By Drew Grant 5/13 11:37am

Exclusive

RHONY, Season 5 (Bravo)

Exclusive: RHONY Contracts Still Unsigned as of This Morning; Tensions Still Running High for New Season

Last week it looked like The Real Housewives of New York City could get shut down for good when all six of the cast members refused to sign their contracts. Shooting for the series was supposed to commence last Wednesday (according to several news outlets), but was delayed when negotiations stalled.

Thank goodness it might not be over. According to Deadline, RHONY ladies Carole Radziwill, Ramona Singer, LuAnn de Lesseps, Heather Thomson, Aviva Drescher and Sonja Morgan all received modest pay increases, though how “modest” that money is definitely on a case-by-case basis; Ramona Singer made $500,000 last season and was holding out for a million, while a source close to the negotiations told The New York Observer that The New York Post’s quoted “average” payout for a housewife–$65,000–was “in the ballpark” of what was being offered this time around.

According to an industry insider, however, none of the ladies have officially signed their contracts yet, so don’t be jumping for joy just yet. Read More

By Drew Grant 4/06/12 9:15am

The Real Housewives of New York City

The RHONY cast: Ramona Singer, LuAnn de Lesseps, Aviva Drescher, Caroline Radzwill, and Heather Thomson (Getty Images)

Real Housewife of New York City’s Aviva Drescher Spills About New Season’s Drama

With the 5th season of The Real Housewives of New York City airing June 4th, the first teaser trailer has given fans a lot to look forward to. Not only are there three new Housewives—Aviva Drescher, Heather Thomson, and Carole Radziwill—but the sneak peak shown earlier this week has everything from prosthetic, skinny-dipping, and an elderly gentleman suggesting that he could give one of the ladies her “first squirting orgasm.” And a lot of booze, to be sure.

Ms. Drescher, an advocate for amputees (she herself only having one leg) appears to play a major part in the drama of the season. The trailer begins with Ramona Singer asking if the toes on her prosthetic are “real” and ends with Ms. Drescher calling the tenured Housewife “white trash.”

“I regret having said those words,” Ms. Drescher told The Observer by phone yesterday. “I have a much larger vocabulary than that.” Read More

By The Editors 10/11/11 7:12pm

Opening Shot

Housewife de Lesseps.

Seasons Change in New York

Don’t let the warm weather fool you, we are officially in Fall season mode. You can always tell the changing of the seasons by the changing of the leaves, or at least by the changing of the hair colors of The Real Housewives of New York—which we anticipate will take place any day now in some of the city’s higher end hair care establishments as LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer reap the rewards of their cast-off cast members by doubling their salary. The two will now be getting $500,000 each to throw champagne in each other’s faces. Who says that there are no high-paying jobs anymore? Rather unbelievably, fellow New Yorkers, these are the 1%. Read More

By Caroline Bankoff 11/05/08 2:41pm

Morning Memo: Barack Obama’s Star-Studded Victory Party; Tim Robbins’s Voting Debacle; The National Enquirer Plays (Very) Dirty

Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Will.I.Am, and Star Jones were among the celebrities who attended Barack Obama‘s victory rally in Chicago’s Grant Park last night. Ms. Winfrey called the win "the greatest experience of [her] lifetime." [US Weekly] 

An indignant Tim Robbins spent five hours attempting to vote yesterday after a registration Read More