Spencer Morgan
Articles by Spencer Morgan
At Dinner for Dejected Directors, Jon Favreau Describes Free Ride
On Thursday, May 8, the Directors Guild of America held its annual Feature Directors dinner in the lobby of the guild’s national headquarters at 7920 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Catered sushi and an open bar, of which many members took full advantage, helped assuage the grim mood that continues to hover over Tinseltown.
A source at the party overheard writer-director Deborah Kaplan, who last helmed 2001’s Josie and the Pussycats, telling pals that she wasn’t concerned with the looming Screen Actors Guild strike. She penned Made of Honor, the recently released romantic comedy with Patrick Dempsey, and has five other scripts in production. read more »
My Love Advice: Premarital Counsel From Bo, Raoul, Taki, Gay and Bob
I’m getting married this summer and thought it might be a good idea to speak with some gentlemen who I suspected could give me some pointers.
It was raining on a Friday morning when I met Bo Dietl at his office on the 50th floor of One Penn Plaza. Despite some shreds of cloud, Mr. Dietl—a homicide detective turned security consultant and media darling—had a clear view of the city below and, off in the distance, in the middle of the choppy harbor, the Statue of Liberty. read more »
Thank You For Soaking
God willing, at this very moment someone is scrambling eggs on a stove in an apartment overlooking the East River while at the same time gazing up at someone’s buttocks, pressed against a see-through Plexiglas bathtub, sunken, by design, into the floor above.
In the early 1980s, the late Paul Rudolph, noted architect and onetime dean of the Yale School of Architecture, incorporated such a tub into his dream apartment on the top three floors of 23 Beekman Place. The tub was still in working condition a few years ago, when hotelier and noted bathing enthusiast André Balazs had his birthday party there. “Of all the incredible bathtubs I’ve heard of in this city, that one takes it,” Mr. Balazs said. read more »
Surprise! Socialite Sarofim Turns to Film
Socialite Allison Sarofim is also getting involved in movie production.
Ms. Sarofim, who grew up in Houston, moved to New York seven years ago. Her father is the famous Egyptian-born financier, Fayez Sarofim, a.k.a. read more »
You Say DeLillo, I Say ... Writers' Claws Are Out at PEN Gala
At around 7:45 p.m. on Monday, April 28, writer Carl Bernstein was mingling at the cocktail hour before the PEN Literary Awards at the Museum of Natural History, Coca Cola in hand, looking very healthy. “I ride a bike and listen to a lot of music,” he said. “I mostly listen to classical but also rock. read more »
Stinky Euro Crowd Coagulates at Colombian Scion's Dance Party
Move over, Paul Sevigny, there’s a new party in town: Julio Santo Domingo’s mysteriously named Sheik n’ Beik.
The venue changes from week to week. On Thursday, April 17, it was Kush Lounge on Christie Street. The week before it was Le Royale on Seventh Avenue. But fear not: Mr. read more »
Crafty Socialites: The Latest Projects From Productive Palermo, Capable Capalbo
According to a source, socialite Olivia Palermo’s longtime dream of having her very own jewelry line is finally coming to fruition this summer. “I think she chose her favorite pieces from a selection,” said this person. “I think that it will bear her name, and of course she will be the face of it.”
Ms. read more »
Dita, Moi, Pourquoi? I Volley With Von Teese in Cushy Hotel Suite
Dita Von Teese, 35, née Heather Renée Sweet, grew up in Rochester, Mich., and currently resides in Los Angeles. She began stripping when she was 18 and has since become a modern-day burlesque icon and ambassador for brands such as MAC and Cointreau, the latter of which installed the porcelain-skinned seductress in Suite 1204 at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South on Monday for a marathon session of photos and interviews. read more »
Heaven Protect the Working Girl
The revelation that Eliot Spitzer was a connoisseur of $1,000-an-hour prostitutes hit New York like one of those bolts of lightning in a cartoon that splits open the pavement in two perfectly perforated halves. No one could believe it. Now, a month after he ’fessed up and resigned, a crater in the proverbial town square continues to smoke and belch. For example: His 22-year-old hooker du jour, Ashley Dupré, becomes a millionaire off downloads of her song on MySpace and is offered six figures to pose for Penthouse. District Attorney Robert Morgenthau publicly defends his former prosecutor, saying, “I think he has been punished enough.” Mr. Spitzer and his wife, Silda, meanwhile, lay low. And men and women, couples and singles, are left to wonder: Just how many men in New York are paying for sex?
