Media Archives

New York, May 12, 2008 – Diane Keaton is a photography aficionado, and the prestigious International Center of Photography recognized the actress with a Trustees Award at the Infinity Awards gala in New York.  The Oscar winner not only snaps her own photos, she also collects, and the photographs in the ICP’s upcoming Bill Wood exhibition are all hers.  Wearing her trademark white shirt with a Dolce & Gabbana skirt, Keaton said the award was an “incredible honor”.   Blythe Danner attended the gala with her son, Jake Paltrow, whose girlfriend, photographer Taryn Simon received an award. Calvin and Kelly Klein, Salman Rushdie and Helena Christensen were among the luminaries toasting the greats of photography.

Photos; Caroline Torem-Craig

New York, May 8, 2008 – There was some controversy at the Time 100 gala, the party celebrating the magazine’s annual list of the most influential people in the world.  Senator John McCain made the list, and bystanders booed as he entered Jazz at Lincoln Center for the gala.  Presidential candidates are resilient, and McCain was all smiles inside, and even congratulated his Democratic rivals.  “I’m very honored to be here, and I know my two colleagues are also recognized.  Senator Obama and Senator Clinton wish they could be here tonight, and they are equally honored", McCain told reporters.

Organizers asked honoree Madeeha Hasan Odhaib to put away the Iraqi flag she held on the red carpet - a strange request since she was honored for starting a business sewing flags that now employs 100 women in war torn Baghdad. 

Performers at the gala included newly-married Mariah Carey, newly pregnant Amy Poehler and her “Weekend Update” partner Seth Meyers, who told us he prepared for the evening by “writing jokes about all these influential people.”

When Time editors included Robert Downey, Jr. on the influential list, could they have known that his movie Iron Man would have one of the biggest openings in history on the same week that the Time 100 issue hit newsstands? 

Other notables at the gala included Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, comedy king Judd Apatow, Herbie Hancock, Ethan Hawke, Anjelica Huston, Lance Armstrong and Hollywood giant Tyler Perry. 

New York, May 7, 2008 – Barbara Walters appeared at a midtown Manhattan bookstore on Wednesday to sign copies of her new memoir, Audition, and, as usual, photographers were brought in to shoot pictures for a short while before the author got down to signing copies for fans. 

Washington, D.C., April 26, 2008 - Apparently the impending presidential election has put the Hollywood set in a jovial mood, because Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ dinner drew a heavy contingent of celebrities, most of whom had stayed away during the Bush administration years. 

Joining the usual powerful media figures like Martha Stewart and Katie Couric at the Washington Hilton was everyone from Donatella Versace to Ashlee Simpson to Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane.  Panting tweens lined the hotel lobby and screamed in ecstasy when the Jonas Brothers arrived.  Padma Lakshmi was there, and so was her ex, Salman Rushdie with a gorgeous young date. Awkward!  New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman told us that he was “amazed” by the new smaller size of his competitor, the New York Post.  Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner attended, but managed to hide from cameras all evening.

Craig Ferguson hosted the dinner, rambling on a bit, and President Bush himself played maestro, picking up a baton and conducting a marching band.  W also donned a cowboy hat and even sang. 

The stormy evening didn’t stop revelers from hitting the parties.  Pamela Anderson popped into the Bloomberg party at the Costa Rican Embassy for just a few moments, and dashed off to catch a plane, we hear.  Over at the brand new Newseum, Rosario Dawson hosted Capitol File’s party, where Pete Wentz deejayed. 

New York, April 22, 2008 – Vanity Fair kicked off the Tribeca Film Festival for the seventh year in a row with a party at the State Supreme Courthouse in lower Manhattan.  “Nobody had ever done something here, and it’s great space”, said VF editor Graydon Carter, who admitted that he gets nervous when throwing such a big bash.  What’s to be nervous about?  Guests like Billy Crystal, Charlie Rose, Jerry Seinfeld, Fran Lebowitz, Nora Ephron, Arianna Huffington and Martha Stewart generate enough chatter to animate the stony silent types like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Willem Dafoe. 

Padma Lakshmi is a juror for the Tribeca Film Festival this year, and she explained how she attained that honor.  “I got an e-mail, they said, ‘We’d really like you to be part of the jury’.  I said, ‘Are you sure’?  They said, ‘Yeah’.  I said, ‘Okay.’”  The Top Chef star said she’s thrilled to participate in the fest.  Fashion designer Zac Posen is also a juror this year.  “I’ve been watching many, many films at home”, he told us. 

Partygoers built up their strength for movie hopping at the ten-day festival by chowing down on chicken pot pie, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. 

April 18-20, 2008 – What an inspirational weekend we had!  We followed Pope Benedict XVI around New York City, where he hung out at the United Nations on Friday, led a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday, and thrilled tens of thousands of his faithful flock at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. 

The Pope traveled surrounded by bulletproof glass in a customized Mercedes-Benz SUV that we were not able to board.  Another popular figure who seems to inspire blind faith in his followers, Barack Obama, in contrast, allowed journalists to join him on his whistle-stop train trip through southeastern Pennsylvania on Saturday.  It appears that none of the “angry and bitter” folks came out to cheer on their political candidate along the way.  We can’t say if these Pennsylvanians were “clinging to religion”, but gosh, Obama’s supporters did seem downright zealous.

New York, April 17, 2008 – Famous people travel so much you’d think they’d be sick of it, but every year they seem to come out in droves for Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List party, and 2008 was no exception.  Even Ashlee Simpson, who is rumored to be pregnant and engaged turned up, although she avoided reporters.  Boyfriend Pete Wentz was not with her.  Heroes hottie Milo Ventimiglia slipped into the party at Mansion, and quickly got lost in the huge crowd. 

Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and his lady Elsa Pataky stayed all evening; we found them ensconced on a banquette downstairs, mingling with the crowd far from the VIP area on the second floor.  That VIP lounge was where Joan Allen, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her hubby Tim, Eva Amurri, Natasha Bedingfield and Alan Cumming hung out.  Denise Rich told us she’d been one of Ivana Trump’s bridesmaids at her wedding last week!   Gossip Girl cutie Jessica Szohr is no diva – she left the VIP area to grab drinks for her friends, rather than be waited on. 

Several of these big stars confided that they are obsessed with the reality show Real Housewives of New York City – and were thrilled to see the show’s stars Alex McCord, Jill Zarin and Bethenny Frankel at the Hot List party.

Photos: Joy E. Scheller