Bridgehampton, NY, July 3 – Paris Hilton was the center of attention at the launch party for Jay-Z’s new S. Carter tennis shoe. Odd, since the bashful heiress is usually practically a wallflower at parties. The previous night, Hilton launched her record label, Heiress Records, at the same venue, the PlayStation 2 estate. Sony’s PS2 property includes a nine-bedroom, 12,500 square foot cottage on six acres with a three-acre pond, spa and equestrian facilities. It’s all very Hamptons-beachy-casual.

When reporters asked Jay-Z if he’d be attending Sean Combs’ July 4 White Party (also at the PS2 estate), he replied that he’d try to make it, but didn’t want to make Puffy mad by not going to his party. “So can you write that I was there?” OK, sure. Jay-Z was there. (He wasn’t.)

June 26-July 2 – After adroitly avoiding the horse droppings at the Ziegfeld Theater at Monday’s King Arthur premiere, we cantered a few blocks to the Directors’ Guild of America, where Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy were trotting out Before Sunset. Open All Night’s International Congeniality Award goes to the British, since those Arthurian candidates were all open and chatty, while the American and French Sunset contingents were downright surly. (The stunning 35-year-old French actress Delpy gave the beauteous 19-year-old Brit Keira Knightley serious competition in the looks department. Next time, we’ll definitely add a bathing suit competition to our awards program.)

Meanwhile, that day in Beverly Hills, Rick James and Bootsy Collins tied for our Sartorial Understatement award at the ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards. (We’re definitely not adding a bathing suit competition to this contest.)

Back in New York earlier that day, Gloria Estefan said, “I quit!” even before Donald Trump could yell, “You’re fired!” The Miami-based superstar launched her “Live and Re-Wrapped” concert tour by announcing that it would be her last. We hope Gloria’s family likes when she sings in the shower, because she wants to spend more time with them. We never did manage to find out what the heck The Donald had to do with it.

Busy week for Howard Stern, who publicly bashed the Bush administration regarding recent controversies surrounding his radio program. We accompanied Stern down to the garage after a press conference at Infinity Broadcasting, where he dissed FCC chairman Michael K. Powell. “How did this guy get the job? He’s Colin Powell’s brother”, Stern said, and then railed against Bush policies some more. Stern did take a breather on Thursday, hitting a party at Whiskey Park celebrating his girlfriend Beth Ostrosky’s August cover of FHM magazine.

That radio-friendly music greeting midtown morning commuters on Friday was Clay Aiken crooning in Bryant Park on Good Morning America.

With Jen Lowery in Los Angeles

New York, June 30 – It’s good to see that despite becoming a movie star, Mark Wahlberg hasn’t forgotten his roots. The former Calvin Klein underwear model was all decked out in a white undershirt, jeans and work boots at the premiere of the new HBO series Entourage. He told us that if his mother hadn’t been there, he would’ve worn a suit. (We don’t get it either.) Wahlberg is an executive producer of the show, about a young Hollywood star and his entourage, made up of his longtime buddies from Queens.

“When people see the show, they’ll realize, I think after seeing an entire season, they’ll realize who the movie star is based on. It’s uh, I don’t want to give it away yet, but it’s more somebody that I’ve worked with in the past than myself”, Wahlberg said. (Someone whispered to us that the character may be based on Leonardo DiCaprio, who worked with Wahlberg in 1995’s Basketball Diaries. E-mail us any tips.)

We couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone on how many people they actually have in their entourage, but Michael Moore, dressed in shorts, gave a wonderfully deranged answer: “I don’t have any! I just wore shorts. I’m missing the other part of my pants.”

Los Angeles, June 29 – It was very hot and Hollywood Boulevard was closed for Tuesday’s BET Awards at the Kodak Theater. Dave Navarro was in such a rush to be on time to perform with Jay-Z and Kid Rock that he forgot his shirt, but managed to cover up with a fur jacket he grabbed on his way out of the house. Fifty Cent drove by in a Suburban and waved, but then snuck in through a side door. Vivica A. Fox had one of those umbrella servants following her around. Beats smearing on sunscreen.

We think Janet Jackson, who could trade tips with Navarro on the bare chest as a publicity tool, was overlooked in the category of “Best Wardrobe Malfunction”. The Super Bowl star did, however, perform live without a delay for the first time since the big boob baring, and disappointingly kept everything tucked in.

After winning an award, Jay-Z ran into the pressroom, barely posed for photographers, and abruptly left. As he was on his way out, someone, whose name we won’t reveal, muttered, “Thanks, Mr. Beyonce”. Mr. Z stopped, and clearly annoyed, said, “I heard that! You’re gonna have bad karma for that!”

Alicia Keys also flew in and out, literally. She arrived in town, came to the show and did her song, and headed back to the airport to rejoin her tour.

Host Mo'Nique invited everyone, including the press, to a party, and publicly announced her home address, but said we’d have to leave our cameras at home.

Photos by Jen Lowery

New York, June 29 – We thought we were sitting on a major scoop when the call came: “Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are coming out!” Well, all the gay pride stuff has been going on this week, and we just thought…. Anyway, it turned out the Spider-Man 2 stars were "coming out" onto the street to greet fans during their Total Request Live appearance. We were hoping Maguire would rappel down the side of the building, Spidey-style, but no such luck. Surrounded by security guards, the two marched out of the building and around the corner into a small, penned in area on Times Square in front of the MTV building. Cell phone networks must have been clogged with hundreds of startled passersby dialing madly, shouting into their phones, “Tobey Maguire! Right in front of me! Times Square!” When her screams of, “I love you Tobey!” elicited no reactions, the young woman behind us tried, “I love you Kirsten!” The whole thing lasted maybe ten minutes. As we walked away, we passed a woman sobbing on the corner.