After 11 years, Cindy Crawford and Revlon part ways, and the search for a new look begins
Focus
Ah, but the modeling game is a fickle, fickle business. Two cases in point: Cindy Crawford and Elizabeth Hurley, whose careers seem to be suddenly, simultaneously in flux.
Last week Revlon announced that after 11 years, the company is dropping Crawford, 34, as a spokesmodel. "She will work with Revlon for a transition period," says Revlon spokeswoman Liz Mather, who insists age has nothing to do with the decision and calls the split "amicable and mutual." But if not age, then why the change? Revlon's sales have declined 19 percent in the first nine months of this year; as a result, says Mather, "Revlon is looking to reevaluate its advertising approach." Notes advertising exec Jerry Della Femina: "It's very much like makeup. They're giving themselves a makeover." As for press reports that they're hoping to sign Goldie Hawn's daughter Kate Hudson, 21, or model Gisele Bündchen, 20, as replacements, publicists for the new prospects say their clients have not been contacted, but Bündchen's agent adds that such a deal "would be great."
Meanwhile, British papers claim that Estée Lauder and actress Elizabeth Hurley, 35, may be ending their six-year exclusive relationship, with Gwyneth Paltrow, 28, replacing Hurley. "Just rumors," insists an Estée Lauder spokesperson (Paltrow's rep did not answer a request for comment). They also report that Hurley is negotiating with a Scottish lingerie company to promote the gel-filled Ultimo bra. "If she doesn't continue working with Estée Lauder," says Hurley's spokeswoman Karin Smith, "then she will probably look at other offers." Like, say, a gel-filled bra campaign? "I can't confirm or deny that," says Smith. "As of today, she is working exclusively for Estée Lauder."
Goin' to the Chapel?
In a recent London radio interview, Madonna mused about where she might one day wed. "I'd like to get married in Westminster Abbey," she said, adding that St. Paul's Cathedral "is great." Note to Madonna: It's time to start scouting other, non-Anglican venues. According to tradition, only royals or members of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath (appointed by Britain's prime minister) may marry at the Abbey; also, they must be members of the Church of England. The Material Girl is none of the above. As for St. Paul's, notes event booker Penny Muxworthy, "unless they have an award from the Order of the British Empire"—Grammles, alas, don't count—"it's unlikely they could marry here." Besides, she adds, "the marriage of divorced people is not allowed," and Madonna is divorced from actor Sean Penn.
At Last, the Angels Meet Charlie
It's the journalistic equivalent of a sundae with a cherry on top: the photo op with a built-in pun. Such was the case on Nov. 22, when Britain's Prince Charles posed brightly with two of the stars of the new blockbuster movie Charlie's Angels. The prince, 52, even offered up a bit of laddish charm befitting the movie's sexy, 70s-era tone. "You both look very smart," he told Angels Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu at the film's London premiere. Then, leaning toward the pair, he whispered, "I am very impressed."
So were the Angels. "I think he is a wonderful man," declared Liu, 32, who, with Barrymore, 25, sampled salmon tartare, guinea fowl and iced winter berries at an intimate dinner hosted by Charles at St. James's Palace the evening before. The Hollywood stars sat on either side of the prince, and Liu and Charles chatted about art ("I know he shows, and recently I had a gallery displaying my stuff, so we were really interested in each other's work," said Liu, who does mixed-media photography). Also in attendance: Charles's longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, 53. (Angel No. 3, Cameron Diaz, was in New York City working on Vanilla Sky.) During drinks prior to the meal, "there was a lot of giggling and laughing," says an observer. "At one point Drew and Lucy gave [the prince] a big hug." For her part, Barrymore called Charles "a real gentleman and charming."
NO Truck with George
Is there room enough in the literary world for two Dumpy the Dump Trucks? Yes, indeed. Julie Andrews just cowrote a children's book by that title with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. Author Cathy East Dubowski did the same thing 10 years ago. "It's a wild coincidence," says Dubowski, 46, who wishes Andrews success and notes, "If you are writing a book about a dump truck, you wouldn't name him George."
Modine's Late Returns
Cutthroat Island? For Matthew Modine, it's the title of his 1995 film and a description of Manhattan, where, 13 years ago, someone stole his wedding album and several of the amateur artist's paintings. But NYPD Det. Scott P. Dillin, 40, recently received a tip from a woman who had seen Modine's art—including a water-color of him with Nicolas Cage—in the home of an acquaintance, Rahul Prasad. Dillin tracked Prasad—who had moved to new digs—scaled a fire escape, peered through a window, and, he says, "there was Matthew and Nicolas Cage"—the painting, not the people. Police seized 11 paintings and a wedding album and charged Prasad, 32, with criminal possession. "I have always known," says Modine, 41, "they would return to me one day."
POP QUIZ
with Matt Lauer
Today's Matt Lauer was among those honored by New York City's fashion industry last week at the Michael Awards, a benefit for the National Children's Leukemia Foundation. His particular prize? The Best Dressed Man of the Year crown. Lauer, 42, wore it well while Scoop talked with him afterward about the whys and wherefores of wardrobe.
Exactly how does one live up to the Best Dressed Man of the Year title?
You just wear a lot of white T-shirts, then no one has to really compare you to anything. You only have to compete against yourself.
Is there a particular item you hope never goes out of style?
Black cashmere V-necked sweaters. I like to wear them with white T-shirts on the weekends. There is something about cashmere. No matter if it is summer or winter, you just feel elegant in it. It's a classic.
Who is your favorite designer?
I am a big fan of [Italian designer Ermenegildo] Zegna. I wear a lot of Zegna clothes. I just think that it is casual and at the same time it is elegant. The clothes never make you feel like you are dressed in a costume.
Does your wife influence your fashion style? Does she pick out your clothes?
Since we have been married, she has helped me become a little bit more classic in what I wear. I think she has wonderful taste. She tends to be a little bit more daring than I am but in a classic way. So she has got me trying things, but for the most part she has gone through and weeded out some of the disasters in my closet.
Is there a particular time when you shop?
I shop mostly on weekends, but whenever I can, I do. I love to shop. It is a way to beat depression.
Expecting a necktie for Christmas?
I want a 1972 Volkswagen convertible.
Barry Unusual
That earthquake timbre. That soulful voice. That...burly back? On Nov. 23, partially because of in-the-round seating, nearly half of the 11,000-member audience at a Barry White concert in Sydney saw the Love God—who sat on a stool for most of the show—only from the rear. Hundreds of fans stormed out and demanded a refund. White, perhaps moved by the stampede, ordered a revolving stage for his next gig, which one fan called "simply fabulous."
ON THE BLOCK
PRACTICE PAD
As lawyer Lindsay Dole on The Practice, she has been stabbed by a faux nun and married on a baseball field. But in reality Kelli Williams leads a fairly typical life—for an actress. After four years on the hit show, Williams is moving on up, real estate-wise. She and her husband, writer Ajay Sahgal, just sold their three-bedroom, 3,000-sq.-ft. modernist home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles for $765,000. The gated hideaway with canyon and city views was built in the '40s, but before moving in two years ago, the couple added a master suite with walk-in closet and a home theater. Their new home on the west side is larger, closer to work for Williams—and closer to the ocean.
- Contributors:
- Dan Jewel,
- Michelle Tauber,
- Karen Brailsford,
- Liz Corcoran,
- Sandra Lee,
- Debra Lewis,
- Angela Mosconi,
- Eric Noe,
- Rebecca Paley,
- Simon Perry,
- Michele Stueven.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
