MrsQ
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Member since 6/06 11378 total posts
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Qiana
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Tuesday's Gossip
Sticking their heads in the mouths of lions was nothing compared to the offstage derringdo of Vegas showmen Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, according to their former bodyguards.
Smuggling jewelry in tiger cages, taking trips to South America for encounters with young men, and drug and alcohol abuse are some of the allegations touted in promotional material for "Buried Elephants: Siegfried and Roy's Secrets Revealed."
The father-and-son security team of Jim and Lou Mydlach, who guarded the German illusionists for more than 20 years, claims to chronicle the "darker side" of the duo's lives.
The title refers to the allegedly illegal "secret disposal of animals, including an elephant buried under a housing development," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
A spokesman for the duo told us: "We understand there's a book in the works. It's apparently by two people who are trying to benefit from what was once a close relationship. We're not spending time worried about what other people are saying, though."
The rep denied a report that Siegfried and Roy are writing their own memoir, in which they'll finally come out of the closet. So ... are they gay? Said the spokesman: "I have no comment on their personal lives."
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Despite his hockey-playing prowess, Sean Avery couldn't score a goal with Paris Hilton.
The N.Y. Ranger, who just split from fiancée Elisha Cuthbert, tried his luck with Hilton at Amy Sacco's LG House party in Malibu. "He hit on her three times, but every time, Paris would give him disgusted looks and move away from his creepy shoulder-brushing and close-talking ways," said our snitch. The rebuffed Avery hit on other blonds. "You could tell he just wanted to hook up," said the spy. Also at the Saturday bash were Jessica Simpson (who left a $100 tip for a waitress), Rumer Willis and Russell Simmons, with new gal pal Porschla Coleman.
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Eight brave party-crashers found themselves ejected from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's New Orleans fund-raising dinner in Southampton Saturday night. The interlopers used heavy fog to sneak into producer Jane Rosenthal's back garden while 90 guests enjoyed cocktails around a tented pool. A source says wealthier guests including Ira Rennert, Alan Patricof and Bill Rudin were gently tapped for $500,000 each.
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Rapper Eve turned up alongside Andy Roddick, Tommy Haas and Serena Williams at the USTA Players' Party at Ono on Friday night. She was modeling her SCRAM anti-alcohol anklet, even though the party was sponsored by Heineken. "It certainly isn't a fashion accessory," she joked. "But I'm not going to try to hide it. I'm not going to let it ruin my summer."
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A distraught Owen Wilson was found bloodied and dazed after trying to commit suicide by overdosing on pills and slitting his wrist in the wake of a bitter blowup with a close pal, a source told The Post yesterday.
The tow-haired, Tinsel town hunk was discovered at home by a stunned fam ily member Sunday.
"It's hard. He's such a wonderful person," one source said. "He's such a great guy and so smart and just . . . nice. We're just hoping he gets bet ter."
Wilson - who was listed in stable condi tion at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles - released a statement through his representative re questing privacy.
"I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time," said the star of "Wedding Crashers."
Cedars-Sinai spokes woman Cynthia Harding confirmed that Wilson "is here and in good con dition."
The actor had been transferred to Cedars- Sinai from St. John's Hos pital in Santa Monica after having undergone detox for the apparent pill overdose and surgery to his injured left wrist.
He will likely remain under the close watch of doctors for at least the next several days, one source said.
Authorities were alerted to the apparent suicide attempt after someone called Santa Monica police, and an ambu lance raced to the home just after noon Sunday.
There were no details as to what may have caused Wilson to go off the deep end, except that the incident occurred shortly after a vicious quarrel with an unidentified friend.
Wilson's last serious romantic relationship - with beauty Kate Hudson - fell apart just before Memorial Day.
Hudson had been spotted over the weekend very publicly canoodling with handsome new love Dax Shepard, but sources insisted that it did not contribute to Wilson's emotional turmoil.
Wilson's family rushed to his hospital bedside.
His older brother, Andrew, appeared worried as he left the Santa Monica house and headed to the hospital early yesterday, one neighbor said.
His famous younger brother, actor Luke Wilson, was already at the hospital, said a source. Other visitors included actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Wilson's uncle Joe, who shares a house with Owen, said, "He's fine, and the family is doing great."
One neighbor said that when she heard the ambulance, she was surprised because Wilson never causes any trouble.
"All the neighbors like him, he's a friendly guy. He never has any crazy parties or does anything wrong," Betty Miller said.
But Wilson, 38 - who always appeared to be a happy slacker type - has a dark history of depression.
"It's very upsetting. People are complicated. It's not just one thing," said a friend of the actor.
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KELLY Klein is finally about to become a mother. Childless through her 20-year marriage to fashion czar Calvin Klein, Kelly, at age 50, is having a baby.
Page Six has learned that Kelly is employing a surrogate mother in California to give birth to a baby boy using one of her eggs and the sperm of a friend. The due date is Nov. 1, when Kelly will fly out for the joyous event.
"She is expecting a baby and it is with a surrogate," Kelly's spokesman, Paul Wilmot, confirmed. He said she is keeping the identity of the father a secret for now.
