Remember Tricia Walsh-Smith, the former wife of theater mogul Philip Smith, and the woman who became an internet sensation when she took to YouTube to recount her messy divorce and her former husband's fondness for Viagra and porn movies? Tricia came to mind when we read the news last night that Philip Smith was named the new chairman of the Shubert Organization, "perhaps the single most powerful position in the theatrical world." The promotion suggests the tabloid frenzy earlier this year didn't put much of a dent in Smith's professional rep, something he was clearly concerned about when the couple appeared in court this summer. (The judge said Tricia's YouTube videos represented "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass and humiliate her husband.") But we thought we'd check in with Tricia and gather her thoughts on her ex-husband's big promotion. Here's what she had to say via email a few moments ago.

It looks like no executive perk is off-limits as an ailing Citigroup slashes costs, lays off employees, and tries to beef up its balance sheet. The banking giant has put two of its corporate jets on the market in recent weeks via a Maryland-based airplane broker called AvPro, we've learned. Both are Dassult Falcon 900 jets (click here for a larger pic) and are owned by Citigroup Corp Aviation in White Plans. Naturally, both also come with top-of-the-line everything, including mahogany woodwork, luxurious leather seating, gold accents, and very spacious bathrooms. Citi's airplane broker didn't put a price tag on either jet—the model begins at $35 million if purchased new—but we're guessing Citi won't be driving a hard bargain. (The full specs are below, just in case you're in the market for a new plane.) And don't feel bad for the likes of Bob Rubin and Vikram Pandit. Citi has several other planes in its fleet, and those have yet to be put up for sale (as far as we can tell) so there's no need to fear that senior execs will be forced to fly commercial in the near future.

Former MSNBC host-turned PR employer of media people Dan Abrams has sent us a response to our coverage of his project, in which we pointed out that being a journalist and a corporate consultant at the same time is a conflict of interest. You can judge it for yourself, but we should note that, 1: If media reporters gave free passes to all friends and/ or former colleagues, media reporting would be even worse than it is now, and 2: Like we said, we're not allowed to sell out until after we've been laid off. Permanently. Here's his full note:

If you have a romantic view of the ad industry from watching Mad Men, this may end it forever. Yesterday Agency Spy broke the news that the ad industry had ground to a halt (not just because of the recession) as everyone spent their time forwarding a video showing two ad agency people having sex in an office. We speculated that it would eventually come out. And, well, it did. The video is amateurish, and the sex isn't sexy at all. Think more Pete Campbell and less Don Draper. Use discretion, one and all. We've semi-censored it, but it's still probably NSFW.

We're hearing from a good source that Tom Curley, the head of the Associated Press, just held a town hall meeting to tell employees that the AP "will lose 10% of its staff next year." At a current headcount of over 4,000 employees, that would translate to at least 400 jobs lost, which could theoretically come through either layoffs or voluntary buyouts. Several cash-strapped newspapers—including the entire Tribune Co.—have recently announced plans to drop their AP subscriptions. Still, this would be a massive cut for what has always been one of the steadiest possible realms of journalism. AP employees with more details on this, email us. UPDATE: The AP has sent us a statement, which doesn't contain any numbers but acknowledges that cuts may be coming—though mostly through attrition, they hope:

The chief executives of the big three American auto manufacturers were blasted by lawmakers in Washington yesterday for having the audacity to turn up on Capitol Hill with their tin cups in hand after having just stepped off their lavish corporate jets. The episode turned into a PR disaster for GM, Ford, and Chrysler—and damaged their chances of scoring a deal and landing billions in taxpayer dollars—but at least they were using the jets on company business. Even more eyebrow-raising is how often these palaces in the sky are used to ferry top execs on vacation, or to hang out at events like the Olympics. Of course, there's no way to be sure that GE execs weren't just negotiating a new microwave manufacturing contract when the company's Gulfstream touched down in Puerto Rico on the eve of a holiday weekend. But if you click here, you can see how two of the companies now collecting billions in taxpayer dollars have been making use of their jets over the last few months.

