Here are some photos of Russell Crowe at last night’s NYC premiere of Les Miserables. Is it just me or does Russell look pretty good? I don’t like his (lack of) hair, but the suit looks great on him, I’m glad he went without a tie, and he just seems… relaxed…? Like, Russell is usually so grumpy and he always seemed kind of arrogant and douchey. But for the Les Mis promotion, all of the other actors keep talking about how nice he is and how supportive he was of the cast, and he just seems to be a lot softer these days. Cuddly!

Maybe it has something to do with his split from Danielle Spencer? She (publicly) dumped him in October, and I’m surprised that Crowe hasn’t had much to say about it, and I’m surprised that he hasn’t already picked up some hot young blonde jumpoff. But now Page Six claims that Crowe was seen getting “cuddly” with Billy Joel’s (William Joel!) ex-wife Katie Lee. Well, we know she likes old dudes.

Russell Crowe has been spending time with foxy foodie Katie Lee in the wake of his split from Danielle Spencer.

Sources spotted Crowe and Billy Joel’s pretty brunette ex cuddling in front of a romantic fireplace in the Drawing Room of the Greenwich Hotel at 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

“They seemed to be in an intense flirtatious conversation,” the spy told us exclusively, adding, “They looked really into each other.” Lee was seen at the hotel later in the day: “Katie was still at the hotel Sunday afternoon,” our spy said. “She was seen with Crowe at the same fireplace at about 2 p.m.”

Crowe is in town filming “A Winter’s Tale” with Colin Farrell. A source close to the project tells us, “Katie has been seen around with Russell,” but the two have just been seeing each other casually. Lee, 31, who split with Joel after five years of marriage in 2009 and won a massively generous payout, was also at Joe’s Pub on Saturday to watch Crowe, 48, perform with an all-star crowd.

[From Page Six]

I can’t believe Katie Lee is only 31 and she’s already been married and divorced to Billy Joel and now she’s going after Crowe?! I’m strangely impressed. I also think it’s interesting that Russell would go for a brunette – isn’t he “all blondes, all the time”? Hmm. Anyway, it’s nothing scandalous or anything – both of them are single and while the age difference is interesting, at least he’s dating a woman in her 30s. I consider that a victory.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

After an initial flurry of reports following Billy Joel and Katie Lee’s separation announcement, they’ve been keeping their drama pretty much out of the papers. Until now, that it. Page Six is reporting that Billy Joel is desperate to get back with Katie, and that he’s “obsessed with her”. Meanwhile, Katie seems to be living it up. She’s been going out a lot, planning a trip to Paris, and chatting/flirting with that E! cutie, Ben Lyons. I’d imagine Ben would look great to any girl, but especially a girl who’s been with Billy Joel for five years. Unknown is whether Katie is actually getting it on with that hot Israeli fashion designer/gigolo Yigal Azrouel:

BILLY Joel should have tried to “Get It Right the First Time” with soon-to-be ex-wife Katie Lee Joel. Sources say the aging pop star, who is legally separated from Katie Lee, is completely distraught over the June breakup and wants to get his woman back.

According to friends of the couple, “Billy is obsessed with her” and is trying to rekindle the relationship. The two split because Katie Lee — a TV food critic and chef — wanted to have kids and a family, and Joel did not. Adding to the tension were Katie Lee’s many nights out with designer Yigal Azrouel.

“Billy never wanted to go out with her. She wanted to have fun and promote herself, so she started hanging out with Yigal,” a source told us. Insiders say that Joel now believes Azrouel and Katie Lee were never more than friends and he’s doing everything he can to win her back. But a friend of Katie Lee told us, “They’re not getting back together. She is trying to move on.”

And it looks like she’s doing just that. A spy who saw Katie Lee at the Metropolitan Club Thursday night during the Moet party for Meryl Streep’s new movie, “Julie & Julia,” said she was “talking about visiting Paris, and mentioned going there on her own to study cooking.”

The following morning, Katie Lee was spotted at Norma’s in the Parker-Meridien hotel “chatting up and flirting with [E! correspondent] Ben Lyons.”

