Carl Bernstein, best known as Dustin Hoffman in the 1970s Watergate thriller All the President's Men, is the latest political/media victim of a hacker known only as Guccifer. Bernstein got his email hacked by the mystery prankster, and now joins an exclusive list of old "e-victims" including George W. Bush and Sex and the City author Candice Bushnell.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's investigation into the origins of the Watergate break-in—which took place 40 years ago yesterday—is one of the most highly mythologized episodes in the history of journalism. It represents the Platonic ideal of what journalism-with-a-capital-J ought to be, at least according to its high priesthood—sober, careful young men doggedly following the story wherever it leads and holding power to account, without fear or favor. It was also a sloppy, ethically dubious project the details of which would mortify any of the smug high priests of journalism that flourished in its wake. The actual Watergate investigation could never have survived the legacy it helped create.
This photo of Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein attracting bumblebees in Beverly Hills raises questions.
Style icon Pat Field turns 68 today. Film director Darren Aronofsky is turning 41. Christina Ricci is 30. Senator Arlen Specter is turning 80. Children's author Judy Blume is 72. Josh Brolin, the actor and son of James Brolin, is turning 42. Locanda Verde chef Andrew Carmellini is 39. Tech visionary Raymond Kurzweil turns 61. Celebrity nutritionist Oz Garcia is 59. Fonzworth Bentley, Diddy's former assistant and now the host of his own show on MTV, is 36. Chynna Phillips is turning 42. And Arsenio Hall turns 55 today. A few people celebrating birthdays this weekend—including Mayor Bloomberg—are below.
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver turns 65 today. Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife, Donna Hanover, is 59. Real estate developer Francis Greenburger is 60. Peter Gabriel is turning 59. Robbie Williams is 35. Stockard Channing turns 65. Jerry Springer is 65. And Henry Rollins turns 48. People celebrating their birthdays this weekend—including Valentine's Day birthday boys like Michael Bloomberg and Steve Schwarzman—after the jump.
W. Mark Felt, who as anonymous source "Deep Throat" helped bring down President Richard Nixon, died in his sleep in Santa Rosa, California Thursday. He was 95.
Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts shopping at the Whole Foods on East Houston ... Matthew Broderick walking with son James down Seventh Avenue ... Isaac Mizrahi strolling down Sixth Avenue last night with his boyfriend Arnold ... Carl Bernstein walking with wife Christine Kuehbeck and her giant umbrella ... Katie Holmes talking on her cell phone outside her apartment building ... and Brooke Shields walking downtown.
Born in DC on Valentine's Day, 1944, journalist Bernstein secured himself a place in U.S. history books when he and fellow Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward broke the story of the Watergate break-in. He attended the University of Maryland briefly, but didn't graduate.
Hillary Clinton and Paris Hilton, millennial America's twin Joan of Arcs, are presently enjoying their last weekends before they get tied to the stake. Come Tuesday, the L.A. County Jail will swallow Hillary whole and the official release of Carl Bernstein's A Woman in Charge will totally reveal the truth about Paris. (Or is it the other way around?) Thanks to the AP and the Times Magazine's excerpt of Bernstein competitor Her Way (out Friday), we now know exactly why the ladies deserve it and how they'll suffer.
• Jack Nicholson convinced Martin Scorsese to include a scene in The Departed featuring Nicholson, two women and a strap-on — a scene, conveniently, that Nicholson thought of himself. At what point can everyone stop buying into the Nicholson sex-symbol thing? Those days have passed. His presence in a scene like this does nothing but ruin it. [Page Six]
• Clay Aiken comes out of the closet and confesses he has wild nights of manlove panic attacks. [ABC]
• Paris Hilton gives a $100 bill to a homeless man. Shame on her, exploiting the less fortunate just to make herself a little bit less loathsome. [TMZ]
• Post-rehab, Whitney Houston seems to have her shit together and is, of course, eyeing a comeback. [Page Six]
• Revlon kingpin Ron Perelman admits that he dicked over his own son. [R&M (2nd item)]
• Mischa Barton admits that she was "self-obsessed." Good of her to tell us about it. [IMDb]
• Carl Bernstein defends Bob Woodward; Kate Bosworth starves; Leonardo DiCaprio dodges questions. Slow day. [Lowdown]
• Britney and K-Fed bring home poor baby Sutton, and so the child's nightmare begins. [Us Weekly]
