Popbitch bloopers

We can't be too hard on the internet gossipy website Popbitch which can be a lot of fun at times although we get slightly irritated with what seems an obsession with bodily functions and the size or otherwise of "celebrity" private parts. After all Whispers has supplied them with the odd snippet over the years but how did they make mistakes like these two when the facts are so easily verified?
Such as this:

Max (right) is a Sydney based publicist whose office is a 5 minute walk from Whispers. Having been there numerous times we should know.  Perhaps a clue is in the billing Max gives himself as: Australia's Premier Publicist !
And this:                                                             

Alec Baldwin (above left) is a confirmed Democrat who supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign and is supporting Hilary Clinton. His brother actor Stephen Baldwin is a Republican who has expressed beliefs in many right-wing conspiracy theories including a claim Osama Bin Laden is still alive. 

Will Hugo Weaving pick up an Academy Award?

Colin Freils & Judy Davis

The new play Faith Healer by Brian Friel just opened at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Surry Hills. It's a series of four monologues with actor Colin Friels, Alison White and Pip Miller.

Keith Robinson & Hugo Weaving

On the opening night we not only had Friels at the after party but his wife Judy Davis who has picked up 2 BAFTA awards, 3 EMMYs and 8 ACCTA awards. Not only that she starred in the Academy Award winning film My Brilliant Career. That movie was produced by Australian producer Margaret Fink who Whispers took to the ritzy Sardi's Restaurant in New York after she had nabbed the Oscar at the awards in LA. As we swept into Sardi's waiters snapped to attention as the maître d led us to the very best table.

"Crikey, you must be really well known in this town" offered Margaret. Whispers didn't have the heart to tell her that when we telephoned to book a table we said we'd be bringing the winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Film.
Also at the Belvoir party- Hugo Weaving who is getting rave reviews for his part in Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge which received a standing ovation from Hollywood's film community a few night ago when it premiered in Tinsel Town. Talk is Weaving is in hot running to pick an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. pics by William Yang
Faith Healer is on at the Belvoir until 27th November.

Mel's bad rap

And still the media keep asking questions of Mel Gibson about his meltdown years ago when he was in the grip of the grape in LA. It's as though no hack or hackette has ever had a drink and said unwise things.

Mel is a nice guy and his relationship with the media has always been a good one despite their attempts to whip up controversy.
Whispers first met Mel over dinner many moons ago in London at the Portobello Hotel in Notting Hill Gate. He was with a good friend, film producer Richard Brennan and the pair were promoting a film that had been a huge success in Europe but went largely unnoticed in the UK. It was called Mad Max.
As far as we can see, Mel hasn't changed over the years - well apart from becoming mega successful and growing an amazing beard-and is as pleasant as he was right back when he was an unknown Aussie actor.

Last night Gibson attended the world premiere at the State Theatre of his new film Hacksaw Ridge with partner Teresa Palmer who announced she is pregnant. And Mel's new flick has the Oscar crowd very excited.
Spotted in the audience (left), top legal eagle Chris Murphy with Mel's brother Chris Gibson on the right. Doesn't really look like Mel does he?

BREAKING NEWS

Popular Posts

The statistics don't lie as internet surfers flock to Careless Whispers in their thousands. Is it because of our superb and unique take on society? Or are they simply bored. We'll never know but who cares as long as they keep visiting this distant corner of the internet.

Left is a screenshot of Blogger's 'stats' for this website and interestingly topics with a 'conservative' bent were all almost equally popular. Of the 'views ' of out little tale on Republican candidate Donald Trump, nearly three quarters came from the USA. Have we influenced the American election?.

Is it The End for the Black & White Committee?

Short answer is no but certainly in it's present form. The last of it's type, the Black & White Committee's annual ball at the Sydney Town Hall will be the last in it's present form. The Black & White Derby - where bright young gals reel in little wooden horses- is kaput. At this year's event the 80 year old tradition was put to bed.
But the Black & White Committee who have raised tens of millions of  $$$ over it's 80 year history will emerge next year in an exciting new form and we'll be the first to being you the news. Until then, here are a few snaps from the evening and a short video to show you what you missed. The B&W hard working ladies raise much needed funds for Vision Australia.

exclusive : Anthony Pratt's New York party

PM Malcolm Turnbull & Lucy Turnbull     *      Hannah Godefa     *      Claudine Revere *      Eudoxie Bridges

 Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman of Pratt Industries, opened the doors of his New York City townhouse for a fundraiser.. or a “friendraiser” as the invitation put it to honour the accomplishments of two young women helping to change the lives of millions of people in Africa.
And among the guests were some familiar faces : Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who had earlier addressed the UN, with Lucy Turnbull and daughter of former PM Paul Keating, Katherine Keating who now works in New York at the web publication Vice. Also there was Barbara Bush daughter of former US president George Bush Jr, who spent over a year in Australia studying.


