• Tommy Hilfiger is not a racist. And he’s hired “outside people” to keep an eye on anyone who claims otherwise.
• Ion Media Networks, NBC Universal and hedge fund Citadel to get in bed together, feel awkward about it in the morning.
• Time Warner mags are still a drag on earnings. Fortunately, the insanely priced restaurants in the TWC more than make up for it.
• Tivo offers its customers the ability to fast forward through all the annoying commercials. Including all the annoying commercials for Tivo.
• How many over-privileged Communications majors does it take to plan an after-party for Charlotte Ronson? Answer: Who cares—as long as they’re attractive.
• And finally, April showers brings…lousy ratings for CNBC.
Exclusive:
A reliable fashion insider tells us that Tommy Hilfiger is superstitious to an almost excessive degree. The designer, who’s always favored bright-colors and bold patterns, apparently also has very particular ideas about numerology.**
Our tipster reports that Tommy Hilfiger changes his phone numbers to include the number 8 because he think it’s “lucky.” Says our spy: “All the office numbers are changing.”
In other Hilfiger-related news, we’ve heard he also hates black cats, has a rampant case of triskadekaphobia, and has never missed a single episode of Monk.
Seriously, though, we’ve always pegged Tommy as sort of a strange guy, but this is definitely a most puzzling idiosyncracy. And it also strikes us as somewhat counterintuitive. After all, where exactly was all this pseudo-spiritualism crap back in 2003, when Hilfiger’s spoiled daughter informed us (on her reality show) that her parents had purchased an “extremely expensive” lotion, made from the foreskin of little babies’ penises?
But a telephone number without an ‘8′ in it? Now, that’d just be fucking up the natural order of things.
**Perhaps inspired by Jim Carrey’s crappy-looking new flick?
Have Axl Rose and Tommy Hilfiger made amends since their well-publicized May altercation? The MTV VMAs – always the bastion of resolution – seem to have brought the twosome together in harmony. Files a club-going operative:
I was a vip guest at the vmas last night and was brought to the grammercy hotel bar for an afterparty. Axel rose was sitting right next to us and tommy hilfiger came to his table and appologized and they hugged eachother and shook hands.
we then went to Bungalow 8 and we saw the olson twins and fergie from Blackeyed peas and axelrose with sebastian bach, sarah mills, ron jeremy, and others. when we were leaving the police were coming into shut the club and diddy with paris hilton and brandon davis were turned away at the door beacuse the police were there.
We only had so much time to guzzle free booze, so it’s likely y’all hit events we didn’t make it to. Surely you’ve got more stories to share?
• Tommy Hilfiger’s shirt says he’s sorry. And that he should stick to polos and cable knits. [TMZ]
• Love fashion? Love technology? Calvin Klein wants to call you a “technosexual.” It sounds like a name for an Internet porn feign … but if Gizmodo and Fleshbot had a baby, we would call it that. [Muckraked]
• Please, somebody just take a picture of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline to end this madness. We don’t want to see it … just send it to Us and leave us out of it. [Us Weekly]
• And yet another baby who will never be as hot, popular, or good willed as Shiloh Nouvel. But, she’ll have Woody Harrelson as a dad which would be fun. Especially when she’s 16 and her friends can come over and play Cheers. [People]
• Mena Suvari gives Jamie Kennedy the old “big eyes” move. (Uh, Mena, we know the whole “funny” thing is endearing, but, come on. You could do better.) [Mollygood]
• Even with Tom Hanks‘ disgusto hair, the Da Vinci Code manages to break box office records … proving that Ron Howard indeed has more power than the church. [ET]
• According to reliable source Joe Francis, Brandon Davis called Lindsay Lohan to apologize for talking about her vagina on tape. But, since he’s covering up his “Suck My Dick” t-shirt with a blazer like a pansy, we have a little trouble believing him. [Page Six]
• Tommy Hilfiger lost his mind, Axl Rose lost his street cred, and Rosario Dawson had the best birthday ever. [NYP]
• So glad Naomi Campbell can watch her boyfriend try on jeans without causing an incident. [Page Six]
• Yale kids are super smart. They analyze Showgirls and write sticky love letters to Elizabeth Berkley. [Gatecrasher]
If K-Mart can wallow in the success of Martha Stewart Everyday’s line of bedding and bath supplies and Target can flaunt its Todd Oldham and Isaac Mizrahi lines, surely Wal-Mart can reach its multi-billion dollar hands into the fashion business.
Which is what they’re trying to do with the purchase of Tommy Hilfiger, the disparate fashion company that’s been on the block longer than the New Kids.
The news of Wal-Mart’s possible interest in Tommy Hilfiger, which was put up for auction last month, caught the attention of executives on Wall Street and Seventh Avenue. Both questioned whether the move represented a radical strategy shift for Wal-Mart.
Hilfiger has suffered from lackluster sales in recent years, but it is expected to draw interest from a long list of suitors because of its well-known brand name.
Oh, and the success of The Cut, of course. Though sadly, Hilfiger’s reality show ratings might have bested Wal-Mart’s own The Scholar, so maybe together they can snag a Nielsen ratings point .. or half.