Celebonanza!

By Kris Conesa

Ashlee Simpson showed up for her performance at Mansion “totally trashed” on Saturday night. Photo by Kris Conesa

The Miami International Film Festival is long gone, but the stars are still very much enjoying their stay in the Magic City. It seems everywhere I went last weekend I bumped into someone worth mentioning in this column. Jermaine Dupri, Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and others were all making the rounds around town. With several movies filming in the city till May, expect this sort of thing to keep happening. Personally, I can’t wait to bump into Owen Wilson again. I’m just of the opinion that he and I could become the best of friends. Maybe we could all hang with Woody Harrelson. That would be freakin’ awesome! Oh, well, pardon my delusions and enjoy your weekly dose of celebrity gossip and sightings.

Synching

The crowd around Mansion started to form around 10 p.m. Saturday night, with eager fans hoping to catch a glimpse, and maybe a photo, of Ashlee Simpson. Much to their dismay, however, a bubbly Simpson strolled into the club and snubbed both fans and photographers who had been waiting for hours to see the pint-sized pseudo-rocker. Among her crew of eight was boyfriend Pete Wentz, who attempted to remain incognito wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie. He stayed largely in the shadows for most of the night. Immediately upon arrival, Simpson and her crew were escorted to the VIP section onstage, where the staff set them up with two bottles of Grey Goose and a couple of carafes of orange and cranberry juice. According to sources that directly interacted with Simpson onstage, she arrived “totally trashed.”

About 45 minutes passed before the curtains came down in preparation for the show. When they finally rose, Simpson, wearing gray pants and a black tank top, yelled through the microphone, “Are you ready for me, motherfuckers?” Apparently they were.

Even though she started the show with a lot of energy and much fanfare, at times she appeared to be lip-synching and even covered her mouth when it appeared she had forgotten the lyrics. In true Ashlee spirit, she attempted to cover this up by performing several stage antics, such as cartwheels and a back flip from the ground. I couldn’t help but be reminded of her ill-fated Saturday Night Live performance, where she did the same thing after her record skipped.

For those craving more scandalous tidbits of information, you will be happy to know that, although Simpson did not have the telltale baby bump, she was sporting a gigantic rock on her ring finger. Could wedding bells be in the pop star’s near future?

At the penthouse

On Friday night, Highcroft Racing and Patrón put together a fabulous event at the Shore Club’s penthouse. Fashion model and superstar DJ Sky Nellor provided the soundtrack. Scheduled to appear was racecar driver and Dancing With the Stars personality Hélio Castroneves. Although Hélio was reportedly there, I never saw him. That didn’t much matter because even if he was there, he would have undoubtedly been upstaged by a surprise appearance by Owen Wilson. Wilson, who had been dining at Nobu, made his way upstairs to the festivities and hung out by the pool until fans began to crowd him. When a photographer snapped his picture, the Marley & Me star, who is in town filming till May, became incensed and demanded he delete the pictures. Soon after that, Wilson jumped across the penthouse pool to escape the growing mob and wandered on to Collins Avenue. Alone, dressed in white and a baseball cap, the actor walked down the street looking rather sad. He later made his way to the Florida Room, where he was seen in the company of four men.

Jen’s night out

On Saturday night, another Marley & Me star, Jennifer Aniston, walked into the Delano Hotel’s Blue Door restaurant with three other people, two women and one male, around 9:45 p.m. The actress braved the unusually cold weather and sat at an outside table under a heat lamp. Dressed in jeans and a casual jacket, Aniston sipped red wine, ordered a salad and enjoyed a coffee and a cigarette after dinner. She stayed at her table till after midnight, when she quietly disappeared.

Spotted:

Jermaine Dupri partying at Mansion on Friday night.

Fashionista Diane Kruger at The Webster purchasing an Alaia belt and getting some style tips from Frederic Dechnik, one of the founders of The Webster.