Twice, actually. Admittedly for about seven minutes in total. But it still counts as the first intrusion in 15 years. Here's how I assumed various guises, bypassed half a dozen checkpoints, and ended up making chitchat with Rupert Murdoch.
Quentin Tarantino has resurrected many careers. His next personal project, according to conversations we overheard between the two men, involves Chris Tucker.
It looks like Rush Limbaugh is moving ahead with his threat to leave New York City. He's (finally!) put his tacky Fifth Avenue apartment up for sale. The cost of ridding NYC of Rush once and for all? $13.95 million.
When two people begin dating, there's always those quirky secrets they find out about each other. Like your boyfriend hasn't thrown anything out since the Nixon administration. Better than finding a human head in his freezer, but not by much.
We've spoken to someone who traveled to Haiti on a Scientology plane — and witnessed firsthand the ineptitude, quackery and irresponsibility of the church's minions in a disaster zone. Here's his account.
Our Scientology sources tell us there's an interesting reason that some members of the church are swarming into Haiti. And it's even more appalling than you might have thought — tragedy profiteering.
Once upon a time, Edwards' staff thought white wine and sissy sodas were their biggest problems. In anticipation of Andrew Young's 20/20 interview tonight, Gawker asks an Edwards staffer to evaluate the latest rumors—and lob some new ones.
Sources have told us that, in the throes of their affair, John Edwards and Rielle Hunter made a sex tape that contains "several sex acts." And that his aide, Andrew Young found it on an unmarked DVD.
This is Conan O'Brien's last day at NBC, as you've probably heard. Unfortunately, the person who should be packing up his giant office today isn't: Jeff Zucker, NBC's ruinous president and CEO, who has pretty much destroyed everything he's touched over the past decade, from comedy (remember when Thursday night was "Must See TV"?) to drama (remember when ER and The West Wing were big hits?) to late-night (no explanation necessary). What happens to Zucker in the end is anybody's guess and ultimately up to his new bosses at Comcast, who gave him a new contract recently that will keep him in place through 2013. But given the events of the past couple of weeks—and the sense of panic that probably pervades Comcast HQ right now—it wouldn't be a bad idea for Zucker to polish up the ol' résumé. With that in mind—and because Zucker is a busy man and fully consumed with damage control right now—we took the liberty of getting things started. Why not, right? He's going to need some help, though. After all, he's spent his entire career at NBC (he joined the company as a lowly researcher way back in '86), so it's unlikely he's given his résumé any thought in two decades. But we're here to help. Below, Jeff's starter-kit résumé—along with a few instructions and suggestions—so he can get to work as soon as this weekend.
The problems appear to be piling up for John Utendahl, the banker best known for being the longtime boyfriend of Tyra Banks. Last Monday, the Post reported that the financial firm he founded, Utendahl Capital Management, had been forced to lay off staff, possibly because of the downturn in the economy. An exec at the firm denied the report, characterizing it as "malicious claims made by a former disgruntled employee." But new problems for Utendahl surfaced just a few days later.
Equinox has been taking lots of heat since the gym chain erected two enormous billboards outside its West Village location over the holidays: The move outraged local community groups and led the city's Department of Buildings and Landmark Preservation Commission to threaten the company with steep fines if it didn't pull them down. Equinox has until tomorrow to remove the ads, and the failed campaign will end up costing the company a good deal of money in the process. But the gym chain just walked away with a victory in a Manhattan courtroom, so maybe the week will go down as a wash.
People was kind enough to check in with the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore today to find out how they hope to capitalize on their insta-fame. Snooki and J-WOWW are both following reality TV tradition and launching clothing lines; Ronnie says he may open a tanning salon with his dad as well as introduce a beverage line; and Vinny says he's thinking about applying to law school. (Go figure.) As for Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, he tells the mag that he plans to pursue an acting career and is also hoping to exploit his inane nickname by trademarking it. "I have people working on it as we speak," he tells People. The only problem: Two other people have already applied to trademark "The Situation" since the show debuted last month.
Yesterday was Eric Trump's 26th birthday. And this is the cake that was presented to him at his birthday party last night. Seriously. Why does it feature a machine gun—a Soviet-made AK-47, no less—and what appears to be a bloody, dead bird? We have no idea. (But if Jared Kushner ever finds himself tempted to cheat on Eric's big sister, it should serve as a handy reminder why that may not be such a hot idea.) Another photo of the cake is below.
Lots of important stuff happened in 2009. A bunch of famous people died. A bunch of banks almost died, but then Washington stepped in to make sure that Wall Street's way of life will be preserved forever. Swine flu came along and freaked everyone out (not to mention briefly endangered the air kiss). A publicity-obsessed family earned the attention of a nation by feigning their son's disappearance and launching an enormous Jiffy Pop into the sky. Celebrities got together, cheated on their spouses, broke up, got back together, had kids (or traveled to far-flung places to pick up kids), and checked into rehab. Some managed to do all of the above with a camera crew following close behind. Yes, 2009 has been quite a ride. What can we all expect to see happen in 2010? We took a few minutes to chat with Manhattan psychic Serena Stanley and ask her about a few things that may or may not happen in 2010. Her insight into the future—gratis!—is below.
Jasper Schuringa probably didn't think twice before dismantling Northwest Airlines Flight 253's would-be bomber. But before telling his story, he wanted money, and he got it. From major news outlets who pay up and lie about it. Here's the proof:
Gabriel Stulman opened the very well-regarded West Village restaurant Joseph Leonard in late July. But before he ventured out on his own, he ran the front of the house (and co-owned) the exceedingly popular Little Owl and its sister restaurant Market Table, along with Joey Campanaro and Mike Price. It's been a year and half since Stulman parted ways with Campanaro and Price. But it's quite clear the partnership didn't end on a positive note. Last month Stulman filed a lawsuit against his former partners, claiming Campanaro and Price stiffed him out of his 20 percent stake in the partnership and never paid him any of the profits he was entitled to, an amount he says now totals $437,000. Stulman's suit is below.
