How to Torpedo a Sham Political Campaign
The Mickey Kaus Oppo Research Project
By John Cook
Poor blogger Mickey Kaus is running for Senate, and no one really cares. But we do, so we launched a little project to gather dirt on him. The best we got is that he brings heroin-addicted sex perverts into schools.
Kaus, who has made a career out of attacking liberals while claiming to be one, is challenging Barbara Boxer in California’s Democratic primary because he hates unions and illegal immigrants. He’s filed all the necessary paperwork and got himself a fancy (and crappy-looking, compared to his blog) web site, but so far the effort seems to be a bust: The party has denied him a speaking slot at the California Democratic convention, a decision that was based largely on his own repeated public statements that his candidacy is hopeless. And there’s no way he’s going to land a chance to debate Boxer.
A few weeks ago, with the aid of the inestimable Gawker intern Sergio Hernandez, we started looking into Kaus’ past for the sort of damaging information that could derail his campaign if anybody were paying enough attention to actually attempt to derail it. Turns out he’s a horrible nerd who graduated first in his class and got a perfect score on his SATs, so there’s not much there. But some of his friends hate him and said underminer-ish things, and we got some really embarrassing photos from his high school yearbook, so let’s get started, shall we? More »
Awwww, “inestimable.”
Tales From a Disgruntled Harpo Employee
Ex-Employee Dishes on Life Inside Oprah’s Empire
This week we brought you excerpts from the gossipy new Oprah biography by Kitty Kelley. Today we heard from an ex-Harpo staffer who shared with us all sorts of juicy details about what life’s like working for the daytime diva.
By Like Kathy Griffin Says: If I Get Killed, Investigate Oprah
Excerpts From the Biography That Oprah Doesn’t Want You to Read, Part 2
Yesterday we shared a bunch of excerpts from Kitty Kelley’s gossipy new Oprah biography. Today: Another batch of potentially scandalous snippets from the book, provided you’re willing to believe a 68-year-old woman who still goes by “Kitty.”
By She’ll Never Pay My Student Loans Off For Me Now…
Excerpts From the Biography That Oprah Doesn’t Want You to Read
Celebrity profiler Kitty Kelley’s unauthorized Oprah biography was released today. But who has time these to sit down and read a 544-page book? We spent the afternoon going through the exhaustive tell-all to bring you the juiciest bits.
Much has been made in recent days about the claims contained in Kelley’s book, tawdry bits she says were assembled thanks to the more than 800 interviews she conducted with relatives, friends, and former colleagues. (Not surprisingly, Winfrey declined to participate in the project.) Is it all true? Who knows! But there are plenty of amusing anecdotes, a handful of which are below.
DA Drops DUI Against Condé Nast’s Newest Ed
W’s New Editor Stefano Tonchi Takes a Plea
Stefano Tonchi landed one of the most coveted jobs in fashion when he was named editor of W ten days ago. Good thing he doesn’t start until April 12. He went on trial today in Beverly Hills for a DUI.
Tonchi, the former editor of T, the New York Times‘ style mag, was arrested last January after Beverly Hills police stopped him for what police officials described as a “routine traffic violation.” According to the Beverly Hills Police Department, Tonchi refused a breathalyzer test at the scene and was subsequently arrested when he failed a battery of field sobriety tests.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office filed a single misdemeanor DUI charge against Tonchi last February and he was arraigned last March, but the trial was delayed for over a year while the defense filed several motions to suppress evidence, according to the courthouse docket. Now that he has some time off between jobs — Tonchi was named editor of the Condé Nast-owned title on March 22 but won’t take over until April 12 — presumably it’s a good time to take care of business. Tonchi’s trial started this morning in LA Superior Court, according to court records.
A Condé Nast spokeswoman declined to comment on Tonchi’s criminal charges and calls to his lawyer were not immediately returned.
UPDATE: Tonchi’s attorney, Michael Cavalluzzi, tells us he worked out a plea with LA County prosecutors this morning shortly before the trial was set to begin. Cavalluzzi said the district attorney agreed to drop the DUI charge and allowed Tonchi to plead only to the initial traffic violation—failure to stop at a limit line. He also added that Tonchi himself did not appear in court this morning, since it was “just an infraction.”