Last Thursday I went to Starbucks with one of Manhattan’s former top-dollar madams to get some answers. We met first at her attorney’s office to set the ground rules. No names. Let’s call her Jane! read more »
Rowr! Tempest in Tiger Teapot for Leelee's Sobieski's Lil' Bro, a Princeton Soph
Princeton sophomore Roby Sobieski, the younger brother of actress Leelee Sobieski, is defending himself against charges that he is racist.
As reported by the Ivy League gos read more »
An Intimate Visit With Harvey Fierstein
On Monday, April 14, the Transom visited with actor-writer Harvey Fierstein at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where his new play, an adaptation of the 1956 Gore Vidal-penned film A Catered Affair, is scheduled to open later this week.
So far Mr. Fierstein’s dressing room contains about eight pieces of folk art, a second passion for him. read more »
Bingo Says Bye-Bye Byrdie! But for Phoebe Eaton and Dana Vachon, Love Is Perfuming the April Air
Spring is in the air, the birds are chirping and the town’s notable couples are hooking up and splitting up like wild dogs on the prairie.
In recent weeks, socialites Byrdie Bell and Bingo Gubelmann split. read more »
Touch Her in the Morning! At Ritzy Spa, Diana Ross Submits to Supreme Spring Cleanse
Earlier last month, the singer Diana Ross made one of her regular pilgrimages to Canyon Ranch, the award-winning, 80,000-square-foot spa in Tucson.
“You can’t miss her—she has the huge ’fro,” one of the washed, waxed, plucked, scrubbed, stretched-out, rubbed-up and fiercely dieting guests was overheard remarking to friends. Ms. read more »
Knockout Punches: Models Puttin' Up Dukes in Droves at Downtown Gym--'Lifts the Ass!'
For the last month or so, supermodels Karolina Kurkova , Adriana Lima and Doutzen Kroes have all been paying daily visits to the Aerospace Gym in the read more »
Curtain Up for Kids: Story Pirates Make Li'l Mamets
On Saturday, March 29, Sanaa Sondhi’s short story “The Story of the Girls That Love to Dance and Love Each Other” was brought to life by 15 New York improv actors on a stage in the basement of the Drama Book Shop on West 40th Street in Manhattan. It was a sold-out show—about 60 people. Ms. Sondhi, the author, wore a yellow dress and sat in the front row. She was a little nervous. She had just turned 5 years old.
Standing in the back of theater, Jamie Salka—31, medium height, short brown hair, pointy nose, intense eyes with matching dark circles underneath—was grinning in a way that many of the youngsters in the audience might associate with a mad scientist. read more »
Bad News Bear Bumped by Bev Hills Ump: CNN's Larry King Pitches Fit at Son's Little League Game
CNN fixture Larry King’s 9-year-old son Chance Armstrong King plays Beverly Hills Little League. King père is the coach of Chance’s team.
On Monday, March 10, during a heated game, the suspendered talk show host apparently got into a confrontation with one of the league’s umpires. “[Mr. read more »
Feisty Nikki Finke, Esteemed Hollywood Blogger, Sticks Up for Actor, Sues Financial Firm
On Friday, March 28, the journalist Nikki Finke, a household name in Hollywood since her blog Deadline Hollywood became a must-read during the Writers Guild of America strike, posted an item about veteran actor Jack Klugman suing NBC Universal over residuals from his hit 1970 read more »
Bear Naked Gentlemen
Connolly’s Bar and Restaurant on 47th between 5th and Madison avenues is the official home of Black 47, a politically charged Irish rock band, whose name is derived from the worst year of the Great Irish Famine, 1847. They play every Saturday night. During the week, the bar is the de facto Bear Stearns after-work hangout: Some 6,000 employees of the fallen bank work in the $1.5 billion, 45-story, granite-and-glass octagonal tower around the corner.
“On an average night there would be between 20 and 30 Bear guys,” said a 23-year-old Bear man we’ll call Tommy. He works on the investment banking side and has been a Connolly’s regular since he started at Bear a year ago. He said that on Friday, March 14, when it was pretty clear that the bank was heading south, and fast, more than 100 Bear employees, mostly men, gathered among the mahogany, rich leather and lighted green clover leaves of the bar. read more »
Trouble in Tribbletown! Leonard Nimoy Bonks Shnoz on Star Trek Set
On Wednesday, March 19, on a soundstage at Paramount Studios during the filming of the super-secret, $150 million new Star Trek movie (also known as Star Trek XI), cast and crew were riveted by the news that Leonard Nimoy had fallen on the set the day before and injured his nose. read more »
'Shrooming at the Submercer: Was There Funny Fungus at Knitwear Scion's Shindig?
