Barbara Walters

At Monday's Costume Institute gala, Christina Ricci reportedly left when she learned that she wasn't seated with her boyfriend and Speed Racer co-star, Kick Gurry; Jeff Zucker avoided Project Runway stealer, Harvey Weinstein, on the red carpet. [P6]

Rudy Giuliani shops for pants at TJ Maxx and his wife helps him! [P6]  read more »

AUDITION
by Barbara Walters
Alfred A. Knopf, 624 pages, $29.95

Journalists are, by necessity, chameleons, or, as Janet Malcolm famously put it, “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.”  read more »

Here is Michael Bloomberg holding court with a few people at the Four Seasons in midtown before a roundtable discussion to outline the mayor's priorities for the city.

The white-haired guy to the right is (former?) Eliot Spitzer nemesis Ken Langone.

The annual "Card Luncheon" is when Bloomberg tells city elite about what he thinks they should ask for when political folks knock on their door for contributions.

Barbara Walters is there.  read more »

I just caught part of Barack Obama's appearance on The View, where he was engaged in a rather wonky (for daytime TV, at least) discussion about the home mortgage crisis. 

Barbara Walters drew a contrast between Obama and John McCain, saying Obama wants more federal assistance for people losing their homes, while McCain wants less.  read more »

Would you be surprised to hear that a surging tide of books about politics is about to engulf us?

Later this month we’ll get a chance to peruse War and Decision, by Douglas Feith (HarperCollins, March 25). Mr. Feith, a neocon promoter of the Iraq War, was famously identified by Gen. Tommy Franks as “the dumbest fucking guy on the planet.” It’s unlikely that Mr.  read more »

MONDAY

For several panicked hours on Friday, fans of Gossip Girl—and presumably, The O.C.—swamped message boards following the news that producers of the new CW show had offered former O.C. cast member Mischa Barton a role on G.G. as Georgina Sparks, an old chum of Serena van der Woodsen. A wave of invective ensued: “This is the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” wrote one irate commenter, “[M]ischa [B]arton is the most useless actress ever!!!” wrote another. Too harsh? Maybe … maybe not. Consider the history: Josh Schwartz, who now produces G.G., and the other O. C. producers opted to kill off Barton’s character, well before the show ran its course. Now they want her back?  read more »

Last night, Barbara Walters’ much anticipated The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007 aired on ABC. Before viewers got a chance to assess the lineup, Ms. Walters said that she was going to avoid any “tabloid stuff.” And she did…sort of. As promised, Bill Clinton, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Don Imus were all in fact honored. But so, too, were Victoria and David Beckham, who were asked to dish on their much-publicized friendship with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. (Even Bill O’Reilly asked Ms. Walters “Why? Why? Why?” after learning that Posh ‘n’ Becks would be featured on her program.) Then came Justin Timberlake. The former ‘N Sync pop singer told the television journalist, among other things, about his romance with Hollywood starlet Jessica Biel—also a topic touched upon a time or two in, well, the tabloids. Katherine Heigl, who called her recent hit film, Knocked Up, “sexist,” was also on Ms. Walters’ short list. From Heigl, the former 20/20 anchor learned that the actress is not happy that her Grey’s Anatomy co-star was fired after he slung homophobic slurs at T.R. Knight.

Barbara Walters is sick and tired of tabloid journalism. Even though the venerable co-host of The View has been criticized, especially over the last few years, for conducting “soft” interviews with people like Michael Jackson and Monica Lewinsky, she wants to put an end to it here and now. Acknowledging that her stint on 20/20 may have actually spawned the current, frenzied climate of paparazzi-driven celebrity journalism, Ms. Walters said: “We began to do more and more celebrities and we were criticized,” she continued, “And now ... every program does it." But when her annual The 10 Most Fascinating People airs tonight on ABC, the matronly journalist will reportedly look beyond messy stars like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. “I am not going after the tabloid stuff, I don’t do it,” Ms. Walters, 78, said, before adding that she wants no part in the “week in, week out, competition for getting the next name, the next person out of rehab.” Instead of Lindsay Lohan, her viewers can expect to see Bill Clinton, Hugo Chavez, two founders of MySpace and Don Imus.

ABC's Barbara Walters has scored the first on-air interview with Don Imus since Mr. Imus' return to radio and television was announced weeks ago. The interview, already conducted, will air on Thursday night at 10 p.m, as part of an ABC special, The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2007.

"Are we going to have a kinder, gentler Don Imus?" Ms. Walters asks at one point in the interview.

"Well, I don't think so, no," replies Mr. Imus.

And given the host's comments this morning about the vice president and the Democratic presidential frontrunner, he was right.