Being honoured: Eudoxie Bridges from Gabon and founder of Unspoken Angels which aims to support, educate, inspire and empower young women and 19 year old Canadian Hannah Godefa , who serves as UNICEF National Ambassador to Ethiopia. 

Randall Lane* Hannah Godefa * Eudoxie Bridges * Anthony Pratt                     Eudoxie Bridges & Barbara Bush

 

                                          photographs : Patrick McMullan Company (C)

Conversations with Conservatives

The fragrant David Flint, champion of Her Majesty The Queen of Australia and committed Monarchist has come so far since we shared drinks in the saloon bar of the Windsor Castle Hotel in Paddington so many moons ago. Bachelor David was just a young chap then and The Windsor Castle has now become a private home but in it's heyday it was packed to the gills with every know version of humanity in Sydney & made Oxford Street of the 1980/90s look like a church picnic.

Now Flinty has interviewed, for your enjoyment Australia's richest woman and one of the world's wealthiest people Gina Rinehart.
Be warned- the late US president Ronald Reagan is liberally quoted as an authority and that old corrupt lovable rogue Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen is spoken of in fond terms.

Donald Trump, Miss Universe & Whispers

When Australia's Jennifer Hawkins won the Miss Universe title in 2004 she was considered the most successful winner of all time in the contest.
When Hawkins returned to Australia she embarked on a two week tour of Australia organized by top model agent Grant Dwyer who discovered Hawkins and numerous other beautiful models who are household names today.

Whispers accompanied Jennifer on the Aussie tour along with half of a dozen of Donald Trump's Miss Universe workers. The tour was a promotional sensation. The Trump crew were astounded at the continued front page and television publicity including the above sensational snap taken by Whispers in Sydney at a fashion show as her skirt slipped off while she left the stage.
The picture swept around the world

But behind the scenes chat with the Trump workers was illuminating . They simply abhorred the man, hated working for him, rarely got paid on time and classed him right back then as a shocking misogynist and a ruthless bully. America, you have been warned

Richard Neville Farewelled

It was at the book launch in 2011 for the late film-maker Albie Thoms at the Paddington Town Hall that Whispers last spoke to Richard Neville  (pictured left at the launch)

A close friend confided that Richard had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. He seemed fine and in good spirits but sadly this terrible scourge carried Neville off earlier this month at age 74.

It's a shame we couldn't make the memorial last Saturday morning for Richard at The Wharf  but Sydney's chronicler of personalities, photographer William Yang was there:

Richard Walsh & Julie Clarke Neville

"RICHARD NEVILLE'S memorial event was, appropriately, something of a talk fest. The speakers, each in their way excellent, created a diverse and rich tribute to Richard. Julie Neville welcomed the guests and Richard Walsh began the avalanche of memories. Louise Ferrier, once girlfriend to Richard, spoke of the time in London. George Gittoes read a message from Julian Assange. Charlie Waterstreet, Jenny Kee, Morris Gleitzman gave tributes. Bryan Brown read Richard's adaptation of Ginsberg's poem "Howl" set in a more modern corporate world. Hellen Rose and Reg Mombassa each sang songs. Richard's daughters, Angelica and Lucy. stole the show. They painted Richard as a father conflicted by his alternative, libertine past and a persona they called "The Colonel", (his father was a colonel), who had extremely conservative views when it came to raising his daughters, and who terrorised their boyfriends. The singalong of Dylan's "Mr Tambourine Man" as the finale almost worked.
The event at the Wharf was a true TRIBAL GATHERING, touched with sadness and celebration, and memorable because of the speeches.

                                             Words & Photos by WILLIAM YANG

Jenny Kee & William Yang *    Tony & Amanda Bilson *        Jill Wran & David Malouf *   Mick Glasheen

Read this..

Terrific article on the ABC website about Melbourne fashion identity Dee Goldberg.

Tidbits

The Hairstyle of The Month award in September goes to New York businessman Richard Feldman who was spotted at the annual Quest 400 party in NYC.

 Perhaps he shares a hairdresser with our favorite ex-Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The two could be long lost cousins!

