Scene in the Tropics

The first look at Joanna Krupa's Maxim photo spread

Say what you will about The Real Housewives of Miami and what it did or didn't do for the reputations of the so-called 'wives', but for model Joanna Krupa, it led to a centerfold lovely feature in the March issue of Maxim, out on stands February 19. For those who only read Maxim for the articles, you'll have to wait and buy the mag yourself because we were too busy watching paint dry, though the former Dancing With the Stars contestant did wax philosophical on her reality TV hardships."I’d say DWTS was tougher—it was physically and mentally exhausting! When you’re out dancing with your friends, you think you’re cool. But then you get in the ballroom and it’s totally different," Krupa said. As for the threat possibility of a third season of Miami's Housewives, no news on that front, according to Bravo spokesman Ryan McCormick, who told us, "Nothing yet." 

"French Kim Kardashian" & rumored Chris Brown paramour frolicks in Miami

Dubiously known as the French Kim Kardashian, Nabilla Benattia is famous for her own personal exploits and, among other things, a sizeable tattoo just below her ass cheek that says "Everybody Dies but not Everybody Lives."

Benattia also has questionable taste in men, most recently linked to Chris Brown when she was seen leaving his hotel room at the W Opera in Paris in December. This wasn't the first time she's been linked to Brown, who first approached her on the beach in Miami and asked her to be in one of his music videos.

Benattia, who was last seen at South Beach hip hop hot spot Bamboo, is currently filming French reality show Angels of Reality around Miami. Kardashian qui? And to think, there once was a time when Jerry Lewis was France's most inexplicable American export.

(Photos/Shandrew PR)

Billy Joel jams at the Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show

For the second year in a row, Billy Joel made an appearance Saturday at the Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show where he gave this cool, impromptu performance.

#RHOM's Lisa Hochstein speaks out on controversial blog commenter lawsuit

Real Housewives of Miami's Lisa Hochstein experienced little controversy during her freshman season on the Bravo franchise other than some pesky preservation issues involving her cavernous Star Island estate. Only now that the show has ended is Hochstein in the news, this time sharpening her legal claws and suing a woman who made a comment about her on a reality TV blog.

Hochstein claims that Jessica Lederman's comments that she "was an escort who also did soft porn in Vegas," caused her severe emotional distress and has damaged and threatened her employment and social life. She is suing Lederman for over $15,000, says TMZ. We spoke to Hochstein, who admitted that the controversy over the lawsuit, filed quietly a few months ago has taken her by surprise.

"This was filed a while ago and somehow it surfaced. This isn't something I was going to publicize. It's not the kind of exposure I was looking to get. I do want to put out there that I get it, that I'm out there on TV and there's gonna be anonymous bloggers and posters who will say what they want about me," Hochstein said.

"This person is an acquaintance we've invited in our home and who has smiled in our faces. She had no shame in saying these horrible things. If you are going to put something that nasty, saying someone's an escort, a porn star, that's a big deal to me I want to have a family. The fact that she knows me and I've seen her in my home, well, it just sits the wrong way . I'm not going to go after every blogger and commenter out there. Trust me, I've been called way worse. I have thick skin as part of this whole show, but this really struck a chord. I didn't want it to get out of hand and I'm all for freedom of speech, but when you know someone personally and act like you're friendly with them and then go making an accusation like that, it's a big deal. What have I done to her? "

When we asked her how, exactly, the comments affect her employment, the former model turned housewife explained that "People are still looking to use me as brand ambassador and people who think I am a hooker, an escort . . .it's a bad look....I don't go patrolling for these things. I don't take myself that seriously, but it just rubbed us the wrong way. Maybe [the lawsuit] could have been a little extreme, but at the time we felt it was something we needed to do."

Eye candy: George Clooney at Rocco's Tacos & Tequila Bar

Just days before he's scheduled to present at the Golden Globes, George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila road trip took him, along with partners Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman, to Rocco's Tacos on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale last night. Clooney & co. were in Dallas the night before and will hit Vegas before heading back to LA. 

(Photos/Alex Markow)

Sofia Vergara's South Beach Story: Chris Paciello's a 'dangerous thug'

Things may be back to normal for Modern Family bombshell Sofia Vergara and her Delray Beach-based fiance Nick Loeb, but Vergara isn't too thrilled with her former flame turned friend, reformed Miami club kingpin Chris Paciello, whom she called "a dangerous thug" on Twitter.