One rumor is that Kelly's brother-in-law was the donor, but Wilmot denied that, adding that no family member or relative was involved. Once her son is born, "Kelly will be living with the baby in New York and Palm Beach," Wilmot added.
It's no secret the brown-haired beauty has wanted a child for many years. But that became less and less likely as her marriage to the billionaire clothing magnate fell apart. The two lived separately for the last 10 years of their union before officially divorcing in April 2006.
Just before her 40th birthday, Kelly lamented how she could feel her biological clock ticking and said she might consider adopting at some point. "She has wanted a baby for a very long time. She loves children. She is very excited about this," a friend said.
Another insider said that, "Even though Calvin has a daughter, Marci, from his first marriage, none of us ever really heard any talk of Calvin and Kelly starting their own family."
The newborn will carry his mother's maiden name, which is Rector. Less certain is the boy's first name. A source told us Kelly was torn between Owen and Lewis, but Wilmot said that's not the case.
Kelly, an avid equestrienne, isn't the first well-known person to employ a surrogate. In 1995, gorgeous actress and model Toukie Smith and Robert De Niro became the proud parents of twin boys using a hired womb for her egg and his sperm.
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THIS year's biggest headline makers - Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton - were shamed into skipping the Teen Choice Awards, which aired Sunday night on Fox. "There was originally going to be a 'Newsmakers of the Year' award," said our insider. "Paris was nominated for her 23-day stint in jail, Lindsay for her latest DUI bust and Britney for the infamous head-shaving incident. But none of them would dare to show up . . . all the publicists [for the celebutards] went crazy on Fox, and they just scrapped the category." The two other nominees in the canceled category attended anyway: Larry Birkhead, father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, and Sanjaya Malakar, the Mohawked sensation of "American Idol." Birkhead, who brought his 16-year-old nephew to the awards, told Page Six, "I found out about the cancellation two days before the show, but producers told me I could still come if I wanted to. Mine was a positive story, that I got custody of my daughter, which was not the case with some others. All these people wanted their picture taken with me, it was a really fun time."
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ASHANTI is having a rough summer. The songbird gained so much weight, she refused to be photographed during the weekend opening of the Ivy Hotel in San Diego. Having a better time was Jessica Biel, there with her family and a few girlfriends, who joined the poker tournament at the hotel that raised $250,000 for her charity, Make the Difference Network. Not there was her sometime beau Justin Timberlake, who we recently reported was hitting on other women.
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With everyone from Britney Spears' cousin to employees at a rehab center she attended being subpoenaed by Kevin Federline's attorneys, it's no wonder that those who know the pop-mom are on the lookout for their own papers. Estranged Spears manager, Larry Rudolph, reached out to Ryan Seacrest over the weekend and revealed that his concern over being served has essentially put him on the run.
In emails to Seacrest, discussed on his KIIS FM morning radio show, Randolph explained that if he is subpoenaed it might be bad for Brit. Seacrest said, "[Rudolph is] doing his best to hide from Federline's process server. He's actually on the run, if you will...he doesn't want to say where he is and he doesn't want to be served because he said it won't be good for Britney."
Rudolph was Spears' manager until April, when her reported anger over having attended Promises Treatment Center at his behest caused a split. Despite the way they parted, Rudolph told Seacrest that "even after all [he and Spears] have been through, he is loyal to her and doesn't want to go under oath and talk about certain things."
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Like mother, like daughter - to a point.
Rising actress Eva Amurri inherited her mom Susan Sarandon's philanthropic streak. After a trip to Africa earlier this summer, she has just been named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Association of the USA.
But other parts of the legacy, not so much.
"She was just offered her mom's part in a remake of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,'" laughs a friend.
"She thought it was funny, but she turned it down because she's more serious than that. She said, ‘Can you believe that's what they're offering me?'"
Amurri traveled to Namibia last month to work with schoolchildren.
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We hear Kate Walsh has set a date for her whirlwind wedding.
The "Grey's Anatomy" star - who is set for her "Private Practice" spinoff to debut this fall - became engaged to Alex Young after a month of dating.
A source tells us the actress is planning a Saturday ceremony on the beach at Malibu.
Young, a Twentieth Century Fox co-president, proposed May 15 with a Neil Lane diamond. The jeweler also will provide the bride baubles for the day, and the dress will be by Monique Lhuillier.
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It happens to celebrities too! A friend watched as "Hairspray" star Lance Bass exited Fergie's handbag launch party last week in the Meatpacking District. "He barely had his hand on the door handle of a taxi when two drunk girls swooped in and hijacked the cab," says the witness. "He laughed and then ran down Ninth Ave. with his friends in search of another cab."
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Paula Zahn's words of love are coming back to haunt her now that the newswoman's estranged husband has his hands on a diary that lays bare her secret affair with another tycoon. "It's Paula's love book," a source tells us. "It documents her tryst" with married ContiGroup CEO Paul Fribourg.
What's in the private journal? "It's quite lurid," says the source. "Let's leave it at that."
