• Ex-Voice fashion writer Lynn Yaeger will be writing for New York. [NYO]
• Condé Nast has appointed Bill Wackermann to oversee Domino. [MW]
• Comedy Central will begin broadcasting in high definition later this month, just so you can enjoy Carlos Mencia in all his glory. [B&C]
Gossip Girl pulled out all the stops last night! Dead kids! Mini-Gossip Girls! Gayness! Nate! Let me take a second to catch my breath. OK. OK. We're back. Let's dive in.
If there's one thing we can learn from the events of the past few months, it's this: If you insist on going fishing, leave your digital camera at home. Because whether you're the son of an admitted con artist, the clueless governor of Alaska, or the "financial genius" at a bank on the verge of going bust, the photo of you holding up your catch will almost certainly be used against you in the court of public opinion. Better yet, give up fishing altogether. When's the last time you saw a photo of a disgraced politician or mogul carrying a squash racquet?
Although there's rarely any accounting for the taste of the gays who run the fashion industry, the ridiculous success of an English androygyne who's neither beautiful nor tall is one of this decade's bigger mysteries, even factoring in the admittedly significant effect of launching a hair trend. But as the modeling phenom formerly known as Laura Hollins explains in an interview, it's all thanks to numerology!