According to SoFlo political blog The Shark Tank,  the whole New Year's Eve dustup at the newly opened Story nightclub was a lot messier than reported.  Vergara's party of 17 was given a tiny table thisclose to Fereidoun ‘Fred’ Khalialian, who has a substantial rap sheet of his own. Says Shark Tank, "When one of Loeb’s party-goers inadvertently backed into space perceived by Khalialian’s bodyguards to be theirs, he was physically ejected back  to the Loeb table causing substantial tension between the two celebrating parties." When Vergara and Loeb tried to diffuse the tension, "two oversized security men tackled Loeb and wrestled him to the floor. Loeb, a tall 220 lbs made like Daniel Craig to fight off the thugs. Club owner Paciello jumped on top of this dog pile in an additional attempt to subdue Loeb. When Vergara realized that Loeb had been assaulted she entered the fray where upon two more bodyguards tackled her, tearing her dress.  Vergara struggled to her feet and left the club." Yikes. While some may say this is hearsay, Vergara herself endorses the story via Twitter.

A source very close to her told us "Sofia will never speak to [Paciello] again. He begged her to come to the club and then he had no table for her. He used her for all the press for the club." Vergara was a good friend of Paciello's during his own troubles and allegedly put up her house for his bail money way before she was a big star, visited him in prison, and, most recently of course, hosted (pro bono) the New Year's party at the Delano where Paciello is a consultant for nightlife conglomerate The Light Group. We contacted Paciello, who said he did not want to comment.

(Photo/Loeb and Vergara Christopher Polk / Getty Images for FOX)

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/04/3167894/back-to-normal-for-sofia-nick.html#storylink=cpy

It's not The 'Real' Housewives without something fake; the official spin on Adriana de Moura's marriage scandal(s)

Some reality TV sleuths (or cast members looking to detract attention from their own sad storylines or lack thereof) dug into public records today to discover that The Real Housewives of Miami's newly engaged cast member, Adriana de Moura, has already been married to her "fiance," Frenchman Frederiq Marq since, gasp, November 4, 2008. How dare she?! The big deal is that apparently de Moura's storyline centered around whether or not she'd marry her Frenchie. Now we find out she's been married to the guy this entire time. This wasn't de Moura's first fib down the aisle either.

She was married before, which she admitted, to Roberto Sidi, from whom she filed for divorce in Plano, Texas in 2001 (granted in 2003) despite saying on season one that she dumped him for cheating in 2006. A source close to de Moura says the former housekeeper turned art dealer slash aspiring night club singer (aren't they all?) has been married at least two other times, has never attended the Sorbonne in Paris, and, well, the list goes on. Scandal? Not quite, but the whole marriage cover-up does diminish any speck of credibility the Bravo franchise had, especially in the wake of the allegedly made-up-for-TV faux relationship between The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kenya Moore and her "boyfriend." It also adds a delicious irony in the fact that she faked not being married so she could play a housewife on TV. Go figure.

DeMoura's publicist Lynn Brodsky admitted to us that yes, "Adriana did get divorced in 2003, but her and Roberto tried to work things out and had a common law marriage until 2006. After breaking it off she then met Frederic in 2008. On a romantic whim after dating briefly, Adriana and Frederic went to the clerk's office on their own with no friends and family, and were married. There was a discrepancy in the certificate - so instead of having the marriage fix [sic] or annulled, they decided to take a step back and hold off until they were truly ready. Adriana and Frederic are planning to have a beautiful (and proper) wedding this spring."  When asked about this alleged discrepancy, Brodsky told us "Marriage certificates are not valid by law if there is a typo on it. There was a typo on their certificate. I have no further comments at this time."

That "typo" apparently, was that her maiden name (or one of her many supposed married names) is Moura and not "de Moura." But the only real discrepancy we can find is de Moura's entire storyline.

We asked Bravo for comment on this whole thing to which publicist Ryan McCormick replied, "We were not aware that they were married."

Adios The Real Housewives of Miami, hola Elsa Patton spinoff?