Spotted on the Blue Carpet for the premier in London of the new Beatles film Eight Days A Week last Thursday, music personality Simon Napier Bell who these days spends his time touring the world and lecturing on music as seen in our snap taken in India.
Simon wrote a song we all love :"You Don't Have to say You Love Me" made famous by Dusty Springfield and Elvis Presley. Napier-Bell attended the film along with Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Not long ago Simon hosted a BBC series on rock'n'roll managers and he is currently filming a documentary on British gay life (in our snap he is interviewing actor Simon Callow) . OK we are a bit prejudiced here- Simon who is half Australian is also a business partner of Whispers in a film project among other things. But you really should read some of his books including the fascinating "I'm Coming to Take You To Lunch" of how he managed to get the pop duo Wham to be the first pop act to appear in Communist China ( Whispers was there!)


Coming shortly : all the news on the 80th Anniversary of the Black & White Ball at the Sydney Town Hall.

















Here is Dusty singing Simon Napier Bell's You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.

Elle Macpherson with scissors

 
The Body wielded a pair of scissors Tuesday morning at a small reception to open a new boutique in Myer in the Pitt Street Mall. She's planning to open several of these stores called Elle Macpherson Body around the world and was jetting off the next day to New Zealand to do likewise.

Whispers chatted to Elle's mum Fran Macpherson who told us she had recently returned from visiting Elle in her Miami home which she says is sensational and the weather is always perfect. 

As for her other children? Daughter Mimi is loving her life in Noosa in Queensland and son Ben is in Los Angeles wheeling and dealing in the movie business.

Elle of a Town

 Leggy Elle McPherson jetted into town yesterday morning at the ungodly hour of 6am and while Whispers was invited to greet her at the airport it was just a tad too early.

McPherson is traveling with the famous fashion snapper Gilles Bensimon to shoot  a cover for..Elle Magazine. But more about this after Tuesday when Whispers gets up close and personal with The Body.

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

Sydney town is up for grabs today !

The election to decide who runs Sydney Council will be under way from 6am today and despite a field of candidates the word is that it's down to just two : current Lord Mayor Clover Moore who has held the position for 17 years and current councilor and sister of former PM Tony Abbott, Christine Forster. Although Moore has enjoyed great support from young hipster and the gay community, her grasp on the Mayoral robes could be well & truly shaken by Forster who is openly gay. Forster could lure the huge gay and lesbian (and transgender) community away from Clover with her pledge to revitalize the once Golden Mile of Oxford Street that once had over 15 gay nightclubs, bars and hotels but has since been reduced to just 3.

      Christine Forster                                                                                                                  Clover Moore                                         

                                         

The State government's recent new law that gives businesses within the city 2 votes has seen an extra 20,000 or so businesses register to vote and they may overwhelmingly support Forster. A vox pop poll by Whispers today found surprisingly, a lot of support has shifted from Moore to Forster. We should know by tonight if  a new regime sweeps into office at the Town Hall.

Miami Vice

Top Sydney fashion maestro Nicholas Huxley is taking the Miami fashion scene by storm. As we reported in April, Huxley has landed a plum residency at the Miami Dade College where he has been commissioned to set up a fashion design school.


 This week Huxley has been included as one of the seven best dressed guests by the Miami New Times newspaper at the Miami Fashion Week currently under way.  

Whispers reckons he had some pretty stiff competition especially from the wonderfully named Diamante Jones (left) who says his style : "is known to bring out the feminine side of men’s fashion. Classy but with a bit of edginess" which is surely exampled by his fetching Rubik's Cube hand bag.
Nicholas says his magnificent shirt comes from a cannibalized old t-shirt which he sewed onto a new garment.
  
Isn't fashion fun? Huxley's new fame means he also gets to sip cocktails with the Miami Fashion Week's new ambassador- movie star Antonio Banderas.                      



Below: some of Nicholas' competition on the fashion red carpet/

Diamonds are everyone's best friends

Michel & CoCo Germani cut the ribbon at their Chatswood Chase boutique

Top end jeweler Michel Germani is back in town in a big way. After a three year sojourn in Shanghai he is back and will be opening several boutiques in Sydney. If you are not familiar with Michel's beautiful creations you should do yourself a favour. Big celebrity names are among his most loyal customers and the creations he produces really are quite exquisite as you can see below. His men's watches rival many of the better know brands.

