Paparazzi Wars

Things are not well in the world of the paparazzi.

 We've had Kayne West being arrested over an alleged assault an LA snapper while Russell Brand and Mike Tyson have both had their collars felt over scuffles with snappers . 30Rock star Alex Baldwin is renowned for his biffo bouts with New York photographers while and our National Treasure, actress Nicole Kidman was recently bowled over by an excited pap on a push bike in New York.

Now come a tale of a bust up in Kings Cross between Kidman's bête noire, the paparazzo Jamie Fawcett and another snapper named Max.  Apparently Fawcett was also placed under a  citizen's arrest by a former business partner Ben McDonald and there are claims of broken car mirrors and snaps appeared of Fawcett sporting a black eye before the local constabulary intervened. Fawcett has been the subject of attempted AVO orders in the past from Kidman and Mel B.  Nicole also appeared in court as a witness against him in a libel case against Fairfax Media which Fawcett won but was ordered to pay costs of $1M.

Now a new law has been enacted in California  that prohibits photographers from shooting pics of children without their parents permission. It's mainly aimed at the children of celebrities as swarms of snappers were hanging around school gates to get pics of celebs arriving to pick up their kids. Will such laws spread here?
Sadly gone are the days when the Shuttle and the late gentleman photographer Dave Morgan would be stopped by Tom Cruise , then living in Sydney with Kidman, who would politely ask us if we could leave him alone for a few days. Naturally being very well mannered, we obliged . Once we were rewarded with an invitation to join Tom for lunch and at a game of pool in the local pub.
Meanwhile former high flyer and now bust agency boss Darryn Lyons was last scene riding in a polo event at the Warwick Farm Polo two weeks ago. Rumours that he is reluctant to return to the UK because of the Leveson Inquiry are of course, malicious.

Meow Mix :" Vagina Like a Force Field"

World War 3 has broken out between 2 of Sydney's leading ladies of the media.
 In one corner is perennial TV star Kerri-Anne Kennerley and squaring up to KAK is News Ltd columnist Annette Sharp (right)  in the Daily Telegraph.                 

In a piece titled "IT'S a terrible thing to grow old in television '  Sharp has hauled Kennerley over the coals for calling her "anti-woman' in an interview in the coming August edition of the Australian Women's Weekly.  
Sharp, who was once challenged to a bike ride around Sydney by Russell Crowe had already fired a few shots at Kerri-Anne who will be 60 this year in this article about the Logie Awards : 50-somethings used the Logies to remind TV their assets are bountiful. She implies Kennerley had to "move heaven and earth " to score a ticket to the gala TV awards now that she is "out of contract".

Kerri-Anne was dropped from her morning TV show in 2011 after decades at the Nine Network, ironically where Sharp was once in charge of publicity. In 2003 at a gala party at the Nine studios to celebrate 70 years of publishing the Women's Weekly, Kerri-Anne was seated at the table ( a guide to your status at the network)  next to Nine supremo  Kerry Packer .
 

Kerri-Anne & John at the Pol Roger Champagne dinner.

Since Nine dropped her chat show Kerri-Anne has been signed by Kerry Stoke's Seven Network and performed on Dancing With The Stars last year and it's rumoured she may front an interview programme for Seven although Sharp infers that project may not be as solid as Kennerely believes.

Whatever the outcome of this spat, Kerri-Anne is still a popular party-goer and fixture on the social circuit. She attended Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby premier last week and earlier was at an exclusive dinner at Chiswick Gardens for Pol Roger champagne as our snaps show. It's not like Kerri-Anne is short of money either or needs the work. 
Toy train lover hubby John Kennerely was one of the brains behind Britain's Littlewoods Pools and made a fortune. The pair have recently moved from a palatial Rose Bay home to trendy Woolahra where John has extended his train set (he has hand built a reproduction of Shrewsbury Station) into the garden.
 At Chiswick Kerri-Anne showed off a new pair of stilettos she had picked up in Rodeo Drive where the pair had just holidayed for a fortnight. This looks like a bunfight that may run and run.
                                                                  

