Gossip finally silenced

Much chatter around town as the Sunday Telegraph's legendary  Ros Reines is finally laid off after the News Corp axe falls on a number of  employees (it's always Danger Time when Rupert Murdoch hits town). One thing is for sure, you could not ignore Reines who became feared for her exposes and sharp words but loved by readers. Her byline "The Columnist They Can't Silence"was well deserved

Packer-just before he spotted Reines at his party

 It's odd but for a country that claims not to take society and their shenanigans seriously, it's also a country that seems particularly sensitive to even the slightest criticism

Timothy Swallow

Whispers having worked in both London and New York where the old adage- as long as they spell the name correctly- still holds sway has found Sydneysiders rather thin skinned. So of course, we are terribly nice to everyone.

Whispers first encountered Ros Reines many moons ago when she wrote for a magazine called London Index where a great friend, the late Timothy Swallow also worked. Swallow went on to work for the Daily Mail gossip king Nigel Demspter and then wrote the famous William Hickey column on the Daily Express. Sadly Timothy died during a trip to Australia but he always paid tribute to Reines superiority in being able to present a paragraph that was both amusing and wicked at the same time.

Kelly Cutrone in Sydney

# Timothy Swallow & Whispers put the then languishing film Mommie Dearest on the map during a trip to New York. A tale for another time. 

Ros appeared in these pages when we reported on her tussle with New York PR Kelly Cutrone. At the time a well known New York columnist lamented that in another era Reines & Cutrone would have got on a like a house on fire, so similar were their temperaments. 
Whispers was also with Reines at the famous Nine Network TV season launch on Garden Island when media king James Packer took her aside and tore strips off her over some alleged sleight. It became the only news that weekend as new TV offerings were forgotten. In fact, we also appeared in the same Australian Story about gossip writers along with writer Simon Kent (now on the Toronto Sun in Canada). No doubt Ros Reines with a wealth of local social knowledge will surface in a new capacity and publication but it's an indication of the rapidly changing world of media.

Wedding Bells

While the world's paparazzi have gathered in Venice to catch a glimpse of Hollywood heart throb George Clooney's wedding to Amal Alamuddin, New York ex-pat Aussies are heading to Central Park today for the nuptials of ex-Sydneysider Rupert Noffs and his partner Matty Bennett.

Noffs has been living in New York for four years and has been overseeing the set-up of his burgeoning shoe empire Gideon Shoes, favoured by young Hollywood types like Justin Timberlake, and which runs as a charity to aid young Aussies to enter the fashion world. Profits are ploughed back into the Street University in Sydney's western suburbs run by his older brother Mathew. He is also the grandson of the late reverend Ted Noffs the much loved founder of the Kings Cross' Wayside Chapel.

Rupert Noffs with partner Matty Bennett & mum Mandy Noffs in the middle

Ted Noffs

Wedding gossip :
# There is much talk amongst Hollywood insiders that Clooney's eventual plan is a run for Governor of California with many remarking that wife Amal 
Alamuddin has the charisma of Jackie Kennedy. 
 # One guest at the Noffs' nuptials will be top US publicist and reality TV star Kelly Cutrone who has guided Gideon Shoes to US success. Cutrone had a famous run-in with Sydney gossip scribe Ros Reines as we detailed in 2011.
# Rupert's grandmother was the flamboyant turban-wearing Double Bay identity Lois Rodie who owned the popular Coral Lea boutique.                                                

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 !

New York, New York-If I can can make it there...

   Daniel Garofali, Matty Bee, Joan Rivers, Rupert Noffs

Twitter & Face book-it's like having a neighbour permanently gossiping over the back fence. No-one escapes your gaze.
The Shuttle has been keeping up with former Sydneysider Rupert Noffs who it appears, has settled nicely into an apartment in Manhattan to the extent of mastering  that all important staple-chicken soup!. Helping out is ace New York publicist Kelly Cutrone whose contacts are next to none in the USA.

Glee star Kevin McHale in his Gideon Shoes NYTimes

According to our new York spy Rupert's also been doing the rounds: fashion week, top night spots, Halloween parties, meeting Beyonce and Joan Rivers, fighting with Lindsay Lohan over a taxi -as one does- but more importantly, promoting Gideon Shoes, the business set up by he and his brother Matt Noffs.

For those not yet in the know, Rupert and Matt are the grandsons of Sydney saint the late Rev Ted Noffs who started the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross in 1964.

