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Ron Burkle
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lawsuits
billionaire pervs
Supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle's name keeps popping up in the oddest places, doesn't it? When conman Rafaello Follieri was finally busted last week, the suit filed against him by his former business partner Burkle kept coming up. Jeffrey Epstein—finally sentenced yesterday for sex with a minor—used to be "very friendly" with Ron. They compared notes on planes! In that Vanity Fair story that upset Bill Clinton so much, it was Burkle who had those unnamed staffers worried about the appearance of impropriety. Now—the oddest one yet?—King of Pop Michael Jackson announced in a court deposition that it was Ron Burkle, along with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who saved his life when he ran out of money. Burkle brought in the Reverend to help, and Burkle's also done quite a bit of business with the Reverend's son Yusef (they own Radar together!). What a cast of unlikely characters! Did this rogues' gallery of amoral power-junkies select Ron, or vice versa? Why does the ostensibly liberal do-gooder zillionaire associate with these guys?
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The Company Ron Burkle Keeps
Supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle's name keeps popping up in the oddest places, doesn't it? When conman Rafaello Follieri was finally busted last week, the suit filed against him by his former business partner Burkle kept coming up. Jeffrey Epstein—finally sentenced yesterday for sex with a minor—used to be "very friendly" with Ron. They compared notes on planes! In that Vanity Fair story that upset Bill Clinton so much, it was Burkle who had those unnamed staffers worried about the appearance of impropriety. Now—the oddest one yet?—King of Pop Michael Jackson announced in a court deposition that it was Ron Burkle, along with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who saved his life when he ran out of money. Burkle brought in the Reverend to help, and Burkle's also done quite a bit of business with the Reverend's son Yusef (they own Radar together!). What a cast of unlikely characters! Did this rogues' gallery of amoral power-junkies select Ron, or vice versa? Why does the ostensibly liberal do-gooder zillionaire associate with these guys?
More »
con men
Why Follieri's Scam Was Different
Joshua David Stein and Page Six Magazine got lucky this week—con man and Anne Hathaway-dater Raffaello Follieri (at left, with Bill Clinton) was arrested just as Stein's long profile of him went to press! It's an entertaining read, and while it answers lots of questions about how Follieri's big con worked, it raises a bunch too. Like how the hell did such a ridiculous scam work for so long? And how much of his own insane hype did Follieri believe? He had to be convinced of his rightness (and righteousness) to keep the lifestyle going after getting exposed so many times by the billionaires he conned. So despite lawsuits and gradual exposure as a fraud, he soldiered on. More »
rumormonger
Did Ron Burkle Set Up Rafaello Follieri?
There was an interesting line in Wednesday's front-page Wall Street Journal story on alleged Italian con man Rafaello Follieri. Follieri, you'll recall, has been accused, among other things, of squandering $50 million from a partnership involving supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle and former President Bill Clinton, in part on lavish personal luxuries. The Burkle-Clinton swindle is at the heart of the criminal case that got Follieri arrested this week. And yet, the Journal said, Follieri and the partnership "recently settled the [parallel] civil case on undisclosed terms, and Mr. Follieri has begun spending time again with Mr. Burkle, say people familiar with the matter." Wow, Follieri blew millions of dollars of money entrusted to Burkle by his best buddy Clinton, and yet suddenly all was forgiven? I don't suppose Burkle was doing any surreptitious recording during his buddy-buddy time with Rafaello, like he did with Post gossip Jared Paul Stern? More »
tragedy
Jared Paul Stern's Lawyer Needs an Editor
Former Page Six gossip Jared Paul Stern famously lost his job when he was accused of trying to extort zillionaire supermarket magnate Ron Burkle. No charges were ever filed. So Jared filed a defamation suit against Burkle—and Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Secret Service agent Frank Renzi, flack Mike Sitrick, and Daily News reporter William Sherman. Bad news, Stern fans: a judge has dismissed the suit. He dismissed it with great prejudice and even a little literary criticism. "A New York State Supreme Court justice trashed Jared Paul Stern's lawsuit in his decision, saying it read more like a 'Mickey Spillane novel' than a carefully argued statement of law." Ouch. James Cain—or even Jim Thompson!—would be one thing, but you really don't want your legal brief reading as ham-fisted as a Mike Hammer book. Is this the end of little Jared? No. No, it is not. More »
Tossed
Bad news for former Page Six gossip columnist, Jared Paul Stern, in his jihad against the billionaire who had him fired from his job at the New York Post. The upstate dandy's defamation suit against Ron Burkle and the supermarket tycoon's buddy, Bill Clinton, has been thrown out.