Russell Crowe & Annette Sharp

Perhaps the last word should go to top New York publicist Kelly Cutrone who had a spat in 2011 with Sharp's Daily Telegraph colleague Ros Reines who had a few digs at Cutrone's client Rupert Noffs who is cutting a swathe through New York and the Hamptons under Kelly's well connected wing.  Reines savaged Noffs calling him a social climber and for good measure called Cutrone's Sydney launch of Noff's Gideon Shoe store "tragic" and accused Kelly of "creating mayhem" during her Sydney visit.
Cutrone responded in this Sydney Morning Herald profile of Noffs this March :
"What do I care? Oh, wow, I care if some gossip columnist in f...ing Sydney, Australia hates me? It's like a mosquito in my world." Ouch !. What fun. Just in time to brighten up these foggy Autumn days.

Winning lines : Annette Sharp : "One should not brandish a vagina like a force field and expect a torrent of fawning, hyper-ventilating flattery in return." Superb !

Tina's Perfect Storm & My Role In Mommie Dearest

You have to feel sympathy for Tina Aldiss, a publicist at Mango PR who wrote an article for the media website Mumbrella.
Tina was commenting on the current woes at Fairfax Media where up to 1900 workers are to be laid off over the coming years. News Ltd will do likewise. The Shuttle has been quizzing hacks and snappers from both organisations and the fear and loathing is palpable.

Tina reckons when printed newspapers crash and burn her job flogging Arnott's biscuits and McDonald's Chicken burghers will be that much easier as she harnesses net power.
In the mean time the comments section has gone ballistic attacking poor Tina with most thinking her timing is a bit off.

The lines between reporting and publicising were blurred well over two decades ago and it's gotten worse. The Shuttle has worked both sides of the fence and gave up trying to think in terms of ethics years ago and decided to concentrate on survival.

Our only gripe is the attitude of Australian PRs and publicists ( Sydney ones are the worse.. Melbourne publicists are far better mannered). Many come across as far grander that the product they are flogging yet are really quite ignorant when it comes to inventive publicity.

Charlotte Dawson, Sarah Murdoch & Alex Perry at the WALL.

Hence the rise of the tiresome photographic/publicity board that pops up at every event from a blockbuster movie premiere to a minor beauty product launch.
And the press section will be crammed with paparazzi with sometime half a dozen working (unpaid and only on commission) for one agency who reckon the scatter gun approach will get sales. Amass hundreds of snaps of the same celebrity in varying poses and a handful might sell.

Regular Shuttle contributor Bill Ranken (right) who knows just about everyone in town and probably dated their grandmothers (at 81 years of age) discovered this recently at a charity bash for a children's hospital.
He was snubbed at the entrance by a bright-eyed 20 something publicity operative who scolded him for missing the 'wall' and scoffed at the idea guests could be photographed whilst sitting at tables. The fact the guests were the same people we all see day after day, week after week in this town was incidental.

And the problem is not really that Tina Aldriss is just stating the obvious, newspapers and magazines are responsible for blurring the lines and you can't blame a publicist for taking advantage of the fact.

Rupert Murdoch's Daily Telegraph has long been criticized for it's Sydney Confidential pages which resemble at times, a series of press releases full of inane information. It's significant that the former top Packer PR and journalist Annette Sharp has now been given her own Saturday edition spread and is delving into the lives of anyone who isn't Lady GaGa or Beyonce in an obvious move to challenge er rivals-not that it should be too hard.
As for the Shuttle, we have been shameless at times and never let accuracy get in the way of a good publicity campaign.

Years ago we travelled to New York with the UK Daily Express' William Hickey correspondent, the late Timothy Swallow and set up shop in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria in order to interview US celebrities for a series of show biz style books commissioned by a top promoter.

One day we went to a Times Square cinema to see the just released Mommie Dearest with Faye Dunnaway starring as Joan Crawford. Hollywood had boycotted the film, the star and producers deeming it a treacherous portrayal of a Hollywood legend.
 We loved it.

