Evine Live Chef Todd English Sued Over $270,000 Legal Bill

Celebrity chef and Evine Live vendor Todd English is in hot water again.

The New York Post reported Wednesday that English, known for his public womanizing and imbibing, is being sued by a law firm for allegedly not paying his $270,000 legal bill.

http://pagesix.com/2015/11/11/todd-english-facing-lawsuit-over-270k-in-unpaid-legal-bills/

English, who once sold his pots and pans on HSN, over the years has been sued several times for allegedly stiffing people how owed money. In the latest lawsuit, the firm Seyfarth Shaw claims the chief has refused to pay it for repping him for Labor Department disputes, bankruptcy and “matters related to English’s La Guardia Airport restaurant Figs from January to December 2013,” the Post wrote.

The tabloid also reported that English ranks No. 129 on New York’s list of those who owe taxes, with the chef owing $715,000.

Hope his cookware is selling well on Evine Live.

‘America’s Top Model’ Jay Manuel On His HSN Makeup Line

The New York Post did a story last week on Jay Manuel premiering his makeup line on HSN last month, headlined “Makeup Tips From A Man Who Wears It.”

http://nypost.com/2015/04/24/hey-ladies-this-man-is-here-to-tell-you-how-to-wear-makeup/

Manuel, a longtime panelist on “America’s Next Top Model,” offered his tips on makeup application, and talked about how he uses his own products when he’s on the air: Skin Perfector Foundation and Luxe Powder (which is sold out online).

http://www.hsn.com/shop/jay-manuel-beauty/13231

He also talks about his Soft Focus Powder Blush, Beauty Bronzer, lipstick in “Carnal” and lip and eye liner in “Naked.”

Is QVC’s Jackie O Jewelry Line ‘Tacky,’ ‘Sleazy’ And ‘A Ripoff’?

The New York Post’s gossip column, Page Six, blasted QVC Sunday over — of all things — its collection of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis jewelry.

Say what?

We’re dying to hear your thoughts about this brouhaha. After all, this collection has been sold on the home shopping network for years without any flap that we knew of.

The headline on the item was “QVC’s Jackie O Cheap Show.”  It reported that Kennedy daughter Caroline (whose own daughter worked as a reporter at our current place of employment) “isn’t happy that the name and likeness of her mother, who died in 1994, is being exploited,” the Post reported.

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/qvc_jackie_cheap_shot_RkvC8HSW4Y4nagcjF3tolO

The Post wrote that Caroline, our new ambassador to Japan, made the jewelry collection’s maker, Camrose & Kross of Boonton, N.J. (we once dated a guy from there) put a disclaimer on its website. It says that the Kennedy family and the John F. Kennedy Library don’t endorse and are not associated with the jewelry venture.

QVC Jackie O jewelry line puts Caroline in a snit

But QVC doesn’t run this disclaimer, and the Post slams the home shopping network for not airing it.

We have seen many of the Jackie jewelry shows on QVC, and we never really assumed that the stuff was endorsed by the family.

The pieces are fashion jewelry replicas of necklaces, crosses, earrings, bracelets, etc., that were in the First Lady’s collection. The host, Phil Katz, shows photos of Jackie wearing the pieces the line has copied. Katz then explains who gave Jackie a particular piece, on what occasions she wore it, who it was made by, what it was made of, etc.

We would watch just to learn about the jewelry. We never bought anything (we’re not into fashion jewelry), but we thought the presentations were very informative and tastefully done.

But the Post item, perhaps planted by a Caroline crony, chided that the Jackie QVC line isn’t authorized, and called it “a ripoff” and “sleazy.”

One of the ‘tacky’ Kennedy pieces, Jackie’s ‘paperclip’ necklace

After all, the Post said, Jackie “would not be caught dead in ‘gold tone'” costume jewelry .

Well, excuse us poor peons who can’t afford to buy 14K jewelry and real diamonds. We were not all to the manor born, like the Kennedys and Bouviers.

Jewelry makers have been creating replicas of movie star jewelry, including Jewelry Television’s line of Marilyn Monroe goodies, as well as copying pieces done by designers like Coco Chanel, for years. Get over it, Caroline.

Here is the disclaimer that Camrose & Kross has on its website:

The John F. Kennedy Library is a division of the National Archives and Records Administration, and therefore, a division of the US Government. Neither the Kennedy Family nor the Presidential Library authorizes, sponsors, endorses, or recommends any products… including these Jewelry renderings of materials in the public domain. Camrose & Kross is an independent corporate entity.

