Page Six - Richard Johnson
L2j2
INSTANT REPLAY: DR. J SEX TAPE
PARIS Hilton and Julius Erving have something in common. Yup — they've both
had sex in front of a video camera.
The Dr. J video was delivered to PAGE SIX last week as the hoops hall-of-famer,
53, was headed into court again in his divorce from his wife of 31 years,
Turquoise.
The tape was apparently shot several years ago. It shows Erving — who went to
the NBA finals four times and led the Philadelphia 76ers to a title — in a
hotel room wearing a sleeveless undershirt, boxers and metal-framed glasses.
The Afro of his early years is gone, and the gray of his later years has yet to
arrive.
His co-star is a voluptuous, dark-haired young woman with cinnamon skin wearing
a negligee. A radio in the background is playing "Sea of Love" by the
Honeydrippers as Erving adjusts the camera. The couple sips white wine and
chats inaudibly before the kissing begins and they get naked.
The two unhurriedly run through several positions, including a Kama Sutra-like
contortion. At one point on the radio, an early morning weather report of fog
is announced for San Jose, Santa Cruz and Monterey.
Erving has had two childen out-of-wedlock since marrying Turquoise — tennis
player Alexandra Stevenson, 22, and a 6-year-old identified in divorce papers
last year.
The Seminole County, Fla., court ordered Erving, who listed his net worth at $9
million, to pay Turquoise $1,500 a week, plus household expenses and $8,000 a
month for credit card bills.
"He made agreements to do things. He did not do those things. We're about to
have a hearing for enforcement and sanctions," Turquoise's lawyer, Andrea
Black, said.
As for the video, Black said, "I'm sad it's reached this point. We've been
trying to resolve this amicably. Making something like that public would help
no one."
Both husband and wife live in Orlando, Fla., where state law allows spouses to
divorce without assigning blame for such things as adultery, abandonment or
intolerable cruelty.
Erving's lawyer, Andrea Cain, denied any knowledge of such a tape, but said if
such a tape existed, it wouldn't be introduced as evidence: "I can't see any
relevance. Florida is a no-fault state."
JUST ASKING
WHICH Upper East Side designer who once worked for some of the most prestigious
Seventh Avenue houses has cleaned up his act once and for all and is in
negotiations to return to the fashion world? . . . WHICH accessories company
made the very costly mistake of bringing its namesake designer back in the
office? Between consulting fees and designs that never get sold, she is costing
the firm a mint.
BIRTHDAY GAL
IT'S been almost three years since the accident that changed her life, but
lead-footed Lizzie Grubman thinks the time is right to go all-out on the social
scene. The petite blonde, now a talking head for CNN and Court TV, is
celebrating her 33rd birthday Thursday at Marquee on 10th Avenue. "It's been
three years since I had a birthday and I thought it was time," she told PAGE
SIX. Sadly, just because she hasn't had a party doesn't mean she hasn't aged.
THANKS, BUT . . .
SIX college students were supposed to feel honored when Newsweek selected them
to report on younger voters in this year's election. Instead they seem to
regard it as a nuisance. Laura Houston, editor of the Daily Mississippian at
Ole Miss, was thrown into a techno tizzy. "My cell phone rang with this weird
number. I'm like '212, what's that?' " she told MediaBistro.com. Mitch Mosvick,
a guest columnist at the University of Minnesota, said: "I received an e-mail
from Jonathan Darman [coordinator of the college writing project] and had to
look him up online because I thought it might be a hoax."
PETA VOWS HELL FOR HILLARY
SEN. Hillary Clinton's trouble with PETA isn't going away. The kerfuffle over
her new sheared mink coat that her staff is trying to pass off as velvet has
spurred PETA President Ingrid Newkirk to tell the horrific tale of "Mr.
Velvet," a red fox who lost a leg to a steel trap. "His eyes were wide as
saucers as his tongue pounded the air with each labored breath," Newkirk wrote
of her furry friend before he was released from the trap, which "took all my
strength to open and release the crushed white bones of his paw." She also
claims that Clinton's cover-up of her cover-up is disappointing and wants the
truth. "I live in the hope that Americans will continue to demand honesty from
their politicians, as well as empathy and kindness." A rep for Clinton
reiterated the party line: "The only thing we've said about this is what we say
again: The senator has owned a mink coat for over 25 years. Because it was
worn, she traded it in."
SIGHTINGS
HEIDI Klum and former flame Anthony Kiedis, Christina Aguilera and Marc Jacobs
at separate tables at the Mercer Hotel bar . . . RENÉE Zellweger getting a
facial at Ling's on Prince Street . . . BIANCA Jagger at J&R Music and Computer
World buying a new hard drive and two printers for her next big letter-writing
campaign . . . STING and Trudie Styler celebrating their daughter Mickey's
birthday at Ian Schrager's Skybar in Miami amid the likes of M. Night Shymalan,
Busta Rhymes, Tara Reid and Sammy Sosa . . . SARAH Wynter at the corner of 26th
and Sixth braving the cold and still looking gorgeous.
BACK IN ACTION
GOOD news for David Letterman, Barbara Walters, Matt Lauer, et al. Dan Klores,
the crisis manager guru, has completed his two-month stint with video
star/socialite Paris Hilton, which means the media blackout he demanded from
his client, with the exception of a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night
Live," is lifted, making Hilton a talk-show free agent. No wonder Paris was
running around Sundance partying all night. Her father has asked Klores to help
find a Los Angeles public relations agency for his daughter — who wants to
make "legitimate movies."
