• Jessica Simpson gets dumped by her publicist, who's tired of lying to the world about miserable state of Simpson's marriage. Could the PR industry be having its Jerry Maguire moment? Nah.
• Wenner honcho Kent Brownridge is (possibly) forced into an early retirement, courtesy of big Jann himself. Sadly, his possible successor is fresh from rehab — that's no fun.
• Sexual assault suspect and fake fireman Peter Braunstein continues to flit about New York, and yet no one can seem to catch the mofo. Especially not the hipsters or Greg Lindsay.
• Kimberly Stewart, eager to be more Paris Hilton than we can stomach, gets engaged to barely-legal Laguna Beach star Talan Torriero.
• Anderson Cooper and Ryan Seacrest could adopt the most beautiful gay babies.
• Time mag begins its debate on the person of the year, and you predictably voted for Mother Nature.
• Gawker Media makes a distribution deal with Yahoo!, which sanitizes us without completely selling out.
• Inside TV folds, and TV Guide lays off editors who need to take a personal leave.
• And Mort Zuckerman reminds his staffers that in the Jew's house, Christmas doesn't mean shit.

Oh, you saw the fiend, did you? Peter Braunstein came into your Cobble Hill coffee shop and bought a $2 cuppa joe? You even looked him in the eye? You were sure it was him, yeah? He knew that you knew, oh yes!

Just moments ago, a reader writes in:

As the search for suspected fireman-rapist and former Women's Wear Daily and Village Voice reporter Peter Braunstein becomes intolerably interminable (and alluringly alliterative), his mother Angele Braunstein has come forward to offer her theory that her son may have killed himself. In October 2004, Braunstein overdosed from a mixture of beer and Prozac, and his mother believes this was a potential suicide attempt. Ms. Braunstein also noted that her son had anger problems, low self-esteem, and to be "a fragile man who could respond to the ongoing public scrutiny by killing himself."

• The Post runs pictures from accused sex perv Peter Braunstein's "dream wedding," which resulted in a short-lived marriage back in the early 1990's. On a side note, this is about the 15th picture we've seen of Braunstein, and we still have no clue what he looks like. Is the dude some sort of photographic shape-shifter? [NYP]
• Great news: Crack and meth addicts make better financial investments! Time to start treating that bum with a little more respect. [Under the Counter]
• Google technology makes celebrity stalking easy! [Lifehacker]
• Why women like Hilary Swank date men like Chad Lowe: defying Manhattan's romantic caste system. [NYO]
• We've no idea who this Katherine woman is, the mysterious girl who swaps and redistributes prescriptions amongst her friends — but we'd very much like to be her BFF. [NYT]

In today's Black List over at the Black Table, wandering media reporter Greg Lindsay divulges his connection, or lack thereof, to accused sexual assaulter and former Women's Wear Daily reporter Peter Braunstein:

Moss is in danger? How about, oh, half the women in New York media?

• We apologize for today's lapse in coverage on suspected rapist Peter Braunstein. Rest assured, it has nothing to do with anything other than the fact there's nothing new to report. Kate Moss has been warned to look out for homeboy, and NYPD is tracking him through his Metrocard use. Alas, the whole system operates on a two hour delay. Brilliant. Honestly, Richard Belzer would've had this shit taken care of last week.
• 50 Cent expands his faux-ghetto empire to the extremely hard-ass realm of publishing. G-Unit books will be a collaboration with MTV/Pocket Books and deal with a range of topics, from cash and hoes to candy stores. [Contact Music]
• Authorities seize 136 pounds of heroin from a Staten Island storage facility, thus prompting the gutter pirates of Tompkins Square Park to riot. [Newsday]
• Starbucks holiday campaign invents a new alternative to "it's" and "its:" ITs. [Fawny]
• Been stalking various members of U2 since 1986? Then now's your big break: you can bid on the chance to be an extra in Bono's upcoming film. [eBay]

It's now been two weeks since former Womens Wear Daily and Voice writer Peter Braunstein, disguised as a fireman, allegedly broke into the home of a former coworker and sexually abused her for nearly 13 hours and, despite the belief that he is still in the area, authorities have yet to apprehend their top suspect. Instead, we're getting accounts of coming "this close" to bringing down Braunstein (He was almost caught in Chelsea! They nearly had him in Queens!), as if that's supposed to make anyone feel any better.

An astute reader pointed out that the Post's picture of young Peter Braunstein is rather different from the mug shot released by NYPD. For starters, it seems that Braunstein's nose might have undergone some de-Jewification procedures. And the brows? Someone's been to Warren Tricomi.

Alleged rapist and former Women's Wear Daily and Village Voice writer Peter Braunstein gets some interesting front-page coverage from the Post today. The paper reveals that authorities found a "step-by-step walk-through" of the crime scenario on Braunstein's computer:

• Happy birthday to former CNN anchor Aaron Brown! May your 57th year be full of, um, employment! [Wikipedia]
• Staying in tonight? Be sure to catch Judy Miller seduce Larry King with her bangs. [CNN]
• In a week where the fluff news is dominated by the story of two cheerleaders getting it on in the ladies' room (and then subsequently punching a witness), let's take a moment to remember all the great moments in pop cultural history that have gone down in public restrooms. [Black Table]
• Master the Paris Hilton pose, and you too can downplay your lazy eye! [Just Jared]
• Get Rich or Die Tryin to See the Flick. No, seriously. Stereotypes, people — need we keep perpetuating them? [PC]
• Dozing on the LIRR? You might want to rethink that, considering someone's devoting their blog to pictures of you drooling. [Essays & Effluvia]
• Sarah Silverman: "I don't care if you think I'm racist. I just want you to think I'm thin." At least we're not the only ones who think like that. [Slate]

We received an interesting email thread yesterday from a former editor at Rolling Stone. This then-editor had the misfortune of fielding pitches from alleged rapist and former freelancer Peter Braunstein:

The police have (finally) named former Women's Wear Daily and Voice writer Peter Braunstein as their prime suspect in the Halloween rape case. To help aid in his arrest, NYPD has released the above images of him at the Super 8 Motel on W. 46th Street on November 1st. If you look closely, you can see he's carrying a travel bag full of girly glossies and Manolos.

The results are in:

It's been nine days since former Women's Wear Daily and Village Voice writer Peter Braunstein allegedly raped a 34-year-old woman in her Chelsea home, and he's still at large.

As our disturbing fascination with alleged rapist Peter Braunstein continues, the internet continues to turn up all sorts of interesting tidbits about the former Women's Wear Daily and Voice writer. A little digging into Usenet (that classic message board land of yore) reveals Braunstein's work-related posts on alt.romance.unhappy, alt.fan.gwyn-paltrow and, our personal favorite, alt.pantyhose. From the 'hose site:

As we pore over the press regarding alleged rapist Peter Braunstein — who once worked at Women's Wear Daily and the Village Voice — it's hard not to notice a pattern. From various articles in the Post and Daily News, a sampling of language:

As we earlier mentioned, some website has claimed to discover alleged rapist Peter Braunstein's blog — but at that time, we were unable to find the cached pages. Then we pulled our heads out of our asses, got our shit together, and found the strength to deliver. We are loyal, if nothing else, to our shared fascination with the macabre.

We're finding out more and more about alleged rapist Peter Braunstein — the former Women's Wear Daily and Village Voice writer who, after a few years of stalking ex-girlfriend and W beauty editor Jane Larkworthy, seems to have turned his sick-ass gaze on one of Larkworthy's former co-workers, who he brutally attacked on Halloween.