On Friday, March 14, the socialites Lauren Santo Domingo and Derek Blasberg took knitwear heiress Margherita Maccapanni Missoni out for read more »
Fifth Avenue Addiction Specialist Shops Reality Show to Compete With A&E's Intervention
Carl Castagna is an “addiction specialist” with offices on Fifth Avenue who charges $300 per hour. His clientele is largely composed of successful doctors, lawyers, money managers and their children. In his 33-year career he says he has performed roughly 300 interventions; in all but three or four cases, he has successfully gotten the patient into treatment. He’s currently shopping a reality TV show about the process. read more »
Tots to Watch: Here’s Heathcliff!
Heathcliff Felix Alastair Euan Rellie turns 5 on July 31. He was born at Saint Vincent’s Hospital downtown. He’s in his final year of preschool at the West Village Nursery School. He collects the Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta figurines, which are much better than the new series, which are called Jungle Fury. He is almost four feet tall, loves to sing and is fond of creating imaginary battlefields involving lasers and lava on chairs or tabletops. Occasionally he turns up at a fashion show or a fund-raiser or a party with his parents, Lucy Sykes and Euan Rellie. So far he has four pages of pictures on patrickmcmullan.com. He’s catching up with his parents, who between them have around 50.
Heathy, as they call him, can count up to 10 in both Spanish and French. He begrudgingly performed this task for me on Feb. 1, during Fashion Week while sitting in mummy’s lap in the front row of the Rag & Bone show. He had brought a toy plane to the show. read more »
Sean Lennon Enjoys Double Fantasy in Turkish Hot Box; Douses Yoko
On Sunday, March 2, the Russian & Turkish Baths on East 10th Street in the East Village was living up to its history of hosting damp celebrities such as Sean “P. read more »
Puttin' on the Spitz! Love Gov’s Trollops Are Main Dish at Gala
Julie Menin said that she had expected it to be a slow news day, in her opening speech to the 50 guests who were gathered at the Community Board 1 chairperson’s Tribeca duplex for the Women’s Campaign Forum’s annual gala Monday night.
“Obviously, this is not politics’ finest hour,” she said, alluding to the sex scandal involving Governor Eliot Spitzer. read more »
McQueen Preens; Galliano Goes Gypsy; And Paris Makes Crazy Romantics Of Me and Kiefer Sutherland
PARIS...AS IN FRANCE! YOU KNOW: GAY PAREE! read more »
Our A-List Man in Hollywood Noodles on Oscar Night
“I feel like the mood is people are trying to show a little restraint, and not be too showy or glamorous,” John Waters told the Transom during Julian Schnabel’s art opening at Larry Ga read more »
L.A. Rousing
LOS ANGELES—On Monday, Feb. 18, five days after the Writers Guild of America strike officially ended, the actor Leland Orser, who plays Dr. Lucien Dubenko on NBC’s ER, was cooking dinner for his family. Mr. Orser’s wife, Jeanne Tripplehorn, is also an actress; she plays one of the wives on the HBO show Big Love. The household—the couple has two young children—had been hit hard by the four-month hiatus.
Up till strike time, Mr. read more »
Mr. Lonelyhearts
Ryan Gosling squashed by Kate Hudson,
Kisten Dunst, Rachel McAdams.
A 32-year-old ad copywriter, who sings in a downtown band and has a lot of tattoos, was on the phone from the East Village. His tone was confessional.
