Robbie Williams revelation-Jason Donovan the Wimp

The ABC TV's Foreign Correspondent on Tuesday night in  a segment titled 'Allo 'Allo 'Allo, delved into the scandal still brewing on the Murdoch newspaper News of The World's hacking of well known figure's mobile phones.

The newspaper's Royal Correspondent and a private investigator served jail terms over the affair back in 2007 but some in the British parliament are agitating for a full judicial enquiry.

The program interviewed former top British policeman Brian Paddick, once the most high profile openly gay policeman in the UK, Max Clifford an agent to the stars and a former Labour government minister all who say their phones were bugged, a highly illegal act.

Most informative was when interviewer Eric Campbell asked actor Jason Donovon as he arrived at a red carpet  premiere if he was concerned about phone hacking- "Mate I’m not here to talk about phone hacking. Come on. It’s a film, I mean, come on” was his reply.  Perhaps the current batch of celebrities who rely on tabloid publicity are fearful of upsetting those who provide the exposure.

More forthcoming was singer Robbie Williams who was asked the same question as he arrived at the BBC.

Robbie Williams told the ABC his mobile phone was hacked into by a tabloid newspaper.

And he said that he wasn't worried about any further hacking as he had not used a mobile phone for two and a half years now "for that very reason".

One odd interview was with a former News Corp boss Kelvin McKenzie once editor of the tabloid The Sun who claims there were no more hacking incidents despite News Corp apparently paying damages to more and more people presumably to avoid matters being heard in a court.



McKenzie

 “Where is the proof? They’ve had six years to look at it." said McKenzie.

Max Clifford who reputedly received a million pounds from the NoTW after threatening to sue  thinks differently.

 'Allo 'Allo 'Allo can be viewed here where you can also read the transcript of the show.

Mick Jagger's Big Dick and Rats !



Jerry & Georgia in Melbourne



Mick Jagger is has a big dick  !.

That's according to Jagger's ex-wife Jerry Hall in response to Keith Richard's claim in his autobiography life- that the Rolling Stone's front man has a "tiny willy".

She didn't quite put it like that to our Shuttle operative in Melbourne today.

"Mick has nothing to complain about, nor would anyone with him be disappointed in the slightest ! " said the 6' Texan.





Jerry was attending a cosmetic launch at Myer along with her gorgeous daughter Georgia Jagger who has inherited the best aspects of her parents. Tall and languid with Micks big sensual lips.

Jerry says she hasn't resorted to plastic surgery-or face designing-but is very into yoga.

"I like to change things from the inside" she said.

On her extended visit to Australia she said: 

 "I love this country. Everything is better here. " (mind you, they all say that). She is a regular visitor having been to these shores 6 times now.

" I think I'll be spending a lot more time here " presumably referring to her current beau, Perth businessman Warwick Hemsley (pictured right).

On Mick :"he's the most wonderful father to our children".

Jerry still lives in Jagger's Surrey house which is divided into 2 sections and where she keeps a menagerie of pets.

On the subject of animals we specifically asked our Melbourne mole  (who chickened out at the last moment)  to remind Jerry of a Shuttle tale that appeared in a UK newspaper a few years ago.

Mick had already collared the Shuttle at a Sydney party and chided your scribe over our claim that the Jagger house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea had a cellar that was a seething pit of huge rats.

As a regular visitor to a friend who lived opposite on  a barge on the Thames, we once spotted one of those horrendously huge foot long rodents that appear at low tide, scuttle across the road and disappear into the Jagger garden and duly reported the fact, as one does, to a Fleet Street tabloid in exchange for a generous financial consideration.



former Jagger householder

Mick remonstrated with your scribe and said Jerry had not only read the tale and believed it but had ordered in the exterminators who fumigated the entire house and grounds whilst the  family retired to a country retreat for the weekend.

On returning the fumigator's report stated no rats had been found, but any number of cockroaches had been destroyed and a dozen tiny mice had bitten the dust.

Apparently Jerry said Mick, had worried for weeks that the deaths of so many insects and mammals may affect her karma !

Amazing isn't it ?. Some old boozy hack can completely upend a celebrity's life no matter how famous they are !

