The Horror: The Hills continues to rapidly spin off any supporting character with a hint of intelligence, and so it is that incredibly fearsome People's Revolution head Kelly Cutrone will be getting her own series, produced by Project Runway refugee company Magical Elves. "Think of it as The Wizard of Oz meets Stephen King meets Rhoda," explained Cutrone. That's the doomsday logline spirit, Kel! [Page Six]
The 850 layoffs at Viacom today—including hundreds at MTV—are claiming the livelihoods of tons of hardworking people who did their jobs well without ever receiving fame and fortune. And just like when a jumbo jet crashes with hundreds of souls aboard, the first question is: "Were any celebrities involved?" You know you were thinking that, you heartless swine. Well (according to an unconfirmed rumor from an inside tipster), your third-favorite MTV correspondent-for-life, John Norris, was laid off today. After the jump, we've got other reports from the Viacom scene.
"It's a holiday miracle," reports the Post: Ron Perelman and Pat Duff, participants in the nastiest divorce case New York has seen in decades, have settled their dispute over custody of the couple's daughter, Caleigh. Full details of the resolution haven't been released just yet, but the judge did disclose that "part of the settlement included all three continuing to see court-arranged therapists." Ron Perelman has a shrink? And you thought you had the worst job in the world! [NYP]
End of Days Day continues here at Defamer with a proud e-alert belched from the bowels of the Fox network's Century City headquarters, informing what's left of the world that cartoon kingpin and deeply closeted spray-on hand-tanner Seth MacFarlane has been named EW's Smugest Smartest Person in TV. Fox couldn't be prouder of the money he makes for them, according to their press release:
The whole sad story of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's marriage just gets worse and worse. First the Silly Puddy fake couple from The Hills filthily escaped to Mexico for a totes unplanned elopement beach wedding that Us Weekly was lucky enough to have happened to be there for. So that was like, serendipity and bliss and like cold, oily honeymoon sex and stuff! Now, with that matter of dually plastic and farty bologna-smelling espirit de corps behind them, the couple has soldiered on to new territory: More Us Weekly covers! Involving Heidi's devastatingly sad mom!
Sure, the gates of pop culture hell have been flung open today, but we're going to fend off Cerberus (he's been barking outside Defamer HQ all morning, and with three heads, it's a little noisy) until we get our Arrested Development movie, dammit! Today's update comes courtesy of one of the show's stars, who not only confirms involvement in the film but offers word of a start date, marvelously slams a current network series, and gives tentative comments on the Michael Cera imbroglio.
Art Basel Miami, the most talked-about art event of the year, is in full swing and all the usual suspects have turned up. At a party on Tuesday night hosted by the Times' T magazine and hotelier Andre Balazs, faithful scenesters like Calvin Klein, Takashi Murakami, Naomi Campbell, Rachel Zoe, Yvonne Force Villareal, Dasha Zhukova, and Ingrid Sischy all put in appearances. So how is it all going? It sort of depends who you ask! Judging by the breathless coverage on sites like Fashion Week Daily, all seems to be fine and well. It's "bigger than any recession-concerned naysayers could have predicted," reports Adam P. Schneider in a piece titled "The Best of Times." Over at Dasha's table, for example, the "important topic" on everyone's lips wasn't the recession; it was the "internet craze surrounding Shiba Inu puppies." Of course it was! Unfortunately, that cheerfulness escaped New York's Alexandra Peers, who reports that the fair itself had about half as many people as last year, and that everyone is still waiting for the gazillionaire buyers—like, say, Dasha's boyfriend, Roman Abramovich—to show their faces."Everyone is asking, where are the Russians?" Yes, Miami is very much empty at the moment, as we confirmed when we made a few phone calls this afternoon.
More sunny economic news for the newspaper industry: yesterday the financial ratings firm Fitch put out a report predicting that "several cities could go without a daily print newspaper by 2010." Oh joy! You won't have to complain about your shitty local fish wrapper much longer, if you live in "some cities" (*NEWARK*, ahem). This would really be a serious change in American civic life, people. Crooked city councilmen and religious nut school board members are bound to run wild without any reporters telling people what they're up to. Well, buck up, doomed papers in "some cities"—every other newspaper will have a hellish year, too:
Hollywood PrivacyWatch: Holiday Travel Edition! 11/26 — Day before Thanksgiving, the hellmouth of the Southwest terminal at LAX — Starbucks and the CPK that gave me food poisoning that one time and some vendor that touts itself as "Organic." Picture this — MARIO LOPEZ. Alone, toting an overstuffed plastic bag and nondescript rolling luggage. He is... shiny, like his own wax sculpture came to life. Shock of all shocks, he's shorter in person and not nearly as buffed out as People Magazine would have you believe. But Mario travels in comfort, not style. Running suit. Velour. Midnight blue. Wow. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer readers; send your sightings to tips@defamer.com.]
