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uncomfortable race situations

Deborah Solomon's Interview with Russell Simmons: The Remix

At least since Meet the Press caliph Tim Russert's fatwa against her for the total misrepresentation of his feelings about his moms, we've all known that Times Mag interviewtrix Deb Solomon's job basically involves rearranging words that were once said by some person at some time into patterns that make all involved — but mostly the reader — deeply uncomfortable. So given her obvious affinity for, you know, the "sampling culture," why is this week's Russell Simmons chat so damn boring? We offer this "Ignition (Remix)"-style transcendent version of Solomon's dull album-track slow jam: D. SOLOMON: Are you dyslexic?
R. SIMMONS: Oprah renamed the book. It was like God calling. She gave me a better title.
more »

5:13 PM ON SUN APR 29 2007
BY JON
2,485 views, 2 comments

britney Britney Spears

Gossip Roundup: Spears To Become A Simpson?

  • Though Jessica Simpson's rep denies it, rumors are swirling that her dad Joe wants to svengali up Britney Spears. [R&M;]
  • Designer Marc Jacobs' ex-rentboy on and off bf still has notably loose lips, offering up quotes like "Marc has found his way; he's going to be sober for the rest of his life" and bragging about their "like, five fake break-ups." A Jacobs spokesperson says they're not back together. [NYO]
  • Gay, gay wedding bells are ringing for blog queen Andrew Sullivan and an actor named Eric. [NYO]
  • Anderson Cooper keeps his goodies under wraps in the showers at Equinox. [Page Six]
  • Russell Simmons and Tyra Banks "forgot" to pay their lunch tab. [Gatecrasher, 2nd item]
    • more »

    9:50 AM ON WED APR 25 2007
    BY EMILY
    1,588 views, 8 comments

    Latest by Cory: Briefly I was terrified by the prospect of what Tyra could be planning if she was eating with Russell Simmons. Then I realized that Russell Simmons, NOT Richard Simmons after being terribly confused (and terrified) by the mention of more »

    SP32-20070205-124155.jpg Fashion Week

    Fashion Week: Rock & Republic Afterparty @ Hiro Ballroom

    If we learned anything on Saturday night, it's that wearing four-inch heels induces its own version of vertigo -- meaning you still feel like you're wearing them forty-eight hours after you took them off. The shoes in question were promptly thrown out of the window of Editorial Assistant Heather's apartment upon her return home; the event that she - accompanied by Gawker point-camera-make-clicky guy Nikola Tamindzic -- attended them in was the Rock & Republic show afterparty at Hiro Ballroom. Also in attendance? Lady Sovereign's drum kit, Russell Simmons, some Romanian aristocracy, the arsitocracy's cat and the cat's nanny. It was that kind of party.
    Enjoy our gallery of moderate debauchery, or Nikola's extended album of party people. It'll be just like you were there, feeling almost attractive/fashionable/wasted with us. more »

    12:50 PM ON MON FEB 5 2007
    BY BALK
    365 views, 8 comments

    Latest by niwi: There's so many people in those photos I'd like to smack that my palm is tingling psychosomatically. more »

    abfabandrea.jpg Andrea Peyser

    Russell Simmons Drives Andrea Peyser To Drink

    Nutty Post scourge Andrea Peyser's column today about Russell Simmons' icky endorsement of the diamond mining industry, which he calls "99 3/4%" clean, seems unusually . . . inspired. Seriously, you have to respect a writer who can continually froth with outrage and also come up with turns of phrase like this one:
    They came separately for a bling-is-good press conference yesterday - he in baggy jeans, she in a clingy dress and heels so high, I could hear her arches disintegrating.
    Sarcasm aside, that is just kind of awesome. Why come Andrea's writin' so good today? A clue may be found in her lede:
    Sometimes, you want to throw up your hands, spit out your lungs and take a stiff drink at the shamelessness of it all.
    Andrea, we heartily advocate taking this approach to every column you write from now on. But maybe next time drink first and then spit out your lungs; we hear it fucks up your liver the other way.

    Simmons Def and Dumb on Bling Abuses     [NYP]

    10:50 AM ON WED DEC 6 2006
    BY EMILY
    59 views, 5 comments

    Latest by popo: Russell Simmons should never have been born. The world would have been so much better. more »

    beef%20or%20children.jpg Remainders

    Remainders: Did Someone Say Mid-Terms?

