Ivana Gets Married! | Elaine's 45th: Woody Brings the Family | Rosie vs. Regis vs. Meryl | Seinfeld Gets Fake TV Credit
Ivana Trump’s wedding to dance instructor/singer Rossano Rubicondi came off over the weekend, but not without last-minute hitches.
Snitches say that the much-liked Ivana, 59, sold the rights to shoot the wedding to Getty Images for $600,000. But Rubicondi, 35, wanted his half in his name. Eventually, it was decided that the groom to be could get $75,000 for his own pocket — it was the deposit Getty had put down.
Just to help his ex, Donald Trump is said to have negotiated the deal. He came to the wedding — held at his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach estate — direct from Las Vegas and the Miss USA pageant sans wife Melania.
Donald’s sister, Judge Maryann Trump, performed the service. One of the guests was the brother of Ivana’s previous fiancé, Ferrari dealer Roffredo Gaetani, who died tragically in a car crash.
The first dance? A tango, thanks to Rossano’s expertise. The groom walked down the aisle to the theme from “Rocky” with arms in the air, like a champ. The 500 guests gave him a standing ovation. Later, he sang love songs to Ivana from the stage with the band. Pop legend Neil Sedaka also performed.
Lots of society types at the party, with Hollywood represented by George Hamilton. Nikki Haskell, Beverly Johnson and Denise Rich were all on hand. Denise even wrote a song for Ivana and sang it to her.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer was there too, says a source, “in orange pants and orange print shirt with a black Chanel bag ... dancing up a storm.”
Kathy Hilton came in a dress with a blue print and a long train. Men were told to wear all white. But, a source says, the European men misinterpreted this; several wore “white tails.”
The cake was said to have cost $200,000 — although savvy Ivana may have gotten it for free. It was made four months ago in Germany, frozen, and then flown to Palm Beach by German bakers.
The wedding couple, sources say, didn’t mingle much at the reception. They were seated on a throne-like divan where guests could greet them.
Can these crazy kids make it? You never know. Stranger things have happened.
Elaine's 45th: Woody Brings the Family
It was a swellishous night for Elaine’s 45th anniversary Sunday, starting with the surprise appearance of Woody Allen with wife Soon-Yi and daughter Bechet (the little girl is stunning).
Woody starts filming a New York-based romantic comedy this week. But all fans know that Elaine’s already figures in the best New York-based romantic comedy, “Manhattan.” For a director with an early morning call, it was a menschy thing to do.
Besides the Allens, legendary Elaine Kaufman was treated to visits from many regulars and well-wishers, including Richard Dreyfuss, Lainie Kazan, Virginia Madsen, Lewis Lapham, Kathryn Altman, PR mavens Peggy Siegal and Norah Lawlor, Lesley Stahl, literary agent Esther Newberg, TV producer Fred Rappaport, film producers Marty Bregman and Beverly Camhe, Broadway producer Judy Gordon, casting director Amanda Mackey, costumer Dona Granata, famed New York DJs Carol Miller and Jim Kerr, not to mention Bobby Zarem, Jessica Burstein, Peter Khoury, Joyce Wadler, George Gurley, Al Rosenstein, Josh Gaspero, the New York Post’s Murray Weiss, TV producer Bill Persky, famous writers like Gay Talese, Bruce Jay Friedman and Carol Higgins Clark and David Black, Sports Illustrated chief Terry McDonell, Men’s Health editor Dave Zinczenko, Lynne White, etc.
There was a lot of reminiscing about the people Elaine has thrown out of the place, about the close encounters among people who no longer wanted to see each other, about the night that someone came in and told us that the married mayor of New York City was “on a date” across the street at a dive bar (oh, those were the days!)
Or how about the night of the 2000 election, when Harry Evans and Tina Brown hosted and a broken-up Ben and Gwyneth re-encountered each other, or the night Phil Spector came in with a phalanx of gun-toting bodyguards.
There was even a little nostalgia for the very un-PC cigar store Indian that used to stand inside the dining room. The night that American Indian activist Russell Means came in, the statue was moved. He’s never returned.
Yes, the place was packed, and I’ve probably missed a few names. The ghosts of George Plimpton, Robert Altman, Peter Maas, Rona Jaffe, Claudia Cohen, Neal Travis and many others were saluted. Even past midnight you could hear Champagne corks popping, and people making toasts to Elaine.
And what was her response? First: “I’ve lost 15 pounds this month!” she joked. Then: “Thank you so very much.”
Year 46 starts tonight.
OK. There are some nights in New York when you think too much is going on. But let it be said that Monday, April 14, 2008, may be the killer, the night the city was paralyzed by celebrity.
It’s hard to say what’s going to carry the evening. Over at Lincoln Center, the Film Society is honoring Meryl Streep. Yes, everyone’s going, starting with Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer, and then all of Meryl’s co-stars from her many hit films.
Then, over at Studio 54, Regis Philbin is part of an all-star fundraiser for Help USA, put together by actor Charles Grodin. Paul Shaffer is doing the music and Martin Short is providing comic relief. HelpUSA is important, assisting the homeless and victims of domestic violence.
Of course, the third big deal of the night is Rosie O'Donnell is putting on a special performance by her Broadway Kids at 6 p.m. The show is designed to benefit the Kids and their new performing arts space in the Platinum building, at West 50th Street and Eighth Avenue. It’s sponsored by the building’s developer, SJP Properties.
I’ve told you about Rosie’s Kids before. If you’re interested in seeing the future of Broadway, here it is. And you know, Rosie has lots of famous pals who will undoubtedly turn up.
Where to go? What to do? And Madonna said New York is boring!
On Thursday night’s sublime episode of my favorite TV show, “30 Rock,” Jerry Seinfeld’s name turned up at the end.
As promised/threatened in the series premiere by Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), Jerry was listed with him as an executive producer of the fictitious NBC reality show, “MILF Island.”
The other exec listed was “Brit Ishman,” which of course, is British Man, or a nod to “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett.
“Survivor” runs in most markets opposite “30 Rock” on Thursdays.
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