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Posts Tagged ‘Courteney Cox’

Courteney Cox Is the New ‘Home Editor’ of Jane Pratt’s Website

Curbed is reporting that Courteney Cox has been named the new “Home Editor” of Jane Pratt‘s new website, xoJane.com, where, according to the press release, she “will be giving xoJane.com readers decorating advice and beauty tips.” Celebrities, what’s ours is yours. Including our jobs. Go on and take them!

Pratt has not only written often about her glittering circle of celebrity friends on her website, she has also been taking them on as contributors in various capacities. Courtney Love has a diary! David Arquette designed a shirt just for the site! And now Courteney Cox is an editor and a columnist! Gosh! In all seriousness though, loading up her site with celebrities doesn’t strike us as a bad move, although she may find it impossible to withstand the competition from Gwyneth Paltrow, who is turning into a media tidal wave and may be launching her own magazine. Pratt’s glory days were in the 1990s, and her celebrity friends represent that: while she’s gushing about hanging out with Michael Stipe, Paltrow, an A-List celebrity herself, is busy interviewing Jay-Z. But there is plenty of lingering 90s nostalgia, so perhaps Pratt has a niche.

Cox’s first post is on the site, in which she recommends a few beauty products that she uses, including a $9 dollar at-home hair dye, which is a nice suggestion because it’s cheap. Unlike, for example, Gwyneth Paltrow’s recommendation of giving someone a $1,400 leather weekend-getaway bag for Christmas on Goop.com.  In her author profile, Cox also answers a few hard-hitting questions like “I smell like: Orange Blossom meets Vanilla meets Coconut” and “I Have Faked An Orgasm (Yes/No): Not in as many years as I can remember.” (Cox did not choose these questions.) We don’t know how much work she’ll put into the site as “Home Editor,” but we wish her luck. Editing a website can be brutal.

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Lunch at Michael’s: Ex-CBS News Prez Says Give Katie A Chance

lunch_at_michaels_logo.jpgAs much as we’ve come to enjoy our perch at the bar with its bird’s eye view, we were thrilled when one of our favorite television titans, Andrew Heyward, invited us to join him and his guests for lunch. Today’s lunchtime chronicler, Diane Clehane, chatted with the always affable and extremely insightful former president of CBS News and Bostonian pals Jeffrey F. Rayport, chairman and founder of Marketspace and his wife, investment consultant Hilary Hedge. Andrew, who is currently working with fellow Harvard alum Mr. Rayport as a consultant to Marketspace’s media practice, looked relaxed and happy (love the Zegna suit!) as he weighed in on his former employer’s decision to hire Katie Couric to anchor the evening news. “They are not to be underestimated. They deserve credit for trying new ideas and taking the program in new directions. The reporting is excellent.” His take on Couric: “She’s very talented and has brought a warmth to the broadcast. It takes time to find your voice and it takes time for viewers to find you.” So back off, you naysayers!

Here’s the rundown on the best of the rest:

1. Bruce Wasserstein presiding over a table of imposing-looking gentlemen.

2. Peter Brown and Joan Cooney.

3. ‘Mayor’ Joe Armstrong and New York Social Diary‘s David Patrick Columbia with the lovely Joan Jacobson.

4. Herb Siegal and guest.

5. Producer Irv Winkler and an outdoorsy-looking gent. The hit-maker — whose latest picture, Rocky Balboa, has proven to be a knockout punch at the box office — was collared by Peggy Siegal (who was showing off her pics taken on a recent trip to Africa to all who stopped by) on his way out. The uber publicist was overheard extending an invite to Irv to attend her screening of “The Lives of Others.” Second shift: Former New York City Council president and one-time mayoral candidate Andrew Stein.

6. Our friend Terry Allen Kramer, Margo McNabb and guest.

7. A flack named “BJ,” we’re told …

8. Messieurs Heyward and Rayport, Ms. Hedge and Ms. Clehane.

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James Brady Uses Occasion Of Dirt To Dish From His Own Sordid, Checkered Media Past

james_brady_head_fbny.jpgForbes.com media columnist James Brady has a few ideas culled from his glory days to improve FX’s Dirt:

Since I was the guy who created Page Six, wrote high-flown gossip for New York magazine and was the editor of what was then called The National Star, now directed by [Bonnie] Fuller, I have a few ideas about juicing up Dirt. Start with the gin mills where Courteney [Cox]‘s staffers hang.

When I took over as editor of the Star (I was also to write the gossip column under a pseudonym, “Winston Daniel”), owner Rupert Murdoch gave me one crucial bit of advice: “Don’t drink in the same bar where your reporters drink.”

The bar that Star reporters then frequented was Tim Costello’s, presided over by Freddie the bartender. Freddie was famous for deftly squashing cockroaches on the bar with his thumb, then wiping the residue on his apron, to resume mixing drinks. But the featured players at Costello’s were my guys, led by chief reporter Steve Dunleavy, whose career began as a “tea boy” at the South China Morning Post.

But Brady saves his best, awkward gem for last:

I’d been hired by Murdoch out at his rented beach house on Further Lane. Following lunch, we talked money during a swim. Up and down we went, treading water and haggling. He was offering 50 grand, and I was holding out for 75. “50!” “75!” “50!” “75!” Then Rupert asked if we had sharks in these waters. “Yes, but why?” “I think I just saw one,” he said. “I’ll take 50!” I shouted, swimming rapidly toward the beach. Anything there for you in all this, Courteney?

  • ‘Dirt’ On TV [Forbes.com]