By Lieba Nesis
-My first bit of information comes hot off the presses as of Wednesday November 18th. While many of you have never heard of the formerly private billionaire art collecting Mugrabi family-they have lately received more than a few headlines. They first entered the public eye in September 2016 when 46-year-old Tico Mugrabi, the brother of David, married 23-year-old Colby Jordan in a $20 million wedding in the South of France. There were armed security guards in boats and picture identification checkpoints as well as severe social media prohibitions to ensure utmost secrecy. However, the word was out, as Karlie Kloss, Owen Wilson, the Olsen twins, Princess Beatrice and hundreds of other notables gathered to toast the happy couple. Tico’s brother, David, was not as fortunate as he and his beautiful wife Libbie made headlines for their divorce in July 2018. David’s father, the Israeli born, Jose, found himself in an untenable position as his vast art collection including over 1,000 Warhols as well as Basquiats, Picasso’s and Monets were put in severe jeopardy. Jose bought his first painting in 1982 for $120,000-which happened to be a Renoir-and the rest is history. To say the 82-year-old Jose has an eye for art is like saying Baryshnikov has a way with dance as Jose continues to remain one of the savviest collectors in the world. The divorce seemed to be increasingly acrimonious until Libbie told Page Six and Avenue at the end of August that she had settled the litigation after being inspired by the conscious uncoupling of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. That seemed to be a red herring, as the two were still involved in daily negotiations regarding her financial settlement as Libbie was seeking control of their $72 million Upper East Side townhouse. After 13 years of marriage and two kids the couple settled on a reasonable sum including providing Libbie with a significant amount of highly prized art, and control of their 7,000 square foot Bridgehampton home. David and Libbie continue to remain great friends speaking daily and co-parenting their two beautiful children Joseph and Mary. The divorce papers were officially signed on Wednesday November 18th, and the now single Libbie is headed to London, Hawaii and Miami to pursue a career in art philanthropy and enjoy the company of her coterie of friends as she aims to help others.
Surprisingly, Libbie told Page Six and Avenue at the end of August that she had settled the litigation after being inspired by the conscious uncoupling of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. That seemed to be a red herring, as the two were still involved in daily negotiations regarding her financial settlement as Libbie was seeking control of their $72 million Upper East Side townhouse. Married for 13 years with two kids, no prenuptial and a vast art collection worth at least $2 billion it seemed the Mugrabis would have to pay big. Libbie who was receiving a stipend of $100,000 a month, a paltry sum compared to the $3 million yearly allowance she was formerly given, was even reported to have recently skipped out on $150,000 of rent according to the New York Post. While the 41-year-old Libbie asked for $100 million the couple settled on a reasonable sum including providing Libbie with a significant amount of highly prized art, giving her control of their 7,000 square foot Bridgehampton home, as well as a large monthly stipend, and a vast amount of cash. David and Libbie continue to remain great friends speaking daily and co-parenting their two beautiful children Joseph and Mary. The divorce papers were officially signed on Wednesday November 18th, and the now single Libbie is headed to London, Hawaii and Miami to pursue a career in art philanthropy and enjoy the company of her coterie of friends. Libbie who was formerly linked to Bitcoin billionaire Brock Pierce, is no longer seeing the presidential hopeful and there will undoubtedly be a number of suitors pursuing the effortlessly stylish Libbie.
-A couple of well-heeled New Yorkers have expressed outrage at the “woke” agenda being shoved down the throats of their private school kids. In July 2020 billionaire John Paulson slammed private school Spence for indoctrinating his two daughters with anti-white messages including an Indian Education class where the white teacher was portrayed as a mean ugly redheaded monster and a white father rapes his daughter along with a school play portraying two white girls pushing a black girl because she didn’t summer in South or East Hampton. The final straw for the Paulsons was a group of student writings that promoted the idea that students were only successful because they were the right race and not because they worked hard and came from stable, healthy backgrounds. Paulson, a philanthropist who is one of the largest donors to Spence, and has contributed $400 million to the Harvard School of Engineering as well as $100 million to the Central Park Conservancy, continues to remain one of the most valued donors on the New York social scene, giving generously to Carnegie Hall, the Lang Lang Foundation, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet. In July 2020, after years of less than stellar returns, Paulson converted his hedge fund into a private investment office and returned much of his external capital.
Another luminary similarly furious with the New York City school system is news anchor Megyn Kelly who revealed on her Monday podcast that she and her husband Douglas Brunt, were pulling their two kids Edward, 11 and Thatcher Bray, 5 from the $55,900 Collegiate School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side after a letter was sent to the school’s faculty that “white school districts across the country are full of future killer cops” and that kids were being “indoctrinated in black death” and were left “unchecked and unbothered in their schools.” It is hard to believe in 2020 this kind of hateful propaganda is becoming mainstream fodder at elite Manhattan schools.
-Rumors continue to swirl that 57-year-old televangelist pastor Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria are headed for a divorce. Osteen and his wife remain a super power couple as his show is broadcast to over 10 million weekly viewers in the U.S. alone and he remains a bestselling author leading a vast multimillion dollar empire. It is hard to fathom he and his wife, who have two children, are heading for splitsville, and hopefully this is some nasty scuttlebutt concocted by Osteen haters.
-The shameful news was revealed on Wednesday November 18th that Cardi B will be named Woman of the Year by Billboard for its Women in Music event. Cardi B who joined Megan Stallion this past August in one of the most sexually explicit videos called WAP an acronym for “wet-ass pussy” which speaks explicitly about being tied up and choked and using a man for cash is hardlly a paradigm of female empowerment. She has repeatedly reconciled with her cheating husband and is known to drink alcohol and take drugs on a regular basis. I had the honor of watching her perform at the LIV nightclub in Miami. She showed up at 5 AM downing bottles of hard liquor and concluded her performance 7 minutes later when she was carried off the stage inebriated beyond repair. The sad thing is Cardi has become a role model for teenage girls who are grappling with their budding sexuality. In the age of the #MeToo movement choosing her as a role model for a global audience comprised of impressionable young woman is downright tragic. The sexualization of women by celebrities such as Lizzo, the Kardashians, and numerous female rap stars should never be lauded-they are simply making money off our children’s backs and the repercussions are irreversible.
-The last thing I want to hear is celebrities complain during the pandemic whether its Ellen Degeneres saying her multimillion dollar California mansion was akin to being in prison or JLo saying she has been “depressed” during the pandemic. What is so miserable about hanging out with your gorgeous fiance Alex Rodriguez in your numerous multimillion dollar mansions, surrounded by your large families while raking in millions. Sorry Jennifer I will save my kleenex for the millions of unemployed, homeless people struggling to put food on the table while you and Alex proffer your unsuccessful bid for the Mets.
