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In the Kitchen With Johnny Cash's Granddaughter
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An Ugly Picture
Well this sure is sad, and a sobering reminder to make sure you have your affairs in order. Even though the late celebrity photographer Francesco Scavullo made arrangements before he died for his partner of 34 years, Sean Byrnes, things are still turning ugly.
The New York Post reports:
The ailing gay lover of the late fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo is battling the renowned artist’s family for possession of his valuable photo archives.
The Staten Island-born Scavullo famously snapped a nude Burt Reynolds for Cosmopolitan and took shots of Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Brooke Shields.
Many of those iconic images are in storage, locked away from Sean Byrnes, 61, the lensman’s assistant who lived with him for 34 years until his death in 2004.
“In sum, Byrnes was half of the Scavullo creative process and photography business,” his attorney, Gary Mennitt, says in papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court. He had “an intimate, unique, working knowledge of the archive.”
Executors for Scavullo’s $1.5 million estate are telling Byrnes to keep his paws off the pieces, arguing they are not the “tangible property” Scavullo left him in his will.
Byrnes lives in a Brooklyn medical facility, where he’s treated for a depression that followed Scavullo’s death. Byrnes' sister Anne Kramer now acts as a guardian.
In papers filed last week, Kramer insists the tangible property includes the archives. She says Byrnes is entitled to half of them, including a portrait of Andy Warhol that Rolex once paid $25,000 to use.
Scavullo willed the other half to a foundation set up in his name to benefit poor children and AIDS patients.
The executors — Scavullo’s niece Angela Scott and friend Michael Horowitz — argue in court papers that the artist intended for Byrnes to benefit from the archives only through payments from a trust.
But Byrnes’ attorneys say that he’s owed the pieces and that the executors have failed to make distributions to the trust for nine years.
Likewise, Kramer says in court filings that they have failed to generate income from the archives. Byrnes, she says, gets just $2,000 a month from the estate and is in “dire financial need.”
Her lawyer, Gary Mennitt, told The Post she “felt compelled to act for her brother . . . to secure him what life partner Francesco indicated he wanted for Sean.”
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Song of the Day: 'Be My Baby' by the 'Ronettes'
The one where Belinda Carlisle and Grace Slick were fill-in Ronettes on HBO's "Legendary Ladies of Rock 'n' Roll." (Kudos to Grace for being willing to stand next to B.C. at the height of her beauty!)
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Hed Games
A hundred bucks says the editor who wrote that headline will be his next victim!
That dog sounds like a real bitch.
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White Lie
Via Romenesko: NBC Atlantic City took a gamble (and lost) on hiring whoever would think this is Newark mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Corey Booker.
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Sign Language
With thanks to Chip: This'll give you a headache!
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Target in Perpetuity
Pick up this month's Esquire to read Scott Raab's article that says what I've been thinking for years.
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Tuesday Ad Watch
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Strike a Pose
According to the New York Post, men -- straight men -- are signing up in droves for the service DudeoirNYC, so they can pose naked in their own bedrooms. Apparently their "girlfriends" really love the photo results. While this is perhaps the final barrier separating straights from gays, you'd think the straight guys would be the ones frugal enough to figure out you can do this just fine on your own. (See: Grindr.) At $500 per 90-minute session, these guys aren't just straight, they're straight-up stupid!
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Poz-itively Fabulous
My pal Tim Murphy's piece for POZ magazine on people living with HIV -- Older and Wiser: People Who Have Lived With HIV/AIDS for 25 Years or More Are Battle-Scarred and Full of Survival Savvy -- is a must-read. Click HERE.
This cover story I just did for POZ, on people who have lived with HIV/AIDS for 25 years or longer, meant a lot to me. It's been heartening to see, in the past year or so, that there appears to be a kind of reckoning with the intense suffering and heroic fight these folks went through, one that so many of us have wanted to forget since the advent of effective medications. I hope we continue with this process of looking back and talking about what survivors went through and what they need now.
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Grooming Mr. Wilson
Cute inteview HERE with Angels pitcher turned Head and Shoulders spokesman C.J. Wilson, who cites Patrick Dempsey as his "hair icon." He joins sexy slugger Joe Mauer as a P&G brand ambassador, only we can't tell if he also shares Joe's furry chest.
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Britney's Toxic Shopping Habits
That's how they get you, with the "plus." Gotta stick with the Pay 99 Cents Or Less store, girl.
Court documents reviewed by TMZ show she made regular purchases at famed Los Angeles bargain spots like In-N-Out, El Pollo Loco, and the 99 Cents Plus store. Spears also had down-to-earth food tastes with many buys at national chain spots like Subway, Wetzel's Pretzels, Domino's, IHOP, 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Starbucks, and Romano's Macaroni Grill.
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Yellow Fever
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Page 1 Consider (08/14)
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Morning Wood
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James Marsden Covers Out Magazine
The new Out Magazine declares James Marsden the "sexiest nerd you will ever meet." Not exactly sure what his "nerd" bona fides are, but they got the "sexiest" part right. So when's the meeting? Read HERE.
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David Wright Sets Wedding Date
Page Six is reporting that my boyfriend David Wright will marry his longtime girlfriend, Molly Beers, on Dec. 26, in California. Wright and Beers were engaged over the holidays last year and have been dating since 2008. Congrats, Davey. It was fun while it lasted
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He's a Prince of a Guy
Arguably the best wedding invitation of the 21st century -- Nigerian prince-style! -- and he's my friend:
(Click to ENLARGE)
(On plain white paper, of course!)
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Song of the Day: 'You'll Lose a Good Thing' by Barbara Lynn
This was a Top 10 hit in 1962 by the gifted singer/songwriter and musician Barbara Lynn. Aretha Franklin did it justice two years later on her "Runnin 'Out of Fools" album, then Freddy Fender took it to No. 1 on the country charts in 1975.
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Scared of You, Meshach Taylor!
I'll bet Hollywood would have been more than willing to do the honor of frisking Alex Rodriguez.
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