Harvey Weinstein Brings Football to St. Barts; Maureen Dowd Defends Her Hemline
Welcome to the Smart Set. Every morning we bring you the gossip coverage, filtered. Today: Harvey Weinstein made sure the vacationing jet set could watch the New York Giants clinch a playoff spot on Sunday, Nelson Mandela's daughter is the latest person not to put a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao together, and Maureen Dowd says her dresses are nothing like the ones Jill Abramson wears.
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Harvey Weinstein didn't let a little thing like being in St. Bart's stop him from watching the New York Giants punch their playoff ticket Sunday with a win over the Dallas Cowboys. Weinstein reportedly "rented French bistro Bagatelle in Gustavia, installed big TV screens, and threw a Caribbean viewing party for his famous friends vacationing on the island." Martha Stewart, Brian Grazer, Brett Ratner, Jack Dorsey, Melissa George, and Russell Simmons were among the notable Big Blue backers in attendance. [Page Six]
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GOP moneybags David Koch presided over a lavish New Year's Eve fireworks show in Palm Beach on Saturday. It lasted 30 minutes, 10,000 shells were discharged, and 5,000 citizens showed up to watch. Rudy Giuliani, a guest of Koch, reportedly "wore a top hat emblazoned with 'Happy New Year'" as he watched the display go off at the Flagler Museum’s Kenan Pavilion. The fireworks were anything but ordinary: the deotnations were apparently "choreographed to tunes by Lady Gaga, The Beatles and Andrea Bocelli." This is the fifth straight year Koch has set off explosions in the sky over Florida. [Page Six]
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Nelson Mandela's daughter Zindziswa has been ordered to pay $7.5 million to Duane Moody, a boxing promoter she's said to have hired to organize the on-again, off-again "fight of the century" between boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as a birthday gift for her father. The bout never materialized and Zindziswa didn't pay Moody his money, so he sued her. Zindziswa, who lives in South Africa, never responded to the lawsuit, so the judge entered a default judgement against her. Considering how many people have tried and failed to get Mayweather and Pacquiao to fight, the notion Nelson Mandela's daughter thought she could arrange it as a birthday present for her dad was about as realistic as Manchested United moving to Burma. [TMZ]
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69-year-old Aretha Franklin is tying the knot with William Wilkerson, who she calls her "forever friend," which is lovely and sweet. In case you were wondering, the Queen of Soul assured reporters in a statement, "No, I'm not pregnant." [People]
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VF Daily's Juli Weiner has been filing terrific dispatches from the hotel bar at the Marriott in Des Moines, the place east coast media types go to see and be seen (and drink) in the days leading up to the Iowa Caucuses. On New Year's Day, Weiner noted that New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson and columnist Maureen Dowd were wearing "nearly identical maxi skirts in different colors," a claim the columnist refuted when she was introduced to Weiner yesterday. Said Dowd: “We weren’t wearing matching maxi skirts. Jill was wearing a dress that stopped at the knee.” So there you go. [VF Daily]
Katy Perry's split from Russell Brand could cost her as much as $20 million, but it sounds as if she's found a friend and confidant in Rihanna. The two apparently had "regular phone calls" over the past few weeks as Perry's marriage to Brand continued its downward spiral. A source says that when Perry told her pal she and Brand were kaput, Rihanna "suggested flying down to Barbados to stay with her and her family." Perry didn't take her up on the offer, chossing instead to jet off to Hawaii. But it's the thought that counts. [The Sun]
Sean Combs invited Rosie O'Donnell to his fancy New Year's Eve party in Miami, but apparently but apparently his security detail turned her away when she "rolled up casually dressed with six people in tow." A rep for Diddy, who reportedly spent the bulk of the evening in "deep conversation" with Rihanna (her again!), said he was "completely unaware" that O'Donnell was shunned, and that he feels "terrible" about it. O'Donnell's rep declined to comment, which sort of says it all [Page Six]