At one point in the movie Joan beats her children late one night after discovering their wardrobes contained wire coat hangers (apparently Joan had a thing about wire hangers), screaming "NO WIRE COAT HANGERS !!!"

 That night over cocktails at Studio 54 (working our way through our generous expenses allowance) we concocted a story that groups of fans were attending theatres and when the scene appeared, would wave wire coat hangers in the air. The Daily Express duly ran the tale which was picked up and swept the world's newspapers and TV news broadcasts.

Life imitated art and soon people were appearing at cinemas and doing just that. Not only had we created a movement (and a Wikipedia page), we had given the ailing flick a million dollar boost in free advertising by propelling it into the mass media.
All for the cost of a few drinks !

From Flab to Fab ! : Russell Crowe

Last night at LA's Soho House

RUSSELL CROWE ISN'T THE FIRST Hollywood star to have a battle with the bulge.

But look at the snap of our Russ from two years ago and our exclusive picture from last night's AACTA Awards in Los Angeles

2010

Crowe was topping the scale at a hefty 102 kilos but has shed 25K in a two year concerted workout regime and we have the secrets.

We and all Russell's Twitter followers. Russ is an active twitterer and last week he detailed his exercise regime which is pretty simple :

1hour 20 minutes walking, 30 minutes of Yoga followed by a 15 minute weights workout.

For the last two years Crowe has made his home in Sydney, partly to spend as much time with his 2 boys Charlie  and Tennyson  and partly to get himself in top shape.
Last year he splashed out $10M on a mansion in Rose Bay with spectacular views of the harbour and a state of the art security system so Russ could do simple things like kick a footie ball around the garden with the kids, away from prying eyes.

Russ & Danielle in 2009

Meryl Streep & Nicole Kidman at the AACTAs

He still has the Finger Wharf duplex penthouse in Woolloomoolo (on the market for $6M) but it was becoming increasingly difficult for Russell and wife Danielle Spencer to enjoy those family type events like relaxing in the back yard.

He was also a regular sight walking around the Loo and the Botanic Gardens, sometime wheeling the kids in their strollers.
To nip paparazzi in the bud he kept a wardrobe of 20 similar track suits so one day's photo looked like the rest. These days he still walks around Rose Bay and Bellveue Hill  (with it's punishing hills) but has a minder following in a car.

 Crowe was attending the AACTA Awards (that have replaced the Australian Film Institute Awards ) hosted by Australian Of The Year Geoffrey Rush, presented at a party at Soho House along with Guy Pearce, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep who picked up a gong for her portrayal as Margaret Thatcher.

Om Tuesday the local AACTAS will be presented at the Sydney Opera House with Cate Blanchett hosting the gala.
In 2009 Crowe challenged the Shuttle's favourite show-biz editor Annette Sharp from Sydney Confidential in the Daily Telegraph to a bike ride around Sydney:

Putting the Gossips Under The Spotlight

Annette Sharp goes into battle with Ros Reines

It was an opportunity not to be missed : the chance to see the Australian reigning queens of gossip in action at the Secret Woman's Business lunch.
Veteran of British and Australian publications Ros Reines who writes for the Sunday Telegraph, and Annette Sharp, former TV network publicist who edits the Sydney Confidential pages in the Daily Telegraph were the guests at the ritzy Quay Restaurant.

Around a hundred ladies gathered to watch the three being questioned by Woman's Weekly editor-in-chief Deborah Thomas followed by questions from the audience.

actresses Paula Duncan & Judy Nunn

One particular table was notable for containing a number of ladies who had been subjects of the trio's tales including top publicists Brooke Tabberer and Deeta Colvin and society figures  Glen Marie Frost, Skye Leckie and Victoria Morish. Safety in numbers ?.

Ros Reines told us of some her legendary feuds that so far have included tiffs with society hairdresser Joh Bailey, Australia's Got Talent judge Kyle Sandilands and top New York publicist Kelly Cutrone and one that hit the front pages-a stand-up dressing down from James Packer at a Nine network season launch at Garden Island. The Shuttle was there on the night and it was the talk of the town : James Packer attacked Reines for writing about his personal life- an odd decision from a man whose wealth was built on publications exposing the lives other people and one that completely over shadowed the reason for the night.