Joel, however, is not enjoying the same carefree life. He recently postponed two concerts with Elton John upstate because of “flu-like symptoms.”

Last month, Page Six reported that Joel was dating former soap star Alex Donnelley, but it seems that romance has fizzled.

A rep for Katie Lee had no comment. Joel’s spokeswoman told us, “The split between them is amicable. They remain friendly, and they do communicate.”

[From Page Six]

This is sort of a sketchy report. I tend to think that part of it could be true, but Billy might not want to reconcile with Katie for reasons involving love. I’d be willing to bet Katie signed a pre-nup, but Billy probably isn’t interested in parting with any kind of limited assets. And hey, he might still love her. I’m just thinking that Billy’s mindset might be along the lines of “A bird in the hand…” A few weeks ago, there were confirmed reports that Billy was seeing a soap star named Alex Donnelley, and unconfirmed reports that Billy and ex-wife Christie Brinkley were getting closer again. I tend to think that Billy and Katie should just call it a day… but if they do get back together, my guess is that it will be about money and babies.

Just a side note: I’m so proud that I didn’t make any reference to Billy Joel as “William Joel”, to use Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goopspeak. It was killing me. I wanted to call him William Joel this whole time.

Here’s Katie Lee attending the ‘Julie & Julia’ premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on Thursday. Images thanks to WENN.com . Header from February 2008. Image thanks to Fame Pictures .

After last week’s revelation that the National Enquirer got the story right, and that Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee really were splitting, there were many rumors in the wake of the announcement. The rumors probably started before the official split, but now that there’s a nasty divorce on the horizon, “sources” are coming out of the woodwork. One of the many hilarious side notes is that all of the sources are going to New York publications – Long Island forever and all of that, I suppose. Billy Joel is a popular worldwide entertainer, but you can’t take away a New Yorker’s need for a divorce fought amongst the New York tabloids. First up, with have a little item in the New York Daily News, about the babies it seems neither of them wanted, that they’re now both trying to pretend they both wanted:

Another possible reason for Billy Joel’s breakup with wife Katie Lee: They couldn’t agree on when to start a family. A friend of the 60-year-old Piano Man tells us: “Billy wanted to get going now. Katie, who’s 27, wanted to focus on her career.” A friend of Katie argues, “That’s not true. If anything, it was the other way around.”

[From The New York Daily News]

Oh, that’s the sweet spot. “If anything, it was the other way around.” Chuckle. God, I love a nasty separation/divorce when there are no innocent kids around. There’s just something so soothing about an old guy (who should have known better) and a gold-digging child-bride battling it out in the tabloids.

But what of the original reason for the split, cited by the Enquirer and the New York Daily News? That was the rumor that Katie Lee had been getting hot and heavy with 36-year-old Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Katie and Yigal allegedly have been carrying on an affair for a while now – but Page Six has a great scoop on Yigal. Apparently, Katie’s not the only young fashionista that hangs on Yigal’s every word. Yigal is quite a “swordsman” who has “been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career.” This is all because Yigal is the holy grail of fashion designers: a good-looking straight guy. According to Page Six’s sources, that alone ensures that “everyone lines up.”

KATIE Lee Joel isn’t the only comely female to be linked to Israeli fashion designer Yigal Azrouel.

Azrouel’s close relationship with the 27-year-old celebrity chef is rumored to have played a role in her breakup last week with Billy Joel, 60, after five years of marriage. Katie and Azrouel were spotted “dirty dancing” in Miami earlier this year, and a source told Page Six that Katie frequently opted to stay in the city near Azrouel instead of hanging out with her husband on Long Island.

A rep for Joel has said her relationship with Azrouel is “absolutely unrelated” to the split, but fashion insiders say Azrouel has quite the reputation as a fashion swordsman.

“He’s been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career,” a source told Page Six, adding that Azrouel has had relationships with higher-ups at both W magazine and the New York Times. “He loves to have women over for small, intimate dinner parties and to play video games. That’s his big thing.”

