‘Page Fix’: Jared Paul Stern, Extortion and a Billionaire’s Hidden Camera

By Dylan on April 10, 2006 7:27 AM

It’s gotta be killing the gossip mongers over at the Post to watch while the Daily News, bloggers and even the New York Times blanket the juiciest media scandal in months: theirs.

In lieu of Page Six’s coverage of the Jared Paul Stern scandal, FishbowlNY serves up our own gossip-on-sossip roundup, Page Six-style:

The Times Devotes Practically Entire Weekend to Page Six Scandal

The esteemed Gray Lady ran consecutive cover stories on Saturday and Sunday — and no less than five stories overall including a Week in Review infographic — to run ragged on Jared Paul Stern, Page Six and the art of gossip itself. And for once, its obsession with a story matched our fascination.

We Hear …
That Jared Paul Stern, inexplicably, won’t clam up about the scandal. He spoke with the Times‘ Marc Santora over the weekend, saying he “couldn’t defend his lack of judgment here.” … That Stern told the billionaire Ronald Burkle, the alleged target of Stern’s extortion, that Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein is “pretty savvy” when it comes to courting favor with Page Six, including having editor Richard Johnson work on a screenplay for him. … That Steve Dunleavy, in attempting to explain Stern’s alleged actions, said: “The only thing I can say is that he went f***ing nuts.”

Sightings
Jared Paul Stern and billionaire Ronald Burkle, on a video tape in Burkle’s loft in Manhattan. Stern was meeting with Burkle, he says, to discuss investing in his clothing company and media strategy services … Jared Paul Stern, at his $220,000 home in the Catskills … Page Six editor Richard Johnson, at his wedding on a yacht near Palm Beach. It was Johnson’s third marriage.

EARLIER: Scouring the Black Table for Insight Into the Jared Paul Stern Scandal
Page Six Freelancer in FBI Probe