Bad news for former Page Six gossip columnist, Jared Paul Stern, in his jihad against the billionaire who had him fired from his job at the New York Post. The upstate dandy's defamation suit against Ron Burkle and the supermarket tycoon's buddy, Bill Clinton, has been thrown out.
innuendo
Gina Gershon Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Man, Mr. Clinton
There is a rumor going around that Bill Clinton totes kissed Gina Gershon. Perhaps you first heard of this rumor here? 30,000 of you might have. This rumor got reported as one of the many things unnamed Clinton "advisors" were worried about in the recent Vanity Fair piece about Bill Clinton's messy business dealings and possibly scandalous personal life. Which led to Bill calling the piece's reporter a "scumbag" and now, because of the heat and probably because of Britney Spears' tears-of-a-clown-car, popular actress Gina Gershon denied sexing the former president on Regis and Kelly this morning. This is, of course, Ron Burkle's fault. More »
scandal
Bill Clinton Calls Vanity Fair Writer "Scumbag"
Audio emerged tonight of former President Bill Clinton calling Vanity Fair writer Todd Purdum a "sleazy... dishonest... slimy... scumbag." Former Times reporter Purdum, of course, is the guy who wrote the just-released article about how Clinton is running around the world on private jets, including one called "Air Fuck One," with billionaire scuzzballs like Ron Burkle, Steve Bing and Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton told a Huffington Post reporter Purdum was awful, and that the Vanity Fair piece has "five or six blatant lies," but then added he had never read it. But that didn't stop him from continuing to trash it, nor did the fact that Purdum is married to Clinton's former press secretary Dee Dee Myers. Audio after the jump, along with a text summary. More »
the big chill
Bill Clinton and the Billionaire Boys' Club
As we learned in Vanity Fair yesterday, Bill Clinton has spent his post-presidential life gallivanting about the world with a small cadre of scummy billionaires. All aging boomers, all sadly unwilling to mature, all addicted to sex with women a third their age. Who are they? What do they want from us? (Hint: if you are a girl aged 14-22, they want to have sex with you.) Let's meet the whole crew! They are just like Entourage except gross old billionaires. More »
scandal
Bill Clinton Runs With a Bad Crowd
Former President Bill Clinton is 61 years old and had a quadruple-bypass in 2004, so he probably should not be partying at all hours with people like Steve Bing and secret Radar owner Ron Burkle. But, as the new Vanity Fair says, he's still globe-trotting with this pack of zillionaires with odd and scandalous lives. The story opens at a Paris wedding. Clinton is attending, along with Burkle—the supermarket magnate who helped make post-presidential Bill Clinton a wealthy man. Burkle was with a girl who another guest described as "not much older than 19, if she was that." Clinton flew in on the private jet of real-estate heir Steve Bing, whose own life of scandal is summed up thusly: More »
Tabloid Television
Jared Paul Stern Murdered! (On TV)
The story of former Page Six scribe Jared Paul Stern and creepy supermarket billionaire/attempted modelizer Ron Burkle is being ripped from the headlines of two years ago for an upcoming episode of Law & Order. Daily News gossiper Ben Widdicombe reports that The Daily Show's Mo Rocca will play Stern. In real life, Burkle (who secretly owns Radar magazine and is a constant embarrassment to his bestest bud Bill Clinton) never did back up his claim that Stern had extorted him for $100 grand in exchange for powder-puff coverage, ended up the subject of even more bad press, and is now a defendant in a defamation suit brought by Stern that may well add to his humiliations. On TV, Stern will be dispatched with extreme prejudice. More »
ron burkle
Creepy Secret 'Radar' Owner Made Bill Clinton $12.7 Million
So—the years of tax returns the Clintons just released? They'll be feeding crazy news stories throughout the weekend. (Friday afternoon news dump! Good work, Clintons!) We'll try to limit ourselves to this: Bill Clinton has made millions of dollars just for being friends with Ron Burkle. Back in 2001, Burkle, the supermarket magnate who secretly owns Radar, asked his good friend Bill to do some nonsense advisory work for Burkle's private equity firm, Yucaipa Companies. How has that worked out? Well! Bill reported $12,674,668 in income from Yucaipa between 2001 and 2006. All for flying around on Burkle's private jet with cute girls. Anyway this could be a bit of trouble for Bill because of the sleazy rumors and whatnot.
