ABC news has an in depth article recapping socialite Brooke Astor’s shocking elderly abuse scandal involving her son Anthony Marshall and the subsequent lawsuit filed against him by Miss Astor’s grandson Philip Marshall.
Source: TMZ.com
Nobody Puts Barbara In a Corner
Posted Jun 28th 2006 12:35PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: TV, Celebrity Feuds
Star Jones has left “The View” — permanently, according to her now-former co-host and boss, Barbara Walters. The show aired this morning with just Walters, Joy Behar, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck taking their customary seats at the now oddly empty round table, and Jones’ name and picture has been removed from the opening credits.
After the ladies took their seats, Walters began the show, dryly, “And then there were three.”
Summoning as much patrician chill as she could, Barbara gave as good as she got: She told the audience that Star wouldn’t be coming back, and that though she had purposely given her a few months to find a new gig and had given her the chance to “leave with dignity,” her co-host had “made another choice” by talking to People magazine and making “other announcements” in the media yesterday.Walters also said that she and the producers had decided not to renew Star’s contract several months ago (which, she says, Star knew) though she didn’t go into the reasons why.
Jones, perhaps to try to take the offensive, appeared earlier this morning before “The View” on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show and said that she wanted to leave when they told her contract wasn’t going to be renewed two months ago and that, until yesterday, Joy and Elisabeth didn’t even know she had gotten the boot.
Jones told Seacrest that “if anyone should feel betrayed, it should be me,” referring to comments Walters made yesterday that she had felt “betrayed” by Star’s jumping the gun. And she complained that she found out about how Rosie O’Donnell — who Star said had been “nasty and insulting and vicious” about her weight loss — was brought onto the show at the Emmy Awards, when Barbara announced it.
Star also acknowledged that she had made some missteps in commercializing her wedding planning to the hilt, saying “I want to take full responsibility for the audience thinking, ‘Star abandoned us.’”
Also, Gawker.com reports:
Our recaps don’t do justice to the measured, authoritative tones of Barbara Walters who, no matter what bullshit Star Jones may pull, will always be the boss around The View’s henhouse. As she explains the circumstances of Jones’ departure, Walters reminds us (and presumably Jones herself) that “The View helped make Star a star.” And don’t you forget it, snatchpants.
Also: a few readers report that Jones called in to Steve Harvey’s radio show this morning and said that yesterday ABC producers called her agents, informing them that Star was never to come back to The View, effective immediately. Burning bridges sure does make for a spectacular glow.
Source: IMDb.com/WENN
June 28, 2006
Walters “Betrayed” by Jones Reynolds
TV veteran Barbara Walters feels “betrayed” by her The View co-host Star Jones Reynolds following her shock on-air announcement of her departure from the talk show. Walters, 74, was stunned when Jones Reynolds, 44, told viewers and her fellow presenters she would be leaving the ABC program after nine years yesterday morning, because the announcement was planned for Thursday. Speaking to camera, Jones Reynolds said, “Something’s been on my heart for a little bit, and after much prayer and counsel I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its tenth season and I will not be returning as co-host next year.”
And in this week’s issue of People magazine, Jones Reynolds says, “What you don’t know is that my contract was not renewed for the tenth season. I feel like I was fired.” Walters, who created and produces the show, says, “I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could – up until this morning when I was betrayed – to protect her. I would have loved for Star to have left and not said ‘I was fired,’ and not make it look like the program was somehow being cruel to her.
“Walters admits ABC network bosses declined to renew Jones Reynolds’ contract after research showed audiences were turned off by the former lawyer’s dramatic weight loss and her 2004 marriage to Al Reynolds, where she plugged companies on air in exchange for freebies for her wedding. Walters adds, “We tried to talk them out of it and we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience, and the research just kept getting worse.”
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards’ three-ring circus of a divorce just got a whole lot more interesting. Page Six reports Jason Itzler, the former pimp… uhm I mean “owner” of the New York Confidential escort service, is claiming Sheen hired two of his best girls, “Cheryl, a 20 year old blond ballerina and Juilliard grad, and Victoria, a 19 year old, dark-haired former Hotel Gansevoort hostess”, to dress up like cheerleaders and do a lesbian act for him at the tune of $20,000.
“They loved Charlie”, said Itzler from Riker’s Island where he’s serving time for money-laundering and prostitution charges. “They said he was a great guy, a great lover and had a big [bleep].” Itzler also claims Sheen liked to role play, meeting the girls “for romps at trendy 60 Thompson in SoHo” where he would pretend to be an x-rated movie director, guiding the two girls through “steamy lesbian scenes”.
Page Six is one of my favorite society gossip columns and a New York institution in it‚Äö?Ñ?¥s own right‚Äö?Ѭ?you ain‚Äö?Ñ?¥t New York society if you haven‚Äö?Ñ?¥t been featured in Page Six and yours truly has, so it saddens me to report the news for Page Six today is not so good. Read on‚Äö?Ѭ?
The Billionaire, The Post And The $220G Shakedown
Page Six writer wanted $$$ to stop inaccurate coverage.
By William Sherman and Jonathan Lemire
Originally published on April 7, 2006
Source: New York Daily News
Jared Paul Stern shot by Patrick McMullan
A New York Post Page Six staffer solicited $220,000 from a high-profile billionaire in return for a year‚Äö?Ñ?¥s ‚Äö?Ñ??protection‚Äö?Ñ?? against inaccurate and unflattering items about him in the gossip page, the Daily News has learned.