BABS BEHAVED
FANS of Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio" may wonder why Barbra Streisand's
interview, taped last fall, has yet to air. Rumors that Streisand delayed the
show because she's unhappy with her appearance are false, says host James
Lipton. "She was phenomenal," he says. "She was there for five hours — most
shows last four." Asked what makes for a good guest, Lipton, dean of the New
School where the show tapes, responded, "I have one criterion — does this
guest have something to teach our students? Barbra was brilliant."
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE RIGHT TO STRIP
TAKI Theodoracopulos sounds like he's ready to go to war for the right of women
to strip, and men to watch them. The co- founder of the American Conservative
is riled up because he sent "a high-class stripper" to the "downtown dive"
where his son John-Taki was celebrating his 22nd birthday. "I rang it, spoke to
the barman-owner, got permission and dis patched a high-class stripper to do
what strippers do while he was cutting the cake. Everything went hunky-dory
until the stripper began to undress. A large, drunk, fearsome-looking man at
the bar objected. The boys were polite and told him they had permis sion. No
go. 'I'm a Muslim,' said the fearsome one, 'and this is against my religion.'
When J.T. told him that drinking, too, was a no-no where Muslims were
concerned, the fearsome one threatened vio lence. The boys caved in, as did the
barman. The stripper fled. End of party." Ironically, Taki is vehemently
against the U.S. inter vention in Iraq.
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES
BRIGITTE DeLuise, daughter-in- law of actor Dom DeLuise, is suing her former
husband David in L.A. for fraud, intentional infliction of emo tional distress,
assault and unfair business practices. And she's asking for more than $4
million in com pensation. That's not much for being beaten, exposed to a sex
ually transmitted disease and being forced with her chil dren out of her home,
as Brigitte claims she was. David is an actor, but most of us missed his last
two proj ects: "Bachelor Man" and "Art of Revenge."
HOBNOBBING
IT was a meeting of the Hobbits and the puppets at Thursday night's performance
of the Broadway hit "Ave nue Q." "Lord of the Rings" stars Elijah Wood (below)
and Billy Boyd stood on line like mere mortals to pur chase their tickets to
the pup pet-pop ulated play, and were given special treatment when they went
backstage after the show. "They couldn't have been more uncelebrity-like," said
a rep for the show. "They were so great, we let them play with the puppets
backstage. Lots of celebrities ask to do this, but we've never let anyone until
now."
Calvinwiggs
>From: l2...@aol.com (L2j2)
>Date: 1/26/2004 6:42 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <20040126184245...@mb-m14.aol.com>
What is it with black atheletes and all the sex out of wedlock? Shawn Kemp I
believe fathered 7 kids to 7 different mothers. Is this a cultural thing in
the african american community?
parismom
oy! are you gonna get hammered! LOL
parismom
robbielynn
Touchy subject but I have noticed it as well. I think there is a more
permissable attitude towards multiple partners and out of wedlock
births.
I don't think it helps the kids feel stable or insures them a great
future. Sure the athletes can afford it, but not the average black
male.
L2j2
FUGITIVE IN ARTFUL JAILBREAK
IN a daring escape right out of an action movie, Michel Cohen, the most
spectacular art fraudster of recent years, has made an ambulance-borne getaway
from a Rio de Janeiro prison.
Cohen, in his early 40s, was a charmer and a high-flying dealer in the world of
modern art. He was arrested in early May 2003 after swindling galleries in at
least three cities - New York, Los Angeles and Chicago - out of $7.5 million.
He sold the same Monet painting to New York dealer Bill Beadleston, tough
Parisian Jean-Louis Gobbi and perhaps a third dealer who is keeping his mouth
shut. The painting, "Resting in the Garden at Argenteuil," owned by a Holocaust
survivor, was hanging in the Metropolitan Museum at the time. He also allegedly
sold a stolen Picasso for $4.5 million
Cohen's German wife, Ulrike, and their young children have also disappeared
into the wind. And this is not the first time.
At the end of January 2001, a card castle of perhaps $100 million in art deals
came tumbling down when the Cohens vanished from their $30,000-a-month
apartment on Madison Avenue and 89th Street. Cohen and his wife were indicted
as co-conspirators in a suit bought by Sotheby's, which was bilked out of $10
million. In following months, sightings of Cohen were reported everywhere from
Cuba to Israel, and there even was a published report that he had been
assassinated in Colombia.
Law enforcement officials caught up with the family last spring in Rio, where
they had set up house in the glamorous Impanema district. Since Cohen's arrest,
lawmen have been awaiting his extradition to the U.S. Ulrike, on the other
hand, has conveniently had a baby in Brazil, an excellent way to avoid
extradition under Brazilian law.
Late last year, Cohen reported having health problems in jail. He was being
held in a psychological hospital. On Dec. 8, he was being taken in an ambulance
to be examined at a different hospital when he made his successful break for
it.
The jailbreak never got much attention in the Brazilian press at the time
because, "they incorrectly identified him as an American," Wesley Carrington,
Press Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia told Anthony Haden-Guest, who is
working on a movie about Cohen.
The agent who transported Cohen and a nurse have been questioned.
WHO'S AN IDIOT?