# Jerry has also taken the opportunity to introduce daughter Georgia to some of her Australian cousins. Mick Jagger's mother originally emigrated to the UK from Australia and Jagger, a family man has always maintained contact with the Aussie side of the Jagger family.

Ritzy Restaurant Raided !



partying on the wharf



Much consternation today during a Melbourne Cup lunch at the uber smart Otto's Ristorante on the Cowper Street Wharf in  Wooloomooloo

.
Every restaurant on the wharf strip was packed to the gills with party goers. Inside at the Blue Hotel a   Cup lunch for the Pink Ribbon breast cancer charity was underway.

The Melbourne Cup really is the 'race that stops a nation' as the first Tuesday of November becomes a defacto public holiday. But one girl doing a rousing business on the wharf today was stopped in her tracks by the police.





The leopard print clad lady was a bookmaker-or so the punters thought. She had taken thousands of dollars before the cops appeared at Otto's and demanded she cease doing business or be arrested for illegal gambling along with those placing bets. She was soon returning bets placed while the startled punters were told they would half to walk half a mile to a TAB Betting Shop if they wished to place a bet on the great race.

For a while we thought we had plunged back to the heady days pre-1980 when illegal SP bookies ran the show and operated at your local pub or from the back seat of a car.

In those days the only police involvement was when a senior cop phoned ahead to the bookie to tell him what time a raid would occur. For a tidy donation to his retirement fund of course !

A Gay Farmer & His Dogs

All eyes tonight will be on the ABC TV's Australian Story and The Farmer Wants a Life.

It's about country boy David Graham who came out of the closet so publicly on Big Brother and shocked not only a nation but his own family. It's a heart warming tale not to be missed. David's very conservative father, a Queensland farmer openly embraced his son after the show even though the revelation rocked him to the core.

David who became a regular on the Sydney social scene for a time and found plenty of work as a male model is now back in Queensland working the land and has entered politics in the once conservative National Party which has also accepted him.

You can catch the show for the next 2 weeks on ABC IVIEW.

Dame Edna Shines!

The Victorian racing season is in full swing although somewhat soggy with 2 days of rain now. It peaks with the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday and lasts until Ladies Day the following weekend.

Guests have included ex-Spice Girl Mel B (the Daily Mail in the UK reports Victoria Beckham asked for too much money to appear), Jerry Hall and daughter Georgia Jagger and Kelly Osborne.



Dame Edna at Derby Day



But it's Dame Edna Everage who has stolen the show. Last night at Luminere Club at an after races bash she got stuck into Brynne Gordon , the ex-fitness instructor from Las Vegas who married medical entrepreneur Dr Geoffrey Edelsten.

Brynne is known for her colourful frocks and Edna spotted her in the crowd from the stage :

"What  a gorgeous outfit my dear " said the Dame. " It must be suitable for a special occasion. What a shame it isn't suitable for this one !"

"Who did you come with ?" she continued "that little senior citizen beside you ?" referring to hubby Geoff.

And this is just the beginning!

News Corp Watch



Rupert today !

Possibly the most pleasing thing at last night's gala dinner was the fact Rupert Murdoch has abandoned that dark hair dye and returned his locks to a respectable grey.

The occasion was the News Awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art and a swag of Murdoch children attended : James Prudence, Elisabeth, and Lachlan. Missing was wife Wendi and his 2 youngest daughters.

 Son-in -law Mathew Freud ( married to Elisabeth) was also spotted.

Rupert's all time favourite publication The Australian received a Newspaper of The Year award presented by the great man himself.

News chairman John Hartigan presented his Chairman's Award to the editor of Adelaide's The Advertiser, Mel Mansell, while journalist Anthony Klan won the major prize for his investigation and features on the "waste and mismanagement in the $16.2 billion schools stimulus package".

The Oz says today :" While the BER story was largely ignored by other media outlets, The Australian published more than 200 articles about the program, shifting public opinion and forcing the federal government to launch a $14 million inquiry into the scheme by businessman Brad Orgill."

That inquiry found the whole thing was a major beat-up- possibly a complete waste of the $14M cost but hey-it nearly help deliver the reins of government into the hands of the Coalition and Tony Abbott, something the News Corp media would have desired.