Paris Dwyer & Todd Tai

Michel has opened a new shop in Chatswood Chase- Whispers went to the opening bash -and has one planned for Castle Hill and even better, a new store will open later this year in Sydney's Hilton Hotel

Zahrina Robertson*Natasha Tszyu * Karen Ledbury*Alevtina* Natasha Nizko

"Our" ABC scoops the rest

It may be just some light celebrity reporting but the ABC has scooped the well funded private media networks with their exclusive photos and report on the filming of the movie Thor in Brisbane with actor Chris Hemsworth ( the Hemsworth brothers were brought up in Byron Bay about a 90 minute drive from Brissy). The ABC have confirmed their pictures were taken by an ABC staff photographer and that they would never buy in paparazzi pics in a tale like this. They have also done a follow-up today on how the LIVIN top Hemsworth is wearing -with profits going to a suicide prevention charity-are selling like hotcakes.
My source also says Hemsworth was active in informing the ABC of their filming schedule as he wants to promote LIVIN and deliberately chose the national broadcaster as he is a great believer in it.

The former Mrs Edelsten

Did she ever take the name Edelsten? Whispers cannot remember but wowsie- just look at Geoffrey Edelsten's former flame Brynne Gordon now. Hot!

This snap just landed in our in-tray and we had to bring it to you asap. You can thank us later.

Dream on Salim

Melbourne has Geoffrey - Sydney has Salim

Budding personality Salim Mehajer who is Deputy Mayor of a suburb somewhere in the west ( we mean that nicely) has made a promotional video. We think that's what is (and is Salim still Deputy Mayor or was the Council dissolved?)
There's lots of exhorting to the viewer to "dream, dream" about what? We aren't sure. Any way it's a chance for Salim to show off one of his fab cars. the last time we had a 'celebrity' who expected us to be transfixed by his expensive motor cars was the colourful Geoffrey Eldesten iof Melbourne but sadly his stable of luxury vehicles all disappeared from the garage one day and were last seen speeding off in a cloud of dust with a posse of debt collectors driving them. We hope Salim fares better. Watch and dream.

INSTANT UPDATE : Oh dear..since the 7 Network ran some videos of Salim in a less than happy mood his Dream video has gone private. Never fear, another version has appeared on Youtube.

Less is more..

Apparently everyone will be watching the much criticised 60 Minutes tonight ( late of Lebanese kidnap fame) as they broadcast a "hard hitting" interview with publicist Roxy Jacenko whose clients we have now all but forgotten. We have an appointment with some old friends so sadly will miss it.
A Telegraph feature pushes the tabloid TV show with a shocking revelation and we quote:

“Someone wrote on Hunter’s Instagram, ‘How’s your mummy’s fake cancer?’” she said.
“It makes me angry, I mean the reality is you’d have to be sick in the head to think that someone would actually manipulate a timeline on cancer. People die from cancer.”
A two year old with an Instagram account? And a two year -old who can read and understand such a complex issue as cancer?. The mind boggles.  Pictured- Roxy with Hunter as he prepares dinner.

For our US readers

we get around 1000 per day:


## an amazing reaction to our report on Sam Neill's put down of the local licensing laws that seem to be decimating Sydney's night life. Many views came from Europe & the US. What does this mean for tourism?. Also perhaps the entire population of the Southern Highlands has now read up on the local dramas there.

Sam Neill slams Lock Out Laws

Actor Sam Neill was at Parramatta to announce the move there of John Poulson's short film festival Tropfest, covered by Whispers so many times including the very first one years ago which had only 20 guests that included Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (and moi).

The controversial lock out laws that now make nightclubs serve their last drinks at midnight have devastated Kings Cross and the Golden Gay Mile of Oxford Street. Sam had some pretty strong criticism of the laws. Will we be going to Parramatta to attend Tropfest? Hmmm, may have to think long and hard about that. It took 90 minutes to get to the presser but I suppose there is always the ferry.

Usain Bolt's inspiration?

This little Joey kangaroo? Probably not. But it's a good excuse to re-publish Whisper's snaps from 3 years ago of the sensational Usain Bolt, the Jamaican born superstar who surged through   a field of his rivals to win in 9.81secs

Later Usain said that "his relatively slow speed was down to the lack of recovery time after the semi-final." Bolt is a class act and when he attended a Sydney sports dinner three years ago at Darling Harbour he specifically requested that with little time to sight see, he would love to see some of our indigenous animals so the cute cuddlies were delivered to Usain to hold and we were there for the exclusive snaps. Aren't they cute?