LEFT-wing shill Al Franken is as big a spoiled brat as any Hollywood star. As
hundreds of journalists patiently waited up to three hours to catch flights out
of over-packed Des Moines Airport following the Iowa Caucus, a frenzied Franken
marched to the front of the line. "He threw a complete drama queen snit," says
a witness. "He went up to the security check-in and kept whining, 'I can't miss
my flight!' - but the security guards wouldn't even entertain it." The
reporters weren't amused: "There were a lot of other players in the line and we
were all shouting at him, 'Hey, we're here too!' "
SIGHTINGS
DENISE Rich celebrating her birthday by pole-dancing with 16 girlfriends,
including Star Jones, at the Penthouse Executive Club . . . ALEX von
Furstenberg celebrating his 35th birthday at the Sagamore Hotel pool area in
Miami Beach with girlfriend Ally Kaye, Enrique Iglesias, Tara Reid, Vikram
Chatwal, Elsa Benitez and bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label in each
bungalow.
CASTING CALL
PRODUCERS of the off-Broadway hit "Matt and Ben" are hunting for a few good
women to fill the title roles of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Mindy Kaling and
Brenda Withers, the Dartmouth grads who wrote the smarmy spoof of the stars'
lives before the success of "Good Will Hunting," are stepping down and seeking
replacements. Ideal candidates are in their early to mid-20s who are "extremely
versatile actors with strong comic timing and versatility," reports
filmjerk.com. Would-be Matts and Bens should contact casting director Victoria
Pettibone at PS 122 in the East Village.
LEO IRKS OSCAR IMPRESARIO
JOE Roth, the head of Revolution Studios, was furious Leonardo DiCaprio was a
presenter at Sunday's Golden Globes. Roth, who is producing next month's
Academy Awards, has been trying to persuade DiCaprio to hand out an Oscar. "Leo
had never been a presenter at any awards show," our spy said, "Joe has been
wooing him forever - and Leo has ignored him." Roth is said to be blaming
Harvey Weinstein for steering DiCaprio to the more comfortable Globes show.
DiCaprio is tight with Miramax, which backed both "Gangs of New York" and his
upcoming movie, "The Aviator." The night before, at the Chateau Marmont party
hosted by HBO honchos Chris Albrecht and Colin Callender, guests had a hard
time taking their eyes off Uma Thurman. But occasionally they glanced in the
direction of Al Pacino and his 14-year-old daughter, Julie, and Quentin
Tarantino and Jude Law.
RINGS A BELL
INDICTED Assemblyman Clarence Norman's legal woes are never far from his mind.
The Post's Kenneth Lovett reports that during a budget hearing in Albany
yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg - discussing the lethal police shooting of an
unarmed 19-year-old Brooklyn man - noted that Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes is
investigating. Norman chimed in: "I know him very well." Hynes indicted Norman,
the Kings County Democratic chairman, on charges of selling judgeships and
misusing county organization funds. After the laughter subsided, Bloomberg
replied: "I will not ask for your comments on his competency."
SKIN & BONES
TAKING a page from Adrien Brody in "The Pianist," Christian Bale went
positively skeletal for the psychological thriller "The Machinist." Audiences
at Sundance gasped at the sight of Bale, who shed 63 pounds to play an
emaciated insomniac. After bulking up for "American Psycho," Bale said he
enjoyed showing off his ribs. "It's masochistic, I suppose," he told The Post's
Lou Lumenick, "but I enjoy the thought of the guitarist who, while learning to
play, cuts up his fingers." Still, there were drawbacks. "When you're that
skinny, you don't have any energy. I was exhausted walking down the street."
CZECH MATE
SUPERMODEL Karolina Kurkova's longtime boyfriend is steamed over reports
linking the leggy Victoria's Secret siren to modelizing music producer Pharrell
Williams. Her rep insists that Kurkova has been dating Italian businessman
Alessandro Bazzoni for four years and that she's "just friends" with Williams.
"Nothing against him, but it's just not true," Kurkova's rep assured us.
"Alessandro is like, 'What is this stuff?' He's been with her the whole time."
PRODUCER PLEADS:
HANDS OFF HARVEY!
THE latest Hollywood player to jump on the anti-Peter Biskind bandwagon is
producer Don Murphy, a former partner of Quentin Tarantino. Murphy has sent a
letter to the author of "Down & Dirty Pictures" defending Miramax boss Harvey
Weinstein. "With your sloppy research and opinionated writing you have actually
made me feel dirty as well," Murphy wrote. "I want a bath. It seems that
whoever bowed and curtsied to you gets worshipped and whoever challenges you
gets skewered." Murphy, who said he was "sucker-punched" by Tarantino when
their relationship ended, has since made up with the director. As for
Weinstein, Murphy defends his tough negotiating: "Blaming Harvey for doing what
he has a right to do is stupid and you are more stupid for slanting it
otherwise . . . [he] will be remembered as many things, but to the general
public he will be venerated as a larger than life character who made cool,
difficult films happen . . . you are an obsessed bad journalist who ignores
pesky facts that don't add to his skewed point of view."
HE'S UP FOR GRABS
LADIES looking for a big-bucks boy friend take note: Woody Johnson is single
again. The Jets owner broke up with 30-year-old Holly Newman and is officially
back on the market. We're told Newman is "devastated" and is moving her
belongings out of John son's lavish pad in the Trump Interna tional on Central
Park West. Woody, an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, was
long- married to Sale Johnson.