Last week an Ohio woman filed suit against Victoria's Secret for selling itchy bras allegedly manufactured with formaldehyde. Now another woman has decided to jump on the bandwagon! In a Federal class action lawsuit filed on Monday, Jerilyn Amaya alleges that Victoria's Secret "fraudulently concealed" the fact that its undergarments cause "allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, blistering, itching, hives, rashes, scarring, [and] systemic reactions." Sounds painful! Amaya is now asking a court to impose punitive damages on the company on behalf of herself and any other consumers affected by the faulty bras, a group that, we assume, does not include Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, both of whom appeared to be blister-free when they walked the catwalk for Victoria's Secret in Miami this past weekend. Amaya's full lawsuit is after the jump.

Among the many windmills Jerry Yang tilted at in his brief career as Yahoo's CEO was his devotion to Web search. It veered on an obsession for him. It played into his decision to resist Microsoft's offers to shower him with cash, first for his whole company, then for just its search business. Is it a coincidence, then, that Yahoo's top search engineer has left a day after Yang stepped down? A tipster tells us Sean Suchter resigned yesterday, and speculates that he may be joining Microsoft.If so, Microsoft may have gotten Yahoo's search business on the cheap. Our tipster writes:

Is everybody ready for some sweet prostitute interviewing? A tipster tells us "100% reliably" that Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the famous Eliot Spitzer hooker, sat down for her first-ever prime time interview yesterday. Our source says that Diane Sawyer filmed the interview for ABC at a midtown studio, in secret, and that the network is planning to air it next Friday. The network hasn't announced it yet, so you heard it here first, assuming it happens. The other, less solid part of this rumor involves how Ashley got paid for her time: Our tipster is somewhat less sure of this part, but has also heard:

Earlier today we told you how oft-sued American Apparel chief Dov Charney is being sued again—this time by Roberto Hernandez, an ex-AA employee who says he was fired from his IT job in 2006 after he refused Dov Charney's request to cook the books to make the company look more financially attractive. His complaint also includes descriptions of AA as a pervy workplace where Charney held staff meetings in the nude. But there's a new development: a source at AA has just sent us a statement that they say Hernandez himself wrote in August, 2006 defending Dov Charney from an earlier lawsuit, contradicting some of same allegations that Hernandez himself is now making: According to our source, Hernandez wrote this statement in 2006—just three months before he was fired—to counter the allegations of Mary Nelson, who sued Dov claiming sexual harassment. Hernandez defends the work environment at AA:

We hear all is not well with Times reporter Alex Kuczynski and her husband of six years, financier Charles Stevenson. Rumor has it the Times journalist and reformed plastic surgery junkie is contemplating a divorce from the billionaire mogul, who is nearly 25 years her senior (and who has been married four times). Although there's been no official word of the split as of yet, Kuczynski has maintained a low profile in recent weeks. While she's probably rather busy these days now that she's a new mom—Kuczynski and Stevenson had a baby boy via a surrogate back in April—friends were surprised when she backed out of a scheduled appearance last week at a Diane von Furstenberg-sponsored spelling bee benefit that she usually attends every year. She's also been noticeably absent from the pages of the Times the last few months. Perhaps fittingly, her most recent article in the paper in early October was a book review of Alec Baldwin's book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce. "Divorce is a lonely business," Kuczynski wrote. "Divorce is hell. Lawyers are vultures."

The Iraq War is over, according to the fake New York Times! This morning a cadre of volunteers has fanned out across New York City to pass out a remarkably good, faux-copy of the Times dated July 4, 2009. They've even set up an entire website with all of the liberal fantasy headlines. Universities to be free! Bike paths to be expanded! Thomas Friedman to resign, praise the Unitarian Jesus! It's not funny like The Onion, but obviously a lot of work went into this. Now we play "Who did it?" We already know!: We have done some sleuthing based on intelligence received yesterday. First of all, this stunt needed a lot of volunteers to distribute the papers. They were rallied online, via BecauseWeWantit.org. This email went out to the collaborators last night:

Now that our nation has gone and elected a popular black man with no clear signs of dementia as president, it's obvious that our Crisis Of Comedy is a most vital public issue. Nerdy white comedians have no idea how to make fun of Obama! Never fear. We reached out to Jordan Carlos—professional comedian, Stephen Colbert's black friend, and a guy we once tried to assert (unsuccessfully) would be a better Saturday Night Live Obama impersonator than Fred Armisen—for his take on the future of Obama comedy. Exclusive Jordan Carlos Analytical Comedic Essay Below! Barack: This Dude Even Changed Comedy Tuesday By Jordan Carlos The political balance of power may not have been the only thing that shifted Tuesday. The world of comedy got a bit of a shake up too. Though it's difficult to predict the misty future with any certainty, Obama's win does beg a couple of obvious questions; namely, "Do Black comedians have much to complain about anymore?" Now before you tear my nuts off for asking this, let me say I'm just raising this extreme question for the sake of argument. I don't actually think Black people don't have anything to complain about anymore, though cabs were remarkably easier to come by yesterday in the city. But things have changed—and who are many comedians of color, if not people who point to the old saw of differences between white and Black and all the hi-larious inequalities surrounding those differences? Remove that brand of humor from the mix, and what's left for Black comedians to fall back on? Plenty, of course. The world is full of comedic opportunity. But it will be intriguing to see how audiences will respond when a Black comic moans about the everyday racial politics he or she faces when a Black person holds the highest office in the land. For anyone who can do an impression of Obama, congrats! Your stock just went through the friggin roof! Bush impersonators, report to your local soup kitchen or shanty town. Obama impersonators are guaranteed at least 4 years of career opportunity. For me, a fairer-skinned black dude with newly close-cropped hair and larger-than-average ears, things are looking up. I've already been able to do my impression for TV (once on Headline News and once on a Japanese morning TV show – Yeah, I know. What the F?) and I look forward to at least four more years of it. Though I was asked by the folks at Gawker to give my take on Fred Armisen's impression of Obama, I'm gonna have to pass. Other art forms encourage a lover's quarrel among artists – boisterous roundtables and bustling salons, etc. — comedy, not so much. Take it from me, comics are a sensitive bunch – me more than most (we're not talking Kanye West levels here, but you get where I'm going with this). We want to be liked (obveeez!!!). Did I dance around that enough? You can watch my Obama impression here, OK? [Ed.: And also here] I think the existential question of what comedians can complain about now is shared by not only Black comedians, but also the good folks at The Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Maher. They got what they wanted, right? So now what? Feast on Obama like they did Bush? That would be kinda weird. Recently on his show Bill Maher declared a new rule: that President-elect "Obama must give comedians something to work with." When questioned about this statement by America's favorite old man, Larry King, Maher said, "But look, [Obama]'s going to be the president and we're going to have to get over our nervousness about making fun of a Black person. He's not a black person. He's the president." OK, Maher lost me at the whole, "he's not a black person" bit, but you get what he's trying to say. Eventually ALL comedians are going to have to take off the kid gloves and skewer the newly anointed commander in chief. How they do it will be something that I, for one, am interested to see. To me there's plenty you can make fun of when it comes to Obama: — Because of him the high concept movie about a jazzy black dude being president is dead and over. —People maybe just maybe expect too much from him. —He's got huge, honking ears. —You can make fun of the fact that it's hard to make fun of him. —You kind of have to do a lot of self-deceiving to back the guy (doesn't believe in gay marriage, tough on immigration, tosses friends when they become political liabilities – Rev. Wright, Ayers). —He may kinda owe Oprah a place in his cabinet. —Does Jesse Jackson still want to cut his nuts off like he said? And why the hell was he front-row Chicago victory rally after saying something like that? Obama must have known he said that. Where's my front row seat? I didn't call for castration. You could make sketches out of all that stuff and more if you've got the salt. You should always be able to laugh at your leaders – even if they're awesome people who happen to be Black. Click to view

Rumors of pending layoffs at Viacom have been floating around for weeks now. The media conglomerate is in terrible debt, and just yesterday announced that it's canceling its holiday parties from coast to coast. Today, a tipster has sent us an internal memo from Bob Bakish, the head of MTV Networks, that grimly alludes to "unprecedented economic challenges" that have caused a hiring freeze, and will affect spending "dramatically" through the entire coming year. Will the company start off the new year with a round of layoffs? Eminently possible. Bakish's full internal email, after the jump:

