The Gossip Girl star seen filming around Manhattan got his start in 1999 on Will & Grace. Penn, who got his name after his father was bouncing ‘Penn’ tennis balls in the delivery room, told E’s! Daily 10 that he was “glad he wasn’t named Dunlop or Wilson.” The hit CW show which started filming its fourth season premieres in September. Paste the link to watch Penn on Will & Grace as a young boy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DRBV8Amg8I
Ever since Hollywood brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein sold Miramax to Disney years ago, they never seemed content that they let their baby go. It always seemed as if they wished they had held on to their pride and joy (named after their parents, Miriam and Max) and continued to run the company the way they wanted and have full control over the mega successful film house they built all by themselves. Trying to regain control and buy back the company, which they have been doing for some time, may be coming to an end. Talks to sell the company to them via their money man and backer, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle have halted and Disney looks to be ready to sell to a consortium of buyers headed by Construction Tycoon, Ron Tutor and partners Jim Robinson of Morgan Creek Productions and David Bergstein of Colony Capital Films. The LA Billionaire is another mogul looking to dip his feet into the cement of show business and all that glitters. The huge number being thrown around is rumored to be under $700 million with Tutor running the company along with Bergstein and Robinson. The deal is not signed but it sounds like a handshake has taken place.
Better brace yourself, The Jersey Shore, season two premieres July 29th on MTV and thankfully, Three Olives Vodka, specializing in bold flavored vodka, has created Jersey Shore inspired cocktails to get us through it. Check out Snookie’s favorite flavor Bubble or the GTL inspired Grape. As they fist pump their way through the sandy shores of Miami, sit back, relax and start mixing those drinks, you’re going to need them. www.threeolives.com
Oscar nominated actor and Yale graduate Edward Norton was named U.N. goodwill ambassador for biodiversity Thursday at UN Headquarters in NY by Secretary – General, Ban ki-Moon. According to the U.N., biodiversity is “essential in sustaining the living networks and systems that provide the world population with health, wealth and food and fuel.” Norton has been involved with global issues for some time recently helping to launch a social network platform, Crowdwise, aiming to boost global participation in charitable work. He also ran the NYC Marathon last year, helping to raise over $1 million for the trust and local communities in Kenya supported by the group. And, his company Class 5 Films works on TV programs and feature films with environmental themes. Well, I guess now we know where the talented Mr. Norton has been. Let’s hope he also has a starring movie in the works.
The Food Network keeps rolling them out. 24 Hour Restaurant Battle featuring newly minted celebrity Chef Scott Conant, (Scarpetta, Faustina) premieres July 21st on Food Network. Think battle of the restaurant stars or two teams up against each other to conceive, plan and open a restaurant in 24 hours. Everything from décor and service to menu design, shopping and cooking will all have to be taken care of. Chef Conant, a guest judge on the already popular ‘Chopped,’ will host each week with other Chef’s and various VIP restaurant and food experts all in on the mix. Some were whispering that this show sounds a lot like “Restaurant Wars” on Bravo’s hit Top Chef. Catch the teaser episode on Sunday, July 18th at 10p.
The stars came out the other night for new movie ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,’ and they headed straight to hot spot Cellar Bar at the Bryant Park Hotel to celebrate. This makes sense considering the Bryant Park Hotel was used as a location spot for the movie. The movie filmed entirely in New York City stars the talented Nick Cage and was produced by big shot Jerry Bruckheimer. Jerry, pictured here, is seen walking around NYC. The movie opens Wed, July 14th. http://bryantparkhotel.com
Will someone please give Tori Spelling’s hubby a good TV job so he can stop trying to kill himself on that motorcycle that Tori mistakenly got for him? Tori, who is already scared to death he will kill himself for real after fracturing his shoulder the first time, has told him numerous times that he is hiding behind his motorcycle hobby and needs to rev up his career instead of his bike. Forty Three year old McDermott, who has two young children with Tori and an eleven year old with his first wife, took another spill recently and punctured a lung. He tweeted from his hospital bed that he is on the mend and doing fine and was released yesterday. Tori, whose ambitious work ethic mirrors that of her mega successful late father’s, has told Dean many times on their reality show that he needs to be majorly aggressive and proactive in Hollywood and not wait for the phone to ring. Let’s see if he sells his bike now that he’s out of the hospital.
If you’re looking for your nearest magnate this week in NY or LA, don’t bother because the annual Sun Valley mogul conference, hosted by Allen & Company, began Tuesday and continues throughout the week. Media bigwigs cascade upon Idaho and begin to discuss brokering various deals. According to Michael J. de la Merced of The New York Times, topics this year are circling around the economic climate and whether dazzling deals will still be the norm. And which moguls will make a run for upstarts like Zynga, the social network game developer or Groupon, the online coupon company. CEO’s from Hollywood to Wall Street attend and you have to be invited. Seen and heard, News Corps. Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendy, Disney’s Bob Iger and wife Willow Bay, CBS’s Les Moonves, Universal Studios Ron Meyer and wife Kelly, Viacom’s Phillippe Dauman and wife Deborah, Allen & Co’s Herb Allen, Dreamwork’s big shot Jeffrey Katzenberg and rarely seen mogul Mike Ovitz. Ovitz, who still privately advises the careers of some and is also a private investor, is known to have one of the most esteemed art collections in the world. Best sighting was Facebook chief, the young Mark Zuckerberg hopping into the rental car of Google’s chief, Eric Shmidt and it was an Infiniti, opposed to the other atendees larger gas guzzlers.
Lady Gaga, who performed here at Madison Square Garden last night and rocked the house with her “Monster Ball” tour, had just come from Atlantic City where she performed and stayed at a suite in the Borgata Hotel & Casino. Gaga, who stayed low key, entertained friends in her suite and tried her hand at Blackjack. When out of her outrageous and extravagant costumes, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is just another girl from NY blending in with the crowd.
Oscar winners Sean Penn and Frances McDormand head to Ireland in August to start filming “This Must Be the Place,” about a retired rockstar who gets bored in his retirement and decides to hunt down his father’s executioner, an ex-nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S., Variety is reporting. Frances, who lives in New York with her mega successful husband, who also is an Academy Award winner multiple times (No Country for Old Men, Fargo) is one of the coolest actresses around. Award winning Italian filmmaker, Paolo Sorrentino wrote the script and will direct. Robert De Niro is rumored to be interested in a part as well.