COMA CASE
HOLLY Woodlawn, the female impersonator who has been a camp icon since star
ring in Andy Warhol's "Women in Revolt" (1971) and "Trash" (1970), is said to
suffer from acute alco holism and is in a coma. About a month ago, she was
rushed to Cedars Sinai after collapsing in her L.A. apartment and breaking her
arm. After weeks of rehab, she lapsed into a coma and was rushed to Temple
Community Hospital where she's in intensive care. Holly was just in the midst
of a comeback, having played a prostitute with a cure for im potence in
"Milwaukee, Min nesota." She missed the pre miere Jan. 17 in Palm Springs. Her
other films include: "Twin Falls Idaho" (1999), "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss"
(1998), and "The Cockettes" (2001).
L2j2
PATRIOT QB STEALS FAN'S FLAME
NEW England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has made one pass that is
out-of-bounds with diehard fan Scott Rosenberg - the Super Bowl-bound stud has
been scoring off the field with Rosenberg's ex-girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan.
Rosenberg, a Hollywood screenwriter who wrote "Beautiful Girls" and "Con Air,"
grew up cheering on the Patriots in his native Massachusetts and will surely be
glued to his TV Sunday when Brady leads his team against the Carolina Panthers.
But broken-hearted Rosenberg may have to keep some Kleenexes next to his beer
and Buffalo wings when he watches the big game.
"Scott is devastated," a friend of the screenwriter told PAGE SIX. "But he's
not going to let this ruin the Super Bowl for him. He's a huge Patriots fan."
Moynahan, 31, a stunning former model best known for playing love interests in
"The Recruit" opposite Colin Farrell and "The Sum of All Fears" with Ben
Affleck, is said to have taken up with Brady after dumping Rosenberg and moving
out of his L.A. pad a few months ago. The couple were together for three years.
Brady, 26, is no stranger to the limelight. The hunky QB dated starlet Tara
Reid, appeared in the Farrelly Brothers' comedy "Stuck on You," and was named
one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People."
Rosenberg didn't return calls, but we're told that he learned of his
ex-girlfriend's new squeeze while watching the Patriots/Colts game at Sundance
Film Festival along with the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Courteney
Cox and David Arquette and power agent Patrick Whitesell, who represents
Moynahan and is a close friend of Rosenberg.
While Rosenberg is said to have taken the news hard, he managed to quip to his
pals, "You'd think 20 years after high school you'd be safe from losing your
girl to the quarterback," and proceeded to drown his sorrows at a plethora of
Park City parties.
DIVA INTERRUPTED
IT may be a while before Jennifer Lopez deals with "Access Hollywood" again.
Lopez felt she was "accosted" Sunday night by "Access" reporter Billy Bush.
"Jennifer had made it very clear that she was giving no interviews," our source
said. "Billy jumped over the barriers, shoved a mike in her face and tried to
get a sound bite - it was awful." Lopez's publicist, Rob Shuter, stepped in and
told Bush, "Back off!" Lopez looked glum during the show and skipped the
after-parties to bolt to her restaurant Madre's with her new business partner,
Peter Chelsom.
LAVA LAUGHS
JASON Flom is adding another job to his resume. The music mogul and Democratic
Party fund-raiser is trying his hand at stand-up comedy. Flom, who heads Warner
Music's Lava Records, has his next gig at Caroline's on Feb. 3. But he may not
have much time to pursue his new hobby in the near future: The rumor swirling
around the music industry is that once Edgar Bronfman Jr. completes his buyout
of Warner Music, Flom is in line for a much bigger job.
SIGHTINGS
CHELSEA Clinton, Ian Klaus and a dozen friends dancing at Big Six, the new
bar/lounge on the Bowery between Broome and Hester . . . CLAIRE Danes and Billy
Crudup intently playing bingo at Tortilla Flats . . . KID Rock and Jaime
Pressly attempting to dine at Lellis, a Detroit institution since 1939, but
fleeing when fans wouldn't let them alone . . . GISELE Bundchen, Kelly Osbourne
and Frederique van der Wal partying at Danny A and Alon Jabli's Tuesday night
party at Marquee . . . "INSOMNIAC" host Dave Attell shopping for kitchen
appliances at the Manhattan Center for Kitchen and Bath.
GLOBES SPAWN PARTY DUEL
IRENA Medavoy - wife of producer Mike Medavoy - is said to be worried that
famed talent manager Benny Medina will decide to celebrate his birthday every
year on the Saturday before the Golden Globes. "Irena and Mike always give
their party on that day," our spy explained. The Medavoys' thunder was stolen
this year when Medina drew such stars as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Kenneth
"Babyface" Williams, Berry Gordy, Usher, Brandy, Mya, Star Jones, Elaine
Goldsmith-Thomas, Sean Spellman, Medina's Aunt Erma Sykes and his adoptive
mother, Bobbi Elliott - who let Medina live with her in Beverly Hills when he
was a teenager. The crowd at Medina's house in the Hollywood Hills got misty
when he told them, "I love you and I thank you for being in my life." After
dining on treats made by Medina's sister Benita Doggins, partygoers opened up.
Nicky and Paris Hilton danced alongside Star Jones, Jeff Klein, Will Smith,
Kyle MacLachlan, Billy Zane, Harvey Weinstein, Endeavor agent Greg Horangic and
ICM's Robert "Curly" Newman. But the Medavoys shouldn't worry: Medina says the
soiree was his first and most likely his last.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
IT'S "out with the old and in with the new" at Taj tonight. Island/Def Jam is
holding the farewell bash from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. for Lyor Cohen - who, as The
Post first reported, is leaving as the label's chief to head up Warner Bros.
music. Immediately following, L.A. Reid - who was fired last week as head of
Arista despite 31 Grammy nominations - is co-hosting a birthday party for
Arista's senior vice president of A&R, Karen Kwak. Reid is widely rumored to be
taking over Cohen's job at Island/Def Jam.
