California Gov. Gavin Newsom writes in his new memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” that he ended a relationship with actress Sofia Milos at the behest of his benefactor, oil heir Gordon Getty, who said she wasn’t right for him.
An insider tells me the reason was because she’s a Scientologist, a fact that created quite a bit of buzz at the time of their romance.
Newsom, the leading potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028, briefly dated the actress in 2006, when he was the mayor of San Francisco. Milos, at the time, was known for her recurring role on “CSI: Miami.”
Newsom reportedly met Milos at a wedding as he was divorcing Kimberly Guilfoyle, the current U.S. ambassador to Greece.
The pair apparently clicked because a week later he jetted down from San Francisco to spend time with Milos in L.A., the SF Chronicle reported.
The two were also said to have attended the annual banquet for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The appearance allegedly sparked concern among Newsom’s advisers when they learned the commission is actually an anti-psychiatry group co-founded by the Church of Scientology.
The couple broke up quickly after Newsom realized just how active Milos was in the cult-like church, which also claims Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Elisabeth Moss and Danny Masterson as members.
****
Dieter Esch is wondering why he wasn’t mentioned in Melania Trump’s memoir, “Melania.”
Esch owned the Wilhelmina agency that represented the Slovenian model when she first met Donald Trump in the late 1990s.
“She said they met at a fashion week party,” Esch told me. “She said Trump asked her to dinner. I told her, ‘Don’t worry. He’s a gentleman.’ I urged her to have dinner with him.”
After two and a half years at Wilhelmina, Melania became one of the first models recruited to Trump Model Management when it was founded in 1999. The agency closed in 2017 after Trump was inaugurated president for the first time.
While Esch only has good things to say about the president and first lady, he has very bad memories of Jeffrey Epstein, who tried to buy Wilhelmina in 1993.
“I had no idea who he was, but I didn’t like him,” Esch said.
Some months later, one of his models called in tears from St. Barts, saying Epstein had flown her and her roommates down to the Caribbean.
“I called Epstein and said, ‘The girls are back in 24 hours or I’ll have you arrested.’ The girls were back the next day,” Esch said.
When Esch told Trump what had happened, Trump said of Epstein, “His motives are no good.”
The onetime friends reportedly had a final falling out in 2007 when Epstein was said to have sexually harassed the teenage daughter of a Mar-a-Lago member, leading Trump to ban him from the club.
****
A group of men not known for strutting the catwalk took their turns at the Blue Jacket Fashion Show to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer.
Knicks legend Allan Houston, Giants great Amani Toomer and journalist Don Lemon modeled at the 10th anniversary show on World Cancer Day at Lavan Studios on West 42nd Street.
The lineup — assembled and decked out by designer Frederick Anderson — also included Carson Kressley, Ja Rule, Chris Noth, Mario Cantone, Bill Nye the “Science Guy,” restaurateur Omar Hernandez and Mike Woods of Fox 5.
Cheering them on were Kelly Bensimon, Carol Alt, Fern Mallis and Neil Patrick Harris, whose husband David Burtka also walked in the show.
Anderson said the annual event helps combat the silence over prostate cancer and “take the curse off of it. We have to get the word out.”
****
Christine Baranski suffered wearing a tight corset all day while filming her hit HBO show “The Gilded Age.”
At the HOW (Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper) charity luncheon in Palm Beach, where Baranski was a guest speaker, the actress said, “Honestly, it requires a lot of discomfort and a kind of zen-like acceptance. Once you’re in it, you’re in it until lunch, and lunch is only about half an hour.”
But Baranski feels lucky to be playing aristocratic Agnes van Rhijn, and praised her castmates for their talent and dedication.
“Many of the actors on ‘The Gilded Age’ come from strong theater backgrounds. That’s probably why the show feels so grounded,” she said. “It’s a different period in American history, and you have to be comfortable in corsets, wigs and a more formal style of speaking … I call that a champagne problem.”
Baranski teared up as she spoke about her mother’s battle against three different cancers before she died in her mid-80s.
“The doctors considered her a medical phenomenon,” the actress said. “In 15 years of illness, she never even said the word ‘cancer.’ It was too frightening. She would just say, ‘this thing’ … She was such a warrior.”
****
Art is barely taught in many public schools these days, but the Southampton Arts Center is stepping up to teach kids from grades K-12 about painting, sculpting, photography and more.
James Tisch, the chairman of the board of the Loews Corporation, and his wife Merryl Tisch, the former chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, have sponsored the program in collaboration with the local school district.
The partnership kicked off on Saturday with the opening ceremony for an exhibition titled “First Light: Celebrating Student Artists of Southampton.” The exhibition, which showcases a wide range of work from students across the district while honoring the educators who inspire them, will remain on view through May 3.
Throughout the run, the center will provide membership cards to all the kids in the area to encourage their participation in the arts.