Added another source: “Obviously, there just aren’t that many straight guys in fashion. So when one comes on the scene, everyone lines up. And Yigal is very into the social element of the business, which is why he’s always photographed on Patrick McMullan’s Web site and has a store out east,” referring to his boutique in Water Mill. Azrouel was previously linked to socialite Fernanda Niven.

Back in April, Joel’s rep told us, “Yigal is a friend of Katie’s. They have collaborated on dresses for her media appearances. They worked together to create designs. It’s a simple friend-work relationship.”

Both Azrouel and Katie Lee were invited to the Whitney’s Persol Incognito Design Exhibition preview tomorrow, though she has not confirmed her attendance. Azrouel could not be reached.

[From Page Six]

He really sounds like an Israeli gigolo rather than a fashion designer. I guess the point of this story was the tabloid letting Katie Lee down gently, if she had hopes of leaving “William Joel” for a dashing Israeli. Not going to happen, Katie. It’s the oldest story in the book – gold-digging child-bride meets older man of her dreams, marries old man, realizes old man is no fun, goes out to have fun with Israeli gigolo, leaves old man for Israeli gigolo, gigolo tells girl “actually, I’m seeing other people”, girl comforts herself with multimillion-dollar divorce settlement, alone and weeping. It’s the modern fairytale/cautionary tale.

Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel are shown on 2/6/08 and 10/3/08. Their mansion in Center Island, NY is also shown. Credit: Fame Pictures

When Billy Joel, 60, and his super-talkative child bride were on Oprah last year, I could tell that Katie, 27, didn’t get along with Joel’s 23 year-old daughter, Alexa Ray. Oprah asked Katie about her relationship with Alexa and she didn’t really answer the question, demurring graciously to say “Alexa is really a special person to me. She was my maid of honor in my wedding actually, and I’m always impressed by her. She has so much talent and grace. She’s just really special.”

Now that Billy and Katie have announced their impending divorce after five years of marriage, Alexa says she knew it was coming. In her statement she doesn’t sound all that broken up over it:

Billy Joel’s split from wife Katie came as no surprise to Alexa Ray Joel, the music man’s 23-year-old daughter with Christie Brinkley.

“I have a pretty good woman’s intuition, so I could tell,” Alexa told PEOPLE at the sixth annual Wayuu Taya Foundation Gala at the Stephan Weiss Studio in New York City Wednesday night. “I know my dad very well.”

The couple announced their separation in a statement June 17 after nearly five years of marriage. Joel says she first heard the news from her dad.

“He was the first person to talk to me,” says Alexa. “Of course, being who he is, you can’t just trust everybody. I like knowing that my father can come to me.”

Despite her parents’ troubled marriage record, Alexa says has hardly sworn off the idea of one day getting hitched herself – although she dispels rumors of a romance with John Mayer. “I would love to get married. Having seen what I’ve seen, sure I have a different perspective on marriage, but I’m a true romantic, and I will be having a wedding at one point.”

Meanwhile, Joel says she stands behind her dad: “He’s a strong man. He’ll get through this, and I’m going to help him.”

[From People]

Can you imagine if one of your parents remarried someone who was just a few years older than you? That’s got to be an awkward situation. In Katie and Billy Joel’s Oprah interview, Katie definitely seemed to have the dominant personality and did most of the talking. She claimed their relationship worked despite the over 30 year age difference because “He has this job that’s allowed him to be really immature for a long time – rock star, and I happen to be more mature for my age so we meet somewhere in the middle.” It’s not surprising that it didn’t last. I only wonder if we’ll hear more about their troubled marriage when their divorce proceeds. We sure heard plenty of explosive details when Billy’s ex, Christie Brinkley, divorced her last husband.