“For the last two years,” he said, “I’ve been chasing tail, sowing my wild oats, literally meeting girls and bringing them up to my apartment. And now”—his voice dropped a decibel or two—“I’ve gone three weeks without having sex. And I’m getting this response from some of my male friends: ‘Oh, good for you, that’s great.’ Almost like that’s more manly, more studly. read more »
Welcome to Sasseville: Local Talk-Show Host Most Un-P.C. to Publicist
On Monday, Feb. 11, at the party for the book Richard Zoglin: Comedy at the Edge held at 1 Time Warner, Jake Sasseville, who at age 22 has managed to elbow his way into local late night with a show, The Edge With Jake Sasseville, which debuts on My9 in New York this week, was overheard telling an early war story. read more »
Bedlam at the Beatrice Inn! Mysterious Cop Attempts West Village Bust
At around 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 7, someone identifying himself as a plainclothes police officer began poking around the Beatrice Inn with a flashlight. “It was very strange,” said a source who was there. read more »
Diller, Graydon Put Oscar Parties on Chiller, But Others Plow Ahead
With the writers’ strike and all, what’s goin’ on with the Oscar parties? read more »
Marc at the Mercer: Once-Scruffy Designer, Now Buff and Diamond-Studded, Discusses Doc
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the designer Marc Jacobs, his boyfriend, Jason Preston, and the stylist Rachel Zoe were sitting on a wooden bench outside the Mercer Hotel. Inside a party was being held for the new shopumentary, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vitton, directed by Loïc Prigent. read more »
Lydia Hearst to Get 'Model of the Year' Laurels; Plus, Sneak Peek at Richardson Shoot for Perry Ellis
The Michael Awards—the big black-tie fashion-industry smoochfest that gives out awards and raises money for the National Children's Leukemia Foundation—won’t be held until May 7th, but at this early date! The Transom can now exclusively reveal 2007’s model of the year: Lydia Hearst.
“It’s basically the Oscars of fashion,” she said, while picking away at a lobster roll yesterday at a café in the Time Warner Center.
Okay so, had she prepared her speech? read more »
It's Only Huma! Is Hillary's Sultry Aide Waxing Congressman's Weiner?
Speculation that Washington’s two most eligible singles—Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fashionable traveling aide Huma Abedin and New York’s dashing bachelor Congressman Anthony Weiner—are dating has become “common knowledge” among the campaign press corp, according to a reporter on the trail.
Reached for comment by the Transom, Mr. Weiner, who has reportedly stepped out with television hostess Alli Joseph and ABC correspondent Gigi Stone, opted not to deny the rumors. “I’ve got nothing for you on this, buddy,” he said. read more »
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... mmmmmmmmm ... oh ... oh ... oh ... oh ...
“I would love it if a guy pulled out one of those, because then it would show that he’s aware of my pleasure. I think it’s a considerate gesture,” said Kate, a 28-year-old publicist with shoulder-length brunet hair.
Eleanor, 26, a lithe blond fashion writer, lamented: “They’re really hard to turn on once everything gets slippery. We spent a good five minutes trying to turn the thing on before we finally gave up!”
And Harriet, a 31-year-old Southern blond with bangs who works at the United Nations—all the names for this piece have been changed—was elated to share her recent discovery with a friend. “Oh, my God, oh, my God,” she shrieked on the street when they met. “Have you ever heard about the vibrating ring? It’s a little a ring that goes on the penis and at the top there’s a tiny little vibrator and when you’re having sex it touches right on your clitoris and it’s amaaazing.” read more »
His and Hearst: Loopy Lydia Dallies With Prep-School Pal
Heiress and socialite Lydia Hearst, who had been linked with musician Cisco Adler, has a new man. read more »
Boxer at the Box! Brit Bouncer Goes for Golden Gloves
The Transom has identified boxing’s next Great White Hope. We met him at, of all places, the Lower East Side burlesque joint the Box.
James Huddleston, 30, of Northern London works as a host there. The 6-foot-3 brawny Brit says he’s been boxing all his life. He’ll be competing in the Golden Gloves, held later this month, in the light heavyweight category. read more »
Amiri, Meet Aronofsky! Mickey Rourke Brokers Intro Between Doorman and Director
Now that Armin Amiri’s West Village nightclub Socialista is on “cruise control,” as he puts it, New York’s most famous former doorman is getting back to his first love.
“You know I only have one true passion in my heart, and that is acting,” said Mr. Amiri, who recently snagged a role in director Darren Aronofsky’s new movie, The Wrestler. read more »
Snnnip! At Socialite's South American Weddingstravaganza: Mojitos, Marauding Models, Designer Wielding Scissors
“It was an experience of a lifetime. I’m never seen a more beautiful bride,” said Valentino publicist Annelise Peterson of Vogue contributing editor Lauren Davis’ Cartagena, Colombia, wedding on Tuesday, Jan. 8, to Colombian billionaire heir Andres Santo Domingo. read more »
And More!
On Friday, Jan. 18, Paris Hilton hosted a private dinner party for her film The Hottie and the Nottie at the Turning Leaf Lounge, one of many venues along Main Street that had been rented and revamped by Hollywood party planners. Across the street, a quaint sports bar called Doolan’s bore a temporary new maroon awning emblazoned with the word Stereo, after the New York nightclub.