BOYCOTT ENDS
SEAN Penn will definitely attend this year's Academy Awards, his publicist
confirms. Penn, who has never been to the Oscars despite three previous
nominations, "wants to stand up for 'Mystic River,' " his rep said. Penn, who
plays the father of a murdered girl, may have already ruined his chance to win
because he was a no-show at the Golden Globes. Academy members might also vote
against Penn because they don't want to hear the actor expound on his pre-war
visit to Iraq as a guest of Saddam Hussein.
WEDDING TRAIN
ASHLEIGH Banfield is off the market. The fetching MSNBC correspondent recently
got engaged to Bloomberg Financial sales exec Howard Gould, 31, her boyfriend
for the last year and a half. Gould - the great, great grandson of railroad
robber baron Jay Gould - tells us the wedding will be July 24 "somewhere in
Canada." Banfield, who darkened her hair to blend in while covering the war in
Afghanistan, will be a blond bride.
HARVEY SHRUGS OFF SNUB
HARVEY Weinstein put on a brave face yesterday even though his $90 million pet
project "Cold Mountain" was mostly cold-shouldered by the Oscars, leaving
mighty Miramax without a Best Picture-nominee for the first time since 1991.
"Yes, I'm disappointed," he told Post film critic Lou Lumenick. "But the
shortened Academy season and the screener controversy hurt us and other movies
that were released in December, like 'Big Fish' and 'Something's Gotta Give.'
Plus there were five, six other great movies, and we started to lose momentum
after the Directors Guild nominations," which snubbed "Cold Mountain" helmer
Anthony Minghella. "But hey, we've had such good luck in other years, and we're
a junior partner on 'Master and Commander' as well as owning a piece of 'The
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,' " both of which got nominated."
Weinstein noted that Miramax still managed 15 nominations, including four for
the Brazilian drama "City of God," which he plans to expand to 500 screens
shortly.
HE'S ONE CLASS ACT
JULIUS Erving showed some class Monday night. With our story still on
newsstands about the porno tape he made 15 years ago with an unidentified young
beauty, Dr. J honored his commitment to attend the Philadelphia Sports Writers
Association's 100th annual banquet in Cherry Hill, N.J. Elegantly attired in a
black suit and tie, Erving - who is going through a bitter divorce with his
wife of 31 years, Turquoise - offered a brusque "no comment," but later said of
his relationship with the media: "The waters were calm, but not so calm today."
Erving's spokesman, Dan Klores, said, "This is a tape that was made 15 years
ago, while the couple was separated." Klores pointed the finger at Turquoise
for leaking the tape, "especially since she has had this in her possession for
all these years."
L2j2
TRUMP BLASTS MIKE ON SMOKE
DONALD TRUMP doesn't smoke or drink, but the teetotalling tycoon has no
patience with Mayor Bloomberg's inflexible anti-smoking ban.
"I'm a non-smoker - and I love that the tobacco companies are getting their
asses sued off - but New York nightlife has been impaired by the new cigarette
laws," Trump vented to Steve Garbarino, who wrote a cover story on the real
estate developer and TV star for next week's TV Guide.
"Very few people have died from second-hand smoke," Trump told Garbarino. "I
know bartenders who are 100 years old, and they are breathing and still tending
bar. The Europeans won't even come to New York because they can't smoke in
restaurants and bars. So I think they've taken it too far."
Even so, Trump is disdainful of smokers so hooked on "the stupid, terrible
habit" that they "have to leave Le Cirque to go out in the rain to smoke for 10
minutes."
He went on, "Never had a drink. Never had a cigarette. Number one, I don't like
the taste [of alcohol]. Number two, my brother [Fred Trump] died of alcoholism.
I saw what alcohol did to him."
Trump continued: "He was a great teacher in a sense. He was 12 years older than
me. He would lecture me incessantly: 'Don't smoke, don't drink.' I've never had
a cup of coffee either. Fred drank coffee, smoked and drank alcohol. But
alcohol ultimately killed him.
"Most people that drink, I've found have a problem with it. I had a friend who
I respected, but who would get totally bombed, and I'd be carrying him out by
his arms and legs. He'd make a total jerk of himself.
"I've never had an employee with a drinking problem. Subconsciously, I think
I'm not into people who drink."
Tell that to some of the female contestants on Trump's "The Apprentice." One of
them, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, told Garbarino: "I was surprised at how
drunk everyone got. I was in awe that they would behave that way.
"Every time there was a break, they'd be out smoking their Marlboros.
Unfortunately, it was off my [Trump Plaza] balcony that they went to have
cigarettes. I'm not a drinker or a smoker. I was amazed that in preparing for
the job, they wouldn't have known Trump is [against both]."
CLASSIC MOMENT
NEARLY 40 years after he snapped a photo of the coin toss of Super Bowl I, Neil
Leifer's shot has made the cover of Sports Illustrated. The picture of five
players from the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs facing off at the
1967 championship game hung for years at uptown watering hole Elaine's. But
when S.I. editor Terry McDonnell came in the other night and mentioned that he
needed a cover for this week's Super Bowl-themed issue, owner Elaine Kaufman
pointed it out. "It's elegant and it's beautiful, and it harkens back to
another time," McDonnell says.