Last night, The Real Housewives of Miami came to a squealing, screechy end with the second part of the series' heavily edited reunion show, which was filmed on November 30 in Manhattan. And while the show never earned stellar ratings, it hovered steadyish at around 1.2 million viewers a week, which isn't great (Atlanta has more than double the viewers), but it's better than the abysmal early season numbers of less than a million. Whether it's enough to earn a third season or not is yet to be seen and if there is, at least one cast member is reportedly taking the high road the hell out of there. Feel free to enter your guesses in the comments seciton.  In the meantime, there are murmurs emanating from the Bravoverse that there is some consideration of a spinoff starring the show's hot topic, a trending topic last night in the Twitterverse: Elsa Patton, now better known, like a rich tomato sauce, as Mama Elsa. Patton is part of an elite crew of cast members turned Twitter trends, including Lea Black, whose name trended during part one. "The cat fighting between the women grew tiresome," says a TV insider. "The quest for them to seem relevant and the producers' feigned drama [ie. a married couple pretending not to be married for the sake of a storyline, as reported by Reality Tea] was eclipsed by the sheer presence and unintentional comedic timing of Mama Elsa. That alone is worthy of a spinoff."  We asked Bravo publicist Ryan McCormick, who bluntly said "Not true," but find us a publicist who tells the truth 100% of the time and we'll find you a Real Housewife untouched by cosmetic enhancements. So, for fun, we went to the Mama of all sources, who told us, “At this time in my life having a show would be a very exciting thing to do.” And not just for her, either.

World Music Awards sham canceled, uses Sandy Hook tragedy as excuse

By Jordan Levin and Lesley Abravanel

The mystery of the World Music Awards is solved.

It's been canceled once and for all, say organizers.

The official statement: "For 21 years, the World Music Awards was primarily produced in Monte Carlo. This year the Awards ceremony was scheduled to be at the Marlins Park on Saturday, December 22. Event organizer John Martinotti, along with the team on the ground in Miami, reached a decision yesterday to postpone the event: "We are sorry for any inconvenience but this decision had to be made due to logistical and multiple visa issues and in view of this week's national mourning. Fans have been a great support to the artists and have voted online in huge numbers."

A press release issued on Dec. 13 said the WMAs would raise funds for Superstorm Sandy victims and “be beamed to 180 countries reaching a billion viewers.”

Less than two weeks ago it was announced that the Eurocentric event, usually held in Monaco, would take place on Dec. 20 at Marlins Park. What wasn't announced was the name of a single performer. A vague press release over the weekend announced a date change to the 22nd and touted awards for several big names, including Jennifer Lopez, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan and One Republic (not One Direction as was mistakenly reported in Scene in the Tropics).
 
The only major act promised to actually perform was Bennett. Not so, said a Rogers and Cowan spokesman for Bennett, saying the famed jazz crooner was never slated to appear. Mark Young, a past World Music Awards producer and publicist for Jennifer Lopez and Earth, Wind & Fire contacted us saying, "Neither Jennifer or EWF are confirmed to participate on the show. Jennifer has a sold out concert in Puerto Rico as the final stop for her Dance Again World Tour on December 22. The show has been sold-out for months.

And a U.S. label publicist for Brazilian star Michel Telo, another act supposedly performing, also said Telo would be a no show.

Demi Moore stayed at A-Rod's house & made multiple visits to Miami's "Master Injector"

While some speculated that Demi Moore may be on the verge of another trip to rehab for substance abuse, according to our very inside sources, the only substances she is addicted to are age fighting ones--Restylane, Perlane, Dysport and Botox. While in town during Art Basel, the 50-year-old Moore made repeated visits to popular NYC and Coral Gables-based cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Frederic Brandt. As for the rumors she was shacking up with the 26-year-old art dealer Vito Schnabel at the W South Beach, those weren't true either as Moore was staying at Alex Rodriguez's house, Miami's own Hotel California for the bona fide A-listers. For a second we wondered if A-Rod and Moore were an item, but then we realized the baller was 37 and, well, that's a little too ancient for her. "No, no, they're not together at all," says our mole. Oh well. As for the ex-Mrs. Kutcher's allegedly odd behavior, that's an exaggeration, too. "The only thing weird about her, and it's not even that weird considering her age and considering her love of younger men," says the snitch, "is that she is absolutely, completely obsessed with her weight." Or lack thereof. (Photo/Getty Images/Dimitrios Kambouris)