Doggie Bag Archives

New York, August 11-17, 2007 – For a slow week in August, celebrities kept popping up in odd places all over the New York City area. Oddest, perhaps, was Ozzy Osbourne, who stunned Times Square tourists by showing up on top of the Hard Rock Café marquee, and performing. Ozzy was something of a surprise guest at the daylong launch of the Xbox 360 game “Madden NFL ’08”, which managed to also hit Times Square neighbors ESPN Zone, Toys “R” Us and even Reuters.

Legally challenged R&B great R. Kelly was over an hour late to the premiere of the latest installment of his Trapped in the Closet “hip-hopera”; in fact, by the time he arrived at the IFC Center, waiting journalists were threatening to walk out. Ironically, the singer wore two diamond-encrusted watches, one around his wrist and another hanging from his belt.

Russell Simmons, Josh Lucas and Rocco DiSpirito got an eyeful when one of the models had a wardrobe malfunction at designer Malcolm Harris’ Rip the Runway for Darfur benefit fashion show. The celebs all signed a bottle of Level Vodka - the evening’s sponsor - that will be auctioned off at a future Designers for Darfur event.

Do not mess with Vanessa Minnillo! When two photographers got into a shouting match at a Kohl’s department store in Jersey City, where the former MTV host launched her cosmetics line “Flirt”, Minnillo turned toward the noise, said “Whoa”, and shut them up with a stern glare.

You may think you love shoes, but Debra Messing loves them more – the actress showed up at Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship at 9 A.M. on Friday morning to cut the ribbon on the fashion mecca’s new designer shoe floor, so big it has its own zip code.

July 29 – Aug. 4 – We ran into some pretty big stars behaving like regular Joes this week. Matt Damon carried his own shirts into and out of the David Letterman studios on Tuesday, when he stopped by to promote his new flick, The Bourne Ultimatum, which raked in $70 million in its opening weekend. Damon did hand off the shirts to a studio security guard – only to free up his hands so that he could sign autographs for fans waiting at the TV studio.

Adam Sandler, currently buning up movie screens as Kevin James’ same-sex spouse in Chuck & Larry, is now shooting a film in frat boy heaven, Manhattan’s Lower East Side. But he’s trading in the firefighter’s uniform for a blow dryer, playing a hair stylist in You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. Hopefully, Sandler will get to style Mariah Carey’s locks, since the singer is rumored to have a role in the film.

The dogs running around the Regal E-Walk Cinemas in Times Square at the premiere of Underdog on Monday mainly seemed confused, but we didn’t witness any accidents on the red carpet. Jason Lee, voice of Underdog, was overdressed for the summer heat in jacket and hat.

Duane Chapman, aka “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, was one happy fellow at a Borders bookstore in Hollywood on Friday, signing copies of his book titled You Can Run But You Can’t Hide. This marked his first appearance since a Mexican court dismissed charges against the reality show star. Dog was arrested in 2003 after he captured American cosmetics heir and convicted rapist Andrew Luster in Puerto Vallarta. Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico.

Reese Witherspoon will lend her visage to cosmetics giant Avon, the company announced this week. The Oscar winner was late to a press conference at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wednesday, so she rushed through a photo op to chat about this new gig. Witherspoon will also be the first-ever Avon Global Ambassador, helping to publicize the Avon Foundation’s charitable endeavors.

We found Juliette Lewis attempting to revive that quaint custom of buying records, performing with her band at a Manhattan Virgin Megastore on Thursday. So old school.

December 14-21, 2006 – Tara Reid wowed everybody with her chic look at the premiere of Black Christmas, a cheesy horror film. We’re not sure what she was doing there, as Tara does not appear in the movie, but nonetheless, she was sober, and looked stunning. We have the holiday spirit, and are happy to bring you this nice story about Tara, who, with her droopy dress was responsible for Open All Night’s most popular article ever.

But never fear, Survivor: Cook Islands winner Yul Kwan carried Tara’s torch this week: his fly was open during the entire season finale at CBS Television City on Sunday. The Yale Law school grad won $1 million.

Quite a few VIPs came out for the opening of The Bayou Legend, a theatrical piece directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen. We spotted Quincy Jones, Dave Meyers, legend Berry Gordy and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones at UCLA’s Kaufman Hall on opening night.

L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant and other NBA stars, including Kareem Abdul Jabar and Stephon Marbury, joined Senator Hillary Clinton in Harlem on Thursday to distribute food to the needy, an operation dubbed “Miracle on 138th Street”.

Bayou Legend and Survivor photos: Andy Fossum/Startraks

New York, July 13-21, 2006 – That was no bumblebee in the Sephora store in Herald Square; it was Mary J. Blige, decked out in yellow and black stripes, there to promote the brand Carol's Daughter. We absolutely love this line, founded by Lisa Price, because it has A-list celebrity investors and spokespersons like Blige and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Nick Cannon was quite animated at Planet Hollywood in Times Square on Wednesday, where he dropped off some memorabilia from his new animated flick, Monster House. The phrase on the back of his shirt read: “Hustlers never sleep. We take naps.”

NFL star Tom Brady left his New England Patriots’ home turf for the Big Apple this week, and we found him at the Movado boutique in SoHo, starring in an ad campaign for the watchmaker’s new line of sports watches. Brady’s next stop will be more strenuous: football camp was due to start on Sunday.

Daniel Powter became an American Idol star without even having to endure Simon Cowell’s tongue lashings. Powter’s song, “Bad Day”, played as accompaniment to a weekly segment of AI, has caught on and become the U.S.’s most-downloaded single ever. While he was not very dynamic during his CBS Early Show concert, remaining stationary at his keyboards, Powter hammed it up offscreen.

Our week started with another musical anomaly, Paris Hilton, stopping by the MTV studios in Times Square for a TRL visit.