FUNNY LADY?
BARBRA Streisand may be ready to "Meet the Fockers." After pleading with
Streisand for months, Ben Stiller has finally gotten the diva to actually read
the script, according to imdb.com. If she accepts, Streisand would play
Stiller's mother, opposite his "father," Dustin Hoffman. Teri Polo, Blythe
Danner, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson are all returning to appear in the
follow-up to "Meet the Parents."
STARK CHOICE
WENDY Stark, daughter of legendary movie producer Ray Stark, is fighting with
the lawyers representing his estate - but not over the estate. Wendy, a Vanity
Fair contributor, will inherit her dad's Beverly Hills mansion and everything
in it except for his half-billion-dollar art collection, which is going to
various museums. However, sources say that although Stark - who made Barbra
Streisand a star in "Funny Girl" - stipulated in his will he didn't want a
memorial service, Wendy wants to throw one anyway at the mansion a few days
before the Oscars, when all the big stars will be in town. A flack at Vanity
Fair said Wendy had no comment.
WE HEAR . . . WE HEAR . . .
THAT Jacob Bernstein, son of Carl Bernstein and Nora Ephron, is quitting the
media beat at Women's Wear Daily to become a contributing writer at New York
magazine . . . THAT Elektra Records boss Sylvia Rhone missed Monday's summit
meeting with Warner Music chief Roger Ames and Edgar Bronfman Jr., who is
buying the company, because she was in Atlanta receiving a prestigious Echo
Trumpet Award . . . THAT Billy Crystal flew to the Sarasota Film Festival to
support his daughter Lindsay's first effort, a documentary, "My Uncle Berns,"
about Billy's eccentric 88-year-old uncle, an artist . . . THAT Emma Bloomberg,
Rocky Aoki, Christo, John Leguizamo, L.A. Reid and Tatum O'Neal got a preview
of Megu, the new Japanese restaurant on Thompson Street . . . THAT at the '21'
breakfast after the State of the Union speech, when Lesley Stahl said, "The
president had his spinach," Mario Cuomo quipped, "Next time he should try his
escarole."
FOR THE RECORD
CONTRARY to what we reported in November, John Gray holds a valid Ph.D. from
Columbia Pacific University. When he received his degree in 1982, CPU was
approved by the State of California. Fifteen years later, in 1997, the
vocational school was ordered to close because it "failed to provide students
with the quality of education required under California law," explained Pamela
Mares of the Bureau of Private Post-Secondary and Vocation Education, and
"faculty members were deemed unqualified to teach at degree-granting schools."
BEV IN THE BUFF
BEVERLY D'Angelo was selling nude, signed photos of herself for $100 at an
autograph show at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in L.A. the other day. Margot
Kidder was hawking topless photos. An emaciated Kate Jackson - "Her face
resembled a razor blade," said our man on the scene - didn't show any skin but
drew the longest line. D'Angelo, the mother of Al Pacino's twins, was asked by
one adoring fan why she didn't do more theater. "It's too much work," she
explained. "The last [Sam] Shepard play I did was three hours long, and we had
to do it twice a day."
THIRD WHEEL
ANNA Kournikova was the odd girl out Tuesday night at South Beach's Astor
Hotel. The tennis hottie - who has been with Enrique Iglesias for over a year -
arrived with her former fiance, NHL hockey star Pavel Bure, and his new
girlfriend. The three seemed to be the best of friends as they danced, but then
Anna and Pavel's new girl got into a fight. "They were dancing, then swinging,
then dancing again," a witness said. Hostilities ceased as quickly as they
began.
DAISY DUKED
GQ magazine veteran Tom Mallon dishes on his former colleagues in his new book,
"Band Box," a roman a clef set at a men's magazine in the 1920s. Condé Nast
chief S.I. Newhouse is the model for "Hi Oldcastle;" late GQ editor-in-chief
Art Cooper is Band Box editor Joe Harris; Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger
inspired Jimmy Gordon, the editor of rival "Cutaway" magazine who raids Band
Box of its top writers; GQ food columnist Alan Richman resembles the David Fine
character; and former factchecker Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave is Countess
Daisy di Donna. "I'm made into a real femme fatale," Sheri told us. "He has me
supplying 'hooch' to Joe Harris and I'm described as having a 'still-nifty
figure in too-tight dresses.' I'm thrilled with it!"
PARIS' SEX TAPE HAS LEGS
RICK Salomon turns out to be as sleazy as we suspected. The ex-boyfriend of
Paris Hilton sued the Hilton family for $10 million, claiming they slandered
him by accusing him of leaking the porno tape he made of himself having sex
with Paris. Now he's apparently offered to settle if he's given the right to
market the tape as a "pay-per-view." TheSmokingGun.com has uncovered a Jan. 15
Los Angeles court filing in which Hilton lawyer Heather McCloskey branded
Salomon's settlement offer as "beneath contempt." Meanwhile, when "The Simple
Life" got bigger ratings than President Bush's State of the Union address,
Paris bragged that she's "bigger than the president." She didn't even return
calls from her UTA agent, Brett Hanson, who wanted to offer her a $2 million
part in Joel Silver's next movie, "The House of Wax." While party-hopping at
the Beverly Hilton after the Golden Globes, she was told by a security guard:
"Hey, you should have won a Globe for your porno." A tearful Paris complained
to security chief Lou Palumbo, who promptly fired the rude guard.