Camrose & Kross is a leading jeweler that is customer-focused and works to provide superior service to all our customers around the world. We are driven to deliver services that are differentiated not only by our technical expertise, but by our awareness of your needs. We are unique in having developed an intimate knowledge of Ms. Jacqueline Kennedy through intensive research and original scholarships. Therefore, we are happy to help celebrate the life of one of the 20th century’s great ladies, with the highest quality jewels.

http://jackiesjewelry.com/about/

Designer Mark Zunino Sued By Kleinfeld’s Over His QVC Line

Deceased designer Nolan Miller’s protege, Mark Zunino, has wound up in trouble for over his QVC gig, although we are a little confused by the brouhaha.

The New York Post reported Wednesday that Zunino is being sued by Kleinfeld Bridal, the famous New York wedding gown emporium, where he is creative design director. Kleinfeld alleges that Zunino “is undercutting its business by designing discount dresses for QVC,” the Post wrote.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/it_wedded_diss_960je5OwnIA0ZXFqUvmYeL

The lawsuit charges that Zunino was barred from doing any designing that would compete with his work for Kleinfeld, where he is being paid $175,000 his first year and $200,000 his second year, according to the Post.

Mark Zunino and two press-shy sisters

Then, Kleinfeld alleges, it learned that Zunino was doing bridal apparel for Nolan Miller Inc. The court papers say that Miller, known for designer dresses for “Dynasty,” was also designing dresses for QVC. In fact, Nolan did a glamorous fashion jewelry line for QVC, not apparel.

HOwever, since Miller passed away Zunino has designed some apparel for QVC, but none of it involved wedding dresses and would not seem to compete with Kleinfeld.

http://www.qvc.com/CatalogSearch?langId=-1&storeId=10251&catalogId=10151&keyword=Mark+zunino

Nonetheless, the lawsuit charges that Zuninot can’t devote “his full efforts” to designing for Kleinfeld when he is also doing work for Nolan Miller Inc., the Post reported.

The wedding dresses that Zunino designed for Kleinfeld range in price from $6,000 to $15,000.

Mary J. Blige Charity Donations From HSN Perfume Sales Have Wafted Away, New York Post Claims

Singer Mary J. Blige, who broke sales records when she debuted per perfume “My Life” on HSN, is in a lot of hot water. Part of those fragrance sales were supposed to go to Blige’s charity, but it doesn’t look like they ever made it there.

The New York Post reported Sunday that Blige’s charity for women has “hundreds of thousands of dollars” unaccounted for; hasn’t filed all its federal tax returns; and has been named a defendant in two lawsuits.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mary_bilk_charity_sham_4xZmMuES6vfKT21oIq7TjI

The Post story talks about how part of the sales from “My Life” were supposed to go to her charity, but now those donations are missing.

“She (Blige) was promoting her fragrance, My life, which sold a record 60,000 bottles on the Home Shopping Network during its six-hour debut in 2010,” The Post wrote. “One dollar from each sale was supposed to benefit The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, known as FAWN.”

But according to The Post, “Where the $60,000 from the fragrance sale and other donations went is a mystery. The group’s 2010 annual report has nothing on its finances for that year.”

The lawsuits against the charity were filed by a group of musicians, who allege they were stiffed for $167,000 after performing at a gala; and by TD Bank, for a $250,000 loan it extended and was never repaid.

Not cool, Mary J.

Celebrity Chef And HSN Pot Peddler Todd English Skewered By New York Post Again

The New York Post will not let celebrity chef/HSN pot peddler Todd English alone. And we’re more than happy to share the dish, so to speak.

The Post’s gossip column, Page Six, lead off one day last week with an item that said that some of English’s “Boston brethren think the celebrity chef is full of stale air.”

The headline was “Chefs say Todd’s out to lunch.”

Beleaguered chef Todd English

As it turns out, Boston magazine has done some very unflattering stories about English, with jabs such as he has turned into a “tourist-feeding hack” and is just “half the chef he used to be.”

Needless to say thems’ fightin’ words. So English apparently circulated a letter in his own defense, and tried to get his colleagues in the cooking world to sign it. He didn’t have much luck.

According to Page Six, Boston magazine has been brutal to English, who is best known in New York circles for leaving his bride-to-be at the altar. He later took her to court for hitting him in the head with his own watch.

The magazine skewered English for appearing in Michelob ads, hosting the Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas and being caught chasing skirts in the Big Apple.

“You claim you got clocked in the eye by a wristwatch-wielding fiancée,” the magazine wrote, charging that English was making a “laughingstock” of himself, according to Page Six.

