Celebrity Mound

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be looking to buy in Manhattan.

We hear the star couple has been quietly checking out the Apthorp, the century-old upper West Side landmark that’s undergoing a condo conversion.

Until now, Pitt and Jolie have rented when they’ve come to town. Recently, while Angie’s been shooting “Salt,” the Brangelina brood has divided its time between the Waldorf Towers and Rupert Murdoch’s Rosehearty estate on the North Shore (where Rupe reportedly has been charging them $100,000 a month).

But the fortress-like luxury of Apthorp is apparently making the Pitt-Jolies consider settling down here.

“The gated courtyard means they can get in and out of their car without being hassled by paparazzi,” says a source. “The building also has several other exits.”

The Pitt-Jolies are said to be thinking about putting together three units in the building. “I heard they’re ready to spend as much as $25 million,” says a source.

That could buy them a lot of space, considering Douglas Elliman has slashed prices from $3,000 per square foot to as low as $1,500. (The most expensive unit – 6,197 square feet – sells for $15.5 million.)

Pitt, who is something of an architectural historian, is bound to be beguiled by the handwrought period details of the residence, built in 1908 by the Astor family. Some apartments are as large as 13 rooms and boast 11-foot ceilings and 44-inch-wide hallways. And restoration-minded buyers can customize the raw space to their liking.

What’s more, the Apthorp has long been celebrity-friendly. Nora Ephron and Cyndi Lauper are among those who rented before the condo offering. Among those who’ve checked out the conversion have been actors Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and Knick David Lee and his model-girlfriend Sabina Gadecki.

The globetrotting Pitt-Jolies already have grand homes in L.A. and New Orleans but could be attracted, like a lot of Hollywood wanderers, by New York’s private schools.

Buying in the Apthorp does come with some uncertainty. Prudential Douglas Elliman must sell 25 of the available 32 units so that the owner’s offering plan can continue to operate for another year. A Douglas Elliman rep says that there are currently 12 to 15 units “in negotiation.” But – who knows? – maybe Brad and Angie will decide to buy up the rest.

(source)

Fashonista Malcolm Harris hung up on Angelina Jolie — twice. The Mal Sirrah designer didn’t believe it was Jolie on the line when she called last week to order three of his “One Dress” frocks. Finally, she convinced him she was the real deal by explaining they were both participating in World Refugee Day on Saturday. Jolie bought three of Harris’ dresses for $225 a pop, knowing that some of the proceeds go to the UN’s refugee effort. Harris confirmed the story to Page Six and said, “I was so flattered.”

(source)

Angelina Jolie has dethroned Oprah Winfrey as the world’s most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes.

The actress grabbed the No. 1 spot from the talk show queen on the magazine’s annual Celebrity 100 list, which ranks the rich and famous based on media exposure and career earnings over the past year.

Jolie, a reigning tabloid fixture, earned $27 million, bumping her up from third place on last year’s list, Forbes said, adding that she wields more power due to high-profile turns in hit films such as “Wanted” and “Kung Fu Panda.”

At No. 2, Winfrey is still the highest earner – $275 million.

Madonna came in third, trailed by Beyonce, Tiger Woods, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Spielberg.

Two other celebs tied up in Jolie’s tabloid universe – Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt – came in at eighth and ninth place, respectively.

Tenth place goes to Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, thanks in part to endorsement deals scored after the Beijing Olympics.

About halfway down the list sits a very familiar face: President Barack Obama. At No. 49, Obama’s the first sitting head of state to appear on this Forbes fixture because of his worldwide fame, his historic election and his career as a best-selling author.

Newcomers to the list: Alec Baldwin (No. 91); Meryl Streep (No. 64); Toby Keith (No. 59); Rascal Flatts (No. 42); TV host Glenn Beck (No. 81); and teen singing superstar Taylor Swift (No. 69).

Although he’s one of the biggest acts in entertainment, Justin Timberlake went from 12th to falling off the list completely, since ending his lucrative “FutureSex/LoveShow” concert tour.

Jennifer Lopez, Johnny Depp and Tyra Banks also dropped off the list.