SIGHTINGS
SARAH Jessica Parker leaving a 50-cent tip at the Tiffany diner on West Fourth
Street after tying up a table for a two-hour business meeting and ordering only
soup . . . MAYOR Bloomberg and Central Labor Council leader Brian McLaughlin
breaking bread at Asiate in the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
FAMILY FRAUD
AUTHOR Michael Pellegrino wants to apologize to the Gambinos for pretending to
be a member of the notorious crime family and passing himself off as "Michael
Gambino." "I was wrong in letting it get to where it got," he told PAGE SIX.
Pellegrino's book, "The Honored Society," was touted by Simon & Schuster as the
work of the "highest ranking mob member ever to record the innermost workings"
of organized crime. But S&S pulled the title after it received a cease and
desist order from a real Gambino - Thomas, son of the late godfather Carlo. "I
got caught up in the whole thing . . . I've made mistakes in my life," he now
says. "I've done time. I didn't rat on nobody. They put me in a position where
I didn't want to be. People thought I was something that I wasn't."
Calvinwiggs
>From: l2...@aol.com (L2j2)
>Date: 1/29/2004 8:59 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <20040129205958...@mb-m10.aol.com>
he stuffs his face all the time. He should think about dieting.
>
>
L2j2
BAR and nightclub owners are in an uproar over a proposal that would require a
"nightlife license" to stay open after 1 a.m.
City Consumer Affairs Commissioner Gretchen Dykstra is pushing a plan that
would require a special two-year license for any nightspot with a capacity of
75 or more where the music would be 90 decibels or higher.
A place would be padlocked for up to 10 days after three noise or other license
violations, and would have its license revoked if it was "indicted" for any two
of the following: homicide, assault, rape or attempted rape, weapons
possession, unlicensed sale of liquor, sale of liquor to minors, overcapacity,
disabled sprinkler systems or two Consumer Affairs padlocks. Nightspots would
also be slapped with violations for failing to sweep the sidewalk and 18 inches
of adjacent street by 6 a.m. the next morning.
David Rabin, president of the New York Nightlife Assn. and co-owner of Lotus,
says Dykstra's plan would let the city effectively shut bars and nightclubs
down at 1 a.m.
"This bill will end up closing New York at 1 a.m.," Rabin warned. "It's no
longer going to be the city that never sleeps. We're united on this - everyone
from the little bars to the biggest nightclubs. The best-run bar in the entire
universe could not stay open under the conditions in this proposal."
The plan was proposed because of a jump in noise complaints in the wake of
Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban, which forces smokers outside. But bar and
nightclub owners already suffering a dip in business are irate over the
prospect of more regulation.
Club queen Amy Sacco, who owns Bungalow 8 and Lot 61, claims she will move out
of town if the bill is passed.
"Ninety percent of our business comes between 1 and 4 a.m. - that's when we
make all our money," Sacco said. "Basically, if the city doesn't like you, they
can shut you down."
The Nightlife Assn. has proposed an alternative solution to the noise problem
in which clubs would pay off-duty cops to patrol trouble spots. The group is
holding a "town hall meeting" to discuss the 1 a.m. proposal at Lotus on Feb.
4.
Dykstra declined to discuss her proposal with PAGE SIX. Her spokeswoman gamely
told us: "We have a great nightlife in the city and have no intention of
harming it."
TOUCHING DOWN
LUCK be a lady - that's how New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady feels
about his girlfriend Bridget Moynahan. Brady is flying the sexy actress to
Houston to cheer him on as he tries to win the Super Bowl on Sunday. PAGE SIX -
which broke the news of their romance - has learned that the couple were
introduced by their mutual endorsement agent, Maury DiMauro. Moynahan has been
flying to Boston to see Brady every chance she gets, and he has insisted that
his gorgeous good luck charm be at the game.
ATHLETIC SUPPORT
SELF-promoter extraordinaire Sondra Fortunato, the busty blonde aunt of Viacom
chair Sumner Redstone's wife, will make her annual appearance at the Super Bowl
- which airs on Viacom's CBS. A professional sports fan/model who bills herself
as Miss Everything - having been named Miss Super Bowl City, Miss World Series,
Miss Liberty and Miss Twin Peaks, among other highly coveted honors - Fortunato
adorned her car with photos of herself and trekked through the Northeast snow
to Houston because she's afraid to fly.
BOTTOMS UP
AFICIONADOS of fine single malt scotch will want to be at Hammerstein Ballroom
Monday for the Elle Décor Dining by Design Auction. The world's very last
bottle of Glenlivet's 1959 vintage will be up for grabs. Since September 2002,
99 bottles of the precious elixir have raked in more than $100,000 at auction.
One bottle went for $6,000 last May. All proceeds from Monday's benefit will go
toward AIDS research.
J.LO 'INTERVIEW' WAS FAKED
JENNIFER Lopez never talked to Victoria Gotti, despite the best efforts of the
Star and the Daily News to make it seem that way. Sources say the brief quotes
attributed to J.Lo for Star magazine's front-page story, "J.Lo Speaks Out! 'I'm
Broken-Hearted,' " were concocted by someone who works for Lopez. The Daily
News swallowed the tale hook, line and sinker, and touted its rehash yesterday
on its own front page with a picture of Lopez and the headline, My Heart's
Broken. Lopez has refused to give interviews since her split from Ben Affleck.
