Night of the Big O

Director Mike Nichols rocked back-and-forth on the balls of his feet as his wife, Good Morning America co-anchor Diane Sawyer walked the roped-off receiving line of press. Every so often she would stop, a cluster of cameras and furry boom mikes would swarm her face and she would gush about the evening's guest of honor, Oprah Winfrey.

With his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his raincoat, Mr. Nichols appeared to recognize his subordinate place at the April 17 party celebrating the publication of Oprah Winfrey's new magazine, O . It was the night of powerful media women with impregnable hair helmets. ABC on-air personality Barbara Walters and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart would soon follow his wife down media lane. So would Ms. Winfrey, who made sure that she arrived later than all of them.

Mr. Nichols, however, did his best to appear to enjoy the heightened sisters-are-doing-it-for-themselves vibe. "I was looking at the magazine on the way down," he said to a woman standing nearby. Then his face briefly assumed an Alfred E. Neuman smile. "That sweet-potato casserole looked really good. I'm going to try that at home."

While Mr. Nichols got in touch with his inner hausfrau, a bottleneck was forming in the entryway of the Metropolitan Pavilion. The alpha females were supposed to funnel through an enormous O-shaped rose chuppa that led into the party. Instead they waited near the coat check for Ms. Winfrey to arrive, where they were forced to stand in the path of a blinding spotlight that had been trained on a poster of O 's premier cover.

NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver and her mother Eunice Shriver were among those who waited in the glare. Then came Diana Ross looking ready for a Carnival cruise in her red-and-orange tie-dyed number. Ms. Ross was sporting a perma-grin, and a tall electric hairdo that suggested she had been trying to make toast in the shower. Maria Shriver and Hearst Magazines President Cathleen Black stood behind her and pointed at her hair.

Martha Stewart arrived next in a brown windbreaker. She just grinned when the Transom asked if her Connecticut house had gotten egged after she wrote her Westport good-riddance piece in the The New York Times Magazine . "Oh, no," she said, in that animatronic voice of hers, "I just walked my dog there the other day. All the neighbors were out. We talked about some of the nicest things." Ms. Stewart let out a strange squeal and walked away.

Then a security man spoke cryptically into a microphone in his hand. "The second package is here," he said. Ms. Winfrey had arrived. The press pen began barking for her like seals. Ms. Winfrey's partner, Stedman Graham, folded his arms and stood a number of feet behind as Ms. Winfrey as she went down the press line, occasionally hooting and slapping her knee for the cameras.

Ms. Walters watched Ms. Winfrey's every move. As Ms. Winfrey posed for photos with Ms. Black and the O staff members, Ms. Walters seemed anxious to be included in the fun. "I'll do anything you want," she said to a nearby publicist. Soon, Ms. Walters was thrown into a photo opportunity with Ms. Winfrey.

Then, in what took on the heightened importance of a military maneuver, numerous earpieced security men discussed how they would get Ms. Winfrey safely through the big rose O. Their plan apparently involved pushing all the non-famous hang-abouts through the chuppa and into the party. Finally, Ms. Winfrey herself was dragged through the big rose O.

Onstage, Ms. Winfrey stretched out her arms. "How much fun is this?" she cried. The crowd eagerly cheered Ms. Winfrey at every moment, even when she got to the most awkward part of the evening, when she thanked her best friend, Gayle King, who has long been very, very close to Ms. Winfrey, and is now serving as Editor-At-Large for O .

"I'm known to be a good gift-giver," Ms. Winfrey shouted. "You've read rumors. It's true...Over the years I've given Gayle a lot of great gifts." Then Ms. Winfrey started in using those Southern elongated syllables that she uses on her show to connote sarcasm. "I gave Gayle her nanny, when she had her first chile , and then her second chile , we got extra hailp ." The audience laughed. "I built the swimmin' pool for the children." The audience hooted. "Paid for the children's private schoool . Bought her a BMW for da' birthday." The audience roared as Ms. Winfrey catalogued her friend's dependence.

Then Ms. Winfrey adopted a meek voice that made Ms. King sound a bit like a Dickensian almswoman. "And all those years, Gayle has said to me, 'I just don't know, I don't know what I can ever do to repay you. The children, we can never repay you, there's nothing we can do to repay you.'" Eventually, the punch line came: after Ms. King quit her anchorwoman job in Hartford to start commuting to the Hearst offices in New York, she's been working so hard on O that she recently told Ms. Winfrey, "Bitch, I don't owe you nothing!" The audience convulsed.

Afterwards, the Transom asked Ms. King if she knew that Ms. Winfrey would be itemizing her generosity for the world. "Well that wasn't a public story," she said. "That was something between me and her. I didn't know it was going to be shared publicly." The Transom asked her if she was miffed. "I don't care. I don't get embarrassed by the truth. She tells all sorts of stories," she said.