Inside the party, where a giant wine bottle hung from the wall, Ms. Hilton was meeting a few select members of the press. read more »
Meet Wayne Campbell, Sundance Cowboy
At the No Name Saloon on Main Street last night I discovered the breakout star of Sundance this year. His name is Wayne Campbell and he plays himself in the film North Starr, a film about an aspiring Texan rapper, which is a wild card contender for the dramatic competition.
Wayne is a cowboy. He says wants his balls to be “pickled in alcohol.” He showed me his one-piece long john underwear. It was red. All cowboys wear one-piece long johns. They call it a union suit.
Wayne was telling everyone who would listen that he plans to doff the union suit and his boots too before he leaves town.
“If you can’t streak at Sundance,” Wayne said, “where else can you streak?” read more »
Who Has the Best Press Pass At Sundance?
Everywhere we’ve gone so far in Park City has had the buzzy feeling of anticipation of things to come. The Sundance makeover of the quaint ski town (where a ski lift really does come in straight through to the center of town! Seriously! It’s crazy!) is nearly complete: Main Street is chockablock with delivery trucks, the last vestiges of local color replaced by freshly made awnings and familiar signage (Fred Segal! Cadillac Lounge!). But the premiere of In Bruges, the Martin McDonagh film starring Colin Farrell and Brenden Gleeson kicks of the festival, doesn’t get going till 6 p.m! read more »
Drinks at 8 A.M.
Despite the best efforts of Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg, most neighborhoods in New York still have at least one bar that opens at 8 a.m.
In Midtown East, there’s the Blarney Stone on 49th Street and 3rd Avenue. Midtown West has Rudy’s, Holland’s and Smith’s. In Chelsea, there’s Walter’s. And in the East Village there’s the Blarney Cove, about as wide and long as a single bowling lane, where the last vestiges of the Mid-Day Gentlemen’s Club convene each morning.
Here, on a given day, from around 8 a.m. to noon, anywhere between four and eight elderly men clad in a thick flannel shirts, cardigans, bifocals and scally caps—or some variation there of—can be found perched on their regular stools, tearing it up. read more »
Fantasy Football, Forsooth! Former Jets Fullback Realizes ‘Dorky’ Comic-Book Vision
One warm winter night in 2006, fullback Darian Barnes, formerly of the New York Jets, had a dream about superhuman football players tackling monsters. A longtime comic-book enthusiast, he decided it had the makings of something real.
“It just kind of like hit me that as many years as people tried to fuse sports and athletes with multimedia and pop culture media, it’s never really worked because the two things are so different,” Mr. Barnes, 27, told the Transom by phone on Jan. 15. read more »
Would You Like an Eclair With That, Ladies? Fashion-Firm Babes Flashed by Balthazar Boy
On Thursday, Jan. 3, the fashionable ladies who work for the high-end apparel company Loeffler Randall at 525 Broadway in SoHo ordered lunch from Balthazar Bakery, as they frequently do. A delivery man arrived with their food; he was paid and thanked.
Half an hour later, one of the girls encountered the man milling about the hallway “with his wiener hanging out,” said a source at the company. read more »
Facebook This, Baby! A Fan's Harangue
My dad recently got on Facebook. My mom’s helping him build up his profile. She sent him a number of family photos. So far four have made it on to his site. One is of my college graduation. I’m wearing the cap and gown and appear to be gazing at something off in the distance, possibly a mountain peak. He’s even begun “friending” my friends. The situation is dire.
In other disturbing Facebook news, on Jan. read more »
Firecrotch Revived! Annabel Vartanian, Dizzy Diamond Heiress, Rebounds From Bra-Bash Blackout
On Dec. read more »
More Solidarity Prattle: Actors Join Critics' Circle Jerk, But Thumb Their Noses at Oscar
The actors that turned up for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, held at Spotlight on Sunday, Jan. 6, were eager to point out that they wouldn’t be crossing any picket lines to get to any other award shows. read more »
Golden Glub-Glubs! As WGA Forces Show's Cancellation, Producer Pulls An Edmund Muskie
At 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 7, Barry Adelman, the executive producer of the Golden Globes ceremony for eight years, gathered his staff in the Santa Monica offices of Dick Clark Productions to announce that he had not been able to come to terms with the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since Nov. 5, and NBC, which had been scheduled to broadcast the awards show on Sunday, Jan. 13.
“His eyes were completely welled up with tears,” said a source who attended the meeting. read more »