Annette Sharp gave us all the details of the bicycle ride she was challenged to by Russell Crowe after she had written a story about his burgeoning weight. The subsequent story and film of the two cycling through Sydney streets went viral around the world. One of her top scoops was the news that James Packer had joined the Church of Scientology.

The occasion was voted a success by the largely civilian audience who all hoped it may become an annual event. It was the brainchild of actress Paula Duncan and in aid of the for the Royal Hospital For Women Foundation.

we come to Rupert Murdoch's aid but who will help Sacha ?

Rupert Murdoch's top selling Australian tabloid, the Daily Telegraph  has called upon the services of  the Social Shuttle to supply them with a raunchy set of snaps of Sharon Sargeant, fiancee of the world's most famous gumshoe Frank Monte. Sargeant was snapped by our junior paparazzi, partying at Lotus in Kings Cross after last week's Lady Ga Ga concert.

Sargeant says she was celebrating the fantastic concert with a few gal pals over several bottles of Veuve Clicquot and later had a slight wardrobe malfunction as she tried to negotiate the back seat of the limo thoughtfully provide by her future hubby who was in San Francisco on a business trip.

 The same issue also carries the tale of singer George Michael  relaxing on a cruiser in Pittwater for the past few days .He has extended his stay in Sydney for several weeks as a lazy Indian summer takes hold. George has been enjoying himself on the Oxford Street gay strip that has proved gold for the singer who has been exhilarated with the fantastic reception he has received at his Oz concerts. Michael has discovered the treasures of the Golden Mile in the form of several handsome muscled dudes who have taken his fancy.

Tip to the Telegraph: George has now taken an apartment in the luxurious Icon building in Potts Point , the temporary digs much favoured by visiting movie stars while shooting at Fox Studios. And the Social Shuttle has all the details for the luxury holiday George has planned early next month when several chaps and a bunch of friends will be treated to a no expenses spared fortnight in the South Pacific. Give us a bell. Before Hello snaps up the rights.

Midnight shifter Carson Kresley

PS; you may also want to call us about Queer Eye's Carlson Kresley who has been in town for a week, unnoticed and was celebrating a re-match with a his handsome Aussie hunk last night at the Midnight Shift !

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A curious tale in the Sydney Star Observer, the gay and lesbian publication that says a group has been formed with the specific purpose of suing the makers of Bruno- Sacha Baron Cohen and his co-producers for $80M, the entire Australian takings for the flick.

Sacha Baron Cohen at the Sydney premiere of Bruno

Musician Michael J. Lloyd has formed the LGBT Foundation to take on Cohen as he claims Bruno was "purely offensive and ludicrous. It encourages a discriminatory society", as Lloyd told the Observer.

 The group's website has listed a lawyer from the Nicholas Family Lawyers as a partner in the venture along with well known gay identity Brett Hayhoe although apparently  Hayhoe seems unsure of the plans to to drag Cohen and Bruno's producers into the Supreme Court.

"the nation's worst journalists"

"angriest parking warden ever"

         Now the infamous British blogger Madame Arcati has compiled  "Madame Arcati's 10 most stupid journalists of 2009 " we decided it was time to visit that strange website "Australia's Worst Journalist' to find the current state of play.

      Try as we might as have others, we still cannot uncover the author of this damning compilation of noted hacks but the list remains the same-just the pecking order is different.

       Paul Barry (right) who featured at No 1 a month ago with his top selling biography of billionaire James Packer has been knocked of his perch by the Human Headline Derryn Hinch who is labelled a " RECIDIVIST CRIMINAL previously incarcerated and highly likely again ..FAILURE...". While it's true Hinch did a short stint for naming a convicted sex offender in defiance of a judge's order he's hardly a 'criminal'. And is it fair to call Derryn a failure ?. He's never been out of work since he arrived from New Zealand over 30 years ago although he has been on the merry-go-round that most journos usually find themselves on during their career.      