Associate editor Cameron Stewart received the award for the Scoop of the Year for his " expose of counter-terrorism raids by Victorian and Australian Federal Police in Melbourne last year on"

A scoop indeed !

Especially when the tale of the raids was published in The Australian several hours before they actually took place.

Following a Victorian Office of Police Integrity investigation, a  Federal Policeman was charged with misconduct in public office , unauthorised disclosure of information and attempting to mislead the Director of the Office of Police Integrity. Maybe Rupert will pay his legal bill.



Rupert last year !

 You can read more on these in-house awards here where Rupert is quoted saying :

"quality journalism doesn't just happen".

"It takes a company committed to bringing the public the stories that no one else will do - and the talented men and women like you who are willing to do them."

"In contrast to the doom-and-gloomers who are always telling us that our industry is dying, we believe the public is hungry for high-quality news and opinion."

Let's hope this purveyor of quality journalism doesn't come across the website of his top tabloid the Daily Telegraph with it's headline today :

Drunken Cop : jailed 17 years ! 

That's a pretty stiff sentence for being in the grip of the grape, even for a walloper. The sentence the hapless policeman received was in fact, 17 months.

Locking up a Murdoch

Catherine Overington of the Media Diary on Rupert Murdoch's personal favourite publication, The Australian newspaper reports on a  happening today at the Surry Hills News Ltd headquarters :

A rather cute thing just happened in the foyer ...

A dapper young man approached the glass security doors. He was already inside; and wanted to get out.

He didn’t have one of those electronic passes you need, to make the doors open.

He motioned to one of News Ltd’s famously happy and extremely strict security guards, saying: ``I’m sorry, I want to get out. I don’t have a pass.’’

To which the security guard said: ``Well, how did you get in?’’

To which the dapper young man replied: ``I came in with my Dad?’’

It was, of course, James Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch is in town and the word from the Surry Hill's bunker is that fear and loathing are spreading as sackings are expected. There is one rumour sweeping the building that the much feared New York Post editor Col Allan is to return and take the helm.

In fact rumours are sweeping ahead of him wherever he goes. He visited both PM Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Canberra a few days ago over talks about new media laws that are predicted to give free-to-air TV stations much more sport's content. Rupert only owns shares in the cable TV network Foxtel under laws that prevent owners having both newspaper and broadcast coverage in any one city. News Corp publishes the main dailies of every state capital except for the Fairfax's Canberra Times.

One person Murdoch won't be visiting is Bruce Guthrie who has just published his book Man Bites Murdoch about his 40 years in publishing.

Amongst a host of newspapers and magazines Guthrie edited was Murdoch's top Victorian tabloid  the Herald Sun before he had a spectacular fallout with his boss.

2 weeks ago Guthrie was spotted meeting with Julia Gillard in Melbourne. Priming her for her first meeting with Murdoch or a mere co-incidence ?

Also in town and spotted at this week's christening of Sarah & Lachlan Murdoch's baby Aerin Elisabeth Murdoch-Rupert's ex-wife Anna Murdoch Mann and her husband William Mann. Anna attended the christening with her brother Hans Torv, the Gold Coast disc jockey and radio station owner.

Britain's Labour Party Heavy outed as Billich Fan !

We feel sure you will come to the same conclusion.

In this tale in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, the reader's attention is drawn to the painting hanging in the living room of David Milibrand the brother of the UK's new Labour Party leader, Ed Milibrand.

It shows a series of naked ladies a'gamboling and a'frolicking with gay abandon.

The work is by New Zealand raised painter Michelle Dovey. Did she perchance slip over to Sydney and Melbourne for inspiration from the Croatian born Charles Billich ?

One should study our example here of a Billich masterpiece for similarities.



Charles meets a Pope.



Perhaps the last word should go to David Lee of the art newspaper The Jackdaw who is quoted in the article : ‘There is no way I would have that on my wall. It is a bit smutty and sleazy and looks like it ought to be in a pole-dancing club rather than the home of the British Foreign Secretary.’

We've heard similar unkind words about Billich works.