Richard Cohen, the multimillionaire developer who has been the ex-CNN anchor's husband for 20 years, discovered the diary with their 17-year-old daughter, Haley, according to another source.
Friends of Zahn, 51, claim Cohen, 59, showed the diary to Haley and her brother, Jared, 13. "It was unnecessary and hurtful," says one pal, who contends Cohen has been "telling people all over town about the diary."
"Richard has never shown the diary to his other children [other than Haley]," argues one friend. "Richard doesn't want to drag Paula's dirty laundry through a public arena. He does not want to embarrass her or their children. All along, he's kept mum, even though he's the offended party."
Yet, so far, Cohen has refused to return Zahn's love diary, says one of her pals, who adds, "Even if he did, you'd have to wonder if he'd keep copies.
"You have to wonder why she put these feelings in writing. But I guess she's a journalist."
Last Friday, Zahn filed a 60-page suit in Manhattan Supreme Court demanding a forensic accounting of more than $25 million that she had entrusted to Cohen.
"Why shouldn't a money manager have the same obligation to a spouse that he has to any other partner in an investment fund?" asks Stanley Arkin, who is working with William Zabel on Zahn's legal team.
Cohen has refused to deal with issues of child custody and visitation "unless she signs away her right to an accounting," according to one source. "He won't budge. He's so bitter."
The couple had been trying to live together in their Fifth Ave. co-op for the sake of their three children. (Their youngest, Austin, is 10.)
But, recently, a Zahn friend says, "He wanted her out of the house." She's since moved into an E. 76th St. full-floor rental, for which she's said to be paying $40,000 a month.
Zahn's suit "is a blatant ploy to crack a very solid prenuptial agreement," says one Cohen pal. "It's shameful. Paula had a certified net worth of about $250,000 when she came into this marriage. She's now worth tens of millions, thanks to Richard's investments. Their Greenwich, Conn., estate alone, which Richard has put solely in her name, cost more than her net earnings during her entire career." One source estimated Cohen spent more than $20 million on the prime country property.
"Paula's money was always dealt with in accordance with her written authorizations," adds a source. "She'll get everything the prenup provides for."
Zahn's friends say she fell for Fribourg only after she and Cohen had long been living separate lives. She considered claiming "constructive abandonment" - a year-long absence of sex - as grounds for the divorce, says one source. "But she decided against that because it would just open the door for him to make the adultery claim."
A rep for Cohen declined to comment. Zahn is still said to be seeing grain-trading titan Fribourg, who is going through his own divorce from wife, Josabeth.
"Apparently, his divorce is relatively amicable," says a source.
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Alicia Keys' reps are denying talk that she's miffed with the Weinstein Co. because it didn't use one of her songs in "The Nanny Diaries." In fact, we hear the Grammy winner's acting in the comedy is drawing such good buzz she's up for the movie version of "Sex and the City."
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EVER-evolving Madonna might need more evolution. At Thursday's "Pop Rocks" party at Club 13, the deejay excitedly announced he had an advance copy of the new Madonna song produced by Pharrell Williams for her next album. "Everyone cheered and was excited, but when it started playing, few were dancing," said our source. "The song sounds almost exactly like Britney's 'Slave to You,' which Pharrell also produced. The response was tepid at best. They need to go back to the drawing board with that one."
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WHAT Oprah wants, Oprah gets.
The talk-show queen is holding a star-studded fund-raiser for presidential wannabe Barack Obama on Sept. 8 at her $64 million estate near Santa Barbara, Calif., and she wanted out-of-town guests to be able to stay at the nearby San Ysidro Ranch. But - horrors - it was booked for a wedding that weekend.
"Due to the proximity to and the cachet of the ranch to Oprah Winfrey's estate, Oprah's people have been calling the bride to either move or vacate some of the rooms to accommodate her guest list," our source snitched. "The bride, an attorney, is not budging."
Well, she may have budged a bit.
San Ysidro Ranch Manager Marco Perry denied that Winfrey's people had talked to the bride but said, "The wedding party did cancel a few rooms - but we didn't charge them a cancellation fee because there was such a demand for the rooms that weekend."
Winfrey's representative at her production company, Harpo Inc., insisted that no calls to the bride were made.
In any event, the fund-raiser for Obama will have some strict rules. No cameras will be allowed in, and there will be heavy security to make sure it's enforced. Nor will guests be able to enter Oprah's house. Instead, they'll be dining alfresco on blankets under tents. And to avoid a mass crush of limos, they must park at a "greeting center" eight miles away and take a shuttle bus to Winfrey's estate.
Among the famous Obama supporters expected are George Clooney, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Winfrey has been a staunch supporter of Obama since the beginning. She's already donated $2,300 - the maximum amount allowed for the Democratic primary - to his team. But she says her words about him are far more important. "My money isn't going to make any difference. My value to him - my support of him - is probably worth more than any other check that I could write," she told Larry King.
Her influence is extraordinary, that's for sure. A recent survey by ERA Real Estate of Parsippany, N.J., of adults age 50-plus nationwide found Winfrey would be a better real-estate agent than Donald Trump.
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