HSN Vendor And ‘Top Chef’ Babe Padma Lakshmi Is House Shopping

HSN vendor Padma Lakshmi, in between being involved in a custody fight, has still found time to go house-hunting in Manhattan.

The New York Post reported Thursday that Lakshmi, of “Top Chef” fame, was spotted being chauffered around in a stretch BMW to check out places to live downtown, including a $11 million five-bedroom condo in the Greenwich building on West 13th Street.

That humble abode was a mere 4,535 square feet. The brunette beauty has also scoped out “Upper East Side mansions” and “funky downtown pads,” according to the Post.

Lakshmi recently made tabloid headlines because the father of her daughter Krishna, Adam Dell, is suing for custody of the baby. Lakshmi, who does the “Easy Exotic” tea and spice line for HSN, is no longer seeing Dell. Her squeeze now is trillionaire Teddy Forstman.

QVC Vendor And Reality TV Tyrant Gordon Ramsay Makes Page Six Again

Last time we wrote about one of QVC’s newest vendors, potty-mouthed chef and reality TV star Gordon Ramsay, we got reamed for our remarks. Well, here it goes again.

Ramsay was back on the New York Post’s Page Six Thursday, with news that a British bank had filed a lien against his home. Seems that the Royal Bank of Scotland had loaned Ramsay $15 million to rescue his faltering restaurant empire, and the house was collateral.

Ramsay’s camp told Page Six that the lien only means that the bank wants notice if the chef tries to put the home on the market. Ramsay’s mouthpiece also said that he only owes roughly $6 million to the bank.

The sandy-haired chef’s restaurant empire has been trimmed in recent years, as he closed or sold off some of his high-end eateries.

We Beat ‘Em, But Page Six Has Details On Kardashian Clothing Line For QVC

The Kardashians do curvy

You read it here first, folks, but Page Six has an item Friday on the Kardashian sisters bringing a clothing line to QVC.

The New York Post’s gossip page, in an item headlined “Kards do curves,” says the new line. named K-Dash, will debut on QVC during New York’s Fashion Night Out Sept. 10.

During a second-quarter conference call earlier this month, QVC CEO Mike George announced that the Kardashian line was coming and that QVC was co-sponsoring Fashion Night, when is how we heard about it.

Page Six has more details about Kim, Khloe and Kourtney’s line. It says that the Kardashians are doing the clothes by colloborating with “Mad Men” costume designer Janie Bryant, who is also doing her own “Mad Men”-inspired line for QVC. (Unless the lines are one and the same, we’re not sure.)

K-Dash is targeting women who have curves, like Kim.

HSN Vendor/Celebrity Chef Todd English Calls Bride-Jilting Scandal ‘Horrible Time’ In His Life

Todd English wants you -- to go to Ca Va

Hunky celebrity chef-restaurateur-HSN vendor Todd English has apparently forgiven The New York Post for the many stories it did last October about him allegedly jilting his bride-to-be, Erica Wang.

English gave the tabloid an extensive interview for a three-page spread Wednesday, and we couldn’t find one mention of HSN in it. We hope you’re not ashamed of your home-shopping gig, selling a line of “green” pans, Todd.

The Post story is part of English’s efforts to drum up publicity for his new Manhattan restaurant, a French brasserie called Ca Va. The article is headlined “NYC’s Tasty Dish: After Being Burned By Love, Sexy Celebrity Chef Todd English is Back Fanning the Flames.”

In the piece, The Post drags out all the dirty details of English’s “scandalous breakup” with his fiancee Wang last fall.
Asked about what happened, and if he had any remorse over how it played out in the press, English told the Post, “Oh my God, yes, of course. Yes. It’s horrible. I’m not all that tough. It was a horrible time in my life.”

Wang gave The Post an exclusive interview last October claiming that English had left her at the altar, and she went ahead with the fancy reception at the posh St. Regis anyway. Wang also charged that English left her holding the bag for $12,000 of costs from the cancelled wedding.

English disputed Wang’s claims, saying he had told her the nuptials were off long before the wedding day and that he’d paid all the bills for the derailed event.

The whole mess got even nastier when English filed charges against Wang for hitting him in the head with his pricey Chopard watch. A judge subsequently ordered Wang to take anger management classes.

English told the Post hat he’s got a new TV series in the works, and that he is writing two books.

But the best was the Post’s headline for the jump on its spread on the bedroom-eyed chef: “English (Stud) Muffin.”