In two 90-minute meetings, characterized by a shocking breach of ethics, Jared Paul Stern, a fixture on the city‚Äö?Ñ?¥s gossip scene who also edited Page Six The Magazine, asked for a series of payments from Ron Burkle, the managing partner of Yucaipa Cos., a conglomerate with interests in supermarkets, celebrity clothing lines, and media.
It was all a setup, a sting monitored by law enforcement, including the U.S. attorney‚Äö?Ñ?¥s office and the FBI, who are now investigating the extortion attempt. The meetings, on March 22 and March 31, were videotaped.
Brad Renfro is fast gaining a reputation as the Robert Downy JR for the under 30 crowd. What once looked like a promising career for a very talented young actor has all but come to a hault due to the actor’s rampant drug use and brushes with the law for a series of pointless crimes.
Actor Taken Into Custody In DUI Case
By TMZ.com Staff
March 8th, 2006 6:50PM ET –
Source: TMZ.com
Brad Renfro has been jailed for violating his probation. TMZ was the only camera crew in Los Angeles Court Wednesday when the actor copped a plea to driving under the influence. Renfro had two prior DUIs, one as a juvenile and one as an adult. Under the plea agreement for his third DUI, Renfro was sentenced to 10 days in LA County jail and ordered to attend an alcohol program. The judge also ordered Renfro to attend a “hospital and morgue” program, designed as shock treatment.Renfro was immediately taken into custody and sent off to jail.
In return for pleading guilty to DUI, other charges, including driving with a suspended license, were dismissed.On Monday, Renfro was in court on heroin possession charges. A judge ruled Renfro was eligible for a rehabilitation program, thus avoiding jail for that offense.
Roger Partied On Strike Night
December 22, 2005
Source: Page Six
WHILE countless ordinary New Yorkers were trudging home from work in the bitter cold Tuesday night due to the transit strike, Transport Workers Union boss Roger Toussaint and his chaos-causing labor cronies were living the high life at an upscale uptown eatery.
Toussaint and his comrades were in a jubilant mood at chichi Harlem Grill, an elegant supper club on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard with gleaming candelabras, antique mirrors and live jazz.
A spywitness tells PAGE SIX’s Fernando Gil: “[Toussaint and his party] were there for at least 2 1/2 hours. People kept coming and going all night, but there must have been at least six people at their table at all times.
“They were drinking, eating and joking,” the witness relates. “At one point, the owner or manager of the restaurant came over to make sure they’d been taken care of. I heard a man in their group say, ‘Do you think they’re all going to stay home tomorrow?’…and people at the table laughed.”
Our source reports that Toussaint, dressed smartly in a suit, chowed down on clay pot snapper. Others at his table devoured grilled salmon, rib-eye steaks and glasses of chardonnay. In an apparent sign of solidarity with the working man, they left a $30 tip on the surprisingly modest $152 check.
This story originally appeared in FemaleFirst, but below is Dlisted‘s hysterical take on the same story:
Picture this: You are Donatella Versace, you are wearing some ugly frock that you sort-of designed, you love champagne, you love coke even more. You’ve invited that fag Elton John over to party. “Fuck the Pain Away” by Peaches comes on the radio and that’s your jam, so you head to the powder room to get a little powder.
Suddenly, the nastiest man you’ve ever seen blocks you. It’s Elton John and you’re confused, but you try and get around his fat arm. He blocks you and says there’s a jet waiting. You say “fabulous, let me get my bikini!” But it’s not going to St. Tropez, it’s going to Arizona. You hate Arizona, but that’s where REHAB is. Oh no, not rehab.This is a true story. Sad but true.Donatella said:
“On June 30 [2004] Elton was in my house in Milan, along with a few friends. I went to the bathroom to powder my nose and they blocked me. They told me there was a plane about to depart for Arizona. “I was shocked but I understood the time had come. I slipped into a tracksuit and … alone and with no make up, caught the plane.”
Please don’t take coke away from Donatella. She won’t be the same. I like her just the way she is. Coked up and with a penis!
From IMDB.com: Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com – WENN
Actor Tom Sizemore’s bitter ex Heidi Fleiss has accused the Black Hawk Down star of being a closet homosexual. The former Hollywood Madam won a legal battle with the actor after accusing him of beating her. and now she’s kicking him while he’s down. Sizemore was handed a 17-month prison sentence last month for violating parole conditions arranged after his court battle with Fleiss on Thursday and will serve his time behind bars once his current appeal on another abuse charge is heard. But Fleiss isn’t happy that her ex is heading for jail – she’s still on the attack. The former hooker tells America’s Globe tabloid that Sizemore’s abusive nature towards women comes from his sexual confusion. She says, “Because he’s lousy in bed and very homophobic, I have to wonder if he’s not struggling with his sexuality. If that’s so, he’s really going to hate jail.” Fleiss, 39, also tells the tabloid that she was only in love with the actor for two weeks before she realized he was “dangerous” and “a pathetic loser”.
On August 2000, Brad Renfro was arrested by Florida cops ( mug-shot above ) and charged with grand theft after he and a buddy tried to boost a 45 foot yacht from a Ft. Lauderdale dock.
The dynamic duo failed to untie the boat from the dock during their get-away, causing damage to both the boat and the dock. Renfro, who was 18 at the time of his bust, pleaded out and was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay the yacht”s owner $4000 in damages.
More on Brad: Continue reading Brad Renfro