The words Gotti attributed to Lopez were: "I am extremely broken-hearted. I put
enormous effort into my relationship with Ben." Star editor-in-chief Joe Dolce
concedes, "Obviously, they did not have a sit-down interview to get two
sentences. And obviously Victoria is in New York and J.Lo is in Los Angeles . .
. [but] Victoria got the information in a stand-up way that was fact-checked
and legaled." Sources say Gotti wrung an innocuous quote out of the Lopez camp
by pleading that she was under tremendous pressure from her notoriously tough
boss, Star editorial director Bonnie Fuller, to come up with scoops.
SIGHTINGS
IRON Maiden guitarist Janick Bers and bassist Steve Harris signing autographs
for fans at Bellevue on Ninth Avenue and admiring owner Jimmy Duff's hearse
parked outside after their sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom show . . . BILL
Clinton staying solo in the $4,000-a-night presidential suite - which features
a private art collection, floor-to-ceiling windows and sunken Roman tub - at
the new Ritz-Carlton in South Beach . . . NEW Nets owner Bruce Ratner and
partner Jay-Z celebrating with Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Sean Combs and
Beyoncé Knowles at 40/40 Club . . . MICHAEL Imperioli being tender with his
children while shopping at Bazzini in SoHo.
NO MERCY
TOM Sizemore is still bugging Heidi Fleiss - despite a restraining order. "He
showed up at my house last week," Fleiss told PAGE SIX. "He looked like a
homeless guy. He wanted money and started crying - begging me to talk to the
judge so he doesn't have to go to jail for four months. I was like, 'Four
months? Hello, try three years! That's what I did!' " Fleiss called the cops
and asked them to pick Sizemore up. The actor is facing jail time for beating
her up last year. Meanwhile, Fleiss is opening a sex shop on Hollywood
Boulevard which she describes as "Hustler without the porn."
TALL ORDER
DENNIS Rodman has a new job hawking sexual enhancement pills. The hoops legend
- who has been sober three and a half months in his bid for an NBA comeback -
just signed "a blockbuster endorsement deal" with an herbal virility elixir
sold on www.enjoyrx.com. Rodman will appear on Howard Stern's show today with a
couple of comely assistants to push the potion. Rodman, 42, grabbed 14 rebounds
in 28 minutes in his first game with the minor league Long Beach Jam, and is
said to have four NBA teams interested.
DON'T BE CRUEL
SOME fans have branded Pamela Anderson, a supposed animal rights supporter, a
hypocrite ever since she started wearing Ugg boots made of sheepskin.
Apparently she's had enough. The buxom one will introduce fake Uggs - a
cruelty-free version - at the Magic trade show in Las Vegas next month. "She
felt awful that the paparazzi had caught her in those pictures," PETA spokesman
Dan Mathews said. "She wanted to make a cruelty-free version available. Live
and learn."
RED MENACE
THE Internet is buzzing with skepticism over last week's New York Times Sunday
Magazine cover story, "Sex Slaves on Main Street," which claimed that tens of
thousands of girls from Mexico and Eastern Europe have been smuggled into the
United States to work as sex slaves. While some readers question reporter Peter
Landesman's figures, he lost our trust when he reported that "prostitution
barely existed 12 years ago in the Soviet Union" - a howler that made it hard
to believe anything else in the story. In 1991, PAGE SIX spent a long evening
in a Moscow nightclub called Night Flight that was packed with call girls. But
Landesman quoted a professor of women's studies at the University of Rhode
Island who explained why Russia was supposedly whore-free under Communism: "All
of the women had jobs."
LAST STRAW?
IN what may be the final nail in Elektra head Sylvia Rhone's coffin, Missy
"Misdemeanor" Elliott is looking to leave the ailing label. "Her deal with
Elektra is up and she wants out," our music industry insider said. An Elliott
exit would be disastrous for Rhone as she's the only big money-making name
still with the label. Rhone's job is said to be in trouble ever since Edgar
Bronfman bought Warner Music, which owns Elektra. A manager for Elliott didn't
return calls.
NOT A PARTY
RUMORS flew when Drew Barrymore was spotted in New Hampshire on primary day.
She was taken for a Wesley Clark crusader when she attended a rally for Clark
and interviewed him on his campaign bus while irked journalists waited, the
Washington Post reports. The plot thickened when she visited a local school to
talk to students about a "secret project," one the school was "under strict
instructions" not to discuss, reported the Union Leader. Barrymore's flack shed
some light: "Drew is working on a personal project exploring the voting process
in America in a nonpartisan format, focusing on the nation's youth." Sounds
like fun.
Marianna Trench
>
>DENNIS Rodman has a new job hawking sexual enhancement pills. The hoops
>legend
>- who has been sober three and a half months in his bid for an NBA comeback -
>just signed "a blockbuster endorsement deal" with an herbal virility elixir
>sold on www.enjoyrx.com. Rodman will appear on Howard Stern's show today with
>a
>couple of comely assistants to push the potion. Rodman, 42, grabbed 14
>rebounds
>in 28 minutes in his first game with the minor league Long Beach Jam, and is
>said to have four NBA teams interested.
I dunno if 14 rebounds is a good number or not, being basketball-challenged. I
*do* know that when someone starts hawking supplements, it's Hit Bottom Time.
Marianna
"The amount of fun and happiness you get out of each day will be determined by
how smart you are in deciding right over wrong, for yourself"
-Ted Nugent