Hey Stylista fans (how is the one of you?). I was busy watching Top Chef last night, so I didn't really get a chance to carefully eyeball last night's fashion editor competition mishmash. The last ep, about sad fat people who are sad and fat and the magazine editors who horribly abuse them, was such a gleaming trainwreck of an hour of television that, I gotta be honest, I was kind of relieved to not revisit it this week. But I will soldier on with recaps in seven days' time, I promz. After the jump is my brief, provisional recap of last night.
The pungent scent of hot sulphur at Defamer HQ this morning can mean only one thing: Grammy Hell is bearing down on us, heralded as well by hosts Taylor Swift, LL Cool J and the rest of the wailing demon legion populating last night's first-ever primetime nomination special at the Nokia Theater. And what did their baleful cries portend? We're gonna get more Coldplay performance art!
Inauguration day? Leave the brats at home—it ain't day care. "Officials are banning all strollers and backpacks and make a point of saying on their Web site that 'there are no childcare facilities provided to attendees,'" reports the Washington Post. We support this. Obama scores one point in the "we hate your kids/babies in bars" meme! But seriously, those strollers could contain bombs dressed as babies:
♦ Anna Wintour has responded to rumors she's leaving Condé Nast: "I have no plans to leave American Vogue now or in the foreseeable future." [NYO]
♦ Chris Matthews could be seriously considering quitting MSNBC to run for Senate. Or he could be using it as a negotiating tactic. [Politico]
♦ The Grammy noms were announced last night, in case you missed it. [AP]
♦ NBC has halted production of Knight Rider. [THR]
♦ More on the changes afoot at Random House. [NYO]
♦ ABC will air Homeland Security USA, a reality show produced in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, in January. Really. [NYT]
Hey guys! Your regular Top Chef recap fella, Joshua David Stein, unfortunately was unable to watch last night's episode. So, you're stuck with me. Most of you probably already got your jibblies out during our weekly live blog extravaganza, but just in case a lone few of you didn't comment til your fingers bled, we'll proceed with a wrap-up right here and right now. I don't know anything about food! So, should be fun!
Rahm Emanuel, as we all know, was Bill Clinton's political enforcer, and then he was a Congressman, and now he's Barack Obama's new Chief of Staff. The end. But wait, there was this part, in between Clinton and Congress, when Rahm was doing... something else? Turns out he was working for an investment bank. Scary!
As many times as we heard it from that filthy, bearded man standing outside the Farmers Market with a big sign (Alan Rosenberg—is that you?), we never really believed the Pop Culture Apocalypse would soon be upon us. Well—we guess we were wrong! Try not to panic as its four horsemen—Nicolas Cage with a suspiciously luscious head of wizard-hair, Jay Baruchel conducting a broom army, Russell Brand getting his naughty bits scrubbed by an Oscar-winning manservant, and Rowdy Dwayne Johnson—ride in after the breaking of the seventh remake, followed thereafter by the arrival of the beastly Endtime Ruler (Kathleen Turner). Your coverage awaits!
As if spending 50 hours a week in a soulless, cubicle-divided, fluorescent-lit room with a bunch of people you can't stand wasn't bad enough, psychologists are now analyzing your relationships with your co-workers based on—seriously—your birth order and family experiences. According to New York psychologist/consultant Benjamin Dattner: "Firstborns tend to be fearful of losing their position and rank, so they may be extremely anxious at a time of layoffs and downsizing. Second-born children tend to be most adventurous and open to change." And psychologists tend to be very effective at devising spurious hypotheses that enable them to charge companies lots of money for wisdom as useful as that provided by fortune cookies.
You may not know that Kanye West—the eclectic business mogul best known for his muppet shows, model wrangling, blogging, and MacBook stress-testing—is also a bit of a fashionista. He loves the clothes and whatnot! So much so that he wants to take time off from his other ventures and go intern in a fashion house. Celebrity fashion-related intern trend now officially official!