Alexa Ray Joel is shown on 6/17/09. Katie Lee Joel and Billy Joel are shown in 2007. Credit: WENN.com

Damn it! The National Enquirer got it right yesterday about Billy Joel and Katie Lee. The couple announced their formal split to the New York Daily News in a joint statement. They say that they’re totally separating, they still remain friends, and they still have “admiration and respect for each other.” The NYDN article then goes through three unnamed sources for theories on why the couple split. First theory: Katie was fooling around with Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Added bonus for this theory is that the alleged affair was the main reason given in the National Enquirer’s report, which turned out to be amazingly prescient. Second theory: Age difference and different interests. She’s a young city girl, he’s a 60-year-old with an affection for his boats. Third theory: Billy was screwing around on Katie just as much as she was screwing around on him, and they both decided to call it a day. Can I get a little bit of Columns A, B and C?

Looks like the third time isn’t the charm for the Piano Man. Billy Joel and his latest wife, Katie Lee, are splitting up, the couple confirmed to the Daily News on Wednesday.

“After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate,” reps for the pair said in a joint statement.

“This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other.”

Rumors have swirled for months that Joel’s third marriage was on the rocks. Various reports have linked Lee, a 27-year-old chef and author, with Yigal Azrouel, a dashing 36-year-old Israeli-born fashion designer who has frequently escorted her to events.

Sources reported seeing them dirty dancing in Miami in January and have claimed that in unguarded moments Azrouel referred to Lee as “my girlfriend.”

Reps for the Joels insisted that Azrouel was just a friend and that Billy, 60, was happy to skip the parties, fashion shows and fundraisers that his younger wife enjoyed.

“Their decision to separate was absolutely unrelated to Yigal,” Joel’s spokeswoman, Claire Mercuri said.

“It was really the age difference that caught up with them,” said a friend of the couple. “They grew apart. She is very career-oriented. She loves going out. She loves the city. When Billy isn’t touring, he’d rather be on Long Island with his motorcycles and boats.”

Still, the friend added, “I can’t imagine the stories about Yigal helped.”

One ally of Lee said, “Billy is no one to talk. It wasn’t like he was a monk when he was on tour.”

But a longtime pal of Joel insisted “he’s always remained faithful to Katie. When he was touring with Elton John, he flew home almost every night. He rarely stayed in a hotel room. When would he have done this supposed fooling around?”

In recent weeks, Joel has been living on Long Island, where he owns mansions in Sag Harbor and Sagaponack. Lee is said to have stayed at the couple’s Manhattan townhouse, not far from Azrouel’s boutique.

While one pal denied talk of a big blow-up last week, both have retained lawyers.
Joel is believed to have a prenuptial agreement to protect the millions his many hits have made him.

Besides their New York properties, he owns a mansion in Miami Beach. Recent reports had him buying Lee a restaurant in Sag Harbor but Mercuri said he was looking at the space “only as real estate investment.”

He and Lee married in October of 2004. His nine-year marriage to model Christie Brinkley, the mother of their daughter Alexa, ended in 1994. His nine-year marriage to Elizabeth Weber ended in 1982.

Lee’s rep, Ken Sunshine, declined to comment beyond the couple’s statement.

“Billy’s doing fine,” Mercuri said. “He’s looking forward to resuming his Face2Face Tour with Elton John.”

[From The New York Daily News]

Nice little promotion there at the end, kind of like “Oh, another marriage down the tubes, but wait, you should come see him play with Elton John!” That actually sounds like a great concert, and I wish they were coming some place close to me. As far as theories behind the split, et cetera, I don’t really have some hardcore opinion. As I said yesterday, I wasn’t invested in this relationship at all – she seemed like a gold-digging child-bride, and he was plenty old enough to know better. It’s a wash.

In another Billy Joel-related note, Gwyneth Paltrow referred to Billy as “William Joel” is her last Goopy newsletter. Goop was describing some cookies Katie Lee made for a dinner party, and Goop referred to the couple as “the lovely Katie Lee Joel and her husband William…” Since it seemed like Billy was already going to be sending out his spokesperson for all of the separation stuff, the guy also dropped this comment into US Weekly: “No one calls him William.” I bet that gets Goop’s panties in a wad.

