Scene & Heard: Jian, Toronto Drama & Naughty Journalists

Vv Magazine’s industry insiders and undercover scenesters fill you in on the best first-hand gossip from Hollywood, the media, and everything in between. A column that will make you lust for more… who are we talking about? We don’t tell – but we see and hear things and like you, we gossip about it. Check in every Wednesday for the latest from Scene & Heard!

Jesse Brown throws down HARD against Toronto Star‘s Kevin Donovan
Juice Factor: 10/10

We’ve got to give props to Canadaland reporter Jesse Brown. He’s most famous for breaking the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, but we love him even more now for how he took beef with his old reporting partner, Kevin Donovan, head of investigations at the Toronto Star. Yesterday, The Guardian dropped an article by Brown slamming Donovan’s yet-to-be-pubished tell-all book on the Ghomeshi story (a smart move, given The Guardian’s international audience that far outweighs the Star’s and is more on par with The New York Times.)

This is a great detail if you’re also aware that Brown had bad luck breaking controversial stories in Canada, a country with a media scene known for playing it safe. Two of its edgier publications – the Star and Vice – both originally turned down publishing Brown’s Ghomeshi story, making this Guardian article a bit of a f*ck you in itself. Look how far the kid from Canadaland has come.

In the story Brown recounts details of compiling stories from interviews with Ghomeshi’s accusers, whom he promised to keep anonymous. Donovan eventually got involved with the investigation, but, as Brown recounts, he didn’t think there was a story worth publishing – until Ghomeshi went to his bosses at CBC with that now-infamous video, leading to his quick termination.

Donovan’s tell-all book, slated for June publication, may well portray the author as a key player in the investigation – a book that Brown worries will reveal the identities of the women involved directly or indirectly. This may not only jeopardize the trial, which won’t have started yet, but could also deter other victims of abuse in general, whether they’re related to this case or not, from coming forward. Brown’s lengthy but revealing story should be at the top of your to-read list this morning if you haven’t read it already. It throws some serious shade at Donovan – one of Canada’s most celebrated journalists – which got us to thinking.

Is the Star‘s Kevin Donovan obsessed post-Rob Ford crack tape scandal with getting rich & famous?
Juice Factor: 10/10

Look, he’s been head of the Star‘s investigative reporting unit for DECADES, but he got upstaged by Robyn Doolittle – at the time, one of the youngest reporters at the paper – when Doolittle’s reporting led to her best-selling book Crazy Town, which landed her spots on everything from Jon Stewart to Seth Meyers. That’s gotta sting, given that Donovan was the other reporter who saw the explosive crack tape.

Penguin offered Doolittle a pretty penny for her book if she could finish it in three months, and it only took seven days for the movie rights to get picked up by Blue Ice Productions. It looks like Donovan is hoping for similar love and attention once his own book comes out, especially since he isn’t even signed with a big-wig publisher. Instead, he’s at a modest independent Canadian publishing house, ECW Press, so it’s unlikely they made him an offer the size of Doolittle’s Penguin deal. Rumours abounded at one point that Doolittle and Donovan didn’t get along, and Doolittle left for the Globe and Mail soon after. Check out how she noticeably dodges answering questions about whether or not she had conflicts with her old boss in this Reddit interview.

Blind Item: Not Good News For Big-Name Toronto Event Planners
Juice Factor: 10/10

On the party scene, there are only a few event planners in the city who everyone agrees are the creme de la creme, and this particular firm usually gets top honours, organizing some of our city’s most stylish parties of the year. Despite their A-list reputation, one of their major clients has shifted their business over to a local PR firm that is now branching into events. It’s going to cause lots of drama in the industry. We’re making popcorn so we can sit back and watch and, of course, report back with the details.

A Shocking DWTS… The not so innocent kiss…
Juice Factor: 9/10

After rumours swarming about a love affair, Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec planted a long pucker on Kym Johnson at the end of their routine on Monday’s Dancing With the Stars, perhaps confirming rumours were true. Herjavec recently separated from wife Diane Plese after 24 years of marriage, which makes the kiss a little shocking, and definitely a little dangerous if things get heated in the court room. Judges tend not to take well to cheaters, especially really bad cheaters. Try not to make out on a live prime-time show, for instance. While he’s since been saying that the passionate kiss was just part of the routine, we’ve heard word that he is indeed getting hot n’ heavy with his partner in keeping time.

In more DWTS news: fair voting or not so much?
Juice Factor: 9/10

We, along with most of North America, were sad to see our precious Hunger Games star Willow Shields get booted off the show earlier this week. Seems the young actress was in line to be at the top of the winning list but sometimes the network has to step in to save their stars first…

FKA Twigs shows off engagement ring from Robert Pattinson
Juice Factor: 8/10

He put a ring on it, but we didn’t really know for certain until the beautiful bride-to-be showed off her dazzler while walking the red carpet with her man at the Met Gala. We’d propose to her too after six months of dating. They are the hottest couple alive. Fact.

The man behind Beyonce’s dress trains
Juice Factor: 8/10

Did you see a guy quickly jumping behind Beyonce at the MET Gala to adjust her Givenchy dress’s train so that it looked impeccable for every photo? That’s Ty Hunter, and he’s on Instagram. Someone needs to ask him out or hire him, and he’s got well under 3,000 followers, so you’ve got a shot.

Journey lead singer gets rejected by Toronto’s leading dating expert

Juice Factor: 7/10

For the man behind “Any Way You Want It,” it must’ve been quite the slap in the face. On Tuesday night, Steve Augeri – the former lead singer of Journey from the late 90s until the mid 2000s – made a pass on one of Toronto’s hottest dating experts. After a chance meeting at a King West bar, the duo chatted until it was revealed that, oops, the lady was actually taken. (In fact, she’s dating the bar manager.) That’s OK, Steve. Keep trying, and don’t stop beleivin.’  But we’re left wondering, what ever is Auguri doing in T.O.?

Blind Item: The dinner parties everyone’s talking about
Juice Factor: 10/10

This Toronto-based personality probably shouldn’t be hosting dinner parties right now, nor should he be inviting members of the media to said dinner parties, but that’s what’s apparently going down. Well, it’s not like he’s known for playing by the rules. That’s what got him into hot water, and apparently why he now wants to convince female friends he’s not the person he’s being made out to be by reading old emails and the like to make a case for himself. You’d think it would be a hard sell but, given the type of people he’s allegedly inviting, it isn’t. He’s got sympathizers after all.

Did you see Amy Schumer interview Toronto’s Noel Biderman of Ashley Madison?
Juice Factor: 9/10

We’re just asking because while we thought hers was fine, it was A-grade Schumer awesome, and there was more interesting juice in this Vv Magazine interview with Biderman just weeks before. It’s not shameless self-promotion since we didn’t write it — we don’t have time to write full stories. We’ll see you next week with more juice…

Got a hot tip? Email us at info@viewthevibe.com!

Related Link: Scene & Heard: TO Foodie Scene, Will Smith, Olsen Twins + More

What had your blood boiling and your mouths gasping from this week’s Scene & Heard column? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us at @ViewtheVibe.