exclusive
Ron Burkle Has Lady Problems
Supermarket baron, secret Radar owner, extortion claimer, and broheim supreme of Bill Clinton, Ron Burkle, is getting slammed by his former mistress on a video posted to Youtube Friday. "Antiques dealer" with a shady past Chevyn McClintock—last seen claiming that Burkle can't screw—greets viewers from, she says, "The very same beach and spot where several Clinton fundraisers were held." She then goes on to say that she's gone ahead and called the Feds on Burkle and Bubba. Then she talks about hookers in a way that could get a person disappeared real quick. More »
ron burkle
Burkle Still Bill's Best Bud
Former president Bill Clinton cut all ties to his ultimate A #1 bro Ron Burkle because of the fear that the "supermarket magnate" would taint his wife's presidential campaign, what with various sleazy allegations about him floating around the internet. Burkle, who secretly owns Radar, likes to fly around with models and other young women on his private jet, a pastime Bill has also enjoyed. He also has ties to the Sheikh of Dubai! But the thing with the girls is obv more damaging. So, understandably, it was reported all over the place that Bill was no longer doing business with Burkle. But, as the New York Sun explains, he actually hasn't stopped a damn thing. More »
rumormonger
Bill Clinton And Gina Gershon
The Wall Street Journal, in the newspaper's excellent investigation into the ties between Bill Clinton and Ron Burkle, explains why the former president is disentangling himself from the supermarket billionaire, as Gawker mentioned last month. Clinton will put some distance between his wife, the leading Democratic candidate in 2008, and politically toxic associates of the Yucaipa owner such as the Sheikh of Dubai and the official Chinese news agency. But is that all? More »
burkle blaster! pub busts prez pals!
Burkle Bites Back With Clinton Freak Show Friends Feature
Last week, HuffPo reported that Bill Clinton might allegedly be CUTTING ALL TIES with his good buddy and fellow chaste admirer of the female form, Ron Burkle. Today, Radar, which is secretly owned by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, ran a hilarious gallery of Bill Clinton's most unattractive friends and acquaintances with no news peg except, you know, "Bill Clinton's sure been in the news a lot lately, you guys noticed?" Weird, wild stuff.Clinton's Funky All-Stars [Radar]
BREAKING!!!! Bill Clinton has "severed business ties" with his longtime friend, secret Radar owner, supermarket mogul and alleged creep Ron Burkle. Apparently taking money from a dude who has been sued for various shady reasons by his entire family (among others) and who probably spends all his free time flying around on his private jet getting danced-at by models isn't the greatest move if your wife is running for president. This must be hard for Bill, considering the strength of their friendship. By the way, this is all according to "sources who know both men": There are also some denials! But it looks like there'll be an open seat on Air Burkle, hugely influential horndogs of America! [HuffPo]
quid pro quo
