Friendship Is . . .

Meryl Streep recently chatted at a charity gala honoring fellow actress Jill Eikenberry about how the two met and became friends during the mid-’70s. Streep explained they met on a beach, “and she became my dearest friend in spite of the fact that she was wearing the smallest bathing suit I’d ever seen.” Asked if they knew each other in college, the very pregnant Streep replied, “No, she’s older than me. Don’t print that.” She shifted in her chair and added, “OK, she’s older than I am. But I outweigh her by 55 pounds.”

The Well-Dressed?

While the owners of the nightclub Vertigo defend themselves in court this week against charges that they discriminate on the basis of how potential patrons dress, Buzz took to the clubs to see what delighted the doormen. What we found wasn’t always pretty: Women in studded leather bras looking like escapees from Las Vegas’ Excalibur Hotel/Casino; nose rings or, worse, multiple nose rings and other things pierced besides earlobes; fringed cowboy boots; bare midriffs, and men with so much muscle they must consider steroids a fifth food group. We shudder to think of who didn’t get in . . .

The Studio’s System

Guess how good this movie was: At the screening, a studio executive was overheard to say, “There’s no such thing as bad movies, only bad audiences.”