After Ms. Winfrey's speech, Tina Turner was released on stage wearing a black leather halter. Judging from the topography of the garment, Ms. Turner was very excited to be there. Actress Gloria Ruben, late of E.R . did her much talked about back-up singing gig in red latex.

Way in the back, Ms. Stewart stood on a speaker bank and did her Westport patty-cake dance, moving her head, and sedately clapping her hands on her thighs in time to "Proud Mary." Sean (Puffy) Combs, who arrived without fanfare or sunglasses, stood alone in the back of the room. When Ms. Turner performed her squarest song, "Simply The Best," Mr. Combs self-consciously swayed back and forth with his hands in pockets, wearing a sullen look that said this was not the kind of ladies' night he had in mind.

Akiva Not Welcome at Nike's House

Hamptons residents who coughed up martini olives when they read Page Six's April 3 report that the Nike athletic wear company was planning a summerlong sports-themed bacchanal in their neck of the woods, were not alone. Over on the Northwest coast, the folks at Nike were doing spit takes with their Gatorade.

The Post quoted an iHamptons.com Web site report that "The Nike House will be a luxe Hamptons bachelor mansion styled after the Playboy Mansion", and that, each weekend, "it will be turned over to a different star athlete and his posse, along with buxom babes and media types."

Further on in the item, the Post quoted 23-year-old Richie Akiva, who was described as "the public relations-marketing whiz heading up the Hamptons project for Nike."

"People shouldn't be worried at all," Mr. Akiva told the Post , attempting to nip in the bud the notion that Nike was trying to expand upon the meaning of its slogan, "Just Do It."

"It'll be nice and intimate, and respectable, not like a nightclub. There won't be any bridge-and-tunnelers," Mr. Akiva added, forgetting that Nike is based in Oregon.

But Mr. Akiva apparently did not have the authority to act as a spokesman for Nike, which wasn't ready to announce its summer plans, even though Hamptons sources confirm that the company has looked at renting at least one house on Long Island's East End.

"Quite frankly, when I saw it in the paper, I was shocked," said Nike spokesman Bob Mitchell. "Richie Akiva is not working for us. I don't know how he got involved in this story." Mr. Mitchell went on to say that, although "there's a possibility we may want to do something on Long Island," Nike presently has no plans to rent or buy a Hamptons mansion and give the keys to any professional athletes.

So what's Mr. Akiva's story? He told the Transom that, a few months back, he had some contact with a guy named Astor Chambers, who worked for Nike promotions. According to Mr. Akiva, Mr. Chambers was responsible for organizing the Nike-sponsored Hamptons house, and he enlisted Mr. Akiva's help on the project. Then, as Mr. Akiva tells it, Mr. Chambers left Nike.

But, by then, Mr. Akiva already had mentioned Nike House to Page Six reporter Jared Paul Stern. So, when Page Six picked up the iHamptons story, Mr. Stern called Mr. Akiva for additional color.

When the Transom called Mr. Akiva last week, he sounded somewhat chastened by the whole experience. He referred calls to Jerry Erasme, director of sports style marketing for Nike, who was Mr. Chambers boss. "I'm working with Jerry a little bit," Mr. Akiva said, then added that some rival P.R. forces were angered that he had spoken as a Nike House representative.

That would be Jodie Patterson Becker, the head of Spencer Becker Media, who told the Transom that her company-and hers alone-has the Nike House account. "There will be events at the house, but it will not be a party house," she said.

The Transom asked Nike's Mr. Erasme to referee this matter. He explained that, four months ago, Nike had a single meeting with Denucht, a fashion P.R. company of which Mr. Akiva is a partner, but that he had never met Mr. Akiva. Mr. Erasme added that Mr. Chambers had "no authority" to make any promises to Mr. Akiva.

And Mr. Erasme did confirm that Nike has been working with Spencer Becker regarding a number of events that Nike was planning in the Hamptons this summer. But Mr. Erasme added: "At this point there's no Nike House. It's all been blown out of proportion."

Don't be surprised if there is a Nike House after all. Alan Wilzig, who, with his brother Ivan, owns an eye-popping castle in Water Mill that has been the setting of a number of press-generating parties, said he recently hosted Mr. Erasme and Ms. Becker there, and thought a deal to rent the castle to Nike was "imminent."

Mr. Wilzig said he was going to charge Nike in the neighborhood of $200,000 for use of the castle for the summer. He said that his understanding is that Nike plans to use the castle for a number of charity events and a series of small dinners that would be hosted by such celebrities as actor Wesley Snipes and fashion photographer Sante D'Orazio.

Mr. Wilzig also offered a theory about the surrounding confusion over the Hamptons house. "When Nike was fleshing out in the beginning who would be their best Hamptons summer liaison, they spoke to everyone," he said by phone. "So the impetuous and unprofessional 23-year-olds among them jumped to the fore and said, 'It's me!' without realizing, 'No, It's not you schmuck, it's the one that has the contract.'"