  • A reader emails us that her friend who works at the Daily Show suggested sending us the sign above because it was just so funny. Wow, working at Comedy Central must be really depressing.
  • Joel Klein and Russell Simmons made a video together about voting. Next week: Mayor Bloomberg and Jay-Z rap about smoking cigarettes, trans fats. [NYM]
  • Chelsea Clinton probably didn't watch the video, because she couldn't vote. [NYT]
  • The Yale Daily News endorses both candidates in the Connecticut Senate race. How very useful for the electorate. [IvyGate]
    • more »

    6:00 PM ON TUE NOV 7 2006
    BY DOREE
    93 views, 10 comments

    Latest by Simpatia: I think that this sign is offensive to Foley. He never touched brown children, EVER. more »

    Lance Bass

    Gossip Roundup: Lance Bass Admits to Long-Simmering Crush on JC Chasez

    • Yes, former N'Sync member Lance Bass -- formerly known as the "one that wasn't Justin" -- is out of the closet. Go and watch video footage of him being gay! [TMZ]
    • After going into false labor, Britney Spears realizes she needs to "cut down on the Cheetos." She needed to go to the hospital for the tip-off? Wouldn't a mirror have sufficed? [Scoop]
    • John Edwards sucks up to Russell Simmons for the African-American vote, accompanying him to his daily Jivamukti Yoga class. If there's one candidate we could tolerate in a downward dog, it would have to be Mr. Sunshine. [Lowdown]
    • Tori Spelling won't even inherit a million dollars of her late father's $500 million estate. It's suspected that Tori's bitchtastic mother cut her out of her father's will, leaving poor Tori to survive on 90210 residuals and So NoTORIous peanuts. [Us Weekly]
    • Christie Brinkley's philandering fourth husband Peter Cook once refused to give Alexa Joel, Brinkley's daughter with Billy Joel, a ride home at 11 PM. Cruel -- god forbid she ride with her father at that hour. [Page Six]
    • Madonna must shit only where no one has shit before: she requests a brand-new toilet seat, wrapped in plastic, at every venue where she performs. [R&M; (last item)]
    • B. Smith, "the black Martha Stewart" (is that an oxymoron?), is jockeying to replace Star Jones as the token woman of color on The View. [Page Six]

    12:42 PM ON WED JUL 26 2006
    2,112 views, 8 comments

    Latest by kenneth212: Wait -- I thought Ellen already came out. more »

    AD
    georgemichaellover.jpg Gay

    Remainders: George Michael, Master of Cruising

    • We really ARE overdue for a George Michael assfucking scandal, aren't we? Don't worry, it's about to get much better: the former pop star was caught having a "seedy liason" in a public park with the hot piece of twat pictured at right. 58-year-old unemployed van drivers who live with their cat sure are irresistible, aren't they? [Sun UK]
    • Tomorrow Russell Simmons will be named a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, putting him on the well-worn path to becoming Angelina Jolie. Perhaps he's splitting with Kimora over whether or not to adopt an Ethiopian AIDS orphan. [FishbowlNY]
    • You know what's wrong with magazine publishing? The people who are running it, specifically those at the Magazine Publisher's Association who believe a mascot named Captain Read is going to do a goddamned thing other than inspire mockery and ensure irrelevancy. [AdAge]
    • Though we wouldn't put it past Simon Dumenco to hook up with Cap'n Read. [AdAge]
    • Conde Nast will master these internets yet, even if it means going the route of incredibly boring trade sites. [Craigslist]
    • Is somene pushing a Times-ian frenzy surrounding the raising admission fee for the Met? At the current rate, they'll churn out 60 pieces by November, which will almost be enough to satisfy Bill Keller. [Seth Mnookin]
    • It doesn't matter how fantastic a "trailer" for a book may be, because it'll never half as good as the trailer for Snakes on a Plane. That's just a fact. [Guardian]
    • Greg Gutfeld's still life with Arianna Huffington. [HuffPo]
    • Dallas Mavericks bloggy freakshow Mark Cuban has an open job offer for anyone who can think of a new way to market movies. On the downside, you'll be working for Mark Cuban. [Blog Maverick]
    • Who Wore It Best? -- crotchety Sun Valley mogul edition! [WSJ]
    • Why does the Regal Union Square movie theater smell like Chinatown on a simmering July afternoon? [Cinecultist]

    7:00 PM ON MON JUL 24 2006
    555 views, 10 comments

    Latest by savethemax: Re: Regal Union Square - maybe the smell is from RAT PISS. the last time i was there i made an awful discovery- the building and the theatres are totally infested with mice. i saw two scampering down and across the more »