Header photo is from 5/4/09. Other photos are from 2007. Credit: WENN.com

I’m not invested in the marriage of Billy Joel and his third wife, Katie Lee. Even though Katie is 27 years old, compared to the 60-year-old Billy Joel she has always seemed like a child-bride to me. They got married when she was 23 – just four years older than his daughter Alexa Ray – and in the past four years, Katie has managed to build a half-decent career for herself as some kind of professional foodie, launching a now-defunct website, writing about food for magazines, making guest appearances on television shows, and hosting the first season of Top Chef.

There seems to be trouble in gold-digging child-bride paradise though. The Enquirer is reporting a juicy rumor that Billy Joel is convinced that Katie has been cheating on him – with 36-year-old Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Azrouel’s stuff has been in Vogue, and he seems like a half-decent designer, favoring those sort of urban-combat-luxe kind of designs. So what’s an up-and-coming, straight fashion designer doing with the Pianoman’s trophy wife? I have no idea, but apparently Billy Joel has convinced himself they’re up to no good, and Billy has already contacted his divorce lawyers:

“Take a hike!”

With those angry words, Billy Joel pulled the plug on his four-and-a-half-year marriage to much-younger wife Katie Lee during an explosive fight in mid-June, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

The 60-year-old Piano Man, who’s been married twice before, has already retained a top lawyer and is expected to hit the courthouse again soon to file for divorce from Katie Lee, 27, say close sources.

The final straw for the superstar musician was his young wife’s refusal to end her cozy relationship with Yigal Azrouel, a handsome 36-year-old Israeli-born fashion designer.

In our April 20 issue, The ENQUIRER reported that Katie Lee had been seeing Yigal for nearly a year. She’d moved out of Billy’s Long Island mansion to the New York condo they have – just blocks from Yigal’s boutique.

Billy, who had been away for months on a long concert tour, was told by close pals that Katie Lee was up to no good – and that he should dump her.

Their final fight occurred when Katie Lee asked Billy to accompany her to an event she was hosting in the Hamptons on June 13, said the source.

“He snapped, ‘So now you want me to be by your side and play your happy husband?! Take a hike!’”

[From The National Enquirer]

Of course this is nothing but a rumor printed in the Enquirer. But there’s a whiff of believability to it. How many of these trophy-wife situations work out in the long run? Especially with the age difference that huge? It’s not as if Katie Lee is some kind of Catherine Zeta-Jones type of woman, who could make the situation work in the long-run. And perhaps if Billy Joel was so concerned about his wife playing around, he shouldn’t go on tour for months at a time. My guess is we’ll see Billy filing for divorce in the coming months.

Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel are shown on 5/4/09 and 6/15/09. Credit: PRPhotos

Billy Joel, 59, has been married to 27 year-old Katie Lee Joel for four and a half years. They met at a bar when Katie was out with friends in New York and she claims that she didn’t even know who he was at first. In their Oprah appearance last year, Katie did most of the talking and explained that their relationship works because she’s mature for her age and Billy “has this job that’s allowed him to be really immature for a long time – rock star.” You could tell that Katie likes to take the reins in the relationship and Joel didn’t seem to mind. They were on the show promoting Katie’s new cook book at the time, The Comfort Table.

It looks like Katie might be up to more than just whipping up stuff in the kitchen and throwing dinner parties while Joel is away on tour. She’s rumored to be having an affair with a 36 year-old Israeli designer. Billy initially thought that Katie’s friend was gay, but he’s straight and the Enquirer has pictures of Katie dancing with the guy at a club where he looks like he’s interested in more than just friendship:

Billy Joel’s young wife has started a cozy relationship with a hunky male fashion designer, the Enquirer has learned exclusively.

The superstar musician… is being advised by close pals to dump gorgeous Katie Lee, 27, when his current concert tour ends in November, say sources.

For nearly a year, Katie Lee has been spotted out with Yigal Azrouel, a a handsome 36 year-old Israeli-born designer.

“Billy is furious,” a close source told The Enquirer. “His wife’s relationship with this guy is causing a split in his marriage.

