Remember this lady, Sarah Palin? She was famous for appearing every Saturday night on the tee-vee, saying cute things about Russia, gays, and Katie Couric. Or maybe that was her portrayer, Tina Fey?
New Yorker editor David Remnick recently wrote a piece for the his magazine called "The Joshua Generation: Race and the Campaign of Barack Obama." The ideas behind that essay will be turned—eventually—into a book about much of the same, Politico reports. (He had a Knopf contract to finish out, anyway.) When Remnick hired Ryan Lizza to cover the Obama campaign for the magazine, he had to talk him out of writing a book. But Lizza ended up getting a book deal about Obama's first year out of it anyway. Now his boss is writing a book that's competitive with his own!
Vandals have done well by Fox this year, but the latest defacement of the studio's marketing efforts — this time for its rambunctious-dog dramedy Marley & Me — breaks entirely new ground. (Warning: Spoilers follow.)
Tom Cruise reunited with Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning, and fortunately for the audience, Cruise's strategy appeared to be, "Bring the crazy up front and as early as possible."
Fabulously rich people are nothing if not sensitive. Take Kathy Fuld, who still goes on once-a-week $5,000-10,000 shopping sprees at Hermès, but nowadays, so she doesn't offend anyone, she tries to keep quiet about it.
Bernie Madoff ripped off dozens of wealthy investors, hedge funds, schools, and non-profit institutions over the years (and his elaborate scheme has also helped sap what little confidence remains in the financial markets at large). But there's some positive news for his victims, people like Mets owner Fred Wilpon and real estate tycoon Mort Zuckerman. It turns out that "investment losses that result from theft" are fully tax-deductible, according to experts. [Financial Week]
Oh, well, it came out last Friday. But that was a "newsdump" so we are performing a public service by pointing you to it, today.
Your annual Oscar anticlimax is officially underway, with Heath Ledger, Penélope Cruz and Slumdog Millionaire — among other familiar names — once again dominating the weekend's awards news.
• New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick has confirmed he's writing a book about "Barack Obama, race and politics in America." [Politico]
• David Shuster is the new host of MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. [NYT]
• Vogue was the most profitable magazine at Condé Nast this year. [P6]
• Crain Communications (AdAge, Crain's New York) is laying off 60. [NYP]
• The list of layoff victims at CNN grows longer: Jamie McIntyre, Kelli Arena, Linda Stouffer and Rusty Dornin are all on the way out. [TVN]
• The Day the Earth Stood Still was No. 1 at the weekend box office. [NYT]
Last week, the Times reported that luxury shoppers are now doing much of their buying in secret because "shopping is almost embarrassing" given the state of the economy. The Daily Beast follows up today with the news that some high-end stores are even handing out plain shopping bags to help their customers disguise their high-end purchases. One such customer at Hermès: Kathy Fuld, the wife of Lehman CEO Dick Fuld. "Since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Mrs. Fuld has still been a regular client, visiting the boutique once a week and spending $5,000 or $10,000 each time." [TDB]
President-elect Barack Obama famously promised his daughters—and the nation!—a puppy, once the election was over. Well, Mr. President-elect, the election is over. Where is the puppy?
The gross Aaron Rose character on teen soap Gossip Girl is just that: gross. A greasy, judgy young artist, it makes no sense that the blonde, be-titted Serena would fall for the likes of him. Heck, even Cecily von Ziegesar hates him! She told New York Mag that she finds the TV Aaron just plain old icky:
