HarperCollins appears to be standing by Tatiana Boncompagni as she battles her sister, Natasha, over who actually authored the forthcoming novel Hedge Fund Wives. At least for the moment! We just heard back from Erin Crum, director of corporate communications at HarperCollins: "We hope that they can work it out amicably, and we will still be publishing the book on May 5th."
Barack Obama t-shirts remain really popular in Union Square Park. (Just a few of the lines you can have emblazoned on your chest: "Obama for yo mama," "Barack's How I Roll," and "Bark for Obama.") Most are on sale for $20. Of course, if you're still searching for an Obama tee that summarizes your political beliefs, you can also just wait a week and pick one up for $0.50 on Ebay. [Urbanite]
♦ Details on the layoffs and management changes at Time Inc. [NYP]
♦ More on the demise of Maer Roshan's Radar and its God-awful TMZ-like reincarnation. [NYO, HuffPo]
♦ Fox News has apologized for putting a racist and anti-Semite on the air. [MM]
♦ Noted media expert (and former basketball player) Charles Barkley thinks Fox News is "corrupt." [B&C]
♦ Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial airs tonight. [AdAge, Politico]
Jessica Simpson heading out on the town after an event at Macy's ... Martin Scorsese outside the Waverly Inn ... Matthew Broderick walking in the Village with son James ... Keira Knightley and Guillaume Canet kissing on the set of their new movie in the Meatpacking District ... Katie Holmes holding an umbrella outside her East Village building ... Pink, Nick Carter, and A.J. McLean posing outside MTV ... America Ferrera and Becki Newton on the set of Ugly Betty ... Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman leaving their hotel ... Mandy Moore standing outside the Waverly Inn ... Marcia Cross posing for photos outside the Letterman show ... Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson arriving at JFK, then leaving Citrine after a night of partying.
Perhaps you're bullish on the local economy and the city's ability to lure tourists to NYC no matter what experts say? If so, you may be interested to hear that two W Hotels on the same block in Midtown are now up for sale. It's a package deal: You'll get the W New York Tuscany and the W New York Court for $150 million and $160 million. [NYP]
Martha Stewart threw a Halloween party at her home in Bedford this past weekend. Of course, she didn't just buy some candy and throw on the same costume from last year: The soirée inside her horse stable featured pumpkin soup prepared by her personal chef, Pierre, served inside hollowed-out pumpkins. Between the soup and the fact that the perimeter of her estate appears to be ringed with them, it's probably safe to say she's cornered the pumpkin market in Westchester County. [The Martha Blog]
The feud between Tatiana and Natasha Boncompagni rages on. As you may recall, Tatiana is the author of the chick lit novel Gilding Lily and the forthcoming book Hedge Fund Wives; Natasha, her sister, claims she co-authored Hedge Fund Wives and says the book is based on her career on Wall Street. Earlier this week, Tatiana filed suit against Natasha, claiming her sister had stolen a copy of the manuscript and posted it online. Natasha countered her sister's claim with the assertion that Tatiana had tried to pay her to go away and had lied to her publisher, HarperCollins, on numerous occasions, most notably about being the daughter of an Italian princess. (She also said her sister had installed a "keylogging" device on her computer so she could spy on her.) Yesterday a judge issued a temporary restraining order forcing Natasha to take down the site that had previously hosted several sections of the novel. But Tatiana's already-battered reputation is about to take another blow. It turns out that she's not even named "Boncompagni" and her vacuum heir husband had a very similar legal run-in of his own not so long ago.
The Observer has a round-up of some of the New York-based FOB's (or Friends of Barack) who are expected to have a major voice in Washington if the Democratic nominee wins the election next week. Who, exactly? Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, and Richard Holbrooke should all have a place at the table, assuming any of them are interested. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon will almost certainly have Barack's ear, as will New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who is believed to be a contender for Treasury Secretary. Some of the lesser-know figures who will be on speed dial: Citi exec Michael Froman; Jamie Rubin (the son of Bob); Jeh Johnson, an attorney at Paul, Weiss; Josh Steiner, a private equity pro who works with Steve Rattner; former Lazard exec Josh Gotbaum; law professor Seth Harris, financier Orin Kramer; Robert Wolf, the CEO of UBS Americas, and Preeta Bansal, a partner at Skadden, Arps. [NYO]
It looks like James Kurisunkal has been so busy gobbling down the cookies that socialites send him in exchange for coverage on his blog Park Avenue Peerage that he hasn't had time to register the website ParkAvenuePeerage.com. A porn website occupies the domain, although if you look at the two sites side-by-side, you may have a tough time telling the pretty young socials from the pretty young adult actresses.
Isaac Mizrahi appeared on CNN yesterday to promote his new book, How to Get Style. When a CNN anchor asked the designer about how the First Lady fashion has evolved over the years, Mizrahi used it as an opportunity to gush about how fabulous it will be to have Michelle Obama in the White House: "The First Lady that I'm thinking about is a smart and stylish person," he starts. "I don't think it's a moment to be flashy and way glamorous if you're the First Lady, but I don't think Michelle Obama will disappoint. She's going to be gorgeous." And how about Cindy McCain? Isaac has no interest in even contemplating such a horrible thought, thank you very much. Video after the jump.
♦ Late fashion mogul (and Showgirls producer) Charles Evans' triplex apartment at 895 Park, which had already been cut from $29.5 million to $25 million in May, has been lowered once again. It's now $20 million. [NYO, Stribling]
♦ Morgan Stanley managing director Guy Metcalfe has paid $9.35 million for a five-bedroom, second-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West. [Real Deal]
♦ TV legend Dick Cavett sold 77 acres of waterfront property in Montauk to the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County and New York State for $18 mil. The land will be used as part of a wetland conservation site. [Hamptons.com]
It's been three years since Tom Ford announced plans to
make movies, but it looks like Ford will soon get a chance to take a seat in a canvas (gasp!) director's chair and scream at terrified PAs on the set of a major motion picture. His production company, Fade to Black, is set to start filming A Single Man in Los Angeles early next month, starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. [WWD]
Donald Trump has been claiming he's worth $10 billion these days, which is a good thing because he may need a good chunk of it if expects to dig himself out of the mess he now finds himself in. The Wall Street Journal checks in on Trump's 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago today, and finds that the situation pretty dire. It turns out Trump owes a lot of money to a lot of people, and he's been having difficulty finding people who want to live in his gold and marble palace. The credit crunch, declining housing market and weak retail sales? They're not helping either!
Dominick Dunne is 83 years old today. New Yorker editor David Remnick is 50. Winona Ryder is turning 37. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, is 51. Art gallerist Mary Boone turns 57. Actor Richard Dreyfuss is 61. Gabrielle Union is 36. Olympic swimmer-turned-swimsuit model Amanda Beard turns 27. Actress Joely Fisher is 41. And social fixture/Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir is 42 years old today.
♦ The Fed is expected to cut interest rates again today, possibly to as low as 1 percent. [WSJ]
♦ The White House is pushing banks to stop hoarding the bailout billions and start making more loans. [AP]
♦ George Soros says the number of hedge funds "will be reduced in size by anywhere between half and two thirds" over the next few years. [Reuters]
♦ GMAC, which is controlled by GM and Steve Feinberg's Cerberus Capital, is now looking to become a bank holding company so it can tap into the $700 billion bailout pool. [WSJ]
♦ Credit card crunch: Lenders wrote off an estimated $21 billion in bad credit card loans in the first half of 2008. [NYT]
