A Writer's Revenge

So my embattled former Star coworker Jared Paul Stern has had a rough year with regards to some sort of "Page Six Payola" scandal that involves billionaire Ron Burkle and Page Six/The New York Post. For years JPS was involved with Page Six, second-in-command I think to Richard Johnson.



Okay, so some of you outside the NYC media bubble may not know about all this hoopla, and frankly I don't really understand it either. All I know is that JPS, who is humble, soft-spoken and incredibly dapper, was slandered, libeled, defamed and generally kicked around by the very same media that he'd once been an integral part of.

This was big news—Burkle, according to Wikipedia, "is a supermarket billionaire from Beverly Hills. . . . [and] a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, who calls Burkle's Boeing 757
private jet "Ron Air."

Also from Wikipedia: "In April 2006, Ron Burkle accused New York Post columnist Jared Paul Stern of attempting to extort money from him in exchange for more favorable Page Six coverage. Page Six, a popular and influential gossip column in the New York Post, appears to have increased their coverage of Burkle's private life over the past year. Ron Burkle secretly videotaped several private meetings between him and Jared Paul Stern, and has since presented the tapes to the FBI. During the meetings, Stern allegedly asked Burkle for a $220,000 investment in his clothing business in exchange for better Page Six coverage. No charges were ever filed against Stern, however, and Stern announced plans to sue Burkle for defamation. Stern filed suit on March 22, 2007, on several counts including defamation and civil conspiracy."

Blah, blah, blah. The good news is that JPS is finally striking back and surely will kick some billionaire butt. When you've been in your own lawsuit, you kind of get the heebie jeebies reading about those of people you know, so I largely ignored the coverage due to my gut reaction of, Jared would never do such a thing. Nice Jewish guy. Classy.

What does this have to with fashion you ask?
I'm getting there. First, Jared is one of the most uniquely stylish straight men I've met.



Second, JPS has his own line of clothing and accessories that are tres cool.
The line is preppy with a punk edge: Skull and Bones. For someone like me who has recently taken up tennis, but is not a typical Ralph Lauren WASP, I'm totally digging the canvas tote and the polo shirts. And the cuff links are bad-ass, perfect for that edgy guy who doesn't want to dress up but occasionally must.

And how amusing is the description of the canvas tote?
"Perfect for carrying your books, a bottle of Scotch, clothes for the weekend, the shopping, multiple personalities, cigarettes, a sweater (in case it gets cold), tennis balls, the dog's leash and just about anything else you can think of...." Hmm, what else? Bottle of Xanax, stun gun and tub of La Mer;)