Matt and Rupert have parlayed that charity spirit into Gideon Shoes, the fantastic and stylish shoes that are made ethically in Australia. That means no slave labour in the Third World (or here!).

Respected US writer Naomi Klein tried to tell the world decades ago that ethical manufacturing was the way to go. Local shareholder activist and journalist Stephen Mayne has been saying likewise.

Rupert and Matt started Gideon Shoes in order to fund The Street University, the kid's retreat in Western Sydney set up by Matt and wife Naomi. 11.000 kids a year are benefiting from the Street University and in 2009 they were given the seal of approval with a visit from then PM Kevin Rudd and HRH Prince William.

Now they are tackling the USA and it really is just a matter of time before the penny drops with US fashion editors-their shoes are there to stay. Already the New York Times has featured them with Glee star Kevin McHale wearing a pair. It's surely just a matter of time before Anna Wintour is spotted striding up Fifth Avenue in her Gideons.

## If top New York publicist Kelly Cutrone is on your case, it's pretty well taken for granted that success is imminent. Here is a clip from Dr Phil shown last month on Australian TV where Kelly reads the riot act to a couple of guests.

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.

PR Bitch-Fest Spans Two Continents!

It's been the talk of the town in coffee bars and at smart shindigs over flutes of champers and canapes. Sydney-siders excitedly discussing the slap-down given by Murdoch newspaper columnist Ros Reines of the Sunday Telegraph to local charity boy Rupert Noffs and New York celebrity fashion publicist, author and reality TV star Kelly Cutrone.

 Reines called Cutrone's recent visit to Sydney for Noffs and a Gideon shoe store opening 'tragic' and accused her of 'creating mayhem' and infuriating organisers of the $2000-a-head Prix de Marie Claire Awards when Cutrone and Noffs failed to appear after being given tickets to the event. The full piece can be read here.

Not that the Awards themselves got off easy. The host of that event and editor of Marie Claire, Jackie Frank got a good dressing down as well.

Trying to get anyone to go on the record about the spat though has been a Herculean task. No-one locally seems to want to  upset Ms Reines and in the Big Apple it seems Ms Cutrone's name carries considerable weight as well.

Michael Musto, top columnist on New York's Village Voice responded with an enigmatic : "I don't really know what to say about Kelly. Perhaps you should talk to Patrick (McMullan), he knows her well".

Patrick McMullan, New York's top society snapper, a contributing editor on Vanity Fair and host of a TV fashion show  was oddly silent and didn't return the Shuttle's call. Messages left for McMullan usually bring a response at an ungodly hour when he returns from his nightly rounds of New York's top parties and he's always up for a good natter about the latest happenings.

Reines, whose twitter moniker is 'tabloid terror' and who described herself as 'ruthless' in a Spectator piece continued : "On Twitter last week, Cutrone asked whether I was OK or just "vicious". When it comes to being vicious, it takes one to know one."

Calls to Cutrone's New York People's Revolution public relations firm for a comment were met with "we'll get back to you with a statement eventually". It never came.



Kelly Cutrone at Gideon Shoes. sassisamblog.com

Two other top New York publicists agreed to speak as long as their names weren't used.

One who said he regularly ran into Cutrone socially and at industry events said:



 "Kelly doesn't suffer fools gladly but she can be  forthright at times and has upset some people. But she's so damned good at her job she's readily forgiven. She's had an amazing ride to the top and I really respect her. Reading the piece by Ros Reines though-she should be writing for one of  the New York dailies, they could use her !"

A female publicist who has worked with Cutrone on various projects said :

"there's been quite a bit of chatter about the Ros Reine's piece and everyone thinks it's a bit of a scream. Most people seem to think that if Reines and Kelly met under other circumstances they'd get on like a house on fire, they seem so similar. Gideon's by choosing Kelly to promote their shoes in the US made a wise choice, there is none better at pr"

Rupert Noffs



As for Rupert Noffs he simply sent a diplomatic " Ros is just doing what Ros has to do " reply to our email.

Perhaps the last word should go to a well known Sydney face and a regular attendee of the town's best parties who was at Paddington's swish La Scala restaurant's first year birthday bash last Tuesday evening :

  "oh thank God for Ros. She breathes some sort of life into what at times seems like a completely moribund social scene."

Coming up : Rupert Noffs-charity runs in the family