MONDAY

Monday’s future just got a little bit bleaker. Dancing With the Stars (ABC)—whose finale last Tuesday earned the network its best ratings on that night in over seven years—cha-cha-cha-ed out of our lives. CBS canceled their December 10th debates, as the Democratic nominees balked, fearing the bad publicity of a protest by striking news writers. (CBS is hurting: How I Met Your Mother is in repeats, as well as the rest of the network’s sitcoms.) And NBC announced this week that Chuck (NBC, 8 PM) will be replaced by American Gladiators—the original was obviously before its time—on January 7th.  read more »

Barbara Walter’s negative comments about Heather Mills on Monday’s The View took on some considerable weight today. In the episode, Ms. Walters called Paul McCartney’s ex-wife “so impossible” and “not a very nice woman.”

As it happens, Mr. McCartney’s new lover, Nancy Shevell, is Ms. Walters’ kin. Cousins, in fact. During the said episode, the venerable newswoman’s also said that when she interviewed Mr. McCartney’s now-ex-wife, she was “extremely difficult.”

In a statement given to the Huffington Post, Ms. Walters’ publicist, Cindi Berger, explains:

“Barbara was unaware that Nancy was involved with Paul McCartney. We just found out about that when the press alerted us. Barbara and Nancy are second cousins. Barbara is not her aunt.”

Barbara’s Kissing Cousin: Walters And Paul McCartney’s Girlfriend Are Family [HuffPo]

The New York Social Diary reports today that Michael's had a good day yesterday. It was “hopping” with the likes of Joe Armstrong, who ate with a freshly-shorn Paula Zahn; Dominick Dunne, who was sitting with Chuck Pfeiffer and Taki Theodoracopulos; West-Coasters Mike Medavoy and Nikki Haskell; and Diana Taylor and Barbara Walters. Deep breath! And that’s not the half of it; more bold-faced names and a few pictures after clicking on the link below.

David Patrick Columbia also writes today that the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s 14th annual “Living Landmarks Gala,” emceed by Liz Smith, was “a great show.” The event honored John Whitehead, Jessye Norman, Gerry Schoenfeld, Mica Ertegun, Oscar de la Renta and Lauren Bacall. Of Ms. Smith’s hosting prowess, Mr. Columbia explains: “It’s her party and she conducts it in her brilliant citified down-home manner so that everyone feels welcome, has a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.” The New York Post writer co-hosted the event with Barry Diller, Diane von Furstenberg and Howard Rubenstein, while Peter Duchin entertained the guests with his music. With some 550 people at Tuesday’s fete, the Landmarks Conservancy raked in a reported $750,000.

Landmarks Remembered [NYSD]

As a routine, it seemed to be yet another flawless Clinton production, an ingenious – and admittedly, appealing – way to reach out to The View vote while neither scaring them off nor appearing so Martha Stewart one minute that she couldn’t go on to discuss her China policy the next. It was Steel Magnolias feminism at its best.  read more »

Well, since we got ourselves all involved in the question earlier, we listlessly inform you that Perez Hilton will not be appearing in Rosie O'Donnell's old spot on The View.

We'll let Perez tell you the news himself.

• PerezHilton.com

 

That's what mediabistro proposes is the big news coming from the bizarre celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

We're thinking he tipped his hand with this little illustration (right) which appeared on his Web site yesterday.

He's slotted to appear on the show today, and has promised big news at noon. We may or may not keep you posted.

• mediabistro.com
• perezhilton.com

With the sixth-season debut of The Apprentice a little more than 72 hours away, Donald Trump has ramped up his pre-Christmas feud with Rosie O'Donnell again.

On FOX News on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump lit into O'Donnell for her earlier criticism of his business acumen and moral probity. He was reacting to Barbara Walters' mild defense of her View co-host:

Rosie understands that I understand her. I've known Rosie for a long time, and I understand Rosie. Rosie is not a winner. She's a loser. Rosie is somebody that is -- in my opinion, she's got somewhat of a death wish. I think that Rosie understands that I understand her, and that bothered her very much.

- Tom Acitelli

Back in the days when popular Manhattan bachelor and news anchor Dan Abrams was still hosting The Ab  read more »

Henry Kravis, the second K in KKR, has resigned from the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation board too! Just like Barbara Walters and Agnes Gund—though he submitted his resignation in September, and it apparently had nothing to do with the uproar over the International Freedom Center. His letter cited “business and personal time commitments,” according to Lynn Rasic, the foundation’s vice president of public affairs. AP first reported the news yesterday. That leaves 38 members on the board. -Matthew Schuerman  read more »

"In this business," said Elizabeth Vargas, the 42-year-old co-anchor of the ABC News magazine 20/20,  read more »

Wednesday, Feb.  read more »

At the Drama League's annual gala on Feb.  read more »

Ten years ago, the assertion that Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and their ilk were t  read more »

When I read Renata Adler's Gone: The Last Days of The New Yorker , "Uh, oh," I said to myself, said  read more »

Last Saturday, July 17, at 6 A.M.  read more »

"From Qaddafi to Castro, the celebrities Barbara Walters has interviewed throughout her career are a  read more »