More Help to Maui

In other Maui news, former TV talk-show titan Oprah Winfrey, 69, has teamed up with actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 51, in committing $10 million to make direct payments to the Hawaiian island of Maui devastated by wildfires.

The People’s Fund of Maui will give $1,200 to adults not being able to return to their primary residences because of the conflagration.

It includes people who owned and rented their homes, according to the fund’s website.

“You want to take care of the direct needs of the people, and that’s giving them money,” says Oprah, who owns more than 2,000 acres on the island with three different properties. She is worth $3.5 billion, according to Forbes.

The Entertainment Industry Fund, a L.A.-based organization that helps celebrities with their charity work, is sponsoring the fund.

Setting the Record Straight

Reclusive Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner, 78, has done a rare interview with Josh Kosman of the New York Post after the release of a recent portrayal of him in the film The Beanie Bubble.

Warner, owner of the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, describes himself as “creative, collaborative, competitive, critical, analytical, disciplined, focused, a perfectionist, driven, caring, kind and sincere,” as well as being both extroverted and private, “which I admit is a bit of a paradox.”

As for his Beanie Baby idea, he says it was nothing like the movie’s portrayal. “Not remotely,” he emphasized.

“I envisioned a product that kids could afford with their allowance money. My thought process centered around an affordable impulse item.”

The hotelier also feels that actor Zach Galifianakis who played him “is a talented and funny guy” playing a fictional character “who happens to be named Ty Warner.”

“If they did a biopic, I would think either Daniel Day-Lewis or Warren Beatty would be appropriate.”

“The Beanie Baby craze lasted longer than any other craze in the history of toys in the world to date,” says Warner.

“Success does not happen overnight, so patience and being able to visualize your overall goal is vital. You must be prepared but also adaptable and agile enough to change direction as the market dictates.

“Your biggest competitor should be yourself, and you should aim high.”

In the 16 years I have lived in our rarefied enclave, covering innumerable events at the Biltmore and San Ysidro Ranch, I have never met the elusive toymaker, just getting a glimpse of the back of his Jag on occasion when visiting friends who were staying at the 500-acre property.

Lawyers’ Fees Continue

Kevin Costner and estranged wife Christine Baumgartner were back in a Santa Barbara court last week in the ongoing battle over custody of their children and lofty support payments.

The hearing concerned the future of their youngsters Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13, and whether Baumgartner, 49, can improve on the $129,755 per month in child support she was awarded in June.

Baumgartner initially asked for $248,000 a month which Costner, 68, said he was opposed to.

After being awarded substantially less ($63,209 a month), she is now asking for a hefty hike to provide her children with “a comparable” standard of luxury when they are with her.

A Grand Return to the Gram

Meghan Markle is preparing to re-launch herself on Instagram and experts predict she could make $1 million per post.

The Riven Rock resident, whose last account with husband Prince Harry had 9.4 million followers, was deactivated in 2020 when the couple quit being senior royals, is said to be behind a new account named @meghan.

Decorated with a picture of pink peonies, reportedly Meghan’s favorite flowers, a source close to her team confirmed: “Yes, that’s her. Expect an announcement very soon. She’s coming back,” according to Caroline Graham, the U.K. Mail’s West Coast correspondent.

Prior to her marriage to King Charles III’s youngest son, Markle’s personal Instagram account following stood at 3 million, while tens of thousands of fans signed up for her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig.

Stay tuned…

Ellen Alive

Former TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres has once again been the victim of a short-lived death hoax that began trending on Twitter last week.

Social media was in a frenzy when a string of tweets were posted claiming the 65-year-old Montecito resident had died.

Luckily for her fans, the comedienne is very much alive and well and was spotted picking up bottled water at Pierre Lafond.

This has been one of several Ellen death hoaxes on social media.

Cowboy Values

Jerry Jones, a frequent visitor to our rarefied enclave when his NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys, are undergoing summer training in Oxnard, has every reason to smile.

The Texan team is not only the most prized possession in U.S. pro football, but in all sports, and astonishingly the world.

Jones’s franchise is worth $9 billion, according to Forbes magazine, and generated a whopping $1.14 billion in revenue through the 2020 season.

For context, the average NFL team is worth $5.1 billion. The Cowboys haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1995.

The NFL’s second-most valuable team is the New England Patriots, which is unsurprising given their two-decade dynasty beginning in the early 2000s, with the Los Angeles Rams third at $6.9 billion.

Long Did She Reign

We commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, who moved to more heavenly pastures at her beloved Balmoral Castle at the age of 96.

To mark the sad occasion her family, including King Charles III, William, Prince of Wales, Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne have gathered at the 50,000-acre estate. Elizabeth was the first sovereign to die in the country since James V in 1542.

As I have covered Britain’s Royal Family for nearly half a century, my phone at Maison Mineards Montecito was ringing off the hook with TV and magazine interview requests from around the globe, including Paris Match, Stern, Bild, Hello, and Le Figaro.

Elizabeth was an extraordinarily unique individual, and it was a great honor to have met her a number of times during my colorful career, particularly during Silver Jubilee year in 1977, when I covered the Windsors for the London Daily Mail before moving to New York in 1978 to become gossip columnist on Rupert Murdoch’s Star magazine.

Still very much missed…

Where Were You When You Heard?

It is hard to imagine it is 26 years since Princess Diana died so tragically in a Paris car crash at the age of 36.

I was sailing in Penobscot Bay in Dark Harbor, Maine, when NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was among 80 calls left on my host’s answering machine informing me of her demise and asking for an interview.

In the following six weeks, I did more than 80 interviews, on camera or by phone, in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York.

I had last spoken to Diana two months earlier at a socially gridlocked reception at Christie’s, the New York auction house, which was selling her evening gowns for charity, an event I covered for CNN and ABC Network News.

An extraordinary moment in my life, given I later joined an old friend and colleague, the late Barbara Walters, in covering her globally broadcast funeral at London’s Westminster Abbey for ABC.

Sightings

Maroon 5 rocker Adam Levine with wife Behati Prinsloo and daughters Dusty Rose and Gio Grace, breakfasting at Pierre Lafond… Meghan Markle stocking up on truffles and candy bars at Twenty-Four Blackbirds on Haley… Actress Meg Ryan noshing at Revere at the Rosewood Miramar.

Pip! Pip!