Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

Betsey Johnson stores to close

Popular New York fashion designer Betsey Johnson’s chain went bankrupt Thursday, and most of her 63 freestanding boutiques will close.  From the NY Daily News:

The filing will likely result in the dismissal of 350 employees and the closure of most of the brand’s 63 stores. It listed “severe liquidity problems” and $4.1 million in outstanding unsecured obligations owed to vendors, manufacturers, service providers and other creditors including jewelers, watchmakers, banks and accountants. Steve Madden, who has owned the 34-year-old brand’s intellectual property rights since 2010, said in an email that the group will continue to support the company and ensure existing orders will be produced and ship on time.

Her clothing will continue to be sold Saks and other high-end stores.

Betsey Johnson graduated from Syracuse University and spoke at my graduation.  I’ve always kept tabs on her success over the years having met her and having the S.U. connection.

Posted on

On the book tour road with Olivia

One thing that amazes me are the autograph hounds who stalk every stop we make while Olivia is promoting her new cookbook “LivWise.”

Every single place Olivia goes, the autograph seekers seem to know and are waiting with several pieces of memorabilia for Olivia to sign. When she asks their name for the autograph, they never want her to write a name – clearly so they can sell the signed items.

And the same guys are at every stop. Some follow on bicycles, some run alongside the car and ask at stop lights.

Kind of amazing…

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Posted on

I met Zach Wahls today

 
Today,  I met Zach Wahls in the lobby of CNN where he was doing promotional appearances for his new book My Two Moms.
As regular readers of The Randy Report know, on January 31, 2011, Zach Wahls addressed the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in a public forum regarding civil unions. The nineteen-year-old son of a same-sex couple, Wahls proudly proclaimed, “The sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character.” 

Hours later, his speech was posted on YouTube, where it went viral, quickly receiving more than two million views. By the end of the week, everyone knew his name and wanted to hear more from the boy with two moms.

I recently was talking about how celebrity sightings don’t usually affect me much, but I have to say seeing Zach at 20 feet I dropped my bag and approached him directly.  I introduced myself and explained what I do and how much I admire him.  He could not have been more gracious as this stranger babbled to him.  He was exactly what you would expect from  his public appearances, as were his two moms.

My Two Moms also delivers a reassuring message to same-sex couples, their kids, and anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider: “You are not alone.”  Make sure you check out his new book.

 
I was visiting CNN with Olivia Newton-John who is also on a book tour promoting her new healthy cookbook LivWise – Easy Recipes for a Healthy Happy Life for which all proceeds go to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
Olivia is a long-time ally of the LGBT community and has made her own public statement supporting marriage equality: “With respect to marriage equality, I believe that no-one has the right to judge and deny couples who love each other the ability to make a marriage commitment. Love is love.”
My very cool honor to get to introduce these two LGBT allies to each other.
Olivia Newton-John and the Wahls family
Posted on

Mitt Romney on the Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts of America’s habit of discriminating against gay members and troop leaders is again in the spotlight thanks to the allegedly patriotic group’s decision to ban lesbian Jen Tyrrell from heading her son’s group.

Hoping to keep the issue center stage, and put the squeeze on strategically anti-gay Republican Mitt Romney, GLAAD is pointing to video of the presidential candidate backing gay Scouts inclusion in 1994, when he was running for senator against Ted Kennedy.

Says Romney in the clip, “I believe that the Boy Scouts of America does a wonderful service for this country. I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

(source)

Posted on

Jeff Timmons on 98 Degrees reunion rumors

 
Earlier this month, millions of pop music fans were excited when they heard rumors that former ’90s boy band 98 Degrees was reuniting for a tour this summer.

Unfortunately, said rumors were quickly shot down by band member and soon-to-be-father Nick Lachey, who on Twitter wrote, “So psyched to see all the excitement for a 98 degree tour, but the only tour I’ll be doing this summer is at baby’s ‘r us.” (Nick and his wife, Vanessa Lachey, are expecting their first child together this year.)

“I honestly don’t think it’s gonna happen at all now,” founder and creator of 98 Degrees Jeff Timmons said, candidly. “If it wasn’t gonna happen now, it wasn’t gonna happen last year … Maybe it’ll never happen.”

“We had gotten serious about it,” he said, of the proposed summer tour. “So much so that a tour was being put together for us; a 15-city tour. We got on the phone, all of the guys discussed it, and it seemed like a go. And then not everybody wanted to do it, for various reasons. We make decisions collectively as a group; not one person make decisions. [Since] not all four of us were on the same page, we decided not to do it.”

“I would love to get back in the studio with 98 degrees, but I just don’t think it’s gonna happen,” Timmons says. “Some of us want to do music, and some of us don’t. We all gotta want to do it; we can’t be forced into that. It’ll come through in the music. So, I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I would love the opportunity, but right now it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna go down.”

Read more at Celebuzz