    People Magazine

    Gossip Roundup: Barron Trump Sells Out Young and Cheap

    • People magazine scores the first baby pics of Barron Trump, to be revealed in next week's issue. Barron, however, is no baby Brangelina -- he only fetched mid-six figures. Not even a month old and already a failure. [Page Six]
    • Elle's international creative director Gilles Bensimon may be slowly pushed out the door, leaving EIC Roberta Myers in charge of delegating fabulousness. [Lowdown (3rd item)]
    • 23-year-old Denise Vasi's family thinks her boyfriend Russell Simmons, at 50 years of age, is too old for her. It's always nice to see basic math skills in action. [R&M;]
    • After a mere five days, fairy-throated boxed Mike Tyson leaves a Phoenix rehab clinic where he was being treated for cocaine addiction -- and the entire staff exhales. [Page Six]
    • Tom Cruise says he has a "spectacular" sex life with Katie Holmes. We can't imagine. Seriously, not even capable of conjuring the visuals on this one. [IMDb]

    1:38 PM ON FRI APR 14 2006
    1,054 views, Comment

    Kimora Lee Simmons

    Gossip Roundup: Russell and Kimora Not Quite Separated, But Not Quite Married, Either

    • Though they announced their separation on Friday, Russell Simmons claims that things are rather cozy between him and Kimora, and there's still a chance for reconciliation. But don't tell that to Denise Vasi, the 23-year-old who's been dating Russell. [Lowdown]
    • Howard Stern warns Katie that should she go to CBS, ratings will drop and CBS will find a way not to pay her. Then what? We can't see her legs on satellite radio. [Page Six]
    • Nicole Kidman is rumored to have had her 11-year marriage to bouncy psycopath Tom Cruise annulled so that she can marry Keith Urban in a Catholic ceremony. Cue flack denials. [Scoop]
    • For the public opening of his company, Diddy misses the bell at the NYSE. Can't expect a playa to get up before 12, yo. [Page Six]
    • Now that he's off of cocaine, actor Kiefer Sutherland has redirected his focus towards cooking. Since he loved the ritual of preparing his stash for consumption, he now gets off on the crushing and cutting garlic cloves. [R&M; (2nd item)]

    12:55 PM ON TUE APR 4 2006
    567 views, 1 comment

    Latest by grandenchilada: Yo, It's not called Unforgivable for nothing, yo. more »

    kimorarussell.jpg Divorce

    Kimora and Russell Break America's Heart

    We'd be lying if we said we weren't recently watching VH1's Fabulous Life of Celebrity Wives (or some similarly titled mind-numbing show), so today's news leaves us particularly devastated: Kimora Lee and Russell Simmons are filing for divorce. If you want to stay in tonight, wrapped in a Baby Phat sweatshirt and sobbing into your Chubby Hubby, we understand. more »

    12:22 PM ON FRI MAR 31 2006
    5,096 views, 2 comments

    Betsey Johnson

    Gawker stalker

    · "I sat next to Betsey Johnson (designer) at Pastis in the meat packing district. She was with two obvious sycophants who were drooling all over her, despite the fact that she looked beyond horrid in a multicolored coat that looked like a leprechaun had vomited on it. She had terrible hair with nylon-looking extensions and black raccoon eye makeup. Didn't smell great either."
    · "russell simmons on the jfk A train shuttle with his wife and kids--just flew jet blue to jfk yesterday... i jumped on the shuttle to the A train and accidentally got off at the wrong stop in the parking lot. i peered back into the crowded shuttle bus and asked the dude in the black suit, backwards yankee cap standing with his wife and kid if this was the stop -- he told me no, it's the next one. i looked him in the eye and asked if he was russell -- and he affirmatively nodded. it was him. and no, i didn't hound him further."
    · "saw chloe sevigny walking by my gallery (spring betw eliz. and bowery) yesterday looking stoned and cold. jim jarmusch walks by almost every day too."
    · "Christy Turlington at Peter Lugers clearly not eating enough because she didn't have to waddle out like the rest of us."
    · "If you were Greek, and I said the name Anna Vissi, you would become rapt, speaking in whispers. Think Madonna, but in a smaller pond. If you were Greek, and I told you that I had brushed by Anna Vissi last night at a midtown acting school, where she was watching her daughter perform, you might ask to smell and feel the sweater that had touched her. But you're not Greek, so you may not care. (The daughter gave a self-indulgent performance, by the way)"

    8:40 AM ON FRI APR 25 2003
    39 views, Comment

    p. diddy

    Blue Flame and product placement

    A reader on P Diddy's marketing arm, Blue Flame, and product placement in rap songs: "Apparently, Russell Simmons runs a firm called dRush that quietly does these paid name-drops in hip-hop tracks all the time and has been doing it forever. There's a bunch of similar outfits as well. A lot of people think that Simmons set up the 'Pass the Courvoisier' name drop, but the rumor I hear is that while Simmons was working with Courvoisier, he didn't have anything to do with that particular track. So it's not just P Diddy; more or less all of hip-hop has openly sold out, and is pretty proud of it. And to think...all of that money going to baby blue velour track suits and ugly cars."

    1:31 PM ON WED MAR 12 2003
    82 views, Comment