“Initially, Billy thought it was great that she met a new friend, someone to occupy her time while he trudges through a long tour schedule. But now he’s become very concerned.”…

“She’s practically going around acting like Yigal’s girlfriend. It’s almost like she’s forgotten that she’s married to Billy Joel!” another source told The Enquirer.

“Billy initially thought Yigal – being a male fashion designer – was gay. But when someone told him the guy was heterosexual and had women hanging all over him, Billy began to worry.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, April 20, 2009]

We heard rumors two years ago that Billy and Katie were on the outs. Joel was heavily boozing at the time and Katie was said to be fed up with it. They worked through that rough patch, though. On Oprah Katie was proudly showed off how she’d decorated their Manhattan townhouse with the help of designer Nate Berkus and Joel was more than happy with his young wife’s skill in the kitchen. Somehow they’ve made it last this long. If Katie is really cheating with this guy though we may be hearing about a divorce soon. As Joel would sing, “everyone is so untrue.”

Katie Lee Joel and Billy Joel are shown outside Howard Stern’s wedding on 10/3/08. Katie is also shown at the Vanity Fair Oscar party on 2/22/09. Credit: WENN.com

Sean Combs/Puff Daddy/Puffy/P. Diddy’s White Party is hardcore. It’s considered one of the absolute most important “seen and be seen” Hamptons parties thrown on Labor Day weekend. As the always humble Puffy noted, “’ “It’s a party that has legendary status. It’s hard to throw a party that lives up to its legend.’” Thanks for keeping yourself in check and not getting too carried away with your own awesomeness. The basic (and unbreakable) rule of the white party is that everyone must be dressed in head-to-toe white. This is not a guideline, this is a hardcore rule, and Puffy has spotters at the front door making sure no one is trying to sneak in wearing eggshell or cream. Call them cream puffies. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but I guess you could argue that there is so little formality left in the world that a little, mixed with a healthy dose of pretension, won’t kill anyone.

“White was the dress code at a star-saturated party thrown by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs at his Long Island home, and the dress code was strictly enforced. The hip-hop mogul’s annual White Party, which he has held in St. Tropez in recent years, featured a white carpet to go along with the white dress code.

“‘This party is up there with the top three that I’ve thrown,’ Combs said. ‘It’s a party that has legendary status. It’s hard to throw a party that lives up to its legend.’ Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Donna Karan, Ashley Olsen, Star Jones and Tommy Lee were among the guests. But those who failed to abide by the dress code found themselves told to change, including the wife of Billy Joel, Katie Lee. She had gone to the party dressed in a shade of cream, but that did not win over Combs’ fashion police. Turned away, she opted to go home.

“Combs wore white sneakers with silver detailing, a white shirt and pants and a gold medallion.”

[From Newsday]

Oooh oooh, so it’s okay for Puffy to wear silver and gold, but poor Billy Joel’s wife can’t wear cream? Hypocrite. At least she went home without attending the party – that means the odds of Billy Joel driving her home drunk went down by 30 percent. Puffy also made an unnamed guest change out of his cream pants and into a pair of Puffy’s white pants – in the street!

“P Diddy reportedly forced a male guest strip at one of his high prestige parties last week…because he apparently didn’t follow dress code, a very strict rule in the Diddy household. The hip hop mogal [sic] was hosting one of his annual parties, this time the ‘White Party’, and the guest was wearing ‘cream’ trousers. Ooooo! He had to replace them, obviously, with one of P Diddy’s white trousers from his wardrobe. According to British newspaper The Sun, the rapper’s security guards refused the man entry to the mansion until he replaced his garments with some Diddy approved white ones.”

[From Showbiz Spy]

So much for being a gracious host. The guy is a bit of a control freak, to say the least. I remember reading some article a million years ago about Puffy’s first White Party, and the invitations actually stated that ladies were to be waxed, including their bikini areas. Let’s hope he didn’t have guards checking that, too.

Picture note by Celebitchy Diddy is shown with his children children Big Christian, Little Quincy, and Justin Combs at the White Party on 9/2, thanks to WENN.