Designing Woman

"When in doubt, redesign the client ".
That's a quote from the excellent architectural writer on the Sydney Morning Herald, Elizabeth Farrelly one of our most ardent critics of the property developers who have blighted the Sydney skyline with ghastly concrete and glass monstrosities.

The term came to mind at last night's party at Charles Billich's Art Bar for Bondi fashion designer Tahli Jatali.



another Billich art work !

The Shuttle was there by mistake.

Collared earlier in the day by Art Bar manager Karim Gharbi ( who calls his PR company KGB), your hard of hearing scribe thought he was inviting us to a bash for Tupou .

That's His Royal Majesty George Tapou V, the King of Tonga. He is, after all a guest in town of  Charles and wife Christa Billich. Charles is painting his official portrait.

We knew we were at the wrong party when a reams of 20 somethings piled in.



Dr Wayne Young & friend

Amongst them was the Harley Street trained Dr Wayne M.Young , who runs the FreshFace Clinic.

 Dr Young as a precocious 6 year old child in South Africa often informed his mother when she frowned at him, that her  wrinkles could become permanent if the wind changed. He knew he had found his calling.

He scolded the Shuttle when we told him his fame as a plastic surgeon of note had spread far and wide. Channelling Dame Edna Everage and her 'face furniture' gorgeous sets of spectacles, he sniffed -" I am a face designer !".

We noticed another guest when she sailed by tailed by a film crew.



J'anus McG

 Her name, rather intrigingly was J'anus McG. J'anus was wearing a snappy short dress and at the back there appeared to be a sales tag hanging from the zipper. Upon informing her young J'anus responded :

" Oh I'm a celebrity and designers lend me clothes to wear at parties. I have to show the designer's tag so people know who made the creation".

The clever name of the designer of this particular frock appeared to be: $299 (including sales tax). Upon further enquiry J'anus tells us her current show biz career involves  "holding up signs on Deal or No Deal".

Justin Melvey

There was one 'major' celebrity-the very handsome Justin Melvey, ex Home & Away and Bold & The Beautiful star. Justin is staring on a new cable TV series on Foxtel titled The Phone and says he has a Hollywood film role lined up in 2011 opposite Gwyneth Paltrow.



the KGB prunes

 Finally it was time for Tahli Jatali to arrive. She had been circling the block for 30 minutes with a team of models in 3 Lamborghini's. Tahli wanted to ensure there was a maximum of guests to greet her spectacular arrival.

Manager Karim of the KGB helpfully herded a few dozen guests towards the front door to give the appearance of a crowd and then attacked the over-hanging foliage of a tree outside in order that the Lamborghini's could easily slip beneath.

Tahli alighted, rather clumsily from the low slung vehicles and lined up with a few models in bikinis all wearing very dark sunglasses.

We took our leave as 2 feverish paparazzi repeatedly yelled "looking this way please'..all eyes this way !"

                                                                ***************

On the subject of  'face designing' we would like to present a series of snaps from our sister site,

 New York Social Diary run be the excellent veteran journalist David Patrick Columbia.

What strikes us about these gorgeous ladies who lunch in the Big Apple is the marvellous freshness of face and their natural beauty, No need for face designing with this lot !

Animal Tips For Oprah Winfrey

One guest at last Friday night's Mother Of All Balls at Royal Randwick Racecourse was the star of Bondi Vet, Dr Chris Brown.

6'3" Brown who has movie star looks would neither confirm or deny when the Shuttle asked him if he would be appearing on Oprah Winfrey's Sydney Opera House show in December when she broadcasts to the world with 3000 guests watching on.

"You hear all sorts of stories" said Brown. " Put it this way-my agent has asked me to keep certain dates free in December that co-incide with Oprah's visit !"

The Mother of All Balls

Now in it's 8th year, actress Rachel Ward's Mother of All Balls went of without a hitch on Friday night at Royal Randwick Racecourse in the Oaks Lawn Marquee.



Bryan Brown & Rachel Ward



With A Rock The Kasbah theme it was an exotic extravaganza of Bedouin chic on a warm evening reminiscent (if you shut your eyes) of  Casablanca meets Marrakesh in a seductive swirl of colour and light with Camel racing, dancing, a Moroccan Souk for Fez hats and jewellery and a sumptuous dinner by Luke Mangan, inspired by the fragrant and tantalising spices of Morocco.