Check out all the rest at: http://www.forbes.com/

Angelina Jolie was taken to the hospital Friday after getting hurt on the set of her new movie, TMZ.com first reported.

The star was filming scenes for the upcoming thriller, Salt, in New York’s Long Island when she bumped her head.

According to her manager, Jolie got a nick between her eyes that started to bleed. She was performing a stunt when the incident occurred.

Although she was taken to the hospital, her manager told TMZ that she would be fine.

Sony, the studio behind Salt, issued the following statement: “This morning, while filming an action sequence during production of her new movie Salt, Angelina Jolie sustained a minor injury. As a precautionary measure, Ms. Jolie will be taken to the hospital and examined. Production on the film has resumed.”

Although some filming continued while she was being examined, the star returned to the set and continued shooting.

What a trooper Angelina is!

(source)

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Sharon Stone

Dita Von Teese

Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt

Angelina Jolie sat in a courtside booth Tuesday at the International Criminal Court and watched the trial of a Congolese warlord charged with using child soldiers.

In a statement released by the court, Jolie, a mother of six, said the case against Thomas Lubanga is a “landmark trial for children” and paid tribute to the former child soldiers who travel to the court’s seat in The Hague to testify.

“After watching the proceedings from the viewing booth, I stood up and found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo looking at me,” Jolie said. “I imagined how difficult it must be for all the brave young children who have come to testify against him.”

Tuesday’s visit was Jolie’s second to the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal in less than two years. The goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said children deserve special protection during wars.

“Using children in conflict is a heinous crime and destroys the very fabric of a society,” she said.

Jolie also met with the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, during her private visit to the court.

Lubanga, founder and former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots political movement and its armed wing, has pleaded innocent to charges of recruiting and using child soldiers in tribal conflicts in 2002-2003.

His is the first international trial to focus solely on child soldiers. It started in January and is expected to continue throughout this year.

The United Nations estimates up to 250,000 child soldiers still fight in more than a dozen countries.

Burly bodyguard Mickey Brett has tangled with some tough customers, but none so tough as his former clients Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Once they entrusted their lives, and those of their children, to Brett. But now that they’ve learned he’s been thinking about revealing their intimacies in a book, the star couple has come down on him with the fury of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

Pitt and Jolie, who played married assassins in that movie, have recruited some of the most fearsome libel attorneys in the U.S. and the U.K. to
make sure Brett’s lips stay zipped.

Recently we obtained a proposal for a memoir and a TV show, both offering Brett’s first-person account of his years guarding the likes of Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sly Stallone and Richard Gere.

The main focus of the pitches, though, was Brangelina. Suffice it to say that Brett had fond memories of Jolie, whom he had been protecting since 2001, and less fond recollections of Pitt.

Seeking comment from them, we received a bracing phone call from Marty Singer, the couple’s American litigator.

Singer alleged that Brett wasn’t a reliable source. In fact, he was a “pathological liar.” He said Brett’s lies to U.S. Immigration officials here had led to his being barred from entering this country. Singer said that only recently did Pitt and Jolie discover that Brett, who’d claimed he was a British SAS commando, never even served in the military.

Singer noted that in 1993 Brett was questioned in the murder of British tycoon Donald Urquhart, though he was later released. In 2006, Brett was arrested for assaulting a restaurant owner in Namibia. The same year, in India, he was accused of choking a photographer and arrested for roughing up and making racial insults against some parents who were trying to pick up their kids.

All told, Singer said, Brett had been convicted 11 times of various crimes.

Pitt and Jolie had repeatedly come to Brett’s defense. But they apparently came to have doubts about his style of problem-solving.

As for his book and TV proposals, Singer said Brett was bound by a confidentiality agreement. According to Singer, Brett has now stated that he’d never signed off on the pitches and that many of the yarns attributed to him were fabricated by his ghost writer.

Brett’s attorneys told us: “Our client disputes what has apparently been said by Mr. Singer, but is not in a position to comment further at this stage.”
Brett’s ghost writer, Robin McGibbon, insists that he did not embellish the bodyguard’s stories.

“Mickey was definitely going to consider a book or TV deal if the offer was good enough,” says McGibbon. But at this point, he said, “there’s not going to be any book.”

(source)