          Hinch always bounces back even when he outraged half the country by claiming the King of Television Graham Kennedy had died of AIDs-shocking a million housewives who until then believed that Gra Gra had just never met the right woman. Rob Astbury, once Melbourne's top sports broadcaster put that myth to rest when he penned the bestseller  'King  & I about his long love affair with Kennedy. Hinch had the good manners to apologise publicly. Although one might re-call when he fronted a tabloid TV show with his ''Shame File" sledging  the odd dole-bludger and such, comedian Ben Elton dubbed him "like the angriest parking warden I've ever seen".

     At the site you can now vote on your choice of evil reptile and it should be noted that one of tSS's favourite scribes Annette Sharp of the Daily Telegraph has only garnered a pathetic 1.8% of votes.  Poor old  Ben Butler of Sharp's Melbourne stablemate the Herald Sun has scored a whopping 67% of votes. Ben's upset someone badly.

  

We're a little troubled though with the site's description of one scandal merchant -  "Numerous factual errors. Unable to transcribe accurately factual matters or deliberately engages in falsehoods to degrade his subject, and heighten his vitriole". We agree. Said hack is as  vitriolic in print as in public ( a sad trait of many Aussie hacks) and rarely checks his facts but can be saucy at times.

       And Annette Sharp who apparently ' fabricates articles, never names so-called "sources and breaches almost every code of journalistic ethics".Errr..we always thought that keeping one's sources confidential was part of the code of a journalist's ethics.

       As to Madame Arcarti's list, she is possibly correct in most of her choices including the chubby Perez Hilton who is yet to break an original story. tSS once had to share a lift at the Sydney Hilton with Perez who wore an ill-fitting bathrobe and had decidely pungent BO.

      But Arcarti has the temerity to attack an Australian icon, who after Mother Mary McKillop is to be named as Australia's first saint by Pope Benedict in March next year, is surely next in line-Germaine Greer. Send the evil Madame hate mail immediately !

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"A week is a long time"

..in politics" famously said the former British PM Harold Wilson but it could well apply to show-biz.

What with Tiger Wood's fall from grace just a week after his Australian visit with his rampant libido on show for all the world to see (why hasn't ESSO signed him up for a "put a Tiger in your tank" advert campaign ?) and  Home & Away's Todd Lasance's career stalled just as Hollywood beckoned.

      

Now 2GB radio host Chris Smith, pictured right just over a month ago happily posing here with his wife Abbey and publicist Sally Burleigh for tSS at a Variety Club bash, has had his career put on hold indefinitely after it's alleged he 'groped' 3 girls at the radio station's Christmas party. Chris says he is bi-polar and has a drinking problem and cannot re-call the event. Chris also says Abbey and the kids have temporarily left the marital home

Meanwhile Sally Burleigh pictured left with ex-husband actor Steve Bisley in happier days ,was in the Downing Street Centre courts today telling of how Steve allegedly pushed her head against a wall leaving a dent and that "all hell broke loose"during a domestic at their Balmain home. Bisley has been charged with assaulting Sally, which he vigorously denies. Currently starring in Sea Patrol, Bisley also appeared in the famous Mad Max films

the shame file..

Mystery still surrounds the ownership of the website Australia's Worst Journalist.

Here's the site's current top ten : Broadcaster Derryn Hinch (right) has been knocked off the top spot by Jamie Packer biographer Paul Barry.

• Paul Barry: A FAILURE YET AGAIN
• Adam Shand and Nick Coe : A Current Affair
• Kate McClymont : Sydney Morning Herald
• Jill Singer : Herald Sun
• Nick Tabakoff : The Daily Telegraph
• Ben Butler : Herald Sun
• Richard Hinds : Sydney Morning Herald
• Annette Sharp : The Daily Telegraph
• Andrew Hornery : Sydney Morning Herald

Annette Sharp cycling with actor Russell Crowe

The fact they have all written derogatory stories about soon-to-be married Dr Geoffrey Edelsten is entirely co-incidental.
Some of our best friends are journalists. Some of our best friends are these journalists. What a hoot.