Matilda Brown



And most important, one of the Shuttle's favourite sponsors, Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne which is now the largest selling non vintage bubbles on the planet. Sadly the great man himself Nic Feuillatte failed to appear as he is ailing at his Sydney home where he is now permanently based having sold his Tangier palace.

In the past any major movie personality in town has attended Rachel's baby including Hugh Jackman , Russell Crowe and Quentin Tarrantino.

This year we had Kerri-Anne Kennerley and cricket great Shane Watson and girlfriend Lee Furlong ( see our pic from the OHLALA Mag).








Lee Furlong & Shane Watson







exclusive: Why the DJs Sexual Harrassment Case Crumbled



Frank Monte on 'Larry King Live'

 When the Social Shuttle revealed  that noted private eye Frank Monte ( "the best in the business" according to US chat show host Larry King on CNN) had been hired to look into the background of the former David Jone's publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk, the news set of a firestorm of speculation.



Kristy Fraser-Kirk



In the now famous case , Fraser-Kirk claimed she had been sexually harassed by David Jone's CEO Mark McInnes and she issued a lawsuit against him claiming $37M in damages.

Last Tuesday she settled with the accused and the DJ's department store chain for $850,000 after negotiations in the Human Rights Commission. Both sides claimed victory while McInnes denied any wrongdoing.

The Shuttle attended a small gathering on Friday with a bunch of Rumpole types and the subject was hot gossip.

The Daily Telegraph claimed that Fraser-Kirk had been offered a settlement of $8M very early on when the lawsuit was announced.

Our legal eagles claimed a correction-the actual sum offered was $9M. So why did Fraser-Kirk  settle so quickly for such a small sum by comparison ?

As the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday, a mysterious email had been in circulation (and was seen by tSS) that purported to show just who Frank Monte's client was. Both David Jones and Mark McInnes had denied hiring the gumshoe.

Enter McInnes best friend and gym partner, the general manager of a travel agency that arranged most of DJ's corporate travel. McInnes is godfather to that travel agent's son.

A spokesman for McInne's denied the ex DJ's boss had any knowledge of the travel agent's actions in hiring Monte. Perhaps he was just being a very helpful friend.

Frank Monte & Sharon Sargeant

But the talk over whisky sours at our lawyers bash was of the rapid deterioration in the Fraser-Kirk's case from the day it was announced Monte had entered the frame.

One of our lawyers claimed he had heard talk about evidence uncovered  that would not go down well in a court and which would prove highly embarrassing.

It was certainly clear that after Monte had done a round of media interviews, the case for David Jones & McInnes strengthened.

"Give us more details" we asked but our source wasn't revealing much.

His enigmatic reply :
"David Jones really should be couriering a gold plated AMEX store credit card to Frank Monte right now "

              
 On the subject of the World's Most Famous Private Eye  ( as the New York Times called him) we have now encountered Monte out on the town at two swish balls with his ex-fiancee Sharon Sargeant on his arm.

The pair were at the Black & White Ball  2 weeks ago where Sargeant caused a stir in her striking red sequin outfit ( the theme was black and white!).

On Friday night they attended actress Rachel Ward's  Mother Of All Ball's "Rock The Kasbah". Whilst Monte easily slipped into the role ( he originally comes from Alexandria) Ms Sargeant channeled Hollywood in a striking silver body hugging frock that drew a wide-eyed "Mama Mia!" from Ward's husband, actor Bryan Brown.

Has Sharon moved back into Monte's Potts Point luxury Ikon apartment ?. She wasn't saying. But she has sold her Red Velvet escort agency to an American corporation. The couple had split when news of her ownership of the agency was revealed by a tabloid.

And future plans ? " I'm going to be launching my own line of family friendly adult products" says Sargeant. The mind boggles.

Molly Vs Melly : Pensioners Come Out Swinging

As we reported 2 days ago British writer and all round colourful character Molly Parkin is to release her latest book, an autobiography titled Welcome To Mollywood.

But all hell has broken loose via the pages of the UK Daily Mail over her revelation that she was invited to slip into bed by a former lover as he lay dying, George Melly, author, singer and one of the world's great jazz musicians,

Melly's widow Diana Melly who is 73 has taken great umbrage to Molly's (78) claim in her new tome.