♦ Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire Tamir Sapir (pictured with the couple's son, Alex), paid $8.895 million for a penthouse apartment at the Veneto at 250 East 53rd Street. [Cityfile]
♦ Andrew Madoff, managing director of Madoff Investment Securities, paid $4.38 million for a five-bedroom spread at 433 East 74th Street. [Cityfile]
♦ Rumi Contractor, a senior exec at HSBC, picked up a two-bedroom pied-à-terre at 14 East 33rd Street for $1.67 million. [Cityfile]

Condé Nast announced yesterday it planned to scale back publication of Men's Vogue to two times a year. But not before Condé took one last opportunity to rope in Men's Vogue readers to renew their subscriptions! A reader was kind enough to send in this renewal offer he received last week, which offered two years ("20 issues!") for the price of one. But as he pointed out, when a Vogue title stamps "Free Gift Enclosed!" on the envelope and the gift turns out to be a flimsy bookmark, that's a pretty good sign the end is near.

It looks like private equity exec Leigh Abramson is holding up just fine amid the global financial crisis. The former Morgan Stanley Capital Partners honcho and managing director of Metalmark Capital picked up a duplex at 941 Park Avenue for $12.5 million, $2 million less than what the apartment was originally listed for back in April. (Abramson's timing also worked out in his favor: Metalmark was acquired by Citigroup in late 2007, back when the bank was still overpaying for acquisitions.) According to the listing, the five-bedroom apartment was the longtime home of the late pianist Arthur Rubinstein; now Abramson will get to chat about the unraveling economy with fellow resident Stan O'Neal, the disgraced former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Click through for a few photos and a floorplan of the spread.

In 2000, New York magazine published a story by Mark Jacobson called "The Return of Superfly," which detailed the life and times of Frank Lucas (left), the drug dealer who cornered the Harlem heroin market in the late '60s and early '70s before he was brought down in 1975. The article was later turned into the movie American Gangster starring Denzel Washington, and now, eight years later, it's spurred a lawsuit. Late last year, New York republished "The Return of Superfly" on nymag.com and repeated an allegation by Lucas that the NYPD and DEA agents who raided his home also stole millions in cash. The retired cops, furious that they have been depicted as thieves, are now suing Lucas, Jacobson, New York, and Primedia (New York's former parent) for "no less than" $5 million for defamation and the "severe emotional distress" they've since had to endure. The full lawsuit is after the jump. But the ex-cops shouldn't be surprised if they don't get a timely response: The lawsuit was sent to New York at its former address on Madison Avenue, which hasn't been the mag's home for close to a year now.

Neel Kashkari is the intense young man tapped by the Treasury Department to lead our nation's financial bailout. The national media could paint only the most basic picture of him: a high-achieving Republican ski bum who rose quickly from Wharton to Goldman Sachs to, today, a position of national import. But guess what, friends: we have obtained Neel's 1991 senior high school yearbook page. Yes, the same page that a former teacher at Neel's school told us truly reveals his egocentric, douchebag nature. And it is epic. Rush quotes! Bush quotes! And the infamous Ferrari! Luxuriate in the awesomeness of our savior:

Lenny Kravitz's 6,000-square-foot penthouse at 30 Crosby Street has been languishing on the market for more than a year now. But it looks like Kravitz's resolve is melting ever so slightly: The price of the loft was just lowered from $19.5 million to $18.75 million. This isn't the first time Kravitz's longtime broker, Corcoran's Andrea Wohl Lucas, has toyed with the price of the lavish spread that's been home to Nicole Kidman and Denzel Washington in the past: After picking up the apartment in 2001 for $8.5 million, Kravitz put it on the market for $13.25 million in 2004, then dropped the price to $12.95 million later that year before finally pulling it off the market altogether in 2006. Kravitz then spent 18 months renovating the place (and addressing his longstanding plumbing issues) before putting it back on the market in the spring of 2007 with a $19.5 million price tag. Now it seems Kravitz is willing to cut prospective buyers a 750K break. How generous! A few photos of the newly-discounted pad after the jump.