 George Melly died in 2007 from cancer at age 80. He had refused all treatment and his last days were filmed for a BBC documentary .

By co-incidence, just last week the Social Shuttle picked up a copy of Melly's last book Slowing Down in the local St Vincent De Paul op shop in a sale to aid a new charity in honour of our first Saint, Mother Mary McKillop.

It's a rollicking read as Melly tells all about his love affairs. We haven't yet got to the pages that describe his fling with Molly Parkin or his claim that he screwed a British male member of Parliament when both were youngsters at the snooty Stowe School. George described the MP in a British tabloid as a "dud f*ck".

Diana Melly is much aggrieved but her attack on Molly Parkin really makes Welcome To Mollywood all that much more enticing. Order a copy now at Beautiful Books.

Was Heath Ledger Murdered ?

A startling claim has been made that Aussie actor Heath Ledger who died in 2008 was murderd by a mysterious group called the Star Whackers who are knocking off Hollywood celebrities.

Actor Randy Quaid who was released on bail in Vancouver, Canada today along with his wife Evi says the Star Whackers assassinated Ledger, David Carradine, who was found hanging in a Bangkok hotel room last year and brother of Sean Penn, Chris Penn who officially died from heart disease in 2006.



Randy & Evi- the Star Whackers are after them !



Plus 6 others are known to Quaid to have been murdered by the group.

Randy and Evi were under arrest in Vancouver on an immigration violation but have now applied for asylum in Canada after claiming the Star Whackers are hot on their trail.

But who are the other Hollywood Six, murdered by this shadowy group ? For more go here.

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A Royal Visit !

The King & Charles Billich

 Visiting foreign potentates are rare in the Emerald City but this week  George TupouV, the current King of Tonga returned for further sittings for an official portrait being produced by controversial Sydney based artist Charles Billich.

Charles and wife Christa Billich lent their Rock's gallery for a reception for the King hosted by the Tongan Honorary  Consul Generals Bill Waterhouse and his daughter Louise Raedler-Waterhouse. Bill and Lousie were both at young bookmaker Tom Warehouse's website launch last week and said they were looking forward to George Tupou V's visit.

Tongan born Lorna Tonga sang the national anthems of both countries whilst a Croatian born cellist entertained guests ( Charles , born in Croatia once fought in the Croatian Underground).

His Majesty's empire consists of about 169 islands spread over about 800 kilometres with a population of 102,000 (2009). When the King visits his subjects, he travels in a London taxi although he has an ancient Austin Princess for more formal occasions. He once owned Tonga's electricity supply (the source of the Royal Family's wealth) which he generously sold to the nation some time ago for $20M.



The Tongan Royal Palace



His financial adviser is the  Saudi arms dealer Adnan Kashoggi. The King once contemplated setting up Tonga as a repository for tax exile corporations but was persuaded it wouldn't go down too well with former rulers Great Britain, a source for foreign aid to the perpetually struggling empire of the King.




A  Billich work of art

 

The Social Shuttle's Bill Ranken, a rural expert was once invited to Tonga by George V's mother Queen Salote to advise on her flock of royal sheep.

 He found all 50 of them in a pen at the back door of the Royal Palace, a rambling colonial style bungalow.

Quite how His Majesty finally settled on Billich as the chosen artist for his official portrait is steeped in mystery. Billich is hugely successful but critics sneer at his work claiming it is akin to commercial art.

The King said on ABC television about Charles : ""Well the thing is a lot of artists are actually better than what they think they are,"

"Donatello for example was apprenticed as a plasterer, Michelangelo thought he was a sculptor. Charles Billich - I like his drawings better than his paintings."

Hopefully his choice of Billich was for his love of his work rather than an investment. The Billich's recently opened Art Bar in Kings Cross, decorated with Charles' paintings is struggling and looks set to close with few art works sold. Those attached to the ceiling remain in place.

At Lawson Menzies Auction house in Glebe, a few months ago a Billich print was presented with great flourish at the weekly art sale. It went for the princely sum of $1. That's the bid accepted when the seller doesn't want the goods returned.